Module 1 Introduction to Networks

1. NETWORK HARDWARE
Network hardware has 2 main dimensions: Transmission technology & Scale
Transmission Technology
• In transmission technology there are 2 types. broadcast links and point-to-point links.
• Point-to-point links connect individual pairs of machines. To go from the source to the destination on a
network made up of point-to-point links, short messages, called packets is used.
• Point-to-point transmission with exactly one sender and exactly one receiver is sometimes called
unicasting.

• On a broadcast network, the communication channel is shared by all the machines on the network;
packets sent by any machine are received by all the others. An address field within each packet specifies
the intended recipient. Upon receiving a packet, a machine checks the address field. If the packet is
intended for the receiving machine, that machine processes the packet; if the packet is intended for some
other machine, it is just ignored.
• A wireless network is a common example of a broadcast link, with communication shared over a coverage
regionthat depends on the wireless channel and the transmitting machine.
• Broadcast systems usually also allow the possibility of addressing a packet to all destinations by using a
special code in the address field. When a packet with this code is transmitted, it is received and processed
by every machine on the network. This mode of operation is called broadcasting. Some broadcast
systems also support transmission to a subset of the machines, which known as multicasting.
Scale:
Distance is important as a classification metric because different technologies are used at different scales.

At the top are the personal area networks, networks that are meant for one person. Beyond these come longer-
range networks. These can be divided into local, metropolitan, and wide area networks, each with increasing
scale.

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1.1 Personal Area Networks:

PANs (Personal Area Networks) let devices communicate over the range of a person.

• A common example is a wireless network that connects a computer with its peripherals. In the simplest
form, Bluetooth networks use the master-slave paradigm.

• The system unit (the PC) is normally the master, talking to the mouse, keyboard, etc., as slaves. The
master tells the slaves what addresses to use, when they can broadcast, how long they can transmit, what
frequencies they can use, and so on. Bluetooth can be used in other settings, too.
• It is often used to connect a headset to a mobile phone without cords and it can allow your digital music
player to connect to your car merely being brought within range.
• A completely different kind of PAN is formed when an embedded medical device such as a pacemaker,
PANs can also be built with other technologies that communicate over short ranges, such as RFID on
smartcards insulin pump, or hearing aid talks to a user-operated remote control.
1.2 Local Area Network
• A LAN is a privately owned network that operates within and nearby a single building like a home, office
or factory. LANs are widely used to connect personal computers and consumer electronics to let them
share resources (e.g., printers) and exchange information. When LANs are used by companies, they are
called enterprise networks.
• Each computer talks to a device in the ceiling through a device called AP(Access Point) or base station
relays packets between the wireless computers and also between them and the Internet. There is a standard
for wireless LANs called IEEE 802.11, popularly known as WiFi, which has become very widespread. It
runs at speeds anywhere from 11 to hundreds of Mbps.

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• Wired LANs use a range of different transmission technologies. Most of them use copper wires, but some
use optical fiber. LANs are restricted in size, which means that the worst-case transmission time is
bounded and known in advance. The most commonly used wired LANs is IEEE802.3, called as Ethernet.
Switched Ethernet
• Each computer speaks the Ethernet protocol and connects to a box called a switch with a point-to-point
link. A switch has multiple ports, each of which can connect to one computer.

• The job of the switch is to relay packets between computers that are attached to it, using the address in
each packet to determine which computer to send it to.

• To build larger LANs, switches can be plugged into each other using their ports. It is also possible to
divide one large physical LAN into two smaller logical LANs.
• Depending on the how the channel is allocated, it is divided into static and dynamic designs.
❖ Static allocation: A typical static allocation would be to divide time into discrete intervals and use a
round-robinalgorithm, allowing each machine to broadcast only when its time slot comes up.
❖ Dynamic allocation: Dynamic allocation can be done by either centralized or decentralized.
Centralized channel: There is a single entity, for example, the base station in cellular
networks.
• Decentralized channel: There is no central entity; each machine must decide for itself whether to transmit.

• Many devices are already capable of being networked. These include computers, entertainment devices
such as TVs and DVDs, phones and other consumer electronics such as cameras, appliances like clock
radios, and infrastructure like utility meters and thermostats.
Home Network:
• Home networks can be just as another LAN
❖ First, the networked devices have to be very easy to install. Wireless routers are the most returned
consumerelectronic item.
❖ Second, the network and devices have to be foolproof in operation.
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❖ Third, low price is essential for success.
❖ Fourth, it must be possible to start out with one or two devices and expand the reach of the network
gradually.
❖ Fifth, security and reliability will be very important

• According to the convenience and cost favours, the home networks can be wired or wireless. Security
favours thewired networking.
• Power-line networks let devices that plug into outlets broadcast information throughout the house.

