UNIT I INTRODUCTION AND PHYSICAL LAYER 9

Networks – Network Types – Protocol Layering – TCP/IP Protocol suite – OSI Model – Physical
Layer: Performance – Transmission media – Switching – Circuit-switched Networks – Packet
Switching.

1.1 DATA COMMUNICATIONS

When we communicate, we are sharing information. This sharing can be local or remote.
Between individuals, local communication usually occurs face to face, while remote
communication takes place over distance. The term telecommunication, which includes
telephony, telegraphy, and television, means communication at a distance (tele is Greek for
“far”). The word data refers to information presented in whatever form is agreed upon by the
parties creating and using the data.
Data communications are the exchange of data between two devices via some form of
transmission medium such as a wire cable. For data communications to occur, the
communicating devices must be part of a communication system made up of a combination of
hardware (physical equipment) and software (programs). The effectiveness of a data
communications system depends on four fundamental characteristics: delivery, accuracy,
timeliness, and jitter.
1. Delivery. The system must deliver data to the correct destination. Data must be received by
the intended device or user and only by that device or user.
2. Accuracy. The system must deliver the data accurately. Data that have been altered in
transmission and left uncorrected are unusable.
3. Timeliness. The system must deliver data in a timely manner. Data delivered late are useless.
In the case of video and audio, timely delivery means delivering data as they are produced, in the
same order that they are produced, and without significant delay. This kind of delivery is called
real-time transmission.
4. Jitter. Jitter refers to the variation in the packet arrival time. It is the uneven delay in the
delivery of audio or video packets. For example, let us assume that video packets are sent every
30 ms. If some of the packets arrive with 30-ms delay and others with 40-ms delay, an uneven
quality in the video is the result.
1.1.1 Components
A data communications system has five components.
1. Message. The message is the information (data) to be communicated. Popular forms of
information include text, numbers, pictures, audio, and video.
2. Sender. The sender is the device that sends the data message. It can be a computer,
workstation, telephone handset, video camera, and so on.
3. Receiver. The receiver is the device that receives the message. It can be a
computer,workstation, telephone handset, television, and so on.
4. Transmission medium. The transmission medium is the physical path by whicha message
travels from sender to receiver. Some examples of transmission mediainclude twisted-pair wire,
coaxial cable, fiber-optic cable, and radio waves.
5. Protocol. A protocol is a set of rules that govern data communications. It representsan
agreement between the communicating devices. Without a protocol, twodevices may be
connected but not communicating, just as a person speaking Frenchcannot be understood by a
person who speaks only Japanese.

1.2 NETWORKS
A network is the interconnection of a set of devices capable of communication. In thisdefinition,
a device can be a host (or an end system as it is sometimes called) such as alarge computer,
desktop, laptop, workstation, cellular phone, or security system. Adevice in this definition can
also be a connecting device such as a router, which connectsthe network to other networks, a
switch, which connects devices together, amodem (modulator-demodulator), which changes the
form of data, and so on. Thesedevices in a network are connected using wired or wireless
transmission media such ascable or air. When we connect two computers at home using a plug-
and-play router, wehave created a network, although very small.
1.2.1 Network Criteria
A network must be able to meet a certain number of criteria. The most important ofthese are
performance, reliability, and security.
Performance
Performance can be measured in many ways, including transit time and response time.Transit
time is the amount of time required for a message to travel from one device toanother. Response
time is the elapsed time between an inquiry and a response. The performanceof a network
depends on a number of factors, including the number of users,the type of transmission medium,
the capabilities of the connected hardware, and theefficiency of the software.
Performance is often evaluated by two networking metrics: throughput and delay.We often
need more throughput and less delay. However, these two criteria are oftencontradictory. If we
try to send more data to the network, we may increase throughputbut we increase the delay
because of traffic congestion in the network.
Reliability
In addition to accuracy of delivery, network reliability is measured by the frequency offailure,
the time it takes a link to recover from a failure, and the network’s robustness ina catastrophe.
Security
Network security issues include protecting data from unauthorized access, protectingdata from
damage and development, and implementing policies and procedures forrecovery from breaches
and data losses.
1.2.2 Physical Structures
Before discussing networks, we need to define some network attributes.
Type of Connection
A network is two or more devices connected through links. A link is a communicationspathway
that transfers data from one device to another. For visualization purposes, it issimplest to imagine
any link as a line drawn between two points. For communication tooccur, two devices must be
connected in some way to the same link at the same time.
There are two possible types of connections: point-to-point and multipoint.
Point-to-Point
A point-to-point connection provides a dedicated link between two devices. Theentire capacity
of the link is reserved for transmission between those two devices. Mostpoint-to-point
connections use an actual length of wire or cable to connect the twoends, but other options, such
as microwave or satellite links, are also possible. When we change television channels by
infrared remote control, we areestablishing a point-to-point connection between the remote
control and the television’scontrol system.
Multipoint
A multipoint (also called multidrop) connection is one in which more than two specificdevices
share a single link. The capacity of the channel is shared spatially or temporally.

Physical Topology
The term physical topology refers to the way in which a network is laid out physically.Two or
more devices connect to a link; two or more links form a topology. The topologyof a network is
the geometric representation of the relationship of all the links andlinking devices (usually called
nodes) to one another. There are four basic topologiespossible: mesh, star, bus, and ring.

Mesh Topology
In a mesh topology, every device has a dedicated point-to-point link to every otherdevice. The
term dedicated means that the link carries traffic only between the twodevices it connects. To
find the number of physical links in a fully connected mesh networkwith n nodes, we first
consider that each node must be connected to every othernode. Node 1 must be connected to n –
1 nodes, node 2 must be connected to n – 1nodes, and finally node n must be connected to n – 1
nodes. We need n (n – 1) physicallinks.

Star Topology
In a star topology, each device has a dedicated point-to-point link only to a central
controller,usually called a hub. The devices are not directly linked to one another. Unlike amesh
topology, a star topology does not allow direct traffic between devices. The controlleracts as an
exchange: If one device wants to send data to another, it sends thedata to the controller, which
then relays the data to the other connected device.

Bus Topology
The preceding examples all describe point-to-point connections. A bus topology, on theother
hand, is multipoint. One long cable acts as a backbone to link all the devices in anetwork .

Ring Topology
In a ring topology, each device has a dedicated point-to-point connection with only thetwo
devices on either side of it. A signal is passed along the ring in one direction, fromdevice to
device, until it reaches its destination. Each device in the ring incorporates arepeater. When a
device receives a signal intended for another device, its repeaterregenerates the bits and passes
them along.
1.3 NETWORK TYPES
The criterion of distinguishing one type of network from another is difficult and sometimes
confusing.We use a few criteria such as size, geographical coverage, and ownership to make
thisdistinction. After discussing two types of networks, LANs and WANs, we define
switching,which is used to connect networks to form an internetwork (a network of networks).
1.3.1 Local Area Network
A local area network (LAN) is usually privately owned and connects some hosts in asingle
office, building, or campus. Depending on the needs of an organization, a LANcan be as simple
as two PCs and a printer in someone’s home office, or it can extendthroughout a company and
include audio and video devices. Each host in a LAN has anidentifier, an address, that uniquely
defines the host in the LAN. A packet sent by a hostto another host carries both the source host’s
and the destination host’s addresses.

1.3.2 Wide Area Network

A wide area network (WAN) is also an interconnection of devices capable of
communication.However, there are some differences between a LAN and a WAN. A LAN is
normallylimited in size, spanning an office, a building, or a campus; a WAN has a wider
geographicalspan, spanning a town, a state, a country, or even the world. A LAN interconnects
hosts;a WAN interconnects connecting devices such as switches, routers, or modems. A LAN
isnormally privately owned by the organization that uses it; a WAN is normally created andrun
by communication companies and leased by an organization that uses it. Two distinct examples
of WANs today: point-to-point WANs and switched WANs.
Point-to-Point WAN
A point-to-point WAN is a network that connects two communicating devices through a
transmissionmedia (cable or air).

Switched WAN
A switched WAN is a network with more than two ends. A switched WAN, is used in the
backbone of global communication today. Switched WAN is a combination of several point-to-
point WANs that are connected by switches.

