Data Communication

What is data communication?

• It refers to the transmission of computerized data from one location to
another. Computers transmit data for many reasons.
i. One is the need to transfer information from one storage location to another
within primary memory or primary memory to either the arithmetic logic unit or
the supervisory control unit.
ii. Another is the need to transfer data from the CPU to peripheral devices. E.g.
floppy disks or printers.
iii. Many businesses need to transfer data from one local computer to another . or
from local data terminals to distant main frame computers.

• Definition As per Jerry Fitzgerald, data communication is the movement of

computer information from one point to another by means of electrical or
optical transmission systems.
• Such systems often are called data communication networks. This is in
contrast to the broader term telecommunications, which includes the
transmission of voice, video (images and graphics) as well as data.
Components of data communication system
• Message: It is the information or data to be communicated. It can consist
of text, numbers, pictures, sound or video or any combination of these.
• Sender: It is the device/computer that generates and sends that message.
• Receiver: It is the device or computer that receives the message. The
location of receiver computer is generally different from the sender
computer. The distance between sender and receiver depends upon the
types of network used in between.
• Medium: It is the channel or physical path through which the message is
carried from sender to the receiver. The medium can be wired like twisted
pair wire, coaxial cable, fiber-optic cable or wireless like laser, radio waves,
and microwaves.
• Protocol: It is a set of rules that govern the communication between the
devices. Both sender and receiver follow same protocols to communicate
with each other.
 Terms used in data communication
1) Data signal: • Analogue data signal
• A data signal is a voltage level in the
circuit which represents the flow of
data.
• In data communication, there are 2
types of data signals; Digital and
Analogue.
• Analogue data is made up of
continuous waveforms, while digital
data is made up of a non-continuous
discrete waveform.
• A simple analog signal is a sine wave
that cannot be further decomposed
into simpler signals.
 Data Signals
• Digital Signal • Representation of digital signals
• Information in a digital signal can
be represented in the form of
voltage levels.
• Example: In the signal shown
below, a ‗1‘ is represented by a
positive voltage and a ‗0‘ is
represented by a Zero voltage.
• Digital signal has a rectangular
wave
Terms used in data communication Cont.
2) Signal modulation and demodulation
• This is the process of converting data signals to a form that can be
transmitted over a transmission medium.
• E.g., a modem converts a digital signal to an analogue signal, which
can be transmitted over analogue telephone lines. This process is
called modulation.
• A modem at the receiving end converts the analogue signal into a
digital signal, a process known as demodulation.
Terms used in data communication Cont.
3) Multiplexing and demultiplexing
• Multiplexing is the process of sending multiple data signals over the
same medium, e.g., a wire conductor can be made to carry several
data signals either simultaneously or at different times.
• Demultiplexing is the process of separating the multiplexed signals at
the receiving end.
 Multiplexing and demultiplexing Cont Example.
• Town A has 10 computers which • Illustration
want to communicate with 10
other computers in town B.
• In a normal case, it will need a
direct cable linking each of the
computers in town A to its partner
in town B.
• However, if multiplexing is used,
the computers can be made to
share a single cable laid between
the two towns, hence, saving cost.
• The different data signals have
different frequencies on the cable;
hence, they do not interfere with
one another.
 Terms used in data communication Cont.
4) Frequency (f):Frequency of a 7) Band: The rate of change of a
wave is the number of cycles made signal on a transmission line.
by the wave in 1 second. Frequency 8) Bandwidth: A Bandwidth is the
is measured in units called Hertz maximum amount of data that a
(Hz); where 1 Hz is equivalent to 1 transmission medium can carry at
cycle/second. any one time. E.g., a certain cable
5) Baud: This is the unit to measure may have a bandwidth of 100 Mbps
the speed of transmission. (Megabits per second).
Generally, 1BAUD is 1bit/second. 9) Guardband: This is the range of
6) Baud rate: This is the rate at frequency that is used to separate
which data is transferred or two channels.
transmitted. It is measured in Bits
per second (bps).
 Terms used in data communication Cont.
10) Baseband signal: This is a digital 11) Broadband transmission: This is
signal that is generated and applied where an analogue signal is sent
to the transmission medium directly over the transmission medium using
without modulation. a particular frequency.
• Note. A baseband signal utilizes • This means that, several data
the full capacity of the signals can be sent at the same
transmission medium; hence, at time through the same medium,
any one time, only one signal can but at different frequencies so as to
be sent. prevent them from overlapping.
• However, multiple signals can be
sent at different times, if they are
multiplexed.
 Terms used in data communication Cont.
12) Attenuation: Attenuation is the decrease in magnitude and energy
of a signal as it progressively moves along a transmission medium.
• If the signal is not boosted, it will totally be lost along the way, and
may never reach the destination.
• Attenuation (or signal loss) is usually corrected by placing signal
amplifiers (also called repeater stations) along the medium at
appropriate distances in order to receive the weak signal, clean it,
amplify it, then retransmit it.
Types of Data Transmission
Parallel Transmission
• Definition: 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.
 Parallel Transmission Cont.
• In parallel transmission, all the bits of • As shown in the fig below there are
data are transmitted simultaneously separate wires/cables are used to
on separate communication lines. transmit 8 bit data from sender to
• In order to transmit n bits, n wires or receiver.
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.
 Parallel Transmission Cont.

