Network Encoding on the Physical Layer -- Visualizer

Visualizing how bits are transformed into signals on the physical layer. NRZ, Manchester, block encoding.

How to use

Usage: ./visualizer <udp_port_num>

Supported commands:

Changing encoding method:

• nrz -> change the visualization mode to NRZ (non-return to zero)
• nrz_i -> change the visualization mode to NRZ (no-return to zero) inverted
• manchester -> change the visualization mode to Manchester
• block -> change the visualization mode to 4B/5B block encoding

Default mode is nrz. Default pace is 0.8. More data on encoding techniques below.

Running the visualizer:

• ping <data string> -> send a packet containing <data string> to the listener, outputting the visualization to stdout.
• ping_random <num_bytes> -> send <num_bytes> random bytes as a packet to the listener, outputting the visualization to stdout.

Visualizer settings:

• pace (0.0, 1.0] -> set the signal visualizer speed

Encoding techniques

NRZ

Displays 1 as high voltage, 0 as low voltage.

NRZ Inverted

0 stays at the same voltage, 1 transitions to the opposite voltage.

Manchester

0 is a low to high voltage transition, 1 is a high to low voltage transition.

4B/5B Block Encoding

Same as NRZ Inverted, but each segment of 4 bits is converted into 5 bits according to the conversion table so as to break up continuous 0's.

Extra:

• scale by terminal environment width