Computer Network Models

A communication subsystem is a complex piece of Hardware and software. Early attempts for
implementing the software for such subsystems were based on a single, complex, unstructured
program with many interacting components. The resultant software was very difficult to test and
modify. To overcome such problem, the ISO has developed a layered approach. In a layered
approach, networking concept is divided into several layers, and each layer is assigned a
particular task. Therefore, we can say that networking tasks depend upon the layers.

Layered Architecture
o The main aim of the layered architecture is to divide the design into small pieces.
o Each lower layer adds its services to the higher layer to provide a full set of services to
manage communications and run the applications.
o It provides modularity and clear interfaces, i.e., provides interaction between subsystems.
o It ensures the independence between layers by providing the services from lower to
higher layer without defining how the services are implemented. Therefore, any
modification in a layer will not affect the other layers.
o The number of layers, functions, contents of each layer will vary from network to
network. However, the purpose of each layer is to provide the service from lower to a
higher layer and hiding the details from the layers of how the services are implemented.
o The basic elements of layered architecture are services, protocols, and interfaces.
o Service: It is a set of actions that a layer provides to the higher layer.
o Protocol: It defines a set of rules that a layer uses to exchange the information
with peer entity. These rules mainly concern about both the contents and order of
the messages used.
o Interface: It is a way through which the message is transferred from one layer to
another layer.
o In a layer n architecture, layer n on one machine will have a communication with the
layer n on another machine and the rules used in a conversation are known as a layer-n
protocol.

Let's take an example of the five-layered architecture.

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 o In case of layered architecture, no data is transferred from layer n of one machine to layer
n of another machine. Instead, each layer passes the data to the layer immediately just
below it, until the lowest layer is reached.
o Below layer 1 is the physical medium through which the actual communication takes
place.
o In a layered architecture, unmanageable tasks are divided into several small and
manageable tasks.
o The data is passed from the upper layer to lower layer through an interface. A Layered
architecture provides a clean-cut interface so that minimum information is shared among
different layers. It also ensures that the implementation of one layer can be easily
replaced by another implementation.
o A set of layers and protocols is known as network architecture.

Why do we require Layered architecture?

o Divide-and-conquer approach: Divide-and-conquer approach makes a design process

in such a way that the unmanageable tasks are divided into small and manageable tasks.
In short, we can say that this approach reduces the complexity of the design.
o Modularity: Layered architecture is more modular. Modularity provides the
independence of layers, which is easier to understand and implement.
o Easy to modify: It ensures the independence of layers so that implementation in one
layer can be changed without affecting other layers.
o Easy to test: Each layer of the layered architecture can be analyzed and tested
individually.

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OSI Model
o OSI stands for Open System Interconnection is a reference model that describes how
information from a software application in one computer moves through a physical
medium to the software application in another computer.
o OSI consists of seven layers, and each layer performs a particular network function.
o OSI model was developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in
1984, and it is now considered as an architectural model for the inter-computer
communications.
o OSI model divides the whole task into seven smaller and manageable tasks. Each layer is
assigned a particular task.
o Each layer is self-contained, so that task assigned to each layer can be performed
independently.

Characteristics of OSI Model:

o The OSI model is divided into two layers: upper layers and lower layers.
o The upper layer of the OSI model mainly deals with the application related issues, and
they are implemented only in the software. The application layer is closest to the end
user. Both the end user and the application layer interact with the software applications.
An upper layer refers to the layer just above another layer.
o The lower layer of the OSI model deals with the data transport issues. The data link layer
and the physical layer are implemented in hardware and software. The physical layer is

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 the lowest layer of the OSI model and is closest to the physical medium. The physical
layer is mainly responsible for placing the information on the physical medium.

7 Layers of OSI Model

There are the seven OSI layers. Each layer has different functions. A list of seven layers are
given below:

1. Physical Layer
2. Data-Link Layer
3. Network Layer
4. Transport Layer
5. Session Layer
6. Presentation Layer
7. Application Layer

1) Physical layer

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 o The main functionality of the physical layer is to transmit the individual bits from one
node to another node.
o It is the lowest layer of the OSI model.
o It establishes, maintains and deactivates the physical connection.
o It specifies the mechanical, electrical and procedural network interface specifications.

Functions of a Physical layer:

o Line Configuration: It defines the way how two or more devices can be connected
physically.
o Data Transmission: It defines the transmission mode whether it is simplex, half-duplex
or full-duplex mode between the two devices on the network.
o Topology: It defines the way how network devices are arranged.
o Signals: It determines the type of the signal used for transmitting the information.

2) Data-Link Layer

o This layer is responsible for the error-free transfer of data frames.

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 o It defines the format of the data on the network.
o It provides a reliable and efficient communication between two or more devices.
o It is mainly responsible for the unique identification of each device that resides on a local
network.
o It contains two sub-layers:
o Logical Link Control Layer
o It is responsible for transferring the packets to the Network layer of the
receiver that is receiving.
o It identifies the address of the network layer protocol from the header.
o It also provides flow control.
o Media Access Control Layer
o A Media access control layer is a link between the Logical Link Control
layer and the network's physical layer.
o It is used for transferring the packets over the network.

Functions of the Data-link layer

o Framing: The data link layer translates the physical's raw bit stream into packets known
as Frames. The Data link layer adds the header and trailer to the frame. The header which
is added to the frame contains the hardware destination and source address.

o Physical Addressing: The Data link layer adds a header to the frame that contains a
destination address. The frame is transmitted to the destination address mentioned in the
header.
o Flow Control: Flow control is the main functionality of the Data-link layer. It is the
technique through which the constant data rate is maintained on both the sides so that no
data get corrupted. It ensures that the transmitting station such as a server with higher
processing speed does not exceed the receiving station, with lower processing speed.

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 o Error Control: Error control is achieved by adding a calculated value CRC (Cyclic
Redundancy Check) that is placed to the Data link layer's trailer which is added to the
message frame before it is sent to the physical layer. If any error seems to occurr, then the
receiver sends the acknowledgment for the retransmission of the corrupted frames.
o Access Control: When two or more devices are connected to the same communication
channel, then the data link layer protocols are used to determine which device has control
over the link at a given time.

3) Network Layer

o It is a layer 3 that manages device addressing, tracks the location of devices on the
network.
o It determines the best path to move data from source to the destination based on the
network conditions, the priority of service, and other factors.
o The Data link layer is responsible for routing and forwarding the packets.
o Routers are the layer 3 devices, they are specified in this layer and used to provide the
routing services within an internetwork.
o The protocols used to route the network traffic are known as Network layer protocols.
Examples of protocols are IP and Ipv6.

