Unit-I

What is a Computer Network?

o Computer Network is a group of computers connected with each other through
wires, optical fibres or optical links so that various devices can interact with each
other through a network.
o The aim of the computer network is the sharing of resources among various devices.
o In the case of computer network technology, there are several types of networks
that vary from simple to complex level.

Here are a few terms to get started:

 A network: A group of devices that can communicate with each other

over links. Each device is called a host. Each host has a
unique address.

 An internet: A network of networks. On an internet, each host has an

address of the form n/h where n is the network number and h is the number
of the host on network n. As long as all of the networks in the internet have
unique network numbers, combining the network number and host number
will give unique global names. Therefore from the outside an internet looks

like a single network!

  A router: A device that appears simultaneously on two or more networks.
(Usually this is a computer or device with two or more network interface
cards, or NICs.)

 The Internet: The biggest internet around. “You know it when you see it.”

Why Do We Need Internets?

You know what doesn’t work? Connecting one billion devices to each other
directly. Just connecting 9 devices like that requires 36 bi-directional links; a
billion devices would need 499,999,999,500,000,000 (half a quintillion):

If you try such a thing, you will fail, and an internet will just evolve:
An internet may start with a single, global ISP, then multiple ISPs will arise, then
some regional ISPs, etc. Then big content providers might build content delivery
networks, too.

Components Of Computer Network:

Uses Of Computer Network

o Resource sharing: Resource sharing is the sharing of resources such as programs,
printers, and data among the users on the network without the requirement of the
physical location of the resource and user.
o Server-Client model: Computer networking is used in the server-client model. A
server is a central computer used to store the information and maintained by the
system administrator. Clients are the machines used to access the information stored
in the server remotely.
o Communication medium: Computer network behaves as a communication medium
among the users. For example, a company contains more than one computer has an
email system which the employees use for daily communication.
o E-commerce: Computer network is also important in businesses. We can do the
business over the internet. For example, amazon.com is doing their business over
the internet, i.e., they are doing their business over the internet.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Computer
Network
Computer network is defined as a set of interconnected autonomous systems that
facilitate distributed processing of information. It results in better performance with high
speed of processing.
Advantages of Network:
These are main advantages of Computer Networks:
1. Central Storage of Data –
Files can be stored on a central node (the file server) that can be shared and made
available to each and every user in an organization.
2. Anyone can connect to a computer network –
There is a negligible range of abilities required to connect to a modern computer network.
The effortlessness of joining makes it workable for even youthful kids to start exploiting the
data.
3. Faster Problem solving –
Since an extensive procedure is disintegrated into a few littler procedures and each is
taken care of by all the associated gadgets, an explicit issue can be settled in lesser time.
4. Reliability –
Reliability implies backing up of information. Due to some reason equipment crash, and so
on, the information gets undermined or inaccessible on one PC, another duplicate of
similar information is accessible on another workstation for future use, which prompts
smooth working and further handling without interruption.
5. It is highly flexible –
This innovation is known to be truly adaptable, as it offers clients the chance to investigate
everything about fundamental things, for example, programming without influencing their
usefulness.
6. Security through Authorization –
Security and protection of information is additionally settled through system. As just the
system clients are approved to get to specific records or applications, no other individual
can crack the protection or security of information.
7. It boosts storage capacity –
Since you will share data, records and assets to other individuals, you need to guarantee
all information and substance are legitimately put away in the framework. With this
systems administration innovation, you can do the majority of this with no issue, while
having all the space you requirement for capacity.
Disadvantages of Network:
These are main disadvantages of Computer Networks:
1. It lacks robustness –
If a PC system’s principle server separates, the whole framework would end up futile.
Also, if it has a bridging device or a central linking server that fails, the entire network
would also come to a standstill. To manage these issues, gigantic systems ought to have
a ground-breaking PC to fill in as document server to influence setting to up and keeping
up the system less demanding.
2. It lacks independence –
PC organizing includes a procedure that is worked utilizing PCs, so individuals will depend
 a greater amount of PC work, rather than applying an exertion for their jobs that needs to
be done. Beside this, they will be subject to the primary document server, which implies
that, in the event that it separates, the framework would end up futile, making clients
inactive.
3. Virus and Malware –
On the off chance that even one PC on a system gets contaminated with an infection,
there is a possibility for alternate frameworks to get tainted as well. Infections can spread
on a system effectively, in view of the between availability of different gadgets.4. Lack of
Independence
4. Cost of network –
The expense of executing the system including cabling and equipment can be expensive.

Network Topology

A Network Topology is the arrangement with which computer systems or network

devices are connected to each other. Topologies may define both physical and logical
aspect of the network. Both logical and physical topologies could be same or different
in a same network.

Point-to-Point
Point-to-point networks contains exactly two hosts such as computer, switches or
routers, servers connected back to back using a single piece of cable. Often, the
receiving end of one host is connected to sending end of the other and vice-versa.

If the hosts are connected point-to-point logically, then may have multiple intermediate
devices. But the end hosts are unaware of underlying network and see each other as if
they are connected directly.

Bus Topology
In case of Bus topology, all devices share single communication line or cable.Bus
topology may have problem while multiple hosts sending data at the same time.
Therefore, Bus topology either uses CSMA/CD technology or recognizes one host as
Bus Master to solve the issue. It is one of the simple forms of networking where a
failure of a device does not affect the other devices. But failure of the shared
communication line can make all other devices stop functioning.
Both ends of the shared channel have line terminator. The data is sent in only one
direction and as soon as it reaches the extreme end, the terminator removes the data
from the line.

Star Topology
All hosts in Star topology are connected to a central device, known as hub device,
using a point-to-point connection. That is, there exists a point to point connection
between hosts and hub. The hub device can be any of the following:

 Layer-1 device such as hub or repeater

 Layer-2 device such as switch or bridge
 Layer-3 device such as router or gateway
As in Bus topology, hub acts as single point of failure. If hub fails, connectivity of all
hosts to all other hosts fails. Every communication between hosts, takes place through
only the hub.Star topology is not expensive as to connect one more host, only one
cable is required and configuration is simple.

Ring Topology
In ring topology, each host machine connects to exactly two other machines, creating a
circular network structure. When one host tries to communicate or send message to a
host which is not adjacent to it, the data travels through all intermediate hosts. To
connect one more host in the existing structure, the administrator may need only one
more extra cable.
Failure of any host results in failure of the whole ring.Thus, every connection in the ring
is a point of failure. There are methods which employ one more backup ring.

Mesh Topology
In this type of topology, a host is connected to one or multiple hosts.This topology has
hosts in point-to-point connection with every other host or may also have hosts which
are in point-to-point connection to few hosts only.

