Analog signal processing for signals that have not been digitized, as in

classical radio, telephone, radar, and television systems. This involves linear
electronic circuits such as passive filters, active filters, additive mixers,
integrators and delay lines. It also involves non-linear circuits such as
compandors, multiplicators (frequency mixers and voltage-controlled amplifiers),
voltage-controlled filters, voltage-controlled oscillators and phase-locked loops.
Discrete time signal processing for sampled signals that are considered as
defined only at discrete points in time, and as such are quantized in time, but not
in magnitude. Analog discrete-time signal processing is a technology based on
electronic devices such as sample and hold circuits, analog time-division
multiplexers, analog delay lines and analog feedback shift registers. This
technology was a predecessor of digital signal processing, see below, and is still
used in advanced processing of gigahertz signals. The concept of discrete-time
signal processing also refers to a theoretical discipline that establishes a
mathematical basis for digital signal processing, without taking quantization error
into consideration.
Digital signal processing for signals that have been digitized. Processing is
done by general-purpose computers or by digital circuits such as ASICs, field-
programmable gate arrays or specialized digital signal processors (DSP chips).
Typical arithmetical operations include fixed-point and floating-point, real-valued
and complex-valued, multiplication and addition. Other typical operations
supported by the hardware are circular buffers and look-up tables. Examples of
algorithms are the Fast Fourier transform (FFT), finite impulse response (FIR)
filter, Infinite impulse response (IIR) filter, Wiener filter and Kalman filter.

Pasive filter

A passive filter is a kind of electronic filter that is made only from passive elements -- in
contrast to an active filter, it does not require an external power source (beyond the
signal). Since most filters are linear, in most cases, passive filters are composed of just
the four basic linear elements -- resistors, capacitors, inductors, and transformers. More
complex passive filters may involve nonlinear elements, or more complex linear
elements, such as transmission lines.

Television signal splitter consisting of a passive hi-pass filter (left) and a passive low-
pass filter (right). The antenna is connected to the screw terminals to the left of center.
A passive filter has several advantages over an active filter:

Guaranteed stability
Passive filters scale better to large signals (tens of amperes, hundreds of volts),
where active devices are often impractical
No power consumption, but the desired signal is invariably attenuated. If no
resistors are used, the amount of signal loss is directly related to the quality (and
the price) of the components used.
Inexpensive (unless large coils are required)
For linear filters, generally, more linear than filters including active (and therefore
non-linear) elements

They are commonly used in speaker crossover design (due to the moderately large
voltages and currents, and the lack of easy access to power), filters in power distribution
networks (due to the large voltages and currents), power supply bypassing (due to low
cost, and in some cases, power requirements), as well as a variety of discrete and home
brew circuits (for low-cost and simplicity). Passive filters are uncommon in monolithic
integrated circuit design, where active devices are inexpensive compared to resistors and
capacitors, and inductors are prohibitively expensive. Passive filters are still found,
however, in hybrid integrated circuits. Indeed, it may be the desire to incorporate a
passive filter that leads the designer to use the hybrid format.

Active Filter

An active filter is a type of analog electronic filter, distinguished by the use of one or
more active components i.e. voltage amplifiers or buffer amplifiers. Typically this will be
a vacuum tube, or solid-state (transistor or operational amplifier).

Active filters have three main advantages over passive filters:

Inductors can be avoided. Passive filters without inductors cannot obtain a high Q
(low damping), but with them are often large and expensive (at low frequencies),
may have significant internal resistance, and may pick up surrounding
electromagnetic signals.
The shape of the response, the Q (Quality factor), and the tuned frequency can
often be set easily by varying resistors, in some filters one parameter can be
adjusted without affecting the others. Variable inductances for low frequency
filters are not practical.
The amplifier powering the filter can be used to buffer the filter from the
electronic components it drives or is fed from, variations in which could
otherwise significantly affect the shape of the frequency response.
Design of active filters
To design filters, the specifications that need to be established include:

The range of desired frequencies (the passband) together with the shape of the
frequency response. This indicates the variety of filter (see above) and the center
or corner frequencies.
Input and output impedance requirements. These limit the circuit topologies
available; for example, most, but not all active filter topologies provide a buffered
(low impedance) output. However, remember that the internal output impedance
of operational amplifiers, if used, may rise markedly at high frequencies and
reduce the attenuation from that expected. Be aware that some high-pass filter
topologies present the input with almost a short circuit to high frequencies.
The degree to which unwanted signals should be rejected.
o In the case of narrow-band bandpass filters, the Q determines the -3dB
bandwidth but also the degree of rejection of frequencies far removed
from the center frequency; if these two requirements are in conflict then a
staggered-tuning bandpass filter may be needed.
o For notch filters, the degree to which unwanted signals at the notch
frequency must be rejected determines the accuracy of the components,
but not the Q, which is governed by desired steepness of the notch, i.e. the
bandwidth around the notch before attenuation becomes small.
o For high-pass and low-pass (as well as band-pass filters far from the center
frequency), this indicates the slope of attenuation, and thus the "order" of
the filter. A second-order filter gives an ultimate slope of about 12dB per
octave (40dB/decade), but the slope close to the corner frequency is much
less, sometimes necessitating a notch be added to the filter.
The allowable "ripple" (variation from a flat response, in decibels) within the
passband of high-pass and low-pass filters, along with the shape of the frequency
response curve near the corner frequency, determine the damping factor
(reciprocal of Q). This also affects the phase response, and the time response to a
square-wave input. Several important response shapes (damping factors) have
well-known names:
 o Chebyshev filter slight peaking/ripple in the passband before the corner;
Q>0.7071 for 2nd-order filters
o Butterworth filter flattest amplitude response; Q=0.7071 for 2nd-order
filters
o Paynter or transitional Thompson-Butterworth or "compromise" filter
faster fall-off than Bessel; Q=0.639 for 2nd-order filters
o Bessel filter best time-delay, best overshoot response; Q=0.577 for 2nd-
order filters
o Elliptic filter or Cauer filters add a notch (or "zero") just outside the
passband, to give a much greater slope in this region than the combination
of order and damping factor without the notch.

