Communication Technologies

1. What is a Network ?
A: Network is an interconnection of independent computers. Computers are said to be
interconnected if they can communicate with each other.

2. Write four needs of network:

A:

(a) Resource sharing – It refers to sharing of data, programmes, peripherals amongst all the
computers attached to the network.
(b) Reliability – A data can be stored in more than one place in the network. Hence in case of
failure of one system, data can be retrieved from other locations.
(c) Cost – Though the cost of implementing network can not be neglected, in the larger
perspective the overall cost reduces by sharing resources and keeping data centrally.
(d) Communication medium – A network makes communication between individuals,
departments or organizations very fast and economical.

3. What are the applications of network ?

A:
(a) Sharing – Network is necessary wherever we need to share resources or data.
(b) Access to remote database – A prime area where network is used is access to remote
database like reservation tickets, internet banking etc.
(c) Communication – In today’s fast paced life most of us would like communicate with
people concerned in least time and with minimum money spent. A network provides that
facility very efficiently and economically.

4. What is ARPANET ?

A: Advance Research Projects Agency Network ( ARPANET ) – U S defense department

sponsored a project named ARPANET to connect computers at different Universities with U S
defense. Soon people associated with this project were able to exchange information amongst
themselves and play long distance games.

5. What is NSFNET ?
A: National Science Foundation Network ( NSFNET ) – This network allows sharing of only the
academic research. This was inspired by ARPANET.

6. What is Internet ?
A: It is a world wide network of computer networks. It evolved by joining various smaller
network to form a large chain of networks.

7. How does Internet Function ?

 At the source computer the information to be sent is first broken into small packets.
 Each packet is attached with an unique serial number.
 All these packets are then sent to the destination computer .
1
  The destination computer then receives the packets in random. lost / damaged packets are
sent once again.
 These packets are reassembled in the order of their number and the original information is
obtained.

8. What is Interspace ?
A: Interspace is a client / server software programme that allows multiple users to communicate
online with real-time chatting, audio, video in dynamic 3D environment.

Terminologies and devices used in Network:

 Node ( work station ) – Computers that are attached to a network and avails the services of
resources of the network are termed as node.
 Server – A computer that facilitates the sharing of data, software and hardware resources on
the network is termed as server. servers are of two types:
 Non-Dedicated server – In a small network a node can take the load of regular
computation work as well as it can provide services to other nodes as far as sharing the
facilities of the network is concerned. This node is termed as Non-Dedicated server.
 Dedicated server – In a large network, one computer specially designated to provide
services of the network to all the other nodes. This computer is known as Dedicated
server.
 Network Interface Unit( NIU ) – A Network Interface Unit is an interpreter that helps establish
communication between the server and node.
 MAC Address – It refers to the physical address assigned by NIC manufacturer.
 Crosstalk – The leaking of a signal from one wire to another and which can corrupt signal and
cause network errors is known as crosstalk.
 Data channel – A channel is the medium used to carry information from point to another.
 Baud – It is the unit of measurement for the information carrying capacity of a communication
channel.
 Bits Per Second ( bps ) – It refers to the speed with which data travels from one point to
another. Please note that bytes per second is written as Bps.
 Bandwidth – Bandwidth refers to the difference between the highest and lowest frequencies of
a transmission channel. In other words it refers to the width of allocated band of frequencies to
a channel.
 Data Transfer Rate – Data Transfer Rate refers to the amount of data transferred per second by
a communication channel.
 MODEM – It is a device that converts analog signal into a digital one and vice-versa.
 Registered Jack 45 ( RJ 45 ) – It is an eight wire connector which is commonly used to connect
computers on the Local Area Network.
 Ethernet card – Ethernet is a LAN architecture. It used bus or star topology and can support
data transfer rate of up to 10 Mbps. Computers connected in Ethernet have a special card
called Ehternet card which enables LAN connection.
 Hub – It is used to connect several computers together. A connector is similar to hub but it
provides a central connecting point for cables from nodes.
Active Hub – It electrically amplifies the signal as it moves from one connected device to
another.
Passive Hub – It allows the signal to pass from one node to another without any change.
2
  Switch – It is used to segment networks into different subnetworks called subnets. It
prevents traffic overloading.
 Repeater – it is used to amplify and restore signals for long distance transmission.
 Bridge – It establishes an intelligent connection between two local networks with the same
standard but with different types of cables.
 Router – It separates different segments in a network to improve performance and
reliability. It works like a bridge but can handle different protocols.
 Gateway – it connects two dissimilar networks. It establishes an intelligent connection
between a local network and external networks with completely different structures.