Hosts in Mesh topology also work as relay for other hosts which do not have direct
point-to-point links. Mesh technology comes into two types:
  Full Mesh: All hosts have a point-to-point connection to every other host in the network.
Thus for every new host n(n-1)/2 connections are required. It provides the most reliable
network structure among all network topologies.
 Partially Mesh: Not all hosts have point-to-point connection to every other host. Hosts
connect to each other in some arbitrarily fashion. This topology exists where we need to
provide reliability to some hosts out of all.

Tree Topology
Also known as Hierarchical Topology, this is the most common form of network
topology in use presently.This topology imitates as extended Star topology and inherits
properties of bus topology.
This topology divides the network in to multiple levels/layers of network. Mainly in
LANs, a network is bifurcated into three types of network devices. The lowermost is
access-layer where computers are attached. The middle layer is known as distribution
layer, which works as mediator between upper layer and lower layer. The highest layer
is known as core layer, and is central point of the network, i.e. root of the tree from
which all nodes fork.

All neighboring hosts have point-to-point connection between them.Similar to the Bus
topology, if the root goes down, then the entire network suffers even.though it is not the
single point of failure. Every connection serves as point of failure, failing of which
divides the network into unreachable segment.

Daisy Chain
This topology connects all the hosts in a linear fashion. Similar to Ring topology, all
hosts are connected to two hosts only, except the end hosts.Means, if the end hosts in
daisy chain are connected then it represents Ring topology.
Each link in daisy chain topology represents single point of failure. Every link failure
splits the network into two segments.Every intermediate host works as relay for its
immediate hosts.

Hybrid Topology
A network structure whose design contains more than one topology is said to be hybrid
topology. Hybrid topology inherits merits and demerits of all the incorporating
topologies.

The above picture represents an arbitrarily hybrid topology. The combining topologies may
contain attributes of Star, Ring, Bus, and Daisy-chain topologies. Most WANs are connected
by means of Dual-Ring topology and networks connected to them are mostly Star topology
networks. Internet is the best example of largest Hybrid topology

Computer Network Architecture

Computer Network Architecture is defined as the physical and logical design of the software,
hardware, protocols, and media of the transmission of data. Simply we can say that how
computers are organized and how tasks are allocated to the computer.
The two types of network architectures are used:

o Peer-To-Peer network
o Client/Server network

Peer-To-Peer network
o Peer-To-Peer network is a network in which all the computers are linked together
with equal privilege and responsibilities for processing the data.
o Peer-To-Peer network is useful for small environments, usually up to 10 computers.
o Peer-To-Peer network has no dedicated server.
o Special permissions are assigned to each computer for sharing the resources, but
this can lead to a problem if the computer with the resource is down.

Advantages Of Peer-To-Peer Network:

o It is less costly as it does not contain any dedicated server.
o If one computer stops working but, other computers will not stop working.
o It is easy to set up and maintain as each computer manages itself.

Disadvantages Of Peer-To-Peer Network:

o In the case of Peer-To-Peer network, it does not contain the centralized system .
Therefore, it cannot back up the data as the data is different in different locations.
o It has a security issue as the device is managed itself.
Client/Server Network
o Client/Server network is a network model designed for the end users called clients,
to access the resources such as songs, video, etc. from a central computer known as
Server.
o The central controller is known as a server while all other computers in the network
are called clients.
o A server performs all the major operations such as security and network
management.
o A server is responsible for managing all the resources such as files, directories,
printer, etc.
o All the clients communicate with each other through a server. For example, if client1
wants to send some data to client 2, then it first sends the request to the server for
the permission. The server sends the response to the client 1 to initiate its
communication with the client 2.

Advantages Of Client/Server network:

o A Client/Server network contains the centralized system. Therefore we can back up
the data easily.
o A Client/Server network has a dedicated server that improves the overall
performance of the whole system.
o Security is better in Client/Server network as a single server administers the shared
resources.
o It also increases the speed of the sharing resources.

Disadvantages Of Client/Server network:

o Client/Server network is expensive as it requires the server with large memory.
o A server has a Network Operating System(NOS) to provide the resources to the
clients, but the cost of NOS is very high.
o It requires a dedicated network administrator to manage all the resources.
Features Of Computer network

Communication speed
Network provides us to communicate over the network in a fast and efficient manner. For
example, we can do video conferencing, email messaging, etc. over the internet. Therefore,
the computer network is a great way to share our knowledge and ideas.

File sharing
File sharing is one of the major advantage of the computer network. Computer network
provides us to share the files with each other.

Back up and Roll back is easy

Since the files are stored in the main server which is centrally located. Therefore, it is easy
to take the back up from the main server.
Software and Hardware sharing
We can install the applications on the main server, therefore, the user can access the
applications centrally. So, we do not need to install the software on every machine.
Similarly, hardware can also be shared.

Security
Network allows the security by ensuring that the user has the right to access the certain
files and applications.

Scalability
Scalability means that we can add the new components on the network. Network must be
scalable so that we can extend the network by adding new devices. But, it decreases the
speed of the connection and data of the transmission speed also decreases, this increases
the chances of error occurring. This problem can be overcome by using the routing or
switching devices.

Computer Network Types

A computer network is a group of computers linked to each other that enables the computer
to communicate with another computer and share their resources, data, and applications.

A computer network can be categorized by their size. A computer network is mainly

of four types:

o LAN(Local Area Network)

o PAN(Personal Area Network)
o MAN(Metropolitan Area Network)
o WAN(Wide Area Network)

LAN(Local Area Network)

 o Local Area Network is a group of computers connected to each other in a small area
such as building, office.
o LAN is used for connecting two or more personal computers through a
communication medium such as twisted pair, coaxial cable, etc.
o It is less costly as it is built with inexpensive hardware such as hubs, network
adapters, and ethernet cables.
o The data is transferred at an extremely faster rate in Local Area Network.
o Local Area Network provides higher security.

PAN(Personal Area Network)

o Personal Area Network is a network arranged within an individual person, typically
within a range of 10 meters.
o Personal Area Network is used for connecting the computer devices of personal use
is known as Personal Area Network.
o Thomas Zimmerman was the first research scientist to bring the idea of the
Personal Area Network.
o Personal Area Network covers an area of 30 feet.
o Personal computer devices that are used to develop the personal area network are
the laptop, mobile phones, media player and play stations.
There are two types of Personal Area Network:

o Wired Personal Area Network

o Wireless Personal Area Network

Wireless Personal Area Network: Wireless Personal Area Network is developed by simply
using wireless technologies such as WiFi, Bluetooth. It is a low range network.

Wired Personal Area Network: Wired Personal Area Network is created by using the USB.

