Data and Signals (Chapter 3 Lecture Notes)
In data communications, data is the information we want to send, and signals are the
means by which that data is transmitted across networks. Both data and the signals
carrying it can be analog or digital. This chapter introduces the basic concepts of
analog vs. digital data and signals, and key factors that affect signal transmission.
Analog vs. Digital Data
Analog data is information that is continuous in nature, whereas digital data is made
up of discrete values (often represented as binary 0s and 1s. In simpler terms, analog
data can vary smoothly over a range, while digital data jumps between separate states.
Example (Analog Data): A classic example is an analog clock. The hands of an analog
clock move continuously around the face, indicating time in a smooth flow. Your voice
in a face-to-face conversation is also analog – it’s a continuous sound wave with tone
and volume that vary seamlessly as you speak.
Example (Digital Data): A digital clock displays distinct numeric values (like 1:31
then 1:32), changing in steps each minute rather than moving smoothly – this is like
digital data which has set increments. Data stored in a computer’s memory or
transmitted over the internet (text, emails, videos, etc.) is digital, since it’s ultimately
represented in binary bits (0 or 1) inside devices.
For businesses, understanding the difference is useful because it underpins how
information is recorded and processed. For instance:older analog recordings (like
VHS tapes or audio cassettes) store continuous signals, while modern digital files (MP3
music, MP4 videos, etc.) store data in binary.
Analog vs. Digital Signals
A signal is an electrical, light, or radio wave that carries data through a medium (such
as wires, fiber optic cables, or air). Signals can also be analog or digital, and this refers
to the form of the wave used to encode the data.
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Analog signal (left) represented as a smooth wave, and digital signal (right) as a
stepped, square form. In an analog signal, the voltage or intensity can vary
continuously. In a digital signal, there are only specific levels (commonly two levels
for binary 0/1) with no in-between values.
• Analog signals are continuous waveforms. They can have an infinite number
of possible values within a range. For example, think of the smooth curves of a
sine wave – as the signal changes from one level to another, it passes through
every possible value in between. Traditional telephone audio traveling over old
copper phone lines is carried by analog electrical signals that mimic the sound
wave of your voice.
• Digital signals are made of discrete steps. They have a limited number of
defined values – usually only two levels (one for “0” and one for “1”). A simple
way to imagine a digital signal is like a light-bulb being switched on and off
rapidly to represent binary data. In computer networks, digital signals are
sequences of voltage pulses or light flashes that represent bits. For instance, the
data your computer sends to the internet is carried as a rapid stream of on/off
changes in a wire or fiber optic cable.
Analog signals vary smoothly, digital signals switch between defined states. This
difference affects how information is transmitted and preserved. Analog signals can
more closely represent natural phenomena (like voice, music, etc.), while digital signals
are robust for computing and networking because they are easier for electronic systems
to distinguish and regenerate. Modern data communications use digital signals to carry
digital data because our devices and networks are digital by design.
Can analog data be sent as digital signals?
Yes. A lot of our communications involve converting analog information to digital
signals. For example, when you use a VoIP phone system for a business call, your
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analog voice is converted into digital data (a stream of bits) which is then transmitted
as a digital signal over the network. Similarly, analog video from a camera can be
digitized and sent over the internet for video conferencing. Conversely, digital data can
be carried by analog signals using modulation (as was common with voiceband
modems for internet over telephone lines).
Periodic vs. Non-Periodic Signals
Periodic signals are signals that repeat the same pattern over time. They have a cycle
that recurs regularly (think of a clock’s second-hand ticking – the motion repeats every
60 seconds). For example, a simple tone or beep that stays at one pitch is periodic
because its waveform keeps repeating at a steady rate. In data communications, analog
carrier signals (like a continuous radio wave) are often periodic – they oscillate in a
consistent pattern.
A non-periodic signal has no repeating cycle; it changes constantly without a regular
pattern. This means that it does not have a fundamental frequency, and its frequency
spectrum is generally not composed of discrete frequencies. Non-periodic signals can
be continuous or discrete, and they can be either deterministic or random.
Everyday sounds like spoken words or music are non-periodic – the waveform is
irregular and does not repeat exactly.
Digital data signals (the pulses representing binary bits) are typically non-periodic
because real data (text, audio, video streams) doesn’t produce a single repeating
waveform.