Switching Techniques:

Switching techniques are used to transmit data across networks.

(a) Circuit Switching – In this technique a complete physical connection is established

between the source computer and the destination computer and then the data is transmitted.
The important point here is to establish a point – to – point path.
(b) Message Switching – In this technique, the source computer sends data to a switching
office which stores the data in its buffer. It then looks for a free link to another switching
office and sends the data to that office. This process continues till the data reaches the
destination computer. It is also known as store and forward.
(c) Packet Switching – In message switching there is no limit to packet size. In packet
switching, the packets have very tight upper limit on block size. In message switching
packets are stored on the disk but in packet switching packets are stored in main memory
thus improving the performance as the access time of the network improves.

Transmission Media:

Transmission media is the cable or connecting media that connect two computers.

Twisted pair cable – It is the most common form of wiring.

Voice Grade Medium – It is the basis for most internal office telephone wiring. It consists
of two identical wires wrapped together in a double helix.
Data Grade Medium – In VGM some problems may crop up due to difference in electrical
properties in the wires ( resistance, capacitance etc ). Hence a better quality wire known as
DGM is used.
Twisted pair cables can unshielded or shielded

Advantages –
It is simple
It is physically flexible
It can be easily connected
It is easy to install and maintain
It has low weight
It is inexpensive
3
 Disadvantage –
Because of high attenuation, it can not carry signals to long distance.
It has low band width
Data transfer rate is low
Coaxial cable – It consists of a solid core wire surrounded by one or more foil or wire mesh each
separated by insulators. The inner core carries the signal and the shield provides the ground. They
can be thicknet type or thinnet type.

Advantage –
The data transmission characteristics are much better than twisted pair cables
It can be used for shared cable networks
It can be used for broadband transmission
Disadvantages –
It is expensive compared to twisted pair cables
It is not compatible with twisted pair cables
Optical fibers – It is made up of thin strands of glass or glass like material which are constructed
in such a way that they carry light from a source at one end and to a detector at the other end. The
sources used are either LEDs or LDs. The data to be transmitted are modulated into the light
beam.
The cable consists of three layers (i) Core – the glass through which the light travels (ii) the
cladding – which is a covering of the core (iii) Protective coating – it protects the fiber
cable.

Advantage –
It is immune to electrical and magnetic interference
It is highly suitable in harsh industrial environment
It guarantees secure transmission and has a very high transmission capacity
It can be used for broad band transmission
Disadvantage –
The cable is fragile and may need special care to make them sufficiently robust
Connecting two wires is difficult
It is virtually impossible to tap
Light can reach out of phase
Loose connection is a common complaint
It is most expensive
Microwave – It is used for data transmission without the use of cable. It is similar to radio signals
and TV signals and are used for long distance communication.

Advantage –
It provides cheaper and digging trenches for laying cables and maintaining repeaters
and cables if cable gets broken for some reason
It offers freedom from land acquisition rights
It offers ease of communication over difficult terrain
It has the ability to communicate over ocean
Disadvantage –
It is insecure
Signal from a single antenna may split up and propagate by slightly different path
4
 It is susceptible to weather
Band width allocation is limited
Radio Wave – The transmission which uses radio frequencies is known as radio wave
transmission. Any radio transmission has two parts :-
(i) Transmitter – which takes a message encodes into a sine wave and transmits it with
radio waves.
(ii) Receiver – The receiver receives the radio wave and decodes the message from sine
wave to its original signal.

Advantage –
It offers mobility
It is cheaper than digging trenches for layinh cables and maintaining repeaters.
It is free from land acquisition rights
It offers ease of communication over difficult terrain
Disadvantage –
It is insecure
It is susceptible to weather conditions.
Satellite – When a radio wave frequency is higher than 3GHz, it is known as microwave. Satellite
communication is a special case of microwave relay system. It uses a synchronous satellite to
relay the radio signal transmitted from ground station. Most communication satellites have
independent reception and transmission devices known as transponders.

