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Chapter 2: Physical Layer
By: Bikash Shrestha
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By: Bikash Shrestha
Network Monitoring
• Delay
• Latency and
• Throughput
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By: Bikash Shrestha
Delays
• As a packet travels from one node to the subsequent node
along the path, the packet suffers from several different
types of delays at each node along the path.
• The most important of these delays are the
▫ Nodal processing delay /Processing Delay
▫ Queuing delay
▫ Transmission delay and
▫ Propagation delay
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Delays By: Bikash Shrestha
• Nodal processing delay /Processing Delay
▫ The time required to examine the packet's header and determine where
to direct the packet is part of the processing delay.
▫ The processing delay can also include other factors, such as the time
needed to check for bit-level errors in the packet that occurred in
transmitting the packet's bits from the upstream router to router
• Queuing delay
▫ After this nodal processing, the router directs the packet to the queue that
precedes the link to router B.
▫ At the queue, the packet experiences a queuing delay as it waits to be
transmitted onto the link.
▫ The queuing delay of a specific packet will depend on the number of other,
earlier-arriving packets that are queued and waiting for transmission
across the link; the delay of a given packet can vary significantly from
packet to packet.
▫ If the queue is empty and no other packet is currently being transmitted,
then our packet's queuing delay is zero
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By: Bikash Shrestha
Delays
• Transmission Delay
▫ The amount of time required to transmit all of the packet's bits into the
link.
• Propagation Delay
▫ The time required to send packet from one router to another router. The
bit propagates at the propagation speed of the link.
▫ The propagation speed depends on the physical medium of the link and
the distance from source to destination.
• Total Delay
▫ Total Delay dtotal = dproc + dqueue + dtrans + dprop
• If there are N identical nodes (routers) and all delays are the same at
each node
▫ Total Delay dtotal = N (dproc + dqueue + dtrans + dprop)
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By: Bikash Shrestha
Latency
• Measures of time delay experienced in a system
• One-way latency from source to destination plus the one-
way latency from the destination back to the source.
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By: Bikash Shrestha
Throughput
• Bandwidth defines as the net bit rate cannel capacity or the maximum
throughput of a channel.
• Where as throughput is the average rate of successful message delivery
over a communication channel.
• Measured in bits/second.
• Units
▫ Kbits/sec= 103 bps
▫ Mbits/sec= 106 bps
▫ Gbits/sec= 109 bps
▫ Tbits/sec= 1012 bps
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By: Bikash Shrestha
Sharing a Media: Multiplexing
• Multiplexing means combining different communication streams into just
one communication line
• Multiplexing in circuit switching
▫ Frequency-Division Multiplexing
▫ Time-Division Multiplexing
▫ Wavelength Division Multiplexing
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By: Bikash Shrestha
Sharing a Media: FDM
• FDM is a technique where multiple signals are transmitted
simultaneously over a single communication channel by
allocating different frequency bands to each signal.
• Each user/signal has its own frequency range.
• Signals are combined at the transmitter and separated at the
receiver.
• Requires bandwidth greater than the sum of individual signals.
• Applications:
• Radio broadcasting (FM/AM channels)
• Television transmission
• Telephone networks
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By: Bikash Shrestha
Sharing a Media: FDM
• Each signal is modulated with a different carrier frequency.
• All signals are combined to form a single composite signal.
• Composite signal is sent over the medium.
• The receiver separates signals using band-pass filters for each
frequency band.
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By: Bikash Shrestha
Sharing a Media: Multiplexing
• TDM is a technique where multiple signals share the same
frequency channel by taking turns in different time slots.
• Each signal is assigned a specific time slot.
• Transmission occurs one after another in a repeating cycle.
• Each input signal is given a time slot in a repeating frame.
• Signals are combined into a single serial stream.
• The combined signal travels over a single communication
channel.
• The receiver separates the signals by extracting their
respective time slots.
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By: Bikash Shrestha
Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM)
•Each signal uses a unique wavelength, avoiding interference.
•Increases bandwidth capacity of a single fiber.
•Types:
•CWDM (Coarse WDM): Fewer channels, wider spacing, lower cost.
•DWDM (Dense WDM): Many channels, tighter spacing, higher capacity.
•Advantages:
•Efficient use of fiber infrastructure.
•Supports high-speed and long-distance communication.
•Scalable and flexible for network expansion.
