TSN 2201 Computer Networks

 LECTURE 01-INTRODUCTION

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Textbook
B.A.Forouzan, “Data Communications and Networking” Fifth
Edition, McGraw-Hill, 2013

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REFERENCE BOOKS
 William Stallings, “Data and Computer
Communications”, 10th edition, Prentice Hall.
2014
 Kevin R. Fall, and W. Richard Stevens, “TCP/IP
Illustrated, Volume 1: The Protocol”, 2nd Edition,
Addison-Wesley, 2012

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 1.1 DATA COMMUNICATIONS
• When we communicate, we are sharing information. The
sharing can be local or remote.
• The term telecommunication, which includes telephony,
telegraphy and television means communication at a
distance (tele is Greek for far).
• Data: Information presented in whatever form agreed
upon by the parties creating and using the data.
• Data communications: Exchange of data between two
devices via some form of transmission medium (such as a
wire cable).
• For the data transmission to occur, the communicating
devices must be part of a communication system made up
of a combination of hardware and software.
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• The effectiveness of a data communications system
depends on three fundamental characteristics:

• Delivery: The system must deliver data to the correct

destination
• Accuracy: The system must deliver the data
accurately
• Timeliness: The system must deliver the data in a
timely manner. In the case of video and audio timely
delivery means real-time transmission.

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Components
• A data communications system has 5 components.
• Message: Information (data) to be communicated such as text,
numbers, pictures, sound, video or any combination thereof.
• Sender: device that sends the message. It can be a computer,
telephone handset, video camera, etc.
• Receiver: device that receives the message.
• Transmission Medium: The physical path by which a message
travels from sender to receiver. It could be a cable (twisted pair,
coaxial or fiber-optic) or radio waves (terrestrial or satellite
microwave).
• Protocol: Set of rules that govern data communications. It
represents an agreement between the communicating devices.

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Figure 1.1 Five components of data communication

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Data Flow Types

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• Direction of Data Flow
• Simplex: Only one of the two devices on a link can transmit, the
other can only receive (Fig. 1.2). The entire capacity of a
channel is taken over by the transmitting device. Examples:
keyboard and traditional monitors.

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 Half-Duplex: Each device can both transmit and
receive, but not at the same time. When one device
is sending, the other can only receive, and vice
versa (see Fig. 1.3). The entire capacity of the
channel is taken over by one of two devices that is
transmitting at that time. Example Walkie-talkies

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 Full-Duplex (Duplex): Both devices can transmit
and receive simultaneously . Signals going in
either direction share the capacity of the link.
Either the link must contain two physically
separate transmission paths, one for sending and
the other for receiving; or the capacity of the
channel is divided between signals traveling in
both directions. Example: Telephone network

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 1.2 NETWORKS
• A network is a set of devices (nodes) connected by communication
links. A node can be a computer, printer or any other device
capable of sending and/or receiving data generated from any other
node in the network.
• Distributed processing: A task is divided among multiple
computers.
• Network criteria:
A network must be able to meet certain number of criteria. The
most important are Performance, Reliability and Security

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 Network Criteria
 Performance: can be measured by transit time and
response time. Transit time is the amount of time
required for a message to travel from one device to
another. Response time is the elapsed time between
an inquiry and a response. The performance of a
network depends on the number of users, the type of
transmission medium, the capacities of the connected
hardware and the efficiency of the software.
 Reliability: is measured by the frequency of failures,
the time it takes a link to recover from failure and the
network robustness in a catastrophe.
 Security: Protecting data from unauthorized access.

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Physical structures of Networks:

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• There are two possible types of connections: point-
to-point and multipoint.
• Point-to-Point: Provides a dedicated link between
two devices. The entire capacity of the link is
reserved for transmission between these two
devices. The link could be a wire (cable), microwave
or satellite. See Fig.1.5

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Multipoint connection
 Multipoint (Multidrop): More than two specific
devices share a single link. The capacity of the
channel is shared, either spatially (devices can use
the link simultaneously) or temporally (devices
must take turn). See Fig.1.6.

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Physical Topology: 4 basic topologies possible: mesh, star, bus
and ring

• Mesh Topology: Every device has a dedicated point-to-point

link to every other device resulting in n(n-1)/2 links for n
devices and each device having (n-1) input/output (I/O) ports
(see Fig. 1.8).
Advantages:
• Use of dedicated links eliminates traffic problems.
• Privacy and security. Easy fault identification and fault
isolation.
• Robustness. If one link becomes unusable, it does not
incapacitate the entire topology.
Disadvantages:
• Big amount of cabling makes installation and reconnection
difficult.
• Wiring can be greater than available space (walls, ceiling,
floors).
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Mesh topology (for five devices)

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• Star Topology: Each device has a dedicated point-to-point
link only to a central controller (hub). The hub acts as an
exchange between nodes.
• Advantages:
• Less expensive than mesh topology. Each device needs only
one link and one I/O.
• Easy to install and reconfigure.
• Far less cabling needs to be housed compared with mesh
topology and additions, moves and deletions involve only
the connection between a node and the hub.
• Robustness.
• Easy fault identification and fault isolation.

