Lecture 6

Digital to Digital Conversion

DIGITAL-TO-DIGITAL CONVERSION

❑ In this Lecture, we see how we can represent

digital data by using digital signals. The
conversion involves three techniques: line
coding, block coding, and scrambling.

❑ Line coding is always needed.

❑ Block coding and scrambling may or may not

be needed.
SIGNAL ELEMENT vs DATA ELEMENT

❑ Data element
The smallest entity that can represent a piece of
information: this is bit.
❑ Signal element
The shortest unit (timewise) of a digital signal.
❑ In other words
Data element are what we need to send.
Signal elements are what we can send.
SIGNAL ELEMENT vs DATA ELEMENT
DATA RATE vs SIGNAL RATE
• Data rate
– The number of data elements (bits) sent in 1s
– The unit is bits per second (bps)
– Called bit rate
• Signal rate
– The number of signal elements sent in 1s
– The unit is the baud
– Signal rate is sometimes called the pulse rate, the modulation
rate, or the baud rate
• Relationship between data rate and signal rate
1
S = c N  baud
r
• S: number of signal elements, c: the case factor, N: data rate (bps), r:
data elements per signal elements
Example
A signal is carrying data in which one data element is
encoded as one signal element (r = 1). If the bit rate is
100 kbps, what is the average value of the baud rate if
c is between 0 and 1?

Solution

We assume that the average value of c is 1/2 . The

baud rate is then
Example
The maximum data rate of a channel (see Chapter 3)
is Nmax = 2 × B × log2 L (defined by the Nyquist
formula). Does this agree with the previous formula
for Nmax?
Solution

A signal with L levels actually can carry log2L bits

per level. If each level corresponds to one signal
element and we assume the average case (c = 1/2),
then we have
Baseline Wandering
• In decoding a digital signal, the receiver calculates a
running average of the received signal power.
• This average is called the baseline.
• The incoming signal power is evaluated against this
baseline to determine the value of the data element.
• A long string of 0s or 1s can cause a drift in the baseline
(baseline wandering) and make it difficult for the
receiver to decode correctly.
• A good line coding scheme needs to prevent baseline
wandering.
Effect of lack of synchronization
DC Components

– When the voltage level in a digital signal is constant

for a while, the spectrum creates very low frequencies
(results of Fourier analysis).
– These frequencies around zero, call DC (direct-
current) components, present problems for a system
that cannot pass low frequencies or a system that uses
electrical coupling (via a transformer).
– For example, a telephone line cannot pass frequencies
below 200 Hz.
Self-synchronization
• To correctly interpret the signals received from the
sender, the receiver’s bit intervals must correspond
exactly to the sender’s bit intervals. If the receiver clock
is faster or slower, the bit intervals are not matched, and
the receiver might misinterpret the signals.
• Self-synchronization
– Digital signal includes timing information in the data
being transmitted.
– This can be achieved if there are transitions in the
signal that alert the receiver to the beginning, middle,
or end of the pulse.
Example
In a digital transmission, the receiver clock is 0.1 percent faster
than the sender clock. How many extra bits per second does the
receiver receive if the data rate is
1 kbps? How many if the data rate is 1 Mbps?
Solution
At 1 kbps, the receiver receives 1001 bps instead of 1000 bps.

At 1 Mbps, the receiver receives 1,001,000 bps instead of

1,000,000 bps.
Line coding schemes
Unipolar Non-Return-to-Zero (NRZ)

It is called NRZ because the signal does not return to

zero at the middle of the bit.
Polar NRZ-L (NRZ-Level), NRZ-I (NRZ-Invert)
Polar NRZ-L (NRZ-Level), NRZ-I (NRZ-Invert)

❑ In NRZ-L the level of the voltage determines the

value of the bit.
❑ In NRZ-I the inversion or the lack of inversion
determines the value of the bit.
❑ NRZ-L and NRZ-I both have an average signal
rate of N/2 Bd.
❑ NRZ-L and NRZ-I both have a DC component
problem.
Example

A system is using NRZ-I to transfer 10-Mbps

data. What are the average signal rate and
minimum bandwidth?

