Data Communications

National Engineer Training

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Frequency, Spectrum and
Bandwidth
„ Time domain concepts
„ Continuous signal
„ Various in a smooth way over time
„ Discrete signal
„ Maintains a constant level then changes to another
constant level
„ Periodic signal
„ Pattern repeated over time
„ Aperiodic signal
„ Pattern not repeated over time
Continuous & Discrete Signals
Periodic Signals
 Wavelength
„ Distance occupied by one cycle
„ Distance between two points of corresponding
phase in two consecutive cycles
„ λ
„ Assuming signal velocity v
„ λ = vT
„ λf = v
„ c = 3*108 ms-1 (speed of light in free space)
Frequency Domain Concepts
„ Signal usually made up of many
frequencies
„ Components are sine waves
„ Can be shown (Fourier analysis) that
any signal is made up of component
sine waves
„ Can plot frequency domain functions
 Spectrum & Bandwidth
„ Spectrum
„ range of frequencies contained in signal

„ Absolute bandwidth
„ width of spectrum

„ Effective bandwidth
„ Often just bandwidth

„ Narrow band of frequencies containing most of the

energy
„ DC Component
„ Component of zero frequency
Data Rate and Bandwidth
„ Any transmission system has a limited
band of frequencies
„ This limits the data rate that can be
carried
Analog and Digital Data
Transmission
„ Data
„ Entities that convey meaning
„ Signals
„ Electric or electromagnetic representations
of data
„ 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
Acoustic Spectrum (Analog)
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
Encoding Techniques
„ Digital data, digital signal
„ Analog data, digital signal
„ Digital data, analog signal
„ Analog data, analog signal
Digital Data, Digital Signal
„ Digital signal
„ Discrete, discontinuous voltage pulses
„ Each pulse is a signal element
„ Binary data encoded into signal elements
Terms (1)
„ Unipolar
„ All signal elements have same sign
„ Polar
„ One logic state represented by positive
voltage the other by negative voltage
„ Data rate
„ Rate of data transmission in bits per second
„ Duration or length of a bit
„ Time taken for transmitter to emit the bit
Terms (2)
„ Modulation rate
„ Rate at which the signal level changes
„ Measured in baud = signal elements per
second
„ Mark and Space
„ Binary 1 and Binary 0 respectively
Interpreting Signals
„ Need to know
„ Timing of bits - when they start and end
„ Signal levels
„ Factors affecting successful interpreting
of signals
„ Signal to noise ratio
„ Data rate
„ Bandwidth
Digital Data, Analog Signal
„ Public telephone system
„ 300Hz to 3400Hz
„ Use modem (modulator-demodulator)
„ Amplitude shift keying (ASK)
„ Frequency shift keying (FSK)
„ Phase shift keying (PK)
Modulation Techniques
Amplitude Shift Keying
„ Values represented by different
amplitudes of carrier
„ Usually, one amplitude is zero
„ i.e. presence and absence of carrier is used
„ Susceptible to sudden gain changes
„ Inefficient
„ Up to 1200bps on voice grade lines
„ Used over optical fiber
Frequency Shift Keying
„ Values represented by different
frequencies (near carrier)
„ Less susceptible to error than ASK
„ Up to 1200bps on voice grade lines
„ High frequency radio
„ Even higher frequency on LANs using
co-ax
FSK on Voice Grade Line
Phase Shift Keying
„ Phase of carrier signal is shifted to
represent data
„ Differential PSK
„ Phase shifted relative to previous
transmission rather than some reference
signal
Quadrature PSK
„ More efficient use by each signal
element representing more than one bit
„ e.g. shifts of π/2 (90o)
„ Each element represents two bits
„ Can use 8 phase angles and have more
than one amplitude
„ 9600bps modem use 12 angles , four of
which have two amplitudes
Performance of Digital to
Analog Modulation Schemes
„ Bandwidth
„ ASK and PSK bandwidth directly related to bit
rate
„ FSK bandwidth related to data rate for lower
frequencies, but to offset of modulated
frequency from carrier at high frequencies
„ In the presence of noise, bit error rate
of PSK and QPSK are about 3dB
superior to ASK and FSK
Analog Data, Digital Signal
„ Digitization
„ Conversion of analog data into digital data
„ Digital data can then be transmitted using NRZ-L
„ Digital data can then be transmitted using code
other than NRZ-L
„ Digital data can then be converted to analog
signal
„ Analog to digital conversion done using a codec
„ Pulse code modulation
„ Delta modulation
Pulse Code Modulation(PCM)
(1)
„ If a signal is sampled at regular intervals at a
rate higher than twice the highest signal
frequency, the samples contain all the
information of the original signal

