Digital Communication

Systems

Transmission Impairments

AL-KITAB University College

Computer Engineering Dep.
3RD Year Students

BY:
SARMAD N. MAHMOOD
MASTER IN ELECTRONIC & COMMUNICATION ENGINEERING
 TRANSMISSION IMPAIRMENTS
• In general, what do you receive is not an exact copy of the
transmitted signal due to transmission impairments in the channel.

• For analog signals this causes degradation in signal quality.

• For digital signal it can change the value of transmitted bits.

There are Three types of transmissions impairments:

1. Attenuation
2. Distortion
3. Noise

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 TRANSMISSION IMPAIRMENTS
1. Attenuation: Is the reduction in the energy of the transmitted signal due to
channel resistance.
How to solve the attenuation in a signal?
Amplifiers or repeaters are added at regular intervals to restore the signal to its
original level.
Measuring Attenuation
The loss or gain in the power of the received signal can be computed as follows:
𝑷𝟐
𝑮=
𝑷𝟏
Gain or loss usually is expressed in the unit of decibel (dB) as:
𝑷𝟐
𝑮 𝒅𝑩 = 𝟏𝟎 𝒍𝒐𝒈𝟏𝟎 ( )
𝑷𝟏
Where,
𝑷𝟏 ∶ 𝑷𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒑𝒖𝒕 𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒂𝒍 (Transmitted)
𝑷𝟐 ∶ 𝑷𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒑𝒖𝒕 𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒂𝒍 (Received)

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 TRANSMISSION IMPAIRMENTS
Example (1): Suppose a signal travels through a transmission medium and its power
is reduced to one-half. Calculate the loss power in (dB).
Solution:
The power is reduced to one-half This means that P2 = (1/2) P1. In this case, the
attenuation (loss power in dB) can be calculated as:

𝑷𝟐
𝑮 𝒅𝑩 = 𝟏𝟎 𝒍𝒐𝒈𝟏𝟎 ( )
𝑷𝟏

𝟏
( )𝑷𝟏
𝑮 𝒅𝑩 = 𝟏𝟎 𝒍𝒐𝒈𝟏𝟎 ( 𝟐 )
𝑷𝟏

𝟏
𝑮 𝒅𝑩 = 𝟏𝟎 𝒍𝒐𝒈𝟏𝟎
𝟐

𝑮 𝒅𝑩 = −𝟑 𝒅𝑩

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 TRANSMISSION IMPAIRMENTS

Example (2): for the previous example, if the signal at the beginning of a cable with
−0.3 dB/km has a power of 2 mW, what is the power of the signal at 5 km?
Solution:
The loss in the cable in decibels is 5 * (−0.3) = −1.5 dB. We can calculate the power
as follows:
𝑷𝟐
𝑮 𝒅𝑩 = 𝟏𝟎 𝒍𝒐𝒈𝟏𝟎 ( ) 𝑷𝟐 = 𝟎. 𝟕 ∗ 𝑷𝟏
𝑷𝟏
𝑷𝟐 𝑷𝟐 = 𝟎. 𝟕 ∗ 𝟐
−𝟏. 𝟓 = 𝟏𝟎 𝒍𝒐𝒈𝟏𝟎 ÷ 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐲 𝟏𝟎
𝑷𝟏
𝑷𝟐 𝑷𝟐 = 𝟏. 𝟒 𝒎𝑾
−𝟎. 𝟏𝟓 = 𝒍𝒐𝒈𝟏𝟎 ( )
𝑷𝟏
−𝟎.𝟏𝟓
𝑷𝟐 Using the following equation:
𝟏𝟎 = ( )
𝑷𝟏 X = log10 Y  then:
𝑷𝟐 10X = Y
= 𝟎. 𝟕
𝑷𝟏

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 TRANSMISSION IMPAIRMENTS
2. Distortion:
• Signal distortion is the change in the form or shape of the signal.

• The change occur in the amplitude of the transmitted signal resulting from the
attenuation and delay of the communication channel.

• Distortion causes time dispersion in the received signal which result inter symbol
interference that limits the rate of the transmitted data.

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 TRANSMISSION IMPAIRMENTS
2. Distortion:
How to overcome inter symbol interference:
• The bit rate should be reduced.
• Instruments are used in the receiver side such as equalizers.

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 TRANSMISSION IMPAIRMENTS
3. NOISE:
Noise refers to undesired signals that affect and modify transmitted signals.

There are different types of noise:

• Thermal: random movement of electrons in wires creates small signals known as
thermal noise.
• Induced: devices act as a transmitter antenna and medium as a receiving antenna.
• Crosstalk: Electro-magnetic coupling of signals in media near each other (wires or
wireless).
• Intermodulation noise: When mixing components at frequencies f1 and f2.

