UNIT-1 NOTES

Network Topology

Topology defines the structure of the network of how all the

components are interconnected to each other. In simple word we can
say that the layout of connected devices on a network

There are two types of topology:

1. Physical Topology : It Refers to the placement of the network’s
various components, including device location and cable installation.
2. Logical Topology: It shows how data flow within a network,
regardless of its Physical design.

Types of Physical Topology :

There are six types of network topology which are
1. Bus Topology
2. Star Topology
3. Ring Topology
4. Mesh Topology
5. Tree Topology
6. Hybrid Topology

Bus Topology:
1. All the nodes are connected through a single cable known as a
backbone cable or main line.
2. The various nodes are connected to the backbone cable by drop
cable or tap or directly connected to the backbone cable.
3. Drop line is a connection running between the device/nodess and
the main line.
4. Main lines or cable end with terminator that absorbs the signal
when it reaches the end of line. Without a terminator the electrical
signal should reach the end of copper wires and bounce back or
causing errors on the network
5. When a node wants to send a message over the network, it puts a
message over the network. All the stations available in the network
will receive the message whether it has been addressed or not .But
the message is accept by the device whose address is specified in the
address field of the message and all other devices reject the
message.
 6. Each nodes has a Multipoint Connection.
7. The bus topology is mainly used in 802.3 (ethernet) and 802.4
standard networks.

Advantages of Bus topology:

o Low-cost cable: In bus topology, nodes are directly connected to

the cable without passing through a hub. Therefore, the initial
cost of installation is low.
o Moderate data speeds: Coaxial or twisted pair cables are mainly
used in bus-based networks that support upto 10 Mbps.
o Familiar technology: Bus topology is a familiar technology as the
installation and troubleshooting techniques are well known, and
hardware components are easily available.
o Limited failure: A failure in one node will not have any effect on
other nodes.
o Less Cabling

Disadvantages of Bus topology:

o Extensive cabling: A bus topology is quite simpler, but still it

requires a lot of cabling.
o Difficult troubleshooting: It requires specialized test equipment to
determine the cable faults. If any fault occurs in the cable, then it
would disrupt the communication for all the nodes.
o Signal interference: If two nodes send the messages
simultaneously, then the signals of both the nodes collide with
each other.
o Reconfiguration difficult: Adding new devices to the network
would slow down the network.
o Attenuation: Attenuation is a loss of signal leads to
communication issues. Repeaters are used to regenerate the
signal.
o No Security
o No reliability: because of single point failure.
 Star Topology

1. Star topology is an arrangement of the network in which every

node is connected to the central hub, switch or a central
computer.
2. The central computer is known as a server(Who Accept the
request), and the peripheral devices attached to the server are
known as clients(Who Send the request).
3. No direct link between the Devices they communicate by
central controller.
4. Coaxial cable or RJ-45 cables are used to connect the
computers.
5.Each nodes has a Dedicated point to point Connection.
6. Hubs or Switches are mainly used as connection devices in
a physical star topology.
7. Star topology is the most popular topology in network
implementation.
Advantages of Star topology
o Efficient troubleshooting: Troubleshooting is quite efficient in a

star topology as compared to bus topology. In a bus topology, the

manager has to inspect the kilometers of cable. In a star topology,
all the stations are connected to the centralized network.
Therefore, the network administrator has to go to the single
station to troubleshoot the problem.
 o Network control: Complex network control features can be easily
implemented in the star topology. Any changes made in the star
topology are automatically accommodated.
o Limited failure: As each station is connected to the central hub
with its own cable, therefore failure in one cable will not affect the
entire network.
o Familiar technology: Star topology is a familiar technology as its
tools are cost-effective.
o Easily expandable: It is easily expandable as new stations can be
added to the open ports on the hub.
o Cost effective: Star topology networks are cost-effective as it uses
inexpensive coaxial cable.
o High data speeds: It supports a bandwidth of approx 100Mbps.
Ethernet 100BaseT is one of the most popular Star topology
networks.

Disadvantages of Star topology

o A Central point of failure: If the central hub or switch goes down,

then all the connected nodes will not be able to communicate

with each other.
o Cable: Sometimes cable routing becomes difficult when a
significant amount of routing is required.

