Introduction: --
The term telecommunication, which includes telephony, telegraphy, and television,
means communication at a distance (tele is Greek for "far").
The word data refers to information presented in whatever form is agreed upon by the
parties creating and using the data.
Data communications are 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). 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. 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 30 ms. If some of the packets arrive with 30-ms delay and
others with 40-ms delay, an uneven quality in the video is the result.
1.1 Components:-
A data communications system has five components (see Figure 1.1).
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 block diagram of a communication system will have five blocks, including the
information source, transmitter, channel, receiver and destination blocks.
1.Information source :-
The objective of any communication system is to convey information from one point
to the other. The information comes from the information source, which originates it
Information is a very generic word signifying at the abstract level anything intended
for communication, which may include some thoughts, news, feeling, visual scene,
and so on.
The information source converts this information into physical quantity.
The physical manifestation of the information is termed as message signal
2.Transmitter :-
The objective of the transmitter block is to collect the incoming message signal and
modify it in a suitable fashion (if needed), such that, it can be transmitted via the
chosen channel to the receiving point.
Channel is a physical medium which connects the transmitter block with the receiver
block.
The functionality of the transmitter block is mainly decided by the type or nature of
the channel chosen for communication.
3.Channel :-
Channel is the physical medium which connects the transmitter with that of the
receiver.
The physical medium includes copper wire, coaxial cable, fibre optic cable, wave
guide and free space or atmosphere.
The choice of a particular channel depends on the feasibility and also the purpose of
the communication system.
4.Receiver:-
The receiver block receives the incoming modified version of the message signal from
the channel and processes it to recreate the original (non-electrical) form of the
message signal.
There are a great variety of receivers in communication systems, depending on the
processing required to recreate the original message signal and also final presentation
of the message to the destination.
5.Destination:-
The destination is the final block in the communication system which receives the
message signal and processes it to comprehend the information present in it.
Usually, humans will be the destination block.
Comparison between Serial and Parallel Data Transmission
Sr. Parameters Serial Data Transmission Parallel Data Transmission
No.
1 Definition In this type of transmission a single In this transmission, data bits are
link is used to transmit data bits and transmitted simultaneously through
only one bit is transferred at a time. multiple links, which are placed
parallel to each other.
2 Number of bits Only one bit is transferred at a time. Eight bits or 1 byte of data can be
transmitted simultaneously.
3 Transmission The sender can receive and send the Data can be either sent or received
Mode data simultaneously. Thus, it has a at a time. Thus, it has a half-duplex
full-duplex transmission mode. transmission mode.
4 Complexity of A serial connection requires fewer A parallel connection may require
Connections cables for interconnection and several devices and cables, which
requires less space. Thus, it is less adds to its complexity.
complex.
5 Clock Skew In serial communication this is not In parallel communication, the clock
an issue. skew between different channels can
cause an issue.
6 Converters Serial transmission utilizes Parallel transmission requires no
converters that enable data such data converters.
conversion from parallel to serial
type.
7 Transmission Serial transmission does not witness Parallel communication may
Distance any electromagnetic interference, witness electromagnetic interference
hence it is ideal for long-distance in long-distance transmission, hence
data transmission. used in short-distance transmission.
8 Disturbances Zero or very negligible disturbance. It suffers from disturbance.
Sr. Parameters Serial Data Transmission Parallel Data Transmission
No.
9 Number of Only one channel is required. N number of communication
communication channels is required.
channels
10 Cable Lengths The serial communication cables are The parallel communication cables
longer, thinner, and economical are used to run to several
kilometers.
11 Bandwidth In this bandwidth is higher. In this bandwidth is lower.
12 High Frequency This can work at high frequency. This cannot work at high frequency.
13 Speed Since the serial transmission Since the parallel transmission
Performance transmits only a single bit per clock, transmits about eight bits per clock,
the overall performance and speed the overall performance and speed
are lower than that of parallel are much higher than that of serial
transmission. transmission.
14 Affordability serial communication is used in Parallel communication has been
computer networks. But, the used for integrated circuits as well
integrity and complexity here is as RAM and peripheral buses. It
easily made out. Hence, serial incurs much more cost. Hence, it is
communication is cheaper compared a costly option as compared to serial
to parallel communication. transmission.
15 Applications Computer to computer, Computer, Computer to a printer, Hard-disk
and modem. and motherboard
What are the Three Basic Types of Data Transmission?
The basic data transmission types tell us which direction data moves between sender and
receiver. These are:
Simplex Data Transmission
Half-Duplex Data Transmission
Full-Duplex Data Transmission
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In a simplex transmission, data is only sent in one direction from sender to receiver. Half-
duplex connections can transmit both ways, but not simultaneously. Full-duplex connections
transmit data both ways at the same time, this is the most common type found in computer
networks.
What are Serial and Parallel Transmission?
There are two ways of grouping bits of data and sending them across a network. Serial
transmission means bits are sent sequentially, whereas parallel transmission sends data
packets simultaneously.
Parallel Transmission
In parallel transmission, binary data is grouped into bits. The number of groups corresponds
to the number of threads between the sender and receiver, and the groups are transmitted
simultaneously.
Source
This method allows for groups of bits (bytes) to be transmitted faster than serial transmission.
However, because separate lines are required for each bit, building infrastructure this way
would be costly.
That’s why we mostly see parallel transmission within devices, like computer processors, for
example. The communication between an API like RDD and the Spark codebase is another
example of parallel transmission.
Serial Data Transmission
In serial data transmission, each bit is sent one after the other in sequence. This is the type of
data transmission method devices use to communicate over a network.
Since the sending or receiving devices will use parallel transmission internally, converters
(serial to parallel and parallel to serial) are used at the interface point between the device and
the line.
Source
Parallel transmission always happens in synchronicity with the system clock. Serial
transmission, though, can be subdivided into three further groups based on the
synchronization of the sending and receiving device.
What are Synchronous and Asynchronous Transmission?
When data is sent at a synchronized rhythm, defined by the system clock, we call it
synchronous transmission. Some types of data, like live video streams, need highly
synchronized data feeds that arrive constantly. Other types can be sent asynchronously.
Synchronous
In synchronous transmissions, data is sent in frames. These are long continuous strings of
uninterrupted binary data. The receiving device counts the bits of binary data, using the
synchronicity between devices (defined in the data layer) to count the length of a byte.
Since data is sent as a constant stream, synchronous transmission allows for high transfer
speeds. This kind of transmission is used for high-speed connections between modern
computer networks.
Source
Asynchronous
This method sends bytes with an additional “start” and “stop” bit at the beginning and end.
That means the receiving device knows the length of a byte without synchronizing with the
transmitter.
By counting the start and stop bits, the receiver can resynchronize the data stream at the byte
level each time a new signal is received. This method is often used for low-speed
transmissions, such as the input data from your keyboard or sporadic data from business
microservices.
Source
Isochronous
When an image or audio signal needs to be broadcast at a specific frame rate, uninterrupted,
then synchronous and asynchronous transmission both fall short. The entire bit stream needs
to be synchronized and sent at a constant rate with no gaps between frames.
This is where Isochronous transmission is used. You might see this in a digital TV broadcast
signal, or a live streaming service.
