Chapter 1

Fundamentals of Data Communication and Computer Network

Data communications are the exchange of data between two devices via some form of
transmission medium such as a wire cable

The effectiveness of a data communications system depends on four fundamental

characteristics: delivery, accuracy, timeliness, and jitter.

I. 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.
2Accuracy. 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.

Five components of data communication

I. Message. The message is the information (data) to be communicated. Popular

forms of information include text, numbers, pictures, audio, and video.
I Sender. The sender is the device that sends the data message. It can be a computer,
workstation, telephone handset, video camera, and so on.
3. Receiver. The receiver is the device that receives the message. It can be a computer,
workstation, telephone handset, television, and so on.
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.

5. Protocol. A protocol is a set of rules that govern data communications. It represents

an agreement between the communicating devices. Without a protocol, two
devices may be connected but not communicating, just as a person speaking French
cannot be understood by a person who speaks only Japanese.

PROTOCOLS AND STANDARDS

A protocol is a set of rules that govern data communications.

The key elements of a protocol are syntax, semantics, and timing
o Syntax. The term syntax refers to the structure or format of the data, meaning the
order in which they are presented. For example, a simple protocol might expect the
first 8 bits of data to be the address of the sender, the second 8 bits to be the address
of the receiver, and the rest of the stream to be the message itself.
o Semantics. The word semantics refers to the meaning of each section of bits.
How is a particular pattern to be interpreted, and what action is to be taken based
on that interpretation? For example, does an address identify the route to be taken
or the final destination of the message?
o Timing. The term timing refers to two characteristics: when data should be sent
and how fast they can be sent. For example, if a sender produces data at 100 Mbps
but the receiver can process data at only 1 Mbps, the transmission will overload the
receiver and some data will be lost.

A standard is a set of specifications for hardware or software, agreed upon by academic

and industry contributors
Standards are essential in creating and maintaining an open and competitive market for
equipment manufacturers and in guaranteeing national and international
interoperability of data and telecommunications technology and processes. Standards
provide guidelines to manufacturers, vendors, government agencies, and other service
providers to ensure the kind of interconnectivity necessary in today's marketplace and
in international communications
Data communication standards fall into two categories:
de facto (meaning "by fact" or "by convention") and de jure (meaning "by law" or "by
regulation").
o De facto. Standards that have not been approved by an organized body but have
been adopted as standards through widespread use are de facto standards. De facto
standards are often established originally by manufacturers who seek to define the
functionality of a new product or technology.
o De jure. Those standards that have been legislated by an officially recognized body
are de jure standards.

Standards Organizations
o International Organization for Standardization (ISO). The ISO is a multinational
body whose membership is drawn mainly from the standards creation committees
of various governments throughout the world. The ISO is active in developing
cooperation in the realms of scientific, technological, and economic activity.
o International Telecommunication Union-Telecommunication Standards
Sector (ITU-T) This committee was devoted to the research and establishment of
standards for telecommunications in general and for phone and data systems in
particular
o American National Standards Institute (ANSI). the American
National Standards Institute is a completely private, nonprofit corporation not affiliated
with the U.S. federal government.
o Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). The Institute of
Electrical and Electronics Engineers is the largest professional engineering society in
the world. International in scope, it aims to advance theory, creativity, and product
quality in the fields of electrical engineering, electronics, and radio as well as in all
related branches of engineering.
o Electronic Industries Association (EIA). Aligned with ANSI, the Electronic
Industries Association is a nonprofit organization devoted to the promotion of
electronics manufacturing concerns.

Bandwidth is defined as a range within a band of frequencies or wavelengths.

Bandwidth is also the amount of data that can be transmitted in a fixed amount of time.

For digital devices, the bandwidth is usually expressed in bits per second(bps) or bytes per
second. For analog devices, the bandwidth is expressed in cycles per second, or Hertz
(Hz).

Data transmission rate

The speed with which data can be transmitted from one device to another. Data rates are
often measured in megabits (million bits) or megabytes (million bytes) per second. These are
usually abbreviated as Mbps and MBps,respectively.

Bit rate and Baud rate

Bit rate is simply the number of bits (i.e., 0’s and 1’s) transmitted in per unit time.
While Baud rate is the number of signal units transmitted per unit time that is
needed to represent those bits.

