Communication Networks

LIU Fall 2021

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 Assessment

◼ Final Exam - 40 %
◼ Course Work – 60 %
◼ Midterm Exam 1 – 20 %
◼ Midterm Exam 1 – 20 %
◼ Assignment/Quizzes – 10 %
◼ Attendance 10 %

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 References
1.Behrouz A. Forouzan, Data Communications and
Networking, 5th Edition, McGraw Hill, 2007 (TEXT
BOOK)

2. William Stalling, Data and Computer

Communications ,8th Edition, Prentice Hall, 2005.

3.Wayne Tomasi, Introduction to Data

Communications and Networking, Prentice Hall,2004.

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 Chapter 1
Introduction

Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.
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1-1 DATA COMMUNICATIONS

- When we communicate, we are sharing information.

- Local or remote
- The term telecommunication means communication at a
distance.
- “Tele” is Greek for “far”
- The word data refers to information presented in whatever
form is agreed upon by the parties creating and using the
data.
- Data communications are the exchange of data between
two devices via some form of transmission medium such as
a wire cable. 5
 Effectiveness of a data communication
- The effectiveness of a data communications system depends on four
fundamental characteristics: delivery, accuracy, timeliness, and
jitter.
- Delivery:
▪ The system must deliver data to the correct destination.
▪ It can be a computer, workstation, telephone handset, video camera, and so
on.
- Accuracy:
▪ The system must deliver the data accurately.
- Timeliness:
▪ The system must deliver data in a timely manner.
▪ Real-time transmission: delivering data as they are produced, in the same
order that they are produced, and without significant
▪ delay.
- Jitter:
▪ refers to the variation in the packet arrival time.
▪ It is the uneven delay in the delivery of audio or video packets
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 Figure 1.1 Five components of data communication
1- Message:
▪ is the information (data) to be communicated.
▪ Popular forms of information include text, numbers, pictures, audio, and video.
2- Sender:
▪ is the device that sends the data message.
▪ It can be a computer, workstation, telephone handset, video camera, and so
on.
3. Receiver:
▪ is the device that receives the message.
▪ It can be a computer, workstation, telephone handset, television, and so on.

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 Figure 1.1 Five components of data communication (cont.)

4- Transmission medium:
▪ is the physical path by which a message travels from sender to receiver.
▪ Some examples include twisted-pair wire, coaxial cable, fiber-optic cable, and
radio waves.
5- Protocol:
▪ is a set of rules that govern data communications.
▪ It represents an agreement between the communicating devices.
▪ Without a protocol, two devices may be connected but not communicating, just
as a person speaking French cannot be understood by a person who speaks
only Japanese

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 Data Representation
• Text : text is represented as a bit pattern (0s or 1s)
– ASCII (7 bits to represent character)
– Extended ASCII (8 bits/character)
– unicode (16 bits/character and can represent up to 216 = 65,536 )
– ISO (32-bit pattern 232 = 4,294,967,296 )
• Numbers -
• Images-
– composed of a matrix of pixel (picture element).
– The size of the pixel depends on the resolution
– Each pixel is assigned a bit pattern.
– only black and- white dots: 1 bit pattern
– gray scale: 2-bit patterns
– RGB
– YCB
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 Data Representation
• Audio:
– recording or broadcasting of sound or music.
– It is continuous and can be changed to digital or an analog
signal

• Video:
- recording or broadcasting of a picture or movie

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 Data Flow
• Simplex
– In simplex mode, the communication is unidirectional
– Only one of the two devices on a link transmit; the other can only receive.
Examples: Keyboards and traditional monitors
• Half Duplex
– In half-duplex mode, each station can both transmit and receive, but not
at the same time
– the entire capacity of a channel is taken over by whichever of
the two devices is transmitting at the time
• Full-Duplex
– In full-duplex mode (also called duplex), both stations can transmit and receive
simultaneously
– Either the link must contain two physically separate transmission paths, or
the capacity of the channel is divided between signals traveling in both
directions.
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Figure 1.2 Data flow (simplex, half-duplex, and full-duplex)

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 1-2 NETWORKS

A network is a set of devices (often referred to as nodes)

connected by communication links. A node can be a computer,
printer, or any other device capable of sending and/or receiving
data generated by other nodes on the network.

