Data Communications and Computer Networking

Data communications are the exchange of data between two devices via some form of
transmission medium such as a wire cable. For data communications to occur, the
communicating devices must be part of a communication system made up of a combination
of hardware (physical equipment) and software (programs). The effectiveness of a data
communications system depends on the following fundamental characteristics: delivery,
accuracy, timeliness, and jitter.

1. Delivery: The system must deliver data to the correct destination. Data must be
received by the intended device or user and only by that device or user.
2. Accuracy: The system must deliver the data accurately. Data that have been altered
in transmission and left uncorrected are unusable.
3. Timeliness: The system must deliver data in a timely manner. Data delivered late are
useless. In the case of video and audio, timely delivery means delivering data as they
are produced, in the same order that they are produced, and without significant delay.
This kind of delivery is called real-time transmission.
4. Jitter: Jitter refers to the variation in the packet arrival time. It is the uneven delay in
the delivery of audio or video packets.

Basic Components of Data Communication

A computer network is build up from several components. These components

together makes it possible to transfer data from one device to another and makes
smooth communication between two different devices. In this guide, we will
discuss the main components of a computer network.
A data communications system has the following main components:

1) Message: The message is the information (data) to be communicated.

Popular forms of information include text, numbers, pictures, audio, and
video.

DATA COMMUNICATION AND NETWORKS 1

 2) Sender and receiver:
Sender: the sender is the device that sends the data message. It can be a
computer, workstation, telephone handset, video camera, and so on.
Receiver: The receiver is the device that receives the message. It can be a
computer, workstation, telephone handset, television, and so on.

3) Intermediate Device: Intermediary devices interconnect end devices.

These devices provide connectivity and work behind the scenes to ensure that
data flows across the network.

DATA COMMUNICATION AND NETWORKS 2

 Intermediary devices connect the individual hosts to the network and can
connect multiple individual networks to form an internetwork.
4) Transmission medium: The transmission medium is the physical path by
which a message travels from sender to receiver. Some examples of
transmission media include twisted-pair wire, coaxial cable, fiber-optic cable,
and radio waves.

DATA COMMUNICATION AND NETWORKS 3

 5) Protocol: A protocol is a set of rules that govern data communications. It
represents an agreement between the communicating devices.
It defines what is communicated, how it is communicated and when it is
communicated.
Key elements of a protocol:
 Syntax: Structure or format of data, meaning the order in which they
are presented.
 Semantics: Refer to the meaning of each section of bits, how a
particular pattern is interpreted and what action to be taken.
 Timing: Refers to when data should be sent and how fast can they be
sent.

DATA COMMUNICATION AND NETWORKS 4

 Data Transmission
Data transmission is the physical transfer of data over any form of communication
channel. Data transmission refers to the process of transferring data between two or more end
devices. Data is transmitted from one device to another in analog or digital format. Basically,
data transmission enables devices or components within devices to speak to each other. Data
transmission, Sending and receiving data via cables (e.g., telephone lines or fiber optics) or
wireless relay systems. Because ordinary telephone circuits pass signals that fall within the
frequency range of voice communication (about 300–3,500 hertz), the high frequencies
associated with data transmission suffer a loss of amplitude and transmission speed.

Data signals must therefore be translated into a format compatible with the signals used in
telephone lines. Digital computers use a modem to transform outgoing digital electronic data;
a similar system at the receiving end translates the incoming signal back to the original
electronic data. Specialized data-transmission links carry signals at frequencies higher than
those used by the public telephone network.

Data Transmission is characterized by:

 Direction of data exchange

 It is also known as communication mode.
 Simplex, half-duplex and full-duplex connections
 Transmission Mode:
 The number of bits sent simultaneously
 Serial and parallel transmission
 Synchronization between the transmitter and receiver:
 Synchronous transmission
 Asynchronous transmission

DATA COMMUNICATION AND NETWORKS 5

 Direction of Data Exchange

Communication mode means transferring of data between two devices. It is also known as
communication mode. Buses and networks are designed to allow communication to occur
between individual devices that are interconnected.

