Objectives

• Describe how data is transmitted from one device to

another using different methods of data
transmission including:
• Serial, Parallel
• Simplex, Half-duplex, Full-duplex

• Explain the suitability of each method for a scenario

• Explain the advantages and disadvantages of each method

• Understand the universal serial bus (USB) interface

and explain how it is used to transmit data
Data transmission
Unit 2 Data transmission and encryption

Starter
• A tin can telephone allows one person to transmit a
message in binary by saying 1 or 0
• How is it possible for both people to send a message to
each other?
• How could messages be sent faster?
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Unit 2 Data transmission and encryption

Starter
• How is it possible for both people to send a message to
each other?
They would need to swap the cans from ear to mouth and
vice versa
A keyword such as ‘over’ could be used to signify the end of a
transmission in one direction
• How could messages be sent faster?
Two connections could be made – one for listening and one
for speaking – in Computer Science this is known as
half-duplex
Alternatively, they could speak each digit faster – this is a
serial transmission and the way that technologies such as
USB are faster than older technologies such as computer
serial ports
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Unit 2 Data transmission and encryption

Serial transmission
• Bits are sent one signal at a time over a single wire
• One bit is sent at a time
• Once the bit has been received, the next bit is sent

• The example below shows how the ASCII ‘W’

character is sent in binary

0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0

Receiver
Sender
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Unit 2 Data transmission and encryption

Parallel transmission
• In parallel transmission a number of wires are used
so that many bits may be sent at the same time
• Again, the ASCII letter ‘W’ is sent in binary
• Which is faster, parallel or serial transmission?

Sender Receiver
 Data transmission
Unit 2 Data transmission and encryption

Parallel vs serial transmission

• If the same speed is used for one serial wire or eight
parallel wires then parallel transmission will be faster

Serial cable Parallel cable

Transmit Data (TXD)

D0~D7
Receive Data (RXD) Allows the parallel
transmission of 8 bits
Data transmission
Unit 2 Data transmission and encryption

Worksheet 2
• Now complete Task 1 on Worksheet 2
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Unit 2 Data transmission and encryption

Data cables
• It was common in older
computers to use parallel
cables to connect devices
• They were used for hard disk drives
and floppy drives
• The parallel cables enabled faster
transmission speeds than serial cables
• This type of cable was used in parallel ATA (PATA) and
IDE cables
• 40 pins were on the cable, with the ability to send 16 bits of
data in parallel through pins 3 to 18
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Unit 2 Data transmission and encryption

What’s wrong with parallel?

• Parallel cables are able to send more data than
serial cables if the same data rate is used
• They were very common in computers before around the
year 2000
• But they have been replaced by SATA cables (Serial ATA) and
USB cables (Universal Serial Bus)
• Why are parallel cables not commonly used now if they were
the faster type of cable before the year 2000?
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Unit 2 Data transmission and encryption

Crosstalk
• Crosstalk may occur when a signal on one line
creates a disturbance in another line
• This may cause a bit to be reversed in a parallel line
• The longer a cable is, the more chance there is of crosstalk
D0
0 0
D1 The number
1 1 01010110 is
0
D2
0 transmitted, lines D3

Receiver
and D5 are causing
Sender

D3
1 1 cross talk on D4 so
D4 that the number
0 1
01011110 is
D5
1 1 received
D6
1 1
D7
0 0
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Unit 2 Data transmission and encryption

Skew
• Each wire in a parallel cable has slightly
different properties
• Signals therefore arrive at slightly different times
• The receiver must wait until all
lines are received until the next
set of bits may be sent
• Transmission needs to be
over very short distances
to reduce the problem
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Unit 2 Data transmission and encryption

Advantages of serial
• Before around the year 2000, processors were
expensive and not fast enough to keep up with very
fast transmissions in serial
• Parallel transmission was therefore used to increase the
overall transmission speed

• As processors have increased in speed, they can

easily cope with faster serial transmission rates
• By using serial transmission, faster rates are possible without
the issues of crosstalk or skew
• This is why modern transmission methods such as SATA (for
hard drives) and USB (for external devices) are now most
common
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Unit 2 Data transmission and encryption