„ Voice data limited to below 4000Hz

„ Require 8000 sample per second
„ Analog samples (Pulse Amplitude Modulation,
PAM)
„ Each sample assigned digital value
 Pulse Code Modulation(PCM)
(2)
„ 4 bit system gives 16 levels
„ Quantized
„ Quantizing error or noise
„ Approximations mean it is impossible to recover
original exactly
„ 8 bit sample gives 256 levels
„ Quality comparable with analog transmission
„ 8000 samples per second of 8 bits each gives
64kbps
Nonlinear Encoding
„ Quantization levels not evenly spaced
„ Reduces overall signal distortion
„ Can also be done by companding
Delta Modulation
„ Analog input is approximated by a
staircase function
„ Move up or down one level (δ) at each
sample interval
„ Binary behavior
„ Function moves up or down at each
sample interval
Delta Modulation - example
Delta Modulation -
Performance
„ Good voice reproduction
„ PCM - 128 levels (7 bit)
„ Voice bandwidth 4khz
„ Should be 8000 x 7 = 56kbps for PCM
„ Data compression can improve on this
„ e.g. Interframe coding techniques for video
Analog Data, Analog Signals
„ Why modulate analog signals?
„ Higher frequency can give more efficient
transmission
„ Permits frequency division multiplexing
„ Types of modulation
„ Amplitude
„ Frequency
„ Phase
Analog
Modulation
Transmission Impairments
„ Signal received may differ from signal
transmitted
„ Analog - degradation of signal quality
„ Digital - bit errors
„ Caused by
„ Attenuation and attenuation distortion
„ Delay distortion
„ Noise
 Attenuation
„ Signal strength falls off with distance
„ Depends on medium
„ Received signal strength:
„ must be enough to be detected
„ must be sufficiently higher than noise to be
received without error
„ Attenuation is an increasing function of
frequency
Delay Distortion
„ Only in guided media
„ Propagation velocity varies with
frequency
Noise (1)
„ Additional signals inserted between
transmitter and receiver
„ Thermal
„ Due to thermal agitation of electrons
„ Uniformly distributed
„ White noise
„ Intermodulation
„ Signals that are the sum and difference of original
frequencies sharing a medium
Noise (2)
„ Crosstalk
„ A signal from one line is picked up by
another
„ Impulse
„ Irregular pulses or spikes
„ e.g. External electromagnetic interference
„ Short duration
„ High amplitude
Channel Capacity
„ Data rate
„ In bits per second
„ Rate at which data can be communicated
„ Bandwidth
„ In cycles per second of Hertz
„ Constrained by transmitter and medium
Encoding Schemes
„ Nonreturn to Zero-Level (NRZ-L)
„ Nonreturn to Zero Inverted (NRZI)
„ Bipolar -AMI
„ Pseudoternary
„ Manchester
„ Differential Manchester
„ B8ZS
„ HDB3
Nonreturn to Zero-Level (NRZ-
L)
„ Two different voltages for 0 and 1 bits
„ Voltage constant during bit interval
„ no transition I.e. no return to zero voltage
„ e.g. Absence of voltage for zero,
constant positive voltage for one
„ More often, negative voltage for one
value and positive for the other
„ This is NRZ-L
Nonreturn to Zero Inverted
„ Nonreturn to zero inverted on ones
„ Constant voltage pulse for duration of bit
„ Data encoded as presence or absence of
signal transition at beginning of bit time
„ Transition (low to high or high to low)
denotes a binary 1
„ No transition denotes binary 0
„ An example of differential encoding
