Arba Minch University

Arba Minch Institute of Technology

Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Data communication and computer networks

ECEg- 4211
 Arba Minch University
Arba Minch Institute of Technology
Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Chapter One
Introduction
 Data Communications, Data Networks, and the Internet

Introduction
Effective and efficient data communication and networking facilities are
vital to any enterprise.

Three different forces have consistently driven the architecture and

evolution of data communications and networking facilities

• traffic growth at a high & steady rate

• development of new services
• advances in technology

3
 A Communications Model

Figure The communication between a workstation and a server over a public telephone network. 4
 A Communications Model
 Source
– generates data to be transmitted
 Transmitter
– Converts data into transmittable signals
 Transmission System
– Carries data
 Receiver
– Converts received signal into data
 Destination
– Takes incoming data
5
 Communications Tasks
Transmission system utilization Addressing

Interfacing Routing

Signal generation Recovery

Synchronization Message formatting

Error detection and correction Security

Flow control Network management

6
 Networking

 Point-to-point communication not usually practical

– Devices are too far apart
– Large set of devices would need impractical number of
connections

 The solution is a communications network

7
 Two broad categories of communications networks:

– Local Area Network (LAN)

– Wide Area Network (WAN)

8
 Wide Area Networks (WANs)

 span a large geographical area (states, countries,

continents).
 consists of a number of interconnected switching
nodes
 WANs have been implemented using one of two
technologies:
 Circuit switching
 Packet switching
More recently, Frame relay and Asynchronous Transfer
Mode (ATM ) networks have assumed major roles
9
 Circuit Switching

 uses a dedicated communications path established for the

duration of the conversation
 comprising a connected sequence of links
 with a dedicated logical channel
 eg. telephone network

10
 Packet Switching

 data is sent in a sequence of small chunks, called packets

 packets passed from node to node between the source and
destination
 used for terminal-to-computer and computer-to-computer
communications

11
 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

12
 Asynchronous Transfer Mode

 ATM - evolution of frame relay

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

13
 Local Area Networks

 designed for small physical areas (smaller scope)

building or small campus
 usually owned by same organization as attached devices

LANs come in a number of different configurations

 switched LANs, eg Ethernet
 wireless LANs

14
LAN Topologies

15
 Metropolitan Area Networks

 MAN
 middle ground between LAN and WAN
 private or public network
 high speed
 large area – city or metro

16
 The Internet

 Internet evolved from ARPANET

 developed by the Advanced Research Projects Agency
(ARPA) of the U.S. Department of Defense
 first operational packet-switching network
 applied to tactical radio communication (packet radio)
& satellite communication (SATNET).
 had a need for interoperability
 led to standardized TCP/IP protocols

17
Internet Elements

18
Example Configuration

19
 The Need for a Protocol Architecture

 Protocol architecture is a layered structure of hardware and

software that supports the exchange of data ben systems and
supports distributed applications
 When computers, terminals and/or other data processing
devices exchange data:
– The Procedures involved to exchange data between devices can
be complex
– High degree of cooperation required between communicating
systems
 See the example in the next slide.
20
 Example: File transfer b/n two computers

 Requires a data path to exist (either a direct link or via a comm.

network)
 Tasks:
– The source system must either activate the data communication path or inform the
communication network of the identity of the desired destination system
– Source determines that destination is ready
– The file transfer app at the source must ascertain that the destination file management app
is ready to accept and store files for user
– File format conversion
 Instead of implementing the logic as a single module, the task is broken up
into subtasks, each of which is implemented separately.

21
 Layered Protocol Architecture

 Modules arranged in a vertical stack

 Each layer in the stack:
– Provides functions needed to perform communications for layers above
– using functions provided by layers below
– The peer layers communicate by means of formatted blocks of data that
obey a set of rules or conventions known as a protocol.
 Ideally, layers should be defined, so that changes in one layer do not
require changes in other layers.
 modularization eases maintenance, updating of system
22
 Key Features of a Protocol

 A protocol is a set of rules or conventions that allow peer layers to

communicate.

 The key features of a protocol are:

– Syntax: concerns the format of the data blocks

– Semantics: Includes control information (coordination, error handling)
– Timing: speed matching, sequencing

23
 TCP/IP Protocol Architecture

 developed by US Defense Advanced Research Project Agency

(DARPA)
 for ARPANET packet-switched network
 used by the global Internet
 generally referred to as the TCP/IP protocol suite
 protocol suite comprises a large collection of standardized
protocols

24
 TCP/IP Layers

 Application
 Transport
 Internet
 Network access /data link layer
 Physical

The TCP/IP Layers and

Example Protocols
25
 Physical Layer

 concerned with the physical interface between a data transmission

device (e.g., workstation, computer) and a transmission medium or
network
 concerned with specifying:
– characteristics of the transmission medium
– signal levels
– data rates
– other related matters

26
 Network Access / data link Layer

 concerned with the exchange of data b/n an end system and the
network to which it is attached.

 concerned with issues like :

– destination address provision
– invoking specific services like priority
– access to & routing data across a network for two end systems
attached to the same network

27
 Internet Layer

 routing functions across multiple networks

 for systems attached to different networks
 The Internet Protocol (IP) is used at this layer to provide the
routing function across multiple networks
 implemented in end systems and routers

 Router is a processor that connects two networks and whose primary

function is to relay data from one network to the other on its route from
the source to the destination end system.
28
 Transport Layer (TCP)

 common layer shared by all applications

 provides reliable delivery of data
 in same order as sent
 commonly uses Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)

29
 Application Layer

 provide support for user applications

 need a separate module for each type of application

30
Operation of TCP and IP

31
 Addressing Requirements

 two levels of addressing required

 each host on a subnet needs a unique global network
address
 its IP address
 each application on a (multi-tasking) host needs a unique
address within the host
 known as a port

32
 Operation of TCP/IP
 The addition of control information to data is referred to as encapsulation
 The combination of data from the next higher layer and control information is
known as a protocol data unit (PDU)

33
 Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)

 usual transport layer is (TCP)

 provides a reliable connection for the transfer of data
between applications
 a TCP segment is the basic protocol unit
 TCP tracks segments between entities for duration of each
connection

34
 User Datagram Protocol (UDP)

 an alternative to TCP
 no guaranteed delivery
 no preservation of sequence
 no protection against duplication
 minimum overhead
 adds port addressing to IP

35
 TCP/IP Applications

 have a number of standard TCP/IP applications such as

 Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP)
 File Transfer Protocol (FTP)
 Telnet

36
Some TCP/IP Protocols

37
 OSI Reference Model

 Open Systems Interconnection

 Reference model
• provides a general framework for standardization
• defines a set of layers and services provided by each
layer
• one or more protocols can be developed for each
layer
 developed by the International Organization for
Standardization (ISO)
38
 A layered model
 Seven layers – seven has been presented as the
optimal number of layer
 Theoretical system too late (published in 1984)!
 by that time TCP/IP started to become the de facto
standard

39
 Layer 1: Physical Layer

• The physical layer is responsible for transmitting raw

data bits over a physical medium.

