Data and Computer

Communications
Tenth Edition
by William Stallings

CHAPTER 5
Signal Encoding Techniques

Data and Computer Communications, Tenth

Edition by William Stallings, (c) Pearson
Education - Prentice Hall, 2013
Signal Encoding Techniques
Ø Digital Data, Digital Signal
l Simplest form is to assign one voltage level to binary
one and another voltage level to binary zero
Ø Digital Data, Analog Signal
l A modem converts digital data to an analog signal,
e.g., ASK, FSK, PSK
Ø Analog Data, Digital Signals
l Analog data (e.g., voice and video) are digitized, e.g.,
pulse code modulation (PCM)
Ø Analog Data, Analog Signals
l Analog data modulated by a carrier freq. to produce
an analog signal at a different freq. (AM, FM, PM)
 x(t)

g(t) x(t) g(t)

Encoder Decoder
digital or digital t
analog

(a) Encoding onto a digital signal

fc(t) S(f)
carrier

m(t) s(t) m(t)

Modulator Demodulator
digital or analog f
analog fc

(b) Modulation onto an analog signal

Figure 5.1 Encoding and Modulation Techniques

 1. Digital Data, Digital Signal
Ø Digital signal
l Sequence of discrete, discontinuous voltage
pulses
l Each pulse is a signal element
l Binary data are transmitted by encoding each
data bit into a signal element (i.e. pulse)
 Terminology
Ø Unipolar – all signal elements have the same sign
Ø Polar – one logic state represented by positive
voltage and the other by negative voltage
Ø Data rate – rate (in bits per second) that data are
transmitted at
Ø Duration or length of a bit – time taken for
transmitter to emit the bit
Ø Modulation rate – rate at which the signal level is
changed; expressed in baud, which means signal
elements (or pulses) per second
 Table 5.1
Key Data Transmission Terms
Term Units Definition
Data element Bits A single binary one or zero
Data rate Bits per second (bps) The rate at which data
elements are transmitted
Signal element Digital: a voltage pulse of That part of a signal that
constant amplitude occupies the shortest interval
Analog: a pulse of constant of a signaling code
frequency, phase, and
amplitude
Signaling rate or Signal elements per second The rate at which signal
modulation rate (baud) elements are transmitted
 Decoding Digital Signals

Tasks involved in decoding a Factors affecting signal

digital signal at the Receiver: decoding:

Timing of bits - when

Signal to noise ratio
they start and end

Signal levels Data rate

Bandwidth
Table 5.2

Definition
of Digital
Signal
Encoding
Formats

(This table can be found on

page 153 in the tbook)
 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1

NRZ-L

NRZI

Bipolar-AMI
(most recent
preceding 1 bit has
negative voltage)

Pseudoternary
(most recent
preceding 0 bit has
negative voltage)

Manchester

Differential
Manchester

Figure 5.2 Digital Signal Encoding Formats

 Encoding Schemes
• A good signal design aims at shaping the
Signal spectrum spectrum of the transmitted signal to
minimize distortion by the channel

• Need to synchronize transmitter and

Clocking receiver either with an external clock or a
sync mechanism based on the signal

• Responsibility of the DL layer; above the

Error detection signaling level that is known as data link
control

Signal
• Certain encoding schemes perform better
interference and in the presence of noise
noise immunity

Cost and • The higher the signaling rate the greater

complexity the cost
 I. Nonreturn to Zero-Level

Ø Easiest way to transmit digital signals is to

use two different voltages for 0 and 1 bits
Ø Voltage level is constant during a bit interval
l No transition (no return to a zero voltage level)
l Absence of voltage for 0, constant positive voltage
for 1
l More often, a negative voltage represents one value
and a positive voltage represents the other (NRZ-L)
II. Non-return to Zero Inverted
(NRZI)
Ø Non-return to zero, invert on ones
Ø Maintains a constant voltage pulse for duration of a
bit time
Ø Data are encoded as presence or absence of
signal transition at the beginning of the bit time
l Transition (low to high, high to low) denotes binary 1
l No transition denotes binary 0

