Transmission Fundamentals

Chapter 2
Electromagnetic Signal
 Function of time
 Can also be expressed as a function of
frequency
 Signal consists of components of different
frequencies
Time-Domain Concepts
 Analog signal - signal intensity varies in a smooth
fashion over time
 No breaks or discontinuities in the signal
 Digital signal - signal intensity maintains a
constant level for some period of time and then
changes to another constant level
 Periodic signal - analog or digital signal pattern
that repeats over time
 s(t +T ) = s(t ) -¥< t < +¥
 where T is the period of the signal
Time-Domain Concepts
 Aperiodic signal - analog or digital signal
pattern that doesn't repeat over time
 Peak amplitude (A) - maximum value or
strength of the signal over time; typically
measured in volts
 Frequency (f )
 Rate, in cycles per second, or Hertz (Hz) at
which the signal repeats
Time-Domain Concepts
 Period (T ) - amount of time it takes for one
repetition of the signal
 T = 1/f
 Phase () - measure of the relative position in time
within a single period of a signal
 Wavelength () - distance occupied by a single
cycle of the signal
 Or, the distance between two points of corresponding
phase of two consecutive cycles
Sine Wave Parameters
 General sine wave
 s(t ) = A sin(2ft + )
 The effect of varying each of the three parameters
(see next slide)
 (a) A = 1, f = 1 Hz,  = 0; thus T = 1s
 (b) Reduced peak amplitude; A=0.5
 (c) Increased frequency; f = 2, thus T = ½
 (d) Phase shift;  = /4 radians (45 degrees)
 note: 2 radians = 360° = 1 period
Sine Wave Parameters
Frequency-Domain Concepts
 Any electromagnetic signal can be shown to
consist of a collection of periodic analog
signals (sine waves) at different amplitudes,
frequencies, and phases
 The period of the total signal is equal to the
period of the fundamental frequency

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 The underlying mathematics
Fourier representation of periodic signals
 
1
g (t )  c   an sin( 2nft )   bn cos( 2nft )
2 n 1 n 1

1 1

0 0
t t
ideal periodic signal real composition
(based on harmonics)

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Freq. components of Square Wave

10
Freq. components of Square Wave

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Frequency-Domain Concepts
 Fundamental frequency - when all frequency
components of a signal are integer multiples of one
frequency, it’s referred to as the fundamental
frequency
 Spectrum - range of frequencies that a signal contains
 Absolute bandwidth - width of the spectrum of a
signal
 Effective bandwidth (or just bandwidth) - narrow
band of frequencies that most of the signal’s energy
is contained in
Data Rate and Bandwidth
 The greater the bandwidth, the higher the
information-carrying capacity
 Conclusions
 Any digital waveform will have infinite bandwidth
 BUT the transmission system will limit the bandwidth
that can be transmitted
 AND, for any given medium, the greater the bandwidth
transmitted, the greater the cost
 HOWEVER, limiting the bandwidth creates distortions
Data Communication Terms
 Data - entities that convey meaning, or
information
 Signals - electric or electromagnetic
representations of data
 Transmission - communication of data by
the propagation and processing of signals
Analog and Digital Data
 Analog
 Video
 Audio
 Digital
 Text
 Integers
Analog Signals
 A continuously varying electromagnetic wave that
may be propagated over a variety of media,
depending on frequency
 Examples of media:
 Copper wire media (twisted pair and coaxial cable)
 Fiber optic cable
 Atmosphere or space propagation
 Analog signals can propagate analog and digital
data
Digital Signals
 A sequence of voltage pulses that may be
transmitted over a copper wire medium
 Generally cheaper than analog signaling
 Less susceptible to noise interference
 Suffer more from attenuation
 Digital signals can propagate analog and
digital data
Analog Signaling
Digital Signaling
Reasons for Choosing Data and
Signal Combinations
 Digital data, digital signal
 Equipment for encoding is less expensive than digital-to-
analog equipment
 Analog data, digital signal
 Conversion permits use of modern digital transmission and
switching equipment
 Digital data, analog signal
 Some transmission media will only propagate analog signals
 Examples include optical fiber and satellite
 Analog data, analog signal
 Analog data easily converted to analog signal
Analog Transmission
 Transmit analog signals without regard to
content
 Attenuation limits length of transmission
link
 Cascaded amplifiers boost signal’s energy
for longer distances but cause distortion
 Analog data can tolerate distortion
 Introduces errors in digital data
Digital Transmission
 Concerned with the content of the signal
 Attenuation endangers integrity of data
 Digital Signal
 Repeaters achieve greater distance
 Repeaters recover the signal and retransmit
 Analog signal carrying digital data
 Retransmission device recovers the digital data from
analog signal
 Generates new, clean analog signal
Channel Capacity
 Impairments, such as noise, limit data rate
that can be achieved.
 Noise degrades the signal quality
 For digital data, to what extent do
impairments limit data rate?
 Channel Capacity – the maximum rate at
which data can be transmitted over a given
communication path, or channel, under given
conditions
 Channel Capacity Concepts
 Data rate - rate at which data can be communicated
(bps)
 Bandwidth - the bandwidth of the transmitted signal
as constrained by the transmitter and the nature of the
transmission medium (Hertz)
 Noise - average level of noise over the
communications path
 Error rate - rate at which errors occur
 Error = transmit 1 and receive 0; transmit 0 and receive 1
Nyquist Bandwidth
 For binary signals (two voltage levels)
 C = 2B
 With multilevel signaling
 C = 2B log2 M
 M = number of discrete signal or voltage levels
Signal-to-Noise Ratio
 Ratio of the power in a signal to the power
contained in the noise that’s present at a particular
point in the transmission
 Typically measured at a receiver
 Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR, or S/N)
signal power
( SNR) dB  10 log10
noise power
 A high SNR means a high-quality signal, low
number of required intermediate repeaters
 SNR sets upper bound on achievable data rate
Shannon Capacity Formula
 Equation:
C  B log 2 1  SNR 
 Represents theoretical maximum that can be
achieved
 In practice, only much lower rates achieved
 Formula assumes white noise (thermal noise)
 Impulse noise is not accounted for
 Attenuation distortion or delay distortion not accounted
for
Example of Nyquist and Shannon
Formulations
 Spectrum of a channel between 3 MHz and
4 MHz ; SNRdB = 24 dB
B  4 MHz  3 MHz  1 MHz
SNR dB  24 dB  10 log10 SNR 
SNR  251
 Using Shannon’s formula
C  10  log 2 1  251  10  8  8Mbps
6 6
Example of Nyquist and Shannon
Formulations
 How many signaling levels are required?