Ring Topology

o Nodes are connected in the form of ring or circle.

 o Having no beginning or end that needs to be terminated.
o Each nodes has a Dedicated point to point Connection.

o The node that receives the message from the previous computer

will retransmit to the next node.

o The data flows in one direction, i.e., it is unidirectional.

o The data flows in a single loop continuously known as an endless

loop.
o The data in a ring topology flow in a clockwise direction.

o The most common access method of the ring topology is token

passing.
o Token passing: It is a network access method in which token

is passed from one node to another node.

o Token: It is a Short message that circulates around the

network.
Advantages of Ring topology:
o Network Management: Faulty devices can be removed from the

network without bringing the network down.

o Product availability: Many hardware and software tools for

network operation and monitoring are available.

o Cost: Twisted pair cabling is inexpensive and easily available.

Therefore, the installation cost is very low.

o Reliable: It is a more reliable network because the communication

system is not dependent on the single host computer.

Disadvantages of Ring topology:
o Difficult troubleshooting: It requires specialized test equipment to

determine the cable faults. If any fault occurs in the cable, then it
would disrupt the communication for all the nodes.
o Failure: The breakdown in one station leads to the failure of the

overall network.
o Reconfiguration difficult: Adding new devices to the network

would slow down the network.

o Delay: Communication delay is directly proportional to the

number of nodes. Adding new devices increases the

communication delay.
Mesh Topology

1. In Mesh topology computers are interconnected with each other

through various redundant connections.
2. There are multiple paths from one computer to another
computer.
3. It does not contain the switch, hub or any central computer which
acts as a central point of communication.
4. Mesh topology is mainly used for WAN implementations where
communication failures are a critical concern. Mesh topology is
mainly used for wireless networks.
5. The Internet is an example of the mesh topology.
6. Mesh topology can be formed by using the formula:
Number of cables = (n*(n-1))/2;
Where n is the number of nodes that represents the network.

Mesh topology is divided into two categories:

o Fully connected mesh topology

o Partially connected mesh topology
 o Full Mesh Topology: In a full mesh topology, each computer is
connected to all the computers available in the network.
o Partial Mesh Topology: In a partial mesh topology, not all but
certain computers are connected to those computers with which
they communicate frequently.

Advantages of Mesh topology:

o Reliable: The mesh topology networks are very reliable as if any
link breakdown will not affect the communication between
connected computers.
o Fast Communication: Communication is very fast between the
nodes.
o Easier Reconfiguration: Adding new devices would not disrupt the
communication between other devices.
Disadvantages of Mesh topology
o Cost: A mesh topology contains a large number of connected

devices such as a router and more transmission media than other

topologies.
o Management: Mesh topology networks are very large and very

difficult to maintain and manage. If the network is not monitored

carefully, then the communication link failure goes undetected.
o Efficiency: In this topology, redundant connections are high that

reduces the efficiency of the network.

Tree topology:
 o Tree topology combines the characteristics of bus topology and
star topology.
o A tree topology have hierarchical flow of data i.e. the data travels

level by level.
o The top-most node in tree topology is known as a root node, and

all other nodes are the descendants of the root node.

o There is only one path exists between two nodes for the data

transmission. Thus, it forms a parent-child hierarchy.

Advantages of Tree topology
o Support for broadband transmission: Tree topology is mainly

used to provide broadband transmission, i.e., signals are sent over

long distances without being attenuated.
o Easily expandable: We can add the new device to the existing

network. Therefore, we can say that tree topology is easily

expandable.
o Easily manageable: In tree topology, the whole network is divided

into segments known as star networks which can be easily

managed and maintained.
o Error detection: Error detection and error correction are very easy

in a tree topology.
o Limited failure: The breakdown in one station does not affect the

entire network.
o Point-to-point wiring: It has point-to-point wiring for individual

segments.
Disadvantages of Tree topology
 o Difficult troubleshooting: If any fault occurs in the node, then it
becomes difficult to troubleshoot the problem.
o High cost: Devices required for broadband transmission are very

costly.
o Failure: A tree topology mainly relies on main bus cable and

failure in main bus cable will damage the overall network.

o Reconfiguration difficult: If new devices are added, then it

becomes difficult to reconfigure.

Hybrid topology

o The combination of various different topologies is known

as Hybrid topology.
o A Hybrid topology is a connection between different links and

nodes to transfer the data.

