Unit 2: Transmission Media and Switching (Total Marks-14)

Unit Outcome:
1.Explain with sketches the construction of given type of cable.
2. Explain with sketches the characteristics of the given type of unguided transmission
media.
3.Explain with sketches the given switching technique.
4.Compare different switching techniques on the given parameter.

Sub Points:
2.1Communication Media: Guided Transmission Media Twisted pair Cable, coaxial
cable, fiber optic cable.
2.2 Unguided Transmission Media, Radio Waves, Microwaves, Infrared, Satellite.
2.3 Line of sight Transmission point to point , broadcast
2.4 Multitasking :Frequency-Division Multiplexing
2.5 Switching: Circuit-switched networks. Packet –switched networks.
 Assignments Questions
1) List any four Unguided Transmission Media.
2) Why is circuit switching preferred over packet switching in voice
communication.
3) Describe the construction of fiber optic cable with a neat diagram.
4) Describe leased line connection . Give its need.
5) Give difference between FDM and TDM.
6) Draw the neat diagram of circuit switching. Explain in brief.
7) State any two advantages of coaxial cable.
8) With neat diagram , explain satellight communication system.
9) Distinguish between guided and unguided transmission media.
10)Draw and explain twisted pair cable.
 About title of the chapter
Transmission Media and Switching
Transmission media is a communication channel that carries the information from the
sender to the receiver. Data is transmitted through the electromagnetic signals.
In large networks, there can be multiple paths from sender to receiver. The switching
technique will decide the best route for data transmission.
Switching technique is used to connect the systems for making one-to-one
communication.
 Central Idea of chapter
As computer and network used for communication. So to have knowledge about
different transmission media &switching techniques how actually data is transmitted is
necessary.
 Importance of the chapter
From this chapter student will get knowledge about different transmission media. How
data transmission is carried out.
 2.1Communication Media: Guided Transmission Media Twisted pair
Cable, coaxial cable, fiber optic cable.
Transmission media is a pathway that carries the information from sender to receiver.
• We use different types of cables or waves to transmit data.
• Data is transmitted normally through electrical or electromagnetic signals.
Transmission media are located below the physical layer
• Computers use signals to represent data.
• Signals are transmitted in form of electromagnetic energy.
Classification of Transmission media
1) Twisted-pair cable
• A twisted pair consists of two conductors.
• Basically copper based.
• With its own plastic insulation, twisted together.
• Provide protection against cross talk or interference(noise)
• One wire use to carry signals to the receiver
• Second wire used as a ground reference
• For twisting, after receiving the signal remains same.
• Therefore number of twists per unit length, determines the quality of cable.
• Advantages:
• Cheap
• Easy to work with
• Disadvantages:
• Low data rate
• Short range
Twisted Pair Cables has two types

I)Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP):

This is commonly used medium.
This cable carry both voice as well as data.
It’s very cheap cable.
Electronic industries Associated(EIA) has developed
standards for UTP cables.
Upto 7 CAT. 1st is voice communication (telephone).
And other all voice and data communication.
Applications UTP :
Telephone subscribers connect to the central telephone office
DSL(Digital Subscriber Line)lines
LAN
Advantages of UTP:
Affordable
Most compatible cabling
Major networking system
Disadvantages of UTP:
It can be used up to cable segment lengths of about 100 meters only.
II)Shielded Twisted Pair (STP)
Pair of wires wound around each other placed inside a protective foil wrap
Metal braid or sheath foil that reduces interference
Harder to handle (thick, heavy)
STP Application:
This cable used for transferring the data
STP is used in IBM(International Business Machines)
token ring networks.
Higher transmission rates over longer distances.
Advantages of STP:
Shielded
Faster than UTP
Disadvantages of STP:
More expensive than UTP
High attenuation rate
2) Co-axial Cable
Co-axial cable carries signal of higher frequency ranges than twisted pair cable.
Single co-axial used to carry more than 10000 voice channel at a time.
Basically used for TV system.

