Data Communication &

Computer Networks

Chapter 1
Introduction

DATACOMMUNICATION

Communication:
Communication is a process of establishing
connection or link between two points for information
exchanges.
Telecommunication
Telecommunication means communication at a
distance.
Data communication
Data communication is the exchange of data between
two devices via some form of transmission medium such
as a wire cable.

General
General Communication
Communication Model
Model

Source

Micropho
ne
Telephone
Computer
Scanner

Transmitter

Transform
er
Encoder
Compress
Modulator

Transmission
System

Line/Cabl
e
Fiber/Air
Satellite
Network

Receiver

Transforme
r
Decoder
Uncompres
s
Demodulat
or

Destination

Speaker
Earphon
e
Comput
er
Printer

Basic Communication Criteria: Performance, Reliability, Security

General Communications Model

Communications Model
Source
generates data to be transmitted
Transmitter
converts data into transmittable signals
Transmission System
carries data
Receiver
converts received signal into data
Destination
takes incoming data from the receiver

What is Data Communications?

Exchange of digital information
between two digital devices is data
communication

Data Communications Model

Message The message is the information (data) to be

communicated.
Popular forms of information include text, numbers,
pictures, audio,
and video.
2. Sender The sender is the device that sends the data
message.
It can be a computer, workstation, telephone handset,
video camera.
3. Receiver The receiver is the device that receives the
message.
It can be a computer, workstation, telephone handset,
television.
4. Transmission medium The transmission medium is the
physical path
by which a message travels from sender to receiver.
5. Protocol
A protocol
is a set of rules
thatinclude
governtwisted-pair
data
Some examples
of transmission
media
communications.
wire,
It
represents
agreement
between
the communicating
coaxial
cable,an
fiber-optic
cable,
and radio
waves.
devices.
Without a protocol, two devices may be connected but not
communicating, just as a person speaking French cannot be
understood
l.

Components of a data
communications system

Figure : Components of a data

communication system

Four fundamental characteristics

Four fundamental characteristics of data communication:
delivery, accuracy, timeliness, and jitter.
I. 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.
2. Accuracy. The system must deliver the data accurately.
Data that have been
altered in transmission and left uncorrected are unusable.
3. 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.
4. Jitter. Jitter refers to the variation in the packet arrival
time. It is the uneven delay in the delivery of audio or video
packets.

Figure : Data flow (simplex, half-duplex,

and full-duplex)

Simplex
Simplex Transmission
Transmission and
and Duplex
Duplex
Transmission
Transmission
Simplex
Transmission

Half Duplex
Transmission

Direction of data
Device A

Device B
One can send and the other can receive

Direction of data at time 1

Device A

Device B

Direction of data at time 2

Both can send and receive but in different time

Direction of data all the time

Full Duplex
Transmission

Device A

Device B

Both can send and receive simultaneously

Simplex
In
simplex
mode,
the
communication
is
unidirectional.
Only one of the two devices on a link can transmit;
the other can only receive
Keyboards and traditional monitors are examples of
simplex devices
keyboard can only introduce input; the monitor can
only accept output.
The simplex mode can use the entire capacity of the
channel to send data in one direction

Half-duplex
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
ln a half-duplex transmission, the entire capacity
of a channel is taken over by whichever of the
two devices is transmitting at the time.
In half-duplex, the entire capacity of the channel
is taken over by the transmitting (sending).
Walkie-talkies and CB (citizens band) radios are
both half-duplex systems

Full-duplex
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
the other direction.
This sharing can occur in two ways: either the
link must contain two physically separate
transmission paths, one for sending and the other
for receiving; or the capacity of the channel is
divided between signals traveling in both
directions.
One common example of full-duplex
communication is the telephone network. When
two people are communicating by a telephone line,
both can talk and listen at the same time

Analog and Digital Data Transmission

Data
Entities that convey Some meaning
Signals
Electric or electromagnetic or optical
representations of data.
So when ever data needs to be sent ,
it has to be converted into signal of
some form for transmission over
suitable medium
Transmission
Communication of data by
propagation and processing of signals

Data
Analog
Continuous values within some interval
e.g. sound, video

Digital
Discrete values
e.g. text, integers

Signals
Means by which data are propagated
Analog
Continuously variable
Various media
Wire, fiber optic, space

Speech bandwidth 100hz to 7khz

Telephone bandwidth 300hz to 3400hz
Video bandwidth 4Khz

Digital
Use two DC components

Data and Signals

Usually use digital signals for digital
data and analog signals for analog
data
Can use analog signal to carry digital
data
Modem

Can use digital signal to carry analog

data
Compact Disc audio

Analog Signals Carrying Analog

and Digital Data

Digital Signals Carrying Analog

and Digital Data

Analog Transmission
Analog signal transmitted without
regard to content
May be analog or digital data
Attenuated over distance
Use amplifiers to boost signal
Also amplifies noise

Digital Transmission
Concerned with content.
Integrity endangered by noise, attenuation
etc.
Repeaters used.
Repeater receives signal.
Extracts bit pattern.
Retransmits.
Attenuation is overcome.
Noise is not amplified.

