Chapter -3

Data and Signals

Part-A

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In this Lecture
• Duties of Physical Layer
• Signals
• Analog Signals
• Digital Signals
• Examples

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 Duties of Physical Layer
Bit Signal Transformation (Ch.3 & 4 & 5)
Bit-rate control (Ch.3)
Bit synchronization (Ch. 4)
Multiplexing (Ch.6)
Circuit switching (Ch.8)

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Data and Signals
Data :Entities that convey meaning
◦ To be transmitted, data must be transformed to
electromagnetic signals.
Signals : Electric or electromagnetic
representations of data
◦ means by which data are propagated
Transmission
◦ Communication of data by propagation and
processing of signals

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 Data Analog OR Digital
Analog Data : information that is
continuous
◦ Continuous values within some interval
◦ e.g. sound, video
Digital : information that has discrete
states
◦ Discrete values
◦ e.g. text, integers

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Signals
Analog: can have an infinite number of
values in a range
◦ Varies in a smooth way over time
◦ Continuously variable
◦ Speech, Telephone ,Video
Digital: can have only a limited number of
values.
 Maintains a constant level & then changes to another
constant level
◦ Use two DC components

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Figure 3.1 Comparison of analog
and digital signals

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 Signals
Periodic Signal : Pattern repeated over
time
Aperiodic Signal :Pattern not repeated over
time
In data communication, we commonly use
periodic analog signals and aperiodic digital
signals

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Periodic
Signals

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PERIODIC ANALOG 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.

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A Sine Wave
A sine wave is the most fundamental form
of a periodic signal

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A Sine Wave
Peak Amplitude (A)
◦ maximum strength of signal
◦ Measure in volts
Frequency (f)
◦ Rate of change of signal (Hertz (Hz) or cycles per
second)
◦ Period = time for one repetition (T)
◦ Frequency and period are the inverse of each other.

Phase ()
◦ the position of the waveform relative to time 0.
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Figure 3.3 Two signals with the same phase and
frequency, but different amplitudes
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Figure 3.4 Two signals with the same amplitude and phase,
but different frequencies

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Figure 3.5 Three sine waves with the same
amplitude and frequency, but different phases
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Frequency of the signal
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.
If a signal does not change at all, its
frequency is zero.
If a signal changes instantaneously, its
frequency is infinite.

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Table 3.1 Units of period and frequency

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Varying Sine Waves
s(t) = A sin(2ft +)

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Sine wave examples

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Sine wave examples

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 Example of sine wave
The power in your house can be represented
by a sine wave with a peak amplitude of 110
or 220 V.
The power we use at home has a frequency
of 60 Hz. The period of this sine wave can
be determined as follows:

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Example 3.4
Express a period of 100 ms in microseconds.
Solution
From Table 3.1 we find the equivalents of 1
ms (1 ms is 10−3 s) and 1 s (1 s is 106 μs). We
make the following substitutions:.

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Example 3.5
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).

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Example 3.6
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

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 Wavelength
Distance occupied by one cycle
Distance between two points of
corresponding phase in two consecutive
cycles
Wavelength Represented by  
Assuming signal velocity v
◦  = vT  for a particular signal
◦ f = v
◦ c = 3*108 ms-1 (speed of light in free space)

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Figure 3.6 Wavelength and period

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Time and Frequency domains
Signal can be plotted in Time domain or
frequency domain
In time domain : the x axis is time while the y
axis is the amplitude of signal
◦ The time domain plot shows changes in signal
amplitude with respect to time
Infrequency domain : the x axis is frequency
while the y axis is the peak value of signal
◦ The frequency domain plot shows peak value of
signal versus frequency
A complete sine wave in the time domain can
be represented by one single spike in the
frequency domain. 27
 Example

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

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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 (next slide) shows
three sine waves, each with different
amplitude and frequency.
All can be represented by three spikes in the
frequency domain.

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Figure3.8 The time domain and frequency
domain of three sine waves
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A Composite Signal
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.
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. 32
 Addition of
Frequency
Components
(T=1/f)
Representation of one
individual frequency
component

Addition of individual
frequency components
gives

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34
Fundamental Frequency and
Harmonics
The composite signal usually has a specific
frequency (f)
The sine wave with frequency f usually has the
same amplitude of the composite signal
◦ This sine wave is called the fundamental frequency
(first harmonic)
 The sine wave with frequency 3f usually has
1/3 of amplitude of the composite signal
◦ This sine wave is called third harmonic
 The sine wave with frequency 9f usually has
1/9 of amplitude of the composite signal
◦ This sine wave is called ninth harmonic
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Figure 3.10 Decomposition of a composite periodic
signal in the time and frequency domains
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Example 3.9
Figure 3.11 (next slide) 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.

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Figure 3.11 The time and frequency domains of
a nonperiodic signal
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Bandwidth
Bandwidth of Signal: is the range of
frequencies contained in composite signals
◦ It is the difference between the highest and the
lowest frequencies contained in that signal.
The bandwidth a medium: It is the
difference between the highest and the
lowest frequencies that the medium can
satisfactorily pass.

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Figure 3.12 The bandwidth of periodic and
nonperiodic composite signals
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Example 3.10
If a periodic signal is decomposed into five sine waves
with frequencies of 100, 300, 500, 700, and 900 Hz,
what is the bandwidth? Draw the spectrum, assuming
all components have a maximum amplitude of 10 V.

Solution

The spectrum has only five spikes, at 100, 300, 500, 700, and 900

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Example 3.11
A 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 integral 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

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Example 3.12
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.

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Example
A signal has a spectrum with frequencies between
1000 and 2000 Hz (bandwidth of 1000 Hz). A
medium can pass frequencies from 3000 to 4000
Hz (a bandwidth of 1000 Hz). Can this signal
faithfully pass through this medium?
Solution
The answer is definitely no.
Although the signal can have the same bandwidth
(1000 Hz), the range does not overlap.
The medium can only pass the frequencies
between 3000 and 4000 Hz; the signal is totally
lost. 44