Performance metrics

• Bandwidth or throughput
– The bandwidth of a network is given by the
number of bits that can be transmitted over the
network in a certain period of time.
• Latency
– Latency = Propagation + Transmit +
Queue + Process
– Propagation = Distance/Speed of Light
– Transmit = Size/Bandwidth
Problem
• Consider two hosts, A and B, connected by a single link of
rate R bps. Suppose that the two hosts are separated by m
meters, and suppose the propagation speed along the link is s
meters/sec. Host A is to send a packet of size L bits to Host B.
• a. Ignoring processing and queuing delay, obtain an
expression for the end-to-end delay.
• b. Suppose s=2.5*10^8 meters/sec, L=120 bits, and
R=56kbps. Find the distance m so that the propagation delay
equals transmission delay.
Circuit switching problem
• Find the total delay in sending x bits of user data over a k-hop
path in a circuit switched networks. Consider lossless circuit
switching networks, the circuit setup time is s seconds, the
propagation delay is d second per hop, each packet contains p
data bits, and the bit rate of the line on each hop is b bps.
• Over the circuit-switched network, the total delay is due to
three parts: the setup time s, the total propagation delay kd,
and the transmission time x/b. So,

• Total time delay = s+kd+x/b

Problem
• 4 hops (point-to-point links) between two terminals
nodes; Transmission rate 9600 bps on all links; 1ms
per-hop signal propagation delay. 1 sec. Call set-up
time for circuit switched connection across 4 hops.
Message size 5000 bits, and all other parameters
the same.
Solution
• 5000 bits at 9600 bps = 0.521 sec. message duration
• total propagation delay 0.004 sec.
• Total time for message is 0.521 + 0.004 + 1 = 1.525
sec.
• Message size 5000 bits, packet size 1024 bits, all other
parameters the same.
— R - channel capacity, l - length of message bits
k - number of hops, x - total message length, distance
between the hosts, L – packet size
• Packet switching
• Total delay = (x/l+(k-1))L/R + kd
• Number of packets = 5 (1024 - 24 = 1000 bits of message data,
5*1000=5000)
• Transmission time = 1024/9600 = 0.107 sec.
• Total delay = 0.107(5+3)+(4*0.001)
= 0.860 sec
• Message size 5000 bits, packet size 512
bits, other parameters the same.

• Circuit switching
• Packet switching
Problem
(a) What are “loss-intolerant” applications? Give an example of a loss-
intolerant Internet application.
• Applications that don’t tolerate loss of data. Example; Email, File transfer,
Web.
(b) What are “delay intolerant” applications? Give an example of a delay-
intolerant Internet application.
• Applications that don’t tolerate delay in data delivery. Example; Internet
telephony, video conferencing, etc.
(c) Based on your comparative analysis in Question 1, does the Internet
adequately support loss-intolerant applications? And delay-intolerant
applications? Explain. (2pts)
• The Internet was designed to support loss-intolerant applications but was
not designed to support delay-intolerant applications properly.
• This is because, the Internet, as a packet switching network, cannot
provide delay bound guarantees.
Problem
• Question 3 (6 points) Consider an Internet application running on two
Internet hosts, Host1 and Host2, which are communicating using a path
through router R. Assume that the average service time at R is 10 ms,
packets are 2,000 bits long, and the propagation delay between Host1 and
Host2 is 150ms.
• (a) Based on the latency expression we covered in class, how is service
time defined?
• Write the mathematical expression for it explaining its terms.
The service delay is the sum of the delays for processing and queueing.
• Processing: checking bit errors, determining output link
• Queueing: waiting for output link availability
• Total delay = processing + queue + transmission + propagation
• Service time = processing + queue
Problem
• (b) If the application running on Host1 and Host2 cannot
tolerate latencies over 200ms, what is the minimum capacity
of the link connecting the two hosts? Show your work.

• 10ms service + 150ms propagation = 160ms -> 40ms for

transmission
• Transmission of 2000 bits in 40ms -> 2000/.04 = 50 kb/s
Problem
• A restaurant holds about 60 people, and the average person
will be in there about 2 hours. On average, how many
customers arrive per hour? If the restaurant queue has 30
people waiting to be seated, how long does each person have
to wait for a table?
Rate = 60 customers / 2 hrs = 30 customers / hr
Waiting time = 1 hour
 Problem
• Calculate the latency (total delay from first bit sent to last bit received)
for the following:
• Sender and receiver are separated by two 1-Gigabit/s links and a single
switch. The packet size is 5000 bits, and each link introduces a
propagation delay of 10 microseconds. Assume that the switch begins
forwarding immediately after it has received the last bit of the packet
and the queues are empty.
• For each link, it takes 1 Gigabits/5 Kbits = 5 microseconds to transmit
the packet on the link, after which it takes an additional 10 microseconds
for the last bit to propagate across the link. Thus, with only one switch
that starts forwarding only after receiving the whole packet, the total
transfer delay is two transmit delays + two propagation delays = 30
microseconds.
• Same as (A) with three switches and four links.
• For three switched and thus four links, the total delta
is four transmit delays + four propagation delays =
60 microseconds.
• Circuit switching and packet switching are two different ways
of sharing links in a communication network. Indicate True or
False for each choice.
• Switches in a circuit-switched network process connection
establishment and tear-down messages, whereas switches in a
packet-switched network do not.
• Yes
• Under some circumstances, a circuit-switched network may
prevent some senders from starting new conversations.
• True.
• Once a connection is correctly established, a switch in a
circuit-switched network can forward data correctly without
requiring data frames to include a destination address.
• True
• Unlike in packet switching, switches in circuit-switched
networks do not need any information about the network
topology to function correctly.
• False.