A modem modulates outgoing digital signals from a computer or other digital device to

analog signals for a conventional copper twisted pair telephone line and demodulates
the incoming analog signal and converts it to a digital signal for the digital device.

In recent years, the 2400 bits per second modem that could carry e-mail has become
obsolete. 14.4 Kbps and 28.8 Kbps modems were temporary landing places on the way
to the much higher bandwidth devices and carriers of tomorrow. From early 1998, most
new personal computers came with 56 Kbps modems. By comparison, using a digital
Integrated Services Digital Network adapter instead of a conventional modem, the same
telephone wire can now carry up to 128 Kbps. With Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)
systems, now being deployed in a number of communities, bandwidth on twisted-pair
can be in the megabit range.

Modem, short for modulator-demodulator is an electronic device that converts a

computer’s digital signals into specific frequencies to travel over telephone or cable
television lines. At the destination, the receiving modem demodulates the frequencies
back into digital data. Computers use modems to communicate with one another over a
network.The modem has significantly evolved since the 1970s when the 300 baud
modem was used for connecting computers to bulletin board systems (BBSs). With this
type of modem each bit, represented digitally by a 1 or 0, was transmitted as a specific
tone. The receiving modem responded with its own dedicated frequencies so that the
modems could “talk at the same time.” The technical term for this type of modem is
asynchronous

working

Modems are devices used to access internet in a dial up internet connection. The word
“Modem” is actually Derived from 2 terms, Modulator and Demodulator. The primary
function of a modem is made up of two processes. One is to convert data from digital
computer signals to analog signals to send over a phone line and other one is to
convert analog signals into digital data when it is received through phone line. The
process in which digital computer signals are converted to analog signals is called
modulation. The process in which analog signals are converted back into digital is
called demodulation.

The primary function of the modem seems very simple when you read the description
given above. However, the actual process is much more intricate. It is divided into some
smaller functions as explained below.

The process begins when the computer transmits data to modem to send over internet.
However, there is a significant gap between ability of data transfer between computer
and modem. Computers are capable of transmitting information to modems at a faster
rate then the modems are able to the same over a phone line. Hence, modems use
technique called Data Compression. Modems collect bits of information together and
compresses then before transmitting them over a phone line. The modem then group
bits together and applies compression algorithms to them. The data is compressed and
sent over to the phone line. This allows the transmission of large number of bits of data
at the same time.

The modem also takes responsibility to maintain the integrity of the data sent through
dialup connection. This function is called Error Correction. This function helps modems
to authenticate that the information sent has remained intact during the transfer. In
error correction, modems break up the data into small packets called frames. These
frames of information are then transmitted after adding a checksum to each of these
frames. The receiving modem checks whether the checksum matches the information
sent. If the checksum does not match then the entire frame is resent. This ensures that
the only the valid data is transferred and integrity of the data is preserved.

The final task is to ensure that the flow of the data transferred over internet is
maintained consistently. It is possible that the modem at the sending end is much faster
then the modem at the receiving end. Here, another function called the Flow Control
comes into play. To maintain the rate of data transfer, if the sending modem is capable
of sending data much faster than the receiving modem then the flow control at receiving
modem allows the receiving modem to tell the sending modem to pause while it catches
up. The flow control can be either software or hardware flow control. With software flow
control, the modem sends a certain character that signals pause when it is time to halt.
When it is ready to resume, it sends a different character. Hardware flow control uses
wires in the modem cable. Overall, the Hardware flow control is faster and much more
reliable than software flow control.

Overall, these three functions makes up most of the internal working of a modem and
help modem to transfer data over the dial up connection in an efficient and reliable way