Computer NetworksUnit – I

Introduction to computer networks and Internet

 Understanding of network and Internet

 The network edge
 The network core
 Understanding of Delay
 Loss and Throughput in the packet-switching network
 Protocols layers and their service model
 History of the computer network

NETWORKS
→ A network is a set of devices (often referred to as nodes) connected by communication links.
→ A node can be a computer, printer, or any other device capable of sending and/or receiving
data generated by other nodes on the network.
→ A network is a combination of hardware and software that sends data from one location to
another.
→ The hardware consists of the physical equipment that carries signals from one point of the
network to another. The software consists of instruction sets that make possible the services
that we expect from a network.

Computer Network
→ A computer network is a group of computers linked to each other that enables the computer
to communicate with another computer and share their resources, data, and applications.
→ A computer network is a system in which multiple computers are connected to each other to share
information and resources.
→ The physical connection between networked computing devices is established using either
cable media or wireless media.
→ The best-known computer network is the Internet.

Figure 1: Computer Network

Assistant Professor,
IT Dept.,
MBIT, New V.V.Nagar
 Computer NetworksUnit – I
Introduction to computer networks and Internet
TYPES OF COMPUTER NETWORKS
→ A computer network can be categorized by their size.
→ A computer network is mainly of four types:

 LAN(Local Area Network)

 PAN(Personal Area Network)
 MAN(Metropolitan Area Network)
 WAN(Wide Area Network)

1 Prof. Tejal Tandel

Assistant Professor,
IT Dept.,
MBIT, New V.V.Nagar
 Computer NetworksUnit – I
Introduction to computer networks and Internet
LAN (Local Area Network)
→ A local area network (LAN) is usually privately owned and links the devices in a single
office, building, or campus
→ Local Area Network is a group of computers connected to each other in a small area such as
building, office.
→ Depending on the needs of an organization and the type of technology used, a LAN can be as
simple as two PCs and a printer in someone's home office; or it can extend throughout a
company and include audio and video peripherals.
→ Currently, LAN size is limited to a few kilometers.
→ LAN is used for connecting two or more personal computers through a communication
medium such as twisted pair, coaxial cable, etc.
→ It is less costly as it is built with inexpensive hardware such as hubs, network adapters, and
ethernet cables.
→ The data is transferred at an extremely faster rate in Local Area Network. Early LANs had
data rates in the 4 to 16 megabits per second (Mbps) range. Today, however, speeds are
normally 100 or 1000 Mbps.
→ Local Area Network provides higher security.
→ They exist in a limited geographical area.
→ In LAN, all the machines are connected to a single cable.
→ LANs are distinguished from other types of networks by their transmission media and
topology. In general, a given LAN will use only one type of transmission medium. The most
common LAN topologies are bus, ring, and star.

2 Prof. Tejal Tandel

Assistant Professor,
IT Dept.,
MBIT, New V.V.Nagar
 Computer NetworksUnit – I
Introduction to computer networks and Internet
MAN (Metropolitan Area Network)
→ A metropolitan area network (MAN) is a network with a size between a LAN and a WAN.
→ It normally covers the area inside a town or a city.
→ It is designed for customers who need a high-speed connectivity, normally to the Internet,
and have endpoints spread over a city or part of city.
→ A good example of a MAN is the part of the telephone company network that can provide a
high-speed DSL line to the customer.
→ Another example is the cable TV network that originally was designed for cable TV, but
today can also be used for high-speed data connection to the Internet.

3 Prof. TejalTandel
Assistant Professor,
IT Dept.,
MBIT, New V.V.Nagar
 Computer NetworksUnit – I
Introduction to computer networks and Internet
WAN (Wide Area Network)
→ A wide area network (WAN) provides long-distance transmission of data, image, audio, and
video information over large geographic areas that may comprise a country, a continent, or even
the whole world.
→ A Wide Area Network is a network that extends over a large geographical area such as states or
countries.
→ A Wide Area Network is quite bigger network than the LAN.
→ The internet is one of the biggest WAN in the world.
→ A Wide Area Network is widely used in the field of Business, government, and education,
etc.
→ WAN links different metropolitan’s countries and national boundaries there by enabling
easy communication.