1.3 Metropolitan Area Networks:

• A MAN (Metropolitan Area Network ) covers a city. The best-known examples of MANs are the
cabletelevision networks available in many cities.
• Initially these were designed locally, and then companies started to expand to wire up the entire cities.
The nextstep was television programming and even entire channels designed for cable only.
• When the Internet began attracting a mass audience, the cable TV network operators began to realize that
withsome changes to the system, they could provide two-way Internet service in unused parts of the
spectrum.

• Both the television signals and Internet is being fed into the centralized cable headend for
subsequentdistribution to people’s homes.
• Recent developments in high speed wireless Internet access have resulted in another MAN, which has
beenstandardized as IEEE 802.16 and is popularly known as WiMAX.

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1.4 Wide Area Networks

A WAN (Wide Area Network) spans a large geographical area, often a country or continent.

The fig shows the network that connects offices in Perth, Melbourne and Brisbane. Each offices contain the
computers and these are called machine hosts in the traditional usage. The rest of the network that connects these
hosts is then called the communication subnet, or just subnet. The job of the subnet is to carry messages from
host to host.
• The subnet consists of two distinct components: transmission lines and switching elements.
❖ Transmission lines move bits between machines.They can be made of copper wire, optical fiber, or
even radio links.
❖ Switching elements, or just switches, are specialized computers that connect two or more
transmission lines.When data arrive on an incoming line, the switching element must choose an
outgoing line on which to forward them. These switching computers have been called by various
names in the past; the name router is now most commonly used.

• The two varieties of WAN

i) WAN using a VPN(virtual private network)
ii) WAN using ISP network
❖ WAN using a VPN(virtual private network)
A company might connect its offices to the Internet This allows connections to be made between the
offices as virtual links that use the underlying capacity of the Internet. This is called VPN.

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Compared to the dedicated arrangement, a VPN has the usual advantage of virtualization, which is
that it providesflexible reuse of a resource.
❖ WAN using ISP network
The subnet operator is known as a network service provider and the offices are its customers.. The
subnet operator will connect to other customers too, as long as they can pay and it can provide
service. Such a subnet operator is called an ISP (Internet Service Provider) and the subnet is an
ISP network.

• In most WANs, the network contains many transmission lines, each connecting a pair of routers. If two
routers that do not share a transmission line wish to communicate, they must do this indirectly, via other
routers. The network makes the decision as to which path to use is called the routing algorithm. Each
router makes the decision as to where to send a packet next is called the forwarding algorithm.
Satellite System

• It is one of wireless WAN technologies. Each computer on the ground has an antenna through which it
can send data to and receive data from to a satellite in orbit. All computers can hear the output from the

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satellite, and in some cases they can also hear the upward transmissions of their fellow computers to the
satellite as well. Satellite networks are inherently broadcast and are most useful when the broadcast
property is important.
Cellular Telephone Network
• Another example of a WAN that uses wireless technology. There are so many generations in the cellular
telephonenetwork.

• The first generation was analog and for voice only. The second generation was digital and for voice only.
The third generation is digital and is for both voice and data. Each cellular base station covers a distance
much larger than a wireless LAN, with a range measured in kilometers rather than tens of meters.
• The base stations are connected to each other by a backbone network that is usually wired. The data rates
of cellular networks are often on the order of 1 Mbps, much smaller than a wireless LAN that can range up
to on the order of 100 Mbps.

1.5 Internetworks:
• A collection of interconnected networks is called an internetwork or internet. The Internet uses ISP
networks to connect enterprise networks, home networks, and many other networks.

• The term ‘‘subnet’’ refers to the collection of routers and communication lines owned by the network
operator. A network is formed by the combination of a subnet and its hosts. Connecting a LAN and a
WAN or connecting two LANs is the usual way to form an internetwork.
• The general name for a machine that makes a connection between two or more networks and provides the
necessary translation, both in terms of hardware and software, is a gateway. Gateways are distinguished
by the layer at which they operate in the protocol hierarchy.

1.2 NETWORK SOFTWARE

1.2.1 Protocol hierarchies

• To reduce the design complexity, most networks are organized as a stack of layers or levels, each one built
upon the one below it. The number of layers, the name of each layer, the contents of each layer, and the
function of each layer differ from network to network.

• The purpose of each layer is to offer certain services to the higher layers while shielding those layers from
the details of how the offered services are actually implemented.

• A protocol is an agreement between the communicating parties on how communication is to proceed.

