Data Communication Notes

Chapter 1st – Fundamentals of Data Communication

What is Data Communication ?

Data Communication is defined as exchange of data between two devices via

some form of transmission media such as a cable, wire or it can be air or
vacuum also. For occurrence of data communication, communicating devices
must be a part of communication system made up of a combination of hardware
or software devices and programs.

Data Communication System Components :

There are mainly five components of a data communication system:

1. Message
2. Sender
3. Receiver
4. Transmission Medium
5. Set of rules (Protocol)
1. Message :

This is most useful asset of a data communication system. The message

simply refers to data or piece of information which is to be
communicated. A message could be in any form, it may be in form of a
text file, an audio file, a video file, etc.

2. Sender :

To transfer message from source to destination, someone must be there

who will play role of a source. Sender plays part of a source in data
communication system. It is simple a device that sends data message. The
device could be in form of a computer, mobile, telephone, laptop, video
camera, or a workstation, etc.

3. Receiver :

It is destination where finally message sent by source has arrived. It is a

 device that receives message. Same as sender, receiver can also be in
form of a computer, telephone mobile, workstation, etc.

4. Transmission Medium :

In entire process of data communication, there must be something which

could act as a bridge between sender and receiver, Transmission medium
plays that part. It is physical path by which data or message travels from
sender to receiver. Transmission medium could be guided (with wires) or
unguided (without wires), for example, twisted pair cable, fiber optic
cable, radio waves, microwaves, etc.

5. Set of rules (Protocol) :

To govern data communications, various sets of rules had been already

designed by the designers of the communication systems, which represent
a kind of agreement between communicating devices. These are defined
as protocol. In simple terms, the protocol is a set of rules that govern data
communication. If two different devices are connected but there is no
protocol among them, there would not be any kind of communication
between those two devices. Thus the protocol is necessary for data
communication to take place.
Modes of Communication

Transmission Modes in Computer Networks (Simplex, Half-Duplex and Full-

Duplex)

Transmission mode means transferring of data between two devices. It is also

known as communication mode. Buses and networks are designed to allow
communication to occur between individual devices that are interconnected.
There are three types of transmission mode:-

1. Simplex Mode –

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. The simplex mode can use the entire capacity of the channel
to send data in one direction.
Example: Keyboard and traditional monitors. The keyboard can only
introduce input, the monitor can only give the output.
2. Half-Duplex Mode –

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. The half-duplex mode is used in cases where there is no
need for communication in both direction at the same time. The entire
capacity of the channel can be utilized for each direction.
Example: Walkie- talkie in which message is sent one at a time and
messages are sent in both the directions.
3. Full-Duplex Mode –

In full-duplex mode, both stations can transmit and receive simultaneously. In

full_duplex mode, signals going in one direction share the capacity of the link
with signals going in other direction, this sharing can occur in two ways:

 Either the link must contain two physically separate transmission paths,
one for sending and other for receiving.
 Or the capacity is divided between signals travelling in both directions.

Important Terms:

1. Bandwidth:

Bandwidth describes the maximum data transfer rate of a network or Internet

connection. It measures how much data can be sent over a specific connection
in a given amount of time. For example, a gigabit Ethernet connection has a
bandwidth of 1,000 Mbps (125 megabytes per second). An Internet connection
via cable modem may provide 25 Mbps of bandwidth.

While bandwidth is used to describe network speeds, it does not measure how
fast bits of data move from one location to another. Since data packets travel
over electronic or fiber optic cables, the speed of each bit transferred is
negligible. Instead, bandwidth measures how much data can flow through a
specific connection at one time.

2. Data Transmission Rate:

The data transmission rate is the volume of data transmitted over a

transmission channel or via a data interface within a specified unit of
time. The units used for this are baud or bits/s.

3. Baud Rate:

Baud rate refers to the number of signal or symbol changes that occur per
second. A symbol is one of several voltage, frequency, or phase changes.
What is Signal?

A signal is an electromagnetic or electrical current that is used for carrying data

from one system or network to another. The signal is a function that conveys
information about a phenomenon.