Examples Of Personal Area Network:

o Body Area Network: Body Area Network is a network that moves with a
person. For example, a mobile network moves with a person. Suppose a person
establishes a network connection and then creates a connection with another device
to share the information.
o Offline Network: An offline network can be created inside the home, so it is also
known as a home network. A home network is designed to integrate the devices
such as printers, computer, television but they are not connected to the internet.
o Small Home Office: It is used to connect a variety of devices to the internet and to
a corporate network using a VPN
MAN(Metropolitan Area Network)
o A metropolitan area network is a network that covers a larger geographic area by
interconnecting a different LAN to form a larger network.
o Government agencies use MAN to connect to the citizens and private industries.
o In MAN, various LANs are connected to each other through a telephone exchange
line.
o The most widely used protocols in MAN are RS-232, Frame Relay, ATM, ISDN, OC-3,
ADSL, etc.
o It has a higher range than Local Area Network(LAN).

Uses Of Metropolitan Area Network:

o MAN is used in communication between the banks in a city.
o It can be used in an Airline Reservation.
o It can be used in a college within a city.
o It can also be used for communication in the military.

WAN(Wide Area Network)

o A Wide Area Network is a network that extends over a large geographical area such
as states or countries.
o A Wide Area Network is quite bigger network than the LAN.
o A Wide Area Network is not limited to a single location, but it spans over a large
geographical area through a telephone line, fibre optic cable or satellite links.
o The internet is one of the biggest WAN in the world.
 o A Wide Area Network is widely used in the field of Business, government, and
education.

Examples Of Wide Area Network:

o Mobile Broadband: A 4G network is widely used across a region or country.
o Last mile: A telecom company is used to provide the internet services to the
customers in hundreds of cities by connecting their home with fiber.
o Private network: A bank provides a private network that connects the 44 offices.
This network is made by using the telephone leased line provided by the telecom
company.

Advantages Of Wide Area Network:

Following are the advantages of the Wide Area Network:

o Geographical area: A Wide Area Network provides a large geographical area.

Suppose if the branch of our office is in a different city then we can connect with
them through WAN. The internet provides a leased line through which we can
connect with another branch.
o Centralized data: In case of WAN network, data is centralized. Therefore, we do
not need to buy the emails, files or back up servers.
o Get updated files: Software companies work on the live server. Therefore, the
programmers get the updated files within seconds.
o Exchange messages: In a WAN network, messages are transmitted fast. The web
application like Facebook, Whatsapp, Skype allows you to communicate with friends.
o Sharing of software and resources: In WAN network, we can share the software
and other resources like a hard drive, RAM.
o Global business: We can do the business over the internet globally.
 o High bandwidth: If we use the leased lines for our company then this gives the
high bandwidth. The high bandwidth increases the data transfer rate which in turn
increases the productivity of our company.

Disadvantages of Wide Area Network:

The following are the disadvantages of the Wide Area Network:

o Security issue: A WAN network has more security issues as compared to LAN and
MAN network as all the technologies are combined together that creates the security
problem.
o Needs Firewall & antivirus software: The data is transferred on the internet
which can be changed or hacked by the hackers, so the firewall needs to be used.
Some people can inject the virus in our system so antivirus is needed to protect from
such a virus.
o High Setup cost: An installation cost of the WAN network is high as it involves the
purchasing of routers, switches.
o Troubleshooting problems: It covers a large area so fixing the problem is difficult.

Transmission services
Connection Oriented and Connectionless Services
Connection oriented and Connectionless services are the two data
transmission services provided by the network layer
protocols and transport layer protocols. The Connection
oriented services establish a connection prior to sending the packets
belonging to the same message from source to the destination. On the other
hand, the connectionless service considers each packet belonging to the
same message as a different & independent entity and route them with a
different path.

Connection oriented and connectionless services show different behaviour at

the network layer & the transport layer. In this section, we will discuss both the
services in-depth and we will also discuss the nature of connection-oriented
and connectionless services at both the layers i.e. network layer and transport
layer.

Connection Oriented & Connectionless

Services
Connection Oriented Service
Connection oriented service is a data transfer method between two computers
in a different network, which is designed after the telephone system. Like, in
telephone system if we want to talk to someone, we just pick up the phone,
dial the number of whom we want to talk with; after the connection is
established we talk and lastly, we hang up the call.

Similarly, the connection oriented service first establishes the virtual

connection between the source and the destination, then transfers all data
packets belonging to the same message through same dedicated established
connection and after all packets of a message is transferred it releases the
connection.

To establish a connection a source sends a request packet to the destination.

In response to which destination sends the acknowledgement packet to the
source confirming that the destination is ready to accept the data from the
source.

Meanwhile, the routers involved in the exchange of request and

acknowledgement packet between source and destination, define the virtual
path that will be followed by all packets belonging to the same message.
So, we say that the resources involved in data transfer are reserved before
transferring all packet in a message.

As all the data packets in a message follow the same path their order is
preserved as they reach the destination. After sending all data packets the
source sends a special packet to terminate the connection. To which
destination sends an acknowledgement confirming the termination of
connection and all the router delete the path entry from routing table.
As connection oriented service provide acknowledgement at each action it
provides reliability in the service. There are fewer chances of packet loss as
they travel a predefined path. The connection oriented services are preferred
over a long and steady conversation.

As the virtual path is predefined there are rare or no chances of congestion.

If we talk about the delay in data transmission, there is no delay in the
transmission of packets as there is a dedicated path for it. But, a
substantial delay is introduced due to the acknowledgement process during
connection establishment and termination.

The TCP protocol is a connection oriented protocol.

The connection oriented service works the same at both, the network layer
and transport layer i.e. first it establishes a connection, exchanges data and
terminates the connection. But, it’s behaviour slightly differs at both the layer.
Let’s see how?

At Network Layer: At the network layer, the connection oriented service is

concerned regarding
the coordination of source, destination and routers involved in between
the source and destination.

As there is coordination between source, destination and all the routers in

between and all packet belonging to the same message follow a dedicated
established connection. So, we can implement flow control, error control
and congestion control in connection oriented services.

At Transport Layer: At the transport layer, the connection oriented service

is concerned only about the source and the destination. Here, the packets
show dependency on each other. As all packets will go around the same
allocated route.

Connectionless Service
Connectionless service is a method of data transmission between two
computers in a different network. Connectionless service is also termed
as datagram service. This service look-alike the postal system where each
letter carries its source & destination address and each one of them
is routed through a different path.

The source divides the message into small acceptable packets these packets
known as a datagram. These datagrams are individually pushed into the
network; each datagram may travel a different path. The network considers
each datagram or data packet as an independent entity i.e. no
relationship is considered between the packets belonging to the same
message.

Each datagram carries its source and destination address. The router uses
the destination address to route the datagram to its destination. The packets
received at the destination may be received out of order. Hence, the
datagrams are assembled to recreate the original message.

The UDP protocol is a connectionless protocol.

The connectionless service is provided by the protocols of both network layer

as well as the transport layer. Though its basic function is the same, i.e. it
routes each packet independently over the network may be through different
data paths. But still, it behaves slightly different at both the network layer and
the transport layer. Let us see how?

At Network Layer: The connectionless service at network

layer signifies different path for different data packets belonging to the
same message.

At Transport Layer: The connectionless service at transport layer

exhibits independency between the packets rather than the different paths
that different packets belonging to the same message will follow.

