Data Communication

 Movement of encoded information from one point to another by means of electronic transmission
system.
 The exchange of data between two devices via some form of transmission medium which can be wired
or wireless.
 Transferring of digital information (usually in binary form) between two or more points (terminals)

Basic Elements/Components of a Data Communication System

Communication is the process of transferring messages from one point to another. As shown in Figure 1.1,
the three basic elements of any communication system are:

1. A sender (source), which creates the message to be transmitted.

2. A medium, which carries the message.
3. A receiver (sink), which receives the message.

For example, when you speak to your friends on the telephone, you are the sender, the telephone line,
through which your vice is transmitted, is the medium, and your friend is the receiver. This is a sample
example of voice communication. The same concept holds good for data communi cation also. Data
communication is the function of transporting data from one point to another. In this case, the sender and
receiver are normally machines, in particular, computer device, and the transmission medium may be
telephone lines, microwave links, satellite links, etc. however the messages that are transmitted are data, not
voice conversions. Hence, the electronic systems, which transfer data from one point to another, are called
data communication systems. Data communication systems transmit data from one point to another without
any change.

Medium Receiver (Sink)

Sender (Source)
Carries the message

Creates the message Receives the message

Fig.1.1: Basic Elements of a Communication System

Data Transmission Modes

There are three ways, or modes of transmitting data from one point to another. As shown in Figure 1.2, these
are simplex, half duplex, and full duplex.
Sender Receiver
Simplex

Sender (or Receiver (or

OR
Receiver) Sender)

Half duplex

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 Sender (or Receiver
Receiver) And (or Sender)

Full duplex

Fig.1.2: Modes of data transmission

Simplex: If transmission is simplex, communication can take place in only one direction. Devices connected
to such a circuit are either a send-only or receive-only deice. Examples of simplex include radio broadcasting,
television broadcasting, computer to printer communication, and keyboard to computer connections.

Half Duplex: A half duplex system can transmit data in both direction, but only one direction at a time.
Hence, a half duplex line can alternately send and receive data. It requires two wires. This is most common
type of transmission for voice communication because only one person is supposed to speak at a time.
Example of half duplex communication is wireless used by police and army often referred to as “Walkie -
Talkie”.

Full Duplex: In full duplex, data can flow on both directions simultaneously. It requires four wires. Example in
daily life usage is a telephone that we use. The two users can simultaneously speak and listen to each other.

COMPUTER NETWORK

 A network is a collection of computers, servers, mainframes, network devices, peripherals, or other

devices connected to one another to allow the sharing of data. An excellent example of a network is
the Internet, which connects millions of people all over the world.
 A network can be broadly classified as “2 or more devices/computers connected together to share
data”.
 The interconnection of 2 or more commuters connected together forms a network.
OR
 “Interconnected” collection of autonomous computers. Here the word interconnected means they are
able to exchange information.
 A computer network is a network of geographically distributed multiple computers connected in a
manner to enable meaningful transmission and exchange of information among them. Sharing of
information, sharing of resources (both hardware and software), and sharing of processing load are
some of the major objectives of a computer network.
 Networks can broadly classified as Local Area Network (LAN), Metropolitan Area Network (MAN), and
Wide Area Network (WAN) based distance traveled.
 The connection need not be via a copper wire; fiber optics or microwaves. Alternatively, communication
satellites can also be used.

Network Applications

Computer systems and peripherals are connected to form a network. They provide numerous applications:

 Resource sharing such as printers and storage devices

 Exchange of information by means of e-Mails and FTP
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  Information sharing by using Web or Internet
 Interaction with other users using dynamic web pages
 IP phones
 Video conferences
 Parallel computing
 Instant messaging

COMPUTER NETWOK TYPES

Generally, networks are distinguished based on their geographical span. A network can be as small as
distance between mobile phone and its Bluetooth headphone and as large as the internet itself, covering the
whole geographical world,

Personal Area Network

A Personal Area Network (PAN) is smallest network which is very personal to a user. This may include
Bluetooth enabled devices or infra-red enabled devices. PAN has connectivity range up to 10 meters. PAN
may include wireless computer keyboard and mouse, Bluetooth enabled headphones, wireless printers and
TV remotes.

