Chapter 1:

Computer Networks and the

Internet

What is Internet?
Internet can be defined in two different terms

In Nuts and Bolts Description

The basic hardware and software components, that
make up the Internet

In Service Description
The networking infrastructure that provides services to
distributed applications

In Nuts and Blots Description

Defines in terms of

End Devices or Hosts

Communication Links

Transmission Rate (bps)

Packet Switches (Routers/ link-layer switches)

Packet

Route/ path

Packet Switching

ISP

Protocols (Internet Standard, RFC)

An Internet is defined as millions of computing devices connected

together

The devices can be

Traditional desktop PC

UNIX based workstations

All types of servers

PDAs

TVs

Mobile devices, etc..,

All these devices are called as hosts or end systems

The end systems are connected together by communication links

Nuts and Bolts of Internet

router

workstation

server

mobile

local ISP

regional ISP

company
network

AP

The communication links may be

Coaxial cable

Copper wire

Fiber optics

Radio spectrum

These links transfer data at different rates called as bandwidth of

the link, measured in bits/second

End systems are indirectly connected by intermediate switching

devices called Routers, link-layer switches

The router takes the chunk information coming from one

communication link, forwards it to another efficient link

This chunk of information is called as Packet

The series of links b/w sender and receiver is called as Path/ Route

If there is no dedicated path b/w hosts - Packet switching technique

is followed sharing of common link by different participants

End systems access internet thru Internet Service Providers (ISP)

Tier 3 ISP

AOL (American Online Internet Services), MSN, etc..,

All these lower-tier ISPs are connected together by upper-tier ISPs

Tier 1 ISP

UUNet, Sprint, BT, etc..,

The ISPs provide different types of internet access to end systems

56 Kbps dial-up modem

Broadband access

High-speed LANs

Wireless Access, etc..,

The upper-tier ISPs are high speed routers interconnected with high
speed fiber optic cables

Each ISP is managed independently and runs with a IP protocol

Two types of networks

Public networks (Internet)

Private networks (Intranet)

Internet is made possible thru Internet standards developed by

Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) documented in RFC

RFCs (Request For Comments) define

TCP (Transmission Control Protocol)

IP (Internet Protocol)

HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol)

SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol), etc.., (about 3500 RFCs exists)

In Service Description

An internet allows distributed applications to exchange data

Remote login

E-mails

Web surfing

Messaging

Audio and video streaming

P2P file sharing, etc..,

An internet is an infrastructure in which new applications are being

constantly invented and deployed

Services Provided
Two types of services

Connection-oriented Service

Reliable service

Provides guarantee

Connectionless Service

Unreliable service

Does not provides any guarantee

What is a Protocol?

Similar to human analogy in communication

Says the general manners that should be followed when two parties
communicates

Hi

TCP connection
req

Hi

TCP connection
response

Got the
time?

Get http://www.google.com

2:00

<file>
time

In network protocol, the entities exchanging messages and taking actions

are hardware and software components

The communication is governed by protocols

E.g.., the protocol in routers determines the best packets path from

source to destination

Hardware implemented protocols control the flow of bits in wires (link)

Congestion control protocols controls the rate of transmission

Steps followed for communication (a request is made to the web server by

typing the URL in the browser)

Client sends Connection request message to server

Server replies Connection reply if possible

Client sends the name of file it needs

Server replies with the file

Definition of Protocol
A Protocol defines the format and the order of

messages

exchanged

between

two

or

more

communicating entities, as well as the actions taken

on the transmission and/or receipt of a message or

other event

The Network Edge

Unit I 2nd Topic

The Network Edge

End Systems, Clients and Servers

Computers connected to the

internet are called as End

systems as they sit at the
edge of the Internet

Desktop PCs, UNIX based

WS, Laptops, PDAs, etc..,

Wed

servers,

e-mail

servers, etc..,

House

hold

appliances,

TVs, set-top boxes, digital

cameras, etc..,

End systems are also referred to as hosts as they run (hosts) any
application programs (web browser, e-mail reader pgms).

