CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION TO
COMPUTER NETWORKS
FACULTY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
PhD. LE TRAN DUC
 FACULTY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
PhD. LE TRAN DUC

OUTLINE

1. About the course

2. What’s the Internet?
3. What’s the protocol?
4. Network edge: hosts, access network, physical media
5. Network core: packet/circuit switching, Internet structure
6. Network topology
7. Network Performance: loss, delay, throughput
8. Internet Structure
9. OSI model & TCP/IP model

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1. ABOUT THE COURSE
Faculty of Information Technology
PhD. Le Tran Duc
 FACULTY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
PhD. LE TRAN DUC

REFERENCES

1. Slides & Notes from lecturer

2. Kurose, J., & Ross, K. (2017). Computer Networking: A Top-Down Approach, Global Edition.
3. Nguyễn Tấn Khôi (2004). Giáo trinh môn học Mạng máy tính. Trường ĐHBK - ĐHĐN
4. Tanenbaum, A., & J Wetherall, D. (2011). Computer Networks.
5. Forouzan, A. B. (2012). Data communications & networking (sie). Tata McGraw-Hill Education.
6. Forouzan, B. A., & Mosharraf, F. (2012). Computer networks: a top-down approach (p. 931). McGraw-Hill.
7. Forouzan, B. A. (2010). TCP/IP protocol suite. McGraw-Hill, Inc..

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2. WHAT’S THE
INTERNET?
Faculty of Information Technology
PhD. Le Tran Duc
 FACULTY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
PhD. LE TRAN DUC

WHAT’S THE INTERNET: “NUTS & BOLTS”

VIEW?
• Billions of connected computing devices:
• hosts = end systems PC

• running network apps server

wireless
laptop
smartphone
• Communication links
• fiber, copper, radio, satellite
wireless
• transmission rate: bandwidth links
wired
links

• Packet switches: forward packets (chunks of data)

• routers and switches

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 FACULTY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
PhD. LE TRAN DUC

WHAT’S THE INTERNET: “NUTS & BOLTS”

VIEW?

• Internet: “network of networks”

o Interconnected ISPs
• Protocols control sending, receiving of messages
o e.g., TCP, IP, HTTP, Skype, 802.11
• Internet standards
o RFC: Request for comments
o IETF: Internet Engineering Task Force

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3. WHAT’S THE
PROTOCOL
Faculty of Information Technology
PhD. Le Tran Duc
 FACULTY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
PhD. LE TRAN DUC

WHAT’S A PROTOCOL?
• Human protocols: • Network protocols:
- “what’s the time?” - machines rather than humans
- “I have a question” - all communication activity in
- introductions Internet governed by protocols

… specific messages sent

… specific actions taken when
messages received, or other events

protocols define format, order of messages sent and received among network entities, and actions taken on
message transmission, receipt
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4. NETWORK STRUCTURE

Faculty of Information Technology

PhD. Le Tran Duc
 FACULTY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
PhD. LE TRAN DUC

A CLOSER LOOK AT NETWORK STRUCTURE

• Network edge:
o hosts: clients and servers
o servers often in data centers
• Access networks, physical media:
o wired, wireless communication links
• Network core: End-system
o interconnected routers interaction
o network of networks

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 FACULTY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
PhD. LE TRAN DUC

ACCESS NETWORK

Q: How to connect end systems to edge router?

• Home Access: DSL, Cable, FTTH, Dial-Up & Satellite
• Access in the Enterprise (and the Home): Ethernet and WiFi
• Wide-Area Wireless Access: 3G, LTE, 4G &5G
Keep in mind:
 bandwidth (bits per second) of access network?
 shared or dedicated?

