1.

Distinguish between parallel and series communication Speed: Superficially, the speed of a parallel data link is equal to the number of bits sent at one time times the bit rate of each individual path; doubling the number of bits sent at once doubles the data rate. In practice, clock skew reduces the speed of every link to the slowest of all of the links. Cable length: Crosstalk creates interference between the parallel lines, and the effect worsens with the length of the communication link. This places an upper limit on the length of a parallel data connection that is usually shorter than a serial connection. Complexity: Parallel data links are easily implemented in hardware, making them a logical choice. Creating a parallel port in a computer system is relatively simple, requiring only a latch to copy data onto a data bus. In contrast, most serial communication must first be converted back into parallel form by a universal asynchronous receiver/transmitter (UART) before they may be directly connected to a data bus.

The difference is that serial transmissions only use 2 wires for transmitting and receiving data, and only 1 for sending or receiving, and can only send one bit at a time. Parallel cables use several wires for data transmission and is much faster than serial thus 8 or more wires are carrying data *parallel* to each other to its destination. 2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of RS232 interface? Disadvantages 1. Limited Distance - Cable lengths are limited to 50 ft or less. Many will claim to go further, but this is not recommended, and is not part of the RS-232 specification. 2. Susceptible to Noise - RS-232 is single-ended, which means that the transmit and receive lines are referenced to a common ground 3. Not Multi-drop - You can only connect one RS-232 device per port. There are some devices designed to echo a command to a second unit of the same family of products, but this is very rare. This means that if you have 3 meters to connect to a PC, you will need 3 ports, or at least, an RS-232 multiplexor.

Advantages

Up to 50 m between Microlink hardware and computer Over 250 channels per Microlink 3000

Disadvantages

Slow, runs at up to 38 400 baud over short distances; lower speeds as the distance increases owing to capacitance effects Maximum logging speed with Streamer software = 700 samples per second, with Windmill software = 35 samples per second Only one device can be connected to an RS232 cable Computers now rarely have serial ports and a USB-serial (for example) adaptor may be needed.

3. List the application where serial communication is preferred GPS receivers (typically NMEA 0183 at 4,800 bit/s) Bar code scanners and other point of sale devices LED and LCD text displays Satellite phones, low-speed satellite modems and other satellite based transceiver devices Flat-screen (LCD and Plasma) monitors to control screen functions by external computer, other AV components or remotes 4. Explains the synchronous and asynchronous transmission format with appropriate diagram and example. Asynchronous transmission is also known as start-stop mode or character mode. Each character is framed as an independent unit of data that may be transmitted and received independently. Asynchronous data characters normally contain 8 data bits (including the parity bit) plus a start bit and at least 1 stop bit, giving a total of 10 bits.
Asynchronous communication utilizes a transmitter, a receiver and a wire without coordination about the timing of individual bits. There is no coordination between the two end points on just how long the transmiter leaves the signal at a certain level to represent a single digitalbit.

EXAMPLES:

Asynchronous communication is used on RS-232 based serial devices such as on an IBM-compatible computer's communication ports (COM 1, 2, 3 & 4) for the following functions: o PS2 ports on your computer use asynchronous serial communication with the keyboard and mouse o The serial port is used to communicate with an external devices such as modems. Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) also uses asynchronous communication.

With synchronous transmission, the receiver's clock is synchronised with the transmitter's clock. Data is transmitted in a continuous stream, and the arrival time of each can be predicted by the receiver. This is achieved either by using a separate timing circuit, or by embedding the timing information in the signal itself. The latter can be achieved using biphase encoding (e.g. Manchester encoding). An embedded timing signal can be used by the receiver to synchronise with the transmitter using a Digital Phase-Locked Loop (DPLL).
Synchronous systems negotiate the communication parameters at the data link layer before communication begins. Basic synchronous systems will synchronize the signal clocks on both sides before transmission begins, reset their numeric counters and take other steps. More advanced systems may negotiate things like error correction and compression.

