Tag: delay

Transmission Rate vs Propagation Speed

Posted on by lechuck park

Key Concepts

Transmission Rate

  • Amount of data processable per unit time (bps – bits per second)
  • “Processing speed” concept – how much data can be handled simultaneously
  • Low transmission rate causes Transmission Delay
  • “Link is full, cannot send data”

Propagation Speed

  • Speed of signal movement through physical media (m/s – meters per second)
  • “Travel speed” concept – how fast signals move
  • Slow propagation speed causes Propagation Delay
  • “Arrives late due to long distance”

Meaning of Delay

Two types of delays affect network performance through different principles. Transmission delay is packet size divided by transmission rate – the time to push data into the link. Propagation delay is distance divided by propagation speed – the time for signals to physically travel.

Two Directions of Technology Evolution

Bandwidth Expansion (More Data Bandwidth)

  • Improved data processing capability through transmission rate enhancement
  • Development of high-speed transmission technologies like optical fiber and 5G
  • No theoretical limits – continuous improvement possible

Path Optimization (More Fast, Less Delay)

  • Faster response times through propagation delay improvement
  • Physical distance reduction, edge computing, optimal routing
  • Fundamental physical limits exist: cannot exceed speed of light (c = 3×10⁸ m/s)
  • Actual media is slower due to refractive index (optical fiber: ~2×10⁸ m/s)

Network communication involves two distinct “speed” concepts: Transmission Rate (how much data can be processed per unit time in bps) and Propagation Speed (how fast signals physically travel in m/s). While transmission rate can be improved infinitely through technological advancement, propagation speed faces an absolute physical limit – the speed of light – creating fundamentally different approaches to network optimization. Understanding this distinction is crucial because transmission delays require bandwidth solutions, while propagation delays require path optimization within unchangeable physical constraints.

With Claude

Traceroute works I

Posted on by lechuck park

From The Bard with some prompting
The image is a diagram of how a traceroute works. Traceroute is a tool that uses ICMP packets to determine the path that a packet takes from a source to a destination.

The image shows the following steps:

The source sends an ICMP packet with a TTL (time to live) of 1.
The first router that receives the packet decrements the TTL by 1 and sends it to the next router.
If the TTL reaches 0 before reaching the destination, the router sends an ICMP packet back to the source with an error message.
The source then sends an ICMP packet with a TTL of 2.
The process repeats until the destination is reached.
The text in the image provides additional information about each step. For example, the text for step 1 states that the source sends an ICMP packet with a TTL of 1. This means that the packet will be discarded by any router that receives it after it has traveled 1 hop.

The image also shows the following information:

  • The source IP address is 192.168.1.1.
  • The destination IP address is 203.0.113.5.
  • The RTT (round-trip time) for each hop is shown in milliseconds.

The image is a useful tool for understanding how traceroute works. It can be used to troubleshoot network problems by identifying the routers that are causing delays or errors.

Here is a more concise summary of the image:

Traceroute uses ICMP packets to determine the path that a packet takes from a source to a destination. The source sends an ICMP packet with a TTL of 1. If the TTL reaches 0 before reaching the destination, the router sends an ICMP packet back to the source with an error message. The source then sends an ICMP packet with a TTL of 2. The process repeats until the destination is reached.tunesharemore_vertadd_photo_alternate