Fatima Jinnah Women University

Computer Networks-Fall
09
Lec-Introduction
Prepared by
Zia Qureshi
 A non technical look at networks
• Let us look at a few examples of networks from
our day to day lives and try to learn a few
concepts.
• What are examples of networks we use in life?
Power distribution network
Water distribution network
Network of city roads
The good old surface mail network
 Issues
•How is the content delivered?
•Are the links between source and receiver one-
way or both-ways?
•Do we need identifiers (or addresses) for
delivering the service?
Is the content provided by the network to each
receiver the same?
Is the content given to the network by each source
the same?
•Can we keep adding sinks indefinitely?
•Can we keep adding sources indefinitely?
 Motivation for Networks
• Information Access
• Sharing of Resources
• Facilitate Communications
 What a Network Includes
• Hardware: Talk just a bit about how you can configure
a bunch of computers into a network:
 Local Area Networks (LAN)
 Metropolitan Area Networks (MAN)
 Wide Area Networks (WAN)
• Software: This is what actually makes computer
networks – not the hardware!
• Protocols: describe how two communicating parties
exchange information.
 encodes and formats data
 detects and corrects problems
• Reference models: Describe how the OSI and
Internet networks are organized.
 What a Network Does
• Provides communication that is
Reliable
Fair
Efficient
From one application to another
 What a Network Does
• Automatically detects and corrects
Data corruption
Data loss
Duplication
Out-of-order delivery
• Automatically finds optimal path from source to
destination
 Data Communication versus Networking

• With only two nodes, mostly EE issues.

• With more than two nodes, lot more issues!

Direction of Transmission

Broadcast Point to Point

 Broadcast Networks
• Single Communication channel shared by all
the machines on the network.
• Any machine can send short messages
(packets).
• Each packet contains the address of intended
recipient.
• All machines receive the messages, only the
addressed machine processes the message.
 Broadcast Networks
• Example of a person shouting in a corridor
• Calling name of some other person
• What is one key issue with Broadcast
Networks?
• Packet Collisions.
 Point-to-point Networks
• Individual pairs of machines are physically
connected.
• To go from a source to a destination a packet
typically goes through intermediate nodes.
• What is a key issue in point-to-point networks?
• How do you optimally connect pairs of
machines?
 Network Scope
• Local Area Network (LAN)
• Wide Area Network (WAN)
• Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)
 Local Area Networks (LANs)
• Mostly used to connect PCs, shared resources
like printers, file servers etc. in a building.
• LANs are broadcast networks
• Their size is limited:
Maximum distance between two nodes.
Number of nodes connected.
 Local Area Networks (LANs)
• Traditionally the common media was a cable
that all nodes were attached to.
• We will study bridges etc. later.
• Wireless LANs are available now.
Local Area Networks (LANs)
 Local Area Networks (LANs)
•LANs generally don’t have any switching
elements
•The wire does all the work.
•This makes them extremely efficient
•But harder to scale.
 Wide Area Network (WAN)
• WANs cover large geographic areas (country or
continent).
• Two key components of a WAN are:
Transmission lines
 also called channels, circuits, trunks etc.
Move bits from one node to the other
Switching elements
 also called packet switching nodes, routers etc.
 select outgoing transmission lines for data coming on
incoming lines.
 Wide Area Networks (WANs)
•In a WAN, hosts are connected to a subnet
• Subnet Consists of routers and transmission
lines
•Routers are switching elements
 Wide Area Networks (WANs)
•Routers generally adhere to a store-and-
forward principle
•Each router first receives a complete packet
over some link
•Stores the packet in its internal memory
•Forwards the packet across the selected output
line.
 MAN
•Metropolitan area Network covers a city.

•Examples include Cable TV Network.

•Cable modem for internet access.

 Wireless Networks
•Divided into 3 Main Catagories
•System Interconnection
 Interconnecting components of a computer using short
range radio. E.g. Bluetooth to connect KB,Mouse,Printer.
•Wireless LANs
 Every Computer has a radio modem and antenna with
which it can communicate with other systems (IEEE 802.11)
•Wireless WANs
 Radio Network for cellular phones. Operate below 1
Mpbs over many KM.
 High bandwidth WANs are being developed for high
speed wireless internet access. Standard developed for it is
called IEEE802.16
 Bigger Networks
• A network can be defined recursively
as...
two or more Or, two or more
nodes connected networks
by a link connected by two
or more nodes
 Switched Networks
•Switching nodes:
Sole purpose is store and forward
•Host nodes: Switch

Use the network

Run application programs

Host
 Interconnection of Networks
•Independent networks are interconnected to
form an internetwork or internet for short
•Node connected to two or more networks is
called a Router or Gateway

