Chapter 2

Network Models

2.1

2-1 LAYERED TASKS

We use the concept of layers in our daily life. As an example, let us consider the case when a manager in one office wants to communicate with another manager in another office through postal mail.

Topics discussed in this section:

Sender, Receiver, and Carrier Hierarchy

2.2

Tasks involved in sending a letter

Sender
The manager writes a letter, puts in an envelope, and places on the secretary desk.

Receiver
The other manager removes envelope and read.

The secretary drops the letter in a mailbox.

The letter is picked up by a secretary in the other office.

A mailman carries the latter from the mailbox to a post office.

A mailman carries the latter from the post office to the mailbox.

The post office delivers the letter to a carrier.

The carrier delivers the letter to the post office.

The letter is carried from the source to the destination

The tasks must be done at the order given in the hierarchy Each layer uses the services of the layer immediately below it. 2.3

2-2 THE OSI MODEL

Before 1990, the layered model that dominated the data communications is the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model. It was first introduced in the late 1970s by International Standards Organization (ISO). An Open System is a set of protocols that allows any two different systems to communicate regardless of their underlying architecture. The OSI model is not a protocol. It is a model for understanding and designing a network architecture that is flexible, robust, and interoperable. The OSI model is a layered framework that allows communication between all types of communication systems.

Topics discussed in this section:

Layered Architecture Peer-to-Peer Processes Encapsulation
2.4

Note
ISO is the organization. OSI is the model.

2.5

Figure 2.2 Seven layers of the OSI model

Provides services to user

Translation, compression, and encryption Establishes, maintains, synchronizes the interaction among systems

segments
packets (datagrams)

Delivers message from one process to another Delivers individual packets from the source to the destination. (source-to-dest. delivery) Moves frames from one node to the next. (hop-to-hop delivery) Moves individual bits from one node to the next.

frames bits

2.6

Layered Architecture
With in a machine, each layer calls upon the services of the layer just below it. Between machines, layer x on one machine communicates with layer x on another machine. The communication between machines is governed by an agreed-upon series of rules called protocols

The processes on each machine that communicate at a given layer are called peer-to-peer process. Therefore, the communication between machines is a peer-to-peer process using the protocols appropriate to a given layer.

2.7

Figure 2.3 The layers involve when a message is sent from device A to device B

The intermediate nodes usually involve only the first three OSI layers Layer 1,2,3 are network support layers to move data from one device to another Layer 5,6,7 can be thought of as the user support layers. Layer 4 links the two subgroups and ensures what lower layers have transmitted is in the form that the upper layers can use.

2.8

Interface between layers

The passing of data and network through layers is made possible by an interface between each pair of adjacent layers. Well-defined interfaces and layer functions provide modularity to a network. As long as a layer provides the expected services to the layer above it, the specific implementation of its function can be modified or replaced without requiring changes to the surrounding layers !!!.

2.9

Figure 2.4 An exchange using the OSI model

The data portion of a packet at level N-1 carries the whole packet (data+header+trailer) from level N. This concept is called encapculation.

2.10

2-3 LAYERS IN THE OSI MODEL

In this section we briefly describe the functions of each layer in the OSI model.

Topics discussed in this section:

Physical Layer Data Link Layer Network Layer Transport Layer Session Layer Presentation Layer Application Layer
2.11

OSI-Physical Layer

PL defines the procedures and functions that physical devices have to perform for transmission to occur. PL is responsible for movements of individual bits from one node to the next. PL also concerns with the following Physical characteristics of interfaces and medium types of medium. Representation of bits how bits are encoded into signal (electrical or optical) Data rate Synchronization of bits the sender and receiver clock must be synchronized. Line configuration connection of devices to the media (point-to-point, multipoint) Physical topology how devices connected to make a network Transmission mode -- simplex, half-duplex, or full-duplex mode

2.12

OSI-Data Link Layer

DL makes PL appear error-free to the upper layer (network layer). DL is responsible for movements of frames from one node to the next. DL also concerns with the following Framing DL divide bit stream from NL into data units called frames. Physical addressing DL adds header to the frame to define the sender & rec. addresses Flow control to avoid overwhelming the receiver. Error control DL adds trailer at the end of the frame to enhance reliability of PL. Access control to allow devices to share the same link.

2.13

Figure 2.7 Hop-to-hop delivery

DL-A DL-B DL-E DL-F The frames that are exchanged between the three nodes have different headers. The trailers can also be different if error checking includes the header of the frame.

2.14

OSI-Network Layer

NL is responsible for delivery of individual packets from the source to the destination. If two systems are attached to different networks with connecting devices between the networks, there is often a need for NL to accomplish source-to-destination delivery, NL also concerns with the following Logical addressing when a packet passes the network boundary, we need another addressing system to help distinguish the source and the destination Routing when networks connected together, we use routers to route the packets.

2.15

Figure 2.9 Source-to-destination delivery

2.16

Transport Layer

TL is responsible for process-to-process delivery of the entire message. Whereas NL oversees the delivery of individual packets, it does not recognize any relationship in them. TL, however, ensures the whole message arrives intact and in order. TL also concerns with the following Service-point addressing computers often run several programs, TL must get the entire message to the correct program, based on port address. Segmentation and reassembly message is divided into segments, each with a sequence no. TL uses these numbers to reassemble the message and to identify and replace lost ones. Connection control connection less best-effort serv., fast (no handshaking) but unreliable connection oriented reliable (segments are ordered) but slow Flow control end -to-end control, rather than a single link control (DL) Error control end -to-end control. Error correction is usually achieved through retrans.