Topics discussed in this section:

Network Criteria
Physical Structures
Network Models
Categories of Networks
Interconnection of Networks: Internetwork
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How can I connect two PC’s ?
 What is a Network?
• A network consists of 2 or more computers
connected together, and they can communicate
and share resources (e.g. information)
 Why Networking?

• Sharing information

• Do you prefer this?

• Or this?
 Why Networking?
• e.g. print document

• Sharing hardware or software

• Centralize administration and support

• e.g. Internet-based, so everyone can access the same

administrative or support application from their PCs
 Advantage of Computer networks
▪ Sharing of
▪ devices such as printer and scanner
▪ program / software
▪ files
▪ information

▪ Sharing of single high-speed internet connection

▪ Better communication using internet services such as
email, mailing list and internet Relate chat (IRC)
▪
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 Disadvantage of Computer Network

▪ The larger network becomes, the more difficult it is to

manage.
▪ If the network operating system stops, then it may not
be possible to access various resources
▪ Computer Viruses: If any computer system in a
network gets affected by computer virus, there is a
possible threat of other systems getting affected too.

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 Network Criteria
▪ Performance
- Transmission time: is the amount of time required for a
message to travel from one device to another
- Response times – is the elapsed time between an inquiry and a
response
- Throughput and delay: need more throughput and less delay
- Number of users, type of transmission medium, the capabilities of
the connected hardware, and the efficiency of the software.
▪ Reliability: network reliability is measured by:
▪ Accuracy of delivery, the frequency of failure, the time it takes a link to
recover from a failure, and the network’s robustness in a catastrophe
▪ Security: Privacy and integrity of communication data; recovery from
breaches and data loss due to
▪ Errors
▪ Malicious users
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 Physical Structures: Types of Connections

• Point-to-Point
– Provide a dedicated link between two devices.
– The entire capacity of the link is reserved for
transmission between those two devices.

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 Physical Structures: Types of Connections
• Multipoint (Multi-drop)
– more than two specific devices share a single link
– the capacity of the channel is shared, either spatially or
temporally.
– If several devices can use the link simultaneously, it is a spatially
shared connection.
– If users must take turns, it is a timeshare connection

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Physical Topology

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 Topology
▪ The way in which the network nodes are interconnected
together is known as Topology.
▪ In communication networks, a topology is a usually
schematic representation of the arrangement of all the
links and the linking devices (nodes).

▪ The physical topology of a network describes the

physical layout of the cables and nodes.

▪ Four common topologies:

▪ Mesh, Bus (backbone), Ring, and Star .

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Figure 1.4 Categories of topology

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 Mesh Topology
• Each device has dedicated point-to-point link to other devices.
• Fully connected mesh will have n(n − 1) / 2 Full Duplex links
– where n = number of nodes
– To accommodate that many links, every device on the network must
have n - 1 input/output (l/O) ports
• Advantages:
– Fast communication,
– Robust and
– Privacy (Security)
• Disadvantages:
– Cabling Space and
– Cost (number of I/O ports required, the hardware required to
connect I/O and cables can be expensive,
• installation and reconnection are difficult)
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Figure 1.5 A fully connected mesh topology (five devices)

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 Star Topology
• Each device has a dedicated point-to-point link only to a central
controller, usually called a hub
– Does not allow direct traffic between devices
– The controller act as an exchange
• Advantages:
– Less expensive
• Less cabling and H/W ports,
two hops only.
• Additions, moves, and deletions involve only one connection between
that device and the hub
– Robust
• If one link fails, only that link is affected
• Disadvantage:
– More cabling is required compared to ring or bus
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Figure 1.6 A star topology connecting four stations

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 Bus Topology
• Multipoint link as “backbone” for a network where devices
have drop line to tap into the bus
– One link cable acts as a backbone.
– A drop line is a connection running between the device and the main
cable.
– A tap is a connector that either slices into the main cable or punctures
the sheathing of a cable to create a contact with the metallic core.