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 FACULTY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
PhD. LE TRAN DUC

PHYSICAL MEDIA

• Bit: propagates between transmitter/receiver pairs

• Physical link: what lies between transmitter & receiver
• Guided media:
- signals propagate in solid media: copper, fiber, coax
• Unguided media:
- signals propagate freely, e.g., radio

Twisted pair (TP)

• Two insulated copper wires
o Category 5: 100 Mbps, 1 Gbps Ethernet
o Category 6: 10Gbps

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 FACULTY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
PhD. LE TRAN DUC

PHYSICAL MEDIA: COAX, FIBER

coaxial cable: fiber optic cable:

• glass fiber carrying light pulses, each pulse a bit
• two concentric copper conductors • high-speed operation:
• quite common in cable television systems o high-speed point-to-point transmission (e.g., 10’s-
100’s Gbps transmission rate)
• bidirectional
• low error rate:
• broadband: o repeaters spaced far apart (~100km)
o multiple channels on cable o immune to electromagnetic noise

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 FACULTY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
PhD. LE TRAN DUC

PHYSICAL MEDIA: RADIO

• Signal carried in electromagnetic spectrum radio link types:

 Terrestrial microwave
• No physical “wire”
• e.g. up to 45 Mbps channels
• Can penetrate wall  LAN (e.g., WiFi)
• Potentially carry a signal for long distances • 54 Mbps or more
 Wide-area (e.g., cellular)
• Bidirectional
• 4G, 5G cellular
• Propagation environment effects:  Satellite
o reflection • Kbps to 45Mbps channel (or multiple smaller channels)
• 280 msec end-end delay
o obstruction by objects
• geosynchronous versus low altitude
o interference

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5. NETWORK CORE

Faculty of Information Technology

PhD. Le Tran Duc
 FACULTY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
PhD. LE TRAN DUC

THE NETWORK CORE

• Mesh of interconnected routers

• Packet-switching: hosts break application-layer
messages into packets
o Forward packets from one router to the next, across
links on path from source to destination
Network Core
o Each packet transmitted at full link capacity

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 FACULTY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
PhD. LE TRAN DUC

NETWORK CORE FUNCTIONS

• routing: determines source-destination route
taken by packets • forwarding: move packets from routers
o routing algorithms input to appropriate router output

routing algorithm

local forwarding table

header value output link
0100 3 1
0101 2
0111 2 3 2
1001 1
11
01

destination address in arriving

packet’s header

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 FACULTY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
PhD. LE TRAN DUC

HOST SENDS PACKETS OF DATA

Host sending function:

two packets,
o Takes application message L bits each
o Breaks into smaller chunks, known as packets, of length L bits
o Transmits packet into access network at transmission rate R
2 1
• Link transmission rate, aka link capacity, aka link bandwidth
R: link transmission rate
host

time needed to L (bits)

Packet transmission delay = transmit L-bit =
packet into link R (bits/sec)

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 FACULTY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
PhD. LE TRAN DUC

PACKET-SWITCHING: STORE-AND-FORWARD
TRANSMISSION

• Takes L/R seconds to transmit One-hop numerical example: End-to-end delay if a path has N links
(push out) L-bit packet into link at • L = 7.5 Mbits (R rate/link) (or N-1 routers):
R bps • R = 1.5 Mbps
• Store and forward: entire packet • one-hop transmission delay =
must arrive at router before it can 5 sec
be transmitted on next link
• end-end delay = 2L/R (assuming
20
zero propagation delay)
 FACULTY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
PhD. LE TRAN DUC

PACKET-SWITCHING: QUEUEING DELAY & PACKET LOSS

• Delay:
o Store-and-forward delays
o Queuing delays
o Propagation delays

• Queuing and loss:

• If arrival rate (in bits) to link exceeds transmission rate
of link for a period of time:
o packets will queue, wait to be transmitted on link
o packets can be dropped (lost) if memory (buffer)
fills up

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 FACULTY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
PhD. LE TRAN DUC

CIRCUIT SWITCHING
End- to-end connection between the two hosts
End-end resources allocated to, reserved for
“call” between source & dest:
• in diagram, each link has four circuits.
- call gets 2nd circuit in top link and 1st circuit
in right link.
• dedicated resources: no sharing
- circuit-like (guaranteed) performance
- reserves a constant transmission rate (a
fraction of link’s trans. capacity)
• circuit segment idle if not used by call (no
sharing) - Four circuit switches are interconnected by four links
- Each of these links has four circuits
• commonly used in traditional telephone
networks 22
 FACULTY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
PhD. LE TRAN DUC

