BEB40903

Data Communication Network

Chapter 2-TRANSMISSION
FUNDAMENTAL
(Signal Encoding Techniques)

Have already noted in Ch 3 that both analog and

digital information can be encoded as either analog
or digital signals:
Signal Encoding Techniques Digital data, digital signals: simplest form of
digital encoding of digital data
Digital data, analog signal: A modem converts
digital data to an analog signal so that it can be
transmitted over an analog
Analog data, digital signals: Analog data, such
as voice and video, are often digitized to be able to
use digital transmission facilities
Analog data, analog signals: Analog data are
modulated by a carrier frequency to produce an
analog signal in a different frequency band, which
can be utilized on an analog transmission system
Stallings DCC8e Fig 5.1 emphasizes the process
involved in this. For digital signaling, a data
source g(t), which may be either digital or analog,
is encoded into a digital signal x(t). The basis for
analog signaling is a continuous constant-
frequency fc signal known as the carrier signal.
Data may be transmitted using a carrier signal by
modulation, which is the process of encoding
source data onto the carrier signal. All modulation
techniques involve operation on one or more of the
three fundamental frequency domain parameters:
amplitude, frequency, and phase. The input signal
m(t) may be analog or digital and is called the
modulating signal, and the result of modulating the
carrier signal is called the modulated signal s(t).
 Encoding - Digital data to digital signals: A
digital signal is a sequence of discrete,
discontinuous voltage pulses, as illustrated in
Digital Data, Digital Signal Stallings DCC8e Figure 3.13. Each pulse is a signal
element. Binary data are transmitted by encoding
•Digital signal each data bit into signal elements. In the simplest
• discrete, discontinuous voltage pulses case, there is a one-to-one correspondence between
• each pulse is a signal element bits and signal elements. More complex encoding
• binary data encoded into signal elements schemes are used to improve performance, by
altering the spectrum of the signal and providing
synchronization capability. In general, the
equipment for encoding digital data into a digital
signal is less complex and less expensive than
digital-to-analog modulation equipment

Before discussing this further, we need to define

some terms:
Unipolar - All signal elements have the same sign
Some Terms Polar - One logic state represented by positive
voltage the other by negative voltage
•Unipolar
• All signal elements have the same sign Data rate - Rate of data (R) transmission in bits per
•Polar second
• One logic state represented by positive voltage the other by
negative voltage Duration or length of a bit - Time taken for
•data rate transmitter to emit the bit (1/R)
• Rate of data (R) transmission in bits per second
Modulation rate -Rate at which the signal level
•duration or length of a bit
• Time taken for transmitter to emit the bit (1/R) changes, measured in baud = signal elements per
•modulation rate second. Depends on type of digital encoding used.
• Rate at which the signal level changes, measured in baud =
signal elements per second. Mark and Space - Binary 1 and Binary 0
•mark and space respectively
‐ Binary 1 and Binary 0 respectively
 Modulation Rate

Before describing the various encoding techniques,

consider the following ways of evaluating or
Comparison of Encoding Schemes (1) comparing them:
•Signal Spectrum •Signal Spectrum - Lack of high frequencies
• Lack of high frequencies components reduces required reduces required bandwidth, lack of dc component
bandwidth allows ac coupling via transformer, providing
• Lack of dc component allows ac coupling via transformer,
providing isolation  reduce interference isolation, should concentrate power in the middle of
• With a dc component, there must be direct physical attachment the bandwidth
of transmission components
• Concentrate power in the middle of the bandwidth •Clocking - need for synchronizing transmitter and
•Clocking receiver either with an external clock or with a sync
• Synchronizing transmitter and receiver
• External clock
mechanism based on signal
• Sync mechanism based on signal •Error detection - useful if can be built in to signal
encoding
•Signal interference and noise immunity - some
codes are better than others
•Cost and complexity - Higher signal rate (& thus
data rate) lead to higher costs, some codes require
signal rate greater than data rate
Comparison of Encoding Schemes (2)

•Error detection
• Can be built in to signal encoding
•Signal interference and noise immunity
• Some codes are better than others
•Cost and complexity
• Higher signal rate (& data rate) lead to higher
costs
• Some codes require signal rate greater than data
rate

Encoding Schemes
•Nonreturn to Zero‐Level (NRZ‐L)
•Nonreturn to Zero Inverted (NRZI)
•Bipolar ‐AMI
•Pseudoternary
•Manchester
•Differential Manchester
•B8ZS
•HDB3
 We now turn to a discussion of various techniques,
which are defined in Stallings DCC8e Table 5.2 and
Encoding Schemes depicted in Figure 5.2 as shown above. They
include:
•Nonreturn to Zero-Level (NRZ-L)
•Nonreturn to Zero Inverted (NRZI)
•Bipolar -AMI
•Pseudoternary
•Manchester
•Differential Manchester
•B8ZS
•HDB3

