Chapter 1 Basic Networking

Chapter 1 Basic Networking:

• Data communication is the transfer of data from one device to another via some
form of transmission medium.
• A data communications system must transmit data to the correct destination in an
accurate and timely manner.
• The five components that make up a data communications system are the
message, sender, receiver, medium, and protocol.
• Text, numbers, images, audio, and video are different forms of information.
• Data flow between two devices can occur in one of three ways: simplex, half-
duplex, or full-duplex.
• A network is a set of communication devices connected by media links.
• In a point-to-point connection, two and only two devices are connected by a
dedicated link. In a multipoint connection, three or more devices share a link.
• Topology refers to the physical or logical arrangement of a network. Devices may
be arranged in a mesh, star, bus, or ring topology.
• A network can be categorized as a local area network (LAN), a metropolitan-area
network (MAN), or a wide area network (WAN).
• A LAN is a data communication system within a building, plant, or campus, or
between nearby buildings.
• A MAN is a data communication system covering an area the size of a town or
city.
• A WAN is a data communication system spanning states, countries, or the whole
world.
• An internet is a network of networks.
• The Internet is a collection of many separate networks.
• TCP/IP is the protocol suite for the Internet.
• There are local, regional, national, and international Internet service providers
(ISPs).
• A protocol is a set of rules that governs data communication; the key elements of
a protocol are syntax, semantics, and timing.
• Standards are necessary to ensure that products from different manufacturers can
work together as expected.
• The ISO, ITU-T, ANSI, IEEE, and EIA are some of the organizations involved in
standards creation.
• Forums are special-interest groups that quickly evaluate and standardize new
technologies.
• A Request for Comment (RFC) is an idea or concept that is a precursor to an
Internet standard.

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Chapter 1 Basic Networking

Network Models

• The five-layer model provides guidelines for the development of universally

compatible networking protocols.
• The physical, data link, and network layers are the network support layers.
• The application layer is the user support layer.
• The transport layer links the network support layers and the user support layer.
• The physical layer coordinates the functions required to transmit a bit stream over
a physical medium.
• The data link layer is responsible for delivering data units from one station to the
next without errors.
• The network layer is responsible for the source-to-destination delivery of a packet
across multiple network links.
• The transport layer is responsible for the process-to-process delivery of the entire
message.
• The application layer enables the users to access the network.

Signals

• Data must be transformed into electromagnetic signals prior to transmission

across a network.
• Data and signals can be either analog or digital.
• A signal is periodic if it consists of a continuously repeating pattern.
• Each sine wave can be characterized by its amplitude, frequency, and phase.
• Frequency and period are inverses of each other.
• A time-domain graph plots amplitude as a function of time.
• A frequency-domain graph plots each sine wave’s peak amplitude against its
frequency.
• By using Fourier analysis, any composite signal can be represented as a
combination of simple sine waves.
• The spectrum of a signal consists of the sine waves that make up the signal.
• The bandwidth of a signal is the range of frequencies the signal occupies.
• Bandwidth is determined by finding the difference between the highest and lowest
frequency components.
• Bit rate (number of bits per second) and bit interval (duration of 1 bit) are terms
used to describe digital signals.
• A digital signal is a composite signal with an infinite bandwidth.
• Bit rate and bandwidth are proportional to each other.
• The Nyquist formula determines the theoretical data rate for a noiseless channel.
• The Shannon capacity determines the theoretical maximum data rate for a noisy
channel.

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• Attenuation, distortion, and noise can impair a signal.

• Attenuation is the loss of a signal’s energy due to the resistance of the medium.
• The decibel measures the relative strength of two signals or a signal at two
different points.
• Distortion is the alteration of a signal due to the differing propagation speeds of
each of the frequencies that make up a signal.
• Noise is the external energy that corrupts a signal.
• We can evaluate transmission media by throughput, propagation speed, and
propagation time.
• The wavelength of a frequency is defined as the propagation speed divided by the
frequency.

Encoding and Modulation

• Line coding is the process of converting binary data to a digital signal.

