4

Data Communication
Week 4 Data and Signals
Susmini I. Lestariningati, M.T
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Digital Signal

• 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 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

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Bit Rate

• Most digital signals are

non periodic, and thus
period and frequency are
not appropriate
characteristics. Another
term bit rate (instead of
frequency) is used to
describe digital signals.

• The bit rate is the

number of bits sent in 1s,
expressed in bits per
second (bps).

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Example (1)

• 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.

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Example (2)

• Assume we need to download text documents at the rate of 100 pages per minute.
What is the required bit rate of the channel?

• Solution
• A page is an average of 24 lines with 80 characters in each line. If we assume
that one character requires 8 bits, the bit rate is

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Example (3)

• A digitized voice channel, as we will see in Chapter 4, is made by digitizing a 4-kHz

bandwidth analog voice signal. We need to sample the signal at twice the highest
frequency (two samples per hertz). We assume that each sample requires 8 bits. What
is the required bit rate?


• Solution
• The bit rate can be calculated as

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Example (4)

• What is the bit rate for high-definition TV (HDTV)?


• Solution
• HDTV uses digital signals to broadcast high quality video signals. The HDTV
screen is normally a ratio of 16 : 9. There are 1920 by 1080 pixels per screen, and
the screen is renewed 30 times per second. Twenty-four bits represents one color
pixel.

• The TV stations reduce this rate to 20 to 40 Mbps through compression.

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Bit Length

• The concept of the wavelength for an analog signal: the distance on cycle occupies
on the transmission medium

• We can define something similar for a digital signal: the bit length.

• The bit length is the distance one bit occupies on the transmission medium

Bit length = propagation speed x bit duration

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Digital Signal as a Composite Signal

• Based on Fourier analysisi, a digital signal is a composite analog signal. The

bandwidth is infinite, as you may have guessed. We can intuitively come up with this
concept when we consider a digital signal. A digital signal, in the time domain,
comprises connected vertical and horizontal line segments. A vertical line in the time
domain means a frequency of infinity (sudden change in time); a horizontal line in the
time domain means a frequency of zero (no change in time). Going from a frequency
of zero to a frequency of infinity (and vice versa) implies all frequencies in between are
part of the domain.

• Fourier analysis can be used to decompose a digital signal. If the digital signal is
periodic, which is rare in data communications, the decomposed signal has a
frequency-domain representation with an infinite bandwidth and discrete frequencies.
If the digital signal is nonperiodic, the decomposed signal still has an infinite
bandwidth, but the frequencies are continuous. Figure 3.17 shows a periodic and a
nonperiodic digital signal and their bandwidths.

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The time and frequency domains of periodic and nonperiodic

digital signals

• Note that both bandwidth are infinite, but the period signal has discrete frequencies
while the nonperiodic signal has continuous frequencies.

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Transmission of Digital Signal

• The previous discussion asserts that a digital signal, periodic or nonperiodic, is a

composite analog signal with frequencies between zero and infinity. For the remainder
of the discussion, let us consider the case of a nonperiodic digital signal, similar to
the ones we encounter in data communications.

• The fundamental question is, How can we send a digital signal from point A to point
B?

• We can transmit a digital signal by using one of two different approaches:

baseband transmission or broadband transmission (using modulation)

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Baseband Transmission (1)

• Baseband transmission means sending a digital signal over a channel without

changing the digital signal to an analog signal.

• Figure below shows baseband transmission.

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Baseband Transmission (2)

• Baseband transmission requires that we have a low pass channel, a channel with a
bandwidth that starts from zero. This is the case if we have a dedicated medium with
a bandwidth constituting only one channel. For example, the entire bandwidth of a
cable connecting two computers is one single channel. As another example, we may
connect several computers to a bus, but not allow more than two stations to
communicate at a time. Again we have a low-pass channel, and we can use it for
baseband communication. Figure 3.19 shows two low-pass channels: one with a
narrow bandwidth and the other with a wide bandwidth. We need to remember that a
low-pass channel with infinite band- width is ideal, but we cannot have such a
channel in real life. However, we can get close.

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Broadband Transmission (using Modulation)

• Broadband transmission or modulation means changing the digital signal to an

analog signal for transmission. Modulation allows us to use a bandpass channel-a
channel with a bandwidth that does not start from zero. This type of channel is more
available than a low-pass channel.

• Note that a low-pass channel can be considered a bandpass channel with the lower
frequency starting at zero.

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Modulation of a digital signal for transmission on a bandpass

channel
• In the figure, a digital signal is converted to a composite analog signal. We have used
a single-frequency analog signal (called a carrier); the amplitude of the carrier has
been changed to look like the digital signal. The result, however, is not a single-
frequency signal; it is a composite signal, as we will see in Chapter 5. At the receiver,
the received analog signal is converted to digital, and the result is a replica of what
has been sent.

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Example

• An example of broadband transmission using modulation is the sending of computer

data through a telephone subscriber line, the line connecting a resident to the central
telephone office. These lines are designed to carry voice with a limited bandwidth.
The channel is considered a bandpass channel. We convert the digital signal from the
computer to an analog signal, and send the analog signal. We can install two
converters to change the digital signal to analog and vice versa at the receiving end.
The converter, in this case, is called a modem.

