Explain the purpose of multiplexing and demultiplexing in the transport layer. How do TCP and UDP provide multiplexing/demultiplexing?
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Key Concepts
- Sockets
- Port numbers
- TCP four-tuple
- UDP destination port
Answer Approach
- Define mapping from multiple application sockets to network traffic and back.
- Identify the header fields both protocols use.
- Compare UDP and TCP socket identification.
Full Answer
Answer status: Verified against study notes. Revision notes, not an official marking scheme.
Multiplexing combines data from multiple application sockets for transport; demultiplexing delivers arriving segments to the correct socket. Both protocols use port numbers. UDP commonly demultiplexes using destination IP and destination port, while TCP identifies a connection by source IP, source port, destination IP, and destination port.
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