4 Prof. Tejal Tandel

Assistant Professor,
IT Dept.,
MBIT, New V.V.Nagar
 Computer NetworksUnit – I
Introduction to computer networks and Internet

→ A good example of a switched WAN is the asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network, which
is a network with fixed-size data unit packets called cells.

5 Prof. Tejal Tandel

Assistant Professor,
IT Dept.,
MBIT, New V.V.Nagar
 102080401 – Computer Networks
Unit – I
Introduction to computer networks and Internet
Difference between LAN, MAN and WAN.

Parameter LAN MAN WAN

Area covered Covers small area. i.e. Covers larger than LAN Covers large area
within building & smaller than WAN
Error rates Lowest Moderate Highest
Transmission speed High speed Moderate speed Low speed
Equipment cost Inexpensive Moderate expensive Most expensive
Design & maintenance Easy Moderate Difficult
Speed LAN speed is quiet MAN speed is average. WAN speed is lower
high. than that of LAN.

Maintenance Designing and Designing and maintaining Designing and

maintaining LAN is WAN is complex and more maintaining WAN is
easy and less costly costly than LAN. complex and more
than WAN. costly than both LAN
and MAN.

Allows Single pair of devices Multiple computers can A huge group of

to communicate. simultaneously interact. computers communicate
at the same time.
Ownership private Private or public Might not be owned by
one organization.

7 Prof. Tejal Tandel

Professor,
IT Dept.,
MBIT, New V.V.Nagar
 Computer NetworksUnit – I
Introduction to computer networks and Internet

Internet
→ The internet is a type of world-wide computer network.
→ The internet is the collection of infinite numbers of connected computers that are
spread across the world.
→ We can also say that, the Internet is a computer network that interconnects hundreds
of millions of computing devices throughout the world.
→ It is established as the largest network and sometimes called network of network
that consists of numerous academic, business and government networks, which
together carry various information.
→ Internet is a global computer network providing a variety of information and
communication facilities, consisting of interconnected networks using standardized
communicationprotocols.
→ When two computers are connected over the Internet, they can send and receive all
kinds of information such as text, graphics, voice, video, and computer programs.

8 Prof. Tejal Tandel

Assistant Professor,
IT Dept.,
MBIT, New V.V.Nagar
 Computer NetworksUnit – I
Introduction to computer networks and Internet

Protocols
→ In computer networks, communication occurs between entities in different systems.
→ An entity is anything capable of sending or receiving information.
→ However, two entities cannot simply send bit streams to each other and expect to be
understood. For communication to occur, the entities must agree on a protocol.
→ A protocol is a set of rules that govern data communications.
→ A protocol defines what is communicated, how it is communicated, and when it is
communicated. The key elements of a protocol are syntax, semantics, and timing.
o Syntax.
→ The term syntax refers to the structure or format of the data, meaning the order in which they
are presented.
→ For example, a simple protocol might expect the first 8 bits of data to be the address of the
sender, the second 8 bits to be the address of the receiver, and the rest of the stream to be the
message itself.
o Semantics.
→ The word semantics refers to the meaning of each section of bits.
→ How is a particular pattern to be interpreted, and what action is to be taken based on that
interpretation?
→ For example, does an address identify the route to be taken or the final destination of the
message?
o Timing.
→ The term timing refers to two characteristics: when data should be sent and how fast they can
be sent.
→ For example, if a sender produces data at 100 Mbps but the receiver can process data at only
1 Mbps, the transmission will overload the receiver and some data will be lost.

9 Prof. Tejal Tandel

Assistant Professor,
IT Dept.,
MBIT, New V.V.Nagar
 Computer NetworksUnit – I
Introduction to computer networks and Internet

Network Edge
→ The computers and other devices connected to the Internet are often referred to as end
systems.
→ They are referred to as end systems because they sit at the edge of the Internet, as shown in
Figure 1.3.

