OCR GCSE Computer Science

Wired, Wi-Fi & Protocols

1.3 Computer Networks, Connections and Protocols
1.3.2 Wired and wireless networks, protocols and layers

 Modes of connection: Wired (Ethernet) & Wireless (Wi-Fi & Bluetooth)

 Encryption
 IP addressing and MAC addressing
 Standards
 Common protocols including: TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol), HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol),
HTTPS (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure), FTP (File Transfer Protocol), POP (Post Office Protocol), IMAP (Internet Message
Access Protocol) & SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol)
 The concept of layers

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Starter Activity
3 minutes

How do you think data travels around

networks / the internet?

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Learning Habits

Which ‘Learning Habits’ we will need to make use of to be a success in this lesson?

Noticing details Adapting : Reasoning:

Reflecting and making changes Thinking rigorously, methodically
and giving explanations.
Empathising…
…with feelings and views Effective use of time
Questioning:
Asking questions to get below
Listening… Imagining… the surface
…to understand …how things could be and seeing a range of
possibilities Distilling…
…what you have learnt and what you
Collaboration: Meta Learning: need to learn
Working effectively with Talking about how you have been
others learning Imitation:
Picking up good habits from
Independence: Managing distractions… others
Working effectively alone …and sustaining concentration
Capitalising:
Perseverance: Using resources purposefully
Overcoming frustration and difficulty
Planning…
…your learning in advance

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Lesson Objectives
Lesson Objectives
• To understand how different data transfer mediums carry data.
• To understand how data is transmitted across a network.
• To understand what is meant by the term ‘protocol’.
• To understand the purpose of a variety of common network protocols.
Success Criteria
• ALL: To be able to explain how packet switching works.
• MOST: To also be able to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of different
data transfer mediums and to be able to describe some common protocols.
• SOME: To also be able to explain the purpose of common protocols and
explain the layers of a network.
Literacy – Key Words
Protocols The rules that govern the workings of a network.

Packet Switching The method of routing data packets towards their destination according to the available
routes at that time.
Data Transfer The mechanism used to transfer data (via wires or Wi-Fi)
Medium

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Modes of Connection
Data Transfer Media
All networks must enable computers to communicate with one
another.
This can be done using two main data transfer mediums:

Wired (Ethernet)

Wireless (Wi-Fi & Bluetooth)

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Modes of Connection
Cables (Ethernet)
There are two main types of cable which can transport data between computers using
ethernet:

Copper Cables
These are made up of twisted pairs of copper wires with the data being transported via
electrical signals. Because they carry electrical signals, they can suffer from interference.

Fibre Optic Cables

These are made up of glass fibres with the data being transported via light signals.

Fibre optic cables are more effective…nothing travels faster than the speed of light! They
also do not suffer from interference.

They are however more expensive that copper cables.

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Modes of Connection
Wireless (Wi-Fi)
Wi-Fi allows network access to portable devices by using radio waves to send data (not wires!).

Wi-Fi is a ‘standard’. This means that all Wi-Fi devices are using the same standard technology.

In particular they send and receive data using standard radio frequency bands:

2.4 GHz Band (frequencies between 2.4GHz & 2.5GHz)

5 GHz Band (frequencies between 5.725GHz & 5.875GHz)

0GHz 1GHz 2GHz 3GHz 4GHz 5GHz 6GHz

Furthermore, each band is split into channels that cover smaller frequency ranges, within the band.

CH1 Ch2 Ch3 Ch4 Ch5 Ch6 Ch7

2.40GHz 2.41GHz 2.42GHz 2.43GHz 2.44GHz 2.45GHz 2.46GHz

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Modes of Connection
Wireless (Wi-Fi)
This is so that if two devices are sending signals using the same band (e.g.
2.4GHz)…

0GHz 1GHz 2GHz 3GHz 4GHz 5GHz 6GHz

…they can each use different channels and therefore slightly different
frequencies (e.g. 2.41GHz and 2.45GHz)…
…so that they do not suffer from interference with one another.

