Chapter 3

Transport Layer

.
 Chapter 3: Outline

1. INTRODUCTION

2. TRANSPORT-LAYER PROTOCOLS

3. USER DATAGRAM PROTOCOL

4. TRANSMISSION CONTROL PROTOCOL

 Chapter 3: Objective

We introduce general services we normally require from the

transport layer, such as process-to-process communication,
addressing, multiplexing, error, flow, and congestion control.
We discuss general transport-layer protocols such as Stop-and-
Wait, Go-Back-N, and Selective-Repeat.
We discuss UDP, which is the simpler of the two protocols we
discuss in this chapter.
We discuss TCP services and features. We then show how TCP
provides a connection-oriented service using a transition
diagram. Finally, we discuss flow and error control, and
congestion control in TCP.
3-1 INTRODUCTION

The transport layer provides a process-to-process

communication between two application layers.

Communication is provided using a logical connection,

which means that the two application layers assume that
there is an imaginary direct connection through which
they can send and receive messages.
F i g u re 3 .1 : Logical connection at the transport layer
 3.1.1 Transport-Layer Services

As we have already discussed , the transport layer is

located between the network layer and the
application layer. The transport layer is responsible
for providing services to the application layer; it
receives services from the network layer.
 3.1.1 (continued)

Process-to-Process Communication

Addressing: Port Numbers

ICANN Ranges
We l l - k n o w n p o r t s
Registered ports
Dynamic ports

Encapsulation and Decapsulation

Multiplexing and Demultiplexing

 3.1.1 (continued)

Flow Control
Pushing or Pulling
Flow Control at Transport Layer
Buffers
Error Control
Sequence Numbers
Acknowledgment
Combination of Flow and Error Control
Sliding Window
 3.1.1 (continued)

Congestion Control

Connectionless and Connection-Oriented

Connectionless Service
Connection-Oriented Service
Finite State Machine

Multiplexing and Demultiplexing

F i g u re 3 .2 : Network layer v e r s u s transport layer
 l Transport Protocols
l
Provide logical communication
between application processes
application
running on different hosts transport
network
l
Run on end hosts
network
l
Sender: breaks application network
data link
physical
data link
messages into segments, physical
network
l and passes to network layer data link
physical network
l Receiver: reassembles data link
physical

segments into messages, network

data link
passes to application layer physical

application
l
Multiple transport protocol transport
network
available to applications
l Internet: TCP and UDP
An Analogy: Cousins sending letters
East Coast We s t C o a s t

Postal-service
Uncle Sam mail carrier Uncle Bill

U n c l e S a m & U n c l e Bill - P o s t a l s e r v i c e – carries

r e s p o n s i b l e for mail collection,
the mails from h o u s e to
distribution, and communicating
with postal ser vice house
h o s t s (also called e n d s y s t e m s ) = ?
processes = ?
application m e s s a g e s = ?
n e t w o r k l a y e r p ro t o c o l = ?
t r a n s p o r t l a y e r p ro t o c o l = ?
 Their services are constrained by the
possible services that the postal service
provides
hosts (also called end systems) = houses
processes = cousins
application messages = letters in envelope
transport layer protocol = Uncle Sam and Uncle
Bill
network layer protocol = postal service(including
mail persons)
It may so happen that their uncles
could get sick, and so other people
may take over – analogously, the
computer network may provide
multiple transport protocols
Transport Layer Network Layer
logical communication logical communication
between processes between end systems
moves messages from
application process to the
network layer and vice-versa:
Sending & Receiving sides
computer network can
make multiple transport
layer protocols available
• TCP
• UDP

process-to-process host-to-host communication

communication
Port numbers
F i g u r e 3 . 4 : IP a d d r e s s e s v e r s u s port n u m b e r s
 Port numbers
l
ICANN(Internet Corporation for Assigned
Names and Numbers) has divide the port
number into three ranges:-
l
Well Known-assigned and controlled by
ICANN.
l
Registered-They can be registered with
ICANN to avoid duplication.
l
Dynamic-They can be used as temporary or
private port numbers.
F i g u r e 3 . 5 : ICANN r a n g e s
Note

