Data Communications Overview

The process of transferring data from one location to another.

The process of converting data into signals and transmitting them, then decoding them at the receiving end.

The medium that connects communication devices.

The information being sent in data communication, such as a text file or image.

The device that sends a data message.

The device that receives a data message.

A set of rules governing the way data is transmitted and interpreted.

A set of protocols that ensures proper packaging, addressing, and reassembly of data during transmission.

The rate of data successfully transmitted and received over a network, typically measured in bits per second (bps).

Delay in sending and receiving data packets; the time taken for a data packet to reach its destination after transmission.

High rate of successful data transmission and reception.

Slow rate of successful data transmission and reception.

Large delay in delivering data packets.

A circuit using a single pair of wires, one for signal and one for ground.

A circuit that uses physically connected wires to transmit data.

Overall effectiveness of a network in transmitting and receiving data.

A network topology where all devices share a single cable. A failure of any device on the cable does not affect others, but a failure of the cable itself can stop all devices.

A network topology where all devices connect to a central hub (switch, router). A failure of the hub affects all devices.

A network topology where devices are connected in a closed loop. A failure of any device disrupts the entire network.

A network topology where devices can connect to multiple other devices. More direct connections, but more complex than ring or star topologies.

A system design flaw where one component's failure can cripple the entire network.

A way for devices to share a cable in a bus topology. 'Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection'.

A central device in a star topology that connects all devices on the network.

A direct connection between two devices in a network.

Data transmission in one direction at a time, using the same wires for both sending and receiving, but not simultaneously.

A circuit using two pairs of wires, one for sending and one for receiving data; often includes ground, but it's not always required.

Establishing a dedicated communication path between two devices for the entire session, maintaining consistent bandwidth and latency.

Dividing data into small packets, sending them independently through the network, and reassembling them at the destination.

Transmit Data Positive; carries the positive side of the differential signal during transmission in a four-wire circuit.

Transmit Data Negative; carries the negative side of the differential signal during transmission in a four-wire circuit.

Methods used to represent data as signals for transmission.

Using pairs of wires to represent data, comparing signal difference, which helps reject noise.

A method of transmitting information by varying the amplitude of a wave.

A method of transmitting information by varying the frequency of a wave.

A digital encoding scheme where the signal level holds the bit's value for the full duration of the bit period without returning to zero.

A data encoding method where all signal levels are either positive or negative, with zero representing a bit value.

A data encoding method where positive and negative voltages represent the bits.

A method of converting an analog signal to a digital signal by sampling and quantizing.

A type of digital encoding where the signal returns to zero in the middle of each bit period. For example, half positive, half zero, then half negative, half zero.

A data encoding scheme using transitions in the middle of each bit to represent data.

A data transmission method using three voltage levels (positive, negative, and zero) to represent binary data. One level represents 0, the other two represent 1's in an alternating pattern.

A bipolar scheme where binary 0 is represented by zero voltage, and 1's by alternating positive and negative voltages.

A bipolar scheme where binary 1 is represented by zero voltage, and 0 is represented by alternating positive and negative voltages.

Data transmission method where data is sent in blocks/frames, transmission is faster and more costly, and requires synchronized clocks for proper data interpretation.

Data transmission method where data is sent in bytes/characters, transmission is slower and more economical, and does not need synchronized clocks.

Data Transmission is faster in synchronous transmission compared to asynchronous transmission.

Synchronous transmission is generally more costly than asynchronous transmission due to synchronization requirements.

Time interval of transmission is random in asynchronous transmission