Week # 01

Introduction to Data Communication

1) Data Communication
* Communication means the exchange of information or messages.
* When we communicate, we share information.
- Sharing can be local (face to face) or remote (over distance).
- Telecommunication means communication at a distance (telephony, telegraphy, television).
* The process of transferring data from one location to another is called Data Communication. (or)
* The exchange of data between two devices through a transmission medium is Data Communication.
* Communication system is made up of a combination of hardware (physical equipment) and software.

2) Components of a Data Communication System

* A data communications system has five components.

2.a) Message
* The message is the information (data) to be communicated.
* Popular forms of information include text, numbers, pictures, audio, and video.

2.b) Sender (Source)

* The sender is the device that sends the message.
* It can be a computer, workstation, telephone handset, video camera, and so on.

2.c) Receiver (Destination)

* The receiver is the device that receives the message.
* It can be a computer, workstation, telephone handset, television, and so on.

2.d) Transmission Medium

* The transmission medium is the physical path by which a message travels from sender to receiver.
* Some examples of transmission media include twisted-pair, coaxial cable, fiber-optic, and radio waves.

Dr. Kifayat Ullah Computer Communication & Networks CECOS University Peshawar
2.e) Protocol
* A protocol is a set of rules that govern data communications.
* It represents an agreement between the communicating devices.
* Without a protocol, two devices may be connected but not communicating.
* A protocol defines what is communicated, how it is communicated, and when it is communicated.
* The key elements of a protocol are syntax, semantics, and timing.

i) Syntax
* It refers to the structure or format of the data.
* For example, a simple protocol might expect the first 8 bits of data to be the address of the sender, the
second 8 bits to be the address of the receiver, and the rest of the stream to be the message itself.

ii) Semantics
* The word semantics refers to 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?

iii) Timing
* Timing defines when data should be sent and how fast they can be sent.
* For example, if a sender produces data at 100 Mbps but the receiver can process data at only 1 Mbps, the
transmission will overload the receiver and some data will be lost.

3) Characteristic of Effective Data Communication System

* The effectiveness of a data communications system depends on the following four fundamental
characteristics.

3.a) Delivery
* The system must deliver data to the correct destination.
* Data must be received by the intended device or user.

3.b) Accuracy
* The system must deliver the data accurately.
* Data that have been altered in transmission and left uncorrected are unusable.

3.c) Timeliness
* The system must deliver data in a timely manner.
* Data delivered late are useless.

Dr. Kifayat Ullah Computer Communication & Networks CECOS University Peshawar
* In the case of video and audio, timely delivery means delivering data as they are produced, in the same
order that they are produced, and without significant delay.
- This kind of delivery is called real-time transmission.

3.d) Jitter
* Jitter refers to the variation in the packet arrival time (difference in packet inter-arrival time).
* It is the uneven (not equal) delay in the delivery of audio or video packets.
* For example, let us assume that video packets are sent every 30 ms. If some of the packets arrive with 30-
ms delay and others with 40-ms delay, an uneven quality in the video is the result.

4) Data Representation in Communication System

* Information today comes in different forms such as text, numbers, images, audio, and video.

4.a) Text
* In data communications, text is represented as a bit pattern, a sequence of bits (0s or 1s).
* Different sets of bit patterns have been designed to represent text symbols.
* Each set is called a code, and the process of representing symbols is called coding.
* Today, the prevalent coding system is called Unicode, which uses 32 bits to represent a symbol or
character used in any language in the world.
* The American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) now constitutes the first 127 characters
in Unicode.

4.b) Numbers
* Numbers are also represented by bit patterns.
- ASCII is not used to represent numbers
* The number is directly converted to a binary number to simplify mathematical operations.
* Several numbering systems exist today.

4.c) Images
* Images are also represented by bit patterns.
* In its simplest form, an image is composed of a matrix of pixels (picture elements), where each pixel is a
small dot.
* The size of the pixel depends on the resolution.
* For example, an image can be divided into 1000 pixels or 10,000 pixels. In the second case, there is a
better representation of the image (better resolution), but more memory is needed to store the image.

Dr. Kifayat Ullah Computer Communication & Networks CECOS University Peshawar
4.d) Audio
* Audio refers to the recording or broadcasting of sound or music.
* Audio is by nature different from text, numbers, or images.
* It is continuous, not discrete.

4.e) Video
* Video refers to the recording or broadcasting of a picture or movie.
* Video can either be produced as a continuous entity (e.g., by a TV camera), or it can be a combination of
images, each a discrete entity, arranged to convey the idea of motion.

5) Data Flow (Transmission Modes) in Communication System

* Communication between two devices can be simplex, half-duplex, or full-duplex.

5.a) Simplex transmission

* In a simplex mode, the communication is unidirectional.
* Only one of the two devices on a link can transmit; the other can only receive.
* In simplex transmission, data flows only in one direction from the sending device to the receiving device.
* Simplex transmission is used only when the sending device does not require a response from the
receiving device.
* An example of simplex transmission is the keyboard, which always sends characters to the CPU.
* Another example is that computers always send characters to printers.
* Other examples are loudspeaker, television broadcasting, television and remote etc.

5.b) Half duplex transmission

* In half duplex transmission, both the sender and receiver can transmit and receive.
* We can send data in both directions, however, only one device can transmit data at a time.
* A good example of half duplex transmission is a walkie - talkie, in which message is sent one at a time and
messages are sent in both directions.

