Chapter 1

Introduction
1.1 Communication Technologies
Now days with the help of advancements in communication technologies, it makes our
way of living much better and the way we make decisions regarding business perspectives. With
the help of advancements in todays data communication techniques we can perform tasks much
easier and reliably. Now its easier to communicate with each other from one country to another
with the help of an e-mail, which received instantly without any problem .Now we dont have to
wait for post mails anymore. Multinational companies profit, loss depends on these networks as
networks were the backbone for communications across the globe. Before getting started its
better to know that how communication networks works , what are the technology background ,
protocols, which make communication networks more efficient and fast in todays world.

1.2 Network
A network is known as a group of systems or people interconnected to each other in order
to share or exchange information Following are types of networks discussed below.

1.2.1 Wired Network

Wired network consists of a network based on wired communications .All the
communications were on Ethernet standards and protocols. For example telephone networks,
cable tv networks and internet access.

1.2.2 Wireless Network

Wireless network consists of a network which is based wireless communication medium such as
RF .For example Bluetooth connection, WIFI, WSNs, Cellular network, satellite communication
(i)

Bluetooth:

Bluetooth used to exchange data over short distance wirelessly. UHF waves from 2.4 to 2.48
GHz were used for communication. In order to communicate using Bluetooth both the devices
should have Bluetooth profiles and standards to meet the communication protocols standards by
both sender and receivers.
(ii)

Wi-Fi:

Wi-Fi is a wireless technology used for data exchange between nodes locally and wirelessly.
For communication purpose WIFI use 2.4 UHF band 5.0 GHz SHF. WIFI is standardized by
IEEE as 802.11

(iii)

Wireless sensor network:

WSNs used to connect sensors wirelessly which are used for different applications as sensors
deployed in a denser area of interest. These sensors send processed data to their base stations
wirelessly. This network can be clusterazied or directly connected to base station.
(iv)

Cellular network:
Cellular network is basically a wireless network which usually consists of cells. Each cell

is obtaining different frequencies to avoid interference from other cells. These cells were
connected to base station which is deployed at every possible area in a region. This together
covers all the areas in region and a node from one region usually connect to its base station in
order to communicate with other cells in different region

1.3 Communication of Data among Networks

In order to have a communication of data or exchange of information among networks it should
be taken in account that the following 5 components for communication must be there, without
anyone one of them the communication wouldnt be possible. Components for exchange of
information among networks were as follows.
(i)

Message:

Message which is to be sent or receive should be present without it communication between

two or more than two nodes will not be possible. A message contains every type of contents like
pictures, music, videos, texts, data, and numbers. Usually message is sent in form of network

packets. Network packets which consist of essential information for communication including
senders and receivers address.
(ii)

Sender:

A device which is capable of sending message over a network is known as sender. For
example a computer, servers, telephones, mobile devices and much more.
(iii)

Receiver:

Receiver is known as aentity which is used to receive data which is sent over a network from
sender. A receiving device can be same as sending device.
(iv)

Transmission Medium:

Medium that is responsible for all kind of communications. Communication occurs via some
kind of links which were generated between sender and receiver. The links through which
information could be exchange is known as transmission medium A medium which holds the
data packet until its been received by the receiver, Transmission such as sending and receiving
of data.
(v)

Protocol:

A specific set of rules between the parties (sender, receiver) for about how the data should be
sent or received .Protocol consists of various steps about how data should be travelled across the
medium until its gets to where its destined to be.

1.4 Data Flow among Networks

Communications between two or more than two devices can be occur in the following modes
(i)

Simplex:

In simplex mode only one node can send data through medium and other can only receive it.
Its a one way communication among two nodes.
(ii)

Half-Duplex:

In Half-Duplex mode both the nodes can send or receive data but not at the same time of
communication from any of the two nodes. If one node is sending data the other must have to
wait to let the medium free then the other node can send data and vice versa.
(iii)

Full-Duplex:

In Full-Duplex mode both the nodes can send or receives data at the same time, there is no
need for any of the nodes to wait for the channel to get free. Full channel utilization could be
possible using full duplex.

Figure 1: Communication modes

1.5 Network Layer Services

In this section there will be a brief discussion on services provided by layer in which made
the communications among different networks possible. As data among networks is sent in form
of data packets each packet have to go through some layers in order to get to another end. These
layers were the communication standards developed by ISO (International standard
organization).Each layer serves a different kind of service to the layer above it or below it. Each
layer have different name , functionality , service, purpose depending on the network , which
means that layers will remain the same but their functions ,name and services they used to
provide to the layers above it will be changed according to the network they were used it.