There are three types of transmission mode:-

1. Simplex Mode
In Simplex mode, the communication is unidirectional, as on a one-way street. Only one
of the two devices on a link can transmit, the other can only receive. The simplex mode
can use the entire capacity of the channel to send data in one direction.
Example: Keyboard and traditional monitors and a computer and printer. The keyboard
can only introduce input, the monitor can only give the output.

2. Half-Duplex Mode:
In half-duplex mode, each station can both transmit and receive, but not at the same time.
When one device is sending, the other can only receive, and vice versa.

DATA COMMUNICATION AND NETWORKS 6

 The half-duplex mode is used in cases where there is no need for communication in both
direction at the same time. The entire capacity of the channel can be utilized for each
direction.
Example: Walkie- talkie in which message is sent one at a time and messages are sent in
both the directions.

3. Full-Duplex Mode:
In full-duplex mode, both stations can transmit and receive simultaneously. In full
duplex mode, signals going in one direction share the capacity of the link with signals
going in other direction, this sharing can occur in two ways:
o Either the link must contain two physically separate transmission paths, one for
sending and other for receiving.
o Or the capacity is divided between signals travelling in both directions.

Full-duplex mode is used when communication in both direction is required all the time. The
capacity of the channel, however must be divided between the two directions.
Example: Telephone Network in which there is communication between two persons by a
telephone line, through which both can talk and listen at the same time.

Transmission Modes

Data is transferred in the form of bits between two or more end devices. There are two methods
used to transmit data between devices: serial transmission and parallel transmission. Serial
data transmission sends data bits one after another over a single channel. Parallel data
transmission sends multiple data bits at the same time over multiple channels.

DATA COMMUNICATION AND NETWORKS 7

What is parallel transmission?
When data is sent using parallel data transmission, multiple or N number of data bits are
transmitted over multiple channels at the same time. This means that data can be sent much
faster than using serial transmission methods.

Example of Parallel Data Transmission

Given that multiple bits are sent over multiple channels at the same time, the order in which a
bit string is received can depend on various conditions, such as proximity to the data source,
user location, and bandwidth availability. Two examples of parallel interfaces can be seen
below. In the first parallel interface, the data is sent and received in the correct order. In the
second parallel interface, the data is sent in the correct order, but some bits were received
faster than others.

Example of Parallel Transmission – Data Received Correctly

DATA COMMUNICATION AND NETWORKS 8

What is serial transmission?
When data is sent or received using serial data transmission, the data bits are organized in a
specific order, since they can only be sent one after another. The transmission mode refers to
the number of elementary units of information (bits) that can be simultaneously translated by
the communications channel. The order of the data bits is important as it dictates how the
transmission is organized when it is received. It is viewed as a reliable data transmission
method because a data bit is only sent if the previous data bit has already been received.

Example of Serial Data Transmission

Synchronization between the Transmitter and Receiver

The term synchronous is used to describe a continuous and consistent timed transfer of data
blocks between nodes.

Given the problems that arise with a serial connections are normally used. However, since a
single wire transports the information, the problem is how to synchronize the transmitter and
receiver, in other words, the receiver can not necessarily distinguish the characters (or more
generally the bit sequences) because the bits are sent one after the other. Serial transmission
has two classifications that address this problem: asynchronous and synchronous
connection.

DATA COMMUNICATION AND NETWORKS 9

Asynchronous connection:

Data bits can be sent at any point in time. Stop bits and start bits are used between data bytes
to synchronize the transmitter and receiver and to ensure that the data is transmitted correctly.
The time between sending and receiving data bits is not constant, so gaps are used to provide
time between transmissions.

The advantage of using the asynchronous method is that no synchronization is required

between the transmitter and receiver devices. It is also a more cost effective method. A
disadvantage is that data transmission can be slower, but this is not always the case.

Synchronous connection:

Data bits are transmitted as a continuous stream in time with the same clock. The data
transmitter and receiver both operate using a synchronized clock frequency; therefore, start
bits, stop bits, and gaps are not used. This means that data moves faster and timing errors are
less frequent because the transmitter and receiver time is synced. However, data accuracy is
highly dependent on timing being synced correctly between devices. In comparison with
asynchronous serial transmission, this method is usually more expensive.

DATA COMMUNICATION AND NETWORKS 10

 Encoding Techniques

What is Data Encoding Techniques?