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• The entities comprising the corresponding layers on different machines are called peers. The peers may be
software processes, hardware devices, or even human beings. No data are directly transferred from layer n
on one machine to layer n on another machine. It is transferred through the physical medium( actual
communication occurs). Virtual communication is shown by dotted lines and physical communication by
solid lines.
• Between each pair of adjacent layers is an interface. The interface defines which primitive operations
and services the lower layer makes available to the upper one.
• A set of layers and protocols is called a network architecture. The specification of an architecture must
contain enough information to allow an implementer to write the program or build the hardware for each
layer so that it will correctly obey the appropriate protocol. A list of the protocols used by a certain
system, one protocol per layer, is called a protocol stack.

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• The above diagram is the example of providing communication to the top layer of 5 layer network.
• A message, M, is produced by an application process running in layer 5 and given to layer 4 for
transmission.
• Layer 4 puts a header in front of the message to identify the message and passes the result to layer 3. The
header includes control information, such as addresses, to allow layer 4 on the destination machine to
deliver the message.

• Layer 3 decides which of the outgoing lines to use and passes the packets to layer 2. Layer 2 adds to each
piece not only a header but also a trailer, and gives the resulting unit to layer 1 for physical transmission.

• At the receiving machine the message moves upward, from layer to layer, with headers being stripped off as
it progresses.
1.2.2 Design Issues For the Layers
Some of the design issues are
i) Reliability ii) Evolution of the network iii) Resource Allocation iv) Security
• Reliability
❖ One mechanism for finding errors in received information uses codes for error detection.
Information that is incorrectly received can then be retransmitted until it is received correctly. error
correction, where the correct message is recovered from the possibly incorrect bits that were
originally received.
❖ Another reliability issue is finding a working path through a network. The process of selecting a
path for traffic in a network or between or across multiple networks is called routing.
• Evolution of network
❖ Since the networks grow larger and new designs emerge in the existing networks, key structuring
mechanism used to support the change by dividing the overall problem called, protocol layering is
implemented.

❖ Every layer needs a mechanism for identifying the senders and receivers that are involved in a
particular message. This mechanism is called addressing or naming, in the low and high layers,
respectively.

❖ The mechanism which involves in doing disassembling, transmitting, and then reassembling messages
in overall network is called Internetwork. Designs that continue to work well when the network gets
large are said to be scalable.

• Resource Allocation
❖ Networks provide a service to hosts from their underlying resources, such as the capacity of
transmission lines(bandwidth).
Statistical Multiplexing
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❖ Sharing the resources based on the statistics of demand. It can be applied at low layers for a single link,
or at high layers for a network or even applications that use the network.

• Flow Control
❖ Flow control is a technique used to regulate data transfer between computers or other nodes in a
network. Flowcontrol ensures that the transmitting device does not send more data to the receiving
device than it can handle.
• Congestion
❖ When too many computers want to send the data and the network cannot handle it all. Thos
overloading ofcomputers are called congestion. This makes the end users’ network slow.
• Quality of service(QoS)
❖ QoS is the use of mechanisms or technologies that work on a network to control traffic and
ensure theperformance of critical applications with limited network capacity.
• Security
❖ Confidentiality: The data is only available to authorized parties. When information has been kept
confidential, itmeans that it has not been compromised by other parties.
❖ Authentication: Authentication is used by a client when the client need to know that the server is
system itclaims to be. In authentication, the user or computer has to prove its identity to the server or
client.
❖ Integrity: Integrity means guarding against improper information modification or destruction and
includesensuring information non repudiation and authencity.

1.2.3 Connection Oriented Versus Connectionless Service:

• Connection oriented: The service user first establishes a connection, uses the connection, and then
releases the connection.

❖ The essential aspect of a connection is that it acts like a tube: the sender pushes objects (bits) in at one
end, and the receiver takes them out at the other end.

❖ A circuit is another name for a connection with associated resources, such as a fixed bandwidth.
❖ Reliable connection-oriented service has two minor variations: message sequences and byte streams. In
the former variant, the message boundaries are preserved. When two 1024-byte messages are sent, they
arrive as two distinct 1024- byte messages, never as one 2048-byte message.
❖ In the latter, the connection is simply a stream of bytes, with no message boundaries. When 2048 bytes
arrive at the receiver, there is no way to tell if they were sent as one 2048-byte message, two 1024-byte
messages, or 2048 1-byte messages.

