INTRODUCTION

Computer networks are designed to transfer data from one point to another.
During transit data is in the form of electromagnetic signals. Hence it is important
to study data and signals before we move to further concepts in data
communication
DATA & SIGNALS
To be transmitted, data must be transformed to electromagnetic signals.

Data can be Analog or Digital.

1. Analog data refers to information that is continuous; ex. sounds made by
a human voice
2. Digital data refers to information that has discrete states. Digital data take
on discrete values.
3. For example, data are stored in computer memory in the form of Os and
1s
Signals can be of two types:
1. Analog Signal: They have infinite values in a range.
2. Digital Signal: They have limited number of defined values

Periodic & Non Periodic Signals

Signals which repeat itself after a fixed time period are called Periodic Signals.
Signals which do not repeat itself after a fixed time period are called Non-Periodic
Signals.
In data communications, we commonly use periodic analog signals and non-
periodic digital signals.

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ANALOG SIGNAL
An analog signal has infinitely many levels of intensity over a period of time.
As the wave moves from value A to value B, it passes through and includes an
infinite number of values along its path as it can be seen in the figure below.
A simple analog signal is a sine wave that cannot be further decomposed into
simpler signals.

A sine wave is characterized by three parameters:

1. Peak Amplitude 2. Frequency 3. Phase

2. Characteristics of an Analog Signal
Peak Amplitude
The amplitude of a signal is the absolute value of its intensity at time t
The peak amplitude of a signal is the absolute value of the highest intensity.
The amplitude of a signal is proportional to the energy carried by the signal

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 Fig. Amplitude of a sine wave
Frequency
Frequency refers to the number of cycles completed by the wave in one second.
Period refers to the time taken by the wave to complete one second.

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Phase
Phase describes the position of the waveform with respect to time (specifically
relative to time O).
Fig: Phase of a sine wave*
Phase indicates the forward or backward shift of the waveform from the axis
It is measured in degrees or radian
The figure above shows the sine waves with same amplitude and frequency but
different phases

Relation between Frequency & Period

Frequency & Period are inverse of each other.
It is indicated by the following formula:

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Example1.
A wave has a frequency of 100hz. Its period(T) is given by T = 1/ F = 1/ 100 =
0.01 sec
Example2.
A wave completes its one cycle in 0.25 seconds. Its frequency is given by F = 1 / T
= 1 / 0.25 = 4 Hz

Wavelength
 The wavelength of a signal refers to the relationship between frequency (or
period) and propagation speed of the wave through a medium.
 The wavelength is the distance a signal travels in one period.

 It is represented by the symbol : λ (pronounced as lamda)

 It is measured in micrometers
 It varies from one medium to another.

Time Domain and Frequency domain representation of signals

 A sine wave can be represented either in the time domain or frequency
domain.
 The time-domain plot shows changes in signal amplitude with respect to
time. It indicates time and amplitude relation of a signal.
 The frequency-domain plot shows signal frequency and peak amplitude.
 The figure below show time and frequency domain plots of three sine waves.

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Fig: Time domain and frequency domain plots of three sine waves*
A complete sine wave in the time domain can be represented by one single spike in
the frequency domain

Composite Signal
 A composite signal is a combination of two or more simple sine waves with
different frequency, phase and amplitude.
 If the composite signal is periodic, the decomposition gives a series of
signals with discrete frequencies; if the composite signal is non-periodic, the
decomposition gives a combination of sine waves with continuous
frequencies.

Fig: A Composite signal with three component signals

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For data communication a simple sine wave is not useful, what is used is a
composite signal which is a combination of many simple sine waves.

According to French Mathematician, Jean Baptist, any composite signal is a

combination of simple sine waves with different amplitudes and frequencies and
phases.

Composite signals can be periodic or non periodic.

A periodic composite signal can be decomposed into a series of signals with

discrete frequencies.

A non-periodic signal when decomposed gives a combination of sine waves with

continuous frequencies.

Fig The time and frequency domains of a non-periodic composite analog

signal
Digital Signal
 Information can also be explained in the form of a digital signal. A digital
signal can be explained with the help of following points:
Definition:-
 A digital is a signal that has discrete values.
 The signal will have value that is not continuous.

LEVEL
 Information in a digital signal can be represented in the form of voltage
levels.
 Ex. In the signal shown below, a ‗1‘ is represented by a positive voltage and
a ‗0‘ is represented by a Zero voltage.