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By: Bikash Shrestha
Unguided Media
•Also called Wireless Media
•Signals are transmitted as electromagnetic waves
•No physical conductor required
•Antennas are used for TX and RX
•Advantages:
▫ Mobility
▫ Easy deployment
▫ Cost-effective for large areas
•Disadvantages:
▫ Interference
▫ Security issues
▫ Weather effects (some bands)
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By: Bikash Shrestha
Electromagnetic Spectrum
• Range of frequencies used for wireless communication
Medium Frequency Range
Radio Waves 3 kHz – 1 GHz
Microwaves 1 GHz – 300 GHz
Infrared 300 GHz – 400 THz
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By: Bikash Shrestha
Radio Waves • Characteristics
• Introduction • Omnidirectional transmission
• Low-frequency electromagnetic • Large coverage area
waves • Lower data rates
• Can travel long distances • High interference and noise
• Can penetrate buildings and • 3 kHz to 1 GHz
obstacles
Applications
• Propagation Types: • AM / FM radio broadcasting
• Ground Wave • Television broadcasting
• Sky Wave • Mobile communication (2G)
• Line-of-Sight • Maritime and aviation communication
Limitations of Radio Waves
• Limited bandwidth
• Susceptible to noise
• Less secure
• Spectrum congestion
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By: Bikash Shrestha
Microwaves • Characteristics
• High-frequency radio waves • Highly directional
• Directional transmission • High data rates
• Requires Line of Sight (LOS) • Narrow beam width
• Frequency Range: • Less interference compared to
radio waves
• 1 GHz – 300 GHz
Applications
• Cellular networks (3G/4G/5G
backhaul)
• Satellite communication
• Wi-Fi (2.4 GHz, 5 GHz)
• Microwave links between towers
Limitations of Microwaves
• Strict LOS requirement
• Affected by rain (rain attenuation)
• Alignment critical
• Higher setup cost
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By: Bikash Shrestha
Infrared
• Characteristics
• Line-of-sight communication
• Secure (confined within room)
• Introduction • Very high data rate
• Very high-frequency • Short distance
electromagnetic waves
• Short-range communication Applications
• Cannot penetrate walls • Remote controls
• Short-range data transfer
• Frequency Range:
• Wireless keyboards and mice
• 300 GHz – 400 THz • Infrared sensors
Limitations of Infrared
• Very short range
• Blocked by obstacles
• Not suitable for outdoor communication
• Sunlight interference
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By: Bikash Shrestha
Network Cables
• Coaxial
▫ Thick Ethernet
▫ Thin Ethernet
• Twisted pairs
▫ Shielded twisted pair
▫ Unshielded twisted pair
• Fiber Optics
▫ Single Mode
▫ Multi Mode
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By: Bikash Shrestha
Coaxial
• Coaxial cable is a type of shielded cable.
• It consists of a solid copper conductor surrounded by
insulating material and a braided conductive shield.
• In LAN applications, the braided shielding is electrically
grounded to protect the inner conductor from external
electrical noise.
• The shield also keeps the transmitted signal confined to the
cable, which reduces signal loss.
• This helps make coaxial cable less noisy than other types of
copper cabling, but also makes it more expensive.
• The need to ground the shielding and the bulky size of
coaxial cable make it more difficult to install than other
copper cabling.
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Coaxial Cable Type
By: Bikash Shrestha
• Thick Ethernet:
Thick Ethernet is also called 10b5 cable which is of 50 ohm. 10
represents the data rate transfer which is 10Mbps and the last number 5
represents the maximum length which is 500m with out using the
repeaters. You can extend the cable by using the repeaters.
Thin Ethernet:
Thick Ethernet is also called 10b2 cable which is of 50 ohm. 10
represents the data rate transfer which is 10Mbps and the last number 2
represents the maximum length which is 185m with out using the
repeaters. You can extend the cable by using the repeaters.
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By: Bikash Shrestha
Twisted pairs
• When wires are twisted together, twists reduce the cable’s
sensitivity to outside EMI. Twisted pair cables are
constructed of multiple pairs of twisted cables contained by
common jackets.
• Twisted pair of two types
▫ Shielded twisted pair
▫ Unshielded twisted pair
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By: Bikash Shrestha
Twisted Pair (Copper Ethernet) Standards
Standard Cable Type Max Speed Max Distance
10BASE-T Cat3 10 Mbps (Ethernet) 100 m
100BASE-TX Cat5 100 Mbps (Fast Ethernet) 100 m
1000BASE-T Cat5e / Cat6 1 Gbps (Gigabit Ethernet) 100 m
10GBASE-T Cat6a 10 Gbps 100 m
25GBASE-T Cat8 25 Gbps 30 m
40GBASE-T Cat8 40 Gbps 30 m
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By: Bikash Shrestha
Unshielded twisted pair(UTP)
• UTP contains no shielding and is more susceptible to external noise but is
the most frequently used because it is inexpensive and easier to install.
• The cable has four pairs of wires inside the jacket.
• Each pair is twisted with different number of twists per inch to help
eliminate interface from adjacent pairs and other electrical devices.
