Chapter 1

Computer Networks and the

Internet
(Sec – 1.1 to 1.6)

Instructor: Mohammad Mamun Elahi

Office: 5th Floor (Room # 537-A)
Email: [email protected]
Notes derived from “Computer Networking: A
Top Down Approach”, Jim Kurose, Keith Ross,
Addison-Wesley.
Computer Networking: A
Top-Down Approach
Slides are adapted from the companion 8th edition
web site of the book, as modified by Jim Kurose, Keith Ross
Pearson, 2020
Mohammad Mamun Elahi. Introduction1-1
Computer Networks – A Conceptual
View
Network interface controller
(NIC)
Computer Networks – A Conceptual View
(contd.)

Network interface controller

(NIC)
Computer Networks – A Conceptual View
(contd.)

Abstraction
2-4
Chapter 1: introduction
Chapter goal: Overview/roadmap:
 Get “feel,” “big picture,”  What is the Internet? What is a
introduction to terminology protocol?
• more depth, detail later in  Network edge: hosts, access network,
course physical media
 Network core: packet/circuit switching,
internet structure
 Performance: loss, delay, throughput
 Protocol layers, service models
 Security
 History
Introduction: 1-5
The Internet: a “nuts and bolts”
view
Billions of connected mobile network
computing devices: national or global ISP
 hosts = end systems
 running network apps at
Internet’s “edge”

Packet switches: forward

local or
packets (chunks of data) Internet
regional ISP
 routers, switches
home network content
Communication links provider
network datacenter
 fiber, copper, radio, satellite network

 transmission rate: bandwidth

Networks enterprise
 collection of devices, routers, network
links: managed by an organization
Introduction: 1-6
“Fun” Internet-connected
devices Tweet-a-watt:
monitor energy use

bikes

Pacemaker & Monitor

Amazon Echo Web-enabled toaster +

IP picture frame
weather forecaster
Internet
refrigerator
Slingbox: remote cars
control cable TV
Security Camera
AR devices
sensorized, scooters
bed
mattress Fitbit

Gaming devices
Others?
Internet phones diapers
Introduction: 1-7
The Internet: a “nuts and bolts”
view
mobile network
4G
 Internet: “network of networks” national or global ISP

• Interconnected ISPs
Streaming
 protocols are everywhere Skype
IP
video
• control sending, receiving of
local or
messages regional ISP
• e.g., HTTP (Web), streaming video,
home network
Skype, TCP, IP, WiFi, 4/5G, Ethernet content
provider
HTTP network
 Internet standards
datacenter
network
Ethernet
• RFC: Request for Comments
• IETF: Internet Engineering Task TCP
enterprise
Force network

WiFi
Introduction: 1-8
The Internet: a “services” view
 Infrastructure that provides mobile network

services to applications: national or global ISP

• Web, streaming video, multimedia

teleconferencing, email, games, e- Streaming
commerce, social media, inter- Skype video
connected appliances, … local or
regional ISP
 provides programming interface
to distributed applications: home network content
provider
• “hooks” allowing sending/receiving HTTP network datacenter
network
apps to “connect” to, use Internet
transport service
• provides service options, analogous enterprise
to postal service network

Introduction: 1-9
What’s a protocol?
Human protocols: Network protocols:
 “what’s the time?”  computers (devices) rather than humans
 “I have a question”  all communication activity in Internet
 introductions governed by protocols

Rules for:
Protocols define the format, order of
… specific messages sent messages sent and received among
… specific actions taken network entities, and actions taken
when message received,
or other events on message transmission, receipt

Introduction: 1-10
What’s a protocol?
A human protocol and a computer network protocol:

Hi TCP connection
request
Hi TCP connection
response
Got the
time? GET http://gaia.cs.umass.edu/kurose_ross
2:00
<file>
time

Q: other human protocols?