• Connectionless Service: Each message (letter) carries the full destination address, and each one is routed

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throughthe intermediate nodes inside the system independent of all the subsequent messages.
❖ A packet is a message at the network layer. When the intermediate nodes receive a message in full before
sending it on to the next node, this is called store-and-forward s witching. The alternative, in which the
onward transmission of a message at a node starts before it is completely received by the node, is called
cut-through switching.
❖ Voice over IP: For some applications, the transit delays introduced by acknowledgements are
unacceptable. One such application is digitized voice traffic for voice over IP. It is less disruptive for
telephone users to hear a bit of noise on the line from time to time than to experience a delay waiting for
acknowledgements.
❖ Unreliable (meaning not acknowledged) connectionless service is often called datagram service. The six
different types of service are

1.2.4 Service Primitivies

• A service is formally specified by a set of primitives (operations) available to user processes to access
the service. These primitives tell the service to perform some action or report on an action taken by a peer
entity. The set of primitives available depends on the nature of the service being provided. The primitives
for connection- oriented service are different from those of connectionless service.

• First, the server executes LISTEN to indicate that it is prepared to accept incoming connections. Next, the
client process executes CONNECT to establish a connection with the server. The CONNECT call needs to
specify who to connect to.

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• Then the client executes SEND to transmit its request (3) followed by the execution of RECEIVE to get
the reply. The arrival of the request packet at the server machine unblocks the server so it can handle the
request. After it has done the work, the server uses SEND to return the answer to the client (4).
When the client is done, it executes DISCONNECT to terminate the connection (5). When the server
gets the packet, it also issues a DISCONNECT of its own, acknowledging the client and releasing the
connection (6).

1.2.5 The Relationship of Services to Protocols

• Service: A service is a set of primitives (operations) that a layer provides to the layer above it. The
service defines what operations the layer is prepared to perform on behalf of its users, but it says nothing at
all about how these operations are implemented. A service relates to an interface between two layers, with
the lower layer being the service provider and the upper layer being the service user.

• Protocol: A Protocol is a set of rules governing the format and meaning of the packets, or messages that
are exchanged by the peer entities within a layer. Entities use protocols to implement their service
definitions.

1.3 Reference Models

There are two important network architectures.
i) OSI reference model
ii) TCP/IP reference model

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1.3.1 The OSI Reference Model

The OSI model has seven layers. The principles that were applied to arrive at the seven layers can be briefly
summarized as follows:
1. A layer should be created where a different abstraction is needed.
2. Each layer should perform a well-defined function.
3. The function of each layer should be chosen with an eye toward defining internationally standardized
protocols.
4. The layer boundaries should be chosen to minimize the information flow across the interfaces.
5. The number of layers should be large enough that distinct functions need not be thrown together in the same
layer out of necessity and small enough that the architecture does not become unwieldy.
• The Physical Layer
❖ The physical layer is concerned with transmitting raw bits over a communication channel. The design
issues have to do with making sure that when one side sends a 1 bit it is received by the other side as a 1
bit, not as a 0 bit.

• The Data Link Layer

❖ The main task of the data link layer is to transform a raw transmission facility into a line that appears
free of undetected transmission errors. The sender breaks up the input data into data frame and transmit
the frames sequentially.
❖ If the service is reliable, the receiver confirms correct receipt of each frame by sending back an
acknowledgement frame. The medium access control sublayer deals how to control access to the shared
channel.

• The Network Layer

❖ The network layer controls the operation of the subnet. A key design issue is determining how packets are
routedfrom source to destination. Routes can be based on static tables that are ‘‘wired into’’ the network
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and rarely changed, or more often they can be updated automatically to avoid failed components.
Handling congestion is also the responsibility of the network layer.
• The Transport Layer
❖ The basic function of the transport layer is to accept data from above it, split it up into smaller units if
need be, pass these to the network layer, and ensure that the pieces all arrive correctly at the other end. The
transport layer also determines what type of service to provide to the session layer, and, ultimately, to the
users of the network. The transport layer is a true end-to-end layer; it carries data all the way from the
source to the destination.
• The Session Layer
❖ The session layer allows users on different machines to establish sessions between them. Sessions offer
various services, including dialog control , token management (preventing two parties from attempting
the same criticaloperation simultaneously), and synchronization.

• The Presentation Layer

❖ The presentation layer is concerned with the syntax and semantics of the information transmitted. The
presentation layer manages these abstract data structures and allows higher-level data structures (e.g.,
banking records) to be defined and exchanged.

• The Application Layer

❖ The application layer contains a variety of protocols that are commonly needed by users. One widely
used application protocol is HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol),

1.3.2 The TCP/IP Reference Model

• The Link Layer
❖ The link layer describes what links such as serial lines and classic Ethernet must do to meet the needs of
this connectionless internet layer.

• The Internet Layer

❖ The internet layer is the linchpin that holds the whole architecture together.

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❖ Its job is to permit hosts to inject packets into any network and have them travel independently to the
destination (potentially on a different network). They may even arrive in a completely different order than
they were sent.
❖ The internet layer defines an official packet format and protocol called IP (Internet Protocol), plus a
companion protocol called ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol) that helps it function.

