Transmission Media

• Transmission media is a communication channel that carries the

information from the sender to the receiver. Data is transmitted
through the electromagnetic signals.
• The main functionality of the transmission media is to carry the
information in the form of bits through LAN(Local Area Network).
• It is a physical path between transmitter and receiver in data
communication.
• In a copper-based network, the bits in the form of electrical signals.
• In a fibre based network, the bits in the form of light pulses.
• In OSI(Open System Interconnection) phase, transmission media supports
the Layer 1. Therefore, it is considered to be as a Layer 1 component.

• The electrical signals can be sent through the copper wire, fibre optics,
atmosphere, water, and vacuum.

• The characteristics and quality of data transmission are determined by the

characteristics of medium and signal.

• Transmission media is of two types are wired media and wireless media. In
wired media, medium characteristics are more important whereas, in wireless
media, signal characteristics are more important.

• Different transmission media have different properties such as bandwidth,

delay, cost and ease of installation and maintenance.
Some factors need to be considered for designing the transmission
media:
Bandwidth: All the factors are remaining constant, the greater the bandwidth of
a medium, the higher the data transmission rate of a signal.

Transmission impairment: When the received signal is not identical to the

transmitted one due to the transmission impairment. The quality of the signals
will get destroyed due to transmission impairment.

Interference: An interference is defined as the process of disrupting a signal

when it travels over a communication medium on the addition of some unwanted
signal.
Causes of transmission impairment
Attenuation: Attenuation means the loss of energy, i.e., the strength
of the signal decreases with increasing the distance which causes the
loss of energy.

Distortion: Distortion occurs when there is a change in the shape of

the signal. This type of distortion is examined from different signals
having different frequencies. Each frequency component has its own
propagation speed, so they reach at a different time which leads to
the delay distortion.

Noise: When data is travelled over a transmission medium, some

unwanted signal is added to it which creates the noise.
Guided Media
It is defined as the physical medium through which the signals are transmitted. It is
also known as Bounded media.

Types Of Guided media:

Twisted pair:
• A twisted pair cable is cheap as compared to other transmission media.

• Installation of the twisted pair cable is easy, and it is a lightweight cable.

• The frequency range for twisted pair cable is from 0 to 3.5 KHz.
A twisted pair cable is made of two plastic insulated copper wires
twisted together to form a single media. Out of these two wires, only
one carries actual signal and another is used for ground reference.
The twists between wires are helpful in reducing noise
electro−magnetic interference and crosstalk.
Copper wires are the most common wires used for transmitting
signals because of good performance at low costs. They are most
commonly used in telephone lines. However, if two or more wires
are lying together, they can interfere with each other’s signals. To
reduce this electromagnetic interference, pair of copper wires are
twisted together in helical shape like a DNA molecule. Such
twisted copper wires are called twisted pair. To reduce
interference between nearby twisted pairs, the twist rates are
different for each pair.
Advantages of twisted pair cable
Twisted pair cable are the oldest and most popular cables all over the world. This
is due to the many advantages that they offer −
• Can be used for both analog and digital transmissions
• Least expensive for short distances
• Entire network does not go down if a part of network is damaged
Disadvantages of twisted pair cable
With its many advantages, twisted pair cables offer some disadvantages too −
• Signal cannot travel long distances without repeaters.
• High error rate for distances greater than 100m.
• Very thin and hence breaks easily.
• Not suitable for broadband connections
 Coaxial Cable
Coaxial cable consists of the following layers:( From center)
• A metallic rod-shaped inner conductor.

• An insulator covering the rod.

• A metallic outer conductor (shield).

• An insulator covering the shield.

• A plastic cover.

Coaxial cable is very commonly used transmission media, for

example, TV wire is usually a coaxial cable.
It has a higher frequency as compared to Twisted pair cable.
Figure Coaxial cable

7.12
 Frequency Range of Coaxial cable

Coaxial Cable

100 KHz 500 MHz

Ethernet based LANs using thick cable for inter-connection is

referred as Thicknet. While ethernet systems
using thinner coaxial cable is referred as Thinnet. Thicknet is also
referred as 10Base5 systems, where 10 means 10Mbps speed. RG-
58/U is used as thin cable in thinnet based LAN network.
Each coaxial cable defines by RG (Radio Government) ratings.

• RG-8. Used in Thick Ethernet.