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 TRANSMISSION IMPAIRMENTS
3. NOISE:
SIGNAL TO NOISE RATIO (SNR)
SNR is a parameter used to determine how noise there is in a signal. It
indicates the strength of the signal to the noise power in the system.

𝑺
𝑺𝑵𝑹 =
𝑵
𝑺 ∶ 𝑺𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝑷𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓
𝑵 ∶ 𝑵𝒐𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝑷𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓
𝑺
𝑺𝑵𝑹 𝒅𝑩 = 𝟏𝟎 𝒍𝒐𝒈𝟏𝟎
𝑵

A high SNR indicates a high signal power relative to noise power

resulting in a high quality signal.

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 TRANSMISSION IMPAIRMENTS

3. NOISE:
Example: The power of a signal is 10 mW and the power of the noise
is 1 μW; what are the values of SNR and SNR in dB?
𝑺
𝑺𝑵𝑹 =
𝑵
10 ∗ 10−3
𝑆𝑁𝑅 = −6
= 10000
1 ∗ 10
𝑺
𝑺𝑵𝑹 𝒅𝑩 = 𝟏𝟎 𝒍𝒐𝒈𝟏𝟎
𝑵
𝑆𝑁𝑅 𝑑𝐵 = 10 𝑙𝑜𝑔10 10000

𝑆𝑁𝑅 𝑑𝐵 = 40 𝑑𝐵

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 TRANSMISSION IMPAIRMENTS
3. NOISE:
The values of SNR and SNR dB for a Noiseless channel are:

𝑺𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓
𝑺𝑵𝑹 𝒅𝑩 = 𝟏𝟎 𝒍𝒐𝒈𝟏𝟎 = ∞
𝟎

𝑺𝑵𝑹 𝒅𝑩 = 𝟏𝟎 𝒍𝒐𝒈𝟏𝟎 ∞ = ∞
Note: we can never achieve this ratio in the real life – it is an ideal.

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 TRANSMISSION IMPAIRMENTS
RELATION BETWEEN BIT RATE AND SYMBOL RATE
Symbol Rate : The symbol rate (S) or signal element is the bit rate (B)
divided by the number of bits that can be transmitted with each symbol.

(S) Measured in symbol per second.

(B) Measured in bit per second (bps).

Symbol rate = bit rate ÷ number of bits transmitted with each symbol

𝑩
𝑺=
𝑹
Where:
S: symbol rate
B: bit rate
R: number of data bits per signal element
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 TRANSMISSION IMPAIRMENTS
RELATION BETWEEN BIT RATE AND SYMBOL RATE
Example (1): An analog signal carries 4 bits per signal element. If
1000 signal elements are sent per second, find the bit rate.
R = 4 bits S = 1000 symbol per second B=?
Solution
𝑩
𝑺= →𝑩=𝑺 ∗𝑹
𝑹
𝑩 = 𝟏𝟎𝟎𝟎 ∗ 𝟒 = 𝟒𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝒃𝒑𝒔
Example (2): An analog signal has a bit rate of 8000 bps and a symbol
rate of 1000. How many data elements (bits) are carried by each signal
element?
B = 8000 bps S = 1000 symbol per second R=?
Solution
𝑩 𝑩
𝑺= →𝑹=
𝑹 𝑺
𝟖𝟎𝟎𝟎
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𝑹= = 𝟖 𝒃𝒊𝒕𝒔
𝟏𝟎𝟎𝟎
 TRANSMISSION IMPAIRMENTS
RELATION BETWEEN SIGNAL LEVEL AND BIT RATE
M- Level  Number of signal levels
𝑛 = 𝑙𝑜𝑔2 𝑀
𝑀 = 2𝑛
Where,
𝑛 : number of bits
Bit rate (B) = 𝒏 * symbol rate (S)
Note : The bit rate of a system increases with an increase in the number of signal levels.

Example: For 32 – QAM signal level, the transmitter output is 1200

symbol per second, what is the bit rate?
Bit rate (B) = 𝒏 * symbol rate (S)

𝑀 = 32 → 32 = 25
OR 𝑛 = 𝑙𝑜𝑔2 32 = 5
∴𝑛=5
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Bit rate (B) = 𝟓 * 1200 = 6000 bps
 TRANSMISSION IMPAIRMENTS

RELATION BETWEEN SIZE AND BIT RATE

𝐹𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑆𝑖𝑧𝑒
𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒 =
𝐵𝑖𝑡 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒

Example: What is the time required to download a file of 20 Mbytes if

the bit rate is 76 kbps?
Solution
𝐹𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑆𝑖𝑧𝑒
𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒 =
𝐵𝑖𝑡 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒

20 ∗ 1024 ∗ 1024 ∗ 8
𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒 =
76 ∗ 1000

𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒 = 2207.53 Second

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 TRANSMISSION IMPAIRMENTS
BIT ERROR RATE (BER):
• In digital transmission, the number of bit errors is the number of
received bits of a data stream over a communication channel that
have been altered due to noise, interference, distortion.

