CSC422: DATA COMMUNICATION AND COMPUTER

NETWORKS

Course Outline

✓ Brief Introduction to Data Communication

✓ Analogue and Digital Communication.
✓ Information Theory
✓ Transmission Modes
✓ Digital Modulation
✓ Multiplexing
✓ Computer networking and networks
✓ Computer Network Model
✓ Data Communication Software and Protocol
✓ Computer Network Security

REFERENCES

✓ Digital Communications, B. Sklar, 2nd ed, Prentice Hall, ISBN: 0130847887

✓ Modern Digital and Analog Communication Systems, B. P. Lathi, Oxford Press,
ISBN: 0195110099
✓ Communication systems, S Haykin, 4th / 5th edition, Wiley.
✓ Digital Communications, J. Proakis, McGraw Hill, ISBN: 0071181830
✓ Data Communication and Networking, Asafe, et a, 2015.
 INTRODUCTION

What is Data Communication?

Communication is the transmission of information, over significant distances, to

communicate. Data is referred to as a piece of information formatted in a special way. Data
can exist in a variety of forms, such as numbers or text on pieces of paper, as bits and bytes
stored in electronic memory, or as facts stored in a person's mind. In earlier times,
communications involved the use of visual signals, such as beacons, smoke signals, signal
flags, and optical heliographs, or audio messages via coded drumbeats, lung-blown horns, or
sent by loud whistles. In the modern age of electricity and electronics, communications now
also includes the use of electrical devices such as telegraphs, telephones, and teletypes. The
main idea behind modern communication is to allow us to be able to communicate with
anybody in any part of the world. More recent development in communication technology
makes use of radio and microwave communications, fiber optics and their orbiting satellites
etc.

BASIC ELEMENT OF A COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

A basic communication system consists of three primary units as illustrated in the block
diagram

Transmitter Transmission Receiver

Medium

Transmitter: The transmitter is an electronic device that takes information and converts it to
electrical signal.

Transmission Medium: The transmission medium also known as the communication

channel is used to send the signal from the transmitter to the receiver. Examples of such
media includes fibre optics, wire lines, radio etc.

Receiver: The receiver is an electronic device that takes the electrical signal from the
communication channel and converts it back into usable information.
 DIGITAL COMMUNICATION

Digital communications or digital transmission is the physical transfer of data (a digital bit
stream) over a point-to-point or point-to-multipoint communication channel. Examples of
such channels are copper wires, optical fibres, wireless communication channels, and storage
media. The data is represented as an electromagnetic signal, such as an electrical voltage,
radio wave, microwave, or infrared signal.

Why was it necessary to migrate from analog to digital communication systems?

1. The primary reason is the ease with which digital signals, compared with analog
signals, can be regenerated and hence allows us to have a higher coverage area.
2. Digital signals are less sensitive to channel distortion, such as attenuation, noise,
interference etc, because they have a finite variety of shapes, and therefore can be
more easily regenerated.

The example below illustrate a binary digital signal

Distance 0 Distance 1 Distance 2 Distance 3 Distance 4

Original pulse Some signal Degraded signal Signal is very Amplification to

signal distortion degraded regenerate pulse

Propagated
Distance

The only time an error will be made is if the channel disturbance was large enough to inverse
the signal waveform. But on the other hand, analog signals have infinite number of shapes
and cannot be perfectly reproduce.
Other advantages of digital communications

i. The ability to use error detection and correction techniques and hence more reliable
signal detection.
ii. Digital signals can be easily encrypted and pre-processed against interceptors and
intentional jammers.
iii. Digital circuits are more flexible and cheaper than analog circuits.
 The disadvantages of digital communications

i. They tend to be much more signal processing intensive than analog systems
ii. More difficult to synchronize at the receiver
iii. The quality of the signal will not degrade gracefully if the received signal to noise
ratio is poor.
iv. They tend to require more bandwidth

BLOCK DIAGRAM OF A TYPICAL DIGITAL COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

From other sources

Format Source Encrypt Channel Multiplex Pulse Bandpass Frequency Multiple TX

Encode Encode Modulate Modulate Spread Access

Information
Source

Digital Baseband Digital Bandpass Channel

Bit Stream Synchronization
Signal Signal

Information
Sink

Format Source Decrypt Channel De-multiplex Detect Demodulate Frequency Multiple

RX
Decode Decode De-spread Access
& sample

To other sources

Optional Essential
Blocks Blocks

BLOCK DIAGRAM OVERVIEW

The upper half of the figure represents the signal transformation stages between the source
and the transmitter (Tx) which consists of format, source encode, encrypt, channel encode,
multiplex, pulse modulate, bandpass modulate, frequency spread and multiple access.
Whereas the lower half denotes the signal transformation stages between the receiver (Rx),
which for the most part, performs the reverse operations that took place at the transmitter, and
the information sink.
The essential blocks are the formatting, modulation, demodulation/detection and
synchronization which is involved in all the signal processing within the Digital
Communication System.

For wireless applications the transmitter will also have a frequency up-converter to Radio
Frequency (RF), a High Power Amplifier (HPA), and the receiver will have the additional
blocks of antenna, Low-Noise amplifier (LNA) and a frequency down-converter which can
be performed either in the front-end of the receiver and/or in the demodulator block.

FUNCTION OF EACH ESSENTIAL BLOCK

Format: The incoming signal is digitized (converted into binary digits, i.e. bits), and the bits
are then grouped to form digital messages or message symbols.
Pulse Modulate: The set of symbols from the Formatter is represented by a set of waveforms
or Pulses (such as pulse amplitude modulation “PAM” waveforms) that are compatible with
the requirements imposed by the channel. The waveforms are normally called the baseband
representation of the data to be transmitted. This block also contains filtering (or pulse
shaping) to ensure that the produced pulses are within a specified bandwidth.
Bandpass modulation: The term Bandpass is used to indicate that the baseband signal is
frequency translated by a carrier wave to a frequency that is much higher than the spectral
content of the baseband. These are usually sinusoids. Examples of bandpass modulation
include phase shift keying (PSK) and frequency shift keying (FSK).
The Rx front-end: provides a frequency down conversion for each bandpass waveform.
The demodulator: restores the optimally shaped baseband waveform in preparation for
detection.
Note: Usually several filtering stages are included in the Rx frontend and demodulator to
remove unwanted high frequency components and equalize any channel imposed changes on
the waveform
The detection stage: is concerned with making the hard-decision about the digital meaning
of the recovered sampled baseband waveform.
The information sink: represents the final destination of the signal.
Synchronization: its plays an important role in regulating the operations of almost every
block in the figure.
Channel: The communication channel is the physical medium that is used to send the signal
from the transmitter to the receiver. In wireless transmission, the channel may be the
atmosphere (free space). On the other hand (wired transmission), physical media may include
wire lines, coaxial cables, optical fibres etc.
FUNCTION OF THE OPTIONAL BLOCKS

Source coding: involves A/D conversion plus compression (removal of unneeded bits). It
should be noted that if source coding is used then formatting will become unnecessary.
Encryption: is used to provide privacy and prevent unauthorized users from understanding
the messages or injecting false messages into the system.
Channel coding: is used to reduce the bit error rate performance of the system or allow the
system to achieve a desired performance at a lower signal to noise ratio.
Multiplexing and multiple access: combine signals that have different sources or different
characteristics so that they can share the communication resource.
Frequency spreading: spreads the bandwidth of the signal and makes it less vulnerable to
interference. Can also be used as a form of multiple access scheme.
DIGITAL VERSUS ANALOG PERFORMANCE CRITERIA
Analog: Analog waveforms belong to an infinite set of waveforms, the figure of merit for
analog communication systems can be
i. The signal to noise ratio of the received signal
ii. The percent distortion between the received and the transmitted Waveforms
iii. The mean square error between the received and transmitted waveforms.
Digital: Digital signals belong to a finite set of waveforms which are normally known at the
receiver, the figure of merit here is the probability of incorrectly detecting the received
waveform. Since digital communication systems are based on binary bits, the most generic
figure of merit is the bit error rate (BER) which is the ratio of the number of incorrectly
detected bits at the receiver to the total number of transmitted bits.
 DESCRIPTIVE QUESTIONS
(1) State two advantages and two disadvantages of digital communication systems relative to
analog communication system.
(2) State the essential blocks in a digital communication system and their main functions.
(3) What are the extra required blocks/functions in wireless digital communication system
relative to the wired digital communication system.
(4) If user privacy is a primary concern which would be better to use digital or analogue
communication systems and why?
(5) State at least one figure of merit for analog and one figure of merit for digital
communication system.
 INFORMATION THOERY

Information theory provides answers to the two most fundamental questions in

Communication Theory

• What is the ultimate data compression rate: The least average number of bits to
represent information i.e Entropy of a source.
• What is the ultimate data transmission rate: The maximum amount of data to transmit
reliably through a communication link i.e the Channel capacity.

Entropy and Channel capacity are related such that if the entropy of the data source is less
than the capacity of the transmission channel then error free communication can be achieved.

INFORMATION CONTENT

The information content of a message 𝐼𝑚 is defined as

1
𝐼𝑚 = log 2 ( ) = − log 2 (𝑝𝑚 ) 𝐵𝑖𝑡𝑠
𝑃𝑚

Where 𝑝𝑚 is the probability of the message.

From this definition, it is clear that the information content is related to the probability or
predictability of the message i.e the more predictable (probable) is a message, the less
information it will convey.

For example: If a football team is selected from this 400 level class to play against Chelsea
FC, the outcome of the game is highly predictable (Chelsea will win) and hence the
information content of the outcome is very small. On the other hand, if the outcome is that
Chelsea loses then the information content of the outcome is huge. Thus, if the probability of
a message 𝑝𝑚 is high then it carries little information and if it is small then the message
carries a lot of information. That is:
If 𝑝𝑚 = 1, carries zero information
If 𝑝𝑚 = 0, carries infinite information

If we were to transmit two independent messages say 𝐼𝑚1 and 𝐼𝑚2 , then the total information
content 𝐼𝑚𝑇 will be the sum of the individual information content of the two messages.
That is:
𝐼𝑚𝑇 = 𝐼𝑚1 + 𝐼𝑚2 = − log 2 𝑝𝑚1 − log 2 𝑃𝑚2 𝐵𝑖𝑡𝑠
Where 𝑝𝑚1 and 𝑃𝑚2 are the probabilities of message 1 and 2 respectively.

ENTROPY OF A DISCRETE MEMORYLESS SOURCE

Entropy is a measure of the mean or average amount of information conveyed per source
symbol. It is defined mathematically as
𝐾−1
1
𝐻(𝐴) = 𝐸[𝐼𝐾 ] = ∑ 𝑃𝑘 . log 2 ( ) 𝐵𝑖𝑡𝑠
𝑃𝐾
𝐾=0

Where 𝐾 = 0,1, 2, … … … … … … . 𝐾 − 1.

