Chapter 2

Transmission Media
 Electromagnetic spectrum for
telecommunications
Frequency
(hertz) 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 1010 1011 1012 1013 1014 1015
ELF VF VLF LF MF HF VHF UHF SHF EHF

Power and telephone Radio Microwave Infrared visible

Rotating generators Radios and televisions Radar Lasers light
Musical instruments Electronic tubes Microwave antennas guided missiles
Voice microphone Integrated circuits Magnetrons Rangefinders

Twisted
Pair
Coaxial optical
Cable fiber

AM Radio FM Radio Terrestrial

and TV and Satellite
Transmission

6 105 104 103 102 101 100 10-1 10-2 10-3 10-4 10-5 10-6
Wavelength in 10
space (meters)
 Transmission Medium

 Guided (P-T-P, Multipoint)

» Twisted Pair
» Coaxial Cable
» Optical Fiber
 Unguided
» Air
» Vacuum
» Seawater
 Simplex (Signal One direction)
 Half Duplex (1 Station at a time)
 Full-Duplex (2 Stations TX & RX)
 Guided Transmission
Configurations

Transmitter/ Amplifier Transmitter/

Medium Medium
Receiver or repeater Receiver

0 or more

Point-to-Point
 Guided Transmission
Configurations

Transmitter/ Transmitter/ Transmitter/ Transmitter/

Receiver Receiver Receiver Receiver

Amplifier
Medium Medium
or repeater

0 or more

Multipoint
 Point-to-point transmission
characteristics of guided media

Transmission
medium Total data rate Bandwidth Repeater spacing

Twisted pair 4 Mbps 3 MHz 2 to 10 km

Coaxial Cable 500 Mbps 350 MHz 1 to 10 km
Optical fiber 2 Gbps 2 GHz 10 to 100 km

 The medium itself is more important than other factors in

determining transmission limitations
 For unguided media, range of frequencies is of more
importance.
 Twisted-Pair Cables
 The least expensive media (unshielded)
 Capable of handling up to 100 Mbps
 May be used with voice and data
» Private Automatic Branch eXchange (PABX)

 Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP)

» Data capacity grades defined by EIA/TIA 568
» Categories that can be used for data
– Category 3 to 10 Mbps
– Category 4 to 20 Mbps
– Category 5 to 100 Mbps
» Characteristic impedance of 100 to 120 ohms
 (cont.)
 Shielded Twisted Pair (STP)
» Primarily used by IBM
» Should be better than UTP
– Shields prevent interference from outside signals
– Also prevent interference to outside signals

 Token Ring environments may include a mix of

UTP and STP cabling
 Coaxial Cables
 Very high cable bandwidth
» Up to 400 MHz
 Low noise (low bit error rate)
 Used in a variety of networking applications
» In IBM networks (e.g., cluster controllers)
» In Ethernets (10Base2 and 10 Base5)
» In cable television (used in broadband LANs)
 Termination resistance (impedance)
» 50 ohms for Ethernet cables
» 75 ohms for broadband LANs
» 93 ohms in some other cables
Coaxial Cables
 Baluns
 Baluns provide a BALanced-to-Unbalanced interconnect

 Balanced cables typically are twisted pairs

 Unbalanced cables typically are coaxial cables

 Baluns are often used to allow twisted pairs to replace more

expensive coaxial cables

 Impedance match

 Connector match
 Fiber-Optic Cables
 Extremely high data rates
» More than 100 Mbps for LAN uses
» More than 10 times that for telephone company links
 Usage is typically in unidirectional links, with one fiber in
each direction
 Convert electrical to light and back to electrical