Services:
A service is a set of operations (discussed later) which every layer provides to
other layers in OSI model as shown in figure

Figure 2: Services provided by layers in OSI model

There were two kinds of services offered by layers to the layers above them. They were
connection-oriented and connection-less. Connection oriented services works on the principle of
telephone system .In connection-oriented if sender want to send something to another system on
the network sender first made a connection in order to send something. When the connection is
established then sender start sending data to the receiver the sender intend to send to. In some
case the order of sending bits were used to be reserved so the receiver gets the packet in the same
way the sender sent. On the other hand connection-less service means that a sender was not
bound to make the direct connection first with the receiver in order to send the data. Sender can
send the data whenever sender wants to as the data packet reaches to intermediate node it will
store it and check whether the medium to that respective receiver is free as if that receiver is not
receiving or sending data to any other node in the network then this data packet is forwarded to
that respective receiver. This phenomenon of storing and sending is called store-and-forward
switching. Following are some services offered by both connection-oriented and connection-less
as shown in Figure 3

Figure 3: Types of Services offered by Connection oriented and Connection-less service

From figure 3, we can say that connection-oriented service provide us reliability in terms
of message/byte streaming as they follow the rule of acknowledgment in which sender after
sending each packet wait for the acknowledgement from receiver that whether the receiver gets it
or not. This acknowledgement procedure offered by connection-oriented service often produce
delays because sender demands for the acknowledgment before it send next packet in queue. In
figure 3 it can be seen that Voice over IP provides unreliability connection from connectionoriented service this happens because as its been discussed that after sending each packet
acknowledgement is required so lets say if we were talking using voice over IP and lets say
sender says hello to receiver ,so then sender have to wait for the receivers reply as well as wait
for that whether the receiver acknowledge the desired packet or not which make this
conversation a delayed one thats why its unreliable in terms of Voice over IP.
Now lets come over to the connection-less service as the figure tells that its provides unreliable
datagram service which means that there will be no acknowledgement received back from the
receiver to sender which let the sender know whether the receiver get the desired packet send
from sender or not. On the other hand connection-less provides acknowledgement datagram as
well which means that sender can get to know the acknowledgement of the packet sent by
sender. Text messaging is best example to understand its a connection-less service means that
sender doesnt wants to first established a connection with the receiver it can be send to the
receiver whether the receiver is available at the time of sending the data or not .When sender
send data, a report was sent by telecom providers to the sender that the message sent by sender
was

successfully

received

at

the

receiving

end.

The last services shown in the above figure was request-reply service which is most
commonly used in client-server model where client first sent request in order to communicate

with the server once the request of the client is being processed then the connection was made
between

both

the

sender

and

receiver.

All the reliable services were used to be on top of the un-reliable services in order to make the
communications go well. For example if the data packet is being sent destroyed due to some
reason in between then the upper layer having the reliable services will have a fix for such things
.

Services operations: These operations performed by services in order to take

action against the requests or actions taken by peer entity in a network. These

(i)

operations were listed as

Listen:

This type of operation is used when the medium is busy. It let the sender to wait until the
medium to the respective receiver gets free for communication. This type of service also used to
let other peers in network know that the specific peers who executes LISTEN is ready for
incoming connections from other peers in a network.
(ii)

Connect:

This type of operation is used when both sender and receiver were ready to send /receive data
and the medium thorough which data is to be sent should be free of traffic.
(iii)

Accept:

This type of operation is performed by server or the peer to whom the request is being
forward to make incoming connection from a peer

(iv)

Receive:

This type of operation is performed by peer in order to receive the data from sender to whom
connection is being made and let other peer wait who were accessing the current peer for
communication.
(v)

Send:

This type of operation is performed when the peer is ready to send data to the receiver.
(vi)

Disconnect:

These services simply terminate the connection or session of transmission between two
entities.

1.6 Categories of Networks

Before we step into types of networks, first we must briefly go through the types of link
which were used in different kinds of networks and discuss briefly about the data sending or
receiving mechanism among these links.
Following are two types of links.
(i) Broadcast Links:
As it can be suggested by the name that this type of link is used when we have to
broadcast the packet through the network means that a single client or user send packet via
broadcast link and it can be sent to all others means all the nodes currently belong to that
network.

(ii) Point-to-Point Links:

In point to point links data sent from sender to receiver via multiple links in between
because these links were made directly from one point to another means from one node to
another. Packets sent from source will reach destination indirectly by passing through several
links in between.

