Data communication and networks

Data communication is the transfer or sharing of information from one computer to another, for
direct use or for further processing. A data communication system consists of hardware, software
and communication medium.
Data communication enables one computer (sender or transmitter) to transfers data to another
computer (receiver) over a communication channel or communication link.
This channel or link may be wired or wireless. These channels are classified according to their
bandwidth.

Components of Data Communication

Transmission medium Transmission medium

Sender / Message
transmitter Receiver

1. Message - It is the information to be communicated. Popular forms of information include

text, pictures, audio, video etc. Text is converted to binary, numbers are not converted, image is
converted to pixels, etc.

2. Sender - It is the device which sends the data messages. It can be a computer, workstation,
telephone handset etc.

3. Receiver - It is the device which receives the data messages. It can be a computer,
workstation, telephone handset etc.
4. Transmission Medium - It is the physical path by which a message travels from sender to
receiver. Some examples include twisted-pair wire, coaxial cable, radio waves etc.

5. Protocol - It is a set of rules that governs the 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.

Description & Bandwidth Usage

TRANSMISSION SPEED
This is the rate at which data are moved across a communication channel. The different
communication channel has different data transmission speed.

The difference between bandwidth and latency comes down to what they are
measuring.
Bandwidth looks at the amount of data being transferred while; latency looks at
the amount of time it takes data to transfer.

TYPES OF TRANSMISSION SPEED:

1. Broadband
2. Voice-band
3. Narrow band

Bandwidth is the speed at which data can be transmitted over a communications channel. The
wider the bandwidth the more data it can transmit at a given time.

Narrowband almost obsolete has limited-capacity and transmit data at slow speed of between
10 and 30 bits per second. This transmission channel
carries audible signals using frequencies less than 12.5
kHz <64 kbps
(digital devices)
300–3,400 Hz
(analogue
devices) Wide
range of uses in aviation, marine activities, telecommunications and broadcasting. For example,
some fishing boats use narrowband sonar to locate fish. In telecommunications, narrowband
channels are used for transmitting telephone
calls and faxes. Ocean going vessels use
narrowband frequencies for ship to shore
communications.
Narrow band
allows users to
use the same
channel but
allocates a
unique time slot
to each user on the channel, thus separating a
small number of users in time on a single channel. Wireless media are used for this form of
transmission

Voice band: One of the

frequencies, within part of
the audio range of the
narrowband range of
frequencies that is used for
the transmission of
speech. 300 Hz to 3,400
Hz transmits data at a rate of 64 Kbps. The telephone line
is a voice-band channel and is the most frequently used
method of transferring
data. It has limited
frequency range of a signal
to carry the sound of the
human voice both ways at once. Voice-band – This refers to the
transmission of (voice) information over a relatively narrow
band of frequencies, called the voice spectrum, for which
telephone networks have been designed. It is easy to handle and
cheap, but relatively slow. Twisted pair wires are used for this form of transmission.

Broadband: This refers to high-speed data transmission that transmits large volumes of data at
speeds of 8Mbps. A single cable can carry a large amount of data at once. The most common
types of Internet broadband connections are cable modems (which use the same connection as
cable TV) and Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) modems (which use your existing phone line).
Coaxial cable (cable/antenna cable) fiber optic cables, microwave signals, and communication
satellites are usually
used to provide these
channels. The wide
bandwidth characteristic
of this transmission
medium gives it the ability to transport multiple signals
and traffic
types
simultaneously. These transmission channels
carry signals using frequencies greater than 12.5 kHz
(or 256 Kbits/s). It provides Internet connectivity for
residential homes and businesses. It is a broadband channel that transmit data at rate of thousands
of characters per second

Communication Modes/Transmission Modes / Direction

When computers communicate, they can do so in one of two ways: broadcast or point-to-point.
Broadcast means sending out a message to all the other computers on a network. Radio and

television stations broadcast their programs so that

people with a device capable of receiving the signal may do so if they want to.

Point-to-point, establishes a direct communication channel between two computers on a

network. Example when one person calls

another on mobile phone, a wireless path is

created between the two callers. Other people
in the vicinity are unable to receive the call
even though they also have mobile phones.
The Internet and communications technology

Transmission mode

Transmission modes
Transmission modes or rates determine the number of characters that can be transmitted per
second. Two types of transmission modes are:

Asynchronous: with this mode data is transmitted at a irregular intervals, and at a low speed of
one character at a time.

Synchronous: with synchronous transmission mode data is transmitted at regular intervals, with
high speed simultaneous transmission of large blocks of data.

