CHAPTER 1

 Basics of data communications

 Communication is defined as transfer of information, such as thoughts and messages between two entities.
 The invention of telegraph, radio, telephone, and television made possible instantaneous communication
over long distances.
 In the context of computers and information technology (IT), the data are represented by binary digit or bit
has only two values 0s and 1s.
 In fact anything the computer deals with are 0s and 1s only. Due to this it is called discrete or digital.
 In the digital world messages, thoughts, numbers etc. can be represented in different streams of 0s and 1s.
 Entire data communication system revolves around three fundamental concepts.
o Destiny: The system should transmit the message to the correct intended destination. The destination
can be another user or another computer.
o Reliability: The system should deliver the data to the destiny faithfully. Any unwanted signals (noise)
added along with the original data may play havoc!
o Fast: The system should transmit the data as fast as possible within the technological constraints. In
case of audio and video data they must be received in the same order as they are produced without
adding any significant delays.
 Data transmission is the process of conveying data between two points by way of a communication
medium.
 A wide variety of media are available:
o Bounded media confine the data to specific physical pathways. Common examples of bounded media
are wire and optical fiber cables.
o Unbounded media transmit the data-carrying signal through space, independent of a cable. Broadcast
radio and television are examples of unbounded media
 Three Basic elements of any communication Process:
o Sender (source): Creates the message to be transmitted
o Media: Carries the message e.g. UTP, Fiber, telephone line
o Receiver (sink): Receives the message.

 Basic components of communication network

 A data communications system has five components

Figure 1 component of communication

o Message: - The message is the information (data) to be communicated. Popular forms of information
include text, numbers, pictures, audio, and video.
o Sender: - The sender is the device that sends the data message. It can be a computer, workstation,
telephone handset, video camera, and soon.
o Receiver: - The receiver is the device that receives the message. It can be a computer, workstation,
telephone hand set, television, and soon.
o 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, fibre-optic cable, and radio waves.
 o 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 Amharic cannot be understood by a person who speaks only
English.
 Fundamentals of Information
 Information is data that has been processed in such a way as to be meaningful to the person who receives
it.
 It is anything that is communicated.
 Information is data that has been converted into a more useful or intelligible form.
 It is the set of data that has been organized for direct utilization of mankind, as information helps human
beings in their decision making process.
 Examples are: Time Table, Merit List, Report card, Headed tables, printed documents, pay slips, receipts,
reports etc.
 The information is obtained by assembling items of data into a meaningful form.
 For example, marks obtained by students and their roll numbers form data, the report card/sheet is the
information.
 Transmission Media
 The means through which data is transformed from one place to another is called transmission or
communication media.
 There are two categories of transmission media used in computer communications.
o BOUNDED/GUIDED MEDIA
o UNBOUNDED/UNGUIDED MEDIA
1. BOUNDED MEDIA:
 Bounded media are the physical links through which signals are confined to narrow path.
 These are also called guide media.
 Bounded media are made up to an external conductor (Usually copper) bounded by jacket material.
 Bounded media are great for LABS because they offer high speed, good security and low cast.
 However, some time they cannot be used due distance communication.
 The biggest problems faced by network system designers is keeping radiation and interference under
control with bounded media.
 All wires act as antenna, sending and receiving signals.
 As frequencies increase and wire lengths increase, the radiation increases.

 Three common types of bounded media are used of the data transmission. These are
 Twisted Pairs Cable
 Coaxial Cable
 Fiber Optics Cable
 Twisted Pair Cable
 The cable are twisted in pair.
 It is two varieties: Unshielded Twisted Pair and Shielded Twisted Pair.
o Unshielded twisted pair (UTP) cable: -
 It is the most popular and is generally the best option for school networks.
 Figure 2 unshielded twisted pair cable (UTP)

 The cable has four pairs of wires inside the jacket.

 Each pair is twisted with a different number of twists per inch to help eliminate interference
from adjacent pairs and other electrical devices.
 The standard connector for unshielded twisted pair cabling is an RJ-45 connector.

o Shielded Twisted Pair (STP) Cable

 It is more costly than UTP.
 It is more efficient to eliminate interferences than UTP.
 It is use in highly sensible electric current area to reduce interferences.
 It can also help to extend the maximum distance of the cables
 Shielded twisted pair cable is available in three different configurations:
1. Each pair of wires is individually shielded with foil.
2. There is a foil or braid shield inside the jacket covering all wires (as a group).
3. There is a shield around each individual pair, as well as around the entire group of wires.

