Chapter One

Introduction to Communication Channels

and Communication Networks
Telecommunications
 Tele (Far) + Communications
 Early telecommunications
 smoke signals and drums
 visual telegraphy (or semaphore in 1792)

 Telegraph and telephone

 Telegraph (1839)
 Telephone (1876)
 Radio and television
 Telephony
 Voice and Data
 Communications and Networks
 Data Communications
 Transmission of signals
 Encoding, interfacing, signal integrity, multiplexing etc.

 Networking
 Topology & architecture used to interconnect devices
 Networks of communication systems
Network Trends (1980-Present)

Voice, Image, Data, Video

Controller systems
Microcontroller Networking

Wired/Wireless

Integrated Systems!
Communication Systems
 Process describing transfer of information, data, instructions
between one or more systems through some media
 Examples
 people, computers, cell phones, etc.
 Computer communication systems
 Signals passing through the communication channel can be
Digital, or analog
 Analog signals: continuous electrical waves
 Digital signals: individual electrical pulses (bits)
 Receivers and transmitters: desktop computers, mainframe
computers, etc. Communication channel

X
R X X
X
T

R R
Amp/Adaptor

Communication
media
Communication Systems
 Communications Components
 Basic components of a
communication system
 Communication technologies
 Communication devices
 Communication channels
 Communication software
A Communications Model
Communications Tasks

Transmission system utilization Addressing

Interfacing Routing

Signal generation Recovery

Synchronization Message formatting

Exchange management Security

Error detection and correction Network management

Flow control
Data Communications Model
 Communication Technology
Applications

voice mail Twitter

instant
e-mail chat rooms
messaging

newsgroups telephony videoconferencing

collaboration groupware global positioning

system (GPS)
Communication Technologies -
Applications
 Different technologies allowing us to communicate
 Examples: Voice mail, fax, email, instant message, chat rooms, news groups,
telephony, GPS, and more
 Voice mail: Similar to answering machine but digitized
 Fax: Sending hardcopy of text or photographs between computers using fax
modem
 Email: electronic mail – sending text, files, images between different computer
networks - must have email software
 More than 1.3 billion people send 244 billion messages monthly!
 Chat rooms: Allows communications in real time when connected to the Internet
 Telephony: Talking to other people over the Internet (also called VoIP)
 Sends digitized audio signals over the Internet
 Requires Internet telephone software
 Groupware: Software application allowing a group of people to communicate
with each other (exchange data)
 Address book, appointment book, schedules, etc.
 GPS: consists of receivers connected to satellite systems
 Determining the geographical location of the receiver
 Used for cars, advertising, hiking, tracking, etc.
 Communication Devices
 Any type of hardware capable of transmitting data, instructions, and
information between devices
 Functioning as receiver, transmitter, adaptor, converter
 Basic characteristics: How fast, how far, how much data!
 Examples: Dial-up modems, ISDN, DSL modems, network interface cards
 Dial-up modem: uses standard phone lines
 Converts digital information into analog

 Consists of a modulator and a demodulator

 Can be external, internal, wireless

 ISDN and DSL Modem: Allows digital communication between networks and
computers
 Requires a digital modem

 Digital is better than analog – why?

 Cable modem: a modem that transmits and receives data over the cable
television (CATV) network
 Also called broadband modem (carrying multiple signals)

 The incoming signal is split

 Requires a cable modem

 Network interface cards: Adaptor cards residing in the computer to transmit

and receiver data over the network (NIC)
 Operate with different network technologies (e.g., Ethernet)
Communication Software
 Examples of applications (Layer 7) take advantage of the
transport (Layer 4) services of TCP and UDP
 Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP): A client/server
application that uses TCP for transport to retrieve HTML pages.
 Domain Name Service (DNS): A name-to-address translation
application that uses both TCP and UDP transport.
 Telnet: A virtual terminal application that uses TCP for
transport.
 File Transport Protocol (FTP): A file transfer application that
uses TCP for transport.
 Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP): A file transfer
application that uses UDP for transport.
 Network Time Protocol (NTP): An application that
synchronizes time with a time source and uses UDP for
transport.
 Border Gateway Protocol (BGP): An exterior gateway routing
protocol that uses TCP for transport. BGP is used to exchange
routing information for the Internet and is the protocol used
between service providers.
 Communication Channels
 A channel is a path between two communication
devices
 Channel capacity: How much data can be passed
through the channel (bit/sec)
 Also called channel bandwidth
 The smaller the pipe the slower data transfer!
 Consists of one or more transmission media
 Materials carrying the signal
 Two types:
 Physical: wire cable
T1
lines T1
 Wireless: Air destination lines
network
server T3
lines

