University of Nevada – Reno

Computer Science & Engineering Department

Fall 2010

CPE 400 / 600

Computer Communication Networks
Lecture 27
Physical Layer
(Data and Signals)

slides are modified from Behrouz A. Forouzan

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Lecture 27: Outline

Chapter 3: Data and Signals

 3.1 Analog and Digital
 3.2 Analog-to-Analog Conversion
 3.3 Digital Signals
 3.4 Transmission Impairment
 3.5 Data-rate Limits
 3.6 Performance

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Physical layer

To be transmitted,
data must be transformed to electromagnetic signals.

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3-1 ANALOG AND DIGITAL

Data can be analog or digital

 Analog data refers to information that is continuous
 Analog data take on continuous values
 Analog signals can have an infinite number of values in a range

 Digital data refers to information that has discrete states

 Digital data take on discrete values
 Digital signals can have only a limited number of values

In data communications, we commonly use

periodic analog signals and nonperiodic digital signals.

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Comparison of analog and digital signals

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3-2 PERIODIC ANALOG SIGNALS

Periodic analog signals can be classified as simple or composite.

 A simple periodic analog signal, a sine wave, cannot be
decomposed into simpler signals.
 A composite periodic analog signal is composed of multiple
sine waves.

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Signal amplitude

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 Frequency

Frequency is the rate of change with respect to time.

 Change in a short span of time means high frequency.

 Change over a long span of time means low frequency.

 If a signal does not change at all, its frequency is zero

 If a signal changes instantaneously, its frequency is infinite.

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 Frequency and Period
Frequency and period are the inverse of each other.

Units of period and frequency

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Two signals with the same amplitude,
but different frequencies

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 Examples

The power we use at home has a frequency of 60 Hz. What is the period of
this sine wave ?

The period of a signal is 100 ms. What is its frequency in kilohertz?

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 Phase
Phase describes the position of the waveform
relative to time 0

Three sine waves with the same amplitude and frequency,

but different phases

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 Example

A sine wave is offset 1/6 cycle with respect to time 0. What is its phase in
degrees and radians?

Solution
We know that 1 complete cycle is 360°. Therefore, 1/6 cycle is

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Wavelength and period

Wavelength = Propagation speed x Period

= Propagation speed / Frequency

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Time-domain and frequency-domain plots of a sine wave

A complete sine wave in the time domain can be

represented by one single spike in the frequency domain.

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 Frequency Domain

 The frequency domain is more compact and useful when we are

dealing with more than one sine wave.

 A single-frequency sine wave is not useful in data communication

o We need to send a composite signal, a signal made of many simple
sine waves.
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 Fourier analysis

According to Fourier analysis,

any composite signal is a combination of simple sine
waves with different frequencies, amplitudes, and phases.

 If the composite signal is periodic, the decomposition

gives a series of signals with discrete frequencies;
 If the composite signal is nonperiodic, the decomposition
gives a combination of sine waves with continuous frequencies.

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A composite periodic signal

Decomposition of the
composite periodic
signal in the time and
frequency domains

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Time and frequency domains of a nonperiodic signal
 A nonperiodic composite signal
o It can be a signal created by a microphone or a telephone set
when a word or two is pronounced.
o In this case, the composite signal cannot be periodic
because that implies that we are repeating the same word or words
with exactly the same tone.

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Bandwidth
The bandwidth of a composite signal is
the difference between the highest and the lowest
frequencies contained in that signal.

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 Example

A nonperiodic composite signal has a bandwidth of 200 kHz,

with a middle frequency of 140 kHz and peak amplitude of 20 V.
The two extreme frequencies have an amplitude of 0.
Approximately, draw the frequency domain of the signal.

Solution
The lowest frequency must be at 40 kHz and the highest at
240 kHz.