Advantage of parallel transmission Disadvantage of parallel transmission

• It is speedy way of transmitting • It is costly method of data
data as multiple bits are transmission as it
transmitted simultaneously with requires n lines to transmit n bits
a single clock pulse. at the same time
Serial Transmission
• Definition: 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.
• Thus all the bits of data are transmitted on single line in serial fashion.
• In serial transmission, only single bit is sent with each clock pulse.
Serial Transmission Cont.
• 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.
• The internal circuitry of computer transmits data in parallel fashion. So in
order to change this parallel data into serial data, conversion devices are
used.
• These conversion devices convert the parallel data into serial data at the
sender side so that it can be transmitted over single line.
• On receiver side, serial data received is again converted to parallel form so
that the interval circuitry of computer can accept it
Serial Transmission Cont.
• Serial transmission is used for long distance communication.
 Serial Transmission Cont.
Advantage of Serial transmission Disadvantages of Serial transmission

• Use of single communication • Use of conversion devices at

line reduces the transmission source and destination end may
line cost by the factor of n as lead to increase in overall
compared to parallel transmission cost.
transmission. • 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.
 Types of Serial Transmission: 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.
 Types of Serial Transmission: Asynchronous
Transmission
• 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
• This mechanism is called as Gap
Asynchronous, because at byte
level sender and receiver need not • The gap or idle time can be of
to be synchronized. varying intervals.
• But within each byte, receiver must
be synchronized with the incoming bit
stream.
 Application of Asynchronous Transmission
• 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.
• Asynchronous transmission is best suited to Internet traffic in which
information is transmitted in short bursts.
• This type of transmission is also used by modems.
Application of Asynchronous Transmission
Advantages of Asynchronous transmission
• 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.
• 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.
• It is possible to transmit signals from sources having different bit rates.
• The transmission can start as soon as data byte to be transmitted becomes
available.
• Moreover, this mode of data transmission is easy to implement.
Disadvantages of asynchronous transmission
• This method is less efficient and slower than synchronous
transmission due to the overhead of extra bits and insertion of gaps
into bit stream.
• Successful transmission inevitably depends on the recognition of the
start bits. These bits can be missed or corrupted.
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.
Synchronous Transmission Cont.
• 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.
Synchronous Transmission Cont.
Advantage of Synchronous transmission
• 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
• 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.
• 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
Assignment
• Discuss the protocols in Each layer of the OSI model
• Discuss the TCP three-way handshake
Thank You

The End!