In electronics and telecommunications, it refers to any time-varying voltage that

is an electromagnetic wave which carries information. A signal can also be
defined as an observable change in quality such as quantity

What is an Analog Signal?

Analog Signal

Analog signal is a continuous signal in which one time-varying quantity

represents another time-based variable. These kind of signals works with
physical values and natural phenomena such as earthquake, frequency, volcano,
speed of wind, weight, lighting, etc.

KEY DIFFERENCES:
  An analog signal is a continuous signal whereas Digital signals are time
separated signals.
 Analog signal is denoted by sine waves while It is denoted by square
waves
 Analog signal uses a continuous range of values that help you to represent
information on the other hand digital signal uses discrete 0 and 1 to
represent information.
 The analog signal bandwidth is low while the bandwidth of the digital
signal is high.
 Analog instruments give considerable observational errors whereas
Digital instruments never cause any kind of observational errors.
 Analog hardware never offers flexible implementation, but Digital
hardware offers flexibility in implementation.
 Analog signals are suited for audio and video transmission while Digital
signals are suited for Computing and digital electronics.

Characteristics OF Analog Signal

Here, are essential characteristics of Analog Signal

 These type of electronic signals are time-varying

 Minimum and maximum values which is either positive or negative.
 It can be either periodic or non-periodic.
 Analog Signal works on continuous data.
 The accuracy of the analog signal is not high when compared to the
digital signal.
 It helps you to measure natural or physical values.
 Analog signal output form is like Curve, Line, or Graph, so it may not be
meaningful to all.
Advantages of Analog Signals

Here, are pros/benefits of Analog Signals

 Easier in processing
 Best suited for audio and video transmission.
 It has a low cost and is portable.
 It has a much higher density so that it can present more refined
information.
 Not necessary to buy a new graphics board.
 Uses less bandwidth than digital sounds
 Provide more accurate representation of a sound
 It is the natural form of a sound.

Disadvantages of Analog Signals

Here are cons/drawback of Analog Signals:

 Analog tends to have a lower quality signal than digital.

 The cables are sensitive to external influences.
 The cost of the Analog wire is high and not easily portable.
 Low availability of models with digital interfaces.
 Recording analog sound on tape is quite expensive if the tape is damaged
 It offers limitations in editing
 Tape is becoming hard to find
 It is quite difficult to synchronize analog sound
 Quality is easily lost
 Data can become corrupted
 Plenty of recording devices and formats which can become confusing to
store a digital signal
  Digital sounds can cut an analog sound wave which means that you can't
get a perfect reproduction of a sound
 Offers poor multi-user interfaces

What is a Digital Signal?

Digital Signal

A digital signal is a signal that is used to represent data as a sequence of

separate values at any point in time. It can only take on one of a fixed number of
values. This type of signal represents a real number within a constant range of
values.
Characteristics of Digital Signals

Here, are essential characteristics of Digital signals

 Digital signal are continuous signals

 This type of electronic l signals can be processed and transmitted better
compared to analog signal.
 Digital signals are versatile, so it is widely used.
 The accuracy of the digital signal is better than that of the analog signal.

Advantages of Digital Signals

Here, are pros/advantages of Digital Signals:

 Digital data can be easily compressed.

 Any information in the digital form can be encrypted.
 Equipment that uses digital signals is more common and less expensive.
 Digital signal makes running instruments free from observation errors
like parallax and approximation errors.
 A lot of editing tools are available
 You can edit the sound without altering the original copy
 Easy to transmit the data over networks

Disadvantage of Digital Signals

 Sampling may cause loss of information.

 A/D and D/A demands mixed-signal hardware
 Processor speed is limited
 Develop quantization and round-off errors
 It requires greater bandwidth
  Systems and processing is more complex.

Classification of Computer Network

Local Area Network (LAN) –

LAN or Local Area Network connects network devices in such a way that
personal computer and workstations can share data, tools and programs. The
group of computers and devices are connected together by a switch, or stack of
switches, using a private addressing scheme as defined by the TCP/IP protocol.
Private addresses are unique in relation to other computers on the local network.
Routers are found at the boundary of a LAN, connecting them to the larger
WAN.

