Multiplexing in

Communicati
on System
BHAVIN V KAKANI
IT, NU
Multiplexing
Multiplexing is the set of techniques that
allows the simultaneous transmission of
multiple signals across a single data link.
A Multiplexer (MUX) is a device that
combines several signals into a single
signal.
A Demultiplexer (DEMUX) is a device that
performs the inverse operation.
Categories of Multiplexing
Frequency-division Multiplexing (FDM)
FDM is an analog technique that can be applied when
the bandwidth of a link is greater than the combined
bandwidths of the signals to be transmitted.




Frequency-division Multiplexing (FDM)
In FDM signals
generated by each
device modulate
different carrier
frequencies. These
modulated signals are
combined into a
single composite
signal that can be
transported by the
link.
FDM is an analog multiplexing technique
that combines signals.
Modulating (Modulation)
In analog transmission, the sending
device produces a high frequency signal
(a sine wave) that acts as a basis for the
information signal. This base signal is
called the carrier signal.
Digital information is then modulated on
the carrier signal by modifying one or
more of its characteristics (amplitude,
frequency, phase). This kind of
modification is called modulation and
the information signal is called a
modulating signal.
Modulation (Amplitude Shift keying
ASK)
Time-domain description
Modulation (Amplitude Shift keying
ASK)
Frequency-domain description
Frequency-division Multiplexing (FDM)
In FDM signals generated by each device modulate
different carrier frequencies. These modulated
signals are combined into a single composite signal
that can be transported by the link.
Carrier frequencies are separated by enough
bandwidth to accommodate the modulated signal.
These bandwidth ranges arte the channels through
which various signals travel.
Channels must separated by strips of unused
bandwidth (guard bands) to prevent signal
overlapping.

Frequency-division Multiplexing (FDM)
In FDM, signals are modulated onto separate
carrier frequencies using either AM or FM
modulation.
Example 1
Assume that a voice channel occupies a bandwidth of 4
KHz. We need to combine three voice channels into a link
with a bandwidth of 12 KHz, from 20 to 32 KHz. Show
the configuration using the frequency domain without the
use of guard bands.
Solution
Shift (modulate) each of the three voice channels to a
different bandwidth, as shown in Figure 6.6.
Example 1
Example 2
Five channels, each with a 100-KHz bandwidth, are to be
multiplexed together. What is the minimum bandwidth of
the link if there is a need for a guard band of 10 KHz
between the channels to prevent interference?
Solution
For five channels, we need at least four guard bands.
This means that the required bandwidth is at least
5 x 100 + 4 x 10 = 540 KHz,
as shown in Figure 6.7.
Example 2
Wave-division Multiplexing (WDM)
Wave-division multiplexing is
conceptually the same as FDM, except
that multiplexing and demultiplexing
involve light signals transmitted through
fiber-optic channels.
The purpose is to combine multiple light
sources into one single light at the
multiplexer and do the reverse at the
demultiplexer.
Combining and splitting of light sources
are easily handled by a prism.
The only difference with electrical FDM is that on
optical system is completely passive and thus
highly reliable.
Due to its enormous bandwidth of around 25K
GHz, there is a potential of multiplexing many
channels together over long routes.
Potential application of WDM is in the FTTC (Fiber
To The Curb) systems.
Important application of WDM is the SONET
networks in which multiple optical fiber lines are
multiplexed.
Time-division Multiplexing (TDM)
Time-division multiplexing (TDM) is a digital process that
can be applied when the data rate capacity of the
transmission medium is greater than the data rate
required by the sending and receiving devices.
Data Rate
For T DM, the data rate of the multiplexed signal is
always n times the data rate of the individual
sources, where n is the number of sources.
If 3 sources are multiplexed, then the data rate of
the TDM signal is 3 times higher than the individual
data rate.

TDM
TDM is a digital multiplexing technique to
combine data.

Time-division Multiplexing (TDM)
TDM can be implemented in two ways:
synchronous TDM and asynchronous TDM.
In synchronous time-division multiplexing, the
term synchronous means that the multiplexer
allocates exactly the same time slot to each
device at all times, whether or not a device
has anything to transmit.
Frames
Time slots are grouped into frames. A frame
consists of a one complete cycle of time
slots, including one or more slots dedicated
to each sending device.
TDM frames
Example 5
Four 1-Kbps connections are multiplexed together. A unit
is 1 bit. Find (1) the duration of 1 bit before multiplexing,
(2) the transmission rate of the link, (3) the duration of a
time slot, and (4) the duration of a frame?
Solution
We can answer the questions as follows:

