CHAPTER-V

DATA COMMUNICATION &DIGITAL SUBSCRIBER LINE

TECHNOLOGY
Principles of Data Communications:
The first data communications system was the telegraph. It was invented more than
100 years ago. The letters to be transmitted were converted into a code called Morse code. The
codes were transmitted as pulses along a wire or as radio-frequency bursts in the case of wireless
telegraph. Then the development of data communications slowed, but during the last few decades
data communications have expanded rapidly as computers have become tools for everyone in
both business and residential environments.
Computer Communications:
Modern computers manipulate bits, binary symbols, of electrical energy. When a
computer communicates with another computer it sends these bits along a cable between them.
This is relatively easy if the computers are within the same room or a building. If the distance is
longer, a telecommunications network is required that provides an end-to-end communications
channel. Data communications can be accomplished by means of many various alternatives,
some of which we discuss in the following sections.
Serial and Parallel Data Communications:
In a transmission network only one channel is usually allocated for one end to-end
connection in each direction. Let us use as an example source of data a simple American
Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) terminal. We press keys on the keyboard
and each keystroke generates a 7-bit binary word (8 bits with parity) corresponding to the
letter or number of the key pressed. For example character a corresponds to the binary
sequence 1000011 (the first bit on the left) .
When serial transmission is used between a computer and its peripheral device, a
parallel clock signal may be used for timing. In serial transmission over longer distances we want
to manage with one channel and we have to use a line code to insert timing information into the
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data stream. This synchronization information enables the receiver to determine when it has to
detect each individual received bit. How we implement this depends on whether we use an
asynchronous or synchronous transmission mode.

Parallel data transmission is much quicker than serial, but we can typically use it only over short
distances. The maximum is usually of the order of 10m.
Communicating terminal devices in data communications are called data
terminal equipment (DTE) and the equipment that terminates the transmission channel that
goes through

the network is called data circuit terminating equipment (DCE). A modem

that we use for data transmission over a telephone network is a typical example of DCE. Many
different interface specifications exist for DTE and DCE, and the most common standards are
defined by the ITU-T and the Electronic Industries Association (EIA).

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Asynchronous and Synchronous Data Transmission:

Over longer distances we use serial transmission either in an asynchronous or
synchronous

transmission mode. Serial transmission over long distance requires that the timing

information for the receiver be transmitted together with the data so that a separate clock signal
is not required.
In asynchronous transmission only a small number of bits are transmitted at a time,
usually 8 bits that correspond to one ASCII character. In the beginning of each block of 8 bits of
data, a start bit is sent to indicate to the receiver that it should prepare to receive 8 bits of data .
For synchronization the receiver has to know the data rate, which has to be set in advance, so that
when it detects the start bit it is able to receive the few following bits. After these bits a stop bit is
sent that terminates the 8-bit data block. The next block of data is synchronized independently
with the help of a new start bit preceding the data bits.

In asynchronous transmission, a simple error-detecting scheme called parity can be

used. We may use even or odd parity error checking. If even parity is used, the total number of
1 bits in the block, including data bits and the parity bit, is set to be even with the help of the
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parity bit. In the case of odd parity, the parity bit is set to 1 or 0 so that the total number of
1bits in the block is odd. To detect possible transmission errors, the receiver determines
whether the received number of 1 bits is even or odd depending on the parity agreed.
Synchronous transmission is a more modern principle for transmitting a large
amount of information in a frame (see Figure). Each frame starts with a special start-of-frame bit
sequence and the frame may contain more than 1,000 bytes of information. Each frame also
contains error control words and an end-of-frame sequence. The receiver uses the error control
section of the frame to detect if errors have occurred in transmission. The most common
detection method for error detection is a cyclic redundancy check (CRC). It is much more
reliable than the parity check method discussed previously. In the case of errors the transmitter
retransmits the frame in error. In the most common protocols the receiver sends an
acknowledgment to the transmitter in the other transmission direction for received error-free
frame or frames. If errors have occurred, the frame is not acknowledged in a predefined period of
time and the transmitter sends it again.
In asynchronous transmission the start bit provided the required timing information
for each byte of data. Unique start-of-frame and end of frame sequences or flags are used to
provide frame synchronization. These flags should
not include

similar

is to use bit stuffing

be unique and

actual data must

data sequences. One common method used to avoid frame misalignment

or zero insertion,

as shown in Figure. Consider a flag (01111110) used

in the popular high-level data link control (HDLC) protocol. After the start-of-frame flag the
sequence of six subsequent 1s is not allowed in the data section of the frame. To avoid that, a
0 is inserted in the end of each sequence of five subsequent 1s. In the receiver each 0 following
five subsequent 1s is discarded. If binary 1 follows five subsequent 1s, the frame is declared to
be finished (end-of-frame flag).

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:
CIRCUIT SWITCHING NETWORKS:
Communication via circuit switching involves three phases

Circuit establishment
Data transfer
Circuit disconnect

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The best-known example of a circuit-switching network is the public telephone network.

