ACTIVITY NO.

6
Modem

Objectives:
1. To describe the function of a modem
2. To identify considerations when choosing a modem
3. Identify different types of modems
a. Internal modem
b. External modem
c. K56 modem
d. Cable modem
e. DSL modem
4. To describe how a modem works

Introduction:
A modem (modulator-demodulator)
Is a device that modulates an analog carrier signal to encode digital information and demodulates the signal to
decode the transmitted information. Modems can be used with any means of transmitting analog signals, from  light
emitting diodes to radio. A common type of modem is one that turns the digital data of a computer into
modulated electrical signal for transmission over telephone lines and demodulated by another modem at the receiver
side to recover the digital data. Modems are generally classified by the amount of data they can send in a given  unit of
time, usually expressed in bits per second (symbol bit/s, sometimes abbreviated "bps"), or bytes per
second (symbol B/s).
Different types of modems
The selection of the modem depends upon the requirement and network structure.
1. Internal Fax Modem, an internal fax modem is attached to the internal slot of the mother boards. These
modems are categorized as full duplex and half duplex modems. These modems are used for fax
and internet communications. These modems can also be used for data and voice communications. 
2. External Fax Modem, these are similar to internal modems but it connects to the communication port
and placed outside of the CPU. These are used for the same purposes.
3. Wireless Modem, some Internet Service Providers supports wireless internet services. The wireless
modems are used for this service. These modems work similar to traditional wired modems except
its structure.
4. ISDN and DSL Modem, for broadband internet communication we can have the ISDN and DSL
modems. These modems provides faster communication depend upon the package and services of the
service provider.
5. GPRS Modem, the GPRS modems are used to browser internet and for other communication using the
GPRS services. The GPRS (General Packet Radio Signals) service is provided on the cellular
networks. If we have cellular connection then we can communicate using the GPRS modems. The
GPRS services is costly as compared with other communication services.
 6. Voice modem
Voice modems are regular modems that are capable of recording or playing audio over the telephone line.
They are used for telephony applications. See Voice modem command set for more details on voice modems.
This type of modem can be used as an FXO card for Private branch exchange systems (compare V.92).

An internal PCI Winmodem/softmodem (on the left) next to a traditional ISA modem (on the right).
Internal or external modem
Softmodem
A Winmodem or softmodem is a stripped-down modem that replaces tasks traditionally handled
in hardware with software.
- In this case the modem is a simple interface designed to act as a digital-to-analog and an analog-to-digital
converter.
- Softmodems are cheaper than traditional modems because they have fewer hardware components.
Dial-up modem use in the US had dropped to 60% by 2003, and in 2006 stood at 36%.  Voiceband modems were
once the most popular means of Internet access in the U.S., but with the advent of new ways of accessing the Internet,
the traditional 56K modem is losing popularity. The dial up modem is still widely used by customers in rural areas, where
DSL, Cable or Fiber Optic Service is not available, or they are unwilling to pay what these companies charge.
Wifi modem
Direct broadcast satellite, WiFi, and mobile phones all use modems to communicate, as do most other wireless
services today. Modern telecommunications and data networks also make extensive use of radio modems where long
distance data links are required. Such systems are an important part of the PSTN, and are also in common use for high-
speed computer network links to outlying areas where fibre is not economical.
Even where a cable is installed, it is often possible to get better performance or make other parts of the system
simpler by using radio frequencies and modulation techniques through a cable. Coaxial cable has a very large bandwidth,
however signal attenuation becomes a major problem at high data rates if a baseband digital signal is used. By using a
modem, a much larger amount of digital data can be transmitted through a single wire. Digital cable television and cable
Internet services use radio frequency modems to provide the increasing bandwidth needs of modern households. Using
a modem also allows for frequency-division multiple access to be used, making full-duplex digital communication with
many users possible using a single wire.
Wireless modems come in a variety of types, bandwidths, and speeds. Wireless modems are often referred to as
transparent or smart. They transmit information that is modulated onto a carrier frequency to allow many simultaneous
wireless communication links to work simultaneously on different frequencies.

WiFi and WiMax

The WiFi and WiMax standards use wireless mobile broadband modems operating at microwave frequencies.

