Introduction

Eng M. Rushambwa
EEE412 Telecommunications
Electronic Engineering
Communications
■ Communications
❑ The message (data and information) is

communicated via the signal. The transmission

medium “carries” the signal.
Telecommunications

■ Telecommunications
❑ The electronic transmission of signals for

communications, including such means as:

■ Telephone

■ Radio

■ Television

Telecommunication medium
Anything that carries an electronic signal and
interfaces between a sending device and a receiving
device.
Data Communications

■ Data communications
❑ A specialized subset of telecommunications that
refers to the electronic collection, processing, and
distribution of data -- typically between computer
system hardware devices.
Data Communications
Computer Network

■ Computer Network
❑ The communications media, devices, and
software needed to connect two or more
computer systems and/or devices.
❑ Used to share hardware, programs, and
databases across the organization.
❑ Fosters teamwork, innovative ideas, and new
business strategies.
Types of Telecommunication Media
■ Twisted Pair Wire Cable
❑ Insulated pairs of wires historically used in

telephone service and to connect computer

devices.
■ Coaxial Cable
❑ Consists of an inner conductor wire
surrounded by insulation, called the dielectric.
The dielectric is surrounded by a conductive
shield, which is surrounded by a
non-conductive jacket. Coaxial cable has
better data transmission rate than twisted pair.
Types of Telecommunication Media
■ Fiber-optic Cable
❑ Many extremely thin

strands of glass or
plastic bound
together in a
sheathing which
transmits signals
with light beams.
Can be used for
voice, data, and
video.
Types of Telecommunication Media
Microwave
Communications
Line-of-sight
devices which
must be placed in
relatively high
locations.

Microwave Usage
Information is
converted to a
microwave signal,
sent through the
air to a receiver,
and recovered.
Types of Telecommunication Media

Satellite
Transmission
Communications
satellites are relay
stations that
receive signals
from one earth
station and
rebroadcast them
to another.
Types of Telecommunication Media

Cellular Transmission
Signals from cells are transmitted to a receiver and integrated
into the regular network.
Types of Telecommunication Media

■ Infrared Transmission
❑ Involves sending signals through the air via light
waves.
■ Requires line-of-sight and short distances (a few
hundred yards)
■ Used to connect various computing devices such as
handheld computers
Telecommunications System

Telecommunication Devices
Relay signals between computer systems and
transmission media.
Telecommunication Devices

■ Analog Signal
❑ E.G. Electricity current
Terminology
■ Digital Signal
❑ A signal represented by bits

■ Modems
❑ Devices that translate data from digital to analog

and analog to digital

Device: Modem

Modem
Modulates a digital signal into an analog signal for transmission via
analog medium, then demodulates the signal into digital for receiving.
Device: Multiplexer

Figure 6.11

Multiplexer
Allows several telecommunications signals to be transmitted
over a single communications medium at the same time.
Media: Integrated Services Digital Network
(ISDN)

ISDN
Technology that uses
existing
common-carrier lines
to simultaneously
transmit voice, video,
and image data in
digital form.
Distributed Processing

■ Centralized Processing
❑ Data processing that occurs in a single location or
facility.
■ Distributed Processing
❑ Data processing that occurs when computers are
placed at remote locations but are connected to
each other via telecommunications devices.
❑ The computers are connected as a computer

network.
Network Types

■ By Topology
❑ A model that describes how computers are
connected
❑ A logical model that describes how networks are
structured or configured

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Network Types

■ Structured
❑ Ring
❑ Bus
❑ Star
❑ Hierarchical
❑ Hybrid

■ Unstructured
❑ Mobile Adhoc Network (MANET)
Network Topologies

Ring
Bus

Hierarchical
Star

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Network Topologies

■ For local area networks, not for the Internet

■ Ring
❑ A typology that contains computers and computer
devices placed in a ring.
■ Bus
❑ Computers and computer devices are on a single
line. Each device can communicate directly to all
devices on the bus.
■ Star
❑ All computers are connected via a central hub.
Network Topologies

