Difference between Analog and Digital

Signals
Analog Signals Digital Signals

Digital signal have two or more states and in binary

Analog signal is continuous and time varying.
form.
Troubleshooting of analog signals are difficult. Troubleshooting of digital signals are easy.

An analog signal is usually in the form of sine wave. An digital signal is usually in the form of square wave.

Easily affected by the noise. These are stable and less prone to noise.

Digital signals use discrete values to represent the

Analog signals use continous values to represent the data.
data.

Accuracy of the digital signals are immune from the

Accuracy of the analog signals may be affected by noise.
noise.

Digital signals are not affacted during data

Analog signals may be affected during data transmission.
transmission.

Analog signals use more power. Digital signals use less power.

Examples: Temperature, Pressure, Flow measurements, etc. Examples: Valve Feedback, Motor Start, Trip, etc.

Components like resistors, Capacitors, Inductors, Diodes are Components like transistors, logic gates, and micro-
used in analog circuits. controllers are used in Digital circuits

Band name Abbreviation ITU band Frequency Wavelength Example Uses

number
Extremely low ELF 1 3–30 Hz 100,000– Communication with submarines
frequency 10,000 km
Super low SLF 2 30–300 Hz 10,000– Communication with submarines
frequency 1,000 km
Ultra low ULF 3 300–3,000 1,000–100 Submarine communication, communication within
frequency Hz km mines
Very low VLF 4 3–30 kHz 100–10 km Navigation, time signals, submarine
frequency communication, wireless heart rate monitors,
geophysics
Low frequency LF 5 30–300 kHz 10–1 km Navigation, time signals, AM longwave
broadcasting (Europe and parts of Asia), RFID,
amateur radio
Medium MF 6 300–3,000 1,000–100 m AM (medium-wave) broadcasts, amateur radio,
frequency kHz avalanche beacons
High frequency HF 7 3–30 MHz 100–10 m Shortwave broadcasts, citizens band radio, amateur
radio and over-the-horizon aviation
 communications, RFID, over-the-horizon radar,
automatic link establishment (ALE) / near-vertical
incidence skywave (NVIS) radio communications,
marine and mobile radio telephony
Very high VHF 8 30–300 MHz 10–1 m FM, television broadcasts, line-of-sight ground-to-
frequency aircraft and aircraft-to-aircraft communications, land
mobile and maritime mobile communications,
amateur radio, weather radio
Ultra high UHF 9 300–3,000 1–0.1 m Television broadcasts, microwave oven, microwave
frequency MHz devices/communications, radio astronomy, mobile
phones, wireless LAN, Bluetooth, ZigBee, GPS and
two-way radios such as land mobile, FRS and
GMRS radios, amateur radio, satellite radio,
Remote control Systems, ADSB
Super high SHF 10 3–30 GHz 100–10 mm Radio astronomy, microwave
frequency devices/communications, wireless LAN, DSRC,
most modern radars, communications satellites,
cable and satellite television broadcasting, DBS,
amateur radio, satellite radio
Extremely high EHF 11 30–300 GHz 10–1 mm Radio astronomy, high-frequency microwave radio
frequency relay, microwave remote sensing, amateur radio,
directed-energy weapon, millimeter wave scanner,
wireless LAN (802.11ad)
Terahertz or THz or THF 12 300–3,000 1–0.1 mm Experimental medical imaging to replace X-rays,
Tremendously GHz ultrafast molecular dynamics, condensed-matter
high frequency physics, terahertz time-domain spectroscopy,
terahertz computing/communications, remote
sensing

Of course, there is more to this ‘story’ and some other world-renowned organizations also had a hand in the matter. US
Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) has been quite productive and made a very salient contribution by
introducing further classification of microwave range. Thanks to IEEE the frequency bands in the microwave range are
designated by letters. This classification has also become widely used standard for radar bands.

Band Frequency range Explanation of meaning of letters

designatio
n
HF 0.003 to 0.03 GHz High Frequency
VHF 0.03 to 0.3 GHz Very High Frequency
UHF 0.3 to 1 GHz Ultra High Frequency
L 1 to 2 GHz Long wave
S 2 to 4 GHz Short wave
C 4 to 8 GHz Compromise between S and X
X 8 to 12 GHz Used in WW II for fire control, X for cross (as in crosshair). Exotic.
Ku 12 to 18 GHz Kurz-under
K 18 to 27 GHz Kurz (German for “short”)
Ka 27 to 40 GHz Kurz-above
V 40 to 75 GHz
W 75 to 110 GHz W follows V in the alphabet
mm or G 110 to 300 GHz Millimeter
This convention began around World War 2 with military designations for frequencies used in radar, which was the first
application of microwaves. It happened so there are several incompatible naming systems for microwave bands, and even
within a given system the exact frequency range designated by a letter may vary somewhat between different application
areas.

Of course other high-profile organizations like EU, NATO, US ECM have also made their contributions by introducing their
view on classification frequency designations. The table below provides a brief comparison between classification and shows
the ‘overlap’ areas.

Some of our customers often use various terms associated with radio frequency bands and RF terminology in general,
especially with reference to our terahertz generators (THz sources). This calls for a brief description of the Waveguide
frequency bands established as standard among experts.

Band Frequency range Band Frequency range

R band 1.70 to 2.60 GHz K band 18.0 to 26.5 GHz
D band 2.20 to 3.30 GHz Ka band 26.5 to 40.0 GHz
S band 2.60 to 3.95 GHz Q band 33 to 50 GHz
E band 3.30 to 4.90 GHz U band 40 to 60 GHz
G band 3.95 to 5.85 GHz V band 40 to 75 GHz
F band 4.90 to 7.05 GHz E band 60 to 90 GHz
C band 5.85 to 8.20 GHz W band 75 to 110 GHz
H band 7.05 to 10.10 GHz F band 90 to 140 GHz
X band 8.2 to 12.4 GHz D band 110 to 170 GHz
Ku band 12.4 to 18.0 GHz Y band 325 to 500 GHz
NB those bands highlighted in
red
are mostly asked for in exams