Lecture 5

Bit Rate of Digital Signal

From ch3
 Signal Element and Data Element
Data element: a piece of information (bit) need to send
signal element : shortest time unit of a digital signal
represent one or more bits that we can send
Data elements: are being carried;
Signal elements are the carriers
r: a ratio define the number of data elements carried by signal
element.
(r = number of data elements / number of signal elements)
 Signal Element and Data Element
(r = number of data elements / signal element )
part a :one data element carried by one signal element (r = 1)
part b:one data element is carried by 2 signal elements
(2 transitions) to carry (r = 1/2).
part c : a signal element carries 2 data elements (r = 2/1).
part d : a group of 4 bits is being carried by a group of three
signal elements (r = 4/3).
Data Rate Versus Signal Rate depend
• N:
on r value
Data rate : number of data elements (bits)/1s (bps)
called bit rate
• S: Signal rate: the number of signal elements sent in
1sec called baud rate
• baud rate = signal rate = pulse rate= modulation rate

Relationship between data rate & Baud rate depends on:

1- the value of r.
2-the data pattern.
Transmitting data of all 1s or all 0s may need baud rate
different from other data pattern.
The formula of the relationship between data rate and
signal rate S = f x N x 1/r
Data Rate Versus Signal Rate depend r value

The formula of the relationship between data rate and

baud rate S = f x N x 1/r (S = Bmin)
Where :
S: the number of baud (signal) rates (minim bandwidth)
N : the date rate (bit rate) bps;
r :the number of data elements /number of signal element
(baud tare)
f: the case factor, which varies depend on 3 cases :
The best case: when we need the minimum signal rate
The worst case: when we need the maximum signal rat
The average case factor: usually used f=1/2
Note:
Decreasing signal rate decreases the required4-5bandwidth.
Relationship between data (bit) rate and signal rate
Example:
A signal is carrying data in which one data
element is encoded as one signal element. If the
bit rate is 100 kbps, what is the average value of
the baud rate if f is between 0 and l?
Solution

Assume the average value of f =1/2.

The baud rate is :
S =f x N x 1/r = 1/2 x 100,000 x 1/1 = 50,000 =50 kbaud
 Relation between maximum bit rate and signal rate
• The minimum bandwidth: Bmin = f x N x 1/r

• The maximum bit rate (i.e. capacity): Nmax = 1/f x B x r

• The maximum data rate of a channel defined by the

Nyquist formula is C = 2 x B x log2L.
Does this agree with the previous formula for Nmax?
Answer
Yes
So, we have: Nmax = C = 1/f x B x r = 2 x B x log2L (prove)

If L=4 then log2L = log2 4 =2 this mean each signal

element carry 2 bits then r= 2. so equality is correct
 Relation between maximum bit rate and signal rate

If L=4 then log2L = log2 4 =2

this mean each signal element carry 2 bits
Then r= 2. So, equality is correct
For 4 signal level,
Each 2 data elements are carried by one signal
element. So, r=2/1=2
Nmax = 1/f x B x r = 1/(1/2) B x 2=2 B x 2=4B
Nmax = 2 x B x log2L = 2 x B x log24 =2 B x2=4B
So, Nmax = 1/f x B x r = 2 x B x log2L
 Note

Bit rate N: is the number of bits per sec(bps).

Baud rate: is the number of signal
elements per second (bauds).
In the analog transmission of digital data, the
signal or baud rate is less than
or equal to the bit rate.
S=Nx1/r bauds
Where r: is the number of data bits per
signal element.
 Example

An analog signal carries 4 bits per signal element. If

1000 signal elements are sent per second, find the bit
rate.

Solution
In this case, r = 4, S = 1000, and N is unknown. We can
find the value of N from
 Example

An analog signal has a bit rate of 8000 bps and a baud rate
of 1000 baud. How many data elements are carried by each
signal element? How many signal elements do we need?

Solution
In this example, S = 1000, N = 8000, and r and L are
unknown. We find first the value of r and then the value of L.
 DATA RATE LIMITS
• A very important consideration in data
communications is how fast we can send data, in
bits per second (bps), over a channel.
• Data rate depends on three factors:
1. The bandwidth available
2. The level of the signals we use
3. The quality of the channel (the level of noise)

Increase the number of signal levels increases the bit rate.

but,
the probability of an occurring error also increase.
This lead to reduces the reliability of the system. Why??
 Capacity of a System
◼ A symbol of signal may carry a single bit or “n” bits.
◼ The number of signal levels = 2n.
◼ As the number of levels increased the spacing between
level decreases. So, the probability of error is increased
due to the presence of transmission impairments.

