Physical Layer

Q: How to connect end systems to mobile

edge router? network
national or global
● residential access nets ISP
● institutional access networks (school,
company)
● mobile access networks (WiFi, 4G/5G)
local or
regional
ISP
home network content
provider
network datacenter
network

enterprise
network
Introduction: 1-1
Access networks: cable-based access
cable headend

cable splitte
mode r
m

C
O
V V V V V V N
I I I I I I D D T
D D D D D D A A R
E E E E E E T T O
O O O O O O A A L
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Channel
s

frequency division multiplexing (FDM): different channels transmitted in

different frequency bands
Introduction: 1-2
Access networks: cable-based access
cable headend

cable splitte cable modem

mode r CMTS termination system
m
data, TV transmitted at
different IS
frequencies over shared
cable P
distribution network

▪ HFC: hybrid fiber coax

• asymmetric: up to 40 Mbps – 1.2 Gbps downstream transmission rate, 30-100 Mbps
upstream transmission rate
▪ network of cable, fiber attaches homes to ISP router
• homes share access network to cable headend
Introduction: 1-3
Access networks: digital subscriber line (DSL)
central office telephone
network

DSL splitte
mode r DSLAM
m

voice, data transmitted IS

at different frequencies over DSL access P
dedicated line to central multiplexer
office

▪ use existing telephone line to central office DSLAM

• data over DSL phone line goes to Internet
• voice over DSL phone line goes to telephone net
▪ 24-52 Mbps dedicated downstream transmission rate
▪ 3.5-16 Mbps dedicated upstream transmission rate
Introduction: 1-4
Access networks: home networks
Wireless and wired
devices

to/from headend or
central office
often combined
in single box

cable or DSL modem

WiFi wireless access router, firewall, NAT

point (54, 450 Mbps)
wired Ethernet (1 Gbps)
Introduction: 1-5
Wireless access networks
Shared wireless access network connects end system to router
▪ via base station aka “access point”

Wireless local area networks Wide-area cellular access networks

(WLANs) ▪ provided by mobile, cellular network
▪ typically within or around operator (10’s km)
building (~100 ft) ▪ 10’s Mbps
▪ 802.11b/g/n (WiFi): 11, 54, 450 ▪ 4G cellular networks (5G coming)
Mbps transmission rate

to
to Internet
Internet Introduction: 1-6
Access networks: enterprise
networks
Enterprise link
to
institutional
ISP (Internet)
router
Ethern institutional
et mail,
switch web servers

▪ companies, universities, etc.

▪ mix of wired, wireless link technologies, connecting a mix of switches
and routers (we’ll cover differences shortly)
▪ Ethernet: wired access at 100Mbps, 1Gbps, 10Gbps
▪ WiFi: wireless access points at 11, 54, 450 Mbps
Introduction: 1-7
Access networks: data center networks
mobile
▪ high-bandwidth links (10s to 100s network
national or global
Gbps) connect hundreds to thousands ISP

of servers together, and to Internet

local or
regional
ISP
home network content
provider
network datacenter
network

Courtesy: Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing enterprise

Center (mghpcc.org)
network
Introduction: 1-8
Host: sends packets of data
host sending function:
▪ takes application message
▪ breaks into smaller chunks, two packets,
known as packets, of length L bits L bits each

▪ transmits packet into access

2 1
network at transmission rate R
•link transmission rate, aka link host
capacity, aka link bandwidth R: link transmission rate

packet time needed to L (bits)

transmission = transmit L-bit =
delay packet into link R (bits/sec)
Introduction: 1-9
Links: physical media
▪ bit: propagates between Twisted pair (TP)
transmitter/receiver pairs
▪ two insulated copper wires
▪ physical link: what lies • Category 5: 100 Mbps, 1 Gbps Ethernet
between transmitter & • Category 6: 10Gbps Ethernet
receiver
▪ guided media:
•signals propagate in solid
media: copper, fiber, coax
▪ unguided media:
•signals propagate freely,
e.g., radio

