Essay On Transmission Media

8.1 Introduction

In today’s world, the main purpose of computers is information gathering, processing or analysing data. This arises a need to connect them with each other in order to share information, data, videos etc. In the present day situation there is a need to transmitted at a very fast pace and at a greater distance. To achieve this various kinds of communication medias are developed. This chapter defines the mechanical and electrical interfaces of network and the three kinds of transmission media: Guided (copper wire and fibre optics), wireless and satellite. We will also discuss the key transmission technologies that are used in modern computer networks.

8.2 Physical communication media

Communication media can be defined as material or techniques capable of carrying one or more signals through which data is transferred from one place to another. Network devices are connected to each other via actual physical environment on which data travels as it moves from one location to another. A media can referred to as physical media because the media is generally a physical object that can be touched and felt, and has physical properties such as weight and color. However with advancement of technologies, signals can be transferred over the

Guided transmission media

• The purpose of physical transmission media is to transport a raw bit stream from one machine to another. Various types of physical media can be used for the actual data transmission. Guided media are the physical links through which signals are confined to narrow path and transmitted from one place to another. Guided media are generally made up of an internal conductor (Copper or Glass) covered by a outer insulating material. Though various types of common bounded media are used of the data transmission, most common types are given below

o Magnetic media o Twisted Pairs Cable o Coaxial Cable o Fiber Optics