DATA TRANSMISSION &

NETWORKING MEDIA
 Explain data transmission concepts including
full-duplexing, attenuation, and noise
 Describe the physical characteristics of
coaxial cable, STP, UTP, and fiber-optic
media
 Explain the benefits and limitations of
different networking media
 Identify the best practices for cabling
buildings and work areas
 Describe the methods of transmitting data
through the atmosphere
 Transmission has two meanings:
 Refers to process of issuing data signals on a
medium
 Refers to progress of data signals over a medium
 Ona data network, information can be
transmitted via one of two methods:
 Analog
 Digital
 Both analog and digital signals are
generated by electrical current,
pressure of which is measured in volts
 In analog signals, voltage varies
continuously
 In digital signals, voltage turns off and
on repeatedly
 Analog signal
Signals 0 and 1 are transmitted as
electric waves.

Digital signals
Code 1 is transmitted when applying
a specific voltage and code 0 is
transmitted in the case of 0V.
.

Figure 4-1: Example of an analog and digital signal

 Amplitude
 Measure of a signal’s strength
 Frequency
 Number of times a signal’s amplitude changes
over a period of time
 Expressed in hertz (Hz)
 Wavelength
 Distances between corresponding points on a
wave’s cycle
 Phase
 Refers to progress of a wave over time in relationship to a fixed
point

Figure 4-2: Phase differences

Figure 4-3: A complex analog signal representing human speech
 Binary system encodes using 1s and 0s
 Bits = binary signal (1 or 0)

 8 bits = 1 byte
 Noise or any interference that may
degrade signals affects digital signals
less than analog signals
Figure 4-4: Example of a digital signal
 Modem
 Name reflects function as modulator/demodulator
 Modulation
 Technique for formatting signals
 Frequency modulation (FM)
 Method of data modulation in which frequency of
carrier signal is modified by application of a data
signal
 Amplitude modulation (AM)
 Modulation technique in which amplitude of carrier
signal is modified by application of a data signal
Figure 4-5: A carrier wave modified by frequency modulation
 Simplex
 Signals travel in only ONE direction
 Half-duplex
 Signals may travel in BOTH directions over a
medium BUT in only one direction at a time
 Full-duplex
 Signals are free to travel in BOTH directions over
a medium simultaneously
 Also referred to just as duplex
 Channel
 Distinct communication path between two or more nodes

Figure 4-6: Simplex, half-duplex, and full-duplex transmission

Simplex, half-duplex, and full-duplex communication
 Multiplexing
 Allows multiple signals to travel
simultaneously over one medium
 To accommodate multiple signals, single
medium is logically separated into
subchannels
 For each type of multiplexing:
 Multiplexer (mux) is required at sending end of
channel
 Demultiplexer (demux) separates the combined
signals and regenerates them in original form
Multiplexer & Demultiplexer
 Time division multiplexing (TDM)
 Divides channel into multiple intervals of time

Figure 4-7: Time division multiplexing

 Wavelength division multiplexing (WDM)
 Used only with fiber-optic cable
 Data is transmitted as pulses of light
 Fiber-optic modem (FOM) is a demultiplexer used on fiber
networks that employ WDM

Figure 4-9: Wavelength division multiplexing

 Point-to-point
 Transmission involving 1 transmitter and
1 receiver

 Broadcast
 Transmission involving 1 transmitter and multiple receivers
Point-to-point TRANSMISSION

Broadcast TRANSMISSION
Figure 4-10: Point-to-point versus broadcast transmission
Point-to-point versus broadcast
transmission
 Throughput is amount of data the
medium can transmit during a given
period of time
 Also called capacity .Unit = bit/s
 Bandwidthmeasures difference
between highest and lowest
frequencies a media can transmit .Unit
= Hz/Mhz.
 Range of frequencies is directly related to
throughput
 NOISE
a) Electromagnetic interference (EMI)
 Interference that may be caused by motors, power
lines, television, copiers, fluorescent lights, or other
sources of electrical activity
b) Radiofrequency interference (RFI)
 Interference that may be generated by motors, power
lines, televisions, copiers, fluorescent lights, or
broadcast signals from radio or TV towers
c) Crosstalk
signal traveling on a wire or cable infringes on
signal traveling over adjacent wire or cable
 Noise
random background
mixed up with your
signal
Ex: switch on radio +
‘hiss sound’
Unit = dB

Figure 4-11: An analog signal distorted by noise

Figure 4-12: A digital signal distorted by noise
 Attenuation - for analogue signal
 Loss of signal strength as transmission travels away from source
 Analogue signals pass through an amplifier, which increases not only
voltage of a signal but also noise accumulated

To strengthen analogue signals :An analog signal distorted by noise, and then amplified
 Attenuation - for digital signal
 Regeneration
 Process of retransmitting a digital signal
 Repeater
 Device used to regenerate a signal

A digital signal distorted by noise, and then repeated

 Whatis the different between noise and
attenuation???
 Delay between transmission and receipt of a
signal
 Causes:
a) Media delays may be caused by the finite
speed that signals can travel through the
physical media(propagation delay)
b) Circuits delay may be caused by the
electronics that process along the path.
c) Software delays maybe caused by the
decisions that software must make to implement
switching & protocols.
 Consists of
central
copper core
surrounded by
an insulator,
braiding, and
outer cover
called a
sheath
 (protective
covering)

