TRANSMISSION MEDIA

A transmission medium can be define as anything that can carry information from a source to a destination.it is usually free space, metallic cable or fiber-optic cacble.

GUIDED MEDIA:
The guided transmission media includes cables/wires to transmit the information from source to destination. The wire may be made up of copper or other metal or may be of glass/fiber. It includes electrical and light signals to flow in these wires. But these cables are very sensitive to noise and this degrades the signal also called as attenuation. There are three types of guided media transmission cables.

I. Twisted Pair Cables:

It has two copper wires and twisted with one another to form a helical structure. It is twisted because to lower the attenuation and crosstalk from the noise. Cross talk(Unwanted used in telephone lines. Advantages : 1. It is simple and flexible. 2. It is easy to install and maintain. 3. Lower in weight and inexpensive. Disadvantages : 1. It possesses high attenuation, so we have to use repeater for long distances. 2. It has low bandwidth, so we can't use broadband applications. 3. Maximum data rate is of 1 Mbps, which is quite lower. Types : i. UTP (Unshielded twisted pair) : It doesn't have any metal shield over the two twisted pair cables. It maximum distance is 100 meters for signals transmission. ii. STP (Shielded twisted pair) : It has metal shield over the two twisted pair cables. It offers protection from interference and crosstalk.

transfer of signals between communication channels.) is also known as bleeding of signals. It is common wire

II. Co-axial Cable :

This cable consists of a solid wire core and it is surrounded by one or more wire shield (fishnet), these are separated by a plastic insulator. The inner core carries signals and shield provides the ground and protect from electro-magnetic interference. It is used in cable-TV. Advantages : 1. It offers higher bandwidth upto 400 MBPS 2. Transmission is better than twisted pair cable. 3. We can have several channels (frequencies) through one cable, simultaneously. Disadvantages : 1. Expensive as compared to twisted pair. 2. Not compatible with any other cable. 3. Only one use in cable TV. Types:

i. Thick net: The thick net coaxial cable segments can up to 500 meters ling. ii. Thin net: The thin net coaxial cable segments up to 185 meters long.

III. Optical Fiber :

These cables are made up of glass or plastic fibers. Its sources are LED or laser diodes. It uses light beam to transmit the signals. Firstly, the signal converted in to light signal from electrical signal. It has core and cladding, core is under the cladding. The refractive index of cladding is lower than that of core. Advantages : 1. It is immune to electro-magnetic interference, as it used light signals. 2. It is suitable in all types of environment. 3. It guarantees the secure transmission of information. Disadvantages : 1. It is quite tough to install the equipment of optical fibers. 2. It is expensive. 3. Connection losses are common problems in optical fiber. Types : i. Single node: It supports the segment length of up to 2 kilometers. ii. Multi node: It supports the segment length of up to 100 kilometers.

Conclusion:
The network also depends on these cable may be the network is wireless. These cables have electrical currents and lights to transmit the data from source to destination. These are like post man.

UNGUIDED MEDIA:
It transports electromagnetic waves without using a physical conductor. It is data signals that flow through the air. They are not guided or bound to a channel to follow. They are classified by the type of wave propagation.

There are three types of RF (radio frequency) propagation:

Ground Wave Sky propagation Line of Sight (LOS)

Ground wave propagation:

Ground wave propagation follows the curvature of the Earth. Ground waves have carrier frequencies up to 2 MHz. AM radio is an example of ground wave propagation.

Ionosphere propagation:

Ionospheric propagation bounces off of the Earth's ionospheric layer in the upper atmosphere. It is sometimes called double hop propagation. It operates in the frequency range of 30 - 85 MHz. Because it depends on the Earth's ionosphere, it changes with the weather and time of day. The signal bounces off of the ionosphere and back to earth. Ham radios operate in this range.

Line of sight propagation :

Line of sight propagation transmits exactly in the line of sight. The receive station must be in the view of the transmit station. It is sometimes called space waves or tropospheric propagation. It is limited by the curvature of the Earth for ground-based stations (100 km, from horizon to horizon). Reflected waves can cause problems. Examples of line of sight propagation are: FM radio, microwave and satellite.