• It deals with the electrical, mechanical, and functional

aspects of the network interface.

40
 Layer 2: Data Link Layer

• The data link layer provides error detection and correction

as well as framing and flow control mechanisms.
• It ensures reliable point-to-point and point-to-multipoint
communication over a network.
• Basic function
 Breaks up input data to data frames
 Transmits data frames sequentially
 Processes acknowledgement frames sent back from
receiver for reliable transmission
41
 Layer 3: Network Layer

• The network layer handles routing and forwarding of data

packets between different networks.

• It determines the best path for data transmission and

addresses issues related to logical addressing and network
topology

42
 Layer 4: Transport Layer

• The transport layer ensures end-to-end communication

between devices by segmenting and reassembling data
streams.
• It also provides error recovery, flow control, and
multiplexing capabilities.

43
 Layer 5: Session layer

• The session layer establishes, maintains, and terminates

connections between applications.
• It manages the session between two communicating devices and
handles synchronization and dialogue control.

• Dialog control
• Allows two systems to enter into dialog
• It allows the communication between two processes to take place in
either half-duplex or full-duplex.
• Synchronization
• It allows a process to add checkpoints into a stream of data
• So that if a failure of some sort occurs between checkpoints, the
layer can retransmit all data since the last checkpoint. 44
 Layer 6: Presentation layer

• Concerned with the syntax and semantics of the information exchanged

between two systems
• Functions
 Translation
 At the sender it changes the information from its sender –
dependent format into common format.
 At receiving, changes the common format into its receiver-
dependent format eg, ASCII to Unicode, Unicode to ASCII
Encryption
 To ensure privacy and security
 Compression
 Data compression reduces the number of bits contained in the
information.
 It is important in the transmission of multimedia such as audio or
video 45
 Layer 7: Application Layer

• Provides interface and support for services to users

(human, software, robots)
• Examples
• File transfer
• Email

46
OSI Layers

47
OSI v TCP/IP

48
Data and Computer
Communications
Chapter 2
2.1 Data Transmission
 Transmission Terminology
 data transmission occurs between a
transmitter & receiver via some
transmission medium
 guided medium
 eg. twisted pair, coaxial cable, optical fiber
 unguided / wireless medium
 eg. air, water, vacuum
 In both cases, communication is in the form
of electromagnetic waves.
 Transmission Terminology
 direct link- the transmission path between
two devices in which signals propagate
directly from transmitter to receiver
 no intermediate devices
 point-to-point
 A guided transmission medium is point to point
direct link
only 2 devices share link
 multi-point
 more than two devices share the link
 Transmission Terminology
A transmission may be
 simplex
 signals are transmitted in only one direction
• eg. television
 half duplex
 either direction, but only one way at a time
• eg. police radio
 full duplex
 both directions at the same time
• eg. telephone
 Frequency, Spectrum and Bandwidth
 electromagnetic signals used as a means to
transmit data
 Signal is a function of time or frequency
 time domain concepts
 analog signal
• the signal intensity various in a smooth or continuous way
over time
• there are no breaks or discontinuities in the signal
 digital signal
• maintains a constant level then changes to another
constant level
 periodic signal
• pattern repeated over time
 aperiodic signal
• pattern not repeated over time
Analogue & Digital Signals
Periodic
Signals
 Sine Wave
 The sine wave is the fundamental periodic signal
 A general sine wave can be represented by three
parameters:
 peak amplitude (A)
 maximum strength of signal
 volts
 frequency (f)
 rate of change of signal
 Hertz (Hz) or cycles per second
 period = time for one repetition (T)
 T = 1/f
 phase ()
 relative position in time
Varying Sine Waves
s(t) = A sin(2ft +)
 Wavelength ()
 isdistance occupied by one cycle
 between two points of corresponding
phase in two consecutive cycles
 assuming signal velocity v have  = vT
 or equivalently f = v
 especially when v=c
 c = 3*108 ms-1 (speed of light in free space)
Frequency Domain Concepts
 In practice, an electromagnetic signal will be
made up of many frequencies
 components are sine waves
 Fourier analysis can shown that any signal is
made up of component sine waves
 By adding together enough sinusoidal signals,
each with the appropriate amplitude, frequency,
and phase, any electromagnetic signal can be
constructed.
 Addition of
Frequency
Components
(T=1/f)
 The signal
s(t)= 4/ [sin(2 f t) + 1/3
sin(2 (3f) t)] is made up
of two frequency
components
 Frequency
Domain
Representations

 freq domain func of

Fig 3.4c

 freq domain func of

single square pulse that
has the value 1 between
–X/2 and X/2, and is 0
elsewhere
 Spectrum & Bandwidth
 Spectrum of a signal
 range of frequencies contained in signal
 absolute bandwidth of a signal
 width of spectrum
 effective bandwidth
 often just bandwidth

 narrow band of frequencies containing most energy

 DC Component
 component of zero frequency
 Data Rate and Bandwidth

 any transmission system has a limited band of

frequencies
 Range of FM radio transmission is 88-108 MHZ
 this limits the data rate that can be carried
 square wave have infinite components and
hence bandwidth
 but most energy in first few components
 limited bandwidth increases distortion
 have a direct relationship between data rate &
bandwidth
 Analog and Digital Data
Transmission
 data
 entities that convey meaning , or information.

