Addressing:

Four levels of addresses are used in an internet employing the TCP/IP protocols:
physical (link) addresses, logical (IP) addresses, port addresses, and specific
addresses.
Physical Addresses:

The physical address, also known as the link address, is the address of a node as
defined by its LAN or WAN. It is included in the frame used by the data link layer.
It is the lowest-level address.
The physical addresses have authority over the network (LAN or WAN). The size
and format of these addresses vary depending on the network. For example, Ethernet
uses a 6-byte (48-bit) physical address that is imprinted on the network interface
card (NIC). LocalTalk (Apple), however, has a I-byte dynamic address that changes
each time the station comes up.
Assume a node with physical address 10 sends a frame to a node with physical
address 87. The two nodes are connected by a link (bus topology LAN). At the data
link layer, this frame contains physical (link) addresses in the header. These are the
only addresses needed. The rest of the header contains other information needed at
this level. The trailer usually contains extra bits needed for error detection. As the
figure shows, the computer with physical address 10 is the sender, and the computer
with physical address 87 is the receiver. The data link layer at the sender receives
data from an upper layer. It encapsulates the data in a frame, adding a header and a
trailer. The header, among other pieces of information, carries the receiver and the
sender physical (link) addresses. Note that in most data link protocols, the
destination address, 87 in this case, comes before the source address (10 in this case).
We have shown a bus topology for an isolated LAN. In a bus topology, the frame is
propagated in both directions (left and right). The frame propagated to the left dies
when it reaches the end of the cable if the cable end is terminated appropriately. The
frame propagated to the right is sent to every station on the network. Each station
with a physical addresses other than 87 drops the frame because the destination
address in the frame does not match its own physical address. The intended
destination computer, however, finds a match between the destination address in the
frame and its own physical address. The frame is checked, the header and trailer are
dropped, and the data part is decapsulated and delivered to the upper layer.
Local-area networks use a 48-bit (6-byte) physical address written as 12
hexadecimal digits; every byte (2 hexadecimal digits) is separated by a colon, as
shown below:
07:01:02:01 :2C:4B
A 6-byte (12 hexadecimal digits) physical address

Logical Addresses:

Logical addresses are necessary for universal communications that are independent
of underlying physical networks. Physical addresses are not adequate in an
internetwork environment where different networks can have different address
formats. A universal addressing system is needed in which each host can be
identified uniquely, regardless of the underlying physical network.
The logical addresses are designed for this purpose. A logical address in the Internet
is currently a 32-bit address that can uniquely define a host connected to the Internet.
No two publicly addressed and visible hosts on the Internet can have the same IP
address.
Figure shows a part of an internet with two routers connecting three LANs. Each
device (computer or router) has a pair of addresses (logical and physical) for each
connection. In this case, each computer is connected to only one link and therefore
has only one pair of addresses. Each router, however, is connected to three networks
(only two are shown in the figure). So each router has three pairs of addresses, one
for each connection. Although it may obvious that each router must have a separate
physical address for each connection, it may not be obvious why it needs a logical
address for each connection.

The computer with logical address A and physical address 10 needs to send a packet
to the computer with logical address P and physical address 95. We use letters to
show the logical addresses and numbers for physical addresses, but note that both
are actually numbers. The sender encapsulates its data in a packet at the network
layer and adds two logical addresses (A and P). Note that in most protocols, the
logical source address comes before the logical destination address (contrary to the
order of physical addresses).
The network layer, however, needs to find the physical address of the next hop
before the packet can be delivered. The network layer consults its routing table and
finds the logical address of the next hop (router I) to be F. The ARP discussed
previously finds the physical address of router 1 that corresponds to the logical
address of 20. Now the network layer passes this address to the data link layer, which
in tum, encapsulates the packet with physical destination address 20 and physical
source address 10. The frame is received by every device on LAN 1, but is discarded
by all except router 1, which finds that the destination physical address in the frame
matches with its own physical address. The router decapsulates the packet from the
frame to read the logical destination address P. Since the logical destination address
does not match the router's logical address, the router knows that the packet needs
to be forwarded. The router consults its routing table and ARP to find the physical
destination address of the next hop (router 2), creates a new frame, encapsulates the
packet, and sends it to router 2. Note the physical addresses in the frame. The source
physical address changes from 10 to 99. The destination physical address changes
from 20 (router 1 physical address) to 33 (router 2 physical address). The logical
source and destination addresses must remain the same; otherwise the packet will be
lost. At router 2 we have a similar scenario. The physical addresses are changed, and
a new frame is sent to the destination computer. When the frame reaches the
destination, the packet is decapsulated. The destination logical address P matches
the logical address of the computer. The data are decapsulated from the packet and
delivered to the upper layer. Note that although physical addresses will change from
hop to hop, logical addresses remain the same from the source to destination. The
physical addresses will change from hop to hop, but the logical addresses usually
remain the same.

Port Addresses:

The IP address and the physical address are necessary for a quantity of data to travel
from a source to the destination host. However, arrival at the destination host is not
the final objective of data communications on the Internet. A system that sends
nothing but data from one computer to another is not complete. Today, computers
are devices that can run multiple processes at the same time. The end objective of
Internet communication is a process communicating with another process.

For example, computer A can communicate with computer C by using TELNET. At

the same time, computer A communicates with computer B by using the File
Transfer Protocol (FTP). For these processes to receive data simultaneously, we
need a method to label the different processes. In other words, they need addresses.
In the TCPIIP architecture, the label assigned to a process is called a port address. A
port address in TCPIIP is 16 bits in length. The sending computer is running three
processes at this time with port addresses a, b, and c. The receiving computer is
running two processes at this time with port addresses j and k. Process a in the
sending computer needs to communicate with process j in the receiving computer.
Note that although both computers are using the same application, FTP, for example,
the port addresses are different because one is a client program and the other is a
server program, as we will see in Chapter 23. To show that data from process a need
to be delivered to process j, and not k, the transport layer encapsulates data from the
application layer in a packet and adds two port addresses (a and j), source and
destination. The packet from the transport layer is then encapsulated in another
packet at the network layer with logical source and destination addresses (A and P).
Finally, this packet is encapsulated in a frame with the physical source and
destination addresses of the next hop. We have not shown the physical addresses
because they change from hop to hop inside the cloud designated as the Internet.
Note that although physical addresses change from hop to hop, logical and port
addresses remain the same from the source to destination. a port address is a 16-bit
address represented by one decimal number.
753
A 16-bit port address represented as one single number.

Specific Addresses:

Some applications have user-friendly addresses that are designed for that specific
address. Examples include the e-mail address (for example, forouzan@[Link])
and the Universal Resource Locator (URL) (for example, [Link]). The first
defines the recipient of an e-mail; the second is used to find a document on the World
Wide Web. These addresses, however, get changed to the corresponding port and
logical addresses by the sending computer.