Internetwork
Today, it is very rare to see a LAN or a WAN in isolation; they are connected to oneanother.
When two or more networks are connected, they make an internetwork, orinternet.
1.3.3 Switching
An internet is a switched network in which a switch connects at least two linkstogether. A
switch needs to forward data from a network to another network whenrequired. The two most
common types of switched networks are circuit-switched andpacket-switched networks. We
discuss both next.
Circuit-Switched Network
In a circuit-switched network, a dedicated connection, called a circuit, is alwaysavailable
between the two end systems; the switch can only make it active or inactive.Figure, shows a very
simple switched network that connects four telephones toeach end. We have used telephone sets
instead of computers as an end system becausecircuit switching was very common in telephone
networks in the past, although part ofthe telephone network today is a packet-switched network.
In Figure the four telephones at each side are connected to a switch. Theswitch connects a
telephone set at one side to a telephone set at the other side. The thickline connecting two
switches is a high-capacity communication line that can handlefour voice communications at the
same time; the capacity can be shared between allpairs of telephone sets. The switches used in
this example have forwarding tasks but nostoring capability.
Figure An internetwork made of two LANs and one point-to-point WAN

Let us look at two cases. In the first case, all telephone sets are busy; four people atone site are
talking with four people at the other site; the capacity of the thick line isfully used. In the second
case, only one telephone set at one side is connected to a telephoneset at the other side; only one-
fourth of the capacity of the thick line is used. Thismeans that a circuit-switched network is
efficient only when it is working at its fullcapacity; most of the time, it is inefficient because it is
working at partial capacity. Thereason that we need to make the capacity of the thick line four
times the capacity ofeach voice line is that we do not want communication to fail when all
telephone sets atone side want to be connected with all telephone sets at the other side.
Figure A heterogeneous network made of four WANs and three LANs

Figure A circuit-switched network

Packet-Switched Network
In a computer network, the communication between the two ends is done in blocks ofdata called
packets. In other words, instead of the continuous communication we seebetween two telephone
sets when they are being used, we see the exchange of individualdata packets between the two
computers. This allows us to make the switches functionfor both storing and forwarding because
a packet is an independent entity that canbe stored and sent later.
A router in a packet-switched network has a queue that can store and forward thepacket. Now
assume that the capacity of the thick line is only twice the capacity of thedata line connecting the
computers to the routers. If only two computers (one at eachsite) need to communicate with each
other, there is no waiting for the packets.
However, if packets arrive at one router when the thick line is already working at its fullcapacity,
the packets should be stored and forwarded in the order they arrived. The twosimple examples
show that a packet-switched network is more efficient than a circuitswitchednetwork, but the
packets may encounter some delays.
1.3.4 The Internet
An internet (note the lowercase i) is two or more networks thatcan communicate with each other.
The most notable internet is called the Internet(uppercase I), and is composed of thousands of
interconnected networks. The figure shows the Internet as several backbones, provider networks,
and customernetworks. At the top level, the backbones are large networks owned by
somecommunication companies such as Sprint, Verizon (MCI), AT&T, and NTT. The
backbonenetworks are connected through some complex switching systems, called
peeringpoints. At the second level, there are smaller networks, called provider networks, thatuse
the services of the backbones for a fee. The provider networks are connected tobackbones and
sometimes to other provider networks. The customer networks are

networks at the edge of the Internet that actually use the services provided by the Internet.They
pay fees to provider networks for receiving services.Backbones and provider networks are also
called Internet Service Providers(ISPs). The backbones are often referred to as international
ISPs; the provider networksare often referred to as national or regional ISPs.
1.3.5 Accessing the Internet
The Internet today is an internetwork that allows any user to become part of it. Theuser,
however, needs to be physically connected to an ISP. The physical connection isnormally done
through a point-to-point WAN.
Using Telephone Networks
Today most residences and small businesses have telephone service, which meansthey are
connected to a telephone network. Since most telephone networks havealready connected
themselves to the Internet, one option for residences and smallbusinesses to connect to the
Internet is to change the voice line between the residenceor business and the telephone center to
a point-to-point WAN. This can be done intwo ways.
❑Dial-up service.The first solution is to add to the telephone line a modem thatconverts data to
voice. The software installed on the computer dials the ISP andimitates making a telephone
connection. Unfortunately, the dial-up service isvery slow, and when the line is used for Internet
connection, it cannot be used fortelephone (voice) connection. It is only useful for small
residences.
❑DSL Service.Since the advent of the Internet, some telephone companies haveupgraded their
telephone lines to provide higher speed Internet services to residencesor small businesses. The
DSL service also allows the line to be used simultaneouslyfor voice and data communication.
Using Cable Networks
More and more residents over the last two decades have begun using cable TV servicesinstead of
antennas to receive TV broadcasting. The cable companies have beenupgrading their cable
networks and connecting to the Internet. A residence or a smallbusiness can be connected to the
Internet by using this service. It provides a higherspeed connection, but the speed varies
depending on the number of neighbors that usethe same cable.

Using Wireless Networks

Wireless connectivity has recently become increasingly popular. A household or asmall business
can use a combination of wireless and wired connections to access theInternet. With the growing
wireless WAN access, a household or a small business canbe connected to the Internet through a
wireless WAN.
Direct Connection to the Internet
A large organization or a large corporation can itself become a local ISP and be connectedto the
Internet. This can be done if the organization or the corporation leases ahigh-speed WAN from a
carrier provider and connects itself to a regional ISP. Forexample, a large university with several
campuses can create an internetwork and thenconnect the internetwork to the Internet.

1.4 PROTOCOL LAYERING

In data communication and networking, aprotocol defines the rules that both the sender and
receiver and all intermediate devicesneed to follow to be able to communicate effectively. When
communication is simple,we may need only one simple protocol; when the communication is
complex, we mayneed to divide the task between different layers, in which case we need a
protocol ateach layer, or protocol layering.
1.4.1 Scenarios
Let us develop two simple scenarios to better understand the need for protocol layering.
First Scenario
In the first scenario, communication is so simple that it can occur in only one layer.Assume
Maria and Ann are neighbors with a lot of common ideas. Communicationbetween Maria and
Ann takes place in one layer, face to face, in the same language, asshown in Figure.
Even in this simple scenario, we can see that a set of rules needs to be followed.First, Maria and
Ann know that they should greet each other when they meet. Second,they know that they should
confine their vocabulary to the level of their friendship.Third, each party knows that she should
refrain from speaking when the other partyis speaking. Fourth, each party knows that the
conversation should be a dialog, not amonolog: both should have the opportunity to talk about
the issue. Fifth, they shouldexchange some nice words when they leave.
We can see that the protocol used by Maria and Ann is different from the
communicationbetween a professor and the students in a lecture hall. The communication inthe
second case is mostly monolog; the professor talks most of the time unless a studenthas a
question, a situation in which the protocol dictates that she should raise her handand wait for
permission to speak. In this case, the communication is normally very formaland limited to the
subject being taught.
Second Scenario
In the second scenario, we assume that Ann is offered a higher-level position in hercompany, but
needs to move to another branch located in a city very far from Maria.The two friends still want
to continue their communication and exchange ideas becausethey have come up with an
innovative project to start a new business when they bothretire. They decide to continue their
conversation using regular mail through the postoffice. However, they do not want their ideas to
be revealed by other people if the lettersare intercepted. They agree on an encryption/decryption
technique. The sender ofthe letter encrypts it to make it unreadable by an intruder; the receiver of
the letterdecrypts it to get the original letter.

Now wecan say that the communication between Maria and Ann takes place in three layers,
asshown in Figure 2.2. We assume that Ann and Maria each have three machines (orrobots) that
can perform the task at each layer.
Figure A single-layer protocol

Let us assume that Maria sends the first letter to Ann. Maria talks to the machine atthe third layer
as though the machine is Ann and is listening to her. The third layermachine listens to what
Maria says and creates the plaintext (a letter in English), whichis passed to the second layer
machine. The second layer machine takes the plaintext,encrypts it, and creates the ciphertext,
which is passed to the first layer machine. Thefirst layer machine, presumably a robot, takes the
ciphertext, puts it in an envelope,adds the sender and receiver addresses, and mails it.
At Ann’s side, the first layer machine picks up the letter from Ann’s mail box, recognizingthe
letter from Maria by the sender address. The machine takes out the ciphertextfrom the envelope
and delivers it to the second layer machine. The second layermachine decrypts the message,
creates the plaintext, and passes the plaintext to thethird-layer machine. The third layer machine
takes the plaintext and reads it as thoughMaria is speaking.
Figure A three-layer protocol