Is an example of differential encoding

• Data are represented by changes rather than levels

• More reliable to detect a transition in the presence of
noise than to compare a value to a threshold
 III. Multilevel Binary
Bipolar-AMI
Ø Use more than two signal levels
Ø Bipolar-AMI
l Binary 0 represented by no line signal
l Binary 1 represented by positive or
negative pulse
l Binary 1 pulses alternate in polarity (AMI)
l Advantages:
Ø No loss of sync if a long string of 1s occurs
Ø No net DC component
Ø Easy error detection
 IV. Multilevel Binary
Pseudoternary

Ø Binary 1 represented by absence of line signal

Ø Binary 0 represented by alternating positive
and negative pulses
Ø No advantage or disadvantage over bipolar-
AMI and each is the basis of some applications
 Multilevel Binary Issues
Ø Synchronization becomes challenging with long
runs of 0’s or 1’s (because of no transitions)
l Can insert additional bits that force transitions
l Scramble data
Ø Not as efficient as NRZ!
Ø Each signal element bears only one bit!
Ø However, with a 3 level system, each signal
element could represent log23 = 1.58 bits
• Limitation: Receiver has to distinguish between three levels:
+A, -A, 0 as opposed to only two levels in NRZ
• Thus, multilevel binary requires approximately 3dB more
signal power for same probability of bit error as NRZ
 V. Manchester Encoding
Ø Another set of coding techniques is called
biphase: Manchester and Differential
Manchester Encoding
Ø Manchester: there is a transition at the
middle of each bit period
Ø Mid-bit transition serves as a clocking
mechanism and also as data
Ø Low to high transition represents a 1
Ø High to low transition represents a 0
 VI. Differential Manchester
Encoding
Ø Midbit transition is used only for clocking
Ø Encoding a 0 is represented by the presence of
a transition at the beginning of a bit period
Ø Yields two transitions (beginning + middle) of a bit
period
Ø A 1 is represented by the absence of a transition
at the beginning of a bit period
Ø Yields one transition at the middle of a bit period
Ø Has the added advantage of employing
differential encoding, i.e. reverses the previous
level
Biphase Pros and Cons
 5 bits = 5 µsec

1 1 1 1 1

NRZI

1 bit =
1 signal element =
1 µsec

Manchester

1 bit = 1 signal element =

1 µsec 0.5 µsec

Figure 5.5 A Stream of Binary Ones at 1 Mbps

 Table 5.3
Normalized Signal Transition Rate of
Various Digital Signal Encoding
Schemes
Minimum 101010. . . Maximum
NRZ-L 0 (all 0s or 1s) 1.0 1.0
NRZI 0 (all 0s) 0.5 1.0 (all 1s)
Bipolar-AMI 0 (all 0s) 1.0 1.0
Pseudoternary 0 (all 1s) 1.0 1.0
Manchester 1.0 (1010 . . .) 1.0 2.0 (all 0s or 1s)
Differential Manchester 1.0 (all 1s) 1.5 2.0 (all 0s)
2. Digital Data, Analog Signal
Ø Main use: to transmit digital data (bits)
through the public telephone network
l Which was originally designed to receive, switch,
and transmit analog signals only
l Has a frequency range of 300Hz to 3400Hz
l Uses modem (modulator-demodulator) to convert
digital data to analog signals and vice versa
 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0

(a) ASK

(b) BFSK

(c) BPSK

Figure 5.7 Modulation of Analog Signals for Digital Data

 I. Amplitude Shift Keying
(ASK)
Ø Encode 0/1 by different carrier amplitudes
l Usually have one amplitude zero
Ø Susceptible to sudden gain changes
Ø Inefficient
Ø Used for:
l Voice grade lines
l Very high speeds over optical fiber
 II. Binary Frequency Shift
Keying (BFSK)
Ø Most common form of FSK
Ø Two binary values are represented by two
different frequencies (around carrier center freq.)
Ø Less susceptible to error than ASK
Ø Used for:
l Voice grade lines
l High frequency radio
l Even higher frequency on LANs
 III. Phase Shift Keying
(PSK)
Ø The phase of the carrier signal is shifted to
represent data
Ø Binary PSK
l Two phases represent the two binary digits
Ø Differential PSK
l Phase shifted relative to previous transmission
rather than some reference signal
 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0

Figure 5.10 Differential Phase-Shift Keying (DPSK)

 Some Insights on
Performance
Ø Bandwidth: ASK and PSK bandwidth
directly relates to the bit rate
Ø BER:BER of BPSK is 3dB superior to that
of ASK and FSK