Advantage –
Coverage area of satellite communication is very large
No need of laying cables across continents
Best suited for heavy international traffic
Disadvantage –
Technological limitations preventing the deployment of large, high gain antennas on
the satellite platforms.
Over crowding of available band width due to low antenna gain.
High investment cost
High atmospheric losses above 30 GHz limit carrier frequencies.
Infrared – In this transmission infrared light is used for data transmission. In various control
devices, mobile phones etc use this.
LASER – The LASER transmission requires direct line-of-sight. It is unidirectional like
microwave, but has much higher speed than microwaves.

GPRS – It is a technology for radio transmission of small packets of data especially between
mobile devices and Internet.

Types of Network:

5
Local Area Network( LAN ) – Small computer networks that are confined to a localized area is
known as LAN. The objective is to serve the the users resource sharing both hardware and
software.
Metropolitan Area Network( MAN ) – It spreads over a city. Like cable TV network. The
objective is to share hardware and software resources among its users.
Wide Area Network( WAN ) – The network spread across countries is known as WAN. Here
computers are separated by large distances and are connected through cable and / or satellite
communication.
Personal Area Network ( PAN ) – It is small network where a mobile / laptop is connected to
other mobile / laptop wirelessly when they are in close proximity. E.g Bluetooth sharing.

Difference between LAN and WAN

LAN WAN
Network diameter is not more than a few Span entire country
kilometers
Data transfer rate is at least several Mbps. Data rate is less than 1 Mbps
Complete ownership by a single organization Owned by multiple organization
Very low error rate Comparatively higher error rate.

Network Topologies:

The pattern of interconnection of nodes in a network is known as Topology

Point-to-point Link – It functions in the principle of transmit and receive. Key point here is each
node receives exactly from one transmitter and each transmitter transmits to exactly one receiver.
Star Topology – It consists of a central node to which all other nodes are connected by a single
path.
Advantage –
Ease of service
If one node fails still the network continues to function.
Since central node is connected to directly to all other nodes, the faults can be easily
detected and isolated.
Access protocols are very simple.
Disadvantage –
Since each node is directly connected to the central node, the cable requirement is
very high.
If a new node is to be attached then a fresh connection all the way to the central
node is required.
If the central node in the network fails the entire network comes to a halt.
Bus or Linear Topology – It consists of a single length of the transmission medium onto which
various nodes are connected. Here the host can communicate with several nodes attached along
the length. The transmission is bidirectional. The bus has terminators at either end which absorbs
signal, removing it from the bus.
Advantage –
Short cable length and simple wiring layout.
The linear architecture has an inherent simplicity that makes it very reliable.
Easily a new node can be attached to the network.
6
 Disadvantage –
Though the network layout is simple, fault detection is difficult because control of
the network is not centralized.
If a node is faulty it can not be removed, it has to be rectified there itself.
Nodes must be intelligent.
Ring or Circular Topology – Here each node is connected to two and only two nodes. Data is
accepted from one of the neighbouring nodes and transmitted onwards to another. Data
transmission is unidirectional only.
Advantage –
It requires short cable length.
No wiring closet is required.
It is suitable for optical fibres which supports very high speed transmission.
Disadvantage –
If one node fails then the entire network comes to a hault.
Fault detection is very difficult.
Reconfiguration of the network is very difficult.
Tree Topology – It is a variation of bus topology.
Graph Topology – In this nodes are connected together in an arbitrary fashion. A link may or may
not connect two or more nodes. There may be a multiple links also. If a path can be established in
two nodes through one or more links, it is called a connected graph.
Mesh Topology – Here each node is connected to more than one node to provide an alternative
route in the case the host is down or or too busy. It is excellent for long distance communications.

* If in a network each node is connected to other directly then the network is known as fully
connected network.

Communication Protocols:
Protocol is a rule that is applicable for a network.

