Communication Protocols

communication protocols make many rules in the digital world. Case in point on the internet, the formation of protocols can be done by various groups such as the World Wide Web or W3C and the Internet Engineering Task make the association in providing worldwide operations and provide different types of varieties and liabilities within these operations.

When HTTP turns into HTTPS, communication plays a key role otherwise the use of a Secure Socket Layer (SSL) certificate is the standard. Other than communication protocol uses the data packets within the global network look like particle physics. The (IoT) Internet of things assures the latest communication protocol connects to a wide set of devices in a network. This blog gives an overview of communication protocols and their types in embedded systems.

Communication protocols:

The proper representation of digital message formats and their set of rules is called communication protocol. The basic aim of these protocols is to exchange messages between two devices. These protocols are significantly used in a telecommunication system for receiving and sending data and messages. Communication protocol cover error detection and correction, verification, and signaling. So, communication protocols are of thousand types that cover all digital communications. Without this protocol computer networks were never present.

• Communication: It is defined as the exchange of information transferred from one device to another via a medium called communication.
• Protocol: A protocol is a set of rules and regulations.
• Communication protocol: Those set of rules that give access to electronic to connect to exchange data and messages with one another.

Importance of communication protocols:

Communication protocol allows the various network to exchange messages and data with each other simply by transporting a signal, different files, or digital signal from one system to another system. In telecommunication and computer networks these protocols are in use to transmit information from source to specific destination. The most common protocols are user datagram protocol (UDP) and transmission control protocol (TCP).

Types:

There are two major types of communication protocols which are following below,

• Intra system protocol
• Inter system protocol

 Inter system protocol:

The word inter is used for different, so the inter-system protocol using to connect two different devices. For example, communication between microcontroller kit and computer system. Inter bus system did this communication.

The different classes of inter-protocol systems include the following,

• USB protocol
• UART protocol
• USART protocol

UART protocol:

It stands for the universal asynchronous transmitter and receiver. UART protocol is a type of serial protocol with two wired protocols. It is mostly used for transmitting and receiving the signal. Data cable signal lines are demonstrated with Rx and Tx. The data are transferred and received bit by bit in a series without causing any pulses. The UART takes the bytes of data that need to be transferred and sends the individual bits in a series manner.

The UART works on a half-duplex mode. It means sending and receiving the data simultaneously. Most of the controllers have UART hardware. It has 1 start bit, 8-bit data, and a non-stop bit. That means 8-bit data transfer one signal is high intensity to low intensity.

For example, SMS and Emails work on this protocol.

USART protocol:

This protocol stands for universal synchronous and asynchronous transmitter and receiver. It is two wired protocols. Rx and Tx signal lines are used by data cables. It works on a full duplex mode which means sending and receiving at the same time to different boards. Data are transmitted and received bytes by bytes with a clock pulse. For example, telecommunication.

USB protocol:

USB stands for universal serial bus. It is also a two-wired protocol. The data cable demonstrated as D+ and D-. USB protocol uses to communicate with the peripheral system. USB requires a driver system that depends on the functionality of the system. To send data between host and peripheral devices USB protocols are used. Without any request from the host computer USB devices transfer data on the bus.

Nowadays most the devices use USB protocol. For example, a computer communicates with an ARM controller using a USB. There are different modes of transfer in USB,

• Slow speed mode 10 to 100Kbps.
• The second one is full speed mode between 500Kbps to 10mbps.
• The high-speed mode is 25mbps to 400Mbps. The maximum cable length is 4 meters.

For example, switches, keyboards, mice, pen drive

Intra system protocols:

The intra-system protocol is used to communicate two devices within the same circuit board. We will be able to expand the peripherals of microcontrollers while using the intra-system protocol. The complexity of protocol and usage of power increase with the intra-system protocol.

The different classification of intra-system protocol mainly includes the followings,

• SPI protocol
• CAN protocol
• I2C protocol

SPI protocol:

It stands for the serial peripheral interface.  Sometimes also called a four-wire protocol. Because it requires four wires MOSI, SS, SCLK, and MISO.  SPI protocol is like communicating between master and slave. The master first tried to configure the clock by using a frequency.

The maser has the authority to select the slave device for communications via the chip select button. That button selects the particular device and starts the communication between the master and the slave device. The master selects one slave device at a time. It works on full duplex mode protocol.

CAN protocol:

CAN stands for controller area network. It was first discovered by Robert bosh company in 1985 for in-vehicle networks. CAN protocol use two wires one is CAN high and the other is CAN low. Its principle is based on the message-oriented transmission protocol.

I2C protocol:

It stands for an inter-integrated circuit and requires two wires for connecting all peripherals with the microcontrollers. The serial data line and serial clock line these two cables are in I2C protocol. It is master salve protocol. Each slave has a particular address. Master sends the address to the particular slave and reads the flag.

Once the address is matched communication starts between the master and slave device and sends and receives data. The transmitter sends the 8-bit data, and the receiver replies with a 1-bit.  The basic purpose is to provide an easy path to connect the CPU to peripheral chips.

In an embedded system, peripheral devices are connected to the microcontrollers via memory-mapped devices. I2C needs two wires for connection. The wires are SCL and SDA also are bi-directional. The only difference is that SCL is a serial clock line and the SDA is a serial data line.

A communication protocol in IoT:

The IoT-based system is more vulnerable to attacks. So, these security issues can be prevented via a communication protocol. It is the protocol that makes sure the finest security when data is exchanged among the IoT devices.

The communication is work through the IP network. But the connection throughout is very difficult, it takes large memory and memory from the devices. an alternative device like Bluetooth which is a non-IP network need low memory and consume less power however it has limitation in the range. The main advantages of this communication protocol are high credibility and quality, flexibility, and worldwide scalability. The IoT protocol is of two types mainly IoT data protocols and IoT network protocols. The top protocols are

• WIFI
• Bluetooth
• Z wave
• Cellular
• Near Field Communication
• Sigfox

Data communication protocols:

This kind of protocol rules over the other methods like language to interact with the network with each other. For example, if the user wants to send an email, then the user needs to make an email on his computer and then send the message along with attachments.

Once the user sends an email then immediately the receiver gets an email. So, the message moves over the network and reaches the recipient.  It also provides information on how the receiver computer detects the error etc.

Frequently asked the question:

Q NO1: which protocol is best for you?

After surveying the different types of protocols in computer networks let’s look at which is best for you,

• For small businesses: Internet protocol and TCP are best for small businesses.
• For faster file transfer: use the FTP protocol instead of relying on the HTTP alone.
• For security: security use the HTTP
• For managing network: SNMP is still in use and it is more efficient now when working with communication protocols like UDP.