CHAPTER 1

Data Communication Fundamentals

prepared by:Fisseha W.(M.Tech)

Feb-2025

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Outline
ꙮ Introduction
ꙮ Need of Computer Network
ꙮ Communications model
ꙮ Categories of Networks and
Internetworks
ꙮ Network Topologies
ꙮ Networks, Protocols and Standards

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 Introduction
Data communication
 Deals with the transmission of signals in a reliable and
efficient manner.
 Are the exchange of data between two devices via some form
of transmission medium such as a wire cable.
• 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.

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Cont…
The effectiveness of a data communications system depends on
the following fundamental characteristics
 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.
 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.
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Cont…
Data Flow
Communication between two devices
can be simplex, half-duplex, or full-duplex
as shown in below.
Simplex: 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.
Monitor
Half-Duplex: 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.
Walkie-talkies
Full-Duplex: it is also called duplex both
stations can transmit and receive
simultaneously. Telephone 5
Cont…
What is a computer network?
 Computer network is a system in which a number of independent
computers are linked together to share data.
 A collection of computing devices that are connected in various
ways in order to communicate and share resources.
 Usually, the connections between computers in a network are
made using physical wires or cables
However, some connections are wireless, using radio waves or
infrared signals.

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Why Networking?
• Sharing information — i.e. data communication

• Do you prefer these?

• Or this?

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• Sharing hardware or software

• E.g. print document

• Centralize administration and support

• E.g. Internet-based, so everyone can access the same
administrative or support application from their PCs

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Need of computer networks
1. Resource sharing
2. Means of communication
• E-mail
• Videoconferencing
• Chatting
• E-commerce
• Game
3. Centralizing administration and support
• Database
• Banks

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 Communications model
Message
 Information or data to be communicated
 Can be text, numbers video or any combination of
these
 In short anything that can be represented using
binary bits
Sender
 Device that sends the data message
 Can be computer, work station, video camera etc

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Cont…
Receiver

 Device that receives the message

 Can be computer, work station, video camera etc

Medium

 Physical path that a message uses to travel from the

Sender to the receiver

 Can be a Copper Cable, Coaxial Cable, Fiber Optic

Cable, or Wireless Medium
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 Cont…
protocol
 Set of rules governing communication
 Represents an agreement between devices
 With out protocol two devices may be connected but they will
not be able to communicate

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 Categories of Networks and Internetworks
There are three types of network:
1. Local Area Network (LAN)
2. Wide Area Network (WAN)
3. Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)

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Contd.
• Local-area network (LAN) A network that
connects a relatively small number of machines
in a relatively close geographical area.
• Small network, short distance
• A room, a floor, a building
• Limited by no. of computers and distance covered
• Usually one kind of technology throughout the LAN
• Serve a department within an organization
• Examples:
• Network inside the Student Computer Room
• Network inside your home

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LAN (cont)

The Local Area Network (LAN)

Client Client

Client Client

Client Client

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LAN(contd. )
• A LAN covers a
small area
such as one
site or building,
• eg a school or
a college.

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 Contd.
• Wide-area network (WAN) A network that connects two or more
local-area networks over a potentially large geographic distance
-Often one particular node on a LAN is set up to serve as a gateway to
handle all communication going between that LAN and other networks
• Wide Area Network (WAN) is a computer network that covers a
broad area (i.e., any network whose communications links cross
metropolitan, regional, or national boundaries). Or, less formally,
a network that uses routers and public communications links
• The largest and most well-known example of a WAN is the
Internet.

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WAN (cont)

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 WAN(contd. )

• A WAN covers a large
geographical area. Most
WANs are made from
several LANs connected
together.

• Note: When two or more

networks are connected
they become an
internetwork or internet.
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Contd.
• Metropolitan-area network (MAN) The
communication infrastructures that have been
developed in and around large cities.
• A metropolitan area network (MAN) is a network
that interconnects users with computer resources
in a geographic area or region larger than that
covered by even a large local area network (LAN)
but smaller than the area covered by a wide area
network (WAN).
• The term is applied to the interconnection of
networks in a city into a single larger network
(which may then also offer efficient connection to
a wide area network).
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MAN(cont)
Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)

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Peer-to-Peer Networks
• Peer-to-peer network is also called workgroup
• No hierarchy among computers  all are equal
• No administrator responsible for the network

Peer-to-peer

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• Advantages of peer-to-peer networks:
• Low cost
• Simple to configure
• User has full accessibility of the computer

• Disadvantages of peer-to-peer networks:

• May have duplication in resources
• Difficult to uphold security policy

• Where peer-to-peer network is appropriate:

