DCN

Addressing, Connecting and Switching

ADDRESSING

Application-Specific
address

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ADDRESSING

Figure: Addresses in the TCP/IP protocol suite

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PHYSICAL ADDRESSES

• Also known as link addresses

• Lowest level of addressing
• Included in the frame used by Data Link Layer
• Size and format of the address vary depending on the
network.
• Ex. Ethernet – 6 Bytes (48-bits) imprinted on
network interfacing card (NIC)
• Local Talk (Apple) – 1 Byte dynamic addressing (that
changes each time the station comes up

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Example 2.3

In Figure 2.16 a node with physical address 10 sends a frame

to a node with physical address 87. The two nodes are
connected by a link (a LAN). At the data link layer, this frame
contains physical (link) addresses in the header. These are the
only addresses needed. The rest of the header contains other
information needed at this level. As the figure shows, the
computer with physical address 10 is the sender, and the
computer with physical address 87 is the receiver. The data link
layer at the sender receives data from an upper layer. It
encapsulates the data in a frame. The frame is propagated
through the LAN. Each station with a physical address other
than 87 drops the frame because the destination address in the
frame does not match its own physical address. The intended
destination computer, however, finds a match between the
destination address in the frame and its own physical address.
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Example 2.3

packet packet
discarded discarded
1
87 10 Data
packet 87 10 Data
accepted
2 3
4

Figure 2.16 Example 2.3: physical addresses

Physical addressing can be:

• Unicast(single recipient),
• Multicast (group of recipients) and
• Broadcast(all system)
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Example 2.4

As we will see in next few classes, most local area networks

use a 48-bit (6-byte) physical address written as 12
hexadecimal digits; every byte (2 hexadecimal digits) is
separated by a colon, as shown below:

07:01:02:01:2C:4B
A 6-byte (12 hexadecimal digits) physical address

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LOGICAL ADDRESSES

• Required for universal communications which are

independent of underlying physical networks.
• Each host are identified uniquely regardless of
physical network.
• Currently 32-bits Logical address are need over the
Internet.
• No two publicly addressed and visible hosts on the
Internet can have the same IP address.

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 Example 2.5

Figure 2.17 shows a part of internet with two routers

connecting three LANs. Each device (computer or router) has
a pair of addresses (logical and physical) for each connection.
In this case, each computer is connected to only one link and
therefore has only one pair of addresses. Each router,
however, is connected to three networks. So each router has
three pairs of addresses, one for each connection. Although it
may be obvious that each router must have a separate
physical address for each connection, it may not be obvious
why it needs a logical address for each connection. We
discuss these issues in routing classes. The computer with
logical address A and physical address 10 needs to send a
packet to the computer with logical address P and physical
address 95. We use letters to show the logical addresses and
numbers for physical addresses, but note that both are actually
numbers, as we will see in later chapters.

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 Example 2.5

20 10 A P Data 20 10 A P Data 33 99 A P Data

Physical
addresses
changed The physical
addresses will
change from
hop to hop,
but the logical
addresses
remain the
same.
95 66 A P Data 95 66 A P Data
33 99 A P Data

Physical
addresses
changed

Figure: Example 2.5: logical addresses

letters: logical address, numbers: Physical address

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PORT ADDRESSES

• Physical and Logical addresses are needed for data

travel from source to destination.
• Port addressing is required for process to process
communication.

P1 B

A
P2
C

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TCP/IP Port Addresses – 16-bits in length
Example 2.6

Figure 2.18 shows two computers communicating via the

Internet. The sending computer is running three processes at
this time with port addresses a, b, and c. The receiving
computer is running two processes at this time with port
addresses j and k. Process a in the sending computer needs to
communicate with process j in the receiving computer.

Note that although both computers are using the same

application, FTP, for example, the port addresses are different
because one is a client program and the other is a server
program.

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Example 2.6

A Sender Receiver P

Data Data
a j Data a j Data The physical
addresses
change from hop
A P a j Data A P a j Data to hop, but the
logical and port
addresses
H2 A P a j Data usually remain
H2 A P a j Data the same.

Internet
Figure 2.18 Example 2.6: port numbers
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Example 2.7

As we will see in future chapters, a port address is a 16-bit

address represented by one decimal number as shown.

753
A 16-bit port address represented as one single number

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APPLICATION ADDRESSES

• User friendly addresses

• Ex: e-mail: [email protected] - user
recipient
• Ex. URL: www.network.com – searching WWW
CONNECTING DEVICES

• To connect LANs and WANs together we use

connecting devices.
• Connecting devices can operate in different layers of
the Internet model.
• Three kinds of connecting devices:
• repeaters (or hubs),
• bridges (or two-layer switches), and
• routers (or three-layer switches).

Figure: Connecting devices

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