ICT Fundamentals

DATA COMMUNICATION AND COMPUTER

NETWORK
 Computer Networks

 A Computer Network is a network of geographically

distributed multiple computers connected in a manner to
enable meaningful transmission and exchange of
information among them.
OR
 Network is a set of devices (nodes) connected through links.
 Objectives of Computer Networks
 Sharing of information, sharing of resources ( hardware and
software), and sharing of processing load are some of the major
objectives of a computer network.
 Applications of Networks
Resource Sharing
Hardware (computing resources, disks, printers)
Software (application software)
Information Sharing
Easy accessibility from anywhere (files, databases)
Search Capability (WWW)
Communication
Email
Message broadcast
Remote computing
Distributed processing (GRID Computing)
 Introduction to Computer Networks

Applications

E-mail
Searchable Data (Web Sites)
News Groups
Internet Telephony (VoIP)
Video Conferencing
Chat Groups
Instant Messengers
Internet Radio
Basic Elements of a Communication System

 Communication is the process of transferring messages

from one point to another.
 Three basic elements of any communication system are
 A sender, which creates the message to be transmitted.
 A medium, which creates a message.
 A receiver, which receives a message.

Sender Receiver
Medium
 Data Transmission Modes
There are three ways, or modes, of transmitting
data from one point to another.
 Simplex
 Half duplex
 Full duplex
 Data Transmission Modes
 Simplex
 In this Transmission mode, communication take place
in only one direction.
 Simplex circuits are seldom used because a return path
is generally needed to send acknowledgement, error
signals.
 Example
 Printer (receive only mode)

Sender Receiver
Simplex
 Data Transmission Modes

Half Duplex
 In this Transmission mode, system can transmit data in both
directions, but only in one direction at a time. Hence, a half
duplex line can alternately send and receive data.

Sender OR Receiver
Half duplex
 Data Transmission Modes

Full Duplex
 Full Duplex system allows information to flow simultaneously
in both direction on a transmission path.

Sender AND Receiver

Full duplex
Transmission Media
 Data Transmission Media

 Transmission medium
 Physical path between transmitter and receiver
 May be guided (wired) or unguided (wireless)
 Some of the common data transmission media are listed
below.
 Twisted Pair Wire
 Coaxial Cable
 Microwave System
 Communication Satellite
 Optical Fibers
 Twisted Pair

 Least expensive and most widely used

 Physical description
 Two insulated copper wires arranged in regular spiral pattern
 Number of pairs are bundled together in a cable
 Applications
 Less expensive compared to coaxial cable or optical fiber
 Limited in terms of data rate and distance
 Coaxial Cable
 Physical description
 The coaxial cable provides better protection from interference by
providing a metal shield.
 The metal shield forms a flexible cylinder around the inner wire
providing a barrier to electromagnetic radiation, both incoming
and outgoing.
 Outer conductor covered with a jacket or shield
 Shielded concentric construction reduces interference and
crosstalk
 Can be used over longer distances and support more stations on a
shared line than twisted pair
 Applications
 Most common use is in cable TV
 Traditionally part of long distance
telephone network
 Microwave System
 Microwave system uses very high frequency radio signals
to transmit data through air.
 At microwave frequencies, the electromagnetic waves
cannot bend or pass obstacles like hill.
 So, the transmitter and receiver of microwave system,
which are mounted on very high towers, should be in line
of sight.
 To over come the problem of line-of-sight, microwave
systems use repeaters at intervals of about 25 to 30 KMs
in between the transmitting and receiving stations.
 Microwave system permit transmission rates of about 16
Giga bits per second.
 Communication Satellite
 Communication satellite is a microwave relay station
between two or more ground stations (also called earth
stations)
 Satellite uses different frequency bands for incoming
(uplink) and outgoing (downlink) data.
 A single satellite can operate on a number of frequency
bands, known as transponder channels or transponders
 Satellites are precisely positioned at 36,000 KMs above
the surface of the earth with an orbit speed , which is
equivalent to rotation speed of the earth.
 Optical Fibers

 Optical fibers are hair-thin threads of glass, which can serve

as a data transmission medium as copper wire.

 The basic difference is that optical fiber transmit light

signals instead of electrical signals.

 As light travels much faster than electricity, optical fibers

can transmit data at much higher rate than copper wires.
 Optical Fiber
 Optical Fiber consist of three concentric Layers
1. Core
 Innermost section of the fiber

 Has a diameter of 8 to 200 micrometers.