A periodic signal versus a non-periodic signal. The periodic signal repeats a
consistent wave pattern over time, whereas the non-periodic signal changes its pattern
(frequency and amplitude) and does not repeat exactly.
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Periodic signals are often used as carriers in communication – for instance, a Wi-Fi
router continuously generates a radio wave at a certain frequency (a periodic
electromagnetic wave). Your data is then added onto this wave by slight modifications,
a process called modulation. The base wave itself is periodic (repeating), but the
modulated result carrying your data (your emails, voice, or video) becomes non-
periodic because the data alters the signal in non-repeating ways.
For example, during a video conference, your voice and video data form a complex,
non-periodic signal (since conversation is unpredictable), which gets transmitted by
varying a periodic carrier signal. Understanding this distinction helps us know why a
simple, steady tone (periodic) carries no new information while a varying signal (non-
periodic) can encode meaningful data.
In practical terms, a periodic carrier (like a fixed-frequency wave) provides a stable
base, and the non-periodic variations on it contain the information (voice, video, etc.).
If the signal were strictly periodic and unchanging, no new information would be
conveyed.
Analog Periodic signals:-
Periodic analog signals can be classified as simple or composite. A simple periodic
analog signal, a sine wave, cannot be decomposed into simpler signals. A composite
periodic analog signal is composed of multiple sine waves.
If the composite signal is periodic, the decomposition gives a series of signals with
discrete frequencies.
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1Sine wave
2 Composite signal
A sine wave is the most basic form of a periodic signal. It’s a smooth, continuous wave
oscillating in a consistent, regular pattern (shaped like a gentle wave or a swinging
pendulum). You can picture a sine wave by thinking of something moving in a circle at
a constant speed and projecting its motion as a position vs. time. The sine wave starts
at some value, rises to a peak, decreases through the starting value to a trough, and then
rises back to the start – this completes one cycle, and it repeats. This smooth rise and
fall make it a pure tone in sound (no abrupt changes).
communications and signal processing, any complex signal can be broken down into a
sum of sine waves of various frequencies, amplitudes, and phases.
Sine waves are at the heart of how data moves in real business communication systems.
Radio and Wi-Fi signals are transmitted using sine waves at radio frequencies. For
instance, a Wi-Fi router generates a sine wave at 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz. By itself, that’s
just an unmodulated carrier – a clean periodic sine wave that doesn’t convey
information. To send data, the router modulates this sine wave: it might slightly vary
the amplitude (AM – amplitude modulation), the frequency (FM – frequency
modulation), or the phase (PM – phase modulation) of the wave, or a combination of
these. These variations correspond to the digital data being sent. The receiving device
listens to that sine wave and detects those tiny changes to recover the data. Because
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sine waves are so fundamental, they make an ideal carrier – they have a single frequency
and a predictable behavior that receivers can lock onto.
Another example is VoIP and audio signals. When your voice is transmitted over the
internet, it’s first captured as an analog waveform (which can be thought of as a mix of
many sine waves of different frequencies – low frequencies for vowel sounds, higher
for fricatives like “s”). It’s then digitized, sent as data packets, and converted back into
an analog waveform on the other side. The quality of a VoIP call depends on how well
those constituent sine wave components (the voice frequencies) are preserved. If the
connection has limited bandwidth, it might cut off high-frequency sine wave
components of your voice, making you sound muffled (similar to how a telephone cuts
off very high and very low frequencies).
sine waves helps explain phenomena like network interference and bandwidth.
Interference occurs when multiple signals (which are waves) overlap. If two Wi-Fi
routers operate on the same channel, their sine wave carriers can interfere—sometimes
cancelling or distorting if out of phase, leading to poor reception.
sine waves have very practical implications in business tech: they are the carriers of
wireless communication, the basis of sound and imaging signals, and the key to
analyzing network performance. From the 50/60 Hz sine wave that delivers AC power
to your office, to the GHz-range sine waves enabling your wireless Zoom call, these
smooth periodic oscillations are everywhere in communication systems, quietly doing
the work once you “add” the information on top of them.
Understanding sine waves and their traits (frequency, amplitude, phase) provides a
foundation for grasping how complex data like voice, video, and other information are
reliably transmitted over various media in modern business communications.
Frequency, Amplitude, and Phase:
When discussing signals (especially periodic ones like sine waves), there are three
fundamental characteristics to consider: frequency, amplitude, and phase. These
properties determine how a signal looks and carry information:
• Frequency – “How often?” Frequency is the rate at which a signal repeats a
cycle per second. It’s like the heartbeat or tempo of the signal. A higher
frequency means the signal cycles (oscillates) more times each second, and a
lower frequency means it repeats fewer times per second.
