Network Layer and

Routing Concepts
Kiranpal Singh Virk
(Assistant Professor)

Guru Nanak Khalsa College

Yamuna Nagar
[email protected]
 TOPICS
NETWORK LAYER - BASICS
NETWORK LAYER - FUNCTIONS
CONNECTION MODEL
ADDRESSING
ROUTING
 OSI MODEL

7 APPLICATION

6 PRESENTATION
• Provide reliable
5 SESSION
•Move
process to
PACKETS
4 TRANSPORT from source to into
process
•Organize delivery
bits
3 NETWORK destination,
of Message,
FRAMES, andand
and
•Provide inter
2 DATA LINK •Error
•ensure
recovery
hop-to-hop
Transmits bits over
networking
delivery
1 PHYSICAL
the physical media
 ROLE OF NETWORK
LAYER

The network layer is responsible for the

delivery of individual packets from
the source host to the destination host.
 NETWORK LAYER
FUNCTIONS
• Host addressing
• Connection model
• Message forwarding
 NETWORK
ADDRESSES
• Every device on the internet has address
• Concept of address helps in distinguishing
source, destination and intermediate
nodes
• Network entities can easily communicate if
they are able to make reference to
different addresses
TYPE OF ADDRESSES
LAYER WISE
ADDRESSES
 NETWORK LAYER
FUNCTIONS
• Host addressing
• Connection model
• Message forwarding
 OSI MODEL
PC 1
PC 2

7 APPLICATION APPLICATION 7
6 PRESENTATION Multiple paths
Information mayPRESENTATION
be 6
5 SESSION linking sender
switched SESSION
as it travels 5
4 TRANSPORT TRANSPORT 4
(PC1) and
through receiver
various
3 NETWORK NETWORK NETWORK NETWORK 3
(PC2) devices
communications
2 DATA LINK DATA LINK DATA LINK DATA LINK 2
1 PHYSICAL
channels
PHYSICAL PHYSICAL PHYSICAL 1
 SWITCHING

• Switching is a technique that connects the

sender and the receiver for communication
• The need arises when you have multiple
links between sender and receiver
TYPES OF SWITCHING
 CIRCUIT SWITCHING

• Circuit switching is a technique that

connects the sender and the receiver by a
single path for the duration of a
conversation
• A complete end-to-end connection must
exist before communication can take place
 CIRCUIT SWITCHING
C E
A B H
G

MSG 1
D F
MSG 2
 CIRCUIT SWITCHING -
BENEFITS
• Once a circuit is established, there is
virtually no channel access delay
• Dedicated transmission channel with
guaranteed data rate
 CIRCUIT SWITCHING -
CONSIDERATIONS
• Single, dedicated channel makes
inefficient use of media
• Dedicated channels are relatively
expensive in terms of time, money and
bandwidth used
• Subjected to long connection delays
 CIRCUIT SWITCHING –
SHORTCOMINGS
• Inefficient when channel utilized for a
small percent of the total time for which
connection is maintained
• Transmission and Receiving rate of the
communicating devices must be same
which is difficult to achieve for devices
supplied by different vendors or having
different standards
 MESSAGE SWITCHING

• No dedicated path between two stations

for an entire conversation
• Conversation is divided into messages
• Each message has its destination
• Also known as store-and-forward network
• Support services as E-mail. Workflow,
groupware
 MESSAGE SWITCHING
C E
A B H
G

MSG 1
MSG 2 D F
 MESSAGE SWITCHING
C E
A B H
G

MSG 1
MSG 2 D F
 MESSAGE SWITCHING
- BENEFITS
• Accommodate more devices by sharing
bandwidth
• Reduce network congestion by storing or
by prioritizing the messages
• Single message can be sent to multiple
devices
• Offline communication possible as in E-
mail
 MESSAGE SWITCHING
- CONSIDERATIONS
• Not suitable, where real time
communication required like audio / video
communications
• Large and costly storage disks for
potentially long messages
 PACKET SWITCHING

• Messages are divided into smaller parts,

called PACKETS
• Each packet is tagged with source,
destination and intermediary node
addresses
• Packet is small in size; when compared to
a message, so can be stored in RAM
instead of hard disks
TYPES OF PACKET
SWITCHING
 DATAGRAM PACKET
SWITCHING
• Very Similar to message switching
• Each message is divided into uniform
length information size called PACKET
• Each packet is transmitted independently
and carries full source and destination
address
 DATAGRAM PACKET
SWITCHING
• Packets arrive randomly and chose
different paths
• A sequencing number is added to each
packet
• This helps in re-ordering the packets at
destination and reconstruct the original
message
 PACKET SWITCHING
C E
A B H
G

