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.
 TRANSMISSION MEDIA

•In a copper-based network, the bits in the form of electrical signals.

In a fiber based network, the bits in the form of light pulses.

•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.
 TRANSMISSION MEDIA

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: Here 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.
TRANSMISSION MEDIA
 TRANSMISSION MEDIA

•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.
Classification Of Transmission Media:
 Classification Of Transmission Media:

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 Copper Wire
• Coaxial Cable
• Fiber Optics
 Classification Of Transmission Media:

Twisted pair:

•Twisted pair is a physical media made up of a pair of cables twisted

with each other.
• 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 3.5KHz.
 Classification Of Transmission Media:

•A twisted pair consists of two insulated copper wires arranged in a

regular spiral pattern.

• A twisted pair consists of two conductors (normally copper), each

with its own plastic insulation, twisted together.

•One of the wires is used to carry signals to the receiver, and the
other is used only as a ground reference.

.
 Classification Of Transmission Media:

•The degree of reduction in noise interference is determined by the

number of turns per foot. Increasing the number of turns per foot
decreases noise interference.
Types of Twisted pair
 Types of Twisted pair

Shielded
Unshielded •A shielded twisted pair is a cable that
•Used in Telecommunication contains the mesh surrounding the wire
•Category - 1,2,3,4,5 that allows the higher transmission rate.
Advantages:
Advantages: •The cost of the shielded twisted pair
1.It is cheap. cable is not very high and not very low.
2.Installation of the unshielded •An installation of STP is easy.
twisted pair is easy. •It has higher capacity as compared to
3.It can be used for high-speed unshielded twisted pair cable.
LAN. •It has a higher attenuation.
Disadvantage: Disadvantages:
1.This cable can only be used for •It is more expensive as compared to UTP
shorter distances because of and coaxial cable.
attenuation. •It has a higher attenuation rate.
COAXIAL CABLE
 COAXIAL CABLE

•Coaxial cable is very commonly used transmission media, for example,

TV wire is usually a coaxial cable.
•The name of the cable is coaxial as it contains two conductors parallel
to each other.
•It has a higher frequency as compared to Twisted pair cable.
•The inner conductor of the coaxial cable is made up of copper, and the
outer conductor is made up of copper mesh.
•The middle core is made up of non-conductive cover that separates the
inner conductor from the outer conductor.
•The middle core is responsible for the data transferring whereas the
copper mesh prevents from the EMI(Electromagnetic interference).
 COAXIAL CABLE

Coaxial cable is of two types:

1.Baseband transmission: It is defined as the process of transmitting a

single signal at high speed.
2.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.
 FIBRE OPTIC

•Fibre optic cable is a cable that uses electrical signals for

communication.
•Fibre optic is a cable that holds the optical fibres coated in
plastic that are used to send the data by pulses of light.
•The plastic coating protects the optical fibres from heat, cold,
electromagnetic interference from other types of wiring.
•Fibre optics provide faster data transmission than copper
wires.
 FIBRE OPTIC

•Fiber-optic cable is made of glass or plastic and transmits

signals in the form of light.
•Light travels in a straight line as long as it is moving through a
single uniform substance.
If a ray of light traveling through one substance suddenly enters
another substance(of a different density), the ray changes
direction.
 FIBRE OPTIC

Basic elements of Fibre optic cable:

1.Core: The optical fibre consists of a narrow strand of glass or plastic

known as a core. A core is a light transmission area of the fibre. The
more the area of the core, the more light will be transmitted into the
fibre.
2.Cladding: The concentric layer of glass is known as cladding. The
main functionality of the cladding is to provide the lower refractive
index at the core interface as to cause the reflection within the core so
that the light waves are transmitted through the fibre.
3.Jacket: The protective coating consisting of plastic is known as a
jacket. The main purpose of a jacket is to preserve the fibre strength,
absorb shock and extra fibre protection.
 UNGUIDED TRANSMISSION

•Wireless transmission is a form of unguided media.

•Wireless communication involves no physical link established between

two or more devices, communicating wirelessly.