Introduction: 1-11
Chapter 1: roadmap
 What is the Internet?
 What is a protocol?
 Network edge: hosts, access
network, physical media
 Network core: packet/circuit
switching, internet structure
 Performance: loss, delay, throughput
 Security
 Protocol layers, service models
 History
Introduction: 1-12
A closer look at Internet structure
mobile network

Network edge: national or global ISP

 hosts: clients and servers

 servers often in data centers
local or
regional ISP

home network content

provider
network datacenter
network

enterprise
network

Introduction: 1-13
A closer look at Internet structure
mobile network

Network edge: national or global ISP

 hosts: clients and servers

 servers often in data centers
local or
Access networks, physical media: regional ISP

 wired, wireless communication links home network content

provider
network datacenter
network

enterprise
network

Introduction: 1-14
A closer look at Internet structure
mobile network

Network edge: national or global ISP

 hosts: clients and servers

 servers often in data centers
local or
Access networks, physical media: regional ISP

 wired, wireless communication links home network content

provider
network datacenter

Network core:
network

 interconnected routers
 network of networks enterprise
network

Introduction: 1-15
Access networks and physical media
Q: How to connect end systems mobile network

to edge router?
national or global ISP

 residential access nets

 institutional access networks (school,
company)
local or
 mobile access networks (WiFi, 4G/5G) regional ISP

home network content

provider
network datacenter
network

enterprise
network

Introduction: 1-16
Access networks: home networks
Wireless and wired
devices

to/from headend or
central office
often combined
in single box

cable or DSL modem

WiFi wireless access router, firewall, NAT

point (54, 450 Mbps)
wired Ethernet (1 Gbps)
Introduction: 1-17
Wireless access networks
Shared wireless access network connects end system to router
 via base station aka “access point”

Wireless local area networks Wide-area cellular access networks

(WLANs)  provided by mobile, cellular network
 typically within or around operator (10’s km)
building (~100 ft)  10’s Mbps
 802.11b/g/n (WiFi): 11, 54, 450  4G/5G cellular networks
Mbps transmission rate

to Internet
to Internet
Introduction: 1-18
Access networks: enterprise networks

Enterprise link to
ISP (Internet)
institutional router
Ethernet institutional mail,
switch web servers

 companies, universities, etc.

 mix of wired, wireless link technologies, connecting a mix of switches
and routers (we’ll cover differences shortly)
 Ethernet: wired access at 100Mbps, 1Gbps, 10Gbps
 WiFi: wireless access points at 11, 54, 450 Mbps
Introduction: 1-19
Host: sends packets of data
host sending function:
 takes application message
 breaks into smaller chunks, known two packets,
as packets, of length L bits L bits each
 transmits packet into access
network at transmission rate R 2 1

• link transmission rate, aka link host

capacity, aka link bandwidth R: link transmission rate

packet time needed to L (bits)

transmission = transmit L-bit =
delay packet into link R (bits/sec)
Introduction: 1-20
Links: physical media
 bit: propagates between Twisted pair (TP)
transmitter/receiver pairs  two insulated copper wires
 physical link: what lies • Category 5: 100 Mbps, 1 Gbps Ethernet
between transmitter & • Category 6: 10Gbps Ethernet
receiver
 guided media:
• signals propagate in solid
media: copper, fiber, coax
 unguided media:
• signals propagate freely,
e.g., radio
Introduction: 1-21
Links: physical media
Coaxial cable: Fiber optic cable:
 two concentric copper conductors  glass fiber carrying light pulses, each
pulse a bit
 bidirectional  high-speed operation:
 broadband: • high-speed point-to-point
• multiple frequency channels on cable transmission (10’s-100’s Gbps)
• 100’s Mbps per channel  low error rate:
• repeaters spaced far apart
• immune to electromagnetic noise

Introduction: 1-22
Links: physical media
Wireless radio Radio link types:
 signal carried in various  Wireless LAN (WiFi)
“bands” in electromagnetic • 10-100’s Mbps; 10’s of meters
spectrum  wide-area (e.g., 4G/5G cellular)
 no physical “wire” • 10’s Mbps (4G) over ~10 Km
 broadcast, “half-duplex” (sender  Bluetooth: cable replacement
to receiver) • short distances, limited rates
 propagation environment  terrestrial microwave
effects: • point-to-point; 45 Mbps channels
• reflection  satellite
• obstruction by objects • up to < 100 Mbps (Starlink) downlink
• Interference/noise • 270 msec end-end delay (geostationary)
Introduction: 1-23
Chapter 1: roadmap
 What is the Internet?
 What is a protocol?
 Network edge: hosts, access
network, physical media
 Network core: packet/circuit
switching, internet structure
 Performance: loss, delay, throughput
 Security
 Protocol layers, service models
 History
Introduction: 1-24
Multiplexing multiple logical flows over a
single physical link