 signals
 electric or electromagnetic representations of

data
 signaling
 physical propagation of the signal along a

suitable medium
 transmission
 communication of data by propagation and

processing of signals
Acoustic Spectrum (Analog)
 Audio Signals
 freq range 20Hz-20kHz (speech 100Hz-7kHz)
 easily converted into electromagnetic signals
 varying volume converted to varying voltage
 can limit frequency range for voice channel to
300-3400Hz
 Video Signals
 USA - 483 lines per frame, at frames per sec
 have 525 lines but 42 lost during vertical retrace
 525 lines x 30 scans = 15750 lines per sec
 63.5s per line
 11s for retrace, so 52.5 s per video line
 max frequency if line alternates black and white
 horizontal resolution is about 450 lines giving
225 cycles of wave in 52.5 s
 max frequency of 4.2MHz
 Digital Data
 asgenerated by computers etc.
 has two dc components
 bandwidth depends on data rate
Analog Signals
Digital Signals
Advantages & Disadvantages
of Digital Signals
 cheaper
 less susceptible to noise
 but greater attenuation
 digital now preferred choice
 Transmission Impairments
 Withany communications system, signal
received may differ from signal transmitted
due to various transmission impairments.
 Analog signals - degradation of signal quality
 Digital signals - bit errors may be introduced
 most significant impairments are
 attenuation and attenuation distortion
 delay distortion
 noise
 Attenuation
 where signal strength falls off with distance
 depends on medium
 received signal strength must be:
 strong enough to be detected
 sufficiently higher than noise to receive without error
 so increase strength using amplifiers/repeaters
 is also an increasing function of frequency
 so equalize attenuation across band of
frequencies used
 eg. using loading coils or amplifiers
 Delay Distortion
 only occurs in guided media
 propagation velocity of a signal through a
guided medium varies with frequency
 hence various frequency components
arrive at different times
 particularly critical for digital data
 since parts of one bit spill over into others
 causing intersymbol interference
 Noise
 additionalsignals inserted between
transmitter and receiver
 thermal
 due to thermal agitation of electrons
 uniformly distributed
 white noise
 intermodulation
 signals that are the sum and difference of
original frequencies sharing a medium
 Noise
 crosstalk
 a signal from one line is picked up by another
 impulse
 irregular pulses or spikes
• eg. external electromagnetic interference
 short duration
 high amplitude
 a minor annoyance for analog signals
 but a major source of error in digital data
• a noise spike could corrupt many bits
 Channel Capacity
 max possible data rate on comms channel
 is a function of
 data rate - in bits per second
 bandwidth - in cycles per second or Hertz
 noise - on comms link
 error rate - of corrupted bits
 All transmission channels of any practical
interest are of limited bandwidth due to
physical properties
 want most efficient use of capacity
 Nyquist Bandwidth
 consider noise free channels
 if rate of signal transmission is 2B then can carry
signal with frequencies no greater than B
 ie. given bandwidth B, highest signal rate is 2B
 for binary signals, 2B bps needs bandwidth B Hz
 can increase rate by using M signal levels
 Nyquist Formula is: C = 2B log2M
 so increase rate by increasing signals
 at cost of receiver complexity
 limited by noise & other impairments
 Shannon Capacity Formula
 consider relation of data rate, noise & error rate
 faster data rate shortens each bit so bursts of noise
affects more bits
 given noise level, higher rates means higher errors
 Shannon developed formula relating these to
signal to noise ratio (in decibels)
 SNRdb=10 log10 (signal/noise)
 Capacity C=B log2(1+SNR)
 theoretical maximum capacity
 get lower in practise
 Summary
 looked at data transmission issues
 frequency, spectrum & bandwidth
 analog vs digital signals
 transmission impairments
Data and Computer
Communications
Chapter 2
2.2 Transmission Media
 Overview
 The transmission media that are used to convey
information can be classified as guided or unguided.
 guided - twisted pair, coaxial cable, and optical
fiber
 unguided – wireless e.g. air, water, vacuum

 The characteristics and quality of data transmission

determined by characteristics of medium and signal
 in unguided media - bandwidth of the signal

produced by the antenna is more important

 in guided media - medium is more important

 key concerns are data rate and distance :

 Design Factors
 A number of design factors relating to the transmission
medium and the signal determine the data rate and
distance:
 bandwidth
 higher bandwidth of a signal gives higher data rate

 transmission impairments
 Impairments, such as attenuation, limit the distance

 interference
 Interference from competing signals in overlapping

frequency bands can distort or wipe out a signal

 number of receivers in guided media
 more receivers introduces more attenuation
Electromagnetic Spectrum
 Transmission Characteristics
of Guided Media
Frequency Typical Typical Repeater
Range Attenuation Delay Spacing
Twisted pair 0 to 3.5 kHz 0.2 dB/km @ 50 µs/km 2 km
(with loading) 1 kHz

Twisted pairs 0 to 1 MHz 0.7 dB/km @ 5 µs/km 2 km

(multi-pair 1 kHz
cables)
Coaxial cable 0 to 500 MHz 7 dB/km @ 10 4 µs/km 1 to 9 km
MHz
Optical fiber 186 to 370 0.2 to 0.5 5 µs/km 40 km
THz dB/km
Twisted Pair
Reduce Electromagnetic Interference
 Twisted Pair
 A twisted pair consists of two insulated copper
wires arranged in a regular spiral pattern
 A wire pair acts as a single communication link
 Typically, a number of these pairs are bundled
together into a cable by wrapping them in a
tough protective sheath.
 The twisting tends to decrease the crosstalk
interference between adjacent pairs in a cable.
 Twisted Pair - Applications
 Most common medium
 Telephone network
 Between house and local exchange
(subscriber loop)
 Within buildings
 To private branch exchange (PBX)
 For local area networks (LAN)
 10Mbps or 100Mbps
Twisted Pair - Pros and Cons
 Cheap
 Easy to work with
 Low data rate
 Short range
 Twisted Pair - Transmission
Characteristics
 analog signals
 needs amplifiers every 5km to 6km
 Digital
 can use either analog or digital signals
 needs a repeater every 2-3km
 Compared to other commonly used guided
transmission media
 limited distance
 limited bandwidth (1MHz)
 limited data rate (100MHz)
 susceptible to interference and noise
 Unshielded vs Shielded TP
 unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP)-
 Consists of one or more twisted-pair cables,
typically enclosed within an overall
thermoplastic jacket, which provides no
electromagnetic shielding