Advantages of Hybrid Topology
o Reliable: If a fault occurs in any part of the network will not affect

the functioning of the rest of the network.

o Scalable: Size of the network can be easily expanded by adding

new devices without affecting the functionality of the existing

network.
o Flexible: This topology is very flexible as it can be designed

according to the requirements of the organization.

 o Effective: Hybrid topology is very effective as it can be designed in
such a way that the strength of the network is maximized and
weakness of the network is minimized.
Disadvantages of Hybrid topology
o Complex design: The major drawback of the Hybrid topology is

the design of the Hybrid network. It is very difficult to design the

architecture of the Hybrid network.
o Costly Hub: The Hubs used in the Hybrid topology are very

expensive as these hubs are different from usual Hubs used in

other topologies.
o Costly infrastructure: The infrastructure cost is very high as a

hybrid network requires a lot of cabling, network devices, etc.

Computer Network Types

A computer network is a group of computers linked to each other that
enables the computer to communicate with another computer and
share their resources, data, and applications.

A computer network can be categorized by their size. A computer

network is mainly of four types:
LAN (Local Area Network)

o Local Area Network is a group of computers connected to each

other in a small area such as building, office.
o LAN is used for connecting two or more personal computers
through a communication medium such as twisted pair, coaxial
cable, etc.
o It is less costly as it is built with inexpensive hardware such as
hubs, network adapters, and ethernet cables.
o The data is transferred at an extremely faster rate in Local Area
Network.
o Local Area Network provides higher security.

MAN (Metropolitan Area Network)

 o A metropolitan area network is a network that covers a larger
geographic area by interconnecting a different LAN to form a
larger network.
o Government agencies use MAN to connect to the citizens and
private industries.
o In MAN, various LANs are connected to each other through a
telephone exchange line.
o The most widely used protocols in MAN are RS-232, Frame Relay,
ATM, ISDN, OC-3, ADSL, etc.
o It has a higher range than Local Area Network(LAN).

WAN (Wide Area Network)

o A Wide Area Network is a network that extends over a large

geographical area such as states or countries.
o A Wide Area Network is quite bigger network than the LAN.
o A Wide Area Network is not limited to a single location, but it
spans over a large geographical area through a telephone line,
fibre optic cable or satellite links.
o The internet is one of the biggest WAN in the world.
o A Wide Area Network is widely used in the field of Business,
government, and education.
Advantages Of Wide Area Network:
o Geographical area: A Wide Area Network provides a large

geographical area. Suppose if the branch of our office is in a

different city then we can connect with them through WAN. The
internet provides a leased line through which we can connect with
another branch.
o Centralized data: In case of WAN network, data is centralized.

Therefore, we do not need to buy the emails, files or back up

servers.
o Get updated files: Software companies work on the live server.

Therefore, the programmers get the updated files within seconds.

o Exchange messages: In a WAN network, messages are transmitted

fast. The web application like Facebook, Whatsapp, Skype allows

you to communicate with friends.
o Sharing of software and resources: In WAN network, we can

share the software and other resources like a hard drive, RAM.
o Global business: We can do the business over the internet

globally.
o High bandwidth: If we use the leased lines for our company then

this gives the high bandwidth. The high bandwidth increases the
data transfer rate which in turn increases the productivity of our
company.
Disadvantages of Wide Area Network:

o Security issue: A WAN network has more security issues as

compared to LAN and MAN network as all the technologies are
combined together that creates the security problem.
o Needs Firewall & antivirus software: The data is transferred on
the internet which can be changed or hacked by the hackers, so
the firewall needs to be used. Some people can inject the virus in
our system so antivirus is needed to protect from such a virus.
o High Setup cost: An installation cost of the WAN network is high
as it involves the purchasing of routers, switches.
 o Troubleshooting problems: It covers a large area so fixing the
problem is difficult.

PAN (Personal Area Network)

o Personal Area Network is a network arranged within an individual

person, typically within a range of 10 meters.
o Personal Area Network is used for connecting the computer
devices of personal use is known as Personal Area Network.
o Thomas Zimmerman was the first research scientist to bring the
idea of the Personal Area Network.
o Personal Area Network covers an area of 30 feet.
o Personal computer devices that are used to develop the personal
area network are the laptop, mobile phones, media player and
play stations.

There are two types of Personal Area Network:

Wireless Personal Area Network: Wireless Personal Area Network is
developed by simply using wireless technologies such as WiFi,
Bluetooth. It is a low range network.

