Transmission Media

Presentation - 05

Transmission Media
Transmission environments:
Copper
Fibre
Air

Transmission media:
Electromagnetic waves

Radio waves
Microwaves
Infrared
Laser light (including visible light)

Electric charge

Electric Networks
In these networks, copper wires are used
to transmit an electric charge
In rare cases, aluminium, platinum or gold
can be used instead of copper

A electric current is pushed through the

wire in a controlled manner
In power cords, the amount of electricity is
determined by how much the appliance
requires
In network wires/cables, the amount of
electricity (or charge) can vary in a wave
pattern, called a carrier wave

Electric Networks
All electrically charged objects generate
electromagnetic fields (and interference):

Electric Media
One of the goals of electrostatic
networks is to reduce the effect of
electromagnetic interference
There are several techniques,
including:
Shielding around the cables/wires
Twisting the wires within the cable

Electric Networks
Electric networks work by varying
the electric charge of the wire in
some way
Techniques for varying signals is
somewhat media-independent, and
will be discussed separately

Electric Cables
A cable is a collection of wires
A wire is typically a single strand of copper,
with a small protective coating around it

Two common types of cables used in

networks are:
Coaxial cables:
Used by cable/satellite television, older Ethernet,
802 Token Bus networks

Unshielded twisted pair (UTP):

Used by newer Ethernet (4 pair), and telephone
networks (2 or 3 pair)

Coaxial Cable
Inner
Insulating
Layer

Outer Insulating Jacket

Braided
Metal
Shield
(Ground)
Transmission
Wire

Unshielded Twisted Pair Cable

Electromagnetic Networks
These fall into two common types:
Airwave transmission
Typically, this involves radio waves or
microwaves

Optical transmission (or fibre optics)

The use of laser light passed/refracted
through glass fibres

Airwave Transmission
Electromagnetic waves are used
(and varied) to represent binary 0
or 1

Airwave Transmission
A satellite might also be used to facilitate
transmission over longer distances

Physics Primer: Reflection

An incidental wave of light
approaching a reflective surface (e.g.
silver) will bounce off the surface
The angle of incidence is equal to the
angle of reflection

Reflective Optical Cable

lig
h

t
reflective
surface

This type of fibre optic cable is made of glass, with a

highly reflective surface on the outside
This surface must be coated, to make it more reflective,
which prevents significant light loss

Physics Primer: Refraction

An incidental wave of light approaching a
refractive surface (e.g. glass) will enter the
surface
The angle of incidence is not equal to the angle of
refraction
The angle inside a material of higher density will
decrease, until exiting the material

Controlled Refraction
This could be used to bend light inside a cable,
which allows the cable to be bent around
corners (to some degree)

Refractive Optical Cable

lig
ht
higher
density
glass

reflective
surface

lower
density
glass

Light refracts as it passes from a material of one density into a

material of another density
This type of fibre optic cable is made of variable density glass
The further toward the inside of the fibre, the higher density
the glass
The higher density glass refracts the light beams toward the centre

Carrier Waves
The media just described all serve the
same purpose: to transmit data
Data is transmitted on a carrier wave

A carrier wave is some waveform

This waveform is typically sinusoidal (like a
sine or cosine curve)
The carrier wave is varied (modulated) in
some way to represent bits
Typically an unmodified wave represents no data

Carrier Waves
For a wireless networks, the radio waves
themselves are the carrier waves
For electric networks, the voltage is
varied between a positive value and a
negative value in a wave pattern
For optical networks, often the intensity
(brightness) of the light is varied in a
wave pattern
The light waves are not often used as carrier
waves, as the frequency of visible light is
very high, and difficult to control

Carrier Waves
Here is how carrier waves represent
data:
A carrier wave can be a flow of electrons
in a specific pattern through a conductor
e.g. A copper wire

When the wave intensity is high, the

wave is at a crest:
When the wave itensity is low, the wave
is at a trough:

Carrier Wave Modulation

Unmodulated carrier waves represent no
data
Carrier waves are modulated in the
following ways:
Amplitude modulation: The intensity
(amplitude/wave height) is varied
Frequency modulation: The frequency (wave
width) is varied
Phase shift modulation: The wave is shifted
(left/right)

Amplitude Modulation (AM)

The intensity of the waves (amplitude or
height) on the communication medium
is modified to represent 0 or 1
This is the same as what is applied to radio waves
for AM radio stations
This is not typically used with electric networks

AM waves are sensitive to distances

As distance lowers intensity of a signal, the
difference between 0s and 1s may be lost

Amplitude Modulation
+4v
+2v

-2v
-4v
0.2 s

0.2 s

0.2 s

0.2 s

Frequency Modulation (FM)

The frequency of the waves (how often crests and
troughs occur per second) on the communication
medium is modified to represent 0 or 1
This is the same as what is applied to radio waves for FM radio
stations
This is used in most electric networks

FM waves are less sensitive to signal deterioration

Over distances the intensity of signals decrease
(electrons get lost)
Usually, even with deteriorated signals, the frequency
can still be determined

Frequency Modulation
+4v

-4v
0.2 s

0.2 s

Frequency:
1.0*107

Frequency:
0.5*107

0.2 s

0.2 s

Phase Shift Modulation (PSM)

The temporal position of the wave is
varied
In other words, the wave is shifted forward or
backward in time

PSM is also less sensitive to signal

deterioration
Over distances the intensity of signals
decrease (electrons get lost)
Usually, even with deteriorated signals, the
phase shift can still be detected

Phase Shift Modulation

+4v

-4v
0.2 s

0.2 s

0.2 s

0.2 s

Modem
Modem: modulator/demodulator
Modulation: Given a sequence of bits,
creates a carrier wave
The carrier wave is varied (AM, FM, PSM,
etc.) to represent the data

Demodulation: Given a carrier wave,

creates a sequence of bits
The carrier wave variations are detected,
and turned back into the data they represent

Standard Telephone Modems

Modems used in dialup Internet
access actually use an analog
(audio) carrier wave
This is the weird sound you hear when
you pick up the telephone when the
modem is in operation

The telephone modem was

designed to send digital data over
the analog phone system

DSL Modems
DSL modems are similar to standard telephone
modems
Modern phone systems handle a fairly broad
audio band, most of which is not necessary for
telephones
This is because sound at these frequencies is too
high or low to be heard by the ear, or generated by
the vocal chords

These bands are used for digital transmission

Thus, telephone service is not interrupted
Multiple signals are sent/received simultaneously,
using frequency division multiplexing (FDM)

Frequency Division Multiplexing

With frequency division multiplexing,
multiple signals are combined into a
broadband medium
The broadband medium is split into
narrowband channels (frequency ranges)
Each channel transmits and/or sends one
signal at any given time
FDM

Cable Modems
Cable modems, while similar to
telephone modems, use coaxial
cable
Coaxial cable uses time division
multiplexing (TDM) for its channels
Each TV station uses one channel
Upstream and downstream use their
own channels

Time Division Multiplexing

With time division multiplexing, multiple
signals are combined one signal
Each signal is given a time slice, during which
time that signal is put onto the medium
When the time slice is over, the next signal
gets transmitted, and the process repeats

TDM

Multiplexing and Demultiplexing

Multiplexing
Combining multiple signals into one
(complex) signal

Demultiplexing
Restoring multiple signals from one
(complex) signal