Multiplexing:

• Whenever the transmission capacity of a medium linking two devices is greater

than the transmission needs of the devices, the link can be share.
• Multiplexing is the set of techniques that allows the simultaneous transmission of
multiple signals across a single data link.
• Figure shows that, the four devices on the left direct their transmission streams to
a multiplexer, which combines them into a single stream.
• At the receiver end, that stream is fed into a demultiplexer which separates the
stream back into its component transmissions and directs them to their intended
receiving devices.
• The path refers to the physical link.
• The word channel refers to a portion of a path that carries a transmission between
a given pair of devices.
• One path can have many channels.
Categories of Multiplexing:
• Frequency division multiplexing
• Wavelength division multiplexing
• Time division multiplexing
Frequency division multiplexing:
• Frequency division multiplexing (FDM) is an analog technique that
can be applied when bandwidth of a link is greater than the combined
bandwidths of the signals to be transmitted.
• It is a multiplexing technique that uses different frequencies to
combine multiple streams of data for transmission over a
communication medium.
• FDM assigns a discrete carrier frequency to each data stream and
combines many modulated carrier frequencies for transmission.
• In FDM, signal generated by each sending device modulate different
carrier frequencies.
• These modulated signal are then combined into a single composite
signal that can be transported by the link.
• Carrier frequencies are separated by sufficient bandwidth to
accommodate the modulated signal. These bandwidth ranges are the
channels through which the various signals travel.
• Channels can be separated by strips of unused bandwidth called guard
bands to prevent signals from overlapping.
• Figure gives conceptual view of FDM. Here the transmission path is
divided into three parts, each representing a channel that carries one
transmission.
Multiplexing process:
• Each source generates a signal of a similar frequency range.
• Inside the multiplexer, these similar signals modulate different carrier
frequencies (f1,f2 and f3).
• The resulting modulated signals are then combined into a single
composite signal that is sent out over a media link that has enough
bandwidth to accommodate it.
Demultiplexing process:
• The demultiplexer uses a series of filters to decompose the multiplexed signal into
its constituent component signals.
• The individual signals are then passed to a demodulator that separates them from
their carrier and passes them to the output lines.
Applications of Frequency-division Multiplexing
• It is utilized in FM and AM radio broadcasts. Each FM radio station
broadcasts at a different frequency, which is multiplexed to generate a
composite signal. The multiplexed signal is broadcast over the air.
• FDM is also used in television broadcasting.
• FDM is utilized by first-generation cellular phones.
Time Division Multiplexing (TDM):
• Time division multiplexing is a digital process that can be applied when the data
rate capacity of the transmission medium is greater than the data rate required by
the sending and receiving devices.
• In that case, multiple devices occupy a single link by subdividing them and
interleaving the portions.
• Here, each sender is given the entire possession of the whole bandwidth of the
channel for a fixed duration of time. After this, the control is moved to the next
sender, and the process continues on a round-robin basis.
• TDM can be implemented in two ways: synchronous TDM and statistical TDM
Synchronous TDM:
• In synchronous time-division multiplexing, here synchronous means that the
multiplexer allocates exactly the same time slot to each device at all times, whether
or not a device has anything to transmit.
• Time slot A, for example is assigned to device A alone and cannot be used by any
other device.
• Each time its allocated time slot comes up, a device has the opportunity to send a
portion of its data.
Frames: Time slots are grouped into frames. A frame consists of one complete cycle
of time slots, including one or more slots dedicated to each sending device.
• In a system with n input lines, each frame has at least n slots, with each slot allocated
to carrying data from a specific input line.
• If all the input devices sharing a link are transmitting at the same data
rate, each device has one time slot per frame.
• However, it is possible to accommodate varying data rates. A
transmission with two slots per frame will arrive twice as quickly as
one with one slot per frame.
• The time slots dedicated to a given device occupy the same location
in each frame and constitute that device's channel.
• In Figure 8.11, we show five input lines multiplexed onto a single path
using synchronous TDM.
• In this example, all of the inputs have the same data rate, so the
number of time slots in each frame is equal to the number of input
lines.
Interleaving:
• Interleaving can be done by bit, by byte, or by any other data unit.
• In other words, the multiplexer can take one byte from each device, then another
byte from each device, and so on.
• In a given system, the interleaved units will always be of the same size. Figure
8.12 shows interleaving and frame building.
• In the example, we interleave the various transmissions by character (equal to one
byte each).
TDM Link Control
• no headers and trailers
• data link control protocols not needed
• flow control
❑ data rate of multiplexed line is fixed
❑ if one channel receiver can not receive data, the others must carry on
❑ corresponding source must be quenched
❑ leaving empty slots
• error control
❑ errors detected & handled on individual channel
• Flow control and error control can be provided on a per-channel basis by
using a data link control
Framing bits:
• Because the time slot order in a synchronous TDM system does not vary from
frame to frame, very little overhead information needs to be included in each
frame.
• The order of receipt tells the demultiplexer where to direct each time slot, so no
addressing is necessary. Various factors, however, can cause timing
inconsistencies.
• For this reason, one or more synchronization bits are usually added to the
beginning of each frame. These bits, called framing bits, follow a pattern, frame
to frame, that allows the demultiplexer to synchronize with the incoming stream so
that it can separate the time slots accurately.
• In most cases, this synchronization information consists of one bit per frame,
alternating between 0 and 1 (01010101010),
• The major weakness of synchronous TDM is by assigning each time
slot to a specific input line, sometimes we end up with empty slots as
seen in example 8.12.

• Synchronous TDM Example

• Imagine that we have four input sources on a synchronous TDM link,
where transmissions are interleaved by character. If each source is
creating 250 characters per second, and each frame is carrying 1
character from each source, the transmission path must be able to
carry 250 frames per second (see Figure 8.15)
Statistical TDM:

• In synchronous TDM many slots may get wasted.

• Statistical TDM allocates time slots dynamically based on the demand.
• In this system, if we have n input lines, the frame contains no more than m slots, with m lessthan n.
• The number of time slots in an asynchronous TDM frame is based on a statistical analysis of the number of input
lines that are likely to be transmitting at any given time.
• The multiplexer scans the input lines, accepts portions of data until a frame is filled and then sends the frame
across the link.
• To accomplish dynamic allocation of any input to any time slots, the TDM multiplexer places a header on the
data that each input channel has ready to transmit.
• The header informs that receiving STDM multiplexer which output channel is to receive the data.
Characteristics:
Addressing:
• In synchronous TDM, there is no need for addressing; synchronization and preassigned
relationships between the inputs and outputs serve as an address.
• In statistical multiplexing, there is no fixed relationship between the inputs and outputs
because there are no preassigned or reserved slots. We need to include the address of the
receiver inside each slot to show where it is to be delivered.
Slot Size:
∙ Since a slot carries both data and an address in statistical TDM, the ratio of the data size
to address size must be reasonable to make transmission efficient.
∙ For example, it would be inefficient to send 1 bit per slot as data when the address is 3
bits. This would mean an overhead of 300 percent.
∙ In statistical TDM, a block of data is usually many bytes while the address is just a few
bytes.
 No Synchronization Bit:
∙ There is another difference between synchronous and statistical TDM, but this
time it is at the frame level.
∙ The frames in statistical TDM need not be synchronized, so we do not need
synchronization bits.