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DATA AND SIGNAL

OBJECTIVES

Provides a general idea of what we will see in the rest of the book.
Four major Concepts are discussed: Data and Signal Communication.

INTRODUCTION

One of the major functions of the physical layer is to move data in

the form of electromagnetic signals across a transmission medium.
Whether you are collecting numerical statistics from another computer,
sending animated pictures from a design workstation, or causing a bell to
ring at a distant control center, you are working with the transmission of
data across network connections.
Generally, the data usable to a person or application are not in a
form that can be transmitted over a network. For example, a photograph
Data Communication must first be changed to a form that transmission media can accept.
& Transmission media work by conducting energy along a physical path.

Networking II COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end the module, the students are expected to introduce the
II. DATA and SIGNAL Communication concepts of Data Communication and networking:

❖ CONTENTS OF THE MODULE

This module contains the following lessons:

Lesson 1 : DATA
MODULE 2
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Lesson 2 : Signal Characteristics Specific Learning Outcomes

DIRECTIONS ON HOW TO USE THE MODULE PROPERLY At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

In order to benefit profoundly from this module, please be guided by all ● Explain what is data
the key points presented below. ● Distinguish Between Analog and Digital Signal
● Explain the difference between time and Frequency
1. This module contains two (2) lessons. Each lesson is explained representation of signal
substantively. ● Specify the bandwidth of a signa;
Read the explanations thoroughly so that you could understand the ● Specify the sources of impairment
lesson fully. ● Explain Attenuation and Unit of Attenuation
● Explain Data Rate Limits and Nyquist Bit rate
2. Please use Microsoft Word Long Size for the answer and convert to ● Distinguish Between bit rate and Baud Rate
PDF. If you want to send your documents online, just send it to our ● Identify Noise Sources
Google classroom account
A simplified model of a data communication system.
Section B: class code: sa5aesv
Source
E-mail: [email protected]
Source is where the data originated. Typically, it is a computer, but
3. Feel free to chat, call, text or send an email message to me if you it can be any other electronic equipment such as telephone headset, video
have questions, reaction, reflections about the content or activities in the camera, etc, which can generate data for transmission to some
module. destination. The data to be sent is represented by x(t).
4. The deadline for the submission for this will be posted to our group
chat or google classroom.

LESSON 1

DATA

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DATA
Data refers to information that conveys some meaning based on some
mutually agreed up rules or conventions between a sender and a receiver
and today it comes in a variety of forms such as text, graphics, audio,
video and animation.
Simplified model of a data communication system
Data can be of two types; analog and digital. Analog data take on
continuous values on some interval. Typical examples of analog data are
Transmitted: As data cannot be sent in its native form, it's necessary to voice and video. The data that are collected from the real world with the
help of transducers are continuous-valued or analog in nature. On the
convert it into signal. This is performed with the help of a transmitter
contrary, digital data takes on discrete values. Text or character strings
such as modem. The signal that is sent by the transmitter is represented can be considered as examples of digital data. Characters are represented
by s(t). by suitable codes, e.g. ASCII code, where each character is represented
by a 7-bit code.
Communication Medium: The signal can be sent to the receiver through
a communication medium, which could be a simple twisted-pair of wire,
a coaxial cable, optical fiber or wireless communication system. It may SIGNAL
be noted that the signal that comes out of the communication medium is
s’(t). Which is different from s(t) that was sent by the transmitter. This is It is an electrical, electronic or optical representation of data, which can
be sent over a communication medium. Stated in mathematical terms, a
due to various impairments that the signal suffers as it passes through the
signal is merely a function of the data. For example, a microphone
communication medium. converts voice data into voice signal, which can be sent over a pair of
wires. Analog signals are continuous-valued; digital signals are discrete-
Receiver: The receiver receives the signal s’(t) and converts it back to valued. The independent variable of the signal could be time (speech, for
data d’(t) before forwarding to the destination. The data that the example), space (images), or the integers (denoting the sequencing of
destination receives may not be identical to that of d(t). Because of the letters and numbers in the football score). Figure below shows an analog
corruption of data. signal.

Destination: Destination is where the data is absorbed. Again. It can be a

computer system, a telephone handset, a television set and so on.

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Signaling: It is an act of sending signal over communication

medium

Transmission: Communication of data by propagation and

processing is known as transmission.

Reference
https://www.w3schools.com/html/default.asp

T.K. Sarkar, R. Mailloux, A.O. Arthur, M. Salazar-Palma, D.L.