• 10 or less users
• No specialized services required
• Security is not an issue
• Only limited growth in the foreseeable future
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Clients and Servers
• Network Clients (Workstation)
Workstation
• Computers that request network resources or
services
• Network Servers
• Computers that manage and provide network
resources and services to clients
• Usually have more processing power, memory
and hard disk space than clients
• Run Network Operating System that can manage
not only data, but also users, groups, security,
and applications on the network
• Servers often have a more stringent requirement
on its performance and reliability
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Network topology
• A topology is a way of “laying out” the network.
• Topologies can be either physical or logical.
• Physical topologies describe how the cables are run.
• Logical topologies describe how the network
messages travel.
Types of network topologies:
• Bus
• Star
• Ring
• Mesh

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Network topology(contd.)
• Bus topology All nodes are connected to a single
communication line that carries messages in both
directions
• Simple and low-cost
• A single cable called a trunk (backbone, segment)
• Only one computer can send messages at a time
• This topology uses the least amount of cabling, but
also covers the shortest amount of distance.

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 Contd.
The Bus (or line) Network:

Computers are
connected like bus
stops on a main road.
None of them is
more important than
any of the others.

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 Contd.

The Bus (Line) Network:

Advantages: Disadvantages:
•It is cheap as it uses the •With a lot of users, the
least amount of cable. network will be slow as data
has to travel through the
•More computers can be
same central cable.
added without disruption.
•Failure of the central cable
will stop the network from
working.

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Contd.(Network topology)
• Star topology A configuration that centers around
one node to which all others are connected and
through which all messages are sent.
• Each computer has a cable connected to a
single point
• More cabling, hence higher cost
• All signals transmission through the hub; if
down, entire network down
• Depending on the intelligence of hub, two or
more computers may send message at the
same time
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 Contd.
The Star Network:

Computers are
connected like a
star to a central
computer such as
a mainframe. This
is also called the
“host” computer.

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• Star Topology

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The Star Network:
Advantages: Disadvantages:
•If a cable fails, it will only •It is more expensive as it
affect one workstation. uses the most cabling.
•More computers can be •Failure of the central
added without disruption. computer will stop the
network from working.

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Contd.
• Ring topology A configuration that connects all
nodes in a closed loop on which messages travel in
one direction.
• Each entity participating in the ring reads a message,
then regenerates it and hands it to its neighbor on a
different network cable.
• Token passing
• only the computer who gets the token can send
data

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 Contd.

The Ring Network:

Computers are
connected together
to form a ring shape
so that none of them
is more important
than any of the
others.

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• Ring Topology

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The Ring Network:
Advantages: Disadvantages:
•They are cheap to expand. •If there are a lot of users on the
network, it could slow down as
•The data flows around the
all the data is sent along a
network in one direction so it is
single line.
fast.
•If one computer in the ring
•There is no reliance on a
stops working, the whole
central computer.
network stops.

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Contd.
Mesh topology
• The mesh topology is the simplest logical topology in
terms of data flow, but it is the most complex in terms
of physical design.
• In this physical topology, each device is connected to
every other device.
• This topology is rarely found in LANs, mainly because
of the complexity of the cabling.

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Network topology (cont.)
• Mesh Topology

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 Advantage and Disadvantage
• 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 doesn’t get affected.

3) Expansion and modification in topology can be done
without disrupting other nodes.

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• Disadvantages of Mesh topology
1) There are high chances of redundancy in many of the
network connections.

2) Overall cost of this network is 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.

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 Protocols
• In computer networks, communication occurs between entities in
different systems. An entity is anything capable of sending or
receiving information. However, two entities can not simply send bit
streams to each other and expect to be understood. For
communication to occur, the entities must agree on a protocol.
• A protocol is a set of rules that govern data communications.
• A protocol defines what is communicated, how it is communicated,
and when it is communicated.
• The key elements of a protocol are:
• o Syntax. is the structure or format of the data
• o Semantics. Is the meaning of each section of bits. How is a
particular pattern to be interpreted, and what action is to be taken
based on that interpretation?
• o Timing. Is when data should be sent and how fast they can be sent.

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 Standards
• Standards are agreed-upon rules
• Standards are essential in creating and maintaining an open and
competitive market for equipment manufacturers and in guaranteeing
national and international interoperability of data and
telecommunications technology and processes.
Data communication standards fall into two categories:
De facto (by fact or by convention):standards that have not been approved
by an organized body but have been adopted as a standard through
widespread use.De jure (by law or by regulation):standards that have
legislated by an officially recognized body.

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 Standards organizations
1. American National Standards Institute (ANSI)
Official Standards organization in the United States
It is completely private, nonprofit corporation
2. Electronic Industries Association(EIA)
It is nonprofit organization developed to the promotion of electronics
manufacturing concerns
Made significant contributions on information technology by defining
physical connection
3. Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineering(IEEE)
Very active in the development of data communications standards
Publishes several key networking standards in particular IEEE 802.3
IEEE is pronounced eye-tripe-E 43
Review questions
1. What are the characteristics of data communication?
2. What are the components of a data communication system?
3. Define computer network and categorize.
4. Explain protocols in details

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End of chapter 1

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