Computer Network and

Communication
SKR 3200

1
 Learning Outcome

• Explain the data being sent in analog and

digital signal (A3)
• Explain the circuit switching in telephone
and cellular network(A3)
• Illustrates the unguided and guided
transmission media(P2)
 Analog and Digital Data
• Analog data – continuous information
– Ie: analog clock – movement of hands are
continous
– Human voice
• Digital data – discrete state information
– Ie: digital clock – suddenly move from 8.05 –
8.06
– Computer memory
 Analog and Digital Signal
• Analog signal – infinite number of values
• Digital signal – limited number of values
 Period and Frequency
• Period – amount of time (in second) a signal need to
complete 1 cycle
• Frequency – the number of period in 1 s
 Example

• The power we use at home has a

frequency of 60 Hz.
• The period of this sine wave?
 Bandwidth
• The bandwidth of a composite signal is the difference between the
highest and the lowest frequencies contained in that signal.

See example 3.10

and 3.11 in the
text book
Digital Signal
• Bit rate :Number of bits
in 1s (bit per second,
bps)

Multilevel signalling
Use formula log2 L bits to
check for how many level
required to send certain bits
Let level =8
How many bits per level?
 Transmission Impairment
• Signals travel through transmission media, which are not
perfect.
• The imperfection causes signal impairment.
• This means that the signal at the beginning of the
medium is not the same as the signal at the end of the
medium. What is sent is not what is received.
• Three causes of impairment are attenuation, distortion,
and noise
 Attenuation
• Loss of energy- due to resistance of the medium
• Energy, converted to heat

• Measured in decibel (dB) = 10log10 (P2/P1)

• See example 3.26 – 3.30 for self study
 Distortion
• Signal changes its form or shape
• Due to different frequency of composite signal
 Noise
• Thermal Noise due to random motion of electron in a
wire which creates an extra signal
• Crosstalk – effect from other wire
CIRCUIT-SWITCHED NETWORKS

A circuit-switched network consists of a set of switches

connected by physical links. A connection between two
stations is a dedicated path made of one or more links.
However, each connection uses only one dedicated
channel on each link. Each link is normally divided into
n channels by using FDM or TDM.
Figure 8.3 A trivial circuit-switched network
Taxonomy of switched networks
 Example 1

As a trivial example, let us use a circuit-switched network

to connect eight telephones in a small area.
Communication is through 4-kHz voice channels. We
assume that each link uses FDM to connect a maximum of
two voice channels. The bandwidth of each link is then 8
kHz. Figure 8.4 shows the situation. Telephone 1 is
connected to telephone 7; 2 to 5; 3 to 8; and 4 to 6. Of
course the situation may change when new connections are
made. The switch controls the connections.
Figure 8.4 Circuit-switched network used in Example 8.1
TELEPHONE NETWORK

Telephone networks use circuit switching. The

telephone network had its beginnings in the late 1800s.
The entire network, which is referred to as the plain old
telephone system (POTS), was originally an analog
system using analog signals to transmit voice.
 A telephone system

Local loop

Trunk Trunk

End
•••

Tandem
offices offices Regional offices

Local loops – uses twisted-pair cable

- bandwidth of 4kHz
Trunks – transmission media – optical fiber/satellite link
- handle 100-1000 connection through multiplexing
Switching office – connection to other subscribers
Modulation/demodulation
DIGITAL SUBSCRIBER LINE

After traditional modems reached their peak data rate,

telephone companies developed another technology,
DSL, to provide higher-speed access to the Internet.
Digital subscriber line (DSL) technology is one of the
most promising for supporting high-speed digital
communication over the existing local loops.
 ADSL
(Asymmetric DSL)

• ADSL is an asymmetric communication technology designed for

residential users;
• The existing local loops can handle bandwidths up to 1.1 MHz.
ADSL modem
CELLULAR TELEPHONY

Cellular telephony is designed to provide

communications between two moving units, called
mobile stations (MSs), or between one mobile unit and
one stationary unit, often called a land unit.
The Core Idea: Cellular Concept
• The core idea that led to today’s system was the
cellular concept.
• The cellular concept: multiple lower-power base
stations that service mobile users within their
coverage area and handoff users to neighboring
base stations as users move.
 Cellular Concept
• Thus, instead of one base station covering an entire
city, the city was broken up into cells, or smaller
coverage areas.

• Each of these smaller coverage areas had its own

lower-power base station.

• User phones in one cell communicate with the base

station in that cell.
 Complete Cellular Network
A group of local base stations are connected (by
wires) to a mobile switching center (MSC). MSC is
connected to the rest of the world (normal telephone
system). MSC

Public (Wired)
Telephone MSC
Network

MSC
MSC
 Handoffs
• A crucial component of the cellular concept is the
notion of handoffs.
• Mobile phone users are by definition mobile, i.e.,
they move around while using the phone.
• Thus, the network should be able to give them
continuous access as they move.
• This is not a problem when users move within the
same cell.
• When they move from one cell to another, a
handoff is needed.
 Handoff
• At some point, the user’s signal is weak enough at
B1 and strong enough at B2 for a handoff to occur.
• Specifically, messages are exchanged between the
user, B1, and B2 so that communication to/from the
user is transferred from B1 to B2.
 Guided Media

 uses conduit from one device to another.

 signal is directed and contained by the
physical limits of the medium.
 Twisted pair & coaxial cable – deal with
electrical current.
current
 Fiber optic – deal with light.
light
30
31
Guided Media

32
 Twisted-Pair Cable

Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP):

 suitable for voice and data transmission.
 consists of two conductors/copper, each with its
own colored plastic insulation.
 Why use twisted instead of (untwisted)?