CH1 Ch2 Ch3 Ch4 Ch5 Ch6 Ch7

2.40GHz 2.41GHz 2.42GHz 2.43GHz 2.44GHz 2.45GHz 2.46GHz

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Modes of Connection
Wireless (Bluetooth)
Bluetooth is another wireless data transfer medium, allowing devices to connect
and share data without wires!

Unlike, Wi-Fi (which can support the transfer of data amongst multiple devices
at once), Bluetooth can only support data transfer between a small number of
devices at any one time.

Furthermore, Bluetooth has a shorter range than Wi-Fi and as such, two
communicating devices will need to be relatively close to one another for the
transfer of data to work.

Bluetooth is generally easier to use/setup compared to Wi-Fi, however it is

generally less secure than Wi-Fi.

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Modes of Connection
Encryption
To ensure that communication between devices is secure, data can be encrypted.

Encryption is where data is scrambled before being sent across a network so that it is
unreadable if intercepted.

To encrypt data, an encryption key is used which will convert ‘plain text’ into ‘cipher text’.

An encryption key is an algorithm which will systematically alter each piece of data in a file.
For example, a key may convert each letter in a text file to the next letter in the alphabet:
e.g. ‘hello’ becomes ‘ifmmp’

For the ‘cipher text’ to be converted back to ‘plain text’, the same key is required by the
recipient to reverse the encryption.

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The Internet
What is the Internet?
The internet is a massive network of networks.

A ginormous collection of connected computers.

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The amazing connections of the

Billions of miles of cables
Internet across the land.

Undersea cables
connecting continents.

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Data Packets
• When files are sent over the internet they are split into millions of data
packets.

– Packets get sent by different routes according to availability.

– When you send a file online, the parts of the file might travel one way around
the world and the other parts may go in the opposite direction!
– Packets are reassembled at receiving end.

• Typical packet structure:

Data
Error Check

Packet Header
Sequence No. Return Address Destination Address

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Data Packets
An error check is an important
aspect of a data packet. The Header contains 3 pieces of information:
This this the data
itself.
This aspect of the packet is a Sequence Number
‘checksum number’. A Return Address
checksum is made up of a Destination Address.
calculation and its correct
answer. Once the packet has
been received by the destination Data
computer, If the calculation is
run and still produces the
Error Check

correct answer, then we know Packet Header

the data hasn’t been corrupted
on its journey. Sequence No. Return Address Destination Address

As data is split into packets, When data arrives, the computer Obviously a data packet
the sequence number allows which sent the data can be notified needs a destination address
the file to be rebuilt by that it arrived safely. And if a packet so that it can be routed to
putting the packets back arrives corrupted, the computer which the correct location.
together in the correct sent the data can be asked to send it
order. again.

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The amazing way that data is

sent across the internet

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Standards & Protocols

IP addressing, MAC addressing, and Protocols

So, we have now seen how data is sent around networks in data packets, but because the
internet has billions of computers and devices attached to it, these devices will only be able
to communicate with one another if they ‘speak the same language’ (i.e. if these data
packets are produced and sent in the same standard way).

Because of this, the internet is full of protocols, which is really just a fancy name for rules.

By manufacturing nodes and network devices to the same standards, they can adhere to
these rules, and as such all devices on the internet can work effectively with one another –
the are compatible.

We shall now take a look at some of the major protocols which enables the internet to
work.

They sound scary but they really are not!

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Standards and Protocols

MAC Addresses
Just like humans have postal addresses, every network card in the world has a MAC
address (MAC - Media Access Control).

A MAC address is hard coded into each and every network device and cannot change.

It is a 12-digit hexadecimal number, e.g.

56:b3:8f:90:64:ef

It is there so that data being sent over a network can be sent to the correct network card.

It is known as a PHYSICAL ADDRESS

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Standards and Protocols

IP Addresses
Just like each network card will have a MAC address, every computer on a network will have an IP address.