1.6.1

LAN (Local Area Networks)

A LAN (Local Area Networks) covers a specific geographic area. A LAN (Local Area

Networks) can be setup by both wired and wireless communications, but over here we will talk
in perspective of wired networks. LAN topology consists of a numbers of pc linked together
known as point-to-point links which can also be called Ethernet. In LAN topology the nodes
were connected to each other through a wired connection which runs protocol known as Ethernet
for communication through wired connection. A few devices used in setting up LAN at large area
known as (Switches,Rotuers).A switch is basically a simple box contain more than one Ethernet
ports which enables more than one computer or device to connect via Ethernet cable as shown in
Figure. A switch basically sends packets between computers which were attached to it. If more
than 2 PCs were connected via switch so PC-1 can send packet to PC-4 indirectly via switch.
Switch check the incoming packet for the destination address it contains then forward the packet
according to the respective destination address contained by packet header file. Similarly the
router will route the packet from one network to another, a best example of router is Internet.
Whenever a client send request for some web page or wish to upload or download something the
request with source and destination address will be forward to respective router of the specific
network ,then that router will determine the best route to the internet by performing some

calculations based on routing algorithms and send it. Similarly request will be processed back in
the same way.

Figure 4: Wired Network Connections using Ethernet Switch

1.6.2

MAN (Metropolitan Area Networks)

A MAN (Metropolitan Area Networks) based over entire city. The best example around is

a cable-TV connection where all the communication is coming from satellite and then transfers
to all over the city using antenna cables. Internet can also delivered across the city as it fills the
empty gaps in spectrum and thus internet + Cable-TV both can b used at the same time across the
entire city as shown in Figure 5

Figure 5: MAN (Metropolitan Area Network) based on Antenna based system.

1.6.3

WAN (Wide Area Networks)

WAN (Wide Area Networks) consist of such type of network which intends to cover

entire country or continent. In WAN the most commonly and frequently used device were
routers. A group of hosts (computers) connected to a router which route the packet between
different sub networks until it reaches its destination. A router maintains routing table which will
tell the router the possible shortest path or more optimized path for a packet to be sent safely and
efficiently. Another very important functionality of router is that it is used to connect the
networks together of different communication technologies.

1.6.4

Internetworks

A network is said to be internetwork when two or more than two networks of different schemes
of protocols were connected together or a group of incompatible networks were used to
connected together then we can say that its an internetwork which consists of different networks
inside it. A device named as Gateways is responsible for the connection of two different
networks as it provides the necessary translation at several layers of protocol in terms of
hardware and software. If a network contains routers it means that network have an access to

internet.

1.7 Type of Connections

1.7.1 Wired Connection
The most basic and common type of connection used in every home, office or in any kind
of organizations, hospitals were the wired connections. Wired connection is the backbone of all
connections which means it connects all the networks whether its a wireless network or a wired
network at back end to the server the connection which is reliable and most efficient in terms of
performance is wired connection. A wired connection is a type of connection in which two or
more than two computers (node) were used to link together via an Ethernet cable.

1.7.1.1Wired Data communication technologies

A technology used in wired connections is categorized on the basis of speed over here.
(i) Twisted Pair:
Twisted Pair technology uses copper wire for exchange of information through medium.
Twisted pair cable consists of a copper wire which is twisted for the noise cancellation effect and
to reduce external interferences while data is being transmitting through this medium. Twisted
pair comes in two standards; UTP (Unshielded Twisted Pair) STP (Shielded Twisted
Pair).Twisted pair carries speed up to 2mb/s to max 10mb/s.

(ii) Coaxial Cable:

Coaxial Cable technology uses copper or aluminum technology cable which is
responsible for transmission of media .This copper or aluminum wire is further get coated by an
insulating material. Coaxial cable carries speed up to 200mb/s to 500mb/s. These types of cables
widely used for Cable-TVs and for dish antenna purposes.
(iii)

Optical Fiber:
Optical Fiber technology uses tiny cables made up of glass through which data is

transmitted in the form of light. These cables were used for a very high speed communications
and mostly these cables were set up beneath oceans to connect the continents from each others.

1.7.1.1.1 Applications of wired technologies.

Internet
LAN (LAN, MAN, WAN, PAN)
Data centers
Peripheral devices (Printers)

1.1.7.2 Wireless Connection

Wireless connection is a type of connection that which make communication wirelessly
without any physical connection.

1.1.7.2.1 Wireless Data Communication Technologies.

(i) Microwave:
Wireless Communication through microwave technology requires transmitter and
receiver which should be earth based .In order to let both the transmitter and receiver to get
communicated with each other a line of sight communication is important..Several stations
known as boosters helps the microwave signal to travel further without any loss of data and
ensure that quality of service should get maintained. Microwave has low GHz thats why they
make all the other stations which were based on microwavecommunications to get in line of
sight with them. Each station was approximately 48km away from each other
(ii)Satellite:
Satellite communicates through microwave radio waves which cannot be affected from
earths atmosphere. These satellites were used to communicate large amount of data and were
capable of sending it to earth from space. All the communication satellite was in geosynchronous
orbit 35,400 km above equator.
(iii) Cellular:
Cellular technology communicates via radio waves based on the system of antenna based
area communication. Each area have antenna which is used to communicate to other areas and a
group of areas form a region Hence we can say that different region can be communicated with
each other using cellular technologies which connects area to area.

