Chapter 7: Digital Communications

TRUE/FALSE

1. Analog signals cannot be sent using digital techniques.

ANS: F

2. Digitizing a signal can reduce distortion.

ANS: T

3. Digitizing a signal can improve the signal-to-noise ratio.

ANS: T

4. Morse code is an example of a binary digital transmission system.

ANS: F

5. Digital signals can be modulated onto an analog carrier.

ANS: T

6. Digitization removes noise and distortion from analog signals.

ANS: F

7. A digital signal can be changed from a 1 to a 0 by noise.

ANS: T

8. A regenerative repeater converts a degraded pulse into a new pulse.

ANS: T

9. TDM is easy to implement with digital signals.

ANS: T

10. Unlike analog, digital communications is not band-limited.

ANS: F

11. The amount of digital data that can be sent is limited by the channel capacity (C).

ANS: F

12. The digital data rate is limited by the bandwidth of the channel.

ANS: T
13. The digital data rate is limited by the SNR of the channel.

ANS: T

14. The digital data rate is limited by the number of levels transmitted.

ANS: T

15. The Shannon-Hartley theorem describes how to obtain the Shannon limit for transmission.

ANS: F

16. Digital data can be sent through a channel no matter how low the SNR is, as long as it is not zero.

ANS: T

17. Analog signals must be sampled before they can be sent in digital form.

ANS: T

18. Mathematically, it is not possible to completely reconstruct a band-limited signal from only
samples of the signal.

ANS: F

19. The Nyquist Rate is equal to half the highest frequency component of the analog signal.

ANS: F

20. Natural sampling is also called "flat-top" sampling.

ANS: F

21. Flat-top sampling requires a sample-and-hold circuit.

ANS: T

22. Aliasing occurs when the sampling rate is too high.

ANS: F

23. Foldover distortion occurs when the sampling rate is too low.

ANS: T

24. Sampling is actually a form of modulation.

ANS: T

25. The output of a sampler is a PDM signal.

ANS: F
26. The most commonly used digital modulation scheme is PCM.

ANS: T

27. In PCM, the number of levels is the same as the number of bits.

ANS: F

28. Quantizing is converting a sample of an analog signal to a binary number.

ANS: T

29. Quantizing always introduces some error.

ANS: T

30. Quantizing always introduces some "noise".

ANS: T

31. The significance of quantizing noise increases as the number of bits per sample increases.

ANS: F

32. The dynamic range of a digital transmission system depends on the number of bits per sample.

ANS: T

33. The bandwidth required by a digital transmission system depends on the number of bits per
sample.

ANS: T

34. Companding allows improved dynamic range for a given bandwidth.

ANS: T

35. The companding system used in America is known as "A-Law" companding.

ANS: F

36. Companding is basically a linear process.

ANS: F

37. Companding can be done with analog circuitry.

ANS: T

38. Digital companding is used by most modern telephone systems.

ANS: T
39. With delta modulation, only one bit is transmitted per cycle.

ANS: T

40. Delta modulation is particularly well suited to rapidly changing analog signals.

ANS: F

41. Delta modulation is prone to "granular noise".

ANS: T

42. Adaptive delta modulation reduces the occurrence of "slope-overload".

ANS: T

43. A disadvantage of adaptive delta modulation is that it requires a higher bit rate than PCM.

ANS: F

44. Digital data is put onto a cable using a line code.

ANS: T

45. Unipolar line coding requires DC continuity.

ANS: T

46. Bipolar RZ coding generates DC and low-frequency AC components.

ANS: F

47. The Manchester line code provides strong timing information.

ANS: T

48. The basic DS-1 signal consists of 12 voice channels.

ANS: F

49. In DS-1, each analog voice channel is sampled 8000 times per second.

ANS: T

50. In DS-1, the bit rate for each voice channel is 56 kbits per second.

ANS: F

51. A T-1 frame contains 193 bits.

ANS: T

52. T-1 uses AMI.

 ANS: T

53. A T-1 cable can be twisted-pair copper wires.

ANS: T

54. A T-1 line runs at 1.544 Mbits per second.

ANS: T

55. In DS-1, bits are sometimes "stolen" from the voice channel to be used for signaling.

ANS: T

56. "Lossy" compression involves transmitting all the data in the original signal, but with fewer bits.

