Chapter 3

Data and Signals

3.1 Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.
 Note

To be transmitted, data must be

transformed to electromagnetic signals.

3.2
3-1 ANALOG AND DIGITAL

Data can be analog or digital. The term analog data refers

to information that is continuous; digital data refers to
information that has discrete states. Analog data take on
continuous values. Digital data take on discrete values.

Topics discussed in this section:

 Analog and Digital Data
 Analog and Digital Signals
 Periodic and Nonperiodic Signals

3.3
 Analog and Digital Data
 Data can be analog or digital.
 Analog data are continuous and take
continuous values.
 Digital data have discrete states and take
discrete values.

3.4
 Analog and Digital Signals

• Signals can be analog or digital.

• Analog signals can have an infinite number
of values in a range.
• Digital signals can have only a limited
number of values.

3.5
 Figure 3.1 Comparison of analog and digital signals

3.6
3-2 PERIODIC ANALOG SIGNALS
In data communications, we commonly use periodic
analog signals and nonperiodic digital signals.
Periodic analog signals can be classified as simple or
composite. A simple periodic analog signal, a sine wave,
cannot be decomposed into simpler signals. A composite
periodic analog signal is composed of multiple sine
waves.
Topics discussed in this section:
 Sine Wave
 Wavelength
 Time and Frequency Domain
 Composite Signals
 Bandwidth
3.7
 Figure 3.2 A sine wave

3.8
 Figure 3.3 Two signals with the same phase and frequency,
but different amplitudes

3.9
 Note

Frequency and period are the inverse of

each other.

3.10
 Figure 3.4 Two signals with the same amplitude and phase,
but different frequencies

3.11
 Table 3.1 Units of period and frequency

3.12
 Example 3.1

The power we use at home has a frequency of 60 Hz.

The period of this sine wave can be determined as
follows:

3.13
 Example 3.2

The period of a signal is 100 ms. What is its frequency in

kilohertz?

Solution
First we change 100 ms to seconds, and then we
calculate the frequency from the period (1 Hz = 10 −3
kHz).

3.14
 Frequency
• Frequency is the rate of change with respect
to time.
• Change in a short span of time means high
frequency.
• Change over a long span of time means low
frequency.

3.15
 Note

If a signal does not change at all, its

frequency is zero.
If a signal changes instantaneously, its
frequency is infinite.

3.16
 Note

Phase describes the position of the

waveform relative to time 0.

3.17
 Figure 3.5 Three sine waves with the same amplitude and frequency,
but different phases

3.18
 Example 3.3

A sine wave is offset 1/6 cycle with respect to time 0.

What is its phase in degrees and radians?

Solution
We know that 1 complete cycle is 360°. Therefore, 1/6
cycle is

3.19
 Figure 3.6 Wavelength and period

3.20
 Figure 3.7 The time-domain and frequency-domain plots of a sine wave

3.21
 Note

A complete sine wave in the time

domain can be represented by one
single spike in the frequency domain.

3.22
 Example 3.7

The frequency domain is more compact and

useful when we are dealing with more than one
sine wave. For example, Figure 3.8 shows three
sine waves, each with different amplitude and
frequency. All can be represented by three
spikes in the frequency domain.

3.23
 Figure 3.8 The time domain and frequency domain of three sine waves

3.24
 Signals and Communication
 A single-frequency sine wave is not
useful in data communications
 We need to send a composite signal, a
signal made of many simple sine waves.
 According to Fourier analysis, any
composite signal is a combination of
simple sine waves with different
frequencies, amplitudes, and phases.

3.25
 Composite Signals and
Periodicity
 If the composite signal is periodic, the
decomposition gives a series of signals
with discrete frequencies.
 If the composite signal is nonperiodic, the
decomposition gives a combination of
sine waves with continuous frequencies.

3.26
 Example 3.4

Figure 3.9 shows a periodic composite signal with

frequency f. This type of signal is not typical of those
found in data communications. We can consider it to be
three alarm systems, each with a different frequency.
The analysis of this signal can give us a good
understanding of how to decompose signals.

