Transmission Fundamentals

Electromagnetic Signal
 Function of time
 Can also be expressed as a function of
frequency
 Signal consists of components of different
frequencies
Time-Domain Concepts
 Analog signal - signal intensity varies in a smooth
fashion over time
 No breaks or discontinuities in the signal
 Digital signal - signal intensity maintains a
constant level for some period of time and then
changes to another constant level
 Periodic signal - analog or digital signal pattern
that repeats over time
 s(t +T ) = s(t ) -¥< t < +¥
 where T is the period of the signal
Time-Domain Concepts
 Aperiodic signal - analog or digital signal
pattern that doesn't repeat over time
 Peak amplitude (A) - maximum value or
strength of the signal over time; typically
measured in volts
 Frequency (f )
 Rate, in cycles per second, or Hertz (Hz) at
which the signal repeats
Time-Domain Concepts
 Period (T ) - amount of time it takes for one
repetition of the signal
 T = 1/f
 Phase (φ) - measure of the relative position in time
within a single period of a signal
 Wavelength (λ) - distance occupied by a single
cycle of the signal
 Or, the distance between two points of corresponding
phase of two consecutive cycles
Sine Wave Parameters
 General sine wave
 s(t ) = A sin(2πft + φ)
 Figure 2.3 shows the effect of varying each of the
three parameters
 (a) A = 1, f = 1 Hz, φ = 0; thus T = 1s
 (b) Reduced peak amplitude; A=0.5
 (c) Increased frequency; f = 2, thus T = ½
 (d) Phase shift; φ = π/4 radians (45 degrees)
 note: 2π radians = 360° = 1 period
Sine Wave Parameters
Time vs. Distance
 When the horizontal axis is time, as in Figure 2.3,
graphs display the value of a signal at a given
point in space as a function of time
 With the horizontal axis in space, graphs display
the value of a signal at a given point in time as a
function of distance
 At a particular instant of time, the intensity of the signal
varies as a function of distance from the source
Frequency-Domain Concepts
 Fundamental frequency - when all frequency
components of a signal are integer multiples of
one frequency, it’s referred to as the fundamental
frequency
 Spectrum - range of frequencies that a signal
contains
 Absolute bandwidth - width of the spectrum of a
signal
 Effective bandwidth (or just bandwidth) - narrow
band of frequencies that most of the signal’s
energy is contained in
Frequency-Domain Concepts
 Any electromagnetic signal can be shown to
consist of a collection of periodic analog
signals (sine waves) at different amplitudes,
frequencies, and phases
 The period of the total signal is equal to the
period of the fundamental frequency
Relationship between Data Rate
and Bandwidth
 The greater the bandwidth, the higher the
information-carrying capacity
 Conclusions
 Any digital waveform will have infinite bandwidth
 BUT the transmission system will limit the bandwidth
that can be transmitted
 AND, for any given medium, the greater the bandwidth
transmitted, the greater the cost
 HOWEVER, limiting the bandwidth creates distortions
Data Communication Terms
 Data - entities that convey meaning, or
information
 Signals - electric or electromagnetic
representations of data
 Transmission - communication of data by
the propagation and processing of signals
Examples of Analog and Digital
Data
 Analog
 Video
 Audio
 Digital
 Text
 Integers
Analog Signals
 A continuously varying electromagnetic wave that
may be propagated over a variety of media,
depending on frequency
 Examples of media:
 Copper wire media (twisted pair and coaxial cable)
 Fiber optic cable
 Atmosphere or space propagation
 Analog signals can propagate analog and digital
data
Digital Signals
 A sequence of voltage pulses that may be
transmitted over a copper wire medium
 Generally cheaper than analog signaling
 Less susceptible to noise interference
 Suffer more from attenuation
 Digital signals can propagate analog and
digital data
Analog Signaling
Digital Signaling
Reasons for Choosing Data and
Signal Combinations
 Digital data, digital signal
 Equipment for encoding is less expensive than digital-
to-analog equipment
 Analog data, digital signal
 Conversion permits use of modern digital transmission
and switching equipment
 Digital data, analog signal
 Some transmission media will only propagate analog
signals
 Examples include optical fiber and satellite
 Analog data, analog signal
 Analog data easily converted to analog signal
Analog Transmission
 Transmit analog signals without regard to
content
 Attenuation limits length of transmission
link
 Cascaded amplifiers boost signal’s energy
for longer distances but cause distortion
 Analog data can tolerate distortion
 Introduces errors in digital data
Digital Transmission
 Concerned with the content of the signal
 Attenuation endangers integrity of data
 Digital Signal
 Repeaters achieve greater distance
 Repeaters recover the signal and retransmit
 Analog signal carrying digital data
 Retransmission device recovers the digital data from
analog signal
 Generates new, clean analog signal
About Channel Capacity
 Impairments, such as noise, limit data rate
that can be achieved
 For digital data, to what extent do
impairments limit data rate?
 Channel Capacity – the maximum rate at
which data can be transmitted over a given
communication path, or channel, under
given conditions
Concepts Related to Channel
Capacity
 Data rate - rate at which data can be
communicated (bps)
 Bandwidth - the bandwidth of the transmitted
signal as constrained by the transmitter and the
nature of the transmission medium (Hertz)
 Noise - average level of noise over the
communications path
 Error rate - rate at which errors occur
 Error = transmit 1 and receive 0; transmit 0 and receive
1
Nyquist Bandwidth
 For binary signals (two voltage levels)
 C = 2B
 With multilevel signaling
 C = 2B log2 M
 M = number of discrete signal or voltage levels
Signal-to-Noise Ratio
 Ratio of the power in a signal to the power
contained in the noise that’s present at a particular
point in the transmission
 Typically measured at a receiver
 Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR, or S/N)
signal power
( SNR ) dB = 10 log10
noise power
 A high SNR means a high-quality signal, low
number of required intermediate repeaters
 SNR sets upper bound on achievable data rate
Shannon Capacity Formula
 Equation:
C = B log 2 (1 + SNR )
 Represents theoretical maximum that can be
achieved
 In practice, only much lower rates achieved
 Formula assumes white noise (thermal noise)
 Impulse noise is not accounted for
 Attenuation distortion or delay distortion not accounted
for
Example of Nyquist and Shannon
Formulations
 Spectrum of a channel between 3 MHz and
4 MHz ; SNRdB = 24 dB
B = 4 MHz − 3 MHz = 1 MHz
SNR dB = 24 dB = 10 log10 ( SNR )
SNR = 251
 Using Shannon’s formula
C = 10 × log 2 (1 + 251) ≈ 10 × 8 = 8Mbps
6 6
Example of Nyquist and Shannon
Formulations
 How many signaling levels are required?