ANS: F

57. "Lossless" compression schemes look for redundancies in the data.

ANS: T

58. "Run-Length" encoding is a type of lossless compression.

ANS: T

MULTIPLE CHOICE

1. The first digital code was the:

a. ASCII code c. Morse code
b. Baudot code d. none of the above
ANS: C

2. In digital transmission, signal degradation can be removed using:

a. an amplifier c. a regenerative repeater
b. a filter d. all of the above
ANS: C

3. TDM stands for:

a. Time-Division Multiplexing c. Ten-Digital Manchester
b. Time-Domain Multiplexing d. Ten Dual-Manchester
ANS: A

4. Hartley's Law is:

a. I = ktB c. C = B log2(1 + S/N)
b. C = 2B log2M d. SR = 2fmax
ANS: A

5. The Shannon-Hartley theorem is:

 a. I = ktB c. C = B log2(1 + S/N)
b. C = 2B log2M d. SR = 2fmax
ANS: B

6. The Shannon Limit is given by:

a. I = ktB c. C = B log2(1 + S/N)
b. C = 2B log2M d. SR = 2fmax
ANS: C

7. The Nyquist Rate can be expressed as:

a. I = ktB c. C = B log2(1 + S/N)
b. C = 2B log2M d. SR = 2fmax
ANS: D

8. Natural Sampling does not use:

a. a sample-and-hold circuit c. a fixed sample rate
b. true binary numbers d. an analog-to-digital converter
ANS: A

9. Which is true about aliasing and foldover distortion?

a. They are two types of sampling error.
b. You can have one or the other, but not both.
c. Aliasing is a technique to prevent foldover distortion.
d. They are the same thing.
ANS: D

10. Foldover distortion is caused by:

a. noise c. too few samples per second
b. too many samples per second d. all of the above
ANS: C

11. The immediate result of sampling is:

a. a sample alias c. PCM
b. PAM d. PDM
ANS: B

12. Which of these is not a pulse-modulation technique:

a. PDM c. PPM
b. PWM d. PPS
ANS: D

13. Quantizing noise (quantization noise):

a. decreases as the sample rate increases
b. decreases as the sample rate decreases
c. decreases as the bits per sample increases
d. decreases as the bits per sample decreases
ANS: C
14. The dynamic range of a system is the ratio of:
a. the strongest transmittable signal to the weakest discernible signal
b. the maximum rate of conversion to the minimum rate of conversion
c. the maximum bits per sample to the minimum bits per sample
d. none of the above
ANS: A

15. Companding is used to:

a. compress the range of base-band frequencies
b. reduce dynamic range at higher bit-rates
c. preserve dynamic range while keeping bit-rate low
d. maximize the useable bandwidth in digital transmission
ANS: C

16. In North America, companding uses:

a. the Logarithmic Law c. the Law (alpha law)
b. the A Law d. the Law (mu law)
ANS: D

17. In Europe, companding uses:

a. the Logarithmic Law c. the Law (alpha law)
b. the A Law d. the Law (mu law)
ANS: B

18. Codec stands for:

a. Coder-Decoder c. Code-Compression
b. Coded-Carrier d. none of the above
ANS: A

19. A typical codec in a telephone system sends and receives:

a. 4-bit numbers c. 12-bit numbers
b. 8-bit numbers d. 16-bit numbers
ANS: B

20. Compared to PCM, delta modulation:

a. transmits fewer bits per sample c. can suffer slope overload
b. requires a much higher sampling rate d. all of the above
ANS: D

21. In delta modulation, "granular noise" is produced when:

a. the signal changes too rapidly c. the bit rate is too high
b. the signal does not change d. the sample is too large
ANS: B