If we were to transmit three independent messages say 𝐼𝑚1 , 𝐼𝑚2 , and 𝐼𝑚3 , then the entropy of
the source will be

1 1 1
𝐻(𝐴) = 𝑃𝑚1 . log 2 ( ) + 𝑃𝑚2 . log 2 ( ) + 𝑃𝑚3 . log 2 ( ) 𝐵𝑖𝑡𝑠
𝑃𝑚1 𝑃𝑚2 𝑃𝑚3

Example

Consider a discrete memoryless source with alphabet 𝐴 = 𝑠0 , 𝑠1 , 𝑠2 with corresponding

probabilities 𝑝0 = 0.25, 𝑝1 = 0.25, 𝑝2 = 0.5. Calculate

(1) The total information content of the source

(2) The entropy for this source

Solution

The total information content 𝐼𝑚𝑇 is given

𝐼𝑚𝑇 = 𝐼𝑚1 + 𝐼𝑚2 + 𝐼𝑚3 = − log 2 𝑝𝑚1 − log 2 𝑃𝑚2 − log 2 𝑃𝑚3 𝐵𝑖𝑡𝑠
𝐼𝑚𝑇 = −log 2 0.25 − log 2 0.25 − log 2 0.5 𝐵𝑖𝑡𝑠

𝐼𝑚𝑇 = −(−2) − (−2) − (−1) = 2 + 2 + 1 = 5𝐵𝑖𝑡𝑠

The entropy of the source 𝐻(𝐴) is given as

1 1 1
𝐻(𝐴) = 𝑃𝑚0 . log 2 ( ) + 𝑃𝑚1 . log 2 ( ) + 𝑃𝑚2 . log 2 ( ) 𝐵𝑖𝑡𝑠
𝑃𝑚0 𝑃𝑚1 𝑃𝑚2

1 1 1
𝐻(𝐴) = 0.25. log 2 ( ) + 0.25. log 2 ( ) + 0.5. log 2 ( ) 𝐵𝑖𝑡𝑠
0.25 0.25 0.5
 𝐻(𝐴) = (0.25)(2) + (0.25)(2) + (0.5)(1) = 1.5𝐵𝑖𝑡𝑠

INFORMATION RATE OF MEMORYLESS SOURCE

The information rate 𝑅𝑖 is given as the symbol rate 𝑅𝑠 of the source multiplied by the entropy
of the source 𝐻(𝐴). That is

𝑅𝑖 = 𝑅𝑠 × 𝐻(𝐴) 𝐵𝑖𝑡𝑠/𝑠

REDUNDANCY OF A SOURCE
The redundancy of a source 𝑅 is defined as the difference between the actual entropy 𝐻(𝐴)
and the maximum entropy 𝐻𝑚𝑎𝑥 (𝐴) of the source. (𝐻𝑚𝑎𝑥 (𝐴) happens when the symbols are
independent and equally probable). That is, for a 𝐾symbol alphabet, the redundancy is given
as
𝑅 = 𝐻𝑚𝑎𝑥 (𝐴) − 𝐻(𝐴) = log 2 𝐾 − 𝐻(𝐴) 𝐵𝑖𝑡𝑠
Example
Find the information content, entropy, redundancy and information rate of a four (4) symbol
memoryless source (a, b, c, d) with a symbol rate of 1024 symbols/s and symbol selection
probabilities of 0.5,0.2, 0.2, and 0.1 respectively
Solution

𝐺𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑃𝑎 = 0.5, 𝑃𝑏 = 0.2, 𝑃𝑐 = 0.2, 𝑃𝑑

= 0.1

The total information content 𝐼𝑚𝑇 is given

𝐼𝑚𝑇 = 𝐼𝑚𝑎 + 𝐼𝑚𝑏 + 𝐼𝑚𝑐 + 𝐼𝑚𝑑

= − log 2 𝑝𝑚𝑎 − log 2 𝑃𝑚𝑏 − log 2 𝑃𝑚𝑐 − log 2 𝑝𝑚𝑑 𝐵𝑖𝑡𝑠

𝐼𝑚𝑇 = − log 2 0.5 − log 2 0.2

− log 2 0.2 − log 2 0.1 = 1 + 2.32 + 2.32 + 3.32 = 8.96 𝐵𝑖𝑡𝑠

The entropy of the source 𝐻(𝐴) is given as

1 1 1 1
𝐻(𝐴) = 𝑃𝑚𝑎 . log 2 ( ) + 𝑃𝑚𝑏 . log 2 ( ) + 𝑃𝑚𝑐 . log 2 ( ) + 𝑃𝑚𝑑 . log 2 ( ) 𝐵𝑖𝑡𝑠
𝑃𝑚𝑎 𝑃𝑚𝑏 𝑃𝑚𝑐 𝑃𝑚𝑑

1 1 1 1
𝐻(𝐴) = 0.5. log 2 ( ) + 0.2. log 2 ( ) + 0.2. log 2 ( ) + 0.1. log 2 ( ) 𝐵𝑖𝑡𝑠
0.5 0.2 0.2 0.1
 𝐻(𝐴) = (0.5)(1) + (0.2)(2.32) + (0.2)(2.32) + (0.1)(3.32) = 0.5 + 0.46 + 0.46 + 0.33

𝐻(𝐴) = 1.75𝐵𝑖𝑡𝑠

The redundancy of the source 𝑅 is given as

𝑅 = 𝐻𝑚𝑎𝑥 (𝐴) − 𝐻(𝐴) = log 2 𝐾 − 𝐻(𝐴) = log 2 4 − 1.75 = 2 − 1.75 = 0.25𝐵𝑖𝑡𝑠

The information Rate 𝑅 is given as

𝑅𝑖 = 𝑅𝑠 × 𝐻(𝐴) = 1024 × 1.75 = 1792𝐵𝑖𝑡𝑠/𝑠

SOURCE CODING

Source coding is the first stage of digital communication system. It encompasses the
processes of analogue-to-digital conversion (sampling and quantization), the discrete source
encoding/decoding, and digital to analogue conversion (lookup table and analogue filtering)
as shown in the figure.

Input Sampler Quantizer Discrete

Waveform Encoder

Binary
Channel

Output Analogue Lookup Discrete

Waveform Filter Table Decoder

Our focus will be on discrete source coding only

DISCRETE SOURCE CODING: Source encoding is the process of efficiently representing

data generated by a discrete source with representative binary words which are uniquely
decodable. Efficiently representing data can lead to significant reduction in the amount of
bandwidth required to transmit data or memory to store that data.
CODE EFFICIENCY: Code efficiency 𝜂 is defined the ratio of the coded symbols entropy
to the maximum possible entropy. That is
𝐻(𝐴)
𝜂= × 100%
𝐻𝑚𝑎𝑥 (𝐴)
where 𝐻(𝐴) is the entropy of the coded (new) symbol set.

In the case when the coded symbols are represented by binary code words of length 𝑙𝑘 , then
the overall average code length 𝐿( defined as the average codeword length) is given as
𝐾−1

𝐿 = ∑ 𝑃𝑘 . 𝑙𝑘
𝑘=0

Therefore the code efficiency 𝜂 can be found by using

𝐻(𝐴)
𝜂= × 100%
𝐿
Example
A scanner converts a black and white document, line by line, into binary data for
transmission. The scanner produces source data comprising symbols representing runs of up
to six similar image pixel elements with the following probabilities.

Number of consecutive pixels𝑙𝑘 1 2 3 4 5 6

Probability of occurrence 0.2 0.4 0.15 0.1 0.06 0.09

Determine
(i) The entropy of the source
(ii) The average length of a run (in pixels)
(iii) The corresponding effective information rate for this source when the scanner is
traversing at 1000 pixels symbols per second.
(iv) The code efficiency

Solution
The entropy of the source 𝐻(𝐴) is given as

1 1
𝐻(𝐴) = 𝑃𝑚1 . log 2 ( ) + 𝑃𝑚2 . log 2 ( )
𝑃𝑚1 𝑃𝑚2
1 1 1 1
+ 𝑃𝑚3 . log 2 ( ) + 𝑃𝑚4 . log 2 ( ) + 𝑃𝑚5 . log 2 ( ) + 𝑃𝑚6 . log 2 ( )
𝑃𝑚3 𝑃𝑚4 𝑃𝑚5 𝑃𝑚6

1 1
𝐻(𝐴) = 0.2. log 2 ( ) + 0.4. log 2 ( )
0.2 0.4
1 1 1 1
+ 0.15. log 2 ( ) + 0.1. log 2 ( ) + 0.06. log 2 ( ) + 0.09. log 2 ( )
0.15 0.1 0.06 0.09

𝐻(𝐴) = (0.2)(2.32) + (0.4)(1.32) + (0.15)(2.74) + (0.1)(3.32) + (0.06)(4.06) + (0.09)(3.47)

 𝐻(𝐴) = 0.46 + 0.53 + 0.41 + 0.33 + 0.24 + 0.31 = 2.28𝐵𝑖𝑡𝑠
The average length 𝐿 is given as
𝐾−1

𝐿 = ∑ 𝑃𝑘 . 𝑙𝑘 = (1)(0.2) + (2)(0.4) + (3)(0.15) + (4)(0.1) + (5)(0.06) + (6)(0.09)

𝑘=0

𝐿 = 0.2 + 0.8 + 0.45 + 0.4 + 0.30 + 0.54 = 2.69𝑝𝑖𝑥𝑒𝑙𝑠

The information Rate 𝑅 is given as

𝑅𝑖 = 𝑅𝑠 × 𝐻(𝐴)

But the symbol rate 𝑅𝑠 is given as

1000
𝑅𝑠 = = 372𝑠𝑦𝑚𝑏𝑜𝑙𝑠/𝑠
2.69

Therefore

𝑅𝑖 = 𝑅𝑠 × 𝐻(𝐴) = 372 × 2.28 = 848𝐵𝑖𝑡𝑠/𝑠

The code efficiency 𝜂 is given as

𝐻(𝐴) 2.28
𝜂= × 100% = × 100 = 85%
𝐿 2.69

DESCRIPTIVE QUESTION

(1) A source emits one of four symbols, a, b, c, d, and with probabilities, 1/3,1/6, 1/4 and 1/4,
respectively. The symbols emitted are statistically independent. Calculate
i. The information carried by each symbol
ii. Entropy of the source
(2) Consider a discrete memoryless source with source alphabet A= {a, b, c}and source
statistics {0.7, 0.15, 0.15}. Calculate
i. The information content of the source
ii. Entropy of the source
(3) A discrete memoryless source has an alphabet of seven symbols whose probabilities of
occurrence are given in the table below.
 Symbols a b c d e f g
Probabilities 0.25 0.25 0.125 0.125 0.125 0.0625 0.0625
Calculate

i. The information content of the source

ii. The maximum entropy of the source
iii. The actual entropy of the source
iv. The redundancy of the source
v. The code efficiency
 TRANSMISSION MODES

Description of Data Flows and Transmission Mode

A transmission may be simplex, half duplex, or full duplex. In simplex transmission, signals
are transmitted in only one direction; one station is transmitter and the other is receiver. In
half-duplex operation, both stations may transmit, but only one at a time. In full-duplex
operation, both stations may transmit simultaneously.

