Differentiate between serial and parallel communication ?

Answer 1

serial communications is the process of sending data one bit at one time, sequentially, over a communications channel or computer bus. This is in contrast to parallel communications, where all the bits of each symbol are sent together.

Answer 2

Serial And Parallel Communication

Answer 3

* Parallel Data
The parallel port on modern computer systems is an example of a parallel communications connection. The parallel port has 8 data wires, and a large series of ground wires and control wires. IDE harddisk connectors are another good example of parallel connections in a computer system.

* Serial Data
The serial port on modern computers is a good example of serial communications. Serial ports have a single data wire, and the remainder of the wires are either ground or control signals. USB and FireWire are good examples of other serial communications standards.

* Which is Better?
It is a natural question to ask which one of the two transmission methods is better. At first glance, it would seem that parallel ports should be able to send data much faster then serial ports. Let's say we have a parallel connection with 8 data wires, and a serial connection with a single data wire. Simple arithmetic seems to show that the parallel system can transmit 8 times as fast as the serial system.

However, parallel ports suffer extremely from inter-symbol interference (ISI) and noise, and therefore the data can be corrupted over long distances. Also, because the wires in a parallel system have small amounts of capacitance and mutual inductance, the bandwidth of parallel wires is much lower then the bandwidth of serial wires. We all know by now that an increased bandwidth leads to a better bit rate. We also know that less noise in the channel means we can successfully transmit data reliably with a lower SNR.

If, however, we bump up the power in a serial connection by using a differential signal with 2 wires (one with a positive voltage, and one with a negative voltage), we can use the same amount of power, have twice the SNR, and reach an even higher bitrate without suffering the effects of noise. USB cables, for instance, use sheilded, differential serial communications, and the USB 2.0 standard is capable of data transmission rates of 480Mbits/sec!

In addition, because of the increased potential for noise and interference, parallel wires need to be far shorter then serial wires. Consider the standard parallel port wire to connect the PC to a printer: those wires are between 3 and 4 feet long. Now consider ethernet wires (which are serial): they can be bought in lengths of 50 feet or more!

Answer 4

In serial communication data-bits are sent serially on a wire.
In parallel communication data bits are sent in parallel over several wires.

Practically you monitor uses parallel communication, - check it out it has 8 data pins- however your ethernet card or modem uses serial communication

peace

Answer 5

Serial is sequential, one after the other.
Parallel is just that, data on multiple lines.