Solution
The average signal rate is S = N/2 = 500 kbaud.
The minimum bandwidth for this average baud
rate is Bmin = S = 500 kHz.
Polar RZ: Return-to-Zero Scheme
Polar biphase: Manchester and differential
Manchester schemes
Polar biphase: Manchester and differential
Manchester schemes

❑ In Manchester and differential Manchester

encoding, the transition at the middle of the bit
is used for synchronization.

❑ The minimum bandwidth of Manchester and

differential Manchester is 2 times that of NRZ.
Bipolar Schemes
• Bipolar encoding (sometimes called multilevel binary)
– Three voltage levels: positive, negative, and zero
• Two variations of bipolar encoding
– AMI (alternate mark inversion)
• 0: neutral zero voltage
• 1: alternating positive and negative voltages
– Pseudoternary
• 1: neutral zero voltage
• 0: alternating positive and negative voltages
• Bipolar schemes have no DC component problem
• In bipolar encoding, we use three levels: positive, zero,
and negative.
AMI and Pseudoternary
❑AMI (alternate mark inversion)
– The work mark comes from telegraphy and means 1.
– AMI means alternate 1 inversion
– The neutral zero voltage represents binary 0
– Binary 1s are represented by alternating positive and
negative voltages.
❑Pseudoternary
– Same as AMI, but 1 bit is encoded as a zero voltage
and the 0 bit is encoded as alternating positive and
negative voltages
AMI and Pseudoternary
Multilevel Schemes

❑ The desire to increase the data speed or decrease the

required bandwidth has resulted in the creation of many
schemes.

❑ The goal is to increase the number of bits per baud by

encoding a pattern of m data elements into a pattern of n
signal elements.

❑ Different types of signal elements can be allowing

different signal levels.
Multilevel Schemes

❑ If we have L different levels, then we can produce Ln

combinations of signal patterns.

❑ The data element and signal element relation is 2 m  Ln

❑ mBnL coding
❑ m → length of the binary pattern
❑ B → binary data
❑ n → length of the signal pattern
❑ L → number of levels in the signaling.

❑ B (binary, L=2), T (ternary, L=3), and Q (quaternary, L=4).

2B1Q
❑2B1Q (two binary, one quaternary)
❑m=2, n=1, and L=4
❑The signal rate (baud rate)
1 1 1 N
S = cN =  N  =
r 2 2 4

❑2B1Q is used in DSL (digital subscriber line)

technology to provide a high-speed connection to
the Internet by using subscriber telephone lines
Multilevel: 2B1Q scheme
8B6T
❑ Eight binary, six ternary (8B6T)

– This code is used with 100BASE-4T cable.

– Encode a pattern of 8 bits as a pattern of 6 signal elements,
where the signal has three levels (ternary).
– 28=256 different data patterns and 36=478 different signal
patterns. (The mapping is shown in Appendix D.)
– There are 478-256=222 redundant signal elements that provide
synchronization and error detection.
– Part of the redundancy is also used to provide DC (direct-
current) balance.
8B6T

❑+ (positive signal), - (negative signal), and 0 (lack

of signal) notation.

❑To make whole stream DC-balanced, the sender

keeps track of the weight
8B6T

Invert - + + - 0 - = -1
4D-PAM5

❑ Four-dimensional five-level pulse amplitude

modulation (4D-PAM5)
– 4D means that data is sent over four wires at the same time.

– It uses five voltage levels, such as -2, -1, 0, 1, and 2.

– The level 0 is used only for forward error detection.

– If we assume that the code is just one-dimensional, the four

levels create something like 8B4Q.
4D-PAM5

– The worst signal rate for this imaginary one-dimensional

version is Nx4/8, or N/2.

– 4D-PAM5 sends data over four channels (four wires). This

means the signal rate can be reduced to N/8.

