Chapter 3
Data and Signals
3.1 Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.
Note
To be transmitted, data must be
transformed to electromagnetic signals.
3.2
3-1 ANALOG AND DIGITAL
Data can be analog or digital. The term analog data refers
to information that is continuous; digital data refers to
information that has discrete states. Analog data take on
continuous values. Digital data take on discrete values.
Topics discussed in this section:
Analog and Digital Data
Analog and Digital Signals
Periodic and Nonperiodic Signals
Analog VS Digital Signal
3.3
Note
Data can be analog or digital.
Analog data are continuous and take
continuous values.
Digital data have discrete states and
take discrete values.
3.4
Note
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.
3.5
Figure 3.1 Comparison of analog and digital signals
3.6
Note
In data communications, we commonly
use periodic analog signals and
nonperiodic digital signals.
3.7
3-2 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.
Topics discussed in this section:
Sine Wave
Wavelength
Time and Frequency Domain
Composite Signals
Bandwidth
3.8
Figure 3.2 A sine wave
3.9
Example 3.1
The power in your house can be represented by a sine
wave with a peak amplitude of 155 to 170 V. However, it
is common knowledge that the voltage of the power in
U.S. homes is 110 to 120 V. This discrepancy is due to
the fact that these are root mean square (rms) values.
The signal is squared and then the average amplitude is
calculated. The peak value is equal to 2½ × rms value.
3.10
Figure 3.3 Two signals with the same phase and frequency,
but different amplitudes
3.11
Example 3.2
The voltage of a battery is a constant; this constant value
can be considered a sine wave, as we will see later. For
example, the peak value of an AA battery is normally
1.5 V.
3.12
Note
Frequency and period are the inverse of
each other.
3.13
Figure 3.4 Two signals with the same amplitude and phase,
but different frequencies
3.14
Table 3.1 Units of period and frequency
3.15
Example 3.3
The power we use at home has a frequency of 60 Hz.
The period of this sine wave can be determined as
follows:
3.16
Example 3.4
Express a period of 100 ms in microseconds.
Solution
From Table 3.1 we find the equivalents of 1 ms (1 ms is
10−3 s) and 1 s (1 s is 106 μs). We make the following
substitutions:.
3.17
Example 3.5
The period of a signal is 100 ms. What is its frequency in
kilohertz?
Solution
First we change 100 ms to seconds, and then we
calculate the frequency from the period (1 Hz = 10−3
kHz).
3.18
Note
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.
3.19
Note
If a signal does not change at all, its
frequency is zero.
If a signal changes instantaneously, its
frequency is infinite.
3.20
Note
Phase describes the position of the
waveform relative to time 0.
3.21
Figure 3.5 Three sine waves with the same amplitude and frequency,
but different phases
3.22
Example 3.6
A sine wave is offset 1/6 cycle with respect to time 0.
What is its phase in degrees and radians?
Solution
We know that 1 complete cycle is 360°. Therefore, 1/6
cycle is
3.23
Figure 3.6 Wavelength and period
3.24
Figure 3.7 The time-domain and frequency-domain plots of a sine wave
3.25
Note
A complete sine wave in the time
domain can be represented by one
single spike in the frequency domain.
3.26
Example 3.7
The frequency domain is more compact and
useful when we are dealing with more than one
sine wave. For example, Figure 3.8 shows three
sine waves, each with different amplitude and
frequency. All can be represented by three
spikes in the frequency domain.
3.27
Figure 3.8 The time domain and frequency domain of three sine waves
3.28
Note
A single-frequency sine wave is not
useful in data communications;
we need to send a composite signal, a
signal made of many simple sine waves.
3.29
Example 3.9
Figure 3.11 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. In this case, the
composite signal cannot be periodic, because that
implies that we are repeating the same word or words
with exactly the same tone.
3.30
Figure 3.11 The time and frequency domains of a nonperiodic signal
3.31
Note
The bandwidth of a composite signal is
the difference between the
highest and the lowest frequencies
contained in that signal.
3.32
Example 3.10
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, assuming all
components have a maximum amplitude of 10 V.
Solution
Let fh be the highest frequency, fl the lowest frequency,
and B the bandwidth. Then
The spectrum has only five spikes, at 100, 300, 500, 700,
and 900 Hz (see Figure 3.13).
3.33
Figure 3.13 The bandwidth for Example 3.10
3.34
Example 3.11
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 signal contains all frequencies of the
same amplitude.
Solution
Let fh be the highest frequency, fl the lowest frequency,
and B the bandwidth. Then
The spectrum contains all integer frequencies. We show
this by a series of spikes (see Figure 3.14).
3.35
Figure 3.14 The bandwidth for Example 3.11
3.36
Example 3.12
A nonperiodic composite signal has a bandwidth of 200
kHz, with a middle frequency of 140 kHz and peak
amplitude of 20 V. 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. Figure 3.15 shows the frequency domain
and the bandwidth.
3.37
Figure 3.15 The bandwidth for Example 3.12
3.38
3-3 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.
Topics discussed in this section:
Bit Rate
Bit Length
Digital Signal as a Composite Analog Signal
Application Layer
3.39
Figure 3.16 Two digital signals: one with two signal levels and the other
with four signal levels
3.40
Example 3.16
A digital signal has eight levels. How many bits are
needed per level? We calculate the number of bits from
the formula
Each signal level is represented by 3 bits.
3.41
Example 3.17
A digital signal has nine levels. How many bits are
needed per level? We calculate the number of bits by
using the formula. Each signal level is represented by
3.17 bits. However, this answer is not realistic. The
number of bits sent per level needs to be an integer as
well as a power of 2. For this example, 4 bits can
represent one level.
3.42
Example 3.18
Assume we need to download text documents at the rate
of 100 pages per minute. What is the required bit rate of
the channel?
Solution
A page is an average of 24 lines with 80 characters in
each line. If we assume that one character requires 8
bits, the bit rate is
3.43
Example 3.20
What is the bit rate for high-definition TV (HDTV)?
Solution
HDTV uses digital signals to broadcast high quality
video signals. The HDTV screen is normally a ratio of
16 : 9. There are 1920 by 1080 pixels per screen, and the
screen is renewed 30 times per second. Twenty-four bits
represents one color pixel.
The TV stations reduce this rate to 20 to 40 Mbps
through compression.
3.44
Example 3.22
We have a low-pass channel with bandwidth 100 kHz.
What is the maximum bit rate of this
channel?
Solution
The maximum bit rate can be achieved if we use the first
harmonic. The bit rate is 2 times the available bandwidth,
or 200 kbps.
3.45