Functions of Network Layer:

o Internetworking: An internetworking is the main responsibility of the network layer. It

provides a logical connection between different devices.
o Addressing: A Network layer adds the source and destination address to the header of
the frame. Addressing is used to identify the device on the internet.

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 o Routing: Routing is the major component of the network layer, and it determines the best
optimal path out of the multiple paths from source to the destination.
o Packetizing: A Network Layer receives the packets from the upper layer and converts
them into packets. This process is known as Packetizing. It is achieved by internet
protocol (IP).

4) Transport Layer

o The Transport layer is a Layer 4 ensures that messages are transmitted in the order in
which they are sent and there is no duplication of data.
o The main responsibility of the transport layer is to transfer the data completely.
o It receives the data from the upper layer and converts them into smaller units known as
segments.
o This layer can be termed as an end-to-end layer as it provides a point-to-point connection
between source and destination to deliver the data reliably.

The two protocols used in this layer are:

o Transmission Control Protocol

o It is a standard protocol that allows the systems to communicate over the internet.
o It establishes and maintains a connection between hosts.
o When data is sent over the TCP connection, then the TCP protocol divides the
data into smaller units known as segments. Each segment travels over the internet
using multiple routes, and they arrive in different orders at the destination. The
transmission control protocol reorders the packets in the correct order at the
receiving end.
o User Datagram Protocol

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 o User Datagram Protocol is a transport layer protocol.
o It is an unreliable transport protocol as in this case receiver does not send any
acknowledgment when the packet is received, the sender does not wait for any
acknowledgment. Therefore, this makes a protocol unreliable.

Functions of Transport Layer:

o Service-point addressing: Computers run several programs simultaneously due to this

reason, the transmission of data from source to the destination not only from one
computer to another computer but also from one process to another process. The transport
layer adds the header that contains the address known as a service-point address or port
address. The responsibility of the network layer is to transmit the data from one computer
to another computer and the responsibility of the transport layer is to transmit the
message to the correct process.
o Segmentation and reassembly: When the transport layer receives the message from the
upper layer, it divides the message into multiple segments, and each segment is assigned
with a sequence number that uniquely identifies each segment. When the message has
arrived at the destination, then the transport layer reassembles the message based on their
sequence numbers.
o Connection control: Transport layer provides two services Connection-oriented service
and connectionless service. A connectionless service treats each segment as an individual
packet, and they all travel in different routes to reach the destination. A connection-
oriented service makes a connection with the transport layer at the destination machine
before delivering the packets. In connection-oriented service, all the packets travel in the
single route.
o Flow control: The transport layer also responsible for flow control but it is performed
end-to-end rather than across a single link.
o Error control: The transport layer is also responsible for Error control. Error control is
performed end-to-end rather than across the single link. The sender transport layer
ensures that message reach at the destination without any error.

5) Session Layer

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 o It is a layer 3 in the OSI model.
o The Session layer is used to establish, maintain and synchronizes the interaction between
communicating devices.

Functions of Session layer:

o Dialog control: Session layer acts as a dialog controller that creates a dialog between two
processes or we can say that it allows the communication between two processes which
can be either half-duplex or full-duplex.
o Synchronization: Session layer adds some checkpoints when transmitting the data in a
sequence. If some error occurs in the middle of the transmission of data, then the
transmission will take place again from the checkpoint. This process is known as
Synchronization and recovery.

6) Presentation Layer

o A Presentation layer is mainly concerned with the syntax and semantics of the
information exchanged between the two systems.
o It acts as a data translator for a network.
o This layer is a part of the operating system that converts the data from one presentation
format to another format.

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 o The Presentation layer is also known as the syntax layer.

Functions of Presentation layer:

o Translation: The processes in two systems exchange the information in the form of
character strings, numbers and so on. Different computers use different encoding
methods, the presentation layer handles the interoperability between the different
encoding methods. It converts the data from sender-dependent format into a common
format and changes the common format into receiver-dependent format at the receiving
end.
o Encryption: Encryption is needed to maintain privacy. Encryption is a process of
converting the sender-transmitted information into another form and sends the resulting
message over the network.
o Compression: Data compression is a process of compressing the data, i.e., it reduces the
number of bits to be transmitted. Data compression is very important in multimedia such
as text, audio, video.

7) Application Layer

o An application layer serves as a window for users and application processes to access
network service.
o It handles issues such as network transparency, resource allocation, etc.
o An application layer is not an application, but it performs the application layer functions.
o This layer provides the network services to the end-users.

Functions of Application layer:

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 o File transfer, access, and management (FTAM): An application layer allows a user to
access the files in a remote computer, to retrieve the files from a computer and to manage
the files in a remote computer.
o Mail services: An application layer provides the facility for email forwarding and
storage.
o Directory services: An application provides the distributed database sources and is used
to provide that global information about various objects.

TCP/IP model
o The TCP/IP model was developed prior to the OSI model.
o The TCP/IP model is not exactly similar to the OSI model.
o The TCP/IP model consists of five layers: the application layer, transport layer, network
layer, data link layer and physical layer.
o The first four layers provide physical standards, network interface, internetworking, and
transport functions that correspond to the first four layers of the OSI model and these four
layers are represented in TCP/IP model by a single layer called the application layer.
o TCP/IP is a hierarchical protocol made up of interactive modules, and each of them
provides specific functionality.

Here, hierarchical means that each upper-layer protocol is supported by two or more lower-level
protocols.

Functions of TCP/IP layers:

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Network Access Layer

o A network layer is the lowest layer of the TCP/IP model.

o A network layer is the combination of the Physical layer and Data Link layer defined in
the OSI reference model.
o It defines how the data should be sent physically through the network.
o This layer is mainly responsible for the transmission of the data between two devices on
the same network.
o The functions carried out by this layer are encapsulating the IP datagram into frames
transmitted by the network and mapping of IP addresses into physical addresses.
o The protocols used by this layer are ethernet, token ring, FDDI, X.25, frame relay.

Internet Layer

o An internet layer is the second layer of the TCP/IP model.

o An internet layer is also known as the network layer.
o The main responsibility of the internet layer is to send the packets from any network, and
they arrive at the destination irrespective of the route they take.

Following are the protocols used in this layer are:

IP Protocol: IP protocol is used in this layer, and it is the most significant part of the entire
TCP/IP suite.