As the data packets belonging to the same message follow the different path it
may happen that they are received at the destination out of order. It can also
be the case that one of the packets is lost.

At the transport layer, each packet is considered as an independent entity and

packets show no relationship with each other. The destination transport layer
 will not even know that a packet has been lost. Here, we can conclude that
we cannot implement flow control, error control, or congestion control in
connectionless service.

Key Takeaways
 Connection oriented service is based on the telephone system.
 Connection oriented service first establishes a connection between the
source and destination.
 All packets belonging to the same message follows the same dedicated
established connection to reach the destination in connection oriented
service.
 At the network layer connection oriented service focuses on coordination
between source, destination and all the routers between source and
destination.
 At the transport layer connection, oriented service is only interested
in source and destination. The service here is end to end.
 In connection oriented service we can implement flow control, error
control & congestion control.
 Connectionless service is based on the postal services.
 Connectionless service considers each packet of the same message as
a different and independent entity. Each data packet carries
its source and destination address.
 In connectionless service, each packet of the same message may follow a
different route to get delivered to the destination.
 In connectionless service, packets are routed based on the destination
address on the packet.
 At the network layer, connectionless service signifies a different route for a
different packet belonging to the same message.
 At the transport layer, connectionless service signifies the independency
between the packets of the same message.
 In connectionless service, we cannot implement flow control, error
control, and congestion control.

Earlier the protocols at the network layer were designed for connectionless
service. But, the recent trends allow us to switch to connection oriented
services. In the content above we have discussed both the trends, dominant
one (connectionless service) and the new one (connection oriented service).
Analog and Digital Signal

What is Signal?
A signal is an electromagnetic or electrical current that is used for carrying
data from one system or network to another. The signal is a function that
conveys information about a phenomenon.

In electronics and telecommunications, it refers to any time-varying voltage

that is an electromagnetic wave which carries information. A signal can also
be defined as an observable change in quality such as quantity

Analog and digital signals are different types which are mainly used to carry the
data from one apparatus to another. Analog signals are continuous wave signals
that change with time period whereas digital is a discrete signal in nature. The
main difference between analog and digital signals is, analog signals are
represented with the sine waves whereas digital signals are represented with square
waves.
Analog and Digital Signal
Analog signal is a continuous signal in which one time-varying quantity
represents another time-based variable. These kind of signals works with
physical values and natural phenomena such as earthquake, frequency,
volcano, speed of wind, weight, lighting, etc.

Analog Signal
Characteristics OF Analog Signal
Here, are essential characteristics of Analog Signal

 These type of electronic signals are time-varying

 Minimum and maximum values which is either positive or negative.
 It can be either periodic or non-periodic.
 Analog Signal works on continuous data.
 The accuracy of the analog signal is not high when compared to the
digital signal.
 It helps you to measure natural or physical values.
 Analog signal output form is like Curve, Line, or Graph, so it may not be
meaningful to all

Digital Signal

A digital signal is a signal that is used to represent data as a sequence of separate

values at any point in time. It can only take on one of a fixed number of values. This
type of signal represents a real number within a constant range of values.

Similar to analog, digital signals carry the data although it is a bit different. These
signals are discrete or not continuous. A digital signal carries the data in the form
of binary because it signifies in the bits. These signals can be decomposed into sine
waves which are termed as harmonics. Every digital signal has amplitude,
frequency, & phase like the analog signal. This signal can be defined by bit
interval as well as bit rate.

Digita
l Signal
Digital signals are more resistant toward the noise; therefore, it barely faces
some distortion. These waves are simple in transmitting as well as more
dependable while contrasted to analog waves. Digital signals include a limited
variety of values which lies among 0-to-1.

Characteristics of Digital Signals

Here, are essential characteristics of Digital signals

 Digital signal are continuous signals

 This type of electronic l signals can be processed and transmitted better
compared to analog signal.
 Digital signals are versatile, so it is widely used.
 The accuracy of the digital signal is better than that of the analog signal.

Key Differences between Analog and Digital Signals

The key difference between analog and digital signals in tabular form is shown
below.
Analog Signal Digital Signal
An analog signal signifies a continuous A digital signal signifies a discrete signal
signal that keeps changes with a time that carries binary data and has discrete
period. values.

Analog signals are continuous sine waves Digital signal is square waves.

Analog signals describe the behavior of Digital signals describe the behavior of
the wave with respect to amplitude, time the signal with respect to the rate of a bit
period, & phase of the signal. as well as bit interval.

Digital signal is limited as well as ranges

Analog signal range will not be set. from 0 to 1.
 A digital signal has resistance in response
Analog signal is further horizontal toward toward the noise, therefore, it does not
distortion during the response to noise often face distortion.

A digital signal broadcasts the

An analog signal broadcasts the information in the form of binary that is
information in the signal form. bits.

The example of an analog signal is the The example of a digital signal is the data
human voice transmission in a computer.

Advantages of Digital Signal Over Analog Signal

There are several advantages using digital signal over an analog signal.
 Digital signals are more secure, and they do not get damaged by noise.
 These signals use low bandwidth
 They allow the signals transmitted over a lengthy distance.
 Digital signal has a higher rate transmission
 By using these signals, we can translate the messages, audio, video into device
language.
 Digital signals enable the transmission of multidirectional concurrently.

Analog Transmission
Bandpass:The filters are used to filter and pass frequencies of interest. A bandpass is
a band of frequencies which can pass the filter.
Low-pass: Low-pass is a filter that passes low frequencies signals.
When digital data is converted into a bandpass analog signal, it is called digital-to-
analog conversion. When low-pass analog signal is converted into bandpass analog
signal, it is called analog-to-analog conversion.

Digital-to-Analog Conversion
When data from one computer is sent to another via some analog carrier, it is first
converted into analog signals. Analog signals are modified to reflect digital data.
An analog signal is characterized by its amplitude, frequency, and phase. There are
three kinds of digital-to-analog conversions:
 Amplitude Shift Keying
 In this conversion technique, the amplitude of analog carrier signal is modified to
reflect binary data.

When binary data represents digit 1, the amplitude is held; otherwise it is set to
0. Both frequency and phase remain same as in the original carrier signal.
 Frequency Shift Keying
In this conversion technique, the frequency of the analog carrier signal is
modified to reflect binary data.

This technique uses two frequencies, f1 and f2. One of them, for example f1, is
chosen to represent binary digit 1 and the other one is used to represent binary
digit 0. Both amplitude and phase of the carrier wave are kept intact.
 Phase Shift Keying
In this conversion scheme, the phase of the original carrier signal is altered to
reflect the binary data.
 When a new binary symbol is encountered, the phase of the signal is altered.
Amplitude and frequency of the original carrier signal is kept intact.
 Quadrature Phase Shift Keying
QPSK alters the phase to reflect two binary digits at once. This is done in two
different phases. The main stream of binary data is divided equally into two sub-
streams. The serial data is converted in to parallel in both sub-streams and then
each stream is converted to digital signal using NRZ technique. Later, both the
digital signals are merged together.

