18CSS202J - COMPUTER COMMUNICATIONS

Semester 4 – Academic Year 2021-2022 (Even)

Cloud Computing 1
Course Objective:
The purpose of learning this course is to
▪ Understand the basic services and concepts related to Internetwork
▪ Understand the layered network architecture
▪ Acquire knowledge in IP addressing
▪ Exploring the services and techniques in physical layer
▪ Understand the functions of Data Link layer
▪ Implement and analyze the different Routing Protocols

Course Outcomes (CO):

At the end of this course, learners will be able to

1. Apply the knowledge of communication

2. Identify and design the network topologies
3. Design the network using addressing schemes
4. Identify and correct the errors in transmission
5. Identify the guided and unguided transmission media
6. Implement the various Routing Protocols

Cloud Computing 2
UNIT –II Contents
• IPv4 Addressing, Address space
• Dotted Decimal Notation
• ClassfulAddressing
• Subnet Mask
• Subnetting
• Special Addresses
• Classless Addressing
• Private Address, NAT, Supernetting
• Hub, Repeaters, Switch, Bridge
• Structure of Router
 Session 1

IPv4 Addressing, Address space

Dotted Decimal Notation
Classful Addressing
Subnet Mask
Subnetting
 IPv4 Address ,address space
• The IPv4 addresses are unique and universal.
• An IPv4 address is 32 bits long.
– The address space of IPv4 is 232 (4,294,967,296)
– Notation.
• Binary notation
• Dotted-decimal notation

19.5
 IPv4
• 32 bits long
– An IPv4 address is a 32-bit address that uniquely and universally
defines the connection of a device (for example, a computer or a
router) to the Internet.

• Unique and Universal.

– Two devices on the Internet can never have the same address at the
same time
– Addressing system must be accepted by any host that wants to be
connected to the Internet.
IPV4 NOTATIONS
 An easier way to remember IP addresses is by assigning to them a
name.
 (e.g., www.google.com), which is resolver through the Domain Name
System (DNS).
 Strictly speaking, an IP address identifies an interface that is
capable of sending and receiving IP datagrams.
 One system can have multiple such interfaces.
 Usually, hosts have only one interface (thus, one IP address),
whereas routers have many interfaces (thus, many IP addresses).
 IPv4 Header Structure

• basic IPv4 header contains 12 fields.

• each field of the IPv4 header has a specific use.
• Shaded field are removed in IPv6.
IPv4 Header - Review
 IPv4 Header - Review
• Version (4 bits)
– Indicates the version of IP and is set to 4.
• Internet Header Length (4 bits)
– Indicates the number of 4-byte blocks in the IPv4 header.
– Because an IPv4 header is a minimum of 20 bytes in size, the
smallest value of the Internet Header Length (IHL) field is 5.
• Type of Service (4 bits)
– Indicates the desired service expected by this packet for delivery
through routers across the IPv4 internetwork.
 IPv4 Header - Review
• Total Length (16 bits)
– Indicates the total length of the IPv4 packet (IPv4 header + IPv4 payload) and
does not include link layer framing.
• Identification (16 bits)
– Identifies this specific IPv4 packet.
– The Identification field is selected by the originating source of the IPv4 packet. If
the IPv4 packet is fragmented, all of the fragments retain the Identification field
value so that the destination node can group the fragments for reassembly.
• Flags (3 bits)
– Identifies flags for the fragmentation process.
– There are two flags—one to indicate whether the IPv4 packet might be
fragmented and another to indicate whether more fragments follow the current
fragment.
• Fragment Offset (13 bits)
– Indicates the position of the fragment relative to the original IPv4 payload.
 IPv4 Header - Review
• Time to Live ( 8 bits)
– Indicate the maximum number of links on which an IPv4 packet can travel before
being discarded.
– Originally used as a time count with which an IPv4 router determined the length
of time required (in seconds) to forward the IPv4 packet, decrementing the TTL
accordingly. When the TTL equals 0,an ICMP Time Expired-TTL Expired in Transit
message is sent to the source IPv4 address and the packet is discarded.
• Protocol (8 bits)
– Identifies the upper layer protocol.
– For example, TCP uses a Protocol of 6, UDP uses a Protocol of 17, and ICMP uses
a Protocol of 1.
– The Protocol field is used to demultiplex an IPv4 packet to the upper layer
protocol.
 IPv4 Header - Review
• Header Checksum (16 Bits)
– Provides a checksum on the IPv4 header only.
– The IPv4 payload is not included in the checksum calculation as the IPv4 payload
and usually contains its own checksum..
• Source Address ( 32 bits)
– Stores the IPv4 address of the originating host.
• Destination Address (32 bits)
– Stores the IPv4 address of the destination host.
• Options (multiple of 32 bits)
– Stores one or more IPv4 options.
 Session 2

Subnet Mask
Subnetting
 Types of addressing
• Classful Addressing
• Classless Addressing
Classful Addressing and Problem
solving
 Classful Addressing
• In classful addressing, the address space is divided
into five classes: A, B, C, D, and E.
Classful Addressing
Classful Addressing – Class Range
 Example 1

Change
Changethe
thefollowing
followingIPv4
IPv4addresses
addressesfrom
frombinary
binarynotation
notationtotodotted-decimal
dotted-decimalnotation.
notation.

Solution
Solution
We
We replace
replace each
each group
group of
of 88 bits
bits with
with its
its equivalent
equivalent decimal
decimal number
number (see
(seeAppendix
Appendix B)
B)
and
andadd
adddots
dotsfor
forseparation.
separation.

19.22
 Example 2

Change the following IPv4 addresses from dotted-decimal notation to binary notation.

