An Analog or analogue signal is any continuous In mathematics, a continuous function is a function for which, intuitively, small changes in the input result in small changes in the output. Otherwise, a function is said to be "discontinuous". A continuous function with a continuous inverse function is called "bicontinuous". An intuitive though imprecise idea of continuity is signal In the fields of communications, signal processing, and in electrical engineering more generally, a signal is any time-varying or spatial-varying quantity for which the time varying feature (variable) of the signal is a representation of some other time varying quantity, i.e., analogous to another time varying signal. It differs from a digital signal The term digital signal is used, to refer to more than one concept. It can refer to discrete-time signals that have a discrete number of levels, for example a sampled and quantified analog signal, or to the continuous-time waveform signals in a digital system, representing a bit-stream. In the first case, a signal that is generated by means of a in terms of small fluctuations in the signal which are meaningful. Analog is usually thought of in an electrical Electricity is a general term that encompasses a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning and static electricity, but in addition, less familiar concepts, such as the electromagnetic field and electromagnetic induction context; however, mechanical In the fields of physics, classical mechanics is one of the two major sub-fields of study in the science of mechanics, which is concerned with the set of physical laws governing and mathematically describing the motions of bodies and aggregates of bodies geometrically distributed within a certain boundary under the action of a system of forces, pneumatic Pneumatic systems are extensively used in industry, where factories are commonly plumbed with compressed air or other compressed inert gases. This is because a centrally-located and electrically-powered compressor that powers cylinders and other pneumatic devices through solenoid valves is often able to provide motive power in a cheaper, safer,, hydraulic Hydraulics is a topic in applied science and engineering dealing with the mechanical properties of liquids. Fluid mechanics provides the theoretical foundation for hydraulics, which focuses on the engineering uses of fluid properties. In fluid power, hydraulics is used for the generation, control, and transmission of power by the use of, and other systems may also convey analog signals.

An analog signal uses some property of the medium to convey the signal's information. For example, an aneroid barometer A barometer is a scientific instrument used to measure atmospheric pressure. It can measure the pressure exerted by the atmosphere by using water, air, or mercury. Pressure tendency can forecast short term changes in the weather. Numerous measurements of air pressure are used within surface weather analysis to help find surface troughs, high uses rotary position as the signal to convey pressure information. Electrically, the property most commonly used is voltage The voltage between two points is a short name for the electrical force that would drive an electric current between those points. Specifically, voltage is equal to energy per unit charge. In the case of static electric fields, the voltage between two points is equal to the electrical potential difference between those points. In the more general followed closely by frequency Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit time. It is also referred to as temporal frequency. The period is the duration of one cycle in a repeating event, so the period is the reciprocal of the frequency. Loosely speaking, 1 year is the period of the Earth's orbit around the Sun, and the Earth's rotation on its axis has, current Electric current means, depending on the context, a flow of electric charge or the rate of flow of electric charge (a quantity). This flowing electric charge is typically carried by moving electrons, in a conductor such as wire; in an electrolyte, it is instead carried by ions, and, in a plasma, by both, and charge Electric charge is a fundamental conserved property of some subatomic particles, which determines their electromagnetic interaction. Electrically charged matter is influenced by, and produces, electromagnetic fields. The interaction between a moving charge and an electromagnetic field is the source of the electromagnetic force, which is one of the.

Any information may be conveyed by an analog signal; often such a signal is a measured response to changes in physical phenomena, such as sound Sound is a travelling wave that is an oscillation of pressure transmitted through a solid, liquid, or gas, composed of frequencies within the range of hearing and of a level sufficiently strong to be heard, or the sensation stimulated in organs of hearing by such vibrations, light Light is electromagnetic radiation of a wavelength that is visible to the human eye . In physics, the term light sometimes refers to electromagnetic radiation of any wavelength, whether visible or not, temperature Historically, two equivalent concepts of temperature have developed, the thermodynamic description and a microscopic explanation based on statistical physics. Since thermodynamics deals entirely with macroscopic measurements, the thermodynamic definition of temperature, first stated by Lord Kelvin, is stated entirely in empirical, measurable, position, or pressure Pressure is the force per unit area applied in a direction perpendicular to the surface of an object. Gauge pressure is the pressure relative to the local atmospheric or ambient pressure, and is achieved using a transducer A transducer is a device that converts one type of energy to another. The conversion can be to/from electrical, electro-mechanical, electromagnetic, photonic, photovoltaic, or any other form of energy. While the term transducer commonly implies use as a sensor/detector, any device which converts energy can be considered a transducer.

For example, in sound recording, fluctuations in air pressure (that is to say, sound) strike the diaphragm of a microphone A microphone (colloquially called a mic or mike is an acoustic-to-electric transducer or sensor that converts sound into an electrical signal. In 1876, Emile Berliner invented the first microphone used as a telephone voice transmitter. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, tape recorders, karaoke systems, hearing aids, which induces corresponding fluctuations in the current produced by a coil in an electromagnetic microphone, or the voltage produced by a condensor microphone. The voltage or the current is said to be an "analog" of the sound.