• The higher the twist per inch higher the supported transmission.
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By: Bikash Shrestha
Twist in UTP
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By: Bikash Shrestha
UTP Cable Color Coding
• Cabling Standards (used for UTP):
• EIA/TIA 568 A color coding –g G o B b O br Br
• EIA/TIA 568 B color coding –o O g B b G br Br
NOTE: Where g- light green or Stripped green (wire)
G-Solid Green (wire)
Similar For other wire as well.
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By: Bikash Shrestha
UTP cable Types
• Straight through Connection: A-A or B-B setting, used to
connect Different device, e.g. hub to computer.
• Cross-over Connection: A-B or B-A setting, used to connect
same device, e.g. computer to computer.
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By: Bikash Shrestha
Shielded Twisted Pair (STP)
• STP cable contains an outer conductive shield that is
electrically grounded to insulate the signals from external
electrical noise.
• STP also uses inner foil shields to protect each wire pair from
noise generated by the other pairs.
• Thus Shielded twisted pair is suitable for the environments
with electrical interference; however, the extra shielding can
make the cables quite bulky as well as bit expensive.
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By: Bikash Shrestha
Fiber Optic Cable
• Fiber-optic cable increases and decreases the intensity of light to
represent binary ones and zeros in data transmissions.
• The strength of a light signal does not diminish as much as the strength
of an electrical signal does over an identical run length.
• Optical signals are not affected by electrical noise and optical fiber does
not need to be grounded unless the jacket contains a metal or a
metalized strength member.
• Therefore, optical fiber is often used between buildings and between
floors within a building.
• As costs decrease and speeds increase, optical fiber may become a more
commonly used LAN media.
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By: Bikash Shrestha
Fiber Optic Cable
• Led or laser used as the light source in the Optical fiber for
transmitting the optical fiber.
• Signals received by photodiodes, solid state devices that
detect the variations in light intensity.
• Bandwidth in the range of the *** Gbps
• Types:
▫ Single Mode: for longer distance and LASER is used as light
source.
▫ Multi Mode: for shorter distance and LED is used as light
source.
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Fiber Optic Cable
By: Bikash Shrestha
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By: Bikash Shrestha
Fiber Optic Cable
• Core:
▫ Carries the light signals that transmit data.
▫ Made of glass or plastic, very thin.
• Cladding:
▫ Reflects light back into the core using total internal reflection,
keeping the signal within the core.
• Buffer:
▫ Provides mechanical protection to the core and cladding,
preventing physical damage and stress.
• Jacket (Typically PVC):
▫ Outer protective layer that shields the cable from moisture,
chemicals, and physical damage.
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By: Bikash Shrestha
Fiber Optic Cable standards
• SMF (Single-Mode Fiber): Long-distance, narrow core, uses 1310 nm or
1550 nm lasers.
• MMF (Multi-Mode Fiber): Short-distance, wide core, cheaper transceivers,
uses 850 nm lasers.
• LR / ER / ZR:
▫ LR = Long Reach (~10 km)
▫ ER = Extended Reach (~40 km)
▫ ZR = Very Long Reach (~80–120 km)
• SR / SR4: Short-range for data centers, parallel fibers (4 lanes) for
40G/100G, 220–550 m
• e.g.
▫ 10GBASE-LR/ER/ZR, 40BASE-LR4/ER4/ZR4, 100BASE-LR4/ER4/ZR4
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By: Bikash Shrestha
Line-of-sight propagation
• Line-of-sight propagation refers to electro-magnetic radiation or
acoustic wave propagation.
• Electromagnetic transmission includes light emissions traveling in a
straight line.
• The rays or waves may be diffracted, refracted, reflected, or absorbed
by atmosphere and obstructions with material and generally cannot
travel over the horizon or behind obstacles.
• In wireless channels, not only does radiation loss occur, but also one
antenna may not "see" another because of the earth's curvature.
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By: Bikash Shrestha
Multiplexing
• In telecommunications and computer networks, multiplexing is a method by
which multiple analog message signals or digital data streams are combined
into one signal over a shared medium.
• The aim is to share an expensive resource. For example, in
telecommunications, several telephone calls may be carried using one wire.
Multiplexing originated in telegraphy, and is now widely applied in
communications.
• The multiplexed signal is transmitted over a communication channel, which
may be a physical transmission medium.
• The multiplexing divides the capacity of the high-level communication channel
into several low-level logical channels, one for each message signal or data
stream to be transferred.
• A reverse process, known as demultiplexing, can extract the original channels
on the receiver side.
• A device that performs the multiplexing is called a multiplexer (MUX), and a
device that performs the reverse process is called a demultiplexer (DEMUX).