Stallings DCC9e Figure 5.6 shows the signal

encoding for the binary sequence
1100000000110000010 using AMI, and then
scrambled using B8ZS and HDB3. The original
sequence includes a continuous strings of eight
zeros and five zeros. B8ZS eliminates the string of
eight zeros. HDB3 eliminates both strings. The total
number of transitions for this sequence is 7 for
Bipolar AMI, 12 for B8ZS, and 14 for HDB3.
 The most common, and easiest, way to transmit
digital signals is to use two different voltage levels
for the two binary digits. Codes that follow this
Nonreturn to Zero‐Level (NRZ‐L) strategy share the property that the voltage level is
constant during a bit interval; there is no transition
•two different voltages for 0 and 1 bits (no return to a zero voltage level). Can have
•voltage constant during bit interval
absence of voltage used to represent binary 0, with
• no transition I.e. no return to zero voltage a constant positive voltage used to represent binary
• such as absence of voltage for zero, constant 1. More commonly a negative voltage represents
positive voltage for one one binary value and a positive voltage represents
• more often, negative voltage for one value and the other. This is known as Nonreturn to Zero-
positive for the other
Level (NRZ-L). NRZ-L is typically the code used
to generate or interpret digital data by terminals and
other devices.

A variation of NRZ is known as NRZI (Nonreturn

to Zero, invert on ones). As with NRZ-L, NRZI
maintains a constant voltage pulse for the duration
Nonreturn to Zero Inverted (NRZ‐I)
of a bit time. The data bits are encoded as the
• nonreturn to zero inverted on ones presence or absence of a signal transition at the
• constant voltage pulse for duration of bit beginning of the bit time. A transition (low to high
• data encoded as presence or absence of signal or high to low) at the beginning of a bit time
transition at beginning of bit time
• transition (low to high or high to low) denotes binary 1 denotes a binary 1 for that bit time; no transition
• no transition denotes binary 0 indicates a binary 0.
• example of differential encoding since have NRZI is an example of differential
• data represented by changes rather than levels
• more reliable detection of transition rather than level
encoding. In differential encoding, the information
• easy to lose sense of polarity to be transmitted is represented in terms of the
changes between successive signal elements rather
than the signal elements themselves. The encoding
of the current bit is determined as follows: if the
current bit is a binary 0, then the current bit is
encoded with the same signal as the preceding bit;
if the current bit is a binary 1, then the current bit is
encoded with a different signal than the preceding
bit. One benefit of differential encoding is that it
may be more reliable to detect a transition in the
presence of noise than to compare a value to a
threshold. Another benefit is that with a complex
transmission layout, it is easy to lose the sense of
the polarity of the signal.
 The NRZ codes are the easiest to engineer and, in
addition, make efficient use of bandwidth. Most of
NRZ Pros & Cons the energy in NRZ and NRZI signals is between dc
and half the bit rate. The main limitations of NRZ
•Pros signals are the presence of a dc component and the
• easy to engineer lack of synchronization capability. Consider that
• make good use of bandwidth with a long string of 1s or 0s for NRZ-L or a long
•Cons string of 0s for NRZI, the output is a constant
• dc component voltage over a long period of time. Under these
• lack of synchronization capability circumstances, any drift between the clocks of
•used for magnetic recording transmitter and receiver will result in loss of
•not often used for signal transmission synchronization between the two.
Because of their simplicity and relatively
low frequency response characteristics, NRZ codes
are commonly used for digital magnetic recording.
However, their limitations make these codes
unattractive for signal transmission applications.

Differential Encoding
•Data represented by changes rather than
levels
•More reliable detection of transition rather
than level
•In complex transmission layouts it is easy to
lose sense of polarity
 Multilevel Binary Codes
•Use more than two levels
• 4 for 2 bits/signal element
• 8 for 3 bits/signal element
•Sometimes use 3 levels for one bit only per
signal element
•Any NRZ, NRZI can have a multilevel version (l
levels)
• Will send log2(l) bits per signal element
• Bit rate (bps) = R = Signaling rate (Baud) x log2(l)
• Limiting factor: noise