T1
lines
Physical Transmission Media
 A tangible media
 Examples: Twisted-pair cable, coaxial cable, Fiber-optics,
etc.
 Twisted-pair cable:
 One or more twisted wires bundled together (why?)
 Made of copper
 Coax-Cable:
 Consists of single copper wire surrounded by three layers of
insulating and metal materials
 Typically used for cable TV
 Fiber-optics:
 Strands of glass or plastic used to transmit light
 Very high capacity, low noise, small size, less suitable to
natural disturbances
 Physical Transmission Media

twisted-pair cable twisted-pair wire

woven or
braided metal copper wire

plastic outer insulating

coating material

optical fiber
core

glass cladding

protective
coating
Wireless Transmission Media
 Broadcast Radio
 Distribute signals through the air
over long distance
 Uses an antenna
 Typically for stationary locations
 Can be short range
 Cellular Radio
 A form of broadcast radio used for
mobile communication
 High frequency radio waves to
transmit voice or data
 Utilizes frequency-reuse
Wireless Transmission Media
 Microwaves
 Radio waves providing high speed
transmission
 They are point-to-point (can’t be
obstructed)
 Used for satellite communication
 Infrared (IR)
 Wireless transmission media that sends
signals using infrared light- waves
 Physical Transmission Media

Wireless channel capacity:

100 Mbps is how many bits per sec?

Which is bigger:
10,000 Mbps, 0.01Tbps or 10Gbps?
Networks
 Collection of computers and devices connected together
 Used to transfer information or files, share resources, etc.
 What is the largest network?
 Characterized based on their geographical coverage, speed,
capacities
 Networks are categorized based on the following
characteristics:
 Network coverage: LAN, MAN, WAN
 Network topologies: how the computers are connected
together
 Network technologies
 Network architecture
What is a network?
•A Network is a system of interconnected computers that can
communicate with each other via some communication
medium.
•What is the d/ce b/n Internet, Intranet and Extranet?
•An intranet allows restricted access to only members of a
specific organization.
•While an extranet expands that access by allowing non-
members such as suppliers and customers to use the
company resources.
•An internet is an interconnection of millions of computers
together globally, forming a network in which any computer
can communicate with any other computer as long as they
are both connected to the network. 22
Network Criteria
•A network must be able to meet a certain number of criteria. The most
important of these are performance, reliability, and security.
1. Performance can be measured in many ways, including transit time and
response time. Transit time is the amount of time required for a message to
travel from one device to another. Response time is the elapsed time
between an inquiry and a response.
•The performance of a network depends on a number of factors, including
the number of users, the type of transmission medium, the capabilities of the
connected hardware, and the efficiency of the software.
•Performance is often evaluated by two networking metrics: throughput
and delay.
•We often need more throughput and less delay. However, these two criteria
are often contradictory. If we try to send more data to the network, we may
increase throughput but we increase the delay because of traffic congestion
in the network.

23
2. Reliability
•Network reliability is measured by the frequency of
failure, the time it takes a link to recover from a
failure, and the network’s robustness in a catastrophe.
3. Security
•Network security issues include protecting data from
unauthorized access, protecting data from damage
and development, and implementing policies and
procedures for recovery from breaches and data
losses.
•Refers to the ability to protect data from
unauthorized access.
24
Types of Networks
•Four primary categories of networks. Factors for the categorization are size,
coverage (covered by the network), structure and ownership.
•Network coverage is defined as the extent of the area to which the network
signals are transmitted.
1.Personal Area Networks (PANs)-----bluetooth, Infrared, hotspot
2.Local Area Networks (LANs)------10baseT, 100baseT, 1000baseCx, Wi-Fi
3.Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs)----10base2, 10base5, 1000baseTx
4.Wide Area Networks (WANs)------Internet, 1000baseFx, 1000baseCx
Baseband –transmit analog signals, broadband—transmit digital signal.
PANs
•A PAN is a network that is used for communicating among computers and
computer devices (including telephones) in close proximity of around a few
meters within a room.
•It can be used for communicating between the devices themselves, or for
connecting to a larger network such as the internet.
•PAN’s can be wired or wireless
25
What devices make up LANS?

