ECC603 Computer Communication Networks Prof.Atul D.

Atalkar

1.1 The OSI Reference Model

Physical Layer:
The physical layer coordinates the functions required to carry a bit stream over a physical
medium. It deals with the mechanical and electrical specifications of the interface and
transmission media. It also defines the procedures and functions that physical devices and
interfaces have to perform for transmission to occur. The physical layer is also concerned with
the following:
❑ Physical characteristics of interfaces and media: The physical layer defines the
characteristics of the interface between the devices and the transmission media. It also defines
the type of transmission media
❑ Representation of bits: The physical layer data consists of a stream of bits (sequence of 0s
or 1s) with no interpretation. To be transmitted, bits must be encoded into signals—electrical or
optical. The physical layer defines the type of encoding (how 0s and 1s are changed to signals).
❑ Data rate: The transmission rate—the number of bits sent each second—is also defined by
the physical layer. In other words, the physical layer defines the duration of a bit, which is how
long it lasts.
❑ Synchronization of bits: The sender and receiver must not only use the same bit rate but
must also be synchronized at the bit level. In other words, the sender and the receiver clocks
must be synchronized.

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❑ Line configuration : The physical layer is concerned with the connection of devices to the
media. In a point-to-point configuration, two devices are connected together through a dedicated
link. In a multipoint configuration, a link is shared between several devices.
❑ Physical topology : The physical topology defines how devices are connected to make a
network. Devices can be connected using a mesh topology (every device connected to every
other device), a star topology (devices are connected through a central device), a ring topology
(each device is connected to the next, forming a ring), or a bus topology (every device on a
common link).
❑ Transmission mode: The physical layer also defines the direction of transmission between
two devices: simplex, half-duplex, or full-duplex. In the simplex mode, only one device can
send; the other can only receive. The simplex mode is a one-way communication. In the half-
duplex mode, two devices can send and receive, but not at the same time. In a full-duplex (or
simply duplex) mode, two devices can send and receive at the same time.

Data Link Layer:

The data link layer transforms the physical layer, a raw transmission facility, to a reliable link. It
makes the physical layer appear error-free to the upper layer (network layer). Other
responsibilities of the data link layer include the following:
❑ Framing. The data link layer divides the stream of bits received from the network layer into
manageable data units called frames.
❑ Physical addressing: If frames are to be distributed to different systems on the network, the
data link layer adds a header to the frame to define the sender and/or receiver of the frame. If the
frame is intended for a system outside the sender’s network, the receiver address is the address of
the connecting device that connects the network to the next one.
❑ Flow control: If the rate at which the data is absorbed by the receiver is less than the rate
produced at the sender, the data link layer imposes a flow control mechanism to prevent
overwhelming the receiver.
❑ Error control: The data link layer adds reliability to the physical layer by adding
mechanisms to detect and retransmit damaged or lost frames. It also uses a mechanism to

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recognize duplicate frames. Error control is normally achieved through a trailer added to the end
of the frame.
❑ Access control : When two or more devices are connected to the same link, data link layer
protocols are necessary to determine which device has control over the link at any given time.

Network Layer
The network layer is responsible for the source-to-destination delivery of a packet, possibly
across multiple networks (links). Whereas the data link layer oversees the delivery of the packet
between two systems on the same network (link), the network layer ensures that each packet gets
from its point of origin to its final destination. If two systems are connected to the same link,
there is usually no need for a network layer. However, if the two systems are attached to
different networks (links) with connecting devices between the networks (links), there is often a
need for the network layer to accomplish source-to-destination delivery. Other responsibilities of
the network layer include the following:
❑ Logical addressing: The physical addressing implemented by the data link layer handles the
addressing problem locally. If a packet passes the network boundary, we need another addressing
system to help distinguish the source and destination systems. The network layer adds a header
to the packet coming from the upper layer that, among other things, includes the logical
addresses of the sender and receiver
❑ Routing: When independent networks or links are connected together to create internetworks
(network of networks) or a large network, the connecting devices (called routers or switches)
route or switch the packets to their final destination. One of the functions of the network layer is
to provide this mechanism.

