Q. What is the Internet architecture?

It is by definition a meta-network, a constantly changing collection of thousands of individual networks intercommunicating with a common protocol.

The Internet's architecture is described in its name, a short from of the compound word "inter-networking". This architecture is based in the very specification of the standard TCP/IP protocol, designed to connect any two networks which may be very different in internal hardware, software, and technical design. Once two networks are interconnected, communication with TCP/IP is enabled end-to-end, so that any node on the Internet has the near magical ability to communicate with any other no matter where they are. This openness of design has enabled the Internet architecture to grow to a global scale.

In practice, the Internet technical architecture looks a bit like a multi-dimensional river system, with small tributaries feeding medium-sized streams feeding large rivers. For example, an individual's access to the Internet is often from home over a modem to a local Internet service provider who connects to a regional network connected to a national network. At the office, a desktop computer might be connected to a local area network with a company connection to a corporate Intranet connected to several national Internet service providers. In general, small local Internet service providers connect to medium-sized regional networks which connect to large national networks, which then connect to very large bandwidth networks on the Internet backbone. Most Internet service providers have several redundant network cross-connections to other providers in order to ensure continuous availability.

The companies running the Internet backbone operate very high bandwidth networks relied on by governments, corporations, large organizations, and other Internet service providers. Their technical infrastructure often includes global connections through underwater cables and satellite links to enable communication between countries and continents. As always, a larger scale introduces new phenomena: the number of packets flowing through the switches on the backbone is so large that it exhibits the kind of complex non-linear patterns usually found in natural, analog systems like the flow of water or development of the rings of Saturn (RFC 3439, S2.2).

Each communication packet goes up the hierarchy of Internet networks as far as necessary to get to its destination network where local routing takes over to deliver it to the addressee. In the same way, each level in the hierarchy pays the next level for the bandwidth they use, and then the large backbone companies settle up with each other. Bandwidth is priced by large Internet service providers by several methods, such as at a fixed rate for constant availability of a certain number of megabits per second, or by a variety of use methods that amount to a cost per gigabyte. Due to economies of scale and efficiencies in management, bandwidth cost drops dramatically at the higher levels of the architecture.

Resources. The network topology page provides information and resources on the real-time construction of the Internet network, including graphs and statistics. The following references provide additional information about the Internet architecture:

RFC 1958; B. Carpenter, et. al.; Architectural Principles of the Internet; Jun 1996

RFC 3426; S. Floyd; General Architectural and Policy Considerations; Nov 2002

RFC 3439; R. Bush, D. Meyer; Some Internet Architectural Guidelines and Philosophy; Dec 2002

RFC 3819; P. Karn, Ed.; Advice for Internet Subnetwork Designers; July 2004 RFC 3945; E. Mannie, Ed.; Generalized Multi-Protocol Label Switching (GMPLS) Architecture; October 2004 W3C -- Architecture of the World Wide Web.

. Highlighted points: a. No strict layering b. Hourglass shape IP serves as the focal point c. Need for a protocol specification and at least one representative implementation of the specification.

Q. What is multiplexing?
Multiplexing is the process of transmitting several different signals or information streams via a single carrier. The transmission of all these signals or streams takes place simultaneously by combining the several signals into one common signal that will efficiently moves through the carrier bandwidth. Once the signal reaches the destination point for one of the transmissions, that integrated signal re-assimilates into its original form and is received. The exact configuration of the multiplexing process depends a great deal on the mode or type of transmission. When dealing with an analog transmission, the signals are multiplexed using a process that is known as frequencybased multiplexing. This form on multiplexing, usually referred to as FDM, uses a process of dividing the bandwidth into a series of subchannels that will accommodate the transmissions and more or less allow them to flow forward in a parallel fashion. A second common type of multiplexing is time-division multiplexing, or TDM. With TDM, the various signals or transmissions are carried over a common channel in much the same way as with FDM. The main difference is that the time-division approach to multiplexing allows for the signals to be transmitted in a series of alternating time slots. These alternating slots are still carried within a common channel, and still fit neatly into the available bandwidth.