Data transmits at a very fast rate as the number of computers linked are limited.
By definition, the connections must be high speed and relatively inexpensive
hardware (Such as hubs, network adapters and Ethernet cables). LANs cover
smaller geographical area (Size is limited to a few kilometers) and are privately
owned. One can use it for an office building, home, hospital, schools, etc. LAN
is easy to design and maintain. A Communication medium used for LAN has
twisted pair cables and coaxial cables. It covers a short distance, and so the error
and noise are minimized.
Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) –

MAN or Metropolitan area Network covers a larger area than that of a LAN and
smaller area as compared to WAN. It connects two or more computers that are
apart but resides in the same or different cities. It covers a large geographical
area and may serve as an ISP (Internet Service Provider). MAN is designed for
customers who need a high-speed connectivity. Speeds of MAN ranges in terms
of Mbps. It’s hard to design and maintain a Metropolitan Area Network.

The fault tolerance of a MAN is less and also there is more congestion in the
network. It is costly and may or may not be owned by a single organization. The
data transfer rate and the propagation delay of MAN is moderate. Devices used
for transmission of data through MAN are: Modem and Wire/Cable. Examples
of a MAN are the part of the telephone company network that can provide a
high-speed DSL line to the customer or the cable TV network in a city.

Wide Area Network (WAN) –

WAN or Wide Area Network is a computer network that extends over a large
geographical area, although it might be confined within the bounds of a state or
country. A WAN could be a connection of LAN connecting to other LAN’s via
telephone lines and radio waves and may be limited to an enterprise (a
corporation or an organization) or accessible to the public. The technology is
high speed and relatively expensive.
There are two types of WAN: Switched WAN and Point-to-Point WAN. WAN
is difficult to design and maintain. Similar to a MAN, the fault tolerance of a
WAN is less and there is more congestion in the network. A Communication
medium used for WAN is PSTN or Satellite Link. Due to long distance
transmission, the noise and error tend to be more in WAN.

Computer Network Architecture

Computer Network Architecture is defined as the physical and logical design of

the software, hardware, protocols, and media of the transmission of data.
Simply we can say that how computers are organized and how tasks are
allocated to the computer.

The two types of network architectures are used:

 Peer-To-Peer network
 Client/Server network

Peer-To-Peer network

 Peer-To-Peer network is a network in which all the computers are linked

together with equal privilege and responsibilities for processing the data.
  Peer-To-Peer network is useful for small environments, usually up to 10
computers.
 Peer-To-Peer network has no dedicated server.
 Special permissions are assigned to each computer for sharing the
resources, but this can lead to a problem if the computer with the resource
is down.

Advantages Of Peer-To-Peer Network:

 It is less costly as it does not contain any dedicated server.

 If one computer stops working but, other computers will not stop
working.
 It is easy to set up and maintain as each computer manages itself.

Disadvantages Of Peer-To-Peer Network:

 In the case of Peer-To-Peer network, it does not contain the centralized

system . Therefore, it cannot back up the data as the data is different in
different locations.
 It has a security issue as the device is managed itself.
 Client/Server Network

 Client/Server network is a network model designed for the end users

called clients, to access the resources such as songs, video, etc. from a
central computer known as Server.
 The central controller is known as a server while all other computers in
the network are called clients.
 A server performs all the major operations such as security and network
management.
 A server is responsible for managing all the resources such as files,
directories, printer, etc.
 All the clients communicate with each other through a server. For
example, if client1 wants to send some data to client 2, then it first sends
the request to the server for the permission. The server sends the response
to the client 1 to initiate its communication with the client 2.
Advantages Of Client/Server network:

 A Client/Server network contains the centralized system. Therefore we

can back up the data easily.
 A Client/Server network has a dedicated server that improves the overall
performance of the whole system.
 Security is better in Client/Server network as a single server administers
the shared resources.
 It also increases the speed of the sharing resources.

Disadvantages Of Client/Server network:

 Client/Server network is expensive as it requires the server with large

memory.
 A server has a Network Operating System(NOS) to provide the resources
to the clients, but the cost of NOS is very high.
 It requires a dedicated network administrator to manage all the resources.