Modem

Article Table of contents

A quick history of the modem

The first coding to enable long distance communication was Morse, which was
developed by Samuel F.B Morse in 1844. This code is made up of dots and dashes (a sort
of binary language...) and made it possible to communicate much faster than by Pony
Express. The interpreter was the man of the time and he therefore needed good
knowledge of the code...
Many codes were invented including Emile Baudot's code (bearing the code name
Baudot, or Murray Code in English).
On 10th March 1876, Dr Graham Bell developed the telephone, a revolutionary invention
which made it possible for voice information to circulate over metallic lines. As a matter
of interest, the Chamber of representatives decided that the invention of the telephone
was due to Antonio Meucci who in fact had lodged a patent request in 1871, but was
unable to finance it beyond 1874.
These lines enabled the development of teleprinters, machines making it possible to code
and decode characters using the Murray code (the characters were then coded over 5 bits,
so there were only 32 characters...).
In the 60s, ASCII code (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) was
adopted as standard. It allows the coding of characters over 8 bits, which is 256 possible
characters.
Using digital and modulation technologies around 1962, along with the development of
computers and communications, data transfer via modem developed...

Principle of the modem

A modem is a device used for transferring information between several computers
(basically 2) via telephone lines. The computers operate digitally using binary language
(a series of zeros and ones), but modems are analogue. The digital signals pass from one
value to another, there is no middle or half way point, it's All or Nothing (one or zero).
Conversely, analogue does not change "per step", it covers all the values, so you can have
0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3 ...1.0 and all values in between.
For example, a piano works more or less digitally because there are no "steps" between
notes. Conversely a violin can modulate its notes to pass through all possible frequencies.

A computer works like a piano, a modem like a violin. The modem converts binary
information from the computer into analogue. It then sends this new code over the
telephone line. You can hear bizarre noises if you turn up the sound from the modem.
So, the modem modulates digital information in analogue waves and in the reverse
direction it transcribes analogue data into digital data.
This is why modem is an acronym of MOdulator/DEModulator.

Connection by telephone line

A telephone line is designed to work with a telephone, which is why a modem is needed
to establish communication with a remote computer using a telephone number before
being able to exchange information. The language used by computers to communicate is
called a protocol. The two most widely used protocols are:

The PPP protocol

The SLIP protocol

PPP and SLIP protocols

Article Table of contents
The majority of people, not having lines (cable or Ethernet) linked directly to the Internet,
must use telephone lines (the most widely used network) to connect to the Internet. The
connection is made using a modem, a device capable of converting digital data from the
computer into analogue signals (that can circulate on telephone lines by amplitude or
frequency modulation, in the same way as voice when you use the telephone).
Considering that only two computers are communicating and the speed of a telephone
line is slow in comparison to that of a local network, it is necessary to use a protocol
enabling standard communication between the different machines using a modem, and
not overload the telephone line. These protocols are called modem protocols.

The notion of a point to point link

Via a standard telephone line, a maximum of two computers can communicate using a
modem, in the same way that it is impossible to call two people simultaneously using the
same telephone line. This is thus called a point to point link, i.e. a link between two
machines reduced to its most simple expression: there is no need to share the line
between several machines, each one speaks and responds in turn.

So, many modem protocols have been developed. The first of them allowed a single
transmission of data between two machines, then some of them were equipped with error
control and with the growth of the Internet, were equipped with the ability to address
machines. In this way, there are now two main modem protocols:

SLIP: an old protocol, low in controls

PPP: the most widely used protocol for accessing the Internet via a modem, it
authorises addressing machines

The SLIP protocol

SLIP means Serial Line Internet Protocol. SLIP is the result of the integration of modem
protocols prior to the suite of TCP/IP protocols.
It is a simple Internet link protocol conducting neither address or error control, this is the
reason that it is quickly becoming obsolete in comparison to PPP.
Data transmission with SLIP is very simple: this protocol sends a frame composed only
of data to be sent followed by an end of transmission character (the END character, the
ASCII code of which is 192). A SLIP frame looks like this:
Data to be transmitted END

The PPP protocol

PPP means Point to Point Protocol. It is a much more developed protocol than SLIP
(which is why it is replacing it), insofar as it transfers additional data, better suited to data
transmission over the Internet (the addition of data in a frame is mainly due to the
increase in bandwidth).
In reality, PPP is a collection of three protocols:

a datagram encapsulation protocol

an LCP, Link Control Protocol, enabling testing and communication
configuration
a collection of NCPs, Network Control Protocols allowing integration control of
PPP within the protocols of the upper layers

Data encapsulated in a PPP frame is called a packet. These packets are generally
datagrams, but can also be different (hence the specific designation of packet instead of
datagram). So, one field of the frame is reserved for the type of protocol to which the
packet belongs. A PPP frame looks like this:
Protocol (1-2 bytes) Data to be transmitted Padding data
The padding data is used to adapt the length of the frame for certain protocols.
A PPP session (from opening to closure) takes place as follows:

Upon connection, an LCP packet is sent

In the event of an authentication request from the server, a packet relating to an
authentication protocol may be sent (PAP, Password Authentication Protocol, or
CHAP, Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol or Kerberos)
Once communication is established, PPP sends configuration information using
the NCP protocol
Datagrams to be sent are transmitted as packets
Upon disconnection, an LCP packet is sent to end the session