Hyper Text Transfer Protocol ( HTTP ) – It is an application level protocol with the lightness and
speed necessary for distributed, collaborative hypermedia information system. It performs various
jobs like retrieval, search, front end update etc of web pages.
File Transfer Protocol ( FTP ) – FTP ensures that any types of files are transferred on demand
from one computer to another on internet without any problem. It works on the client / server
technology.
Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol ( TCP / IP ) – It is layered set of protocols. TCP
ensures that the commands get through to the other end. IP can be considered as library of
routines. Whenever needed TCP calls for the services of IP. TCP/IP applications use 4 layers:
An application protocol such as mail
A protocol such as TCP that provides services need by many applications.
IP, which provides the basic services for getting diagrams to their destinations.
The protocols needed to manage a specific physical medium, such as Ethernet or a point-
to-point line.
Serial Line Internet Protocol / Point-To-Point Protocol ( SLIP/ PPP ) – SLIP was the first protocol
to relay IP packets over dial up lines. It defines an encapsulation mechanism but there is no
support for dynamic address assignment, link testing or multiplexing different protocols.
7
PPP is the Internet standard for transmission of IP packets over serial lines. It is currently the best
solution for dial-up Internet connection.

Simple Mail Transfer Protocol ( SMTP ) : It is used to send email.

Post Office Protocol ( POP3 ) : It is used to receive email.
Internet Message Access Protocol ( IMAP ) – This protocol is used for receiving emails.

Difference between POP3 and IMAP:

POP3 allows only single device to access an email but IMAP allows multiple devices to access
and read emails.

Wireless / Mobile Computing: Wireless refers to the method of transferring information between
a computing device such as personal data Assistant ( PDA ) and a data source. It is simply the data
communication without the use of land line.
Mobile computing means that the computing device is not continuously connected to the base or
central network.

H323 – It is a standard that specifies the components, protocols and procedures that provide
multimedia communication services at real time.

Session Initiation Protocol(SIP) – It is an IP technology signaling protocol used to establish,

modify and terminate VOIP telephone telephone calls.

Voice Over Internet Protocol ( VOIP ) – It is a technology that enables communications over
Internet through the compression of voice into data packets that can be efficiently transmitted.

Technologies used in Mobile / Wireless Communication:

Voice mail – It is an E-mail system that supports audio. User can leave spoken messages for one
another and listen to that at a later time.
Chat – Chatting is like text phone. In chatting we type a text massage and at the other end
immediately the person can read it and send the reply. In voice chatting we can talk to the other
person over internet in real time.
Video conferencing – The newest dimension to Internet communication is video conferencing
where it works like a video phone. Here we need a PC with a camera and video compression
hardware, access to internet and video phone software. So we can see each other while we are
talking.

WiFi – It refers to Wireless Fidelity which lets you connect to the Internet without direct line from
your PC to ISP.

WiMax – It is a wireless digital communication system that provides broadband wireless access
upto 50 kms from a fixed station and 5 – 15 kms from a mobile station.

Web 2.0 : It provides independent solution to interact with each other through the various social
networking sites.

8
Web 3.0 : Web 3.0 describes the next evolution of the World Wide Web, the user interface that
provides access to documents, applications and multimedia on the internet.

Terminologies used in Internet:

World Wide Web ( WWW ) – It is a set of protocols that allows you to access any document on
the Internet through a naming system based on URLs. It also specifies the way the HTTP to
request and send a document over Internet.
Telnet – It is an Internet utility that lets you log onto remote computer systems.
Web Browser – It is a WWW client that navigates through the world wide web and displays the
web pages. It send request for a web page to the server.
Web server – A web Server is a WWW server that responds to the requests made by web
browsers.
Uniform Resource Locator ( URL ) and domain names – HTTP uses Internet address in a
specified format called URL. It looks like :[Link]/computer science/[Link]
Domain name is the name of a website. e.g [Link]

Web Hosting – it refers to hosting of web server application on a computer system through which
electronic content on the Internet is readily available to any web browser client.
Free hosting – This type of hosting is available with many sites that offer to host some web
sites without any cost.
Virtual / Shared Hosting – This type of hosting is provided under one’s own domain name.
One can present oneself as a fully independent identity to his/her web audience.
Dedicated Hosting – In this type hosting, the company wishing to go online, rents an entire
web server from a hosting company.
Co-location Hosting – For those who do not fit the dedicated server mold, hosting
companies offer a similar, but less restricting hosting, known as co-location hosting.
HTML – Hyper Text Markup Language is a document layout and highperlink specification
language that is used to design the layout of the web page.
XML – eXtensible Markup Language – It contains structured information both text and graphics
and some indications about what role that information plays.
DHTML – Dynamic HTML refers to web content that changes it is viewed. Like same URL could
result in a different page depending upon some parameters.

