Analog = No Respect?

There is no such thing as a digital signal.

There is no such thing as a digital signal.

... with the possible exception of the one employed in traffic, in which the middle digit is raised to signal irritation.

Some interesting questions.

I am observing the trend of analog technologies with interest since my first start as a radio and TV serviceman 40 years ago. So I can say I am one of those analog fossiles who are (blessedly) reanimated nowadays.

I spent some years with radar equipment and then made my own company with environmental measuring equipment consisting of analog/digital parts in a relation of about 50/50%.

Somewhen there was a time where nearly everybody thought everything would be only digital in the near future. I never believed that because analog has extreme bandwiths and nearly no latency time in some applications.

And then the tide turned - because of more and more speed requirements, just in digital systems. Companies who had fired all those "useless analog freaks" suddenly recognized that "digital" does no longer mean "rectangular" pulse shapes which can be observed by LED. Gigahertz frequencies require very specialised knowledge and only with this we are able to make high speed measurements.
Today I`m lucky that both systems do not longer compete against but instead of that rely on each other.

Regards Uwe

As Stevem said, there isn't such a thing as ideal digital signals... Particularly, as the bit rate (e.g. speed - frequncy) is raised this item becomes more obvious... Many issues are taken into account like rise & fall time, skew, overlaps e.t.c.... Digital pulses are distorted and less sharp, taking a more "analog" shape which rather looks like a "sinusoidal" signal (and not a "rectangular" one)...

Another issue is that we'll always need the pure analog circuits at least for the interface (=interconnection) with the outside, real, analog world... The analog measurements of the (always) analog phenomena need to be procedure by such analog circuitry (before any digital coding, storage e.t.c.)... Our ears can hear only analog signals (i.e. music) and not digital ones... And, beside all the aboves, wireless communications need RF analog signals in order to be accomplished...

So, designers of analog circuits will always be necessary...

Ah, I forgot to mention the power supplies... Although they are implemented through PWM (or sometimes PFM) technology, they remain analog circuits in general...

It has been asked: When did analog get a reputation as an unglamorous backwater?

Who has said this?? it obviously wasn't said by an experienced elec. engineer!!

We all know that with high speed transmission of 'digital' signals in computers, radar etc... which is only capable of being analysed in the analogue domain, computers etc... wouldn't work, so point out who said this and I will point out an uneducated or inexperienced engineer / person!!!

John.

This speaking is incorrect at least.

We live in an analog world. we see, we hear we touch, all is analog in the view of microstructure world.

But in the way of signal processing, there is somethng difficult to implement. especially temperature. but digital can be processed easily. it has large threshold value to avoid from temp interrupt etc.

so people invent digital method processing. at last, it has to change into analog for our use.

digital has many benefit, but it hasnt compare sppeed with analog tech.

if you capture a spark,spike you hve to use analog tech.

both of them can be wanted in our life

the author of the top thread may be a digital processing specialist.

he must know how difficult for an analog signal to process in the real world.

he must forget, the end will be analog at last.