Chapter-7

Transmission Media
 ❖ A transmission medium can be broadly defined as anything that

can carry information from a source to a destination.

Transmission
Medium
 Classes of
Transmission
Medium
 ❖ A twisted pair consists of two conductors (normally copper), each with its own

plastic insulation, twisted together.

❖ One of the wires is used to carry signals to the receiver, and the other is used only

as a ground reference.

❖ The receiver uses the difference between the two.

Twisted Pair Cable ❖ In addition to the signal sent by the sender on one of the wires, interference (noise)

and crosstalk may affect both wires and create unwanted signals.
 ❖ If the two wires are parallel, the effect of these unwanted signals is not the same in

both wires because they are at different locations relative to the noise or crosstalk sources (one

is closer and the other is farther).

❖ By twisting the pairs, a balance is maintained. For example, suppose in one twist, one wire is

closer to the noise source and the other is farther; in the next twist, the reverse is true.

❖ Twisting makes it probable that both wires are equally affected by external influences (noise or
Twisted Pair Cable
crosstalk). This means that the receiver, which calculates the difference between the two,

receives no unwanted signals. The unwanted signals are mostly canceled out.
Types of Twisted
Pair Cable
 ❖ STP cable has a metal foil or braided mesh covering that encases each pair of

insulated conductors.

❖ Advantages

1. Eliminates crosstalk.

2. Better performance at a higher rate in comparison to UTP.

Shielded Twisted
Pair Cable (STP) ❖ Disadvantages

1. Bulky.

2. More expensive.

3. Comparatively difficult to manufacture and install.

 ❖ Advantages

1. Least Expensive.

2. Easy to install.

3. High speed capacity.

Unshielded Twisted
❖ Disadvantages
Pair Cable (UTP)
1. Susceptible to external interference.

2. Lower capacity and performance in comparison to STP.

3. Short distance transmission due to attenuation.

UTP Connector
 ❖ Twisted-pair cables are used in telephone lines to provide voice and data
channels.

❖ The local loop-the line that connects subscribers to the central telephone
office commonly consists of unshielded twisted-pair cables.
Uses of Twisted Pair
Cable ❖ The DSL lines that are used by the telephone companies to provide high-data
rate connections also use the high-bandwidth capability of unshielded
twisted-pair cables.

❖ Local-area networks, such as l0Base-T and l00Base-T, also use twisted-pair

cables.
 ❖ Coaxial cable (or coax) carries signals of higher frequency ranges than those in twisted pair cable.

❖ It has a central core conductor of solid or stranded wire (usually copper) enclosed in an insulating
sheath, which is, in turn, encased in an outer conductor of metal foil, braid, or a combination of
the two.

❖ The outer metallic wrapping serves both as a shield against noise and as the second conductor,
which completes the circuit.

❖ This outer conductor is also enclosed in an insulating sheath, and the whole cable is protected by
Coaxial Cable a plastic cover.
 ❖ Advantages

1. High bandwidth.

2. Better noise immunity.

3. Easy to install.

Coaxial Cable 4. Inexpensive.

❖ Disadvantages

1. Single cable failure can disrupt the network.

 ❖ To connect coaxial cable to devices, we need coaxial connectors. The most
common type of connector used today is the Bayone-Neill-Concelman (BNC)
connector.

❖ Three popular types of these connectors:

1. BNC connector

2. BNC T connector
Coaxial Cable
Connector 3. BNC terminator
 ✔ The BNC connector is used to connect the end of the cable to a device, such
as a TV set.

Coaxial Cable ✔ The BNC T connector is used in Ethernet networks to branch out to a
Connector connection to a computer or other device.

✔ The BNC terminator is used at the end of the cable to prevent the reflection
of the signal.
 ❖ Light travels in a straight line as long as it is moving through a
single uniform substance.
Nature of Light
❖ If a ray of light traveling through one substance suddenly enters
another substance (of a different density), the ray changes direction.
 ❖ A ray of light changes direction when going from a more dense to a less dense substance.

1. If the angle of incidence I (the angle the ray makes with the line perpendicular to
the interface between the two substances) is less than the critical angle, the ray
refracts and moves closer to the surface.

2. If the angle of incidence is equal to the critical angle, the light bends along the
interface.

3. If the angle is greater than the critical angle, the ray reflects (makes a turn) and travels
Nature of Light
again in the denser substance.
 ❖ A fiber-optic cable is made of glass or plastic and transmits signals in the
form of light.

❖ A glass or plastic core (which has more density) is surrounded by a

cladding of less dense glass or plastic.

❖ The difference in density of the two materials must be such that a beam of
light moving through the core is reflected off the cladding instead of being
Fiber Optic Cable
refracted into it.
❖
Propagation Modes
of Optical Channels
 ❖ Multimode is so named because multiple beams from a light source move
Multimode through the core in different paths.
 ❖ Multimode step-index fiber, the density of the core remains constant from
the center to the edges.

❖ A beam of light moves through this constant density in a straight line until
it reaches the interface of the core and the cladding.

❖ At the interface, there is an abrupt change due to a lower density; this alters

Multimode Step the angle of the beam's motion.

Index ❖ The term step index refers to the suddenness of this change, which
contributes to the distortion of the signal as it passes through the fiber.
 ❖ A second type of fiber, called multimode graded-index fiber, decreases this
distortion of the signal through the cable.

❖ The word index here refers to the index of refraction. As we saw above, the
index of refraction is related to density.

❖ A graded-index fiber, therefore, is one with varying densities.