Mode of Communication
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Transmission mode means transferring of data between two devices. It is also called
communication mode. These modes direct the direction of flow of information. There
are three types of transmission mode

Mode of Communication between two devices can be simplex, half-duplex, or full-

duplex as
shown in Figure

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There are three ways for transmitting data:
1. Simplex: In simplex mode the communication can take place in one direction. The
receiver receives the signal from the transmitting device. In this mode the flow of
information is Uni-directional. Hence it is rarely used for data communication.
2. Half-duplex: In half-duplex mode the communication channel is used in both
directions, but only in one direction at a time. Thus a half-duplex line can alternately
send and receive data.
3. Full-duplex: In full duplex the communication channel is used in both directions at
the same time. Use of full-duplex line improves the efficiency as the line turnaround
time required in half-duplex arrangement is eliminated. Example of this mode of
transmission is the telephone line.

Digital and Analog Transmission

Data can be analog or digital. Analog data are continuous and take continuous values.
Digital data have discrete states and take discrete values.
Data is transmitted from one point to another point by means of electrical signals that
may be in digital and analog form. In analog signal the transmission power varies over a
continuous range with respect to sound, light and radio waves. On the other hand, a
digital signal may assume only discrete set of values within a given range. Analog signal
is measured in Volts and its frequency is in Hertz (Hz). A digital signal is a sequence of
voltage represented in binary form. When digital data are to be sent over an analog form
the digital signal must be converted to analog form

Digital Signal: A digital signal is a signal that represents data as a sequence of discrete
values; at any given time it can only take on one of a finite number of values.

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.

Both analog and digital signals can take one of two forms: periodic or nonperiodic

A periodic signal completes a pattern within a measurable time frame, called a

period, and repeats that pattern over subsequent identical periods. The completion of
one full pattern is called a cycle.
A nonperiodic signal changes without exhibiting a pattern or cycle that repeats over time
A sine wave can be represented by three parameters: the peak amplitude, the frequency,

and the phase.

Period refers to the amount of time, in seconds, a signal needs to complete 1 cycle.

Frequency refers to the number of periods in 1 second

Phase

The term phase describes the position of the waveform relative to time 0.

Amplitude

the maximum extent of a vibration or oscillation, measured from the position of

equilibrium.

Throughput

The throughput is a measure of how fast we can actually send data through a network

The following techniques can be used for Analog to Digital Conversion:

The most common technique to change an analog signal to digital data (digitization)
is called pulse code modulation (PCM). A PCM encoder has three processes, as shown

in Figure

Components of PCM encoder

1. The analog signal is sampled.
2. The sampled signal is quantized.

3. The quantized values are encoded as streams of bits.

a. PULSE CODE MODULATION:

The most common technique to change an analog signal to digital data is called pulse
code modulation (PCM). A PCM encoder has the following three processes:

a. Sampling
b. Quantization
c. Encoding

Low pass filter :

The low pass filter eliminates the high frequency components present in the input
analog signal to ensure that the input signal to sampler is free from the unwanted
frequency components. This is done to avoid aliasing of the message signal.

a. Sampling – The first step in PCM is sampling. Sampling is a process of measuring

the amplitude of a continuous-time signal at discrete instants, converting the
continuous signal into a discrete signal. There are three sampling methods:

(i) Ideal Sampling: In ideal Sampling also known as Instantaneous sampling

pulses from the analog signal are sampled. This is an ideal sampling method and
cannot be easily implemented.

(ii) Natural Sampling: Natural Sampling is a practical method of sampling in

which pulse have finite width equal to T.The result is a sequence of samples that
retain the shape of the analog signal.
(iii) Flat top sampling: In comparison to natural sampling flat top sampling can
be easily obtained. In this sampling technique, the top of the samples remains
constant by using a circuit. This is the most common sampling method used.
 Nyquist Theorem:
One important consideration is the sampling rate or frequency. According to the
Nyquist theorem, the sampling rate must be at least 2 times the highest frequency
contained in the signal. It is also know as the minimum sampling rate and given
by:
Fs =2*fh

b. Quantization –
The result of sampling is a series of pulses with amplitude values between the
maximum and minimum amplitudes of the signal. The set of amplitudes can be
infinite with non integral values between two limits.