 ordinary telephone wire

 cheapest
 easiest to install
 suffers from external
EM interference
 Unshielded vs Shielded TP
 shielded Twisted Pair (STP)
 metal braid or sheathing that reduces interference
 more expensive
 harder to handle (thick, heavy)
 in a variety of categories
 UTP Categories
 Cat 3
 up to 16MHz
 Voice grade found in most offices
 Twist length of 7.5 cm to 10 cm
 Cat 4
 up to 20 MHz
 Cat 5
 up to 100MHz
 Commonly pre-installed in new office buildings
 Twist length 0.6 cm to 0.85 cm
 Cat 5E (Enhanced) –see tables
 Cat 6
 Cat 7
 UTP Categories
7.5~10 cm 0.6~0.85cm
Category 3 Category 5 Category 5E Category 6 Category 7
Class C Class D Class E Class F
Bandwidth 16 MHz 100 MHz 100 MHz 200 MHz 600 MHz
Cable Type UTP UTP/FTP UTP/FTP UTP/FTP SSTP
Link Cost 0.7 1 1.2 1.5 2.2
(Cat 5 =1)
 Comparison of Shielded and
Unshielded Twisted Pair
Attenuation (dB per 100 m) Near-end Crosstalk (dB)
Frequency Category 3 Category 5 Category 3 Category 5
(MHz) UTP UTP 150-ohm STP UTP UTP 150-ohm STP
1 2.6 2.0 1.1 41 62 58
4 5.6 4.1 2.2 32 53 58
16 13.1 8.2 4.4 23 44 50.4
25 — 10.4 6.2 — 41 47.5
100 — 22.0 12.3 — 32 38.5
300 — — 21.4 — — 31.3
 Near End Crosstalk
 coupling of signal from one pair to another
 occurs when transmit signal entering the
link couples back to receiving pair
 ie. near transmitted signal is picked up by
near receiving pair
Coaxial Cable
 Coaxial Cable
 Coaxial cable, like twisted pair, consists of two
conductors, but is constructed differently to
permit it to operate over a wider range of
frequencies
 It consists of a hollow outer cylindrical conductor
that surrounds a single inner wire conductor
 The inner conductor is held in place by either
regularly spaced insulating rings or a solid
dielectric material.
 The outer conductor is covered with a jacket or
shield
 Coaxial Cable Applications
 Most versatile medium
 Television distribution
 Ariel to TV
 Cable TV
 Long-distance telephone transmission
 Can carry 10,000 voice calls simultaneously
 Being replaced by fiber optic
 Short distance computer systems links
 Local area networks
Coaxial Cable - Transmission
Characteristics
 superiorfrequency characteristics to TP
 performance limited by attenuation & noise
 analog signals
 amplifiers every few km
 closer if higher frequency
 up to 500MHz
 digital signals
 repeater every 1km
 closer for higher data rates
Optical Fiber
 Optical Fiber
 An optical fiber is a thin (2 to 125 µm),
flexible medium capable of guiding an
optical ray
 Various glasses and plastics can be used
to make optical fibers
 An optical fiber cable has a cylindrical
shape and consists of three concentric
sections: the core, the cladding, and the
jacket
 The core is the innermost section and consists
of one or more very thin strands, or fibers, made
of glass or plastic;

 the core has a diameter in the range of 8 to 50

µm

 Each fiber is surrounded by its own cladding, a

glass or plastic coating that has optical
properties different from those of the core and a
diameter of 125 µm
 The interface between the core and cladding
acts as a reflector to confine light that would
otherwise escape the core.

 The outermost layer, surrounding one or a

bundle of cladded fibers, is the jacket

 The jacket is composed of plastic and other

material layered to protect against moisture,
abrasion, crushing, and other environmental
dangers.
 Optical Fiber - Benefits
 greater capacity
 data rates of hundreds of Gbps
 smaller size & weight
 lower attenuation
 electromagnetic isolation
 greater repeater spacing
 10s of km at least
 Optical Fiber - Transmission
Characteristics
 uses total internal reflection to transmit
light
 effectively acts as wave guide for 1014 to 1015
Hz
 Portions of infrared and visible spectrum
 can use several different light sources
 Light Emitting Diode (LED)
• cheaper, wider operating temp range, lasts longer
 Injection Laser Diode (ILD)
• more efficient, has greater data rate
 relation of wavelength, type & data rate
Optical Fiber Transmission
Modes
 Frequency Utilization for
Fiber Applications

Wavelength (in Frequency Band Fiber Type Application

vacuum) range Range (THz) Label
(nm)
820 to 900 366 to 333 Multimode LAN
1280 to 1350 234 to 222 S Single mode Various
1528 to 1561 196 to 192 C Single mode WDM
1561 to 1620 192 to 185 L Single mode WDM
Attenuation in Guided Media
 Wireless Transmission
Frequencies
 30MHz to 1GHz
 Broadcast radio, omni-directional
 2GHz to 40GHz
 Microwave, highly directional
 point to point
 satellite
3 x 1011 to 2 x 1014
 infrared
 Local point-to-point and multipoint
applications within confined areas,
 Antennas
 electrical conductor used to radiate or collect
electromagnetic energy
 transmission antenna
 radio frequency energy from transmitter
 converted to electromagnetic energy by antenna
 radiated into surrounding environment
 reception antenna
 electromagnetic energy impinging on antenna
 converted to radio frequency electrical energy
 fed to receiver
 same antenna is often used for both purposes
 Radiation Pattern
 power radiated in all directions
 not same performance in all directions
 as seen in a radiation pattern diagram
 an isotropic antenna is a (theoretical) point
in space
 radiates in all directions equally
 with a spherical radiation pattern
Parabolic Reflective Antenna
 Antenna Gain
 measure of directionality of antenna
 power output in particular direction verses
that produced by an isotropic antenna
 measured in decibels (dB)
 results in loss in power in another direction
 effective area relates to size and shape
 related to gain
 Broadcast Radio
 radiois 3kHz to 300GHz
 use broadcast radio, 30MHz - 1GHz, for:
 FM radio
 UHF and VHF television
 is omnidirectional
 still need line of sight
 suffers from multipath interference
 reflections from land, water, other objects
 Terrestrial Microwave
 used for long haul telecommunications
 and short point-to-point links
 requires fewer repeaters but line of sight
 use a parabolic dish to focus a narrow beam
onto a receiver antenna
 1-40GHz frequencies
 higher frequencies give higher data rates
 main source of loss is attenuation
 distance, rainfall
 also interference
 Satellite Microwave
 satellite is relay station
 receives on one frequency, amplifies or repeats
signal and transmits on another frequency
 eg. uplink 5.925-6.425 GHz & downlink 3.7-4.2 GHz
 typically requires geo-stationary orbit
 height of 35,784km
 spaced at least 3-4° apart
 typical uses
 television
 long distance telephone
 private business networks
 global positioning
Satellite Point to Point Link
Satellite Broadcast Link
 Infrared
 modulate non-coherent infrared light
 end line of sight (or reflection)
 are blocked by walls
 no licenses required
 typical uses
 TV remote control
 IRD port
 Wireless Propagation
 A signal radiated from an antenna travels
along one of three routes:

