TCP Connection Management In TCP, each SYN and FIN segment consumes one unit in sequence number space, even though no actual user content or data is included in that segment. For example, if first sequence number is initialized to x. SYN packet will have sequence number x, and the actual data will start with sequence number x+1. Similarly, if the last data transmitted has sequence number z. FIN segment will have sequence number z+1. Is this necessary? If so, give an example of an ambiguity that would arise otherwise; if not, explain why.

It is necessary to acknowledge the SYN and FIN, so the sequence number is incremented, if not the FIN would be seen as a data packet prior an awaited FIN.

Explanation:

TCP or transmission control protocol is a transport layer protocol of the OSI network model in networking. Unlike UDP or user datagram protocol, it is connection oriented, meaning it must establish a connection between both destination and source in the network.

It uses a three way handshake to establish and close connection after transmission. After the SYN packet is acknowledged, the sequence number of the data packet increases to the last and finally increases to a FIN packet to show the end of transmission.