3.

1
In
information
For
and
than
. for

▪ ​Bit Rate ​▪ B
​ it Length ​▪ D
​ igital Signal as

​ pplication
a Composite Analog Signal ​▪A

Layer
Topics discussed in this section:
3
-
3 DIGITAL SIGNALS
addition
each
a
example,
two
0
as
level
levels
zero
to
can
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.
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In
1
voltage
also
this
can
be
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be
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A
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we
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signal
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have
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signal,
signal
more
1
bit
.
Figure 3.16 ​Two digital signals: one with
3.2​
two signal levels and the other

with four signal levels

Example 3.16
​ igital ​signal has e
A d ​ ight l​ evels.
3.3​

How many bits are ​

needed per
level? We calculate the number of
bits from the formula
Each signal level is represented by
3 bits.
Example 3.17

​ ine levels​.
A digital signal has n
3.4​

How many bits are ​

needed per
level? We calculate the number of
bits by using the formula. Each
signal level is represented by 3.17
bits. However, this answer is not
​ umber of bits sent
realistic. The n
per level needs to be an i​ nteger a
​ s
well as a power of 2. For this
example, 4 bits can represent one
level.
 Bit Rate ​
3.5​ Most digital signals are
non-periodic, and thus period and
frequency are not appropriate
characteristics. ​The bit rate is the
number of bits sent in 1s,
expressed in ​bits per second
(bps).
Example 3.18

Assume we need to download

3.6​

text documents at the rate ​

​ 00
of 1
pages per ​sec.​ What is the
required bit rate of the channel?
Solution ​A page is an average of
 ​ ach
24 lines with 80 characters in e
line. If we assume that one
character requires 8 bits (ascii),
the bit rate is
Example 3.19
A digitized voice channel is
3.7​

made by digitizing a 4-kHz

bandwidth analog voice signal. We

need to sample the ​signal at twice
the highest frequency (t​ wo
samples per h ​ ertz)​ . We assume
that each sample requires ​8 bits.​
What is the required bit rate?
Solution ​The bit rate can be
calculated as
Example 3.20

What is the bit rate for

high-definition TV (HDTV)?

Solution ​HDTV uses digital signals

to broadcast high quality v ​ ideo
signals. The HDTV screen is
normally a ratio of ​16 : 9. There are
1920 by 1080 pixels per screen​,
and the screen is r​ enewed 30
times per second​. ​Twenty-four bits
represents one color pixel.
The TV stations reduce this rate to
20 to 40 Mbps through
compression​. 3​ .8
Bit length ​
3.9​ We discussed the
concept of the wavelength for an
analog signal: the distance one
cycle occupies on the
transmission medium. W ​ e can
define something similar for a
digital signal: the bit length. The
bit length is the distance one bit
occupies on the transmission
medium.
Bit length =propagation speed x bit duration
 Digital Signal as a Composite Analog
3.10​

Signal ​
​ an be used
Fourier analysis c
to decompose a digital signal. ​If
the digital signal is periodic, which
is rare in data c ​ ommunications,
the decomposed signal has a
frequency domain representation
with an i​ nfinite bandwidth and
discrete frequencies.​ If the digital
signal is non-periodic, the
decomposed signal still has an
infinite bandwidth​, but the
frequencies are continuous​.
Figure 3.17 ​The time and frequency
3.11​
domains of periodic and nonperiodic
digital signals