Half-duplex is a mode of communication in which data can be transmitted or received, but cannot be transmitted and received simultaneously.

What is half-duplex?

A mode of communication in which data can be transmitted or received, but cannot be transmitted and received simultaneously. The simplest example is a walkie-talkie: You have to press a button to talk and release the button to listen. When two people use walkie-talkies to communicate, at any given moment, only one of them can talk while the other listens. If both try to talk simultaneously, a collision occurs and neither hears what the other says.

Communication through traditional Ethernet networks is another example of half-duplex communication. When one station on an Ethernet transmits, the other stations detect the carrier signal and listen instead of transmitting. If two stations transmit signals simultaneously, a collision occurs and both stations stop transmitting and wait random intervals of time before retransmitting.

Half-duplex systems are usually used to conserve bandwidth since only a single communication channel is needed, which is shared alternately between the two directions. For example, a walkie-talkie requires only a single frequency for bidirectional communication, while a cell phone, which is a full-duplex device, requires two frequencies to carry the two simultaneous voice channels, one in each direction.

In half-duplex systems, if more than one party transmits at the same time, a collision occurs, resulting in lost messages.

In contrast, full-duplex communication enables stations to transmit and receive signals simultaneously, with the advantage of providing twice the bandwidth of equivalent half-duplex technologies. However, full-duplex requires two communication channels to achieve these results – one to transmit and one to receive signals.

A third mode of communication is called simplex, which involves transmission in one direction only, with one station transmitting signals and the other receiving them.