Computer Networks Ch.

VijayaKumar ACEEC

UNIT-1
Network hardware, Network Software, OSI, TCP/IP Reference models, Example
Networks: ARPANET, Internet.
Physical Layer: Guided Transmission media: twisted pairs, coaxial cable, fiber optics,
wireless transmission.

Technology Revolution:
• 18th Century Mechanical systems
• 19th Century Steam Engine
• 20th Century Information
- gathering
- distribution
- processing
- creating
• 21st Century Networks
Human-to-Human,
Machine-to-Machine

Computer Networks:
 A collection of autonomous computers interconnected by a single technology.
 Two computers are said to be interconnected if they are able to exchange information.
 The connection can be via a copper wire; fiber optics, microwaves, infrared, and communication
satellites.
o Internet being the most well-known example of a network of networks.

Distributed systems:
 A collection of independent computers appears to its users as a single coherent system.
 It has a single model or paradigm that it presents to the users.
 A layer of software on top of the operating system, called middleware, is responsible for
implementing this model.
o A well-known example of a distributed system is the World Wide Web. It runs on top of the
Internet and presents a model in which everything looks like a document (Web page).

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Uses of Computer Networks:

1. Business Applications
2. Home Applications
3. Mobile Users
4. Social Issues

Business Applications of Networks

a. Resource sharing (hardware, software, information, …)

b. Providing communication medium (e-mail, video conferencing, Desktop Sharing)

o Telephone calls between employees may be carried by the computer network instead of
by the phone company. This technology is called IP telephony or Voice over IP
(VoIP) when Internet technology is used.
c. Doing business electronically (B2B, B2C, e-commerce)

Home Network Applications

a. Access to remote information
Popular model for accessing information is peer-to-peer communication. In this form,
individuals who form a loose group can communicate with others in the group, as shown
in Fig.

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Eg: Instant messaging-Twitter

b. Person-to-person communication
Eg: social network applications – facebook, wiki
c. Interactive entertainment
Eg: VOD, interactive movies or TVs, game playing
d. Electronic commerce

 Devices such as televisions that plug into the wall can use power-line networks to send
information throughout the house over the wires that carry electricity.
 RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) readers locate and communicate with the
items over a distance of up to several meters, depending on the kind of RFID.

Mobile Network Users

 Mobile computers, such as laptop and handheld computers, are one of the fastest-growing
segments of the computer industry.
 Short Message Service(SMS), Location Sharing, m-commerce, NFC (Near Field
Communication), Wearable computing, GPS (Global Positioning System), Sensor Networks

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Social Issues
a. Network neutrality: communications that are not differentiated by their content or
source or who is providing the content is known as network neutrality
b. Digital Millennium Copyright Act
c. Profiling users
d. Phishing

Network Hardware:
All Computer Networks can be classified based on

1. Transmission technology used

2. Scale of the network

Types of transmission technology

a. Broadcast links
b. Point-to-point links

Point-to-point links
 Point-to-point links connect individual pairs of machines.
 To go from the source to the destination on a network made up of point-to-point links, short
messages, called packets in certain contexts, may have to first visit one or more intermediate
machines.
 Often multiple routes, of different lengths, are possible, so finding good ones is important in point-
to-point networks.
 Point-to-point transmission with exactly one sender and exactly one receiver is sometimes called
unicasting.

Broadcast links
 On a broadcast network, the communication channel is shared by all the machines on the network;
packets sent by any machine are received by all the others.
 An address field within each packet specifies the intended recipient.
 Upon receiving a packet, a machine checks the address field.
 If the packet is intended for the receiving machine, that machine processes the packet; if the packet
is intended for some other machine, it is just ignored.
 A wireless network is a common example of a broadcast link.
 Broadcast systems usually also allow the possibility of addressing a packet to all destinations by
using a special code in the address field. When a packet with this code is transmitted, it is received
and processed by every machine on the network. This mode of operation is called broadcasting.
 Some broadcast systems also support transmission to a subset of the machines, which known as
multicasting.

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Classification based on Network Scale:

 An alternative criterion for classifying networks is by scale.
 Distance is important as a classification metric because different technologies are used at different
scales.
 Classify multiple processor systems by their rough physical size.

1. Personal Area Network (PAN)

2. Local Area Network (LAN)
3. Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)
4. Wide Area Network (WAN)
5. The Internet

Personal Area Network (PAN)

 PANs (Personal Area Networks) let devices communicate over the range of a person.
 A common example is a wireless network that connects a computer with its peripherals.
 Bluetooth is a network design for a short-range wireless network to connect components
without wires.

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Local Area Network (LAN):

 A LAN (Local Area Network) is a privately owned network that operates within and nearby a
single building like a home, office or factory.
 LANs are widely used to share resources (e.g., printers) and exchange information among
computers.
 Types of LANs
o Wired and Wireless

Wired LANs

 The wired LANs standard is called IEEE 802.3, popularly known as Ethernet.