Following are the responsibilities of this protocol:

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 o IP Addressing: This protocol implements logical host addresses known as IP addresses.
The IP addresses are used by the internet and higher layers to identify the device and to
provide internetwork routing.
o Host-to-host communication: It determines the path through which the data is to be
transmitted.
o Data Encapsulation and Formatting: An IP protocol accepts the data from the transport
layer protocol. An IP protocol ensures that the data is sent and received securely, it
encapsulates the data into message known as IP datagram.
o Fragmentation and Reassembly: The limit imposed on the size of the IP datagram by
data link layer protocol is known as Maximum Transmission unit (MTU). If the size of IP
datagram is greater than the MTU unit, then the IP protocol splits the datagram into
smaller units so that they can travel over the local network. Fragmentation can be done by
the sender or intermediate router. At the receiver side, all the fragments are reassembled
to form an original message.
o Routing: When IP datagram is sent over the same local network such as LAN, MAN,
WAN, it is known as direct delivery. When source and destination are on the distant
network, then the IP datagram is sent indirectly. This can be accomplished by routing the
IP datagram through various devices such as routers.

ARP Protocol

o ARP stands for Address Resolution Protocol.

o ARP is a network layer protocol which is used to find the physical address from the IP
address.
o The two terms are mainly associated with the ARP Protocol:
o ARP request: When a sender wants to know the physical address of the device, it
broadcasts the ARP request to the network.
o ARP reply: Every device attached to the network will accept the ARP request
and process the request, but only recipient recognize the IP address and sends
back its physical address in the form of ARP reply. The recipient adds the
physical address both to its cache memory and to the datagram header

ICMP Protocol

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 o ICMP stands for Internet Control Message Protocol.
o It is a mechanism used by the hosts or routers to send notifications regarding datagram
problems back to the sender.
o A datagram travels from router-to-router until it reaches its destination. If a router is
unable to route the data because of some unusual conditions such as disabled links, a
device is on fire or network congestion, then the ICMP protocol is used to inform the
sender that the datagram is undeliverable.
o An ICMP protocol mainly uses two terms:
o ICMP Test: ICMP Test is used to test whether the destination is reachable or not.
o ICMP Reply: ICMP Reply is used to check whether the destination device is
responding or not.
o The core responsibility of the ICMP protocol is to report the problems, not correct them.
The responsibility of the correction lies with the sender.
o ICMP can send the messages only to the source, but not to the intermediate routers
because the IP datagram carries the addresses of the source and destination but not of the
router that it is passed to.

Transport Layer
The transport layer is responsible for the reliability, flow control, and correction of data which is
being sent over the network.

The two protocols used in the transport layer are User Datagram protocol and Transmission
control protocol.

o User Datagram Protocol (UDP)

o It provides connectionless service and end-to-end delivery of transmission.
o It is an unreliable protocol as it discovers the errors but not specify the error.
o User Datagram Protocol discovers the error, and ICMP protocol reports the error
to the sender that user datagram has been damaged.
o UDP consists of the following fields:
Source port address: The source port address is the address of the application
program that has created the message.

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 Destination port address: The destination port address is the address of the
application program that receives the message.
Total length: It defines the total number of bytes of the user datagram in bytes.
Checksum: The checksum is a 16-bit field used in error detection.
o UDP does not specify which packet is lost. UDP contains only checksum; it does
not contain any ID of a data segment.

o Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)

o It provides a full transport layer services to applications.
o It creates a virtual circuit between the sender and receiver, and it is active for the
duration of the transmission.
o TCP is a reliable protocol as it detects the error and retransmits the damaged
frames. Therefore, it ensures all the segments must be received and acknowledged
before the transmission is considered to be completed and a virtual circuit is
discarded.
o At the sending end, TCP divides the whole message into smaller units known as
segment, and each segment contains a sequence number which is required for
reordering the frames to form an original message.
o At the receiving end, TCP collects all the segments and reorders them based on
sequence numbers.

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Application Layer

o An application layer is the topmost layer in the TCP/IP model.

o It is responsible for handling high-level protocols, issues of representation.
o This layer allows the user to interact with the application.
o When one application layer protocol wants to communicate with another application
layer, it forwards its data to the transport layer.
o There is an ambiguity occurs in the application layer. Every application cannot be placed
inside the application layer except those who interact with the communication system.
For example: text editor cannot be considered in application layer while web browser
using HTTP protocol to interact with the network where HTTP protocol is an
application layer protocol.

Following are the main protocols used in the application layer:

o HTTP: HTTP stands for Hypertext transfer protocol. This protocol allows us to access
the data over the world wide web. It transfers the data in the form of plain text, audio,
video. It is known as a Hypertext transfer protocol as it has the efficiency to use in a
hypertext environment where there are rapid jumps from one document to another.
o SNMP: SNMP stands for Simple Network Management Protocol. It is a framework used
for managing the devices on the internet by using the TCP/IP protocol suite.
o SMTP: SMTP stands for Simple mail transfer protocol. The TCP/IP protocol that
supports the e-mail is known as a Simple mail transfer protocol. This protocol is used to
send the data to another e-mail address.
o DNS: DNS stands for Domain Name System. An IP address is used to identify the
connection of a host to the internet uniquely. But, people prefer to use the names instead
of addresses. Therefore, the system that maps the name to the address is known as
Domain Name System.
o TELNET: It is an abbreviation for Terminal Network. It establishes the connection
between the local computer and remote computer in such a way that the local terminal
appears to be a terminal at the remote system.
o FTP: FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. FTP is a standard internet protocol used for
transmitting the files from one computer to another computer.

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Digital Transmission
Data can be represented either in analog or digital form. The computers used the digital form to
store the information. Therefore, the data needs to be converted in digital form so that it can be
used by a computer.

DIGITAL-TO-DIGITAL CONVERSION
Digital-to-digital encoding is the representation of digital information by a digital signal. When
binary 1s and 0s generated by the computer are translated into a sequence of voltage pulses that
can be propagated over a wire, this process is known as digital-to-digital encoding.

Digital-to-digital encoding is divided into three categories:

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Polymorphism in Java | Dynamic Method Dispatch

o Unipolar Encoding
o Polar Encoding
o Bipolar Encoding

Unipolar

o Digital transmission system sends the voltage pulses over the medium link such as wire
or cable.

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 o In most types of encoding, one voltage level represents 0, and another voltage level
represents 1.
o The polarity of each pulse determines whether it is positive or negative.
o This type of encoding is known as Unipolar encoding as it uses only one polarity.
o In Unipolar encoding, the polarity is assigned to the 1 binary state.
o In this, 1s are represented as a positive value and 0s are represented as a zero value.
o In Unipolar Encoding, '1' is considered as a high voltage and '0' is considered as a zero
voltage.
o Unipolar encoding is simpler and inexpensive to implement.

Unipolar encoding has two problems that make this scheme less desirable:

o DC Component
o Synchronization

Polar

o Polar encoding is an encoding scheme that uses two voltage levels: one is positive, and
another is negative.
o By using two voltage levels, an average voltage level is reduced, and the DC component
problem of unipolar encoding scheme is alleviated.

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NRZ

o NRZ stands for Non-return zero.

o In NRZ encoding, the level of the signal can be represented either positive or negative.

