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, 2006
1.1
CNT 3004
Module 3
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Chapter 3
Data and Signals
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Chapter 3
Introduction
To
Physical
Layer
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To be transmitted, data must be
transformed to electromagnetic
signals.
Signals can be analog or digital.
Analog signals can have an infinite
number of values in a range; digital
signals can have only a limited
number of values.
Analog and Digital
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Comparison of analog and digital signals
The curve representing the analog signal is passing
through an infinite number of points.
The vertical lines of the digital signal demonstrates the
sudden jump the signal makes from value to value.
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3.6
Periodic and Nonperiodic Signals
A periodic signal completes a pattern within a
measurable time frame, called a period, and
repeats that pattern over subsequent identical
periods. The completion of one full pattern is
called a cycle.
Anonperiodic (or aperiodic) signal changes without
exhibiting a pattern or cycle that repeats over
time.
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3.7
Periodic Analog Signals
Periodic analog signals can be classified as
simple or composite. A simple periodic analog
signal, a sine wave, cannot be decomposed into
simpler signals. A composite periodic analog signal
is composed of multiple sine waves.
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A sine wave
A signal is periodic if it consists of a continuously
repeating pattern. A sine wave is an example of a periodic
and continuous signal.
A signal is called aperiodic (or nonperiodic) if it changes
without exhibiting a pattern or a cycle that repeats over
time.
Example:
Value= 5 Sin (6t t )
Value= A Sin (2 t f t + |) where t is time
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The peak amplitude of a signal represents
the absolute value of its highest intensity,
proportional to the energy it carries.
Amplitude
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Period and frequency
Each sine wave can be characterized by its amplitude A,
frequency f, and phase |.
Frequency and period are inverses of each other; as
frequency increases, the period decreases (and vice versa)
A periodic signal with a frequency of 6 Hz
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Periodandfrequency
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Frequency f and period T are inverses
of each other.
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Units of periods and frequencies
Period is formally expressed in seconds
Frequency is formally expressed in hertz (Hz)
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In data communication, we commonly
use periodic analog signals and
aperiodic digital signals.
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The power we use at home has a frequency of 60 Hz. The
period of this sine wave can be determined as follows:
This means that the period for our lights at home is 0.0166 second or
16.6 milliseconds. Our eyes are not sensitive enough to distinguish these
rapid changes in amplitude.
Example
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Example
Express a period of 100 ms in microseconds, and express
the corresponding frequency in kilohertz.
Solution
The equivalent of 1 ms is 10
-3
s. We make the following
substitutions:
100 ms = 100 10
-3
s = 100 10
-3
10
6
s = 10
5
s
Now we use the inverse relationship to find the
frequency, changing hertz to kilohertz
100 ms = 100 10
-3
s = 10
-1
s
f = 1/10
-1
Hz = 10 10
-3
KHz = 10
-2
KHz
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Frequency is the rate of change with
respect to time. Change in a short span of
time means high frequency. Change over a
long span of time means low frequency.
If a signal does not change at all, its frequency is
zero. So a constant value can be considered a sine
wave whose frequency is zero. For example, The
voltage of an AA battery is constant which is
considered a sine wave with a peak value of 1.5 V
and a frequency of zero.
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3.18
Phase
The term phase, or phase shift, describes the
position of the waveform relative to time 0. If we
think of the wave as something that can be shifted
backward or forward along the time axis, phase
describes the amount of that shift. It indicates the
status of the first cycle.
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Relationships between different phases
Phase is measured in degrees or radians. The unit of
radian is also known as rad. We have the following
relationship
2t rad = 360 degrees
1 rad = 360/(2t) = 57.27 degrees
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3.20
Three sine waves with different phases
= t/2 rad
= t rad
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Example
A sine wave is offset one-sixth of a cycle with respect to
time zero. What is its phase in degrees and radians?
Solution
We know that one complete cycle is 360 degrees.
