CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION TO DATA COMMUNICATION AND

COMPUER NETWORK

prepared by:-Fikirte G.

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 Outline
 Communication Basics
 Data Representation techniques
 Communication components
 Modes of Data transmission
 Definition of Computer Networks
 Network Topology
 Network Architecture
 Transmission Media

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 Data communication basics
Definition of Data Communication
 When we communicate, we are sharing information. This sharing
can be local or remote.
 Between individuals, local communication usually occurs face
to face, while remote communication takes place over
distance.
 The term telecommunication, which includes telephony, telegraphy,
and television, means communication at a distance (tele is Greek
for "far").

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 Cont…
 Data communication is the exchange of data between two or
more devices via some form of transmission medium such as a
wire or cable.
 Data communication is exchange of data between source and
receiver
 For data communications to occur, the communicating devices
must be part of a communication system made up of a
combination of hardware (physical equipment) and software
(programs).

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Cont’d

 The effectiveness of a data communications system

depends on four fundamental characteristics:
❖ Delivery, Accuracy, Timeliness, and Jitter.
 Delivery: The system must deliver data to the correct
destination. Data must be received by the intended device or
user and only by that device or user.
 Accuracy: The system must deliver the data accurately.
Data that have been altered in transmission and left
uncorrected are unusable.

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 Cont…
 Timeliness: The system must deliver data in a timely manner.
 Data delivered late are useless. In the case of video and audio,
timely delivery means delivering data as they are produced, in the
same order that they are produced, and without significant delay.
This kind of delivery is called real-time transmission.
 Jitter: Jitter refers to the variation in the packet arrival time.
It is the uneven delay in the delivery of audio or video packets. For
example, let us assume that video packets are sent every 3 ms.
 If some of the packets arrive with 3ms delay and others with 4ms
delay, an uneven quality in the video is the result.

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 Communication Components
A data communications system has five components
 Message: The message is the information (data) to be
communicated.
 Popular forms of information include text, numbers,
pictures, audio, and video.
 Sender: The sender is the device that sends the data
message. It can be a computer, workstation, telephone
handset, video camera, and so on.
 Receiver: The receiver is the device that receives the
message. It can be a computer, workstation, telephone
handset, television, and so on.

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 Cont…
 Transmission medium: The transmission medium is the
physical path by which a message travels from sender to receiver.
 Some examples of transmission media include twisted-pair wire,
coaxial cable, fiber-optic cable, and radio waves.
 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 French cannot be
understood by a person who speaks only Japanese.

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 Data representation techniques
Data can be represented in different forms such as text,
numbers, images, audio, and video.
 Text: In data communications, text is represented as a bit
pattern, a sequence of bits (0s or 1s). Different sets of bit
patterns have been designed to represent text symbols.
 Each set is called a code, and the process of representing
symbols is called coding.
 Today, the prevalent coding system is called Unicode, which
uses 32 bits to represent a symbol or character used in any
language in the world

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 Cont…
 Numbers: Numbers are also represented by bit patterns.
 However, a code such as ASCII is not used to represent
numbers; the number is directly converted to a binary
number to simplify mathematical operations
 Images: Images are also represented by bit patterns. In its
simplest form, an image is composed of a matrix of pixels
(picture elements), where each pixel is a small dot.
 The size of the pixel depends on the resolution.
 For example, an image can be divided into 1000 pixels or
10,000 pixels.

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 Cont…
 Audio: Audio refers to the recording or broadcasting of sound
or music. Audio is by nature different from text, numbers, or
images. It is continuous, not discrete.
 Video: Video refers to the recording or broadcasting of a
picture or movie. Video can either be produced as a
continuous entity (e.g., by a TV camera), or it can be a
combination of images, each a discrete entity, arranged to convey
the idea of motion

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 Modes of Data transmission

▪ Mode of data transmission refers direction of

data flow between two device

▪ Communication between two devices can be

✓simplex,

✓ Half-duplex or

✓ Full-duplex

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 Simplex Mode
 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.
 Example: Keyboard and traditional monitors. The
keyboard can only introduce input, the monitor can only
give the output.

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 Half-Duplex Mode
 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.

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 Full-Duplex Mode
 Full-duplex mode is used when communication in both
directions is required all the time.
 In full-duplex mode, both stations can transmit and receive
simultaneously.
✓ Either the link must contain two physically separate
transmission paths, one for sending and the other for
receiving.
✓ Or the capacity of the channel, however, must be divided
between the two directions.
✓ Example: Telephone Network in which there is
communication between two persons by a telephone line,
through which both can talk and listen at the same time.

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 What is Computer Network?

▪ Computer network is an interconnection of two or more

computers and peripherals such as printers and faxes.
▪ Computer network allows the user to share and transfer
information using cables or modems within a network.
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 Categories of Network
▪ Based on its size, ownership, the distance it covers and

its physical architecture network can be categorized In to

 Local Area Network (LAN),

 Metropolitan Area Network (MAN), and

 Wide Area Network (WAN).

