Chapter 1

Introduction

1.1 Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.
 1-1 DATA COMMUNICATIONS

The term telecommunication means communication at a

distance. The word data refers to information presented
in whatever form is agreed upon by the parties creating
and using the data. Data communications are the
exchange of data between two devices via some form of
transmission medium such as a wire cable.
Fundamental Characteristics:
Delivery, Accuracy, Timeliness, Jitter
Topics discussed in this section:
Components (Message, Sender, Receiver, Transmission Medium,
Protocol).
Data Représentation (Text, Number, Images, Audio, Video)
Data Flow (Simplex, Duplex, Half Duplex)
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 Components
4. Transmission medium. The
1. Message. The message is the transmission medium is the
physical path by which a message
information (data) to be travels from sender to receiver.
communicated. Popular forms of Some examples of transmission
information include text, numbers, media include twisted-pair wire,
pictures, audio, and video. coaxial cable, fiber-optic cable,
and radio waves.

2. Sender. The sender is the device 5. Protocol. A protocol is a set of

that sends the data message. It rules that govern data
can be a computer, workstation, communications. It represents an
agreement between the
telephone handset, video camera, communicating devices. Without a
and so on. protocol, two devices may be
connected but not communicating,
just as a person speaking French
3. Receiver. The receiver is the cannot be understood by a person
device that receives the message. who speaks only Japanese.
It can be a computer, workstation,
telephone handset, television, and
so on.

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 Figure 1.1 Five components of data communication

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 Data Representation

◼ Text (Unicode, American Standard Code

for Information Interchange (ASCII))
◼ Numbers
◼ Images ( Divided into pixel with size in bit
patterns, has color scheme of RGB- red,
green, and blue or YCM- yellow, cyan, and
magenta.
◼ Audio
◼ Video
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 Data Flow

◼ Simplex
◼ Duplex
◼ Half Duplex
◼ Full Duplex

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 Figure 1.2 Data flow (simplex, half-duplex, and full-duplex)

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 1-2 NETWORKS

A network is a set of devices (often referred to as nodes)

connected by communication links. A node can be a
computer, printer, or any other device capable of sending
and/or receiving data generated by other nodes on the
network.

Topics discussed in this section:

Distributed Processing
Network Criteria (performance, reliability, security)
Physical Structures (Type of Connection: Multipoint, Point to
Point. Topology: Mesh, Star, Bus, Ring, Hybrid)
Network Models (OSI, TCP/IP)
Categories of Networks (PAN, LAN, MAN, WAN)
Interconnection of Networks: Internetwork
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 Figure 1.3 Types of connections: point-to-point and multipoint

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 Figure 1.4 Categories of topology

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 Figure 1.5 A fully connected mesh topology (five devices)

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 Figure 1.6 A star topology connecting four stations

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 Figure 1.7 A bus topology connecting three stations

Back Bone Cable are connected to Drop line through Taps.

Signal becomes weak as it travels further distance.
Advantages: Ease of Installation. Uses less cables. Less complex.
Disadvantages: Difficult to fault isolation and reconnection. Difficult to add new devices.
Signal reflection at tapes reduces the signal quality. A fault or break in the bus cable stops all transmission.

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 Figure 1.8 A ring topology connecting six stations

Easy to install and reconfigure. Fault isolation is simplified. If one device does not receive a signal within a specified period,
it can issue an alarm. The alarm alerts the network operator to the problem and its location.

The only constraints are media and traffic considerations (maximum ring length and number of devices).
Unidirectional traffic can be a disadvantage. In a simple ring, a break in the ring (such as a disabled station) can disable the
entire network. Solution: Dual Ring.

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 Figure 1.9 A hybrid topology: a star backbone with three bus networks

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 Figure 1.10 An isolated LAN connecting 12 computers to a hub in a closet

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 Figure 1.11 WANs: a switched WAN and a point-to-point WAN

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 Figure 1.12 A heterogeneous network made of four WANs and two LANs

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Network Criteria:
• Performance
• Throughput
• Delay
• Transit Time
• Response Time
• Security
• Reliability
1-3 NETWORK TYPES
LAN:
• LAN connects hosts within the same building offices etc.
• LAN can consists of two PC’s or it can connect devices of
entier Organizations e.g printer, audio,storage etc
• It is privately owned network.
• Earlier bus toplogy was used to connect LAN systems.
• Nowadays star toplogy is used which allows more pairs to
communicate with each other
 1-3 Network Types

WAN
• WAN has a wider geographical span, spanning a town, a state, a country, or even the
world.
• WAN interconnects connecting devices such as switches, routers, or modems.
• WAN is normally created and run by communication companies.
• WAN’s are leased by an organization that uses it.
 1-3 THE INTERNET

The Internet has revolutionized many aspects of our daily

lives. It has affected the way we do business as well as the
way we spend our leisure time. The Internet is a
communication system that has brought a wealth of
information to our fingertips and organized it for our use.