•Wireless signals are spread over in the air and are received and
interpreted by appropriate antennas.

•When an antenna is attached to electrical circuit of a computer or

wireless device, it converts the digital data into wireless signals and
spread all over within its frequency range.

•The receptor on the other end receives these signals and converts them
back to digital data.
 UNGUIDED TRANSMISSION

•An unguided transmission transmits the electromagnetic waves without

using any physical medium. Therefore it is also known as wireless
transmission.

•In unguided media, air is the media through which the electromagnetic
energy can flow easily.

•Unguided transmission is broadly classified into three categories:

 UNGUIDED TRANSMISSION - Radio waves

•Electromagnetic waves ranging in frequencies between 3 kHz and 1

GHz are normally called radio waves. Radio waves are omni
directional.
•When an antenna transmits radio waves, they are propagated in all
directions.
•This means that the sending and receiving antennas do not have to be
aligned.
• A sending antenna sends waves that can be received by any receiving
antenna.
• The omni directional property has a disadvantage, too. The radio
waves transmitted by one antenna are susceptible to interference by
another antenna that may send signals using the same frequency or
band.
 UNGUIDED TRANSMISSION - Microwaves

•Electromagnetic waves having frequencies between 1 and 300 GHz are

called microwaves.

•Microwaves are unidirectional.

•The sending and receiving antennas need to be aligned.

•The unidirectional property has an obvious advantage.

•A pair of antennas can be aligned without interfering with another pair

of aligned antennas
UNGUIDED TRANSMISSION - Microwaves
 UNGUIDED TRANSMISSION – TERRESTRIAL Microwaves

•Terrestrial Microwave transmission is a technology that transmits the

focused beam of a radio signal from one ground-based microwave
transmission antenna to another.

•Microwaves are the electromagnetic waves having the frequency in the

range from 1GHz to 1000 GHz.

•Microwaves are unidirectional as the sending and receiving antenna is

to be aligned.
 UNGUIDED TRANSMISSION – TERRESTRIAL Microwaves

Characteristics of Microwave:

•Frequency range: 4-6 GHz to 21-23 GHz.

•Bandwidth: It supports the bandwidth from 1 to 10 Mbps.
•Short distance: It is inexpensive for short distance.
•Long distance: It is expensive as it requires a higher tower for a longer
distance.
•Attenuation: Attenuation means loss of signal. It is affected by
environmental conditions and antenna size.
 UNGUIDED TRANSMISSION- Satellite Microwaves

•A satellite is a physical object that revolves around the earth at a

known height.

•Satellite communication is more reliable nowadays as it offers more

flexibility than cable and fibre optic systems.

•We can communicate with any point on the globe by using satellite
communication.

How Does Satellite work?

•The satellite accepts the signal that is transmitted from the earth
station, and it amplifies the signal. The amplified signal is retransmitted
to another earth station.
 UNGUIDED TRANSMISSION- Infrared Microwaves

•An infrared transmission is a wireless technology used for

communication over short ranges.

•The frequency of the infrared in the range from 300 GHz to 400 THz.

•It is used for short-range communication such as data transfer between

two cell phones, TV remote operation, data transfer between a
computer and cell phone resides in the same closed area.

•It supports high bandwidth, and hence the data rate will be very high.

•Infrared waves cannot penetrate the walls. Therefore, the infrared

communication in one room cannot be interrupted by the nearby rooms.

•An infrared communication provides better security with minimum

interference.
 MULTIPLEXING

•Multiplexing is a technique used to combine and send the multiple data

streams over a single medium.

•The process of combining the data streams is known as multiplexing and

hardware used for multiplexing is known as a multiplexer.

•Multiplexing is achieved by using a device called Multiplexer (MUX) that

combines n input lines to generate a single output line. Multiplexing follows
many-to-one, i.e., n input lines and one output line.

