Cruz.

Leah Gacias Rose Ann Lim, Keer Roque, Jeremias Jr Velilla, Michael

COMMUNICATION MEDIA

Figure 7.1 COMMUNICATION medium and physical layer

DEFINITIONS OF COMMUNICATION MEDIA

The COMMUNICATION medium is the physical path by which a message travels from sender to receiver.

A COMMUNICATION medium (plural COMMUNICATION media) is a material substance (solid, liquid, gas, or plasma) that can propagate energy waves. For example, the COMMUNICATION medium for sound received by the ears is usually air, but solids and liquids may also act as COMMUNICATION media for sound. The term COMMUNICATION medium also refers to a technical device that employs the material substance to transmit or guide waves. Thus, an optical fiber or a copper cable is a COMMUNICATION medium.

TYPES OF COMMUNICATION MEDIA

COMMUNICATION media is divided into two: Wired or Wireless

Wired Media is the most common and is further divided into three different types of cabling: Coaxial, Twisted Pairs, and Fiber Optic Cables Wireless media, which is, in a sense, no media at all, is also gaining popularity. Wireless transmissions use radio waves or infrared light to transmit data.

COMMUNICATION MEDIA

TYPES OF COMMUNICATION MEDIA

COMMUNICATION MEDIA

Guided (Wired)

Unguided (Wireless)

Copper Media

Fiber Optics

Fixed Point-Point

Omnidirectional Point-Multipoint

Coaxial

Twisted Wire

COMMUNICATION MEDIA

GUIDED COMMUNICATION MEDIA (CABLE)

Guided COMMUNICATION Media uses a cabling system that guides the data signals along a specific path. Guided Media is also known as Bounded Media, since the data signals are a bounded system.
Cabling technology is not limited to copper wire only. Cables can be any physical or conductive media like wires, coaxial cables or fibre optics.

COAXIAL CABLE

COAXIAL CABLE

Coaxial cables were the first cable types used in communications technology. It consists of two conductors that share a common axis The components of a coaxial cable are as follows:
Center conductor Outer conductor Insulation layer Plastic encasement/jacket

COAXIAL CABLE

Types of Coaxial Cable

Thinnet is a light and flexible cabling medium that is inexpensive and easy to install. This is thinner and it can have maximum segments length of 185 meters. Thicknet is thicker and does not bend as readily as Thinnet, Thicknet cable is harder to work with. A thicker center core, however, means that Thicknet can carry more signals a longer distance than Thinnet. The thicknet coaxial cable segments (while joining the nodes of a network) can be up to 500 meters long.

COMMUNICATION Media contd.

Advantages : Much less susceptible to interference than twisted pair Co-axial cables can be used for a shared cable network. Coaxial cable can be used for broadband COMMUNICATION i.e. several channel can be transmitted simultaneously. Offer higher bandwidths up to 400 MBPS.

COMMUNICATION Media contd.

DISADVANTAGES : Expensive compared to twisted pair. Not compatible with twisted pair cables.

TWISTED PAIR CABLE

TWISTED PAIR CABLE

A basic twisted-pair cable consists of two strands of copper wire twisted together. This twisting reduces the sensitivity of the cable to EMI. Twisted-pair cable is inexpensive to install and offers the lowest cost per foot of any cable type.
Two types of twisted-pair cable are used: shielded and unshielded.

SHIELDED TWISTED PAIR CABLE

SHIELDED TWISTED PAIR CABLE

Shielded twisted-pair cabling consists of one or more twisted pairs of cables enclosed in a foil wrap and woven copper shielding. shield further reduces the tendency of the cable to radiate EMI and thus reduces the cables sensitivity to outside interference.

SHIELDED TWISTED PAIR CABLE

STP Characteristics
Cost STP cable costs more than thin coaxial or unshielded twistedpair cable. STP is less costly, however, than thick coax or fiber-optic cable.

