CHAPTER

Communication Media
Figure 7.1 Transmission medium and physical layer
Figure 7.2 Classes of transmission media
 Chapter Modules
• Twisted Pair
• Coaxial Cable
• Optical Fiber
• Mixed Cabling
• Wireless
• Microwave
• Satellite Communication
Figure 7.3 Twisted-pair cable
 Questions
• What are the two different types of twisted pair wires that
are in use?
• Why are the wires twisted?
• Name the categories of wires and their respective uses
• What is the role played by bandwidth in the quality of the
wires?
• What is a Plenum wire? Where is it used?
• Name the types of twisted pair wires that could be used in
high speed LANs such as the Gigabit Ethernet LAN
• Describe the properties of the newer categories of twisted
pair wires
Figure 7.4 UTP and STP cables
 Table 7.1 Categories of unshielded twisted-pair cables

7.8
Figure 7.5 UTP connector

7.9
 Terminology to Remember
• Shielding (Conductive material)
• Insulation (Non-conductive material)
– Casing (Plastic material)
 Types and Purpose of Twisting
• Types
– Unshielded twisted pair (UTP)
– Shielded twisted pair (STP)
• Twisting
– Minimizes the effect of electromagnetic
interference
– The electromagnetic field from one wire
counterbalances the field from the other wire
 Shielding and Insulation
• The cables are shielded from electro magnetic
interference
– In both directions, from outside as well as inside
• The plastic casing is not to be considered as
shielding
– It is an insulation against electric shock
Twisted Pair Cable Illustration

Source: Black Box

 Characteristics
• Cheap
• Easy to install
• Generally speaking, different frequencies may not
be assigned to carry different channels on the
same twisted pair wire
• Compared to coaxial cables, twisted pair wires
have a lower bandwidth
– But, recent improvements have contributed to an
increase in bandwidth
– Speed is proportional to bandwidth
 Quality and Categorization
of the Wires
• Twisted pair wires are categorized according to their
quality
• Category 3 wires are of the lower quality
• Category 5, 5e, 6 etc. wires are of higher quality
– Partly achieved by having a larger number of twists in the
cable
• Higher category wires such as Cat 6 etc. are now
available
 Areas of Application

• Phone lines
• Used extensively in telecommunications
• LANs
Typical Twisted Pair Connection

Hub/Switch

Twisted Pair Wire

 Reasons for its Increasing Popularity
• Better quality UTP is being produced
• Ease of installation superseding its other
limitations
• A LAN to be configured with twisted pair wires
requires a hub
– A hub based implementation is preferred because
it is easy to install and manage
 Gigabit Ethernet Medium
• IEEE 802.3ab Twisted Pair
– Cat 5e (350 MHz/ 1Gbps)
• IEEE 802.3z Fiber Optics
 LAN Speed
• The following questions apply to the LAN
shown in the next slide
• What is the speed of the network?
• How could it be upgraded to a higher speed?
Source: Black Box
 Important Areas of Application for
Twisted Pair Wires
• LAN
– RJ 45
• 10baseT LANs operating at 10 Mbps
• 100baseTX LANs operating at 100 Mbps
• 1000baseT LANs operating at 1 Gbps
• 8 wires
• Telephone wiring connections
– RJ 11 (4 wires)
– RJ 14 (6 wires)
Figure 7.7 Coaxial cable

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Table 7.2 Categories of coaxial cables
Figure 7.8 BNC connectors
A Description of the Coaxial Cable

Outer casing

Shielding Insulator

Copper conductor
 Types of Coaxial Cables
• Thin coaxial
– Lighter version
– Thin Ethernet cable
• Thick coaxial
– Original version
– Standard Ethernet cable
 Thin Coaxial Cable
• Higher bandwidth than twisted pair wires
• Lower bandwidth compared with the thick
coaxial able
• More flexible compared to thick coaxial cable
• Cheaper
 Type of Thin Coaxial Cable
Used in LAN
• Standardized
• 10Base2 cable
– 10M bps
– Ethernet
– Thin coaxial cable
– Bus topology
 Thick Coaxial Cable
• Compared to thin coaxial cable
– Higher bandwidth
– Less maneuverable
– More expensive
 Thick Coaxial Cables
Used in Networks
• Standardized
• 10Base5
– 10M bps
– Ethernet
– Thick coaxial cable
– Bus topology
Overall Characteristics of the Coaxial
Cables
• Relatively cheap compared to fiber-optic cables
• Wider bandwidth compared to twisted pair wires
• Good transmission characteristics
• Used in high-speed synchronous transmission
• Supports broadband communication
• Can be tapped for multi-drop connection
 A Typical Coaxial Connection

Bus LAN

Coaxial Cable

A multi-drop connection
 Components Used in Connecting a
Computer to a Coaxial Cable
T connector
Network
Interface
Card

Thin coaxial Terminator

cable
An Example of the Use of Thick Coaxial
Cables
Switch
Coaxial Cable

Router

Backbone

Thick coaxial cable

 Areas of Application for
Coaxial Cables
• Ethernet bus LANs
• Telephone trunks
• Mainframe networks
• Cable TVs
 Future of Coaxial Cables
• Overall use is on the decline
• LANs (Lower End)
– Replaced by newer and better twisted pair
wires
• Telephone trunks (Higher End)
– Fiber cables are replacing coaxial cables
• Mainframes of yesterday or perhaps today
as well
– Connected to peripheral devices over larger
networks built on fiber-optic cables and
twisted pair wires
Figure 7.11 Optical fiber
Figure 7.12 Propagation modes
Figure 7.13 Modes
Table 7.3 Fiber types
Figure 7.14 Fiber construction
Figure 7.15 Fiber-optic cable connectors
 Fiber Optics Transmission
• Light travels along the path of the fiber by
bouncing around its edges
• Propagation methods
– Multi-mode step index
– Multi-mode graded index
– Single mode
Increasing
Speed
 Characteristics
• Very broad bandwidth
• Higher transmission speeds are possible
• Signals travel a longer distance
• No Electro-magnetic field
– No interference
– Signals are difficult to tap
• Smaller size
– Multiple fiber strands can be included in a
cable of very small diameter
 Fiber-Optic Cable Bandwidth

Part Of Ultraviolet

Fiber Visible
Optics

Part Of Infra-red ?

