Detect Duplicate Packets in Window | Dataford Interview Questions

Given a stream of network packets, write a function to detect and flag potential duplicate transmissions within a specific sliding time window.

Packets arrive in nondecreasing timestamp order. Each packet is a dictionary containing timestamp, src_ip, dst_ip, protocol, and payload_hash; two packets match when all five fields except timestamp are equal. Return the zero-based indices of packets that match an earlier packet no more than window_seconds ago. Use def flag_duplicate_packets(packets, window_seconds):.

Constraints

0 <= len(packets) <= 5000
0 <= window_seconds
Packets are ordered by nondecreasing timestamp
Each timestamp is an integer number of seconds
Each packet contains timestamp, src_ip, dst_ip, protocol, and payload_hash
A packet is flagged only when an earlier matching packet remains inside the inclusive window

Function Signature

def flag_duplicate_packets(packets, window_seconds):

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Problem

Given a stream of network packets, write a function to detect and flag potential duplicate transmissions within a specific sliding time window.

Constraints

0 <= len(packets) <= 5000
0 <= window_seconds
Packets are ordered by nondecreasing timestamp
Each timestamp is an integer number of seconds
Each packet contains timestamp, src_ip, dst_ip, protocol, and payload_hash
A packet is flagged only when an earlier matching packet remains inside the inclusive window

Function Signature

def flag_duplicate_packets(packets, window_seconds):

Your question is Detect Duplicate Packets in Window. Start with the requirements in the Question tab.

Run and submit as often as you like. When you're ready, talk me through your approach or go straight to the code.