Chapter 2: Physical Layer

Prepared by:
Associate Professor Smriti Nakarmi
Performance Factors
Network performance is an important issue in data and computer
networking
A number of design factors relating to the transmission medium and
the signal determine the data rate and distance.
• Bandwidth:
• It is the data rate supported by a network connection of interface. It
represents the overall capacity of the connection.
• It is the amount of data that passes through a network connection over time
as measure in bits per second.
• Different applications need different bandwidths. In video conferencing we
need to send millions of bits per second while the total number of bits in an
e-mail may not reach even a million.
Performance Factors
• Throughput: it is a measure of how fast we can actually send data
through a network.
• Bandwidth is a potential measurement of a link ; throughput is an actual
measurement of how fast we can send data.
• Imagine a highway designed to transmit 1000 cars per minute from one point
to another. However, if there is congestion on the road, this figure may be
reduced to 100 cars per minute. The bandwidth is 1000 cars per minute; the
throughput is 100 cars per minute.
Performance Factors
• Latency: It defines how long it takes for an entire message to
completely arrive at the destination from the time the first bit is sent
out from the source.
• Delay: In a packet switched network, packet travels from one node to
another along the path. The packet suffers from different delay such
as;
• Processing delay: The time required to examine the packet header and
determine where to direct the packet.
• Queuing delay : At the queue, the packets experience a queuing delay, when
they wait to transmit on the links.
Performance Factors
• Transmission delay: It is also called store and forward delay. The
packets are transmitted on the first come first served basis. It is the
time required to transmit all the packets bits into the link.
• Propagation delay: The time required for the packets bits to reach
from the beginning of the link to the desired router is
Transmission Media
• Transmission media is anything that can carry information from source to a
destination.
• Physical layer is concerned with the transmission of bits over a communication
medium/channel.
• Transmission media is located below the physical layer. It carries information
from source to the destination.
• Areas influencing the choice of medium :
• Bandwidth : It refers to the range of frequencies that the medium can accommodate.
Digitally it is denoted as maximum number of bits per second that can be transmitted.
• Cost: Two types of cost may be involved, one is the installation cost including equipment cost,
and the other is the maintenance cost.
• Reliability: Low reliability translates into a higher number of errors which need to be
balanced. Some media by their physical nature transmit data more reliably than others.
• Coverage: The physical characteristics of a medium defines how long a signal can travel in it
before it is distorted beyond recognition. To cover a large area, repeaters are needed.
Classification of Transmission Media
Guided Transmission Media
• Signals are transmitted via a physical and tangible guide between the
communicating points.
• Copper twisted pair , coaxial cable and optical fiber are the most
widely used guided transmission media.
• The guided media cab be classified as:
• Twisted pair
• Coaxial cable
• Optical fiber
Twisted Pair Cable
• Oldest and most commonly used medium
• Consists of one or more twisted pair wires bundled together
• Each twisted pair wire consists of two separate insulted copper wires.
• Twisted together to reduce crosstalk and noise susceptibility.
• It is cheaper than any other medium.
• Very effective for short distance.
• Application
• Telephone line
• DSL line
• ISDN
Varieties of Twisted Pair Cables
• Twisted pair cabling comes in two varieties:
• Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP)
• Consists of two insulated conductor twisted together in a spiral form
• Very cheap and easy to install
• UTP is not the primary choice for any network architecture.
• Badly affected by noise.
• Widely used in telephone, LANs.
• Shielded Twisted Pair (STP)
• STP cable has pairs of conductors twisted around each other. Each pair is covered with a
foil shield to reduce interference and minimize crosstalk between wire pairs.
• STP cable can handle high-speed transmission, but the cable itself is relatively expensive.
• The special cable versions developed by IBM use as STP.
Twisted Pair Cable
• UTP • STP
UTP Categories
Coaxial Cable
• It consists of four concentric cylinder. A central core conductor of
solid enclosed in an insulating sheath. The outer conductor is a
metallic foil which acts as a shield against noise. The outer conductor
is enclosed in an insulating sheath and then a plastic cover protects
the whole assembly.
Coaxial Cable
• Coaxial cable has range of 54MHz to 500 MHz
• It has excellent noise immunity
• Types:
• RG- 58 or Thinnet (10Base2): 50 ohm cable for thin ethernet to carry data at 10Mbps
for 185 meters
• RG-8/11 or Thicknet (10Base5): 50 ohm cable to carry data at 10Mbps data rate for
500 meters.
• RG-59: has got a 75 ohms impedance and is often used for TV connections.
• Application:
• Cable TV
• Traditional ethernet LANs
• Digital transmission
• Analog telephone network
Fiber-optic Cable
• Fiber-optic cable is made of glass or plastic and transmits signals in
the form of light.
• The inner core is provided with cladding and a plastic coating.
• Core is used for guiding light beam where as cladding acts as reflector
to prevent light from escaping from the core.
• Kevlar Strands are used to strengthen the cable.
Fiber Optic Cable
• Fiber optic cable transmit signals in the form of light.
Fiber optics benefits
• Greater capacity
• data rates of hundreds of Gbps
• Smaller size & weight
• Lower attenuation
• Electromagnetic isolation
• Greater repeater spacing
• 10s of km at least
Fiber Optics
• Optical Cable uses total internal reflection to transmit light
• The light signals on fiber optic cables are generated either by
• light emitting diodes (LEDs)
• Cheaper, wider operating temperature range, lasts longer
• Injection Laser Diode (ILD)
• More efficient, has greater data rate
• Signals are received by photodiodes.
• Application:
• Backbone network
• Cable TV companies
• LAN : 100Base-FX
• With WDM , higher data rate of can be transferred.
Fiber Optic
 Advantages of optical fiber over metal wire
Advantage:
• High transmission speed
• Small size and weight
• Electrical isolation in the transmission medium
• Immunity to electromagnetic interference and crosstalk
• Increased Signal security
• Low transmission loss
• System reliability
• long transmission distance
Disadvantage:
• System installation is very costly.
• Precise and costly instruments would be required.
• Splicing is time consuming
• Fragile
Comparison between Twisted pair, Coaxial cable & Optical
fiber
Twisted Pair Cable Co-axial Cable Optical Fiber