Transport Layer
The transport layer is responsible for process-to-process delivery of the entire message. A
process is an application program running on the host. Whereas the network layer oversees
source-to-destination delivery of individual packets, it does not recognize any relationship
between those packets. It treats each one independently, as though each piece belonged to a
separate message, whether or not it does. The transport layer, on the other hand, ensures that the

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whole message arrives intact and in order, overseeing both error control and flow control at the
source-to-destination level. Other responsibilities of the transport layer include the following:
❑ Service-point addressing. : Computers often run several programs at the same time. For this
reason, source-to-destination delivery means delivery not only from one computer to the next but
also from a specific process (running program) on one computer to a specific process (running
program) on the other. The transport layer header must therefore include a type of address called
a service-point address (or port address). The network layer gets each packet to the correct
computer; the transport layer gets the entire message to the correct process on that computer.
❑ Segmentation and reassembly: A message is divided into transmittable segments, with each
segment containing a sequence number. These numbers enable the transport layer to reassemble
the message correctly upon arriving at the destination and to identify and replace packets that
were lost in transmission.
❑ Connection control: The transport layer can be either connectionless or connection oriented.
A connectionless transport layer treats each segment as an independent packet and delivers it to
the transport layer at the destination machine. A connection oriented transport layer makes a
connection with the transport layer at the destination machine first before delivering the packets.
After all the data are transferred, the connection is terminated.
❑ Flow control : Like the data link layer, the transport layer is responsible for flow control.
However, flow control at this layer is performed end to end rather than across a single link.
❑ Error control : Like the data link layer, the transport layer is responsible for error control.
However, error control at this layer is performed process-to-process rather than across a single
link. The sending transport layer makes sure that the entire message arrives at the receiving
transport layer without error (damage, loss, or duplication). Error correction is usually achieved
through retransmission.

Session Layer
The services provided by the first four layers (physical, data link, network and transport) are not
sufficient for some processes. The session layer is the network dialog controller. It establishes,
maintains, and synchronizes the interaction between communicating systems. Specific
responsibilities of the session layer include the following:

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❑ Dialog control: The session layer allows two systems to enter into a dialog. It allows the
communication between two processes to take place in either halfduplex (one way at a time) or
full-duplex (two ways at a time) mode.
❑ Synchronization: The session layer allows a process to add checkpoints (synchronization
points) into a stream of data. For example, if a system is sending a file of 2,000 pages, it is
advisable to insert checkpoints after every 100 pages to ensure that each 100-page unit is
received and acknowledged independently. In this case, if a crash happens during the
transmission of page 523, the only pages that need to be resent after system recovery are pages
501 to 523. Pages previous to 501 need not be resent.

Presentation Layer
The presentation layer is concerned with the syntax and semantics of the information exchanged
between two systems. Specific responsibilities of the presentation layer include the following:
❑ Translation : The processes (running programs) in two systems are usually exchanging
information in the form of character strings, numbers, and so on. The information should be
changed to bit streams before being transmitted. Because different computers use different
encoding systems, the presentation layer is responsible for interoperability between these
different encoding methods. The presentation layer at the sender changes the information from
its sender-dependent format into a common format. The presentation layer at the receiving
machine changes the common format into its receiver-dependent format.
❑ Encryption : To carry sensitive information a system must be able to assure privacy.
Encryption means that the sender transforms the original information to another form and sends
the resulting message out over the network. Decryption reverses the original process to transform
the message back to its original form.
❑ Compression : Data compression reduces the number of bits contained in the information.
Data compression becomes particularly important in the transmission of multimedia such as text,
audio, and video.

Application Layer
The application layer enables the user, whether human or software, to access the network. It
provides user interfaces and support for services such as electronic mail, remote file access and
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transfer, shared database management, and other types of distributed information services.
Specific services provided by the application layer include the following:
❑ Network virtual terminal : A network virtual terminal is a software version of a physical
terminal and allows a user to log on to a remote host. To do so, the application creates a software
emulation of a terminal at the remote host. The user’s computer talks to the software terminal,
which, in turn, talks to the host, and vice versa. The remote host believes it is communicating
with one of its own terminals and allows you to log on.
❑ File transfer, access, and management (FTAM) : This application allows a user to access
files in a remote host (to make changes or read data), to retrieve files from a remote computer for
use in the local computer, and to manage or control files in a remote computer locally
❑ E-mail services : This application provides the basis for e-mail forwarding and storage.
❑ Directory services : This application provides distributed database sources and access for
global information about various objects and services.

