Transmission Media The first layer (physical layer) of Communication networks the OSI Seven layer model is dedicated

to the transmission media. Due to the variety of transmission media and network wiring methods, selecting the most appropriate media can be confusing - what is the optimal cost-effective solution. When choosing the transmission media, what are the factors to be considered?

Transmission Rate Distances Cost and Ease of Installation Resistance to Environmental Conditions

There are two types of transmission media :

Guided Unguided

Guided Media :

Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) Shielded Twisted Pair Coaxial Cable Optical Fiber Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) : UTP is the copper media, inherited from telephony, which is being used for increasingly higher data rates, and is rapidly becoming the de facto standard for horizontal wiring, the connection between, and including, the outlet and the termination in the communication closet. A Twisted Pair is a pair of copper wires, with diameters of 0.4-0.8 mm, twisted together and wrapped with a plastic coating. The twisting increases the electrical noise immunity, and reduces the bit error rate (BER) of the data transmission. A UTP cable contains from 2 to 4200 twisted pairs.

UTP is a very flexible, low cost media, and can be used for either voice or data communications. Its greatest disadvantage is the limited bandwidth, which restricts long distance transmission with low error rates. Types of UTP cables Category 1 CAT 1, or Category 1, cable is best suited for telephone communications. It is not suitable for data transmission or Ethernet data work usage. It is mostly used for on-premises wiring.
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Category 2 Category 2, or CAT 2, cables are capable of data transmission of up to 4 Mbps. It is a Level 2 cable and was used on ARCnet and token ring networks sometime ago. Like CAT 1, CAT 2 is not suitable for Ethernet data work usage.
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Category 3 Category 3, or CAT 3, is a twisted, unshielded pair that is capable of carrying 100BASE-T networking and can aid data transmission up to 16MHz with up to 10 Mbps speed. It is not recommended for usage with new network installations.
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Category 4 Category 4, or CAT 4, is an unshielded, twisted pair that supports transmission up to 20MHz. It is reliable for transporting data over CAT 3
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and can transmit data up to a speed of 16 Mbps. It is mostly used in token ring networks. Category 5 Category 5, or CAT 5, helps transmission up to 100MHz at speeds up to 1000 Mbps. It is a very common UTP cable and is suitable for 100BASE-T performance. It can be used for ATM, 1000BASE-T, 10BASE-T, 100BASE-T and token ring networking. These cables are used for connecting computers hooked up to LANs.
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Category 5e Category 5e, or CAT 5e, is an enhanced version of the fifth level. Its characteristics are similar to CAT 5 and it supports transmission up to 10MHz. It is best suited for Gigabit Ethernet operations and is an excellent choice for 1000BASE-T networking.
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Category 6 Category 6, or CAT 6, is a proposed unshielded twisted pair that can support up to 250MHz transmission. It is a sixth generation Ethernet cable. This copper-wired cable can support 1GB speed. CAT 6 is backward compatible with CAT 5e, CAT 6 and CAT 3. It is suitable for 1000BASE-T, 100BASE-T and 10BASE-T networking and has stringent rules for system noise and cross talk.
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Category 7 Category 7, or CAT 7, is another proposed standard that supports transmission up to 600MHz. CAT 7 is a standard 10G Ethernet copper cable that is over 100 meters. It is backward compatible with CAT 5 and CAT 6 and has more stringent rules than CAT 6 for system noise and cross talk.
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Shielded Twisted Pair (STP) STP is heavier and more difficult to manufacture, but it can greatly improve the signaling rate in a given transmission scheme Twisting provides cancellation of magnetically induced fields and currents on a pair of conductors. Magnetic fields arise around other heavy current-carrying conductors and around large electric motors. Various grades of copper cables are available, with Grade 5 being the best and most expensive.

Grade 5 copper, appropriate for use in 100-Mbps applications, has more twists per inch than lower grades. More twists per inch means more linear feet of copper wire used to make up a cable run, and more copper means more money. Shielding provides a means to reflect or absorb electric fields that are present around cables. Shielding comes in a variety of forms from copperbraiding or copper meshes to aluminized. Mylar tape wrapped around each conductor and again around the twisted pair. Coaxial Cable A coaxial cable consists of many small cables in a protective cover. The cover shields the cable from physical dangers as well as from electromagnetic interference. Within the cover, the various cables are shielded from interference with one another. Coaxial cables are used in communication networks that require many simultaneous communication links. Each coaxial cable can provide more than 5000 links.Coaxial

