Data Communication & It's Components

Data Communication

Data Communication means sharing the information. This sharing can be local or remote or with in a building. Local communication usually occurs face to face, while remote communication take place over distance.

This term telecommunication includes telephony, television mean communication at a distance. The world tele is a Greek word which means “far”. The word data refers to the facts. In the context of computer information system, data are represented by binary information unit produced in the form of 0s (zero) and 1s (one).

Data Communication is the exchange of data between the two devices via some of transmission medium. Data communication devices must be the part of the communication system made up of a combination of Hardware and Software. The effective data communication has three fundamental characteristics.

1. Delivery. System must deliver the data to the correct destination.
2. Accuracy. System must deliver accurate data.
3. Timeliness. System must deliver the data in a timely manner.

Components of Data Communication

There are five major components of data communication system: -

1. Message. The information which is to be communicated.
2. Sender. Sending data communication device are the devices that sends data message. It can be computer, workstation, telephone, radio, camera and so on.
3. Receiver. Receiver is the device that receives the message. It can be a computer, workstation, telephone, TV and so on.
4. Medium. It is a physical path by which the message travels from sender to receiver.
5. Protocol. It is the set of rules that governs the data communication. It is agreement between the communication devices. Without a protocol, two devices may be connected but they are not communicating (With each other). Just as a person speaking Tamil cannot understand the language of the person who speaks only Punjabi.