Signals

Signals are electric or electromagnetic encoding of data

Information, Data and Signals

Data - A representation of facts, concepts, or instructions in a formalized manner suitable for communication, interpretation, or processing by human beings or by automatic means Information - The meaning that is currently assigned to data by means of the conventions applied to those data

Information, Data and Signals

Information

Data

Signal

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Computers Use Signals for Communcation

Computers transmit data using digital signals, sequences of specified voltage levels. Graphically they are often represented as a square wave. Computers sometimes communicate over telephone line using analog signals, which are formed by continuously varying voltage levels.

Signal = Function of Time

The signal is a function of time. Horizontal axis represents time and the vertical axis represents the voltage level. Signal represents data OR Data is encoded by means of a signal Signal is what travels on a communication medium An understanding of signals is required so that suitable signal may be chosen to represent data 5

Continuous and Discrete Signal

Continuous or Analog signals take on all possible values of amplitude Digital or Discrete Signals take on finite set of voltage levels
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Analog and Digital Signal

Continuous/Analo g signals take on all possible values of amplitude Digital or Discrete Signals take on finite set of voltage levels

Analog and Digital Data

Analog data take on all possible values. Voice and video are continuously varying patterns of intensity Digital data take on finite (countable) number of values. Example, ASCII characters, integers

Periodic Signals
Some signals repeat themselves over fixed intervals of time. Such signals are said to be periodic A signal s(t) is periodic if and only if: s(t+T) = s(t) -g < t < +g where the constant T is the periodic of the signal, otherwise a signal is aperiodic (or non- periodic).
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Periodic Signal Properties

Three important characteristics of a periodic signal are :
Amplitude (A): the instantaneous value of a signal at any time measured in volts. Frequency (f): the number of repetitions of the period per second or the inverse of the period; it is expressed in cycles per second or Hertz (Hz). T=1/f Phase (J): a measure of the relative position in time within a single period of a signal, measured in degrees Wavelength (P): distance occupied by a signal in one period
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Spectrum and Bandwidth

Spectrum of a signal - the range of frequencies it contains Absolute bandwidth - the width of the spectrum Effective bandwidth or just bandwidth - the band of frequencies which contains most of the energy of the signal - half-power bandwidth
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Bandwidth and Data Rate

Width of the spectrum of frequencies that can be transmitted if spectrum=300 to 3400Hz, bandwidth=3100Hz Greater bandwidth leads to greater costs Limited bandwidth leads to distortion Analog measured in Hertz, digital measured in baud
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General Observations about Signals

For a signal with multiple frequencies, energy is in the first few frequency components Increasing the bandwidth increases data rate The transmission medium limits the bandwidth Greater the bandwidth, the greater the cost For a given data rate, limiting the bandwidth, increases distortion, and hence the error rate
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Transmission Impairments
Attenuation Delay Noise

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Attenuation
Loss of signal strength over distance Use of amplifiers to boost analog signals; entire signal (including noise or distortion) is amplified Use of repeaters for digital data; data recovered and then transmitted

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Attenuation Distortion
Analog signal is made up of several frequencies Attenuation is different for different frequencies; Different losses at different frequencies More of a problem for analog signals than digital

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Attenuation
Attenuation the strength of a signal falls off with distance Attenuation Distortion attenuation varies as a function of frequency

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Attenuation is measured in deciBels - dB

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dB Calculation
Example
Input power is 1 Watt Output power is 1 mW dB Attenuation is 10 * log (1 W/1 mW) = 10 * (3) = 30 dB

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Use of Repeaters

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Delay Distortion
The velocity of propagation of a signal through a guided medium varies with frequency. Different frequency components travel at different speeds therefore arrive at a destination at different times. Particularly critical for digital data because bits may spill over causing Inter-Symbol Interference.
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Transmission Impairments Visually

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Noise
What is Noise?
Any unwanted signal

Types of Noise
Thermal Intermodulation Impulse Crosstalk

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Thermal Noise
Thermal noise, white noise
Due to random motion of atoms N = kTW k = Boltzman Constant (1.381 X 10-23 J/K) T = Absolute Temperature (Kelvin) W = Bandwidth (Hz) Why is it called White Noise?