Protocol layering enables us to divide a complex task into several smaller and simplertasks. For
example, in Figure 2.2, we could have used only one machine to do thejob of all three machines.
However, if Maria and Ann decide that the encryption/decryption done by the machine is not
enough to protect their secrecy, they would haveto change the whole machine. In the present
situation, they need to change only the secondlayer machine; the other two can remain the same.
This is referred to as modularity.Modularity in this case means independent layers. A layer
(module) can be defined as ablack box with inputs and outputs, without concern about how
inputs are changed tooutputs. If two machines provide the same outputs when given the same
inputs, theycan replace each other. For example, Ann and Maria can buy the second layer
machinefrom two different manufacturers. As long as the two machines create the same
ciphertextfrom the same plaintext and vice versa, they do the job.
Advantages of protocol layering:
It allows us to separate theservices from the implementation.
A layer needs to be able to receive a set of servicesfrom the lower layer and to give the services
to the upper layer;
Communicationdoes not always use only two end systems; there are intermediate systems
thatneed only some layers, but not all layers. If we did not use protocol layering, we wouldhave
to make each intermediate system as complex as the end systems, which makesthe whole system
more expensive.
Disadvantage to protocol layering?
One can argue that having a singlelayer makes the job easier. There is no need for each layer to
provide a service to theupper layer and give service to the lower layer. For example, Ann and
Maria could findor build one machine that could do all three tasks. However, as mentioned
above, if oneday they found that their code was broken, each would have to replace the
wholemachine with a new one instead of just changing the machine in the second layer.

1.4.2 Principles of Protocol Layering

Let us discuss two principles of protocol layering.
First Principle
The first principle dictates that if we want bidirectional communication, we need tomake each
layer so that it is able to perform two opposite tasks, one in each direction.For example, the third
layer task is to listen (in one direction) and talk (in the otherdirection). The second layer needs to
be able to encrypt and decrypt. The first layerneeds to send and receive mail.
Second Principle
The second principle that we need to follow in protocol layering is that the twoobjects under
each layer at both sites should be identical. For example, the objectunder layer 3 at both sites
should be a plaintext letter. The object under layer 2 atboth sites should be a ciphertext letter.
The object under layer 1 at both sites shouldbe a piece of mail.
1.4.3 Logical Connections
After following the above two principles, we can think about logical connectionbetween each
layer as shown in Figure. This means that we have layer-to-layercommunication. Maria and Ann
can think that there is a logical (imaginary) connectionat each layer through which they can send
the object created from that layer.
Figure Logical connection between peer layers
1.5 TCP/IP PROTOCOL SUITE
Now that we know about the concept of protocol layering and the logical
communicationbetween layers in our second scenario, we can introduce the TCP/IP
(TransmissionControl Protocol/Internet Protocol). TCP/IP is a protocol suite (a set of protocols
organizedin different layers) used in the Internet today. It is a hierarchical protocol made upof
interactive modules, each of which provides a specific functionality. The term hierarchicalmeans
that each upper level protocol is supported by the services provided byone or more lower level
protocols. The original TCP/IP protocol suite was defined asfour software layers built upon the
hardware. Today, however, TCP/IP is thought of as afive-layer model.

1.5.1 Layered Architecture

To show how the layers in the TCP/IP protocol suite are involved in communicationbetween two
hosts, we assume that we want to use the suite in a small internet made upof three LANs (links),
each with a link-layer switch. We also assume that the links areconnected by one router.

Let us assume that computer A communicates with computer B. As the figureshows, we have
five communicating devices in this communication: source host(computer A), the link-layer
switch in link 1, the router, the link-layer switch in link 2,and the destination host (computer B).
Each device is involved with a set of layersdepending on the role of the device in the internet.
The two hosts are involved in all fivelayers; the source host needs to create a message in the
application layer and send itdown the layers so that it is physically sent to the destination host.
The destination hostneeds to receive the communication at the physical layer and then deliver it
through theother layers to the application layer.
Figure Layers in the TCP/IP protocol suite
Figure Communication through an internet

The router is involved in only three layers; there is no transport or application layerin a router as
long as the router is used only for routing. Although a router is alwaysinvolved in one network
layer, it is involved in n combinations of link and physical layersin which n is the number of
links the router is connected to. The reason is that eachlink may use its own data-link or physical
protocol. For example, in the above figure, therouter is involved in three links, but the message
sent from source A to destination B isinvolved in two links. Each link may be using different
link-layer and physical-layerprotocols; the router needs to receive a packet from link 1 based on
one pair of protocolsand deliver it to link 2 based on another pair of protocols.
A link-layer switch in a link, however, is involved only in two layers, data-link andphysical.
Although each switch in the above figure has two different connections, theconnections are in
the same link, which uses only one set of protocols. This means that,unlike a router, a link-layer
switch is involved only in one data-link and one physicallayer.
1.5.2 Layers in the TCP/IP Protocol Suite
After the above introduction, we briefly discuss the functions and duties of layers inthe TCP/IP
protocol suite. Each layer is discussed in detail in the next five parts ofthe book. To better
understand the duties of each layer, we need to think about thelogical connections between
layers.
Using logical connections makes it easier for us to think about the duty of eachlayer. As the
figure shows, the duty of the application, transport, and network layers isend-to-end. However,
the duty of the data-link and physical layers is hop-to-hop, inwhich a hop is a host or router. In
other words, the domain of duty of the top threelayers is the internet, and the domain of duty of
the two lower layers is the link.
Another way of thinking of the logical connections is to think about the data unitcreated from
each layer. In the top three layers, the data unit (packets) should not bechanged by any router or
link-layer switch. In the bottom two layers, the packet createdby the host is changed only by the
routers, not by the link-layer switches.
Figure Logical connections between layers of the TCP/IP protocol suite

1.5.3 Description of Each Layer

Physical Layer
We can say that the physical layer is responsible for carrying individual bits in a frameacross the
link. Although the physical layer is the lowest level in the TCP/IP protocolsuite, the
communication between two devices at the physical layer is still a logicalcommunication
because there is another, hidden layer, the transmission media, underthe physical layer. Two
devices are connected by a transmission medium (cable or air).We need to know that the
transmission medium does not carry bits; it carries electricalor optical signals. So the bits
received in a frame from the data-link layer are transformedand sent through the transmission
media, but we can think that the logical unitbetween two physical layers in two devices is a bit.
There are several protocols thattransform a bit to a signal. We discuss them in Part II when we
discuss the physicallayer and the transmission media.
Figure Identical objects in the TCP/IP protocol suite

