Data Transmission

When we enter data into the computer via keyboard, each keyed element is
encoded by the electronics within the keyboard into an equivalent binary coded
pattern, using one of the standard coding schemes that are used for the interchange
of information. To represent all characters of the keyboard, a unique pattern of 7
or 8 bits in size is used. The use of 7 bits means that 128 different elements can be
represented, while 8 bits can represent 256 elements. A similar procedure is
followed at the receiver that decodes every received binary pattern into the
corresponding character.
The most widely used codes that have been adopted for this function are the
Extended Binary Coded Decimal (EBCDIC) and the American Standard Code
for Information Interchange codes (ASCII). Both coding schemes cater to all the
normal alphabetic, numeric, and punctuation characters, collectively referred to
as printable characters and a range of additional control characters, known
as non-printable characters.
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.)

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Types of Data Transmission

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.

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

Advantages:
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.
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.
• 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.

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• 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 is used for long distance communication.

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.

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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.

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.

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• 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.

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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.

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.

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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

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Comparison between Asynchronous and Synchronous