Communication

Channels
L.O.9 is about:
Students will be able to design a system of
communication through applying previous
knowledge (electronics , LASER, mechanical waves
and EM waves)
Section Concepts:
A. Basic elements of communication
B. Ground, Sky, Space wave propagation
C. Antennas
D. covering range of T.V transmitting tower
E. Max. Usable frequency.
F. Satellite communication
G. Mobile phones
H. Optical fibers
Section Objectives (Skills):
A. Design a flowchart to express a communication
system.
B. Explain how information can be transmitted as
variation in amplitude and frequency of waves.
C. Use diagrams to design a system of
communication.
D. Analyze different communication systems to
identify sorts of variation included.
E. Apply previous knowledge (electronics , LASER,
mechanical waves and EM waves) to design a
system of communication and transmitting data.
Introduction:

Let’s begin with some essential questions:

•Are you able to apply your previous knowledge to

design a communication system includes a
transmitter and a receiver?

•We will answer these later.  practically…..

Introduction:
Signal transmission through a definite way is called
“Signal Channel”
Introduction:
Signal transmission through a definite way is called
“Signal Channel”
And we will get introduced to many of these to be
able to decide which one is likely to be used
according to their pros. And cons.
Introduction:
Signal transmission through a definite way is called
“Signal Channel”
And we will get introduced to many of these to be
able to decide which one is likely to be used
according to their pros. And cons.

Now, let’s take a look on each.

Let’s do some group work 
We will divide our class into four groups, each group
will silently read for 10 min. some passages
according to the following table, then 3 min. of
discussion inside your group.
Finally you will discuss with us what you understand.
Group
Topic Page
No.
1 Wire-pairs and coaxial 523 - 524
2 Radio waves and microwaves links. 524 – 526
3 Satellites and optical fibers 526 – 528
4 The public switched telephone 528 – 530
network (PSTN) & The mobile or cell
phone network

Now, let’s get started

Let’s see what did you get?
Group 1: Wire-pairs and coaxial.
Group 2: Radio waves and microwaves links.
Group 3: Satellites and optical fibers.
Group 4: The public switched telephone network
(PSTN) & The mobile or cell phone network.
Wire-pairs and coaxial cables:
Wire-pairs are used by earliest telephones.
Wire-pairs and coaxial cables:
Wire-pairs are used by earliest telephones.
And because of the increase in electricity, the
expected interference increased causing hiss (noise)
on the line.
Wire-pairs and coaxial cables:
Wire-pairs are used by earliest telephones.
And because of the increase in electricity, the
expected interference increased causing hiss (noise)
on the line.
Because the signal is represented as the potential
difference between the two wires.
Wire-pairs:
Wire-pairs are used by earliest telephones.
And because of the increase in electricity, the
expected interference increased causing hiss (noise)
on the line.
Because the signal is represented as the potential
difference between the two wires.
And when the two wires are close to each other,
they pick the same electrical interference and no
additional potential difference is added.
Wire-pairs:
Wire-pairs:

It is the cheapest but also has some disadvantages

!!!!!!?
Wire-pairs:
It is the cheapest but also has some disadvantages
!!!!!!?
Wire-pairs:
It is the cheapest but also has some disadvantages
!!!!!!?
Coaxial Cable:
Coaxial cable reduces the amount of cross-talk in
wire-pairs when transmission occurs at high speed.
Coaxial Cable:
Coaxial cable reduces the amount of cross-talk in
wire-pairs when transmission occurs at high speed.
Coaxial Cable:
Coaxial cable reduces the amount of cross-talk in
wire-pairs when transmission occurs at high speed.
Coaxial Cable:
Coaxial cable reduces the amount of cross-talk in
wire-pairs when transmission occurs at high speed.
Coaxial Cable:
It is more expensive, but it can transmit signals
faster over longer distances.
Coaxial Cable:
It is more expensive, but it can transmit signals
faster over longer distances.
It is also harder (than a pair-wire) to tap a coaxial
cable.
 Wire-pairs:
VS. Coaxial Cable:
Can we compare between them, Now?

