Scribd
Upload
4 views

Principles of Communication Note 3

affas

Uploaded by

Zakir Khondokar
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
4 views

Principles of Communication Note 3

affas

Uploaded by

Zakir Khondokar
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 7

1.

Analog and Digital Data:


The terms analog and digital correspond, roughly, to continuous and discrete,
respectively. These two terms are used frequently in data communications.
The concepts of analog and digital data are simple enough. Analog data take on
continuous values in some interval. For example, voice and video are
continuously varying patterns of intensity. Most data collected by sensors, such
as temperature and pressure, are continuous valued. Digital data take on discrete
values; examples are text and integers.
2. Analog and Digital Signals:
In a communications system, data are propagated from one point to another by
means of electromagnetic signals. An analog signal is a continuously varying
electromagnetic wave that may be propagated over a variety of media, depending
on spectrum; examples are wire media, such as twisted pair and coaxial cable;
fiber optic cable; and unguided media, such as atmosphere or space propagation.
A digital signal is a sequence of voltage pulses that may be transmitted over a
wire medium; for example, a constant positive voltage level may represent binary
0 and a constant negative voltage level may represent binary 1.

Figure 3.1 : Analog and Digital Signal

Electromagnetic waves or simply waves has four properties like wavelength,


frequency, amplitude and phase.
Wavelength
Wavelength (λ) is the physical length from one point of a wave to the same point
on the next wave.

Long Wavelength = Low frequency


Short Wavelength = high frequency (more waves in the same time frame
Frequency
The frequency of a wave is the number of waves that pass by each second, and
is measured in Hertz (Hz).
Suppose a wave repeat itself 3 times each second, then we say frequency of that
wave is 3 Hz.
Amplitude
Amplitude is the height of the wave and
often related to power.
High electric field = High magnetic field
= High amplitude = High power

Phase
Phase describes the position of the waveform relative to time. Phase can be
measured in distance, time, or degrees. If the peaks of two signals with the same
frequency are in exact alignment at the same time, they are said to be in phase.
Conversely, if the peaks of two signals with the same frequency are not in exact
alignment at the same time, they are said to be out of phase.

This above figure shows two waves 90* out of phase.


3. Time and Frequency Domains:
Periodic signals can be examined from two points of view, or domains. These
two domains are the time domain and the frequency domain. For periodic signals,
time and frequency are the inverse of each other. Specifically, a periodic signal
can be quantified by its period which is how long it takes for the signal to repeat
itself or by its frequency which is how many times the signal repeats itself in a
given time.:

Or

The time domain refers to a description of the signal with respect to time. The
basic tool for analyzing signals in the time domain is called an oscilloscope.
When we do a measurement of the signal’s frequency, then you are said to be
analyzing the signal in the frequency domain.

Figure 3.1 : Signal in time domain and frequency domain

As mentioned above, time domain and frequency domain are inversely related.
In fact, if you know the mathematical description of the signal in one domain, it
is possible to perform an operation on the signal to see what it looks like in the
other domain. This operation is called the Fourier Transform.
4. Composite Signal:
Simple sine waves have many applications in daily life. We can send a single
sine wave to carry electric energy from one place to another. For example, the
power company sends a single sine wave with a frequency of 60 Hz to distribute
electric energy to houses and businesses.
But if we had only one single sine wave to convey a conversation over the phone,
it would make no sense and carry no information. We would just hear a buzz!!
we need to send a composite signal to communicate data. A composite signal is
made of many simple sine waves.

Figure 3.2: Three simple sin waves created a composite signal (left)
A composite signal can be periodic or nonperiodic. A periodic composite
signal can be decomposed into a series of simple sine waves with discrete
frequencies - frequencies that have integer values (1, 2, 3, and so on). A
nonperiodic composite signal can be decomposed into a combination of an
infinite number of simple sine waves with continuous frequencies, frequencies
that have real values.

Figure 3.3: Decomposition of a composite periodic signal in the


time and frequency domains
Figure 3.4: The time and frequency domains of a nonperiodic signal

5. Bandwidth:
Please refer to the lecture slide.
6. Transmission Impairment:
In communication system, analog signals travel through transmission media,
which tends to deteriorate the quality of analog signal. This imperfection causes
signal impairment. This means that received signal is not same as the signal that
was send.

Figure 3.5: Causes of impairment

7. Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR):


Signal-to-noise ratio is the ratio of the strength of a signal to its background
noise. SNR is actually the ratio of what is wanted (signal) to what is not wanted
(noise). SNR can be calculated by the following formula,
Because SNR is the ratio of two powers, it is often described in decibel units,
SNRdB, defined as

References:
1. William Stallings, "Data and Computer Communications”, Pearson
2. Forouzan, B. A. "Data Communication and Networking. Tata McGraw."
(2005).
3. https://www.elen.ca/education/communications/introduction-signals/time-
frequency-domain/

You might also like