Subscribers: The devices that attach to the network. It is still the case that most subscriber
devices to public telecommunications

networks

are telephones, but the percentage of data

traffic increases year by year.

Local loop: The link between the subscriber and the network also referred to as the subscriber
loop. Almost all local loop connections used twisted-pair wire. The length of a local loop is
typically in a range from a few kilometers to a few tens of kilometers.
Exchanges: The switching centers in the network. A switching center that directly supports
subscribers is known as an end office. Typically, an end office will support many thousands of
subscribers in a localized area. There are over 19,000end offices in the United States, so it is
clearly impractical for each end office to have a direct link to each of the other end offices.
Trunks: The branches between

exchanges. Trunks carry multiple voice frequency circuits

using either FDM or synchronous TDM. Earlier, these were referred to as carrier systems.
Subscribers connect directly to an end office, which switches traffic between
subscribers and between a subscriber and other exchanges. The other exchanges are responsible
for routing and switching traffic between end offices; this distinction is shown in Figure. To
connect two subscribers attached to the same end office, a circuit is set up between them in the
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same fashion as described before. If two subscribers connect to different end offices, a circuit
between them consists of a chain of circuits through one or more intermediate offices. In the
figure, a connection is established between lines a and b by simply setting up the connection
through the end office. The connection between c and d is more complex. In c's end office, a
connection is established between line c and one channel on a TDM trunk to the intermediate
switch. In the intermediate switch, that channel is connected to a channel on a TDM trunk to d's
end office. In that end office, the channel is connected to line d.

Circuit establishment
Circuit-switching technology has been driven by those applications that handle voice traffic.
One of the key requirements for voice traffic is that there must be virtually no transmission delay
and certainly no variation in delay. A constant signal transmission rate must be maintained, as
transmission and reception occur at the same signal rate. These requirements are necessary to
allow normal human conversation. Further, the quality of the received signal must be sufficiently
high to provide, at a minimum, intelligibility.

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PACKET SWITCHING:
Packet-switched networks are specially designed for data communication. The source data are
split into packets containing route or destination identifications. The packets are routed toward
the destination by packet-switching nodes on the path through the network. There are two basic
types of packet-switched networks as illustrated in Figure
Virtual circuits
Datagram transmission.
In the case of virtual circuits, the virtual connection is established at the beginning of each
conversation or it is permanently set up and every packet belonging to a certain connection is
transmitted via the same established route. The main difference between circuit-switched
physical circuits and virtual circuits is that many users share the capacity of the transmission
lines and channels between network nodes if virtual instead of physical circuits are used. At a
certain moment active users may use all the available capacity if other users are not transmitting
anything. The complete address information is not needed in the packets when the connection is
established. Only a short connection identifier is included in each packet to define the virtual
circuit to which the packet belongs.
Another method for packet-switched data communications is connectionless datagram
transmission in which routing devices perform routing procedures, and each packet contains a
full destination address.

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Packet Switching

Advantages:

Security

Bandwidth used to full potential

Devices of different speeds can communicate

Not affected by line failure (rediverts signal)

Availability do not have to wait for a direct connection to become

available

During a crisis or disaster, when the public telephone network might stop
working, e-mails and texts can still be sent via packet switching

Under heavy use there can be a delay

Data packets can get lost or become corrupted

Protocols are needed for a reliable transfer

Not so good for some types data streams e.g real-time video streams can
lose frames due to the way packets arrive out of sequence.

Disadvantages

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Circuit Switching

Advantages:

Circuit is dedicated to the call no interference, no sharing

Guaranteed the full bandwidth for the duration of the call

Guaranteed Quality of Service

Inefficient the equipment may be unused for a lot of the call, if no data is
being sent, the dedicated line still remains open

Takes a relatively long time to set up the circuit

During a crisis or disaster, the network may become unstable or

unavailable.

It was primarily developed for voice traffic rather than data traffic.

Disadvantages:

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Comparison of communication switching techniques

Datagram packet
Circuit switching
Dedicated transmission path
Continuous transmission of
data
Fast enough for interactive
Messages are not stored
The path is established for
entire conversation
Call setup delay: negligible
transmission delay
Busy signal if called party
busy
Overload may block call
setup; no delay for
established calls
Electromechanical or

switching

Virtual-circuit
packet switching

No dedicated path
Transmission of packets

No dedicated path
Transmission of packets

Fast enough for interactive

Packets may be stored until
delivered
Route established for each
packet

Fast enough for interactive

Packets stored until
delivered
Route established for entire
conversation

Packet transmission delay

Call setup delay; packet

transmission delay
Sender notified of
connection denial
Overload may block call
setup; increases packet
delay