Transmission mode Description System/device

Data travels over a transmission medium in one of three ways or directions: simplex, half-
duplex or full duplex.
Simplex :( Uni-directional) meaning it permits data flow in only one direction. You are allowed
to send or receive data but not both. Examples of devices that use this technology are: Car stereo
systems, Microwave transmitter, Microwave receiver and Pager

Half-duplex (Bi-directional) data is permitted to flow in both directions but on one direction at a

time. E.g. Two-way radio (walkie-talkie), Push-to-talk mobile phone, Fax machine and Web
browser

Full duplex (Bi-directional) can simultaneously send and receive data (both directions at the
same time). E.g. Mobile phone, Wi-Fi router, LAN, WAN and MAN

Where the receiving computer is located some distance away from the sending computer, we say
that the receiving computer ‘is remotely located’. Two common terms that are used in data
communications to describe the action of transferring data are uploading and download.
TRANSMISSION DESCRIPTION SYSTEM/DEVICE
MODE

Simplex Uni-Directional:  Car stereo system

(One way street)  Pager
 Computer to printer
 Scanner to computer
 CPU output to monitor
 Television broadcasting
 Remote and television
 Loudspeaker

Half-Duplex Bi-directional:  Two way radio(walkie-

talkie)
(Narrow bridge)  Push-to-talk mobile phone
 Fax machine
 Internet browser

Full Duplex Bi-directional:  Mobile phone

 Wi-Fi router
(High Way)

Computer Networks
Network: a network is a group of two or more computers linked together so that they can
communication
and share
resources.
A stand-alone operating system is a
complete operating system that works on a
desktop or notebook computer.

A Network operating system (also called

network OS or NOS) is an operating system that
supports a network. The other computers on the
network, called clients, rely on the server(s) for
resources."

Types of networks
The three main types of
computer networks are
local area networks
(LANs), metropolitan
area networks (MANs)
and wide area networks
(WANs).

Metropolitan Area
Network (MAN)
A metropolitan area network (MAN) is a high-speed network that connects local area networks
in a metropolitan area such
as a city or town and
handles the bulk of
communications activity
across that region. A MAN
typically includes one or
more LANs, but covers a
smaller geographic area
than a WAN. A MAN
usually is managed by a
consortium of users or by a
single network provider
that sells the service to the
users. Local and state
governments, for example,
regulate some MANs.
Telephone companies, cable television operators, and other organizations provide users with
connections to the MAN.
Wide Area Network (WAN) a data communication network extending a LAN (local area
network) outside its building, over
telecommunication lines or wirelessly, to
link to other LANs over great distances.
The Internet is an example of a WAN.
LANs are connected to WANs using
gateways. A gateway is an interface that
enables communication between two
different networks. WANS are mainly
used by universities, banks, research
centers and large organizations to share
information.

Local Area Network (LAN a) network that uses cables or radio signals to link two or more
computers in a geographically limited
area (generally one building or a group
of buildings). Each computer on the
network can function both as an
independent computer and as a
workstation on the network accessing
information from the server.

A server is a computer that runs the software that

allows the computers (called client) on the network to
communicate and share resources on a network.
Devices shared on the network may include: hard
drives, disk drives, printers, fax machine, scanners and
modems.

Advantages
1. Hardware devices (printers) can be shared.
2. Storage mediums can be shared.
3. Software and data files can be shared by users
4. Cheaper, less costly to buy one copy of a software and pay the license for several
machines, than to buy individual packages for each computer.
5. Users can work on a single document.
6. Users can communicate using email.
Disadvantages
1. Initial setup cost is high.
2. More risk of data corruption as many users will be using the system.
3. Greater risk of viruses, virus is easily spread between the computers on the network.
4. If the server fails the entire network will be affected.
5. Networks are sometimes hard to maintain and may require a network administrator which
will incur additional cost.
Each computer on a network must have a network interface card/adapter. This card is fitted in
as lot on the
motherboard and
enables the
computers on the
network to send
and receive
messages. The
network
interface card
is attached to
an Ethernet
port as its device interface, into which the
network cable (Ethernet cable) is plugged. Other
hardware devices used to connect computers
together to create networks, include hubs,
switches and routers. These cars can be used for wired or wireless internet connection.

A router is a networking device that forwards data packets between computer networks. Routers
perform the
traffic
directing
functions on
the Internet.
Data sent
through the
internet, such as a web page or email, is in the
form of data packets. A router is connected to at least two networks,
commonly two LANs or WANs or a LAN and its
ISP's network. Routers are located at gateways (the places where
two or more networks connect). Routers are considered to be traffic cops as it
direct the data from the modem to the different devices connected to it. The devices can be
connected via cable or wirelessly.
A Network Switch is a component of computer network that connects two network slices and/or
two network devices (switches or routers)
together. Switch can be termed as a network bridge
with multiple ports which helps to process and route

packets, by using packet switching to receive, and

forward data to the destination device. Some routers
such as Netgear models combine all three network components instead of having three separate
devices joined by cables. (Switches simply expand the number of devices that can be connected
to the router).