(iv) Radio:
This type of technology is most widely used an in common now a days which is known
as Wireless Local Area Networks (WIFI).This technology works on the principle of spread
spectrum which allows other nodes to join the spectrum and communicate with each other via
that spectrum. It enables communication but in a limited area and limitations of area depends
upon the range of the spectrum.

1.1.7.2.2 Applications of wireless technologies.

Wireless LAN
Cellular Phones
Sensor Networks
Medical

1.8Wireless Sensor Networks

WSNs are the most emerging technologies of 21st century .Tiny; cheap and smart sensors
deployed in a physical area at denser level and networked through wireless links and internet
helps these sensor nodes to act efficiently under circumstances of environmental monitoring,
battlefield surveillance and regarding industry research. All this is possible just because of the
advancement made by the researches and scientists in MEMS.If WSNs have to be compared with
traditional wireless communication networks WSNs have some unique properties as the sensor
nodes can be deployed at higher denser level and these nodes provides highly unreliable results
just because of their battery , storage, computational constrains., because these sensor nodes
consumes high amount of energy when sending data instead of receiving it from any other node.
While sending the data some calculations were performed due to which battery drains power.

1.8.1 WSNs Characteristics

WSN typically consists of a large number of nodes which are of low power, cheap and have
multifunctional sensors. These nodes used to deploy in the field of interest at denser level. These
sensor nodes are small in size but have capabilities of processing, communication and of sensing
the environmental behavior they program to sense. These distance level of nodes
communications were not that much far or wide they communicate with each other at short
distance through a wireless medium. WSNs have unique characteristics as compared to simple
wireless networks which were as follows.
(i) Dense Node Deployment:

Sensor nodes usually deployed densely in the field of interest to gather more data as nodes
were lacking in terms of storage. The number of sensor nodes in a network can be higher
depending on the environment needs they used to deploy in.
(ii) Battery-Powered sensor nodes:
In order to make sensor turn on and work efficiently they were battery powered as because
there is no source of energy where the sensors deployed in. Mostly the sensors deployed in the
area where there its difficult or even sometimes impossible to change or recharge the batteries of
the nodes.
(iii)

Higher energy consumption and less storage:

Sensor nodes were highly limited in terms of storage, capacity and energy.
(iv) Self configuration:
Sensor nodes were usually randomly deployed in an area where after deployment these nodes
configure themselves automatically in order to make communication with each other.
(v) Application specific:
Sensor networks are used to deploy in the area of specific application means that the
deployment is highly depend on the application.

(vi) Unreliability:

These nodes were used to deploy under those conditions where there were many chances for
the nodes to get damaged.
(vii)

Self Topology Configuration:

Sensor networks changes their topology if any nodes get to failure, damage, addition of
new node in a network or if any of the sensor nodes get their energy drained due to some
reasons.

1.8.2 Applications of WSNs

(i) Environmental Monitoring.
Sensor nodes used to monitor the environmental states based on different parameters.
(ii) Battlefield Monitoring
Sensors used to monitor the environment of battlefield such as the presence of hostile,
vehicles or ammunitions.
(iii)

Health Care

It can be used to monitor the activities of patients by deploying them in a patients room.
(iv) Industrial Application
Sensors can be deployed in industries for to monitor the states of machines or that of
assembly lines.

(v) Security/Surveillance:
Sensors based on acoustic , video , fire and many other kinds of can be used for the
security purpose in the buildings , home, airports and in many other places as well according
to their needs and purposes.

1.8.3 Sensor Node Structure.

There are four basic components which put together in order to make a sensor node: sensing unit,
processing unit, communication unit and a power unit, as shown in Figure 6. In the below figure,
the first thing is the power unit which is for to give the sensor node a power to make them turn
on. The second thing is the sensing unit which consists of a sensor and ADC (Analog to Digital
converter). The sensor basically sense the environment and on the basis of that these sensor
produce analog signal which then send to ADC and with the help of converter these sensing
analog signal converted into digital signal and then forwarded for further processing into the
processing unit. Processing unit consists of Memory and Microprocessor memory used to save
the processed data and Microprocessor used for calculations. After the processing of signals were
completed the processed signal move forward to communication unit which consists of a radio.

Figure 6: Sensor node structure