Take one min. to think then share your thoughts

with us
Wire-pairs:
VS. Coaxial Cable:
Wire-pairs:
VS. Coaxial Cable:
Wire-pairs:
VS. Coaxial Cable:
Wire-pairs:
VS. Coaxial Cable:
Wire-pairs:
VS. Coaxial Cable:
Wire-pairs:
VS. Coaxial Cable:
Radio waves and microwaves links:
Radio waves can be classified into three types
according to the way of transmission fro the
transmitter to the receiver:

Radio
waves

Ground
Sky Space
(surface)
Radio waves and microwaves links:
Radio waves and microwaves links:
Ground (Surface) waves: travel close to the surface
of the Earth. Lower frequencies, up to 3 MHz,
diffract around the surface of the Earth because of
their long wavelengths; this gives them a long range
of up to 1000 km. AM broadcasts in the medium-
wave (MW) band and long wave (LW) bands travel
efficiently as surface waves.
Radio waves and microwaves links:
Sky waves: are waves above 3 MHz in frequency
which are diffracted only a little by the Earth and
travel almost in straight lines.
Some waves at these frequencies travel for a short
distance as surface waves, but they can only travel
about 100 km in this way.
Sky waves that travel in the atmosphere may be
reflected from a layer of charged particles, known as
the ionosphere. When these reflected waves reach
the Earths surface they may be reflected back to the
ionosphere.
Radio waves and microwaves links:
Short-wave (SW) radio uses frequencies in the high-
frequency (HF) band that reflect from the
ionosphere.
Your radio set can receive distant SW radio stations
at night, when the frequencies reflected by the
ionosphere are not absorbed by other regions in the
atmosphere.
Radio waves and microwaves links:
Space waves: are sky waves with a frequency
greater than 30MHz which pass through the
ionosphere.
The transmission is line-of-sight so, if the receiver
and transmitter are on the Earths surface, there
must be a clear line between the receiver and the
transmitter (not blocked by hills or mountains).
Some police and emergency services, as well as
television transmissions use space waves with
frequencies above 30 MHz in the very-high-
frequency (VHF) and ultra-high-frequency (UHF)
bands.
Radio waves and microwaves links:
Space waves: Microwaves are able to pass through
the ionosphere to reach satellites in space.
Bluetooth technology and Wi-Fi use microwaves for
communication around the home.
Using Wi-Fi, microwaves link your laptop to the main
computer in your home.
Radio waves and microwaves links:
Frequency Communication method Distance
range and waveband travelled