The two most common methods used in NRZ are:

NRZ-L: In NRZ-L encoding, the level of the signal depends on the type of the bit that it
represents. If a bit is 0 or 1, then their voltages will be positive and negative respectively.
Therefore, we can say that the level of the signal is dependent on the state of the bit.

NRZ-I: NRZ-I is an inversion of the voltage level that represents 1 bit. In the NRZ-I encoding
scheme, a transition occurs between the positive and negative voltage that represents 1 bit. In this
scheme, 0 bit represents no change and 1 bit represents a change in voltage level.

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RZ

o RZ stands for Return to zero.

o There must be a signal change for each bit to achieve synchronization. However, to
change with every bit, we need to have three values: positive, negative and zero.
o RZ is an encoding scheme that provides three values, positive voltage represents 1, the
negative voltage represents 0, and zero voltage represents none.
o In the RZ scheme, halfway through each interval, the signal returns to zero.
o In RZ scheme, 1 bit is represented by positive-to-zero and 0 bit is represented by
negative-to-zero.

Disadvantage of RZ:

It performs two signal changes to encode one bit that acquires more bandwidth.

Biphase

o Biphase is an encoding scheme in which signal changes at the middle of the bit interval
but does not return to zero.

Biphase encoding is implemented in two different ways:

Manchester

o It changes the signal at the middle of the bit interval but does not return to zero for
synchronization.
o In Manchester encoding, a negative-to-positive transition represents binary 1, and
positive-to-negative transition represents 0.

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 o Manchester has the same level of synchronization as RZ scheme except that it has two
levels of amplitude.

Differential Manchester

o It changes the signal at the middle of the bit interval for synchronization, but the presence
or absence of the transition at the beginning of the interval determines the bit. A
transition means binary 0 and no transition means binary 1.
o In Manchester Encoding scheme, two signal changes represent 0 and one signal change
represent 1.

Bipolar

o Bipolar encoding scheme represents three voltage levels: positive, negative, and zero.
o In Bipolar encoding scheme, zero level represents binary 0, and binary 1 is represented
by alternating positive and negative voltages.
o If the first 1 bit is represented by positive amplitude, then the second 1 bit is represented
by negative voltage, third 1 bit is represented by the positive amplitude and so on. This
alternation can also occur even when the 1bits are not consecutive.

Bipolar can be classified as:

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AMI

o AMI stands for alternate mark inversion where mark work comes from telegraphy which
means 1. So, it can be redefined as alternate 1 inversion.
o In Bipolar AMI encoding scheme, 0 bit is represented by zero level and 1 bit is
represented by alternating positive and negative voltages.

Advantage:

o DC component is zero.
o Sequence of 1s bits are synchronized.

Disadvantage:

o This encoding scheme does not ensure the synchronization of a long string of 0s bits.

B8ZS

o B8ZS stands for Bipolar 8-Zero Substitution.

o This technique is adopted in North America to provide synchronization of a long
sequence of 0s bits.
o In most of the cases, the functionality of B8ZS is similar to the bipolar AMI, but the only
difference is that it provides the synchronization when a long sequence of 0s bits occur.
o B8ZS ensures synchronization of a long string of 0s by providing force artificial signal
changes called violations, within 0 string pattern.
o When eight 0 occurs, then B8ZS implements some changes in 0s string pattern based on
the polarity of the previous 1 bit.

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 o If the polarity of the previous 1 bit is positive, the eight 0s will be encoded as zero, zero,
zero, positive, negative, zero, negative, positive.

o If the polarity of previous 1 bit is negative, then the eight 0s will be encoded as zero,
zero, zero, negative, positive, zero, positive, negative.

HDB3

o HDB3 stands for High-Density Bipolar 3.

o HDB3 technique was first adopted in Europe and Japan.
o HDB3 technique is designed to provide the synchronization of a long sequence of 0s bits.
o In the HDB3 technique, the pattern of violation is based on the polarity of the previous
bit.
o When four 0s occur, HDB3 looks at the number of 1s bits occurred since the last
substitution.
o If the number of 1s bits is odd, then the violation is made on the fourth consecutive of 0.
If the polarity of the previous bit is positive, then the violation is positive. If the polarity
of the previous bit is negative, then the violation is negative.

If the number of 1s bits since the last substitution is odd.

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If the number of 1s bits is even, then the violation is made on the place of the first and fourth
consecutive 0s. If the polarity of the previous bit is positive, then violations are negative, and if
the polarity of the previous bit is negative, then violations are positive.

If the number of 1s bits since the last substitution is even.

ANALOG-TO-DIGITAL CONVERSION
o When an analog signal is digitalized, this is called an analog-to-digital conversion.
o Suppose human sends a voice in the form of an analog signal, we need to digitalize the
analog signal which is less prone to noise. It requires a reduction in the number of values
in an analog message so that they can be represented in the digital stream.
o In analog-to-digital conversion, the information contained in a continuous wave form is
converted in digital pulses.

Techniques for Analog-To-Digital Conversion

PAM

o PAM stands for pulse amplitude modulation.

o PAM is a technique used in analog-to-digital conversion.
o PAM technique takes an analog signal, samples it, and generates a series of digital pulses
based on the result of sampling where sampling means measuring the amplitude of a
signal at equal intervals.
o PAM technique is not useful in data communication as it translates the original wave
form into pulses, but these pulses are not digital. To make them digital, PAM technique is
modified to PCM technique.

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PCM

o PCM stands for Pulse Code Modulation.

o PCM technique is used to modify the pulses created by PAM to form a digital signal. To
achieve this, PCM quantizes PAM pulses. Quantization is a process of assigning integral
values in a specific range to sampled instances.
o PCM is made of four separate processes: PAM, quantization, binary encoding, and
digital-to-digital encoding.

PCM

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 1 PHYSICAL LAYER
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.

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 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:

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:

28
 o Guided Transmission Media
o UnGuided 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.

Types of Twisted pair:

29
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.

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.

30
 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.

Advantages Of Coaxial cable:

31
 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.

32
 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.
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.
33
 o An example of the radio wave is FM radio.

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:

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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:

34
 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.
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.

35
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.

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:

36
 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.
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.

What is Multiplexing?
Multiplexing is a technique used to combine and send the multiple data streams over a single
medium. The process of combining the data streams is known as multiplexing and hardware used
for multiplexing is known as a multiplexer.

Multiplexing is achieved by using a device called Multiplexer (MUX) that combines n input
lines to generate a single output line. Multiplexing follows many-to-one, i.e., n input lines and
one output line.

37
Demultiplexing is achieved by using a device called Demultiplexer (DEMUX) available at the
receiving end. DEMUX separates a signal into its component signals (one input and n outputs).
Therefore, we can say that demultiplexing follows the one-to-many approach.