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TCP/IP Protocol Architecture:

TCP/IP protocols map to a four-layer conceptual model known as the DARPA model , named
after the U.S. government agency that initially developed TCP/IP. The four layers of the DARPA
model are: Application, Transport, Internet, and Network Interface. Each layer in the DARPA
model corresponds to one or more layers of the seven-layer Open Systems Interconnection (OSI)
model.

Figure 1.1 TCP/IP Protocol Architecture

Network Interface Layer

The Network Interface layer (also called the Network Access layer) is responsible for placing
TCP/IP packets on the network medium and receiving TCP/IP packets off the network medium.
TCP/IP was designed to be independent of the network access method, frame format, and
medium. In this way, TCP/IP can be used to connect differing network types. These include
LAN technologies such as Ethernet and Token Ring and WAN technologies such as X.25 and
Frame Relay. Independence from any specific network technology gives TCP/IP the ability to be
adapted to new technologies such as Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM).
The Network Interface layer encompasses the Data Link and Physical layers of the OSI model.
Note that the Internet layer does not take advantage of sequencing and acknowledgment services

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that might be present in the Data-Link layer. An unreliable Network Interface layer is assumed,
and reliable communications through session establishment and the sequencing and
acknowledgment of packets is the responsibility of the Transport layer.

Internet Layer

The Internet layer is responsible for addressing, packaging, and routing functions. The core
protocols of the Internet layer are IP, ARP, ICMP, and IGMP.
 The Internet Protocol (IP) is a routable protocol responsible for IP addressing, routing,
and the fragmentation and reassembly of packets.
 The Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) is responsible for the resolution of the Internet
layer address to the Network Interface layer address such as a hardware address.
 The Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) is responsible for providing diagnostic
functions and reporting errors due to the unsuccessful delivery of IP packets.
 The Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) is responsible for the management of
IP multicast groups.
The Internet layer is analogous to the Network layer of the OSI model.

Transport Layer

The Transport layer (also known as the Host-to-Host Transport layer) is responsible for
providing the Application layer with session and datagram communication services. The core
protocols of the Transport layer are Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and the User
Datagram Protocol (UDP).
 TCP provides a one-to-one, connection-oriented, reliable communications service. TCP is
responsible for the establishment of a TCP connection, the sequencing and
acknowledgment of packets sent, and the recovery of packets lost during transmission.
 UDP provides a one-to-one or one-to-many, connectionless, unreliable communications
service. UDP is used when the amount of data to be transferred is small (such as the data
that would fit into a single packet), when the overhead of establishing a TCP connection
is not desired or when the applications or upper layer protocols provide reliable delivery.

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The Transport layer encompasses the responsibilities of the OSI Transport layer and some of the
responsibilities of the OSI Session layer.

Application Layer

The Application layer provides applications the ability to access the services of the other layers
and defines the protocols that applications use to exchange data. There are many Application
layer protocols and new protocols are always being developed.
The most widely-known Application layer protocols are those used for the exchange of user
information:
 The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is used to transfer files that make up the Web
pages of the World Wide Web.
 The File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is used for interactive file transfer.
 The Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) is used for the transfer of mail messages and
attachments.
 Telnet, a terminal emulation protocol, is used for logging on remotely to network hosts.
Additionally, the following Application layer protocols help facilitate the use and management
of TCP/IP networks:
 The Domain Name System (DNS) is used to resolve a host name to an IP address.
 The Routing Information Protocol (RIP) is a routing protocol that routers use to exchange
routing information on an IP internetwork.
 The Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is used between a network
management console and network devices (routers, bridges, intelligent hubs) to collect
and exchange network management information.

Reference:
[1] https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc958821.aspx
[2]http://fac.ksu.edu.sa/sites/default/files/computer_networks_4th_ed_andrew_s._tanenbaum_pre
ntice_hall.pdf

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3.2 TCP/UDP

TCP and UDP

Acronym for Transmission Control Protocol User Datagram Protocol or Universal Datagram Protocol

Connection TCP is a connection-oriented UDP is a connectionless protocol.

protocol.

