Data Communication and

Computer Networks

Chapter 1 Part II
Introduction to Computer Networks
 Introduction to Computer
Networks
 The term network means two or more connected computers (other
communication devices) that can share resources like data,
applications, office machines, an Internet connection, or some
combination of these. OR
 Computer network to mean a collection of autonomous computers
interconnected by a single technology.
 connecting together of computers and other devices is called a
network, and the concept of connected computers sharing
resources is called networking.
 The connection be via a copper wire, fiber optics, microwaves,
infrared, Wi-Fi and communication satellites can also be used.
 Networks come in many sizes (small, medium or large), shapes
(physical and logical structure) and forms.
 Introduction to Computer Net cont’d…
 Two computers are said to be interconnected if

they are able to exchange information.

 Components of a compute networks.
Hardware:
 Computer Media:
 Network card  Cable
 Routers  Wire
 Modem …  Microwave …

Software: Network Design:

 Network OS Logical layout
 Utilities … Physical layout …
 Uses of Computer
Networks
Contd.
1. Resource sharing
 The goal of network is to make all programs, equipment, and
especially data available to anyone on the network without
regard to the physical location of the resource and the user.
 An obvious and widespread example is having a group of office
workers share a common printer.
 None of the individuals really needs a private printer, and a
high-volume networked printer is often cheaper, faster, and
easier to maintain than a large collection of individual printers.
 Information sharing is more important than physical resource
sharing
 To undertake parallel processing
 To share databases
Contd.
2. Means of communication
E-mail
Videoconferencing
Chatting
E-commerce
Game
….

3. Centralizing administration and support

Database
Banks
….
 Contd.

Applications of Computer Networks

 Business application
 Home application
 Internet access
 Entertainment
 Ubiquitous computing
 Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)
 Wireless network
 Sensor network
 Wearable computers
 Science and Research
 Transportation
 Weather forecasting and others.
 Introduction to computer Net cont’d…
Social Issues
 Computer networks allow ordinary citizens to distribute and view
content in ways that were not previously possible.
 Social networks, message boards, content sharing sites, and a host of
other applications allow people to share their views.
 The trouble comes with topics that people actually care about, like
politics, religion, or sex.
 The other issue is copyright, to handle this some automated systems
that search peer-to-peer networks and fire off warnings to network
operators and users who are suspected of trespassing copyright.
 Privacy also a big problem in this regard.
For example, Google can read your email (at least the subject in order)
and show you advertisements based on your interests (i.e. information
domain) if you use its email service, Gmail. However, it is totally the
violation of individuals as well as companies privacy right, stated under
legal documents and constitutions.
 Network Types

There are basically four categories of networks based on its

size and geographical coverage.

1. Personal Area network

2. Local Area Network (LAN)

3. Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)

4. Wide Area Network (WAN)

Introduction to Computer net cont…..
Computer Network Types
Personal Area Networks
A personal area network (PAN) is a computer network used
for data transmission amongst devices such as computers,
telephones, tablets and personal digital assistants.
Can cover an area 0- 10 M
 Local area network
(LAN)
 A local area network (LAN) is the basic building block of any
computer network.
 A LAN can range from simple (two computers connected by a cable)
to complex (hundreds of connected computers and peripherals
throughout a major corporation).
 The distinguishing feature of a LAN is that it is confined to a limited
geographic area and the topology it used.
 A local area network (LAN) is usually privately owned and links the
devices in a single office, factory building, or campus.
 LANs are widely used to connect personal computers, laptop, PDA,
Smart phones and other consumer electronics to let them share
resources and exchange information.
 Currently, LAN size is limited to a few kilometers
 Early LANs had data rates in the 4 to 16 megabits per second (Mbps)
range. Today, however, speeds are normally 100 or 1000 Mbps
Contd.
 Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)
 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.
 It is designed for customers who need a high-speed connectivity,
normally to the Internet, and have endpoints spread over a city or
part of city.
 A good example of a MAN is the part of the telephone company
network that can provide a high-speed DSL line to the customer.
 Another example is the cable TV network that originally was
designed for cable TV, but today can also be used for high-speed
data connection to the Internet.
 Recently MAN develop in high-speed, which has been
standardized as IEEE 802.16 and is popularly known as
WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access).
MAN cont’d
 Wide Area Network(WAN)