Thus, with suitable modification, multilevel binary

schemes overcome the problems of NRZ codes. Of
course, as with any engineering design decision,
Theoretical Bit Error Rate there is a tradeoff. With multilevel binary coding,
the line signal may take on one of three levels, but
each signal element, which could represent log2 3 =
1.58 bits of information, bears only one bit of
information. Thus multilevel binary is not as
efficient as NRZ coding. Another way to state this
is that the receiver of multilevel binary signals has
to distinguish between three levels (+A, –A, 0)
instead of just two levels in the signaling formats
previously discussed. Because of this, the
multilevel binary signal requires approximately 3
dB more signal power than a two-valued signal for
the same probability of bit error. This is illustrated
in Stallings DCC9e Figure 5.4. Put another way, the
bit error rate for NRZ codes, at a given signal-to-
noise ratio, is significantly less than that for
multilevel binary.
These terms are not used consistently in the
literature. In some books, these two terms are used
for different encoding schemes than those defined
here, and a variety of terms have been used for the
two schemes illustrated in Stallings DCC9e Figure
5.2. The nomenclature used here corresponds to the
usage in various ITU-T standards documents.
 A category of encoding techniques known as
multilevel binary addresses some of the
deficiencies of the NRZ codes. These codes use
Multilevel Binary more than two signal levels. Two examples of this
Bipolar‐AMI scheme was illustrated in Figure 5.2.
•Use more than two levels In the bipolar-AMI scheme, a binary 0 is
•Bipolar‐AMI represented by no line signal, and a binary 1 is
• zero represented by no line signal
• one represented by positive or negative pulse
represented by a positive or negative pulse. The
• one pulses alternate in polarity binary 1 pulses must alternate in polarity. There are
• no loss of sync if a long string of ones several advantages to this approach. First, there will
• long runs of zeros still a problem be no loss of synchronization if a long string of 1s
• no net dc component
occurs. Each 1 introduces a transition, and the
• lower bandwidth
• easy error detection receiver can resynchronize on that transition. A
long string of 0s would still be a problem. Second,
because the 1 signals alternate in voltage from
positive to negative, there is no net dc component.
Also, the bandwidth of the resulting signal is
considerably less than the bandwidth for NRZ.
Finally, the pulse alternation property provides a
simple means of error detection. Any isolated error,
whether it deletes a pulse or adds a pulse, causes a
violation of this property.

The comments on bipolar-AMI also apply to

pseudoternary. In this case, it is the binary 1 that
is represented by the absence of a line signal, and
Multilevel Binary the binary 0 by alternating positive and negative
Pseudoternary pulses. There is no particular advantage of one
•one represented by absence of line signal technique versus the other, and each is the basis of
•zero represented by alternating positive and some applications.
negative
•no advantage or disadvantage over bipolar‐
AMI
•each used in some applications
 Although a degree of synchronization is provided
with these codes, a long string of 0s in the case of
AMI or 1s in the case of pseudoternary still
Multilevel Binary Issues presents a problem. Several techniques have been
used to address this deficiency. One approach is to
• synchronization with long runs of 0’s or 1’s insert additional bits that force transitions. This
• can insert additional bits, cf ISDN
• scramble data (later) technique is used in ISDN (integrated services
• not as efficient as NRZ digital network) for relatively low data rate
• each signal element only represents one bit transmission. Of course, at a high data rate, this
• receiver distinguishes between three levels: +A, ‐A, 0
• a 3 level system could represent log23 = 1.58 bits scheme is expensive, because it results in an
• requires approx. 3dB more signal power for same probability increase in an already high signal transmission rate.
of bit error
To deal with this problem at high data rates, a
technique that involves scrambling the data is used.
Thus, with suitable modification, multilevel
binary schemes overcome the problems of NRZ
codes. Of course, as with any engineering design
decision, there is a tradeoff. With multilevel binary
coding, the line signal may take on one of three
levels, but each signal element, which could
represent log2 3 = 1.58 bits of information, bears
only one bit of information, since the receiver of
multilevel binary signals has to distinguish between
three levels (+A, –A, 0) instead of just two levels in
the signaling formats previously discussed. Because
of this, the multilevel binary signal requires
approximately 3 dB more signal power than a two-
valued signal for the same probability of bit error.
Put another way, the bit error rate for NRZ codes, at
a given signal-to-noise ratio, is significantly less
than that for multilevel binary.
 AMI

