Fall 2011

Humaira Ehsan
Computer Networks
1

Humaira Ehsan | L05-Network Delays | 19th Aug, 2011

 Packet switching versus circuit switching

L05-Network Delays | 19th Aug, 2011

Is packet switching a “slam dunk winner?”
• great for bursty data
• resource sharing
• simpler, no call setup
• excessive congestion: packet delay and loss
• protocols needed for reliable data transfer, congestion

Humaira Ehsan |
control
• Q: How to provide circuit-like behavior?
• bandwidth guarantees needed for audio/video apps
• still an unsolved problem (chapter 7)

2
Q: human analogies of reserved resources (circuit
switching) versus on-demand allocation (packet-switching)?
Internet structure: network of networks

L05-Network Delays | 19th Aug, 2011

• roughly hierarchical
• at center: “tier-1” ISPs (e.g., Verizon, Sprint, AT&T,
Cable and Wireless), national/international coverage
• treat each other as equals

Humaira Ehsan |
Tier-1 Tier 1 ISP
providers
interconnect
(peer)
privately
Tier 1 ISP Tier 1 ISP

3
Tier-1 ISP: e.g., Sprint

L05-Network Delays | 19th Aug, 2011

POP: point-of-presence

to/from backbone

peering
… …
.

Humaira Ehsan |
…
…

to/from customers

4
 Internet structure: network of networks

L05-Network Delays | 19th Aug, 2011

• “Tier-2” ISPs: smaller (often regional) ISPs
• Connect to one or more tier-1 ISPs, possibly other tier-2 ISPs

Tier-2 ISPs
Tier-2 ISP pays Tier-2 ISP also peer
Tier-2 ISP privately with

Humaira Ehsan |
tier-1 ISP for
connectivity to Tier 1 ISP each other.
rest of Internet
 tier-2 ISP is
customer of
tier-1 provider Tier 1 ISP Tier 1 ISP Tier-2 ISP

Tier-2 ISP Tier-2 ISP 5

 Internet structure: network of networks

L05-Network Delays | 19th Aug, 2011

• “Tier-3” ISPs and local ISPs
• last hop (“access”) network (closest to end systems)

local
ISP Tier 3 local
local local
ISP ISP
ISP ISP
Local and tier- Tier-2 ISP Tier-2 ISP
3 ISPs are

Humaira Ehsan |
customers of Tier 1 ISP
higher tier
ISPs
connecting
them to rest Tier 1 ISP
Tier 1 ISP Tier-2 ISP
of Internet
local
Tier-2 ISP Tier-2 ISP 6
ISP
local local local
ISP ISP ISP
Internet structure: network of networks

L05-Network Delays | 19th Aug, 2011

• a packet passes through many networks!

local
ISP Tier 3 local
local local
ISP ISP
ISP ISP
Tier-2 ISP Tier-2 ISP

Humaira Ehsan |
Tier 1 ISP

Tier 1 ISP Tier 1 ISP Tier-2 ISP

local
Tier-2 ISP Tier-2 ISP 7
ISP
local local local
ISP ISP ISP
Chapter 1: roadmap

L05-Network Delays | 19th Aug, 2011

1.1 What is the Internet?
1.2 Network edge
 end systems, access networks, links
1.3 Network core
 circuit switching, packet switching, network

Humaira Ehsan |
structure
1.4 Delay, loss and throughput in packet-switched
networks
1.5 Protocol layers, service models
1.6 Networks under attack: security
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How do loss and delay occur?

L05-Network Delays | 19th Aug, 2011

packets queue in router buffers
• packet arrival rate to link exceeds output link
capacity
• packets queue, wait for turn

packet being transmitted (delay)

Humaira Ehsan |
A

B
packets queueing (delay)
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free (available) buffers: arriving packets
dropped (loss) if no free buffers
Four sources of packet delay

L05-Network Delays | 19th Aug, 2011

• 1. nodal processing:  2. queueing
• check bit errors  time waiting at
• determine output link output link for
transmission
 depends on
congestion level of

Humaira Ehsan |
transmission router
A propagation

B
nodal
processing queueing 10
Delay in packet-switched networks

L05-Network Delays | 19th Aug, 2011

3. Transmission delay: 4. Propagation delay:
• R=link bandwidth (bps) • d = length of physical link
• L=packet length (bits) • s = propagation speed in
• time to send bits into medium (~2x108 m/sec)
link = L/R • propagation delay = d/s

Humaira Ehsan |
Note: s and R are very different
quantities!
transmission
A propagation

B 11
nodal
processing queueing
 Caravan analogy

L05-Network Delays | 19th Aug, 2011

100 km 100 km
ten-car toll toll
caravan booth booth
• cars “propagate” at • Time to “push” entire
100 km/hr caravan through toll
• toll booth takes 12 sec to booth onto highway =

Humaira Ehsan |
service car (transmission 12*10 = 120 sec
time) • Time for last car to
• car~bit; caravan ~ packet propagate from 1st to
• Q: How long until caravan 2nd toll both:
is lined up before 2nd toll 100km/(100km/hr)= 1 hr
booth? • A: 62 minutes 12
Caravan analogy (more)

L05-Network Delays | 19th Aug, 2011

100 km 100 km
ten-car toll toll
caravan booth booth
• Yes! After 7 min, 1st car
• Cars now “propagate” at at 2nd booth and 3 cars
1000 km/hr still at 1st booth.