 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 WAN can be as complex as the backbones that connect the Internet
or as simple as a dial-up line that connects a home computer to the
Internet. We normally refer to the first as a switched WAN and to the
second as a point-to-point WAN.
 The switched WAN connects the end systems, which usually
comprise a router (internetworking connecting device) that connects
to another LAN or WAN.
 The point-to-point WAN is normally a line leased from a telephone or
cable TV provider that connects a home computer or a small LAN to
an Internet service provider (lSP). This type of WAN is often used to
provide Internet access.
 Cover an area >50kms
Network type based on connection
A network is two or more devices connected
through links.
A link is a communications pathway that
transfers data from one device to another.
For visualization purposes, it is simplest to
imagine any link as a line drawn between two
points.
For communication to occur, two devices must
be connected in some way to the same link at
the same time.
There are two possible types of connections:
point-to-point and multipoint.
 Point-to-Point
A point-to-point connection provides a
dedicated link between two devices.
The entire capacity of the link is reserved for
transmission between those two devices.
Most point-to-point connections use an actual
length of wire or cable to connect the two
ends, but other options, such as microwave
or satellite links, are also possible.
When you change television channels by
infrared remote control, you are
establishing a point-to-point connection
between the remote control and the
television's control system.
 Multipoint
A multipoint (also called multidrop)
connection is one in which more than two
specific devices share a single link.
In a multipoint environment, 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.
 Network Topology
 The term topology 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 the geometric representation of the
relationship of all the links and linking devices (usually called
nodes) to one another.
 Physical and logical topologies that are very different.
 Physical topology refers to the way in which the endpoints,
or stations, attached to the network are interconnected.
 Logical topology refers the way of data transmission among
communication device on the existing physical topology
 There are five basic topologies possible: mesh, star, bus, ring and
hybrid .
 Bus Topology
 Full-duplex operation between the station and the tap allows data to be
transmitted onto the bus and received from the bus.
 A bus topology, is multipoint connection.
 One long cable acts as a backbone to link all the devices in a network
 Bus topology uses CSMA/CD, a protocol that helps devices share the
bandwidth evenly without having two devices transmit at the same
time on the network medium.
 CSMA/CD was created to overcome the problem of those collisions
that occur when packets are transmitted simultaneously from different
nodes.
 Nodes are connected to the bus cable by drop lines and taps.
 A drop line is a connection running between the device and the main
cable.
 A tap is a connector that either splices into the main cable or punctures
the sheathing of a cable to create a contact with the metallic core.
 Advantages and Disadvantages of Bus Topology
Advantages of Bus topology
 Ease of installation.
 uses less cabling than mesh or star topologies
 Each drop line has to reach only as far as the nearest point on the
backbone.
Disadvantages of Bus topology
 difficult reconnection and fault isolation. A bus is usually designed to be
optimally efficient at installation.
 It can therefore be difficult to add new devices.
 In addition, a fault or break in the bus cable stops all transmission, even
between devices on the same side of the problem.
 Adding new devices may therefore require modification or replacement of
the backbone.
 Star Topology
 In a star topology, each device has a dedicated point-to-point link only to
a central controller, usually called a hub and it is full duplex.
 The term dedicated means that the link carries traffic only between the
two devices it connects.
 The devices are not directly linked to one another.
 Unlike a mesh topology, a star topology does not allow direct traffic
between devices.
 The controller acts as an exchange: If one device wants to send data to
another, it sends the data to the controller, which then relays the data to
the other connected device
 There are two alternatives for the operation of the central node.
 One approach is for the central node to operate in a broadcast fashion
(using hub).
 Another approach is for the central node to act as a frame-switching
device. An incoming frame is buffered in the node and then retransmitted
on an outgoing link to the destination station.
 Advantest and Disadvantages of Star
Advantages of Star topology
 A star topology is less expensive than a mesh topology.
 Easy to install and reconfigure.