Therefore, 1/6 cycle is
(1/6) 360 = 60 degrees = 60 x 2t /360 rad = 1.046 rad
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Sine wave example 1
S(t) = A Sin (2 t f t + |)
S(t) = 5 Sin (25.1428 t )
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Sine wave example 2
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Horizontal Shifting: | = 0
S(t) = A Sin (2 t f t + |)
Sine wave example 3
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We have been showing a sine wave by using
what is called a time domain plot. The time-
domain plot shows changes in signal
amplitude with respect to time (it is an
amplitude-versus-time plot).
An analog signal is best represented in the
frequency domain.
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Time and frequency domains
In a frequency-domain plot, the horizontal axis measures
the frequency.
In a time-domain plot, the horizontal axis is a measure of
time.
When f= 0 S(t) = A Sin (2 t f t+t/2 ) = A sin (t/2) = A
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Time and frequency domains (continued)
A time-domain graph plots amplitude as a function of
time.
A frequency-domain graph plots each sine waves peak
amplitude against its frequency.
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Time and frequency domains (continued)
Frequency can be easily determined from a frequency-
domain graph of a signal.
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The time-domain and frequency-domain plots of a sine wave
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Example
The frequency domain is more compact and
useful when we are dealing with more than one
sine wave.
For example, the figure on the next slide shows
three sine waves, each with different amplitude
and frequency. All can be represented by three
spikes in the frequency domain.
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The time domain and frequency domain of three sine waves
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A single-frequency sine wave is not useful in data
communications; we need to change one or more
of its characteristics to make it useful.
When we change one or more characteristics of a
single-frequency signal, it becomes a composite
signal made of many frequencies.
According to Fourier analysis, any composite
signal can be represented as a combination of
simple sine waves with different frequencies,
phases, and amplitudes. A composite signal is
composed of more than one simple sine wave.
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If the composite signal is periodic, the decomposition gives a
series of simple sine waves with discrete frequencies; if the
composite signal is nonperiodic, the decomposition gives a
combination of sine waves with continuous frequencies.
When a periodic signal is decomposed, the resulting sine
waves are called harmonics. The sine wave with the smallest
frequency is called the first harmonic and its frequency is
called the fundamental frequency f. The frequencies of the
other sine waves are integral multiples of the fundamental
frequency. For example, the third harmonic has frequency 3f
and the ninth harmonic has frequency 9f. When decomposing
a periodic signal, there are no frequencies with fractional
values such as 3.2f.
Decomposition of Composite Signals
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Example: Adding three harmonics
A Composite Periodic Signal
The above figure shows a periodic composite signal with fundamental frequency
f. It is the combination of three simple sine waves with frequencies f, 3f and 9f as
shown on the next slide. Thus this signal is decomposed into the first, third and
ninth harmonics.
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Decomposition of a composite periodic signal in
the time and frequency domains
Frequency
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Square wave
According to Fourier Analysis, this periodic square signal
can be decomposed into a series of discrete sine harmonics.
The three odd harmonics f, 3f, 9f
gave a signal that has the general
shape of a square wave. We shall
see later that to get a square
wave, we need to use all odd
harmonics: f, 3f, 5f, 7f, 9f,11f,
signal with f, 3f, 9f
harmonics
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The time and frequency domains of a nonperiodic signal
The above figure shows a nonperiodic composite signal. It can be
the signal created by a microphone or a telephone set when a word
or two is pronounced. Voice composite signals are usually
nonperiodic, because we do not usually keep repeating the same
word or words with exactly the same tone.
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Bandwidth
The bandwidth is a property of a medium. The bandwidth of
a medium is the difference between the highest and the
lowest frequencies that the medium can satisfactorily pass
(i.e., these frequencies are permitted to pass through this
medium).
The bandwidth is also a property of a signal. The bandwidth
of a signal is the difference between the highest and the
lowest frequencies of the simple sine waves that compose this
signal. Thus a simple sine wave has a bandwidth of zero.
For example, if a composite signal contains frequencies
between 1000 and 5000, its bandwidth is 5000 1000, or
4000 Hz.
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Bandwidth
The bandwidth of a signal is the range of frequencies the
signal occupies. Bandwidth is determined by finding the
difference between the highest and lowest frequency
components.
