Chapter-3

Transmission Media
 1Introduction
• In a data transmission system, the
transmission medium is the physical path
between transmitter and receiver.
Transmission media carries the information
from sender to receiver.
• We use different types of cables or waves to
transmit data. Data is transmitted normally
through electrical or electromagnetic signals.
 What is Transmission media

• Transmission media is a communication channel that carries

the information from the sender to the receiver.
• Data is transmitted through the electromagnetic signals.
• The main functionality of the transmission media is to carry
the information in the form of bits through LAN(Local Area
Network).
• It is a physical path between transmitter and receiver in
data communication.
• In a copper-based network, the bits in the form of electrical
signals.
• In a fibre based network, the bits in the form of light pulses.
 Types of Transmission Media

• Transmission media refers to the physical

medium through which data is transmitted
from one device to another within a network.
These medium can be wired or wireless.
• The choice of medium depends on factors like
distance, speed, and interference.
• 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.
 Guided Media

• Guided Media is also referred to as Wired or

Bounded transmission media.
• Signals being transmitted are directed and
confined in a narrow pathway by using physical
links.
• Features:
• High Speed
• Secure
• Used for comparatively shorter distances
 Guided media are further divided in
three Types.
• Twisted Pairs Cable
• 2. Coaxial Cable
• 3. Fiber Optics Cable
 There are 3 major types of Guided
Media:
• Twisted Pair Cable
• It consists of 2 separately insulated conductor
wires wound about each other.
• Generally, several such pairs are bundled
together
• They are the most widely used Transmission
Media.
• Twisted Pair is of two types:
 Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP):
• UTP consists of two insulated copper wires
twisted around one another.
• This type of cable has the ability to block
interference and does not depend on a
physical shield for this purpose
• . It is used for telephonic applications.
• Advantages of Unshielded Twisted Pair
• Least expensive
• Easy to install
• High-speed capacity
• Disadvantages of Unshielded Twisted Pair
• Lower capacity and performance in comparison to
STP
• Short distance transmission due to attenuation
 Shielded Twisted Pair (STP):
• Shielded Twisted Pair (STP) cable consists of a
special jacket (a copper braid covering or a foil
shield) to block external interference.
• It is used in fast-data-rate Ethernet and in
voice and data channels of telephone lines.
• Advantages of Shielded Twisted Pair
• Better performance at a higher data rate in
comparison to UTP
• Eliminates crosstalk
• Comparatively faster
• Disadvantages of Shielded Twisted Pair
• Comparatively difficult to install and manufacture
• More expensive
• Bulky
2. Co-axial cable
• The name coaxial is because it contains two conductors that
are parallel to each other and share common axis. Inner
conductor is made of copper which is surrounded by PVC
insulation.
• The outer conductor is metal foil, mesh or both.  Outer
metallic conductor is used as a shield against noise.
• The outer conductor is also encased in an insulating sheath.
The outermost part is the plastic cover which protects the
whole cable.
• Co-axial cable is much less susceptible to interference and
cross talk than the twisted pair.
• Co-axial cable is used to transmit both analog and digital
signal.
 There are two types of Coaxial cables:
• BaseBand -
• This is a 50 ohm (Ω) coaxial cable which is used for digital
transmission.
• It is mostly used for LAN’s.
• Baseband transmits a single signal at a time with very high speed.
The major drawback is that it needs amplification after every 1000
feet.
• BroadBand -
• This uses analog transmission on standard cable television cabling.
• It transmits several simultaneous signal using different
frequencies.
• It covers large area when compared with Baseband Coaxial Cable.
 Advantages:

• Bandwidth is high
• Used in long distance telephone lines.
• Transmits digital signals at a very high rate of
10Mbps.
• Much higher noise immunity
• Data transmission without distortion.
 Disadvantages :

• Single cable failure can fail the entire network.

