Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. 52 Networking Fundamentals Broadband Broadband is a method of transmitting data in the form of several analog signals at the same time. Certain electronic techniques can be incorporated into communica- tion systems that allow network media to carry more than one frequency at a time. In general, a network conductor that carries a single series of digital signals is base- band. A conductor that carries two or more analog signals is broadband. Wireless media, such as radio, is an example of broadband transmission. In this case, the atmosphere is capable of carrying many diff erent radio frequencies at the same time. For example, television signals range from 7 MHz to 1002 MHz. Inside this range of frequencies are individual channels specifi ed in smaller ranges. For ex- ample, Channel 8 has a frequency range of 180 MHz to 186 MHz. Channel 9 has a frequency range of 186 MHz to 192 MHz. Each of the channels has a bandwidth of 6 MHz inside the allocated television bandwidth of 7 MHz to 1002 MHz. Wireless networks use radio waves as the network medium and use the terms bandwidth and channel when describing each radio signal path. 2.5 NET Broadband Baseband Figure 2-3 Baseband transmission allows only one digital signal to be transmitted at a time. The digital signal uses the entire bandwidth of the network media. Broadband transmission allows multiple analog signals to be transmitted simultaneously, each of differing frequencies and amplitudes. Goodheart-Willcox Publisher Digital signal A Digital signal B Combined digital signal A and B Figure 2-4 Only one digital signal can be carried on the same wire. If two signals are sent on the same wire, the two would combine to form a new signal. The new signal cannot be filtered to restore the original signal. Goodheart-Willcox Publisher