Figure 3 STP cable

 Coaxial Cable
 Coaxial cabling has a single copper conductor at its center.
 A plastic layer provides insulation between the center conductor and a braided metal shield.
 The metal shield helps to block any outside interference from fluorescent lights, motors, and other
computers.
 Figure 4 coaxial cable

 Although coaxial cabling is difficult to install, it is highly resistant to signal interference.

 In addition, it can support greater cable lengths between network devices than twisted pair cable.
 The two types of coaxial cabling are thick coaxial and thin coaxial.
 Thin coaxial cable is also referred to as thinnet. 10Base2 refers to the specifications for thin coaxial
cable carrying Ethernet signals. The 2 refers to the approximate maximum segment length being 200
meters. In actual fact the maximum segment length is 185 meters. Thin coaxial cable has been popular
in school networks, especially linear bus networks.

 Thick coaxial cable is also referred to as thicknet. 10Base5 refers to the specifications for thick coaxial
cable carrying Ethernet signals. The 5 refers to the maximum segment length being 500 meters. Thick
coaxial cable has an extra protective plastic cover that helps keep moisture away from the center
conductor. This makes thick coaxial a great choice when running longer lengths in a linear bus
network. One disadvantage of thick coaxial is that it does not bend easily and is difficult to install.

 Fiber Optic Cable

 Fiber optic cabling consists of a center glass core surrounded by several layers of protective materials.
 It transmits light rather than electronic signals eliminating the problem of electrical interference. This
makes it ideal for certain environments that contain a large amount of electrical interference.

Figure 5 Fibre optic cable

 Fiber optic cable has the ability to transmit signals over much longer distances than coaxial and twisted
pair.
 It also has the capability to carry information at vastly greater speeds.
 This capacity broadens communication possibilities to include services such as video conferencing and
interactive services.
 The cost of fiber optic cabling is comparable to copper cabling is higher.
 It is more difficult to install and modify.
 There are two common types of fiber cables -- single mode and multimode.
 Multimode cable has a larger diameter; however, both cables provide high bandwidth at high speeds.
 Single mode can provide more distance, but it is more expensive.
 Figure 6 Difference single mode and multimode

2. Unbounded media transmit the data-carrying signal through space, independent of a cable. Broadcast radio

and television are examples of unbounded media. Wireless media/ unbounded media carry electromagnetic

signals at radio and microwave frequencies that represent the binary digits of data communications. As a
networking medium, wireless is not restricted to conductors or pathways, as are copper and fiber media.
 Transmission Coding
 Coding are study for the purpose of designing efficient and reliable data transmission methods.
 A message should first be encoded in such a way that it can be transmitted through a channel (medium), it
is then transmitted, and finally, it is decoded into a form that can be understood by the destination at the
other end.

 Data communication involves transporting data from one point to another.

 This is an instance of computer-to-computer communication, i.e. both the source and the destination are
computer devices, and the transmission media may be telephone lines, satellite links, microwave links, etc.
 There are three types of coding
1. Data compression (or, source coding):- Data compression attempts to compress the data from a
source in order to transmit it more efficiently. For example, Zip data compression makes data files
smaller, for purposes such as to reduce Internet traffic.
2. Error control (or channel coding):- Error correction adds extra data bits to make the transmission of
data more robust to disturbances present on the transmission channel. The ordinary user may not be
aware of many applications using error correction.
3. Cryptographic coding: - Cryptography is about constructing and analyzing protocols that prevent
third parties or the public from reading private messages.
 Types of networks
 A network is a set of equipment (often referred as data terminal equipment / DTE, or simply terminals or
nodes.) connected by a communication channel, which can be either guided/unguided media.
 DTE equipment can be a computer, printer or any device capable of sending and/or receiving data
generated by other nodes on the network.
 We Share computer hardware resources like Disks, printer, and scanner etc. software like multiple single
user licenses are more expensive than multi-user license and information like email ip phone, audio
conference etc.
 There is four types of networks
1. Point to point
2. Local Area Network (LAN)
3. Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)
4. Wide Area Network (WAN)

1. Point to point
o The computers output electrical signals directly through the serial port.
o The data can be passed directly through the communication medium to the other computer if the
distance is small (less than 100 meters).

Figure 7 Point to Point network

o In this system, we introduced device called Data Terminal Equipment (DTE).

o The example here for DTE is modem (modulator-demodulator) connected at both ends.
o The PCs send digital signals, which the modem converts into analog signals and transmits
through the medium (copper wires).
o At the receiving end, the modem converts the incoming analog signal into digital form and passes
it on to the PC.
2. Local Area Network (LAN)
o A LAN is a local area network that is a small collection of computers in a small geographic area
of less than couple of kilometers and is very fast in data transfer.
o Depending on technology implementation a LAN can be as simple as two PCs and a printer got
connected in a small office or it can extend throughout an organization and include multimedia
(text, voice, video) data transfers.
o The LANs may be configured in many ways.
o The peer-to-peer configuration is the simplest form.
o In this configuration computers are connected together to share their recourses among
themselves.
o In such configurations it is very difficult impose security features.

