IT503

Data Communication and

Networking: Introduction
Dr. Mahmoud Elsaadany
Uses of Computer Networks

• Computer network
– Large number of separate but interconnected computers do a job
– Collection of interconnected, autonomous computing devices
– Interconnected computers can exchange information

• Example: the Internet

• Network uses
– Access to information
– Person-to-person communication
– Electronic commerce
– Entertainment
– The Internet of Things
Access to Information

• Web browser and smart phones retrieve information from various Web sites
• Social media platforms support targeted behavioral advertising
• Online digital libraries and retail sites host digital content
• Client-server model forms the basis of network usage
• Web applications: Server generates Web pages in response to client requests
• Peer-to-peer communication: Individuals form a loose group to communicate
with others in the group
Access to Information: client-server model

In the client-server model, a client explicitly requests information from a server that
hosts that information.
Access to Information

Communication takes the form of the client process sending a message over the network
to the server process. The client process then waits for a reply message.
Access to Information: peer-to-peer

In a peer-to-peer system, there are no fixed clients and servers.

Person-to-Person Communication

• Instant messaging
– Allows two people to type messages at each other in real time

• Twitter multi-person messaging service

– Allows people to send short messages to their circle of friends or other followers or the
whole world

• Social network applications

– Information flow driven by the relationships that people declare between each other

• Wiki content is a collaborative Web site the members of a community edit

Electronic Commerce

• Online shopping and financial institution transactions follow client-server

model
• Online auctions follow peer-to-peer model
– Consumers act as buyers and sellers
– Central server holds the database of products for sale
Entertainment

• IPTV (IP Television) systems

– TV shows based on IP technology instead of cable TV or radio transmissions

• Media streaming applications

– Internet-provided radio stations, TV shows, and movies
– Content usually moves wirelessly between devices

• Game playing using multi-person real-time simulation

• Virtual worlds provide a persistent setting
– Thousands of users experience a shared reality with three-dimensional graphics
The Internet of Things

• Ubiquitous computing
– Computing embedded in everyday life
– Home security systems wired with door and window sensors
– Sensors folded into a smart home monitor
– Smart Home appliance
– EVs

• IoT (Internet of Things)

– Sensing and communication take place over the Internet
– Poised to connect every electronic device to the Internet

• Power-line networks
– Send information throughout the house over the electric wires
Types of Computer Networks

• Mobile and broadband access networks

– Networks used to access the Internet

• Data-center networks
– Networks that house data and applications

• Transit networks
– Networks that connect access networks to data centers

• Enterprise networks
– Networks used on campuses, in office buildings, or at other organizations
Broadband Access Networks

• Home network use

– Listen to, look at, and create music, photos, and videos
– Access information, communicate with other people, buy products and services

• Metcalfe’s law
– Explains how tremendous Internet popularity comes from its size

• Broadband access networks

– Delivered to homes using copper, coaxial cable, or optical fiber
– Broadband Internet speeds: gigabit per second to individual homes
Mobile and Wireless Access Networks

• Wireless hotspots are based on the IEEE 802.11 standard

• Wireless networking and mobile computing
– Related but not identical

• Smartphones combine aspects of mobile phones and mobile computers

• Text messaging or texting short message
• GPS (Global Positioning System): locates a device
• Geo-tagging: annotating photos and videos with the location where they were
made
Mobile and Wireless Access Networks

• M-commerce (mobile-commerce) uses mobile phones

• NFC (Near Field Communication)
– Allows mobile device to act as an RFID smartcard and interact with a nearby reader for
payment

• Sensor networks use nodes gathering and relaying information about the
physical state of the world
– Nodes may be embedded in familiar devices (cars or phones)
– Nodes may be small, separate devices
– Provide a wealth of data on behavior
– Example: wireless parking meters
Content Provider Networks

• Data-center network
– Internet services are served from ‘‘the cloud’’
– Serves the increasingly growing demands of cloud computing
– Moves large amounts of data between servers in the data center
– Moves data between the data center and the rest of the Internet

• Data center network challenges

– Network throughput and energy usage scaling
– ‘‘Cross-section bandwidth”

• CDN (Content Delivery Network)

– Large collection of servers, geographically distributed so content is close to the users
requesting it
Transit Networks

• Transit network
– Carry traffic between the content provider and the ISP (Internet Service Provider) when
they are not directly connected
– Typically charge both the ISP and the content provider for carrying traffic from end-to-end
– Traditionally called backbone networks because they carry traffic between two endpoints

• Two trends
– Consolidation of content in a handful of large content providers
– Expansion of the footprint of individual access ISP networks
Enterprise Networks

• Allows resource sharing for devices and information

• VPNs (Virtual Private Networks)
– Connect individual networks at different sites into one logical network
– Act as a communication medium among employees

• Allows IP telephony or VoIP (Voice over IP)

– Internet technology and computer networks for telephone calls

• Allows desktop sharing

– Remote workers can see and interact with a computer screen

• Allows electronic business communication

Network Technologies

• Personal Area Networks

• Local Area Networks
• Home Networks
• Metropolitan Area Network
• Wide Area Networks
Personal Area Networks