 Far less cabling needs to be housed,

 Other advantages include robustness. If one link fails, only that
link is affected. All other links remain active.
Dis advantages of star Topology
 Dependency of the whole topology on one single point, the hub. If
the hub goes down, the whole system is dead.
 Each node must be linked to central hub for this reason, often
more cabling is required in a star than in some other topologies
(such as ring or bus).
 Ring Topology
 In a ring topology, each device has a dedicated point-to-point
connection with only the two devices on either side of it.
 A signal is passed along the ring in one direction, from device
to device, until it reaches its destination.
 Computers are connected on a single circle of cable. Unlike the
bus topology, there are no terminated ends.
 Signals travel around the loop in one direction and pass through
each computer
 The method by which the data is transmitted around the ring is
called token passing. A token is a special series of bits that contains
control information.
 Each computer acts as a repeater to boost the signal and send it to
the next computer.
 Advantages and Disadvantages of Ring
Advantages of Ring Topology
 A ring is relatively easy to install and reconfigure. Each device is
linked to only its immediate neighbors (either physically or
logically).
 To add or delete a device requires changing only two connections.
 In addition, fault isolation is simplified.
Disadvantages of Ring Topology
 In a simple ring, a break in the ring (such as a disabled station)
can disable the entire network.
 This weakness can be solved by using a dual ring or a switch
capable of closing off the break.
 Today, the need for higher-speed LANs has made this topology
less popular.
 Mesh topology
 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 first consider that each node must be connected to every other
node.
 Node 1 must be connected to n - I nodes, node 2 must be connected to n – 1
nodes, and finally node n must be connected to n - 1 nodes. We need n(n - 1)
physical links.
 However, if each physical link allows communication in both directions
(duplex mode), we can divide the number of links by 2. In other words, we
can say that in a mesh topology, we need n(n -1) /2 duplex-mode links.
 To accommodate that many links, every device on the network must have n
– 1 input/output (I/O) ports to be connected to the other n - 1
stations.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Mesh Topology
Advantages
 Eliminating the traffic problems that can occur when links must be shared by
multiple devices.
 mesh topology is robust. If one link becomes unusable, it does not incapacitate
the entire system
 Third, there is the advantage of privacy or security. When every message travels
along a dedicated line, only the intended recipient sees it. Physical boundaries
prevent other users from gaining access to messages.
Disadvantages
 The main disadvantages of a mesh are related to the amount of cabling and the
number of I/O ports required.
 First, because every device must be connected to every other device, installation
and reconnection are difficult.
 Second, the sheer bulk of the wiring can be greater than the available space (in
walls, ceilings, or floors) can accommodate.
 Finally, the hardware required to connect each link (I/O ports and cable) can be
prohibitively expensive
 Hybrid Topology
Hybrid topology is a combination of two or more
types of physical or logical network topologies
working together within the same network.
 Selecting the Right Topology
In the process of selecting appropriate network
type you must first answer the following
questions:
How much cash do you have?
How much fault tolerance do you really need?
How scalable does your network need to be?
How easy the installation and maintenance of a
network?
 Network Models by Capability
1. Peer to Peer (P2P)
 Computers on the network communicate with each others as equals and
each computer is responsible for making its own resources available to
other computers on the network.
 The computers existing in a peer-to-peer network can be client
machines that access resources and server machines that provide
them to other computers.
 This works really well if there’s not a huge number of users on the
network, each user handles backing things up locally, and your
network doesn’t require a lot of security.
 2. Client-server model
Two clients using a single server at a time
In instead of the request going directly to the machine with
the desired resource, a client machine’s request for a
resource goes to the main server, which responds by
handling security and directing the client to the resource it
wants.
 Client/Server vs. Peer-to-Peer:
Advantages and Disadvantages
Client/Server Model Peer-to-Peer Model
Advantages: Advantages:
 Very secure OS.  Uses less expensive networks.
 Better performance.  Easy to administer.
 Centralized servers, easy  Contain both network operating
to manage. system and application software.
 Centralized backups.  Ideal for small business and home
 High reliability. users (up to 10 computers).
Disadvantages:
Disadvantages:
 Individual user performance easily
 Expensive administration.
affected.
 More hardware intensive.
 Not very secure.
 Hard to back up.
 Transmission Medias
 The transmission medium is the physical path between
transmitter and receiver in a data transmission system.
 Transmission media can be classified as guided or unguided.

