9/13/2022
01 – Data Communications and
Internet Protocol Overview
Data Communications, Data
Networks, and the Internet
• The fundamental problem of communication is
that of reproducing at one point either exactly
or approximately a message selected at
another point - The Mathematical Theory of
Communication, Claude Shannon
1
9/13/2022
Contemporary Data Comms
• trends
– traffic growth at a high & steady rate
– development of new services
– advances in technology
• significant change in requirements
– emergence of high-speed LANs
– corporate WAN needs
– digital electronics
A Communications Model
2
9/13/2022
Communications Tasks
Transmission system utilization Addressing
Interfacing Routing
Signal generation Recovery
Synchronization Message formatting
Exchange management Security
Error detection and correction Network management
Flow control
Data Communications Model
3
9/13/2022
Transmission Medium
• selection is a basic choice
– internal use entirely up to business
– long-distance links made by carrier
• rapid technology advances change mix
– fiber optic
– wireless
• transmission costs still high
• hence interest in efficiency improvements
Networking
• growth of number & power of computers is
driving need for interconnection
• also seeing rapid integration of voice, data,
image & video technologies
• two broad categories of communications
networks:
– Local Area Network (LAN)
– Wide Area Network (WAN)
4
9/13/2022
Wide Area Networks
• span a large geographical area
• cross public rights of way
• rely in part on common carrier circuits
• alternative technologies used include:
– circuit switching
– packet switching
– frame relay
– Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM)
Circuit Switching
• uses a dedicated communications path
established for duration of conversation
• comprising a sequence of physical links
• with a dedicated logical channel
• eg. telephone network
5
9/13/2022
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
• Frame Relay provides higher speeds
• with most error control overhead removed
6
9/13/2022
Asynchronous Transfer Mode
• ATM
• evolution of frame relay
• fixed packet (called cell) length
• with little overhead for error control
• anything from 10Mbps to Gbps
• constant data rate using packet switching
technique with multiple virtual circuits
Local Area Networks
• smaller scope
– Building or small campus
• usually owned by same organization as
attached devices
• data rates much higher
• switched LANs, eg Ethernet
• wireless LANs
7
9/13/2022
Metropolitan Area Networks
• MAN
• middle ground between LAN and WAN
• private or public network
• high speed
• large area
The Internet
• Internet evolved from ARPANET
– first operational packet network
– applied to tactical radio & satellite nets also
– had a need for interoperability
– led to standardized TCP/IP protocols
8
9/13/2022
Internet Elements
Internet Architecture
9
9/13/2022
Example Configuration
Summary
• introduced data communications needs
• communications model
• defined data communications
• overview of networks
• introduce Internet
10
