Computer Science Resource Guide: Networks

The Internet is a worldwide computer network connecting other computer networks in government, business, academia, and other public and private sources. Communications are facilitated by the Internet Protocol Suite (TCP/IP), originally proposed by Vinton Cerf and Robert Kahn in 1974. The Internet is used for implementing various applications including electronic mail, pioneered in the late 1960s, and the World Wide Web (WWW) of linkable documents. The idea of networks connecting information nodes appeared in futuristic scientific writings and science fiction beginning in the early twentieth century.

Neural networks, or artificial neural networks (ANNs) are modeled on the structure and interconnectedness of neurons in biological brains. They have a three-layered structure consisting of an input layer, a hidden layer, and an output layer. Like a biological system, the input layer acquires data and delivers it to the hidden layer for processing.

Wireless networks allow computers and other Internet-enabled devices to connect to the Internet without being wired directly to a modem or router. They transmit signals across radio waves instead. Wireless networks make communication services available almost anywhere, without the need for wired connections.

Computer networks consist of the hardware and software needed to support communications and the exchange of data between computing devices. The computing devices connected by computer networks include large servers, business workstations, home computers, and a wide array of smart mobile devices.

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