Transmission Media

Classes of transmission media

 Design Factors
• Bandwidth
– higher bandwidth gives higher data rate
• Transmission Impairments
– e.g. attenuation
• Interference
Interference from overlapping frequency
bands can distort or wipe out a signal
• Number of receivers in guided media
– more receivers introduces more attenuation
Guided Media
 GUIDED MEDIA
• Guided media, which are those that provide a
fixed path from one device to another, include
twisted-pair cable, coaxial cable, and fiber-optic
cable.
• A signal traveling along any of these media is
directed and contained by the physical limits of
the medium.
• Twisted-pair and coaxial cable use metallic
(copper) conductors that accept and transport
signals in the form of electric current.
• Optical fiber is a cable that accepts and
transports signals in the form of light.
 Transmission Characteristics of
Guided Media
Frequency Typical Typical Repeater
Range Attenuation Delay Spacing
Twisted pair 0 to 3.5 kHz 0.2 dB/km @ 50 µs/km 2 km
(with loading) 1 kHz

Twisted pairs 0 to 1 MHz 0.7 dB/km @ 5 µs/km 2 km

(multi-pair 1 kHz
cables)
Coaxial cable 0 to 500 MHz 7 dB/km @ 10 4 µs/km 1 to 9 km
MHz
Optical fiber 186 to 370 0.2 to 0.5 5 µs/km 40 km
THz dB/km
Twisted Pair Cable
 Twisted Pair Cable

• A twisted pair consists of two insulated copper

wires arranged in a regular spiral pattern.
• A wire pair acts as a single communication
link.
 Physical Characteristics

• One of the wires is used to carry signals to the receiver, and the other
is used only as a ground reference.
• The receiver uses the difference between the two.
• In addition to the signal sent by the sender on one of the wires,
interference (noise) and crosstalk may affect both wires and create
unwanted signals.
• Typically, a number of these pairs are bundled together into a cable
by wrapping them in a tough protective sheath.
• The twisting tends to decrease the crosstalk interference
between adjacent pairs in a cable.
• Neighboring pairs in a bundle typically have somewhat different
twist lengths to reduce the crosstalk interference.
• On long-distance links, the twist length typically varies from 2 to
6 inches. The wires in a pair have thicknesses of from 0.4 to 0.9
mm.
• By twisting the pairs, a balance is maintained.
• For example, suppose in one twist, one wire is closer to the noise
source and the other is farther; in the next twist, the reverse is
true.
• Twisting makes it probable that both wires are equally affected by
external influences (noise or crosstalk).
• This means that the receiver, which calculates the difference
between the two, receives no unwanted signals.
• The unwanted signals are mostly canceled out.
• From the above discussion, it is clear that the number of twists per
unit of length (e.g., inch) has some effect on the quality of the
 Transmission Characteristics
• Analog
– needs amplifiers every 5km to 6km
• Digital
– can use either analog or digital signals
– needs a repeater every 2-3km
• Compared to other guided medias, twisted pair
has;
– limited distance
– limited bandwidth (1MHz)
– limited data rate (100Mbps)
• The attenuation for twisted pair is a very strong function of frequency.
• Other impairments are also severe for twisted pair.
• The medium is quite susceptible to interference and noise because
of its easy coupling with electromagnetic fields.
• Shielding the wire with metallic braid or sheathing reduces
interference.
• The twisting of the wire reduces low-frequency interference, and the
use of different twist lengths in adjacent pairs reduces crosstalk.
• For point-to-point analog signaling, a bandwidth of up to about
250 kHz is possible.
• For long-distance digital point-to-point signaling, data rates of up to
a few Mbps are possible.
• For very short distances, data rates of up to 100 Mbps have
been achieved in commercially available products.
 Applications
• It is the most commonly used medium in the telephone network
(linking residential telephones to the local telephone exchange, or
office phones to a PBX), and for communications within buildings
(for LANs running at 10-100Mbps).
• Twisted pair is much less expensive than the other commonly used
guided transmission media and is easier to work with.
• Twisted-pair cables are used in telephone lines to provide voice and
data channels.
• The local loop-the line that connects subscribers to the central
telephone office commonly consists of unshielded twisted-pair cables.
• The DSL lines that are used by the telephone companies to provide
high-data-rate connections also use the high-bandwidth capability of
unshielded twisted-pair cables.
Unshielded Versus Shielded Twisted-Pair Cable

•Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP)

– ordinary telephone wire
– cheapest
– easiest to install
– suffers from external EM interference
•Shielded Twisted Pair (STP)
– metal braid or sheathing that reduces interference
– more expensive
– harder to handle (thick, heavy)
CATEGORY Bandwidth Application Notes

CAT5e 100 MHz 100BASE-TX & Enhanced Cat5. Common for

current LANs. Same construction
1000BASE- as Cat5, but with better testing
T ,Ethernet standards. Limited to 100m
between equipment.

