Chapter 7

Packet-Switching
Networks

Routing in Packet Networks

Shortest Path Routing
Network Layer
 Network Layer: the most complex layer
 Requires the coordinated actions of multiple,
geographically distributed network elements
(switches & routers)
 Must be able to deal with very large scales
 Billions of users (people & communicating devices)
 Biggest Challenges
 Addressing: where should information be directed to?
 Routing: what path should be used to get information
there?
Network Layer Functions
Essential
 Routing: mechanisms for determining the
set of best paths for routing packets requires
the collaboration of network elements
 Forwarding: transfer of packets from NE
inputs to outputs
 Priority & Scheduling: determining order of
packet transmission in each NE
Optional: congestion control, segmentation &
reassembly, security
 Chapter 7
Packet-Switching
Networks
Routing in Packet Networks
Routing in Packet Networks
1 3
6

2 Node
5
(switch or router)

 Three possible (loopfree) routes from 1 to 6:

 1-3-6, 1-4-5-6, 1-2-5-6
 Which is “best”?
 Min delay? Min hop? Max bandwidth? Min cost?
Max reliability?
Creating the Routing Tables
 Need information on state of links
 Link up/down; congested; delay or other metrics
 Need to distribute link state information using a
routing protocol
 What information is exchanged? How often?
 Exchange with neighbors; Broadcast or flood
 Need to compute routes based on information
 Single metric; multiple metrics
 Single route; alternate routes
Routing Algorithm Requirements
 Responsiveness to changes
 Topology or bandwidth changes, congestion
 Rapid convergence of routers to consistent set of routes
 Freedom from persistent loops
 Optimality
 Resource utilization, path length
 Robustness
 Continues working under high load, congestion, faults, equipment failures, incorrect implementations
 Simplicity
 Efficient software implementation, reasonable processing load
Classifications of Routing
 Centralized vs. Distributed Routing
 Static vs. Dynamic Routing
 Flat vs. Hierarchical Routing
Centralized vs Distributed Routing
 Centralized Routing
 All routes determined by a central node
 All state information sent to central node
 Problems adapting to frequent topology changes
 Does not scale
 Distributed Routing
 Routes determined by routers using distributed algorithm
 State information exchanged by routers
 Adapts to topology and other changes
 Better scalability
Static vs Dynamic Routing
 Static Routing
 Set up manually, do not change; requires administration
 Works when traffic predictable & network is simple
 Used to override some routes set by dynamic algorithm
 Used to provide default router
 Dynamic Routing
 Adapt to changes in network conditions
 Automated
 Calculates routes based on received updated network
state information
Flat vs Hierarchical Routing
 Flat Routing
 All routers are peers
 Does not scale
 Hierarchical Routing
 Partitioning: Domains, autonomous systems, areas...
 Some routers part of routing backbone
 Some routers only communicate within an area
 Efficient because it matches typical traffic flow patterns
 Scales
Non-Hierarchical Addresses and
Routing
0000 0001
0111 0100
1010 1 4 1011
1101 1110
3
R1 R2
2 5
0011 0011
0110 0000 1 0001 4 0101
1001 0111 1 0100 4 1000
1100 1010 1 1011 4 1111
… … … …

 No relationship between addresses & routing

proximity
 Routing tables require 16 entries each
Hierarchical Addresses and
Routing
0000 0100
0001 0101
0010 1 4 0110
0011 0111
3
R1 R2
2 5
1000 1100
1001 00 1 00 3 1101
1010 01 3 01 4 1110
1011 10 2 10 3 1111
11 3 11 5

 Prefix indicates network where host is

attached
 Routing tables require 4 entries each
Specialized Routing
 Flooding
 Useful in starting up network
 Useful in propagating information to all nodes
Flooding
Send a packet to all nodes in a network
 No routing tables available

 Need to broadcast packet to all nodes (e.g. to

propagate link state information)

