BIT3

Telecommunications I
ELE-TEL311

Lesson 1: Transmission media

T. Namaona, Lecturer in Telecommunications Engineering

Intended Learning Outcome
By the end of this lesson, the student should:
• describe the properties of guided and unguided transmission
media.
Outline
• Communication model
• Parallel wireline
• Twisted pair
• Coaxial cable
• Wireless
Communication System
• Information source
• Transmitter/modulator
• Communication channels:
• wire-line channels (parallel pair of wires, twisted pair of wires, coaxial cable
and optical fibre )
• wireless channels
• Receivers/demodulator
• Destination
• Noise and interference
Communication system model

Information Modulator Communication Demodulator

channel
Destination
Source

Noise and
distortion
Information source
• This is the device that generate information to be transmitted
• Maybe digital or analog
• Example: Computer, Telephone
Modulator
• Also called transmitter
• Encodes the information from source to suit characteristics of
transmission medium
• Example: Modem
Communication channel
• Transmission system:
• Carries the encoded signals from the transmitter to the
receiver.
• Signals carried through:
• Guided (wired): can be a single wire connecting two telephones or a vast network
connecting thousands of computers e.g copper cables (twisted pair, coaxial etc), optical
fibre cable
• Unguided (wireless): E.g microwave (terrestrial and satellite), infrared
 Transmission
System

Guided Unguided
(wire-line) (wireless)

Metallic Optical fibre Free space

cables cable (air)

Parallel Radio wave Infrared

Coaxial
conductor
Microwave
(terrestrial
&satellite
Noise and Distortion
Noise is unwanted modifications that a signal may suffer during
capture, storage, transmission, processing, or conversion.
• Noise is represented as a single input though noise is added at every
stage of a communication system.
• The highest attainable error-free data speed in bps that can be
handled by a communication channel is given by Shannon’s law:

Cs = B log 2 (1 + SNR )
Demodulator
• Intercepts information from transmission medium and decodes the
information to suit intended destination
• Example: modem
Destination
• Ultimate recipient of information
• Usually processes the information so that it is usuable by human or
program running on the device
• Examples: telephone, computer
• Calculate the theoretical highest bit rate of a regular telephone line .
A telephone line normally has a bandwidth of 3000 Hz. The SNR is
usually 3162.
• How can we send data faster than the found rate?
 Transmission
System

Guided Unguided
(wire-line) (wireless)

Metallic Optical fibre Free space

cables cable (air)

Parallel Radio wave Infrared

Coaxial
conductor
Microwave
(terrestrial
&satellite
Wire-line
• Provide a conduit (cabling) from one device to another.
• Medium is more important than the signal
• A signal traveling is directed and contained by the physical limits of
the medium.
- Parallel wire and coaxial cable use metallic (copper) conductors
that accept and transport signals in the form of electric current.
- Optical fiber accepts and transports signals in the form of light.
TYPES OF WIRE LINES
A. Parallel wire conductor
• Open wire
• Twin Lead
• Twisted pair
Parallel wire conductor
• Comprised of two or more metallic conductors(usually copper)
separated by nonconductive insulating material called a dielectric .
• Common dielectric materials include air, rubber, polyethylene,
paper, mica, glass, and Teflon.
• Most common are: open wire, twin lead and twisted pair.
Open wire
• Two wire parallel conductors.
• Wires are closely spaced and separated by air.
• The dielectric is simply the air between & around the conductors in which
the TEM propagates.
• Nonconductive spacers are placed at periodic intervals for support but
also maintain constant distance.
• Real adv is its simple construction.
• The principal disadvantages of this type of line are the high radiation
losses and electrical noise pickup because of the lack of shielding which
produces crosstalk.
Twin Lead
• Same as open wire except that spacers between the two conductors
are replaced with a continuous solid dielectric that ensures uniform
spacing along entire cable
• Why is uniform spacing desirable
• Common dielectric materials are Teflon and polyethylene
Twisted wire pair
• Consists of two insulated copper wires arranged in a regular twisted
pattern.
• A wire pair acts as a single communication link.
• Each pair would consist of a wire used for the +ve data signal and a wire
used for the -ve data signal.
• Any noise that appears on 1 wire of the pair would occur on the other wire.
• When the noise appears on both wires, it cancels itself out at the receiving
end.
• By twisting the pairs, a balance is maintained. For example, suppose
in one twist, one wire is closer to the noise source and the other is
farther; in the next twist, the reverse is true.
• Twisting makes it probable that both wires are equally affected by
external influences (noise or crosstalk).
• The number of twists per unit of length has some effect on the
quality of the cable. Increasing turns improves noise rejection
Unshielded versus shielded
Twisted pair
• The most common twisted-pair cable used in communications is
referred to as unshielded twisted-pair (UTP).
• IBM also produced a version of twisted-pair cable for its use called
shielded twisted-pair (STP).
• STP cable has a metal foil or additional copper braid jacket covering
that encases each pair of insulated conductors.
• What can be a good adv or disadv of STP??
• Although metal casing improves the quality of cable by preventing
the penetration of noise or crosstalk, it is bulkier and more
expensive
UTP STP
Categories
• The Electronic Industries Association (EIA) has developed standards
to classify unshielded twisted-pair cable into eight categories.
• Categories are determined by cable quality, with 1 as the lowest and
8 as the highest.
• Each EIA category is suitable for specific uses.
Connectors
• The most common UTP connector is R J45
• It is a keyed connector, meaning the connector can be inserted in
only one way.
Performance

