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UNIT I INTRODUCTION AND PHYSICAL LAYER

Networks – Network Types – Protocol Layering – TCP/IP Protocol suite – OSI Model –
Physical Layer: Performance – Transmission media – Switching – Circuit-switched
Networks – Packet Switching

1.1 NETWORKS
A network is the interconnection of a set of devices capable of communication. In this
definition, a device can be a host (or an end system as it is sometimes called) such as a
large computer, desktop, laptop, workstation, cellular phone, or security system.
Data communiction
Exchange of data between two devices via some form of transmission medium such as a
wire cable.
Characteristics:
▪ Correct delivery
▪ Accuracy
▪ Timeliness
▪ Jitter
Components of Data Communication
▪ Message
▪ Sender
▪ Receiver
▪ Medium
▪ Protocol
1. Message
Information to be communicated which consist of text, numbers, pictures, sound or video
combination.
2. Sender
Device that sends the data message may be computer, workstation, telephone handset,
video camera etc.
3. Receiver
Device that receives the message can be computer, workstation, telephone handset,
television and so on.

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4. Medium
Physical path by which a message travels from sender to receiver – twisted pair wire,
coaxial cable, fiber optic cable or radio waves
5. Protocol
Set of rules that governs data communication. It represents an agreement between the
communicating devices.
Direction of data flow
▪ 1. Simplex – Sends information in one direction
▪ 2. Half Duplex – data can be transmitted in both direction on a signal carrier
except not at the same time
▪ 3. Full Duplex – Transmit data in both directions on a signal carrier except not at
the same time

Fig 1.1 Direction of dataflow

1.1.1 Network criteria
A network must be able to meet a certain number of criteria. The most important of these
are performance, reliability, and security.
Performance
Performance can be measured in many ways:
▪ Transit time and
▪ Response time
Transit time is the amount of time required for a message to travel from one device to

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another. Response time is the elapsed time between an inquiry and a response.
The performance of a network depends on a number of factors, including the number of
users, the type of transmission medium, the capabilities of the connected hardware, and
the efficiency of the software.
Performance is often evaluated by two networking metrics: throughput and delay.
Reliability
Network reliability is measured by the frequency of failure, the time it takes a link to
recover from a failure, and the network’s robustness in a catastrophe.
Security
Network security issues include protecting data from unauthorized access, protecting
data from damage and development, and implementing policies and procedures for
recovery from breaches and data losses.

1.1.2 Physical Structures

Type of Connection
A network is two or more devices connected through links. A link is a communications
pathway that transfers data from one device to another. There are two possible types of
connections: point-to-point and multipoint
Point-to-Point
A point-to-point connection provides a dedicated link between two devices. The entire
capacity of the link is reserved for transmission between those two devices. It is possible
to connect the two devices by a pair of wires or microwave or satellite links. (see Figure
1.2a).
Multipoint
A multipoint (also called multidrop) connection is one in which more than two specific
devices share a single link (see Figure 1.2b).

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Figure 1.2 Types of connections: point-to-point and multipoint

Physical Topology
The term physical topology refers to the way in which a network is laid out physically.
Two or more devices connect to a link; two or more links form a topology. The topology
of a network is the geometric representation of the relationship of all the links and
linking devices (usually called nodes) to one another. There are four basic topologies
possible: mesh, star, bus, and ring.

1. Mesh Topology
In a mesh topology, every device has a dedicated point-to-point link to every other
device. The term dedicated means that the link carries traffic only between the two
devices it connects.
For ‘n’ nodes, there would be n (n – 1) / 2 duplex-mode links. To accommodate that
many links, every device on the network must have n – 1 input/output (I/O) ports (see
Figure 1.3) to be connected to the other n – 1 stations.

Figure 1.3 A fully connected mesh topology (five devices)

Advantages:

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Does not have traffic congestion problems

Provides privacy and Security
Point to point links make fault identification and fault isolation easy.

Disadvantages:
Installation and reconfiguration are more difficult
Large amount of cabling is required

2. Star Topology
In a star topology, each device has a dedicated point-to-point link only to a central
controller, usually called a hub. The devices are not directly linked to one another.
Unlike a mesh topology, a star topology does not allow direct traffic between devices.
The controller acts as an exchange: If one device wants to send data to another, it sends
the data to the controller, which then relays the data to the other connected device (see
Figure 1.4).

Figure 1.4 A star topology connecting four stations

Advantages:
▪ Less expensive
▪ Easy to modify and add new nodes to a star network without disturbing the rest of
the network.
▪ Trouble shooting techniques are easy
▪ Failures of any node will not bring down the whole star network
Disadvantages:
If the central hub fails, the whole network fails to operate
Each node must be linked to a central hub. So more cabling is required in a star than
some other topologies like ring or bus.

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3. Bus Topology
A bus topology provides multipoint communication where as all other topologies
provides point to point communication. In this case a long cable called bus forms the
backbone to all the nodes. (see Figure 1.5).

Figure 1.5 A bus topology connecting three stations

Nodes are connected to the bus cable by drop lines and taps. A drop line is a connection
running between the device and the main cable. A tap is a connector that either splices
into the main cable or punctures the sheathing of a cable to create a contact with the
metallic core. As a signal travels along the backbone, some of its energy is transformed
into heat.
Advantages:
▪ Easy to use and easy to install
▪ It uses less cables than mesh, star or tree topologies
▪ Needs less number of physical connectivity devices.
▪ A repeater can also be used to extend a bus topology network
▪ Low cost

Disadvantages:
▪ Heavy network traffic can slow a bus considerably
▪ It is difficult to troubleshoot a bus
▪ Failure of cable affects all devices on the network
▪ Difficult to add a new nodes to a bus, thus making it more inflexible.