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The bandwidth of periodic and nonperiodic composite signals
A periodic signal is
decomposed into a finite
number of sine waves
with discrete frequencies.
A nonperiodic signal is
decomposed into an
infinite number of sine
waves with continuous
frequencies.
The periodic signal in part (a) has a bandwidth of 4000 Hz and is decomposed into
a finite number of harmonics. The nonperiodic signal in part (b) also has a
bandwidth of 4000 Hz but it is decomposed into an infinite number of sine waves.
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If a periodic signal is decomposed into five sine waves with frequencies
of 100, 300, 500, 700, and 900 Hz, what is its bandwidth? Draw the
spectrum diagram (frequency domain plot), assuming all components
have a maximumamplitude of 10 V.
Solution
Let f
h
be the highest frequency, f
l
the lowest frequency, and B the
bandwidth. Then
Example
The spectrum has only five spikes, at 100, 300, 500, 700, and 900 Hz.
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Example
A periodic signal has a bandwidth of 20 Hz. The highest frequency is
60 Hz. What is the lowest frequency? Draw the spectrum if the
fundamental frequency is 1 Hz and the signal contains all integral
frequencies of the same amplitude. What is the number of harmonics
of this composite signal?
Solution
B = f
h
f
l
20 = 60 f
l
f
l
= 60 20 = 40 Hz
# of harmonics = 60 - 40 + 1 = 21
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Example
A signal has a spectrum with frequencies between 1000
and 2000 Hz (bandwidth of 1000 Hz). A medium can pass
frequencies from 3000 to 4000 Hz (a bandwidth of 1000
Hz). Can this signal faithfully pass through this medium?
Solution
The answer is definitely no. Although the signal and the
medium have the same bandwidth (1000 Hz), the range
does not overlap. The medium can only pass frequencies
between 3000 and 4000 Hz; the signal is totally lost.
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Example
A nonperiodic composite signal has a bandwidth of 200 kHz, with a middle
frequency of 140 kHz and peak amplitude of 20 V. The amplitude changes
linearly and the two extreme frequencies have an amplitude of 0. Draw the
frequency domain of the signal.
Solution
The lowest frequency must be at 40 kHz and the highest at 240 kHz. The
figure below shows the frequency domain and the bandwidth.
20 V
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Example
An example of a nonperiodic composite signal is the signal
propagated by an AM radio station. In the United States, each
AM radio station has a bandwidth of 10 kHz bandwidth.
The AM spectrum assigned by FCC ranges from 530 KHz to
1700 kHz.
Example
Another example of a nonperiodic composite signal is the
signal propagated by an FM radio station. In the United States,
each FM radio station has a bandwidth of 200 kHz = 0.2 MHz.
The FM spectrum assigned by FCC ranges from 88 MHz to 108
MHz for a total FM bandwidth of 20 MHz covering 101 radio
channels.
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A digital signal with two levels; each level represents one bit
Digital Signals
In addition to being represented by an analog signal, information can also
be represented by a digital signal. For example, a 1 can be encoded as a
positive voltage and a 0 as zero voltage. A digital signal can have more than
two levels. In this case, we can send more than 1 bit for each level.
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Bit rate and bit interval
The bit rate is the number of bits transmitted per
second. The bit interval is the duration needed to
transmit one bit.
A digital signal is described by its bit rate (instead of
frequency) and its bit interval.
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Two digital signals: one with two signal levels and the other
with four signal levels
A digital signal with 2
levels; each level
represents one bit
bit rate = 1 x 8 = 8 bps
A digital signal with 4
levels; each level
represents two bits
bit rate = 2 x 8 = 16 bps
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Example
A digital signal has eight levels. How many bits can be
represented by one level?
Solution:
We calculate the number of bits from the formula
Each signal level represents 3 bits. This means that
when the receiver receives a signal with certain level, it
has received the value of three consecutive bits.
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The analog bandwidth of a medium is expressed in hertz
(recall that bandwidth is the difference between the highest and the
lowest frequencies that the medium can pass)
The digital bandwidth of a medium is its bit rate and is
expressed in bits per second. The bit rate depends on the
encoding scheme used to transmit data.
