Components of Data Communication

System
Data Communication is defined as exchange of data between two devices via
some form of transmission media such as a cable, wire or it can be air or
vacuum also. For a data communication communication system made up of a
combination of hardware or software devices and programs.

Data Communication System Components :

There are mainly five components of a data communication system:
1. Message
2. Sender
3. Receiver
4. Transmission Medium
5. Set of rules (Protocol)

1. Message :
This is most useful asset of a data communication system. The message
simply refers to data or piece of information which is to be communicated. A
message could be in any form, it may be in form of a text file, an audio file, a
video file, etc.
 2. Sender :
To transfer message from source to destination, someone must be there
who will play role of a source. Sender plays part of a source in data
communication system. It is simple a device that sends data message.
The device could be in form of a computer, mobile, telephone, laptop,
video camera, or a workstation, etc.

3. Receiver :
It is destination where finally message sent by source has arrived. It is a
device that receives message. Same as sender, receiver can also be in
form of a computer, telephone mobile, workstation, etc.

4. Transmission Medium :
In entire process of data communication, there must be something which
could act as a bridge between sender and receiver, Transmission
medium plays that part. It is physical path by which data or message
travels from sender to receiver. Transmission medium could be guided
(with wires) or unguided (without wires), for example, twisted pair cable,
fiber optic cable, radio waves, microwaves, etc.

5. Set of rules (Protocol) :

To govern data communications, various sets of rules had been already designed
by the designers of the communication systems, which represent a kind of
agreement between communicating devices. These are defined as protocol. In
simple terms, the protocol is a set of rules that govern data communication. If two
different devices are connected but there is no protocol among them, there would
not be any kind of communication between those two devices. Thus the protocol is
necessary for data communication to take place.

Transmission Modes in Computer

Networks (Simplex, Half-Duplex and
Full-Duplex)
Transmission mode means transferring data between two devices. It is also
known as a communication mode. Buses and networks are designed to allow
communication to occur between individual devices that are interconnected.
There are three types of transmission mode:-
 1. Simplex Mode –
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. The simplex mode can use the entire capacity of the
channel to send data in one direction.
Example: Keyboard and traditional monitors. The keyboard can only
introduce input, the monitor can only give the output.

Advantage of Simplex mode

1. The full capacity of the transmission medium is used by the sender.

2. It is a very simple way of transmission.
3. It has no traffic issues.

Disadvantages of Simplex Mode

1. There is only one way of transmission

2. There is ni bidirectional communication is possible.
3. Two devices cannot communicate in simplex mode.

2. Half-Duplex Mode –
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. 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.
Example: Walkie-talkie in which message is sent one at a time and
messages are sent in both directions.

Advantages of Half-Duplex Mode

1. Speed is a big advantage of a full-duplex.

2. The device can receive and send data, but not at the same time.
3. Troubleshooting is very easy
4. Data is transmitted in both sides

2. It provides bidirectional communication.

Disadvantages of Half Duplex mode

1. In a half Duplex, moe data cannot be transmitted in both side in the same
time
2. When one device sending data, the device on the other hand only receive
data.
3. It is slow in data transmission.
4. Delay in data transmission.

Full-Duplex Mode –
In full-duplex mode, both stations can transmit and receive simultaneously. In
full_duplex mode, signals going in one direction share the capacity of the link
with signals going in another 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 is divided between signals traveling in both directions.

Advantages of Full-duplex Mode

1. performance of full-duplex mode is much batter than half and simplex mode.
2. The speed of full-duplex mode is high than simplex and half-duplex mode.
3. Data can be sent and receive on both sides, which increases the performance
of the network.
4. No delay in communication, because both devices send and receive data at
the same time.

Disadvantages of Full-duplex Mode

1. No proper bandwidth utilization as the same line is used for sending and
receiving data at the same time.
2. It is more complex than a simplex and half-duplex mode

Compression Table of Simplex Mode, Half-Duplex Mode, and

Full-Duplex Mode-
Basis Of Compression Simplex Half Duplex Full Duplex

Signals can be transmitted on

Data transmitted only in one Signals can be transmitted on
Direction of Communication both side, but not at the same
direction at a time both sides at the same time.
time

The sender can be sent and The sender can send and
Send / Receive The sender only send data
receive but not at the same time receive data at the same time

Performance Worst performance Batter performance Best performance

Example Keyboard Walkie-talkie Telephone

Main Differences between the Three Transmission Modes

 In simplex mode, the data or signal is sent in one direction. In half-duplex

mode, the signal can be transmitted in both directions, but one at a time.
While In full-duplex mode, the signal is sent in both directions at the same
time.
 In simplex mode, only one device can send the signal. In half-duplex mode,
both devices able to transmit the signal, but not at the same time. In full-
duplex mode, both devices can transmit the signal at the same time.
 Full-duplex performance is much better than half-duplex and half-duplex.
 Simplex: The example of simplex mode is the keyboard sends the data to the
monitor. The monitor cannot reply to the keyboard.
 Half-duplex: The walkie-talkie is the big example of half-duplex mode, both
speakers can communicate, but they have to take turns.
 Full duplex: Using a telephone, both speakers can communicate at the same
time.

