Data Communication Notes

Chapter 2nd – Transmission media & Switching

What is Communication Media?

Communication medium refers to the physical channel through which data is

sent and received. ... The speed of data transmission or data rate depends upon
the type of medium being used in the network.

For any networking to be effective, raw stream of data is to be transported from

one device to other over some medium. Various transmission media can be used
for transfer of data. These transmission media may be of two types −

 Guided − In guided media, transmitted data travels through cabling

system that has a fixed path. For example, copper wires, fibre optic wires,
etc.
 Unguided − In unguided media, transmitted data travels through free
space in form of electromagnetic signal. For example, radio waves, lasers,
etc.

For any networking to be effective, raw stream of data is to be transported from

one device to other over some medium. Various transmission media can be used
for transfer of data. These transmission media may be of two types −
  Guided − In guided media, transmitted data travels through cabling
system that has a fixed path. For example, copper wires, fibre optic wires,
etc.
 Unguided − In unguided media, transmitted data travels through free
space in form of electromagnetic signal. For example, radio waves, lasers,
etc.

Each transmission media has its own advantages and disadvantages in terms of
bandwidth, speed, delay, cost per bit, ease of installation and maintenance, etc.
Let’s discuss some of the most commonly used media in detail.

Twisted Pair Cable

Copper wires are the most common wires used for transmitting signals because
of good performance at low costs. They are most commonly used in telephone
lines. However, if two or more wires are lying together, they can interfere with
each other’s signals. To reduce this electromagnetic interference, pair of copper
wires are twisted together in helical shape like a DNA molecule. Such twisted
copper wires are called twisted pair. To reduce interference between nearby
twisted pairs, the twist rates are different for each pair.
Up to 25 twisted pair are put together in a protective covering to form twisted
pair cables that are the backbone of telephone systems and Ethernet networks.

Advantages of twisted pair cable

Twisted pair cable are the oldest and most popular cables all over the world.
This is due to the many advantages that they offer −

 Trained personnel easily available due to shallow learning curve

 Can be used for both analog and digital transmissions
 Least expensive for short distances
 Entire network does not go down if a part of network is damaged

Disadvantages of twisted pair cable

With its many advantages, twisted pair cables offer some disadvantages too −

 Signal cannot travel long distances without repeaters

 High error rate for distances greater than 100m
  Very thin and hence breaks easily
 Not suitable for broadband connections

Shielding twisted pair cable

To counter the tendency of twisted pair cables to pick up noise signals, wires
are shielded in the following three ways −

 Each twisted pair is shielded.

 Set of multiple twisted pairs in the cable is shielded.
 Each twisted pair and then all the pairs are shielded.

Such twisted pairs are called shielded twisted pair (STP) cables. The wires
that are not shielded but simply bundled together in a protective sheath are
called unshielded twisted pair (UTP) cables. These cables can have maximum
length of 100 metres.

Shielding makes the cable bulky, so UTP are more popular than STP. UTP
cables are used as the last mile network connection in homes and offices.

Coaxial Cable

Coaxial cables are copper cables with better shielding than twisted pair cables,
so that transmitted signals may travel longer distances at higher speeds. A
coaxial cable consists of these layers, starting from the innermost −

 Stiff copper wire as core

 Insulating material surrounding the core
 Closely woven braided mesh of conducting material surrounding the
insulator
 Protective plastic sheath encasing the wire
Coaxial cables are widely used for cable TV connections and LANs.