 In both cases, communication is in the form of electromagnetic

waves.
 With guided media, the waves are guided along a solid medium,

such as copper twisted pair, copper coaxial cable, and optical fiber.
 GUIDED TRANSMSSION MEDIA
 For guided transmission media, the transmission capacity, in
terms of either data rate or bandwidth, depends critically on
the distance and on whether the medium is point-to-point or
multipoint, such as in a local area network (LAN).
 Guided media, which are those that provide a conduit from
one device to another, include twisted-pair cable, coaxial
cable, and fiber-optic cable.
 A signal traveling along any of these media is directed and
contained by the physical limits of the medium.
 Twisted-pair and coaxial cable use metallic (copper)
conductors that accept and transport signals in the form of
electric current.
 Optical fiber is a cable that accepts and transports signals in
the form of light.
 Guided Media cont’d…..

 Twisted Pair Cable

 Coaxial cable
 Fiber optics
 Twisted-Pair Cable
 A twisted pair consists of two conductors (normally copper), each with its own
plastic insulation, twisted together, as shown in the figure below.
 One of the wires is used to carry signals to the receiver, and the other is used
only as a ground reference.
 The twisting tends to decrease the crosstalk interference between adjacent
pairs in a cable.
 Ethernet operating over twisted-pair cabling is commonly used within a
building for LANs supporting personal computers with the data rate of 100
Mbps to 10 Gbps.
 Twisted pair may be used to transmit both analog (amplifiers in every 5 to 6
KM) and digital (repeaters in every 2 to 3 KM) transmission.
 twisted pair cable is limited in distance, bandwidth, and data rate than
others.
 Signal attenuation of twisted pair is a very strong function of frequency
compared to other cables.
 Twisted-pair cabling is also susceptible to signal reflections, or return loss,
caused by impedance mismatches along the length of the transmission line
 Transmission Medias cont…
Types of Twisted Pair Cable
 Twisted pair cables are mainly categorized into two, namely, Shielded
(STP) and Unshielded (UTP) Twisted Pair cable. Shielded twisted pair
cable has three forms.
1. Each pair of wires is individually shielded with metallic foil, generally
referred to as foil twisted pair (FTP).
2. There is a foil or braid shield inside the jacket covering all wires (as a
group). This configuration is sometimes designated as screened twisted
pair (F/UTP).
3. There is a shield around each individual pair, as well as around the
entire group of wires. This is referred to as fully shielded twisted pair
or shielded/foil twisted pair (S/FTP).
 Transmission Medias cont…..
Twisted Pair Cabling
 Twisted pair cables are terminated with RJ-45 connectors, is
a common copper-based medium for interconnecting devices
in the network.
 Different situations may require different UTP cabling with
different wiring conventions. The following are main cable
types that are obtained by using specific wiring conventions:
 Ethernet Straight-through: in order to connect different kinds of
networking devices like PC to Switch, Switch to router and others.
 Ethernet Crossover: used to interconnect similar devices (i.e. PC to
PC , Switch to Switch, Router to Router)
 Rollover: used to interlink PC to other networking devices for
configuration purpose only.
 Transmission Medias cont…..

