Almaaqal University

College of Engineering
Dept. of Control & Computer

Computer Networks

Lecture 1
Introduction
4th Grade

Assist. Lect. Alnawar J. Mohammed

1
DATA COMMUNICATIONS
 Telecommunication means
communication at a distance.
 Data refers to information presented in
whatever form is agreed upon by the
parties creating and using the data.
 Data communications are the exchange
of data between two devices via some
form of transmission medium such as a
wire cable.
2.2
Data communications system
Effectiveness
The effectiveness of a data communications
system depends on four fundamental
characteristics:
1- Delivery. The system must deliver data to
the correct destination.

2- Accuracy. The system must deliver the

data accurately and correctly.

2.3
Data communications system
Effectiveness
3- Timeliness. The system must deliver
data in a timely manner. Data delivered late
are useless.
In the case of video and audio, timely
delivery means delivering data as they are
produced, in the same order that they are
produced, and without significant delay. This
kind of delivery is called real-time
transmission.
4- Jitter. refers to the variation in the
packet arrival time.
2.4
Five components of data
communication

2.5
Data flow (simplex, half-duplex, and
full-duplex)
1- Simplex
In simplex mode, the communication is
unidirectional, as on a one-way street.
Only one of the two devices on a link can
transmit; the other can only receive.

2.6
Data flow (simplex, half-duplex, and
full-duplex)
2- Half-Duplex
In half-duplex mode, each station can both
transmit and receive, but not at the same time.
When one device is sending, the other can only
receive, and vice versa. Walkie-talkies is one of
the half-duplex systems.

2.7
Data flow (simplex, half-duplex, and
full-duplex)
3- Full-Duplex
 In full-duplex mode (also called duplex), both stations
can transmit and receive simultaneously.
 The full-duplex mode is like a two-way street with
traffic flowing in both directions at the same time. One
common example of full-duplex communication is the
telephone network.
 The capacity of the channel, however, must be divided
between the two directions.

2.8
NETWORKS
 A network is a set of devices (often referred to
as nodes) connected by communication links.
 A node can be a computer, printer, or any other
device capable of sending and/or receiving data
generated by other nodes on the network.

2.9
Network Criteria
A network must be able to meet a certain number of
criteria. The most important of these are:
1- Performance
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 devices, and the efficiency of the
software. 2.10
Network Criteria
Performance is often evaluated by two
networking metrics: throughput and delay. We
often need more throughput and less delay.
However, throughput and delay are often opposite
to each other. 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.
Throughput: the rate of successful message
delivery over the communication channel.
Unit of Throughput = bit/sec
2.11
Network Criteria
2- Reliability
Network reliability is measured by the
frequency of failure, the time it takes a link to
recover from a failure.
3- Security
Network security issues include protecting
data from unauthorized access, protecting
data from damage and modifications.

2.12
 Summary of Network Cirteria
Network Factors
Criteria
High Less Less High speed Efficient Efficient
Few High Low
Performance

transit response Medium hardware Software

users Throughput Delay
time time (fiber) Devices programs
Non- Non-
High High Lower
More Efficient Efficient Low Low
Low

transit response speed

users hardware Software Throughput Delay
time time Medium
Devices programs
High

Less Failure Less time to recover from Failure

Reliability

Low

Frequency of Failure Long time to recover from Failure

Protecting data from Protecting data from damage and

High

unauthorized access modifications

Security

No protection from No protection from damage and

Low

unauthorized access modification

2.13
Types of Connections

 A Point-to-Point Connection :dedicated

link between two devices. For example, a
wired network that connects two
computers together.

2.14
Types of Connections
A multipoint connection is a shared link
between three or more devices. The capacity
of the link is also shared between all the
devices.

2.15
2.16