how to send bits with signals

coding: signal sent directly on wire

  • considerations
    • signals are 0/1 - need freq transitions to decode (e.g., lots of 0s in a row can be confusing)
      • clock recovery: map every 4 bits into 5 code bits w/o long runs

modulation: modulate carrier

  • send baseband signals at higher frequencies for better propagation
  • modulate by changing amplitude, freq, phase

terms

limitations

  • Nyquist = max symbol rate = 2 * bandwidth (transition speed)
  • Shannon Capacity - how much info can you communicate over a noisy channel
    • channel capacity grows linearity with bandwidth (transition speed), logarithmically with signal-to-noise ratio
    • bits/sec
    • the rate which we can transmit data without loss given error correction