CAT6 250 MHz 10GBASE-T ISO/IEC 11801 2nd Ed. (2002),

ANSI/TIA 568-B.2-1. Most
Ethernet commonly installed cable in
Finland according to the 2002
standard EN 50173-1. Limited to
55M distance at 10GBASE-T
CAT7 600 MHz 10GBASE-T Fully shielded cable. ISO/IEC
Ethernet or 11801 2nd Ed. (2002). It is not
recognized by the EIA/TIA.
POTS/CATV/1
000BASE-T
over single
cable
Coaxial Cable
 COAXIAL CABLE

• A single coaxial cable has a diameter of from 1 to 2.5 cm.

• Coaxial cable can be used over longer distances and support more stations
on a shared line than twisted pair.
 Physical Characteristics
• Coaxial cable (or coax) carries signals of higher frequency
ranges than those in twisted pair cable, in part because
the two media are constructed quite differently.
• Instead of having two wires, coax has a central core
conductor of solid or stranded wire (usually copper)
enclosed in an insulating sheath, which is, in turn, encased
in an outer conductor of metal foil, braid, or a combination
of the two.
• The outer metallic wrapping serves both as a shield
against noise and as the second conductor, which
completes the circuit.
• This outer conductor is also enclosed in an insulating
sheath, and the whole cable is protected by a plastic cover
 Categories of Coaxial Cables
• Coaxial cables are categorized by their
radio government (RG) ratings
 Applications
Coaxial cable is a versatile transmission medium,
used in a wide variety of applications, including:
• Television distribution - aerial to TV & Cable TV
systems
• Long-distance telephone transmission - traditionally
used for inter-exchange links, now being replaced by
optical fiber/microwave/satellite
• Local area networks
• Short-run computer system links
Optic Fiber Cable
Optical Fiber
 Physical Characteristics
• An optical fiber cable has a cylindrical shape and
consists of three concentric sections: the core,
the cladding, and the jacket.
• The core is the innermost section and consists of one
or more very thin strands, or fibers, made of glass or
plastic; the core has a diameter in the range of 8 to 50
µm.
• Each fiber is surrounded by its own cladding, a glass
or plastic coating that has optical properties different
from those of the core and a diameter of 125 µm.
• The interface between the core and cladding
acts as a reflector to confine light that would
otherwise escape the core.
• The outermost layer, surrounding one or
a bundle of cladded fibers, is the jacket.
• The jacket is composed of plastic and other
material layered to protect against
moisture, abrasion, crushing, and other
environmental dangers.
 Fiber-Optic Cable
• A fiber-optic cable is made of glass or plastic
and transmits signals in the form of light.
• To understand optical fiber, we first need to
explore several aspects of the nature of light.
• Light travels in a straight line as long as it is
moving through a single uniform
substance.
• If a ray of light traveling through one substance
suddenly enters another substance (of a
different density), the ray changes its direction.
Bending of light ray
 Advantages of Optical Fiber

