Answer the following. $1.)$ Classless Inter$-$Domain Routing $($CIDR$)$ is a method for allocating IP addresses and routing Internet Protocol packets. Classless Inter$-$Domain Routing allocates address space to Internet service providers and end users on any address bit boundary, instead of on $8-$bit segments. CIDR notation is a syntax of specifying IP addresses and their associated routing prefix. It appends a slash character to the address and the decimal number of leading bits of the routing prefix. $192\mathrm{.}168\mathrm{.}100\mathrm{.}0/24$ represents the given IPv$4$ address and its associated routing prefix $192\mathrm{.}168\mathrm{.}100\mathrm{.}0,$ or equivalently, its subnet mask $255\mathrm{.}255\mathrm{.}255\mathrm{.}0.$

Given a CIDR address of $168\mathrm{.}2\mathrm{.}44\mathrm{.}0/22,$ answer the following questions.

a$)$ How many assignable IP addresses are there?

b$)$ What is the assignable IP address c$)$ What is the subnet mask? $2.)$ There are three main classes of MAC protocols: channel partitioning, random access, and token ring. Use the Internet search to describe briefly $($max $5$ sentences$)$ each of these MAC protocols.