Faculty of Electrical, Electronic & Computer Technology

Computing Security Program

Academic Year 2025/2026 Semester Spring Academic Level: Level 1

Tutorial: #2 – Model Solutions
Subject: [ECT 141] Networks and Data Communications

These are model answers for instructor/student reference. Equivalent correct explanations are
acceptable.

Section A: Conceptual Questions – Model Answers

1. Data vs. Signals.

Data refers to the raw information that a sender wishes to convey (e.g. a voice
recording, a file, a message). A signal is the physical representation of that data
that can travel across a transmission medium — specifically, an electromagnetic
wave.
In the communication system function diagram, data enters an Information
Source and Input Transducer, which converts it into an electrical form. The
Transmitter then encodes and modulates this electrical representation, shifting
it to an appropriate frequency range for the channel (e.g. a radio frequency),
and amplifies it for transmission.
Data must be transformed into electromagnetic signals because physical trans-
mission media (copper cable, fibre, air) can only carry electromagnetic energy
— they cannot carry information directly. Without this transformation the
information cannot propagate from sender to receiver.

2. Analog vs. Digital Data.

Analog data is information that is continuous — it can take any value within
a range with no gaps.
Digital data is information that has discrete states — it can only take one of
a fixed, countable set of values.

Type Example Reason

Analog Car speedometer reading Speed varies continuously
Analog Outdoor air temperature Temperature changes smoothly
Digital Student grade (A/B/C/D/F) Only fixed, discrete values exist
Digital Number of people in a room Must be a whole integer

3. Analog vs. Digital Signals.

1
 An analog signal can take infinitely many values within a continuous range at
any instant in time. Its time-domain plot is a smooth, unbroken curve.
A digital signal can take only a limited, finite number of distinct values (e.g.
two voltage levels: 0 V and 5 V). Its time-domain plot shows abrupt, rectangular
transitions between those levels.

Value Value

Time Time

Analog Signal Digital Signal

4. Analog Signal Classifications.

Analog Signals

Periodic Nonperiodic
(repeats in time) (does not repeat)
Simple Composite
(sine wave only) (multiple sine waves)

A simple periodic analog signal (sine wave) cannot be broken down into sim-
pler signals — it has a single frequency, amplitude, and phase. A composite
periodic signal is the sum of two or more sine waves of different frequencies and
amplitudes, and can be decomposed using Fourier analysis.

5. Parameters of a Sine Wave.

Parameter Symbol Unit Physical meaning

Peak Amplitude A Volts (V) Maximum strength / height of
the wave; related to the energy
carried by the signal.
Frequency f Hertz (Hz) Number of complete cycles per
second; how fast the wave
oscillates.
Phase ϕ Degrees (◦ ) or Radians (rad) The relative starting position of
the wave in time within one pe-
riod.

Relationship between period and frequency:

1 1
T = ⇐⇒ f=
f T

2
6. Frequency Domain Concepts.
The time domain shows how the amplitude of a signal changes over time. The
frequency domain shows how much of the signal’s energy is concentrated at
each frequency — it is a plot of amplitude vs. frequency rather than amplitude
vs. time.
Fourier analysis proves that any signal, no matter how complex, can be ex-
pressed as a sum of simple sine waves. This is extremely useful in communi-
cations because it allows engineers to: (1) identify the frequency components a
channel must carry, (2) calculate the required bandwidth, and (3) design filters
and amplifiers for specific frequency ranges.
The frequency-domain graph reveals the spectral composition of the signal — in-
formation that is completely hidden in the time-domain view. For example, two
signals that look similar in the time domain may have very different frequency
content.

7. Periodic vs. Nonperiodic Composite Signals.

ˆ Periodic composite signal: Fourier decomposition yields a discrete (line)
spectrum — individual vertical spikes at exact multiples of the fundamental
frequency.
ˆ Nonperiodic composite signal: Fourier decomposition yields a continuous
spectrum — a smooth curve covering a range of frequencies with no gaps.