• Higher bandwidth. Fiber-optic cable can support dramatically higher

bandwidths (and hence data rates) than either twisted-pair or coaxial
cable. Currently, data rates and bandwidth utilization over fiber-optic
cable are limited not by the medium but by the signal generation and
reception technology available.
• Less signal attenuation. Fiber-optic transmission distance is
significantly greater than that of other guided media. A signal can run
for 50 km without requiring regeneration. We need repeaters every 5
km for coaxial or twisted-pair cable.
• Noise resistance. Fiber optic transmissions uses light rather than
electricity, so noise is not a factor. External light, is the only possible
interference, is blocked by the outer jacket.
• Resistance to corrosive materials. Glass is more resistant to
corrosive materials than copper.
• Light weight. Fiber-optic cables are much lighter than copper
cables.
 Disadvantages
There are some disadvantages in the use of optical
fiber.
• Installation and maintenance. Fiber-optic cable is a
relatively new technology. Its installation and
maintenance require expertise that is not yet available
everywhere.
• Unidirectional light propagation. Propagation of
light is unidirectional. If we need bidirectional
communication, two fibers are needed.
• Cost. The cable and the interfaces are relatively more
expensive than those of other guided media.
• Fragility. Glass fiber is more easily broken than wire,
making it less useful for applications where hardware
portability is required.
Unguided Media
 UNGUIDED MEDIA
• Unguided media transport electromagnetic waves without using
a physical conductor.
• This type of communication is often referred to as wireless
communication.
• Signals are normally broadcast through free space and thus are
available to anyone who has a device capable of receiving
them.
• The electromagnetic spectrum, ranging from 3 kHz to 900 THz,
used for wireless communication.
 Wireless Transmission
Frequencies
• 2GHz to 40GHz
– microwave
– Microwave
highly directional
– point to point
– Can also be used for satellite
• 30MHz to 1GHz
Radio wave
– Omnidirectional applications
– broadcast radio
• 3 x 1011 to 2 x 1014
– infrared
– Local point to point and Multipoint Infrared

applications within confined areas

 Antennas
• For unguided media, transmission and reception are achieved by means
of an antenna.
• An antenna can be defined as an electrical conductor or system
of conductors used either for radiating electromagnetic energy or
for collecting electromagnetic energy.
• Transmission antenna
– radio frequency energy from transmitter
– converted to electromagnetic energy by antenna
– radiated into surrounding environment
• Reception antenna
– electromagnetic energy impinging on antenna
– converted to radio frequency electrical energy
– fed to receiver
• Same antenna is often used for both purposes
 Radiation Pattern
• A common way to characterize the performance of an
antenna is the radiation pattern.
• It is a graphical representation of the radiation
properties of an antenna as a function of space
coordinates.
 Radiation Pattern
• Antenna will radiate power in all directions
• Does not perform equally well in all directions
– as seen in a radiation pattern diagram
• an isotropic antenna is a (theoretical) point in space
– radiates in all directions equally
– actual radiation pattern for the isotropic antenna is
a sphere with the antenna at the center.
Radiation pattern of isotropic antenna
Omnidirectional Antenna