Solution

We replace each decimal number with its binary equivalent

19.23
 Example 3

Find the class of each address.

a. 00000001 00001011 00001011 11101111

b. 11000001 10000011 00011011 11111111

c. 14.23.120.8

d. 252.5.15.111

Solution

a. The first bit is 0. This is a class A address.

b. The first 2 bits are 1; the third bit is 0. This is a class C

address.

c. The first byte is 14; the class is A.

d. The first byte is 252; the class is E.

19.24
Table 1 Number of blocks and block size in classful IPv4 addressing
Note

In classful addressing, a large part of the available addresses were wasted.

Table 2 Default masks for classful addressing
Note

Classful addressing, which is almost obsolete, is replaced with classless addressing.

Note

In IPv4 addressing, a block of

addresses can be defined as
x.y.z.t /n
in which x.y.z.t defines one of the addresses and the /n defines the mask.
Note

The first address in the block can be found by setting the rightmost
32 − n bits to 0s.
 Example 4

A block of addresses is granted to a small organization. We

know that one of the addresses is 205.16.37.39/28. What is
the first address in the block?

Solution
The binary representation of the given address is
11001101 00010000 00100101 00100111
If we set 32−28 rightmost bits to 0, we get
11001101 00010000 00100101 0010000
or
205.16.37.32.
Note

The last address in the block can be found by setting the rightmost
32 − n bits to 1s.
 Example 5

Find the last address for the block in 205.16.37.39/28.

Solution
The binary representation of the given address is
11001101 00010000 00100101 00100111
If we set 32 − 28 rightmost bits to 1, we get
11001101 00010000 00100101 00101111
or
205.16.37.47
Note

The number of addresses in the block can be found by using the formula
232−n.
 Example 6

Find the number of addresses in 205.16.37.39/28.

Solution
The value of n is 28, which means that number
of addresses is 2 32−28 or 16.
 Example 7

Another way to find the first address, the last address, and
the number of addresses is to represent the mask as a 32-bit
binary (or 8-digit hexadecimal) number. This is
particularly useful when we are writing a program to find
these pieces of information. In Example 19.5 the /28 can be
represented as
11111111 11111111 11111111 11110000
(twenty-eight 1s and four 0s).

Find
a. The first address
b. The last address
c. The number of addresses.
 Example 7 (continued)

Solution
a. The first address can be found by ANDing the given
addresses with the mask. ANDing here is done bit by
bit. The result of ANDing 2 bits is 1 if both bits are 1s;
the result is 0 otherwise.
 Example 7 (continued)

b. The last address can be found by ORing the given

addresses with the complement of the mask. ORing
here is done bit by bit. The result of ORing 2 bits is 0 if
both bits are 0s; the result is 1 otherwise. The
complement of a number is found by changing each 1
to 0 and each 0 to 1.
Figure 1 A network configuration for the block 205.16.37.32/28
Note

The first address in a block is

normally not assigned to any device;
it is used as the network address that represents the organization
to the rest of the world.
 Two level hierarchy - Three level hierarchy-
subnet mask - Address aggregation- problem
solving.
 Hierarchy of IPv4 Addressing
• Each address in the block can be considered
as a two-level hierarchical structure: the
leftmost n bits (prefix) define
the network; the rightmost 32 − n bits define
the host.
• Why Hierarchy?

19.42
Figure 2 Two levels of hierarchy in an IPv4 address

19.43
Two Level of Hierarchy

19.44
Three Level of Hierarchy

19.45
 Address Aggregation
• IP Address Aggregator is a utility developed to
automate minimization process and convert bunch
of IPv4 addresses into smallest continuous range(s)
possible. IP aggregation is commonly performed by
network engineers working with BGP & routers.
• This utility will help webmasters to configure server
firewalls, apache, address masks and so on.
 Session 5
• Special Addresses

47
 Special Addresses
• An IP address (internet protocol address) is a numerical
representation that uniquely identifies a specific interface on the
network.
• Addresses in IPv4 are 32-bits long. This allows for a maximum of
4,294,967,296 (232) unique addresses. Addresses in IPv6 are 128-bits,
which allows for 3.4 x 1038 (2128) unique addresses.
• The total usable address pool of both versions is reduced by various
reserved addresses and other considerations.
• IP addresses are binary numbers but are typically expressed in
decimal form (IPv4) or hexadecimal form (IPv6) to make reading and
using
Monday, them
October easier18CSS202J
17, 2022 for humans.
Computer Communications - Unit 2, Session 5 48
 Special Addresses
• There are a few reserved IPv4 address spaces which cannot be used on
the internet. These addresses serve special purpose and cannot be
routed outside the Local Area Network.
• As in Classful IP Addressing, some blocks of addresses or some
addresses in each block have been reserved for the special purpose &
that’s why they are termed as special IP addresses.
• The special addresses of classful addressing were inherited by the
classless addressing when it was introduced in 1996.
• There can be an entire block of addresses reserved for special
addressing or there can be some addresses in each block that are
reserved for special addressing.
Monday, October 17, 2022 18CSS202J Computer Communications - Unit 2, Session 5 49
 Special Addresses
1. Special Blocks of Addresses
• There are some blocks of addresses in IPv4 address space that are
reserved for a special objective.