3.27
 Figure 3.9 A composite periodic signal

3.28
 Figure 3.10 Decomposition of a composite periodic signal in the time and
frequency domains

3.29
 Example 3.5

Figure 3.11 shows a nonperiodic composite signal. It

can be the signal created by a microphone or a telephone
set when a word or two is pronounced. In this case, the
composite signal cannot be periodic, because that
implies that we are repeating the same word or words
with exactly the same tone.

3.30
 Figure 3.11 The time and frequency domains of a nonperiodic signal

3.31
 Bandwidth and Signal
Frequency
 The bandwidth of a composite signal is
the difference between the highest and
the lowest frequencies contained in that
signal.

3.32
 Figure 3.12 The bandwidth of periodic and nonperiodic composite signals

3.33
 Example 3.6

If a periodic signal is decomposed into five sine waves

with frequencies of 100, 300, 500, 700, and 900 Hz, what
is its bandwidth? Draw the spectrum, assuming all
components have a maximum amplitude of 10 V.
Solution
Let fh be the highest frequency, fl the lowest frequency,
and B the bandwidth. Then

The spectrum has only five spikes, at 100, 300, 500, 700,
and 900 Hz (see Figure 3.13).
3.34
 Figure 3.13 The bandwidth for Example 3.6

3.35
 Example 3.7

A periodic signal has a bandwidth of 20 Hz. The highest

frequency is 60 Hz. What is the lowest frequency? Draw
the spectrum if the signal contains all frequencies of the
same amplitude.
Solution
Let fh be the highest frequency, fl the lowest frequency,
and B the bandwidth. Then

The spectrum contains all integer frequencies. We show

this by a series of spikes (see Figure 3.14).
3.36
 Figure 3.14 The bandwidth for Example 3.7

3.37
 Example 3.8

A nonperiodic composite signal has a bandwidth of 200

kHz, with a middle frequency of 140 kHz and peak
amplitude of 20 V. The two extreme frequencies have an
amplitude of 0. Draw the frequency domain of the
signal.

Solution
The lowest frequency must be at 40 kHz and the highest
at 240 kHz. Figure 3.15 shows the frequency domain
and the bandwidth.

3.38
 Figure 3.15 The bandwidth for Example 3.8

3.39
 Example 3.9

An example of a nonperiodic composite signal is the

signal propagated by an AM radio station. In the United
States, each AM radio station is assigned a 10-kHz
bandwidth. The total bandwidth dedicated to AM radio
ranges from 530 to 1700 kHz. We will show the rationale
behind this 10-kHz bandwidth in Chapter 5.

3.40
 Example 3.10

Another example of a nonperiodic composite signal is

the signal propagated by an FM radio station. In the
United States, each FM radio station is assigned a 200-
kHz bandwidth. The total bandwidth dedicated to FM
radio ranges from 88 to 108 MHz. We will show the
rationale behind this 200-kHz bandwidth in Chapter 5.

3.41
 Example 3.11

Another example of a nonperiodic composite signal is

the signal received by an old-fashioned analog black-
and-white TV. A TV screen is made up of pixels. If we
assume a resolution of 525 × 700, we have 367,500
pixels per screen. If we scan the screen 30 times per
second, this is 367,500 × 30 = 11,025,000 pixels per
second. The worst-case scenario is alternating black and
white pixels. We can send 2 pixels per cycle. Therefore,
we need 11,025,000 / 2 = 5,512,500 cycles per second, or
Hz. The bandwidth needed is 5.5125 MHz.

3.42
3-3 DIGITAL SIGNALS
In addition to being represented by an analog signal,
information can also be represented by a digital signal.
For example, a 1 can be encoded as a positive voltage
and a 0 as zero voltage. A digital signal can have more
than two levels. In this case, we can send more than 1 bit
for each level.

Reading Assignment
Bit Rate
Bit Length
Digital Signal as a Composite Analog Signal
Application Layer
3.43
 Figure 3.16 Two digital signals: one with two signal levels and the other
with four signal levels

3.44
 Example 3.16

A digital signal has eight levels. How many bits are

needed per level? We calculate the number of bits from
the formula

Each signal level is represented by 3 bits.

3.45
 Example 3.17

A digital signal has nine levels. How many bits are

needed per level? We calculate the number of bits by
using the formula. Each signal level is represented by
3.17 bits. However, this answer is not realistic. The
number of bits sent per level needs to be an integer as
well as a power of 2. For this example, 4 bits can
represent one level.

