Data Transmission

Characteristics

UNDERSTANDING COMPUTERS: TODAY AND TOMORROW, 15TH EDITION 2

Networking Media
• Wired Networking Media
– Twisted-Pair Cable
• Pairs of insulated wires twisted together
• Used for telephone and network connections (LANs)
– Coaxial Cable
• Thick center wire surrounded by insulation
• Used for computer networks and cable television
delivery
– Fiber-Optic Cable
• Utilizes hundreds of thin transparent clear glass or
plastic fibers over which lasers transmit data as light
• Used for high-speed communications

UNDERSTANDING COMPUTERS: TODAY AND TOMORROW, 15TH EDITION 3

Networking Media

UNDERSTANDING COMPUTERS: TODAY AND TOMORROW, 15TH EDITION 4

Networking Media
• Wireless Networking Media
– Data is sent through the airwaves using radio signals
– The Electromagnetic and Wireless Spectrum
• Radio frequencies are assigned by the FCC and are
measured in hertz (Hz)
• The electromagnetic spectrum is the range of common
electromagnetic radiation (energy)
• Different parts of the spectrum have different
properties, which make certain frequencies more
appropriate for certain applications

UNDERSTANDING COMPUTERS: TODAY AND TOMORROW, 15TH EDITION 5

Networking Media

UNDERSTANDING COMPUTERS: TODAY AND TOMORROW, 15TH EDITION 6

 Networking Media
• Frequencies assigned to an application usually consist of a
range of frequencies to be used as needed
• Most wireless networking applications use frequencies in the
RF band at the low end of the spectrum—up to 300 GHz
– Often called the wireless spectrum
• The 900 MHz, 2.4GHz, 5 GHz, and 5.8 GHz frequencies are
within an unlicensed part of the spectrum and can be used by
any product or individual
– Cordless landline phones, garage door openers,
Wi-Fi, WiMAX, and Bluetooth

40
UNDERSTANDING COMPUTERS: TODAY AND TOMORROW, 15TH EDITION
Networking Media
• Cellular Radio Transmissions
– Use cellular towers within honeycomb-shaped zones called
cells
– Calls are transferred from cell tower to cell tower as the
individual moves
– Cell tower forwards call to the MTSO
– MTSO routes call to the recipient’s phone
– Data sent via cell phones works in similar manner
– The speed of cellular radio transmissions depends on the
type of cellular standard being used

UNDERSTANDING COMPUTERS: TODAY AND TOMORROW, 15TH EDITION 8

Networking Media

UNDERSTANDING COMPUTERS: TODAY AND TOMORROW, 15TH EDITION 9

Networking Media
• Microwave and Satellite Transmissions
– Microwaves
• High-frequency radio signals that are sent and received
using microwave stations or satellites
• Signals are line of sight, so microwave stations are
usually built on tall buildings, towers, mountaintops
– Microwave stations
• Earth-based stations that transmit signals directly to
each other within a range of 30 miles
• Stations designed to communicate with satellites
(television and internet services) are called satellite
dishes

UNDERSTANDING COMPUTERS: TODAY AND TOMORROW, 15TH EDITION 10

Networking Media
– Communication satellites are launched into orbit to send
and receive microwave signals from earth
• Traditional satellites use geosynchronous orbit 22,300
miles above the earth
• A delay of less than one half-second is common when
signals travel from earth to satellite and back
• Low earth orbit (LEO) satellites were developed to
combat delay
• Medium earth orbit (MEO) satellites are most often
used for GPS systems

UNDERSTANDING COMPUTERS: TODAY AND TOMORROW, 15TH EDITION 11

Networking Media

UNDERSTANDING COMPUTERS: TODAY AND TOMORROW, 15TH EDITION 12

Networking Media
• Infrared (IR) Transmissions
– Sends data as infrared light rays
– Like an infrared television remote, IR requires line of sight
– Because of this limitation, many formerly IR devices
(wireless mice, keyboards) now use RF technology
– IR is sometimes used to beam data between some mobile
devices, game consoles, and handheld gaming devices