Humaira Ehsan |
• Toll booth now takes 1 • 1st bit of packet can
min to service a car arrive at 2nd router
• Q: Will cars arrive to before packet is fully
2nd booth before all transmitted at 1st router!
cars serviced at 1st • See Ethernet applet at AWL
booth? Web site 13
Nodal delay

L05-Network Delays | 19th Aug, 2011

d nodal  d proc  d queue  d trans  d prop

• dproc = processing delay

• typically a few microsecs or less
• dqueue = queuing delay

Humaira Ehsan |
• depends on congestion
• dtrans = transmission delay
• = L/R, significant for low-speed links
• dprop = propagation delay
• a few microsecs to hundreds of msecs
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Queueing delay (revisited)

L05-Network Delays | 19th Aug, 2011

• R=link bandwidth (bps)
• L=packet length (bits)
• a=average packet
arrival rate

traffic intensity = La/R

Humaira Ehsan |
 La/R ~ 0: average queueing delay small
 La/R -> 1: delays become large
 La/R > 1: more “work” arriving than can be serviced, average
delay infinite!
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“Real” Internet delays and routes

L05-Network Delays | 19th Aug, 2011

• What do “real” Internet delay & loss look like?
• Traceroute program: provides delay measurement
from source to router along end-end Internet
path towards destination. For all i:
• sends three packets that will reach router i on path
towards destination

Humaira Ehsan |
• router i will return packets to sender
• sender times interval between transmission and reply.

3 probes 3 probes

3 probes
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“Real” Internet delays and routes

L05-Network Delays | 19th Aug, 2011

traceroute: gaia.cs.umass.edu to www.eurecom.fr
Three delay measurements from
gaia.cs.umass.edu to cs-gw.cs.umass.edu
1 cs-gw (128.119.240.254) 1 ms 1 ms 2 ms
2 border1-rt-fa5-1-0.gw.umass.edu (128.119.3.145) 1 ms 1 ms 2 ms
3 cht-vbns.gw.umass.edu (128.119.3.130) 6 ms 5 ms 5 ms
4 jn1-at1-0-0-19.wor.vbns.net (204.147.132.129) 16 ms 11 ms 13 ms
5 jn1-so7-0-0-0.wae.vbns.net (204.147.136.136) 21 ms 18 ms 18 ms
6 abilene-vbns.abilene.ucaid.edu (198.32.11.9) 22 ms 18 ms 22 ms
7 nycm-wash.abilene.ucaid.edu (198.32.8.46) 22 ms 22 ms 22 ms trans-oceanic

Humaira Ehsan |
8 62.40.103.253 (62.40.103.253) 104 ms 109 ms 106 ms
9 de2-1.de1.de.geant.net (62.40.96.129) 109 ms 102 ms 104 ms link
10 de.fr1.fr.geant.net (62.40.96.50) 113 ms 121 ms 114 ms
11 renater-gw.fr1.fr.geant.net (62.40.103.54) 112 ms 114 ms 112 ms
12 nio-n2.cssi.renater.fr (193.51.206.13) 111 ms 114 ms 116 ms
13 nice.cssi.renater.fr (195.220.98.102) 123 ms 125 ms 124 ms
14 r3t2-nice.cssi.renater.fr (195.220.98.110) 126 ms 126 ms 124 ms
15 eurecom-valbonne.r3t2.ft.net (193.48.50.54) 135 ms 128 ms 133 ms
16 194.214.211.25 (194.214.211.25) 126 ms 128 ms 126 ms
17 * * *
18 * * * * means no response (probe lost, router not replying) 17
19 fantasia.eurecom.fr (193.55.113.142) 132 ms 128 ms 136 ms
Packet loss

L05-Network Delays | 19th Aug, 2011

• 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

Humaira Ehsan |
buffer
(waiting area) packet being transmitted
A

B
packet arriving to 18
full buffer is lost
 Throughput

L05-Network Delays | 19th Aug, 2011

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

Humaira Ehsan |
server,
server sendswith link
bits pipe capacity
that can carry link that
pipe capacity
can carry
file of
(fluid) F bits
into pipe fluid at rate
Rs bits/sec Rfluid at rate
c bits/sec
to send to client Rs bits/sec) Rc bits/sec)
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Throughput (more)

L05-Network Delays | 19th Aug, 2011

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

Rs bits/sec Rc bits/sec

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

Humaira Ehsan |
Rs bits/sec Rc bits/sec

bottleneck link
link on end-end path that constrains end-end throughput 20
Throughput: Internet
scenario

L05-Network Delays | 19th Aug, 2011

Rs
• per-connection end-end
throughput: Rs Rs
min(Rc,Rs,R/10)
• in practice: Rc or Rs is R

Humaira Ehsan |
often bottleneck
Rc Rc

Rc

10 connections (fairly) share 21

backbone bottleneck link R bits/sec