Switching
The network core
 mesh of interconnected routers mobile network
national or global ISP
 packet-switching: hosts break
application-layer messages into packets
• network forwards packets from one
router to the next, across links on local or
path from source to destination regional ISP

home network content

provider
network datacenter
network

enterprise
network

Introduction: 1-26
 Two key network-core functions

routing algorithm Routing:

 global action:
Forwarding: local forwarding table
header value output link determine source-
 aka “switching” 0100
0101
3
2 destination paths
 local action: 0111
1001
2
1 taken by packets
move arriving  routing algorithms
packets from
1
router’s input link
to appropriate 3 2
router output link 011
1

destination address in arriving

packet’s header
Introduction: 1-27
 routing
forwarding

Introduction: 1-28
 Packet-switching: store-and-
forward
L bits
per packet
3 2 1
source destination
R bps R bps

 packet transmission delay: takes L/R seconds to One-hop numerical example:

transmit (push out) L-bit packet into link at R bps  L = 10 Kbits
 store and forward: entire packet must arrive at  R = 100 Mbps
router before it can be transmitted on next link  one-hop transmission delay
= 0.1 msec

Introduction: 1-29
Packet-switching: queueing
R = 100 Mb/s
A C

D
B R = 1.5 Mb/s
E
queue of packets
waiting for transmission
over output link

Queueing occurs when work arrives faster than it can be serviced:

Introduction: 1-30
Packet-switching: queueing
R = 100 Mb/s
A C

D
B R = 1.5 Mb/s
E
queue of packets
waiting for transmission
over output link

Packet queuing and loss: if arrival rate (in bps) to link exceeds
transmission rate (bps) of link for some period of time:
 packets will queue, waiting to be transmitted on output link
 packets can be dropped (lost) if memory (buffer) in router fills up
Introduction: 1-31
Alternative to packet switching: circuit
switching
end-end resources allocated to,
reserved for “call” between source
and destination
 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
 circuit segment idle if not used by call (no
sharing)
 commonly used in traditional telephone networks

* Check out the online interactive exercises for more examples: h ttp://gaia.cs.umass.edu/kurose_ross/interactive
Introduction: 1-32
Circuit switching: FDM and TDM
Frequency Division Multiplexing
(FDM) 4 users

frequency
 optical, electromagnetic frequencies
divided into (narrow) frequency
bands
 each call allocated its own band, can
time
transmit at max rate of that narrow
band
Time Division Multiplexing (TDM)

frequency
 time divided into slots
 each call allocated periodic slot(s),
can transmit at maximum rate of time
(wider) frequency band (only) during
its time slot(s) Introduction: 1-33
Packet switching versus circuit
switching
example:
 1 Gb/s link

…..
N
 each user: users 1 Gbps link
• 100 Mb/s when “active”
• active 10% of time
Q: how many users can use this network under circuit-switching and packet switching?

 circuit-switching: 10 users
 packet switching: with 35 users, Q: how did we get value 0.0004?
probability > 10 active at same time A: HW problem (for those with
is less than .0004 * course in probability only)

* Check out the online interactive exercises for more examples: h ttp://gaia.cs.umass.edu/kurose_ross/interactive
Introduction: 1-34
Packet switching versus circuit
switching
Is packet switching a “slam dunk winner”?
 great for “bursty” data – sometimes has data to send, but at other times not
• resource sharing
• simpler, no call setup
 excessive congestion possible: packet delay and loss due to buffer overflow
• protocols needed for reliable data transfer, congestion control
 Q: How to provide circuit-like behavior with packet-switching?
• “It’s complicated.” We’ll study various techniques that try to make packet
switching as “circuit-like” as possible.

Q: human analogies of reserved resources (circuit switching) versus

on-demand allocation (packet switching)?
Introduction: 1-35
Internet structure: a “network of networks”
mobile network
 hosts connect to Internet via access national or global ISP
Internet Service Providers (ISPs)
 access ISPs in turn must be
interconnected
• so that any two hosts (anywhere!) local or
regional ISP
can send packets to each other
 resulting network of networks is home network content
provider
very complex network datacenter
network

• evolution driven by economics, enterprise

national policies network

Let’s take a stepwise approach to describe current Internet structure

Internet structure: a “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
… access
… access
net
access
net

net
access
access net
net
IXP access
access net
net
ISP A
…

…
Content provider network
access
net
IXP ISP B access
net

access
net
ISP C
access
net

access
net
regional ISP access
… net
access access …
net access net
net

Introduction: 1-37
 Internet structure: a “network of networks”

