Data Communications

Data Communications is the transfer of data or information between a source and a receiver. The source transmits the data and the receiver receives it. The actual generation of the information is not part of Data Communications nor is the resulting action of the information at the receiver. Data Communication is interested in the transfer of data, the method of transfer and the preservation of the data during the transfer process. In Local Area Networks, we are interested in "connectivity", connecting computers together to share resources. Even though the computers can have different disk operating systems, languages, cabling and locations, they still can communicate to one another and share resources. The purpose of Data Communications is to provide the rules and regulations that allow computers with different disk operating systems, languages, cabling and locations to share resources. The rules and regulations are called protocols and standards in Data Communications.

A Brief History of Data Communication

Data Communications is the means by which our evolving culture has implemented &innovated an exchange of intelligence in our society. It has always been and continues to be the dominant force that dictates the way we live and do business. Data communications history reflects a blend of histories, including the history of the telecommunications industry, the history of data communications and the history of the Internet.

The Evolution of Data Communication Telecommunications: y y y y y y y y y y y y y y

1837 - Samuel Morse exhibited a working telegraph system 1843 - The first telegraph lines were opened in between Paddington and Slough by the Great Western Railway 1846 - Alexander Bain patented printing telegraph 1876 - Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone 1895 - Guglielmo Marconi invented radio 1901 - First Trans-Atlantic signal 1926 - John Logi Baird gave the first demonstration of the television 1951 - First direct long distance dialing without an operator 1958 - The US launched its first communications satellite o It formed part of an early warning radar system o First international satellite telephone call by 1962 1962 - Faxing service was introduced 1968 - AT&T and Bell Telephone Company had controlled the US-Telephone System 1983 - Introduction of cell phones 1984 - AT&T was split into 2-parts 1996 - Deregulation Act:

o o

U.S. Congress enacted the Telecommunications Act Replaced all the current laws and FCC regulations

From the invention of the telegraph in 1837, the telephone in 1877 & wireless/radio technologies in 1895, communication proliferations have set the stage for modern communications as we know it.

Data Communications: y y y y y y y y y y
1940 - Bell Laboratories began experimenting with a communications system using the COMPLEX computer. This was the forerunner of the teletypewriter 1947 - Transistor invented in Bell Labs 1950s - Computer systems used batch processing with discrete files 1954 - IBM Remote Job Entry (RJE); it allowed a terminal to forward records to a host computer and receive reports back 1960 - AT&T Bell Labs 300 Baud Modem (MOdulator/DEModulator) 1960s - Data Communication across telephone lines became more commonplace 1969 - Internet started by the US DoD as a network of 4 computers known as ARPANET (American Research Project Agency network) 1976 - Introduction of Packet-Switched service (X.25, Frame Relay, ATM, SMDS) 1980 - Public service of digital networks (ISDN) 1984 - ARPANET became more commonly known as the Internet

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, networks were not designed to allow users on different networks to share information and resources. Several groups began developing the concept of internetworking, which allowed computers on different networks to connect and exchange information.

The Internet: y y
1974 - Microcomputer revolution 1983 - Internet split into 2-parts:

y y y y y

Milnet - devoted to military network Internet - devoted to the university research

1989 - Internet and CA*Net massed in great numbers - 200,000 servers combined 1990 - All networks around the world joined together as a worldwide network of networks 1990s Usage density grows rapidly

y y y y

Commercial networks began connecting to both NSFNET and CA*Net More than 60 percent of all U.S. PCs are networked (i.e. LANs)

1992 - More than 1 million servers on the Internet 1994 - Status of the Internet:

y y y

Almost 4 million servers on the Internet Commercialization of the Internet begins rapid growth