The well-known port numbers are

less than 1,024.
In UNIX, t h e we l l - k n ow n p o r ts are s t o red in a file
c a l l e d / e t c / s e r v i c e s . E a ch line in t h i s file g i v e s t h e
n a m e o f t h e s e r ve r a n d t h e we l l - k n ow n por t
number. We c a n u s e t h e g r e p utility to extract t h e
lin e c o r re s p o n d i n g to t h e d e s i re d ap p l i c a ti o n . The
fo l l ow i n g s h o w s t h e port for TFTP. Note tha t TFTP
c a n u s e por t 6 9 o n either UDP or TCP. SNMP u s e s
two por t n u m b e r s ( 1 6 1 a n d 1 6 2 ) , e a c h for a
d ifferen t p u r p o s e .
Figure 3.6: Socket address
The combination of IP Address and a
port number is called Socket address
Encapsulation and Decapsulation

Encapsulationhappens at sender site.When a

process has a message to send it passes the
message to the transport layer along with a pair of
socket address and some other pieces of
information ,which depend on transport layer
protocol.
Figure 3.7: Encapsulation and decapsulation
F i g u re 3 .8 : Multiplexing and demultiplexing
F i g u r e 3 . 9 : F l o w Control( P u s h i n g or pulling)
F i g u r e 3 .1 0 : Flow control at the transport layer
Example 3.2
The above discussion requires that the consumers
communicate with the producers on two occasions: when
the buffer is full and when there are vacancies. If the two
parties use a buffer with only one slot, the communication
can be easier. Assume that each transport layer uses one
single memory location to hold a packet. When this single
slot in the sending transport layer is empty, the sending
transport layer sends a note to the application layer to send
its next chunk; when this single slot in the receiving
transport layer is empty, it sends an acknowledgment to the
sending transport layer to send its next packet. As we will
see later, however, this type of flow control, using a single-
slot buffer at the sender and the receiver, is inefficient.
Error Control
1.Detecting and discarding corrupted
packets.
2.Keeping track of lost and discarded
packets and resending them.
3.Recognizing duplicate packets and
discarding them.
4.Buffering out of order packets until
missing packet arrives.
Figure 3.11: Error control at the transport layer
 Note

For error control, the sequence numbers

are modulo 2m, where m is the size of
the sequence number field in bits.
F i g u re 3 . 1 2 : Slid ing w i n d o w in circular format
F i g u re 3 .1 3 : Sliding wind ow in linear format
 Congestion Control
l
Congestion in a network occur if load on the
network greater than the capacity of the
network.
l
Congestion control refers to the
mechanisms and techniques that control the
congestion and keep the load below the
capacity.
 Transport Layer
l
Connection less- Interdependency between
packets.
l
Connection -oriented- Dependency.
Figure 3.14: Connectionless service
Figure 3.15: Connection-oriented ser vice

Packet 2
Figure 3.16: Connectionless and connection-oriented
service represented as FSMs
3-2 TRANSPORT-LAYER PROTOCOLS

We can create a transport-layer protocol by

combining a set of services described in the
previous sections. To better understand the
behavior of these protocols, we start with the
simplest one and gradually add more
complexity.
Topics Discussed in the Section
Simple Protocol
Stop-and-Wait Protocol
Go-Back-N Protocol
Selective-Repeat Protocol
Bidirectional Protocols: Piggybacking

40
 3.2.1 Simple Protocol

Our first protocol is a simple connectionless protocol

with neither flow nor error control. We assume that
the receiver can immediately handle any packet it
receives. In other words, the receiver can never be
overwhelmed with incoming packets.
F i g u re 3 .1 7 : Simple protocol
F i g u re 3 .1 8 : F S M s for the s imp le protocol
Note

The simple protocol is a connectionless

protocol that provides neither
flow nor error control.

44
Example 3.3
Figure 3.19 shows an example of communication using this
protocol. It is very simple. The sender sends packets one
after another without even thinking about the receiver.
F ig ure 3.19: Flow diagram for Example 3.3
 3.2.2 Stop-and-Wait Protocol

Our second protocol is a connection-oriented

protocol called the Stop-and-Wait protocol, which
uses both flow and error control. Both the sender
and the receiver use a sliding window of size 1. The
sender sends one packet at a time and waits for an
acknowledgment before sending the next one. To
detect corrupted packets, we need to add a checksum
to each data packet.
Figure 3.20: Stop-and-Wait protocol
 Sender keeps a copy of the last frame
Stop-and-Wait until it receives an acknowledgement.
For identification, both data frames and
acknowledgements (ACK) frames are
numbered alternatively 0 and 1.
Sender has a control variable (S) that
holds the number of the recently sent
frame. (0 or 1)
Receiver has a control variable(R) that
holds the number of the next frame
expected (0 or 1).
Sender starts a timer when it sends a
frame. If an ACK is not received within a
allocated time period, the sender
assumes that the frame was lost or
damaged and resends it
Receiver send only positive ACK if the
frame is intact.
ACK number always defines the number
of the next expected frame
Note

In Stop-and-Wait protocol, flow

control is achieved by forcing the sender to
wait for an acknowledgment, and error
control is achieved by discarding corrupted
packets and letting the sender resend
unacknowledged packets when the timer
expires.

