Signal | communications | Britannica (original) (raw)

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Assorted References

• major reference
  • 
    In communication: Signals
    A signal may be considered as an interruption in a field of constant energy transfer. An example is the dots and dashes that open and close the electromagnetic field of a telegraph circuit. Such interruptions do not require the construction of a man-made field;…
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• attenuation
  • 
    In radar: Doppler frequency and target velocity
    …the frequency of the received signal differs from the frequency of the signal that was transmitted. (The Doppler effect in radar is similar to the change in audible pitch experienced when a train whistle or the siren of an emergency vehicle moves past the listener.) A moving target will cause…
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• distortion
  • In distortion
    …electronics, any change in a signal that alters the basic waveform or the relationship between various frequency components; it is usually a degradation of the signal. Straight amplification or attenuation without alteration of the waveform is not usually considered to be distortion. Amplitude distortion refers to unequal amplification or attenuation…
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• electroacoustical transducers
  • 
    In electromechanical transducer
    …that either converts an electrical signal into sound waves (as in a loudspeaker) or converts a sound wave into an electrical signal (as in the microphone). Many of the transducers used in everyday life operate in both directions, such as the speakerphone on certain intercoms.
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• travel over optical fibers
  • 
    In electronics: Optoelectronics
    …the time required for electrical signals to travel over wire interconnections. This is a difficulty both for the integrated circuits themselves and for the connections between them. Under the best circumstances, electrical signals can travel in a wire at about 90 percent of the speed of light. A more usual…
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role in

telecommunications systems

• 
  In telecommunication: Analog modulation
  …in proportion to the information signal. The other technique, called frequency modulation, varies the frequency of a fixed-amplitude carrier wave in proportion to the information signal.
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• telegraphs

  • 
    In telegraph: Signal processing and transmission
    Soon after its introduction in Europe it became apparent that the American Morse Code was inadequate for the transmission of much non-English text because it lacked letters with diacritical marks. A variant that ultimately became known as the International Morse Code…
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• telephones

  • 
    In telephone: Push-button dialing
    This signal is translated into a digit at the local office.
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• intelligence-gathering

  • 
    In military intelligence: Signals
    Gained from intercepting, processing, and analyzing foreign electrical communications and other signals, signals intelligence (often called SIGINT) comprises three elements: communications, electronics, and telemetry.
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• railroads

  • 
    In railroad: Signaling
    Railroad signals are a form of communication designed to inform the train crew, particularly the engine crew, of track conditions ahead and to tell it how to operate the train.
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  • 
    In traffic control: History
    …developed slowly with the first signalman, or “railway policeman,” located at passenger and goods depots, or stations, sited along the line. These men indicated, by means of hand signals, the state of the track ahead. Red taillights were mounted at the rear of trains at night to improve safety. Later,…
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• semaphore

  • 
    In semaphore
    signaling, usually by means of flags or lights. Before the invention of the telegraph, semaphore signaling from high towers was used to transmit messages between distant points. One such system was developed by Claude Chappe in France in 1794, employing a set of arms that…
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• technology of war

  • In military communication
    transmission of information from reconnaissance and other units in contact with the enemy and the means for exercising command by the transmission of orders and instructions of commanders to their subordinates. As such, it comprises all means of transmitting messages, orders, and reports, both in…
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use of

• modems
  • 
    In modem
    …devices that convert digital data signals into modulated analog signals suitable for transmission over analog telecommunications circuits. A modem also receives modulated signals and demodulates them, recovering the digital signal for use by the data equipment. Modems thus make it possible for established telecommunications media to support a wide variety…
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• modern materials
  • 
    In materials science: Materials for computers and communications
    …information in the form of signals representing data, speech, sound, documents, and visual images. These signals are created, transmitted, and processed as moving electrons or photons, and so the basic materials groups involved are classified as electronic and photonic. In some cases, materials known as optoelectronic bridge these two classes,…
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