Approach
 Send packet on all ports except one where it arrived

 Exponential growth in packet transmissions

 1 3
6

2
5

Flooding is initiated from Node 1: Hop 1 transmissions

 1 3
6

2
5

Flooding is initiated from Node 1: Hop 2 transmissions

 1 3
6

2
5

Flooding is initiated from Node 1: Hop 3 transmissions

Limited Flooding
 Time-to-Live field in each packet limits
number of hops to certain diameter
 Each switch adds its ID before flooding;
discards repeats
 Source puts sequence number in each
packet; switches records source address and
sequence number and discards repeats
 Chapter 7
Packet-Switching
Networks
Shortest Path Routing
Shortest Paths & Routing
 Many possible paths connect any given
source and to any given destination
 Routing involves the selection of the path to
be used to accomplish a given transfer
 Typically it is possible to attach a cost or
distance to a link connecting two nodes
 Routing can then be posed as a shortest path
problem
Routing Metrics
Means for measuring desirability of a path
 Path Length = sum of costs or distances

 Possible metrics
 Hop count: rough measure of resources used
 Reliability: link availability; BER
 Delay: sum of delays along path; complex & dynamic
 Bandwidth: “available capacity” in a path
 Load: Link & router utilization along path
 Cost: $$$
Shortest Path Approaches

Distance Vector Protocols

 Neighbors exchange list of distances to destinations

 Best next-hop determined for each destination

 Ford-Fulkerson (distributed) shortest path algorithm

Link State Protocols

 Link state information flooded to all routers

 Routers have complete topology information

 Shortest path (& hence next hop) calculated

 Dijkstra (centralized) shortest path algorithm

Distance Vector
Do you know the way to San Jose?

Sa
nJ San Jose 392
os
e
29
4

San Jose 596

Sa
n
Jo
se
25
0
Distance Vector
Local Signpost Table Synthesis
 Direction  Neighbors exchange
 Distance table entries
 Determine current best

Routing Table next hop

 Inform neighbors
For each destination list:
 Next Node
 Periodically
 After changes
 Distance dest next dist
 Shortest Path to SJ
Focus on how nodes find their shortest
path to a given destination node, i.e. SJ Sa
n
Jos
Dj e
Cij
j
i
Di If Di is the shortest distance to SJ from i
and if j is a neighbor on the shortest path,
then Di = Cij + Dj
 But we don’t know the shortest
paths

i only has local info

from neighbors Sa
Dj' n
j' Jos
Cij' e
Dj
Cij j
i
Cij” Pick current
Di j"
Dj" shortest path
Why Distance Vector WorksSJ sends
accurate info

Sa
3 Hops
2 Hops
1 Hop
From SJ n
From SJ
From SJ Jos
e

Hop-1 nodes
calculate current
(next hop, dist), &
Accurate info about SJ send to neighbors
ripples across network,
Shortest Path Converges
Bellman-Ford Algorithm
 Consider computations for one destination d
 Initialization
 Each node table has 1 row for destination d
 Distance of node d to itself is zero: Dd=0
 Distance of other node j to d is infinite: Dj=, for j d
 Next hop node nj = -1 to indicate not yet defined for j  d

 Send Step
 Send new distance vector to immediate neighbors across local link
 Receive Step
 At node j, find the next hop that gives the minimum distance to d,

 Minj { Cij + Dj }
 Replace old (nj, Dj(d)) by new (nj*, Dj*(d)) if new next node or distance
 Go to send step
Bellman-Ford Algorithm
 Now consider parallel computations for all destinations d
 Initialization
 Each node has 1 row for each destination d
 Distance of node d to itself is zero: Dd(d)=0
 Distance of other node j to d is infinite: Dj(d)=  , for j  d
 Next node nj = -1 since not yet defined
 Send Step
 Send new distance vector to immediate neighbors across local link
 Receive Step
 For each destination d, find the next hop that gives the minimum
distance to d,
 Minj { Cij+ Dj(d) }
 Replace old (nj, Di(d)) by new (nj*, Dj*(d)) if new next node or distance
found
 Go to send step
Iteration Node 1 Node 2 Node 3 Node 4 Node 5