Types of Transmission Mode and Data Flow

Transmission mode is of three types:

(1) Simplex Transmission

(2) Half Duplex Transmission

(3) Full Duplex Transmission

Simplex Transmission

In simplex mode, the communication is unidirectional, as on a one-way street. Only one of

the two devices on a link can transmit; the other can only receive. Keyboards and traditional
monitors are examples of simplex devices. The keyboard can only introduce input; the
monitor can only accept output. The simplex mode can use the entire capacity of the channel
to send data in one direction. Examples are Radio and Television broadcasts. They go from
the TV station to your home television.

Half Duplex Transmission

In half-duplex mode, each station can both transmit and receive, but not at the same time.
When one device is sending, the other can only receive, and vice versa. The half-duplex
mode is like a one-lane road with traffic allowed in both directions. When cars are traveling
in one direction, cars going the other way must wait. In a halfduplex transmission, the entire
capacity of a channel is taken over by whichever of the two devices is transmitting at the
time.

Full Duplex Transmission

In full-duplex mode, both stations can transmit and receive simultaneously. The full-duplex
mode is like a two way street with traffic flowing in both directions at the same time. One
common example of full-duplex communication is the telephone network. When two people
are communicating by a telephone line, both can talk and listen at the same time.
 Figure: Data Transmission Mode

Digital Data Transmission Methods

In digital data transmission where we have more than one bits to send from sender to
receiver. Our primary concern when we are considering the wiring is the data stream. Do we
send 1 bit at a time; or do we group bits into larger groups and, if so, how? The transmission
of binary data across a link can be accomplished in either parallel or serial mode. In parallel
mode, multiple bits are sent with each clock tick. In serial mode, 1 bit is sent with each clock
tick. While there is only one way to send parallel data, there are three subclasses of serial
transmission: asynchronous, synchronous, and isochronous.

Figure: Data Transmission

Parallel Transmission

Binary data, consisting of 1s and 0s, will be organized into groups of n bits each. Computers
produce and consume data in groups of bits. By grouping, we can send data n bits at a time
instead of 1. This is called parallel transmission. The advantage of parallel transmission is
speed. All else being equal, parallel transmission can increase the transfer speed by a factor
of n over serial transmission. Shortcoming of parallel transmission it requires n
communication lines just to transmit the data stream. Hence it is expensive, parallel
transmission is usually limited to short distances.
 Figure: Parallel Transmission

Serial Transmission

In serial transmission one bit follows another, so we need only one communication channel
rather than n to transmit data between two communicating devices. The advantage of serial
over parallel transmission is that with only one communication channel, serial transmission
reduces the cost of transmission over parallel by roughly a factor of n. Since communication
within devices is parallel, conversion devices are required at the interface between the sender
and the line (parallel-to-serial) and between the line and the receiver (serial-to-parallel).
Serial transmission occurs in one of three ways: asynchronous, synchronous, and
isochronous.

Figure: Serial Transmission

Synchronous Transmission

In synchronous transmission, we send bits one after another without start or stop bits or gaps.
It is the responsibility of the receiver to group the bits.

Figure: Synchronous Transmission

Isochronous Transmission

A sequence of events is isochronous if the events occur regularly, or at equal time intervals.
The isochronous transmission guarantees that the data arrive at a fixed rate. In real-time audio
and video, in which uneven delays between frames are not acceptable, synchronous
transmission fails. For example, TV images are broadcast at the rate of 30 images per second;
they must be viewed at the same rate. If each image is sent by using one or more frames,
there should be no delays between frames.

Asynchronous Transmission

In asynchronous transmission, we send 1 start bit (0) at the beginning and 1 or more stop bits
(1) at the end of each byte. There may be a gap between each byte.

Figure: Asynchronous Transmission

Questions

1. Describe with diagram the data transmission type.

2. Compare a 10K Byte data transmission using Asynchronous transmission & Synchronous
Transmission. Determine the efficiency (10 Kbytes = 80 kbits)

3. Compare synchronous and asynchronous transmission

4. What is data flow? Hence describe three major types of data flow in data communication
network.

5. Describe briefly with diagram and relevant example, three major data flow approaches.

6. If an Ethernet frame has overhead of 64bytes including start and stop frames, and the data
size is 2500 bytes. Determine the Ethernet frame efficiency.
 MULTIPLEXING

Definition of Multiplexing
Multiplexing is the process of transmission of information from more than one source into a
single signal over a shared medium. We can be able to multiplex analog or digital signal. If
analog signals are multiplexed, then this type of multiplexer is called analog multiplexer. If
digital signals are multiplexed, then this type of multiplexer is called digital multiplexer. The
advantage of multiplexing is that we can transmit a large number of signals to a single
medium. This channel can be a physical medium like a coaxial, metallic conductor or a
wireless link and will have to handle multiple signals at a time. Thus, the cost of transmission
can be reduced.

Even though the transmission occurs on the same channel, they do not necessarily occur at
the same instant. In general multiplexing is a technique in which several message signals are
combined into a composite signal so that these can be transmitted over a common channel. In
order to transmit various signals over the same channel, it is essential to keep the signals
apart to avoid the interference between them, and then it can be easily separated at the
receiving end. Domains in which multiplexing can be accomplished are time, phase,
frequency wavelength, etc. Multiplexing circuits are called multiplexer or MUX.

Types of multiplexing
Multiplexers are mainly classified as shown in Figure.

Figure: Classification of Multiplexing Techniques

1. Analog multiplexing
The most commonly used analog multiplexing techniques are frequency division
multiplexing (FDM) and wavelength division multiplexing.

Frequency division multiplexing

Frequency division multiplexing is a networking technique which combines many signals
into a single one and then transmitted the combined signal through a common communication
channel. In the receiver side, the opposite process is carried out which is known as
demultiplexing which extracts the individual channel signals. Here the transmitter side
performs multiplexing, and the receiver side performs demultiplexing. In FDM the total
bandwidth available in a communication medium is divided into a series of nonoverlapping
frequency bands. Each of these bands is used to carry a separate signal. In FDM all users use
the same common channel at full time. But each of the users is allocated with different
frequencies for transmission for avoiding the signal interference. Sometimes there is a
possibility of cross talk because all the users use the transmission medium at the same time.
FDM is used for analog signal transmission. It does not need synchronization between the
transmitter and receiver. Here a large number of signals can be transmitted simultaneously. It
suffers the problem of cross talk, and intermodulation distortion may take place. FDM is used
in amplitude modulation (AM) and FM broadcasting, public telephone networks, and cable
TV network systems. The allocation of frequency bands to different users is shown in Figure
below

Figure: Allocation of different frequencies to different users in FDM

Advantage of FDM multiplexing

1 A large number of signals (channels) can be transmitted simultaneously.
2 Demodulation of FDM is easy.
3 FDM does not need synchronization between its transmitter and receiver for
proper operation.
4 Due to slow narrowband fading, only a single channel gets affected.

Disadvantages of FDM
1 The communication channel must have a very large bandwidth.
2 Intermodulation distortion takes place.
3 A large number of modulators and filters are required.
4 FDM suffers from the problem of cross talk.
5 All the FDM channels get affected due to wideband fading.

Applications of FDM
1 FDM is used for FM and AM radio broadcasting.

2 FDM is used in television broadcasting.

3 First-generation cellular telephone also uses FDM.

Wavelength division multiplexing

Fiber-optic communications require a different kind of multiplexer called a wavelength

division multiplexer (WAD). It is an analog multiplexing technique. It is designed for high
data rate capability fiber cable. In this technique the bandwidth of the communication channel
should be greater than the combined bandwidth of the individual channels. Here signals are
converted to light signals; each light which has different wavelengths is transmitted through
the same fiber cable. WDM transmission system divides the optical fiber bandwidth into a
number of nonoverlapping optical wavelengths; these are referred to as WDM channels.
WDM mixes all incoming signals having different wavelengths and are transmitted over a
common channel. A demultiplexer does the reverse operation and separates the wavelengths.
This multiplexing mechanism provides a much higher available transmission capacity. The
figure below shows the representation of WDM system that consists of both multiplexer and
demultiplexer.
 Figure: Representation of WDM multiplexing

Wavelength division multiplexing is divided into two types, unidirectional WDM and bi-
directional WDM. In unidirectional WDM, the data is sent only from one side and received
on the other side. Multiplexing of the wavelength occurs on the sender side, and
demultiplexing of the wavelengths takes place on the receiver side. In bi-directional WDM
the data can be sent from both sides which means that both sides can do multiplexing and
demultiplexing as shown in Figure below.

Figure: Bidirectional WDM

Advantages of WDM
1 In WDM full-duplex transmission is possible.
2 It is easier to reconfigure.
3 Optical components are more reliable and provide higher bandwidth.
4 Provide high security and faster access to new channel.
5 Low cost and easy system expansion.
6 Simultaneous transmission of various signals.
Disadvantages of WDM
1 Scalability is a concern as optical line termination (OLT); optical line termination has to
have transmitter array with one transmitter for each optical network unit (ONU). Adding a
new ONU could be a problem unless transmitters were provisioned in advance. Each ONU
must have a wavelength-specific laser.
2 The cost of the system increases with addition of optical components.
3 Inefficiency in BW utilization, difficulty in wavelength tuning, and difficulty in cascaded
topology.

2 Digital Multiplexing

Time division multiplexing

In time division multiplexing (TDM), all signals operate with the same frequency at different
times, i.e., it is a technique of transmitting several signals over a single communication
channel by dividing the time frame into equal slots. Here the signal transmitted can occupy
the total bandwidth of the channel, and each signal will be transmitted in its specified time
period only. In TDM all signal operates at same frequency at different time slots.

The Figure below shows the schematic diagram of implementation of TDM system. From
this it is clear that a circular ring has been split into eight equal segments and is completely
separated from one another. It is also noted that there is a movable arm attached to the inner
ring, and it slides over the eight segments over the ring. The eight segments are eight inputs,
and the selector moves in clockwise direction from A to H; after completing one revolution, it
starts again. The output is taken from the inner ring that contains the signal from only one slot
at a time. The same arrangement is also made at the receiving side. The two inner rings of the
transmitting and receiving stations are rotated at the same speed, and they are synchronized.
Thus, the signal at segment A of the transmitter will reach segment A of the receiver in the
period the arm is contacting the segment A. The same is in the case of other segments.

