Computer Networks (3150710) Bhargav Borkhatariya (200430116515)
Practical – 15
AIM: The document for study about Segmentation and reassembly.
ANSWER:
➢ Segmentation and reassembly (SAR) is the process used to fragment and reassemble
variable length packets into fixed length cells so as to allow them to be transported
across asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) networks or other cell based
infrastructures. Since ATM's payload is only 48 bytes, nearly every packet from any
other protocol has to be processed in this way. Thus, it is an essential process for any
ATM node. It is usually handled by a dedicated chip, called the SAR.
➢ The process is conceptually simple: an incoming packet from another protocol to be
transmitted across the ATM network is chopped up into segments that fit into 48-byte
chunks carried as ATM cell payloads. At the far end, these chunks are fitted back
together to reconstitute the original packet.
➢ The process is analogous to the fragmentation of IP packets on reaching an interface
with a maximum transmission unit (MTU) less than the packet size and the
subsequent reassembly of the original packet once the fragments have reached the
original packet's destination.
Since different types of data are encapsulated in different ways, the details of the
segmentation process vary according to the type of data being handled. There are several
different schemes, referred to as ATM adaptation layers (AAL). The schemes are:
• AAL0 – Raw cells with no special format
• AAL1 – Constant bitrate, circuit emulation (T1, E1, etc.)
• AAL2 – Variable bitrate synchronous traffic, eous traffic, e.g. Frame Relay transport
• AAL5 – Used for most data traffic, such as IP
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Computer Networks (3150710) Bhargav Borkhatariya (200430116515)
➢ When an RTP connection is started, part of the ROUTE_SETUP process is to find the
smallest link size of all the hops along the route.
➢ This value is the maximum link size (MLS) and is the largest size of an NLP that can
be sent across the RTP connection.
➢ The MLS value can change (increase or decrease) when a path switch occurs.
➢ The function of intermediate (ANR) nodes is to route NLPs, not examine or process
them. For that reason, intermediate nodes do not segment or reassemble NLPs. This
means that when an RTP endpoint transmits an NLP, the size of that NLP cannot be
greater than the MLS value for that RTP connection.
➢ If a message is larger than the MLS value, the message is segmented by the origin
RTP endpoint and sent as multiple NLPs that are THDR chained. The first NLP is
marked as start-ofmessage (SOM) and the last NLP is marked as end-of-message
(EOM).
➢ The remote RTP endpoint will reassemble the pieces of the message and then pass the
complete message to the application for processing.
➢ The use of segmentation and reassembly is transparent to the application; therefore,
the application does not know or have to worry about the MLS value. However,
segmentation and reassembly does involve overhead at the RTP endpoints. To avoid
that overhead, it is recommended that you configure your network with link sizes
large enough to prevent segmentation from being necessary.
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Computer Networks (3150710) Bhargav Borkhatariya (200430116515)
➢ The minimum link size for an HPR link is 768 bytes. The NHDR and THDR sections
of an NLP cannot be segmented.
➢ This layer accepts the message from the (session) layer , breaks the message into
smaller units . Each of the segment produced has a header associated with it.
➢ Segmentation and Reassembly is the process used to fragment and reassemble
variable length packets into fixed length cells so as to allow them to be transported
across Asynchronous Transfer Mode networks or other cell based infrastructures .
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