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Fig: A digital signal with Two levels. „1‟ represented by a positive voltage and
„0‟ represented by a negative voltage
A Signal can have more than two levels

11 10 01 00 00 01 10 10
LEVEL 4
LEVEL 3
LEVEL 2
LEVEL 1
Fig: A digital signal with four levels
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In general, if a signal has L levels then, each level need Log2L bits
Example: Consider a digital Signal with four levels, how many bits are required
per level?

Answer:
Number of bits per level = Log2L = Log24 = 2
Hence, 2 bits are required per level for a signal with four levels.
BIT LENGTH or Bit Interval (Tb)
 It is the time required to send one bit.
 It is measured in seconds.
BIT RATE
 It is the number of bits transmitted in one second.
 It is expressed as bits per second (bps).
 Relation between bit rate and bit interval can be as follows

 Bit rate = 1 / Bit interval

Baud Rate
 It is the rate of Signal Speed, i.e the rate at which the signal changes.
 A digital signal with two levels ‗0‘ & ‗1‘ will have the same baud rate and
bit rate & bit rate.
The diagram below shows three signal of period (T) 1 second
a) Signal with a bit rate of 8 bits/ sec and baud rate of 8 baud/sec
b) Signal with a bit rate of 16 bits/ sec and baud rate of 8 baud/sec
c) Signal with a bit rate of 16 bits/ sec and baud rate of 4 baud/sec

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Fig: Three signals with different bit rates and baud rates
TYPES OF CHANNELS:
Each composite signal has a lowest possible(minimum) frequency and a highest
possible (maximum) frequency. From the point of view of transmission, there are
two types of channels:
Low pass Channel
 This channel has the lowest frequency as ‗0‘ and highest frequency as some
non-zero frequency ‗f1‘.
 This channel can pass all the frequencies in the range 0 to f1.

Band pass channel

 This channel has the lowest frequency as some non-zero frequency ‗f1‘ and
highest frequency as some non-zero frequency ‗f2‘.
 This channel can pass all the frequencies in the range f1 to f2.

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Fig: Lowpass Channel & Bandpass Channel 2.6 Transmission of Digital signal
Digital signal can be transmitted in the following two ways: 2.6.1 Baseband
Transmission
The signal

Transmission of Digital signal Digital signal can be transmitted in the following

two ways:
 Baseband Transmission
 The signal is transmitted without making any change to it (ie. Without
modulation)
 In baseband transmission, the bandwidth of the signal to be transmitted has
to be less than the bandwidth of the channel.

Ex. Consider a Baseband channel with lower frequency 0Hz and higher frequency
100Hz, hence its bandwidth is 100 (Bandwidth is calculated by getting the
difference between the highest and lowest frequency).

We can easily transmit a signal with frequency below 100Hz, such a channel
whose bandwidth is more than the bandwidth of the signal is called
Wideband channel

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Logically a signal with frequency say 120Hz will be blocked resulting in loss of
information, such a channel whose bandwidth is less than the bandwidth of the
signal is called
Narrowband channel

Broad band Transmission

 Given a bandpass channel, a digital signal cannot be transmitted directly
through it

 In broadband transmission we use modulation, i.e we change the signal to

analog signal before transmitting it.

 The digital signal is first converted to an analog signal, since we have a

bandpass channel we cannot directly send this signal through the available
channel. Ex. Consider the bandpass channel with lower frequency 50Hz and
higher frequency 80Hz, and the signal to be transmitted has frequency 10Hz.

 To pass the analog signal through the bandpass channel, the signal is
modulated using a carrier frequency. Ex. The analog signal (10Hz) is
modulated by a carrier frequency of 50Hz resulting in an signal of frequency
60Hz which can pass through our bandpass channel.

The signal is demodulated and again converted into an digital signal at the other
end as shown in the figure below.

