COMPUTER NETWORKING

Diploma Computer Engineering semester-5

Transmission Media
Transmission Media
The pathway through which data transfers is known as transmission media. Transmission media enables computers to send and receive messages. In Human communication AIR is a transmission medium for sending and receiving the messages. There are two types transmission media:1) Cable Media (Guided Media) 2) Wireless Media (Unguided Media)

1) Cable Media (Guided Media) There are three types of cable media as follows:a) Coaxial cable b) Twisted-pair cable c) Fiber-optic cable

a) Coaxial Cable:-

Prepared By - HOD, VIMAL ADODARIYA

(AARSH MAHAVIDYALAYA)

COMPUTER NETWORKING

Diploma Computer Engineering semester-5

In a coaxial cable two conductors share a common axis. So this cable is referred to as coax. The components of coaxial cables are:

1. Center conductor:-It is made of solid copper wire or sometimes standard wire. 2. An outer conductor:-It forms a tube surrounding the center conductor. It is usually of braided wires, metallic foils or both. This outer conductor is Also called shield, serves as a ground and also protects the inner conductor From EMI (electromagnetic interference). 3. An insulation layer:-It is in between center conductor and outer conductor. 4. A plastic jacket: - It protects cable from any damage.

Types of coaxial cable 1) Thinnet 2) Thicknet 1) Thinnet cable: Thinnet cable is a light, flexible and less expensive cable medium. It is easy to install. Thinnet falls under the RG-58 family,which has 50 ohm impedence. Thinnet is about 0.25 inches thick. Thinnets cable signal transmits for about 185 meters(610 feet).

2) Thicknet cable: Thicknet is thicker than thinnet. Thicknet has approximately 13mm diameter. Thicknet can reliably transmit a signal approx. 500 meters.(1650 feet) As it is thicker, it does not bend as easily as thinnet. It can carry more signals at longer distance than thinnet. It is more expensive than thinnet.

Prepared By - HOD, VIMAL ADODARIYA

(AARSH MAHAVIDYALAYA)

COMPUTER NETWORKING

Diploma Computer Engineering semester-5

b) Twisted-Pair cable:-

It has become the dominant cable for all new network designs. It has become popular due to the low cost. It is inexpensive to install and costs very low per foot for any cable type. Telephone cable is an example of a twisted-pair cable. A basic twisted-pair cable consists of two copper wires twisted together. The twisting protects the cable from EMI and also protects cable from radio frequency noise. Twisting of wires reduces crosstalk. There are two types of Twisted-pair cable:1)Sheilded Twisted-Pair Cable(STP) 2)Unsheilded Twisted-Pair Cable(UTP)

Prepared By - HOD, VIMAL ADODARIYA

(AARSH MAHAVIDYALAYA)

COMPUTER NETWORKING

Diploma Computer Engineering semester-5

1) Shielded Twisted-Pair Cable (STP):-

STP cable consists of one or more twisted pairs of cables enclosed in a foil wrap and woven copper shielding. It includes two twisted pairs of wires within a single shield. STP costs more than coaxial but less costly than thick coax or fiber optic.

1) Unshielded Twisted-Pair Cable (UTP):-

Prepared By - HOD, VIMAL ADODARIYA

(AARSH MAHAVIDYALAYA)

COMPUTER NETWORKING

Diploma Computer Engineering semester-5

Unshielded twisted-pair cable doesnt incorporate a shield into its structure. As shown in above figure several twisted pairs can be bundled together in a single cable. These pairs are typically color-coded to distinguish them. Telephone systems commonly use UTP. UTP cable is easy to install.

c) Fibre-optic cable:-

Fibre-optic cable is the ideal cable for data-transmission. The advantage of this cable are it accommodates very high bandwidth and it Presents no problem with EMI. The two disadvantages of this cable are its cost and installation difficulty. The center conductor of fibre-optic cable is fibre. It consists of highly refined glass or plastic to transmit light signals. The fibre is coated with a cladding or a gel that reflects signals back into the Fibre to reduce signal loss. fibre-optic cable consists of two strands separately enclosed in plastic Sheaths, one strand sends and other receives. There are two types of cable configurations:Prepared By - HOD, VIMAL ADODARIYA (AARSH MAHAVIDYALAYA) 5

COMPUTER NETWORKING

Diploma Computer Engineering semester-5

Loose and tight. Loose configuration contain a space between the fibre sheath and outer plastic Whereas, tight configuration contain strength wires between conductor and plastic. Optical fibre cables dont transmit electrical signals. Light sources include lasers and Light emitting diodes (LEDs).

outer

2) Wireless Media:Wireless media is required for wireless networks. The following are the wireless mediums: 1) Infrared 2) Laser 3) Narrow-band radio 4) Spread-spectrum radio 5) Microwave

Baseband v/s broadband. Baseband:

Digital signals are used Frequency division multiplexing is not possible Baseband is bi-directional transmission Short distance signal travelling Entire bandwidth of the cable is consumed by a single signal in a baseband transmission.

Broadband:
Analog signals are used Transmission of data is unidirectional Signal travelling distance is long Frequency division multiplexing is possible The signals are sent on multiple frequencies and allow all the multiple signals are sent simultaneously in broadband transmission.

Prepared By - HOD, VIMAL ADODARIYA

(AARSH MAHAVIDYALAYA)