Data communication (1)

Data communications refers to the transmission of data from one point to another over a medium.
Effective data communications require that data be in a transmissible form that is both quick and efficient, usable at receiving and sending sites.
Data travels over a network in the form of electronic signals.
This chapter will cover:
- Characteristics of signals
- Codification of data by computers
- Explanation of the telephone system in data communications.

Data is transmitted via signals, made up of electrical charges or pulses of light, referred to as signaling elements.
The form of signaling elements and signal travel varies across different networks, affecting voice/data transmission methods.

A bit is the smallest unit of information in computing, represented as 1 (on) or 0 (off).
All internal computer data is processed in binary notation (0s and 1s).
- Examples of characters include letters (A), numbers (2), and symbols (*).
Represents single bits in sequences called bytes (5-8 bits).
- Memory is measured in bytes (e.g., 128 million bytes = 128 MB).
Bit rate is the speed of binary data transmission, expressed