Physics · Ch 13 — Electromagnetic Waves and Communication System
Elements of a communication system
Elements of a communication system
Every communication system, no matter how simple or elaborate, is built from three basic (essential) elements: (a) a transmitter, (b) a communication channel, and (c) a receiver, exactly as sketched in the block diagram of Fig. 13.6. The transmitter is located at one place and the receiver at another, physically separate, place. The communication channel is the passage through which the signal actually travels between the transmitter and the receiver -- depending on the type of communication system, this channel may take the physical form of wires or cables, or it may be wireless (as with radio, TV, or mobile-phone signals travelling through open space). …
What this figure shows. A simple block diagram with three boxes connected in a left-to-right chain and joined by arrows showing the direction of signal flow: the first box is labelled 'Transmitter', the middle box is labelled 'Communication channel' (or simply 'Channel'), and the third box is labelled 'Receiver'. An arrow enters the transmitter box from an implied information source on the left, and an arrow leaves the receiver box on the right toward the user of the information, illustrating the generic three-element skeleton that every communication system -- whether point-to-point or broadcast -- is built from, as …