Data and Computer

Communications
Chapter 2
2.2 Transmission Media
 Overview
 The transmission media that are used to convey
information can be classified as guided or unguided.
 guided - twisted pair, coaxial cable, and optical
fiber
 unguided – wireless e.g. air, water, vacuum

 The characteristics and quality of data transmission

determined by characteristics of medium and signal
 in unguided media - bandwidth of the signal

produced by the antenna is more important

 in guided media - medium is more important

 key concerns are data rate and distance :

 Design Factors
 A number of design factors relating to the transmission
medium and the signal determine the data rate and
distance:
 bandwidth
 higher bandwidth of a signal gives higher data rate

 transmission impairments
 Impairments, such as attenuation, limit the distance

 interference
 Interference from competing signals in overlapping

frequency bands can distort or wipe out a signal

 number of receivers in guided media
 more receivers introduces more attenuation
Electromagnetic Spectrum
 Transmission Characteristics
of Guided Media
Frequency Typical Typical Repeater
Range Attenuation Delay Spacing
Twisted pair 0 to 3.5 kHz 0.2 dB/km @ 50 µs/km 2 km
(with loading) 1 kHz

Twisted pairs 0 to 1 MHz 0.7 dB/km @ 5 µs/km 2 km

(multi-pair 1 kHz
cables)
Coaxial cable 0 to 500 MHz 7 dB/km @ 10 4 µs/km 1 to 9 km
MHz
Optical fiber 186 to 370 0.2 to 0.5 5 µs/km 40 km
THz dB/km
Twisted Pair
Reduce Electromagnetic Interference
 Twisted Pair
 A twisted pair consists of two insulated copper
wires arranged in a regular spiral pattern
 A wire pair acts as a single communication link
 Typically, a number of these pairs are bundled
together into a cable by wrapping them in a
tough protective sheath.
 The twisting tends to decrease the crosstalk
interference between adjacent pairs in a cable.
 Twisted Pair - Applications
 Most common medium
 Telephone network
 Between house and local exchange
(subscriber loop)
 Within buildings
 To private branch exchange (PBX)
 For local area networks (LAN)
 10Mbps or 100Mbps
Twisted Pair - Pros and Cons
 Cheap
 Easy to work with
 Low data rate
 Short range
 Twisted Pair - Transmission
Characteristics
 analog signals
 needs amplifiers every 5km to 6km
 Digital
 can use either analog or digital signals
 needs a repeater every 2-3km
 Compared to other commonly used guided
transmission media
 limited distance
 limited bandwidth (1MHz)
 limited data rate (100MHz)
 susceptible to interference and noise
 Unshielded vs Shielded TP
 unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP)-
 Consists of one or more twisted-pair cables,
typically enclosed within an overall
thermoplastic jacket, which provides no
electromagnetic shielding

