DCCN Notes
DCCN Notes
DATE: 10-JAN-2021
o OSI stands for Open System Interconnection is a reference model that describes how
information from a software application in one computer moves through a physical
medium to the software application in another computer.
o OSI consists of seven layers, and each layer performs a particular network function.
o OSI model was developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in
1984, and it is now considered as an architectural model for the inter-computer
communications.
o OSI model divides the whole task into seven smaller and manageable tasks. Each layer is
assigned a particular task.
o Each layer is self-contained, so that task assigned to each layer can be performed
independently.
o The OSI model is divided into two layers: upper layers and lower layers.
o The upper layer of the OSI model mainly deals with the application related issues, and
they are implemented only in the software. The application layer is closest to the end
user. Both the end user and the application layer interact with the software applications.
An upper layer refers to the layer just above another layer.
o The lower layer of the OSI model deals with the data transport issues. The data link layer
and the physical layer are implemented in hardware and software. The physical layer is
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the lowest layer of the OSI model and is closest to the physical medium. The physical
layer is mainly responsible for placing the information on the physical medium.
1. Physical Layer
2. Data-Link Layer
3. Network Layer
4. Transport Layer
5. Session Layer
6. Presentation Layer
7. Application Layer
Physical layer
o The main functionality of the physical layer is to transmit the individual bits from one
node to another node.
o It is the lowest layer of the OSI model.
o It establishes, maintains and deactivates the physical connection.
o It specifies the mechanical, electrical and procedural network interface specifications.
Line Configuration: It defines the way how two or more devices can be connected
physically.
Data Transmission: It defines the transmission mode whether it is simplex, half-duplex
or full-duplex mode between the two devices on the network.
Topology: It defines the way how network devices are arranged.
Signals: It determines the type of the signal used for transmitting the information.
Data-Link Layer
Framing: The data link layer translates the physical's raw bit stream into packets known
as Frames. The Data link layer adds the header and trailer to the frame. The header which
is added to the frame contains the hardware destination and source address.
Physical Addressing: The Data link layer adds a header to the frame that contains a
destination address. The frame is transmitted to the destination address mentioned in the
header.
Flow Control: Flow control is the main functionality of the Data-link layer. It is the
technique through which the constant data rate is maintained on both the sides so that no
data get corrupted. It ensures that the transmitting station such as a server with higher
processing speed does not exceed the receiving station, with lower processing speed.
Error Control: Error control is achieved by adding a calculated value CRC (Cyclic
Redundancy Check) that is placed to the Data link layer's trailer which is added to the
message frame before it is sent to the physical layer. If any error seems to occurr, then the
receiver sends the acknowledgment for the retransmission of the corrupted frames.
Access Control: When two or more devices are connected to the same communication
channel, then the data link layer protocols are used to determine which device has control
over the link at a given time.
Network Layer
It is a layer 3 that manages device addressing, tracks the location of devices on the
network.
It determines the best path to move data from source to the destination based on the
network conditions, the priority of service, and other factors.
The Data link layer is responsible for routing and forwarding the packets.
Routers are the layer 3 devices, they are specified in this layer and used to provide the
routing services within an internetwork.
The protocols used to route the network traffic are known as Network layer protocols.
Examples of protocols are IP and Ipv6.
Addressing: A Network layer adds the source and destination address to the header of
the frame. Addressing is used to identify the device on the internet.
Routing: Routing is the major component of the network layer, and it determines the best
optimal path out of the multiple paths from source to the destination.
Packetizing: A Network Layer receives the packets from the upper layer and converts
them into packets. This process is known as Packetizing. It is achieved by internet
protocol (IP).
Transport Layer
The Transport layer is a Layer 4 ensures that messages are transmitted in the order in
which they are sent and there is no duplication of data.
The main responsibility of the transport layer is to transfer the data completely.
It receives the data from the upper layer and converts them into smaller units known as
segments.
This layer can be termed as an end-to-end layer as it provides a point-to-point connection
between source and destination to deliver the data reliably.
arrived at the destination, then the transport layer reassembles the message based on their
sequence numbers.