 ground wave,
 sky wave,
 or line of sight (LOS).
 Ground Wave Propagation
 It is also known as surface wave propagation
 Ground wave propagation more or less follows the
contour of the Earth and can propagate
considerable distances, well over the visual horizon
 This effect is found in frequencies up to about
2 MHz.
Wireless Propagation
Ground Wave
 Sky Wave Propagation
 Sky wave propagation is used for amateur radio ,
CB radio and international broadcasts such as
BBC and Voice of America
 With sky wave propagation, a signal from an
earth-based antenna is reflected from the ionized
layer of the upper atmosphere (ionosphere) back
down to Earth.
 Sky wave propagation is used at 2MHz to 30MHz.
 A sky wave signal can travel through a number
of hops, bouncing back and forth between the
ionosphere and the Earth’s surface
 With this propagation mode, a signal can be
picked up thousands of kilometers from the
transmitter.
Wireless Propagation
Sky Wave
 Line-of-Sight Propagation
 Above 30 MHz, neither ground wave nor sky
wave propagation modes operate, and
communication must be by line of sight
 For satellite communication, a signal above 30
MHz is not reflected by the ionosphere and
therefore a signal can be transmitted between
an earth station and a satellite overhead that is
not beyond the horizon.
Wireless Propagation
Line of Sight
 Refraction
 velocity of electromagnetic wave is a function of
density of material
~3 x 108 m/s in vacuum, less in anything else
 speed changes as move between media
 Index of refraction (refractive index) is
 sin(incidence)/sin(refraction)
 varies with wavelength
 have gradual bending if medium density varies
 density of atmosphere decreases with height
 results in bending towards earth of radio waves
 hence optical and radio horizons differ
 Line of Sight Transmission
 Free space loss
 loss of signal with distance
 Atmospheric Absorption
 from water vapour and oxygen absorption
 Multipath
 multiple interfering signals from reflections
 Refraction
 bending signal away from receiver
Free Space Loss
Multipath Interference
 Summary
 looked at data transmission issues
 frequency, spectrum & bandwidth
 analog vs digital signals
 transmission impairments
 Data and Computer
Communications
2.3 – Signal Encoding Techniques
Signal Encoding Techniques
 Digital Data, Digital Signal
 Digital signal
 discrete, discontinuous voltage pulses
 each pulse is a signal element
 binary data encoded into signal elements
 Some Terms
 unipolar
 polar
 data rate
 duration or length of a bit
 modulation rate
 mark and space
 Interpreting Signals
 need to know
 timing of bits - when they start and end
 signal levels
 factors affecting signal interpretation
 signal to noise ratio
 data rate
 bandwidth
 encoding scheme
 Comparison of Encoding
Schemes
 signal spectrum
 clocking
 error detection
 signal interference and noise immunity
 cost and complexity
Encoding Schemes
 Nonreturn to Zero-Level
(NRZ-L)
 two different voltages for 0 and 1 bits
 voltage constant during bit interval
 no transition I.e. no return to zero voltage
 such as absence of voltage for zero, constant
positive voltage for one
 more often, negative voltage for one value
and positive for the other
 Nonreturn to Zero Inverted
 nonreturn to zero inverted on ones
 constant voltage pulse for duration of bit
 data encoded as presence or absence of signal
transition at beginning of bit time
 transition (low to high or high to low) denotes binary 1
 no transition denotes binary 0
 example of differential encoding since have
 data represented by changes rather than levels
 more reliable detection of transition rather than level
 easy to lose sense of polarity
 NRZ Pros & Cons
 Pros
 easy to engineer
 make good use of bandwidth
 Cons
 dc component
 lack of synchronization capability
 used for magnetic recording
 not often used for signal transmission
 Multilevel Binary
Bipolar-AMI
 Use more than two levels
 Bipolar-AMI
 zero represented by no line signal
 one represented by positive or negative pulse
 one pulses alternate in polarity
 no loss of sync if a long string of ones
 long runs of zeros still a problem
 no net dc component
 lower bandwidth
 easy error detection
 Multilevel Binary
Pseudoternary
 one represented by absence of line signal
 zero represented by alternating positive
and negative
 no advantage or disadvantage over
bipolar-AMI
 each used in some applications
 Multilevel Binary Issues
 synchronization with long runs of 0’s or 1’s
 can insert additional bits, cf ISDN
 scramble data (later)
 not as efficient as NRZ
 each signal element only represents one bit
• receiver distinguishes between three levels: +A, -A, 0
 a 3 level system could represent log23 = 1.58 bits
 requires approx. 3dB more signal power for same
probability of bit error
 Manchester Encoding
 has transition in middle of each bit period
 transition serves as clock and data
 low to high represents one
 high to low represents zero
 used by IEEE 802.
 Differential Manchester
Encoding
 midbit transition is clocking only
 transition at start of bit period representing 0
 no transition at start of bit period representing 1
 this is a differential encoding scheme
 used by IEEE 802.5
 Biphase Pros and Cons
 Con
 at least one transition per bit time and possibly two
 maximum modulation rate is twice NRZ
 requires more bandwidth
 Pros
 synchronization on mid bit transition (self clocking)
 has no dc component
 has error detection
Modulation Rate
 Scrambling
 use scrambling to replace sequences that would
