SESSION 2

NETWORK HARDWARE
AND TRANSMISSION
MEDIA
OBJECTIVES
Introduction to Network Adapter
Cards
Introduction to Transmission Media
Twisted Pair (TP) Cable

Introduction to Network Adapter
Cards
Network Adapter Card is the component
which is responsible for physically
connecting the computer to the
transmission media.
It is also called as network card or
network interface card (NIC) or
transceiver and is responsible for moving
data from the computer to the network
and vice versa.
It is the NIC which manages the
communication
NIC contains various elements like:
Expansion bus connector
Media connector
Buffer
Transceiver
Function of a NIC

The main function of an NIC is to transmit
and receive data to and from the network.
The system sends the data in parallel
format to the NIC through the system
expansion bus.
The NIC places the data in the buffer
The transceiver then converts the format
of the data signal from parallel format to
serial or the required transmission format
so that it can be sent over the network.
The media connector which physically
joins the network card to the transmission
media sends the data on to the network.

Function of a NIC

NIC with a number of different connectors is
called as combi - cards.
NIC have a unique hardware or physical address
which is called as Media Access Control (MAC)
address or Ethernet Address (EA).
These unique addresses (48-bit) have been hard
coded by the card manufacturer with the format
of the addresses changing with change in system
architecture.
It depends on the range of numbers given by the
Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers
Committee (IEEE) committee.
For example an Ethernet card address consisting
of a 48-bit identity number is mostly displayed as
12 digits of hexadecimal number.
These addresses are used by NIC to address data
to other NIC and recognize data sent for it.
A frame of data sent to a particular
PC is made up of:
Source MAC address
Destination MAC address
Data
Error checking

How network cards connect to the
computer ?
Expansion bus
Integrated with the mother
board
Parallel Port
Type of network cards
Ethernet
Token ring
ARC net or ATM

Different networking systems need different
types of network cards so it is important to
decide the type of networking system before
buying network cards
Configuring network cards

Cable type
Remote boot
Cable type
It is necessary to configure the card for
right transceiver type to function properly.
For example some network cards have
multiple connectors for different media
types like RJ-45 and BNC.
Here you need to configure the transceiver
type according to the network cable for it
to work perfectly.
Remote boot
This is used for diskless workstations
which are also called as dumb terminals.
This feature must be enabled and a
Programmable ROM (PROM) chip inserted
into the socket on the network card.
The PROM controls the boot process of the
machine and loads the operating system
file from a network server.
The user is then asked the username and
password to be identified and log on to the
server.
Transceivers and Media
Converters
Some network cards have an Attachment
Unit Interface (AUI) port called as DB15
female port which looks similar to a MIDI /
Joystick port.
This port is also known as a digital Intel
Xerox (DIX) connector.
The AUI port can be used to connect to
any Ethernet transmission media when
used with an appropriate external
transceiver because it is an universal
connector.
Methods for Configuration
Software configuration
Hardware configuration
Introduction to Transmission Media
Transmission media is the physical
path through which electromagnetic
signals travel to allow computers to
communicate with each other.
The electromagnetic signals can
include electrical signals, radio wave,
microwave and infrared to visible
light.
Signaling
Analog signaling
Digital signaling
Digital Encoding
Most of the networks use a type of
digital signaling system while
communicating.
To convert these binary data into
relative electromagnetic signals you
need an encoding schemes like :
Current-state or State-transition.
Current State
It is the presence or absence of a signal
to represent the data.
For example the presence of a negative
signal might represent a binary zero
while a positive signal might represent a
binary one.
State Transition

In this the data is represented by
transitions in the signal.

For example the transition from high to
low could represent a binary zero while
a transition from low to high could
represent a binary one.
Bit timing
The PC receiving the signal must
measure the signals at regular
intervals to get accurate
representation of the values sent by
another PC.
Media Bandwidth
The amount of data that can be
transferred through a transmission
medium at any given point of time is
dependent on the bandwidth of the
transmission medium.
For example if an Ethernet network has a
bandwidth of 10 Mbps then it can transfer
only 10 Mbps of data per second at any
given point of time.
In a transmission medium you can
allocate bandwidth in two ways:
Baseband transmission
Broadband transmission
Baseband transmission
It utilizes the full bandwidth of the
media like a single transmission path.
This method is generally used by Digital
signals as it is more reliable than the
broadband method.

Broadband transmission
It distributes the full bandwidth of the
media into a number of transmission
paths.
This method is generally used by analog
signals but it is less reliable than
baseband method.



