What is Signal? Asignal is an electromagnetic or electrical current that is used for carrying data from one system or network to another. The signal is a function that conveys information about a phenomenon. In electronics and telecommunications, it refers to any time-varying voltage that is an electromagnetic wave which carries information. A signal can also be defined as an observable change in quality such as quantityWhat is an Analog Signal? Analog Signal Analog signal is a continuous signal in which one time-varying quantity represents another time-based variable. These kind of signals works with physical values and natural phenomena such as earthquake, frequency, volcano, speed of wind, weight, lighting, etc.Characteristics OF Analog Signal Here, are essential characteristics of Analog Signal These type of electronic signals are time-varying Minimum and maximum values which is either positive or negative. It can be either periodic or non- periodic. Analog Signal works on continuous data. The accuracy of the analog signal is not high when compared to the digital signal. It helps you to measure natural or physical values. e Analog signal output form is like Curve, Line, or Graph, so it may not be meaningful to all.Advantages of Analog Signals Here, are pros/benefits of Analog Signals Easier in processing Best suited for audio and video transmission. It has a low cost and is portable. It has a much higher density so that it can present more refined information. Not necessary to buy a new graphics board. Uses less bandwidth than digital sounds Provide more accurate representation of a sound It is the natural form of a sound.Disadvantages of Analog Signals Here are cons/drawback of Analog Signals: Analog tends to have a lower quality signal than digital. The cables are sensitive to external influences. The cost of the Analog wire is high and not easily portable. Low availability of models with digital interfaces. Recording analog sound on tape is quite expensive if the tape is damaged It offers limitations in editing Tape is becoming hard to find It is quite difficult to synchronize analog sound Quality is easily lost Data can become corruptede Plenty of recording devices and formats which can become confusing to store a digital signal e Digital sounds can cut an analog sound wave which means that you can't get a perfect reproduction of a sound e Offers poor multi-user interfacesWhat is a Digital Signal? Digital Signal Digital Signal A digital signal is a signal that is used to represent data as a sequence of separate values at any point in time. It can only take on one of a fixed number of values. This type of signal represents a real number within a constant range of values.Characteristics of Digital Signals Here, are essential characteristics of Digital signals Digital signal are continuous signals This type of electronic | signals can be processed and transmitted better compared to analog signal. Digital signals are versatile, so it is widely used. The accuracy of the digital signal is better than that of the analog signal.Advantages of Digital Signals Here, are pros/advantages of Digital Signals: Digital data can be easily compressed. Any information in the digital form can be encrypted. Equipment that uses digital signals is more common and less expensive. Digital signal makes running instruments free from observation errors like parallax and approximation errors. A lot of editing tools are available You can edit the sound without altering the original copy Easy to transmit the data over networksDisadvantage of Digital Signals e Sampling may cause loss of information. ¢ A/D and D/A demands mixed-signal hardware e Processor speed is limited e Develop quantization and round- off errors e It requires greater bandwidth e Systems and processing is more complex.Difference between the Analog signals and Digital signals Analog signals Analog signals are difficult to get analysed at first. Analog signals are more accurate than digital signals. Analog signals take time to be stored. It has infinite memory. To record an analog signal, the technique used, preserves the original signals. Digital signals Digital signals are easy to analyse. Digital signals are less accurate. Digital signals can be easily stored. In recording digital signal, the sample signals are taken and preserved.There is a continuous representation of signals in analog signals. Analog signals produce too much noise. Examples of analog signals are Human voice, Thermometer, Analog phones etc. There is a discontinuous representation of signals in digital signals. Digital signals do not produce noise. Examples of digital signals are Computers, Digital Phones, Digital pens, etc.Transmission Impairment in Data Communication In communication system, analog signals travel through transmission media, which tends to deteriorate the quality of analog signal. This imperfection causes signal impairment. This means that received signal is not same as the signal that was send. Causes of impairment — Impairment Causes ro Attenuation Distortion Noise ¢ Attenuation — It means loss of energy. The strength of signal decreases with increasing distance which causes loss of energy in overcoming resistance of medium. This is also known asattenuated signal. Amplifiers are used to amplify the attenuated signal which gives the original signal back. aie AS OY mal Atlenuaied Transmission medium Ponitt Ponit2 | Points Image Source — aviationchief Attenuation is measured in decibels(dB). It measures the relative strengths of two signals or one signal at two different point.Attenuation(dB) = 10log10(P2/P1) P1 is power at sending end and P2 is power at receiving end. Distortion — It means change in the shape of signal. This is generally seen in composite signals with different frequencies. Each frequency component has its own propagation speed travelling through a medium. Every component arrive at different time which leads to delay distortion. Therefore, they have different phases at receiver end from what they had at senders end. Noise — The random or unwanted signal that mixes up with the original signal is called noise. There are several types of noise such as induced noise, crosstalk noise, thermal noise and impulse noise which may corrupt the signal.Induced noise comes from sources such as motors and appliances. These devices act as sending antenna and transmission medium act as receiving antenna. Thermal noise is movement of electrons in wire which creates an extra signal. Crosstalk noise is when one wire affects the other wire. Impulse noise is a signal with high energy that comes from lightning or power lines SNR = AVG SIGNAL POWER / AVG NOISE PO!