Digital Communication 1.

Define multiplexing Multiplexing is the transmission of information from one or more source to one or more destination over the same transmission medium (facility). 2. Describe the frame format and operation of the T1 digital carrier system. The multiplexer is simply an electronically controlled digital switch with two inputs and one output. Channel 1 and channel 2 are alternately selected and connected to the transmission line through the multiplexer. One eight-bit PCM code from each channel (16 total bits) is called a TDM frame, and the time it takes to transmit one TDM frame is called frame time. The frame time is equal to the reciprocal of the sample rate (1/f s, or 1/8000= 125s). The PCM coed for each channel occupies a fixed time slot (epoch) within the total TDM frame. With a two-channel system, one sample is taken from each channel during each frame, and the time allocated to transmit the PCM bits from each channel is equal to one-half the total frame time allocated to transmit the PCM bits from each channel must be transmitted during each frame (a total of 16 PCM bits per frame). Thus, the line speed at the output of the multiplexer is 128kbps. A digital carrier system is a communications system that uses digital pulse rather than analog signals to encode information. T1 stands for transmission one and specifies a digital carrier system using PCM-encoded samples from 24 voiceband channels for transmission over a single metallic wire pair or optical fiber transmission line. 3. Describe the format of North American Digital Hierarchy Multiplexing signals in digital form lends itself easily to interconnecting digital transmission facilities with different transmission bit rates. The North American version of PDH is called NADH (North American Digital Hierarchy).The hierarchy uses TDM (time division multiplexing). In this scheme, a circuit is divided into a continuous stream of time slots and multiple channels are multiplexed into the circuit. Traditionally, each channel was a digitized voice call, but video information and data may also occupy a channel. The basic channel is 64 Kbits/sec, which is the amount of bandwidth required to transmit a voice call that has been converted from analog to digital using a sampling rate of 8,000 times per second with the sample represented as an 8-bit value (8 8,000 = 64 Kbits/sec). 4. Define Line Encoding Digital line encoding involves converting standard logic levels (TTL, CMOS, and the like) to a form more suitable to telephone line transmission. 5. Define the following terms and describe how they affect line encoding: duty cycle, bandwidth, clock recovery, error detection, and detecting and decoding. Duty cycle Duty cycle is the proportion of time during which a component, device, or system is operated. The duty cycle can be expressed as a ratio or as a percentage. It can be used to categorize the type of transmission. If the binary pulse is maintained for the entire bit time, this is called nonreturn to zero (NRZ). If the active time of the binary pulse is less than 100% of the time, this is called return to zero (RZ). Unipolar and bipolar transmission voltages with either of these two in several ways to achieve a particular line-encoding scheme. Bandwidth bandwidth is the width of the range (or band) of frequencies that an electronic signal uses on a given transmission medium. It is a requirement that bandwidth for transmission should be determined to know the capacity of propagation of the line encoded digital signals.

Clock Recovery for line encoding there is a need to have clock recovery at the receiver, one usually imposes a maximum run length constraint on the generated channel sequence, i.e. the maximum number of consecutive ones or zeros is bounded to a reasonable number. A clock period is recovered by observing transitions in the received sequence, so that a maximum run length guarantees such clock recovery, while sequences without such a constraint could seriously hamper the detection quality. Error Detection It is a method of providing reliable digital data of error transmission in the communication medium. By easily adding channel encoders and decoders, it is possible to implement error detection to line encoding. Detecting and Decoding Decoding - Decodes the input, previously created, to recover the original input file. Encode - Converts the readable input into output. The LINE-CODE ENCODER serves as an interface between the TTL level signals of the transmitter and those of the analog channel. Likewise, the LINECODE DECODER serves as an interface between the analog signals of the channel and the TTL level signals required by the digital receiver. 6. Describe the basic T-carrier system formats T carriers utilize special line-encoded signals and metallic cables that have been conditioned to meet the relatively high bandwidths required for high-speed digital transmission. The T-carrier system is entirely digital, using pulse code modulation (PCM) and time-division multiplexing (TDM). The system uses four wires and provides duplex capability (two wires for receiving and two for sending at the same time). The T1 digital stream consists of 24 64-Kbps channels that are multiplexed. (The standardized 64 Kbps channel is based on the bandwidth required for a voice conversation.) The four wires were originally a pair of twisted pair copper wires, but can now also include coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital microwave, and other media. A number of variations on the number and use of channels are possible. 7. Describe European Digital Carrier System In Europe, a different version of T carrier lines is used, called E-lines. Although the two systems are conceptually the same, they have different capabilities. With the basic E1 system, a 125-s frame is divided into 32 equal time slots. Time slot 0 is used for a frame alignment pattern and for an alarm channel. Time slot 17 is used for a common signaling channel (CSC). The signaling for all 30 voice-band channels is accomplished on the common signaling channel. Consequently, 30 voice-band channels are time-division multiplexed into each E1 frame. 8. Describe several methods of achieving frame synchronization Added-Digit Framing T1 carriers using D1, D2, or D3 channel banks use added-digit framing. A special framing digit (framing pulse) is added to each frame. To acquire frame synchronization, the digital terminal in the receiver searches through the incoming data until it finds the framing bit pattern. This encompasses testing a bit, counting of 193 more bits, and then testing again for the opposite logic condition. This process continues until a repetitive alternating I/O pattern is found. Initial frame synchronization depends on the total frame time, the number of bits per frame, and the period of each bit. Robbed-Digit Framing When a short frame is used, added-digit framing is inefficient. This occurs with single-channel PCM systems. An alternative solution is to replace the least