Introduction: 1-13
Links: physical media
Coaxial cable: Fiber optic cable:
▪ two concentric copper conductors ▪ glass fiber carrying light pulses, each
pulse a bit
▪ bidirectional ▪ high-speed operation:
▪ broadband: • high-speed point-to-point
• multiple frequency channels on cable transmission (10’s-100’s Gbps)
• 100’s Mbps per channel ▪ low error rate:
• repeaters spaced far apart
• immune to electromagnetic noise

Introduction: 1-14
Links: physical media
Wireless radio Radio link types:
▪ signal carried in various ▪ Wireless LAN (WiFi)
“bands” in electromagnetic • 10-100’s Mbps; 10’s of meters
spectrum ▪ wide-area (e.g., 4G cellular)
▪ no physical “wire” • 10’s Mbps over ~10 Km
▪ broadcast, “half-duplex” ▪ Bluetooth: cable replacement
(sender to receiver) • short distances, limited rates
▪ propagation environment ▪ terrestrial microwave
effects: • point-to-point; 45 Mbps channels
• reflection ▪ satellite
• obstruction by objects • up to 45 Mbps per channel
• Interference/noise • 270 msec end-end delay
Introduction: 1-15
LAN Topologies
Frame
Transmission
on Bus LAN
Frame
Transmission
Ring LAN
Bridges
• Ability to expand beyond single LAN
• Provide interconnection to other LANs/WANs
• Use Bridge or router
• Bridge is simpler
— Connects similar LANs
— Identical protocols for physical and link layers
— Minimal processing
• Router more general purpose
— Interconnect various LANs and WANs
— see later
Why Bridge?
• Reliability
• Performance
• Security
• Geography
Functions of a Bridge
• Read all frames transmitted on one LAN and
accept those address to any station on the other
LAN
• Using MAC protocol for second LAN, retransmit
each frame
• Do the same the other way round
Bridge Operation
Bridge Design Aspects
• No modification to content or format of frame
• No encapsulation
• Exact bitwise copy of frame
• Minimal buffering to meet peak demand
• Contains routing and address intelligence
— Must be able to tell which frames to pass
— May be more than one bridge to cross
• May connect more than two LANs
• Bridging is transparent to stations
— Appears to all stations on multiple LANs as if they are on one single
LAN
Bridge Protocol Architecture
• IEEE 802.1D
• MAC level
— Station address is at this level
• Bridge does not need LLC layer
— It is relaying MAC frames
• Can pass frame over external comms system
— e.g. WAN link
— Capture frame
— Encapsulate it
— Forward it across link
— Remove encapsulation and forward over LAN link
Fixed Routing
• Complex large LANs need alternative routes
— Load balancing
— Fault tolerance
• Bridge must decide whether to forward frame
• Bridge must decide which LAN to forward frame
on
• Routing selected for each source-destination pair
of LANs
— Done in configuration
— Usually least hop route
— Only changed when topology changes
Loop of Bridges
Layer 2 and Layer 3 Switches
• Now many types of devices for interconnecting
LANs
• Beyond bridges and routers
• Layer 2 switches
• Layer 3 switches
Hubs
• Active central element of star layout
• Each station connected to hub by two lines
— Transmit and receive
• Hub acts as a repeater
• When single station transmits, hub repeats signal on outgoing line to
each station
• Line consists of two unshielded twisted pairs
• Limited to about 100 m
— High data rate and poor transmission qualities of UTP
• Optical fiber may be used
— Max about 500 m
• Physically star, logically bus
• Transmission from any station received by all other stations
Hub Layouts
• Multiple levels of hubs cascaded
• Each hub may have a mixture of stations and other hubs
attached to from below
• Fits well with building wiring practices
— Wiring closet on each floor
— Hub can be placed in each one
— Each hub services stations on its floor
Buses and Hubs
• Bus configuration
— All stations share capacity of bus (e.g. 10Mbps)
— Only one station transmitting at a time
• Hub uses star wiring to attach stations to hub
— Transmission from any station received by hub and
retransmitted on all outgoing lines
— Only one station can transmit at a time
— Total capacity of LAN is 10 Mbps
• Improve performance with layer 2 switch
Shared Medium Bus and Hub
Shared Medium Hub and
Layer 2 Switch
Layer 2 Switches
• Central hub acts as switch
• Incoming frame from particular station switched to
appropriate output line
• Unused lines can switch other traffic
• More than one station transmitting at a time
• Multiplying capacity of LAN
Layer 2 Switch Benefits
• No change to attached devices to convert bus LAN or hub
LAN to switched LAN
• For Ethernet LAN, each device uses Ethernet MAC protocol
• Device has dedicated capacity equal to original LAN
— Assuming switch has sufficient capacity to keep up with all devices
— For example if switch can sustain throughput of 20 Mbps, each
device appears to have dedicated capacity for either input or
output of 10 Mbps
• Layer 2 switch scales easily
— Additional devices attached to switch by increasing capacity of layer
2
Types of Layer 2 Switch
• Store-and-forward switch
— Accepts frame on input line
— Buffers it briefly,
— Then routes it to appropriate output line
— Delay between sender and receiver
— Boosts integrity of network
• Cut-through switch
— Takes advantage of destination address appearing at beginning of
frame
— Switch begins repeating frame onto output line as soon as it
recognizes destination address
— Highest possible throughput
— Risk of propagating bad frames
Layer 2 Switch v Bridge
• Layer 2 switch can be viewed as full-duplex hub
• Can incorporate logic to function as multiport bridge
• Bridge frame handling done in software
• Switch performs address recognition and frame forwarding
in hardware
• Bridge only analyzes and forwards one frame at a time
• Switch has multiple parallel data paths
— Can handle multiple frames at a time
• Bridge uses store-and-forward operation
• Switch can have cut-through operation
• Bridge suffered commercially
Problems with Layer 2 Switches
• As number of devices in building grows, layer 2 switches
reveal some inadequacies
• Broadcast overload
• Lack of multiple links
• Set of devices and LANs connected by layer 2 switches
have flat address space
— Allusers share common MAC broadcast address
— If any device issues broadcast frame, that frame is delivered to all
devices attached to network connected by layer 2 switches and/or
bridges
— In large network, broadcast frames can create big overhead
— Malfunctioning device can create broadcast storm
Problems with Layer 2 Switches
• Current standards for bridge protocols dictate no closed
loops
— Only one path between any two devices
— Impossible in standards-based implementation to provide multiple
paths through multiple switches between devices
• Limits both performance and reliability.
• Solution: break up network into subnetworks connected by
routers
• MAC broadcast frame limited to devices and switches
contained in single subnetwork
• IP-based routers employ sophisticated routing algorithms
— Allow use of multiple paths between subnetworks going through
Problems with Routers
• Routers do all IP-level processing in software
— High-speed LANs and high-performance layer 2
switches pump millions of packets per second
— Software-based router only able to handle well under a
million packets per second
• Solution: layer 3 switches
— Implementpacket-forwarding logic of router in hardware
• Two categories
— Packet by packet
— Flow based
 Gateways

