21CS501 Unit 1

Introduction to Physical Layer

Network Performance
Switching
Transmission Media
 AGENDA

Physical Layer Performance SWITCHING TRANSMISSION MEDIA

• Bandwidth • Switching and TCP/IP
• Bandwidth in Hertz Layers
• Bandwidth in Bits per Seconds • Three Methods of Switching
• Throughput • Circuit Switching
• Latency (Delay) • Packet Switching
• Propagation Time
• Two Types
• Transmission Time
• Datagram
• Queuing Time Networks
• Processing Delay • Virtual Circuit
• Bandwidth-Delay Product
• Message Switching.
• Jitter
 PHYSICAL LAYER: PERFORMANCE

1. Bandwidth Example:
 The amount of data that can be sent from one point A network with bandwidth of 10 Mbps can pass only an
to another in a certain period of time is called average of 12,000 frames per minute with each frame
bandwidth. carrying an average of 10,000 bits. What is the
 It is measured as a bit rate expressed in bits per throughput of this network?
second (bits/s) or bandwidth in hertz. Solution
2. Throughput We can calculate the throughput as
 Throughput is a measure of how many units of
information a system can process in a given amount
of time.
 The throughput is a measure of how fast we can
actually send data through a network. The throughput is almost one-fifth of the bandwidth in
this case.
 PHYSICAL LAYER: PERFORMANCE

3. Latency (Delay)
Propagation time =Distance / (Propagation Speed)
 The latency or delay defines how long it takes for an entire 
The propagation speed of electromagnetic signals
message to completely arrive at the destination from the
depends on the medium and on the frequency of the
time the first bit is sent out from the source.
signal. 3 × 108 m/s.
 Latency is made of four components: propagation time,
Example: 2
transmission time, queuing time and processing delay.
What is the propagation time if the distance between the two
Latency =propagation time + transmission time + queuing
points is 12,000 km? Assume the propagation speed to be
time + processing delay
2.4 × 108 m/s in cable.
3.1 Propagationn Time
Solution
 Propagation time measures the time required for a bit to
We can calculate the propagation time as
travel from the source to the destination.
 The propagation time is calculated by dividing the distance
by the propagation speed.
 PHYSICAL LAYER: PERFORMANCE

3.2 Transmission Time

Solution
 The speed at which all the bits in a message arrive at We can calculate the propagation and transmission
the destination. (Difference in arrival time of first time as shown on the next slide:
and last bit).
 The transmission time of a message depends on the
size of the message and the bandwidth of the
channel.
Transmission time = (Message size) / Bandwidth
Note that in this case, because the message is short
Example: 3 What are the propagation time and the
and the bandwidth is high, the dominant factor is the
transmission time for a 2.5-kbyte message (an e-mail) if
propagation time, not the transmission time. The
the bandwidth of the network is 1 Gbps? Assume that the
transmission time can be ignored
distance between the sender and the receiver is 12,000
km and that light travels at 2.4 × 108 m/s.
 PHYSICAL LAYER: PERFORMANCE
Example: 4 3.3 Queuing Time
What are the propagation time and the transmission time for a  The third component in latency is the queuing time, the
5-Mbyte message (an image) if the bandwidth of the network is time needed for each intermediate or end device to hold
1 Mbps? Assume that the distance between the sender and the the message before it can be processed.
receiver is 12,000 km and that light travels at 2.4 × 10 8 m/s.
 The queuing time is not a fixed factor; it changes with
Solution the load imposed on the network. When there is heavy
traffic on the network, the queuing time increases.
3.4 Processing Delay
 Processing delay is the time it takes routers
to process the packet header.
 During processing of a packet, routers may check for
bit-level errors in the packet that occurred during
transmission as well as determining where the packet's
next destination.
 PHYSICAL LAYER: PERFORMANCE