Wired Personal Area Network: Wired Personal Area Network is

created by using the USB.

Switching techniques

In large networks, there can be multiple paths from sender to receiver.

The switching technique will decide the best route for data
transmission.

Switching technique is used to connect the systems for making one-to-

one communication.

Classification Of Switching Techniques

Circuit Switching
o Circuit switching is a switching technique that establishes a

dedicated path between sender and receiver.

o In the Circuit Switching Technique, once the connection is

established then the dedicated path will remain to exist until the
connection is terminated.
o Circuit switching in a network operates in a similar way as the

telephone works.
o A complete end-to-end path must exist before the communication

takes place.
o In case of circuit switching technique, when any user wants to

send the data, voice, video, a request signal is sent to the receiver
then the receiver sends back the acknowledgment to ensure the
availability of the dedicated path. After receiving the
acknowledgment, dedicated path transfers the data.
o Circuit switching is used in public telephone network. It is used for

voice transmission.
o Fixed data can be transferred at a time in circuit switching

technology.

Communication through circuit switching has 3 phases:

o Circuit establishment

o Data transfer
 o Circuit Disconnect
Circuit Switching can use either of the two technologies:
1. Space Division Switches:
o Space Division Switching is a circuit switching technology in which

a single transmission path is accomplished in a switch by using a

physically separate set of crosspoints.
o Space Division Switching can be achieved by using crossbar switch.

A crossbar switch is a metallic crosspoint or semiconductor gate

that can be enabled or disabled by a control unit.
o The Crossbar switch is made by using the semiconductor. For

example, Xilinx crossbar switch using FPGAs.

o Space Division Switching has high speed, high capacity, and

nonblocking switches.
Space Division Switches can be categorized in two ways:
o Crossbar Switch

o Multistage Switch

Crossbar Switch
The Crossbar switch is a switch that has n input lines and n output
lines.
Disadvantage of Crossbar switch:
The number of crosspoints increases as the number of stations is
increased. Therefore, it becomes very expensive for a large switch. The
solution to this is to use a multistage switch.
Multistage Switch
o Multistage Switch is made by splitting the crossbar switch into the

smaller units and then interconnecting them.

o It reduces the number of crosspoints.

o If one path fails, then there will be an availability of another path.

Advantages Of Circuit Switching:

o In the case of Circuit Switching technique, the communication

channel is dedicated.
o It has fixed bandwidth.

Disadvantages of Circuit Switching:

 o Once the dedicated path is established, the only delay occurs in
the speed of data transmission.
o It takes a long time to establish a connection approx 10 seconds
during which no data can be transmitted.
o It is more expensive than other switching techniques as a
dedicated path is required for each connection.
o It is inefficient to use because once the path is established and no
data is transferred, then the capacity of the path is wasted.
o In this case, the connection is dedicated therefore no other data
can be transferred even if the channel is free.

Message Switching
o Message Switching is a switching technique in which a message is

transferred as a complete unit and routed through intermediate

nodes at which it is stored and forwarded.
o In Message Switching technique, there is no establishment of a

dedicated path between the sender and receiver.

o The destination address is appended to the message. Message

Switching provides a dynamic routing as the message is routed

through the intermediate nodes based on the information
available in the message.
o Message switches are programmed in such a way so that they can

provide the most efficient routes.

o Each and every node stores the entire message and then forward

it to the next node. This type of network is known as store and

forward network.
o Message switching treats each message as an independent entity.

Advantages Of Message Switching

o Data channels are shared among the communicating devices that

improve the efficiency of using available bandwidth.
o Traffic congestion can be reduced because the message is
temporarily stored in the nodes.
 o Message priority can be used to manage the network.
o The size of the message which is sent over the network can be
varied. Therefore, it supports the data of unlimited size.

Disadvantages Of Message Switching

o The message switches must be equipped with sufficient storage to

enable them to store the messages until the message is
forwarded.
o The Long delay can occur due to the storing and forwarding
facility provided by the message switching technique.

Packet Switching
o The packet switching is a switching technique in which the

message is sent in one go, but it is divided into smaller pieces, and
they are sent individually.
o The message splits into smaller pieces known as packets and

packets are given a unique number to identify their order at the

receiving end.
o Every packet contains some information in its headers such as

source address, destination address and sequence number.

o Packets will travel across the network, taking the shortest path as

possible.
o All the packets are reassembled at the receiving end in correct

order.
o If any packet is missing or corrupted, then the message will be

sent to resend the message.

o If the correct order of the packets is reached, then the

acknowledgment message will be sent.

