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.
 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.

3.4
 Figure 3.1 Comparison of analog and digital signals

3.5
 Note

In data communications, we commonly

use periodic analog signals and
nonperiodic digital signals.

3.6
Periodic vs Nonperiodic
Signals
A periodic signal complete a pattern
within a measurable time frame
and repeats that pattern over
subsequent identical periods.

Nonperiodic signal changes without

exhibiting a pattern or cycle that
repeats over time.
 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.
 Periodic signal

A simple periodic sine wave

A composite periodic signal

3.9
 Figure 3.3 Two signals with the same phase and frequency,
but different amplitudes

3.10
 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.

3.11
 Note

If a signal does not change at all, its

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

3.12
 Note

Frequency and period (Time to complete

one cycle) are the inverse of each other.

3.13
 Figure 3.4 Two signals with the same amplitude and phase,
but different frequencies

3.14
 Table 3.1 Units of period and frequency

3.15
 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:

3.16
 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).

3.17
 Note

Phase describes the position of the

waveform relative to time 0.

3.18
 Figure 3.5 Three sine waves with the same amplitude and frequency,
but different phases

3.19
 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

3.20
 Figure 3.6 Wavelength and period

3.21
 Figure 3.7 The time-domain and frequency-domain plots of a sine wave

3.22
 Note

A complete sine wave in the time

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

3.23
 Figure 3.8 The time domain and frequency domain of three sine waves

3.24
 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.

3.25
 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.

3.26
 Figure 3.9 A composite periodic signal

3.27
 Figure 3.10 Decomposition of a composite periodic signal in the time and
frequency domains

3.28
 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.

3.29
 Figure 3.11 The time and frequency domains of a nonperiodic signal

3.30
 Note

The bandwidth of a composite signal is

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

3.31
 Figure 3.12 The bandwidth of periodic and nonperiodic composite signals

3.32
 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).
3.33
 Figure 3.13 The bandwidth for Example 3.10

3.34
 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.
•What are two extreme frequencies?
•Let 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.

3.35
 Figure 3.15 The bandwidth for Example 3.12

3.36
 Example 3.15

Anexample 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.

3.37
 3-3 DIGITAL SIGNALS
In addition to being represented by an analog signal,
information can also be represented by a digital signal.
For example, a 1 can be encoded as a positive voltage
and a 0 as zero voltage. A digital signal can have more
than two levels. In this case, we can send more than 1 bit
for each level.
 Figure 3.16 Two digital signals: one with two signal levels and the other
with four signal levels

3.39
 Example 3.16

A digital signal has eight levels. How many bits are

needed per level? We calculate the number of bits from
the formula

Each signal level is represented by 3 bits.

3.40
 Example 3.17

A digital signal has nine levels. How many bits are

needed per level? We calculate the number of bits by
using the formula.

Each signal level is represented by 3.17 bits. However,

this answer is not realistic. The number of bits sent per
level needs to be an integer as well as a power of 2. For
this example, 4 bits can represent one level.

3.41
 Example 3.18

Assume we need to download text documents at the rate

of 100 pages per second. What is the required bit rate of
the channel?
Solution
A page is an average of 24 lines with 80 characters in
each line. If we assume that one character requires 8
bits, the bit rate is

3.42
 Example 3.20

What is the bit rate for high-definition TV (HDTV)?

Solution
HDTV uses digital signals to broadcast high quality
video signals. The HDTV screen is normally a ratio of 16
: 9. There are 1920 by 1080 pixels per screen, and the
screen is renewed 30 times per second. Twenty-four bits
represents one color pixel.

The TV stations reduce this rate to 20 to 40 Mbps

through compression.
3.43
 Figure 3.17 The time and frequency domains of periodic and nonperiodic
digital signals

3.44
 Figure 3.18 Baseband transmission

3.45
 Figure 3.19 Bandwidths of two low-pass channels

3.46
 Figure 3.20 Baseband transmission using a dedicated medium

3.47
 Note

Baseband transmission of a digital

signal that preserves the shape of the
digital signal is possible only if we have
a low-pass channel with an infinite or
very wide bandwidth.

3.48
 Figure 3.22 Simulating a digital signal with first three harmonics

3.49
 Note
In baseband transmission, the required bandwidth is
In baseband transmission,
proportional the required
to the bit rate;
bandwidth is proportional
if we need to send bits faster, we needto thebandwidth.
more bit rate;
if we need to send bits faster, we need
more bandwidth.

