Data communication is essential to our ever-growing digital world. Understanding how various modes of data transmission work is crucial to constructing reliable and efficient networks. Different methods determine the method by which data is transmitted.
Hardware in a data communication circuit employs a variety of techniques to transmit data efficiently. These include multiplexing and desmultiplexing. These are processes that combine or separate signals, and then send them as a single composite signal. This maximizes bandwidth utilization and decreases the cost. Signal amplifiers and error-detecting algorithms minimize the possibility of data corruption due to electrical disturbances or noise.
Data communications also include the following set (protocol) of rules which are followed by the computers used by the sender and the receiver. These rules help ensure that the message is understood and accepted without error.
The sender is the device or computer which generates and sends the message. It could be in the form of numbers, text images, sound or video. The receiver is the computer or device that receives the message, which could be the same as the sender or different. The transmission medium is the physical pathway from the sender to the receiver. It can be a wired medium such as twisted pair wire, fiber optic cable or wireless like microwaves or radio waves.