produce constant voltage
 these filling sequences must
 produce enough transitions to sync
 be recognized by receiver & replaced with original
 be same length as original
 design goals
 have no dc component
 have no long sequences of zero level line signal
 have no reduction in data rate
 give error detection capability
B8ZS and HDB3
 Digital Data, Analog Signal
 main use is public telephone system
 has freq range of 300Hz to 3400Hz
 use modem (modulator-demodulator)
 encoding techniques
 Amplitude shift keying (ASK)
 Frequency shift keying (FSK)
 Phase shift keying (PK)
Modulation Techniques
 Amplitude Shift Keying
 encode 0/1 by different carrier amplitudes
 usually have one amplitude zero
 susceptible to sudden gain changes
 inefficient
 used for
 up to 1200bps on voice grade lines
 very high speeds over optical fiber
 Binary Frequency Shift
Keying
 most common is binary FSK (BFSK)
 two binary values represented by two different
frequencies (near carrier)
 less susceptible to error than ASK
 used for
 up to 1200bps on voice grade lines
 high frequency radio
 even higher frequency on LANs using co-ax
 Multiple FSK
 each signalling element represents more
than one bit
 more than two frequencies used
 more bandwidth efficient
 more prone to error
 Phase Shift Keying
 phase of carrier signal is shifted to
represent data
 binary PSK
 two phases represent two binary digits
 differential PSK
 phase shifted relative to previous transmission
rather than some reference signal
 Quadrature PSK
 get
more efficient use if each signal
element represents more than one bit
 eg. shifts of /2 (90o)
 each element represents two bits
 split input data stream in two & modulate onto
carrier & phase shifted carrier
 can
use 8 phase angles & more than one
amplitude
 9600bps modem uses 12 angles, four of
which have two amplitudes
QPSK and OQPSK
Modulators
 Performance of Digital to
Analog Modulation Schemes
 bandwidth
 ASK/PSK bandwidth directly relates to bit rate
 multilevel PSK gives significant improvements
 in presence of noise:
 bit error rate of PSK and QPSK are about 3dB
superior to ASK and FSK
 for MFSK & MPSK have tradeoff between
bandwidth efficiency and error performance
 Quadrature Amplitude
Modulation
 QAM used on asymmetric digital subscriber line
(ADSL) and some wireless
 combination of ASK and PSK
 logical extension of QPSK
 send two different signals simultaneously on
same carrier frequency
 use two copies of carrier, one shifted 90°
 each carrier is ASK modulated
 two independent signals over same medium
 demodulate and combine for original binary output
QAM Modulator
 QAM Variants
 two level ASK
 each of two streams in one of two states
 four state system
 essentially QPSK
 four level ASK
 combined stream in one of 16 states
 have 64 and 256 state systems
 improved data rate for given bandwidth
 but increased potential error rate
 Analog Data, Digital Signal
 digitization is conversion of analog data
into digital data which can then:
 be transmitted using NRZ-L
 be transmitted using code other than NRZ-L
 be converted to analog signal
 analog to digital conversion done using a
codec
 pulse code modulation
 delta modulation
Digitizing Analog Data
Pulse Code Modulation (PCM)
 sampling theorem:
 “If a signal is sampled at regular intervals at a
rate higher than twice the highest signal
frequency, the samples contain all information
in original signal”
 eg. 4000Hz voice data, requires 8000 sample
per sec
 strictly have analog samples
 Pulse Amplitude Modulation (PAM)
 so assign each a digital value
PCM Example
PCM Block Diagram
Non-Linear Coding
Companding
 Delta Modulation
 analog input is approximated by a
staircase function
 can move up or down one level () at each
sample interval
 has binary behavior
 since function only moves up or down at each
sample interval
 hence can encode each sample as single bit
 1 for up or 0 for down
Delta Modulation Example
Delta Modulation Operation
PCM verses Delta Modulation
 DM has simplicity compared to PCM
 but has worse SNR
 issue of bandwidth used
 eg. for good voice reproduction with PCM
• want 128 levels (7 bit) & voice bandwidth 4khz
• need 8000 x 7 = 56kbps
 data compression can improve on this
 still growing demand for digital signals
 use of repeaters, TDM, efficient switching
 PCM preferred to DM for analog signals
 Analog Data, Analog Signals
 modulate carrier frequency with analog data
 why modulate analog signals?
 higher frequency can give more efficient transmission
 permits frequency division multiplexing (chapter 8)
 types of modulation
 Amplitude
 Frequency
 Phase
 Analog
Modulation
Techniques
 Amplitude Modulation
 Frequency Modulation
 Phase Modulation
 Summary
 looked at signal encoding techniques
 digital data, digital signal
 analog data, digital signal
 digital data, analog signal
 analog data, analog signal
 Chapter-3
3.1 Local Area Network Overview
LAN Applications (1)
 personal computer LANs
 low cost
 limited data rate
 back end networks
 interconnecting large systems (mainframes and large
storage devices)
• high data rate
• high speed interface
• distributed access
• limited distance
• limited number of devices 1
 LAN Applications (2)
 storage area networks (SANs)
 separate network handling storage needs
 detaches storage tasks from specific servers
 shared storage facility
• eg. hard disks, tape libraries, CD arrays
 accessed using a high-speed network
• eg. Fibre Channel
 improved client-server storage access
 direct storage to storage communication for backup

