Q:Briefly explain TDM. What is interleaving ?

Ans:A multiplexing technique by which multiple data signals

can be transmitted over a common communication channel in
different time slots is known as Time Division Multiplexing
(TDM).It allows the division of the overall time domain into
various fixed length time slots. A single frame is said to be
transmitted when it’s all signal components gets transmitted
over the channel.

As we know, multiplexing allows the transmission of

several signals over a common channel. However, one may
need to differentiate between the various signal for proper data
transmission. So, in time division multiplexing, the complete
signal gets transmitted by occupying different time slots.The
name itself is indicating here that basically time division is
performed in order to multiplex multiple data signals.

The technique of time division multiplexing can be

implemented in basically two ways:

Synchronous TDM: In this technique, the time slots are

assigned at the beginning, irrespective of the idea about the
presence of data at the source. This leads to the wastage of the
channel capacity. As in the absence of any data unit, that
particular time slot gets entirely wasted. As it leads to
exhaustion of the time slot in the absence of any data unit thus,
the technique is considered to be efficient.

Asynchronous TDM: It is also termed as statistical or

intelligent TDM technique as it eliminates the drawback of
wastage of time slot present in synchronous TDM. a particular
frame is transmitted by the transmitting end only when it gets
completely filled by the data units. It exhibits higher efficiency
than that of synchronous TDM technique as it requires smaller
transmission time and ensures better bandwidth utilization.

Advantages of TDM
  Simple circuit design.
 It uses entire channel bandwidth for the transmission of the
signal.
 The problem of Intermodulation distortion is not present in
TDM.
 Pulse overlapping can sometimes cause crosstalk but it
can be reduced by utilizing guard time. Thus, is not much
serious.
Disadvantages of TDM

 The transmitting and receiving section must be properly

synchronized in order to have proper signal transmission
and reception.
 Slow narrowband fading can wipe out all the TDM
channels.

Interleaving

TDM can be visualized as two fast-rotating switches, one on

the multiplexing side and the other on the demultiplexing side.
The switches are synchronized and rotate at the same speed,
but in opposite directions. On the multiplexing side, as the
switch opens in front of a connection, that connection has the
opportunity to send a unit onto the path. This process is called
interleaving. On the demultiplexing side, as the switch opens in
front of a connection, that connection has the opportunity to
receive a unit from the path.