Example
Assume we need to download text documents at the rate of 100 pages per
second. A page is an average of 24 lines with 80 characters in each line and
each character requires 8 bits. What is the required bit rate of the channel?
Solution
The bit rate is
Nyquist Sampling Theorem
Consider a composite analog signal whose highest frequency is f
h
=W. In
the above figure, W= 4000 Hz. Rather than transmitting the signal in
analog form, we can send the signal in a digitized form by sampling the
amplitude of the signal at a series of points spaced at equal intervals.
To reconstruct the digitized signal successfully, the sampling rate must
be at least two times the highest frequency contained in the signal. For
the signal shown in the above figure, the sampling rate should t be equal
to 2W = 24000 = 8000 samples/second.
Example:
For an intuitive example of the Nyquist theorem, let
us sample a simple sine wave with frequency f at
three sampling rates:
f
s
= 2f = Nyquist sampling rate
f
s
= 4f = two times the Nyquist sampling rate
f
s
= f = one-half the Nyquist sampling rate
The figure on the next page shows the sampling and
the subsequent recovery of the signal.
Recoveryofasampledsinewaveforthreedifferentsamplingrates
f
s
= f = one-half the Nyquist sampling rate
f
s
= 2f = Nyquist sampling rate
f
s
= 4f = two times the Nyquist sampling rate
1. It can be seen that sampling at the Nyquist rate can create
a good approximation of the original sine wave (part a).
2. Oversampling at double the Nyquist rate (part b) can
create a better approximation or the same approximation,
but it requires more storage and is often redundant and
unnecessary.
3. Sampling below the Nyquist rate (part c) does not produce
a signal that looks like the original sine wave.
Conclusions: part a
part b
part c
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Example
A digitized voice channel is made by digitizing a 4-kHz bandwidth analog
voice signal. We need to sample the signal at twice the highest frequency
(two samples per hertz). We assume that each sample requires 8 bits. What is
the required bit rate?
Solution
The bit rate can be calculated as
Example
HDTV uses digital signals to broadcast high quality video signals. The
HDTV screen is normally a ratio of 16 : 9. This ratio is achieved by having
1920 by 1080 pixels per screen, and the screen is renewed 30 times per
second. Twenty-four bits represents one color pixel. What is the bit rate for
high-definition TV (HDTV)?
Solution
The bit rate is
The TV stations reduce this rate to 20 - 40 Mbps through compression.
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The time and frequency domains of periodic
and nonperiodic digital signals
A digital signal is a composite signal with
an infinite bandwidth.
A periodic signal is decomposed
into a finite number of sine
waves with discrete frequencies.
A nonperiodic signal is decomposed
into an infinite number of sine
waves with continuous frequencies.
This square signal is decomposed into odd harmonics.
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Baseband transmission
Baseband transmission means sending a digital signal directly
over a channel without changing it to an analog signal.
According to Fourier analysis, a digital signal is a composite analog signal
with an infinite bandwidth (frequencies between 0 to ).
Digital signals used in data communications are mostly nonperiodic. We can
transmit a digital signal in two ways: baseband transmission or broadband
transmission.
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Requirement of Baseband Transmission
To preserve the shape of the digital signal, baseband transmission
requires the following
low-pass channel, i.e., a channel that passes frequencies between 0
and f. The lowest frequency of a low-pass channel is zero.
the low-pass channel must be a wide bandwidth channel (i.e., f is
infinite or is very large).
A narrow-bandwidth low-pass channel is not suitable for
digital transmission
A wide-bandwidth low-pass channel is suitable for digital
transmission
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Baseband transmission using a dedicated medium
Consider a dedicated medium (e.g., coaxial cable or fiber optic) with a very
wide bandwidth (the minimum frequency f1 is close to zero and the maximum
frequency f2 is very high). Baseband transmission using this medium can be
used to deliver the digital signal with good accuracy. The digital data can be
correctly deduced from the received signal even though it is not an exact
replica of the original signal.
