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Theoretical Considerations
transmitted serially are sent one bit at a time and received one bit at a time in the order of
than one bit at a time. In a long transmission line it will be more economical when serial
data communication is used between terminal device and peripheral devices, since fewer
data lines and control lines are used (“Serial communication”, taltech.com).
the specific manner in which communications take place between a computer and
is preceded with a start bit which indicates to the receiver that a word (a chunk of
data broken up into individual bits) is about to begin. To avoid confusion with
other bits, the start bit is twice the size of any other bit in the transmission. The
end of a word is followed by a stop bit, which tells the receiver that the word has
come to an end, that it should begin looking for the next start bit, and that any bits
it receives before getting the start bit should be ignored. To insure data integrity, a
parity bit is often added between the last bit of data and the stop bit. The parity bit
makes sure that the data received is composed of the same number of bits in the
same order in which they were sent. Because this scheme allows data to be sent
a keyboard, where the time interval between the entries of two characters can vary
In this conversation, they align their clocks and agree upon the parameters of the
data transfer, including the time interval between bits of data. Any data that falls
between valid data. Once each side knows what to expect of the other, and knows
how to indicate to the other whether what was expected was received, then
together with a common clock. There are three clocking methods by which to
clock signal for the transmission line will always be generated by the devices
internal oscillator, but the phase reference used by the internal oscillator differs
for each of the clocking methods. When internal clocking is used, the transmit
clock is phase locked to the device's own internal oscillator. For external clocking,
the transmit clock is phase locked to the phase of the oscillator belonging to
another device in the network. For recovered clocking, the transmit clock phase is
while the DTE device (such as a PC) uses external clocking and synchronizes
around the DCE device. In cases where DTE-DTE or DCE-DCE connections are
However, in large networks with multiple devices this is not always possible. One
solution for such networks is to have all devices synchronize around a single
modem's clock source. However, this solution has the tendency to result in clock
drift, and thus can potentially corrupt data. The other solution is to use recovered
clocking so that a modem can derive the clock from data on its reception line then
send that information out on its transmit line to be used by the next modem in
line, etc.
internal, external, and recovered clocking. All three methods derive the clock
signal for the reception line from the incoming data. The clock signal for the
transmission line will always be generated by the devices internal oscillator, but
the phase reference used by the internal oscillator differs for each of the clocking
methods. When internal clocking is used, the transmit clock is phase locked to the
device's own internal oscillator. For external clocking, the transmit clock is phase
locked to the phase of the oscillator belonging to another device in the network.
For recovered clocking, the transmit clock phase is locked to the clock derived
while the DTE device (such as a PC) uses external clocking and synchronizes
around the DCE device. In cases where DTE-DTE or DCE-DCE connections are
However, in large networks with multiple devices this is not always possible. One
solution for such networks is to have all devices synchronize around a single
modem's clock source. However, this solution has the tendency to result in clock
drift, and thus can potentially corrupt data. The other solution is to use recovered
clocking so that a modem can derive the clock from data on its reception line then
send that information out on its transmit line to be used by the next modem in
receiver (both encoding and decoding data frames). The UART not only controls the
transfer of data, but the speed at which communication takes place. However, the first
UARTs could only handle one byte of information at a time, which meant that the
computer needed to immediately process any transmission or risk losing data as the next
byte of information pushed its way onto the UART. Not only does this makes for
unreliable and slow communication, it can slow down the entire system. It is used for
serial communication interface which translates data between parallel and serial
interfaces. This is hardware which is already integrated in some microcontroller used for
serial communications over a computer or peripheral device serial port. Software UART
can also be established by means of a program. The USART is just like the UART with
an additional synchronous mode rather than asynchronous mode only. USART module
can be configured in three different modes, as a full-duplex asynchronous system that can
communicate with peripheral devices, such as CRT terminals and personal computers. It
can also be a master/slave half-duplex synchronous system that can communicate with
peripheral devices such as A/D or D/A integrated circuits and serial EEPROMS.
Depending on the microcontroller model, it can have more than 1 USART module on one
USART module uses the following registers to control its operation are:
Transmit status register (TXSTA), receive status register (RCSTA), baud rate
added to the names of the register. For example the transmit status register for
• transmit/receive control
Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) is a display device which is widely used for various
electronic applications that has human interface in it. It is made out of glass substrate
with electrode film (ITO), twisted nematic liquid crystals, vertical and horizontal filter
films. There are two types of LCD an active-matrix and a passive-matrix. Active-matrix
displays are the modern colored LCD display like thin-film transistors (TFT) and the
active-matrix LCDs. These displays are not only colored but they also have higher
resolution and refresh rate. The passive-matrix is the monochrome display LCDs, their
resolution are smaller and refresh rate does not match the active-matrix.
The LCD display module is a 2x16 matrix display. It is a thin, lightweight, low
power LCD display with a STN fluid for high contrast and wide viewing angle. Also, it
has a built in controller installed therefore no LCD display driver is needed to run this
device. Just plug in its inputs to the outputs of the microcontroller and its set to go
assuming that the right signals are being received by the LCD display (LCD, e-
gizmo.com).
The keypad used is a BCD output decoded keypad module with security output.
