Guided media like twisted pair cables, coaxial cables, and fiber optic cables transmit signals through physical pathways. Unguided media like radio waves, microwaves, and satellites transmit signals through air without physical pathways. Twisted pair cables are mainly used for short-distance analog voice communications while coaxial and fiber optic cables can transmit more data over longer distances. Wireless transmission methods like radio waves allow communication without wires but are more widely regulated due to their broadcast nature. The type of transmission medium used depends on the required transmission characteristics and quality for different communication applications.

1. By :
 Abid Hussain
 Syed Farrukh Shah
 Syed Asif Sherazi
 Suleiman Javaid

2.  A good transmission medium should provide
communication with good quality at long
distance.
 For voice communication, quality of
communication is determined by the voice
quality.
 For data communication, however, the quality
of communication is mainly determined by
the effective data rate of communication.
2
CHARACTERISTICS

3. Transmission
Media
Guided
Media
Twiste
d Pair
Cable
Coaxi
al
Cable
Fiber-
Optic
Cable
Unguided
Media
Radio
Microwav
e
Satellite
3

4. 4
Guided media includes everything
that ‘guides’ the transmission. That
usually takes the form of some sort
of a wire. Usually copper, but can
also be optical fibre.

5. 5
•A transmission medium consisting
of pairs of twisted copper wires.
•We can transmit 1 Mbps over short
distances (less than 100m).
•They are mainly used to transmit
analog signals, but they can be
used for digital signals.

6. 6

7. 7
• In its simplest form, coaxial consists
of a core made of solid copper
surrounded by insulation, a braided
metal shielding, and an outer cover.
• A transmission medium consisting of
thickly insulated copper wire, which
can transmit a large volume of data
than twisted wire.

8. 8

9. 9
• Optical fiber consists of a glass
core, surrounded by a glass cladding
with slightly lower refractive index.
• In most networks fiber-optic cable
is used as the high-speed backbone,
and twisted wire and coaxial cable
are used to connect the backbone to
individual devices.

10. 10

11. 11
Unguided media is still ‘media’ (stuff
that signal travels though). The trick
is that the media is usually not
directional, like air, space, etc.
Because the effect is usually much
wider than with guided media, there
have been a lot of regulation,
licensing, and standardization of
transmissions via unguided media.

12. 12
• Wireless transmission that sends
signals through air or space without
any physical wire.
• Common uses of wireless data
transmission include pagers, cellular
telephones, microwave transmissions,
communication satellites, mobile data
networks, personal digital assistants,
television remote controls.

13. 13

14.  In summary, transmission media are
essential for communication systems.
Signals that carry information can be
transmitted on a transmission medium for
communication purposes. The
transmission characteristics of the medium
in use are important because they directly
affect the communication quality. Since
different types of transmission media have
different transmission characteristics and
costs, they are used in different (and the
most suited) applications.
14

15. 15