Unit 01.03.
01
CS 5220:
COMPUTER COMMUNICATIONS
Berkeley Socket API - I
XIAOBO ZHOU, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Computer Science
Berkeley Socket API
Berkeley UNIX Sockets API
Abstraction for applications to send & receive data
Applications create sockets that “plug into” network
Applications write/read to/from sockets
Implemented in the kernel
Facilitates development of network applications
Hides details of underlying protocols & mechanisms
Also in Windows, Linux, and other OS’s
Client Server
Socket Socket
Application 1 Application 2
interface interface
User User
descriptor descriptor
Kernel Kernel
Communications Socket
• Application references a
Socket
socket through a descriptor
through Sockets port number • Socket bound to a port number port number
Underlying Underlying
communication communication
protocols protocols
Communications
network
Transport Protocols
Host computers run two transport protocols on top of IP to
enable process-to-process communications
User Datagram Protocol (UDP) enables best-effort
connectionless transfer of individual block of information
Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) enables connection-
oriented reliable transfer of a stream of bytes
Two services though Sockets: connection-oriented and
connection-less
Stream Mode of Service
Connection-oriented (TCP) Connectionless (UDP)
Immediate transfer of one block of
First, setup connection between
two peer application processes information (boundaries preserved)
No setup overhead & delay
Then, reliable bidirectional in-
Destination address with each block
sequence transfer of byte stream
(boundaries not preserved in Send/receive to/from multiple peer
transfer) processes
Best-effort service only
Multiple write/read between peer
Possible out-of-order
processes
Possible loss
Finally, connection release
Client & Server Differences
Server
Specifies well-known port # when creating socket
May have multiple IP addresses (net interfaces)
Waits passively for client requests
Client
Assigned ephemeral port #
Initiates communications with server
Needs to know server’s IP address & port #
DNS for URL & server well-known port #
Server learns client’s address & port #
Server does Passive Open
Server socket call creates socket to listen for connection
requests
socket()
Server specifies type: TCP (stream)
bind() socket call returns: non-negative integer
descriptor; or -1 if unsuccessful
listen()
Client
accept()
socket()
Blocks Connect
negotiation connect()
Socket Calls for
read()
Data write() Connection-
write() Data
read() Oriented Mode
close()
close()
Server bind assigns local address & port # to socket with
specified descriptor
socket()
Can wildcard IP address for multiple net interfaces
bind() bind call returns: 0 (success); or -1 (failure)
Failure if port # already in use or if reuse option not
listen() set
Client
accept()
socket()
Blocks Connect
negotiation connect()
Data
Socket Calls for
write()
read()
Connection-
Data
write() read() Oriented Mode
close()
close()
listen indicates to TCP readiness to receive
Server connection requests for socket with given descriptor
socket()
Parameter specifies max number of requests that
may be queued while waiting for server to accept
bind()
them
listen call returns: 0 (success); or -1 (failure)
listen()
Client
accept()
socket()
Blocks Connect
negotiation connect()
Socket Calls for
Data
read() write()
Connection-
write() Data
read() Oriented Mode
close()
close()
Server Server calls accept to accept
socket()
incoming requests
accept blocks if queue is empty
bind()
listen()
Client
accept()
socket()
Blocks Connect
negotiation connect()
Data write()
read()
write() Data
read()
close()
close()
Client does Active Open
Server socket call creates socket to connect to server
socket() Client specifies type: TCP (stream)
socket call returns: non-negative integer descriptor;
bind() or -1 if unsuccessful
listen()
Client
accept()
socket()
Blocks Connect
negotiation connect()
Socket Calls for
Data write()
Connection-
read()
Oriented Mode
write() Data
read()
close()
close()
Server connect establishes a connection on the local
socket() socket with the specified descriptor to the specified
remote address and port #
bind() connect returns 0 if successful; -1 if unsuccessful
listen()
Client
accept()
socket()
Note: connect
Blocks Connect initiates TCP three-way
negotiation connect() handshake
Data write()
read()
write() Data
read()
close()
close()
accept wakes with incoming connection request
Server accept fills client address & port # into address
socket()
structure
accept call returns: descriptor of new connection
bind() socket (success); or -1 (failure)
Client & server use new socket for data transfer
listen() Original socket continues to listen for new requests
Client
accept()
socket()
Blocks Connect
negotiation connect()
Data write()
Socket Calls for
read()
Connection-
write() Data
read()
Oriented Mode
close()
close()
Data Transfer
Server Client or server call write to transmit
socket()
data into a connected socket
write call returns: # bytes transferred
bind() (success); or -1 (failure); blocks until all
data transferred
listen()
Client
accept()
socket()
Blocks Connect
negotiation connect()
Data write()
read()
write() Data
read()
close()
close()
Data Transfer
Server Client or server call read to receive data from a
socket()
connected socket
read specifies: socket descriptor; pointer to a buffer;
bind() amount of data
read call returns: # bytes read (success); or -1
listen() (failure); blocks if no data arrives
Client
accept()
socket()
Note: write and read
Blocks Connect can be called multiple
negotiation connect() times to transfer byte
streams in both
Data write()
read() directions
write() Data
read()
close()
close()
Connection Termination
Server Client or server call close when socket is no longer
socket()
needed
close specifies the socket descriptor
bind() close call returns: 0 (success); or -1 (failure)
listen()
Client Note: close initiates
accept()
socket() TCP graceful close
Blocks sequence
Connect
negotiation connect()
Data
read() write()
Socket Calls for
write() Data
read() Connection-
close()
close() Oriented Mode
Summary of the Lesson
Socket API hides details of underlying protocols &
mechanisms
