Signal Representations and

Transmissions in Networks
Electronic Signals

 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 )
 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 () - measure of the relative position in time
within a single period of a signal
 Wavelength () - 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(2ft + )
 Figure 2.3 shows the effect of varying each of the three
parameters
 (a) A = 1, f = 1 Hz,  = 0; thus T = 1s
 (b) Reduced peak amplitude; A=0.5
 (c) Increased frequency; f = 2, thus T = ½
 (d) Phase shift;  = /4 radians (45 degrees)
 note: 2 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 (Fourier Transform)
 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 Communications Terms

 Data - entities that convey meanings, messages,

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 Signal
 Audio or Voice Signal
 Digital
 Text formatted as binary digits
 Integers formatted as binary digits
Analog Signals

 A continuously varying electromagnetic wave that may

be propagated over a variety of media (e.g., air, water,
and deep space), 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 BOTH 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 (subject) to noise interference
 Suffer more from attenuation
 Digital signals can propagate both 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 (B) - 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 but receive 0; transmit 0 but receive 1
Nyquist Bandwidth

 For binary signals (two voltage levels), the

capacity is given by:
 C = 2B
 With multilevel signaling, the capacityis given
by:
 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 (the point)
 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
 6
8 10 2  10 log 2 M
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

 In general, the capacity of transmission medium

usually significantly exceeds the 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