Encoding is the process of converting a given sequence of symbols, characters, alphabets or
the data into a specific format for sending the data securely. On the other hand, Decoding is
quite opposite to Encoding which is extracting information from the converted format. Data
Encoding is the process of employing number of patters of voltage and current levels to show
1s and 0s of the digital signals on the transmission link.

Encoding Techniques

Below are the data encoding techniques based on the type of data conversion?
 Digital data to Digital signals − Techniques such as NRZ Encoding, NRZI Encoding and
Manchester Encoding techniques are the ways to map digital data to digital signals.
 Analog data to Analog signals – Techniques such as Frequency Modulation, Amplitude
Modulation and Phase Modulation of analog signals come under this category.
 Analog data to Digital signals – Pulse Code Modulation (PCM) does the digitization
process also called as digital modulation. Key factors in PCM are sampling and
quantization. Better output can be obtained from Delta Modulation than PCM.
(Assignment)
 Digital data to Analog signals – Techniques such as Amplitude Shift Keying (ASK),
Frequency Shift Keying (FSK), Phase Shift Keying (PSK), etc., come under this category.
(Assignment)

DATA COMMUNICATION AND NETWORKS 11

 Analog Data to Analog Signals Encoding (Modulation)
Analog Signal: An analog signal is any continuous signal for which the time varying feature
of the signal is a representation of some other time varying quantity i.e., analogous to another
time varying Signal.
Analog data to Analog signal Conversion:

Analog-to-analog conversion, or modulation, is the representation of analog information by

an analog signal. It is a process by virtue of which a characteristic of carrier wave is varied
according to the instantaneous amplitude of the modulating signal. This modulation is
generally needed when a bandpass channel is required. Bandpass is a range of frequencies
which are transmitted through a bandpass filter which a filter is allowing specific frequencies
to pass preventing signals at unwanted frequencies.
Analog to Analog conversion can be done in three ways:
1. Amplitude Modulation
2. Frequency Modulation
3. Phase Modulation
Amplitude Modulation: The modulation in which the amplitude of the carrier signal is
varied according to the instantaneous amplitude of the modulating signal keeping phase and
frequency as constant.

DATA COMMUNICATION AND NETWORKS 12

The transmission of a wave signal by modulating the amplitude of the signal is Amplitude
Modulation. What this means that we only modulate that is increasing or decreasing the
amplitude of the wave to be transmitted as a signal so as to not affect its content but strengthen
the signal and send it over long distances.

Frequency Modulation:

In amplitude modulation, the amplitude of the carrier signal varies. Whereas, in Frequency
Modulation (FM), the frequency of the carrier signal varies in accordance with the
instantaneous amplitude of the message signal. Hence, in frequency modulation, the
amplitude and the phase of the carrier signal remains constant. The modulation in where the
frequency of the base signal changes by superimposing it with a carrier signal having a
different frequency is Frequency Modulation.

DATA COMMUNICATION AND NETWORKS 13

Phase Modulation:

In frequency modulation, the frequency of the carrier varies. Whereas, in Phase Modulation
(PM), the phase of the carrier signal varies in accordance with the instantaneous amplitude
of the modulating signal.

So, in phase modulation, the amplitude and the frequency of the carrier signal remains
constant. This can be better understood by observing the following figures.

DATA COMMUNICATION AND NETWORKS 14

 Digital Data to Digital Signals

Those are discussed in this section. Below are the ways to map digital data to digital signals.

Non Return to Zero (NRZ)

NRZ Codes has 1 for High voltage level and 0 for Low voltage level. The main behavior of
NRZ codes is that the voltage level remains constant during bit interval. The end or start of a
bit will not be indicated and it will maintain the same voltage state, if the value of the previous
bit and the value of the present bit are same.

DATA COMMUNICATION AND NETWORKS 15

Non Return to Zero Inverted

Non return to zero inverted is another simple encoding method, which change level for 1 bit
and stays at the same for zero bit.

DATA COMMUNICATION AND NETWORKS 16

Manchester Encoding

In Manchester encoding 0 and 1 bit are represented in a clock cycle by the figure shown below.

