Transmission Media

Chapter 3

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Chapter Objectives

Discuss characteristics of cables

List the various types of copper wired cables
Discuss fiber optic cables
List the various types of wireless transmission media

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Recall - I

Topology is a pattern of computer devices and

describes the way in which these devices are
connected
The disadvantages of bus topology are:

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Entire network gets affected if main cable breaks

Terminators are required at both ends of backbone
cable
Difficult to detect the faulty device
Limited number of devices can be attached
Heavy traffic degrades performance

Recall - II

The advantages of ring topology are:

Easier to mange as compared to Bus network

Handles large volume of traffic
Very reliable and offers great speed
Provides a good communication over a long distance
No terminators are required

Types of mesh topology are:

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Full mesh topology

Partial mesh topology

Characteristics of Cables

Segment Length Length of single wire

Attenuation Indicates loss of signal
Bandwidth Amount of data carried by cable
Number of Segments Maximum number of
segments in network
Cost Copper cables are cheapest, fiber optic
cables are expensive
Interference susceptibility and crosstalk Defines
concept of electronic interference on cables

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Types of cables

Copper medium is the cheapest mode of data transfer

Types of cables

Coaxial cable

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Twisted pair cables

Coaxial cable

Consist of a solid copper core surrounded by an

insulator mainly made up of Poly Vinyl Chloride
(PVC) or Teflon
Coaxial cables are less prone to interference (both
internal and external)

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Types of Coaxial cable

Coaxial cables are mainly divided into four

categories
Types of
Coaxial cables

RG58

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RG8

RG6

RG59

RG58

Maximum segment length is 200 meters

Interference protection is better than twisted pair
cables
Offers resistance of 50 ohms
BNC-T connector is used to connect this cable
Used in thinnet (10BASE2) network
Mostly used in changing environments

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RG8

Maximum segment length is 500 meters

Interference protection is good compared to any
copper cable
Offers resistance of 50 ohms
BNC-T or Vampire Tap connector is used to connect
this cable
Used in 10BASE5 network

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RG6

Broadband quad-shielded
cable that offers an
impedance of 75 ohms
Provides lower attenuation
characteristics
Useful in cable TV, CCTV
and satellite dish antenna

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11

RG59

Chapter 3

Solid conductor is
surrounded by a foam
polyethylene dielectric
Offers impedance of 75
ohm
Useful in security
camera, cable TV and
home theatre

12

Twisted Pair Cables

A pair of cables twisted around each other forms a twisted

pair cable.

Twisted Pair cables

Unshielded
Twisted Pair

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Shielded
Twisted pair

13

UTP Cables

Pair of unshielded wires

wound around each other
Easily gets affected by
EMI, RFI and crosstalk
Cable offers resistance of
50 ohms
Maximum segment length
is 100 meters

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UTP Cable Types

Cat 1
Cat 7

Cat 6

Cat 2

UTP

Cat 3

Cat 4

Cat 5e
Cat 5

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15

STP Cables

Chapter 3

Pair of wires wound

around each other is
placed inside shield
Better protection from
EMI, RFI and crosstalk
as compared to UTP
Offers resistance of 50
ohms
Maximum segment
length of 100 meters
16

Case Study 1
The Mumbai branch of MoneyMaker bank has
multiple departments, which are on different floors in
the same building. Each department is
interconnected using UTP cables. John, the network
administrator has set up a client server environment
and has used a star topology. The employees of the
bank are unable to transmit data and information
from one department to another in an efficient
manner

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Problem

Data and information cannot be transmitted between

the departments efficiently

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Suggested Solution

The problem is caused due to EMI emitted by the

electrical transformers. John should use STP cables
to interconnect the different departments located on
each floor as STP provides better protection from
EMI. The computers inside each department can be
interconnected using UTP cables.

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Fiber Optic Medium

Consists of centre glass core surrounded by cladding

Electrical signals are converted into light signals
A phenomenon called as total internal reflection is
used for transmission
LED or laser is used to transmit signal

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Fiber Optic Cable Characteristics

Bandwidth Carries large amount of data ranging

from 100 Mbps to 1 Gbps
Segment Length Transmits data signals over
larger distance
Interference No electric signals pass through
these types of cables thus providing security

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Fiber Optic Cable Types

Fiber optic cables can carry signals in a single

direction.
Fiber Optic Cable
Types

Single Mode

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Multi mode

22

Single Mode Fiber Optic cable

A type of cable that has only a single strand

of glass fiber with a thin diameter.
Fiber optic cables that use lasers are known
as single mode cable.

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Multi Mode Fiber Optic cable

A type of cable that contains a glass fiber with a

larger diameter.
It is a 62.5/125 micrometer fiber cable.

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Fiber Optic Cable Connectors

Straight Tip (ST) Joins individual fibers to optical

devices
Subscriber Connector (SC) Attaches two fibers to
send and receive signals
Medium Interface Connector (MIC) Joins fiber to
FDDI controller
Sub Miniature Type A (SMA) Uses individual
connectors for each fiber stand
Fiber Jack Attaches two fibers in snap lock
connector

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Case Study 2

The Chennai branch of MoneyMaker bank has a

database server. All departments are connected to
this server using coaxial cables. These departments
are unable to retrieve and update information from
the server spontaneously. It takes a lot of time to get
updated information.

