The University of Faisalabad

Computer Networks
Week 1

Maryam Tanveer
Lecturer (Department of Computer Science)
[email protected]
 Course Book
Text Book

Data Communication
and Networking
Fourth EDITION
Behrouz A. Forouzan
DeAnza College
with
Sophia Chung Fegan
Course Book
Reference Book

Data and Computer

Communication
Eighth EDITION
William Stallings
 Course Objective

 Build an understanding of the fundamental concepts of

computer networking.
 To understand the physical phenomenon that can be used
to transmit digital information
 Familiarize the student with the basic taxonomy and
terminology of the computer networking area.
 To prepare students to know the characteristics and
designs of types of computer networks and their
applications.
 What is
Computer
Networks?
 Computer
Networks
Computer Network A Collection of computing
devices that are connected in various ways in
order to communicate and share resources
Usually, the connections between computers in
a network are made using physical wires or
cables
However, some connections are wireless, using
radio waves or infrared signals
 Computer
Networks
The generic term node or host refers to any
device on a network
Data transfer rate The speed with which data is
moved from one place on a network to another
Data transfer rate is a key issue in computer
networks
 Data
Communication
When we communicate, we are sharing information. This sharing can be local or remote.

The word 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.
The communicating devices must be part of a communication
system made up of a combination of hardware (physical
equipment) and software (programs).
 Data
Communication
The effectiveness of a data communications system depends on four fundamental characteristics:
Delivery: The system must deliver data to the correct destination. Data must be received by the
intended device or user and only by that device or user.
Accuracy: The system must deliver the data accurately. Data that have been altered in transmission and
left uncorrected are unusable.
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.
Jitter: Jitter refers to the variation in the packet arrival time. It is the uneven delay in the delivery of
audio or video packets.
 Data
Communication
Components of Data Communication
A data communications system has five components
 Data
Communication
Message: The message is the information (data) to be communicated. Popular forms of information
include text, numbers, pictures, audio, and video.
Sender: The sender is the device that sends the data message. It can be a computer, workstation,
telephone handset, video camera, and so on.
Receiver: The receiver is the device that receives the message. It can be a computer, workstation,
telephone handset, television, and so on.
Transmission medium: The transmission medium is the physical path by which a message travels from
sender to receiver. Some examples of transmission media include twisted-pair wire, coaxial cable, fiber-
optic cable, and radio waves.
Protocol: A protocol is a set of rules that govern data communications. It represents an agreement
between the communicating devices.
 Data
Representation
Information today comes in different forms such as text, numbers, images, audio, and video.

Text
In data communications, text is represented as a bit pattern, a sequence of bits (0s or Is). Different sets
of bit patterns have been designed to represent text symbols. Each set is called a code, and the process
of representing symbols is called coding.
Character sets – ASCII code and Unicode
The ASCII code system (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) was set up in 1963 for use
in communication systems and computer systems. A newer version of the code was published in 1986.
The standard ASCII code character set consists of 7-bit codes (0 to 127 in denary or 00 to 7F in
hexadecimal).
Part of the ASCII code table

Extended ASCII code table

 Data
Representation
Numbers
Numbers are also represented by bit patterns. However, a code such as ASCII is not used to represent
numbers; the number is directly converted to a binary number to simplify mathematical operations.

