Data Communication & Networking

Unit-2 Transmission Media

2.1 Transmission Media
2.1.1 Definition
2.1.2 Classification
2.2 Guided Media
2.2.1 Twisted Pair cable
2.2.2 Coaxial cable
2.2.3 Fibre-optic cable
2.3 Unguided Media
2.3.1 Radio waves
2.3.2 Microwaves
2.3.3 Infrared waves

2.1 Transmission Media: Introduction

A transmission medium can be broadly defined as anything that can carry information from a
source to a destination. For example, the transmission medium is the air in a classroom when a professor
delivers lectures to students.
Computers and other telecommunication devices use signals to represent data. These signals are
transmitted from one device to another in the form of electromagnetic energy, which is propagated
through Transmission Media.

Guided Media
Guided transmission media uses a “cabling” system that guides the data signals along a specific path.
Guided media is also known as “Bounded Media”. Guided media are those that provide medium of data
transmission from one device to another. It includes twisted pair cable, coaxial cable and fiber optic
cable.

Unguided Media
Unguided media transports electromagnetic waves without using a physical conductor. Signals are
normally broadcast through air and thus are available to anyone who has a device capable of receiving
them. Unguided media is also known as “Unbounded Media”. This type of communication is often
referred to as wireless communication.

2.1.1 Definition
Guided transmission media uses a “Cabling” system that guides the data signals along a specific path.
Guided media is also known as “Bounded Media”.
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2.1.2 Classification

2.2 Guided Media

Guided media are those that provide medium from one device to another. It includes twisted pair Cable,
coaxial cable and fiber optic cable.

2.2.1 Twisted Pair Cable

Twisted pair cable comes in two forms unshielded twisted pair cable and shielded twisted pair cable.

Unshielded Twisted Pair Cable (UTP)

It is the most common type of telecommunication medium in use today. It is used mostly in
telephone system; its frequency range is suitable for transmitting both data and voice. Frequency range
suitable for UTP is 100Hz to 5MHz.
As shown in fig. twisted pair consists of two conductors each with its own coloured plastic
insulation. One potential problem of UTP is that its wire can be affected by EMI (Electromagnetic
interference) from devices. This can create a noise over wires, which can damage the signal.
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Advantages of UTP
1) Low cost
2) Easy to use
3) Flexible
4) Easy to install

Dis-advantages of UTP
1) Limited to only 100 mts.
2) Most affected by interference.
3) Easy to tap into.

UTP Connectors

UTP is most commonly connected to network devices via a type of snap-in plug like that which
is used with telephone jacks. Each wire in a cable is attached to one conductor (or pin) in the connector.
The most frequently used is an RJ45 (Registered Jack). Connector with eight conductors, one for
each wire of four twisted pair as shown in fig.
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Shielded Twisted Pair Cable (STP)

STP cable has a metal foil or braided-mesh covering that encases each pair of insulated
conductors, which are a higher quality and more protective jacket than UTP has. This gives STP
excellent insulation to protect the transmitted data from outside interference.
STP is less susceptible to electrical interference and supports higher rates over longer distance
than UTP. Materials and Manufacturing requirements make STP more expensive than UTP, but less
susceptible to noise. STP has the same quality consideration and uses the same connectors as UTP, but
the shield must be connected to ground.

Advantages of STP
1) Less affected by interference.
2) Difficult to tap into.

Dis-advantages of STP
1) High cost
2) Difficult to use
3) It is not Flexible
4) Difficult to install
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2.2.2 Coaxial Cable

Co-axial cable has better shielding than twisted pairs, so it can span longer distances at higher
speed. coaxial cable carries signals of higher frequency range than twisted pair cable. Frequency range
suitable for coaxial cable is 100 KHz to 500MHz.
Coaxial cable has central core conductor of solid or standard wire (usually copper) enclosed in
an insulating sheath, which is in turn encased in an outer conductor of metal foil, braid or combination
of two. The outer metallic wrapping serves both as a shield against noise and as the second conductor,
which completes the circuit. This outer conductor is also enclosed in an insulating sheath and whole
cable is protected by plastic cover.
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There are two types of coaxial cable:

1) Thin (Thinnet)
2) Thick (Thicknet)

Thinnet Coaxial Cable

It is a flexible coaxial cable about 0.25 inches thick. This type of coaxial cable is flexible and
easy to work with; it can be used in almost any type of network installation almost in BUS topology.
Thinnet coaxial cable can carry a signal up to approximately 185 meters (about 607ft) before the
signal starts to suffer from attenuation. Thinnet is included in a group that referred to as the RG-58
(radio grade) family and has 50-ohm impedance. Commonly used for digital transmission.

