Chapter 2 : COMMUNICATION

NETWORK TOPOLOGIES

Topology: the configuration of a network that defines how the various devices on a network are
connected.

A transmission medium can be air (e.g. WIFI) or cables (Ethernet).

Data can be sent through the medium in different modes:
- Simplex mode: data flow is one way only
- Half duplex mode: data can flow either way but not simultaneously
- Full duplex mode: both ways data flow is possible simultaneously

A message is any type of data which can be sent as:

- A broadcast: one to all communication (as used traditionally for television and radio)
- A multicast: from one source to many destinations
- A unicast: one to one communication

Point to Point network

- An isolated network using a dedicated link to connect the devices.
- Transmission might be simplex or duplex
- Message can only be unicast

Bus networks
- Uses a single central cable to which all computers and devices are connected, i.e. a
multi-point connection
- Message must be broadcast
- Each node looks at each packet and determines whether or not the address of recipient
in the package matches the node address. If so, node accepts the packet; if not, the
packet is ignored.
- Typically, peer to peer network

Use: most suitable for small number of devices with light traffic occurring such as a small
company or office environment.
Note: Terminators are needed at each end to prevent signal reflection(bounce)

Advantages Disadvantages
- The remainder of network continues - If main cable fail , whole network fails
to work even if one node fails
- Easy to increase size of network by - Performance of the network
adding additional nodes deteriorates under heavy loading
- - Network not secure since each packet
passes through every node.

Star networks
- Uses a central hub/switch and each computer /device connected to the hub/switch .
- Data going from host to host is directed through central hub/switch.
- Each computer/ device has its own dedicated connection to central node (hub/switch).
- Typically a client-server network
- Transmission is duplex
- Messages can be unicast, multicast or broadcast

Note:
- If central node is a hub, all packets will be sent to every device/node on the star
network- if address in packet matches that of node, it will be accepted; otherwise
ignored.

- If central node is a switch, packets will only be sent to nodes where address matches the
recipient address in the packet. The latter is clearly more secure.
Use: most suitable for evolving networks and well suited to applications where there is heavy
data traffic.
Advantages Disadvantages
Data collisions are reduced due to topology Initial installation costs high
More secure network since security applied If central hub/switch fails, whole network
to central node fails
Easy to improve by simply installing an
upgraded hub
If one of the connections is broken, it only
affects one of the nodes.

Mesh networks
A ​network​ setup where each computer and ​network​ device is interconnected with one
another, allowing for most transmissions to be distributed even if one of the connections go
down. Often used when individual LAN switches are connected in a network.

Two Types​: routing and flooding

Routing ​works by giving nodes routing logic so that data is directed to its destination by
shortest route and re-routed if one of the nodes in the route has failed.

Flooding ​ sends data via all nodes and uses no routing logic , which can lead to unnecessary
loading on network.

Advantages of Mesh networks Disadvantages of Mesh networks

Easy to identify where faults on network have A large amount of cabling needed, which is
occurred expensive and time consuming
Any broken links doesn’t affect other nodes Set-up and maintenance is difficult and
complex
Good privacy and security since packets
travel dedicated routes
Easy to expand network

USE :
- Internet , WANs and MANS makes use of this topology.
- Industrial monitoring and control where sensors are set up in mesh design and feedback
to a control system , which is part of a mesh. Examples:
o medical monitoring of patients in hospital
o vehicles use wireless mesh network technology to enable monitoring and control
of components in the vehicle.

Hybrid networks
- A mixture of two or more different topologies (bus and star, bus and mesh and so on).

Advantages and Disadvantages depend on types of network used to make up the hybrid
network
Additional Advantages Additional Disadvantages
Can handle large volumes of traffic Can be very complex to install, configure and
maintain
Easy to identify where a network fault has
occurred
Well-suited to creation of larger networks.

Note: packet handling depends on which of the topologies are used in the hybrid structure.
CLOUD COMPUTING

Cloud Computing​ is the provision of computing services usually via the Internet.