The following are the steps in Quantization:

1. We assume that the signal has amplitudes between Vmax and Vmin
2. We divide it into L zones each of height d where,
d= (Vmax- Vmin)/ L
 3. The value at the top of each sample in the graph shows the actual
amplitude.
4. The normalized pulse amplitude modulation(PAM) value is calculated
using the formula amplitude/d.
5. After this we calculate the quantized value which the process selects from
the middle of each zone.
6. The Quantized error is given by the difference between quantised value
and normalised PAM value.
7. The Quantization code for each sample based on quantization levels at the
left of the graph.
c. Encoding –
The digitization of analog signal is done by the encoder. After each sample is
quantized and the number of bits per sample is decided, each sample can be
changed to an n bit code.Encoding also minimizes the bandwidth used.

b. DELTA MODULATION :
Since PCM is a very complex technique, other techniques have been developed to reduce
the complexity of PCM. The simplest is delta Modulation. Delta Modulation finds the
change from the previous value.

Modulator – The modulator is used at the sender site to create a stream of bits from an
analog signal. The process records a small positive change called delta. If the delta is
positive, the process records a 1 else the process records a 0. The modulator builds a
second signal that resembles a staircase. The input signal is then compared with this
gradually made staircase signal.

We have the following rules for output:

1. If the input analog signal is higher than the last value of the staircase signal,
increase delta by 1, and the bit in the digital data is 1.
2. If the input analog signal is lower than the last value of the staircase signal,
decrease delta by 1, and the bit in the digital data is 0.
c. ADAPTIVE DELTA MODULATION:

The performance of a delta modulator can be improved significantly by making the step
size of the modulator assume a time-varying form.A larger step-size is needed where the
message has a steep slope of modulating signal and a smaller step-size is needed where
the message has a small slope.The size is adapted according to the level of the input
signal. This method is known as adaptive delta modulation (ADM).
The following techniques can be used for Digital to Analog Conversion:

1. Amplitude Shift keying – Amplitude Shift Keying is a technique in which carrier signal
is analog and data to be modulated is digital. The amplitude of analog carrier signal is
modified to reflect binary data.
The binary signal when modulated gives a zero value when the binary data represents 0
while gives the carrier output when data is 1. The frequency and phase of the carrier
signal remain constant.

Advantages of amplitude shift Keying –

 It can be used to transmit digital data over optical fiber.
 The receiver and transmitter have a simple design which also makes it
comparatively inexpensive.
 It uses lesser bandwidth as compared to FSK thus it offers high bandwidth
efficiency.
Disadvantages of amplitude shift Keying –

 It is susceptible to noise interference and entire transmissions could be lost due

to this.
 It has lower power efficiency.
2. Frequency Shift keying – In this modulation the frequency of analog carrier signal is
modified to reflect binary data.
The output of a frequency shift keying modulated wave is high in frequency for a binary
high input and is low in frequency for a binary low input. The amplitude and phase of
the carrier signal remain constant.

Advantages of frequency shift Keying –

 Frequency shift keying modulated signal can help avoid the noise problems beset
by ASK.
 It has lower chances of an error.
 It provides high signal to noise ratio.
 The transmitter and receiver implementations are simple for low data rate
application.
Disadvantages of frequency shift Keying –
 It uses larger bandwidth as compared to ASK thus it offers less bandwidth
efficiency.
 It has lower power efficiency.
3. Phase Shift keying – In this modulation the phase of the analog carrier signal is
modified to reflect binary data.The amplitude and frequency of the carrier signal
remains constant.
It is further categorized as follows:
1. Binary Phase Shift Keying (BPSK):
BPSK also known as phase reversal keying or 2PSK is the simplest form of phase
shift keying. The Phase of the carrier wave is changed according to the two binary
inputs. In Binary Phase shift keying, difference of 180 phase shift is used between
binary 1 and binary 0.

