UNIT –I

Overview and Data Communication

 Data generally are defined as information that is stored in
digital form.
 Data communications is the process of transferring
digital information between two or more points.
 Information is defined as the knowledge or intelligence.
 Data communications can be summarized as the
transmission, reception, and processing of digital
information.
 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).
A data communications system has five components:
1. Message: The message is the information (data) to be
communicated.
2. Sender: The sender is the device that sends the data
message.
3. Receiver: The receiver is the device that receives the
message.
4. Transmission Medium: The transmission medium is
the physical path by which a message travels from
sender to receiver.
5. Protocol: A protocol is a set of rules that govern data
communications. It represents an agreement between
the communicating devices.
A Communications Model
The key elements of the communication model are as follows:

 Source: This device generates the data to be transmitted;

examples are telephones and personal computers.
 Transmitter: A transmitter transforms and encodes the
information in such a way as to produce electromagnetic signals
that can be transmitted across some sort of transmission system.
 Transmission system: This can be a single transmission line or a
complex network connecting source and destination.
 Receiver: The receiver accepts the signal from the transmission
system and converts it into a form that can be handled by the
destination device.
 Destination: Takes the incoming data from the receiver.
Data Communications Model
Networks/Communication Networks
 Networking is the exchange of information and ideas
among people with a common profession or special
interest
 The term computer networking refers to linking
multiple devices so that they can readily share
information and software resources.

Networks is mainly of four types:

 LAN(Local Area Network)
 PAN(Personal Area Network)
 MAN(Metropolitan Area Network)
 WAN(Wide Area Network)
Internet
 The Internet is the global system of interconnected
computer networks that uses the Internet protocol
suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and
devices.
 It is a network of networks that consists of private,
public, academic, business, and government networks
of local to global scope, linked by a broad array of
electronic, wireless, and optical networking
technologies.
Internet Elements
Internet Architecture
 Key Features of a Protocol
A protocol is a set of rules or conventions that allow peer layers
to communicate.

• Syntax: Concerns the format of the data blocks.

•Semantics: Includes control information for coordination and
error handling.
• Timing: Includes speed matching and sequencing.
TCP/IP PROTOCOL ARCHITECTURE
 The TCP/IP protocol suite, also referred to as the
Internet protocol suite, is the set of communications
protocols that implements the protocol stack on which
the Internet and most commercial networks run.
 It is named after the two most important protocols in
the suite: the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)
and the Internet Protocol (IP).
 TCP/IP Layers
 Communication task into five relatively independent layers.
• Physical layer
• Network access layer
• Internet layer
• Host-to-host, or transport layer
• Application layer
 Physical Layer
 covers the physical interface between computer and
network
 concerned with issues like:
 characteristics of transmission medium
 nature of the signals
 data rates
 Network Access Layer

 covers the exchange of data between an end system and

the network that it is attached to
 concerned with issues like :
 destination address provision
 invoking specific services like priority
 access to & routing data across a network for two end
systems attached to the same network
 Internet Layer

implements procedures needed

to allow data to travel across
multiple interconnected
networks

uses the Internet Protocol (IP) to

provide routing function

implemented in end systems and

routers
  Host-to-Host (Transport) Layer

• concerned with • most commonly

providing used protocol is
reliable delivery • common layer the Transmission
of data shared by all Control Protocol
applications (TCP)
Application layer

 An application layer is an abstraction layer that

specifies the shared communication protocols and
interface methods used by hosts in a
communications network.
 The application layer abstraction is used in both of
the standard models of computer networking : the
internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) and the OSI
model.
 THE OSI MODEL
 The Open Systems Interconnection model (OSI model)
is a conceptual model that characterises and standardises the
communication functions of a telecommunication or
computing system without regard to its underlying internal
structure and technology.