UNDERSTANDING COMPUTERS: TODAY AND TOMORROW, 15TH EDITION 13

Networking Hardware
• Network Adapter
– Used to connect a computer to a network
– Also called network interface card (NIC) when in the form
of an expansion card
• Modem
– Device that enables a computer to communicate over
analog networking media
– Term is often used interchangeably with network adapter
– Most computers and mobile devices today come with a
built-in network adapter and/or modem

70
UNDERSTANDING COMPUTERS: TODAY AND TOMORROW, 15TH EDITION
Networking Hardware

UNDERSTANDING COMPUTERS: TODAY AND TOMORROW, 15TH EDITION 15

Networking Hardware
• Switch
– Central device that connects devices in a wired network but only
sends data to the intended recipient
– Hub – similar but sends data to all recipients
• Router
– Connects multiple networks: two LANs, two WANS, LAN and
the Internet
– Passes data to intended recipient only
– Routes traffic over the Internet
• Wireless Access Point
– Device used to grant network access to wireless client devices

UNDERSTANDING COMPUTERS: TODAY AND TOMORROW, 15TH EDITION 16

Networking Hardware
• Wireless Router
– Typically connects both wired and wireless devices to a
network and to connect the network to the Internet
– Often integrates a switch, router, and wireless access point
• Bridge
– Used to connect two LANs together
– In a home network, wirelessly connects a wired device to
the network

UNDERSTANDING COMPUTERS: TODAY AND TOMORROW, 15TH EDITION 17

Networking Hardware

UNDERSTANDING COMPUTERS: TODAY AND TOMORROW, 15TH EDITION 18

Networking Hardware
• Repeaters
• Amplify signals along a network
• Range Extenders
– Repeaters for a wireless network
• Antennas
– Devices used for receiving or sending radio signals
– Some network adapters can use an external antenna
– Can be directional or omnidirectional
– Strength measured in decibels (dB)

UNDERSTANDING COMPUTERS: TODAY AND TOMORROW, 15TH EDITION 19

Networking Hardware
• Multiplexer
– Combines transmissions from several different devices to
send them as one message
• Concentrator
– Combines messages and sends them via a single
transmission medium in such a way that all of the
messages are simultaneously active

UNDERSTANDING COMPUTERS: TODAY AND TOMORROW, 15TH EDITION 20

Networking Hardware

UNDERSTANDING COMPUTERS: TODAY AND TOMORROW, 15TH EDITION 21

Functions of network devices
• Separating (connecting) networks or
expanding network
• e.g. repeaters, hubs, bridges, routers,
brouters, switches, gateways
• Remote access
• e.g. 56K Modems and ADSL modems

22
 ENG224
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY – Part I
8. Network Devices

A. Expanding Network
• Networks cannot be made larger by simply
adding new computers and more cables
• Less efficient !!

• Can install components to

• segment (divide) large LAN to form smaller
LANs
• connect LANs
• Required components
• Repeaters, bridges, routers, brouters,
switches or gateways
23
a. Repeaters and Hubs
• Repeaters or hubs work at the OSI physical layer to
regenerate the network’s signal and resend them to
other segments
• Primitive hub can be viewed as a multiport repeater
• It regenerates data and broadcasts them to all
ports
Hub

24
Limitations and Features
• Cannot link unlike segments
• Cannot join segments with different access methods
(e.g. CSMA/CD and token passing)
• Do not isolate and filter packets
• Can connect
different types of
media
• The most economic
way of expanding
networks

25
b. Bridges
• Has one input and one output
• Used to isolate network traffic and computers
• Has the intelligent to examine incoming packet
source and destination addresses
• But cannot
interpret higher-
level information
• Hence cannot
filter packet
according to its
protocol
26
 How Bridges Work
• Bridges work at the Media Access Control Sub-
layer of the OSI model
• Routing table is built
to record the segment
no. of address
• If destination address
is in the same segment
as the source address,
stop transmit
• Otherwise, forward to
the other segment
27
 Creating a Switching Table
• Based on the addresses of the sending computers
• New addresses are added if they are not in the
table
Add02 S 02 D 01 Switching Table
Seg 1 Seg 2
Add01 01
Stop 02