This is regarded as the most robust digital modulation technique and is used for long
distance wireless communication.
2. Quadrature phase shift keying:
This technique is used to increase the bit rate i.e we can code two bits onto one
single element. It uses four phases to encode two bits per symbol. QPSK uses
phase shifts of multiples of 90 degrees.
It has double data rate carrying capacity compare to BPSK as two bits are mapped on
each constellation points.
Advantages of phase shift Keying –
 It is a more power efficient modulation technique as compared to ASK and FSK.
 It has lower chances of an error.
 It allows data to be carried along a communication signal much more efficiently
as compared to FSK.
Disadvantages of phase shift Keying –
 It offers low bandwidth efficiency.
 The detection and recovery algorithms of binary data is very complex.
 It is a non coherent reference signal.
Advantages
(I) RESOURCE SHARING. The aim is to make all programs, data and
peripherals available to anyone on the network irrespective of the physical
location of the resources and the user.
(ii) RELIABILITY. A file can have copies on two or three different machines,
so if one of . them is unavailable (hardware crash), the other copies could be
used. For military, banking, air reservation and many other applications it is of
great importance.
(iii) COST FACTOR. Personal computers have better price/performance ratio
than micro computers. So it is better to have PC's, one per user, with data
stored on one shared file server machine.
(iv) COMMUNICATION MEDIUM. Using a network, it is possible for
managers, working far apart, to prepare financial report of the company. The
changes at one end can be immediately noticed at another and hence it speeds
up co-operation among them.

A network is a group of connected communicating devices such as computers and

printers.
A computer network is a set of connected computers. Computers on a network are called
nodes. Connected computers can share resources, like access to the internet, printers,
file servers, and others.
The computer that provides resources to others on a network is known as server.
In the network the individual computers, which access shared network resources, are
known as nodes.

Network: A network is defined as a group of two or more computer systems linked

together.
A network is two or more devices connected through links. A link is a communications
pathway that transfers data from one device to another.
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. Performance is often evaluated by two networking
metrics: throughput and delay. We often need more throughput and less delay.
However, these two criteria are often contradictory.
If we try to send more data to the network, we may increase throughput but we increase
the delay because of traffic congestion in the network
Reliability:
In addition to accuracy of delivery, 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.

Whenever we talk about a network it includes. the hardware and

the software that make up the network
Nodes (Workstations)
The term nodes refers to the computers that are attached to a network
and are seeking to share the resources of the network. Of course, if there were
no nodes (also called workstations), there would be no network at all.
A computer becomes a workstation of a network as soon as it is attached
to a network.
Server
Def:. A computer that facilitates "the sharing of data" software" and hardware -
resources (e.g. "printers" modems etc,) on the network" is termed as a
SERVER.

Applications & Uses of Networks

In the short time they have been around, data communication networks
have become an indispensable part of business, industry, and entertainment.
Some of the network applications in different fields are the following:
• Marketing and sales. Computer networks are used extensively in both
marketing and sales organizations. Marketing professionals use them to collect,
exchange, and analyze data relating to customer needs and product
MCA-301 8 development cycles. Sales applications include teleshopping, which uses
orderentry computers or telephones connected to an order-processing network, and
on-line reservation services for hotels, airlines, and so on.
• Financial services. Today's financial services are totally dependent on
computer networks. Applications include credit history searches, foreign
exchange and investment services, and electronic funds transfer (EFT), which
allows a user, to transfer money without going into a bank (an automated teller
machine is a kind of electronic funds transfer; automatic paycheck deposit is
another).
• Manufacturing. Computer networks are used today in, many aspects of
manufacturing, including the manufacturing process itself. Two applications
that use networks to provide essential services are computer-assisted design
(CAD) and computer-assisted manufacturing (CAM), both of which allow
multiple users to work on a project simultaneously.
• Electronic messaging: Probably the most widely used network
application is electronic mail (e-mail).
• Directory services: Directory services allow lists of files to be stored in
a central location to speed worldwide search operations.
• Information services: Network information services include bulletin
boards and data banks. A World Wide Web site offering the technical
specifications for a new product is an information service.
• Electronic data interchange (EDI): EDI allows business information
(including documents such as purchase orders and invoices) to be transferred
without using paper.
• Teleconferencing: Teleconferencing allows conferences to occur
MCA-301 9 without the participants being in the same place. Applications include
simple text conferencing (where participants communicate through their keyboards
and computer monitors). voice conferencing (where participants at a number of
locations communicate simultaneously over the phone) and video conferencing
(where participants can see as well as talk to one another).
• Cellular telephone: In the past two parties wishing to use the services
of the telephone company had to be linked by a fixed physical connection.
Today's cellular networks make it possible to maintain wireless phone
connections even while traveling over large distances.
• Cable television: Future services provided by cable television networks
may include video on request, as well as the same information, financial, and
communications services currently provided by the telephone companies and
computer networks.

There are several different types of computer networks. Computer networks can be
characterized by their size as well as their purpose.

