DATA COMMUNICATIONS

SYSTEM
TRANSMISSION MODES
A powerpoint presentation
By
Engr. Feirah Lovely Borbon
Faculty- College of Engineering and
Architecture

Modes of Data
Transmission
Modes of Data Transmission is the flow
of data between two points. These can be
described as:
Simplex: data flows in only one direction
on the data communication line (medium).
Examples are radio and television
broadcasts. They go from the TV station to
your home television. (as in Figure 4.2)

Simplex

Data

is transmitted from the sender to receiver

only, eg: from a central computer to a dumb
terminal. The communication can only take
place in one direction and it is not possible for
the receiver to send data back. An example of
simplex transmission would be data being sent
to an electronic notice board such as those
found in train stations and airports.

Modes of Data
Transmission
Half-Duplex:

data flows in both

directions but only one direction at a
time on the data communication line.
For example, a conversation on walkietalkies is a half-duplex data flow. Each
person takes turns talking. If both talk at
once - nothing occurs!
Bi-directional but only 1 direction at a
time!

Half-Duplex

Data

can travel in both directions but not at the same

time. Each end of the communications link acts as
sender and receiver, eg: two-way communication
between computers and other computers that may be
connected to a hub. Controls will exist to ensure that
the devices do not send at the same time. One human
example of this type of communication is the use of
walkie-talkies, where each person communicating
must indicate when they have finished speaking.
Ex. Citizens Band (CB) Radio

Modes of Data
Transmission
Full-Duplex: data flows in both directions
simultaneously. Modems are configured to
flow data in both directions. Full duplex
(FDX) operation requires 2 separate
communication channels, so that
simultaneous 2 way communication can
occur. Generally, this is accomplished by a
4 wire circuit.

Full-Duplex

Data

can travel in both directions simultaneously,

eg: two or more computers connected to a network
device such as a switch that provides full duplex
activity.
Note: as well as the data that is sent between
systems there is also control information, eg: ready
to send and ready to receive. Therefore, although
the data may be only one way in a passive simplex
system there may be the need for control
information to be collected and used by the sender.

Modes of Data
Transmission

Two wire versus four-wire:

Two-wire over full duplex: signals propagating

in opposite directions must occupy different
bandwidth.
Four-wire over full duplex: signals propagating
in opposite directions are physically
separated. Therefore, they can occupy the
same bandwidth without interfering with each
other.

Data Transmission
Techniques
Serial

and Parallel Data Transmission

There are two basic ways to transfer

binary information from one place to
another: serial and parallel.

Serial communication
Serial communication is the method of transferring
one bit at a time through a medium.
0

In serial data transfers, each bit of the word is

transmitted one after another. Due to the sequential
nature of the serial data transmission, usually it takes
longer time to send this way. Serial transmission is
used for long-distance communications.

Data Transmission
Techniques
Parallel

communication is the method of

transferring blocks, eg: BYTEs, of data at1
0
the same time.
0
0
0
1
0

Parallel communication

However, in parallel data transfer, all the bits

of a code word are transferred
simultaneously and as a result, it is
extremely fast. This concept is illustrated in
figure 4.6. In parallel data transmission, there
is one wire for each bit of information to be
transmitted. This means a multi wire cable
must be used. As a general rule, parallel
transmission is used for short-distance
communications and within a computer.

Parallel communication
As

you can appreciate parallel communication is

faster than serial. For this reason, the internal
connections in a computer, ie: the busses, are
linked together to allow parallel communication.
However, the use of parallel communication for
longer distance data communication is
unfeasible for economic and practical reasons,
eg: amount of extra cable required and
synchronisation difficulties. Therefore, all long
distance data communications takes place over
serial connections.

SERIAL COMMUNICATION
Intelecommunication andcomputer science,
Serial communicationis the process of sendingdataonebit at a time,
sequentially, over acommunication channelorcomputer bus. This is in
contrast toparallel communication, where several bits are sent as a
whole, on a link with several parallel channels.

Serial communication is used for all long-haul communication and

mostcomputer networks, where the cost
ofcableandsynchronizationdifficulties make parallel communication
impractical. Serial computer buses are becoming more common even at
shorter distances, as improvedsignal integrity and transmission speeds
in newer serial technologies have begun to outweigh the parallel bus's
advantage of simplicity (no need for serializer and deserializer,
orSerDes) and to outstrip its disadvantages (clock skew, interconnect
density). The migration fromPCItoPCI Expressis an example.

