Analog and Digital Conversion/Introduction

What This Book is About
Nearly every piece of electronics in use today makes some use of an analog-to-digital or digital-to-analog converter. Because of the prevalence of these types of data conversions, it is important for people to understand the limitations and drawbacks of these processes. This book will discuss the conversion process (analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog), the mathematical models of signal conversion, some topics related specifically to these processes (quantization, companding, delta modulation, etc.), and the physical electrical hardware that makes the conversions happen.

Who This Book is For
Because of the subject nature of this book, it is intended for people with a strong background in electric circuits, such as electrical engineers, or dedicated hobbyists. Readers should have at least some prior knowledge of electrical circuits, before attempting to read and understand this book. Also, some chapters discuss frequency domain effects, so a prior reading of Signals and Systems or Communication Systems (or both) would be beneficial when reading those particular sections. The mathematics in this book will not be particularly difficult; the reader should have a strong understanding of algebra, but does not necessarily need to have a background in calculus or higher maths.

How This Book is Structured
This book attempts to be organized in a linear way. Analog and Digital signals are introduced, discussed, and contrasted in the first section. Also in the first section, the sampling and reconstruction processes are introduced and described. The second section deals specifically with the process of sampling, including some important aspects of sampling (quantization, bit rate, resolution, etc.). The third section describes common data transmission methods of ADC converters, such as delta modulation. The fourth section will deal with the reconstruction process, and the effects of signal reconstruction. Finally, the fifth section will discuss some additional topics relating to signal quantization.

Additional sections may be included later, depending on the level of contributions from the community. For more information about this, see the note on the main talk page.

Where to Go From Here
Once the process of analog and digital conversion is understood, there are a number of other books that will discuss the use of analog and digital signals in more detail.

To learn more about the transmission of analog and digital signals, see Communication Systems.

To learn more about the manipulation and use of digital signals, see Digital Signal Processing.

To learn more about the use of analog and digital signals to control processes, see Control Systems.

Additional books about related topics may be added to Wikibooks in the future.