Ground up to 3MHz LW and MW radio in the LF up to 1000

wave hand km
Sky wave 3-30 MHz SW radio in the HF band worldwide by
reflection
space 30-300+MHz t-M radio in the VHF band,
wave TV and mobile phones in die line-of-sight
UHF band
microwa 1-300 GHz microwave, satellite links and line-of-sight
ve Wi-Fi in the super-high- except when
frequency (SHF) and extra- retransmitted
high- frequency (EHF) bands. by satellite
Radio waves and microwaves links:
The bandwidth available increases as the frequency
of the wave increases.
As microwaves have a high bandwidth, they can
carry many telephone conversations at once.
They are also very secure and difficult to tap into, as
the beam of microwaves that travels between the
two dishes is narrow and does not spread out.
Until fiber optic cable was available, microwave links
carried the majority of long-distance telephone
conversations.
Satellites and optical fibers:
The satellite receives a space wave from a
transmitter on Earth, the uplink, with a carrier
frequency in the microwave region.
Because the satellite can only reflect a tiny fraction
of the signal sent from Earth, the reflected signal
received back on Earth would be for too small.
Instead, the satellite re-transmits the signal it
receives as the downlink back to Earth, on another
frequency and with more power than it received. If
the downlink and uplink frequencies were the same,
then the much larger signal sent from Earth would
swamp the signal sent from the satellite.
Satellites and optical fibers:
So different frequencies are used.
The satellite transmits the signal back to an
individual satellite dish back on Earth or to many
dishes, over a wide area, particularly when
broadcasting television programs.
Satellites and optical fibers:
The first communications satellites used a frequency
of 6 GHz for the uplink and 4 GHz for the downlink,
but now even higher frequencies are used.
Satellites and optical fibers:
Here are some advantages of communication by
satellite rather than by sky wave:
The concentration of ions in the ionosphere is
constantly changing and reflection of the sky wave is
not always possible; sometimes layers in the
ionosphere even absorb radio frequencies.
The satellite boosts the signal for its renirn to Earth
and provides a stronger signal than is obtained by
reflection from the ionosphere.
Satellite communication uses higher frequencies,
which have higher bandwidth and can carry more
information per second.
Satellites and optical fibers:
Only a few frequencies in the MW and SW bands are
available. More frequencies are available for
communicating if a satellite uses higher frequencies.
Satellites and optical fibers:
In order to obtain a constant link between the
satellite and the satellite dish on Earth, it is essential
that the satellite dish always points towards the
satellite.
If the satellite moves across the sky, the dish must
move to track the movement of the satellite.
To avoid this problem many communications
satellites rotate around the Earth in a geostationary
orbit.
Satellites and optical fibers:
They orbit the Earth in the same direction as the
Earth rotates, at a height of 36000 km above the
Earths surface.
At this height, each satellite has a period of rotation
of 24 hours. This means that each satellite naturally
takes 1 day to orbit the Earth, exactly the time that it
takes a point on the surface of the Earth to make
one complete rotation.
A geostationary satellite is also in orbit above the
equator and it never appears to move when viewed
from any point on the Earth.
Satellites and optical fibers:
There are many other satellites around the Earth.
Some of these are in polar orbit. These satellites
commonly travel above the North and South Poles in
a time much shorter than a day.
They are usually closer to the Earth than
geostationary satellites and are used for surface
observation and as weather satellites. At a
commonly used height of 1000km above the Earths
surface, the period of rotation around the Earth is
only 100 minutes.
Satellites and optical fibers:
Being closer to the Earth, polar-orbit satellites can
see smaller detail when used for observation and
espionage.
As they orbit from the North to the South Pole, the
Earth rotates underneath them and so they pass
over the whole Earth in a 24-hour period.
Satellites and optical fibers:
always a delay in sending a message to satellite is
because the satellite is high above the Earth.
This delay can be annoying when talking by a
telephone, for example, if the satellite is directly
overhead and the signal travels a distance of 72000
km up to The satellite and then down to the other
person, the delay is 0.24 s. The reply from the other
person also takes 0.24 s and so there always seems
to be a delay of at least 0.48 s in the conversation.
Satellites and optical fibers:
Geostationary satellites used for communication
transmit to each other around the world but cannot
always receive from regions close to the poles, as
the curvature of the Earth blocks the signal. The
delay when communicating with a polar satellite is
much smaller.
Satellites and optical fibers:
Compared to a geostationary satellite, a satellite in
polar orbit:
• Travels from pole to pole, with a shorter period of
orbit.
• Is at a smaller height above the Earth and can
detect objects of smaller detail.
• Is not always in the same position relative to the
Earth and so dishes must be moved.
• Has smaller delay times.
Satellites and optical fibers:
Alternative for long-distance communications is the
optic fiber, a very thin glass or plastic fiber that
carries light or infrared. Optic fibers use glass and
infrared for long distances, rather than plastic or
light, as the glass can be very pure and does not
absorb or scatter infrared.
Optic fibers have very low signal attenuation, the
distance between repeater amplifiers can be high.
Satellites and optical fibers:
When used for communication, an electrical signal
causes a laser or a light-emitting diode (LED) to emit
pulses of light or infrared, with a frequency of the
order of 2 x 1014 Hz or 2 x 108 MHz.
Because the frequency is so high, the potential
bandwidth available is also very high. the pulses of
light or infrared provide the digital signal that passes
along the fiber.
With a cable containing more than a hundred fibers
and each fiber carrying a large number of pulses per
second, the whole cable can carry ten million
telephone conversations at the same time.
Satellites and optical fibers:
Satellites and optical fibers:
Fiber optic cables have replaced the use of satellites
for long-distance transmission.
Just a few fiber optic cables running across the
oceans and from city to city link almost the whole
world and make the internet possible, the
information superhighway.
The delay between transmission and reception is
less than with a satellite as the distances travelled
round the world by the signal are less than up to a
satellite and back down again.
Satellites and optical fibers:
The disadvantages of optic fibre are:
• An electrical signal must first be converted to
pulses of light.