Approaches Of Packet Switching:

Datagram Packet switching:
 o It is a packet switching technology in which packet is known as a
datagram, is considered as an independent entity. Each packet
contains the information about the destination and switch uses
this information to forward the packet to the correct destination.
o The packets are reassembled at the receiving end in correct order.
o In Datagram Packet Switching technique, the path is not fixed.
o Intermediate nodes take the routing decisions to forward the
packets.
o Datagram Packet Switching is also known as connectionless
switching.

Virtual Circuit Switching

o Virtual Circuit Switching is also known as connection-oriented

switching.
o In the case of Virtual circuit switching, a preplanned route is
established before the messages are sent.
o Call request and call accept packets are used to establish the
connection between sender and receiver.
o In this case, the path is fixed for the duration of a logical
connection.

Advantages Of Packet Switching:

o Cost-effective: In packet switching technique, switching devices

do not require massive secondary storage to store the packets, so
cost is minimized to some extent. Therefore, we can say that the
packet switching technique is a cost-effective technique.
o Reliable: If any node is busy, then the packets can be rerouted.
This ensures that the Packet Switching technique provides reliable
communication.

Disadvantages Of Packet Switching:

o Packet Switching technique cannot be implemented in those

applications that require low delay and high-quality services.
 o The protocols used in a packet switching technique are very
complex and requires high implementation cost.
o If the network is overloaded or corrupted, then it requires
retransmission of lost packets. It can also lead to the loss of critical
information if errors are nor recovered.

Modes of Communication
o The way in which data is transmitted from one device to another

device is known as transmission mode. Also known as the

communication mode.
o Each communication channel has a direction associated with it,

and transmission media provide the direction. Therefore, the

transmission mode is also known as a directional mode. The
transmission mode is defined in the physical layer.
The Transmission mode is divided into three categories:

Simplex mode

o In Simplex mode, the communication is unidirectional, i.e., the

data flow in one direction.
o A device can only send the data but cannot receive it or it can
receive the data but cannot send the data.
o The radio station is a simplex channel as it transmits the signal to
the listeners but never allows them to transmit back.
o Keyboard and Monitor are the examples of the simplex
Advantage of Simplex mode:

o In simplex mode, the station can utilize the entire bandwidth of

the communication channel, so that more data can be transmitted
at a time.

Disadvantage of Simplex mode:

o Communication is unidirectional, so it has no inter-communication

between devices.

Half-Duplex mode

o In a Half-duplex channel, direction can be reversed, i.e., the

station can transmit and receive the data as well. Messages flow
in both the directions, but not at the same time.
o The entire bandwidth of the communication channel is utilized in

one direction at a time.

o In half-duplex mode, it is possible to perform the error detection,

and if any error occurs, then the receiver requests the sender to
retransmit the data.
o A Walkie-talkie is an example of the Half-duplex mode.

Advantage of Half-duplex mode:

o In half-duplex mode, both the devices can send and receive the

data and also can utilize the entire bandwidth of the

communication channel during the transmission of data.
Disadvantage of Half-Duplex mode:
o In half-duplex mode, when one device is sending the data, then

another has to wait, this causes the delay in sending the data at
the right time.
Full-duplex mode

o In Full duplex mode, the communication is bi-directional, i.e., the

data flow in both the directions. The Full-duplex mode is the
fastest mode of communication between devices.
o Both the stations can send and receive the message
simultaneously.
o Full-duplex mode has two simplex channels. One channel has
traffic moving in one direction, and another channel has traffic
flowing in the opposite direction.
o The most common example of the full-duplex mode is a telephone
network.

Advantage of Full-duplex mode:

o Both the stations can send and receive the data at the same time.

Disadvantage of Full-duplex mode:

o If there is no dedicated path exists between the devices, then the
capacity of the communication channel is divided into two parts.

