Chapter 3: Physical Layer

Circuits
● Physical Circuit - actual physical connections and hardware components that transmit
data signals
● Logical Circuit - is a conceptual or virtual pathway created within a network for data
transmission.

Circuits Configuration - is the basic physical layout of the circuit

● Point-to-Point - these circuits sometimes are called dedicated circuits because
they are dedicated to the use of these two computer
● Multipoint - In this configuration, many computers are connected on the same
circuit (shared circuits).

Data Flow - Direction at which the data flows

● Types of Data Flow
○ Simplex - One direction only
○ Half-Duplex - flows Bi-direction, but one at a time
■ Turnaround time (Refrain Time) - Amount of time that takes to
switch from sending and receiving.
○ Full-Duplex - flows Bi-direction at the same time

Multiplexing - is a technique used in telecommunications and

computer networks to combine multiple data signals into a single signal for
transmission over a shared medium. This allows multiple users or devices
to share the same communication channel efficiently.
● Frequency Division Multiplexing
○ Makes a number of smaller channels from a larger frequency band by
dividing the circuit “horizontally”
○ Guardbands need to separate channels to prevent interference
● Time Division Multiplexing
○ TDM allocates specific time slots within a predefined frame for each input
signal.
○ Multiple signals are interleaved in time slots and transmitted sequentially.
○ TDM is commonly used in digital communication systems like digital
telephony and DSL.
● Statistical Time Division Multiplexing
○ Designed to make use of the idle time slots
 ○ Potential response time delays (when all terminals try to use the
multiplexed circuit intensively)
● Wavelength Division Multiplexing
○ WDM divides the available optical spectrum into multiple wavelength
channels
○ Each signal is assigned a specific wavelength of light for transmission
over a single optical fiber.
○ WDM enables high-capacity data transmission in fiber-optic networks,
increasing bandwidth and scalability.

Communication Media
● Guided media are those in which the message flows through a physical medium such as
a twisted pair wire, coaxial cable, or fiber-optic cable; the medium “guides” the signal.

● Wireless media are those in which the message is broadcast through the air, such as
microwave or satellite.

Physical Medias:
● Twisted Pair
● Coaxial
● Fiber-Optic Cable
● Radio
● Infrared
● Microwave
● Satellite Communication

Communication Media Selection Criteria:

● Type of Network (LAN, WAN or Backbone)
● Cost
● Transmission Distance
● Security
● Error Rates (Reliability)
● Transmission Speed
Digital Transmission of Digital Data

Coding
● Code/ Coding Scheme - groups of bits representing the set of characters that are
the “alphabet” of any given system
● Ex. ASCII, EBCDIC, or Unicode

Transmission Modes
● Transmission Modes defines how data is physically transmitted between devices,
specifying how bits are sent and received over communication channels
● Serial Mode - Data is sent one bit at a time sequentially over a single
communication channel. This mode is commonly used when simplicity, longer
distances, or limited bandwidth are considerations
● Parallel Mode - Data is sent multiple bits at a time over multiple parallel
communication channels. This mode allows for faster data transfer rates but can
be more complex and expensive to implement.

Digital Transmission
● is the transmission of binary electrical or light pulses in that it only has two
possible states, a 1 or a 0.
● Signaling of Bits
○ set of symbols (to define how to send a 1 and a 0) and the symbol rate
(how many symbols will be sent per second)
○ Digital Transmission Techniques:
■ Unipolar Encoding
● In Unipolar encoding, only one polarity (usually positive) is
used to represent binary digits.
● Binary 0 is represented by a signal with no voltage (e.g., 0
volts), while binary 1 is represented by a signal with a
positive voltage.
● Unipolar encoding is simple and easy to implement but is
susceptible to signal degradation and errors due to the lack
of a clear reference point.
■ Bipolar Encoding:
● Bipolar encoding uses both positive and negative voltage
polarities to represent binary digits.
● AMI, RZ, NRZ bipolar encodint types
■ Manchester Encoding:
● Manchester encoding combines clock information with the
data to be transmitted, ensuring synchronization between
the sender and receiver.
 ● Each bit period is divided into two halves. A high-to-low
voltage transition represents a binary 1, while a low-to-high
voltage transition represents a binary 0.
● The midpoint of each bit period serves as the clocking
reference, allowing the receiver to accurately detect the
transmitted data and synchronize with the sender.
● Manchester encoding provides better synchronization and
error detection capabilities compared to unipolar and
bipolar encoding techniques.
● Used by Ethernet Cables