Time division multiplexing is used when data transmission rate of media is greater than the
total transmission rate of the sources. Here each signal is allotted to a definite amount of time.
These slots are too small so that the transmission appears to be parallel. In TDM all the
signals to be transmitted are not transmitted simultaneously. Instead, they are transmitted one
by one. When all the signals are transmitted once on the transmission channel, it is said to be
one cycle of completion. Synchronization between the multiplexer and demultiplexer is a
major issue in TDM. If the multiplexer and the demultiplexer are not properly synchronized,
a bit belonging to one channel may be received by another channel. Therefore, one or more
synchronization bits are generally added to the beginning of each frame. These bits, called
framing bits, allow the demultiplexer to synchronize with the incoming stream so that it can
separate the time slots accurately. Normally, this synchronization information consists of 1
bit per frame, alternating between 0 and 1.

There are two types of TDM multiplexing, synchronous TDM and asynchronous or statistical
TDM or intelligent TDM.

Figure: Schematic Diagram of TDM Operation

Synchronous time division multiplexing

In synchronous TDM the slots are arranged in a round robin manner, i.e., if there are n
sources, then a single frame consists of n time slots, and each time slot is dedicated to exactly
one source for carrying data from the corresponding input. Each source places its data to the
link only when the corresponding slot arrives. In synchronous TDM, if a device does not
have data to send, then its time slots remain empty. The transmission of data with
synchronous TDM is shown in Figure below.

Disadvantages

1 The channel capacity cannot be fully utilized when some source do not want to send the
data.

2 The capacity of the transmission link must be higher than the total capacity of input lines.

3 It is very complex to implement.

 Figure: Synchronous TDM Transmission Operation

Asynchronous time division multiplexing

In synchronous TDM if a particular terminal has no data to transmit at a particular time

period, the corresponding slot in a frame is wasted or an empty slot will be transmitted.
Asynchronous TDM or statistical TDM is used to overcome this difficulty. It dynamically
allocates the time slots on the demand to separate input channels, thus saving the channel
capacity. Here the time slots are flexible, and the total capacity of input lines can be greater
than the link capacity of the channel. In synchronous TDM if there are n input lines, there
must be n time slots, but in asynchronous TDM if we have n input lines, then the frame may
contain less than n slots. Here the number of slots in a frame is based on a statistical analysis
of the number of input lines. The transmission of data with asynchronous TDM is shown in
Figure below.

Disadvantages

1 Frames have different sizes.

2 An output slot in synchronous TDM is totally occupied by data, in statistical TDM; a slot
needs to carry data as well as the address of the destination.

3 It requires buffer, and address information is needed as there is no separate slots assigned
for each user.
 DIGITAL MODULATION

Digital data consist of two binary signals; ‘mark’ and space or ‘1’ and ‘0’ and they can be
transmitted by varying the amplitude, frequency or phase of the sinusoidal carrier wave. The
three methods of achieving digital modulation are
(1) Amplitude Shift Keying (ASK)
(2) Frequency Shift keying (FSK)
(3) Phase Shift keying (PSK)
However, due to the presence of Gaussian Noise, for every symbol transmitted, the receiver
must make a choice between the two symbols and so the probability of an error occurring is a
useful criterion for comparing various types of digital modulation systems.
The probability of error or Bit Error Rate (BER) is given by
1
1 𝐸(1 − 𝜌 2
𝑃𝑒 = 𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑐 [ ]
2 2𝑁𝑜

Where: 𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑐 signifies the complimentary error function.

𝐸 is the energy per bit transmitted.
𝜌 is the Correlation Coefficient
𝑁𝑜 is the Noise Power Spectral Density
AMPLITUDE SHIFT KEYING (ASK)
ASK occurs when a carrier wave is switched ON and OFF by a binary signal. Figure 1
illustrate a basic ASK principle.
Figure 1: ASK Principle

ASK
MODULATOR

Carrier wave
1 0

Modulated signal

1 0 1

Binary signal
During a ‘mark’ a carrier wave is transmitted and during a ‘space’, it is suppressed. The
signal waveforms transmitted are
𝑆1 (𝑡) = 𝐴 sin 𝑤𝑡 for symbol 1
𝑆0 (𝑡) = 0 for symbol 0
There is no correlation between these two signals, hence, 𝜌 = 0 and because the energy
during one bit is zero, the BER is given
1
1 𝐸 2
𝑃𝑒 = 𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑐 [ ]
2 4𝑁𝑜

ASK is the least popular method of modulation because it does not have a constant envelope
and hence can be very sensitive to amplitude nonlinearities that are often encountered in radio
links.
ASK DEMODULATION
Demodulation or detection is the process of recovering the binary modulated signal i.e the
reverse of modulation. This can be achieved in two ways
(1) Coherent (Synchronous) Demodulation
(2) Non-Coherent (Envelop) Demodulation
Synchronous demodulation gives better BER performance than Envelop demodulation,
however, it requires the use of a phase coherent local oscillator at the receiver. Figure 2
illustrate a simple synchronous detection principle.
INPUT DATA Synchronous OUTPUT DATA
Detection

Local Oscillator

Figure 2: Synchronous Detection Principle

FREQUENCY SHIFT KEYING

In FSK two different carrier frequencies are used and they are switched ON and OFF by the
binary signals to be transmitted. A ‘mark’ switches one carrier ON while the other carrier is
OFF and a ‘space’ switches the second carrier ON while the first carrier is OFF. Hence this
amount to a form of ASK in which two different carrier frequencies are used. The principle
of FSK is illustrated in Figure 3
 𝑠1
𝑓1

Carrier Waves

𝑠𝑜 1 0
𝑓𝑜
Modulated signal
Carrier oscillator

Figure 3: FSK Principle

If the two different frequencies are 𝑓1 and 𝑓𝑜 , then the transmitted waveforms are
𝑆1 (𝑡) = 𝐴 sin 𝑤1 𝑡 for symbol 1
𝑆0 (𝑡) = 𝐴 sin 𝑤𝑜 𝑡 for symbol 0
For well separated frequencies, the two signals are orthogonal i.e 𝜌 = 0. Hence BER is given
as
1
1 𝐸 2
𝑃𝑒 = 𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑐 [ ]
2 2𝑁𝑜

FSK DEMODULATION
This can be achieved by using synchronous or envelop detectors. Envelop detector uses two
matched filters (MF is a linear filter which is designed to maximize the signal-power to
noise-power ratio (SNR) at the decision instant in the receiver and to minimize the
probability of undetected errors received from a signal) matched to the two frequencies used
at the transmitter. FSK detection result in some degradation in performance, and its BER is
given as
𝐸
1 −2𝑁
𝑃𝑒 = 𝑒 𝑜
2
PHASE SHIFT KEYING
In PSK, the binary signals are used to switch the phase of a carrier wave between two values
which are usually 0° and 180°. For a ‘mark’, the carrier has one phase and for a ‘space’ is
reversed by 180°. Hence, it is sometimes called Phase Reversal Keying (PRK). The principle
of PSK is illustrated in Figure 4
 PSK
Carrier wave MODULATOR

Modulated signal
1 0 1
Binary signal
Figure 4: PSK Principle
The waveforms transmitted for PSK are
𝑆1 (𝑡) = 𝐴 sin 𝑤𝑡 for symbol 1
𝑆0 (𝑡) = 𝐴 sin 𝑤𝑡 for symbol 0
The two signals are identical but of opposite phase, hence, 𝜌 = −1, therefore BER is given as
1
1 𝐸 2
𝑃𝑒 = 𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑐 [ ]
2 𝑁𝑜

𝐸
This is the minimum value obtainable from a given , if the frequency and phase are known
𝑁𝑜

at the receiver.
PSK DEMODULATION
Coherent detection can be used to detect a PSK modulated signal. This method requires as a
phase reference a coherent local oscillator at the receiver but it produces synchronizing
difficulties in practice. Therefore Differential Phase Shift Keying (DPSK) is employed in
PSK demodulation. In DPSK the data is conveyed by the phase difference between the
current pulse and the pulse which proceeds it. This means that DPSK avoids the need for a
coherent reference signal at the detectors therefore solving the issues of synchronization
encountered when Coherent method is used. The probability of error in this case is given as
1 −𝐸
𝑃𝑒 = 𝑒 𝑁𝑜
2
Bit Error Rate or Probability of an Error (𝑷𝒆 )
The error probability in a digital system is the total number of error per total number of bits
received. For example, if 1 error bit per 1000bit occurs, then the BER is given as
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟𝑠 1
𝑃𝑒 = = = 10−3
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑏𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑑 1000
The acceptable error probability in communication systems ranges from 10−2 to 10−8 , and
the average number of error is given as
𝐴𝑒 = 𝑚 × 𝑃𝑒
Where 𝑚 is the length of the transmission bits.
𝐸
BER is of primary importance in digital data and it essentially depends on the ratio of 𝑁 due
𝑜

Gaussian noise that occurs in most communication systems.

Example
Consider the following data stream 100101 to be transmitted, draw the resulting signal
waveforms, assuming at least 2 cycles per bit, when using (1) ASK (2) FSK (3) PSK
Solution

ASK

FSK

PSK
 COMMUNICATION NETWORKING AND NETWORKS

INTRODUCTION

A computer network is the infrastructure that allows two or more computers (called hosts or
nodes) to communicate with each other. The network achieves this by providing a set of rules
for communication, called protocols, which should be observed by all participating hosts. The
protocol allows different computers from different vendors and with different operating
characteristics to speak the same language.
Networks and networking have grown rapidly over the years due user’s critical needs such as
sharing of data and printer, and in more advanced demands such as videoconferencing.
Figure 1 shows an abstract view of a network and its hosts.

A B

Hub

Figure 1: A Basic Network

TYPES OF NETWORKS
There are many different types of networks. However, from an end user's point of view there
are two basic types:

Local Area Network (LAN)

A Local Area network (LAN) is a computer network that connects computers and devices in
a limited geographical area such as home, school, computer laboratory or office building.
Figure 2 illustrate an example of a Basic LAN

LAN

Figure 2: Basic Local Area Network

Wide Area Network (WAN)
A wide area network (WAN) is a computer network that covers a broad area. WANs are used
to connect LANs and other types of networks together, so that users and computers in one
location can communicate with users and computers in other locations. Many WANs are built
for one particular organization and are private. Computers connected to a wide-area network
are often connected through public networks, such as the telephone system. They can also be
connected through leased lines or satellites. The largest WAN in existence is the Internet.
Figure 3 illustrate an example of a basic WAN.

LAN

LAN WAN LAN

LAN

Figure 3: Basic Wide Area Network.

Other types of networks includes: Metropolitan Area Network (MAN), Personal Area
Network (PAN), Campus Area Network (CAN) etc

Metropolitan Area Network (MAN): is a computer network that usually spans a city or a
large campus. A MAN usually interconnects a number of local area networks (LANs) using a
high-capacity backbone technology. Its geographic scope falls between a WAN and LAN.
MANs provide Internet connectivity for LANs in a metropolitan region, and connect them to
wider area networks like the internet.
Campus Area Network (CAN): A campus (Corporate) area network is a computer network
made up of an interconnection of local area networks (LANs) within a limited geographical
area.