Data-link Layer
We have seen that an internet is made up of several links (LANs and WANs) connectedby
routers. There may be several overlapping sets of links that a datagram can travelfrom the host to
the destination. The routers are responsible for choosing the best links.However, when the next
link to travel is determined by the router, the data-link layer isresponsible for taking the datagram
and moving it across the link. The link can be awired LAN with a link-layer switch, a wireless
LAN, a wired WAN, or a wirelessWAN. We can also have different protocol used with any link
type. In each case, thedata-link layer is responsible for moving the packet through the
link.TCP/IP does not define any specific protocol for the data-link layer. It supports allthe
standard and proprietary protocols. Any protocol that can take the datagram andcarry it through
the link suffices for the network layer. The data-link layer takes a datagramand encapsulates it in
a packet called a frame.Each link-layer protocol may provide a different service. Some link-layer
protocolsprovide complete error detection and correction, some provide only error correction.
Network Layer
The network layer is responsible for creating a connection between the source computerand the
destination computer. The communication at the network layer is host-to-host.However, since
there can be several routers from the source to the destination, the routersin the path are
responsible for choosing the best route for each packet. We can say that thenetwork layer is
responsible for host-to-host communication and routing the packetthrough possible routes.
Again, we may ask ourselves why we need the network layer. Wecould have added the routing
duty to the transport layer and dropped this layer. One reason,as we said before, is the separation
of different tasks between different layers. The secondreason is that the routers do not need the
application and transport layers. Separating thetasks allows us to use fewer protocols on the
routers.
The network layer in the Internet includes the main protocol, Internet Protocol(IP), that defines
the format of the packet, called a datagram at the network layer. IPalso defines the format and
the structure of addresses used in this layer. IP is alsoresponsible for routing a packet from its
source to its destination, which is achieved byeach router forwarding the datagram to the next
router in its path.IP is a connectionless protocol that provides no flow control, no error control,
andno congestion control services. This means that if any of theses services is required foran
application, the application should rely only on the transport-layer protocol. The networklayer
also includes unicast (one-to-one) and multicast (one-to-many) routing protocols.A routing
protocol does not take part in routing (it is the responsibility of IP),but it creates forwarding
tables for routers to help them in the routing process.The network layer also has some auxiliary
protocols that help IP in its delivery androuting tasks. The Internet Control Message Protocol
(ICMP) helps IP to report someproblems when routing a packet. The Internet Group
Management Protocol (IGMP) isanother protocol that helps IP in multitasking. The Dynamic
Host Configuration Protocol(DHCP) helps IP to get the network-layer address for a host. The
Address ResolutionProtocol (ARP) is a protocol that helps IP to find the link-layer address of a
host ora router when its network-layer address is given.
Transport Layer
The logical connection at the transport layer is also end-to-end. The transport layer at thesource
host gets the message from the application layer, encapsulates it in a transportlayerpacket (called
a segment or a user datagram in different protocols) and sends it,through the logical (imaginary)
connection, to the transport layer at the destination host.In other words, the transport layer is
responsible for giving services to the applicationlayer: to get a message from an application
program running on the source host anddeliver it to the corresponding application program on
the destination host. We may askwhy we need an end-to-end transport layer when we already
have an end-to-end applicationlayer. The reason is the separation of tasks and duties, which we
discussed earlier.The transport layer should be independent of the application layer. In addition,
we willsee that we have more than one protocol in the transport layer, which means that
eachapplication program can use the protocol that best matches its requirement.
As we said, there are a few transport-layer protocols in the Internet, each designedfor some
specific task. The main protocol, Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), is aconnection-oriented
protocol that first establishes a logical connection between transportlayers at two hosts before
transferring data. It creates a logical pipe between twoTCPs for transferring a stream of bytes.
TCP provides flow control (matching the sendingdata rate of the source host with the receiving
data rate of the destination host toprevent overwhelming the destination), error control (to
guarantee that the segmentsarrive at the destination without error and resending the corrupted
ones), and congestioncontrol to reduce the loss of segments due to congestion in the network.
The othercommon protocol, User Datagram Protocol (UDP), is a connectionless protocol
thattransmits user datagrams without first creating a logical connection. In UDP, each user
datagram is an independent entity without being related to the previous or the next one(the
meaning of the term connectionless). UDP is a simple protocol that does not provideflow, error,
or congestion control. Its simplicity, which means small overhead, isattractive to an application
program that needs to send short messages and cannotafford the retransmission of the packets
involved in TCP, when a packet is corrupted orlost. A new protocol, Stream Control
Transmission Protocol (SCTP) is designed torespond to new applications that are emerging in
the multimedia.
Application Layer
As Figure 2.6 shows, the logical connection between the two application layers is endto-end. The
two application layers exchange messages between each other as thoughthere were a bridge
between the two layers. However, we should know that the communicationis done through all
the layers.Communication at the application layer is between two processes (two
programsrunning at this layer). To communicate, a process sends a request to the other
processand receives a response. Process-to-process communication is the duty of the
applicationlayer. The application layer in the Internet includes many predefined protocols, buta
user can also create a pair of processes to be run at the two hosts.
The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is a vehicle for accessing the WorldWide Web
(WWW). The Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) is the main protocolused in electronic mail
(e-mail) service. The File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is used fortransferring files from one host to
another. The Terminal Network (TELNET) andSecure Shell (SSH) are used for accessing a site
remotely. The Simple Network ManagementProtocol (SNMP) is used by an administrator to
manage the Internet at globaland local levels. The Domain Name System (DNS) is used by other
protocols to findthe network-layer address of a computer. The Internet Group Management
Protocol(IGMP) is used to collect membership in a group.
1.5.4 Encapsulation and Decapsulation
One of the important concepts in protocol layering in the Internet is encapsulation/decapsulation.
We have not shown the layers for the link-layer switches because no
encapsulation/decapsulationoccurs in this device.
Encapsulation at the Source Host
At the source, we have only encapsulation.
1. At the application layer, the data to be exchanged is referred to as a message. Amessage
normally does not contain any header or trailer, but if it does, we refer tothe whole as the
message. The message is passed to the transport layer.
2. The transport layer takes the message as the payload, the load that the transportlayer should
take care of. It adds the transport layer header to the payload, whichcontains the identifiers of the
source and destination application programs thatwant to communicate plus some more
information that is needed for the end-toenddelivery of the message, such as information needed
for flow, error control, orcongestion 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
thepacket to the network layer.
Figure Encapsulation/Decapsulation

3. The network layer takes the transport-layer packet as data or payload and adds itsown header
to the payload. The header contains the addresses of the source anddestination 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. The network layer then passes the
packet to the data-link layer.
4. The data-link layer takes the network-layer packet as data or payload and adds itsown header,
which contains the link-layer addresses of the host or the next hop (therouter). The result is the
link-layer packet, which is called a frame. The frame ispassed to the physical layer for
transmission.
Decapsulation and Encapsulation at the Router
At the router, we have both decapsulation and encapsulation because the router is connectedto
two or more links.
1. After the set of bits are delivered to the data-link layer, this layer decapsulates thedatagram
from the frame and passes it to the network layer.
2. The network layer only inspects the source and destination addresses in the datagramheader
and consults its forwarding table to find the next hop to which the datagram is tobe delivered.
The contents of the datagram should not be changed by the network layerin the router unless
there is a need to fragment the datagram if it is too big to be passedthrough the next link. The
datagram is then passed to the data-link layer of the next link.
3. The data-link layer of the next link encapsulates the datagram in a frame andpasses it to the
physical layer for transmission.
Decapsulation at the Destination Host
At the destination host, each layer only decapsulates the packet received, removes thepayload,
and delivers the payload to the next-higher layer protocol until the messagereaches the
application layer. It is necessary to say that decapsulation in the hostinvolves error checking.

1.5.5 Addressing
It is worth mentioning another concept related to protocol layering in the Internet,addressing. As
we discussed before, we have logical communication between pairs oflayers in this model. Any
communication that involves two parties needs two addresses:source address and destination
address. Although it looks as if we need five pairs ofaddresses, one pair per layer, we normally
have only four because the physical layer doesnot need addresses; the unit of data exchange at
the physical layer is a bit, which definitelycannot have an address. Figure shows the addressing
at each layer.As the figure shows, there is a relationship between the layer, the address used
inthat layer, and the packet name at that layer. At the application layer, we normally usenames to
define the site that provides services, such as someorg.com, or the e-mailaddress, such as
[email protected]. At the transport layer, addresses are calledport numbers, and these
define the application-layer programs at the source anddestination. Port numbers are local
addresses that distinguish between several programsrunning at the same time. At the network-
layer, the addresses are global, with the wholeInternet as the scope. A network-layer address
uniquely defines the connection of adevice to the Internet. The link-layer addresses, sometimes
called MAC addresses, arelocally defined addresses, each of which defines a specific host or
router in a network(LAN or WAN). We will come back to these addresses in future chapters.

1.5.6 Multiplexing and Demultiplexing

Since the TCP/IP protocol suite uses several protocols at some layers, we can say that wehave
multiplexing at the source and demultiplexing at the destination. Multiplexing in thiscase means
that a protocol at a layer can encapsulate a packet from several next-higherlayer protocols (one at
a time); demultiplexing means that a protocol can decapsulate anddeliver a packet to several
next-higher layer protocols (one at a time). Figure showsthe concept of multiplexing and
demultiplexing at the three upper layers.To be able to multiplex and demultiplex, a protocol
needs to have a field in itsheader to identify to which protocol the encapsulated packets belong.
At the transportlayer, either UDP or TCP can accept a message from several application-
layerprotocols. At the network layer, IP can accept a segment from TCP or a user datagramfrom
UDP. IP can also accept a packet from other protocols such as ICMP, IGMP, andso on. At the
data-link layer, a frame may carry the payload coming from IP or otherprotocols such as ARP.
Figure Addressing in the TCP/IP protocol suite

Figure Multiplexing and demultiplexing

1.6 THE OSI MODEL

Although, when speaking of the Internet, everyone talks about the TCP/IP protocolsuite, this
suite is not the only suite of protocols defined. Established in 1947, theInternational
Organization for Standardization (ISO) is a multinational bodydedicated to worldwide
agreement on international standards. Almost three-fourths ofthe countries in the world are
represented in the ISO. An ISO standard that covers allaspects of network communications is the
Open Systems Interconnection (OSI)model. It was first introduced in the late 1970s.
An open system is a set of protocols that allows any two different systems to
communicateregardless of their underlying architecture. The purpose of the OSI model isto show
how to facilitate communication between different systems without requiringchanges to the logic
of the underlying hardware and software. The OSI model is not aprotocol; it is a model for
understanding and designing a network architecture that isflexible, robust, and interoperable. The
OSI model was intended to be the basis for thecreation of the protocols in the OSI stack.
The OSI model is a layered framework for the design of network systems thatallows
communication between all types of computer systems. It consists of seven separatebut related
layers, each of which defines a part of the process of moving informationacross a network.
Figure The OSI model