 Types of Transmission Media

Guided and wireless media-
a transmission medium is a physical path between the transmitter and
the receiver i.e. it is the channel through which data is sent from one
place to another. Transmission Media is broadly classified into the
following types:

1. Guided Media: It is also referred to as Wired or Bounded transmission

media. Signals being transmitted are directed and confined in a narrow pathway
by using physical links.
Features:
 High Speed
 Secure
 Used for comparatively shorter distances

There are 3 major types of Guided Media:

(i) Twisted Pair Cable –
It consists of 2 separately insulated conductor wires wound about each other.
Generally, several such pairs are bundled together in a protective sheath. They
are the most widely used Transmission Media. Twisted Pair is of two types:

 Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP):

UTP consists of two insulated copper wires twisted around one another. This
type of cable has the ability to block interference and does not depend on a
physical shield for this purpose. It is used for telephonic applications.

Advantages:
⇢ Least expensive
⇢ Easy to install
⇢ High-speed capacity
Disadvantages:
⇢ Susceptible to external interference
⇢ Lower capacity and performance in comparison to STP
⇢ Short distance transmission due to attenuation
Applications:
Used in telephone connections and LAN networks
 Shielded Twisted Pair (STP):
This type of cable consists of a special jacket (a copper braid covering or a
foil shield) to block external interference. It is used in fast-data-rate Ethernet
and in voice and data channels of telephone lines.

Advantages:
⇢ Better performance at a higher data rate in comparison to UTP
⇢ Eliminates crosstalk
⇢ Comparatively faster
Disadvantages:
⇢ Comparatively difficult to install and manufacture
⇢ More expensive
⇢ Bulky
Applications:
The shielded twisted pair type of cable is most frequently used in extremely cold
climates, where the additional layer of outer covering makes it perfect for
withstanding such temperatures or for shielding the interior components.
(ii) Coaxial Cable –
It has an outer plastic covering containing an insulation layer made of PVC or
Teflon and 2 parallel conductors each having a separate insulated protection
cover. The coaxial cable transmits information in two modes: Baseband
mode(dedicated cable bandwidth) and Broadband mode(cable bandwidth is
split into separate ranges). Cable TVs and analog television networks widely
use Coaxial cables.

Advantages:
 High Bandwidth
 Better noise Immunity
 Easy to install and expand
 Inexpensive
Disadvantages:
 Single cable failure can disrupt the entire network
Applications:
Radio frequency signals are sent over coaxial wire. It can be used for cable
television signal distribution, digital audio (S/PDIF), computer network
connections (like Ethernet), and feedlines that connect radio transmitters and
receivers to their antennas.
(iii) Optical Fiber Cable –
It uses the concept of refraction of light through a core made up of glass or
plastic. The core is surrounded by a less dense glass or plastic covering called
the cladding. It is used for the transmission of large volumes of data.

The cable can be unidirectional or bidirectional. The WDM (Wavelength Division

Multiplexer) supports two modes, namely unidirectional and bidirectional mode.

Advantages:
 Increased capacity and bandwidth
 Lightweight
 Less signal attenuation
 Immunity to electromagnetic interference
 Resistance to corrosive materials
Disadvantages:
 Difficult to install and maintain
 High cost
 Fragile
Applications:
Radio frequency signals are sent over coaxial wire. It can be used for cable
television signal distribution, digital audio (S/PDIF), computer network
connections (like Ethernet), and feedlines that connect radio transmitters and
receivers to their antennas.

2. Unguided Media:
It is also referred to as Wireless or Unbounded transmission media. No physical
medium is required for the transmission of electromagnetic signals.
Features:
 The signal is broadcasted through air
 Less Secure
 Used for larger distances
There are 3 types of Signals transmitted through unguided media:
(i) Radio waves –
These are easy to generate and can penetrate through buildings. The sending
and receiving antennas need not be aligned. Frequency Range:3KHz – 1GHz.
AM and FM radios and cordless phones use Radio waves for transmission.