PACKET SWITCHING versus CIRCUIT SWITCHING

Packet Switching Circuit Switching

- The message is broken down into - Entire message is passed
small packets - There is a dedicated communication
- Every packet follows a different route link
- Not suitable for real-time services - Excellent for real-time communications
(because of its variable &
unpredictable end-to-end delays)
- Better sharing of transmission capacity - When no data is transmitted, capacity
is unused, but still committed.
- Simpler, less costly - More complicated
- Allocates link use on demand - Pre-allocates use of the transmission
link regardless of demand

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6. NETWORK
TOPOLOGY
Faculty of Information Technology
PhD. Le Tran Duc
 FACULTY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
PhD. LE TRAN DUC

NETWORK TOPOLOGY

• Network topology is the arrangement of the elements (links, nodes, etc.) of a communication network.
• There are two approaches to network topology: physical and logical. 
o Physical network topology refers to the physical connections and interconnections between nodes and the
network—the wires, cables, and so forth.
o Logical network topology refers to the conceptual understanding of how and why the network is arranged
the way it is, and how data moves through it.

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7. NETWORK
PERFORMANCE
Faculty of Information Technology
PhD. Le Tran Duc
 FACULTY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
PhD. LE TRAN DUC

FOUR SOURCES OF PACKET DELAY

transmission
A propagation

B
nodal
processing queueing

dtotal = dproc + dqueue + dtrans + dprop

dqueue: queueing delay

dproc: nodal processing
• time waiting at output link for transmission onto
• check bit errors the link
• examine the packet’s header • depends on congestion level of router (traffic is
heavy or not)
• determine output link • the order of microseconds to milliseconds in
• typically < ms practice 27
 FACULTY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
PhD. LE TRAN DUC

FOUR SOURCES OF PACKET DELAY

transmission
A propagation

B
nodal
processing queueing

dtotal = dproc + dqueue + dtrans + dprop

dtrans: transmission delay: dprop: propagation delay:
• the amount of time required to push all of • time required to propagate from the
the packet’s bits into the link beginning of the link to the next destination
• L: packet length (bits) • Depends on the physical medium
• R: link bandwidth (bps) or trans. rate dtrans and dprop • d: length of physical link
• dtrans = L/R very different • s: propagation speed (~2x108 m/sec – 3x108
• On the order of microseconds to m/sec)
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milliseconds • dprop = d/s
 FACULTY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
PhD. LE TRAN DUC

Exercise: Computing transmission & propagation delay

Consider the figure below, with three links, each with the specified transmission rate and link length.

Find the end-to-end delay (including the transmission delays and propagation delays on each of the three links,
but ignoring queueing delays and processing delays) from when the left host begins transmitting the first bit of a
packet to the time when the last bit of that packet is received at the server at the right. The speed of light
propagation delay on each link is 3x10**8 m/sec. Note that the transmission rates are in Mbps and the link
distances are in Km. Assume a packet length of 4000 bits. Give your answer in milliseconds. 29
 FACULTY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
PhD. LE TRAN DUC

QUEUEING DELAY (REVISITED)

• R: transmission rate (bps) = rate

average queueing
at which bits are pushed out of

delay
When is the queuing delay large the queue
and when is it insignificant?
 Depends on: • L: packet length (bits)
- Arriving rate at the queue • a: average packet arrival rate
- Transmission rate of the link
- Nature of the arriving traffic La: average rate at which bits
traffic intensity
(traffic arriving pattern) arrive at the queue = La/R
• La/R ~ 0: avg. queueing delay small La/R ~ 0
• La/R -> 1: avg. queueing delay large
• La/R > 1: more “work” arriving
than can be serviced, average delay infinite!
• La/R < 1: nature of the arriving traffic affects the queuing
delay

Design your system so that the traffic intensity is no greater than 1. La/R -> 1 30
 FACULTY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
PhD. LE TRAN DUC

PACKET LOSS

• Queue (aka buffer) preceding link in buffer has finite capacity

• Packet arriving to full queue dropped (aka lost)
• Lost packet may be retransmitted by previous node, by source end system, or not at all

buffer
(waiting area) packet being transmitted
A

B
packet arriving to
full buffer is lost

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 FACULTY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
PhD. LE TRAN DUC