Example use of Manchester encoding

DATA COMMUNICATION AND NETWORKS 17

 Transmission Impairment

Signals travel through transmission media, which are not perfect. The imperfection causes
signal impairment. This means that the signal at the beginning of the medium is not the same
as the signal at the end of the medium. What is sent is not what is received. Three causes of
impairment are attenuation, distortion, and noise.

I. Attenuation

Attenuation means a loss of energy. When a signal, simple or composite, travels through a
medium, it loses some of its energy in overcoming the resistance of the medium. That is why
a wire carrying electric signals gets warm, if not hot, after a while. Some of the electrical
energy in the signal is converted to heat. To compensate for this loss, amplifiers are used to
amplify the signal. Attenuation is measured in terms of Decibels. The decibel (dB) measures
the relative strengths of two signals or one signal at two different points.

II. Distortion:

Distortion means that the signal changes its form or shape. Distortion can occur in a composite
signal made of different frequencies. Each signal component has its own propagation speed
through a medium and, therefore, its own delay in arriving at the final destination. Differences
in delay may create a difference in phase if the delay is not exactly the same as the period
duration. In other words, signal components at the receiver have phases different from what
they had at the sender. The shape of the composite signal is therefore not the same.

Noise:

Noise is another cause of impairment. Several types of noise, such as thermal noise, induced
noise, crosstalk, and impulse noise, may corrupt the signal. Thermal noise is the random
motion of electrons in a wire which creates an extra signal not originally sent by the
9 transmitter. Induced noise comes from sources such as motors and appliances. These devices

DATA COMMUNICATION AND NETWORKS 18

act as a sending antenna, and the transmission medium acts as the receiving antenna. Crosstalk
is the effect of one wire on the other. One wire acts as a sending antenna and the other as the
receiving antenna. Impulse noise is a spike (a signal with high energy in a very short time)
that comes from power lines, lightning, and so on.

DATA COMMUNICATION AND NETWORKS 19

 Computer 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.

Network Criteria A network must be able to meet a certain number of criteria. The most
important of these are performance, reliability, and security.

Performance: Performance can be measured in many ways, including transit time and
response time. Transit time is the amount of time required for a message to travel from one
device to another. Response time is the elapsed time between an inquiry and a response. The
performance of a network depends on a number of factors, including the number of users, the
type of transmission medium, the capabilities of the connected hardware, and the efficiency
of the software.

Reliability: Network reliability is measured by the frequency of failure, the time it takes a
link to recover from a failure, and the network's robustness in a catastrophe.

Security: Network security issues include protecting data from unauthorized access,
protecting data from damage and development, and implementing policies and procedures for
recovery from breaches and data losses.

Network Applications Areas

Computer systems and peripherals are connected to form a network. They provide numerous
advantages:

 Resource sharing such as printers and storage devices

 Exchange of information by means of e-Mails and FTP
 Information sharing by using Web or Internet
 Interaction with other users using dynamic web pages

DATA COMMUNICATION AND NETWORKS 20

 IP phones
 Video conferences
 Parallel computing
 Instant messaging

Types of Computer Networks

Generally, networks are distinguished based on their geographical span. A network can be
as small as distance between your mobile phone and its Bluetooth headphone and as large as
the internet itself, covering the whole geographical world.
Personal Area Network

A Personal Area Network (PAN) is smallest network which is very personal to a user. This
may include Bluetooth enabled devices or infra-red enabled devices. PAN has connectivity
range up to 10 meters. PAN may include wireless computer keyboard and mouse, Bluetooth
enabled headphones, wireless printers, and TV remotes. For example, Piconet is Bluetooth-
enabled Personal Area Network which may contain up to 8 devices connected together in a
master-slave fashion.
Local Area Network

A computer network spanned inside a building and operated under single administrative
system is generally termed as Local Area Network (LAN). Usually, LAN covers an
organization offices, schools, colleges or universities. Number of systems connected in LAN
may vary from as least as two to as much as 16 million. LAN provides a useful way of sharing
the resources between end users. The resources such as printers, file servers, scanners, and
internet are easily sharable among computers.

