Unit - 2

Data Transmission Systems

Data Transmission
Data transmission refers to the movement of data in form of bits between two or more digital
devices. This transfer of data takes place via some form of transmission media (for example,
coaxial cable, fiber optics etc.)

Types of Data Transmission

1. Parallel transmission
Within a computing or communication device, the distances between different subunits are
too short. Thus, it is normal practice to transfer data between subunits using a separate wire
to carry each bit of data. There are multiple wires connecting each sub-unit and data is
exchanged using a parallel transfer mode. This mode of operation results in minimal delays
in transferring each word.

• In parallel transmission, all the bits of data are transmitted simultaneously on

separate communication lines.
• In order to transmit n bits, n wires or lines are used. Thus each bit has its own line.
• All n bits of one group are transmitted with each clock pulse from one device to
another i.e. multiple bits are sent with each clock pulse.
• Parallel transmission is used for short distance communication.

As shown in the fig, eight separate wires are used to transmit 8 bit data from sender
to receiver.
Advantage of parallel transmission

It is speedy way of transmitting data as multiple bits are transmitted simultaneously

with a single clock pulse.
Disadvantage of parallel transmission

It is costly method of data transmission as it requires n lines to transmit n bits at the

same time.
2. Serial Transmission
When transferring data between two physically separate devices, especially if the separation
is more than a few kilometers, for reasons of cost, it is more economical to use a single pair
of lines. Data is transmitted as a single bit at a time using a fixed time interval for each bit.
This mode of transmission is known as bit-serial transmission.

• In serial transmission, the various bits of data are transmitted serially one after the
other.
• It requires only one communication line rather than n lines to transmit data from
sender to receiver.
• In serial transmission, only single bit is sent with each clock pulse.

As shown in fig., suppose an 8-bit data 11001010 is to be sent from source to destination.
Then least significant bit (LSB) i,e. 0 will be transmitted first followed by other bits. The most
significant bit (MSB) i.e. 1 will be transmitted in the end via single communication line.

Advantage of Serial transmission

Use of single communication line reduces the transmission line cost by the factor
of n as compared to parallel transmission.

Disadvantages of Serial transmission

1. Use of conversion devices at source and destination end may lead to increase in
overall transmission cost.
2. This method is slower as compared to parallel transmission as bits are transmitted
serially one after the other.
 Types of Serial Transmission
There are two types of serial transmission-synchronous and asynchronous both these
transmissions use ‘Bit synchronization‘

Bit Synchronization is a function that is required to determine when the beginning and
end of the data transmission occurs.
Bit synchronization helps the receiving computer to know when data begin and end during a
transmission. Therefore bit synchronization provides timing control.

a. Asynchronous Transmission

• Asynchronous transmission sends only one character at a time where a character is

either a letter of the alphabet or number or control character i.e. it sends one byte of
data at a time.
• Bit synchronization between two devices is made possible using start bit and stop
bit.
• Start bit indicates the beginning of data i.e. alerts the receiver to the arrival of new
group of bits. A start bit usually 0 is added to the beginning of each byte.
• Stop bit indicates the end of data i.e. to let the receiver know that byte is finished,
one or more additional bits are appended to the end of the byte. These bits, usually
1s are called stop bits.

• Addition of start and stop increase the number of data bits. Hence more bandwidth
is consumed in asynchronous transmission.
• There is idle time between the transmissions of different data bytes. This idle time is
also known as Gap
• The gap or idle time can be of varying intervals. This mechanism is called
Asynchronous, because at byte level sender and receiver need not to be
synchronized. But within each byte, receiver must be synchronized with the incoming
bit stream.
Application of Asynchronous Transmission
1. Asynchronous transmission is well suited for keyboard type-terminals and paper tape
devices. The advantage of this method is that it does not require any local storage at
the terminal or the computer as transmission takes place character by character.
2. Asynchronous transmission is best suited to Internet traffic in which information is
transmitted in short bursts. This type of transmission is used by modems.
Advantages of Asynchronous transmission

1. This method of data transmission is cheaper in cost as compared to

synchronous e.g. If lines are short, asynchronous transmission is better, because line
cost would be low and idle time will not be expensive.
2. In this approach each individual character is complete in itself, therefore if character
is corrupted during transmission, its successor and predecessor character will not be
affected.
3. It is possible to transmit signals from sources having different bit rates.
4. The transmission can start as soon as data byte to be transmitted becomes
available.
5. Moreover, this mode of data transmission in easy to implement.

Disadvantages of asynchronous transmission

1. This method is less efficient and slower than synchronous transmission due to the
overhead of extra bits and insertion of gaps into bit stream.
2. Successful transmission inevitably depends on the recognition of the start bits.
These bits can be missed or corrupted.

b. Synchronous Transmission

• Synchronous transmission does not use start and stop bits.

• In this method bit stream is combined into longer frames that may contain multiple
bytes.
• There is no gap between the various bytes in the data stream.

• In the absence of start & stop bits, bit synchronization is established between sender
& receiver by ‘timing’ the transmission of each bit.
• Since the various bytes are placed on the link without any gap, it is the responsibility
of receiver to separate the bit stream into bytes so as to reconstruct the original
information.
• In order to receive the data error free, the receiver and sender operates at the
same clock frequency.

Application of Synchronous transmission

• Synchronous transmission is used for high speed communication between

computers.

