2024 - 2025

Fall

Advanced Computer Networks

Introduction Lecture
Dr. Manal Shaaban
Roadmap

Overview/roadmap:
• What is the Internet?
• What is a protocol?
• Network edge: hosts, access network,
physical media
• Network core: packet/circuit switching,
internet structure
• Protocol layers, service models

Introduction: 1-2
Roadmap

Overview/roadmap:
• What is the Internet?
• What is a protocol?
• Network edge: hosts, access network,
physical media
• Network core: packet/circuit switching,
internet structure
• Protocol layers, service models

Introduction: 1-3
The Internet: a “nuts and bolts” view
Billions of connected mobile network
computing devices: national or global ISP
▪ hosts = end systems
▪ running network apps at
Internet’s “edge”

Packet switches: forward

local or
packets (chunks of data) Internet
regional ISP
▪ routers, switches
home network content
Communication links provider
network datacenter
▪ fiber, copper, radio, satellite network

▪ transmission rate: bandwidth

Networks enterprise
▪ collection of devices, routers, network
links: managed by an organization
Introduction: 1-4
The Internet: a “nuts and bolts” view
mobile network
4G
• Internet: “network of networks” national or global ISP

• Interconnected ISPs
▪ protocols are everywhere Skype
IP
Streaming
video
• control sending, receiving of
messages local or
regional ISP
• e.g., HTTP (Web), streaming video,
Skype, TCP, IP, WiFi, 4G, Ethernet home network content
provider
▪ Internet standards HTTP network datacenter
network

• RFC: Request for Comments Ethernet

• IETF: Internet Engineering Task TCP

Force enterprise
network

WiFi
Introduction: 1-5
The Internet: a “service” view
• Infrastructure that provides mobile network

services to applications: national or global ISP

• Web, streaming video, multimedia

teleconferencing, email, games, e- Streaming
commerce, social media, inter- Skype video
connected appliances, … local or
regional ISP
▪ provides programming interface
to distributed applications: home network content
provider
• “hooks” allowing sending/receiving HTTP network datacenter
network
apps to “connect” to, use Internet
transport service
• provides service options, analogous enterprise
to postal service network

Introduction: 1-6
Roadmap

Overview/roadmap:
• What is the Internet?
• What is a protocol?
• Network edge: hosts, access network,
physical media
• Network core: packet/circuit switching,
internet structure
• Protocol layers, service models

Introduction: 1-7
What’s a protocol?
Human protocols: Network protocols:
▪ “what’s the time?” ▪ computers (devices) rather than humans
▪ “I have a question” ▪ all communication activity in Internet
▪ introductions governed by protocols

… specific messages sent

Protocols define the format, order of
… specific actions taken
when message received, messages sent and received among
or other events network entities, and actions taken
on msg transmission, receipt

Introduction: 1-8
What’s a protocol?
A human protocol and a computer network protocol:

Hi TCP connection
request
Hi TCP connection
response
Got the
time? GET http://gaia.cs.umass.edu/kurose_ross
2:00
<file>
time

Q: other human protocols?

Introduction: 1-9
Roadmap
• What is the Internet?
• What is a protocol?
• Network edge: hosts, access
network, physical media
• Network core: packet/circuit
switching, internet structure
• Protocol layers, service models

Introduction: 1-10
 mobile network

Network edge: national or global ISP

• hosts: clients and servers

• servers often in data centers
local or
regional ISP

home network content

provider
network datacenter
network

enterprise
network

Introduction: 1-11
Network edge: mobile network
national or global ISP
• hosts: clients and servers
• servers often in data centers
Access networks, physical media: local or
regional ISP
• wired, wireless communication links
home network content
provider
network datacenter
network

enterprise
network

Introduction: 1-12
Network edge: mobile network

• hosts: clients and servers national or global ISP

• servers often in data centers

Access networks, physical media:
local or
• wired, wireless communication links regional ISP

home network content

Network core: provider
network datacenter
▪ interconnected routers network

▪ network of networks
enterprise
network

Introduction: 1-13
Access networks and physical media
Q: How to connect end systems to mobile network
national or global ISP
edge router?
• residential access nets
• institutional access networks (school,
company)
local or
• mobile access networks (WiFi, 4G/5G) regional ISP

home network content

provider
network datacenter
network

enterprise
network

Introduction: 1-14
Access networks: home networks
Wireless and wired
devices

to/from headend or
central office
often combined
in single box

cable or DSL modem

WiFi wireless access router, firewall, NAT

point (54, 450 Mbps)
wired Ethernet (1 Gbps)
Introduction: 1-15
Access networks: enterprise networks

Enterprise link to
ISP (Internet)
institutional router
Ethernet institutional mail,
switch web servers

▪ companies, universities, etc.

