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IP Encapsulation,
Fragmentation, And
Reassembly

Computer Science
Prof. Martins
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Introduction
Previous chapter:
IP datagram format
Routing
This chapter:
IP datagram transmission
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Datagram Transmission
IP software selects the next hop to
Transmit the datagram across the
physical network
Network hardware does not understand
datagram format or internet addressing
Hardware understands frames
Frames may differ from network to
network
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Encapsulation
How can a datagram be transmitted
across a network that does not
understand the datagram format?
The answer: Encapsulation
When an IP datagram is encapsulated
in a frame, the entire datagram is
placed in the data area of a frame.

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Encapsulation
Figure 21.1 - An IP datagram encapsulated in a
hardware frame. The entire datagram resides in the
frame data area. In practice, the frame format used
with some technologies includes a frame trailer as well
as frame header.

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Encapsulation
How does a receiver know whether the
data area in an incoming frame contains
an IP datagram or other data?
Answer: The sender and receiver agree
on the value used in the frame type
field.
A special value is reserved for IP.
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Encapsulation
In addition to placing a datagram in the data
area of a frame, encapsulation requires the
sender to supply the physical address of the
next computer
Address binding: computes the appropriate
hardware address (ARP - chapter 19)
The binding translates the IP address of the
next hop into an equivalent hardware
address.
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Summary
A datagram is encapsulated in a frame
The destination address in the frame is
the address of the next hop
The destination of the next hop is
obtained by translating the IP address
of the next hop to an equivalent
hardware address.
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Transmission Across An
Internet
Figure 21.2 - An IP datagram as it appears at each step during a trip
across an internet. Whenever it travels across a physical network, the
datagram is encapsulated in a frame appropriate to the network.
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Transmission Across An
Internet
Encapsulation applies to one transmission at
a time
After the sender selects a next hop, the
sender encapsulates the datagram in a frame
and transmits the result across the physical
network to the next hop.
When the frame receives the next hop, the
receiving software removes the IP datagram
and discards the frame.
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Transmission Across An
Internet
Frame headers do not accumulate during a
trip through the internet.
Before a datagram is transmitted across a
given network, the datagram is encapsulated
When the frame arrives at the next hop, the
datagram is removed from the incoming
frame, before being routed and encapsulated
in an outgoing frame.
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Transmission Across An
Internet
When the datagram reaches its final
destination, the frame that carried the
datagram is discarded
The datagram appears exactly the same as
when it was originally sent
When a datagram arrives in a network frame,
the receiver extracts the datagram from the
frame data area and discards the frame
header.

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MTU, Datagram Size, and
Encapsulation
MTU is the Maximum Transmission Unit
the maximum amount of data that a
frame can carry.
In an Internet that connects
heterogeneous networks, MTU
restrictions can cause a problem
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MTU, Datagram Size, and
Encapsulation
Figure 21.3 - An example of a router that connects two networks with
different MTU values. A frame that travels across the network 1 can
contain 1500 octets of data, while a frame that travels across network 2
can contain at most 1000 octets of data.
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MTU, Datagram Size, and
Encapsulation
An IP router uses a technique known as
fragmentation to solve the problem of
heterogeneous MTUs.
When a datagram is larger than the
MTU, the router divides the datagram
into smaller pieces called fragments.
Each fragment is sent separately.
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MTU, Datagram Size, and
Encapsulation
A bit in the FLAGS field indicate whether a
datagram is a fragment or a complete
datagram.
A fragment has the same format as the other
datagrams.
The FRAGMENT OFFSET field in the header of
a fragment specifies where in the original
datagram the fragment belongs.
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MTU, Datagram Size, and
Encapsulation
Figure 21.4 - An IP datagram divided into three
fragments. Each fragment carries some data from the
original datagram, and has an IP header similar to the
original datagram.
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Summary
A datagram cannot be larger than the
MTU of a network over which it is sent.
A router divides the datagram into
smaller pieces called fragments.
Each fragment uses the IP datagram
format, but carries only parts of the
data.
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Reassembly
The process of creating a copy of the original
datagram from fragments is called
reassembly.
All fragments have the same destination
address as the original datagram.
The fragment that carries the final piece of
data has an additional bit set in the header.
A receiver performing reassembly can tell
whether all fragments have arrived
successfully.
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Reassembly
Figure 21.5 - An example internet in which hosts can generate datagrams
that require fragmentation. Once a datagram has been fragmented, the
fragments are forwarded to the final destination, which reassembles them.
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Identifying A Datagram
Since IP does not guarantee delivery,
some fragments can be lost or arrive
out of order.
How does IP reassemble fragments that
arrive out of order?
IDENTIFICATION field: a unique ID
number of each outgoing datagram.
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Identifying A Datagram
When a router fragments the datagram,
the router copies the ID number into
each fragment.
The FRAGMENT OFFSET field tells a
receiver how to order fragments within
a given datagram
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Fragment Loss
Recall that IP does not guarantee datagram
delivery
Some fragments may be delayed or lost
Datagrams with lost fragments cannot be
reassembled
Fragments may be saved temporarily.
IP specifies a maximum time to hold
fragments.
After a timer expires, saved fragments are
discarded.

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Fragmenting a Fragment
If a fragment reaches another network that
has a smaller MTU, it is possible to further
fragment a fragment.
IP does not distinguish between original
fragments and sub fragments.
The advantage of making all fragments the
same is that a receiver can perform
reassembly without first reassembling sub
fragments.
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Summary
An IP datagram is encapsulated in a network
frame for transmission across a hardware
network.
To encapsulate a datagram, the sender
places the entire datagram in the data area of
a network frame.
Each network technology defines the
maximum amount of data (MTU) accepted.
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Summary
When a router receives a datagram that
is larger than the network MTU, the
router divides the datagram into
fragments.
Each fragment travels to the ultimate
destination, which is responsible for
reassembling fragments into the
original datagram.