In baseband transmission, the required bandwidth is proportional to the bit
rate; if we need to send bits faster, we need more bandwidth.
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Low-pass and band-pass Channels
A channel or link is either
low-pass: if the lowest frequency f1 is zero (or practically
very close to zero)
band-pass: if the lowest frequency is larger than zero
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Broadband Transmission (Using Modulation)
If the available channel is a band-pass channel, we cannot
send the digital signal directly to the channel; we need to
convert the digital signal to an analog signal before
transmission. This process is called modulation.
Band-pass channels cannot be used to transmit
digital signals with good quality. Digital
transmission needs a low-pass channel with wide
bandwidth.
Analog transmission, on the other hand, can
easily use a band-pass channel.
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Broadband Transmission (Using Modulation)
The figure on the next slide shows the modulation of a digital
signal. The digital signal is first converted to a composite
analog signal. In the shown scheme, a single-frequency analog
signal (called the carrier) is used. The amplitude of the
carrier has been changed to look like the digital signal. The
result is a composite analog signal that is capable to
propagate smoothly through the medium. At the receiver, the
received analog signal is converted to digital signal and the
result is a replica of what has been sent. This type of
modulation is called Amplitude Modulation.
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Modulation of a digital signal for transmission
on a band-pass channel
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Examples of Amplitude Modulation
Data
Modulated Signal
1 is high amplitude
0 is zero amplitude
1 1 1
0 0 0
Modulated Signal
1 is high amplitude
0 is low amplitude
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Transmission Impairment
Attenuation
Distortion
Noise
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Signal corruption
No transmission media is perfect; each medium passes
some frequencies, weakens other, and blocks still others.
Causes of impairment
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Attenuation
Attenuation is the loss of a signals energy (strength) due
to the resistance of the transmission medium.
To show that a signal has lost or gained strength, we use
the unit of decibel (dB) which measures the relative
strength of two signals or one signal at two different
points. If P1 and P2 are the powers of a signal at Points 1
and 2, then
attenuation in dB = 10 log
10
(P
2
/P
1
)
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Example
Imagine a signal travels through a transmission medium and its power is reduced
to half. This means that P2 = 0.5 P1. In this case, the attenuation (loss of
power) can be calculated as
10 log
10
(P2/P1) = 10 log
10
(0.5P1/P1) = 10 log
10
(0.5)
= 10(0.3) = 3 dB
Example
Imagine a signal travels through an amplifier and its power is increased ten
times. This means that P2 = 10 P1. In this case, the amplification (gain of
power) can be calculated as
10 log
10
(P2/P1) = 10 log
10
(10P1/P1)
= 10 log
10
(10) = 10 (1) = 10 dB
a loss of 3 dB implies losing one half the power
Remark: when the attuation is too large, the signal at the reciever is totally lost, i.e., P2~0.
10 log
10
(P2/P1) = 10 log
10
(0) = - dB
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Example
Decibel numbers can be added (or subtracted) when we are dealing with several
points instead of just two. In the figure below, a signal travels a long distance
from point 1 to point 4. The signal is attenuated by the time it reaches point 2.
Between points 2 and 3, the signal is amplified. Again, between points 3 and 4,
the signal is attenuated. We can find the resultant decibel for the total attenuation
of the signal just by adding the decibel measurements between each set of points.
dB = 3 + 9 3 = +3
9
Note: +3 dB implies doubling the
power of the signal while -3 dB
implies losing one half the power
3 dB
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Distortion means that the signal changes its form or
shape. Distortion can only occur in a composite signal
made of different frequencies. The different frequencies
have different propagation speeds and therefore
different delays in arriving to the destination.
If the differences in delay are not exact multiple of the
period, phase differences are created. This leads to a
change in the shape of the received composite signal.
Distortion (Propagation Distortion)
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Noise
Noise is the external energy that corrupts a signal.
Thermal noise is the extra signal created by the random motion of
electrons in the wire.
Induced noise is produced by external sources such as motors and
appliances.
Crosstalk noise is the effect of one wire on the other. One wire
acts as a sending antenna that corrupts the signal in the other wire.
