Transmission Media

Unit-I
Physical Layer
Guided Transmission media
Twisted pairs
Coaxial cable
Fiber optics
Wireless transmission
 OSI Reference Model
➢Physical Layer
It deals with the mechanical and electrical specifications
of the interfaces and transmission medium.
➢ Functions of Physical Layer
❑ Physical characteristics of Interfaces and Medium
• It defines the characteristics of the interfaces between
the devices and the transmission medium .
• It also defines the type of transmission medium.
❑ Representation of Bits
• The physical layer data consists of stream of bits.
• For transmission bits must be encoded into signals.
• The physical layer defines the type of encoding.
 OSI Reference Model

➢Physical Layer
 OSI Reference Model
❑ Data Rate
• The number of bits sent within one second is also defined by the
physical layer.
❑ Synchronization of bits
• The sender and receiver must use the same bit rate as well as the
their clocks must be synchronized.
❑ Line Configuration
• The physical layer concerns with the device connections whether
they are connected as per point-to-point of multipoint configuration.
❑ Physical Topology
• It also looks after how the devices are connected to form the
network.
❑ Transmission Mode
• It also defines the transmission modes for the communicating
devices.
 Transmission Media
➢ It is located below the physical layer or host-to-network
layer.
➢ It is directly controlled by the physical layer.

➢ A transmission medium can be anything that carry

information from a source to a destination.
➢ In data communication the transmission medium is
usually free space, metallic cable or fiber optic cable.
 Transmission Media
➢ In Telecommunications, transmission media can be
broadly classified in two categories.
 Guided Media
➢ It provides a conduit from one device to another.
➢ There are three categories of guided media:
1. Twisted-pair cable
2. Coaxial cable
3. Fiber-optic cable
➢ The twisted-pair and coaxial cable uses metallic
conductor that carries signals in the form of electric
current.
➢ Whereas the optical fiber carries the signal in the form
of light.
 Guided Media
➢ Twisted-Pair Cable
• Twisted pair consists of two conductors (normally
copper), each with its own plastic insulation, twisted
together.
• One of the wire is used to carry signal to the receiver
and the other is used for ground reference.
• In addition to the transmitted signals interference
(noise) and crosstalk may affect the wires and create
unwanted signals.
 Guided Media
• The twisting helps to reduce the interference (noise)
and crosstalk.
• The number of twists per unit length has an effect on
the quality of the cable.
• Twisted-pair cable comes in two forms: unshielded
and shielded twisted pairs.
• The most common twisted-pair cable used in
communication is referred as unshielded twisted-pair
(UTP).
• IBM has came up with a version of twisted pair cable
called as shielded twisted-pair (STP).
Guided Media
 Guided Media
• As shown in figure (b) STP cable has a metal foil that
encases the pair of insulated conductors.
• The metal foil increases the quality of the cable by
preventing the penetration of noise or crosstalk.
 Guided Media
• Categories
• The Electronic Industries Association (EIA) has
developed standards for classifying unshielded
twisted pair cable into seven categories.
• Categories are determined by the quality of the
cable.
• Category 1 at the lowest Level and Category 7 at
the highest Level.
 Guided Media

Category Bandwidth Data Rate Digital/Analog Use

1 very low < 100 kbps Analog Telephone

2 < 2 MHz 2 Mbps Analog/digital T-1 lines

3 16 MHz 10 Mbps Digital LANs

4 20 MHz 20 Mbps Digital LANs

5 100 MHz 100 Mbps Digital LANs

6 (draft) 200 MHz 200 Mbps Digital LANs

7 (draft) 600 MHz 600 Mbps Digital LANs

 Guided Media
➢ Connectors
– The Most common UTP connector is RJ45.
– RJ stand for Registered Jack.
– It is a keyed connector.
 Guided Media
➢ Applications of Twisted Pair Cables
• These are used in telephones lines to provide voice
and data channels.
• 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.
• Local area networks, such as 10Base-T and 100Base-
T, also used UTP cables.
 Guided Media
➢ Coaxial Cable
▪ Its carries the signals of higher frequency.
▪ The coax has a central core conductor which is
enclosed within an insulating sheath.
▪ Then it has been encased by an outer conductor of
metal foil.
▪ The outer metallic foil acts as an shield against the
noise.
▪ The complete cable is protected by a plastic cover.
 Guided Media