Personal Area Network (PAN): A personal area network (PAN) is a computer network used
for communication among computer devices, including telephones and personal digital
assistants. The reach of a PAN is typically a few meters.

NETWORK TOPOLOGY

Network topology is the geometric arrangement of the computers in a network. Common

network topologies include Star, Ring, Bus, Tree, Mesh, and Hybrid.

STAR NETWORK
Star networks are one of the most common computer network topologies. In its simplest
form, a star network consists of one central switch, hub or computer, which acts as a medium
to transmit messages. The star topology reduces the chance of network failure by connecting
all of the systems to a central node, hub or switch. Figure 4 illustrate an example of a star
network.

Hub

Figure 4: A Star network topology

Advantages of Star Topology

1) As compared to Bus topology it gives far much better performance, signals do not
necessarily get transmitted to all the workstations. A sent signal reaches the intended
destination after passing through no more than 3-4 devices and 2-3 links. Performance of the
network is dependent on the capacity of central hub.
2) Easy to connect new nodes or devices. In star topology new nodes can be added easily
without affecting rest of the network. Similarly components can also be removed easily.
3) Centralized management. It helps in monitoring the network.
4) Failure of one node or link does not affect the rest of network. At the same time it is easy
to detect the failure and troubleshoot it.

Disadvantages of Star Topology

1) Too much dependency on central device has its own drawbacks. If it fails whole network
goes down.
2) The use of hub, a router or a switch as central device increases the overall cost of the
network.
3) Performance and as well number of nodes which can be added in such topology is
depended on capacity of central device.
RING NETWORK
A ring network is a network topology in which each node connects to exactly two other hosts,
forming a single continuous pathway for signals through each host i.e all messages travel
through a ring in the same direction (either clockwise" or "counterclockwise). Unlike star
network, failure in any cable or device breaks the loop and can take down the entire network.
Figure 5 illustrate an example of a ring network.

Figure 5: A Ring Network Topology

Advantages of Ring Topology
1) This type of network topology is very organized. Each node gets to send the data when it
receives an empty token. This helps to reduces chances of collision. Also in ring topology
all the traffic flows in only one direction at very high speed.
2) Even when the load on the network increases, its performance is better than that of Bus
topology.
3) There is no need for network server to control the connectivity between workstations.
4) Additional components do not affect the performance of network.
5) Each computer has equal access to resources.

Disadvantages of Ring Topology

1) Each packet of data must pass through all the computers between source and destination.
This makes it slower than Star topology.
2) If one workstation or port goes down, the entire network gets affected.
3) Network is highly dependent on the wire which connects different components.
4) MAU‟s and network cards are expensive as compared to Ethernet cards and hubs.

BUS NETWORK
A bus network is a network topology in which a set of hosts are connected via a shared
communications line called a bus. All communications are carried on a common cable or bus
and are available to each device on the network. Access and control of bus networks are
typically maintained by a method called contention, whereby if a line is unused, a terminal or
device can transmit its message at will, but if two or more terminals initiate messages
simultaneously, there will be a collision and they must stop to transmit again at different
intervals. Figure 6 illustrate an example of a ring network.

BUS

Figure 6: A Bus Network Topology

Advantages of Bus Topology
1) It is easy to set-up and extend bus network.
2) Cable length required for this topology is the least compared to other networks.
3) Bus topology very cheap.
4) Bus network is mostly used in small networks.

Disadvantages of Bus Topology

1) There is a limit on central cable length and number of nodes that can be connected.
2) Dependency on central cable in this topology has its disadvantages. If the main cable (i.e.
bus) encounters some problem, whole network breaks down.
3) Proper termination is required to dump signals. Use of terminators is must.
4) It is difficult to detect and troubleshoot fault at individual station.
5) Maintenance costs can get higher with time.
6) Efficiency of Bus network reduces, as the number of devices connected to it increases.
7) It is not suitable for networks with heavy traffic.
8) Security is very low because all the computers receive the sent signal from the source.

TREE NETWORK
The tree topology is similar to the bus topology, except that the tree structure enables several
bus branches to be connected together. This topology makes it easier to network larger areas.
Figure 7 illustrate an example of a tree network.

BUS

BUS

BUS

Figure 7: A Tree Network Topology

MESH NETWORK
This is the most complex method of network topologies. It involves creating a mesh
connecting all the participants (the participant can be a hub, switch, host etc) with each other
via separate communication lines. When it comes to network extensions, the flexibility is
very low and the amount of hardware required is so high that this topology is rarely used in
practice. Figure 8 illustrate an example of a mesh network.
Advantages of Mesh topology
1) Data can be transmitted from different devices simultaneously. This topology can
withstand high traffic.
2) Even if one of the components fails there is always an alternative present. So data transfer
does not get affected.
3) Expansion and modification in topology can be done without disrupting other nodes.

Disadvantages of Mesh topology

1) There are high chances of redundancy in many of the network connections.
2) Overall cost of this network is way too high as compared to other network topologies.
3) Set-up and maintenance of this topology is very difficult. Even administration of the
network is tough.

Figure 8: A Mesh Network Topology

HYBRID NETWORKS
Hybrid, as the name suggests, is mixture of two different things. Similarly in this type of
topology we integrate two or more different topologies to form a resultant topology which
has good points (as well as weaknesses) of all the constituent basic topologies rather than
having characteristics of one specific topology. This combination of topologies is done
according to the requirements of the organization. For example, if there is an existing ring
topology in one office department while a bus topology in another department, connecting
these two will result in Hybrid topology. Remember connecting two similar topologies
cannot be termed as Hybrid topology. Star-Ring and Star-Bus networks are most common
examples of hybrid network.
 Figure 9: Hybrid Network

Advantages of Hybrid Network Topology

1) Reliable: Unlike other networks, fault detection and troubleshooting is easy in this type of
topology. The part in which fault is detected can be isolated from the rest of network and
required corrective measures can be taken, WITHOUT affecting the functioning of rest of the
network.
2) Scalable: It is easy to increase the size of network by adding new components, without
disturbing existing architecture.
3) Flexible: Hybrid Network can be designed according to the requirements of the
organization and by optimizing the available resources. Special care can be given to nodes
where traffic is high as well as where chances of fault are high.
4) Effective: Hybrid topology is the combination of two or more topologies, so we can design
it in such a way that strengths of constituent topologies are maximized while there
weaknesses are neutralized. For example we saw Ring Topology has good data reliability
(achieved by use of tokens) and Star topology has high tolerance capability (as each node is
not directly connected to other but through central device), so these two can be used
effectively in hybrid star-ring topology.

Disadvantages of Hybrid Topology

1) Complexity of Design: One of the biggest drawbacks of hybrid topology is its design. It is
not easy to design this type of architecture and it is a tough job for designers. Configuration
and installation process needs to be very efficient.
2) Costly Hub: The hubs used to connect two distinct networks, are very expensive. These
hubs are different from usual hubs as they need to be intelligent enough to work with
different architectures and should be function even if a part of network is down.
3) Costly Infrastructure: As hybrid architectures are usually larger in scale, they require a lot
of cables; cooling systems, sophisticate network devices, etc.
NETWORK COMPONENTS
In order for a computer to operate on a network, there are a range of different components
that are required. Below is a list of the essential components required in a network.
(1) Network Interface controller
A network interface controller (network interface card, NIC) is a computer hardware
component that connects a computer to a computer network.
(2) Network Cables
Network cables are used to connect one network device to another or to connect two or more
computers to share printer, scanner etc. There are different types of network cables, which
include coaxial cable, Optical fiber cable, Twisted Pair. These cables are used depending on
the network's topology, protocol and size.
Ethernet cables
Ethernet is a contention media access method that allows all hosts or computer on a network
to share the same bandwidth of a link. Cables used in Ethernet networking are called Ethernet
cables. There are three basic types of Ethernet cables namely: Straight-through cables,
Crossover cables, and Rolled cables.
Straight-through Cables
The straight-through cables are used to connect a host to switch or hub, or a router to switch
or hub. Figure 9 shows a straight-through cable connection.

Switch /Hub Host

1 1
2 2
3 3
4 4
5 5
6 6
7 7
8 8
Figure 10: A straight-through cable
Crosover Cables
The crossover cables are used to connect a host to host, switch to switch, hub to hub switch to
hub or a router to switch directly to a host. Figure 10 shows a crossover cable connection.

Host/Switch /Hub Host/Switch/Hub

1 1
2 2
3 3
4 4
5 5
6 6
7 7
8 8
Figure 11: A crossover cable
Rolled Cables
Although rolled cables are not used to connect any Ethernet connection together, it can be
used to connect a host to a router console serial communication port. Figure 11 shows a
rolled cable connection.

1 1
2 2
3 3
4 4
5 5
6 6
7 7
8 8
Figure 12: A Rolled Cable
(3) Hub
A hub is a small rectangular box, often made of plastic that receives its power from an
ordinary wall outlet. A hub joins multiple computers (or other network devices) together to
form a single network segment. On this network segment, all computers can communicate
directly with each other. Ethernet hubs are by far the most common type, but hubs for other
types of networks such as USB (Universal Serial Bus) also exist.
(4) Network switch
A network switch is a small hardware device that joins multiple computers together within
one local area network (LAN). Technically, network switches operate at layer two (Data Link
Layer) of the OSI model. Network switches appear nearly identical to network hubs, but a
switch generally contains more intelligence (and a slightly higher price tag) than a hub.
Unlike hubs, network switches are capable of inspecting data packets as they are received,
determining the source and destination device of each packet, and forwarding them
appropriately. By delivering messages only to the connected device intended, a network
switch conserves network bandwidth and offers generally better performance than a hub.
(5) Network Bridges
A network bridge connects multiple network segments at the data link layer of the OSI
model. A bridge and switch are very much alike; a switch is a bridge with numerous ports.
Switch is often used interchangeably with a bridge. In reality you cannot buy a physical
bridge these days, only LAN switches which are called multiport bridges.
(6) Repeaters
Repeaters are electronic devices that receive a signal and retransmit it at a higher level and/or
higher power, or onto the other side of an obstruction, so that the signal can cover longer
distances.
(7) Routers
A router is a device that forwards data packets across computer networks. Routers perform
the data traffic directing functions on the Internet. A router is a microprocessor-controlled
device that is connected to two or more data lines from different networks. When a data
packet comes in on one of the lines, the router reads the address information in the packet to
determine its ultimate destination. Routers operate at layer three (network layer) of the OSI
model.
 COMPUTER NETWORK MODEL
OPEN SYSTEMS INTERCONNECTION (OSI) REFERENCE MODEL
An architectural mode for computer networking developed by the international organization
for standardization (ISO) is the OSI reference model. The OSI began work on the OSI model
in 1974 to address the problem of the various networking systems developed at that time of
not being able to communicate with each other. The OSI model was intended as a reference
mode to which vendor specific networking systems could be compared so that inter-
operability solution could be developed. The OSI model was thus intended to allow
heterogeneous systems to communicate easily with each other in an open standardized
version and to provide a basis for developing standardized network protocols. ISO proposes
seven-layer architecture for networks as shown in Figure 12. Each layer is characterized by a
set of standard protocols which specify its behavior. The top three layers define how the
application within the end stations will communicate with each other and with users. The
bottom four layers define how data is transmitted end to end.