Advantage of Synchronous transmission

1. This method is faster as compared to asynchronous as there are no extra bits (start
bit & stop bit) and also there is no gap between the individual data bytes.

Disadvantages of Synchronous transmission

1. It is costly as compared to asynchronous method. It requires local buffer storage at

the two ends of line to assemble blocks and it also requires accurately synchronized
clocks at both ends. This lead to increase in the cost.
2. The sender and receiver have to operate at the same clock frequency. This requires
proper synchronization which makes the system complicated.

Comparison between Serial and Parallel transmission

 Comparison between Asynchronous and Synchronous.

Digital transmission systems –(Twisted pair, coaxial cable, Optical fibre, Radio Transmission,
Infrared light) – Covered in unit 1

Multiplexing
Multiplexing is the sharing of a medium or bandwidth. It is the process in
which multiple signals coming from multiple sources are combined and
transmitted over a single communication/physical line.

Types of Multiplexing

There are three types of Multiplexing

1. Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM)
2. Time-Division Multiplexing (TDM)
3. Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM)
1. Frequency Division Multiplexing
Frequency division multiplexing is defined as a type of multiplexing where the
bandwidth of a single physical medium is divided into a number of smaller,
independent frequency channels.

Frequency Division Multiplexing is used in radio and television transmission.

In FDM, we can observe a lot of inter-channel cross-talk, due to the fact that in
this type of multiplexing the bandwidth is divided into frequency channels. In
order to prevent the inter-channel cross talk, unused strips of bandwidth must
be placed between each channel. These unused strips between each channel
are known as guard bands.
 2. Time Division Multiplexing
Time-division multiplexing is defined as a type of multiplexing wherein FDM,
instead of sharing a portion of the bandwidth in the form of channels, in TDM,
time is shared. Each connection occupies a portion of time in the link.
In Time Division Multiplexing, all signals operate with the same frequency
(bandwidth) at different times.

There are two types of Time Division Multiplexing

1. Synchronous Time Division Multiplexing
2. Statistical (or Asynchronous) Time Division Multiplexing

1.Synchronous TDM
Synchronous TDM is a type of Time Division Multiplexing where the input
frame already has a slot in the output frame. Time slots are grouped into
frames. One frame consists of one cycle of time slots.
Synchronous TDM is not efficient because if the input frame has no data to
send, a slot remains empty in the output frame.
In synchronous TDM, we need to mention the synchronous bit at the
beginning of each frame.
 2.Statistical TDM :
Statistical TDM is a type of Time Division Multiplexing where the output
frame collects data from the input frame till it is full, not leaving an empty slot
like in Synchronous TDM.
In statistical TDM, we need to include the address of each particular data in
the slot that is being sent to the output frame.

Statistical TDM is a more efficient type of time-division multiplexing as the

channel capacity is fully utilized and improves the bandwidth efficiency.

3. Wavelength Division Multiplexing :

Wavelength Division Multiplexing is used on fiber optics to increase the
capacity of a single fiber. It is an analog multiplexing technique. Optical
signals from the different sources are combined to form a wider band of light
with the help of multiplexers. At the receiving end, the demultiplexer separates
the signals to transmit them to their respective destinations.

o Multiplexing and Demultiplexing can be achieved by using a prism.

o Prism can perform a role of multiplexer by combining the various optical signals
to form a composite signal, and the composite signal is transmitted through a fibre
optical cable.
o Prism also performs a reverse operation, i.e., demultiplexing the signal.

SONET

SONET stands for Synchronous Optical Network. SONET is a communication

protocol, developed by Bellcore – that is used to transmit a large amount of
data over relatively large distances using optical fibre. With SONET, multiple
digital data streams are transferred at the same time over the optical fibre.

Why SONET is called a Synchronous Network?

A single clock (Primary Reference Clock, PRC) handles the timing of
transmission of signals & equipment’s across the entire network.

SONET Network Elements:

1. STS Multiplexer:
Performs multiplexing of signals
Converts electrical signal to optical signal

2. STS Demultiplexer:
Performs demultiplexing of signals
Converts optical signal to electrical signal

3. Regenerator:
It is a repeater, that takes an optical signal and regenerates (increases the
strength) it.
4. Add/Drop Multiplexer:
It allows to add signals coming from different sources into a given path or
remove a signal.

Why SONET is used?

SONET is used to convert an electrical signal into an optical signal so that it
can travel longer distances.

SONET Connections:
• Section: Portion of network connecting two neighbouring devices.
• Line: Portion of network connecting two neighbouring multiplexers.
• Path: End-to-end portion of the network.

SONET Layers

SONET includes four functional layers

1. Path Layer
It is responsible for the movement of signals from its optical source to its
optical destination.
STS Mux/Demux provides path layer functions.

2. Line Layer
It is responsible for the movement of signal across a physical line.
STS Mux/Demux and Add/Drop Mux provides Line layer functions.

3. Section Layer
It is responsible for the movement of signal across a physical section.
Each device of network provides section layer functions.
4. Photonic Layer
It corresponds to the physical layer of the OSI model.
It includes physical specifications for the optical fibre channel (presence of
light = 1 and absence of light = 0).

Advantages of SONET
• Transmits data to large distances
• Low electromagnetic interference
• High data rates
• Large Bandwidth