Digital Communication

Chapter 1 : Digital Transmission

 Content
 Basic principle and theories of Digital
communications system
 Advantages and disadvantages of using digital
signals
 Analog and Digital Data transmission
 Transmission impairment
 Error detector
 Parity check, cyclic redundancy check, checksum

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 Communication
 Main purpose of communication is to transfer
information from a source to a recipient via a
channel or medium.
 Basic block diagram of a communication system:

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 Block diagram of communication
system
 Source: analog or digital
 Transmitter: transducer, amplifier, modulator,
oscillator, power amp., antenna
 Channel: e.g. cable, optical fibre, free space
 Receiver: antenna, amplifier, demodulator,
oscillator, power amplifier, transducer
 Recipient: e.g. person, (loud) speaker, computer

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  Types of information
• Voice, data, video, music, email etc.

 Types of communication systems

 Public Switched Telephone Network
(voice,fax,modem)
 Satellite systems
 Radio,TV broadcasting
 Cellular phones
 Computer networks (LANs, WANs, WLANs)

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 Information Representation
 Communication system converts information into
electrical electromagnetic/optical signals appropriate
for the transmission medium.
 Analog systems convert analog message into signals
that can propagate through the channel.
 Digital systems convert bits(digits, symbols) into
signals
 Computers naturally generate information as characters/bits
 Most information can be converted into bits
 Analog signals converted to bits by sampling and quantizing
(A/D conversion)

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 The basic principle and theories of
Digital communications system

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Formatting To ensure that message (source signal) in compatible with digital
processing
- To transform from source information to digital signal
Source coding - Data compression
Baseband Transfer digit to waveform that are compatible to the channel
signaling
Equalization Ideal transmission ( non distorting) transmission characteristics over
channel
Bandpass Information signal is converted to sinusoidal waveform for digital
modulation
Channel coding Signal transformation designed to improve com performance
Synchronization Synchronize transmitter and receiver
Multiplexing Multiple signal to share one medium
Spreeding which a signal (e.g. an electrical, electromagnetic, or acoustic signal)
generated with a particular bandwidth is deliberately spread in the
frequency domain resulting in a signal with a wider bandwidth
Encryption For privacy and authentication

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 Basic Digital Communication
Transformations
 Formatting/Source Coding
 Transforms source info into digital symbols
(digitization)
 Selects compatible waveforms (matching
function)
 Introduces redundancy which facilitates
accurate decoding despite errors

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 It is essential for reliable
communication
 Modulation/Demodulation
 Modulation is the process of modifying the info
signal to facilitate transmission
 Demodulation reverses the process of
modulation. It involves the detection and
retrieval of the info signal
 Types
 Coherent: Requires a reference info for detection
 Noncoherent: Does not require reference phase
information

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 Basic Digital Communication
Transformations
 Coding/Decoding
 Translating info bits to transmitter data symbols
 Techniques used to enhance info signal so that
they are less vulnerable to channel impairment
(e.g. noise, fading, jamming, interference)
 Waveform Coding
 Produces new waveforms with better performance
 Structured Sequences

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 Why digital
 The ease with which digitals, compared with
analog signals are regenerated.
 The shape of waveform is affected by two
mechanism
1. Distorting affect on ideal pulse
• All transmission lines and circuits have some nonideal
frequency transfer function
2. Unwanted electrical noise or other interference further
distorts the pulse waveform
 Still reliably identified,
- the pulse is amplified
- Reborn / regenerated Regenerative repeaters

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 Why digital

 Digital circuit are less subject to distortion and

interference
 Operate in one of two states
 Fully on or fully off
 Prevents noise and other disturbances from
accumulating in transmission
 Low rates producing high signal fidelity
 Error detection and correction

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 Why digital

 More reliable and can be produced at a lower cost

• More flexible implementation
• TDM which is more easier the FDM
• Data handles by packets
 The input to a digital system is in the form of a
sequence of bits (binary or M_ary)
o Immunity to distortion and interference
o Digital communication is rugged in the sense that it is more
immune to channel noise and distortion
o Hardware is more flexible
o Digital hardware implementation is flexible and permits the
use of microprocessors, mini-processors, digital switching and
VLSI