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 LAN
 A LAN is usually privately owned and links the devices in a

single office, building or campus.

 A LAN can be as simple as two PCs or it can extend throughout a

company.

 LAN size is limited to a few kilometers.

 The most widely used LAN system is the Ethernet system

developed by the Xerox Corporation

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 Cont’d
 The common LAN topologies are bus, ring and star.
 LANs have data rates in the 4 to 10 megabits per second. Can also reach
100 Mbps with gigabit systems in development.
 A LAN may also be connected to another LAN or to WANs and MAN’s
using a "router

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 Metropolitan Area Network
 A MAN is designed to extend over an entire city.
 May be a single network such as cable TV network
 May be a means of connecting a number of LANs into a larger
network
 Resources may be shared LAN to LAN as well as device to
device

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 Cont…
 Example: A company can use a MAN to connect the LANs in

all its offices throughout a city.

 A MAN can be owned by a private company or it may be a

service provided by a public company ,such as local telephone

company

 Telephone companies provide a popular MAN service called

(SMDS) Switched Multi-megabit Data Services.

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 Wide Area Network (WAN)
 A WAN provides long distance transmission of data, voice, image
and video information over large geographic areas.
 It may comprise a country, continent or even the whole
world. Transmission rates are typically 2 Mbps, 34 Mbps, and
45 Mbps, 155 Mbps, 625 Mbps (or sometimes considerably
more).
 WAN utilize public, leased, or private communication
equipment usually in combinations and therefore span an
unlimited number of miles.

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 Cont’d
 A WAN that is wholly owned and used by a single company is referred to as an
Enterprise Network. The figure represents the comparison of the different types of
networks

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 Network Topologies
 Refers to how various nodes, devices, and connections on
your network are physically or logically arranged in relation
to each other.
 The physical topology of a network refers to the physical layout
of the devices, but mostly the cabling and cabling layout.
 The primary physical topology categories are bus, ring, star, and mesh.
 The logical topology defines the logical path on which the signal
will travel from on the physical topology.
 is bound to network protocols and describe how data is moved across
the network

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 Physical Topology
 Topology is physical layout of computer, cable and other
components of computer network
 Topology is the arrangement of networking device in
networked environments.
 The topology of a network is the geometric representation of
the relationship of all the links and the linking devices tone
another

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 Cont…
The basic topologies are
 Star Topology
 Bus Topology
 Mesh Topology
 Ring Topology and
 Hybrid Topology

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 Bus Topology
• A Bus topology consists of a single cable called a backbone
connecting all nodes on a network without intervening
connectivity devices
• one long cable acts as a backbone to link all the devices
in the network
• All the device receive the signal.
• Cable must end with a terminator that absorbs the signal
when it reaches the end of the line wire.

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 Cont’d

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 Cont’d
 Advantages
 less cabling
 Bus topologies are a good, cost-effective choice for smaller
networks because the layout is simple, allowing all devices to be
connected via a single coaxial or RJ45 cable.
 Coaxial or twisted pair cables are mainly used in bus-based
networks that support up to 10 Mbps.
 Bus topology is familiar technology as installation and
troubleshooting techniques are well known.
 If needed, more nodes can be easily added to the network by
joining additional cables.

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 Cont’d
 Disadvantages
 signal reflection at the taps can cause degradation in quality
 If the cable experiences a failure, the whole network goes down,
which can be time-consuming and expensive to restore
 If the network traffic is heavy, it increases collisions in the network.
 Furthermore, data is “half-duplex,” which means it can’t be sent in
two opposite directions at the same time, so this layout is not the
ideal choice for networks with huge amounts of traffic.
 Security is very low.

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 Star Topology
▪ Every node on the network is connected through a central
device called hub or switch.
▪ Is the most common Physical topology in Ethernet
(LANs)

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 Cont’d
 Advantages  Disadvantages
▪ Good option for modern ▪ Single point of failure
networks
▪ Easy to manage ▪ Requires more cable
▪ a failure of a link has no
effect on others length than a linear
▪ devices can be added, topology (Bus or Ring)
removed, and modified
without taking the entire ▪ More expensive than
network offline.
▪ fault identification and linear bus topologies
isolation are easy
because of the cost of the
concentrators.

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 Ring topology
▪ Each device has a dedicated point-to-point connection
with only the two devices on either side of it and forms
a circle.
▪ a signal is passed along the ring in one direction, from
device to device, until it reaches its destination
▪ each device incorporates a repeater (to regenerate bits
received before passing it)

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 Cont’d
▪ Advantages ▪ Disadvantages
▪ Ring networks are  In a simple ring, a break
moderately easy to install in the ring can disable the
▪ Equal access for all users entire network.
▪ Each workstation has full  Difficult Connections.
access speed to the ring  Expensive.
▪ Cable faults are easily located,  Requires more cable and
making troubleshooting easier network equipment at the
start.
 Expansion to the network
can cause network
disruption.