Sengupta, History of Wireless, (Wiley-IEEE Press, Hoboken, 2006)

M. Hilmes, J. Jacobs, The Television History Book (Television, Media

Digital signals can have only a limited number of defined values, usually and Cultural Studies), (British Film Institute, London, 2008)
two values 0 and 1, as shown in the next Figure.

Learning Activities / Exercises

A. Fill in the blanks:

a) A signal is an electrical, Electromagnetic or optical representation

coding of data.
(b) The four parameters that are used to characterize a signal in time
domain concept are
amplitude, frequency, phrase and _________.
(c) With the help of spectrum, we can find out the different frequency
components of a signal, and these components are visualized with the
help of Cathode Ray Oscilloscope.
(d) Spectrum analyzer gives a measure of the span of the spectral
components of a signal.

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(e) The noise created by the agitation of electrons of the transmission where T is a constant, known as period. The period is measured in
channel is termed seconds.
as thermal noise.
(f) The noise created by bunching several cables together is known as In other words, a signal is a periodic signal if it completes a pattern
cross talk. within a measurable time frame. A periodic signal is characterized by the
following three parameters.

LESSON 2

SIGNAL CHARACTERISTICS Amplitude: it is the value of the signal at different instant of time. It is
Specific Learning Outcomes measured in volts.

At the end of this lesson, you should be able to: Frequency: It is inverse of the time period, i.e., f = 1/T. The unit of
frequency is Hertz (Hz) or cycles per second.
● Understand the concept of Signal Characteristics
Phase: It gives a measure of the relative position in time of two signals
A signal can be represented as a function of time, i.e., it varies with time. within a single period. It is represented by 0 in degrees or radian.
However, it can be also expressed as a function of frequency, i.e., a signal
can be considered as a composition of different frequency components. A sine wave, the most fundamental periodic signal, can be completely
Thus, a signal has both time-domain and frequency domain characterized by its amplitude, frequency and phase. Examples of sine
representation. waves with different amplitude,frequency and phase are shown in Figure
below. The phase angle φ
indicated in the figure is
Time Domain Concepts with respect to the reference
waveform shown
A signal is continuous over a period, if
Lim t->a s (t) = s (a), for all a,
i.e., there is no break in the signal. A signal is discrete if it takes on only a
finite number of values. A signal is periodic if and only if
s (t+T) = s (t) for -α < t <α ,

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representation displays a signal using time-domain plot, which shows

changes in signal amplitude with time. The time-domain plot can be
visualized with the help of an oscilloscope. The relationship between
amplitude and frequency is provided by frequency domain
Examples of signals with different amplitude, frequency and phase representation, which can be displayed with the help of Spectrum
analyser. Time domain and frequency domain representations of three
sine waves of three different frequencies are shown in
An aperiodic signal or nonperiodic signal changes constantly without
exhibiting a pattern or cycle that repeats over time as shown below

Examples of aperiodic signals

FREQUENCY DOMAIN CONCEPTS

The time Time domain and frequency domain representations of sine waves
domain
Although simple sine waves help us to understand the difference between
the time- domain and frequency domain representation, these are of little
use in data communication. Composite signals made of many simple sine
waves find use in data communication. Any composite signal can be
represented by a combination of simple sine waves using Fourier
Analysis. For example, the signal shown in Fig. 2.1.7(c) is a composition
of two sine waves having frequencies f 1, 3f 1, shown in Fig. 2.1.7 (a)
and (b),respectively and it can be represented by

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s (t) = sinω t + 1/3 sin 3 ω t , where ω = 2πf 1

Time and frequency domain representations of a composite signal
The frequency domain function s(f) specifies the constituent frequencies
of the signal. The range of frequencies that a signal contains is known as
its spectrum, which can be visualized with the help of a spectrum Many useful waveforms don’t change in a smooth curve between
analyser. The band of frequencies over which most of the energy of a maximum and minimum amplitude; they jump, slide, wobble, spike, and
signal is
dip. But as long as these irregularities are consistent, cycle after cycle, a
signal is still periodic and logically must be describable in the same terms
used for sine waves. In fact, it can be decomposed into a collection of
sine waves, each having a measurable amplitude, frequency, and phase.

FREQUENCY SPECTRUM

Frequency spectrum of a signal is the range of frequencies that a signal

contains.

