Synchronous Modems

Synchronous modems operates in the audio domain, at rates up to 28800 bps in audio lines, used in
telephones systems (using synchronous data). The usual modulation methods are the phase modulation
and integrated phase and amplitude (at higher rates than 4800 bps).

In synchronous modems, equalizers are used, in order to offset the misfit of the telephone lines. These
equalizers are inserted in addition to the equalizers, that sometimes already exist in the telephone lines.

These equalizers an be classified into three main groups:

1. Fixed/statistical equalizer - these equalizers offset the signal according to the average of the
known attenuation in each frequency. Tuning the equalizer is sometimes done in the factory and
stays fixed, usually they are used to operate at low rates in a dial up line.
2. Manually adjusted equalizer - these equalizers can be tuned to optimal performance to a given
line. These equalizers should be re-tuned when the line is replaced and periodically. Specially, it
should be tuned frequently when the line is of a low quality and it's parameters are changed
frequently. Tuning is done using a button inside the modem (or on the external board).
3. Automatic equalizer - these equalizers are tuned automatically when the connection is
established. Depending on the line quality in a specific moment, in a process of about 15ms to
25ms, after the first tuning, the equalizer samples the line continually and adjusts itself to the
changed conditions, so the modem operates at each moment under optimal conditions. The fitness
process operates, in some modems, at rates of 2400 times in a second.

Synchronous modems operate in the same manner asynchronous modems. However, synchronous
modems operates at higher rates and since the requirements to transmit at these rates is increasing, most of
the innovations are implemented for synchronous modems.

In synchronous modems the channel can be split for several consumers at various speeds. Modems who
have this ability are called SSM - Split System Modem. These modems can use a simple split or a split using
multipoint connection.

Synchronous data is accompanied by a clock signal. Synchronous data is almost always grouped in
blocks, and it is the responsibility of the data source to assemble those blocks with framing codes and any
extra bits needed for error detecting and/or correcting according to one of many different protocols (BISYNC,
SDLC, HDLC, etc.). The data source and destination expect the modem to be transparent to this type of
data, conversely, the modem can ignore the blocking of the data.

Asynchronous Modems
Most of the modems that operate in slow and moderate rates, up to 1800 bps, are asynchronous (using
asynchronous data). Asynchronous modems operate in FSK modulation and use two frequencies for
transmission and another two for receiving. Asynchronous modems can be connected in different options to
the communication media:

• Using 2-wire or 4-wire interface.

• Using switched lines or leased lines.
• Using interface to call unit/automatic answer, when dialing-up.
In a 2-wire line, full duplex operation can be achieved by splitting the channel into two sub-channels.l

* Asynchronous data

Asynchronous data is not accompanied by any clock, and the transmitting and receiving modems know only
the nominal data rate. To prevent slipping of the data relative to the modems' clocks, this data is always
grouped in very short blocks (characters) with framing bits (start and stop bits). The most common code
used for this is the seven-bit ASCII code with even parity.

Modems

A modem (modulator-demodulator) is a device that modulates

an analog carrier signal to encode digital information, and
also demodulates such a carrier signal to decode the
transmitted information. The goal is to produce a signal
that can be transmitted easily and decoded to reproduce
the original digital data. Modems can be used over any
means of transmitting analog signals, from driven diodes
to radio.

INTRODUCTION
The need to communicate between distant computers led to the use of the existing phone network for data
transmission. Most phone lines were designed to transmit analog information - voices, while the computers
and their devices work in digital form - pulses. So, in order to use an analog medium, a converter between
the two systems is needed. This converter is the MODEM which performs MODulation and DEModulation of
transmitted data. It accepts serial binary pulses from a device, modulates some property (amplitude,
frequency, or phase) of an analog signal in order to send the signal in an analog medium, and performs the
opposite process, enabling the analog information to arrive as digital pulses at the computer or device on the
other side of connection.

Modems, in the beginning, were used mainly to communicate between DATA TERMINALS and a HOST
COMPUTER. Later, the use of modems was extended to communicate between END COMPUTERS. This
required more speed and the data rates increased from 300 bps in early days to 28.8bps today. Today,
transmission involves data compression techniques which increase the rates, error detection and error
correction for more reliability.

In order to enable modems of various types and different manufacture to communicate, interface standards
were developed by some standard organizations

Today's modems are used for different functions. They act as textual and voice mail systems, facsimiles,
and are connected or integrated into cellular phones and in notebook computers enabling sending data from
anywhere. The future might lead to new applications. Modem speeds are not expected to be increased
much over today's 28.8 kbps. Further dramatic speed increases will require digital phone technology such
as ISDN and fiber optic lines.

New applications might be implemented such as simultaneous voice and data. Videophones are an example
of this.

CLASSIFICATION OF MODEMS

The modems can be classified according to their characteristics:

• Range
o Short Haul
o Voice Grade (VG)
o Wideband
• Line Type
o Dial-up
o Leased
o Private
• Operation Mode
o Half Duplex
o Full Duplex
o Simplex
• Synchronization
o Asynchronous
o Synchronous
• Modulation
o AM
o FM/FSK
o PM
o TCM
• Data Rate
Example:
The most familiar example is a voiceband modem that turns the digital data of a personal computer into
analog audio signals that can be transmitted over a telephone line, and once received on the other side, a
modem converts the analog data back into digital.

