Introduction

•Data Communication
Najia Bensaud
Spring 2023
 • Textbook:
• Data Communications and Networking, Fourth Edition

Introduction • by Behrouz A. Forouzan

• DATA COMMUNICATIONS are the exchange of data between two devices via some form of transmission
medium such as a wire cable.
• The term telecommunication, means communication at a distance.
• The word data refers to information.

Components:
A data communications system has five main components
1- Message: is the information (data) to be communicated.
2- Sender. is the device that sends the data message.
3- Receiver. is the device that receives the message.
4- Transmission medium. is the physical path by which a message travels from sender to receiver. Ex> twisted-pair
wire, coaxial cable, fiber-optic cable, and radio waves.
5- Protocol. is a set of rules that govern data communications.
Introduction

Data Representation:
• Information today comes in different forms such as text, numbers, images, audio, and
video.
Text
Numbers
Images
Audio
Video
Data Flow:
 Simplex:
• the communication is unidirectional,
• Only one of the two devices on a link can transmit; the other can only receive.
• Keyboards and traditional monitors are examples of simplex devices.
• The simplex mode can use the entire capacity of the channel
to send data in one direction.
 Half-Duplex:
• Each station can both transmit and receive, but not at the same time.
• Ex: Walkie-talkies.
• The entire capacity of the channel can be utilized for each direction.
 Full-Duplex
• Both stations can transmit and receive simultaneously.
• Ex. telephone network.
• The capacity of the channel, however, must be divided between the two
• directions.
NETWORKS:
• A network is a set of devices (often referred to as nodes) connected by communication links. A node can be a
computer, printer, or any other device capable of sending and/or receiving data generated by other nodes on
the network.
Physical Structures
Type of Connection
• Point-to-Point provides a dedicated link between two devices. The entire capacity of the link is reserved for
transmission between those two devices.
• Multipoint more than two specific devices share a single link, the capacity of the channel is shared, either
spatially or temporally. If several devices can use the link simultaneously, it is a spatially shared connection.
If users must take turns, it is a timeshared connection.
Physical Topology
The term physical topology refers to the way in which a network is laid
out physically.
• There are four basic topologies possible: mesh, star, bus, and ring.
• Mesh In a mesh topology, every device has a dedicated point-to-point link to every other device.
• To find the number of physical links in a fully connected mesh network with n nodes, we need n(n -1) /2
duplex-mode links.
• Mesh advantages:
• use of dedicated links eliminating the traffic problems.
• If one link becomes unusable, it does not incapacitate the entire system
• there is the advantage of privacy or security.
• mesh disadvantages:
• installation and reconnection are difficult
• the hardware required to connect each link (I/O ports and cable) can be expensive.
• For these reasons, a mesh topology is usually implemented in a limited fashion, for example, as a backbone
connecting the main computers of a hybrid network that can include several other topologies.
• One practical example of a mesh topology is the connection of telephone regional offices in which each
regional office needs to be connected to every other regional office.
• Star Topology In a star topology, each device has a dedicated point-to-point link only to a central controller,
usually called a hub. The devices are not directly linked to one another.
• A star topology is less expensive than a mesh topology. In a star, each device needs only one link and one I/O
port to connect it to any number of others.
• Other advantages include robustness. If one link fails, only that link is affected. All other links remain active.
• One big disadvantage of a star topology is the dependency of the whole topology on one single point, the hub.
If the hub goes down, the whole system is dead.
• The star topology is used in local-area networks (LANs).
• Bus Topology The preceding examples all describe point-to-point
connections. A bus topology, on the other hand, is multipoint.
• Advantages of a bus topology include ease of installation.
• Disadvantages include difficult reconnection and fault isolation.
• In addition, a fault or break in the bus cable stops all transmission.
• Bus topology was the one of the first topologies used in the design of early
local area networks.
• Ring Topology each device has a dedicated
point-to-point connection with only the two
devices on either side of it.
• A ring is relatively easy to install and
reconfigure. Each device is linked to only its
immediate neighbors.
• In a simple ring, a break in the ring (such as
• a disabled station) can disable the entire
network.
• Today, the need for higher-speed LANs has
made this topology less popular.
• Hybrid Topology
A hybrid topology: a star backbone with
three bus networks.
 Categories of Networks
• The category into which a network falls is determined by its size.
• Local Area Network
• Wide Area Network
• Metropolitan Area Networks

• A local area network (LAN) is usually privately owned and links the devices in a single office, building,
or campus. Currently, LAN size is limited to a few kilometers.
• LANs are designed to allow resources to be shared between personal computers or workstations. The
resources to be shared can include hardware (e.g., a printer), software (e.g., an application program), or
data.
• Wired LAN + Wireless LAN
• A wide area network (WAN) provides long-distance transmission of data, image, audio, and video
information over large geographic areas that may comprise a country, a continent, or even the whole
world.
• A metropolitan area network (MAN) is a network with a size between a LAN and a
• WAN. It normally covers the area inside a town or a city .
Interconnection of Networks:
Internetwork

• Today, it is very rare to see a LAN, a

MAN, or a LAN in isolation; they are
connected
• to one another.
THE INTERNET

• A network is a group of connected

communicating devices such as
computers and printers. An internet (note
the lowercase letter i) is two or more
networks that can communicate with each
other. The most notable internet is called
the Internet (uppercase letter I), a
collaboration of more than hundreds of
thousands of interconnected networks.
 International Internet Service Providers
• At the top of the hierarchy are the international service providers that connect nations together.
National Internet Service Providers
• The national Internet service providers are backbone networks created and maintained by
specialized companies.
• To provide connectivity between the end users, these backbone networks are connected by
complex switching stations (normally run by a third party) called network access points
(NAPs).
Regional Internet Service Providers
• Regional internet service providers or regional ISPs are smaller ISPs that are connected to one
or more national ISPs. They are at the third level of the hierarchy with a smaller data rate.
Local Internet Service Providers
• Local Internet service providers provide direct service to the end users. The local ISPs can be
connected to regional ISPs or directly to national ISPs.
Network Models

• THE OSI MODEL: An ISO standard that

covers all aspects of network
communications is the Open Systems
Interconnection model.
• 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).