Network Protocols & Communication

Data Communication

Exchange of data between two nodes (sender and receiver) through a link

Data Flow

Simplex

Half-Duplex

Duplex

Goes both directions silmataneously

Phone Line

One direction only

Keyboard

Goes both direction, one at a time

Walkie talkie

Protocols

Rules or protocols that governs all methods of communication

Message encoding

Message formatting and encapsulation

Message timing

Message size

Message delivery options

Encodes the message source into different types depending on the means of transportation of data

Applies the right format and makes sure the sender and receiver is correct

Breaks the message source into smaller pieces if it is too large

Deals with flow control to make sure the link isn't too 'crowded' and that the receiver can receive all the data

Contains response timeout to make sure the sender doesn't send too much of the same pieces of data and crowd the link

Unicast

Multicast

Broadcast

One sender - one receiver

One sender - multiple receiver but not all

One sender - All