Chapter 2: Traditional Transmission

Media
• Introduction
• Copper Wires
• Glass Fibers
• Radio Frequency and Satellites
• Geosynchronous Satellites
• Low Earth Orbit Satellites and Arrays of them
• Microwave
• Infrared
• Light From A Laser

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 Introduction

• Existing types of transmission media including cables

and wireless means are described here

• At the lowest level, all computer communication involves

– encoding data in a form of energy
– and sending the energy across a transmission medium
– Hardware devices attached to a computer perform the encoding
and decoding of data

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 About Cables

• Cables are the backbone of a network; all data/info runs through

cables either in the form of Radio Frequency (RF) via coaxial or
twisted pair or in the form of light via fiber optic.

• Q: How to choose the right cable?

A: Based on your network needs consider the following factors:
- Type of data to be transferred and security issues
- Cost (cabling could take 25% - 40% of total network cost)
- Installation and Maintenance (how easy?)
- Reliability and speed
- Distance affect in:
1- Signal strength and quality (Repeaters may be used!)
2- Possibility of packet collision (Token ring Vs Logical Bus)
3- Possibility of RF noise is likely (long antenna)

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 Cost of Cabling
• Q: How to determine your cable cost?
A: - Determine number of nodes
- Do unit measurement first, and then total all units.

Q: What kind of preparations you need to do?

A: - Building facilities (built-in, over ceiling, or across the
floor)
- Testing, Repair and Maintenance Contract.
- Fire requirement
- Documentation (physical topology, ip-addresses, etc.)
- Avoid interference (preventing RF noise)
1- Local Radio stations
2- Other network cables
3- Large motors

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 Copper Wires
• Conventional computer network use wires as the primary medium
– Copper used almost exclusively because its low resistance

• Network wire is chosen to minimize interference

• Interference arises because wire emit a small amount of

electromagnetic energy, which can travel through the air

• Whenever it encounters another wire, an electromagnetic wave

generates a small electric current in the wire. When two wires are
placed close together and in parallel, a strong signal sent on one
wire will generate a similar signal on the other

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 Copper Wires (cont.)
• Problem of interference is severe
– because wires that comprise a network often are placed in
parallel with many other wires
• To minimize interference, networks use one of three
basic wiring types:
– Twisted Pair
• Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP)
• Shielded Twisted Pair (STP)
– Coaxial Cable
– Fiber Optic (immunized from interference)

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 Twisted Pair
• The figure below illustrates a twisted-pair cable
• Oldest and still most common used, because of:
– Adequate performance
– Low cost
– Easy to install
• Twists change the electrical properties of the wire:
– They limit the electromagnetic energy the wire emits:
• So they help prevent radiating energy that interferes with other wires
– They make the pair of wires less liable to electromagnetic energy:
• They help prevent signals on other wires from interfering with the pair

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 Coaxial cable
• Coaxial cables provides even more protection from
interference than twisted pair
• a coaxial cable consists of a single wire surrounded by a
metal shield (Figure 4.2 below) that forms a flexible
cylinder around the inner wire to provide a barrier for
electromagnetic radiation
– The barrier isolates the inner wire in two ways:
• it protects the wire from incoming/radiating electromagnetic energy
• The cable can be placed parallel to other cables or bent
and twisted around corners

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 Shielded Twisted Pair (STP)

The STP cable consists of a pair of wires surrounded by a

metal shield
• The additional shielding provided by STP or coaxial
cabling is often used when wires from a network pass
near equipment that generates strong electric or
magnetic fields

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 Glass Fibers
• Network also use flexible glass fibers to transmit data
– known as an optical fiber
• Medium uses light to transport data
• The miniature glass fiber is encased in a plastic jacket
– which allows the fiber to bend without breaking
• A transmitter at one end of a fiber uses
– a light emitting diode (LED) or a laser to send pulses of light
• A receiver at the other end uses
– a light sensitive transistor to detect the pulses

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 Glass Fibers (cont.)
Advantages:
• Light neither cause electrical interference in other cables nor liable to
electrical interference
• Glass fibers can be manufactured to reflect most of the light inward
can carry a pulse of light much farther than a copper wire signal
• Light can encode more information than electrical signals
 can carry more information than a wire & MORE SECURE
• unlike electricity, which always requires a pair of wires connected into a
complete circuit,
Light can travel from one computer to another over a single fiber

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 Glass Fibers (cont.)