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 Bus Topology (cont.)
• Advantage:
– Less Cabling
• Disadvantages:
– Difficult reconnection and fault isolation
– Limit number of nodes on the bus due to signal attenuation and
reflection
– power loss with distance,
– Not so robust (fault or break in the bus cable stops all transmission)
– Adding new devices may therefore require modification or replacement
of the backbone.

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Figure 1.7 A bus topology connecting three stations

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 Ring Topology
• Each device connects Point-to-Point with only two other
devices in a left and right neighbors arrangement via a
repeater.
• When a device receives a signal intended for another device,
its repeater regenerates the bits and passes them along.

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 Ring Topology (cont.)
• Advantages:
– easy to install and reconfigure,
– better fault isolation and
–
• Disadvantages:
– Unidirectional traffic can be disadvantages
– break in the ring (such as a disabled station) can disable the entire
network
▪ Can be solved by using dual ring

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Figure 1.8 A ring topology connecting six stations

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 Hybrid Topology
• Star of busses
• we can have a main star topology with each branch
connecting several stations in a bus topology as shown
in Figure 1.9
• Pros:
– Better robustness,
– still low cost,
– Delay is 1 hop

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Figure 1.9 A hybrid topology: a star backbone with three bus networks

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 Categories of Networks
▪ Three primary categories: Local Area Networks (LAN), Metropolitan
Area Networks (MAN), and Wide Area Networks (WAN)
▪ Into which category a network falls is determined by its size, its
ownership, the distance it covers, and its physical architecture

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 Local Area Networks (LAN)
• Privately owned,
• Connects devices (PCs, printers, servers) within the a single
room, building, company, and campus.
• Each host in a LAN has an identifier, an address, that uniquely
defines the host in the LAN.
• LAN sizes limited to a few kilometers

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Figure An isolated LAN in the past and today

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Figure 1.10 An isolated LAN connecting 12 computers to a hub in a closet

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 Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)
• Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) is high speed network that
connect local area network in Metropolitan Area such as city or
town and handles bulk of communication activity across the
region usually spanning a city. (within 48km ) .
• A MAN typically includes one or more LAN but covers a smaller
geographically area than a WAN.
• High-speed backbone linking multiple LAN’s, DSL, cable TV

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 Wide Area Networks (WAN)
• Covers a large geographically area such country or the world
• Span a large geographical area about 100’s – 1000’s of Km
• A LAN interconnects hosts; a WAN interconnects connecting
devices such as switches, routers, or modems
• WAN combines many types of media such as telephone lines,
cables and radio wave.
• A WAN can be one large network or can consist of two or more
LANs connected together.

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 Wide Area Networks (WAN)
• Switched WAN: End users connected via a cloud of switches
(subnet).
• Point-to-Point WAN: Line leased from telephone company/ cable TV
connecting users to the ISP for Internet access.
• Figure 1.11 WANs: a switched WAN and a point-to-point WAN

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Figure 1.11 WANs: a switched WAN and a point-to-point WAN

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 Wide Area Networks (WAN)

• alternative technologies used include:

– circuit switching
– packet switching
– Frame Relay
– Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM)

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 Circuit Switching
• uses a dedicated communications path established
for duration of conversation
• comprising a sequence of physical links with a
dedicated logical channel
• eg. telephone network

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 Packet Switching
• Data sent out of sequence
• small chunks (packets) of data at a time
• packets passed from node to node between
source and destination
• used for terminal to computer and computer to
computer communications

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 Frame Relay

• Packet switching systems have large overheads

to compensate for errors.
• modern systems are more reliable
• errors can be caught in end system
• Frame Relay provides higher speeds with most
error control overhead removed

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 Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM)

• ATM is an evolution of frame relay

• fixed packet (called cell) length: 53 Bytes
• with little overhead for error control
• anything from 10Mbps to Gbps
• constant data rate using packet switching
technique with multiple virtual circuits

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Figure 1.12 A heterogeneous network made of four WANs and two LANs

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Figure 1.12 A heterogeneous network made of four WANs and two LANs

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 Difference between types of Computer Network

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 Methods of Communication
1. Unicast

➢ Unicast is One to One communication

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 2. Multicast

➢ Multicast is One to Group Communication

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 3. Broadcast

➢ Broadcast is One to All Communication

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 Network Communication Technology

NETWORK
COMMUNICATION
TECHNOLOGY

INTERNET INTRANET EXTRANET

 Types of Network Communication

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 Intranet
• An intranet is a private network within an organization that
resembles the internet.
• organizations use intranets to provide information to their
employees.
• typical applications include electronic telephone directories, email
addresses, employee information,
internal job openings
and much more.