For example, Piconet is Bluetooth-enabled Personal Area Network which may contain up to 8 devices
connected together in a master-slave fashion.

Local Area Network

A computer network spanned inside a building and operated under single administrative system is generally
termed as Local Area Network (LAN). Usually, LAN covers an organization‟ offices, schools, colleges or
universities. Number of systems connected in LAN may vary from as least as two to as much as 16 million.

LAN provides a useful way of sharing the resources between end users. The resources such as printers, file
servers, scanners, and internet are easily sharable among computers.

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LANs are composed of inexpensive networking and routing equipment. It may contain local servers serving
file storage and other locally shared applications. It mostly operates on private IP addresses and does not
involve heavy routing. LAN works under its own local domain and controlled centrally.

LAN uses either Ethernet or Token-ring technology. Ethernet is most widely employed LAN technology and
uses Star topology, while Token-ring is rarely seen.

LAN can be wired, wireless, or in both forms at once.

Metropolitan Area Network

The Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) generally expands throughout a city such as cable TV network. It can
be in the form of Ethernet, Token-ring, ATM, or Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI).

Metro Ethernet is a service which is provided by ISPs. This service enables its users to expand their Local
Area Networks. For example, MAN can help an organization to connect all of its offices in a city.

Backbone of MAN is high-capacity and high-speed fiber optics. MAN works in between Local Area Network
and Wide Area Network. MAN provides uplink for LANs to WANs or internet.

Wide Area Network

As the name suggests, the Wide Area Network (WAN) covers a wide area which may span across provinces
and even a whole country. Generally, telecommunication networks are Wide Area Network. These networks
provide connectivity to MANs and LANs. Since they are equipped with very high speed backbone, WANs use
very expensive network equipment.

WAN may use advanced technologies such as Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), Frame Relay, and
Synchronous Optical Network (SONET). WAN may be managed by multiple administrations.

Internetwork

A network of networks is called an internetwork, or simply the Internet. It is the largest network in existence on
this planet. The internet hugely connects all WANs and it can have connection to LANs and Home networks.
Internet uses TCP/IP protocol suite and uses IP as its addressing protocol. Present day, Internet is widely
implemented using IPv4. Because of shortage of address spaces, it is gradually migrating from IPv4 to IPv6.
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Internet enables its users to share and access enormous amount of information worldwide. It uses WWW,
FTP, email services, audio and video streaming etc. At huge level, internet works on Client-Server model.

Internet uses very high speed backbone of fiber optics. To inter-connect various continents, fibers are laid
under sea known to us as submarine communication cable.

Internet is widely deployed on World Wide Web services using HTML linked pages and is accessible by client
software known as Web Browsers. When a user requests a page using some web browser located on some
Web Server anywhere in the world, the Web Server responds with the proper HTML page. The
communication delay is very low.

Internet is serving many proposes and is involved in many aspects of life. Some of them are:

 Web sites
 E-mail
 Instant Messaging
 Blogging
 Social Media
 Marketing
 Networking
 Resource Sharing
 Audio and Video Streaming

OSI Model

OSI stands for Open Systems Interconnection. It has been developed by ISO – „International
Organization of Standardization„, in the year 1984. It is a 7 layer architecture with each layer having specific
functionality to perform. All these 7 layers work collaboratively to transmit the data from one person to another
across the globe.

 Application Layer: This layer is responsible for providing interface to the application user. This layer
encompasses protocols which directly interact with the user.

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  Presentation Layer: This layer defines how data in the native format of remote host should be
presented in the native format of host.
 Session Layer: This layer maintains sessions between remote hosts. For example, once
user/password authentication is done, the remote host maintains this session for a while and does not
ask for authentication again in that time span.
 Transport Layer: This layer is responsible for end-to-end delivery between hosts.
 Network Layer: This layer is responsible for address assignment and uniquely addressing hosts in a
network.
 Data Link Layer: This layer is responsible for reading and writing data from and onto the line. Link
errors are detected at this layer.
 Physical Layer: This layer defines the hardware, cabling wiring, power output, pulse rate etc.