4. Ring Topology
In a ring topology, each device has a dedicated point-to-point connection with only the
two devices on either side of it. A signal is passed along the ring in one direction, from
device to device, until it reaches its destination. Each device in the ring incorporates a

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repeater. When a device receives a signal intended for another device, its repeater
regenerates the bits and passes them along (see Figure 1.6).

Figure 1.6 A ring topology connecting six stations

A ring is relatively easy to install and reconfigure. Each device is linked to only its
immediate neighbors (either physically or logically). To add or delete a device requires
changing only two connections. The only constraints are media and traffic
considerations.
Advantages:
▪ A ring is easy to reconfigure and install
▪ A node not receiving any signal for a long time indicates a fault. Therefore fault
isolation is relatively easy in a ring
▪ To add or delete a device requires changing only two connections
Disadvantages:
▪ Adding or removing nodes disrupts the networks
▪ Failure of one node on the ring can affect the whole network.
▪ Cost of cable is more in ring network
▪ The traffic is only in one direction. Therefore some ring topologies are dual rings

1.3 NETWORK TYPES

Generally network is Classified based on its size, its ownership, the distance it covers,
and its physical structure.

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Fig 1.7 Categories of networks

1.3.1 Local Area Network

A local area network (LAN) is usually privately owned and connects some hosts in
asingle office, building, or campus. Depending on the needs of an organization, a
LANcan be as simple as two PCs and a printer in someone’s home office, or it can
extendthroughout a company and include audio and video devices. Each host in a LAN
has anidentifier, an address, that uniquely defines the host in the LAN. A packet sent by a
hostto another host carries both the source host’s and the destination host's addresses.

Figure 1.8 An isolated LAN in the past and today

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1.3.2 Wide Area Network

A wide area network (WAN) is also an interconnection of devices capable of
communication.
Differences between a LAN and a WAN:
▪ LAN is normally limited in size, spanning an office, a building, or a campus; a
WAN has a wider geographical span, spanning a town, a state, a country, or even
the world.
▪ A LAN interconnects hosts; a WAN interconnects connecting devices such as
switches, routers, or modems.
▪ A LAN is normally privately owned by the organization that uses it; a WAN is
normally created and run by communication companies and leased by an
organization that uses it.
Types of WAN
1. point-to-point WANs and
2. switched WANs

1. Point-to-Point WAN
A point-to-point WAN is a network that connects two communicating devices through a
transmission media (cable or air). Figure 1.9 shows an example of a point-to-point WAN.

Figure 1.9 A point-to-point WAN

Switched WAN
A switched WAN is a network with more than two ends. A switched WAN is used in the
backbone of global communication today. A switched WAN is a combination of several
point-to-point WANs that are connected by switches. Figure 1.10 shows an example of a
switched WAN.

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Figure 1.10 A switched WAN

Internetwork
A collection of two or more networks that are connected is called an internetwork (or)
internet.
For example, Assume that an organization has two offices, one on the east coast and the
other on the west coast. Each office has a LAN that allows all employees in the office to
communicate with each other. To make the communication between employees at
different offices possible, the management leases a point-to-point dedicated WAN from a
service provider, such as a telephone company, and connects the two LANs. Now the
company has an internetwork, or a private internet (with lowercase i). Communication
between offices is now possible. Figure 1.11 shows this internet.

Figure 1.11 An internetwork made of two LANs and one point-to-point WAN

1.3.3 Switching
An internet is a switched network in which a switch connects at least two links together.
A switch needs to forward data from a network to another network when required. The
two most common types of switched networks are circuit-switched and packet-switched
networks.

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Circuit-Switched Network
In a circuit-switched network, a dedicated connection, called a circuit, is always
available between the two end systems; the switch can only make it active or inactive.
Figure 1.12 shows a very simple switched network that connects four telephones to each
end.
In Figure 1.12, the four telephones at each side are connected to a switch. The switch
connects a telephone set at one side to a telephone set at the other side. The thick line
connecting two switches is a high-capacity communication line that can handle four
voice communications at the same time; the capacity can be shared between all pairs of
telephone sets. The switches used in this example have forwarding tasks but no storing
capability.

Figure 1.12 A circuit-switched network

Packet-Switched Network
In a computer network, the communication between the two ends is done in blocks of
data called packets.
Exchanging of individual data packets between the two computers allows us to make the
switches function for both storing and forwarding because a packet is an independent
entity that can be stored and sent later. Figure 1.13 shows a small packet-switched
network that connects four computers at one site to four computers at the other site.

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Figure 1.13 A packet-switched network

Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)
▪ Designed to cover the area inside a town or a city.
▪ It is a network size greater than a LAN and lesser than a WAN
▪ Connecting a number of LANs into a larger network
▪ Many telephone companies provide a popular MAN service called Switched
Multi-megabit Data service (SMDS)
▪ Provides the transfer rates from 34 to 150 Mbps

Fig 1.14 MAN

Personal Area Network
▪ Let devices communicate over the range of a person
▪ Example: Wireless network that connects a computer with its peripherals,
▪ Bluetooth use the master-slave paradigm
▪ Communicate over short ranges such as RFID on Smart cards and librarybooks

1.4 PROTOCOL LAYERING

• A protocol is a set of rules that govern data communications
• Define the rules that both sender and receiver and all intermediate devices need to
follow be able to communicate effectively
• The basic idea of a layered architecture is to divide the design into small pieces.
That is we may need to divide the task between different layers, in which case we
need a protocol at each layer called protocol layering
• When communication is simple, we may need only one simple protocol; when the
communication is complex, we need a protocol at each layer, or protocol layering.