For example, in a computer, address information is transmitted synchronouslythe address bits over the address bus, and the read strobe in the control bus.
5. What are the limitations of using USB in industrial applications? There are some limitations to USB: operating distances are very limited. Any bus segment cannot exceed 5 meters. There is no provision for securing cable connections. 6. What would happen if two identical devices (for example printer laser canon) are plugged into two USB ports on the PC? 7. How does IEEE1394 interface help audio/video applications? because of lowerimplementation costs and a simplified, more adaptablecabling system. The 1394 standard also defines a backplaneinterface, though this is not as widely used. 8. What are USB transfer types? - Control, Isochronous, interrupt and bulk type.

9. List the advantages of IEEE1394 FireWire is popular in industrial systems for machine vision and professional audio systems. It is preferred over the more common USB because of its greater effective speed and power distribution capabilities, and because it does not need a computer host.Compared to USB 2.0, it usually has higher data transfer rates.

10. Compare IEEE1394 asynchronous and isochronous data transfer.

IEEE 1394 supports asynchronous and isochronous data transfer. The following table shows a comparison of these two types of data transfer. Data transfer type Asynchronous Description For traditional memory-mapped, load and store applications, asynchronous transfer is appropriate and adequate. Asynchronous transfer provides guaranteed delivery and reliability is more important than timing. Isochronous data transfer, on the other hand, provides guaranteed data transport at a pre-determined rate. This is especially important for multimedia applications where uninterrupted transport of time-critical data and just-in-time delivery reduce the need for costly buffering.

Isochronous

11. What are the improvements in IEEE1394a and IEEE1394b revision over IEEE1394 specifications?

12. What are the features of IEEE1394 that are useful for computer based measurement and controlapplication? -hot-pluggable :eliminate the need to shut down the PC to add or remove a device. -automatic device detection:- user does not have to manually configure the device once it is plugged in. The software should detect and install the device on its own. -Broadcast mode can also prove useful in an emergency shutdown situation for embedded machine and automation applications.FireWire can deliver synchronized broadcasts from any device to all other devices when operated in broadcast mode. -With isochronous transfers, the bus guarantees bandwidth with time-based delivery of data packets. Isochronous transport guarantees that a transmission is completed within a given amount of time, but it does not guarantee that the transmission is received error-free. -Data-intensive machine vision and DAQ applications often demand this type of guaranteed bandwidth. -Asynchronous transport guarantees accurate delivery, and devices with urgent messages can be given priority over all other devices. Applications for asynchronous transport include delivering control messages and changing device parameters.

13. List the characteristics of IEEE1394 isochronous mode of data transfer IEEE-1394 guarantees time-based delivery of data packets which most other serial communication schemes do not. This feature is critical in closed loop servo control applications, data acquisition from analog sources and machine vision using digital video. In addition to the need for guaranteed delivery time, guaranteed delivery order is also equally important for these applications, as each message represents the state of a machine or instrument function at a given point in time which may be part of a closed loop system wherein the order of the data must be sequential. Ethernet based networks do not support ordered and timely data sequences which is critical for all industrial automation networks. 14. Describe the USB topology with appropriate diagram

15. Describe the IEEE1394 topology with appropriate diagram

. Work area #1 comprises a video camera, PC, and video recorder, all interconnected via IEEE 1394. The PC is also connected to a physically distant printer via a 1394 repeater, which extends the inter-device distance by redriving the 1394 signals. Up to sixteen hops may be made between any two devices on a 1394 bus. A 1394 splitter is used between the bridge and the printer to provide another port to attach a 1394 bus bridge. Splitters provide more topology flexibility for users. Work area #2 contains only a PC and printer on a 1394 bus segment, plus a connection to the bus bridge. The 1394 bus bridge isolates data traffic within each work area. IEEE 1394 bus bridges allow selected data to be passed from one bus segment to another. Therefore PC #2 can request image data from the video recorder in work area #1. Since the 1394 cable is powered, the PHY signalling interface is always powered, and video data is transported even if PC #1 is powered off.