INTRODUCTION TO DATA COMMUNICATION

DEFINITION OF DATA COMMUNICATION
“Data Communication is the exchange of Information from one entity to the other
using a Transmission Medium”.

DEFINITION OF DATA COMMUNICATION (Cont’d)
As you can clearly notice, the definition of Data Communication although Simple
leaves many questions unanswered:

• Exchange??????
• Information?????
• Entities???????
• Transmission????
• Medium????

We will try to answer all these Questions in this Course

History of Data Communication
Data communications history represents a blend of histories, including:

• The history of the telecommunications industry
• The history of data communications, and
• The history of the Internet
• Telegraph 1837 Samuel Morse

Telegraph 1837 Samuel Morse
Modern telecommunication industry began in 1837 with the invention of
the telegraph by Samuel Morse
This led to building a telecommunications infrastructure of poles and
wires as well as to the development of communication hardware and
protocols

Telephone 1876 Alexander Graham Bell
Invention of telephone by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876 and the
development of wireless communication technology by Guglielmo
Marconi in the 1890s set the stage for today’s communication industry

By 1950’s
By 1950s, telephone and telegraph companies had developed a network of
communication facilities throughout the industrialized world

1970’S
Although development of databases, languages, operating systems, and
hardware was strong from 1950s to 1970s, large-scale data communication
systems did not emerge until the 1970s.

This was stimulated by 3 major developments:

• Large-scale integration of circuits reduced cost and size of terminals and communication equipment
• New software systems that facilitated the development of data communication networks
• Competition among providers of transmission facilities reduced the cost of data circuits