Introduction

In this lecture we shall seek to explore the methods that are used to connect remote computers to each
other.
We shall compare the methods of transmission that are used in data communication systems.
We will then look at the concept of bandwidth and see the comparative bandwidths offered by guided and
unguided transmission methods.
We will see and compare several transmission techniques, serial, parallel, baseband and broadband.
We will introduce the concept of multiplexing.

Communication Methods
All businesses need to have access to and store large amounts of information, much of which is constantly
changing and as such needs to be constantly updated. Networking is the technology that is making this
possible. Now two or more business sites may be thousands of miles away yet will seem to be next door.
raditionally data processing was done centrally on a mainframe but now it is more common to find several
smaller computers and dumb terminals connected within a network.
!ata are transmitted within computers and for very short distances via parallel connections, allowing the
fastest data transfer rate that is possible. his is not practical over long distances owing to the large number
of individual wires that would be required for each connection that would make the cost of the link
extremely expensive. here is also the problem of skew, where different signal components on different
cables travels at different speeds, becoming a problem once the parallel connection becomes long "i.e. over
#$ metres%. As a consequence, most long&distance data links are made using serial transmissions. 'y virtue
of being transmitted in a serial manner i.e. bit by bit, the measurement of data transfer speeds is measured
in bits per second.
he data travelling within the computer on the data bus is in parallel format i.e. transmitted (, )*, +, or *-
bits at a time and as such needs to be converted to serial format to be transmitted. his can be achieved in
one of two ways.
!ata can be sent to a converter chip mounted on the motherboard, called a /niversal
Asynchronous 0eceiver ransmitter "/A0% which then sends the converted data to the serial
port.
!ata can be sent to a converter chip that is mounted on a modem card fitted in an expansion slot
inside the computer. he serial data is directly used by the rest of the modem card1s electronics.
Analogue and digital transmission
!ata may be sent as pulses as within a computer or as a continuous signal e.g. non&digital television. he
actual speed of data transmission depends upon the nature of the data, the physical means used to carry it
over and the processing or ad2ustments required along its transmission path and at its destination.
Analogue signals are continuous i.e. they may vary in frequency and amplitude, taking any permissible
value. When the amplitude of an analogue signal falls over distance, an amplifier "or set of amplifiers% is
used to bring the signal back to strength but this also involves amplifying any noise that has been
introduced by the line. /nfortunately cascaded amplifiers amplify the noise on the line too, eventually
making the signal unintelligible for recovery. ransmissions involving sharp transitions of signal level
occupy higher bandwidth than those changing at a slower rate do. "3ook at the 4ourrier transform of a
square wave pulse%. !espite this problem, analogue signals carry better over long distances than digital
signals.
!igital signals are those which vary between predefined discrete values. !igital signals may pick up noise
during transmission but the noise may be removed by a repeater and the signal is re&transmitted afresh.
0epeaters are used to recover the stream of )s and 5s and they are retransmitted afresh with increased
power. !igital signals do not carry well over long distances on electrical lines.
Practical Links
Leased line
6ere, ' or 7ercury or another communication network provider will lease a permanent dedicated cable
link between two stations so there will be no waiting for a call link to be established. hese lines are of
high quality, providing few errors and are usually fast. As the person8 organisation who has leased the line
has sole use of the link and it is dedicated, there are no call set&up times and messages arrive in the order
that they were sent. here is no need for routing decisions to be made once the service provider has set up
the link. his is the type of connection that a 3AN will use to access the outside world.
Dial-up line
With a dial&up line, the user shares a network of existing cabling and switching apparatus. hese lines are
not exclusive but are cheaper since they use shared assets. /nlike a leased line, the user may sometimes
find that the line "or network switching equipment% is busy. !ial&up lines suffer from poorer quality than
leased lines and produce a larger number of errors per unit time, leading to repeat transmissions and since
the user pays per unit time, error time costs money.
With a dial&up line, the user needs a modem "modulator8 demodulator% to convert the computer1s digital
signals to analogue signals so that they can pass down the twisted pair to the local exchange. he links
from local exchanges are almost exclusively twisted pair and technologies such as A!93 are an attempt to
squee:e as much information down the cable as possible per unit time.