• Used mainly in broadcast radio

• Frequency range from 30MHz -1 GHz
• Communication through line- of-sight
• Can penetrate through walls.
• Signal can travel long distance.
• Multipath interference.
Parabolic Reflective Antenna
Parabolic Reflective Antenna
 Parabolic Reflective Antenna
• Used in terrestrial microwave and satellite applications such as
headlights, optical and radio telescopes, and microwave
antennas
• A parabola is the locus of all points equidistant from a fixed
line (the directrix), and fixed point (the focus) not on the line.
• If a source of electromagnetic energy (or sound) is placed at the
focus of the paraboloid, and if the paraboloid is a reflecting
surface, then the wave will bounce back in lines parallel to the
axis of the paraboloid
• In theory, this effect creates a parallel beam without dispersion.
In practice, there will be some dispersion, because the source of
energy must occupy more than one point. The larger the diameter
of the antenna, the more tightly directional is the beam.
• On reception, if incoming waves are parallel to the axis of the
reflecting paraboloid, the resulting signal will be concentrated
at the focus.
Wireless transmission waves
 Radio Waves
• Electromagnetic waves ranging in frequencies between 3
kHz and 1 GHz are normally called radio waves
• Radio waves, for the most part, are omnidirectional. When
an antenna transmits radio waves, they are propagated in
all directions.
• This means that the sending and receiving antennas do
not have to be aligned.
• A sending antenna sends waves that can be received by
any receiving antenna.
• The omnidirectional property has a disadvantage, too.
– The radio waves transmitted by one antenna are susceptible to
interference by another antenna that may send signals using the
same frequency or band.
 Radio Waves
• Radio waves, particularly those waves that propagate
in the sky mode, can travel long distances.
• This makes radio waves a good candidate for long-
distance broadcasting such as AM radio.
• Radio waves, particularly those of low and medium
frequencies, can penetrate walls.
• It is an advantage because, for example, an AM radio
can receive signals inside a building.
• It is a disadvantage because we cannot isolate a
communication to just inside or outside a building.
• suffers from multipath interference
– reflections from land, water, other objects
 Microwaves
• Electromagnetic waves having frequencies between 1
and 300 GHz are called microwaves.
• Microwaves are unidirectional.
• When an antenna transmits microwave waves, they
can be narrowly focused.
• This means that the sending and receiving antennas
need to be aligned.
• The unidirectional property has an obvious
advantage.
• A pair of antennas can be aligned without interfering
with another pair of aligned antennas.
• Microwaves are used for unicast communication such
as cellular telephones, satellite networks, and wireless
LANs.
 Terrestrial Microwave
• used for long haul telecommunications
• and short point-to-point links
• requires fewer repeaters but line of sight
• use a parabolic dish to focus a narrow beam
onto a receiver antenna
• 1-40GHz frequencies
• higher frequencies give higher data rates
• main source of loss is attenuation
– distance, rainfall
• also interference
 Satellite Microwave
• satellite is relay station
• receives on one frequency, amplifies or repeats
signal and transmits on another frequency
– eg. uplink 5.925-6.425 GHz & downlink 3.7-4.2 GHz
• typically requires geo-stationary orbit
– height of 35,784km
– spaced at least 3-4° apart
• typical uses
– television
– long distance telephone
– private business networks
– global positioning
Satellite Point to Point Link
Satellite Broadcast Link
 Characteristics of Microwave Transmission
• Microwave propagation is line-of-sight.
– Since the towers with the mounted antennas need to be in
direct sight of each other, towers that are far apart need to be
very tall.
– The curvature of the earth as well as other blocking obstacles
do not allow two short towers to communicate by using
microwaves. Repeaters are often needed for long distance
communication.
• Very high-frequency microwaves cannot penetrate walls.
– This characteristic can be a disadvantage if receivers are
inside buildings.
• The microwave band is relatively wide, almost 299 GHz.
– Therefore wider sub bands can be assigned, and a high
data rate is possible
• Use of certain portions of the band requires permission
from authorities.
• directive antennas for
such devices as radar
guns, automatic door
openers, and
microwave radiometers
 Infrared
• Infrared waves, with frequencies from 300 GHz to 400 THz
(wavelengths from 1 mm to 770 nm), can be used for short-
range communication.
• Infrared waves, having high frequencies, cannot penetrate
walls.
• This advantageous characteristic prevents interference
between one system and another; a short-range
communication system in one room cannot be affected by
another system in the next room.
• When we use our infrared remote control, we do not interfere
with the use of the remote by our neighbors.
• However, this same characteristic makes infrared signals
useless for long-range communication.
• In addition, we cannot use infrared waves outside a building
because the sun's rays contain infrared waves that can
interfere with the communication.
 Applications

• Signals for communication between

devices such as keyboards, mice, PCs,
and printers.
• For example, some manufacturers provide
a special port called the IrDA port that
allows a wireless keyboard to
communicate with a PC.
 Wireless Propagation
• Unguided signals can travel from the source to destination in
several ways: ground propagation, sky propagation, and line-of-
sight propagation
Wireless Propagation
Ground Wave
 Ground Propagation
• Below 2 MHz
• Ionosphere does not plays a vital role.
• The signal is propagating in all directions
and signal is hugging the earth.
• As a result with along the ground it can
propagate over long distances.
• Example: AM Radio
Wireless Propagation
Sky Wave
 Sky Propagation
• From 2 to 30 MHz
• The electromagnetic signal which will come out
from the transmitter will go to the ionosphere.
• The signal gets reflected by the ionosphere and
comes back to the receiving antenna.
• Ionosphere plays a very important role because as
the reflection of signals by ionosphere helps sky
propagation method to cover long distance.
• Example: Aircraft communication, BBC
Wireless Propagation
Line of Sight
 Line-of-sight Propagation
• Above 30 MHz
• Point to point communication
• And above 30 MHz the signal behaves somewhat
light as the frequency is very high and the
wavelength is small.
• Got two antennas both are communicating with
each other with the help of line of sight
communication.
• The antenna must be relatively quite so high so
that the line of sight communication is visible
• Example: FM radio, television signals, cellular
phone, terrestrial microwave, satellite microwave