 The OSI model consists of seven layers:

• Application
• Presentation
• Session
• Transport
• Network
• Data link
• Physical
Data Transmission Terminology
Data transmission occurs between a transmitter & receiver via some
medium.
 Guided medium
 The waves are guided along a physical path; examples of guided media are
twisted pair, coaxial cable, and optical fiber.
 eg. twisted pair, coaxial cable, optical fiber
 Unguided / Wireless medium
 It is also called wireless, provide a means for transmitting electromagnetic
waves but do not guide them; examples are propagation through air, vacuum,
and seawater.
 eg. air, water, vacuum
 direct link
 The link is used to refer to the transmission path between two devices in which
signals propagate directly from transmitter to receiver with no intermediate
devices, other than amplifiers or repeaters used to increase signal strength.
 no intermediate devices
 point-to-point
 It provides a direct link between two devices and those are the only two devices sharing the
medium.
 direct link
 only 2 devices share link

 multi-point
 more than two devices share the link

 simplex
 In simplex transmission, signals are transmitted in only one direction; one station is
transmitter and the other is receiver.
 eg. Television

 half duplex
 In half-duplex operation, both stations may transmit, but only one at a time.
 either direction, but only one way at a time
 eg. police radio

 full duplex
 In full-duplex operation, both stations may transmit simultaneously, and the medium is
carrying signals in both directions at the same time.
 both directions at the same time
 eg. telephone
Frequency, Spectrum and Bandwidth
Time domain concepts
 analog signal
 An analog signal is one in which the signal intensity varies in a smooth
fashion over time.
 various in a smooth way over time
 digital signal
 A digital signal is one in which the signal intensity maintains a constant level
for some period of time and then abruptly changes to another constant level.
This is an idealized definition. In fact, the transition from one voltage
level to another will not be instantaneous, but there will be a small
transition period.
 maintains a constant level then changes to another constant level
 periodic signal
 . The simplest sort of signal is a periodic signal, in which the same signal
pattern repeats over time.
 pattern repeated over time
 aperiodic signal
 pattern not repeated over time
Analogue & Digital Signals
Periodic
Signals
Transmission Impairments
 Signal received may differ from signal transmitted
causing:
 analog - degradation of signal quality
 digital - bit errors

 Causes of impairment –
 Attenuation – It means loss of energy. The strength of
signal decreases with increasing distance which causes loss
of energy in overcoming resistance of medium.
 This is also known as attenuated signal.
 Amplifiers are used to amplify the attenuated signal which
gives the original signal back and compensate for this loss.
 Distortion – It means changes in the form or shape of the
signal. And that’s why it delay in arriving at the final
destination. Every component arrive at different time which
leads to distortion. Therefore, they have different phases at
receiver end from what they had at senders end.
 Noise – The random or unwanted signal that mixes up
with the original signal is called noise. There are several
types of noise such as induced noise, crosstalk noise,
thermal noise and impulse noise which may corrupt the
signal.
 CHANNEL CAPACITY
 The maximum rate at which data can be transmitted over a given
communication path, or channel, under given conditions, is
referred to as the channel capacity.

 There are four concepts:

• Data rate: The rate, in bits per second (bps), at which data can be
communicated.
• Bandwidth: The bandwidth of the transmitted signal as
constrained by the transmitter and the nature of the transmission
medium, expressed in cycles per second, or Hertz
• Noise: The average level of noise over the communications path
• Error rate: The rate at which errors occur, where an error is the
reception of 1 when a 0 was transmitted or the reception of a 0
when a 1 was transmitted
 Guided Transmission Media
 It is defined as the physical medium through which the
signals are transmitted. It is also known as Bounded media.
 Twisted Pair

Twisted pair is the least expensive and most

widely used guided transmission medium.
 consists of two insulated copper wires arranged in a
regular spiral pattern.
 a wire pair acts as a single communication link.
 pairs are bundled together into a cable.
 most commonly used in the telephone network and
for communications within buildings.
 Coaxial Cable

Coaxial cable can be used over longer distances and support

more stations on a shared line than twisted pair.