Mixer
An electronic mixer is a device that combines two or more electronic signals into one
composite output signal. There are two basic types of mixer. Additive mixers add two
signals together, and are used for such applications as audio mixing. Multiplying mixers
multiply the signals together, and produce an output containing both original signals, and
new signals that have the sum and difference of the frequency of the original signals.

A simple three-channel passive additive mixer. More channels can be added by simply
adding more input jacks and mix resistors.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWCRkyFIoWk

An analog signal is a datum that changes over timesay, the temperature at a given
location; the depth of a certain point in a pond; or the amplitude of the voltage at some
node in a circuitthat can be represented as a mathematical function, with time as the
free variable (abscissa) and the signal itself as the dependent variable (ordinate). A
discrete-time signal is a sampled version of an analog signal: the value of the datum is
noted at fixed intervals (for example, every microsecond) rather than continuously.

If individual time values of the discrete-time signal, instead of being measured precisely
(which would require an infinite number of digits), are approximated to a certain
precisionwhich, therefore, only requires a specific number of digitsthen the resultant
data stream is termed a digital signal. The process of approximating the precise value
within a fixed number of digits, or bits, is called quantization.

In conceptual summary, a digital signal is a quantized discrete-time signal; a discrete-

time signal is a sampled analog signal.

In the Digital Revolution, the usage of digital signals has increased significantly. Many
modern media devices, especially the ones that connect with computers use digital
signals to represent signals that were traditionally represented as continuous-time signals;
cell phones, music and video players, personal video recorders, and digital cameras are
examples.

In most applications, digital signals are represented as binary numbers, so their precision
of quantization is measured in bits. Suppose, for example, that we wish to measure a
signal to two significant decimal digits. Since seven bits, or binary digits, can record 128
discrete values (viz., from 0 to 127), those seven bits are more than sufficient to express a
range of one hundred values.
[edit] Waveforms in digital systems
A digital signal waveform: (1) low level, (2) high level, (3) rising edge, and (4) falling
edge.
Main article: Digital

In computer architecture and other digital systems, a waveform that switches between
two voltage levels representing the two states of a Boolean value (0 and 1) is referred to
as a digital signal, even though it is an analog voltage waveform, since it is interpreted in
terms of only two levels.

The clock signal is a special digital signal that is used to synchronize digital circuits. The
image shown can be considered the waveform of a clock signal. Logic changes are
triggered either by the rising edge or the falling edge.

The given diagram is an example of the practical pulse and therefore we have introduced
two new terms that are:

Rising edge: the transition from a low voltage (level 1 in the diagram) to a high
voltage (level 2).
Falling edge: the transition from a high voltage to a low one.

Although in a highly simplified and idealised model of a digital circuit we may wish for
these transitions to occur instantaneously, no real world circuit is purely resistive and
therefore no circuit can instantly change voltage levels. This means that during a short,
finite transition time the output may not properly reflect the input, and indeed may not
correspond to either a logically high or low voltage.

[edit] Logic voltage levels

Hobbyist frequency counter circuit built almost entirely of TTL logic chips.
Main article: logic level

The two states of a wire are usually represented by some measurement of an electrical
property: Voltage is the most common, but current is used in some logic families. A
threshold is designed for each logic family. When below that threshold, the wire is "low,"
when above "high." Digital circuits establish a "no man's area" or "exclusion zone" that is
wider than the tolerances of the components. The circuits avoid that area, in order to
avoid indeterminate results.

It is usual to allow some tolerance in the voltage levels used; for example, 0 to 2 volts
might represent logic 0, and 3 to 5 volts logic 1. A voltage of 2 to 3 volts would be
invalid, and occur only in a fault condition or during a logic level transition. However,
few logic circuits can detect such a condition and most devices will interpret the signal
simply as high or low in an undefined or device-specific manner. Some logic devices
incorporate schmitt trigger inputs whose behaviour is much better defined in the
threshold region, and have increased resilience to small variations in the input voltage.

The levels represent the binary integers or logic levels of 0 and 1. In active-high logic,
"low" represents binary 0 and "high" represents binary 1. Active-low logic uses the
reverse representation.

Examples of binary logic levels:

Technology L voltage H voltage Notes

CMOS 0V to VCC/2 VCC/2 to VCC VCC = supply voltage

TTL 0V to 0.8V 2V to VCC VCC is 4.75V to 5.25V

ECL -1.175V to -VEE .75V to 0V VEE is about -5.2V VCC=Ground

A digital signal waveform: (1) low level, (2) high level, (3) rising edge, and (4) falling
edge.