Chapter 3:Introduction to

Physical Layer

Dr. K.B. Khattak

 Physical Layer

One of the major functions of the physical layer is to move data in the form of
electromagnetic signals across a transmission medium.

Whether you are collecting numerical statistics from another computer, sending
animated pictures from a design workstation, or causing a bell to ring at a
distant control center, you are working with the transmission of data across
network connections.

Generally, the data usable to a person or application are not in a form that can
be transmitted over a network. For example, a photograph must first be
changed to a form that transmission media can accept. Transmission media work
by conducting energy along a physical path. For transmission, data needs to be
changed to signals.
 Physical Layer
This chapter is divided into six sections:
 Note

To be transmitted, data must be

transformed to electromagnetic signals.

3.4
 3-1 ANALOG AND DIGITAL
Data can be analog or digital. The term analog data refers to
information that is continuous; digital data refers to information that
has discrete states. Analog data take on continuous values. Digital data
take on discrete values.

For example, an analog clock that has hour, minute, and second hands
gives information in a continuous form; the movements of the hands
are continuous.

On the other hand, a digital clock that reports the hours and the
minutes will change suddenly from 8:05 to 8:06.

Analog data, such as the sounds made by a human voice, take on

continuous values. When someone speaks, an analog wave is created
in the air. This can be captured by a microphone and converted to an
3.5 analog signal or sampled and converted to a digital signal.
 Note

Data can be analog or digital.

Analog data are continuous and take
continuous values.
Digital data have discrete states and take
discrete values.

3.6
Signals
• Analog Signal
• An analog signal is a continuous wave denoted by a sine wave and may vary in
signal strength (amplitude) or frequency (time).
• Digital Signal
• A digital signal is described as using binary (0s and 1s), and therefore, cannot take on any
fractional values.
The vertical axis represents the value or strength of a signal. The
horizontal axis represents time.
 Note

Signals can be analog or digital.

Analog signals can have an infinite number
of values in a range; digital signals can
have only a limited
number of values.

3.8
 Figure 3.1 Comparison of analog and digital signals

3.9
Both Analog and Digital signals can take on of
two forms:
• Periodic Signal
• Aperiodic Signal

3.10
 Note

In data communications, we commonly use

periodic analog signals and nonperiodic
digital signals.

3.11
 3-2 PERIODIC ANALOG SIGNALS
A periodic signal completes a pattern within a measurable time frame, called a period, and
repeats that pattern over subsequent identical periods.
The completion of one full pattern is called a cycle.
A nonperiodic signal changes without exhibiting a pattern or cycle that repeats over time.

• 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.

Topics discussed in this section:

Sine Wave
Wavelength
Time and Frequency Domain
Composite Signals
3.12
Bandwidth
 The sine wave is the most fundamental form of a periodic analog
signal.

When we visualize it as a simple oscillating curve, its change over

the course of a cycle is smooth and consistent, a continuous, rolling
flow.

3.13
A sine wave can be represented by 3 parameters:
• Peak amplitude
• Frequency
• Phase
These three parameters fully describe a sine wave.

3.14
 The peak amplitude of a signal is the absolute value of its highest intensity,
proportional to the energy it carries.

For electric signals, peak amplitude is normally measured in volts.

3.15
 Example 3.2

The voltage of a battery is a constant; this constant value can be considered a sine wave.
For example, the peak value of an AA battery is normally
1.5 V.

3.16
 Period and Frequency
• Period : refers to the amount of time, in seconds, a signal needs to
complete one cycle.
• Frequency: refers to the number of periods in 1 sec.
OR
Frequency of the signal is the no. of times a signal makes a complete cycle
within a given time frame.

Period is formally expressed in seconds.

Frequency is formally expressed in Hertz (Hz), which is cycle per second.

3.17
 Note

Frequency and period are the inverse of

each other.

3.18
 Two signals with the same amplitude and phase, but different frequencies

3.19
3.20
 Example 3.3

The power we use at home has a frequency of 60 Hz. The period of this sine wave can be
determined as follows:

3.21
 Example 3.5

The period of a signal is 100 ms. What is its frequency in kilohertz?

Solution
First we change 100 ms to seconds, and then we calculate the frequency from the period
(1 Hz = 10−3 kHz).

3.23
 Note

Frequency is the rate of change with

respect to time.

Change in a short span of time

means high frequency.

Change over a long span of

time means low frequency.
3.24
 Note

If a signal does not change at all, its

frequency is zero.
If a signal changes instantaneously, its
frequency is infinite.

3.25
 Note

Phase describes the position of the

waveform relative to time 0.

Phase is measured in degrees or radians

3.26
 Three sine waves with the same amplitude and frequency, but different phases

3.27
3.28
 Example 3.6

A sine wave is offset 1/6 cycle with respect to time 0. What is its phase in degrees and
radians?

Solution
We know that 1 complete cycle is 360°. Therefore, 1/6 cycle is

3.29
 Wavelength
Wavelength is another characteristic of a signal traveling
through a transmission medium.

Wavelength binds the period or the frequency of a simple

sine wave to the propagation speed of the medium

The wavelength is normally measured in micrometers (microns) instead of meters.

