Chapter 3

Data and Signals

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

To be transmitted, data must be

transformed to electromagnetic signals.

3.2
 3-1 ANALOG AND DIGITAL

Data can be analog or digital. The term analog data refers

to information that is continuous; digital data refers to
information that has discrete states. Analog data take on
continuous values. Digital data take on discrete values.

Topics discussed in this section:

Analog and Digital Data
Analog and Digital Signals
Periodic and Nonperiodic Signals

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
 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.

3.5
 Figure 3.1 Comparison of analog and digital signals

3.6
 Note

In data communications, we commonly

use periodic analog signals and
nonperiodic digital signals.

3.7
 3-2 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.

Topics discussed in this section:

Sine Wave
Wavelength
Time and Frequency Domain
Composite Signals
Bandwidth

3.8
 Figure 3.2 A sine wave

3.9
 Note

We discuss a mathematical approach to

sine waves in Appendix C.

3.10
 Example 3.1

The power in your house can be represented by a sine

wave with a peak amplitude of 155 to 170 V. However, it
is common knowledge that the voltage of the power in
U.S. homes is 110 to 120 V. This discrepancy is due to
the fact that these are root mean square (rms) values.
The signal is squared and then the average amplitude is
calculated. The peak value is equal to 2½ × rms value.

3.11
 Figure 3.3 Two signals with the same phase and frequency,
but different amplitudes

3.12
 Example 3.2

The voltage of a battery is a constant; this constant value

can be considered a sine wave, as we will see later. For
example, the peak value of an AA battery is normally
1.5 V.

3.13
 Note

Frequency and period are the inverse of

each other.

3.14
 Figure 3.4 Two signals with the same amplitude and phase,
but different frequencies

3.15
 Table 3.1 Units of period and frequency

3.16
 Example 3.3

The power we use at home has a frequency of 60 Hz.

The period of this sine wave can be determined as
follows:

3.17
 Example 3.4

Express a period of 100 ms in microseconds.

Solution
From Table 3.1 we find the equivalents of 1 ms (1 ms is
10−3 s) and 1 s (1 s is 106 μs). We make the following
substitutions:.

3.18
 Example 3.5

The period of a signal is 100 ms. What is its frequency in

kilohertz?

Solution
First we change 100 ms to seconds, and then we
calculate the frequency from the period (1 Hz = 10−3
kHz).

3.19
 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.

3.20
 Note

If a signal does not change at all, its

frequency is zero.
If a signal changes instantaneously, its
frequency is infinite.

3.21
 Note

Phase describes the position of the

waveform relative to time 0.

3.22
 Figure 3.5 Three sine waves with the same amplitude and frequency,
but different phases

3.23
 Example 3.6

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

3.24
 Figure 3.6 Wavelength and period

3.25
 Figure 3.7 The time-domain and frequency-domain plots of a sine wave

3.26
 Note

A complete sine wave in the time

domain can be represented by one
single spike in the frequency domain.

3.27
 Example 3.7

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.

3.28
 Figure 3.8 The time domain and frequency domain of three sine waves

3.29
 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.

3.30
 Note

According to Fourier analysis, any

composite signal is a combination of
simple sine waves with different
frequencies, amplitudes, and phases.
Fourier analysis is discussed in
Appendix C.

3.31
 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.

3.32
 Example 3.8

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.

3.33
 Figure 3.9 A composite periodic signal

3.34
 Figure 3.10 Decomposition of a composite periodic signal in the time and
frequency domains

3.35
 Example 3.9

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.

3.36
 Figure 3.11 The time and frequency domains of a nonperiodic signal

3.37
 Note

The bandwidth of a composite signal is

the difference between the
highest and the lowest frequencies
contained in that signal.

3.38
 Figure 3.12 The bandwidth of periodic and nonperiodic composite signals

3.39
 Example 3.10

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 (see Figure 3.13).
3.40
 Figure 3.13 The bandwidth for Example 3.10

3.41
 Example 3.11

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 (see Figure 3.14).
3.42
 Figure 3.14 The bandwidth for Example 3.11

3.43
 Example 3.12

A nonperiodic composite signal has a bandwidth of 200

kHz, with a middle frequency of 140 kHz and peak
amplitude of 20 V. The two extreme frequencies have an
amplitude of 0. Draw the frequency domain of the
signal.

Solution
The lowest frequency must be at 40 kHz and the highest
at 240 kHz. Figure 3.15 shows the frequency domain
and the bandwidth.