•Demultiplexing is achieved by using a device called Demultiplexer (DEMUX)

available at the receiving end. DEMUX separates a signal into its component
signals (one input and n outputs). Therefore, we can say that demultiplexing
follows the one-to-many approach.
 MULTIPLEXING

Why Multiplexing?
•The transmission medium is used to send the signal from sender to receiver.
The medium can only have one signal at a time.
•If there are multiple signals to share one medium, then the medium must be
divided in such a way that each signal is given some portion of the available
bandwidth. For example: If there are 10 signals and bandwidth of medium is
100 units, then the 10 unit is shared by each signal.
•When multiple signals share the common medium, there is a possibility of
collision. Multiplexing concept is used to avoid such collision.
MULTIPLEXING TECHNIQUES
 Frequency-division Multiplexing (FDM)

•Frequency Division Multiplexing is a technique in which the available

bandwidth of a single transmission medium is subdivided into several
channels.
•In the above diagram, a single transmission medium is subdivided into
several frequency channels, and each frequency channel is given to
different devices. Device 1 has a frequency channel of range from 1 to 5.
•The main aim of the FDM is to subdivide the available bandwidth into
different frequency channels and allocate them to different devices.
•FDM is mainly used in radio broadcasts and TV networks.
 Frequency-division Multiplexing (FDM)

Advantages Of FDM:

•FDM is used for analog signals.

•FDM process is very simple and easy modulation.
•A Large number of signals can be sent through an FDM simultaneously.
•It does not require any synchronization between sender and receiver.

Disadvantages Of FDM:

•FDM technique is used only when low-speed channels are required.

•It suffers the problem of crosstalk.
•A Large number of modulators are required.
•It requires a high bandwidth channel.
 Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM)

•Wavelength Division Multiplexing is same as FDM except that the optical

signals are transmitted through the fibre optic cable.
•Optical signals from different source are combined to form a wider band of
light with the help of multiplexer.
•At the receiving end, demultiplexer separates the signals to transmit them to
their respective destinations.
•Multiplexing and Demultiplexing can be achieved by using a prism.
•Prism can perform a role of multiplexer by combining the various optical
signals to form a composite signal, and the composite signal is transmitted
through a fibre optical cable.
 Time Division Multiplexing

•In Time Division Multiplexing technique, the total time available in the
channel is distributed among different users.
•Therefore, each user is allocated with different time interval known as a Time
slot at which data is to be transmitted by the sender.
•A user takes control of the channel for a fixed amount of time.
•In Time Division Multiplexing technique, data is not transmitted
simultaneously rather the data is transmitted one-by-one.
•In TDM, the signal is transmitted in the form of frames. Frames contain a cycle
of time slots in which each frame contains one or more slots dedicated to each
user.
There are two types of TDM:
Synchronous TDM
Asynchronous TDM
 Synchronous TDM

•In Synchronous TDM, each device is given some time slot irrespective of the
fact that the device contains the data or not.
•If the device does not have any data, then the slot will remain empty.
•In Synchronous TDM, signals are sent in the form of frames. Time slots are
organized in the form of frames. If a device does not have data for a particular
time slot, then the empty slot will be transmitted.
•If there are n devices, then there are n slots.
 ASynchronous TDM

•An asynchronous TDM is a technique in which time slots are not fixed as in
the case of Synchronous TDM.
•Time slots are allocated to only those devices which have the data to send.
Therefore, we can say that Asynchronous Time Division multiplexor transmits
only the data from active workstations.
•An asynchronous TDM technique dynamically allocates the time slots to the
devices.
•Asynchronous Time Division multiplexor accepts the incoming data streams
and creates a frame that contains only data with no empty slots.
 SWITCHING
•When a user accesses the internet or another computer network outside
their immediate location, messages are sent through the network of
transmission media.

•This technique of transferring the information from one computer network to

another network is known as switching.

•Switching in a computer network is achieved by using switches. A switch is a

small hardware device which is used to join multiple computers together with
one local area network (LAN).

•Network switches operate at layer 2 (Data link layer) in the OSI model.

•Switches are used to forward the packets based on MAC addresses.

•It is operated in full duplex mode.

 SWITCHING
•When a user accesses the internet or another computer network outside
their immediate location, messages are sent through the network of
transmission media.