If a signal does not change at all, its frequency is zero.
If a signal changes rapidly, its frequency is infinite.
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We measure frequency in hertz (Hz), where 1 Hz = one cycle per second.
In everyday analogy, think of frequency as the pitch of a sound: a high-pitched whistle
has a high frequency (many sound wave cycles per second), while a low-pitched drum
beat has a low frequency.
In communications, different channels are often separated by frequency. For example,
your FM radio station at 100 MHz means the radio wave oscillates 100 million times a
second.
Frequency is essentially how fast the wave wiggles. It determines the bandwidth and
capacity of channels: higher frequencies can carry more data but may travel shorter
distances or be more easily absorbed, whereas lower frequencies go farther but carry
less data (this is why Wi-Fi at 5 GHz can be faster but has a shorter range than 2.4
GHz).
Bandwidth (Analog): is essentially the range of sine wave frequencies a system can
handle. It is The difference between the highest frequency and lowest frequency
components of an analog signal, measured in Hertz (Hz).
Suppose an audio signal used in phone calls ranges from 300 Hz (low frequency) to
3400 Hz (high frequency).
Bandwidth = Highest Frequency – Lowest Frequency
Bandwidth = 3400 Hz – 300 Hz = 3100 Hz (3.1 kHz)
Higher Bandwidth means a wider frequency range is available, and you can transmit
more detailed and higher-quality signals (e.g., HD audio or video).
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Lower Bandwidth means A narrower frequency range & Lower signal quality, less
data transmitted.
Example: AM Radio uses about 10 kHz bandwidth, moderate audio quality. FM
Radio uses about 200 kHz bandwidth, offering clearer, stereo sound.
A business using an analog telephone line traditionally has a bandwidth around 3.1–4
kHz. This limited bandwidth explains why phone audio quality doesn't capture all voice
frequencies, making calls sound less clear compared to modern digital audio calls (like
VoIP, which use broader bandwidth).
Too, A video conference that streams HD video needs a broad range of frequencies (a
high bandwidth) to carry all the details (equivalent to combining many sine waves of
different frequencies). If bandwidth is too low, the signal (video or audio) loses detail
because you can’t include all the necessary sine wave components – resulting in lower
quality or needing higher compression.
So, Higher bandwidth equals better quality and higher data transmission capability.
• Amplitude – “How strong?” Amplitude is the height or strength of the signal
wave. In a physical sense, it’s the maximum value of the signal measured from
its average (or zero) level.
You can think of amplitude as the loudness or volume of a sound or the brightness of a
light. A larger amplitude means a stronger signal: for sound, it would be louder; for a
voltage signal, it’s a higher voltage. In our wave analogy, the amplitude is like the
height of ocean waves – big waves (high amplitude) carry more energy than small
ripples (low amplitude). Technically, the amplitude is often measured in volts for
electrical signals or decibels for sound (a loud sound has high amplitude pressure
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waves) For example, in a conference call, speaking louder increases the amplitude of
your voice signal (making the sound wave taller), though the frequency (pitch) of your
voice remains the same.
In business communication systems, amplitude relates to signal strength. A Wi-Fi or
cellular signal with higher amplitude (more power) can cover a larger area or better
penetrate walls, improving connectivity. However, high amplitude can also cause
interference, so systems must balance power. When your phone shows more “bars,” it
means the amplitude of the received signal is strong. Conversely, if the amplitude drops
too low (weak signal), your call or video quality will suffer or drop out.
• Phase – “Starting point?” Phase describes the position of the signal’s cycle at
a reference point in time. In simpler terms, phase is how two signals line up with
each other in time. Imagine two people swinging their legs in sync versus one
person starting a bit later – the timing difference is like a phase difference. For
a single signal, phase tells us where the wave is at time zero (for example, does
it start at its lowest point, highest point, or somewhere in between?).
We often measure phase in degrees (0° to 360°) or radians, where 360° represents a full
cycle. If two waves have the same frequency but different phases, one might reach its
peak a little later than the other.
If two waves are in phase (peaks line up with peaks), they can strengthen each other;
if they are out of phase (one’s peak lines up with another’s trough), they can cancel
out.