With ​cloud computing​, users can access files and use applications from any device that can
access the Internet.
An ​example​ of a ​Cloud Computing​ provider is Google's Gmail.

- It’s a method of data storage where data is stored on offsite servers.

- The same data is stored on more than one server in case of maintenance and repair ,
allowing clients to access data at any time .This is known as ​data redundancy​.
- The physical environment is owned and managed by a hosting company.

Public cloud​ is storage environment where the customer/client and cloud storage provider are
different companies.

Private cloud ​is storage provided by a dedicated environment behind a company firewall.

Hybrid cloud​ is a combination of private and public clouds.

ADVATAGES OF CLOUD STORAGE DISADVATAGES OF CLOUD STORAGE

Customer /client files stored on the cloud can If client has unstable internet connection, he
be accessed t at any time provided internet will have problems accessing their data
access
No need for a customer to carry an external Costs can be high if large storage capacity is
storage with them required
Provide user with remote back up of data to Expensive to pay for high download /upload
recover from data loss transfer limits with client ISP
Recovers data if a customer has a hard disk or Potential failure of the cloud storage
back up device failure company is possible –this poses a risk of loss
of all backup data.

Note:
- Security concerns:
o Cloud users cannot be sure that their data is not being shared with third parties
as the service provider has complete access to all data stored on cloud.
o Actions from hackers can result to loss/corruption or leakage of data.
o Data can be permanently lost on cloud (accidently for e.g. during a backup
procedure )
TRANSMISSION MEDIA

Can be wired or wireless.

Wireless Transmission

3 examples of electromagnetic radiation used are: radio, microwave and infrared.

The only main difference between the three types is the ​frequency of the waves​.

Radio Microwave Infrared

Frequency Range 3 kHz – 3 GHz 3 – 300 GHz 300 GHz – 400 THz
Bandwidth or data
rate
Attenuation (mainly
due to rain)
Need for repeaters

Directional focusing
capability
Penetration through
a wall
Interference No systematic trend

The figure shows approximate frequency ranges for the 3 types of radiation:
- The bandwidth increases through radio and microwave to infrared
- However, the ability of waves to penetrate solid objects is greatest for radio waves.
- Increased attenuation for infrared means that it is mostly suitable for indoor use and
the fact that it can be stopped by walls is considered advantageous since it stops the
signals from causing interference.
- For most application microwaves seem best option as it has better bandwidth than
radio and reasonable penetration and attenuation.

Attenuation:​ reduction in amplitude of a signal

Penetration:​ ability of electromagnetic radiation to pass through different media.

WIFI and Bluetooth

Both offer wireless communication between devices. They both use electromagnetic radiation
as the carriers of data transmission.

Bluetooth
- sends and receives radio waves in a band of 79 different frequencies (channels).
- Bluetooth devices automatically detect and connect to each other.
- When a device wants to communicate, it picks one of the 79 channels at random. If the
channel is already being used, it randomly picks another channel. This is known as
Spread Spectrum Frequency hopping​.
- To further minimize the risk of interference with other devices, the communication pairs
constantly change the frequencies they are using.
- Bluetooth creates a secure wireless PAN based on key encryption.

Bluetooth is useful when

- Transferring data between two or more devices which are less than 30 metres apart
- The speed of data transmission is not critical.
- Using low bandwidth applications (ex. Sending music files from a mobile phone to a
headset).

WIFI
- Also uses spread spectrum technology(wideband radio frequency with a range from few
metres to 100 metres)
- Offers faster data transfer rates, better security and better range than Bluetooth
- Best suited to operating full scale networks for e.g. a WIFI enabled device, such as a
smart phone, can access the Internet wirelessly at any WAP(wireless access point)

These methods are satisfactory for short distances but the curvature of the earth prevents such
methods transmitting data globally. To overcome this problem, we need to adopt ​satellite
technology.