The electromagnetic spectrum used for radio communication consists of eight distinct ranges which are regulated by government authorities:

The three types of wireless media are:

RADIO WAVES MICRO WAVES INFRARED WAVES

1. RADIO WAVES:It has frequency between 10 K Hz to1 G Hz. Radio waves has the following types.

Short waves VHF (Very High Frequency) UHF (Ultra High Frequency)

SHORT WAVES:There are different types of antennas used for radio waves. Radio waves transmission can be divided into following categories.

LOW POWER, SINGLE FREQUENCY. HIGH POWER, SINGLE FREQUENCY

1. LOW POWER , SINGLE FREQUENCY:As the name shows this system transmits from one frequency and has low power out. The normal operating ranges on these devices are 20 to 25 meter. CHARACTERISTICS LOW POWER , SINGLE FREQUENCY:

Low cost Simple installation with pre-configured

1 M bps to 10 M bps capacity High attenuation Low immunity to EMI

2. HIGH POWER, SINGLE FREQUENCY:This is similar to low power single frequency. These devices can communicate over greater distances. CHARACTERISTICS HIGH POWER, SINGLE FREQUENCY:

Moderate cost Easier to install than low power single frequency 1 Mbps to 10 Mbps of capacity Low attenuation for long distances Low immunity to EMI

MICRO WAVES
Micro waves travels at high frequency than radio waves and provide through put as a wireless network media. Micro wave transmission requires the sender to be inside of the receiver. Following are the types of Micro waves. 1. Terrestrial Micro waves 2. Satellite Micro waves 1. Terrestrial Micro waves:Terrestrial Micro waves are used are used to transmit wireless signals across a few miles. Terrestrial system requires that direct parabolic antennas can be pointed to each other. These systems operate in a low Giga Hertz range. CHARACTERISTICS of Terrestrial Micro waves:

Moderate to high cost. Moderately difficult installation 1 M bps to 10 M bps capacity Variable attenuation Low immunity to EMI

Satellite Micro waves

The main problem with aero wave communication is the curvature of the earth, mountains & other structure often block the line of side. Due to this reason, many repeats are required for long distance which increases the cost of data transmission between the two points. This problem is recommended by using satellites. Satellite micro wave transmission is used to transmit signals throughout the world. These system use satellites in orbit about 50,000 Km above the earth. Satellite dishes are used to send the signals to the satellite where it is again send back down to the receiver satellite. These transmissions also use directional parabolic antenna within line of side. In satellite communication micro wave signals at 6 GHz is transmitted from a transmitter on the earth through the satellite position in space. By the time signal reaches the satellites becomes weaker due to 50,000 Km distance. The satellite amplifies week signals and transmits it back to the earth at the frequency less than 6 GHz. Characteristics Satellite Micro waves:

High cost Extremely difficult and hare installation. Variable attenuation. Low immunity to EMI High security needed because a signal send to satellite is broadcasts through all receivers with in satellite.

Infrared
Infrared frequencies are just below visible light. These high frequencies allow high sped data transmission. This technology is similar to the use of a remote control for a TV. Infrared transmission can be affected by objects obstructing sender or receiver. These transmissions fall into two categories. 1. Point to point 2. Broadcast (i) Point to Point: - Point to point infrared transmission signal directly between two systems. Many lap top system use point to pint transmission. These systems require direct alignment between many devices. Characteristics of Point to point:

Wide range of cost Moderately easy installation. 100 k bps to 16 Mb of capacity. Variable attenuation.

High immunity to EMI

(i) Broad Cast: - These infrared transmission use sprayed signal, one broad cast in all directions instead of direct beam. This help to reduce the problems of proper alignment and abstraction. It also allows multiple receiver of signal Characteristics of Broad Cast:

In expensive. Single installation. 1M bps capacity. Variable attenuation.