• A second example is the digital cellular telephone. For better reception, digital cellular
phones convert the analog voice signal to a digital signal. Although the bandwidth
allocated to a company providing digital cellular phone service is very wide, we still
cannot send the digital signal without conversion. The reason is that we only have a
bandpass channel available between caller and callee. We need to convert the
digitized voice to a composite analog signal before sending.

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Transmission Impairment

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Transmission Impairment

• Signals travel through transmission media, which are not perfect. The imperfection
causes signal impairment. This means that the signal at the beginning of the medium
is not the same as the signal at the end of the medium. What is sent is not what is
received. Three causes of impairment are attenuation, distortion, and noise.

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Attenuation

• Attenuation means a loss of energy. When a signal, simple or composite, travels

through a medium, it loses some of its energy in overcoming the resistance of the
medium. That is why a wire carrying electric signals gets warm, if not hot, after a
while. Some of the electrical energy in the signal is converted to heat. To compensate
for this loss, amplifiers are used to amplify the signal. Figure 3.26 shows the effect of
attenuation and amplification.

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Decibel
Decibel Decibel
To show
•
that a signal has lost or gained strength, engineers use the unit of the decibel.
To show that a signal has lost or gained strength, engineers use the unit of the
The• decibel
show(dB)
Todecibel. Theameasures
that decibel
signal has the
(dB)lostrelative
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ferentThe decibel
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is amplified.

signal is amplified.

• Variables PI and P2 are the powers of a signal at points 1 and 2, respectively. Note that
•Variables P1 and P2 are the powers of a signal at points 1 and 2, respectively. Note
Variables
somePI and P 2 are
engineering the define
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20 log 10 (V2IV1). In this text, we express dB in terms of power.

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Example (1)

• Suppose a signal travels through a transmission medium and its power is reduced to
one-half. This means that P2 is (1/2)P1. In this case, the attenuation (loss of power)
can be calculated as

A loss of 3 dB (–3 dB) is equivalent to losing one-half the power.

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Example (2)

• A signal travels through an amplifier, and its power is increased 10 times. This means
that P2 = 10P1 . In this case, the amplification (gain of power) can be calculated as

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Example (3)

• One reason that engineers use the decibel to measure the changes in the strength of
a signal is that decibel numbers can be added (or subtracted) when we are measuring
several points (cascading) instead of just two. In Figure of a signal travels from point 1
to point 4.

• In this case, the decibel value can be calculated as

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Example (4)

• Sometimes the decibel is used to measure signal power in milliwatts. In this case, it is
referred to as dBm and is calculated as dBm = 10 log10 Pm , where Pm is the power
in milliwatts. Calculate the power of a signal with dBm = −30.

• Solution

• We can calculate the power in the signal as

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• The loss in a cable is usually defined in decibels per kilometer (dB/km). If the signal at
the beginning of a cable with −0.3 dB/km has a power of 2 mW, what is the power of
the signal at 5 km?

• Solution

• The loss in the cable in decibels is 5 × (−0.3) = −1.5 dB. We can calculate the
power as

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Distortion

• Distortion means that the signal changes its form or shape. Distortion can occure in a
composite signal made of different frequencies. Each signal component has its own
propagation speed (see the next section) through a medium and, therefore, its own
delay in arriving at the final destination. Differences in delay may create a difference in
phase if the delay is not exactly the same as the period duration. In other words,
signal components at the receiver have phases different from what they had at the
sender. The shape of the composite signal is therefore not the same.

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Noise

• Several type of noice, such as termal noise, induced noise, crosstalk, and impulse
noise, may corrupt the signal.

• Thermal noise is the random motion of electrons in a wire which creates an extra signal not
originally sent by the transmitter.

• Induced noise comes from sources such as motors and appliances. These devices act as a
sending antenna, and the transmission medium acts as the receiving antenna.

• Crosstalk is the effect of one wire on the other. One wire acts as a sending antenna and the
other as the receiving antenna.

• Impulse noise is a spike (a signal with high energy in a very short time) that comes from
power lines, lightning, and so on.

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SNR in Decibel

• The values of SNR and SNRdB for a noiseless channel are

• We can never achieve this ratio in real life; it is an ideal.

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• The power of a signal is 10 mW and the power of the noise is 1 μW; what are the
values of SNR and SNRdB ?

• Solution

• The values of SNR and SNRdB can be calculated as follows:

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Two cases of SNR: a high SNR and a low SNR

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Data Rate Limits

• A very important consideration in data communications is how fast we can send data,
in bits per second, 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)

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Exercise

1. What is the bit rate for a signal in which 1 bit last 0.001s?

2. A signal travels from point A to point B. At point A, the signal power is 100W. At point
B, the power is 90 W. What is the attenuation in decibels?

3. Two transmitters are each operating with a transmit power level of 100mW. When you
compare the two absolute power levels, what is the result in dB?

4. A transmitter is configured to use a power level of 17mW. One day it is reconfigured to

transmit at a new power level of 34 mW. How much has the power level increased in
dB?

5. A signal has passed through three cascade amplifiers, each with a 4dB gain. What is
the total gain? How much is the signal amplified?

6. A signal with 200 milliwatts power passes through 10 devices, each with an average
noise of 2microwatts. What is the SNR? What is the SNRdB?

7. What is the theoretical capacity of a channel in each of Bandwidth 20KHz, SNRdB =

40?

8. What is the length of a bit in a channel with propagation speed of 2 x 108 m/s. If the
channel bandwidth is 1 Mbps?

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