ECE534/634 Communication Networks

CSC424 Computer Networks

Network Interfaces, Layers

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 Previously …
• Network Components
– Apps, Nodes, Links

• History of the Internet

– ARPRNET
• Packet Switching
• Decentralized Control
• Internetworking
– NSFNET
– Modern Internet

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 Network

app

router link
host

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 Key Interfaces
1. Network-application interfaces define how apps use
the network
– Sockets are widely used in practice
– Lets apps talk to each other via hosts; hides the details of
the network

app

host

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 Motivating Application
• Simple client-server setup
– Client app sends a request to server app
– Server app returns a (longer) reply

• This is the basis for many apps!

– File transfer: send name, get file
– Web browsing: send URL, get page
– Echo: send message, get it back

• Let’s see how to write this app …

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 Socket API
• Simple abstraction to use the network
– The network service API used to write all Internet
applications
– Part of all major OSes and languages; originally
Berkeley (Unix) ~1983

• Supports two kinds of network services

– Streams: reliably send a stream of bytes
– Datagrams: unreliably send separate messages.
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 Socket API
• Sockets let apps attach to the local network at
different ports
Socket, Socket,
Port #1 Port #2

Primitive Meaning
SOCKET Create a new communication endpoint
BIND Associate a local address with a socket
LISTEN Announce willingness to accept connections; give queue size
ACCEPT Passively establish an incoming connection
CONNECT Actively attempt to establish a connection
SEND Send some data over the connection
RECEIVE Receive some data from the connection
CLOSE Release the connection 7
 Using Sockets
Client (host 1) Time Server (host 2)
1: socket
1: socket 2: bind
connect 3: listen
4: accept*
5: connect*
request 6: recv*
7: send
8: recv* reply
9: send
disconnect
10: close 10: close *= call blocks

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Server Program (stream)

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Server Program (stream)

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Server Program (stream)

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Server Program (stream)

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Client Program (stream)

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Client Program (stream)

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Client Program (stream)

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 Run Server/Client
• Commend line for server
– ./server.out 100
• Commend line for client
– ./client.out chenmingzhes-MacBook-Pro.local 100

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 Socket (Datagrams)
• Datagrams (UDP) are (a little) different
Create

Receive

Send

Connectionless

• Useful references
– http://www.linuxhowtos.org/C_C++/socket.htm
– https://www.cs.rutgers.edu/~pxk/417/notes/sockets/udp.
html
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 Key Interfaces
2. Network-network interfaces define how nodes work
together
– Traceroute can peek in the network

app

host

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 Traceroute
• Widely used command-line tool to let hosts peek
inside the network
– On all OSes (tracert on Windows)

• Probes successive hops to find network path

...
1 hop 2 hops 3 hops N-1 hops
N hops
Local Remote
Host Host 19
 Using Traceroute

Traceroute sends out three packets per TTL increment. Each column corresponds to
the time took to get one packet back (RTT)

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 Protocols and Layers
• The network does much for apps
– Make and break connections
– Find a path through the network
– Transfers information reliably
– Transfers arbitrary length information
– Send as fast as the network allows
– Shares bandwidth among users
– Secures information in transit
– Let many new hosts be added
– …

• Need a form of modularity to help manage complexity and

support reuse

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 Protocols and Layers
• Protocols and layering is the main structuring method used to
divide up network functionality
– Each instance of a protocol talks virtually to its peer using the protocol
– Each instance of a protocol uses only the services of the lower layer

Instance of protocol X Peer instance

Protocol X
X X

Service provided by Protocol Y

Lower layer instance
(of protocol Y)
Y Y

Node 1 Node 2
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 Protocols and Layers
• A list of protocols in use is called a protocol stack

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 Protocols and Layers
• Protocols you’ve probably heard of
– TCP, IP, 802.11, Ethernet, HTTP, SSL, DNS, … and
many more
Browser

• An example protocol stack HTTP

– Used by a web browser on TCP
a host that is wirelessly IP
connected to the Internet 802.11

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