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Why Multiplexing?
o The transmission medium is used to send the signal from sender to receiver. The medium
can only have one signal at a time.
o If there are multiple signals to share one medium, then the medium must be divided in
such a way that each signal is given some portion of the available bandwidth. For
example: If there are 10 signals and bandwidth of medium is100 units, then the 10 unit is
shared by each signal.
o When multiple signals share the common medium, there is a possibility of collision.
Multiplexing concept is used to avoid such collision.
o Transmission services are very expensive.

History of Multiplexing
o Multiplexing technique is widely used in telecommunications in which several telephone
calls are carried through a single wire.
o Multiplexing originated in telegraphy in the early 1870s and is now widely used in
communication.
o George Owen Squier developed the telephone carrier multiplexing in 1910.

Concept of Multiplexing

38
 o The 'n' input lines are transmitted through a multiplexer and multiplexer combines the
signals to form a composite signal.
o The composite signal is passed through a Demultiplexer and demultiplexer separates a
signal to component signals and transfers them to their respective destinations.

Advantages of Multiplexing:
o More than one signal can be sent over a single medium.
o The bandwidth of a medium can be utilized effectively.

Multiplexing Techniques
Multiplexing techniques can be classified as:

Frequency-division Multiplexing (FDM)

o It is an analog technique.
o Frequency Division Multiplexing is a technique in which the available bandwidth of a
single transmission medium is subdivided into several channels.

39
 o In the above diagram, a single transmission medium is subdivided into several frequency
channels, and each frequency channel is given to different devices. Device 1 has a
frequency channel of range from 1 to 5.
o The input signals are translated into frequency bands by using modulation techniques,
and they are combined by a multiplexer to form a composite signal.
o The main aim of the FDM is to subdivide the available bandwidth into different
frequency channels and allocate them to different devices.
o Using the modulation technique, the input signals are transmitted into frequency bands
and then combined to form a composite signal.
o The carriers which are used for modulating the signals are known as sub-carriers. They
are represented as f1,f2..fn.
o FDM is mainly used in radio broadcasts and TV networks.

Advantages Of FDM:

o FDM is used for analog signals.

o FDM process is very simple and easy modulation.
o A Large number of signals can be sent through an FDM simultaneously.
o It does not require any synchronization between sender and receiver.

Disadvantages Of FDM:

o FDM technique is used only when low-speed channels are required.

o It suffers the problem of crosstalk.
o A Large number of modulators are required.
o It requires a high bandwidth channel.

40
Applications Of FDM:

o FDM is commonly used in TV networks.

o It is used in FM and AM broadcasting. Each FM radio station has different frequencies,
and they are multiplexed to form a composite signal. The multiplexed signal is
transmitted in the air.

Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM)

o Wavelength Division Multiplexing is same as FDM except that the optical signals are
transmitted through the fibre optic cable.
o WDM is used on fibre optics to increase the capacity of a single fibre.
o It is used to utilize the high data rate capability of fibre optic cable.
o It is an analog multiplexing technique.
o Optical signals from different source are combined to form a wider band of light with the
help of multiplexer.
o At the receiving end, demultiplexer separates the signals to transmit them to their
respective destinations.
o Multiplexing and Demultiplexing can be achieved by using a prism.
o Prism can perform a role of multiplexer by combining the various optical signals to form
a composite signal, and the composite signal is transmitted through a fibre optical cable.
o Prism also performs a reverse operation, i.e., demultiplexing the signal.

41
Time Division Multiplexing
o It is a digital technique.
o In Frequency Division Multiplexing Technique, all signals operate at the same time with
different frequency, but in case of Time Division Multiplexing technique, all signals
operate at the same frequency with different time.
o In Time Division Multiplexing technique, the total time available in the channel is
distributed among different users. Therefore, each user is allocated with different time
interval known as a Time slot at which data is to be transmitted by the sender.
o A user takes control of the channel for a fixed amount of time.
o In Time Division Multiplexing technique, data is not transmitted simultaneously rather
the data is transmitted one-by-one.
o In TDM, the signal is transmitted in the form of frames. Frames contain a cycle of time
slots in which each frame contains one or more slots dedicated to each user.
o It can be used to multiplex both digital and analog signals but mainly used to multiplex
digital signals.

There are two types of TDM:

o Synchronous TDM
o Asynchronous TDM

Synchronous TDM

o A Synchronous TDM is a technique in which time slot is preassigned to every device.

o In Synchronous TDM, each device is given some time slot irrespective of the fact that the
device contains the data or not.

42
 o If the device does not have any data, then the slot will remain empty.
o In Synchronous TDM, signals are sent in the form of frames. Time slots are organized in
the form of frames. If a device does not have data for a particular time slot, then the
empty slot will be transmitted.
o The most popular Synchronous TDM are T-1 multiplexing, ISDN multiplexing, and
SONET multiplexing.
o If there are n devices, then there are n slots.

Concept Of Synchronous TDM

In the above figure, the Synchronous TDM technique is implemented. Each device is allocated
with some time slot. The time slots are transmitted irrespective of whether the sender has data to
send or not.

Disadvantages Of Synchronous TDM:

o The capacity of the channel is not fully utilized as the empty slots are also transmitted
which is having no data. In the above figure, the first frame is completely filled, but in the
last two frames, some slots are empty. Therefore, we can say that the capacity of the
channel is not utilized efficiently.

43
 o The speed of the transmission medium should be greater than the total speed of the input
lines. An alternative approach to the Synchronous TDM is Asynchronous Time Division
Multiplexing.

Asynchronous TDM

o An asynchronous TDM is also known as Statistical TDM.

o An asynchronous TDM is a technique in which time slots are not fixed as in the case of
Synchronous TDM. Time slots are allocated to only those devices which have the data to
send. Therefore, we can say that Asynchronous Time Division multiplexor transmits only
the data from active workstations.
o An asynchronous TDM technique dynamically allocates the time slots to the devices.
o In Asynchronous TDM, total speed of the input lines can be greater than the capacity of
the channel.
o Asynchronous Time Division multiplexor accepts the incoming data streams and creates
a frame that contains only data with no empty slots.
o In Asynchronous TDM, each slot contains an address part that identifies the source of the
data.

o The difference between Asynchronous TDM and Synchronous TDM is that many slots in
Synchronous TDM are unutilized, but in Asynchronous TDM, slots are fully utilized.
This leads to the smaller transmission time and efficient utilization of the capacity of the
channel.
o In Synchronous TDM, if there are n sending devices, then there are n time slots. In
Asynchronous TDM, if there are n sending devices, then there are m time slots where m
is less than n (m<n).
o The number of slots in a frame depends on the statistical analysis of the number of input
lines.

