Introduction to

Physical Layer
 DATA AND SIGNALS
• data has to be interpreted, managed or
converted by software instructions so that it
becomes information.
• Signals are the electric or electromagnetic
impulses used to encode and transmit data.
• Both data and the signals that represent them
can be either analog or digital in form.
 Analog and Digital Data
• Data can be analog or digital.
• analog data refers to information that is
continuous; For Example(analog clock that has hour, minute, and
second , human voice)
• digital data refers to information that has discrete states.
For Example(a digital clock that reports the hours and the minutes will
change suddenly from 8:05 to 8:06, data are stored in computer memory in the
form of 0s and 1s.

• Digital data take on discrete values.

 Analog and Digital Signals
• signals can be either analog or digital.
An analog signal has infinitely many levels of intensity over
a period of time.
• As the wave moves from value A to value B, it passes
through and includes an infinite number of values along its
path.
• A digital signal, on the other hand, can have only a limited
number of defined values. Although each value can be any
number, it is often as simple as 1 and 0.
 Periodic and Nonperiodic
• Both analog and digital signals can take one of
two forms: periodic or nonperiodic
(sometimes referred to as aperiodic; the prefix a in Greek means “non”).
• A periodic signal completes a pattern within a
measurable time frame, called a period, and
repeats that pattern over subsequent identical
periods.
• The completion of one full pattern is called a
cycle.
• A nonperiodic signal changes without exhibiting
a pattern or cycle that repeats over time.
 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
 Sine Wave
• The sine wave is the most fundamental form of a
periodic analog signal.
• A sine wave can be represented by three parameters:
the peak amplitude, the frequency, and the phase.
These three parameters fully describe a sine wave.
 Peak Amplitude
• a signal is the absolute value of its highest intensity,
proportional to the energy it carries. For electric
signals, peak amplitude is normally measured in
volts.
 Period and Frequency
• Period refers to the amount of time, in
seconds, a signal needs to complete 1 cycle.
• Frequency refers to the number of periods in
1 s.
• Note that period and frequency are just
one characteristic defined in two ways.
• Period is the inverse of frequency
• frequency is the inverse of period
Frequency and its two Extremes
 Phase
• Phase describes the position of the waveform relative to
time 0.
• If we think of the wave as something that can be
shifted backward or forward along the
time axis, phase describes the amount of that
shift.
• It indicates the status of the first cycle.
• Phase is measured in degrees or radians
Single Sine Wave v/s Composite Signal
• Single sine wave is not useful in data
communication.
• If we are talking over a phone and we are
allowed only one sine wave, then we would
just hear a buzz…
• So we need to send multiple sine waves over
the phone to talk to the other person.
• Such a signal is called a Composite Signal.
 Composite Signals
• According to Fourier analysis, any composite signal is
a combination of simple sine waves with different
frequencies, amplitudes, and phases.
 Type of Composite Signal
• periodic, the decomposition gives a series of
signals with discrete frequencies that have
integer values For Example f,2f,3f,…
• nonperiodic, the decomposition gives a
combination of sine waves with continuous
frequencies that have real values For Example
1.2f,1.3f,1.4f,….
Consider a composite signal with frequency f, let us
decompose it and represent it in the time and frequency
domain.
It result 3 signals.
 Composite Signals
Signals Frequency Harmonic
1 f 1st harmonic
2 3f 3rd harmonic
3 9f 9th harmonic
 Composite Signal
• A micro phone and telephone always generate
non-periodic composite analog signal of
human voice on decomposition it generates
an infinite number of sine waves with
continuous frequencies between 0 – 4000 Hz.
• So, the frequency domain of a non- periodic
composite signal is always continuous.
• The range of frequency in a composite signal is
called the bandwidth.
 Bandwidth
• The range of frequencies contained in a composite
signal is its bandwidth.
The bandwidth of a composite signal is the difference
between the highest and the lowest frequencies
contained in that signal.
• For example, if a composite signal
contains frequencies between 1000 and 5000, its
bandwidth is 5000 - 1000, or 4000.
 Digital Signals.
• information can also be represented by a
digital signal.
• For example, a 1 can be encoded as a positive
voltage and a 0 as zero voltage.
• A digital signal can have more than two levels.
• In this case, we can send more than 1 bit for
each level.
 Digital Signals.
• Figure 3.17 shows two signals,
• one with two levels
• the other with four.
• We send 1 bit per level in part a of the figure
and 2 bits per level in part b of the figure.
• In general, if a signal has L levels, each level
needs log2 L bits.
• For this reason, we can send bits in part b.
 Bit Rate
• Most digital signals are nonperiodic, and thus
period and frequency are not appropriate
characteristics.
• bit rate (instead of frequency)—is used to
describe digital signals.
• The bit rate is the number of bits sent in 1s,
expressed in bits per second (bps).
 Bit Length
• We discussed the concept of the wavelength
(distance covered by the signal in 1 cycle)for an analog
signal: We can define something similar for a
digital signal.
• The bit length is the distance one bit occupies
on the transmission medium.
Digital Signal as a Composite Analog Signal