 Each computer speaks the Ethernet protocol and connects to a box called a switch with a
point-to-point link

Wireless LANs

 It use an AP (Access Point), wireless router, or base station to relays packets between the
wireless computers and the Internet.

 The wireless LANs standard is called IEEE 802.11, popularly known as Wi-Fi.

Characteristics of LANs:
(a) privately-owned,
(b) small size,
(c) transmission technology,
(d) topology

Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)

 A MAN (Metropolitan Area Network) covers a city.
 The best-known examples of MANs are the cable television networks available in many cities.
 The latest MAN, which has been standardized as IEEE 802.16 and is popularly known as WiMAX.

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Wide Area Network (WAN)

 A WAN (Wide Area Network) spans a large geographical area, often a country or continent.
Examples include satellite and cellular networks.

 Each of these offices contains computers, called Hosts.

 The network that connects the hosts from different offices is then called the Subnet.
 In most WANs, the subnet consists of two distinct components:
o Transmission lines
o Switching elements
 Transmission lines move bits between machines. They can be made of copper wire, optical fiber,
or even radio links.
 Switching elements are specialized computers that connect two or more transmission lines, now
most commonly known as Router. Router also called packet switching nodes, intermediate systems,
and data switching exchanges. Router operate in store-and-forward, or packet-switched mode.

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The Internet
 A collection of interconnected networks is called an internetwork or internet.
 This is in contrast to the worldwide Internet (which is one specific internet), which we will always
capitalize.
 The Internet uses ISP networks to connect enterprise networks, home networks, and many other
networks.
 Internetworks are created
o if different organizations have paid to construct different parts of the network and each
maintains its part.
o if the underlying technology is different in different parts (e.g., broadcast versus point-to-
point and wired versus wireless).
 A machine that makes a connection between two or more networks and provides the necessary
translation, both in terms of hardware and software, is called a gateway.

Network Topologies:
 The term physical topology refers to the way in which a network is laid out physically.
 Two or more devices connect to a link; two or more links form a topology.
 The topology of a network is the geometric representation of the relationship of all the links and
linking devices (usually called nodes) to one another.
There are four basic topologies possible:
i. Mesh
ii. Star
iii. Bus
iv. Ring

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Mesh Topology
In a mesh topology, every device has a dedicated point-to-point link to every other device.
Advantages
 Eliminating the traffic problems
 A mesh topology is robust.
 Privacy or security.
 Fault identification and fault isolation easy
Disadvantages
 Bulk of the wiring
 More number of i/o ports
Use:
 For the connection of telephone regional offices.


The number of duplex-mode physical links in a fully connected mesh network with n nodes is
__________.

Star Topology:

In a star topology, each device has a dedicated point-to-point link only to a central controller,
usually called a hub.
Advantages
 Less expensive than a mesh topology.
 Each device needs only one link and one I/O port to connect
 Easy to install and reconfigure.
 Far less cabling
 Deletions involve only one connection
 Robustness. If one link fails, only that link is affected
 Easy fault identification and fault isolation.
Disadvantages
 The dependency of the whole topology on one single point, the hub. If the hub goes down,
the whole system is dead.
Use:
 The star topology is used in local-area networks (LANs).

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The number of duplex-mode physical links in a fully connected star network with n nodes is _______.

Bus Topology:

A bus topology, on the other hand, is multipoint. One long cable acts as a backbone to link all the
devices in a network.
Advantages
 Ease of installation
 Less cabling than mesh or star topologies
Disadvantages
 Difficult reconnection and fault isolation
 Degradation in quality
 Adding new devices may therefore require modification or replacement of the backbone.
Use:
 Ethernet LANs can use a bus topology

The number of duplex-mode physical links in a fully connected bus network with n nodes is________.

Ring Topology:

In a ring topology, each device has a dedicated point-to-point connection with only the two devices
on either side of it.
Advantages
 Easy to install and reconfigure.
 fault isolation is simplified

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Disadvantages
 Unidirectional traffic
 A break in the ring can disable the entire network
Use:
 local-area network Token Ring
 higher-speed LANs

The number of duplex-mode physical links in a fully connected ring network with n nodes is _______.

Network Software:

 Network software is now highly structured.

 The software structuring technique :
 Protocol Hierarchies (Layer structure)
 Design Issues for the Layers
 Connection-Oriented and Connectionless Services
 Service Primitives
 The Relationship of Services to Protocols

Protocol Hierarchies (Layer structure)

 The Protocol Hierarchies form the keystones of the network software.
 To reduce their design complexity

 Most networks are organized as a stack of layers.

 Each layer is built upon the one below it.

 The number of layers, the name of each layer, the contents of each layer, and the
function of each layer differ from network to network.

 The purpose of each layer is to offer certain services to the higher layers while
shielding those layers from the details of how the offered services are actually
implemented.

 In a sense, each layer is a kind of virtual machine, offering certain services to the
layer above it.

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 The physical medium through which actual communication occurs.