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1. Define analog and digital signals
2. Explain Composite analog signals.
3. Explain Time and Frequency Domain Representation of signals
4. Explain the characteristics of an Analog signal
5. Explain the characteristics of an Digital signal
6. Explain the difference between
1. Lowpass and Bandpass channel
2. Narrowband and wideband channel
7. Explain why a digital signal requires to undergo a change before transmitting it
through a bandpass channel.
FOURIER ANALYSIS
 In the 19th century, French mathematician Jean-Baptiste Fourier proved that
any composite signal is a combination of simple sine waves with different
frequencies, amplitudes, and phases.
 A Composite signal can be periodic as well as non periodic.
 A periodic composite signal when decomposed gives a series of simple sine
waves with discrete frequencies i.e. frequencies that have integer values (1,
2, 3, etc).
 A non-periodic composite signal when decomposed gives a combination of
an infinite number of simple sine waves with continuous frequencies i.e.
frequencies that have real values.

BANDWIDTH OF A SIGNAL
 Bandwidth can be defined as the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum
occupied by the signal

 It may also be defined as the frequency range over which a signal is

transmitted.

 Different types of signals have different bandwidth. Ex. Voice signal, music
signal, etc

 Bandwidth of analog and digital signals are calculated in separate ways;

analog signal bandwidth is measured in terms of its frequency (hz) but
digital signal bandwidth is measured in terms of bit rate (bits per second,
bps)

 Bandwidth of signal is different from bandwidth of the medium/channel

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Bandwidth of an analog signal
 Bandwidth of an analog signal is expressed in terms of its frequencies.

 It is defined as the range of frequencies that the composite analog signal

carries.

 It is calculated by the difference between the maximum frequency and the

minimum frequency.

Consider the signal shown in the diagram below:

 The signal shown in the diagram is an composite analog signal with many
component signals.
 It has a minimum frequency of F1 = 30Hz and maximum frequency of F2 =
90Hz.
 Hence the bandwidth is given by F2 – F1 = 90 – 30 = 60 Hz
Bandwidth of a digital signal
 It is defined as the maximum bit rate of the signal to be transmitted.
 It is measured in bits per second.

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BANDWIDTH OF A CHANNEL
 A channel is the medium through which the signal carrying information will
be passed.

 In terms of analog signal, bandwidth of the channel is the range of

frequencies that the channel can carry.

 In terms of digital signal, bandwidth of the channel is the maximum bit rate
supported by the channel. i.e. the maximum amount of data that the channel
can carry per second.

 The bandwidth of the medium should always be greater than the bandwidth
of the signal to be transmitted else the transmitted signal will be either
attenuated or distorted or both leading in loss of information.

 The channel bandwidth determines the type of signal to be transmitted i.e.

analog or digital.

THE MAXIMUM DATA RATE OF 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)
The quality of the channel indicates two types:
a) A Noiseless or Perfect Channel
 An ideal channel with no noise.
 The Nyquist Bit rate derived by Henry Nyquist gives the bit rate for a
Noiseless Channel.

b) A Noisy Channel
 A realistic channel that has some noise.
 The Shannon Capacity formulated by Claude Shannon gives the bit rate for a
Noisy Channel

Nyquist Bit Rate

 The Nyquist bit rate formula defines the theoretical maximum bit rate
for a noiseless channel Bitrate = 2 x Bandwidth x Log2 L
Where,
 Bitrate is the bitrate of the channel in bits per second
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  Bandwidth is the bandwidth of the channel
L is the number of signal levels.

Example
What is the maximum bit rate of a noiseless channel with a bandwidth
of 5000 Hz transmitting a signal with two signal levels.
Solution: The bit rate for a noiseless channel according to Nyquist Bit
rate can be calculated as follows:
BitRate = 2 x Bandwidth x Log2 L
= 2 x 5000 x log2 2
=10000 bps

Shannon Capacity
 The Shannon Capacity defines the theoretical maximum bit rate for a noisy
channel Capacity=bandwidth X log2 (1 +SNR)

Where,
 Capacity is the capacity of the channel in bits per second
 Bandwidth is the bandwidth of the channel
 SNR is the Signal to Noise Ratio

 Shannon Capacity for calculating the maximum bit rate for a noisy channel
does not consider the number of levels of the signals being transmitted as
done in the Nyquist bit rate.

 Example:

 Calculate the bit rate for a noisy channel with SNR 300 and bandwidth of
3000Hz Solution:

 The bit rate for a noisy channel according to Shannon Capacity can be
calculated as follows:

Capacity=bandwidth X log2 (1 +SNR)

= 3000 x log2 (1 + 300)

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 = 3000 x log2 ( 301)

= 3000 x 8.23 = 24,690bps

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