Disadvantages
• Installing a fiber requires special equipment
– that polishes the ends to allow light to pass through
• If a fiber breaks inside the plastic jacket:
– finding the location of the problem is difficult
• Repairing a broken fiber is difficult
– special equipment is needed to join two fibers

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 Radio Frequency (RF)
• In RF transmissions
– each participating computer attaches to an antenna
– Antenna can both transmit and receive RF
• Physically, the antennas used with RF networks may be
large or small, depending on the range desired:
– An antenna designed to propagate signals several miles
• A metal pole approximately 2 meters long that is mounted vertically
on top of a building
– An antenna designed to permit communication within a building
• May be small enough to fit inside a portable computer (e.g., less
than 20 centimeters)

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 Satellites
• RF technology can be combined with satellites
– to provide communication across longer distances
• Figure 4.3 illustrates a satellite in orbit
• The satellite contains a transponder
– that consists of a radio receiver and transmitter
• The transponder
– accepts an incoming radio transmission
– amplifies it
– and transmits the signal back toward the ground at a slightly
different angle than it arrived
• A single satellite usually contains multiple transponders
– Each transponder uses a different radio frequency (i.e., channel)

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 Geosynchronous Satellites
• Communication satellites can be grouped into categories according
to the height at which they orbit:
– The easiest is geosynchronous or geostationary satellites
– The name arises because a geosynchronous satellite is placed in an
orbit that is exactly synchronized with the rotation of the earth.
– Such an orbit is classified as a Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO)
– When viewed from the ground,
• satellite appears to remain at exactly the same point in the sky at all times
• Laws of physics determine the exact distance from the earth that a
satellite must orbit to remain synchronized with the earth's rotation
– The distance is 35,785 kilometers or 22,236 miles

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 Geosynchronous Satellites (cont.)
• GEO is about one tenth of the distance to the moon
– Engineers refer the distance as “high earth orbit”
• There is a limited amount of ``space'' available in the
GEO above the equator
– because satellites using a given frequency must be separated
from one another to avoid interference
• The minimum separation depends on the power of the transmitters

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 Low Earth Orbit Satellites
• Second category of satellites operate in what is called
Low Earth Orbit (LEO)
– which means that they orbit a few hundred miles above the earth
(typically 200 to 400 miles)
• The chief disadvantage of a LEO lies in the rate at which
a satellite must travel
– Their period of rotation is faster than the rotation of the earth
• LEOs do not stay above a single point on the earth's surface
• An observer, who stands on the earth looking upward through a
telescope, sees LEOs move across the sky
• A single satellite can complete an entire orbit in
approximately 1.5 hours

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 Low Earth Orbit Satellites (cont.)

From a communication provider's point of view:

• having a satellite that does not appear to remain
stationary causes problems:
– First, the satellite can only be used during the time
• that its orbit passes between two ground stations
– Second, maximal utilization requires complex control systems
• that continuously move the ground stations so they point directly at
the satellite

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 Low Earth Orbit Satellite Arrays
• Instead of focusing on one satellite,
– the scheme requires a communication company to launch a set of
satellites into low earth orbits
• Although a given satellite orbits quickly,
– the set of orbits is chosen so that each point on the ground has at least
one satellite overhead at any time
– sixty-six (66) satellites are required to provide service over the entire
surface of the earth
• From the point of view of an observer on earth,
– it appears that a satellite emerges from a point on the horizon
– flies overhead
– and then disappears into a point on the opposite horizon
• The key to the scheme lies in the set of orbits
– guarantees at least one satellite is available at any time

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Low Earth Orbit Satellite Arrays (cont.)
• In addition to transponders used to communicate with
ground stations
– an array of satellites in low earth orbit contains radio equipment
used to communicate with other satellites in the array
• As they move through their orbits
– the satellites communicate with one another and agree to
forward data

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 Microwave
• Many long-distance telephone companies use microwave (MW) to
carry telephone conversations
– A few large companies have also installed MW systems as part of the
company's network
• MW are merely a higher frequency version of radio waves, but they
behave differently
– Instead of broadcasting in all directions,
• a MW transmission can be aimed in a single direction, preventing others
from intercepting
– In addition, MW transmission can carry more information than lower
frequency RF transmissions
• MW cannot penetrate metal structures:
– transmission works best in a clear path exists between two parties
– most MW installations consist of two towers
• that are taller than the surrounding buildings and vegetation
– each MW transmitter aimed directly at a MW receiver on the other

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 Infrared
• Infrared is limited to a small area (e.g., a single room)
• Usually requires that the transmitter be pointed toward
the receiver
• Infrared HW
– is inexpensive compared to other mechanisms,
– and does not require an antenna
• It is possible to equip a large room with a single infrared
connection
– that provides network access to all computers
– computers can remain in contact with the network while they are
moved within the room
• Infrared network are especially convenient for small,
portable computers
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 Light From A Laser
• A beam of light can also be used to carry data through the air
• A communication link that uses light consists of two sites that each
have a transmitter and receiver
– equipment is mounted in a fixed position, often on a tower
– aligned so the transmitter at one location sends its beam of light directly
to the receiver at the other
• The transmitter uses a laser to generate the beam of light
– because a coherent laser beam will stay focused over a long distance
• Light from a laser must travel in a straight line and must not be
blocked
• A laser beam cannot penetrate vegetation or weather conditions
such as snow and fog:
– Thus, laser transmission has limited use

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