-----------------In telecommunications and computer networks, multiplexing (also known as muxing) is a method by which multiple analog message signals or digital data streams are combined into one signal over a shared medium. The aim is to share an expensive resource. For example, in telecommunications, several telephone calls may be carried using one wire. Multiplexing originated in telegraphy, and is now widely applied in communications. The multiplexed signal is transmitted over a communication channel, which may be a physical transmission medium. The multiplexing divides the capacity of the high-level communication channel into several low-level logical channels, one for each message signal or data stream to be transferred. A reverse process, known as DE multiplexing, can extract the original channels on the receiver side. A device that performs the multiplexing is called a multiplexer (MUX), and a device that performs the reverse process is called a DE multiplexer (DEMUX). Inverse multiplexing (IMUX) has the opposite aim as multiplexing, namely to break one data stream into several streams, transfer them simultaneously over several communication channels, and recreate the original data stream.

Multiplexing technologies may be divided into several types, all of which have significant variations:[1] space-division multiplexing (SDM), frequency-division multiplexing (FDM), time-division multiplexing (TDM), and code division multiplexing (CDM). Variable bit rate digital bit streams may be transferred efficiently over a fixed bandwidth channel by means of statistical multiplexing, for example packet mode communication. Packet mode communication is an asynchronous mode time-domain multiplexing which resembles time-division multiplexing.

What is STDM?
Statistical multiplexing is a type of communication link sharing, very similar to dynamic bandwidth allocation (DBA). In statistical multiplexing, a communication channel is divided into an arbitrary number of variable bit-rate digital channels or data streams. The link sharing is adapted to the instantaneous traffic demands of the data streams that are transferred over each channel. This is an alternative to creating a fixed sharing of a link, such as in general time division multiplexing (TDM) and frequency division multiplexing (FDM). When performed correctly, statistical multiplexing can provide a link utilization improvement, called the statistical multiplexing gain.

Statistical multiplexing is facilitated through packet mode or packet-oriented communication, which among others is utilized in packet switched computer networks. Each stream is divided into packets that normally are delivered asynchronously in a first-come first-serve fashion. In alternative fashion, the packets may be delivered according to some scheduling discipline for fair queuing or differentiated and/or guaranteed quality of service.

Statistical multiplexing of an analog channel, for example a wireless channel, is also facilitated through the following schemes:

Random frequency-hopping orthogonal frequency division multiple access (RFH-OFDMA)

Code-division multiple access (CDMA), where different amount of spreading codes or spreading factors can be assigned to different users.

Q. What is FDM?
In telecommunications, frequency division multiplexing (FDM) is a technique by which the total bandwidth available in a communication medium is divided into a series of non-overlapping frequency sub-bands, each of which is used to carry a separate signal. This allows a single transmission medium such as a cable or optical fiber to be shared by many signals. An example of a system using FDM is cable television, in which many television channels are carried simultaneously on a single cable. FDM is also used by telephone systems to transmit multiple telephone calls through high capacity trunk lines, communications satellites to transmit multiple channels of data on uplink and downlink radio beams, and broadband DSL modems to transmit large amounts of computer data through twisted pair telephone lines, among many other uses.

Working: At the source end, for each frequency channel, an electronic oscillator generates a carrier signal, a steady oscillating waveform at a single frequency such as a sine wave that serves to "carry" information. The carrier is much higher in frequency than the data signal. The carrier signal and the incoming data signal (called the baseband signal) are applied to a modulator circuit. The modulator alters some aspect of the carrier signal, such as its amplitude, frequency, or phase, with the data signal, "piggybacking" the data on the carrier. Multiple modulated carriers at different frequencies are sent through the transmission medium, such as a cable or optical fibre. Each modulated carrier consists of a narrow band of frequencies, cantered on the carrier frequency. The information from the data signal is carried in sidebands on either side of the carrier frequency. This band of frequencies is called the pass band for the channel. As long as the carrier frequencies of separate channels are spaced far enough apart so that their pass bands do not overlap, the separate signals will not interfere with one another. Thus the available bandwidth is divided into "slots" or channels, each of which can carry a data signal. At the destination end of the cable or fibre, for each channel, an electronic filter extracts the channel's signal from all the other channels. A local oscillator generates a signal at the channel's carrier frequency. The incoming signal and the local oscillator signal are applied to a demodulator circuit. This translates the data signal in the sidebands back to its original baseband frequency. An electronic filter removes the carrier frequency, and the data signal is output for use. Modern FDM systems often use sophisticated modulation methods that allow several data signals to be transmitted through each frequency channel.