Bandwidth
he absolute bandwidth of a signal is the width of the range of frequencies that it occupies. 7ore
commonly, bandwidth is generally the term used to describe effective bandwidth, that being the band or
range of frequencies within which most of the signal energy is confined.
he term bandwidth can also be applied to cabling and equipment to give an idea of the range of
frequencies that it can transmit or process without undue loss
A higher data rate for signals requires a higher bandwidth to carry it effectively. 4or transmission media,
the higher its bandwidth, the higher total data rate can be carried.
A given bandwidth can support various data rates given the requirements of the signal. he more limited
the bandwidth, the greater the distortion at the receiver of the transmitted signal.
If the data rate of the input signal is A bits per second "bps% then a good approximation of the signal can be
achieved over a bandwidth of ,A 6:. "Nyquist%
Types of transmission media.
his can be divided into two main groups, guided transmission lines "such as cables%where there is a
physical medium within which the signals are carried and unguided transmission lines where there is no
visible tangible signal path e.g. a microwave link.
Diagram of bandwidths of various transmission media
Guided transmission lines
Twisted pair
wisted pair lines are two insulated copper cables twisted together in a spiral. his helps to minimise
electromagnetic interference ";7I% between the two wires, sometimes known as coupling. he < lines
were originally designed to carry voice communications only. he human voice occupies a frequency range
about ,5 6: to )* k6:. he telephone system uses +55 to +-55 6:., i.e. a bandwidth of +)55 k6:. hus
voices can be easily understood but there is a loss of timbre "or quality%.
<airs may be bundled together into cables containing hundreds of pairs. ypical thickness of the individual
cables ranges from 5.5- to 5.= mm. his is the most common transmission medium used for telephony and
digital signaling. elephone standard cable will support *- >bps. In a local area network twisted pair is
also used "category $% and data transmission rates of )55 7bps are common but are limited to station
number and length. 3ong distance dedicated twisted pair can support - 7bps.
wisted pair is cheap and easy to work with, but limited in terms of data transmission rate and length.
?ouples well so picks up external signals. !ifferent twisting reduces cross&coupling. !igital signals need
repeaters every ,&+ km.
Coaxial cable
his consists of two conductors, an outer shielding cable within which is a hollow insulating dielectric
shield around a single inner cable. his helps increase the range of frequencies over which it can operate.
!iameter can range from )5 to ,$ mm. ?oaxial cable en2oys widespread use in 3ANs and short run
computer links. It can support a large number of data types and equipment within a local site. ?an also
support high speed I8@ channels on computer systems. /sing 4!7 "frequency division multiplexing% it can
carry many signals simultaneously.
?oaxial cable can be used up to several 76: so can support higher data transmission rates over long
distances than twisted pair and due to the shielding it is much less susceptible to coupling. 4or digital
signals repeaters every km or less when supporting higher data rates.
Fibre optic
4ibre optic consists of thin strands of transparent media that are capable of transmitting an optical ray.
4used silica is best but expensive. 7ulticomponent glass fibres are commonly used, each strand being clad
with a material of different refractive index. 3ight is kept within the fibres by the effect of I0, total
internal reflection that happens at the interface of two materials of differing refractive indices. hese fibres
can be bundled together and covered with a protective sleeve. A recent trial in ?alifornia has achieved a
communication rate of (5 Abit8 sec using a technique called !W!7.
4ibre optic is smaller and lighter than coax. It displays lower attenuation than coax or twisted pair. It is also
unsusceptible to external electromagnetic interference. 6owever, it is difficult to 2oin and does not bend to
small radii.
he cost of fibre optic cabling has dropped by more than tenfold in last )$ years and capacity has increased
by around the same factor. It has good security characteristics, and needs to be bent to bleed information
from itself. It is now used in most long distance land based telephony not being a lossy medium to transfer
information. 0epeaters can be up to #)55 km apart. In a few years fibre optics will be the dominant
medium for fixed installations.
3ight for slower links is supplied by 3;!s "light emitting diodes% and for faster links I3!s "in2ection laser
diodes% are used, the latter being faster, more expensive but less robust. In optical fibres, light travels best
in three distinct BwindowsB centred on ($5, )+55 and )$$5 nm. 3ocal applications tend to use ($5nm. his
is relatively cheap and limited to data rates of C)55 7bps and distances of a few km. 4or longer
wavelengths "i.e. higher frequencies% laser sources are required and higher data rates and distances are
achieved.
