Computer Networks

&
Data Communication

Gamini Wijayarathna
1

Recommended Readings
William A. Shay, Understanding Data
Communications and Networks, 2nd Edition,
1999, Brooks/Core Publishing Company.
Comer Douglas, E. Internetworking with
TCP/IP, 3rd Edition, 2000, Prentice-Hall.
Andrew S. Tanenbaum, Computer Networks, 3rd
Edition, 1997, Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Why Study Communications?

Communication technology has invaded
virtually every aspect of daily life, from
professional and educational uses to
purely recreational ones.

A Brief History
The filed of communications is not new:
For thousands of years people communicated using little
more than words, stone tablets, and smoke signals.
The primary forms of sending information were based on
the auditory and visual senses.

Communications changed drastically in 1837,

when Samuel Morse invented the telegraph. This
invention made it possible to send information using
electrical impulses over a copper wire. Messages were
sent by translating each character into a sequence of
long or short electrical impulses (dots and dashes).
4

A Brief History (Cont.)

In 1876 Alexander-Graham Bell took the
telegraph one step further. He showed that a
voice could be converted directly to electrical
energy and transmitted over a wire using
continuously varying voltages. At the wires other
end the electrical signals were converted back to
sound.
During next 70 years the telephone system grew to
the point where the telephone became a common
device in a home.
5

A Brief History (Cont.)

In 1945 - Invention of the first electronic
computer, ENIAC (Electronic Numerical
Integrator and Calculator). It was the first
device that could actually process information
electronically.
The relation between computers and
communications began to emerge after the
invention of the transistor in 1947. It allowed
smaller and cheaper computers to be built.
6

A Brief History (Cont.)

The new generation of computers that emerged
during 1960s made new applications such as
processing and routing telephone calls economically
feasible.
Another milestone in electronic communications
occurred with the development of the personal
computer (PC). The 1980s saw the infusion of
millions of PCs into virtually every business,
company, school, and organization and into many
homes as well. The fact that so many people now
had computers generated the need to make
information even more easily accessible.
7

A Brief History (Cont.)

The 1990s saw the emergence of the World Wide
Web (WWW), an application that makes
information from around the world easily accessible
from ones desk. With the click of a mouse button,
computer users can access files, programs, video
clips, and sound bites. Online services such as chat
rooms, bulletin boards, airline reservation systems,
and more. Computers and communications have
progressed to the point where most businesses or
schools can no longer function without them.
8

Applications
Transferring data between computers. LAN
/ WAN communications.
Telephones /Fax / Cellular phones.
Televisions.
Voice and video communications.
Teleconferencing.
Information Services.
9

Computer Communication
Schematic
Computer A

User-to-user
communication

Application
process

Application
process

Communication

Computer B

Computer-to-computer
communication

subsystem

Communication
subsystem

Computer-to-network communication
Data communication network
10

Uses of Computer Networks

(for Companies)

Resource sharing
High reliability
Saving money
Scalability
Communication medium
11

Resource Sharing
Goal is to make all

programs
equipments &

data
available to anyone on the network
without regard to the physical location
of the resource and the user.
12

High Reliability
Multiple copies of files
Multiple CPUs
For military, banking, air traffic control,
nuclear power plant, and many other
applications, the ability to continue
operating in the face of hardware
problem is of utmost importance.

13

Saving Money
Small computers have a much
better price/performance ratio
than large ones.
Mainframes are faster than PCs but
they cost a thousand times more.
Mainframes

Client Server Systems

14

Client Server Model

Client Machine

Server Machine
Request

Server
Process

Reply
Client
Process
Network
15

Scalability
Centralized Mainframes

Client Server Systems

should be replaced by
a large one.

new clients and

new servers

expensive
disruption to the users

can be added as needed.

16

Uses of Computer Networks

(for People)
Access to remote information
Person-to-person communication
Interactive entertainment

17

Network Hardware
Criterions for classifying networks:
Transmission technology
Scale

18

Transmission Technology
Broadcast networks
Point-to-point networks

19

Scale
Interprocess Processors
Example
or distance located in same
0.1 m

Circuit board

Data flow machine

1m
10 m

System
Room

Multicomputer

100 m
1 km

Building
Campus

Local area network

( LAN )

City

Metropolitan area
network ( MAN )

Country
Continent

Wide area network

( WAN )

Planet

The Internet

10 km
100 km
1,000 km
10,000 km

20

Network Topology
Manner in which network devices are
connected physically.
Devices:
Mainframes, Workstations, File servers,
Printers, Scanners

21

Network Topologies

Bus topology
Star topology
Ring topology
Hybrid topology
Tree topology
Complete topology
Irregular topologies
22

Bus Topology
Mainframe

Workstation

File server

File server

Workstation

23

Bus Topology (cont.)

A single communication line
Each device has an interface that listens to
the bus and examines its data traffic
Carrier Sense, Multiple Access with
Collision Detection (CSMA/CD)

Ethernet (IEEE 802.3)

http://www.ieee802.org/3/
- One popular bus network

24

Bus Topology (cont.)

A single communication line
Each device has an interface that listens to
the bus and examines its data traffic
Carrier Sense, Multiple Access with
Collision Detection (CSMA/CD)

25

Bus Topology (Cont.)

A

B
Segment

Cable A

Cable C

C
26

Bus Topology (Cont.)

Send Concurrently

No traffic

C
27

Bus Topology (Cont.)

CSMA/CD
A

X
E

C
28

Star Topology
Cables

Computer
29

Star Topology (Cont.)

One station (often a mainframe or file
server) is a logical communication
center
Other stations communicate through it

30

Star Topology (Cont.)

B

31

Ring Topology
Computer

Cables

32

Ring Topology (Cont.)

Stations are arranged in a ring
Each station connected directly
only to its two neighbors
Messages pass through all of the
stations in between
(clockwise or counterclockwise)

33

Ring Topology (cont.)

B

E
D

34

Hybrid Topology
Computer

Computer

Computer

bridge

Computer

bridge

Computer

Computer

Computer
35

Tree Topology

36

Complete Topology

Cables

Computer
37

Irregular Topology

38

Local Area Networks ( LANs)

They are widely used to connect
personal computers & workstations in

company offices & factories to

share resources & exchange information.

39

Popular LANs
Ethernet (IEEE 802.3)
Bus topology
10 or 100 Mbps (Megabits/Sec.)
Megabit = 1,000,000 bits
but not 1,048,576 (220)
IBM Token Ring (IEEE 802.5)
Ring topology
4 or 16 Mbps
40

Metropolitan Area Networks

(MANs)
Bigger version of LANs
Normally uses similar technology
DQDB (IEEE 803.6)
(Distributed Queue Dual Bus)

41

Architecture of the DQDB

MAN
Direction of flow on bus A
Bus A

Computer 1

Computer 2
Head end

Bus B
Direction of flow on bus A

42

DQDB MAN
Direction of flow on bus A
Bus A

Computer 1

Computer 2
Head end

Bus B
Direction of flow on bus A

43

Wide Area Networks (WANs)

Spans a large geographical area
(a country or continent)
Contains a collection of hosts

Hosts are connected by a subnet

(communication subnet)
44