• The number of different values allowed in a signal is the signal level. The number
of symbols that represent data is the data level.
• Bit rate is a function of the pulse rate and data level.
• Line coding methods must eliminate the dc component and provide a means of
synchronization between the sender and the receiver.
• Line coding methods can be classified as unipolar, polar, or bipolar.
• NRZ, RZ, Manchester, and differential Manchester encoding are the most popular
polar encoding methods.
• AMI is a popular bipolar encoding method.
• Block coding can improve the performance of line coding through redundancy
and error correction.
• Block coding involves grouping the bits, substitution, and line coding.
• 4B/5B, 8B/10B, and 8B/6T are common block coding methods.
• Analog-to-digital conversion relies on PCM (pulse code modulation).
• PCM involves sampling, quantizing, and line coding.
• The Nyquist theorem says that the sampling rate must be at least twice the
highest-frequency component in the original signal.
• Digital transmission can be either parallel or serial in mode.
• In parallel transmission, a group of bits is sent simultaneously, with each bit on a
separate line.
• In serial transmission, there is only one line and the bits are sent sequentially.
• Serial transmission can be either synchronous or asynchronous.
• In asynchronous serial transmission, each byte (group of 8 bits) is framed with a
start bit and a stop bit. There may be a variable-length gap between each byte.
• In synchronous serial transmission, bits are sent in a continuous stream without
start and stop bits and without gaps between bytes. Regrouping the bits into
meaningful bytes is the responsibility of the receiver.

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Chapter 1 Basic Networking

Analog Transmission

• Digital-to-analog modulation can be accomplished using the following:

*Amplitude shift keying (ASK)—the amplitude of the carrier signal varies.
*Frequency shift keying (FSK)—the frequency of the carrier signal varies.
*Phase shift keying (PSK)—the phase of the carrier signal varies.
*Quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM)—both the phase and amplitude
of the carrier signal vary.
• QAM enables a higher data transmission rate than other digital-to-analog
methods.
• Baud rate and bit rate are not synonymous. Bit rate is the number of bits
transmitted per second. Baud rate is the number of signal units transmitted per
second. One signal unit can represent one or more bits.
• The minimum required bandwidth for ASK and PSK is the baud rate.
• The minimum required bandwidth (BW) for FSK modulation is BW =f c1 .f c0 +
N baud , where f c1 is the frequency representing a 1 bit, f c0 is the frequency
representing a 0 bit, and N baud is the baud rate.
• A regular telephone line uses frequencies between 600 and 3000 Hz for data
communication.
• ASK modulation is especially susceptible to noise.
• Because it uses two carrier frequencies, FSK modulation requires more bandwidth
than ASK and PSK.
• PSK and QAM modulation have two advantages over ASK:
*They are not as susceptible to noise.
*Each signal change can represent more than one bit.
• Trellis coding is a technique that uses redundancy to provide a lower error rate.
• The 56K modems are asymmetric; they download at a rate of 56 Kbps and upload
at 33.6 Kbps.
• Analog-to-analog modulation can be implemented by using the following:
Amplitude modulation (AM)
Frequency modulation (FM)
Phase modulation (PM)
• In AM radio, the bandwidth of the modulated signal must be twice the bandwidth
of the modulating signal.
• In FM radio, the bandwidth of the modulated signal must be 10 times the
bandwidth of the modulating signal.

• Multiplexing

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Chapter 1 Basic Networking

Multiplexing is the simultaneous transmission of multiple signals across a single

data link.
• Frequency-division multiplexing (FDM) and wave-division multiplexing (WDM)
are techniques for analog signals, while time-division multiplexing (TDM) is for
digital signals.
• In FDM, each signal modulates a different carrier frequency. The modulated
carriers are combined to form a new signal that is then sent across the link.
• In FDM, multiplexers modulate and combine signals while demultiplexers
decompose and demodulate.
• In FDM, guard bands keep the modulated signals from overlapping and
interfering with one another.
• Telephone companies use FDM to combine voice channels into successively
larger groups for more efficient transmission.
• Wave-division multiplexing is similar in concept to FDM. The signals being
multiplexed, however, are light waves.
• In TDM, digital signals from n devices are interleaved with one another, forming
a frame of data (bits, bytes, or any other data unit).
• Framing bits allow the TDM multiplexer to synchronize properly.
• Digital signal (DS) is a hierarchy of TDM signals.
• T lines (T-1 to T-4) are the implementation of DS services. A T-1 line consists of
24 voice channels.
• T lines are used in North America. The European standard defines a variation
called E lines.
• Inverse multiplexing splits a data stream from one high-speed line onto multiple
lower-speed lines.

Transmission Media

• Transmission media lie below the physical layer.

