DATA COMM & NETWORKING I ITS EVENING

CHAPTER 6
PHYSICAL LAYER
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Sub-topics
6.0 Introduction
6.1 Functions of Physical layer
6.2 Network media
6.3 Transmission of bits
6.4 Encoding and Signaling
…………………………………………………………………………………………….
6.0 Introduction
-The Physical layer (Layer 1) is the first layer of the OSI Reference Model.
-It handles the transmission (sender side) and the reception (receiver side) of raw bits (1s
and 0s).
-It is not concerned with the contents of data that it receives from the Data Link layer.
-This is a special layer, because it is the only layer where data is physically moved across
the network interface and does not apply specifically to TCP/IP protocol suite.

6.1 Functions of Physical layer

-Generally categorized as mechanical, electrical and procedural network interface
specifications. They include:
1. Hardware specifications
2. Encoding and signaling
3. Data transmission and reception
4. Network topology and design
Hardware specifications
NIC (Network Interface Card
-Network hardware specifications include:
1. Cabling system components
Cable type (twisted pair, coaxial, fiber optic), maximum cable length.
2. Connector specifications
Connector type, number of pins and pin assignments.
3. Adapters
Connect media to physical interfaces.
NIC type eg Ethernet card for LANs.
4. Hub & repeater specifications
5. Wireless system components
Note:
 Hubs and repeaters function at the Physical layer, because they do not have intelligence
(electronics).
 Not all network hardware belongs to the Physical layer alone
eg Ethernet card performs works at both Physical layer and Data Link layer.
Compare with switches and routers that operate at higher layers.

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Encoding and signaling

-Physical layer converts the data to the required form of signals supported by the physical
medium ie electric voltages in copper cables, light pulses in optic fibers and
electromagnetic waves in space (air).
-The electrical characteristics include transmission rate in bps (bits per second), voltage
levels for signals and line encoding.
-Different voltage levels for a certain time interval are used to represent bits 0s and 1s.

Data transmission and reception

-It ensures the transmission of bits (1s and 0s), but has no error control mechanisms and
so not reliable layer.

Network topology and design

The network design is the integral part of the physical layer. For example, where to place
devices (hub, switch, router, server etc), how many devices for each switch. The network
topology is decided on depending on the requirements.

6.2 Network media

-These are the communication channels over which signals travel as they move from
sender to the receiver.
-They differ in the following ways:
 Bandwidth in HZ (hertz) or practically KHZ, MHZ.
 Transmission speed in bps (bits per second) or practically Mbps, Gbps.
 Cost eg of cable and interface used.
 Installation and maintenance eg connectors and transceivers used.

6.3 Transmission of bits

-It is also known as digital transmission, and of 2 types:
1. Asynchronous transmission
2. Synchronous transmission

Asynchronous transmission
-The clocks of the transmitter and receiver are not synchronized (independent), since
actions are prompted as a response to a signal.
-The data is only one character (letter, digit, symbol or control character) sent each time.
-The character (byte) is preceded by a Start bit (1 or 0) and ends with 1 or 2 Stop bits (1
or 0 or 00 or 11).
-The payload is a character of 8 bits (1 byte) and the overload is the 3 extra bits (1 start
bit + 2 stop bits).
-Start bit is used to inform the receiver that a new character is arriving and Stop bits
indicate the end of the character.

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Example

-MSB is the Most Significant Bit and LSB is the Least Significant Bit in the data.
-The asynchronous transmitter has delimited character 00101010 using a Start bit 1 and 2
Stop bits 00.
-Only data that are bounded by the correct start and stop bits are accepted by the receiver.
-Parity bit (0 or 1) may be added (for error detection) to provide some limited protection
against errors occurring on the link.
Example

Advantage
Asynchronous transmission is simple and inexpensive to implement.
Disadvantages
1. Low efficiency, since high overload of 3 bits is required to transmit a character
(a byte) of 8 bits.
2. Low data rates (less than 64Kbps, usually up to 56Kbps), since there is no
synchronization.
Application
It is mainly used with serial ports and dialup connections eg PC to printers, modems, fax
machines.
Synchronous transmission
-The clocks of the transmitter and receiver are synchronized (dependent)
ie clock signals are used to start and stop transmissions.
-The data is a group of characters (up to 64 kilo bits = 8 KB) is sent each time; and it is
preceded by a Start Frame and ends with End Frame.
-There is a total of 4 bytes of delimiters as overload (extra bits); either each with 2 bytes
or 3 bytes of Start Frame and 1 byte of End Frame.
-Start Frame is used to inform the receiver that a new group of characters (packet) is
arriving and it should synchronize its internal clock; while End frame indicates the end.

