Computer Networks UNIT-8

Course : BCA
Semester : IV
Subject Code : BC 0048
Subject Name : Computer Networks
Unit number :8
Unit Title : Network Layer
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Unit-8 Network Layer
Network Layer
Objectives
After going through the presentation, you should be able to:
•Describe Design issues of Network layer .
•Discuss Principles of Routing
•Discuss Routing algorithms
•Explain congestion control
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Network Layer
Lecture outline
• Introduction
• Design issues of Network layer
• Principles of Routing
• Routing algorithms
• Congestion
• IP protocol (IPV4)
• Summary
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Introduction
The network layer is one of the most important layers in OSI seven layered
architectural model and in TCP/IP reference model.
It is responsible for end to end (source to destination) packet delivery,

whereas the data link layer is responsible for node to node (hop to hop) packet
delivery.
The Network layer performs network routing, flow control, network

segmentation/de-segmentation, and error control functions.
The network layer deals with transmitting information all the way from its
source to its destination - transmitting from anywhere, to anywhere.
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Design issues of Network layer
The important design issues pertaining to the network layer are as follows :
1 Nature of the service provided :

The network layer provides two well-defined classes of services, namely
connectionless and connection oriented services to the numerous nodes or
hosts communicating through subnet.
2. Internal organization :
Another important design issue in the network layer is the internal

organization of the subnet. The organization may be either a datagram
based that employs connectionless services or virtual circuit based that
employs a connection-oriented service.
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The important design issues : ( CONTINUED..)

3 Routing :
Routing of packets across the subnet is considered the most important
function of the network layer. Two basic types of routing static and dynamic .
Static routing is also referred to as non-adaptive and dynamic is also referred
to as Adaptive routing methods.
4. Congestion control :
An important problem that any subnet faces is the congestion because of
heavy traffic in the subnet than the load that it can handle. The subnet gets
increasingly loaded with packets causing increase in delay in the delivery of
packets, which can lead to more retransmission, and ultimately increasing
more and more traffic.
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The important design issues : ( CONTINUED..)
5. Internetworking :
A subnet can be considered as an interconnection of multiple subnets. The
network layer now has to perform a job of internetworking among the subnets.
Different subnets may use

Different routing and congestion control techniques,
Different packet length
Different frame format
Different data rates etc.
Hence internetworking is a very crucial job. For this purpose a separate sub-
layer has been created as the top part of the Network layer within an OSI
model in order to take care of internetworking task.
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Principles of Routing
The main function of the network layer is routing packets from the source
machine to the destination machine. In computer networking the term
routing refers to selecting paths in a computer network along which to
send data.
There are two types of routing algorithm depending up on the

communication subnet.
•Session routing: if subnet uses virtual circuits
•Forwarding: if subnet uses datagram
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Classes of routing algorithms :
Routing algorithms can be grouped into two major classes.
1. Static or Non-adaptive Routing algorithms
2. Dynamic or Adaptive Routing algorithms
Static or Non-adaptive Routing algorithms do not base their routing decisions

on measurements or estimates of the current traffic and topology. The choice
of the route to use to get from source to destination or from one node to other
is computed in advance
Dynamic or adaptive Routing algorithms in contrast change their routing

decisions to reflect changes in topology and usually the traffic as well.
Dynamic routing attempts to solve this problem by constructing routing tables
automatically.
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Properties of routing algorithms :
• Correctness
• Simplicity
• Robustness – since usually the entire network can’t be “re-booted”
• Stability – routing algorithm reaches equilibrium in a reasonable time
• Fairness, and
• Optimality
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Routing algorithms
Different routing Algorithms :
1. Shortest path algorithm :
It is the simplest and widely used algorithm.
It is a static algorithm.
2. Flooding :
This is also a static algorithm in which every incoming packet is sent out on
every outgoing line except the one it arrives on. This method usually
generates vast number of duplicate packets.
3. Distance vector routing :

It is a dynamic routing algorithm. Distance vector routing algorithm consists of
a data structure called a routing table. Distance vector algorithms use the
Bellman-Ford algorithm.
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Routing algorithms
Different routing Algorithms : (continued..)
4. Hierarchical routing :
When hierarchical routing is used, the routers are divided into regions. Each
router knows all details about how to route packets to destinations
within its own region. But it does not have any idea about internal
structure of other regions.
5. Link state routing :