Categories of coaxial cables

Coaxial Cable Applications
• Most versatile medium
• Television distribution
• Can carry 10,000 voice calls simultaneously
• Short distance computer systems links
• Local area networks
Coaxial Cable
Advantages
Easy to expand
Disadvantages
• Single cable failure can take down an entire network
• Cost of installation of a coaxial cable is high due to its thickness
and stiffness.
• Cost of maintenance is also high.
3) Optical Fiber Cable
An optical communications system is one
that uses light as the carrier of
information.
They use glass or plastic fiber cables to
contain the light waves and guide them in
a manner similar to the way
EM(Electromagnetic waves) waves are
guided through a metallic transmission
media.
Advantages:
• Economical and cost-effective
• Less power consumption
• Less signal degradation
• Flexible and lightweight
• Core: This is the light transmission area of the fiber, either glass or plastic. The larger
the core, the more light that will be transmitted into the fiber.
• Cladding: The function of the cladding is to provide a lower refractive index at the
core interface in order to cause reflection within the core so that light waves are
transmitted through the fiber.
• Coating: Coatings are usually multi-layers of plastics applied to preserve fiber
strength, absorb shock and provide extra fiber protection. These buffer coatings are
available from 250 microns to 900 microns.
• Strengthening fibers: These components help protect the core against crushing forces
and excessive tension during installation.
• Cable jacket: This is the outer layer, or sheathing, of the cable. Its purpose is to protect
the cable from environmental hazards, such as construction work, fishing gear, and
even sharks, which are often attracted to the electrical fields created by signal
conductors to repeaters.
• Application
• Telecommunications
• Local Area Networks
• Cable TV
• CCTV
• Medical Education
Advantages
Greater capacity Example: Data rates at 100 Gbps
Smaller size & light weight
Lower attenuation
Disadvantages
Installation and maintenance need expertise
Only Unidirectional light propagation
Much more expensive
 2.2 Unguided Transmission Media, Radio Waves,
Microwaves, Infrared, Satellite
2.2 Unguided Transmission Media
• An unguided transmission transmits the electromagnetic waves without using any
physical medium. Therefore it is also known as wireless transmission.
• In unguided media, air is the media through which the electromagnetic energy can
flow easily.
• Unguided transmission is broadly classified into three categories :
Propagation methods
Unguided signals travels from the source to destination in several ways it is known
as propagation. They are three types:
• Ground propagation
• Sky propagation
• Line-of-Sight Propagation
1)Ground propagation:
Radio waves travel through the lowest portion of the
Atmosphere.
Touching the earth.

2) Sky propagation:
Radio waves radiate to the ionosphere then they are
reflected back to earth.

3)Line-of-Sight Propagation:
In straight lines directly from antenna to antenna.

1)kHz(kilohertz): 1kHz=1000hz
2)MHz(megahertz):1MHz=10^6= is represents one
million cycle per Second
3)GHz(Gigahertz):1GHZ=10^9
4)THz(Terahertz):1THZ=10^12
5)PHz(Petahertz):1PHz=10^15
6)EHz(Exahertz):1EHz=10^18
7)ZHz(Zetthertz):1ZHz=10^21
Unguided Media Wireless transmission waves
1) Radio waves
Radio waves are the electromagnetic waves that are
transmitted in all the directions of free space.

Radio waves are omnidirectional, i.e., the signals are

propagated in all the directions.

The range in frequencies of radio waves is from low 3

kHz(kilohertz) to 300GHz(Giga Hertz).(1 millimeter to
100 kilometers)

In the case of radio waves, the sending and receiving

antenna are not aligned, i.e., the wave sent by the sending
antenna can be received by any receiving antenna.
• An example of the radio wave is FM radio.
Antenna: An Antenna is a structure that is generally a metallic object may be a wire or
group of wires, used to convert high frequency current into electromagnetic waves.
Antenna are two types:
• Transmission antenna
Transmit radio frequency from transmitter
Radio frequency then Convert to electromagnetic energy by antenna
Then, radiate into surrounding environment
• Reception antenna
Electromagnetic energy get in antenna
Then Antenna convert radio frequency to electrical energy
Then, Goes to receiver same antenna can be used for both purposes
2) Microwaves:
Microwaves are ideal when large areas need to be covered and there are no obstacles in the path Terrestrial
Microwave Transmission

I) Terrestrial Microwave transmission :

Is a technology that transmits the focused beam of a radio signal from one ground-based microwave transmission
antenna to another.
Microwaves are the electromagnetic waves having the frequency in the range from 1GHz(gigahertz) to 1000 GHz.