Dr. Kifayat Ullah Computer Communication & Networks CECOS University Peshawar
5.c) Full duplex transmission
* In full duplex system, we can send data in both directions simultaneously.
* In networking, this is very common mode of transmission.
* In full duplex mode, data traveling in one direction share the capacity of the link with data going in the
other direction.
* The sharing can occur in two ways.
* The link must contain two physically separate transmission paths.
* The capacity of the channel is divided between signals traveling in both directions.
* An example of full duplex communication is the telephone network.

6) A Simple Communication Model

* The fundamental purpose of a communications system is the exchange of data between two parties.
* A simple model of communications is illustrated in the following figure.

* The following are key elements of the model.

6.a) Source
* This device generates the data to be transmitted
* Examples are telephones and personal computers.

6.b) Transmitter
* Usually, the data generated by a source system are not transmitted directly in the form in which they were
generated.
* Rather, a transmitter transforms and encodes the information in such a way as to produce
electromagnetic signals that can be transmitted across some sort of transmission system.
* For example, a modem takes a digital bit stream from an attached device such as a personal computer
and transforms that bit stream into an analog signal that can be handled by the telephone network.

Dr. Kifayat Ullah Computer Communication & Networks CECOS University Peshawar
6.c) Transmission system
* This can be a single transmission line or a complex network connecting source and destination.

6.d) Receiver
* The receiver accepts the signal from the transmission system and converts it into a form that can be
handled by the destination device.
* For example, a modem will accept an analog signal coming from a network or transmission line and
convert it into a digital bit stream.

6.e) Destination
* Takes the incoming data from the receiver.
* The following figure presents one particular example, which is communication between a workstation
and a server over a public telephone network.

7) Data Communication Tasks

* A large number of tasks must be performed a data communications system.
* Following table shows some of them.
- Elements could be added; items on the list could be merged; and some items represent several
tasks that are performed at different “levels” of the system.

7.a) Transmission System Utilization

* The need to make efficient use of transmission facilities that are typically shared among a number of
communicating devices.
* Various techniques (referred to as multiplexing) are used to allocate the total capacity of a transmission
medium among a number of users.
* Congestion control techniques may be required to assure that the system is not overwhelmed by
excessive demand for transmission services.

Dr. Kifayat Ullah Computer Communication & Networks CECOS University Peshawar
7.b) Interfacing
* To communicate, a device must interface with the transmission system.

7.c) Signal Generation

* Once an interface is established, signal generation is required for communication.
* The signal must be capable of being propagated through the transmission system.
* The signal must be interpretable as data at the receiver.

7.d) Synchronization
* There must be some form of synchronization between transmitter and receiver.
* The receiver must be able to determine when a signal begins to arrive and when it ends.
* It must also know the duration of each signal element.

7.e) Exchange Management

* Exchange management is important for communication between two or more parties.
* If data are to be exchanged in both directions over a period of time, the two parties must cooperate.
* For example, for two parties to engage in a telephone conversation, one party must dial the number of
the other, causing signals to be generated that result in the ringing of the called phone. The called party
completes a connection by lifting the receiver.
* For data processing devices, more will be needed than simply establishing a connection; certain
conventions must be decided on. These conventions might include whether both devices may transmit
simultaneously or must take turns, the amount of data to be sent at one time, the format of the data,
and what to do if certain contingencies such as an error arise.

7.f) Error Detection and Correction

* In all communications systems, there is a potential for error.
* Transmitted signals are distorted to some extent before reaching their destination.
* Error detection and correction are required in circumstances where errors cannot be tolerated.
* For example, in transferring a file from one computer to another, it is simply not acceptable for the
contents of the file to be accidentally altered.

7.g) Flow Control

* Flow control is required to assure that the source does not overwhelm the destination by sending data
faster than they can be processed and absorbed.

Dr. Kifayat Ullah Computer Communication & Networks CECOS University Peshawar
7.h) Addressing & Routing
* Next are the related but distinct concepts of addressing and routing.
* When more than two devices share a transmission facility, a source system must indicate the identity
of the intended destination.
* The transmission system must assure that the destination system, and only that system, receives the
data.
* Further, the transmission system may itself be a network through which various paths may be taken.
* A specific route through this network must be chosen.

7.i) Recovery
* Recovery techniques are needed in situations in which an information exchange, such as a database
transaction or file transfer, is interrupted due to a fault somewhere in the system.
* The objective is either to be able to resume activity at the point of interruption or at least to restore the
state of the systems involved to the condition prior to the beginning of the exchange.

7.j) Message Formatting

* Message formatting has to do with an agreement between two parties as to the form of the data to be
exchanged or transmitted, such as the binary code for characters.

7.k) Security
* Frequently, it is important to provide some measure of security in a data communications system.
* The sender of data may wish to be assured that only the intended receiver actually receives the data.
* And the receiver of data may wish to be assured that the received data have not been altered in transit
and that the data actually come from the purported sender.

7.k) Network Management

* Finally, a data communications facility is a complex system that cannot create or run itself.
* Network management capabilities are needed to configure the system, monitor its status, react to
failures and overloads, and plan intelligently for future growth.

Dr. Kifayat Ullah Computer Communication & Networks CECOS University Peshawar