Prepared by: K M Akkas Ali, Associate Professor, IIT, JU

IT-2205: Data Communication

2nd Year 2nd Semester of B.Sc (Honors) in IT

Lecture: 01
Introduction to Data Communication
Prepared by:
K M Akkas Ali
akkas_khan@yahoo.com, akkas@juniv.edu

Associate Professor
Institute of Information Technology (IIT)
Jahangirnagar University, Dhaka-1342
Books Recommended:

1. Data Communications & Networking

Prepared by: K M Akkas Ali, Associate Professor, IIT, JU

– Behrouz A Forouzan
2. Data and Computer Communication
– William Stallings
3. Computer Network
–Tannenbaum
4. Computer Networking- A top down Approach
– Kurose and Ross

Slide-2
 Lecture-01: Introduction to Data Communication

Topics to be Discussed

Prepared by: K M Akkas Ali, Associate Professor, IIT, JU

 To define communication and data communication
 To know the characteristics of data communication
 To discuss the components of data communication
 To be familiar with communication channels
 To define the flow of data communication
 To know about parallel and serial communication

Slide-3
What is Data?
In Latin, data is the plural form of datum. It is an
unorganized set of values collected together for

Prepared by: K M Akkas Ali, Associate Professor, IIT, JU

some purpose (e.g., to gain knowledge or to
make decisions).
 Data is measured, created, collected, classified, stored,
processed, used and transmitted according to demand.
 Data needs to be processed before it can be turned into
something useful. When data is processed, it turns into
information (see the figure below).
 Data is a vital ingredient of a communication system.

Data is
Data Information
processed
Slide-4 Figure: Processing data produces information
What is Communication

The transmission of information from one

location to another is called Communication.

Prepared by: K M Akkas Ali, Associate Professor, IIT, JU

Communication can be local or remote.
 Local communication usually occurs face to face
between individuals.
 Remote communication takes place over distance.

Basic Types of Electronic Communications:

1. Telecommunication
2. Data Communication

Slide-5
 Telecommunication Vs. Data Communication

Telecommunication: Data Communication:

Prepared by: K M Akkas Ali, Associate Professor, IIT, JU

 Telecommunication means  Data Communication is the
communication at a active process of
distance. transporting data or
 It refers to the use of information from one point
telephone, teletype to another using computer
writing, telegraph, radio, devices.
or television facilities to  The rapid growth of the
transmit information, Internet has promoted the
either directly or via spread of data
computer. communication.

Slide-6
Characteristics of Data communications
The effectiveness of a data communications
system depends on five fundamental

Prepared by: K M Akkas Ali, Associate Professor, IIT, JU

characteristics:
1. Delivery
2. Accuracy
3. Timeliness
4. Jitter
5. Security

Slide-7
Characteristics of Data communications

1. Delivery:
 The system must deliver data to the correct

Prepared by: K M Akkas Ali, Associate Professor, IIT, JU

destination. Data must be received by the intended
device or user and only by that device or user.

 2. Accuracy:
 The system must deliver the data accurately. Data that
have been altered in transmission and left uncorrected
are unusable.

 3. Security:
 Data must be protected from deliberate or accidental
damage or loss while transmitting.

Slide-8
Characteristics of Data communications
4. Timeliness:
 The communication system must deliver data in a

Prepared by: K M Akkas Ali, Associate Professor, IIT, JU

timely manner.
 Data delivered late are useless. In the case of video and
audio, timely delivery means delivering data as they are
produced, in the same order that they are produced, and
without significant delay. This kind of delivery is called
real-time transmission.
 
5. Jitter:
 Jitter refers to the variation in the packet arrival time. It
is the uneven delay in the delivery of audio or video
packets.
 For example, let us assume that video packets are sent
every 30 ms. If some of the packets arrive with 30-ms
delay and others with 40-ms delay, an uneven quality in
the video is the result.

