Introduction to Computer Networks and Internet

Guided and Unguided Transmission Media

Physical Media
• A bit, when traveling from source to destination, passes through a series
of transmitter-receiver pairs.
• For each transmitter-receiver pair, the bit is sent by propagating
electromagnetic waves or optical pulses across a physical medium.
• Physical media fall into two categories: Guided Media and Unguided
Media.
• With guided media, the waves are guided along a solid medium, such as
a fiber-optic cable, a twisted-pair copper wire, or a coaxial cable.
• With unguided media, the waves propagate in the atmosphere and in
outer space, such as in a wireless LAN or a digital satellite channel.

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 Introduction to Computer Networks and Internet

Guided and Unguided Transmission Media

Access Network
Physical Media
• The actual cost of the physical link (copper wire, fiber-optic cable, and
so on) is often relatively minor compared with other networking costs.
• Twisted-Pair Copper Wire
▪ Least expensive and most commonly used guided transmission
medium by telephone networks.
▪ Consists of two insulated copper wires, each about 1 mm thick,
arranged in a regular spiral pattern.
▪ Twisted to reduce the electrical interference from similar pairs close
by.
▪ A number of pairs are bundled together in a cable by wrapping the
pairs in a protective shield.

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 Introduction to Computer Networks and Internet

Guided and Unguided Transmission Media

Access Network
Physical Media
• Twisted-Pair Copper Wire
▪ Unshielded twisted pair (UTP) is commonly used for computer
networks within a building, that is, for LANs.
▪ Data rates for LANs using twisted pair today range from 10 Mbps to
10 Gbps.
▪ The data rates that can be achieved depend on the thickness of the
wire and the distance between transmitter and receiver.
▪ Twisted pair has emerged as the dominant solution for high-speed
LAN networking.

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 Introduction to Computer Networks and Internet

Guided and Unguided Transmission Media

Access Network
Physical Media
• Coaxial Cable
▪ It consists of two copper conductors, but the two conductors are
concentric rather than parallel.
▪ With this construction and special insulation and shielding, coaxial
cable can achieve high data transmission rates.
▪ Quite common in cable television systems.
▪ Transmitter shifts the digital signal to a specific frequency band.

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 Introduction to Computer Networks and Internet

Guided and Unguided Transmission Media

Access Network
Physical Media
• Fiber Optics
▪ An optical fiber is a thin, flexible medium that conducts pulses of
light, with each pulse representing a bit.
▪ Supports bit rates, up to tens or even hundreds of gigabits per
second.
▪ They are immune to electromagnetic interference, have very low
signal attenuation up to 100 kilometers, and are very hard to tap.
▪ High cost of optical devices—such as transmitters, receivers, and
switches—has hindered their deployment for short-haul transport.
▪ The Optical Carrier (OC) standard link speeds range from 51.8 Mbps
to 39.8 Gbps.

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 Introduction to Computer Networks and Internet

Guided and Unguided Transmission Media

Access Network
Physical Media
• Terrestrial Radio Channels
▪ Radio channels carry signals in the electromagnetic spectrum.
▪ Require no physical wire to be installed, can penetrate walls,
provide connectivity to a mobile user, and can potentially carry a
signal for long distances.
▪ Depend significantly on the propagation environment and the
distance over which a signal is to be carried.
▪ Shadow Fading, Multipath Fading and Interference.
▪ Broadly classified into three groups: those that operate over very
short distance, those that operate in local areas, those that operate
in the wide area.

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 Introduction to Computer Networks and Internet

Guided and Unguided Transmission Media

Access Network
Physical Media
• Satellite Radio Channels
▪ A communication satellite links two or more Earth-based
microwave transmitter/ receivers, known as ground stations.
▪ The satellite receives transmissions on one frequency band,
regenerates the signal using a repeater and transmits the signal on
another frequency.
▪ Types: Geostationary Satellites and Low-Earth Orbiting Satellites.
▪ Geostationary Satellites are placed in orbit at 36,000 kilometers
above Earth’s surface with propagation delay of 280 milliseconds.
▪ Can operate at speeds of hundreds of Mbps, are often used in areas
without access to DSL or cable-based Internet access.

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 Introduction to Computer Networks and Internet

Guided and Unguided Transmission Media

Access Network
Physical Media
• Satellite Radio Channels
▪ LEO satellites are placed much closer to Earth.
▪ May communicate with each other, as well as with ground stations.
▪ LEO satellite technology may be used for Internet access sometime
in the future.

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 Introduction to Computer Networks and Internet

The Network Core

Mesh of packet switches and links

that interconnects the Internet’s
end systems.

Two fundamental approaches to

moving data through a network of
links and switches:
1. Circuit switching
2. Packet switching

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 Introduction to Computer Networks and Internet

The Network Core

Packet Switching
• End systems exchange Messages with each other.
• Source breaks long messages into smaller chunks of data known as
Packets.
• Packet travels through Communication Links and Packet Switches.
• Packets are transmitted over each communication link at a rate equal to
the full transmission rate of the link.
• Store-and-Forward Transmission : the packet switch must receive the
entire packet before it can begin to transmit the first bit of the packet
onto the outbound link.

