Data Communication – Definition,

Components, Types, Channels

Human beings are the only creatures on the earth who are able to communicate with
each other through the medium of language. But humans take this gift to another
extent. Distance, time, and physical existence of the person don’t matter in
communication these days because they build a communication system through which
they can communicate or share data like images, videos, text, files, etc with their
loved ones anytime anywhere. Communication is defined as a process in which more
than one computer transfers information, instructions to each other and for sharing
resources. Or in other words, communication is a process or act in which we can send
or receive data. A network of computers is defined as an interconnected collection of
autonomous computers. Autonomous means no computer can start, stop or control
another computer.

Components of Data Communication

A communication system is made up of the following components:

1. Message: A message is a piece of information that is to be transmitted from
one person to another. It could be a text file, an audio file, a video file, etc.
2. Sender: It is simply a device that sends data messages. It can be a
computer, mobile, telephone, laptop, video camera, or workstation, etc.
3. Receiver: It is a device that receives messages. It can be a computer,
telephone mobile, workstation, etc.
4. Transmission Medium / Communication Channels: Communication
channels are the medium that connect two or more workstations.
Workstations can be connected by either wired media or wireless media.
5. Set of rules (Protocol): When someone sends the data (The sender), it
should be understandable to the receiver also otherwise it is meaningless.
For example, Sonali sends a message to Chetan. If Sonali writes in Hindi
and Chetan cannot understand Hindi, it is a meaningless conversation.
Therefore, there are some set of rules (protocols) that is followed by every computer
connected to the internet and they are:
 TCP(Transmission Control Protocol): It is responsible for dividing
messages into packets on the source computer and reassembling the
received packet at the destination or recipient computer. It also makes sure
that the packets have the information about the source of the message data,
the destination of the message data, the sequence in which the message data
should be re-assembled, and checks if the message has been sent correctly
to the specific destination.
 IP(Internet Protocol): Do You ever wonder how does computer determine
which packet belongs to which device. What happens if the message you
sent to your friend is received by your father? Scary Right. Well! IP is
responsible for handling the address of the destination computer so that
each packet is sent to its proper destination.

Type of data communication

As we know that data communication is communication in which we can send or

receive data from one device to another. The data communication is divided into three
types:
1. Simplex Communication: It is one-way communication or we can say that
unidirectional communication in which one device only receives and
another device only sends data and devices uses their entire capacity in
transmission. For example, IoT, entering data using a keyboard, listing
music using a speaker, etc.
2. Half Duplex communication: It is a two-way communication or we can
say that it is a bidirectional communication in which both the devices can
send and receive data but not at the same time. When one device is sending
data then another device is only receiving and vice-versa. For example,
walkie-talkie.
3. Full-duplex communication: It is a two-way communication or we can say
that it is a bidirectional communication in which both the devices can send
and receive data at the same time. For example, mobile phones, landlines,
etc.