3.50
 Table 3.2 Bandwidth requirements

3.51
 Example 3.22

What is the required bandwidth of a low-pass channel if

we need to send 1 Mbps by using baseband transmission?

Solution
The answer depends on the accuracy desired.
a. The minimum bandwidth, is B = bit rate /2, or 500 kHz.

b. A better solution is to use the first and the third

harmonics with B = 3 × 500 kHz = 1.5 MHz.

c. Still a better solution is to use the first, third, and fifth

harmonics with B = 5 × 500 kHz = 2.5 MHz.
3.52
 Figure 3.23 Bandwidth of a bandpass channel

3.53
 Note

If the available channel is a bandpass

channel, we cannot send the digital
signal directly to the channel;
we need to convert the digital signal to
an analog signal before transmission.

3.54
 Figure 3.24 Modulation of a digital signal for transmission on a bandpass
channel

3.55
 Example 3.24

An example of broadband transmission using

modulation is the sending of computer data through a
telephone subscriber line, the line connecting a resident
to the central telephone office. These lines are designed
to carry voice with a limited bandwidth. The channel is
considered a bandpass channel. We convert the digital
signal from the computer to an analog signal, and send
the analog signal. We can install two converters to
change the digital signal to analog and vice versa at the
receiving end. The converter, in this case, is called a
modem.

3.56
 3-4 TRANSMISSION IMPAIRMENT

Signals travel through transmission media, which are not

perfect. The imperfection causes signal impairment. This
means that the signal at the beginning of the medium is
not the same as the signal at the end of the medium.
What is sent is not what is received. Three causes of
impairment are attenuation, distortion, and noise.

Topics discussed in this section:

Attenuation
Distortion
Noise

3.57
 Figure 3.25 Causes of impairment

3.58
 Figure 3.26 Attenuation

3.59
 Example 3.26

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.
3.60
 Example 3.27

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

3.61
 Example 3.28

One reason that engineers use the decibel to measure the

changes in the strength of a signal is that decibel
numbers can be added (or subtracted) when we are
measuring several points (cascading) instead of just two.
In Figure 3.27 a signal travels from point 1 to point 4.

3.62
 Figure 3.27 Decibels for Example 3.28

3.63
 Example 3.29

Sometimes the decibel is used to measure signal power

in milliwatts. In this case, it is referred to as dBm and is
calculated as dBm = 10 log10 Pm , where Pm is the power
in milliwatts. Calculate the power of a signal with dBm =
−30.

Solution
We can calculate the power in the signal as

3.64
 Example 3.30

The loss in a cable is usually defined in decibels per

kilometer (dB/km). If a cable has loss of −0.3 dB/km and
the signal at the beginning of a cable has a power of 2
mW, what is the power of the signal at 5 km?
Solution
The loss in the cable in decibels is 5 × (−0.3) = −1.5 dB.
We can calculate the power as

3.65
 Figure 3.28 Distortion

3.66
 Figure 3.29 Noise

3.67
 Example 3.31

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:

3.68
 Example 3.32

The values of SNR and SNRdB for a noiseless channel

are

We can never achieve this ratio in real life; it is an ideal.

3.69
 Figure 3.30 Two cases of SNR: a high SNR and a low SNR

3.70
 3-5 DATA RATE LIMITS

A very important consideration in data communications

is how fast we can send data, in bits per second, over a
channel. Data rate depends on three factors:
1. The bandwidth available
2. The level of the signals we use
3. The quality of the channel (the level of noise)

3.71
 Note

Increasing the levels of a signal may

reduce the reliability of the system.

3.72
Two Channels Two Formulas
 Bit rate of noise-free channel is
calculated by Nyquist bit rate formula:
C= 2Blog 2 (L )

Where L is number of signal levels.

 Bit rate of noisy channel is calculated
by Shannon channel capacity limit as:
C= Blog2 (1+ SNR)
 Example 3.34

Consider a noiseless channel with a bandwidth of 3000

Hz transmitting a signal with two signal levels. The
maximum bit rate can be calculated as

3.74
 Example 3.35

Consider the same noiseless channel transmitting a

signal with four signal levels (for each level, we send 2
bits). The maximum bit rate can be calculated as

3.75
 Example 3.36

We need to send 265 kbps over a noiseless channel with

a bandwidth of 20 kHz. How many signal levels do we
need?
Solution
We can use the Nyquist formula as shown:

Since this result is not a power of 2, we need to either

increase the number of levels or reduce the bit rate. If we
have 128 levels, the bit rate is 280 kbps. If we have 64
levels, the bit rate is 240 kbps.
3.76
 Example 3.37

Consider an extremely noisy channel in which the value

of the signal-to-noise ratio is almost zero. In other
words, the noise is so strong that the signal is faint. For
this channel the capacity C is calculated as

This means that the capacity of this channel is zero

regardless of the bandwidth. In other words, we cannot
receive any data through this channel.