Application

Presentation

Session

Transport

Network

Data link

Physical

Figure 12: OSI Model Architecture

Advantages of the OSI Reference model
(1) It allows various types of network hardware and software to communicate
(2) It prevents changes in one layer from affecting other layers, so it does not hamper
development
(3) It allows multiple-vendor development through standardization of network components.
(4) It encourages industry standardization by defining what functions occur at each layer of
the model.
(5) It divides the network communication process into smaller and simpler components,
hence aiding component development, design and troubleshooting.
 Architecture of OSI
The premise behind the OSI model is that communication between hosts on a computer
network is too complex a phenomenon to be understood by breaking it down into simpler
components. The ISO adopted a layered approach in which the OSI model was divided into
seven logical layers. Each layer deals with a certain aspect of communications and the upper
layers utilize the functions of the lower layers to make the network communications possible.
Table 1 list the seven layers of the OSI model starting with the lowest layer and a brief
description of the communication functions that operate at each level.
Layers Description
Physical The physical layer is concerned with the transmission of raw data bits (i.e
0’s and 1’s) over the communication lines. Example of device that
operates in the physical layer is the hub.

It proves:
1) Data encoding: modifies the simple digital signal pattern (1s and 0s)
used by the PC to better accommodate the characteristics of the physical
medium, and to aid in bit and frame synchronization. It determines:
- What signal state represents a binary 1
- How the receiving station knows when a "bit-time" starts - How the
receiving station delimits a frame
2) Physical medium attachment, accommodating various possibilities in
the medium:
- Will an external transceiver (MAU) be used to connect to the medium?
- How many pins do the connectors have and what is each pin used for?
3) Transmission technique: determines whether the encoded bits will be
transmitted by baseband (digital) or broadband (analog) signaling.
4) Physical medium transmission: transmits bits as electrical or optical
signals appropriate for the physical medium, and determines:
- What physical medium options can be used
- How many volts/db should be used to represent a given signal state,
using a given physical medium
Data link The data link layer provides the physical transmission of the data and
handles error, network topology, and flow control. This means that the
 data link layer will ensure that messages are delivered to the proper
device on a LAN using hardware addresses and will translate messages
from the network layer into bits for the physical layer to transmit.
Examples of devices that operate in the data link layer are bridges and
switches.

It provides:
1) Link establishment and termination: establishes and terminates the
logical link between two nodes.
2) Frame traffic control: tells the transmitting node to "back-off" when no
frame buffers are available.
3) Frame sequencing: transmits/receives frames sequentially.
4) Frame acknowledgment: provides/expects frame acknowledgments.
Detects and recovers from errors that occur in the physical layer by
retransmitting nonacknowledged frames and handling duplicate frame
receipt.
5) Frame delimiting: creates and recognizes frame boundaries.
6) Frame error checking: checks received frames for integrity.
7) Media access management: determines when the node "has the right"
to use the physical medium.
Network The network layer manages device addressing, tracks the location of
devices on the network, and determines the best way to move data from
one node to another. Example of devices that operates in the network
layer is the Router. It provides
1) Routing: routes frames among networks.
2) Subnet traffic control: routers (network layer intermediate systems) can
instruct a sending station to "throttle back" its frame transmission when
the router's buffer fills up.
3) Frame fragmentation: if it determines that a downstream router's
maximum transmission unit (MTU) size is less than the frame size, a
router can fragment a frame for transmission and re-assembly at the
destination station.
4) Logical-physical address mapping: translates logical addresses, or
 names, into physical addresses.
5) Subnet usage accounting: has accounting functions to keep track of
frames forwarded by subnet intermediate systems, to produce billing
information.
Transport The transport layer provides end-to-end data transport services and it also
establishes a logical connection between the sending host and destination
host on an internetwork. It provides
1) Message segmentation: accepts a message from the (session) layer
above it, splits the message into smaller units (if not already small
enough), and passes the smaller units down to the network layer. The
transport layer at the destination station reassembles the message.
2) Message acknowledgment: provides reliable end-to-end message
delivery with acknowledgments.
3) Message traffic control: tells the transmitting station to "back-off"
when no message buffers are available.
4) Session multiplexing: multiplexes several message streams, or sessions
onto one logical link and keeps track of which messages belong to which
sessions (see session layer).
Session It is responsible for setting up, managing, and then tearing down sessions
between presentation layer entities. This layer also provides dialog control
between devices or hosts. Its provides:
1) Session establishment, maintenance and termination: allows two
application processes on different machines to establish, use and
terminate a connection, called a session.
2) Session support: performs the functions that allow these processes to
communicate over the network, performing security, name recognition,
logging, and so on.
Presentation As the name implies, it present data to the application layer and it is
responsible for data translation and code formatting. It provides
1) Character code translation: for example, ASCII to EBCDIC.
2) Data conversion: bit order, CR-CR/LF, integer-floating point, and so
on.
3) Data compression: reduces the number of bits that need to be
transmitted on the network.
4) Data encryption: encrypt data for security purposes. For example,
 password encryption.

Application The application layer marks the spot where users actually communicate to
the computer. This layer only comes into play when it is apparent that
access to the network is going to be needed soon. This layer contains a
variety of commonly needed functions:
1) Resource sharing and device redirection
2) Remote file access
3) Remote printer access
4) Inter-process communication
5) Network management
6) Directory services
7) Electronic messaging (such as mail)
8) Network virtual terminals

Questions
1. What are the concerns of the physical layer in the Internet model?
2. What are the responsibilities of the data link layer in the Internet model?
3. What are the responsibilities of the network layer in the Internet model?
4. What are the responsibilities of the transport layer in the Internet model?
5. What is the difference between a port address, a logical address, and a physical address? 6.
Name some services provided by the application layer in the Internet model.
7. How do the layers of the Internet model correlate to the layers of the OSI model?
8. How are OSI and ISO related to each other? 9. Match the following to one or more layers
of the OSI model: a) Route determination b) Flow control c) Interface to transmission media
d) Provides access for the end user
9. Match the following to one or more layers of the OSI model: a) Reliable process-to-
process message delivery b) Route selection c) Defines frames d) Provides user services such
as e-mail and file transfer e) Transmission of bit stream across physical medium
10. Match the following to one or more layers of the OSl model: a) Communicates directly
with user's application program b) Error correction and retransmission c) Mechanical,
electrical, and functional interface d) Responsibility for carrying frames between adjacent
nodes.
 DATA COMMUNICATION SOFTWARE AND PROTOCOL

Data Communication Software

The basic concept behind data communication and network is for the two or more computer
or electronic devices to see each other and share resources. For that to be archived there must
be a program or software responsible for the communication to take place. The software in
this case is refers to as data communication software. Data communication Software is
basically a computer program that.
1. It is a computer program required on DTE (PC) to bridge the gap and interpret the
bits/bytes that are transmitted via the communication media through the interface.
2. The Core of Data Communication is Communication Software without software, Data
communication is incomplete.
3. Communication Software is responsible for controlling data formatting, data transmission,
and total communication control.
4. It May completely resides on central PC or part of it may be located on the front end
communication PC, a concentrator, remote concentrator or in intelligent terminals.

Significance of Data Communication Software

1) Defines the communication parameters like communication speed, error rate, bandwidth,
protocols, etc.
2) Controls the user accessibility to information. It means how a user can access the
information and how information shall be presented to user.
3) It controls the optimal configuration of communication hardware and makes the effective
utilization of network resources.

Function of Communication software

1) Establish logical data paths.
2) Check accuracy of each transmission, and arrange retransmission if necessary (e.g.
TCP/IP).
3) Exercise flow control to avoid congestion and loss of data.
4) Maintaining the statistics on traffic volumes over all links, and on network reliability
5) Transmission initiation and termination is done by communication software when user
prompts it. In case of modem, modem initialization and making it ready function come under
this category.
6) Establishment of logical connections over physical line like dialing the number on phone
lines.
7) Message Assembly and De-assembly.
8) Data Transmission and receipt. It means Modulation of digital data into analog and vice
versa by modem).
9) Code conversion is done by communication software where it format the data
10) Error Detection is also done by it. It checks for lost bits and other error introduced while
transmitting.
11) Data Editing
12) Control Character Recognition
13) Data Delivery and output. Communication software control the output and delivery of
data at the destination)
14)Transmission monitoring and maintenance

Categories of Communication Software

Data communication software can be categories into two:
1. Application Software: These are the software that enables end users to perform one task or
the other on data communication and network system. For example Email Software - all
types for email software's which include the following, Broadcast Software - including MP3s,
audio recording and call recording software, and Wireless Software - all types of wireless
related software's
2. System Software: Software that allows you to connect with other computers or mobile
devices via text, video or audio formats in either a synchronous or asynchronous manner.
They are set of software that enable data communication system to function and meet the
require objective of resources sharing and other functionability. Data communication system
software can be classified in into development software, and management software e.g.
networks traffic analyzer, a ping/traceroute program, firewall etc.

Communication 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, just as a person speaking Igbo cannot be understood by a person who
speaks only Yoruba. A communication protocol is a description of the rules that
communication devices must follow to communicate with each other. A Protocol is one of
the components of a data communications system. Without protocol communication cannot
occur. The sending device cannot just send the data and expect the receiving device to receive
and further interpret it correctly. Protocol was mentioned briefly in chapter two of this book
but discussed fully in this chapter.

Elements of a Protocol
There are three key elements of a protocol:
1 Syntax is the structure or format of the data. It is the arrangement of data in a particular
order.
2 Semantics gives the meaning of each section of bits and indicates the interpretation of each
section. It also tells what action/decision is to be taken based on the interpretation.
3 Timing tells the sender about the readiness of the receiver to receive the data It tells the
sender at what rate the data should be sent to the receiver to avoid overwhelming the receiver.

Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)

TCP/IP is the basic communication protocol for two or more computers or electronic devices
(e.g mobile phone) to communicate with one another on a network setup. TCP/IP stands for
Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol. TCP/IP defines how electronic devices (like
computers) should be connected to the Internet, and how data should be transmitted between
them. TCP/IP is the major protocol in communication network that communication can do
without. Inside the TCP/IP standard there are several protocols for handling data
communication these are: TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) communication between
applications; UDP (User Datagram Protocol) simple communication between applications; IP
(Internet Protocol) communication between computers; ICMP (Internet Control Message
Protocol) for errors and statistics; DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) for
dynamic addressing; and TCP Uses a Fixed Connection.