NRZ
Differential Encoding
„ Data represented by changes rather
than levels
„ More reliable detection of transition
rather than level
„ In complex transmission layouts it is
easy to lose sense of polarity
NRZ pros and cons
„ Pros
„ Easy to engineer
„ Make good use of bandwidth
„ Cons
„ dc component
„ Lack of synchronization capability
„ Used for magnetic recording
„ Not often used for signal transmission
Multilevel Binary
„ Use more than two levels
„ Bipolar-AMI
„ zero represented by no line signal
„ one represented by positive or negative pulse
„ one pulses alternate in polarity
„ No loss of sync if a long string of ones (zeros
still a problem)
„ No net dc component
„ Lower bandwidth
„ Easy error detection
Pseudoternary
„ One represented by absence of line
signal
„ Zero represented by alternating positive
and negative
„ No advantage or disadvantage over
bipolar-AMI
Bipolar-AMI and
Pseudoternary
Trade Off for Multilevel Binary
„ Not as efficient as NRZ
„ Each signal element only represents one
bit
„ In a 3 level system could represent log23 =
1.58 bits
„ Receiver must distinguish between three
levels
(+A, -A, 0)
„ Requires approx. 3dB more signal power
for same probability of bit error
 Biphase
„ Manchester
„ Transition in middle of each bit period
„ Transition serves as clock and data
„ Low to high represents one
„ High to low represents zero
„ Used by IEEE 802.3
„ Differential Manchester
„ Midbit transition is clocking only
„ Transition at start of a bit period represents zero
„ No transition at start of a bit period represents one
„ Note: this is a differential encoding scheme
„ Used by IEEE 802.5
 Biphase Pros and Cons
„ Con
„ At least one transition per bit time and possibly two
„ Maximum modulation rate is twice NRZ
„ Requires more bandwidth
„ Pros
„ Synchronization on mid bit transition (self clocking)
„ No dc component
„ Error detection
„ Absence of expected transition
Modulation Rate
 Scrambling
„ Use scrambling to replace sequences that would
produce constant voltage
„ Filling sequence
„ Must produce enough transitions to sync
„ Must be recognized by receiver and replace with original
„ Same length as original
„ No dc component
„ No long sequences of zero level line signal
„ No reduction in data rate
„ Error detection capability
B8ZS
„ Bipolar With 8 Zeros Substitution
„ Based on bipolar-AMI
„ If octet of all zeros and last voltage pulse
preceding was positive encode as 000+-0-+
„ If octet of all zeros and last voltage pulse
preceding was negative encode as 000-+0+-
„ Causes two violations of AMI code
„ Unlikely to occur as a result of noise
„ Receiver detects and interprets as octet of all
zeros
HDB3
„ High Density Bipolar 3 Zeros
„ Based on bipolar-AMI
„ String of four zeros replaced with one
or two pulses
B8ZS and HDB3
Guided Transmission Media
„ Twisted Pair
„ Coaxial cable
„ Optical fiber
Twisted Pair
Twisted Pair - Applications
„ Most common medium
„ Telephone network
„ Between house and local exchange
(subscriber loop)
„ Within buildings
„ To private branch exchange (PBX)
„ For local area networks (LAN)
„ 10Mbps or 100Mbps
Twisted Pair - Pros and Cons
„ Cheap
„ Easy to work with
„ Low data rate
„ Short range
Twisted Pair - Transmission
Characteristics
„ Analog
„ Amplifiers every 5km to 6km

