Network Fundamentals

Abdelkhalik Elsaid Mosa

[email protected]
http://abdelkhalik.staff.scuegypt.edu.eg/
Last Update: 20-07-2011

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Physical layer - Purpose
• Provides the means to transport the bits that make up a Data Link layer frame
across the network media through creating signal that represents each frame.
• The delivery of frames across the local media requires the following:
1. The physical media and associated connectors.
2. Encoding of data and control information.
3. A representation of bits “type of signal” on the media.
4. Transmitter and receiver circuitry on the network devices.

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Physical Layer - Standards
• The technologies defined by Standards organizations include four
areas of the Physical layer standards:
1. Physical and electrical properties of the media .
2. Mechanical properties (materials, pinouts) of the connectors .
3. Bit representation by the signals.
4. Definition of control information signals.

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Physical Layer – Fundamental Principles

• The three fundamental functions of the Physical layer are:

1.Data encoding
 is a method of converting a stream of data bits into a predefined code.
 Codes are groupings of bits used to provide a predictable pattern that
can be recognized by both the sender and the receiver.
2. Signaling
 Is the method of representing the bits, what type of signal represents a
"1" and a "0".
 The Physical layer must generate the electrical, optical, or wireless
signals that represent the "1" and "0" on the media.
3. The physical components
 are the electronic hardware devices, media and connectors that transmit
and carry the signals to represent the bits.
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Encoding – Grouping Bits

• Symbolic grouping of bits prior to being presented to the media.

• Encoding improves efficiency at higher speed data transmission.

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Encoding – Grouping Bits

• A code group: is a consecutive sequence of code bits that are

interpreted and mapped as data bit patterns.
Ex: code bits 10101 could represent the data bits 0011.

• Advantages of using code groups:

 Reducing bit level error “By using symbols to ensure that not too many 1s
or 0s are used in a row”.
 Limiting the effective energy transmitted into the media.
 Helping to distinguish data bits from control bits, “Data, Control & Invalid”.
 Better media error detection, “Using Invalid symbols”.
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4B/5B code symbols

• 4 bits of data are turned into 5-bit code symbols for transmission
over the media system.

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Signaling bits on the media: NRZ Signaling
• In NRZ, the bit stream is transmitted as a series of voltage values.
• A low voltage value represents a logical 0 and a high voltage
value represents a logical 1.

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Signaling bits on the media: Manchester Encoding

• Bit values are represented as voltage transitions.

• Low to High voltage represents 1 and High to Low represents 0.

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Data Carrying Capacity
• Data Transfer can be measured in 3 ways:
1. Bandwidth (Theoretical): The capacity of a medium to carry
data in a given amount of time.
Usually measured in kbps or Mbps.
2. Throughput (Practical): is the measure of the transfer of bits
across the media over a given period of time.
Throughput <= Bandwidth.
 Number of devices affect the throughput.
3. Goodput (Qualitative): is the measure of usable data
transferred over a given period of time.
Application level throughput.
Goodput = Throughput - traffic overhead for establishing sessions,
acknowledgements, and encapsulation.
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Data Carrying Capacity

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Copper media

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Copper media - External Signal Interference
• Radio waves and electromagnetic devices such as fluorescent lights, electric
motors, and other devices are potential sources of noise.
• Cable types with shielding or twisting of the pairs of wires are designed to
minimize signal degradation due to electronic noise.

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Unshielded twisted-pair (UTP) cable

• Consists of four pairs of color-coded wires that have been

twisted together and then encased in a flexible plastic sheath.
• The twisting cancels unwanted external signals and also helps
avoid interference from crosstalk.
• Crosstalk is the interference caused by the magnetic field around
the adjacent pairs of wires in the cable.

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UTP Cable Types

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Coaxial Cable
• Coaxial cable consists of a copper conductor surrounded by a
layer of flexible insulation.
• Coax is used in wireless, used to attach antennas to wireless devices, and
cable access technologies.

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Shielded Twisted-Pair (STP) Cable
• STP uses two pairs of wires that are wrapped in an overall
metallic braid or foil.
• STP provides better noise protection than UTP cabling, however
at a significantly higher price.
• STP was the cabling structure specified for use in Token Ring
network installations.

