Computer Networks

Unit-I
Unit 1 Introduction to Computer Networking, Network
Topologies, Types of area networks – LAN, MAN and
WAN, Transmission Modes in Computer Networks
(Simplex, Half-Duplex and Full-Duplex), Layers of OSI
Model, TCP/IP Model,Network Devices (Hub, Repeater,
Bridge, Switch, Router), IEEE 802.3;
ETHERNET, Fast ETHERNET, Gigabit ETHERNET

Text Books:
[T1] Andrew S. Tanenbaum, David J Wetherall, “Computer
Networks”, Pearson
Education.
[T2] Alberto Leon Garcia and Indra Widjaja, “Communication
Networks:
Fundamental Concepts and Key Architectures”, Tata McGraw
Hill
[T3] James Kurose, Keith Ross, “Computer Networks: A Top -
Down Approach”,
Pearson Education.
Reference Books:
[R1] Larry L Peterson, Bruce S Davis, “Computer Networks”,
Introduction

 A computer network is a group of computers/devices(Nodes) that use a set

of common communication protocols over digital interconnections for the
purpose of sharing resources located on or provided by the network nodes.
 The nodes of a computer network may include personal computers, servers,
networking hardware, or other specialised or general-purpose hosts.
 The interconnections between nodes are formed from a broad spectrum of
telecommunication network technologies, based on physically wired, optical,
and wireless technologies.
 A communication protocol is a set of rules for exchanging information over a
network. physically
Components of a Computer Network

 Hosts/Nodes
 Servers
 Client
 Network hardware(NIC,Router,Switch ,Hub)
 Communication channel
 Software(such as protocol,network operating system etc)
 Network Services
 Wired Network PC Firewall The Internet

Fiber Optic Network Cable

Router
Switch

Server Other LANS

Wireless Network
Network Topologies

 Network topology defines the structure of the network.

A. Physical topology:- It define the actual layout of the wire or media.
1. Bus
2. Ring
3. Star
4. Tree(Hierarchical)
5. Mesh
Bus Topology
All devices are connected to a central
cable, called bus or backbone. T T
There are terminators at each end of
the bus that stops the signal and
keeps it from traveling backwards.

Advantages: Disadvantages:
1. There is no central controller. 1. It is possible that more than one station may
attempt transmission simultaneously (collision or
2. Control resides in each station
contention).
3. The less interconnecting wire is
2. Difficult reconfiguration and fault isolation.
required.
3. A fault or break in the bus cable stops all
4. Ease of installation.
transmission, even between devices on the same
5. Backbone cable can be laid along the side of the problem.
most efficient path, and then
4. The damaged area reflects signals in the direction
connected to the nodes by drop lines
of origin, creating noise in both directions
of various lengths
Ring Topology
• All devices are connected to one another in the shape
of a closed loop.
• Each device is connected directly to two other devices,
one on either side of it.
•Data is accepted from one of the neighbouring nodes and is
transmitted to another
Advantages:
1. Avoids the collisions that are possible in the bus topology.
2. Each pair of stations has a point-to-point connection.
3. A signal is passed along the ring in one direction, from device to
another, until it reaches its destination.
4. Each device incorporates a repeater.
5. Relatively easy to install and reconfigure.
6. Fault isolation is simplified.

Disadvantages:
1. A break in the ring (such as station disabled) can disable the entire
Star Topology
• All devices are connected to a central hub.
• Nodes communicate across the network by passing data
through the hub or switch.
Advantages:
1. Easy to install and reconfigure.
2. Robustness, if one link fails; only that link is affected. All other
links remain active.
3. Easy fault identification and isolation. As long as the hub is
working, it can be used to monitor link problems and bypass
defective links.
Disadvantages:
1. The devices are not linked to each other.
2. If one device wants to send data to another, it sends it to the
controller, which then relays the data to the other connected device.
Tree Topology
Advantages:
1. It allows more devices to be attached to a
single central hub and can therefore increase
the distance a signal can travel between
devices.
2. It allows the network to isolate and prioritize
communications from different computers.

