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Tutorial: Physical Layer
1. Consider the following 3 network topologies for
connecting N nodes:
linear ring
B C
A B C D A D
full mesh
B C
A D
In the general case of an N node network: (a)
How many links are there in each network? (b)
What is the maximum delay between any pair
of nodes, assuming each link has a delay of
10ms, and the shortest path is used between
nodes? (c) What is the minimum number of
links that need to be cut in order to isolate one
or more nodes? (d) Which topology would you
use to connect military command centres?
Answer:
(a) Linear: N 1 links Ring: N links Full
mesh: N (N 1)/2 links (b) Linear: 10(N 1)
ms Ring: 10N/2 ms Full mesh: 10 ms (c)
Linear: 1 link Ring: 2 links Full mesh: N 1
links (d) Full mesh - cost not important, but
reliability is essential
2. Consider a telephone signal that is bandwidth
limited to 4 kHz. (a) At what rate should you
sample the signal so that you can completely
reconstruct the signal? (b) If each sample of the
signal is to be encoded at 256 levels, how many
bits/symbol are required for each sample? (c)
What is the minimum bit rate required to
transmit this signal?
Answer: (a) By Nyquists Theorem: min
sampling rate = 2 4 103 samples/s =
8 103 samples/s (b) 256 possible values per
sample requires log2 256 = 8 bits/sample (c) 8
bits/sample 8 103 samples/s = 64 kb/s
3. Identify 2 ways in which the OSI reference
model and the TCP/IP reference model are the
same. Identify 2 ways in which these models
differ.
Answer: Similarities: - stack of layered
protocols - similar functionality in the layers -
layers above transport layer relate to
applications
Differences: - TCP/IP does not distinguish
between services, interfaces and protocols -
TCP/IP does not clearly separate physical and
data link functions - OSI supports
connectionless and connection-oriented
communication at the network layer, while
TCP/IP supports only connectionless
communication at the IP layer - OSI supports
only connection-oriented communication at the
transport layer, while TCP/IP supports both
connection-oriented and connectionless
communication at the transport layer
4. A noiseless 4 kHz channel is sampled every 1
msec. What is the maximum data rate?
Answer: A noiseless channel can carry an
arbitrarily large amount of information, no
matter how often it is sampled. Just send a lot
of data per sample. For the 4 kHz channel,
make 8000 samples/sec. If each sample is 16
bits, the channel can send 128 kbps. If each
sample is 1024 bits, the channel can send 8.2
Mbps. The key word here is noiseless. With a
normal 4 kHz channel, the Shannon limit would
not allow this.
5. Television channels are 6 MHz wide. How many
bits/sec can be sent if four-level digital signals
are used? Assume a noiseless channel.
Answer: Using the Nyquist theorem, we can
sample 12 million times/sec. Four level signals
provide 2 bits per sample, for a total data rate
of 24 Mbps.
6. Is the Nyquist theorem true for optical fibre or
only for copper wire?
Answer: The Nyquit theorem is a property of
mathematics and has nothing to do with
technology. It says that is you have a function
whose Fourier spectrum does not contain any
sines or cosines above f , then by samping the
function at a frequency of 2f , you capture all
1

the information there is. Thus, the Nyquist
theorem is true for all media.
7. Radio antennas often work best when the
diameter of the antenna is equal to the
wavelength of the radio wave. Reasonable
antennas range from 1 cm to 5 meters in
diameter. What frequency range does this
cover?
Answer: Start with f = c. We know that c
is 3.0 108 m/s. For = 1 cm, we can get 30
GHz. For = 5 m, we get 60 MHz. Thus the
band covered is 60 MHz to 30 GHz.
8. A laser beam 1 mm wide is aimed at a detector
1 mm wide 100 m away on the roof of a
building. How much of an angular diversion (in
degrees) does the laser have to have before it
misses the detector?
Answer: If the beam is off by 1 mm at the
end, it misses the detector. This amounts to a
triangle with base 100 m and height 0.001 m.
The angle is one whose tangent is thus 0.00001.
This angle is about 0.00057 degrees.
9. Consider a satellite at the altitude of
geostationary satellites, but whose orbital plane
is inclined to the equatorial plane by an angle .
To a stationary user of the earths surface at
north latitude , does this satellite appear
motionless in the sky? If not, describe its
motion.
Answer: The satellite moves from being
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directly overhead toward the southern horizon,
with a maximum excursion from the vertical of
2. It takes 24 hours to go from directly
overhead to maximm excursion and then back.
10. Is an oil pipe a simplex system, a half-duplex
system, or a full duplex system, or none of the
above?
Answer: Like a single railroad track, it is half
duplex. Oil can flow in either direction, but not
both ways at once.
11. In a constellation diagram, all points lie on a
circle centered on the origin. What kind of
modulation is being used?
Answer: If all points are equidistant from the
origin, they all have the same amplitude, so
amplitude modulation is not being used.
Frequency modulation is never used in
constellation diagrams, so the encoding is pure
phase shift keying.
12. Ten signals, each requiring 4000 Hz, are
multiplexed onto a single channel using FDM.
How much minimum bandwidth is required for
the multiplexed channel? Assume that the
guard bands are 400 Hz wide.
Answer: There are ten 4000 Hz signals. We
need nine guard bands to avoid any interference.
The minimum bandwidth required is
4000 10 + 400 9 = 43, 600 Hz.