UNIT 1

Introduction: Network Hardware, Network Software, References Models. The Physical Layer: The
Theoretical Basis for Data Communication Guided Transmission Media, Communication Satellites, The public
Switched Telephone Network- The Local Loop: Modern ADSL, and wireless, Trunks and Multiplexing,
Switching
1. Introduction to Networks:
Network is a collection of nodes which are connected together for the purpose of sharing information or
data. The term ''computer network means a collection of autonomous computers interconnected by a single
technology. The connection need not be via a copper wire; fiber optics, microwaves, infrared, and
communication satellites can also be used. These Networks come in many sizes, shapes and forms.
There is considerable confusion in the literature between a computer network and a distributed system.
The key distinction is that in a distributed system is a collection of independent computers that appears to its
users as a single coherent system. A well-known example of a distributed system is the World Wide Web, in
which everything looks like a document (Web page).
In effect, a distributed system is a software system built on top of a network. The software gives it a high
degree of cohesiveness and transparency. Thus, the distinction between a network and a distributed system lies
with the software (especially the operating system), rather than with the hardware.

2. Uses of Computer Networks:

2.1 Business Applications:
The primary goal here is resource sharing, and the goal is to make all programs, equipment, and
especially data available to anyone on the network without regard to the physical location of the resource and
the user. An obvious and widespread example is having a group of office workers share a common printer.
The client and server machines are connected by a network as shown below:

This whole arrangement is called the client-server model It is applicable when the client and server are
both in the same building (e.g., belong to the same company), but also when they are far apart. For example,
when a person at home accesses a page on the World Wide Web, the same model is employed, with the remote

Web server being the server and the user's personal computer being the client. Under most conditions, one
server can handle a large number of clients.
The second goal of setting up a computer network is, it can provide a powerful communication
medium among employees in a company. Virtually every company that has two or more computers now has email (electronic mail), which employees generally use for a great deal of daily communication.
The third goal for increasingly many companies is doing business electronically with other companies,
especially suppliers and customers. For example, manufacturers of automobiles, aircraft, and computers, among
others, buy subsystems from a variety of suppliers and then assemble the parts. Using computer networks,
manufacturers can place orders electronically as needed.

The fourth goal that is starting to become more important is doing business with consumers over the
Internet. Airlines, bookstores, and music vendors have discovered that many customers like the convenience of
shopping from home. Consequently, many companies provide catalogs of their goods and services online and
take orders on-line. This sector is expected to grow quickly in the future. It is called e-commerce (electronic
commerce).

2.2 Home Applications:

Initially, for word processing and games, but in recent years that picture has changed radically. Probably the
biggest reason now is for Internet access. Some of the more popular uses of the Internet for home users are as
follows:
1.

Access to remote information.

2.

Person-to-person communication.

3.

Interactive entertainment.

4.

Electronic commerce.
Access to remote information comes in many forms. It can be surfing the World Wide Web for information
or just for fun. Information available includes the arts, business, cooking, government, health, history, hobbies,
recreation, science, sports, travel, and many others
Another type of person-to-person communication often goes by the name of peer-to-peer communication, to
distinguish it from the client-server model every person can communicate with one or more other people; there
is no fixed division into clients and servers.

Another area in which e-commerce is already happening is access to financial institutions. Many people
already pay their bills, manage their bank accounts, and handle their investments electronically.

2.3 Mobile Users:

Mobile computers, such as notebook computers and personal digital assistants (PDAs), are one of the
fastest-growing segments of the computer industry. Having a wired connection is impossible in cars and
airplanes so we are using of wireless networks. People on the road often want to use their portable electronic
equipment to send and receive telephone calls, faxes, and electronic mail, surf the Web, access remote files, and
log on to remote machines.
A first attempt was tiny wireless PDAs that could display stripped-down Web pages on their even tinier
screens. This system, called WAP 1.0 (Wireless Application Protocol) failed, mostly due to the microscopic
screens, low bandwidth, and poor service. But newer devices and services will be better with WAP 2.0.
One area in which these devices may excel is called m-commerce (mobile-commerce)

3. Network Hardware:
There are two types of transmission technology that are in widespread use. They are as follows:
1.

Broadcast links.

2.

Point-to-point links.
Broadcast networks have a single communication channel that is shared by all the machines on the
network. Short messages, called packets sent by any machine are received by all the others. An address field
within the 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.

Broadcast systems generally 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, something known as multicasting. When a packet is sent to a
certain group, it is delivered to all machines subscribing to that group.
In contrast, point-to-point networks consist of many connections between individual pairs of machines. To
go from the source to the destination, a packet on this type of network may have to first visit one or more
intermediate machines. The smaller, geographically localized networks tend to use broadcasting, whereas larger
networks usually are point-to-point. Point-to-point transmission with one sender and one receiver is sometimes
called unicasting.