Transmission Control Protocol: Transmission Control Protocol takes care of the

communication between your application software (i.e. your browser) and your network
software. TCP is responsible for breaking data down into IP packets before they are sent, and
for assembling the packets when they arrive. TCP is for communication between
applications. If one application wants to communicate with another via TCP, it sends a
communication request. This request must be sent to an exact address. After a "handshake"
between the two applications, TCP will set up a "full-duplex" communication between the
two applications. The "full-duplex" communication will occupy the communication line
between the two computers until it is closed by one of the two applications.

Internet Protocol: Internet Protocol is Connection-Less i.e, it does not occupy the
communication line between two computers. The Network Layer protocol for TCP/IP is the
Internet Protocol (IP). It uses IP addresses and the subnet mask to determine whether the
datagram is on the local or a remote network. If it is on the remote network, the datagram is
forwarded to the default gateway which is a router that links to another network. IP keeps
track of the number of transverses through each router that the datagram goes through to
reach its destination. Each transverse is called a hop. If the hop count exceeds 255 hops, the
datagram is removed and the destination considered unreachable. IP reduces the need for
network lines. Each line can be used for communication between many different computers at
the same time. With IP, messages (or other data) are broken up into small independent
"packets" and sent between computers via the Internet. IP is responsible for "routing" each
packet to the correct destination.

Special Purpose Protocol

The special purpose protocols are the set of protocols design to perform a single task on
communication network system. Some of these protocols and their function are listed below:

1) HTTP - Hyper Text Transfer Protocol: HTTP takes care of the communication between a
web server and a web browser. HTTP is used for sending requests from a web client (a
browser) to a web server, returning web content (web pages) from the server back to the
client.
2) HTTPS - Secure HTTP: HTTPS takes care of secure communication between a web
server and a web browser. HTTPS typically handles credit card transactions and other
sensitive data.
3) SSL - Secure Sockets Layer: The SSL protocol is used for encryption of data for secure
data transmission.
4) MIME - Multi-purpose Internet Mail Extensions: The MIME protocol lets SMTP transmit
multimedia files including voice, audio, and binary data across TCP/IP networks.
5) IMAP - Internet Message Access Protocol: IMAP is used for storing and retrieving e-
mails.
6) FTP - File Transfer Protocol: FTP takes care of transmission of files between computers.
7) NTP - Network Time Protocol: NTP is used to synchronize the time (the clock) between
computers.
8) DHCP - Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol: DHCP is used for allocation of dynamic IP
addresses to computers in a network.
9) SNMP - Simple Network Management Protocol: SNMP is used for administration of
computer networks.
10) LDAP - Lightweight Directory Access Protocol: LDAP is used for collecting
information about users and e-mail addresses from the internet.
11) ICMP - Internet Control Message Protocol: ICMP takes care of error-handling in the
network.
12) ARP - Address Resolution Protocol: ARP is used by IP to find the hardware address of a
computer network card based on the IP address.
13) RARP - Reverse Address Resolution Protocol: RARP is used by IP to find the IP address
based on the hardware address of a computer network card.

Questions
1. Define communication software
2. What are general functions of communication Software 3. Give examples and function of
the following communication Software.
i. Broadcast software
ii. Messaging software
iii. Instant communication Software
4. TCP/IP Protocol is communication software. Yes or NO discuss your answer.
5. What are the elements of communication protocol
6. Compare TCP and IP, hence highlights and gives function of basic protocol for handling
data communication
7. Describe the communication between one application and other via TCP/IP
8. What happen when a new domain name is registered together with TCP/IP address
 COMPUTER NETWORK SECURITY

Description of Network Security Treat

Network security has become increasingly important with the growth in the number and
importance of networks Network security issues include protecting data from unauthorized
access, protecting data from damage and development, and implementing policies and
procedures for recovery from breaches and data losses. Network security is expensive. It is
also very important. An institution network would possibly be subject to more stringent
security requirements than a similarly-sized corporate network, because of its likelihood of
storing personal and confidential information of network users, the danger of which can be
compounded if any network users are minors. A great deal of attention must be paid to
network services to ensure all network content is appropriate for the network community it
serves.

Security Requirements and Attacks

- Network Security Requirements

To understand the types of threats to security that exist, we need to have a definition of
security requirements. Computer and network security address four requirements:

1. Confidentiality: Requires that data only be accessible by authorized parties. This type of
access includes printing, displaying, and other forms of disclosure, including simply
revealing the existence of an object.

2. Integrity: Requires that only authorized parties can modify data. Modification includes
writing, changing, changing status, deleting, and creating.

3. Availability: Requires that data are available to authorized parties. 4. Authenticity:

Requires that a host or service be able to verify the identity of a user.

-Network Security Threats

1) Attacks against IP A number of attacks against IP are possible. Typically, these exploit
the fact that IP does not perform a robust mechanism for authentication, which is proving that
a packet came from where it claims it did. A packet simply claims to originate from a given
address, and there isn't a way to be sure that the host that sent the packet is telling the truth.
This isn't necessarily a weakness, per se, but it is an important point, because it means that
the facility of host authentication has to be provided at a higher layer on the ISO/OSI
Reference Model. Today, applications that require strong host authentication (such as
cryptographic applications) do this at the application layer. An attack against IP includes:

a) IP Spoofing: This is where one host claims to have the IP address of another. Since many
systems (such as router access control lists) define which packets may and which packets
may not pass based on the sender's IP address, this is a useful technique to an attacker: he can
send packets to a host, perhaps causing it to take some sort of action. Additionally, some
applications allow login based on the IP address of the person making the request

b. IP Session Hijacking: This is a relatively sophisticated attack, first described by Steve

Bellovin. This is very dangerous, however, because there are now toolkits available in the
underground community that allow otherwise unskilled bad-guy-wannabes to perpetrate this
attack. IP Session Hijacking is an attack whereby a user's session is taken over, being in the
control of the attacker. If the user was in the middle of email, the attacker is looking at the
email, and then can execute any commands he wishes as the attacked user. The attacked user
simply sees his session dropped, and may simply login again, perhaps not even noticing that
the attacker is still logged in and doing things.

2) Denial-of-Service DoS attacks are probably the nastiest, and most difficult to address.
These are the nastiest, because they're very easy to launch, difficult (sometimes impossible)
to track, and it isn't easy to refuse the requests of the attacker, without also refusing legitimate
requests for service. The premise of a DoS attack is simple: send more requests to the
machine than it can handle. There are toolkits available in the underground community that
make this a simple matter of running a program and telling it which host to blast with
requests. The attacker's program simply makes a connection on some service port, perhaps
forging the packet's header information that says where the packet came from, and then
dropping the connection. If the host is able to answer 20 requests per second, and the attacker
is sending 50 per second, obviously the host will be unable to service all of the attacker's
requests, much less any legitimate requests (hits on the web site running there, for example).
Such attacks were fairly common in late 1996 and early 1997, but are now becoming less
popular. Some things that can be done to reduce the risk of being stung by a denial of service
attack include

i) Not running your visible-to-the-world servers at a level too close to capacity

ii) Using packet filtering to prevent obviously forged packets from entering into your network
address space. Obviously forged packets would include those that claim to come from your
own hosts, addresses reserved for private networks as defined in RFC 1918 and the loopback
network (127.0.0.0).

iii) Keeping up-to-date on security-related patches for your hosts' operating systems.

3) Unauthorized Access: Unauthorized access is a very high-level term that can refer to a
number of different sorts of attacks. The goal of these attacks is to access some resource that
your machine should not provide the attacker. For example, a host might be a web server, and
should provide anyone with requested web pages. However, that host should not provide
command shell access without being sure that the person making such a request is someone
who should get it, such as a local administrator.

4) Executing Commands Illicitly: It's obviously undesirable for an unknown and untrusted
person to be able to execute commands on your server machines. There are two main
classifications of the severity of this problem: normal user access, and administrator access.
A normal user can do a number of things on a system (such as read files, mail them to other
people, etc.) that an attacker should not be able to do. This might, then, be all the access that
an attacker needs. On the other hand, an attacker might wish to make configuration changes
to a host (perhaps changing its IP address, putting a start-up script in place to cause the
machine to shut down every time it's started, or something similar). In this case, the attacker
will need to gain administrator privileges on the host.

5) Confidentiality Breaches: We need to examine the threat model: what is it that you're
trying to protect yourself against? There is certain information that could be quite damaging
if it fell into the hands of a competitor, an enemy, or the public. In these cases, it's possible
that compromise of a normal user's account on the machine can be enough to cause damage
(perhaps in the form of PR, or obtaining information that can be used against the company,
etc). While many of the perpetrators of these sorts of break-ins are merely thrill-seekers
interested in nothing more than to see a shell prompt for your computer on their screen, there
are those who are more malicious, as we'll consider next. (Additionally, keep in mind that it's
possible that someone who is normally interested in nothing more than the thrill could be
persuaded to do more: perhaps an unscrupulous competitor is willing to hire such a person to
hurt you.)

6) Destructive Behavior Among the destructive sorts of break-ins and attacks, there are two
major categories.

a) Data Diddling: The data diddler is likely the worst sort, since the fact of a break-in might
not be immediately obvious. Perhaps he's toying with the numbers in your spreadsheets, or
changing the dates in your projections and plans. Maybe he's changing the account numbers
for the auto-deposit of certain paychecks. In any case, rare is the case when you will come in
to work one day, and simply know that something is wrong. An accounting procedure might
turn up a discrepancy in the books three or four months after the fact. Trying to track the
problem down will certainly be difficult, and once that problem is discovered, how can any of
your numbers from that time period be trusted? How far back do you have to go before you
think that your data is safe?

b) Data Destruction: Some of those perpetrate attacks are simply twisted jerks who like to
delete things. In these cases, the impact on your computing capability -- and consequently
your business -- can be nothing less than if a fire or other disaster caused your computing
equipment to be completely destroyed.

Network Security Threats Prevention

Encryption Method

The universal technique for providing confidentiality for transmitted data is symmetric
encryption. A symmetric encryption scheme has five components.

a. Plaintext: This is the original message or data that is fed into the algorithm as input.
b. Encryption algorithm: The encryption algorithm performs various substitutions and
transformations on the plaintext.

c. Secret key: The secret key is also input to the encryption algorithm. The exact substitutions
and transformations performed by the algorithm depend on the key.

d. Ciphertext: This is the scrambled message produced as output. It depends on the plaintext
and the secret key. For a given message, two different keys will produce two different
ciphertexts.

e. Decryption algorithm: This is essentially the encryption algorithm run in reverse. It takes
the ciphertext and the secret key and produces the original plaintext.