cable is a two-conductor cable in which one conductor forms an electromagnetic shield around the other. The two conductors are separated by insulation. It is a constant impedance transmission cable. This media is used in base band and broadband transmission. Coaxial cables do not produce external electric and magnetic fields and are not affected by them. This makes them ideally suited, although more expensive, for transmitting signals. There are two types of coaxial cables: baseband and broadband. A baseband coaxial cable transmits a single signal at a time at very high speed. A broadband coaxial cable can transmit many simultaneous signals using different frequencies. A baseband cable is mainly used for LANs. A broadband coaxial cable can carry only an analog signal. So it must be used with a modem. Baseband coaxial cables are 50 ohm cables used for 'digital transmission'. For 1Km cables the bandwidth is 1-2 Gbps. Longer cables can be used with low data rates or periodic amplifiers. Broadband coaxial cables are 75 ohm cables used for analog transmission. They use standard cable television technology. To transmit digital signals on an analog network, each interface must have converters i.e. analog to digital for outgoing bit stream n vice versa another difference b/w baseband and broadband is that broadband systems have developed dual cables. Since broadband is used for large area, it requires amplifiers which are unidirectional. In dual band systems two identical cables run together, one used for outgoing data, one for incoming data. Different bandwidths are given for inbound and outbound cables. Eg: for 300MHz, 5-30MHz for inbound and 40300MHz for outbound.

Features:

It provides better immunity than twisted pair. This cable is able to transmit data at higher rates.

Limitations: High installation cost High maintenance cost. Types Of Coaxial Cable RG-6 RG-6 (radio grade-6) cable is the most frequently used and distributed coaxial cable around. It is also known as home cable, since it is used in connecting a television set to a cable television (CATV) signal distributor. This cable has a single copper conductor surrounded by a copper braided dielectric insulator contained within an outer protective covering. With a standard impedance of 75 ohms, RG-6 is a successor to RG-59 cable, which was used in applications like audio and video transmission.
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RG-8 RG-8 cable, also called 10Base5 Thicknet cable, has a very rugged design, carrying several layers of dielectric material and shielding over its core conductor. RG-8 cables are available with a standard characteristic impedance of 50 to 52 ohms. The central copper conductor has a core diameter of 2.17 mm and frequency response range as high as 500 MHz, making it suitable for radio applications. Compared with RG-6 and RG-59 coaxes, RG-8 cables are not ideal for carrying audio and video signals. RG-8 coaxial cables were succeeded by RG-58 or 10Base2 Thin-net cables, which served as a standard medium in local area networks for a long time.
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Twinaxial This type of coaxial cable has two copper or aluminum braids parted by an insulating material. In addition to that, a twinaxial cable has a pair of plastic-coated solid conducting wires at the core, which carry two differential electric voltages in order to fulfill maximum transmission and reception requirements. Different manufacturers have their own standardized twinaxial cables for their particular
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devices. Twinaxial cables are commonly used in computer networking environments. Triaxial
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or triax is a form of coaxial cable which has three protecting shields for a single copper conductor contained at the core. These shields include two copper or aluminum layered meshes, parted from each other through a dielectric insulator. This set of coverings increases the cable's efficiency and effectively decreases the amount of signal leakage and external noise interference. Triaxial cables come in different varieties with respect to impedance and gauges, which makes them highly suitable for electronic applications requiring minimum electromagnetic interference in transmission. Semi-Rigid
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their name indicates, semi-rigid coaxial cables are inflexible cables with solid conductor covering over the insulator-packed internal conductor. This solid covering provides an additional benefit at higher frequencies, especially on microwave frequencies where skin effect takes place. Skin effect is the quality of electrical signal to flow at the outer levels of a conductor on high frequencies. Semi-rigid coaxial cables are widely used in applications like long-haul data links, which require collection of microwave signals on a physical medium.

