Physical Layer:

Data and Signals

 Analog vs. Digital Data

 Analog data
◦ Data take on continuous values
◦ E.g., human voice, temperature reading
 Digital data
◦ Data take on discrete values
◦ E.g., text, integers

2
Figure 4-2

Analog and Digital Clocks

WCB/McGraw-Hill  The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 1998 3

 Analog vs. Digital Signals
To be transmitted, data must be
transformed to electromagnetic signals
value
 Analog signals
◦ have an infinite number of
values in a range time
 Digital signals
value
◦ Have a limited number of
values
time

4
5
3-2 PERIODIC ANALOG SIGNALS

• 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
 Bandwidth 3.6
Figure 3.2 A sine wave

3.7
 Sine Wave
 A sine wave can be represented by three parameters: the peak
amplitude, the frequency, and the phase.

 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.

8
 Sine Wave(Contd)

 Period refers to the amount of time, in seconds, a signal

needs to complete 1 cycle.

 Frequency refers to the number of periods in 1 s

 Period is the inverse of frequency, and frequency is the

inverse of period, as the following formulas show.

Frequency and period are the inverse of

each other.

9
Sine Wave(Contd)

10
Table 3.1 Units of period and frequency

3.11
12
Phase describes the position of the
waveform relative to time 0.

3.13
 Sine Wave(Contd)

 Phase describes the amount of that shift. It indicates the

status of the first cycle.

 Phase is measured in degrees or radians [360º is 2π rad; 1º is

2π/360 rad, and 1 rad is 360/(2π)].

 A phase shift of 360º corresponds to a shift of a complete

period.

14
 Sine Wave(Contd)

 A phase shift of 180° corresponds to a shift of one-half of a

period;

 A phase shift of 90º corresponds to a shift of one-quarter of

a period

15
16
17
18
19
20
Example 3.4

Figure 3.9 shows a periodic composite signal with frequency f.

This type of signal is not typical of those found in data
communications. We can consider it to be three alarm systems,
each with a different frequency. The analysis of this signal can
give us a good understanding of how to decompose signals.

3.21
Figure 3.9 A composite periodic signal

3.22
Figure 3.10 Decomposition of a composite
periodic signal in the time and
frequency domains

3.23
Example 3.5

Figure 3.11 shows a nonperiodic composite signal. It can be

the signal created by a microphone or a telephone set when a
word or two is pronounced. In this case, the composite signal
cannot be periodic, because that implies that we are repeating
the same word or words with exactly the same tone.

3.24
The time and frequency domains of a
nonperiodic signal

3.25
Bandwidth and Signal Frequency

 The bandwidth of a composite signal is the difference

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

3.26
Figure 3.12 The bandwidth of periodic and
nonperiodic composite signals

3.27
 Example 3.6
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).

3.28
Figure 3.13 The bandwidth for Example 3.6

3.29
Example 3.8

A nonperiodic composite signal has a bandwidth of 200 kHz,

with a middle frequency of 140 kHz and peak amplitude of 20
V. The two extreme frequencies have an amplitude of 0. Draw
the frequency domain of the signal.
Solution
The lowest frequency must be at 40 kHz and the highest at 240
kHz. Figure 3.15 shows the frequency domain and the
bandwidth.

3.30
Figure 3.15 The bandwidth for Example 3.8

3.31
3-3 DIGITAL SIGNALS

In addition to being represented by an analog signal,

information can also be represented by a digital signal. For
example, a 1 can be encoded as a positive voltage and a 0 as
zero voltage. A digital signal can have more than two levels. In
this case, we can send more than 1 bit for each level.

Topics discussed in this section:

 Bit Rate
 Bit Length
 Digital Signal as a Composite Analog Signal
 Application Layer 3.32
Figure 3.16 Two digital signals: one with two
signal levels and the other with four signal levels

3.33
Example 3.16

A digital signal has eight levels. How many bits are needed per
level? We calculate the number of bits from the formula

Each signal level is represented by 3 bits.

3.34
 Bit Rate

 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).

35
Example 3.18
Assume we need to download text documents at the rate of 100
pages per sec. What is the required bit rate of the channel?
Solution
A page is an average of 24 lines with 80 characters in each line.
If we assume that one character requires 8 bits (ascii), the bit
rate is

3.36
Example 3.20
What is the bit rate for high-definition TV (HDTV)?
Solution
HDTV uses digital signals to broadcast high quality video
signals. The HDTV screen is normally a ratio of 16 : 9. There
are 1920 by 1080 pixels per screen, and the screen is renewed
30 times per second. Twenty-four bits represents one color
pixel.

