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DATA COMMUNICATION Disadvantages

1) The cables can become bulky and heavy.


Data Communication 2) Needs a booster over long distances. A booster
This is the process of transmitting data and increases the signal level before passing the
information over a communication medium such as signal on the other part of the network.
telephone line, coaxial cable, fiber optic cable or
microwave, form a computer to a user or from one
computer to another. Fiber Optic Cable
Fiber optic cables are similar to those used by large
Telecommunication telephone and telecommunication companies. These
This is the transmission of data over a long distance cables consist of clear glass fibers which allow data to
without changing it. A telecommunication system be transmitted through them as pulses of light (speed)
contains the following components: rather than electronic signals. This eliminates the
A sender who creates the information to be problem of electrical interference.
transmitted. They are also used as a standard medium for
A medium the physical path between sender and connecting networks between buildings as it is not
receiver affected by moisture, lightning or corrosion.
A receiver who receives the transmitted
information unchanged Advantages
1) Transmit signals over much longer distances than
coaxial cable and twisted pair cables
TRANSMISSION MEDIA 2) No interferences from other devices
Transmission media refers to the physical material 3) Better security for signals during transmission
along which data travels from one point to another. because they are less susceptible to noise.
The two main categories of transmission media are: 4) The cables are smaller and lighter in weight.
( I.) Wired Transmission Media
These are cables used to link cables and devices for
short distance communication such as cables include: Disadvantages
twisted pair, coaxial cable, and fiber optic cable. 1) It is more expensive than the coaxial and twisted
pair cables.
( II.) Wireless Transmission Media 2) Can be difficult to install and modify.
These involve the sending or transmitting of
communication signals through the atmosphere over Examples of the use of Fiber optic cables are:
long distances. Such media include: satellite,
microwave, infrared and Bluetooth. (a) Most telephone companies are replacing existing
telephone lines (twisted pair) with fiber optic
cables
WIRED TRANSMISSION MEDIA (b) Most companies use the Fiber optic cables is
high-traffic networks or as a backbone in a
Twisted pair network (FDDI) Fiber Distributed Data Interface
A telephone line consists of a twisted pair of copper
wires and is the medium used by telephones to
transmit data. WIRELESS TRANSMISSION MEDIA

Advantages Microwaves
1) It is cheap These are high-frequency radio signals that travel
2) It is most commonly used in the connecting or through the atmosphere. They are used for high-
cabling of a network. volume, long distance and point-to-point
communication. Microwave signals travel only in
Disadvantages straight lines, i.e. in a line of sight. For long
1) It is relatively slow distances, the waves must be related by means of
2) Subject to interference or noise. dishes or antennas. These can be installed on
towers and tall buildings.
Coaxial Cable
Coaxial cable consists of a conductive cylindrical Advantages
shield with a central wire or solid core held together 1) Signals travel at the speed of light (3 * 108 mps)
by an insulating material. These are the cables that 2) Transmits both analog and digital data.
are connected to a television set to the cable provided
and one medium used to connect computers in a local Disadvantages
area network. 1) Signals cannot travel around corners or bends.
2) The signal cannot penetrate buildings
Advantages
1) It is not susceptible to noise.
2) Transmits data at high speeds Examples of systems that use microwaves are:
3) Can accommodate both analog and digital signals
Paging systems one way communication
channel

