Chapter 7

Transmission
Media
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Figure 7.1

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Transmission medium and physical layer

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Figure 7.2

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Classes of transmission media

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7.1 Guided Media

Twisted-Pair Cable
Coaxial Cable
Fiber-Optic Cable

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Figure 7.3

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Twisted-pair cable

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Figure 7.4

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UTP and STP

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Table 7.1 Categories of unshielded twisted-pair cables

Category

Bandwidth

Data Rate

Digital/Analog

Use

very low

< 100 kbps

Analog

Telephone

< 2 MHz

2 Mbps

Analog/digital

T-1 lines

16 MHz

10 Mbps

Digital

LANs

20 MHz

20 Mbps

Digital

LANs

100 MHz

100 Mbps

Digital

LANs

6 (draft)

200 MHz

200 Mbps

Digital

LANs

7 (draft)

600 MHz

600 Mbps

Digital

LANs

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Figure 7.5

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UTP connector

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Figure 7.6

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UTP performance

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Figure 7.7

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Coaxial cable

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Table 7.2 Categories of coaxial cables

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Category

Impedance

Use

RG-59

75

Cable TV

RG-58

50

Thin Ethernet

RG-11

50

Thick Ethernet

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Figure 7.8

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BNC connectors

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Figure 7.9

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Coaxial cable performance

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Figure 7.10

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Bending of light ray

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Figure 7.11 Optical fiber

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Figure 7.12

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Propagation modes

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Figure 7.13

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Modes

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Table 7.3 Fiber types

Type

Core

Cladding

Mode

50/125

50

125

Multimode, graded-index

62.5/125

62.5

125

Multimode, graded-index

100/125

100

125

Multimode, graded-index

125

Single-mode

7/125

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Figure 7.14

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Fiber construction

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Figure 7.15

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Fiber-optic cable connectors

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Figure 7.16

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Optical fiber performance

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7.2 Unguided Media: Wireless

Radio Waves
Microwaves
Infrared

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Figure 7.17

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Electromagnetic spectrum for wireless communication

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Figure 7.18

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Propagation methods

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Table 7.4 Bands

Band

Range

Propagation

Application

VLF

330 KHz

Ground

Long-range radio navigation

LF

30300 KHz

Ground

Radio beacons and

navigational locators

MF

300 KHz3 MHz

Sky

AM radio

HF

330 MHz

Sky

Citizens band (CB),

ship/aircraft communication

VHF

30300 MHz

Sky and
line-of-sight

VHF TV,
FM radio

UHF

300 MHz3 GHz

Line-of-sight

UHF TV, cellular phones,

paging, satellite

SHF

330 GHz

Line-of-sight

Satellite communication

EHF

30300 GHz

Line-of-sight

Long-range radio navigation

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Figure 7.19

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Wireless transmission waves

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Figure 7.20

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Omnidirectional antennas

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Note:
Radio waves are used for multicast
communications, such as radio and
television, and paging systems.

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Figure 7.21

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Unidirectional antennas

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Note:
Microwaves are used for unicast
communication such as cellular
telephones, satellite networks, and
wireless LANs.

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Note:
Infrared signals can be used for shortrange communication in a closed area
using line-of-sight propagation.

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