Mobile Computing and Wireless Communication (3170710) Unit - 1

Branch:
Computer Engineering (07)
Computer Science & Engineering (31)

Subject:
Mobile Computing and Wireless
Communication (3170710)

Unit - 1
Solved Assignment

Prepared by – Prof. Viral H. Panchal 1

Mobile Computing and Wireless Communication (3170710) Unit - 1

Questions of Solved Assignment

1. Differentiate between an analog and a digital electromagnetic signal.

2. Explain the sine wave parameters with examples.
3. Write a short note on attenuation.
4. What do you mean by channel capacity? What are the factors that affect
it? (W-18, 03)
5. Write short notes on the following:
a) Nyquist Bandwidth b) SNR c) Shannon Capacity Formula
6. What is the Nyquist Theorem and Why Does it Matter? (W-19, 03)
7. Explain the Nyquist Theorem. Find the relationship among the following
terms: Channel Capacity(C), Bandwidth(B) and Signal-to-Noise Ratio
(SNR). (S-18, S-17, 07)
8. Define channel capacity. Write Shannon and Nyquist capacity formula.
State the key factors that affect channel capacity. (W-16, 07)
9. What is noise? Discuss briefly types of noise and its effect on
transmission signal. (W-18, 04)
10. Explain the Transmission Media. (S-18, 03)
11. Write short notes on the following:
a) Terrestrial Microwave b) Satellite Microwave c) Broadcast Radio
12. Explain how synchronous TDM works.
13. Differentiate between LAN, MAN and WAN. OR Compare the LAN and
WAN. (S-18, 03)
14. Explain technologies used in switched networks. OR Explain packet
switching and circuit switching. (S-19, 04)
15. Differentiate circuit switching and packet switching. (W-18, 04)
16. Describe the Switching Techniques. Differentiate the Circuit Switching
and Packet Switching. (S-18, 07)

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Mobile Computing and Wireless Communication (3170710) Unit - 1

Q.1. Differentiate between an analog and a digital electromagnetic signal.

Ans.:

• Electromagnetic Signal: It is used as a means to transmit information.

• It is a function of time, but it can also be expressed as a function of
frequency; that is, the signals consist of components of different frequencies.
• Viewed as a function of time, an electromagnetic signal can be either analog
or digital.
• Analog Signal – it is the one in which signal intensity varies in a smooth
fashion over time.
• No breaks or discontinuities in the signal
• Digital Signal – it is the one in which signal intensity maintains a constant level
for some period of time and then changes to another constant level.
• The analog signal might represent speech, and the digital signal might
represent binary 1s and 0s.
• Figure 1 shows examples of both kinds of signals.

Figure 1: Analog and digital waveforms

Q.2. Explain the sine wave parameters with examples.

Ans.:

• A general sine wave can be represented by three parameters: peak

amplitude (A), frequency (f), and phase (ϕ).

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Mobile Computing and Wireless Communication (3170710) Unit - 1

• Peak Amplitude (A) - maximum value or strength of the signal over time;
typically measured in volts.
• Frequency (f) - Rate, in cycles per second, or Hertz (Hz) at which the signal
repeats.
• An equivalent parameter is the period (T) of a signal, which is the amount
of time it takes for one repetition; therefore, T = 1/f.
• Phase (ϕ) - measure of the relative position in time within a single period of
a signal.
• A general sine wave can be written
s(t) = A sin(2πft + ϕ)
• A function with the form of this equation is known as a sinusoid.
• Figure 1 shows the effect of varying each of the three parameters
a) A = 1, f = 1 Hz, ϕ = 0; thus T = 1 s
b) Reduced peak amplitude; A=0.5
c) Increased frequency; f = 2, thus T = ½
d) Phase shift; ϕ = π/4 radians (45 degrees)
• Note: 2π radians = 360° = 1 period

Figure 1: s(t) = A sin(2πft + ϕ)

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Mobile Computing and Wireless Communication (3170710) Unit - 1

Q.3. Write a short note on attenuation.

