A signal is an electrical or electromagnetic quantity that transports data or information from one system to another. For data transmission, two types of signals are used: Analog signals and digital signals.
Analog and digital signals are very different in many ways. An analog signal is a continuous function, whereas a digital signal is a discontinuous function.
Typically speaking, analog and digital signals are two signal kinds that carry data or information. As far as analog signal vs digital signal is concerned, analog signals feature continuous electrical signals, whereas digital signals are otherwise without continuity in signals.
Analog signals are used to create information-carrying signals in a variety of systems. Both in terms of quantities and time, these signals are continuous. As technology evolved, digital transmissions repealed the use of analog signals. Signals that are natural or occur naturally are analog signals. Since it denotes a quantity that is analogous to another measure, it is called so. Analog signals are known for use of medium to channelize the flow of information. Analog signals can be easily distorted, thereby losing clarity and quality.
Examples of Analog Signal
Any natural sound, human voice, and data read by analog devices are examples of analog signals.
Characteristics of analog signals
Analog signals denote a voltage or any physical quantity that is continuous and invariable and fluctuates in its quantity based on the parameter whose behavior changes according to time. These can be radio waves, broadcast waves
Further classification of analog signals based on characteristics:
Continuous-time signals and discrete-time signals
Analog signal processing makes use of the electronic devices to conduct several operations on the signals. These can be ranging from amplification to limiting. Certain tools used in processing analog signals are analog signal generators, power supply, oscilloscopes and certain other electronic equipment.
Measuring analog signals
For an analog signal source, its amplitude is measured in volts while the frequency of an analog signal is measured in Hertz. Thus, analog signals carry three categories of information – amplitude, frequency and phase
What is Digital Signal?
A digital signal is one that is a discrete function of time rather than a continuous signal. Digital signals are binary in nature and consist of discrete voltage values at discrete times. A digital signal, in essence, represents data and information as a sequence of discrete values at any given time. The digital signal has a limited number of values.
Characteristics of digital signals
The digital signal is a discrete delivery time and is a non-continuous signal. The bandwidth of digital signals is very high so, they are highly suitable for functions such as computing, digital operations, data storage, etc. The square wave function represents digital signals. These digital signals have fewer fluctuations, healthier instability, and do not fall prey to noise and disturbances, unlike analog signals. The accuracy and precision of digital signals is also high due to the zero effect of sound on them. They also use less power and give zero errors
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