These keypads outputs a 4 bit BCD code corresponding to a key pressed. The built in
controller mimics the operation of the popular 74C922 keypad encoder. In addition, it has
one output that activates only when a correct 4-digit security code is pressed.
Keypads are responsible for the input of the user to the PC or in our case a
3.4. Protocols
In order for electronic devices to communicate with each other they must conform
to well defined sets of rules which govern factors ranging from hardware configurations
conventions set up to assure the orderly exchange of information between two or more
The lowest level protocols deal with the hardware connection between two pieces
of data processing equipment. The cables used to connect asynchronous devices to the
Electronic Industries Association (EIA). These protocols, RS-232-C and RS-422, were
developed and updated in conjunction with the Bell System and independent equipment
manufacturers.
3.6. DTE and DCE devices
DTE and DCE are vital elements in data communication. The DTE device is
responsible for the termination or end of the communication line, whereas the DCE
This refers to an end instrument that converts user information into signals
that are ready for transmission. It also reconverts the received signals back to user
information. A general rule is that DCE devices provide the clock (internal
clocking) and that the DTE device synchronizes on the provided clock (external
The TD (transmit data) wire is the one through which data from a DTE
device is transmitted to a DCE device. This name can be deceiving, because this
wire is used by a DCE device to receive its data. The TD line is kept in a mark
condition by the DTE device when it is idle. The RD (receive data) wire is the one
on which data is received by a DTE device, and the DCE device keeps this line in
RTS stands for Request To Send. This line and the CTS line are used
when "hardware flow control" is enabled in both the DTE and DCE devices. The
DTE device puts this line in a mark condition to tell the remote device that it is
ready and able to receive data. If the DTE device is not able to receive data
(typically because its receive buffer is almost full), it will put this line in the space
condition as a signal to the DCE to stop sending data. When the DTE device is
ready to receive more data (i.e. after data has been removed from its receive
buffer), it will place this line back in the mark condition. The complement of the
RTS wire is CTS, which stands for Clear To Send. The DCE device puts this line
in a mark condition to tell the DTE device that it is ready to receive the data.
Likewise, if the DCE device is unable to receive data, it will place this line in the
space condition. Together, these two lines make up what is called RTS/CTS or
"hardware" flow control. The Software Wedge supports this type of flow control,
special control characters transmitted from one device to another to tell the other
device to stop or start sending data. With software flow control the RTS and CTS
DTR stands for Data Terminal Ready. Its intended function is very
similar to the RTS line. DSR (Data Set Ready) is the companion to DTR in the
same way that CTS is to RTS. Some serial devices use DTR and DSR as signals
to simply confirm that a device is connected and is turned on. The Software
Wedge sets DTR to the mark state when the serial port is opened and leaves it in
that state until the port is closed. The DTR and DSR lines were originally
pointless to use both RTS/CTS and DTR/DSR for flow control signals at the same
time. Because of this, DTR and DSR are rarely used for flow control.
signal that it has a made a connection with another modem, or has detected a
carrier tone.
connection is made to another modem) or when the line is ringing, these two lines
equipment that performs functions such as signal conversion and coding, at the
networl end of the line between the data terminal equipment (DTE) and the line.
There are different types of interfaces between the DCE and DTE, but the
most commonly used interface is the RS-232. Usually, the DTE device is the
The baud unit is named after Jean Maurice Emile Baudot, who was an officer in
the French Telegraph Service. He is credited with devising the first uniform-length 5-bit
code for characters of the alphabet in the late 19th century. Baud is a measure of the
symbol rate; that is, the number of distinct symbolic changes (signalling event) made to
the transmission medium per second in a digitally modulated signal. Simply baud really
refers to is modulation rate or the number of times per second that a line changes state.
This is not always the same as bits per second (BPS). If you connect two serial devices
together using direct cables then baud and BPS are in fact the same. Thus, if you are
running at 19200 BPS, then the line is also changing states 19200 times per second
Nokia 6210 is a mobile phone with a high speed data communication speed that
could reach up to 43.2kbps data rates using HSCSD (High Speed Circuit Switched Data).
Its data supports 9.6 & 14.4 kbps single slot or HSCSD (2+2, 3+1, non transparent) via
IrDA or cable. It is coupled with a built-in WAP 1.1 browser which provides access to
mobile internet services. This phone can also be used as a high-speed wireless modem
printer can be made using its Infrared feature. This feature makes it also possible to
transfer names, phone numbers and calendar notes between compatible phones.
The reason behind the usage of this phone is that; it is cheap, high battery life, and
it has the basic functions needed in our study, a high-speed data communication, and a
built-in modem which makes data communication (PC-to-GSM, MCU-to-GSM and vice
and that may contain control information, address information, or data. In layered
systems, a unit of data that is specified in a protocol of a given layer and that consists of
protocol-control information of the given layer and possibly user data of that layer
Protocol data unit. (2006, October 3). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved
05:49, October 1, 2006, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Protocol_data_unit&oldid=79222260
Data transmission. (2006, August 7). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved
05:49, September 28, 2006, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Data_transmission&oldid=79222260.
LCD display panel. (n.d.). Retrieved on Septermber 28, 2006 from http://www.e-
gizmo.com/PRODUCT/OPTO.htm