College of Applied studies and community services King Saud University

Dept. of Natural & Engineering Sciences

NET205 – Data Transmission and Digital Communications

Chapter 4 – Encoding techniques

Dr. Ridha Ouni

Associate Professor
Department of Computer Engineering
College of Computer and Information Sciences
King Saud University
4-1 DIGITAL-TO-DIGITAL CONVERSION

In this section, we see how we can represent digital data by using

digital signals. The conversion involves three techniques: line
coding Schemes, and block coding.

Topics discussed in this section:

Line Coding Schemes
Block Coding
Figure 4.1 Line coding and modulation

Channel

Encoder Modulator Demodulator Decoder

Digital Data Digital Signal Analog Signal Digital Signal Digital Data

01101001 01101001
Figure 4.2 Line coding and decoding
Figure 4.3 Signal element versus data element
𝒓 = 𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒂 𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔
𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔
 Example 4.1

A signal is carrying data in which one data element is

encoded as one signal element ( r = 1). If the bit rate is
100 kbps, what is the average value of the baud rate if c is
between 0 and 1?

Solution
We assume that the average value of c is 1/2. The baud
rate is then
 Example 4.2

The maximum data rate of a channel (see Chapter 2) is

Nmax = 2 × B × log2 L (defined by the Nyquist formula).
Does this agree with the previous formula for Nmax?

Solution
𝑺 = 𝒄∗𝑵∗ 𝟏
𝒓
A signal with L levels actually can carry log2L bits per
level. If each level corresponds to one signal element and
we assume the average case (c = 1/2), then we have

7
Figure 4.5 Line coding schemes
Figure 4.6 Unipolar scheme

Unipolar encoding uses only one voltage level. It Uses zero and positive voltage pulses
to encode binary data (‘0’ and ‘1’).

𝑟 = 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑎 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠
𝑆 = 𝑐∗𝑁∗ 1
𝑠𝑖𝑔𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑟
Figure 4.7 Polar NRZ-L and NRZ-I schemes

Uses two different voltage levels (one positive and one negative) to represent
bits (0 and 1)
Note

In NRZ-L the level of the voltage

determines the value of the bit.
In NRZ-I the inversion
or the lack of inversion
determines the value of the bit.
Note

NRZ-L and NRZ-I both have an average

signal rate of N/2 Bd.
Note

NRZ-L and NRZ-I both have a DC

component problem.
 Example 4.4

A system is using NRZ-I to transfer 1-Mbps data. What

are the average signal rate and minimum bandwidth?

Solution
The average signal rate is S = N/2 = 500 kbaud. The
minimum bandwidth for this average baud rate is:
Bmin = S = 500 kHz.
 Figure 4.7 Polar RZ scheme

0 = Transition from negative to zero

1 = Transition from positive to zero

4.15
 Figure 4.8 Polar biphase: Manchester and differential Manchester schemes

4.16
 Note

In Manchester and differential

Manchester encoding, the transition
at the middle of the bit is used for
synchronization.

▪ In Manchester encoding, the transition at the middle of the bit is used for both
synchronization and bit representation.
0 = Transition from positive to negative
1 = Transition from negative to positive

▪ In differential Manchester encoding, the bit representation is defined by the

inversion (when ‘0’) or non-inversion (when ‘1’) at the beginning of the bit.
4.17
 Note

The minimum bandwidth of Manchester

and differential Manchester is 2 times
that of NRZ.

4.18
 Note

In bipolar encoding, we use three levels:

positive, zero, and negative.

4.19
 Figure 4.9 Bipolar schemes: AMI and pseudoternary

In bipolar encoding, we use three levels: positive, zero, and negative.

‘0’ = Zero volts.
‘1’ = Non-zero voltage, opposite in polarity to the last logical 1.

Bipolar AMI (Alternate Mark Inversion ) encoding

4.20
 Note

In mBnL schemes, a pattern of m data

elements is encoded as a pattern of n
signal elements in which 2m ≤ Ln.
Goals:
No DC component
No long sequences of 0-level line signal
No increase in bandwidth
Error detection capability
Examples 2B1Q, 8B6T

4.21
 Figure 4.10 Multilevel: 2B1Q scheme

2B1Q (2 Binary 1 Quarternary)

4.22
 Figure 4.11 Multilevel: 8B6T scheme

Each signal pattern has a weight of 0 or +1 DC values. This means that there is no pattern
with the weight -1. To make the whole stream Dc-balanced, the sender keeps track of the
weight. If two groups of weight 1 are encountered one after another, the first one is sent as
is, while the next one is totally inverted to give a weight of -1.

4.23
 Figure 4.13 Multitransition: MLT-3 scheme

4.24
 Table 4.1 Summary of line coding schemes

4.25
 Note

Block coding is normally referred to as

mB/nB coding;
it replaces each m-bit group with an
n-bit group.

4.26
 Figure 4.14 Block coding concept

4.27
 Figure 4.15 Using block coding 4B/5B with NRZ-I line coding scheme

4.28
Table 4.2 4B/5B mapping codes

4.29
 Figure 4.16 Substitution in 4B/5B block coding

4.30
 Example 4.5

We need to send data at a 1-Mbps rate. What is the

minimum required bandwidth, using a combination of
4B/5B and NRZ-I or Manchester coding?

Solution
First 4B/5B block coding increases the bit rate to 1.25
Mbps. The minimum bandwidth using NRZ-I is N/2 or
625 kHz. The Manchester scheme needs a minimum
bandwidth of 1 MHz. The first choice needs a lower
bandwidth, but has a DC component problem; the second
choice needs a higher bandwidth, but does not have a DC
component problem.
4.31
 Figure 4.17 8B/10B block encoding

4.32