Light
Electrical // Electrical

Electrical // Electrical
 Fiber-Optic Cables
 Very small size
» Hair-like fiber-optic strand (125-micron outer diameter)
» Light-conducting core size of typically 62.5 micron
» Called “62.5/125-micron” fiber
» Other sizes are also used
– May use 50/125 (especially in Europe)
 Many different types of connectors are available
 LAN usage is usually “multimode”, “graded index”
» Multimode supports different light modes, which may travel at
different speeds
» Graded index resists pulse spreading due to different transmission
speeds
 Fiber-Optic Cables
 Approximately the same cost as good-quality coaxial cable
» Optical interfaces are the most expensive component
» Transmission by Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) or laser diodes
» Reception by Positive Intrinsic Negative (PIN) diodes or avalanche
diodes
 Best available communications media
» Excellent electrical noise immunity
» Difficult to tap (security)
» Lightweight
» Small size (frequency fits in existing cable trays)
 Fiber-Optic Cables
- Core: one or more thin strands or fibers (8 to 100 mm)
- Cladding: glass or plastic coating with different optical properties than the core
- Core/Cladding interface: reflector – confine ray
- Jacket: protection against moisture, abrasion, crushing …
 Wireless Communications
 There are several different forms of wireless
communications

 Point-to-point microwave
» Requires “line of sight” between antennas
» Antennas are often mounted on towers
» Requires a license

 Cellular
» Uses the frequency range assigned to the cellular telephone
» Shares the frequency range with other transmissions
 Wireless Communications
 Wireless LANs
» Have been used for some time (e.g., in grocery store inventory
scanners)
» Spread spectrum technology
– Standards are being developed (IEEE 802.11)
 Satellite Links

Satellite

Satellite dish
 Satellite Links
 Potential of
» Multiples of 56-to-64 Kbps data rates
» Low cost
» Large area of reception (broadcast)
» Distance-independent charging
 Large propagation delay
» 1-nsec/foot (3-nsec/meter) delay (speed of light)
» 250-msec one-way delay for geosynchronous orbit
 Moderate-cost earth stations are possible
 Infrared Line of sight
 It uses high-frequency light waves to transmit data on an
unobstructed path between nodes (computers or some
other devices such as printer) on a network, at a distance
of up to 24.4 meters.
 Use: The remote controls for most audio/visual equipment.
TV, stereo, etc use infrared light.
 Infrared equipment is relatively inexpensive.
 Infrared systems can be configured as either point-to-point
or broadcast.
 Point-to-point systems require strict line-of-sight
positioning. It supports up to 16 Mbps at 1 km.
 With broadcast infrared communication, devices do not
need to be positioned directly in front of each other, but
have to be located within some distance. It supports less
than 1 Mbps.
High-Frequency Radio

 High-frequency radio signals can transmit data

at rates of up to 11 Mbps to network nodes
from 12.2 to 40 kilometers, depending on the
nature of the obstructions between them.

 Use:
police vehicles use high-frequency radio
signals for communication with each other.

 Applications:
Pagers, cellular phones, and wireless networks
Advantage:
 The flexibility of the signal path makes high-frequency
radio ideal for mobile transmissions.

Disadvantages:
 This medium is expensive due to
» The cost of antenna towers
» High-output transceivers.
 Installation is complex and often dangerous due to
high voltages
 Microwave
 Microwave transmission is a high-frequency radio signal that is
sent through the air using either terrestrial (earth-based)
systems or satellite systems.
 Both systems require line-of-sight communications between the
sending signal and the receiving signal.
 Terrestrial microwave uses antennas that require an
unobstructed path or line-of-sight between nodes.
 The cost of a terrestrial microwave system depends on the
distance to be covered.
 Businesses lease access to microwave system from service
providers.
 Data can be transmitted at 274 Mbps using terrestrial
microwave. Attenuation is not a problem for shorter distance.
 Signal can be obstructed over longer distances by weather
conditions such as high winds and heavy rain for terrestrial
microwave systems.
 Terrestrial Microwave
 Terrestrial microwave links are widely used to
provide communication links when it is
impractical or too expensive to install physical
transmission media ( e.g. across a river,
inaccessible terrain).
 As the collimated microwave beam travels
through the earth’s atmosphere, it can be
affected by weather conditions.
 However, with a satellite link the beam travels
mainly through free space, therefore less
prone to such effects (weather conditions).
 Satellites

 Satellite microwave uses a relay station that transfers signals

between antennas located on earth and satellites orbiting the
earth.

 A satellite is a microwave station located in outer space.

 Satellites used for communications are generally geostationary.