➢Coaxial Cable
 Guided Media
➢ Cable Standards
➢ Coaxial cables has been categorised by their RG (radio
government) ratings.
➢ Each RG number specifies a unique set of physical
specifications.
➢ It specifies the following
– Wire gauge of the inner conductor
– The thickness and type of the inner insulator
– Construction of the shield
– Size and type of the outer casing
 Guided Media
• Each RG rating has been used for a specialized
function.
 Guided Media
➢ Connectors
• The devices are connected to the coaxial cable using a
specialized connector.
• The most common connector used is the Bayone-Neill-
Concelman (BNC) connector.
• There are three types: the BNC connector, the BNC T
connector, the BNC terminator.
 Guided Media
➢Applications
• Earlier coaxial cable was widely used in the
analog telephone network.
• Later it was used in the digital telephone
networks.
• A single coaxial cable can carry digital data
upto 600 Mbps.
• The cable TV networks uses the coaxial
cables.
• Cable TV uses the RG-59 coaxial cable.
 Guided Media
• Earlier in the traditional LAN’s the coaxial
cables were used.
• The 10Base-2 thin Ethernet uses RG-58
coaxial cable with BNC connector for
transmitting data at 10 Mbps upto 185 meters.
• The 10Base5 thick Ethernet uses RG-11
coaxial cable to transmit 10 Mbps upto 5000
meters.
 Guided Media
➢ Fiber-Optic Cable
• It is made up of glass or plastic.
• It transmits the signal in the form of light.
• Light, is a form of electromagnetic energy, travels
at a speed of 300,000 Kilometers/second in vacuum.
• The speed of the light depends on the density of the
medium through which it is traveling ( the higher
density, the slower the speed).
• Light travels in a straight line as long as it is moving
through a single uniform medium.
 Guided Media
➢ Fiber-Optic Cable
• If a ray of light traveling through one medium
suddenly enters another (less or more dense) medium,
its speed changes abruptly, causing the ray to change
direction. This change is called refraction.
• If the angle of incident I is less than the critical angle
the light refracts and moves closer to the surface.
• If the angle of incident is equal to the critical angle
then the light ray bends along the interface.
 Guided Media
• If the angle of incident is greater than the
critical angle then the light ray reflects and
travels in the same medium.
 Guided Media

➢ Fiber-Optic Cable
 Guided Media
➢ Fiber-Optic Cable
 Guided Media
➢ Fiber-Optic Cable
 Guided Media
• Multimode
• Multimode is named because multiple beams from a
light source move through the core in different paths.
• In multimode step-index fiber, the density of the core
remains constant from the center to the edges.
• A beam of light moves through this constant density in
a straight line until it reaches the interface of the core
and the cladding.
• At the interface, there is an abrupt change due to a
lower density; this alters the angle of the beam's
motion.
• The term step index refers to the suddenness of this
change, which contributes to the distortion of the signal
as it passes through the fiber.
 Guided Media
➢ Fiber Types
➢ Optical fibers are defined by the ration of the
diameter of the core to the diameter of their cladding.
➢ The common sizes are shown below.
 Guided Media
➢ Fiber Construction
• The outer jacket is made up of either PVC or Teflon
• Inside the jacket the kevlar strands are used to
strengthen the cable.
• Below the kevlar there is a plastic coating to
cushion the fiber.
• The fiber is at the center of the cable which consists
of cladding and core.
Guided Media
 Guided Media
➢Connectors
 Guided Media
• There are three types of connectors available for fiber
optic cables.
• The subscriber channel (SC) connector is used for
cable TV.
• The straight-tip (ST) connector is used for connecting
cable to the networking devices.
• MT-RJ is a connector that is same as that of RJ 45.
 Guided Media
➢ Applications
• Fiber-optic cable is generally found in backbone
network due to its wide bandwidth.
• Some cable TV networks use a combination of optical
fiber and coaxial cable.
• Optical fiber used as a backbone and the coaxial cable
used to provide the connection to the user.
• Local area networks such as 100Base-FX (Fast
Ethernet and 1000Base-X uses the fiber optic cable.
 Guided Media
➢Advantages
• Higher Bandwidth
– Fiber optic cable support dramatically higher
bandwidth than twisted pair and coaxial cable.
– Data rate and bandwidth utilization over fiber optic
cable are limited because due to the limitations in
signal generation and reception technology.
 Guided Media
• Less Signal Attenuation
– The transmission distance is significantly greater
than other guided media.
– A signal can run for 50 km without regeneration.
– In case of twisted pair and coaxial cable repeaters
are used in every 5 km.
• Immunity to electromagnetic interference
– Electromagnetic noise can not affect fiber-optic
cable.
 Guided Media
• Light Weight
– Fiber-optic cables are much lighter than copper
cables.
• Greater Immunity to tapping
– Fiber-optic cables are more immune to tapping as
compared to the copper cables.
– Copper cables create antenna effects that can be
easily tapped.
 Guided Media
➢ Disadvantages
• Installation and Maintenance
– It is a relatively new technology.
– Its installation and maintenance requires experts.
• Unidirectional Light Propagation
• Propagation of Light is unidirectional.
• If we need bidirectional communication two fibers
are required.
• Cost
– The Cable and the interfaces relatively more
expensive as compared to other guided media.
 Unguided Media
• Unguided media transport electromagnetic waves
without using a physical conductor.
• This is often referred as wireless communication.
• The signals are broadcast though air, and thus are
available to anyone who has a device capable of
receiving them.
• The section of the electromagnetic spectrum
defined as radio communication.
• It is divided into eight ranges, each called as
bands.
• Each band is regulated by government
authorities.
 Unguided Media
• The bands are rated from very low frequency (VLF) to
extremely high frequency (EHF).
 Unguided Media
• Electromagnetic spectrum for wireless communication
 Unguided Media
➢Propagation modes
• Unguided signals travel from source to
destination in three different ways.
• They are:
– Ground Propagation
– Sky Propagation
– Line-of-sight Propagation
Unguided Media
 Unguided Media
➢Ground Propagation
• In ground propagation, radio waves travel
through the lowest portion of the atmosphere,
very nearer to the earth surface.
• These low-frequency signals emanate in all
directions from the transmitting antenna and
follow the curvature of the planet.
• The distance depends on the power in the
signal.
 Unguided Media
➢Sky Propagation
• In Sky propagation, higher-frequency radio
waves radiate upward into the ionosphere
where they are reflected back to earth.

