Chapter 1

Introduction

1.1 Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.
 1-1 DATA COMMUNICATIONS
The term telecommunication means communication at a
distance. The word data refers to information presented
in whatever form is agreed upon by the parties creating
and using the data. Data communications are the
exchange of data between two devices via some form of
transmission medium such as a wire cable.

Topics discussed in this section:

Components
Data Representation
Data Flow

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 Fundamental Characteristics of Data
Communication System
 Delivery: to the correct destination.
 Accuracy : data must not be altered.
 Timeliness : within a time limit.

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 Figure 1.1 Five components of data communication

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2 4 3

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 Components of Data Communication System
 Message
 Sender
 Receiver
 Medium
 Protocol: Set of rules which guides data
communication.
What How When to communicate.
Key elements of a protocol are:
1. Syntax
2. Semantics
3. Timing

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  Syntax
 Data formats meaning the order in which they are
presented
 Semantics
 How the particular pattern is interpreted?
 What action is to be taken based on that interpretation.
 Timing
 Speed matching
 Sequencing
 It tells you when data is to be sent and how fast they
can be sent?

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 An example: MOV A,B
Code : 01111000=78H

Opcode Code
MOV 01
A 111
B 000

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 Data Representation

Text
(A-Z, a-z ,0-9, symbols etc.)
1 ASCII : 7 Bit code
2 Extended ASCII : 8 Bit code
Pattern is exactly one byte
3 Unicode: 16 Bit code
4 ISO: 32 Bit code
 Numbers: represented by bit patterns
 Images: also represented by bit patterns. Every image
is divided into matrix of pixels. The size of the pixels
depends on the resolution which depends upon the
memory requirement for storage.
 Audio and Video

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 Direction of the data flow

Communication between two devices can be

 Simplex: Unidirectional

 Half Duplex: One direction at a time

 Full Duplex: Both direction simultaneously

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 Figure 1.2 Data flow (simplex, half-duplex, and full-duplex)

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 1-2 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.

Topics discussed in this section:

Distributed Processing
Network Criteria
Physical Structures
Network Models
Categories of Networks
Interconnection of Networks: Internetwork
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  Distributed Processing
 Network Criteria:
1. Performance
2. Reliability
3. Security
 Physical Structures
Types of connection
 Network Models
Topologies
 Categories of Networks
LAN
MAN
WAN
 Interconnection of Networks: Internet
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 Network Criteria
• Performance
Performance depends upon
 Transit time
 Response time
 No of users in the network
 Type of the transmission medium
 Capabilities of the hardware connected
 Efficiency of the software

• Reliability
 Frequency of failure.

• Security
 Protecting data from unauthorized access.

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 Figure 1.3 Types of connections: point-to-point and multipoint

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 Figure 1.4 Categories of topology

Topology : is the way in which a network is laid out physically. It is the

geometric representation of the relationship of all the links and the
linking devices/nodes with each other.

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 Figure 1.5 A fully connected mesh topology (five devices)

No. of physical links in a fully connected mesh of n nodes = n (n-1)/2

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  Advantages
1. Dedicated link
2. Robust
3. Security
4. Fault identification
 Disadvantages
1. More cabling
2. More ports are needed

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 Figure 1.6 A star topology connecting four stations

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 Advantages
 Less Expensive

 Insertion and deletion is easy

 Robust

 Cabling is less but more than Ring & Bus

Disadvantage
 Hub acts like an Central Controller and

hence required to handle more traffic.

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 Figure 1.7 A bus topology connecting three stations

Backbone

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 Advantages
 Ease of Installation
 Less Cabling

Disadvantages

 Insertion and deletion of a node is difficult

 Signal reflection at the taps
 Not robust

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 Figure 1.8 A ring topology connecting six stations

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 Advantages
 Ease of Installation
 Ease to reconfigure

Disadvantages

 Constraints: Maximum ring length & no. of devices

 Break in the ring can disable the entire network
 This can be improved by using dual ring

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 Figure 1.9 A hybrid topology: a star backbone with three bus networks

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 Categories of Networks

Networks

LAN MAN WAN

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 LAN: Local Area Network
 LAN are typically used for small networks
 Small geographical area up to 5-10 Kms
 Connecting hundreds of computers
 Speed of 10-100 Mbps
 Advantages: Resource Sharing such as
Fileservers, High-speed Printers etc.

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 Figure 1.10 An isolated LAN connecting 12 computers to a hub in a closet

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 MAN: Metropolitan Area Network
 MAN covers a Metropolitan city which
connects many LANs
 Larger geographical area from 10 to few
hundreds of Kms
 Speed of 1.5 to 150 Mbps

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 Figure 1.11 WANs: a switched WAN and a point-to-point WAN

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 WAN: Wide Area Network
 WAN coverage is countrywide which connects
many MANs
 Geographical area from 100 to thousands of
Kms
 Speed of 1.5 Mbps to 24 Gbps
 Disadvantage: cost of transmission is very
high and hence owned by public networks

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 Figure 1.12 A heterogeneous network made of four WANs and two LANs

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 GAN: Global Area Network
 GAN connects between countries around the
globe
 Geographical area of several thousands of
Kms
 Speed of 1.5 Mbps to 100 Gbps

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 1-3 THE INTERNET

The Internet has revolutionized many aspects of our daily

lives. It has affected the way we do business as well as the
way we spend our leisure time. The Internet is a
communication system that has brought a wealth of
information to our fingertips and organized it for our use.

Topics discussed in this section:

A Brief History
The Internet Today (ISPs)

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 Figure 1.13 Hierarchical organization of the Internet

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 1-4 PROTOCOLS AND STANDARDS

In this section, we define two widely used terms: protocols

and standards. First, we define protocol, which is
synonymous with rule. Then we discuss standards, which
are agreed-upon rules.

Topics discussed in this section:

Protocols
Standards
Standards Organizations
Internet Standards

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