Disadvantages:
1. The devices are not linked to each other.
2. If one device wants to send data to another,
it sends it to the controller, which then relays
the data to the other connected device.
3. The addition of secondary hubs brings two
further advantages.
Mesh Topology
Each host has its connections to all other hosts.
Mesh topology is implemented to provide as much
protection as possible from interruption of service.
1. A nuclear power plant might use a mesh
topology in the networked control systems.
2. Although the Internet has multiple paths to any
one location, it does not adopt the full mesh
topology.
Advantages: Disadvantages:
1. The use of dedicated links guarantees that each 1. A large amount of cabling required.
connection can carry its data load, thus eliminating 2. A large amount of I/O ports required.
the traffic problems that can occur when links must 3. Installation and reconfiguration are difficult.
be shared by multiple devices. 4. The sheer bulk of the wiring can be greater
2. It is robust, if one link becomes unusable, it does than the available space (in the walls, ceiling,
not incapacitate (affect) the entire system. or floors) can accommodate.
3. Privacy and Security (every message sent travels 5. The hardware required to connect each
along a dedicated line; only the intended recipient link (I/O ports and cables) can be
sees it). prohibitively expensive.
4. Point-to-point links make fault identification and
fault isolation easy.
Types of Area Network

 LAN-Local Area Network

 MAN-Metropolitan Area Network
 WAN-Wide Area Network
LAN
 Xerox Corporation worked in collaboration with DEC and Intel to create
Ethernet, which is the most pervasive LAN architecture used today.
 Ethernet has evolved and has seen significant improvements in regard to speed
and efficiency.
 An upside of a LAN is fast data transfer with data speed that can reach up to
10Gbps.
 Other significant LAN technologies are Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI)
and token ring.
MAN
1. A MAN is larger than a LAN but smaller than or equal in size to a WAN.
2. The size range anywhere from 5 to 50km in diameter.
3. MANs are typically owned and managed by a single entity.
4. This could be an ISP or telecommunications company that sells its services to
end-users in that metropolitan area.
5. For all intents and purposes, a MAN has the same characteristics as a WAN
with distance constraints.
WAN

• A Wide Area Network exist over a large area

• Data travels through telephone or cable lines
• Usually requires a Modem
• The world’s largest Wide Area Network in the Internet
Transmission Modes

 Simplex
 Half–duplex
 Full-duplex
Simplex

 In Simplex mode, the communication is unidirectional, as on a one-way

street.
 Only one of the two devices on a link can transmit, the other can only
receive.
 The simplex mode can use the entire capacity of the channel to send data in
one direction.
 Example: Keyboard and traditional monitors. The keyboard can only introduce
input, the monitor can only give the output.
Channel capacity=Bandwidth * Propagation Delay
Channel capacity=Bandwidth * Propagation Delay

Half-Duplex
 In half-duplex mode, each station can both transmit and receive, but not at
the same time.
 When one device is sending, the other can only receive, and vice versa.
 The half-duplex mode is used in cases where there is no need for
communication in both directions at the same time.
 The entire capacity of the channel can be utilized for each direction.
 Example: Walkie-talkie in which message is sent one at a time and messages
are sent in both directions.
Full-Duplex
 In full-duplex mode, both stations can transmit and receive simultaneously.
 In full duplex mode, signals going in one direction share the capacity of the link
with signals going in another direction, this sharing can occur in two ways:
 Either the link must contain two physically separate transmission paths, one for sending
and the other for receiving.
 Or the capacity is divided between signals traveling in both directions.