C  2 B log 2 M
6
 
8  10  2  10  log 2 M
6

4  log 2 M
M  16
Classifications of Transmission
Media
 Transmission Medium
 Physical path between transmitter and receiver
 Guided Media
 Waves are guided along a solid medium
 E.g., copper twisted pair, copper coaxial cable, optical fiber
 Unguided Media
 Provides means of transmission but does not guide
electromagnetic signals
 Usually referred to as wireless transmission
 E.g., atmosphere, outer space
Unguided Media
 Transmission and reception are achieved by
means of an antenna
 Configurations for wireless transmission
 Directional
 Omnidirectional
General Frequency Ranges
 Microwave frequency range
 1 GHz to 40 GHz
 Directional beams possible
 Suitable for point-to-point transmission
 Used for satellite communications
 Radio frequency range
 30 MHz to 1 GHz
 Suitable for omnidirectional applications
 Infrared frequency range
 Roughly, 3x1011 to 2x1014 Hz
 Useful in local point-to-point multipoint applications within
confined areas
Terrestrial Microwave
 Description of common microwave antenna
 Parabolic "dish", 3 m in diameter
 Fixed rigidly and focuses a narrow beam
 Achieves line-of-sight transmission to receiving
antenna
 Located at substantial heights above ground level
 Applications
 Long haul telecommunications service
 Short point-to-point links between buildings
Satellite Microwave
 Description of communication satellite
 Microwave relay station
 Used to link two or more ground-based microwave
transmitter/receivers
 Receives transmissions on one frequency band (uplink),
amplifies or repeats the signal, and transmits it on another
frequency (downlink)
 Applications
 Television distribution
 Long-distance telephone transmission
 Private business networks
Broadcast Radio
 Description of broadcast radio antennas
 Omnidirectional
 Antennas not required to be dish-shaped
 Antennas need not be rigidly mounted to a precise
alignment
 Applications
 Broadcast radio
 VHF and part of the UHF band; 30 MHZ to 1GHz
 Covers FM radio and UHF and VHF television
Multiplexing
 Capacity of transmission medium usually
exceeds capacity required for transmission
of a single signal
 Multiplexing - carrying multiple signals on
a single medium
 More efficient use of transmission medium
Multiplexing
Reasons for Widespread Use of
Multiplexing
 Cost per kbps of transmission facility
declines with an increase in the data rate
 Cost of transmission and receiving
equipment declines with increased data rate
 Most individual data communicating
devices require relatively modest data rate
support
 Multiplexing
channels ki

k1 k2 k3 k4 k5 k6
 Multiplexing in 4 dimensions
 space (si) c
 time (t) t c
 frequency (f) t
 code (c) s1
f
s2
f
 Goal: multiple use c

of a shared medium t

s3
 Important: guard spaces needed! f

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 Multiplexing Techniques
 Frequency-division multiplexing (FDM)
 Takes advantage of the fact that the useful
bandwidth of the medium exceeds the required
bandwidth of a given signal
 Time-division multiplexing (TDM)
 Takes advantage of the fact that the achievable bit
rate of the medium exceeds the required data rate
of a digital signal
Frequency-division Multiplexing
Time-division Multiplexing
 Frequency multiplexing
 Separation of the whole spectrum into smaller frequency
bands
 A channel gets a certain band of the spectrum for the
whole time
 Advantages
k1 k2 k3 k4 k5 k6
 no dynamic coordination
necessary c
 works also for analog signals f

 Disadvantages
 waste of bandwidth
if the traffic is
distributed
unevenly
 inflexible t