50
Note

In the Stop-and-Wait protocol, we can use

a 1-bit field to number the packets. The
sequence numbers are based on modulo-2
arithmetic.

51
Note

In the Stop-and-Wait protocol, the

acknowledgment number always
announces in modulo-2 arithmetic the
sequence number of the next packet
expected.

52
Note

All calculation in the Stop-and-Wait protocol

is in modulo 2.

53
Stop-and-Wait , lost frame

When a receiver
receives a damaged
frame, it discards it and
keeps its value of R.
After the timer at the
sender expires, another
copy of frame 1 is sent.
Stop-and-Wait, lost ACK frame

• If the sender
receives a damaged
ACK, it discards it.
• When the timer of
the sender expires,
the sender
retransmits frame 1.
• Receiver has
already received
frame 1 and
expecting to receive
frame 0 (R=0).
Therefore it discards
the second copy of
frame 1.
Stop-and-Wait, delayed ACK frame
• The ACK can be delayed
at the receiver or due to
some problem
• It is received after the
timer for frame 0 has
expired.
• Sender retransmitted a
copy of frame 0.
However, R =1 means
receiver expects to see
frame 1. Receiver
discards the duplicate
frame 0.
• Sender receives 2 ACKs,
it discards the second
ACK.
F i g u re 3 . 2 1 : F SM for the Stop-and-Wait protocol
Disadvantage of Stop-and-Wait

• In stop-and-wait, at any point in time, there is only one

frame that is sent and waiting to be acknowledged.
• This is not a good use of transmission medium.
• To improve efficiency, multiple frames should be in
transition while waiting for ACK.
• Two protocol use the above concept,
–Go-Back-N
–Selective Repeat
Example 3.4
Figure 3.22 shows an example of the Stop-and-Wait
protocol. Packet 0 is sent and acknowledged. Packet 1 is lost
and resent after the time-out. The resent packet 1 is
acknowledged and the timer stops. Packet 0 is sent and
acknowledged, but the acknowledgment is lost. The sender
has no idea if the packet or the acknowledgment is lost, so
after the time-out, it resends packet 0, which is
acknowledged.
F ig ure 3.22: Flow diagram for Example 3.4
Example 3.5
Assume that, in a Stop-and-Wait system, the bandwidth of
the line is 1 Mbps, and 1 bit takes 20 milliseconds to make a
round trip. What is the bandwidth-delay product? If the
system data packets are 1,000 bits in length, what is the
utilization percentage of the link?
Solution
The bandwidth-delay product is (1 × 106) × (20 × 10−3) =
20,000 bits. The system can send 20,000 bits during the time
it takes for the data to go from the sender to the receiver and
the acknowledgment to come back. However, the system
sends only 1,000 bits. The link utilization is only
1,000/20,000, or 5 percent.
Example 3.6
What is the utilization percentage of the link in Example 3.5
if we have a protocol that can send up to 15 packets before
stopping and worrying about the acknowledgments?

Solution
The bandwidth-delay product is still 20,000 bits. The system
can send up to 15 packets or 15,000 bits during a round trip.
This means the utilization is 15,000/20,000, or 75 percent.
Of course, if there are damaged packets, the utilization
percentage is much less because packets have to be resent.
 3.2.3 Go-Back-N Protocol

To improve the efficiency of transmission multiple

packets must be in transition while the sender is
waiting for acknowledgment. In this section, we
discuss one protocol that can achieve this goal; in
the next section, we discuss a second. The first is
called Go-Back-N (GBN) .
F i g u r e 3 . 2 3 : G o -B ack-N p r o t o c o l
Go-Back-N
• We can send up to W frames before
worrying about ACKs.
• We keep a copy of these frames until the
ACKs arrive.
• This procedure requires additional features
to be added to Stop-and-Wait .
Note

In the Go-Back-N Protocol, the sequence

numbers are modulo 2m, where m is the
size of the sequence number field in bits.