Initial (-1, ) (-1, ) (-1, ) (-1, ) (-1, )

1
2
3

Table entry Table entry

@ node 1 @ node 3
for dest SJ for dest SJ
2 3
1
5 2
1 San
4
Jose
3 1 3 6

2
2 5
4
Iteration Node 1 Node 2 Node 3 Node 4 Node 5

Initial (-1, ) (-1, ) (-1, ) (-1, ) (-1, )

1 (-1, ) (-1, ) (6,1) (-1, ) (6,2)
2
3

D3=D6+1
n3=6
D6=0
2 3 1
1 1
5 2
0
4 San
3 1 3 6
Jose
2 5 2
4
2
D5=D6+2 D6=0
n5=6
Iteration Node 1 Node 2 Node 3 Node 4 Node 5

Initial (-1, ) (-1, ) (-1, ) (-1, ) (-1, )

1 (-1, ) (-1, ) (6, 1) (-1, ) (6,2)
2 (3,3) (5,6) (6, 1) (3,3) (6,2)
3

3 1
2 3
1 1
5 2
3 0
4 San
3 1 3 6
Jose
2 2
5
4
6 2
Iteration Node 1 Node 2 Node 3 Node 4 Node 5

Initial (-1, ) (-1, ) (-1, ) (-1, ) (-1, )

1 (-1, ) (-1, ) (6, 1) (-1, ) (6,2)
2 (3,3) (5,6) (6, 1) (3,3) (6,2)
3 (3,3) (4,4) (6, 1) (3,3) (6,2)

1
3 2 3
1 1
5 2
3 0
4 San
3 1 3 6
Jose
2
2 5
4
6 4 2
Iteration Node 1 Node 2 Node 3 Node 4 Node 5

Initial (3,3) (4,4) (6, 1) (3,3) (6,2)

1 (3,3) (4,4) (4, 5) (3,3) (6,2)
2
3

1 5
3 2
3
1 1
5 2
3 0
4 San
3 1 3 6
Jose
2
2 5
4 4
2
Network disconnected; Loop created between nodes 3 and 4
Iteration Node 1 Node 2 Node 3 Node 4 Node 5

Initial (3,3) (4,4) (6, 1) (3,3) (6,2)

1 (3,3) (4,4) (4, 5) (3,3) (6,2)
2 (3,7) (4,4) (4, 5) (5,5) (6,2)
3

5
37 2
3
1 1
5 5 23
0
4 San
3 1 3 6
Jose
2
2 5
4
4 2

Node 4 could have chosen 2 as next node because of tie

Iteration Node 1 Node 2 Node 3 Node 4 Node 5

Initial (3,3) (4,4) (6, 1) (3,3) (6,2)

1 (3,3) (4,4) (4, 5) (3,3) (6,2)
2 (3,7) (4,4) (4, 5) (5,5) (6,2)
3 (3,7) (4,6) (4, 7) (5,5) (6,2)

5 7
7 2 3
1 1
5 2
5 0
4 San
3 1 3 6
Jose
2 5 2
4
46 2

Node 2 could have chosen 5 as next node because of tie

Iteration Node 1 Node 2 Node 3 Node 4 Node 5

1 (3,3) (4,4) (4, 5) (3,3) (6,2)

2 (3,7) (4,4) (4, 5) (2,5) (6,2)
3 (3,7) (4,6) (4, 7) (5,5) (6,2)
4 (2,9) (4,6) (4, 7) (5,5) (6,2)

79 2 7
3
1 1
5 2
5 0
4 San
3 1 3 6
Jose
2
2 5
4
6 2

Node 1 could have chose 3 as next node because of tie

Counting to Infinity Problem
(a) 1 2 3 4
1 1 1 Nodes believe best
path is through each
(b) 1 2 3 X 4 other
1 1
(Destination is node 4)
Update Node 1 Node 2 Node 3

Before break (2,3) (3,2) (4, 1)

