Computer Networks

Ch.1: Computer Networks and the

Internet

Prepared By
Dr. Ibrahim Attiya
© 2023 NMU
 Ch.1: Outline
❑ Data Communications
❑ Networks
❑ Network Topology
❑ Network Types
❑ Protocol Layering
❑ TCP/IP Protocol Suite
❑ The OSI Model
❑ Internet History
 Encapsulation / Decapsulation
➢ One of the important concepts in protocol layering
in the Internet is encapsulation/decapsulation.
 Encapsulation at the Source Host
At the source, we have only encapsulation.
➢ At the application layer, the data to be exchanged is
referred to as a message.
▪ A message normally does not contain any header, but if
it does, we refer to the whole as the message.
▪ The message is passed to the transport layer.
➢ 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.
 Encapsulation at the Source Host
▪ Plus, some more information 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.
➢ The network layer takes the transport-layer packet
as data or payload and adds its own header to the
payload.
 Encapsulation at the Source Host
▪ 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, which is passed to the data-link layer.
➢ 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, called a frame, which
is passed to the physical layer for transmission.
 Decapsulation and Encapsulation
at Router
At the router, we have both decapsulation and
encapsulation because the router is connected
to two or more links.
➢ 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.
➢ 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.
Decapsulation and Encapsulation
at Router
▪ 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.
➢ 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
header and trailer info from the packet, and delivers
the payload to the next-higher layer protocol until
the message reaches the application layer.
➢ It is necessary to say that decapsulation in the host
involves error checking.
 Addressing in the TCP/IP
Protocol Suite
➢ It is worth mentioning another concept related
to protocol layering in the Internet, addressing.
➢ Any communication that involves two parties
needs two addresses: source address and
destination address.
➢ We normally need only four pairs of addresses,
because the physical layer does not need
addresses; the unit of data exchange at the
physical layer is a bit, which definitely cannot
have an address.
 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.
 Addressing in the TCP/IP
Protocol Suite
➢ At the application layer, we normally use
names to define the site that provides services,
such as myorg.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.
 Addressing in the TCP/IP
Protocol Suite
➢ At the network-layer, the addresses are global,
with the whole Internet as the scope.
▪AreAcallednetwork-layer address
logical addresses. Logical addresses 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).
Multiplexing and Demultiplexing
➢ Since the TCP/IP protocol suite uses several
protocols at some layers, we can say that we
➢ have multiplexing at the source and
demultiplexing at the destination.
➢ 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).
Multiplexing and Demultiplexing

➢ This Figure shows the concept of multiplexing

and demultiplexing at the three upper layers.
Multiplexing and Demultiplexing
➢ To be able to multiplex and demultiplex, a protocol
needs to have a field in its header to identify to
which protocol the encapsulated packets belong.
➢ At the transport layer, either UDP or TCP can
accept a message from several application-layer
protocols.
➢ At the network layer, IP can accept a segment from
TCP or a user datagram from UDP.
➢ At the data-link layer, a frame may carry the
payload coming from IP or other protocols such as
ARP.
 The OSI Model
➢ Established in 1947, the International
Organization for Standardization (ISO) is a
multinational body dedicated to worldwide
agreement on international standards.
➢ Almost three-fourths of the countries in the
world are represented in the ISO.
➢ An ISO standard that covers all aspects of
network communications is the Open Systems
Interconnection (OSI) model. It was first
introduced in the late 1970s.
ISO is the organization; OSI is the model.
The OSI Model
 The OSI Model
➢ An open system is a set of protocols that allows
any two different systems to communicate
regardless of their underlying architecture.
➢ The OSI model is a layered framework for the
design of network systems that allows
communication between all types of computer
systems.
➢ The OSI model consists of seven separate but
related layers, each of which defines a part of
the process of moving information across a
network.
 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 the next Figure.
OSI versus TCP/IP

TCP/IP and OSI model

 OSI versus TCP/IP
➢ Two reasons were mentioned for this decision.
➢First, TCP/IP has more than one transport-layer
protocol. Some of the functionalities of the session
layer are available in some of the transport-layer
protocols.
➢Second, the application layer is not only one piece
of software. Many applications can be developed at
this layer. If some of the functionalities mentioned
in the session and presentation layers are needed for
a particular application, they can be included in the
development of that piece of software.
 Lack of OSI Model’s Success
➢ The OSI model appeared after the TCP/IP protocol
suite. Most experts were at first and thought that
the TCP/IP protocol would be fully replaced by the
OSI model.
➢ This did not happen for several reasons, but we
describe only three, which are agreed upon by all
experts in the field.
▪ First, OSI was completed when TCP/IP was fully in
place and a lot of time and money had been spent on the
suite; changing it would cost a lot.
Lack of OSI Model’s Success
▪ Second, some layers in the OSI model were never fully
defined. Although the services provided by the
presentation and the session layers were listed in the
document, actual protocols for those layers were not
fully defined, nor were they fully described, and the
corresponding software was not fully developed.
▪ Third, when OSI was implemented by an organization in
a different application, it did not show a high enough
level of performance to entice the Internet authority to
switch from the TCP/IP protocol suite to the OSI model.
 Internet History
➢ Now that we have given an overview of the
Internet and its protocol, let us give a brief
history of the Internet.

➢ This brief history makes it clear how the

Internet has evolved from a private network to a
global one in less than forty years.
 Early History
➢ There were some communication networks,
such as telegraph and telephone networks,
before 1960.
➢ These networks were suitable for constant-rate
communication at that time, which means that
after a connection was made between two users,
the encoded message (telegraphy) or voice
(telephony) could be exchanged.
❑ Birth of Packet-Switched Networks
❑ ARPANET
 Birth of the Internet
➢ In 1972, Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn, both of
whom were part of the core ARPANET group,
collaborated on what they called the
Internetting Project.
➢ They wanted to link dissimilar networks so that
a host on one network could communicate with
a host on another.
➢ There were many problems to overcome:
diverse packet sizes, diverse interfaces, and
diverse transmission rates, as well as differing
reliability requirements.
 Birth of the Internet
❑ TCP/IP

❑ MILNET

❑ CSNET

❑ NSFNET

❑ ANSNET
 Internet Today
➢ Today, we witness a rapid growth both in the
infrastructure and new applications.
➢ The Internet today is a set of pier networks that
provide services to the whole world.
➢ What has made the Internet so popular is the
invention of new applications.
❑ World Wide Web
❑ Multimedia
❑ Peer-to-Peer Applications
Any Questions?