Cryptographic Algorithms

There are several ways of classifying cryptographic algorithms. For this class, they will be
categorized based on the number of keys that are employed for encryption and decryption,
and further defined by their application and use. The three types of algorithms that will be
discussed

a. Secret Key Cryptography (SKC): Uses a single key for both encryption and decryption

b. Public Key Cryptography (PKC): Uses one key for encryption and another for decryption

c. Hash Functions: Uses a mathematical transformation to irreversibly "encrypt" information

Secret Key Cryptography

With secret key cryptography, a single key is used for both encryption and decryption. As
shown in Figure 33A, the sender uses the key (or some set of rules) to encrypt the plaintext
and sends the ciphertext to the receiver. The receiver applies the same key (or ruleset) to
decrypt the message and recover the plaintext. Because a single key is used for both
functions, secret key cryptography is also called symmetric encryption. With this form of
cryptography, it is obvious that the key must be known to both the sender and the receiver;
that, in fact, is the secret. The biggest difficulty with this approach, of course, is the
distribution of the key.

Secret key cryptography schemes are generally categorized as being either stream ciphers or
block ciphers. Stream ciphers operate on a single bit (byte or computer word) at a time and
implement some form of feedback mechanism so that the key is constantly changing. A block
cipher is so called because the scheme encrypts one block of data at a time using the same
key on each block. In general, the same plaintext block will always encrypt to the same
ciphertext when using the same key in a block cipher whereas the same plaintext will encrypt
to different ciphertext in a stream cipher.

Stream ciphers come in several flavors but two are worth mentioning here. Self-
synchronizing stream ciphers calculate each bit in the keystream as a function of the previous
n bits in the keystream. It is termed "self-synchronizing" because the decryption process can
stay synchronized with the encryption process merely by knowing how far into the n-bit
keystream it is. One problem is error propagation; a garbled bit in transmission will result in
n garbled bits at the receiving side. Synchronous stream ciphers generate the keystream in a
fashion independent of the message stream but by using the same keystream generation
function at sender and receiver. While stream ciphers do not propagate transmission errors,
they are, by their nature, periodic so that the keystream will eventually repeat.

Block ciphers can operate in one of several modes; the following four are the most important:

Electronic Codebook (ECB) mode is the simplest, most obvious application: the secret key
is used to encrypt the plaintext block to form a ciphertext block. Two identical plaintext
blocks, then, will always generate the same ciphertext block. Although this is the most
common mode of block ciphers, it is susceptible to a variety of bruteforce attacks.

Cipher Block Chaining (CBC) mode adds a feedback mechanism to the encryption scheme.
In CBC, the plaintext is exclusively-ORed (XORed) with the previous ciphertext block prior
to encryption. In this mode, two identical blocks of plaintext never encrypt to the same
ciphertext.

Cipher Feedback (CFB) mode is a block cipher implementation as a self-synchronizing

stream cipher. CFB mode allows data to be encrypted in units smaller than the block size,
which might be useful in some applications such as encrypting interactive terminal input. If
we were using 1-byte CFB mode, for example, each incoming character is placed into a shift
register the same size as the block, encrypted, and the block transmitted. At the receiving
side, the ciphertext is decrypted and the extra bits in the block (i.e., everything above and
beyond the one byte) are discarded.

Output Feedback (OFB) mode is a block cipher implementation conceptually similar to a

synchronous stream cipher. OFB prevents the same plaintext block from generating the same
ciphertext block by using an internal feedback mechanism that is independent of both the
plaintext and ciphertext bitstreams.

Public-Key Cryptography

PKC depends upon the existence of so-called one-way functions, or mathematical functions
that are easy to compute whereas their inverse function is relatively difficult to compute. In
PKC, one of the keys is designated the public key and may be advertised as widely as the
owner wants. The other key is designated the private key and is never revealed to another
party. It is straight forward to send messages under this scheme. Suppose Yekini wants to
send Adebari a message. Yekini encrypts some information using Adebari‟s public key;
Adebari decrypts the ciphertext using his private key. This method could be also used to
prove who sent a message; Yekini, for example, could encrypt some plaintext with his private
key; when Adebari decrypts using Yekini‟s public key, he knows that Yekini sent the
message and Yekini cannot deny having sent the message (non-repudiation).

Hash Functions

Hash functions, also called message digests and one-way encryption, and are algorithms that,
in some sense, use no key Instead, a fixed-length hash value is computed based upon the
plaintext that makes it impossible for either the contents or length of the plaintext to be
recovered. Hash algorithms are typically used to provide a digital fingerprint of a file's
contents often used to ensure that the file has not been altered by an intruder or virus. Hash
functions are also commonly employed by many operating systems to encrypt passwords.
Hash functions, then, provide a measure of the integrity of a file.

Why Three Encryption Techniques?

So, why are there so many different types of cryptographic schemes? Why can't we do
everything we need with just one? The answer is that each scheme is optimized for some
specific application(s).

- Hash functions, for example, are well-suited for ensuring data integrity because any change
made to the contents of a message will result in the receiver calculating a different hash value
than the one placed in the transmission by the sender. Since it is highly unlikely that two
different messages will yield the same hash value, data integrity is ensured to a high degree
of confidence.

- Secret key cryptography, on the other hand, is ideally suited to encrypting messages, thus
providing privacy and confidentiality. The sender can generate a session key on a per-
message basis to encrypt the message; the receiver, of course, needs the same session key to
decrypt the message.

- Public-key cryptography asymmetric schemes can also be used for non-repudiation and user
authentication; if the receiver can obtain the session key encrypted with the sender's private
key, then only this sender could have sent the message. Public-key cryptography could,
theoretically, also be used to encrypt messages although this is rarely done because secret-key
cryptography operates about 1000 times faster than public-key cryptography.
 Hybrid Cryptographic Scheme

A digital envelope comprises an encrypted message and an encrypted session key. Yekini
uses secret key cryptography to encrypt his message using the session key, which he
generates at random with each session. Yekini then encrypts the session key using Bello's
public key. The encrypted message and encrypted session key together form the digital
envelope. Upon receipt, Bello recovers the session secret key using his private key and then
decrypts the encrypted message.

The digital signature is formed in two steps. First, Yekini computes the hash value of her
message; next, he encrypts the hash value with his private key. Upon receipt of the digital
signature, Bello recovers the hash value calculated by Yekini by decrypting the digital
signature with Yekini's public key. Bello can then apply the hash function to Yekini's original
message, which he has already decrypted. If the resultant hash value is not the same as the
value supplied by Yekini, then Bello knows that the message has been altered; if the hash
values are the same, Bello should believe that the message he received is identical to the one
that Yekini sent. This scheme also provides nonrepudiation since it proves that Yekini sent
the message; if the hash value recovered by Bello using Yekini's public key proves that the
message has not been altered, then only Yekini could have created the digital signature. Bello
also has proof that he is the intended receiver; if he can correctly decrypt the message, then
he must have correctly decrypted the session key meaning that his is the correct private key.

Firewall

A firewall is simply a group of components that collectively form a barrier between two
networks. A firewall is a hardware or software system that prevents unauthorized access to or
from a network. They can be implemented in both hardware and software, or a combination
of both. Firewalls are frequently used to prevent unauthorized Internet users from accessing
private networks connected to the Internet. All data entering or leaving the Intranet pass
through the firewall, which examines each packet and blocks those that do not meet the
specified security criteria.
Types of Firewall

Firewalls can be divided into five basic types: (1) Packet filters (2) Stateful Inspection (3)
Proxys (4) Dynamic (5) Kernel firewall

The divisions above however are not quite well defined as most modern firewalls have a mix
of abilities that place them in more than one of the categories listed. To simplify the most
commonly used firewalls, expert breaks them down into three categories:

1) Application firewalls

2) Network layer firewalls

3) Proxy firewalls

Network Layer Firewalls

Network layer firewalls generally make their decisions based on the source address,
destination address and ports in individual IP packets. A simple router is the traditional
network layer firewall, since it is not able to make particularly complicated decisions about
what a packet is actually talking to or where it actually came from. Modern network layer
firewalls have become increasingly more sophisticated, and now maintain internal
information about the state of connections passing through them at any time. One important
difference about many network layer firewalls is that they route traffic directly through them,
which means in order to use one, you either need to have a validly-assigned IP address block
or a private Internet address block. Network layer firewalls tend to be very fast and almost
transparent to their users.

Application Layer Firewalls

Application layer firewalls defined, are hosts running proxy servers, which permit no traffic
directly between networks, and they perform elaborate logging and examination of traffic
passing through them. Since proxy applications are simply software running on the firewall,
it is a good place to do lots of logging and access control. Application layer firewalls can be
used as network address translators, since traffic goes in one side and out the other, after
having passed through an application that effectively masks the origin of the initiating
connection. However, run-of-the-mill network firewalls cannot properly defend applications.
As Michael Cobb explains, application-layer firewalls offer Layer 7 security on a more
granular level, and may even help organizations get more out of existing network devices.

In some cases, having an application in the way may impact performance and may make the
firewall less transparent. Early application layer firewalls are not particularly transparent to
end-users and may require some training. However, more modern application layer firewalls
are often totally transparent. Application layer firewalls tend to provide more detailed audit
reports and tend to enforce more conservative security models than network layer firewalls.
The future of firewalls sits somewhere between both network layer firewalls and application
layer firewalls. It is likely that network layer firewalls will become increasingly aware of the
information going through them, and application layer firewalls will become more and more
transparent. The end result will be kind of a fast packet-screening system that logs and checks
data as it passes through.

Proxy Firewalls

Proxy firewalls offer more security than other types of firewalls, but this is at the expense of
speed and functionality, as they can limit which applications your network can support. Why
are they more secure? Unlike stateful firewalls, or application layer firewalls, which allow or
block network packets from passing to and from a protected network, traffic does not flow
through a proxy. Instead, computers establish a connection to the proxy, which serves as an
intermediary, and initiate a new network connection on behalf of the request. This prevents
direct connections between systems on either side of the firewall and makes it harder for an
attacker to discover where the network is, because they will never receive packets created
directly by their target system. Proxy firewalls also provide comprehensive, protocol-aware
security analysis for the protocols they support. This allows them to make better security
decisions than products that focus purely on packet header information.

Questions

1. Describe briefly any 5 network security threats you know

2. What are the precautions to reduce the risk of being stung by a denial of service in
computer Network?

3. Describe briefly the term cryptograph

4. Describe briefly firewall and it 3 major types

5. What are the major security requirement in network environment

6. What are the basic rules use to generate public and private keys in RSA algorithm

7. For RSA algorithm we have p = 5, q=11, n = 55 and (p-q) (q-1) = 40. Find the public and
private key, resulting ciphertext and verify the decryption.

8. Describe with diagram the use of hybrid cryptograph algorithm that combines secret,
public, and harsh function for Mr. A to send information to B.

9. Compare the strength of secret, public, and harsh function cryptograph algorithm.