Bounded or Guided Transmission Media

Guided media, which are those that provide a conduit from one device to another, include
Twisted-Pair Cable, Coaxial Cable, and Fibre-Optic Cable.
A signal travelling along any of these media is directed and contained by the physical limits of the
medium. Twisted-pair and coaxial cable use metallic (copper) conductors that accept and
transport signals in the form of electric current. Optical fibre is a cable that accepts and
transports signals in the form of light.
Twisted Pair Cable
This cable is the most commonly used and is cheaper than others. It is lightweight, cheap, can
be installed easily, and they support many different types of network. Some important points :
Its frequency range is 0 to 3.5 kHz.
Typical attenuation is 0.2 dB/Km @ 1kHz.
Typical delay is 50 µs/km.
Repeater spacing is 2km.
A twisted pair consists of two conductors(normally copper), each with its own plastic insulation,
twisted together. One of these wires is used to carry signals to the receiver, and the other is used
only as ground reference. The receiver uses the difference between the two. In addition to the
signal sent by the sender on one of the wires, interference(noise) and crosstalk may affect both
wires and create unwanted signals. If the two wires are parallel, the effect of these unwanted
signals is not the same in both wires because they are at different locations relative to the noise
or crosstalk sources. This results in a difference at the receiver.

Twisted Pair is of two types:

Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP)

Shielded Twisted Pair (STP)
Unshielded Twisted Pair Cable
It is the most common type of telecommunication when compared with Shielded Twisted Pair
Cable which consists of two conductors usually copper, each with its own colour plastic insulator.
Identification is the reason behind coloured plastic insulation.

UTP cables consist of 2 or 4 pairs of twisted cable. Cable with 2 pair use RJ-11 connector and 4
pair cable use RJ-45 connector.

Unshielded Twisted Pair Cable

Advantages of Unshielded Twisted Pair Cable

Installation is easy
Flexible
Cheap
It has high speed capacity, 100 meter limit
Higher grades of UTP are used in LAN technologies like Ethernet.
It consists of two insulating copper wires (1mm thick). The wires are twisted together in a helical
form to reduce electrical interference from similar pair.
Disadvantages of Unshielded Twisted Pair Cable
Bandwidth is low when compared with Coaxial Cable
Provides less protection from interference.
Shielded Twisted Pair Cable
This cable has a metal foil or braided-mesh covering which encases each pair of insulated
conductors. Electromagnetic noise penetration is prevented by metal casing. Shielding also
eliminates crosstalk (explained in KEY TERMS Chapter).

It has same attenuation as unshielded twisted pair. It is faster the unshielded and coaxial cable. It
is more expensive than coaxial and unshielded twisted pair.

Shielded Twisted Pair Cable

Advantages of Shielded Twisted Pair Cable

Easy to install
Performance is adequate
Can be used for Analog or Digital transmission
Increases the signalling rate
Higher capacity than unshielded twisted pair
Eliminates crosstalk
Disadvantages of Shielded Twisted Pair Cable
Difficult to manufacture
Heavy
Performance of Shielded Twisted Pair Cable
One way to measure the performance of twisted-pair cable is to compare attenuation versus
frequency and distance. As shown in the below figure, a twisted-pair cable can pass a wide
range of frequencies. However, with increasing frequency, the attenuation, measured in decibels
per kilometre (dB/km), sharply increases with frequencies above 100kHz. Note that gauge is a
measure of the thickness of the wire.

Performance of Twisted Pair Cable

Applications of Shielded Twisted Pair Cable
In telephone lines to provide voice and data channels. The DSL lines that are used by the
telephone companies to provide high-data-rate connections also use the high-bandwidth
capability of unshielded twisted-pair cables.
Local Area Network, such as 10Base-T and 100Base-T, also use twisted-pair cables.
Coaxial Cable
Coaxial is called by this name because it contains two conductors that are parallel to each other.
Copper is used in this as centre conductor which can be a solid wire or a standard one. It is
surrounded by PVC installation, a sheath which is encased in an outer conductor of metal foil,
barid or both.