Slide-9
Components of Data Communication System
Generally, a data communication system
consists of five basic components:

Prepared by: K M Akkas Ali, Associate Professor, IIT, JU

1) The sending or originating computer (transmitter)
2) A data communication device attached to the
sending computer
3) A communication channel
4) A data communication device attached to the
receiving computer
5) The receiving computer (receiver)

Slide-10
Components of Data Communication System
1) The sending or originating computer (Transmitter):
The transmitter has data to transmit. The data may consist

Prepared by: K M Akkas Ali, Associate Professor, IIT, JU

of a file on the disk or may be entered on a keyboard.
 
2) Data communication device attached to
transmitter:
This data communication device (such as modem)
converts the data into a form that can be transmitted
through communication channel.

3) A communication channel:
The communication channel (also called a communication
link) carries the data from place to place. This may include
telephone lines, satellite links, microwave relay system
etc.
Slide-11
Components of Data Communication System

4) Data communication device attached to receiver:

Prepared by: K M Akkas Ali, Associate Professor, IIT, JU

This data communication device (such as modem)
converts the transmitted data into a form that the receiving
computer can understand.
 
5) The receiving computer (receiver):
The receiving computer or terminal receives the data and
displays them on a screen, prints them, or stores them in
a file.

Slide-12
Data Communication Channel
Communicating data from one location to another
requires some form of pathway or medium which

Prepared by: K M Akkas Ali, Associate Professor, IIT, JU

are called communication channels or simply
channels.
A channel uses two types of media:
i) cable or physical transmission media:
(e.g., twisted-pair cable, co-axial cable, and fiber-optic cable)
ii)broadcast or wireless transmission media:
(e.g., microwave, satellite, radio, and infrared)

Depending on their transmission speeds, there

are three basic categories of communication
channel.
(i) Narrowband
(ii) Voice Band
Slide-13 (iii) Broadband
Data Communication Channel
NARROWBAND:
 This channel ranges in speed from 45 to 300 bits per second.
 It is used for handling low data volumes and for low-speed-devices.

Prepared by: K M Akkas Ali, Associate Professor, IIT, JU

 It is used mainly for telegraph line and low-speed terminals.

 VOICE BAND:
 This channel is so called because its major application is for
ordinary telephone voice communication.
 It handles moderate data volumes at speeds up to 9600 bps.
 It is used for transmitting data from slow I/O devices to CPU or vice
versa.

BROADBAND:
 This channel provides data transmission rate of 1 million bits per
second or more.
 It is used when a large volume of data is to be transmitted at high
speed.
 A company might use a broadband facility for high-speed computer-
to-computer communication, or for simultaneous transmission of
data to several different devices.
Slide-14
Data Communication Channel
TRANSMISSION SPEED (COMMUNICATION
RATE):

Prepared by: K M Akkas Ali, Associate Professor, IIT, JU

 The speed at which data travel over a communication
channel is called the data communication rate or the
transmission speed, which is measured in bits per
second (bps).
 A device can communicate at 300-baud means; it can
transmit or receive a maximum of 300 bits (roughly 30
characters) per second.
 BANDWIDTH:
 Bandwidth defines the volume of data that can be
 The maximum and through
transmitted minimuma communication channel.
volume of data that can be sent
through a transmission channel in
a second is called its bandwidth.
Slide-15
Flow of Data Communication
There are three ways or modes for transmitting
data from one point to another. These are:

Prepared by: K M Akkas Ali, Associate Professor, IIT, JU

(i) Simplex Mode
(ii) Half-Duplex Mode
(iii) Full-Duplex Mode

Slide-16
Flow of Data Communication
Simplex Communication:
 In simplex mode, the transmission is unidirectional,

Prepared by: K M Akkas Ali, Associate Professor, IIT, JU

i.e., the communication channel is used in one
direction only.
 The receiver can listen to the sender but cannot talk
back.
 Since the use of protocols and the detection of errors
require two-way communication, this mode is rarely
used for data communication.

