Communication

Networks including the Internet

Section 2.1
Part 5
 Learning Objectives
 Candidates should be able to:
- show the differences between the World Wide Web
(WWW) and the Internet
- describe the hardware that is used to support a
Internet
- show understanding of bit streaming
- explain the use of IP addresses in the transmission
of data over the Internet
- explain how a Universal Resource Locator (URL) is
used to locate a resource on the World Wide Web
(WWW) and the role of the Domain Name Server
 The Internet
 The Internet is a global communication
infrastructure that links together
computers and networks.
- it forms a collection of connected internets.
All network traffic is made up of data packets
with a source address and destination
address.
- there will be a large number of available
paths for the transmission of any data packet
 The Internet
 The communication methods used are various,
including wired, radio and satellite
communications.
 The Internet is an open network. Access to it is
provided by companies called Internet Service
Provider (ISP).
 Internet allows anyone to access, retrieve,
process and store all manner of information in a
digital format including voice, video, documents
and images.
World Wide Web(WWW)
 The WWW is made up of web
pages, made available from web
servers. The page content is viewed
on a device with web browser
software.
- the WWW has changed the way we teach and
learn, research information, buy and sell
products and communicate globally with others.
Internet & WWW
 What’s the difference between
Internet and WWW?
Universal Resource
Locator (URL)
 The ‘resource’ on the WWW could
be a web page, an image, video
clip, sound file, a PDF document or
many other types.
 Each resource is identified (and
therefore found by users) with its
URL
 World Wide Web(WWW)
 Example:
http://www.e-Publishing.com/A_Level/Bin/Syllabus.pdf