→ The Internet’s end systems include desktop computers (e.g., desktop PCs, Macs, and Linux
boxes), servers (e.g., Web and e-mail servers), and mobile computers (e.g., laptops,
smartphones, and tablets).
o Furthermore, an increasing number of non-traditional devices are being attached to
the Internet as end systems.
→ End systems are also referred to as hosts because they host (that is, run) application programs
such as
o a Web browser program,
o a Web server program,
o an e-mail client program, or
o an e-mail server program.
→ Throughout we will use the terms hosts and end systems interchangeably;
→ That is, host = end system.
→ Hosts are sometimes further divided into two categories: clients and servers.

10 Prof. Tejal Tandel

Assistant Professor,
IT Dept.,
MBIT, New V.V.Nagar
 Computer NetworksUnit – I
Introduction to computer networks and Internet

→ Informally,
o clients tend to be
▪ desktop and mobile PCs, smartphones, and so on,
o Whereas servers tend to be
▪ more powerful machines that store and distribute
• Web pages,
• stream video,
• Relay e-mail, and so on.
→ Today, most of the servers from which we receive search results, e-mail, Web pages, and
videos reside in large data centers. For example, Google has 30–50 data centers, with many
having more than one hundred thousand servers.

11 Prof. Tejal Tandel

Assistant Professor,
IT Dept.,
MBIT, New V.V.Nagar
 Computer NetworksUnit – I
Introduction to computer networks and Internet

Delay, Loss, and Throughput in Packet-Switched Networks

→ A packet starts in a host (the source), passes through a series of routers, and ends its journey
in another host (the destination).
→ As a packet travels from one node (host or router) to the subsequent node (host or router)
along this path, the packet suffers from several types of delays at each node along the path.
→ The most important of these delays are the
o Nodal processing delay,
o Queuing delay,
o Transmission delay, and
o Propagation delay; together, these delays accumulate to give a total nodal delay.
→ The performance of many Internet applications—such as search, Web browsing, email,
maps, instant messaging, and voice-over-IP—are greatly affected by network delays.
→ In order to acquire a deep understanding of packet switching and computer networks, we
must understand the nature and importance of these delays.

12 Prof. Tejal tandel

Assistant Professor,
IT Dept.,
MBIT, New V.V.Nagar
 Computer NetworksUnit – I
Introduction to computer networks and Internet

▪ Nodal Processing Delay

→ Its end-to-end route between source and destination, a packet is sent from the upstream node
through router A to router B.
→ Our goal is to characterize the nodal delay at router A.
→ Note that router A has an outbound link leading to router B.
→ This link is preceded by a queue (also known as a buffer).
→ When the packet arrives at router A from the upstream node, router A examines the packet’s
header to determine the appropriate outbound link for the packet and then directs the packet
to this link.
→ In this example, the outbound link for the packet is the one that leads to router B.
→ A packet can be transmitted on a link only if there is no other packet currently being
transmitted on the link and if there are no other packets preceding it in the queue; if the link
is currently busy or if there are other packets already queued for the link, the newly arriving
packet will then join the queue.

▪ Processing Delay
→ The time required to examine the packet’s header and determine where to direct the packet is
part of the processing delay.
→ The processing delay can also include other factors, such as
o The time needed to check for bit-level errors in the packet that occurred in
transmitting the packet’s bits from the upstream node to router A.
→ Processing delays in high-speed routers are typically on the order of microseconds or less.
→ After this nodal processing, the router directs the packet to the queue that precedes the link to
router B.

13 Prof. Tejal Tandel

Assistant Professor,
IT Dept.,
MBIT, New V.V.Nagar
 Computer NetworksUnit – I
Introduction to computer networks and Internet

▪ Queue Delay
→ At the queue, the packet experiences a queuing delay as it waits to be transmitted onto the
link.
→ The length of the queuing delay of a specific packet will depend on the number of earlier-
arriving packets that are queued and waiting for transmission onto the link.
→ If the queue is empty and no other packet is currently being transmitted, then our packet’s
queuing delay will be zero.
→ On the other hand, if the traffic is heavy and many other packets are also waiting to be
transmitted, the queuing delay will be long.
→ We will see shortly that the number of packets that an arriving packet might expect to find is
a function of the intensity and nature of the traffic arriving at the queue.
→ Queuing delays can be on the order of microseconds to milliseconds in practice.