LANs are divided into two categories based on how the computers on the network communicate:
Client/Server network
Peer-to-peer network

Client/Server network
This is where any computer on the network can be designated as the server, although most

networks have a designated server and has a faster processor, more RAM and a lot more storage
space. A large LAN may have several servers to perform different tasks. Eg. A file server maybe
used to organize the files on a network, while a print server coordinates all the printing and the
sending of faxes and emails on a network. Servers contain software that manages:
 A shared hard disk
 Requests from users
 The projection of data
 The security of the system unit.
Peer-peer-network
This network allows every
computer on the network to
communicate with each other.
There is no designated server
instead all computers on the
network acts as client and
server. This allows each user to
access information from any
computer on the network and
vice versa. Peer-to-peer
networks are limited to about ten
computers.

Transmission Media
Data can be transmitted through various types of cabled (wired) or wireless media. Cabled media
uses wires to transmit data while wireless media uses air. Cabled fall into three categories;

Baseband refers to the original frequency range of a transmission signal before it is converted,
or modulated. The medium can be coaxial cable, optical fiber while the Broadband is wide
bandwidth data transmission that transports multiple signals and traffic types. The medium can
be coaxial cable, optical fiber, radio, or twisted pair. Both baseband and broadband describe how
data is transmitted between two nodes. Baseband technology transmits a single data
signal/stream/channel at a time while broadband technology transmits multiple data
signals/streams/channels simultaneously at the same time.
Cabled Transmission media
1. Coaxial cable
2. Twisted pair/Ethernet cable
3. Fiber optic cable
Coaxial cable: this is a type of communication channel used
to transmit
voice, video
and data.
These are thickly
coated copper
wire and are
capable of high speed
transmission but difficult to install as cables
are bulky and somewhat
rigid. It is usually found on
television, videos and
cable TV.

Twisted pair or Ethernet cable: a communication channel consisting of two strands of twisted

insulated copper wire. These are used to transmit voice data at a rate of 300Bps. This is used as
telephone lines and is the most popular form of transmitting data. This type of cable is easy to
handle and cheap but relatively slow. These cables are built to transmit analog data; therefore a
modem is required to convert the analog signals to digital data.
Unshielded twisted pair (UTP) these cables (telephone wire) have pairs of insulated copper
wires twisted around each other to eliminate interferences from adjacent pairs and other devices.

Ethernet cable this is one of the most popular network

cables; it resembles a telephone cable but is slightly larger.
These cables have different colours to differentiate them
from telephone cables which are usually grey in colour.
Any cable come in various lengths but the larger the cable
the weaker the strength of the signal.

Fibre optic: these cables consist of clear, thin fibre of glass; they transmit data using pulse of
light rather than electrical signals. This eliminates
the problem of electrical interference. They
enable volumes of digital data to be transmitted
fast and virtually
error free. A
single cable
consists of
thousands of hair
thin strands of glass. It is ideal for connecting between buildings
as it is also not affected by moisture and lightening. Fibre optic cables can transmit signals over
longer distance than the other two cables. They are also relatively expensive.
Wireless communication
This enables two or more devises to
communicate with each other without physical
connection (without cables). They use
radiofrequencies to transmit data. Wireless
communication offers users many benefits
such as portability, flexibility, increase
productivity and lower installation costs.
Wireless communication range from complex
systems such as wireless local area network
(WLAN) and cell phones to simple wireless
devices such as wireless headphones,
microwave and other devices that do not
process or store information. These devices
also include infa-red devices (IR) devices such
as remote controls, cordless computer
keyboard and mouse, and wireless Hi-fi stereo headset, all of which require direct line of sight
between transmitter and receiver to close the link.

Wireless media includes:

Satellite, Microwave, Infrared methods, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi; these use radio waves to transmit
data.
Wireless communication technology
Microwave is a line of sight wireless communication technology that uses high frequency beams
to of radio waves to provide high speed wireless connections that can send and receive voice,
video and data information. Microwave links are widely used for point-to-point communications
because their small wavelength allows conveniently-sized antennas to direct them in narrow
beams, which can be pointed directly at the receiving antenna. This allows nearby microwave
equipment to use the same frequencies without interfering with each other, as lower frequency
radio waves do. Another advantage is that the high frequency of microwaves gives the
microwave band a very large information-carrying capacity; the microwave band has a
bandwidth 30 times that of all the rest of the radio spectrum below it. Used by mobile telecoms
providers for transmission of radio signals. Used over distances (up to 70 km).