1.6.1 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 theTCP/IP protocol suite
after the publication of the OSI model. The application layer inthe suite is usually considered to
be the combination of three layers in the OSI model.
Two reasons were mentioned for this decision. First, TCP/IP has more than onetransport-layer
protocol. Some of the functionalities of the session layer are availablein some of the transport-
layer protocols. Second, the application layer is not onlyone piece of software. Many
applications can be developed at this layer. If some ofthe functionalities mentioned in the session
and presentation layers are needed fora particular application, they can be included in the
development of that piece ofsoftware.
Figure TCP/IP and OSI model

1.6.2 Lack of OSI Model’s Success

The OSI model appeared after the TCP/IP protocol suite. Most experts were at firstexcited and
thought that the TCP/IP protocol would be fully replaced by the OSImodel. This did not happen
for several reasons, but we describe only three,
First, OSI was completed when TCP/IP wasfully in place and a lot of time and money had been
spent on the suite; changing itwould cost a lot.
Second, some layers in the OSI model were never fully defined. Forexample, although the
services provided by the presentation and the session layerswere listed in the document, actual
protocols for these two layers were not fullydefined, nor were they fully described, and the
corresponding software was not fullydeveloped.
Third, when OSI was implemented by an organization in a differentapplication, it did not show a
high enough level of performance to entice the Internetauthority to switch from the TCP/IP
protocol suite to the OSI model.

1.7 PHYSICAL LAYER:PERFORMANCE

1.7.1 Bandwidth
One characteristic that measures network performance is bandwidth. However, the termcan be
used in two different contexts with two different measuring values: bandwidth inhertz and
bandwidth in bits per second.
Bandwidth in Hertz
We have discussed this concept. Bandwidth in hertz is the range of frequencies containedin a
composite signal or the range of frequencies a channel can pass. For example,bandwidth of a
subscriber telephone line is 4 kHz.
Bandwidth in Bits per Seconds
The term bandwidth can also refer to the number of bits per second that a channel, alink, or even
a network can transmit. For example, bandwidth of a FastEthernet network (or the links in this
network) is a maximum of 100 Mbps. This meansthat this network can send 100 Mbps.
Relationship
There is an explicit relationship between the bandwidth in hertz and bandwidth in bitsper second.
Basically, an increase in bandwidth in hertz means an increase in bandwidthin bits per second.
The relationship depends on whether we have baseband transmissionor transmission with
modulation.
1.7.2 Throughput
The throughput is a measure of how fast we can actually send data through a network.Although,
at first glance, bandwidth in bits per second and throughput seem the same, they are different. A
link may have a bandwidth of B bps, but we can only send T bpsthrough this link with T always
less than B. In other words, the bandwidth is a potentialmeasurement of a link; the throughput is
an actual measurement of how fast we cansend data. For example, we may have a link with a
bandwidth of 1 Mbps, but thedevices connected to the end of the link may handle only 200 kbps.
This means that wecannot send more than 200 kbps through this link.
1.7.3 Latency (Delay)
The latency or delay defines how long it takes for an entire message to completelyarrive at the
destination from the time the first bit is sent out from the source. Latency is made of four
components: propagation time, transmission time,queuing time and processing delay.
Latency =propagation time +1 transmission time +1 queuing time +processing delay
Propagation Time
Propagation time measures the time required for a bit to travel from the source to
thedestination. The propagation time is calculated by dividing the distance by the
propagationspeed.
Propagation time =Distance / (Propagation Speed)
The propagation speed of electromagnetic signals depends on the medium and onthe frequency
of the signal. For example, in a vacuum, light is propagated with a speedof 3 × 108 m/s. It is
lower in air; it is much lower in cable.
Transmission Time
In data communications we don’t send just 1 bit, we send a message. The first bit maytake a time
equal to the propagation time to reach its destination; the last bit also maytake the same amount
of time. However, there is a time between the first bit leaving thesender and the last bit arriving
at the receiver. The first bit leaves earlier and arrives earlier;the last bit leaves later and arrives
later. The transmission time of a messagedepends on the size of the message and the bandwidth
of the channel.
Transmission time =5 (Message size) / Bandwidth
Queuing Time
The third component in latency is the queuing time, the time needed for each intermediateor end
device to hold the message before it can be processed. The queuing time isnot a fixed factor; it
changes with the load imposed on the network. When there isheavy traffic on the network, the
queuing time increases. An intermediate device, suchas a router, queues the arrived messages
and processes them one by one. If there aremany messages, each message will have to wait.
1.7.4 Bandwidth-Delay Product
Bandwidth and delay are two performance metrics of a link. However, as we will see inthis
chapter and future chapters, what is very important in data communications is theproduct of the
two, the bandwidth-delay product. Let us elaborate on this issue, usingtwo hypothetical cases as
examples.
1.7.5 Jitter
Another performance issue that is related to delay is jitter. Jitteris a problem if different packets
of data encounter different delays and the applicationusing the data at the receiver site is time-
sensitive (audio and video data, forexample). If the delay for the first packet is 20 ms, for the
second is 45 ms, and for thethird is 40 ms, then the real-time application that uses the packets
endures jitter.

1.8 TRANSMISSION MEDIA:

Transmission media are actually located below the physical layer and are directly controlledby
the physical layer. We could say that transmission media belong to layerzero.
A transmission medium can be broadly defined as anything that can carry informationfrom a
source to a destination. For example, the transmission medium for twopeople having a dinner
conversation is the air. The air can also be used to convey themessage in a smoke signal or
semaphore. For a written message, the transmissionmedium might be a mail carrier, a truck, or
an airplane.
In data communications the definition of the information and the transmissionmedium is more
specific. The transmission medium is usually free space, metallic cable,or fiber-optic cable. The
information is usually a signal that is the result of a conversionof data from another form.
The use of long-distance communication using electric signals started with theinvention of the
telegraph by Morse in the 19th century. Communication by telegraphwas slow and dependent on
a metallic medium.
Extending the range of the human voice became possible when the telephone wasinvented in
1869. Telephone communication at that time also needed a metallic mediumto carry the electric
signals that were the result of a conversion from the human voice.
The communication was, however, unreliable due to the poor quality of the wires. Thelines were
often noisy and the technology was unsophisticated.Wireless communication started in 1895
when Hertz was able to send highfrequencysignals. Later, Marconi devised a method to send
telegraph-type messagesover the Atlantic Ocean.
We have come a long way. Better metallic media have been invented (twisted-pairand coaxial
cables, for example). The use of optical fibers has increased the data rateincredibly. Free space
(air, vacuum, and water) is used more efficiently, in part dueto the technologies (such as
modulation and multiplexing).
Computers and other telecommunication devices usesignals to represent data. These signals are
transmitted from one device to another in theform of electromagnetic energy, which is
propagated through transmission media.Electromagnetic energy, a combination of electric and
magnetic fields vibrating inrelation to each other, includes power, radio waves, infrared light,
visible light, ultravioletrays. Each of these constitutes a portion of the
electromagneticspectrum. In telecommunications, transmission media can be divided into two
broad categories:
guided and unguided. Guided media include twisted-pair cable, coaxial cable, andfiber-optic
cable. Unguided medium is free space.
Figure Transmission medium and physical layer

1.8.1 GUIDED MEDIA

Guided media, which are those that provide a conduit from one device to another,include
twisted-pair cable, coaxial cable, and fiber-optic cable. A signal travelingalong any of these
media is directed and contained by the physical limits of themedium. Twisted-pair and coaxial
cable use metallic (copper) conductors that acceptand transport signals in the form of electric
current. Optical fiber is a cable that acceptsand transports signals in the form of light.
1.8.1.1 Twisted-Pair Cable
A twisted pair consists of two conductors (normally copper), each with its own plasticinsulation,
twisted together, as shown in Figure 7.3.One of the wires is used to carry signals to the receiver,
and the other is used onlyas a ground reference. The receiver uses the difference between the
two.
In addition to the signal sent by the sender on one of the wires, interference (noise)and crosstalk
may affect both wires and create unwanted signals.If the two wires are parallel, the effect of
these unwanted signals is not the same inboth wires because they are at different locations
relative to the noise or crosstalk sources(e.g., one is closer and the other is farther). This results
in a difference at the receiver.