Example
End Frame Data Start Frame
2 bytes (16 bits) Up to 8KB (64,000 bits) 2 bytes (16 bits)

Advantage

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More efficient, since small overload of only 4 bytes (16 bits) are required to transmit
large data (up to 64 kilo bits = 64,000 bits).
Disadvantage
Synchronous transmission is complex (more difficult) and expensive to implement.

Application
It is used in systems with high data rates (56 Kbps to 100 Mbps) eg Ethernet, Token Ring
etc.

6.4 Encoding & Signaling

-Encoding is changing electrical signals (or light pulses) into bits (1s and 0s); while
signaling is representing bits as a waveform pattern of voltage against time (as a digital
signal).
-Encoding is also known as line encoding or clock encoding, and takes place at the
Physical layer of the OSI model.
-In order to transport digital bits of data across carrier waves, encoding technique has to
been used.
-Normally, the clock and data are encoded in a single synchronous bit stream.

See Line encoding techniques later.

Factors to consider in line encoding

1. Bit rate and Baud rate
2. DC component
3. Signal spectrum
4. Synchronization
5. Cost of implementation
Bit rate and Baud rate
-Bit rate is the number of bits per second (bps) transmitted; while Baud rate is the
number of times per second a signal changes state eg bits, voltage, frequency or phase
level.

Example
If the bit stream 10111001 is transmitted in a second, find the bit rate and
baud rate.
Soln:
Bit rate = number of bits per second = 8bps

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Baud rate = number of times per second signal changes state = 4bps
1 → 0 → 111 → 00 → 1 ⇒ 4 times per second
-Depending on the encoding technique used, baud rate may not be equal to
data rate.
bit rate=baud rate x no. of bits per baud (no. of states)=4x2=8bps

DC component
-DC component in a signal is not desirable, because it:
1. does not pass through some components eg repeaters (transformer).
2. results into attenuation (unwanted energy loss) on the transmission line.
-This leads to distortion of the signal and may create errors at the output.

Signal spectrum
-If both amplitude and phase are plotted against frequency, different encoding schemes
give different signal spectrum.
-It is therefore necessary to use suitable encoding technique to match with the medium,
so that the signal suffers minimum attenuation and distortion as it is transmitted through a
medium.

Synchronization
-To interpret the received signal correctly, the bit interval of the receiver should be the
same or within certain limit of that of the transmitter.
-Any mismatch between the two may lead to wrong interpretation of the received signal.
-Usually, the clock is generated and synchronized from the received signal with the help
of a special device.
Cost of implementation
-It is desirable to keep the encoding technique simple enough so we do incur high cost of
implementation.
Principles of line encoding
1. Lack of DC component for long distance transmission.
2. Signal transitions for synchronization between transmitter and receiver.
3. Lack of high frequency for less bandwidth.
4. Signal to concentrate power in the middle of the bandwidth.
5. Noise immunity if a good performance in the presence of EMI.
6. Should permit errors to be detected more easily.

Line encoding techniques

-There are 3 broad categories:
1. Unipolar encoding
2. Polar encoding
3. Bipolar encoding*
Consider encoding bit stream 10110010 for all the techniques for comparison.
Note:
 Dotted lines represent clock pulses (time slots).
 Bold lines represent line encoding of the signal
.

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Unipolar
-Also known as Unipolar RZ (Return-to-Zero), since the signal has 2 voltage states (0V
and +V) and so always returns to zero.
-Technique has 2 encoding schemes: (1) bit 1=+V (2) bit 1= -V
For bit 1 = +V
voltage 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0