LANs are composed of inexpensive networking and routing equipment. It may contains local
servers serving file storage and other locally shared applications. It mostly operates on private
IP addresses and does not involve heavy routing. LAN works under its own local domain and
controlled centrally. LAN uses either Ethernet or Token-ring technology. Ethernet is most

DATA COMMUNICATION AND NETWORKS 21

widely employed LAN technology and uses Star topology, while Token-ring is rarely seen.
LAN can be wired, wireless, or in both forms at once.

Metropolitan Area Network

The Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) generally expands throughout a city such as cable
TV network. It can be in the form of Ethernet, Token-ring, ATM, or Fiber Distributed Data
Interface (FDDI). Metro Ethernet is a service which is provided by ISPs. This service enables
its users to expand their Local Area Networks. For example, MAN can help an organization
to connect all of its offices in a city. Backbone of MAN is high-capacity and high-speed fiber
optics. MAN works in between Local Area Network and Wide Area Network. MAN provides uplink
for LANs to WANs or internet.

Wide Area Network

As the name suggests, the Wide Area Network (WAN) covers a wide area which may span
across provinces and even a whole country. Generally, telecommunication networks are Wide
Area Network. These networks provide connectivity to MANs and LANs. Since they are
equipped with very high speed backbone, WANs use very expensive network equipment.
WAN may use advanced technologies such as Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), Frame
Relay, and Synchronous Optical Network (SONET). WAN may be managed by multiple
administration.

Networking Physical Structures

Types of Connections: A network is two or more devices connected through links. A link is
a communications pathway that transfers data from one device to another. 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

DATA COMMUNICATION AND NETWORKS 22

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.

PHYSICAL TOPOLOGY:

The term physical topology refers to the way in which a network is laid out physically. One
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. There are four basic topologies possible: mesh, star,
bus, and ring.

DATA COMMUNICATION AND NETWORKS 23

Mesh Topology:

 In a mesh topology, every device has a dedicated point-to-point link to every other device.
The term dedicated means that the link carries traffic only between the two devices it
connects. 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 ports to be connected to the other n - 1 stations.

Advantages:
 The use of dedicated links guarantees that each connection can carry its own data load,
thus
eliminating the traffic problems that can occur when links must be shared by multiple
devices.
 A mesh topology is robust. If one link becomes unusable, it does not incapacitate the entire
system.

DATA COMMUNICATION AND NETWORKS 24

 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.
 Point-to-point links make fault identification and fault isolation easy. Traffic can be routed
to avoid links with suspected problems. This facility enables the network manager to
discover the precise location of the fault and aids in finding its cause and solution.
Disadvantages:
1) Disadvantage of a mesh are related to the amount of cabling because every device
must be connected to every other device.
2) Installation and reconnection are difficult.
3) The sheer bulk of the wiring can be greater than the available space (in walls,
ceilings, or floors) can accommodate.
4) The hardware required to connect each link (I/O ports and cable) can be
prohibitively expensive.

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. Unlike a mesh
topology, a star topology does not allow direct traffic between devices. The controller acts as
an exchange:

DATA COMMUNICATION AND NETWORKS 25

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.
Advantages:
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.
 Easy to install and reconfigure.
 Far less cabling needs to be housed, and additions, moves, and deletions involve only
one connection: between that device and the hub.
 Other advantage include robustness.
If one link fails, only that link is affected. All other links remain active. This factor
also lends itself to easy fault identification and fault isolation. As long as the hub is
working, it can be used to monitor link problems and bypass defective links.
Disadvantages:
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. Although a star requires far
less cable than a mesh, each node must be linked to a central hub. For this reason, often more
cabling is required in a star than in some other topologies (such as ring or bus).

BUS Topology:

A bus topology is multipoint. One long cable acts as a backbone to link all the devices
in a network. 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. As a signal travels along the backbone, some of its energy is transformed into
heat. Therefore, it becomes weaker and weaker as it travels farther and farther. For this reason

DATA COMMUNICATION AND NETWORKS 26

there is a limit on the number of taps a bus can support and on the distance between those
taps.

Advantages:

Advantages of a bus topology include ease of installation. Backbone cable can be laid along
the most efficient path, then connected to the nodes by drop lines of various lengths. In this
way, a bus uses less cabling than mesh or star topologies. In a star, for example, four network
devices in the same room require four lengths of cable reaching all the way to the hub. In a
bus, this redundancy is eliminated. Only the backbone cable stretches through the entire
facility. Each drop line has to reach only as far as the nearest point on the backbone.