▪ Transmission Delay
→ Assuming that packets are transmitted in a first-come-first-served manner, as is common in
packet-switched networks, our packet can be transmitted only after all the packets that have
arrived before it have been transmitted.
→ Denote the length of the packet by L bits, and denote the transmission rate of the link from
router A to router B by R bits/sec.
→ For example,
for a 10 Mbps Ethernet link, the rate is R = 10 Mbps; for a 100 Mbps Ethernet link, the rate is
R = 100 Mbps.
→ The transmission delay is L/R.
→ This is the amount of time required to push (that is, transmit) all of the packet’s bits into the
link.
→ Transmission delays are typically on the order of microseconds to milliseconds in practice.

▪ Propagation Delay
→ Once a bit is pushed into the link, it needs to propagate to router B.
→ The time required to propagate from the beginning of the link to router B is the propagation
delay.
→ The bit propagates at the propagation speed of the link.
→ The propagation speed depends on the physical medium of the link (that is, fiber optics,
twisted-pair copper wire, and so on) and is in the range of
→ Which is equal to, or a little less than, the speed of light.
→ The propagation delay is the distance between two routers divided by the propagation speed.
→ That is, the propagation delay is d/s, where d is the distance between router A and router B
and s is the propagation speed of the link.
→ Once the last bit of the packet propagates to node B, it and all the preceding bits of the packet
are stored in router B.
→ The whole process then continues with router B now performing the forwarding.
→ In wide-area networks, propagation delays are on the order of milliseconds.

14 Prof. Tejal Tandel

Assistant Professor,
IT Dept.,
MBIT, New V.V.Nagar
 Computer NetworksUnit – I
Introduction to computer networks and Internet

1) Transmission Delay(Tt): If there is a host and if it is having a data packet,the time taken by the host
to put the data packet on to the outgoing link is called transmission delay.
Tt=L/B sec

→ Time taken to put the data packet on the transmission link is called as transmission delay.

• Transmission delay 𝖺 Length / Size of data packet

• Transmission delay 𝖺 1 / Bandwidth

example:

L=1000bits Bandwidth=1Kbps what is Tt?

Sol:
Tt=L/B
1000/1000=1sec

2) Propogation delay (Tp): Time taken by the single or one bit to reach from one end of the link
to other link is called propogation delay.
→ Time taken for one bit to travel from sender to receiver end of the link is called
as propagation delay.
• Propagation delay 𝖺 Distance between sender and receiver
• Propagation delay 𝖺 1 / transmission speed

Factor on which propogation delay depends:

a) Distance (d)

b) Velocity (v)

Tp=d/v sec

15 Prof. Tejal Tandel

Assistant Professor,
IT Dept.,
MBIT, New V.V.Nagar
 Computer NetworksUnit – I
Introduction to computer networks and Internet

Example:

Distance=2.1 km
Velocity=2.1*10^8 m/s
Tp ?
Sol:
Tp =2.1*103/2.1*108
=10-5 sec
= 10µsec

3) Queuing delay(Tq): Time taken to stay in queue before processing the last packet on receiver.

→ Time spent by the data packet waiting in the queue before it is taken for execution is called
as queuing delay.
→ It depends on the congestion in the network.

4) Processing delay(Tproc): Time taken to process next packet from queue to the processor on
receiver end.

→ Time taken by the processor to process the data packet is called as processing delay.
→ It depends on the speed of the processor.
→ Processing of the data packet helps in detecting bit level errors that occurs during
transmission.

