Chapter 3

Data and Signals

3.1 Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.
3.2
 BASIS OF LAN MAN WAN
COMPARISON
Expands to Local Area Network Metropolitan Area Wide Area Network
Network
Meaning A network that It covers relatively It spans large locality
connects a group of large region such as and connects
computers in a small cities, towns. countries together.
geographical area. Example Internet.

Ownership of Private Private or Public Private or Public

Network
Design and Easy Difficult Difficult
maintenance
Propagation Delay Short Moderate Long
Speed High Moderate Low
Fault Tolerance More Tolerant Less Tolerant Less Tolerant
Congestion Less More More
Used for College, School, Small towns, City. Country/Continent.
Hospital.

3.3
 A scientist (Alice)

working in a research

company, Sky

Research, needs to order a

book related to her

research from an online

bookseller (Bob),
Transmitted
Scientific Books.
data changes to

signal.

3.4
 Note

To be transmitted, data must be

transformed to electromagnetic signals.

3.5
 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

3.6
 Note

Data can be analog or digital.

Analog data are continuous and take
continuous values.
Digital data have discrete states and
take discrete values.

3.7
 Note

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.

3.8
 Figure 3.1 Comparison of analog and digital signals

3.9
 Analog v/s Digital
Analog Digital
 Used to transmit video and  Used to transfer (0,1) bits
audio signals. generally for file transfer.
 Used when we don’t have  Used when we have large
large bandwidth. bandwidth.
 Higher error rate due to  Low error rate.
sine property.  Discrete by nature.
 Continuous by nature.  Square wave forms.
 Uses curved wave forms.  Can travel long distance.
 Can travel short distance.  Repeaters are used to give
 Amplifiers are used which strength to signal which
gives strength to signal but can also correct signals.
can’t correct the signals.  Digital signals can be used
 Analog signals can be used for analog transmission.
for digital transmission. Eg; Eg. You tube, Skype
Modem sends digital data transmitting audio video
over analog telephone signals using digital
lines. signals.
 Note

In data communications, we commonly

use periodic analog signals and
nonperiodic digital signals.

3.11
 3-2 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.

Topics discussed in this section:

Sine Wave
Wavelength
Time and Frequency Domain
Composite Signals
Bandwidth

3.12
 Figure 3.2 A sine wave

3.13
 Example 3.1

The sine wave is the fundamental periodic signal.

A general sine wave can be represented by three parameters:

peak amplitude (A) - the maximum value or strength of the signal

over time; typically measured in volts.

frequency (f) - the rate [in cycles per second, or Hertz (Hz)] at which

the signal repeats. An equivalent parameter is the period (T) of a

3.14
 Example 3.1

The power in your house can be represented by a sine

wave with a peak amplitude of 155 to 170 V. However, it
is common knowledge that the voltage of the power in
U.S. homes is 110 to 120 V. This discrepancy is due to
the fact that these are root mean square (rms) values.
The signal is squared and then the average amplitude is
calculated. The peak value is equal to 2½ × rms value.

Peak Amplitude = 2½ × rms

So, what voltage is coming to Indian Home? 250v

What will be the peak amplitude? 350v
3.15
 Figure 3.3 Two signals with the same phase and frequency,
but different amplitudes

3.16
 Example 3.2

The voltage of a battery is a constant; this constant value

can be considered a sine wave, as we will see later. For
example, the peak value of an AA battery is normally
1.5 V.

3.17
3.18
 Frequency and Period

Note

Frequency and period are the inverse of

each other.

3.19
 Figure 3.4 Two signals with the same amplitude and phase,
but different frequencies

3.20
 Table 3.1 Units of period and frequency

3.21
 Example 3.3

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

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

3.22
 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:.

3.23
 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).

3.24
 Note

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.

3.25
 Note

If a signal does not change at all, its

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

3.26
 Note

Phase describes the position of the

waveform relative to time 0.

3.27
 Figure 3.5 Three sine waves with the same amplitude and frequency,
but different phases

3.28
 Figure 3.6 Wavelength and period

3.29
 Figure 3.7 The time-domain and frequency-domain plots of a sine wave

3.30
 Note

A complete sine wave in the time

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

3.31
 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.