Mobile broadband modems

  Mobile broadband  and  Mobile broadband modem

Huawei CDMA2000 Evolution-Data Optimized USB wireless modem

Modems which use a mobile telephone system (GPRS, UMTS, HSPA, EVDO, WiMax, etc.), are known as mobile
broadband modems(sometimes also called wireless modems). Wireless modems can be embedded inside a laptop or
appliance, or be external to it. External wireless modems are connect cards, USB modems for mobile
broadband and cellular routers. A connect card is a PC Card or ExpressCardwhich slides into a PCMCIA/PC
card/ExpressCard slot on a computer. USB wireless modems use a USB port on the laptop instead of a PC card or
ExpressCard slot. A USB modem used for mobile broadband Internet is also sometimes referred to as a dongle. [14] A
cellular router may have an external datacard (AirCard) that slides into it. Most cellular routers do allow such datacards
or USB modems. Cellular routers may not be modems by definition, but they contain modems or allow modems to be
slid into them. The difference between a cellular router and a wireless modem is that a cellular router normally allows
multiple people to connect to it (since it can route data or support multipoint to multipoint connections), while a
modem is designed for one connection.
Most of GSM wireless modems come with an integrated SIM cardholder (i.e., Huawei E220, Sierra 881, etc.) and
some models are also provided with a microSD memory slot and/or jack for additional external antenna such as Huawei
E1762 and Sierra Wireless Compass 885. The CDMA (EVDO) versions do not use R-UIM cards, but use Electronic Serial
Number (ESN) instead.
The cost of using a wireless modem varies from country to country. Some carriers implement flat rate plans for
unlimited data transfers. Some have caps (or maximum limits) on the amount of data that can be transferred per month.
Other countries have plans that charge a fixed rate per data transferred—per megabyte or even kilobyte of data
downloaded; this tends to add up quickly in today's content-filled world, which is why many people [who?] are pushing
for flat data rates.
The faster data rates of the newest wireless modem technologies (UMTS, HSPA, EVDO, WiMax) are also
considered to be broadband wireless modems and compete with other broadband modems below.
Like mobile phones, mobile broadband modems can be SIM locked to a particular network provider. Unlocking a
modem is achieved the same way as unlocking a phone, by using an 'unlock code'.

DSL modem
ADSL (asymmetric digital subscriber line) modems, a more recent development, are not limited to the
telephone's voiceband audio frequencies. Early proprietary ADSL modems used carrierless amplitude phase (CAP)
modulation. All standardized asymmetric DSL variants, including ANSI T1.413 Issue 2, G.dmt, ADSL2, ADSL2+, VDSL2,
and G.fast, use discrete multi-tone (DMT) modulation, also called (coded) orthogonal frequency-division
multiplexing (OFDM or COFDM).
 Standard twisted-pair telephone cable can, for short distances, carry signals with much higher frequencies than
the cable's maximum frequency rating. ADSL broadband takes advantage of this capability. However, ADSL's
performance gradually declines as the telephone cable's length increases. This limits ADSL broadband service to
subscribers within a relatively short distance from the telephone exchange.
Newer types of broadband modems are available, including satellite and power line modems.
Most consumers did not know about networking and routers when broadband became available. However,
many people knew that a modem connected a computer to the Internet over a telephone line. To take advantage of
consumers' familiarity with modems, companies called these devices broadband modems rather use less familiar terms
such as adapter, interface, transceiver, or bridge. In fact, broadband modems fit the definition of modem because they
use complex waveforms to carry digital data. They use more advanced technology than  dial-up modems: typically they
can modulate and demodulate hundreds of channels simultaneously or use much wider channels than dial-up modems.

Residential Gateways
Some devices referred to as "broadband modems" are residential gateways, integrating the functions of a
modem, network address translation (NAT) router, Ethernet switch, WiFi access point, DHCP server, firewall, among
others. Some residential gateway offer a so-called "bridged mode", which disables the built-in routing function and
makes the device function similarly to a plain modem. This bridged mode is separate from RFC 1483 bridging.
Cable modem
Cable modems use a range of radio frequencies originally intended to carry television signals. A single cable can
carry radio and television signals at the same time as broadband internet service without interference. Multiple cable
modems attached to a single cable can use the same frequency band by employing a low-level  media access protocol to
avoid conflicts. In the prevalent DOCSIS system, frequency-division duplexing (FDD)
separates uplink and downlink signals.
For a single-cable distribution system, the return signals from customers require bidirectional amplifiers or
reverse path amplifiers that send specific customer frequency bands upstream to the cable plant amongst the
downstream frequency bands.
Brands
 Hayes
 Creative Labs
 US Robotics
 Practical Peripherals
 Multitech
 Racal Vadic
 Radio Shack
 3COM
 Zoom Technologies

Questions
1. What is a modem
2. What are the different types of modem?
3. How does a dial up modem works?
4. What are the functions of a modem?
5. How does a cable modem works?
6. How does a dsl modem works?
7. What is a modem router?
8. Draw the diagram of a modem router connected to the telephone line, with internet access