Sender may be notified if

packet not delivered
Overload increases packet
delay

Small switching nodes

Small switching nodes

Computerized switching nodes

User responsible for message Network may be responsible

Network may be responsible

loss protection
Usually no speed or code

for individual packets

Speed and code

for packet sequences

Speed and code

conversion
Dynamic use of bandwidth

conversion
Dynamic use of bandwidth

conversion
Fixed bandwidth
transmission
No overhead bits after call
setup

Overhead bits in each

packet

Overhead bit in each

packet

ACCESS METHODS
Digital subscriber line technology:
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A family of technologies, known as DSL, or digital subscriber line, has been

developed to increase the data transmission rate over ordinary local loops to the order of a few
megabits per second and it is simultaneously available for ordinary telephone service. This is far
beyond the capacity of ISDN subscriber lines. The ISDN data channels are expensive dial-up
circuits that are switched by ISDN exchanges and each connection minute increases the
subscribers telephone bill. In the case of DSL, data and speech are separated at the local
exchange site. Then the data portion is connected to the data network for Internet access.
Customers pay a fixed monthly fee for a high-data-rate connection that is always on.
Applications of DSL:
The carriers or network operators are aiming their DSL services mainly at residential users. For
them it provides high-data-rate access to the Internet and at the same time an ordinary telephone
connection over a local loop. In these applications, ADSL, which transmits at a higher data rate
downstream than upstream, and its variants are preferred. Figure illustrates some applications
of DSL: remote access to a data center, Internet access, and interconnection of LANs.

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DSL replaces the ordinary local loop, and DSL modems are needed at both ends of
the line. If an ordinary telephone connection is to be available simultaneously, the low pass filter,
splitter, at the carriers central office, splits off the voice channel and routes it to the PSTN. A
DSL access multiplexer (DSLAM) terminates the data channel at the other end of the subscriber
loop and sends traffic onto the carriers backbone data network, implemented by IP, ATM, frame
relay technology, or fixed data circuits, where it heads to a remote data center or the Internet.
DSL is mainly designed to improve the utilization of subscriber cables in the access
network.

However, because it requires fewer intermediate repeaters, system cost is reduced

and DSL will replace conventional primary rate, 1.5- or 2-Mbps, copper cable transmission
systems inside the core network as well.
DSL Techniques:DSL technologies are still evolving and many alternative technologies are
available today and new ones are under standardization. The most important technologies, their

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transmission distances, and data rates are presented in Table.

High-Bit-Rate DSL (HDSL):

The

high-bit-rate DSL (HDSL) increases the section length and thus

reduces the need for intermediate repeaters. This technology uses 2B1Q (two bits are
transmitted in each four-level symbol) encoding that has superior spectral and distance
characteristics. HDSL uses two (or sometimes three cable pairs) and thus it is not a consumer

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access technology. It provides the same data rate for E1 or T1 in both directions and is suitable
for small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) where upstream traffic has equal volume.
HDSL systems use two cable pairs for full-duplex transmission. The data rate is
divided between pairs. In one pair, to one direction, it is only half of the data rate of conventional
systems that use different cable pairs for each transmission direction. Further improvement is
achieved with the help of an efficient line code. The line code in use is 2B1Q, which means that
each pair of bits is coded into one quaternary symbol with four values to the line. This is the
same line code that is used in ISDN basic rate subscriber lines for 160Kbps bidirectional
transmission and each symbol carries two bits of information. That reduces the symbol rate on
the line to half of the binary rate and the lower transmission

rate decreases attenuation

and

crosstalk. Taken together, these developments double the transmission distance compared to the
distance of conventional systems.
The HDSL system transmits the same data rate to both directions just as
conventional 1.5/2-Mbps copper cable transmission systems. It will replace them in other
applications in the telecommunications network, such as in ISDN PRI connections, because it
requires fewer intermediate repeaters, which reduces costs. HDSL is not a consumer access
technology because it is symmetrical, uses two pairs, and does not allow a voice-band telephone
connection to coexist in the same subscriber loop.
Rate-Adaptive DSL (RADSL):
An often-used term, RADSL refers to modern DSL technologies, such as ADSL.dmt,
SDSL, and VDSL, that can adapt their operation to maximize transmission rates over a cable
pair. To achieve this, it adapts loading of each bin to its S/N as explained earlier. However, the
DSL access data rate is often set to be fixed and then RADSL technology can ensure that the
defined data rate is achieved in various loop conditions.
Very-High-Bit-Rate DSL (VDSL) :
VDSL is an evolving technology that aims to provide access to wider band services via ordinary
telephone subscriber pairs. The transmission data rate from the network to the subscribers
premises is up to 52 Mbps and up to 6 Mbps in the opposite direction over a single pair (see
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Figure. Its symmetrical configuration allows an up to 34-Mbps data rate in both directions. The
distance over an ordinary cable pair without intermediate repeaters is quite short, between 0.1
and 2 km depending on the data rate and loop conditions.
Subscriber loops from exchange site are usually longer than VDSL can tolerate and the
network-side VDSL equipment has to be installed close to the customer. Then a copper wire DSL
part of the circuit might only include the drop line to a residence or business.

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