Index

Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 2

1. Communication system ............................................................................................. 3

2. Analog communication ............................................................................................. 3

3. Digital communication .............................................................................................. 4

4. Advantages of digital communication: ..................................................................... 5

5. Disadvantages of digital communication .................................................................. 6

6. Advantages of digital over analog communication ................................................... 6

7. Comparison of analog and digital communication ................................................... 7

7.1. Analog ................................................................................................................ 7

7.2. Digital ................................................................................................................ 7

8. Advantages and disadvantages of analog vs digital communication ........................ 7

Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 8

Bibliography ..................................................................................................................... 9

I
Introduction
The present work has as its theme the difference between analog and digital
communications. In this work, we will try to understand analog communication, digital
communications, to know about the difference between the two types of communication
(analog and digital).

For better understanding the work will be organized as follows: index, introduction,
development, conclusion and finally its bibliography.

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 1. Communication system
Communications is the field of study concerned with the transmission of information
through various means. It can also be defined as technology employed in transmitting
messages. It can also be defined as the inter-transmitting the content of data (speech,
signals, pulses etc.) from one node to another.

A communication system is a combination of processes and the hardware used to

accomplish the transfer of the Information (communication). A communications
subsystem is a functional unit or operational assembly that is smaller than the larger
assembly under consideration. Examples of communications subsystems in the Defense
Communications System(DCS) are:

 A satellite link with one Earth terminal in CONUS and one in Europe;
 The interconnect facilities at each Earth terminal of the satellite link;
 An optical fiber cable with its driver and receiver in either of the interconnect
facilities.

Communication subsystem (b) basically consists of a receiver,frequency translator and

a transmitter. It also contains transponder sand other transponders in it and
communication satellite communication system receives signals from the antenna
subsystem.

A communication system provides us only with a channel for the mutual information
exchange which is not apriority dedicated to certain categories of information only.

Communication system consists of Analog and Digital communication.

2. Analog communication
Analog communication is a communication method of conveying voice, data, image,
signal or video information using a continuous signal which varies in amplitude, phase,
or some other property in proportion to that of a variable. It could be the transfer of an
analog source signal using an analog modulation method such as FM or AM, or no
modulation at all.

Analog transmission is still very popular, in particular for shorter distances, due to
significantly lower costs and complex multiplexing and timing equipment is unnecessary,

3
and in small "short-haul" systems that simply do not need multiplexed digital
transmission.

However, in situations where a signal often has high signal-to-noise ratio and cannot
achieve source linearity, or in long distance, high output systems, analog is unattractive
due to attenuation problems. Furthermore, as digital techniques continue to be refined,
analog systems are increasingly becoming legacy equipment.

Recently, some nations, such as the Netherlands, have completely ceased analog
transmissions on certain media, such as television, for the purposes of the government
saving money.

Analog systems are very tolerant to noise, make good use of bandwidth, and are easy
to manipulate mathematically. However, analog signals require hardware receivers and
transmitters that are designed to perfectly fit the particular transmission. If you are
working on a new system, and you decide to change your analog signal, you need to
completely change your transmitters and receivers.

Analog signals are signals with continuous values. Analog signals are used in many
systems, although the use of analog signals has declined with the advent of cheap digital
signals.

3. Digital communication
Digital communications are the physical transfer of data (a digital bit stream) over a
point-to-point or point-to-multipoint transmission medium. Examples of such media are
copper wires, optical fibers, wireless communication media, and storage media. The data
is often represented as an electro-magnetic signal, such as an electrical voltage signal or
an infra-red signal.

Data transmitted may be digital messages originating from a data source, for example
a computer or a keyboard. It may also be an analog signal such as a phone call or a video
signal, digitized into a bit-stream for example using pulse-code modulation(PCM) or
more advanced source coding (data compression) schemes. This source coding and
decoding is carried out by codec equipment.

Digital communication enables the data to be transmitted in an efficient manner

through the use of digitally encoded information sent through data signals. These data
signals are easily compressed and, as such, can be transmitted with accuracy and speed.

4
 Unlike in an analog communication where the continuity of a varying signal cannot be
broken, in a digital communication a digital transmission can be broken down into packets
as discrete messages. Transmitting data in discrete messages not only facilitates the error
detection and correction but also enables a greater signal processing capability. Digital
communication has, in large part, replaced analog communication as the ideal form of
transmitting information through computer and mobile technologies.

The information source generates particular symbols at a particular rate. The source
encoder translates these symbols in sequences of 0's and 1's. The channel encoder is
oriented towards translating sequences of 0's and 1's to other sequences of 0's and 1's, to
realize high transmission reliability and efficiency. The modulator accepts streams of 0's
and 1's, and converts them to electrical waveforms suitable for transmission.