4.Bandwidth-Delay Product 5.Jitter

 Bandwidth and delay are two performance metrics of a link.  Another performance issue that is related to delay is
 The bandwidth-delay product defines the number of bits that jitter.
can fill the link.  Jitter is a problem if different packets of data
encounter different delays and the application using
the data at the receiver site is time-sensitive (audio
and video data, for example).
 If the delay for the first packet is 20 ms, for the
second is 45 ms, and for the third is 40 ms, then the
real-time application that uses the packets endures
jitter.
 SWITCHING CONCEPTS
 A network switch also called switching hub, bridging hub,
Switching at Network Layer
officially MAC Bridge.
 At the network layer, we can have packet switching.
 It connects devices on a computer network by using
packet switching to receive, process, and forward data to the  In this case, either a virtual-circuit approach or a
destination device. datagram approach can be used.
Switching at Physical Layer  Currently the Internet uses a datagram approach, but
 At the physical layer, we can have only circuit switching. the tendency is to move to a virtual-circuit approach.
 There are no packets exchanged at the physical layer. Switching at Application Layer
 The switches allow signals to travel in one path or another.  At the application layer, we can have only message
Switching at Data-Link Layer switching.
  The communication at the application layer occurs
At the data-link layer, we can have packet switching.
by exchanging messages.
 However, the term packet in this case means frames or cells.
Packet switching at the data-link layer is normally done
Three Methods of Switching
CIRCUIT SWITCHING
 A circuit-switched network consists of a set of switches
connected by physical links.
 Circuit switching takes place at the physical layer.
 Data transferred between the two stations are not
packetized.
 The data are a continuous flow sent by the source station
and received by the destination station,
 There is no addressing involved during data transfer.
 A connection between two stations is a dedicated path
made of one or more links.
 Each connection uses only one dedicated channel on each
link
 Each link is normally divided into n channels by using
FDM or TDM.
CIRCUIT SWITCHING
Three Phases
Setup Phase
 A circuit (channel) is reserved on each link,
 The combination of circuits or channels defines the
dedicated path.
 Before the two hosts can communicate, a dedicated circuit
(combination of channels in links) needs to be established.
Data Transfer Phase
 After the dedicated path made of connected circuits
(channels) is established, the data-transfer phase can take
place.
 CIRCUIT SWITCHING
Teardown phase
 After all data have been transferred, the circuits are Teardown.
 Before starting communication, the stations must make a reservation for the resources to be used during the
communication.
 These resources, such as channels, switch buffers, switch processing time, and switch input/output ports, must
remain dedicated during the entire duration of data transfer until the teardown phase.
Efficiency
 The circuit-switched networks are not as efficient because resources are allocated during the entire duration of
the connection. These resources are unavailable to other connections.
Delay
 Delay between data units in circuit switching is uniform.
 PACKET SWITCHING
 Packet switching is a method of transferring the data to a network in form of packets.
 Each packet contains Source and destination address using which they independently travel through
the network.
 If the message is going to pass through a packet-switched network, it needs to be divided into packets of
fixed or variable size.
 The size of the packet is determined by the network and the governing protocol.
 In packet switching, there is no resource allocation for a packet. This means that there is no reserved
bandwidth on the links, and there is no scheduled processing time for each packet.
 Resources are allocated on demand. The allocation is done on a first come, first-served basis.
 When a switch receives a packet, no matter what the source or destination is, the packet must wait if there are
other packets being processed.
 PACKET SWITCHING
Store and Forward technique
 Packet Switching uses Store and Forward technique Disadvantage of Packet Switching over Circuit Switching:
while switching the packets; while forwarding the packet  Packet Switching don’t give packets in order, whereas
each hop first store that packet then forward. Circuit Switching provides ordered delivery of packets
Advantage of Packet Switching over Circuit Switching because all the packets follow the same path.
 Since the packets are unordered, we need to provide
 More efficient in terms of bandwidth, since the concept
of reserving circuit is not there. sequence numbers to each packet.
 Complexity is more at each node because of the facility
 Minimal transmission latency.
to follow multiple path.
 More reliable as destination can detect the missing
 Transmission delay is more because of rerouting.
packet.
 Packet Switching is beneficial only for small messages,
 More fault tolerant because packets may follow different
path in case any link is down, Unlike Circuit Switching. but for large messages Circuit Switching is better.
 Cost effective and comparatively cheaper to implement.
 Datagram Network
(Connectionless)
 The term connectionless here means that the switch (packet switch) does not keep information
about the connection state.
 There are no setup or teardown phases. Each packet contains all necessary addressing information
such as source address, destination address and port numbers etc.
 In Datagram Packet Switching, each packet is treated independently. Packets belonging to one flow
may take different routes because routing decisions are made dynamically.
 So the packets arrived at destination might be out of order. It has no connection setup and teardown
phase, like Virtual Circuits.
 Packet delivery is not guaranteed in connectionless packet switching, so the reliable delivery must
be provided by end systems using additional protocols.
 Datagram switching is normally done at the network layer.
 Datagram Network
(Connectionless)
 Figure shows how the datagram approach is used to deliver
four packets from station A to station X. The switches in a
datagram network are traditionally referred to as routers.
 In this example, all four packets (or datagrams) belong to
the same message, but may travel different paths to reach
their destination.
 This is so because the links may be involved in carrying
packets from other sources and do not have the necessary
bandwidth available to carry all the packets from A to X.
 This approach can cause the datagrams of a transmission to
arrive at their destination out of order with different delays
between the packets.
 Packets may also be lost or dropped because of a lack of
resources. In most protocols, it is the responsibility of an
upper-layer protocol to reorder the datagrams or ask for lost
 Datagram Network (Connectionless)