1995 - Commercialization continues at a rapid pace

y y y y y y y y y

6.5 million Hosts, 100,000 WWW Sites NSFNET reverts back to a research network. Main US backbone traffic now routed through interconnected network providers (TLAs) WWW surpasses FTP data in March as the service with greatest traffic on NSFNET based on packet count, and in April based on byte count Traditional online dial-up systems (CompuServe, AOL & Prodigy) begin to provide Internet access A number of Net related companies go public, with Netscape leading the pack Registration of domain names is no longer free Technologies of the Year: WWW & Search engines (WAIS development) Microsoft enters the arena, Windows 95 essentially puts the Internet at millions of desktops The WWW browser war begin

Microsoft Internet Explorer vs. Netscape Navigator)

y y y y

Software development cycles shorten due to the greater pool of beta users Software development cycles shorten due to the greater pool of beta users

12.8 million Hosts, 500,000 WWW Sites. Internet phones catch the attention of US telecommunication companies

y y y y y y y y

They ask the US Congress to ban the technology (which has been around for years) Clearly a case of anti-competitiveness from the Telecom industry

1997 - What Next? 19,5 million Hosts, 1 million WWW sites, 71,618 Newsgroups. International agreement signed by 68 countries to reduce regulation in TC markets Beginning with the telegraph in the 1840s, Electronic Data Communications have greatly sped up the transmission rate of information Information that took days or weeks to transmit during the 1700s could be transmitted in minutes or hours by the 1900s Today, telecommunications networks transmit huge quantities of information in a fraction of a second.

In fact, the growth of telecommunications and especially computer networks have been the strongest contributor to the globalization phenomenon we are experiencing today.

The shape of a local-area network (LAN) or other communications system. Topologies are either physical or logical. There are four principal topologies used in LANs. ybus topology: All devices are connected to a central cable, called thebus or backbone. Bus networks are relatively inexpensive and easy to install for small networks. Ethernet systems use a bus topology. yring topology : All devices are connected to one another in the shape of a closed loop, so that each device is connected directly to two other devices, one on either side of it. Ring topologies are relatively expensive and difficult to install, but they offer high bandwidth and can span large distances. ystar topology: All devices are connected to a central hub. Star networks are relatively easy to install and manage, but bottlenecks can occur because all data must pass through the hub. ytree topology: A tree topology combines characteristics of linear bus and star topologies. It consists of groups of star-configured workstations connected to a linear bus backbone cable. These topologies can also be mixed. For example, a bus-star network consists of a high-bandwidth bus, called the backbone, which connects a collections of slower-bandwidth star segments.

The term transmission mode defines the direction of data flow between two linked devices. The manner or way in which data is transmitted from one place to another is called Data Transmission Mode. There are three ways for transmitting datafrom one location to another. These are: 1. Simplex mode 2. Half-Duplex mode 3. Full-Duplex mode 1. Simplex Mode In Simplex mode, the communication can take place in only one direction. In this mode, a terminal can only send data and cannot receive it or it can only receive data but cannot send it. It means that in this mode communication is uni-directional. Today, this mode of data communication is not popular, because most of the modem communications require two-way exchange of data. However, this mode of communication is used in business field at certain point-of-sale terminals in which sales data is entered without a corresponding reply. The other examples of simplex communication modes are Radio and T.V transmissions.

Simplex

In computer system, the keyboard, monitor and printer are examples of simplex devices. The keyboard can only be used to enter data into computer, while monitor and printer can only accept (display/print) output. 2. Half-Duplex Mode In Half-duplex mode, the communication can take place in both directions, but only in one direction at a time. In this mode, data is sent and received alternatively. It is like a one-lane bridge where two-way traffic must give way in order to cross the other. In half-duplex mode, at a time only one end transmits data while other end receives. In addition, it is possible to perform error detection and request the sender to re-transmit information. The Internet browsing is an example of half duplex. When we issue a request to download a web document, then that document is downloaded and displayed before we issue another request.

Half Duplex

3. Full-Duplex Mode
In Full-duplex mode, the communication can take place in both directions simultaneously, i.e. at the same time on the same channel. It is the fastest directional mode of communication. Example of this mode is conversation of the persons through telephone. This type of communication is similar to automobile traffic on a two-lane road. The telephone communication system is an example of MI-duplex communication mode.

