Lecture – 1

Introduction to Networking
 Subtopics

Brief History and Evolution of Networks

Who's Who

Data Communication
 Brief History and Evolution of Networks

The 18th century - era of the great mechanical systems, Industrial Revolution

The 19th century - age of the steam engine

The 20th century - key technology was information gathering, processing, and
distribution
• Worldwide telephone networks
• Invention of radio and television
• Birth and growth of the computer industry
• Launching of communication satellites

The old model of a single computer serving all of the organization's
computational needs has been replaced by one in which a large number of
separate but interconnected computers do the job

These systems are called computer networks.

The ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network) developed by
ARPA of the United States Department of Defense, was the world's first
computer network. (1960s)
 Introduction

Throughout we will use the term ''computer network'' to mean a

collection of autonomous computers interconnected by a single
technology, two computers are said to be interconnected if they are
able to exchange information

The connection need not be via a copper wire; fiber optics,
microwaves, infrared, and communication satellites can also be used
 Who's Who ?

PTT – Post Telephone and Telegraph administration. One of the many
national bodies responsible for providing communications services in a
particular country. In Sri Lanka the SLT

ITU - International Telecommunication Union
Tasks
• Standardization
• Allocation of the radio spectrum
• Organizing interconnection arrangements between different countries
• ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T)
• ITU Radio communication Sector (ITU-R)
• ITU Telecommunication Development Sector (ITU-D)

The standards are called "Recommendations"

ANSI - American National Standards Institute

ISO - International Organization for Standardization
(International Standards Organization)

IEEE - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Major player in the
standards world.
• IEEE 802 standard for LAN (ISO 8802)
 Data Communication

Communication
• Exchange of information
• To have a proper communication session needs
– At least 2 parties
– Communication medium
– Use of compatible standards (common grounds)

Telecommunication
• Any process that permit passage from sender to one or more receivers of
information of any nature (audible, visible, printed etc.) by any
electromagnetic system (electric, radio, optical)

Data Communication
• The part of telecommunication that related to computer systems

Basic building block of a data communication system

Input info Comm. link output info

Input Device Transmitter Receiver Output Device

 The Theoretical Basis for Data Communication

Information can be transmitted on wires by varying some physical
property such as voltage or current

By representing the value of this voltage or current as a single-
valued function of time, f(t), we can model the behavior of the
signal and analyze it mathematically

Fourier Analysis
• In the early 19th century, French mathematician Jean-Baptiste
Fourier proved that any reasonably behaved periodic function, g(t)
with period T can be constructed as the sum of number of sines and
cosines

f = 1/T is the fundamental frequency

an and bn are the sine and cosine amplitudes of the nth harmonics (terms)
c is a constant