Impulse noise is a spike that comes from power lines or lightning.
signal + noise signal
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Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR)
The metric used to measure noise is called the signal-to-noise ratio
(SNR).
SNR is defined as
SNR = (average signal power)/(average noise power)
The larger the value of SNR the better the quality of the signal.
Note that SNR is the ratio between two power (energy) values. If
however the signal and noise are described in terms of voltage values
(rather than power values), then the correct value of SNR should be
computed as the ratio between the square of the voltage values.
Because SNR is the ratio between two powers, it is often described
in decibels.
SNR
dB
= 10 log
10
SNR
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3.73
Two cases of SNR: a high SNR and a low SNR
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The power of a signal is 10 mW and the power of the noise is 1 W;
what are the values of SNR and SNR
dB
?
Solution
The values of SNR and SNRdB can be calculated as follows:
Example
The values of SNR and SNRdB for a noiseless channel are
Example
We can never achieve this ratio in real life; it is an ideal value.

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Data Rate Limit
Noiseless Channel: Nyquist Bit Rate
Noisy Channel: Shannon Capacity
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Nyquist Bit Rate for Noiseless Channels
The Nyquist formula determines the theoretical data
rate for a noiseless channel.
BitRate = 2 x BW x log
2
L
where BW is the bandwidth of the channel in Hz, L is the
number of signal levels used to represent the data, and
BitRate is the bit rate in bits per second (bps).
Increasing the number of signal levels L would help
increase the bit rate but would also increase the
complexity of the receiver and may reduce the reliability
of the system.
Note: a noiseless channel has SNR =
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Shannon Capacity for Noisy Channels
The Shannon formula determines the theoretical
maximum data rate for a noisy channel.
Capacity= C = BW x log
2
(1 + SNR)
where BW is the bandwidth of the channel in Hz, SNR is
the signal-to-noise ratio, and C is the capacity (maximum
transmission speed) of the channel in bps.
The number of signal levels L does not appear in the
Shannon formula and does not influence the theoretical
maximum data rate of the channel.
When the signal is equal to the noise (SNR=1), the
capacity of the noisy channel is equal to its bandwidth.
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Example
Consider a noiseless channel with a bandwidth of 3000 Hz
transmitting a signal with two signal levels. The maximum bit rate
can be calculated as
Nyquist formula:
Bit Rate = 2 BW log
2
L
= 2 3000 log
2
2 = 6000 bps
Example
Consider a noiseless channel with bandwidth of 3000 Hz,
transmitting a signal with four signal levels (for each level, we send
two bits). The maximum bit rate can be calculated as
Bit Rate = 2 3000 log
2
4 = 12,000 bps
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Example
Consider an extremely noisy channel in which the value
of the signal-to-noise ratio is almost zero. In other words,
the noise is so strong that the signal is faint. For this
channel the capacity C is calculated as
Shannon Formula
C = BW log
2
(1+SNR)
= BW log
2
(1+0)
= BW log
2
(1)
= BW 0
= 0 This means that the capacity of this channel is zero
regardless of the bandwidth. In other words, we cannot
receive any data through this channel.
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Example
We can calculate the theoretical highest bit rate of a
regular telephone line. A telephone line normally has a
bandwidth of 3000 Hz (300 Hz to 3300 Hz). The signal-
to-noise ratio is usually 3162. For this channel the
capacity is calculated as
Shannon Formula
C = BW log
2
(1 + SNR)
= 3000 log
2
(1 + 3162)
= 3000 log
2
(3163)
= 3000 11.62
= 34,860 bps
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PERFORMANCE
One important issue in networking is the performance of
the networkhow good is it and how can we measure it?
Bandwidth
Throughput
Latency (Delay)
Bandwidth-Delay Product
Topics discussed in this section:
McGraw-Hill The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2006
In networking, we use the term bandwidth in
two contexts.
The first, bandwidth in hertz, refers to
the range of frequencies in a
composite signal or the range of
frequencies that a channel can pass.
The second, bandwidth in bits per
second, refers to the speed of bit
transmission in a channel or link.
