Data Connections (DDC MIDTERM 2)

DDC MIDTERM (2)

Hardware Interface

Architecture used to interconnect two (2) devices together. It includes the design of the plug and socket, the type, and the number and purpose of the wires and the electrical signals that are passed across them.

De facto standard

It is something that is used so widely that it is considered a standard for a given application although it has no official status.

Composition

It is the whole content of an entity of an interface standard.

Electrical component

Deals with voltages, line capacitance, and other electrical issues.

Mechanical component

Deals with items such as the connector or plugs description.

Functional component

Deals with the function of each pin used in an interface.

Procedural component

Describes how the circuits are used to perform an operation.

Universal Serial Bus (USB)

It is a digital interface that uses a standardized connector (plug) for all serial and parallel type devices which provides a digital interface and known for being hot-pluggable.

Fire Wire

It is a type of interconnection between peripheral devices (such as wireless modems and high-speed digital video cameras) and a microcomputer. This digital interface that is capable of supporting transfer speeds of up to 3.2 Gbps.

Thunderbolt

It is currently found on Apple laptops and provides a 10-Gbps connection to peripheral devices. It uses the same connector as the already existing Mini DisplayPort and uses an already existing protocol called PO Express.

Lightning

It is an 8-pin connector in which it can be found as the primary connector on the newer versions of Apple's iPhone as well as Apple devices such as the iPad.

SCSI

Stands for Small Computer System Interface is a technique for interfacing a computer to high-speed devices such as hard disk drives, tape drives, CDs, and DVDs.

InfiniBand

This interface is used due to its high-speed connection that is mostly found in networks that require large amounts of peripheral storage. It can carry multiple channels of data at the same time up to 2.5 billion bits (2.5 gigabits) per second (single data rate), 5 gigabits per second (double data rate), and 10 gigabits per second (quad data rate); and it can address (interconnect) thousands of devices using both copper wire and fiber-optic cables.

Fibre Channel

Like InfiniBand in that it too is a serial, high-speed network that connects a computer to multiple input/output devices. Also supports data transfer rates up to billions of bits per second, but it can support the interconnection of up to 126 devices only.

Asynchronous connection

A single character, or byte of data, is the unit of transfer between the sender and receiver. The sender prepares a data character for transmission, transmits that character with irregular timing, and then begins preparing the next data character for transmission.

Synchronous connection

The unit of transmission is a sequence of characters. This sequence of characters may be thousands of characters in size with regular timing sent.

Isochronous connection

A special kind of data link connection used to support various types of real-time applications such as streaming voice, video, and music.

Bandwidth

Refers to the data-carrying capacity of a channel or medium.

Radiation

Refers to the leakage of signal from the medium due to undesirable electrical characteristics of the medium.

Noise Absorption

Refers to the susceptibility of the media to external electrical noise that can cause distortion of the data signal.

Attenuation

Refers to the loss of energy as signal propagates outwards. The amount of energy lost depends on frequency. Radiations and physical characteristics of media contribute to attenuation.

Bandwidth

Measurement of the ability of an electronic communications device or system to send and receive information.

Hertz

Bandwidth in hertz is the range of frequencies contained in a composite signal or the range of frequencies a channel can pass.

Bits per Seconds

The term bandwidth can also refer to the number of bits per second that a channel, a link, or even a network can transmit.

Throughput

Amount of data that enters and goes through a system. In layman's term, it is a measure of how fast we can actually send data through a network.

Latency

It is a measure of delay. It measures the time it takes for data to get to its destination across the network.

Propagation time

Measures the time required for a bit to travel from the source to the destination.

Transmission time

Measures the time how long a message will pass in channel corresponding with the bandwidth.

Queuing time

Measures the time needed for each intermediate or end device to hold the message before it can be processed.

Processing delay

Measures how data is processed through or from links.

Bit Rate

Amount of data that can be transmitted per second. Closer to bandwidth, but it is often per host or source to destination devices.

Baud Rate

Refers to the number of signal elements or symbol changes that occur per second. A symbol is one of several voltage, frequency, or phase changes.

Switched network

Data is transferred from source to destination through a series of intermediate switching nodes. Data passes through a subset of the network nodes.

Circuit switching

Involves establishing a path from source to destination before the commencement of communication. The path is dedicated to the source-destination pair for the duration of the communication session.

Packet switching

Involves organizing data in blocks called packets that are sent in a store-and-forward manner without prior establishment of the communication path. By store-and-forward, we mean that when a node receives a packet, it stores the packet and checks it for errors.

Broadcast network

A transmission from a source is received by all nodes in the network. Ensures that all the nodes in the network see the transmitted data.

Hot plugging

Ability to add and remove devices to a computer system while the computer is running and have the operating system automatically recognize the change.