Signaling speed (MHz)
It is used to increase the bandwidth
by increasing the signaling speed.
It is measured in MHz (Millions of
cycles per second).
For example if one bit of data can
be sent per clock cycle then a
signaling speed of 10 MHz allows:
1 bit x 10^6 cycles = 10Mbps
Media Types
Cable
Wireless
The selection of a transmission media for a
network depends on the following
parameters:

Cost
Bandwidth
Attenuation/distortion
Resistance to EMI
Ease of Installation
Cost
Depending upon the total cost to
implement media and their usefulness in
the current and future situations play a
vital role for selection of a media type.
Bandwidth
The bandwidth supported by a specific
medium is also called as its capacity or
transmission speed because it
determines the speed of the network.
It is measured by the number of bits
that can reliably transferred per second
through a specific transmission medium
and measured in Mbps.
Attenuation/distortion
It is the progressive degradation of a
signal as it travels through the network.
Attenuation is main reason for
limitations on the distance for any type
of media.
Resistance to EMI
EMI signals can corrupt a data with
noise and cause errors while exchanging
data.
The level of resistance to EMI is one of
the important aspects of selecting a
media for a network.
Ease of Installation
Twisted Pair (TP) Cable
A twisted pair usually consists of 22 to 26 American
wire gauge (AWG) insulated copper wires
The wires are twisted so that the signal emitted by one
wire is cancelled by the signal emitted by other wire
thereby reducing external interference
Twisted pair cable is divided into two major categories:
Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP)
Shielded Twisted Pair (STP)
Unshielded twisted pair (UTP)
The Electrical Industries Association
(EIA) has standardized the
specifications of UTP to simplify its
selection procedure and make it
easily available for everyone.
Category Frequency Capacity
(MHz) (Mbps)
Cat 1 NS 1
Cat 2 NS 4
Cat 3 16 10
Cat 4 20 16
Cat 5 100 100
Cat 5e up to 350 155+

Shielded twisted pair (STP)
Twisted pair cabling was shielded
because of its greater resistance EMI
Other STP cables had thin outer foil
shield, called as screen twisted pair
or foil twisted pair


Connectors: RJ-45 / RJ-11
RJ stands for Registered Jack.
RJ-11 and RJ -45 connectors are
used by twisted pair cabling.
RJ-11 connectors have four contacts
which are used by two pair cable
while RJ-45 has eight contacts which
are used by four pair cable.
RJ-11 connector is normally used for
telephone systems while RJ-45 is
generally used for data networks.
Coaxial Cable
Categories of coax cable
Thick and thin are the two main categories
of the coax cable.
The coax cable can be categorized
according to the Radio Grade (RG)
standard:
Rating Dia (mm) Ohms Type

RG-8 10 50 Thick net
RG-58 5 50 Thin net
RG-59 5 75 Cable TV

Fiber Optic Cable
It uses light signals instead of electrical signals
and comprises of glass core which is surrounded
by a glass layer known as cladding.
Cladding is used to reflect the signals back into
the waveguide by multiple internal reflections.
The light traveling along the cable core is called
as waveguide.
The strength of fiber cables is improved by using
Kevlar.
Categories of fiber cable
The fiber optic cable is divided into
two main categories:
Monomode
Multimode
Monomode
It is a single wavelength light which
follows the same path along the
fiber.
It supports higher transmission
speeds over long distances.
It is very expensive
Laser diodes used to create light
signals
Multimode
It is a multiple wavelength light which
follows the multiple light paths along the
fiber
Light emitting diodes (LED's) are used to
create light signals for multimode fibers
The core/cladding size composition and
the mode are used to specify the fiber
optic cables.
For example 8 micron core / 125 micro
cladding single-mode glass, or 62.5
micron core / 125 micro cladding
multimode plastic.
Advantages of fiber optic cable
It is very reliable and secure transmission
medium as it is immune to EMI.
Depending upon the fiber construction it can
support extremely high bandwidths up to 2 Gbps.
It can be used over large distances of up to 30
miles with monomode and 1.25 miles with
multimode category cables because it has low
attenuation.
Due to its non-use of electrical signals it can be
used in hazardous conditions which are highly
inflammable.
It is smaller and lighter than copper cable and
perfect for limited space situations.
It has a long life and thus does not require to be
reinstalled.
Disadvantages of fiber optic cable
The connectivity device and installation of
the cable is relatively expensive but the
cables are moderately cheap.
Because of the need of high degree of
precision and careful handling of the cable
the installation has to be done by a very
experienced person and costs a lot.
Compare to other cables it is relatively
complex to configure and install.
Installation of fiber optic cable
SC and ST connectors may be used
to connect two devices with each
device having two strands.
There are various ways in which
cables can be joined which includes
an electric fusion process and
mechanical connectors.
Connectors
Straight Tip (ST)
This connector uses a bayonet type
connection and has been manufactured
by AT&T.
Subscriber Connector (SC)
This is used for special housing which
allows push and pull inspection for easy
connection and disconnection in limited
spaces.