3.32
 Figure 3.8 The time domain and frequency domain of three sine waves

3.33
 Note

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.

3.34
 Note

According to Fourier analysis, any

composite signal is a combination of
simple sine waves with different
frequencies, amplitudes, and phases.

3.35
 Note

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.

3.36
 Figure 3.9 A composite periodic signal

3.37
 Figure 3.10 Decomposition of a composite periodic signal in the time and
frequency domains

3.38
 Example 3.9

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.

3.39
 Figure 3.11 The time and frequency domains of a nonperiodic signal

3.40
 Note

The bandwidth of a composite signal is

the difference between the
highest and the lowest frequencies
contained in that signal.

3.41
 Figure 3.12 The bandwidth of periodic and nonperiodic composite signals

3.42
 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 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).
3.43
 Figure 3.13 The bandwidth for Example 3.10

3.44
 Example 3.11

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).
3.45
 Figure 3.14 The bandwidth for Example 3.11

3.46
 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. Figure 3.15 shows the frequency domain
and the bandwidth.

3.47
 Figure 3.15 The bandwidth for Example 3.12

3.48
 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.

Topics discussed in this section:

Bit Rate
Bit Length
Digital Signal as a Composite Analog Signal
Application Layer
3.49
 Figure 3.16 Two digital signals: one with two signal levels and the other
with four signal levels

3.50
 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.

3.51
 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.

3.52
 Example 3.18

Assume we need to download text documents at the rate

of 100 pages per minute. What is the required bit rate of
the channel?
Solution
A page is an average of 24 lines with 80 characters in
each line. If we assume that one character requires 8
bits, the bit rate is

3.53
 Example 3.19

A digitized voice channel, as we will see in Chapter 4, is

made by digitizing a 4-kHz bandwidth analog voice
signal. We need to sample the signal at twice the highest
frequency (two samples per hertz). We assume that each
sample requires 8 bits. What is the required bit rate?

Solution
The bit rate can be calculated as

3.54
 Example 3.20

What is the bit rate for high-definition TV (HDTV)?

Solution
HDTV uses digital signals to broadcast high quality
video signals. The HDTV screen is normally a ratio of
16 : 9. There are 1920 by 1080 pixels per screen, and the
screen is renewed 30 times per second. Twenty-four bits
represents one color pixel.

The TV stations reduce this rate to 20 to 40 Mbps

through compression.
3.55
 Figure 3.17 The time and frequency domains of periodic and nonperiodic
digital signals

3.57
 Baseband v/s Broadband
 In the baseband transmission the whole
bandwidth of the cable is utilized by a single
signal.
 Conversely, in the broadband transmission,
multiple signals are sent on multiple frequencies
simultaneously using a single channel.

3.58
3.59
 Figure 3.18 Baseband transmission

3.60
 Figure 3.20 Baseband transmission using a dedicated medium

3.61
Low pass, Band pass & High pass
filters

3.62
 Note

Baseband transmission of a digital

signal that preserves the shape of the
digital signal is possible only if we have
a low-pass channel with an infinite or
very wide bandwidth.

3.63
 Note

In baseband transmission, the required

In baseband transmission, the required bandwidth is proportional to

bandwidth is proportional the bit rate; to the bit rate;

if we
if weneed to send
need to send bits
bits faster, faster,
we need we need
more bandwidth.

more bandwidth.

3.64
 Table 3.2 Bandwidth requirements

3.65
 Note

If the available channel is a bandpass

channel, we cannot send the digital
signal directly to the channel;
we need to convert the digital signal to
an analog signal before transmission.

3.66
 Figure 3.24 Modulation of a digital signal for transmission on a bandpass
channel

3.67
 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

3.68
 Figure 3.25 Causes of impairment

3.69
 Attenuation
 Attenuation means a loss of energy.
 When a signal, simple or composite,
travels through a medium, it loses
some of its energy in overcoming the
resistance of the medium.
 To show that a signal has lost or gained
strength, engineers use the unit of the
decibel.
 The decibel (dB) measures the relative
strengths of two signals or one signal at
two different points.

3.70
 Figure 3.26 Attenuation

3.71
 Distortion
 Distortion means that the signal
changes its form or shape.
 Distortion can occur in a composite
signal made of different frequencies.
 As a result, signal components at the
receiver have phases different from
what they had at the sender.
 The shape of the composite signal is
therefore not the same.

