Chapter 3

Physical Layer

Schedule: MW 1:30 PM – 2:45 PM, Tahoe Hall 1026

Instructor: Dr. Sadaf Ashtari
 Overview


Today!
 Outline
• Circuits and Data Flow
• Multiplexing
• Media
• Digital Transmission of Digital Data
• Analog Transmission of Digital Data
• Digital Transmission of Analog Data
• Implications for Management
 Analog Transmission of Digital Data

• Telephone system built for analog data

– Electrical signals mimic sound waves (i.e., voice)
– Analog transmissions take on range of values (vs.
discrete values of digital transmissions)
– Need a modem (modulator/demodulator) to
convert from analog to digital and vice versa
 Analog Transmission of Digital Data
• A well known example
– Using phone lines to connect PCs to Internet
• PCs generates digital data
• Phone lines use analog transmission technology
• Modems translate digital data into analog signals

Internet
M

Phone line Telephone

Network
PC M Analog
transmission
Digital data Central Office (Telco)
 Analog Transmission of Digital Data
• Three characteristics of waves
1. Amplitude: Height of wave (decibels)- Measured in (dB)
2. Frequency: Number of waves per second (hertz)
• Measured in Hertz (cycles/second)
• Wavelength, the length of the wave from crest to crest, is related to
frequency
3. Phase: Wave direction (degrees) or the point at which the
wave begins
 Modulation
• Modification of a carrier wave’s fundamental
characteristics in order to encode information
– Carrier wave:
• Basic sound wave transmitted through the circuit (provides a base
which we can deviate)
• Basic ways to modulate a carrier wave:
– Amplitude Modulation (AM)
• Also known as Amplitude Shift Keying (ASK)
– Frequency Modulation (FM)
• Also known as Frequency Shift Keying (FSK)
– Phase Modulation (PM)
• Also known as Phase Shift Keying (PSK)
Analog Transmission of Digital Data
• Amplitude
Modulation

• Frequency
Modulation

• Phase
Modulation
Analog Transmission of Digital Data
• Symbol: One or more modifications to a carrier
wave used to encode data
• Can send 1 bit by defining two different symbols
(e.g., amplitudes, frequencies, etc.)
• Can send multiple bits by defining more than two
symbols
– Need more complicated information coding schemes
– 1 bit of information  2 symbols
– 2 bits of information  4 symbols
– 3 bits of information  8 symbols
n
– n bits of information  2 symbols
 Analog Transmission of Digital Data
• Two-bit Amplitude Modulation
– With 4 levels of amplitude defined as symbols, 2
bits can be transmitted per symbol
 Combined Modulation Techniques
• Combining AM, FM, and PM on the same circuit
– Symbol rates must be the same!
• Examples
– QAM = 4 bits- Quadrature Amplitude Modulation
• A widely used family of encoding schemes
– Combine Amplitude and Phase Modulation
• A common form: 16-QAM
– Uses 8 different phase shifts and 2 different amplitude levels
» 16 possible symbols  4 bits/symbol
 Bandwidth for a Voice Circuit
• Difference between the highest and lowest frequencies
in a band or set if frequencies
• Human hearing frequency range: 20 Hz to 14 kHz
– Bandwidth = 14,000 – 20 = 13,980 Hz
• Voice circuit frequency range: 0 Hz to 4 kHz
– Designed for most commonly used range of human voice
• Phone lines transmission capacity is much bigger
– 1 MHz for lines up to 2 miles from a telephone exchange
– 300 kHz for lines 2-3 miles away
Analog Transmission of Digital Data
• Data rate (or bit rate) is the number of bits transmitted per
second
• Symbol rate: number of symbols transmitted per second
Data rate = symbol rate × (# bits/symbol)

• Example
Symbol rate = 16,000 symbols/sec
#bits/symbol = 4 bits/symbol

Data rate = 16,000 symbols/sec × 4 bits/symbol

= 64,000 bits/sec = 64Kbps
 Watch your UNITS
• Analog Data Rates
• Frequency Hz
– (waves/second)
Baud Rate
• Symbol Rate
– (waves/second)  (waves/symbol) = symbols/second
• Bit Rate
– (bits/symbol)  (symbols/second) = bits/second

Modulation
Data Rate
 Data Capacity of a Voice Circuit
• Fastest rate at which you can send your data over
the circuit (in bits per second)
• Depends on modulation (bits per symbol and symbol rate)
• Max. Symbol rate = bandwidth (if no noise)
• Maximum voice circuit capacity:
– Using QAM with 4 bits per symbol (n = 4)
– Max. voice channel carrier wave frequency: 4000 Hz =
max. symbol rate (under perfect conditions)
• Data rate = 4 bits per symbol * 4000 symbols per second
• Data rate = 16,000 bps
Digital Transmission of Analog Data
• Analog voice data sent over digital network
using digital transmission
• Requires a pair of special devices called Codec
- Coder/decoder
– A device that converts an analog signal into digital
form
• Also converts it back to analog data at the receiving end
– Used by the phone system
 Translating from Analog to Digital
• Done by a technique called Pulse Amplitude Modulation
(PAM) involving 4 steps:
1. Take samples of the continuously varying analog signal across
time
2. Measure the amplitude of each signal sample
3. Encode the amplitude measurement of the signal as binary
data
4. Send the discrete, digital bit stream that approximates the
original analog signal
• Creates a rough (digitized) approximation of original signal
– Quantizing error:
• difference between the original analog signal and the replicated but
approximated, digital signal
 PAM
Must have same
‘dictionary’
 PCM - Pulse Code Modulation
phone switch
(DIGITAL)

local loop trunk To other

switches
ANALOG Central Digital transmission
transmission Office
• DS-0: (Telco)
• Basic digital
Convert analog signals to digital data
communications unit
used by phone using PCM (similar to PAM)
network
• Corresponds to 1
digital voice signal
 Implications for Management
• Digital cabling tends to be least expensive and
most reliable
• Data and voice networks continue to converge
• Wired networks remain more secure and
reliable than wireless
 Q10: Analog Transmission
• Define appropriate AM modulations that
would support two (or 2, or 4) bit
transmissions and define appropriate PSK
could represent transmissions of two (or 2, or
4) bits at a time.
 Q11: Analog Transmissions
• In the graph below, the frequency is delineated by the
vertical lines. Depict the modulations defined above for
the bit stream ‘001101100’. In the graph below show how
your AM would represent the bit stream. Start your signal
where indicated and assume you need two wavelengths for
each symbol.
Start
Here
Voltage

Time
 Q12: Analog Transmissions
• In the graph below, the frequency is delineated by the
vertical lines. Depict the modulations defined above for
the bit stream ‘001101100’. In the graph below show how
PSK would represent the bit stream. Start your signal
where indicated and assume you need two wavelengths for
each symbol.
Start
Here
Voltage

Time
 Q13: Analog Transmissions
• C. Could your two methods above be
combined? If so, how many bits of
information would one symbol represent?