An Overview of Communication

Engineering
(Wired)

Dr. Akmal Chaudhary

Assistant Professor
Department of Electrical Engineering
Ajman University of Science & Technology
Ajman, 2013

What is Communication?
What does communication means?
The term communication means the transfer of some form of
information from one place to another place.

What is telecommunication?
In telecommunications, sender transmits a signal through a
transmission medium such as air/cable.

Importance of Communications!
Teleconferencing, teleshopping,
computer networks, mobile,...etc

telebanking,

internet,
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What is Communication?
Sender

Transmission
Medium(air)

Receiver

Communications
Signal

Receiver
Sender
Telecommunications

Transmission
medium (wire)

Signal

Basics - What is Signal?

To be transmitted, data must be transformed to
electromagnetic signals.

Data can be analog or digital. Analog data are

continuous and take continuous values. Digital data
have discrete states and take on discrete values.

Signals can be analog or digital. Analog signals can

have an infinite number of values in a range; digital
signals can have only a limited number of values.
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Basics - Analog and Digital Signal

A

t
Digital Signal

Digital Signal

In communication, we commonly use periodic analog

signals and nonperiodic digital signals.
Both analog and digital signals have amplitude and
frequency.

Basics - Importance of Modulation

In modulation, a message signal, which contains the
information is impressed onto the carrier.
Modulation is used because data signals are not
always suitable for direct transmission.
There are three basic types of modulation: Amplitude
modulation, Frequency modulation, and Phase
modulation

Telecommunications
Telecommunications: electronic transmission of
signals for communications, via telephone, radio,
television, etc.
Data communications: subset of telecommunications
that refers to the electronic collection, processing, and
distribution of data, typically between computer
system hardware devices.
Telecommunications medium: anything that carries
an electronic signal and interfaces between a sending
device and a receiving device.
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Elements of Telecommunications System

Medium[4]

Signal [2]

Signal [2]

Telecommunications
Device[5]

Medium[4]
Sending Computer
System and
Equipment[1]

Medium[4]

Telecommunications
Device[3]

Receiving Computer
System and
Equipment[6]
Signal [2]

Examples of Todays Communication Methods:

Satellite (Telephone, TV, Radio, Internet, )
Microwave
(Telephone,
TV,
Mobile,
)
Optical Fibers (TV, Internet, Telephone, )
Copper Cables (Telephone lines, Cable TV, )
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Types of Communication Systems

Simplex
Unidirectional
As on a one-way street

Half-duplex
Both transmit and receive possible, but not at the same time
Like a one-lane road with two-directional traffic
Walkie-talkie, radio broadcast

Full-duplex
Transmit and receive simultaneously
Like a two-way street, telephone network
Channel capacity must be divided between two directions

Communication Technology Applications

Voice mail

E-mail

Instant
messaging

Newsgroups

Telephony

Collaboration

Groupware

Twitter/Facebook

Chat rooms
Video
conferencing
Global Positioning
System (GPS)
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Types of Transmission Media

There are two types of transmission media: guided and
unguided.
Transmission
media

Guided
(wired)

Twisted-pair
cable

Coaxial
cable

Unguided
(wireless)

Fiber-optic
cable

Free Space

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Twisted Pairs - Guided Media

Twisted pairs of copper wire, shielded or unshielded
are used for telephone service.
Insulator

Conductors

Metal Shield

Plastic cover

Plastic cover

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Twisted Pairs - Guided Media

Cumulative effect of noise is equal on both sides of
twisted pair.

Twisting does not always eliminate the noise, but does

significantly reduce it

The use of twisted pairs is limited by the distance.

Transmission speed and data rates are too low.