Bluetooth is a wireless protocol for exchanging data over short distances from fixed and mobile

devices, using radio waves. Bluetooth capability is enabled in a device by means of an embedded
Bluetooth chip and supporting software. The chip enables Bluetooth to be built into a wide range
of devices such as cellular phones and PDAs. Some of the current uses of the Bluetooth protocol
include:
 Wireless control of and communication between a mobile phone and a hands free
headset;
 Wireless control of and communication between a mobile phone and a Bluetooth
compatible car stereo system;
 Wireless Bluetooth headset and intercom;
 Wireless networking between PCs in a confined space and where little bandwidth is
required;
 Wireless communication with PC input and output devices, the most common being the
mouse, keyboard and printer;
  Transfer of files, contact details, calendar appointments, and reminders between smart
phones.
 Linking mobile phone with car stereo system.
 Control of games such as Nintendo Wii.
 Has a limited range of approximately 10 meters (30 feet).
 Uses a radio (broadcast) communications system; devices do not have to be in line of
sight of each other.
 Does not penetrate walls; no interference with other devices in adjoining rooms.

Wi-Fi is short for wireless fidelity provides high speed access to network or the internet. Wi-Fi
devices such as computers, mobile phones, game
consoles and Mp3 players can connect to the internet if a
wireless network in within a certain range. This type of
transmission is usually used with wireless LANs

Hotspot: this is a public area as small as a room or as large as many square miles that offers

internet access over a WLAN. Wi-Fi hotspot can be

in the form of a café, airports and hotels.

Infrared is a means of using light to transmit a signal over distance. The light frequency used
in Infrared is above the range of visible light in the red end of the light spectrum. IR is used for
transmitting a signal representing sound in
many Assistive Listening Devices (ALDs) or
Assistive Listening Systems (ALSs). It
allows
 Short-range communication among
computer peripheral sand personal
digital assistants.
  Communications links in urban areas, providing bandwidth up to 4 GB.
 Less expensive than fibre-optic cable in some situations whilst providing very high
bandwidth.

A satellite is basically a self-contained communications system with the ability to receive signals
from Earth and to retransmit those signals back with the use of a transponder—an integrated
receiver and transmitter of radio signals. Satellites are usually used for:

 Long-distance telephony (calling Jamaica from Barbados, etc.).

 Satellite television and radio.
 Distance learning.
 Video conferencing.
 GPS navigation systems.
 Google maps, Google Earth.
Has very long range: 160–2,000 km (100–1,240 miles).

Network
topology
A topology
refers to the way
in which the
devices on the
network are
logically
connected. The
most commonly
topologies
referred to are:
Star topology
All the computers on the network are connected to each other using a Hub. A hub is a device
that connects many cables together and
transfers network messages between those
cables. The hub is then connected to a server
(file server). A server is a high performance
computer with hard drive or drives with large
storage capacity that are available to all the
users on the network .A server is dedicated
only to managing the shared files on the
network. Data is transferred from one
computer to the next using pockets. A pocket
holds the address of the sender and the
receiver. It is sent first to the server which then
sends it to the receiving computer. Some
networks have a printer server that is dedicated
to managing all the printers on the network.

Advantages
 Adding new devices to the network is
easy.
 If a computer stops working the other
computers on the network is not
affected.
 If one piece of cable is damaged, only
one computer is affected.
Disadvantages
 It requires more cabling.
 If the server breaks down the entire
network is affected.
 Only one computer on the network can send data at any given time.
Line or Bus topology
This is the simplest
type of topology where
the computers are
connected in a straight
line by a single cable
(called a backbone).
Data is sent down the
line in any direction
using pockets. The data stops at every device on the network until it reaches the intended one.

Advantages
 Cheap and reliable
 Expanding the network
is easy. New equipment
can be added by tapping
into the main cable.
 Requires less hardware
to setup.
 Easy to configure.

Disadvantages
 Any malfunction in the main cable affects the entire network.
 Pockets of data may collide; resulting is a loss of information.
Ring topology
Unlike a bus topology the ring topology has
no end to the line. The cable is connected to
all computers with the end of the cable
connected to together to form a loop. Data is
transferred between computers using a token
which is passed around the ring giving each
computer an opportunity to send data. Each
computer can only send data when it is in
possession of the token.

Advantages
 If a computer stops working, it does not
affect the other computers on the
network.
 Communication is faster than a bus
network.
Disadvantages
 If the main cable is damages the entire
network will be affected
 The entire network has to be shut down
in order to carry out maintenance
 Difficult to maintain if the network is
very large.
 Slower than a star topology.