Chapter 4

Digital

Transmission
 Contents

 4.1: Digital Data Digital Signal conversion

 4.2 Analog Data Digital Signal Conversion

4.2
 4-1 DIGITAL-TO-DIGITAL CONVERSION
 In this section, we see how we can represent digital data by using
digital signals. The conversion involves three techniques: line
coding, block coding, and scrambling. Line coding is always
needed; block coding and scrambling may or may not be needed.
 Line Coding
 Line Coding Schemes
 Block Coding
 Scrambling

4.3
 Figure 4.1 Line coding and decoding

Line coding is the process of converting digital data to digital signals

4.4
 Characteristics

 Before discussing different line coding schemes, we

address their common characteristics.
 Signal Element Versus Data Element
 Data Rate Versus Signal Rate
 Bandwidth
 Baseline Wandering
 DC Components
 Self-synchronization
 Built-in Error Detection
 Immunity to Noise and Interference
 Complexity

4.5
 Figure 4.2 Signal element versus data element

 In data communications, our goal is

to send data elements.
 A data element is the smallest entity
that can represent a piece of
information: this is the bit.
 In digital data communications, a
signal element carries data elements.
 A signal element is the shortest unit
(timewise) of a digital signal. In other
words, data elements are what we
need to send; signal elements are
what we can send.
 Data elements are being carried;
signal elements are the carriers.
 r which is the number of data
elements carried by each signal
element

4.6
 Data Rate Versus Signal Rate
 The data rate defines the number of data elements (bits) sent in 1s. The unit is
bits per second (bps).
 The signal rate is the number of signal elements sent in 1s. The unit is the baud.
 One goal in data communications is to increase the data rate while
decreasing the signal rate.
 Increasing the data rate increases the speed of transmission; decreasing the
signal rate decreases the bandwidth requirement.
 We now need to consider the relationship between data rate (N) and signal rate
(S)
 (S) =N/r
Determining Signal rate: we need to define three cases: the worst, best, and average.

The worst case is when we need the maximum signal rate; the best case is when we need the minimum.

In data communications, we are usually interested in the average case. We can formulate the relationship between data rate and signal rate as

S(avg) = c x N x (1/r) baud

where N is the data rate (bps); c is the case factor, which varies for each case; S is the number of signal elements per second;

4.7
 Example 4.1

A signal is carrying data in which one data element is encoded as one signal element ( r = 1). If the

bit rate is 100 kbps, what is the average value of the baud rate if c is between 0 and 1?

Solution

We assume that the average value of c is 1/2 . The baud rate is then

4.8
 Bandwidth

 A digital signal that carries information is nonperiodic. We also showed that the
bandwidth of a nonperiodic signal is continuous with an infinite range.
 However, most digital signals we encounter in real life have a bandwidth with
finite values. In other words, the bandwidth is theoretically infinite, but many of
the components have such a small amplitude that they can be ignored. The
effective bandwidth is finite.
 From now on, when we talk about the bandwidth of a digital signal, we need to
remember that we are talking about this effective bandwidth.
Although the actual bandwidth of a digital signal is infinite, the effective bandwidth

is finite.

4.9
 Bandwidth (cont.)
 We can say that the baud rate, not the bit rate, determines the required
bandwidth for a digital signal. If we use the transportation analogy, the number
of vehicles, not the number of people being carried, affects the traffic.
 More changes in the signal mean injecting more frequencies into the signal.
(Recall that frequency means change and change means frequency.)
 The bandwidth reflects the range of frequencies we need.
 For the moment, we can say that the bandwidth (range of frequencies) is
proportional to the signal rate (baud rate). The minimum bandwidth can be given
as

 We can solve for the maximum data rate if the bandwidth of the channel is given.

4.10
 Example 4.2

The maximum data rate of a channel (see Chapter 3) is Nmax = 2 × B × log 2 L (defined by the

Nyquist formula). Does this agree with the previous formula for Nmax?

Solution

A signal with L levels actually can carry log 2L bits per level. If each level corresponds to one signal

element and we assume the average case (c = 1/2), then we have

4.11
  Baseline Wandering
 In decoding a digital signal, the receiver calculates a running average of the received signal
power. This average is called the baseline.
 The incoming signal power is evaluated against this baseline to determine the value of the data
element.
 A long string of 0s or 1s can cause a drift in the baseline (baseline wandering) and make it
difficult for the receiver to decode correctly. A good line coding scheme needs to prevent baseline
wandering.
 DC Components
 When the voltage level in a digital signal is constant for a while, the spectrum creates very low
frequencies (results of Fourier analysis).
 These frequencies around zero, called DC (direct-current) components, present problems for a
system that cannot pass low frequencies or a system that uses electrical coupling (via a
transformer).
 We can say that DC component means 0/1 parity that can cause base-line wondering.
 For example, a telephone line cannot pass frequencies below 200 Hz. Also a long-distance link
4.12
 Figure 4.3 Effect of lack of synchronization

Self-synchronization
• To correctly interpret the signals received from the sender, the receiver’s bit intervals

must correspond exactly to the sender’s bit intervals.