„ Digital
„ Use either analog or digital signals

„ repeater every 2km or 3km

„ Limited distance
„ Limited bandwidth (1MHz)
„ Limited data rate (100MHz)
„ Susceptible to interference and noise
 Unshielded and Shielded TP
„ Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP)
„ Ordinary telephone wire
„ Cheapest
„ Easiest to install
„ Suffers from external EM interference
„ Shielded Twisted Pair (STP)
„ Metal braid or sheathing that reduces interference
„ More expensive
„ Harder to handle (thick, heavy)
UTP Categories
„ Cat 3
„ up to 16MHz
„ Voice grade found in most offices
„ Twist length of 7.5 cm to 10 cm
„ Cat 4
„ up to 20 MHz
„ Cat 5
„ up to 100MHz
„ Commonly pre-installed in new office buildings
„ Twist length 0.6 cm to 0.85 cm
Near End Crosstalk
„ Coupling of signal from one pair to
another
„ Coupling takes place when transmit
signal entering the link couples back to
receiving pair
„ i.e. near transmitted signal is picked up
by near receiving pair
Coaxial Cable
Coaxial Cable Applications
„ Most versatile medium
„ Television distribution
„ Ariel to TV
„ Cable TV
„ Long distance telephone transmission
„ Can carry 10,000 voice calls simultaneously
„ Being replaced by fiber optic
„ Short distance computer systems links
„ Local area networks
Coaxial Cable - Transmission
Characteristics
„ Analog
„ Amplifiers every few km
„ Closer if higher frequency
„ Up to 500MHz
„ Digital
„ Repeater every 1km
„ Closer for higher data rates
Optical Fiber
Optical Fiber - Benefits
„ Greater capacity
„ Data rates of hundreds of Gbps
„ Smaller size & weight
„ Lower attenuation
„ Electromagnetic isolation
„ Greater repeater spacing
„ 10s of km at least
Optical Fiber - Applications
„ Long-haul trunks
„ Metropolitan trunks
„ Rural exchange trunks
„ Subscriber loops
„ LANs
Optical Fiber - Transmission
Characteristics
„ Act as wave guide for 1014 to 1015 Hz
„ Portions of infrared and visible spectrum

„ Light Emitting Diode (LED)

„ Cheaper

„ Wider operating temp range

„ Last longer

„ Injection Laser Diode (ILD)