TCP/IP Model

The OSI Model we just looked at is just a reference/logical model. It was designed to describe the functions
of the communication system by dividing the communication procedure into smaller and simpler components.
But when we talk about the TCP/IP model, it was designed and developed by Department of Defense (DoD)
in 1960s and is based on standard protocols. It stands for Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol.
The TCP/IP model is a concise version of the OSI model. It contains four layers, unlike seven layers in the
OSI model. The layers are:

1. Process/Application Layer
2. Host-to-Host/Transport Layer
3. Internet Layer
4. Network Access/Link Layer

The diagrammatic comparison of the TCP/IP and OSI model is as follows:

 Application Layer: This layer defines the protocol which enables user to interact with the network. For
example, FTP, HTTP etc.
 Transport Layer: This layer defines how data should flow between hosts. Major protocol at this layer is
Transmission Control Protocol (TCP). This layer ensures data delivered between hosts is in-order and
is responsible for end-to-end delivery.
 Internet Layer: Internet Protocol (IP) works on this layer. This layer facilitates host addressing and
recognition. This layer defines routing.
 Link Layer: This layer provides mechanism of sending and receiving actual data. Unlike its OSI Model
counterpart, this layer is independent of underlying network architecture and hardware.

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Difference between TCP/IP and OSI Model:

TCP/IP OSI
TCP refers to Transmission Control OSI refers to Open Systems
Protocol. Interconnection.
TCP/IP has 4 layers. OSI has 7 layers.
TCP/IP is more reliable OSI is less reliable
TCP/IP does not have very strict
OSI has strict boundaries
boundaries.
TCP/IP follow a horizontal approach. OSI follows a vertical approach.
TCP/IP uses both session and presentation OSI uses different session and presentation
layer in the application layer itself. layers.
TCP/IP developed protocols then model. OSI developed model then protocol.

INTRODUCTION TO PHYSICAL LAYER

Physical layer in the OSI model plays the role of interacting with actual hardware and signaling mechanism.
Physical layer is the only layer of OSI network model which actually deals with the physical connectivity of two
different stations. This layer defines the hardware equipment, cabling, wiring, frequencies, pulses used to
represent binary signals etc.

Physical layer provides its services to Data-link layer. Data-link layer hands over frames to physical layer.
Physical layer converts them to electrical pulses, which represent binary data. The binary data is then sent
over the wired or wireless media.

Signals

When data is sent over physical medium, it needs to be first converted into electromagnetic signals. Data
itself can be analog such as human voice, or digital such as file on the disk. Both analog and digital data can
be represented in digital or analog signals.

 Digital Signals

Digital signals are discrete in nature and represent sequence of voltage pulses. Digital signals are used
within the circuitry of a computer system.

 Analog Signals

Analog signals are in continuous wave form in nature and represented by continuous electromagnetic
waves.

Transmission Impairment

When signals travel through the medium they tend to deteriorate. This may have many reasons as given:

 Attenuation

For the receiver to interpret the data accurately, the signal must be sufficiently strong. When the signal
passes through the medium, it tends to get weaker. As it covers distance, it loses strength.

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  Dispersion

As signal travels through the media, it tends to spread and overlaps. The amount of dispersion
depends upon the frequency used.

 Delay distortion

Signals are sent over media with pre-defined speed and frequency. If the signal speed and frequency
do not match, there are possibilities that signal reaches destination in arbitrary fashion. In digital media,
this is very critical that some bits reach earlier than the previously sent ones.

 Noise

Random disturbance or fluctuation in analog or digital signal is said to be Noise in signal, which may
distort the actual information being carried. Noise can be characterized in one of the following class:

o Thermal Noise

Heat agitates the electronic conductors of a medium which may introduce noise in the media.
Up to a certain level, thermal noise is unavoidable.

o Intermodulation

When multiple frequencies share a medium, their interference can cause noise in the medium.
Intermodulation noise occurs if two different frequencies are sharing a medium and one of them
has excessive strength or the component itself is not functioning properly, then the resultant
frequency may not be delivered as expected.

o Crosstalk

This sort of noise happens when a foreign signal enters into the media. This is because signal in
one medium affects the signal of second medium.

o Impulse

This noise is introduced because of irregular disturbances such as lightening, electricity, short-
circuit, or faulty components. Digital data is mostly affected by this sort of noise.

Transmission Media

The media over which the information between two computer systems is sent, called transmission media.
Transmission media comes in two forms.

