Data and Signals

3.1 Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.
 Note

To be transmitted, data (analog or digital) must be transformed to

electromagnetic signals.

3.2
 ANALOG AND DIGITAL Data

Analog data refers to information that is

continuous .

Digital data refers to information that has

discrete states.

3.3
 Note

Data can be analog or digital.

Analog data are continuous and take continuous values.

Digital data have discrete states and take discrete values.

3.4
 Example
 An analog clock that has hour, minute, and second hands gives information in a

continuous form; the movements of the hands are continuous. On the other hand, a

digital clock that reports the hours and the minutes will change suddenly from 8:05 to

8:06.
 Analog data, such as the sounds made by a human voice, take on continuous values.

When someone speaks, an analog wave is created in the air. This can be captured by a

microphone and converted to an analog signal or sampled and converted to a digital

signal.
 Digital data take on discrete values. For example, data are stored in computer memory

in the form of Os and 1s. They can be converted to a digital signal or modu­lated into

an analog signal for transmission across a medium.

3.5
 Note

Signals can be analog or digital.

Analog signals can have an infinite number of values in a range.

digital signals can have only a limited

number of values.

3.6
 Comparison of analog and digital signals

 The vertical axis represents the value of a signal. The horizontal axis represents time.

Next figure illustrates an analog signal and a digital signal. The curve representing

the analog signal passes through an infinite number of points. The vertical lines of

the digital signal, however, demonstrate the sudden jump that the signal makes from

value to value.

3.7
 Periodic and Nonperiodic Signals

 Both analog and digital signals can take one of two forms: periodic or nonperiodic
 A periodic signal completes a pattern within a measurable time frame, called a period,

and repeats that pattern over subsequent identical periods. The completion of one full

pattern is called a cycle.

 A nonperiodic signal changes without exhibiting a pat­tern or cycle that repeats over

time.
 Both analog and digital signals can be periodic or nonperiodic

3.8
 Note

In data communications, we commonly use periodic analog signals

and nonperiodic digital signals.

3.9
PERIODIC ANALOG SIGNALS

Periodic analog signals can be classified

as simple or composite.
A simple periodic analog signal, a sine
wave, cannot be decomposed into simpler
signals.
A composite periodic analog signal is
composed of multiple sine waves.

3.10
 Sine Wave

 The sine wave is the most fundamental form of a periodic analog signal. When we

visualize it as a simple oscillating curve, its change over the course of a cycle is

smooth and consistent, a continuous, rolling flow. Figure 3.2 shows a sine wave. Each

cycle consists of a single arc above the time axis followed by a single arc below it.
 A sine wave can be represented by three parameters: the peak amplitude, the fre­

quency, and the phase. These three parameters fully describe a sine wave.
 The Peak Amplitude of a signal is the absolute value of its highest intensity, propor­

tional to the energy it carries. For electric signals, peak amplitude is normally

measured in volts. Figure 3.3 shows two signals and their peak amplitudes.
 The power in your house can be represented by a sine wave with a peak amplitude of

155 to 170
3.11
 A sine wave

3.12
 Two signals with the same phase and frequency,

but different amplitudes

3.13
 Period and Frequency

 Period refers to the amount of time, in seconds,

a signal needs to complete 1 cycle.
 Frequency refers to the number of periods in I
s.
 Period is the inverse of frequency, and
frequency is the inverse of period
 Period is formally expressed in seconds.
Frequency is formally expressed in Hertz (Hz),
which is cycle per second.

3.14
 Note

Frequency and period are the inverse of each other.

3.15
 Two signals with the same amplitude and phase,

but different frequencies

3.16
 Table 3.1 Units of period and frequency

3.17
 Example

The power we use at home has a frequency of 60 Hz. The period of this sine wave can be

determined as follows:

3.18
 Note

Frequency is the rate of change with respect to time.

Change in a short span of time

means high frequency.

Change over a long span of

time means low frequency.

3.19
 Note

If a signal does not change at all, its frequency is zero.

If a signal changes instantaneously, its frequency is infinite.

3.20
 Phases

 Phase is measured in degrees or radians [360° is 2n rad; 1° is 2n/360

rad, and 1 rad is 360/(2n)].
 A phase shift of 360° corresponds to a shift of a complete period;
 A phase shift of 180° corresponds to a shift of one-half of a period;
 A phase shift of 90° cor­responds to a shift of one-quarter of a period

3.21
 Note

Phase describes the position of the waveform relative to time 0.