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 Why digital

 Shorter design and production cycle

 Low cost
 The use of LSI and VLSI in the design of
components and systems have resulted in lower
cost
 Easier and more efficient to multiplex several digital
signals
 Digital multiplexing techniques – Time & Code
Division Multiple Access - are easier to implement
than analog techniques such as Frequency Division
Multiple Access

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 Why digital

 Using digital techniques, it is possible to

combine both format for transmission through a
common medium. Can combine different signal
types – data, voice, text, etc.
 Data communication in computers is digital in
nature whereas voice communication between
people is analog in nature
 The two types of communication are difficult to
combine over the same medium in the analog
domain.
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 Why digital

 Encryption and privacy techniques are easier to

implement
 Better overall performance
 Digital communication is inherently more efficient
than analog in realizing the exchange of SNR for
bandwidth
 Digital signals can be coded to yield extremely low
rates and high fidelity as well as privacy

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 Disadvantages
 Requires reliable “synchronization”
 Requires A/D conversions at high rate
 Requires larger bandwidth
 Nongraceful degradation
 Performance Criteria
 Probability of error or Bit Error Rate

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 Goals in Communication System
Design
 To maximize transmission rate, R
 To maximize system utilization, U
 To minimize bit error rate, P e
 To minimize required systems bandwidth, W
 To minimize system complexity, C x
 To minimize required power, E b /N o

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What is Digital Transmission ?

•  Digital  is a data technology that uses discrete 
(discontinuous) values.

•  Digital Transmission deals with the transmission of 
digital data in a reliable and efficient manner. 
 Simplified Data Communications
Model

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 Frequency, Spectrum and
Bandwidth
 Time domain concepts
• Continuous signal
- Varies in a smooth way over time
• Discrete signal
- Maintains a constant level then changes to another constant
level
• Periodic signal
- Pattern repeated over time
• Aperiodic signal
- Pattern not repeated over time

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 Continuous & Discrete Signals

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 Periodic
Signals

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 Various Sine Waves

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 Wavelength
 Distance occupied by one cycle
 Distance between two points of corresponding
phase in two consecutive cycles
 Symbol =  (m/s)
 Assuming signal velocity v
 = v/f
f = v
c = 3*108 ms-1 (speed of light in free space)

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 Frequency Domain Concepts
◊ Signal usually made up of many frequencies
◊ Components are sine waves
◊ Can be shown (Fourier analysis) that any signal
is made up of component sine waves
◊ Can plot frequency domain functions

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Addition of
Frequency
Components

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Frequency
Domain

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 Spectrum & Bandwidth
◊ Spectrum
- range of frequencies contained in signal
◊ Absolute bandwidth
- width of spectrum
◊ Effective bandwidth
- Often just bandwidth
- Narrow band of frequencies containing most of the
energy
◊ DC Component
- Component of zero frequency

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 Signal with DC Component

Non-zero

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 Data Rate and Bandwidth
 Any transmission system has a limited band of
frequencies
 This limits the data rate that can be carried

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Analog & Digital Data Transmission

 Data
- Entities that convey meaning
 Signals
- Electric or electromagnetic representations of data
 Transmission
- Communication of data by propagation and
processing of signals

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 Data
 Analog
- Continuous values within some interval
- e.g. sound, video
 Digital
- Discrete values
- e.g. text, integers

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 Acoustic Spectrum (Analog)

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 Signals
Means by which data are propagated
 Analog
- Continuously variable
 Various media such as wire, fiber optic, space
 Speech bandwidth 100Hz to 7kHz
- Telephone bandwidth 300Hz to 3400Hz
- Video bandwidth 4MHz
 Digital
- Use two DC components

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 Data and Signals
 Usually use digital signals for digital data and
analog signals for analog data
 Can use analog signal to carry digital data
- Modem
 Can use digital signal to carry analog data
- Compact Disc audio