Concept Of Asynchronous TDM

44
In the above diagram, there are 4 devices, but only two devices are sending the data, i.e., A and
C. Therefore, the data of A and C are only transmitted through the transmission line.

Frame of above diagram can be represented as:

The above figure shows that the data part contains the address to determine the source of the
data.

Switching
o When a user accesses the internet or another computer network outside their immediate
location, messages are sent through the network of transmission media. This technique of
transferring the information from one computer network to another network is known
as switching.
o Switching in a computer network is achieved by using switches. A switch is a small
hardware device which is used to join multiple computers together with one local area
network (LAN).
o Network switches operate at layer 2 (Data link layer) in the OSI model.
o Switching is transparent to the user and does not require any configuration in the home
network.
o Switches are used to forward the packets based on MAC addresses.

45
 o A Switch is used to transfer the data only to the device that has been addressed. It verifies
the destination address to route the packet appropriately.
o It is operated in full duplex mode.
o Packet collision is minimum as it directly communicates between source and destination.
o It does not broadcast the message as it works with limited bandwidth.

Why is Switching Concept required?

Switching concept is developed because of the following reasons:

o Bandwidth: It is defined as the maximum transfer rate of a cable. It is a very critical and
expensive resource. Therefore, switching techniques are used for the effective utilization
of the bandwidth of a network.
o Collision: Collision is the effect that occurs when more than one device transmits the
message over the same physical media, and they collide with each other. To overcome
this problem, switching technology is implemented so that packets do not collide with
each other.

Advantages of Switching:

o Switch increases the bandwidth of the network.

o It reduces the workload on individual PCs as it sends the information to only that device
which has been addressed.
o It increases the overall performance of the network by reducing the traffic on the
network.
o There will be less frame collision as switch creates the collision domain for each
connection.

Disadvantages of Switching:

o A Switch is more expensive than network bridges.

o A Switch cannot determine the network connectivity issues easily.
o Proper designing and configuration of the switch are required to handle multicast packets.

Switching Modes
46
 o The layer 2 switches are used for transmitting the data on the data link layer, and it also
performs error checking on transmitted and received frames.
o The layer 2 switches forward the packets with the help of MAC address.
o Different modes are used for forwarding the packets known as Switching modes.
o In switching mode, Different parts of a frame are recognized. The frame consists of
several parts such as preamble, destination MAC address, source MAC address, user's
data, FCS.

There are three types of switching modes:

o Store-and-forward
o Cut-through
o Fragment-free

Store-and-forward

47
 o Store-and-forward is a technique in which the intermediate nodes store the received
frame and then check for errors before forwarding the packets to the next node.
o The layer 2 switch waits until the entire frame has received. On receiving the entire
frame, switch store the frame into the switch buffer memory. This process is known
as storing the frame.
o When the frame is stored, then the frame is checked for the errors. If any error found, the
message is discarded otherwise the message is forwarded to the next node. This process
is known as forwarding the frame.
o CRC (Cyclic Redundancy Check) technique is implemented that uses a number of bits to
check for the errors on the received frame.
o The store-and-forward technique ensures a high level of security as the destination
network will not be affected by the corrupted frames.
o Store-and-forward switches are highly reliable as it does not forward the collided frames.

Cut-through Switching

o Cut-through switching is a technique in which the switch forwards the packets after the
destination address has been identified without waiting for the entire frame to be
received.

48
 o Once the frame is received, it checks the first six bytes of the frame following the
preamble, the switch checks the destination in the switching table to determine the
outgoing interface port, and forwards the frame to the destination.
o It has low latency rate as the switch does not wait for the entire frame to be received
before sending the packets to the destination.
o It has no error checking technique. Therefore, the errors can be sent with or without
errors to the receiver.
o A Cut-through switching technique has low wait time as it forwards the packets as soon
as it identifies the destination MAC address.
o In this technique, collision is not detected, if frames have collided will also be forwarded.

Fragment-free Switching

o A Fragment-free switching is an advanced technique of the Cut-through Switching.

o A Fragment-free switching is a technique that reads atleast 64 bytes of a frame before
forwarding to the next node to provide the error-free transmission.
o It combines the speed of Cut-through Switching with the error checking functionality.
o This technique checks the 64 bytes of the ethernet frame where addressing information is
available.
o A collision is detected within 64 bytes of the frame, the frames which are collided will
not be forwarded further.

Differences b/w Store-and-forward and Cut-through Switching.

49
 Store-and-forward Cut-through Switching
Switching

Store-and-forward Switching Cut-through Switching is a

is a technique that waits until technique that checks the
the entire frame is received. first 6 bytes following the
preamble to identify the
destination address.

It performs error checking It does not perform any

functionality. If any error is error checking. The frame
found in the frame, the frame with or without errors will
will be discarded otherwise be forwarded.
forwarded to the next node.

It has high latency rate as it It has low latency rate as it

waits for the entire frame to be checks only six bytes of the
received before forwarding to frame to determine the
the next node. destination address.

It is highly reliable as it It is less reliable as

forwards only error-free compared to Store-and-
packets. forward technique as it
forwards error prone
packets as well.

It has a high wait time as it It has low wait time as cut-

waits for the entire frame to be through switches do not
received before taking any store the whole frame or
forwarding decisions. packets.

Switching techniques
In large networks, there can be multiple paths from sender to receiver. The switching technique
will decide the best route for data transmission.

Switching technique is used to connect the systems for making one-to-one communication.

Classification Of Switching Techniques

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50
Circuit Switching
o Circuit switching is a switching technique that establishes a dedicated path between
sender and receiver.
o In the Circuit Switching Technique, once the connection is established then the dedicated
path will remain to exist until the connection is terminated.
o Circuit switching in a network operates in a similar way as the telephone works.
o A complete end-to-end path must exist before the communication takes place.
o In case of circuit switching technique, when any user wants to send the data, voice, video,
a request signal is sent to the receiver then the receiver sends back the acknowledgment
to ensure the availability of the dedicated path. After receiving the acknowledgment,
dedicated path transfers the data.
o Circuit switching is used in public telephone network. It is used for voice transmission.
o Fixed data can be transferred at a time in circuit switching technology.

Communication through circuit switching has 3 phases:

o Circuit establishment
o Data transfer
o Circuit Disconnect

51
Circuit Switching can use either of the two technologies:

Space Division Switches:

o Space Division Switching is a circuit switching technology in which a single transmission

path is accomplished in a switch by using a physically separate set of crosspoints.
o Space Division Switching can be achieved by using crossbar switch. A crossbar switch is
a metallic crosspoint or semiconductor gate that can be enabled or disabled by a control
unit.
o The Crossbar switch is made by using the semiconductor. For example, Xilinx crossbar
switch using FPGAs.
o Space Division Switching has high speed, high capacity, and nonblocking switches.

