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Physical Layer. B. Konkoth. The physical layer is responsible for movements of individual bits from one node to the next. Physical layer. Physical Links. How to make computers talk across a wire How to share the wire. Analog Signal. “Digital” Signal.
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Physical Layer B. Konkoth
The physical layer is responsible for movements of individual bits from one node to the next.
Physical Links • How to make computers talk across a wire • How to share the wire
Analog Signal “Digital” Signal 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 Bit Stream Packet Transmission 0100010101011100101010101011101110000001111010101110101010101101011010111001 Packets Sender Receiver Header/Body Header/Body Header/Body From Signals to Packets
Analog • An Analog signal is any continuous signal for which the time varying feature is a representation of some other time varying quantity. • For example, in sound recording, fluctuations in air pressure (sound) strike the diaphragm of a microphone which induces corresponding fluctuations in the current produced by a coil in an electromagnetic microphone, or the voltage produced by a condenser microphone. The voltage or the current is said to be an "analog" of the sound.
Digital • A data technology that uses discrete (discontinuous) values • The word digital is most commonly used in computing and electronics, especially where real-world information is converted to binary numeric form as in digital audio and digital photography.
Transmission Media Transmission medium: the physical path between transmitter and receiver. • Communication of electromagnetic waves is guided or unguided. Guided media: waves are guided along a physical path (eg, twisted pair, coaxial cable and optical fiber). Unguided media: means for transmitting but not guiding electromagnetic waves (eg, the atmosphere and outer space). • Repeaters or amplifiers may be used to extend the length of the medium.
Transmission Media Choices • Twisted pair • Coaxial cable • Optical fiber • Wireless communications
Cables • Coaxial • Twisted pair • Fiber optics
Twisted Pair • Two insulated wires arranged in a spiral pattern • Copper or steel coated with copper • The signal is transmitted through one wire and a ground reference is transmitted in the other wire. • Typically twisted pair is installed in building telephone wiring.
Insulator Metal Unshielded Twisted-Pair (UTP) • Typically wrapped inside a plastic cover (for mechanical protection) • A sample UTP cable with 5 unshielded twisted pairs of wires
Categories of UTP Cables UTP cables are classified according to the quality: • Category 1 ― the lowest quality, only good for voice, mainly found in very old buildings, not recommended now • Category 2 ― good for voice and low data rates (up to 4Mbps for low-speed token ring networks) • Category 3 ― at least 3 twists per foot, for up to 10 Mbps (common in phone networks in residential buildings) • Category 4― up to 16 Mbps (mainly for token rings) • Category 5 (or 5e) ― up to 100 Mbps (common for networks targeted for high-speed data communications) • Category 6 ― more twists than Cat 5, up to 1 Gbps
Shielded Twisted-Pair (STP) • STP cables are similar to UTP cables, except there is a metal foil or braided-metal-mesh cover that encases each pair of insulated wires
Twisted Pair • Limited in distance, bandwidth and data rate due to problems with attenuation, interference and noise • Issue: cross-talk due to interference from other signals • “shielding” wire (shielded twisted pair (STP)) with metallic braid or sheathing reduces interference. • “twisting” reduces low-frequency interference and crosstalk.
Center conductor Dielectric material Braided outer conductor Outer cover Coaxial Cable
Coaxial Cable • Divided into two basic categories for coax used in LANs: • 50-ohm cable [baseband] • 75-ohm cable [broadband or single channel baseband] • In general, coax has better noise immunity for higher frequencies than twisted pair. • Coaxial cable provides much higher bandwidth than twisted pair. • However, cable is ‘bulky’.
Communication channel • Baseband – sends 1 signal or 1 channel at any given time • Broadband - enables a single wire to carry multiple signals at the same time
Optical Fiber • Optical fiber: a thin flexible medium capable of conducting optical rays. • Optical fiber consists of a very fine cylinder of glass surrounded by concentric layers of glass. • Attenuation in the fiber can be kept low by controlling the impurities in the glass.
light cladding jacket core c Optical Fiber (a) Geometry of optical fiber (b) Reflection in optical fiber
Wireless • Infrared - Infrared radiation (IR) is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength between 0.7 and 300 micrometers • Microwave - Microwaves are electromagnetic waves with wavelengths ranging from as long as one meter to as short as one millimeter • Radio - Radio waves transmit music, conversations, pictures and data invisibly through the air, often over millions of miles - wavelengths in the electromagnetic spectrum longer than microwave