Chapter 22

Network Layer:
Delivery, Forwarding,
and Routing

22.1 Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.
 22-1 DELIVERY

The network layer supervises the handling of the

packets by the underlying physical networks. We
define this handling as the delivery of a packet.

Topics discussed in this section:

Direct Versus Indirect Delivery

22.2
  Direct Delivery
 Final destination of the packet is a host connected
to the same physical network as the deliverer.
 Source and destination are located on the same
physical network (e.g. delivery between the last
router and the destination host).

 Indirect Delivery
 Destination host is not on the same network as the
deliverer.
 Packet goes from router to router until it reaches
the one connected to the same physical network as
its final destination.

22.3
 Figure 22.1 Direct and indirect delivery

22.4
 22-2 FORWARDING

Forwarding means to place the packet in its route to

its destination. Forwarding requires a host or a router
to have a routing table. When a host has a packet to
send or when a router has received a packet to be
forwarded, it looks at this table to find the route to the
final destination.

Topics discussed in this section:

Forwarding Techniques
Forwarding Process
Routing Table

22.5
 Forwarding Techniques

Several techniques can make the size of the routing table

manageable and also handle issues such as security.

22.6
 Forwarding Techniques:

1. Route method versus next-hop method:

Routing table holds only the address of the next hop

instead of information about the complete route.

22.7
 Figure 22.2 Route method versus next-hop method

22.8
 2. Host-specific versus network-specific method:

Instead of having an entry for every destination host

connected to the same physical network, there is only
one entry that defines the address of the destination
network itself.
For example, if 1000 hosts are attached to the
same network, only one entry exists in the routing
table instead of 1000.

22.9
 Figure 22.3 Host-specific versus network-specific method

22.10
 3. Default method:

Instead of listing all networks in the entire Internet,

host can have just one entry called the default.
e.g. in fig 22.4 host A is connected to a network with
two routers. R1 routes the packets to hosts connected
to network N2. However for the rest of the Internet R2 is
used.

22.11
 Figure 22.4 Default method

22.12
 Forwarding Process

22.13
 Forwarding Process:
Classless Addressing:

Routing table needs to have one row of information

for each block involved.
Table needs to be searched based on the network

address.
A column for mask (/n) needs to be included in the

table.

22.14
 Note

In classless addressing, we need at

least four columns in a routing table.

22.15
 Figure 22.5 Simplified forwarding module in classless address

Address Resolution Protocol 

22.16
 Example 22.1

Make a routing table for router R1, using the

configuration in Figure 22.6.

Solution
Table 22.1 shows the corresponding table.

22.17
 Figure 22.6 Configuration for Example 22.1

22.18
 Table 22.1 Routing table for router R1 in Figure 22.6

22.19
 Example 22.2

Show the forwarding process if a packet arrives at R1 in

Figure 22.6 with the destination address 180.70.65.140.
Solution
The router performs the following steps:
1. The first mask (/26) is applied to the destination address.
The result is 180.70.65.128, which does not match the
corresponding network address.
2. The second mask (/25) is applied to the destination
address. The result is 180.70.65.128, which matches the
corresponding network address. The next-hop address
and the interface number m0 are passed to ARP for
further processing.
22.20
 Example 22.3

Show the forwarding process if a packet arrives at R1 in

Figure 22.6 with the destination address 201.4.22.35.

Solution
The router performs the following steps:
1. The first mask (/26) is applied to the destination
address. The result is 201.4.22.0, which does not
match the corresponding network address.
2. The second mask (/25) is applied to the destination
address. The result is 201.4.22.0, which does not
match the corresponding network address (row 2).
22.21
 Example 22.3 (continued)

3. The third mask (/24) is applied to the destination

address. The result is 201.4.22.0, which matches the
corresponding network address. The destination
address of the packet and the interface number m3 are
passed to ARP.

22.22
 Example 22.4

Show the forwarding process if a packet arrives at R1 in

Figure 22.6 with the destination address 18.24.32.78.

Solution
This time all masks are applied, one by one, to the
destination address, but no matching network address is
found. When it reaches the end of the table, the module
gives the next-hop address 180.70.65.200 and interface
number m2 to ARP. This is probably an outgoing
package that needs to be sent, via the default router, to
someplace else in the Internet.

22.23
 22-3 UNICAST ROUTING PROTOCOLS
A routing table can be either static or dynamic. A
static table is one with manual entries. A dynamic
table is one that is updated automatically when there is
a change somewhere in the Internet. A routing
protocol is a combination of rules and procedures that
lets routers in the Internet inform each other of
changes.
Topics discussed in this section:
Optimization
Intra- and Interdomain Routing
Distance Vector Routing and RIP
Link State Routing and OSPF
Path Vector Routing and BGP
22.24
 Figure 22.12 Autonomous systems

22.25
 Note

An autonomous system (AS) is a group

of networks and routers under the
authority of a single administration.

22.26
 Note

Routing inside an autonomous system

is referred to as intradomain routing.

22.27
 Figure 22.13 Popular routing protocols

Open Border Gateway

Routing
Shortest Protocol (BGP)
Information
Path First
Protocol (RIP)
(OSPF)
22.28
 Figure 22.14 Distance vector routing tables

22.29
 Figure 22.15 Initialization of tables in distance vector routing

22.30
 Note

In distance vector routing, each node

shares its routing table with its
immediate neighbors periodically and
when there is a change.

22.31
 Figure 22.16 Updating in distance vector routing

22.32
 Figure 22.17 Two-node instability

22.33
 Figure 22.18 Three-node instability

22.34
 Figure 22.19 Example of a domain using RIP

22.35
 Figure 22.20 Concept of link state routing

22.36
 Figure 22.21 Link state knowledge

22.37
 Figure 22.22 Dijkstra algorithm

22.38
 Figure 22.23 Example of formation of shortest path tree

22.39
 Table 22.2 Routing table for node A

22.40
 Figure 22.30 Initial routing tables in path vector routing

22.41
 Figure 22.31 Stabilized tables for three autonomous systems

22.42