• The special blocks of addresses are listed below:

a) All Zeros Address
b) All Ones Address
c) Loopback Addresses
d) Private Addresses
e) Multicast Addresses
Monday, October 17, 2022 18CSS202J Computer Communications - Unit 2, Session 5 50
 Special Addresses
a)All Zeros Address
• The all-zeros address block 0.0.0.0/32   is a special block in Ipv4 address space.
• The length of the prefix here is 32. The number of addresses in this block is
equal to 232-32 = 20 = 1. So, this block has only one address with all the 32 bits as
zero. This address is the first address in the IPv4 address space.
• Any host having this IP address means the host is not connected to the TC/IP
network. When the host wants to get connected to the internet, it sends a
request packet to the bootstrap server which is also called a DHCP server.
• The packet sent by the host to DHCP server has source address as 0.0.0.0 and
225.225.225.225 as the destination address.
• The DHCP server then assigns the IP address to the host and host then get
connected to the Internet.
Monday, October 17, 2022 18CSS202J Computer Communications - Unit 2, Session 5 51
 Special Addresses
a) All Zeros Address

Monday, October 17, 2022 18CSS202J Computer Communications - Unit 2, Session 5 52

 Special Addresses
b) All One Address
• The block 225.225.225.225/32 is also a special block in IPv4 address
space.
• Here, all the 32 bits of IPv4 address is ‘1‘. The length of the prefix here is
32.
• The number of addresses in this special block can be calculated as 232-
32 
= 20 = 1.
• This is the last address in IPv4 address space. This address is also
called Limited Broadcast Address we will see the reason why it is
a limited broadcast address.
• If a host wants to send the message to every other host in the current
network, which means the host wants to broadcast a message in
the current network. Then the host uses this address as the destination
address in the IPv4 packet and sends it on the network.
• Monday,
But, whenever the 18CSS202J
October 17, 2022 router Computer
finds the IPv4 packets
Communications - Unit 2,with
Session225.225.225.225
5 53 as
 Special Addresses
b) All One Address

Monday, October 17, 2022 18CSS202J Computer Communications - Unit 2, Session 5 54

 Special Addresses
c) Loopback Addresses
• The special block 127.0.0.0/8 has addresses which are used as loopback
addresses. Now, the prefix length here is 8 so, the number of addresses can
be calculated as 232-8 = 224 = 1,67,77,216. This special block has 1,67,77,216
addresses. If we consider this address in classful addressing, then this block
is the last block of class A.
• All the addresses starting with 127. should be considered as loopback
addresses. The loopback address can only be the destination address of a
packet. The packet with loopback address never leaves the machine from
which it is sent, it just returns back to the source.

Monday, October 17, 2022 18CSS202J Computer Communications - Unit 2, Session 5 55

 Special Addresses
c) Loopback Addresses
• For example, it can be used to check whether the NIC is properly functioning
or not. To check the network application on the system. Out of 1,67,77,216
loopback addresses only 127.0.0.1 is used rest 1,67,77,215 addresses are just
total wastage of addresses.

Monday, October 17, 2022 18CSS202J Computer Communications - Unit 2, Session 5 56

 Special Addresses
d) Private Addresses
• The private IP addresses are never used globally. The packet with a
private IP address is not routed on the internet.
• The private IP addresses are configured by the administrator of the
network.
• Devices on the same network use private IP addresses to converse
with each other.
• They do not require the internet for their communication. Like, the file
servers, desktops and printers can communicate with each other
without the requirement of internet.
• But, when they want to communicate with the device out of their
network
Monday, they
October translate
17, 2022 a Computer
18CSS202J privateCommunications
IP address- Unit
into the public
2, Session 5 IP address
57
 Special Addresses
d) Private Addresses
• The range of private IP addresses is given below:

Monday, October 17, 2022 18CSS202J Computer Communications - Unit 2, Session 5 58

 Special Addresses
e) Multicast Addresses
• The block 224.0.0.0/4 has the multicast address. The length of
the prefix is 4.
• The number of addresses used for multicast communication is

232-4 = 228 = 26,84,35,456.
• The multicast address is assigned to the group of the host instead of
one single host.
• The packet sent to the multicast address is delivered to all the host of
that group.

Monday, October 17, 2022 18CSS202J Computer Communications - Unit 2, Session 5 59

 Special Addresses
2. Special IP Addresses in Each Block
• There are two special addresses which are in each
block:
a) Network Address
b) Direct Broadcast Address

Monday, October 17, 2022 18CSS202J Computer Communications - Unit 2, Session 5 60

 Special Addresses
a) Network Address
• In classful and classless addressing the first address of the block is the
network address itself.
• The first address of the block has all the suffix bits as ‘0’.
• The network address is not allocated to any of the hosts in the network.
• If the block has been subnetted and the network has been divided
into subnetwork then the first address of subnetwork will play the same role
as the network address. The first address of the subnetwork is also termed
as subnetwork address and this subnetwork address will not be assigned to
any host in the subnetwork.
• In case the assigned block is too small then it is not possible to consider
some of the addresses in the block as special address.
Monday, October 17, 2022 18CSS202J Computer Communications - Unit 2, Session 5 61
 Special Addresses
b) Direct Broadcast Address
• As first address in the block is reserved as the network address.
• The last address of the block is reserved as a direct broadcast address.
• The direct-broadcast address has all its suffix bits as ‘1’.
• Whenever the router obtains the IPv4 packet with a destination address
who’s all suffix bits are 1 it broadcast that packet to all the host in the
specific network. 
• Direct broadcast address will always be used as the destination address in
IPv4 packet.

Monday, October 17, 2022 18CSS202J Computer Communications - Unit 2, Session 5 62

 Special Addresses
b) Direct Broadcast Address

This is about the special addresses and special blocks of

addresses.
Monday, October 17, 2022 18CSS202J Computer Communications - Unit 2, Session 5 63
 Session 6
• Classless Addressing
• Problem Solving

64
 Classless Addressing

• To overcome address depletion and give

more organizations access to the Internet,
classless addressing was designed and
implemented.