 The virtual communication is shown by dotted lines and physical communication by solid
lines.
 Between each pair of adjacent layers is an interface.
 A set of layers and protocols is called a Network Architecture.
 A protocol is an agreement between the communicating parties on how communication
is to proceed.

 The entities comprising the corresponding layers on different machines are called peers.
 A list of the protocols used by a certain system, one protocol per layer, is called a protocol
stack.

Technical example: how to provide communication to the top layer of the five-layer network is shown in
below figure

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Typical flow:

 A message, M, is produced by an application process running in layer 5 and given to layer 4 for
transmission.
 Layer 4 puts a header in front of the message to identify the message and passes the result to layer 3
 The header includes control information, such as address/port, to allow layer 4 on the destination
machine to deliver the message
 Other examples of control information used in some layers are sequence numbers, sizes, and times
 Layer 3 must break up the incoming messages into smaller units, packets, prepending a layer 3
header to each packet
 Layer 3 decides which lines to use and passes the packets to layer 2
 Layer 2 adds to each piece not only a header but also a trailer, and gives the resulting unit to
 layer 1 for physical transmission
 At the receiving machine the message moves upward, from layer to layer, with headers being
stripped off as it progresses

Design Issues for the Layers

 The key design issues in computer networks at various layers for implementing successful
communication across machines are
1. Reliability
2. Scalability (evolution of the network)
3. Resource allocation
4. Network security

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Reliability of Information sent:

 It is the design issue of making a network that operates correctly even though it is made up of a
collection of components that are themselves unreliable.
 Information transmitted generally gets corrupted due to fluke electrical noise, random wireless
signals, hardware flaws, software bugs and so on

 Solution:
o Error detection and correction using redundant information added to the data sent.

Reliability of Information path:

 It is the issue in finding a working path through a network because most often there are multiple
paths between a source and destination.
 There may be some links or routers that are broken.
 Solution:
o Routing Protocols: algorithms that are used to select better paths between some source and
destination.

Scalability (Evolution of the network):

 Over time, networks grow larger and new designs emerge that need to be connected to the existing
network.

 Solution:
o Protocol layering: reflecting on the change by customizing the protocols.

 Every layer needs a mechanism for identifying the senders and receivers that are involved in a
particular message.

 Solution:
o Addressing or naming (i.e. IP addresses and port numbers.)
 Coping with different types of inter-connected networks or internetworking

 Solution:
o Fragmentation and re-assembly

Resource allocation:
 Networks provide a service to hosts from their underlying resources, such as the capacity of
transmission lines.

 To do this well, they need mechanisms that divide their resources so that one host does not interfere
with another too much.

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 Solution:
o Multiplexing
 An allocation problem that occurs at every level is how to keep a fast sender from swamping a slow
receiver with data.

 Solution:
o Flow control
 The network is oversubscribed because too many computers want to send too much traffic, and the
network cannot deliver it all. This overloading of the network is called congestion.

 Solution:
o Congestion control
o Regulating QoS parameters

Network security:
 To secure the network by defending it against different kinds of threats.

 Solution:
o Mechanisms that provide confidentiality defend against this threat, and they are used in
multiple layers.
o Mechanisms for authentication prevent someone from impersonating someone else.

o Mechanisms for integrity prevent surreptitious changes to messages, such as altering the
content.

Connection-Oriented Versus Connectionless Services

 Layers can offer two different types of service to the layers above them:
o connection-oriented and
o connectionless.

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Service Primitives:
 A service is formally specified by a set of primitives (operations).

 These primitives tell the service to perform some action or report on an action taken by a peer
entity.

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 If the protocol stack is located in the operating system, as it often is, the primitives are normally
system calls.

 These calls cause a trap to kernel mode, which then turns control of the machine over to the
operating system to send the necessary packets.
 The primitives for connection-oriented service are different from those of connection-less service.

 There are six types of service primitives:

1. LISTEN: Executed at the server or communication initiator.
 When a server is ready to accept an incoming connection it executes the LISTEN
primitive.
 It blocks waiting for an incoming connection.
2. CONNECT: Executed at the client or communication responder.
 It connects the server by establishing a connection.
 Response is awaited.
3. ACCEPT: Accept an incoming connection from a peer
4. RECIEVE: Executed at the server or communication initiator.
 The RECIEVE call blocks the server.
5. SEND: Executed at the client or communication responder.
 Then client executes SEND primitive to transmit its request.
 It is followed by the execution of RECEIVE call to wait for reply from the server.
6. DISCONNECT: This primitive is used for terminating the connection.
 After this primitive one can't send any message.
 When the client sends DISCONNECT packet then the server also sends the
DISCONNECT packet to acknowledge the client.
 When the server packet is received by client then the process is terminated.

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The Relationship of Services to Protocols:

Service
 A service is a set of primitives (operations) that a layer provides to the layer above it.

 The service defines what operations the layer is prepared to perform on behalf of its users, but
it says nothing at all about how these operations are implemented.

 A service relates to an interface between two layers, with the lower layer being the service
provider and the upper layer being the service user.