Function As a message makes its way across UDP is also a protocol used in message transport or transfer.
the internet from one computer to This is not connection based which means that one program
another. This is connection based. can send a load of packets to another and that would be the
end of the relationship.

Usage TCP is suited for applications that UDP is suitable for applications that need fast, efficient
require high reliability, and transmission, such as games. UDP's stateless nature is also
transmission time is relatively less useful for servers that answer small queries from huge
critical. numbers of clients.

Use by other protocols HTTP, HTTPs, FTP, SMTP, Telnet DNS, DHCP, TFTP, SNMP, RIP, VOIP.

Speed of transfer The speed for TCP is slower than UDP is faster because there is no error-checking for packets.
UDP.

Reliability There is absolute guarantee that There is no guarantee that the messages or packets sent
the data transferred remains intact would reach at all.
and arrives in the same order in
which it was sent.

Header Size TCP header size is 20 bytes UDP Header size is 8 bytes.

Data Flow Control TCP does Flow Control. TCP UDP does not have an option for flow control
requires three packets to set up a
socket connection, before any user
data can be sent. TCP handles
reliability and congestion control.

Error Checking TCP does error checking UDP does error checking, but no recovery options.

Acknowledgement Acknowledgement segments No Acknowledgment

Handshake SYN, SYN-ACK, ACK No handshake (connectionless protocol)

Checksum checksum to detect errors

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3.3 Port Numbers:

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
ICANN Ranges
ICANN has divided the port numbers into three ranges: well-known, registered, and Dynamic (or
private),

❑ Well-known ports. The ports ranging from 0 to 1,023 are assigned and controlled by ICANN.

These are the well-known ports.

❑ Registered ports. The ports ranging from 1,024 to 49,151 are not assigned or controlled by

ICANN. They can only be registered with ICANN to prevent duplication.

❑ Dynamic ports. The ports ranging from 49,152 to 65,535 are neither controlled nor registered.

They can be used as temporary or private port numbers. The original recommendation was that
the ephemeral port numbers for clients be chosen from this range. However, most systems do not
follow this recommendation.

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Multiplexing and Demultiplexing:

Whenever an entity accepts items from more than one source, it is referred to as multiplexing (many to one);
whenever an entity delivers items to more than one source, it is referred to as demultiplexing (one to many). The
transport layer at the source performs multiplexing; the transport layer at the destination performs demultiplexing
Figure 13.7 shows communication between a client and two servers. Three client processes are running at the client
site, P1, P2, and P3. The processes P1 and P3 need to send requests to the corresponding server process running in a
server. The client process P2 needs to send a request to the corresponding server process running at another server.
The transport layer at the client site accepts three messages from the three processes and creates three packets. It acts
as a multiplexer. The packets 1 and 3 use the same logical channel to reach the transport layer of the first server.
When they arrive at the server, the transport layer does the job of a multiplexer and distributes the messages to two
different processes. The transport layer at the second server receives packet 2 and delivers it to the corresponding
process.

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4.4 Link State Vs Distance Vector Routing

Particular Distance Vector Routing Protocol Link State Routing Protocol

Example of RIP, IGRP OSPF, IS-IS

Algorithm Bellmon-ford Shortest Path first (SPF), Dijktra

Classfull, Classless, VLSM,

Support subnet Only Classfull Routing
Summarization

Scale Small, limited hop Large

Routing Table, Neighbor Table and

Table creation Only Routing Table
Topology Table

Convergence time Very Slow Fast

Updating On Broadcast On multicast

Updating based on Rumor Based on topology table

Updating time When periodic timer expired Whenever changing occurs

Updating contents Whole routing table Only changed information

HOP Limited Unlimited

Needs Memory Less High

CPU Cycle Less High

Configuration Simple Advanced

Risk of Layer 3 Loop Yes No

Hierarchical Structure No Yes

OPEN Standard Yes Yes

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HTTP, FTP, and SMTP

File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is the standard mechanism provided by TCP/IP for copying a file
from one host to another.
FTP differs from other client-server applications in that it establishes two connections between
the hosts. One connection is used for data transfer, the other for control information (commands
and responses).
FTP uses two well-known TCP ports: Port 21 is used for the control connection, and port 20 is
used for the data connection.
Figure shows the basic model of FTP. The client has three components: user interface, client
control process, and the client data transfer process. The server has two components: the server
control process and the server data transfer process. The control connection is made between the
control processes. The data connection is made between the data transfer processes.