II ) Satellite Microwave Communication

• A satellite is a physical object that revolves around the earth at a known height.
• Satellite communication is more reliable nowadays as it offers more flexibility than cable and fiber optic
systems.
• We can communicate with any point on the globe by using satellite communication.
• How Does Satellite work?
• The satellite accepts the signal that is transmitted from the earth station, and it amplifies the signal. The
amplified signal is retransmitted to another earth station.
3) Infrared
• An infrared transmission is a wireless technology used for
communication over short ranges.
• The frequency of the infrared in the range from 300 GHz to 400 THz.
• It is used for short-range communication such as data transfer between
two cell phones, TV remote operation, data transfer between a computer
and cell phone resides in the same closed area.
• Characteristics Of Infrared:
• It supports high bandwidth, and hence the data rate will be very high.
• Infrared waves cannot penetrate the walls. Therefore, the infrared
communication in one room cannot be interrupted by the nearby rooms.
• An infrared communication provides better security with minimum
interference.
• Infrared communication is unreliable outside the building because the
sun rays will interfere with the infrared waves.
4) Satellite:
• Satellite phones and other communication
solutions use one of two types of networks.
• The first type, low earth orbit (LEO)
networks, are made up of multiple satellites
orbiting Earth at an altitude of 1,000 miles or
less.
• These satellites are constantly on the move.
So when one moves out of range, your
communication is handed off to another
satellite that is within range.
• The second type is known as a geostationary
or geosynchronous orbit (GEO) network.
• In this configuration, satellites are placed at a
higher altitude — about 22,000 miles above
Earth – along the equator. They are set to orbit
at the same speed of Earth’s rotation,
essentially keeping them stationary above us.
• The type of network that’s right for you will
depend on your needs.
• But to put it in the simplest of terms, your
system’s antenna must have direct access to a
satellite for you to have connectivity.
2.3 Line of sight Transmission point to point , broadcast

Line of Sight Transmission

Line of sight (LOS) is a type of propagation that can transmit and receive data
only where transmit and receive stations are in view of each other without any
sort of an obstacle between them.
FM radio, microwave and satellite transmission are examples of line-of-sight
communication.
Point-to-point: Point-to-point is the term used to describe communication where
a piece of information is sent from one point to another point. In this case there is
just one sender, and one receiver. Vice versa.
Broadcast:
The router in this network sends a broadcast packet which is received and
processed by all hosts on the network.
Broadcast is the term used to describe communication where a piece of
information is sent from one point to all other points. In this case there is just
one sender, but the information is sent to all connected receivers.
 2.4 Multitasking :Frequency-Division Multiplexing

• Each sender communicates with a single receiver.

• All pairs share a single transmission medium.
• Multiplexor combines information from the senders for transmission in such a way that the
demultiplexor can separate the information for receivers.
• Multiplexing to refer to the combination of information streams from multiple sources for
transmission over a shared medium.
• Multiplexor is a mechanism that implements the concept
• Demultiplexing to refer to the separation of a combination back into separate information streams
• Demultiplexor to refer to a mechanism that implements the concept
• Long distance links use high capacity point-to-point connections with a single physical medium.
• Some means must be found of sharing the capacity to enable multiple simultaneous uses of the
medium.
• The motivation is the same here as for time shared operating systems (one expensive resource
shared by many people).
• Need of Multiplexing :-
• Transmitting two or more signals simultaneously can be accomplished by setting up
one transmitter receiver pair for each channel, but this is an expensive approach.
• A single cable or radio link can handle multiple signals simultaneously using a
technique known as multiplexing.
• Multiplexing permits hundreds or even thousands of signals to be combined and
transmitted over a single medium.
• Cost savings can be gained by using a single channel to send multiple information
signals.
Type of Multiplexing.
1. Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM)
2. Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM)
3. Time Division Multiplexing (TDM)
4. Code Division Multiplexing (CDM)
Frequency Division Multiplexing(FDM):
• Frequency Division Multiplexing is a type of multitasking in which all the
signals or channels to be multiplexed are transmitted at time with each
channel occupying a distinct non overlapping frequency band.  
• Frequency-division Multiplexing (FDM) is a technique by which the
total bandwidth available in a communication medium is divided into a
series of non-overlapping frequency bands, each of which is used to carry a
separate signal.
• This allows a single transmission medium such as a cable or optical fiber to
be shared by multiple independent signals. Another use is to carry separate
serial bits or segments of a higher rate signal in parallel.
• The most common example of frequency-division multiplexing is radio and
television broadcasting, in which multiple radio signals at different
frequencies pass through the air at the same time.
• Another example is cable television, in which many television channels are
carried simultaneously on a single cable. FDM is also used by telephone
systems to transmit multiple telephone calls through high capacity trunklines
Channel (FDM): Each modulated signal requires a certain bandwidth centered on its
carrier frequency, referred to as a channel.
Subcarrier(Frequency): Each of the multiple carriers is referred to as a subcarrier. Its
frequency is denoted by f i . f i must be chosen so that the bandwidths of various signals
do not significantly overlap.
Advantages:
• no dynamic coordination needed
• works also for analog signals
Disadvantages:
• waste of bandwidth if traffic distributed unevenly
• inflexible
• guard spaces
 Beyond syllabus…………
• Time Division Multiplexing
• This happens when data transmission rate of media is greater than that of the source,
and each signal is allotted a definite amount of time.
• These slots are so small that all transmissions appear to be parallel.
• In frequency division multiplexing all the signals operate at the same time with
different frequencies, but in time division multiplexing all the signals operate with
same frequency at different times. 
Advantages
1.Full available channel bandwidth can be utilized for each channel.
2. intermodulation distortion is absent.
3. TDM circuitry is not very complex.
4. The problem of crosstalk is not severe.
5. Only one carrier in the medium at any time
6. Throughput high even for many users.
Disadvantages:
1.TDM has lower latency in comparison with FDM.
2.TDM systems need addressing the information and the buffer.
3.Synchronization is essential for proper operation.
4.Due to slow narrowband fading, all the TDM channels may get wiped out.
5.Requires reliable ‘Synchronization’.
6.Requires larger bandwidth.
7.Probability of error or Bit Error Rate
TDM types:
1) Synchronous TDM – 
The time slots are pre-assigned and fixed. This slot is even given if the source is not ready
with data at this time. In this case, the slot is transmitted empty. It is used for multiplexing
digitized voice streams. 
 2) Asynchronous (or statistical) TDM – 
 The slots are allocated dynamically depending on the speed of the source or their ready
state. It dynamically allocates the time slots  according to different input channel’s needs,
thus saving the channel capacity. 
2.5 Switching: Circuit-switched networks. Packet –switched
networks
• Switching
• Network switch is a small hardware device that joins multiple computers together
within one local area network.
• Network switches operate at layer two (data link layer) of OSI model.
• A network switch can be defined as the device that connects the network devices,
• Switch available with 4,8,12,24,48,64 ports.
• Working of Switch: Rather than forwarding data to all the connected ports, a switch
forwards data only to the port on which the destination system is connected.
 Fig. Switching Technique