Local Area Network (LAN) LAN is a computer network that spans a relatively small
area. Most LANs are confined to a single building or group of buildings. There are many
different types of LANs-token-ring networks, Ethernents, and ARCnets being
Categories of Networks
Local Area Networks:
Local area networks, generally called LANs, are privately-owned networks within a
single building or campus of up to a few kilometres in size. They are widely used to
connect personal computers and workstations in company offices and factories to share
resources (e.g., printers) and exchange information. LANs are distinguished from other
kinds of networks by three
characteristics:
(1) Their size,
(2) Their transmission technology, and
(3) Their topology.

Metropolitan Area Network (MAN):

A metropolitan area network (MAN) is designed to extend over an
entire city. It may be a single network such as a cable television network, or it
may be a means of connecting a number of LANs into a larger network so that
resources may be shared LAN-to-LAN as well as device-to-device. For
example, a company can use a MAN to connect the LANs in all of its offices
throughout a city.
A MAN may be wholly owned and operated by a private company, or it
may be a service provided by a public company, such as a local telephone
company. Many telephone companies vide a popular MAN service called
Switched Multi-megabit Data Services (SMDS).
Wide Area Network (WAN).
A wide area network, or WAN, spans a large geographical area, often a country or
continent. A wide area network (WAN) provides long-distance transmission of
data, voice, image, and video information over large geographical areas that
may comprise a country, a continent, or even the whole world (see Figure
2.18).
In contrast to LANs (which depend on their own hardware for
transmission), WANs may utilize public, leased, or private communication
devices, usually in combinations, and can therefore span an unlimited number
of miles.
A WAN that is wholly owned and used by a single company is often
referred to as an enterprise network..

Network Architecture

There are several ways in which a computer network can be designed. Network
architecture refers to how computers are organized in a system and how tasks are
allocated between these computers. Two of the most widely used types of network
architecture are peer-to-peer and client/server. Client/server architecture is also
called 'tiered' because it uses multiple levels.

Client/Server Network

In this network, a dedicate computer known as server provides sharing resources. All
other computers know as clients are used to access the shared resources. This type of
network is commonly used in company environment. It provides great security features
but requires special hardware and software to setup.

Client-server architecture (client/server) is a network architecture in which each computer

or process on the network is either a client or a server.

examples of client/server architectures.

1) Two tier architectures A two-tier architecture is where a client talks directly to a

server, with no intervening server. It is typically used in small environments(less than
50 users).

In two tier client/server architectures, the user interface is placed at user's desktop
environment and the database management system services are usually in a server that is a
more powerful machine that provides services to the many clients. Information
processing is split between the user system interface environment and the database
management server environment.

2) Three tier architectures The three tier architecture is introduced to overcome the
drawbacks of the two tier architecture. In the three tier architecture, a middleware is
used between the user system interface client environment and the database
management server environment.

The basic characteristics of client/server architectures are:

1) Combination of a client or front-end portion that interacts with the user, and a
server or back-end portion that interacts with the shared resource. The client process
contains solution-specific logic and provides the interface between the user and the
rest of the application system. The server process acts as a software engine that manages
shared resources such as databases, printers, modems, or high powered processors.

2) The front-end task and back-end task have fundamentally different requirements for
computing resources such as processor speeds, memory, disk speeds and capacities, and
input/output devices.

3) The environment is typically heterogeneous and multivendor. The hardware platform

and operating system of client and server are not usually the same.Client and server
processes communicate through a well-defined set of standard application program
interfaces (API's) and RPC's.

4) An important characteristic of client-server systems is scalability. They can be scaled

horizontally or vertically. Horizontal scaling means adding or removing client
workstations with only a slight performance impact. Vertical scaling means migrating to
a larger and faster server machine or multiservers.

Peer to Peer Network

In this network, all computers are equal. Any computer can provide and access shared
resources. This type of network is usually used in small office or home network. It is
easy to setup and does not require any special hardware and software. The downside of
this network is that it provides very less security.

In a peer-to-peer or P2P network, the tasks are allocated among all the members of
the network. There is no real hierarchy among the computers, and all of them are
considered equal. This is also referred to as a distributed architecture or workgroup
without hierarchy. A peer-to-peer network does not use a central computer server that
controls network activity. Instead, every computer on the network has a special software
running that allows for communications between all the computers.