Ans.:

• In a communication system, data are propagated from one point to another

by means of electromagnetic signals.
• An analog signal is a continuously varying electromagnetic wave that may
be propagated over a variety of media, depending on frequency.
• Examples of media:
̵ Copper wire media (twisted pair and coaxial cable)
̵ Fiber optic cable
̵ Atmosphere or space propagation
• Analog signals can propagate analog and digital data.
• A digital signal is a sequence of voltage pulses that may be transmitted over
a copper wire medium.
• For example, a constant positive voltage level may represent binary 0 and a
constant negative voltage level may represent binary 1.
• The principal advantage of digital signaling are that it is generally cheaper
than analog signaling and is less susceptible to noise interference.
• The principal disadvantage is that digital signals suffer more from
attenuation than do analog signals.
• Digital signals can propagate analog and digital data.

Attenuation of Digital Signals:

Figure 1: Attenuation of Digital Signals

• Fig. 1 shows a sequence of voltage pulses, generated by a source using two
voltage levels, and the received voltage some distance down a conducting
medium.
• Because of attenuation, or reduction, of signal strength at higher
frequencies, the pulses become rounded and smaller.
• It should be clear that this attenuation can lead rather quickly to the loss of
the information contained in the propagated signal.

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Mobile Computing and Wireless Communication (3170710) Unit - 1

Q.4. What do you mean by channel capacity? What are the factors that affect it?
(W-18, 03)
Ans.:

• Channel Capacity – the maximum rate at which data can be transmitted

over a given communication path, or channel, under given conditions is
referred to as the channel capacity.

Key factors that affect the Channel Capacity:

• Data rate – the rate at which data can be communicated, in bits per second
(bps).
• Bandwidth – the bandwidth of the transmitted signal as constrained by the
transmitter and the nature of the transmission medium, expressed in cycles
per second (Hertz).
• Noise – the average level of noise over the communications path.
• Error rate – the rate at which errors occur.
Error = transmit 1 and receive 0; transmit 0 and receive 1.

Q.5. Write short notes on the following:

a) Nyquist Bandwidth
b) SNR
c) Shannon Capacity Formula
Ans.:

a) Nyquist Bandwidth

• Let us consider the case of a channel that is noise free.

• In this environment, the limitation on data rate is simply the bandwidth of
the signal.
• Due to Nyquist, a formulation of this limitation states that if the rate of the
signal transmission is 2B, then a signal with frequencies no greater than B is
sufficient to carry the signal rate.
• The converse is also true: Given a bandwidth of B, the highest signal rate
that can be carried is 2B.
• The result is useful in development of digital-to-analog encoding schemes.
• If the signals to be transmitted are binary, then data rate that can be
supported by B Hz is 2B bps.
C = 2B

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Mobile Computing and Wireless Communication (3170710) Unit - 1

• For example, consider a voice channel being used, via modem, to transmit
digital data.
• Assume a bandwidth of 3100 Hz.
• Then the capacity, C, of the channel is 2B = 6200 bps.
• With multilevel signaling, the Nyquist formulation becomes
C = 2B log2 M
• Where M = number of discrete signal elements or voltage levels.

b) SNR

• Ratio of the power in a signal to the power contained in the noise that is
present at a particular point in the transmission
• Typically, it is measured at a receiver.
• For convenience, this ratio is often reported in decibels (dB):
𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑎𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝
SNRdB = 10 log10
𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛 𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝
• A high SNR means a high-quality signal.
• The SNR is important in the transmission of digital data because it sets
upper bound on the achievable data rate.

c) Shannon Capacity Formula

• Shannon’s result is that the maximum channel capacity, in bits per second,
obeys the equation
C = B log2 (1 + SNR)
Where C is the capacity of the channel in bits per seconds and
B is the bandwidth of the channel in Hertz.
• The Shannon formula represents the theoretical maximum that can be
achieved.
• In practice, only much lower rates are achieved.
• One reason for this is that the formula assumes white noise (or thermal
noise, i.e., noise containing many frequencies with equal intensities).
• Impulse noise is not accounted for, nor are attenuation distortion or delay
distortion.
• The capacity indicated in the preceding equation is referred to as the error-
free capacity.
• Shannon proved that if the actual information rate on a channel is less than
the error-free capacity, then it is theoretically possible to use a suitable
signal code to achieve error-free transmission through the channel.

