Transmission
Media
DATA COMMUNICATIONS
Classes of Transmission
Media
Conducted or guided mediause a
conductor
such as a wire or a fiber optic cable to
move the signal from sender to receiver
Wireless or unguided media
use radio waves of different frequencies
and do not need a wire or cable conductor
to transmit signals
Design Factors
for Transmission Media
Bandwidth: All other factors remaining
constant, the greater the band-width
of a signal, the higher the data rate
that can be achieved.
Transmission impairments. Limit the
distance a signal can travel.
Interference: Competing signals in
overlapping frequency bands can
distort or wipe out a signal.
Number of receivers: Each
attachment introduces some
attenuation and distortion, limiting
distance and/or data rate.
Guided Transmission
Media
Transmission capacity depends on the distance
and on whether the medium is point-to-point or
multipoint
Examples
twisted pair wires
coaxial cables
optical fiber
Twisted Pair Wires
Consists of two insulated copper wires arranged in
a regular spiral pattern to minimize the
electromagnetic interference between adjacent
pairs
Often used at customer facilities and also over
distances to carry voice as well as data
communications
Low frequency transmission medium
Types of Twisted Pair
STP (shielded twisted pair)
the pair is wrapped with metallic foil or braid to
insulate the pair from electromagnetic interference
UTP (unshielded twisted pair)
each wire is insulated with plastic wrap, but the pair
is encased in an outer covering
Ratings of Twisted Pair
Category 3 UTP
data rates of up to 16mbps are achievable
Category 5 UTP
data rates of up to 100mbps are achievable
more tightly twisted than Category 3 cables
more expensive, but better performance
STP
More expensive, harder to work with
Twisted Pair Advantages
Inexpensive and readily available
Flexible and light weight
Easy to work with and install
Twisted Pair
Disadvantages
Susceptibility to interference and noise
Attenuation problem
For analog, repeaters needed every 5-6km
For digital, repeaters needed every 2-3km
Relatively low bandwidth (3000Hz)
Coaxial Cable (or Coax)
Used for cable television, LANs, telephony
Has an inner conductor surrounded by a braided
mesh
Both conductors share a common center axial,
hence the term “co-axial”
Coax Layers
outer jacket
(polyethylene)
shield
(braided wire)
insulating material
copper or aluminum
conductor
Coax Advantages
Higher bandwidth
400 to 600Mhz
up to 10,800 voice conversations
Can be tapped easily (pros and cons)
Much less susceptible to interference than twisted
pair
Coax Disadvantages
High attenuation rate makes it expensive over
long distance
Bulky
Fiber Optic Cable
Relatively new transmission medium used by
telephone companies in place of long-distance
trunk lines
Also used by private companies in implementing
local data communications networks
Require a light source with injection laser diode
(ILD) or light-emitting diodes (LED)
Fiber Optic Layers
consists of three concentric sections
plastic jacket glass or plastic
fiber core
cladding
Fiber Optic Types
multimode step-index fiber
the reflective walls of the fiber move the light pulses
to the receiver
multimode graded-index fiber
acts to refract the light toward the center of the
fiber by variations in the density
single mode fiber
the light is guided down the center of an extremely
narrow core
Fiber Optic Signals
fiber optic multimode
step-index
fiber optic multimode
graded-index
fiber optic single mode
Fiber Optic Advantages
greater capacity (bandwidth of up to 2 Gbps)
smaller size and lighter weight
lower attenuation
immunity to environmental interference
highly secure due to tap difficulty and lack of
signal radiation
Fiber Optic Disadvantages
expensive over short distance
requires highly skilled installers
adding additional nodes is difficult
Wireless (Unguided
Media) Transmission
transmission and reception are achieved by
means of an antenna
directional
transmitting antenna puts out focused beam
transmitter and receiver must be aligned
omnidirectional
signal spreads out in all directions
can be received by many antennas
Wireless Examples
terrestrial microwave
satellite microwave
broadcast radio
infrared
Terrestrial Microwave
used for long-distance telephone service
uses radio frequency spectrum, from 2 to
40 Ghz
parabolic dish transmitter, mounted high
used by common carriers as well as
private networks
requires unobstructed line of sight
between source and receiver
curvature of the earth requires stations
(repeaters) ~30 miles apart
Terrestrial Microwave
Applications
Television distribution
Long-distance telephone transmission
Private business networks
Microwave Transmission
Disadvantages
line of sight requirement
expensive towers and repeaters
subject to interference such as passing airplanes
and rain
Satellite
Microwave Transmission
a microwave relay station in space
can relay signals over long distances
geostationary satellites
remain above the equator at a height of 22,300
miles (geosynchronous orbit)
travel around the earth in exactly the time the earth
takes to rotate
Satellite Transmission Links
earth stations communicate by sending signals to
the satellite on an uplink
the satellite then repeats those signals on a
downlink
the broadcast nature of the downlink makes it
attractive for services such as the distribution of
television programming
Satellite Transmission
Process
satellite
transponder
dish
dish
22,300 miles
uplink station downlink station
Satellite Transmission
Applications
television distribution
a network provides programming from a central
location
direct broadcast satellite (DBS)
long-distance telephone transmission
high-usage international trunks
private business networks
Principal Satellite
Transmission Bands
C band: 4(downlink) - 6(uplink) GHz
the first to be designated
Ku band: 12(downlink) -14(uplink) GHz
rain interference is the major problem
Ka band: 19(downlink) - 29(uplink) GHz
equipment needed to use the band is still very
expensive
Fiber vs Satellite
Radio
radio is omnidirectional and microwave is
directional
Radio is a general term often used to encompass
frequencies in the range 3 kHz to 300 GHz.
Mobile telephony occupies several frequency
bands just under 1 GHz.
Infrared
Uses transmitters/receivers (transceivers) that
modulate noncoherent infrared light.
Transceivers must be within line of sight of each
other (directly or via reflection ).
Unlike microwaves, infrared does not penetrate
walls.