Disadvantages:

Disadvantages include 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. Signal
reflection at the taps can cause degradation in quality. This degradation can be controlled by
limiting the number and spacing of devices connected to a given length of cable. Adding new
devices may therefore require modification or replacement of the backbone. In addition, a

DATA COMMUNICATION AND NETWORKS 27

fault or break in the bus cable stops all transmission, even between devices on the same side
of the problem. The damaged area reflects signals back in the direction of origin, creating
noise in both directions.

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. Each device in the ring incorporates a repeater. When
a device receives a signal intended for another device, its repeater regenerates the bits and
passes them along.

Advantages:

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. The only constraints are media and traffic considerations (maximum ring
length and number of devices). In addition, fault isolation is simplified. Generally in a ring, a
signal is circulating at all times. If one device does not receive a signal within a specified
period, it can issue an alarm. The alarm alerts the network operator to the problem and its
location.

DATA COMMUNICATION AND NETWORKS 28

Disadvantages:

Unidirectional traffic can be a disadvantage. 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. Ring topology was prevalent when IBM
introduced its local-area network Token Ring. Today, the need for higher-speed LANs has
made this topology less popular.

Hybrid Topology:

A network structure whose design contains more than one topology is said to be hybrid
topology. Hybrid topology inherits merits and demerits of all the incorporating topologies.

TRANSMISSION MEDIA

A transmission medium can be broadly defined as anything that can carry information from
a source to a destination. For example, the transmission medium for two people having a
dinner conversation is the air. The air can also be used to convey the message in a smoke
signal or semaphore. For a written message, the transmission medium might be a mail carrier,
a truck, or an airplane. In data communications the definition of the information and the
transmission medium is more specific. The transmission medium is usually free space,
metallic cable, or fiber-optic cable. The information is usually a signal that is the result of a

DATA COMMUNICATION AND NETWORKS 29

conversion of data from another form. The media over which the information between two
computer systems is sent, called transmission media. Transmission media comes in two forms.

I. BOUNDED/GUIDED MEDIA
II. UNBOUNDED/UNGUIDED MEDIA

1. BOUNDED MEDIA:

All communication wires/cables are guided media, such as UTP, coaxial cables, and fiber
Optics. In this media, the sender and receiver are directly connected and the information is
send (guided) through it.

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.

Bounded media are the physical links through which signals are confined to narrow path.
These are also called guide media. Bounded media are made up of an external conductor
(Usually copper) bounded by jacket material. Bounded media are great for LABS because
they offer high speed, good security and low cast. However, some time they cannot be used
due distance communication. Three common types of bounded media are used of the data
transmission.
These are:

 Coaxial Cable
 Twisted Pairs Cable
 Fiber Optics Cable

DATA COMMUNICATION AND NETWORKS 30

 I. COAXIAL CABLE:

Coaxial cable is very common & widely used commutation media. For example TV wire is
usually coaxial.
Coaxial cable gets its name because it contains two conductors that are parallel to each other.
The center conductor in the cable is usually copper. The copper can be either a solid wire or
stranded martial.
Outside this central Conductor is a non-conductive material. It is usually white, plastic
material used to separate the inner Conductor form the outer Conductor. The other Conductor
is a fine mesh made from Copper. It is used to help shield the cable form EMI.

Outside the copper mesh is the final protective cover. The actual data travels through the
center conductor in the cable. EMI interference is caught by outer copper mesh. There are
different types of coaxial cable vary by gauge & impedance.

Gauge is the measure of the cable thickness. It is measured by the Radio grade measurement,
or RG number. The high the RG number, the thinner the central conductor core, the lower the
number the thicker the core.
Here the most common coaxial standards.
 50-Ohm RG-7 or RG-11: used with thick Ethernet.
 50-Ohm RG-58 : used with thin Ethernet
 75-Ohm RG-59 : used with cable television
 93-Ohm RG-62: used with ARCNET.