Applications-

1. AM and FM radio
2. TV
3. Cordless phones
4. Paging
5. Walky-talky sets

Advantages of radio waves-

1. Radio waves offer mobility at cheaper cost

2. It has a very low setup cost as it does not require digging and
laying the cables.
3. Radio waves travel long distances
4. Radio waves can penetrate wall, so we can also receive signals
inside a building.
5. It offer ease of communication in difficult geographical condtions.

Dis-advantages of radio waves-

1. It is an insecure and easy to tap communication.
2. It gets effected by weather effected by rain thunders stroms
etc.

(ii) Microwaves –
It is a line of sight transmission i.e. the sending and receiving antennas need to
be properly aligned with each other. The distance covered by the signal is
directly proportional to the height of the antenna. Frequency Range:1GHz –
300GHz. These are majorly used for mobile phone communication and
television distribution.

Microwaves systems use very high frequency radio or television signals to

transmit data through space. here at microwaves frequencies the
electromagnetic waves cannot bend or pass through obstacles like hills etc.

Characteristics of microwaves-

1. microwaves propagation is line of sight.

2. Very high–frequency microwaves cannot penetrate walls.
3. The microwave band is relatively wide almost 299GHz. Therefore
wider sub-bands can be assigned and a high data rate is possible.
4. Use of certain portions of the band requires permission from
authorities.

Applications of microwaves-
1. Cellular phones.
2. Satellite phones.
3. Wireless LAN.
4. One –to-one communication.

Advantages-

1. High data transmission rate.

2. High capacity to carry large quantities of data.
3. Lower error rate thus making it more reliable as compared to wire-cable.
4. Wireless media. Therefore less maintenance as compared to cable.
5. Microwaves offer communication over very long distances.
6. They have better performance in bad weather conditions than radio waves.

Dis-advantages-

1. Very costly
2. Electromagnetic waves cannot bend or pass through obstacles like
mountains etc.
 3. Require repeaters for long distance transmission.
4. It also an insecure and easy to tap communication
5.
5. This communication offers limited bandwidth.

(iii) Infrared –
Infrared waves are used for very short distance communication. They cannot
penetrate through obstacles. This prevents interference between systems.
Frequency Range:300GHz – 400THz. It is used in TV remotes, wireless mouse,
keyboard, printer, etc.

Applications-

1. Infrared signals can be used for short–range communication.

2. Wireless alternative to connecting devices such as laptop to
a printer.
3. In remote control devices for TV, AC, DVD etc.
4. Infrared band can be used in development of very high speed
wireless LANs future.

Advantages-

1. High speed
2. Large bandwidth
3. Very cheap
4. Easy to generate
5. Provide wireless connection between two devices
6. No license is required to use.

Dis-advantages-

1. Cannot penetrate walls.

2. We cannot use infrared waves outside a
building.
3. Cannot used for long-range communication.
Switching-
In its simplest form ,data communication takes place between two devices, which are directly
connected by some form of transmission medium –twisted wires, co-axial cables, microwaves
and satellite links.communication is achieved by transmitting data from source to destination
through a network of intermediate switching nodes.

The switching nodes are not concerned with the content of the data;rather.their purpose is to
provide a switching facility that will move the data from node to node until they reach the
destination. switches are hardware and/or software devices.

Data entering the network from a station are routed to the destination by being switched from
node to node.there are three techniques which are used in a wide-area switching networks-

1. Circuit switching
2. Message switching.
3. Packet switching.

Circuit switching- in circuit switching there is a dedicated communication path between

the sending and receiving devices. The dedicated path is a connected sequence of links
between switching nodes. A conventional telephone network, where a dedicated path is
between the caller and the called party for the duration of a telephone call is an example
of circuit switching.

Communication via circuit switching takes place over three phases of operation an
follows-

1. Circuit establishment.
2. Data transfer.
3. Circuit disconnect

CIRCUIT ESTABLISHMENT-

In a circuit switching network, before any signal is transmitted , it is necessary to establish an

end-to-end link.

For example-if the communication is to be between A and D, then the path form A and D to
node 4 to node 5 to node 3 and D has to be establishment first.

DATA TRANSFER-

Once a circuit is established between the two stations, it is exclusively used by the two
parties. the information can now be transferred from A to D through the network.the data can
be analog or digital depending on the nature of network.
CIRCUIT DISCONNECT –

After the transfer of complete data, connection is terminated either by the sender or the
receiver.