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 Analog Signals Carrying Analog
and Digital Data

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 Digital Signals Carrying Analog
and Digital Data

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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.
 Regenerative Repeaters used
 Repeater receives signal, Extracts bit pattern
and Retransmits
 Attenuation is overcome
 Noise is not amplified

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 Transmission Impairments
 Signal received may differ from signal
transmitted
 Analog - degradation of signal quality
 Digital - bit errors
 Caused by
- Attenuation and attenuation distortion
- Delay distortion
- Noise

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 Attenuation
 Signal strength falls off with distance
 Depends on medium
 Received signal strength:
- must be enough to be detected
- must be sufficiently higher than noise to be received
without error
 Attenuation is an increasing function of
frequency

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 Delay Distortion
 Only in guided media
 Propagation velocity varies with frequency

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 Noise (1)
 Additional signals inserted between transmitter
and receiver
 Thermal
- Due to thermal agitation of electrons
- Uniformly distributed
- White noise
 Intermodulation
- Signals that are the sum and difference of original
frequencies sharing a medium

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 Noise (2)
 Crosstalk
- Signal from one line is picked up by another
 Impulse
- Irregular pulses or spikes
- e.g. External electromagnetic interference
- Short duration
- High amplitude

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 Channel Capacity
 Data rate
- In bits per second
- Rate at which data can be communicated
 Bandwidth
- In cycles per second or Hertz
- Constrained by transmitter and medium

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Digital Transmission Impairments
 Data can be corrupted during transmission.

 Some applications require that errors be

detected and corrected.

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 Digital Bit Error
 When digital data is transmitted over a digital
link, errors in transmission can occur due to
external factors such as noise.
 In many cases it is necessary to be able to
detect errors and correct them.
 This requires special codes known as error
protecting codes.

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 Note:

Data can be corrupted during

transmission. For reliable
communication, errors must be detected
and corrected.
 SECTION REVIEW
 Draw and label the basic digital communication transformation block
diagram. Briefly explain the function of each block.

 List four advantages and disadvantages of digital signals

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 Types of Error

 Single Bit Error

 Burst Error

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 Note:

In a single-bit error, only one bit in the

data unit has changed.
Single-Bit Error
 Single-Bit Error
 The figure shows the effects of a single-bit error
on data unit.
 Single-bit errors are the least likely type of error
in serial data transmission.
 To understanding why, imagine a sender sends
data at 1 Mbps.
 This means that each bit lasts only 1/1,000,000
s or 1µs.
 For single-bit error to occur, the noise must
have a duration of only 1µs, which is very rare;
since noise normally lasts much longer than this.
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  However, a single-bits error can happen if we
are sending data using parallel transmission. For
example, if eight wires are used to send all 8
bits of 1 byte at the same time and one of the
wires is noisy, one bit can be corrupted in each
byte.

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 Note:

A burst error means that 2 or more bits

in the data unit have changed.
Burst Error
 Burst Error
 The figure show the effects of a burst error on a
data unit. In this case, 0100010001000011 was
sent, but 0101110101000011 was received.

 Note that a burst error does not necessarily

mean that errors occurs in consecutive bits. The
length of the burst is measured from the first
corrupted bit to the last corrupted bit. Some bits
in between may not have been corrupted.

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  Burst error is most likely to occur in serial
transmission.

 The duration of noise is normally longer than the

duration of one bit ,which means that noise
affects data, it effects a set of bits.

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 Section Review

 Briefly discuss the function of error protecting

codes in digital communication system.