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• Key elements of the protocols are Syntax, semantics, timing

1.4.1 Scenarios
• First scenario – Communication is in the same language which can occur in only
one layer.
• Second Scenario - the communication between Maria and Ann takes place in three
layers.
1. First Scenario
In the first Scenario, Communication is so simple that is communication is in the same
language which occur in only one layer.
Assume Maria and Ann are neighbors with a lot of common ideas. Communication
between Maria and Ann takes place in one layer, face to face, in the same language

Fig 1.15 A Single Layer Protocol

Set of rules
• First, Maria and Ann know that they should greet each other when they meet.
• Second, they know that they should confine their vocabulary to the level of their
friendship.
• Third, each party knows that she should refrain from speaking when the other
party is speaking.
• Fourth, each party knows that the conversation should be a dialog, not a monolog:
both should have the opportunity to talk about the issue.
• Fifth, they should exchange some nice words when they leave.

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2. Second Scenario

Fig 1.16 A three Layer Protocol

• In the second scenario, we assume that Ann is offered a higher-level position in

her company, but needs to move to another branch located in a city very far from
Maria.
• The two friends still want to continue their communication and exchange ideas
because they have come up with an innovative project to start a new business
when they both retire.
• They decide to continue their conversation using regular mail through the post
office. However, they do not want their ideas to be revealed by other people if the
letters are intercepted. They agree on an encryption/decryption technique.
• The sender of the letter encrypts it to make it unreadable by an intruder; the
receiver of the letter decrypts it to get the original letter.
• The communication between Maria and Ann takes place in three layers, as shown
in Figure. Assume that Ann and Maria each have three machines (or robots) that
can perform the task at each layer.

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1.4.2 Principles of protocol layering

• First Principle – if we want bidirectional communication, we need to make each
layer that can be able to perform two opposite tasks, one in each direction
• For example, the third layer task is to listen (in one direction) and talk (in the
other direction). The second layer needs to be able to encrypt and decrypt. The
first layer needs to send and receive mail
• Second principle – the two objects under each layer at both sites should be
identical
• For example, the object under layer 3 at both sites should be a plaintext letter. At
layer 2 both sites should be a cipher text letter. The object under layer 1 at both
sites should be a piece of mail.

1.4.3 Logical Connections

• This means that we have layer-to-layer communication.
• Maria and Ann can think that there is a logical (imaginary) connection at each
layer through which they can send the object created from that layers

Figure 1.17 Logical connection between peer layers

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Benefits
▪ To make the design process easy by breaking unmanageable tasks into several
smaller and manageable tasks (by divide and conquer approach)
▪ Each layer can be analyzed and tested independently of all other layers

1.5 TCP/IP PROTOCOL SUITE

• TCP/IP is a protocol suite (a set of protocols organized in different layers) used in
the Internet today.
• It is a hierarchical protocol made up of interactive modules, each of which
provides a specific functionality.
• The term hierarchical means that each upper level protocol is supported by the
services provided by one or more lower level protocols.
• The original TCP/IP protocol suite was defined as four software layers built upon
the hardware.
• Today, however, TCP/IP is thought of as a five-layer model.

Fig 1.18 Layers in the TCP/IP protocol suite

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1.5.1 Layered Architecture

• To show how the layers in the TCP/IP protocol suite are involved in
communication between two hosts,
• we assume that we want to use the suite in a small internet made up of three LANs
(links), each with a link-layer switch
• We also assume that the links are connected by one router, as shown in below
Figure.

Fig 1.19 Communication through an Internet

Let us assume that computer A communicates with computer B. As the figure shows, we
have five communicating devices in this communication:
▪ source host (computer A),
▪ the link-layer switch in link 1,
▪ the router, t
▪ the link-layer switch in link 2,and
▪ the destination host (computer B).
Each device is involved with a set of layers depending on the role of the device in the
internet. The two hosts are involved in all five layers; the source host needs to create a
message in the application layer and send it down the layers so that it is physically sent to

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the destination host. The destination host needs to receive the communication at the
physical layer and then deliver it through the other layers to the application layer.

The router is involved in only three layers; there is no transport or application layer in a
router as long as the router is used only for routing. For example, in the above figure,
▪ The router is involved in three links, but the message sent from source A to
destination B is involved in two links.
▪ Each link may be using different link-layer and physical-layer protocols; the
router needs to receive a packet from link 1 based on one pair of protocols and
deliver it to link 2 based on another pair of protocols.
▪ A link-layer switch in a link, however, is involved only in two layers, data-link
and physical.
▪ Although each switch in the above figure has two different connections, the
connections are in the same link, which uses only one set of protocols. This means
that, unlike a router, a link-layer switch is involved only in one data-link and one
physical layer.

1.5.2 Layers in the TCP/IP Protocol Suite

To better understand the duties of each layer, we need to think about the logical
connections between layers. Figure below shows logical connections in our simple
internet.

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Fig 1.20 Logical connections between layers of the TCP/IP protocol suite

The duty of the application, transport, and network layers is end-to-end. The duty of the
data-link and physical layers is hop-to-hop, in which a hop is a host or router.
The domain of duty of the top three layers is the internet, and the domain of duty of the
two lower layers is the link
In the top three layers, the data unit (packets) should not be changed by any router or
link-layer switch. In the bottom two layers, the packet created by the host is changed
only by the routers, not by the link-layer switches.
Figure below shows the second principle discussed previously for protocol layering. We
show the identical objects below each layer related to each device.