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Fiber Media

• Fiber-optic cabling uses either glass or plastic fibers to guide light

impulses from source to destination.
• The bits are encoded as light impulses.
• Is immune to electromagnetic interference.
• Can be operated at much greater lengths than copper media.
• Primarily used as backbone cabling for high-traffic point-to-point
connections.

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Fiber Media - Cable Construction

• Because light can only travel in one direction over optical fiber,
two fibers are required to support full duplex operation.
• Fiber-optic patch cables bundle together two optical fiber cables
and terminate them with a pair of standard fiber connectors.

• Optical fiber media implementation issues include:

1.More expensive than copper but with higher capacity.
2.Different skills and equipment required to terminate and splice
the cable infrastructure.
3.More careful handling than copper media.
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Generating and Detecting the Optical Signal

• Either lasers or LEDs generate the light pulses that are used to
represent the transmitted data as bits on the media.
• Photodiodes detect the light pulses and convert them to voltages
that can then be reconstructed into data frames.
• OTDR used to test each fiber-optic cable segment.

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Single-mode Fiber Cable

• Single-mode optical fiber carries a single ray of light, usually

emitted from a laser.
• As the laser light is uni-directional and travels down the center of
the fiber, it can transmit optical pulses for very long distances.

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Multi-mode Fiber Cable

• Multimode fiber typically uses LED emitters that do not create a

single coherent light wave.
• Modal dispersion, limits the length of multimode fiber segments.

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Wireless media

• Carry electromagnetic signals at radio and microwave frequencies

• Is not restricted to pathways, as are copper and fiber.
• Susceptible to interference and can be disrupted by some types
of fluorescent lights, microwave ovens, and other wireless
communications.
• Security is a major component of wireless network admin.

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Types of Wireless Networks

• IEEE 802.11 “Wi-Fi”: is a WLAN technology that uses CSMA/CA

media access process.
• IEEE 802.15 "Bluetooth": WPAN standard, uses a device pairing
process to communicate over distances from 1 to 100 m.
• IEEE 802.16 “WiMAX” Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave
Access: provides wireless broadband access.
• GSM: Includes Physical layer specifications that enable the
implementation of the Layer 2 GPRS.

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The Wireless LAN

• WLAN requires the following network devices:

1. Wireless Access Point (AP): Concentrates the wireless signals
from users and connects to the existing copper-based network
infrastructure.
2. Wireless NIC: Provides wireless communication capability to
each network host.

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WLAN Standards include

1.IEEE 802.11a: Operates in the 5 GHz frequency.

• Speed up to 54 Mbps.
• Smaller coverage area and less effective at penetrating buildings.
• Not interoperable with the 802.11b and 802.11g.
2. IEEE 802.11b: Operates in the 2.4 GHz frequency.
• Speed up to 11 Mbps.
• Have a longer range and are better able to penetrate building structures
than devices based on 802.11a.
3. IEEE 802.11g: Operates in the 2.4 GHz frequency.
• Speed up to 54 Mbps.
4. IEEE 802.11n: The newest, defines frequency of 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz.
• The typical expected data rates are 100 Mbps to 210 Mbps with a
distance range of up to 70 meters.
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Media Connectors - Common Copper Media Connectors

• Standards specify the mechanical dimensions of the connectors

and the acceptable electrical properties of each type.
• The ISO 8877 specified RJ-45 being used for Ethernet.
• EIA-TIA 568, describes the wire color codes to pin assignments
(pinouts) for Ethernet straight-through and crossover cables.

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Correct Connector Termination

• It is essential that all copper media terminations be of high

quality to ensure optimum performance with current and
future network technologies.

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Common Optical Fiber Connectors

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Appendix: Hubs

• L1, Network access device.

• A hub accepts electronic signals from one port and regenerates
(or repeats) the same message out all of the other ports.
• A shared-bandwidth device.

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Appendix: Hubs

• Half duplex device

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Appendix: Switch

• L2, Network access device.

• Full duplex

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