Analog-to-Analog Conversion
Analog signals are modified to represent analog data. This conversion is also known as
Analog Modulation. Analog modulation is required when bandpass is used. Analog to
analog conversion can be done in three ways:

 Amplitude Modulation
In this modulation, the amplitude of the carrier signal is modified to reflect the
analog data.
 Amplitude modulation is implemented by means of a multiplier. The amplitude of
modulating signal (analog data) is multiplied by the amplitude of carrier
frequency, which then reflects analog data.
The frequency and phase of carrier signal remain unchanged.
 Frequency Modulation
In this modulation technique, the frequency of the carrier signal is modified to
reflect the change in the voltage levels of the modulating signal (analog data).
 The amplitude and phase of the carrier signal are not altered.
 Phase Modulation
In the modulation technique, the phase of carrier signal is modulated in order to
reflect the change in voltage (amplitude) of analog data signal.
 Phase modulation is practically similar to Frequency Modulation, but in Phase
modulation frequency of the carrier signal is not increased. Frequency of carrier
is signal is changed (made dense and sparse) to reflect voltage change in the
amplitude of modulating signal.
Data or information can be stored in two ways, analog and digital. For a computer to
use the data, it must be in discrete digital form.Similar to data, signals can also be in
analog and digital form. To transmit data digitally, it needs to be first converted to
digital form.

Digital-to-Digital Conversion
This section explains how to convert digital data into digital signals. It can be done in
two ways, line coding and block coding. For all communications, line coding is
necessary whereas block coding is optional.

Line Coding
The process for converting digital data into digital signal is said to be Line Coding.
Digital data is found in binary format.It is represented (stored) internally as series of 1s
and 0s.

Digital signal is denoted by discreet signal, which represents digital data.There are
three types of line coding schemes available:

Uni-polar Encoding
Unipolar encoding schemes use single voltage level to represent data. In this case, to
represent binary 1, high voltage is transmitted and to represent 0, no voltage is
transmitted. It is also called Unipolar-Non-return-to-zero, because there is no rest
condition i.e. it either represents 1 or 0.

Polar Encoding
Polar encoding scheme uses multiple voltage levels to represent binary values. Polar
encodings is available in four types:
 Polar Non-Return to Zero (Polar NRZ)
 It uses two different voltage levels to represent binary values. Generally, positive
voltage represents 1 and negative value represents 0. It is also NRZ because
there is no rest condition.
NRZ scheme has two variants: NRZ-L and NRZ-I.

NRZ-L changes voltage level at when a different bit is encountered whereas

NRZ-I changes voltage when a 1 is encountered.

 Return to Zero (RZ)

Problem with NRZ is that the receiver cannot conclude when a bit ended and
when the next bit is started, in case when sender and receiver’s clock are not
synchronized.
 RZ uses three voltage levels, positive voltage to represent 1, negative voltage to
represent 0 and zero voltage for none. Signals change during bits not between
bits.
Bipolar Encoding
Bipolar encoding uses three voltage levels, positive, negative and zero. Zero voltage
represents binary 0 and bit 1 is represented by altering positive and negative voltages.

Block Coding
To ensure accuracy of the received data frame redundant bits are used. For example,
in even-parity, one parity bit is added to make the count of 1s in the frame even. This
way the original number of bits is increased. It is called Block Coding.
Block coding is represented by slash notation, mB/nB.Means, m-bit block is substituted
with n-bit block where n > m. Block coding involves three steps:

 Division,
 Substitution
 Combination.
After block coding is done, it is line coded for transmission.

Transmission Modes
The transmission mode decides how data is transmitted between two computers.The
binary data in the form of 1s and 0s can be sent in two different modes: Parallel and
Serial.
Parallel Transmission

The binary bits are organized in-to groups of fixed length. Both sender and receiver are
connected in parallel with the equal number of data lines. Both computers distinguish
between high order and low order data lines. The sender sends all the bits at once on
all lines.Because the data lines are equal to the number of bits in a group or data
frame, a complete group of bits (data frame) is sent in one go. Advantage of Parallel
transmission is high speed and disadvantage is the cost of wires, as it is equal to the
number of bits sent in parallel.
Serial Transmission
In serial transmission, bits are sent one after another in a queue manner. Serial
transmission requires only one communication channel.

Serial transmission can be either asynchronous or synchronous.

Asynchronous Serial Transmission
It is named so because there’is no importance of timing. Data-bits have specific pattern
and they help receiver recognize the start and end data bits.For example, a 0 is
prefixed on every data byte and one or more 1s are added at the end.
Two continuous data-frames (bytes) may have a gap between them.
Synchronous Serial Transmission
Timing in synchronous transmission has importance as there is no mechanism
followed to recognize start and end data bits.There is no pattern or prefix/suffix
method. Data bits are sent in burst mode without maintaining gap between bytes (8-
bits). Single burst of data bits may contain a number of bytes. Therefore, timing
becomes very important.
It is up to the receiver to recognize and separate bits into bytes.The advantage of
synchronous transmission is high speed, and it has no overhead of extra header and
footer bits as in asynchronous transmission.
Analog to Digital Conversion
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.
The following techniques can be used for Analog to Digital Conversion:

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:
1. Sampling
2. Quantization
3. 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.

1. 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.

2. Quantization –
Quantization, in mathematics and digital signal processing, is the process of mapping input
 values from a large set (often a continuous set) to output values in a (countable) smaller set,
often with a finite number of elements. Rounding and truncation are typical examples of
quantization processes. Quantization is involved to some degree in nearly all digital signal
processing, as the process of representing a signal in digital form ordinarily involves
rounding. Quantization also forms the core of essentially all lossy compression algorithms.
The difference between an input value and its quantized value (such as round-off error) is referred to
as quantization error. A device or algorithmic function that performs quantization is called
a quantizer

3. Encoding –
The digitization of the 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).
 Transmission Media

The transmission media is nothing but the physical media over which communication
takes place in computer networks.

Magnetic Media
One of the most convenient way to transfer data from one computer to another, even
before the birth of networking, was to save it on some storage media and transfer
physical from one station to another. Though it may seem old-fashion way in today’s
world of high speed internet, but when the size of data is huge, the magnetic media
comes into play.
For example, a bank has to handle and transfer huge data of its customer, which
stores a backup of it at some geographically far-away place for security reasons and to
keep it from uncertain calamities. If the bank needs to store its huge backup data then
its,transfer through internet is not feasible.The WAN links may not support such high
speed.Even if they do; the cost too high to afford.
In these cases, data backup is stored onto magnetic tapes or magnetic discs, and then
shifted physically at remote places.

