BROADBAND DIGITAL NETWORKS

By Aftab A. Memon
Mehran University of Engineering and Technology, Jamshoro. 10TL-BATCH
This class will meet at: 10.00a.m.-12.00 noon (Tuesdays & Wednesdays) 9.30 a.m. 11.00 a.m. (during Ramadan)

Today's Lecture:

Local Area Networks Overview

LAN (Local Area Networks)

A LAN consists of
Shared transmission medium
now so valid today due to switched LANs

set of hardware and software for the interfacing devices regulations for orderly access to the medium

Why High Speed LANs?

Office LANs used to provide basic connectivity
Connecting PCs and terminals to mainframes and midrange systems that ran corporate applications Traffic patterns were light
Emphasis was on file transfer and electronic mail

Speed and power of PCs has risen

Graphics-intensive applications and GUIs

Client/server computing is now dominant architecture in business environment

Computing over network Frequent transfer of large volumes of data

LAN Protocol Architecture

Corresponds to lower two layers of OSI model IEEE 802 reference model
Logical link control (LLC) Media access control (MAC) Physical

IEEE 802 Protocol Layers vs. OSI Model

IEEE 802 Layers - Physical

Signal encoding/decoding Preamble generation/removal
for synchronization

Bit transmission/reception Specification for transmission medium and topology

802 Layers - Medium Access Control & Logical Link Control

OSI layer 2 (Data Link) is divided into two in 802
Logical Link Control (LLC) layer Medium Access Control (MAC) layer

MAC layer
Assembly of data into frame with address and error detection fields (for transmission) Disassembly of frame (on reception) Address recognition Error detection Govern access to transmission medium
Not found in traditional layer 2 data link control

LLC layer
Interface to higher levels flow control Based on classical Data Link Control Protocols

LAN Protocols in Context

Generic MAC & LLC Format

Actual format differs from protocol to protocol MAC layer receives data from LLC layer

MAC layer detects errors and discards frames LLC optionally retransmits unsuccessful frames

LAN Topologies
Bus Ring Star

Bus Topology
Stations attach to linear medium (bus)
Via a tap - allows for transmission and reception

Transmission propagates in medium in both directions Received by all other stations Terminator absorbs frames at end of medium Need to identify target station
Each station has unique address Destination address included in frame header

Need to regulate transmission

To avoid collisions If two stations attempt to transmit at same time, signals will overlap and become garbled To avoid continuous transmission from a single station. If one station transmits continuously access blocked for others
Solution: Transmit Data in small blocks frames

Frame Transmission - Bus LAN

Ring Topology
Repeaters joined by pointto-point links in closed loop
Receive data on one link and retransmit on another Links unidirectional Stations attach to repeaters

Data transmitted in frames

Circulate past all stations Destination recognizes address and copies frame Frame circulates back to source where it is removed

Medium access control determines when station can insert frame

Frame Transmission Ring LAN

Star Topology
Each station connected directly to central node
using a full-duplex (bi-directional) link

Central node can broadcast (hub)

Physical star, logically bus Only one station can transmit at a time

Central node can act as frame switch

retransmits only to destination todays technology

Medium Access Control (MAC)

In LANs data is broadcast
there is a single medium shared by different users

We need MAC sublayer for

orderly and efficient use of broadcast medium

This is actually a channel allocation problem Synchronous (static) solutions

everyone knows when to transmit

Asynchronous (dynamic) solution

in response to immediate needs Two categories
Round robin Contention

Dynamic Channel Allocation Categories

Contention
All stations contend to transmit No control to determine whose turn is it Stations send data by taking risk of collision (with others packets)
however they understand collisions by listening to the channel, so that they can retransmit

There are several implementation methods In general, good for bursty traffic
which is the typical traffic types for most networks

Efficient under light or moderate load Performance is bad under heavy load

Ethernet (CSMA/CD)
Carriers Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection
is the underlying technology

Xerox Ethernet (1976) by Metcalfe IEEE 802.3 standard (1983) Contention technique that has basis in famous ALOHA network

ALOHA
Packet Radio (applicable to any shared medium)
initially proposed to interconnect Hawaiian Islands
by Norman Abramson of Univ. of Hawaii (early 70s)

When station has frame, it sends

collisions may occur

Station listens for max round trip time If no collision, fine. If collision, retransmit after a random waiting time Max channel utilization is 18% - very bad

Slotted ALOHA
Divide the time into discrete intervals (slots)
equal to frame transmission time need central clock (or other sync mechanism) transmission begins at slot boundary

Collided frames will do so totally or will not collide Algorithm

If a node has a packet to send, sends it at the beginning of the next slot If collision occurred, retransmit at the next slot with a probability p

Max channel utilization is 37%

doubles Normal ALOHA, but still low

CSMA (Carrier Sense Multiple Access)

First listen for clear medium (carrier sense) If medium idle, transmit If busy, continuously check the channel until it is idle and then transmit If collision occurs
Wait random time and retransmit

Collision probability depend on the propagation delay

Longer propagation delay, worse the utilization

Collision occurs even if the propagation time is zero.

WHY?

1-persistent CSMA Better utilization than ALOHA

CSMA/CD (IEEE 802.3 Ethernet)

With CSMA, collision occupies medium for duration of transmission
it is inefficient to complete the transmission of a collided packet

As in 1-persistent CSMA
If medium idle, transmit If busy, listen for idle, then transmit

Stations listen while transmitting If collision detected (due to high voltage on bus), cease transmission and wait random time then start again
random waiting time is determined using binary

exponential backoff mechanism

CSMA/CD Operation

Binary exponential back off

random waiting period but consecutive collusions increase the mean waiting time
mean waiting time doubles in the first 10 retransmission attempts after first collision, waits 0 or 1 slot time if collided again (second time), waits 0, 1, 2 or 3 slots if collided for the ith time, waits 0, 1, , or 2i-1 slots the randomization interval is fixed to 0 1023 after 10th collision station tries a total of 16 times and then gives up if cannot transmit

low delay with small amount of waiting stations large delay with large amount of waiting stations

IEEE 802.3 Frame Format

>= >=

Preamble is alternating 0s and 1s (for clock synchronization)

SFD is 10101011 FCS excludes Preamble and SFD

Addresses are uniquely assigned by IEEE to manufacturers. Why unique?