Connection control: Transport layer provides two services Connection-oriented service
and connectionless service. A connectionless service treats each segment as an individual
packet, and they all travel in different routes to reach the destination. A connection-
oriented service makes a connection with the transport layer at the destination machine
before delivering the packets. In connection-oriented service, all the packets travel in the
single route.
Flow control: The transport layer also responsible for flow control but it is performed
end-to-end rather than across a single link.
Error control: The transport layer is also responsible for Error control. Error control is
performed end-to-end rather than across the single link. The sender transport layer
ensures that message reach at the destination without any error.
Session Layer
Dialog control: Session layer acts as a dialog controller that creates a dialog between two
processes or we can say that it allows the communication between two processes which
can be either half-duplex or full-duplex.
Synchronization: Session layer adds some checkpoints when transmitting the data in a
sequence. If some error occurs in the middle of the transmission of data, then the
transmission will take place again from the checkpoint. This process is known as
Synchronization and recovery.
Presentation Layer
A Presentation layer is mainly concerned with the syntax and semantics of the
information exchanged between the two systems.
It acts as a data translator for a network.
This layer is a part of the operating system that converts the data from one presentation
format to another format.
The Presentation layer is also known as the syntax layer.
Translation: The processes in two systems exchange the information in the form of
character strings, numbers and so on. Different computers use different encoding
methods, the presentation layer handles the interoperability between the different
encoding methods. It converts the data from sender-dependent format into a common
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format and changes the common format into receiver-dependent format at the receiving
end.
Encryption: Encryption is needed to maintain privacy. Encryption is a process of
converting the sender-transmitted information into another form and sends the resulting
message over the network.
Compression: Data compression is a process of compressing the data, i.e., it reduces the
number of bits to be transmitted. Data compression is very important in multimedia such
as text, audio, video.
Application Layer
An application layer serves as a window for users and application processes to access
network service.
It handles issues such as network transparency, resource allocation, etc.
An application layer is not an application, but it performs the application layer functions.
This layer provides the network services to the end-users.
File transfer, access, and management (FTAM): An application layer allows a user to
access the files in a remote computer, to retrieve the files from a computer and to manage
the files in a remote computer.
Mail services: An application layer provides the facility for email forwarding and
storage.
Directory services: An application provides the distributed database sources and is used
to provide that global information about various objects.
An application layer serves as a window for users and application processes to access
network service.
It handles issues such as network transparency, resource allocation, etc.
An application layer is not an application, but it performs the application layer functions.
This layer provides the network services to the end-users.
o If all the systems are following the same standard, it becomes easy for everyone
to connection to everyone else. In other words, the international standards provide
easy interconnectivity.
o If any standard is widely used, it gains economies of scale. For example, VLSI
chips etc.
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o The manufacturers and companies will be bound to follow the same international
standards and so they won’t be able to develop something better of their own.
o Large multinational companies won’t be able to pool everyone in to using their
proprietary protocols and therefore no huge profits.
QNO5 How two adjacent layers communicate in a layered network? (or What
do you mean by Service Access Point?
Every layer communicates using it’s transition protocol. e.g. for Transport layer there are TCP
and UDP, for Network layer there is IP and for Datalink layer there is Ethernet.
AT SENDING HOST:
Transport Layer gets it’s payload (data including headers of upper layer) and encapsulates this
data into a TCP or UDP header. This layer communicates in a peer-to-peer fashion with the
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Transport layer of receiving host. TCP or UDP header includes “source and destination PORT
numbers”.
Network layer communicates in a hop-to-hop manner. This layer encapsulates the data
(including TCP or UDP header) into IP header. IP header includes “source and destination IP
addresses”. This data is passed to it’s lower layer that is DataLink layer.
DataLink layer encapsulates the data from Network layer into Ethernet header which includes
“source and destination MAC addresses”. This data is transmitted through Physical Layer via
wires.