 Full-duplex mode is used when communication in both directions is required all

the time. The capacity of the channel, however, must be divided between the two
directions.
 Example: Telephone Network in which there is communication between two
persons by a telephone line, through which both can talk and listen at the same
time.
 Review Questions
 Three or more devices share a link in c) Full-duplex
________ connection. d) Simplex
a) Unipoint
 In computer network nodes are
b) Multipoint
_________
c) Point to point
a) the computer that originates the data
d) Simple
b) the computer that routes the data
 A _________ set of rules that governs c) the computer that terminates the data
data communication. d) all of the mentioned
a) Protocols
 Bluetooth is an example of __________
b) Standards
a) personal area network
c) RFCs
b) local area network
d) Servers
c) virtual private network
 The first Network was called ________ d) wide area network
a) CNNET
 Communication channel is shared by all
b) NSFNET
the machines on the network in ________
c) ASAPNET
a) broadcast network
d) ARPANET
b) unicast network
 Communication between a computer and c) multicast network
a keyboard involves ______________ d) anycast network
transmission.
a) Automatic
b) Half-duplex
 Basic concepts of Protocol layering
 To make the design process easy by breaking unmanageable tasks into several
smaller and manageable tasks (by divide-and-conquer approach).
 Each layer can be analyzed and tested independently of all other layers.
 Each layer adds to the service provided by the lower layers in such a manner
that the highest layer is provided a full set of services to manage
communication and run the applications
 Single layered Protocol
 Multiple layered protocol
Multiple layered protocol
Principles of Protocol layering
 Bidirectional communication:we need to make each layer so that it is able to
perform two opposite tasks one in each direction
 Two object under each layer should be Identical
Open System Interconnection Reference
Model(OSI Model)
OSI Model
Device A Device B

User Program User Program

Application Application
Layer 7

Presentation Presentation
Layer 6

Session Session
Layer 5

Transport Transport
Layer 4

Network Network
Layer 3

Data Link Data Link

Layer 2

Physical Physical
Layer 1

medium
1. PHYSICAL LAYER
 Physical layer in the OSI model is the lowest layer of the OSI reference model.
 It is responsible for sending raw bits from one computer to another computer over a
network.
 defines the relationship between a device and a transmission medium, such as a copper
or optical cable.
 It plays the role of interacting with actual hardware and signaling mechanisms.
2. DATA LINK LAYER
 This layer takes the data frames or messages from the Network Layer and provides for
their actual transmission flow control
 At the receiving computer, this layer receives the incoming data and sends it to the
network layer for handling
 It does this by packaging the data from the Network Layer into a frame, which includes error
detection information
 At the receiving computer, the Data-Link Layer reads the incoming frame, and
generates its own error detection information based on the received frames data. After
receiving the entire frame, it then compares its error detection value with that of the
incoming frames, and if they match, the frame has been received correctly.
 Hop to Hop Delivery
 Error Control
 Flow control
.
3.Network layer
 to provide an end-to-end communication capability in contrast to
machine-to-machine communication provided by the data link layer.
This end-to-end is performed using two basic approaches known as
connection oriented or connectionless network-layer servicesprovides
the transparent transfer of data between transport entities.
 Responsible for establishing, maintaining, and terminating connections
(between networks). Use globally unique node address.
 This is responsible for addressing messages and data so they are sent to
the correct destination, and for translating logical addresses and names
(like a machine name FLAME) into physical addresses. This layer is also
responsible for finding a path through the network to the destination
computer
4.TRANSPORT LAYER
 Ensures that data units are delivered error-free, in sequence, without no
losses or duplications.
 This layer also repackages data by assembling long messages into lots of
smaller messages for sending and repackaging the smaller messages into the
original larger messages at the receiving end
5.Session layer
 Session Establishment: The session layer's main function is to establish a
connection between the session users, known as a session. It can select a session
between two computers for communication, file transfer, remote login or other
purposes.
 Normal Data Transfer: It is an essential function of the session layer. The data
network between the customer entities may either be a two-way alternate (half-
duplex) or two way concurrent (full-duplex).
 Dialogue Management: In this term, the session relationship is full-duplex, but the
upper layer sometimes communicates in half-duplex nodes. In such methods, the
session layer has to manage the track of those to speak and is referred to as the
dialogue management.
 Session Release: For releasing the session connection, one of the following four
variations are used, which are namely, User abort, Provider abort, Orderly release,
Negotiated Release.
 Synchronization: The session layer enables a phase to insert checkpoint, i.e.,
synchronization points, into a data stream. If a crash occurs during the data
transmission, it can be retransmitted from the checkpoint despite retransmitting it
from the start.
6.Presentation layer