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By: Bikash Shrestha
Switching
• Long distance transmission is typically done over a network of switched
nodes
• Nodes not concerned with content of data
• End devices are stations
• Computer, terminal, phone, etc.
• A collection of nodes and connections is a communications network
• Data routed by being switched from node to node
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By: Bikash Shrestha
Nodes
• Nodes may connect to other nodes only, or to stations and other nodes
• Node to node links usually multiplexed
• Network is usually partially connected
• Some redundant connections are desirable for reliability
• Two different switching technologies
▫ Circuit switching
▫ Packet switching
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By: Bikash Shrestha
Telecommunication Networks
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By: Bikash Shrestha
Telecoms Components
• Subscriber
▫ Devices attached to network
• Subscriber line
▫ Local Loop
▫ Subscriber loop
▫ Connection to network
▫ Few km up to few tens of km
• Exchange
▫ Switching centers
▫ End office - supports subscribers
• Trunks
▫ Branches between exchanges
▫ Multiplexed
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By: Bikash Shrestha
Circuit Establishment
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Telecommunication Networks
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Circuit Switching
• Dedicated communication path between two stations
• Three phases
▫ Establish
▫ Transfer
▫ Disconnect
• Must have switching capacity and channel capacity to establish
connection
• Must have intelligence to work out routing
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By: Bikash Shrestha
Circuit Switching Example
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By: Bikash Shrestha
Circuit Switching
• Switches are set up at the beginning of the connection and maintained
throughout the connection
• Network resources reserved and dedicated from sender to receiver
• Expensive ( Charging Based per minute)
• Need actual connection
• Low Latency
• Each Packet follows same path.
• Bandwidth available is fixed.
• Not a very efficient strategy.
A connection “holds” a physical line even during “silence” periods (when
there is nothing to transmit)
• Developed for voice traffic (phone)
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By: Bikash Shrestha
Packet Switching Principles
• Circuit switching designed for voice
▫ Resources dedicated to a particular call
▫ Much of the time a data connection is idle
▫ Data rate is fixed
Both ends must operate at the same rate
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By: Bikash Shrestha
Basic Operation
• Data transmitted in small packets
▫ Typically 1000 octets
▫ Longer messages split into series of packets
▫ Each packet contains a portion of user data plus some control info
• Control info
▫ Routing (addressing) info
• Packets are received, stored briefly (buffered) and past on to the next
node
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By: Bikash Shrestha
Use of Packets
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By: Bikash Shrestha
Advantages
• Line efficiency
▫ Single node to node link can be shared by many packets over time
▫ Packets queued and transmitted as fast as possible
• Data rate conversion
▫ Each station connects to the local node at its own speed
▫ Nodes buffer data if required to equalize rates
• Packets are accepted even when network is busy
▫ Delivery may slow down
• Priorities can be used
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By: Bikash Shrestha
Packet Switching Techniques
• Packets handled in two ways
▫ Datagram
▫ Virtual circuit
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By: Bikash Shrestha
Datagram
• Packets are broken down in to smaller size.(MTU)
• Each packet treated independently.
• Packets can take any practical route.
• Packets may arrive out of order.
• Packets may go missing.
• Up to receiver to re-order packets and recover from missing packets.
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Datagram
By: Bikash Shrestha
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By: Bikash Shrestha
Virtual Circuit
• Preplanned route established before any packets sent
• Call request and call accept packets establish connection (handshake)
• Each packet contains a virtual circuit identifier instead of destination
address
• No routing decisions required for each packet
• Clear request to drop circuit
• Not a dedicated path
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Virtual Circuit By: Bikash Shrestha
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By: Bikash Shrestha
Virtual Circuit
• Suppose host A requests that the network establish a VC between itself and
host B. Suppose that the network chooses the path A - PS1 - PS2 - B and
assigns VC numbers 12, 22, 32 to the three links in this path. Then, when a
packet as part of this VC leaves host A, the value in the VC number field is 12;
when it leaves PS1, the value is 22; and when it leaves PS2, the value is 32.
The numbers next to the links of PS1 are the interface numbers
Incoming Incoming Outgoing Outgoing
Interface VC# Interface VC#
1 12 3 22
2 63 1 18
3 7 2 17
1 97 3 77
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By: Bikash Shrestha
Virtual Circuits vs Datagram
• Virtual circuits
▫ Network can provide sequencing and error control
▫ Packets are forwarded more quickly
No routing decisions to make
▫ Less reliable
Loss of a node looses all circuits through that node
• Datagram
▫ No call setup phase
Better if few packets
▫ More flexible
Routing can be used to avoid congested parts of the network
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By: Bikash Shrestha
Circuit Switching VS Packet Switching
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By: Bikash Shrestha
Questions ?
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By: Bikash Shrestha
Thank you