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Star topology

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• Bus topology : Is a multipoint connection. One long cable acts as
a backbone to link all devices in a network. Nodes are connected
to the cable by drop lines and taps. As the signal travels along the
backbone, some of its energy is transformed to heat and thus is
weakened. As such there is a limit on the number of taps a bus
topology can support and on the distance between those taps.
• Advantages:
• Ease of installation
• Less cabling than mesh or star topology
• Disadvantages:
• Difficult to add devices
• Signal reflection in taps can cause degradation in quality
• A fault or break in the bus cable stops all transmission

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Bus topology

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• Ring: Each device has a dedicated point-to-point connection
only with the two devices on either side of it. A signal is
passed along the ring in one direction, from device to device,
until it reaches its destination. Each device in the ring
incorporates a repeater. When a device receives a signal
intended for another device, its repeater regenerates the bits
and passes them along.
• Advantages:
• Easy to install and reconfigure. The only constraints are
media and traffic consideration (maximum ring length and
number of devices).
• Fault isolation is simplified.
• Disadvantages : In a simple ring (unidirectional), a disabled
station can disable an entire network. This can be solved by
using a dual ring or a switch capable of closing off the break.
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Ring topology

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Hybrid: Star of busses

Pros: Better domain separation management, one hop delay.

Cons: better robustness than the “star”, but still vulnerable to
Hub failure!

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• Categories of Networks
• A category of a network is determined by its size, its
ownership, the distance it covers, and its physical
architecture .There are three categories of Networks: Local
Area Network (LAN), Metropolitan-Area Network
(MAN), Wide Area Network (WAN)
• Local Area Network (LAN): Usually privately owned and
links the devices in a single office, building or campus. In
General LANs use only one type of transmission medium.
The most common LAN topologies are bus, ring and star.
• Metropolitan-Area Network (MAN): Designed to extend
over an entire city. It may be a single network or it may be a
means of connecting a number of LANs into a larger
network.

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• Wide Area Network (WAN): Provides long-distance
transmission of data, voice, image and video information over
large geographic areas that may comprise a country, a continent
or even the whole world. A WAN that is wholly owned and used
by a single company is often referred to as an enterprise
network.
• When two or more networks are connected they become an
internetwork or Internet.
• Internet (note: Capital ‘I’): refers to a global internet (world
wide web) that uses the TCP/IP protocol suite

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LAN

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LAN (Continued)

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MAN

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WAN

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The Internet:
Huge number of interconnected Networks
(>100000‟s) private
organized, e.g.‟ government, schools, research
facilities, in many countries
Collection of LAN‟S, MAN‟S and WAN‟s.
•The internet protocol stack is the TCP/IP
•End users use the internet via Internet Service
providers (ISPs) which are of the following
hierarchies:

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PROTOCOLS AND STANDARDS
• A protocol is a set of rules that govern data
communication. It defines what, how and when
something is communicated. The key elements of a
protocol are as follows:
• Syntax: structure or format of the data (order in
which they are presented)
• Semantics: Meaning of each portion of bits
• Timing: When and how fast data should be sent.

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Standards provide guidelines to manufacturers,
vendors, government agencies and other providers
to ensure the kind of interconnectivity necessary
in today’s market place and in international
communication. There are two types of standards:
 De facto: Standards that have not been approved

by an organized body but have been adopted as

standards through widespread use.
 De Jure: Standards that have been legislated by an

officially recognized body.

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• Standards are developed through the cooperation of
standards creation committees, forums, and government
regulatory agencies called
“Standards Creation Committees”
Examples:
• International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
• American National Standards Institute (ANSI)
• Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)

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Network Models
PROTOCOL LAYERING

• A protocol defines the rules that both the sender

and receiver and all intermediate devices need to
follow to be able to communicate effectively.
• When communication is simple, we may need
only one simple protocol;
• When the communication is complex, we need a
protocol at each layer, or protocol layering.
Concept of Protocol Layering - Scenarios

Let us develop two simple to

scenarios understand the need for better
protocol layering.
In the first scenario, communication is so simple that
it can occur in only one layer.

In the second, the communication between Maria and

Ann takes place in three layers.
A single-layer protocol
A three-layer protocol

Postal carrier facility

Principles of Protocol Layering
• The principle dictates that if want
bidirectional
first communication, we we
each layer so that it is able to perform two opposite
need make
tasks, one in each direction. to

• The second principle that we need to follow in

protocol layering is that the two objects under each
layer at both sites should be identical.
Logical Connections
Maria and Ann can think that there is a logical
(imaginary) connection at each layer through which
they can send the object created from that layer.

Concept of logical connection will help us better

understand the task of layering we encounter in data
communication and networking.
Logical connection between peer
layers
TCP/IP PROTOCOL SUITE
• TCP/IP – Expansion is Transmission Control
Protocol/Internet Protocol
• It is a protocol suite which is used in the Internet today.
• Hierarchical protocol made up of interactive modules, each of
which provides a specific functionality.
• Each upper level protocol is supported by the services provided
by one or more lower level protocols.
• Original TCP/IP protocol suite was defined as four software layers
built upon the hardware
• Today, TCP/IP is thought of as a five-layer model.
Layers in the TCP/IP protocol suite

Original Layers Layers in Current Practice

Layered Architecture
To show how the layers in the TCP/IP protocol suite
are involved in communication between two hosts, we
assume that we want to use the suite in a small internet
made up of three LANs (links), each with a link-layer
switch.

