Introduction

Data communication is, in principle, the communication of information between computer systems. This includes communication within a local environment (LAN) or where the systems are separated over some distance (WAN). Various methods for data communication have evolved over many years going well back through the 20th century.

This course looks at data communication as it stands today and delves into many of the techniques used in practice today.

Who should attend the course?

This course is appropriate for those who already have a basic grounding in telecommunications but want to learn more about data-communication.

Course length

Two days.

Course agenda

The following is an outline of the sections included in the course:

1. Data Communication Concepts
2. Local Area Networks (LANs)
3. LAN Interconnection
4. Other Types of LAN
5. The Internet Protocol (IP) and 'TCP/IP'
6. Routing with IP
7. The Internet
8. Wide Area Network (WAN) Protocols
9. Overview of Transmission Systems - PDH and SDH
10. Some Other 'hot' Topics in the Datacommunications Industry

1 Data Communication Concepts

This section looks at many of the basic concepts of data communication in order to build a foundation to be used throughout the rest of the course.

• Applications of Data Communications
• Trends in Data Communications
• Introduction to protocols (async, sync, data protocols, error correction etc…)
• Connection oriented and connectionless protocols
• The OSI Reference Model Explained
• Types of networks - LANs, MANs, WANs

2 Local Area Networks (LANs)

While there are a number of different LAN types, there are two dominant systems in use today. These include Ethernet and Token Ring LANs. Of these, the use of Ethernet far exceeds that of Token Ring and consequently we shall focus more on this type.

• What is a LAN and why use it
• Cabling systems as applied to LANs
• Ethernet LANs - 10M, 100M and Gigabit Ethernet (IEEE 802.3)
• Overview of Token Ring LANs (IEEE 802.5)
• Overview of Fibre Distributed Data Interface (FDDI) - Sometimes referred to as a MAN technology

3 LAN Interconnection

LANs inherently have limitations as to their physical size and the number of users that they can support. This section looks at a number of methods used to expand a LAN and increase the number of users that may share the LAN's resources. As with the previous section, main focus will be given to Ethernet LANs.

• Using repeaters, bridges and switches
• Transparent bridging (as used in Ethernet)
• Source Route bridging (as used in Token Ring)
• Switched Ethernet
• Virtual LANs (VLANs)

4 Other Types of LAN

Here we shall discuss some other types of LAN technology in use today.

• Overview of Fibre Distributed Data Interface (FDDI)
• CDDI
• 100VG-AnyLAN

5 The Internet Protocol (IP) and 'TCP/IP'

The Internet Protocol (IP) is, by far, the most dominant data protocol used today and its use continues to grow at a dramatic rate. This section gives a thorough look into IP, what it is, how it works and how it is used by other 'higher layer' protocols to provide the actual application services that are used by the users.

• Introduction to the Internet Protocol (IP)
• The IP address (various classes)
• What is subnetting and why it is used
• Transport layer protocols - Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and User Datagram Protocol (UDP)
• Higher layer protocols - Telnet, File Transfer Protocol (FTP), Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP), Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), Post Office Protocol (POP) and Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP)

6 Routing with IP - Internetworking

IP is a protocol that may be used in a local networking environment and across the wide area. When used over the wide area, it is normal to use a device known as a router to provide the so-called internetworking function. In this section, we deal with the routing function of IP and the devices used to achieve this.

• Why use routers
• The principles of routing
• Router topology
• Routing protocols - Routing Information Protocol (RIP), Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) and Border Gateway Protocol (BGP)

7 The Internet

We have all heard of the Internet and most probably all use the Internet. This section gives a fairly brief yet clear overview of the Internet, how it works and some of the ways in which it is used (e.g. as the World Wide Web).

• What is the Internet
• What is the World Wide Web (WWW) - 'The web'
• Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) - The 'language' of the web
• The use of search engines on the World Wide Web (WWW)

8 Wide Area Network (WAN) Protocols

In order to provide data communication over the wide area it is necessary to provide a protocol that is appropriate for the environment. Various different protocols have been developed over the years to cope with various different systems from the use of X.25, originally designed for use across standard telephone lines, through to ATM designed to operate across modern transmission systems. This section looks at three key mechanisms in use today for wide area communication.

• Introduction to WAN protocols
• X.25
• Frame Relay
• Asynchronous Transfer Mode
• Different WAN protocols compared - pros and cons of each one

9 Overview of Transmission Systems - PDH and SDH

Of key importance today is the use of systems referred to a transmission systems. Basically a method for the communication of bits of information, there are two main systems in use today namely the PDH and the SDH. This section looks at both systems but focuses on the SDH since this is rapidly replacing the older and less capable PDH.

• Introduction to transmission systems
• The Plesiochronous Digital Hierarchy (PDH)
• The Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH)
  • Add-Drop Multiplexers (ADM)
  • STM-1, STM-4 and STM-16

10 Some Other 'hot' Topics in the Datacommunications Industry

• Voice over IP (VoIP)
• Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS)
• Dense Wave Division Multiplexing (DWDM)
• Others as appropriate