■ Hierarchical
❑ Uses treelike structures with messages passed
along the branches of the hierarchy
■ Hybrid
❑ A mix of different kinds of structured topologies. It
is what exactly the Internet looks like.
■ Mobile Adhoc Network
❑ It is unstructured network topology
❑ Structure is changing dynamically. EG. Network of
mobile phone.
Network Topologies

■ Mobile Adhoc Network

❑ Network does not have
specify topology
❑ Each computer in the
network is moving around
without locating in a fixed
location
❑ Sending and receiving
messages are difficulty
problems
Network Types by Size

■ Local Area Network (LAN)

❑ Connects computer systems and devices in the
same geographic area (can be Ring, Bus,
Hierarchical, Star, Hybrid)
■ Wide Area Network (WAN)
❑ Ties together large geographic regions using
microwave and satellite transmission or telephone
lines.
■ International Network
❑ Links systems between countries.

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 LAN & WAN

A Typical
LAN in a
BUS
Topology

A Wide Area Network

Client/Server Connection

● Applications and databases reside on specialized

host computers.
● Servers do most or all of the processing and
transmit the results to the client.

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Advantages & Disadvantages of
Client/Server
■ Advantages ■ Disadvantages
❑ Reduced cost potential ❑ Increased cost potential
❑ Improved Performance ❑ Loss of control
❑ Increased Security ❑ Complex multi-vendor
environment

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Communications Software

■ Communications Software
❑ Provides error checking, message formatting,
communications logs, data security and privacy, and
translation capabilities for networks.
■ Network Operating System (NOS)
❑ Systems software that controls the computer systems and
devices on a network and allows them to communicate with
each other.
■ Network Management Software
❑ Enables a manager on a networked desktop to monitor the
use of individual computers and shared hardware, scan for
viruses, and ensure compliance with software licenses.

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Protocols

■ Protocol
❑ Rules that ensure communications among
computers of different types and from different
manufacturers.
❑ Rules that determine the form of signal being
transmitted, encoded, error detection and
correction, etc.

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Protocols

■ OSI 7-Layers Model

❑ Serves as a standard model for network
architectures and is endorsed by the International
Standards Committee. Communication functions
are represented in seven layers to promote the
development of modular networks. Designed to
permit communication among different computers
from different operating systems.

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Protocols
■ Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol
(TCP/IP)
❑ Standard originally developed by the U.S. government to
link defense research agencies; it is the primary
communication protocol of the Internet.
■ Systems Network Architecture (SNA)
❑ IBM communication protocol for LAN.
■ Ethernet
❑ Protocol standard developed for LANs using a bus
topology.
❑ X.400 and X.500
❑ An international standard for message handling and
network directories.

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Protocol (Idea)
Protocol (Idea)
Protocol (Idea)
Protocol (Idea)

■ When and how to start a channel?

■ When and how to close a channel?
■ How to protect the channel against invasion?
■ How to handle multiple applications?
Protocol (Idea)
Protocol (Idea)
Host Host
1 2
Digital Digital
File Video File Video
library application library application
application application
application application
Protocol (Idea)
Hos Hos
t t
Applicatio
Applicatio Applicatio
Applicatio
nnprogra
progra nnprogra
progra
m
m m
m
Dat Data
a

RRP RRP

RRP RRP
Data Data

HHP HHP

HHP RRP
Data
Protocol (OSI 7 Layers Model)
Protocol (TCP/IP)

FT HTTP NV TFTP
P

TC UDP
P

I
P

■■■
NE 1
NE 2
NE n
T T T
Protocol (TCP/IP)
Applications
■ Linking Personal Computers to Mainframe Computers
❑ Download and upload information.

■ Voice Mail
❑ Enables users to leave, receive, and store verbal
messages for and from other users.
■ Electronic Mail (e-mail)
❑ Enables a sender to connect a computer to a network, type

messages, and send it to another person on the network.

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Applications

■ Electronic Software Distribution

❑ Involves installing software on a file server for
users to share by signing onto the network and
requesting that the software be downloaded onto
their computers over a network.
■ Electronic Document Distribution
❑ Transporting documents -- such as sales reports,
policy manuals, and advertising brochures -- over
communications lines and networks.