Advantages of Coaxial Cables

These are the advantages of coaxial cables −

 Excellent noise immunity

 Signals can travel longer distances at higher speeds, e.g. 1 to 2 Gbps for 1
Km cable
 Can be used for both analog and digital signals
 Inexpensive as compared to fibre optic cables
 Easy to install and maintain

Disadvantages of Coaxial Cables

These are some of the disadvantages of coaxial cables −

 Expensive as compared to twisted pair cables

 Not compatible with twisted pair cables

Optical Fibre

Thin glass or plastic threads used to transmit data using light waves are called
optical fibre. Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) or Laser Diodes (LDs) emit light
waves at the source, which is read by a detector at the other end. Optical fibre
cable has a bundle of such threads or fibres bundled together in a protective
covering. Each fibre is made up of these three layers, starting with the
innermost layer −

 Core made of high quality silica glass or plastic

 Cladding made of high quality silica glass or plastic, with a lower
refractive index than the core
 Protective outer covering called buffer

Note that both core and cladding are made of similar material. However, as
refractive index of the cladding is lower, any stray light wave trying to escape
the core is reflected back due to total internal reflection.
Optical fibre is rapidly replacing copper wires in telephone lines, internet
communication and even cable TV connections because transmitted data can
travel very long distances without weakening. Single node fibre optic cable can
have maximum segment length of 2 kms and bandwidth of up to 100 Mbps.
Multi-node fibre optic cable can have maximum segment length of 100 kms
and bandwidth up to 2 Gbps.

Advantages of Optical Fibre

Optical fibre is fast replacing copper wires because of these advantages that it
offers −

 High bandwidth
 Immune to electromagnetic interference
 Suitable for industrial and noisy areas
 Signals carrying data can travel long distances without weakening

Disadvantages of Optical Fibre

Despite long segment lengths and high bandwidth, using optical fibre may not
be a viable option for every one due to these disadvantages −

 Optical fibre cables are expensive

 Sophisticated technology required for manufacturing, installing and
maintaining optical fibre cables
 Light waves are unidirectional, so two frequencies are required for full
duplex transmission

Infrared

Low frequency infrared waves are used for very short distance communication
like TV remote, wireless speakers, automatic doors, hand held devices etc.
Infrared signals can propagate within a room but cannot penetrate walls.
However, due to such short range, it is considered to be one of the most secure
transmission modes.

Radio Wave

Transmission of data using radio frequencies is called radio-wave

transmission. We all are familiar with radio channels that broadcast
entertainment programs. Radio stations transmit radio waves using
transmitters, which are received by the receiver installed in our devices.
Both transmitters and receivers use antennas to radiate or capture radio signals.
These radio frequencies can also be used for direct voice communication
within the allocated range. This range is usually 10 miles.

Advantages of Radio Wave

These are some of the advantages of radio wave transmissions −

 Inexpensive mode of information exchange

 No land needs to be acquired for laying cables
 Installation and maintenance of devices is cheap

Disadvantages of Radio Wave

These are some of the disadvantages of radio wave transmissions −

 Insecure communication medium

 Prone to weather changes like rain, thunderstorms, etc.
Line of Sight :
Line of sight (LoS) is a type of propagation that can transmit and receive data
only where transmit and receive stations are in view of each other without any
sort of an obstacle between them. FM radio, microwave and satellite
transmission are examples of line-of-sight communication.

Long-distance data communication is more effective through wireless networks

but geographical obstacles and the curvature of the earth bring limitations to
line-of-sight transmission. However, these issues can generally be mitigated
through planning, calculations and the use of additional technologies.

For example, mobile phones use a modified line-of-sight transmission, which is

made possible through a combination of effects like diffraction, multipath
reflection, local repeaters and rapid handoff.

What is Multiplexing?

Multiplexing is the sharing of a medium or bandwidth. It is the process in which

multiple signals coming from multiple sources are combined and transmitted
over a single communication/physical line.
Types of Multiplexing

There are two types of Multiplexing :

1. Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM)

2. Time-Division Multiplexing (TDM)

1. Frequency Division Multiplexing :

Frequency division multiplexing is a defined as a type of multiplexing where

the bandwidth of a single physical medium is divided into a number of smaller,
independent frequency channels.

Frequency Division Multiplexing is used in radio and television transmission.