22. Compared to PCM, adaptive delta modulation can transmit voice:

a. with a lower bit rate but reduced quality c. only over shorter distances
b. with a lower bit rate but the same quality d. only if the voice is band-limited
ANS: B
23. Which coding scheme requires DC continuity:
a. AMI c. unipolar NRZ
b. Manchester d. bipolar RZ
ANS: C

24. Manchester coding:

a. is a biphase code
b. has a level transition in the middle of every bit period
c. provides strong timing information
d. all of the above
ANS: D

25. The number of framing bits in DS-1 is:

a. 1 c. 4
b. 2 d. 8
ANS: A

26. Framing bits in DS-1 are used to:

a. detect errors c. synchronize the transmitter and receiver
b. carry signaling d. all of the above
ANS: C

27. So-called "stolen" bits in DS-1 are used to:

a. detect errors c. synchronize the transmitter and receiver
b. carry signaling d. all of the above
ANS: B

28. The number of bits per sample in DS-1 is:

a. 1 c. 4
b. 2 d. 8
ANS: D

29. The number of samples per second in DS-1 is:

a. 8 k c. 64 k
b. 56 k d. 1.544 106
ANS: A

30. The bit rate for each channel in DS-1 is:

a. 1.544 Mb/s c. 56 kb/s
b. 64 kb/s d. 8 kb/s
ANS: B

31. In DS-1, bits are transmitted over a T-1 cable at:

a. 1.544 MB/s c. 56 kb/s
b. 64 kb/s d. 8 kb/s
ANS: A
32. A T-1 cable uses:
a. Manchester coding c. NRZ coding
b. bipolar RZ AMI coding d. pulse-width coding
ANS: B

33. The number of frames in a superframe is:

a. 6 c. 24
b. 12 d. 48
ANS: B

34. A typical T-1 line uses:

a. twisted-pair wire c. fiber-optic cable
b. coaxial cable d. microwave
ANS: A

35. "Signaling" is used to indicate:

a. on-hook/off-hook condition c. ringing
b. busy signal d. all of the above
ANS: D

36. A vocoder implements compression by:

a. constructing a model of the transmission medium
b. constructing a model of the human vocal system
c. finding redundancies in the digitized data
d. using lossless techniques
ANS: B

37. Compared to standard PCM systems, the quality of the output of a vocoder is:
a. much better c. about the same
b. somewhat better d. not as good
ANS: D

COMPLETION

1. Digitizing a signal often results in ____________________ transmission quality.

ANS:
improved
better

2. To send it over an analog channel, a digital signal must be ____________________ onto a

carrier.

ANS: modulated

3. To send it over a digital channel, an analog signal must first be ____________________.

ANS: digitized
 4. In analog channels, the signal-to-noise ratio of an analog signal gradually
____________________ as the length of the channel increases.

ANS:
decreases
gets worse

5. The ____________________ value of a pulse is the only information it carries on a digital

channel.

ANS: binary

6. A ____________________ repeater is used to restore the shape of pulses on a digital cable.

ANS: regenerative

7. There are techniques to detect and ____________________ some errors in digital transmission.

ANS: correct

8. Converting an analog signal to digital form is another source of ____________________ in

digital transmission systems.

ANS:
error
noise

9. ____________________-division multiplexing is easily done in digital transmission.

ANS: Time

10. All practical communications channels are band-____________________.

ANS: limited

11. ____________________ Law gives the relationship between time, information capacity, and
bandwidth.

ANS: Hartley's

12. Ignoring noise, the _________________________ theorem gives the maximum rate of data
transmission for a given bandwidth.

ANS: Shannon-Hartley

13. The ____________________ limit gives the maximum rate of data transmission for a given
bandwidth and a given signal-to-noise ratio.

ANS: Shannon

14. ____________________ sampling is done without a sample-and-hold circuit.

ANS: Natural
15. The ____________________ Rate is the minimum sampling rate for converting analog signals to
digital format.

