Chapter2

Physical Layer

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 Cont . . .
• Protocol:-
 A network protocol is a set of established rules that
dictate how to format, transmit and receive data so that
computer network devices, from servers and routers to
endpoints can communicate, regardless of the
differences in their underlying platform,
infrastructures, designs or standards.
 Or a protocol is a software with series of instructions
which guideline and control the communication
process among the network element.

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 Cont . . .
• Protocol has three key elements:-
1) Syntax
2) Semantics
3) Timing

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 Cont . . .
• Syntax​: - refers to the structure or format of data and signal
levels. It indicates how to read the data in the form of bits or
fields. It also decides the order in which the data is presented
to the receiver.
Example:- A protocol might expect that the size of a
data packet will be 16 bits. In which, the first 4 bits are
the sender’s address, the next 4 bits are the receiver’s
address, the next 4 bits are the check-sum bits, and the
last 4 bits will contain the message. So, every
communication that is following that protocol should
send 16-bit data.

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 Cont . . .
• Semantics​:- refers to the interpretation or meaning of each
section of bits or fields. It specifies which field defines what
action. It defines how a particular section of bits or pattern
can be interpreted, and what action needs to be taken. It
includes control information for coordination and error
handling.
 Example:- It interprets whether the bits of address identify
the route to be taken or the destination of the message or
something else.

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 Cont . . .
• Timing​:- refers to two characteristics:-
1) when the data should be sent?
2) what will be the speed of sending and receiving the
data? It performs speed matching, sequencing and
flow control of the data items.
 Example:- A sender can send the data at a speed of
100 Mbps, but the receiver can consume it only at a
speed of 20 Mbps, then there may be data losses, or
the packets might get dropped. So, proper
synchronization must be there between a sender
and a receiver.

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 Switched Networks
• How to connect multiple devices to make one-to-one communication possible? Using which
topology? Or anything else?
 For one-to-one communication we can use mesh, bus or star topology but is
impractical and wasteful when applied to very large networks.
 The network would be idle most of the time, and it needs too much infrastructure.

• A better solution for one-to-one communication In a computer network is Switching .

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 Cont . . .
• A switched network consists of a series of
interlinked nodes, called switches.
• Switches are devices capable of creating
temporary connections between two or more
devices linked to the switch.
• In a switched network, some of these nodes are
connected to the end systems (computers or
telephones, for example), others are used only
for routing
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 Cont . . .

Switched network diagram

# Explore mesh & star topology, and compare & contrast with switched network?

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 Cont . . .
• There are three methods of network switching

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 Circuit-Switched Networks
• A circuit-switched network is made of a set of switches
connected by physical links, in which each link is
divided into N channels by using FDM or TDM.
• A connection between two stations is a dedicated path
made of one or more links. However, each connection
uses only one dedicated channel on each link.
• Circuit switching takes place at the physical layer. In
circuit switching, the resources need to be reserved
during the setup phase; the resources remain
dedicated for the entire duration of data transfer
phase until the teardown phase.
#Explore examples of circuit-switched networks?

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Cont . . .

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Cont . . .

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 Packet-Switched Networks
• Packet-switched is the type of network in
which relatively small units data called
packets are routed through network.
• 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.

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 Cont . . .
• Datagram network is a packet-switched network in which packets
are independent from each other. Datagram network is
connectionless packet switching. Some of connectionless protocols
are Ethernet, IP,UDP.
• Datagram stands for an independent data unit. Switching in the
Internet is done by using the datagram approach to packet
switching at the network layer.
• A Virtual-Circuit Network(VCN) is a cross between a circuit-
switched network and a datagram network. It has some
characteristics of both. It is connection-oriented packet switching.
Some of connection-oriented protocols are X.25, Frame
Relay(Switch), MPLS(Multiprotocol Label Switching), TCP.

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Cont . . .

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 Cont . . .
• Multiprotocol Label Switching(MPLS) is a routing technique in
telecommunications network that directs data from one node to the next
based on short path labels rather than long network addresses, thus
avoiding complex lookups in routing table and speeding traffic flows.
• The path labels identify virtual links(paths) between distant nodes rather
than endpoints.
• The benefits of MPLS are scalability, performance, better bandwidth
utilization, reduced network congestion, and better end-user experience.
MPLS does not provide encryption but it is VPN.

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Cont . . .

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 Cont . . .
• The virtual private network(VPN) working process is
1. User request will get encrypted at the user machine using the
VPN technology, which will be not readable by the
ISPs(Internet Service Providers) and sent to the remote VPN
server.
2. The remote VPN server decrypts client’s VPN request, and
then sends request(the decrypted request) to the actual
resource server.
3. The actual resource server processes the request and sends
the response back to remote VPN server.
4. The remote VPN server encrypts the actual server response
and sends the encrypted response to the user machine.
5. And Finally, the user machine side VPN technology decrypts
the response and display it in a user readable format.

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 Cont . . .
• IPsec stands for Internet Protocols Security, in which
data/packets are encrypted at the IP network layer,
while TLS/SSL is a technology behind https links.
• The data that travels over the VPN is not visible to,
or encapsulated from, the traffic of the underlying
network. It is virtual network over physical network.

# Explore what kind of VPN technology do the Ethiopian banks use?

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Cont . . .

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Cont . . .

Transport

Network/
Datagr Internet
am

Data-Link
VCN

CSN Physical

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 Cont . . .
• Packet-switching benefits
Efficient use of network bandwidth due to
flexibility in routing.
Cheaper to build as less equipment is needed.
Reliability; if packet doesn’t arrive as expected at
its destination, the receiving computer detects
one packet missing and request for it to be resent.
Offers automatic rerouting should any node on it
journey fail.

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Switchi Pros Cons Key Features
ng
Metho
d Cont . . .
Circuit- Offers a dedicated Dedicated Channels can Offers the
Switchi transmission cause delays because a capability of
ng channel that is channel is unavailable until storing
Netwo reserved until it is one side disconnects. Uses messages
rk disconnected a dedicated physical link temporarily to
(CSN) b/n the sending and reduce
receiving devices. network
congestion.
Packet Packets can be Packets can become lost Datagram
- routed around while taking alternative packets are
Switchi network routes to destination. independently
ng congestion. PSN sent, & take
Netwo makes efficient use different route,
rk of network while virtual
(PSN) bandwidth. circuit uses a
logical
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connection.
 Packet-Switch Structure
• A packet switch has four components. i.e.,
input ports, output ports, the routing
processor, and the switching fabric.

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 Cont . . .
• Input Ports
 An input port performs the physical and data link functions of
the packet switch. The bits are constructed from the received
signal. The packet is de-capsulated from the frame. Errors are
detected and corrected. The packet is now ready to be routed
by the network layer.
 In addition to a physical layer processor and a data link
processor, the input port has buffers (queues) to hold the
packet before it is directed to the switching fabric.

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 Cont . . .
• Routing Processor
 The routing processor performs the functions of the
network layer. The destination address is used to find the
address of the next hop and, at the same time, the output
port number from which the packet is sent out. This
activity is sometimes referred to as table lookup because
the routing processor searches the routing table.
• Switching Fabrics
 Switching fabrics in a packet switch moves the packet from
the input queue to the output queue. The speed with
which this is done affects the size of the input/output
queue and the overall delay in packet delivery.

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 Cont . . .
• Output Ports
 The output port performs the same functions as the input port,
but in the reverse order. First the outgoing packets are queued,
then the packet is encapsulated in a frame, and finally the
physical layer functions are applied to the frame to create the
signal to be sent on the line.

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