 This layer is concerned with Syntax and Semantics of the information

transmitted, unlike other layers, which are interested in moving data reliably
from one machine to other.
 Few of the services that Presentation layer provides are:
 1. Encoding data in a standard agreed upon way.
 2. It manages the abstract data structures and converts from representation
used inside computer to network standard representation and back
7. APPLICATION LAYER The application layer consists of what most users think of
as programs .
File transfer (FTP): Connect to a remote machine and send or fetch an arbitrary
file. FTP deals with authentication, listing a directory contents, ASCII or binary
files, etc.
• Remote login (telnet): A remote terminal protocol that allows a user at one
site to establish a TCP connection to another site, and then pass keystrokes from
the local host to the remote host.
• Mail (SMTP): Allow a mail delivery agent on a local machine to connect to a
mail delivery agent on a remote machine and deliver mail.
• News (NNTP): Allows communication between a news server and a news client.
• Web (HTTP): Base protocol for communication on the World Wide Web.
Summary of layers(OSI)
 Review questions
 Which layer helps to understand data representation in one form on a host to other
host in their native representation?
A. Application Layer
B. Presentation Layer
C. Session Layer
D. Transport Layer
 HTTP is an example of?
A. Session Layer
B. Presentation Layer
C. Data Link Layer
D. Application Layer
 Which layer helps to uniquely identify hosts beyond the subnets and defines the path
which the packets will follow or be routed to reach the destination?
A. Physical Layer
B. Data Link Layer
C. Network Layer
D. Transport Layer
 Bits can be send over guided and unguided media as analog signal by
A. digital modulation
B. amplitude modulation
C. frequency modulation
 Review Questions
 The network layer is responsible for carrying data from one host to another.
A. TRUE
B. FALSE
C. Can be true or false
D. Can not say

(Transmission control Protocol/Internet
protocol :TCP/IP Protocol)
Data flow in four layer model
 Refers to Family of protocol
 The protocols are built on top of connectionless technology
 Data sent from one node to another as a sequence of datagrams
 Each datagram sent independently
 Datagrams corresponding to the same message may follow different routes
may possible variable delay and arrival order at the destination.
TCP/IP family Member
Function of IP
 IP transports datagrams(packets) from the source node to the destination node
 Responsible for routing the packet
 Breaks the packet into smaller packets if required
 Unreliable services
A packet may be lost
A packet may arrive out of order
Duplicate packets may be generated
Fuction of TCP
 TCP provides a connection oriented reliable service for sending messages
 Split Messages into packets
 Reassemble packets at destination
 Resend packets that were lost in transit

 Interface with IP
 Each packet forwarded to IP for delivery
 Error Control is done by TCP
Function of UDP
 UDP provides a connectionless unreliable service for sending
datagrams(packets)
 Message small enough to fit in a packet(e.g DNS (domain name Query)
 Simpler and faster than TCP
 Never splits data into multiple packets
 Does not care about error control
 Interface with IP
 Each UDP packet forward it to IP
Addresses in TCP/IP
Network Devices

 Hub
 Repeater
 Bridge
 Switch
 Router
Hubs
 Hubs is a networking device having multiple ports
that are used for connecting multiple computers
or segments of a LAN together.
 Hubs can be either passive or Active
 Active hubs electrically amplify the signals as it
moves from one connected device to other
 Passive hubs allow the signal to pass from one
computer to another without any change.
 Hubs does not remember devices/computers
connected to it,hence broadcast all information
to all connected computers,including the one that
sent it
 A hub can send or receive information but it cant
do both at a time
Repeater

 A repeater is a network device used to regenerate a

signal.
 Repeaters regenerate analog or digital signals that
are distorted by transmission loss due to
attenuation.
 A repeater does not make an intelligent decision
concerning forwarding packets
Bridge

 Bridges convert network data formats

and perform basic data transmission
management.
 Bridges provide connections between
LANs.
 They also check data to determine if it
should cross the bridge. This makes each
part of the network more efficient
Switch

 Switches add more intelligence to data transfer management.