 ordinary telephone wire

 cheapest
 easiest to install
 suffers from external
EM interference
 Unshielded vs Shielded TP
 shielded Twisted Pair (STP)
 metal braid or sheathing that reduces interference
 more expensive
 harder to handle (thick, heavy)
 in a variety of categories
 UTP Categories
 Cat 3
 up to 16MHz
 Voice grade found in most offices
 Twist length of 7.5 cm to 10 cm
 Cat 4
 up to 20 MHz
 Cat 5
 up to 100MHz
 Commonly pre-installed in new office buildings
 Twist length 0.6 cm to 0.85 cm
 Cat 5E (Enhanced) –see tables
 Cat 6
 Cat 7
 UTP Categories
7.5~10 cm 0.6~0.85cm
Category 3 Category 5 Category 5E Category 6 Category 7
Class C Class D Class E Class F
Bandwidth 16 MHz 100 MHz 100 MHz 200 MHz 600 MHz
Cable Type UTP UTP/FTP UTP/FTP UTP/FTP SSTP
Link Cost 0.7 1 1.2 1.5 2.2
(Cat 5 =1)
 Comparison of Shielded and
Unshielded Twisted Pair
Attenuation (dB per 100 m) Near-end Crosstalk (dB)
Frequency Category 3 Category 5 Category 3 Category 5
(MHz) UTP UTP 150-ohm STP UTP UTP 150-ohm STP
1 2.6 2.0 1.1 41 62 58
4 5.6 4.1 2.2 32 53 58
16 13.1 8.2 4.4 23 44 50.4
25 — 10.4 6.2 — 41 47.5
100 — 22.0 12.3 — 32 38.5
300 — — 21.4 — — 31.3
 Near End Crosstalk
 coupling of signal from one pair to another
 occurs when transmit signal entering the
link couples back to receiving pair
 ie. near transmitted signal is picked up by
near receiving pair
Coaxial Cable
 Coaxial Cable
 Coaxial cable, like twisted pair, consists of two
conductors, but is constructed differently to
permit it to operate over a wider range of
frequencies
 It consists of a hollow outer cylindrical conductor
that surrounds a single inner wire conductor
 The inner conductor is held in place by either
regularly spaced insulating rings or a solid
dielectric material.
 The outer conductor is covered with a jacket or
shield
 Coaxial Cable Applications
 Most versatile medium
 Television distribution
 Ariel to TV
 Cable TV
 Long-distance telephone transmission
 Can carry 10,000 voice calls simultaneously
 Being replaced by fiber optic
 Short distance computer systems links
 Local area networks
Coaxial Cable - Transmission
Characteristics
 superiorfrequency characteristics to TP
 performance limited by attenuation & noise
 analog signals
 amplifiers every few km
 closer if higher frequency
 up to 500MHz
 digital signals
 repeater every 1km
 closer for higher data rates
Optical Fiber
 Optical Fiber
 An optical fiber is a thin (2 to 125 µm),
flexible medium capable of guiding an
optical ray
 Various glasses and plastics can be used
to make optical fibers
 An optical fiber cable has a cylindrical
shape and consists of three concentric
sections: the core, the cladding, and the
jacket
 The core is the innermost section and consists
of one or more very thin strands, or fibers, made
of glass or plastic;

 the core has a diameter in the range of 8 to 50

µm

 Each fiber is surrounded by its own cladding, a

glass or plastic coating that has optical
properties different from those of the core and a
diameter of 125 µm
 The interface between the core and cladding
acts as a reflector to confine light that would
otherwise escape the core.

 The outermost layer, surrounding one or a

bundle of cladded fibers, is the jacket

 The jacket is composed of plastic and other

material layered to protect against moisture,
abrasion, crushing, and other environmental
dangers.
 Optical Fiber - Benefits
 greater capacity
 data rates of hundreds of Gbps
 smaller size & weight
 lower attenuation
 electromagnetic isolation
 greater repeater spacing
 10s of km at least
 Optical Fiber - Transmission
Characteristics
 uses total internal reflection to transmit
light
 effectively acts as wave guide for 1014 to 1015
Hz
 Portions of infrared and visible spectrum
 can use several different light sources
 Light Emitting Diode (LED)
• cheaper, wider operating temp range, lasts longer
 Injection Laser Diode (ILD)
• more efficient, has greater data rate
 relation of wavelength, type & data rate
Optical Fiber Transmission
Modes
 Frequency Utilization for
Fiber Applications