• The Transport Layer

❖ The layer above the internet layer in the TCP/IP model is now usually called the transport layer. Two end-
to- end transport protocols have been defined here. The first one, TCP (Transmission Control Protocol),
is a reliable connection-oriented protocol that allows a byte stream originating on one machine to be
delivered without error on any other machine in the internet.
❖ The second protocol in this layer, UDP (User Datagram Protocol), is an unreliable, connectionless
protocol for applications that do not want TCP’s sequencing or flow control and wish to provide their own.

• The Application Layer

❖ On top of the transport layer is the application layer. It contains all the higher- level protocols.

1.3.3 A Comparison of OSI and TCP/IP Reference Models

Parameters OSI Model TCP/IP Model
Full Form Open Systems Interconnection Transmission Control Protocol/
Internet Protocol
Layers It has 7 layers It has 4 layers
Usage It is low in usage It is mostly used.
Approach It is vertically approached It is horizontally approached
Delivery Delivery of package is guaranteed. Delivery is not guaranteed
Replacement Changes can be easily done Replacing the tools is not easy.
Reliability Less reliable than TCP/IP model It is more reliable than OSI
model
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1.3.4 A Critique of OSI Model and Protocols
A critique of OSI Model and Protocols are
a) Bad Timing b) Bad Technology c) Bad Implementation d) Bad politics
Bad Timing
• The time at which a standard is established is absolutely critical to its success.

• When the subject is first discovered, there is a burst of research activity in the form of discussions, papers,
and meetings. After a while this activity subsides, corporations discover the subject, and the billion-dollar
wave of investment hits.
• If they are written too early (before the research results are well established), the subject may still be
poorly understood; the result is a bad standard. If they are written too late, so many companies may have
already made major investments in different ways of doing things that the standards are effectively
ignored.
Bad Technology
The choice of seven layers was a bad one as two of the layers (session and presentation) are nearly empty,
whereas two other ones (data link and network) are overfull. Another problem with OSI is that some functions,
such as addressing, flow control, and error control, reappear again and again in each layer.
Bad Implementation
The initial implementations were huge, unwieldy, and slow.
Bad Politics
OSI, was widely thought to be the creature of the European telecommunication ministries, the European
Community, and later the U.S. Government.

1.3.6 A Critique of TCP/IP Reference Model

1) The model does not clearly distinguish the concepts of services, interfaces, and protocols.
2) The TCP/IP model is not at all general and is poorly suited to describing any protocol stack other than
TCP/IP.
3) The link layer is not really a layer at all in the normal sense of the term as used in the context of layered
protocols.
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4) The TCP/IP model does not distinguish between the physical and data link layers.

1.4 The Physical Layer

The physical layer is the first and lowest layer of the OSI communication model.
Its function is to transport data using electrical, mechanical or procedural interfaces.

1.4.1 Guided Transmission Medium

The purpose of the physical layer is to transport bits from one machine to another. Various physical media can be
used for the actual transmission.
1.4.1.1 Magnetic Media
One of the most common ways to transport data from one computer to another is to write them onto magnetic
tape or removable media (e.g., recordable DVDs), physically transport the tape or disks to the destination
machine, and read them back in again.
Common types of magnetic media are, audio reel to reel cassettes tapes, hard disk drives, floppy disks etc..
1.4.1.2 Twisted Pairs

• A twisted pair consists of two insulated copper wires, typically about 1 mm thick. The wires are twisted
together in a helical form, just like a DNA molecule. Twisting is done because two parallel wires
constitute a fine antenna.

• When the wires are twisted, the waves from different twists cancel out, so the wire radiates less
effectively. A signal is usually carried as the difference in voltage between the two wires in the pair. This
provides better immunity to external noise because the noise tends to affect both wires the same, leaving
the differential unchanged.
• The most common application of the twisted pair is the telephone system. Nearly all telephones are
connected to the telephone company (telco) office by a twisted pair. Both telephone calls and ADSL
Internet access run over these lines.
• Twisted pairs can be used for transmitting either analog or digital information. The bandwidth depends on
the thickness of the wire and the distance traveled, but several megabits/sec can be achieved for a few
kilometres
Varieties of Twisted pair Cabling