Add03 S 01 D 02
28
 Remote Bridges
• Bridges are often used in large networks that
have widely dispersed segments
• Remote bridges can be used to connect remote
segments via data-grade telephone line

29
Differences Between Bridges and Repeaters

Repeaters Bridges

OSI layer Physical layer Data link layer

Data Regenerate data at Regenerate data

regeneration the signal level at the packet
level
Reduce network No Yes
traffic
30
What networking devices operate at the physical
layer (layer 1) of the OSI model?
ÆA repeater can provide a simple solution if either of
these two problems exists.
ÆWhen signals first leave a transmitting station, they
are clean and easily recognizable. However, the longer
the cable length, the weaker and more deteriorated the
signals become as they pass along the networking
media.
Location of Repeater
Hub
ÆMulti-port repeaters are often called hubs. Hubs are
very common internetworking devices. Generally
speaking, the term hub is used instead of repeater
when referring to the device that serves as the center of
a star topology network.
What is the disadvantage associated with using
a repeater?
Æit can't filter network traffic. Data, sometimes referred
to as bits, arriving at one port of a repeater gets sent
out on all other ports
Ædata gets passed along by a repeater to all other LAN
segments of a network regardless of whether it needs
to go there or no
What problem could occur as a result of too
much traffic on a network?
Æif segments of a network are only connected by non-
filtering devices such as repeaters, this can result in
more than one user trying to send data on the network
at the same time
ÆIf more than one node attempts to transmit at the
same time, a collision will occur.
ÆWhen a collision occurs, the data from each device
impact and are damaged
What internetworking device can be used to
filter traffic on the network?
ÆOne way to solve the problems of too much traffic on
a network and too many collisions is to use an
internetworking device called a bridge.
ÆA bridge eliminates unnecessary traffic and minimizes
the chances of collisions occurring on a network by
dividing it into segments
At what layer of the OSI model
do bridges operate?

ÆBecause bridges operate at the data link layer, layer 2, they are
not required to examine upper-layer information.
How do bridges filter network
traffic?
How are bridge data-
forwarding decisions limited?
Æ Although bridges use tables to determine whether or
not to forward data to other segments of the network,
the types of comparisons and decisions they make are
relatively low level, simple ones
 What types of network traffic
problems is a bridge incapable
of solving?
ÆBridges work best where traffic from one segment of a
network to other segments is not too great.
ÆHowever, when traffic between network segments
becomes too heavy, the bridge can become a
bottleneck and actually slow down communication.
How many addressing
schemes are there in
networking?
ÆYou have already learned what one of these
addressing schemes is. It is the MAC address.
ÆThe second addressing scheme in networking makes
use of what is called the IP address.
How do IP addresses differ from
MAC addresses?
ÆLike MAC addresses, every IP address is unique. No
two IP addresses are ever alike.
ÆHowever, while MAC addresses are physical
addresses that are actually hard-coded into the NIC
card and occur at the data link layer
ÆIP addresses are implemented in software and occur
at the network layer of the OSI model.
What are routers?
Æ Routers are another type of internetworking device.
ÆThese devices pass data packets between networks
based on network protocol or layer 3 information.
ÆRouters have the ability to make intelligent decisions
as to the best path for delivery of data on the network.
 What network problems can
routers help resolve?
Æ The problem of excessive broadcast traffic can be
solved by using a router.
ÆRouters are able to do this, because they do not
forward broadcast frames unless specifically told to do
so
 How do routers differ from
bridges?
Æ Routers differ from bridges in several respects. First,
bridging occurs at the data link layer or layer 2,while
routing occurs at the network layer or layer 3 of the OSI
model.
ÆSecond, bridges use physical or MAC addresses to
make data forwarding decisions. Routers use a
different addressing scheme that occurs at layer three
How do routers work?
ÆRouters are used to connect two or more networks.
For routing to be successful, each network must have a
unique network number
The port where a router connects to network A would
have an IP address of A5.
The IP address of the router's
second interface would be B5.
The router would determine to send the data from
network A to network B out its port with the IP address
B5.