3.1 Local Area Networks:

Local area networks, generally called LANs, are privately-owned networks within a single building or
campus of up to a few kilometers in size. They are widely used to connect personal computers and workstations
in company offices and factories to share resources (e.g., printers) and exchange information. LANs are
distinguished from other kinds of networks by three characteristics: (1) their size, (2) their transmission
technology, and (3) their topology.
Bus topology

Ring topology

Star topology

Tree topology

Mesh topology

Hybrid topology

3.2 Metropolitan Area Networks:

A metropolitan area network, or MAN, covers a city. The best-known example of a MAN is the cable
television network available in many cities. In these early systems, a large antenna was placed on top of a
nearby hill and signal was then piped to the subscribers' houses.

3.3 Wide Area Networks:

A wide area network, or WAN, spans a large geographical area, often a country or continent. It contains
a collection of machines (call these machines as hosts) used to run user applications. The hosts are connected by
a communication subnet. The hosts are owned by the customers (e.g., people's personal computers), whereas the
communication subnet is typically owned and operated by a telephone company or Internet service provider.
The job of the subnet is to carry messages from host to host, just as the telephone system carries words from
speaker to listener
In most wide area networks, the subnet consists of two distinct components: transmission lines and
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 three or more transmission
lines. When data arrive on an incoming line, the switching element must choose an outgoing line on which to
forward them. These switching computers have been called by various names in the past; the name router is
now most commonly used.

3.4 Wireless Networks:

Wireless networks can be divided into three main categories:
1.

System interconnection.

2.

Wireless LANs.

3.

Wireless WANs.

System interconnection is all about interconnecting the components of a computer using short-range
radio. Almost every computer has a monitor, keyboard, mouse, and printer connected to the main unit by cables.
In the simplest form, system interconnection networks use the master-slave paradigm. The master tells the
slaves what addresses to use, when they can broadcast, how long they can transmit, what frequencies they can
use, and so on.
The next step up in wireless networking is the wireless LANs. These are systems in which every
computer has a radio modem and antenna with which it can communicate with other systems.
The third kind of wireless network is used in wide area systems. The radio network used for cellular
telephones is an example of a low-bandwidth wireless system. This system has already gone through three
generations. The first generation was analog and for voice only. The second generation was digital and for voice
only. The third generation is digital and is for both voice and data

3. 5 Home Networks
The fundamental idea is that in the future most homes will be set up for networking. Every device in the
home will be capable of communicating with every other device, and all of them will be accessible over the
Internet. Some of the more obvious categories (with examples) are as follows:
1.

Computers (desktop PC, notebook PC, PDA, shared peripherals).

2.

Entertainment (TV, DVD, VCR, camcorder, camera, stereo, MP3).

3.

Telecommunications (telephone, mobile telephone, intercom, fax).

4.

Appliances (microwave, refrigerator, clock, furnace, airco, lights).

5.

Telemetry (utility meter, smoke/burglar alarm, thermostat, babycam).

3.6 Internetworks
Many networks exist in the world, often with different hardware and software. People connected to one
network often want to communicate with people attached to a different one. This collection of interconnected
networks is called an internetwork or internet. A common form of internet is a collection of LANs connected by
a WAN.

4. Network Software
The first computer networks were designed with the hardware as the main concern and the software as
an afterthought. Network software is now highly structured. We examine the software structuring technique in
some detail.
4.1 Protocol Hierarchies
To reduce the design complexity, most networks are organized as a stack of layers or levels, each one
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 a kind of virtual machine)
is to offer certain services to the higher layers.
Layer n on one machine carries on a conversation with layer n on another machine. The rules and
conventions used in this conversation are collectively known as the layer n protocol. Basically, a protocol is an
agreement between the communicating parties on how communication is to proceed. As an analogy, when a
woman is introduced to a man, she may choose to stick out her hand. He, in turn, may decide either to shake it
or kiss it.
A five-layer network is illustrated in figure below. The entities comprising the corresponding layers on
different machines are called peers. The peers may be processes, hardware devices, or even human beings.

Below layer 1 is the physical medium through which actual communication occurs. In the above figure,
virtual communication is shown by dotted lines and physical communication by solid lines. Between each pair
of adjacent layers is an interface. The interface defines which primitive operations and services the lower layer
makes available to the upper one.
A set of layers and protocols is called a network architecture. A list of protocols used by a certain
system, one protocol per layer, is called a protocol stack.