Thicknet Coaxial Cable

Thicknet is relatively rigid coaxial cable about 0.5 inches in diameter. Thick net can carry signal
for 500 meters [about 1640 ft] Therefore, because of thicknet’s ability to support data transfer over
linger distance it is sometimes used as backbone to connect several smaller thinnet based networks.
A device called a transceiver connects the thinnet coaxial to the larger thicknet coaxial cable.
RG-8, RG-9 and RG-11 used for thicknet coaxial cable. 75-ohm commonly used for analog
transmission.

Advantages of Coaxial Cable

1) Coaxial cable is the most widely used in n/w cable.
2) Coaxial cable is relatively inexpensive, light, flexible and easy to work with.
3) It can be easily installed.
4) Coaxial cable is good choice for longer distance and for reliably supporting higher data rates.

Dis-Advantages of Coaxial Cable are

1) Coaxial cable is harder to work with.
2) It does not allow running cable from every office to a central location.

2.2.3 Fiber Optic cable

Fiber optic cable is similar to coax expect without braided mesh conductor as shown in fig.
above. Following figure shows the composition of typical fibre optic cable. At the centre is the glass
core through which light propagates. In multimode fibres, the core is 50 microns in diameter, about the
thickness of human hair. In the single mode fibre, the core is 8 to 10 microns.

A core is surrounded by glass cladding with lower refractive index than the core, to keep all the
light in the core. Next comes, a thin plastic jacket to protect the cladding. As shown in fig. fibers are
typically grouped together in bundles protected by an outer sheath. Two types of light sources can be
used for signaling, (LED and diodes) LED and semiconductors lasers.
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Propagation Modes have two modes (multimode and single mode) for propagating light along
optical channels, each requiring fiber with different physical characteristics. Multimode can be
implemented in two forms: step-index or graded-index.

Multimode
Multiple beams from a light source move through the core in different paths. How these beams
move within the cable depends on the structure of the core. The density of the core remains constant
from the centre to the edges.
A beam of light moves through this constant density in a straight line until it reaches the
interface of the core and the cladding. At the interface, there is an abrupt change due to a lower density;
this alters the angle of the beam's motion.

Single-Mode
It uses step-index fiber and a highly focused source of light that limits beams to a small range of
angles, all close to the horizontal. The single-mode fiber itself is manufactured with a much smaller
diameter than that of multimode fiber, and with substantially lower density (index of refraction).
The decrease in density results in a critical angle that is close enough to 90° to make the
propagation of beams almost horizontal. In this case, propagation of different beams is almost identical,
and delays are negligible.
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Advantages of Fiber Optic Cable

The major advantage offered by fiber optic cable over twisted pair and coaxial cable.
1) Less weight: Fiber is much lighter than copper. If we take twisted pair for the distance of two km
then its weight is 8000 kg. But two fibers have more capacity and weight is only 100 kg.
2) Noise Resistance: Fiber optic transmission uses light rather than electricity, so noise is not a factor.
3) Less Signal attenuation: A signal can run for miles without requiring regeneration.
4) Higher Bandwidth: It supports higher bandwidth and hence has higher data rates than either
twisted pair or coaxial cable.
5) Excellent Security: it provides excellent security because they do not leak light and they are quite
difficult to tap.

Disadvantages of Fiber Optic Cable

1) Cost: Fiber optic cable is expensive.
2) Installation/Maintenance: Suitably skilled and qualified person is required for maintaining and
installing fiber optic cable.
3) Unidirectional (one direction): Propagation of light is unidirectional. If we need bi-directional
communication then two fibers are needed.

2.3 Unguided Media

Unguided media transport electromagnetic waves without using a physical conductor. Signals are
normally broadcast through air and thus are available to anyone who has a device capable of receiving
them. This type of communication is often referred to as wireless communication. The characteristics of
this media make them good alternative in situations where it is difficult or impossible to use cables.
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Unguided media broadly classified into following categories:

1) Radio wave
2) Microwaves
3) Infrared

Unguided signals can travel from source to destination in several ways. There is ground
propagation, sky propagation, and line-of sight propagation.
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Ground Propagation
In this propagation, radio waves travel through lowest portion of atmosphere, hugging the earth. These
low-frequency signals emanate in all directions from the transmitting antenna and follow the curvature
of planet. Distance depends on the amount of power, the greater the distance.

Sky Propagation
In this propagation, higher-frequency radio waves radiate upward into the ionosphere (the layer of
atmosphere where particles exist as ions) where they are reflected back to earth. This type of
transmission allows for greater distances with lower power output.

Line of Sight Propagation

In this propagation, very high-frequency signals are transmitted in straight lines directly from antenna to
antenna. Antennas must be directional, facing each other and either tall enough or close enough together
not to be affected by curvature of earth. Line-of-sight propagation is tricky because radio transmission
cannot be completely focused.
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2.3.1 Radio Waves

Radio waves are electromagnetic waves occurring on radio frequency portion of the
electromagnetic spectrum. A common use is to transport information through the atmosphere or outer
space without wires. Radio waves are distinguished from other kinds of electromagnetic waves by their
wavelength, a relatively long wavelength in an electromagnetic spectrum.

