Chapter No.

:– 1

Introduction to Data communication and Networking

 Data Communication :-
Communication means sharing information between two or more parties
or persons or devices.
The word ‘DATA’ refers to presentation of information in a form which
is agreed by parties creating & using the data.
The data communication is the exchange of data between two or more
devices via some form of transmission media, such as cable. The data is
exchanged in the form of ‘0’ and ‘1’.
The sharing can be local or remote.
a. Local communication takes place when the communicating devices are in
the same geographical area, same building, face-to-face between individuals
etc..
b. Remote communication takes place over a distance i.e. the devices are
farther.
The effectiveness of data communication system depends on three
fundamental characteristics-
1. Delivery:-
The system must deliver data to the correct destination.
2. Accuracy:-
The system must deliver data accurately.
3. Timeliness: -
The system must deliver data in time.

This data transmission takes place by means of electrical signals in digital or

analog form.
A. Analog signal :-
In analog signal, transmitted signal varies over a continuous range via
analog channels. Telephone line used for communication is analog channels.

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 Fig.:- Analog Signal

B. Digital signal :-
In digital signal, sequence of voltage pulse represent in binary 0 and 1, are
transmitted via digital channels. Computer generates data in digital form.

Fig.:- Digital Signal

When analog signals are transmitted over long distance, they become
weak & distorted as they travel. Hence amplifiers are used at periodic intervals
to regenerate weak signals.
But for digital signals repeaters are used to regenerate weak digital
signals along digital communication lines.

 Communication Entities / Components:-

For any communication process there are multiple components which are
needed these are:-
1. Computer :-
These are sources & destination of data. An application on a computer
generates data which has to be send to other computer.

2. Communication medium :-
These are the communication channels via which data is transferred
from one location to another. Medium could be a physical or a wireless medium.
e.g.:- cables or satellite.

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3. Communication Devices :-

There are intermediate devices that are used for data conversion, connectivity
and interface. E.g.:-modems, interface card / LAN card.

4. Communication software :-

This is the application needed for proper data communication.

 Data Representation :-

Information today comes in different form such as text, number, images,

audio & video.

1. Text :-
In data communication, text is represented as a bit pattern, a sequence
of bits (0 & 1). Difference sets of bit patterns have been designed to represent text
symbols. For example, the widely used ASCII code (American Standard Code for
Information Interchange) defines 128 different symbols (all the characters found
on a standard keyboard, plus a few extra), and assigns to each a unique numeric
code between 0 and 127.
In ASCII, an "A" is 65," B" is 66, "a" is 97, "b" is 98, and so forth.
When you save a file as "plain text", it is stored using ASCII. ASCII format uses
1 byte per character, 1 byte gives only 256 (128 standard and 128 non-standard)
possible characters. Each set is called a code, & the process of representing
symbols is called coding.
2. Numbers :-
The numbers are represented as a bit pattern. 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.
3. Images :-
Images are also represented by bit pattern. In its simplest form, an image
is composed of a matrix of pixels, where each pixel is a small dot. The size of
the pixel depends on the resolution. For example; an image can be divided into
1000 pixels or 10,000 pixels.

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 After an image is divided into pixels, each pixel is assigned a bit pattern.
For an image mode of only black and white dots (e.g.: a Chessboard), a 1-bit
pattern is enough to represent a pixel.
If an image is not mode of pure white & pure black pixel, we can
increase the size of bit pattern to include gray scale. We use 2-bit pattern. A
black pixel can be represented by 00, a dark gray pixel by 01, a light gray pixel
by 10, & a white pixel by 11.
There is another several methods used to represent color images.
Ex:- RGB,YCM.
4. Audio :-
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.
5. Video:-
Video refers to the recording or broadcasting of a picture or movie. Video
can either de produced as a continuous entity or it can be a combination of
images, each a discrete entity, arranged to convey digital or an analog signal.

 Data Flow or Modes of Data Transmission :-

It defines direction of data between two devices. It is also called
communication mode. There are three ways for transmitting data from one point to
another- simplex, half duplex or full duplex –
1. Simplex:-
This is one way communication i.e. communication is unidirectional.
Only one of the two devices on a link can transmit, the other can only receives.
Data can travel along the path only in one direction. We cannot send a message
back to the sender.

Direction of Data

Sender Receiver

Fig.:- Simplex Mode

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 Keyboards & traditional monitors are example of simplex devices. The
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.
E.g.:- TV (Television), Loudspeaker.

2. Half duplex :-
Data can travel in both directions, but only one direction at a time. I.e.
there cannot be simultaneous data transfer between two computers at the same
time. When one device is sending, the other can only receive, & vice versa.
Direction of data at time 1

Sender Receiver

Direction of data at time 2

Fig.:- Half Duplex Mode
In half duplex transmission, the entire capacity of the channel is taken
over by whichever of two devices is transmitting at the time.
E.g.:- Walkie-talkies.

3. Full Duplex:-
Full duplex communication allows simultaneous data transfer between
two computers along the same communication medium. It is also called as
duplex.

In full duplex communication, signals going in one direction share the

capacity of the link with signals going in the other direction.

Direction of data all the time

Sender Receiver

Fig.:- Full Duplex Mode

E.g.:- Telephone Network.

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 When two people are communicating by a telephone line, both can talk
and listen at the same time.

The full duplex communication is used when communication in both

directions is required all the time. The capacity of the channel must be divided
between the two directions.

 Communication Model:-
The fundamental purpose of a communications system is the
exchange of data between two parties. Let us consider a simple communication
model in following figure, the key elements of the model are-
Source System Destination System

Transmission
Source Transmitter System Receiver Destination

Fig.:- Communication Model

1. Source:-
This device generates the data to be transmitted; examples are
telephones and personal computers.

2. Transmitter:-
The data generated by a source system are not transmitted directly in the
form in which they were generated. A transmitter transforms and encodes the
information in the form which is suitable for the transmission and then
transmits it across a transmission system.

3. Transmission System:-
This can be a single transmission line or media that connects source and
destination and share data between both entities.

4. Receiver:-
The receiver accepts the signal from the transmission system and
converts it into a form that can be handled by the destination device (original
form in which the data was generated by source)

5. Destination:-
Takes the incoming data from the receiver.

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