Differences b/w Simplex, Half-duplex and Full-duplex mode

Basis for Simplex mode Half-duplex Full-duplex mode
comparison mode

Direction of In simplex In half-duplex In full-duplex mode,

communication mode, the mode, the the communication
communication communication is bidirectional.
is is bidirectional,
 unidirectional. but one at a
time.
Send/Receive A device can Both the Both the devices
only send the devices can can send and
data but send and receive the data
cannot receive receive the simultaneously.
it or it can only data, but one
receive the at a time.
data but
cannot send it.
Performance The The The Full-duplex
performance of performance of mode has better
half-duplex full-duplex performance
mode is better mode is better among simplex and
than the than the half- half-duplex mode
simplex mode. duplex mode. as it doubles the
utilization of the
capacity of the
communication
channel.
Example Examples of Example of Example of the Full-
Simplex mode half-duplex is duplex mode is a
are radio, Walkie-Talkies. telephone network.
keyboard, and
monitor.

Transmission media
o Transmission media is a communication channel that carries the

information from the sender to the receiver. Data is transmitted

through the electromagnetic signals.
o The main functionality of the transmission media is to carry the

information in the form of bits through LAN(Local Area Network).

 o It is a physical path between transmitter and receiver in data
communication.
o The electrical signals can be sent through the copper wire, fibre
optics, atmosphere, water, and vacuum.
o The transmission media is available in the lowest layer of the OSI
reference model, i.e., Physical layer.

Some factors need to be considered for designing the transmission

media:

o Bandwidth: All the factors are remaining constant, the greater the
bandwidth of a medium, the higher the data transmission rate of
a signal.
o Transmission impairment: When the received signal is not
identical to the transmitted one due to the transmission
impairment. The quality of the signals will get destroyed due to
transmission impairment.
o Interference: An interference is defined as the process of
disrupting a signal when it travels over a communication medium
on the addition of some unwanted signal.

Causes Of Transmission Impairment:

o Attenuation: Attenuation means the loss of energy, i.e., the

strength of the signal decreases with increasing the distance
which causes the loss of energy.
o Distortion: Distortion occurs when there is a change in the shape
of the signal. This type of distortion is examined from different
signals having different frequencies. Noise: When data is travelled
over a transmission medium, some unwanted signal is added to it
which creates the noise.
Classification Of Transmission Media:

Guided Media
It is defined as the physical medium through which the signals are
transmitted. It is also known as Bounded media.

Types Of Guided media:

Twisted pair:
Twisted pair is a physical media made up of a pair of cables twisted
with each other. A twisted pair cable is cheap as compared to other
transmission media. Installation of the twisted pair cable is easy, and it
is a lightweight cable. The frequency range for twisted pair cable is
from 0 to 3.5KHz.

A twisted pair consists of two insulated copper wires arranged in a

regular spiral pattern.

Types of Twisted pair:

 1. Unshielded Twisted Pair:

An unshielded twisted pair is widely used in telecommunication.

Following are the categories of the unshielded twisted pair cable:

o Category 1: Category 1 is used for telephone lines that have low-

speed data.
o Category 2: It can support upto 4Mbps.
o Category 3: It can support upto 16Mbps.
o Category 4: It can support upto 20Mbps. Therefore, it can be used
for long-distance communication.
o Category 5: It can support upto 200Mbps.

Advantages Of Unshielded Twisted Pair:

o It is cheap.
o Installation of the unshielded twisted pair is easy.
o It can be used for high-speed LAN.

Disadvantage:

o This cable can only be used for shorter distances because of

attenuation.

2. Shielded Twisted Pair

A shielded twisted pair is a cable that contains the mesh surrounding

the wire that allows the higher transmission rate.

Characteristics Of Shielded Twisted Pair:

 o The cost of the shielded twisted pair cable is not very high and not
very low.
o An installation of STP is easy.
o It has a higher attenuation.
o It is shielded that provides the higher data transmission rate.

Disadvantages

o It is more expensive as compared to UTP and coaxial cable.

o It has a higher attenuation rate.

Coaxial Cable
o Coaxial cable is very commonly used transmission media, for
example, TV wire is usually a coaxial cable.
o The name of the cable is coaxial as it contains two conductors
parallel to each other.
o It has a higher frequency as compared to Twisted pair cable.
o The inner conductor of the coaxial cable is made up of copper,
and the outer conductor is made up of copper mesh. The middle
core is made up of non-conductive cover that separates the inner
conductor from the outer conductor.
o The middle core is responsible for the data transferring whereas
the copper mesh prevents from the EMI(Electromagnetic
interference).