Your wireless router and devices coordinate these three so that information (like a video
stream) comes through correctly. If the frequency is wrong, your device won’t tune to
the signal; if the amplitude is too low, the signal will be too weak (leading to a dropped
connection); and if the phase isn’t synchronized when combining signals from multiple
antennas (as in advanced Wi-Fi or 5G MIMO systems), the signals could interfere.
In VoIP (Voice over IP), although the voice is ultimately handled as digital data, when
it’s converted to sound or sent over analog channels, the frequency content determines
the tone of the voice, the amplitude determines how loud you sound to the listener, and
handling phase correctly ensures that the reconstructed waveforms sound natural and
don’t produce echoes.
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Digital Signals:
A digital signal is a type of signal used to represent data using distinct values, usually
0s and 1s. Digital signals can be either periodic or non-periodic, depending on the type
of data being transmitted. A periodic digital signal repeats a specific pattern of bits at
regular intervals, such as a clock signal that sends alternating 0s and 1s consistently to
keep devices in sync. On the other hand, most real-world digital communication, like
sending emails, or browsing the web, creates non-periodic digital signals, because the
data changes all the time and doesn’t repeat in a fixed pattern. while digital signals can
be periodic in special cases, most practical digital signals are non-periodic because
they carry constantly changing information.
Bandwidth and Data Rate (Speed)
Before discussing how fast data can travel through a network, it's important to
understand how it is sent. In modern communication systems, digital signals are used
to transmit information in the form of bits — 0s and 1s. These signals move through
wires, fiber optics, or other methods. Since most of our internet and business
communication involves non-repetitive data, digital signals in practice are usually non-
periodic.
In networking, bandwidth (digital) refers to the capacity of a link to carry data,
typically measured in bits per second (bps).
In simple terms, bandwidth is how much data can be transmitted in a given amount
of time. A higher bandwidth means more data can flow per second, similar to how a
wider highway can allow more cars to travel at once. This concept is often referred to
as network “speed”.
when someone says “we have a 100 Mbps internet connection,” they are talking about
bandwidth – the connection can carry up to 100 million bits each second.
Because digital data is in bits, bandwidth is quantified in bits per second (or kilobits,
megabits, gigabits per second, etc.). For example, a typical home broadband might be
50 Mbps (megabits per second), whereas a business might pay for a 1 Gbps (gigabit per
second) fiber line. These numbers tell us the maximum data rate the link can handle.
Bandwidth is essentially the pipeline width for data.
Bit Rate
Bit rate is the actual speed at which data is transmitted, also measured as the number
of bits sent per second (bits per second or bps). In simple terms, it’s how fast the bits
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(0s and 1s) are flowing in a digital communication channel. It represents the number of
bits transferred each second through the communication channel. bit rate will always
be equal to or less than your available bandwidth.
For example, if your internet connection is 100 Mbps (100 megabits per second), it
means it can send 100 million bits each second. But due to other factors like network
congestion or equipment limitations, the actual data transfer (bit rate) might only be 70
Mbps at certain times.
A higher bit rate means more data can be transferred in a given time. This is like a
highway with more lanes – the more lanes (higher bit rate), so, the more cars (bits) can
travel per second.
In everyday life, bit rate determines how quickly you can download a file or stream a
video. For instance, streaming an HD movie without buffering requires a high bit rate;
if the bit rate is too low, the video will pause or drop to a lower quality.
Two digital signal examples sending data in 1 second. The top signal uses two voltage
levels (0 and 1) and sends 8 bits in one second (bit rate = 8 bps). The bottom signal uses
four distinct levels (00, 01, 10, 11) and sends 16 bits in one second (bit rate = 16 bps).
This illustrates that with more signal levels (more bits encoded per level), a higher bit
rate can be achieved in the same period.
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In modern networks, techniques like this (using multiple levels or advanced
modulation) allow much higher bit rates. For example, today’s broadband and mobile
networks encode many bits per signal interval to reach tens or hundreds of Mbps speeds.
Bit Length
Bit length is the distance a single bit occupies on the transmission medium. In other
words, when a bit is sent as a short pulse over a cable or through the air, “bit length”
tells us how long that pulse stretches out in space. This depends on two things: the
speed at which the signal travels and the duration of the bit.