26
What are hosts and central connecting devices?

27
LANs…..
•range up to 100 meters or within buildings, home, schools, hospitals
•Used mostly in home, school computer laboratory, or office environments
•A local area network (LAN) is the basic building block of any
computer network. A LAN can range from simple (two computers
connected by a cable) to complex (hundreds of connected computers
and peripherals throughout a major corporation).
•The distinguishing feature of a LAN is that it is confined to a limited
geographic area.
•A local area network (LAN) is usually privately owned and links the
devices in a single office, building, or campus.
•Depending on the needs of an organization and the type of technology
used, a LAN can be as simple as two PCs and a printer in someone's
home office; or it can extend throughout a company and include audio
and video peripherals.
•Currently, LAN size is limited to a few kilometers=size

28
A metropolitan area network (MAN)
•MAN is a network with a size between a LAN and a WAN.
•It normally covers the area inside a large campus, town or a city.

•It is designed for customers who need a high-speed connectivity,

normally to the Internet, and have endpoints spread over a city or
part of city.

•A good example of a MAN is the part of the telephone company

network that can provide a high-speed DSL line to the customer and
WiMAX. (uses your phone line to provide internet service)

•Another example is the cable TV network that originally was

designed for cable TV, but today can also be used for high-speed
data connection to the Internet.
•A MAN typically covers an area of between 5 and 50 km diameter.

29
Wide area network (WAN)
•It provides long-distance transmission of data, image, audio, and video
information over large geographic areas that may comprise a country, a
continent, or even the whole world.

•A WAN can be as complex as the backbones that connect the Internet or

as simple as a dial-up line that connects a home computer to the Internet.
We normally refer to the first as a switched WAN and to the second as a
point-to-point WAN.
•Multiple LANs can be connected together using devices such as bridges,
routers, or gateways, which enable them to share data.
•The world's most popular WAN is the Internet.

30
Network Topology
• The term topology refers to the way in which a network is laid
out physically. Two or more devices connect to a link; two or
more links form a topology.
• There are a number of basic topologies possible: mesh, star,
bus, ring, hybrid.
Star Topology
• In a star topology, each device has a dedicated point-to-point
link only to a central controller, usually called a hub.
• The term dedicated means that the link carries traffic only
between the two devices it connects.
• The devices are not directly linked to one another.
• Unlike a mesh topology, a star topology does not allow direct
traffic between devices.
• The controller acts as an exchange: If one device wants to send
data to another, it sends the data to the controller, which then
relays the data to the other connected device
Upsides of Star Topology:
•Because there are separate connections between end nodes and
the central device, this topology enables the network administrator
to add or remove end nodes without
•affecting/disrupting service to all other nodes on that network.
•Easy to install and wire.
•No single point failure, and easy to detect faults when they occur.
Downsides of Star Topology:
•It requires more cabling than the linear bus topology
•If the hub/switch fails, all nodes connected to it are disabled.
•More expensive than bus topology cos of the cost of hub/switch
and cables.
Bus Topology
• A bus topology, is multipoint connection.
• One long cable acts as a backbone to link all
the devices in a network
Upsides of Bus Topology:
•Because the bus topology uses a single cable, it is a low-
cost option that is easily implemented.
•Easy to extend using barrel connectors.

Downsides of Bus Topology:

•If the cable breaks, the entire network goes down (lack of
redundancy). Prone to single point failure.
•Terminators are required at both ends of the backbone
cable.
•The trunk can be the bottleneck to the network
performance when the network traffic is very high.
Ring Topology
• In a ring topology, each device has a dedicated point-to-point
connection with only the two devices on either side of it.
• A signal is passed along the ring in one direction, from device to
device, until it reaches its destination.
• Each device in the ring incorporates a repeater. When a device
receives a signal intended for another device, its repeater
regenerates the bits and passes them along
Upsides of Ring Topology:
•Unlike to bus topology, no terminators are required.
•The modular design results in a network that is easy to
expand.
Downsides of Ring Topology:
•Network configuration can be technically intricate.
•It suffers single point failure just like the linear bus
topology.
•The cabling system is complicated as compared to the
star cabling.
Mesh topology
• In a mesh topology, every device has a dedicated point-to-point link to
every other device.
• To find the number of physical links in a fully connected mesh network
with n nodes, we first consider that each node must be connected to
every other node.
• Node 1 must be connected to n - I nodes, node 2 must be connected to
n – 1 nodes, and finally node n must be connected to n - 1 nodes. We
need n(n - 1) physical links.
• However, if each physical link allows communication in both directions
(duplex mode), we can divide the number of links by 2. In other words,
we can say that in a mesh topology, we need n(n -1) /2 duplex-mode
links.
• A mesh offers several advantages over other network
topologies.
• First, the use of dedicated links guarantees that each
connection can carry its own data load, thus eliminating the
traffic problems that can occur when links must be shared by
multiple devices.
• Second, a mesh topology is robust. If one link becomes
unusable, it does not incapacitate the entire system.
• Third, there is the advantage of privacy or security. When
every message travels along a dedicated line, only the
intended recipient sees it. Physical boundaries prevent other
users from gaining access to messages.
• Finally, point-to-point links make fault identification and fault
isolation easy.
The main disadvantages of a mesh are related to the
amount of cabling and the number of I/O ports required.
•First, because every device must be connected to every
other device, installation and reconnection are difficult.
•Second, the sheer bulk of the wiring can be greater than
the available space (in walls, ceilings, or floors) can
accommodate.
•Finally, the hardware required to connect each link (I/O
ports and cable) can be prohibitively expensive.
•For these reasons a mesh topology is usually
implemented in a limited fashion.
•One practical example of a mesh topology is the
connection of telephone regional offices in which each
regional office needs to be connected to every other
regional office
Hybrid Topology
• It is a type of network topology that combines two or
more basic network topologies.
• For example, we can have a main star topology with
each branch connecting several stations in a bus
topology (star-bus topology)
• Examples of hybrid topology include star-bus, star-star,
star-ring, tree, etc.
Impacts over the choice one topology over another.