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Coaxial Cable- Guided Media

Carries signals of higher frequency ranges than those
in twisted-pair cable.
Insulator

Inner conductor

Plastic cover

Outer conductor
(shield)

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Optical Fiber - Guided Media

Optical fiber is made of glass. It transmits signals in
the form of light.
The Nature of Light
o The speed of light
300,000 Km/sec in a vacuum
Depends on the density of the medium through which it is
traveling

o Other properties of light

Refraction, Critical angle, Reflection
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Optical Fiber - Guided Media

Du Pont Kevlar
for strength

Outer Jacket

Cladding

Plastic
buffer
Glass or
plastic core

Construction of Fiber Optics / Optical Fiber

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Optical Fiber - Guided Media

Bending of Light Ray
Less
dense

Less
dense

Less
dense

More
dense

More
dense

More
dense

I < critical angle,

refraction

I = critical angle,
refraction

I > critical angle,

reflection

Cladding
Sender

Core

Receiver

Cladding

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Optical Fiber - Guided Media

o Advantages

Higher bandwidth

Less signal attenuation

Immunity to electromagnetic interference

Resistance to corrosive materials

Light weight and greater immunity to tapping

o Disadvantages

Installation and maintenance

Unidirectional light propagation

Cost

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Unguided Media - Wireless

o Broadcast Radio
 Distribute signals through the air over long distance using
an antenna
 Typically for stationary locations and can be short range

o Cellular Radio
 High frequency broadcast used for mobile communication
to transmit voice / data and utilizes frequency-reuse
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Unguided Media - Wireless

o Microwaves
 Radio waves providing high speed transmission. They are
point-to-point (cant be obstructed)
 Microwaves are used for robust / efficient satellite
communication

o Infrared
 Wireless transmission media that sends signals using
infrared light- waves - Such as?

TV remotes, keyboards, printers
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Data Transmission Modes

o The transmission of digital data across a link can be
accomplished in either parallel or serial mode.

Transmission Modes
Parallel

Serial

Synchronous

Asynchronous

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Data Transmission Modes

o Serial Transmission
 Data is transmitted, on a single channel, one bit at a time
one after another
1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1
Sender transmitted

1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1
Receiver received

 Advantage: reduced cost and allows two ways of

transmission: asynchronous, synchronous

o Asynchronous
 A gap between two bytes: means asynchronous at byte
level. Uses start bit (0) and stop bits (1s)

o Synchronous
 Special sequence of 1/0 between frames: No gap!

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Data Transmission Modes

o Parallel Transmission

Sender transmitted

1
0
0
1
1
0
0
1

1
0
0
1
1
0
0
1

Receiver received

 Each bit has its own piece of wire along which it travels
- often used to send data to a printer
 Advantage: speed

Transmission Impairments
Signals travel through transmission media, which are
not perfect. The imperfection cause impairment in the
signal.
Impairment
causes

Attenuation

Distortion

Noise

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Attenuation - Transmission Impairments

Loss of energy to overcome the resistance of the
medium: heat
Original

Amplified

Attenuated

Amplifier

Point 1

Transmission medium

Point 2

Point 3

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Distortion - Transmission Impairments

The signal changes its form or shape due to resistance
offered by the medium.

Composite signal
sent

Composite signal
received

Components,
in phase

At the sender

Components,
out of phase

At the receiver

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Noise - Transmission Impairments

Several types of noises, such as thermal noise, induced
noise, crosstalk, and impulse noise, may corrupt the
signal.
Transmitted

Point 1

Noise

Transmission medium

Received

Point 2

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Telephony Brief History

Before 1984
Almost all services are provided by AT&T Bell System
In 1984, AT&T was broken into
AT&T long Lines
23 BOCs(Bell Operating Companies)
BOCs are grouped together to several RBOCs

Between 1984 and 1996

Divided into more than 200 LATAs (Local Access
Transport Areas)

After 1996
Any companies can provide any services

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A Telephone System
Many local telephone exchanges had sprung up and
Bell Telephone acquired them and interconnected
them for long distance.
This telephone system is called Public Switched

Telephone Network (PSTN)

Local loop
Local
Exchange
Subscriber line

Local
Exchange
Long distance
network

Local
Exchange

Trunk
circuit
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Basic Telephone
Hybrid coil prevents the incoming speaker signal
and the outgoing microphone signal from
interfering with each other
Subscriber
Local
Line
Exchange

Telephone

Dial switch

Cradle switch Tip(+)

Off-hook

Mouth
DTMF

Ear
R

On-hook
C

Ringer Ring (-)

SLIC

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Telephone System Circa 1900

Pair of copper wires

local loop

Manual routing at local exchange offices

o Analog voltage travels over copper wire end-to-end

Voice signal arrives at destination severely attenuated
o Routing performed manually at exchanges office(s)
Routing is expensive and lengthy operation
Route is maintained for duration of call
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Multiplexing - PSTN
1900: 25% of telephony revenues went to copper mines
o Standard was 18 gauge, long distance even heavier
o Two wires per loop to combat cross-talk
o Needed method to place multiple conversations on a single trunk