significant bit of every nth frame with framing bit. The parameter n is chosen as a compromise between reframe time and signal impairment. Added-Channel Framing Essentially, this is the same as added-digit framing except that digits are added in groups or words instead of as individual bits. The European timedivision multiplexing scheme previously discussed uses added-channel framing. One of the 32 time slots in each frame dedicated to a unique synchronizing bit sequence. Statistical Framing In this type of framing method, it is not necessary to either rob or add digits. With the gray code, the second bit is a logic 1 in the central half of the code range and a logic 0 at the extremes. Therefore, a signal that has centrally peaked amplitude generates a high probability of logic 1 in the second digit. Hence, the second digit of a given channel can be used for the framing bit. Unique Line Code Framing With this, some property of the framing bit is different from the data bits. The framing bit is made higher or lower amplitude or with different time duration. The earliest PCM-TDM systems used unique-line code framing. D1 channel banks used framing pulses that were twice the amplitude of the normal data bits. It is either added-digit or added-word framing can be used, or specified data bits can be used to simultaneously convey information and carry synchronizing signals. 9. Describe the difference between bit and word interleaving Word interleaving is used by T1 carrier systems. Eight-bit samples from each channel are interleaved into a single 24-channel TDM frame. Bit interleaving is used for higher speed TDM systems and delta modulation. The decision as to which type of interleaving to use is usually determined by the nature of the signals to be multiplexed. 10. Define codecs and combo chips and give a brief explanation of how they work Codec is a generic term that refers to the coding functions performed by a device that converts analog signals to digital codes and digital codes to analog signals. It is large-scale integration (LSI) chip designed for use in the telecommunications industry for private box exchanges (PBXs), central office switches, digital handsets, voice store-and-forward systems, and digital echo suppressors. It is applicable for any purpose that requires the digitizing of analog signals, such as in a PCM-TDM carrier system. Combo chips can provide the analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog conversions and transmit and receive filtering necessary to interface a full-duplex (four-wire) voice telephone circuit to the PCM highway of a TDM carrier system. Essentially, a combo chip replaces the older codec and filter chip replaces the older codec and filter chip combination. 11. Describe the format of the North American and FDM Hierarchy AT&T provides the vast majority of the long-distance common carrier in the United States, it still provides the vast majority of the long-distance services and, if for no other reason than its overwhelming size, has essentially become the standards organization for the telephone industry in North America. Its nationwide communication network is subdivided into two classifications: short haul (short distance) and long haul (long distance). FDM Hierarchy

 Message Channel This is the basic building block of the FDM hierarchy. The basic message channel was originally intended for the analog voice transmission, although it now includes any transmissions that utilize voice-band frequencies (0kHz to 4kHz), such as data transmission using voice-band data modems. Basic Group A group is the next higher level in FDM hierarchy above the basic message channel and, consequently, the first multiplexing step for combining message channels. A basic group consists of 12 voice-band message channels multiplexed together by stacking them next to each other in the frequency domain. Basic Supergroup This the next higher level in the FDM hierarchy which is formed by frequency-division multiplexing five groups containing 12 channels each for a combined bandwidth of 240 kHz. Basic Mastergroup This is formed by frequency-division multiplexing 10 supergroups together for a combined capacity of 600 voce-band message channels occupying a bandwidth of 2.4MHz. Typically, three mastergroups are frequency-division multiplexed together and placed on a single microwave or satellite radio channel. Larger Groupings Mastergroups can be further multiplexed in mastergroup banks to form jumbogroups (3600 VB channels), multijumbogroups (7200 VB channels), and superjumbogroups (10800 VB channels). 12. Define and describe baseband and composite baseband signals Baseband describes the modulating signal (intelligence) in a communications system. A single message channel is baseband. A group, supergroup, or mastergroup is also baseband. Composite baseband signal is the total intelligence signal prior to modulation of the final carrier. It is also the final output of the FDM multiplexer. Its formation can include channel, group, supergroup, and mastergroup banks, depending on the capacity of the system. 13. Explain the formation of a mastegroup There are two types of mastergroups: L600 and U600 types. The L600 mastergroup is based for low-capacity microwave systems, and the U600 mastergroup may be further multiplexed and used for higher-capacity microwave radio systems. U600 Mastergroup This is formed with a supergroup bank and combining network. Ten supergroups are combined to form a mastergroup. L600 Mastergroup With this, 10 supergroups are combined as with the U600 mastergroup, except that the supergroup carrier frequencies are lower. The composite baseband spectrum occupies a lower-frequency band than the U-type mastergroup. An L600 mastergroup is not further multiplexed. 14. Describe wavelength-division multiplexing Wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) is similar to frequency-division multiplexing (FDM) in that the idea is to send information signals that originally occupied the same band of frequencies through the same fiber at the same time without their

interfering each other. It promises to vastly increase the bandwidth capacity of optical transmission media. Its basic principle involves the transmission of multiple digital signals using several wavelength without their interfering with one another.

15. Explain the advantages and disadvantages of wavelength-division multiplexing Advantage WDM is enhanced capacity and, with WDM, full-duplex transmission is also possible with a single fiber. Optical communications networks use optical components that are simpler, more reliable, and often less costly than their electronic counterparts. WDM is inherently easier to reconfigure (i.e., adding or removing channels). Disadvantage Signals cannot be placed so close in the wavelength spectrum that they interfere with each other. The overall signal strength should be approximately the same for each wavelength. Signal strength is affected by fiber attenuation characteristics and the degree of amplification, both of which are wavelength dependent.