Control Connection
The control connection is created in the same way as other application programs described so far.
There are two steps:
1. The server issues a passive open on the well-known port 21 and waits for a client.
2. The client uses an ephemeral port and issues an active open.
The connection remains open during the entire process. The service type, used by the IP
protocol, is minimize delay because this is an interactive connection between a user (human) and
a server. The user types commands and expects to receive responses without significant delay.
Figure shows the initial connection between the server and the client
Data Connection
The data connection uses the well-known port 20 at the server site. However, the creation of a
data connection is different from what we have seen so far. The following shows how FTP
creates a data connection:
1. The client, not the server, issues a passive open using an ephemeral port. This must be done by
the client because it is the client that issues the commands for transferring files.
2. The client sends this port number to the server using the PORT command
3. The server receives the port number and issues an active open using the wellknown port 20
and the received ephemeral port number.

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The steps for creating the initial data connection are shown in Figure.

SR.NO RIP OSPF BGP

1 Routing information Protocol Open Shortest Path Protocol Border Getway Protocol
2 RIP is intra domain Routing OSPF is also intra domain BGP: It is inter domain
protocol, used within the routing protocol used within the routing protocol used
autonomous system autonomous system between the autonomous
system

3 Rip is used for Small OSPF is used in large The BGP protocol is used
networks with Maximum Autonomous system with no for very large-scale
Number of hops 16 limitation networks
4 RIP uses Distance Vector OSPF uses Link State BGP uses Path vector
5 Rip send entire routing OSPF send multicast Hello BGP send Open packet to
update to all directly Packet to the Neighbours, to the Neighbours to create
connected interface create session Session,
6 RIP use Bellman ford OSPF use Dijikstra Algorithm BGP: ?????,
Algorithm

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4.3 Internet Protocol IP-V4 and IP-V6

The following table lists the important differences between IPv4 and IPv6.
1 IP Version 4 IP Version 6
2 IP-V4 addresses are 32 bit length. IP-V6 addresses are 128 bit length.
3 IPv4 addresses are binary IPv6 addresses are binary numbers represented
numbers represented in decimals. in hexadecimals.
4 IPSec support is only optional. Inbuilt IPSec support.
5 Fragmentation is done by sender and Fragmentation is done only by sender.
forwarding routers.
6 No packet flow identification. Packet flow identification is available within
the IPv6 header using the Flow Label field.
7 Checksum field is available in IPv4 No checksum field in IPv6 header.
header
8 Options fields are available in IPv4 No option fields, but IPv6 Extension headers are
header. available.
9 Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) is Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) is replaced
available to mapIPv4 addresses to MAC with a function of Neighbour Discovery
addresses. Protocol (NDP).
10 Internet Group Management Protocol IGMP is replaced with Multicast Listener
(IGMP) is used to manage multicast Discovery (MLD) messages.
group membership.
11 Broadcast messages are available. Broadcast messages are not available. Instead a
link-local scope "All nodes" multicast IPv6
address (FF02::1) is used for broadcast similar
functionality.
12 Manual configuration (Static) of IPv4 Auto-configuration of addresses is available.
addresses or DHCP (Dynamic
configuration) is required to
configure IPv4 addresses.