Interconnection Elements in LANs

Bridges Hubs Switches

Bridge Operation Example

Bridge Protocol Architecture

IEEE 802.1D operates at MAC level
Station address is at this level Bridge does not need LLC layer

Shared Medium Hub

Central hub Hub retransmits incoming signal to all outgoing lines Only one station can transmit at a time With a 10Mbps LAN, total capacity is 10Mbps

Layer 2 Switches
Central repeater acts as switch Incoming frame switches to appropriate outgoing line
Unused lines can be used to switch other traffic More than one station transmitting at a time Each device has dedicated capacity equal to the LAN capacity, if the switch has sufficient capacity for all

Types of Layer 2 Switch

Store and forward switch
Accept input, buffer it briefly, then output

Cut through switch

Take advantage of the destination address being at the start of the frame Begin repeating incoming frame onto output line as soon as address recognized May propagate some bad frames
WHY?

Problems with Layer 2 Switches (1)

As number of devices in LANs grows, layer 2 switches show some limitations
Broadcast overload
In LANs some protocols (e.g. ARP) work in broadcast manner

Lack of multiple links

Set of devices and LANs connected by layer 2 switches share common MAC broadcast address
If any device issues broadcast frame, that frame is delivered to all devices attached to network connected by layer 2 switches and/or bridges In large network, broadcast frames can create a significant overhead

Problems with Layer 2 Switches (2) and Solution

Current standards for bridge protocols dictate no closed loops
Only one path is allowed between any two devices
Limits both performance and reliability.

Solution: break up network into subnetworks connected by routers (that operate at IP layer)
MAC broadcast frame limited to devices and switches contained in single subnetwork IP-based routers employ sophisticated routing algorithms
Allow use of multiple paths between subnetworks going through different routers

Problems with Routers and Layer 3 Switches

Routers are designed to be implemented at the gateway and only process packets to/from outer networks
outside traffic is less than the internal traffic
High-speed LANs and high-performance layer 2 switches pump millions of packets per second

the same router may create a performance bottleneck in the heart of a LAN

Solution: layer 3 switches

Implement packet-forwarding logic of router in hardware
faster

Two categories
Packet by packet Flow based

Layer 3 Switch Categories

Packet by packet
Operates in same way as traditional router but much faster

Flow-based layer 3 switch tries to enhance performance by identifying flows of IP packets that have same source and destination
Done by observing ongoing traffic or using a special flow label in packet header (IPv6) Once flow is identified, predefined route can be established to speed-up the forwarding process

Typical Local Network Configuration

Gigabit Ethernet Physical

1000Base-SX
Short wavelength, multimode fiber

1000Base-LX
Long wavelength, Multi or single mode fiber

1000Base-CX
A special STP (<25m)
one for each direction

1000Base-T
4 pairs, cat 5 UTP (bidirectional)

Gigabit Ethernet Medium Options (Log Scale)

10-Gbps Ethernet Data Rate and Distance Options (Log Scale)

Fibre Channel - Background

I/O channel
Direct point to point or multipoint comms. link Hardware based High Speed Very short distance User data moved from source buffer to destination buffer

Network connection
Interconnected access points Software based protocol Flow control, error detection & recovery End systems connections

Fibre Channel
Best of both technologies Channel oriented
Data type qualifiers for routing frame payload Link level constructs associated with I/O ops Protocol interface specifications to support existing I/O architectures
e.g. SCSI

Network oriented
Full multiplexing between multiple destinations Peer to peer connectivity Internetworking to other connection technologies

Fibre Channel Requirements

Full duplex links with two fibers per link 100 Mbps to 800 Mbps on single line
Full duplex 200 Mbps to 1600 Mbps per link

Up to 10 km Small connectors High-capacity utilization, distance insensitivity Greater connectivity than existing multidrop channels Broad availability
i.e. standard components

Multiple cost/performance levels

Small systems to supercomputers

Carry multiple existing interface command sets for existing channel and network protocols Uses generic transport mechanism based on point-to-point links and a switching network Supports simple encoding and framing scheme In turn supports a variety of channel and network protocols

Fibre Channel Elements

End systems - Nodes Switched elements - the network or fabric Communication across point to point links

Fibre Channel Network

Fibre Channel Physical Media

Provides range of options for physical medium, the data rate on medium, and topology of network Shielded twisted pair, video coaxial cable, and optical fiber Data rates 100 Mbps to 3.2 Gbps Point-to-point from 33 m to 10 km

Fibre Channel Fabric

General topology called fabric or switched topology Arbitrary topology includes at least one switch to interconnect number of end systems May also consist of switched network
Some of these switches supporting end nodes

Routing transparent to nodes

Each port has unique address When data transmitted into fabric, edge switch to which node attached uses destination port address to determine location Either deliver frame to node attached to same switch or transfers frame to adjacent switch to begin routing to remote destination

Fabric Advantages
Scalability of capacity
As additional ports added, aggregate capacity of network increases Minimizes congestion and contention Increases throughput

Protocol independent Distance insensitive Switch and transmission link technologies may change without affecting overall configuration Burden on nodes minimized
Fibre Channel node responsible for managing point-to-point connection between itself and fabric Fabric responsible for routing and error detection

Five Applications of Fibre Channel