Computer Communication Networks

Chapter 1 : Introduction
1.1 Applications of Computer Network

• Remote computer access is the ability to access another computer or network that isn’t in your physical
presence. Remote computer access allows an employee to access a computer desktop and its files from a
remote location. This helps enable an employee who is working from home, for instance, to work
effectively.

• Distributed computing uses a centralized resource manager and all nodes cooperatively work
together as a single unified resource or a system.
• Grid computing utilizes a structure where each node has its own resource manager and the system does
not act as a single unit.
Network Applications
• A network is a collection or set of computing devices connected to one another to
establish communication and also share available resources.
• A network will comprise of software and hardware devices. You can have a network even
if you are not connected to the internet.
• Computer networks make it possible for people to transfer files from one place to another
and to communicate taking the shortest time possible.

• There are 2 types of network applications:-

• Pure network applications
• Standalone network application
Pure Network Applications
• These are applications created to be used in networks; using pure network
applications on a single computer doesn't make sense.
• They help us to transfer data and communicate within a network.
• Such applications have a separate and distinct user interface that users must
learn.
• Examples:
1. Email programs: Outlook Express
2. File transfer protocol (FTP)
3. Terminal Emulation (TELNET)
4. Groupware
Stand Alone Applications
• These are applications that run on stand alone
computers (computers not connected to any other).
• In order to extend their activity, they are rebuild to
run on network environments e.g. word processors,
spreadsheets, database management systems,
presentations graphics, project management etc.
• They function even when the computer is offline.
• Examples of popular stand-alone software include
Quicken and Microsoft Money.
• These two software packages don't require anything
more than the operating system on your computer,
whether it's Windows or another operating system.
Network types:
Local Area Networks (LANs)
■Short distances
■Designed to provide local interconnectivity

Wide Area Networks (WANs)

■Long distances
■Provide connectivity over large areas

Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs)

■Provide connectivity over areas such as a city, a campus
Personal Area Network (PANs)
⮚ PANs communicate over a range of a person

⮚ Examples of PAN:

⮚ Connecting computer to its peripherals with Bluetooth

⮚ Connecting mobile to a headset with Bluetooth
⮚ RFID on Smart cards and library books
Local Area Network (LANs)

⮚ LAN is a privately owned network

⮚ It operates within and nearby a single building like home
or office
⮚ LANs used by companies are called Enterprise Networks
⮚ Radio modem and antenna of computer are used to
communicate with other computers.

⮚ Wireless LAN
⮚ A device called Access Point or Wireless router or
base station is connected to every computer.
⮚ IEEE 802.11 is the standard used for wireless LAN,
which is known as WiFi
⮚ Wired LAN

⮚ Use a range of different transmission technologies.

⮚ Most of them are copper wires or optical cables
⮚ IEEE3is the standard used for wired LAN, which is
known as Ethernet
⮚ Each computer is connected to a switch with multiple
ports with point to point link
⮚ Switch relays packets between computers attached to
it using address on each packet
⮚ Specification: Wired LANs run at speeds of 100Mbps
to 1Gbps.
⮚ Virtual LAN (VLAN)
⮚ Used to divide one large LAN into two smaller logical LANs
⮚ Each port is tagged with a color and switch forwards packets such that packets are
sent separately
Metropolitan Area Network (MANs)
⮚ MANs cover a range limit of a city
⮚ IEEE 802.16 is the standard used for MAN for high speed internet access, which is
known as WiMax

⮚ Examples of MAN:
⮚ Cable television networks over a city
⮚ Internet service through cable service
Wide Area Network (WANs)
⮚ WANs spans a large geographical area
⮚ Each geographical location has a
computer intended for user programs,
known as hosts
⮚ Rest of the network is known as subnet,
which carries messages from host to host
⮚ Subnet consists :
⮚ Transmission lines: optical fiber, radio links,
etc move bits between machines.
⮚ Switching element/Routers: switches which
connect transmission lines.
Network Topologies
Mesh Topology

Advantage :
Dedicated Links guarantee each connection carries its own data.
Mesh is Robust.
If 1 link is unusable still system works.
Privacy and Security feature.
Point to point link makes fault identification and detection easy.

Disadvantage :
Large Amount of cabling & no. of ports required
Bulky system
Example : Telephone regional offices.
Star Topology
Each Device has dedicated Point to point link only to central
controller called Hub. Controller acts as exchange.
Advantage :
Less expensive than mesh
Each device needs 1 link & 1 port.
Less cabling , easy to install and reconfigure
Even if 1 link fails others are active
Ease of fault identification.