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What is Transmission media?

o Transmission media is a communication channel that carries the information from the
sender to the receiver. Data is transmitted through the electromagnetic signals.
o The main functionality of the transmission media is to carry the information in the form
of bits through LAN(Local Area Network).
o It is a physical path between transmitter and receiver in data communication.
o In a copper-based network, the bits in the form of electrical signals.
o In a fibre based network, the bits in the form of light pulses.
o In OSI(Open System Interconnection) phase, transmission media supports the Layer 1.
Therefore, it is considered to be as a Layer 1 component.
o The electrical signals can be sent through the copper wire, fibre optics, atmosphere,
water, and vacuum.
o The characteristics and quality of data transmission are determined by the
characteristics of medium and signal.
o Transmission media is of two types are wired media and wireless media. In wired media,
medium characteristics are more important whereas, in wireless media, signal
characteristics are more important.
o Different transmission media have different properties such as bandwidth, delay, cost
and ease of installation and maintenance.
o The transmission media is available in the lowest layer of the OSI reference model,
i.e., Physical layer.

Some factors need to be considered for designing the transmission media:

o Bandwidth: All the factors are remaining constant, the greater the bandwidth of a
medium, the higher the data transmission rate of a signal.
o Transmission impairment: When the received signal is not identical to the transmitted
one due to the transmission impairment. The quality of the signals will get destroyed
due to transmission impairment.
o Interference: An interference is defined as the process of disrupting a signal when it
travels over a communication medium on the addition of some unwanted signal.

Causes Of Transmission Impairment:

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o Attenuation: Attenuation means the loss of energy, i.e., the strength of the signal
decreases with increasing the distance which causes the loss of energy.
o Distortion: Distortion occurs when there is a change in the shape of the signal. This type
of distortion is examined from different signals having different frequencies. Each
frequency component has its own propagation speed, so they reach at a different time
which leads to the delay distortion.
o Noise: When data is travelled over a transmission medium, some unwanted signal is
added to it which creates the noise.

Classification Of Transmission Media:

Guided Media
It is defined as the physical medium through which the signals are transmitted. It is also known
as Bounded media.

Types of Guided media:

Twisted pair:
Twisted pair is a physical media made up of a pair of cables twisted with each other. A twisted
pair cable is cheap as compared to other transmission media. Installation of the twisted pair cable
is easy, and it is a lightweight cable. The frequency range for twisted pair cable is from 0 to
3.5KHz.

A twisted pair consists of two insulated copper wires arranged in a regular spiral pattern.

The degree of reduction in noise interference is determined by the number of turns per foot.
Increasing the number of turns per foot decreases noise interference.

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Types of Twisted pair:

Unshielded Twisted Pair:

An unshielded twisted pair is widely used in telecommunication. Following are the categories of
the unshielded twisted pair cable:

o Category 1: Category 1 is used for telephone lines that have low-speed data.
o Category 2: It can support upto 4Mbps.
o Category 3: It can support upto 16Mbps.
o Category 4: It can support upto 20Mbps. Therefore, it can be used for long-distance
communication.
o Category 5: It can support upto 200Mbps.

Advantages of Unshielded Twisted Pair:

o It is cheap.
o Installation of the unshielded twisted pair is easy.
o It can be used for high-speed LAN.

Disadvantage:

o This cable can only be used for shorter distances because of attenuation.

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Shielded Twisted Pair

A shielded twisted pair is a cable that contains the mesh surrounding the wire that allows the
higher transmission rate.

Characteristics of Shielded Twisted Pair:

o The cost of the shielded twisted pair cable is not very high and not very low.
o An installation of STP is easy.
o It has higher capacity as compared to unshielded twisted pair cable.
o It has a higher attenuation.
o It is shielded that provides the higher data transmission rate.

Disadvantages

o It is more expensive as compared to UTP and coaxial cable.

o It has a higher attenuation rate.

Coaxial Cable
o Coaxial cable is very commonly used transmission media, for example, TV wire is
usually a coaxial cable.
o The name of the cable is coaxial as it contains two conductors parallel to each other.
o It has a higher frequency as compared to Twisted pair cable.
o The inner conductor of the coaxial cable is made up of copper, and the outer conductor is
made up of copper mesh. The middle core is made up of non-conductive cover that
separates the inner conductor from the outer conductor.
o The middle core is responsible for the data transferring whereas the copper mesh prevents
from the EMI(Electromagnetic interference).

Coaxial cable is of two types:

1. Baseband transmission: It is defined as the process of transmitting a single signal at

high speed.
2. Broadband transmission: It is defined as the process of transmitting multiple signals
simultaneously.