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The garden variety deployed in many office buildings is called Category 5 cabling, or ‘‘Cat 5.
A category 5 twisted pair consists of two insulated wires gently twisted together. Four such pairs are typically
grouped in a plastic sheath to protect the wires and keep them together. To reach higher speeds, 1-Gbps Ethernet
uses all four pairs in both directions simultaneously.
Full duplex
Links that can be used in both directions at the same time, like a two- lane road, are called full-duplex links.
Half duplex
Links that can be used in either direction, but only one way at a time, like a single-track railroad line, called half-
duplex links.
Simplex
Links that allow traffic in only one direction, like a one-way street are called simplex links.
Category 3
Cable uses a same connector, but has more twists per meter. More twists result in less crosstalk and a better-
quality signal over longer distances, making the cables more suitable for high-speed computer communication,
especially 100-Mbps and 1-Gbps Ethernet LANs.
Category 6 and Category 7
New wiring use these categories. It has more specifications to handle signals with greater bandwidths. In category
6, wiring types are referred to as UTP( Unshielded Twisted Pair). Category 7 cables have shielding on individual
twisted pair. Shielding reduces the susceptibility to external interference and crosstalk with other nearby cables to
meet demanding performance specifications.
1.4.1. 3 Coaxial Cable

• Coaxial cable has better shielding and greater bandwidth than unshielded twisted pairs, so it can span
longer distances at higher speeds.

• Two kinds of coaxial cable are widely used. One kind, 50-ohm cable, is commonly used when it is
intended for digital transmission from the start. The other kind, 75-ohm cable, is commonly used for
analog transmission and cable television.

• A coaxial cable consists of a stiff copper wire as the core, surrounded by an insulating material. The
insulator is encased by a cylindrical conductor, often as a closely woven braided mesh. The outer
conductor is covered in a protective plastic sheath.

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• The bandwidth possible depends on the cable quality and length. Coaxial cables used to be widely used
within thetelephone system for long-distance lines but have now largely been replaced by fiber optics on
longhaul routes. Coax is still widely used for cable television and metropolitan area networks.
1.4.1.4 Power Lines
• Power lines deliver electrical power to houses, and electrical wiring within houses distributes the power to
electrical outlets.

• Power lines have been used by electricity companies for low-rate communication such as remote
metering. The convenience of using power lines for networking should be like simply plug a TV and a
receiver into the wall, because they need power, and they can send and receive movies over the electrical
wiring.

• Electrical signals are sent at 50–60 Hz and the wiring attenuates the much higher frequency (MHz) signals needed for
high-rate data communication. The electrical properties of the wiring vary from one house to the next and change as
appliances are turned on and off, which causes data signals to bounce around the wiring.
1.4.1.5 Fiber Optics
• Fiber optics are used for long-haul transmission in network backbones, highspeed LANs (although so far,
copper has always managed catch up eventually), and high-speed Internet access such as FttH (Fiber to the
Home).

• An optical transmission system has three key components: the light source, the transmission medium, and
the detector. The transmission medium is an ultra-thin fiber of glass. The detector generates an electrica l
pulse when light falls on it.
• By attaching a light source to one end of an optical fiber and a detector to the other, we have a
unidirectional data transmission system that accepts an electrical signal, converts and transmits it by light
pulses, and then reconverts the output to an electrical signal at the receiving end.

Fig(a): When a light ray passes from one medium to another—for example, from fused silica to air—the ray is

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refracted (bent) at the silica/air boundary. A light ray incident on the boundary at an angle α1 emerging at an
angle β1. The amount of refraction depends on the properties of the two media (in particular, their indices of
refraction)
Fig (b): The light is refracted back into the silica; none of it escapes into the air. Thus, a light ray incident at or
above the critical angle is trapped inside the fiber. The fig shows the only one trapped ray, but since any light ray
incident on the boundary above the critical angle will be reflected internally, many different rays will be bouncing
around at different angles. Each ray is said to have a different mode, so a fiber having this property is called a
multimode fiber.
Single mode fiber
if the fiber’s diameter is reduced to a few wavelengths of light the fiber acts like a wave guide and the light can
propagate only in a straight line, without bouncing, yielding a single-mode fiber. Single- mode fibers are more
expensive but are widely used for longer distances.
Transmission of Light Through Fiber
Optical fibers are made of glass, which, in turn, is made from sand, an inexpensive raw material available in
unlimited amounts. The attenuation of light through glass depends on the wavelength of the light. It is defined as
the ratio of input to output signal power.

The figure shows the near- infrared part of the spectrum. Visible light has slightly shorter wavelengths, from 0.4
to 0.7 microns. The true metric purist would refer to these wavelengths as 400 nm to 700 nm. Three wavelength
bands are most commonly used at present for optical communication. They are centered at 0.85, 1.30, and 1.55
microns, respectively. All three bands are 25,000 to 30,000 GHz wide. The 0.85- micron band was used first. It
has higher attenuation and so is used for shorter distances. The last two bands have good attenuation properties
(less than 5% loss per kilometer). The 1.55- micron band is now widely used with erbium-doped amplifiers that
work directly in the optical domain.

