Physical Layer

Data Communication?
When we communicate we share information. This sharing can be local or remote. Between individuals,
local communication usually face to face, while remote communication takes place over distance. The
term telecommunication which includes telephony and television 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 Communication are the exchange of data between two devices via some form of transmission
medium such as with cable. For data communications to occur, the communicating devices must be part
of a communication system made up of a combination of hardware and software. The effectiveness of
data communication system depends on four 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 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 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. For examples, let us assume that video packets are sent every 30ms.
Packets arrive with 30ms delay and others with 40ms delay an uneven quality in the video is
result.

Components of data communication

There are 5 types of components in data communication:

1. Message:
The message is the information to be communicated. Popular forms of information include text,
numbers, pictures, audio, and video.
2. Sender:
 The sender is the device that sends the data message. It can be a computer, workstation,
telephone handset, television and so on.

3. Receiver:
The receiver is the device that receives the message. It can be a computer, workstation
telephone, 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 includes 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 communication devices. Without a protocol two devices may be connected but not
communicating, just as a person speaking French cannot be understand by a person who speaks
only Japanese.

Rule 1: Protocol Protocol Rule 1:

Sender Receiver
Medium
 DATA REPRESENTATION
Information now a days comes in different forms such as text, numbers, images, audio and video.

Text:
In data communication text is represented as a bit pattern, a sequence of bits (0’s or 1’s).
Different sets of bit patterns have been designed to represent text symbols. Each set is called a
code and the process of representing symbols is called coding. Today the prevalent coding
system is called Unicode which uses 32 bits to represent a symbol or character used in any
language in the world. The American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII)
developed some decades ago in the United States. Now constitutes the first 127 characters in
Unicode and is also referred to as Basic Latin.

Numbers:
Numbers are also represented by bit patterns. However a code such as ASCII is not used to
represent numbers, the number is directly converted to a binary number to simplify mathematical
operation.
Images:
Images are also represented by bit pattern. In its simplest form, an image is composed of a matrix
of pixels ( picture elements) , where each pixel is a small dot. The size of the pixel depends on
the resolution. For example, an image can be divided into 1000 pixel or 10,000 pixels. In the
second case, there is a better representation of the image (better resolution), but more memory is
needed to store the image.
After an image is divided into pixels is assigned a bit pattern. The size and the value of the
pattern depends on the image. 1 bit pattern is enough to store only black and white dots.eg.
Chessboard
There are several methods to represent color images. One method is called RGB, it is because of
each color is made of a combination of three primary colors Red, Green and Blue.
Another method is called YCM, in which a color is made of a combination of three other
primary colors. Yellow, Cyan and Magenta.

Audio:
Audio refers to the recording or broadcasting of sound or music. Audio is any nature different
from text, number or images. It is continuous not discrete. Even when we use a microphone to
change voice or music to an electric signal, we create a continuous signal.

Video:
Video refers to the recording or broadcasting of a picture or movie. Video can either be produced
as a continuous entity (eg. By a TV camera) or it can be a combination of images, each a discrete
entity, arranged to convey the idea of motion. Again we can change video to a digital or an
analog signal.

NETWORK Criteria

A network must be able to meet a certain number of criteria. The most 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 one device to another.
Response time is elapsed time between an injury 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 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.