Twisted Pair Cable

A twisted pair cable is made of two plastic insulated copper wires twisted together to
form a single media. Out of these two wires, only one carries actual signal and another
is used for ground reference. The twists between wires are helpful in reducing noise
(electro-magnetic interference) and crosstalk.
There are two types of twisted pair cables:
 Shielded Twisted Pair (STP) Cable
 Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) Cable
STP cables comes with twisted wire pair covered in metal foil. This makes it more
indifferent to noise and crosstalk.
UTP has seven categories, each suitable for specific use. In computer networks, Cat-5,
Cat-5e, and Cat-6 cables are mostly used. UTP cables are connected by RJ45
connectors.

Coaxial Cable
Coaxial cable has two wires of copper. The core wire lies in the center and it is made of
solid conductor.The core is enclosed in an insulating sheath.The second wire is
wrapped around over the sheath and that too in turn encased by insulator sheath.This
all is covered by plastic cover.
Because of its structure,the coax cable is capable of carrying high frequency signals
than that of twisted pair cable.The wrapped structure provides it a good shield against
noise and cross talk. Coaxial cables provide high bandwidth rates of up to 450 mbps.
There are three categories of coax cables namely, RG-59 (Cable TV), RG-58 (Thin
Ethernet), and RG-11 (Thick Ethernet). RG stands for Radio Government.
Cables are connected using BNC connector and BNC-T. BNC terminator is used to
terminate the wire at the far ends.

Power Lines
Power Line communication (PLC) is Layer-1 (Physical Layer) technology which uses
power cables to transmit data signals.In PLC, modulated data is sent over the cables.
The receiver on the other end de-modulates and interprets the data.
Because power lines are widely deployed, PLC can make all powered devices
controlled and monitored. PLC works in half-duplex.
There are two types of PLC:
 Narrow band PLC
 Broad band PLC
Narrow band PLC provides lower data rates up to 100s of kbps, as they work at lower
frequencies (3-5000 kHz).They can be spread over several kilometers.
Broadband PLC provides higher data rates up to 100s of Mbps and works at higher
frequencies (1.8 – 250 MHz).They cannot be as much extended as Narrowband PLC.
Fiber Optics
Fiber Optic works on the properties of light. When light ray hits at critical angle it tends
to refracts at 90 degree. This property has been used in fiber optic. The core of fiber
optic cable is made of high quality glass or plastic. From one end of it light is emitted, it
travels through it and at the other end light detector detects light stream and converts it
to electric data.
Fiber Optic provides the highest mode of speed. It comes in two modes, one is single
mode fiber and second is multimode fiber. Single mode fiber can carry a single ray of
light whereas multimode is capable of carrying multiple beams of light.

Fiber Optic also comes in unidirectional and bidirectional capabilities. To connect and
access fiber optic special type of connectors are used. These can be Subscriber
Channel (SC), Straight Tip (ST), or MT-RJ.

Computer Networks fall into three classes regarding the size, distance and the
structure namely: LAN (Local Area Network), MAN (Metropolitan Area Network), WAN
(Wide Area Network). Before we discussing about type of network we can discuss about
what is a network.

What is Network?
In the today world, Two devices are in network if a process in one device is able to
exchange information with a process in another device. Networks are known as a
medium of connections between nodes (set of devices) or computers. A network is
consist of group of computer systems, servers, networking devices are linked together
to share resources, including a printer or a file server. The connections is established by
using either cable media or wireless media.

Types of Networks
LAN (Local Area Network)
A Local Area Network is a privately owned computer network covering a small
Networks geographical area, like a home, office, or groups of buildings e.g. a school
Network. A LAN is used to connect the computers and other network devices so that the
devices can communicate with each other to share the resources. The resources to be
shared can be a hardware device like printer, software like an application program or
data. The size of LAN is usually small. The various devices in LAN are connected to
central devices called Hub or Switch using a cable.
Now-a-days LANs are being installed using wireless technologies. Such a system
makes use of access point or APs to transmit and receive data. One of the computers in
a network can become a server serving all the remaining computers called Clients.
For example, a library will have a wired or wireless LAN Network for users to
interconnect local networking devices e.g., printers and servers to connect to
the internet.
LAN offers high speed communication of data rates of 4 to 16 megabits per second
(Mbps). IEEE has projects investigating the standardization of 100 Gbit/s, and possibly
40 Gbit/s. LANs Network may have connections with other LANs Network via leased
lines, leased services.

Types of LAN
There are basically two types of Local Area Networks namely: ARCnet and Ethernet.
ARCNET (Attached Resource Computer NETwork)
ARCNET is one of the oldest, simplest, and least expensive types of Local-
Area Network protocol, similar in purpose to Ethernet or Token Ring. ARCNET was the
first widely available networking system for microcomputers and became popular in the
1980s for office automation tasks. ARCnet was introduced by Datapoint Corporation in
1977.
A special advantage of ARCNET is that it permits various types of transmission media -
twisted-pair wire, coaxial cable, and fiber optic cable - to be mixed on the same network.
The specification is ANSI 878.1. It can have up to 255 nodes per network.
A new specification, called ARCnet Plus, will support data rates of 20 Mbps
Ethernet is a family of computer networking technologies for local area networks
commercially introduced in 1980. Standardized in IEEE 802.3, Ethernet has largely
replaced competing wired local area network technologies. Ethernet uses a bus or star
topology Network and supports data transfer rates of 10 Mbps.
Ethernet Network uses the CSMA/CD access method to handle simultaneous demands.
It is one of the most widely implemented LAN standards. A newer version of Ethernet
Network, called 100Base-T (or Fast Ethernet), supports data transfer rates of 100 Mbps.
And the newest version, Gigabit Ethernet supports data rates of 1 gigabit (1,000
megabits) per second. Ethernet is a physical and data link layer technology for local
area networks (LANs). Ethernet Network was invented by engineer Robert Metcalfe.
MAN (Metropolitan Area Networks)
MAN stands for Metropolitan Area Networks is one of a number of types of networks. A
MAN is a relatively new class of network. MAN is larger than a local area network and
as its name implies, covers the area of a single city. MANs rarely extend beyond 100
KM and frequently comprise a combination of different hardware and transmission
media. It can be single network such as a cable TV network, or it is a means of
connecting a number of LANs into a larger network so that resources can be shared
LAN to LAN as well as device to device.