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Advantages of Coaxial cable:

o The data can be transmitted at high speed.

o It has better shielding as compared to twisted pair cable.
o It provides higher bandwidth.

Disadvantages Of Coaxial cable:

o It is more expensive as compared to twisted pair cable.

o If any fault occurs in the cable causes the failure in the entire network.

Fibre Optic
o Fibre optic cable is a cable that uses electrical signals for communication.
o Fibre optic is a cable that holds the optical fibres coated in plastic that are used to send
the data by pulses of light.
o The plastic coating protects the optical fibres from heat, cold, electromagnetic
interference from other types of wiring.
o Fibre optics provide faster data transmission than copper wires.

Diagrammatic representation of fibre optic cable:

Basic elements of Fibre optic cable:

o Core: The optical fibre consists of a narrow strand of glass or plastic known as a core. A
core is a light transmission area of the fibre. The more the area of the core, the more light
will be transmitted into the fibre.
o Cladding: The concentric layer of glass is known as cladding. The main functionality of
the cladding is to provide the lower refractive index at the core interface as to cause the
reflection within the core so that the light waves are transmitted through the fibre.
o Jacket: The protective coating consisting of plastic is known as a jacket. The main
purpose of a jacket is to preserve the fibre strength, absorb shock and extra fibre
protection.

Following are the advantages of fibre optic cable over copper:

o Greater Bandwidth: The fibre optic cable provides more bandwidth as compared
copper. Therefore, the fibre optic carries more data as compared to copper cable.

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o Faster speed: Fibre optic cable carries the data in the form of light. This allows the fibre
optic cable to carry the signals at a higher speed.
o Longer distances: The fibre optic cable carries the data at a longer distance as compared
to copper cable.
o Better reliability: The fibre optic cable is more reliable than the copper cable as it is
immune to any temperature changes while it can cause obstruct in the connectivity of
copper cable.
o Thinner and Sturdier: Fibre optic cable is thinner and lighter in weight so it can
withstand more pull pressure than copper cable.

UnGuided Transmission
o An unguided transmission transmits the electromagnetic waves without using any
physical medium. Therefore it is also known as wireless transmission.
o In unguided media, air is the media through which the electromagnetic energy can flow
easily.

Unguided transmission is broadly classified into three categories:

Radio waves
o Radio waves are the electromagnetic waves that are transmitted in all the directions of
free space.
o Radio waves are omnidirectional, i.e., the signals are propagated in all the directions.
o The range in frequencies of radio waves is from 3Khz to 1 khz.
o In the case of radio waves, the sending and receiving antenna are not aligned, i.e., the
wave sent by the sending antenna can be received by any receiving antenna.
o An example of the radio wave is FM radio.

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Applications Of Radio waves:

o A Radio wave is useful for multicasting when there is one sender and many receivers.
o An FM radio, television, cordless phones are examples of a radio wave.

Advantages Of Radio transmission:

o Radio transmission is mainly used for wide area networks and mobile cellular phones.
o Radio waves cover a large area, and they can penetrate the walls.
o Radio transmission provides a higher transmission rate.

Microwaves

Microwaves are of two types:

o Terrestrial microwave
o Satellite microwave communication.

Terrestrial Microwave Transmission

o Terrestrial Microwave transmission is a technology that transmits the focused beam of a
radio signal from one ground-based microwave transmission antenna to another.
o Microwaves are the electromagnetic waves having the frequency in the range from 1GHz
to 1000 GHz.
o Microwaves are unidirectional as the sending and receiving antenna is to be aligned, i.e.,
the waves sent by the sending antenna are narrowly focussed.
o In this case, antennas are mounted on the towers to send a beam to another antenna
which is km away.

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ECC603 Computer Communication Networks Prof.Atul D. Atalkar

o It works on the line of sight transmission, i.e., the antennas mounted on the towers are
the direct sight of each other.

Characteristics of Microwave:

o Frequency range: The frequency range of terrestrial microwave is from 4-6 GHz to 21-
23 GHz.
o Bandwidth: It supports the bandwidth from 1 to 10 Mbps.
o Short distance: It is inexpensive for short distance.
o Long distance: It is expensive as it requires a higher tower for a longer distance.
o Attenuation: Attenuation means loss of signal. It is affected by environmental
conditions and antenna size.