Optical Fiber

Optical fiber consists of thin glass fibers that can carry information at frequencies in the visible light spectrum and beyond. The typical optical fiber consists of a very narrow strand of glass called the core. Around the core is a concentric layer of glass called the cladding. A typical core diameter is 62.5 microns .Typically cladding has a diameter of 125 microns. Coating the cladding is a protective coating consisting of plastic, it is called the Jacket. An important characteristic of fiber optics is refraction. Refraction is the characteristic of a material to either pass or reflect light. When light passes through a medium, it bends as it passes from one medium to the other. An example of this is when we look into a pond of water If the angle of incidence is small, the light rays are reflected and do not pass into the water. If the angle of incident is great, light passes through the media but is bent or refracted. Optical fibers work on the principle that the core refracts the light and the cladding reflects the light. The core refracts the light and guides the light along its path. The cladding reflects any light back into the core and stops light from escaping through it - it bounds the medium Catogories of Fiber Optic Cables Multimode Fiber Multimode fiber, the first to be manufactured and commercialized, simply refers to the fact that numerous modes or light rays are carried simultaneously through the waveguide. Modes result from the fact that light will only propagate in the fiber core at discrete angles within the cone of acceptance. This fiber type has a much larger core diameter, compared to single-mode fiber, allowing for the larger number of modes, and multimode fiber is easier to couple than single-mode optical fiber. Multimode fiber may be categorized as step-index or graded-index fiber. Multimode Step-index Fiber Figure 2 shows how the principle of total internal reflection applies to multimode stepindex fiber. Because the core's index of refraction is higher than the cladding's index of refraction, the light that enters at less than the critical angle is guided along the fiber. Figure 2 - Total Internal Reflection in Multimode Step-index fiber

Three different lightwaves travel down the fiber. One mode travels straight down the center of the core. A second mode travels at a steep angle and bounces back and forth by total internal reflection. The third mode exceeds the critical angle and refracts into the cladding. Intuitively, it can be seen that the second mode travels a longer distance than the first mode, causing the two modes to arrive at separate times. This disparity between arrival times of the different light rays is known as dispersion, and the result is a muddied signal at the receiving end. For a more detailed discussion of dispersion, see "Dispersion in Fiber Optic Systems" however, it is important to note that high dispersion is an unavoidable characteristic of multimode step-index fiber. Multimode Graded-index Fiber Graded-index refers to the fact that the refractive index of the core gradually decreases farther from the center of the core. The increased refraction in the center of the core

slows the speed of some light rays, allowing all the light rays to reach the receiving end at approximately the same time, reducing dispersion. Figure 3 - Multimode Graded-index Fiber

Figure 3 shows the principle of multimode graded-index fiber. The core's central refractive index, nA, is greater than that of the outer core's refractive index, nB. As discussed earlier, the core's refractive index is parabolic, being higher at the center. As Figure 3 shows, the light rays no longer follow straight lines; they follow a serpentine path being gradually bent back toward the center by the continuously declining refractive index. This reduces the arrival time disparity because all modes arrive at about the same time. The modes traveling in a straight line are in a higher refractive index, so they travel slower than the serpentine modes. These travel farther but move faster in the lower refractive index of the outer core region. Single-mode Fiber Single-mode fiber allows for a higher capacity to transmit information because it can retain the fidelity of each light pulse over longer distances, and it exhibits no dispersion caused by multiple modes. Single-mode fiber also enjoys lower fiber attenuation than multimode fiber. Thus, more information can be transmitted per unit of time. Like multimode fiber, early single-mode fiber was generally characterized as step-index fiber meaning the refractive index of the fiber core is a step above that of the cladding rather than graduated as it is in graded-index fiber. Modern single-mode fibers have evolved into more complex designs such as matched clad, depressed clad and other exotic structures. Figure 4 -

Single-mode fiber has disadvantages. The smaller core diameter makes coupling light into the core more difficult. The tolerances for single-mode connectors and splices are also much more demanding. Single-mode fiber has gone through a continuing evolution for several decades now. As a result, there are three basic classes of single-mode fiber used in modern telecommunications systems. The oldest and most widely deployed type is non dispersion-shifted fiber(NDSF). These fibers were initially intended for use near 1310 nm. Later, 1550 nm systems made NDSF fiber undesirable due to its very high dispersion at the 1550 nm wavelength. To address this shortcoming, fiber manufacturers developed, dispersion-shifted fiber(DSF), that moved the zero-dispersion point to the 1550 nm region. Years later, scientists would discover that while DSF worked extremely well with a single 1550 nm wavelength, it exhibits serious nonlinearities when multiple,

closely-spaced wavelengths in the 1550 nm were transmitted in DWDM systems. Recently, to address the problem of nonlinearities, a new class of fibers were introduced. These are classified as non zero-dispersion-shifted fibers (NZ-DSF). The fiber is available in both positive and negative dispersion varieties and is rapidly becoming the fiber of choice in new fiber deployment. For more information on this loss mechanism, see the article "Fiber Dispersion." Figure 6 - Dispersion for Alternating 20 km Lengths of (+D) NZ-DSF and (-D) NZ-DSF Fiber

Figure 7 -

One additional important variety of single-mode fiber is polarization-maintaining (PM) fiber. All other single-mode fibers discussed so far have been capable of carrying randomly polarized light. PM fiber is designed to propagate only one polarization of the input light. This is important for components such as external modulators that require a polarized light input. Figure 7 shows the cross-section of a type of PM fiber. This fiber contains a feature not seen in other fiber types. Besides the core, there are two additional circles called stress rods. As their name implies, these stress rods create stress in the core of the fiber such that the transmission of only one polarization plane of light is favored. Single-mode fibers experience nonlinearities that can greatly affect system performance. For complete information, see "Fiber Nonlinearities."