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Problem

The employees of the bank are unable to retrieve

information from the database quickly.

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Suggested Solution
The problem is caused due to the lower transmission
speeds provided by the coaxial cables. These cables
provide a maximum transfer rate of 10 Mbps. Thus, if
all departments of the bank try to access the
information from the server, the speed slows down.
To increase the data transfer rate, the network
administrator should use UTP Cat 6 twisted pair
cables. This cable provides higher bandwidth and
higher data transfer rate as compared to coaxial
cables.

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Wireless Medium

Unguided form of transmission medium

Transmitters and receivers are used to send and
receive signals
Involves use of electromagnetic waves such as
microwave, infrared, radio waves etc.
Wireless medium is useful in connecting large
geographical areas

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Radio Waves

Line of sight between devices is not required

Frequencies used are VLF, LF, MF, HF, VHF, UHF,
SHF and EHF

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Microwave

High frequency EM wave that is used for point to point

communication
Microwave Categories:

Terrestrial Relay towers are used to transmit

radio signals between earth stations

Satellite Radio signals are transmitted between
different base stations using satellites

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Infrared Transmission

Uses Infrared lights for transmission and reception

of signals
Line of sight must be maintained between the
devices
Mainly used in LAN environments
LEDs or Injection Laser Diode (ILD) is used to
transmit information and photodiodes are used to
receive the signals

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Case Study - 3
Money Maker Bank plans to link all its branches
located across India to a centralized server
located in Mumbai. As all the branches are
located at various geographical locations, the
bank plans to maintain an account of all the
transactions of each and every branch. The
overhead cost of the current network is too
high. So the network administrator wants to use
a cost effective way.
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Problem

Identify the type of setup required to connect

various branches to the central server in a cost
effective manner.

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Suggested Solution
The bank should establish a wireless network
from all the branches to the central server. This
will reduce the cost of installing cables for
interconnecting the branches. This will also
reduce the overhead cost of maintenance of
cables, as it is costlier to connect all the
branches, which are spread in India, using
cables.

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Media Comparison
Characteristics

UTP

STP

Coaxial Cables

Fiber Optic Cables

Bandwidth

10 Mbps 100 Mbps

10 Mbps 100 Mbps

10 Mbps

100 Mbps - 1 Gbps

Maximum cable segment

100 meters

100 meters

200 500 meters

2 k.m. 100 k.m.

Interference rating

Poor

Better than UTP

Better than twisted pair

wires

Very good as compared

to any other cable

Installation cost

Cheap

Costly than UTP

Costly than twisted pair

wires

Most costly to install

Bend radius

360 degrees / feet

360 degrees / feet

360 degrees / feet or 30

degrees / feet

30 degrees / feet

Security

Low

Low

Low

High

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Summary I

Networking hardware involves all peripheral devices,

interface cards and other components such as cables
and wires that are used to establish network connection
All cables have certain characteristics such as segment
length, bandwidth, crosstalk, attenuation, interference
susceptibility, cost and number of segments
Different types of medium are available for transmitting
data over the network such as copper medium, fiber
optic medium and wireless medium
Copper medium includes coaxial cables and twisted pair
cables

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Summary II

Twisted pair cable consists of a pair of cables that is

twisted around each other
Two types twisted pair cable are STP and UTP
Crosstalk is a phenomenon in which signals of one wire
interfere with the signals transmitted over the other wire
To avoid crosstalk, a pair of wires wound around each
other and each pair is placed inside a protective foil wrap
Types of UTP cables are Cat 1, Cat 2, Cat 3, Cat 4, Cat
5, Cat 5e, Cat 6 and Cat 7
STP cable types include Cat 5e and 150 ohm shielded
cable

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Summary III

Coaxial cables consist of a solid copper core that is

surrounded by an insulator which is again covered by a
mesh like ground wire and an outer cover known as a
sheath
Thinwire or RG-58 cable is approximately 0.64 cm in
diameter and is used in constantly changing
environments
BNC connector is used to connect devices to the thinnet
coaxial cable network
RG-8 cable is approximately 1 cm in diameter and used
as a backbone cable

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Summary IV

For RG-6 cable, the center conductor is 1.05 mm in

diameter and for RG-59 cable is 0.86 mm
A fiber optic cable consists of a centre glass core that is
surrounded by a glass cladding, Kevlar fibers and an
outer sheath material
LEDs and lasers are used to transmit light signals
through the fiber optic cables
There are two types of fiber optic cables available
namely single mode and multi mode

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Summary V

The primary types of connectors used to connect fiber

cables are ST, SC, SMA, Fiber Jack and MIC
In wireless medium, signals are transmitted through air
and space using radio and satellite networks
High frequency radio waves used for point to point
communication of audio, data and video signals are
called as microwaves
Infrared wireless transmission networks use Infrared
lights to send and receive signals

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