Unguided transmission methods
ireless
9atellite and radio links are used for such diverse things as global <ositioning 9ystems "A<9%, laptop links
and remote access of data, television, mobile telephones, and Internet communications.
!icrowave
his method of communication uses highly directional, high frequency "short wavelength% radio waves
which are beamed between parabolic dishes situated in line of sight positions. Needs far fewer repeaters
than coax. It is also used for short&range communications as data links between 3ANs. ransmission
frequencies in the range of ,&-5 A6: are common. With increased frequency comes increased data
transmission rates. 7ain source of loss is attenuation, rainfall becoming noticeable over )5 A6:.
Interference from ad2acent transmission areas can occur.
"atellite microwave
his technology uses essentially the same principle as terrestrial microwave with a geostationary satellite
above the ;arth. he satellite receives transmissions from the ground on the uplink and amplifies and re&
transmits these signals earthwards on the downlink. ;ach satellite operates on a number of frequency bands
known as transponder channels.
9atellites may be used for point to point links and for general broadcasting. D9A "very small aperture
terminal% system has been developed and 3ANs can access each other with suitable equipment at data rates
of ,$* >bps or more. he useful frequency range for satellite microwaves is )&)5 A6:. 'elow this range,
the signal is interfered with and above it is attenuated. 7ost point to point links use the -8* A6: band, * up
and - down. his has become saturated so ),8)- A6: band has been developed and also )=8,= A6: which
by virtue of higher frequency and therefore lower wavelength allows for smaller and cheaper receivers.
Transmission Techniques
"erial and #arallel Transmission
It is possible to have many lines in the data path between units. his is called parallel transmission. his
type of transmission is normally used over very short distances "a few tens of metres%. It is costly and
unreliable over longer distances due to the differing characteristics of each line in the cable. When the
byte"s% arrive at their destination, if they have travelled too far, the separate bits will arrive at different
times and the content of the byte"s% will be lost.
@ver longer distances, a single line is used. his is called serial transmission.
here are many ways of transmitting digital information through a medium. he normal way to transmit
information through a medium is to vary an electric signal at the transmitting end by some means and these
variations are detected at the receiver. he amount of information which can be sent through a cable
depends on the width of the transmission frequency range known as the bandwidth. 4or a transmission
medium having a particular bandwidth there are a variety of ways of transmitting information through it,
baseband and broadband.
Baseband Transmission
In baseband transmission, the voltage encoded signal is applied directly to the medium as a digital pulse "or
stream of pulses%. he entire frequency spectrum of the cable is used to carry the signal. As the signal
passes through the medium is attenuated "i.e. its voltage drops between the sending end and the receiving
end% and the quality of the received signal decreases with the distance that it has travelled. In baseband
communications, if long distances are involved, some form of amplifier must be inserted into the medium.
o make efficient use of this medium, it requires a form of time division multiplexing to squee:e many
signals from many computers onto one cable. his can be achieved using either synchronous time division
multiplexing or statistical time division multiplexing.
Broadband Transmission
his type of transmission makes use of analogue signaling and frequency division multiplexing, 4!7. In
order to make more efficient use of the cable, it is possible to divide its bandwidth up into channels. 4or
example, a coaxial cable can accommodate frequencies between )5 76: and +55 76:. his may be split
into ,= bands of )5 76: each.
Overvie of multiple!ing
When an expensive leased line is used, it is advantageous to use as much of its bandwidth as possible. o
efficiently use a transmission medium, the technique of multiplexing is used.
Figure 4.1 The technique of multiplexing
It can be seen that many separate input signals are multiplexed onto the high capacity link and then
recovered and separated at the far end of the link using a multiplexer.
Conclusion
We have seen that signals may be carried by analogue and digital methods and seen how noise affects their
recovery at the remote end. We compared leased lines with dial&up lines. We have seen the concept of
bandwidth and then looked at the bandwidths of various transmission media in common use, namely <,
coax, 4@, wireless and microwave.
We saw the differences between serial and parallel transmission schemes and looked briefly at the
differences between baseband and broadband signaling.
4inally we introduced the concept of multiplexing.
$eferences%
!ata and ?omputer ?ommunications -th edition. 9tallings, 7acmillan.
he <? 9upport 6andbook, !avid !ick, !umbreck <ublishing