• Based on Fourier analysis

a digital signal is a composite analog signal.
• Fourier analysis can be used to decompose a digital
signal.
• If the digital signal is periodic, which is rare in data
communications, the decomposed signal has a frequency
domain representation with an infinite bandwidth and
discrete frequencies.
• If the digital signal is nonperiodic, the decomposed
signal still has an infinite bandwidth, but the frequencies
are continuous.
Digital Signal as a Composite Analog Signal
 Transmission of Digital Signals
• We can transmit a digital signal by using
one of two different approaches:
• baseband transmission
• broadband transmission(using modulation)
Reminder: A digital signal is a composite analog
signal with an infinite bandwidth.
 Baseband Transmission
• Baseband transmission means sending a
digital signal over a channel without changing
the digital signal to an analog signal.
 Baseband Transmission
• Baseband transmission requires that we have a low-pass
channel, a channel with a bandwidth that starts from
zero.
• This is the case if we have a dedicated medium with
a bandwidth constituting only one channel.
For example, the entire bandwidth of a
cable connecting two computers is one single channel.
• As another example, we may connect several computers
to a bus, but not allow more than two stations to
communicate at a time.
Although the output signal is not an exact replica of
the original signal, the data can still be deduced from
the received signal.
Baseband transmission of a digital signal that preserves
the shape of the digital signal is possible only if we
have a low-pass channel with an infinite or very wide
bandwidth.
 Broadband Transmission (Using Modulation)
• Broadband transmission or modulation means changing
the digital signal to an analog signal for transmission.
• Modulation allows us to use a bandpass channel—a
channel with a bandwidth that does not start from zero.
This type of channel is more available than a low-pass
channel.
• If the available channel is a bandpass channel, we cannot
send the digital signal directly to the channel we need to
convert the digital signal to an analog signal before
transmission.
 TRANSMISSION IMPAIRMENT
• Signals travel through transmission media, which
are not perfect.
• The imperfection causes signal impairment.
• What is sent is not what is received.
• Three main causes of impairment are
– Attenuation,
– Distortion
– Noise
TRANSMISSION IMPAIRMENT
 Attenuation
– Loss of energy i.e. signal is attenuated
– Reason : resistance of medium
– Attenuation is measure in Decibels (db)
– Amplifiers can be put in to try compensate for
frequency
– Amplifiers is not perfect solution
– The loss of energy depends upon the frequency
– The approach helps but can never restore the
signal exactly back to the original shape
Attenuation
 Attenuation
• Decibel
To show that a signal has lost or gained
strength, engineers use the unit of the decibel.
• The decibel (dB) measures the relative
strengths of two signals or one signal at two
different points.
• Note that the decibel is negative if a signal is
attenuated and positive if a signal is amplified.
 Distortion
 Signal changes its form or shape.
 It corrupt our communication
 Can not be solve by amplifier in fact there is no
solution of this problem
Distortion
 Noise
 The term noise refers to unidirectional
voltages introduced onto a line by various
phenomena such as heat or electromagnetic
induction created by other sources
 These unintentional voltages combine with
signal to change the amplitude a ‘0’can be
changed to ‘1’ and a ‘1’ to ‘0’
 Cross Talk
• Crosstalk is the effect of one wire on the other.
• One wire acts as a sending antenna.
• the other as the receiving antenna.
 Impulse Noise

• Digital signals are mostly affected by impulse

noise by atmosphere changing i.e. thundering,
lightening
Impulse Noise
 Thermal Noise

• is caused by random motion of the electrons

in a wire and is unavoidable
 Echoes
• On a long line, when the signal gets to the final destination,
some of the energy may be reflected back; this problem is
called echo.
• The effect of echo is that a person speaking on the telephone
hears his own words after a short delay
• To eliminate this problem “echo suppressor are installed on
lines longer than 2000km”
• On short lines the echoes come back so fast that people are
not bothered by them.
 Echo Suppressor
An echo suppressor is a device that detect
human speech coming from one end of the
connection and suppresses all signals going
the other way