65
 Classless Addressing

Address Blocks

• In classless addressing, when an

entity, small or large, needs to be For example:

connected to the Internet, it is A household  only two addresses

A large organization  given thousands of addresses.

granted a BLOCK (RANGE) OF An ISP, as the Internet service provider  given thousands or
hundreds of thousands based on the number of customers it
ADDRESSES. may serve.

• The size of the block (the number of

addresses) varies based on the
nature and size of the entity.

66
 Classless Addressing - Restriction

To simplify the handling of addresses, the Internet authorities impose three

restrictions on classless address blocks:

1. Addresses in a block must be contiguous, one after another.

2. Number of addresses in a block must be a power of 2 (I, 2, 4, 8, ... ).

3. First address must be evenly divisible by the number of addresses.

67
 Slash Notation
Slash notation is also called
CIDR (Classless inter-domain routing)
notation.
Examp The beginning address is 205.16.37.24. To find the
leA small organization is given a last address we keep the first 29 bits and change the
last 3 bits to 1s.
block with the beginning
address and the prefix length Beginning:11001111 00010000 00100101
205.16.37.24/29 (in slash 00011000
notation). Ending : 11001111 00010000 00100101
00011111
What is the range of the block? We can argue that the length of the suffix is 32 - 29 or 3. So there are 2 = 8 3

There are only 8 addresses in this block.

addresses in this block. If the first address is 205.16.37.24, the last address is
205.16.37.31 (24 + 7 = 31).

68
68
 Slash Notation
A block in classes A, B, and C can easily be represented in slash notation as A.B.C.D/ n
where n is either 8 (class A), 16 (class B), or 24 (class C).

What is the network address if one of the addresses is 167.199.170.82/27

The prefix length is 27, which means that we must keep the first 27 bits as is and change
the remaining bits (5) to 0s.
The 5 bits affect only the last byte. The last byte is 01010010. Changing the last 5 bits to
0s, we get 01000000 or 64.
The network address is 167.199.170.64/27.
 Problem Solving
An ISP is granted a block of addresses starting with 190.100.0.0/16. The ISP
needs to distribute these addresses to three groups of customers as follows:

1. The first group has 64 customers; each needs 256 addresses.

2. The second group has 128 customers; each needs 128 addresses.
3. The third group has 128 customers; each needs 64 addresses.

Design the sub blocks and give the slash notation for each sub block.
Find out how many addresses are still available after these allocations?
 Solution
Group 1 Group 2
For this group, each customer needs 256 For this group, each customer needs 128
addresses. This means the suffix length addresses. This means the suffix length is 7 (27
is 8 (28 = 256). = 128).
The prefix length is then 32 - 8 = 24. The prefix length is then 32 - 7 = 25. The
01: 190.100.0.0/24 190.100.0.255/24 addresses are:
02: 190.100.1.0/24 190.100.1.255/24 001: 190.100.64.0/25 190.100.64.127/25
………………………………….. 002: 190.100.64.128/25 190.100.64.255/25
64: 003:190.100.127.128/25
190.100.63.0/24190.100.63.255/24 190.100.127.255/25

Total = 64  256 = 16,384 Total = 128  128 = 16,384

 Solution
Group 3
For this group, each customer needs 64
addresses. This means the suffix length is 6
(26 = 64).
Number of granted addresses:
The prefix length is then 32 - 6 = 26. 65,536

001:190.100.128.0/26 190.100.128.63/26 Number of allocated addresses:

40,960
002:190.100.128.64/26 Number of available addresses:
190.100.128.127/26 24,576
…………………………
128:190.100.159.192/26
190.100.159.255/26
Total = 128  64 = 8,192
 Problem Solving
Perform CIDR aggregation on the following IP Addresses-
200.96.86.0/24
200.96.87.0/24
200.96.88.0/24
200.96.89.0/24

Soluti
on
 Session 9
• Private Address, NAT, Supernetting
• Hub, Repeaters, Switch

75
 Private address, Network
addresses translation -Super
netting.
PUBLIC & PRIVATE ADDRESSES IN
IPV4

• If direct (routed) or indirect (proxy or translator)

connectivity to the Internet is desired, there are two
types of addresses employed on the Internet
• Public addresses
• Private addresses

M.RAJALAKSHMI 77
Public addresses

• Public addresses are assigned by NETWORK INTERFACE CARD (NIC) - A

network interface card (NIC) is a circuit board or card that is installed in a
computer so that it can be connected to a network. 

• Consist of class-based network IDs or blocks of CIDR-based addresses

(called CIDR blocks) that are guaranteed to be globally unique to the
Internet.

• When the public addresses are assigned, routes are programmed into the
routers of the Internet so that traffic to the assigned public addresses can
reach their locations.

M.RAJALAKSHMI 78
Public Addresses

• Public ip are the ip that can be accessed by every one (i,e) every user
has the access to this ip's.

E.g: Yahoo.com, Google.com etc are the pubic ip's.

M.RAJALAKSHMI 79
Private Addresses

• Private IP addresses are used for numbering the computers in a

private network including home, school/Colleges/Universities and
business LANs in airports and hotels which makes it possible for the
computers in the network to communicate with each other.

• Private ip's are the ip that cannot be accessed by every one(i,e) they
are privately owned by an organization / private concern. Only the
user of that organisation has the access to this ip's.

Eg : SRM University

M.RAJALAKSHMI 80
Range of private ip

• Four blocks are assigned as private addresses: 10.0.0.0/8,

172.16.0.0/12, 192.168.0.0/16.

