What is Communication?

What is Communication Systems?

This blog will briefly introduce communication systems and concepts related to communication. But first, let’s understand what is communication and its importance.

In the most fundamental sense, communication involves implicitly the transmission of information from one point to another through a succession of processes such as:

The generation of a message signal: voice, music, picture, or computer data.
The description of that message signals with a certain measure of precision, by a set of symbols: electrical, audio, or visual.
The encoding of these symbols in a form that is suitable for transmission over a physical medium of interest.
The transmission of the encoded symbols to the desired destination.
The decoding of the reproduction of the original symbols.
The re-creation of the original message signal, with the definable degradation in quality; the degradation is caused by imperfections in the system.

There are, of course, many other forms of communication that do not directly involve the human mind in real time. For example, in computer communications involving communication between two or more computers, human decisions may enter only in setting up programs or commands for the computer, or in monitoring the results.

Scroll down to learn more about what is communication systems and key concepts related to it. You can also visit important links to deepen your understanding of communication systems comprehensively.

Key Concepts:

What is Electronics and Communication Engineering?

Electronics and Communication Engineering deals with the electronic devices, circuits, communication equipment like transmitter, receiver, integrated circuits (IC). It also deals with basic electronics, analog and digital transmission & reception of data, voice and video (Example AM, FM, DTH), microprocessors, satellite communication, microwave engineering, antennae and wave progression.

Modes of Communication

There are three basic modes of communication:

Broadcasting, which involves the use of a single powerful transmitter and numerous receivers that are relatively inexpensive to build. Here information- bearing signals flow only in one direction.
Point to point communication, in which the communication process takes place over a link between a single transmitter and a receiver. In this case, there is usually a bidirectional flow of information- bearing signals, which requires the use of a transmitter at each end of the link.
Multi casting: It is similar to broadcasting but message transmission is intended for a specific receiver not for all receivers.

Communication Model

The study of communication becomes easier, if we break the whole subject of communication in parts and then study it part by part. The whole idea of presenting the model of communication is to analyse the key concepts used in communication in isolated parts and then combining them to form the complete picture.

Source: The source originates a message, such as a human voice, a television picture, an e-mail message, or data. If the data is non-electric (e.g., human voice, e-mail text, television video), it must be converted by an input transducer into an electrical waveform referred to as the baseband signal or message signal through physical devices such as microphone, a computer keyboard or a CCD camera.

Transmitter: The transmitter modifies the baseband signal for efficient transmission. The transmitter may consist of one or more subsystems: an A/D converter, an encoder and a modulator. Similarly, the receiver may consist of a demodulator, a decoder and a D/A converter.

Channel: The channel is a medium of choice that can carry the electric signals at the transmitter output over a distance. A typical channel can be a pair of twisted copper wires (telephones and DSL), coaxial cable (television and internet), an optical fiber or a radio link. Channels may be of two types.

Physical channel: When there is a physical connection between the transmitter and receiver through wires. E.g. coaxial cable.
Wireless channel: When no physical channel is present and transmission and receiver through air. E.g. mobile communication.

Receiver: The receiver reprocesses the signal received from the channel by reversing the signal modifications made at the transmitter and removing the distortions made by channel. The receiver output is fed to the output transducer, which converts the electric signal to its original form i.e. the message signal.

Destination: The destination is the unit to which the message is communicated.

Communication Technique

Communication technique is divided into two parts:

Base Band Communication: It is generally used for short communication. In this type of communication message is directly sent to the receiver without altering its frequency.
Band Pass Communication: It is used for long distance communication. In this type of communication, the message signal is mixed with another signal called as the carrier signal for the process of transmission. The process of adding a carrier to a signal is called modulation.

Online Courses for Communication Systems (EC):

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Recommended Books for Communication Systems

Books are still an essential part of learning as they offer in-depth knowledge in various topics. Learning books are well structured and provide comprehensive understanding making them invaluable for students and lifelong learners. MADE EASY Publications is one such platform for students who are looking for high quality and well-structured content for their preparation. Our platform consists of government engineering exams books which are curated by a team of experts and experienced authors. EC engineering aspirants are suggested to click on the links mentioned below to learn more in depth about communication systems:

MADE EASY faculty have briefly explained communication systems and the other key concepts. Click on the given links to learn more about environmental engineering.

FAQs:

1. What are receivers and transmitters?

Ans. A transmitter not only performs the modulation process but also raises the power level of a modulated signal to the desired extent for effective radiation. The transmitters are divided into two categories: low level modulator and high level modulator.

Receivers perform the function of selecting the desired signal from all the other unwanted signals, amplifying and demodulating it and displaying it in the desired manner. Receiver divided into two: TRF receivers and SHD receivers.

2. What is baseband in communication?

Ans. It is generally used for short distance communication. In this type of communication, a message is directly sent to the receiver without altering its frequency.

3. What is a bandpass signal?

Ans. It is used for long distance communication. In this type of communication, the message signal is mixed with another signal called the carrier signal for the process of transmission. This process of adding a carrier to a signal is called modulation.