 Specify two types of error. Give example

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Detection
 Error detection uses the concept of
redundancy, which means adding extra
bits for detecting errors at the
destination.
Redundancy
Even Parity Concept
In parity check, a parity bit is added to
every data unit so that the total number
of 1s is even
(or odd for odd-parity).
Example 1

Suppose the sender wants to send the word world. In 
ASCII, the five characters are coded as 
 1110111 1101111 1110010 1101100 1100100
The following shows the actual bits sent
 
Example 2

Now suppose the word world in Example 1 is received by 
the receiver without being corrupted in transmission. 
 11101110   11011110   11100100   11011000   
11001001
 
Example 3

Now suppose the word world in Example 1 is corrupted 
during transmission. 
 11111110   11011110   11101100   11011000   
11001001
 Simple parity check can detect all
single-bit errors. It can detect burst
errors only if the total number of errors
in each data unit is odd.
Two Dimensional Parity
Example 4

Suppose the following block is sent:
 10101001   00111001   11011101   11100111   
10101010                                                                              
                    
However, it is hit by a burst noise of length 8, and some 
bits are corrupted. 
                                                                                              
                                                                                              
                 
 In two-dimensional parity check, a
block of bits is divided into rows and a
redundant row of bits is added to the
whole block.
A cyclic redundancy check (CRC) is an error-detecting code commonly
used in digital networks and storage devices to detect accidental changes
to raw data
• Blocks of data entering these systems get a short check value
attached, based on the remainder of a polynomial division of their
contents;
• on retrieval the calculation is repeated, and corrective action can be
taken against presumed data corruption if the check values do not
match.
• CRCs are so called because the check (data verification) value is a
redundancy (it expands the message without adding information and
the algorithm is based on cyclic codes.
• CRCs are popular because they are simple to implement in binary
hardware, easy to analyze mathematically, and particularly good at
detecting common errors caused by noise in transmission channels.
CRC Generator and Checker
Binary Division in a CRC Generator
Binary Division in a CRC Generator
Polynomial
Polynomial Representing a
Divisor
Polynomial
Table 7.1 Standard polynomials

Name Polynomial Application

CRC-8 x8 + x 2 + x + 1 ATM header

CRC-10 x10 + x9 + x5 + x4 + x 2 + 1 ATM AAL

ITU-16 x16 + x12 + x5 + 1 HDLC

x32 + x26 + x23 + x22 + x16 + x12 + x11 +

ITU-32 LANs
x10 + x8 + x7 + x5 + x4 + x2 + x + 1
Example 5

It is obvious that we cannot choose x (binary 10) or x2 + x 
(binary 110) as the polynomial because both are divisible 
by x. However, we can choose x + 1 (binary 11) because 
it is not divisible by x, but is divisible by x + 1. We can 
also choose x2 + 1 (binary 101) because it is divisible by 
x + 1 (binary division). 
Example 6

The CRC­12 

                   x12 + x11 + x3 + x + 1
which has a degree of 12, will detect all burst errors 
affecting an odd number of bits, will detect all burst 
errors with a length less than or equal to 12, and will 
detect, 99.97 percent of the time, burst errors with a 
length of 12 or more.
 Checksum

 The third error detection method.

 Like the parity checks and CRC, checksum is
based on the concepts of redundancy.

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 checksum
 A checksum or hash sum is a fixed-size datum
computed from an arbitrary block of digital data
for the purpose of detecting accidental errors
that may have been introduced during its
transmission or storage.
 The integrity of the data can be checked at any
later time by recomputing the checksum and
comparing it with the stored one. If the
checksums match, the data was likely not
accidentally altered.

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Checksum
Data Unit and Checksum
The sender follows these steps:
• The unit is divided into k sections, each of n bits.

• All sections are added using one’s complement to

get the sum.

• The sum is complemented and becomes the

checksum.

• The checksum is sent with the data.

The receiver follows these steps:
• The unit is divided into k sections, each of n bits.

• All sections are added using one’s complement to

get the sum.

• The sum is complemented.

• If the result is zero, the data are accepted:

otherwise, rejected.
 Example 7

Suppose the following block of 16 bits is to be sent using a 
checksum of 8 bits. 
  10101001   00111001 
 Example 8
Now suppose the receiver receives the pattern sent in Example 7 
and there is no error. 
10101001   00111001   00011101
 Further Reading
 Lathi, B.P (2001). Modern Digital and Analog
Communications Systems, (3rd ed.). New York:
Oxford University Press.

 Web site

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