Please Whitelist This Site?

I know everyone hates ads. But please understand that I am providing premium content for free that takes hundreds of hours of time to research and write. I don't want to go to a pay-only model like some sites, but when more and more people block ads, I end up working for free. And I have a family to support, just like you. :)

If you like The TCP/IP Guide, please consider the download version. It's priced very economically and you can read all of it in a convenient format without ads.

If you want to use this site for free, I'd be grateful if you could add the site to the whitelist for Adblock. To do so, just open the Adblock menu and select "Disable on tcpipguide.com". Or go to the Tools menu and select "Adblock Plus Preferences...". Then click "Add Filter..." at the bottom, and add this string: "@@||tcpipguide.com^$document". Then just click OK.

Thanks for your understanding!

Sincerely, Charles Kozierok
Author and Publisher, The TCP/IP Guide


NOTE: Using software to mass-download the site degrades the server and is prohibited.
If you want to read The TCP/IP Guide offline, please consider licensing it. Thank you.

The Book is Here... and Now On Sale!

Read offline with no ads or diagram watermarks!
The TCP/IP Guide

Custom Search







Table Of Contents  The TCP/IP Guide
 9  Networking Fundamentals
      9  Network Performance Issues and Concepts

Previous Topic/Section
Theoretical and Real-World Throughput, and Factors Affecting Network Performance
Previous Page
Pages in Current Topic/Section
1
2
Next Page
Quality of Service (QoS)
Next Topic/Section

Simplex, Full-Duplex and Half-Duplex Operation
(Page 1 of 2)

Another aspect of performance that is worthy of some attention is the mode of operation of the network or connection. Obviously, whenever we connect together device A and device B, there must be some way for A to send to B and B to send to A. Many people don’t realize, however, that networking technologies can differ in terms of how these two directions of communication are handled. Depending on how the network is set up, and the characteristics of the technologies used, performance may be improved through the selection of performance-enhancing modes.

Basic Communication Modes of Operation

Let's begin with a look at the three basic modes of operation that can exist for any network connection, communications channel, or interface.

Simplex Operation

In simplex operation, a network cable or communications channel can only send information in one direction; it's a “one-way street”. This may seem counter-intuitive: what's the point of communications that only travel in one direction? In fact, there are at least two different places where simplex operation is encountered in modern networking.

The first is when two distinct channels are used for communication: one transmits from A to B and the other from B to A. This is surprisingly common, even though not always obvious. For example, most if not all fiber optic communication is simplex, using one strand to send data in each direction. But this may not be obvious if the pair of fiber strands are combined into one cable.

Simplex operation is also used in special types of technologies, especially ones that are asymmetric. For example, one type of satellite Internet access sends data over the satellite only for downloads, while a regular dial-up modem is used for upload to the service provider. In this case, both the satellite link and the dial-up connection are operating in a simplex mode.

Half-Duplex Operation

Technologies that employ half-duplex operation are capable of sending information in both directions between two nodes, but only one direction or the other can be utilized at a time. This is a fairly common mode of operation when there is only a single network medium (cable, radio frequency and so forth) between devices.

While this term is often used to describe the behavior of a pair of devices, it can more generally refer to any number of connected devices that take turns transmitting. For example, in conventional Ethernet networks, any device can transmit, but only one may do so at a time. For this reason, regular (unswitched) Ethernet networks are often said to be “half-duplex”, even though it may seem strange to describe a LAN that way.

Full-Duplex Operation

In full-duplex operation, a connection between two devices is capable of sending data in both directions simultaneously. Full-duplex channels can be constructed either as a pair of simplex links (as described above) or using one channel designed to permit bidirectional simultaneous transmissions. A full-duplex link can only connect two devices, so many such links are required if multiple devices are to be connected together.

Note that the term “full-duplex” is somewhat redundant; “duplex” would suffice, but everyone still says “full-duplex” (likely, to differentiate this mode from half-duplex).


Previous Topic/Section
Theoretical and Real-World Throughput, and Factors Affecting Network Performance
Previous Page
Pages in Current Topic/Section
1
2
Next Page
Quality of Service (QoS)
Next Topic/Section

If you find The TCP/IP Guide useful, please consider making a small Paypal donation to help the site, using one of the buttons below. You can also donate a custom amount using the far right button (not less than $1 please, or PayPal gets most/all of your money!) In lieu of a larger donation, you may wish to consider purchasing a download license of The TCP/IP Guide. Thanks for your support!
Donate $2
Donate $5
Donate $10
Donate $20
Donate $30
Donate: $



Home - Table Of Contents - Contact Us

The TCP/IP Guide (http://www.TCPIPGuide.com)
Version 3.0 - Version Date: September 20, 2005

© Copyright 2001-2005 Charles M. Kozierok. All Rights Reserved.
Not responsible for any loss resulting from the use of this site.