Chapter 2

(Study Unit 2)
The Physical Layer
Part I
(Signal Fundamentals)
A review: TCP/IP PROTOCOL
OSI MODEL
SUITE

PHYSICAL DATA LINK NETWORK TRANSPORT APPLICATION

LAYER LAYER LAYER LAYER LAYER
In this Lecture:
PHYSICAL LAYER

 Physical Layer
– Delivery

Data and signals

trucks and the
road

Basic components of a signal

Bandwidth of a signal and data transfer speed
Signal strength and attenuation
Signal conversion and Transmission.
Basic digital encoding techniques,
Modulation techniques,
Digitization techniques
Data codes and how they are used in communication
systems
@
 Introduction
Simplified Model of Data Communication
• Source – Origin of Data(eg Cell Phone, Computer)
• Transmitter – Converts data into signals
• Communication systems – Medium used to send
the dat(LAN, WAN, Internet, Cables or wires)
• Receiver – Receives the signals and converts it
back to data
• Destination – Final stop of the data(Cell phone, Pc)
 Data sent Data converted into a signal
d(t) s(t)

SOURCE TRANSMITTER

COMMUNICATION
SYSTEM

d'(t) s'(t)

DESTINATION RECEIVER
Data Received Signal received
 DATA AND SIGNALS
• Data and Data Types
• Analog and Digital Data
• Signal and Signal types
• Examples of Analog & Digital signals
• Periodic signal characteristics
• Time and frequency domain representation
• Spectrum and Bandwidth of a signal
• Propagation time and Wave length
 CONVERSION TECHNIQUES
DATA SIGNAL
APPROACH
Digital - Digital - Encoding
Analog - Digital - Encoding
Analog - Analog - Modulation
Digital - Analog - Modulation

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Table 4-1 Four combinations of data and signals

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 TRANSMISSION IMPAIRMENTS & CHANNEL
CAPACITY
• Sources of Impairments
• Attenuation and Units of attenuation
• Bandwidth of a medium
• Distortion(Time and Delay)
• Data rate Limits
• Nyquit Bit rate(Highest rate that can be
transmitted)
• Bit rate
• Noise sources
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 Analog vs. Digital
Data can be analog or digital
ANALOG
• Analog data refers to information that is continuous
• Analog data take on continuous values
• Analog signals can have an infinite number of values
in a range
DIGITAL
• Digital data refers to information that has discrete
states
• Digital data take on discrete values
• Digital signals can have only
10 a limited number of values
Simple examples of analog and digital waves
ANALOG SIGNAL

DIGITAL SIGNAL
 Time domain concepts
• Continuous signal
– Infinite number of points at any given time
• Discrete signal
– Finite number of points at any given time; maintains a
constant level then changes to another constant level
• Periodic signal
– Pattern repeated over time
• Aperiodic (non-periodic) signal
– Pattern not repeated over time

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 Time domain concepts
• In data communications, we commonly use
periodic analog signals and nonperiodic digital
signals.

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 Periodic Analog Signals
Periodic analog signals can be classified as simple or
composite.
 A simple periodic analog signal, a sine wave, cannot be
decomposed into simpler signals.
 A composite periodic analog signal is composed of multiple
sine waves.
Example of a sine wave
 Components of a Signal
1. AMPLITUDE(A) - objective measurement of the degree of
change (positive or negative) caused by waves.
Unit of measurement is VOLTS

E.G the peak value of an AA battery is normally 1.5V

15
 Components of a Signal
2. FREQUENCY(f) - The number of times a signal makes a complete
cycle within a given time frame.
Unit of measurement is in Hertz (Hz).

NB: frequency and

period are the inverse of
each other i.e. the period
is the reciprocal of the
frequency f=1/t and
T=1/f
 Units of period and frequency

Example: The power we use at home has a frequency of 60 Hz. The period of this sine
wave can be determined as follows:

Note:
-Frequency is the rate of change with respect to time.
- Change in a short span of time means high frequency.
- Change over a long span of time means low frequency.
- If a signal doesn’t change at all, its frequency is Zero(0)
- If a signal changes instantaneously, its frequency in infinite.
 Different frequencies
Two signals with the
same Amplitude and
Phase but different
frequencies
 Components of a Signal
3. PHASE(Ø) - The position of the waveform relative to a
given moment of time or relative to time zero.
 A change in phase can be any number of angles
between 0 and 360 degrees
 Phase changes often occur on common angles, such as
45, 90, 135, etc.
Three sine waves
with the same
amplitude and
frequency,
but different phases
Wavelength and period
Wavelength = Propagation speed x Period
= Propagation speed / Frequency
The time-domain and frequency-domain plots of
a sine wave
Frequency Domain

 The frequency domain is more compact and useful when we are dealing
with more than one sine wave.
 A single-frequency sine wave is not useful in data communication
 We need to send a composite signal, a signal made of many simple sine
waves.