• And the optic fibers are difficult to connect to one
another as two fibers cannot just be glued
together.
Satellites and optical fibers:
Compared to a metal cable, a fiber optic cable:
• Has much greater bandwidth and can carry more
information per second.
• Has less signal attenuation, so repeater and
regeneration amplifiers can be further apart.
• Is impossible to tap, making the data it carries
more secure.
• Does not suffer from electrical interference and
cross-talk.
• Weighs less and so large lengths can be handled
more easily.
Satellites and optical fibers:
Compared to a metal cable, a fiber optic cable:
• Is immune to lightning and the effects of nearby
power lines.
• Can be used in flammable situations as no sparks
are produced.
• Is cheaper than the same length of copper wire.
The public switched telephone network (PSTN)
Each telephone has a 'fixed' line connected to a local
exchange and, if the call is not local, the exchange
switches the connection to a trunk exchange.
High-speed electronic circuits enable the actual
switching.
When the connection is to a telephone in another
country, an international gateway exchange makes
the connection. The cable to the local exchange is
usually a wire-pair but connections to trunk
exchanges and international gateways are more
likely to use fiber optic cable, because of the
increased bandwidth.
The public switched telephone network (PSTN)
The mobile or cell phone network
A mobile phone (or cell phone) contains a low-
powered radio transmitter and receiver with a range
of no more than 10 km. The system works with a
network of small cells' covering the country, each
containing a base station, somewhere near the
center of the cell.
Each base station can contact any mobile phone
within its own cell on a number of frequencies.
The mobile or cell phone network
The mobile or cell phone network
The mobile phone uses different frequencies to
transmit a signal to the base station and to receive a
signal back from the base station.
This allows you to talk and listen at the same time
when using a mobile phone.
The number of frequencies is limited and this limits
the number of different calls one base station can
handle at any time. The size of each cell varies
according to the geography of the area, as buildings
and hills may block the signal, and according to the
expected number of users.
The mobile or cell phone network
When you first switch a mobile phone on, the
mobile phone sends an identifying signal and
continues to do so at regular intervals.
The cellular exchange selects the base station with
the strongest signal and allocates a pair of
frequencies for the mobile phone to transmit and
receive using that base station.
Each base station monitors the strength of signals
from within its cell and adjacent cells.
The mobile or cell phone network
When a mobile phone moves into another cell, the
cellular exchange recognizes that the base station in
the next cell is receiving a stronger signal and
switches the connection to the next cell.
When a mobile phone starts to make a call to
another mobile phone, the cellular exchange not
only allocates the pair of frequencies that are used
but also provides the link between the two base
stations involved.
Thus a connection is made from one mobile to its
base station to the cellular exchange to the other
base station and finally to the other mobile.
The mobile or cell phone network
A connection also links the cellular exchange and the
PSTN. When a mobile phone calls a telephone on a
fixed line, the cellular exchange just connects the call
directly to the PSTN.
Modern mobile phones use digital technology. The
analogue voltage produced by the microphone
passes through the stages shown in the next figure.
The mobile or cell phone network
The mobile or cell phone network
1. The audio amplifier amplifies the signal and
passes it to an analogue-to-digital converter.
2. The analogue-to- digital converter samples the
signal at regular intervals and, for each sample,
produces an 8-bit binary number.
3. The parallel-to-series, or parallel-to-serial,
converter takes the 8 bits from one sample and
places them after the 8 bits from the previous
sample to produce a continuous series of binary
digits.
The mobile or cell phone network
4. An oscillator provides the carrier wave at a
frequency selected by the cellular exchange from
the available frequencies at the base station.
5. The digital signal modulates the carrier wave and
the final signal passes to the aerial through the
switch.
The mobile or cell phone network
Reception of the signal is the reverse process,
except that a tuning circuit selects only the one
frequency allocated by the cellular exchange for
that mobile phone.
The radio-frequency amplifier provides the
amplification before demodulation produces a series
of bits, which represent the signal in binary form.
The series-to-parallel converter and digital-to-
analogue converter produce an analogue signal.
Amplification of the audio signal occurs and the final
signal passes to a loudspeaker to produce sound.
The mobile or cell phone network
Antennas:
How an antenna works?
The answer to this lies in the fact that an alternating
electrical signal (also known as AC current, which is
slightly redundant because it stands for Alternating
Current) has the form of a sine wave, inducing both
positive and negative currents in the element
through which it passes.
The periodic characteristic of the sine wave causes the
positive and negative currents to alternate cyclically
(think of the swimmer constantly kicking, producing a
continuous wave). This in turn causes the magnetic
field to periodically build up and collapse.
Antennas:
How an antenna works?
A transmitting antenna has a signal generator
connected to it (ie, a microphone, a video camera,
etc.) which gets its audio or visual input converted
into an AC signal.
This signal is then fed into the transmitting antenna,
causing it to radiate an electromagnetic wave with
the same properties as the input signal.
The receiving antenna, does the exact opposite.
The radiated signal induces a current in the receiving
antenna, which then gets translated into audio or
visual information, completing the process.
Max. Usable frequency:
Critical Frequency (fc)
The critical frequency (fc) for a given layer is the
highest frequency that will be returned down to
Earth by that layer after having been beamed
straight up at it.
It is important to realize that there is such a
maximum, and it is also necessary to know its value
under a given set of conditions. This value changes
with these conditions.
A wave will be bent downward provided that the
rate of change of ionization density is sufficient.
Max. Usable frequency:
Max. Usable frequency:
The maximum usable frequency, or MUF, is also a
limiting frequency, but this time for some specific
angle of incidence other than the normal. In fact, if
the angle of incidence is Ɵ, it follows that

A resource to refer to if you need to read more:

http://www.tutorvista.com/content/physics/physics-iv/communication-systems/sky-wave-
propagation.php