What Does Asynchronous Communication Mean?

Asynchronous communication means the sender and the receiver do not have to be present at the same time. Email and text messaging are prime examples of how it is used today. It is speedy and cost-effective. The technology is used extensively with personal computers, connecting them to printers, modems and fax machines.

With asynchronous communication, neither the sender nor the receiver needs to worry about when the other will be present. This makes it especially useful for online communication like email and posting. It is a cost-effective and useful technology.

Synchronous communication, on the other hand, is time synchronized at both ends. Sender and receiver must be available at the same time. Examples include an online chat room gathering or a business meeting in an office.

In another example, a phone conversation is synchronous because both sides are participating at the same time. However, an answering machine is asynchronous. One party leaves the message at a certain time. The person who listens to the message does so at another time.

Asynchronous offers speed and efficiency, so it is one of most commonly used switching technologies today, especially in personal computers. This is what connects the computer to the printer, modem and fax machine.

Technically, in asynchronous communication, bytes of data can be sent and then separated by idle periods, with no problem. It uses all the bandwidth available, so it can transfer different kinds of data at the same time. That is why it is used extensively with transferring email, streaming audio and video, and pictures and video files. Many other technologies work differently, allowing only a portion of all the bandwidth to be used after certain functions have started. It is this efficient use of all the bandwidth that makes asynchronous practical and economical.

In addition, it is speedier. Each cell in asynchronous communication is 53 bytes in length. When data is processed, it is always clear where the cell starts and stops since this number never changes.