Chapter 2: Transmission Media

Objectives:-
􀂾 Concept of Guided and Unguided Transmission Media.
􀂾 Types of Guided Media.
􀂾 Types of Unguided Media.

3.1 Introduction – Need of Transmission Media, Selection Criteria.

3.2 Types of Transmission Media-

1) Guided Media: Cable Characteristics, Types of
Cable-Twisted Pair Cable, Co-axial Cable,
Fiber Optic Cable.
2) Unguided media: Types of Communication
Band-Microwave Communication,
Radio wave Communication, Satellite Communication,
Infrared Communication.
 Types of Transmission Media
• Conducted or guided media
• use a conductor such as a wire or a fiber optic cable to
move the signal from sender to receiver

• Wireless or unguided media

• use radio waves of different frequencies and
do not need a wire or cable conductor to
transmit signals
 To determine which cabling is the best for a particular site
you need to answer the following questions:

∙ How heavy will the network traffic be?

∙ What level of security does the network require?
∙ What distances must the cable cover?
∙ What are the cable options?
∙ What is the budget for cabling?
Various factors to be considered while selecting transmission media
1. Cost & Ease of installation: Costing is an important factor, when we select
a media. Because absolute cost and ease of installation data are difficult to
provide without referring to specific implementations, one can make
relative judgments by comparing each medium to the others.
2. Type of cable: Coaxial cable, Twisted Pair Cable, Fiber Optic Cable
3. No of conductors/connectors: RJ-45, BNC, LC & ST
4. Noise: It leads to distortion of a signal.
Noise immunity of transmission media is
considered at the time of selecting particular
network.
5. Bandwidth: Higher bandwidth transmission
media support higher data rate.
6. Radiation: It is leakage of signal from media caused by
undesirable characteristics of media.
7. Durability: Life span of media
8. Interference: interference occurs when undesirable electromagnetic waves affect
the signal. Interference can be caused by many factors, including
• Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) • Radio wave interference (RFI)
9. Attenuation: Attenuation refers to the tendency of
electromagnetic waves to weaken or become distorted
during transmission. It is loss of energy as the signals
propagates outwards. Attenuation increases with
distance, as a wave passes through a medium, some
of its energy is absorbed or scattered by the
medium’s physical properties.
 Design Factors for Transmission Media

• Bandwidth: All other factors remaining constant, the greater the band-width of a
signal, the higher the data rate that can be achieved.
• Transmission impairments (weakness): Limit the distance a signal can travel.
• Interference: Competing signals in overlapping frequency bands can distort or
wipe out a signal.
• Number of receivers: Each attachment introduces
some attenuation and distortion, limiting
distance and/or data rate.
 Guided Transmission Media

• Transmission capacity depends on the distance and on

whether the medium is point-to-point or multipoint
• Examples
• twisted pair wires
• coaxial cables
• optical fiber
 Coaxial Cable (or Coax)
• Used for cable television, LANs, telephony
• Has an inner conductor surrounded by a braided mesh
• Both conductors share a common center axial, hence the term
“co-axial”
 Coax Layers
outer jacket
(polyethyle
ne)
shield
(braided
wire)

insulating
material

copper or
aluminum
conductor
• Coaxial cable, commonly called coax, has two conductors that share the same axis.
• A solid copper wire or standard wire runs down the
center of the cable, rounded by a second conductor,
a wire mesh tube, metallic foil, or both.
• The wire mesh protects the wire from EMI. It is often
called the shield.
• A tough plastic jacket forms the cover of the cable,
providing protection and insulation.
 Characteristics of Co-axial cable

1. Two types of cables having 75Ω and 50 Ω impedance are available

1. Due to shield provided, this cable has an excellent noise immunity
1. It has a large bandwidth and low losses
1. Data rate of 10mbps
1. Max no of nodes is 30 on thin-net and
max 100 nodes on thick-net
6. Attenuation is less
7. Easy to install
 Coaxial-Cabling Considerations

Consider the following coaxial capabilities when making a decision about

which type of cabling to use. Use coaxial cable if you need a medium that
can:

• Transmit voice, video, and data

• Transmit data for greater distances than is
possible with less expensive cabling
• Offer a familiar technology with
reasonable data security
 Types of Coaxial Cable

There are two types of coaxial cable: Thin (thinnet) cable and Thick
(thicknet) cable
Thinnet Cable :
Thinnet cable is a flexible coaxial cable about 0.64 centimeters (0.25 inches)
thick. Because this type of coaxial cable is
flexible and easy to work with, it can be
used in almost any type of network installation.
Thicknet Cable :
Thicknet cable is a relatively rigid coaxial cable about 1.27 centimeters
(0.5 inches) in diameter.
 Applications of co-axial cable

1. Used to connect radio transmitters and receivers

1. Used in cable television signals

1. Used in Ethernet LANs

1. Used in video and audio transmission

Advantages :
1. Coaxial cable can support greater cable lengths between network devices
than twisted pair cable.
2. Thick coaxial cable has an extra protective plastic cover that help keep
moisture away.
3. Low cost, lower attenuation 4. Good immunity to EMI/RFI
5. Supports high bandwidth (400 to 600Mhz)