 Guided Media

All communication wires/cables are guided media, such as UTP, coaxial cables, and fiber Optics. In
this media, the sender and receiver are directly connected and the information is send (guided) through
it.

 Unguided Media

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 Wireless or open air space is said to be unguided media, because there is no connecti vity between the
sender and receiver. Information is spread over the air, and anyone including the actual recipient may
collect the information.

Channel Capacity

The speed of transmission of information is said to be the channel capacity. We count it as data rate in digital
world. It depends on numerous factors such as:

 Bandwidth: The physical limitation of underlying media.

 Error-rate: Incorrect reception of information because of noise.
 Encoding: The number of levels used for signaling.

Multiplexing

Multiplexing is a technique to mix and send multiple data streams over a single medium. This technique
requires system hardware called multiplexer (MUX) for multiplexing the streams and sending them on a
medium, and de-multiplexer (DMUX) which takes information from the medium and distributes to different
destinations.

Transmission Media

The transmission media is nothing but the physical media over which communication takes place in computer
networks.

Magnetic Media

One of the most convenient way to transfer data from one computer to another, even before the birth of
networking, was to save it on some storage media and transfer physical from one station to another. Though
it may seem old-fashion way in today‟s world of high speed internet, but when the size of data is huge, the
magnetic media comes into play.

For example, a bank has to handle and transfer huge data of its customer, which stores a backup of it at
some geographically far-away place for security reasons and to keep it from uncertain calamities. If the bank
needs to store its huge backup data then its, transfer through internet is not feasible. The WAN links may not
support such high speed. Even if they do; the cost too high to afford.

In these cases, data backup is stored onto magnetic tapes or magnetic discs, and then shifted physically at
remote places.

Twisted Pair Cable

A twisted pair cable is made of two plastic insulated copper wires twisted together to form a single media. Out
of these two wires, only one carries actual signal and another is used for ground reference. The twists
between wires are helpful in reducing noise (electro-magnetic interference) and crosstalk.

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There are two types of twisted pair cables:

 Shielded Twisted Pair (STP) Cable

 Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) Cable

STP cables comes with twisted wire pair covered in metal foil. This makes it more indifferent to noise and
crosstalk.

UTP has seven categories, each suitable for specific use. In computer networks, Cat-5, Cat-5e, and Cat-6
cables are mostly used. UTP cables are connected by RJ45 connectors.

Coaxial Cable

Coaxial cable has two wires of copper. The core wire lies in the center and it is made of solid conductor. The
core is enclosed in an insulating sheath. The second wire is wrapped around over the sheath and that too in
turn encased by insulator sheath. This all is covered by plastic cover.

Because of its structure, the coax cable is capable of carrying high frequency signals than that of twisted pair
cable. The wrapped structure provides it a good shield against noise and cross talk. Coaxial cables provide
high bandwidth rates of up to 450 mbps.

There are three categories of coax cables namely, RG-59 (Cable TV), RG-58 (Thin Ethernet), and RG-11
(Thick Ethernet). RG stands for Radio Government.
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Cables are connected using BNC connector and BNC-T. BNC terminator is used to terminate the wire at the
far ends.

Power Lines

Power Line communication (PLC) is Layer-1 (Physical Layer) technology which uses power cables to transmit
data signals. In PLC, modulated data is sent over the cables. The receiver on the other end de-modulates and
interprets the data.

Because power lines are widely deployed, PLC can make all powered devices controlled and monitored. PLC
works in half-duplex.

There are two types of PLC:

 Narrow band PLC

 Broad band PLC

Narrow band PLC provides lower data rates up to 100s of kbps, as they work at lower frequencies (3 -5000
kHz).They can be spread over several kilometers.

Broadband PLC provides higher data rates up to 100s of Mbps and works at higher frequencies (1.8 – 250
MHz).They cannot be as much extended as Narrowband PLC.

Fiber Optics

Fiber Optic works on the properties of light. When light ray hits at critical angle it tends to refracts at 90
degree. This property has been used in fiber optic. The core of fiber optic cable is made of high quality glass
or plastic. From one end of it light is emitted, it travels through it and at the other end light detector detects
light stream and converts it to electric data.

