CSC 417:

DATA COMMUNICATION
LECTURE FIVE:
TOPIC: TRANSMISSION MODES
 INTRODUCTION
• The transmission of binary data across a link can
be accomplished in either parallel or serial mode.
• In parallel mode, multiple bits are sent with each
clock tick.
• In serial mode, 1 bit is sent with each clock tick.
While there is only one way to send parallel data,
there are three subclasses of serial transmission:
asynchronous, synchronous, and isochronous
(see Figure 4.31).
 Parallel Transmission
• Binary data, consisting of Is and Os, may be organized into groups of n bits each.
• Computers produce and consume data in groups of bits much as we conceive of
and use spoken language in the form of words rather than letters.
• By grouping, we can send data n bits at a time instead of 1. This is called parallel
transmission.
• The mechanism for parallel transmission is a conceptually simple one: Use n
wires to send n bits at one time. That way each bit has its own wire, and all n bits
of one group can be transmitted with each clock tick from one device to another.
• Figure 4.32 shows how parallel transmission works for n =8. Typically, the eight
wires are bundled in a cable with a connector at each end.
• The advantage of parallel transmission is speed. All else being equal, parallel
transmission can increase the transfer speed by a factor of n over serial
transmission.
• But there is a significant disadvantage: cost.
Parallel transmission requires n communication
lines (wires in the example) just to transmit the
data stream. Because this is expensive, parallel
transmission is usually limited to short distances
 Serial Transmission
• In serial transmission one bit follows another,
so we need only one communication channel
rather than n to transmit data between two
communicating devices (see Figure 4.33)
• The advantage of serial over parallel transmission is
that with only one communication channel, serial
transmission reduces the cost of transmission over
parallel by roughly a factor of n.
• Since communication within devices is parallel,
conversion devices are required at the interface
between the sender and the line (parallel-to-serial)
and between the line and the receiver (serial-to-
parallel). Serial transmission occurs in one of three
ways: asynchronous, synchronous, and isochronous.
 Asynchronous Transmission
• Asynchronous transmission is so named because the timing of a signal is
unimportant.
• Instead, information is received and translated by agreed upon patterns.
• As long as those patterns are followed, the receiving device can retrieve
the information without regard to the rhythm in which it is sent.
• Patterns are based on grouping the bit stream into bytes. Each group,
usually 8 bits, is sent along the link as a unit.
• The sending system handles each group independently, relaying it to the
link whenever ready, without regard to a timer. Without
synchronization, the receiver cannot use timing to predict when the
next group will arrive. To alert the receiver to the arrival of a new group,
therefore, an extra bit is added to the beginning of each byte.
• This bit, usually a 0, is called the start bit. To let the
receiver know that the byte is finished, 1 or more
additional bits are appended to the end of the byte.
These bits, usually Is, are called stop bits. By this
method, each byte is increased in size to at least 10
bits, of which 8 bits is information and 2 bits or more
are signals to the receiver. In addition, the
transmission of each byte may then be followed by a
gap of varying duration. This gap can be represented
either by an idle channel or by a stream of additional
stop bits
• The start and stop bits and the gap alert the receiver to the
beginning and end of each byte and allow it to synchronize
with the data stream. This mechanism is called asynchronous
because, at the byte level, the sender and receiver do not
have to be synchronized. But within each byte, the receiver
must still be synchronized with the incoming bit stream.
• That is, some synchronization is required, but only for the
duration of a single byte. The receiving device resynchronizes
at the onset of each new byte. When the receiver detects a
start bit, it sets a timer and begins counting bits as they come
in.
• After n bits, the receiver looks for a stop bit. As soon as it
detects the stop bit, it waits until it detects the next start bit
• Figure 4.34 is a schematic illustration of asynchronous transmission.
In this example, the start bits are as, the stop bits are 1s, and the gap
is represented by an idle line rather than by additional stop bits. The
addition of stop and start bits and the insertion of gaps into the bit
stream make asynchronous transmission slower than forms of
transmission that can operate without the addition of control
information.
• But it is cheap and effective, two advantages that make it an
attractive choice for situations such as low-speed communication.
For example, the connection of a keyboard to a computer is a natural
application for asynchronous transmission. A user types only one
character at a time, types extremely slowly in data processing terms,
and leaves unpredictable gaps of time between each character
 Synchronous Transmission
• In synchronous transmission, the bit stream is combined
into longer "frames," which may contain multiple bytes.
• Each byte, however, is introduced onto the transmission
link without a gap between it and the next one.
• It is left to the receiver to separate the bit stream into
bytes for decoding purposes.
• In other words, data are transmitted as an unbroken
string of 1s and Os, and the receiver separates that
string into the bytes, or characters, it needs to
reconstruct the information.
• Figure 4.35 gives a schematic illustration of
synchronous transmission. We have drawn in the
divisions between bytes.
• In reality, those divisions do not exist; the sender
puts its data onto the line as one long string.
• If the sender wishes to send data in separate bursts,
the gaps between bursts must be filled with a
special sequence of Os and Is that means idle. The
receiver counts the bits as they arrive and groups
them in 8-bit units
• Without gaps and start and stop bits, there is no built-in mechanism to
help the receiving device adjust its bit synchronization midstream.
Timing becomes very important, therefore, because the accuracy of the
received information is completely dependent on the ability of the
receiving device to keep an accurate count of the bits as they come in.
• The advantage of synchronous transmission is speed. With no extra bits
or gaps to introduce at the sending end and remove at the receiving
end, and, by extension, with fewer bits to move across the link,
synchronous transmission is faster than asynchronous transmission.
• For this reason, it is more useful for high-speed applications such as the
transmission of data from one computer to another. Byte
synchronization is accomplished in the data link layer. We need to
emphasize one point here. Although there is no gap between characters
in synchronous serial transmission, there may be uneven gaps between
frames
 Isochronous
• In real-time audio and video, in which uneven delays
between frames are not acceptable, synchronous
transmission fails. For example, TV images are broadcast
at the rate of 30 images per second; they must be viewed
at the same rate.
• If each image is sent by using one or more frames, there
should be no delays between frames. For this type of
application, synchronization between characters is not
enough; the entire stream of bits must be synchronized.
• The isochronous transmission guarantees that the data
arrive at a fixed rate
Thank you