AT RECEIVING END:
When this data is passed to the DataLink Layer, this layer has the capacity of understanding the
hardware address.
MAC address. If it sees that the MAC belongs to me, it passes the data to Network layer
otherwise it simply discards the frame(data in DataLink layer is called frame).
When data comes to Network layer it sees for destination IP address. If it belongs to this
receiving host, it transmits the data to its upper layer i.e. Transport layer. If destination IP
address is not for this host, router looks for this destination IP in it’s routing table. If it finds
route to this IP it simply routes the packet to that router, otherwise it will discard the packet.
Transport layer snatches the TCP or UDP header and looks for the destination Port number. Data
is then forwarded to the respective ports and an Acknowledgement is sent back to the sending
host that data has reached (in case of TCP because it is reliable protocol).
A number of design issues exist for the layer to layer approach of computer networks. Some of
the main design issues are as follows −
Reliability
Network channels and components may be unreliable, resulting in loss of bits while data transfer.
So, an important design issue is to make sure that the information transferred is not distorted.
Scalability
Networks are continuously evolving. The sizes are continually increasing leading to congestion.
Also, when new technologies are applied to the added components, it may lead to incompatibility
issues. Hence, the design should be done so that the networks are scalable and can accommodate
such additions and alterations.
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Addressing
At a particular time, innumerable messages are being transferred between large numbers of
computers. So, a naming or addressing system should exist so that each layer can identify the
sender and receivers of each message.
Error Control
Unreliable channels introduce a number of errors in the data streams that are communicated. So,
the layers need to agree upon common error detection and error correction methods so as to
protect data packets while they are transferred.
Flow Control
If the rate at which data is produced by the sender is higher than the rate at which data is received
by the receiver, there are chances of overflowing the receiver. So, a proper flow control
mechanism needs to be implemented.
Resource Allocation
Computer networks provide services in the form of network resources to the end users. The main
design issue is to allocate and deallocate resources to processes. The allocation/deallocation
should occur so that minimal interference among the hosts occurs and there is optimal usage of
the resources.
Statistical Multiplexing
It is not feasible to allocate a dedicated path for each message while it is being transferred from
the source to the destination. So, the data channel needs to be multiplexed, so as to allocate a
fraction of the bandwidth or time to each host.
Routing
There may be multiple paths from the source to the destination. Routing involves choosing an
optimal path among all possible paths, in terms of cost and time. There are several routing
algorithms that are used in network systems.
Security
A major factor of data communication is to defend it against threats like eavesdropping and
surreptitious alteration of messages. So, there should be adequate mechanisms to prevent
unauthorized access to data through authentication and cryptography.
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QNO7 List two ways in which the OSI reference model and the TCP/IP
reference model are the same. Now list two ways in which they differ.
o OSI Layer model has seven layers while TCP/IP model has four layers.
o OSI Layer model is no longer used while TCP/IP is still used in computer networking.
o To define the functionality of upper layers, OSI uses three separate layers (application,
presentation and session) while TCP/IP uses a single layer (application).
o Just like upper layers, OSI uses two separate layers (Physical and Data link) to define the
functionality of bottom layers while TCP/IP uses a single layer (Link) for the same.
o To define the routing protocols and standards, OSI uses Network layer while TCP/IP uses
Internet layer.
o In comparison of TCP/IP model, OSI model is well documented and explains standards
and protocols in more details.
The TCP/IP stack is responsible for the "chopping up" into packets of the data for transmission
and for their acknowledgment. Depending on the transport protocol that is used (TCP or
UDP) each packet will be acknowledged or not, respectively. The strategy when the file is
chopped up into packets, which are individually acknowledged by the receiver, but the file
transfer as a whole is not acknowledged is good in situations (Applications) that do not need the
whole file to be sent, Web site for example: different parts of the web site can arrive in different
times. The other strategy, in which the packets are not acknowledged individually, but the entire
file is acknowledged when it arrives is suitable for FTP (mail transfer), we need whole mail, not
parts of it.