The signal in a wire or fiber travels very fast (usually a significant fraction of the speed
of light), but even at those speeds, a bit has some physical length. For example, at a
lower bit rate like 1 Mbps, a single bit lasts relatively longer (1 microsecond) and might
occupy roughly 200 meters of a cable while it’s being transmitted. At a higher bit rate
like 100 Mbps, a bit is much shorter in time (0.01 microsecond) and would stretch only
about 2 meters on the same cable. This means on a fast network, bits are packed very
tightly one after another in the medium.
Bit length matters for understanding how data moves and for designing networks. If
you have a long cable, at any given moment, multiple bits could be “in flight” along
that cable, almost like boxcars on a train track following each other. Network engineers
consider bit length when determining things like cable lengths and timing – for instance,
ensuring that devices can detect where one-bit ends and the next begins.
The key idea is that higher bit rates make each bit shorter (in time and distance).
This is one reason why high-speed networking equipment can be more complex: it must
reliably detect very short, quick pulses.
knowing about bit length helps explain phenomena like network latency. Imagine a
transatlantic fiber optic cable: even at light speed, a bit takes about 20 milliseconds to
cross the ocean, and thousands of bits will be strung out along the cable by the time the
first bit arrives. This contributes to a delay that must be accounted for in global
communications (for example, in international video conferences or financial
transactions).
Throughput vs. bandwidth:
It’s worth noting that having high bandwidth is like having a wide pipe, but actual
throughput can be lower due to other factors (like network overhead, congestion, etc.).
It’s similar to owning a six-lane highway (high bandwidth) that during rush hour might
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still slow down due to heavy traffic (so actual cars per minute might be less than the
max).
The more bandwidth generally allows better performance, especially when multiple
users or high-volume data transfers are involved. A common misconception is equating
bandwidth directly with “speed” – while more bandwidth often yields faster downloads
or the ability to do more tasks at once, latency (delay) is another piece of the speed
puzzle.
Latency is the time delay in data communication – the time it takes for a message or
packet of data to travel from the sender to the receiver. In networking terms, latency is
typically measured in milliseconds (ms). It’s basically the lag you notice between an
action and its effect across the network.
latency is the delay between sending and receiving data over a network. For example,
if you say “hello” on a video call, latency is the brief pause before the other person
actually hears you. If you’re loading a website, latency is the time from when you click
a link to when the first bit of the page starts arriving. It’s like the travel time for data.
There are a few reasons latency exists. One is physical distance – data is fast (traveling
as electrical signals or light, nearly at the speed of light), but if the data has to cross the
globe (say, from New York to a server in Sydney), even light-speed travel introduces
noticeable milliseconds of delay. Other causes are the network infrastructure – every
router or switch the data passes through adds a tiny processing delay and congested or
slow links can add more.
Low latency is crucial for anything interactive. In business video conferences, high
latency might cause participants to talk over each other or have awkward pauses. You
may have experienced this with satellite phone calls or certain international calls where
you notice you have to wait a fraction of a second after speaking.
Digital Signal as a Composite Analog Signal
A digital signal is a composite analog signal with an infinite bandwidth. Although A
digital signal may look like a blocky stream of 0s and 1s, but it’s actually made up of
many overlapping analog sine waves.
This is a result of a principle called Fourier analysis, which says any complex waveform
can be built by adding up simpler waves. So, a sudden jump from 0 to 1 in a digital
signal isn’t a single pure tone – it’s actually made of a combination of multiple
frequencies. In fact, an ideal digital square wave contains an infinite spectrum of
frequencies to make those perfectly sharp edges.
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this means a digital signal occupies a range of frequencies (bandwidth). If the signal
is repetitive (periodic), the frequency components are discrete spikes; if it’s not
repetitive (like typical data, which is random), the signal spreads over a continuous
range of frequencies.
any real transmission medium (wires, fiber, wireless) can only carry a limited range of
frequencies. High-frequency components are often lost or attenuated in cables or filters.
So when we send a digital signal, the medium will round off the sharp edges by filtering
out some very high frequencies. This is why, for example, a long Ethernet cable or an
older phone line can only handle a specific data rate – beyond that, the signal’s shape
would degrade too much.
higher data speeds require higher bandwidth capacity. so, to support faster bit rates
(more bits per second), we need a channel that can carry a broader frequency range of
the signal’s components.
Example: If a company wants to upgrade from a 10 Mbps connection to a 1 Gbps
connection, it may need to switch to media and technologies (like fiber optics or
advanced wireless spectrum) that can handle the higher frequencies associated with
those faster digital signals.