3.44
 Figure 3.15 The bandwidth for Example 3.12

3.45
 Example 3.13

An example of a nonperiodic composite signal is the

signal propagated by an AM radio station. In the United
States, each AM radio station is assigned a 10-kHz
bandwidth. The total bandwidth dedicated to AM radio
ranges from 530 to 1700 kHz. We will show the rationale
behind this 10-kHz bandwidth in Chapter 5.

3.46
 Example 3.14

Another example of a nonperiodic composite signal is

the signal propagated by an FM radio station. In the
United States, each FM radio station is assigned a 200-
kHz bandwidth. The total bandwidth dedicated to FM
radio ranges from 88 to 108 MHz. We will show the
rationale behind this 200-kHz bandwidth in Chapter 5.

3.47
 Example 3.15

Another example of a nonperiodic composite signal is

the signal received by an old-fashioned analog black-
and-white TV. A TV screen is made up of pixels. If we
assume a resolution of 525 × 700, we have 367,500
pixels per screen. If we scan the screen 30 times per
second, this is 367,500 × 30 = 11,025,000 pixels per
second. The worst-case scenario is alternating black and
white pixels. We can send 2 pixels per cycle. Therefore,
we need 11,025,000 / 2 = 5,512,500 cycles per second, or
Hz. The bandwidth needed is 5.5125 MHz.

3.48
 3-6 PERFORMANCE

One important issue in networking is the performance of

the network—how good is it? We discuss quality of
service, an overall measurement of network performance,
in greater detail in Chapter 24. In this section, we
introduce terms that we need for future chapters.

Topics discussed in this section:

Bandwidth
Throughput
Latency (Delay)
Bandwidth-Delay Product
3.102
 Note
In networking, we use the term
bandwidth in two contexts.
❏ The first, bandwidth in hertz, refers to
the range of frequencies in a
composite signal or the range of
frequencies that a channel can pass.

❏ The second, bandwidth in bits per

second, refers to the speed of bit
transmission in a channel or link.
3.103
 Example 3.42

The bandwidth of a subscriber line is 4 kHz for voice or

data. The bandwidth of this line for data transmission
can be up to 56,000 bps using a sophisticated modem to
change the digital signal to analog.

3.104
 Example 3.43

If the telephone company improves the quality of the line

and increases the bandwidth to 8 kHz, we can send
112,000 bps by using the same technology as mentioned
in Example 3.42.

3.105
 Example 3.44

A network with bandwidth of 10 Mbps can pass only an

average of 12,000 frames per minute with each frame
carrying an average of 10,000 bits. What is the
throughput of this network?

Solution
We can calculate the throughput as

The throughput is almost one-fifth of the bandwidth in

this case.
3.106
 Example 3.45

What is the propagation time if the distance between the

two points is 12,000 km? Assume the propagation speed
to be 2.4 × 108 m/s in cable.

Solution
We can calculate the propagation time as

The example shows that a bit can go over the Atlantic

Ocean in only 50 ms if there is a direct cable between the
source and the destination.
3.107
 Example 3.46

What are the propagation time and the transmission

time for a 2.5-kbyte message (an e-mail) if the
bandwidth of the network is 1 Gbps? Assume that the
distance between the sender and the receiver is 12,000
km and that light travels at 2.4 × 108 m/s.

Solution
We can calculate the propagation and transmission time
as shown on the next slide:

3.108
 Example 3.46 (continued)

Note that in this case, because the message is short and

the bandwidth is high, the dominant factor is the
propagation time, not the transmission time. The
transmission time can be ignored.

3.109
 Example 3.47

What are the propagation time and the transmission

time for a 5-Mbyte message (an image) if the bandwidth
of the network is 1 Mbps? Assume that the distance
between the sender and the receiver is 12,000 km and
that light travels at 2.4 × 108 m/s.

Solution
We can calculate the propagation and transmission
times as shown on the next slide.

3.110
 Example 3.47 (continued)

Note that in this case, because the message is very long

and the bandwidth is not very high, the dominant factor
is the transmission time, not the propagation time. The
propagation time can be ignored.

3.111
 Figure 3.31 Filling the link with bits for case 1

3.112
 Example 3.48

We can think about the link between two points as a

pipe. The cross section of the pipe represents the
bandwidth, and the length of the pipe represents the
delay. We can say the volume of the pipe defines the
bandwidth-delay product, as shown in Figure 3.33.

3.113
 Figure 3.32 Filling the link with bits in case 2

3.114
 Note

The bandwidth-delay product defines

the number of bits that can fill the link.

3.115
 Figure 3.33 Concept of bandwidth-delay product

3.116