– All 8 bits can be fed into a wire simultaneously and sent by

using one signal element.

– Gigabit Ethernet use this technique to send 1-Gbps data over

four copper cables that can handle 1Gbps/8 = 125Mbaud
4D-PAM5
Multiline Transmission: MLT-3
❑The multiline transmission, three level (MLT-3)

❑Three levels (+V, 0, and –V) and three transition

rules to move the levels
– If the next bit is 0, there is no transition
– If the next bit is 1 and the current level is not 0, the next
level is 0.
– If the next bit is 1 and the current level is 0, the next
level is the opposite of the last nonzero level.
Multiline Transmission: MLT-3
❑Why do we need to use MLT-3?
– The signal rate for MLT-3 is one-fourth the bit rate
(N/4).
– This makes MLT-3 a suitable choice when we need to
send 100 Mbps on a copper wire that cannot support
more than 32 MHz (frequencies above this level create
electromagnetic emission).
Multiline Transmission: MLT-3
Summary of line coding schemes
Block Coding
❑Use redundancy to ensure synchronization and to
provide inherent error detecting.
❑In general, block coding changes a block of m bits
into a block of n bits, where n is larger than m.
❑Block coding is referred to as an mB/nB encoding
technique.
❑For example:
– 4B/5B encoding means a 4-bit code for a 5-bit group.
Block Coding
Using block coding 4B/5B with NRZ-I line
coding scheme
4B/5B Block Encoding

❑5-bit output that replaces the 4-bit input

❑No more than one leading zero (left bit) and no
more than two trailing zeros (right bits).
❑There are never more than three consecutive 0s.
❑If a 5-bit group arrives that belongs to the unused
portion of the table, the receiver knows that there is
an error in the transmission.
4B/5B mapping codes
Substitution in 4B/5B block coding
Example

We need to send data at a 1-Mbps rate. What is the minimum

required bandwidth, using a combination of 4B/5B and NRZ-I
or Manchester coding?

Solution
First 4B/5B block coding increases the bit rate to 1.25 Mbps.
The minimum bandwidth using NRZ-I is N/2 or 625 kHz. The
Manchester scheme needs a minimum bandwidth of 1 MHz.
The first choice needs a lower bandwidth, but has a DC
component problem; the second choice needs a higher
bandwidth, but does not have a DC component problem.
8B/10B Block Encoding
Scrambling
❑Biphase schemes that are suitable for dedicated
links between stations in a LAN are not suitable
for long-distance communication because of their
wide bandwidth requirement.
❑The combination of block coding and NRZ line
coding is not suitable for long-distance encoding
either, because of the DC component problem.
❑Bipolar AMI encoding, on the other hand, has a
narrow bandwidth and does not create a DC
component.
Scrambling

❑However, a long sequence of 0s upsets the

synchronization.
❑If we can find a way to avoid a long sequence of 0s
in the original stream, we can use bipolar AMI for
long distances.
❑One solution is called scrambling.
AMI used with scrambling
B8ZS

❑ Bipolar with 8-zero substitution (B8ZS)

– Commonly used in North America
– Eight consecutive zero-level voltages are replaced by the
sequence 000VB0VB.
– The V in the sequence denotes violation; that is a nonzero
voltage that breaks an AMI rule of encoding (opposite
polarity from the previous).
– The B in the sequence denotes bipolar, which means a
nonzero level voltage in accordance with the AMI rule.
Two cases of B8ZS scrambling technique
HDB3
❑ High-density bipolar 3-zero (HDB3)
– Used outside of North America
– Four consecutive zero-level voltages are replaced with a
sequence of 000V or B00V.
– 1. If the number of nonzero pulses after the last
substitution is odd, the substitution pattern will be 000V,
which makes the total number of nonzero pulses even.
– 2. If the number of nonzero pulses after the last
substitution is even, the substitution pattern will be
B00V, which means makes the total number of nonzero
pulses even.
HDB3 scrambling technique