UNIVERSITY OF CALOOCAN CITY

Computer Studies Department

SY: 2020-2021

IT Infrastructure and Network Technologies - MODULE

COMPETENCIES FOCUS FOR LEARNING

Students are expected to:
• Have basic knowledge of Data Communication.
• Determine the characteristics and components of data communication.
• Understand the important function of transmission modes and line configurations.

Introduction
• This lesson provides a main objective of data communication and networking is to enable
seamless exchange of data between any two points in the world.
• This exchange of data takes place over a computer network.

Data and Information

• Data refers to the raw facts that are collected while information refers to processed data that
enables us to take decisions.
o Example. When result of a particular test is declared it contains data of all students, when
you find the marks you have scored you have the information that lets you know whether
you have passed or failed.
• The word data refers to any information which is presented in a form that is agreed and accepted
upon by is creators and users.

What is Data Communication?

• The exchange of data between two devices through a transmission medium is called Data Communication.
The data is exchanged in the form of 0's and 1's.
• This process involves a communication system which is made up of hardware and software. The hardware
part involves the sender and receiver devices and the intermediate devices through which the data passes.
The software part involves certain rules which specify what is to be communicated, how it is to be
communicated and when. It is also called as a Protocol.
• For data communication to occur, the communication device must be a part of a communication system.
Data Communication has two types which are:
o Local communication takes place when the communicating devices are in the same geographical
area, same building, or face-to-face etc.
o Remote communication takes place over a distance i.e., the devices are farther.
▪ The effectiveness of a data communication can be measured through the following
features:
• Delivery: The data should be delivered to the correct destination and correct
user.
• Accuracy: The communication system should deliver the data accurately,
without introducing any errors. The data may get corrupted during transmission
affecting the accuracy of the delivered data.
• Timeliness: Delivery should be on time.
• The following sections describes the important for the effective working of data communication process and
is followed by the components that make up a data communications system.

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 UNIVERSITY OF CALOOCAN CITY
Computer Studies Department
SY: 2020-2021

Components of Data Communication

• Message: It is the data or information which needs to be transferred from one device to another device over
a computer network. Popular forms of information include text, numbers, pictures, audio, and video.
• Sender: Sender is the device that has the data and needs to send the data to other device connected to the
network. It can be a computer, workstation, telephone handset, video camera, and so on.
• Receiver: A receiver is the device which is expecting the data from other device on the network. It can be a
computer, workstation, telephone handset, television, and so on.
• Transmission media: In order to transfer data from one device to another device we need a transmission
media such as wires, cables, radio waves etc.
o It is the medium through which the message is sent. For example: A Modem.
• Protocol: A protocol is a set of rules that are agreed by both sender and receiver, without a protocol two
devices can be connected to each other but they cannot communicate. In order to establish a reliable
communication or data sharing between two different devices we need set of rules that are called protocol.
o For example, http and https are the two protocols used by web browsers to get and post the data to
internet

Data Transmission Modes of Computer Networks

• The way in which data is transmitted from one device to another device is known as transmission mode.
• The transmission mode is also known as the communication mode.
• Each communication channel has a direction associated with it, and transmission media provide the
direction. Therefore, the transmission mode is also known as a directional mode.
• The transmission mode is defined in the physical layer.

The data transmission mode is divided into three categories:

Simplex mode

• A device can only send the data but cannot receive it or it can receive the data but cannot send the data.
• This transmission mode is not very popular as mainly communications require the two-way exchange of
data. The simplex mode is used in the business field as in sales that do not require any corresponding reply.
• The main advantage of the simplex mode is that the full capacity of the communication channel can be
utilized during transmission.

Advantage of Simplex mode:

• In simplex mode, the station can utilize the entire bandwidth of the communication channel, so that more
data can be transmitted at a time.

Disadvantage of Simplex mode:

• Communication is unidirectional, so it has no inter-communication between devices.

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 UNIVERSITY OF CALOOCAN CITY
Computer Studies Department
SY: 2020-2021

Half Duplex mode

• Messages flow in both the directions, but not at the same time.
• The entire bandwidth of the communication channel is utilized in one direction at a time. Example of half
duplex is a walkie- talkie in which message is sent one at a time but messages are sent in both the
directions.

Advantage of Half-duplex mode:

• In half-duplex mode, both the devices can send and receive the data and also can utilize the entire
bandwidth of the communication channel during the transmission of data.

Disadvantage of Half-Duplex mode:

• In half-duplex mode, when one device is sending the data, then another has to wait, this causes the delay in
sending the data at the right time.

Full duplex mode

• Both the stations can send and receive the message simultaneously.
• The Full-duplex mode is the fastest mode of communication between devices.
• The most common example of the full-duplex mode is a telephone network. When two people are
communicating with each other by a telephone line, both can talk and listen at the same time.

Advantage of Full-duplex mode:

• Both the stations can send and receive the data at the same time.

Disadvantage of Full-duplex mode:

• If there is no dedicated path exists between the devices, then the capacity of the communication channel is
divided into two parts.

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 UNIVERSITY OF CALOOCAN CITY
Computer Studies Department
SY: 2020-2021

Differences between Simplex, Half-duplex and Full-duplex mode

Basis for Simplex mode Half-duplex mode Full-duplex mode
comparison

Direction of In simplex mode, the In half-duplex mode, the In full-duplex mode, the
communication communication is communication is communication is
unidirectional. bidirectional, but one at a bidirectional.
time.

Send/Receive A device can only Both the devices can send Both the devices can
send the data but and receive the data, but send and receive the
cannot receive it or it one at a time. data simultaneously.
can only receive the
data but cannot send
it.

Performance The performance of The performance of full- The Full-duplex mode

half-duplex mode is duplex mode is better than has better performance
better than the the half-duplex mode. among simplex and half-
simplex mode. duplex mode as it
doubles the utilization of
the capacity of the
communication channel.

Example Examples of Example of half-duplex is Example of the Full-

Simplex mode are Walkie-Talkies. duplex mode is a
radio, keyboard, and telephone network.
monitor.

Line Configuration in Computer Network

A network is two or more devices connected through links. A link is a communications pathway that transfers data
from one device to another. There are two possible types of connections: point-to-point and multipoint.

Point-to-Point
• A point-to-point connection provides a dedicated link between two devices. The entire capacity of the link is
reserved for transmission between those two devices. Most point-to-point connections use an actual length
of wire or cable to connect the two ends, but other options, such as microwave or satellite links, are also
possible. Example: Point-to-Point connection between remote control and Television for changing the
channels.

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 UNIVERSITY OF CALOOCAN CITY
Computer Studies Department
SY: 2020-2021

Multipoint
• A multipoint (also called multidrop) connection is one in which more than two specific devices share a single
link. There are two kinds of Multipoint Connections:
• If the links are used simultaneously between many devices, then it is spatially shared line configuration.
• If user takes turns while using the link, then it is time shared (temporal) line configuration.

ASSESSMENT/ ACTIVITIES

Test your knowledge to check if you understand the topic. The assessment will be on Google
Form/Classroom. There also a time limit to answer the assessment and you may read the following
questions carefully.

- Good Luck and God Bless

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