Communication Channels

Communication channels are the medium that connects two or more workstations.
Workstations can be connected by either wired media or wireless media. It is also
known as a transmission medium. The transmission medium or channel is a link that
carries messages between two or more devices. We can group the communication
media into two categories:
 Guided media transmission
 Unguided media transmission
1. Guided Media: In this transmission medium, the physical link is created using
wires or cables between two or more computers or devices, and then the data is
transmitted using these cables in terms of signals. Guided media transmission of the
following types:
1. Twisted pair cable: It is the most common form of wire used in communication. In
a twisted-pair cable, two identical wires are wrapped together in a double helix. The
twisting of the wire reduces the crosstalk. It is known as the leaking of a signal from
one wire to another due to which signal can corrupt and can cause network errors. The
twisting protects the wire from internal crosstalk as well as external forms of signal
interference. Types of Twisted Pair Cable :
 Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP): It is used in computers and telephones
widely. As the name suggests, there is no external shielding so it does not
protects from external interference. It is cheaper than STP.
 Shielded Twisted Pair (STP): It offers greater protection from crosstalk
due to shield. Due to shielding, it protects from external interference. It is
heavier and costlier as compare to UTP.
2. Coaxial Cable: It consists of a solid wire core that is surrounded by one or more
foil or wire shields. The inner core of the coaxial cable carries the signal and the outer
shield provides the ground. It is widely used for television signals and also used by
large corporations in building security systems. Data transmission of this cable is
better but expensive as compared to twisted pair.
3. Optical fibers: Optical fiber is an important technology. It transmits large amounts
of data at very high speeds due to which it is widely used in internet cables. It carries
data as a light that travels inside a thin glass fiber. The fiber optic cable is made up of
three pieces:
1. Core: Core is the piece through which light travels. It is generally created
using glass or plastic.
2. Cladding: It is the covering of the core and reflects the light back to the
core.
3. Sheath: It is the protective covering that protects fiber cable from the
environment.
2. Unguided Media: The unguided transmission media is a transmission mode in
which the signals are propagated from one device to another device wirelessly.
Signals can wave through the air, water, or vacuum. It is generally used to transmit
signals in all directions. Unguided Media is further divided into various parts :
1. Microwave: Microwave offers communication without the use of cables.
Microwave signals are just like radio and television signals. It is used in long-distance
communication. Microwave transmission consists of a transmitter, receiver, and
atmosphere. In microwave communication, there are parabolic antennas that are
mounted on the towers to send a beam to another antenna. The higher the tower, the
greater the range.
2. Radio wave: When communication is carried out by radio frequencies, then it is
termed radio waves transmission. It offers mobility. It is consists of the transmitter
and the receiver. Both use antennas to radiate and capture the radio signal.
3. Infrared: It is short-distance communication and can pass through any object. It is
generally used in TV remotes, wireless mouse, etc.
Transmission modes
o The way in which data is transmitted from one device to another device is
known as transmission mode.
o The transmission mode is also known as the communication mode.
o 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.
o The transmission mode is defined in the physical layer.

The Transmission mode is divided into three categories:

o Simplex mode
o Half-duplex mode
o Full-duplex mode

Simplex mode

o In Simplex mode, the communication is unidirectional, i.e., the data flow in

one direction.
o A device can only send the data but cannot receive it or it can receive the data
but cannot send the data.
 o 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.
o The radio station is a simplex channel as it transmits the signal to the listeners
but never allows them to transmit back.
o Keyboard and Monitor are the examples of the simplex mode as a keyboard
can only accept the data from the user and monitor can only be used to
display the data on the screen.
o 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:

o 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:

o Communication is unidirectional, so it has no inter-communication between

devices.

Half-Duplex mode

o In a Half-duplex channel, direction can be reversed, i.e., the station can

transmit and receive the data as well.
o Messages flow in both the directions, but not at the same time.
o The entire bandwidth of the communication channel is utilized in one
direction at a time.
 o In half-duplex mode, it is possible to perform the error detection, and if any
error occurs, then the receiver requests the sender to retransmit the data.
o A Walkie-talkie is an example of the Half-duplex mode. In Walkie-talkie, one
party speaks, and another party listens. After a pause, the other speaks and
first party listens. Speaking simultaneously will create the distorted sound
which cannot be understood.

Advantage of Half-duplex mode:

o 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:

o 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

o In Full duplex mode, the communication is bi-directional, i.e., the data flow in
both the directions.
o Both the stations can send and receive the message simultaneously.
o Full-duplex mode has two simplex channels. One channel has traffic moving in
one direction, and another channel has traffic flowing in the opposite
direction.
o The Full-duplex mode is the fastest mode of communication between devices.
o 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:

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

Disadvantage of Full-duplex mode:

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

Differences b/w 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, In full-duplex

communication communication is the communication is communication is bid
unidirectional. bidirectional, but one at
a time.

