Serial transmission is a method of data communication where data is sent one bit at a time over a single channel. It involves encoding the data into binary form and transmitting it sequentially with start and stop bits framing each data byte. Serial transmission is widely used in applications like computer peripherals, networking devices, and industrial automation. It offers simplicity, cost-effectiveness, and longer transmission distances but has lower data transfer rates compared to parallel transmission. Common examples of serial transmission interfaces include RS-232, RS-485, USB, and SPI.