Choosing a Transmission Medium¶

Run the Choosing a Transmission Medium MicroSim Fullscreen

About This MicroSim¶

Students apply medium-selection criteria to a deployment scenario and justify their choice based on bandwidth, distance, mobility, EMI, and cost.

This MicroSim is built with p5.js and is width-responsive, so it adapts to the width of the page or container it is embedded in.

How to Use¶

Use the controls in the panel below the drawing area to explore the concept. Adjust the sliders, toggle the options, and step through the stages to see how each change affects what is shown.

Specification¶

The full specification below is extracted from Chapter 5: The Physical Layer.

Type: infographic
**sim-id:** transmission-media-choice<br/>
**Library:** p5.js<br/>
**Status:** Specified

Render an interactive infographic that helps students choose a transmission medium based on deployment constraints (distance, mobility, EMI environment, cost budget).

Canvas: 920 px wide by 600 px tall, responsive down to 360 px.

Tree layout:

1. Root: "Need mobility?" → Yes (wireless branch) | No (continue).
2. "Distance > 1 km?" → Yes (fiber) | No (continue).
3. "EMI environment severe?" → Yes (fiber or shielded twisted pair / coax) | No (continue).
4. "Cost-sensitive bulk install?" → Yes (twisted pair) | No (consider fiber for future-proofing).

Each leaf is a labeled box with the recommended medium, a representative typical use case, and a small icon (twisted-pair icon, coax icon, fiber icon, antenna icon).

Interactivity:

- Each tree node is clickable. When clicked, the path from root highlights in honey amber; off-path branches dim.
- Hover on a leaf shows a side panel with that medium's typical bandwidth, attenuation per km, EMI immunity, and approximate cost per meter.
- A reset button collapses the tree.

Visual style:

- Tree edges drawn as honey-amber arrows.
- Decision nodes: rounded rectangles in slate.
- Leaf nodes: rounded rectangles in honey amber.

Learning objective (Bloom — Applying): Students apply medium-selection criteria to a deployment scenario and justify their choice based on bandwidth, distance, mobility, EMI, and cost.

Iframe Embed Code¶

You can add this MicroSim to any web page by adding this HTML:

<iframe src="https://dmccreary.github.io/networking/sims/transmission-media-choice/main.html"
        height="502px"
        width="100%"
        scrolling="no"></iframe>

Lesson Plan¶

Learning Objective¶