• A very important consideration in data communications is how fast

we can send data, in bits per second, over a channel. Data rate
depends on three factors:
1. The bandwidth available
2. The level of the signals we use
3. The quality of the channel (the level of noise)

Note : The bit rate of a system increases with an increase in the number
of signal levels.

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 TRANSMISSION IMPAIRMENTS
NYQUIST’S FORMULA:
Theoretical capacity (bit rate) for a Noiseless channel can be computed
using Nyquist’s formula:
𝑪 = 𝟐𝑾 𝒍𝒐𝒈𝟐 𝑴
Where,
W: is the Bandwidth.
M: number of signal levels.

Example (1): Consider a noiseless channel with a bandwidth of 3000

Hz transmitting a signal with two signal levels. Calculate the maximum
bit rate for the channel.
𝑊 = 3000 𝐻𝑧 𝑀 = 2 𝑙𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑙 𝐶 =?

𝑪 = 𝟐𝑾 𝒍𝒐𝒈𝟐 𝑴
𝑪 = 𝟐 ∗ (𝟑𝟎𝟎𝟎) 𝒍𝒐𝒈𝟐 (𝟐)
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𝑪 = 𝟔𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝒃𝒑𝒔
 TRANSMISSION IMPAIRMENTS
NYQUIST’S FORMULA:
Example (2): Consider the same noiseless channel transmitting a
signal with four signal levels. Calculate the maximum bit rate for the
channel.

𝑊 = 3000 𝐻𝑧 𝑀 = 4 𝑙𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑙 𝐶 =?

𝑪 = 𝟐𝑾 𝒍𝒐𝒈𝟐 𝑴

𝑪 = 𝟐 ∗ (𝟑𝟎𝟎𝟎) 𝒍𝒐𝒈𝟐 (𝟒)

𝑪 = 𝟏𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝒃𝒑𝒔

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 TRANSMISSION IMPAIRMENTS
NYQUIST’S FORMULA:
Example (3): We need to send 265 kbps over a noiseless channel with
a bandwidth of 20 kHz. How many signal levels do we need?

𝐶 = 265 𝑘𝑏𝑝𝑠 𝑊 = 20 𝑘𝐻𝑧 𝑀 =?

𝑪 = 𝟐𝑾 𝒍𝒐𝒈𝟐 𝑴

265 ∗ 103 = 2 ∗ (20 ∗ 103 ) 𝑙𝑜𝑔2 𝑀

265000 = (40000) 𝑙𝑜𝑔2 𝑀
265000
𝑙𝑜𝑔2 𝑀 =
40000
𝑙𝑜𝑔2 𝑀 = 6.625
𝑀 = 26.625
𝑀 = 98.7 𝑙𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑙
Confirmation: If we have 128 levels, the bit rate is 280 kbps. If we have 64 levels, the bit rate
is 240 kbps. This means, that the bit rate of a system increases with an increase in the number
19 of signal levels.
 TRANSMISSION IMPAIRMENTS
SHANNON’S LAW:
The maximum possible data rate on a noisy channel can be calculated using
Shannon’s law:
𝑺
𝑪 = 𝑾 𝒍𝒐𝒈𝟐 𝟏 +
𝑵
Where, W: Bandwidth in Hz.
S: Average signal power in Watts.
N: noise power in Watts.
Example (1): Consider an extremely noisy channel in which the value of the
signal-to-noise ratio is almost zero. Calculate the capacity of the channel.
Solution
The noise is so strong that the signal is weak.
𝑺
𝑪 = 𝑾 𝒍𝒐𝒈𝟐 𝟏 +
𝑵
𝑪 = 𝑾 𝒍𝒐𝒈𝟐 𝟏 + 𝟎 = 𝟎

This means that the capacity of this channel is zero regardless of the bandwidth. In
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other words, we cannot receive any data through this channel.
 TRANSMISSION IMPAIRMENTS
SHANNON’S LAW:
Example (2): Calculate the highest bit rate for a regular telephone line. Consider
that the telephone line normally has a bandwidth of 3000 and the signal-to-noise ratio
is 3162.
Solution
𝑺
𝑪 = 𝑾 𝒍𝒐𝒈𝟐 𝟏+
𝑵

𝑪 = 𝟑𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝒍𝒐𝒈𝟐 𝟏 + 𝟑𝟏𝟔𝟐 = 𝟑𝟒. 𝟖𝟔𝟎 𝒌𝒃𝒑𝒔

This means that the highest bit rate for a telephone line is 34.860 kbps. If we want to
send data faster than this, we can either increase the bandwidth of the line or improve
the signal-to-noise ratio.

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