Analog Transmission of Analog Data

● Analog Transmission occurs when he signal sent over the transmission media
continuously varies from one state to another in a wave-like pattern much like the
human voice
● POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service)
○ Enables voice communications between two telephones – Human voice
(sound waves) converted to electrical signals by the sending telephone –
Signals travel through POTS and converted back to sound waves at far
end
● Sending Digital Data Over POTS - use Modem
● Sound Wave Characteristics
○ Amplitude - Height of Wave
○ Frequency - Number of Waves per second
○ Phase - Refers to the point in each wave cycle

Modulation
● Is the changing of shape of a wave in different ways to represent a 1 or 0
● Amplitude Modulation
○ High amplitude:1 :: Low Amplitude:0
● Frequency Modulation
○ High Frequency:1 :: Low Frequency:0
● Phase Modulation
○ Going up:1 :: Going Down:0
● Multiple Bits Simultaneously
○ 1 bit of information : 2 symbols
○ 2 bit of information : 4 symbols
○ 3 bit of information : 8 symbols
○ N bit of information : 2^n symbols
○ Multiple bits per symbol might be encoded using amplitude, frequency,
and phase modulation – e.g., PM: phase shifts of 0 deg, 90 deg, 180 deg,
and 270deg
 Capacity of a Circuit
● Bit: a unit of information
● Baud: a unit of signaling speed
● Bit rate (or data rate): b
– Number of bits transmitted per second
● Baud rate or symbol rate: s
– number of symbols rtransmitted per second
● bandwidth is the difference between the highest and the lowest frequencies in a
band or se of frequencies
● Data compression can increase throughput of data over acommunication link by
literally compressing the data
○ Example: Lempel-Ziv encoding
○ – Used in V.44, the ISO standard for data compression
○ – Creates (while transmitting) a dictionary of two-, three-,and
four-character combinations in a message
○ – Anytime one of these patterns is detected, its index indictionary is sent
(instead of actual data)
○ – Average reduction: 6:1 (depends on the text)
○ Provides 6 times more data sent per second

How Modems Transmit Data

● Moem (Modulator/Demodulator) - takes the digital data from a computer in the
form of electrical pulses and converts them into the analog signal that is needed
for transmission over an analog voice-grade circuit.
● Types of Modem
○ Dial-up Modem
○ Cable Modem
● For data to be transmitted between two computers using modems, both need to
use the same type of modem.
● Fortunately, several standards exist for modems, and any modem that conforms
to a standard can communicate with any other modem that conforms to the same
standard.

Digital Transmission of Analog Data

● Codec (Code/Decode) - Convert Analog Data to Digital Data

Translation from Analog to Digital

● Analog Data must be translated into a series of bits before transmission to digital circuit,
done with Pulse Amplitude Modulation
● Pulse Audio Modulation Steps:
○ Take samples of the continuously varying analog signal across time
○ Measure the amplitude of each signal sample
 ○ Encode the amplitude measurement of the signal as binary data that is
representative of the sample
○ Send the discrete, digital data stream of 0’s and 1’s that approximates the
original analog signal
● Sampling - Sample analog wave across time and measure its amplitude
● Quantization - Rounding to Nearest Digital Value, number of digital value
available for quantization is determined by bit depth
○ Quantizing error, also known as quantization error or quantization noise, is the
difference between the original analog signal and its quantized representation in
digital form. Minimize with:
■ Increase number of amplitude Levels
■ Sample more Frequently
● Encoding: The quantized samples are encoded into a digital format suitable for
transmission. This may involve various encoding schemes such as pulse code
modulation (PCM) or delta modulation.
○ Pule Code Modulation (PCM) 8000 bits per sample, 8 bits per sample
○ Adaptive Differential PCM - it transmits the difference between the 8-bit value in
the last time interval and the current 8-bit value (i.e., how the amplitude has
changed from one time period to another)

Implications for Management

● Digital is Better
● Organization Impact
● Impact on Telecom industry