C = 2 B log 2 M
6
( )
8 ×10 = 2 × 10 × log 2 M
6

4 = log 2 M
M = 16
Classifications of Transmission
Media
 Transmission Medium
 Physical path between transmitter and receiver
 Guided Media
 Waves are guided along a solid medium
 E.g., copper twisted pair, copper coaxial cable, optical
fiber
 Unguided Media
 Provides means of transmission but does not guide
electromagnetic signals
 Usually referred to as wireless transmission
 E.g., atmosphere, outer space
Unguided Media
 Transmission and reception are achieved by
means of an antenna
 Configurations for wireless transmission
 Directional
 Omnidirectional
General Frequency Ranges
 Microwave frequency range
 1 GHz to 40 GHz
 Directional beams possible
 Suitable for point-to-point transmission
 Used for satellite communications
 Radio frequency range
 30 MHz to 1 GHz
 Suitable for omnidirectional applications
 Infrared frequency range
 Roughly, 3x1011 to 2x1014 Hz
 Useful in local point-to-point multipoint applications
within confined areas
Terrestrial Microwave
 Description of common microwave antenna
 Parabolic "dish", 3 m in diameter
 Fixed rigidly and focuses a narrow beam
 Achieves line-of-sight transmission to receiving
antenna
 Located at substantial heights above ground level
 Applications
 Long haul telecommunications service
 Short point-to-point links between buildings
Satellite Microwave
 Description of communication satellite
 Microwave relay station
 Used to link two or more ground-based microwave
transmitter/receivers
 Receives transmissions on one frequency band (uplink),
amplifies or repeats the signal, and transmits it on
another frequency (downlink)
 Applications
 Television distribution
 Long-distance telephone transmission
 Private business networks
Broadcast Radio
 Description of broadcast radio antennas
 Omnidirectional
 Antennas not required to be dish-shaped
 Antennas need not be rigidly mounted to a precise
alignment
 Applications
 Broadcast radio

VHF and part of the UHF band; 30 MHZ to 1GHz

Covers FM radio and UHF and VHF television
Multiplexing
 Capacity of transmission medium usually
exceeds capacity required for transmission
of a single signal
 Multiplexing - carrying multiple signals on
a single medium
 More efficient use of transmission medium
Multiplexing
Reasons for Widespread Use of
Multiplexing
 Cost per kbps of transmission facility
declines with an increase in the data rate
 Cost of transmission and receiving
equipment declines with increased data rate
 Most individual data communicating
devices require relatively modest data rate
support
Multiplexing Techniques
 Frequency-division multiplexing (FDM)
 Takes advantage of the fact that the useful
bandwidth of the medium exceeds the required
bandwidth of a given signal
 Time-division multiplexing (TDM)
 Takes advantage of the fact that the achievable
bit rate of the medium exceeds the required data
rate of a digital signal
Frequency-division Multiplexing
Time-division Multiplexing