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 Mesh Topology
▪ Every device has a dedicated point-to-point link to every
other device
▪ Every device must have n-1 I/O ports

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 Cont’d
▪ Advantages ▪ Disadvantages
▪ no traffic problem ▪ Requires more cable
▪ a failure of a link has no than the other LAN
effect on others topologies
▪ privacy or security ▪ Complicated
▪ The network can be implementation
expanded without ▪ Installation and reconnection
are difficult.
disruption to current uses
▪ Expensive
▪ Point to point links make
fault identification and
fault isolation easy

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 Hybrid Topologies
 One example of Hybrid Topology is Tree topology
 Tree topology is a combination of Bus and Star
topology.
 It consists of groups of star-configured workstations
connected to a linear bus backbone cable.
 If the backbone line breaks, the entire segment goes
down
 An example of this network could be cable TV
technology

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 Hybrid Topologies

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 Choosing a Topology
 BUS
 network is small
 network will not be frequently reconfigured
 least expensive solution is required
 network is not expected to grow much
 STAR
 it must be easy to add/remove PCs
 it must be easy to troubleshoot
 network is large
 network is expected to grow in the future
 RING
 network must operate reasonably under heavy load
 higher speed network is required
 network will not be frequently reconfigured

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 Network Architecture
 Network Architecture : includes the type of computers on
the network and determines how network resources are
handled
 Two common types
 Peer-to-peer
 Client/Server
 Peer-to-peer
 Each node considered as equal in terms of resource sharing
and responsibilities

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  Peer-to-peer networks are good choices for environments where:
 There are 10 users or fewer
 Users share resources, such as printers, but no specialised servers exist
 Security is not an issue
 The organization and the network will experience only limited growth
within the foreseeable future

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 • Client Server Model
– Consists of a group clients connected to a server
– Server – with more RAM, larger hard disk, more processing
power…

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 Transmission media
 Is a physical media that carries a signal from the transmitter to the receiver
 The information or signal transmitted from one device to another is
through electromagnetic signals.
 Electromagnetic signals include power, voice, radio, waves, infrared light,
visible light, ultraviolet light, X-rays, and gamma rays.
 These signals can travel trough vacuum, air or any other transmission
medium
 The measurement of the quantity of data that can be passed down
(transmitted) a communication link in a given time is done in terms of
bandwidth
 In digital circuits, bandwidth is measured in bits per second (bps)

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  Two basic categories
 Guided
 Unguided
 Guided – uses a cabling system that guides the signals along a specific
path
 E.g. Fiber Optics, Twisted Pair, Coaxial Cable etc…

 Unguided – consists of a means for the data signals to travel but

nothing to guide them along a specific path - wireless
 Example: Radio wave, Satellite, etc.

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 Twisted Pair
 Twisted-pair is a type of cabling that is used for telephone

communications and most modern Ethernet networks.

 Consists of two insulated copper wires twisted around each other

 A pair of wires forms a circuit that can transmit data.

 The pairs are twisted to provide protection against

crosstalk, the noise generated by adjacent pairs.

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 Cable

RJ-45 Connector

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 Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP)
 ordinary telephone wire
 cheapest
 easiest to install
 suffers from external EM
interference

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 Shielded Twisted Pair (STP)

 metal braid or sheathing

that reduces
interference
 more expensive
 harder to handle (thick,
heavy)
 in a variety of categories
- see EIA-568

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  Coaxial Cable
 Consists of a solid or stranded copper core surrounded by insulation,
a braided shield and an insulating jacket
 Braided shield prevents noise and crosstalk
 More resistant to interference and attenuation than twisted pair
cabling
 Can transmit data, voice and video
 Up to 200/500 meters without a repeater depending on the type of
cable
 Can use
 BNC cable connector
 BNC Barrel connectors
 BNC T connectors
 BNC Terminators

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 BNC Cable Connector BNC Barrel Connector

50 BNC T-Connector
BNC Terminator
Fiber Optic Cable
 Fiber optic cable (or optical fiber) is a thin glass fiber cable
approximately a little thicker than a human hair surrounded by a
plastic coating that can carry information at frequencies in the
visible light spectrum.
 Optical fiber is a cable that accepts and transports signals in the
form of light.
 Fibers are unidirectional (light only travels in one direction) so two
fibers are used, one for sending and one for receiving

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 Cont’d
 Good for very high speed, long distance data transmission
 Not subjected to electrical interference
 Cable cannot be tapped and data stolen => high security
 Up to 2000 meters without a repeater
 Most expensive and difficult to work with.

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 Fiber Optics Cable

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 Unguided Transmission Media
• transport waves without using a physical conductor- data
signals flows through the air.
• are the ways of transmitting data without using any cables.
• These media are not bounded by physical geography.
• Signals are normally broadcast through free space and thus are
available to anyone who has a device capable of receiving
them.
• This type of transmission is often referred to as Wireless
communication.

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