2
Storage Area Networks

3
 LAN Applications (3)
 high speed office networks
 desktop image processing
 high capacity local storage
 backbone LANs
 interconnect low speed local LANs
 reliability
 capacity
 cost

4
 LAN Architecture
 topologies
 transmission medium
 layout
 medium access control

5
LAN Topologies

6
 Bus and Tree
 used with multipoint medium
 transmission propagates throughout medium
 heard by all stations
 full duplex connection between station and tap
 allows for transmission and reception
 need to regulate transmission
 to avoid collisions and hogging
 terminator absorbs frames at end of medium
 tree a generalization of bus
 headend connected to branching cables
7
 Frame
Transmission
on Bus LAN

8
 Ring Topology
 a closed loop of repeaters joined by point to
point links
 receive data on one link & retransmit on another
 links unidirectional
 stations attach to repeaters
 data in frames
 circulate past all stations
 destination recognizes address and copies frame
 frame circulates back to source where it is removed
 media access control determines when a station
can insert frame
9
 Frame
Transmission
Ring LAN

10
 Star Topology
 each station connects to central node
 usually via two point to point links , one for
transmission and one for reception
 either central node can broadcast
 physical star, logical bus
 only one station can transmit at a time
 or central node can act as frame switch

11
 Choice of Topology
 reliability
 expandability
 performance
 needs considering in context of:
 medium
 wiring layout
 access control

12
 Bus LAN
Transmission Media (1)
 twisted pair
 early LANs used voice grade cable
 didn’t scale for fast LANs
 not used in bus LANs now
 baseband coaxial cable
 uses digital signalling
 original Ethernet

13
 Bus LAN
Transmission Media (2)
 broadband coaxial cable
 as in cable TV systems
 analog signals at radio frequencies
 expensive, hard to install and maintain
 no longer used in LANs
 optical fiber
 expensive taps
 better alternatives available
 not used in bus LANs
 less convenient compared to star topology
twisted pair
 coaxial baseband still used but not often in
new installations 14
 Ring and Star Usage
 ring
 very high speed links over long distances
 single link or repeater failure disables network
 star
 uses natural layout of wiring in building
 best for short distances
 high data rates for small number of devices

15
 Choice of Medium
 constrained by LAN topology
 capacity
 reliability
 types of data supported
 environmental scope

16
 Media Available
 Voice grade unshielded twisted pair (UTP)
 Cat 3 phone, cheap, low data rates
 Shielded twisted pair / baseband coaxial
 more expensive, higher data rates
 Broadband cable
 even more expensive, higher data rate
 High performance UTP
 Cat 5+, very high data rates, switched star topology
 Optical fibre
 security, high capacity, small size, high cost
17
LAN Protocol Architecture

18
 IEEE 802 Layers (1)
 Physical
 encoding/decoding of signals
 preamble generation/removal (for
synchronization)
 bit transmission/reception
 transmission medium and topology

19
 IEEE 802 Layers (2)
 Logical Link Control
 interface to higher levels
 flow and error control
 Media Access Control
 on transmit assemble data into frame
 on receive disassemble frame
 govern access to transmission medium
 for same LLC, may have several MAC options

20
LAN Protocols in Context

21
 Logical Link Control
 transmission of link level PDUs between
stations
 must support multiaccess, shared medium
 but MAC layer handles link access details
 addressing involves specifying source and
destination LLC users
 referred to as service access points (SAP)
 typically higher level protocol

22
 LLC Services
 based on HDLC
 unacknowledged connectionless service
 connection mode service
 acknowledged connectionless service

23
 LLC Protocol
 modeled after HDLC
 asynchronous balanced mode
 connection mode (type 2) LLC service
 unacknowledged connectionless service
 using unnumbered information PDUs (type 1)
 acknowledged connectionless service
 using 2 new unnumbered PDUs (type 3)
 permits multiplexing using LSAPs
24
MAC Frame Format

25
 Media Access Control
 where
 central
• greater control, single point of failure
 distributed
• more complex, but more redundant
 how
 synchronous
• capacity dedicated to connection, not optimal
 asynchronous
• in response to demand 26
 Asynchronous Systems
 round robin
 each station given turn to transmit data
 reservation
 divide medium into slots
 good for stream traffic
 contention
 all stations contend for time
 good for bursty traffic
 simple to implement
 tends to collapse under heavy load
27
 MAC Frame Handling
 MAC layer receives data from LLC layer
 fields
 MAC control
 destination MAC address
 source MAC address
 LLC
 CRC
 MAC layer detects errors and discards frames
 LLC optionally retransmits unsuccessful frames

28
 Bridges
 connects similar LANs
 identical physical / link layer protocols
 minimal processing
 can map between MAC formats
 reasons for use
 reliability
 performance
 security
 geography
29
 Functions of a Bridge
 Read all frames transmitted on one LAN and
accept those address to any station on the other
LAN
 Using MAC protocol for second LAN, retransmit
each frame
 Do the same the other way round

30
Bridge Function

31
 Bridge Design Aspects
 No modification to content or format of frame
 No encapsulation
 Exact bitwise copy of frame
 Minimal buffering to meet peak demand
 Contains routing and address intelligence
 Must be able to tell which frames to pass

 May be more than one bridge to cross

 May connect more than two LANs

 Bridging is transparent to stations
 Appears to all stations on multiple LANs as if

they are on one single LAN 32

 Bridge Protocol Architecture
 IEEE 802.1D
 MAC level
 bridge does not need LLC layer
 can pass frame over external comms system
 capture frame
 forward it across link
 forward over LAN link
 e.g. WAN link

33
Connection of Two LANs

34
Bridges and
LANs with
Alternative
Routes

35
 Fixed Routing
 complex large LANs need alternative routes
 for load balancing and fault tolerance
 bridge must decide whether to forward frame
 bridge must decide LAN to forward frame to
 can use fixed routing for each source-destination
pair of LANs
 done in configuration
 usually least hop route
 only changed when topology changes
 widely used but limited flexibility
36
 Spanning Tree
 bridge automatically develops routing table
 automatically updates routing table in
response to changes
 three mechanisms:
 frame forwarding
 address learning
 loop resolution

37
 Frame Forwarding
 maintain forwarding database for each port
 lists station addresses reached through each port
 for a frame arriving on port X:
 search forwarding database to see if MAC address is
listed for any port except X
 if address not found, forward to all ports except X
 if address listed for port Y, check port Y for blocking
or forwarding state
 if not blocked, transmit frame through port Y