THROUGHPUT
• throughput: rate (bits/time unit) at which bits transferred between sender/receiver
o instantaneous: rate at given point in time
o average: rate over longer period of time

server, with link capacity link capacity

file of F bits Rs bits/sec Rc bits/sec
to send to client
server sends bits pipe that can carry pipe that can carry
(fluid) into pipe fluid at rate fluid at rate
Rs bits/sec) Rc bits/sec)

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 FACULTY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
PhD. LE TRAN DUC

THROUGHPUT
• Rs < Rc What is average end-end throughput?

Rs bits/sec Rc bits/sec

Rs > Rc What is average end-end throughput?

Rs bits/sec Rc bits/sec

bottleneck link

link on end-end path that constrains end-end throughput

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 FACULTY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
PhD. LE TRAN DUC

THROUGHPUT: INTERNET SCENARIO

• Per-connection end-end throughput:

min(Rc,Rs,R/10)

• In practice: Rc or Rs is often bottleneck

(access network) because the core of the
Internet is over-provisioned with high
speed links that experience little
congestion

10 connections (fairly) share backbone

bottleneck link R bits/sec
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 FACULTY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
PhD. LE TRAN DUC

THROUGHPUT: EXERCISE
Consider the scenario shown below, with four different servers
connected to four different clients over four three-hop paths.
The four pairs share a common middle hop with a transmission
capacity of R = 300 Mbps. The four links from the servers to the
shared link have a transmission capacity of RS = 70 Mbps. Each
of the four links from the shared middle link to a client has a
transmission capacity of RC = 80 Mbps per second. You might
want to review Figure 1.20 in the text before answering the
following questions:
1. What is the maximum achievable end-end throughput (in
Mbps) for each of four client-to-server pairs, assuming that
the middle link is fair-shared (i.e., divides its transmission
rate equally among the four pairs)?
2. Which link is the bottleneck link for each session?
3. Assuming that the senders are sending at the maximum
rate possible, what are the link utilizations for the sender
links (RS), client links (RC), and the middle link (R)?
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8. INTERNET
STRUCTURE
Faculty of Information Technology
PhD. Le Tran Duc
 FACULTY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
PhD. LE TRAN DUC

INTERNET STRUCTURE: NETWORK OF

NETWORKS
• End systems connect to Internet via access ISPs
(Internet Service Providers)
o residential, company and university ISPs
• Access ISPs in turn must be interconnected.
o so that any two hosts can send packets to
each other
• Resulting network of networks is very complex
o evolution was driven by economics and
national policies rather than by
performance considerations.
• Let’s take a stepwise approach to describe current
Internet structure

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 FACULTY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
PhD. LE TRAN DUC

INTERNET STRUCTURE: NETWORK OF

NETWORKS
• Question: given millions of access ISPs, how to connect them together?

access
… access
net
access
net …
net
access
access net
net
access
access net
net
…

…
access access
net net

access
net
access
net

access
net
access
… net
access access …
net access net
net

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 FACULTY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
PhD. LE TRAN DUC

INTERNET STRUCTURE: NETWORK OF

NETWORKS
• Option: connect each access ISP to every other access ISP?

access
… access
net
access
net …
net
access
access
net
… … net

access
access net
net

connecting each access ISP

…

…
to each other directly doesn’t

…
access access
…

net
scale: O(N2) connections. net

access
net
access
net

access
net
access

…
… net
access access …
net access net
net

39
 FACULTY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
PhD. LE TRAN DUC

INTERNET STRUCTURE: NETWORK OF

NETWORKS
Option: connect each access ISP to one global transit ISP?
Customer and provider ISPs have economic agreement.

access
… access
net
access
net …
net
access
access net
net
access
access net
net
…

…
global
access
net ISP access
net

access
net
access
net

access
net
access
… net
access access …
net access net
net

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 FACULTY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
PhD. LE TRAN DUC