• If the receiver clock is faster or slower, the bit intervals are not matched and the

receiver might misinterpret the signals.

• Figure 4.3 shows a situation in which the receiver has a shorter bit duration. The sender

sends 10110001, while the receiver receives 110111000011.

A self-synchronizing digital signal includes timing information in the data being transmitted. This can be achieved if there are transitions in the signal

that alert the receiver to the beginning, middle, or end of the pulse. If the receiver’s clock is out of synchronization, these points can reset the clock.

4.13
 Example 4.3

In a digital transmission, the receiver clock is 0.1 percent faster than the sender clock. How many extra bits per second does

the receiver receive if the data rate is 1 kbps? How many if the data rate is 1 Mbps?

Solution

At 1 kbps, the receiver receives 1001 bps instead of 1000 bps.

At 1 Mbps, the receiver receives 1,001,000 bps instead of 1,000,000 bps.

4.14
  Built-in Error Detection
 It is desirable to have a built-in error-detecting capability in the generated code to
detect some or all of the errors that occurred during transmission. Some encoding
schemes that we will discuss have this capability to some extent.
 Immunity to Noise and Interference
 Another desirable code characteristic is a code that is immune to noise and other
interferences.
 Complexity
 A complex scheme is more costly to implement than a simple one.
 For example, a scheme that uses four signal levels is more difficult to interpret
than one that uses only two levels.

4.15
 Figure 4.4 Line coding schemes

4.16
 Figure 4.5 Unipolar NRZ scheme

In a unipolar scheme, all the signal levels are on one side of the time axis, either above

or below.

4.17
Polar Schemes

 In polar schemes, the voltages are on both sides of the time axis. For
example, the voltage level for 0 can be positive and the voltage level for
1 can be negative
 Nonreturn to Zero-Level (NRZ-L)
 Two different voltages for 0 and 1 bits
 Voltage constant during bit interval

no transition I.e. no return to zero voltage
 e.g. Absence of voltage for zero, constant positive voltage for one
 More often, negative voltage for one value and positive for the other
 This is NRZ-L
Nonreturn to Zero Inverted (NRZ-I)

 Nonreturn to zero inverted on ones

 Constant voltage pulse for duration of bit
 Data encoded as presence or absence of signal transition at beginning of
bit time
 Transition (low to high or high to low) denotes a binary 1
 No transition denotes binary 0
 Figure 4.6 Polar NRZ-L and NRZ-I schemes

In NRZ-L the level of the voltage determines the value of the bit.

In NRZ-I the inversion or the lack of inversion

determines the value of the bit.

4.20
 Example 4.4

A system is using NRZ-I to transfer 10-Mbps data. What are the average signal rate and minimum

bandwidth?

Solution

The average signal rate is S = N/2 = 500 kbaud. The minimum bandwidth for this average baud

rate is Bmin = S = 500 kHz.

4.22
 Return-to-Zero (RZ)
 The main problem with
NRZ encoding occurs
when the sender and
receiver clocks are not
synchronized. The
receiver does not know
when one bit has ended
and the next bit is
starting.
 One solution is the

return-to-zero (RZ)

scheme, which uses
three values: positive,
In RZ, the signal changes not between bits but during the bit. In Figure 4.7 we see that the signal goes to 0 in the middle of

negative, and zero

each bit. It remains there until the beginning of the next bit.

The main disadvantage of RZ encoding is that it requires two signal changes to encode a bit and therefore occupies greater

bandwidth.

4.23
 Biphase: Manchester and Differential Manchester
 In Manchester encoding (RZ +
NRZ-L), the duration of the bit is
divided into two halves. The
voltage remains at one level
during the first half and moves to
the other level in the second half.
 The transition at the middle of the
bit provides synchronization

Differential Manchester, on the other hand, combines the ideas of RZ and NRZ-I. There is always a transition at the middle of the bit, but

the bit values are determined at the beginning of the bit. If the next bit is 0, there is a transition; if the next bit is 1, there is none

Remarks: First, there is no baseline wandering. There is no DC component because each bit has a positive and negative voltage contribution. The only

drawback is the signal rate. The signal rate for Manchester and differential Manchester is double that for NRZ.
4.24
 Bipolar Schemes

 In bipolar encoding (sometimes called multilevel binary), there are

three voltage levels:
 positive, negative, and zero.
 The voltage level for one data element is at zero, while the voltage
level for the other element alternates between positive and
negative.