Types Of Modems:
1) External modems: It is the second term we have to consider from different types of computer modem.
An External modem can be used to the same purpose and in the same conditions as internal computer
modem. However external modem is a small box that uses other kind of interfaces to be connected to the
computer.

2) USB modem: It could be a serial modem, named thus because it uses the serial port to connect to the
computer. Usually installed on the back of the computer, the serial port is an easy-to-install option for the
external modem. The same small box, on the other hand, can be an USB modem which normally uses USB
port usually placed on the back or in front of the computer.

3) Dial-Up modem: First of all external modem can be a Dial-Up modem but more expensive than the
internal.

As well as another type of external modem you may consider two important types of modem: cable modem
and DSL modem if you need high-speed internet services. All ISPs usually supply a specialized modem
named digital modem in the broadband package.

It’s important to notice that cablemodem has to connect to an Ethernet card, placed on the computer PCI
slot to provide a broadband internet connection to the user. This is true if you opt to use Ethernet
connection. However you won't need it if your option goes to use an USB connection.

4) Cable modem. The cable modem uses a coaxial cable television lines to provide a greater bandwidth
than the dial-up comuter modem. An extremely fast access to the Web is providing by the cable modem with
downstream transmission up to 38 Mbits/s and an upstream transmission up to 1 Mbits/s.

Unfortunately this transmission rate fluctuates with the number of users because of the shared bandwidth on
which the cable technology is based.

5) DSL modem. DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) modem is exclusively used for connections from a telephone
switching office to the user. This technology, available and frequently usable, split up into two main
categories:

6) ADSLor Asymetric Digital Subcriber Line is used in North America and supports from 1.5 Mbits/s up to
9 Mbits/s of downstream transmission rate and up to 3 Mbits/s of upstream transmission rate.

7) SDSL. SDSL or Symetric Digital Subcriber Line is used in Europe and has the same data rates for
downstream and upstream transmission which is 128 Kbits/s.

Radio modems
Direct broadcast satellite, WiFi, and mobile phones all use modems to communicate, as do most other
wireless services today. Modern telecommunications and data networks also make extensive use of radio
modems where long distance data links are required. Such systems are an important part of the PSTN, and
are also in common use for high-speed computer network links to outlying areas where fibre is not
economical.
Even where a cable is installed, it is often possible to get better performance or make other parts of the
system simpler by using radio frequencies and modulation techniques through a cable. Coaxial cable has a
very large bandwidth, however signal attenuation becomes a major problem at high data rates if a digital
signal is used. By using a modem, a much larger amount of digital data can be
transmitted through a single piece of wire. Digital cable television and cable Internet
services use radio frequency modems to provide the increasing bandwidth needs of
modern households. Using a modem also allows for frequency-division multiple access to
be used, making full-duplex digital communication with many users possible using a
single wire.

Wireless modems come in a variety of types, bandwidths, and speeds. Wireless modems
are often referred to as transparent or smart. They transmit information that is modulated
onto a carrier frequency to allow many simultaneous wireless communication links to
work simultaneously on different frequencies.

Broadband

ADSL modems, a more recent development, are not limited to the

telephone's voiceband audio frequencies. Some ADSL modems
use coded orthogonal frequency division modulation (DMT).

Cable modems use a range of frequencies originally intended to

carry RF television channels. Multiple cable modems attached to a
single cable can use the same frequency band, using a low-level
media access protocol to allow them to work together within the
same channel. Typically, 'up' and 'down' signals are kept separate
using frequency division multiple access.

New types of broadband modems are beginning to appear, such as doubleway satellite and power line
modems.

Broadband modems should still be classed as modems, since they use complex waveforms to carry digital
data. They are more advanced devices than traditional dial-up modems as they are capable of
modulating/demodulating hundreds of channels simultaneously.

Many broadband modems include the functions of a router (with Ethernet and WiFi ports) and other features
such as DHCP, NAT and firewall features.

Mobile modems and routers

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modem

Modems which use mobile phone lines (GPRS, UMTS, HSPA,

EVDO, WiMax, etc.), are known as cellular modems. Cellular
modems can be embedded inside a laptop or appliance, or they
can be external to it. External cellular modems are datacards and cellular routers. The datacard is a PC card
or ExpressCard which slides into a PCMCIA/PC card/ExpressCard slot on a computer.

The best known brand of cellular modem datacards is the AirCard made by Sierra Wireless. (Many people
just refer to all makes and models as AirCards, when in fact this is a trademarked brand name.)Nowadays,
there are USB cellular modems as well that use a USB port on the laptop instead of a PC card or
ExpressCard slot. A cellular router may or may not have an external datacard (AirCard) that slides into it.
Most cellular routers do allow such datacards or USB modems. Cellular Routers may not be modems per
se, but they contain modems or allow modems to be slid into them. The difference between a cellular router
and a cellular modem is that a cellular router normally allows multiple people to connect to it (since it can
route, or support multipoint to multipoint connections), while the modem is made for one connection.