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 Composite Signals
A single-frequency sine wave is not useful in data communications;
we need to send a composite signal, a signal made of many simple sine
waves.
If the composite signal is periodic, the decomposition gives a series of
signals with discrete frequencies;
 If the composite signal is nonperiodic, the decomposition gives a
combination of sine waves with continuous frequencies
e.g A composite periodic signal
 Decomposition of the composite
periodic signal in the time and
frequency domains

e.g. A non periodic composite periodic signal

It can be a signal created by a microphone or a telephone set when a
word or two is pronounced.
o In this case, the composite signal cannot be periodic
because that implies that we are repeating the same word or words
with exactly the same tone.
Bandwidth
the range of frequencies that a medium can pass
without losing one-half of the power contained in
the signal
– normally referred to a difference between two
numbers
• A medium can pass frequencies between 1000 and 5000 
its bandwidth is 5000-1000 = 4000
Example : If a periodic signal is decomposed in to five sine
waves with frequencies of 100, 300, 500, 700 and 900 Hz,
what is the bandwidth? Draw the spectrum, assuming all
components have a maximum amplitude of 10 v.

Solution : bandwidth = the highest F – the lowest F

= 900 – 100
= 800 Hz
Digital Signals
• Data can also be represented by digital signal
– 1 can be encoded as a positive voltage
– 0 can be encoded as a negative voltage
Bit Interval and Bit Rate
• Most digital signals are aperiodic
– Thus, a period or frequency is not appropriate.
• New terms used to describe digital signal
– Bit interval (instead of period)
– Bit rate (instead of frequency)
• Bit interval
– Time required to send on single bit
• Bit rate
– The number of bit intervals per second
• Means, the number of bit sent in 1 second
• Usually expressed in bits per second (bps)
Example : a signal has a bit rate of 2000 bps.
What is the duration of each bit (bit interval)?
bit interval = 1/bit rate
= 1/2000
= 0.0005 second
= 0.0005 X 106µs
= 500 µs
Digital Signal as a Composite Analog Signal

• A digital signal (with all its sudden changes) is a

actually a composite signal having an infinite
number of frequencies.
– Or the bandwidth of a digital signal is infinite.
Digital versus Analog
Digital versus Analog Bandwidth
• Summary
– Sending analog data through a medium
• Concern with analog bandwidth (expressed in hertz)
– Sending digital data through a medium
• Concern with digital bandwidth (expressed in bits per
second)
– Analog bandwidth is the range of frequencies
that a medium can pass
– Digital bandwidth is the maximum bit rate that
a medium can pass
Analog versus Digital
• Should we use analog or digital signals?
– It depends on the situation on the available
bandwidth
Lets look at….
• Low-pass versus band-pass
• Digital transmission
• Analog transmission
Low-pass versus band-pass
• A low-pass channel (link)
– Has a bandwidth with frequencies between 0
and f
• The lower limit is 0
• The upper limit is f
– Can be any frequency, including infinity

• A band-pass channel
– Has a bandwidth with frequencies between f1
and f2
Low-pass versus band-pass
Digital transmission
• Digital signal needs a bandwidth between 0
and infinity
–0 - f
– Needs a low-pass channel
• We have a low-pass channel if
– A medium is dedicated to two devices (P2P)
– Or shared between several devices in time
(not in frequency)
• E.g. a wired local area network
Analog Transmission
• Analog signal normally has a specific
bandwidth, e.g.
– Between f1 and f2
– Requires a band-pass channel
• A band-pass channel
– Is more available than a low-pass channel
– The bandwidth of a medium
• Can be divided into several band-pass channels
– Telephone channel  each user has a bandwidth between 0 – 30
KHz
Data Rate Limits
• Noiseless channel : Nyquist Bit Rate
• Noisy channel : Shannon Capacity
• Using Both Limits
• How fast we can send data (bps) over a channel?
• Data rate depends on 3 factors
– The bandwidth available
– The levels of signal we can use
– The quality of the channel (in the levels of the noise)
Data Rate Limits
• Two theoretical formulas to calculate data rate
– Nyquist Bit Rate
– Shannon Capacity
The Shannon capacity gives us the upper limit;
the Nyquist formula tells us how many signal
levels we need.
Noiseless channel : Nyquist Bit Rate
• For noiseless channel
• BitRate = 2 x Bandwidth x log2L
– L is the number of signal levels used to represent data

Example :
consider a noiseless channel with a bandwidth of 3000 Hz
transmitting a signal with two signal levels
the maximum bit rate is
BitRate = 2 X 3000 X log22 =6000 bps

Defines the method of transmission (L)

Examples
Consider a noiseless channel with a bandwidth of 3000 Hz
transmitting a signal with two signal levels. The maximum
bit rate can be calculated as

Consider the same noiseless channel transmitting a signal

with four signal levels (for each level, we send 2 bits). The
maximum bit rate can be calculated as
We need to send 265 kbps over a noiseless channel with a
bandwidth of 20 kHz. How many signal levels do we need?
Solution
We can use the Nyquist formula as shown:

Since this result is not a power of 2, we need to either increase the

number of levels or reduce the bit rate. If we have 128 levels, the
bit rate is 280 kbps. If we have 64 levels, the bit rate is 240 kbps.
Noisy channel : Shannon Capacity
• In reality: the channel is always noisy
• The highest data rate of a noisy channel
– Capacity = bandwidth x log2(1+SNR)
– Where
• SNR is the signal to noise ratio
– Statistical ratio of the power of the signal to the power of the
noise
• Capacity is the capacity of the channel in bits per second

Defines a characteristic of the channel

Noisy channel : Shannon Capacity
Example:
Consider an extremely noisy channel in which the value of the
signal-to-noise ratio is almost zero. (The noise is so strong that the
signal is faint.)
the capacity = B log2(1+SNR)
= B log2(1+0)
= B log2(1)
=Bx0
=0
The capacity of this channel is 0 regardless the bandwidth.
 We cannot receive any data through this channel. 45/75
Noisy channel : Shannon Capacity
Example: The telephone line, normal bandwidth of 3000 Hz (300
Hz to 3300 Hz). The signal-to-noise ratio is usually 3162.

Capacity = B log2(1+SNR) = 3000 log2(1+3162)

= 3000 x 11.62 = 34,860 bps

Thus : the highest bit rate for a telephone line is 34,860 bps

If we want to send data faster than this, we

either increase the bandwidth, or improve
the signal-to-noise ratio. 46/75
Other Examples
1. Consider an extremely noisy channel in which the value of the
signal-to-noise ratio is almost zero. In other words, the noise is so
strong that the signal is faint. For this channel the capacity C is
calculated as

This means that the capacity of this channel is zero regardless of

the bandwidth. In other words, we cannot receive any data
through this channel.
2 .We can calculate the theoretical highest bit rate of a regular
telephone line. A telephone line normally has a bandwidth of 3000.
The signal-to-noise ratio is usually 3162. For this channel the
capacity is calculated as

This means that the highest bit rate for a telephone line is 34.860
kbps. If we want to send data faster than this, we can either
increase the bandwidth of the line or improve the signal-to-noise
ratio.
3. The signal-to-noise ratio is often given in decibels. Assume that
SNRdB = 36 and the channel bandwidth is 2 MHz. The theoretical
channel capacity can be calculated as

We have a channel with a 1-MHz bandwidth. The SNR for this

channel is 63. What are the appropriate bit rate and signal level?

Solution
First, we use the Shannon formula to find the upper limit.
Transmission Impairment
• Impairment in signal
– The signal at the beginning is not the same as the
signal received at the end
• Three types of impairment
Attenuation
• Attenuation = Loss of energy
– Resistance of medium
• Electric energy in the signal is converted to heat
– Amplifiers are used to amplify the signal
Distortion
• Distortion = signal changes its form or shape
– Occurs in a composite signal
• Each signal component has its own propagation speed
through a medium
– Therefore, its own delay in arriving the final destination
Noise
• Noise : several types of noise
– Thermal noise
• Random motion of electrons in a wire
– Creates an extra signal
– Induce noise
• Comes from other sources
– Motors , appliances
• These devices act as sending antenna
• The transmission medium acts as receiving antenna
– Crosstalk
• The effect of one wire on the other
– Impulse noise
• A spike (signal with high energy in a very short period or time)
• Comes from power lines, lightening, etc.
Noise
More about Signals
• Measurements
– Throughput
– Propagation speed
– Propagation time
– Wavelength
Throughput
• Throughput
– The measurement of how fast data can pass through
an entity
• A point
• A network
Propagation speed
• Propagation speed
– Measures the distance a signal or a bit can travel
through a medium in one second
– Depends on the medium
– Example : in a vacuum, light is propagated with a
speed of 3 x 108 m/s
• It is lower in air, much lower in cables
Propagation Time
Propagation time : measures the time required for a signal (or a
bit) to travel from one point of a transmission medium to another.

Propagation time = Distance/Propagation speed

Wavelength
• Wavelength
– Another characteristic of a signal traveling
through a transmission medium
– A distance a simple signal can travel in one
period
Wavelength = propagation speed/frequency
Summary
• Data and signals are two basic building blocks of computer
networks
– All data transmitted is either digital or analog
– Data is transmitted with a signal that can be either digital or
analog
• All signals consist of three basic components: amplitude,
frequency, and phase
• Two important factors affecting the transfer of a signal over a
medium are noise and attenuation
• Four basic combinations of data and signals are possible: analog
data converted to an analog signal, digital data converted to a
digital signal, digital data converted to a discrete analog signal,
and analog data converted to a digital signal
Summary (continued)
• To transmit analog data over an analog signal, the
analog waveform of the data is combined with
another analog waveform in a process known as
modulation