Fig 1.21 Identical Objects in TCP/IP Protocol Suite

1.5.3 Description of Each Layer

Physical Layer
• Responsible for carrying individual bits in a frame across the link
• Lowest level in the TCP/IP protocol suite
• There is another, hidden layer, the transmission media, under the physical layer.
Two devices are connected by a transmission medium (cable or air).
• It carries electrical or optical signals. So the bits received in a frame from the
data-link layer are transformed and sent through the transmission media,

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Data-link Layer
• Responsible for taking the datagram and moving it across the link. The link
can be a wired LAN with a link-layer switch, a wireless LAN, a wired WAN, or a
wireless WAN
• Any protocol that can take the datagram and carry it through the link suffices for
the network layer. The data-link layer takes a datagram and encapsulates it in a
packet called frame.
• Each link-layer protocol may provide a different service. Some link-layer
protocols provide complete error detection and correction, some provide only
error correction.
Network Layer
• Responsible for creating a connection between the source computer and the
destination computer.
• The communication at the network layer is host-to-host
• There can be several routers from the source to the destination, the routers in the
path are responsible for choosing the best route for each packet.
• Responsible for host-to-host communication and routing the packet through
possible routes.
Transport Layer
• The logical connection at the transport layer is also end-to-end. The transport
layer at the source host gets the message from the application layer, encapsulates
it in a transport layer packet (called a segment or a user datagram in different
protocols) and sends it, through the logical (imaginary) connection, to the
transport layer at the destination host.
• In other words, the transport layer is responsible for giving services to the
application layer: to get a message from an application program running on the
source host and deliver it to the corresponding application program on the
destination host.
Application Layer
• The logical connection between the two application layers is end to-end. The two
application layers exchange messages between each other as though there were a
bridge between the two layers.

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• Communication at the application layer is between two processes (two programs

running at this layer). To communicate, a process sends a request to the other
process and receives a response.
• Process-to-process communication is the duty of the application layer. The
application layer in the Internet includes many predefined protocols, but a user
can also create a pair of processes to be run at the two hosts.

1.5.4 Encapsulation and Decapsulation

Figure 1.22 shows this concept for the small internet

Figure 1.22 Encapsulation/Decapsulation

Encapsulation at the Source Host
At the source, we have only encapsulation.
1. At the application layer, the data to be exchanged is referred to as a message. A
message normally does not contain any header or trailer, but if it does, we refer to the
whole as the message. The message is passed to the transport layer.
2. The transport layer takes the message as the payload, the load that the transport layer
should take care of. It adds the transport layer header to the payload, which contains the
identifiers of the source and destination application programs that want to communicate
plus some more information that is needed for the end-to end delivery of the message,
such as information needed for flow, error control, or congestion control. The result is
the transport-layer packet, which is called the segment (in TCP) and the user datagram
(in UDP). The transport layer then passes the packet to the network layer.

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3. The network layer takes the transport-layer packet as data or payload and adds its own
header to the payload. The header contains the addresses of the source and destination
hosts and some more information used for error checking of the header, fragmentation
information, and so on. The result is the network-layer packet, called a datagram. The
network layer then passes the packet to the data-link layer.
4. The data-link layer takes the network-layer packet as data or payload and adds its own
header, which contains the link-layer addresses of the host or the next hop (the router).
The result is the link-layer packet, which is called a frame. The frame is passed to the
physical layer for transmission.

Decapsulation and Encapsulation at the Router

At the router, we have both decapsulation and encapsulation because the router is
connected to two or more links.
1. After the set of bits are delivered to the data-link layer, this layer decapsulates the
datagram from the frame and passes it to the network layer.
2. The network layer only inspects the source and destination addresses in the datagram
header and consults its forwarding table to find the next hop to which the datagram is to
be delivered. The contents of the datagram should not be changed by the network layer in
the router unless there is a need to fragment the datagram if it is too big to be passed
through the next link. The datagram is then passed to the data-link layer of the next link.
3. The data-link layer of the next link encapsulates the datagram in a frame and passes it
to the physical layer for transmission.

Decapsulation at the Destination Host

At the destination host, each layer only decapsulates the packet received, removes the
payload, and delivers the payload to the next-higher layer protocol until the message
reaches the application layer.

1.5.5 Addressing
Figure 1.23 shows the addressing at each layer.

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Figure 1.23 Addressing in the TCP/IP protocol suite

As the figure shows, there is a relationship between the layer, the address used in that
layer, and the packet name at that layer.
▪ At the application layer, we normally use names to define the site that provides
services, such as someorg.com, or the e-mail address, such as
[email protected].
▪ At the transport layer, addresses are called port numbers, and these define the
application-layer programs at the source and destination.
▪ Port numbers are local addresses that distinguish between several programs
running at the same time. At the network-layer, the addresses are global, with the
whole Internet as the scope.
▪ A network-layer address uniquely defines the connection of a device to the
Internet. The link-layer addresses, sometimes called MAC addresses, are locally
defined addresses, each of which defines a specific host or router in a network
(LAN or WAN).

1.5.6 Multiplexing and Demultiplexing

Multiplexing in this case means that a protocol at a layer can encapsulate a packet from
several next-higher layer protocols (one at a time); demultiplexing means that a protocol
can decapsulate and deliver a packet to several next-higher layer protocols (one at a
time). Figure 1.24 shows the concept of multiplexing and demultiplexing at the three
upper layers.

