Computer Networks

Physical Layer

Dr. Sobin C C,
Department of CSE
SRM University-AP
Transmission Media
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Transmission Media
• Transmission media is located below physical layer and is
directly controlled by physical layer. Also called Layer 0.

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Transmission Media

• A transmission media can be broadly defined as anything

that can carry information from a source to destination. In
telecommunications, transmission media can be divided
into two broad categories.
• Guided medium
• e.g. twisted pair, coaxial cable, optical fiber
• Unguided medium (wireless)
• e.g. air
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Guided Media
• Guided media, which are those that provide a conduit
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.

• Fiber-optic cable is a cable that accepts and transports

signals in the form of light.
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Twisted Pair
• A Twisted pair cable consists of two conductors (copper), each
of with its own plastic insulation, twisted together as in Fig
below.

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Twisted Pair

• One of the wire is used to carry signals to the receiver

and the other is used only as a ground reference.

• The most common twisted pair is called as Unshielded

Twisted Pair (UTP). Why twisted?
• IBM introduced Shielded Twisted Pair (STP), which has
a metal foil or braided-mesh covering that encases each
pair of insulated conductors. Although metal casing
improves the quality of the cable by preventing the
penetration of noise or crosstalk, it is bulkier and more
expensive.
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Twisted Pair
Performance:

•A twisted pair cable can pass a wide range of frequencies.

But with the increasing frequency, the attenuation (loss of
signal strength) shapely increases with frequencies above
100 kHz.
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Twisted Pair

Applications:

•Twisted pair cables are used in telephone lines to provide

voice and data channels. The local loop(connecting users to
central telephone office) use mostly UTP.
•The Digital subscriber line (DSL) lines used by telephone
companies to provide high-rate connections also use
Twisted pair cables.
•Local Area Networks also use twisted pair cables, such as
10Base-T and 100Base T.
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Coaxial Cable
• Coaxial pair cable carries signals of higher frequency ranges
than those in twisted pair. Instead of having two wires, coax has
a central core conductor of solid or standard wire (copper)
enclosed in an insulating sheath, which is encapsulated in an
outer conductor of metal foil, or braid or a combination of two.

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Coaxial Cable
Performance:

•As in figure below, the attenuation much higher than

twisted pair. Needs frequent use of repeaters as signal
weakens rapidly.
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Coaxial Cable

Applications:

•Coaxial cables are widely used in analogue telephone

networks because they can carry 10,000 voice signals. Later
it was used in digital telephone networks where a single
coaxial cable can carry digital data up to 600 Mbps.
•The Cable TV networks also use coaxial cable. In the
traditional cable TV network, entire network was using
coaxial cable, some of which later replaced by fiber-optic
cable.
•Also used in traditional Ethernet LANs.
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Summary - UTP, Coaxial Cable
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Optical Fiber
• A fiber-optic cable is made of glass or plastic and transmits
signals in the form of light.
• Light travels in a straight line if it is moving through a single
uniform medium and when suddenly enters another substance (of
different density), the ray changes the direction. How much the
light ray changes the direction, depends on the refractive index of
the medium

• Refractive index, n, is the speed of light in a vacuum

(abbreviated c=299,792.458km/second) divided by the speed
of light in a material (abbreviated v), n=c/v
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Optical Fiber

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Optical Fiber
• If the angle of incidence, I (angle the ray makes with the line
perpendicular to interface between two substances) is less than
the critical angle (the smallest possible angle of incidence at
which light rays are totally reflected) , the ray refracts and moves
closer to the surface.

• Note that critical angle is a property of the surface and its value
differs from one substance to another.
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Optical Fiber
• If the angle of incidence is equal to the critical angle, then the
light bends along the interface.

• If the angle of incidence is greater than the critical angle, then

the ray reflects and travel again in the denser substance.
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Optical Fiber

• Optical fiber use the reflection to guide the light through the
channel. A glass or plastic core is surrounded by a cladding of
less dense glass or plastic. The difference in density of the two
materials must be such that a beam of light moving through the
core is reflected off the cladding instead of being refracted into it.

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Optical Fiber
• Current optical fiber technology supports two modes
(multimode and single mode) for propagating light along optical
channels, each requiring fiber with different physical
characteristics.