SHIELDED TWISTED PAIR CABLE

STP Characteristics
Capacity The most common data rate for STP cable is 16 Mbps Attenuation All varieties of twisted-pair cable have attenuation characteristics that limit the length of cable runs to a few hundred meters, although a 100-meter limit is most common. EMI Characteristics The shield in STP cable results in good EMI characteristics for copper cable.

UNSHIELDED TWISTED PAIR CABLE

UNSHIELDED TWISTED PAIR CABLE

The characteristics of the Unshielded Twisted Pair cables (UTP) are similar in many ways to STP, differing primarily in attenuation and EMI. Several twisted-pairs can be bundled together in a single cable. These pairs typically are color coded to distinguish them.

The Electronic Industries Association (EIA) has developed standards to grade UTP. 1. Category 1. The basic twisted-pair cabling used in telephone systems. This level of quality is fine for voice but inadequate for data COMMUNICATION. 2. Category 2. This category is suitable for voice and data COMMUNICATION of up to 2Mbps. 3. Category 3.This category is suitable for data COMMUNICATION of up to 10 Mbps. It is now the standard cable for most telephone systems. 4. Category 4. This category is suitable for data COMMUNICATION of up to 20 Mbps. 5. Category 5. This category is suitable for data

Table 7.1 Categories of unshielded twisted-pair cables

Category Bandwidth Data Rate Digital/Analog Use

1
2

very low
< 2 MHz

< 100 kbps

2 Mbps

Analog
Analog/digital

Telephone
T-1 lines

3
4 5 6 (draft) 7 (draft)

16 MHz
20 MHz 100 MHz 200 MHz 600 MHz

10 Mbps
20 Mbps 100 Mbps 200 Mbps 600 Mbps

Digital
Digital Digital Digital Digital

LANs
LANs LANs LANs LANs

UNSHIELDED TWISTED PAIR CABLE

UTP Characteristics
Installation UTP cable is easy to install. Cost UTP cable is the less costly, although properly installed Category 5 tends to be fairly expensive.

UNSHIELDED TWISTED PAIR CABLE

UTP Characteristics
Capacity The data rates possible with UTP have pushed up from 1 Mbps, past 4 and 16 Mbps, to the point where 100 Mbps data rates are now common. Attenuation UTP cable shares similar attenuation characteristics with other copper cables. UTP cable runs are limited to a few hundred meters, with 100 meters as the most frequent limit.

UNSHIELDED TWISTED PAIR CABLE

UTP Characteristics
EMI Characteristics Because UTP cable lacks a shield, it is more sensitive to EMI than coaxial or STP cables.

COMMUNICATION Media
TWISTED PAIR CABLE Advantages: It is simple and easy to install. It is physically flexible. It has low weight. It can be easily connected. It is very inexpensive. Readily available

COMMUNICATION Media contd.

Disadvantage : Because of high attenuation, it is incapable of carrying a signal over long distances without the use of repeaters. Low bandwidth hence unsuitable for Broadband connection. Susceptibility to interference and noise .

FIBER-OPTIC CABLE

FIBER-OPTIC CABLE

Fiber-optic cable is the ideal cable for data COMMUNICATION because it accommodates extremely high bandwidths, has no problems with EMI, supports durable cables and cable runs as long as several kilometers. Optical fiber cables dont transmit electrical signals. Instead, the data signals must be converted into light signals.
The center conductor of a fiber-optic cable is a fiber that consists of highly refined glass or plastic. The fiber is coated with a cladding that reflects signals back into the fiber to reduce signal loss. A plastic sheath protects the fiber.

Figure 7.10 Fiber optics: Bending of light ray

Figure 7.11 Optical fiber

Fiber Optic Advantages

greater capacity (bandwidth of up to 2 Gbps) smaller size and lighter weight lower attenuation immunity to environmental interference highly secure due to tap difficulty and lack of signal radiation

Fiber Optic Disadvantages

expensive over short distance requires highly skilled installers adding additional nodes is difficult

UNGUIDED MEDIA

Unguided Media or Wireless Communication consists of a means (e.g. air, space) for the data signals to travel, where there is nothing to guide them along a specific path, like in wires. Unbounded media is electromagnetic waves in form of radio, microwave, infrared or others.
Wireless communication is used where cables are difficult to use or install.