By twisting the pairs, a balance is maintained. For example, suppose in one twist, onewire is
closer to the noise source and the other is farther; in the next twist, the reverse istrue. Twisting
makes it probable that both wires are equally affected by external influences(noise or crosstalk).
This means that the receiver, which calculates the differencebetween the two, receives no
unwanted signals. The unwanted signals are mostly canceledout. From the above discussion, it is
clear that the number of twists per unit oflength (e.g., inch) has some effect on the quality of the
cable.
Unshielded Versus Shielded Twisted-Pair Cable
The most common twisted-pair cable used in communications is referred to asunshielded
twisted-pair (UTP). IBM has also produced a version of twisted-pair cablefor its use, called
shielded twisted-pair (STP). STP cable has a metal foil or braidedmeshcovering that encases
each pair of insulated conductors. Although metal casingimproves the quality of cable by
preventing the penetration of noise or crosstalk, it isbulkier and more expensive.
Categories
The Electronic Industries Association (EIA) has developed standards to classifyunshielded
twisted-pair cable into seven categories. Categories are determined by cablequality, with 1 as the
lowest and 7 as the highest. Each EIA category is suitable forspecific uses. Table 7.1 shows these
categories.
Figure UTP and STP cables

Connectors
The most common UTP connector is RJ45 (RJ stands for registered jack), as shownin Figure.
The RJ45 is a keyed connector, meaning the connector can be inserted inonly one way.
Performance
One way to measure the performance of twisted-pair cable is to compare attenuationversus
frequency and distance. A twisted-pair cable can pass a wide range of frequencies.However,
Figure 7.6 shows that with increasing frequency, the attenuation, measured indecibels per
kilometer (dB/km), sharply increases with frequencies above 100 kHz. Notethat gauge is a
measure of the thickness of the wire.
Applications
Twisted-pair cables are used in telephone lines to provide voice and data channels.The local
loop—the line that connects subscribers to the central telephone office—commonly consists of
unshielded twisted-pair cables. The DSL lines that are used by the telephone companies to
provide high-data-rateconnections also use the high-bandwidth capability of unshielded twisted-
pair cables.
1.8.1.2 Coaxial Cable
Coaxial cable (or coax) carries signals of higher frequency ranges than those in twistedpaircable,
in part because the two media are constructed quite differently. Instead ofhaving two wires, coax
has a central core conductor of solid or stranded wire (usuallycopper) enclosed in an insulating
sheath, which is, in turn, encased in an outer conductorof metal foil, braid, or a combination of
the two. The outer metallic wrapping servesboth as a shield against noise and as the second
conductor, which completes the circuit.This outer conductor is also enclosed in an insulating
sheath, and the whole cable isprotected by a plastic cover.

Coaxial Cable Standards

Coaxial cables are categorized by their Radio Government (RG) ratings. Each RGnumber
denotes a unique set of physical specifications, including the wire gauge of theinner conductor,
the thickness and type of the inner insulator, the construction of theshield, and the size and type
of the outer casing.
Coaxial Cable Connectors
To connect coaxial cable to devices, we need coaxial connectors. The most commontype of
connector used today is the Bayonet Neill-Concelman (BNC) connector.Figure shows three
popular types of these connectors: the BNC connector, theBNC T connector, and the BNC
terminator.The BNC connector is used to connect the end of the cable to a device, such as aTV
set. The BNC T connector is used in Ethernet networks to branchout to a connection to a
computer or other device. The BNC terminator is used at theend of the cable to prevent the
reflection of the signal.Cable TV networks (see Chapter 14) also use coaxial cables. In the
traditional cableTV network, the entire network used coaxial cable. Later, however, cable TV
providersreplaced most of the media with fiber-optic cable; hybrid networks use coaxial
cableonly at the network boundaries, near the consumer premises. Cable TV uses RG-59coaxial
cable.
Another common application of coaxial cable is in traditional Ethernet LANs. Because of its
high bandwidth, and consequently high data rate, coaxialcable was chosen for digital
transmission in early Ethernet LANs. The 10Base-2, or ThinEthernet, uses RG-58 coaxial cable
with BNC connectors to transmit data at 10 Mbpswith a range of 185 m. The 10Base5, or Thick
Ethernet, uses RG-11 (thick coaxial cable)to transmit 10 Mbps with a range of 5000 m. Thick
Ethernet has specialized connectors.
1.8.1.3 Fiber-Optic Cable
A fiber-optic cable is made of glass or plastic and transmits signals in the form of light.To
understand optical fiber, we first need to explore several aspects of the nature oflight.Light
travels in a straight line as long as it is moving through a single uniform substance.If a ray of
light traveling through one substance suddenly enters another substance(of a different density),
the ray changes direction. Figure shows how a ray of lightchanges direction when going from a
more dense to a less dense substance.As the figure shows, if the angle of incidence I (the angle
the ray makes with theline perpendicular to the interface between the two substances) is less than
the criticalangle, the ray refracts and moves closer to the surface. If the angle of incidence
isequal to the critical angle, the light bends along the interface. If the angle is greater thanthe
critical angle, the ray reflects (makes a turn) and travels again in the densersubstance. Note that
the critical angle is a property of the substance, and its value differsfrom one substance to
another.

Optical fibers use reflection to guide light through a channel. A glass or plastic coreis
surrounded by a cladding of less dense glass or plastic. The difference in density of thetwo
materials must be such that a beam of light moving through the core is reflected offthe cladding
instead of being refracted into it.

Propagation Modes
Current technology supports two modes (multimode and single mode) for propagating lightalong
optical channels, each requiring fiber with different physical characteristics. Multimodecan be
implemented in two forms: step-index or graded-index.
Multimode
Multimode is so named because multiple beams from a light source move through thecore in
different paths. How these beams move within the cable depends on the structureof the core.
Figure Propagation modes

In multimode step-index fiber, the density of the core remains constant from thecenter to the
edges. A beam of light moves through this constant density in a straightline until it reaches the
interface of the core and the cladding. At the interface, there isan abrupt change due to a lower
density; this alters the angle of the beam’s motion. Theterm step-index refers to the suddenness
of this change, which contributes to the distortionof the signal as it passes through the fiber.
Figure 7.13 Modes

A second type of fiber, called multimode graded-index fiber, decreases this distortionof the
signal through the cable. The word index here refers to the index ofrefraction. As we saw above,
the index of refraction is related to density. A gradedindexfiber, therefore, is one with varying
densities. Density is highest at the center ofthe core and decreases gradually to its lowest at the
edge. Figure 7.13 shows the impactof this variable density on the propagation of light beams.

Single-Mode
Single-mode uses step-index fiber and a highly focused source of light that limitsbeams to a
small range of angles, all close to the horizontal. The single-mode fiberitself is manufactured
with a much smaller diameter than that of multimode fiber, andwith substantially lowers density
(index of refraction). The decrease in density results ina critical angle that is close enough to 90°
to make the propagation of beams almosthorizontal. In this case, propagation of different beams
is almost identical, and delaysare negligible. All the beams arrive at the destination “together”
and can be recombinedwith little distortion to the signal.