Space Division Switches can be categorized in two ways:

o Crossbar Switch
o Multistage Switch

Crossbar Switch

The Crossbar switch is a switch that has n input lines and n output lines. The crossbar switch has
n2 intersection points known as crosspoints.

Disadvantage of Crossbar switch:

The number of crosspoints increases as the number of stations is increased. Therefore, it

becomes very expensive for a large switch. The solution to this is to use a multistage switch.

Multistage Switch

52
 o Multistage Switch is made by splitting the crossbar switch into the smaller units and then
interconnecting them.
o It reduces the number of crosspoints.
o If one path fails, then there will be an availability of another path.

Advantages Of Circuit Switching:

o In the case of Circuit Switching technique, the communication channel is dedicated.

o It has fixed bandwidth.

Disadvantages Of Circuit Switching:

o Once the dedicated path is established, the only delay occurs in the speed of data
transmission.
o It takes a long time to establish a connection approx 10 seconds during which no data can
be transmitted.
o It is more expensive than other switching techniques as a dedicated path is required for
each connection.
o It is inefficient to use because once the path is established and no data is transferred, then
the capacity of the path is wasted.
o In this case, the connection is dedicated therefore no other data can be transferred even if
the channel is free.

Message Switching
o Message Switching is a switching technique in which a message is transferred as a
complete unit and routed through intermediate nodes at which it is stored and forwarded.
o In Message Switching technique, there is no establishment of a dedicated path between
the sender and receiver.
o The destination address is appended to the message. Message Switching provides a
dynamic routing as the message is routed through the intermediate nodes based on the
information available in the message.

53
 o Message switches are programmed in such a way so that they can provide the most
efficient routes.
o Each and every node stores the entire message and then forward it to the next node. This
type of network is known as store and forward network.
o Message switching treats each message as an independent entity.

Advantages Of Message Switching

o Data channels are shared among the communicating devices that improve the efficiency
of using available bandwidth.
o Traffic congestion can be reduced because the message is temporarily stored in the nodes.
o Message priority can be used to manage the network.
o The size of the message which is sent over the network can be varied. Therefore, it
supports the data of unlimited size.

Disadvantages Of Message Switching

o The message switches must be equipped with sufficient storage to enable them to store
the messages until the message is forwarded.
o The Long delay can occur due to the storing and forwarding facility provided by the
message switching technique.

Packet Switching

54
 o The packet switching is a switching technique in which the message is sent in one go, but
it is divided into smaller pieces, and they are sent individually.
o The message splits into smaller pieces known as packets and packets are given a unique
number to identify their order at the receiving end.
o Every packet contains some information in its headers such as source address, destination
address and sequence number.
o Packets will travel across the network, taking the shortest path as possible.
o All the packets are reassembled at the receiving end in correct order.
o If any packet is missing or corrupted, then the message will be sent to resend the
message.
o If the correct order of the packets is reached, then the acknowledgment message will be
sent.

Approaches Of Packet Switching:

There are two approaches to Packet Switching:

Datagram Packet switching:

o It is a packet switching technology in which packet is known as a datagram, is considered

as an independent entity. Each packet contains the information about the destination and
switch uses this information to forward the packet to the correct destination.
o The packets are reassembled at the receiving end in correct order.
o In Datagram Packet Switching technique, the path is not fixed.

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 o Intermediate nodes take the routing decisions to forward the packets.
o Datagram Packet Switching is also known as connectionless switching.

Virtual Circuit Switching

o Virtual Circuit Switching is also known as connection-oriented switching.

o In the case of Virtual circuit switching, a preplanned route is established before the
messages are sent.
o Call request and call accept packets are used to establish the connection between sender
and receiver.
o In this case, the path is fixed for the duration of a logical connection.

Let's understand the concept of virtual circuit switching through a diagram:

o In the above diagram, A and B are the sender and receiver respectively. 1 and 2 are the
nodes.
o Call request and call accept packets are used to establish a connection between the sender
and receiver.
o When a route is established, data will be transferred.
o After transmission of data, an acknowledgment signal is sent by the receiver that the
message has been received.
o If the user wants to terminate the connection, a clear signal is sent for the termination.

Differences b/w Datagram approach and Virtual Circuit approach

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 Datagram approach Virtual Circuit approach

Node takes routing Node does not take any routing

decisions to forward the decision.
packets.

Congestion cannot occur Congestion can occur when the

as all the packets travel in node is busy, and it does not
different directions. allow other packets to pass
through.

It is more flexible as all It is not very flexible.

the packets are treated as
an independent entity.

Advantages Of Packet Switching:

o Cost-effective: In packet switching technique, switching devices do not require massive

secondary storage to store the packets, so cost is minimized to some extent. Therefore,
we can say that the packet switching technique is a cost-effective technique.
o Reliable: If any node is busy, then the packets can be rerouted. This ensures that the
Packet Switching technique provides reliable communication.
o Efficient: Packet Switching is an efficient technique. It does not require any established
path prior to the transmission, and many users can use the same communication channel
simultaneously, hence makes use of available bandwidth very efficiently.

Disadvantages Of Packet Switching:

o Packet Switching technique cannot be implemented in those applications that require low
delay and high-quality services.
o The protocols used in a packet switching technique are very complex and requires high
implementation cost.
o If the network is overloaded or corrupted, then it requires retransmission of lost packets.
It can also lead to the loss of critical information if errors are nor recovered.

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 2 DATA LINK LAYER

o In the OSI model, the data link layer is a 4 th layer from the top and 2nd layer from the
bottom.
o The communication channel that connects the adjacent nodes is known as links, and in
order to move the datagram from source to the destination, the datagram must be moved
across an individual link.
o The main responsibility of the Data Link Layer is to transfer the datagram across an
individual link.
o The Data link layer protocol defines the format of the packet exchanged across the nodes
as well as the actions such as Error detection, retransmission, flow control, and random
access.
o The Data Link Layer protocols are Ethernet, token ring, FDDI and PPP.
o An important characteristic of a Data Link Layer is that datagram can be handled by
different link layer protocols on different links in a path. For example, the datagram is
handled by Ethernet on the first link, PPP on the second link.

services are provided by the Data Link Layer:

o Framing & Link access: Data Link Layer protocols encapsulate each network frame
within a Link layer frame before the transmission across the link. A frame consists of a
data field in which network layer datagram is inserted and a number of data fields. It

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 specifies the structure of the frame as well as a channel access protocol by which frame is
to be transmitted over the link.
o Reliable delivery: Data Link Layer provides a reliable delivery service, i.e., transmits the
network layer datagram without any error. A reliable delivery service is accomplished
with transmissions and acknowledgements. A data link layer mainly provides the reliable
delivery service over the links as they have higher error rates and they can be corrected
locally, link at which an error occurs rather than forcing to retransmit the data.
o Flow control: A receiving node can receive the frames at a faster rate than it can process
the frame. Without flow control, the receiver's buffer can overflow, and frames can get
lost. To overcome this problem, the data link layer uses the flow control to prevent the
sending node on one side of the link from overwhelming the receiving node on another
side of the link.
o Error detection: Errors can be introduced by signal attenuation and noise. Data Link
Layer protocol provides a mechanism to detect one or more errors. This is achieved by
adding error detection bits in the frame and then receiving node can perform an error
check.
o Error correction: Error correction is similar to the Error detection, except that receiving
node not only detect the errors but also determine where the errors have occurred in the
frame.
o Half-Duplex & Full-Duplex: In a Full-Duplex mode, both the nodes can transmit the
data at the same time. In a Half-Duplex mode, only one node can transmit the data at the
same time.

