20 Differentiate between Broadband and Baseband Signaling

As the dependence on computers increased day by day so did the number of corporate houses working in this particular field. However, it was considered essential to standardize things so that devices manufactured by different producers could work together. The task of working on the standards was given to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, referred to as IEEE in short. The institute worked on the standards under Project 802. Complying with these standards ensures that products manufactured will work together. Standards 802.3 define standards for an entire networking system. Before moving ahead with 802.3 standards, it is pertinent to understand the difference between Broadband and Baseband Signaling.

- Baseband: In baseband transmissions, digital signaling is used over a single wire. The transmission occurs in the form of electrical pulses or even light. The total bandwidth of the network is occupied by the digital signal even when a single data signal has to be transmitted. It is a two-way communication and allows for data to be sent and received. Though sending and receiving of data does not take place simultaneously, but with baseband transmission of multiple signals on a single cable is possible. This is known as multiplexing. It also uses Time Division Multiplexing (TDM). TDM works by dividing a single channel into time slots.

- Broadband: In broadband transmissions, analog signals occurring in the form of optical or electromagnetic waves are used for transmitting. The media can be conveniently divided into two, by using two cables, for sending and receiving data. The multiplexing techniques are referred to as Frequency-Division Multiplexing (FDM).