ROUTING TABLE
 If there are no setup or teardown phases.
 How are the packets routed to their destinations in a datagram
network?
 In this type of network, each switch (or packet switch) has a
routing table which is based on the destination address.
 The routing tables are dynamic and are updated periodically. The
destination addresses and the corresponding forwarding output
ports are recorded in the tables.
 Each entry is created when the setup phase is completed and
deleted when the teardown phase is over. Figure shows the
routing table for a switch.
 Virtual-Circuit
Networks(Connection Oriented)
 A virtual-circuit network is a cross between a circuit-switched  Data is divided into small units and all these small
network and a datagram network. units are appended with help of sequence number.
Overall, three phases takes place here- Setup, data
Characteristics
transfer and tear down phase.
 A virtual-circuit network is normally implemented in the data-
link layer, while a circuit-switched network is implemented in
the physical layer and a datagram network in the network layer.
 Before starting the transmission, it establishes a logical path or
virtual connection using signaling protocol, between sender
and receiver and all packets belongs to this flow will follow
this predefined route.
 Virtual Circuit ID is provided by switches/routers to uniquely
identify this virtual connection.
 Virtual-Circuit Networks(Connection
Oriented)
 The network has switches that allow traffic from sources to  A VCI, unlike a global address, is a small number that
destinations. has only switch scope; it is used by a frame between
 A source or destination can be a computer, packet switch, two switches. When a frame arrives at a switch, it has a
bridge, or any other device that connects other networks. VCI; when it leaves, it has a different VCI.
 Addressing  Figure shows how the VCI in a data frame changes
 In a virtual-circuit network, two types of addressing are from one switch to another. Note that a VCI does not
involved: global and local (virtual-circuit identifier). need to be a large number since each switch can use its

own unique set of VCIs.
Global Addressing
 A source or a destination needs to have a global address—
an address that can be unique in the scope of the network
or internationally if the network is part of an international
network.
 Virtual-Circuit Identifier
 The identifier that is actually used for data transfer is called the
 Three Phases

1. Data-Transfer Phase
• To transfer a frame from a source to its destination, all
switches need to have a table entry for this virtual
circuit.
• The table, in its simplest form, has four columns.
• This means that the switch holds four pieces of
information for each virtual circuit that is already set
up.
• Figure shows such a switch and its corresponding
table.
 Three Phases

2. Setup Phase
 In the setup phase, a switch creates an entry for a virtual circuit.
 For example, suppose source A needs to create a virtual circuit to B.
 Two steps are required: the setup request and the acknowledgment.
 Setup Request A setup request frame is sent from the source to the destination.
 Acknowledgment A special frame, called the acknowledgment frame, completes the entries
in
 the switching tables.
3. Teardown Phase
 In this phase, source A, after sending all frames to B, sends a special frame called a teardown
BASIS FOR COMPARISON CIRCUIT SWITCH PACKET SWITCH
Orientation Connection oriented. Connectionless.
Flexibility Inflexible, because once a path is set Flexible, because a route is created
all parts of a transmission follows the for each packet to travel to the
same path. destination.