Tier 1 ISP Tier 1 ISP Google

IXP IXP IXP
Regional ISP Regional ISP

access access access access access access access access

ISP ISP ISP ISP ISP ISP ISP ISP

At “center”: small # of well-connected large networks

 “tier-1” commercial ISPs (e.g., Level 3, Sprint, AT&T, NTT), national & international coverage
 content provider networks (e.g., Google, Facebook): private network that connects its
data centers to Internet, often bypassing tier-1, regional ISPs
Introduction: 1-38
Chapter 1: roadmap
 What is the Internet?
 What is a protocol?
 Network edge: hosts, access
network, physical media
 Network core: packet/circuit
switching, internet structure
 Performance: loss, delay, throughput
 Security
 Protocol layers, service models
 History
Introduction: 1-39
How do packet delay and loss occur?
 packets queue in router buffers, waiting for turn for transmission
 queue length grows when arrival rate to link (temporarily) exceeds output link
capacity
 packet loss occurs when memory to hold queued packets fills up
packet being transmitted (transmission delay)

B
packets in buffers (queueing delay)
free (available) buffers: arriving packets
dropped (loss) if no free buffers
Introduction: 1-40
Packet delay: four sources
transmission
A propagation

B
nodal
processing queueing

dnodal = dproc + dqueue + dtrans + dprop

dproc: nodal processing dqueue: queueing delay

 check bit errors  time waiting at output link for
 determine output link transmission
 typically < microsecs  depends on congestion level of
router
Introduction: 1-41
Packet delay: four sources
transmission
A propagation

B
nodal
processing queueing

dnodal = dproc + dqueue + dtrans + dprop

dtrans: transmission delay: dprop: propagation delay:
 L: packet length (bits)  d: length of physical link
 R: link transmission rate (bps)  s: propagation speed (~2x108 m/sec)
 dtrans = L/R  dprop = d/s
dtrans and dprop
very different Introduction: 1-42
Caravan analogy
100 km 100 km

ten-car caravan toll booth toll booth toll booth

(aka 10-bit packet) (aka link)

 car ~ bit; caravan ~ packet; toll  time to “push” entire caravan

service ~ link transmission through toll booth onto
 toll booth takes 12 sec to service highway = 12*10 = 120 sec
car (bit transmission time)  time for last car to propagate
 “propagate” at 100 km/hr from 1st to 2nd toll both:
100km/(100km/hr) = 1 hr
 Q: How long until caravan is lined
up before 2nd toll booth?  A: 62 minutes

Introduction: 1-43
Caravan analogy
100 km 100 km

ten-car caravan toll booth toll booth

(aka 10-bit packet) (aka router)

 suppose cars now “propagate” at 1000 km/hr

 and suppose toll booth now takes one min to service a car
 Q: Will cars arrive to 2nd booth before all cars serviced at first booth?
A: Yes! after 7 min, first car arrives at second booth; three cars still at
first booth

Introduction: 1-44
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

* Check out the Java applet for an interactive animation (on publisher’s website) of queuing and loss
Introduction: 1-45
 Throughput
 throughput: rate (bits/time unit) at which bits are being sent from
sender to receiver
• instantaneous: rate at given point in time
• average: rate over longer period of time

link
pipecapacity
that can carry linkthat
pipe capacity
can carry
serverserver,
sends with
bits Rsfluid at rate
bits/sec Rfluid
c
at rate
bits/sec
(fluid)
fileinto
of Fpipe
bits (Rs bits/sec) (Rc bits/sec)
to send to client
Introduction: 1-46
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
Introduction: 1-47
Throughput: network scenario
 per-connection end-end
Rs throughput:
Rs Rs min(Rc,Rs,R/10)
 in practice: Rc or Rs is
R
often bottleneck
Rc Rc
Rc
* Check out the online interactive exercises for more
examples: http://gaia.cs.umass.edu/kurose_ross/

