Arba Minch University

Arba Minch Institute of Technology

Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Data communication and computer networks

ECEg- 4211
 Arba Minch University
Arba Minch Institute of Technology
Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Chapter One
Introduction
 Data Communications, Data Networks, and the Internet

Introduction
Effective and efficient data communication and networking facilities are
vital to any enterprise.

Three different forces have consistently driven the architecture and

evolution of data communications and networking facilities

• traffic growth at a high & steady rate

• development of new services
• advances in technology

3
 A Communications Model

Figure The communication between a workstation and a server over a public telephone network. 4
 A Communications Model
 Source
– generates data to be transmitted
 Transmitter
– Converts data into transmittable signals
 Transmission System
– Carries data
 Receiver
– Converts received signal into data
 Destination
– Takes incoming data
5
 Communications Tasks
Transmission system utilization Addressing

Interfacing Routing

Signal generation Recovery

Synchronization Message formatting

Error detection and correction Security

Flow control Network management

6
 Networking

 Point-to-point communication not usually practical

– Devices are too far apart
– Large set of devices would need impractical number of
connections

 The solution is a communications network

7
 Two broad categories of communications networks:

– Local Area Network (LAN)

– Wide Area Network (WAN)

8
 Wide Area Networks (WANs)

 span a large geographical area (states, countries,

continents).
 consists of a number of interconnected switching
nodes
 WANs have been implemented using one of two
technologies:
 Circuit switching
 Packet switching
More recently, Frame relay and Asynchronous Transfer
Mode (ATM ) networks have assumed major roles
9
 Circuit Switching

 uses a dedicated communications path established for the

duration of the conversation
 comprising a connected sequence of links
 with a dedicated logical channel
 eg. telephone network

10
 Packet Switching

 data is sent in a sequence of small chunks, called packets

 packets passed from node to node between the source and
destination
 used for terminal-to-computer and computer-to-computer
communications

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 Frame Relay

 packet switching systems have large overheads to

compensate for errors
 modern systems are more reliable
 errors can be caught in end system
 Frame Relay provides higher speeds
 with most error control overhead removed

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 Asynchronous Transfer Mode

 ATM - evolution of frame relay

 fixed packet (called cell) length
 with little overhead for error control
 anything from 10Mbps to Gbps
 constant data rate using packet switching technique with
multiple virtual circuits

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 Local Area Networks

 designed for small physical areas (smaller scope)

building or small campus
 usually owned by same organization as attached devices

LANs come in a number of different configurations

 switched LANs, eg Ethernet
 wireless LANs

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LAN Topologies

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 Metropolitan Area Networks

 MAN
 middle ground between LAN and WAN
 private or public network
 high speed
 large area – city or metro

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 The Internet

 Internet evolved from ARPANET

 developed by the Advanced Research Projects Agency
(ARPA) of the U.S. Department of Defense
 first operational packet-switching network
 applied to tactical radio communication (packet radio)
& satellite communication (SATNET).
 had a need for interoperability
 led to standardized TCP/IP protocols

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Internet Elements

18
Example Configuration

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 The Need for a Protocol Architecture

 Protocol architecture is a layered structure of hardware and

software that supports the exchange of data ben systems and
supports distributed applications
 When computers, terminals and/or other data processing
devices exchange data:
– The Procedures involved to exchange data between devices can
be complex
– High degree of cooperation required between communicating
systems
 See the example in the next slide.
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 Example: File transfer b/n two computers

 Requires a data path to exist (either a direct link or via a comm.

network)
 Tasks:
– The source system must either activate the data communication path or inform the
communication network of the identity of the desired destination system
– Source determines that destination is ready
– The file transfer app at the source must ascertain that the destination file management app
is ready to accept and store files for user
– File format conversion
 Instead of implementing the logic as a single module, the task is broken up
into subtasks, each of which is implemented separately.

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 Layered Protocol Architecture

 Modules arranged in a vertical stack

 Each layer in the stack:
– Provides functions needed to perform communications for layers above
– using functions provided by layers below
– The peer layers communicate by means of formatted blocks of data that
obey a set of rules or conventions known as a protocol.
 Ideally, layers should be defined, so that changes in one layer do not
require changes in other layers.
 modularization eases maintenance, updating of system
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 Key Features of a Protocol

 A protocol is a set of rules or conventions that allow peer layers to

communicate.