Fiber Optic provides the highest mode of speed. It comes in two modes, one is single mode fiber and second
is multimode fiber. Single mode fiber can carry a single ray of light whereas multimode is capable of carrying
multiple beams of light.

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Fiber Optic also comes in unidirectional and bidirectional capabilities. To connect and access fiber optic
special type of connectors are used. These can be Subscriber Channel (SC), Straight Tip (ST), or MT-RJ.

Wireless Transmission

Wireless transmission is a form of unguided media. Wireless communication involves no physical link
established between two or more devices, communicating wirelessly. Wireless signals are spread over in the
air and are received and interpreted by appropriate antennas.

When an antenna is attached to electrical circuit of a computer or wireless device, it converts the digital data
into wireless signals and spread all over within its frequency range. The receptor on the other end receives
these signals and converts them back to digital data.

A little part of electromagnetic spectrum can be used for wireless transmission.

Radio Transmission

Radio frequency is easier to generate and because of its large wavelength it can penetrate through walls and
structures alike. Radio waves can have wavelength from 1 mm – 100,000 km and have frequency ranging
from 3 Hz (Extremely Low Frequency) to 300 GHz (Extremely High Frequency). Radio frequencies are sub -
divided into six bands.

Radio waves at lower frequencies can travel through walls whereas higher RF can travel in straight line and
bounce back. The power of low frequency waves decreases sharply as they cover long distance. High
frequency radio waves have more power.

Lower frequencies such as VLF, LF, MF bands can travel on the ground up to 1000 kilometers, over the
earth‟s surface.

Radio waves of high frequencies are prone to be absorbed by rain and other obstacles. They use Ionosphere
of earth atmosphere. High frequency radio waves such as HF and VHF bands are spread upwards. When
they reach Ionosphere, they are refracted back to the earth.

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Microwave Transmission

Electromagnetic waves above 100 MHz tend to travel in a straight line and signals over them can be sent by
beaming those waves towards one particular station. Because Microwaves travels in straight lines, both
sender and receiver must be aligned to be strictly in line-of-sight.

Microwaves can have wavelength ranging from 1 mm – 1 meter and frequency ranging from 300 MHz to 300
GHz.

Microwave antennas concentrate the waves making a beam of it. As shown in picture above, multiple
antennas can be aligned to reach farther. Microwaves have higher frequencies and do not penetrate wall like
obstacles.

Microwave transmission depends highly upon the weather conditions and the frequency it is using.

Infrared Transmission

Infrared wave lies in between visible light spectrum and microwaves. It has wavelength of 700-nm to 1-mm
and frequency ranges from 300-GHz to 430-THz.

Infrared wave is used for very short range communication purposes such as television and it‟s remote.
Infrared travels in a straight line hence it is directional by nature. Because of high frequency range, Infrared
cannot cross wall-like obstacles.

Light Transmission

Highest most electromagnetic spectrum which can be used for data transmission is light or optical signaling.
This is achieved by means of LASER.

Because of frequency light uses, it tends to travel strictly in straight line. Hence the sender and receiver must
be in the line-of-sight. Because laser transmission is unidirectional, at both ends of communication the laser
13
and the photo-detector needs to be installed. Laser beam is generally 1mm wide hence it is a work of
precision to align two far receptors each pointing to lasers source.

Laser works as Tx (transmitter) and photo-detectors works as Rx (receiver).

Lasers cannot penetrate obstacles such as walls, rain, and thick fog. Additionally, laser beam is distorted by
wind, atmosphere temperature, or variation in temperature in the path.

Laser is safe for data transmission as it is very difficult to tap 1mm wide laser without interrupting the
communication channel.

Multiplexing
Multiplexing is a technique by which different analog and digital streams of transmission can be
simultaneously processed over a shared link. Multiplexing divides the high capacity medium into low capacity
logical medium which is then shared by different streams.

Communication is possible over the air (radio frequency), using a physical media (cable), and light (optical
fiber). All mediums are capable of multiplexing.

When multiple senders try to send over a single medium, a device called Multiplexer divides the physical
channel and allocates one to each. On the other end of communication, a De-multiplexer receives data from a
single medium, identifies each, and sends to different receivers.