Coaxial cable is of two types:

 1. Baseband transmission: It is defined as the process of
transmitting a single signal at high speed.
2. Broadband transmission: It is defined as the process of
transmitting multiple signals simultaneously.

Advantages Of Coaxial cable:

o The data can be transmitted at high speed.

o It has better shielding as compared to twisted pair cable.
o It provides higher bandwidth.

Disadvantages Of Coaxial cable:

o It is more expensive as compared to twisted pair cable.

o If any fault occurs in the cable causes the failure in the entire
network.

Fibre Optic
o Fibre optic cable is a cable that uses electrical signals for

communication.
o Fibre optic is a cable that holds the optical fibres coated in plastic

that are used to send the data by pulses of light.

o The plastic coating protects the optical fibres from heat, cold,

electromagnetic interference from other types of wiring.

o Fibre optics provide faster data transmission than copper wires.

Diagrammatic representation of fibre optic cable:

Basic elements of Fibre optic cable:

 o Core: The optical fibre consists of a narrow strand of glass or
plastic known as a core. A core is a light transmission area of the
fibre. The more the area of the core, the more light will be
transmitted into the fibre.
o Cladding: The concentric layer of glass is known as cladding. The
main functionality of the cladding is to provide the lower
refractive index at the core interface as to cause the reflection
within the core so that the light waves are transmitted through
the fibre.
o Jacket: The protective coating consisting of plastic is known as a
jacket. The main purpose of a jacket is to preserve the fibre
strength, absorb shock and extra fibre protection.

Following are the advantages of fibre optic cable over copper:

o Greater Bandwidth: The fibre optic cable provides more

bandwidth as compared copper. Therefore, the fibre optic carries
more data as compared to copper cable.
o Faster speed: Fibre optic cable carries the data in the form of
light. This allows the fibre optic cable to carry the signals at a
higher speed.
o Longer distances: The fibre optic cable carries the data at a longer
distance as compared to copper cable.
o Better reliability: The fibre optic cable is more reliable than the
copper cable as it is immune to any temperature changes while it
can cause obstruct in the connectivity of copper cable.
o Thinner and Sturdier: Fibre optic cable is thinner and lighter in
weight so it can withstand more pull pressure than copper cable.

UnGuided Transmission
o An unguided transmission transmits the electromagnetic waves

without using any physical medium. Therefore it is also known

as wireless transmission.
o In unguided media, air is the media through which the

electromagnetic energy can flow easily.

Unguided transmission is broadly classified into three categories:

Radio waves
o Radio waves are the electromagnetic waves that are transmitted

in all the directions of free space.

o Radio waves are omnidirectional, i.e., the signals are propagated

in all the directions.

o The range in frequencies of radio waves is from 3Khz to 1 khz.

o In the case of radio waves, the sending and receiving antenna are

not aligned, i.e., the wave sent by the sending antenna can be
received by any receiving antenna.
o An example of the radio wave is FM radio.

Applications Of Radio waves:

o A Radio wave is useful for multicasting when there is one sender

and many receivers.
o An FM radio, television, cordless phones are examples of a radio
wave.

Advantages Of Radio transmission:

o Radio transmission is mainly used for wide area networks and

mobile cellular phones.
o Radio waves cover a large area, and they can penetrate the walls.
o Radio transmission provides a higher transmission rate.
Microwaves
Microwaves are of two types:

Terrestrial Microwave Transmission

o Terrestrial Microwave transmission is a technology that transmits

the focused beam of a radio signal from one ground-based

microwave transmission antenna to another.
o Microwaves are the electromagnetic waves having the frequency

in the range from 1GHz to 1000 GHz.

o Microwaves are unidirectional as the sending and receiving

antenna is to be aligned, i.e., the waves sent by the sending

antenna are narrowly focussed.
o In this case, antennas are mounted on the towers to send a beam

to another antenna which is km away.

o It works on the line of sight transmission, i.e., the antennas

mounted on the towers are the direct sight of each other.

Characteristics of Microwave:
o Frequency range: The frequency range of terrestrial microwave is

from 4-6 GHz to 21-23 GHz.

o Bandwidth: It supports the bandwidth from 1 to 10 Mbps.

o Short distance: It is inexpensive for short distance.

o Long distance: It is expensive as it requires a higher tower for a

longer distance.
o Attenuation: Attenuation means loss of signal. It is affected by

environmental conditions and antenna size.