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Figure 1.24 Multiplexing and demultiplexing

1.6 THE OSI MODEL

▪ The International Standard Organization(ISO) is a multinational body dedicated to
worldwide agreement on International Standards. It created a model called the
Open system Interconnection(OSI), which allows different systems to
communicate.
▪ An open system is a set of protocols that allows any two different systems to
communicate regardless of their underlying architecture.
▪ ISO is the organization; OSI is the model
▪ The OSI model is a layered framework for the design of network systems that
allows communication between all types of computer systems.
▪ It consists of seven separate but related layers, each of which defines a part of the
process of moving information across a network.

The OSI model is a layered framework for the design of network systems that allows
communication between all types of computer systems. It consists of seven separate but
related layers, each of which defines a part of the process of moving information
across a network (see Figure 1.25).

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Figure 1.25 The OSI model

• Physical Layer – Coordinates the functions required to transmit a bit stream over
a physical medium.
• Data Link Layer – Responsible for transmitting a group of bits to the adjacent
node without errors. Passes a data unit to the data link layer. At this stage, adds
the header and trailer information to it. Which contains source and destination
addresses and other control information.
• Network Layer – Ensures the successful delivery of a packet to the destination
node. Responsible for Logical addressing and routing
• Transport Layer – Responsible for source to destination i.e end to end delivery
of the entire message. Network layer is responsible for end to end delivery of
individual packets. Transport layer is responsible for Segmentation and
Reassembly, Flow control and error control
• Session Layer – to establish and maintain and synchronizes the interaction
between two communicating hosts
• Presentation Layer – When two hosts are communicating each other, they might
be using different coding standards and character sets for representing the data
internally. Performs translation, encryption, compression
• Application Layer – Topmost layer. Provides user interface for network
applications such as electronic mail, remote file access and transfer, shared
database management, and other types of distributed information services.

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1.6.1 OSI versus TCP/IP

When we compare the two models, we find that two layers, session and presentation, are
missing from the TCP/IP protocol suite. These two layers were not added to the TCP/IP
protocol suite after the publication of the OSI model. The application layer in the suite is
usually considered to be the combination of three layers in the OSI model, as shown in
Figure 1.26

Figure 1.26 TCP/IP and OSI model

• Two layers, session and presentation are missing from the TCP/IP protocol suite
• The application layer in the TCP/IP is usually considered to be the combination of
three layers in the OSI model

1.7 PERFORMANCE
In network design, Performance is an important factor for any computer systems and
computer networks. Four approaches:
1. Bandwidth
2. Throughput
3. Latency (delay)
4. Jitter

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1.7.1 Bandwidth
• Is the number of bits that can be transmitted over the network in a certain period
of time.
• Two types:
• Bandwidth in hertz
• Bandwidth in bits per second
• Bandwidth in hertz
• Refers to the range of frequencies contained in a composite signal or the
range of frequencies that a channel can pass.
• Ex: Bandwidth of a subscriber telephone line is 4 KHz
• Bandwidth in bits per second
• Refers to the number of bits per second that a channel, a link or even a
network can transmit.
• Ex: Bandwidth of Ethernet network is a maximum of 100 Mbps. This
network can send 100 Mbps
1.7.2 Throughput
• IS a measure of the number of bits that can pass through a network per second.
• Throughput = Transfer size / Transfer time
1.7.3 Latency
• Also termed a delay
• It is a measure of how long a single bit takes to propagate from one end of a link
to an other end
• It is defined using four components
• Propagation time
• Transmission time
• Queuing
• Processing Delay
• Latency (D) = Propagation time + Transmission time + Queuing +
Processing Delay
1.7.4 Delay
• Delay × Bandwidth gives the volume of the pipe – maximum number of bits that
could be in transmit through the pipe at any given instant.

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• RTT - time takes for a bit of information to propagate from one end of a network
to the other end and revert back
1.7.5 Jitter
• Refers to the variation in the packet arrival time, that is an uneven delay in the
delivery of audio or video packets.

1.8 Transmission Media

Transmission media is the Physical path between source and destination that carry the
information signals.
Transmission media are actually located between the physical layer and are directly
controlled by the physical layer.

Fig. 1.27 Transmission medium and physical layer

In telecommunications, transmission media can be divided into two broad categories:
guided and unguided. Guided media include twisted-pair cable, coaxial cable, andfiber-
optic cable. Unguided medium is free space. Figure 1.28 shows this taxonomy

Figure 1.28 Classes of transmission media

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1.9 GUIDED MEDIA

Guided media, which are those that provide a conduit from one device to another,
include twisted-pair cable, coaxial cable, and fiber-optic cable. A signal traveling
along any of these media is directed and contained by the physical limits of the medium.
Twisted-pair and coaxial cable use metallic (copper) conductors that accept and transport
signals in the form of electric current. Optical fiber is a cable that accepts and transports
signals in the form of light.

1.9.1 Twisted-Pair Cable

A twisted pair consists of two conductors (normally copper), each with its own plastic
insulation, twisted together, as shown in Figure 1.29.

Figure 1.29 Twisted-pair cable

▪ One of the wires is used to carry signals to the receiver, and the other is used
only as a ground reference.
▪ The signal sent by the sender on one of the wires, interference (noise) and
crosstalk may affect both wires and create unwanted signals.
Types:
▪ Unshielded Twisted Pair – is a set of twisted pairs of cable within a plastic
sheath. It is an ordinary telephone wire, which can carry both voice as well as
data.
▪ Shielded Twisted Pair – this pair itself is carried by metal shield and finally by
the plastic cover. The metal shield prevents penetration of electromagnetic noise
which reduces the noise and cross talk substantially

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Figure 1.30 UTP and STP Cables

Connectors
The most common UTP connector is RJ45 (RJ stands for registered jack), as shown in
Figure 1.31. The RJ45 is a keyed connector, meaning the connector can be inserted in
only one way.