Multimode Graded ❖ Density is highest at the center of the core and decreases gradually to its
Index lowest at the edge.
 ❖ Single-mode uses step-index fiber and a highly focused source of light that limits
beams to a small range of angles, all close to the horizontal.

❖ It has substantially low density (index of refraction).

❖ The decrease in density results in a critical angle that is close enough to 90° to make
the propagation of beams almost horizontal.

❖ In this case, propagation of different beams is almost identical, and delays are

Single Mode negligible.

❖ All the beams arrive at the destination "together" and can be recombined with little
distortion to the signal.
 ❖ The outer jacket is made of either PVC or Teflon.
❖ Inside the jacket are Kevlar strands to strengthen the cable.
❖ Kevlar is a strong material used in the fabrication of bulletproof vests.
Cable Composition
❖ Below the Kevlar is another plastic coating to cushion the fiber.
❖ The fiber is at the center of the cable, and it consists of cladding and core.
 ❖ The subscriber channel (SC) connector is used for cable TV. It uses a
push/pull locking system.
❖ The straight-tip (ST) connector is used for connecting cable to networking
devices. It uses a bayonet locking system and is more reliable than SC.
❖ MT-RJ is a connector that is the same size as RJ45.

Cable Connectors
 ❖ Advantages
1. Higher bandwidth
2. Less signal attenuation
3. Immunity to electromagnetic interference
4. Resistive to corrosive materials
5. Light weight
6. Greater immunity to tapping
Fiber Optic Cable
❖ Disadvantages
1. Difficult to maintain and install
2. High cost
3. Unidirectional, will need another fiber if we want bidirectional
communication.
 ❖ Unguided media transport electromagnetic waves without using a
physical conductor.
Unguided ❖ This type of communication is often referred to as wireless
Media/Wireless communication.
❖ Signals are normally broadcast through free space and thus are
available to anyone who has a device capable of receiving them.
 ❖ Unguided signals can travel from the source to destination in
several ways:
1. Ground propagation
Propagation Modes
2. Sky propagation
3. Line-of-sight propagation
 ❖ Ground propagation
1. Radio waves travel through the lowest portion of the atmosphere, hugging the earth.
2. These low-frequency signals emanate in all directions from the transmitting antenna and
follow the curvature of the planet.
3. Distance depends on the amount of power in the signal: The greater the power, the
greater the distance.

Propagation Modes
 ❖ Sky propagation
1. Higher-frequency radio waves radiate upward into the ionosphere
where they are reflected back to earth. This type of transmission
allows for greater distances with lower output power.

Propagation Modes
 ❖ Line of Sight propagation
1. Very high-frequency signals are transmitted in straight lines directly from
antenna to antenna.
2. Antennas must be directional, facing each other and either tall enough or close
enough together not to be affected by the curvature of the earth.

Propagation Modes
 ❖ Line of Sight propagation
1. Very high-frequency signals are transmitted in straight lines directly from
antenna to antenna.
2. Antennas must be directional, facing each other and either tall enough or close
enough together not to be affected by the curvature of the earth.

Propagation Modes
 Wireless
Communication
 ❖ Radio waves
✔ It has frequency between 3KHz to 1 GHz.
✔ Radio waves are omnidirectional.
✔ When an antenna transmits radio waves, they are propagated in all directions.
✔ This means that the sending and receiving antennas do not have to be aligned.
✔ The omnidirectional property has a disadvantage and radio waves transmitted
Wireless by one antenna are susceptible to interference by another antenna that may
Communication
send signals using the same frequency or band.
✔ Radio waves are propagate in the sky mode, can travel long distances.
✔ This makes radio waves a good candidate for long distance broadcasting such
as AM radio.
✔ Radio waves, particularly those of low and medium frequencies, can penetrate
walls.
 ❖ Applications of Radio Waves
✔ The omnidirectional characteristics of radio waves make them useful for
multicasting, in which there is one sender but many receivers.
✔ AM and FM radio, television, maritime radio, cordless phones, and paging are
examples of multicasting.

Wireless
Communication
 ❖ Micro Waves
✔ Electromagnetic waves having frequencies between 1 and 300 GHz.
✔ Microwaves are unidirectional.
✔ When an antenna transmits microwave waves, they can be narrowly focused.
✔ This means that the sending and receiving antennas need to be aligned.
✔ Microwave propagation is line-of-sight.
Wireless ✔ Very high-frequency microwaves cannot penetrate walls. This characteristic can
Communication
be a disadvantage if receivers are inside buildings.
 ❖ Micro Waves
✔ Microwaves need unidirectional antennas that send out signals in one direction.
Wireless Two types of antennas are used for microwave communications: the parabolic
Communication dish antenna and the Horn antenna.
 ❑ Parabolic Dish Antenna
✔ A parabolic dish antenna is based on the geometry of a parabola: Every line parallel to the
line of symmetry reflects off the curve at angles such that all the lines intersect in a
common point called the focus.
✔ The parabolic dish works as a funnel, catching a wide range of waves and directing them
to a common point.

Wireless
Communication
 ❑ Horn Antenna

Wireless
Communication
 ❑ Application of Micro waves
✔ Microwaves are used for unicast communication such as cellular telephones,
satellite networks, and wireless LANs.

Wireless
Communication
 ❑ Infrared
✔ Infrared waves, with frequencies from 300 GHz to 400 THz can be used for
short-range communication.
✔ Infrared waves, having high frequencies, cannot penetrate walls.
❑ Applications
✔ Infrared signals can be used for short-range communication in a closed area
Wireless using line-of-sight propagation.
Communication