10 connections (fairly) share

backbone bottleneck link R bits/sec
Introduction: 1-48
Chapter 1: roadmap
 What is the Internet?
 What is a protocol?
 Network edge: hosts, access
network, physical media
 Network core: packet/circuit
switching, internet structure
 Performance: loss, delay, throughput
 Security
 Protocol layers, service models
 History
Introduction: 1-49
Network security
 Internet not originally designed with (much) security in
mind
• original vision: “a group of mutually trusting users attached to a
transparent network” 
• Internet protocol designers playing “catch-up”
• security considerations in all layers!
 We now need to think about:
• how bad guys can attack computer networks
• how we can defend networks against attacks
• how to design architectures that are immune to attacks
Introduction: 1-50
Network security
 Internet not originally designed with (much) security in
mind
• original vision: “a group of mutually trusting users attached to a
transparent network” 
• Internet protocol designers playing “catch-up”
• security considerations in all layers!
 We now need to think about:
• how bad guys can attack computer networks
• how we can defend networks against attacks
• how to design architectures that are immune to attacks
Introduction: 1-51
Bad guys: packet interception
packet “sniffing”:
 broadcast media (shared Ethernet, wireless)
 promiscuous network interface reads/records all packets (e.g.,
including passwords!) passing by

A C

src:B dest:A payload

B

Wireshark software used for our end-of-chapter labs is a (free) packet-sniffer

Introduction: 1-52
Bad guys: fake identity
IP spoofing: injection of packet with false source address

A C

src:B dest:A payload

Introduction: 1-53
Bad guys: denial of service
Denial of Service (DoS): attackers make resources (server,
bandwidth) unavailable to legitimate traffic by
overwhelming resource with bogus traffic

1. select target
2. break into hosts
around the network
(see botnet)
target
3. send packets to target
from compromised
hosts
Introduction: 1-54
Lines of defense:
 authentication: proving you are who you say you are
• cellular networks provides hardware identity via SIM card; no such
hardware assist in traditional Internet
 confidentiality: via encryption
 integrity checks: digital signatures prevent/detect tampering
 access restrictions: password-protected VPNs
 firewalls: specialized “middleboxes” in access and core
networks:
 off-by-default: filter incoming packets to restrict senders, receivers,
applications
 detecting/reacting to DOS attacks
… lots more on security (throughout, Chapter 8) Introduction: 1-55
Chapter 1: roadmap
 What is the Internet?
 What is a protocol?
 Network edge: hosts, access
network, physical media
 Network core: packet/circuit
switching, internet structure
 Performance: loss, delay, throughput
 Security
 Protocol layers, service models
 History
Introduction: 1-56
Protocol “layers” and reference models

Networks are complex, Question: is there any

with many “pieces”: hope of organizing
 hosts structure of network?
 routers  and/or our discussion
 links of various media of networks?
 applications
 protocols
 hardware, software

Introduction: 1-57
Example: organization of air travel

end-to-end transfer of person plus baggage

ticket (purchase) ticket (complain)
baggage (check) baggage (claim)
gates (load) gates (unload)
runway takeoff runway landing
airplane routing airplane routing
airplane routing

How would you define/discuss the system of airline travel?

 a series of steps, involving many services
Introduction: 1-58
Example: organization of air travel

ticket (purchase) ticketing service ticket (complain)

baggage (check) baggage service baggage (claim)
gates (load) gate service gates (unload)
runway takeoff runway service runway landing
airplane routing routing service
airplane routing airplane routing

layers: each layer implements a service

 via its own internal-layer actions
 relying on services provided by layer below
Introduction: 1-59
Why layering?
Approach to designing/discussing complex systems:
 explicit structure allows identification,
relationship of system’s pieces
• layered reference model for discussion
 modularization eases maintenance,
updating of system
• change in layer's service implementation:
transparent to rest of system
• e.g., change in gate procedure doesn’t
affect rest of system

Introduction: 1-60
Layered Internet protocol stack
 application: supporting network applications
• HTTP, IMAP, SMTP, DNS
application
application
 transport: process-process data transfer
• TCP, UDP transport
transport
 network: routing of datagrams from source to
destination network
• IP, routing protocols
link
 link: data transfer between neighboring
network elements physical
• Ethernet, 802.11 (WiFi), PPP
 physical: bits “on the wire”
Introduction: 1-61
 Services, Layering and Encapsulation
M
Application exchanges messages to implement some
application application service using services of transport layer application
Ht M
transport Transport-layer protocol transfers M (e.g., reliably) from transport
one process to another, using services of network layer

network  transport-layer protocol encapsulates network

application-layer message, M, with
transport layer-layer header Ht to create a link
link
transport-layer segment
• Ht used by transport layer protocol to
physical implement its service physical