 They can determine if data should remain on a LAN and transfer data only
to the connection that needs it.
Difference between Hub and Switch

Hub Switch
Repeats the incoming traffic to all Sends traffic only to appropriate
connections connections
Offers Single lane connection,hence Establish two lane
either send or receive at a time connection,Facilitating send and
receives at the same time
Shares Bandwidth among its Does Not share bandwidth,Each
Connections connection gets full bandwidth

Inexpensive Choice Expensive choice

Review Questions
Router

 Router is a network device that forward data from one network to another.
 Routers can regenerate signals, concentrate multiple connections, convert
data transmission formats, and manage data transfers.
 They can also connect to a WAN, which allows them to connect LANs that are
separated by great distances.
IEEE 802.3

 IEEE 802.3 is a set of standards and protocols that define Ethernet-based

networks.
 Ethernet technologies are primarily used in LANs, though they can also be
used in MANs and even WANs.
 IEEE 802.3 defines the physical layer and the medium access control (MAC)
sub-layer of the data link layer for wired Ethernet networks.
 Frame Format of IEEE 802.3
 The main fields of a frame of classic Ethernet are -
 Preamble: It is a 7 bytes starting field that provides alert and timing pulse for transmission.
 Start of Frame Delimiter: It is a 1 byte field that contains an alternating pattern of ones and
zeros ending with two ones.
 Destination Address: It is a 6 byte field containing physical address of destination stations.
 Source Address: It is a 6 byte field containing the physical address of the sending station.
 Length: It a 7 bytes field that stores the number of bytes in the data field.
 Data: This is a variable sized field carries the data from the upper layers. The maximum size of
data field is 1500 bytes.
 Padding: This is added to the data to bring its length to the minimum requirement of 46 bytes.
 CRC: CRC stands for cyclic redundancy check. It contains the error detection information.
ETHERNET
 The original Ethernet was created in 1976 at Xerox’s Palo Alto Research Center
(PARC).
 Normal ethernet works at 10Mbps speed. The Ethernet MAC technology is
called CSMA/CD (carrier-sense multiple access with collision detection).
 Following table mentions different 10 Mbps Ethernet such as 10BASE5,
10BASE2, 10BASE-F and 10BASE-T.
 There are two types of Ethernet: half duplex and full duplex.
 Following are the Ethernet MAC parameters:
Slot time: 512 bit times
Min. Interframe Gap: 96 bit times
Attempt Limit: 16 (tries)
Backoff limit: 10 (exponential number)
JamSize: 32 bits
Max. Frame Size: 1518 bytes
Min. Frame Size: 64 bytes (512 bits)
Address Size: 48 bits
Fast ETHERNET
 The ethernet working at the speed of 100Mbps is referred as fast ethernet.
IEEE standard 802.3u fast ethernet/100BASE-T specified in May1995. The
features of this type of fast ethernet are as follows:
• Includes multiple PHY layers.
• It uses original ethernet MAC but operates at 10 times higher speed.
• It needs star wired configuration with central hub.

 The MAC parameters are same as described for ethernet above. There are
three physical layers for fast ethernet.
• 100BASE-TX: Needs 2 pairs of cat.5 UTP/Type1 STP cables
• 100BASE-FX: Needs 2 strands of multimode fiber
• 100BASE-T4: Needs 4 pairs of cat.3 or any better cables
Gigabit ETHERNET

 The ethernet working at the speed of 1000Mbps (i.e. 1Gbps) and above is
referred as Gigabit ethernet.
 Gigabit Ethernet uses 802.3 frame format same as 10Mbps ethernet and
100Mbps fast Ethernet It also operates in half duplex and full duplex modes.
There are various Gigabit ethernet versions which operates at 1 Gigabit, 10
Gigabit, 40 Gigabit and 100 Gigabit per second speeds.
 There are various versions for 10 Gbps ethernet such as 10GBASE-T, 10GBASE-
R, 10GBASE-X and 10GBASE-W.
 MAC parameters for gigabit ethernet are same as mentioned above in
ethernet. Except slot time which is 512 byte times.