Although there is no clear-cut differentiation between radio waves and microwaves,

electromagnetic waves ranging in frequencies between 3 KHz and 1 GHz are normally called radio
waves. Waves ranging in between 1 and 300 GHz are called microwaves. However, the behavior of the
waves, rather than frequencies, is a better criterion for classification. Radio waves are easy to generate,
can travel a long distance, and penetrate buildings easily, so they are widely used for communication,
both indoors and outdoors.
Radio waves are also Omni directional, meaning that they travel in all directions from the source,
so that the transmitter and receiver do not have to be carefully aligned physically. Radio waves
propagate in the sky mode.
Advantages of Radio Waves
1) Radio waves, particularly those waves that propagate in the sky mode, can travel long distances, for
example AM radio.
2) Radio waves, particularly those of low and medium frequencies, can propagate walls, so they are
widely used for communication, both indoors and outdoors.
3) Radio waves are also Omni directional. When an antenna transmits radio waves, they are propagated
in all directions. This means that the sending and receiving antennas do not have to be aligned. A
sending antenna can send waves that can be received by any receiving antenna.
Disadvantages of Radio Waves
1) Radio waves are also Omni directional, meaning that they travel in all directions from the source. The
radio waves transmitted by one antenna are susceptible to interference by another antenna that may
send signals using same frequency or band.
2) Radio waves can penetrate the walls. So, we cannot isolate a communication to just inside or outside
a building.
3) The radio wave band is relatively narrow, just under 1 GHz, compared to the microwave band. When
this band is divided into sub bands, the sidebands are also narrow, leading to low a data rate for
digital communications.

Application of Radio Waves

1) AM and FM radio.
2) Television broadcasts.
3) Cordless phones.
4) Paging.
5) GPS receivers.
7) Wireless clocks etc.
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2.3.2 Microwaves
Electromagnetic waves having frequencies between 1 and 300 GHz are called microwaves.
Micro waves are unidirectional. When an antenna transmits micro waves, they can be narrowly focused.
This means that the sending and receiving antennas need to be aligned without interfering with another
pair of aligned antennas. Microwave’s uses line of sight propagation.

Terrestrial Microwave
Terrestrial Microwave transmission is a technology that transmits the focused beam of a radio
signal from one ground-based microwave transmission antenna to another. Microwaves are
unidirectional as the sending and receiving antenna is to be aligned. It works on the line-of-sight
transmission, i.e., the antennas mounted on the towers are the direct sight of each other.

Terrestrial Microwave
Satellite Microwave
Satellite communication is more reliable nowadays as it offers more flexibility than cable and
fibre optic systems. We can communicate with any point on the globe by using satellite communication.
The satellite accepts the signal that is transmitted from the earth station, and it amplifies the signal. The
amplified signal is retransmitted to another earth station.

Satellite Microwave
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Advantages of Microwaves
1) Micro waves are unidirectional, and sending and receiving antennas need to be aligned, so they are
not interfering with another pair of aligned antennas.
2) The micro wave’s band is relatively wider, compared to the radio wave band. When this band is
divided into sub bands, the sidebands are also wider, leading to higher data rate for digital
communications.
3) Micro waves are relatively inexpensive and simple to install.

Disadvantages of Microwaves
1) The micro waves travel in a straight line, if the towers are too far apart, the earth will get in the way.
Consequently, repeaters are often needed for long distance communication periodically.
2) Very high frequency micro waves cannot able to penetrated walls. Its disadvantage if receivers are
inside the buildings.

Application of Microwaves
1) Cellular phones
2) Satellite networks
3) Wireless LANs

2.3.3 Infrared Waves

Electromagnetic waves having frequencies from 300 GHz to 400 THz are called Infrared waves.
Infrared waves are widely used for short-range communication. The remote controls used on televisions,
VCRs, and stereos all use infrared communication. Infrared waves are line of sight propagation.

Advantages of Infrared Waves

1) Infrared waves are relatively directional, cheap, and easy to build.
2) Infrared waves having high frequency, so they are not able to penetrate the walls. So, Infrared system
in one room will not interfere with a similar system in adjacent room.
3) Infrared waves are useful for short range communication.
4) It is more secure against taping.
5) It is useful to communicate wireless keyboard and mouse with the PC by using Infrared port.
Disadvantages of Infrared Waves
1) Infrared waves are useless for long range communication.
2) They do not pass-through solid objects.
3) We cannot use infrared waves outside buildings because the sun’s ray contains infrared that can
interfere with the communication.
Application of Infrared Waves
1) The remote controls used on televisions, VCRs, and stereos are based on Infrared.
2) Used in military, such as: target acquisition, surveillance, homing and tracking.
3) Used in thermal efficiency analysis, remote temperature sensing, spectroscopy, and weather
forecasting.