Coaxial cable
Some types of coaxial cable
 Also called thickwire Ethernet
 Rigid coaxial cable used on original
Ethernet networks
 IEEE designates Thicknet as
10Base5 Ethernet
 Almost never used on new networks
but you may find it on older networks
 Used to connect one data closet
to another as part of network backbone
 Throughput
 According to IEEE 802.3, Thicknet transmits data at
maximum rate of 10 Mbps
 Cost
 Less expensive than fiber-optic but more expensive
than some other types of coaxial cable
 Connector
 Can include a few different types of connectors, which
are very different from those used on modern networks
 N-series connector (or n connector)
 Screw-and-barrel arrangement securely connects
coaxial cable segments and devices

N-Series connector
 Noise immunity
 Because of its wide diameter and excellent
shielding, has the highest resistance to noise of
any commonly used types of network wiring
 Size and scalability
 Because of its high noise resistance, it allows
data to travel longer than other types of cabling
 Alsoknown as thin Ethernet
 Characteristics:
 Throughput
 Can transmit at maximum rate of 10 Mbps
 Cost
 Less expensive than Thicknet and fiber-optic cable
 More expensive than twisted-pair wiring
 Connectors
 Connects wire to network devices with BNC T-
connectors
 A seen in Figure 4-19, BNC barrel connectors are
used to join two Thinnet cable segments together
 Characteristics
(cont.):
 Size and scalability
 Allows a maximum of
185 m per network
segment (see Figure 4-
20)
 Noise immunity
 More resistant than
twisted-pair wiring
 Less resistant than
twisted-pair wiring
Thinnet BNC connectors
 Signal bounce
 Caused by
improper
termination on a
bus network
 Travels endlessly
between two
ends of network
 Prevents new
signals from
getting through

A 10Base2 Ethernet network

 Color-coded pairs of
insulated copper wires
twisted around each
other and encased in
plastic coating
 Twists in wire help
reduce effects of
crosstalk
 Number of twists per meter
or foot known as twist
ratio
 Alien Crosstalk
 When signals from adjacent
cables interfere with
another cable’s Twisted-pair cable
transmission
 STP cable consists of twisted wire pairs that are
individually insulated and surrounded by shielding
made of metallic substance

STP cable
 Consistsof one or more insulated wire pairs
encased in a plastic sheath
 Does not contain additional shielding

UTP cable
 To manage network
cabling, it is
necessary to be
familiar with
standards used on
modern networks,
particularly
Category 3 (CAT3)
and Category 5
(CAT5)
A CAT5 UTP cable
• Use for voice communication
• Most often use for phone line

• Used for Data Transmission

• Individual pairs are wrapped in a
shield & then entire 4 pairs
wrapped in another shield.
• Supports 1000 Mbps – 10Gbps

• Used for Data Transmission

• An added separator is between
each pair of wires allowing it to
function at higher speed.
• Supports 1000 Mbps – 10Gbps

• Used for Data Transmission

• Cat 5 support 100Mbps
• Cat 5e support 1000Mbps
 Throughput
 Both can transmit up to 100 Mbps
 Cost
 Typically, STP is more expensive
 Connector
 Both use RJ-45 connectors (see Figure 4-27) and
data jacks
 Noise immunity
 STP is more noise-resistant
 Size and scalability
 Maximum segment length for both is 100 meters
An RJ-45 connector
 Contains one or
several glass
fibers at its
core
 Surrounding the
fibers is a layer
of glass called A fiber-optic cable
cladding

Front view
 Single-mode
fiber
 Carries light
pulses along
single path Single-mode fiber-optic cables
Multimode fiber
Many pulses of light generated
by LED travel at different
angles

Multi-mode fiber-optic cables

 Throughput
 Reliable in transmitting up to 1 gigabit per second
 Cost
 Most expensive type of cable
 Noise immunity
 Unaffected by either EMI or RFI
 Size and scalability
 Network segments made from fiber can span 100
meters
 Signals transmitted over fiber can experience
optical loss
 Two popular connectors used with fiber-optic cable:
 ST connectors
 SC connectors

ST and SC fiber connectors

Infrared transmission
 Infrared networks use infrared light
signals to transmit data through
space
 Direct infrared transmission
depends on transmitter and receiver
remaining within line of sight
 In indirect infrared transmission,
signals can bounce off of walls,
ceilings, and any other objects in
their path
 RF transmission
 Radio frequency (RF) transmission relies
on signals broadcast over specific frequencies
 Two most common RF technologies:
 Narrowband
 Spread spectrum
 Areas of high EMI or RFI
 Corners and small spaces
 Distance
 Security
 Existing infrastructure
 Growth
 Information can be transmitted via analog or
digital methodology
 Throughput is the amount of data a medium
can transmit during a given period of time
 Noise is interference that distorts an analog
or digital signal
 Costs depend on many factors
 There are three specifications that dictate
size and scalability of networking media
 Connectors connect wire to the network
device
 Coaxial cable consists of central
copper core surrounded by an insulator
and a sheath
 Thicknet cabling is a rigid coaxial cable
used for original Ethernet networks
 Both Thicknet and Thinnet coaxial
cable rely on bus topology and must be
terminated at both ends with a resistor
 Twisted-pair cable consists of color-
coded pairs of insulated copper wires,
twisted around each other and encased
in plastic coating
 STP cable consists of twisted pair wires
individually insulated and surrounded
by a shielding made of metallic
substance
 UTP cabling consists of one or more
insulated wire pairs encased in a
plastic sheath
 Fiber-optic cable contains one or
several glass fibers in its core
 On today’s networks, fiber is used
primarily as backbone cable