What are Communication Protocols? Definition & Types

Communication protocols are rules that ensure that the data is shared successfully between two electronic devices without any error. These protocols are responsible for defining the solution of any possible error that can occur in communication. Therefore, in this article, we will discuss what is communication protocol, its importance, and the types of communication protocols.

What are Communication Protocols?

The main use of communication protocols is in telecommunication systems so that messages can transfer between computing systems without serious errors. They play an essential role in building systems that can receive and send messages with consistency. Moreover, with the help of these protocols, you can easily describe analog and digital communications synchronization. With this, you will also be able to describe their syntax and semantics.

Computer networks cannot exist without these protocols; therefore, they are implemented in hardware and software. Several rules set by these protocols include data formats, address formats, direction of information, and much more. When the source and destination devices agree on these rules, a communication channel is established between the two electronic devices.

Why is Communication Protocol Important?

To transfer information from source to destination, you must follow a set of rules for a better experience. Therefore, at this point, communication protocols help telecommunication companies make their messaging system error-free. In addition, protocols like TCP and UDP are responsible for maintaining the proper data transmission flow in computer networks.

Furthermore, these communication protocols do not limit their use cases to telecommunication systems. But in fact, different companies use communication protocols to ensure communication within their companies. Doing this helps them build a strong communication channel that enables their employees to share information. This system can be beneficial for companies that deal with oil and gas.

What Are the Types of Communication Protocols?

Moving on, let’s understand the two types of communication protocols. This includes the Inter System Protocol and Intra System Protocol. These protocols are helpful for analog and digital communications. To understand how these protocols work and what are main differences in them, let’s move towards the next section:

1. Inter-System Protocol

You can use the inter-system protocol to build effective communication between a microcontroller circuit and a computer. This protocol uses the inter-bus system to transfer data without any issues. Moreover, this protocol has three different categories, which you can see below:

UART Protocol: This is a half-duplex protocol, which stands for (Universal Asynchronous Transmitter and Receiver) whose main purpose is to receive and send signals. It has labeled data cable signal lines as Receiver (RX) and Transmitter (TX). Furthermore, it has two wired protocols, which help to send individual bits sequentially by taking bytes of data.
USB Protocol: This serial communication of two-wire protocol can help you transfer data between USB devices. The main use of this protocol is to send and receive data between host and peripheral devices at a max speed of 10kbps to 400mbps. Moreover, many devices like keyboards, mouse, and pen drives use the USB protocol with a max length of 4 meters.
USART Protocol: USART is a full-duplex protocol that has a data cable whose signal lines are labeled as RX and TX. With the help of this protocol, data is sent byte by byte along the clock pulses. This protocol can work as both receiver and transmitter.

2. Intra-System Protocol

The second communication protocol is the Intra System Protocol, which helps build communication within circuit boards. This protocol increases the power consumption and complexity of the circuit. In addition to this, Intra System Protocol has three different categories, which you can check below:

I2C Protocol: This protocol connects the microcontroller with all the peripherals with the help of only two wires. These wires are SCL and SDA, which carry information from one end to the other. This protocol has the salve and master device concept, which helps build connections.
SPI Protocol: Motorola developed the SPI, which is a full-duplex protocol. This protocol usually has four wires which are SCL, MOSI, SS, and MISO. Moreover, circuit boards use this protocol for communication between master and slave devices. Its data transfer is not limited to 8-bit.
CAN Protocol: This protocol stands for controller area network and requires two wires because it is a serial communication protocol. In 1985, Rober Bosh developed this protocol which allows devices like microcontrollers to communicate with each other without the need for any host.

Communication Protocols in Real-time Communication

Real-time communication protocols are essential for enabling instantaneous or near-instantaneous data exchange between devices, applications, or users. These protocols are specifically designed to minimize latency, ensure synchronization, and maintain data integrity during transmission, which is critical for applications like video conferencing, online gaming, live streaming, and VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol).

Key Protocols in Real-time Communication:

RTP: RTP is the backbone of real-time communication, primarily used for delivering audio and video over IP networks. It handles the packetization of media streams and ensures that data is transmitted in a time-sensitive manner. RTP is often used in conjunction with other protocols like RTCP and SIP to provide a complete communication solution.
RTCP: RTCP works alongside RTP to monitor the quality of the data transmission. It provides feedback on network conditions, such as latency, packet loss, and jitter, allowing systems to adjust transmission rates or other parameters to maintain optimal performance.
SIP: SIP is used to initiate, maintain, and terminate real-time communication sessions. These sessions can include voice calls, video conferences, and instant messaging. SIP is responsible for establishing the connection, negotiating media capabilities, and managing the overall session lifecycle.
WebRTC : WebRTC is a collection of protocols and APIs that enable peer-to-peer communication directly between web browsers without the need for plugins. It supports voice, video, and data sharing in real-time, making it a popular choice for applications like video chat and live streaming.
SRTP: SRTP is an extension of RTP that provides encryption, message authentication, and integrity protection for real-time communications. This ensures that data transmitted over the network remains secure and protected from eavesdropping or tampering.

You may also like: XMPP vs WebSocket: How to Choose for Chat App?

Seamless Integration of Communication Protocols with ZEGOCLOUD

If you want to use communication protocols that support cloud computing, ZEGOCLOUD can help you with this. This API/SDK provider supports many messaging protocols in its In-chat app feature. These protocols include MQTT, SIP, AMQP, TCP, RCS, and more. You can use its In-chat app API to build a strong communication platform with effective data transfer options.

Moreover, with ZEGOCLOUD, you can build fantastic chat platforms for your business. Not only this but with its different APIs, such as video call API and voice call API, you can improve the audio quality in real-time. Furthermore, the real-time communication network of ZEGOCLOUD covers more than 212 countries and provides an ultra-low latency rate globally.

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FAQ

Q1: How do communication protocols work?

Communication protocols work by establishing rules for data formatting, transmission, and error handling. When data moves from one device to another, the protocol determines how to package, send, receive, and interpret that data accurately.

Q2: Why are communication protocols necessary in networking?

Communication protocols are necessary because they allow different devices to communicate and share data effectively. Without these protocols, devices from different manufacturers or using different software would struggle to exchange information.

Q3: How do communication protocols ensure data integrity?

Communication protocols ensure data integrity by using methods like error detection, correction codes, and acknowledgments. These techniques verify that the data arrives without errors, and if an issue occurs, the protocol handles the retransmission of the data.