Full Duplex

Types of Data Transmission Modes

There are two types of data transmission modes. These are: 1. Parallel Transmission 2. Serial Transmission 1. Parallel Transmission In parallel transmission, bits of data flow concurrently through separate communication lines. Parallel transmission is shown in figure below. The automobile traffic on a multi-lane highway is an example of parallel transmission. Inside the computer binary data flows from one unit to another using parallel mode. If the computer uses 32-bk internal structure, all the 32-bits of data are transferred simultaneously on 32lane connections. Similarly, parallel transmission is commonly used to transfer data from computer to printer. The printer is connected to the parallel port of computer and parallel cable that has many wires is used to connect the printer to computer. It is very fast data transmission mode. 2. Serial Transmission In serial data transmission, bits of data flow in sequential order through single communication line. Serial dat& transmission is shown in figure below. The flow of traffic on one-lane residential street is an example of serial data transmission mode. Serial transmission is typically slower than parallel transmission, because data is sent sequentially in a bit-by-bit fashion. Serial mouse uses serial transmission mode in computer.

Synchronous & Asynchronous Transmissions

Synchronous Transmission In synchronous transmission, large volumes of information can be transmitted at a time. In this type of transmission, data is transmitted block-by-block or word-byword simultaneously. Each block may contain

several bytes of data. In synchronous transmission, a special communication device known as synchronized clock is required to schedule the transmission of information. This special communication device or equipment is expensive. Asynchronous Transmission In asynchronous transmission, data is transmitted one byte at a time. This type of transmission is most commonly used by microcomputers. The data is transmitted character-by-character as the user types it on a keyboard. An asynchronous line that is idle (not being used) is identified with a value 1, also known as Mark state. This value is used by the communication devices to find whether the line is idle or disconnected. When a character (or byte) is about to be transmitted, a start bit is sent. A start bit has a value of 0, also called a space state. Thus, when the line switches from a value of 1 to a value of 0, the receiver is alerted that a character is coming.

OSI Seven-Layer Model In the 1980s, the European-dominated International Standards Organization (ISO), began to develop its Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) networking suite. OSI has two major components: an abstract model of networking (the Basic Reference Model, or seven-layer model), and a set of concrete protocols. The standard documents that describe OSI are for sale and not currently available online. Parts of OSI have influenced Internet protocol development, but none more than the abstract model itself, documented in OSI 7498 and its various addenda. In this model, a networking system is divided into layers. Within each layer, one or more entities implement its functionality. Each entity interacts directly only with the layer immediately beneath it, and provides facilities for use by the layer above it. Protocols enable an entity in one host to interact with a corresponding entity at the same layer in a remote host.

The seven layers of the OSI Basic Reference Model are (from bottom to top):

1. The Physical Layer describes the physical properties of the various communications media, as well as the electrical properties and interpretation of the exchanged signals. Ex: this layer defines the size of Ethernet coaxial cable, the type of BNC connector used, and the termination method. 2. The Data Link Layer describes the logical organization of data bits transmitted on a particular medium. Ex: this layer defines the framing, addressing and checksumming of Ethernet packets. 3. The Network Layer describes how a series of exchanges over various data links can deliver data between any two nodes in a network. Ex: this layer defines the addressing and routing structure of the Internet. 4. The Transport Layer describes the quality and nature of the data delivery. Ex: this layer defines if and how retransmissions will be used to ensure data delivery. 5. The Session Layer describes the organization of data sequences larger than the packets handled by lower layers. Ex: this layer describes how request and reply packets are paired in a remote procedure call. 6. The Presentation Layer describes the syntax of data being transferred. Ex: this layer describes how floating point numbers can be exchanged between hosts with different math formats. 7. The Application Layer describes how real work actually gets done. Ex: this layer would implement file system operations. The original Internet protocol specifications defined a four-level model, and protocols designed around it (like TCP) have difficulty fitting neatly into the seven-layer model. Most newer designs use the seven-layer model.