• Range of private IP address are

excluding ips are public ip's.

M.RAJALAKSHMI 81
 NAT – Network Address Translation
• A technology that can provide the mapping between the
private and universal addresses, and at the same time
support virtual private networks.
• Allows a site to use a set of private addresses for internal
communication and a set of global Internet addresses
(atleast one) for communication with the rest of the
world.

M.RAJALAKSHMI 82
 NAT – Network Address Translation
• It is the way that the router translates the IP addresses of packets
that cross the internet/local network boundary.
• When computer “A” sends a packet out “from” that of computer “A” –
192.168.1.2. When the router passes that packet on to the internet, it
replaces the local IP address with the internet IP address assigned by the
ISP.
• It also keeps track, so that if a response comes back from somewhere on
the internet, the router knows to do the translation in reverse – replace
the internet IP address with the local IP address for machine “A” and
then send that response packet on to machine “A”.
• NAT is not restricted to private-to-public address translation,
though that is the most common application.
• NAT can also perform public-to-public address translation, as well
as private-to-private address translation.

M.RAJALAKSHMI 84
Example

M.RAJALAKSHMI 85
Figure 19.10 A NAT implementation

19.86
 Network Address Translation (NAT)
• Benefits
• Use of a single IP address among
many devices in a network
• Use of a dynamic IP address for
home user for sharing
• Drawbacks
• Machines on the internet cannot
initiate communications to local
machines – they can only respond
to communications initiated by
those local machines. The net
effect is that the router then also
acts as a firewall.

19.87
Subnetting vs supernetting
Subnetting:

• Divide a large address block into smaller sub-

groups.
• If an organization was granted a large block in class A or B,
it could divide the addresses into several contiguous
groups and assign each group to smaller networks
(called subnets).

• Use of flexible net mask.

M.RAJALAKSHMI 88
Supernetting

• In supernetting, an organization can combine several class C

blocks to create a larger range of addresses.

• In other words, several networks are combined to create a

supernetwork or a supemet.

• For example:
• An organization that needs 1000 addresses can be granted four
contiguous class C blocks.

M.RAJALAKSHMI 89
Intermediate devices - Hub,
Repeaters, Switch, Bridge-
Gateways -Structure of a
ROUTER
 Intermediate devices - Hubs
• A hub is typically the least expensive, least intelligent, and least
complicated. Its job is very simple – anything that comes in one port is
sent out to the others. That is it broadcasts everything.
• If a message comes in for computer “A”, that message is sent out all the
other ports, regardless of which one computer “A” is on:

M.RAJALAKSHMI 91
Hubs
• And when computer “A” responds, its response also goes out to
every other port on the hub:

• Every computer connected to the hub “sees” everything that every

other computer on the hub sees. The computers themselves
decide if they are the targeted recipient of the message and when
a message should be paid attention to or not.

M.RAJALAKSHMI 92
Types of Hub

• Active Hub:- These are the hubs which have their

own power supply and can clean, boost and relay
the signal along with the network. It serves both as
a repeater as well as wiring centre. These are used
to extend the maximum distance between nodes.
• Passive Hub :- These are the hubs which collect
wiring from nodes and power supply from active
hub. These hubs relay signals onto the network
without cleaning and boosting them and can’t be
used to extend the distance between nodes.

M.RAJALAKSHMI 93
Drawbacks

• Hubs cannot filter data, so data packets are sent to all

connected devices.
• They do not have intelligence to find out best path for data
packets which leads to inefficiencies and wastage.

M.RAJALAKSHMI 94
 Ethernet Repeaters

Repeaters

• A repeater operates at the physical layer.

• Its job is to regenerate the signal over the same network
before the signal becomes too weak or corrupted so as to
extend the length to which the signal can be transmitted
over the same network.
• They do not amplify the signal. When the signal becomes
weak, they copy the signal bit by bit and regenerate it at the
original strength.
• It is a 2 port device.
Because the functionality of repeaters has been built in to
other devices, such as hubs and switches, repeaters are rarely
used.
M.RAJALAKSHMI 95
 Switches

• A switch does essentially what a hub does, but more efficiently.

• By paying attention to the traffic that comes across it, it can
“learn” where particular addresses are.
• Initially, a switch knows nothing and simply sends on incoming
messages to all ports:

A 32-port Ethernet switch.

Switches
• Even accepting that first message, however, the switch has learned
something – it knows on which connection the sender of the
message is located.
• Thus, when machine “A” responds to the message, the switches only
need to send that message out to the one connection:
Switches
• In addition to sending the response through to the originator, the
switch has now learned something else – it now knows on which
connection machine “A” is located.
• That means that subsequent messages destined for machine “A”
need only be sent to that one port:
Switches
• Switches learn the location of the devices that they are connected
to almost instantaneously.

• A switch is a data link layer device.

• The switch can perform error checking before forwarding data,

that makes it very efficient as it does not forward packets that
have errors and forward good packets selectively to correct port
only.

• The net result is that most network traffic only goes where it
needs to rather than to every port.

• On busy networks, this can make the network significantly faster.

