Introduction to Data Communications (S1, 2015)

Transmission Media

Learning Objectives

State the advantages/disadvantages of guided and unguided media
Compare the tradeoffs of common guided transmission media
Select antenna types/characteristics for given performance requirements
State general and free space path loss models
Predict coverage area of wireless communication systems using mathematical models
List examples of wireless media

Lecture Material

Lecture Notes: View, Print, Source
Path loss model and conversion to dB: View, Source
IPSTAR satellite example View, Print, Source. See the websites for IPSTAR and ThaiCom for more technical details.
Talking to Martians: A technical analysis of communications from Earth to the NASA Curiosity Rover on Mars, focusing on details relevant to this course (antenna gain, path loss, transmission delay, transmit power, frequency etc). View

Readings

Stallings: chapter 4
Forouzan: chapter 7
Kurose: none

Videos

Last year: Spectrum and Guided Media, Antennas and Antenna Gain, Free Space Path Loss

Notes

US Frequency Allocation Chart showing the applications/users of frequencies from 3kHz to 300 GHz.
Cisco antennas reference guide, giving examples of antenna specifications for WiFi, as well as explanation of antenna and propagation concepts
Notes from last year as a printable PDF.
Notes from the lecture are below. Hover over the image to see a description; right-click and view the image to zoom in. Alternatively, download a zip archive with all the images or a printable PDF of the notes.

SNR as dB Gain and Loss in dB System Gain, dBW and dBm dBW and dBm Values Gain compared to isotropic antenna Path Loss Calculation Wifi, Dipole Antenna and Free Space Path Loss Wifi, Parabolic Antenna and Free Space Path Loss Mars Communications Example

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