Unit 2

Chapter 4: Digital Communica6on

1. Speed and Volume of Data Transfer
2. Device-to-Device Communica;on
3. Network Communica;on
4. The Ways in which Digital Devices Communicate
5. Benefits and Drawbacks of Wired vs Wireless
6. Broadband, Mobile Broadband and Cellular Networks

1. Speed and Volume of Data Transfer

Transferring more and more data, it becomes more important.
The speed of data transfer depends on
§ Bandwidth
§ Latency

Bandwidth
§ Bandwidth is the number of bits that can be carried by a connec;on in one second.
§ The speed at which devices can transfer data depends on the bandwidth of the connec;on.
§ A connec;on with a large bandwidth can carry a large amount of data.

Impact on User Experience

Higher bandwidth, more data can be transferred every second and makes uploads and downloads
faster.
To do things that require lots of data to be transferred in short amounts of ;me, such as
§ mul;player online gaming
§ high-defini;on video streaming

Video streaming
§ When streaming video, all of the data does not need to be downloaded before playback can start.
§ A por;on of the video data is stored temporarily in an area of memory called buffer.
§ The video will not start un;l there is enough data in the buffer to play a few seconds of video
§ While those few seconds are playing, more data is downloaded to fill up the buffer.
§ If the buffer is empty, there is no more video to play and it will pause un;l more data is
downloaded
§ To avoid the buffer becoming empty, data must be constantly downloaded into the buffer, filling
it up at a rate faster than it is emp;ed

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Latency
§ Latency is the delay in the ;me it takes to send data between devices.
§ The speed of data transfer also depends on latency
§ Latency is the average ;me that it takes for a drop of water to flow through the pipe

Ping 6me
§ Ping ;me can iden;fy latency by pinging a domain.
§ When you ping a domain, you send a packet of data to a server and the packet of data is immediately
returned by the server to the origina;ng device.
§ The ping ;me is the amount of ;me it takes for the packet of data to make the return trip

Impact of User Experience

§ In online gaming, the game will play smoothly if the bandwidth is adequate.
§ If the latency is high, events in the game will lag (slow) and the game will not seem responsive to the
player’s commands
§ When watching live television, high latency will result in a delay between the real-;me events and the
video being received for playback

Factors that Affect Speed and Volume of Data

1. Transferred method
2. Interference
3. Blockages
4. Distance

1. Transferred method (Wired and Wireless)

§ Wireless methods have to work on a limited number of frequencies.
§ Copper cable (wired) can carry more frequencies than wireless methods. Cabled methods (wired) can
have more bandwidth available to them than wireless methods. But some older wired methods have
less bandwidth than newer wireless methods

2. Interference
§ Other electromagne;c signals disrupt or interfere with wired and wireless signals
§ Interference can be cause by signals from wireless devices, wireless routers and appliances emiXng
electromagne;c fields like fridge and microwave ovens
§ Cabled connec;ons can be shielded from this interference by having the wires wrapped in a thin layer
of metal

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 3. Blockages
§ Walls and furniture reduce the strength of wireless signals. This reduces the available bandwidth.

4. Distance
§ The strength of a wired or wireless signals is reduced as the distance that it has to travel increase

2. Device-to-Device Communica6on
Devices can connect directly to each other using wired or wireless methods
Device 1 Device 2 Connec6on between Use
Device 1 and 2
Temperature Air Wired To turn on the air condi;oning when
sensor condi;oner the temperature is too high
Smartphone Headphones Minijack To play music from the smartphone
on the headphones
Laptop External hard USB To transfer files
drive
Camcorder Monitor HDMI To operate as a security camera
Games Game console Bluetooth To control a game
controller

3. Network Communica6on
When two or more computers are connected, a network is created
Four major types of networks
§ Local Area Network (LAN)
§ Wide Area Network (WAN)
§ Personal Area Network (PAN)
§ Tethering

Local Area Network (LAN)

§ A LAN connects digital devices that are in a small geographical area,
§ in one building
§ group of buildings that are close to each other

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 Wide Area Network (WAN)
§ A WAN is a network that is spread over a large geographical area
§ WANs are used to connect different buildings owned by na;onal and interna;onal businesses, law
enforcement agencies, health and educa;on organiza;ons and government departments.
§ Some organiza;ons launch their own satellites to provide connec;vity for their own global WANs
§ WANs use connec;vity provided by a third-party telecommunica;ons company, o`en linking LANs
together through the internet
§ Because of their wider reach, WANs o`en have slower transfer speeds than LANs

Personal Area Network (PAN)

§ A PAN is a group of connected devices that are all near an individual user
For example,
§ a user could connect their smartwatch to their smartphone, which is connected to their laptop
and home cinema speaker system
§ Devices in a PAN can either be connected to each other directly or connected through access
points
§ When a PAN only uses wireless connec;vity, it can also be referred as a WPAN (Wireless Personal
Network Area)

Tethering
§ Tethering is the process of connec;ng a host device, such as a smartphone or a tablet device, that
uses a mobile broadband connec;on with one or more other devices
§ This enables the other device to share the host device’s broadband connec;on
§ Mobile phone network providers can enable or disable tethering as part of the service agreement
§ Some network providers charge more for this feature to be enabled

