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Data streams are sequences of information sent between devices, consisting of small packets or pulses. Data transmission can be serial or parallel, and asynchronous or synchronous. Monitoring data flows is important for security reasons to prevent interception of unprotected information.
A data stream is a sequence of information that is sent between two devices. Data streams exist in many types of modern electronics, such as computers, televisions and cell phones. A typical data stream consists of many small packets or pulses. Each of these packets or pulses contains a small amount of information. When combined together, they make up the entire information sent. The process of sending these signals is called data transmission.
There are many different aspects of data transmission that affect the final method used to create a data stream. One of the most basic classifications is serial and parallel transmission. In a serial transmission, the data stream is sent in its entirety along a single wire. At the endpoint, data is collected and reassembled. There is rarely any difficulty with this method, as all packets should arrive in the order they were sent.
A parallel data stream is sent along multiple paths to the same destination. This is typically used in a larger network to avoid creating bottlenecks where too much information passes through one location. With this method, information may arrive out of order due to differences in hardware hops and transmission distance. This can occasionally cause data corruption if sequences are reassembled incorrectly.
Data can exist in asynchronous or synchronous streams. In a typical asynchronous stream, a special character is inserted at the beginning and end of the data packet. These special characters, called the start and stop bits, tell the receiving computer when specific data begins and ends, and aids in the reconstruction of the data after it has arrived.
Synchronous data streams do not have start and end bits, but instead are based on time. The internal clocks of the two devices are synchronized and the information sent between them is printed with the time on the clock. Using this method, the receiving device can simply reassemble the information in chronological order. Problems can arise using this method when the two computers do not maintain synchronicity; packages can be reassembled incorrectly or eventually thrown away altogether.
Monitoring data flows is important for security reasons. As data moves across a network, it is possible for individuals to intercept the packets. Using specialized analyzers, people can open packages and locate information they shouldn’t have. Some encryption techniques make this difficult in some cases, but the transmission of unprotected information should be kept to a minimum.