Topics discussed in this section:

A Brief History
The Internet Today (ISPs)

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 Brief History
◼ Came into existence in 1969 only after Packet Switched Network was invented in 1961 at
MIT by Leonard Kleinrock.
◼ DoD (Dept of Defense) through ARPA (Advanced Research Projects Agency) represented
ARPANET in ACM (Association of Comuting Machinery) meeting in 1967.
◼ Introduced IMP (Interface Message Processor).
◼ In 1969, UCLA – UCSB – SRI – UoU got connected.
◼ University of California Los Angeles – UCLA
◼ University of California Santa Barbara – UCSB
◼ University of Utah – UoU
◼ Sanford Research Institute (SRI)
◼ Software Support by NCP – Network Control Protocol.
◼ 1972, Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn came up with paper on TCP with networking concepts of
encapsulation, datagram, gateways, end to end delivery of packets.
◼ Soon TCP was split into TCP and IP.
◼ In 1981, UC Berkeley modified the UNIX operating system to include TCP/IP which
popularized Internetworking.
◼ Then came creation of CSNET in 1981. Computer Science Network (CSNET) was a
network sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF).
◼ In 1983, ARPANET split into two networks: Military Network (MILNET) for military
users and ARPANET for nonmilitary users.
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◼ Today, it is managed by ISP – Internet Service Providers.
Hierarchical organization of the Internet
 Hierarchical organization of the Internet

ISP – Internet Service Provider

NAP – Network Access Point

ISP Communicate with each

others network through NAP

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 Switching
◼ Internet is a switched network.
◼ Switch connects at least two links together.
◼ A switch forwards data from a network to another network
when required.
◼ There are two types of switched networks
◼ Circuit Switched Networks
◼ Packet Switched Networks

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 Circuit Switching
◼ In a circuit-switched network, a dedicated connection, called a circuit, is always
◼ available between the two end systems.
◼ Switch can only make circuit active or inactive.
◼ Circuit-switched network is efficient when it is working at its full capacity.
◼ Most of the time, it is inefficient because it is working at partial capacity.

◼ Traditional telephone network is an example of circuit switched network.

◼ Thick line between switches has capacity to carry data of all four telephones.
◼ If all four pairs are not communicating at the same time, system is working with
partial capacity.
◼ Hence under utilization of resources.

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 Packet Switching
◼ In packet switching, the communication is done in blocks of data called packets.
◼ Instead of the continuous communication as we see using telephone, we see
exchange of individual data packets between the two computers.
◼ A router in a packet-switched network has a queue that can store and forward the
packet.

◼ Packet-switched network is more efficient than a circuit switched network.

◼ But the packets may encounter some delays.
◼ If the thick line has twice the capacity of thin line and all pairs start to
communicate, packets may encounter delays.

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 Protocol
◼ A protocol is a set of rules that govern data communications.
◼ The key elements of a protocol are:
◼ Syntax
◼ Semantics
◼ Timing.
◼ Syntax refers to the structure or format of the data, meaning the order in which they
are presented. E.g first 8 bits are sender address next 8 bits are receiver address rest
is the message.
◼ Semantic is the meaning of each section of bits. For example, does an address
identify the route to be taken or the final destination of the message?
◼ Timing refers to two characteristics: when data should be sent and how fast they
can be sent. E.g what if there is a speed mismatch between sender and receiver?

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 Standards Organization
◼ ISO – International Organization of Standardization
◼ ITU-T – International Telecommunication Union
Telecommunication Standards formed CCITT in 1993
for research.
◼ CCITT – Consultative Committee for International
Telegraphy and Telephony.
◼ ANSI – American National Standards Institutions.
◼ IEEE – Institute of Electric and Electronics Engineers
◼ EIA – Electronic Industries Association
◼ FCC – Federal Communication Commission
◼ RFC – Request for Comment
◼ How about Controlling body in India?

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