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Mobile Computing and Wireless Communication (3170710) Unit - 1

• Shannon’s theorem unfortunately does not suggest a means for finding

such codes, but it does provide a yardstick by which the performance of
practical communication schemes may be measured.

Example of Nyquist and Shannon formulations

• Suppose that the spectrum of a channel is between 3 MHz and 4 MHz and
SNRdB = 24 dB. Then
B = 4 MHz - 3 MHz = 1 MHz
SNRdB = 24 dB = 10 log10 (SNR)
SNR = 251
• Using Shannon’s formula
C = B log2 (1 + SNR)
C = 106 x log2 (1 + 251) ≈ 106 x 8 = 8 M bps
• This is a theoretical limit and it is unlikely to be achieved.
• But assume we can achieve the limit.
• Based on Nyquist’s formula, how many signaling levels are required?
• We have
C = 2B log2 M
8 x 106 = 2 x (106) x log2 M
4 = log2 M
M = 16

Q.6. What is the Nyquist Theorem and Why Does it Matter? (W-19, 03)
Ans.:

• Refer Answer of Q.5 (a)

Q.7. Explain the Nyquist Theorem. Find the relationship among the following
terms: Channel Capacity(C), Bandwidth(B) and Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR).
(S-18, S-17, 07)
Ans.:

• Refer Answer of Q.5 (a), Q.4 and Q.5 (b)

Q.8. Define channel capacity. Write Shannon and Nyquist capacity formula.
State the key factors that affect channel capacity. (W-16, 07)
Ans.:

• Refer Answer of Q.4, Q.5 (a) and Q.5 (c)

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Q.9. What is noise? Discuss briefly types of noise and its effect on transmission
signal. (W-18, 04)
Ans.:

• In electrical terms, noise is defined as the unwanted form of energy which

tends to interface with the proper reception and the reproduction of
transmitted signals.
• “In common use, the word noise means any unwanted sound”. Unwanted
signal is called noise.

Classification of Noise:

• There are several ways to classify Noise, but conveniently Noise is classified
as
1) External Noise
2) Internal Noise

1) External Noise:

• External noise is defined as the type of Noise which is general externally

due to communication system. External Noise are analysed qualitatively.
Now, External Noise may be classified as
• a) Atmospheric Noise: Atmospheric Noise is also known as static noise
which is the natural source of disturbance caused by lightning, discharge in
thunderstorm and the natural disturbances occurring in the nature.
• b) Industrial Noise: Sources of Industrial noise are auto-mobiles, aircraft,
ignition of electric motors and switching gear. The main cause of Industrial
noise is High voltage wires. These noises is generally produced by the
discharge present in the operations.
• c) Extraterrestrial Noise: Extraterrestrial Noise exist on the basis of their
originating source. They are subdivided into i) Solar Noise and ii) Cosmic
Noise.

2) Internal Noise:

• Internal Noise are the type of Noise which are generated internally or
within the Communication System or in the receiver. They may be treated
qualitatively and can also be reduced or minimized by the proper designing
of the system. Internal Noises are classified as

