Business information can be transmitted in digital or

analog form
A digital system uses a sequence of discrete,
discontinuous values or symbols to represent
information
Discrete information has a finite “alphabet”
Examples include letters, numbers, icons, and binary data
The information rate and the capacity of a
digital channel are measured in bits per
second (bps)
Use a continuous signal to represent either
continuous or discrete information sources
Sources include sounds, music, and video
Expressed as an oscillation (sine wave format)
of frequency
Information rate and channel capacity are
measured in hertz (Hz) of bandwidth (1 Hz = 1
cycle per second)
To get a good representation of sound in digital
format we need to sample its amplitude at a rate
(samples per second, or smp/s) equal to at least twice
the maximum frequency (in Hz) range of the analog
signal
Telephone quality: 8000 smp/s, each sample using 8 bits
8 bits * 8000 smp/s = 64 kbps to transmit
CD audio quality: 44,100 smp/s, each sample using 16 bits
16 bits * 44,100 smp/s = 1.41mbps to transmit clearly
Quantization
The process after sampling that puts signal amplitudes in
digital form
 Lossless compression
Audio compression Receivers can reproduce an
algorithms can be exact digital duplicate of the
used to reduce the original audio stream
transmitted by the sender by
bandwidth expanding/decompressing
requirements for the file that is received
transmitting digital
audio streams over Lossy compression
communication lines Irreversible changes are
made to original file that
diminishes the quality of the
original audio stream when
the receiver decompresses
the file

Alphabet (IRA)
Consist of information that
can be represented by a
finite alphabet of symbols
Examples include text and
numerical information
Symbols are represented by
groups of 8 bits (octets or
bytes)
Textual data need to be
converted to binary digits
(bits) for data processing
and communications
systems
International Reference
Most commonly used text
code
The U.S. national version of
IRA is referred to as the
American Standard Code for
Information Interchange
(ASCII)
Each character in this code is
represented by a unique 7-bit
pattern
Almost always stored and
transmitted using 8 bits per
character
Eighth bit is a parity bit used for
error detection
 UTF-8
UCS [Universal Character Set]
Transformation Format – 8
8 bit code that is backward
compatible with ASCII
Supports variable-length
encoding
Capable of representing
symbols and characters used in
all the major languages spoken
around the world
Became the dominant
character-encoding scheme on
the World Wide Web in 2007
Unicode
Supported in numerous
programming languages
Also supported by the
operating systems used on
most computing and
communication devices
16-bit code that is backward
compatible with IRA/ASCII
Used to represent characters
for most of the writing systems
used worldwide
The networking and infrastructure
requirements for supporting data-
oriented business applications vary
widely depending largely on the
types and volumes of data that
need to be generated, transmitted,
and stored
Encryption is widely used to
protect data while it is being
transmitted and important business
files are often stored in encrypted
form
DS-0 = 56 kbps
DS-1 = 1.544 Mbps
DS-3 = 44.736 Mbps
Image is represented as a collection of straight and
curved line segments
Simple objects and more complex objects are defined
by the grouping of line segments

Image is represented as a two-dimensional array of

spots, called pixels
a “pixel” is the smallest single component of a digital image
Used for computer image processing
and for facsimile

common type of image being
RGB (red-green-blue)
Each pixel or image area is defined
by three values, one for each of
the three colors
Exploits that a large percentage of
the visible spectrum can be
represented by mixing red, green,
and blue in various proportions
and intensities
Color images are the most
transmitted over today’s
enterprise networks
The number of distinct colors that
can be represented in an image
file depends on the number of bits
used to represent each pixel, or
bits per pixel (bpp)
The resolution of transmitted
images is also related to the
number of pixels used to display
the image
Common raster formats
JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group)
Most widely used
Designed to be general purpose
Appropriate for high-quality images
GIF (Graphics Interchange Format)
Generally useful for nonphotographic images with a
fairly narrow range of color
Common document formats
PDF (Portable Document Format)
Postscript
Table 2.2 Comparison of Common Graphics File Formats
A tremendous number of bits is needed for representation
in the computer
The number of bits needed can be reduced by the use of
image compression techniques
Even with compression the number of bits to be
transmitted is large, especially for color images
Concerns:
Response time
Users need to be able to manipulate an image over
communication lines in real time
Throughput
Communications infrastructure must have a capacity great
enough to keep up with transmissions
Security
Some types of image transmissions must transfer
over secure links and typically require encryption
Carries sequences of pictures in time
In essence makes use of a sequence of raster-scan
images
Can be captured by either analog or digital
video recorders
Significantly higher bandwidth requirements in
order to send images (frames) quickly enough
Similarity of adjacent frames allows for high
compression rates
 Refers to the capture,
manipulation, and storage of
video in digital formats
• An analog video camera
signal that is digitized and
then transmitted or stored in
a digital format can be
considered digital video
Digital video cameras use
either the interlaced
technique or progressive scan
• All the lines of each frame
are drawn in sequence
• Progressive scan is used for
computer monitors and
most HDTV schemes
Liquid-crystal display (LCD)
• digital devices that use thin
sandwiches of glass
containing a liquid-crystal
material to display images
• Electric current causes the
molecules of the liquid-
crystal material to change
their alignment to either
block or transmit light and
create images
• Each pixel in LCD displays is
composed of red, green, and
blue subpixels
Video traffic on business networks is expanding at
dramatic rates
Unless compressed, real-time video traffic requires
extensive bandwidth
Lossy compression can be used
Discrete cosine transform (DCT) is the video compression
algorithm that underlies JPEG, MPEG (Motion Pictures
Expert Group), and H.263 video file formats
A key challenge for enterprise networks is scaling up IP
networks to effectively support video transmission
while also providing adequate quality of service to
other business transmission requirements
Table 2.3 Digital Television Formats
Data traffic is predicted to grow at a compound
rate of 50% each year between 2012 and 2016
The total annual volume is expected to exceed
60,000 petabytes by 2016
With video and TV streaming exceeding all other
forms of Web and Internet traffic
Wireless traffic for mobile connections is
expected to grow at nearly the same annual
rate
Key parameters related to performance:
Response time
Quality of experience
Throughput
The time it takes for a system to react to a given
input
• May be defined as the time between the last keystroke by the
user and the beginning of the display of a result by the computer

Computer processing power

• The faster the computer, the shorter the response time
• Increased processing power means increased cost

Competing requirements

• Providing rapid response time for some applications may penalize

other applications
A subjective measure of the user’s perception of
the overall value of the network application or
service
Is measured at end-user computing devices
Is especially important for real-time applications
such as voice and video
Network elements that facilitate flexibility,
security, cost, mobility, and personalization may
contribute positively to QoE
  Video
 Digital video
 Audio  Networking
 Networking implications implications
 Data  Performance
 Networking implications measures
 Image  Response time
 Image representation  Quality of
 Image and document experience
formats
 Throughput
 Networking implications

Chapter 2: Business Information