• RG-9. Used in Thick Ethernet.
• RG-11. Used in Thick Ethernet.
• RG-58. Used in Thin Ethernet.
• RG-59. Used in TV.
Coaxial cable is of two types:
Baseband transmission: It is defined as the process of transmitting a single
signal at high speed.
Broadband transmission: It is defined as the process of transmitting multiple
signals simultaneously.

Advantages Of Coaxial cable:

• The data can be transmitted at high speed.
• It has better shielding as compared to twisted pair cable.
• It provides higher bandwidth.

Disadvantages Of Coaxial cable:

• It is more expensive as compared to twisted pair cable.
• If any fault occurs in the cable causes the failure in the entire network.
 Optical Fiber Cable
Optical fiber is made of glass or plastic and
transmit signals in the form of light.
The nature of light
A form of electromagnetic energy, travels at 300,000 KM/S or
approx. 186,000 miles/s, in a vacuum.

The speed of light depends on the density of the medium through

which it is travelling(the higher the density, the slower the
speed).
Refraction: Light travels in a straight line as long as it is moving through a single uniform
substance. If a ray of light travelling through one substance suddenly enters another(more or
less dense) substance, its speed changes, causing the ray to change the direction. This change
is called refraction.

I – angle of incidence Less dense medium (air)

R - angle of Refraction I
Beam

More dense medium (water or Glass)

I>R :From less dense to more dense I<R From more dense to less dense
Figure Fiber optics: Bending of light ray

As the angle of incidence increases, so does the angle of refraction. It too moves away from
the vertical and closer and closer to the horizontal. At this point ,the incident angle is known
as Critical Angle
Reflection : When the angle of incidence becomes greater
than the critical angle , a new phenomenon occurs called
reflection.
Figure Optical fiber

Optical fibers use reflection to guide light through a channel.

Fiber optic cables are composed of a glass or plastic inner core surrounded by
cladding, all encased in an outer jacket.
They carry signals in the form of light. The signal is propagated along the inner
core by reflection.
Figure Propagation modes
Signal propagation can be multimode or single mode
Figure 7.13 Modes

7.23
Advantages of optical fiber cable

• Noise resistance
• Less signal attenuation
• Higher Bandwidth

Disadvantages of optical fiber cable

• Cost
• Installation/maintenance
• Fragility
UNGUIDED MEDIA : WIRELESS

Unguided media transport electromagnetic waves

without using a physical conductor. This type of
communication is often referred to as wireless
communication.

• Radio Waves
• Microwaves
• Infrared

7.25
Figure Wireless transmission waves

7.26
Radio waves are used for multicast communications, such as
radio and television.
• They can penetrate through walls.
• Use omni directional antennas.
• Radio waves have frequencies as high as 300 gigahertz to as
low as 30 hertz.
• At 300 GHz, the corresponding wavelength is 1 mm; at 30 Hz
the corresponding wavelength is 10,000 km.
Propagation of Radio waves
• Surface or Ground Propagation : In surface propagation , radio
waves travel through the lowest portion of the atmosphere,
touching the earth. At the lowest frequencies, signals emanate
in all directions from the transmitting antenna and follows the
curvature of the planet.
• Troposphere Propagation : It can work 2 ways , Either a signal
can be directed in a straight line from antenna to antenna (line
of sight) or it can be broadcast at an angle into the upper layers
of the troposphere and reflected back down to the earth’s
surface.
• Line of Sight Propagation : Very high frequency signals are
transmitted in straight line directly from antenna to antenna
(line of sight). Antenna must be directional, facing each other,
and either tall enough or close enough together not to be
affected by the curvature of the earth.
Figure Electromagnetic spectrum for wireless communication

7.30
Figure Propagation methods

7.31
Table 7.4 Bands

7.32
Figure 7.20 Omnidirectional antenna

7.33
 Microwaves

• Microwaves are used for unicast communication such as

cellular telephones, satellite networks, and wireless LANs.
• Higher frequency ranges cannot penetrate walls.
• Microwaves use directional antennas - point to point line of
sight propagation for data communications.
• The parabolic dish antenna and Horn antenna are used for
transmission and reception of microwave.
• Repeaters are used to increase the distance a microwave
can travel.
7.34
Usages:

• Remote control
• Data Communication
• Mouse , keyboard , printer 
Advantages:
• Cheap
• Easy to use
• Compact and use low power
• Very high data rate