Introduction to Communication Systems

Introduction

Communication may be defined as the transfer of information from one place to another via a sequence of procedures or it can be defined as the communication of information itself. For communication to be effective, both the sender and the receiver must communicate in the same language. 

Every living organism on the planet is confronted with the need to continually transmit and receive information from others in the surrounding environment. Throughout history, human beings have made an ongoing effort to increase the quality of communication with other human beings. From prehistoric to contemporary times, the methods and languages used in communication have continued to evolve and satisfy the increasing demands in terms of complexity and the speed of information transmission.

Basic elements of communication system

There are three critical components to every communication system: the transmitter, the channel and the receiver. 

Transmitter

The transmitter is the electronic component that converts the digital signal from the encoder into an analogue signal that can travel through the wire and be heard by the receiver. The transmitter is sometimes referred to as the modulator. The range or distance that the signal can travel through the wire is limited by the audio properties of the wire. The transmitter also adds additional information to the signal, such as channelization codes, to allow the receiver to identify which Channel it is receiving correctly.

Receiver

An arrangement that extracts the information or message from the input signal through the receiving system and reproduces it in a suitable form as the original input signal is called a receiver.

Channel

Constrained problems are often caused by various noise or distortions on the Channel. A distorted signal may have different frequencies compared to the signal being sent. The variation in the frequency can be linear or nonlinear.

Process of Communication 

The information can be sent over a communication system from either a person or a machine. A transmitter is positioned at one location and a receiver is located at another location, with the channel serving as a medium between the two locations. It is the message signal that originates from the source and it is this signal used to feed into the transmitter.

The physical media that links the transmitter and receiver (whether wired or wireless) is the channel. It is possible that the broadcast signal may be warped due to its imperfection and that some noise will be added to the transmitted signal as it propagates.

An in-depth examination of the components of the communication system, information is the concept or message being given. It is also known as knowledge. The message may consist of a single message or a series of messages. The message might take the form of a symbol, a code, a sequence of words or any other predetermined unit.

A transducer, modulator, amplifier and transmitting antenna are transmitter components in radio transmission. Transducers are also known as transmitters.

Terms used in a Communication system

In the electronic communication system, the electric circuits transmit, process and receive the data. The transmission happens through the transmitter. The data processing happens through the medium and gets received by the receiver. The data is transmitted in two forms: digital or analogue form.

The Basic terminologies include communication medium, receiver, transmitter, transducer, amplitude, modulation and bandwidth.

Communication medium

The communication medium is the channel used to transmit the signal from transmitter to receiver. An example is copper wire and satellite systems.

Signal

The signal is the information or data transmitted and received by the receiver. It is transmitted electronically, in digital format. There are two forms of signals: digital and analogue. In analogue signals, the current and voltage will have continuous variations. An example is a human voice. The variations will have 0 and 1 discrete values in the digital signals. 

Amplitude 

The amplitude is the signal height or strength in transmission. The signals should be strong in both transmission and reception. For this, the weak signal is amplified. This phenomenon is called amplification.

Attenuation

Attenuation is the process in which the amplification of the signal is decreased. It is attenuated when transmitted for long distances.

In this electronic communication system, we will discuss the important device, transducers.

Transducers

The transducer is the electrical device that transforms the physical quantity into electrical quantity. It consists of two elements: sensing and transduction. For example, the transducer transforms the non-electrical quantity like light and heat into electrical quantity.

Conclusion

Communication is the act of transmission of info. Every living creature within the world experiences the necessity to impart or receive information virtually unceasingly with alternatives in the close world. Communication pervades all stages of the lifetime of all living creatures. No matter its nature, each communication system has three essential elements: transmitter, medium/channel and receiver. The essential parts of communication include the transmitter, channel and receiver.