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Chromatic Dispersion
Light pulses sent down a fiber spread out in length as they propagate.
Soliton:
A soliton is a pulse that can collide with another similar pulse and still retain its shape after the collision, again in
the presence of both dispersion and non- linearities.
1.4.1.6 Fiber Cables

• Fiber optic cables are similar to coax, except without the braid. At the center is the glass core through
which the light propagates. In multimode fibers, the core is typically 50 microns in diameter, about the
thickness of a human hair. In single- mode fibers, the core is 8 to 10 microns.

• The core is surrounded by a glass cladding with a lower index of refraction than the core, to keep all the
light in the core. Next comes a thin plastic jacket to protect the cladding. Fibers are typically grouped in
bundles, protected by an outer sheath.

• Fibers can be connected in three different ways. First, they can terminate in connectors and be plugged
into fiber sockets. Connectors lose about 10 to 20% of the light, but they make it easy to reconfigure
systems.
• Second, they can be spliced mechanically. Mechanical splices just lay the two carefully cut ends next to
each other in a special sleeve and clamp them in place. Alignment can be improved by passing light
through the junction and then making small adjustments to maximize the signal.
• Third, two pieces of fiber can be fused (melted) to form a solid connection. A fusion splice is almost as
good as a single drawn fiber, but even here, a small amount of attenuation occurs. For all three kinds of
splices, reflections can occur at the point of the splice, and the reflected energy can interfere with the
signal.

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Comparison of Fiber Optics and Copper Wire
Advantages of Fiber Optics:
• It can handle higher bandwidths than copper.
• Fiber optic cables have low attenuation.
• Fiber optics cables are not affected by electromagnetic interferences and power fluctuations.
• Fiber optic cables are much more secured.
• Fiber cables are thin and light weight.
• The life cycle of fiber cables is 30 to 50 years, which is much higher than copper cables.
Disadvantages of Fiber Optics:
• It is a newer technology with not much expertise.
• Copper cables and connectors are much cheaper than fiber optic cables and connectors.
• Propagation of signals in fiber optic cables is unidirectional.
1.5 WIRELESS TRANSMISSION
Wireless communications has many important applications besides providing connectivity to users from any
place.
1.5.1 The Electromagnetic Spectrum
• When electrons move, they create electromagnetic waves that can propagate through space.

• The number of oscillations per second of a wave is called its frequency, f, and is measured in Hz. The
distance between two consecutive maxima (or minima) is called the wavelength, represented by lambda.

• In a vacuum, all electromagnetic waves travel at the same speed, no matter what their frequency. This
speed, usually called the speed of light, c, is approximately 3 × 108 m/sec, or about 1 foot (30 cm) per
nanosecond.

• The radio, microwave, infrared, and visible light portions of the spectrum can all be used for transmitting
information by modulating the amplitude, frequency, or phase of the waves. Ultraviolet light, X-rays, and
gamma rays would be even better, due to their higher frequencies, but they are hard to produce and modulate,
do not propagate well. The terms LF, MF, and HF refer to Low, Medium, and High Frequency, respectively.

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• Most transmissions use a relatively narrow frequency band (i.e., Δf / f << 1). In frequency hopping spread
spectrum, the transmitter hops from frequency to frequency hundreds of times per second. It is pop ular for
military communication because it makes transmissions hard to detect and next to impossible to jam. This
technique is used commercially, for example, in Bluetooth and older versions of 802.11.
Direct Sequence spread spectrum
A second form of spread spectrum, direct sequence spread spectrum, uses a code sequence to spread the data
signal over a wider frequency band. It is widely used commercially as a spectrally efficient way to let multiple
signals share the same frequency band. These signals can be given different codes, a method called CDMA
(Code Division Multiple Access)

It forms the basis of 3G mobile phone networks and is also used in GPS (Global Positioning System).
UWB( UltraWideBand)
UWB sends a series of rapid pulses, varying their positions to communicate information. The rapid transitions
lead to a signal that is spread thinly over a very wide frequency band. UWB is defined as signals that have a
bandwidth of at least 500 MHz or at least 20% of the center frequency of their frequency band. It can tolerate a
substantial amount of relatively strong interference from other narrowband signals, because it is spread across
wide band of frequencies.
1.5.2 Radio Transmission
• Radio frequency (RF) waves are easy to generate, can travel long distances, and can penetrate buildings
easily, so they are widely used for communication, both indoors and outdoors. Radio waves also are omni
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directional, meaning that they travel in all directions from the source, so the transmitter and receiver do not
have to be carefully aligned physically.
• The properties of radio waves are frequency dependent. At low frequencies, radio waves pass through
obstacles well, but the power falls off sharply with distance from the source—at least as fast as 1/r 2 in
air—asthe signal energy is spread more thinly over a larger surface. This attenuation is called path loss.
• At high frequencies, radio waves tend to travel in straight lines and bounce off obstacles. Path loss still
reduces power, though the received signal can depend strongly on reflections as well. High- frequency radio
waves are also absorbed by rain and other obstacles to a larger extent than are low-frequency ones. At all
frequencies, radio waves are subject to interference from motors and other electrical equipment.