Error Detection
When data is transmitted from one device to another device, the system does not guarantee
whether the data received by the device is identical to the data transmitted by another device. An
Error is a situation when the message received at the receiver end is not identical to the message
transmitted.

Types Of Errors
Errors can be classified into two categories:
o Single-Bit Error
o Burst Error

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Single-Bit Error:
The only one bit of a given data unit is changed from 1 to 0 or from 0 to 1.

In the above figure, the message which is sent is corrupted as single-bit, i.e., 0 bit is changed to
1.

Single-Bit Error does not appear more likely in Serial Data Transmission. For example, Sender
sends the data at 10 Mbps, this means that the bit lasts only for 1 ?s and for a single-bit error to
occurred, a noise must be more than 1 ?s.

Single-Bit Error mainly occurs in Parallel Data Transmission. For example, if eight wires are
used to send the eight bits of a byte, if one of the wire is noisy, then single-bit is corrupted per
byte.

Burst Error:
The two or more bits are changed from 0 to 1 or from 1 to 0 is known as Burst Error.

The Burst Error is determined from the first corrupted bit to the last corrupted bit.

The duration of noise in Burst Error is more than the duration of noise in Single-Bit.

Burst Errors are most likely to occurr in Serial Data Transmission.

The number of affected bits depends on the duration of the noise and data rate.

Error Detecting Techniques:

The most popular Error Detecting Techniques are:

o Single parity check

o Two-dimensional parity check
o Checksum
o Cyclic redundancy check

Single Parity Check

o Single Parity checking is the simple mechanism and inexpensive to detect the errors.

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 o In this technique, a redundant bit is also known as a parity bit which is appended at the
end of the data unit so that the number of 1s becomes even. Therefore, the total number
of transmitted bits would be 9 bits.
o If the number of 1s bits is odd, then parity bit 1 is appended and if the number of 1s bits
is even, then parity bit 0 is appended at the end of the data unit.
o At the receiving end, the parity bit is calculated from the received data bits and compared
with the received parity bit.
o This technique generates the total number of 1s even, so it is known as even-parity
checking.

Drawbacks Of Single Parity Checking

o It can only detect single-bit errors which are very rare.

o If two bits are interchanged, then it cannot detect the errors.

Two-Dimensional Parity Check

o Performance can be improved by using Two-Dimensional Parity Check which

organizes the data in the form of a table.
o Parity check bits are computed for each row, which is equivalent to the single-parity
check.
o In Two-Dimensional Parity check, a block of bits is divided into rows, and the redundant
row of bits is added to the whole block.
o At the receiving end, the parity bits are compared with the parity bits computed from the
received data.

Drawbacks Of 2D Parity Check

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 o If two bits in one data unit are corrupted and two bits exactly the same position in another
data unit are also corrupted, then 2D Parity checker will not be able to detect the error.
o This technique cannot be used to detect the 4-bit errors or more in some cases.

Checksum
A Checksum is an error detection technique based on the concept of redundancy.

It is divided into two parts:

Checksum Generator

A Checksum is generated at the sending side. Checksum generator subdivides the data into equal
segments of n bits each, and all these segments are added together by using one's complement
arithmetic. The sum is complemented and appended to the original data, known as checksum
field. The extended data is transmitted across the network.

Suppose L is the total sum of the data segments, then the checksum would be ?L

1. The Sender follows the given steps:

2. The block unit is divided into k sections, and each of n bits.
3. All the k sections are added together by using one's complement to get the sum.
4. The sum is complemented and it becomes the checksum field.
5. The original data and checksum field are sent across the network.

Checksum Checker

A Checksum is verified at the receiving side. The receiver subdivides the incoming data into
equal segments of n bits each, and all these segments are added together, and then this sum is
complemented. If the complement of the sum is zero, then the data is accepted otherwise data is
rejected.

1. The Receiver follows the given steps:

2. The block unit is divided into k sections and each of n bits.
3. All the k sections are added together by using one's complement algorithm to get the sum.
4. The sum is complemented.
5. If the result of the sum is zero, then the data is accepted otherwise the data is discarded.

Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC)

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CRC is a redundancy error technique used to determine the error.

Following are the steps used in CRC for error detection:

o In CRC technique, a string of n 0s is appended to the data unit, and this n number is less
than the number of bits in a predetermined number, known as division which is n+1 bits.
o Secondly, the newly extended data is divided by a divisor using a process is known as
binary division. The remainder generated from this division is known as CRC remainder.
o Thirdly, the CRC remainder replaces the appended 0s at the end of the original data. This
newly generated unit is sent to the receiver.
o The receiver receives the data followed by the CRC remainder. The receiver will treat
this whole unit as a single unit, and it is divided by the same divisor that was used to find
the CRC remainder.

If the resultant of this division is zero which means that it has no error, and the data is accepted.

If the resultant of this division is not zero which means that the data consists of an error.
Therefore, the data is discarded.

Let's understand this concept through an example:

Suppose the original data is 11100 and divisor is 1001.

CRC Generator

o A CRC generator uses a modulo-2 division. Firstly, three zeroes are appended at the end
of the data as the length of the divisor is 4 and we know that the length of the string 0s to
be appended is always one less than the length of the divisor.
o Now, the string becomes 11100000, and the resultant string is divided by the divisor
1001.
o The remainder generated from the binary division is known as CRC remainder. The
generated value of the CRC remainder is 111.
o CRC remainder replaces the appended string of 0s at the end of the data unit, and the
final string would be 11100111 which is sent across the network.

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 CRC Checker

o The functionality of the CRC checker is similar to the CRC generator.

o When the string 11100111 is received at the receiving end, then CRC checker performs
the modulo-2 division.
o A string is divided by the same divisor, i.e., 1001.
o In this case, CRC checker generates the remainder of zero. Therefore, the data is
accepted.

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