Chapter 4 Transmission Media

Overview
Guided wire (twisted pair, coaxial cable, optical fiber) Unguided wireless (broadcast radio, terrestrial microwave, satellite) Characteristics & quality of data transmission is determined by
medium & signal

Design Factors
Bandwidth:
Higher bandwidth (HZ) gives higher data rate (bps)

Transmission impairments: e.g. Attenuation

Limits the transmission distance Twisted pair -> coaxial cable -> optical fiber

For guided medium, the medium itself is more important in determining

the transmission limitations

Interference: from competing signals in overlapping

frequency bands can distort or wipe out a signal.

For unguided medium, the bandwidth produced by the antenna is more

important

Number of receivers: In guided media

Point-to-point link or share link with multiple attachment: each attachment introduce some attenuation & distortion on the line, limiting distance and/or data rate
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Key concerns are data rate and distance in the design of trans. sys.
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Electromagnetic Spectrum for Telecom

Guided Transmission Media

Twisted Pair Coaxial cable Optical fiber

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Twisted Pair & Applications

Twisted Pair - Transmission Characteristics

Pros and Cons
Cheap; Easy to work with Low data rate; Short distance <- bigger attenuation

Most common medium: least expensive Telephone network

Between house and local exchange (subscriber loop)

Within buildings
To private branch exchange (PBX)

For local area networks (LAN)

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Analog Signal: Amplifiers every 5km to 6km Digital Transmission: repeater every 2km or 3km Limited distance Limited bandwidth (1MHz) Limited data rate (100Mbp) Susceptible to interference and noise
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10Mbps or 100Mbps

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Unshielded and Shielded TP

Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP)
Ordinary telephone wire Cheapest Easiest to install Suffers from external EM interference

UTP Categories
Cat 3
up to 16MHz Voice-grade cable found in most offices Twist length of 7.5 cm to 10 cm

Cat 4
up to 20 MHz

Shielded Twisted Pair (STP)

Metal braid or sheathing that reduces interference More expensive Harder to handle (thick, heavy)

Cat 5
up to 100MHz Commonly pre-installed in new office buildings Twist length 0.6 cm to 0.85 cm
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Coaxial Cable

Applications & Transmission Characteristics

Applications: Television distribution : Cable TV Long distance telephone transmission
Can carry 10,000 voice calls simultaneously (via FDM) Being replaced by fiber optic

Short distance links between computer devices Transmission Characteristics: Analog

Amplifiers every few km; Closer if higher frequency Up to 500MHz Digital: Repeater every 1km; Closer for higher data rates
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Optical Fiber - Transmission Characteristics

Optical Fiber: transmit a signal-encoded beam of light by means
of total internal reflection

Optical Fiber Transmission Modes

Act as waveguide for freq. of 1014 to 1015 Hz

Portions of infrared and visible spectrum

Three Transmission Modes:

Step-index multimode; Graded-index multimode; Single-mode

Two Type of Light Sources:

Light Emitting Diode (LED)
Cheaper; Wider operating temp range; Last longer

Injection Laser Diode (ILD): More efficient; Greater data rate

WDM: multiple beams of light at different freq. are transmitted

on the same fiber. This is a form of FDM.
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Optical Fiber - Properties & Applications

Properties: Greater capacity: in the unit of Gbps, Tbps Smaller size & lighter weight Lower Attenuation EM Isolation: not affected by external EM interference Greater Repeater Spacing: every hundreds of km Applications: Long-haul trunks ; Metropolitan trunks; LANs Rural exchange trunks Subscriber loops
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Wireless Transmission
Unguided media Transmission & reception via antenna Directional
Focused beam Careful alignment required

Omnidirectional
Signal spreads in all directions Can be received by many antennae

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3 Frequency Ranges
30MHz to 1GHz:
Suitable to Omnidirectional app. Refer to as broadcast radio range

Terrestrial Microwave
Physical Description: the most common type of antenna is the
parabolic dish

Focuses a narrow beam: to achieve line-of-sight trans. to the

receiving antenna

2GHz to 40GHz: Microwave frequency

Highly directional beams are possible Suitable to point- to-point transmission Can also be used for satellite comm.

Apps.: Long haul telecommunications Higher frequencies give higher data rates
common freq : 2 40 GHZ

3 x 1011 to 2 x 1014
Infrared portion of the spectrum Local apps. Within confined areas, e.g. a single room
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Satellite Microwave
Satellite is a microwave relay station Satellite receives on one frequency, amplifies or repeats signal and transmits on another frequency Requires geo-stationary orbit
Height of 35,784km

Broadcast Radio
Omnidirectional Freq: 30 MHZ to 1GHZ
FM radio UHF and VHF television

Applications:
Television Long distance telephone Private business networks

Trans. is limited to the line of sight Suffers from multipath interference

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Infrared
Transceivers modulate noncoherent infrared light Two parties must be within line of sight (or reflection) Blocked by walls e.g. TV remote control

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