From fig(a): In the VLF, LF, and MF bands, radio waves follow the ground. These waves can be detected for
perhaps 1000 km at the lower frequencies, less at the higher ones. AM radio broadcasting uses the MF band.
Fig(b) In the HF and VHF bands, the ground waves tend to be absorbed by the earth. However, the waves that
reach the ionosphere, a layer of charged particles circling the earth at a height of 100 to 500 km, are refracted by
it and sent back to earth.
1.5.3 Microwave Transmission

• Microwaves travel in a straight line. Thus, repeaters are needed periodically. The distance between
repeaters is square root of the tower height. For 100- meter-high towers, repeaters can be 80 km apart.
Microwaves do not pass through buildings well.

• Some waves may be refracted off low- lying atmospheric layers and may take slightlylonger to arrive than
the direct waves. The delayed waves may arrive out of phase with the direct wave and thus cancel the
signal. This effect is called multipath fading.

• Bands up to 10 GHz are now in routine use. These waves are only a few centimetres long and are
absorbed by rain. Microwave communication is so widely used for long-distance telephone
communication, mobile phones, television distribution. It does not require to lay down cables. By buying a
small plot of ground every 50 km and putting a microwave tower on it, one can bypass the telephone
system entirely. Microwave is also relatively inexpensive.
Politics of ElectroMagnetic Spectrum
National governments allocate spectrum for AM and FM radio, television, and mobile phones, as well as for
telephone companies, police, maritime, navigation, military, government, and many other competing users.
3 algorithms are widely used.

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Beauty Contest
Oldest algorithm requires each carrier to explain why its proposal serves the public interest best. Government
officials then decide which of the nice stories they enjoy most.
Lottery
Second algorithm which holds lottery among the interested companies. The problem with that idea is that
companies with no interest in using the spectrum can enter the lottery.
Auction
Random companies has been severely criticized by many, which led to algorithm 3: auction off the bandwidth to
the highest bidder.
A completely different approach to allocating frequencies is to not allocate them at all. Accordingly, most
governments have set aside some frequency bands, called the ISM (Industrial, Scientific, Medical) bands for
unlicensed usage. To minimize interference between these uncoordinated devices, the FCC mandates that all
devices in the ISM bands limit their transmit power.

The 900-MHz band was used for early versions of 802.11, but it is crowded. The 2.4-GHz band is available in
most countries and widely used for 802.11b/g and Bluetooth, though it is subject to interference from microwave
ovens and radar installations. The 5-GHz part of the spectrum includes U-NII (Unlicensed National
Information Infrastructure) bands.
One exciting development in the U.S. is the FCC decision in 2009 to allow unlicensed use of white
spaces around 700 MHz. White spaces are frequency bands that have been allocated but are not being used
locally. The only difficulty to use the white spaces, unlicensed devices must be able to detect any nearby licensed
transmitters, including wireless microphones.
1.5.4 InfraRed Transmission
• Unguided infrared waves are widely used for short-range communication. The remote controls used for
televisions, VCRs, and stereos all use infrared communication.

• They are relatively directional, cheap, and easy to build but have a major drawback: they do not pass
through solid objects. It means that an infrared system in one room of a building will not interfere with a
similar system in adjacent rooms or buildings.

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• Infrared communication has a limited use on the desktop, for example, to connect notebook computers and
printers with the IrDA (Infrared Data Association) standard, but it is not a major player in the
communication game.
1.5.5 Light Transmission
A more modern application is to connect the LANs in two buildings via lasers mounted on their rooftops. Optical
signaling using lasers is inherently unidirectional, so each end needs its own laser and its own photo detector.

To avoid unnecessary wiring for only limited days, the organizers placed the laser on the roof, and tested in the
night which worked perfectly. At 9 A.M. on a bright, sunny day, the link failed completely and stayed down all
day. The problem is that because heat from the sun during the daytime caused convection currents to rise up from
the roof of the building. This turbulent air diverted the beam and made it dance around the detector, much like a
shimmering road on a hot day. Communicating with visible light in this way is inherently safe and creates a low-
speed network in the immediate vicinity of the display.

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