2. Cladding
 Surrounds each strand

 Plastic or glass coating with optical properties different from core

 Interface between core and cladding prevents light from escaping
the core
3. Jacket
 Outermost layer, surrounding one or more claddings
 Made of plastic and other materials

 Protects from environmental elements like moisture, and crushing

 Advantages of Optical Fiber

1. Large Bandwidth
2. Low Loss
3. Immunity to electromagnetic interference.
4. Small size and lightweight.
5. Analog and digital signals
transmission.
 Types of Connection
To make the communication possible, two devices
must be connected,
 in some way to the same link at the same time
There are two possible types of connection
 Point-to-point
 Multipoint
 Point-to-point connection
 Provides a dedicated link between two devices
 Entire capacity of the link is reserved for transmission
between these two devices
 Point to point communication not usually practical
 Devices are too far apart
 Large set of devices would need impractical number of
connections
 Multipoint connection

 More than two specific devices share a single link

 The capacity of the channel is shared between the users
Network Topology
 Network Topology

The term refers to the way in which a network is laid

out physically
 Two or more devices connect to a link- two or more links form a
topology
 The topology of a network is a geometric representation of the
relationship of all the links and linking devices
Four basic topologies are possible:
 Mesh
 Star
 Bus
 Ring
 Fully connected mesh topology

 Every device has a dedicated point-

to-point link to every other device
 Dedicated link carries the traffic only
between two connected devices
 Advantages:
 Each data or link will carry its own
data load, no traffic problem
 Provide privacy and security
 One link break down only affect the
communication between the
connected computers
 Fault tracing and isolation
 Disadvantage
 More cabling is required
 Star topology

 Each device has a dedicated point-to-point link, only to a central

controller “ hub”
 Devices are not directly connected to each other
 It does not allow direct traffic between devices, it is through
controller
 Advantage:
 Less expensive, only one link is required
 Transmission delays between two nodes do not increase by adding new
nodes to the network.
 Fault location and isolation easy
 If any computer fails, the remaining portion of the network is unaffected.
 Disadvantage:
 Communication is dependent on central node
 Bus topology

 This topology falls under multipoint,

 One long cable act as backbone links all other devices
 Limited number of devices can be connected and work for
a shorter distance (signal become weak over distance)
 Advantage:
 Less cabling only the backbone cable runs across the length
 Disadvantage
 Difficult reconnection and fault tracing
 If the communication line fails, the entire system breaks down.
 Ring topology

 Each device has a dedicated point-to point connection

only with the two devices on either side of it
 Signal is passed along the ring in one direction, from
device to device till it find the destination
 Advantage
 Easy to install and reconfigure
 To add or remove a device requires only two connection to change
 Disadvantage
 Unidirectional traffic
 In a ring network, communication delay is directly proportional to
the number of nodes in the network. Hence Addition of new nodes
in the network increases the communication delay.
 Breaking a ring disable communication
Network Types
 LAN, WAN, MAN

 Networks are broadly classified into two types: Local

Area Network (LAN) and Wide Area Network (WAN)
 Local Area Network (LAN) as compared to WAN:
 Limited to a small geographic coverage
 Has much higher data transmission rate
 Experiences fewer data transmission errors
 Has lower data communication cost
 Typically owned by a single organization
 Networks that share some of the characteristics of both
LANs and WANs are referred to as Metropolitan Area
Network (MAN)
 LAN

Client Client

Client Client

Client Client
WAN
MAN
Computer role in Networking
 Client and Server computer role in networking

 Server computer is a core component of the network,

providing a link to the resources necessary to perform any
task.
 A server computer provides a link to the resources
necessary to perform any task.
 The link it provides could be to a resource existing on the
server itself or a resource on a client computer.
 Client computers normally request and receive
information over the network. Client computers also
depends primarily on the central server for processing
activities
Client/Server Networking (cont..)
 Peer-to peer network

 A peer-to-peer network is a network where the computers

act as both workstations and servers.
 great for small, simple, and inexpensive networks.
 In a strict peer-to-peer networking setup, every computer is
an equal, a peer in the network.
 Each machine can have resources that are shared with any
other machine.
 There is no assigned role for any particular device, and each
of the devices usually runs similar software. Any device can
and will send requests to any other.
Peer-to peer network (cont..)
 Protocols