CABLES THAT CARRY SERIAL DATA:

Many serial communication systems were originally designed to transfer

data over relatively large distances through some sort ofdata cable.
The term "serial" most often refers to the RS232 port on the back of the
originalIBM PC, often called "the"serial port, and "the"serial cable,designed
to plug into it, and the many devices designed to be compatible with it.
Practically all long-distance communication transmits data one bit at a time,
rather than in parallel, because it reduces the cost of the cable. The cables
that carry this data (other than "the"serial cable) and thecomputer
portsthey plug into are usually referred to with a more specific name, to
reduce confusion.

Keyboard and mouse cables an Apple Desktop Bus andUSB.

The cables that carry digital video are almost invariably serial -- such ascoax
cable plugged into aHD-SDIport, awebcamplugged into a USBport
orFirewire port,Ethernet cable connecting anIP camerato aPower over
Ethernetport,FPD-link, etc.
Other such cables and ports, transmitting data one bit at a time,
includeSerial ATA,Serial SCSI,Ethernet cableplugged intoEthernet ports,
theDisplat Data Channelusing previously reserved pins of theVGA
connectoror theDVI portor theHDMIport.

SERIAL BUSSES
Many

communication systems were generally

originally designed to connect two integrated
circuits on the sameprinted circuit board,
connected bysignal traceson that board (rather
than external cables).
Integrated circuitsare more expensive when
they have more pins. To reduce the number of
pins in a package, many ICs use a serial bus to
transfer data when speed is not important. Some
examples of such low-cost serial buses
includeSPI,I2C,UNI/O, and1-WIRE.

SERIAL VERSUS PARALLEL

The communication links across which computersor parts of computerstalk
to one another may be either serial or parallel. A parallel link transmits several
streams of data simultaneously along multiple channels (e.g., wires, printed
circuit tracks, or optical fibres); a serial link transmits a single stream of data.
Although a serial link may seem inferior to a parallel one, since it can transmit
less data per clock cycle, it is often the case that serial links can be clocked
considerably faster than parallel links in order to achieve a higher data rate. A
number of factors allow serial to be clocked at a higher rate:
Clock skewbetween different channels is not an issue (for unclocked
asynchronous serial communicationlinks).
A serial connection requires fewer interconnecting cables (e.g., wires/fibres)
and hence occupies less space. The extra space allows for better isolation of
the channel from its surroundings.
Crosstalkis less of an issue, because there are fewer conductors in proximity.
In many cases, serial is a better option because it is cheaper to implement.
ManyICshave serial interfaces, as opposed to parallel ones, so that they have
fewer pins and are therefore less expensive.

EXAMPLES OF SERIAL
COMMUNICATION STRUCTURE:
Morse codetelegraphy
RS-232(low-speed, implemented byserial ports)
RS-422
RS-423
RS-485
IC
SPI
ARINC 818Avionics Digital Video Bus
Atari SIO(Joe Decuir credits his work on Atari SIO as the basis of USB)
Universal Serial Bus(moderate-speed, for connecting peripherals to computers)
FireWire
Ethernet
Fibre Channel(high-speed, for connecting computers to mass storage devices)
InfiniBand(very high speed, broadly comparable in scope toPCI)
MIDIcontrol of electronic musical instruments
DMX512control of theatrical lighting
SDI-12industrial sensor protocol
CoaXPressindustrial camera protocol over Coax
Serial Attached SCSI
Serial ATA
SpaceWireSpacecraft communication network
HyperTransport
PCI Express
SONETandSDH(high speed telecommunication over optical fibers)
T-1,E-1and variants (high speed telecommunication over copper pairs)
MIL-STD-1553A/B

PARALLEL COMMUNICATION
Intelecommuication andcomputer science,parallel
communicationis a method of conveying multiple binary digits
(bits) simultaneously. It contrasts withserial communication, which
conveys only a single bit at a time; this distinction is one way of
characterizing a communications link.
The basic difference between a parallel and a serialcommunication
channelis the number of electrical conductors used at thephysical
layerto convey bits. Parallel communication implies more than one
such conductor. For example, an 8-bit parallel channel will convey
eight bits (or abyte) simultaneously, whereas a serial channel
would convey those same bits sequentially, one at a time. If both
channels operated at the sameclock speed, the parallel channel
would be eight times faster. A parallel channel may have additional
conductors for other signals, such as a clock signal to pace the flow
of data, a signal to control the direction of data flow,
andhandshaking signals.

