Department of Computer Science

COMSATS University, Islamabad, Abbottabad Campus

Computer Networks

Adapted From:
Computer Networking: A Top-Down Approach
8th edition: Jim Kurose, Keith Ross Pearson, 2022
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
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: 1-3
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: 1-4
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: 1-5
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: 1-6
Access networks: cable-based access
cable headend

cable splitter cable modem

modem CMTS termination system
data, TV transmitted at different
frequencies over shared cable ISP
distribution network

 HFC: hybrid fiber coax

• asymmetric: up to 40 Mbps – 1.2 Gbps downstream transmission rate, 30-100 Mbps
upstream transmission rate
 network of cable, fiber attaches homes to ISP router
• homes share access network to cable headend
Access networks: digital subscriber line (DSL)
central office telephone
network

DSL splitter
modem DSLAM

voice, data transmitted ISP

at different frequencies over DSL access
dedicated line to central office multiplexer

 use existing telephone line to central office DSLAM

• data over DSL phone line goes to Internet
• voice over DSL phone line goes to telephone net
 24-52 Mbps dedicated downstream transmission rate
 3.5-16 Mbps dedicated upstream transmission rate
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)
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 cellular networks (5G coming)
Mbps transmission rate

to Internet
to Internet
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
 Access networks: data center networks
mobile network
 high-bandwidth links (10s to 100s Gbps) national or global ISP
connect hundreds to thousands of
servers together, and to Internet

local or
regional ISP

home network content

provider
network datacenter
network

Courtesy: Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing enterprise

Center (mghpcc.org) network
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)
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
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
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 cellular)
 no physical “wire” • 10’s Mbps 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 45 Mbps per channel
• Interference/noise • 270 msec end-end delay
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
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
 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
routing
 forwarding
forwarding
 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
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:

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
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
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)
Packet switching versus circuit
switching
 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
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”
Question: given millions of access ISPs, how to connect them together?

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

…
access access
net net

access
net
access
net

access
net
access
… net
access access …
net access net
net
Internet structure: a “network of networks”
Question: given millions of access ISPs, how to connect them together?

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

access
access net
net

connecting each access ISP to

…

…
each other directly doesn’t scale:

…
O(N2) connections.
access access
…

net net

access
net
access
net

access
net
access
… access
… … net
access
net access net
net
Internet structure: a “network of networks”
Option: connect each access ISP to one global transit ISP?
Customer and provider ISPs have economic agreement.

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

…
global
access
net
ISP access
net

access
net
access
net

access
net
access
… net
access access …
net access net
net
Internet structure: a “network of networks”
But if one global ISP is viable business, there will be competitors ….

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

…
access
net ISP B access
net

access
net
ISP C
access
net

access
net
access
… net
access access …
net access net
net
Internet structure: a “network of networks”
But if one global ISP is viable business, there will be competitors …. who will
want to be connected
Internet exchange point
access
… access
net
access
net …
net
access
access net
net
IXP access
access net
net
ISP A
…

…
access
net
IXP ISP B access
net

access
net
ISP C
access
net

access
net
peering link
access
… net
access access …
net access net
net
Internet structure: a “network of networks”
… and regional networks may arise to connect access nets to ISPs

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

…
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
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
 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