Hosts = End systems

Two types of Hosts

Clients

Servers

Clients

Client program is the one running on one end system that request
services and receives them back.

Clients are PCs, PDAs, etc..,

Servers

Server program is the one running on one end system that

receives a request, and provides a service for the clients

Servers are powerful machines with higher capacity

Web servers, mail servers, etc..,

This Client/Server model is termed as distributed applications.

The routers, links, etc.., are considers as Black Box for C/S
application

Some hosts contains both client and server programs

P2P file sharing (KaZaA)

Connectionless &
Connection-oriented Services

Connection-oriented services
Goal: Maintain a session for data transfer between end systems.
Steps followed

Client and server sends control packets before sending data

handshaking: setup (prepare for) data transfer ahead of time

Hello, hello back human protocol

set up state and buffer allocation in two communicating hosts

Only the end systems know about connection, the routers, and all
other components are not aware of this

The connection oriented services includes the following activities

Reliable data transfer

Flow control

Congestion control

reliable data transfer

Data is delivered in proper order without any error

Acknowledgement is obtained

Retransmissions are possible

flow control

Too many packets are not allowed to be transmitted by the sender

Reduces the flow rate in the link

congestion control

The buffers in the routers might become filled and some packets
might be lost

Here, the end systems are forced to decrease the rate of sending
packets so that the routers and links are not overloaded

In internet, connection oriented service is called as TCP

(Transmission control Protocol)

Defined in RFC 793 initial version

TCP takes care of reliable transfer, flow control and congestion

control

Applications

Telnet (Remote login)

SMTP (e-mails)

FTP

HTTP

Connectionless Services

No handshaking

Sender simply sends the data to the receiver

Data is delivered soon

But not reliable, No flow control and no provision for congestion

control

In internet, connectionless service is called as UCP (User

Datagram Protocol)

Defined in RFC 768

Applications

Multimedia applications

Internet phone

Video conferencing

The Network Core

I Unit 3rd Topic

The Network Core

Two fundamental approaches for building a network core

Circuit switching

Packet switching

Circuit switching

The path and all the resources (buffers & bandwidth) needed for
communication

are

reserved

for

the

duration

before

the

communication starts

E.g.., telephone networks

Before caller wants to communicate, the network establishes the

connection

The switches in the path maintains the state for that connection

The shown network contains 4 switches, interconnected by 4 links

Each link has n circuits, hence can support n simultaneous

connections

The hosts are connected directly to switches

End-to-End connections are established b/w 2 hosts

Hence 1/n bandwidth is allotted for hosts sharing the link

Multiplexing in circuit-switched networks

The circuit in a link uses

Frequency division multiplexing (FDM)

Time division multiplexing (TDM)

Frequency division multiplexing

The frequency spectrum of the link is shared

Frequency is divided into several bands and each is dedicated for one
hosts for the complete duration of connection

The width of this band is called as bandwidth

Time division multiplexing

The time is divided into frames, frame into time slots

These slots are allotted for the connection

Transmission rate = no. of frames/s (frame rate) * no. bits in slot

Circuit Switching: FDM and TDM

Example:
FDM

4 users
frequency
time

TDM

frequency
time

Disadvantages in circuit-switching

The resources are wasted when the circuit is idle silent periods

E.g.., when caller and callee are idle without speaking

In Internet, after client requested one page, it will be idle until server
responses

Problem
How long it takes to send a file of 640,000 bits from hosts A to B?

TDM 24 slots with bit rate = 1.536Mbps

Delay for connection establishment = 500 msec

Solution
Transmission rate of each slot: 1.536 Mbps / 24 = 64 kbps
Hence for 640,000 bits : 640,000 bits/ 64000 bits per sec = 10 s+ 0.5 s
= 10.5 sec

Packet switching

The resources are not reserved, they are used only in demand.