Transmission of signals takes place in the electrical Transmission of signals takes place in the electrical Signal transmission takes place in an optical form
form over the metallic conducting wires. form over the inner conductor of the cable over a glass fiber.

Noise immunity is low. Therefore, more distortion. Higher noise immunity than the twisted pair cable Highest noise immunity as the light rays are
due to presence of shielding conductor. unaffected by the electrical noise.

Affected due to external magnetic field. Less affected due to external magnetic field. Not affected by the external magnetic field.

Short circuit between the two conductors is Short circuit between the two conductors is Short circuit is not possible.
possible possible.
Cheapest Moderately expensive Expensive

Can support low data rates Moderately high data rates. Very high data rate.

Power loss due to conduction and radiation. Power loss due to conduction. Power loss due to absorption, scattering, dispersion
and bending.

Low bandwidth Moderately high bandwidth Very high bandwidth

Unguided (Wireless) Media
• Unguided medium transport electromagnetic waves without using a
physical conductor.
• Signals are broadcast through free space and thus are available to
anyone who has a device capable of receiving them.
Antennas
• Electrical conductor used to radiate or collect electromagnetic energy
• Transmission antenna
• Receives electrical energy from transmitter
• Converted to electromagnetic energy by antenna
• Radiated into surrounding environment
• Reception antenna
• Receives electromagnetic energy radiation
• Converts into electrical energy
• Fed to receiver
• Same antenna is often used for both purposes
Propagation Method
Ground wave propagation

• Ground wage propagation more or less follows the contour of the earth.
• In ground propagation, radio waves travel through the lowest portion of the
atmosphere.
• These are low frequency signals that radiates in all direction from the
transmitting antenna and follow the curvature of the planet.
• Distance depends on the amount of power in the signal.
• Can propagate considerable distances.
• The propagation effect is found in frequencies up to about 2MHz
• The example of ground wave communication is AM radio
Sky Wave Propagation

• A signal from an earth-based antenna is reflected from the ionized

layer of the ionosphere back down to earth.
• A sky wave signal can travel through a number of hops, bouncing back
and forth between ionosphere and the earth’s surface.
• CB radio, international broadcast such as BBC uses this propagation.
• In sky wave propagation, higher frequency radio waves radiate
upward into the ionosphere where they reflected back to earth.
• This type of transmission allows for greater distances with lower
output power.
Space Wave or Line of Sight

• Above 30 MHz neither ground wave or sky wave propagation modes

operate, communication must be by line of sight.
• For satellite communication, a signal above 30MHz is not reflected by
the ionosphere.
• For ground based communication, the transmitting and receiving
antennas must be within the line of sight of each other.
• Very high frequency signals are transmitted in straight line directly
from antenna to antenna.
• Antennas must be directional, facing each other.
• Distance of signal propagation is limited to the curvature of earth.
Range of frequency
• Radio waves (3kHz to 1 GHz)
• Microwaves (1 to 300 GHz)
• Infrared frequency (3*1011 to 4*1014 Hz) / 300GHz to 400THz

