Transmission Media

Transmission medium and physical layer

Classes of transmission media
Twisted Pair - Applications

Most common medium

Telephone network
Between house and local exchange
(subscriber loop)
Within buildings
To private branch exchange (PBX)
For local area networks (LAN)
100Mbps or 1Gbps
Susceptible to interference and
Twisted-pair cable

Pairs are twisted together for the purposes of canceling out electromagnetic
interference (EMI) from external sources; for instance, electromagnetic
radiation from unshielded twisted pair (UTP) cables and and crosstalk
between neighboring pairs.

Higher the number of twists per unit length, better the performance of
twisted pair.
 Crosstalk
Coupling of signal from one pair to another
That is transmitted signal is picked up by near
receiving pair
Pairs within the same cable are twisted in
order to prevent crosstalk between pairs
Twisted Pair - Pros and
Cons
Cheap
Easy to work with
Low data rate
Short range
Unshielded and Shielded
TP
Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP)

Ordinary telephone wire

Cheapest
Easiest to install
Suffers from external EM interference
Shielded Twisted Pair (STP)
Metal braid or sheathing that reduces
interference
More expensive
Harder to handle (thick, heavy)
TP and STP types

FTP: Foiled Twisted Pair SSTP = Screened Shielded Twisted Pair

Comparison of TP
categories
TP Category Diameter (AWG) Twists per length Attenuation Crosstalk Link Cost

More More
Cat1

Cat2

Cat3

Cat4

Cat5 24 (Smaller diameter) 3-4 twists per foot

Cat5e 24 (Smaller diameter) 3-4 twists per foot

More twists than

Cat6 22 (Larger diameter)
Cat5
More twists than
Cat6a 22 (Larger diameter)
Cat5

Cat7

Cat7a (class f) More

Coaxial cable
Coaxial Cable Transmission Characteristics

Superior frequency characteristics compare to

Twisted pair.
Performance limited by attenuation & noise.
Analog signals
Amplifiers required every few km
Closer if higher frequency
Up to 500MHz
Digital signals
Repeater every 1km
Closer for higher data rates
Fiber optics: Bending of light ray
Optical fiber
Optical fiber Benefits

Greater capacity
Data rates of hundreds of Gbps possible.
Smaller size & weight
Lower attenuation per Km
Electromagnetic isolation
Greater regenerator spacing
10s of km at least
Uses Light Emitting Diode (LED) or Injection Laser
Diode (ILD)
Propagation modes
Modes
Electromagnetic spectrum for wireless communication