 Protocol is a set of formal operating rules, procedures, or

conventions that govern a given process
 Communication protocol describes rules that govern transmission
of data over communication networks
 Roles of communication protocol:
 Data sequencing
 Data routing
 Data formatting
 Flow control
 Error control
 Connection establishment and termination
 Data security
Analogy…
OSI Reference Model
 The OSI Model

 The initial computer networks had their own set of

standard and convention that were hardware oriented.
 Each manufacturer used to develop its own
communication protocols for its own network.
 Hence the data communication protocols of one network
were not compatible with any other network.
 The problem was recognized by the International
Standard Organization (ISO), which established a
subcommittee to develop an international standard on
Network Architecture.
 Open System Architecture (OSI) model was the
result of that committee.
 The OSI Model

 The standardized OSI protocols made it possible for any

two heterogeneous computer system, located anywhere in
the world, to easily communicate with each other.

 The OSI model is also designed in a highly structured

way. It is a seven layer architecture in which a separate
set of protocols is defined for each layer.

 Each layer has an independent function and deals with

one or more specific aspects of communication.
 OSI Model

The seven Layer of OSI model are

7. Application Layer
6. Presentation Layer
5. Session Layer
4. Transport Layer
3. Network Layer
2. Data Link Layer
1. Physical Layer
 Physical Layer
 Physical layer is responsible for transmitting raw bits
streams between two nodes.
 It converts the sequence of binary bits into electrical
signals, light signals, or electromagnetic signals,
depending on the transmission medium.
 Physical layer also decides whether transmission can
take place only in one direction or in both direction.
 The Physical layer also deals with the mechanical details,
such as the size and shape of the connecting plugs, the
number of pins in the plugs, and the function of each pin.
 Data link Layer
 It is the responsibility of data link layer to detect and
correct any errors in the transmitted data.
 Since the physical layer is concerned with the bit stream,
the data link layer partitions it into frames, so that error
detection and correction can be performed independently
on each frame.
 The data-link layer also perform the flow control of
frames between two sites to ensure that a sender does not
overwhelm a receiver by sending frames at a rate faster
than the receiver can process.
 Network Layer

 The network Layer is responsible for setting up a logical

path between two nodes for communication to take place.
 The network layer responsibility is to identify the path,
using a high level addressing and routing scheme, to
transmit packets from one node to another.
 Routing is the primary job of the network layer, and routing
algorithms forms the main part of the network layer
protocols.
 Transport Layer

 Transport Layer accepts messages of arbitrary length

from the session layer, segments them into packets,
submits them to the network layer for transmission, and
finally reassembles the packets at the destination.
 The transport layer protocols include mechanisms for
handling lost and out-of sequence packets.
 The transport layer records a sequence number in each
packets, and uses the sequence numbers for detecting lost
packets and for ensuring that messages are reconstructed
in the correct sequence.
 Two popular transport layer protocols
 Transport Control Protocol (TCP)
 User Datagram Protocol (UDP)
 Session Layer

The session layer provides means of establishing,

maintaining and terminating a dialogue or a
session between the two end users.
It allows the two parties to authenticate each other
before establishing a dialogue session between
them.
If the message is a connection request, it initiates a
dialogue session.
 Presentation Layer
The presentation layer provides facilities to convert
message data into a form, which is meaningful to
the application layer.
The presentation layer may perform such
transformation as encoding and decoding, code
conversion, compression and decompression,
encryption and decryption, on the message data.
 Application Layer
The application layer provides services that
directly support the end user of the network.
Example of application layer protocols
 Electronic mail (Email)
 File transfer protocol (FTP)
 Remote login protocol
 Interworking

Interconnecting two or more networks to form a single

network is called internetworking, and the resulting
network is called an internetwork
Goal of internetworking is to hide details of different
physical networks, so that resulting internetwork
functions as a single coordinated unit
Tools such as bridges, routers and gateways are used for
internetworking
The Internet is the best example of an internetwork
 Wireless Computing Systems

 Wireless computing system uses wireless communication

technologies for interconnecting computer systems
 Enhances functionality of computing equipment by freeing
communication from location constraints of wired computing
systems
 Wireless computing systems are of two types:
 Fixed wireless systems: Support little or no mobility of the
computing equipment associated with the wireless network
 Mobile wireless systems: Support mobility of the computing
equipment to access resources associated with the wireless
network
 Distributed Computing Systems

Configuration where many independent

computer systems are connected, and messages,
processing task, programs, data, and other
resources are transmitted between cooperating
computer systems
Such an arrangement enables sharing of
many hardware and software resources as well as
information among several users who may be sitting
far away from each other