Threshold
Level
Nyquist Theorem (Noiseless channel)
◼ Nyquist Theorem calculate the upper bound of the bit
rate in the transmission system from the number of
bits in a symbol (or signal levels) and the bandwidth of
the system,
◼ Nyquist theorem assumptions are based on:
2 symbols/ cycle - first harmonic - noiseless channel:

C = 2 B log22n
2n= number of signal levels
n=number of bits/symbol
C= capacity in bps = upper bit rate
B = bandwidth in Hz
 Example
Consider a noiseless channel with a bandwidth of 3000
Hz transmitting a signal with two signal levels (one bit/
signal level). The maximum bit rate can be calculated as

Example
Consider the same noiseless channel transmitting a
signal with four signal levels (for each level, we send 2
bits). The maximum bit rate can be calculated as
 Example
We need to send 265 kbps over a noiseless channel with
a bandwidth of 20 kHz. How many signal levels do we
need?
Solution
We can use the Nyquist formula as shown:

Since this result is not a power of 2, we need to either

increase the number of levels or reduce the bit rate. If we
have 128 levels, the bit rate is 280 kbps. If we have 64
levels, the bit rate is 240 kbps.
 Shannon’s Theorem (noisy channel)
◼ Shannon’s theorem gives the capacity (upper
bound of bit rate) of a system in the presence
of noise.

C = B log2(1 + SNR)
Example
The signal-to-noise ratio is often given in decibels. Assume
that SNRdB = 36 and the channel bandwidth is 2 MHz. The
theoretical channel capacity can be calculated as
Example
Consider an extremely noisy channel in which the value of
the signal-to-noise ratio is almost zero.
In other words, the noise is so strong that the signal is
faint (very weak). What is capicty of this channel

This means that the capacity of this channel is zero

regardless of the bandwidth.
In other words, we cannot receive any data through this
channel.
Example
We can calculate the theoretical highest bit rate of a
regular telephone line.
A telephone line normally has a bandwidth of 3 KHz. The
signal-to-noise ratio is usually 3162.
For this channel the capacity is calculated as

This means that the highest bit rate for a telephone line is
34.860 kbps.
If we want to send data faster than this, we can either
increase the bandwidth of the line or improve the signal-
to-noise ratio.
Example
We have a channel with a 1-MHz bandwidth. The SNR for
this channel is 63. What are the appropriate bit rate and
signal level?
Solution
First, we use the Shannon formula to find the upper limit.

The Shannon formula gives us the upper limit of 6 Mbps,.

Find the number of signal levels.
For better performance we choose something lower, 4
Mbps, for example.
Then we use the Nyquist formula to find the number of
signal levels.
Example
For practical purposes, when the SNR is very high, we can
assume that SNR + 1 is almost the same as SNR. In these
cases, the theoretical channel capacity can be simplified to

calculate the theoretical capacity of channel with a 2-MHz

bandwidth and that SNRdB =36.

Note

The Shannon capacity gives us the upper limit;

the Nyquist formula tells us how many signal
levels we need.
 PERFORMANCE
One important issue in networking is the performance of
the network: how good is it? We discuss quality of service
(QoS) an overall measurement of network performance.
QoS measured through bandwidth, throughput, Delay
times
Note 1- Bandwidth: In networking, we
use the term bandwidth in two contexts.
▪ The first, bandwidth in hertz: when refers to the
range of frequencies in analogue signals of the
range of frequencies that a channel can pass.
▪ The second, bandwidth in bits/second: when
refers to the speed of bit transmission in a
channel or link. Often referred to as Capacity.
 Example
The bandwidth of a subscriber line is 4 kHz for voice or
data.
For data transmission This line Can carry be up to 56
kbps using a sophisticated modem to change the digital
signal to analog.
Example
If the telephone company improves the quality of the line
and increases the bandwidth to 8 kHz,
we can send 112 kbps by using the same technology of
previous Example.
 2- Throughput
what is amount of Data can be get out using the available
Bandwidth
A network with bandwidth of 10 Mbps can pass only an
average of 12,000 frames per minute.
Each frame carrying an average of 10,000 bits.
What is the throughput of this network?
Solution
We can calculate the throughput as

The throughput is almost one-fifth of the bandwidth in

this case.
 Propagation & Transmission Delay
◼ Propagation speed: speed at which a bit travels
though the medium from source to destination.
◼ Transmission speed: the speed at which all the
bits in a message arrive at the destination.
(difference in arrival time of first and last bit)

• Propagation Delay Time = Distance/Propagation speed

• Transmission Delay Time = Message size/bandwidth bps

• Latency = Propagation delay + Transmission delay +

Queueing time + Processing time
Example
What are the propagation time and the transmission time
for a 2.5-kbyte message if the bandwidth of the network is
1 Gbps? If the distance between the sender and the
receiver is 12,000 km and the bit travels at 2.4 × 108 m/s.
Solution
Propagation Delay Time = Distance/Propagation speed
Transmission Delay Time = Message size/bandwidth bps

Note:
Because the message is short and the bandwidth is high, the
dominant factor is the propagation time, not the transmission time.
So, The transmission time can be ignored.
Example
What are the propagation time and the transmission time
for a 5-Mbyte message if the bandwidth of the network is 1
Mbps? Assume that the distance between the sender and the
receiver is 12,000 km and that light travels at 2.4 × 108 m/s.
Solution
We can calculate the propagation and transmission times as
shown on the next slide.

Note:
Because the message is very long and the bandwidth is not
very high, the dominant factor is the transmission time,
not the propagation time. The propagation time can be
ignored.
 The bandwidth-delay product
We can think about the link between two points as a pipe.
The cross section of the pipe represents the bandwidth, and
the length of the pipe represents the delay.
We can say the volume of the pipe defines the bandwidth-
delay product.
The bandwidth-delay product defines the
number of bits that can fill the link.
Figure: Filling the link with bits for case 1