Outer metallic wrapping is used as a shield against noise and as the second conductor which
completes the circuit. The outer conductor is also encased in an insulating sheath. The
outermost part is the plastic cover which protects the whole cable.
Twisted Pair (Copper Conductors)
A twisted pair is a pair of copper wires, with diameters of 0.4-0.8 mm, twisted together and
wrapped with a plastic coating. The twisting reduces the electrical noise and the error rate of the
data transmission. Each conductor is separately insulated by some low-smoke and fires
retardant substance. Polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, flouropolymer resin and Teflon(r) are some
of the substances that are used for insulation purposes.

Two Wires Open Line

Twisting process serves to improve the performance of the medium by containing the
electromagnetic field within the pair. Thereby, the radiation of electromagnetic energy is reduced
and the strength of the signal within the wire is improved over a distance. This reduction of
radiated energy also serves to minimize the impact on adjacent pairs in a multiple cable
configuration. This is especially important in high-bandwidth applications as higher frequency
signals tend to lose power more rapidly over distance. Additionally, the radiated electromagnetic
field tends to be greater at higher frequencies, impacting adjacent pairs to a greater extent.
Generally, the more the twists per foot, the better the performance of the wire.

These are popular for telephone network. The energy flow is in guided media. Metallic wires
were used almost exclusively in telecommunication networks for the last 80 years, until the
development of microwave and satellite radio communications systems. Therefore, copper wire
is now a mature technology, rugged and inexpensive. In certain applications, copper-covered
steel, copper alloy, nickel- and/(or) gold-plated copper and even aluminum metallic conductors
are employed.

The maximum transmission speed is limited in this case. The copper conductor that carries
analog data can be used to carry digital data also in association with modem. Modem is a device
to convert digital signal into analog signal and vice versa. The data rate in this category is limited
to around 28 Kbps. The introduction of the Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) led to the
use of improved modulation and coding schemes and data rate up to 128 Kbps. Local Area
Networks (LANs) also use twisted pairs. These networks also upgraded to support for high bit
rate real time multimedia. A recent development is Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Lines (ADSL)
technology which is aimed at using two wire copper loops at data rates of 1.544Mbps in the
network to user direction and about 600 Kbps from the user to network.

The twisted pair cable may be defined in two categories based upon the shielding and without
shielding.

Co-axial Cable.

The main limiting factor of a twisted pair cable is caused by a phenomenon known as the skin
effect. As the frequency of the transmitted signal increases, the current flowing in the wires tends
to flow only on the outer surface of the wire, thus using the less of the available cross-section.
This increases the electrical resistance of the wires for higher frequency signals leading to higher
attenuation. In addition, at higher frequencies, more signal power is lost as a result of radiation
effects. Hence, for applications that demand higher frequencies, another type of transmission
medium must be used. Coaxial cable minimizes both these effects.

Coaxial cable as shown in Figure is a robust shielded copper wire two-conductor cable in which a
solid center conductor runs concentrically (coaxial) inside a solid outer circular conductor. This
forms an electromagnetic shield around the former that serves to greatly improve signal strength
and integrity. The two conductors are separated by insulation. A layer of dielectric
(nonconductive) material, such as PVC or Teflon, protects the entire cable.

The coaxial cable comes under the category of a bounded media and is still an effective medium
to use in data communication. Coaxial cable includes shield for improved performance and
therefore is expensive. Cable TV networks use coaxial cable. Local Area Networks can operate
over coaxial cable to the 10BASE5, 10BASE2 and 10BASET specifications. In general, coaxial
cable enables longer distance transmission at higher data rates than twisted pair cable but this is
more expensive.

There are two types of coaxial cables.

Baseband' It transmits a single signal at a time at very high speed. The signal on baseband cable
must be amplified at a specified distances. It is used for local area networks.

Broadband It can transmit many simultaneous signals using different frequencies.

There are so many different types of computer networks in existence, it can be hard to
understand the differences between them, particularly the ones with very similar-sounding
names. This lesson explains the structures and functions of some of the most popular computer
networks.