Advantages of serial
• Serial cables only require one wire for the data itself
• This means that far fewer wires are needed in the cable,
making it cheaper to make and smaller
• This also allows for longer cables without the risks of greater
crosstalk and skew
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Unit 2 Data transmission and encryption

Integrated circuits
• Parallel transmission still occurs inside computers
• Data needs to be transferred between CPU and RAM
very quickly
• On a 64-bit CPU, a full 64-bit binary number will be
transferred in parallel in one clock tick
• Because the components are very close to each other, skew
and crosstalk are less of an issue
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Unit 2 Data transmission and encryption

USB features
• Universal serial bus (USB) is a serial cable that is
commonly used to connect external Data+ Data-
devices to computers, laptops, +5V Ground
tablets and smartphones
• The USB cable may be plugged in or
removed whilst the device is turned on
• To connect older cables, such as serial mice
or keyboards and parallel printers, the
computer first needed to be turned off
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Unit 2 Data transmission and encryption

USB benefits
• USB 1 connections operate between
1.5 and 12 Mbps
• Parallel cables operate at a much
slower 110 kbps
• The later standard of USB 3 operates
up to 20 Gbps

• Older parallel and serial cables

normally required small screws to
connect the cables
• All sorts of devices could be connected
by simply installing the necessary drivers
Data transmission
Unit 2 Data transmission and encryption

USB drawbacks
• USB connections should only be
5 meters in length before a
USB hub is used
• The data transfer speeds are
not fast enough to use in
internal devices such as CPU
and hard drive
• The transfer of data with DDR4 RAM is
up to 200 Gbps
• This is around 10 times faster than USB 3
Data transmission
Unit 2 Data transmission and encryption

Worksheet 2
• Now complete Task 2 on Worksheet 2
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Unit 2 Data transmission and encryption

Transmission direction
• Simplex, duplex and half-duplex are terms referring
to the direction of data during transmission
• These terms can be used in conjunction with serial
and parallel transmission terminology
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Unit 2 Data transmission and encryption

Simplex transmission
• In simplex transmission, data travels in one
direction only
• This would be used to send data from a keyboard to
a computer
• Simplex transmission is similar to traffic flowing a one
way road
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Unit 2 Data transmission and encryption

Half-duplex
• Data is able to travel in both directions along a single
connection, but it cannot travel at the same time
• The full bandwidth is available to both the sender and receiver
but they cannot send at the same time as receiving
• This is similar to traffic lights into a one-way system
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Unit 2 Data transmission and encryption

Full duplex transmission

• In full duplex transmission, traffic is able to move in
both directions simultaneously using two cables
• Ethernet network cables make use of two twister pairs of
cable – one for sending and one for receiving
• Fibre optic cables use two fibres – one for transmitting and
one for receiving
Data transmission
Unit 2 Data transmission and encryption

Transmission direction
• Walkie Talkies (handheld transceivers) allow
users to use one channel to send and
receive audio
• Only one radio on the channel is able to
transmit at one time
• Once the transmission ends, the other radio
is able to transmit
• Explain the type of
transmission that is
being used
Data transmission
Unit 2 Data transmission and encryption

Walkie talkies
• To transmit on a walkie talkie, a push to talk (PTT)
button is pressed
• This stops the walkie talkie from receiving
• The system is half-duplex – each walkie talkie can send and
receive, but not at the same time
Data transmission
Unit 2 Data transmission and encryption

Worksheet 2
• Now complete Task 3 on Worksheet 2
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Unit 2 Data transmission and encryption

Plenary
• Use an analogy of cars driving on a road to take
turns to explain to a partner each of the
following transmission terms:
• Serial
• Parallel
• Simplex
• Half-duplex
• Full-duplex
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Unit 2 Data transmission and encryption

Plenary
• Serial – This is the same as a one-way road. Cars are sent
along the road one car at the time (where a car is like one bit
of data)
• Parallel – This is like a motorway (probably with 8 lanes)
where multiple cars are sent through at the same time
• Simplex – Cars only travel in one direction, like on a
one-way road
• Half-duplex – Cars can travel in both directions on the same
road – but only one direction at a time. This is similar to a
section of road with a single lane controlled by traffic lights
• Full-duplex – Cars can travel in both directions at the same
time – this is similar to a standard road, dual carriageway or
motorway
Data transmission
Unit 2 Data transmission and encryption

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