Total delay in sending one data packet or End to End time

= Transmission delay + Propagation delay + Queuing delay + Processing delay

16 Prof. Tejal Tandel

Assistant Professor,
IT Dept.,
MBIT, New V.V.Nagar
 Computer NetworksUnit – I
Introduction to computer networks and Internet

LAYERS IN THE OSI MODEL

▪ Physical Layer
→ The physical layer coordinates the functions required to carry a bit stream over a physical
medium.
→ It deals with the mechanical and electrical specifications of the interface and transmission
medium.
→ It also defines the procedures and functions that physical devices and interfaces have to
perform for transmission to Occur.
→ Below figure shows the position of the physical layer with respect to the transmission
medium and the data link layer.

17 Prof. Tejal Tandel

Assistant Professor,
IT Dept.,
MBIT, New V.V.Nagar
 Computer NetworksUnit – I
Introduction to computer networks and Internet

→ The physical layer is also concerned with the following:

 Physical characteristics of interfaces and medium.

o The physical layer defines the characteristics of the interface between the devices and
the transmission medium.
o It also defines the type of transmission medium.
 Representation of bits.
o The physical layer data consists of a stream of bits (sequence of Os or 1s) with no
interpretation.
o To be transmitted, bits must be encoded into signals--electrical or optical. The
physical layer defines the type of encoding (how Os and I s are changed to signals).
 Data rate.
o The transmission rate-the number of bits sent each second-is also defined by the
physical layer.
o In other words, the physical layer defines the duration of a bit, which is how long it
lasts.
 Synchronization of bits.
o The sender and receiver not only must use the same bit rate but also must be
synchronized at the bit level. In other words, the sender and the receiver clocks must
be synchronized.
 Line configuration.
o The physical layer is concerned with the connection of devices to the media.
o In a point-to-point configuration, two devices are connected through a dedicated link.
o In a multipoint configuration, a link is shared among several devices.
 Physical topology.
o The physical topology defines how devices are connected to make a network.
o Devices can be connected by using a
▪ mesh topology (every device is connected to every other device),
▪ a star topology (devices are connected through a central device),
▪ a ring topology (each device is connected to the next, forming a ring),
▪ a bus topology (every device is on a common link), or
▪ a hybrid topology (this is a combination of two or more topologies).
 Transmission mode.
o The physical layer also defines the direction of transmission between two devices:
simplex, half-duplex, or full-duplex.
o In simplex mode, only one device can send; the other can only receive.
o The simplex mode is a one-way communication.
o In the half-duplex mode, two devices can send and receive, but not at the same time.
o In a full-duplex (or simply duplex) mode, two devices can send and receive at the
same time.

18 Prof. Tejal Tandel

Assistant Professor,
IT Dept.,
MBIT, New V.V.Nagar
 Computer NetworksUnit – I
Introduction to computer networks and Internet

▪ Data Link Layer

→ The data link layer transforms the physical layer, a raw transmission facility, to a reliable
link. It makes the physical layer appear error-free to the upper layer (network layer).
→ Below Figure shows the relationship of the data link layer to the network and physical layers.

→ The data link layer is responsible for moving frames from one hop (node) to the next.
→ Other responsibilities of the data link layer include the following:
 Framing.
o The data link layer divides the stream of bits received from the network layer into
manageable data units called frames.
 Physical addressing.
o If frames are to be distributed to different systems on the network, the data link layer
adds a header to the frame to define the sender and/or receiver of the frame.
o If the frame is intended for a system outside the sender's network, the receiver address
is the address of the device that connects the network to the next one.
 Flow control.
o If the rate at which the data are absorbed by the receiver is less than the rate at which
data are produced in the sender, the data link layer imposes a flow control mechanism
to avoid overwhelming the receiver.
 Error control.
o The data link layer adds reliability to the physical layer by adding mechanisms to
detect and retransmit damaged or lost frames.
o It also uses a mechanism to recognize duplicate frames.
o Error control is normally achieved through a trailer added to the end of the frame.
 Access control.
o When two or more devices are connected to the same link, data link layer protocols
are necessary to determine which device has control over the link at any given time.

19 Prof. Tejal Tandel

Assistant Professor,
IT Dept.,
MBIT, New V.V.Nagar
 Computer NetworksUnit – I
Introduction to computer networks and Internet

→ Hop-to-hop (node-to-node) delivery by the data link layer.