Bandwidth
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Throughput
Throughput is a measure of how fast we can send data
through a network.
Throughput has units of bits per second (bps).
Example: we may have a link of digital bandwidth BW=1
Mbps but the device connected on the other side of the
link can only handle 200 kbps. Then the maximum
throughput of this link is 0.2 Mbps which is one-fifth of
the bandwidth.
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A network with bandwidth of 10 Mbps can pass only an
average of 12,000 frames per minute with each frame
carrying an average of 10,000 bits. What is the
throughput of this network?
Solution
We can calculate the throughput as
Example
The throughput is almost one-fifth of the bandwidth in
this case.
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Propagation time
Propagation time is directly proportional to distance and
inversely proportional to propagation speed.
The propagation time has units of seconds.
When propagation speed is multiplied by propagation time,
we get the distance a signal or a bit has traveled.
The propagation speed has units of meters/second or
kilometers/second.
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The bandwidth-delay product of a link defines the
number of bits that can fill the link.
The Bandwidth-Delay Product
We can think about the link between two points as
a pipe. The cross section of the pipe represents
the bandwidth, and the length of the pipe
represents the one-way delay. We can say the
volume of the pipe defines the bandwidth-delay
product.
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Bandwidth-Delay Product: Filling the link with bits
Case 1: the link has a bandwidth of 1 bps, the one-way delay of the link
is 5 seconds. Note that the duration of the bit is 1 second.
The product 15 is the maximum number of bits that can fill the link,
i.e., there can be no more than 5 bits at any time on the link.
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Bandwidth-Delay Product: Filling the link with bits
Case 2: the link has a bandwidth of 5 bps, the one-way delay of the link
is 5 seconds. Note that the duration of the bit is 0.2 second.
The product 55 = 25 is the maximum number of bits that can fill the
link, i.e., there can be no more than 25 bits at any time on the link.
McGraw-Hill The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2006
For a single link, the delay is mostly the one-way propagation
delay, i.e., the time it takes for a bit of data to travel from the
source to the destination. For multiple links, there are other
types of delays such as queuing time and processing delays.
Latency = propagation time + transmission time
+ queuing time + processing delay
The queuing time is the time needed for each intermediate or
end device to hold the message before it can be processed and
transmitted. The value of the queuing time depends on the load
on the network; when there is heavy traffic, the queuing time
increases.
The end-to-end delay in a network, or latency, is the sum of the
different types of delays.
Packet Latency
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Propagation time of a packet in one link =
(physical length of the link)/(speed of signal propagation)
The propagation time of a packet in a link does not depend on the
size of the packet. The speed of signal propagation is the same as
the speed of travel of the signal in the link.
Transmission time of a packet =
(size of packet)/(transmission speed of sender)
The transmission speed is the same as the transmission bandwidth
(in bps).
Propagation Time and Transmission Time
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What is the total delay (latency) for a packet of size 50,000 bits
that is being sent on a multiple-link path with 10 routers each
having a queuing time of 2 ms and a processing time of 1 ms.
The total length of all links is 2000 Km. The speed of light inside
the links is 2 x 10
8
m/s. All links have a transmission bandwidth
of 0.5 Mbps.
Example
Solution
We have
Latency = processing time + queuing time + transmission time +
propagation time
Processing time = 10 1 ms = 10 ms = 0.010 s
Queuing time = 10 2 ms = 20 ms = 0.020 s
Transmission time = 50,000 / (500,000 bps) = 0.1 s
Propagation time = (2000 Km) / (2 10
8
) = 0.01 s
Latency = 0.010 + 0.020 + 0.1 + 0.01 = 0.140 second
McGraw-Hill The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2006
3.92
Jitter
Another performance issue that is related to delay
is jitter. We can roughly say that jitter is a problem
if different packets of data encounter different
delays and the application using the data at the
receiver site is time-sensitive (audio and video
data, for example). If the delay for the first packet
is 20 ms, for the second is 45 ms, and for the third
is 40 ms, then the real-time application that uses
the packets endures jitter.