 Session 10
• Bridge
• Structure of Router

100
 Bridges
Structure of router
2.10.1 What is a Bridge in a Computer Network?
• Definition1:
A bridge is one of the network devices in computer networks to
connect two or more communication networks or network
segments and creates a single network. It provides
interconnection with other computer networks, which use the
same protocol. The multiple local area networks (LANs) can be
connected to form a larger local area network.
• Definition2:
A bridge in a computer network is one kind of network device,
used to separate a network into sections. Every section in the
network represents a collision domain that has separate
bandwidth. So that network performance can be improved using a
bridge. In the OSI model, a bridge works at layer-2 namely the
data link layer. The main function of this is to examine the
incoming traffic and examine whether to filter it or forward it.
 2.10.2 Working Principle
• In a computer network, a bridge separates
a LAN into different segments like
segment1 & segment2, etc and the MAC
address of all the PCs can be stored into
the table.
• For instance, PC1 transmits the data to
PC2, where the data will transmit to the
bridge first.
• So the bridge reads the MAC address &
decides whether to transmit the data to
segment1 or segment2.
• Therefore, the PC2 is accessible in
segment1, which means the bridge
transmits the data in segment1 only &
eliminates all the connected PCs in
segment2.
• In this way, the bridge reduces traffic in a
computer network.
2.10.3 Functions of Bridges in Computer Network
• The bridge allows to spit the local area network into many small
segments.
• It performs the all tasks in data link layer in OSI model.
• Bridge helps to hold the MAC address of all computers in the network.
• It helps to decrease the traffic over the network.
• With using of MAC address, bridge gets to filter the all contents of
source and destination points.
• It is used for making the interconnection two LAN networks along with
single and same protocol.
• Bridge can work as single large LAN with connecting the multiple
virtual LANs.
• Bridge has ability to switch any types of data packets like as Apple talk
packets or IP packets over the network layer because in which payload
field of the data frame is not considered. Only MAC address or
destination address of the frame is acceptable to block or forward the
data to each node in the computer network.
2.10.4 Types of Bridges
Bridges in the computer network are classified into five types which
include the following.
1. Transparent Bridge.
2. Translational Bridge.
3. Source-route Bridge.
4. MAC-Layer Bridge.
5. Remote Type Bridge
2.10.4 .1 Transparent Bridge
• It is also known as the “Learning Bridges“.
• Transparent bridge has not visibility to other installed stations or
terminals over the computer network.
• It does not need to reconfigure the station because it is either added
or deleted from the entire network.
• Main aim of the transparent bridge is getting to block or forwarding
the data packets depend on the MAC address.
• It is getting more popularity while using in the networking.
• Transparent bridge is a plug and play bridge.
• This bridge creates its table of terminal addresses on its own.
• It allows to make its table for source location and able to self
updating.
 2.10.4.2 Translational Bridge
• A translational bridge plays a key role in changing a networking
system from one type to another.
• These bridges are used to connect two different networks like
token ring & Ethernet.
• This bridge can add or remove the data based on the traveling
direction, and forward the frames of the data link layer in between
LANs which uses various types of network protocols.
• The different network connections are Ethernet to FDDI/token ring
otherwise Ethernet on UTP (unshielded twisted pair) to coax & in
between FOC and copper wiring.
2.10.4.3 Source-route Bridge
• Source-route bridge is introduced by IBM for using the Token ring
networks.
• It allows to embed the all frame routes into one frame, and then this
bridge takes the precise decisions that how the frame is forwarding
with using of the network.
• In this technique, two same network segments can be linked to data
link layer.
• Special frames are discovered by the host, it is known as the
“Discovery Frame“, and it spreads them over the entire network.
• Source-route Bridge helps to prevent the looping problems.
 2.10.4.4 MAC-Layer Bridge
• MAC-layer Bridge is also known as the “Local Bridge“
• It offers the packet filtering and repeating services for network
segments of the similar types.
• It does not require the packet filtering or buffering because it
simply broadcast the incoming data packets to the accurate port or
remove them.
2.10.4.5 Remote Type Bridge

