Wireless Technician

Synchronous and Asynchronous

Synchronous and asynchronous can be used to describe a computer program. In computer programs, asynchronous operation means that a process operates independently of other processes, whereas synchronous operation means that the process runs only as a result of some other process being completed or handing off operation, but in telecommunications it is the way data transmission occurs. In asynchronous transmission, data is transmitted using an external clock to at which data is transmitted one bit at a time. Each transmission also has a start and stop bit which signifies the beginning and end of the transmission. The opposite of asynchronous transmission is synchronous where the transmission carries the clock data which allows for higher data transmissions. Usually asynchronous transmission is used in communications between the client computers, printer, modem or home connections to the Internet. Synchronous transmissions are used for more complex circuits such as computer to telephony networks.

Analog and digital

In reference communications, analog and digital are two data formats for communicating information across a medium. One major difference between digital and analog is digital is discrete while analog is continuous. In digital, the data is converted into computer language represented by a combination of 1’s and 0’s. The different combinations of 1’s and 0’s can signify a character on a keyboard to a song you hear on a computer. Analog, “is continuous data, meaning that it is represented by continuous variations in some physical property, such as voltage, frequency, or pressure.” (Shelly, 2004) A good example of analog communications can be represented with an oscilloscope connected to a two way radio. The oscilloscope can display voice communications transmitted by the radio into a waveform that can be viewed on the oscilloscope. The waveform represents the characteristics of the data (voice) being said with low and high...