 While the frequency of a signal is independent of the medium, the wavelength depends on
both the frequency and the medium.

Wavelength is a property of any type of signal. In data communications, we often use

wavelength to describe the transmission of light in an optical fiber.

The wavelength is the distance a simple signal can travel in one period.

3.31
Time and Frequency Domains
• A signal can be represented as a function of time, i.e. it varies with
time.
• However, it can be also expressed as a function of frequency, i.e. a
signal can be considered as a composition of different frequency
components.

• Thus, a signal has both time-domain and frequency domain

representation.

3.32
Time and Frequency Domains
A sine wave is comprehensively defined by its amplitude, frequency,
and phase. We have been showing a sine wave by using what is called a
time-domain plot. The time-domain plot shows changes in signal
amplitude with respect to time (it is an amplitude-versus-time plot).
Phase is not explicitly shown on a time-domain plot.

To show the relationship between amplitude and frequency, we can

use what is called a frequency-domain plot. A frequency-domain plot is
concerned with only the peak value and the frequency. Changes of
amplitude during one period are not shown.

3.33
Time and Frequency Domains

3.34
Time and Frequency Domains
It is obvious that the frequency domain is easy to plot and conveys the
information that one can find in a time domain plot.

The advantage of the frequency domain is that we can immediately see the
values of the frequency and peak amplitude.

A complete sine wave is represented by one spike. The position of the

spike shows the frequency; its height shows the peak amplitude.

3.35
Time-Domain and Frequency Domain plot
• Time-Domain plot shows changes in signal amplitude w.r.t time.
• Frequency Domain plot show the relationship between amplitude
and frequency. This plot is only concerned with the peak value and
the frequency.

3.36
 Note

A complete sine wave in the time domain

can be represented by one single spike in
the frequency domain.

3.37
 Example 3.7

The frequency domain is more compact and useful when we are dealing with more
than one sine wave. For example, Figure 3.8 shows three sine waves, each with
different amplitude and frequency. All can be represented by three spikes in the
frequency domain.

3.38
 The time domain and frequency domain of three sine waves

3.39
 Note

A single-frequency sine wave is not useful

in data communications;
we need to send a composite signal, a
signal made of many simple sine waves.

3.40
 Note

According to Fourier analysis, any

composite signal is a combination of
simple sine waves with different
frequencies, amplitudes, and phases.

3.41
3.42
3.43
 Note

The bandwidth of a composite signal is

the difference between the
highest and the lowest frequencies
contained in that signal.

The range of frequencies contained in a composite signal is its bandwidth.

3.44
 The bandwidth of periodic and nonperiodic composite signals

3.45
 Example 3.10

If a periodic signal is decomposed into five sine waves

with frequencies of 100, 300, 500, 700, and 900 Hz, what
is its bandwidth? Draw the spectrum, assuming all
components have a maximum amplitude of 10 V.
Solution
Let fh be the highest frequency, fl the lowest frequency,
and B the bandwidth. Then

The spectrum has only five spikes, at 100, 300, 500, 700,
and 900 Hz (see Figure 3.13).
3.46
 Figure 3.13 The bandwidth for Example 3.10

3.47
 Example 3.11

A periodic signal has a bandwidth of 20 Hz. The highest

frequency is 60 Hz. What is the lowest frequency? Draw
the spectrum if the signal contains all frequencies of the
same amplitude.
Solution
Let fh be the highest frequency, fl the lowest frequency,
and B the bandwidth. Then

The spectrum contains all integer frequencies. We show

this by a series of spikes (see Figure 3.14).
3.48
 The bandwidth for Example 3.11

3.49
 3-3 DIGITAL SIGNALS

A digital signal refers to an electrical signal that is converted into a pattern

of bits.

For example, a 1 can be encoded as a positive voltage and a 0 as zero

voltage.

3.50
 3-3 DIGITAL SIGNALS

A digital signal can have more than two levels.

In this case, we can send more than 1 bit for each level.
Figure 3.17 shows two signals, one with two levels and the other with four.
We send 1 bit per level in part a of the figure and 2 bits per level in part b of
the figure.
In general, if a signal has L levels, each level needs log2L bits. For this
reason, we can send log24 = 2 bits in part b.

3.51
 3-3 DIGITAL SIGNALS

3.52
 3-3 DIGITAL SIGNALS

Most digital signals are nonperiodic, and thus period and

frequency are not appropriate characteristics.

Another term— bit rate (instead of frequency)—is used to

describe digital signals.

The bit rate is the number of bits sent in 1s, expressed in bits per
second (bps).

3.53
 3-3 DIGITAL SIGNALS

We discussed the concept of the wavelength for an analog signal:

the distance one cycle occupies on the transmission medium.

We can define something similar for a digital signal: the bit length.
The bit length is the distance one bit occupies on the transmission
medium.

3.54
 Transmission of Digital Signals

Baseband transmission means sending a digital signal over a

channel without changing the digital signal to an analog signal.

3.55
 Transmission of Digital Signals
Although the output signal is not an exact replica of the original signal,
the data can still be deduced from the received signal. Note that
although some of the frequencies are blocked by the medium, they
are not critical.