Example: Consider a square wave shown in Fig. 2.1.8(a). It can be

represented by a series of sine waves S(t) = 4A/ π sin2π ft + 4A/3π
sin(2π(3f)t) + 4A/5π sin2π (5f)t + . . . having frequency components f, 3f,
5f, … and amplitudes 4A/ π, 4A/3π, 4A/5π and so on. The Frequency
concentrated is known as the bandwidth of the signal. spectrum of this signal can be approximation comprising only the first
and third harmonics as shown below

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In addition to being represented by an analog signal, data can also be

represented by a digital signal. Most digital signals are aperiodic and
thus, period or frequency is not appropriate. Two new terms, bit interval
(a) A square wave, (b) (instead of period) and bit rate (instead of frequency) are used to describe
Frequency spectrum of a
square wave digital signals. The bit interval is the time required to send one single bit.
The bit rate is the number of bit intervals per second. This means that the
bit rate is the number of bits sent in one second, usually expressed in bits
per second (bps) as shown.

Bandwidth:
The range of frequencies
over which most of the
signal energy of a signal
is contained is known as bandwidth or effective bandwidth of the
signal. The term ‘most’ is somewhat arbitrary. Usually, it is
defined in terms of its 3dB cut-off frequency. The
frequency spectrum and spectrum of a signal is shown in
Fig. 2.1.9. Here the f l and f h may be represented by 3dB
below (A/√2) the maximum amplitude.
Bit Rate and Bit Interval

A digital signal can be considered as a signal with an infinite number of

frequencies and transmission of digital requires a low-pass channel as
shown in Fig 1 . On the other hand, transmission of analog signal
requires band-pass channel shown in Fig 2

Frequency spectrum and bandwidth of a signal

DIGITAL SIGNAL

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example shows the difficulties in carrying digital over analog. A

simple encoding method is to use constant voltage levels for a “1''
Low pass channel required for transmission of digital signal and a ``0''. Can lead to long periods where the voltage does not
change.

● Easier to multiplex large channel capacities with digital.

● Easy to apply encryption to digital data
● Better integration if all signals are in one form. Can integrate
voice, video and digital data.

BASEBAND AND BROADBAND SIGNALS

Depending on some type of typical signal formats or modulation
schemes, a few terminologies evolved to classify different types of
signals. So, we can have either a baseband or broadband signaling.
Base-band is defined as one that uses digital signaling, which is inserted
in the transmission channel as voltage pulses. On the other hand,
broadband systems are those, which use analog signaling to transmit
Low pass channel required for transmission of analog signal information using a carrier of high frequency.

Digital transmission has several advantages over analog transmission. In baseband LANs, the entire frequency spectrum of the medium is
That is why there is a shift towards digital transmission despite a large utilized for transmission and hence the frequency division multiplexing
analog base. Some of the advantages of digital transmission are (discussed later) cannot be used. Signals inserted at a point propagate in
highlighted below: both the directions, hence transmission is bi-directional. Baseband
● Analog circuits require amplifiers, and each amplifier adds systems extend only to limited distances because at higher frequency, the
distortion and noise to the signal. In contrast, digital amplifiers attenuation of the signal is most pronounced and the pulses blur out,
regenerate an exact signal, eliminating cumulative errors. An causing the large distance communication totally impractical.
incoming (analog) signal is sampled, its value is determined, and
the node then generates a new signal from the bit value; the Since broadband systems use analog signaling, frequency division
incoming signal is discarded. With analog circuits, intermediate multiplexing is possible, where the frequency spectrum of the cable is
nodes amplify the incoming signal, noise and all. divided into several sections of bandwidth. These separate channels can
● Voice, data, video, etc. can all be carried by digital circuits. What support different types of signals of various frequency ranges to travel at
about carrying digital signals over analog circuits? The modem

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the same instance. Unlike base-band, broadband is a unidirectional transmission channel. Like data elements, signal can also either in analog
medium where the signal inserted into the media propagates in only one form or digital form.
direction. Two data paths are required, which are connected at a point in
the network called headend. All the stations transmit towards the headend Data refers to information that conveys some meaning based on some
on one path and the signals received at the headend are propagated mutually agreed up rules or conventions between a sender and a receiver
through the second path. and today it comes in a variety of forms such as text, graphics, audio,
video and animation.