EXAMPLES OF PARALLEL
COMMUNICATION
IBM System/360Direct Control
Feature(1964).[1]:p.18. Standard System/360
had an eight-bit wide port. The processcontrol variantModel 44had a 32-bit width.
Computer peripheral buses:ISA,ATA,SCSI,
PCIandFront side bus, and the onceubiquitousIEEE-1284/Centronics
"printer port"
Laboratory Instrumentation busIEEE-488

COMPARISON WITH SERIAL

LINKS

Before the development of high-speed serial technologies, the choice of

parallel links over serial links was driven by these factors:
Speed: Superficially, the speed of a parallel data link is equal to the number
of bits sent at one time times thebit rateof each individual path; doubling
the number of bits sent at once doubles the data rate. In practice,clock
skewreduces the speed of every link to the slowest of all of the links.
Cable length:Crosstalkcreates interference between the parallel lines, and
the effect worsens with the length of the communication link. This places an
upper limit on the length of a parallel data connection that is usually shorter
than a serial connection.
Complexity: Parallel data links are easily implemented in hardware, making
them a logical choice. Creating aparallel portin a computer system is
relatively simple, requiring only a latchto copy data onto adata bus. In
contrast, most serial communication must first be converted back into
parallel form by a universal asynchronous receiver/transmitter (UART)
before they may be directly connected to a data bus.

The decreasing cost ofintegrated circuits, combined

with greater consumer demand for speed and cable
length, has led to parallel communication links
becoming deprecated in favor of serial links; for
example,IEEE 1284printer ports vs.USB,Parallel
ATAvs.Serial ATA, andSCSIvs.FireWire.
On the other hand, there has been a resurgence of
parallel data links inRFcommunication. Rather than
transmitting one bit at a time (as inMore
CodeandBPSK), well-known techniques such
asPSM,PAM, and Multiple-input multiple-output
communication send a few bits in parallel. (Each
such group of bits is called a symbol"). Such
techniques can be extended to send an entire byte
at once (256-QAM).

Serial and Parallel Comparison

Parallel transmissionrequires a separate channel for each bit to

be transmitted. Therefore, to transfer a byte, eight channels will be
required between the sender and receiver. Added to these eight
are additional channels that are needed for control information and
if full duplex communication is required then even more channels
would be required. Parallel transmission is rare, other than for very
short distances, eg: within a computer, eg: data bus, or between a
computer and a printer, eg: Centronics printer interface.
Serial transmissionis much more common, particularly over
longer distances. It is generally much cheaper as only a single
channel between sender and receiver is required, eg: The seven
bits (plus one parity check bit) making up anAmerican Standard
Code for Information Interchange (ASCII)character are
transmitted serially in sequence by the sender and are
reassembled into the character by the receiver. A common
example of a serial interface standard is Recommended Standard
232 (RS232).

Serial Communications
Equipment
Three things should be considered when discussing
serial communications and the equipment to carry
this out:
Electrical standards associated with the interface
Mechanical standards associated with the
interface
Standards organizations involved
It is the organizations that govern the first two
items on the list.

Standards Organizations
Organisation

Responsibilities

Web Address

American National Standards

Institute (ANSI)

ANSI represents a number of US standards

organizations. Members submit their standards for
acceptance. An example is the ANSI standard for
representing ASCII characters.

www.ansi.org

Electronics Industries
Association (EIA)

EIA are made up by manufacturers in the USA.

Responsible for RS232 and similar standards.

www.eia.org

Institute of Electrical and

Electronic Engineers (IEEE)

The IEEE (Pronounced Eye-triple-E) is a non- profit,

technical professional association of more than
377,000 individual members in 150 countries.

www.ieee.org

International Organization for

Standardization (ISO)

A network of national standards institutes from 140

countries working in partnership with international
organizations, governments, industry, business and
consumer representatives. The ISO have standards
covering a wide range of computer related topics.

www.iso.org

International
Telecommunications Union (ITU)
(previously known as the Comite
Consultatif International
Telephonique et Telegraphique
(CCITT)

The ITU, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland is an

www.itu.int
international organization within the United Nations
System where governments and the private sector
coordinate global telecom networks and services. They
are also involved with the allocation of satellite
frequencies and orbits.