Unit 1

Introduction to Data Communication Definition: Effectiveness, Basic Communication Components. Network Architecture Definition, History, Criteria, Goals and Applications of Networks, Categories of networks, Organization of the Internet, ISP, Protocols and standards, The OSI reference model, TCP/IP protocol suite, Network devices and components. Network topology design, Types of connections.

Unit 2

Physical Layer: Transmission media, Signal transmission and encoding, Network performance and transmission impairments, Switching techniques and multiplexing, Overview of PSTN, ISDN, and ATM.

Unit 3

Data Link Layer: Introduction, Framing, Error Detection and Correction, Flow control (Elementary Data Link Protocols, Sliding Window protocols), Medium Access Control and Local Area Networks: Channel allocation, Multiple access protocols, LAN standards, Link layer switches & bridges (learning bridge and spanning tree algorithms).

Unit 4

Network Layer: Point-to-point networks, Logical addressing, Basic internetworking (IP, CIDR, ARP, RARP, DHCP, ICMP), Routing, forwarding and delivery, Static and dynamic routing, Routing algorithms and protocols, Congestion control algorithms, IPv6. Transport Layer: Process-to-process delivery, Transport layer protocols (UDP and TCP), Multiplexing, Connection management, Flow control and retransmission, Window management, TCP Congestion control, Quality of service.

Unit 5

Application Layer: Domain Name System, World Wide Web, Hypertext Transfer Protocol, Electronic Mail, File Transfer Protocol, Remote Login, Network Management, Data Compression, Cryptography—basic concepts.