• This type of transmission allows for greater

distances with lower power output.
 Unguided Media
➢Line-of Sight Propagation
• In Line-of-Sight Propagation, very high
frequency signals are transmitted in straight
lines directly from antenna to antenna.

• Antenna must be directional facing each other.

• The antenna should be tall enough so that not

to be affected by the curvature of the earth.
 Unguided Media
• Wireless Transmission waves
 Unguided Media
➢Radio Waves
• Electromagnetic waves ranging in frequencies
between 3kHz to 1Ghz are called as radio waves.
• Radio waves are omnidirectional.
• When an antenna transmits radio waves they are
propagated in all directions.
• Radio waves can travel long distances.
 Unguided Media
• The Radio wave band is relatively narrow.
• Therefore it leads to a low data rate for digital
communication.
• The radio waves are useful for multicasting.
• Examples of multicasting are AM and FM
Radio, Television.
 Unguided Media

Omni-directional Antenna
 Unguided Media
➢Microwaves
• Electromagnetic waves having frequency
between 1 and 300GHz are called as
microwaves.
• Microwaves are unidirectional.
• When an antenna transmits the microwave
waves they are focused narrowly.
• The sending and receiving antenna requires to
be aligned.
 Unguided Media
➢Characteristics of Microwave Propagation
• Microwave propagation is line-of-sight.
• Towers with mounted antennas needs to be in
direct sight of each other.
• Very high frequency microwaves cannot
penetrate through the walls.
• It could be a disadvantage if the receiver is
inside the building.
 Unguided Media
• The microwave band is relatively wide near
about 299 GHz.
• Therefore a high data rate could be possible.
• To use the certain portion of this band requires
permission from the authorities.
 Unguided Media

➢Applications
• Due to the unidirectional property they are
useful in unicast (one-to-one) communication.

• They are used in cellular phones, satellite

networks and wireless LANs.
 Unguided Media
• Satellite Microwave Communication
 Unguided Media

Unidirectional antennas
 Unguided Media
➢Infrared
• Infrared waves having frequencies between
300 GHz to 400 THz.
• It can be used for short range communication.
• It can not penetrate through the walls.
 Unguided Media
➢Applications
• The infrared band has an excellent potential
for data transmission.
• The wide band width can be used for
transmission of digital data at a high data rate.
• The Infrared Data Association (IrDA) has
established standards for using these signals
for communication between the devices
keyboard, mouse, PC and printers.
 Unguided Media
• Some manufacturers provide a special port
called as IrDA port that allows the wireless
keyboard to communicate with PC.
• The early standard defined a data rate of 75
kbps for a distance upto 8 m.
• The recent standard defines a data rate upto 4
Mbps.