Figure 1.31 UTP connector

1.9.2 Coaxial Cable
• Coaxial cable (or coax) carries signals of higher frequency ranges than those in
twisted pair cable
• Coax has a central core conductor of solid or stranded wire (usually copper)
enclosed in an insulating sheath, which is, in turn, encased in an outer conductor
of metal foil, braid, or a combination of the two.
• The outer metallic wrapping serves both as a shield against noise and as the
second conductor, which completes the circuit. This outer conductor is also
enclosed in an insulating sheath, and the whole cable is protected by a plastic
cover.

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Figure 1.32 Coaxial cable

Coaxial Cable Standards
Coaxial cables are categorized by their Radio Government (RG) ratings. Each RG
number denotes a unique set of physical specifications, including the wire gauge of the
shield, and the size and type of the outer casing. Each cable defined by an RG rating is
adapted for a specialized function, as shown in Table 7.2.
Table 7.2 Categories of coaxial cables

Coaxial Cable Connectors

To connect coaxial cable to devices, we need coaxial connectors. The most common type
of connector used today is the Bayonet Neill-Concelman (BNC) connector.
Figure 1.33 shows three popular types of these connectors: the BNC connector, the BNC
T connector, and the BNC terminator.

Figure 1.33 BNC connectors

The BNC connector is used to connect the end of the cable to a device, such as a TV set.
The BNC T connector is used in Ethernet networks to branch out to a connection to a

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computer or other device. The BNC terminator is used at the end of the cable to prevent
the reflection of the signal.

1.9.3 Fiber-Optic Cable

A fiber-optic cable is made of glass or plastic and transmits signals in the form of light.
To understand optical fiber, we first need to explore several aspects of the nature of light.
Light travels in a straight line as long as it is moving through a single uniform substance.
If a ray of light traveling through one substance suddenly enters another substance (of a
different density), the ray changes direction. Figure 1.34 shows how a ray of light
changes direction when going from a more dense to a less dense substance.

Figure 1.34 Bending of light ray

If the angle of incidence I (the angle the ray makes with the line perpendicular to the
interface between the two substances) is less than the critical angle, the ray refracts and
moves closer to the surface.
If the angle of incidence is equal to the critical angle, the light bends along the
interface.
If the angle is greater than the critical angle, the ray reflects (makes a turn) and travels
again in the denser.

Optical fibers use reflection to guide light through a channel. A glass or plastic core is
surrounded by a cladding of less dense glass or plastic. The difference in density of the
two materials must be such that a beam of light moving through the core is reflected off
the cladding instead of being refracted into it. See Figure 1.35.

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Figure 1.35 Optical fiber

Propagation Modes
Current technology supports two modes (multimode and single mode) for propagating
light along optical channels, each requiring fiber with different physical characteristics.
Multimode can be implemented in two forms: step-index or graded-index (see Figure
1.36).

Figure 1.36 Propagation modes

Multimode
Multimode is so named because multiple beams from a light source move through the
core in different paths. How these beams move within the cable depends on the structure
of the core, as shown in Figure 1.37.

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Figure 1.37 Modes

In multimode step-index fiber, the density of the core remains constant from the center
to the edges. A beam of light moves through this constant density in a straight line until it
reaches the interface of the core and the cladding.
The term step-index refers to the suddenness of this change, which contributes to the
distortion of the signal as it passes through the fiber.
A second type of fiber, called multimode graded-index fiber, decreases this distortion
of the signal through the cable. The word index here refers to the index of refraction. As
we saw above, the index of refraction is related to density.
A graded index fiber, therefore, is one with varying densities. Density is highest at the
center of the core and decreases gradually to its lowest at the edge.

Single-Mode
Single-mode uses step-index fiber and a highly focused source of light that limits beams
to a small range of angles, all close to the horizontal. The single-mode fiber itself is
manufactured with a much smaller diameter than that of multimode fiber, and with
substantially lower density (index of refraction).

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Fiber Sizes
Table 7.3 Fiber types

Advantages of Optical fiber

1. Wider bandwidth and greater information capacity
2. Less signal attenuation
3. Immunity to noise
Disadvantages:
1. Due to its small size and brittleness makes more difficult to work with
2. Cost
3. Installation and maintenance

1.10 UNGUIDED MEDIA: WIRELESS

• Transport electromagnetic waves without using a physical conductor. This type of
communication is often referred to as wireless communication
• Unguided signals can travel from the source to the destination in several ways:
ground propagation, sky propagation, and line-of-sight propagation
• Figure 7.17 shows the part of the electromagnetic spectrum, ranging from 3 kHz
to 900 THz, used for wireless communication

Figure 1.38 Electromagnetic spectrum for wireless communication

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Unguided signals can travel from the source to the destination in several ways: ground
propagation, sky propagation, and line-of-sight propagation, as shown in Figure 1.39.