Message and byte streams are different. In a message stream, the network keeps track of message
boundaries. In a byte stream, it does not. For example, suppose a process writes 1024 bytes to a
connection and then a little later writes another 1024 bytes. The receiver then does a read for
2048 bytes. With a message stream, the receiver will get two messages, of 1024 bytes each. With
a byte stream, the message boundaries do not count and the receiver will get the full 2048 bytes
as a single unit. The fact that there were originally two distinct messages is lost.
There is the difference between time domain and frequency domain are given
below,
along the link is s meters/sec. Host A is to send a packet of size L bits to Host
B.
(d.) Suppose Host A begins to transmit the packet at time t=0. At time
t= dtrans, where is the last bit of the packet?
(e.) Suppose dprop is greater than dtrans . At time t= dtrans , where is the
first bit of the packet?
The first bit is in the link and has not reached Host B.
(f.) Suppose dprop is less than dtrans . At time t= dtrans , where is the first
bit of the packet?
(g.) Suppose s=2.5*108, L=100bits and R=28 kbps. Find the distance
m so that dprop equals dtrans .
m=L/R*S
m=(100/2.5)×10^8 (28×10^3)= 892.85 KM
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For a given transmission bandwidth, higher data rate can be achieved in case of PSK. In
other words, in PSK higher channel capacity is achieved although the signaling rate is
lower.
QNO16 Distinguish between the two basic multiplexing techniques?
Why guard bands are used in FDM and why sync pulse is required in
TDM?
The two basic multiplexing techniques are:
1.Frequency division multiplexing (FDM)
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It dynamically allocates the time slots on demand to separate input channels, thus saving
the channel capacity. As with Synchronous TDM, statistical multiplexers also have many
I/O lines with a buffer associated to each of them. During the input, the multiplexer scans
the input buffers, collecting data until the frame is filled and send the frame. At the
receiving end, the demultiplexer receives the frame and distributes the data to the
appropriate buffers. In case of statistical TDM, the data in each slot must have an address
part, which identifies the source of data.
The multiplexer is shown in Figure. Each frame carries 1 byte from each channel; the size
of each frame, therefore, is 4 bytes, or 32 bits. The frame rate is 100 frames per second.
The duration of a frame is therefore 1/100s. The link is carrying 100 frames per second,
and since each frame contains 32 bits, the bit rate is 100×32, or 3200bps.
2.5μs.
Wave-division multiplexing (WDM) is conceptually the same as FDM, except that the
multiplexing and demultiplexing involves light signals transmitted through fiber-optic
channels. The idea is the same: we are combining different frequency signals. However,
the difference is that the frequencies are very high
QNO21 What is the essential difference between message switching and
packet switching?
Difference between Message and Packet Switching
1. Message Switching :
In this technique, the entire message is transmitted without any break from one node to another.
It firstly stores and then forwards information that requires more time. Due to this, the access
time is increased. No direct link is present between the sender and the receiver.
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2. Packet Switching :
In packet switching, information is transferred in the form of data packets between the sender
and the receiver. These packets are forwarded one by one from the sender to the receiver. Each
packet is associated with a Header. Then, these packets then reassembled into the original
message. This improves the performance as the time require to access the data packet is reduced.
Due to this, the overall performance of the network is improved.
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QNO22 What are the key differences between datagram and virtual circuit
packet switching?
Both Virtual Circuits and Datagram Networks are the type of connection services which are
used for transmission of information from sender to receiver.
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Following are the important differences between Virtual Circuits & Datagram Networks −
Sr.
Key Virtual Circuits Datagram Networks
No.
Virtual Circuit is the connection oriented
On other hand Datagram is the
service in which there is a implementation
connection less service where no
1 Definition of resources like buffers, CPU, bandwidth,
such resources are required for the
etc., used by virtual circuit for a data
data transmission.
transfer session.
In Virtual circuits as all the resources and On other hand in case Datagram
bandwidth get reserved before the network, the path is not fixed as
transmission, the path which is utilized or data packets are free to decide the
2 Path
followed by first data packet would get path on any intermediate router on
fixed and all other data packets will use the the go by dynamically changing
same path and consume same resources. routing tables on routers.