Advantages of Digital Transmission

Digital technology
Low cost LSI/VLSI technology

Data integrity
Longer distances over lower quality lines

Capacity utilization
High bandwidth links economical
High degree of multiplexing easier with digital
techniques

Security & Privacy

Encryption

Integration
Can treat analog and digital data similarly

Transmission Impairments
Impairment is imperfections in
medium cause impairment
Signal received may differ from signal
transmitted
Analog - degradation of signal quality
Digital - bit errors
Caused by(three causes of impairment)
Attenuation and attenuation distortion
Delay distortion
Noise

Causes of impairment

Attenuation
Means loss of energy -> weaker
signal
When a signal travels through a
medium it loses energy
overcoming the resistance of the
medium
Amplifiers are used to compensate
for this loss of energy by
amplifying the signal.

Measurement of Attenuation
To show the loss or gain of energy
the unit decibel is used.
dB = 10log10P2/P1
P1 - input signal
P2 - output signal

Figure : Attenuation

Example :1
Suppose a signal travels through a transmission
medium and its power is reduced to one-half.
This means that P2 is (1/2)P1. In this case, the
attenuation (loss of power) can be calculated as

A loss of 3 dB (3 dB) is equivalent to losing onehalf the power.

Example:2
A signal travels through an amplifier, and its
power is increased 10 times. This means that P2
= 10P1 . In this case, the amplification (gain of
power) can be calculated as

Example:3
One reason that engineers use the decibel to
measure the changes in the strength of a signal is
that decibel numbers can be added (or
subtracted) when we are measuring several points
(cascading) instead of just two. In Figure 3.27 a
signal travels from point 1 to point 4. In this case,
the decibel value can be calculated as

Decibels for Example 3

3.33

Example :4
Sometimes the decibel is used to measure signal
power in milliwatts. In this case, it is referred to as
dBm and is calculated as dBm = 10 log10 Pm , where
Pm is the power in milliwatts. Calculate the power
of a signal with dBm = 30.
Solution
We can calculate the power in the signal as

Example : 5
The loss in a cable is usually defined in decibels per kilometer (dB/km).
If the signal at the beginning of a cable with 0.3 dB/km has a power of
2 mW, what is the power of the signal at 5 km?
Solution
The loss in the cable in decibels is 5 (0.3) = 1.5 dB. We can
calculate the power as

Distortion
Means that the signal changes its form
or shape
Distortion occurs in composite signals
Each frequency component has its own
propagation speed traveling through a
medium.
The different components therefore
arrive with different delays at the
receiver.
That means that the signals have
different phases at the receiver than
they did at the source.

Figure :

Distortion

Noise
There are different types of noise
Thermal - random noise of electrons
in the wire creates an extra signal
Induced - from motors and
appliances, devices act are
transmitter antenna and medium as
receiving antenna.
Crosstalk - same as above but
between two wires.
Impulse - Spikes that result from
power lines, lighning, etc.

Figure :

Noise

Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR)

To measure the quality of a system the SNR is
often used. It indicates the strength of the
signal wrt the noise power in the system.
It is the ratio between two powers.
It is usually given in dB and referred to as
SNRdB.
SNR is actually the ratio of what is wanted
(signal) to what is not wanted (noise).
A high SNR means the signal is less corrupted
by noise;
a low SNR means the signal is more corrupted
by noise.

Example :6
The power of a signal is 10 mW and the power
of the noise is 1 W; what are the values of
SNR and SNRdB ?
Solution
The values of SNR and SNRdB can be
calculated as follows:

Example :7
The values of SNR
noiseless channel are

and

SNRdB

for

We can never achieve this ratio in real life; it

is an ideal.

Figure :Two cases of SNR: a high SNR and a low SNR

Data rate limits

Important consideration in data communication
is how fast we can send data, in bits per second
over a channel.
Data rate depends on three factors:
1. Bandwidth available
2. Level of signals we use
3. Quality of the channel(level of noise)
. Two theoretical formulas for data rate
calculation
1.ByNquist for noiseless channel (Nquist bit rate)
2.By shannon for a noisy channel(Shannon
capacity theorem)

Nyquist Bandwidth
C = 2B log2 M
Where
C = Capacity of the channel
B = Bandwidth
M = Number of discrete signal or
voltage
level

Shannon Capacity Formula

C = B log2 (1+ SNR).

Where.
C = Capacity of the channel in bits per sec.
B = Bandwidth in Hertz.
SNR = Signal-to-Noise ratio in dB.
(SNR)dB = 10 log10 (signal power/noise power).

The formula assumes White noise (thermal noise).

Impulse noise, attenuation distortion or delay
distortion is not accounted for.
The wider the bandwidth, the more noise, thus as B
increases, SNR decreases.

Example
Spectrum of the channel = 3 to 4 MHz
SNR = 24dB
Then B = 4MHz 3MHz = 1MHz
SNRdB = 24dB = 10 log10 (SNR)
SNR = 251
Using Shannons formula,
C = 106 * log2(1+251) ~ 106 * 8 = 8 Mbps
Based on Nyquists formula
C = 2B log2 M
8 * 106 = 2 * (106) * log2 M
4 = log2 M
M = 16

The Expression Eb/No

The ratio of signal energy per bit to noise
power density per hertz
1 watt = 1 J/s
Eb = STb
Eb = energy per bit in a signal
S = signal power
Tb = time required to send one bit
R = data rate = 1 / Tb
Eb / No = (S/R) / No = S / kTR, or in decibel notation
(Eb/No)dB = SdBW 10log R 10log k 10log T
(Eb/No)dB = SdBW 10log R + 228.6 dBW 10log T