Connectors for Fiber optic Cables Fiber optic connectors are unique. Fiber cables transmit pulses of light instead of electrical signals, so the terminations must be much more precise. Instead of merely allowing pins to make metal-to-metal contact, fiber optic connectors must align microscopic glass fibers perfectly in order to allow for communication. While there are

many different types of fiber connectors, they share similar design characteristics. Simplex vs. duplex: Simplex means 1 connector per end while duplex means 2 connectors per end. There are three major components of a fiber connector: the ferrule, the connector body, and the coupling mechanism. Ferrule this is a thin structure (often cylindrical) that actually holds the glass fiber. It has a hollowed-out center that forms a tight grip on the fiber. Ferrules are usually made from ceramic, metal, or high-quality plastic, and typically will hold one strand of fiber. Connector body this is a plastic or metal structure that holds the ferrule and attaches to the jacket and strengthens members of the fiber cable itself. Coupling mechanism this is a part of the connector body that holds the connector in place when it gets attached to another device (a switch, NIC, bulkhead coupler, etc.). It may be a latch clip, a bayonet-style nut, or similar device.

Straight Tip (ST) The ST connector was one of the first connector types widely implemented in fiber optic networking applications. Originally developed by AT&T, it stands for Straight Tip connector. ST connections use a 2.5mm ferrule with a round plastic or metal body. The connector stays in place with a "twist-on/twist-off" bayonet-style mechanism. Although extremely popular for many years, the ST connector is slowly being supplanted by smaller, denser connections in many installations. Sub Miniature Type A(SMA) Difines a connectors that uses two individual connectors for each fiber strand .SMA looks similar to the ST but uses a threaded outer shell.This type of connection is more rugged,particularly under the stress of vibrations.SMAs are available in two versions namely:905and906. Subscriber/Standard Connector(SC) SC connectors also use a round 2.5mm ferrule to hold a single fiber. They use a pushon/pull-off mating mechanism which is generally easier to use than the twist-style ST connector when in tight spaces. The connector body of an SC connector is squarish, and two SC connectors are usually held together with a plastic clip (this is referred to as a duplex connection). The SC connector was developed in Japan by NTT (the Japanese telecommunications company), and is believed to be an abbreviation for Subscriber Connector, or possibly Standard Connector.

FDDI FDDI stands for Fiber Distributed Data Interface, and it actually refers to a local area network standard such as Ethernet or Token Ring. The termination on the fiber optic cable itself is called an FDDI connector, or is also known as a MIC (Media Interface Connector) connector. It contains two ferrules in a large, bulky plastic housing that uses a squeeze-tab retention mechanism. MTP MTP is a special type of fiber optic connector. Made by US Conec, it is an improvement of the original MPO (Multi-fiber Push-On) connector designed by NTT. The MTP connector is designed to terminate several fibersup to 12 strandsin a single ferrule. MTP connections are held in place by a push-on/pull-off latch, and can also be distinguished by a pair of metal guide pins that protrude from the front of the connector. Because of the high number of fiber strands available in a small connection, MTP assemblies are used for backbone, cross-connect, and breakout applications. Small Form Factor Connectors (SFF) SFF connectors grew from the effort to make fiber connections smaller. In a rack or closet environment, space for several connections is limited, and thus manufacturers sought a way to increase port density. A standard was developed for smaller connectors called SFF (Small Form Factor). There are many different types of SFF connectors, but they are all smaller than normal ST or SC connections. LC One popular Small Form Factor (SFF) connector is the LC type. This interface was developed by Lucent Technologies (hence, Lucent Connector). It uses a retaining tab mechanism, similar to a phone or RJ45 connector, and the connector body resembles the squarish shape of SC connector. LC connectors are normally held together in a duplex configuration with a plastic clip. The ferrule of an LC connector is 1.25mm. MTRJ This is another popular SFF connector. Based on a specification by NTT, it was developed by AMP/Tyco and Corning, and stands for Mechanical Transfer-Registered Jack. The MTRJ connector closely resembles an RJ-style modular plug, even getting part of its name from the resemblance. MTRJ connectors are always duplex in that they hold two fibers. The body and ferrule are normally made from plastic or plastic composite, and lock into place with a tab (just like a modular RJ-style plug). RJ-45

An 8-position, 8-conductor modular connector that is most often used for data networks such as Ethernet. RJ-45 connectors are physically wider than the RJ-11/12 connectors used for telephone. In network applications, RJ-45 cable assemblies are used to connect from a patch panel to a network switch, and also to connect a computer's NIC to a data port.