On other hand different headers
As there is same path followed by all the
with information of other data
3 Header data packets, a common and same header
packet is being used in Datagram
is being used by all the packets.
network.
However on other hand Datagram
Virtual Circuit is less complex as
4 Complexity network are more complex as
compared to that of Datagram network.
compared to Virtual circuit.
On other hand Datagram network
Due to fixed path and assurance of fixed
due to dynamic resource allocation
resources, Virtual Circuits are more
5 Reliability and follow dynamic path is more
reliable for data transmission as compared
prone to error and is less reliable
to Datagram network.
than Virtual circuits.
On the other hand Datagram
Virtual circuits are costlier in installation
network are cheaper as compared
and maintenance and are widely used by
Example to the Virtual Circuits and are
6 ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode)
and Cost mainly used by IP network, which
Network, which is used for the Telephone
is used for Data services like
calls.
Internet.
In message switching, the efficiency is improved as a single channel can now be used
for transferring many messages. The source and the destination don't need to be ready at the
same time. Even if the receiver is not ready the sender can send the message and it can be stored
by the nodes temporarily. The transfer of message is possible also when the transfer rate of the
sender and receiver is different.
QNO24 What are the key differences between circuit switching and virtual
circuit packet switching?
CIRCUIT-SWITCHED NETWORKS
VIRTUAL-CIRCUIT NETWORKS
QNO25 How packet size affects the transmission time in a packet switching
network?
In a packet switching network, Transmission Delay is the time taken to put a packet onto link. In
other words, it is simply time required to put data bits on the wire/communication medium. It
depends on length of packet and bandwidth of network. It can be expressed as follows:
QNO26 Design a three stage 200*200 switch (N=200) with k=4 and n=20.
This is 5 percent of the number of crosspoints in a single-stage switch (200 x 200 = 40,000)
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QNO27 Redesign the previous three stages, 200*200 switches, using the Clos
criteria with minimum number of cross points?
We calculate k = 2n - 1 = 19.
In the first stage, we have 200 / 10, or 20, crossbars, each with 10 * 19 crosspoints.
The total number of crosspoints is 20(10 x 19) + 19(10 x 10) + 20(19 * 10) = 9500.
The term public switched telephone network is primarily used for public landlines. With
traditional analogue landlines speech is transmitted analogue, a ISDN network transmits speech
information digitally.
The traditional public switched telephone network has a strictly hierarchic architecture and a star
structure. The individual subscriber lines are connected to a local exchange, which in turn
communicates with trunk exchanges, main and central exchanges. Lines within a local exchange
typically have the same area code. To call a number outside the local exchange the area code
must be added. International calls require dialing the country code. These start with a double
zero.
Replacing the Public Switched Telephone Network with Voice over IP telephony (VoIP)
Since the introduction of Voice over IP telephony (VoIP), traditional public switched telephone
networks are slowly being replaced. Voice over IP uses the internet for speech communication
and transmits the voice data as individual data packets. Unlike public switched telephone
networks, there is no static connection between the two subscribers, instead data is dynamically
routed over the data network using a virtual connection. Since each data packet has a destination
address, the packets can even be routed differently over the network. On the other end they are
reassembled in the correct order and converted back into analogue speech.
QNO29 Suppose users share a 1 Mbps link. Also suppose each user requires
100 Kbps when transmitting, but each user only transmits 10% of the time.
(b) For the remainder of this problem, suppose packet-switching is used. Find
the probability that a given user is transmitting.
Probability=1/10
=>0.1
QNO31 Using 5 –bit sequence numbers, what is the maximum size of the send
and the receive windows for each of the following protocols?
a) Stop –and-Wait ARQ
b) Go-Back-N ARQ
c) Selective-Repeat ARQ
Ans:
Max SWS Max RWS
GBN 2^m-1 1
SR 2^(m-1 ) 2^(m-1 )