A A

f f
Periodic (discrete) Nonperiodic (continuous)

8. Bandwidth.
Bandwidth (B) of a composite signal is the difference between the highest
frequency (fh ) and the lowest frequency (fl ) it contains:

B = fh − fl

For a signal spanning 200 Hz to 1200 Hz:

B = 1200 − 200 = 1000 Hz

3
 Amplitude

Frequency (Hz)
200 1200
B = 1000 Hz

9. Digital Signal Levels.

When a digital signal uses more than two voltage levels, each distinct level can
represent a unique combination of bits rather than just a single 0 or 1. This
increases the amount of information carried per signal transition.
Formula:
N = log2 (L)
where N = number of bits per level and L = number of voltage levels.
Bit rate (data rate) is the number of bits transmitted per second, measured
in bits per second (bps) or its multiples (kbps, Mbps, Gbps):

Bit rate = Baud rate × N = (levels per second) × log2 (L)

10. Digital Signals as Composite Analog Signals.

A digital signal transitions instantaneously between voltage levels (e.g. from 0 V
to 5 V). Fourier analysis shows that reproducing a perfectly vertical transition
requires summing sine waves at all odd harmonics up to infinite frequency —
hence a digital signal theoretically has infinite bandwidth.

ˆ Periodic digital signal (e.g. a repeating square wave): its frequency-domain

spectrum consists of discrete spikes at the fundamental frequency f and its
odd harmonics (3f, 5f, 7f, . . .), extending to infinity.
ˆ Nonperiodic digital signal (e.g. a single pulse or random bit stream): its
spectrum is continuous, resembling a sinc-shaped envelope that spreads across
all frequencies from 0 to infinity.

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Section B: Numerical Problems – Model Solutions
(a) Period–Frequency Conversion.
(a) Egyptian mains supply: f = 50 Hz
1 1
T = = = 0.02 s = 20 ms
f 50

(b) Period T = 250 µs = 250 × 10−6 s

1 1
f= = = 4000 Hz = 4000 × 10−3 kHz = 4 kHz
T 250 × 10−6

(c) Wireless sensor: f = 2.4 GHz = 2.4 × 109 Hz

1
T = ≈ 4.17 × 10−10 s = 0.417 ns
2.4 × 109

(b) Bandwidth Calculation.

Components: 500 Hz, 1500 Hz, 2500 Hz, 3500 Hz Amplitude: 5 V each.
(a)
B = fh − fl = 3500 − 500 = 3000 Hz
(b) Frequency-domain spectrum:

Amplitude (V)

5V

Frequency (Hz)
500 1500 2500 3500
B = 3000 Hz

(c) Digital Signal Levels.

(a) L = 16 levels:

N = log2 (16) = log2 (24 ) = 4 bits per level

(b) Encode 4 bits per level ⇒ N = 4:

L = 2N = 24 = 16 voltage levels

(c) Baud rate = 1000 levels/s, N = 4 bits/level:

Bit rate = 1000 × 4 = 4000 bps = 4 kbps

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(d) Bit Rate Calculation – Grayscale Image.
Given: Image size = 640 × 480 pixels, 8 bits/pixel, transfer time = 2 s.
Step 1 – Total bits:

Total bits = 640 × 480 × 8 = 2,457,600 bits

Step 2 – Bit rate:

2,457,600
Bit rate = = 1,228,800 bps ≈ 1.23 Mbps
2

(e) Digitized Audio Channel.

Given: Bandwidth = 8 kHz, Nyquist sampling, 16 bits/sample.
Step 1 – Sampling rate (Nyquist: twice the highest frequency):

fs = 2 × 8,000 = 16,000 samples/s

Step 2 – Bit rate:

Bit rate = fs × bits/sample = 16,000 × 16 = 256,000 bps = 256 kbps

— End of Tutorial #2 Model Solutions —