CLASSIFICATIONS OF WIRELESS COMMUNICATION

Classification by Propagation Fixed (Directional) Mobile (Omnidirectional) Classification by Method Infrared Laser Radio waves Satellite Microwaves

Wireless (Unguided Media) COMMUNICATION

COMMUNICATION and reception are achieved by means of an antenna directional
transmitting antenna puts out focused beam transmitter and receiver must be aligned

Omni directional
signal spreads out in all directions can be received by many antennas

CLASSIFICATIONS OF WIRELESS COMMUNICATION

The infrared light transmits data through the air and can propagate through a room (bouncing of surfaces) but will not penetrate walls. e.g . TV remote, Wireless speakers etc. Infrared light can be transmitted across relatively short distances and can be either beamed between two points or broadcast from one point to many receivers.

CLASSIFICATIONS OF WIRELESS COMMUNICATION

Laser COMMUNICATION
Laser COMMUNICATION requires direct line of sight.

It is unidirectional like microwave, but has much higher speed than microwaves
It is point-to-point COMMUNICATION, typically between buildings.

CLASSIFICATIONS OF WIRELESS COMMUNICATION Radio Wave :- uses continuous sine waves to transmit information (Audio, Video & Data). A radio setup has two parts :

Transmitter Receiver Both transmitter and receiver uses antennas to radiate and capture the radio signal. Radio frequency waves often are used for data signaling. Radio frequencies can be transmitted across electrical cables or by using radio broadcast COMMUNICATION. They can penetrate through walls.Highly regulated. Use omni directional antennas

Propagation of Radio Waves

Radio technology considers the earth as surrounded by two layers of atmosphere: the troposphere and the ionosphere. The troposphere is the portion of the atmosphere extending outward approximately 30 miles from the earth's surface. The troposphere contains what we generally think of as air. Clouds, wind, temperature variations, and weather in general occur in the troposphere. The ionosphere is the layer of the atmosphere above the troposphere but below space.

Propagation methods

Ground propagation. In ground propagation, radio waves travel through the lowest portion of the atmosphere, hugging the earth. These low-frequency signals emanate in all directions from the transmitting antenna and follow the curvature of the planet. The distance depends on the power in the signal. In Sky propagation, higher-frequency radio waves radiate upward into the ionosphere where they are reflected back to earth. This type of COMMUNICATION allows for greater distances with lower power output. Signal

reflected from ionosphere layer of upper atmosphere

In Line-of-Sight Propagation, very high frequency signals are transmitted in straight lines directly from antenna to antenna.

Above 30Mhz

Line of Sight Propagation

CLASSIFICATIONS OF WIRELESS COMMUNICATION

Satellite :- The satellite act as relay stations for communication signals. The satellite accept data/signal transmitted from an earth station, amplify them and retransmit them to another earth station. Area covered is quite large.

CLASSIFICATIONS OF WIRELESS COMMUNICATION

CLASSIFICATIONS OF WIRELESS COMMUNICATION

Microwave : Microwave COMMUNICATION is line of sight COMMUNICATION. ( A line of sight signal passes through the atmosphere, originates from a dish antenna, travels in straight line free of material obstacles and received by another dish antenna.)
It consists of Transmitter, Receiver and Atmosphere.

With a 100m high tower, distances of 100 Km between towers are feasible.

REASONS FOR WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY

Spaces where cabling would be impossible or inconvenient.

People who move around a lot within their work environment. Temporary installations.

People who travel outside of the work environment and need instantaneous access to network resources.

Disadvantages
Are subject to a lot more errors than guided media channels. Interference is one cause for errors, can be circumvented with high SNR. The higher the SNR the less capacity is available for COMMUNICATION due to the broadcast nature of the channel. Channel also subject to fading and no coverage holes.