Fiber Sizes
Optical fibers are defined by the ratio of the diameter of their core to the diameter oftheir
cladding, both expressed in micrometers.
Fiber-Optic Cable Connectors
There are three types of connectors for fiber-optic cables. Thesubscriber channel (SC)
connector is used for cable TV. It uses a push/pull lockingsystem. The straight-tip (ST)
connector is used for connecting cable to networkingdevices. It uses a bayonet locking system
and is more reliable than SC. MT-RJ is aconnector that is the same size as RJ45.
Performance
The plot of attenuation versus wavelength in Figure 7.16 shows a very interestingphenomenon in
fiber-optic cable. Attenuation is flatter than in the case of twisted-paircable and coaxial cable.
The performance is such that we need fewer (actually onetenthas many) repeaters when we use
fiber-optic cable.
Applications
Fiber-optic cable is often found in backbone networks because its wide bandwidth iscost-
effective. Today, with wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM), we can transferdata at a rate of
1600 Gbps. The SONET network that we discuss in Chapter 14 providessuch a backbone.
Some cable TV companies use a combination of optical fiber and coaxial cable,thus creating a
hybrid network. Optical fiber provides the backbone structure whilecoaxial cable provides the
connection to the user premises. This is a cost-effective configurationsince the narrow bandwidth
requirement at the user end does not justify theuse of optical fiber.
Local-area networks such as 100Base-FX network (Fast Ethernet) and 1000Base-Xalso use
fiber-optic cable.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Optical Fiber
Advantages
Fiber-optic cable has several advantages over metallic cable (twisted-pair or coaxial).
❑Higher bandwidth. Fiber-optic cable can support dramatically higher bandwidths(and hence
data rates) than either twisted-pair or coaxial cable. Currently, data ratesand bandwidth
utilization over fiber-optic cable are limited not by the medium butby the signal generation and
reception technology available.
❑Less signal attenuation. Fiber-optic transmission distance is significantly greaterthan that of
other guided media. A signal can run for 50 km without requiringregeneration. We need
repeaters every 5 km for coaxial or twisted-pair cable.
❑Immunity to electromagnetic interference.Electromagnetic noise cannot affectfiber-optic
cables.
❑Resistance to corrosive materials.Glass is more resistant to corrosive materialsthan copper.
❑Light weight.Fiber-optic cables are much lighter than copper cables.
❑Greater immunity to tapping.Fiber-optic cables are more immune to tapping thancopper
cables. Copper cables create antenna effects that can easily be tapped.
Disadvantages
There are some disadvantages in the use of optical fiber.
❑Installation and maintenance.Fiber-optic cable is a relatively new technology. Itsinstallation
and maintenance require expertise that is not yet available everywhere.
❑Unidirectional light propagation.Propagation of light is unidirectional. If weneed
bidirectional communication, two fibers are needed.
❑Cost.The cable and the interfaces are relatively more expensive than those of otherguided
media. If the demand for bandwidth is not high, often the use of optical fibercannot be justified.

1.8.2 UNGUIDED MEDIA: WIRELESS

Unguided medium transport electromagnetic waves without using a physical conductor.This
type of communication is often referred to as wireless communication. Signalsare normally
broadcast through free space and thus are available to anyone whohas a device capable of
receiving them. Figure shows the part of the electromagnetic spectrum, ranging from 3 kHz
to900 THz, used for wireless communication.
Unguided signals can travel from the source to the destination in several ways:
groundpropagation, sky propagation, and line-of-sight propagation.
In ground propagation, radio waves travel through the lowest portion of the
atmosphere,hugging the earth. These low-frequency signals emanate in all directions from
thetransmitting antenna and follow the curvature of the planet. Distance depends on theamount
of power in the signal: The greater the power, the greater the distance. In skypropagation,
higher-frequency radio waves radiate upward into the ionosphere (the layerof atmosphere where
particles exist as ions) where they are reflected back to earth. Thistype of transmission allows for
greater distances with lower output power.
In line-of-sightpropagation, very high-frequency signals are transmitted in straight lines
directly fromantenna to antenna. Antennas must be directional, facing each other, and either tall
enough or close enough together not to be affected by the curvature of the earth. Line-
ofsightpropagation is tricky because radio transmissions cannot be completely focused.
The section of the electromagnetic spectrum defined as radio waves and microwavesis divided
into eight ranges, called bands, each regulated by government authorities.These bands are rated
from very low frequency (VLF) to extremely high frequency (EHF).

1.8.2.1 Radio Waves

Although there is no clear-cut demarcation between radio waves and microwaves,
electromagneticwaves ranging in frequencies between 3 kHz and 1 GHz are normally
calledradio waves; waves ranging in frequencies between 1 and 300 GHz are called
microwaves.However, the behavior of the waves, rather than the frequencies, is a bettercriterion
for classification.
Radio waves, for the most part, are omnidirectional. When an antenna transmitsradio waves, they
are propagated in all directions. This means that the sending andreceiving antennas do not have
to be aligned. A sending antenna sends waves that canbe received by any receiving antenna. The
omnidirectional property has a disadvantage,too. The radio waves transmitted by one antenna are
susceptible to interference byanother antenna that may send signals using the same frequency or
band.Radio waves, particularly those waves that propagate in the sky mode, can travellong
distances. This makes radio waves a good candidate for long-distance broadcastingsuch as AM
radio.
Radio waves, particularly those of low and medium frequencies, can penetratewalls. This
characteristic can be both an advantage and a disadvantage. It is an advantagebecause, for
example, an AM radio can receive signals inside a building. It is a disadvantagebecause we
cannot isolate a communication to just inside or outside abuilding. The radio wave band is
relatively narrow, just under 1 GHz, compared tothe microwave band. When this band is divided
into subbands, the subbands are alsonarrow, leading to a low data rate for digital
communications.Almost the entire band is regulated by authorities (e.g., the FCC in the United
States). Using any part of the band requires permission from the authorities.
Omnidirectional Antenna
Radio waves use omnidirectional antennas that send out signals in all directions.Based on the
wavelength, strength, and the purpose of transmission, we can have severaltypes of antennas.
Applications
The omnidirectional characteristics of radio waves make them useful for multicasting,in which
there is one sender but many receivers. AM and FM radio, television, maritimeradio, cordless
phones, and paging are examples of multicasting.

1.8.2.2 Microwaves
Electromagnetic waves having frequencies between 1 and 300 GHz are called
microwaves.Microwaves are unidirectional. When an antenna transmits microwaves, theycan be
narrowly focused. This means that the sending and receiving antennas need tobe aligned. The
unidirectional property has an obvious advantage. A pair of antennascan be aligned without
interfering with another pair of aligned antennas. The followingdescribes some characteristics of
microwave propagation:
❑ Microwave propagation is line-of-sight. Since the towers with the mounted antennasneed to
be in direct sight of each other, towers that are far apart need to be very tall.The curvature of the
earth as well as other blocking obstacles do not allow two shorttowers to communicate by using
microwaves. Repeaters are often needed for longdistancecommunication.
❑ Very high-frequency microwaves cannot penetrate walls. This characteristic can bea
disadvantage if receivers are inside buildings.
❑The microwave band is relatively wide, almost 299 GHz. Therefore wider subbandscan be
assigned, and a high data rate is possible.
❑ Use of certain portions of the band requires permission from authorities.
Unidirectional Antenna
Microwaves need unidirectional antennas that send out signals in one direction. Twotypes of
antennas are used for microwave communications: the parabolic dish and the horn.
Radio waves are used for multicast communications,such as radio and television, and
paging systems.
A parabolic dish antenna is based on the geometry of a parabola: Every lineparallel to the line
of symmetry (line of sight) reflects off the curve at angles such thatall the lines intersect in a
common point called the focus. The parabolic dish works as afunnel, catching a wide range of
waves and directing them to a common point. Inthis way, more of the signal is recovered than
would be possible with a single-pointreceiver.
Outgoing transmissions are broadcast through a horn aimed at the dish. The microwaveshit the
dish and are deflected outward in a reversal of the receipt path.A horn antenna looks like a
gigantic scoop. Outgoing transmissions are broadcastup a stem (resembling a handle) and
deflected outward in a series of narrow parallelbeams by the curved head. Received
transmissions are collected by the scooped shape ofthe horn, in a manner similar to the parabolic
dish, and are deflected down into the stem.
Applications
Microwaves, due to their unidirectional properties, are very useful when unicast (oneto-one)
communication is needed between the sender and the receiver. They are used in cellular phones,
satellite networks, and wireless LANs.
1.8.2.3 Infrared
Infrared waves, with frequencies from 300 GHz to 400 THz (wavelengths from 1 mmto 770
nm), can be used for short-range communication. Infrared waves, having highfrequencies, cannot
penetrate walls. This advantageous characteristic prevents interferencebetween one system and
another; a short-range communication system in oneroom cannot be affected by another system
in the next room. When we use our infraredremote control, we do not interfere with the use of
the remote by our neighbors. However,this same characteristic makes infrared signals useless for
long-range communication.In addition, we cannot use infrared waves outside a building because
the sun’srays contain infrared waves that can interfere with the communication.
Applications
The infrared band, almost 400 THz, has an excellent potential for data transmission.Such a wide
bandwidth can be used to transmit digital data with a very high data rate.The Infrared Data
Association (IrDA), an association for sponsoring the use of infraredwaves, has established
standards for using these signals for communication betweendevices such as keyboards, mice,
PCs, and printers. For example, some manufacturersprovide a special port called the IrDA port
that allows a wireless keyboard to communicate with a PC. The standard originally defined a
data rate of 75 kbps for a distance up to8 m. The recent standard defines a data rate of 4 Mbps.