• One way to measure the

performance of twisted-pair
cable is to compare attenuation
versus frequency .
• However, increasing frequency,
the attenuation, measured in
decibels per kilometer (dB/km),
sharply increases with
frequencies above 100 kHz.
• Note that gauge is a measure of
the thickness of the wire.
Coaxial (coax) cables
• carries signals of higher frequency ranges than those in twisted-pair
cable.
• has a central core conductor of solid or stranded wire (usually
copper) enclosed in an insulator, which is, in turn, encased in an
outer conductor , then aplastic cover covers the whole cable.
• outer metallic wrapping serves both as a shield against noise & as
second conductor, which completes the circuit.
• outer conductor is also enclosed in an insulating sheath, and the
whole cable is protected by a plastic cover
Coaxial Cable Standards
• Categorized by their radio government (RG) ratings.
• Each RG number denotes a unique set of physical specifications
including:
• wire gauge of the inner conductor
• thickness and type of the inner insulator
• construction of the shield
• size and type of the outer casing
• Each cable defined by an RG rating is adapted for a specialized
function as in following table
Coaxial Cable Connectors

• most common type of connector

used today is the Bayonet-Neill-
Concelman (BNC), connector.
• BNC connector is used to connect
the end of the cable to a device,
such as a TV decoder.
• BNC T connector is used to
branch out to a connection to a
computer or other device.
• BNC terminator is used at the end
of the cable to prevent the
reflection of the signal.
Optical Fibre
• Construction
• Advantages and disadvantages
• Light propagation
• Optical fibre communication system model
• Types
• Attenuation sources
• Light sources (light emitting diodes, LASER)
• Photo-detectors (PIN Diodes, avalanche Photodiodes).
Elements of Communication System
• Information source
• Transmitter/modulator
• Receivers/demodulator
• Destination
• noise and interference
• Communication channels:
• waves
• wire-line channels (parallel pair of wires, twisted pair of wires, coaxial cable and
optical fibre )
• wireless channels
Wireless channels
• Unguided media transport electromagnetic waves without using a
physical conductor.
• Signals are normally broadcast through free space and thus are
available to anyone who has a device capable of receiving them.
 Wireless

Radio wave Microwave Infrared

Terrestrial Satellite
 Radio wave Microwave Infrared Light wave
3kHz 1GHz 300GHz 400THz 900THz
Radio Waves
• EM waves ranging in frequencies between 3kHz and 1GHz are
normally called radio waves;
• For the most part, they are omnidirectional.
• When an antenna transmits radio waves, they are propagated in all
directions. This means that the sending and receiving antennas do not have
to be aligned.
• Susceptible to interference by another antenna that may send signals using
the same frequency.
• Radio wave band is relatively narrow, just under 1 GHz, compared to
the microwave
• The subbands are also narrow, leading to a low data rate for digital
communications.
• Almost entire band regulated by authorities
• Omni directional characteristics of radio waves make them useful for
multicasting(one sender but many receivers) e.g AM and FM radio,
television, maritime radio etc
Microwaves
• EM waves between 1 and 300 GHz
• Are unidirectional:
• When an antenna transmits microwave waves, they can be narrowly
focused.
• Sending and receiving antennas need to be aligned.
• The unidirectional property has an obvious advantage i.e. pair of antennas
can be aligned without interfering with another pair of aligned antennas
• Need unidirectional antennas that send out signals in one direction e.g
parabolic dish
Characteristics of microwaves
• Line-of-sight:
• Since the towers with the mounted antennas need to be in direct sight of
each other, towers that are far apart need to be very tall.
• Curvature of the earth as well as other blocking obstacles do not allow two
short towers to communicate.
• Repeaters are often needed for long distance communication.
• Very high-frequency microwaves cannot penetrate walls:
• a disadvantage if receivers are inside buildings.
• Microwave band is relatively wide, almost 299 GHz:
• wider subbands can be assigned, and a high data rate is possible
• Use of certain portions of the band requires permission from
authorities.
Applications of microwaves
• due to their unidirectional properties, are very useful when unicast
(one-to-one) communication is needed between the sender and the
receiver
• used in cellular phones, satellite networks, and wireless LANs
Infrared
• Can be used for short-range communication.
• High frequencies cannot penetrate walls.
• Short-range communication system in one room cannot be affected by
another system in next room.
• Used for short-range communication in a closed area using line-of-sight
propagation.
• On the other hand:
• useless for long-range communication.
• The infrared band, almost 400 THz, has excellent potential for data
transmission at very high data rate.
• Infrared Data Association (IrDA), established stds for using these
signals.
Elements of Communication System
• Information source
• Transmitter/modulator
• Receivers/demodulator
• Destination
• noise and interference
• Communication channels:
• waves
• wire-line channels (parallel pair of wires, twisted pair of wires, coaxial cable and
optical fibre )
• wireless channels
References
• Chadza T.,2013,Telecommunication lecture notes,2013
• Dunlop J. & Smith D.G. , 1994, Telecommunications Engineering, 3rd Edition, CRC Press
• Britanica, 2015, Open wire pair, Online, Available:
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/585825/telecommunications-media/76242/Open-
wire-pair#ref608039
• Forouzan B., 2007, Data Communications and Networking, 4th Edition, McGraw Hill
• Tomasi W., 2009, Advanced Electronic Communications Systems, 6th edition, PHI Learning Private
Limited, New Delhi