2.17

Figure 2.11 Reliable process-to-process delivery of a message

2.18

OSI-Session Layer

SL is the network dialog controller . It establishes, maintains, synchronizes the interactions among the systems. SL concerns with the following Dialog control SL allows two systems to enter into a dialog. Synchronization SL adds checkpoints or synchronization points to a stream of data.

2.19

OSI-Presentation Layer

PSL is concerned with the syntax and semantics of info. exchanged between two systems. PSL concerns with the following Translation Different computers may use different encoding systems to represent info. In the form of character strings, numbers, etc. PSL is responsible for interoperability between different encoding methods. Encryption to ensure privacy of sensitive information. Compression to reduce the number of bits contained in the info.

2.20

OSI-Application Layer

APL provides user interfaces and support for services such as email, remote file access and transfer, and other types of distributed information services. APL concerns with the following Network virtual terminal is a software version of a physical terminal, which allows users to log on to remote host. File transfer, access, and management Mail services Directory services APL provides distributed database sources and access for global info. about various object and services (WWW, HTTP)

2.21

Figure 2.15 Summary of layers

2.22

2-4 TCP/IP PROTOCOL SUITE

TCP/IP protocol suite is a set of protocols that is used in today internet. It is a hierarchical protocol and can be modeled into layers.
Cerf and Kahn first proposed the TCP concept in 1973 to achieve end-to-end delivery. Their paper also outlined the concepts such as encapsulation, datagrams, and function of gateway. Later, TCP splits into TCP and IP. The layers in TCP/IP do not exactly match those in the OSI model. The original TCP/IP protocol suite was defined as having four layers: host-to-network, internet, transport, and application. However, when TCP/IP is compared to OSI, we can say that the TCP/IP protocol suite is made of five layers: physical, data link, network, transport, and application.
2.23

Figure 2.16 TCP/IP and OSI model

While OSI specifies which functions belong to which layers, the layers of TCP/IP contain relatively independent protocol that can be mixed and matched depending on the need of the system. TCP/ IP protocol is hierarchical protocol. Hierachical means each upper-level protocol is supported by one or more lower-level protocols. TCP/IP does not define any specific protocol for PL and DL. It supports all standard and proprietary protocols.

2.24

TCP/IP Network Layer

The networking function of TCP/IP is supported by Internetworking Protocol (IP), which is unreliable and connectionless protocol a best-effort deliver services. IP transports data in packets called datagrams with no error checking or tracking. Delivery is therefore not guaranteed. Four protocols supporting IP Address Resolution Protocol to find the physical address when Internet address is known. Reverse ARP to find the Internet address when physical is known. Used when a computer is connected to a network for the first time or when diskless computer is booted. Internet Control Message Protocol a mechanism used by computer and gateway to send notification of datagram rpoblem back to the sender. Internet Group Message Protocol to facilitate simultaneous transmission of message to a group of recipient (multicast).

2.25

TCP/IP Transport Layer

User Datagram Protocol connectionless. UDP adds only port address, checksum, and length of information to the data from upper layer. A process that uses UDP must chop the data by itself to fit in one datagram. Good for processes sending short messages. Transmission Control Protocol connection-oriented, reliable. Each segment includes sequence number and the acknowledgement number for the segments received (piggyback). Stream Control Transmission Protocol combination of UDP an TCP

2.26

TCP/IP App. Layer

APL of TCP/IP combines session, presentation, and application layers of OSI model. Many protocol, such as HTTP, FTP, etc, are defined in this layer and we will study in later chapters.

2.27

2-5 ADDRESSING
Four levels of addresses are used in an internet employing the TCP/IP protocols: physical, logical, port, and specific.

2.28

Figure 2.18 Relationship of layers and addresses in TCP/IP

(or link addresses)

2.29

Physical Address
Most local-area networks use a 48-bit (6-byte) physical address imprinted as 12 hexadecimal digits on NIC; 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.

Note that the physical addresses are fixed. They have been set from the factory.

2.30

Figure 2.19 Physical addresses

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). As the figure shows, the computer with physical address 10 is the sender, and the computer with physical address 87 is the receiver.

2.31

Logical Address
Physical addresses are not adequate in an internetwork environment because it is fixed and does not geographically indicate the host location.
R2 R1 10 50

Internet

R3 10

Logical addressing provides a universal addressing system in which each host can be identified uniquely, regardless of the underlying physical network. No two publicly addressed and visible (can be access without help from mapping devices) hosts on the Internet can have the same addresses.

2.32

Figure 2.20 IP addresses

A part of an internet with two routers connecting three LANs. Each device has a pair of addresses (logical and physical) for each connection. 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. 2.33

Port Address
A compute can run multiple processes at the same time. The label that TCP/IP architecture assigned to a process, for identifying purpose, is called port address. In TCP layer, message is delivered from a process on one computer to another process on another computer using the port address. Port address in TCP/IP is a 16-bit address represented by one decimal number as shown

753 A 16-bit port address represented as one single number.

2.34

Figure 2.21 Port addresses

Two computers communicating via the internet. 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 physical addresses change from hop to hop, logical and port addresses remain the same from the source to destination. 2.35

Note
The physical addresses change from hop to hop, but the logical and port addresses usually remain the same.

2.36