● A gateway is a network node that forms a passage between two networks

operating with different transmission protocols.
● The most common type of gateways, the network gateway operates at layer
3, i.e. network layer of the OSI (open systems interconnection) model.
● However, depending upon the functionality, a gateway can operate at any of
the seven layers of OSI model. It acts as the entry – exit point for a network
since all traffic that flows across the networks should pass through the
gateway.
● Only the internal traffic between the nodes of a LAN does not pass through
the gateway.
Data Communication Model
DTE & DCE
1.Data Terminal Equipment (DTE) : It includes any unit that functions either as a source of
or as a destination for binary digital data.
● At physical layer it can be a terminal, microcomputer, computer, printer, fax, machine or
any other device that generates or consumes digital data.
● DTEs do not often communicate information but need an intermediary to be able to
communicate.
2. Data Circuit Terminating Equipment (DCE) :
● It includes any functional unit that transmit or receives data in form of an analog or
digital signal through a network.
● At physical layer, a DCE takes data generated by a DTE, converts them to an
appropriate signal, and then introduces signal onto telecommunication link.
Commonly used DCEs at this layer include modems.
DTE & DCE
● In any network, a DTE generates digital data and passes them to a DCE.
● DCE converts that data to a form acceptable to transmission medium and
sends converted signal to another DCE on network.
● The second DCE takes signal off line, converts it to a form usable by its DTE,
and delivers it.
Difference Between DTE & DCE
DTE DCE
DTE stands for Data Termination DCE stands for Data Communication
Equipment. Equipment.

