The physical layer
Physical Layer
The purpose of the physical layer is to transport a raw bit stream
from one machine to another.
Various physical media can be used for the actual transmission.
Transmission Media:
Media are grouped into guided media and unguided media.
Guided media means waves are guided along solid medium.
Ex: copper wire, fiber optics.
Unguided media is a media doesn't use any physical connectors
between the two devices communicating. Usually the transmission
is send through the atmosphere.
Ex: radio waves, micro waves, Infrared waves
The physical layer and transmission Medium
Classes of transmission media
Guided Transmission Data
• Magnetic Media
• Twisted Pair
• Coaxial Cable
• Fiber Optics
Magnetic Media
• One of the common way to transport data from
one computer to another is to write them on to
magnetic tape or removable media (DVD)
physically transport the tape or DVD to the
destination machine and read them.
• The tape densities are increasing.
• It is not suitable in applications, where on-line
connection is needed
Twisted Pair
• Oldest transmission media
• A twisted pair consists of two insulated copper wires typically about
1mm thick. The wires are twisted together in a helical form.
• Twisting reduces interference (two parallel wires constitute a simple
antenna; a twisted pair does not.)
• Cheap medium
• Commonly used for communications within buildings and in
telephone networks
• For longer distance repeaters are needed.
• Twisted pairs can be used for transmitting either analog or digital
signals.
• Produced in unshielded (UTP) and shielded (STP) forms, and in
different performance categories.
• Cables may hold hundreds of pairs. Neighbor pairs typically have
different twist lengths to reduce crosstalk.
• Category 5 has more twists per centimeter.
Twisted-pair cable
Twisted Pair
(a) Category 3 UTP.
(b) Category 5 UTP.
UTP and STP cables
Coaxial Cable
Pair of conductors separated by insulation
• It has better shielding than twisted pair
• Offers longer distances and better speeds than twisted pair, due to
better shielding.
• Used for cable TV and local-area networks. Had been widely
used in telephone systems, but optical fiber is now assuming this
task.
• Baseband Coaxial Cable 50-ohm cable, commonly used for
digital transmission. Broadband Coaxial Cable 75-ohm cable,
commonly used for analog transmission.
• A coaxial cable consists of a stiff copper wire as the core,
surrounded by an insulating material. The insulator is encased by
a cylindrical conductor, often as a closely woven braided mesh.
The outer conductor is covered in a protective plastic sheath.
• Good combination of high bandwidth and excellent noise
immunity.
• It is widely used for cable television and metropolitan
networks.
Coaxial cable
Categories of coaxial cables
Fiber Optics
Optical Fiber
• Three key components: light source, transmission system, and a
detector
• The detector generates an electric pulse when hit by light
• 1-a pulse of light; 0-missing pulse of light.
Basic Fiber optic transmission system
• Optical rays travel in ultra-thin fiber of glass.
• By attaching a light source to one end of an optical
fiber and a detector to the other, we have a
unidirectional data transmission system.
• Accepts an electrical signal converts to light at
sending side transmits light pulses and then
reconverts the light pulses to an electrical signal at
the receiving end.
• A light ray incident at or above the critical angle is
trapped inside the fiber.
Fiber Optics contd..
• Many different rays will be bouncing internally around at
different angles. Each ray is said to have a different mode, so a
fiber having this property is called a multimode fiber
• If the fiber’s diameter is reduced to a few wavelengths of light,
the light can propagate only in a straight line, without
bouncing, this property is called a single mode fiber.
• Single mode fiber are more expensive but are widely used for
longer distances.
Multimode fiber, the core is typically 50 microns
Single mode fiber, the core is 8 to 10 microns.
Bending of light ray
Optical fiber
Fiber Cables
(a) Side view of a single fiber.
(b) End view of a sheath with three fibers.
Fiber optic cable
• At the center is the glass core through which the
light propagates.
• The core is surrounded by a glass cladding, to keep
all the light in the core.
• Next comes a thin plastic jacket to protect the
cladding.
• Fibers are typically grouped in bundles, protected
by an outer sheath.
• Fibers can be connected in three different ways.
1. Plugged into fiber Sockets.
2. Mechanical splices: clamp the two ends of fiber
3. Fusion splice: two pieces of fiber can be fused
(melted) to form a solid connection
Fiber optic cable contd…
Two kinds of light sources are typically used to do
the signaling.
• LED ( Light Emitting Diode)
• Semiconductor lasers
Fiber optics can be used for LANs as well as for
long transmission.
Two types of interfaces are used.
1) passive interface 2) active interface
Fiber Optic Networks
A fiber optic ring with active repeaters.
Comparison between Fiber Optics and
Copper Wire
Fiber optic
1) It can handle higher bandwidth than copper
2) Due to low attenuation repeaters are needed only about every 50
km long line, whereas copper wire every 5 km
3) Cost saving as less repeaters are needed
4) Not being affected by electromagnetic interference or power
failures. It is not affected by corrosive chemicals
5) Fibers do not leak light and are quite difficult to tap, excellent
security against potentially wire tappers
6) Thin and light weight
7) Lower installation cost
8) Few skilled engineers having fiber technology are available
9) Fibers can be damaged easily by being bent too much.
10) Two way communication requires two fibers
11) Fiber interfaces are costly
12) Long distance fiber is good choice
Wireless Transmission
Wireless transmission
Radio Transmission
• Radio waves are easy to generate, can travel long advances,
and can penetrate buildings easily, so they are widely used
for communication.
• Radio waves are omnidirectional, meaning that they travel
in all directions from the source.
• At low frequencies, radio waves power falls off with
distance from the source
• In the VLF, LF and MF bands, radio waves follow the ground.
• In the HF and VHF bands, the ground waves tend to be
absorbed by the earth. The waves reach the ionosphere, a
layer of charged particles circling the earth at a great height
are refracted and sent back to earth.
• The military also communicate in the HF and VHF bands.
Radio Transmission
(a) In the VLF, LF, and MF bands, radio waves follow
the curvature of the earth.
(b) In the HF band, they bounce off the ionosphere.
Bands
Wireless transmission
• Radio waves are used for multicast
communications, such as radio and television,
and paging systems.
• Microwaves are used for unicast
communication such as cellular telephones,
satellite networks and wireless LANs.
• Infrared signals can be used for short-range
communication in a closed area using line-of-
sight propagation.