Images
Bitmap images are made up of pixels (picture elements); an image is made up of a two-dimensional
matrix of pixels. Pixels can take different shapes such as:
 Data
Representation
Each pixel can be represented as a binary number, and so a bitmap image is stored in a computer as a
series of binary numbers, so that:
 a black and white image only requires 1 bit per pixel – this means that each pixel can be one of two
colors, corresponding to either 1 or 0
 if each pixel is represented by 2 bits, then each pixel can be one of four colors (2 2 = 4), corresponding
to 00, 01, 10, or 11
 if each pixel is represented by 3 bits then each pixel can be one of eight colors (2 3 = 8),
corresponding to 000, 001, 010, 011, 100, 101, 110, 111.
The number of bits used to represent each colour is called the colour depth.
Image resolution refers to the number of pixels that make up an image; for example, an image could
contain 4096 × 3072 pixels (12 582 912 pixels in total).
 Data
Representation
 Data
AudioRepresentation
Audio refers to the recording or broadcasting of sound or music. Audio is by nature different from text,
numbers, or images. It is continuous, not discrete. Each sound wave has a frequency, wavelength and
amplitude. The amplitude specifies the loudness of the sound.
 Data
Representation
 Data
Representation
Video
Video refers to the recording or broadcasting of a picture or movie. Video can either be produced as
a continuous entity (e.g., by a TV camera), or it can be a combination of images, each a discrete
entity, arranged to convey the idea of motion.
 Data transmission / Data
Flow
Data transmission can be either over a short distance (for example, computer to printer) or over longer
distances (for example, from one computer to another in a global network). Essentially, three factors
need to be considered when transmitting data:
 the direction of data transmission (for example, can data transmit in one direction only, or in both
directions)
 the method of transmission (for example, how many bits can be sent at the same time)
 how will data be synchronized (that is, how to make sure the received data is in the correct order).
These factors are usually considered by a communication protocol.
Data transmission / Data
Flow
 Data transmission / Data
Flow
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.
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.
In full-duplex mode (also called duplex), both
stations can transmit and receive simultaneously
Data transmission / Data
Flow
Data transmission / Data
Flow

Serial data transmission works well over long distances. However, the data is transmitted at a slower
rate than parallel data transmission. Because only one channel/wire is used, data will arrive at its
destination fully synchronized (i.e. in the correct order). An example of its use is when connecting a
computer to a printer via a USB connection.
Data transmission / Data
Flow

Parallel data transmission works well over short distances. Over longer distances (for example, over
20metres), data can become skewed (that is, the data can arrive unsynchronized) and bits can arrive out
of order. The longer the wire, the worse this can become. It is, however, a faster method of data
transmission than serial. The internal circuits in a computer use parallel data transmission since the
distance travelled between components is very short and high-speed transmission is essential.
 Data transmission / Data
Flow
Comparison of serial and parallel data transmission methods
Networks
 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.
 Networks
Network Criteria
A network must be able to meet a certain number of criteria. The most important of these are performance,
reliability, and security.

Performance Performance can be measured in many ways, including transit time and response
time.
Performance is often evaluated by two networking metrics: throughput and delay.

Reliability Network reliability is measured by the frequency of failure, the time it takes a link to
recover from a failure, and the network's robustness in a catastrophe.

Security Network security issues include protecting data from unauthorized access, protecting
data from damage and development, and implementing policies and procedures for
recovery from breaches and data losses.
Physical Structures
Type of Connection
A network is two or more devices connected through links.
A link is a communications pathway that transfers data from one device to another.
There are two possible types of connections: point-to-point and multipoint.

Point-to-Point A point-to-point connection Multipoint A multipoint (also called multidrop) connection is

provides a dedicated link between two devices. one in which more than two specific devices share a single
The entire capacity of the link is reserved for link. In a multipoint environment, the capacity of the
transmission between those two devices. channel is shared, either spatially or temporally.
Physical Structures
Physical Topology
The term physical topology refers to the way in which a network is laid out physically. Two or more
devices connect to a link; two or more links form a topology. The topology of a network is the geometric
representation of the relationship of all the links and linking devices (usually called nodes) to one another. There
are four basic topologies possible: mesh, star, bus, and ring.
Physical Structures
Mesh Topology
In a mesh topology, every device has a dedicated point-to-point link to every other device. The term
dedicated means that the link carries traffic only between the two devices it connects.

Advantages
• It has dedicated links.
• It is robust.
• It ensures privacy and security
Disadvantages
• It’s installation and reconnection are difficult
• The sheer bulk of the wiring
• Expensive hardware requirements (I/O ports and
cable)
Physical Structures
Star Topology
In a star topology, each device has a dedicated point-to-point link only to a central controller, usually
called a hub. The devices are not directly linked to one another.