• Remote Bridge allows to make connection two networks at

different locations with using of WAN link like as MODEM or
Leased Line.
• Its speed can be varied depend on the local and wide area links.
• This bridge has internal buffer to store the data received from
LAN while it is waiting for transmission to the remote site.
2.10.5.1 Advantages of Bridges
• Bridges are simple and significant.
• They prevent unnecessary traffic from crossing onto other
network segments.
• Bridge can reduce the amount of network traffic on segments.
• It also make it possible to isolate a busy network from not-so-busy
network.
• They can connect different network architectures like Ethernet &
Token ring.
• Bridge have ability to look at the physical destination address of
the frame and send the frame at the specific port.
• Bridge can filter the traffic, it increases throughput on a network.
• Connects different segments of network transmission
 2.10.5.2 Disadvantages of Bridges
• It is unable to read specific IP addresses because they are more
troubled with the MAC addresses.
• They cannot help while building the network between the different
architectures of networks.
• It transfers all kinds of broadcast messages, so they are incapable
to stop the scope of messages.
• It doesn’t handle more variable & complex data load which occurs
from WAN.
• The speed of the network is slow when compared to the repeater
due to the frame buffering and relays.
2.10.6 What is a Router?
• The router is a physical or virtual internetworking
device that is designed to receive, analyze, and
forward data packets between computer
networks.
• A router examines a destination IP address of a
given data packet, and it uses the headers and
forwarding tables to decide the best way to
transfer the packets.
• A router is used in LAN (Local Area Network)
and WAN (Wide Area Network) environments.
• It shares information with other routers in
networking.
• It uses the routing protocol to transfer the data
across a network.
• It is more expensive than other networking
devices like switches and hubs.
2.10.7 Features of Router
• A router works on the Network Layer of the OSI model, and it is able to
communicate with its adjacent devices with the help of IP addresses and
subnet.
• A router provides high-speed internet connectivity with the different
types of ports like gigabit, fast-Ethernet, and STM link port.
• It allows the users to configure the port as per their requirements in the
network.
• Routers main components are central processing unit (CPU), flash
memory, RAM, Non-Volatile RAM, console, network, and interface card.
• Routers are capable of routing the traffic in a large networking system by
considering the sub-network as an intact network.
• Routers filter out the unwanted interference, as well as carry out the data
encapsulation and DEcapsulation process.
• Routers provide the redundancy as it always works in master and slave
mode.
• It allows the users to connect several LAN and WAN.
• Furthermore, a router creates various paths to forward the data.
2.10.8 Types of Routers
There are various types of routers in networking are
• Wireless Router: generating a wireless signal range between 150 to
300 feet.
• Brouter: A brouter is a combination of the bridge and a router.
• Core router: the backbone of networks also provides various types
of fast and powerful data communication interfaces.
• Edge router: lower-capacity device uses an External BGP (Border
Gateway Protocol) to provides connectivity with remote networks
over the internet.
Subscriber edge router belongs to an end-user organization and acts
on a border device.
label edge router is boundary of Multiprotocol Label Switching
(MPLS) networks and acts as a gateway between the LAN, WAN, or
the internet.
• Broadband routers: To provide high-speed internet through phone
and use Voice Over IP technology (VOIP) access to computers.
2.10.9 Router Structure
• Routers are the building
blocks of wide area
networks.
• Packets arrive at n input
ports and are routed out
from n output ports.
• The system consists of
four main parts :
1. input port processors
2. output port processors
3. Switch fabric
(switching network)
4. Switch controller .
2.10.9.1 Input Port Processor (IPP)
• Input and output port processors, as interfaces to switch fabric, are
commercially implemented together in router line cards contain
some of the task of the physical and data link layers .
• The functionality of the data link layer is implemented as a
separate chip in IPP that also provides a buffer to match the speed
between the input and the switch fabric.
• Switch performance is limited by processing capability, storage
elements, and bus bandwidth.
• The processing capability dictates the maximum rate of the switch.
• Due to the speed mismatch between the rate at which a packet
arrives on the switch and the processing speed of the switch fabric,
input packet rate dictates the amount of required buffering storage.
• The bus bandwidth determines the time taken for a packet to be
transferred between the input and output ports.
Overview of a typical IPP in routers
• An input port processor (IPP) consists of several main modules are
packet fragmentation , main buffer , multicast process , routing
table , packet encapsulator , and a comprehensive QoS .
Packet Fragmentation
• Large packets cause different issues at the network and link layers.
• One application is large packets must be fragmented into smaller
frames.
• Another example when large packets must be buffered at the input port
interface of a router, as buffer slots are usually only 512 bytes long.
• One solution to this problem is to partition packets into smaller
fragments and then reassemble them at the output port processor (OPP)
after processing them in the switching system.
• simple packet fragmentation at the input buffer side of a switch.
• It is always desirable to find the optimum packet size that minimizes
the delay.