3.56
 Broadband Transmission (Using Modulation)
Broadband Transmission (Using Modulation) means changing the
digital signal to an analog signal for transmission.
Modulation allows us to use a bandpass channel—a channel
with a bandwidth that does not start from zero. This type of channel is
more available than a low-pass channel.

3.57
 Broadband Transmission (Using Modulation)

3.58
 3-4 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.

3.59
Attenuation
• Attenuation means a loss of energy
• Attenuation is measured in decibels(dB). It measures the relative
strengths of two signals or one signal at two different point.
• Attenuation(dB) = 10log10(P2/P1)
P1 is power at sending end and P2 is power at receiving end.

When a signal, simple or composite, travels through a medium, it loses

some of its energy in overcoming the resistance of the medium. That is
why a wire carrying electric signals gets warm, if not hot, after a while.
Some of the electrical energy in the signal is converted to heat. To
compensate for this loss, amplifiers are used to amplify the signal.
 Figure 3.26 Attenuation

3.61
 Example 3.26

Suppose a signal travels through a transmission medium

and its power is reduced to one-half. This means that P2
is (1/2)P1. In this case, the attenuation (loss of power)
can be calculated as

3.62
Solution of Example 3.26
 Example 3.27

A signal travels through an amplifier, and its power is

increased 10 times. This means that P2 = 10P1 . In this
case, the amplification (gain of power) can be calculated
as

3.64
Solution of Example 3.27
Distortion
• Distortion means signal changes its form or shape.

• Distortion can occur in a composite signal made of different

frequencies.
• Each signal component has its own propagation speed through a
medium and, therefore, its own delay in arriving at the final
destination. Differences in delay may create a difference in phase if
the delay is not exactly the same as the period duration.
• In other words, signal components at the receiver have phases
different from what they had at the sender. The shape of the
composite signal is therefore not the same.
Distortion
Noise
• The random or unwanted signal that mixes up with the original signal
is called noise.
• There are several types of noise such as :
• Induced noise
• Crosstalk noise
• Thermal noise and
• Impulse noise
Noise

• Thermal noise is the random motion of electrons in a wire, which

creates an extra signal not originally sent by the transmitter.
• Induced noise comes from sources such as motors and appliances.
These devices act as a sending antenna, and the transmission
medium acts as the receiving antenna.
• Crosstalk is the effect of one wire on the other. One wire acts as a
sending antenna and the other as the receiving antenna.
• Impulse noise is a spike (a signal with high energy in a very short
time) that comes from power lines, lightning, and so on.
 Noise

3.70
Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR)
• It is a measure that compares the level of a desired signal to the level
of background noise.
• SNR is defined as the ratio of average signal power to the average
noise power, often expressed in decibels.

• SNR = AVG SIGNAL POWER / AVG NOISE POWER

 Example

The power of a signal is 10 mW and the power of the

noise is 1 μW; what are the values of SNR and SNRdB ?

3.72
Solution
• The values of SNR and SNRdB can be calculated as follows:
3.5 DATA RATE LIMITS
• Noiseless Channel: Nyquist Bit Rate
• Noisy Channel: Shannon Capacity

A very important consideration in data communications is how fast we can send

data, in bits per second, over a channel. Data rate depends on three factors:

1. The bandwidth available

2. The level of the signals we use
3. The quality of the channel (the level of noise)
Noiseless Channel: Nyquist Bit Rate
• For a noiseless channel, the Nyquist bit rate formula defines the
theoretical maximum bit rate
Noisy Channel: Shannon Capacity
• In reality, we cannot have a noiseless channel; the channel is always
noisy. In 1944, Claude Shannon introduced a formula, called the
Shannon capacity, to determine the theoretical highest data rate for a
noisy channel:
3.6 NETWORK PERFORMANCE
• One characteristic that measures network performance is bandwidth.
However, the term can be used in two different contexts with two
different measuring values: bandwidth in hertz and bandwidth in bits
per second.
3.6 NETWORK PERFORMANCE
• The throughput is a measure of how fast we can actually send data
through a network.
• Although, at first glance, bandwidth in bits per second and
throughput seem the same, they are different.
• In other words, the bandwidth is a potential measurement of a link;
the throughput is an actual measurement of how fast we can send
data.
• For example, we may have a link with a bandwidth of 1 Mbps, but the
devices connected to the end of the link may handle only 200 kbps.
This means that we cannot send more than 200 kbps through this
link.
3.6 NETWORK PERFORMANCE
• The latency or delay defines how long it takes for an entire message
to completely arrive at the destination from the time the first bit is
sent out from the source.
• We can say that latency is made of four components: propagation
time, transmission time, queuing time and processing delay.
3.6 NETWORK PERFORMANCE
• Propagation time measures the time required for a bit to travel from
the source to the destination. The propagation time is calculated by
dividing the distance by the propagation speed.
3.6 NETWORK PERFORMANCE
• Another performance issue that is related to delay is jitter. We can
roughly say that jitter is a problem if different packets of data
encounter different delays and the application using the data at the
receiver site is time-sensitive (audio and video data, for example).