Analog signal
hideAn Analog or analogue signal is any continuous signal 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 in that small fluctuations in the signal are meaningful. Analog is usually thought of in an electrical context; however, mechanical, pneumatic, hydraulic, 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 uses rotary position as the signal to convey pressure information. Electrically, the property most commonly used is voltage followed closely by frequency, current, and charge.
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, light, temperature, position, or pressure, and is achieved using a transducer.
For example, in sound recording, fluctuations in air pressure (that is to say, sound) strike the diaphragm of a microphone which causes corresponding fluctuations in a voltage or the current in an electric circuit. The voltage or the current is said to be an "analog" of the sound.
Any measured analog signal must theoretically have noise and a finite slew rate. Therefore, both analog and digital systems are subject to limitations in resolution and bandwidth. In practice, as analog systems become more complex, effects such as non-linearity and noise ultimately degrade analog resolution to such extent that the performance of digital systems may surpass it. 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.
For more information about Analog signal, read the full article at
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News tagged with analog signals
700,000 callers phone digital TV hot line
Jun 13, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Nearly 700,000 calls were received by a federal hot line this week from people confused about the nationwide switch from analog to digital TV broadcasts that occurred Friday.
Digital TV likes clear signal path
Dec 31, 2008 |
1.3 / 5 (3) |
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Question: If I buy a new digital TV, can I just plug it in and use it, as I do the old TV now? My son insists that it has to be hooked to an antenna, but the old televisions worked fine without one.
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Superconductor magnet spacecraft heat shield being developed
15 hours ago |
5 / 5 (15) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- European space agencies and an aerospace giant are developing a new re-entry heat shield that will use superconductor magnets to generate a magnetic field strong enough to deflect the superhot ...
New device implanted by surgeons help paralyzed patients breathe easier
Nov 25, 2009 |
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Physicians at UT Southwestern Medical Center soon will begin implanting a new device designed to improve breathing in patients with upper spinal-cord injuries or other diseases that keep them from breathing independently.
Study sheds light on brain's fear processing center
Nov 25, 2009 |
5 / 5 (3) |
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Breathing carbon dioxide can trigger panic attacks, but the biological reason for this effect has not been understood. A new study by University of Iowa researchers shows that carbon dioxide increases brain acidity, which ...
Explained: The Discrete Fourier Transform
Nov 25, 2009 |
4.3 / 5 (26) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- In 1811, Joseph Fourier, the 43-year-old prefect of the French district of Isčre, entered a competition in heat research sponsored by the French Academy of Sciences. The paper he submitted ...
Opposites attract: Monkeys choose mating partners with different genes
Nov 24, 2009 |
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The world's largest species of monkey 'chooses' mates with genes that are different from their own to guarantee healthy and strong offspring, according to a new research study.
Selling chip makers on optical computing
Nov 24, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Computer chips that transmit data with light instead of electricity consume much less power than conventional chips, but so far, they've remained laboratory curiosities. Professors Vladimir ...
Spider secrets decoded in world-first database
Nov 23, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Queensland scientists have developed a world-first database that catalogues the venom components from hundreds of spiders.
In the Brain, Seven Is A Magic Number
Nov 23, 2009 |
4.5 / 5 (34) |
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Having a tough time recalling a phone number someone spoke a few minutes ago or forgetting items from a mental grocery list is not a sign of mental decline; in fact, it's natural.
Measured -- The time it takes us to find the words we need
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
Nov 23, 2009 |
4.1 / 5 (7) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The time it takes for our brains to search for and retrieve the word we want to say has been measured for the first time. The discovery is reported in a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Ac ...
The cause behind the characteristic shape of a long leaf revealed
Nov 23, 2009 |
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Applied mathematicians dissected the morphology of the plantain lily (Hosta lancifolia), a characteristic long leaf with a saddle-like arc midsection and closely packed ripples along the edges. The simple ...
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