Digital communications

Digital communications refers to the transmission of a sequence of digital messages (a bit stream) or a digitized analog signal. This is in contrast to analog communications. While analog communications represents a continuously varying signal by a continously varying signal, a digital transmission can be broken down into discrete messages. The messages are either represented by a sequence of pulses by means of a line code, or by a limited set of analogue wave forms, using a digital modulation method.

Transmitting data in discrete messages allows for greater signal processing capability. The ability to process a communications signal means that errors caused by random processes can be detected and corrected. Digital signals can also be sampled instead of continuously monitored. The multiplexing of multiple digital signals is much simpler to the multiplexing of analog signals.

Because of all these advantages, and because recent advances in wideband communication channels and solid-state electronics have allowed scientists to fully realize these advantages, digital communications has grown quickly. Digital communications is quickly edging out analog communication because of the vast demand to transmit computer data and the ability of digital communications to do so.

ee also

* Data compression
* Data transmission
* Digital signal
* Error detection and correction
* Information Theory
* Transmission
* Physical layer
* Pulse code modulation