Lecture 2a

Data and Signals

3.1
  One of the major concerns of the physical layer lies in moving data in the
form of electromagnetic signals across a transmission medium.
 Whether we are collecting numerical statistics from another computer,
sending animated pictures from a design workstation or causing a bell to
ring at a distant control center, we are working with the transmission of
data across network connections.
 Generally, the data usable to a person or application are not in a form that
can be transmitted over a network.
 For example, we cannot roll up a photograph, insert it into a wire, and
transmit it across town. We can, however, transmit an encoded description
of the photography.
 Instead of sending the actual photograph, we can use an encoder to create
a stream of 1s and 0s that tell the receiving device how to reconstruct the
image of the photograph.
 We cannot even send 1s and 0s across network links.
 They must be further converted to a form that transmission media can
accept.

3.2
  Transmission media work by conducting energy along a physical
path. So a data stream of 1s and 0s must be turned into energy in
the form of electromagnetic signals.
 So, in order to transmit the data, it must be converted into
electromagnetic signals.
 Almost all signals (analog or digital) used for communication are
converted into electromagnetic signals and are part of the
electromagnetic spectrum
 Radio waves, television waves, and microwaves etc are all types of
electromagnetic waves. They only differ from each other in
wavelength
 Wavelength is the distance between one wave crest (top) to the
next.
 Waves in the electromagnetic spectrum vary in size from very long
radio waves i.e. the size of buildings, to very short gamma rays
smaller than the size of the nucleus of an atom

3.3
 3-1 ANALOG AND DIGITAL

Data can be analog or digital. The term analog data refers

to information that is continuous; digital data refers to
information that has discrete states. Analog data take on
continuous values. Digital data take on discrete values.

Topics discussed in this section:

Analog and Digital Data
Analog and Digital Signals
Periodic and Nonperiodic Signals

3.4
 Note

Data can be analog or digital.

Analog data are continuous and take
continuous values.
Digital data have discrete states and
take discrete values.

3.5
 Figure 3.1 Comparison of analog and digital signals

3.6
 Note

In data communications, we commonly

use periodic analog signals and
nonperiodic digital signals.

3.7
 Figure 3.2 A sine wave: Value along y-axis, time along x-axis

3.8
 Figure 3.3 Two signals with the same phase and frequency,
but different amplitudes

3.9
 •Amplitude is the maximum voltage reached by the signal. It is measured in volts.

•Peak voltage is another name for amplitude.

•Time period is the time taken for the signal to complete one cycle. It is measured in seconds
(s), but time periods tend to be short so milliseconds and microseconds are often used.

•Frequency is the number of cycles per second. It is measured in hertz (Hz),

3.10
 Frequency
• Frequency is the rate of change with
respect to time.
• Change in a short span of time means
high frequency.
• Change over a long span of
time means low frequency.

3.11
 Frequency and period are the inverse of
each other.

•Mains electricity in the UK has a frequency of 50Hz, so it has a time period

1
of /50 = 0.02s = 20ms.

This means that in one second there are 50 cycles.

3.12
 What is the effect of increasing amplitude and frequency

3.13
 Figure 3.4 Two signals with the same amplitude and phase,
but different frequencies

3.14
 Example 3.3

The power we use at home has a frequency of 60 Hz.

The period of this sine wave can be determined as
follows:

3.15
 Example 3.5

The period of a signal is 100 ms. What is its frequency in

kilohertz?

Solution
First we change 100 ms to seconds, and then we
calculate the frequency from the period (1 Hz = 10 −3
kHz).

3.16
 Note

Frequency is the rate of change with

respect to time.

Change in a short span of time

means high frequency.

Change over a long span of

time means low frequency.

3.17
 Note

If a signal does not change at all, its

frequency is zero.
If a signal changes instantaneously, its
frequency is infinite.

3.18
 Note

A single-frequency sine wave is not

useful in data communications;
we need to send a composite signal, a
signal made of many simple sine waves.

3.19
 Note

Phase describes the position of the

waveform relative to time 0.

3.20
 Figure 3.5 Three sine waves with the same amplitude and frequency,
but different phases

3.21
 Example 3.3

A sine wave is offset 1/6 cycle with respect to time 0.

What is its phase in degrees and radians?

Solution
We know that 1 complete cycle is 360°. Therefore, 1/6
cycle is

3.22
 Figure 3.7 The time-domain and frequency-domain plots of a sine wave

3.23
 Note

A complete sine wave in the time

domain can be represented by one
single spike in the frequency domain.

3.24
 Example 3.7

The frequency domain is more compact and

useful when we are dealing with more than one
sine wave. For example, Figure 3.8 shows three
sine waves, each with different amplitude and
frequency. All can be represented by three
spikes in the frequency domain.

3.25
 Figure 3.8 The time domain and frequency domain of three sine waves

3.26
 Composite Signals and
Periodicity
 If the composite signal is periodic, the
decomposition gives a series of
signals with discrete frequencies.
 If the composite signal is nonperiodic,
the decomposition gives a
combination of sine waves with
continuous frequencies.

3.27
 Figure 3.9 A composite periodic signal

3.28
 Figure 3.10 Decomposition of a composite periodic signal in the time and
frequency domains

3.29
 Note

The bandwidth of a composite signal is

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

3.30
 Figure 3.12 The bandwidth of periodic and nonperiodic composite signals

3.31
 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).
3.32
 Figure 3.13 The bandwidth for Example 3.6

3.33
 Example 3.7

A periodic signal has a bandwidth of 20 Hz. The highest

frequency is 60 Hz. What is the lowest frequency? Draw
the spectrum if the signal contains all frequencies of the
same amplitude.
Solution
Let fh be the highest frequency, fl the lowest frequency,
and B the bandwidth. Then

The spectrum contains all integer frequencies. We show

this by a series of spikes (see Figure 3.14).
3.34
 Figure 3.14 The bandwidth for Example 3.7

3.35
 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.

3.36
 Figure 3.15 The bandwidth for Example 3.8

3.37
 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.

3.38
 Figure 3.16 Two digital signals: one with two signal levels and the other
with four signal levels

3.39
 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.

3.40