In short, data has to be interpreted, managed or converted by software

instructions so that it becomes information. Electronic transmissions have
to be encoded into a language that can be transmitted. Signals are the
electric or electromagnetic impulses used to encode and transmit data.
Learning Activities / Exercises
Data can be of two types; analog and digital. Analog data take on
1. Distinguish Between data and Signal? continuous values on some interval. Typical examples of analog data are
voice and video. The data that are collected from the real world with the
Data is an entity, which conveys some meaning. On the other hand, the help of transducers are continuous-valued or analog in nature. On the
signal is a representation of data in some electric, electromagnetic or contrary, digital data takes on discrete values. Text or character strings
optical form. So, whenever data needs to be sent, it has to be converted can be considered as examples of digital data. Characters are represented
into signal of some form for transmission over a suitable medium. by suitable codes, e.g., ASCII code, where each character is represented
by a 7-bit code.
Eventually, data is usually associated with digital storage of information.
Signal on the other hand need not contain any information. It is possible It is an electrical, electronic or optical representation of data, which can
to derive information from some signals and store for further processing. be sent over a communication medium. Stated in mathematical terms, a
signal is merely a function of the data. For example, a microphone
For example, a white noise that come out of any source (like thermal
converts voice data into voice signal, which can be sent over a pair of
noise from electronic devices, sound from traffic etc.) is a signal, but may wires. Analog signals are continuous-valued; digital signals are discrete-
or may not be converted in to useful data, depending of subject of valued. The independent variable of the signal could be time (speech, for
interest. example), space (images), or the integers (denoting the sequencing of
letters and numbers in the football score). Figure below shows an analog
Data and signals are like two building blocks of computer networks. All signal.
the data transmitted over channel can either be in analog form or digital
form. Data are manipulated in the signal form suitable for the

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2. What do you mean by a “Periodic Signal”? And what are the three Frequency: It is inverse of the time period, i.e. f=1/T. The unit of
parameters that characterize it? frequency is Hertz (Hz) or cyclesper second.

A signal is periodic signal if it completes a pattern within a measurable Phase: It gives a measure of the relative position in time of two signals
timeframe. A periodic signal is characterized by the following three within a single period.
parameters.
3. Distinguish between time domain and frequency domain
A periodic signal is one that repeats the sequence of values exactly after representation of a signal.
a fixed length of time, known as the period.
Whenever a signal is represented as a function of time, it is called time
Examples of periodic signals include the sinusoidal signals and domain representation. An electromagnetic signal can be either
periodically repeated non-sinusoidal signals, such as the rectangular continuous or discrete. It is represented as s (t).
pulse sequences used in radar.
Whenever a signal is represented as a function of frequency, it is called
Non-periodic signals include speech waveforms and random signals frequency domain representation. It is expressed in terms of different
arising from unpredictable disturbances of all kinds. In some cases, it is frequency components and represented as s (f).
possible to write explicit mathematical expressions for non-periodic
signals and in other cases it is not. The frequency domain refers to the analysis of mathematical
In addition to periodic and non-periodic signals are those signals that are functions or signals with respect to frequency, rather than time.[1] Put
the sum of two or more periodic signals having different periods. T will
simply, a time-domain graph shows how a signal changes over time,
not be satisfied in Equation 10.10, but the signal does have many
properties associated with periodic signals and cannot be represented by a whereas a frequency-domain graph shows how much of the signal lies
finite number of periodic signals. within each given frequency band over a range of frequencies. A
frequency-domain representation can also include information on
Periodic signals are known to be expressible as a summation of sine the phase shift that must be applied to each sinusoid in order to be able to
and cosine functions. recombine the frequency components to recover the original time signal.
A signal I periodic signal if it completes a pattern within a measurable In the frequency domain, you can separate conceptually the sine waves
timeframe. A periodic signal is characterized by the following three that add to form the complex time-domain signal. The previous figure
parameters. shows single frequency components, which spread out in the time
domain, as distinct impulses in the frequency domain. The amplitude of
Amplitude: It is the value of the signal at different instants of time. It is each frequency line is the amplitude of the time waveform for that
measured in volts. frequency component. The representation of a signal in terms of its

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individual frequency components is the frequency-domain representation propagation, the structural changes of a system, and electric potential
of the signal. The frequency-domain representation might provide more generated by external excitations.
insight about the signal and the system from which it was generated.
Whereas for the frequency domain, visualization tools such as a spectrum
The samples of a signal obtained from a DAQ device constitute the time-
analyzer are commonly in use when visualizing electronic signals. Also,
domain representation of the signal. Some measurements, such as
some specialized signal processing techniques make use of transforms,
harmonic distortion, are difficult to quantify by inspecting the time
and this results in a joint time-frequency domain. Moreover, the
waveform on an oscilloscope. When the same signal is displayed in the
instantaneous frequency is a critical link between the time domain and
frequency domain by an FFT Analyzer, also known as a Dynamic Signal
the frequency domain.
Analyzer, you easily can measure the harmonic frequencies and
amplitudes.