Advantages:
1)They help in reducing workload on individual host PC’s.
2) The increase the performance of the network.
Disadvantages:
1)Network connectivity issues are difficult to be traced through the network switch.
2)Broadcast traffic may be trouble some.
1) Circuit switching
• Circuit switching is switching techniques.
• It’s also connection oriented switching technique.
• Circuit switching technique that establishes a dedicated path between sender
and receiver.
• Circuit switching maintains the idea of dedicated connections between two
end points, but allows for sharing of channels within the network, and hence
is much more scaleable.
• Circuit switching takes advantage of the fact that while everybody needs to
be able to talk to everybody else, they aren't likely to all do so at the same
time.
• The telephone network is based on circuit switching.
• When you actually start exchanging data (talking) all of your data follows
the same path or circuit through the network.
• If you pause in your conversation the circuit you're using is idle, wasting
bandwidth. But you never lose data because you have a guaranteed, reserved
circuit, so it is impossible for the system to be too busy to handle your data.
Advantages:
• Guarantee of performance through dedication of resources.
• Messages all follow same route, preserving ordering and (perhaps) inter message timing.
• No buffering in the switches (data flows continuously).
Disadvantages:
• Wasted resources due to idle, dedicated resources.
• Potentially large set-up time (round trip time) could be unacceptable for short message exchange.
• If part of the circuit (link or switch) fails your connection is lost.
• Poorly matched to bursty traffic since it reserves a fixed amount of capacity.
• Circuit routing fixed so can't adapt to changes in network.
• Usually assumes symmetrical traffic flows for full-duplex channels.
2) Message Switching
• Message switching is type of switching technique in which a massage is transferred
as a complete unit and routed through intermediate nodes at which it is stored and
forwarded.
• In Massage switching sender and receiver are not directly connected. There are a
number of intermediate nodes transfer data and ensure that the message reaches its
destination.
Advantages:
1)It’s help to reduce the traffic congestion in network.
2)It’s able to store the message for which communication channel is not available.
Disadvantages
1) It require a large storing capacity
3) Packet Switching
• Packet switching alleviates the problems of circuit and message switching.
• A small upper bound is put on the maximum size of a packet sent through the network.
• No reserved channel is created ahead of time.
• Each packet belonging to a single message may take a different route through the
network.
• Since there is no reservation of capacity it is possible that congestion becomes a
problem.
• Too many packets trying to get through the same router requires that the router be able
to buffer packets.
• All buffers have finite size, so it is possible that packets are dropped.
Advantages
• No set-up time.
• No assumption of symmetrical traffic flow for full-duplex.
• No wasted resources due to dedicated, idle resources.
• Good match to bursty traffic.
• Potential for more robust, adaptive behavior in the event of a down link or router.
• Routing algorithm can adapt route per packet based on network loading.
Disadvantages
• Congestion is possible in routers - lost packets.
• Packets may be re-ordered by network.
• Time spent in each router deciding which path to take.
• Each packet has to carry more information with it so it can be routed.
• Router must buffer as packets are sent store-and-forward style.