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

Performance The performance of half- The performance of full- The Full-duplex mo

duplex mode is better than duplex mode is better performance among
the simplex mode. than the half-duplex half-duplex mode as
mode. utilization of the c
communication chan

Example Examples of Simplex mode Example of half-duplex Example of the Full-d

are radio, keyboard, and is Walkie-Talkies. telephone network.
monitor.

What is Transmission media?

o Transmission media is a communication channel that carries the information from the
sender to the receiver. Data is transmitted through the electromagnetic signals.
 o The main functionality of the transmission media is to carry the information in the
form of bits through LAN(Local Area Network).
o It is a physical path between transmitter and receiver in data communication.
o In a copper-based network, the bits in the form of electrical signals.
o In a fibre based network, the bits in the form of light pulses.
o In OSI(Open System Interconnection) phase, transmission media supports the Layer
1. Therefore, it is considered to be as a Layer 1 component.
o The electrical signals can be sent through the copper wire, fibre optics, atmosphere,
water, and vacuum.
o The characteristics and quality of data transmission are determined by the
characteristics of medium and signal.
o Transmission media is of two types are wired media and wireless media. In wired
media, medium characteristics are more important whereas, in wireless media, signal
characteristics are more important.
o Different transmission media have different properties such as bandwidth, delay, cost
and ease of installation and maintenance.
o The transmission media is available in the lowest layer of the OSI reference model,
i.e., Physical layer.

Some factors need to be considered for designing the

transmission media:

o Bandwidth: All the factors are remaining constant, the greater the bandwidth of a
medium, the higher the data transmission rate of a signal.
o Transmission impairment: When the received signal is not identical to the
transmitted one due to the transmission impairment. The quality of the signals will
get destroyed due to transmission impairment.
o Interference: An interference is defined as the process of disrupting a signal when it
travels over a communication medium on the addition of some unwanted signal.

Causes Of Transmission Impairment:

 o Attenuation: Attenuation means the loss of energy, i.e., the strength of the signal
decreases with increasing the distance which causes the loss of energy.
o Distortion: Distortion occurs when there is a change in the shape of the signal. This
type of distortion is examined from different signals having different frequencies.
Each frequency component has its own propagation speed, so they reach at a
different time which leads to the delay distortion.
o Noise: When data is travelled over a transmission medium, some unwanted signal is
added to it which creates the noise.

Classification Of Transmission Media:

Guided Media
It is defined as the physical medium through which the signals are transmitted. It is
also known as Bounded media.

Types Of Guided media:

Twisted pair:
Twisted pair is a physical media made up of a pair of cables twisted with each other.
A twisted pair cable is cheap as compared to other transmission media. Installation of
the twisted pair cable is easy, and it is a lightweight cable. The frequency range for
twisted pair cable is from 0 to 3.5KHz.

A twisted pair consists of two insulated copper wires arranged in a regular spiral
pattern.

The degree of reduction in noise interference is determined by the number of turns

per foot. Increasing the number of turns per foot decreases noise interference.

Types of Twisted pair:

Unshielded Twisted Pair:

An unshielded twisted pair is widely used in telecommunication. Following are the
categories of the unshielded twisted pair cable:

o Category 1: Category 1 is used for telephone lines that have low-speed data.
o Category 2: It can support upto 4Mbps.
o Category 3: It can support upto 16Mbps.
o Category 4: It can support upto 20Mbps. Therefore, it can be used for long-distance
communication.
o Category 5: It can support upto 200Mbps.
Advantages Of Unshielded Twisted Pair:

o It is cheap.
o Installation of the unshielded twisted pair is easy.
o It can be used for high-speed LAN.

Disadvantage:

o This cable can only be used for shorter distances because of attenuation.

Shielded Twisted Pair

A shielded twisted pair is a cable that contains the mesh surrounding the wire that
allows the higher transmission rate.

