Basic elements of a telecommunication system

Transmitter

Transmitter (information source) that takes information and converts it to a signal for
transmission. In electronics andtelecommunications a transmitter or radio transmitter is
an electronic device which, with the aid of an antenna, produces radio waves. In addition to their
use in broadcasting, transmitters are necessary component parts of many electronic devices that
communicate byradio, such as cell phones,

Copper wires

Transmission medium

Transmission medium over which the signal is transmitted. For example, the transmission
medium for sounds is usually air, but solids and liquids may also act as transmission media for
sound. Many transmission media are used as communications channel. One of the most common
physical medias used in networking is copper wire. Copper wire to carry signals to long
distances using relatively low amounts of power.Another example of a physical medium
is optical fiber, which has emerged as the most commonly used transmission medium for longdistance communications. Optical fiber is a thin strand of glass that guides light along its length.
The absence of a material medium in vacuum may also constitute a transmission medium
for electromagnetic waves such as light and radio waves.
Receiver

Receiver (information sink) that receives and converts the signal back into required information.
In radio communications, a radio receiver is an electronic device that receives radio waves and
converts the information carried by them to a usable form. It is used with an antenna. The
information produced by the receiver may be in the form of sound (an audio signal), images
(a video signal) or digital data.

Wireless communication tower, cell site

Wired communication
Wired communications make use of underground communications cables (less often, overhead
lines), electronic signal amplifiers (repeaters) inserted into connecting cables at specified points,
and terminal apparatus of various types, depending on the type of wired communications used.

Wireless communication
Wireless communication involves the transmission of information over a distance without help
of wires, cables or any other forms of electrical conductors.[19] Wireless operations permit
services, such as long-range communications, that are impossible or impractical to implement
with the use of wires. The term is commonly used in the telecommunications industry to refer to
telecommunications systems (e.g. radio transmitters and receivers, remote controls etc.) which
use some form of energy (e.g. radio waves, acoustic energy, etc.) to transfer information without
the use of wires.[20] Information is transferred in this manner over both short and long distances.

Transmitter
In electronics and telecommunications a transmitter or radio transmitter is an electronic
device which generates a radio frequency alternating current. When a connected antenna is
excited by this alternating current, the antenna emits radio waves.
In addition to their use in broadcasting, transmitters are necessary component parts of many
electronic devices that communicate by radio, such as cell phones, wireless computer
networks, Bluetooth enabled devices, garage door openers,two-way radios in aircraft, ships,
spacecraft, radar sets and navigational beacons. The term transmitter is usually limited to

equipment that generates radio waves for communication purposes; or radiolocation, such
as radar and navigational transmitters. Generators of radio waves for heating or industrial
purposes, such as microwave ovens or diathermy equipment, are not usually called transmitters
even though they often have similar circuits.
The term is popularly used more specifically to refer to a broadcast transmitter, a transmitter
used in broadcasting, as in FM radio transmitter or television transmitter. This usage typically
includes both the transmitter proper, the antenna, and often the building it is housed in.
An unrelated use of the term is in industrial process control, where a "transmitter" is
a telemetry device which converts measurements from a sensor into a signal, and sends it,
usually via wires, to be received by some display or control device located a distance away.

Transmission medium
A transmission medium is a material substance (solid, liquid, gas, or plasma) that
can propagate energy waves. For example, the transmission medium for soundsis usually air, but
solids and liquids may also act as transmission media for sound.
The absence of a material medium in vacuum may also constitute a transmission medium
for electromagnetic waves such as light and radio waves. While material substance is not
required for electromagnetic waves to propagate, such waves are usually affected by the
transmission media they pass through, for instance byabsorption or by reflection or refraction at
the interfaces between media.
The term transmission medium also refers to a technical device that employs the material
substance to transmit or guide waves. Thus, an optical fiber or a copper cable is a transmission
medium. Not only this but also is able to guide the transmission of networks.
A transmission medium can be classified as a:

Linear medium, if different waves at any particular point in the medium can
be superposed;
Bounded medium, if it is finite in extent, otherwise unbounded medium;
Uniform medium or homogeneous medium, if its physical properties are unchanged at
different points;
Isotropic medium, if its physical properties are the same in different directions.

