Digital Communications: Fundamentals and Applications

Communication is basically interaction among people or sharing information. Communication has been one of the deepest needs of the human race throughout recorded history. As we all know that we have mainly two types of communication viz., Analog and Digital communication. Digital communications mean transferring data from one place to another. It is done by physical path or physical connection. In digital communication, digital values are taken as the discrete set. It is bit complicated as compare to analog communication and it’s also fast and appropriate in modern situations. Data transmitted may be digital messages originating from a data source, for example a computer or a keyboard. It may also be an analog signal such as a phone call or a video signal, digitized into a bit-stream for example using pulse-code modulation (PCM) or more advanced source coding (analog-to-digital conversion and data compression) schemes. This source coding and decoding is carried out by codec equipment. Data has been sent via non-electronic (e.g. optical, acoustic, mechanical) means since the advent of communication. Analog signal data has been sent electronically since the advent of the telephone. However, the first data electromagnetic transmission applications in modern time were telegraphy (1809) and teletypewriters (1906), which are both digital signals. The fundamental theoretical work in data transmission and information theory by Harry Nyquist, Ralph Hartley, Claude Shannon and others during the early 20th century, was done with these applications in mind. Data transmission is utilized in computers in computer buses and for communication with peripheral equipment via parallel ports and serial ports such as RS-232 (1969), Firewire (1995) and USB (1996). The principles of data transmission are also utilized in storage media for Error detection and correction since 1951. Data transmission is utilized in computer networking equipment such as modems (1940), local area networks (LAN) adapters (1964), repeaters, hubs, microwave links, wireless network access points (1997), etc. In telephone networks, digital communication is utilized for transferring many phone calls over the same copper cable or fiber cable by means of Pulse code modulation (PCM), i.e. sampling and digitization, in combination with Time division multiplexing (TDM) (1962). Telephone exchanges have become digital and software controlled, facilitating many value added services. Without digital communication we would all still be writing to each other in a letter and then mailing that letter to the person’s address or just talking face to face. Modern day life is consumed by technology. Without it, life would not be nearly the same. The digital world is growing bigger and more powerful.