4.2 Design Issues for the Layers

Some of the key design issues that occur in computer networks are present in several layers.
Every layer needs a mechanism for identifying senders and receivers. As a consequence of having
multiple destinations, some form of addressing is needed in order to specify a specific destination.

In some systems, data only travel in one direction; in others, data can go both ways. The protocol must
also determine how many logical channels the connection corresponds to and what their priorities are. Many
networks provide at least two logical channels per connection, one for normal data and one for urgent data.
Error control is an important issue because physical communication circuits are not perfect. Many
error-detecting and error-correcting codes are known, but both ends of the connection must agree on which one
is being used. In addition, the receiver must have some way of telling the senders which messages have been
correctly received and which have not.
An issue that occurs at every level is how to keep a fast sender from swamping a slow receiver with
data. It is called flow control.
When it is inconvenient or expensive to set up a separate connection for each pair of communicating
processes, the underlying layer may decide to use the same connection for multiple, unrelated conversations. As
long as this multiplexing and demultiplexing is done transparently.
When there are multiple paths between source and destination, a route must be chosen. Then a decision
might have to take to select one of the available circuits based on the current traffic load. This topic is called
routing.

Connection-Oriented and Connectionless Services

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

Connection-oriented service is modeled after the telephone system. To talk to someone, you pick up
the phone, dial the number, talk, and then hang up. Similarly, to use a connection-oriented network service, the
service user first establishes a connection, uses the connection, and then releases the connection. The essential
aspect of a connection is that it acts like a tube: the sender pushes objects (bits) in at one end, and the receiver
takes them out at the other end.

Connectionless service is modeled after the postal system. Each message (letter) carries the full
destination address, and each one is routed through the system independent of all the others. Normally, when
two messages are sent to the same destination, the first one sent will be the first one to arrive. Usually, a reliable
service is implemented by having the receiver acknowledge the receipt of each message so the sender is sure
that it arrived. The acknowledgement process introduces overhead and delays.
Unreliable (meaning not acknowledged) connectionless service is often called datagram service, in
analogy with telegram service, which also does not return an acknowledgement to the sender.

Service Primitives
Write from textbook.

The Relationship of Services to Protocols

Services and protocols are distinct concepts, service is a set of primitives (operations) that a layer
provides to the layer above it. 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.
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.

In other words, services relate to the interfaces between layers, as illustrated in Figure In contrast,
protocols relate to the packets sent between peer entities on different machines.
Reference Models
In the next two sections we will discuss two important network architectures, the OSI reference model
and the TCP/IP reference model.
The OSI Reference Model
This model is based on a proposal developed by the International Standards Organization (ISO) as a first
step toward international standardization of the protocols used in the various layers (Day and Zimmermann,
1983). It was revised in 1995 (Day, 1995). The model is called the ISO OSI (Open Systems Interconnection)
Reference Model because it deals with connecting open systemsthat is, systems that are open for
communication with other systems.

The OSI model has seven layers.

The TCP/IP Reference Model

A Comparison of the OSI and TCP/IP Reference Models

The OSI and TCP/IP reference models have much in common. Both are based on the concept of a stack
of independent protocols. Also, the functionality of the layers is roughly similar. For example, in both models
the layers up through and including the transport layer are there to provide an end-to-end, network-independent
transport service to processes wishing to communicate.

Three concepts are central to the OSI model:

1.

Services.

2.

Interfaces.

3.

Protocols.

Probably the biggest contribution of the OSI model is to make the distinction between these three concepts
explicit. Each layer performs some services for the layer above it. The service definition tells what the layer
does, not how entities above it access it or how the layer works. It defines the layer's semantics.
A layer's interface tells the processes above it how to access it. It specifies what the parameters are and what
results to expect. It, too, says nothing about how the layer works inside.
Finally, the peer protocols used in a layer are the layer's own business. It can use any protocols it wants to, as
long as it gets the job done (i.e., provides the offered services). It can also change them at will without affecting
software in higher layers.

A Critique of the OSI Model and Protocols

Neither the OSI model and its protocols nor the TCP/IP model and its protocols are perfect. Quite a bit
of criticism can be, and has been, directed at both of them.
These lessons can be summarized as:
1.

Bad timing.

2.

Bad technology.

3.

Bad implementations.

4.

Bad politics.
The Theoretical Basis for Data Communication
Guided Transmission Media
Magnetic Media
Twisted Pair

Twisted pairs can be used for transmitting either analog or digital signals.
Coaxial Cable

Fiber Optics

Fiber Cables

Fiber Optic Networks

Comparison of Fiber Optics and Copper Wire

Communication Satellites

Pstn

Differences between circuit switchings and packet switching