Network Performance

Delay
The average time needed for a packet to travel from source to destination, the delays in
a network can be divided into four types: transmission delay, propagation delay,
processing delay, and queuing delay.

Transmission Delay
A source host or a router cannot send a packet instantaneously. A sender needs to put
the bits in a packet on the line one by one. If the first bit of the packet is put on the line
at time t1 and the last bit is put on the line at time t2, transmission delay of the packet is
(t2 − t1).
Delaytr = (Packet length) / (Transmission rate, bandwidth).

Propagation Delay
Propagation delay is the time it takes for a bit to travel from point A to point B in the
transmission media. The propagation delay depends on the propagation speed of the
media, which is 3 × 108 meters/second in a vacuum and normally much less in a wired
medium; it also depends on the distance of the link. In other words, propagation delay is

Delaypg = (Distance) / (Propagation speed).

Processing Delay
The processing delay is the time required for a router or a destination host to receive a
packet from its input port, remove the header, perform an error detection procedure,
and deliver the packet to the output port (in the case of a router) or deliver the packet to
the upper-layer protocol (in the case of the destination host). The processing delay may
be different for each packet, but normally is calculated as an average.

Delaypr = Time required to process a packet in a router or a destination host

Computer Network Advanced Tech: Hudsameldin

Queuing Delay
Queuing delay can normally happen in a router. A router has an input queue connected
to each of its input ports to store packets waiting to be processed; the router also has an
output queue connected to each of its output ports to store packets waiting to be
transmitted. The queuing delay for a packet in a router is measured as the time a packet
waits in the input queue and output queue of a router.

Delayqu = the time a packet waits in input and output queues in a router

Total Delay
Assuming equal delays for the sender, routers, and receiver, the total delay (source-to
destination delay) a packet encounters can be calculated if we know the number of
routers, n, in the whole path.
Total delay = (n + 1) (Delaytr + Delaypg + Delaypr) + (n) (Delayqu)

Jitter
Jitter is the variation in delay for packets belonging to the same flow. For example, if
four packets depart at times 0, 1, 2, and 3 and arrive at 20, 21, 22, 23, all have the same
delay, 20 units of time. On the other hand, if the above four packets arrive at 21, 23, 24,
and 28, they will have different delays.

Throughput
Throughput at any point in a network is defined as the number of bits passing through
the point in a second, which is actually the transmission rate of data at that point. In a
path from source to destination, a packet may pass through several links (networks),
each with a different transmission rate.

Packet Loss
Another issue that severely affects the performance of communication is the number of
packets lost during transmission. When a router receives a packet while processing
another packet, the received packet needs to be stored in the input buffer waiting for its
turn. A router, however, has an input buffer with a limited size. A time may come when
the buffer is full and the next packet needs to be dropped. The effect of packet loss on
the Internet network layer is that the packet needs to be resent.

Round-trip time (RTT)

Also called round-trip delay, is the time required for a signal pulse or packet to travel
from a specific source to a specific destination and back again. In this context, the
source is the computer initiating the signal and the destination is a remote computer or
system that receives the signal and retransmits it.

Reliability
Reliability is a characteristic that a flow needs in order to deliver the packets safe and
sound to the destination. Lack of reliability means losing a packet or acknowledgment,
which entails retransmission. However, the sensitivity of different application programs
to reliability varies.

Example:
A network with bandwidth of 10 Mbps can pass only an average of 12,000 packets per
minute with each packet carrying an average of 10,000 bits. What is the throughput of
this network?

Solution
We can calculate the throughput as:
Throughput = 12,000X10, 000 = 2Mbps
60

Example:
What is the propagation time if the distance between the two points is 12,000 km?
Assume the propagation speed to be 2.4 × 108 m/s in cable.
Solution
We can calculate the propagation time as:
12000× 1000
Propagation time =
2.4 ×10 8

Question
What are the propagation delay and the transmission delay for a 2.5-kbyte message
(e.g. e-mail) if the bandwidth of the network is 1 Gbps? Assume that the distance
between the sender and the receiver is 12,000 km and that light travels at 2.4 × 108
m/s.

12000× 1000
Propagation time=
2.4 ×10 8
= 50ms
2500× 8
Transmission time = 10 = 0.02ms
9

Bandwidth-Delay Product
The term bandwidth is refer to the number of bits per second that a channel, a link, or
even a network can transmit. For example, one can say the bandwidth of a Fast Ethernet
network (or the links in this network) is a maximum of 100 Mbps. This means that this
network can send 100 Mbps.
Bandwidth and delay are two performance metrics of a link. However, what is very
important in data communications is the product of the two, the bandwidth-delay
product. Let us elaborate on this issue, using two hypothetical cases as examples.

Case 1. Figure below shows case 1

Let us assume that we have a link with a bandwidth of 1 bps (unrealistic, but good for
demonstration purposes). We also assume that the delay of the link is 5 s (also
unrealistic). We want to see what the bandwidth-delay product means in this case.
Looking at the figure, we can say that this product 1 × 5 is the maximum number of bits
that can fill the link. There can be no more than 5 bits at any time on the link.

Case 2. Now assume we have a bandwidth of 5 bps. Figure below shows that there can
be maximum 5 × 5 = 25 bits on the line. The reason is that, at each second, there are 5
bits on the line; the duration of each bit is 0.20 s. The above two cases show that the
product of bandwidth and delay is the number of bits that can fill the link. This
measurement is important if we need to send data in bursts and wait for the
acknowledgment of each burst before sending the next one. To use the maximum
capability of the link, we need to make the size of our burst 2 times the product of
bandwidth and delay; we need to fill up the full-duplex channel (two directions).
The sender should send a burst of data of (2 × bandwidth × delay) bits. The sender then
waits for receiver acknowledgment for part of the burst before sending another burst.
The amount 2 × bandwidth × delay is the number of bits that can be in transition at any
time.