Communication Media

Presented by
Mayank Shekhar
Class VIII A
 DEFINITION
Communication media refers to the means
of delivering and receiving data or
information. In telecommunication, these
means are transmission and storage tools or
channels for data storage and transmission.
 Types Of Communication Media

 Communication media is classified into two types:-

 1)Guided Media
 2)Unguided Media
 Guided Media
 Inthe form of cables,wires
 Medium is more important
 Classified into 3 types:-
 Twisted pair wire cable
 Coaxial cable
 Optical fiber
Twisted pair-wire cables
 Pairs of insulated copper wires twisted
together
 One wire carries the signal while the other
wire is grounded and absorbs signal
interference
 The least expensive type of LAN cable
 Advantages
• Inexpensive
• Easy to work with

Disadvantages
• Limited Bandwidth
• Vulnerable to interference and noise
Twisted pair wire cable divided into 2

 Shielded Twisted Pair

 Unshielded Twisted pair
 Shielded Twisted Pair(STP)

 Metal shealthing that reduces interference

 More Expensive
 Difficult to handle(heavy,thick)
 Unshielded Twisted Pair
(UTP)
o It is cheapest
o Easy to install
o Suffers from external Electro
Magnetic(EM)interference
o E.g. Ordinary Telephonic wire
 Coaxial Cables
• Consists of an inner conductor wire surrounded by
insulation called the di-electric
• The di-electric is surrounded by a non-conductive
jacket
• The shield minimizes electrical and radio frequency
interface
 Advantages
 Better data transmission rate than twisted
pair
 Easy to install
 High bandwidth
 Excellent noise-immunity
 Disadvantages
• Higher cost compared to twisted pair
• Difficult to work with
• Cable may easily get damaged
 Fibre optic cable
 Consist of bundle of glass threads which is
capable of transmitting messages
modulated on to light waves
 Many extremely thin strands of glass or
plastic bound together in a sheathing which
transmit signals with light beams
 Advantages
o Greater capacity
o Smaller size and weight
o Thinner and lighter than metal wires
o Lower noise
o Data can be transmitted digitally rather than
analogically
o Popular technology for LAN
 Disadvantages
 Cables are expensive to install
 More fragile than wire
 Unguided Media
 In the form of radio signals, microwaves,
infrared rays…
 Clssified into 3
Radio wave
Microwave
Infrared
 Radio wave
Data signals are digitized and transformed into
radio-frequency electro magnetis fields
 Advantages
• Cheap form of communication
• Far good for long distance

• Disadvantages
• It has low frequency
• It cant transmit a lot of data at one time
 Microwave
Information is converted to a microwave signal,
sent through, and recorded.
 Advantages
• Multiple channels available
• Wide bandwidth

• Disadvantages
• Line of sight will be disrupted if any obstacle
are in the way
• Signal absorption by the atmosphere
• Towers are expensive to build
 Infrared
 Thistype of transmission uses infraread to
send data
 It
transmits data through and can penetrate
walls.
 Itis common in PDAs(Personal Digital
Assistants)
 E.g. TV remotes, wireless speakers etc…
 Advantages
• Inexpensive compared to other technologies
• Works well over a short distance

• Disadvantages
• Low Bandwidth