 consists of a hollow outer cylindrical conductor that

surrounds a single inner wire conductor
 is a versatile transmission medium used in a wide variety of
applications
 used for TV distribution, long distance telephone
transmission and LANs
 Optical Fiber

Optical fiber is a thin flexible medium capable of guiding an

optical ray.
 various glasses and plastics can be used to make optical fibers
 has a cylindrical shape with three sections – core, cladding, jacket
 widely used in long distance telecommunications
 performance, price and advantages have made it popular to use
 Wireless Transmission
• referred to as microwave frequencies
• highly directional beams are possible
1GHz to • suitable for point to point transmissions
40GHz • also used for satellite

• suitable for omnidirectional applications

30MHz to • referred to as the radio range
1GHz

• infrared portion of the spectrum

3 x 1011 to 2 • useful to local point-to-point and multipoint applications within confined areas
x 1014
 Antennas
transmission  electrical conductors
reception
antenna antenna used to radiate or collect
electromagnetic energy
radiated into
surrounding fed to receiver
environment

converted to converted to radio  same antenna is often

frequency electrical
electromagnetic
energy by antenna energy used for both purposes
electromagnetic
radio frequency energy
energy from impinging on
transmitter antenna
 Radiation Pattern
 power radiated in all directions
 does not perform equally well in all directions
 as seen in a radiation pattern diagram
 an isotropic antenna is a point in space that
radiates power
 in all directions equally
 with a spherical radiation pattern
 Satellite Microwave
 a communication satellite is in effect a microwave
relay station
 used to link two or more ground stations
 receives on one frequency, amplifies or repeats signal
and transmits on another frequency
 frequency bands are called transponder channels
 requires geo-stationary orbit
 rotation match occurs at a height of 35,863km at the
equator
 need to be spaced at least 3° - 4° apart to avoid interfering
with each other
 spacing limits the number of possible satellites
Satellite Point-to-Point Link
Satellite Broadcast Link
 Satellite Microwave Applications

The following are among the most important

applications for satellites:
• Television distribution
• Long-distance telephone transmission
• Private business networks
• Global positioning
Satellite Microwave Applications
Uses:
private business networks
 satellite providers can divide capacity into channels to lease
to individual business users
television distribution
 programs are transmitted to the satellite then broadcast
down to a number of stations which then distributes the
programs to individual viewers
 Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) transmits video signals
directly to the home user
global positioning
 Navstar Global Positioning System (GPS)
 Broadcast Radio
 radio is the term used to encompass frequencies in the
range of 3kHz to 300GHz
 broadcast radio (30MHz - 1GHz) covers
• FM radio
• UHF and VHF television
• data networking applications
 omnidirectional
 limited to line of sight
 suffers from multipath interference
 reflections from land, water, man-made objects
 Infrared
 achieved using transceivers that modulate noncoherent
infrared light
 transceivers must be within line of sight of each other
directly or via reflection
 does not penetrate walls
 no licenses required
 no frequency allocation issues
 typical uses:
 TV remote control
 Wireless Propagation
A signal radiated from an antenna travels along one of three
routes:
 ground wave,
 sky wave,
 line of sight (LOS)
 Wireless Propagation
Ground Wave

 ground wave propagation follows the contour of the

earth and can propagate distances well over the visible
horizon
 this effect is found in frequencies up to 2MHz
 the best known example of ground wave communication
is AM radio
Wireless Propagation
Sky Wave

 sky wave propagation is used for amateur radio, CB radio, and

international broadcasts such as BBC and Voice of America
 a signal from an earth based antenna is reflected from the
ionized layer of the upper atmosphere back down to earth
 sky wave signals can travel through a number of hops,
bouncing back and for the between the ionosphere and
the earth’s surface
Wireless Propagation
Line of Sight

•ground and sky wave propagation modes do not

operate above 30 MHz - - communication must be
by line of sight