AQA 7517 4.9.1.2: Communication basics
The free BugBot lesson that teach this point, a robot to try it on, and the past-paper questions that test it.
What it covers
At GCSE (F10.3) you met bandwidth as "how much data a connection carries each second", and worked out transfer times. At A level you need to be more precise. This lesson looks at how bits actually travel down a link: one at a time or several at once, with or without a shared clock. Then it separates four words that GCSE blurred together: baud rate, bit rate, bandwidth and latency, and ends with why every link needs a protocol.
- Serial and parallel
- Synchronous and asynchronous
- Baud rate and bit rate
- Bandwidth and latency
- Protocols
Or do it in the simulator, with tasks that mark themselves
Lessons that teach it
- A12.1 Communication methods Networks and the web
Serial and parallel, synchronous and asynchronous, baud rate, bit rate, bandwidth, latency and protocols.
Try it on a robot
The task from A12.1 Communication methods, running here. Change the program and press Run.
The specification is AQA's own document; this page says which of our lessons teach point 4.9.1.2 and is not endorsed by the board.