PANs (Personal Area Networks) let devices communicate over the range of a person.
Bluetooth is a short-range wireless network used to connect components without wires.
Local Area Networks

The configuration on the left represents a wireless IEEE 802.11 network (Wifi). The
configuration on the right represents a wired switched Ethernet network IEEE 802.3.
Home Networks

• Home network LAN

– Broad, diverse range of Internet-connected devices
– Characteristics: manageable, dependable, and secure

• Internet of things
– Allows almost any device to connect

• Required home network properties

– Easy to install
– Secure and reliable
– Interfaces work between all products
– Reduced consumer device costs
Metropolitan Area Networks

A MAN (metropolitan area network) where both television signals and the Internet are
being fed into the centralized cable head-end (or cable modem termination system) for
subsequent distribution to people’s homes.
Wide Area Networks

This wide area network illustrates how hosts in Perth, Brisbane, and
Melbourne can communicate using leased lines.
Internet

 Network combines subnets and hosts

– Subnet can be described as an ISP network
– Internetwork might be described as a WAN network
 An internet
– Interconnection of distinct, independently operated networks
– Connecting a LAN and a WAN or connecting two LANs
– Gateway device makes a connection between two or more networks
Examples of Networks
• The Internet
• Mobile networks
– Mobile network architecture
– Packet switching and circuit switching
– Early generation mobile networks: 1G, 2G, and 3G
– Modern mobile networks: 4G and 5G

• Wireless networks (WiFi)

 Examples of Networks

Figure (a) represents an unsecure network

with little redundancy. Figure (b) illustrates a
more secure packet-switched network that was
initially dismissed as a solution.
Examples of Networks

Over the past decade, the conventional hierarchy has evolved and ‘‘flattened’’
dramatically.
Packet and Circuit Switching

• Packet switching comes from the Internet community

– Connectionless networks
– Every packet is routed independently
– If some routers go down during a session, no harm will be done as long as the system
can dynamically reconfigure itself

• Circuit switching comes from telephone companies

– Connection-oriented networks
– Caller must dial the called party’s number and wait for a connection before talking or
sending data
– Route maintained until call is terminated
– Can support quality of service more easily
Mobile Networks

When a user moves out of the range of one cellular base station and into the range of
another one, the flow of data must be re-routed from the old to the new cell base
station.
Mobile Networks
• First-generation mobile phone systems
– Transmitted voice calls as continuously varying (analog) signals
– AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone System)

• Second-generation (2G) mobile phone systems

– Transmitted voice calls in digital form to increase capacity, improve security, and offer text
messaging
– GSM (Global System for Mobile communications)

• Third generation (3G) offer digital voice and broadband digital data services
• Spectrum scarcity led to today’s cellular network design
Mobile Networks
Mobile Networks (3 of 4)

To manage the radio interference between users, the coverage area is

divided into cells.
Mobile Networks (4 of 4)

• 4G
– Later 4G known as LTE (Long Term Evolution) technology
– Offers faster speeds
– Emerged in the late 2000s
– Quickly became the predominant mode of mobile Internet
access in the late 2000s
– Outpacing competitors like 802.16 (WiMiMax)

• 5G technologies are promising faster speeds

– Up to 10 Gbps
– Set for large-scale deployment in the early 2020s

• Main distinction: frequency spectrum they rely on

Wireless Networks (WiFi) (1 of 6)
• IEEE created a wireless LAN standard
– Wireless LAN standard was dubbed 802.11
– Common slang name for it is WiFi
– 802.11 systems operate in unlicensed bands
– Example: ISM (Industrial, Scientific, and Medical) bands defined by ITU-R
– 802.11 radios compete with cordless phones, garage door openers, and microwave
ovens

• 802.11 network modes: Ad hoc and access point (AP)

• Multipath fading causes received signals to fluctuate greatly
Wireless Networks (WiFi) (2 of 6)

• Path diversity overcomes variable wireless conditions

• Versions of 802.11
– Original 802.11 ran at either 1 Mbps or 2 Mbps
– 802.11b used spread spectrum for rates up to 11 Mbps
– 802.11a/g rates were boosted to 54 mbps using OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division
Multiplexing) modulation
– 802.11ac can run at 3.5 Gbps
– 802.11ad can run at 7 Gbps (only indoors within a single room)

• CSMA (Carrier Sense Multiple Access) scheme

– Handles transmission collision
Wireless Networks (WiFi) (3 of 6)
• 802.11 mobility
– Of limited value compared to mobility in mobile phone networks

• 802.11 security
– WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy)
– WEP replaced by WiFi Protected Access (initially called WPA)
– WiFi Protected Access (WPA) replaced by WPA2 and 802.1X
Wireless Networks (WiFi) (4 of 6)

Access points connect to the wired network, and all communication between clients goes
through the access point. In an ad hoc network, clients that are in radio range talk directly
without an access point.
Wireless Networks (WiFi) (5 of 6)

At the frequencies used for 802.11, radio signals can be reflected off solid objects so
that multiple echoes of a transmission may reach a receiver along different paths. The
echoes can cancel or reinforce each other, causing the received signal to fluctuate
greatly – a phenomenon known as multipath fading.
Wireless Networks (WiFi) (6 of 6)

The range of a single radio may not cover the entire system.