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 Introduction to Computer Networks and Internet

The Network Core

Packet Switching
• Store-and-Forward Transmission:
▪ The total delay for transmission of one packet is 2L/R for Store-and-
Forwarding transmission. If the switch instead forwarded bits as
soon as they arrive then the total delay would be L/R.
▪ The amount of time that elapses from when the source begins to
send the first packet until the destination has received all three
packets would be 4L/R.
▪ Sending one packet from source to destination over a path
consisting of N links each of rate R, end-to-end delay is;

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 Introduction to Computer Networks and Internet

The Network Core

Packet Switching
• Store-and-Forward Transmission:
Queuing Delays and Packet Loss
▪ For each attached link, the packet switch has an output buffer
(output queue), which stores packets that the router is about to
send into that link.
▪ In addition to the store-and-forward delays, packets suffer output
buffer queuing delays.
▪ Variable and depend on the level of congestion in the network.
▪ packet loss will occur.

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 Introduction to Computer Networks and Internet

The Network Core

Packet Switching
• Store-and-Forward Transmission:
Queuing Delays and Packet Loss

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 Introduction to Computer Networks and Internet

The Network Core

Packet Switching
• Store-and-Forward Transmission:
Forwarding Tables and Routing Protocols
▪ In the Internet, every end system has an address called an IP
address.
▪ Each router has a forwarding table that maps destination
addresses (or portions of the destination addresses) to that
router’s outbound links.
▪ A router uses a packet’s destination address to index a forwarding
table and determine the appropriate outbound link.
▪ How do forwarding tables get set?
▪ Routing Protocol automatically set the forwarding tables.
▪ Determine the shortest path from each router to each destination
and use the shortest path results to configure the forwarding
tables in the routers.

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 Introduction to Computer Networks and Internet

The Network Core

Circuit Switching
• Resources are reserved for the duration of the communication session
between the end systems.
• May have to wait for access to a communication link.
• Example: Traditional telephone networks
• connection is called a circuit.
• Sender can transfer the data to the receiver at the guaranteed constant
rate.
• Example: Each link has four circuits, use end-to-end connection, the
connection gets one fourth of the link’s total transmission capacity for the
duration of the connection.
• The Internet makes its best effort to deliver packets in a timely manner,
but it does not make any guarantees.
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 Introduction to Computer Networks and Internet

The Network Core

Circuit Switching

A simple circuit-
switched network
consisting of
four switches and
four links

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 Introduction to Computer Networks and Internet

The Network Core

Packet Switching Versus Circuit Switching
▪ Supporters of packet switching have always argued that circuit switching is
wasteful because the dedicated circuits are idle during silent periods.
• It offers better sharing of transmission capacity.
• It is simpler, more efficient, and less costly to implement.

▪ Critics of Packet switching have often argued that packet switching is not
suitable for real-time services.

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 Introduction to Computer Networks and Internet

Delay, Loss, and Throughput in Packet-Switched Networks

Overview of Delay in Packet-Switched Networks

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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 Introduction to Computer Networks and Internet

Delay, Loss, and Throughput in Packet-Switched Networks

Overview of Delay in Packet-Switched Networks
▪ Processing Delay:
• Time required to examine the packet’s header and determine
where to direct the packet. Can also include other factors.
• Typically on the order of microseconds or less.

▪ Queuing Delay:
• The packet experiences a queuing delay as it waits to be
transmitted onto the link.
• Depend on the number of earlier-arriving packets that are queued
and waiting for transmission onto the link.
• On the order of microseconds to milliseconds.

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 Introduction to Computer Networks and Internet

Delay, Loss, and Throughput in Packet-Switched Networks

Overview of Delay in Packet-Switched Networks
▪ Transmission Delay:
• Amount of time required to push all of the packet’s bits into the link.
• Typically on the order of microseconds to milliseconds in practice.
• If length of the packet is L bits, Transmission rate of the link is R bits/sec
than transmission delay is L/R.
▪ Propagation Delay :
• The propagation delay is the distance between two routers divided by
the propagation speed.
• That is, the propagation delay is d/s, where d is the distance and s is the
propagation speed of the link.
• propagation speed is in the range of 2x108 meters/sec to 3x108
meters/sec.
• propagation delays are on the order of milliseconds.

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 Introduction to Computer Networks and Internet

Delay, Loss, and Throughput in Packet-Switched Networks

Comparing Transmission and Propagation Delay
▪ The Transmission Delay is the amount of time required for the router to
push out the packet; it is a function of the packet’s length and the
transmission rate of the link, but has nothing to do with the distance
between the two routers.
▪ The propagation delay, on the other hand, is the time it takes a bit to
propagate from one router to the next; it is a function of the distance
between the two routers, but has nothing to do with the packet’s
length or the transmission rate of the link.

