Computer Network
Network Layer
Introduction
Sejal M Chopra
Assistant Professor - Dept. of Computer Engineering
Don Bosco Institute of Technology, Mumbai
Contents to be discussed
• Network Layer Design Issues
• Switching techniques
• Communication Primitives
Network Layer Design Issues
Store and Forward packet switching:
• The host sends the packet to the nearest router.
• This packet is stored there until it has fully arrived.
• Once the link is fully processed by verifying the checksum then it is
forwarded to the next router till it reaches the destination.
• This mechanism is called “Store and Forward packet switching.”
Services provided to Transport Layer:
• Through the network/transport layer interface, the network layer transfers
it’s services to the transport layer.
• Connectionless – The routing and insertion of packets into subnet is done
individually. No added setup is required.
• Connection-Oriented – Subnet must offer reliable service and all the packets
must be transmitted over a single route.
Network Layer Design Issues
Implementation of Connectionless Service:
• Packet are termed as “datagrams” and corresponding subnet as “datagram
subnets”.
• When the message size that has to be transmitted is 4 times the size of the
packet, then the network layer divides into 4 packets and transmits each
packet to router.
• Each data packet has destination address and is routed independently
irrespective of the packets.
Implementation of Connection Oriented service:
It can be done in either two ways :
• Circuit Switched Connection – A dedicated physical path or a circuit is
established between the communicating nodes and then data stream is
transferred.
• Virtual Circuit Switched Connection – The data stream is transferred over a
packet switched network, in such a way that it seems to the user that there
is a dedicated path from the sender to the receiver. A virtual path is
established here. While, other connections may also be using the same
path.
Switching Techniques
• The switching technique will decide the best route for data transmission.
• Switching technique is used to connect the systems for making one-to-
one communication.
Switching Techniques
Circuit Switching:
• Technique that establishes a dedicated path between sender and receiver.
• Once the connection is established then the dedicated path will remain to exist
until the connection is terminated (as the telephone works).
• A complete end-to-end path must exist before the communication takes place.
• When any user wants to send the data, voice, video, a request signal is sent to the
receiver then the receiver sends back the acknowledgment to ensure the
availability of the dedicated path.
• After receiving the acknowledgment, dedicated path transfers the data.
• Fixed data can be transferred at a time in circuit switching technology.
Message Switching:
Switching Techniques
• Technique in which a message is transferred as a complete unit and
routed through intermediate nodes at which it is stored and forwarded.
• There is no establishment of a dedicated path between the sender and
receiver.
• The destination address is appended to the message.
• Provides a dynamic routing as the message is routed through the
intermediate nodes based on the information available in the message.
• Message switches are programmed in such a way so that they can
provide the most efficient routes.
• Each and every node stores the entire message and then forward it to
the next node. This type of network is known as store and forward
network.
• Treats each message as an independent entity.
Switching Techniques
Packet Switching:
• Technique in which the message is sent in one go, but it is divided into
smaller pieces, and they are sent individually.
• The message splits into smaller pieces known as packets and packets
are given a unique number to identify their order at the receiving end.
• Every packet contains some information in its headers such as source
address, destination address and sequence number.
• Packets will travel across the network, taking the shortest path as
possible.
• All the packets are reassembled at the receiving end in correct order.
• If any packet is missing or corrupted, then the message will be sent to
resend the message.
• If the correct order of the packets is reached, then the acknowledgment
message will be sent.
Switching Techniques
Communication Primitives(Casting)
Casting in computer networks means transmitting data (stream of
packets) over a network.
Following are the different types of casting used in networking −
•Unicast transmission
•Broadcast transmission
•Multicast transmission
Communication Primitives(Casting)
Unicast Transmission (One-to-One):
• The data is transferred from a single sender (or a single source host) to a
single receiver (or a single destination host).
• The network switches hear the MAC addresses of the devices on the
networks to which they are connected.
• They can then forward packets only onto those networks containing devices
with the connected MAC addresses.
Example:
In the following figure, Host A sends the IP address [Link] data to the Host B IP
address [Link].
Source Address = IP address of host A is [Link]
Destination Address = IP address of host B is [Link]
Communication Primitives(Casting)
Broadcast Transmission (One-to-All):
•The data is transmitted from one or more senders to all the receivers
within the same network or in other networks.
•This type of transmission is useful in network management packets
such as ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) and RIP (Routing
Information Protocol) where all the devices must see the data.
•There are two types of broadcast transmission −
Directed Broadcast, and
Limited Broadcast
Communication Primitives(Casting)
Directed Broadcast:
Directed Broadcast transmits data from
one source host to all the other hosts
that exist in some other network.
It is used in two scenarios −
•When the hosts are responsible for
parsing data from broadcast packets.
•When all the hosts require the same
data.
Limited Broadcast:
The data is transmitted from a single source host
to all the other hosts residing in the same
network.
Communication Primitives(Casting)
Multicast Transmission (One-to-Many and Many –to-Many):
•When the data is transmitted from a single source host to a specific
group of hosts having the interest to receive the data, it is known as
multicast transmission.
•Multicast can be more efficient than unicast when different groups of
receivers need to see the same data.
Example − Multicast is the technique used in Internet streaming of
video or audio teleconference, sending an email to a particular group of
people, etc.
Communication Primitives(Casting)
References
• A.S. Tanenbaum, “Computer Networks”, Pearson
Education, Fourth Edition.
• B.A. Forouzan, “Data Communications and Networking”,
TMH, Fourth Edition.
• [Link]
circuit-switching-message-switching-and-packet-switching
• [Link]
techniques
• [Link]
multicast-in-computer-networks
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