1. Radio waves
• Are mostly omnidirectional and propagate in all directions
• Can penetrate walls and are suitable for AM broadcasting
• Application: AM &FM broadcasting, TV broadcasting, UHF used in TV
Range of Frequency
2. Microwaves
• EM waves having frequencies between 1 to 300 GHz
• Microwaves are unidirectional.
• Microwave band is relatively wide, almost 299GHz providing high data rates.
• Repeaters are often need for long distance communication.
• Application: point to point communication, radar and navigation, satellite communication
• Types: terrestrial and satellite microwave
3. Infrared
• With frequencies from 300GHz to 400THz can be used for short-range communication.
• Infrared waves have high frequencies and cannot penetrate walls.
• Prevents interference between one system and another.
• Application: remote control of electronic devices,
communication between key boards, mouse, PCs etc.
Antennas
Frequency Bands
Satellite
• An artificial satellite is a man made object placed into orbit around the Earth for
the purpose of communication and scientific research.
• Satellite provides communication over longer distance compared to normal radio
communication.
• Optimum frequency range for satellite communication is 1 to 10 GHz.
• The paths in which satellite move are known as orbit.
• There are different types of satellite which are classified according to the height
of installation over earth.
• LEO (Lower Earth Orbit)
• MEO (Medium Earth Orbit)
• GEO (Geostationary Earth Orbit)
LEO
• LEO satellites are close to earth (500 to
1500Km)
• Have rotation periods 90 to 120 minutes
• Large number of satellites are needed for a
complete system.
• The footprint normally has a diameter of 8000
km.
• LEO satellites are close to Earth, the round-
trip time propagation delay is normally less
than 20 ms.
• LEO system is made of a constellation of
satellites that work together as a network.
• LEO satellite is acceptable for audio
communication.
MEO
• MEO satellite takes 6 to 8 hrs to circle
the earth depending on its orbit height
above the earth surface.
• GPS satellites MEO satellites orbiting at
about 18000 Kms above the surface of
the Earth.
• GPS uses 24satellites in six orbits.
• Mostly used for navigation and military
services.
GEO
• GEO satellites have almost distance of
36,000 Km to the Earth surface.
• All radio and TV , weather satellites
are GEO satellites.
• GEO satellites are tied to the earth’s
rotation and are therefore in a fixed
position in space in relation to earth’s
surface.
• It takes a minimum of three satellites
equidistant from each other in GEO to
provide full global transmission.
• Rotation period is 23hrs 56min 4 sec.
 Multiplexing
• Multiplexing defined as a technique which allows many users to share
a common communication channel simultaneously.
• In multiplexed system n lines share the bandwidth of one link.
• Multiplexing techniques:
• FDM ( Frequency Division Multiplexing)
• TDM (Time Division Multiplexing)
• WDM (Wavelength Division Multiplexing)
Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM)
• In FDM, many signals are transmitted simultaneously where each
signal occupies a different frequency slot within a common
bandwidth.
• FDM is employed when the bandwidth of the link is greater than the
combined bandwidths of the signal to be transmitted.
• Application:
• AM radio broadcasting (530 to 1700 KHz band)
• FM radio broadcasting (88 to 108 MHz)
• TV broadcasting
• Cellular communication
FDM
Time Division Multiplexing
• In TDM, all the signals to be transmitted are not transmitted
simultaneously. Instead, they are transmitted one by one.
• Each input occupies a time slot sending a unit which can be a bit,
character or a block of data.
• The data are organized into frames. Each frame consists of a cycle of
time slot.
• For N input connections, the frame is divided into N time slots and
one slot is allotted to each input line.
• TDM is used in telecommunication switching.
TDM
Wavelength Division Multiplexing
• WDM is a variation of FDM in fiber optic channels.
• The basic principle of WDM is that multiple light sources are
combined into one single light at the multiplexer and the reverse
process is done at the demultiplexer.
• Application: used in SONET network, where multiple optical fiber
lines are multiplexed and demultiplexed.
Switching
• Switched communication networks consists of an interconnected
collection of nodes, called switches in which data are transmitted
from source to destination routed through the network of nodes.
• Switching methods:
• Circuit Switching
• Packet Switching
• Virtual-circuit approach
• Datagram approach
• Message Switching
Circuit Switching
• A circuit switched network consists of a set of switches connected by
physical links.
• A connection between two stations is a dedicated path made of one or
more links. However, each connection uses only one dedicated channel on
each link.
• The most common example of circuit switching is in public telephone
network.
• Circuit switching was developed to handle voice traffic but it can also
handle digital data.
• In circuit switching, the resources need to be reserved during the setup
phase; the resources remain dedicated for the entire duration of data
transfer until the teardown phase.
Circuit switching