„ More efficient

„ Greater data rate

„ Wavelength Division Multiplexing

Optical Fiber Transmission
Modes
Wireless Transmission
„ Unguided media
„ Transmission and reception via antenna
„ Directional
„ Focused beam
„ Careful alignment required
„ Omnidirectional
„ Signal spreads in all directions
„ Can be received by many antennae
Frequencies
„ 2GHz to 40GHz
„ Microwave
„ Highly directional
„ Point to point
„ Satellite
„ 30MHz to 1GHz
„ Omnidirectional
„ Broadcast radio
„ 3 x 1011 to 2 x 1014
„ Infrared
„ Local
Terrestrial Microwave
„ Parabolic dish
„ Focused beam
„ Line of sight
„ Long haul telecommunications
„ Higher frequencies give higher data
rates
Satellite Microwave
„ Satellite is relay station
„ Satellite receives on one frequency,
amplifies or repeats signal and
transmits on another frequency
„ Requires geo-stationary orbit
„ Height of 35,784km
„ Television
„ Long distance telephone
„ Private business networks
Broadcast Radio
„ Omnidirectional
„ FM radio
„ UHF and VHF television
„ Line of sight
„ Suffers from multipath interference
„ Reflections
Infrared
„ Modulate noncoherent infrared light
„ Line of sight (or reflection)
„ Blocked by walls
„ e.g. TV remote control, IRD port
 Standards
„ Required to allow for interoperability
between equipment
„ Advantages
„ Ensures a large market for equipment and
software
„ Allows products from different vendors to
communicate
„ Disadvantages
„ Freeze technology
„ May be multiple standards for the same thing
Standards Organizations
„ Internet Society
„ ISO
„ ITU-T (formally CCITT)
„ ATM forum
OSI - The Model
„ A layer model
„ Each layer performs a subset of the required
communication functions
„ Each layer relies on the next lower layer to
perform more primitive functions
„ Each layer provides services to the next
higher layer
„ Changes in one layer should not require
changes in other layers
The OSI Environment
OSI as Framework for
Standardization
Layer Specific Standards
Elements of Standardization
„ Protocol specification
„ Operates between the same layer on two systems
„ May involve different operating system
„ Protocol specification must be precise
„ Format of data units
„ Semantics of all fields
„ allowable sequence of PCUs
„ Service definition
„ Functional description of what is provided
„ Addressing
„ Referenced by SAPs
OSI Layers (1)
„ Physical
„ Physical interface between devices
„ Mechanical
„ Electrical
„ Functional
„ Procedural
„ Data Link
„ Means of activating, maintaining and deactivating
a reliable link
„ Error detection and control
„ Higher layers may assume error free transmission
 OSI Layers (2)
„ Network
„ Transport of information
„ Higher layers do not need to know about underlying technology
„ Not needed on direct links
„ Transport
„ Exchange of data between end systems
„ Error free
„ In sequence
„ No losses
„ No duplicates
„ Quality of service
 OSI Layers (3)
„ Session
„ Control of dialogues between applications
„ Dialogue discipline
„ Grouping
„ Recovery
„ Presentation
„ Data formats and coding
„ Data compression
„ Encryption
„ Application
„ Means for applications to access OSI environment
Terminology (1)
„ Transmitter
„ Receiver
„ Medium
„ Guided medium
„ e.g. twisted pair, optical fiber
„ Unguided medium
„ e.g. air, water, vacuum
Terminology (2)
„ Direct link
„ No intermediate devices
„ Point-to-point
„ Direct link
„ Only 2 devices share link
„ Multi-point
„ More than two devices share the link
Terminology (3)
„ Simplex
„ One direction
„ e.g. Television
„ Half duplex
„ Either direction, but only one way at a time
„ e.g. police radio
„ Full duplex
„ Both directions at the same time
„ e.g. telephone
 A 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
Simplified Communications
Model - Diagram
Key Communications Tasks
„ Transmission System Utilization
„ Interfacing
„ Signal Generation
„ Synchronization
„ Exchange Management
„ Error detection and correction
„ Addressing and routing
„ Recovery
„ Message formatting
„ Security
„ Network Management
Simplified Data
Communications Model
Networking
„ Point to point communication not
usually practical
„ Devices are too far apart
„ Large set of devices would need
impractical number of connections
„ Solution is a communications network
Simplified Network Model
Local Area Networks
„ Smaller scope
„ Building or small campus
„ Usually owned by same organization as
attached devices
„ Data rates much higher
„ Usually broadcast systems
„ Now some switched systems and ATM
are being introduced
LAN Applications (1)
„ Personal computer LANs
„ Low cost
„ Limited data rate
„ Back end networks and storage area
networks
„ Interconnecting large systems (mainframes
and large storage devices)
„ High data rate
„ High speed interface
„ Distributed access
„ Limited distance
„ Limited number of devices
LAN Applications (2)
„ High speed office networks
„ Desktop image processing
„ High capacity local storage
„ Backbone LANs
„ Interconnect low speed local LANs
„ Reliability
„ Capacity
„ Cost
LAN Topologies
 Bus and Tree
„ Multipoint medium
„ Transmission propagates throughout medium
„ Heard by all stations
„ Need to identify target station