ADVANTAGE-

1. Once the circuit is established, data is transmitted with no delay.

2. Since a dedicated continuous transmitted path is establishment , the method is
suitable for long continuous transmission.
3. The method is simple and requires no special facilities.

DIS-ADVANTAGES-

1. Time required to establish a physical link between the two stations is very large.
2. The network resources are not property utilized because the physical link is a
dedicated one.
3. Uneconomical method.

Message switching-

In message switching, sending device appends the destination address to the message
and passes it to the network; the message is then passed through the network from one
node to another till it reaches the intended destination. each switching node receives a
message , stores it briefly and then transmit it to the next node.

Examlple of a message are electronic mail, computer files, telegram and transaction
queries and responses. A complete exchange may consist of several messages.

ADVANTAGE-

1. No physical connection is required between the source and the destination node.
2. This mode uses the communication channels very effectively because channels are
used only when messages are transmitted.

DIS-ADVANTAGES-

1. As the message length is unlimited ,each node must have sufficient storage to
store messages.
2. The method is very slow for interactive real time application.
3. Processing and contro; procedures are complex.
4. A message is delayed at each node.

PACKET SWITCHING-

Packet switching combines the advantages of message and circuit switching.

Long messages are broken into smaller units called packets.

There are two approaches to packet switching-

Datagram approach-

Nodes takes routing decision to forward the packets.

Congestion cannot occur as all the packets travel in different decisions.

It is more flexible as all the packets travel are treated as an independent entity.

Virtual circuit approach-

Node does not take any routing decision.

Congestion can occur when the node is busy, and it does not allow other packets to pass
through

It is not very flexible.

ADVANTAGES-

More efficient than circuit switching.

1. Data packets are able to find the destination without the use of a dedicated channel.

2. Reduces lost data packets because packet switching allows for resending of packets.

3. More cost-effective since there is no need for a dedicated channel for voice or data traffic.

Disadvantages of packet switching:

1.Not ideal for applications that are in constant use, such as high volume
voice calls

2. High-volume networks can lose data packets during high-traffic times;

those data packets cannot be recovered or resent during transmission

3.There is a lack of security protocols for data packets during transmission

MULTIPLEXING-
Multiplexing is a technique of transmitting signals from several sources over a single
communication channel for maximum utilisation and to save the cost of channels. The
electronic device that performs this task is called a multiplexer.

Example - Multiplexer that takes 3 input lines and diverts them to single output line.

The data of 3 computers joined by these links is combined and then transmitted on the single
channel to high bandwidth at sender end. At receiver end , a demultiplexer divides the data
stream into 3 subchannels and passing data to 3 receivers.

Advantages:
o Time division multiplexing systems are more flexible than frequency division multiplexing.
o Time division multiplexing circuitry is not complex.
o Problem of cross talk is not severe.
o Full available channel bandwidth can be utilized for each channel.
Disadvantage:
o Synchronization is required in time division multiplexing.
o Complex to implement.
o Due to slow narrowband fading, all the TDM channels may get wiped out.

TYPES OF MULTIPLEXING-

1. FREQUENCY DIVISION MULTIPLEXING.

2. TIME DIVISION MULTIPLEXING.

FREQUENCY DIVISION MULTIPLEXING-

Frequency division multiplexing is defined as a type of multiplexing where the

bandwidth of a single physical medium is divided into a number of smaller,
independent frequency channels.
2. Time Division Multiplexing :
Time-division multiplexing is defined as a type of multiplexing wherein FDM,
instead of sharing a portion of the bandwidth in the form of channels, in TDM,
time is shared. Each connection occupies a portion of time in the link.
In Time Division Multiplexing, all signals operate with the same frequency
(bandwidth) at different times.

There are two types of Time Division Multiplexing :

1. Synchronous Time Division Multiplexing
2. Statistical (or Asynchronous) Time Division Multiplexing

Synchronous TDM :
 Synchronous TDM is a type of Time Division Multiplexing where the input
frame already has a slot in the output frame. Time slots are grouped into
frames. One frame consists of one cycle of time slots.

Synchronous TDM is not efficient because if the input frame has no data
to send, a slot remains empty in the output frame.
In synchronous TDM, we need to mention the synchronous bit at the
beginning of each frame.

ASYNCHRONOUS TDM :
Statistical TDM is a type of Time Division Multiplexing where the output frame
collects data from the input frame till it is full, not leaving an empty slot like in
Synchronous TDM.
In statistical TDM, we need to include the address of each particular data in the
slot that is being sent to the output frame.
Asynchronous TDM is a more efficient type of time-division multiplexing as the
channel capacity is fully utilized and improves the bandwidth efficiency.