A MAN can be created as a single network such as Cable TV Network, covering the
entire city or a group of several Local Area Networks (LANs). It this way resource can
be shared from LAN to LAN and from computer to computer also. MANs are usually
owned by large organizations to interconnect its various branches across a city.
MAN is based on IEEE 802.6 standard known as DQDB (Distributed Queue Dual Bus).
DQDB uses two unidirectional cables (buses) and all the computers are connected to
these two buses. Each bus has a specialized device that initiates the transmission
activity. This device is called head end. Data that is to be sent to the computer on the
right hand side of the sender is transmitted on upper bus. Data that is to be sent to the
left hand side of the sender is transmitted on lower bus.
The two most important components of MANs are security and standardization. Security
is important because information is being shared between dissimilar systems.
Standardization is necessary to ensure reliable data communication.
A MAN usually interconnects a number of local area networks using a high-capacity
backbone technology, such as fiber-optical links, and provides up-link services to wide
area networks and the Internet.
The Metropolitan Area Networks (MAN) protocols are mostly at the data link level (layer
2 in the OSI model), which are defined by IEEE, ITU-T, etc.
WAN (Wide Area Networks)
A wide area network (WAN) is a telecommunication network. A wide area network is
simply a LAN of LANs or Network of Networks. WANs connect LANs that may be on
opposite sides of a building, across the country or around the world. WANS are
characterized by the slowest data communication rates and the largest distances.
WANs can be of two types: an enterprise WAN and Global WAN.

Computers connected to a Wide Area Networks are often connected through public
networks, such as the telephone system. They can also be connected through leased
lines or satellites. The largest WAN in existence is the Internet. Some segments of the
Internet, like VPN based extranets, are also WANs in themselves. Finally, many WANs
are corporate or research networks that utilize leased lines.
Numerous WANs have been constructed, including public packet networks, large
corporate networks, military networks, banking networks, stock brokerage networks,
and airline reservation networks.
Organizations supporting WANs using the Internet Protocol are known as Network
Service Providers (NSPs). These form the core of the Internet.
By connecting the NSP WANs together using links at Internet Packet Interchanges
(sometimes called "peering points") a global communication infrastructure is formed.
WANs (wide area networks) generally utilize different and much more expensive
networking equipment than do LANs (Local Area Networks). Key technologies often
found in WANs (wide area networks) include SONET, Frame Relay, and ATM.

Clarify Enterprise WANs.

An enterprise WAN (wide area networks) connects an entire organization including all
LANs (Local Area Networks) at various sites. This term is used for large, widespread
organizations such as corporations, universities and governments.

Clarify Global WANs.

Global WANs (wide area networks) also span the world but they do not have to connect
LANS (Local Area Networks) within a single organization. The Internet is an example of
a global WAN. It connects diverse locations, organizations and institutions throughout
the world. Global WANS (wide area networks) can be public or private. Private WANs
(wide area networks) are called Intranet which belongs to an organization. Public WANs
(wide area networks) are open to everybody so that anybody can connect and use the
resources and services available.
WLANs - Wireless Local Area Networks
WLANs (Wireless Local Area Networks or sometimes referred to as LAWN, for local
area wireless network) provide wireless network communication over short distances
using radio or infrared signals instead of traditional network cabling.WLANs (Wireless
Local Area Networks) is one in which a mobile user can connect to a local area network
(LAN) through a wireless (radio) connection
Norman Abramson, a professor at the University of Hawaii, developed the world’s first
wireless computer communication network,
A WLAN typically extends an existing wired local area network. WLANs (Wireless Local
Area Networks) are built by attaching a device called the access point (AP) to the edge
of the wired network. Clients communicate with the AP using a wireless network adapter
similar in function to a traditional Ethernet adapter.
Network security remains an important issue for WLANs (Wireless Local Area
Networks). Random wireless clients must usually be prohibited from joining the WLAN.
Technologies like WEP raise the level of security on wireless networks to rival that of
traditional wired networks.
The IEEE 802.11 group of standards specify the technologies for wireless LANs. 802.11
standards use the Ethernet
WLAN (Wireless Local Area Networks) hardware was initially so expensive that it was
only used as an alternative to cabled LAN in places where cabling was difficult or
impossible.
All components that can connect into a wireless medium in a network are referred to as
stations. All stations are equipped with wireless network interface controllers (WNICs).
Wireless stations fall into one of two categories: access points, and clients. Access
points (APs), normally routers, are base stations for the wireless network.
They transmit and receive radio frequencies for wireless enabled devices to
communicate with. Wireless clients can be mobile devices such as laptops, personal
digital assistants, IP phones and other smartphones, or fixed devices such as desktops
and workstations that are equipped with a wireless network interface.

WLAN (Wireless Local Area Networks) types

Private home or small business WLAN
Commonly, a home or business WLAN employs one or two access points to broadcast
a signal around a 100- to 200-foot radius. You can find equipment for installing a home
WLAN in many retail stores.
With few exceptions, hardware in this category subscribes to the 802.11a, b, or g
standards (also known as Wi-Fi); some home and office WLANs now adhere to the new
802.11n standard. Also, because of security concerns, many home and office WLANs
adhere to the Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 (WPA2) standard.
Enterprise class WLAN
An enterprise class WLAN employs a large number of individual access points to
broadcast the signal to a wide area. The access points have more features than home
or small office WLAN equipment, such as better security, authentication, remote
management, and tools to help integrate with existing networks. These access points
have a larger coverage area than home or small office equipment, and are designed to
work together to cover a much larger area. This equipment can adhere to the 802.11a,
b, g, or n standard, or to security-refining standards, such as 802.1x and WPA2.
Examples:
For WLANs that connect to the Internet, Wireless Application Protocol (WAP)
technology allows Web content to be more easily downloaded to a WLAN and rendered
on wireless clients like cell phones and PDAs.
Storage Area Network (SAN)
A storage area network (SAN) is a type of local area network (LAN) is a high-speed
special-purpose network. A SAN typically supports data storage, retrieval and
replication on business networks using high-end servers, multiple disk arrays and Fibre
Channel interconnection technology.
Storage Area Networks (SANs) technology is similar but distinct from network
attached storage (NAS) technology. While SANs traditionally employ low-level network
protocols for transferring disk blocks, a NAS device typically works over TCP/IP and can
be integrated fairly easily into home computer networks.
The term SAN can sometimes refer to system area networks instead of a storage area
network. System area networks are clusters of high performance computers used for
distributed processing applications requiring fast local network performance. Storage
area networks, on the other, are designed specifically for data management.
SANs support disk mirroring, backup and restore, archival and retrieval of archived
data, data migration from one storage device to another and the sharing of data among
different servers in a network. SANs can incorporate sub networks with network
attached storage (NAS) systems.

