COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY

DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING

ECE 583 Lecture

DATA COMMUNICATIONS





Date Submitted : 06/23/2014




1. Define data communications.

Data communication is the transmission of electronic data over some media. The
media may be cables, microwaves.
Data Communication is the exchange of data (in the form of Os and 1s) between
two devices via some form of transmission medium (such as a wire cable).

2. What are the 5 components of Data Communications?

The five components are :

1. Message - It is the information to be communicated. Popular forms of
information include text, pictures, audio, video etc. Text is converted to binary,
number doesnt converted, image is converted to pixels, etc.

2. Sender - It is the device which sends the data messages. It can be a computer,
workstation, telephone handset etc.

3. Receiver - It is the device which receives the data messages. It can be a
computer, workstation, telephone handset etc.

4. Transmission Medium - It is the physical path by which a message travels from
sender to receiver. Some examples include twisted-pair wire, coaxial cable, radio
waves etc.

5. Protocol - It is a set of rules that governs the data communications. It
represents an agreement between the communicating devices. Without a
protocol, two devices may be connected but not communicating.

3. What are the 4 Data Representation?

Text
ASCII Properties
Unicode
Unicode Structure

4. Data Flow


Simplex -- Data may flow only in one direction
Half-duplex -- Data may flow in either direction, but only in one direction at a
given time
Full-duplex -- Data may flow in both directions simultaneously.
5. What is Network?

A Network is a set of devices (nodes) connected by media 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.

6. What are the physical structures of network?
Computer Network
Two or more computers that communicate with each other.
Internetwork (internet)
Two or more networks that are connected together (e.g., the Internet).
Communication scheme
Transmission signals
Handled by the transmitter and receiver

7. What are the categories of networks?
Local Area Networks
Local area networks (LANs) are used to connect networking devices that are in a
very close geographic area, such as a floor of a building, a building itself, or a campus
environment.
Wide Area Networks
Wide area networks (WANs) are used to connect LANs together. Typically,
WANs are used when the LANs that must be connected are separated by a large
distance.
Metropolitan Area Networks
A metropolitan area network (MAN) is a hybrid between a LAN and a WAN.
Storage Area Networks
Storage area networks (SANs) provide a high-speed infrastructure to move data
between storage devices and file servers.
Advantage
Performance is fast.
Availability is high because of the redundancy features available.
Distances can span up to 10 kilometers.
Management is easy because of the centralization of data resources.
Overhead is low (uses a thin protocol).
Disadvantage of SANs is their cost.
Content Networks
Content networks (CNs) were developed to ease users' access to Internet
resources.
Companies deploy basically two types of CNs: caching downloaded Internet
information
Distributing Internet traffic loads across multiple servers
Intranet
An intranet is basically a network that is local to a company. In other words, users
from within this company can find all of their resources without having to go outside
of the company. An intranet can include LANs, private WANs and MANs,
Extranet
An extranet is an extended intranet, where certain internal services are made
available to known external users or external business partners at remote locations.
Internet
An internet is used when unknown external users need to access internal resources
in your network. In other words, your company might have a web site that sells
various products, and you want any external user to be able to access this service.
VPN
A virtual private network (VPN) is a special type of secured network. A VPN is
used to provide a secure connection across a public network, such as an internet.
Extranets typically use a VPN to provide a secure connection between a company and
its known external users or offices.
Authentication is provided to validate the identities of the two peers.
Confidentiality provides encryption of the data to keep it private from prying eyes.
Integrity is used to ensure that the data sent between the two devices or sites has
not been tampered with.


8. What are protocols?

A protocol is a set of rules (conventions) that govern all aspects of data
communication.

a. What are the key elements of protocol?

Syntax: refers to the structure or format of the data, meaning the order in which
they are presented.
Semantics: refers to the meaning of each section of bits.
1. Timing: refers to two characteristics.
2. When data should be sent and
3. How fast they can be sent.

