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Comm System
Comm System
systems
Learning outcomes
• describe communication systems in terms of
– signal, carrier, noise, range, data transmission rate and bandwidth
– a source – journey – detector model, with transmitter and receiver
– modulation and demodulation (encoding and decoding)
• calculate the critical angle for total internal reflection using
Snell's law
• describe advantages and limitations of optical fibre systems
• identify UK radio wave bands used for wireless communications
• describe amplitude modulation (AM), frequency modulation
(FM) and digital signals graphically and in words
• use a variety of appropriate experiments and simulations when
teaching about communications
Communication systems
system carrier signal carried as
hilltop beacons light on-off (fire or no fire)
telegraph electric current on-off (Morse code)
cable TV infrared in optical fibres ultra-fast (on-off) pulses
mob phone microwave ultra-fast (on-off) pulses
AM radio radio wave changing amplitude (AM)
FM radio radio wave changing frequency (FM)
Comms technologies change
Communications: key terms
transmitter ……………........… receiver
encoding …………………….. decoding
modulation…………….... demodulation
A simple transmitter:
button cell & LED
A simple detector:
phototransistor + multimeter
long
distances
within a
building
SEP Optical transmission set
schematic diagram
Total internal reflection
In general, when passing from one medium (refractive index n1) to
another medium (refractive index n2),
n sin n sin
1 1 2 2 (Snell’s law)
and 90 , so
1 c 2
o
n
sin 2
n
c
1
SKE Physics 17
Digital encoding
(pulse code modulation, PCM)
The higher the data rate, the larger the bandwidth and the higher
the frequency band needed.
Bandwidth costs money: e.g. monthly charges for your mobile
phone and Internet services