 Components:
www – the resource is on the World Wide Web
e-Publishing.com – the company is using this domain name
A_Level/Bin - the resource is stored in the folder A_Level
with the sub-folder Bin
Syllabus.pdf – the filename of the document
 Domain Name Service
(DNS)
 Definition:
Domain Name Server is a hierarchical
distributed database installed on
domain name servers that is
responsible for mapping a domain
name to an IP address.
~ also known as domain name system
 Domain Name Service
(DNS)
 The DNS allocates readable domain names for
Internet hosts and provides a system for finding
the IP address for an individual domain name.
~ The system is set up as a hierarchical distributed
database which is installed on a large number of domain
name servers covering the whole of the Internet.
~The Domain Name Servers are connected in a hierarchy,
with powerful root servers at the top of the hierarchy
supporting the whole Internet.
~ The Root Servers are replicated, meaning the multiple
copies of all their data are kept at all times.
 Domain Name Service
(DNS)
~ DNS name space is then divided into non-overlapping
zones. Each zone has a primary name server with the
database store on it. Secondary servers get information from
this primary servers.
~ As a result, the naming system is hierarchical.
~ There are more than 250 top-level domains which are
either generic (e.g. .com, .edu, .gov) or representing
countries (e.g. .uk, .cn)
~ The domain is included in the URL, which identifies a
web page, or an email address.
Domain Name Service
(DNS)
 Example:
eng.cisco.com
*refers to the engineering subdomain in the .cisco
domain of the .com top-level domain
 Domain Name Service
(DNS)
 Looking up a domain name to find an IP address
is called ‘name resolution’. For such a query
there are three possible outcomes.
(1) if the domain is under the control of the server to which the query is
sent then an authoritative and correct address is returned
(2) if the domain name is not under the control of the server, an IP address
can still be returned if it is stored in a cache of recently requested
addresses but it might be out of date.
(3) if the domain in the query is remote then the query is sent to the root
server which can provide an address for the name server of the appropriate
top-level domain. This in turn can provide the address for the name server
in the next lower domain. This continues until the query reaches a name
server that can provide an authoratative IP address.
Applications that make use
of the Internet
 The World Wide Web (WWW)
 Cloud Computing (part 4)
 Bit Streaming
 Bit Streaming
 Key Terms:
(1) On-demand: when the bit stream
content is transmitted at a time chosen by
the user
(2) Real-time: when the bit stream is
transmitted as it is produced
(3) Bit rate: the number of bits transmitted
per second
 Bit Streaming
 A bit stream is a sequence of bits,
representing a stream of data.
- the sequence of bits will be transmitted
continuously over a single channel.
- the speed of transmission is the bit rate.
- the bits are transmitted serially, one after the
other as a sequence of bytes.
- the bytes could be any form of digital data –
text characters, pixels, video or a sound file.
 Bit Streaming
 A bit stream is a sequence of bits,
representing a stream of data.
- the sequence of bits will be transmitted
continuously over a single channel.
- the speed of transmission is the bit rate.
- the bits are transmitted serially, one after the
other as a sequence of bytes.
- the bytes could be any form of digital data –
text characters, pixels, video or a sound file.
Real-time bit streaming
 The content is being generated as
it is being delivered.
- viewing sporting events is an example
- At the receiver end the technology is the same
as before.
- At the delivery end, the problem is the large
number of users watching simultaneously.
~ To manage this, media is transmitted initially to
a large number of content provider servers
which then transmit onwards to individual users.
 Real-time bit streaming
 Examples of Real-time or Live streaming:
- Satellite channels (like BBC in UK)
* allows subscribers to watch live television on a device
(personal computer, tablet or smartphone). The device
will need an a software or app (example is BBC
iPlayer). It allows subscribers to view live tv programs
and a service for ‘listening live’ to its radio broadcasts.
- Video call on a mobile device
- Images from a close-circuit TV cameras
carrying out security surveillance (example is
airport)
 On-demand bit streaming
 The source is a website that has the
media already stored.
- Option one: the user downloads the file then
listen to it or watch it at some future convenient
time.
- Option two: streaming option – where the user
does not wish to wait longer to listen or view
the file.
~the incoming data is receive in a buffer created on the
user’s computer. The user’s machine has media player
software that takes the media data from the buffer and
plays it.
 Hardware to support the
Internet
 Internet Service Provider (ISP)*
 Router*
 Modem
 Public switched telephone system
(PSTN)
 Dedicated Lines
 Cell Phone Networks
 Public Switched Telephone
Network (PSTN)
 The PSTN creates a dedicated line or
circuit between two endpoints. It was
originally designed for two-way voice
communication.
 Each use of the network requires a ‘call
setup’ which a connection or circuit is
established between the two end-points.
 PSTN is an example of circuit switching.
Dedicated Lines
 A business might prefer to use a
communication line that is dedicated
for use by its computers only.
 This facility must be purchased
from a telephone company.
 Dedicated Lines
 Advantage:
(1) provides consistently high data transfer
speeds for both upload and downloads
(2) provides high and consistent bandwidth and
that bandwidth does not drop at peak times
 This enables a dedicated line to carry phone calls,
allow lots of staff to connect simultaneously to their
work computers from home and carry video
transmission without buffering and signal
degradation.
 Modem
 If data is sent over the PSTN there
is a problem, as the computer uses
digital data, but the PSTN uses
analogue data.
 A hardware device is therefore
needed at either end of the
communication line – Modem.
 Modem
 The PC must convert digital signals to analogue
data to use the PSTN. At the receiving end, a
second modem converts the analogue data to
digital data. After this, a server might process
the digital information.
 A wireless network will also use modems. The
wireless modem will convert between digital data
and radio waves.
Cell Phone Networks
 The land mass is divided into areas
called ‘cells’, hence the term ‘cell
phone’. A least one transceiver or
base station serves one cell.
Cell Phone Networks
 The most common usage of a cell
network is a mobile phone network.
- This provides communication from a portable
mobile phone to a base station with radio waves.
- Radio waves travels in straight line. For this
reason, a large land mass might need to be
divided into smaller cells to avoid a ‘line-of-sight’
signal interruption.