66
Sequence Numbers
• Frames from a sender are numbered sequentially.
• We need to set a limit since we need to include
the sequence number of each frame in the header.
• If the header of the frame allows m bits for
sequence number, the sequence numbers range
from 0 to 2 m – 1. for m = 3, sequence numbers
are: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.
• We can repeat the sequence number.
• Sequence numbers are:
0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 0, 1, …
F i g u r e 3 . 2 4 : S e n d w i n d o w f o r G o -B a ck-N
Note

The send window is an abstract concept

defining an imaginary box of maximum
size = 2m − 1 with three variables:
Sf, Sn, and Ssize.

69
Note

The send window can slide one or more

slots when an error-free ACK with ackNo
between Sf and Sn (in modular arithmetic)
arrives.

70
Figure 3.25: Sliding the s e n d window

Sliding direction
 Sender Sliding Window
• At the sending site, to
hold the outstanding
frames until they are
acknowledged, we use
the concept of a window.
• The size of the window is
at most 2m -1 where m is
the number of bits for
the sequence number.
• Size of the window can
be variable, e.g. TCP.
• The window slides to
include new unsent
frames when the correct
ACKs are received
Note

The receive window is an abstract concept

defining an imaginary
box of size 1 with
one single variable Rn.

The window slides when a correct packet

has arrived; sliding
occurs one slot at a time.
73
F i g u r e 3 . 2 6 : R e c e i v e w i n d o w f o r G o -B a ck -N
 Receiver Sliding Window
• Size of the window at
the receiving site is
always 1 in this
protocol.
• Receiver is always
looking for a specific
frame to arrive in a
specific order.
• Any frame arriving
out of order is
discarded and needs
to be resent.
• Receiver window
slides as shown in fig.
Receiver is waiting for
frame 0 in part a.
 Control Variables
• Sender has 3 variables: S, S , and S
F L

• S holds the sequence number of recently sent frame

• SF holds the sequence number of the first frame
• SL holds the sequence number of the last frame
• Receiver only has the one variable, R, that holds the sequence
number of the frame it expects to receive. If the seq. no. is the
same as the value of R, the frame is accepted, otherwise
rejected.
Note

In the Go-Back-N protocol, the acknowledgment

number is cumulative and defines the sequence
number of the next packet expected to arrive.

77
 Acknowledgement
• Receiver sends positive ACK if a frame arrived safe and in
order.
• If the frames are damaged/out of order, receiver is silent and
discard all subsequent frames until it receives the one it is
expecting.
• The silence of the receiver causes the timer of the
unacknowledged frame to expire.
• Then the sender resends all frames, beginning with the one
with the expired timer.
• For example, suppose the sender has sent frame 6, but the
timer for frame 3 expires (i.e. frame 3 has not been
acknowledged), then the sender goes back and sends frames
3, 4, 5, 6 again. Thus it is called Go-Back-N.
• The receiver does not have to acknowledge each frame
received, it can send one cumulative ACK for several frames.
Go-Back-N , normal operation

• The sender keeps track of the outstanding frames and

updates the variables and windows as the ACKs arrive.
Go-Back-N , lost frame
• Frame 2 is lost
• When the
receiver receives
frame 3, it
discards frame 3
as it is expecting
frame 2
(according to
window).
• After the timer
for frame 2
expires at the
sender site, the
sender sends
frame 2 and 3.
(go back to 2)
Go-Back-N , damaged/lost/delayed ACK

• If an ACK is damaged/lost, we can have two

situations:
• If the next ACK arrives before the expiration of
any timer, there is no need for retransmission
of frames because ACKs are cumulative in this
protocol.
• If ACK1, ACK2, and ACk3 are lost, ACK4 covers
them if it arrives before the timer expires.
• If ACK4 arrives after time-out, the last frame
and all the frames after that areresent.
• Receiver never resends an ACK.
• A delayed ACK also triggers the resending of
frames
Note

In the Go-Back-N protocol, the size of the

send window must be less than 2m;
the size of the receive window
is always 1.

82
F i g u r e 3 . 2 8 : S e n d w i n d o w s i z e f o r G o -B a ck-N
Go-Back-N , sender window size
• Size of the sender window must be less than 2 m.
Size of the receiver is always 1. If m = 2, window size
= 2 m –1 = 3. Fig compares a window size of 3 and 4.