3.22
 Three sine waves with the same amplitude and

frequency, but different phases

3.23
 Phases
 Phase Looking at Figure 3.5, we can say that
 A sine wave with a phase of 0° starts at time 0 with a zero amplitude.
The amplitude is increasing.
 A sine wave with a phase of 90° starts at time 0 with a peak
amplitude. The amplitude is decreasing.
 A sine wave with a phase of 180° starts at time 0 with a zero
amplitude. The amplitude is decreasing.
 Another way to look at the phase is in terms of shift or offset. We can
say that
 1. A sine wave with a phase of 0° is not shifted.
3.24
 Example

A sine wave is offset 1/6 cycle with respect to time 0. What is its phase in degrees and radians?

Solution

We know that 1 complete cycle is 360°. Therefore, 1/6 cycle is

3.25
 Wavelength

 Wavelength is another characteristic of a signal traveling through a

transmission medium. Wavelength binds the period or the frequency

of a simple sine wave to the propagation speed of the medium .

3.26
 Wavelength and period

3.27
 The time-domain and frequency-domain plots of a

sine wave
Time domain plot: shows changes in signal amplitude with respect to time

Frequency domain plot: is concerned only with peak value of amplitude and the frequency

3.28
 Note

A complete sine wave in the time domain can be represented by one

single spike in the frequency domain.

3.29
 Example

The frequency domain is more compact and useful when we are dealing with more

than one sine wave. For example, Figure 3.8 shows three sine waves, each with

different amplitude and frequency. All can be represented by three spikes in the

frequency domain.

3.30
 The time domain and frequency domain of three

sine waves

3.31
 Note

A single-frequency sine wave is not useful in data communications;

we need to send a composite signal, a signal made of many simple

sine waves.

3.32
 Note

According to Fourier analysis, any composite signal is a combination

of

simple sine waves with different frequencies, amplitudes, and phases.

3.33
 Note

If the composite signal is periodic, the decomposition gives a series

of signals with discrete frequencies;

if the composite signal is nonperiodic, the decomposition gives a

combination of sine waves with continuous frequencies.

3.34
 Example

Figure 3.9 shows a periodic composite signal with frequency f. This type of signal is not typical of

those found in data communications. We can consider it to be three alarm systems, each with a

different frequency. The analysis of this signal can give us a good understanding of how to

decompose signals.

3.35
 A composite periodic signal

3.36
 Decomposition of a composite periodic signal in the

time and frequency domains

3.37
 Example

Figure 3.11 shows a nonperiodic composite signal. It can be the signal created by a microphone

or a telephone set when a word or two is pronounced. In this case, the composite signal cannot be

periodic, because that implies that we are repeating the same word or words with exactly the same

tone.

3.38
 The time and frequency domains of a nonperiodic signal

3.39
 Note

The bandwidth of a composite signal is the difference between the

highest and the lowest frequencies contained in that signal.

3.40
 The bandwidth of periodic and nonperiodic composite

signals

3.41
 Example

If a periodic signal is decomposed into five sine waves with frequencies of 100, 300, 500, 700, and

900 Hz, what is its bandwidth? Draw the spectrum, assuming all components have a maximum

amplitude of 10 V.

Solution

Let fh be the highest frequency, fl the lowest frequency, and B the bandwidth. Then

The spectrum has only five spikes, at 100, 300, 500, 700, and 900 Hz.

3.42
 The bandwidth

3.43
 Example

A periodic signal has a bandwidth of 20 Hz. The highest frequency is 60 Hz. What is the lowest

frequency? Draw the spectrum if the signal contains all frequencies of the same amplitude.

Solution

Let fh be the highest frequency, fl the lowest frequency, and B the bandwidth. Then

The spectrum contains all integer frequencies. We show this by a series of spikes.

3.44
 The bandwidth for Example

3.45
 Transmission medium

46
McGraw-Hill © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2000
Transmission medium
and physical layer

• Physical link: Transmitted data bit propagates across

link.
Classes of transmission media
• Guided media:
Signals propagate in solid media: copper, fiber.
• Unguided media: Signals propagate freely from an
antenna, e.g., radio.
GUIDED MEDIA

Guided media, which are those that provide a conduit

from one device to another, include twisted-pair cable,
coaxial cable, and fiber-optic cable.
Guided Transmission Media
Coax Cables

Coaxial cable:
• Wire (signal carrier) within a wire (shield)
– baseband: single channel on a cable.
– broadband: multiple channels on cable.
• Used in 10Mbps Ethernet, Cable TV...
Fiber optic cable

Fiber optic cable:

• Glass fiber carrying light pulses.
• High-speed operation:
– 100Mbps Ethernet
– high-speed point-to-point transmission (e.g., 5
Gbps)
• Low error rate
Fiber optic
• Data is transmitted in the form of pulses
of light.
• Very high bit rate (up to 1 Gb/s) over
many miles:
– Relatively expensive.
– Connections and splicing difficult to
make.
– Often used to interconnect different
LANs.
 Fiber optic
• Two types of optical fibers: Single and multi-
mode types.
 Single mode:
 Much smaller diameter (8 to 10
microns).
 Laser light has to be used: Expensive.
 Can be used for larger distances.
 Multi-mode:
 Larger diameter (50 microns).
 LEDs can be used.
 Smaller distances: buildings,
Twisted Pair Wires (TP)
Twisted Pair (TP)

 EIA (Electronic Industries

Association) has developed
standards for UTP (Unshielded
Twisted Pairs):
 Cat 2

 Cat 3: Gently twisted

 Cat 5: More twists per cm


Better quality signals

Higher speed communication
Cat 2

• Used in telephone wiring.

• Rated for 1MHz
• Terminated by RJ-11.
Cat 3

• Commonly used for Ethernet

10Base-T networks.
• Terminated by RJ-45 plugs:
– Similar to RJ-11 but has 4 pairs
of wires, instead of 2 pairs.
• Rated for 16MHz.
A Cat3 Cable
Cat 5

• Minimum Specification for

Fast Ethernet (100Base-T).
• Most common wiring in
modern LANs.
• Uses RJ45 plugs.
 Network Cables

Available bit rate on a cable depends on type and length

of the cable:
• If you increase the cable length, the maximum
bit rate will decrease (Why?).

Twisted Coax cable Fiber optic

pair
Speed Fast Fast Very fast
Length Short Medium Very long
Cost Cheap Medium Expensive
UNGUIDED MEDIA: WIRELESS
Unguided media transport electromagnetic waves
without using a physical conductor. This type of
communication is often referred to as wireless
communication.
Physical Media: Radio

• Signal carried in Radio link types:

• Microwave
electromagnetic – e.g. up to 45 Mbps
spectrum. channels
• No physical “wire” • LAN (e.g., wireless
LAN)
• Propagation – 2Mbps, 11Mbps
affected by: • Wide-area (e.g.,
– reflection cellular)
– obstruction by – 10’s Kbps
objects
• Satellite
– up to 50Mbps
– interference channel (or multiple
smaller channels)
– 270 Msec end-end
delay
Design Factors for Transmission
Media
Transmission Impairments

 The term refers to a condition that causes

information to be lost in a signal.
 Some aspects of transmission
impairments include attenuation, dispersion,
delay, distortion and noise.

 Attenuation involves signals that lose power in time

Causes of impairment

Ref. Data Communications, Networking, 5th Edition, Behrouz, Forouzan, McGraw-Hill

2012
Attenuation

 Means loss of energy -> weaker

signal
 When a signal travels through a
medium it loses energy
overcoming the resistance of the
medium
 Amplifiers are used to compensate
for this loss of energy by
amplifying the signal.
 Measurement of Attenuation

 To show the loss or gain of energy

the unit “decibel” is used.

dB = 10log10P2/P1
P1 - input signal
P2 - output signal

10:44 AM
Attenuation

Ref. Data Communications, Networking, 5th Edition, Behrouz, Forouzan, McGraw-Hill

2012
 Example

Suppose a signal travels through a transmission medium and its power is reduced
to one-half. This means that P2 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.

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

Ref. Data Communications, Networking, 5th Edition, Behrouz, Forouzan, McGraw-Hill

2012
Distortion
 Means that the signal changes its form
or shape
 Distortion occurs in composite signals
 Each frequency component has its own
propagation speed traveling through a
medium.
 The different components therefore
arrive with different delays at the
receiver.
 That means that the signals have
different phases at the receiver than
they did at the source.
Distortion

Ref. Data Communications, Networking, 5th Edition, Behrouz, Forouzan, McGraw-Hill

2012
Noise
 There are different types of noise
 Thermal - random noise of electrons
in the wire creates an extra signal
 Induced - from motors and
appliances, devices act as transmitter
antenna and medium as receiving
antenna.
 Crosstalk - same as above but
between two wires.
 Impulse - Spikes that result from
power lines, lightning, etc.
Noise

Ref. Data Communications, Networking, 5th Edition, Behrouz, Forouzan, McGraw-Hill

2012
 Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR)

 To measure the quality of a system

the SNR is often used. It indicates
the strength of the signal wrt the
noise power in the system.
 It is the ratio between two powers.
 It is usually given in dB and
referred to as SNRdB.

10:44 AM
 Example

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:

Ref. Data Communications, Networking, 5th Edition, Behrouz, Forouzan, McGraw-Hill

2012