1. The duration of 1 bit is 1/1 Kbps, or 0.001 s (1 ms).
2. The rate of the link is 4 Kbps.
3. The duration of each time slot 1/4 ms or 250 ms.
4. The duration of a frame 1 ms.
I n a TDM, the data rate of the link is n
times faster, and the unit duration is n
times shorter.
I nterleaving
Example 6
Four channels are multiplexed using TDM. If each
channel sends 100 bytes/s and we multiplex 1 byte per
channel, show the frame traveling on the link, the size of
the frame, the duration of a frame, the frame rate, and the
bit rate for the link.
Solution
The multiplexer is shown in Figure 6.15.
Example 6
Example 7
A multiplexer combines four 100-Kbps channels using a
time slot of 2 bits. Show the output with four arbitrary
inputs. What is the frame rate? What is the frame
duration? What is the bit rate? What is the bit duration?
Solution
Figure 6.16 shows the output for four arbitrary inputs.
Example 7
Time-division Multiplexing (TDM)
Framing Bits
Because the time slot order in a synchronous
TDM system does not vary from frame to
frame, very little overhead information needs
to be included in each frame. However, one
or more synchronization bits are usually
added to the beginning of each frame.
These bits, called framing bits, allows the
demultiplexer to synchronize with the
incoming stream so that it can separate the
time slot accurately.
Framing bits
Example
Suppose that we have four input devices on a synchronous TDM
link, where the transmissions are interleaved by character. If
each device is generating 250 characters per second, and each
frame is carrying 1 character from each device, what is the
minimum data rate of this link?
The link must be able to carry
250 frames per second.
If we assume that each
character consists of 8
bits, then each frame has
4x8 + 1= 33 bits ( 32 bits for
the four characters plus 1
framing bit).
On the other hand, each
device is creating
2000bps, because 250
characters per second x 8
bits =2000 bits per second,
and the link is carrying
8250 bps, because 250
frames per second x33 bits
is 8250 bps.
Example 8
We have four sources, each creating 250 characters per
second. If the interleaved unit is a character and 1
synchronizing bit is added to each frame, find (1) the data
rate of each source, (2) the duration of each character in
each source, (3) the frame rate, (4) the duration of each
frame, (5) the number of bits in each frame, and (6) the
data rate of the link.
Solution
See next slide.
Solution (continued)
We can answer the questions as follows:

1. The data rate of each source is 2000 bps = 2 Kbps.
2. The duration of a character is 1/250 s, or 4 ms.
3. The link needs to send 250 frames per second.
4. The duration of each frame is 1/250 s, or 4 ms.
5. Each frame is 4 x 8 + 1 = 33 bits.
6. The data rate of the link is 250 x 33, or 8250 bps.
Example 9
Two channels, one with a bit rate of 100 Kbps and
another with a bit rate of 200 Kbps, are to be multiplexed.
How this can be achieved? What is the frame rate? What
is the frame duration? What is the bit rate of the link?
Solution
We can allocate one slot to the first channel and two slots
to the second channel. Each frame carries 3 bits. The
frame rate is 100,000 frames per second because it
carries 1 bit from the first channel. The frame duration is
1/100,000 s, or 10 ms. The bit rate is 100,000 frames/s x
3 bits/frame, or 300 Kbps.
DS hierarchy
Table 6.1 DS and T lines rates
Service Line
Rate
(Mbps)
Voice
Channels
DS-1 T-1 1.544 24
DS-2 T-2 6.312 96
DS-3 T-3 44.736 672
DS-4 T-4 274.176 4032
Table 6.2 E line rates
E Line
Rate
(Mbps)
Voice
Channels
E-1 2.048 30
E-2 8.448 120
E-3 34.368 480
E-4 139.264 1920
Asynchronous TDM
Synchronous TDM does not guarantee that the full
capacity of a link is used. Because the time slots are
preassigned and fixed, whenever a connected device
is not transmitting, the corresponding slot is empty.
Asynchronous time-division multiplexing, or statistical
time-division multiplexing, is designed to avoid this
type of waste.
Like synchronous TDM, asynchronous TDM allows a
number of lower-speed input lines to be multiplexed
to a single higher-speed line. However, in
asynchronous TDM the total speed of the input lines
can be greater than the capacity of the link.
In an asynchronous system,
if we have n input lines, the
frame contains no more than
m slots, with m less than n.

The number of time slots in
an asynchronous TDM
frame (m) is based on
statistical analysis of the
number of input lines that
are likely to be transmitting
at any given time.
In this case any slot is
available to any of the
attached input lines that has
data to send.
Asynchronous TDM
Addressing and Overhead

In asynchronous TDM each time slot must
carry an address telling the demultiplexer
how direct the data. This address, for
local use only, is attached by the
multiplexer and discarded by the
demultiplexer once it has been read.
Asynchronous TDM is efficient only when
the size of the time slots kept relatively
large.
Inverse Multiplexing
Inverse multiplexing takes
the data stream from one
high-speed line and
breaks it into portions that
can be sent across several
lower-speed lines
simultaneously, with no
loss in the collective data
rate.
Figure 6.21 Multiplexing and inverse multiplexing