Frequency Division Multiplexing

When the carrier is frequency, FDM is used. FDM is an analog technology. FDM divides the spectrum or
carrier bandwidth in logical channels and allocates one user to each channel. Each user can use the channel
frequency independently and has exclusive access of it. All channels are divided in such a way that they do
not overlap with each other. Channels are separated by guard bands. Guard band is a frequency which is not
used by either channel.

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Time Division Multiplexing

TDM is applied primarily on digital signals but can be applied on analog signals as well. In TDM the shared
channel is divided among its user by means of time slot. Each user can transmit data within the provided time
slot only. Digital signals are divided in frames, equivalent to time slot i.e. frame of an optimal size which can
be transmitted in given time slot.

TDM works in synchronized mode. Both ends, i.e. Multiplexer and De-multiplexer are timely synchronized and
both switch to next channel simultaneously.

When channel A transmits its frame at one end, the De-multiplexer provides media to channel A on the other
end. As soon as the channel A‟s time slot expires, this side switches to channel B. On the other end, the De -
multiplexer works in a synchronized manner and provides media to channel B. Signals from different channels
travel the path in interleaved manner.

Wavelength Division Multiplexing

Light has different wavelength (colors). In fiber optic mode, multiple optical carrier signals are multiplexed into
an optical fiber by using different wavelengths. This is an analog multiplexing technique and is done
conceptually in the same manner as FDM but uses light as signals.

Further, on each wavelength time division multiplexing can be incorporated to accommodate more data
signals.
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Code Division Multiplexing

Multiple data signals can be transmitted over a single frequency by using Code Division Multiplexing. FDM
divides the frequency in smaller channels but CDM allows its users to full bandwidth and transmit signals all
the time using a unique code. CDM uses orthogonal codes to spread signals.

Each station is assigned with a unique code, called chip. Signals travel with these codes independently,
inside the whole bandwidth. The receiver knows in advance the chip code signal it has to receive.

Network Switching

Switching is process to forward packets coming in from one port to a port leading towards the destination.
When data comes on a port it is called ingress, and when data leaves a port or goes out it is called egress. A
communication system may include number of switches and nodes. At broad level, switching can be divided
into two major categories:

 Connectionless: The data is forwarded on behalf of forwarding tables. No previous handshaking is

required and acknowledgements are optional.
 Connection Oriented: Before switching data to be forwarded to destination, there is a need to pre-
establish circuit along the path between both endpoints. Data is then forwarded on that circuit. After the
transfer is completed, circuits can be kept for future use or can be turned down immediately.

Circuit Switching

When two nodes communicate with each other over a dedicated communication path, it is called circuit
switching. There 'is a need of pre-specified route from which data will travels and no other data is permitted.
In circuit switching, to transfer the data, circuit must be established so that the data transfer can take place.

Circuits can be permanent or temporary. Applications which use circuit switching may have to go through
three phases:

 Establish a circuit
 Transfer the data
 Disconnect the circuit

Circuit switching was designed for voice applications. Telephone is the best suitable example of circuit
switching. Before a user can make a call, a virtual path between caller and callee is established over the
network.

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Message Switching

This technique was somewhere in middle of circuit switching and packet switching. In message switching, the
whole message is treated as a data unit and is switching / transferred in its entirety.

A switch working on message switching, first receives the whole message and buffers it until there are
resources available to transfer it to the next hop. If the next hop is not having enough resource to
accommodate large size message, the message is stored and switch waits.

This technique was considered substitute to circuit switching. As in circuit switching the whole path is blocked
for two entities only. Message switching is replaced by packet switching. Message switching has the following
drawbacks:

 Every switch in transit path needs enough storage to accommodate entire message.
 Because of store-and-forward technique and waits included until resources are available, message
switching is very slow.
 Message switching was not a solution for streaming media and real-time applications.

Packet Switching

Shortcomings of message switching gave birth to an idea of packet switching. The entire message is broken
down into smaller chunks called packets. The switching information is added in the header of each packet
and transmitted independently.

It is easier for intermediate networking devices to store small size packets and they do not take much
resources either on carrier path or in the internal memory of switches.

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Packet switching enhances line efficiency as packets from multiple applications can be multiplexed over the
carrier. The internet uses packet switching technique. Packet switching enables the user to differentiate data
streams based on priorities. Packets are stored and forwarded according to their priority to provide quality of
service.