Disadvantage :
If hub goes down whole system is dead.
Used in LAN & high speed LAN.
Bus Topology

• Multipoint Topology
• Long cable acts as backbone to link all devices in n/w.
• Nodes connected to bus cable by drop lines & taps
• As signal travels along back bone some energy transforms into heat energy, n/w becomes
weaker and weaker as you travel far hence there is limit on no of taps.

Advantage : Ease in installation

Less cabling compared to mesh and star.
Disadvantage : Difficult reconnection and fault isolation.
Signal reflection at taps can cause degradation in quality.
Degradation controlled by limiting no. & spacing between devices
Fault in bus cable stops all transmission.
Bus Topology one of the 1st topology designed, used in Ethernet LANs.
Ring Topology

• Each Device has dedicated point to point connection with only 2 devices on either side of it. Signal is
passed along ring in 1 direction until it reaches destination.
• When a device receives signal not intended for it its repeater regenerates bits & passes them along
Advantage :
Easy to configure & install.
Adding or deleting device only immediate 2 connections required.
The only considerations r media & Traffic : i.e max ring length & no of devices.

Disadvantage :
In simple ring break in ring ( disabled station) can disable entire n/w.
Ring Topology was used by IBM when they introduced LAN
A hybrid topology: a star backbone
with three bus networks

1.18
1.2 Protocols and Standards
Protocol :
● A protocol is a set of rules for formatting and processing data.
● Different types of protocols are used for different types of communication.
● Communication between Sender and Receiver is not possible without Protocol.
1.2 Protocols and Standards
Standards
● Standards are the set of rules for data communication that are needed for exchange of
information among devices.
● It is important to follow Standards which are created by various Standard Organization
like IEEE, ISO, ANSI etc.

Types of Standards
Standards are of two types

● De Facto Standard.
● De Jure Standard.
Types of Standards :
● De Facto Standard : The meaning of the work ” De Facto ” is ” By Fact ” or “By
Convention”. These are the standards that have not been approved by any Organization ,
but have been adopted as Standards because of it’s widespread use. Also , sometimes
these standards are often established by Manufacturers.
● De Jure Standard : The meaning of the word “De Jure” is “By Law” or “By
Regulations” . Thus , these are the standards that have been approved by officially
recognized body like ANSI , ISO , IEEE etc. These are the standard which are important
to follow if it is required or needed.
.
Protocol Stack
● A protocol stack or protocol suite is the architecture of a protocol that follows the layered
architecture design principle.
● The functionality of the whole protocol is broken down into component protocols that are
separately managed and can be treated and designed mostly independently from one another.

Layered Architecture
● The layered architecture pattern, often known as the “n-tier” architecture design, is a
common technique for reducing complexity across numerous disciplines.
● A structure is divided into parts that work together. Each part has a special job to do. The
parts are arranged in layers, one on top of the other.
Need of Layered Protocol Architecture

The layering of airline functionality.

● The first layer is the customer service layer which deals with tickets.
● The second layer is the baggage handling layer where you check your bags at the departure airport and
where your bags are unloaded and you claim them at the arrival airport.
● The third layer is the gate layer which deals with loading you onto the plane and unloading you from it.
● The fourth layer is the runway layer which the plane uses to take off and land.
● The final layer is the air traffic control layer which makes sure that planes stay separated in the sky and
that they take the correct routes.
OSI (Open System Interconnect) Reference Model:
• International Standard Organization
(ISO) – is a organization.
• OSI Model
✔was intended to be the basis for the
creation of the protocols in the OSI
stack.
✔Is a layered framework for the
design of network systems that
allows communication between all
types of computer systems.
✔It composed of 7 ordered layers.

✔“All People Seem To Need

Data Processing”
 LAYER 7 – The APPLICATION Layer

• The top layer of the OSI model

• Provides a set of interfaces for sending and receiving applications and to
use network services, such as: message handling and database query
processing
• Responsibility: The application layer is responsible for providing services
to the user.
LAYER 6 – The PRESENTATION Layer
• Manages data-format information for networked communications (the
network’s translator)

• For outgoing messages, it converts data into a generic format for network
transmission; for incoming messages, it converts data from the generic
network format to a format that the receiving application can understand

