Data Transmission

The structure of a data packet

• The amount of data that is stored in a file can be very
large.
• If you tried to transmit this data from one device to
another, all at once, this just wouldn't be possible.
• The wires or radio waves used would not be able to
accommodate sending such large amounts of data at a
single time.
• Therefore, for the data in a file to be transmitted, it is
broken down into very small units called packets.
• Each packet of data contains three different sections:
 Packet header
 Payload
 Trailer

Packet Header
The packet header contains a lot of information about
the data enclosed in the packet and its destination. The
information it includes is the:

• destination address
• packet number
• originators address.
• The destination address is normally an IP (Internet
Protocol) address.
• Each data packet is given a packet number.
• The packets of data may not have all been sent in the
correct order, this will depend on the type of
transmission used.
• This means that when the destination device has
received all the data packets, it can use the packet
number to put them back into the correct order to
recreate the file.
• The originators address is also normally an IP address.
Payload
• The payload of the data packet is the actual data from
the file that you are sending.
• The data is broken up into many small units to be sent
as the payload in each packet.

Trailer
• The trailer section of the packet is sometimes known
as the footer.
• This contains two main pieces of information.
• The first is the marker to indicate it is the end of the
packet and also the data for any error detection
systems that are being used.
Packet switching
• This is when data is broken down into packets to be
sent from one device to another.
• The process of transmitting these packets is called
packet switching.
• Each packet of data is sent individually from one device
to another.
• Each data packet could be sent along a different
pathway.
• A router is the device that controls which pathway will
be used to transmit each packet.
 The packets of data start at
device A, they could be
transmitted down any of the
pathways between device A
and device B. Each packet
can be sent using a different
pathway.
When a packet reaches a router, the router decides which
pathway to send the packet along next. This will continue
until all the packets have arrived at device B. It is likely
that the packets will arrive out of order. Once all packets
have arrived, they are reordered to recreate the file.
Methods of data transmission

1. Serial transmission
2. Parallel transmission
3. Simplex transmission
4. Half duplex transmission
5. Duplex transmission
Serial data transmission
Parallel data
transmission
Simplex data transmission

Data is transmitted in one direction only.

Half-duplex data transmission
Data can be transmitted in both directions between the
devices, but only one direction at a time.
Full-duplex data transmission

Data can be transmitted in both directions between the

devices, at the same time.
The universal serial bus (USB)
interface
• A USB device, such as a USB memory stick, is a device
that uses the USB interface. It plugs into a USB port on
a computer.
• A USB cable can be used to connect devices, such as a
mouse, to a computer.
• A USB connection uses serial data transmission to
transmit data between the devices. It is a serial data
transmission connection that is used to transmit data at
high speeds
Detecting errors in data transmission
1. Parity check
2. Check sum
3. Echo check
4. Automatic repeat request

Parity check
A parity check can use an odd or even check method.
Each byte of data has 7 bits and 1 extra bit that is called a
parity bit. One of the bits in the byte (usually the most
significant bit or left-most bit) is reserved for a parity bit.
The parity bit is set according to whether the parity being
used is even or odd.
This method is based on the number of 1-bits in a byte of
data. The parity can be either called EVEN (that is, an
even number of 1-bits in the byte) or ODD (that is, an odd
number of 1-bits in the byte).

For example, consider the byte:

In this example, if the byte is using even parity, then the parity bit
needs to be set to 0, since there is already an even number of 1-
bits in the byte (four 1-bits). We thus get:

In this example, if the byte is using odd parity, then the parity bit
needs to be set to 1, since we need to have an odd number of 1-
bits in the byte. We thus get:

Before data is transferred, an agreement is made between sender

and receiver regarding which type of parity is being used.
Parity blocks
• A block of data is sent and the number of 1-bits are
totalled horizontally and vertically.
• This method not only identifies that an error has
occurred but also indicates where the error is.
• In the following example, nine bytes of data have been
transmitted.
• Agreement has been made that even parity will be
used.
• Another byte, known as the parity byte, has also been
sent.
• This byte consists entirely of the parity bits produced by
the vertical parity check.
• The parity byte also indicates the end of the block of
The table above shows the following:
» byte 8 (row 8) now has incorrect parity (there are
three 1-bits)
» bit 5 (column 5) also now has incorrect parity (there
are five 1-bits).

To correct the error just change the bit on the intersection.

Checksum
• A checksum uses a calculated value to check for errors.
• A value is calculated from the data that will be
transmitted, before transmission takes place.
• Once the checksum value has been calculated it is
added to the data to be transmitted with it.
• After transmission, the receiving device uses the same
method to calculate a value from the received data.
• If the values match, then the device knows that no error
has occurred during transmission.
• If the values do not match, the device knows that an
error has occurred during transmission.
Echo check
• An echo check involves a simple comparison of the data
sent to the data received.
• The sending device transmits the data to the receiving
device.
• The receiving device then transmits the data it receives
back to the sending device.
• The sending device compares the data it sent to the
data it has received back from the receiving device to
see if they match.
• If they do, then no error has occurred.
• If they don't match, then the sending device knows the
data was received with error.
Automatic repeat request (ARQ)
• When an error has been detected after the data is
transmitted, it is likely that the data will need to be
retransmitted.
• There are two main ways that an ARQ can operate and
each method uses either a positive or negative
acknowledgement and a timeout.
In a positive acknowledgement method:
• The sending device transmits the first data packet.
• The receiving device receives the data and checks it for errors.
• Once the receiving device knows it has received the data error
free, it sends a positive acknowledgement back to the sending
device.
• When the sending device receives this positive
acknowledgement, it knows the receiving device has received the
data packet error free and it sends the next data packet.
• If the sending device does not receive a positive
acknowledgement within a set timeframe, a timeout occurs.
• When a timeout occurs, the sending device will resend the data
packet. It will keep doing this when a timeout occurs, until it
receives a positive acknowledgement, or sometimes a limit (such
as 20 times) is set and when this limit is reached it will stop
resending the data
In a negative acknowledgement method:
• The sending device transmits the first data packet.
• The receiving device receives the data packet and checks it for
errors .
• If the receiving device detects no errors, no further action is
taken .
• If the receiving device does detect errors, it will send a negative
acknowledgement back to the sender.
• If the sender receives a negative acknowledgement, it knows
this means the data was received incorrectly, so it can resend
the data packet.
• A timeout is set by the sending device when it sends the data.
• This is just so that the sending device knows that if it doesn't
receive a negative acknowledgement back within that set time
period, it doesn't need to be still be waiting for it and can send
the next data packet.