After break (2,3) (3,2) (2,3)
1 (2,3) (3,4) (2,3)
2 (2,5) (3,4) (2,5)
3 (2,5) (3,6) (2,5)
4 (2,7) (3,6) (2,7)
5 (2,7) (3,8) (2,7)
… … … …
Problem: Bad News Travels
Slowly
Remedies
 Split Horizon
 Do not report route to a destination to the
neighbor from which route was learned
 Poisoned Reverse
 Report route to a destination to the neighbor
from which route was learned, but with infinite
distance
 Breaks erroneous direct loops immediately
 Does not work on some indirect loops
Split Horizon with Poison Reverse
(a) 1 2 3 4
1 1 1 Nodes believe best
path is through
(b) 1 2 3 X 4 each other
1 1

Update Node 1 Node 2 Node 3

Before break (2, 3) (3, 2) (4, 1)
After break (2, 3) (3, 2) (-1, ) Node 2 advertizes its route to 4 to
node 3 as having distance infinity;
node 3 finds there is no route to 4

1 (2, 3) (-1, ) (-1, ) Node 1 advertizes its route to 4 to

node 2 as having distance infinity;
node 2 finds there is no route to 4

2 (-1, ) (-1, ) (-1, ) Node 1 finds there is no route to 4

Link-State Algorithm
 Basic idea: two step procedure
 Each source node gets a map of all nodes and link metrics
(link state) of the entire network
 Find the shortest path on the map from the source node to
all destination nodes
 Broadcast of link-state information
 Every node i in the network broadcasts to every other node
in the network:
 ID’s of its neighbors: Ni=set of neighbors of i
 Distances to its neighbors: {Cij | j Ni}
 Flooding is a popular method of broadcasting packets
 Dijkstra Algorithm: Finding
shortest paths in order
Find shortest paths from Closest node to s is 1 hop away
source s to all other
destinations 2nd closest node to s is 1 hop
away from s or w”
3rd closest node to s is 1 hop
w' away from s, w”, or x

z
w
x
s z'
w
" x'
Dijkstra’s algorithm
 N: set of nodes for which shortest path already found
 Initialization: (Start with source node s)
 N = {s}, Ds = 0, “s is distance zero from itself”
 Dj=Csj for all j  s, distances of directly-connected neighbors
 Step A: (Find next closest node i)
 Find i  N such that
 Di = min Dj for j  N
 Add i to N
 If N contains all the nodes, stop
 Step B: (update minimum costs)
 For each node j  N
 Dj = min (Dj, Di+Cij) Minimum distance from s to
 Go to Step A j through node i in N
Execution of Dijkstra’s algorithm
2 2 
1 3 1 1 3 1
6 6 
5 2 5 2
3 3
1 4 1 4 2
2
3 3
2 2
 4 5 4 5

Iteration N D2 D3 D4 D5 D6
Initial {1} 3 2 5  
1 {1,3} 3 2 4  3
2 {1,2,3} 3 2 4 7 3 
3 {1,2,3,6} 3 2 4  5 3
4 {1,2,3,4,6} 3 2 4 5  3
5 {1,2,3,4,5,6} 3 2 4 5 3
Shortest Paths in Dijkstra’s
Algorithm
2 3 1 2 3 1
1 1
6 6
5 2 5 2
3 3
1 4 2 1 4 2
3 3
2 2
4 5 4 5
2 3 1 2 3 1
1 1
6 6
5 2 5 2
3 3
1 4 2 1 4 2
3 3
2 2
4 5 4 5

2 3 1 2 3 1
1 1
6 6
5 2 5 2
3 3
1 4 2 1 4 2
3 3
2 2
4 5 4 5
Routing table at node 1

Destination Next node Cost

2 2 3
3 3 2
4 3 4
5 3 5
6 3 3
Reaction to Failure
 If a link fails,
 Router sets link distance to infinity & floods the
network with an update packet
 All routers immediately update their link database &
recalculate their shortest paths
 Recovery very quick
 But watch out for old update messages
 Add time stamp or sequence # to each update
message
 Check whether each received update message is new
 If new, add it to database and broadcast
 If older, send update message on arriving link