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 Extranet
• Is a private network that connects more than one organizations
• many organizations use the internet technologies to allow suppliers,
customers and business partner limited access to their network
• the purpose is to increase efficiency and reduce costs

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 1-3 THE INTERNET

The Internet has revolutionized many aspects of our

daily lives. It has affected the way we do business as well as the
way we spend our leisure time. The Internet is a
communication system that has brought a wealth of
information to our fingertips and organized it for our use.

Topics discussed in this section:

A Brief History
The Internet Today (ISPs)

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 The Internet

• Internet evolved from ARPANET

– Advanced Research Project Agency Network
– first operational packet network
– applied to tactical radio & satellite nets also
– had a need for interoperability
– lead to standardized TCP/IP protocols

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 The Internet
• an internet (note the lowercase i) is two or more networks that
can communicate with each other.
• The most notable internet is called the Internet (uppercase I),
which is composed thousands of interconnected networks
(100000’s) private organized, government, schools, research
facilities, in many countries
• Collection of LANs, MANs and WANs.
– The internet protocol stack is the TCP/IP
– End users use the internet via Internet Service Providers (ISPs)
which are of the following hierarchies:
• International Service Providers (Backbones)
• National or regional Service Providers (Provider Networks)
• Customer networks
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Figure 1.13 Hierarchical organization of the Internet today

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Figure 1.13 Hierarchical organization of the Internet

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 Internet Elements
Figure 1.4 illustrates the key elements that comprise the Internet, whose purpose is to
interconnect end systems, called hosts; including PCs, workstations, servers, mainframes,
and so on. Most hosts that use the Internet are connected to a network, such as a local
area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN). These networks are in turn
connected by routers.

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 Example Configuration
▪ Figure 1.6 illustrates some of the
typical communications and network
elements in use today.
▪ In the upper-left-hand portion of the
figure, we see an individual residential
user connected to an Internet Service
Provider (ISP) through some sort of
subscriber connection.
▪ The Internet consists of a number of
interconnected routers that span the
globe. The routers forward packets of
data from source to destination through
the Internet.
▪The lower portion shows a LAN
implemented using a single Ethernet
switch. This is a common configuration
at a small business or other small
organization.

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 1-4 PROTOCOLS AND STANDARDS

In this section, we define two widely used terms: protocols and

standards. First, we define protocol, which is synonymous with
rule. Then we discuss standards, which are agreed-upon rules.

Topics discussed in this section:

Protocols
Standards
Standards Organizations
Internet Standards
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 What is a protocol?
▪ Communications between computers requires very
specific unambiguous rules
▪ A protocol is a set of rules that governs how two or
more communicating parties are to interact
▪ Examples
▪Internet Protocol (IP)
▪Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)
▪ HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP)
▪ Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP)

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 Key Elements of Protocol
• Syntax: PDU format
– Structure and format of the data
– The first 8-bit to be the address of the sender, the second 8
bit to be the address of the receiver, and the rest to be the
message itself
– Semantics:
• The meaning of each PDU’s field
• ex. Does an address identify the route to be taken or the
final destination of the message?
– Timing: Synchronization of communication when
PDU is to be transferred and its data rate.
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 What is a standard?

– A “ standard is set of guidelines” to manufactures,

vendors, government agencies and other service
providers to ensure interconnectivity.

– “De facto” (“by fact”) not approved but widely used

(TCP/IP) .
– “De jure” (“by conventions”): approved by
recognized body (IEEE 802.X).

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 Standard Organizations?

– ISO.
– ITU-T
– ANSI
– IEEE
– EIA

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Any Questions?

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