Wavelength (in Frequency Band Fiber Type Application

vacuum) range Range (THz) Label
(nm)
820 to 900 366 to 333 Multimode LAN
1280 to 1350 234 to 222 S Single mode Various
1528 to 1561 196 to 192 C Single mode WDM
1561 to 1620 192 to 185 L Single mode WDM
Attenuation in Guided Media
 Wireless Transmission
Frequencies
 30MHz to 1GHz
 Broadcast radio, omni-directional
 2GHz to 40GHz
 Microwave, highly directional
 point to point
 satellite
3 x 1011 to 2 x 1014
 infrared
 Local point-to-point and multipoint
applications within confined areas,
 Antennas
 electrical conductor used to radiate or collect
electromagnetic energy
 transmission antenna
 radio frequency energy from transmitter
 converted to electromagnetic energy by antenna
 radiated into surrounding environment
 reception antenna
 electromagnetic energy impinging on antenna
 converted to radio frequency electrical energy
 fed to receiver
 same antenna is often used for both purposes
 Radiation Pattern
 power radiated in all directions
 not same performance in all directions
 as seen in a radiation pattern diagram
 an isotropic antenna is a (theoretical) point
in space
 radiates in all directions equally
 with a spherical radiation pattern
Parabolic Reflective Antenna
 Antenna Gain
 measure of directionality of antenna
 power output in particular direction verses
that produced by an isotropic antenna
 measured in decibels (dB)
 results in loss in power in another direction
 effective area relates to size and shape
 related to gain
 Broadcast Radio
 radiois 3kHz to 300GHz
 use broadcast radio, 30MHz - 1GHz, for:
 FM radio
 UHF and VHF television
 is omnidirectional
 still need line of sight
 suffers from multipath interference
 reflections from land, water, other objects
 Terrestrial Microwave
 used for long haul telecommunications
 and short point-to-point links
 requires fewer repeaters but line of sight
 use a parabolic dish to focus a narrow beam
onto a receiver antenna
 1-40GHz frequencies
 higher frequencies give higher data rates
 main source of loss is attenuation
 distance, rainfall
 also interference
 Satellite Microwave
 satellite is relay station
 receives on one frequency, amplifies or repeats
signal and transmits on another frequency
 eg. uplink 5.925-6.425 GHz & downlink 3.7-4.2 GHz
 typically requires geo-stationary orbit
 height of 35,784km
 spaced at least 3-4° apart
 typical uses
 television
 long distance telephone
 private business networks
 global positioning
Satellite Point to Point Link
Satellite Broadcast Link
 Infrared
 modulate non-coherent infrared light
 end line of sight (or reflection)
 are blocked by walls
 no licenses required
 typical uses
 TV remote control
 IRD port
 Wireless Propagation
 A signal radiated from an antenna travels
along one of three routes:

 ground wave,
 sky wave,
 or line of sight (LOS).
 Ground Wave Propagation
 It is also known as surface wave propagation
 Ground wave propagation more or less follows the
contour of the Earth and can propagate
considerable distances, well over the visual horizon
 This effect is found in frequencies up to about
2 MHz.
Wireless Propagation
Ground Wave
 Sky Wave Propagation
 Sky wave propagation is used for amateur radio ,
CB radio and international broadcasts such as
BBC and Voice of America
 With sky wave propagation, a signal from an
earth-based antenna is reflected from the ionized
layer of the upper atmosphere (ionosphere) back
down to Earth.
 Sky wave propagation is used at 2MHz to 30MHz.
 A sky wave signal can travel through a number
of hops, bouncing back and forth between the
ionosphere and the Earth’s surface
 With this propagation mode, a signal can be
picked up thousands of kilometers from the
transmitter.
Wireless Propagation
Sky Wave
 Line-of-Sight Propagation
 Above 30 MHz, neither ground wave nor sky
wave propagation modes operate, and
communication must be by line of sight
 For satellite communication, a signal above 30
MHz is not reflected by the ionosphere and
therefore a signal can be transmitted between
an earth station and a satellite overhead that is
not beyond the horizon.
Wireless Propagation
Line of Sight
 Refraction
 velocity of electromagnetic wave is a function of
density of material
~3 x 108 m/s in vacuum, less in anything else
 speed changes as move between media
 Index of refraction (refractive index) is
 sin(incidence)/sin(refraction)
 varies with wavelength
 have gradual bending if medium density varies
 density of atmosphere decreases with height
 results in bending towards earth of radio waves
 hence optical and radio horizons differ
 Line of Sight Transmission
 Free space loss
 loss of signal with distance
 Atmospheric Absorption
 from water vapour and oxygen absorption
 Multipath
 multiple interfering signals from reflections
 Refraction
 bending signal away from receiver
Free Space Loss
Multipath Interference
 Summary
 looked at data transmission issues
 frequency, spectrum & bandwidth
 analog vs digital signals
 transmission impairments