D F
5 4 3 2 1
 PACKET SWITCHING
C E
3
A B H
G

D F
1 2 4 5
 PACKET SWITCHING
C E
A B H
G

D F
1 2 4 5 3
 PACKET SWITCHING
C E
A B H
G

D F 5 4 3 2 1
 DATAGRAM PACKET
SWITCHING - BENEFITS
• Cost effective as storage requirements are
minimum and inexpensive
• Less transmission delay
• Packets can be routed around problem
links
• Optimal use of communication link (or
bandwidth)
 DATAGRAM PACKET
SWITCHING -
CONSIDERATIONS
• High implementation costs as complex
protocols are used
• Loss of packet
• Retransmission required
 VIRTUAL CIRCUIT
PACKET SWITCHING
• Virtual Circuit communication is a
combination of circuit switching &
packet switching
• The term ‘virtual’ signifies that the channel
appears to be dedicated to the user for a
conversation
 VIRTUAL CIRCUIT
PACKET SWITCHING
• However; in actual, the devices over the
dedicated channel can be shared/used by
other devices also for packet forwarding
• Priority may be associated with the
packets belonging to the virtual circuit
communication
• Examples of virtual circuit switching are
X.25 and Frame Relay
 VIRTUAL CIRCUIT
PACKET SWITCHING
• Circuit switching provides constant bit rate
and latency, while these may vary in a
virtual circuit service because of reasons
such as:
• varying packet queue lengths
• varying bit rate
• varying load
 VIRTUAL CIRCUIT
SWITCHING
C E
X H
1 B G

A
Y
D F
5 4 3 2 1
 VIRTUAL CIRCUIT
PACKET SWITCHING -
BENEFITS
• Packets are delivered in order
since they all take the same route
• The overhead in the packets is smaller,
since there is no need for each packet to
contain the full address
 VIRTUAL CIRCUIT
PACKET SWITCHING -
BENEFITS
• The connection is more reliable,
network resources are allocated at call
setup so that even during times of
congestion, provided that a call has been
setup, the subsequent packets should get
through
• Billing is easier, since billing records need
only be generated per call and not per
packet.
 VIRTUAL CIRCUIT
PACKET SWITCHING -
CONSIDERATIONS
• The switching equipment needs to be
more powerful, since each switch needs
to store details of all the calls that are
passing through it and to allocate capacity
for any traffic that each call could
generate
 VIRTUAL CIRCUIT
PACKET SWITCHING -
CONSIDERATIONS
• Resilience (Flexibilty) to the loss of a
trunk is more difficult, since if there is a
failure all the calls must be dynamically
re-established over a different route.
 NETWORK SERVICE
MODEL
All services provided on the internet
are broadly classified
RELIABLE DATAGRAM (non-reliable)
/ Best Effort)
CONNECTION CONNECTION LESS
ORIENTED
 LAYER-WISE
SWITCHING
SWITCHING TYPE LAYER WISE
IMPLEMENTED ON
Circuit Switching Physical Layer

Virtual Circuit Switching Data Link Layer

Datagram Switching Network Layer

 NETWORK LAYER
FUNCTIONS
• Host addressing
• Connection model
• Message forwarding
ROUTING SCHEMES
 ROUTING SCHEMES

• UNICAST - delivers a message to a single

specific node
 ROUTING SCHEMES

• BROADCAST - delivers a message to all

nodes in the network
 ROUTING SCHEMES

• MULTICAST - delivers a message to a

group of nodes that have expressed
interest in receiving the message
 ROUTING SCHEMES

• ANYCAST - delivers a message to any

one out of a group of nodes, typically the
one nearest to the source
 ROUTING SCHEMES

• GEOCAST - delivers a message to a

geographic area
 WHAT IS ROUTING

• Routing is the task of selecting paths in a

network along which to send network
traffic or information
• Routing enables us to connect two or
more networks using different network
addresses i.e. Internetworking
 WHAT IS ROUTER