Router
 Network Components
Network Core Network Edge
 The Network Core: Strategies
• Mesh of interconnected routers
• Fundamental question: how is data
transferred through net?
• Circuit switching:
 dedicated circuit per call
 telephone net

• Packet-switching:
 data sent through net in discrete “chunks”
 Network Core: Circuit Switching
End-to-End resources
reserved for “call”
• link bandwidth, switch
capacity
• dedicated resources: no
sharing
• circuit-like (guaranteed)
performance
• call setup required
 Network Core: Circuit Switching
• Network resources (e.g., bandwidth)
divided into “pieces”
• Pieces allocated to calls
• Resource piece idle if not used by owning call
(no sharing)
• Dividing link bandwidth into “pieces”
 Frequency division
 Time division
Circuit Switching: FDMA and TDMA
Example:
FDMA
4 users

frequency

time
TDMA

frequency

time
 Network Core: Packet Switching
• Instead of having a continuous stream of data, divide it into
chunks; “Packet”
• Each packet uses full link bandwidth Bandwidth division into
• Resources used as needed “pieces”
Resource Contention: Dedicated allocation
• Aggregate resource demand can exceed amount available
Resource reservation
• Congestion: packets queue, wait for link use
• Store and forward: packets move one hop at a time
 Network Edge:
• End systems (hosts):
 Run application programs
 e.g. Web, email
 at “edge of network”
• Client/Server model
 Client host requests, receives
service from always-on server
 e.g. Web browser/server; email
client/server
• How do end systems
communicate?
• Through Protocols
 What’s a protocol?
Human protocols: Network protocols:
• “what’s the time?” • Machines rather than
• “I have a question” humans
• Introductions • All communication
… specific msgs sent activity in Internet
governed by protocols
… specific actions taken Protocols define:
when msgs received,
or other events  Msg format
 Order of msgs sent and
received among network
entities
 Actions taken on msg
transmission, receipt
 What’s a protocol?
A human protocol A computer network protocol:

Hi Connection
required
Hi
Connection
Got the responsed
time? Get http://www.awl.com/kurose-ross
2:00
<file>
time
 Protocol “Layers”
Networks are complex!
• Many “pieces”: Question:
 hosts Is there any hope of
 routers organizing structure of
 links of various network?
media
 applications
 protocols
 hardware, software
 Organization of air travel

ticket (purchase) ticket (complain)

baggage (check) baggage (claim)

gates (load) gates (unload)

runway takeoff runway landing

airplane routing airplane routing

airplane routing

• a series of steps
 A Different View

ticket (purchase) ticket (complain)

baggage (check) baggage (claim)

gates (load) gates (unload)

runway takeoff runway landing

airplane routing airplane routing

airplane routing

Layers: each layer implements a service

 via its own internal-layer actions

 relying on services provided by layer below
Layered air travel: services

Counter-to-counter delivery of person+bags

baggage-checkin-to-baggage-claim delivery

people transfer: loading gate to arrival gate

runway-to-runway delivery of plane

airplane routing from source to destination

Distributed implementation of layer functionality

ticket (purchase) ticket (complain)

Departing airport

arriving airport
baggage (check) baggage (claim)

gates (load) gates (unload)

runway takeoff runway landing

airplane routing airplane routing

intermediate air traffic sites

airplane routing airplane routing

airplane routing
 Why layering?
• Modularization eases maintenance, updating
of system
• Change of implementation of layer’s service
transparent to rest of system
 e.g., change in gate procedure doesn’t
affect rest of system
 Internet protocol stack
• Application: supporting network applications
 FTP, SMTP, STTP
• Transport: host-host data transfer
 TCP, UDP application
• Network: routing of datagrams from source to
destination transport
 IP, routing protocols
• Link: data transfer between neighboring network
network elements
 PPP, Ethernet link
• Physical: bits “on the wire”
physical
 Internet Protocol layering and data
Each layer takes data from above
• Adds header information to create new data unit
• Passes new data unit to layer below

source destination
M application application M message
Ht M transport transport Ht M segment
Hn Ht M network network Hn Ht M datagram
Hl Hn Ht M link link Hl Hn Ht M frame
physical physical

Physical View
 Internet Protocol layering and data
Each layer takes data from above
•Adds header information to create new data
unit
•Passes new data unit to layer below
source destination
M application application
Layer 4 Protocol M message
Ht M transport transport
Layer 3 Protocol
Ht M segment
Hn Ht M network network
Layer 2 Protocol
Hn Ht M datagram
Hl Hn Ht M link Layer 1 Protocol link Hl Hn Ht M frame
physical physical

Logical View