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• a) Shot Noise: These Noise are generally arising in the active devices due to
the random behaviour of Charge particles or carries. In case of electron
tube, shot Noise is produces due to the random emission of electron form
cathodes.
• b) Partition Noise: When a circuit is to divide in between two or more
paths then the noise generated is known as Partition noise. The reason for
the generation is random fluctuation in the division.
• c) Low- Frequency Noise: They are also known as FLICKER NOISE. These
types of noise are generally observed at a frequency range below few
kHz. Power spectral density of these noise increases with the decrease in
frequency. That why the name is given Low- Frequency Noise.
• d) High-Frequency Noise: These noises are also known TRANSIT- TIME
Noise. They are observed in the semi-conductor devices when the transit
time of a charge carrier while crossing a junction is compared with the time
period of that signal.
• 5) Thermal Noise: Thermal Noise are random and often referred as White
Noise or Johnson Noise. Thermal noise are generally observed in the
resistor or the sensitive resistive components of a complex impedance due
to the random and rapid movement of molecules or atoms or electrons.

Q.10. Explain the Transmission Media. (S-18, 03)

Ans.:

• In a data communication system, the transmission medium is the physical

path between transmitter and receiver.
• Transmission media can be classified as
• Guided media
• Unguided media
• In both cases, communication is in the form of electromagnetic waves.
• With guided media, the waves are guided along a solid medium, such as
copper twisted pair, copper coaxial cable, or optical fiber.
• The atmosphere and outer space are examples of unguided media, which
provides a means of transmitting electromagnetic signals but do not guide
them.
• This form of transmission is usually referred to as wireless transmission.
• The characteristics and quality of a data transmission are determined both
by the characteristics of the medium and the characteristics of the signal.

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• In the case of a guided media, the medium itself is usually more important
in determining the limitations of transmission.
• For unguided media, the bandwidth of the signal produced by the
transmitting antenna is usually more important than the medium in
determining transmission characteristics.
• For unguided media, transmission and reception are achieved by means of
an antenna.
• For transmission, the antenna radiates electromagnetic energy into the
medium (usually air), and for reception, the antenna picks up
electromagnetic waves from the surrounding medium.
• There are basically two types of configurations for wireless transmission:
directional and omnidirectional.
• For the directional configuration, the transmitting antenna puts out a
focused electromagnetic beam; the transmitting and receiving antennas
must therefore be carefully aligned.
• In the omnidirectional case, the transmitted signal spreads out in all
directions and can be received by many antennas.

Q.11. Write short notes on the following:

a) Terrestrial Microwave
b) Satellite Microwave
c) Broadcast Radio
Ans.:

a) Terrestrial Microwave

Physical Description:
• The most common type of microwave antenna is the parabolic “dish”.
• A typical size is about 3 m in diameter.
• The antenna is fixed rigidly and focuses a narrow beam to achieve line-of-
sight transmission to the receiving antenna.
• Microwave antennas are usually located at substantial heights above
ground level to extend the range between antennas and to be able to
transmit over intervening obstacles.
• To achieve long-distance transmission, a series of microwave relay towers is
used, and point-to-point microwave links are strung together over the
desired distance.

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Applications:
• A primary use for terrestrial microwave systems is in long-haul
telecommunications service, as an alternative to coaxial cable or optical
fiber.
• The microwave facility requires far fewer amplifiers or repeaters than
coaxial cable over the same distance but requires line-of-sight transmission.
• Microwave is commonly used for both voice and television transmission.
• Another increasingly common use of microwave is for short point-to-point
links between buildings.
• This can be used for closed-circuit TV or as a data link between local area
networks.

b) Satellite Microwave

Physical Description:
• A communication satellite is a microwave relay station.
• It is used to link two or more ground-based microwave
transmitter/receivers, known as earth stations, or ground stations.
• The satellite receives transmissions on one frequency band (uplink),
amplifies or repeats the signal, and transmits it on another frequency
(downlink).
• A single orbiting satellite will operate on a number of frequency bands,
called transponder channels, or simply transponders.
Applications:
• The following are among the most important applications for satellites:
• Television distribution
• Long-distance telephone transmission
• Private business networks

c) Broadcast Radio

Physical Description:
• The principal difference between broadcast radio and microwave is that the
former is omnidirectional and the latter is directional.
• Thus, broadcast radio does not require dish-shaped antennas, and the
antennas need not be rigidly mounted to a precise alignment.