source destination

Introduction: 1-62
 Services, Layering and Encapsulation
M

application application
Ht M
transport Transport-layer protocol transfers M (e.g., reliably) from transport
one process to another, using services of network layer
Hn Ht M
network Network-layer protocol transfers transport-layer segment
network
[Ht | M] from one host to another, using link layer services
link  network-layer protocol encapsulates link
transport-layer segment [Ht | M] with
physical network layer-layer header Hn to create a physical
network-layer datagram
source • Hn used by network layer protocol to destination
implement its service
Introduction: 1-63
 Services, Layering and Encapsulation
M

application application
Ht M
transport transport
Hn Ht M
network Network-layer protocol transfers transport-layer segment
network
[Ht | M] from one host to another, using link layer services
Hl Hn Ht
link M
link
Link-layer protocol transfers datagram [Hn| [Ht |M] from
host to neighboring host, using network-layer services
physical  link-layer protocol encapsulates network physical
datagram [Hn| [Ht |M], with link-layer header
source Hl to create a link-layer frame destination

Introduction: 1-64
 Encapsulation
Matryoshka dolls (stacking dolls)

message segment datagram frame

Credit: https://dribbble.com/shots/7182188-Babushka-Boi Introduction: 1-65

Encapsulation (contd.)
 Services, Layering and Encapsulation

message M
application M application

segment Ht M
transport Ht M
transport
datagram Hn Ht M Hn Ht M
network network

frame Hl Hn Ht M Hl Hn Ht M
link link

physical physical

source destination

Introduction: 1-67
 source Encapsulation:
message
segment Htt
M
M
application
transport
an end-end
datagram Hn Ht M network view
frame Hl Hn Ht M link
physical
link
physical

switch

destination Hn Ht M network
M application Hl Hn Ht M link Hn Ht M
Ht M transport physical
Hn Ht M network
Hl Hn Ht M link router
physical
Introduction: 1-68
 The OSI Reference Model (contd.)
7 application network services (email, file transfer)

6 presentation formatting, encryption, and compression

5 session setup and management of end-to-end conversation

4 transport end-to-end delivery of messages

3 network end-to-end transmission of packets

2 data link transmission of packets on one given link

1 physical transmission of bits

Introduction 69
 The OSI Reference Model (contd.)
Encapsulation
data

7 application H: header AH data

T: trail
6 presentation Each may be empty. PH AH data

5 session SH PH AH data

4 transport TH SH PH AH data

3 network NH TH SH PH AH data

2 data link DH NH TH SH PH AH data DT

1 physical bit streams

Introduction 70
The TCP/IP Reference Model
The TCP/IP Reference Model (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet
Protocol)

Introduction 71
The TCP/IP Reference Model (contd.)

Introduction 72
Application Layer

Introduction 73
Transport Layer
 Five basic services
 Segmenting upper-layer application data
 Establishing end-to-end operations
 Sending segments from one end host to another end host
 Ensuring data reliability
 Providing flow control
Process A

Process B

Introduction 74
Internet Layer
 The purpose of the Internet layer is to select the best path through the network for packets to travel.
 IP performs the following operations:
• Defines a packet and an addressing scheme
• Transfers data between the Internet layer and network access layers
• Routes packets to remote hosts

Introduction 75
Network Access
 The network access layer is also called the host-to-network layer.
 Concerned with all of the issues that an IP packet requires to actually make a physical link to the network
media.
 Network access layer functions include mapping IP addresses to physical hardware addresses and
encapsulation of IP packets into frames.

Introduction 76
 Comparison: OSI and TCP/IP Model
 Similarities of the OSI and TCP/IP models:
• Both have layers
• Both have application layers, though they include different services
• Both have comparable transport and network layers
• Packet-switched, not circuit-switched, technology is assumed
• Networking professionals need to know both models
 Differences of the OSI and TCP/IP models:
• TCP/IP combines the presentation and session layer into its application layer
• TCP/IP combines the OSI data link and physical layers into 1 layer
• TCP/IP appears simpler because it has fewer layers
• TCP/IP transport layer using UDP does not always guarantee reliable delivery of packets as
transport layer in the OSI model does

Introduction 77
Comparison: OSI and TCP/IP Model (contd.)

Introduction 78
 ISO/OSI reference model
Two layers not found in Internet
application
protocol stack!
presentation
 presentation: allow applications to
interpret meaning of data, e.g., encryption, session
compression, machine-specific conventions transport
 session: synchronization, checkpointing, network
recovery of data exchange link
 Internet stack “missing” these layers!
physical
• these services, if needed, must be
implemented in application The seven layer OSI/ISO
reference model
• needed?
Introduction: 1-79