Coaxial cable
 Coaxial cable consists of two conductors, it is constructed to permit it
to operate over a wider range of frequencies.
 It consists of a hollow outer cylindrical conductor that surrounds a
single inner wire conductor.
 The inner conductor is held in place by insulating rings. The outer
conductor is covered with a jacket or shield.
 Coaxial cable can be used over longer distances and support more
stations on a shared line than twisted pair.
 Transmission Medias cont….
Coaxial Cable cont…..
 Because of its shielded, concentric construction, coaxial cable is
much less susceptible to interference and crosstalk than twisted
pair.
 The principal constraints on performance are attenuation, thermal
noise, and intermodulation noise.
1. Thin net cable(10base2) : is a flexible coaxial cable about 0.64
centimeters (0.25 inches) thick. Carry a signal for 200 meters
2. Thick cable(10base5) :is a relatively rigid coaxial cable about
1.27 centimeters (0.5 inches) in diameter. carry a signal for 500
meters .
Applications of Coaxial Cable
 Television distribution
 Long-distance telephone transmission
 Short-run computer system links
 Transmission Medias cont….
Fiber Optics
 Fiber-optic cabling uses either glass or plastic fibers to guide light impulses
from source to destination. The bits are encoded on the fiber as light impulses .
Optical fiber cabling is capable of very large raw data bandwidth rates.
 An optical fiber strand (also called an optical waveguide) has a cylindrical
shape and consists of three concentric sections: the core, the cladding, and the
Jacket.
 Unguided Media

Where:
MWA-Mobile Wireless Access
FWA-Fixed Wireless Access
NWA-Nomadic Wireless Access
 Unguided Media cont…
Types of Wireless Networks
 Standards for wireless data communications cover both the Data Link and
Physical layers. Four common standards are:
 IEEE 802.11 - is a Wireless LAN (WLAN) technology that uses a Carrier
Sense Multiple Access/Collision Avoidance (CSMA/CA) media access process.
 IEEE 802.15 - Wireless WPAN, commonly known as "Bluetooth", uses a
device pairing process to communicate over distances from 1 to 100 meters.
 IEEE 802.16 - Commonly known as WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for
Microwave Access), uses a point-to-multipoint topology to provide wireless
broadband access.
 Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) - Includes Physical layer
specifications that enable the implementation of the Layer 2 General Packet
Radio Service (GPRS) protocol to provide data transfer over mobile cellular
telephony networks.
 Other wireless technologies such as satellite communications provide data
network connectivity for locations without another means of connection.
 Unguided (Wireless) media cont….
 Wireless media carry electromagnetic signals at radio and microwave
frequencies that represent the binary digits of data communications.
 Wireless data communication technologies are good in open environments.
However, buildings and structures, and the local terrain, will limit the
effective coverage. In addition, wireless is susceptible to different kinds
interference from home appliances.
 Each frequency band has its advantages and disadvantages.
 Popular mobile systems congregate toward lower frequencies, lower
frequencies mean longer wavelengths that travel further, but it has a
bandwidth limitation.
 In contrast, higher frequencies can provide sufficient bandwidth but their
shorter wavelengths make for shorter traveling distances.
 Unguided signals can travel from the source to destination in several ways:
ground propagation, sky propagation, and line-of-sight propagation.
 Wireless Transmission Types