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Cellular networks two way communication TYPES OF NETWORK
channels
A Local Area Network (LAN) is a network that
Communications Satellite connects computers and peripherals in a limited
A communication satellite is a space station that geographical area such as a home, school computer
receives microwave signals from an earth-based laboratory, office or closely positioned group of
station, amplifies (strengthens) the signals and buildings. Each computer or device is referred to as a
broadcasts these signals back over a wide area to any node and they often share resources such as printers,
number of earth-based stations. The earth-based hard disks and software programs.
stations often are microwave stations. Other devices Characteristics of LAN
such as PDAs and GPS receivers are also earth-based - Limited to a single building or site
stations. Transmission from an earth-based station to - High bandwidth
a satellite is called an uplink. Transmission from a - Inexpensive cable media is used to connect
satellite to an earth based station is called a downlink. computers and peripherals
- Data and hardware is shared among users
Applications such as air navigation, television and - The network is owned by the organization or
radio broadcasts weather forecasting, video company.
conferencing, paging, global positioning systems
(GPS) and Internet connections use a communication A Wide Area Network (WAN) is a network that
satellite. covers a large geographical area such a s a city,
country or world using communication channels that
Advantages combines many types of media such as telephone
1) It is always in sight lines, cables and radiowaves. A WAN can be one
2) There is no distance limitation large network or consists of two or more LANs
connected together. The Internet is the worlds largest
Disadvantage WAN.
1) Very expensive to set and maintain.
Characteristics of WAN
Infrared - Spreads over a wide geographical area
Infrared is a wireless transmission medium that sends - It consists of large number of computers and
signal using infrared light waves. Mobile computers multiple host machines
and devices such as a mouse, printer and smart - Sophisticated support devices like a router and
phones often have an IrDA port that enables the gateways are used for interconnecting the
transfer of data from one device to another using various segments.
infrared light waves.
A Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) is a high
Advantage speed network that connects LANs in a metropolitan
1) Data can be transmitted directly from one device area such as a city or town and handles the bulk of
to another without the use of cables communication activity across the region. A MAN
typically includes one or more LANs but covers a
Disadvantages smaller geographical area than a WAN.
1) Requires a line-of-sight fro transmission
2) Data can only be transmitted over short distances. Characteristics of MAN
- Connects local area networks together
NETWORK - It is a small version of WAN
- It is managed by an association of several
A Network id a set of computers and peripheral linked businesses or by a single network provider
together on a permanent basis so that they can that sells the service to the users.
communicate and share resources.
A Virtual Private Network (VPN) - This is a
Advantages of a Network network utilized by many businesses to provide their
1) Enable users to share hardware such as scanners employees and customers with quick, secure access to
and printers. corporate information. A VPN operates as a private
2) Allow users access to data stored on other network over the Internet, making data accessible to
computers authorized users in remote locations through the use
3) Allow users to run programs that are not installed of secure, encrypted connections and special
on their own computers, but are installed software.
elsewhere on the network such as the server.

TRANSMISSION SPEED
Disadvantages of a Network
1) Accessing anything across a network is slower Bandwidth The transmission capacity of a
than accessing your own computer computer or a communications channel. It is also the
2) More complexity creates new problems to handle difference between the highest and lowest frequencies
3) Less customization is possible for shared available for transmission.
programs and folders.

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Types of Bandwidth
Protocol A set of rules that govern the exchange of
Narrowband this transmits data at 45 90 bps. Eg. data between hardware and/or software components
Telegraph over communications media.

Voiceband this transmits data at 110 9600 bps. It Point-to-point transmission Data transmission
is often used with microcomputer transmission with where the sending and receiving device are connect
the standard telephone line. directly.

Medium band this is the bandwidth of special Broadcast transmission Data transmission where
leased lines used mainly with minicomputers and the sending device sends messages to everyone in a
mainframe computers. It transmits data between network.
9600 and 256, 000 bps.
Concepts associated with the Internet
Broadband this is bandwidth that includes
microwave, satellites, coaxial cables and fiber optic Up-load Transmitting information from a local
channels. It is used for very high speed computers computer to a remote computer
whose processors communicate directly with each
other. It transmits data in the range 256, 000 and Down-load Transmitting data from a remote
1,000,000 bps. computer to a local computer.

COMMUNICATION MODES Data transfer mode The mode that the computer
operates in for transferring of data from one point to
Simplex Data flow in one direction only. another.

Half duplex Data flow in two directions but not E-mail (short for Electronic Mail) The transmission
simultaneously. of messages over communications networks.

Full duplex Data flow allowing the sending and Internet Relay Chat (IRC) IRC or instant
receiving of data at the same time. messaging, is an Internet protocol that allows users to
carry on a typed, real-time, online conversation.
Asynchronous transmission The transmission of
data one character at a time. Start and stop bits are Telnet A terminal emulation program that allows
inserted to separate the characters. users to work from a PC as so that its keyboard,
monitor, and data interface emulate that of a terminal.
Synchronous transmission Timed transmission of
data over a line one block of characters at a time. FTP (short for File Transfer Protocol) A method of
transferring one or more files from one computer to
WIRELESS NETWORK TECHNOLOGY another, often over a modem and telephone line.

Bluetooth this is a network standard, specifically a WWW (short for World Wide Web) A series of
protocol, that defines how two Bluetooth devices use Internet servers is a retrieval system based on
short range aligned radio waves to transmit data. technology that organizes information into pages.

Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) is a type of broadband Web browser An application program used to
internet connection that uses radio signals to provide locate and display Web pages.
internet connections to wireless computers and
devices. Web page An electronic document on the World
Wide Web.
Hotspot refers to location or area that provides
wireless internet connections to mobile computers Web server a computer that delivers Web pages.
and other devices.
Web site A collection of related Web pages
Modem (Modulator/Demodulator) a hardware belonging to an individual or organization.
communication device that converts analog signals to
digital signals (demodulation) and digital signals to
analog signals (modulation). Newsgroup an online discussion group. To read and
post information to a newsgroup a software is needed
Internet A worldwide collection of networks. to connect a computer to the news server connected to
Intranet - An intranet is an access restricted network the Internet.
used internally in an organization that uses Internet
technologies. Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) facilitates the
transfer of web pages from remote servers to the
computer, i.e. it is a set of rules that defines how web
Extranet A private network that uses Internet pages are transferred on the Web.
Protocols, network connectivity. It can be viewed as
a companys extended outside the company using the
Internet.

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Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) the language of the sender and receiver is first sent to the central
used to create hypertext documents (multimedia hub, which sends the packet to the designated
pages) that are found on the World Wide Web. computer.

Blog (short for Web Log) An online journal or diary of Advantages of Star Topology
an individuals opinions on the latest news. It is 1. Adding new devices to the network is easy
updated regularly in chronological order. 2. If a computer stops working, the network is not
affected.
Uniform Resource Locator [URL] It specifies the file 3. If one piece of cable is damaged, only one computer
or data and the location where it is stored. It includes is affected.
the transfer protocol, the domain name, path and the
resource name. e.g. Disadvantages
http://www.bcs.org.application_forms.html 1. It requires more cabling
2. If the central computer or server malfunctions, the
E-commerce This is the use of the Internet for entire network will fail
commercial tasks such as retail sales or any business 3. Only one computer on the network can send data at
transactions. any particular time.

E-Learning This is instruction that takes place via the Line or Bus Topology
Internet where tutoring is made available on the This is a single line or cable
Internet or by other network connections. with nodes at different points.
Servers, computers and other
Podcasting This is a form of audio broadcasting using devices can be connected to
the Internet. Podcasting takes its name from a any of the nodes on the line.
combination of the terms iPod and Broadcasting. It is a Data is sent down the line in
method of releasing files to the Internet allowing users any direction in packets. Each
to subscribe and receive new files automatically. packet has the address of the
intended receiver. Each
Electronic Bulletin Board Is similar to that of the computer on the line examines each to determine for
bulletin board at a post office where messages can be whom the packet is intended. If the packet is intended
posted by anyone and read by anyone. Where as for this computer, it is retained for processing;
electronic mail is intended for a designated recipient otherwise it is sent on its way.
messages are placed on the electronic bulletin board.
Advantages of Bus Topology
Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) A set of rules 1. Extending the network is very easy. New equipment
which govern the transmission of voice over the can be connected to it simply by tapping into the
Internet. It is often used abstractly to refer to the main cable
actual transmission of voice rather than the protocol 2. It requires less hardware to set up
implementing it. It is also known as IP Telephony. 3. It is easy to configure

Business to Business Ecommerce (B2B) occurs Disadvantages


when a business uses the Internet to provide another 1. Any problems with the main cable may cause the
business with the materials, services and or supplies it whole network to malfunction
needs to conduct its operations. 2. Packets of data may collide, resulting in loss of
information
Consumer to- Consumer Ecommerce (C2C)
Occurs when there is an online exchange between Ring Topology
individual consumers. The cable is connected to all
the computers on the network.
Business to Consumers [B2C] Occurs when a The ends of the cable are then
business uses the Internet to supply consumers with connected together to form a
services, information, or products. loop or ring. Data is passed
from one computer to the next
Electronic Data Interchange [EDI] Is a set of by means of a token
standards that specifies how to transfer data and (electronic signal), which is passed around the ring,
documents between enterprises using the Internet and giving each computer an opportunity to send data.
other networks without human intervention
Advantages
1. If a computer stops working, the other computers
NETWORK TOPOLOGIES can continue to communicate.
2. Communication is usually faster than with a line
Topology refers to the layout or configuration of network
computer and peripherals in a network.
Disadvantages
Star Topology 1. If the main cable is damaged, the entire network
All the computers on the network are goes down
connected to one another through a 2. The entire network has to be shut down for
central hub. A hub is a hardware maintenance to be carried out
device to which a number of 3. The network becomes very difficult to maintain if it
computers can be connected. Data is gets very large.
transmitted from one computer to
the next by packets. A packet containing the addresses

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