• This layer is also responsible for certain protocol conversions, data

encryption/decryption, or data compression/decompression
LAYER 5 – The SESSION Layer
• Enables two networked resources to hold ongoing communications (called a session)
across a network
• Applications on either end of the session are able to exchange data for the duration
of the session
This layer is:
• Responsible for initiating, maintaining and terminating sessions
• Responsible for security and access control to session information (via session
participant identification)
• Responsible for synchronization services, and for checkpoint services
LAYER 4 – The TRANSPORT Layer
• Manages the transmission of data across a network & is responsible
for the delivery of a message from one process to another.
• Manages the flow of data between parties by segmenting long data
streams into smaller data chunks (based on allowed “packet” size for a
given transmission medium)
• Reassembles chunks into their original sequence at the receiving end
• Provides acknowledgements of successful transmissions and requests
resends for packets which arrive with errors
LAYER 3 – The NETWORK Layer
• Handles addressing messages for delivery, as well as translating
logical network addresses and names into their physical counterparts
• Responsible for deciding how to route transmissions between
computers
• This layer also handles the decisions needed to get data from one
point to the next point along a network path
• This layer also handles packet switching and network congestion
control
LAYER 2 – The DATA LINK Layer
• Handles special data frames between the Network layer and the
Physical layer
• At the receiving end, this layer packages raw data from the
physical layer into data frames for delivery to the Network layer
• At the sending end this layer handles conversion of data into raw
formats that can be handled by the Physical Layer
LAYER 1 – The PHYSICAL Layer
• Converts bits into electronic signals for outgoing messages
• Converts electronic signals into bits for incoming messages
• This layer manages the interface between the computer and the network
medium (coax, twisted pair, etc.)
• This layer tells the driver software for the MAU (media attachment unit,
ex. network interface cards (NICs, modems, etc.)) what needs to be sent
across the medium
• The bottom layer of the OSI model
• The physical layer is responsible for movements of individual bits from
one hop (node) to the next.
OSI Model and TCP/IP Suite
TCP/IP and OSI Model
1.3 TCP/IP Architecture: TCP/IP Protocol Suite
• TCP/IP stands for Transmission Control Protocol/ Internet Protocol.

• TCP/IP Stack is specifically designed as a model to offer highly reliable and end-to-end
byte stream over an unreliable internetwork.

• The TCP/IP Protocol suite is a set of protocols used on computer networks today
• It provides an end-to-end connectivity by specifying how data should be packetized,
addressed, transmitted, routed and received on a TCP/IP network.
TCP/IP Protocol Suite
● It is a four-layered protocol stack.
● It helps in the interconnection of network devices over the internet.
● Each layer contains certain protocols that help in the functioning of the layer.
● The layers of TCP/IP protocol are Application Layer, Transport Layer, Networking/Internet
Layer, Data Link and physical layer.
Layers in TCP/IP Protocol Suite
• An Internet -is made up of several small networks called as Links.
• A Link- a network that allows a set of computers to communicate with each other.
• Router
⮚ device/switch through which links are connected together
⮚ that route the data to reach their final destination.
 1. Physical Layer

⮚ No specific protocol
⮚Communicates between two hops or nodes , either a computer or router.
⮚Unit of communication is Bits
 2. Data Link Layer

⮚ No specific protocol
⮚Unit of communication is Frame
⮚Frame- is a packet that encapsulates data received from the network layer with header and Trailer.
3. Network Layer

⮚ Supports IP.
⮚ Unit of communication is Datagram.
⮚ Datagram- data in packets.
 4. Transport layer

⮚ Specified by UDP, TCP and Stream control Transmission Protocol (SCTP)

⮚ Unit of communication is a segment, user datagram or a packet depending on protocol used.
5. Application Layer

⮚ Specifies many protocols to support Email, file transfer, and accessing WWW etc.
⮚ unit of communication is a message.
1.4 Layer wise Network Hardware Devices
• The term Network hardware refers to electronic devices that can be interconnected to
allow the transmission of communication signals between a number of workstations.
• These devices ranges from simple generic hubs to sophisticated proprietary hardware such
as routers and gateways.
• Examples: Network Interface Card (NIC), hubs, repeaters, Bridge, Switches, routers,
Gateways
Layer wise Network Hardware Devices
⮚ Network Interface Cards
• Every workstation and server will contain at least one NIC.
• NICs contain the electronics components that establish and control network communications.
• The NIC is the principal hardware device that differentiate between a networked computer and a stand-
alone computer.

⮚ Hub
• A hub is a box with a number of RJ45 ports (typically between 4 and 32) that allows to connect several
networking devices together using twisted pair (CAT 5) network cables.
• A hub connects multiple wires coming from different branches, for example, the connector in star
topology which connects different stations.
• Hubs have no intelligence, meaning cannot be programmed or have a memory of devices that are
plugged into its ports.
• They are suitable for small networks but tend to perform poorly on large networks.
• Hubs typically comes in both standards (10Mbps) and fast Ethernet (100 Mbps) versions.
Layer wise Network Hardware Devices
⮚ Types of Hub:
✔Active Hub :- These are the hubs which have their own power supply and can clean, boost and
relay the signal along the network. It serves both as a repeater as well as wiring center. These are
used to extend 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 distance between nodes.