Figure 1.39 Propagation methods

• In ground propagation, radio waves travel through the lowest portion of the
atmosphere, hugging the earth.
• These low-frequency signals emanate in all directions from the transmitting
antenna and follow the curvature of the planet. Distance depends on the amount of
power in the signal: The greater the power, the greater the distance.
• Example: AM radio
• In sky propagation, higher-frequency radio waves radiate upward into the
ionosphere (the layer of atmosphere where particles exist as ions) where they are
reflected back to earth.
• This type of transmission allows for greater distances with lower output power.
• Example: Amateur radio, an international broadcasts such as BBC and voice of
America
• In line-of-sight propagation, very high-frequency signals are transmitted in
straight lines directly from antenna to antenna. Antennas must be directional,
facing each other, and either tall enough or close enough together not to be
affected by the curvature of the earth.
• Line-of sight propagation is tricky because radio transmissions cannot be
completely focused.

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1.10.1 Radio Waves

• Electromagnetic waves ranging in frequencies between 3 kHz and 1 GHz are
normally called radio waves;
• This makes radio waves a good candidate for long distance broadcasting such as
AM radio
• Omni directional Antenna
• Radio waves are Omni directional meaning that they travel in all directions from
the source, so that the transmitter and receiver do not have to be carefully aligned
physically
• Applications
• The omnidirectional characteristics of radio waves make them useful for
multicasting, in which there is one sender but many receivers.
• AM and FM radio, television, maritime radio, cordless phones, and paging are
examples of multicasting

Figure 1.40 Omnidirectional antenna

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1.10.2 Microwaves
• Electromagnetic waves having frequencies between 1 and 300 GHz are called
microwaves.
• Microwaves are unidirectional. When an antenna transmits microwaves, they can
be narrowly focused. This means that the sending and receiving antennas need
to be aligned. The unidirectional property has an obvious advantage.
• A pair of antennas can be aligned without interfering with another pair of aligned
antennas.
Characteristics:
▪ Microwave propagation is line-of-sight. Since the towers with the mounted
antennas need to be in direct sight of each other, towers that are far apart need to
be very tall.
▪ The curvature of the earth as well as other blocking obstacles do not allow two
short towers to communicate by using microwaves. Repeaters are often needed for
long distance communication.
▪ Very high-frequency microwaves cannot penetrate walls. This characteristic can
be a disadvantage if receivers are inside buildings.
▪ The microwave band is relatively wide, almost 299 GHz. Therefore wider
subbands can be assigned, and a high data rate is possible.
▪ Use of certain portions of the band requires permission from authorities.
Unidirectional Antenna
Microwaves need unidirectional antennas that send out signals in one direction. Two
types of antennas are used for microwave communications: the parabolic dish and the
horn (see Figure 1.41).

Figure 1.41 Unidirectional antennas

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A parabolic dish antenna is based on the geometry of a parabola: Every line parallel to
the line of symmetry (line of sight) reflects off the curve at angles such that all the lines
intersect in a common point called the focus. The parabolic dish works as a funnel,
catching a wide range of waves and directing them to a common point. In this way, more
of the signal is recovered than would be possible with a single-point receiver.
A horn antenna looks like a gigantic scoop. Outgoing transmissions are broadcast up a
stem (resembling a handle) and deflected outward in a series of narrow parallel beams by
the curved head. Received transmissions are collected by the scooped shape of the horn,
in a manner similar to the parabolic dish, and are deflected down into the stem.
Applications:
Used for Unicast communication such as cellular telephones, Satellite networks and
wireless LANs

1.10.3 Infrared
Infrared waves, with frequencies from 300 GHz to 400 THz (wavelengths from 1 mm to
770 nm), can be used for short-range communication. Infrared waves, having high
frequencies, cannot penetrate walls. This advantageous characteristic prevents
interference between one system and another; a short-range communication system in
one room cannot be affected by another system in the next room.
Infrared signals can be used for short-range communication in a closed area using
line-of-sight propagation
Applications
• Used for short range communications such as those between a PC and a peripheral
device. It can also be used for indoor LANs

1.11 SWITCHING
• For transmission of data beyond a local area, communication is typically achieved
by transmitting data from source to destination through the network of
intermediate switching nodes.
• A switched network consists of a series of interlinked nodes, called switches.
• Switches are devices capable of creating temporary connections between two or
more devices linked to the switch. In a switched network, some of these nodes are

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connected to the end systems (computers or telephones, for example). Others are
used only for routing.

Figure 1.42 Switched network

The end systems (communicating devices) are labeled A, B, C, D, and so on, and the
switches are labeled I, II, III, IV, and V. Each switch is connected to multiple links.

1.11.1 Three Methods of Switching

Three methods are:
▪ circuit switching,
▪ packet switching, and
▪ message switching.
The first two are commonly used today. The third has been phased out in general
communications but still has networking applications.
Packet switching can further be divided into two subcategories—virtual circuit approach
and datagram approach—as shown in Figure 1.43.

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Figure 1.43 Taxonomy of switched networks

1.11.2 Switching and TCP/IP Layers
Switching can happen at several layers of the TCP/IP protocol suite.
Switching at Physical Layer
At the physical layer, we can have only circuit switching. There are no packets
exchanged at the physical layer. The switches at the physical layer allow signals to travel
in one path or another.
Switching at Data-Link Layer
At the data-link layer, we can have packet switching. However, the term packet in this
case means frames or cells. Packet switching at the data-link layer is normally done using
a virtual-circuit approach.
Switching at Network Layer
At the network layer, we can have packet switching. In this case, either a virtual-circuit
approach or a datagram approach can be used. Currently the Internet uses a datagram
approach, as we see in Chapter 18, but the tendency is to move to a virtual-circuit
approach.
Switching at Application Layer
At the application layer, we can have only message switching. The communication at the
application layer occurs by exchanging messages. Conceptually, we can say that
communication using e-mail is a kind of message-switched communication, but we do
not see any network that actually can be called a message-switched network.