Protocol
 A protocol, in contrast, is a set of rules governing the format and meaning of the packets, or
messages that are exchanged by the peer entities within a layer.
 Entities use protocols to implement their service definitions.

 They are free to change their protocols at will, provided they do not change the service visible
to their users.
 In this way, the service and the protocol are completely decoupled.

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OSI / ISO MODEL:

 The International Standards Organization for Standardization (ISO) developed the Open System
Interconnection (OSI) reference model. OSI model is most widely used model for networking.
 An Open System is a set of protocols that allows any two different systems to communicate.

Reference Models

The OSI
reference
model.

PHYSICAL LAYER:

 Physical layer is the lowest layer of the OSI model.

 The Physical Layer defines the electrical and physical specifications for devices.

Functions of Physical layer:

1. Physical characteristics of interfaces and media:
 The physical layer defines the characteristics of the interface between the devices
and the transmission medium.
 It also defines the type of transmission medium.

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2. Representation of bits:
 The physical layer data consists of a stream of bits (sequence of 0’s or 1’s) with no
interpretation.
 To be transmitted, bits must be encoded into signals electrical or optical. The
physical layer defines the type of encoding.

3. Data rate:
The transmission rate the number of bits sent each second is also defined by the
physical layer.

4. Synchronization of bits:
The sender and receiver not only must use the same bit rate but also must be
synchronized at the bit level.

5. Line configuration:
 The Physical layer is concerned with the connection devices to the media.
 In a point-to-point configuration, two devices are connected through a dedicated
link. In a multipoint configuration, a link is shared among several devices.

6. Physical topology:

 The physical topology defines how devices are connected to make a network.
 Devices can be connected by using a mesh topology, a star topology, a ring
topology, or a hybrid topology.

7. Transmission mode:
 The physical layer also defines the direction of transmission between two devices:
simplex, half-duplex. Full-duplex.
 In simplex mode, only one device can send, the other receives. The simplex mode is
a one-way communication.
 In the half-duplex mode, two devices can send and receive, but not at same time.
 In full-duplex mode, two devices can send and receive at the same time.

DATA LINK LAYER:

 The data link layer is responsible for transmitting the frames from one node to the
next.
 It transforms the physical layer to a reliable link making it an error free link to upper
layer.

Functions of Data Link Layer:

1. Framing:
 The data received from network layer are divided into manageable data units called
frames.

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2. Physical addressing:
 When frames are to be distributed to different systems on the network, the data
link layer adds a header to the frame to define the sender and receiver of the frame.
 If the frame is intended for a system outside the sender’s to the next one.

3. Flow control:
 If the rate at which the data are absorbed by the receiver is less than the rate at
which data are produced in the sender, the data link layer imposes a flow control
mechanism to avoid overwhelming the receiver.

4. Error control:
 The data link layer adds reliability to the physical layer by adding mechanisms to
detect and retransmit damaged or lost frames. It also uses a mechanism to recognize
duplication frames.
 Error control is normally achieved through a trailer added to the end of the frame.

5. Access control:
 When two or more devices are connected to the same link, data link layer protocols
are necessary to determine which device has control over the link at any given time.

NETWORK LAYER:
The network layer is responsible for the delivery of packets from the source to destination across
multiple networks.

Functions of Network layer:

1. Logical addressing:
 The physical addressing implemented by the data link layer handles the addressing problem
locally.
 If a packet passes the network boundary, we need another addressing system to help
distinguish the source and destination systems.

2. Routing:
 When independent networks or links are connected to create internet works or a large
network, the connecting devices called routers or switches route or switch the packets to
their final destination.
 One of the functions of the network, layer is to provide this mechanism

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TRANSPORT LAYER:
The transport layer is responsible for process-to-process delivery of the entire message. A process is an
application program running on a host.

Functions of transport layer:

1. Service-point addressing:
 Computer performs several operations simultaneously. Process-to-process delivery
means specific process of one computer must be delivered to specific process on
other computer. The transport layer header therefore includes port address.
 Network layer delivers packet to the desired computer and transport layer, gets
message to the correct process on that computer.

2. Segmentation and reassembly:

 A message is divided into segments, each segment contains a sequence number
which enables transport layer to reassemble at destination.

3. Connection control:
 Transport layer performs connectionless or connection oriented services with the
destination machine.

4. Flow control:
 Transport layer performs end-to-end flow control while data link layer performs it
across the link.

5. Error control:
 Error control at this layer is performed on end-to-end basis rather than across the
link. The transport layer ensures error free transmission.

SESSION LAYER:
The session layer is network dialog controller that is it establishes and synchronizes the
interaction between communication systems.

Functions of session layer:

1. Dialog control:
 Communication between two processes takes place in either half duplex or full
duplex mode. The session layer manages dialog control for this communication.

2. Synchronization :
 Session layer adds synchronization points into stream of data.

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PRESENTATION LAYER:
The presentation layer deals with syntax and semantics of the information being
exchanged.

Functions of Presentation Layer:

1. Translation:
 Different computers use different encoding systems. The presentation layer
maintains interoperability between the two encoding systems.