The laser beam could also travel along a fiber optic cable
Fiber Cables
 Usage of Fiber Optic Cables
• Long distance telephone cabling (trunks)
• LANs
– Used in large networks as the backbone
• An example is the FDDI backbone used in a number of
campuses
– Used for extending cable limitations applicable to
networking and other computing devices
A Simple Fiber LAN

Source: Black Box

 Types and Cost
• Types
– Regular glass fibers
– Plastic fibers
• Purer the fibers the better the transmission
characteristics
• Cost
– Fiber cables are costlier than twisted pair wires
and coaxial cables
– The cost has declined over a period of time
– Plastic fiber cables are cheaper than glass fiber
cables
 Fiber Usage
• Network backbones
• Extending distance between network
connections
• Connecting high speed switches
Mixed Cabling
 Questions
• Name a few different types of cable
conversions that could be performed using a
media converter
 Mixed Cabling
• LANs may be constructed with different
segments having different cable types
• Devices are available for interfacing the
different media
• Optical fiber is often used for high speed links
within a LAN of mixed speed ratings
Media Interface
A Mixed Media LAN

Source: Black Box

Identify the components and

relate to the previous slide.
 Listing of Media and Communication
Network Services

Web Research: Find the meaning of the above terms

 UNGUIDED MEDIA: WIRELESS

Unguided media transport electromagnetic waves

without using a physical conductor. This type of
communication is often referred to as wireless
communication.

Topics discussed in this section:

Radio Waves
Microwaves
Infrared

7.59
Figure 7.17 Electromagnetic spectrum for wireless communication

7.60
Figure 7.18 Propagation methods

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 Table 7.4 Bands

7.62
Figure 7.19 Wireless transmission waves

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Note

Radio waves are used for multicast

communications, such as radio and television,
and paging systems. They can penetrate through
walls.
Highly regulated. Use omni directional antennas

7.64
Figure 7.20 Omnidirectional antenna

7.65
Microwave
Note

Microwaves are used for unicast communication

such as cellular telephones, satellite networks,
and wireless LANs.
Higher frequency ranges cannot penetrate walls.
Use directional antennas - point to point line of
sight communications.

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Figure 7.21 Unidirectional antennas

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Frequency Range and Propagation
• Microwave frequency range
– 10e8 to 10e11
– Bandwidth is nearly 10e11 Hz
• Propagation
– Over space
– Requires line-of-sight
• At higher frequencies the waves tend to behave like
light waves
Line-of-Sight Requirement
Line of sight is
required.

3o miles limit to offset

Earth’s curvature.
 Characteristics
• Advantage
– Cable laying is not required
• Disadvantage
– Can easily be tapped
– Encryption is one way of securing the data from
eavesdropping
 Applications Areas
• Telecommunications
– Used extensively
• LAN
– Used for wireless connections
• WANs benefit from microwave
• Usage on the increase
– LANs and WANs area
– Fueled by FCC's reassignment of part of the
microwave bandwidth from military to civilian use
Satellite Communication
 Types
• Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO)
• Medium Earth Orbit (MEO)
• Low Earth Orbit (LEO)
Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO)
• First satellites to be launched
• Remain stationary with respect to the position
of the earth at a high altitude
– Balance between the gravity of the moon and the
earth
• Appear to be stationary with respect to a
position on earth
 Medium Earth Orbit
• Fall to earth after a certain number of years of
service
 Low Earth Orbit
• Today’s focus
– Touted to play an important role in global
communications
• Several being launched under the Iridium
project
– Usher a new era in global communications
– Support computer systems and personal
communicant devices in communicating with one
another
 Propagation
• Requires line-of-sight
• Frequencies in use are higher than those
used in microwave
– Upload 12 GHz
– Download 16 GHz
• GEO
– At least 3 satellites are required to provide
total global coverage
 Total Global Coverage Using GEO
Satellites
I
Upload 16GHZ
12 GHZ Down load

III II

3 satellites are required to cover the earth

 Salient Features of Satellite
Communications
• Uploading and downloading
– Uploading at 12 GHz
– Downloading at 16 GHz
• Basic function
– Receive the signals from an earth station,
amplify them and then transmit them back to
another earth station
 Applications
• Telecommunications
– Especially for inter-continental communication
• TV broadcast
– Usage is increasing
• Navigation and other similar local
applications
– GPS
 Factors Contributing to Expansion of
Satellite Communication
• Reassignment of military frequencies to
civilian use
• Anticipated progress in the Iridium project
Note

Infrared signals can be used for short-range

communication in a closed area using line-of-
sight propagation.

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 Wireless Channels

• Are subject to a lot more errors than guided

media channels.
• Interference is one cause for errors, can be
circumvented with high SNR.
• The higher the SNR the less capacity is available
for transmission due to the broadcast nature of
the channel.
• Channel also subject to fading and no coverage
holes.

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