Figure 8 Local Area Network (LAN)

3. Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)
o The metropolitan area network is designed to cover an entire city.
o It can be a single network such as cable TV or a number of LANs connected together within a
city to form a MAN.
o Privately laid cables or public leased lines may be used to form such network.
o For instance a business organization may choose MAN to inter connect all its branch offices
within the city.

Figure 9Typical Metropolitan area network

4. Wide Area Network (WAN)
o A WAN is a data communications network that covers a relatively broad geographic area, often a
country or continent.
o It contains a collection of machines intended for running user programs. These machines are
called hosts.
o The hosts are connected by subnet.
o The purpose of subnet is to carry messages from hosts to hosts.
o The subnet includes transmission facilities, switching elements and routers provided by common
agencies, such as telephone companies.
o Now a days routers with satellite links are also becoming part of the WAN subnet.
o All these machines provide long distance transmission of data, voice, image and video
information.
o Unlike LAN which depend on their own hardware for transmission, WANs may utilize public,
leased, or private communication devices when it come across and therefore span an unlimited
number of kilometers.
o A network device called a router connects LANs to a WAN.

Figure 10 Typical WAN network

 CHAPTER 2
 Basic Data Communication Hardware
1. Network interface cards (NIC)
o It is also called network cards and network adapters include a cable socket allowing computers to be
connected to the network.
o All NICs have a unique address (sometimes called a MAC address), placed in them by their
manufacturer.
o Before sending data onto the network, the network card also organizes data into frames and then sends
them out on the network.
o Notebook computers often use NICs that are plugged into the PCMCIA port. Wireless LAN adapters
are needed for WLANs.
o LAN adapters have their own onboard architectures and they carry NIC Functions out several
important functions including -
• Monitoring activity on the communication medium
• Providing each workstation/server with a unique identification address (MAC)
• Recognizing and receiving data transmitted to the computer
• Creating (building) the frames needed to transmit data on the communication medium
• Controlling LAN transmission speed
 Transmission error detection and recovery
2. Hubs
o Hubs act as junction boxes, linking cables from several computers on a network.
o Hubs are usually sold with 4, 8, 16 or 24 ports. Some hubs allow connection of more than one kind of
cabling, such as UTP and coax.
o Hubs also repeat (reconstruct and strengthen) incoming signals.
o This is important since all signals become weaker with distance.
o The maximum LAN segment distance for a cable can therefore be extended using hubs.

Figure 11Creation of levels of hierarchy with Hubs

3. Switches
o A Switch is more sophisticated than hub and can remember and check node addresses.
o In fact this phenomenon can affect logical topology of the network! They physically resemble hubs
and like hubs, they vary in number of ports, stand-alone vs. stackable, and managed vs. unmanaged.
o While a hub broadcasts data frames to all ports, the switch reads the destination address of the data
frame and only sends it to the corresponding port.
o The effect is to turn the network into a group of point-to-point circuits and thus changes the logical
topology of the network from a bus to a star.
4. Repeater
o Functioning at Physical layer.
o It is electronic device receive signal and retransmit it at a higher signal (amplify).
o It has only two points. So maximum two device connected.
 5. Bridge
o Connects multiple network segments at the data link layer of OSI model
o Bridge and switch are very much similar.
o Switch is a bridge with multiple ports.
6. Router
o Connects two or more computers in the network and interchange packets of data between them.
o Each data packet contains address information that a router can use to determine if the source and
destination is in same network.

 Basic types of network Topologies

o The topology defines how the devices (computers, printers) are connected and how the data flows from
one device to another. There are two conventions while representing the topologies.
o The physical topology defines how the devices are physically wired.
o The logical topology defines how the data flows from one device to another.
o Broadly categorized into I) Bus II) Ring III) Star IV) Mesh

Figure 12 outlines of various types of topologies

1. Bus topology
o In a bus topology all devices are connected to the transmission medium as backbone.
o There must be a terminator at each end of the bus to avoid signal reflections, which may distort the
original signal.
o Signal is sent in both directions, but some buses are unidirectional.
o Good for small networks. Can be used for 10BASE5 (thick net), 10BASE2 (thin net) or 10BROAD36
(broad band) co-axial bus standards.