Characteristics of coaxial cable

 Low cost  Medium immunity form EMI

 Easy to install  Medium of attenuation
 Up to 10Mbps capacity
Advantages coaxial cable

 Inexpensive
 Easy to wire
 Easy to expand
 Moderate level of EMI immunity

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Disadvantage coaxial cable

 Single cable failure can take down an entire network

II. TWISTED PAIR CABLE

The most popular network cabling is twisted pair. It is light weight, easy to install, inexpensive
and support many different types of network. It also supports the speed of 100 MPs. Twisted
pair cabling is made of pairs of solid or stranded copper twisted along each other. The twists
are done to reduce vulnerably to EMI and cross talk. The number of pairs in the cable depends
on the type. The copper core is usually 22-AWG or 24-AWG, as measured on the American
wire gauge standard. There are two types of twisted pairs cabling:

A. Unshielded twisted pair (UTP)

UTP is more common. It can be either voice grade or data grade depending on the condition.
UTP cable normally has an impedance of 100 ohm. UTP cost less than STP and easily
available due to its many use.

Characteristics of UTP  Effective to EMI

 100 meter limit
 low cost
 easy to install Advantages of UTP
 High speed capacity
 Easy installation
 High attenuation

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  Capable of high speed for LAN Disadvantages of UTP
 Low cost
 Short distance due to attenuation
B. Shielded twisted pair (STP)

It is similar to UTP but has a mesh shielding that’s protects it from EMI which allows for
higher transmission rate.

Characteristics of STP

 Medium cost
 Easy to install
 Higher capacity than UTP
 Higher attenuation, but same as UTP
 Medium immunity from EMI
 100 meter limit

Advantages of STP:

 Shielded
 Faster than UTP and coaxial

Disadvantages of STP:

 More expensive than UTP and coaxial

 More difficult installation
 High attenuation rate
III. Fiber Optics

Fiber optic cable uses electrical signals to transmit data. It uses light. In fiber optic cable light
only moves in one direction for two way communication to take place a second connection
must be made between the two devices. It is actually two stands of cable. Each stand is

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responsible for one direction of communication. A laser at one device sends pulse of light
through this cable to other device. These pulses translated into “1’s” and “0’s” at the other
end. In the center of fiber cable is a glass stand or core. The light from the laser moves through
this glass to the other device around the internal core is a reflective material known as
CLADDING. No light escapes the glass core because of this reflective cladding.

Fiber optic cable has bandwidth more than 2 gbps (Gigabytes per Second).

Characteristics of Fiber Optic Cable:

 Expensive
 Very hard to install
 Capable of extremely high speed
 Extremely low attenuation
 No EMI interference

Advantages of Fiber Optic Cable:

 Fast
 Low attenuation
 No EMI interference

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Disadvantages Fiber Optics:

 Very costly
 Hard to install

2. UNGUIDED MEDIA

Wireless or open air space is said to be unguided media, because there is no connectivity
between the sender and receiver. Information is spread over the air, and anyone including the
actual recipient may collect the information. Unguided media transport electromagnetic waves
without using a physical conductor. This type of communication is often referred to as wireless
communication. Examples of unguided media:

Signals are normally broadcast through free space and thus are available to anyone who has a
device capable of receiving them. Unguided signals can travel from the source to destination
in several ways:

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Ground propagation, sky propagation, and line-of-sight propagation. In ground
propagation, radio waves travel through the lowest portion of the atmosphere, hugging the
earth. These low-frequency signals emanate in all directions from the transmitting antenna
and follow the curvature of the planet. Distance depends on the amount of power in the signal:
The greater the power, the greater the distance. In sky propagation, higher-frequency radio
waves radiate upward into the ionosphere where they are reflected back to earth. This type of
transmission allows for greater distances with lower output power. In line-or-sight
propagation, very high-frequency signals are transmitted in straight lines directly from
antenna to antenna. Antennas must be directional, facing each other, and either tall enough or
close enough together not to be affected by the curvature of the earth. Line-of sight
propagation is tricky because radio transmissions cannot be completely focused.

Channel Capacity The speed of transmission of information is said to be the channel

capacity. We count it as data rate in digital world. It depends on numerous factors such as:

 Bandwidth: The physical limitation of underlying media.

 Error-rate: Incorrect reception of information because of noise.

 Encoding: The number of levels used for signaling.

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