ITNET203A-IT Networking Design

Comparison of unshielded twisted pair, coaxial and single mode fiber optic cable.

Unshielded Twisted Pair

The unshielded twisted pair wires are a combination of two insulated wires which are bounded with each other in a twisted pattern and are parallel to each other. This type of arrangement helps to reduce crosstalk or electromagnetic induction which, is not expected,between pairs of wires have data transfer speed up to 10 gbps(Jullien et al., 2013). It is generally used to connect a distance upto 100 metres. It has a bandwidth of 4700 MHz.

1. Cost per foot-  $2
2. Installation cost- $285.68
3. Bandwidth-  upto 4700 MHz
4. Transmission distance- upto 100 metres
5. End point of devices- RJ45 cable
6. Use in building- Horizontal cabling
7. Conversion or interface element- interface element

Advantages

It is the fastest in speed among copper based transmission mediums. It is less expensive compared to STP. Its cost is less than the conventional LAN cabling. It is smaller than STP cable and easy to install(Zanko, Bergel & Leshem, 2017). It can be used in various ways and does not need to be grounded to operate.

Disadvantages

UTP is a type of cable which is not resilient to interference caused by radio frequencies and also interference caused by electromagnetic interference (EMI) because of its unshielded architecture. These interferences which results from the microwave, are very much vulnerable to any type of electronic noise caused by different frequencies and interference compared to other types of cable. Due to this vulnerability reasons, these wires should be used at out of reach of the range of all the waves of an electric motors and fluorescent types of lighting. The distance among the signal boosters becomes lesser with UTP cable compared to coaxial and fiber-optic cables, making it less reliable for long distance communication and networking.

Coaxial cable

Coaxial cable is a type of cable which consists of a conductor inside it which, is covered with an layer around it made of insulating material and then another conducting shield. At last there is a plastic outer covering. The cable named in such a manner because the inner conductor and the outer shield has same geometrical axis(Li et al., 2015). Coaxial cable is mainly used for the video transmission and computer network connections.

12. Cost per foot-  $12.04
13. Installation cost- $235
14. Bandwidth-  upto 750 MHz
15. Transmission distance- upto 500 metres
16. End point of devices- coaxial cable port
17. Use in building-  Horizontal cabling
18. Conversion or interface element- interface element

Advantages

The advantages of coaxial cable are less price. It can be used in high frequency applications because of its skin effect. Skin effect results in propagation of high frequency signal which propagates near outer surface of the conductor (Xiao et al., 2016). It is comparatively less vulnerable to radio frequency interference and electromagnetic interference. These types of wires can be expanded due to flexibility of the cable. 

Disadvantages

It is relatively bulky. It is difficult to install when the distance is long because it is stiff. The cable is not much secure as it can be tapped easily by using T-joint. Only one cable is used for the whole connection so any case of damage may lead to the complete breaking down of the network. It needs to be grounded properly to avoid interference.

Single mode fibre optic cable

It is a type of optical fiber which only carries light in the transverse mode. It has only one transmission mode and it provides almost 50 times more distance than multimode fiber and has a higher transmission rate as well(Bozinovic et al., 2013). The small core of the conductor and single light wave almost eliminates any probable distortion which occurs resulting from overlapping phenomenon of light pulses.

5. Cost per foot-  $5.87
6. Installation cost- $5000
7. Bandwidth-  upto 20 GHz
8. Transmission distance- upto 2 kilometres
9. End point of devices-  Transmitter
10. Use in building-  Horizontal cabling
11. Conversion or interface element- interface element.

Advantages of single mode optical fiber

The advantages of single mode optical fiber are, high speed of data transmission. The transmission rate goes up into gigabits. There is no degradation of signal as it works on the principle of total internal reflection. Low dispersion makes the fiber suitable(Neumann, 2013). It is suitable for long distance communication. It has great resistance against electromagnetic noises. The maintenance cost is low for single mode optical fiber.

Disadvantages of single mode optical fiber

It is difficult to join and light loss occurs due to scattering phenomenon. It is highly expensive to install. Fiber optic cables are small and susceptible to be damaged or cut. The fiber optic cables are capable of providing data transmission capabilities to a great extent. So, at the time when the fiber optic cabling is chosen as the medium for transmission, it is necessary to address restoration, backup and survivability. The cables can not be bent so it makes the cable not suitable for joined connections where small lengths of cables are attached.

Compare and contrast UTP, coaxial cable, single mode optical fiber

References

Jullien, C., Besnier, P., Dunand, M., & Junqua, I. (2013). Advanced modeling of crosstalk between an unshielded twisted pair cable and an unshielded wire above a ground plane. IEEE Transactions on Electromagnetic Compatibility, 55(1), 183-194.

Zanko, A., Bergel, I., & Leshem, A. (2017). Deep-LMS for Gigabit transmission over unshielded twisted pair cables. arXiv preprint arXiv:1705.10459.

Li, Q., Zhang, Z., Guo, Z., Zhang, K., Lai, Y., & Li, J. (2015). Coaxial-cable structure composite cathode material with high sulfur loading for high performance lithium–sulfur batteries. Journal of Power Sources, 274, 338-344.

Xiao, C., Si, L., Liu, Y., Guan, G., Wu, D., Wang, Z., & Hao, X. (2016). Ultrastable coaxial cable-like superhydrophobic mesh with self-adaption effect: facile synthesis and oil/water separation application. Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 4(21), 8080-8090.

Bozinovic, N., Yue, Y., Ren, Y., Tur, M., Kristensen, P., Huang, H., ... & Ramachandran, S. (2013). Terabit-scale orbital angular momentum mode division multiplexing in fibers. science, 340(6140), 1545-1548.

Neumann, E. G. (2013). Single-mode fibers: fundamentals(Vol. 57). Springer