Modes of Transmitting Data

Another way of classifying data communications flow is as synchronous or asynchronous.

• Synchronous Transmission: Large volumes of information can be transmitted at a single time with synchronous transmission. This type of transmission involves the simultaneous flow of several bytes of data. Because a large block of data being sent synchronously cannot be interrupted, a synchronized clock is necessary to carefully schedule the transmission of information. This special communications equipment is expensive; but this cost can be made up in part by faster, less expensive transmission of information.

• Asynchronous Transmission: Conversely, asynchronous transmission involves the sending and receiving of one byte of data at a time. This type of transmission is most often used by microcomputers and other systems characterized by slow speeds.