1 1 0 1
0
Tb
+A

-A

Pseudoternary

0 0 1 0
1
Tb
+A

-A

There is another set of coding techniques, grouped

under the term biphase, that overcomes the
limitations of NRZ codes. Two of these techniques,
Manchester Encoding Manchester and differential Manchester, are in
• has transition in middle of each bit period common use.
• transition serves as clock and data In the Manchester code, there is a
• low to high represents one transition at the middle of each bit period. The
• high to low represents zero
midbit transition serves as a clocking mechanism
• used by IEEE 802.
and also as data: a low-to-high transition represents
a 1, and a high-to-low transition represents a 0.
Biphase codes are popular techniques for data
transmission. The more common Manchester code
has been specified for the IEEE 802.3 (Ethernet)
standard for baseband coaxial cable and twisted-
pair bus LANs.
 In differential Manchester, the midbit transition is
used only to provide clocking. The encoding of a 0
Differential Manchester Encoding is represented by the presence of a transition at the
• midbit transition is clocking only
beginning of a bit period, and a 1 is represented by
• transition at start of bit period representing 0 the absence of a transition at the beginning of a bit
• no transition at start of bit period representing 1 period. Differential Manchester has the added
• this is a differential encoding scheme advantage of employing differential encoding.
• used by IEEE 802.5 Differential Manchester has been specified
for the IEEE 802.5 token ring LAN, using shielded
twisted pair.

All of the biphase techniques require at least one

transition per bit time and may have as many as two
Biphase Pros and Cons transitions. Thus, the maximum modulation rate is
twice that for NRZ; this means that the bandwidth
• Con required is correspondingly greater. The bandwidth
• at least one transition per bit time and possibly two
• maximum modulation rate is twice NRZ
for biphase codes is reasonably narrow and
• requires more bandwidth contains no dc component. However, it is wider
• Pros than the bandwidth for the multilevel binary codes.
• synchronization on mid bit transition (self clocking)
• has no dc component
On the other hand, the biphase schemes have
• has error detection several advantages:
• Synchronization: Because there is a
predictable transition during each bit time, the
receiver can synchronize on that transition, known
as self-clocking codes.
• No dc component: Biphase codes have no
dc component
• Error detection: The absence of an
expected transition can be used to detect errors.
Noise on the line would have to invert both the
signal before and after the expected transition to
cause an undetected error.
 When signal-encoding techniques are used, a
distinction needs to be made between data rate
Modulation Rate (expressed in bits per second) and modulation rate
(expressed in baud). The data rate, or bit rate, is
1/Tb, where Tb = bit duration. The modulation rate
is the rate at which signal elements are generated.
Consider, for example, Manchester encoding. The
minimum size signal element is a pulse of one-half
the duration of a bit interval. For a string of all
binary zeroes or all binary ones, a continuous
stream of such pulses is generated. Hence the
maximum modulation rate for Manchester is 2/Tb.
This situation is illustrated in Stallings DCC8e
Figure 5.5, which shows the transmission of a
stream of binary 1s at a data rate of 1 Mbps using
NRZI and Manchester.
One way of characterizing the modulation
rate is to determine the average number of
transitions that occur per bit time. In general, this
will depend on the exact sequence of bits being
transmitted. Stallings DCC8e Table 5.3 compares
transition rates for various techniques.

Although the biphase techniques have achieved

widespread use in local area network applications
Scrambling at relatively high data rates (up to 10 Mbps), they
• use scrambling to replace sequences that would have not been widely used in long-distance
produce constant voltage applications. The principal reason for this is that
• these filling sequences must they require a high signaling rate relative to the
• produce enough transitions to sync
• be recognized by receiver & replaced with original data rate. This sort of inefficiency is more costly in
• be same length as original a long-distance application.
• design goals Another approach is to make use of some
• have no dc component
• have no long sequences of zero level line signal sort of scrambling scheme. The idea behind this
• have no reduction in data rate approach is simple: sequences that would result in a
• give error detection capability
constant voltage level on the line are replaced by
filling sequences that will provide sufficient
transitions for the receiver's clock to maintain
synchronization. The filling sequence must be
recognized by the receiver and replaced with the
original data sequence. The filling sequence is the
same length as the original sequence, so there is no
data rate penalty. The design goals for this approach
can be summarized as follows:
• No dc component
 • No long sequences of zero-level line signals
• No reduction in data rate
• Error-detection capability

B8ZS
• Bipolar With 8 Zeros Substitution
• Substitutes a sequence of 8 consecutive “0”
• Based on bipolar‐AMI
• If octet of all zeros and last voltage pulse preceding was
positive, encode as 000+‐0‐+ (000VB0VB)
• If octet of all zeros and last voltage pulse preceding was
negative, encode as 000‐+0+‐
• Causes two violations of AMI code
• Unlikely to occur as a result of noise
• Receiver detects and interprets as octet of all zeros

B8ZS

–If last voltage

pulse preceding
was positive
V = +A;
B = -A

Alternating replacement pulses  Causes two violations of AMI code

called “violations” (V)  Selected sequence unlikely to occur
as a result of noise
Compensating pulses called
“bipolar” (B)  Receiver detects and interprets as
octet of all zeros
 Bipolar (B) = +A
because last pulse
B8ZS was -A