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Applications:
• Radio is a general term used to encompass frequencies in the range of 3
KHz to 300 GHz.
• We are using the informal term broadcast radio to cover the VHF and part
of the UHF band: 30 MHz to 1 GHz.
• This range covers FM radio and UHF and VHF television.
• This range is also used for a number of data networking applications.

Q.12. Explain how synchronous TDM works.

Ans.:

• TDM takes advantage of the fact that the achievable bit rate (bandwidth) of
the medium exceeds the required data rate of a digital signal.
• Multiple digital signals can be carried on a single transmission path by
interleaving portions of each signal in time.
• The interleaving can be at the bit level or in blocks of bytes or larger
quantities.

Figure 1: TDM
• For example, the multiplexer in fig. 1 has six inputs that might each be, say
9.6 kbps.
• A single line with a capacity of 57.6 kbps could accommodate all six
sources.
• Analogously to FDM, the sequence of time slots dedicated to a particular
source is called a channel.
• One cycle of time slots (one per source) is called a frame.

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• The TDM scheme depicted in fig. 10 is also known as synchronous TDM,

referring to the fact that time slots are preassigned and fixed. Hence, the
timing of transmission from the various source is synchronized.
• In contrast, asynchronous TDM allows time on the medium to be allocated
dynamically.

Figure 2: Synchronous TDM system

• A generic depiction of a synchronous TDM system is provided in fig. 2.
• A number of signals [mi(t), i = 1,n] are to be multiplexed onto the same
transmission medium.
• The signals carry digital data and are generally digital signals.
• The incoming data from each source is briefly buffered.
• Each buffer is typically one bit or one character in length.
• The buffers are scanned sequentially to form a composite digital data
stream mc(t).
• The scan operation is sufficiently rapid so that each buffer is emptied
before more data can arrive.
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• Thus, the data rate of mc(t) must be at least equal the sum of the data rates
of the mi(t).
• The digital signal mc(t) may be transmitted directly or passes through a
modem so that an analog signal is transmitted.
• In either case, transmission is typically synchronous.
• The transmitted data may have a format something like fig. 11 (b).
• The data are organized into frames.
• Each frame contains a cycle of time slots.
• In each frame, one or more slots is dedicated to each data source.
• The sequence of slots dedicated to one source, from frame to frame, is
called a channel.
• The slot length equals the transmitter buffer length, typically a bit or a byte
(character).
• At the receiver, the interleaved data are demultiplexed and routed to the
appropriate destination buffer.
• For each input source mi(t), there is an identical output source that will
receive the input data at the same rate at which it was generated.
• TDM is not limited to digital signals.
• Analog signals can also be interleaved in time.
• Also, with analog signals, a combination of TDM and FDM is possible.
• A transmission system can be frequency divided into a number of channels,
each of which is further divided via TDM.

Q.13. Differentiate between LAN, MAN and WAN. OR Compare the LAN and
WAN. (S-18, 03)
Ans.:

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Q.14. Explain technologies used in switched networks. OR Explain packet

switching and circuit switching. (S-19, 04)
Ans.:
• Two quite different technologies are used in wide area switched networks:
• Circuit switching
• Dedicated communications path between two stations.
• E.g., public telephone network.
• Packet switching
• Message is broken into a series of packets
• Each node determines next leg of transmission for each packet.

CIRCUIT SWITCHING:

• Circuit switching has been the dominant technology for both voice and data
communications.
• Communication via circuit switching implies that there is a dedicated
communication path between two stations.
• That path is a connected sequence of links between network nodes.
• On each physical link, a channel is dedicated to the connection.
• The most common example of circuit switching is the telephone network.