INTERNET STRUCTURE: NETWORK OF

NETWORKS
But if one global ISP is viable business, there will be competitors …. which must be interconnected

Internet exchange point

access
… access
net
access
net …
net
access
access net
net

access
IXP access
net
net
ISP A
…

…
access
net
IXP ISP B access
net

access
net
ISP C
access
net

access
net
peering link
access
… net
access access …
net access net
net

41
 FACULTY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
PhD. LE TRAN DUC

INTERNET STRUCTURE: NETWORK OF

NETWORKS
… and regional networks may arise to connect access nets to ISPs

Internet exchange point

access
access
net
access
net …
net
access
access net
net

access
IXP access
net
net
ISP A
…

…
access
net
IXP ISP B access
net

access
net
ISP C
access

access
peering link net

net regional net

access
… net
access access …
net access net
net

42
 FACULTY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
PhD. LE TRAN DUC

INTERNET STRUCTURE: NETWORK OF

NETWORKS
… and content provider networks (e.g., Google, Microsoft, Akamai) may run their own network, to bring services,
content close to end users
Internet exchange point
access
access
net
access
net …
net
access
access net
net

access
IXP access
net
net
ISP A
…

…
Content provider network
access
net
IXP ISP B access
net

access
net
ISP C
access

access
peering link net

net regional net

access
… net
access access …
net access net
net

43
 FACULTY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
PhD. LE TRAN DUC

INTERNET STRUCTURE: NETWORK OF

NETWORKS

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9. OSI MODEL &
TCP/IP MODEL
Faculty of Information Technology
PhD. Le Tran Duc
 FACULTY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
PhD. LE TRAN DUC

ORGANIZATION OF AIR TRAVEL

Describe the airline system

• a series of steps  But there are functions repeated!!

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 FACULTY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
PhD. LE TRAN DUC

LAYERING OF AIRLINE FUNCTIONALITY

Look at the functionality in a horizontal manner

 The airline functionalities are divided into layers

Layers: each layer implements a service
• by performing certain actions within that layer
• relying on services provided by layer below 47
 FACULTY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
PhD. LE TRAN DUC

INTERNET PROTOCOL STACK

• Application: supporting network applications
- FTP, SMTP, HTTP, DNS
- The app. in one end system using the protocol to exchange message (packets of information) with
the app. in another end system application
• Transport: process-process data transfer, flow control
- TCP, UDP transport
- Reliable end-to-end delivery service
- Transport application-layer messages
network
- Transport-layer packet = segment
• Network: routing of IP packet from source to destination
- Provides the service of delivering the segment through a series of routers to the transport layer in link
the destination host
- IP, routing protocols physical
• Link-layer: data transfer between neighboring network elements
- To move a frame from one node to the next node in the route
- Reliable delivery between 2 adjacent nodes
- Ethernet, 802.11 (Wi-Fi), PPP
48
• Physical: bits “on the wire”  Move individual bits within the frame from one node to the next
 FACULTY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
PhD. LE TRAN DUC

OSI REFERENCE MODEL

• presentation: allow applications to interpret meaning of

data, e.g., encryption, compression, machine-specific application
conventions
presentation
• session: synchronization, checkpointing, recovery of
data exchange session
• Internet stack “missing” these layers! transport
- these services, if needed, must be implemented in network
application
link
- needed?
physical

49
 FACULTY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
PhD. LE TRAN DUC

OSI REFERENCE MODEL

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 FACULTY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
PhD. LE TRAN DUC

OSI REFERENCE MODEL

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 FACULTY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
PhD. LE TRAN DUC

WIRESHARK

application
packet (www browser,

analyzer email client)

application

OS
packet Transport (TCP/UDP)

capture copy of all Network (IP)

Ethernet
frames Link (Ethernet)
(pcap) sent/receive
d Physical

52
 FACULTY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
PhD. LE TRAN DUC

ENCAPSULATION

Figure shows the physical path:

- data takes down a sending end system’s

protocol stack
- up and down the protocol stacks of a
link-layer switch and router
- up the protocol stack at the receiving end
system.

A packet has two types of fields: header

fields and a payload field.

The payload is typically a packet from the

layer above.

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