Advantages
• It i easy to install and reconfigure.
• less cabling required
• Robustness (If one link fails, only that link is affected)
• Disadvantages
• The dependency of the whole topology on one single
point, the hub. If the hub goes down, the whole
system is dead.
 Physical Structures
Bus Topology
The preceding examples all describe point-to-point connections. A bus topology, on the other hand,
is multipoint. One long cable acts as a backbone to link all the devices in a network.
Advantages
• Ease of installation.
• less length of cable
• cost-effective as compared to other network
topology
Disadvantages
• Difficult reconnection and fault isolation.
• Difficult to add new devices.
• Fault or break in the bus cable stops all
transmission
Physical Structures
Ring Topology
In a ring topology, each device has a dedicated point-to-point connection with only the two devices on either
side of it. A signal is passed along the ring in one direction, from device to device, until it reaches its
destination. Each device in the ring incorporates a repeater.
Physical Structures
Ring Topology
Advantages
Ring topology facilitates easy installation and reconfiguration with devices linked to immediate neighbors, requiring only
two connection changes for addition or deletion, while enabling efficient fault isolation through continuous signal
circulation and alarm alerts for unresponsive devices.
Disadvantages
However, unidirectional traffic can be a disadvantage. In a simple ring, a break in the ring (such as a disabled station) can
disable the entire network. This weakness can be solved by using a dual ring or a switch capable of closing off the break.

Ring topology was prevalent when IBM introduced its local-area network Token Ring. Today, the need for higher-speed
LANs has made this topology less popular.
Physical Structures
Hybrid Topology
A network can be hybrid. For example, we can have a main star topology with each branch
connecting several stations in a bus topology
 Categories of
Networks
Local Area Network
A local area network (LAN) is usually
privately owned and links the devices in a
single office, building, or campus.
Depending on the needs of an organization
and the type of technology used, a LAN can
be as simple as two PCs and a printer in
someone's home office; or it can extend
throughout a company and include audio
and video peripherals. Currently, LAN size
is limited to a few kilometers.
 Categories of
Networks
Local Area Network
• LANs are designed to allow resources to be shared between personal computers or workstations.
The resources to be shared can include hardware (e.g., a printer), software (e.g., an application
program), or data.
• LANs are distinguished from other types of networks by their transmission media and topology.
In general, a given LAN will use only one type of transmission medium. The most common LAN
topologies are bus, ring, and star. Early LANs had data rates in the 4 to 16 megabits per second
(Mbps) range. Today, however, speeds are normally 100 or 1000 Mbps.
• Wireless LANs are the newest evolution in LAN technology.
 Categories of
Networks
Wide Area Network
A wide area network (WAN) provides long-distance transmission of data, image, audio, and
video information over large geographic areas that may comprise a country, a continent, or
even the whole world.
A WAN can vary from a complex switched network connecting routers and multiple LANs to a simple
point-to-point connection, such as a home computer using a leased line from a service provider for
Internet access.
A good example of a switched WAN is the asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network, which
is a network with fixed-size data unit packets called cells. Another example of WANs is the
wireless WAN that is becoming more and more popular
 Categories of
Networks
Wide Area Network
 Categories of
Networks
Metropolitan Area Networks
A metropolitan area network (MAN) is a network with a size between a LAN and a WAN.
It normally covers the area inside a town or a city. It is designed for customers who need a high-
speed connectivity, normally to the Internet, and have endpoints spread over a city or part of city.
A good example of a MAN is the part of the telephone company network that can provide a high-
speed DSL line to the customer.
Another example is the cable TV network that originally was designed for cable TV, but today can
also be used for high-speed data connection to the Internet.
Categories of Networks

Interconnection of
Networks: Internetwork
 Categories of
Networks
Interconnection of Networks: Internetwork
Today, it is very rare to see a LAN, a MAN, or a LAN in isolation; they are connected to one another. When two or
more networks are connected, they become an internetwork, or internet.
As an example, assume that an organization has two offices, one on the east coast and the other on the west
coast.
The established office on the west coast has a bus topology LAN; the newly opened office on the east coast has
a star topology LAN. The president of the company lives somewhere in the middle and needs to have control
over the company from her home.
To create a backbone WAN for connecting these three entities (two LANs and the president's computer), a
switched WAN (operated by a service provider such as a telecom company) has been leased. To connect the
LANs to this switched WAN, however, three point-to-point WANs are required. These point-to-point WANs can
be a high-speed DSL line offered by a telephone company or a cable modern line offered by a cable TV provider.
The INTERNET?
The Internet is a structured, organized system.
Introduction of Internet
Internet is composed of hundreds of thousands of interconnected networks.
A network is a group of connected communicating devices such as computers and printers.
An internet (note the lowercase letter i) is two or more networks that can communicate
with each other.
The most notable internet is called the Internet (uppercase letter I), a collaboration of more
than hundreds of thousands of interconnected networks.
History of Internet

ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer)

Feb. 14 1946
History of Internet
Mid 1960s
The Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) in the
Department of defense (DOD) was interested in finding a way
to connect computers together.
So that the researchers they funded could share their findings,
thereby reducing costs and eliminating duplication of efforts.

by 1969
By 1969, ARPANET was a reality. Four nodes, at the University
of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), the University of California
at Santa Barbara (UCSB), Stanford Research Institute (SRI), and
the University of Utah, were connected to form network.
History of Internet

September, 1971
History of Internet

1972: Birth of the internet

Vint cerf and bob kahn, both of whom were part of the core
ARPANET group, collaboration on what they called the
internetting project.
They want to link different networks together so that a host
on one network could communicate with host on a second,
different network.
They developed Gateway to connect different Network.
They develop TCP(Transmission Control Protocol). Which
splits into TCP and IP and then called TCP/IP.
The Internet Today
The Internet today is not a simple hierarchical structure. It is made up of many wide- and local-area
networks joined by connecting devices and switching stations.
PROTOCOLS AND STANDARDS

Synonymous with rule Agreed-upon rules

Protocols
• In computer networks, communication occurs between entities in different systems.
• An entity is anything capable of sending or receiving information.
• A protocol is a set of rules that govern data communications.
• A protocol defines what is communicated, how it is communicated, and when it is communicated.
• The key elements of a protocol are syntax, semantics, and timing.

Syntax
The term syntax refers to the structure or format of the data, meaning the order in which they are
presented. For example, a simple protocol might expect the first 8 bits of data to be the address of the
sender, the second 8 bits to be the address of the receiver, and the rest of the stream to be the
message itself.
Protocols

Semantics
The word semantics refers to the meaning of each section of bits. How is a particular pattern to
be interpreted, and what action is to be taken based on that interpretation? For example, does an
address identify the route to be taken or the final destination of the message?

Timing
The term timing refers to two characteristics: when data should be sent and how fast they can be
sent. For example, if a sender produces data at 100 Mbps but the receiver can process data at
only 1 Mbps, the transmission will overload the receiver and some data will be lost.
 Standards

Standards are essential in creating and maintaining an open and competitive market for equipment
manufacturers and in guaranteeing national and international interoperability of data and
telecommunications technology and processes. Data communication standards fall into two categories:
de facto (meaning "by fact" or "by convention") and de jure (meaning "by law" or "by regulation").
De facto
Standards that have not been approved by an organized body but have been adopted as standards
through widespread use are de facto standards.
De jure
Those standards that have been legislated by an officially recognized body are de jure standards.
 Internet Standards

• An Internet standard is a thoroughly tested specification that is useful to and adhered to by those who
work with the Internet.
• It is a formalized regulation that must be followed.
• An Internet draft is a working document (a work in progress) with no official status and a 6-month
lifetime.
• Upon recommendation from the Internet authorities, a draft may be published as a Request for
Comment (RFC).
• Each RFC is edited, assigned a number, and made available to all interested parties.
• RFCs go through maturity levels and are categorized according to their requirement level.
Internet Standards
Internet Standards
 Transmission
Medium
A transmission medium can be broadly defined as anything that can carry information
from a source to a destination.
 Transmission Medium

• A transmission medium is the way in which data is transmitted from one place to
another.
• It provide a pathway over which the message can travel from sender-to-receiver.
• Each of the message can be sent in the form of data by converting then into binary
digits.
• These binary digits are then encoded into a signal that can be transmitted over the
appropriate medium.
Types of Transmission
Medium
 Guided Media

• Guided Transmission media are the cables that are tangible or have physical
existence.
• Bounded Transmission means having connectivity between a source and destination
using cables or wires. The signals have to travel through this this channel i.e. physical
media.
 Guided Media
Twisted-Pair Cable:

