This document discusses digital data communication techniques, including asynchronous and synchronous transmission. Asynchronous transmission sends data on a character-by-character basis with start and stop bits, while synchronous transmission sends blocks of data without start/stop bits and requires clock synchronization. Error detection techniques like parity checks and cyclic redundancy checks are used to detect errors, while error correction codes can detect and correct some errors. Standards like EIA-232 define interfaces between data terminal equipment and data circuit-terminating equipment.