3.77
 Example 3.38

We can calculate the theoretical highest bit rate of a

regular telephone line. A telephone line normally has a
bandwidth of 3000. The signal-to-noise ratio is usually
3162. For this channel the capacity is calculated as

This means that the highest bit rate for a telephone line
is 34.860 kbps. If we want to send data faster than this,
we can either increase the bandwidth of the line or
improve the signal-to-noise ratio.
3.78
 3-6 NETWORK PERFORMANCE

One important issue in networking is the performance of

the network—how good is it?

Topics discussed in this section:

Bandwidth - capacity of the system
Throughput - no. of bits that can be pushed through
Latency (Delay) - delay incurred by a bit from start to finish
Bandwidth-Delay Product

3.79
 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.

3.80
 Network Performance Metrics
Bandwidth
Amount of data transmitted per unit of time; per link, or end-to-end
Units: bits, bytes, kilobits, megabits;
1Mbps = 106 bits per sec
How many KB/sec is a 1Mbps line?

Throughput
Data rate delivered by a link, connection or network
Per link or end-to-end, same units as Bandwidth

81
 Example

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.

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
above.

3.82
 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.
3.83
 Latency or Delay
Time for sending data from host A to B (in sec, msec, or μsec)

Per link or end-to-end

Usually consists of
Tt: Transmission delay
Tp: Propagation delay
Tq: Queuing delay

Round Trip Time (RTT) : time to send a message from node A to B

and back

84
 Delay Calculation
Tt : Transmission Delay: file size/bandwidth
Tp : Propagation Delay: time needed for signal to travel the
medium, Distance / speed of medium (bandwidth)
Tq: Queuing Delay: time waiting in router’s buffer

d1 d2

A R B

85
 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.
3.86
 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:

3.87
 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.

3.88
 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.

3.89
 Example 3.47 (continued)

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

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

3.90
 Example: delay calculation in file transfer

Transfer 1.5 MB file, assuming RTT of 80 ms, a packet size

of 1-KB and an initial “handshake” of 2xRTT.
Let the bandwidth is 10 Mbps and data packets can be
sent continuously
A B
request RTT = 80 ms
RTT Tt = 1024x8 bits/107 bits/s = 0.8192 ms
reply
Tp = 40 ms
confirm
# of packets = 1536 (1.5 x 1024)
Ack
Tt
D = 2xRTT + 1536xTt + Tp
Tp
= 160 + 1258.29 + 40 ms
= 1.458 s
. . .

t 91
 Example:
Transfer 1,5 MB file, assuming RTT of 80 ms, a packet
size of 1-KB and an initial “handshake” of 2xRTT
After sending each packet must wait one RTT
A B
request RTT = 80 ms
RTT Tt = 1024x8 bits/107 bits/s = 0.8192 ms
reply
Tp = 40 ms
confirm
# of packets = 1536 (1.5 x 1024)
Ack
Tt
D = 2xRTT + 1535x(Tt +RTT)+ Tt+Tp
RTT
= 160 + 124,057 + 0.8192 + 40 ms
= 124.258 s
. . .

t 92
 Figure 3.32 bandwidth-Delay Product: Filling the link with bits in case 2

3.93
 Bandwidth x Delay Product
The amount of data (bits or bytes) in the pipe (link)
“in-flight”
propagation delay × bits/time = total bits in link
Example: 100Mbps x 10ms = 1 Mbit

bandwidth delay x bandwidth

Latency

The amount of data sent before first bit arrives

Usually use RTT as delay: amount of data before a

reply from a receiver arrives to the sender
94
High-Speed Networks

Link Type Bandwidth Distance RTT Delay x BW

Dial-up 56 kbps 10 km 87 μs 5 bits
Wireless 54 Mbps 50 m 0.33 μs 18 bits
LAN
Satellite link 45 Mbps 35,000 km 230 ms 10 Mb
Cross- 10 Gbps 4,000 km 40 ms 400 Mb
country
fiber

95