Transmission media

By: Radha Raman Chandan

Difference Between Analog and Digital Signal

BASIS FOR
ANALOG SIGNAL DIGITAL SIGNAL
COMPARISON
Basic An analog signal is a continuous wave A digital signal is a discrete wave that carries
that changes over a time period. information in binary form.
Representation An analog signal is represented by a A digital signal is represented by square waves.
sine wave.
Description An analog signal is described by the A digital signal is described by bit rate and bit
amplitude, period or frequency, and intervals.
phase.
Range Analog signal has no fixed range. Digital signal has a finite numbers i.e. 0 and 1.
Distortion An analog signal is more prone to A digital signal is less prone to distortion.
distortion.
Transmit An analog signal transmit data in the A digital signal carries data in the binary form i.e. 0
form of a wave. and 1.
Example The human voice is the best example of Signals used for transmission in a computer are the
an analog signal. digital signal.
• Transmission media is a communication channel that carries the
information from the sender to the receiver.
• Data is transmitted through the electromagnetic signals.
• The main functionality of the transmission media is to carry the
information in the form of bits through LAN(Local Area Network).
• It is a physical path between transmitter and receiver in data
communication.
• In a copper-based network, the bits in the form of electrical signals.
• In a fiber based network, the bits in the form of light pulses.
• In OSI(Open System Interconnection) phase, transmission media
supports the Layer 1.
• The electrical signals can be sent through the copper wire, fiber optics,
atmosphere, water, and vacuum.
• The characteristics and quality of data transmission are determined
by the characteristics of medium and signal.
• Transmission media is of two types are wired media and wireless
media.
• In wired media, medium characteristics are more important
whereas,
• In wireless media, signal characteristics are more important.
• Different transmission media have different properties such as
bandwidth, delay, cost and ease of installation and maintenance.
• The transmission media is available in the lowest layer of the OSI
reference model, i.e., Physical layer.
Classification Of Transmission Media:
 Difference Between Attenuation and Distortion

• Transmission lines experience three significant issues due to imperfect

transmission media that are attenuation, distortion and noise.
• The weakening of the strength of a signal makes it undetectable at the
receiver’s end, that is attenuation.
• Attenuation and distortion are the types of impairment occur in the signal, in other words, these
are the undesired effects on the signals.
• The difference between attenuation and distortion lies in the fact that in
• Attenuation the signal losses some part of energy where the amplitude of the signal may
decrease.
• On the other hand, distortion is the change in the waveform of the signal due to noise.
 BASIS FOR
ATTENUATION DISTORTION
COMPARISON
Shape of waveform Does not change Altered
Obliteration of the Easily removed Harder
effects
Relationship Reduction in amplitude, and Attenuation occurs in different
cause of distortion. amounts at different parts of the
signal.
 BASIS FOR
GUIDED MEDIA UNGUIDED MEDIA
COMPARISON
Basic The signal requires a physical path The signal is broadcasted
for transmission. through air or sometimes
water.
Alternative name It is called wired communication or It is called wireless
bounded transmission media. communication or
unbounded transmission
media.
Direction It provides direction to signal for It does not provide any
travelling. direction.
Types Twisted pair cable, coaxial cable and Radio wave, microwave and
fibre optic cable. infrared.
Guided Media
• Guided Media is also known as Wired or Bounded transmission media. A signal
travelling the media is directed and confined by the physical limits of the medium.
• It is defined as the physical medium through which the signals are transmitted.

Advantage of guided media

•More secure
•Provides high speed
•Used for shorter distances
•It is cheaper

Disadvantage of guided media

•Need Physical link
•Time Consuming
•Not suitable for long distances
•Bandwidth is very low in guided media
Advantages And Disadvantages of Unguided Media
Advantages
• The signal is broadcasted through free space (air).
• It offers ease of communication over difficult terrains.
• Unguided signals can travel in several ways: sky propagation, ground propagation and line-
of-sight propagation.
• Can successfully be used for long distance communication
• The electromagnetic spectrum, ranges from 3kHz to 900 THz use for wireless
communication.
Disadvantages
• It has more effect on human health as compared to guided media.
• It is generally expensive.
• Transmission speed is generally slow.
 Twisted Pair Cable –
It consists of 2 separately insulated conductor wires wound about each other. Generally, several
such pairs are bundled together in a protective sheath.

They are the most widely used Transmission Media.

Advantages of Twisted Pair Cable

Here are some of its advantages,
•Easier to install
•The wire pairs are quite useful, and inexpensive.
•The wire can be used for analog or digital transmission.
•Crosstalk is less, since the wires are twisted.

Disadvantages of Twisted Pair Cable

• These wires easily pick noise signal.
• This can be annoying, since it leads to high error rate, on line
length extending 100 metres.
 Difference Between UTP and STP Cables
BASIS FOR
UTP STP
COMPARISON
Basic UTP (Unshielded twisted pair) is a cable STP (Shielded twisted pair) is a
with wires that are twisted together. twisted pair cable enclosed in
foil or mesh shield.
Noise and High comparatively. Less susceptible to noise and
crosstalk crosstalk.
generation
Grounding cable Not required Necessarily required
Ease of handling Easily installed as cables are smaller, Installation of cables is
lighter, and flexible. difficult comparatively.
Cost Cheaper and does not require much Moderately expensive.
maintenance.
Data Rates Slow comparatively. Provides high data rates
 Coaxial Cable
• Coaxial cable is a group of wrapped and insulated wire line.
• They transmit data at higher rates. Coax has a central core conductor.
• The conductor is made of copper wire surrounded by PVC insulation.
• This insulation is encased in an outer conductor of metal foil, which is enclosed in a PVC
insulation sheath. Also, it is completely covered by a plastic cover.

Advantages of Coaxial Cable

Here are the advantages of Coaxial cable,
•Coaxial cable is used in cable television.
•It offers much higher bandwidth.
•It is preferred for long distance telephone lines as well.
•Provides better shield when compared with Twisted Pair cable.
•It offers data transmission without any distortion.
•Expect quite higher noise immunity from coaxial cable.
 BASIS FOR COMPARISON OPTICAL FIBRE COAXIAL CABLE
Basic Transmission of the signal is in optical Transmission of the signal is in electrical
form (light form). form.
Composition of the cable Glass and plastics Plastic, metal foil and metal wire (usually
copper).
Efficiency High Low
Cost Highly expensive Less expensive

Data transmission rate 2 Gbps 44.736 Mbps

Installation of the cable Difficult Easy
Bandwidth provided Very high Moderately high

External magnetic field Doesn't affect the cable Affects the cable
Noise immunity High Intermediate
Diameter of the cable Smaller Larger
Weight of the cable Lighter Heavier comparatively