INTRODUCTION TO DATA COMMUNICATION

BIT 1250
LAB MANUAL
PURPOSE
This helps the candidates to get acquainted with the concepts of data communication.

Learning Outcomes:
After completion of the course, students would be able to:
i. Demonstrate an understanding of the processes which govern the communication of
information
ii. Demonstrate the knowledge and skills used in design and implementation of data
communication systems
iii. Apply the principle and practice of data communication systems
PRE-REQUISITE:
NONE
PRACTICAL HOURS PER SESSION: 4 Hours

Lab Topic/Subtopic
Session
1 Simple Network. Use network simulation
 Setting up a simple wired network using software (eNSP or Packet
Ethernet cables and switches, tracer)
demonstrate the basics of data
communication.
2 Guided and unguided media Use network simulation
 Setting up and testing guided media software (eNSP)
(e.g., Ethernet cables) and unguided
media (e.g., Wi-Fi) to understand their
characteristics and limitations.
3 Network protocols Use network simulation
 Configuring and analyzing network software (eNSP)
protocols and standards using network Wireshark
simulation software (eNSP) or packet
sniffing tools (Wireshark).
4 Network layered Architecture Use network simulation
 Building a layered architecture model software (eNSP)
using different network devices (e.g.,
routers, switches, and computers) to
understand the flow of data through the
OSI layers.

5 Practical assessment 30 mrks

Data Communication
Data communications is the process of using computing and communication technologies to
transfer data from one place to another, or between participating parties.
It enables the movement of electronic or digital data between two or more network nodes,
regardless of geographical location, technological medium or data contents. Some common types
of data communications technologies include telecommunications, computer networking and
radio/satellite communication.
Data communication usually requires the existence of a transportation or communication
medium between the nodes wanting to communicate with each other, such as copper wire, fiber
optic cables, or wireless signals.
For example, a common example of data communications is a computer connected to the
Internet via a Wi-Fi connection, which uses a wireless medium to send and receive data from one
or more remote servers.

Computer Network
A computer network is a collection of two or more computer systems that are linked together.
A network connection can be established using either cable or wireless media. A computer
network consists of various kinds of nodes. Servers, networking hardware, personal computers,
and other specialized or general-purpose hosts can all be nodes in a computer network.
A computer network can be categorized by their size.
A computer network is mainly of four types:
✓ LAN (Local Area Network)
✓ PAN (Personal Area Network)
✓ MAN (Metropolitan Area Network)
✓ WAN (Wide Area Network)
Local Area Network (LAN):
A LAN is a network that covers an area of around 10 kilometers. For example, a college network
or an office network. Depending upon the needs of the organization, a LAN can be a single
office, building, or Campus. We can have two PCs and one printer in-home office or it can
extend throughout a company and include audio and video devices.
Each host in LAN has an identifier, an address that defines hosts in LAN.
Personal Area Network (PAN):
Personal Area Network is a network arranged within an individual person, typically within a
range of 10 meters. Personal Area Network is used for connecting the computer devices of
personal use is known as Personal Area Network. Personal Area Network covers an area of 30
feet. Personal computer devices that are used to develop the personal area network are the laptop,
mobile phones, media player and play stations.
There are two types of Personal Area Network:
✓ Wired Personal Area Network
✓ Wireless Personal Area Network
Wireless Personal Area Network: Wireless Personal Area Network is developed by simply using
wireless technologies such as WiFi, Bluetooth. It is a low range network.
Wired Personal Area Network: Wired Personal Area Network is created by using the USB.
Metropolitan Area Network (MAN):
A metropolitan area network is a network that covers a larger geographic area by
interconnecting a different LAN to form a larger network. Government agencies use MAN to
connect to the citizens and private industries
Wide Area Network (WAN):
WAN refers to a network that connects countries or continents. For example, the Internet allows
users to access a distributed system called www from anywhere around the globe.
Network Devices

Hub: A hub is a device that joins together many twisted pairs or fiber optic Ethernet devices to
give the illusion as a formation of a single network segment. A network hub is a relatively simple
broadcast device. Any packet entering any port is regenerated and broadcast out on all other
ports, and hubs do not control any of the traffic that passes through them. Packet collisions occur
as a result of every packet being sent out through all other ports, substantially impeding the
smooth flow of communication.
Switches: A switch differs from a hub in that it only forwards frames to the ports that are
participating in the communication, rather than all of the ports that are connected. The collision
domain is broken by a switch, yet the switch depicts itself as a broadcast domain. Frame
forwarding decisions are made by switches based on MAC addresses.
Routers: Routers are networking devices that use headers and forwarding tables to find the
optimal way to forward data packets between networks. A router is a computer networking
device that links two or more computer networks and selectively exchanges data packets
between them.
Cables and Connectors:
Cable is a transmission media used for transmitting a signal.
There are three types of cables used in transmission:
✓ Twisted pair cable
✓ Coaxial cable
✓ Fibre-optic cable