A twisted pair consists of two conductors (normally copper), each with its own plastic
insulation, twisted together. One of the wires is used to carry signals to the receiver,
and the other is used only as a ground reference.
 Guided Media
Types of Twisted-Pair Cable:
• Unshielded twisted-pair (UTP)
• Shielded twisted-pair (STP)
The most common twisted-pair cable used in communications is referred to as
unshielded twisted-pair (UTP). STP cable has a metal foil or braided mesh covering
that encases each pair of insulated conductors. Although metal casing improves the
quality of cable by preventing the penetration of noise or crosstalk, it is bulkier and
more expensive.
 Guided Media
Coaxial Cable
Coaxial cable (or coax) has a central core conductor of solid or stranded wire (usually copper)
enclosed in an insulating sheath, which is, in turn, encased in an outer conductor of metal foil,
braid, or a combination of the two. The outer metallic wrapping serves both as a shield against
noise and as the second conductor, which completes the circuit. This outer conductor is also
enclosed in an insulating sheath, and the whole cable is protected by a plastic cover.
 Guided Media
Coaxial Cable
Coaxial cable carries signals of higher frequency ranges than twisted pair cable.
 Guided Media
Coaxial Cable
Applications
• Coaxial cable was widely used in analog telephone networks, digital telephone
networks.
• Cable TV networks also use coaxial cables.
• Another common application of coaxial cable is in traditional Ethernet LANs
 Guided Media
Fiber-optic cable
• A fiber-optic cable is made of glass or plastic and transmits signals in the form of light. Light
travels in a straight line as long as it is moving through a single uniform substance. If a ray of
light traveling through one substance suddenly enters another substance(of a different
density), the ray changes direction.
• Optical fibers use reflection to guide light through a channel. A glass or plastic core is
surrounded by a cladding of less dense glass or plastic.
 Guided Media
Fiber-optic cable

Advantages
• Higher bandwidth.
• Less signal attenuation.
• Immunity to electromagnetic interference.
• Resistance to corrosive materials.
• Light weight.
• Greater immunity to tapping.
Disadvantages
• Installation and maintenance
• More expensive than other guided media.
Unguided Media

Unguided media transport electromagnetic waves without using a physical conductor.

This type of communication is often referred to as wireless communication.
• Radio Waves

• Microwaves

• Infrared
Unguided Media
Unguided Media
 Unguided Media
Radio Waves
• Electromagnetic waves ranging in frequencies between 3 kHz and 1 GHz are
normally called radio waves.
• Radio waves are omni directional. When an antenna transmits radio waves, they are
propagated in all directions. This means that the sending and receiving antennas do
not have to be aligned.
• A sending antenna sends waves that can be received by any receiving antenna.
• The radio waves transmitted by one antenna are susceptible to interference by
another antenna that may send signals using the same frequency or band.
• Omni directional Antenna: Radio waves use omnidirectional antennas that send out
signals in all directions.
Unguided Media
Radio Waves
• The Omni directional characteristics of
radio waves make them useful for
multicasting, in which there is one
sender but many receivers. AM and FM
radio, television, maritime radio, cordless
phones, and paging are examples of
multicasting.
Unguided Media
Microwaves
• Electromagnetic waves having frequencies between 1 and 300 GHz are called
microwaves.
• Microwaves are unidirectional.
• The sending and receiving antennas need to be aligned. The unidirectional property
has an obvious advantage. A pair of antennas can be aligned without interfering with
another pair of aligned antennas.
Applications:
• Microwaves are used for unicast communication such as cellular telephones,
satellite networks, and wireless LANs.
Unguided Media
Microwaves
Unidirectional Antenna
• Microwaves need unidirectional antennas that send out signals in one direction.
Two types of antennas are used for microwave communications: the parabolic
dish and the horn.
 Unguided Media
Infrared waves
• Infrared waves, with frequencies from 300 GHz to 400 THz (wavelengths from 1 mm to 770 nm),
can be used for short-range communication.
• Infrared waves, having high frequencies, cannot penetrate walls.

• Infrared signals useless for long-range communication.

• We cannot use infrared waves outside a building because the sun's rays contain infrared waves
that can interfere with the communication.

Applications:

• Infrared signals can be used for short-range communication in a closed area using line-of-
sight propagation.