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Optical Fiber

Propagation Modes:
• Multimode can be implemented in two forms:-
1. Step-index:- the density of core remains constant from the
center to the edge. A beam of light moves through
constant density in a straight line until it reaches interface
of core and cladding. At the interface, there is an abrupt
change (step) due to a lower density which alters the
angle of beam’s motion.
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Optical Fiber

Propagation Modes:

2. Graded-index:- decreases the distortion of signal through

the cable. A graded-index fiber have varying densities with
highest at the center of core and decreases gradually to
lowest at the edge.
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Optical Fiber

Propagation Modes:
• Single mode:- uses step index fiber and highly focused on
source of light that limits beams to a small range of angles
all are close to the horizontal. The index of refraction is
much lower and critical angle is close to 90 degree to make
the propagation of beams almost horizontal.
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Optical Fiber
Performance:
• Attenuation is flatter comparing twisted pair and coaxial cable.
So we need fewer (10 times fewer) repeaters while using
fiber-optic cable.
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Optical Fiber

Applications:
• Fiber optic is widely used in backbone networks.
• Some cable TV companies use a combination of optical fiber
and coaxial cable thus creating a hybrid network.
• Local Area Networks such as 100Base-FX network (Fast
Ethernet) and 100Base-X also use fiber-optic cable. Similarly
10 Gigabit Ethernet also uses fiber-optic cable.
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Optical Fiber vs Copper Wire

Fiber Copper
Bandwidth Higher Lower
Distance between repeaters 30 KM 5 Km
Interference Low High
Cost High Low
Flow Uni-directional Bi-directional
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Optical Fiber
Unguided Transmission Media
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Unguided Media- Wireless

• 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.
• Radio Waves
• Microwaves
• Infrared
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Unguided Media- Wireless
Electromagnetic spectrum for wireless communication

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Unguided Media- Wireless

• Unguided signals can travel from source to destination in several

ways.
• Ground Propagation: radio waves travel through the lowest
portion of the atmosphere. Distance depend on the power of
the signal.

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Unguided Media- Wireless

• Sky propagation: higher frequency radio waves radiate

upward into the ionosphere where they are reflected back to
earth. Allows greater distances with lower output power.

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Unguided Media- Wireless

• Line-of-sight propagation: very high frequency signals are

transmitted in straight lines directly from antenna to antenna.
Antennas must be directional, facing each other.

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Unguided Media- Wireless
Bands

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Radio Waves

• Waves in the frequency between 3kHz and1GHz.

• Omnidirectional. When an antenna transmits radio waves, they
are propagated in all directions, means that sender and receiver
antennas do not have to be aligned.
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Radio Waves

• Disadvantage:- radio waves transmitted by one antenna are

susceptible to interference by another antenna.
• Radio waves propagate in sky mode can travel long distances.
E.g. AM radio, FM radio
• Waves with low and medium frequencies can penetrate walls.
So AM radio signals can receive inside a building.
• Entire band is regulated by authorities. Need permission to use.
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Microwaves

• Waves in the frequency between 1GHz and300GHz.

• Unidirectional. When an antenna transmits radio waves the
sender and receiver antennas need to be aligned.

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Microwaves

• Advantage:- No interference with another antennas. Used for

long distance telephone communication.
• Disadvantage:- It is very costly
• Propagation mode is line-of-sight. Repeaters are needed for
long distance communications.
• Very high frequencies cannot penetrate walls. Problem if the
receiver is inside the building.
• Relatively wide band, almost 299 GHz. So wider sub bands can
be assigned, and a high data rate is possible.
• Some portions need permission to use.
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Microwaves

Applications:
• Due to the unidirectional properties, are very useful when
unicast (one-to-one) communication is required by the sender
and the receiver.
• Also used in cellular phones, satellite networks and wireless
LANs.
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Infrared

• Waves in the frequency between 300 GHz and 400 THz.

• Use for short-range communication.
• Infrared waves with high frequencies cannot penetrate walls.
• Disadvantage:- cannot use for long range communications.
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Unguided Media- Wireless
Breakout
Quiz 3
 Radio Transmission

Radio signals penetrate buildings well and propagate for

long distances with path loss

In the VLF, LF, and MF bands, radio In the HF,UHF band, radio waves
waves follow the curvature of the earth bounce off the ionosphere.
Ionosphere : The layer of the earth's atmosphere which contains a high concentration of ions and free
electrons and is able to reflect radio waves. It lies above the mesosphere and extends from about 80 to 1,000
km above the earth's surface.

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 Microwave Transmission
Microwaves have much bandwidth and are widely used
indoors (WiFi) and outdoors (3G, satellites)
•Signal is attenuated/reflected by everyday objects
•Strength varies with mobility due multipath fading, etc.
 Communication Satellites

Satellites are effective for broadcast distribution and

anywhere/anytime communications
•Kinds of Satellites
• Geostationary (GEO) Satellites
• Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) Satellites
 Kinds of Satellites
Satellites and their properties vary by altitude:
•Geostationary (GEO), Medium-Earth Orbit (MEO),
and Low-Earth Orbit (LEO)

Sats needed for

global coverage