Order Message is received in the order, sentPackets of a message are received

from the source. out of order and assembled at the
destination.
Technology/Approach Circuit switching can be achieved Packet Switching has two
using two technologies, either Space approaches Datagram Approach and
Division Switching or Time-Division Virtual Circuit Approach.
Switching.
Layers Circuit Switching is implemented at Packet Switching is implemented at
Physical Layer. Network Layer.

Purpose Designed for voice communication Designed for data communication

BASIS FOR COMPARISON CIRCUIT SWITCH PACKET SWITCH
Path Establishment Connection Oriented and Path is Connectionless and a dynamic route is
established between source and decided for each packet while
destination before the transmission transmission.
occurs.
Usage of resources No interference, no sharing and Sharing resources and Efficient usage of
inefficient usage of resources resources
Wastage of Resources More Less
Guaranteed the full Bandwidth Yes No
QoS Yes No
Cost Most Expensive Less Expensive
Delay Delay between data units in circuit Delay between data units in packet
switching is uniform. switching is not uniform.
Reliability More Reliable. Less Reliable
Technique It does not have a store and forward It has a store and forward technique.
technique.
Transmission of data Transmission of the data is done by the Transmission of the data is done not only
source by the source, but also by the
intermediate routers
 TRANSMISSION MEDIA
 Transmission media are actually located below the Electromagnetic energy, a combination of electric and magnetic
physical layer and are directly controlled by the physical fields vibrating in relation to each other, includes power, radio
layer waves, infrared light, visible light, and ultraviolet rays.
 Definition: A transmission medium can be broadly
defined as anything that can carry information from a
source to a destination.
 The transmission medium is usually free space, metallic
cable, or fiber-optic cable.
 Computers and other telecommunication devices use
signals to represent data.
 These signals are transmitted from one device to another
in the form of electromagnetic energy, which is
propagated through transmission media.
Classes of Transmission Media
GUIDED MEDIA
 It is also referred to as Wired or Bounded
transmission media. Signals being transmitted are
directed and confined in a narrow pathway by using
physical links.
Features:
 High Speed
 Secure
 Used for comparatively shorter distances
 There are 3 major types of Guided Media:
 Guided Media(Twisted pair cable)
 A twisted pair consists of two conductors (normally
copper), each with its own plastic insulation, twisted
together
 One of the wires is used to carry signals to the receiver,
and the other is used only as a ground reference. The
receiver uses the difference between the two.
 It consists of 2 separately insulated conductor wires
wound about each other.
 In addition to the signal sent by the sender on one of the Crosstalk
wires, interference and crosstalk may affect both wires Crosstalk is a disturbance caused by
and create unwanted signals. the electric or magnetic fields of one telecommunication
Transmission Characteristics signal affecting a signal in an adjacent circuit.
The phenomenon that
 It can carry both analog and digital signal. Amplifier is
causes crosstalk is called electromagnetic interference
required every 3 to 6 km for analog signal. Repeater is
 Types of Twisted pair cable
There are two main types of twisted pair cables
1. unshielded twisted pair (UTP)
2.shielded twisted pair (STP)
 1. Unshielded Twisted Pair(UTP): This
type of cable has the ability to block interference
and does not depend on a physical shield for this
purpose. It is used for telephonic applications.
 2. Shielded Twisted Pair (STP):This type of
cable consists of a special jacket to block external
interference. It is used in fast-data-rate Ethernet
and in voice and data channels of telephone lines.
 Advantages and Disadvantages
Unshielded Twisted Shielded Twisted Pair Unshielded Twisted Shielded Twisted Pair (STP)
Pair(UTP) (STP) Pair(UTP)