If the resources are not free, systems have to wait for accessing

E.g.., Internet

The packets are transmitted in an unreserved link and bandwidth

The packet is transmitted only if the link is free.

If not, it has to wait buffered in the sender side (suffers a delay)

store-and-forward transmission the switch must receive the

complete packet (all the bits of the packet) before transmitting the
first bit of the packet in the outgoing link

This adds delay to the transmission which is proportional to the

length of the packet

If the packet is of L bits, if the rate of outgoing link is R bps, then

delay = L/R seconds Store and Forward delay

Each router has a output buffer for each link, if the outgoing link is
not free, the packet has to wait in the buffer

Hence, queuing delay is also added for a packet

Finite buffer If the buffer is completely filled, then packet loss

occurs

Follows statistical multiplexing on-demand sharing of resources.

Shared only for the senders that are active currently.
To send L bits packet, in Q links of data rate R bps:

From Host A to 1st link L/R seconds

Then transmits thru Q-1 links + store-and-forward delay of Q-1 times

Total delay = QL/R seconds (queuing, propagation and other delays are
neglected)

Packet Switching

Example:

L = 7.5 Mbits

R = 1.5 Mbps

delay = 3L/R

= 3 * 7.5 Mbits / 1.5 Mbits

= 15 sec

Disadvantages in Packet-switching
not suitable for real time systems due to delays
E.g.., not applicable for telephone calls, video conferencing, etc..,

Circuit Vs Packet switching

Packet switching

Better sharing of bandwidth

Simpler

More efficient

Less costly for implementation

Resources are not wasted when the user is idle

Even circuit and packet switching are existing, the usage of

packet switching is emerging.

Types of Packet Switching Networks

Datagram networks

Virtual Circuit Networks

Virtual Circuit networks

Packets are forwarded using virtual circuit network virtual connection

Destination Address used by routers = VC Identifier (VCID)

E.g.., X.25, frame relay, ATM systems, etc..,

Each virtual circuit consists of

Path (series of switches and links)

VCID

VC number translation tables for each switch

After establishing a VC from source and destination, the source

sends the packet with appropriate VC number

Different VC numbers exists for each link in a VC

The intermediate switch obtains the incoming packet and

replaces the VC number appropriate to the outgoing link.

This replacement is made by the entries in the VC translation

table

Consider the VC from host A to B.

The VC numbers are 11, 22, 33, 42 4 links in the path

Hence if the packet leaves the host A with VC number 11, the
intermediate switch replaces it to 22

The numbers next to the link of switch 1 is the interface numbers

The translation table is given as

Incoming

Incoming VC

Outgoing

Outgoing VC

Interface

Interface

11

22

63

18

17

97

87

Whenever the VC is established across source to destination, the VC

numbers are updated in the table.

When the circuit is removed, the VC entry is deleted

The network switches maintains a State Information for all the

connections.

Advantages of different VC numbers for each link

The length of the VC is reduced as it is replaced from source to

destination

Network management function is simplified

Datagram networks

Packets are forwarded according to the address of destination

E.g.., Postal service => Internet

Addressing follows the as postal address hierarchical structure

(country, state, city, street, door number)

This address is maintained in the header of the packet

The switch opens the header and maps the packet to the route
corresponding to the hierarchical structure of the address

The switch contains a forwarding table that contains the possible

next link to the destination.

This type of network do not maintain the current State Information

as the packet is forwarded based on the address not on the link
number

Network Taxonomy

Telecommunication
networks

Circuit-switched
networks

FDM

TDM

Packet-switched
networks

Networks
with VCs

Datagram
Networks

Reference:

James F. Kurose, Keith W. Ross, Computer Networking A top

down Approach Featuring the Internet ,Third Edition, Pearson
Education, 2007

William Stallings, High Speed Networks and Internet, Pearson

Education, Second Edition, 2002.

Behrouz A. Foruzan, Data communication and Networking, Tata

McGraw H ll, 2004.

William Stallings, Data and Computer Communication, Sixth

Edition, Pearson Education, 2000.