TELECOMMUNICATION

Telecommunication refers to the transmission of information over a distance. It involves the

exchange of data, voice, video, or any other form of information between two or more entities
using electronic means. Telecommunication systems play a crucial role in connecting people,
devices, and systems, enabling communication and collaboration over vast distances
OR, The transmission of different forms of data (such as text, audio, video, images, graphics)
from one set of electronic devices over media to another set of geographically separated
electronic devices.

Telecommunication Systems
Consider for a moment all the different communications that take place in an organization.
Some communications are face to face, but others use some type of technology. Think of email,
phone calls, text messaging, viewing pages on the Internet, downloading files. All of these
communications make use of a telecommunications system.
A telecommunications system is a collection of nodes and links to enable telecommunication.
Telecommunication is communication at a distance using electrical signals or electromagnetic
waves.
Examples of telecommunications systems are the telephone network, the radio broadcasting
system, computer networks and the Internet. The nodes in the system are the devices we use to
communicate with, such as a telephone or a computer.
What is Data Communication and Characteristics of Data Communication?
Data communications means the exchange of data between two devices via some form of
transmission medium such as a wire cable.
For data communications to occur, the communicating devices must be part of a
communication system made up of a combination of hardware (physical equipment) and
software (programs).

Characteristics of Data Communications:

The effectiveness of a data communications system depends on four fundamental
characteristics: delivery, accuracy, timeliness, and jitter.
1. Delivery:
The system must deliver data to the correct destination. Data must be received by the intended
device or user and only by that device or user.

2. Accuracy:
The system must deliver the data accurately. Data that have been altered in transmission and
left uncorrected are unusable.
3. Timeliness:
The system must deliver data in a timely manner. Data delivered late are useless. In the case of
video and audio, timely delivery means delivering data as they are produced, in the same order
that they are produced, and without significant delay. This kind of delivery is called real-time
transmission.

4. Jitter:
In network the data are split into smaller groups (packets) and send them separately. The
variation of the arrival between two packets is referred as jitter.
Jitter refers to the variation in the packet arrival time. It is the uneven delay in the delivery of
audio or video packets. For example, let us assume that video packets are sent every 3D ms. If
some of the packets arrive with 3D-ms delay and others with 4D-ms delay, an uneven quality
in the video is the result.
Data Communication And Terminal Equipment
Data communication equipment (DCE)

A data circuit-terminating equipment (DCE) is a device that sits between the data terminal
equipment (DTE) and a data transmission circuit. It is also called data communication(s)
equipment and data carrier equipment. DTE device is the terminal (or computer) and the
DCE is a modem or other type of communication device and provides a connection for the
DTE into a communication network and back again. It terminates and provides clocking for a
circuit. When analog telephone lines are the communication media, the DCE is a modem. DTE
and DCE devices send and receive data on separate wires that terminate at a 25-pin connector.
Data terminal equipment's (DTE)
Data terminal equipment is an end instrument that converts user information into signals or
reconverts received signals. They are also called tail circuits. A DTE device communicates
with the data circuit-terminating equipment (DCE). A DTE is the functional unit of a data
station that serves as a data source or a data sink and provided for data communication
control function to be performed in accordance with the link protocol. It may be a single piece
of equipment or an interconnected subsystem of multiple pieces of equipment that
perform all the required functions necessary to permit users to communicate. Data
Terminal Equipment (DTE) is any equipment that is either a source or destination for
digital data. A typical example of DTE is a computer. Other common DTE examples
include: Printers, File and application servers, PCs, Dumb Terminals and Routers.
Data communication and terminal equipment

Components of Data Communication

The different components of Data communication are shown in the following figure.

1. Message:
The message is the information (data) to be communicated. Popular forms of information
include text, numbers, pictures, audio, and video.
2. Sender:
The sender is the device that sends the data message. It can be a computer, workstation,
telephone handset, video camera, and so on.

3. Receiver:
The receiver is the device that receives the message. It can be a computer, workstation,
telephone handset, television, and so on.

4. Transmission medium:
The transmission medium is the physical path by which a message travels from sender to
receiver. Some examples of transmission media include twisted-pair wire, coaxial cable, fiber-
optic cable, and radio waves.
5. Protocol:
A protocol is a set of rules that govern data communications. It represents an agreement
between the communicating devices. Without a protocol, two devices may be connected but
not communicating, just as a person speaking French cannot be understood by a person who
speaks only Japanese.
The source and destination may be computer, mobile phones, workstations, servers, video
cameras and so on. The protocol provides the effective communication. This provides the
methodology how to interact with each other without any loss or interference.

Different Data Flow Directions/Mode of Data Flow

The data flow defines the flow direction of the data between source and destination. The data
flow may be either simplex or half-duplex or full duplex.
1. Simplex:
In simplex mode, the communication is unidirectional, as on a one-way street. Only one of the
two devices on a link can transmit; the other can only receive which can be represented in the
following figure.

Keyboards and traditional monitors are examples of simplex devices. The keyboard can only
introduce input; the monitor can only accept output. The simplex mode can use the entire
capacity of the channel to send data in one direction.
2.Half-Duplex:

In half-duplex mode, each station can both transmit and receive, but not at the same time. When
one device is sending, the other can only receive, and vice versa which will represent in the
following figure.
The half-duplex mode is like a one-lane road with traffic allowed in both directions. When cars
are traveling in one direction, cars going the other way must wait. In a half-duplex transmission,
the entire capacity of a channel is taken over by whichever of the two devices is transmitting
at the time. Walkie-talkies and CB (citizens band) radios are both half-duplex systems.

The half-duplex mode is used in cases where there is no need for communication in both
directions at the same time; the entire capacity of the channel can be utilized for each direction.
3.Full-Duplex:

In full-duplex mode (also called duplex), both stations can transmit and receive simultaneously
as shown in the following figure.

The full-duplex mode is like a two-way street with traffic flowing in both directions at the same
time. In full-duplex mode, signals going in one direction share the capacity of the link: with
signals going in the other direction.
This sharing can occur in two ways: Either the link must contain two physically separate
transmission paths, one for sending and the other for receiving; or the capacity of the channel
is divided between the signals traveling in both directions.

One common example of full-duplex communication is the telephone network. When two
people are communicating by a telephone line, both can talk and listen at the same time. The
full-duplex mode is used when communication in both directions is required all the time. The
capacity of the channel, however, must be divided between the two directions.