Other example: FDM can also be used to combine signals before final modulation onto a carrier wave. In this case the carrier signals are referred to as subcarriers: an example is stereo FM transmission, where a 38 kHz subcarrier is used to separate the left-right difference signal from the central left-right sum channel, prior to the frequency modulation of the composite signal. A television channel is divided into subcarrier frequencies for video, color, and audio. DSL uses

different frequencies for voice and for upstream and downstream data transmission on the same conductors, which is also an example of frequency duplex. Where frequency-division multiplexing is used as to allow multiple users to share a physical communications channel, it is called frequency-division multiple access (FDMA).[1] FDMA is the traditional way of separating radio signals from different transmitters. In the 1860s and 70s, several inventors attempted FDM under the names of Acoustic telegraphy and Harmonic telegraphy. Practical FDM was only achieved in the electronic age. Meanwhile their efforts led to an elementary understanding of electroacoustic technology, resulting in the invention of the telephone.

Q. What is STDM?
Statistical multiplexing is a type of communication link sharing, very similar to dynamic bandwidth allocation (DBA). In statistical multiplexing, a communication channel is divided into an arbitrary number of variable bit-rate digital channels or data streams. The link sharing is adapted to the instantaneous traffic demands of the data streams that are transferred over each channel. This is an alternative to creating a fixed sharing of a link, such as in general time division multiplexing (TDM) and frequency division multiplexing (FDM). When performed correctly, statistical multiplexing can provide a link utilization improvement, called the statistical multiplexing gain. Statistical multiplexing is facilitated through packet mode or packet-oriented communication, which among others is utilized in packet switched computer networks. Each stream is divided into packets that normally are delivered asynchronously in a first-come first-serve fashion. In alternative fashion, the packets may be delivered according to some scheduling discipline for fair queuing or differentiated and/or guaranteed quality of service. Statistical multiplexing of an analog channel, for example a wireless channel is also facilitated through the following schemes: Random frequency-hopping orthogonal frequency division multiple access (RFH-OFDMA) Code-division multiple access (CDMA), where different amount of spreading codes or spreading factors can be assigned to different users. Statistical multiplexing normally implies "on-demand" service rather than one that pre allocates resources for each data stream. Statistical multiplexing schemes do not control user data transmissions. Time domain statistical multiplexing (packet mode communication) is similar to time-division multiplexing (TDM), except that, rather than assigning a data stream to the same recurrent time slot in every TDM frame, each data stream is assigned time slots (of fixed length) or data frames (of variable lengths) that often appear to be scheduled in a randomized order, and experience varying delay (while the delay is fixed in TDM). Statistical multiplexing allows the bandwidth to be divided arbitrarily among a variable number of channels (while the number of channels and the channel data rate are fixed in TDM). Statistical multiplexing ensures that slots will not be wasted (whereas TDM can waste slots). The transmission capacity of the link will be shared by only those users who have packets. Static TDM and other circuit switching is carried out at the physical layer in the OSI model and TCP/IP model, while statistical multiplexing is carried out at the data link layer and above.

Q. P2P
T h e emergence of le-sharing systems such as Napster and Gnutella make the term peer-to-peer (P2P) popular.

Q. OSI

Short for Open System Interconnection, an ISO standard for worldwide communications that defines a networking framework for implementing protocols in seven layers. Control is passed from one layer to the next, starting at the application layer in one station, and proceeding to the bottom layer, over the channel to the next station and back up the hierarchy. At one time, most vendors agreed to support OSI in one form or another, but OSI was too loosely defined and proprietary standards were too entrenched. Except for the OSI-compliant X.400 and X.500 e-mail and directory standards, which are widely used, what was once thought to become the universal communications standard now serves as the teaching model for all other protocols. Control is passed from one layer to the next, starting at the application layer in one station, and proceeding to the bottom layer, over the channel to the next station and back up the hierarchy.

