CH 03

Chapter 3
Data and Signals
3.1 Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.
Figure 3.7 The time-domain and frequency-domain plots of a sine wave
3.2
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.
Topics discussed in this section:

Bit Rate
Bit Length
Digital Signal as a Composite Analog Signal
Application Layer
3.3
Figure 3.16 Two digital signals: one with two signal levels and the other
with four signal levels
3.4
Example 3.16
A digital signal has eight levels. How many bits are

needed per level? We calculate the number of bits from
the formula
Each signal level is represented by 3 bits.
3.5
Figure 3.18 Baseband transmission
3.6
3-4 TRANSMISSION IMPAIRMENT
Signals travel through transmission media, which are not

perfect. The imperfection causes signal impairment. This
means that the signal at the beginning of the medium is
not the same as the signal at the end of the medium.
What is sent is not what is received. Three causes of
impairment are attenuation, distortion, and noise.

Attenuation
Distortion
Noise
3.7
Figure 3.25 Causes of impairment
3.8
Figure 3.26 Attenuation
3.9
Example 3.26
Suppose a signal travels through a transmission medium

and its power is reduced to one-half. This means that P 2
is (1/2)P1. In this case, the attenuation (loss of power)
can be calculated as
A loss of 3 dB (–3 dB) is equivalent to losing one-half

the power.
3.10
Example 3.27
A signal travels through an amplifier, and its power is

increased 10 times. This means that P2 = 10P1 . In this
case, the amplification (gain of power) can be calculated
as
3.11
Figure 3.28 Distortion
3.12
Figure 3.29 Noise
3.13
Example 3.31
The power of a signal is 10 mW and the power of the

noise is 1 μW; what are the values of SNR and SNRdB ?
Solution
The values of SNR and SNRdB can be calculated as
follows:
3.14
Figure 3.30 Two cases of SNR: a high SNR and a low SNR
3.15
3-5 DATA RATE LIMITS
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)

Noiseless Channel: Nyquist Bit Rate
Noisy Channel: Shannon Capacity
Using Both Limits
3.16
Note
Increasing the levels of a signal may

reduce the reliability of the system.
3.17
Example 3.33
Does the Nyquist theorem bit rate agree with the

intuitive bit rate described in baseband transmission?
Solution
They match when we have only two levels. We said, in
baseband transmission, the bit rate is 2 times the
bandwidth if we use only the first harmonic in the worst
case. However, the Nyquist formula is more general than
what we derived intuitively; it can be applied to baseband
transmission and modulation. Also, it can be applied
when we have two or more levels of signals.
3.18
Example 3.34
Consider a noiseless channel with a bandwidth of 3000

Hz transmitting a signal with two signal levels. The
maximum bit rate can be calculated as
3.19
Example 3.35
Consider the same noiseless channel transmitting a

signal with four signal levels (for each level, we send 2
bits). The maximum bit rate can be calculated as
3.20
Example 3.36
We need to send 265 kbps over a noiseless channel with

a bandwidth of 20 kHz. How many signal levels do we
need?
Solution
We can use the Nyquist formula as shown:
Since this result is not a power of 2, we need to either

increase the number of levels or reduce the bit rate. If we
have 128 levels, the bit rate is 280 kbps. If we have 64
levels, the bit rate is 240 kbps.
3.21
Example 3.41
We have a channel with a 1-MHz bandwidth. The SNR

for this channel is 63. What are the appropriate bit rate
and signal level?
Solution
First, we use the Shannon formula to find the upper
limit.
3.22
Example 3.41 (continued)
The Shannon formula gives us 6 Mbps, the upper limit.

For better performance we choose something lower, 4
Mbps, for example. Then we use the Nyquist formula to
find the number of signal levels.
3.23
3-6 PERFORMANCE
One important issue in networking is the performance of

the network—how good is it? We discuss quality of
service, an overall measurement of network performance,
in greater detail in Chapter 24. In this section, we
introduce terms that we need for future chapters.

Bandwidth
Throughput
Latency (Delay)
Bandwidth-Delay Product
3.24
Example 3.44
A network with bandwidth of 10 Mbps can pass only an

average of 12,000 frames per minute with each frame
carrying an average of 10,000 bits. What is the
throughput of this network?
Solution
We can calculate the throughput as
The throughput is almost one-fifth of the bandwidth in

this case.
3.25
Example 3.45
What is the propagation time if the distance between the

two points is 12,000 km? Assume the propagation speed
to be 2.4 × 108 m/s in cable.
Solution
We can calculate the propagation time as
The example shows that a bit can go over the Atlantic

Ocean in only 50 ms if there is a direct cable between the
source and the destination.
3.26
Example 3.46
What are the propagation time and the transmission

time for a 2.5-kbyte message (an e-mail) if the
bandwidth of the network is 1 Gbps? Assume that the
distance between the sender and the receiver is 12,000
km and that light travels at 2.4 × 108 m/s.
Solution
We can calculate the propagation and transmission time
as shown on the next slide:
3.27
Note that in this case, because the message is short and

the bandwidth is high, the dominant factor is the
propagation time, not the transmission time. The
transmission time can be ignored.
3.28
Example 3.47
What are the propagation time and the transmission

time for a 5-Mbyte message (an image) if the bandwidth
of the network is 1 Mbps? Assume that the distance
between the sender and the receiver is 12,000 km and
that light travels at 2.4 × 108 m/s.
Solution
We can calculate the propagation and transmission
times as shown on the next slide.
3.29
Note that in this case, because the message is very long

and the bandwidth is not very high, the dominant factor
is the transmission time, not the propagation time. The
propagation time can be ignored.
3.30
Figure 3.31 Filling the link with bits for case 1
3.31
Figure 3.32 Filling the link with bits in case 2
3.32
Note
The bandwidth-delay product defines

the number of bits that can fill the link.
3.33

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Chapter 3

Data and Signals

Topics discussed in this section:

A digital signal has eight levels. How many bits are

Each signal level is represented by 3 bits.

Signals travel through transmission media, which are not

Topics discussed in this section:

Suppose a signal travels through a transmission medium

A loss of 3 dB (–3 dB) is equivalent to losing one-half

A signal travels through an amplifier, and its power is

The power of a signal is 10 mW and the power of the

A very important consideration in data communications

Topics discussed in this section:

Increasing the levels of a signal may

Does the Nyquist theorem bit rate agree with the

Consider a noiseless channel with a bandwidth of 3000

Consider the same noiseless channel transmitting a

We need to send 265 kbps over a noiseless channel with

Since this result is not a power of 2, we need to either

We have a channel with a 1-MHz bandwidth. The SNR

The Shannon formula gives us 6 Mbps, the upper limit.

One important issue in networking is the performance of

Topics discussed in this section:

A network with bandwidth of 10 Mbps can pass only an

The throughput is almost one-fifth of the bandwidth in

What is the propagation time if the distance between the

The example shows that a bit can go over the Atlantic

What are the propagation time and the transmission

Note that in this case, because the message is short and

What are the propagation time and the transmission

Note that in this case, because the message is very long

The bandwidth-delay product defines

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