4. The Ways in which Digital Devices Communicate

The method that digital devices use to share data and some common uses of these methods are shown in
Table 4.2
Method Technology Use
Satellite Radio waves GPS, Television, telephone, military
Broadcast Radio Waves Television shows. radio shows
Wired Electrical signal Networking, connec;ng peripherals
Wireless Radio waves Networking, connec;ng peripherals

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Satellite Communica6on
§ Satellite transmit data to and receive data from digital devices
§ Digital devices use antennae to receive the radio signals that satellites transmit
Benefit
§ The number of satellites means that the system is always available
§ It also cannot be affected by power shortages
Drawback
§ Satellite signals do not pass through solid objects
§ They will not work in areas with tall buildings or in tunnels
§ Signals can also be affected by atmospheric weather condi;ons such as heavy snow or rain

1. GPS (Global Posi6oning System)

§ Satellite communica;ons are used for GPS
§ Naviga;on aids make use of GPS signals to calculate the exact loca;on of a device
§ GPS signals are sent from a network of 24 satellites orbi;ng the Earth
§ At any one ;me, a device will be within view of approximately 12 of these satellites
§ A view of only four satellites is required to calculate an accurate loca;on

2. Television
§ A video signal from the broadcaster is transmibed using a large antenna on Earth to one or more
satellites, which then broadcast the signal back down to Earth.
§ A satellite television viewer will have an antenna installed, and this receives the signal and sends it to
a set-top box
§ The set-top box decodes the signal and converts it so that it ready to be sent to a television
§ Some televisions have decoders installed, so the antenna can be connected directly to the television
rather than requiring a set-top box to decode the signal first

3. Telephone
§ Satellite communica;on is also used to allow people in remote areas to place voice calls using satellite
telephones

4. Military
§ The military in many coun;es use satellites for communica;on systems, such as the Global Command
and Control System

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Broadcast Communica6on
Analogue Television and Radio
§ Transmibers broadcast television and radio signals that are received by a viewer’s antenna
§ This antenna sends a signal through a wire to the television or radio receiver, which converts it into
images and audio

Digital Television
§ To receive digital television broadcasts transmibed by DVB-T, viewers can use the same antenna that
they use to receive analogue broadcasts
§ They do not need a special antenna

Digital Radio
§ DAB (Digital Audio Broadcas;ng) provides more radio sta;ons and can also carry text data that DAB
receivers can display
§ The text data can include the ;me, name of the sta;on and details of the music being played

Wired Communica6on (USB, Ethernet)

§ Devices can use cables to communicate with each other via a wired connec;on
§ There are many different types of wired connec;on, such as USB and Ethernet

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 1. USB
§ USB is a very common connec;on type
§ USB has been through a number of revisions and each revision allows faster data transfer speeds
§ This development of standards is common with all types of connec;vity
§ This progress is made necessary as digital devices become more complex in their features and
func;onality
2. Ethernet
§ Ethernet allows a user to connect to wired networks
§ Ethernet is a network connec;vity standard that provides a way for computers to communicate.
§ As ethernet technology develops, the speed at which data can be transferred between devices is
improved
§ Ethernet cables can be 100 metres long before the signals they carry start to lose quality

Wireless communica6on
§ Devices can also use wireless connec;vity to communicate with each other
§ Just as with wired communica;on, there are many different types of wireless connec;on
1. Wi-Fi
2. Bluetooth
3. 3G and 4G
4. Infra-red (IR)
5. Near-field communica;on (NFC)

1. Wi-Fi
§ Used in home and office networks
§ Some companies provide Wi-Fi access in towns and ci;es
§ Wi-Fi is a wireless technology used to connect devices to a network
§ That network can itself then be connected to the internet, so that devices connected to the Wi-Fi
network can connect to the internet

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2. Bluetooth
§ Bluetooth is a type of wireless connec;vity that lets devices connect over short distances
§ It cannot carry as much data as Wi-Fi
§ Bluetooth devices need to paired with each other before they can communicate
§ Bluetooth can be used to transfer small files between devices
§ It is used to connect devices such as smartphone and laptops to peripherals such as portable speakers,
headphones, earphones, keyboards and mice

3. 3G and 4G
§ 3G and 4G are referred to as mobile broadband
§ They are used to provide internet access to mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet devices
when a Wi-Fi signal is not available
§ G è genera;on
§ 4G è the fourth genera;on of mobile broadband technology

4. Infra-red (IR)
§ Infra-red signal cannot carry much data and only have a short range
§ Transmibers must have a clear line of sight to receivers
§ Because this allows the signal to travel in a straight line between them without being blocked by solid
objects like walls
§ The signal is also affected by sunlight
§ It is o`en used in remote-control devices such as television remote controls

5. Near-field Communica6on (NFC)

§ NFC uses close proximity RFID (Radio Frequency Iden;fica;on) chips
§ NFC is used in smartphones, payment cards and travel cards

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 5. Benefits and Drawbacks of Wired vs Wireless

6. Broadband, Mobile Broadband and Cellular Networks

§ Broadband networks provide fast access to the internet through a connec;on to an Internet Service
Provider (ISP)
§ They use the fibre op;c cable or copper cable network
§ Mobile broadband provides high-speed wireless connec;vity using 3G or 4G technology to connect to
the mobile phone network, which acts as the user’s ISP