COMPUTER HARDWARE
CSD 114
LESSON 4
TRANSMISSION MEDIA
READING RESOURCES
• Data Communications and Networking 3rd Edition by Behrouz A. Forouzan
LESSON OUTLINE
Introduction
Guided/Wired Transmission Media
Unguided/Wireless Transmission Media
Network Ports
INTRODUCTION
A transmission medium can be broadly defined as anything that can carry information from a source to a
destination.
The transmission medium is usually free space, metallic cable, or fiber-optic cable.
The information is usually a signal that is the result of a conversion of data from another form.
Transmission media are actually located below the physical layer and are directly controlled by the physical
layer.
INTRODUCTION
In telecommunications, transmission media can be divided into two broad categories
Transmission Media
Guided(Wired) Unguided(Wireless)
Twisted-pair cable Coaxial cable Fiber optic cable Free Space
Twisted-Pair Cable
Copper Media
Made of copper
Signals are in the form of electrical pulses(digital)
It is limited by distance
It is limited by signal interference
Electromagnetic interference or radio frequency interference
Crosstalk
Twisted-Pair Cable
Copper Media
Twisted-pair cable
Shielded Twisted pair
Unshielded Twisted Pair Shielded Twisted
Unshielded Twisted
Pair (UTP) Cable Pair (STP) Cable
Coaxial cable
Coaxial Cable
Twisted-Pair Cable
Unshielded Twisted Pair Cable
UTP cable does not use shielding to counter the
effects of EMI and RFI.
Instead, cable designers have discovered that
they can limit the negative effect of crosstalk by:
Cancellation
Varying the number of twists per wire
pair
Twisted-Pair Cable
Twisted-Pair Cable
Types of Unshielded Twisted Pair Cable
Twisted-Pair Cable
UTP CONNECTORS/PLUGS
Twisted-Pair Cable
UTP CABLING STANDARDS
Twisted-Pair Cable
Shielded Twisted Pair Cable
Wires are covered with a foil shielding
which prevents electromagnetic interference
Transports data faster.
Coaxial Cable
Coaxial Cable
Consists of an inner conductor surrounded by a
concentric conducting shield,
Both are separated by a dielectric (insulating
material)
Many coaxial cables also have a protective outer
sheath or jacket.
They carry signals of higher frequency ranges
Coaxial Cable
Coaxial Cable
They are categorized by their radio government (RG)
ratings.
Each RG number denotes a unique set of physical
specifications, including the wire gauge of the inner
conductor, the thickness and type of the inner insulator,
the construction of the shield, and the size and type of
the outer casing
Coaxial Cable
Coaxial Connectors are used to connect
coaxial cables to devices
The BNe, BNC, BNCT are three types of
coaxial cable connectors
The BNC terminator is used to terminate
coaxial cable connections
Coaxial Cable
Uses of Coaxial Cables
Analog telephone networks
Digital telephone networks
Cable television
Traditional ethernet LANs
Fiber Optic Cable
Fiber Optic Cable
Made of glass or plastic
Transmits signals in the form of light.
Fiber Optic Cable
Types of Fiber Optic Cable
Fiber Optic Cable
Fiber Optic Cable Connectors
Network Media
Copper versus Fiber Optic Cable
Implementation Copper
Fibre Optic
Issues Media
10 Mbps – 10 10 Mbps – 100
Bandwidth Supported
Gbps Gbps
Relatively High
Relatively short
Distance (1 – 100 meters)
(1 – 100,000
meters)
High
Immunity To EMI And
Low (Completely
RFI immune)
High
Immunity To Electrical
Low (Completely
Hazards immune)
Media And Connector
Lowest Highest
Costs
Installation Skills
Lowest Highest
Required
Safety Precautions Lowest Highest
Unguided Media: Wireless
Transport electromagnetic waves without using a physical conductor
Communication through unguided media is referred to as wireless
communication.
Signals are normally broadcast through free space and are available to
anyone who has a device capable of receiving them.
Unguided Media: Wireless
Unguided signals can travel from the source to
destination in several ways:
Ground propagation,
sky propagation,
line-of-sight propagation
Unguided Media: Wireless
Wireless
Transmissio
n
Radio Wave Microwave Infrared
Radio Waves
Radio Waves are electromagnetic waves with frequencies between 3 kHz and
3 GHz
Radio waves are omnidirectional
When an antenna transmits radio waves, they are propagated in all directions.
The sending and receiving antennas do not have to be aligned.
A sending antenna sends waves that can be received by any receiving antenna.
Radio waves use omnidirectional antennas that send out signals in all directions.
Radio Waves
The omnidirectional characteristics of radio waves make them useful for multicasting,
Multicasting is a method of transmitting electromagnetic waves in which there is one sender
but many receivers.
AM and FM radio, television, maritime radio, cordless phones, and paging are examples of
the applications of multicasting.
However, radio waves transmitted by one antenna are susceptible to interference by
another antenna that may send signals using the same frequency or band.
Radio Waves
Microwaves
Electromagnetic waves having frequencies between 30 GHz and 300 GHz are called microwaves.
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.
A pair of antennas can be aligned without interfering with another pair of aligned antennas.
Microwaves
Microwave propagation is line-of-sight.
Towers that are far apart need to be very tall
Repeaters are often needed for long distance communication
Microwaves need unidirectional antennas that send out signals in one direction.
Two types of antennas are used for microwave communications
The parabolic dish and the Horn
Microwaves
Microwaves
Microwaves, due to their unidirectional properties, are very useful when unicast (one-to-one)
communication is needed between the sender and the receiver.
They are used in cellular phones, satellite networks, and wireless LANs
Infrared Waves
They have with frequencies from 300 GHz to 400 THz
Infrared waves, having high frequencies, cannot penetrate walls.
This advantageous characteristic prevents interference between one system and another
A short-range communication system in one room cannot be affected by another system in the next
room.
When an infrared remote control is used there is no interference with the use of the remote by another
system
Infrared Waves
Infrared waves are used for wireless keyboard, and wireless mouse, remote controls
Network Ports
Networ
k Ports
Physical Logical
Ports Ports
Network Ports
Physical Port
It is where communication
ends or begins on a physical
network device
It is used to connect two
network devices
It is also known as a physical
interface
https://community.cisco.com/t5/switching/management-port-in-cisco-switches-are-they-really-physical-port/td-p/2631652
Network Ports
Logical Port
It is a number assigned to a
“logical” connection.
It is the endpoint to a logical
connection that describes a
service in TCP/IP and UDP.
Port numbers are assigned to a
service, which is helpful to
TCP/IP or UDP in identifying
what ports it must send traffic
to.
There are 65,536 TCP ports and
65,536 UDP ports.
http://resources.intenseschool.com/ccna-prep-fundamentals-of-tcpip-transport-applications-and-security/
Network Ports
http://resources.intenseschool.com/ccna-prep-fundamentals-of-tcpip-transport-applications-and-security/
Tutorial Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NX99ad2FUA
Tutorial Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDotMcs0Erg
Questions
1. Define the term transmission media
2. State the main types of transmission media used in data communication
3. State the main types of guided media and describe each of them
4. State the types of wireless transmission
5. State the frequency of the following electromagnetic waves
Radio Waves
Microwaves
Infrared Waves
Questions
6. State three uses of the following electromagnetic waves
Radio Waves
Microwaves
Infrared Waves
7. State the two types of network ports in data communication