• The circuit switched network operates in three phased:
• Set up phase
• Data transfer phase
• Termination phase.
• Simple circuit switching model of a telephone system is shown below:
Packet Switching
• In packet switching, messages are broken into packets, each of which
includes a header with source & destination address information and
control information.
• There is no resource allocation for a packet i.e. there is no reserved
bandwidth on the links. Resource are allocated on demand.
• Two approaches:
• Datagram approach
• Virtual-circuit approach
Datagram Network
• In a datagram network, each packet is treated independently of all
others.
• Each node chooses the next node on the packets path taking into
account information received from neighboring nodes on traffic,
• So , the packet each with the same destination address do not follow
the same route.
• A switch in a datagram network uses a routing table that is based on
the destination address.
• The datagram networks are sometimes referred to as connectionless
networks.
Datagram Network
Virtual-Circuit Switched
• A virtual-circuit network is a cross between circuit- switched network and a
datagram network. It has some characteristics of both.
• As in a circuit-switched network, there are setup , data transfer and
teardown phase.
• Resources can be allocated during the setup phase.
• As in a datagram network, data are packetized and each packet carries an
address in the header.
• As in a circuit-switched network, all packets follow the same path
established during the connection.
• A virtual-circuit network is normally implemented in the data link layer,
while circuit switched network is implemented in the physical layer and a
datagram network in the network layer.
Virtual-Circuit Switched
Switch and tables in a virtual circuit network.
• VCI is the identifier that is actually
used for the data transfer .
• It is a small number that is used by a
frame between two switches.
• When a frame arrives at a switch , it
has a VCI and when it leaves, it has
different VCI
Source and destination data transfer in a
virtual- circuit network
Comparison between datagram network and
virtual-circuit network
Telecommunication switching system
Telecommunication Switching system
• The switching systems in the early stages were operated manually.
• The connections were made by the operators at the telephone
exchanges in order to establish a connection.
Automatic switching systems
• To minimize the disadvantages of manual operation, automatic
switching systems were introduced.
• Classification:
• Electro Mechanical switching system: mechanical switches are electrically
operated.
• Electronic Switching Systems: the usage of electronic components such as
diodes, transistors and ICs are used for the switching purposes.
Electromechanical switching system
• Electromechanical switching systems
include step by step and crossbar
systems.
• The step by step switching system is
also called the Strowger switching
system. Strowger was the first
automatic switching developed by
Almon B. Stowger in 1881.
• The connection are established by
step by step manner. The contro
functions in a strowger system are
performed by circuits associated with
the switching elements in the system.
Electromechanical switching system
• Crossbar is actually a matrix
switch used to establish the
speech path.
• This systems have hard-wired
control subsystems which use
relays and latches.
• An electrical control is made by
actuating a horizontal and
vertical relay.
Electronic Switching Systems
• The Electronic Switching systems are operated with the help of a
processor or a computer which control the switching timings.
• The instructions are programmed and stored on a processor or
computer that control the operations. This method of storing the
programs on a processor or computer is called the Stored Program
Control (SPC) technology. New facilities can be added to
a SPC system by changing the control program.
• The switching scheme used by the electronic switching systems
may be either Space Division Switching or Time Division Switching.
Space division switching
• In space division switching, the path in the circuits are separated from
one another spatially.
• In space division switching, a dedicated path is established between
the calling and the called subscribers for the entire duration of the
call.
• A cross bar switch connects n inputs to m outputs in a grid, using
electronic microswitches (transistors) at each Crosspoint.
 Time division switching
• In time division switching, sampled values of speech signals are
transferred at fixed intervals.
• It uses time-division multiplexing (TDM) inside a switch.
• The most popular technology is called the time-slot interchange (TSI).
Digital Carrier Standards:T1 and E1
• Digital telecommunication carrier standard to carry voice conversation
simultaneously using TDM.
• Both standard use different transmit and receive path for full duplex
communication
• T1 : North American Standard
• E1: European Standard.
• Both are designed to send PCM voice signals.
T1: North American Standard
• One frame consists of 24 channels • Each channel is quantized and
sampled at 8 Khz. converted into 7-bit PCM word with
• i.e. FS= 8 khz TS= 125 µs 8th bit for channel synchronization.