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Inter-modulation Noise
Inter-modulation noise
when two signals at different frequencies are mixed in the same medium, sum or difference of original frequencies or multiples of those frequencies can be produced, which can interfere with the intended signal - occurs when there is some non-linearity in the system

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Noise
Crosstalk
when there is an unwanted coupling between signal paths. For example some times talking on the telephone you can hear another conversation.

Impulse noise
Due to lightning or some other random transient phenomenon

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Effect of Noise

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Transmission Impairments in Un-Guided Media

Free-Space loss
Signal disperses with distance

Atmospheric Absorption
Attenuation caused by water vapor and oxygen Water vapor: High around 22 GHz, less around 15 GHz Oxygen: High around 60 GHz, less below 30 GHz

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Transmission Impairments in Un-Guided Media

Multipath
Receive multiple signals reflected by many obstacles

Refraction
Radio waves get bent by change in speed with altitude

Thermal Noise
White noise. Important factor for satellite communications
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Channel Capacity
The rate at which digital data can be transmitted over a given communication channel Two formulations
Shannon s Formulation Nyquist Formulation

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Shannons Law
Considers the noise (only white noise) Key parameter is signal-to-noise ratio (S/N, or SNR), which is the ratio of the power in a signal to the power contained in the noise, typically measured at the receiver often expressed in decibels Maximum theoretical error-free capacity in bits per second C = W log2 (1+S/N)
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Signal to Noise Ratio - S/N

Signal to Noise ratio: power in signal to power contained in noise Doubling the bandwidth doubles the data rate At a given noise level, higher the data rate, the higher the error rate Increasing signal strength increases intermodulation noise Wider the bandwidth, the more noise is admitted. As W increases, S/N decreases Goal: Get highest data rate with lowest error rate at cheapest cost
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Example with S/N of 1000 for Telephone LIne

Example for voice-grade telephone line: Using Shannon's formulation for channel capacity:
C = W * log2(1 + S/N) Where log2 represent logarithm base 2 30 dB S/N = 1000 S/N C = 3100 * log2(1 + 1000) C = 30,894 bps

Hence the channel capacity is 30,894 bits per second.

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Nyquist Limit
Nyquist limit (in a noise-free environment) C = 2 W log2M Given a bandwidth of W, highest signal rate that can be carried is 2W with binary signaling (M=2) For multilevel signaling C = 2W log2M where M is the number of discrete signals or voltage levels
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Example with M-ary Signaling with 3100 Hz Bandwidth C = 2 W log2M

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BPS vs. Baud

BPS=bits per second Baud= Number of signal changes per second Each signal change can represent more than one bit, through variations on amplitude, frequency, and/or phase

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Why Study Analog?

Telephone system is primarily analog rather than digital (designed to carry voice signals) Low-cost, ubiquitous transmission medium If we can convert digital information (1s and 0s) to analog form (audible tone), it can be transmitted inexpensively Media are inherently analog too, real world is analog
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Analog Transmission
Analog signal transmitted without regard to content May be analog or digital data Attenuated over distance Use amplifiers to boost signal Also amplifies noise

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Digital Transmission
Concerned with content Integrity endangered by noise, attenuation etc. Repeaters are used Repeater receives signal Extracts bit pattern Retransmits Attenuation is overcome Noise is not amplified
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Use of Repeaters

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Which Signal/Data is Better Analog or Digital?

Digital is better Even Analog data can be converted into digital data and transmitted as digital data Digital data provide the following advantages:
Digital technology Data integrity through EDC and ECC Capacity utilization through TDM Security and privacy through encryption Integration of all forms of information

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