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 Introduction to Computer Networks and Internet

Delay, Loss, and Throughput in Packet-Switched Networks

If we let dproc, dqueue, dtrans, and dprop denote the processing, queuing,
transmission and propagation delays, then the total nodal delay is given by;

dnodal = dproc + dqueue + dtrans + dprop

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 Introduction to Computer Networks and Internet

Delay, Loss, and Throughput in Packet-Switched Networks

Queuing Delay and Packet Loss
▪ The most complicated and interesting component of nodal delay is the
queuing delay, as it vary from packet to packet.

▪ Average queuing delay, variance of queuing delay, and the probability

that the queuing delay exceeds some specified value.
▪ Queuing delay depends on the rate at which traffic arrives at the queue,
the transmission rate of the link, and the nature of the arriving traffic.
• a – average rate at which packets arrive at the queue (packets/sec).
• R - transmission rate (bits/sec).
• All packets consist of L bits.
• Then the average rate at which bits arrive at the queue is La bits/sec.

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 Introduction to Computer Networks and Internet

Delay, Loss, and Throughput in Packet-Switched Networks

Queuing Delay and Packet Loss
▪ The ratio La/R, called the traffic intensity.

▪ If La/R > 1, than the queue will tend to increase without bound and the
queuing delay will approach infinity!

▪ Design your system so that the traffic intensity is no greater than 1.

▪ If La/R ≤ 1, than the nature of the arriving traffic impacts the queuing
delay.

▪ if the traffic intensity is close to 0, then it is unlikely that an arriving packet

will find another packet in the queue.

▪ if the traffic intensity is close to 1, a queue will form during these periods
of time.

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 Introduction to Computer Networks and Internet

Delay, Loss, and Throughput in Packet-Switched Networks

Queuing Delay and Packet Loss

Dependence of
average queuing
delay on traffic
intensity

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 Introduction to Computer Networks and Internet

Delay, Loss, and Throughput in Packet-Switched Networks

Packet Loss
▪ Queue preceding a link has finite capacity, greatly depends on the router
design and cost.

▪ Because the queue capacity is finite, packet delays do not really approach
infinity as the traffic intensity approaches 1. Instead, a packet can arrive to
find a full queue.

▪ With no place to store such a packet, a router will drop that packet; that is,
the packet will be lost.

▪ Performance at a node is often measured not only in terms of delay, but

also in terms of the probability of packet loss.

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 Introduction to Computer Networks and Internet

Delay, Loss, and Throughput in Packet-Switched Networks

End-to-End Delay
▪ Suppose there are N - 1 routers between the source host and the
destination host.
▪ Suppose the network is uncongested.
▪ Processing delay at each router and at the source host is dproc.
▪ Transmission rate out of each router and out of the source host is R bits/sec
▪ Propagation on each link is dprop.
▪ The nodal delays accumulate and give an end-to-end delay,
dend-end = N (dproc + dtrans + dprop)
▪ Once again, dtrans = L/R, where L is the packet size.

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 Introduction to Computer Networks and Internet

Delay, Loss, and Throughput in Packet-Switched Networks

Throughput in Computer Networks
▪ Another critical performance measure is end-to-end throughput.

▪ Ex. Host A is transferring large file to Host B across a computer network.

▪ The instantaneous throughput at any instant of time is the rate (in

bits/sec) at which Host B is receiving the file.

▪ If the file consists of F bits and the transfer takes T seconds for Host B to
receive all F bits, then the average throughput of the file transfer is F/T
bits/sec.

▪ Different applications have different requirements in terms of delays and

throughput.

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 Introduction to Computer Networks and Internet

Delay, Loss, and Throughput in Packet-Switched Networks

Throughput in Computer Networks
▪ Consider the throughput for a file transfer from the server to the client.
▪ Rs - rate of the link between the server and the router. Rc - rate of the link
between the router and the client. What is the server to client
throughput?

Throughput for a
file transfer from
server to client

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 Introduction to Computer Networks and Internet

Delay, Loss, and Throughput in Packet-Switched Networks

Throughput in Computer Networks
▪ If Rs < Rc, it gives a throughput of Rs bps.
▪ If Rc < Rs, it gives a throughput of Rc bps.
▪ Thus, for this simple two-link network, the throughput is min{Rc, Rs}, that
is, it is the transmission rate of the bottleneck link.
▪ For a network with N links, throughput for a file transfer from server to
client is min{R1, R2,..., RN}, which is once again the transmission rate of the
bottleneck link along the path between server and client.
▪ The constraining factor for throughput in today’s Internet is typically the
access network.
▪ Example: if Rs = 2 Mbps, Rc = 1 Mbps, R = 5 Mbps, what will be the
throughput value?

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 Introduction to Computer Networks and Internet

Delay, Loss, and Throughput in Packet-Switched Networks

Throughput in Computer Networks

End-to-end throughput:
(a) Client downloads a
file from server;
(b) 10 clients
downloading with 10
servers

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