33
December 7, 202
2
34
 Twisted-Pair Cable

2
December 7, 202
– Thin and flexible
– Small, it does not quickly fill up wiring ducts.
– Cheap

EIA has developed standards to grade UTP cables:

• Cat 3: Used for data networks using frequencies up to 16 MHz.
Historically popular for 10 Mbit/s Ethernet networks.
• Cat 5e: Provides for up to 100 MHz, and is frequently used for both 100
Mbit/s and gigabit ethernet networks.
• Cat 6: Provides for up to 250 MHz, more than double category 5 and 5e.
• Cat 6a: Future specification for 10 Gbit/s applications.
• Cat 7: Designed for transmission at frequencies up to 600 MHz.
35
 2
December 7, 202
Twisted-Pair Cable

36
 2
December 7, 202
Cat 3
Cat 5e

Cat 6

Cat 7

37
Cat 6a
 Twisted Pair Cable

2
December 7, 202
 Shielded Twisted-Pair cable (STP):
 Has a metal foil/braided-mesh
foil/ covering that encases
each pair of insulated conductors.
 The metal casing prevents the penetration of
electromagnetic noise.
 Eliminates crosstalk
 It occurs when one line picks up some of the signals
traveling down another line – telephone conversation.

38
 2
December 7, 202
Shielded Twisted-Pair Cable

39
 Coaxial Cable

 Carries signals of higher frequency ranges than

twisted pair.
 Coax has a central core conductor of solid/stranded
wire enclosed in an insulating sheath, and encased
in an outer conductor of metal foil/braid.
 Outer conductor - serves both as a shield against
noise and as second conductor.
 The outer also enclosed in an insulating sheath, and
the whole cable protected by a plastic cover.

40
 2
December 7, 202
Coaxial Cable

Radio-grade flexible coaxial cable.

A: outer plastic sheath
B: copper screen
C: inner dielectric insulator
D: copper core
41
 Coaxial Cable

2
December 7, 202
• Different coax cable designs are categorized by
their radio government (RG) ratings.
• Few of the common coaxial cable standards:
– RG-8, RG-9, RG-11. – Used in thick Ethernet
– RG-58. Used in thin Ethernet, amateur radio
– RG-59. Used for CCTV

42
 Optical Fiber

2
December 7, 202
• Optical fiber, is made of glass/plastic and
transmit signals in the form of light.
• Light is a form of electromagnetic energy,
travels at 300,000 kilometers/second in a
vacuum. This speed decreases as the medium
through which the light travels becomes
denser.

43
December 7, 202
2
44
December 7, 202
2
45
 2
December 7, 202
Fiber Optic

• Advantages of Optical Fiber

– Noise resistance – use light rather than electricity, external light is
blocked by the outer jacket
– Less signal attenuation - transmission distance is greater than
that other guided media. Without requiring regeneration
– Higher bandwidth –compared to twisted-pair and coaxial cable
• Disadvantages of Optical Fiber
– Cost – expensive manufacturing
– Installation/maintenance -sensitive
– Fragility – more easily broken than wire
46
Electromagnetic Spectrum for Telecommunications

47
 5.2 Unguided Media

2
December 7, 202
• Unguided media (wireless communication)
transport electromagnetic waves without
physical conductor

48
 Unguided media

2
December 7, 202
Omnidirectional
Signal radiates in all directions
Good for broadcast
Inexpensive antenna
Radio, normal TV

Directional
Signal radiates in a single direction
Usually requires parabolic (dish) antenna
2-40 GHz (microwave)
Also works with lasers
49
Cable TV (ASTRO)
 Ground propagation

2
December 7, 202
-Lowest portion of atmosphere
-Follows earth’s contour

50
 2
December 7, 202
Sky propagation
• Signal reflected at the ionosphere.

51
 2
December 7, 202
Line-of-sight propagation

• Effective straight line with antennas

facing each other

52
December 7, 202
2
53
 Terrestrial Microwave

2
December 7, 202
 Two types of antenna are used: parabolic dish and
horn
 Parabolic dish antenna – based on geometry of a
parabola: every line parallel to the line of
symmetry (line-of-sight) reflects off the curve at
angles such that they intersect in a common point
called the focus.
 Horn antenna – Outgoing transmission are
broadcast up a stem (resembling a handle) and
deflected outward in a series of narrow parallel
beams by the curved head.

54
December 7, 202
2
55
 2
December 7, 202
Police speed
detector

56
 Satellite Communication

2
December 7, 202
 Much like line-of-sight microwave transmission in
which one of the stations is a satellite orbiting the
earth.
 The principle is the same as terrestrial
microwave, with satellite acting as a supertall
antenna and repeater.
 Satellite microwave can provide transmission
capability to and from any location on earth, no
matter how remote.
57
 Satellite Communication

2
December 7, 202
• Geosyncronous Satellites
– The satellite move at the same speed as the earth to
ensure constant communication.
– Because orbital speed is based on distance from the
planet, only one orbit can be geosyncronous.
– One geosyncronous satellite cannot cover the whole
earth.
– It takes a minimum of three satellites equistant
from each other in geosyncronous orbit to provide
full global transmission.
58
Satellite Communication

2
December 7, 202
59
Geosynchronous Orbit

2
December 7, 202
60