 Geostationary satellite orbits the earth once in every 24 hours

synchronously with the earth’s rotation. Therefore the satellites
appear stationary from the ground.

 Geosynchronous satellite rotate around the earth at 6900

miles/hour and remained positioned over the same point at
22300 miles above the equator.
 Worldwide coverage can be achieved with three
geosynchronous satellite spaced at 120 degrees
interval from one another.

 It can be used to access very remote and

undeveloped locations on the earth. Data rate can
be 90 Mbps.

 Satellite systems are very expensive because it

depend on space technology..
 Error Rates

 The physical lines have inherently

different error properties.
 The average error rate: the fraction of
bits delivered with errors; e.g.,one in 105
for telephone channels
» For lengthy transmissions, this error rate is
often unsatisfactory
» It must be improved by higher level protocol
mechanisms
 Error Rates (Cont.)

 Some media may have error rates as

low as one in 1014
» May be adequate for many purposes; e.g.,
digitized images
» Still typically have higher level protocol
recovery mechanisms
 Telecommunications System
Components

 Computer to process information.

 Terminals or input/output devices

(source/destination)

 Communication channels => Communication

channels use various communication media,
such as telephone lines, fiber optic cables,
coaxial cables, and wireless transmission.
 Telecommunications System
Components

 Communication processors => Modems,

controllers, and front-end processors.

 Communication software to control the

function of the network.
Effect of imperfect transmission
medium
Sources of attenuation and distortion
 Signal Attenuation
 During the transmission through a medium, a signal
is affected by attenuation, limited bandwidth, delay
distortion, and noise.

 When a signal propagates along a transmission

medium its amplitude decreases. This is known as
signal attenuation.

 If the cable is longer, a number of repeaters

(amplifiers) are inserted at some intervals so that the
receiver can detect it.
 Delay Distortion
 A Digital signal consists of components with various
frequencies.
 The rate of propagation of a sinusoidal signal along
a transmission line varies with the frequency of the
signal.
 Therefore, when we transmit any signal through a
transmission line, all its components reach at the
destination with varying delays.
 This results in delay distortion.
 Noise

 In the absence of a signal, a transmission

line ideally has zero electrical signal present.

 In practice, however, there are random

perturbations on the line even when no
signal is being transmitted.

 This is called line noise level.

Noise categorized as:

 Thermal Noise

 Intermodulation noise

 Crosstalk

 Impulse noise
 Thermal Noise

- Noise based on thermal agitation in all

transmission media and all communication
equipment

- It is characterized by uniform distribution of

energy over the frequency spectrum with a
Gaussian distribution of level.
- Thermal noise is directly proportional to
bandwidth and temperature
 Thermal Noise …

- Thermal noise is directly proportional to

bandwidth and temperature

- The amount of thermal noise in 1 Hz

bandwidth in an actual device is

Pn = kT (W / Hz)
 CrossTalk

- Refer to unwanted coupling between signal

path
- Causes:
- electrical coupling between transmission
media, such as between wire pairs on VF
- Poor control of frequency response (i. e.
defective filter or poor filter design)
- Nonlinear performance in analog (FDM)
multiplex system
 Impulse Noise

- It is non continuous, consisting of irregular

pulses or noise “spikes or hit up” of short
duration broad spectral density, and
relatively high amplitude.

- It may seriously degrade data error

performance in data or other digital
waveforms.
 Signal-to-Noise ratio

- S/N express in decibels the amount by

which a signal level exceeds the noise
within a specified bandwidth

- S/N ratios with the corresponding end

instruments:
Signal-to-Noise ratio …
Two - Wire communication
Four-Wire ommunication
Operation of a Hybrid
Operation of a Hybrid …
Operation of a Hybrid …
Operation of a Hybrid …
Operation of a Hybrid …
Operation of a Hybrid …
Operation of a Hybrid …
 Switched Voice-Grade
Telephone Channels

 Direct-dial analog telephone channels

» Dial-up modem use
 Normal voice line
» Limited to about 3000 Hz bandwidth
 The local loop is a two-wire circuit
» To the central office(exchange)