▪ mix of wired, wireless link technologies, connecting a mix of switches
and routers (we’ll cover differences shortly)
▪ Ethernet: wired access at 100Mbps, 1Gbps, 10Gbps
▪ WiFi: wireless access points at 11, 54, 450 Mbps
Introduction: 1-16
Wireless access networks
Shared wireless access network connects end system to router
▪ via base station aka “access point”

Wireless local area networks Wide-area cellular access networks

(WLANs) ▪ provided by mobile, cellular network
▪ typically within or around operator (10’s km)
building (~100 ft) ▪ 10’s Mbps
▪ 802.11b/g/n (WiFi): 11, 54, 450 ▪ 4G/5G cellular networks
Mbps transmission rate

to Internet
to Internet
Introduction: 1-17
Roadmap
• What is the Internet?
• What is a protocol?
• Network edge: hosts, access
network, physical media
• Network core: packet/circuit
switching, internet structure
• Protocol layers, service mode

Introduction: 1-18
The network core
• mesh of interconnected routers
mobile network
national or global ISP

• packet-switching: hosts break

application-layer messages into
packets
local or
• forward packets from one router regional ISP

to the next, across links on path home network content

from source to destination provider
network
• each packet transmitted at full
datacenter
network

link capacity
enterprise
network

Introduction: 1-19
Packet-switching: queueing delay, loss
R = 100 Mb/s
A C

D
B R = 1.5 Mb/s
E
queue of packets
waiting for output link

Packet queuing and loss: if arrival rate (in bps) to link exceeds
transmission rate (bps) of link for a period of time:
• packets will queue, waiting to be transmitted on output link
• packets can be dropped (lost) if memory (buffer) in router fills
up
Introduction: 1-20
Packet-switching: queueing delay, loss

https://computerscience.unicam.it/marcantoni/reti/applet/QueuingAndLossInteractive/1.html

Introduction: 1-21
Two key network-core functions

routing algorithm Routing:

Forwarding: local
local forwarding
forwarding table
table
▪ global action:
header value output link determine source-
• local action: move 0100 3
destination paths
0101 2
arriving packets 0111 2
taken by packets
1001 1
from router’s
input link to ▪ routing algorithms
appropriate router 1
output link 3 2

destination address in arriving

packet’s header
Introduction: 1-22
Alternative to packet switching: circuit switching
end-end resources allocated to,
reserved for “call” between source
and destination
• in diagram, each link has four circuits.
• call gets 2nd circuit in top link and 1st
circuit in right link.
• dedicated resources: no sharing
• circuit-like (guaranteed) performance
• circuit segment idle if not used by call (no
sharing)
• commonly used in traditional telephone
networks

Introduction: 1-23
Circuit switching: FDM and TDM
Frequency Division Multiplexing
(FDM)
• optical, electromagnetic frequencies
4 users

frequency
divided into (narrow) frequency bands
• each call allocated its own band, can
transmit at max rate of that narrow
band
Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) time
• time divided into slots
• each call allocated periodic slot(s), can

frequency
transmit at maximum rate of (wider)
frequency band, but only during its time
slot(s)
time
Introduction: 1-24
Packet switching versus circuit switching
Is packet switching a “slam dunk winner”?
▪ great for “bursty” data – sometimes has data to send, but at other times not
• resource sharing
• simpler, no call setup
▪ excessive congestion possible: packet delay and loss due to buffer overflow
• protocols needed for reliable data transfer, congestion control
▪ Q: How to provide circuit-like behavior?
• bandwidth guarantees traditionally used for audio/video applications

Q: human analogies of reserved resources (circuit switching)

versus on-demand allocation (packet switching)?
Introduction: 1-25
Internet structure: a “network of networks”
• Hosts connect to Internet via access Internet Service
Providers (ISPs)
• residential, enterprise (company, university, commercial) ISPs
• Access ISPs in turn must be interconnected
• so that any two hosts can send packets to each other
• Resulting network of networks is very complex
• evolution was driven by economics and national policies
• Let’s take a stepwise approach to describe current
Internet structure

Introduction: 1-26
Internet structure: a “network of networks”
Question: given millions of access ISPs, how to connect them together?
access access
net net
access
net
access
access net
net
access
access net
net

access access
net net

access
net
access
net

access
net
access
net
access access
net access net
net

Introduction: 1-27
Internet structure: a “network of networks”
Question: given millions of access ISPs, how to connect them together?
access access
net net
access
net
access
access net
net
access
access net
net

connecting each access ISP to

each other directly doesn’t scale:
access
access
net O(N2) connections. net

access
net
access
net

access
net
access
net
access access
net access net
net

Introduction: 1-28
Internet structure: a “network of networks”
Option: connect each access ISP to one global transit ISP?
Customer and provider ISPs have economic agreement.
access access
net net
access
net
access
access net
net
access
access net
net

global
access
net
ISP access
net

access
net
access
net

access
net
access
net
access access
net access net
net

Introduction: 1-29
Internet structure: a “network of networks”
But if one global ISP is viable business, there will be competitors ….

access access
net net
access
net
access
access net
net
access
access net
net ISP A

access
net ISP B access
net

access ISP C
net
access
net

access
net
access
net
access access
net access net
net

Introduction: 1-30
Internet structure: a “network of networks”
But if one global ISP is viable business, there will be competitors …. who will
want to be connected
Internet exchange point
access access
net net
access
net
access
access net
net
IXP access
access net
net ISP A

access
net
IXP ISP B access
net

access ISP C
net
access
net

access
net
peering link
access
net
access access
net access net
net

Introduction: 1-31
Internet structure: a “network of networks”
… and regional networks may arise to connect access nets to ISPs

access access
net net
access
net
access
access net
net
IXP access
access net
net ISP A

access
net
IXP ISP B access
net

access ISP C
net
access
net

access
net
regional ISP access
net
access access
net access net
net

Introduction: 1-32