Phases of Circuit Switching:

• Communication via circuit switching involves three phases:
• Circuit establishment
• An end to end circuit is established through switching nodes.
• Information transfer
• Information transmitted through the network.
• Data may be analog voice, digitized voice, or binary data.
• Circuit disconnect
• After some period of information transfer, the connection is
terminated.
• Each node deallocates dedicated resources.

Characteristics of Circuit Switching:

• Circuit switching can be inefficient
• Channel capacity is dedicated for duration of a connection, even if no
data are being transferred.
• Utilization not 100%.

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• In terms of performance, there is a delay prior to signal transfer for

call establishment.
• Once the circuit is established, network is transparent to users.
• Information is transmitted at fixed data rate with no delay other than
propagation delay through the transmission links.
• The delay at each node is negligible.

PACKET SWITCHING

How Packet Switching Works:

• Data are transmitted in blocks, called packets.
• If a source has a longer message to send, the message is broken into a
series of packets (Figure 1).
• Typical packet length is 1000 octets (bytes)
• Each Packet consists of a portion of data plus a packet header that includes
control information.
• The control information includes the information that the network requires
in order to be able to route the packet through the network and deliver it
to the intended destination.
• At each node en-route, packet is received, stored briefly and passed to the
next node.

Figure 1: The use of packets

Advantages of Packet Switching:
• Line efficiency is greater.
• Many packets over time can dynamically share the same node to
node link
• Packet-switching networks can carry out data-rate conversion.
• Two stations with different data rates can exchange information

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• Unlike circuit-switching networks that block calls when traffic is heavy,

packet-switching still accepts packets, but with increased delivery delay.
• Priorities can be used.
• If a node has a number of packets queued for transmission, it can
transmit the higher-priority packets first.

Disadvantages of Packet Switching:

• Each packet switching node introduces a delay.
• Overall packet delay can vary substantially.
• This is referred to as jitter.
• Caused by differing packet sizes, routes taken and varying delay in
the switches.
• Each packet requires overhead information.
• Includes destination and sequencing information.
• Reduces communication capacity for carrying user data.
• More processing required at each node.

Packet Switching Techniques (approaches):

• A station has a message to send through a packet-switching network that is
of greater length than maximum packet size.
• It therefore breaks the message into packets and sends these packets, one
at a time, to the network.
• A question arises as to how the network will handle this stream of packets
as it attempts to route them through the network and deliver them to the
intended destination.
• Two approaches are used in contemporary networks:
• Datagram
• Virtual Circuit

Packet Switching: Datagram Approach

• Each packet treated independently, without reference to previous packets.
• Each node chooses next node on packet’s path.
• Packets don’t necessarily follow same route and may arrive out of
sequence.
• Exit node restores packets to original order.
• Responsibility of exit node or destination to detect loss of packet and how
to recover it.

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• In this technique, each packet, treated independently, is referred to as a

datagram.

Figure 2: Packet Switching: Datagram Approach

Advantages of Datagram Approach:
• Call setup phase is avoided.
• Because it’s more primitive, it’s more flexible.
• Datagram delivery is more reliable.

Packet Switching: Virtual-Circuit Approach

• A Preplanned route is established before packets sent.
• All packets between source and destination follow this route.
• Routing decision not required by nodes for each packet.
• Emulates a circuit in a circuit switching network but is not a dedicated path.
• Packets still buffered at each node and queued for output over a line.
• The difference from the datagram approach is that, with virtual circuits, the
node need not make a routing decision for each packet.
• It is made only once for all packets using that virtual circuit.

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Figure 3: Packet Switching: Virtual-Circuit Approach

Advantages of Virtual-Circuit Approach:
• Packets arrive in original order.
• Packets arrive correctly.
• Packets transmitted more rapidly without routing decisions made at each
node.

Q.15. Differentiate circuit switching and packet switching. (W-18, 04)

Ans.:
• Refer Answer of Q.14.

Q.16. Describe the Switching Techniques. Differentiate the Circuit Switching and
Packet Switching. (S-18, 07)
Ans.:
• Refer Answer of Q.14.

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