It is a device that is an information source It is a device used as an interface between

or an information sink. a DTE.

DTE is concerned with source or DCE is concerned with communications

destination of data. aspect of data.

It produces data and transfers them to a It converts signals to a format appropriate

DCE, with essential control characters. to transmission medium and introduces it
onto network line.

It is connected through help of a DCE DCE network acts as a medium for two
network. DTE networks.
RS-232D Interface

● RS232 is the interface mainly used for serial data communication.

● It supports data transfer rate from about 110bps to about 115200 bps (bits per
sec).
● Hyper terminal is the application mainly used to check serial communication port
of the computer, often referred as COM port.
● The interface is two types DB9 and DB25 pin connectors.
● The interface is mainly used for one to one serial communication for example
computer to dial up modem connection.
DB9 and DB25
Pin Description
● RD- Receive data, it receives data from DCE (Data communication Equipment) and
pass to DTE (Data Terminal Equipment). For example, DTE is the computer and
DCE is the modem connected to the telephone line.
● TD- Transmit data, it carries data from DTE to DCE.
● CD- Carrier Detect, signal from DCE to DTE. Indicates that modem (DCE) is busy
i.e. already using the line.
● RI- Signal from DCE to DTE, Modem (DCE) detects ring from line.
● RTS- Request to Send, DTE requests DCE to become ready to accept the data.
● CTS- Clear to Send, DCE acknowledges DTE that I am ready to receive the data.
(Response of RTS). DTR- Data Terminal Ready, DTE is ready to transmit.
● DSR- Data Set Ready, DCE is ready to receive.
● SGND- Signal Ground
RS232 Protocol
● Binary 0 range from about +5 to +15 voltage (DC)
● Binary 1 range from about -5 to -15 voltage (DC)
● Start bit - Binary 0
● Data- 5, 6, 7 or 8 bit configurable
● Parity- Odd/even, is not used with 8 bit of data.
● Stop bit: Binary 1, one or two bits
RS232 technical specifications
Specifications RS232

Mode of operation Single ended

number of drivers/receivers on one line 1 driver, 1 receiver

maximum cable length 50 feet

maximum data rate 460 kbps

max. driver output voltage +/- 25 V

Max. driver current in high impedance +/-6mA at +/-2V

state

slew rate(max) 30 V/µS

receiver input voltage range +/-15V

Null Modem
● A null modem is a specially designed cable that allows a “head-to-head” connection
between two nearby serial devices (computers) through their communication ports
(RS-232).
● RS-232 cable is also used for interconnecting two computers without a modem. So it is also a
Null- Modem cable. A cable interconnecting two devices directly is known as Null Modem
cable.
Multiplexing
● The set of techniques that allows the simultaneous transmission of multiple signals across a single data
link is commonly referred to as Multiplexing. Multiplexing is done by using the hardware that is called
as Multiplexer(MUX).
● The Multiplexer(MUX) mainly combines 'n' input lines in order to generate '1' output line(this is
simply many-to-one) on the sender side. And on the receiver side, this stream is fed into the
demultiplexer(DEMUX), which then separates the stream back to its component transmission (this is
one-to-many) and then directs them to their corresponding lines.
Need for the Multiplexing

● At the time when there is a need to transmit many signals from the sender
side that sends simultaneously then multiplexer is used to convert many
signals into one so that on the receiving end we can get them simultaneously.
● As it is very expensive to send many signals differently and it also requires
more wires to send. Thus there is a need for multiplexing. Let us take an
example of T.V cable distributor who sends many channels through a single
wire.
Categories of Multiplexing
● Frequency-division multiplexing

● Wavelength-division multiplexing

● Time-division multiplexing
Frequency-Division Multiplexing

Frequency-Divison Multiplexing i.e FDM is an analog technique.