2. Encryption:
 Encryption is transforming sender information to other form to ensure privacy
while transmission. Decryption is a reverse process.

3. Compression:
 Compression is a technique of reducing number of bits required to represent the
data.

APPLICATION LAYER:
Application layer is responsible for accessing the network by user. It provides user interfaces
and other supporting services such as e-mail, remote, file access, file transfer, sharing
database, message handling, and directory services.

Functions of Application Layer:

1. Network Virtual Terminal:

 It is a software version of physical terminal that allows a user to log onto a remote
host.

2. File Transfer, Access and Management (FTAM):

 FTAM allows user to access files in remote hosts, to retrieve files and to manage
files in remote computer.

3. Mail Services:
 E-mail forwarding, storage are the services under this category.

4. Directory Services:
 Directory services include access for global information and distributed database.

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TCP/IP PROTOCOL Model:

 TCP/IP stands for transmission protocol/Internet protocol.

 The TCP/IP reference model is a set of protocols that allow communication across multiple
diverse networks.
 TCP/IP is normally considered to be a four layer system. Layers of TCP/IP are Application
layer, Transport layer, Internet layer, Host to network layer.
 Host to network layer is also called physical and data link
 The application layer in TCP/IP can be equated with the combination of session,
presentation, application layer of the OSI reference model.

 TCP/IP defines two protocols at transport layer: TCP and UDP.

 User Datagram Protocol (UDP) is connectionless protocol.
 UDP is used for application that requires quick but necessarily reliable delivery.
 Internet layer also called network layer. Internet layer handles communication from one
machine to the other. Routing of packet takes place in internet layer.
 TCP/IP does not define any specific protocol in host to network layer. This layer is
responsible for accepting and transmitting IP data grams.
 This layer normally includes the device driver in the operating system.
 Detail function of each layer is given below.

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1. Application layer:

 Application layer includes all process and services that use the transport layer to deliver data.
The most widely known application protocols are: TELNET, File Transfer Protocol (FTP),
Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) and Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP).
 TELNET is the Network Terminal Protocol, which provides remote login over the network.
 FTP is used for interactive file transfer.
 SMTP delivers the electronic mail.

2. Transport layer:

 Application programs send data to the transport layer protocols TCP and UDP.
 An application is designed to choose either TCP or UDP based on the services it needs.
 The transport layer provides per entities on the source and destination hosts to carry on a
conversation. Both end’s protocol is defined in this layer.
 TCP is reliable connection oriented protocol that allows a byte stream originating on one
computer to be delivered without error to any other computer in the internet.
 It converts the incoming byte stream into discrete message and passes each one onto the
Internet layer.
 At the destination side, the receiving TCP reassembles the received data or messages into the
output format.
 TCP also handles flow control. It synchronizes between fast sender and slow receiver.
 UDP is a connectionless protocol. Sometimes this type of protocol is used for prompt
delivery.

3. Internet layer :
 The Internet network level protocol (IP, ARP, ICMP) handle machine to machine
communications.
 These protocols provide for transmission and reception of transport requests and handle
network level control.
 The TCP/IP Internet layer moves data from one host to another even if the hosts are on
different networks.
 The primary protocol used to move data is the Internet Protocol (IP), which provides the
following services:
a. Addressing:
 Determining the route to deliver data to the destination host.
b. Fragmentation:
 Breaking the messages into pieces if an intervening network cannot handle a
large message.
 It provides a connectionless method of delivering data from one host to another. It does not
guarantee delivery and does not provide sequencing of data grams.
 It attaches a header to datagram that includes source address and the destination address, both
of which are unique internet addresses.

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4. Host to network layer:

 This layer is also called network interface layer.

 This layer is same as physical and data link layer of OSI model. Host to network layer
cannot define any protocol.
 It is responsible for accepting and transmitting IP data grams.
 This layer may consist of a device driver in the operating system and the corresponding
network interface card in the machine.

 HYPER TEXT TRANSFER PROTOCOL (HTTP):

Web servers implement this protocol. Short for Hyper Text Transfer Protocol, the underlying
protocol used by the World Wide Web. HTTP defines how messages are formatted and
transmitted, and what actions Web servers and browsers should take in response to various
commands. For example, when you enter a URL in your browser, this actually sends an
HTTP command to the Web server directing it to fetch and transmit the requested Web page.

 SIMPLE MAIL TRANSFER PROTOCOL (SMTP):

Used by e-mail servers (and sometimes Web servers) to send e-mail. Short for Simple Mail
Transfer Protocol, a protocol for sending e-mail messages between servers. Most e-mail systems
that send mail over the Internet use SMTP to send messages from one server to another; the
messages can then be retrieved with an e-mail client using either POP or IMAP. In addition,
SMTP is generally used to send messages from a mail client to a mail server. This is why you
need to specify both the POP or IMAP server and the SMTP server when you configure your e-
mail application.