Coaxial cable, one example of atransmission medium

Electromagnetic radiation can be transmitted through an optical medium, such as optical fiber, or
through twisted pair wires,coaxial cable, or dielectric-slab waveguides. It may also pass through
any physical material that is transparent to the specificwavelength, such as water, air, glass,
or concrete. Sound is, by definition, the vibration of matter, so it requires a physical medium for
transmission, as do other kinds of mechanical waves and heat energy. Historically, science
incorporated variousaether theories to explain the transmission medium. However, it is now
known that electromagnetic waves do not require a physical transmission medium, and so can
travel through the "vacuum" of free space. Regions of the insulative vacuum can
become conductive for electrical conduction through the presence of free electrons, holes,
or ions.
Transmission and reception of data is performed in four steps.
1. The data is coded as binary numbers at the sender end
2. A carrier signal is modulated as specified by the binary representation of the data
3. At the receiving end, the incoming signal is demodulated into the respective binary
numbers
4. Decoding of the binary numbers is performed[1]

Radio receiver
In radio communications, a radio receiver (commonly also called a radio) is an electronic
device that receives radio wavesand converts the information carried by them to a usable form. It
is used with an antenna. The antenna intercepts radio waves (electromagnetic waves) and
converts them to tiny alternating currents which are applied to the receiver, and the receiver
extracts the desired information. The receiver uses electronic filters to separate the desired radio
frequency signal from all the other signals picked up by the antenna, an electronic amplifier to

increase the power of the signal for further processing, and finally recovers the desired
information through demodulation.
The information produced by the receiver may be in the form of sound (an audio signal), images
(a video signal) or digital data.[1] A radio receiver may be a separate piece of electronic
equipment, or an electronic circuit within another device. Devices that contain radio receivers
include television sets, radar equipment, two-way radios, cell phones, wireless computer
networks, GPS navigation devices, satellite dishes, radio telescopes, bluetooth enabled
devices, garage door openers, andbaby monitors.
In consumer electronics, the terms radio and radio receiver are often used specifically for
receivers designed to reproduce the audio (sound) signals transmitted by radio
broadcasting stations, historically the first mass-market commercial radioapplication.

Wired communication
Wired communication refers to the transmission of data over a wire-based communication
technology. Examples include telephone networks, cable television orinternet access, and fiberoptic communication. Also waveguide (electromagnetism), used for high-power applications, is
considered as wired line. Local telephone networks often form the basis for wired
communications that are used by both residential and business customers in the area. Most of the
networks today rely on the use of fiber-optic communication technology as a means of providing
clear signaling for both inbound and outbound transmissions. Fiber optics are capable of
accommodating far more signals than the older copper wiring used in generations past, while still
maintaining the integrity of the signal over longer distances.
Alternatively, communication technologies that don't rely on wires to transmit information (voice
or data) are considered wireless.
The legal definition of most, if not all, wireless technologies today or "apparatus, and services
(among other things, the receipt, forwarding, and delivery of communications) incidental to such
transmission" are a wire communication as defined in the Communications act of 1934 in 47
U.S.C. 153 (59). This makes everything online today and all wireless phones a use of wire
communications[1] by law whether a physical connection to wire is visible or is not.
The Communications act of 1934 created the Federal Communications Commission to replace
the Federal Radio Commission. If there were no real wired communications today, there would
be no online and there would be no mobile phones or nothing wireless except satellite
communications.

In general, wired communications are considered to be the most stable of all types of
communications services. They are relatively impervious to adverse weather conditions when
compared to wireless solutions. With some forms of wired services, the strength and speed of the
transmission is superior to other solutions, such as satellite or microwave transmissions. These
characteristics have allowed wired communications to remain popular, even as wireless solutions
have continued to advance.

Wireless
Wireless communication is the transfer of information or power between two or more points
that are not connected by an electrical conductor. The most common wireless technologies
use radio. With radio waves distances can be short, such as a few meters for television or as far
as thousands or even millions of kilometers for deep-space radio communications. It
encompasses various types of fixed, mobile, and portable applications, including two-way
radios, cellular telephones,personal digital assistants (PDAs), and wireless networking. Other
examples of applications of radio wireless technologyinclude GPS units, garage door openers,
wireless computer mice, keyboards and headsets, headphones, radio receivers,satellite
television, broadcast television and cordless telephones.
Somewhat less common methods of achieving wireless communications include the use of
other electromagnetic wireless technologies, such as light, magnetic, or electric fields or the use
of sound. The term wireless has been used twice in communications history, with slightly
different meaning. It was initially used from about 1890 for the first radio transmitting and
receiving technology, as in wireless telegraphy, until the new word radio replaced it around
1920. The term was revived in the 1980s and 1990s mainly to distinguish digital devices that
communicate without wires, such as the examples listed in the previous paragraph, from those
that require wires or cables. This is its primary usage in the 2000s. LTE, LTE-Advanced, WiFi and Bluetooth are common modern wireless technologies used in the 2000s.
Wireless operations permit services, such as long-range communications, that are impossible or
impractical to implement with the use of wires. The term is commonly used in
the telecommunications industry to refer to telecommunications systems (e.g. radio transmitters
and receivers, remote controls, etc.) which use some form of energy (e.g. radio waves, acoustic
energy,) to transfer information without the use of wires.[1] Information is transferred in this
manner over both short and long distances.