Analog vs Digital Communication Essay

An analog communication system is a communication system where an analog signal can only be represented as the information signal sent from point A to point B.

An analog signal is any constant signal for which the signal's time-variable function (variable) is a reflection of some other time-variable quantity, i.e. equivalent to another time-variable signal. This varies from a digital signal in terms of important small variations in the output.

Moreover, in situations in which a signal often has a high signal-to-noise ratio and cannot achieve linearity of the source, or high output systems in the long-distance, analog are unattractive due to problems of attenuation. Additionally, as digital methods continue to be modernized, analog systems are becoming increasingly old school equipment.

Many countries, such as Holland, have recently completely discontinued analog broadcasts on certain outlets, such as television, to save money for the government. Analog systems are highly noise-tolerant, bandwidth-friendly and mathematically easy to be tampered with. Analog signals also need hardware transmitters and receivers designed to fit the specific transmission correctly. When you are working on a new system and you wish to change your analog signal, the transmitters and receivers will have to be changed completely.

Analog signals are continuous value-signals. While the use of analog signals has diminished with the introduction of cheap digital signals, analog signals are used in many systems.

Digital communication is a process whereby information is transmitted across a source and destination using digital signals. This signal is represented by a square wave. This signal is composed of separate rather than cumulative values. The transmitted information may be a digital signal from an information source, like a keyboard or computer. It might also be analog signals like a video signal or a phone call, computerized into a bit-stream with the use of PCM (pulse-code modulation) or more sophisticated source coding (compression of data) schemes. The decoding and coding of this source are performed through codec equipment. Digital communication facilitates the effective transmission of data through the use of digitally encoded information sent via data signals. Such data signals are quickly compact and can be delivered with speed and accuracy.

Comparison of Analog and Digital Communication

Consumption of Power: In the case of digital communication, power consumption is less a comparison with analog communication. Because the need for bandwidth in digital systems is more efficient, they use less electricity. And this means that the analog communication system requires less bandwidth, but so much power.

Amount of Error: The significant difference distinguishing Analog and Electronic Communication is the rate of error. There is a defect in the Analog devices due to parallax or other forms of observation. Analog instruments generally have a lower-end cramped scale and give considerable observational errors.

Bandwidth: This aspect generates a fundamental difference between digital and analog communication. Analog signal needs less transmission bandwidth whereas a digital signal requires more transmission bandwidth. In digital communication, there is no certainty that digital signal transmission can be performed in real-time and will use more resources to achieve the same results.

Fidelity: Fidelity is a consideration that distinguishes crucially between analog and digital communication. Fidelity is the receiver's ability to interpret the signal exactly in line with that of the data being sent. Compared with Analog Communication, digital communication provides more fidelity.

Flexibility: The analog communication system hardware isn't as robust as digital communication. The hardware used in digital technology is small in scale and less power consumption. A picture is sent by the means of analog also known as commercial television if digital systems are used (i.e. HDTV), we get better communication quality. Also, to the ability of digital communication to relay a wider variety of signals than analog systems, point-to-point computer structures can be integrated into (and beyond) regional frameworks that provide effective and scalable transmission of information. Also, analog-based systems, such as the telephone system, use modern ideas for networking computers rather than previous strictly analog schemes.

Synchronization:

The digital communication system, which is not effective in analog communication, offers synchronization. Synchronization thus also creates a significant difference between Digital and Analog Communication.

Pros and Cons of Analog Communication

● Flexible

● Easy fault rectification

● Long-lasting

● Weather friendly

● Cheap to handle

Cons:

● Not easy to use in emergency

● Changes both transmitter and receiver while moving into a new location

● Zero security for the transmission

● Hard to implement

Pros and Cons of Digital Communication

● Save data and retrieve when necessary

● Full security

● Flexible with a change in the system

● Cheaper in most cases than analog

● Easy to execute

Cons:

● Not so wide bandwidth

● Hard to rectify faults

● Not free from weather

● Sensitive to voltage

● Low life span

● Errors from sampling are very common

In some instances, the setting up of Digital Communication induces environmental degradation. Electronic waste is an illustration of this. The vibes sent out by the antennas on the radio and cell phones are so powerful that they can harm birds. The common bird (sparrow) has died due to so many buildings coming up as the waves strike them on the head.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Analog vs Digital Communication

1. The first benefit of digital communication over analog is noise tolerance. There is always some unintended interference or disturbance in any propagation route that cannot be eliminated. When the signal is received, this noise is added to the original signal that allows the signal to be blurred. While in analog communication, the noise once applied to the signal becomes difficult to remove.

2. Bandwidth is another limited resource. There are several digital communication methods available that use the bandwidths available much more effectively than analog communication methods.

3. Security is also another concern for modern-day messaging services. Digital communication has greater communications safety than that of analog communication. It can be accomplished by different coding methods of digital communication.

Finally, Analog communication consists entirely of the use of a constant signal that varies from sender to receiver for transmitting the information. Digital communication, on the other hand, uses digital technology to send information across the network.

With the rise of digital technology, analog communication is becoming outdated in modern days. The downside of using digital communication is that transmission needs more bandwidth and it makes it very expensive. So if costs aren't the problem we can use digital communication for our intent, but if there is a need for a cheap system, then analog is an alternative.