Disadvantages :
1. Thick coaxial is that it does not bend
easily and is difficult to install.
1. Limited in network speed
2. Limited in size of network
3. One bad connector can take down
entire network
4. Bulky in nature
 Twisted Pair Wires
• A twisted pair cable comprises of two separate insulated copper wires, which
are twisted together and run in parallel.
• Often used at customer facilities and also over distances to carry voice as well
as data communications
• The copper wires are typically 1mm in diameter. One of the wires is used to
transmit data and the other is the ground reference.
 Reason for Twisting
All transmissions are prone to noise, interferences, and crosstalks. When
the wires are twisted, some part of the noise signals is in the direction of
data signals while the other parts are in the opposite directions. Thus the
external waves cancel out due to the different twists.
The receiver calculates the difference in the voltages
of the two wires for retrieving data. Thus a much
better immunity against noise is obtained.
 Types of Twisted Pair
• STP (shielded twisted pair)
• the pair is wrapped with metallic foil or braid to insulate the pair from
electromagnetic interference
• UTP (unshielded twisted pair)
• each wire is insulated with plastic wrap,
but the pair is encased in an outer covering
 Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP)
• It consists of color-coded copper wires but does not include any foil or braiding as
insulator to protect against interference.
• Wire pairs within each cable have varying amounts of twists per foot to produce
cancellation.
• There are different categories of UTP.
• The following table shows the UTP categories,
the no. of pairs in each, and the grade of cable
each uses, and how they are implemented.
 Shielded Twisted Pair (STP)

• STP is formed from pairs of copper wires that are twisted together.
• The pairs are covered during a foil or braided mesh, also as outer PVC jacket.
• This prevent penetration of electromagnetic noise and eliminate cross talk.
• This shielding must be grounded to stop the foil or
braided mesh from becoming a magnet for electricity.
 Ratings of Twisted Pair
Category 1 : This refers to traditional UTP telephone cable that can carry voice but not
data transmissions.
Category 2 : This category certifies UTP cable for data transmissions up to 4 megabits
per second (Mbps). It consists of four twisted pairs of copper wire.
Category 3 : This category certifies UTP cable for data transmissions up to 16 Mbps. It
consists of four twisted pairs of copper wire with three twists per foot.
Category 4 : This category certifies UTP cable for data transmissions up to 20 Mbps. It
consists of four twisted pairs of copper wire.
Category 5 : This category certifies UTP cable for data transmissions up to 100 Mbps. It
consists of four twisted pairs of copper wire.
Category 6 : same as above. Cat 6 cables, provide lower crosstalk, a higher signal-to-
noise ratio, and are suitable for 10GBASE-T (10-Gigabit Ethernet), while Cat5e cables
support only up to 1000BASE-T (Gigabit Ethernet)
 Characteristics of Twisted Pair cable

1. The eight-conductor data cable contains four pairs of wires

2. The pairs are twisted together.
3. The pairs designated for 10 and 100 Mbps
4. Transmission time is measured in minutes
5. It can run several km without amplification,
but for longer distances repeaters are needed.
6. It can be used for analog and digital transmission
7. The bandwidth depends on the thickness of
the wire and the distance travelled.
8. Widely used due to their adequate performance
and low cost.
 Applications of Twisted Pair Cables

Some of the applications of twisted pair cables are as follows:

(1) In telephone lines to carry voice and data channels.
(2) In the local loop.
(3) In the DSL line (ADSL)
(4) Local area networks such as 10 Base-T
and 100 Base-T. Use the twisted pair cables.
(5) In the ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network)
 Advantages
1. Cheaper and far easier to splice
2. Less susceptible to electrical interference caused by nearby equipment or
wires.
3. In turn are less likely to cause interference themselves.
4. Easy to work with and install
5. Flexible and light weight

Disadvantages
1. STP wire is that it is physically larger
and more expensive than twisted pair
wire.
2. Susceptibility to interference and noise
3. Relatively low bandwidth (3000Hz)
 Fiber Optic Cable
• A fiber optic cable, or an optical-fiber cable, contains optical fibers made
of glass or plastic that transmit light.
• In fiber-optic cable, optical fibers carry digital data signals in the form of
modulated pulses of light.
• This is a relatively safe way to send data because, unlike copper-based
cables that carry data in the form of electronic signals,
no electrical impulses are carried over the
fiber-optic cable.
• Fiber-optic cable is good for very high-speed,
high-capacity data transmission because of the
purity of the signal and lack of signal attenuation
 Fiber-Optic Cable Composition
• An optical fiber consists of an extremely thin cylinder of glass, called the
core, surrounded by a concentric layer of glass, known as the cladding.
• These have different refractive indexes to aid the travel of light along the
cable. A protective coating, jacket or strength members will then
encompass the core and cladding. This is then surrounded by an outer
jacket

plastic jacket glass or plastic fiber core

cladding
 How Does Fibre Optic Cable Work?
Light enters at one end of the cable and travels through the highly refractive
core, bouncing off the cladding which has a low refractive index for this
exact reason. Once a beam reaches the end, it is dispersed at an
approximately 60° angle and emitted to the target.
 Fiber-Optic Cabling Considerations

Use fiber-optic cable if you:

• Need to transmit data at very high speeds over long distances in very
secure media.

Do not use fiber-optic cable if you:

• Are under a tight budget.
• Do not have the expertise available to properly
install it and connect devices to it.
 Fiber Optic Types

• Single mode fiber

The light is guided down the center of an extremely narrow core
• Multimode step-index fiber
The reflective walls of the fiber move the
light pulses to the receiver
• Multimode graded-index fiber
Acts to refract the light toward the center
of the fiber by variations in the density
 Fiber Optic Signals

fiber optic single mode

all signals travel straight down the middle without bouncing off the edges

fiber optic multimode step-index

This means light beams can travel through

the core by following a variety of different
paths

fiber optic multimode

graded-index
 Fiber Optic Advantages
• greater capacity (bandwidth of up to 2 Gbps)
• smaller size and lighter weight
• lower attenuation
• immunity to environmental interference
• highly secure due to tap difficulty and lack of
signal radiation

Disadvantages
• Fiber optic versus metal cable is that it is
difficult
to make connections to fiber optic cable.
• The optical fiber must be highly polished to
allow light to pass with little loss