3.72
 Figure 3.28 Distortion

3.73
 Noise
 Noise is another cause of impairment.
 Several types of noise, such as thermal noise, induced
noise, crosstalk, and impulse noise, may corrupt the
signal.
 Thermal noise is the random motion of electrons in a
wire, which creates an extra signal not originally sent by
the transmitter.
 Induced noise comes from sources such as motors and
appliances. These devices act as a sending antenna, and
the transmission medium acts as the receiving antenna.
 Crosstalk is the effect of one wire on the other. One
wire acts as a sending antenna and the other as the
receiving antenna.
 Impulse noise is a spike (a signal with high energy in a
very short time) that comes from power lines, lightning,
and so on.

3.74
 Figure 3.29 Noise

3.75
 Figure 3.30 Two cases of Signal to Noise Ratio: a high SNR and a low SNR

3.76
 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)

Topics discussed in this section:

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

3.77
 Note

Increasing the levels of a signal may

reduce the reliability of the system.

3.78
 Note

Increasing the levels of a signal may

reduce the reliability of the system.
Two theoretical formulas were
developed to calculate the data rate: one
by Nyquist for a noiseless channel,
another by Shannon for a noisy channel.
3.79
 Data Rate Calculation

Nyquist Shannon
Noiseless Channel Noisy Channel

L = signal levels SNR = signal to noise ratio

3.80
 Example 3.34

Consider a noiseless channel with a bandwidth of 3000

Hz transmitting a signal with two signal levels. The
maximum bit rate can be calculated as

3.81
 Example 3.35

Consider the same noiseless channel transmitting a

signal with four signal levels (for each level, we send 2
bits). The maximum bit rate can be calculated as

3.82
 Example 3.37

Consider an extremely noisy channel in which the value

of the signal-to-noise ratio is almost zero. In other
words, the noise is so strong that the signal is faint. For
this channel the capacity C is calculated as

This means that the capacity of this channel is zero

regardless of the bandwidth. In other words, we cannot
receive any data through this channel.

3.83
 We can calculate the theoretical highest bit rate of a
regular telephone line. A telephone line normally has a
bandwidth of 3000. The signal-to-noise ratio is usually
3162. For this channel the capacity is calculated as

This means that the highest bit rate for a telephone line
is 34.860 kbps. If we want to send data faster than this,
we can either increase the bandwidth of the line or
improve the signal-to-noise ratio.
3.84
 Example 3.40

For practical purposes, when the SNR is very high, we

can assume that SNR + 1 is almost the same as SNR. In
these cases, the theoretical channel capacity can be
simplified to

For example, we can calculate the theoretical capacity of

the previous example as

3.85
 Example 3.41

We have a channel with a 1-MHz bandwidth. The SNR

for this channel is 63. What are the appropriate bit rate
and signal level?

Solution
First, we use the Shannon formula to find the upper
limit.

3.86
 Example 3.41 (continued)

The Shannon formula gives us 6 Mbps, the upper limit.

For better performance we choose something lower, 4
Mbps, for example. Then we use the Nyquist formula to
find the number of signal levels.

3.87
 Note

The Shannon capacity gives us the

upper limit; the Nyquist formula tells us
how many signal levels we need.

3.88
 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.

Topics discussed in this section:

Bandwidth
Throughput
Latency (Delay)
Bandwidth-Delay Product
3.89
 Performance
• Bandwidth: a range of frequencies within a
given band, in particular that used for
transmitting a signal.
• Throughput: the amount of bits passing
through a system or process at given time.
• Latency (Delay): the total time it takes a
data packet to travel from one node to
another.
• Bandwidth-Delay Product: the product of a
data link's capacity (in bits per second) and
its round-trip delay time (in seconds).

3.90
 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.
3.91
 Figure 3.31 Filling the link with bits for case 1 Frequency Based. FDM

3.92
 Figure 3.32 Filling the link with bits in case 2 Time Based. TDM

3.93
 Note

The bandwidth-delay product defines

the number of bits that can fill the link.

3.94
 Figure 3.33 Concept of bandwidth-delay product

3.95
 Develop your skills in designing networks

THANK YOU

3.96