The communication channel provides the electrical connection between the source and
destination. It has a finite bandwidth, and the waveform transmitted suffers from
amplitude distortion and phase distortion. In addition to distortion, power is decreased
due to attenuation of the channel. Finally, the waveform is corrupted by unwanted
electrical signals, referred to as noise. The primary objective of a communication system
is to suppress the bad effects of noise as much as possible.

The inverse process takes place at the destination side. The demodulator converts the
electrical waveforms to sequences of 0's and 1's, the channel decoder translates the
sequence of 0's and 1's to the original sequence of 0's and 1's. It also performs error
correction and clock recovery. The source decoder finally translates the sequence of 0's
and 1's into symbols.

4. Advantages of digital communication:

 It is fast and easier;
 No paper is wasted;
 The messages can be stored in the device for longer times, without being damaged,
unlike paper files that easily get damages or attacked by insects;
 Digital communication can be done over large distances through internet and
other things;
 It is comparatively cheaper and the work which requires a lot of people can be
done simply by one person as folders and other such facilities can be maintained;

5
 It removes semantic barriers because the written data can be easily changed to
different languages using software;
 It provides facilities like video conferencing which save a lot of time, money and
effort.

5. Disadvantages of digital communication

 It is unreliable as the messages cannot be recognized by signatures. Though
software can be developed for this, yet the software can be easily hacked;
 Sometimes, the quickness of digital communication is harmful as messages can
be sent with the click of a mouse. The person does not think and sends the message
at an impulse;
 Digital Communication has completely ignored the human touch. A personal
touch cannot be established because all the computers will have the same font;
 The establishment of Digital Communication causes degradation of the
environment in some cases. "Electronic waste" is an example. The vibes given out
by the telephone and cell phone towers are so strong that they can kill small birds.
In fact, the common sparrow has vanished due to so many towers coming up as
the vibrations hit them on the head;
 Digital Communication has made the whole world to be an "office." The people
carry their work to places where they are supposed to relax. The whole world has
been made into an office. Even in the office, digital communication causes
problems because personal messages can come on your cell phone, internet, etc.
 Many people misuse the efficiency of Digital Communication.

6. Advantages of digital over analog communication

 Digital communication has many advantages over analog communication. few of
them are-
 various types of data (text, speech, video, image) once converted into a binary
stream can be processed by one system. In contrast different analog systems are
required to process different type of data;
 Upgradation of digital system is very easy as they processor based. As analog is
hardwired complete system is requried to be designed if there is any need of
upgradation.

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 7. Comparison of analog and digital communication
7.1. Analog
Analog signals are signals with continuous values. Analog signals are used in many
systems, although the use of analog signals has declined with the advent of cheap digital
signals. Analog systems are very tolerant to noise, make good use of bandwidth, and are
easy to manipulate mathematically. However, analog signals require hardware receivers
and transmitters that are designed to perfectly fit the particular transmission. If you are
working on a new system, and you decide to change your analog signal, you need to
completely change your transmitters and receivers.

7.2. Digital
Digital signals are intolerant to noise, and digital signals can be completely corrupted
in the presence of excess noise.

8. Advantages and disadvantages of analog vs digital communication

 The first advantage of digital communication against analog is its noise immunity.
In any transmission path some unwanted voltage or noise is always present which
cannot be eliminated fully. When signal is transmitted this noise gets added to the
original signal causing the distortion of the signal. However, in a digital
communication at the receiving end this additive noise can be eliminated to great
extent easily resulting in better recovery of actual signal. In the case of analog
communication, it's difficult to remove the noise once added to the signal;
 Security is the another priority of messaging the services in the modern days. The
Digital communication provides better security to messages than the analog
communication. It can be achieved through various coding techniques available
in digital communication;

 Digital signals are often an approximation of the analog data (like voice or video)
that is obtained through a process called quantisation. The digital representation
is never the exact signal but it's most closely approximated digital form. So it's
accuracy depends on the degree of approximation taken in quantisation process.

7
Conclusion
After the work of the English course with the subject being the difference between analog
and digital communications, it was possible to conclude that digital communications have
a great advantage over analog communications, since they have better conditions in
relation to analog communications.

8
Bibliography
https://upcompp.wordpress.com/2008/03/12/analogico-x-digital/

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h=651

https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Communication_Systems/Analog_vs._Digital

https://blog.tcomeng.com/wp-
content/uploads/2008/07/the_real_difference_between_digital_and_analog.pdf