Advantages Of Microwave:
 o Microwave transmission is cheaper than using cables.
o It is free from land acquisition as it does not require any land for

the installation of cables.

o Microwave transmission provides an easy communication in

terrains as the installation of cable in terrain is quite a difficult

task.
o Communication over oceans can be achieved by using microwave

transmission.
Disadvantages of Microwave transmission:
o Out of phase signal: A signal can be moved out of phase by using

microwave transmission.
o Susceptible to weather condition: A microwave transmission is

susceptible to weather condition. This means that any

environmental change such as rain, wind can distort the signal.
o Bandwidth limited: Allocation of bandwidth is limited in the case

of microwave transmission.
Satellite Microwave Communication
o A satellite is a physical object that revolves around the earth at a

known height.
o Satellite communication is more reliable nowadays as it offers

more flexibility than cable and fibre optic systems.

o We can communicate with any point on the globe by using

satellite communication.
Advantages Of Satellite Microwave Communication:
o The coverage area of a satellite microwave is more than the

terrestrial microwave.
o The transmission cost of the satellite is independent of the

distance from the centre of the coverage area.

o It is used in a wide variety of applications such as weather

forecasting, radio/TV signal broadcasting, mobile communication,

etc.
Disadvantages Of Satellite Microwave Communication:
o Satellite designing and development requires more time and

higher cost.
 o The Satellite needs to be monitored and controlled on regular
periods so that it remains in orbit.
o The life of the satellite is about 12-15 years. Due to this reason,
another launch of the satellite has to be planned before it
becomes non-functional.

Infrared
o An infrared transmission is a wireless technology used for

communication over short ranges.

o The frequency of the infrared in the range from 300 GHz to 400

THz.
o It is used for short-range communication such as data transfer

between two cell phones, TV remote operation, data transfer

between a computer and cell phone resides in the same closed
area.

Characteristics Of Infrared:

o It supports high bandwidth, and hence the data rate will be very
high.
o Infrared waves cannot penetrate the walls. Therefore, the infrared
communication in one room cannot be interrupted by the nearby
rooms.
o An infrared communication provides better security with
minimum interference.
o Infrared communication is unreliable outside the building because
the sun rays will interfere with the infrared waves.

1. Analog Communication:
 In analog communication the data is transferred with the help
of analog signal in between transmitter and receiver.
 Any type of data is transferred in analog signal.
 Any data is converted into electric form first and after that it is
passed through communication channel.
  Analog communication uses a continuous signal which varies in
amplitude, phase, or some other property with time in
proportion to that of a variable.
The below figure illustrates the Analog Communication System:

2. Digital Communication:
 In digital communication digital signal is used rather than
analog signal for communication in between the source and
destination.
 The digital signal consists of discrete values rather than
continuous values.
 In digital communication physical transfer of data occurs in the
form of digital bit stream i.e 0 or 1 over a point-to-point or
point-to-multipoint transmission medium .
 In digital communication the digital transmission data can be
broken into packets as discrete messages which is not allowed
in analog communication.
The below figure illustrates the Digital Communication System:
Serial Transmission:
 In Serial Transmission, data-bit flows from one computer to
another computer in bi-direction.
 In this transmission, one bit flows at one clock pulse.
 In Serial Transmission, 8 bits are transferred at a time having a
start and stop bit.

Serial Transmission
Parallel Transmission:
 In Parallel Transmission, many bits are flow together
simultaneously from one computer to another computer.
 Parallel Transmission is faster than serial transmission to transmit
the bits. Parallel transmission is used for short distance.
Parallel Transmission

Synchronous Transmission:

 In Synchronous Transmission, data is sent in form of blocks or

frames.
 This transmission is the full-duplex type.
 Between sender and receiver, synchronization is compulsory.
 In Synchronous transmission, There is no gap present between
data.
 It is more efficient and more reliable than asynchronous
transmission to transfer a large amount of data.
Example:
 Chat Rooms

 Telephonic Conversations

 Video Conferencing

Asynchronous Transmission:
 In Asynchronous Transmission, data is sent in form of byte or

character.
 This transmission is the half-duplex type transmission.
  In this transmission start bits and stop bits are added with data.
 It does not require synchronization.
Example:
 Email
 Forums

 Letters