Figure: Simplex Communication

Slide-17
Flow of Data Communication
Half-Duplex Communication:
 In this mode, the transmission channel is used in both

Prepared by: K M Akkas Ali, Associate Professor, IIT, JU

directions, but only one direction at a time.
 The use of half-duplex communication channel is
similar to the use of a citizens’ band (CB) radio.
 Only one party can speak at a time. When
the speaker is done, he says, ‘Over’, and
the other party begins to speak.
 Some time is lost in changing the direction
of speaking on CB radio. The same is true
for half-duplex communication channel.

Figure: Half-Duplex Communication

Slide-18
Flow of Data Communication
Full-Duplex Communication:
 In this mode, the communication channel is used in

Prepared by: K M Akkas Ali, Associate Professor, IIT, JU

both directions at once.
 The use of a full-duplex communication channel is
similar to the use of a telephone, in that both parties
are allowed to speak at the same time.
 This mode is used for high-speed data
communication.

Figure: Full-Duplex Communication

Slide-19
Parallel & Serial Data Communication
Parallel Communication:
 In parallel communication, the whole data word (a

Prepared by: K M Akkas Ali, Associate Professor, IIT, JU

couple of bits) is transmitted at a time through a
number of parallel wires with one wire carrying each
bit.
 Parallel communication is used primarily for
transferring data between devices at the same site.
For example, communication between a computer and
a printer is most often parallel.
 The figure below shows the parallel communication

Figure: Parallel Communication

Slide-20
Parallel & Serial Data Communication
Serial Communication:
 In serial communication, the whole data word or bits

Prepared by: K M Akkas Ali, Associate Professor, IIT, JU

are not sent at a time, rather, one bit at a time in a
series along the same wire.
 Communication between computers is almost serial.
Figure shows the serial communication.

Figure: Serial Communication

Slide-21
 12.8 Categories of Data Communication Signal

What is Signal:
A signal is any time-varying or spatial-varying detectable

Prepared by: K M Akkas Ali, Associate Professor, IIT, JU

physical quantity by which messages or information can
be transmitted from source to destination.
 A signal is a codified message, which is carried to a receiver by
the communication channel.
 For example, the words "More memory, more speed” might be
the message spoken into a telephone. The telephone transmitter
converts the sounds into an electrical voltage signal. The signal
is transmitted to the receiving telephone by wires; and at the
receiver, it is reconverted into sounds.
Two broad categories of data communication signals:
 1) ANALOG SIGNAL
2) DIGITAL SIGNAL

Slide-22
 12.8 Categories of Data Communication Signal

1) ANALOG SIGNAL:
 This signal consists of continuous but variable

Prepared by: K M Akkas Ali, Associate Professor, IIT, JU

electrical waves. Analog communication uses general-
purpose communication channels such as telephone
lines for carrying analog signal.
 
2) DIGITAL SIGNAL:
 Digital signals are discrete electronic units transmitted
in extremely rapid succession usually in the form of
binary. Most computer and computer-related
equipment work using digital signal.

Slide-23
 12.8 Categories of Data Communication Signal

Digital signals are transmitted over analog

communication channel- How?

Prepared by: K M Akkas Ali, Associate Professor, IIT, JU

 Digital communication using digital communication
channel between computers is very expensive. So,
communication between computers is done using
analog communication channels.
 For this purpose, to be transmitted digital data over
the analog communication channels (such as
telephone lines), at first the data must be translated
into analog signal, which is compatible with the analog
channel. This is usually done by a data
communication device like modem.

Slide-24
 Discussion Points

Prepared by: K M Akkas Ali, Associate Professor, IIT, JU

1. Data Communication and its Components
2. Communication Channels
3. Flow of Data Communication
4. Parallel and Serial Communication

Slide-25
Slide-26
Thank you…
Have a question?

Prepared by: K M Akkas Ali, Associate Professor, IIT, JU