Packet fragmentation: (a) without fragmentation; (b) with fragmentation

Routing Table
• It is a look-up table containing all available destination addresses and
the corresponding switch output port.
• An external algorithm fills this routing lookup table.
• The purpose of the routing table is to look up an entry corresponding to
the destination address of the incoming packet and to provide the
output network port.
• As soon as a routing decision is made, all the information should be
saved on the routing table.
• When a packet enters an IPP, the destination port of the switch should
be chosen based on the destination address of the incoming packet.
• This destination port needs to be appended to the incoming packet as
part of the switch header.
• To increase memory performance, queue sizes are fixed to reduce
control logic.
• packets can arrive and leave the network in different order, a memory
monitor is necessary to keep track of which locations in memory are
free for use.
Routing Table
example of routing tables at routers between hosts A and B. Assume
that host B's address is requested by a packet with destination address
182.15.0.0/22 arriving at router 1. The routing table of this router
stores the best-possible path for each destination. Assume that for a
given time, this destination is found in entry row 5. The routing table
then indicates that port 2 of the router is the right output to go. The
table makes the routing decision, based on the estimated cost of the
link, which is also stated in the corresponding entry. When the packet
arrives at router 2, this switch performs the same procedure.
Multicast Process
• It is necessary for copying packets when multiple copies of a
packet are expected to be made on a switching node.
• Using a memory module for storage, copying is done efficiently.
• The copying function can easily be achieved by appending a
counter field to memory locations to signify the needed number of
copies of that location.
• The memory module is used to store packets and then duplicate
multicast packets by holding memory until all instances of the
multicast packet have exited IPP.
• Writing to memory takes two passes for a multicast packet and
only one pass for a unicast packet.
• In order to keep track of how many copies a multicast packet
needs, the packet counter in the memory module must be
augmented after the multicast packet has been written to memory.
• Each entry in the memory module consists of a valid bit, a counter
value, and memory data.
Packet Encapsulation
• It performs the routing table lookups and inserts the switch output
port number into the network header.
• The serial-to-parallel multiplexing unit converts an incoming serial
byte stream into a fully parallel data stream.
• This unit also processes the incoming IP header to determine
whether the packet is unicast or multicast and extracts the type-of-
service field.
• Once the full packet is received, it is stored into memory.
• The packet encapsulation unit formats the incoming packet with a
header before forwarding the packet to the crossbar.
Congestion Controller
• This module shields the switching node from any disorders in the
traffic flow.
• Congestion can be controlled in several ways.
• Sending a reverse-warning packet to the upstream node to avoid
exceeding traffic is one common technology installed in the
structure of advanced switching systems.
• Realistically, spacing between incoming packets is irregular.
2.10.9.2 Switch Fabric
• In this module packets are routed from input ports to the desired
output ports.
• A packet can also be multicast to more than one output.
• Finally, in the output port processors, packets are buffered and
resequenced in order to avoid packet misordering.
• In addition, a number of other important processes and functions
taken place in each of the mentioned blocks.
• The following example shows, this model can work for ATM
technology: Cells (packets) arrive at n input ports and are routed
out from n output ports.
• When a cell carrying VCI b arrives from a given link i, the cell's
VCI is used to index a virtual-circuit translation table (VXT) in the
corresponding input port processor to identify the output link
address j and a new VCI c .
• In the switching network, cells are routed to the desired outputs.
Interaction between an IPP and its switch fabric in a
virtual-circuit switching router
2.10.9.3 Switch Controller
• The controller part of a switching system makes decisions leading to
the transmission of packets to the requested output(s).
• The details of the controller are illustrated in Figure.
• The controller receives packets from an IPP, but only the headers of
packets are processed in the controller.
Header Decoder Unit
• first converts the control information of an arriving packet into an
initial requested output vector.
• This bit vector carries the information pertaining to the replication of
a packet so that any bit of 1 represents a request for one of the
corresponding switch outputs.
Buffer Control Unit
• generates a priority value for each packet to enable it for arbitration.
• This information, along with the request vector, enters an array of
arbitration elements in the contention resolution unit.
Contention Resolution Unit.
• Each packet in one column of an arbitration array contends with other
packets on a shared bus to access the switch output associated with that
column.
• After a packet wins the contention, its identity (buffer index number) is
transmitted out to an OPP.
• buffer-control bit transferred to the switching fabric (network), signaling
them to release the packet.
• buffer-control mechanism ensures that a losing packet in the competition
remains in the buffer.
• buffer-control unit then raises the priority of the losing packet by 1 so that
it can contribute in the next round of contention with a higher chance of
winning.
• This process is repeated until eventually, the packet wins.
• winning packets are transmitted to the switch fabric if traffic flow control
signals from downstream neighboring nodes are active.
• The upstream grant processor in turn generates a corresponding set of
traffic flow control signals, which are sent to the upstream neighboring
nodes.
Overview of a switching system controller
2.10.9.4 Output Port Processors (OPP)
• It includes parallel-to-serial multiplexing, main buffer, local packet
resequencer, global packet resequencer, error checker, and packet
reassembler, as shown in below fig.
• Similar to IPP, OPP also contributes to congestion control.
Parallel-to-serial multiplexing converts the parallel-packet format
into serial packet format.
Main Buffer
• The buffer unit serves as the OPP central shift register.
• The purpose of this buffer is to control the rate of the outgoing packets,
which impacts the quality of service.
• After collecting signals serially from the switch fabric, the buffer
forwards packets to resequencers.
• The queue runs on a clock driven by the link interface between the switch
and an external link.
• This buffer must have features that support real-time and non-real -time
data
Reassembler and Resequencer
• The output port processor receives a stream of packet fragments and has
to identify and sort out all the related ones.
• The OPP reassembles them into a single packet, based on the information
obtained from the fragment field of headers.
• For this process, the OPP must be able to handle the arrival of individual
fragments at any time and in any order.
• Fragments may arrive out of order for many reasons.
• Misordered packets can occur because individual fragments,
composed of a fairly large number of interconnections with
different delay times, are independently routed through the switch
fabric.
• A packet reassembler buffer is used to combine fragments of IP
packets.
• This unit resequences receiving packet fragments before
transmitting them to external circuits, updates the total-length field
of the IP header, and decapsulates all the local headers.
• The resequencer's internal buffer stores misordered fragments until
a complete sequence is obtained.
• The in-sequence fragments are reassembled and transmitted to the
external circuit.
• A global packet resequencer uses this same procedure to enforce
another reordering, this time on sequences, not fragments, of
packets that belong to a single user .
Error Checker and CRC
• When a user sends a packet or a frame, a cyclic redundancy check
(CRC) field is appended to the packet.
• The CRC is generated from an algorithm and is based on the data
being carried in the packet.
• The CRC algorithms divide the message by another fixed-binary
number in a polynomial form, producing a checksum as the
remainder.
• The message receiver can perform the same division and compare
the remainder with the received checksum.
• The error checker applies a series of error-checking processes on
packets to ensure that no errors are on the packets and creates a
stream of bits of a given length, called frames.
• A frame produces a checksum bit , called frame check sequence,
which is attached to the data when transmitted.
Difference between Bridge and Router
Bridge Router
A bridge is a networking device that is used to A router is also a networking device that sends
connect two local area networks (LANs) by the data from one network to another network
using media access control addresses and with the help of their IP addresses.
transmit the data between them.

A bridge is able to connect only two different A router is capable of connecting the LAN and
LAN segments. WAN.

A bridge transfers the data in the form of frames. A router transfers the data in the form of packets.

It sends data based on the MAC address of a It sends data based on the IP address of a device.
device.

The bridge has only one port to connect the The router has several ports to connect the
device. devices.
The bridge does not use any table to forward the The router uses a routing table to send the data.
data.
 Key Router Bridge

Objective Router main objective is to connect various Bridge main objective is to connect various
1 networks. LANs.

Layer Router works in Network Layer. Bridge works in Data Link Layer.
2

Address Router scans device's IP Address. Bridge scan device's MAC Address.
3

Data Router sends data in form of packets. Bridge also sends data in form of packets.
4 Format

Routing Router uses routing table. Bridge do not use routing table.
5 Table

Domain Router works on more than single broadcast Bridge works on a single broadcast domain.
6 domains.

Ports Router has more than two ports. Bridge has only two ports.
7