⮚ Switches:
• Switches look nearly identical to hubs, but a switch generally contains more ‘intelligence’ than
a hub.
• Unlike hubs, network switches are capable of inspecting the data packets as they are received,
determining the source and destination device of that packet and forwarding that packet
appropriately.
Layer wise Network Hardware Devices
⮚ Bridge – A bridge operates at data link layer.
• A bridge is a repeater, with add on functionality of filtering content by reading the MAC addresses
of source and destination.
• It is also used for interconnecting two LANs working on the same protocol.
• It has a single input and single output port, thus making it a 2 port device.

⮚ Types of Bridges
• Transparent Bridges :
✔These are the bridge in which the stations are completely unaware of the bridge’s existence i.e. whether
or not a bridge is added or deleted from the network, reconfiguration of the stations is unnecessary.
✔These bridges makes use of two processes i.e. bridge forwarding and bridge learning.
• Source Routing Bridges:
✔In these bridges, routing operation is performed by source station and the frame specifies which route to
follow.
✔The node can discover frame by sending a special frame called discovery frame, which spreads through
the entire network using all possible paths to destination.
Layer wise Network Hardware Devices
⮚ Routers:
• A router is a device like a switch that routes data packets based on
their IP addresses. Router is mainly a Network Layer device.
• Router select the best path to route a message, based on the
destination address and origin.
• Routers normally connect LANs and WANs together and have a
dynamically updating routing table based on which they make
decisions on routing the data packets.
• While bridges know the addresses of all computers on each side of the
network, routers know the addresses of computers, bridges and other
routers on the network.
• Routers can even listen to the entire network to determine which
sections are busiest- they can then redirect data around those sections
until they clear up.
Examples of Network Hardware

⮚ Gateway:
• A gateway is a passage to connect two networks that use completely different protocols
or data formats, such as a LAN to mainframe.
• Gateway is a combination of hardware and software with the built in processing power
necessary to perform protocols conversions (take data from one system, interpret it, and
transfer it to another system).
• Gateways are also called protocol converters and can operate at any network layer.
• Gateways are generally more complex and slower than switch or router.
Examples of Network Hardware
⮚ Modems:
• Modems (MODulator DEModulator) convert
data between the analogue form used on
telephone lines and the digital form used on
computers.
• ADSL modems (also called ADSL routers) are
used on many networks to provide the required
connectivity to the internet.
1.5 Addressing
Physical (MAC) Address :
● MAC address is a Layer 2 - Data link layer address
● A MAC address consists of 12 hexadecimal digits, usually grouped into six pairs separated by
hyphens.
● MAC addresses are available from 00-00-00-00-00-00 through FF-FF-FF-FF-FF-FF.
● The first half of the number is typically used as a manufacturer ID, while the second half is a device
identifier.
● In nearly all enterprise network devices today, whether Wi-Fi or Ethernet, this number is hardcoded
into the device during the manufacturing process.
● Each MAC address is unique to the network card installed on a device
● No two devices on a local network should ever have the same MAC address.
1.5 Addressing
Logical (IP) Address:
• IP controls how devices on the internet communicate and defines the behavior of internet routers.
It corresponds to Layer 3, the network layer.
• An IP address identifies a device on the global internet, acting as the device's logical address to
identify that network connection.
• An IPv4 address consists of 32 bits, usually written as four decimal numbers, or a dotted quad.
Possible values range from 000.000.000.000 through 255.255.255.255, although many possible
addresses are disallowed or reserved for specific purposes.
• An IPv6 address consists of 128 bits, with the first 64 reserved for network identification and the
second 64 dedicated to identifying a device on the network.
• The address is written as eight sets of four hexadecimal digits separated by colons -- for example,
FEDC:BA98:7654:3210:0123:4567:89AB:CDEF. Happily, many conventions are available to
shorten an IPv6 address when writing it.
1.5 Addressing

Port Address:
Ø Port address is a feature of a network device that translates TCP or UDP
communications made between a host and port on an outside network

Ø It allows a single IP address to be used for many internal hosts.

Ø Port address can automatically modify the IP packets' destination or source host IP and
port fields belonging to its internal hosts.
1.5 Addressing
Socket Address:
• Process to process delivery (transport layer communication) needs two identifiers, one is IP
address and the other is port number at each end to make a connection.
• Socket address is the combinations of IP address and port number as shown in the figure.
• To use the services of transport layer in the Internet, we need a pair of socket addresses: the
client socket address and the server socket address.