3.37
 BIT LENGTH
 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.

Bit length = propagation speed * bit duration

38
Figure 3.17 The time and frequency domains
of periodic and nonperiodic digital signals

3.39
 Transmission of Digital
Signals

 We can transmit a digital signal by using one of

two different approaches: baseband transmission
or broadband transmission (using modulation)

40
 Note: Baseband transmission means sending a digital
signal over a channel without changing the digital signal to
an analog signal.
 Baseband transmission requires low pass channel (channel
whose bandwidth starts from zero) for transmission.

41
 Note: Broadband transmission means sending a digital
signal over a channel after changing the digital signal to
analog signal (i.e. it requires modulation)
 Broadband transmission can use bandpass channel ( a
channel whose bandwidth does not start from zero.
 Bandpass channel can’t send the digital signal directly, it
must be converted to an analog form before transmission.

42
Figure 3.18 Baseband transmission

3.43
Figure 3.20 Baseband transmission using a
dedicated medium

3.44
Baseband transmission of a digital signal
that preserves the shape of the digital
signal is possible only if we have a low-
pass channel with an infinite or very wide
bandwidth.

3.45
Figure 3.24 Modulation of a digital signal for
transmission on a bandpass channel

3.46
 3-4 TRANSMISSION IMPAIRMENT
( Weaken or Damage)
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.

Topics discussed in this section:

 Attenuation
 Distortion
 Noise
3.47
Figure 3.25 Causes of impairment

3.48
 Attenuation
 Means loss of energy -> weaker signal

 When a signal travels through a medium it loses energy

overcoming the resistance of the medium

 Amplifiers are used to compensate for this loss of energy by

amplifying the signal.

3.49
 Measurement of Attenuation

 To show the loss or gain of energy the unit “decibel” is

used.
dB = 10log10P2/P1
P1 - input signal
P2 - output signal

3.50
Figure 3.26 Attenuation

3.51
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

A loss of 3 dB (–3 dB) is equivalent to losing one-half the

power.

3.52
 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

3.53
Example 3.28
One reason that engineers use the decibel to
measure the changes in the strength of a signal
is that decibel numbers can be added (or
subtracted) when we are measuring several
points (cascading) instead of just two. In Figure
3.27 a signal travels from point 1 to point 4. In
this case, the decibel value can be calculated as

3.54
Figure 3.27 Decibels for Example 3.28

3.55
Example 3.29
Sometimes the decibel is used to measure signal
power in milliwatts. In this case, it is referred to
as dBm and is calculated as dBm = 10 log10 Pm ,
where Pm is the power in milliwatts. Calculate the
power of a signal with dBm = −30.
Solution
We can calculate the power in the signal as

3.56
Example 3.30
The loss in a cable is usually defined in decibels
per kilometer (dB/km). If the signal at the
beginning of a cable with −0.3 dB/km has a
power of 2 mW, what is the power of the
signal at 5 km?
Solution
The loss in the cable in decibels is 5 × (−0.3) =
−1.5 dB. We can calculate the power as

3.57

Distortion
Means that the signal changes its form or shape
 Distortion occurs in composite signals
 Each frequency component has its own propagation
speed traveling through a medium.
 The different components therefore arrive with
different delays at the receiver.
 That means that the signals have different phases at the
receiver than they did at the source.

3.58
Figure 3.28 Distortion

3.59
 Noise
 There are different types of noise
◦ Thermal - random noise of electrons in the
wire creates an extra signal
◦ Induced - from motors and appliances,
devices act are transmitter antenna and
medium as receiving antenna.
◦ Crosstalk - same as above but between two
wires.
◦ Impulse - Spikes that result from power
lines, lighning, etc.

3.60
Figure 3.29 Noise

3.61
Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR)
To measure the quality of a system the SNR is often
used. It indicates the strength of the signal what the noise
power in the system.
It is the ratio between two powers.
It is usually given in dB and referred to as SNRdB.

3.62
Example 3.31
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 ?

Solution
The values of SNR and SNRdB can be
calculated as follows:

3.63
Example 3.32
The values of SNR and SNRdB for a noiseless
channel are

We can never achieve this ratio in real life; it is an

ideal.

3.64
Figure 3.30 Two cases of SNR: a high SNR
and a low SNR

3.65