When applying link-state algorithms, each node uses as its fundamental
data a map of the network in the form of a graph.
Using this map, each router then independently determines the least-cost
path from itself to every other node using a standard shortest paths
algorithm such as Dijkstra's algorithm.
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Congestion
When does congestion occurs ?
Network congestion occurs when a link or node is carrying so much data

that its quality of service deteriorates. Typical effects include queuing
delay, packet loss or the blocking of new connections.
Modern networks use congestion control and network congestion

avoidance techniques to try to avoid congestion collapse. These include:
exponential back off in protocols such as 802.11's CSMA/CA and the
original Ethernet, window reduction in TCP, and fair queuing in devices
such as routers.
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Congestion
Factors of congestion :
Congestion can be brought by many factors which are listed below:
• If all of a sudden, streams of packets begin to arrive from most of

the input lines and all need the same output line.
• If there is insufficient memory to hold all the packets that arrive,

then packets may be lost and increase traffic because of
retransmission of those dropped packets.
• Adding more memory also increases congestion.
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Congestion
Factors of congestion : (continued..)
• Slow processors also cause congestion. As queues can be build up,

even though there is excess line capacity.
• Low bandwidth lines also cause congestion.
• Finally congestion tends to feed upon itself and become worse.
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IP protocol (IPV4)
IP protocol :
An IP datagram consists of two parts
Header: 20 byte fixed

Optional: variable to a maximum of 40 bytes.
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IP protocol (IPV4)
• Version field: It is 4 bits long. It keeps track of which version of the

protocol the datagram belongs to. Here for IPV4 the value it takes is
4.
• IHL: It is 4 bits long. It is provided to tell how long the header is in

units of 32-bit words. The minimum value is 5 and maximum is 15,
which implies header to be maximum of 60 bytes..
• Type of service: It is 6 bits long. It allows the host to tell the subnet
what kind of service it wants.
• Total length: specifies length of the datagram including header and

data. The maximum value is 65535 bytes.
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IP protocol (IPV4)
• Identification field: It specifies the fragment number.
• DF: the data gram should not be further broken down into fragments.
• MF: all fragments except the last one have this bit set.
• Time to live field: is a counter used like the hop counter discussed in
flooding. It is used to limit the packet life time allowing a maximum of
255 sec.
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IP protocol (IPV4)
• Protocol: tells which of the protocols are used at Transport layer (TCP
or UDP)
• Header checksum: this checksum verifies the header only.
• Address field: it uses 32 bit addressing called an IP address.
• Option field: is variable length. It was provided to permit

experiments to try out new ideas.
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Summary
• The network layer provides service to transport layer.
• It can be based on the virtual circuits or datagram’s.
• Apart from this there are pother major task that are carried out by the
network layer such as routing.
• Routing is a very complex task and are of two types. One of which is static
routing, which does not take any changes in topology or traffic variations
into account for decisions.
• And the other is dynamic or adaptive, that considers the topology changes
and traffic variations into account for decisions.
• Finally another important task taken care is congestion control.
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Computer Networks UNIT-8

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Course : BCA

Subject Code : BC 0048

Subject Name : Computer Networks

Unit Title : Network Layer

After going through the presentation, you should be able to:

•Describe Design issues of Network layer .

•Discuss Principles of Routing

•Discuss Routing algorithms

•Explain congestion control

• Design issues of Network layer

It is responsible for end to end (source to destination) packet delivery,

The Network layer performs network routing, flow control, network

Design issues of Network layer

1 Nature of the service provided :

Another important design issue in the network layer is the internal

Design issues of Network layer

The important design issues : ( CONTINUED..)

Design issues of Network layer

Different subnets may use

There are two types of routing algorithm depending up on the

•Session routing: if subnet uses virtual circuits

•Forwarding: if subnet uses datagram

Static or Non-adaptive Routing algorithms do not base their routing decisions

Dynamic or adaptive Routing algorithms in contrast change their routing

• Robustness – since usually the entire network can’t be “re-booted”

• Stability – routing algorithm reaches equilibrium in a reasonable time

3. Distance vector routing :

Different routing Algorithms : (continued..)

5. Link state routing :

When does congestion occurs ?

Network congestion occurs when a link or node is carrying so much data

Modern networks use congestion control and network congestion

• If all of a sudden, streams of packets begin to arrive from most of

• If there is insufficient memory to hold all the packets that arrive,

• Adding more memory also increases congestion.

Factors of congestion : (continued..)

• Slow processors also cause congestion. As queues can be build up,

• Low bandwidth lines also cause congestion.

• Finally congestion tends to feed upon itself and become worse.

Header: 20 byte fixed

• Version field: It is 4 bits long. It keeps track of which version of the

• IHL: It is 4 bits long. It is provided to tell how long the header is in

• Total length: specifies length of the datagram including header and

• Identification field: It specifies the fragment number.

• Header checksum: this checksum verifies the header only.

• Address field: it uses 32 bit addressing called an IP address.

• Option field: is variable length. It was provided to permit

• It can be based on the virtual circuits or datagram’s.

• Finally another important task taken care is congestion control.

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