• A guided medium provides a physical conduit from one device to another.
• Twisted-pair cable, coaxial cable, and optical fiber are the most popular types of
guided media.
• Twisted-pair cable consists of two insulated copper wires twisted together.
Twisting allows each wire to have approximately the same noise environment.
• Twisted-pair cable is used in telephone lines for voice and data communications.
• Coaxial cable has the following layers (starting from the center): a metallic rod-
shaped inner conductor, an insulator covering the rod, a metallic outer conductor
(shield), an insulator covering the shield, and a plastic cover.
• Coaxial cable can carry signals of higher frequency ranges than twisted-pair
cable.
• Coaxial cable is used in cable TV networks and traditional Ethernet LANs.

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• Fiber-optic cables are composed of a glass or plastic inner core surrounded by

cladding, all encased in an outside jacket.
• Fiber-optic cables carry data signals in the form of light. The signal is propagated
along the inner core by reflection.
• Fiber-optic transmission is becoming increasingly popular due to its noise
resistance, low attenuation, and high-bandwith capabilities.
• Signal propagation in optical fibers can be multimode (multiple beams from a
light source) or single-mode (essentially one beam from a light source).
• In multimode step-index propagation, the core density is constant and the light
beam changes direction suddenly at the interface between the core and the
cladding.
• In multimode graded-index propagation, the core density decreases with distance
from the center. This causes a curving of the light beams.
• Fiber-optic cable is used in backbone networks, cable TV networks, and Fast
Ethernet networks.
• Unguided media (usually air) transport electromagnetic waves without the use of
a physical conductor.
• Wireless data is transmitted through ground propagation, sky propagation, and
line-of-sight propagation.
• Wireless data can be classifed as radio waves, microwaves, or infrared waves.
• Radio waves are omnidirectional. The radio wave band is under government
regulation.
• Microwaves are unidirectional; propagation is line of sight. Microwaves are used
for cellular phone, satellite, and wireless LAN communications.
• The parabolic dish antenna and the horn antenna are used for transmission and
reception of microwaves.
• Infrared waves are used for short-range communications such as those between a
PC and a peripheral device.

Error Detection and Correction Access Method

• Errors can be categorized as a single-bit error or a burst error. A single-bit error

has one bit error per data unit. A burst error has two or more bit errors per data
unit.
• Redundancy is the concept of sending extra bits for use in error detection.
• Three common redundancy methods are parity check, cyclic redundancy check
(CRC), and checksum.
• An extra bit (parity bit) is added to the data unit in the parity check.
• The parity check can detect only an odd number of errors; it cannot detect an even
number of errors.
• In the two-dimensional parity check, a redundant data unit follows n data units.

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• CRC, a powerful redundancy checking technique, appends a sequence of

redundant bits derived from binary division to the data unit.
• The divisor in the CRC generator is often represented as an algebraic poly-
nomial.
• Errors are corrected through retransmission and by forward error correction.
• The Hamming code is an error correction method using redundant bits. The
number of bits is a function of the length of the data bits.
• In the Hamming code, for a data unit of m bits, use the formula 2 r >= m +r +1 to
determine r, the number of redundant bits needed.
• By rearranging the order of bit transmission of the data units, the Hamming code
can correct burst errors.

Data Link Controls and Protocols

• Flow control is the regulation of the sender’s data rate so that the receiver buffer
does not become overwhelmed.
• Error control is both error detection and error correction.
• In Stop-and-Wait ARQ, the sender sends a frame and waits for an
acknowledgment from the receiver before sending the next frame.
• In Go-Back-N ARQ, multiple frames can be in transit at the same time. If there is
an error, retransmission begins with the last unacknowledged frame even if
subsequent frames have arrived correctly. Duplicate frames are discarded.
• In Selective Repeat ARQ, multiple frames can be in transit at the same time. If
there is an error, only the unacknowledged frame is retransmitted.
• Flow control mechanisms with sliding windows have control variables at both
sender and receiver sites.
• Piggybacking couples an acknowledgment with a data frame.
• The bandwidth-delay product is a measure of the number of bits a system can
have in transit.
• HDLC is a protocol that implements ARQ mechanisms. It supports
communication over point-to-point or multipoint links.
• HDLC stations communicate in normal response mode (NRM) or asynchronous
balanced mode (ABM).
• HDLC protocol defines three types of frames: the information frame (I-frame),
the supervisory frame (S-frame), and the unnumbered frame (U-frame).
• HDLC handle data transparency by adding a 0 whenever there are five
consecutive 1s following a 0. This is called bit stuffing.

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