–Iflast voltage
pulse preceding
was positive
V = +A;
B = -A

Violation (V) Violation (V)

because last Bipolar (B) = -A because last
pulse was +A because last pulse pulse was -A
was +A

HDB3
•High (transition) Density Bipolar 3 Zeros
•Based on AMI
•String of four (3+1) zeros replaced with one
or two pulses
•Complex replacement rule
•Used in ISDN

We now look at two scrambling techniques are

commonly used in long-distance transmission
HDB3 Substitution Rules services: B8ZS and HDB3.
The bipolar with 8-zeros substitution
(B8ZS) coding scheme is commonly used in North
America. The coding scheme is based on a bipolar-
AMI. We have seen that the drawback of the AMI
code is that a long string of zeros may result in loss
of synchronization. To overcome this problem, the
encoding is amended with the following rules:

If an octet of all zeros occurs and the last voltage

pulse preceding this octet was positive, then the
eight zeros of the octet are encoded as 000+–0–+.
If an octet of all zeros occurs and the last voltage
 pulse preceding this octet was negative, then the
eight zeros of the octet are encoded as 000–+0+–.

This technique forces two code violations

(signal patterns not allowed in AMI) of the AMI
code, an event unlikely to be caused by noise or
other transmission impairment. The receiver
recognizes the pattern and interprets the octet as
consisting of all zeros.
A coding scheme that is commonly used in
Europe and Japan is known as the high-density
bipolar-3 zeros (HDB3) code (StallingsDCC9e
Table 5.4). As before, it is based on the use of AMI
encoding. In this case, the scheme replaces strings
of four zeros with sequences containing one or two
pulses. In each case, the fourth zero is replaced
with a code violation. In addition, a rule is needed
to ensure that successive violations are of alternate
polarity so that no dc component is introduced.
Thus, if the last violation was positive, this
violation must be negative and vice versa. Table 5.4
shows that this condition is tested for by
determining (1) whether the number of pulses since
the last violation is even or odd and (2) the polarity
of the last pulse before the occurrence of the four
zeros.

Two techniques are commonly used in long-

distance transmission services; these are illustrated
B8ZS and HDB3 in Stallings DCC8e Figure 5.6.
A coding scheme that is commonly used in
North America, based on a bipolar-AMI, is known
as bipolar with 8-zeros substitution (B8ZS). To
overcome the drawback of the AMI code that a
long string of zeros may result in loss of
synchronization, the encoding is amended with the
following rules:
• If an octet of all zeros occurs and the last
voltage pulse preceding this octet was positive, then
the eight zeros of the octet are encoded as 000+–0–
+.
• If an octet of all zeros occurs and the last
voltage pulse preceding this octet was negative,
 then the eight zeros of the octet are encoded as
000–+0+–.
This technique forces two code violations (signal
patterns not allowed in AMI) of the AMI code, an
event unlikely to be caused by noise or other
transmission impairment. The receiver recognizes
the pattern and interprets the octet as consisting of
all zeros.
A coding scheme that is commonly used in
Europe and Japan is known as the high-density
bipolar-3 zeros (HDB3) code. It is also based on
the use of AMI encoding. In this case, the scheme
replaces strings of four zeros with sequences
containing one or two pulses. In each case, the
fourth zero is replaced with a code violation. In
addition, a rule is needed to ensure that successive
violations are of alternate polarity so that no dc
component is introduced. Thus, if the last violation
was positive, this violation must be negative and
vice versa.
Neither of these codes has a dc component.
Most of the energy is concentrated in a relatively
sharp spectrum around a frequency equal to one-
half the data rate. Thus, these codes are well suited
to high data rate transmission.

There is another factor that can be used to improve

performance, and that is the encoding scheme. The
encoding scheme is simply the mapping from data
bits to signal elements. A variety of approaches
Digital Signal
have been tried. In what follows, we describe some
Encoding of the more common ones; they are defined in
Formats Stallings DCC 9e Table 5.2
Review Questions
• List and briefly define important factors that can be
used in evaluating or comparing the various digital‐
to‐digital encoding techniques.
• What is differential encoding?
• Explain the difference between NRZ‐L and NRZI.
• Describe two multilevel binary digital‐to‐digital
encoding techniques.
• Define biphase encoding and describe two biphase
encoding techniques.
• Explain the function of scrambling in the context of
digital‐to‐digital encoding techniques.

•Most slides are adapted from:

• William Stallings, Data and Computer
Communication, 9th Ed., Prentice Hall, 2011.