Satellite Technology

- An important part of network communications that cover vast distances

 - Due to Earth’s curvature the height of the satellite orbit determines how much coverage
it can give.

Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO): highest altitude satellites. Used to provide long distance
telephone and computer network communications.

Medium Earth Orbit(MEO): closer to Earth. Used for global position system (GPS)

Low Earth Orbit(LEO): used by mobile phone networks.

Advantage :
- Always give complete coverage and don’t suffer from signal attenuation to same extent
as undersea cables.
Disadvantage:
- Greater transmission distance can cause transmission delays which can cause technical
problems for the network
WIRED Transmission

Network cable can be: ​Twisted pair, Coaxial, Fibre Optic

Twisted pair cables Coaxial Cables Fibre optic cables

Most common type used in Most common type used in To send data over long
LANs MANs, cable television distances
companies
Use copper for transmission Use copper for transmission Uses pulses of light rather
medium – pulses of electricity medium – pulses of electricity than pulses of electricity to
transmit data.
Cheapest option Cost higher than twisted pair Highest cost
Lowest data transfer rate Higher data transfer rate than Offer best transfer rate
twisted pair
Suffers most from external Affected less by external High resistance to external
interference interference interference.
Affected by signal attenuation Most affected​ by signal Least affected by signal
attenuation attenuation
More often need repeaters More often need repeaters Less often need repeaters

WIRED VERSUS WIRELESS

WIRELESS NETWORKING WIRED NETWORKING
Easier to expand networks More reliable and stable network
Devices have increased mobility Data transfer faster
Increased chance of interference from Tends to be cheaper overall
external sources
Data less secure than wired systems – easier Devices are not mobile; they must be close
to intercept waves compared to cables, so enough to allow connections
encryption such as WEP, WPA2 must be used
Transmission rate is slower than wired Lots of wires can lead to tripping hazards ,
networks overheating of connections and
disconnection of cables during office
cleaning.
Signals can be stopped by thick walls

Other considerations:
- Use of certain wireless frequencies is regulated by government agencies so permission
has to be obtained before wireless transmission is used
 - Outside these frequencies no permission is needed to use air for transmission but cables
can only be laid in ground with permission of land owners
- For global communications 2 competing technologies are: fibre optic transmission
underground or in sea bed vs satellite transmission
- For smart phones connectivity to internet, only wireless transmission is possible
Hardware Requirements of networks

Hardware device features Advantages Disadvantage

s
Hub most Need no not a secure
basic ​networking​ d configuration method,
evice that connects do not have
multiple ​computers intelligence to
or other network find out best
devices together. path for data
It is often used in a packets which
LAN . leads to
Its task is to take inefficiencies
any data packet and wastage
received at one of of bandwidth
its ports and then
send the data to
every computer in
the network.
Can be wired or
wireless
Switch Similar to hubs More secure and Network
Checks data packet efficient wat to connectivity
received and works distribute data. problem
out its destination Provides more difficult to
address(es) and bandwidth trace
 sends data to increase network
appropriate performance.
computers only by
identifying MAC
address.
Can be wired or
wireless.
Used for larger
network
Repeater Are devices that Can connect Cannot filter
are added to different types of data
transmission media(signals on Cannot
systems to boost both copper cable connect
signal so that it can and fibre optic different
travel greater cable) network
distances. Can extend a architectures.
network in terms of Limited
distance number only
can be used
in a network.

Bridge Connects one LAN Limits collision Packets

to another LAN Can extend network cannot be
that uses same distances filtered
communication Can connect More
rules. different types of expensive
Can be wired or media and different than repeater
wireless architectures

Router Enables data

packets to be can perform Routers are
routed between protocol translation more
different networks eg allowing a wired expensive
eg, to join a LAN network to than bridges
and a WAN communicate with a or repeaters.
wireless network
 Routers can choose
to segment large the best path across
networks into the network using
internetworks dynamic routing
made up of smaller techniques.
networks.