 INTERNET MESSAGE ACCESS PROTOCOL (IMAP):

Short for Internet Message Access Protocol, a protocol for retrieving e-mail messages. The
latest version, IMAP4, is similar to POP3 but supports some additional features. For
example, with IMAP4, you can search through your e-mail messages for keywords while the
messages are still on mail server. You can then choose which messages to download to your
machine.

 FILE TRANSFER PROTOCOL (FTP):

The protocol for exchanging files over the Internet. FTP works in the same way as HTTP for
transferring Web pages from a server to a user's browser and SMTP for transferring
electronic mail across the Internet in that, like these technologies, FTP uses the Internet's
TCP/IP protocols to enable data transfer.

FTP is most commonly used to download a file from a server using the Internet or to upload
a file to a server (e.g., uploading a Web page file to a server).

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 DOMAIN NAME SYSTEM (DNS):

Short for Domain Name System (or Service or Server), an Internet service that translates
domain names into IP addresses. Because domain names are alphabetic, they're easier to
remember. The Internet however, is really based on IP addresses. Every time you use a
domain name, therefore, a DNS service must translate the name into the corresponding IP
address. For example, the domain name www.example.com might translate to
198.105.232.4.

 TRANSMISSION CONTROL PROTOCOL (TCP):

Creates a reliable connection between two computers. TCP is one of the main protocols in
TCP/IP networks. Whereas the IP protocol deals only with packets, TCP enables two hosts to
establish a connection and exchange streams of data. TCP guarantees delivery of data and
also guarantees that packets will be delivered in the same order in which they were sent.

 INTERNET PROTOCOL (IP):

Provides addressing scheme. IP specifies the format of packets, also called datagrams, and
the addressing scheme. Most networks combine IP with a higher-level protocol called
Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), which establishes a virtual connection between a
destination and a source.

IP by itself is something like the postal system. It allows you to address a package and drop it
in the system, but there's no direct link between you and the recipient. The current version of
IP is IPv4. A new version, called IPv6 is under development.

 INTERNET CONTROL MESSAGE PROTOCOL (ICMP):

Provides error messages. An extension to the Internet Protocol (IP) defined by RFC 792.
ICMP supports packets containing error, control, and informational messages. The PING
command, for example, uses ICMP to test an Internet connection.

 USER DATAGRAM PROTOCOL (UDP):

A connectionless protocol that, like TCP, runs on top of IP networks. Unlike TCP/IP,
UDP/IP provides very few error recovery services, offering instead a direct way to send and
receive datagrams over an IP network. It's used primarily for broadcasting messages over a
network

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Following are the differences between OSI and TCP/IP Reference Model:

OSI TCP/IP

OSI represents Open System TCP/IP model represents the Transmission Control
Interconnection. Protocol / Internet Protocol.

OSI is a generic, protocol independent TCP/IP model depends on standard protocols about
standard. It is acting as an interaction which the computer network has created. It is a
gateway between the network and the connection protocol that assigns the network of
final-user. hosts over the internet.

The OSI model was developed first, and The protocols were created first and then built the
then protocols were created to fit the TCP/IP model.
network architecture’s needs.

It has 7 layers. It has 5 layers.

The protocols of the OSI model are better The TCP/IP model protocols are not hidden, and
unseen and can be returned with another we cannot fit a new protocol stack in it.
appropriate protocol quickly.

It provides both connection and It provides connectionless transmission in the

connectionless oriented transmission in network layer and supports connecting and
the network layer; however, only connectionless-oriented transmission in the
connection-oriented transmission in the transport layer.
transport layer.

The smallest size of the OSI header is 5 The smallest size of the TCP/IP header is 20 bytes.
bytes.

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TRANSMISSION MEDIA:
 Transmission media are located below the physical layer.
 The transmission medium is the physical path by which a message travels from sender to
receiver.
 Anything that can carry information from a source to a destination.
 Transmission media is also called as LAYER ZERO.

Classes or Types of transmission media

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GUIDED MEDIA
 Guided media, which are those that provide a physical connection from one device to another
 A signal traveling along any of these media is directed and contained by the physical limits of the
medium.
 Twisted-pair and coaxial cable use metallic (copper) conductors that accept and transport signals
in the form of electric current.
 Optical fiber is a cable that accepts and transports signals in the form of light.

1.Twisted-pair cable

 Twisted pair consists of two conductors (normally copper), each with its own plastic insulation,
twisted together.
 One of the wires carries signal, the other is used only as a ground reference.
 The receiver uses the difference b/w the two levels.
 Twisting increases the probability that both wires are affected by the noise in the same manner,
thus the difference at the receiver remains same.
 Therefore, number of twists per unit length determines the quality of the cable.
 The twisting helps to reduce the interference (noise) and crosstalk.
 Twisted-pair cable comes in two forms: unshielded and shielded.

Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP)

 Ordinary telephone wire
 Cheapest
 Easiest to install
 Suffers from external interference
Shielded Twisted Pair (STP)
 STP cable has a metal foil or braided-mesh covering that enhances each pair of insulated
conductors.
 The metal casing prevents the penetration of electromagnetic noise.
 Metal braid or sheathing that reduces interference
 More expensive
 Harder to handle (thick, heavy)

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UTP connectors
RJ: registered jack key connector: inserted in only one way. RJ-45 Male and RJ-45 Female.

Twisted Pair – Applications

 Most common medium
 Telephone lines connecting subscribers to the central office
 DSL lines
 LAN – 10Base-T and 100Base-T

Twisted Pair - Pros and Cons

 Cheap
 Easy to work with
 Low data rate
 Short range

2. Coaxial cable
 Coaxial cable carries signals of higher frequency ranges than twisted-pair cable.

Coaxial cable consist the followings layers in its construction

• The copper conductor
• Insulation layer of plastic foam
• Second conductor or shield of wire mesh tube or metallic foil
• Outer jacket of tough plastic

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Coaxial cable BNC(Bayone-Neill-Concelman connectors)

 BNC Connector is used to connect the end of the cable to a device.
 BNC T is used in networks to branch out a cable for connection to a computer or other
device.
 BNC Terminator is used at the end of the cable to prevent the reflection of signal.

Coaxial cable Applications:

 Analog telephone networks
 Cable TV networks
 Traditional Ethernet LAN – 10Base2, 10Base5

3.Fiber-Optic Cable

 Optical fiber is made of glass or plastic and transmits signals in the form of light.
 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.
 Information is encoded onto a beam of light as a series of on-off flashes that represent 1 and 0
bits.

Propagation modes of light

Multimode: In this case multiple beams from a light source move through the core in different
paths.

In a multimode step-index fiber, the density of the core remains constant from the center to the
edges. A beam of light moves through this constant density in a straight line until it reaches the

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interface of the core and cladding. At the interface there is an abrupt change to a lower density that
alters the angle of the beam’s motion.

In a multimode graded-index fiber the density is highest at the center of the core and decreases
gradually to its lowest at the edge.

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. Is manufactured with a smaller diameter than that of
multimode fiber, and with lower density.
The propagation of different beams is almost identical, and delays are negligible.

Fiber-optic cable connectors

 The subscriber channel (SC) connector is used in cable TV. It uses a push/pull locking system.
 The straight-tip (ST) connector is used for connecting cable to networking devices. It uses
bayonet locking system and is more reliable than SC.
 MT-RJ(Mechanical Transfer Registered Jack) is a new connector with the same size as RJ45.

Applications:

 Backbone networks – SONET

 Cable TV – backbone
 LAN
 100Base-FX network (Fast Ethernet)
 100Base-X

Advantages

 Higher Bandwidth: high band with depends on signal generation and reception technology
available.
 Less Signal Attenuation: transmission distance is greater, for 50km need a regeneration of
signal where as in coax and twisted-pair cable for each 5km need a regeneration.
 Immunity To Electromagnetic Interference: not affected by noise.
 Resistance To Corrosive Materials: glass is more resistant to corrosive materials than copper.
 Light Weight: much lighter
 Greater Immunity To Tapping: more immune to tapping than copper cables.

Disadvantages

 Unidirectional Light Propagation: for bi-directional two fibers are needed.

 Cost. Fiber-optic cable is expensive. Also, a laser light source can cost thousands of dollars,
compared to hundreds of dollars for electrical signal generators.
 Installation/maintenance: requires expertise
 Fragility. Glass fiber is more easily broken than wire, making it less useful for applications
where hardware portability is required.

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UNGUIDED MEDIA: WIRELESS

 Unguided media transport electromagnetic waves without using a physical connection

 This type of communication is referred to as wireless communication.
 Signals are normally broadcast through free space and thus are available to anyone who has
device capable of receiving them.

Unguided signals can travel from the source to destination in several ways:

Ground propagation. In ground propagation, radio waves travel through the lowest portion of the
atmosphere, hugging the earth. These low-frequency signals emanate in all directions from the
transmitting antenna and follow the curvature of the planet. The distance depends on the power in
the signal.

In Sky propagation, higher-frequency radio waves radiate upward into the ionosphere where they
are reflected back to earth. This type of transmission allows for greater distances with lower power
output.

In Line-of-Sight Propagation, very high frequency signals are transmitted in straight lines directly
from antenna to antenna.
Antennas must be directional, facing each other, tall enough or close enough.

Bands
The section of the electromagnetic spectrum defined as radio communication is divided into eight
ranges, called bands, each regulated by government authorities.

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Types of Wireless Transmission media

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1.Radio Waves
 Electromagnetic waves ranging in frequencies between 3 kHz and 1 GHz.
 Radio waves, for the most part, are omnidirectional. When an antenna transmits radio waves, they
are propagated in all directions.
 Radio waves, particularly those waves that propagate in the sky mode, can travel long distances.
 Radio waves, particularly those of low and medium frequencies, can penetrate walls.
 Radio waves use omnidirectional 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.
 The radio wave band is relatively narrow, just under 1 GHz.
 A low data rate for digital communications.

