15-410 Homework 2

This homework assignment is due Friday, April 26, at 23:59:59. As we intend to make solutions available on the web site immediately thereafter, please turn your solutions in on time. Late days are not available for this assignment.

Homework must be submitted (online) in either PostScript or PDF format (not: Microsoft Word, Word Perfect, Apple Works, LaTeX, XyWrite, WordStar, etc.). A plain text file (.text or .txt) is also acceptable, though it must conform to Unix expectations, meaning lines of no more than 120 characters separated by newline characters (note that this is not the Windows convention, and MacOS has two different conventions). Except as otherwise directed (in the crypto question), turn in your answers as .../$USER/hw2/$USER.pdf, .../$USER/hw2/$USER.ps, or .../$USER/hw2/$USER.text. If you use another filename, there is some risk that your solutions will not be credited to you. Please try not to submit your homework into your book-report directory or the other way around.

As usual, you may discuss this assignment with others, but you must then go off by yourself to write up the solution.

Question 1 - Public Key Practicum

This question is not hard, but it does take some time to do it right. Please don't leave this question to the very last minute, and think carefully about what the various steps accomplish.

As you go through the steps of working on this question, try to think carefully about what each step is accomplishing in terms of underlying cryptography primitives.

Follow the directions in gpg.html to generate a PGP key ring, containing public and private keys for digital signature and encryption purposes. Do not turn the key ring in to your hw2 directory! Instead, follow the directions on how to export the public key information from the key ring into a file, hw2/$USER.asc. Then create a secret message for the course staff, in hw2/$USER.secret.asc.

Question 2 - Design Matrix

The course staff hopes that design matrices were deployed during the course of P1 and P2 and P3 — or at least P3.

For this homework question, please submit a design matrix for some part of your P3. If you wish, you may document design options for the frame allocator, though it is fine to document something else if you'd like.

You may wish to refer to the "Questions" lecture.

For the purposes of this question, it is fine to limit your answer to three options (though there are many!!!).

Helpful Hint

By the way, if you think you are having AFS permission problems, try running the program located at
% /afs/cs.cmu.edu/academic/class/15410-s24/pub/access_hw2

[Last modified Monday April 22, 2024]