Performance metrics
 Bandwidth
 Throughput
 Latency
 Capacity

Radio wave 3KHz_1GHZ

 ground +sky propagation
Micro wave 1GZ-299 GHZ
 Sky+ line of sight

Infrared 300GHZ-400THZ
 Line of sight
 Network Protocol Stacks
 Protocol is an agreement between the communicating parties on
how communication is to proceed.
 A protocol layer can be implemented in software, in hardware, or
in a combination of the two.
 A set of layers and protocols is called a network architecture.
 The specification of an architecture must contain enough
information to allow an implementer to write the program or
build the hardware for each layer so that it will correctly obey the
appropriate protocol.
 A list of the protocols used by a certain system, one protocol per
layer, is called a protocol stack.
 The entities comprising the corresponding layers on different
machines are called peers. The peers may be software processes,
hardware devices, or even human beings.
Contd.
 Network Protocol Stack cont…..
The Need for Layer Architecture
 We use layered architecture in networking for the following reasons:
It reduces design and implementation complexity of the software as well
as the hardware.
It helps to easily replace one layer with a completely different protocol or
implementation without affecting the upper or lower layers in the
architecture.
Standards can be developed independently and simultaneously for each
layer.
 Some researchers and networking engineers are strongly opposed to
layering, because:
One layer may duplicate lower-layer functionality.
Functionality at one layer may need information that is present only in
another layer; this violates the goal of separation of layers.
 Network Protocol Stack cont….
Open System Interconnection (OSI)Reference Model
 It is considered as the primary architectural model for inter-computer
communications. It ensures greater compatibility and interoperability
between various types of network technologies.
 Divides the problem of moving information between computers over a
network medium into SEVEN smaller and more manageable problems
(modules).
 The model define how each layer communicates and works with the layers
immediately above and below it.
 Each layer communicates with the same layer’s software or hardware on
other computers (on the other node).
 The lower 4 layers are concerned with the flow of data from end to end
through the network.
 The upper three layers of the OSI model are orientated more toward services
to the applications.
 Data is Encapsulated with the necessary protocol information as it moves
down the layers before network transit.
Network Protocol Stack cont…..
 Network Protocol Stack
cont……
OSI Reference Model cont…..
 The principles that were applied to arrive at the seven layers:
1. A layer should be created where a different abstraction is needed.
2. Each layer should perform a well-defined function.
3. The function of each layer should be chosen with an eye toward
defining internationally standardized protocols.
4. The layer boundaries should be chosen to minimize the
information flow across the interfaces.
5. The number of layers should be large enough that distinct
functions need not be thrown together in the same layer out of
necessity and small enough that the architecture does not become
unwieldy.
 Network Protocol Stack cont…..
TCP/IP (Internet) Reference Model
 Used in the grandparent of all wide area computer networks, the
Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANet).
 Developed by Department of Defense (DoD) to ensure and preserve
data integrity as well as maintain communication in the time of
catastrophic war.
 Condensed version of OSI model contains five layers instead of seven.
 It is independent of the Network access methods, Frame format, &
Medium.
OSI TCP/IP Internet
Protocol
Application Application Application
Presentation
Session
Transport Transport Transport
Network Internet Internet
Data Link Link Link
Physical Physical
Network Protocol Stack cont……
Protocols in TCP/IP Reference
Model
 Network Protocol Stack cont…..
Comparison of the OSI and TCP/IP Reference
Models
 Three concepts (i.e. services, interfaces and protocols) are central
to the OSI model. But the TCP/IP model did not originally clearly
distinguish these concepts.
 The biggest contribution of the OSI model is that it makes the
distinction between these three concepts explicit.
 Protocols in the OSI model are better hidden than in the TCP/IP
model and can be replaced easily by new technology.
 The OSI reference model was devised before the corresponding
protocols were invented.
 The downside of this ordering was that the designers did not have
much experience with the subject and did not have a good idea of
which functionality to put in which layer.
Comparison of the OSI and TCP/IP Reference
Models ….

 With TCP/IP the reverse was true. There was no problem

with the protocols fitting the model. The only trouble was
that the model did not fit any other protocol stacks.
 Another difference is OSI supports both connectionless and
connection oriented communication in the network layer,
but only connection-oriented communication in the
transport layer and TCP/IP supports only connectionless in
the network layer but both in the transport layer.
 Network Protocol Stack cont……
A Critique of the OSI Model and Protocols
1. Bad timing.
2. Bad technology.
3. Bad implementations.
4. Bad politics.

 The choice of seven layers was more political than technical, and
two of the layers (session and presentation) are nearly empty,
whereas two other ones (data link and network) are overfull.
 Network Protocol Stack cont…..
A Critique of the TCP/IP Reference Model
 Not clearly distinguish the concepts of services, interfaces, and
protocols.
 Not much of a guide for designing new networks using new
technologies.
 It is not general and is poorly suited to describing any protocol
stack other than TCP/IP. For example, Bluetooth is completely
impossible.
 The link layer is not a layer but it is an interface (between the
network and data link layers).
 The TCP/IP model does not distinguish between the physical and
data link layers. These are completely different.
 The protocol implementations were then distributed free, which
resulted in their becoming widely used, deeply entrenched, and
thus hard to replace.
 Next
Chapter Two
Data Link Layer