Part 1 - Data Transmission and Protocol

This post is the beginning of a series on data transmission and protocol.  I decided to make it a series for a couple of reasons.  First, the topic of data transmission and the topic of protocol by themselves are pretty broad subjects that could really get lengthy.  So I decided it would be best to break the article into easy to digest chunks.

So, why not tackle them individually? Well, by breaking it up in to parts I am in a way, but I'm making it one series instead of two because protocols are tightly tied into data transmissions.  That is to say that without one, you can't have the other.  Even though I will be going into some depth, I'm really only going to be able to scratch the surface.

Why this topic?  Other than the fact that it is rather interesting learning how the telecommunication systems that we use everyday work, it can be a very important factor to consider in a number of areas.  Knowing data transmission methods and protocols is vital to fields like software engineering, information system design and implementation, and even application implementation.  Therefore, if you are an engineer, having a working knowledge of the methods and protocols I will cover will help you make sound decisions when data transmission is involved in your implementation (which it almost always is in one form or another).

For those, just learning networking, telecommunications, or some other type of engineering this will be a good starting point to understanding how systems communicate.  For those who are already in some type of field that requires data transmission, this series may offer a good refresher or perhaps a jumping off point for further research if you are stuck with a particular problem since I will be listing other references that you can check out.  Those not in this field of study or profession may still find it interesting to learn how their cellphone, computers, their networks at work, and the Internet communicate with one another.  I will avoid technical jargon as much as possible and try to explain things in a clear and understandable way so that even the layperson will understand.

Computers and networks use many different types of data transmission methods.  Asynchronous and synchronous transmissions; analog and digital signaling; simplex, half duplex, and full duplex transmission; serial and parallel transmission; and broadband and baseband transmissions, all have distinct differences.  With all these different ways for computers to communicate, protocols become very important. Protocols are basically a set of agreed upon rules on how computers will communicate in different situations. Just as many different protocols regarding data communication exist as there are ways to transmit the data.  This series will cover the differences between the different types of data transmission as well as contrast six of the protocols that have been developed to govern data transmission; Serial Line Internet Protocol versus Point-To-Point Protocol; Hypertext Transfer Protocol versus File Transfer Protocol; and Transmission Control Protocol versus Internet Protocol.

This concludes the introduction the the Data Transmission and Protocol series.  In part two I will explain asynchronous and synchronous transmission.