ANS: Nyquist

16. ____________________ distortion occurs when an analog signal is sampled at too slow a rate.

ANS: Foldover

17. ____________________ means that higher frequency baseband signals from the transmitter
"assume the identity" of low-frequency baseband signals at the receiver when sent digitally.

ANS: Aliasing

18. The output of a sample-and-hold circuit is a pulse-____________________ modulated signal.

ANS: amplitude

19. ____________________ modulation is the most commonly used digital modulation scheme.

ANS: Pulse-code

20. ____________________ noise results from the process of converting an analog signal into digital
format.

ANS: Quantizing

21. ____________________ is used to preserve dynamic range using a reasonable bandwidth.

ANS: Companding

22. In North America, compression is done using the ____________________-law equation.

ANS:

mu

23. In Europe, compression is done using the ____________________-law equation.

ANS: A

24. A ____________________ is an IC that converts a voice signal to PCM and vice versa.

ANS: codec

25. In a PCM system, the samples of the analog signal are first converted to ____________________
bits before being compressed to 8 bits.

ANS: 12

26. The number of bits per sample transmitted in delta modulation is ____________________.
 ANS:
1
one

27. Delta modulation requires a ____________________ sampling rate than PCM for the same
quality of reproduction.

ANS: higher

28. ____________________ noise is produced by a delta modulator if the analog signal doesn't
change.

ANS: Granular

29. In delta modulation, ____________________ overload can occur if the analog signal changes too
fast.

ANS: slope

30. The ____________________ size varies in adaptive delta modulation.

ANS: step

31. Adaptive delta modulation can transmit PCM-quality voice at about ____________________ the
bit rate of PCM.

ANS: half

32. Unipolar NRZ is not practical because most channels do not have ____________________
continuity.

ANS: DC

33. In AMI, binary ones are represented by a voltage that alternates in ____________________.

ANS: polarity

34. Long strings of ____________________ should be avoided in AMI.

ANS: zeros

35. Manchester code has a level ____________________ in the center of each bit period.

ANS: transition

36. Manchester coding provides ____________________ information regardless of the pattern of

ones and zeros.

ANS: timing

37. There are ____________________ channels in a DS-1 frame.

ANS: 24
38. DS-1 uses a ____________________ bit to synchronize the transmitter and receiver.

ANS: framing

39. In DS-1, each channel is sampled ____________________ times per second.

ANS: 8000

40. Data is carried over a T-1 line at a rate of ____________________ bits per second.

ANS: 1.544 106

41. A group of 12 DS-1 frames is called a ____________________.

ANS: superframe

42. From a group of twelve frames, signaling bits are "stolen" from every ____________________
frame.

ANS: sixth

43. ____________________ compression transmits all the data in the original signal but uses fewer
bits to do it.

ANS: Lossless

SHORT ANSWER

1. Use Hartley's Law to find how much time it would take to send 100,000 bits over a channel with
a bandwidth of 2,000 hertz and a channel constant of k = 10.

ANS:
5 seconds

2. Use the Shannon-Hartley theorem to find the bandwidth required to send 12,000 bits per second
if the number of levels transmitted is 8.

ANS:
2000 hertz

3. What is the Shannon Limit of a channel that has a bandwidth of 4000 hertz and a signal-to-noise
ratio of 15?

ANS:
16 kbps

4. What is the minimum required number of samples per second to digitize an analog signal with
frequency components ranging from 300 hertz to 3300 hertz?

ANS:
6600 samples/second
5. What is the approximate dynamic range, in dB, of a linear PCM system that uses 12 bits per
sample?

ANS:
74 dB

6. What is the approximate data rate for a system using 8 bits per sample and running at 8000
samples per second?

ANS:
64 kbps

7. If bits were "stolen" from every DS-1 frame, what would the useable data-rate be for each
channel in the frame?

ANS:
56 kbps

8. Assuming maximum input and output voltages of 1 volt, what is the output voltage of a -law
compressor if the input voltage is 0.388 volt?

ANS:
0.833 volt
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