Figure 13 Physical topology of bus topology.

o The main problem with the bus topology is failure of the medium will seriously affect the whole
network.
o Any small break in the media the signal will reflect back and cause errors.
o The whole network must be shut down and repaired.
o In such situations it is difficult to troubleshoot and locate where the break in the cable is or which
machine is causing the fault; when one device fails the rest of the LAN fails.

2. Ring Topology
o Ring topology was in the beginning of LAN area.

Figure 14 Ring topology illustration.

 o Each device has a transceiver which behaves like a repeater which moves the signal around the ring; ideal for
token passing access methods.
o In this topology signal degeneration is low; only the device that holds the token can transmit which reduces
collisions.
o If you see its negative aspect it is difficult to locate a problem cable segment; expensive hardware.

3. Star topology
o In a star topology each station is connected to a central node.
o The central node can be either a hub or a switch.
o The star topology does not have the problem as seen in bus topology.
o The failure of a media does not affect the entire network.
o Other stations can continue to operate until the damaged segment is repaired.

Figure 15Physical topology of Star topology

o The disadvantages are all nodes receive the same signal therefore dividing bandwidth; Maximum computers
are 1,024 on a LAN.
o Maximum UTP (Unshielded twisted pair) length is 100 meters; distance between computers is 2.5 meters.

4. Mesh topology
o A mesh physical topology is when every device on the network is connected to every device on the network;
most commonly used in WAN configurations helps find the quickest route on the network; provides
redundancy.

Figure 16 Physical topology of Mesh topology

o Very expensive and not easy to set up.
5. Hybrid topology
o A hybrid topology is a combination of any two or more network topologies in such a way that the resulting
network does not have one of the standard forms.
o For example, a tree network connected to a tree network is still a tree network, but two star networks
connected together exhibit hybrid network topologies.
o A hybrid topology is always produced when two different basic network topologies are connected.

 Motivation of Standard
o A network is a combination of hardware and software that sends data from one location to another.
 o The hardware consists of the physical equipment that carries signals from one point of the network to
another.
o The software consists of instruction sets that make possible the services that we expect from a network.
o This is a very tedious task if only hardware is involved.
o We would need switches for every memory location to store and manipulate data.
o The task is much easier if software is available.
o So the standard way of breaking up a system in a set of components, but the components are organized as a
set of layers.
o Each layer offers a service to the higher layer, using the services of the lower layer.
o “Peer” layers on different systems communicate via a protocol. » higher level protocols (e.g. TCP/IP,
Appletalk) can run on multiple lower layers » multiple higher level protocols can share a single physical
network.
 Reference model
o The most important reference models are:
1. OSI reference model.
2. TCP/IP reference model.
1. OSI Reference Model
o Established in 1947, the International Standards Organization (ISO) is a multinational body dedicated to
worldwide agreement on international standards.
o An ISO standard that covers all aspects of network communications
o It stands for Open Systems Interconnection model. It was first introduced in the late 1970s.
o An open system/ standard is a set of protocols that allows any two different systems to communicate
regardless of their underlying architecture.
o The purpose of the OSI model is to show how to facilitate communication between different systems
without requiring changes to the logic of the underlying hardware and software.
o The OSI model is not a protocol; it is a model for understanding and designing a network architecture that
is flexible, robust, and interoperable.
o The OSI model is a layered framework for the design of network systems that allows communication
between all types of computer systems.
o They are separate but related.
o In receiving mode the lower layer provides the necessary services to the upper layer.
o Any changes in one layer should not require changes in other layers.
o The OSI model is composed of seven ordered layers: physical (layer 1), data link (layer 2), network (layer
3), transport (layer 4), session (layer 5), presentation (layer 6) and application (layer 7). Each of which
defines a part of the process of moving information across a network.
o Easy to remember these layers with the sentence “ All People Seem To Need Data Processing”
 Figure 17 The OSI Layers and their functions

