Communication Systems

PART 1
Characteristics of communication
systems
Characteristics of communication
systems
• A Communication System enables people to
send and receive information.
• Information systems have 5 basic needs:
– Data source
– Transmitter
– Transmission Medium
– Receiver
– Destination
Communication System
How a typical transmission occurs using a
standard phone-line dial-up internet
connection
• first, your home computer sends the digital data to be transmitted to the modem
• the modem then encodes this data by using a series of amplitude modulations on a
carrier-wave signal.
(Since phone lines were designed for voice communication, this signal can be heard as
an audio tone. A lower amplitude will be heard as a quieter tone, and is used to
represent 0, whereas a higher amplitude will be louder, and represents 1. If you have a
dial-up modem, turn on the speaker and you can actually hear the series of soft and
loud tones being used to encode your digital data!)
• this sound wave travels over the phone line, in the same way that your voice does, to
another modem that is "listening" at the other end;
• the receiving modem then "demodulates" the sound-wave signal, by simply turning the
amplitude modulations back into electronic binary signals, which are sent to the
receiving computer.
The framework in which
communication systems function
• The framework in which communication
systems function, is demonstrated by the
following model
OSI MODEL (Open Systems Interconnection)

• The OSI Reference Model divides data

communication into 7 layers.
• It is a set of standards for communication
 OSI MODEL
HTTP SMTP 7. Application
FTP Application
POP 6. Presentation
RDP
Handshaking 5. Session
Communication
TCP/IP 4. Transport and control

3. Network

2. Data Link
Transmission
1. Physical
 Levels of the OSI Model
7. The actual data to be transmitted is created by a software application, this data is organised in a
format understood by the application that will receive the data.

6. The data is reorganised into a form suitable for subsequent transmission.

5. This is where communication with the network is established, commences and is maintained. It
determines when a communication session is started with a remote computer and also when it
ends. This layer also includes security to ensure a user has the appropriate access rights.

4. This layer manages the correct transmission of each packet of data. This layer ensures that
packets failing to reach their destination are retransmitted.

3 This is where packets are directed to their destination. IP (Internet Protocol) operates here - its
job is to address and forward packets to their destination. Routers also operate at this layer by
directing packets along the best path based on their IP address.

2. This layer defines how the transmission media is actually shared. Device drivers that control the
physical transmission hardware operate at this layer. They determine the final size of transmitted
packets, the speed of transfer, and various other physical characteristics of the transfer. Switches
and the Ethernet protocol operate at this level

1. This layer performs the actual physical transfer, hence it is composed solely of hardware. It converts
the bits in each message into the signals that are transmitted down the transmission media.
The functions performed within the
communication systems
• The functions performed within the communication
systems in passing messages between source and
destination, including:
• message creation
• organisation of packets at the interface between source and
transmitter
• signal generation by the transmitter
• transmission
• synchronising the exchange
• addressing and routing
• error detection and correction
• security and management
The roles of protocols in
communication
• handshaking and its importance in a
communications link
• functions performed by protocols at different
levels
Protocols
• Communications systems need protocols for
communication.

• A Protocol is a set of rules that governs the

transfer of data between computers. It defines
how the information is transmitted and how the
errors are detected.

• There are protocols for the data interchange at

the hardware device level and protocols for data
interchange at the application program level.
Protocols and data packets
• Each protocol wraps the data packet (or frame or segment - different
names are used depending on the particular protocol) from the layer
above with its own header and trailer.
• The header and trailer contain data relevant to the protocol operating at
that layer.
• The protocol operating within the next lower layer considers each entire
packet from the prior layer to be data and adds its own header and trailer
• Some protocols include the address of the receiver within the header and
many include some form of error detection code within their header or
trailer.
Handshaking
• Data can only be successfully transferred
between devices if handshaking occurs.

• Handshaking is an agreement about which

protocol is used to accomplish the exchange
of information.
Types of handshaking
Hardware handshake
• Is the exchange of signals between two devices to
establish a common link.

Software handshake
• Allows two devices to control the flow of data between
them
• A receiving computer stores the data received from
another computer in a temporary storage area called a
buffer
The client–server model
• the role of the client and the server
• thin clients and fat clients
• examples of clients such as web browsers and
mail clients
• examples of servers such as print servers, mail
servers and web servers
Servers
• Servers are special purpose devices designed
to give responsibility for a specific function to
a specific device.
File server
• A file server is a high speed controlling
computer in a network that stores the
programs and data files shared by users.
• The files stored on the server can be retrieved
by any user who has the necessary access
rights.
Print Server
• A print server is a computer in a network that
controls one or more printers and stores data
to be printed.
• It stores that print data from all users of the
system and feeds it to the printer one job at a
time.
• A print server can be used with or without a
file server
• an add-on utility.
Mail Server
• A mail server is a computer in a network that
provides email facilities.
• Stores incoming mail for distribution to users
and forwards outgoing mail to appropriate
devices.
Web Server
• A Web server is a program/ computer in the
network that, using the client/server model
and the World Wide Web’s HTTP, serves the
files that form Web pages to Web users.
• Every computer on the Internet that contains
a Web site must have a Web server program.
• All Internet traffic is directed through this
server.