Data Communication

Data Transmission
Data transmission is the transfer of data from point-to-point often represented as an electromagnetic signal over a physical point-to-point or point-to-multipoint communication channel A communication channel refers to the medium used to convey information from a sender (or transmitter) to a receiver, and it can use fully or partially the medium. Examples of channels: copper wires, optical fibbers or wireless communication channels.

Characteristics of Communication Systems

must be a Sender and Receiver A protocol is a set of rules which governs the transfer of data between computers. Protocols allow communication between computers and networks. Handshaking is used to establish which protocols to use. Handshaking controls the flow of data between computers protocols will determine the speed of transmission, error checking method, size of bytes, and whether synchronous or asynchronous

5 Basic Components
Every communication system has 5 basic requirements Data Source (where the data originates) Transmitter (device used to transmit data) Transmission Medium (cables or non cable) Receiver (device used to receive data) Destination (where the data will be placed)

5 Basic Components

Transmission Media Speed

Bandwidth:The amount of data which can be transmitted on a medium over a fixed amount of time (second). It is measured on Bits per Second or Baud Bits per Second (bps): A measure of transmission speed. The number of bits (0 0r 1) which can be transmitted in a second . Baud Rate: Is a measure of how fast a change of state occurs (i.e. a change from 0 to 1)

Data Communication Channels

The following is a discussion on the THREE main types of transmission circuits (channels), simplex, half duplex and full duplex. Simplex
Data in a simplex channel is always one way. Simplex channels are not often used because it is not possible to send back error or control signals to the transmit end. An example of a simplex channel in a computer system is the interface between the keyboard and the computer, in that key codes need only be sent one way from the keyboard to the computer system.

Half Duplex
A half duplex channel can send and receive, but not at the same time. Its like a one-lane bridge where two way traffic must give way in order to cross. Only one end transmits at a time, the other end receives.

Full Duplex
Data can travel in both directions simultaneously. There is no need to switch from transmit to receive mode like in half duplex. Its like a two lane bridge on a two-lane highway.

Parallel and Serial Data

Data may be transmitted between two points in two different ways. Lets consider sending 8 bits of digital data (1 byte) Parallel transmission
Each bit uses a separate wire To transfer data on a parallel link, a separate line is used as a clock signal. This serves to inform the receiver when data is available. In addition, another line may be used by the receiver to inform the sender that the data has been used, and its ready for the next data.

Parallel and Serial Data

Serial
Each bit is sent over a single wire, one after the other Usually no signal lines are used to convey clock (timing information) There are two types of serial transmission, essentially having to do with how the clock is embedded into the serial data
Asynchronous serial transmission Synchronous serial transmission

If no clock information was sent, the receiver would misinterpret the arriving data (due to bits being lost, going too slow). Parallel transmission is obviously faster, in that all bits are sent at the same time, whereas serial transmission is slower, because only one bit can be sent at a time. Parallel transmission is very costly for anything except short links.

Why Not use Parallel Instead of serial?

Due to inconsistencies on channels data arrives at different times Because of the way it is transmitted packet switching cannot be used. The above two points makes parallel slower than serial and requires higher bandwidth. Parallel transmissions are rarely used anymore.