 Application - (layer 7)
- Allows applications to use the network.
- The user may want to access the network for various purposes.
- Like for sending e-mail, transferring a file, surfing the web, accessing remote computer’s
resources etc.
- For every task mentioned above there is a dedicated service.
- Services – e- mail, news groups, web applications, file transfer, remote host, directory services,
network management, file services
 Presentation - (layer 6)
- Translates data into a form usable by the application layer.
- The redirector operates here. Responsible for protocol conversion, translating and encrypting data,
and managing data compression.
- messages are sent between layers
- Services – POP, SMTP (e-mail, Post office protocol, Simple Mail Transfer Protocol), Usenet (for
news groups), HTTP (hypertext transfer protocol for web applications), FTP, TFTP (File transfer
protocol, trivial FTP for file transfer), Telnet (Terminal Network, A general purpose program
enabling remote login into some other computer and function as if it is directly connected to that
remote computer), Domain name server (finding ip addresses for domain names), SNMP (Simple
Network Management Protocol).
 Session - (layer 5)
- It allows applications on connecting systems to standard ports & establish a session.
- Provides synchronization between communicating computers. Messages are sent between layers.
- Services – Various port numbers are POP (25), USENET (532), HTTP (80), FTP (20/21), Telnet
(23), DNS (53), SNMP (161/162) etc.
 Transport - (layer 4)
- Responsible for packet handling.
- Ensures error-free delivery.
- Repackages messages (while receiving), divides messages into smaller packets (while
 transmitting), and handles error handling.
- segments of message fragments are sent between layers
- Services - TCP - connection-oriented communication for applications to ensure error free delivery;
- UDP - connectionless communications and does not guarantee packet delivery between transfer
points
 Network - (layer 3)
- Translates system names into addresses. Responsible for addressing, determining routes for
sending, managing network traffic problems, packet switching, routing, data congestion, and
reassembling data.
- Datagrams are sent between layers.
- Services - Software & hardware addresses and packet routing between hosts and networks (IP).
Two versions IP4(32 bits) & IP6(128 bits)
 Data link - (layer 2)
- Sends data from network layer to physical layer.
- Manages physical layer communications between connecting systems. Data frames are sent
between layers.
- Services – SLIP/PPP, 802.2 SNAP, Ethernet
 Physical - (layer 1)
- Transmits data over a physical medium.
- Defines cables, cards, and physical aspects. Data bits are sent.
- Services - ISDN, ADSL, ATM, FDDI, CAT 1-5, Coaxial cable.
2. Internetworking with TCP/IP Reference model
o TCP/IP stands for Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol.
o The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) created the TCP/IP reference model
o TCP/IP is transmission control protocol and internet protocol.
o Protocols are set of rules which govern every possible communication over the internet.
o These protocols describe the movement of data between the host computers or internet and offers simple
naming and addressing schemes.
o The main purpose was to move packets from any point to any other point regardless of the condition of any
particular node.
o It has four layers.

Figure 18 TCP/IP Layers

 Application Layer
- TCP/IP model combines the functions of the upper three layers into one layer.
- Services higher level protocols, such as SMTP, FTP, SSH, HTTP, operate.
  Transport Layer
- Deals with QoS issues (TCP protocol)
- It performs host-to-host communications on either the same or different hosts and on either the local
network or remote networks separated by routers.
- It provides a channel for the communication needs of applications.
- The Transmission Control Protocol provides flow-control, connection establishment, and reliable
transmission of data.
 Internet Layer
- It exchanges datagrams across network boundaries.
- It provides a uniform networking interface that hides the actual topology (layout) of the underlying
network connections.
- It is therefore also referred to as the layer that establishes internetworking, indeed, it defines and
establishes the Internet.
- This layer defines the addressing and routing structures used for the TCP/IP protocol suite.
- The primary protocol in this scope is the Internet Protocol, which defines IP addresses.
- Its function in routing is to transport datagrams to the next IP router that has the connectivity to a
network closer to the final data destination.
 Link Layer
- It defines the networking methods within the scope of the local network link on which hosts
communicate without intervening routers.
- This layer includes the protocols used to describe the local network topology and the interfaces needed
to effect transmission of Internet layer datagrams to next-neighbor hosts.
 Protocol Standard
o OSI applications -- OSI applications are protocols in the OSI suite such as:
- File Transfer, Access, and Management (FTAM),
- Virtual Terminal Protocol (VTP), and
- Common Management Information Protocol (CMIP).
o TCP/IP applications -- TCP/IP applications are protocols in the Internet Protocol suite, such as:
- Telnet,
- File Transfer Protocol (FTP), and
- Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP)
- Directory Services (NDS by Novell and AD by Microsoft).
 Internet IP and Bandwidth
o Internet Protocol (IP)
- The Internet Protocol (IP) is the principal communications protocol in the Internet protocol suite for
relaying packets across network boundaries.
- Its routing function enables internetworking, and essentially establishes the Internet.
- IP has the task of delivering packets from the source host to the destination host solely based on the IP
addresses in the packet headers.
- For this purpose, IP defines packet structures that encapsulate the data to be delivered.
- It also defines addressing methods that are used to label the datagram with source and destination
information.
o Bandwidth
- Bandwidth is the bit-rate of available or consumed information capacity expressed typically in metric
multiples of bits per second.
- Bandwidth in bit/s may also refer to consumed bandwidth, corresponding to achieve throughput.