Telecommunication Basics

Professor Nancy C. Shaw

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Agenda
Definitions Networking Basics Network Topologies Guided and Unguided Media Telecom Hardware

Introduction
Computer network
a a communications, data exchange, and resource-sharing system created by linking two or more computers and establishing standards, or protocols, so that they can work together

Telecommunication system - enable the transmission of data over public or private networks (voice, data, graphics, video)
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Telecommunications - voice
Voice communications require:
1. 2. 3. 4. A A A A source device switching system data channel destination device

The line remains open for the duration of the call Requires a dedicated connection
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Telecommunications - data
Data communications data traffic Data traffic on the Internet doubles every 100 days. Does not grab the line during transmission Uses packet switching technology

Ways to describe a network

Type of traffic (voice or data) Type of signal (analog or digital) Type of transmission mode (Simplex) Geographic area covered (LAN, WAN...) Architecture - peer-to-peer, client/server Physical topology (Bus, Star) Protocols - Ethernet, Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) Transmission medium (guided or unguided)
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Types of Signals
Analog
continuous sine wave over a certain frequency range
positive voltage = 1 negative voltage = 0

Digital
discrete burst of electric energy
on = 1 off = 0

Most phone lines use analog signaling (why??)

Converting Signals
Computers can only process digital signals If data is transmitted using analog signaling over a phone line, it must be converted into a digital signal before the computer can process it
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Modems
MOdulation - converting digital signals into analog form DEModulation - converting analog signals back into digital form

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Transmission Modes
Performance can be measured by the mode of the connection.
Simplex transmission, messages can be carried in only one direction. Half-duplex, messages can be carried in both directions just not simultaneously. Full-duplex, messages can be carried in both directions simultaneously.
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NETWORKING BASICS the area covered

The network industry refers to nearly every type of network as an area network:
Personal Area Network (PAN) - interconnects people and devices in a very small area (e.g. your home) Local Area Network (LAN) - connects network devices over a relatively short distance Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) - interconnects users in a geographic area or region larger than a local area network, but smaller than a wide area network Wide Area Network (WAN) is a geographically dispersed telecommunications network

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Local Area Network (LAN) Basics

A networked office building, school, or home usually contains a single LAN Sometimes one building will contain a few small LANs, and occasionally a LAN will span a group of nearby buildings

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Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) Basics

A MAN connects an area larger than a LAN but smaller than a WAN, such as a city
Example: A university or college may have a MAN that joins together many of their local area networks situated around its campus From their MAN they could have several wide area network links to other universities or the Internet
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Wide Area Network (WAN) Basics

A WAN like the Internet spans most of the world A WAN is a geographically dispersed telecommunications network A WAN may be privately owned or rented, but the term implies the inclusion of 15 public networks

NETWORKING BASICS

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Architecture
There are two primary types of architectures
Peer-to-peer (P2P) network Client/server network

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Peer-to-peer Network
Peer-to-peer

(P2P) network -

any network without a central file server and in which all computers in the network have access to the public files located on all other workstations
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Client/Server Network
Client - a computer that is designed to request information from a server Server - a computer that is dedicated to providing information in response to external requests
Client/server network - model for applications in which the bulk of the back-end processing takes place on a server, while the front-end processing is handled by the clients
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Client/Server Networks
Client/Server network

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Client/Server Networks
Network operating system (NOS) - the operating system that runs a network, steering information between computers and managing security and users

Packet-switching - occurs when the sending computer divides a message into a number of efficiently sized units called packets, each of which contains the address of the destination computer
Router - an intelligent connecting device that examines each packet of data it receives and then decides which way to send it onward toward its 21 destination

PHYSICAL TOPOLOGIES
Physical topology - the actual physical organization of the computers on the network and its connections
There are five principal topologies used in LANs:
1. Bus topology - all devices are connected to a central cable 2. Star topology - all devices are connected to a hub 3. Ring topology - all devices are connected to one another in a closed
loop

4. Tree topology combines the characteristics of the bus and star

topologies

5. Wireless topology - all devices are connected by a receiver/transmitter

to a special network interface card that transmits signals between a computer and a server; all within an acceptable transmission range
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Topology

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LOGICAL TOPOLOGIES (protocols)

Protocol - a standard that specifies the format of data as well as the rules to be followed during transmission A communication protocol is essentially a set of codes or conventions used for facilitating communications between hardware and software. Interoperability - the capability of two or more computer systems to share data and resources, even though they are made by different manufacturers
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Protocol how it works

common set of rules that allow different components in a network to talk to each other handshaking protocol
identify each device secure attention of other device

transmission protocol
verify correct receipt of message send re-transmit message if necessary recover error and re-transmit
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Some Protocols
Ethernet - a physical and data layer technology for LAN networking IP or Internet Protocol directs packets on the Internet. TCP or Transmission control protocol puts the packets in their correct sequence. HTTP or hyper text transfer protocol is used to transmit web pages over the Internet. Mobile IP provides IP routing for mobile devices. Voice over IP (VoIP) - uses TCP/IP technology to transmit voice calls over long-distance telephone lines
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Transmission Media
To be sent from one location to another, a signal must travel along a physical path The physical path that is used to carry a signal between a signal transmitter and a signal receiver is called the transmission medium There are two types of transmission media:
1. Guided - wires 2. Unguided - wireless
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TRANSMISSION MEDIA
Guided media (wires) - transmissions material manufactured so that signals will be confined to a narrow path and will behave predictably Unguided media wireless
Examples include microwaves, infrared light waves, and radio waves
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GUIDED MEDIA
The three most common types of guided media include twisted-pair wiring, coaxial cable, and fiber optic cable

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UNGUIDED MEDIA
Unguided media wireless
Examples include microwaves, infrared light waves, and radio waves natural parts of the Earths environment that can be used as physical paths to carry electrical signals

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TRANSMITTING AND RECEIVING DEVICES the hardware

Network adapters Modems Repeaters Wiring concentrators, hubs, and switches Bridges, routers, and gateways Microwave transmitters Infrared and laser transmitters Cellular transmitters Wireless LAN transmitters
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NETWORKING BASICS
Bandwidth - indicates how much information can be carried in a given time period (usually a second) over a wired or wireless communications link.
Measured in megabits per second

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