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Time division multiplexing
 A channel gets the whole spectrum for a certain amount
of time

 Advantages
 only one carrier in the
medium at any time k1 k2 k3 k4 k5 k6
 throughput high even
for many users c
f
 Disadvantages
 precise
synchronization
necessary
t

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 Time and frequency multiplex
 Combination of both TDM and FDM
 A channel gets a certain frequency band for a certain
amount of time
 Example: GSM
k1 k2 k3 k4 k5 k6
 Advantages c
 better protection against f
tapping
 protection against frequency
selective interference
 but: precise coordination
t
required
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 Code multiplex
k1 k2 k3 k4 k5 k6
 Each channel has a unique code
c
 All channels use the same spectrum
at the same time
 Advantages
 bandwidth efficient
f
 no coordination and synchronization
necessary
 good protection against interference
and tapping
 Disadvantages t
 varying user data rates
 more complex signal regeneration

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Example
 Lack of coordination requirement is an
advantage

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Code-Division Multiple Access (CDMA)

 Basic Principles of CDMA

 D = rate of data signal
 Break each bit into k chips
 Chips are a user-specific fixed pattern
 Chip data rate of new channel = kD

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CDMA Example
 If k=6 and code is a sequence of 1s and -1s
 For a ‘1’ bit, A sends code as chip pattern
 <c1, c2, c3, c4, c5, c6>
 For a ‘0’ bit, A sends complement of code
 <-c1, -c2, -c3, -c4, -c5, -c6>
 Receiver knows sender’s code and performs
electronic decode function
Su d   d1 c1  d 2  c 2  d 3  c3  d 4  c 4  d 5  c5  d 6  c6
 <d1, d2, d3, d4, d5, d6> = received chip pattern
 <c1, c2, c3, c4, c5, c6> = sender’s code

49
 CDMA Example
 User A code = <1, –1, –1, 1, –1, 1>
 To send a 1 bit = <1, –1, –1, 1, –1, 1>
 To send a 0 bit = <–1, 1, 1, –1, 1, –1>
 User B code = <1, 1, –1, – 1, 1, 1>
 To send a 1 bit = <1, 1, –1, –1, 1, 1>
 Receiver receiving with A’s code
 (A’s code) x (received chip pattern)
 User A ‘1’ bit: +6 -> 1
 User A ‘0’ bit: -6 -> 0
 User B ‘1’ bit: 0 -> unwanted signal ignored

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Spread Spectrum (in Chapter 7)
 What?
 Why?
 How?

51
Spread Spectrum
 Effect of modulation is to increase
bandwidth of signal to be transmitted
 At the receiving end, digit sequence is
used to demodulate the spread
spectrum signal
 Signal is fed into a channel decoder to
recover data

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Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS)

 Each bit in original signal is represented by

multiple bits in the transmitted signal
 Spreading code spreads signal across a wider
frequency band
 Spread is in direct proportion to number of bits
used
 One technique combines digital information
stream with the spreading code bit stream
using exclusive-OR

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DSSS illustration
DSSS Using BPSK
 Frequency Hoping Spread Spectrum
(FHSS)
 Signal is broadcast over seemingly random
series of radio frequencies
 A number of channels allocated for the FH signal
 Width of each channel corresponds to bandwidth
of input signal
 Signal hops from frequency to frequency at
fixed intervals
 Transmitter operates in one channel at a time
 Bits are transmitted using some encoding scheme
 At each successive interval, a new carrier
frequency is selected

56
 FHSS - contd
 Channel sequence dictated by spreading
code
 Receiver, hopping between frequencies in
synchronization with transmitter, picks up
message
 Advantages
 Eavesdroppers hear only unintelligible blips
 Attempts to jam signal on one frequency
succeed only at knocking out a few bits

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FHSS - illustration

58
FHSS Performance Considerations

 Large number of frequencies used

 Results in a system that is quite
resistant to jamming
 Jammer must jam all frequencies
 With fixed power, this reduces the
jamming power in any one frequency band

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 Modulation
 Digital modulation
 digital data is translated into an analog signal (baseband)
 differences in spectral efficiency, power efficiency, robustness

 Analog modulation
 shifts center frequency of baseband signal up to the radio carrier
 Motivation
 smaller antennas (e.g., /4)
 Frequency Division Multiplexing
 medium characteristics
 Basic schemes
 Amplitude Modulation (AM)
 Frequency Modulation (FM)
 Phase Modulation (PM)

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 Modulation and demodulation
analog
baseband
digital
signal
data digital analog
101101001 modulation modulation radio transmitter

radio
carrier

analog
baseband
digital
signal
analog synchronization data
demodulation decision 101101001 radio receiver

radio
carrier

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 Digital modulation
 Modulation of digital signals known as Shift1 Keying
0 1

 Amplitude Shift Keying (ASK):

 very simple t
 low bandwidth requirements
 very susceptible to interference 1 0 1

 Frequency Shift Keying (FSK):

t
 needs larger bandwidth

1 0 1

 Phase Shift Keying (PSK):

 more complex t
 robust against interference

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