3.46
 Figure 3.18 Baseband transmission

3.47
 Figure 3.19 Bandwidths of two low-pass channels

3.48
 Figure 3.23 Bandwidth of a bandpass channel

3.49
3-4 TRANSMISSION IMPAIRMENT

Signals travel through transmission media, which are not

perfect. The imperfection causes signal impairment. This
means that the signal at the beginning of the medium is
not the same as the signal at the end of the medium.
What is sent is not what is received. Three causes of
impairment are attenuation, distortion, and noise.

Topics discussed in this section:

Attenuation
Distortion
Noise

3.50
 Figure 3.25 Causes of impairment

3.51
 Figure 3.26 Attenuation

3.52
 Example 3.26

Suppose a signal travels through a transmission medium

and its power is reduced to one-half. This means that P 2
is (1/2)P1. In this case, the attenuation (loss of power)
can be calculated as

A loss of 3 dB (–3 dB) is equivalent to losing one-half

the power.
3.53
 Example 3.27

A signal travels through an amplifier, and its power is

increased 10 times. This means that P2 = 10P1 . In this
case, the amplification (gain of power) can be calculated
as

3.54
 Example 3.28

One reason that engineers use the decibel to measure the

changes in the strength of a signal is that decibel
numbers can be added (or subtracted) when we are
measuring several points (cascading) instead of just two.
In Figure 3.27 a signal travels from point 1 to point 4. In
this case, the decibel value can be calculated as

3.55
 Figure 3.27 Decibels for Example 3.28

3.56
 Example 3.29

Sometimes the decibel is used to measure signal power

in milliwatts. In this case, it is referred to as dBm and is
calculated as dBm = 10 log10 Pm , where Pm is the power
in milliwatts. Calculate the power of a signal with dB m =
−30.

Solution
We can calculate the power in the signal as

3.57
 Example 3.30

The loss in a cable is usually defined in decibels per

kilometer (dB/km). If the signal at the beginning of a
cable with −0.3 dB/km has a power of 2 mW, what is the
power of the signal at 5 km?
Solution
The loss in the cable in decibels is 5 × (−0.3) = −1.5 dB.
We can calculate the power as

3.58
 Figure 3.28 Distortion

3.59
 Figure 3.29 Noise

3.60
 Example 3.31

The power of a signal is 10 mW and the power of the

noise is 1 μW; what are the values of SNR and SNRdB ?

Solution
The values of SNR and SNRdB can be calculated as
follows:

3.61
 Example 3.32

The values of SNR and SNRdB for a noiseless channel

are

We can never achieve this ratio in real life; it is an ideal.

3.62
 Figure 3.30 Two cases of SNR: a high SNR and a low SNR

3.63
3-5 DATA RATE LIMITS

A very important consideration in data communications

is how fast we can send data, in bits per second, over a
channel. Data rate depends on three factors:
1. The bandwidth available
2. The level of the signals we use
3. The quality of the channel (the level of noise)

Reading Assignment
Noiseless Channel: Nyquist Bit Rate
Noisy Channel: Shannon Capacity
Using Both Limits

3.64
 3-6 PERFORMANCE

One important issue in networking is the performance of

the network—how good is it? We discuss quality of
service, an overall measurement of network performance,
in greater detail in Chapter 24. In this section, we
introduce terms that we need for future chapters.

Reading Assignment
Bandwidth
Throughput
Latency (Delay)
Bandwidth-Delay Product
3.65
 Note
In networking, we use the term
bandwidth in two contexts.
❏ The first, bandwidth in hertz, refers to
the range of frequencies in a
composite signal or the range of
frequencies that a channel can pass.

❏ The second, bandwidth in bits per

second, refers to the speed of bit
transmission in a channel or link.
3.66
 Figure 3.31 Filling the link with bits for case 1

3.67
 Example 3.48

We can think about the link between two points as a

pipe. The cross section of the pipe represents the
bandwidth, and the length of the pipe represents the
delay. We can say the volume of the pipe defines the
bandwidth-delay product, as shown in Figure 3.33.

3.68
 Figure 3.32 Filling the link with bits in case 2

3.69
 END

3.70