time
-Signal transitions are at bit boundaries (division between bits 0 & 1).
Exercise: Encode 10110010 using Unipolar RZ for 1= -V.
Advantage
The simplest encoding system, but now obsolete (since replaced by better ones).
Disadvantage
1. Has a DC component (+ve voltage) which is not desirable in transmission.
2. There is loss of synchronization if long consecutive 0s or 1s occur in the signal,
since it is not self-clocking (self-synchronizing).
Application
Used in TTL (Transistor Transistor Logic) voltage levels in PCs and digital logic.
Polar encoding
-The signal has 2 voltage states (-V and +V) for bits 0 and 1.
-Polar encoding has 4 encoding schemes:
1. Polar NRZ (Non-Return-to-Zero)
2. Polar RZ (Return-to-Zero)
3. Manchester Encoding
4. Differential Manchester Encoding*
Polar NRZ (Non-Return-to-Zero)
-The signal does not return to zero, and has 2 encoding schemes:
1. Polar NRZ-L (Non-Return-to-Zero-Level)
2. Polar NRZ-I (Non-Return-to-Zero-Inverted)
(a) Polar NRZ-L (Non-Return-to-Zero-Level)
-Polar NRZ-L has 2 encoding schemes:
-Technique has 2 encoding schemes: (1) 1=+V and 0=-V (2) 1=-V and 0=+V
-Signal transitions are at bit boundaries (division between bits 0 & 1).
For 1 = +V and 0 = -V
voltage 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0

time

Exercise: Encode 10110010 using Polar NRZ-L for 1 = -V and 0 = +V.

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(b) Polar NRZ-I (Non-Return-to-Zero-Inverted)

-Bit 1 is +V or -V depending on previous level, but bit 0 remains same (-V or +V).
-If previously bit 1= +V, then next bit 1 = -V and vice versa.
-Technique has 2 encoding schemes: (1) bit 1=+V (2) bit 1= -V
For bit 1=+V
voltage 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0

time

Exercise: Encode 10110010 using Polar NRZ-I for bit 1= -V.

Advantages of Polar NRZ

1. It is the simplest pattern that eliminates most of the residual DC problem.
2. It makes the most efficient use of system bandwidth for a given data rate.
-For example, it requires half the bandwidth of Polar RZ and Manchester encoding to
achieve the same data rate.
Disadvantage
It is not inherently a self-clocking, so it requires some additional synchronization
technique to avoid bit slip.
-For example, loss of timing may result if long strings of 1s and 0s are present.
-When using asynchronous transmission and a separate clock is not available, it requires
other mechanisms for bit synchronization.
Polar RZ (Return-to-Zero)
-Signal has 2 voltage states (-V and +V) for bits, and it returns to zero between each
clock pulse.
-This takes place even if the number of consecutive 0s or 1s occur in the signal.
-Signal transitions occur at the mid-point (centre) of each bit.

voltage 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0

time

Advantages
1. It has no DC component (alternates), which is desirable in transmission.
2. It is self-clocking, since there is a transition for synchronization of receiver and
transmitter clocks.
Disadvantage
It requires twice the bandwidth to achieve the same data rate as Polar NRZ.
Application
It is used in telecommunications signals in which the signal drops to zero between each
pulse.

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Manchester encoding
- Manchester Encoding has 2 encoding schemes:
(1) bit 1 = low-high (IEEE 802.3) (2) bit 1 = high-low (GE Thomas)
For bit 1 = low-high (IEEE 802.3)

voltage 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0

time

Exercise: Encode 10110010 using Manchester for bit 1 = high-low (GE Thomas).
Note:
 It is self clocking (self-synchronizing), since the signal transitions occur at the centre
of each bit.
 The mid-bit transition serves as a clocking mechanism and also as data, but it uses
twice bandwidth of that of Polar NRZ.

Advantages
1. It has no DC component (alternates), which is desirable in transmission.
2. It is self-clocking, since there is a transition for synchronization of receiver and
transmitter clocks.
Disadvantage
It can be interrupted by external EMI, because the clock signal is disrupted eg electric
motor and radio transmission can destroy bits.
Application
It is used in 10 Mbps Ethernets ie 10base2 (thinnet), 10base5 (thicknet) and 10baseT
(twisted pair).

Bipolar encoding
-The signal has 3 voltage states (-V, 0V and +V) eg AMI (Alternate Mark Inversion)
Bipolar encoding scheme.
-Bit 0 is encoded as 0V, while bit 1 is encoded alternately as +V and -V.
voltage 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0

time

Compare with Polar NRZ-I. Note any similarity and difference.

Advantage
It has no DC component (alternates), which is desirable in transmission.

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Exercise
1. Which encoding technique was used?
(a) (b) (c)

2. Sketch line encoding for bit stream 1001110101 using:

(a) Unipolar RZ
(b) Polar NRZ-L
(c) Polar NRZ-I
(d) Polar RZ
(e) Bipolar AMI
(f) Manchester

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