• Difficult to install and expensive when
compared with twisted pair.
• If the shield is imperfect, it can lead to
grounded loop.
 Application
• Co-axial cable is widely used in the wide variety of applications. The
most important of these are: -
• 1. TV distribution: - Co-axial cable is spreading rapidly as a means of
distributing TV signals to individual homes –cables TV. A cable TV
system can carry dozens or even hundreds of TV channels at ranges up
to a few tens of miles.
• 2. Long distance telephone transmission:- Co-axial cable has
traditionally been as important part of the long distance telephone
n/w using FDM (frequency division multiplication) a co-axial cable can
carry over 10,000 voice channels simultaneously.
•
• 3. Short distance communication links: - Co-axial cable is also
commonly used for short range connection between devices. E.g. can
be used to provide high speed I/O channels for an PC system.
• 4. LAN: - Co-axial cable can be support a large number of devices with
a variety of data and traffic types over distance that covers single
building or a complex of building.
 Optical Fiber or fiber optics
• A fiber-optic cable is made of glass or plastic
and transmits signals in the form of light.
• A light pulse can be used to signal a one (1)
bit.
• The absence of a pulse signals a zero(0).
• The bandwidth of an optical transmission
system is potentially enormous.
• An optical fiber has an cylindrical shape and consists of 3
concentric section –
(i) Core (ii) Cladding (iii) Jacket
• 1. Core:- It’s the inner most section is made of glass or plastic
and is surrounded by its own cladding. The core diameter is in
the range of 8 to 50 µm.
• 2. Cladding: - A glass or plastic coating that has optical
properties different from those of the core having a diameter
of 125 µm. The cladding acts as a reflector to light that would
otherwise escape the core.
• 3. Jacket: - The outer most layers surrounding caddied fiber is
the jacket. Jacket is composed of plastic or other material
layer to protect against moisture, cut, crushing and other
environmental dangers.
 Optical Fiber Communication
• A transmitter (Light Source) at senders end
sends a Light across the fiber.
• A receiver at the other end makes use of Light
Sensitive transistor to detect the absence or
presence of light to indicate 0 or 1.
Two different types of light sources are
used in fiber optic system.
• The Light Emitting Diode (LED)
• Injection Laser Diode (ILD) Both are
semiconductor devices that emit a beam of
light when voltage is applied. Led is less costly
than ILD. ILD operates on laser principle, is
more efficient, and can sustain greater data
rate.
Types of Fiber Propagation Modes
• Optical fiber may be multi-mode or single mode.
• Single mode fibers allow a single light pass and are
used with laser signaling. Single mode fibers can
allow greater bandwidth and cable runs than
multimode, but it is more expensive.
• Multimode fibers use multiple light pass the
physical characteristics of the multiple mode fiber
make all parts of the signal arrive at the same time
appearing to the receiver as though they were
one pulse.
• 1. Multimode step-index fiber
the reflective walls of the fiber move the
light pulses to the receiver
• 2. Multimode graded-index fiber
acts to refract the light toward the
center of the fiber by variations in the density
3. Single mode fiber
the light is guided down the center of
an extremely narrow core
 Advantages :
Provides high quality transmission of signals at very
high speed (bandwidth 2 Gbps)
These are not affected by electromagnetic
interference, so noise and distortion is very less.
Highly secure due to tap difficulty and lack of
signal radiation.
Used for both analog and digital signals.
 Smaller size and light weight
Lower attenuation
 Disadvantages :

It is expensive
Difficult to install. requires highly skilled installers
Maintenance is expensive and difficult.
Do not allow complete routing of light signals.
 Applications
• Telephones, including cellular wireless
Internet
• LANs - local area networks CATV - for video,
voice and Internet connections
• Utilities - management of power grid
• Security - closed-circuit TV and intrusion
sensors
• Transportation – smart lights and highways
Military – everywhere!
 UnGuided Transmission

• An unguided transmission transmits the

electromagnetic waves without using any
physical medium. Therefore it is also known
as wireless transmission.
• In unguided media, air is the media through
which the electromagnetic energy can flow
easily.
 Unguided transmission is broadly
classified into three categories:
• Radio waves
• Radio waves are the electromagnetic waves that are
transmitted in all the directions of free space.
• Radio waves are omnidirectional, i.e., the signals are
propagated in all the directions.
• The range in frequencies of radio waves is from 3Khz
to 1 khz.
• In the case of radio waves, the sending and receiving
antenna are not aligned, i.e., the wave sent by the
sending antenna can be received by any receiving
antenna.
• An example of the radio wave is FM radio.
 Applications Of Radio waves:

• A Radio wave is useful for multicasting when

there is one sender and many receivers.
• An FM radio, television, cordless phones are
examples of a radio wave.
 Advantages Of Radio transmission:

• Radio transmission is mainly used for wide

area networks and mobile cellular phones.
• Radio waves cover a large area, and they can
penetrate the walls.
• Radio transmission provides a higher
transmission rate.
Microwaves
 Microwaves are of two types:
• Terrestrial microwave
• Satellite microwave communication.
 Terrestrial Microwave Transmission

• Terrestrial Microwave transmission is a technology that

transmits the focused beam of a radio signal from one
ground-based microwave transmission antenna to
another.
• Microwaves are the electromagnetic waves having the
frequency in the range from 1GHz to 1000 GHz.
• Microwaves are unidirectional as the sending and
receiving antenna is to be aligned, i.e., the waves sent
by the sending antenna are narrowly focussed.
• It works on the line of sight transmission, i.e., the
antennas mounted on the towers are the direct sight
of each other.
 Characteristics of Microwave:

• Frequency range: The frequency range of terrestrial

microwave is from 4-6 GHz to 21-23 GHz.
• Bandwidth: It supports the bandwidth from 1 to 10
Mbps.
• Short distance: It is inexpensive for short distance.
• Long distance: It is expensive as it requires a higher
tower for a longer distance.
• Attenuation: Attenuation means loss of signal. It is
affected by environmental conditions and antenna
size.
 Advantages Of Microwave:

• Microwave transmission is cheaper than using

cables.
• It is free from land acquisition as it does not
require any land for the installation of cables.
• Microwave transmission provides an easy
communication in terrains as the installation
of cable in terrain is quite a difficult task.
• Communication over oceans can be achieved
by using microwave transmission.
 Disadvantages of Microwave
transmission:
• Eavesdropping: An eavesdropping creates insecure
communication. Any malicious user can catch the
signal in the air by using its own antenna.
• Out of phase signal: A signal can be moved out of
phase by using microwave transmission.
• Susceptible to weather condition: A microwave
transmission is susceptible to weather condition. This
means that any environmental change such as rain,
wind can distort the signal.
• Bandwidth limited: Allocation of bandwidth is limited
in the case of microwave transmission.
 Satellite Microwave Communication

• A satellite is a physical object that revolves

around the earth at a known height.
• Satellite communication is more reliable
nowadays as it offers more flexibility than
cable and fibre optic systems.
• We can communicate with any point on the
globe by using satellite communication.
 Advantages Of Satellite Microwave
Communication:
• The coverage area of a satellite microwave is more
than the terrestrial microwave.
• The transmission cost of the satellite is
independent of the distance from the centre of
the coverage area.
• Satellite communication is used in mobile and
wireless communication applications.
• It is easy to install.
• It is used in a wide variety of applications such as
weather forecasting, radio/TV signal broadcasting,
mobile communication, etc.
Disadvantages Of Satellite Microwave
Communication:
• Satellite designing and development requires
more time and higher cost.
• The Satellite needs to be monitored and
controlled on regular periods so that it
remains in orbit.
• The life of the satellite is about 12-15 years.
Due to this reason, another launch of the
satellite has to be planned before it becomes
non-functional.
 Infrared

• An infrared transmission is a wireless technology

used for communication over short ranges.
• The frequency of the infrared in the range from
300 GHz to 400 THz.
• It is used for short-range communication such as
data transfer between two cell phones, TV remote
operation, data transfer between a computer and
cell phone resides in the same closed area.
 Characteristics Of Infrared:

• It supports high bandwidth, and hence the data

rate will be very high.
• Infrared waves cannot penetrate the walls.
Therefore, the infrared communication in one
room cannot be interrupted by the nearby rooms.
• An infrared communication provides better
security with minimum interference.
• Infrared communication is unreliable outside the
building because the sun rays will interfere with
the infrared waves.
Different Types of Electromagnetic waves, in order of increasing
frequency/decreasing wavelength :
• A) RADIO WAVES:
• - They are produced by accelerated motion of charges in the
conducting
• wires.
• - Uses: They are used in Radio and Television communication.
• - Wavelength: They range from around a foot long to several kms.
• - Frequency ~: 500 KHz to 1000 MHz
• ▫ The AM (Amplitude Modulated) band is from 530 KHz 1710 KHz.
• ▫ The FM (Frequency Modulated) band is from 88 MHz to 108
MHz.
• ▫ The TV waves range from 54 MHz to 89 MHz.
• ▫ Cellular phones use radio waves to transmit voice
communication in
• the Ultra High Frequency (UHF) band.
 MICROWAVES

• - Microwaves (short wavelength radio waves) are produced by

special
• vacuum tubes (called klystrons, magnetrons, and Gunn Diodes).
• - Frequency: GHz range
• - Applications:
• ▫ Radar: There short wavelength makes them suitable for Radar
• system in aeroplanes. Due to their short wavelength, they are
• suitable for Radar systems used in aircraft navigation. Radar also
• provides the basis for the speed guns used to time fast balls,
tennis
• serves, and automobiles.
 INFRARED WAVES

• - Produced by hot bodies and molecules. They are

sometimes also referred
• as heat waves. This is because, water molecules
produced in most
• materials readily absorb infrared waves (many other
molecules, for
• example, CO2, NH3, also absorb infrared waves). After
absorption, their
• thermal motion increase i.e. they heat up and heat up
their surroundings.
• - Infrared lamps are used in physical therapy.
 Propagation Modes
Ground,Sky,Line-of-Sight
• Ground wave propagation is most effective at
lower frequencies (below 2 MHz) and can be
used for short-range communication, typically
up to a few hundred kilometers. Skywave
propagation: This is the mode of propagation
in which the radio signal is reflected by
the ionosphere and returns to Earth.