 Radio waves are used for multicast communications, such as radio and television, and paging
systems.

2 .Microwaves
 Electromagnetic waves having frequencies between 1GHz and 300 GHz.
 Microwaves are unidirectional.
 Microwave propagation is line-of-sight.
 Very high-frequency microwaves cannot penetrate walls.
 The microwave band is relatively wide, almost 299 GHz.
 A high data rate is possible.
 Microwaves use unidirectional antennas Dish Antenna and Horn Antenna that send out signals in
line of sight.

 Microwaves are used for unicast (one-to-one) communication such as cellular telephones,
satellite networks, and wireless LANs.

3.Infrared
 Infrared waves, with frequencies from 300 GHz to 400 THz (wavelengths from 1 mm to 770
nm), can be used for short-range communication.
 Infrared waves, having high frequencies, cannot penetrate walls.
 In addition, we cannot use infrared waves outside a building because the sun's rays contain
infrared waves that can interfere with the communication.
 The infrared band, almost 400 THz, has an excellent potential for data transmission.
 Such a wide bandwidth can be used to transmit digital data with a very high data rate.
 a data rate of 4 Mbps.
 The Infrared Data Association (IrDA), an association for sponsoring the use of infrared waves.

 Infrared signals can be used for short-range communication in a closed area using line-of-
sight propagation.

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Example Networks:
•Internet
•ARPANET

Internet and its history, evolution, and technology:

 1957:

o The Department of Defense’s Advanced Research Projects Agency founded, or ARPA (later
referred to as DARPA.)
 1962:
o An ARPA affiliated scientist proposed an “intergalactic network” of linked computers.
 1968:
o ARPA put out a request for proposals to actually build a network of computers.
o The first two computers were connected in 1969.
o One computer was located at UCLA, and a second at Stanford.
 1970:
o The Network Working Group finished the initial ARPAnet protocol called the Network
Control Protocol.
 1972:

o A new application of electronic mail, allowing messages to be sent and received was
developed.
 1973:
o ARPAnet expanded to Europe.
 1976:

o The first known use of the word “internet”, Specification of Internet Transmission Control
Program.
 1979:
o The Usenet bulletin board system allows the users on the ARPAnet network to easily
engage in “non-work” activities like message posts.
 1983:
o ARPAnet began using the TCP/IP protocol
o The Domain Name System (DNS) was established
 1985:

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o The First Domain Symbolics.com becomes the first ever registered domain.
 1990:

o A CERN scientist named Tim Berners-Lee develops Hyper-Text Markup Language,

or HTML.
 1993:

o University of Illinois develops Mosaic, an internet browser that allows users to display web
pages and images.
 1994:
o Netscape, the first commercial browser.

ADDRESSING:
Four levels of addresses are used in an internet employing the TCP/IP protocols: physical, logical, port, and
specific.

1. Physical (Link) Addresses

2. Logical (IP) Addresses
3. Port Addresses
4. Specific Addresses

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Physical Addresses
The physical address, also known as the link address, is the address of a node as defined by its LAN or
WAN.

 It is included in the frame used by the data link layer. It is the lowest-level address.
 The physical addresses have authority over the network (LAN or WAN).
 The size and format of these addresses vary depending on the network. For example, Ethernet uses
a 6-byte (48-bit) physical address that is imprinted on the network interface card (NIC).

Most local-area networks use a 48-bit (6-byte) physical address written as 12 hexadecimal digits; every
byte (2 hexadecimal digits) is separated by a colon, as shown below:

Logical (IP) Addresses

Logical addresses are necessary for universal communications that are independent of underlying
physical networks.

Physical addresses are not adequate in an internetwork environment where different networks can
have different address formats.

A universal addressing system is needed in which each host can be identified uniquely, regardless
of the underlying physical network. The logical addresses are designed for this purpose.

A logical address in the Internet is currently a 32-bit address that can uniquely define a host
connected to the Internet.
No two publicly addressed and visible hosts on the Internet can have the same IP address.

Port Addresses
The IP address and the physical address are necessary for a quantity of data to travel from a source
to the destination host. However, arrival at the destination host is not the final objective of data
communications on the Internet.
Today, computers are devices that can run multiple processes at the same time. The end objective
of Internet communication is a process communicating with another process.

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For example, computer A can communicate with computer C by using TELNET. At the same time,
computer A communicates with computer B by using the File Transfer Protocol (FTP). For these
processes to receive data simultaneously, we need a method to label the different processes.

In other words, they need addresses. In the TCP/IP architecture, the label assigned to a process is
called a port address.
A port address in TCP/IP is 16 bits in length.

Specific Addresses
Some applications have user-friendly addresses that are designed for that specific address.

Examples include the e-mail address (for example, forouzan@fhda.edu) and the Universal
Resource Locator (URL) (for example, www.mhhe.com).

The first defines the recipient of an e-mail; the second is used to find a document on the World
Wide Web.
These addresses, however, get changed to the corresponding port and logical addresses by the
sending computer.

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