Computer Network Topologies

A Network Topology is the arrangement with which computer systems or network devices are connected to
each other.

The arrangement of a network which comprises of nodes and connecting lines via sender and receiver is
referred as network topology. The various network topologies are:

a) Mesh Topology

In mesh topology, every device is connected to another device via particular channel.

Figure 1: Every device is connected with another via dedicated channels. These channels are known as
links.

 If suppose, N number of devices are connected with each other in mesh topology, then total number of
ports that is required by each device is N-1. In the Figure 1, there are 5 devices connected to each
other, hence total number of ports required is 4.
 If suppose, N number of devices are connected with each other in mesh topology, then total number of
dedicated links required to connect them is NC2 i.e. N(N-1)/2. In the Figure 1, there are 5 devices
connected to each other, hence total number of links required is 5*4/2 = 10.

Advantages of this topology

 It is robust.
 Fault is diagnosed easily. Data is reliable because data is transferred among the devices through
dedicated channels or links.
 Provides security and privacy.

Problems with this topology

 Installation and configuration is difficult.

 Cost of cables are high as bulk wiring is required, hence suitable for less number of devices.
 Cost of maintenance is high.

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b) Star Topology

In star topology, all the devices are connected to a single hub through a cable. This hub is the central node
and all others nodes are connected to the central node. The hub can be passive in nature i.e. not intelligent
hub such as broadcasting devices, at the same time the hub can be intelligent known as active hubs. Active
hubs have repeaters in them.

Figure 2: A star topology having four systems connected to single point of connection i.e. hub.

Advantages of this topology

 If N devices are connected to each other in star topology, then the number of cables required to connect them is
N. So, it is easy to set up.
 Each device require only 1 port i.e. to connect to the hub.

Problems with this topology

 If the concentrator (hub) on which the whole topology relies fails, the whole system will crash down.
 Cost of installation is high.
 Performance is based on the single concentrator i.e. hub.

c) Bus Topology

Bus topology is a network type in which every computer and network device is connected to single cable. It
transmits the data from one end to another in single direction. No bi-directional feature is in bus topology.

Figure 3: A bus topology with shared backbone cable. The nodes are connected to the channel via drop
lines.

Advantages of this topology

 If N devices are connected to each other in bus topology, then the number of cables required to
connect them is 1 which is known as backbone cable and N drop lines are required.
 Cost of the cable is less as compared to other topology, but it is used to built small networks.

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Problems with this topology

 If the common cable fails, then the whole system will crash down.
 If the network traffic is heavy, it increases collisions in the network. To avoid this, various protocols are
used in MAC layer known as Pure Aloha, Slotted Aloha, CSMA/CD etc.

d) Ring Topology

In this topology, it forms a ring connecting a devices with its exactly two neighbouring devices.

Figure 4: A ring topology comprises of 4 stations connected with each forming a ring.

The following operations takes place in ring topology are:

1. One station is known as monitor station which takes all the responsibility to perform the operations.
2. To transmit the data, station has to hold the token. After the transmission is done, the token is to be
released for other stations to use.
3. When no station is transmitting the data, then the token will circulate in the ring.
4. There are two types of token release techniques: Early token release releases the token just after the
transmitting the data and Delay token release releases the token after the acknowledgement is
received from the receiver.

Advantages of this topology

 The possibility of collision is minimum in this type of topology.

 Cheap to install and expand.

Problems with this topology

 Troubleshooting is difficult in this topology.

 Addition of stations in between or removal of stations can disturb the whole topology.

e) Hybrid Topology

This topology is a collection of two or more topologies which are described above. This is a scalable topology
which can be expanded easily. It is reliable one but at the same it is a costly topology.

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Figure 5: A hybrid topology which is a combination of ring and star topology

Network Devices (Hub, Repeater, Bridge, Switch, Router, Gateways and Brouter)
1. Repeater – A repeater operates at the physical layer. Its job is to regenerate the signal over the same
network before the signal becomes too weak or corrupted so as to extend the length to which the signal can
be transmitted over the same network. An important point to be noted about repeaters is that they do not
amplify the signal. When the signal becomes weak, they copy the signal bit by bit and regenerate it at the
original strength. It is a 2 port device.