Advantages Disadvantages Disadvantages

Advantages
  Susceptible to external  Comparatively difficult to install
Better performance at a higher
 Less expensive interference and manufacture
data rate in comparison to UTP
 Easy to install   Lower capacity and performance  More expensive
Eliminates crosstalk

in comparison to STP
High speed capacity  Comparatively faster  Bulky
 Short distance transmission due to
 Flexible  Easy to install attenuation
 Performance is adequate
 Can be used for Analog or
Digital transmission
 Higher capacity than unshielded
twisted pair
 General Definitions in Twisted pair
 Connectors: The most common UTP connector is
RJ45 (RJ stands for registered jack). The RJ45 is a
keyed connector, meaning the connector can be
inserted in only one way.
Performance
 One way to measure the performance of twisted-pair
cable is to compare attenuation versus frequency and
distance.
 A twisted-pair cable can pass a wide range of
frequencies. Note that gauge is a measure of the
thickness of the wire.
Applications
 Twisted-pair cables are used in telephone lines to
provide voice and data channels.
 Coaxial cable
 Coaxial cable (or coax) carries signals of higher
frequency ranges than those in twisted pair cable, in part
because the two media are constructed quite differently.
 Instead of having two wires, coax has a central core
conductor of solid or stranded wire (usually copper)
enclosed in an insulating sheath, which is, in turn,
encased in an outer conductor of metal foil, braid, or a
combination of the two.
 The outer metallic wrapping serves both as a shield
against noise and as the second conductor, which
completes the circuit.
 This outer conductor is also enclosed in an insulating
sheath, and the whole cable is protected by a plastic
cover.
 Transmission Characteristics and
Applications
Characteristics Applications
 superior frequency characteristics to TP  Most versatile medium
 performance limited by attenuation & noise  Television distribution
 analog signals  Long distance telephone transmission
 amplifiers every few km  Can carry 10,000 voice calls simultaneously
 closer if higher frequency  Short distance computer systems links
 up to 500MHz  Local area networks
 digital signals
 repeater every 1km
 closer for higher data rates
 Coaxial Cable Standards and
Connectors
Coaxial Cable Standards:
Coaxial cables are categorized by their Radio Government (RG)
ratings.
Each RG number denotes a unique set of physical
specifications, including the wire gauge of the inner
conductor, the thickness and type of the inner insulator, the
construction of the shield, and the size and type of the outer
casing.
 The BNC connector is used to connect the end of
Coaxial Cable Connectors:
To connect coaxial cable to devices, we need coaxial the cable to a device, such as a TV set.
connectors. The most common type of connector used today  The BNC T connector is used in Ethernet
is the Bayonet Neill-Concelman (BNC) connector. Figure
shows three popular types of these connectors: the BNC
networks to branch out to a connection to a
connector, the BNC T connector, and the BNC terminator. computer or other device.
 The BNC terminator is used at the end of the
 Fiber Optic Cable
Definition:
A fiber-optic cable is made of glass or plastic If the angle of incidence is equal to the
and transmits signals in the form of light. Light
critical angle, the light bends along the
travels in a straight line as long as it is moving
through a single uniform substance. If a ray of interface. If the angle is greater than the
light traveling through one substance suddenly critical angle, the ray reflects (makes a
enters another substance (of a different density),
turn) and travels again in the denser
the ray changes direction.
If the angle of incidence I (the angle the ray
substance. Note that the critical angle is a
makes with the line perpendicular to the property of the substance, and its value
interface between the two substances) is less differs from one substance to another.
than the critical angle, the ray refracts and
 Optical fiber
 Optical fibers use reflection to guide light
through a channel.
 A glass or plastic core is surrounded by a
cladding of less dense glass or plastic.
 The difference in density of the two materials
must be such that a beam of light moving
through the core is reflected off the cladding
instead of being refracted into it.
 Propagation Modes
Multimode
 propagating light along optical channels,
Multimode is so named because multiple beams from a
each requiring fiber with different physical light source move through the core in different paths.
characteristics.  In multimode step-index fiber, the density of the core
remains constant from the center to the edges
 In Multimode graded-index fiber decreases this
distortion of the signal through the cable. The word index
here refers to the index of refraction.
Single-Mode
 Single-mode uses step-index fiber and a highly focused
source of light that limits beams to a small range of
angles, all close to the horizontal.
 Advantages, Disadvantages and
Applications of Optical Fiber
Applications
Advantages
 Medical
 Higher bandwidth
 Defense/Government
 Less signal attenuation
 Data Storage
 Immunity to electromagnetic interference
 Telecommunications
 Resistance to corrosive materials
 Networking
 Light weight
 Industrial/Commercial
 Greater immunity to tapping.
 Broadcast/CATV
Disadvantages
 Installation and maintenance.
 Unidirectional light propagation.
 Cost
Unguided Media(Wireless)

 Definition :
Unguided medium transport
electromagnetic waves without using a
physical conductor. This type of
communication is often referred to as
wireless communication.
 Unguided signals can travel
from the source to the destination in
several ways: ground propagation, sky
propagation, and line-of-sight
propagation.
 Types of Unguided Media

1.Radio Waves  Radio waves can travel long distances.