●
With this technique, signals having different frequencies are combined in a composite
signal and then transmitted on the link.
● It is mainly applied at the time when the bandwidth of the link is greater than the combined bandwidths of the
signal to be transmitted.
● In this, each signal is of a different frequency.
● The channel is usually separated by the strips of unused bandwidth that is the guard bands in order to prevent the signals from
overlapping.
● In the case of frequency division multiplexing, suppose the input signal is in the digital form then it must be converted to analog
before giving it as the input to the modulator.
Frequency-Division Multiplexing

● Here in FDM the transmission path is divided into three parts and each part mainly represents a
channel that carries one transmission.
Advantages & Disadvantages of FDM

Advantages:
● The Simultaneous transmission of a large number of signals is done easily.
● The demodulation of FDM multiplexing is easy.
● There is no need for synchronization between the transmitter and receiver for
proper operation.
● In the case of slow narrowband fading, there is only one single channel that
gets affected.
Disadvantages
● Communication channels must have a very large bandwidth.
● Another application of FDM is that it is used in television broadcasting.
● FDM is also used by first-generation cellular telephones.
Time-Division Multiplexing

Time-Division multiplexing is a digital technique for multiplexing.

● In this technique, the channel/link is divided on the basis of time instead of
frequency.
● The total available time on the channel is divided between the different users
on the channel.
● A particular time interval is allotted to each user on the channel and it is
known as time slot/slice.
● In the time-division multiplexing, the data rate capacity should be much
greater than the data rate that is required by the sending and receiving
device.
Time-Division Multiplexing

TDM is further categorized into two:

1. Synchronous Time-Division Multiplexing
2. Asynchronous Time-Division Multiplexing
Synchronous Time-Division Multiplexing

In Synchronous TDM, each of the Input connection has an allotment in the output
even if it is not sending the data.
● In this multiplexing, each device is given the same time slot in order to
transmit data over the link whether it has to send data to the receiver or not.
● Each device places data on the link whenever its time slot arrives Thus
control is given to each device turn by turn.
● In case if any devices do not have any data to send then in that case the time
slot for that device remains empty.
● In this multiplexing, if there are 'n' sending devices then simultaneously there
will be 'n' time slots which means one time slot for each device.
Synchronous Time-Division Multiplexing

● Also, time slots are organized in the form of frames, where each frame
consists of one or more time slots.
Advantages & Disadvantages

Advantages
● This technique is easy to implement.
● The performance is guaranteed in using this technique.

Disadvantages
● If a user has no data to transmit in that case time slots will get wasted.
● In this multiplexing, the capacity of the transmission link must be always higher than
the total capacity of the input lines.
Asynchronous Time-Division Multiplexing

Another name of Asynchronous TDM is Statistical Time Division Multiplexing. In

this time slots are not fixed, rather time slots are allocated dynamically in order to
improve the efficiency of bandwidth.
● The total speed of all the Input lines can be greater than the capacity of the
path.
● In this Multiplexing, there are n input lines and m slots; thus always (m<n).
● There is no concept of predefined slots rather than slots are allocated
dynamically on demand.
● In this multiplexing, the multiplexor mainly accepts the incoming input data
and then it creates a frame that contains only data without any empty slots.
Asynchronous Time-Division Multiplexing

● Each slot mainly contains the address part that is used to identify the source
of the input data.
● The number of frames in this multiplexing depends upon the statical analysis
of the number of input lines.
● In the following diagram, out of 6 only 4 devices are sending data that are 1,2,4,6. In the above diagram, you
can see that the data part contains the address in order to determine the source of the data. Like A1(data along
with its source).
Advantages & Disadvantages