• Additional one bit after each frame for

frame synchronization

• One frame = 24*8+1=193 bits.

• Hence,
• Signaling rate, T1=193 bits/125µs
= 1.544 Mbps
T Hierarchy:
Level No. of Voice channel Formation Data Rate:
T1 24 - 1.544 Mbps
T2 96 4T1 6.312 Mbps
T3 672 7T2 44.736
Mbps
T4 4032 6T3 274.176
Mbps
E1: European Standard
• Total 32 channels • One Frame = 32*8 = 256 bits
• 30 channels for voice calls and • Signaling rate of E1
data =256 bits/125µs
• 2 channels for signaling and =2.048 Mbps
synchronization
• 32 channel sampled at 8 khz.
• i.e. FS= 8 khz TS= 125 µs
• Each channel is quantized and
converted into 8-bit PCM word.
E Hierarchy:
Level No. of Voice channel Formation Data rate
E1 30 - 2.048 Mbps

E2 120 4E1 8.448 Mbps

E3 480 4E2 34.368 Mbps

E4 1920 4E3 139.264 Mbps
ISDN: Integrated Services Digital Network
• An ISDN is an integrated digital network in which the same digital
switches and digital paths are used to establish connections for
different services.
• A method of sending voice and data information on a digital phone
line.
• The main idea is to digitize the telephone networks to permit the
transmission of audio, video and text over existing telephone
networks.
ISDN Architecture
ISDN Components
a. Terminal Equipment Type 1 (TE 1)
• ISDN compatible devices
• TE1 connects to the ISDN network through a four wire, twisted pair digital link.

b. Terminal Equipment Type 2 (TE2)

• Non-ISDN compatible device
• TE2 connect to the ISDN network through TA
• Example: analog telephone, computer without an ISDN connection.
c. Terminal Adapter (TA)
• Converts standard electrical signals into the form used by ISDN
ISDN Components
d. Network Terminal Type 1 (NT 1)
• Connect the four wire subscriber wiring to the conventional two-wire local
loop.
• NT1 provides connectivity between a customer site and telco’s site.
• It corresponds to layer 1 of OSI
e. Network Terminal Type 2
• It is customer premises switching equipment.
• It is an intelligent device which performs switching and concentration
functions.
ISDN physical interface
• R: defines the point between a non-ISDN and TA which provides
translation to and from such a device.
• S: defines the point between the ISDN equipment and NT2 device
• T: defines the point between the NT2 and NT1 devices.
• U: defines the point between the NT1 and the telco switch2.
ISDN services
• The purpose of ISDN is to provide fully integrated digital services to
users.
a. Bearer services : are concerned with moving information (voice, data,
video) from one location to another.
b. Tele services: are concerned with processing information in various ways.
Eg: teleconferencing, telefax, etc
c. Supplementary services: reverse charging, caller ID,etc
ISDN Channel
• ISDN defines several different channel types which provide a logical separation of user
data from signaling and control information.
B channel
-bearer channel that carries video or data
-has data rate of 64Kbps.
D channel
-signaling channel
- Used for control signals
- Two forms of the D channel : 16kbps and 64 kbps
H channel
-higher rate channel
- rate: 384kbps (H0), 1536 kbps (H11)
ISDN interface
• Basic Rate Interface
• The entry level interface to ISDN is BRI
• Is defined as 2B+D
(2X 64 kbps + 16 kbps)
• It has useable bandwidth of 144 kbps (128+16)
• The overall bit rate of BRI is 192 kbps (including overhead bits)
• Primary Rate Interface
• Meant for the users with higher capacity requirement
• Two different bit rates for which the primary access is designed
23B+D for 1.544 Mbps (23 X 64 kbps + 64kbps)
30B+D for 2.048 Mbps (30 X 64 kbps +64 kbps)
End of chapter 2
 Assignment 2
1. What is Transmission media? Explain about any three transmission media in detail with appropriate figures.
2. Compare packet switched networks and circuit switched networks. Which kind would you prefer and why?
3. Explain different types of multiplexing used in communication system. Differentiate between Virtual Circuit
switching and datagrams switching.
4. Explain five instances of how networks are a part of your life today. Though we have MAC address, why do we
use IP address to represent the host in networks? Explain your answer.
5. A frame having size of 100 bits is transmitted through a channel having capacity of 200 KB/Sec. Calculate the
percentage of idleness of the channel assuming the round trip time of the channel to be 20ms. Is the channel
efficient? What is your recommendation further?
6. Discuss the various types of wave propagation with suitable diagrams.
7. Discuss the various types of wireless transmission based on the range of frequencies.
8. What is multiplexer? Explain TDM and FDM.
9. What do you mean by switching in communication? Compare switching with multiplexing. Explain the E1
telephone hierarchy system.
10. Compare virtual circuit and datagram approach with suitable diagram.
11. Discuss different interfaces of ISDN.
12. Write short notes on T1 Telephone Hierarchy.