In FDM, we can observe a lot of inter-channel cross talk, due to the fact that in
this type of multiplexing the bandwidth is divided into frequency channels. In
order to prevent the inter-channel cross talk, unused strips of bandwidth must be
placed between each channel. These unused strips between each channel are
known as guard bands.

2. Time Division Multiplexing :

Time division multiplexing is a defined as a type of multiplexing where in

FDM, instead of sharing a portion of the bandwidth in the form of channels, in
TDM, time is shared. Each connection occupies a portion of time in the link.

In Time Division Multiplexing, all signals operate with same frequency

(bandwidth) at different times.
There are two types of Time Division Multiplexing :

1. Synchronous Time Division Multiplexing

2. Statistical (or Asynchronous) Time Division Multiplexing

Synchronous TDM :

Synchronous TDM is a type of Time Division Multiplexing where the input

frame already has a slot in the output frame. Time slots are grouped into frames.
One frame consists of one cycle of time slots.

Synchronous TDM is not efficient because if the input frame has no data to
send, a slot remains empty in the output frame.

In synchronous TDM, we need to mention the synchronous bit at the beginning

of each frame..
Statistical TDM :

Statistical TDM is a type of Time Division Multiplexing where the output frame
collects data from the input frame till it is full, not leaving an empty slot like in
Synchronous TDM.

In statistical TDM, we need to include the address of each particular data in the
slot that is being sent to the output frame.

Statistical TDM is a more efficient type of time division multiplexing as the

channel capacity is fully utilized and improves the bandwidth efficiency.

Switching
Switching is process to forward packets coming in from one port to a port
leading towards the destination. When data comes on a port it is called ingress,
and when data leaves a port or goes out it is called egress. A communication
system may include number of switches and nodes. At broad level, switching
can be divided into two major categories:

 Connectionless: The data is forwarded on behalf of forwarding tables.

No previous handshaking is required and acknowledgements are optional.
 Connection Oriented: Before switching data to be forwarded to
destination, there is a need to pre-establish circuit along the path between
both endpoints. Data is then forwarded on that circuit. After the transfer is
completed, circuits can be kept for future use or can be turned down
immediately.

Circuit Switching

When two nodes communicate with each other over a dedicated communication
path, it is called circuit switching.There 'is a need of pre-specified route from
which data will travels and no other data is permitted.In circuit switching, to
transfer the data, circuit must be established so that the data transfer can take
place.

Circuits can be permanent or temporary. Applications which use circuit

switching may have to go through three phases:

 Establish a circuit
 Transfer the data
 Disconnect the circuit
Circuit switching was designed for voice applications. Telephone is the best
suitable example of circuit switching. Before a user can make a call, a virtual
path between caller and callee is established over the network.

Message Switching

This technique was somewhere in middle of circuit switching and packet

switching. In message switching, the whole message is treated as a data unit and
is switching / transferred in its entirety.

A switch working on message switching, first receives the whole message and
buffers it until there are resources available to transfer it to the next hop. If the
next hop is not having enough resource to accommodate large size message, the
message is stored and switch waits.
This technique was considered substitute to circuit switching. As in circuit
switching the whole path is blocked for two entities only. Message switching is
replaced by packet switching. Message switching has the following drawbacks:

 Every switch in transit path needs enough storage to accommodate entire

message.
 Because of store-and-forward technique and waits included until
resources are available, message switching is very slow.
 Message switching was not a solution for streaming media and real-time
applications.

Packet Switching

Shortcomings of message switching gave birth to an idea of packet switching.

The entire message is broken down into smaller chunks called packets. The
switching information is added in the header of each packet and transmitted
independently.

It is easier for intermediate networking devices to store small size packets and
they do not take much resources either on carrier path or in the internal memory
of switches.
Packet switching enhances line efficiency as packets from multiple applications
can be multiplexed over the carrier. The internet uses packet switching
technique. Packet switching enables the user to differentiate data streams based
on priorities. Packets are stored and forwarded according to their priority to
provide quality of service.