Application Layer
In network communications, the Application Layer is the top layer where users and
software applications interact with the network. It acts as the interface between the
user and the network. So, this is the layer at which all the high-level networking
happens – everything the user sees or uses. Examples of application-layer activities
include sending an email, requesting a web page, or starting a Zoom call. Protocols like
HTTP (for the web), SMTP (for email), and FTP (for file transfer) operate at the
application layer to provide services directly to the user or user’s software. When you
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type a message and hit “Send” in a chat app, the application layer is what formats that
message and initiates its journey through the network.
It’s important to realize how the application layer relates to bit rate and digital signals.
The application layer deals with data in forms convenient for users (messages, images,
etc.). Still, those have to be broken down into bits and transmitted as digital signals over
physical media (which is the job of lower layers, like the physical layer).
this means that the quality of the application experience (say, a clear voice call or a
fast file download) depends on what’s happening at the lower levels. For example, a
video conferencing app (application layer) will perform well only if the network can
deliver a high bit rate with low delay and minimal signal loss underneath.
If the underlying digital signal is poor (perhaps due to low bandwidth or high noise),
the application layer may experience issues like lag, dropped calls, or slow loading.
Thus, professionals must ensure that all layers work together: user-facing applications
must be optimized, but they also need a robust network foundation (good bandwidth,
reliable connections) to support them. The application layer is where digital
transformation initiatives directly manifest – whether it’s an e-commerce platform, a
CRM system, or a cloud service, it lives at this top layer. But the success of these
initiatives hinges on understanding the whole path down to the bits: a modern app can
revolutionize a business process, provided the network (and its digital signal
capabilities) can support the app’s demands.
In essence, the application layer is the “business end” of networking – it’s where value
is delivered to users – and concepts like bit rate and signal quality matter here because
they enable the application layer to function smoothly.
Signal Quality and Transmission Issues
When signals travel through a medium (whether it’s copper wire, fiber, or air), they
don’t always arrive in perfect shape. Three major issues can affect signal quality and
thus impact data communication: attenuation, Distortion and noise. These
impairments are important for business technology managers to understand because
they relate to reliability of networks – for example, why a Wi-Fi signal gets weak in a
far corner office, or why a call has static. Below we explain these issues in simple terms:
• Attenuation (Signal Loss): As a signal travels, it loses strength over distance. This
weakening of a signal is called attenuation.
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Think of someone shouting – if you stand right next to them, it’s loud, but if you are
100 meters away, the sound is faint. Similarly, a network signal starts strong at the
source but gradually diminishes as it propagates.
Example: You might notice that your Wi-Fi signal strength bars drop when you
move farther from the router; this is because the radio signal is attenuating with
distance. In wired networks, a very long Ethernet cable without repeaters will attenuate
the electrical signal, potentially causing data errors if the signal becomes too weak to
distinguish 0s and 1s.
Businesses use devices like amplifiers or repeaters to combat attenuation on long
links. These devices boost or regenerate the signal back to its original strength so it can
travel further without loss of integrity.
• Distortion (Signal Shape Change): Distortion happens when the shape of a signal
changes as it travels through the network. This can cause the signal to arrive looking
different from how it was sent.
Think of someone playing music on a speaker, and as the sound travels through walls
and long hallways, it starts to sound odd or muffled — that’s distortion.
In networking, this usually happens when different parts (frequencies) of the signal
travel at different speeds or get affected differently by the medium, especially over
long cables or in older systems.
To reduce distortion, network systems use equalizers or choose better-quality cables
that ensure all signal parts arrive in sync, helping maintain clear communication.
• Noise (Interference): Noise refers to any unwanted random signals or
electromagnetic interference that mixes into the original signal. In everyday terms,
noise is like “static” or a disturbance that makes it harder to hear the actual message.
Example: If you’ve been on a phone call and heard crackling or background hiss, that’s
noise interfering with the voice signal. In a business office, noise can come from various
sources: electrical equipment, shining lights, radio interference, other wireless devices,
etc., injecting signals on network lines or in the air.
Analog signals are especially affected by noises – e.g., two nearby Wi-Fi networks on
the same channel can interfere with each other, or a microwave oven might introduce
noise in the 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi band causing a slowdown.
Digital signals have a big advantage here: even if some noise is present, as long as the
signal is still distinguishable as “0” or “1” the data can be recovered.
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