→ As the figure shows,

o Communication at the data link layer occurs between two adjacent nodes.
o To send data from A to F, three partial deliveries are made.
o First, the data link layer at A sends a frame to the data link layer at B (a router).
o Second, the data link layer at B sends a new frame to the data link layer at E.
o Finally, the data link layer at E sends a new frame to the data link layer at F.
o Note that the frames that are exchanged between the three nodes have different values in the
headers.
o The frame from A to B has B as the destination address and A as the source address.
o The frame from B to E has E as the destination address and B as the source address.
o The frame from E to F has F as the destination address and E as the source address.
o The values of the trailers can also be different if error checking includes the header of the
frame.

20 Prof. Tejal Tandel

Assistant Professor,
IT Dept.,
MBIT, New V.V.Nagar
 Computer NetworksUnit – I
Introduction to computer networks and Internet

▪ Network Layer
→ The network layer is responsible for the source-to-destination delivery of a packet, possibly
across multiple networks (links).
→ Whereas the data link layer oversees the delivery of the packet between two systems on the
same network (links), the network layer ensures that each packet gets from its point of origin
to its final destination.
→ If two systems are connected to the same link, there is usually no need for a network layer.
→ However, if the two systems are attached to different networks (links) with connecting
devices between the networks (links), there is often a need for the network layer to
accomplish source-to-destination delivery.
→ Below Figure shows the relationship of the network layer to the data link and transport
layers.

→ The network layer is responsible for the delivery of individual packets from the source host
to the destination host.

→ Other responsibilities of the network layer include the following:

 Logical addressing.
o The physical addressing implemented by the data link layer handles the addressing
problem locally.
o If a packet passes the network boundary, we need another addressing system to help
distinguish the source and destination systems.
o The network layer adds a header to the packet coming from the upper layer that,
among other things, includes the logical addresses of the sender and receiver.
 Routing.
o When independent networks or links are connected to create inter-networks (network
of networks) or a large network, the connecting devices (called routers or switches
route or switch the packets to their final destination.
o One of the functions of the network layer is to provide this mechanism.

21 Prof. Tejal Tandel

Assistant Professor,
IT Dept.,
MBIT, New V.V.Nagar
 Computer NetworksUnit – I
Introduction to computer networks and Internet

o Illustrates end-to-end delivery by the network layer. (Source-to-destination delivery)

o As the figure shows, now we need a source-to-destination delivery.

o The network layer at A sends the packet to the network layer at B.
o When the packet arrives at router B, the router makes a decision based on the final
destination (F) of the packet.
o As we will see in later chapters, router B uses its routing table to find that the next hop is
router E.
o The network layer at B, therefore, sends the packet to the network layer at E.
o The network layer at E, in tum, sends the packet to the network layer at F.

22 Prof. Tejal Tandel

Assistant Professor,
IT Dept.,
MBIT, New V.V.Nagar
 Computer NetworksUnit – I
Introduction to computer networks and Internet

▪ Transport Layer
→ The transport layer is responsible for process-to-process delivery of the entire message.
→ A process is an application program running on a host.
→ Whereas the network layer oversees source-to-destination delivery of individual packets, it
does not recognize any relationship between those packets.
→ It treats each one independently, as though each piece belonged to a separate message,
whether or not it does.
→ The transport layer, on the other hand, ensures that the whole message arrives intact and in
order, overseeing both error control and flow control at the source-to-destination level.
→ Below figure shows the relationship of the transport layer to the network and session layers.

→ The transport layer is responsible for the delivery of a message from one process to another.
→ Reliable process-to-process delivery of a message

23 Prof. Tejal Tandel

Assistant Professor,
IT Dept.,
MBIT, New V.V.Nagar
 Computer NetworksUnit – I
Introduction to computer networks and Internet

→ Other responsibilities of the transport layer include the following:

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

24 Prof. Tejal Tandel

Assistant Professor,
IT Dept.,
MBIT, New V.V.Nagar
 Computer NetworksUnit – I
Introduction to computer networks and Internet

▪ Session Layer
→ The services provided by the first three layers (physical, data link, and network) are not
sufficient for some processes. The session layer is the network dialog controller.
→ It establishes, maintains, and synchronizes the interaction among communicating systems.
→ The session layer is responsible for dialog control and synchronization.