Frequency domain is an analysis of signals or mathematical functions, in The time-domain representation gives the amplitudes of the signal at the
reference to frequency, instead of time. As stated earlier, a time-domain instants of time during which it was sampled. However, in many cases
graph displays the changes in a signal over a span of time, and frequency you need to know the frequency content of a signal rather than the
domain displays how much of the signal exists within a given frequency amplitudes of the individual samples.
band concerning a range of frequencies. Also, a frequency-domain Fourier's theorem states that any waveform in the time domain can be
representation can include information on the phase shift that must be represented by the weighted sum of sines and cosines. The same
applied to each sinusoid to be able to recombine the frequency waveform then can be represented in the frequency domain as a pair of
components to recover the original time signal. amplitude and phase values at each component frequency.
Furthermore, you can convert a designated signal or function between the You can generate any waveform by adding sine waves, each with a
frequency and time domains with a pair of operators called transforms. particular amplitude and phase. The following figure shows the original
Moreover, a perfect example of a transform is the Fourier transform. waveform, labeled sum, and its component frequencies. The fundamental
Which converts a time function into an integral of sine-waves of various frequency is shown at the frequency f0, the second harmonic at frequency
frequencies or sum, each of which symbolizes a frequency component. 2f0, and the third harmonic at frequency 3f0.
The so-called spectrum of frequency components is the frequency-
domain depiction of the signal. However, as the name implies, the inverse
Fourier transform converts the frequency-domain function back to the 4. What equipment is used to visualize electrical signals in time
time function.
domains and frequency domain?
Time domain analysis provides the transitory response of a system to be
analyzed, and it permits a better understanding of the flow of both
mechanical and electrical energies. In general, this includes wave

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Cathode Ray Oscilloscope is used to visualize electrical signals in time "The amplitude of a signal measures the value of the signal at any point.
domain and Spectrum Analyser used to visualize electrical signals in The frequency of a signal refers to the number of periods in one second.
frequency domain. The phase describes the position of the waveform relative to time zero."

An oscilloscope is a tool commonly used to visualize real-world signals Frequency is the rate at which current changes direction per second. It is
in the time domain, while; measured in hertz (Hz), an international unit of measure where 1 hertz is
equal to 1 cycle per second. Hertz (Hz) = One hertz is equal to one cycle
A spectrum analyzer is a tool commonly used to visualize electronic per second. Cycle = One complete wave of alternating current or voltage.
signals in the frequency domain.
Frequency is about a fixed number for something always changing. The
idea of “frequency” is very useful. It’s no good at all if everything is so
variable that we can’t describe, or remember, or apply it.

Frequency is a major fundamental in science. It is simply, the number of

times each second that a pattern repeat. However, the energies of life
have a lot of variations in their patterns. But that leads to a huge amount
5. What do you mean by the Bit Interval and Bit rate in a digital of complexity.
signal?
So, a major part of all the disciplines is to seek out the various
The bit interval is the time required to send one single bit. The bit frequencies of a complex waveform that tell the specialist how the signal
rate is the number of bit intervals per second. This mean that the measurement can expose deviation from normal.
bit rate is the number of bits send in one second, usually expressed
Normal Waveforms. Because of this ability for waveforms to contain a
in bits per second (bps). large amount of information in the frequencies contained, this is used a
lot in all fields. For example, when an electrocardiogram is taken of your
heart, various deviations of the waveform recorded from what is normal,
will tell the doctor what is wrong with your heart. Like this short tutorial
Assignment # 5:
on AKG waveforms.
1. What does the amplitude of a signal measure? What does the "The amplitude of a signal measures the value of the signal at any point.
frequency of a signal measure? What does the phase of a signal The frequency of a signal refers to the number of periods in one second.
measure? The phase describes the position of the waveform relative to time zero."

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Good Luck!!!

“Live a good life. More smiling, less worrying.

More compassion, less judgment. More
blessed, less stress. More love, less hate.”

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