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The essence of existence is to communicate, because communication is life.

Electronic communication is key, it is a functional form of communication system designed for total bridge of communication gaps, making the whole universe a unified entity. For effective electronic communication system to be achieved, three most important components referred to as elements of electronic communication must be strategically put in place. No form of electronic communication could be possible without given priority to these elements of electronic communication, infact, the existence of steemit wouldn't have been made possible.

The elements of electronic communication which are, the transmitter, communication channel and the receiver shall be explained in details in the paragraphs below.

Let set the ball rolling!

Elements of electronic communication system

The Transmitter
The first most important step in electronic communication process is to encode Intelligence (a message, audio, video, picture e.t.c) or converting it into an electronic form suitable for transmission. As an illustration, If I type "I love Steemit" on my smartphone through the keypad, the word "I love Steemit" can't be transmitted by the transmitter because, it is not suitable for transmission, instead, the word must be converted into binary codes (0's and 1's) which is suitable for electronic transmission.

For TV, a camera converts the light information in the scene to a video signal. For voice messages, a microphone is used to translate the sound into an electronic audio signal. The message typed on a keyboard of computer systems are converted to binary codes that can be stored in memory for transmission at once or transmitted serially. Transducers convert physical characteristics (temperature, pressure, light intensity, and so on) into electrical signals.

The transmitter is made up of various electronic components and circuits designed to convert the electrical signal received to a signal that is suitable for transmission over a desired communication medium. Transmitters are made up of oscillators, amplifiers, tuned circuits and filters, modulators, frequency mixers, frequency synthesizers, and other circuits. The
original intelligence signal usually modulates a higher-frequency carrier sine wave generated by the transmitter, and the combination is raised in amplitude by power amplifiers, resulting in a signal that is compatible with the selected transmission medium.

Communication Channel

The communication channel is the medium by which the electronic signal is sent from one place to another. Although channel is designed to provide a pathway for proper communication, while performing its duty, it alters or attenuates the signal carrying the message. Signal degradation occurs in all types of media resulting in weaker signals with smaller amplitudes. Therefore, both the transmitter and receiver are compensated for signal degradation by considering amplification in circuit design.

Many different types of media are used in communication systems, including wire conductors, fiber-optic cable, and free space. Electrical conductors in its simplest form as a medium may be a pair of wires that carry a voice signal from a microphone to a headset. It may be a coaxial cable such as that used to carry cable TV signals. Or it may be a twisted pair cable used in a local-area network (LAN).

The communication medium may also be a fiber-optic cable or “light pipe” that carries the message on a light wave. These are widely used today to carry long-distance calls and all Internet communications. The information is converted to a digital form that can be used to turn a laser diode off and on at high speeds. Alternatively, audio or video analog signals can be used to vary the amplitude of the light.

When free space is the medium, the resulting wireless system also known as radio. Radio is the broad general term applied to any form of wireless communication from one point to another. Radio makes use of the electromagnetic spectrum. Intelligence signals are converted to electric and magnetic fields that propagate nearly instantaneously through space over long distances. Communication by visible or infrared light also occurs in free space.

The Receiver
A receiver is an array of electronic components and circuits capable of accepting the transmitted message from the channel and converts it back to a form suitable to be understood by humans. The design components of a receiver are oscillators amplifiers, tuned circuits, mixers, filters, and detector that recovers the original intelligence signal from the modulated carrier. The output is the original signal, which is then read out or displayed. It may be a voice signal sent to a speaker, a video signal that is fed to an LCD screen for display, or binary data that is received by a computer and then printed out or displayed on a video monitor.

For communications receiver, the major requirements are sensitivity and selectivity. Sensitivity is the ability of a receiver to detect and pick up weak signals. It is directly proportional to receiver's gain, therefore, better sensitivity is attained with higher gain which can be increased through a multi-stage amplification. To achieve good selectivity, tuned circuits or LC circuits are used. A functional receiver must be capable of selecting the desired frequency signal from all available radio frequency (RF)signals. A good selectivity can be achieved when a receiver can select the desired signal while rejecting those on closely adjacent frequencies.

Other communication Terms

The Transceiver

Most electronic communication is two-way, and so both parties must have both a transmitter and a receiver. As a result, most communication equipment incorporates circuits that both send and receive. These units are commonly referred to as transceivers. All the transmitter and receiver circuits are packaged within a single housing and usually share some common circuits such as the power supply. Telephones, handheld radios, cellular telephones, and computer modems are examples of transceivers.

Attenuation
Signal attenuation, or degradation, is inevitable no matter what the medium of transmission. Attenuation is proportional to the square of the distance between the transmitter and receiver. Media are also frequency-selective, in that a given medium will act as a low-pass filter to a transmitted signal, distorting digital pulses in addition to greatly reducing signal amplitude over long distances. Thus considerable signal amplification, in both the transmitter and the receiver, is required for successful transmission. Any medium also slows signal propagation to a speed slower than the speed of light.

Noise
Noise is mentioned here because it is the bane of all electronic communications. Its effect is experienced in the receiver part of any communications system. While some noise can be filtered out, the general way to minimize noise is to use components that contribute less noise and to lower their temperatures. The measure of noise is usually expressed in terms of the signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio (SNR), which is the signal power divided by the noise power and can be stated numerically or in terms of decibels (dB). Obviously, a very high SNR is preferred for best performance.

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Image Credit

2 communication Channel: Fiber Cable
3 A telecommunication receiver
4 Transceivers

Note that all images are from free source

References

1. https://turbofuture.com/industrial/Elements-of-Electronic-Communications-System
2. https://www.bookdepository.com/Experiments-Manual-for-Principles-of-Electronic-Communication-Systems-Louis-E-Frenzel/9781259166488?ref=bd_recs_1_1
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communications-electronics
4. http://www.meammarketing.com/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-electronic-communication/
5. http://www.slcinfobase.com/PPAREO/default.htm#!WordDocuments/electroniccommunicationsprocedure1.htm