Storage Area Networks Make Your Life Easier

Simplification of Storage Administration is now possible because of Storage Area
Networks cause cables and storage devices doesn’t need to be moved physically.
Moving data from one server into another is now a breeze. Thanks to Storage Area
Networks. Life is much easier.
Before, storage area networks process can take as little as half an hour. But this was
before and now we can accelerate it.
The boo-table features of Storage Area Networks can also be effective and enable
during recovery of data because of certain disaster such as server failure or human
error. Storage area networks are great tools in recovering important data and back ups.
Distant location doesn’t effect the storage area networks as long as the secondary
storage array is working.
This enables storage replication either implemented by disk array controllers, by server
software, or by specialized SAN devices. Since IP WAN’s are often the least costly
method of long-distance transport, the Fibre Channel over IP (FCIP) and iSCSI
protocols have been developed to allow SAN extension over IP networks.
In the old model like in physical SCSI layer, it supported a few meters of distance and
no guarantee of business continuity when disaster strike.In storage area networks, the
disk arrays has accelerated and consolidated in the features like I/O caching, volume
cloning and snap shotting making business continuance possible or BCV’s (Business
Continuance Volumes).
Campus Area Network (CAN)
A campus area networks (CANs) is a computer network interconnecting a few local area
networks (LANs) within a university campus or corporate campus Network.Campus
area network may link a variety of campus buildings.A campus area network is larger
than a local area network but smaller than a metropolitan area network (MAN) or wide
area network (WAN). CAN can also stand for corporate area network.
Personal Area Network (PAN)
A personal area network is a computer network organized around an individual person.
Personal area networks typically involve a mobile computer,Personal area networks can
be constructed with cables or wirelessly.Personal area networks generally cover a
Network range of less than 10 meters (about 30 feet).
PAN (Personal Area Network) first was developed by Thomas Zimmerman and other
researchers at M.I.T.'s Media Lab and later supported by IBM's Almaden research lab.
Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN)
which is virtually a synonym since almost any personal area network would need to
function wirelessly. Conceptually, the difference between a PAN ( personal area
network ) and a wireless LAN ( Local Area Network) is that the former tends to be
centered around one person Network while the latter is a local area network (LAN) that
is connected without wires Network and serving multiple users.

Wireless Networks
• The fastest growing segment of the computer industry is the mobile computers such
as notebook computers and personal digital assistant (PDAs).
• The wireless networks are becoming increasingly important because the wired
connection is not possible in cars or aero planes.
• Wireless networks can have many applications. A very common example is the
portable office
• People traveling on road often want to make use of their portable electronic equipment
for telephone calls, e-mails, faxes, read remote files etc.
• Wireless networks can exist on trucks, buses, taxies, aero planes etc. They are used
where the telephone systems are destroyed in the event of disasters such as. fires,
floods and earthquakes etc.
• The wireless networks are important for military.
• Wireless networks and mobile computing are related but they are not identical
because portable computers are sometimes wired and some wireless computers are
not portable.
• But some applications are truly mobile wireless applications such as a portable office,
inventories being handled by PDAs, etc.
• Wireless LAN is another example of wireless network. Direct digital cellular service
CDPD (Cellular Digital Packet Data) is now becoming available:
• It is possible to have combinations of wired and wireless networking.

Wireless Networks

Computer networks that are not connected by cables are called wireless networks. They
generally use radio waves for communication between the network nodes. They allow
devices to be connected to the network while roaming around within the network
coverage.
Types of Wireless Networks
 Wireless LANs − Connects two or more network devices using wireless distribution
techniques.
 Wireless MANs − Connects two or more wireless LANs spreading over a metropolitan
area.
 Wireless WANs − Connects large areas comprising LANs, MANs and personal
networks.
Advantages of Wireless Networks
 It provides clutter-free desks due to the absence of wires and cables.
 It increases the mobility of network devices connected to the system since the devices
need not be connected to each other.
 Accessing network devices from any location within the network coverage or Wi-Fi
hotspot becomes convenient since laying out cables is not needed.
 Installation and setup of wireless networks are easier.
 New devices can be easily connected to the existing setup since they needn’t be wired
to the present equipment. Also, the number of equipment that can be added or removed
to the system can vary considerably since they are not limited by the cable capacity.
This makes wireless networks very scalable.
 Wireless networks require very limited or no wires. Thus, it reduces the equipment and
setup costs.
Examples of wireless networks
 Mobile phone networks
 Wireless sensor networks
 Satellite communication networks
 Terrestrial microwave networks

Wireless Transmission

Wireless transmission is a form of unguided media. Wireless communication involves

no physical link established between two or more devices, communicating wirelessly.
Wireless signals are spread over in the air and are received and interpreted by
appropriate antennas.
When an antenna is attached to electrical circuit of a computer or wireless device, it
converts the digital data into wireless signals and spread all over within its frequency
range. The receptor on the other end receives these signals and converts them back to
digital data.
A little part of electromagnetic spectrum can be used for wireless transmission.
Radio Transmission
Radio frequency is easier to generate and because of its large wavelength it can
penetrate through walls and structures alike.Radio waves can have wavelength from 1
mm – 100,000 km and have frequency ranging from 3 Hz (Extremely Low Frequency)
to 300 GHz (Extremely High Frequency). Radio frequencies are sub-divided into six
bands.
Radio waves at lower frequencies can travel through walls whereas higher RF can
travel in straight line and bounce back.The power of low frequency waves decreases
sharply as they cover long distance. High frequency radio waves have more power.
Lower frequencies such as VLF, LF, MF bands can travel on the ground up to 1000
kilometers, over the earth’s surface.

Radio waves of high frequencies are prone to be absorbed by rain and other obstacles.
They use Ionosphere of earth atmosphere. High frequency radio waves such as HF
and VHF bands are spread upwards. When they reach Ionosphere, they are refracted
back to the earth.
Microwave Transmission
Electromagnetic waves above 100 MHz tend to travel in a straight line and signals over
them can be sent by beaming those waves towards one particular station. Because
Microwaves travels in straight lines, both sender and receiver must be aligned to be
strictly in line-of-sight.
Microwaves can have wavelength ranging from 1 mm – 1 meter and frequency ranging
from 300 MHz to 300 GHz.

Microwave antennas concentrate the waves making a beam of it. As shown in picture
above, multiple antennas can be aligned to reach farther. Microwaves have higher
frequencies and do not penetrate wall like obstacles.
Microwave transmission depends highly upon the weather conditions and the
frequency it is using.

Infrared Transmission
Infrared wave lies in between visible light spectrum and microwaves. It has wavelength
of 700-nm to 1-mm and frequency ranges from 300-GHz to 430-THz.
Infrared wave is used for very short range communication purposes such as television
and it’s remote. Infrared travels in a straight line hence it is directional by nature.
Because of high frequency range, Infrared cannot cross wall-like obstacles.

Light Transmission
Highest most electromagnetic spectrum which can be used for data transmission is
light or optical signaling. This is achieved by means of LASER.
Because of frequency light uses, it tends to travel strictly in straight line.Hence the
sender and receiver must be in the line-of-sight. Because laser transmission is
unidirectional, at both ends of communication the laser and the photo-detector needs
to be installed. Laser beam is generally 1mm wide hence it is a work of precision to
align two far receptors each pointing to lasers source.

Laser works as Tx (transmitter) and photo-detectors works as Rx (receiver).

Lasers cannot penetrate obstacles such as walls, rain, and thick fog. Additionally, laser
beam is distorted by wind, atmosphere temperature, or variation in temperature in the
path.
Laser is safe for data transmission as it is very difficult to tap 1mm wide laser without
interrupting the communication channel.