10.1 Communication Interfaces


The sender and receiver are usually not connected directly to the transmission medium (or network).
An interfacing device usually stands in the middle between the sender and the transmission medium.
Similarly, another interfacing device mediates between the transmission medium and the receiver.
This is illustrated in Figure 10.1.
A communicating component such as each of the computers in Figure 10.1 is termed Data Terminal Equipment (DTE).
The interfacing device is termed Data Circuit-Terminating Equipment (DCE). An example of a DCE is a modem.
Figure 10.1: Interfacing to the Transmission Medium