Layer 1 - Physical Physical layer defines the cable or physical medium itself, e.g., thinned, thicket, unshielded twisted pairs (UTP). All media are functionally equivalent. The main difference is in convenience and cost of installation and maintenance. Converters from one media to another operate at this level.

Layer 2 - Data Link Data Link layer defines the format of data on the network. A network data frame, aka packet, includes checksum, source and destination address, and data. The largest packet that can be sent through a data link layer defines the Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU). The data link layer handles the physical and logical connections to the packet's destination, using a network interface. A host connected to an Ethernet would have an Ethernet interface to handle connections to the outside world, and a loopback interface to send packets to it. Ethernet addresses a host using a unique, 48-bit address called its Ethernet address or Media Access Control (MAC) address. MAC addresses are usually represented as six colon-separated pairs of hex digits, e.g., 8:0:20:11:ac:85. This number is unique and is associated with a particular Ethernet device. Hosts with multiple network interfaces should use the same MAC address on each. The data link layer's protocol-specific header specifies the MAC address of the packet's source and destination. When a packet is sent to all hosts (broadcast), a special MAC address (ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff) is used.

Layer 3 - Network NFS uses Internetwork Protocol (IP) as its network layer interface. IP is responsible for routing, directing datagrams from one network to another. The network layer may have to break large datagrams, larger than MTU, into smaller packets and host receiving the packet will have to reassemble the fragmented datagram. The Internetwork Protocol identifies each host with a 32-bit IP address. IP addresses are written as four dot-separated decimal numbers between 0 and 255, e.g., 129.79.16.40. The leading 1-3 bytes of the IP identify the network and the remaining bytes identify the host on that network. The network portion of the IP is assigned by InterNIC Registration Services, under the contract to the National Science Foundation, and the host portion of the IP is assigned by the local network administrators. For large sites, the first two bytes represents the network portion of the IP, and the third and fourth bytes identify the subnet and host respectively.

Even though IP packets are addressed using IP addresses, hardware addresses must be used to actually transport data from one host to another. The Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) is used to map the IP address to it hardware address.

Layer 4 - Transport Transport layer subdivides user-buffer into network-buffer sized datagrams and enforces desired transmission control. Two transport protocols, Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and User Datagram Protocol (UDP), sits at the transport layer. Reliability and speed are the primary difference between these two protocols. TCP establishes connections between two hosts on the network through 'sockets' which are determined by the IP address and port number. TCP keeps track of the packet delivery order and the packets that must be resent. Maintaining this information for each connection makes TCP a tasteful protocol. UDP on the other hand provides a low overhead transmission service, but with less error checking. NFS is built on top of UDP because of its speed and statelessness. Statelessness simplifies the crash recovery.

Layer 5 - Session The session protocol defines the format of the data sent over the connections. The NFS uses the Remote Procedure Call (RPC) for its session protocol. RPC may be built on either TCP or UDP. Login sessions use TCP whereas NFS and broadcast use UDP.

Layer 6 - Presentation External Data Representation (XDR) sits at the presentation level. It converts local representation of data to its canonical form and vice versa. The canonical uses a standard byte ordering and structure packing convention, independent of the host.

Layer 7 - Application Provides network services to the end-users. Mail, ftp, telnet, DNS, NIS, NFS are examples of network applications.

Q. Suppose we want to transmit the message 11001001 and protect it from errors using the CRC polynomial x3+1. Use polynomial long division to determine the message that should be transmitted.

Sol. M(x) = 11001001 P(x) = x3+1

M(x) can be written as x7+ x6+ x3+1.

Remainder is x+1. Thus, the bit code to be added is 011.

The message to be transmitted is: T(x) = 11001001011.

Q. Consider a point-to-point link 20 km in length.

At what bandwidth would propagation delay (at a speed of 2 x 108 m/sec) equal transmit delay for a 100-byte packet? What about a 512-byte packet?

Sol. Propagation = Distance / Speed of Light Transmit = Size / Bandwidth P = 20 x 103 / 2 x 108 = 10-4 T = 100 x 8 / B Given: P = T B = 100 x 8 / 10-4 = 8 x 106 bits per second = 8 Mbps.