Advantages
● In this multiplexing, there is an efficient use of the capacity of transmission.
Disadvantages
● In this Multiplexing, frames are of different sizes.
● There is a need for the buffer address information is also needed because there are no
separate slots assigned for each user.
● This technique does not provide a fixed waiting time guarantee.
ADSL
● ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) is a technology that facilitates fast data
transmission at a high bandwidth on existing copper wire telephone lines to homes
and businesses.
● Unlike regular dial-up copper telephone line service, ADSL provides continuously
available, always-on broadband connections.
● In order to access ADSL, a Digital Subscriber Line modem (DSL modem) is installed at
the client side. The DSL modem sends data bits over the local loop of the telephone
network.The local loop is a two – wire connection between the subscriber’s house and the
end office of the telephone company. The data bits are accepted at the end office by a
device called Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer (DSLAM).
Features of ADSL

● ADSL is one among the DSL family of technologies.

● ADSL is used in the local loop of the telephone network, i.e. the part of the telephone
network that connects the customer premises with the end office of the telephone company.
● The telephone company uses a Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer (DSLAM) at its
end office so that multiple ADSL users can be connected to the high-speed backbone
network.
● Most ADSL communications are full-duplex communication. It is achieved by any of the
following technologies −
frequency-division duplex (FDD)
echo-cancelling duplex (ECD)
time-division duplex (TDD)
●
ADSL
● The most common technology uses FDD. Here two separate bands are used
for upstream and downstream communications.
● ADSL uses frequency bands 26.075 kHz to 137.825 kHz for upstream
communication and 138–1104 kHz is downstream communication. Voice
transmission occurs at less than 4 KHz. So, data transmission occurs
simultaneously with voice transmission.
● ADSL filters are used on customer premises with non-DSL connections.
● ADSL uses analog sinusoidal carrier waves for data transmission. The waves
are modulated and demodulated at the customer premises with ADSL
modems.
ADSL
xDSL

● xDSL is a new transmission technology.

● It uses high frequency and modulation technologies on existing copper
telephone lines, that is, the signal processing technology that adds or obtains
more digital data to analog lines can achieve a high transmission rate
(theoretical value can reach 52 Mbit/s).
● xDSL ranges from 6.1Mbps to 155Mbps incoming, and from 600Kbps to
15Mbps outgoing.
● The "x" is a wildcard that can be ADSL (asynchronous) or SDSL (synchronous).
xDSL uses digital encoding to provide more bandwidth over existing twisted-pair
telephone lines (POTS).
Cable Modem
● A cable modem is a hardware device that allows your computer to
communicate with an Internet service provider over a landline connection.
● It converts an analog signal to a digital signal for the purpose of granting access
to broadband Internet.
● Cable Modem is a device that allows your computer to access the Internet
through dedicated broadband transmission networking services by means of your
home cable TV connection.
●
How Cable Modem works
● One-way cable modems are used by unidirectional cable services. Most cable TV services
are designed to carry information in one direction only—from the broadcaster to the
customer premises. With one-way cable modems, the customer uses a regular telephone
modem to send information to the cable company but uses the cable TV system with cable
mode to receive signals from the company. The telephone modem handles all upstream
communication, while the cable modem handles all downstream communication. One-way
cable modems are typically cards installed inside a subscriber’s computer.
● Two-way cable modems require that the broadcasting cable company has converted its
cabling and repeater infrastructure for bidirectional communication. Two-way cable modems
are typically external devices connected to a Network Interface card that is installed in the
subscriber’s computer. The cable modem is used for both upstream and downstream
communication in this configuration. Most cable companies currently have initiatives under
way to make such a conversion, but it requires a large capital investment. Therefore, it will
be several years before these systems become widely available.
Cable Modem
Cable modems modulate and demodulate analog signals like regular modems, but
for transmission over broadband video services instead of telephone voice
services. A cable modem can be internal or external, and can interface with the
coaxial cable connection at the user’s end and the Cable Modem Termination
System (CMTS) at the head office of the cable provider.