→ Specific responsibilities of the session layer include the following:

 Dialog control.
o The session layer allows two systems to enter into a dialog.
o It allows the communication between two processes to take place in either half duplex
(one way at a time) or full-duplex (two ways at a time) mode.
 Synchronization.
o The session layer allows a process to add checkpoints, or synchronization points, to a
stream of data.
o For example, if a system is sending a file of 2000 pages, it is advisable to insert
checkpoints after every 100 pages to ensure that each 100-page unit is received and
acknowledged independently.
o In this case, if a crash happens during the transmission of page 523, the only pages
that need to be resent after system recovery are pages 501 to 523.
o Pages previous to 501 need not be resent.

→ Below Figure illustrates the relationship of the session layer to the transport and presentation
layers.

25 Prof. Tejal Tandel

Assistant Professor,
IT Dept.,
MBIT, New V.V.Nagar
 Computer NetworksUnit – I
Introduction to computer networks and Internet

▪ Presentation Layer
→ The presentation layer is concerned with the syntax and semantics of the information
exchanged between two systems.
→ Below Figure shows the relationship between the presentation layer and the application and
session layers.

→ The presentation layer is responsible for translation, compression, and encryption.

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

26 Prof. Tejal Tandel

Assistant Professor,
IT Dept.,
MBIT, New V.V.Nagar
 Computer NetworksUnit – I
Introduction to computer networks and Internet

▪ Application Layer
→ The application layer enables the user, whether human or software, to access the network.
→ It provides user interfaces and support for services such as electronic mail, remote file access
and transfer, shared database management, and other types of distributed information
services.

→ Above Figure shows the relationship of the application layer to the user and the presentation
layer. Of the many application services available, the figure shows only three: XAOO
(message-handling services), X.500 (directory services), and file transfer, access, and
management (FTAM).
→ The user in this example employs XAOO to send an e-mail message.

→ The application layer is responsible for providing services to the user.

→ Specific services provided by the application layer include the following:

27 Prof. Tejal Tandel
Assistant Professor,
IT Dept.,
MBIT, New V.V.Nagar
 Computer NetworksUnit – I
Introduction to computer networks and Internet

 Network virtual terminal.

o A network virtual terminal is a software version of a physical terminal, and it allows a
user to log on to a remote host.
o To do so, the application creates a software emulation of a terminal at the remote
host.
o The user's computer talks to the software terminal which, in turn, talks to the host,
and vice versa.
o The remote host believes it is communicating with one of its own terminals and
allows the user to log on.
o File transfer, access, and management.
o This application allows a user to access files in a remote host (to make changes or
read data), to retrieve files from a remote computer for use in the local computer, and
to manage or control files in a remote computer locally.
 Mail services.
o This application provides the basis for e-mail forwarding and storage.
 Directory services.
o This application provides distributed database sources and access for global
information about various objects and services.
o File transfer, access, and management.
o This application allows a user to access files in a remote host (to make changes or
read data), to retrieve files from a remote computer for use in the local computer, and
to manage or control files in a remote computer locally.
 Mail services.
o This application provides the basis for e-mail forwarding and storage.
 Directory services.
o This application provides distributed database sources and access for global
information about various objects and services.

 Summary of layers
28 Prof. Tejal Tandel

Assistant Professor,
IT Dept.,
MBIT, New V.V.Nagar
 Computer NetworksUnit – I
Introduction to computer networks and Internet

29 Prof. Tejal Tandel

Assistant Professor,
IT Dept.,
MBIT, New V.V.Nagar
 Computer NetworksUnit – I
Introduction to computer networks and Internet

30 Prof. Priyanka Panchal

Assistant Professor,
IT Dept.,
MBIT, New V.V.Nagar