• A computer or a device that specialize in

sending packets over the data network
• Responsible for interconnecting networks
• Forwards packets to their destination by
selecting the best path for a packet to
travel
 ROUTING TABLES

• The routing process usually directs

forwarding on the basis of routing tables
which maintain a record of the routes to
various network destinations
 ROUTING ACTIVITIES

• Routing involves the following two

activities:
– Path determination
– Packet forwarding
 PATH DETERMINATION

• The process of obtaining path in routing

table is called path determination
• Path selection involves applying a routing
metric to multiple routes, in order to select
(or predict) the best route
 PATH DETERMINATION

• There are three different methods to which

router can learn path.
– Automatic detection of directly
connected network.
– Static & Default routing
– Dynamic routing
 PACKET FORWARDING

• If a path is established using the

information from the routing table/s, then
the concerned router sends the packet to
the next device on the selected path
• The router will perform packet forwarding
only if route is available in the routing table
 ROUTERS AND OSI
MODEL
• Routing is; in general, associated with the
Third Layer in OSI Model i.e. Network
Layer
• Routers; however are designed to have
Network as well as Data Link and Physical
Layer Protocols also
 ROUTERS AND OSI
MODEL
PC 1
Routers Operate at Layer 1,2 & 3 PC 2

7 APPLICATION APPLICATION 7
6 PRESENTATION PRESENTATION 6
5 SESSION SESSION 5
4 TRANSPORT TRANSPORT 4
3 NETWORK NETWORK NETWORK NETWORK 3
2 DATA LINK DATA LINK DATA LINK DATA LINK 2
1 PHYSICAL PHYSICAL PHYSICAL PHYSICAL 1
 ROUTERS AND OSI
MODEL

• Routers use destination IP address to

forward packets
• Router determines the best path using the
routing table
• Packet is encapsulated into a frame
• Frame is placed on network medium in
form of Bits
 ROUTING ALGORITHM

• A router with the help of certain algorithms

calculates the best path for the packet to
reach the destination
• These algorithms are called routing
algorithms
• This is the way in which a router finds the
correct entry in its routing table and
updates the same
 ATTRIBUTES OF A
ROUTING ALGORITHM
• Optimality
– capability of the routing algorithm to select the
best route
• Simplicity and low overhead
– must offer its functionality efficiently, with a
minimum of software and utilization overhead
• Robustness and stability
– should perform correctly in the face of
unusual or unforeseen circumstances
 ATTRIBUTES OF A
ROUTING ALGORITHM

• Rapid convergence
– Convergence is the process of agreement, by
all routers, on optimal routes
• Flexibility
– should quickly and accurately adapt to a
variety of network circumstances
 ROUTING METRICS

• Path length
• Reliability
• Delay
• Bandwidth
• Load
• Communication cost
 AUTONOMOUS
SYSTEMS
• Internet is divided into autonomous
systems
• An autonomous system is a group of
network and routers under the authority of
a single administration
AUTONOMOUS
SYSTEMS
 ROUTING PROTOCOLS
• Routing inside an autonomous system is
referred to as intra-domain routing. For
example:

RIP : Routing Information Protocol

– Implementation of Distance Vector Protocol
OSPF : Open Shortest Path First
– Implementation of Link State Protocol
 ROUTING PROTOCOLS
• Routing between two autonomous
systems is referred to as inter-domain
routing. For example:

BGP : Border Gateway Protocol

– Implementation of Path Vector Protocol
ROUTING ALGORITHM
 ROUTING ALGORITHM

• SINGLE-PATH versus MULTIPATH

• FLAT versus HIERARCHICAL
• HOST-INTELLIGENT versus ROUTER-
INTELLIGENT
• INTRADOMAIN versus INTERDOMAIN
• LINK-STATE versus DISTANCE VECTOR
 IS PC A ROUTER ?

• PCs can also forward packets and perform

routing, though they are not specialized
hardware and may suffer from limited
performance
 SUGGESTED READING

• BOOKS:
– Andrew S Tanenbaum, Computer Networks,
Pearson Education
– Behrouz A. Forouzan, Data Communications and
Networking, Tata McGraw
• ONLINE RESOURCES
– docwiki.cisco.com
– en.wikipedia.org
 TOPICS
NETWORK LAYER - BASICS
NETWORK LAYER - FUNCTIONS
CONNECTION MODEL
ADDRESSING
ROUTING
Thank You