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1.12 CIRCUIT-SWITCHED NETWORKS

A circuit-switched network consists of a set of switches connected by physical links. A
connection between two stations is a dedicated path made of one or more links.
A circuit-switched network is made of a set of switches connected by physical links,
in which each link is divided into n channels.
Figure 1.44 shows a trivial circuit-switched network with four switches and four links.
Each link is divided into n (n is 3 in the figure) channels by using FDM or TDM.

Figure 1.44 A trivial circuit-switched network

The end systems, such as computers or telephones, are directly connected to a switch.
We have shown only two end systems for simplicity. When end system A needs to
communicate with end system M, system A needs to request a connection to M that must
be accepted by all switches as well as by M itself. This is called the setup phase;
a circuit (channel) is reserved on each link, and the combination of circuits or channels
defines the dedicated path. After the dedicated path made of connected circuits
(channels) is established, the data-transfer phase can take place. After all data have
been transferred, the circuits are torn down.

In circuit switching, the resources need to be reserved during the setup phase; the
resources remain dedicated for the entire duration of data transfer until the
teardown phase.

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1.12.1 Three Phases

The actual communication in a circuit-switched network requires three phases:
connection setup, data transfer, and connection teardown.
▪ Setup phase – End to End circuit must be established. Means creating dedicated
channels between switches
▪ Data transfer phase – Data can now be transmitted from a node to another node
through the network
▪ Tear down phase – After data transfer the connection gets terminated usually by
the one of the two stations involved
▪ Performance
o Efficiency – inefficient because resources need to allocate for the entire
duration of connection, even if no data are being transferred
o Delay - Although a circuit-switched network normally has low efficiency,
the delay in this type of network is minimal. During data transfer the data
are not delayed at each switch; the resources are allocated for the duration
of the connection

1.13 PACKET SWITCHING

The message gets broken into small data packets of either fixed or variable size. Each
packet is sent with a header addresses. This header tells its final destination. Packet
switching is done by
1. Datagram approach
2. Virtual approach
1. Datagram approach
• Each packet is treated independently of all others
• Packets in this approach are referred to as datagrams.
• Datagram switching is normally done at the network layer.
• Switch maintains a forwarding table which is used to forward a packet
• Every packet contains the complete destination address
• This figure shows how the datagram approach is used to deliver four packets from
station A to station X. The switches in a datagram network are traditionally
referred to as routers.

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• All four packets (or datagrams) belong to the same message, but may travel
different paths to reach their destination.
• This is so because the links may be involved in carrying packets from other
sources and do not have the necessary bandwidth available to carry all the packets
from A to X.
• This approach can cause the datagrams of a transmission to arrive at their
destination out of order with different delays between the packets.
• Packets may also be lost or dropped because of a lack of resources
• Upper-layer protocol to reorder the datagrams or ask for lost datagrams before
passing them on to the application

Fig 1.45 A datagram network with four switches (routers)

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Efficiency – better than that of a circuit switched network because the resources are
allocated only when there are many packets to be transferred.
Delay – Greater delay in a datagram network than in a virtual-circuit network
2. Virtual approach
• A virtual-circuit network is a cross between a circuit-switched network and a
datagram network.
• Also called connection oriented approach
• A preplanned single virtual connection route is chosen between the sender and the
receiver before any data is sent. When data are sent, all packets travel one after
another along this route.

Fig 1.46 Virtual-circuit network

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Addressing
• Two types of addressing are involved: global and local (virtual-circuit identifier).
• Global Addressing – is an address that is required for a source or destination if
the network is part of an international network. Used only to create VCI
• The identifier that is actually used for data transfer is called the virtual-circuit
identifier (VCI). Is a small number that has only switch scope; It is used by a
frame between two switches.
• When a frame arrives at a switch, it has a VCI; when it leaves, it has a different
VCI.

Fig 1.47 Virtual-circuit identifier

Three phases
First set up a virtual connection from source host to the destination host and then send the
data. VC approach has two stages:
1. setup,
2. data transfer, and
3. teardown.
• In the setup phase, the source and destination use their global addresses to help
switches make table entries for the connection.
• In the teardown phase, the source and destination inform the switches to delete the
corresponding entry. Data transfer occurs between these two phases.
Data-Transfer Phase
• To transfer a frame from a source to its destination, all switches need to have a
table entry for this virtual circuit. The table, in its simplest form, has four
columns.

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• This means that the switch holds four pieces of information for each virtual circuit
that is already set up.
• Figure below shows such a switch and its corresponding table.
• It shows a frame arriving at port 1 with a VCI of 14. When the frame arrives, the
switch looks in its table to find port 1 and a VCI of 14. When it is found, the
switch knows to change the VCI to 22 and send out the frame from port 3.
• This figure 1.48 shows how a frame from source A reaches destination B and how
its VCI changes during the trip. Each switch changes the VCI and routes the
frame.
• The data-transfer phase is active until the source sends all its frames to the
destination.
• The procedure at the switch is the same for each frame of a message. The process
creates a virtual circuit, not a real circuit, between the source and destination.

Figure 1.48 Switch and tables in a virtual-circuit network

Teardown Phase
In this phase, source A, after sending all frames to B, sends a special frame called a
teardown request. Destination B responds with a teardown confirmation frame. All
switches delete the corresponding entry from their tables.
Advantages:
▪ Includes sequencing and error control mechanism
▪ Here resource allocation is on demand
Disadvantages:
▪ If an node fails, all virtual circuits that pass through the node are lost

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