 The key features of a protocol are:

– Syntax: concerns the format of the data blocks

– Semantics: Includes control information (coordination, error handling)
– Timing: speed matching, sequencing

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 TCP/IP Protocol Architecture

 developed by US Defense Advanced Research Project Agency

(DARPA)
 for ARPANET packet-switched network
 used by the global Internet
 generally referred to as the TCP/IP protocol suite
 protocol suite comprises a large collection of standardized
protocols

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 TCP/IP Layers

 Application
 Transport
 Internet
 Network access /data link layer
 Physical

The TCP/IP Layers and

Example Protocols
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 Physical Layer

 concerned with the physical interface between a data transmission

device (e.g., workstation, computer) and a transmission medium or
network
 concerned with specifying:
– characteristics of the transmission medium
– signal levels
– data rates
– other related matters

26
 Network Access / data link Layer

 concerned with the exchange of data b/n an end system and the
network to which it is attached.

 concerned with issues like :

– destination address provision
– invoking specific services like priority
– access to & routing data across a network for two end systems
attached to the same network

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 Internet Layer

 routing functions across multiple networks

 for systems attached to different networks
 The Internet Protocol (IP) is used at this layer to provide the
routing function across multiple networks
 implemented in end systems and routers

 Router is a processor that connects two networks and whose primary

function is to relay data from one network to the other on its route from
the source to the destination end system.
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 Transport Layer (TCP)

 common layer shared by all applications

 provides reliable delivery of data
 in same order as sent
 commonly uses Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)

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 Application Layer

 provide support for user applications

 need a separate module for each type of application

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Operation of TCP and IP

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 Addressing Requirements

 two levels of addressing required

 each host on a subnet needs a unique global network
address
 its IP address
 each application on a (multi-tasking) host needs a unique
address within the host
 known as a port

32
 Operation of TCP/IP
 The addition of control information to data is referred to as encapsulation
 The combination of data from the next higher layer and control information is
known as a protocol data unit (PDU)

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 Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)

 usual transport layer is (TCP)

 provides a reliable connection for the transfer of data
between applications
 a TCP segment is the basic protocol unit
 TCP tracks segments between entities for duration of each
connection

34
 User Datagram Protocol (UDP)

 an alternative to TCP
 no guaranteed delivery
 no preservation of sequence
 no protection against duplication
 minimum overhead
 adds port addressing to IP

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 TCP/IP Applications

 have a number of standard TCP/IP applications such as

 Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP)
 File Transfer Protocol (FTP)
 Telnet

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Some TCP/IP Protocols

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 OSI Reference Model

 Open Systems Interconnection

 Reference model
• provides a general framework for standardization
• defines a set of layers and services provided by each
layer
• one or more protocols can be developed for each
layer
 developed by the International Organization for
Standardization (ISO)
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 A layered model
 Seven layers – seven has been presented as the
optimal number of layer
 Theoretical system too late (published in 1984)!
 by that time TCP/IP started to become the de facto
standard

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 Layer 1: Physical Layer

• The physical layer is responsible for transmitting raw

data bits over a physical medium.

• It deals with the electrical, mechanical, and functional

aspects of the network interface.

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 Layer 2: Data Link Layer

• The data link layer provides error detection and correction

as well as framing and flow control mechanisms.
• It ensures reliable point-to-point and point-to-multipoint
communication over a network.
• Basic function
 Breaks up input data to data frames
 Transmits data frames sequentially
 Processes acknowledgement frames sent back from
receiver for reliable transmission
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 Layer 3: Network Layer

• The network layer handles routing and forwarding of data

packets between different networks.

• It determines the best path for data transmission and

addresses issues related to logical addressing and network
topology

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 Layer 4: Transport Layer

• The transport layer ensures end-to-end communication

between devices by segmenting and reassembling data
streams.
• It also provides error recovery, flow control, and
multiplexing capabilities.

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 Layer 5: Session layer

• The session layer establishes, maintains, and terminates

connections between applications.
• It manages the session between two communicating devices and
handles synchronization and dialogue control.

• Dialog control
• Allows two systems to enter into dialog
• It allows the communication between two processes to take place in
either half-duplex or full-duplex.
• Synchronization
• It allows a process to add checkpoints into a stream of data
• So that if a failure of some sort occurs between checkpoints, the
layer can retransmit all data since the last checkpoint. 44
 Layer 6: Presentation layer

• Concerned with the syntax and semantics of the information exchanged

between two systems
• Functions
 Translation
 At the sender it changes the information from its sender –
dependent format into common format.
 At receiving, changes the common format into its receiver-
dependent format eg, ASCII to Unicode, Unicode to ASCII
Encryption
 To ensure privacy and security
 Compression
 Data compression reduces the number of bits contained in the
information.
 It is important in the transmission of multimedia such as audio or
video 45
 Layer 7: Application Layer

• Provides interface and support for services to users

(human, software, robots)
• Examples
• File transfer
• Email

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OSI Layers

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OSI v TCP/IP

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