An analog signal has a theoretically infinite resolution. In practice an analog signal is subject to noise and a finite slew rate In electronics, the slew rate represents the maximum rate of change of a signal at any point in a circuit. Limitations in slew rate capability can give rise to non linear effects in electronic amplifiers. For a sinusoidal waveform not to be subject to slew rate limitation, the slew rate capability at all points in an amplifier must satisfy the. Therefore, both analog and digital systems are subject to limitations in resolution and bandwidth. As analog systems become more complex, effects such as non-linearity and noise ultimately degrade analog resolution to such an extent that the performance of digital systems may surpass it. Similarly, as digital systems become more complex, errors can occur in the digital data stream. A comparable performing digital system is more complex and requires more bandwidth than its analog counterpart.[citation needed] In analog systems, it is difficult to detect when such degradation occurs. However, in digital systems, degradation can not only be detected but corrected as well.

Contents

Advantages

The main advantage is the fine definition of the analog signal which has the potential for an infinite amount of signal resolution.[1] Compared to digital signals, analog signals are of higher density.[2]

Another advantage with analog signals is that their processing may be achieved more simply than with the digital equivalent. An analog signal may be processed directly by analog components,[3] though some processes aren't available except in digital form.

Disadvantages

The primary disadvantage of analog signaling is that any system has noise In science, and especially in physics and telecommunication, noise is fluctuations in and the addition of external factors to the stream of target information being received at a detector. In communications, it may be deliberate as for instance jamming of a radio or TV signal, but in most cases it is assumed to be merely undesired interference – i.e., random unwanted variation. As the signal is copied and re-copied, or transmitted over long distances, these apparently random variations become dominant. Electrically, these losses can be diminished by shielding, good connections, and several cable types such as coaxial Coaxial cable, or coax, is an electrical cable with an inner conductor surrounded by a flexible, tubular insulating layer, surrounded by a tubular conducting shield. The term coaxial comes from the inner conductor and the outer shield sharing the same geometric axis. Coaxial cable was invented by English engineer and mathematician Oliver Heaviside, or twisted pair Twisted pair cabling is a type of wiring in which two conductors are twisted together for the purposes of canceling out electromagnetic interference (EMI) from external sources; for instance, electromagnetic radiation from unshielded twisted pair (UTP) cables, and crosstalk between neighboring pairs. It was invented by Alexander Graham Bell and he.

The effects of noise Electronic noise is a random fluctuation in an electrical signal, a characteristic of all electronic circuits. Noise generated by electronic devices varies greatly, as it can be produced by several different effects. Thermal noise and shot noise are inherent to all devices, while other types depend mostly on manufacturing quality and semiconductor create signal loss and distortion. This is impossible to recover, since amplifying the signal to recover attenuated parts of the signal amplifies the noise (distortion/interference) as well. Even if the resolution of an analog signal is higher than a comparable digital signal, the difference can be overshadowed by the noise in the signal.

Most of the analog systems also suffer from generation loss Generation loss refers to the loss of quality and potential increase of file size between subsequent copies of data. Anything that reduces the quality of the representation when copying, and would cause further reduction in quality on making a copy of the copy, can be considered a form of generation loss.

Modulation

Another method of conveying an analog signal is to use modulation In electronics, modulation is the process of varying one or more properties of a high frequency periodic waveform, called the carrier signal, with respect to a modulating signal. This is done in a similar fashion as a musician may modulate a tone from a musical instrument by varying its volume, timing and pitch. The three key parameters of a. In this, some base signal (e.g., a sinusoidal The sine wave or sinusoid is a mathematical function that describes a smooth repetitive oscillation. It occurs often in pure mathematics, as well as physics, signal processing, electrical engineering and many other fields. Its most basic form as a function of time is: carrier wave In telecommunications, a carrier wave, or carrier is a waveform that is modulated (modified) with an input signal for the purpose of conveying information. This carrier wave is usually of much higher frequency than the input signal. The purpose of the carrier is usually either to transmit the information through space as an electromagnetic wave () has one of its properties modulated: amplitude modulation Amplitude modulation is a technique used in electronic communication, most commonly for transmitting information via a radio carrier wave. AM works by varying the strength of the transmitted signal in relation to the information being sent. For example, changes in the signal strength can be used to specify the sounds to be reproduced by a involves altering the amplitude of a sinusoidal voltage waveform In mathematics and science, a wave is a disturbance that travels through space and time, usually by transference of energy. Waves are described by a wave function that can take on many forms depending on the type of wave. A mechanical wave is a wave that propagates through a medium due to restoring forces produced upon its deformation. For example, by the source information, frequency modulation In telecommunications, frequency modulation conveys information over a carrier wave by varying its frequency (contrast this with amplitude modulation, in which the amplitude of the carrier is varied while its frequency remains constant). In analog applications, the difference between the instantaneous and the base frequency of the carrier is changes the frequency Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit time. It is also referred to as temporal frequency. The period is the duration of one cycle in a repeating event, so the period is the reciprocal of the frequency. Loosely speaking, 1 year is the period of the Earth's orbit around the Sun, and the Earth's rotation on its axis has. Other techniques, such as changing the phase The phase of an oscillation or wave is the fraction of a complete cycle corresponding to an offset in the displacement from a specified reference point at time t = 0. Phase is a frequency domain or Fourier transform domain concept, and as such, can be readily understood in terms of simple harmonic motion. The same concept applies to wave motion, of the base signal also work.