38
 Address Learning
 can preload forwarding database
 when frame arrives at port X, it has come form
the LAN attached to port X
 use source address to update forwarding
database for port X to include that address
 have a timer on each entry in database
 if timer expires, entry is removed
 each time frame arrives, source address
checked against forwarding database
 if present timer is reset and direction recorded
 if not present entry is created and timer set
39
 Spanning Tree Algorithm
 address learning works for tree layout
 in general graph have loops
 for any connected graph there is a spanning tree
maintaining connectivity with no closed loops
 IEEE 802.1 Spanning Tree Algorithm finds this
 each bridge assigned unique identifier
 exchange info between bridges to find spanning tree
 automatically updated whenever topology changes

40
Loop of Bridges

41
 Spanning Tree Algorithm
 Address learning mechanism is effective if
the topology of the internet is a tree
 Terminology
 Root bridge: Lowest value of bridge identifier
 Path cost: Associated with each port
 Root port: Port to the root bridge
 Root path cost: Cost of the path to root bridge
 Designated bridge/port
 Any active port that is not a root port or a
designated port is a blocked port
42
Spanning Tree Algorithm (cont)
 Determine the root bridge
 All bridges consider themselves to be the root
bridge, Each bridge will broadcast a BPDU on
each of its LAN the asserts this fact
 Only the bridge with the lowest-valued identifier
will maintain its belief
 Over time, as BPDU propagate, the identity of the
lowest-valued bridge identifier will be known to
all bridges

43
Spanning Tree Algorithm (cont)
 Determine the root port on all other bridges
 The root bridge will regularly broadcast the fact that it is
the root bridge on all of the LANs; It allows the bridges on
those LANs to determine their root port and the fact that
they are directly connected to the root bridge
 Each of these bridges turn broadcasts a BPDU on the
other LANs to which it attached, indicating that it is one
hop away from the root bridge

 Determine the designated port on each LAN

 On any LAN, the bridge claiming to be the one that is
closest (minimum cost path) to the root bridge becomes
the designated bridge
44
Spanning Tree Algorithm (e.g.)
LAN 2

C = 10 C=5
Bridge 3 Bridge 4
C = 10 C = 10 C=5
Bridge 1 LAN 5
C = 10
C=5
Bridge 5
C=5

LAN 1

C = 10
C=5

Bridge 2 C=5

LAN 3 LAN 4
45
Spanning Tree Algorithm (e.g.)
Bridge 1
Root Path Cost = 0
C = 10 C = 10
D D
LAN 1 LAN 2
R R
C=5 C=5
Bridge 5 Bridge 4
RPC = 5 RPC = 5
C=5 R C=5
C = 10 D
R
Bridge 3
C = 10 RPC = 10 LAN 5
Bridge 2
Root Path Cost = 10 C = 10

C=5 C=5
D D
R = root port
D = designated port
LAN 3 LAN 4
46
 Hubs
 Active central element of star layout
 Each station connected to hub by two lines
 Transmit and receive

 Hub acts as a repeater

 When single station transmits, hub repeats signal on outgoing
line to each station
 Line consists of two unshielded twisted pairs
 Limited to about 100 m
 High data rate and poor transmission qualities of UTP

 Optical fiber may be used

 Max about 500 m

 Physically star, logically bus

 Transmission from any station received by all other stations
 If two stations transmit at the same time, collision 47
Two Level Hub Topology
header hub (HHUB)

intermediate
hubs (IHUB)

48
 Buses, Hubs and Switches
 bus configuration
 all stations share capacity of bus (e.g. 10Mbps)
 only one station transmitting at a time
 hub uses star wiring to attach stations
 transmission from any station received by hub and
retransmitted on all outgoing lines
 only one station can transmit at a time
 total capacity of LAN is 10 Mbps
 can improve performance using a layer 2 switch
 can switch multiple frames between separate ports
 multiplying capacity of LAN 49
Shared
Medium
Bus and
Hub

50
 Layer 2 Switch Benefits
 no change to attached devices to convert bus
LAN or hub LAN to switched LAN
 e.g. Ethernet LANs use Ethernet MAC protocol
 have dedicated capacity equal to original LAN
 assuming switch has sufficient capacity to keep up
with all devices
 scales easily
 additional devices attached to switch by increasing
capacity of layer 2

51
 Types of Layer 2 Switch
 store-and-forward switch
 accepts frame on input line, buffers briefly,
routes to destination port
 see delay between sender and receiver
 better integrity
 cut-through switch
 use destination address at beginning of frame
 switch begins repeating frame onto output line
as soon as destination address recognized
 highest possible throughput
 risk of propagating bad frames not able to 52

check the CRC prior to retransmission.

 Layer 2 Switch vs Bridge
 Layer 2 switch can be viewed as full-duplex hub
 incorporates logic to function as multiport bridge
 differences between switches & bridges:
 bridge frame handling done in software
 switch performs frame forwarding in hardware
 bridge analyzes and forwards one frame at a time
 switch can handle multiple frames at a time
 bridge uses store-and-forward operation
 switch can have cut-through operation
 hence bridge have suffered commercially
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 Layer 2 Switch Problems
 broadcast overload
 users share common MAC broadcast address
 broadcast frames are delivered to all devices
connected by layer 2 switches and/or bridges
 broadcast frames can create big overhead
 broadcast storm from malfunctioning devices
 lack of multiple links
 limits performance & reliability

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 Router Problems
 typically use subnetworks connected by routers
 limits broadcasts to single subnet
 supports multiple paths between subnet

 routers do all IP-level processing in software

 high-speed LANs and high-performance layer 2
switches pump millions of packets per second
 software-based router only able to handle well
under a million packets per second
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 Layer 3 Switches
 Solution: layer 3 switches
 implement packet-forwarding logic of router in
hardware

 two categories
 packet by packet
 flow based

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 Packet by Packet or
Flow Based
 packet by packet
 operates like a traditional router
 order of magnitude increase in performance
compared to software-based router
 flow-based switch
 enhances performance by identifying flows of
IP packets with same source and destination
 by observing ongoing traffic or using a special
flow label in packet header (IPv6)
 a predefined route is used for identified flows
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 Typical
Large
LAN
Organization
Diagram

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 Summary
 LAN topologies and media
 LAN protocol architecture
 bridges, hubs, layer 2 & 3 switches

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