0. Introduction, Link Types (U.Crete, F'01, CS-534)

Department of Computer Science
© copyright: University of Crete, Greece

0. Introduction, Link Types

Course title and subject

Abstract network view

Note: usually, links are bidirectional

Hierarchical composition of a network
from a graph of subnetworks/routers/switches

Circuit versus packet switching

Output contention, buffering

Switch Architectures

Fabric topologies, flow control, scheduling

Point-to-Point and Shared-Medium:
examples and advantages of each

Shared medium link: turn-around overhead

how many bits is the distance d worth?

Link utilization for varying
link throughput, link length, packet size

Arbitration Overhead

Single versus multiple parallel transmissions

In this course... only switches with point-to-point links