2. Hub – A hub is basically a multiport repeater. A hub connects multiple wires coming from different
branches, for example, the connector in star topology which connects different stations. Hubs cannot filter
data, so data packets are sent to all connected devices. In other words, collision domain of all hosts
connected through Hub remains one. Also, they do not have intelligence to find out best path for data
packets which leads to inefficiencies and wastage.

Types of Hub

 Active Hub: These are the hubs which have their own power supply and can clean, boost and relay
the signal along with the network. It serves both as a repeater as well as wiring centre. These are used
to extend the maximum distance between nodes.
 Passive Hub: These are the hubs which collect wiring from nodes and power supply from active hub.
These hubs relay signals onto the network without cleaning and boosting them and can‟t be used to
extend the distance between nodes.

3. Bridge – A bridge operates at data link layer. A bridge is a repeater, with add on the functionality of filtering
content by reading the MAC addresses of source and destination. It is also used for interconnecting two LANs
working on the same protocol. It has a single input and single output port, thus making it a 2 port device.

Types of Bridges

 Transparent Bridges: These are the bridge in which the stations are completely unaware of the
bridge‟s existence i.e. whether or not a bridge is added or deleted from the network, reconfiguration of
the stations is unnecessary. These bridges make use of two processes i.e. bridge forwarding and
bridge learning.

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  Source Routing Bridges: In these bridges, routing operation is performed by source station and the
frame specifies which route to follow. The hot can discover frame by sending a special frame called
discovery frame, which spreads through the entire network using all possible paths to destination.

4. Switch – A switch is a multiport bridge with a buffer and a design that can boost its efficiency (a large
number of ports imply less traffic) and performance. A switch is a data link layer device. The switch can
perform error checking before forwarding data, that makes it very efficient as it does not forward packets that
have errors and forward good packets selectively to correct port only. In other words, switch divides collision
domain of hosts, but broadcast domain remains same.

5. Routers – A router is a device like a switch that routes data packets based on their IP addresses. Router is
mainly a Network Layer device. Routers normally connect LANs and WANs together and have a dynamically
updating routing table based on which they make decisions on routing the data packets. Router divide
broadcast domains of hosts connected through it.

6. Gateway – A gateway, as the name suggests, is a passage to connect two networks together that may
work upon different networking models. They basically work as the messenger agents that take data from one
system, interpret it, and transfer it to another system. Gateways are also called protocol converters and can
operate at any network layer. Gateways are generally more complex than switch or router.

7. Brouter – It is also known as bridging router is a device which combines features of both bridge and router.
It can work either at data link layer or at network layer. Working as router, it is capable of routing packets
across networks and working as bridge, it is capable of filtering local area network traffic.

Difference between Circuit Switching and Packet Switching

Circuit Switching Packet Switching

In circuit switching there are 3 phases:
i) Connection Establishment. In Packet switching directly data transfer
ii) Data Transfer. takes place .
iii) Connection Released.

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 In Packet switching, each data unit just know
In circuit switching, each data unit know the entire
the final destination address intermediate
path address which is provided by the source.
path is decided by the routers.
In Circuit switching, data is processed at source In Packet switching, data is processed at all
system only intermediate node including source system.
Delay between data units in circuit switching is Delay between data units in packet
uniform. switching is not uniform.
Resource reservation is the feature of circuit
There is no resource reservation because
switching because path is fixed for data
bandwidth is shared among users.
transmission.
Circuit switching is more reliable. Packet switching is less reliable.
Less wastage of resources as compared to
Wastage of resources are more in Circuit Switching
Circuit Switching
It is not a store and forward technique. It is a store and forward technique.
Transmission of the data is done not only by
Transmission of the data is done by the source. the source, but also by the intermediate
routers.
Congestion can occur during connection
Congestion can occur during data transfer
establishment time, there might be a case will
phase, large number of packets comes in no
requesting for channel the channel is already
time.
occupied.
Circuit switching is not convenient for handling Packet switching is suitable for handling
bilateral traffic. bilateral traffic.
In Circuit switching, charge depend on time and In Packet switching, charge is based on the
distance, not on traffic in the network. number of bytes and connection time.
Recording of packet is never possible in circuit While recording of packet is possible in
switching. packet switching.

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