10G-CX4 10G-CX4 was the first 10G copper standard published. The connector used is similar to that of the Infiniband connector. The 10G-CX4 specification is designed to work up to a distance of 15 meters. Each of the 4 lanes carries 3.125 G baud of signaling bandwidth. 10G-CX4 gives the advantage of low power, low cost, and low latency.

Infiniband (4x) Infiniband is a high-bandwidth I/O communication technology that is typically deployed in data centers, server clusters, and HPC (High Performance Computing) applications. Infiniband cables use a connector based on the Micro GigaCN series developed by Fujitsu. The most common type of connector in use is the "4X", named because it supports four aggregated data links. The cable assembly will apear identical to the 10GCX4 cables; however, the 10G-CX4 cables are tested for a different set of standards. Infiniband cables cannot be used in 10G-CX4 applications.

Features:

Huge bandwidth. Optical fiber systems are not affected by external noise. The error rate for the data transmitted across fiber optic cable is very low. Limitations:

Cost is high. Fibers fragility makes it more difficult to handle.

Unguided

Transmission media then looking at analysis of using them unguided transmission media is data signals that flow through the air. They are not guided or bound to a channel to follow. Following are unguided media used for data communication : Radio Transmission Microwave Satellite Communication

. RF Propagation : There are three types of RF (radio frequency) propagation : Ground Wave Ionospheric Line of Sight (LOS)

Ground wave propagation follows the curvature of the Earth. Ground waves have carrier frequencies up to 2 MHz. AM radio is an example of ground wave propagation. Ionospheric propagation bounces off of the Earths ionospheric layer in the upper atmosphere. It is sometimes called double hop propagation. It operates in the frequency range of 30 - 85 MHz. Because it depends on the Earths ionosphere, it changes with the weather and time of day. The signal bounces off of the ionosphere and back to earth. Ham radios operate in this range. Line of sight propagation transmits exactly in the line of sight. The receive station must be in the view of the transmit station. It is sometimes called space waves or tropospheric propagation. It is limited by the curvature of the Earth for ground-based stations (100 km, from horizon to horizon). Reflected waves can cause problems. Examples of line of sight propagation are: FM radio, microwave and satellite. Radio Frequencies : The frequency spectrum operates from 0 Hz (DC) to gamma rays (1019 Hz). Radio frequencies are in the range of 300 kHz to 10 GHz. We are seeing an emerging technology called wireless LANs. Some use radio frequencies to connect the workstations together, some use infrared technology. Microwave : Microwave transmission is line of sight transmission. The transmit station must be in visible contact with the receive station. This sets a limit on the distance between stations depending on the local geography. Typically the line of sight due to the Earths curvature is only 50 km to the horizon! Repeater stations must be placed so the data signal can hop, skip and jump across the country. Microwaves operate at high operating frequencies of 3 to 10 GHz. This allows them to carry large quantities of data due to their large bandwidth.

Advantages : (a) They require no right of way acquisition between towers. (b) They can carry high quantities of information due to their high operating frequencies. (c) Low cost land purchase: each tower occupies only a small area. (d) High frequency/short wavelength signals require small antennae. Disadvantages : (a) Attenuation by solid objects: birds, rain, snow and fog. (b) Reflected from flat surfaces like water and metal. (c) Diffracted (split) around solid objects. (d) Reflected by atmosphere, thus causing beam to be projected away from receiver. Satellite : Satellites are transponders (units that receive on one frequency and retransmit on another) that are set in geostationary orbits directly over the equator. These geostationary orbits are 36,000 km from the Earths surface. At this point, the gravitational pull of the Earth and the centrifugal force of Earths rotation are balanced and cancel each other out. Centrifugal force is the rotational f0000000orce placed on the satellite that wants to fling it out into space. The uplink is the transmitter of data to the satellite. The downlink is the receiver of data. Uplinks and downlinks are also called Earth stations because they are located on the Earth. The footprint is the shadow that the satellite can transmit to, the shadow being the area that can receive the satellites transmitted signal.