Digital vs Analog Communications
... how a wave works. A cross section of a wave will show the main components. First, we’ll look at frequency. Frequency is simply the number of times that the wave completes a full cycle from the midpoint of one to the midpoint of the next one. The way it is measured is in cycles per second (cps), but this was later changed to Hertz. Another important aspect to frequency is wavelength. The long waves are in the low band and the short ones are in the high band. The next component of the wave is amplitude. This is the height of the wave. The higher the amplitude, the more energy it takes to create it. Phase is another important component of the wave. Phase refers to the pattern of the wave. In order for the wave to successfully carry information, the phase must have an unexpected transition. Now using the components of the wave, the process it goes through in order to carry information is known as modulation. Modulation is the process of modifying the wave to carry information. This can be accomplished in one of three ways, by amplitude, frequency or phase modulation. Some of the major limitations with analog communications is accuracy of the signal and fading of the signal over long distances. But the devices that use this technology do not justify the increased cost of digital technology. One of the main reasons that analog technology is so widely used is its ability to travel long distances, but as I mentioned earlier the signal fades. To increase the distance, an amplifier can be used to amplify the signal, but in addition to the signal being amplified so is the noise and distortion. Digital on the other hand is a very accurate way to transmit data. The digital signal is actually very simple. When the information exceeds a certain level, it is a 1, and a 0 when it does not. When a digital signal is sent, it is subject to the same effect as its analog counterpart. The digital signal will too fade over long distances. The major difference from analog is how the signal is amplified. With a digital signal, all the amplifier has to know if it’s a 1 or a 0. There may be noise or interference along the way, but as long as the interference does not cross the threshold up or down, when the signal reaches its destination, it will arrive in its original state. Another way that makes digital better is its...