We also assume that the links are connected by one

router, as shown in Figure.
Communication through an internet
 Logical connections between layers in TCP/IP

Logical
connections

McGraw-Hill © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2000

Identical objects in the TCP/IP
protocol suite
Identical objects (messages)

Identical objects (segment or user datagram)

Identical objects (datagram) Identical objects (datagram)

Identical objects (frame) Identical objects (frame)

Identical objects (bits) Identical objects (bits)

Encapsulation / Decapsulation
One of the important concepts in protocol layering in
the Internet is encapsulation/ decapsulation.
Encapsulation at the Source Host
• At the application layer, the data to be exchanged is called as message. A
message normally does not contain any header or trailer. The message is passed
to the transport layer
• The transport layer takes the message as the payload. It adds the transport layer
header to the payload. Header contains the identifiers of source and destination
application programs that want to communicate and additional information
that is needed for the end-to-end delivery of the message (information needed
for flow, error control or congestion control). Resulting transport layer packet
is called segment (TCP) or user datagram (UDP). Transport layer passes the
packet to the network layer.
• Network layers takes the transport layer packet as payload and add its own
header. Header contains addresses of source and destination hosts and
additional information needed for error checking of the header, fragmentation
information etc. Resulting network layer packet is called as datagram. Network
layer then passes the packet to the data link layer.
• Data link layer takes the network layer packet as payload and add its own
header. Header contains link-layer addresses of the host or next hop. Result is
the link-layer packet is called as a frame. Frame is passed to the physical layer
for transmission.
Decapsulation and Encapsulation at the Router
• After the set of bits are delivered to the data-link layer, this
layer decapsulates the datagram from the frame and passes
it to the network layer.

• The network layer inspects the source and destination

addresses in the datagram header and consults the
forwarding table to find the next hop to which the datagram
is to be delivered. The datagram is then passed to the data-
link layer of the next link

• Data-link layer of the next link encapsulates the datagram

in a frame and passes it to the physical layer for
transmission
Decapsulation at the Destination Host

• At the destination host, each layer decapsulates the packet

received, removes the payload and delivers the payload to
the next-higher layer protocol until the message reaches the
application layer

• Decapsulation in the host involves error checking.

Addressing

• Another concept related to protocol layering in the Internet,

addressing.
• As discussed before, we have logical communication
between pairs of layers in this model.
• Any communication that involves two parties needs two
addresses: source address and destination address.
• Although it looks as if we need five pairs of addresses, one
pair per layer, in fact only four because the physical layer
does not need addresses.
• The unit of data exchange at the physical layer is a bit,
which definitely cannot have an address.
Addressing in the TCP/IP protocol suite
Link-layer Address (Data-link Layer)
• Also known as Physical address, or MAC address.
• The address is used for the communication between hosts in a
local-area network.
• It is a 48-bit address written as 12 hexadecimal digits; every
byte (2 hex. Digits) is separated by a colon, as show below:

07:01:02:01:2C:4B

A 6-byte (12 hexadecimal digits) physical address.

Logical Address (Network Layer)
• Also known as IP address.
• The IPv4 address is 32 bits long and is expressed in
binary notation or dotted-decimal notation.
E.g. 01110101 10010101 00011101 00000010
117. 149. 29. 2
• The Link-layer address will change from hop to hop,
but the logical address will remain the same from
source to destination.
Port Number (Transport Layer)
• Port address is a 16-bit address represented by one decimal
number as shown.

443

A 16-bit port address represented

as one single number.
The OSI Model
Established in 1947, the International Standards
Organization (ISO) is a multinational body dedicated to
worldwide agreement on international standards. An ISO
standard that covers all aspects of network
communications is the Open Systems Interconnection
(OSI) model. It was first introduced in the late 1970s.

ISO is the organization.

OSI is the model.
7 LAYERS IN OSI Model
OSI vs TCP/IP
When we compare the two models, we find that two
layers, session and presentation, are missing from the
TCP/IP protocol suite.

These two layers were not added to the TCP/IP

protocol suite after the publication of the OSI model.

The application layer in the suite is usually considered

to be the combination of three layers in the OSI
model, as shown in Figure.
LACK OF OSI MODEL’S SUCCESS
The OSI model appeared after the TCP/IP protocol suite.
Following are some of the reasons for the lack of OSI Model’s
success.
•OSI was completed when TCP/IP was fully in place and a lot of
time and money had been spent on the suite
• Changing it would cost a lot
•Some layers in the OSI model were never fully defined.
• Although services provided by the presentation and
session layers were listed in the document, actual
protocols for these two layers were not fully defined nor
they were fully described and the corresponding software
was not fully developed.
•When OSI was implemented by an organization in a different
application, it did not show a high level of performance.