How do choose best topo.. that meets your

requirements?
• Equipment of the network needs
• Capabilities of the equipment
• Growth of network (scalability)
• The way network is managed
 Network Architecture
 Refers to how the computer or devices are designed in a network
 Basic types:
 Centralized – using mainframes - built around a single server that handles
all the major processing
 Peer-2-Peer:
 Each computer (peer) has equal responsibilities, capacities, sharing

hardware, data, with the other computers on the peer-to-peer network

 Good for small businesses and home networks

 Simple and inexpensive

 Client/Server:
 All clients must request service from the server

 The server is also called a host

 Different servers perform different tasks: File server, network server, etc.

clie clie clie

nt nt nt

laser serv
printer er
 P2P vs Client-Server
Peers make a portion of their resources, such
as processing power, disk storage or network
bandwidth, directly available to other network
participants, without the need for central
coordination by servers or stable hosts

Peer-to-Peer
Examples
(Data) Network Technologies
 Vary depending on the type of devices we use for
interconnecting computers and devices together
 Ethernet:
 LAN technology allowing computers to access the
network
 Susceptible to collision
 Can be based on BUS or STAR topologies
 Operates at 10Mbps or 100Mbps, (10/100)
 Fast Ethernet operates at 100 Mbps /
 Gigabit Ethernet (1998 IEEE 802.3z)
 10-Gigabit Ethernet (10GE or 10GbE or 10 GigE)
 10GBASE-R/LR/SR (long range short range, etc.)

 Physical layer
 Gigabit Ethernet using optical fiber, twisted pair cable,
or balanced copper cable
(Data) Network Technologies
 Token Ring
 LAN technology
 Only the computer with the token can transmit
 No collision
 Typically 72-260 devices can be connected together
 TCP/IP and UDP
 Uses packet transmission (transmits data across digital
networks by breaking it down into blocks or packets)
 802.11
 Standard for wireless LAN
 Wi-Fi (wireless fidelity) is used to describe that the
device is in 802.11 family or standards
 Typically used for long range (300-1000 feet)
 Variations include: .11 (1-2 Mbps); .11a (up to 54
Mbps); .11b (up to 11 Mbps); .11g (54 Mbps and
higher
 (Data) Network Technologies
 802.11n
 Next generation wireless LAN technology
 Improving network throughput (600 Mbps compared to
450 Mbps) – thus potentially supporting a user
throughput of 110 Mbit/s
 WiMAX
 Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access
 Provides wireless transmission of data from point-to-
multipoint links to portable and fully mobile internet
access (up to 3 Mbit/s)
 The intent is to deliver the last mile wireless broadband
access as an alternative to cable and DSL
 Based on the IEEE 802.16(d/e) standard (also called
Broadband Wireless Access)

http://www.broadcom.com/collateral/wp/802_11n-WP100-R.pdf
 Network Technologies
 Personal area network (PAN)
A low range computer network

 PANs can be used for communication among the personal
devices themselves
 Wired with computer buses such as USB and FireWire.
 Wireless personal area network (WPAN)
 Uses network technologies such as IrDA, Bluetooth, UWB,
Z-Wave and ZigBee
 Internet Mobile Protocols
 Supporting multimedia Internet traffic
 IGMP & MBONE for multicasting
 RTP, RTCP, & RSVP (used to handle multimedia on the
Internet)
 VoIP