1.9 SWITCHING:
A network is a set of connected devices. Whenever we have multiple devices, we havethe
problem of how to connect them to make one-to-one communication possible. Onesolution is to
make a point-to-point connection between each pair of devices (a meshtopology) or between a
central device and every other device (a star topology). Thesemethods, however, are impractical
and wasteful when applied to very large networks.The number and length of the links require too
much infrastructure to be cost-efficient,and the majority of those links would be idle most of the
time. Other topologiesemploying multipoint connections, such as a bus, are ruled out because the
distancesbetween devices and the total number of devices increase beyond the capacities of
themedia and equipment.
A better solution is switching. A switched network consists of a series of interlinkednodes, called
switches. Switches are devices capable of creating temporary connectionsbetween two or more
devices linked to the switch. In a switched network, some of thesenodes are connected to the end
systems (computers or telephones, for example). Othersare used only for routing.

The end systems (communicating devices) are labeled A, B, C, D, and so on, and theswitches
are labeled I, II, III, IV, and V. Each switch is connected to multiple links.

1.9.1 Three Methods of Switching

Traditionally, three methods of switching have been discussed: circuit switching,packet
switching, and message switching. The first two are commonly used today.The third has been
phased out in general communications but still has networkingapplications. Packet switching can
further be divided into two subcategories—virtualcircuit approach and datagram approach.

1.9.2 Switching and TCP/IP Layers

Switching can happen at several layers of the TCP/IP protocol suite.
Switching at Physical Layer
At the physical layer, we can have only circuit switching. There are no packetsexchanged at the
physical layer. The switches at the physical layer allow signals totravel in one path or another.
Switching at Data-Link Layer
At the data-link layer, we can have packet switching. However, the term packet in thiscase
means frames or cells. Packet switching at the data-link layer is normally doneusing a virtual-
circuit approach.
Switching at Network Layer
At the network layer, we can have packet switching. In this case, either a virtual-circuitapproach
or a datagram approach can be used. Currently the Internet uses a datagramapproach, but the
tendency is to move to a virtual-circuitapproach.
Switching at Application Layer
At the application layer, we can have only message switching. The communication atthe
application layer occurs by exchanging messages. Conceptually, we can say thatcommunication
using e-mail is a kind of message-switched communication, but we donot see any network that
actually can be called a message-switched network.

1.10 CIRCUIT-SWITCHED NETWORKS

A circuit-switched network consists of a set of switches connected by physical links.A
connection between two stations is a dedicated path made of one or more links. However,each
connection uses only one dedicated channel on each link. Each link is normallydivided into n
channels by using FDM or TDM.
Figure shows a trivial circuit-switched network with four switches and fourlinks. Each link is
divided into n (n is 3 in the figure) channels by using FDM or TDM.We have explicitly shown
the multiplexing symbols to emphasize the division ofthe link into channels even though
multiplexing can be implicitly included in the switchfabric.
The end systems, such as computers or telephones, are directly connected to aswitch. We have
shown only two end systems for simplicity. When end system A needsto communicate with end
system M, system A needs to request a connection to M thatmust be accepted by all switches as
well as by M itself. This is called the setup phase;a circuit (channel) is reserved on each link,
and the combination of circuits or channelsdefines the dedicated path. After the dedicated path
made of connected circuits (channels)is established, the data-transfer phase can take place.
After all data have been transferred,the circuits are torn down.
We need to emphasize several points here:
❑ Circuit switching takes place at the physical layer.
❑Before starting communication, the stations must make a reservation for the resourcesto be
used during the communication. These resources, such as channels (bandwidthin FDM and time
slots in TDM), switch buffers, switch processing time, and switchinput/output ports, must remain
dedicated during the entire duration of data transferuntil the teardown phase.
❑ Data transferred between the two stations are not packetized (physical layer transferof the
signal). The data are a continuous flow sent by the source station and receivedby the destination
station, although there may be periods of silence.
❑There is no addressing involved during data transfer. The switches route the databased on their
occupied band (FDM) or time slot (TDM). Of course, there is end-toendaddressing used during
the setup phase.

Three Phases
The actual communication in a circuit-switched network requires three phases: connectionsetup,
data transfer, and connection teardown.
Setup Phase
Before the two parties (or multiple parties in a conference call) can communicate, adedicated
circuit (combination of channels in links) needs to be established. The end systemsare normally
connected through dedicated lines to the switches, so connection setupmeans creating dedicated
channels between the switches. For example, in Figure,when system A needs to connect to
system M, it sends a setup request that includes theaddress of system M, to switch I. Switch I
finds a channel between itself and switch IVthat can be dedicated for this purpose. Switch I then
sends the request to switch IV,which finds a dedicated channel between itself and switch III.
Switch III informs systemM of system A’s intention at this time.
In the next step to making a connection, an acknowledgment from system M needsto be sent in
the opposite direction to system A. Only after system A receives thisacknowledgment is the
connection established.Note that end-to-end addressing is required for creating a connection
between thetwo end systems. These can be, for example, the addresses of the computers
assignedby the administrator in a TDM network, or telephone numbers in an FDM network.
Data-Transfer Phase
After the establishment of the dedicated circuit (channels), the two parties can transfer data.
Teardown Phase
When one of the parties needs to disconnect, a signal is sent to each switch to releasethe
resources.

Efficiency
It can be argued that circuit-switched networks are not as efficient as the other twotypes of
networks because resources are allocated during the entire duration of the connection.These
resources are unavailable to other connections.
Delay
Although a circuit-switched network normally has low efficiency, the delay in this typeof
network is minimal. During data transfer the data are not delayed at each switch; theresources are
allocated for the duration of the connection.

1.11 PACKET SWITCHING

In data communications, we need to send messages from one end system to another. Ifthe
message is going to pass through a packet-switched network, it needs to bedivided into packets
of fixed or variable size. The size of the packet is determined bythe network and the governing
protocol.
In packet switching, there is no resource allocation for a packet. This means thatthere is no
reserved bandwidth on the links, and there is no scheduled processing timefor each packet.
Resources are allocated on demand. The allocation is done on a firstcome,first-served basis.
When a switch receives a packet, no matter what the source ordestination is, the packet must wait
if there are other packets being processed. As withother systems in our daily life, this lack of
reservation may create delay. For example, ifwe do not have a reservation at a restaurant, we
might have to wait.
1.11.1 Datagram Networks
In a datagram network, each packet is treated independently of all others. Even if apacket is
part of a multipacket transmission, the network treats it as though it existedalone. Packets in this
approach are referred to as datagrams.

All four packets (or datagrams) belong to the same message, butmay travel different paths to
reach their destination. This is so because the links may beinvolved in carrying packets from
other sources and do not have the necessary bandwidthavailable to carry all the packets from A
to X. This approach can cause the datagrams ofa transmission to arrive at their destination out of
order with different delays between thepackets. Packets may also be lost or dropped because of a
lack of resources. In mostprotocols, it is the responsibility of an upper-layer protocol to reorder
the datagrams orask for lost datagrams before passing them on to the application.
The datagram networks are sometimes referred to as connectionless networks. Theterm
connectionless here means that the switch (packet switch) does not keep informationabout the
connection state. There are no setup or teardown phases. Each packet is treatedthe same by a
switch regardless of its source or destination.

Routing Table
If there are no setup or teardown phases, how are the packets routed to their destinationsin a
datagram network? In this type of network, each switch (or packet switch) has a routingtable
which is based on the destination address. The routing tables are dynamic andare updated
periodically. The destination addresses and the corresponding forwardingoutput ports are
recorded in the tables. This is different from the table of a circuitswitchednetwork (discussed
later) in which each entry is created when the setup phaseis completed and deleted when the
teardown phase is over.Switch in a datagram network uses a routing table that is based on the
destinationaddress.

Destination Address
The destination address in the header of a packet in a datagram networkremains the same during
the entire journey of the packet.Every packet in a datagram network carries a header that
contains, among other information,the destination address of the packet. When the switch
receives the packet,this destination address is examined; the routing table is consulted to find the
correspondingport through which the packet should be forwarded. This address, unlike
theaddress in a virtual-circuit network, remains the same during the entire journey of thepacket.

Efficiency
The efficiency of a datagram network is better than that of a circuit-switched network;resources
are allocated only when there are packets to be transferred. If asource sends a packet and there is
a delay of a few minutes before another packet canbe sent, the resources can be reallocated
during these minutes for other packets fromother sources.
Delay
There may be greater delay in a datagram network than in a virtual-circuit network.Although
there are no setup and teardown phases, each packet may experience a wait at aswitch before it is
forwarded. In addition, since not all packets in a message necessarilytravel through the same
switches, the delay is not uniform for the packets of a message.