Analog circuits Analogue electronics are electronic systems with a continuously variable signal, in contrast to digital electronics where signals usually take only two different levels. The term "analogue" describes the proportional relationship between a signal and a voltage or current that represents the signal. The word analogue is derived from the do not involve quantisation In digital signal processing, quantization is the process of approximating a continuous range of values (or a very large set of possible discrete values) by a relatively small ("finite") set of ("values which can still take on continuous range") discrete symbols or integer values. For example, rounding a real number in the of information into digital format. The concept being measured over the circuit, whether sound, light, pressure, temperature, or an exceeded limit, remains from end to end.

See digital A digital system is a data technology that uses discrete values. By contrast, non-digital (or analog) systems use a continuous range of values to represent information. Although digital representations are discrete, the information represented can be either discrete, such as numbers, letters or icons, or continuous, such as sounds, images, and for a discussion of digital vs. analog.

Sources: Parts of an earlier version of this article were originally taken from Federal Standard 1037C Federal Standard 1037C, titled Telecommunications: Glossary of Telecommunication Terms is a United States Federal Standard, issued by the General Services Administration pursuant to the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, as amended in support of MIL-STD-188.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Digital Signal Processing: Instant access." Butterworth-Heinemann - Page 3
  2. ^ "Concise Dictionary of Computing." Penguin Reference - Penguin Books - pages 11-12.
  3. ^ "Digital Signal Processing: Instant access." Butterworth-Heinemann - pages 2-3

Categories: Analog circuits | Electronic design

 

The above information uses material from Wikipedia and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License The purpose of this License is to make a manual, textbook, or other functional and useful document "free" in the sense of freedom: to assure everyone the effective freedom to copy and redistribute it, with or without modifying it, either commercially or noncommercially. Secondarily, this License preserves for the author and publisher a.
Some facts may not have been fully verified for accuracy. [Disclaimers Wikipedia is an online open-content collaborative encyclopedia, that is, a voluntary association of individuals and groups working to develop a common resource of human knowledge. The structure of the project allows anyone with an Internet connection to alter its content. Please be advised that nothing found here has necessarily been reviewed by]
This page was last archived by our server on Sat Jul 31 01:48:15 2010. [ refresh local cache ]
Displaying this page or its contents does not use any Wikimedia Foundation's resources.
The owners of this site proudly support the Wikimedia Foundation.


Skyworks Unveils Family of Highly Integrated Multimode Power Amplifier Modules ... - MarketWatch (press release)
news.google.com
Skyworks Unveils Family of Highly Integrated Multimode Power Amplifier Modules ...

MarketWatch (press release)

Skyworks Solutions, Inc. is an innovator of high reliability analog and mixed signal semiconductors. Leveraging core technologies, Skyworks offers diverse ...

Skyworks Unveils Family of Highly Integrated Multimode Power Amplifier Modules ... SYS-CON Media (press release)



all 20 news articles »
Google News Search: Analog signal,
Mon Feb 15 16:30:25 2010
zmd 1226054760 ori jpg
zmd.de
zmd 1226054760 ori jpg
1134px x 707px | 103.80kB

[source page]

Original 106KB

Yahoo Images Search: Analog signal,
Mon Jun 7 14:41:22 2010
MATRIXSYNTH: MFOS Ultimate + Expander / MFOS Analog Sequencer
matrixsynth.blogspot.com
MATRIXSYNTH: MFOS Ultimate + Expander / MFOS Analog Sequencer

matrix

hu, 15 Jul 2010 05:24:00 GM

VCO 1and VCO 2 are patched to the Expander Multi-mode filter, the band pass out is patched to the Expander . signal. mixer. VCO3 and Noise are mixed on the Ultimate mixer and routed to the Ultimate low pass filter and filter output is ...

Google Blogs Search: Analog signal,
Sat Jul 17 12:58:27 2010
What is the limitation of Analog & Digital Signal?
Q. Dear Would anybody let me know, what are the limitations of Analog & Digital Signal? It would be best, if anybody let me know the advantage of using Analog Signal & Digital Signal separately. Appreciate, if you would come back soon. Regards Pervez
Asked by ashish (ARAF) - Wed Jun 4 22:46:59 2008 - - 1 Answers - 0 Comments
Yahoo Answers Search: Analog signal,
Mon Jul 26 17:52:46 2010