Characteristics Of Shielded Twisted Pair:

o The cost of the shielded twisted pair cable is not very high and not very low.
o An installation of STP is easy.
o It has higher capacity as compared to unshielded twisted pair cable.
o It has a higher attenuation.
o It is shielded that provides the higher data transmission rate.

Disadvantages

o It is more expensive as compared to UTP and coaxial cable.

o It has a higher attenuation rate.

Coaxial Cable
o Coaxial cable is very commonly used transmission media, for example, TV wire is
usually a coaxial cable.
o The name of the cable is coaxial as it contains two conductors parallel to each other.
o It has a higher frequency as compared to Twisted pair cable.
o The inner conductor of the coaxial cable is made up of copper, and the outer
conductor is made up of copper mesh. The middle core is made up of non-
conductive cover that separates the inner conductor from the outer conductor.
o The middle core is responsible for the data transferring whereas the copper mesh
prevents from the EMI (Electromagnetic interference).
Coaxial cable is of two types:

1. Baseband transmission: It is defined as the process of transmitting a single signal at

high speed.
2. Broadband transmission: It is defined as the process of transmitting multiple signals
simultaneously.

Advantages Of Coaxial cable:

o The data can be transmitted at high speed.

o It has better shielding as compared to twisted pair cable.
o It provides higher bandwidth.

Disadvantages Of Coaxial cable:

o It is more expensive as compared to twisted pair cable.

o If any fault occurs in the cable causes the failure in the entire network.

Fibre Optic
o Fibre optic cable is a cable that uses electrical signals for communication.
o Fibre optic is a cable that holds the optical fibres coated in plastic that are used to
send the data by pulses of light.
o The plastic coating protects the optical fibres from heat, cold, electromagnetic
interference from other types of wiring.
o Fibre optics provide faster data transmission than copper wires.

Diagrammatic representation of fibre optic cable:

Basic elements of Fibre optic cable:

o Core: The optical fibre consists of a narrow strand of glass or plastic known as a core.
A core is a light transmission area of the fibre. The more the area of the core, the
more light will be transmitted into the fibre.
o Cladding: The concentric layer of glass is known as cladding. The main functionality
of the cladding is to provide the lower refractive index at the core interface as to
cause the reflection within the core so that the light waves are transmitted through
the fibre.
o Jacket: The protective coating consisting of plastic is known as a jacket. The main
purpose of a jacket is to preserve the fibre strength, absorb shock and extra fibre
protection.

Following are the advantages of fibre optic cable over copper:

o Greater Bandwidth: The fibre optic cable provides more bandwidth as compared
copper. Therefore, the fibre optic carries more data as compared to copper cable.
o Faster speed: Fibre optic cable carries the data in the form of light. This allows the
fibre optic cable to carry the signals at a higher speed.
o Longer distances: The fibre optic cable carries the data at a longer distance as
compared to copper cable.
o Better reliability: The fibre optic cable is more reliable than the copper cable as it is
immune to any temperature changes while it can cause obstruct in the connectivity of
copper cable.
o Thinner and Sturdier: Fibre optic cable is thinner and lighter in weight so it can
withstand more pull pressure than copper cable.

UnGuided Transmission
 o An unguided transmission transmits the electromagnetic waves without using any
physical medium. Therefore it is also known as wireless transmission.
o In unguided media, air is the media through which the electromagnetic energy can
flow easily.

Unguided transmission is broadly classified into three categories:

Radio waves
o Radio waves are the electromagnetic waves that are transmitted in all the directions
of free space.
o Radio waves are omnidirectional, i.e., the signals are propagated in all the directions.
o The range in frequencies of radio waves is from 3Khz to 1 khz.
o In the case of radio waves, the sending and receiving antenna are not aligned, i.e., the
wave sent by the sending antenna can be received by any receiving antenna.
o An example of the radio wave is FM radio.

Applications Of Radio waves:

o A Radio wave is useful for multicasting when there is one sender and many receivers.
o An FM radio, television, cordless phones are examples of a radio wave.