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Telecommunications Applications
Videoconferencing

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Telecommunications Applications EDI

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Telecommunications Applications
■ Public Network Services
❑ Services that give personal computer users access to vast

databases and other services, usually for an initial fee plus

usage fees.
■ Specialized and Regional Information Services
❑ Specialized electronic bulletin boards and e-mail services
targeting particular interests.
■ Distance Learning
❑ Use of telecommunications to extend the classroom.

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 The Internet
Internet Networks
Linked networks that
work much the same
way -- they pass data
around in packets, each
of which carries the
addresses of its sender
and receiver.

The Internet
The Internet
transmits data from
one computer
(called a host) to
another.
The Internet
How the Internet Works
■ Protocol
❑ A protocol that operates at the transport layer and is used in
combination with IP by most Internet applications
❑ It ensures that computers in Internet can understand the
message sending among each others.
■ Backbone
❑ One of the Internet’s high-speed, long distance communications
links.
■ IP Address/Port
❑ IP address is the unique identification on a computer that is
connecting to the Internet.
❑ Ports are the input/output locations of a computer where
messages should send in or out.
❑ If an IP address is analogy to a country, then the Port addresses
will be analogy to the ports of that country.
Access to the Internet

■ LAN Servers
❑ Local servers can provide access to the Internet
through normal connections (e.g. Ethernet)
■ Connection via an On-Line Service
❑ Communications protocol (SLIP/PPP) software
that transmits packets over telephone lines,
allowing dial-up access to the Internet. (Modem
access)
❑ Examples are American Online (AOL) and
Microsoft Network. These services usually require
sign-up procedures. (Leased line)
Ways to Access the Internet
Internet Services
Selected Usenet Groups
 VOIP Service

Voice-Over-IP (VOIP)
Technology that enables
network managers to route
phone calls and fax
transmissions over the same
network they use for data.
Internet Entertainment

■ Content Streaming
❑ A method for transferring multimedia files over the
Internet so that the data stream of voice and
pictures plays continuously, without a break, or
very few of them. It also enables users to browse
large files in real time.
■ IPTV
Internet Entertainment
Information Browsing

■ World Wide Web

❑ A collection of tens of thousands of independently-owned
computers that work together as one in an Internet service.
■ Web Browser
❑ Software that creates a unique hypermedia-based menu on
your computer screen and provides a graphical interface to
the Web.
■ Web Page
❑ A screen of information sent to a requesting user and
presented through a browser.
■ Search Engines
❑ A search tool for the Web (like card catalogs in libraries).
World Wide Web
Virtual Private Network (VPN)
Virtual Private Network (VPN)
A secure connection between two points across the Internet.

Tunneling
The process by which VPNs transfer information by encapsulating
traffic in IP packets and sending the packets over the Internet.

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Trends Driving Data Communication

■ Traffic growth
❑ Increasing number of Internet users
❑ Voice & data; local and long distance
■ Development of new services
❑ Examples: VoIP, IPTV, Online Games
❑ In turn drives increased traffic
■ Advances in technology
❑ Examples: Fiber optics vs copper cable, 2G vs 3G, wired vs
wireless
❑ Encourage and support increased growth and development
Key Technology Trends

■ Faster and cheaper computing and

communications
■ Increasingly “intelligent” networks
■ Growing importance of Internet, intranet and
extranet applications
■ Increasing use of and dependence on mobile
technologies, e.g. personal networks
Applications Driving Enterprise Networks
Model of Enterprise Communications

■ 4-layer model of enterprise communications

❑ Applications
❑ Services
❑ Management
❑ Infrastructure
■ Applications generated by business needs
Types of Business Information

■ Text
❑ ASCII, Extended ASCII, Unicode, ISO
■ Numbers
■ Images
■ Video
■ Voice
Effectiveness of data communication
systems
■ Performance
❑ if the systems can deliver data in a timely manner based on
the types of data
■ Reliability
❑ if the systems can provide non-stop services, measured by
the frequency of failure or recovery time of a network after
failure
■ Security
❑ if the systems can protect the transmitted data from illegal
access and/or modification