Modems Converts digital Acts just as an

data to analogue More useful in interface
data connecting LAN with between LAN
Does reverse and the internet and internet.
converts data A modem is most No traffic
received over probably widely use maintenance
analogues network d in data is present.
into digital data communication The modem d
which can be roadway oes not know
understood by about the
computer own
Another example is destination
soft modem which path.
uses minimal
hardware and uses
software that runs
on host computer

Note:
- Gateway : used to connect 2 or more dissimilar LANS. Convert data packets from one
protocol to another. Can act as routers, firewalls, servers – ie any device that allows
traffic to flow in and out of networks.

Network Interface Card(NIC)

- needed to allow a device to connect to a network (eg internet).
- It usually is part of the device hardware and contains MAC address generated at the
manufacturing stage.

Wireless Network Interface Card(WNIC)

- used to connect devices to a network/internet
- use antenna to communicate with networks via microwaves or simply plug in USB port
 ETHERNET

- ETHERNET is a protocol used by many wired LANS.

- Adopted as a standard by IEEE
- It is made up of :
o A node(any device on a LAN)
o Medium ( path used by LAN devices, such as Ethernet cable)
o Frame ( data is transmitted as frames consisting of source and destination
address; often the MAC addresses)

Possibility of conflicts arising when using Ethernet

An IP address conflict occurs when two or more devices on the same network are assigned the
same IP address. It occurs on a LAN where dynamic IP addresses may have been used.
This can be resolved by restarting the router.
COLLISIONS

Ethernet supports broadcast transmission.

If two computers on an ​Ethernet network​ send data at the same moment, the data will
"​collide​" and not finish transmitting. ... This can be resolved by retransmitting the data after a
random delay.

Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection (CSMA/CD)

- Developed to try resolve the problem of collision
- It relied on the fact that when a frame is sent it causes a voltage change on the Ethernet
cable which could be detected by an end system.
- The transmitter uses the following procedure:
o Check the voltage on the transmission medium
o If it indicates activity, wait a random time then check again
o If no activity is detected, start transmission
o Continuously check for collision
o If no collision, continue to transmit
o If there is collision, stop transmission of frame and transmit a “jam” signal to
warn all end stations; after a random time interval try to resend frame

Applications that make use of the Internet

The internet is the biggest network in existence.

To Do
- what is an ISP? Role of the ISP
- define WWW. How is WWW different from Internet.

Among the applications that use the internet are: WWW, Cloud computing and Bit streaming
Bit Streaming

- A Bitstream is binary bits of information (1's and 0's) that can be transferred from one
device to another using a high speed communication link such as a fast broadband.
- Bitstreams are used in PC, networking, and audio applications.
- Often involves large files(videos…) so files need to be compressed before transmission
- Important to have some buffering to ensure smooth playback of media files.

Bit rate: number of bits transmitted per second

The data transmission rate from file server to buffer must be greater than the rate at which
data is transmitted from buffer to media player.

The two types of bit streaming are: ​live streaming media, VOD (voice on demand) or on-
demand streaming media​. Both types of webcasting will give a smooth picture with audio.

Live streaming​ is the broadcast of an event in real time over the internet.
- The event is captured by camera and microphone and sent to a computer.
- The video is converted to a streaming media file and uploaded to the video streaming
server.
- The server sends live video to users device.
- A football match is an example of live streaming.

On-demand​ streaming is the

- playback of an archived file
- that is accessed via a link embedded on a web page.
- With on-demand streaming a website visitor can access a streaming file at any time.
- It is possible to pause, rewind, and fast forward the video

Advantages of bit streaming Disadvantages of bit streaming

No need to wait for a whole video Cannot stream video or music files if
broadband connection is lost
no need to store large files on your device video / music files will pause to allow data
being streamed to catch up if there is
insufficient buffer capacity .
allows video /music files to be played on streaming uses up a lot of bandwidth
demand
no need for any specialist hardware security risks associated with downloading
files from internet
affords piracy protection( more difficult to copyright issues
copy streamed files than files stored on hard
drive)