•This technique of transferring the information from one computer network to

another network is known as switching.

•Switching in a computer network is achieved by using switches. A switch is a

small hardware device which is used to join multiple computers together with
one local area network (LAN).

•Network switches operate at layer 2 (Data link layer) in the OSI model.

•Switches are used to forward the packets based on MAC addresses.

•It is operated in full duplex mode.

SWITCHING
 CIRCUIT SWITCHING

•Circuit switching is a switching technique that establishes a dedicated path

between sender and receiver.
•In the Circuit Switching Technique, once the connection is established then
the dedicated path will remain to exist until the connection is terminated.
•Circuit switching in a network operates in a similar way as the telephone
works.
•A complete end-to-end path must exist before the communication takes
place.
•Circuit switching is used in public telephone network. It is used for voice
transmission.
•Fixed data can be transferred at a time in circuit switching technology.
 CIRCUIT SWITCHING

Communication through circuit switching has 3 phases:

1.Circuit establishment
2.Data transfer
3.Circuit Disconnect
 CIRCUIT SWITCHING

Advantages Of Circuit Switching:

•In the case of Circuit Switching technique, the communication channel is
dedicated.
•It has fixed bandwidth.
Disadvantages Of Circuit Switching:
Once the dedicated path is established, the only delay occurs in the speed of
data transmission.
It is more expensive than other switching techniques as a dedicated path is
required for each connection.
It is inefficient to use because once the path is established and no data is
transferred, then the capacity of the path is wasted.
In this case, the connection is dedicated therefore no other data can be
transferred even if the channel is free.
 MESSAGE SWITCHING

•Message Switching is a switching technique in which a message is transferred

as a complete unit and routed through intermediate nodes at which it is stored
and forwarded.
•In Message Switching technique, there is no establishment of a dedicated
path between the sender and receiver.
•The destination address is appended to the message. Message Switching
provides a dynamic routing as the message is routed through the intermediate
nodes based on the information available in the message.
•Message switches are programmed in such a way so that they can provide the
most efficient routes.
•Each and every node stores the entire message and then forward it to the
next node. This type of network is known as store and forward network.
•Message switching treats each message as an independent entity.
 MESSAGE SWITCHING

Advantages Of Message Switching

Traffic congestion can be reduced because the message is temporarily stored
in the nodes.
Message priority can be used to manage the network.
Disadvantages Of Message Switching
The message switches must be equipped with sufficient storage to enable
them to store the messages until the message is forwarded.
The Long delay can occur due to the storing and forwarding facility provided
by the message switching technique.
 PACKET SWITCHING

•The packet switching is a switching technique in which the message is sent in

one go, but it is divided into smaller pieces, and they are sent individually.
•The message splits into smaller pieces known as packets and packets are
given a unique number to identify their order at the receiving end.
•Every packet contains some information in its headers such as source address,
destination address and sequence number.
•Packets will travel across the network, taking the shortest path as possible.
•All the packets are reassembled at the receiving end in correct order.
•If any packet is missing or corrupted, then the message will be sent to resend
the message.
•If the correct order of the packets is reached, then the acknowledgment
message will be sent.
PACKET SWITCHING
 Approaches Of Packet Switching:

Datagram Packet switching:

•It is a packet switching technology in which packet is known as a datagram, is

considered as an independent entity.

•Each packet contains the information about the destination and switch uses
this information to forward the packet to the correct destination.

•The packets are reassembled at the receiving end in correct order.

•In Datagram Packet Switching technique, the path is not fixed.

•Intermediate nodes take the routing decisions to forward the packets.

•Datagram Packet Switching is also known as connectionless switching.

 Approaches Of Packet Switching:

Virtual Circuit Switching

•Virtual Circuit Switching is also known as connection-oriented switching.

•In the case of Virtual circuit switching, a preplanned route is established

before the messages are sent.

•Call request and call accept packets are used to establish the connection
between sender and receiver.

•In this case, the path is fixed for the duration of a logical connection.