Types of Networks
There are several different types of computer networks. Computer networks can be
characterized by their size as well as their purpose.
The size of a network can be expressed by the geographic area they occupy and the number of
computers that are part of the network. Networks can cover anything from a handful of devices
within a single room to millions of devices spread across the entire globe.
Some of the different networks based on size are:

• Personal area network, or PAN

• Local area network, or LAN
• Metropolitan area network, or MAN
• Wide area network, or WAN

In terms of purpose, many networks can be considered general purpose, which means they are
used for everything from sending files to a printer to accessing the Internet. Some types of
networks, however, serve a very particular purpose. Some of the different networks based on
their main purpose are:

• Storage area network, or SAN

• Enterprise private network, or EPN
• Virtual private network, or VPN

Let's look at each of these in a bit more detail.

Personal Area Network

A personal area network, or PAN, is a computer network organized around an individual person
within a single building. This could be inside a small office or residence. A typical PAN would
include one or more computers, telephones, peripheral devices, video game consoles and other
personal entertainment devices.
If multiple individuals use the same network within a residence, the network is sometimes
referred to as a home area network, or HAN. In a very typical setup, a residence will have a
single wired Internet connection connected to a modem. This modem then provides both wired
and wireless connections for multiple devices. The network is typically managed from a single
computer but can be accessed from any device.
This type of network provides great flexibility. For example, it allows you to:

• Send a document to the printer in the office upstairs while you are sitting on the couch
with your laptop.
• Upload a photo from your cell phone to your desktop computer.
• Watch movies from an online streaming service to your TV.

If this sounds familiar to you, you likely have a PAN in your house without having called it by its
name.

Local Area Network

A local area network, or LAN, consists of a computer network at a single site, typically an
individual office building. A LAN is very useful for sharing resources, such as data storage and
printers. LANs can be built with relatively inexpensive hardware, such as hubs, network adapters
and Ethernet cables.
The smallest LAN may only use two computers, while larger LANs can accommodate thousands
of computers. A LAN typically relies mostly on wired connections for increased speed and
security, but wireless connections can also be part of a LAN. High speed and relatively low cost
are the defining characteristics of LANs.
LANs are typically used for single sites where people need to share resources among
themselves but not with the rest of the outside world. Think of an office building where everybody
should be able to access files on a central server or be able to print a document to one or more
central printers. Those tasks should be easy for everybody working in the same office, but you
would not want somebody just walking outside to be able to send a document to the printer from
their cell phone! If a local area network, or LAN, is entirely wireless, it is referred to as a wireless
local area network, or WLAN.

Metropolitan Area Network

A metropolitan area network, or MAN, consists of a computer network across an entire city,
college campus or small region. A MAN is larger than a LAN, which is typically limited to a single
building or site. Depending on the configuration, this type of network can cover an area from
several miles to tens of miles. A MAN is often used to connect several LANs together to form a
bigger network. When this type of network is specifically designed for a college campus, it is
sometimes referred to as a campus area network, or CAN.

Wide Area Network

A wide area network, or WAN, occupies a very large area, such as an entire country or the
entire world. A WAN can contain multiple smaller networks, such as LANs or MANs. The Internet
is the best-known example of a public WAN.

Network Topologies: Logical vs Physical

What is a Network Topology?

Network topology is the arrangement of the different network elements of a communication

network, usually represented with a graph.

Network topology is an application of graph theory in which different network devices are
modeled as nodes and the connections between the devices are modeled as links or lines
between the nodes.

There are usually two different types of network topologies:

• Physical network topology is the placement of the various components of a network

and the different connectors usually represent the physical network cables, and the
nodes represents usually the physical network devices (like switches).
• Logical network topology illustrates, at a higher level, how data flows within a
network.

Usually, in campus LAN topologies, focusing at layer 2 (at the switching layer), some kind of a
structured, multi-tier models are used to simplify the design and the network implementation.

The hierarchical internetworking model is a three-layer network topology that divides

enterprise networks into three layers:
• Core, composed by the highest-speed switches, with high resiliency and usually
routing and other high-level functions.
• Distribution or aggregation, composed by high-speed switches with redundancy
and availability.
• Access, composed of switches to which the client devices are connected.