 Electromagnetic waves ranging in frequencies between 3
 This makes radio waves a good candidate for long-
kHz and 1 GHz are normally called radio waves; waves
ranging in frequencies between 1 and 300 GHz are called distance broadcasting such as AM radio.
microwaves.  Radio waves, particularly those of low and medium
 Radio waves are omnidirectional.
frequencies, can penetrate walls.
 When an antenna transmits radio waves, they are
 It is an advantage because, for example, an AM
propagated in all directions.
 This means that the sending and receiving antennas do not
radio can receive signals inside a building.
have to be aligned.  It is a disadvantage because we cannot isolate a
 A sending antenna sends waves that can be received by communication to just inside or outside a building.
any receiving antenna.
 omni directional Antenna

 Omni directional Antenna  Radio waves use Omni directional antennas

that send out signals in all directions. Based
on the wavelength, strength, and the purpose
of transmission, we can have several types of
antennas.
Applications
 The omni directional characteristics of radio
waves make them useful for multicasting.
 AM and FM radio, television, maritime radio,
cordless phones, and paging are examples of
multicasting.
 Microwaves

Microwaves
 Electromagnetic waves having frequencies  Repeaters are often needed for long distance
between 1 and 300 GHz are called microwaves. communication.
Microwaves are unidirectional. This means that the 
sending and receiving antennas need to be aligned. Very high-frequency microwaves cannot penetrate
A pair of antennas can be aligned without interfering walls. This characteristic can be a disadvantage if
with another pair of aligned antennas. receivers are inside buildings.
 The microwave band is relatively wide, almost 299
Characteristics
GHz. Therefore wider sub bands can be assigned,
 Microwave propagation is line-of-sight. Since the and a high data rate is possible.
towers with the mounted antennas need to be in
direct sight of each other, towers that are far apart
need to be very tall.
 Unidirectional Antenna

1. parabolic dish antenna is based on the geometry of a parabola:

Microwaves need unidirectional antennas  Every line parallel to the line of symmetry reflects off the curve
that send out signals in one direction. Two at angles such that all the lines intersect in a common point
called the focus.
types of antennas are used for microwave  The parabolic dish works as a funnel, catching a wide range of
communications: the parabolic dish and the waves and directing them to a common point.
 In this way, more of the signal is recovered than would be
horn
possible with a single-point receiver.
2. horn antenna looks like a gigantic scoop.
 Outgoing transmissions are broadcast up a stem and deflected
outward in a series of narrow parallel beams by the curved head.
 Received transmissions are collected by the scooped shape of
the horn, in a manner similar to the parabolic dish, and are
deflected down into the stem.
Applications of Micro waves

 Microwaves are very useful when unicast communication is needed.

 They are used in cellular phones, satellite networks, and wireless LANs
 Infrared waves

  However, this same characteristic makes infrared

Infrared waves, with frequencies from 300 GHz to
400 THz can be used for short-range communication. signals useless for long-range communication.
 Infrared waves cannot penetrate walls. This  In addition, we cannot use infrared waves outside a
advantageous characteristic prevents interference building because the sun’s rays contain infrared
between one system and another; waves that can interfere with the communication.
 A short-range communication system in one room
cannot be affected by another system in the next
room.
 When we use our infrared remote control, we do not
interfere with the use of the remote by our neighbors.
Applications of Infrared Waves

 The infrared band, almost 400 THz, has an excellent potential for data transmission. The Infrared Data
Association (IrDA), an association for sponsoring the use of infrared waves, has established standards for
using these signals for communication between devices such as keyboards, mice, PCs, and printers.

 The standard originally defined a data rate of 75 kbps for a distance up to8 m. The recent standard
defines a data rate of 4 Mbps.