Note

In bipolar encoding, we use three levels: positive, zero, and negative.

4.25
 AMI and Pseudoternary

 A common bipolar encoding scheme is called bipolar alternate mark inversion

(AMI).
 In the term alternate mark inversion, the word mark comes from telegraphy and
means 1. So AMI means alternate 1 inversion.
 A neutral zero voltage represents binary 0. Binary 1s are represented by
alternating positive and negative voltages.
 A variation of AMI encoding is called pseudoternary in which the 1 bit is encoded
as a zero voltage and the 0 bit is encoded as alternating positive and negative
voltages.

4.26
 Figure 4.9 Bipolar schemes: AMI and pseudoternary

4.27
 AMI and Pseudoternary (Pros and Cons)
 The bipolar scheme has the same signal rate as NRZ, but there is no DC
component.
 The NRZ scheme has most of its energy concentrated near zero frequency, which
makes it unsuitable for transmission over channels with poor performance
around this frequency. The concentration of the energy in bipolar encoding is
around frequency N/2.
 One may ask why we do not have a DC component in bipolar encoding.
 We can answer this question by using the Fourier transform, but we can also think about it
intuitively. If we have a long sequence of 1s, the voltage level alternates between positive and
negative; it is not constant. Therefore, there is no DC component.
 For a long sequence of 0s, the voltage remains constant, but its amplitude is zero, which is the
same as having no DC component. In other words, a sequence that creates a constant zero
voltage does not have a DC component.
 AMI is commonly used for long-distance communication, but it has a
synchronization problem when a long sequence of 0s is present in the data.
 We will see how a scrambling technique can solve this problem.

4.28
Multilevel Binary

 Use more than two levels

 Bipolar-AMI
 zero represented by no line signal
 one represented by positive or negative pulse
 one pulses alternate in polarity
 No loss of sync if a long string of ones (zeros still a
problem)
 No net dc component
 Lower bandwidth
 Easy error detection
 Multilevel Schemes

 The goal is to increase the number of bits per baud by encoding a

pattern of m data elements into a pattern of n signal elements.
 We only have two types of data elements (0s and 1s), which means
that a group of m data elements can produce a combination of 2m
data patterns.
 If we have L different levels, then we can produce Ln combinations
of signal patterns.
 If 2m = Ln, then each data pattern is encoded into one signal
pattern. If 2m < Ln, data patterns occupy only a subset of signal
patterns.
 Data encoding is not possible if 2m > Ln because some of the
data patterns cannot be encoded.

4.32
 Coding Scheme

 The code designers have classified these types of coding as mBnL,

 where m is the length of the binary pattern,
 B means binary data,
 n is the length of the signal pattern, and
 L is the number of levels in the signaling.
 A letter is often used in place of L: B(binary) for L = 2, T (ternary)
for L = 3, and Q (quaternary) for L = 4. Note that the first two
letters define the data pattern, and the second two define the
signal pattern.

4.33
 Multilevel: 2B1Q scheme

4.34
 Multilevel: 2B1Q scheme
 The first mBnL scheme we
discuss, two binary, one
quaternary (2B1Q), uses data
patterns of size 2 and encodes the
2-bit patterns as one signal
element belonging to a four-level
signal. In this type of encoding m Digital bit stream:
= 2, n = 1, and L = 4 (quaternary). 00 11 01 10 01

• The average signal rate of 2B1Q is S = N/4. This

means that using 2B1Q, we can send data 2 times

faster than by using NRZ-L.

• However, 2B1Q uses four different signal levels,

which means the receiver has to discern four

different thresholds.
• The reduced bandwidth comes with a price. There

are no redundant signal patterns in this scheme

4.35
 Multilevel: 8B6T scheme

4.36
 Multilevel: 8B6T scheme

 The idea is to encode a pattern of 8 bits as a pattern of six signal

elements, where the signal has three levels (ternary).
 In this type of scheme,
 we can have 28 = 256 different data patterns and 36 = 729 different signal
patterns. The mapping table is shown in Appendix F.
 There are 729 − 256 = 473 redundant signal elements that provide
synchronization and error detection.
 Part of the redundancy is also used to provide DC balance.
 Each signal pattern has a weight of 0 or +1 DC values. This means that there
is no pattern with the weight −1.
 To make the whole stream DC-balanced, the sender keeps track of the weight.
 If two groups of weight 1 are encountered one after another, the first one is
sent as is, while the next one is totally inverted to give a weight of −1.