Advantages Of Radio transmission:

o Radio transmission is mainly used for wide area networks and mobile cellular phones.
o Radio waves cover a large area, and they can penetrate the walls.
o Radio transmission provides a higher transmission rate.
Microwaves

Microwaves are of two types:

 Terrestrial microwave

 Satellite microwave communication.

Terrestrial Microwave Transmission

o Terrestrial Microwave transmission is a technology that transmits the focused beam

of a radio signal from one ground-based microwave transmission antenna to another.
o Microwaves are the electromagnetic waves having the frequency in the range from
1GHz to 1000 GHz.
o Microwaves are unidirectional as the sending and receiving antenna is to be aligned,
i.e., the waves sent by the sending antenna are narrowly focussed.
o In this case, antennas are mounted on the towers to send a beam to another antenna
which is km away.
o It works on the line of sight transmission, i.e., the antennas mounted on the towers
are the direct sight of each other.

Characteristics of Microwave:

o Frequency range: The frequency range of terrestrial microwave is from 4-6 GHz to
21-23 GHz.
o Bandwidth: It supports the bandwidth from 1 to 10 Mbps.
o Short distance: It is inexpensive for short distance.
o Long distance: It is expensive as it requires a higher tower for a longer distance.
 o Attenuation: Attenuation means loss of signal. It is affected by environmental
conditions and antenna size.

Advantages Of Microwave:

o Microwave transmission is cheaper than using cables.

o It is free from land acquisition as it does not require any land for the installation of
cables.
o Microwave transmission provides an easy communication in terrains as the
installation of cable in terrain is quite a difficult task.
o Communication over oceans can be achieved by using microwave transmission.

Disadvantages of Microwave transmission:

o Eavesdropping: An eavesdropping creates insecure communication. Any malicious

user can catch the signal in the air by using its own antenna.
o Out of phase signal: A signal can be moved out of phase by using microwave
transmission.
o Susceptible to weather condition: A microwave transmission is susceptible to
weather condition. This means that any environmental change such as rain, wind can
distort the signal.
o Bandwidth limited: Allocation of bandwidth is limited in the case of microwave
transmission.

Satellite Microwave Communication

o A satellite is a physical object that revolves around the earth at a known height.
o Satellite communication is more reliable nowadays as it offers more flexibility than
cable and fibre optic systems.
o We can communicate with any point on the globe by using satellite communication.

How Does Satellite work?

The satellite accepts the signal that is transmitted from the earth station, and it
amplifies the signal. The amplified signal is retransmitted to another earth station.

Advantages Of Satellite Microwave Communication:

o The coverage area of a satellite microwave is more than the terrestrial microwave.
 o The transmission cost of the satellite is independent of the distance from the centre
of the coverage area.
o Satellite communication is used in mobile and wireless communication applications.
o It is easy to install.
o It is used in a wide variety of applications such as weather forecasting, radio/TV signal
broadcasting, mobile communication, etc.

Disadvantages Of Satellite Microwave Communication:

o Satellite designing and development requires more time and higher cost.
o The Satellite needs to be monitored and controlled on regular periods so that it
remains in orbit.
o The life of the satellite is about 12-15 years. Due to this reason, another launch of the
satellite has to be planned before it becomes non-functional.

Infrared
o An infrared transmission is a wireless technology used for communication over short
ranges.
o The frequency of the infrared in the range from 300 GHz to 400 THz.
o It is used for short-range communication such as data transfer between two cell
phones, TV remote operation, data transfer between a computer and cell phone
resides in the same closed area.

Characteristics Of Infrared:

o It supports high bandwidth, and hence the data rate will be very high.
o Infrared waves cannot penetrate the walls. Therefore, the infrared communication in
one room cannot be interrupted by the nearby rooms.
o An infrared communication provides better security with minimum interference.
o Infrared communication is unreliable outside the building because the sun rays will
interfere with the infrared waves.