Accepts
as the 1st
frame in
the next
cycle-an
error
F i g u r e 3 . 2 7 : F S M s f o r t h e G o -B a ck-N p r o t o c o l
Example 3.7
Figure 3.29 shows an example of Go-Back-N. This is an
example of a case where the forward channel is reliable, but
the reverse is not. No data packets are lost, but some ACKs
are delayed and one is lost. The example also shows how
cumulative acknowledgments can help if acknowledgments
are delayed or lost.
F ig ure 3.29: Flow diagram for Example 3.7
Example 3.8
Figure 3.30 shows what happens when a packet is lost.
Packets 0, 1, 2, and 3 are sent. However, packet 1 is lost.
The receiver receives packets 2 and 3, but they are discarded
because they are received out of order (packet 1 is
expected). When the receiver receives packets 2 and 3, it
sends ACK1 to show that it expects to receive packet 1.
However, these ACKs are not useful for the sender because
the ackNo is equal to Sf, not greater that Sf . So the sender
discards them. When the time-out occurs, the sender resends
packets 1, 2, and 3, which are acknowledged.
F ig ure 3.30: Flow diagram for Example 3.8
 3.2.4 Selective-Repeat Protocol

The Go-Back-N protocol simplifies the process at

the receiver. The receiver keeps track of only one
variable, and there is no need to buffer out-of-order
packets; they are simply discarded. Another
protocol, called the Selective-Repeat (SR) protocol,
has been devised, which, as the name implies,
resends only selective packets, those that are actually
lost.
F i g u r e 3 . 3 1 : Outline of Selective -Repeat
Selective Repeat , sender and receiver windows
• Go-Back-N simplifies the process at the receiver site. Receiver only
keeps track of only one variable, and there is no need to buffer out-of-
order frames, they are simply discarded.
• However, Go-Back-N protocol is inefficient for noisy link. Itbandwidth
inefficient and slows down the transmission.
• In Selective Repeat , only the damaged frame is resent. More
bandwidth efficient but more complex processing at receiver.
• It defines a negative ACK (NAK) to report the sequence number of a
damaged frame before the timer expires.
F ig ure 3.32: S e n d window for Selective-Repeat
protocol
F ig ur e 3.33: Receive window for Selective-Repeat
protocol
Note

In the Selective-Repeat protocol, an

acknowledgment number defines
the sequence number of the
error-free packet received.

95
Example 3.9
Assume a sender sends 6 packets: packets 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and
5. The sender receives an ACK with ackNo = 3. What is the
interpretation if the system is using GBN or SR?

Solution
If the system is using GBN, it means that packets 0, 1, and 2
have been received uncorrupted and the receiver is
expecting packet 3. If the system is using SR, it means that
packet 3 has been received uncorrupted; the ACK does not
say anything about other packets.
F i g u r e 3 .3 4 : F S M s for S R protocol
Example 3.10
This example is similar to Example 3.8 (Figure 3.30) in
which packet 1 is lost. We show how Selective-Repeat
behaves in this case. Figure 3.35 shows the situation.

At the sender, packet 0 is transmitted and acknowledged.

Packet 1 is lost. Packets 2 and 3 arrive out of order and are
acknowledged. When the timer times out, packet 1 (the only
unacknowledged packet) is resent and is acknowledged. The
send window then slides.
Example 3.10 (continued)
At the receiver site we need to distinguish between the
acceptance of a packet and its delivery to the application
layer. At the second arrival, packet 2 arrives and is stored
and marked (shaded slot), but it cannot be delivered because
packet 1 is missing. At the next arrival, packet 3 arrives and
is marked and stored, but still none of the packets can be
delivered. Only at the last arrival, when finally a copy of
packet 1 arrives, can packets 1, 2, and 3 be delivered to the
application layer. There are two conditions for the delivery
of packets to the application layer: First, a set of consecutive
packets must have arrived. Second, the set starts from the
beginning of the window.
F ig ure 3.35: Flow diagram for Example 3.10
Figure 3.36: Selective-Repeat, window size
Figure 13.35 Selective-Repeat window size

103
Note

In Selective-Repeat, the size of the sender

and receiver window
can be at most one-half of 2m.

104
 3.2.5 Bidirectional Protocols

The four protocols we discussed earlier in this

section are all unidirectional: data packets flow in
only one direction and acknowledgments travel in
the other direction. In real life, data packets are
normally flowing in both directions: from client to
server and from server to client. This means that
acknowledgments also need to flow in both
directions. A technique called piggybacking is used
to improve the efficiency of the bidirectional
protocols.
F i g u r e 3 . 3 7 : D e s i g n o f p i g g y b a c k i n g i n G o -B a ck -N