„ Each station has unique address

„ Full duplex connection between station and tap

„ Allows for transmission and reception

„ Need to regulate transmission

„ To avoid collisions

„ To avoid hogging

„ Data in small blocks - frames

„ Terminator absorbs frames at end of medium

Frame Transmission - Bus LAN
 Ring Topology
„ Repeaters joined by point to point links in closed
loop
„ Receive data on one link and retransmit on another
„ Links unidirectional
„ Stations attach to repeaters
„ Data in frames
„ Circulate past all stations
„ Destination recognizes address and copies frame
„ Frame circulates back to source where it is removed
„ Media access control determines when station can
insert frame
Frame Transmission Ring LAN
Star Topology
„ Each station connected directly to
central node
„ Usually via two point to point links
„ Central node can broadcast
„ Physical star, logical bus
„ Only one station can transmit at a time
„ Central node can act as frame switch
Wide Area Networks
„ Large geographical area
„ Crossing public rights of way
„ Rely in part on common carrier circuits
„ Alternative technologies
„ Circuit switching
„ Packet switching
„ Frame relay
„ Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM)
Circuit Switching
„ Dedicated communications path
established for the duration of the
conversation
„ e.g. telephone network
Packet Switching
„ Data sent out of sequence
„ Small chunks (packets) of data at a
time
„ Packets passed from node to node
between source and destination
„ Used for terminal to computer and
computer to computer communications
Frame Relay
„ Packet switching systems have large
overheads to compensate for errors
„ Modern systems are more reliable
„ Errors can be caught in end system
„ Most overhead for error control is
stripped out
Asynchronous Transfer Mode
„ ATM
„ Evolution of frame relay
„ Little overhead for error control
„ Fixed packet (called cell) length
„ Anything from 10Mbps to Gbps
„ Constant data rate using packet
switching technique
Protocols
„ Used for communications between entities in a system
„ Must speak the same language
„ Entities
„ User applications

„ e-mail facilities

„ terminals

„ Systems
„ Computer

„ Terminal

„ Remote sensor
Key Elements of a Protocol
„ Syntax
„ Data formats

„ Signal levels

„ Semantics
„ Control information

„ Error handling

„ Timing
„ Speed matching

„ Sequencing
Characteristics
„ Direct or indirect
„ Monolithic or structured
„ Symmetric or asymmetric
„ Standard or nonstandard
Direct or Indirect
„ Direct
„ Systems share a point to point link or
„ Systems share a multi-point link
„ Data can pass without intervening active
agent
„ Indirect
„ Switched networks or
„ Internetworks or internets
„ Data transfer depend on other entities
Symmetric or Asymmetric
„ Symmetric
„ Communication between peer entities
„ Asymmetric
„ Client/server
Standard or Nonstandard
„ Nonstandard protocols built for specific
computers and tasks
„ K sources and L receivers leads to K*L
protocols and 2*K*L implementations
„ If common protocol used, K + L
implementations needed
Use of Standard Protocols
Monolithic or Structured
„ Communications is a complex task
„ To complex for single unit
„ Structured design breaks down problem
into smaller units
„ Layered structure
Functions
„ Encapsulation
„ Segmentation and reassmebly
„ Connection control
„ Ordered delivery
„ Flow control
„ Error control
„ Addressing
„ Multiplexing
„ Transmission services
Encapsulation
„ Addition of control information to data
„ Address information
„ Error-detecting code
„ Protocol control
 Segmentation (Fragmentation)
„ Data blocks are of bounded size
„ Application layer messages may be large
„ Network packets may be smaller
„ Splitting larger blocks into smaller ones is
segmentation (or fragmentation in TCP/IP)
„ ATM blocks (cells) are 53 octets long
„ Ethernet blocks (frames) are up to 1526 octets
long
„ Checkpoints and restart/recovery
Why Fragment?
„ Advantages
„ More efficient error control
„ More equitable access to network facilities
„ Shorter delays
„ Smaller buffers needed

„ Disadvantages
„ Overheads
„ Increased interrupts at receiver
„ More processing time
Connection Control
„ Connection Establishment
„ Data transfer
„ Connection termination
„ May be connection interruption and recovery
„ Sequence numbers used for
„ Ordered delivery

„ Flow control

„ Error control
TCP/IP Protocol Architecture
„ Developed by the US Defense Advanced
Research Project Agency (DARPA) for its
packet switched network (ARPANET)
„ Used by the global Internet
„ No official model but a working one.
„ Application layer
„ Host to host or transport layer
„ Internet layer
„ Network access layer
„ Physical layer
TCP/IP Protocol Architecture
Model