9. What are standards?
All networking technologies have standards associated with them. These are usually
highly technical documents, and often presume that the reader has a fair bit of
knowledge about networking. If you aren't an expert, you will probably have some
difficulty understanding networking standards. (Some people seem to think I am an
expert, but I too have trouble with most of the details in a typical networking
standard.)
In fact, many technologies have quite a number of standards associated with them. A
networking technology may have more than one standard for any or all of the following
reasons:
o The original standard has been revised or updated;
o The technology is sufficiently complex that it needs to be described in more than one
document;
o The technology borrows from or builds on documents used in related technologies;
o More than one organization has been involved in developing the technology.
Standards documents created in the United States are usually developed in English,
but are also routinely translated into other languages. European standards are often
published simultaneously in English, French and German, and perhaps other
languages as well.
Today, virtually all networking standards are open standards, administered by a
standards organization or industry group. As I explained in the previous topic, open
standards are more popular than proprietary ones in the computer industry, and that's
particularly so when it comes to networking. In fact, the few technologies where there
is no universally-accepted open standard have been losing ground to those with open
standards, particularly in the areas of wireless LANs and home networkingpretty
much proving how important an open process really is.
I considered having a separate section where I listed all of the various standards used
for networking within the Guide. However, this would be a very large section indeed,
and the discussions of the various standards would be somewhat detached from the
places where I describe the technologies they define. Instead, I have many different
smaller discussions of standards, within the sections where I describe each networking
method or protocol. These can usually be found in an overview topic introducing each
technology type, though for more complex protocols I have a dedicated topic just
discussing relevant standards and where they are documented.
10. Give atleast 5 standards organization bodies.

American National Standards Institute (ANSI): ANSI is the main organization
responsible for coordinating and publishing computer and information technology
standards in the United States. While they are commonly thought of as developing and
maintaining standards, they do neither. Instead, they oversee and accredit the
organizations that actually create the standards, qualifying them as Standards
Developing Organizations or SDOs. ANSI also publishes the standards documents
created by the SDOs, and serves as the United States' representative to the ISO.
Information Technology Industry Council (ITIC): ITIC is a group of several
dozen companies in the information technology (computer) industry. ITIC is the SDO
approved by ANSI to develop and process standards related to many computer-related
topics. It was formerly known as the Computer and Business Equipment Manufacturers
Association (CBEMA).
National Committee for Information Technology (NCITS): A committee
established by the ITIC to develop and maintain standards related to the information
technology world. NCITS was formerly known by the name Accredited Standards
Committee X3, Information Technology, or more commonly, just X3. It maintains
several sub-committees that develop and maintain standards for various technical
subjects.
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE): The IEEE (pronounced
eye-triple-ee) is a well-known professional organization for those in the electrical or
electronics fields, including computers and networking. IEEE's main claim to fame in the
networking industry is the IEEE 802 Project, which encompasses many popular
networking technologies including Ethernet.
Electronic Industries Alliance (EIA): The EIA is an international industry
association that is best known for publishing electrical wiring and transmission
standards.
Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA): The TIA is the communications
sector of the EIA, and is responsible for developing communications standards. Since
communications, wiring and transmission are all related, and since the TIA and EIA
organizations are also related, standards produced by the EIA or TIA are often labeled
with the combined prefixes EIA/TIA or TIA/EIA.
International Telecommunication Union - Telecommunication
Standardization Sector (ITU-T): ITU-T is another large international body that
develops standards for the telecommunications industry. The ITU-T was formerly named
the International Telephone and Telegraph Consultative Committee or CCITT (the
abbreviation was of the French version of the organization's name, Comit consultatif
international tlphonique et tlgraphique.)
European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI): An organization
with members from dozens of countries both within and outside Europe that is dedicated
to developing telecommunications standards for the European market (and elsewhere).
ETSI is known for, among other things, regulating the use of radio bandwidth in Europe
and developing standards such as HiperLAN.