Advantages Of Microwave:

o Microwave transmission is cheaper than using cables.

o It is free from land acquisition as it does not require any land for the installation of
cables.
o Microwave transmission provides an easy communication in terrains as the installation of
cable in terrain is quite a difficult task.
o Communication over oceans can be achieved by using microwave transmission.

Disadvantages of Microwave transmission:

o Eavesdropping: An eavesdropping creates insecure communication. Any malicious user

can catch the signal in the air by using its own antenna.
o Out of phase signal: A signal can be moved out of phase by using microwave
transmission.
o Susceptible to weather condition: A microwave transmission is susceptible to weather
condition. This means that any environmental change such as rain, wind can distort the
signal.
o Bandwidth limited: Allocation of bandwidth is limited in the case of microwave
transmission.

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ECC603 Computer Communication Networks Prof.Atul D. Atalkar

Satellite Microwave Communication

o A satellite is a physical object that revolves around the earth at a known height.
o Satellite communication is more reliable nowadays as it offers more flexibility than cable
and fibre optic systems.
o We can communicate with any point on the globe by using satellite communication.

How Does Satellite work?

The satellite accepts the signal that is transmitted from the earth station, and it amplifies
the signal. The amplified signal is retransmitted to another earth station.

Advantages Of Satellite Microwave Communication:

o The coverage area of a satellite microwave is more than the terrestrial microwave.
o The transmission cost of the satellite is independent of the distance from the centre of
the coverage area.
o Satellite communication is used in mobile and wireless communication applications.
o It is easy to install.
o It is used in a wide variety of applications such as weather forecasting, radio/TV signal
broadcasting, mobile communication, etc.

Disadvantages Of Satellite Microwave Communication:

o Satellite designing and development requires more time and higher cost.
o The Satellite needs to be monitored and controlled on regular periods so that it remains
in orbit.
o The life of the satellite is about 12-15 years. Due to this reason, another launch of the
satellite has to be planned before it becomes non-functional.

Infrared
o An infrared transmission is a wireless technology used for communication over short
ranges.
o The frequency of the infrared in the range from 300 GHz to 400 THz.

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o It is used for short-range communication such as data transfer between two cell phones,
TV remote operation, data transfer between a computer and cell phone resides in the
same closed area.

Characteristics of Infrared:

o It supports high bandwidth, and hence the data rate will be very high.
o Infrared waves cannot penetrate the walls. Therefore, the infrared communication in one
room cannot be interrupted by the nearby rooms.
o An infrared communication provides better security with minimum interference.
o Infrared communication is unreliable outside the building because the sun rays will
interfere with the infrared waves.

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 ECC603 Computer Communication Networks Prof.Atul D. Atalkar

TCP & UDP Header Format

Both TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) and UDP (User Datagram Protocol) protocols work in
the Transport layer. Both provide same functionality in different ways. This functionality is the
delivering data at the correct destination. While providing this functionality, TCP focuses on
accuracy while UDP pays attention on speed.

Following figure shows a data piece with the TCP header.

Field Description
Source port Used to identify the application that is sending data from the source host
Destination port Used to identify the application that will receive the data at destination host
Sequence Number Used to identify the lost segments and maintain the sequencing in transmission.
Acknowledgment Used to send a verification of received segments and to ask for the next segments
Number
Header Length A number that indicates where the data begin in segment
Reserved Reserve for future use. Always set to zero.
Code Bits Used to define the control functions such as setting up and terminating the session
Window size Used to set the number of segments that can be sent before waiting for a confirmation from the destination
Checksum CRC (cyclic redundancy check) of the header and data piece.
Urgent Used to point any urgent data in the segment.
Options Used to define any additional options such as maximum segment size
Data A data piece that is produced from the segmentation

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On other hand, UDP neither provides any protocol specific service, nor adds any additional information in the header.

Following figure shows data with UDP header.

Field Description
Source port Port number of the application that is transmitting data from the source computer
Destination port Port number of the application that will receive the data at destination.
Length Denotes the length of the UDP header and the UDP data
Checksum CRC of the complete segment
Data Data which it received from the application

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