They are usually a 32bit number written as 4 decimal numbers e.g.:

129.168.1.101

They are required for the same reason:

…so that data being sent over a network can be sent to the correct node.

The main difference is that an IP address is not hard coded into the computer. It can change and is therefore said
to be dynamic.

The reason for this is so that on a network, similar types of hardware can be grouped by being assigned similar
IP addresses.

For example, computers could all be given IP address starting 190, printers could be given IP address staring
200 and so on.

This means that different types of device can be more easily managed on a network.
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Standards and Protocols

The TCP/IP Protocol
This is probably the most important protocol as it determines how all data is sent over the
internet. Actually it is made up of two protocols:

TCP – Transmission Control Protocol

We saw earlier how data is split into packets before being sent across the internet. The TCP
defines the rules for this.
• It ensures all data is split up into data packets in the same way.
• It ensures that these data packets are put back together when received by the destination
device.
• It also ensures that any data received is the same as that sent.

IP – Internet Protocol
This rule is in place to ensure that data packets are directed towards their destination in the most
appropriate way (which may not be the shortest way).

This is called ‘Packet Switching’ and we will now look at this in more detail.
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Standards and Protocols

Packet Switching
TCP/IP – Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol
As previously said, the TCP/IP protocols govern packet switching.
2. Routers follow the IP rules and direct
1. A file is split into data packets towards their destination. 3. Due to network traffic, packet
data packets switching may occur where the
packets may take different routes
and be directed to other routers
Data 1 before arriving at the destination.

Data 2
Data 3
4. If the packets are in the
wrong order, the packet
number can be used to
reorder them back into the
original file.

Packet switching ensures that data

gets to its destination as fast as
Data 2 Data 3
possible – this may not be the
shortest distance however.
Data 1

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Standards and Protocols

World Wide Web (website) Protocols
HTTP – Hyper Text Transfer Protocol

This is the protocol which governs the way in which websites and web servers are
accessed by web browsers. By conforming to the same standards it means that all
browsers can access all websites on the WWW.

HTTPS – Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (SECURE)

This protocol is almost identical to HTTP. The only difference is that it ensures all data
being sent is encrypted and so makes web data communication far more secure.

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Standards and Protocols

File Transfer (Upload, Download, Read and Write) Protocols
FTP – File Transfer Protocol

If you have your documents / files stored on a file server, the way you access them will be
governed by the File Transfer Protocol.

This standard (FTP) ensure that all clients (computers) on a network can access files from
a server in the same way.

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Standards and Protocols

Email Protocols
POP – Post Office Protocol
This is the protocol which governs how emails are accessed from a server. Email clients
will use this protocol to access emails from a server in the same way.

IMAP – Internet Message Access Protocol

This is similar to POP but with one important difference. With IMAP, the email will
remain on the server once it has been downloaded by a mail client. This allows other
devices to also access the emails which is important for users with multiple devices – they
can synchronise their emails across all devices.

SMTP – Simple Mail Transfer Protocol

This protocol governs how data is sent between mail servers. By conforming to the same
standards, emails can be sent to and from all mail servers across the internet.

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Network Layers
The Layers of a Network
The protocols which enable the Internet to function correctly can be divided into ‘Layers of the
Internet’.

Each layer has a particular function and provides a base for the layer above it – in other words,
each layer does all the hard work for the layer above it!

Layer Example Protocols Layer Purpose

Application Layer – Layer 4 FTP, HTTP, SMTP Provides user access to applications websites,
files, email.
Transport Layer – Layer 3 TCP Provides transport of data between devices by
splitting files into data packets and checking that
they have been sent and received correctly.
Network Layer – Layer 2 IP Provides the routing of data across the network
by making use of addressing.
Data Link Layer & Physical Ethernet Provides the physical transport of data through
Layer – Layer 1 electrical signals etc.

For example, if you are accessing a website (HTTP - layer 4), it requires data to be split into packets and sent
across the internet (TCP – layer 3 / IP – layer 2), which in turns requires the physical transport of data via
cables Computer
(cables / Wi-Fi – layer
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