Computer Networking Course Notes

Contents

1 Computer Networks and the Internet 1

1.1 What Is the Internet? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 The Network Edge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.3 The Network Core . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.4 Delay, Loss, and Throughput in Packet-Switched Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
 Chapter 1 Computer Networks and the Internet

Introduction
h What is Internet h

h What Is a Protocol h Notation and Structure for Basic Queueing

h Systems
h h Little’s theorem
h

1.1 What Is the Internet?

1.1.1 A Nuts-and-Bolts Description

1.1.1.1 Basic Terminology and Concepts
host
end systems
communication links
packet switches
transmission rate
packets
routers
link-layer switches
route
path
Internet Service Providers (ISPs)
protocols
Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)
Internet Protocol (IP)
TCP/IP
Internet standards
requests for comments (RFCs).

1.1.1.2 A Nuts-and-Bolts Description of Internet

A “network of networks”.
A collection of hardware and software components executing protocols that define the format and the
order of messages exchanged between two or more communicating entities, as well as the actions taken
on the transmission and/or receipt of a message or other event.
A collection of billions of computing devices, and packet switches interconnected by links.
 1.2 The Network Edge

1.1.2 A Services Description

1.1.2.1 Basic Terminology and Concepts
distributed applications
socket interface

1.1.2.2 A Services Description of Internet

An infrastructure that provides services to applications.
A place people go for information, entertainment, and to communicate with people.
A platform for building network applications.

1.1.3 What Is a Protocol?

1.1.3.1 Definition 1
Protocol defines the format and the order of messages exchanged between two or more communicating
entities, as well as the actions taken on the transmission and/or receipt of a message or other event.

1.1.3.2 Definition 2
Protocols is a set of rules that specify the format and meaning of messages exchanged between computers
across a network.

1.1.3.3 Definition 3
Protocols is a set of rules that governs communication. It determines what is communicated, how it is
communicated and when it is communicated. The key elements of a protocol are syntax, semantics and
timing.

1.2 The Network Edge

1.2.1 Access Networks

1.2.1.1 Basic Terminology and Concepts
clients
servers
data centers
digital subscriber line (DSL)
cable Internet access
fiber to the home (FTTH)
5G fixed wireless

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 1.3 The Network Core

1.2.2 Physical Media

1.2.2.1 Basic Terminology and Concepts
physical medium
guided media
unguided media
unshielded twisted pair (UTP)
twisted-pair copper wire
coaxial cable
shared medium
fiber optics
terrestrial radio channels
satellite radio channels
geostationary satellites
low-earth orbiting (LEO) satellites

1.3 The Network Core

1.3.1 Packet Switching

1.3.1.1 Basic Terminology and Concepts
messages
packets
packet switches
routers
link-layer switches
store-and-forward transmission
output buffer
output queue
queuing delays
packet loss
forwarding table
routing protocols

1.3.2 Circuit Switching

1.3.2.1 Basic Terminology and Concepts
circuit
end-to-end connection
frequency-division multiplexing(FDM)
time-division multiplexing (TDM)
bandwidth
silent periods

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 1.4 Delay, Loss, and Throughput in Packet-Switched Networks

1.3.2.2 Packet Switching and Circuit Switching

In circuit-switched networks, the resources needed along a path (buffers, link transmission rate) to provide
for communication between the end systems are reserved for the duration of the communication session
between the end systems
In packet-switched networks, these resources are not reserved; a session’s messages use the resources on
demand and, as a consequence, may have to wait (that is, queue) for access to a communication link

1.3.3 A Network of Networks

1.3.3.1 Basic Terminology and Concepts
customer
provider
regional ISP
tier-1 ISPs
PoP
multi-home
peer
Internet Exchange Point (IXP)
content-provider networks

1.4 Delay, Loss, and Throughput in Packet-Switched Networks

1.4.1 Basic Terminology and Concepts

nodal processing delay
queuing delay
transmission delay
propagation delay
traffic intensity
drop
lost
instantaneous throughput
average throughput
bottleneck link

1.4.2 Types of Delay

As a packet travels from one node (host or router) to the subsequent node (host or router) along this path,
the packet suffers from several types of delays at each node along the path. The most important of these delays
are the nodal processing delay, queuing delay, transmission delay, and propagation delay; together, these
delays accumulate to give a total nodal delay.

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 1.4 Delay, Loss, and Throughput in Packet-Switched Networks

Figure 1.1: The main ingredients of a probabilistic model

1.4.2.1 Processing Delay

1.4.3 Network Queues and Delay Analysis
Queueing models offer qualitative insights into the performance of communication networks and quantita-
tive estimations of average packet delay. In many networking instances, a single buffer forms a queue of packets.
A single queue of packets is a notion of packet accumulation at a certain router or even at an entire network.
In the context of data communication, a queueing buffer is a physical system that stores incoming packets, and
a server can be viewed as a switch or a similar mechanism to process and route packets to the desired ports
or destinations. A queueing system generally consists of a queueing buffer of various sizes and one or more
identical servers. This chapter focuses on delay analysis of single queueing units and queueing networks.

1.4.4 Notation and Structure for Basic Queueing Systems

Before we plunge headlong into a step-by-step development of queueing theory from its elementary notions
to its intermediate and then finally to some advanced material, it is important first that we understand the basic
structure of queues.
It is our purpose in this section to define some notation, both symbolic and graphic, and then to introduce one
of the basic stochastic processes that we find in queueing systems. Furthermore, we will derive a simple but
significant result, which relates some first moments of importance in these systems. In so doing, we will be in
a position to define the quantities and processes that we will spend many pages studying later in the text.

The total number of packets in the system includes those in the buffer and the packet that is being trans-
mitted. So, N =100+1.
Because N = a · d , so (100 + 1) = a ∗ ( queuing delay + transmission delay ). That is,
101 = a ∗ (0.02 + 1/100) = a ∗ (0.02 + 0.01). Thus, a=3367 packets/sec.

pk−1 (t) · λ∆t(1 − µ∆t) ∼

= pk−1 (t) · λ∆t