4.37
 Mapping Table 8B6T (Partial)

4.38
 Figure 4.11 Multilevel: 8B6T scheme

Example Data Stream

4.39
 four-dimensional five level pulse amplitude
modulation (4D-PAM5)
 The 4D means that data is sent over four wires at the same time.
 It uses five voltage levels, such as −2, −1, 0, 1, and 2.
 However, one level, level 0, is used only for forward error detection
(discussed in Chapter 10).
 If we assume that the code is just one-dimensional, the four levels
create something similar to 8B4Q. In other words, an 8-bit word is
translated to a signal element of four different levels.

4.40
 Figure 4.12 Multilevel: 4D-PAM5 scheme

4.41
 Multitransition: MLT-3 scheme

 uses three levels (+V, 0, and +V) and three transition rules to move
between the levels.
 If the next bit is 0, there is no transition.
 If the next bit is 1 and the current level is not 0, the next level is 0.
 If the next bit is 1 and the current level is 0, the next level is the opposite of
the last nonzero level.

4.42
 Figure 4.13 Multitransition: MLT-3 scheme

4.43
 Example

4.44
 Table 4.1 Summary of line coding schemes

4.45
 Block Coding
 We need redundancy to ensure synchronization and to provide some kind of inherent error
detecting.
 Block coding can give us this redundancy and improve the performance of line coding.
 block coding changes a block of m bits into a block of n bits, where n is larger than m.

Block coding is normally referred to as mB/nB coding;

it replaces each m-bit group with an

n-bit group.

 Block coding is applied before line coding

4.46
 Figure 4.14 Block coding concept

 Block coding normally involves

three steps: division, substitution,
and combination.
 division step
 a sequence of bits is divided into groups
of m bits. For example, in 4B/5B
encoding, the original bit
sequence is divided into 4-bit
groups.
 substitution step.
substitute an m-bit group with
an n-bit group. For example, in
4B/5B encoding we substitute a
4-bit group with a 5-bit group.
 Combining steps.
 the n-bit groups are combined to form a
stream. The new stream has more bits
than the original bits
4.47
 Figure 4.15 Using block coding 4B/5B with NRZ-I line coding scheme

4.48
 Table 4.2 4B/5B mapping codes

4.49
 Example

4.50
 Example 4.5

We need to send data at a 1-Mbps rate. What is the minimum required bandwidth, using a

combination of 4B/5B and NRZ-I or Manchester coding?

Solution

First 4B/5B block coding increases the bit rate to 1.25 Mbps. The minimum bandwidth using NRZ-I

is N/2 or 625 kHz. The Manchester scheme needs a minimum bandwidth of 1 MHz. The first choice

needs a lower bandwidth, but has a DC component problem; the second choice needs a higher

bandwidth, but does not have a DC component problem.

4.51
 Figure 4.17 8B/10B block encoding

4.52
 AMI used with scrambling

 Bipolar AMI encoding, has a narrow bandwidth and does not create
a DC component
 Scrambling is done at the same time as encoding
 The system needs to insert the required pulses based on the
defined scrambling rules. Two common scrambling techniques are
B8ZS and HDB3.

4.53
 Figure 4.19 Two cases of B8ZS scrambling technique

4.54
 Bipolar with 8-zero substitution (B8ZS)

 Bipolar with 8-zero substitution (B8ZS) is commonly used in

North America.
 In this technique,
 eight consecutive zero-level voltages are replaced by the sequence 000VB0VB. The V in the
sequence denotes violation; this is a nonzero voltage that breaks an AMI rule of encoding
(opposite polarity from the previous).
 The B in the sequence denotes bipolar, which means a nonzero level voltage in accordance with
the AMI rule.

B8ZS substitutes eight consecutive zeros with 000VB0VB.

4.55
 Example

4.56
 HDB3
 High-density bipolar 3-zero (HDB3) is commonly used outside of North America.
 In this technique, which is more conservative than B8ZS, four consecutive zero-level
voltages are replaced with a sequence of 000V or B00V.
 The reason for two different substitutions is to maintain the even number of nonzero
pulses after each substitution. The two rules can be stated as follows:
 If the number of nonzero pulses after the last substitution is odd, the substitution
pattern will be 000V, which makes the total number of nonzero pulses even.
 If the number of nonzero pulses after the last substitution is even, the substitution
pattern will be B00V, which makes the total number of nonzero pulses even.

4.57
 Figure 4.20 Different situations in HDB3 scrambling technique

4.58
 Note

HDB3 substitutes four consecutive zeros with 000V or B00V

depending

on the number of nonzero pulses after the last substitution.

4.59
 Ezample

4.60