RTP: Real-time Transport Protocol

Network Technologies
 Zigbee
 High level communication protocols using small, low-power digital radios based on
the IEEE 802.15.4
 Wireless mesh networking proprietary standard
 Bluetooth
 Uses radio frequency
 Typically used for close distances (short range- 33 feet or so)
 Transmits at 1Mbps
 Used for handheld computers to communicate with the desktop
 IrDA
 Infrared (IR) light waves
 Transfers at a rate of 115 Kbps to 4 Mbps
 Requires light-of-sight transmission
 RFID (technology uses radio waves to identify people or objects)
 Radio frequency identification
 Uses tags which are places in items
 Example: merchandises, toll-tags, courtesy calls, sensors!
 WAP
 Wireless application protocol
 Data rate of 9.6-153 kbps depending on the service type
 Used for smart phones and PDAs to access the Internet (email, web, etc)
 Network Examples
 IEEE 802.15.4
 Low-rate wireless personal area networks (LR-WPANs)
 Bases for e ZigBee, WirelessHART, and MiWi specification
 Also used for 6LoWPAN and standard Internet protocols to build a
Wireless Embedded Internet (WEI)
 Intranets
 Used for private networks
 May implement a firewall
 Hardware and software that restricts access to data and information on

a network
 Home networks
 Ethernet
 Phone line
 HomeRF (radio frequency- waves)
 Intelligent home network
 Vehicle-to-Vehicle (car2Car) - http://www.car-to-car.org/
 A wireless LAN based communication system to guarantee European-
wide inter-vehicle operability

Car2Car Technology: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tFUsN3ZgR4

 Network Examples
 Interplanetary (Internet) Network

http://www.ece.gatech.edu/research/labs/bwn/deepspace/
 Network Example:
Telephone Networks
 Called the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN)
 World-wide and voice oriented (handles voice and data)
 Data/voice can be transferred within the PSTN using different technologies (data
transfer rate bps)
 Dial-up lines: Switching Technologies:
 Analog signals passing through telephone lines Technologies: used and applied
 Requires modems (56 kbps transfer rate) on a large network to transfer the
 ISDN lines: packet from source to destination
 Integrated Services Digital Network
•Circuit Switching
 Digital transmission over the telephone lines
 Can carry (multiplex) several signals on a single line •Packet Switching
 DSL •Message Switching
 Digital subscribe line •Burst Switching
 ADSL (asymmetric DSL)
 receiver operated at 8.4 Mbps, transmit at 640 kbps
 T-Carrier lines: carries several signals over a single line: T1,T3
 Frame Relay
 ATM:
 Asynchronous Transfer Mode
 Fast and high capacity transmitting technology
 Packet technology
 Network Example:
Optical Networks
 Optical network is a communication
system that uses light signals, instead of
electronic ones, to send information
between two or more points
 Fiber-to-the-x
 Broadband network architecture that
uses optical fiber to replace copper
 Used for last mile telecommunications
 Examples: Fiber-to-the-home (FTTH);
Fiber-to-the-building (FTTB); Fiber-to-
the premises (FTTP)
 Fiber Distribution Network (reaching
different customers)
 Active optical networks (AONs)
 Passive optical networks (PONs)
 Network Example
 Smart Grid
Delivering electricity from suppliers to

consumers using digital technology to
save energy
 Storage Area Networks
 Computational Grid Networks

http://rekuwait.wordpress.com/2009/06/18/smart-electric-grid/
Network Example:
Telephone Networks
Network Examples
Network Examples
Public Telephone Network

T-Carrier ATM Dedicated Dail-up

Lines

DSL ISDN
 Cellular Network Examples
 A Cellular network or Mobile network is a radio network
distributed over land areas called cells, each served by at least
one fixed-location transceiver, known as a cell site or base station
 0G
 Single, powerful base station covering a wide area, and each
telephone would effectively monopolize a channel over that whole
area while in use (developed in 40’s)
 No frequency use or handoff (basis of modern cell phone
technology)
 1G
 Fully automatic cellular networks
 introduced in the early to mid 1980s
 2G
 Introduced in 1991 in Finland on the GSM standard
 Offered the first data service with person-to-person SMS text
messaging
Cellular Network Examples
 3G:
 Faster than PCS; Used for multimedia and
graphics
 Compared to 2G and 2.5G services, 3G
allows simultaneous use of speech and
data services and higher data rates (up to
14.4 Mbit/s on the downlink and 5.8 Mbit/s.
 4G:
 Fourth generation of cellular wireless;
 providing a comprehensive and secure IP
based service to users "Anytime,
Anywhere" at high data rates
 quiz
1. What type of network topology do you recommend for HU ICT and
HU CCI office? Justify why?
2. Discuss differences between Internet and a network.
3. Why a hub forwards data packets to all connected ports?
4. How does mobile call works?

60