Firewall – A system designed to prevent unauthorized access to or from a private network is

called firewall. They can be implemented in both hardware and software or a combination of both.

Some Security related terms:

Cookies – It is a message given to a web browser by a web server. The browser stores the
message in a text file. The message then snt back to the server each time the browser requests a
page from the server.

9
1. A) switch should be placed in each building
a) Repeater is not needed as the distances between the buildings is less than 100mtrs.
2. MODEM is used to convert digital signal to analog and analog signal to digital
3. What topology does it form? It forms Bus topology.
4. Firewall ( it is software or a combination of software and hardware ) is used to prevent
unauthorized access to a computer.
5. Which device should be used to manage internet traffic? Router
6. Which device should be used so that network bandwidth is not shared? Switch
7. Which communication channel should be used for broadcasting( one way communication )?
Coaxial cable
8. Which communication channel should be used for voice communication? Twisted pair cable
9. Which communication channel should be used for high speed and high quality data
communication? Fibre optic cable
10. Which communication channel should be used for good / effective data communication? ethernet
cable
11. Which communication media should be used for data transfer between offices separated by
1000km? Satellite
12. Which communication media should be used in hilly region where wiring is difficult? radiowave
13. In which topology every node is connected to exactly two other nodes? Ring topology
14. In which switching technique the packet size has a upper capping? Packet switching
15. In which switching technique there must be a direct communication between the source and
destination computer ? circuit switching
16. Raman is transferring his files from mobile to his laptop using Bluetooth? Which type of network
does it form ? Personal Area Network ( PAN )
17. Ritu wants to talk to her brother through video calling. Which protocol will be needed for this ?
VOIP
18. Aman want to browse a website. Which protocol will be needed? HTTP/HTTPS
19. Adil wants to send an email to his friend Rashid. Which protocol will be needed ? Simple Mail
Transfer Protocol ( SMTP )
20. Adil received an email from his friend Rashid. Which protocol was needed ? Post Office Protocol (
POP3 )
21. You want to access your files that are there on a local Area Network ( at a far away place ). Which
protocol will enable you to do so ? Telnet
22. Which technology is used in telnet ? Remote login
23. What is bandwidth? It is the range of frequencies between the lowest and highest frequency.
24. Difference between domain name and URL. Domain name is the unique name ( address ) of a
website. e.g [Link], [Link] etc and URL is the unique address of a web page e.g
[Link]/python/file handling/text [Link]
25. Difference between web browser and web server. Web browser is a client that receives a request
from user and sends it to the web server through www and upon receiving result from the server it
displays the content on screen. Web server receives request from web browser and searches for the
requested content and if available it sends it to the web browser.
26. Name the first network that was developed based on TCP/IP protocol? ARPANET
27. Give one major disadvantage of Bluetooth. It can communicate in short range only.

10
28. Two people talking to each other, one in Chinese and other in French. Can it be called
communication ? No
29. Which of the following is used to host websites?
a) Web browser b) web server c) data server d) all of these

11
Full Forms

ARPANET Advance Research Project Agency Network

NSFNET National Science Foundation Network
TCP/IP Transmission Control Protocol / Internet protocol
NIU Network Interface Unit
NIC Network Interface Card
MAC Media Access Control
LAN Local Area Network
MAN Metropolitan Area network
WAN Wide Area network
PAN Personal Area network
MODEM Modulator-Demodulator
RJ-45 Ragistered jack-45
WIFI Wireless Fidelite
HTTP Hyper Text Transfer protocol
FTP File Transfer Protocol
SMTP Simple Mail Transfer protocol
SLIP Serial Line Internet protocol
PPP Point to Point Protocol
GSM Global System for Mobile
CDMA Code Division Multiple Access
TDMA Time Division Multiple Access
SIM Subscriber’s Identification Module
WLL Wireless in Local Loop
GPRS General Packet Radio Service
3G 3rd Generation
LTE Long Term Evolution
ISP Internet Service Provider
SMS Short Messaging System
SIP Session Initiation Protocol
VOIP Voice Over Internet Protocol
WWW World Wide Web
URL Uniform Resource Locator
HTML Hyper Text Markup Language
DHTML Dynamic Hyper Text Markup Language
XML eXtensible Markup Language
PHP Hypertext PreProcessor
ASP Active Server pages
JSP JAVA Server pages

12