1918: Carrier system (FDM)

Channels

o 5 conversations on single trunk

o Later extended to 12 (group)
o Still later supergroups, master groups, supermaster groups

1963: T-carrier system (TDM)

Timeslots

o T1 = 24 conversations per trunk

o Later T3 = 28 T1s
o Still later SDH rates with 1000s of conversations per trunk

t
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Signaling - PSTN
Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) with
automatic switching requires signaling.
The present PSTN has thousands of features and all
require signaling support
Examples:








On-hook / off-hook
Pulse / Tone dialing
Receiver off-hook
Call waiting
Caller number identification
Call forwarding
Hook-flash









Fax transmission detect

Inter-CO messaging
Echo cancellation
Voice mail
Conference calls
Coin-drop
Billing

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Signaling Methods
Signaling can be performed in many ways
o Analog voltage signaling
o In-band signaling

loop-start, ground-start

DTMF

o Channel associated signaling (CAS) ABCD bits

o Common channel signaling (CCS)

SS7, QSIG

Trunk Associated CCS

Separate signaling network CCS
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Telephony Routing

o Circuit switching - route is maintained for duration of call

o Route set-up is an expensive operation, just as it was for
manual switching. Today, complex least cost routing
algorithms are used.
o Call duration consists of set-up, voice and tear-down
phases
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The PSTN Circa 1960

Trunks circuits
Local loop
Subscriber line

Automatic routing through universal telephone network

 Analog voltages used throughout, but extensive Frequency

Division Multiplexing
Voice signal arrives at destination after amplification and
filtering to 4 KHz.
 Automatic routing
Universal dial-tone with voltage and tone signaling.
Circuit switching (route is maintained for duration of call) 36

The Digitalization of PSTN

Shannon (Bell Labs) proved
Digital
Analog
Communications is better than Communications

Therefore, PSTN was digitalized

Better means

More efficient use of resources (e.g. more channels on trunks)

Higher voice quality (less noise, less distortion)

Added features

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Timing
In addition to voice, the digital PSTN transports timing
 This timing information is essential because of
The universal use of TDM
The requirement of accurate playback (especially for
fax/modem)
 Receiving switches can recover the clock of the transmitting
switch
 Every telephony network has an accurate clock called
stratum 1
 Clocks synchronized to it are called stratum 2, stratum 3
and so on
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The Present PSTN

Core
backbone

PSTN Network
Subscriber line

Analog voltages and copper wire used only in last mile,

but core designed to mimic original situation
Voice signal filtered to 4 KHz at input to digital network
Time Division Multiplexing of digital signals in the network
Extensive use of fiber optic and wireless physical links
T1/E1, PDH and SONET/SDH synchronous protocols
Automatic routing
Circuit switching (route is maintained for duration of call)
Signaling can be trunk associated or via separate network (SS7)

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Nonvoice / Data Services

The PSTN can even be used to transport non-voice signals

such as

FAX

VoP course

or DATA
PSTN

These services disguise themselves as voice by using a

modem

Proper timing is essential

Special signaling is required
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Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line

o Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) is
an asymmetric communication technology
designed for residential users; it is not suitable for
businesses.
o The existing local loop can handle bandwidths up
to 1.1 MHz
o ADSL is an adaptive technology. The system uses
a data rate based on the condition of the local loop
line.
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Cable Television
o Started to distribute video signals to locations with
poor or no reception in the late 1940s: Unidirectional
o It was called Community Antenna TV
Picking Antenna
Drop Cable
Coaxial Cable
Splitter
Amplifier

Tap

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Summery Of Training (First Session)

Basics of Communication Engineering
Major elements of Communication System
Transmission media types and impairments
Transmission modes and working principles
Telephony Public Switched Telephone Network
Digital over Analog and how digitalization happened!
Services Offered by modern day telephony
Brief explanation of ADSL and cable television

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What Is The Next?

Wireless Communication Systems
What will you be given training on:
Brief History of Wireless Communication
In-depth insight into Mobile Communication

Thats all folks!

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