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Lecture 27: Outline

Chapter 3: Data and Signals

 3.1 Analog and Digital
 3.2 Analog-to-Analog Conversion
 3.3 Digital Signals
 3.4 Transmission Impairment
 3.5 Data-rate Limits
 3.6 Performance

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3-3 DIGITAL SIGNALS

 In addition to being represented by an analog signal,

information can also be represented by a digital signal.
 For example, a 1 can be encoded as a positive voltage
and a 0 as zero voltage.
 A digital signal can have more than two levels.
 In this case, we can send more than 1 bit for each level.

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Two digital signals: one with two signal levels and
the other with four signal levels

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 Examples
A digital signal has 8 levels. How many bits are
represented by each level?

We calculate the number of bits from the formula

Each signal level is represented by 3 bits.

A digital signal has 9 levels. How many bits are

represented by each level?

Each signal level is represented by 3.17 bits.

The number of bits sent per level needs to be an integer
as well as a power of 2.
Hence, 4 bits can represent one level.
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The time and frequency domains of periodic and
nonperiodic digital signals

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Baseband transmission

A digital signal is a composite analog signal with an infinite

bandwidth.

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Bandwidths of two low-pass channels

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Baseband transmission using a dedicated medium

Baseband transmission of a digital signal that preserves

the shape of the digital signal is possible only if we have a
low-pass channel with an infinite or very wide bandwidth.

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Rough approximation of a digital signal using
the first harmonic for worst case

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Simulating a digital signal with first three harmonics

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 In baseband transmission, the required bandwidth is
proportional to the bit rate;
if we need to send bits faster, we need more bandwidth.

Bandwidth requirements

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 Example

What is the required bandwidth of a low-pass channel if we

need to send 1 Mbps by using baseband transmission?

Solution
The answer depends on the accuracy desired.
a. The minimum bandwidth is B = bit rate /2, or 500 kHz.

b. A better solution is to use the first and the third

harmonics with B = 3 × 500 kHz = 1.5 MHz.

c. Still a better solution is to use the first, third, and fifth

harmonics with B = 5 × 500 kHz = 2.5 MHz.

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 Example

We have a low-pass channel with bandwidth 100 kHz.

What is the maximum bit rate of this channel?

Solution
The maximum bit rate can be achieved if we use the first
harmonic. The bit rate is 2 times the available bandwidth,
or 200 Kbps.

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Bandwidth of a bandpass channel

If the available channel is a bandpass channel,

we cannot send the digital signal directly to the channel;
we need to convert the digital signal to an analog signal
before transmission.

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Modulation of a digital signal for transmission
on a bandpass channel

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 Example
An example of broadband transmission using modulation is
the sending of computer data through a telephone
subscriber line, the line connecting a resident to the
central telephone office.
These lines are designed to carry voice with a limited
bandwidth.
The channel is considered a bandpass channel.
We convert the digital signal from the computer to an
analog signal, and send the analog signal.
We can install two converters to change the digital signal
to analog and vice versa at the receiving end.
The converter, in this case, is called a modem.
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 Example

A second example is the digital cellular telephone.

For better reception, digital cellular phones convert the
analog voice signal to a digital signal.
Although the bandwidth allocated to a company providing
digital cellular phone service is very wide, we still cannot
send the digital signal without conversion.
The reason is that we only have a bandpass channel
available between caller and callee.
We need to convert the digitized voice to a composite
analog signal before sending.

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 Examples
Assume we need to download files at a rate of 100 pages
per second. A page is an average of 24 lines with 80
characters in each line where one character requires 8
bits. What is the required bit rate of the channel?

A digitized voice channel is made by digitizing a 4-kHz

bandwidth analog voice signal. We need to sample the
signal at twice the highest frequency (two samples per
hertz). Assume that each sample requires 8 bits.
What is the required bit rate?

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 Example

HDTV uses digital signals to broadcast high quality video

signals. There are 1920 by 1080 pixels per screen, and the
screen is renewed 30 times per second. Also, 24 bits
represents one color pixel.
What is the bit rate for high-definition TV (HDTV)?

The TV stations reduce this rate to 20 to 40 Mbps

through compression.
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