8/9/2019 Analog vs Digital Circuits: What's The Difference Between Analog And Digital Circuits?

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Home  Technology 
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What’s The Difference Tec

Between Analog And Pur

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Digital Circuits? Eye
 Venkatesh Vaidyanathan  8 Months Ago Ope
Circuits, just like cookies, come in many different
Soc
flavors, but the purpose of any circuit is quite
Scie
simple and straightforward. Its primary goal is to
control the path of electrons to achieve the
Vide
desired output. Now, we do know that electric
current in its raw form can be channeled into many
Nat
different use case scenarios, but achieving this is
primarily done in two main ways: using an Analog
Hum
circuit or a Digital Circuit. Let’s first look at what
analog and digital circuits are before we make a
Tec
comparison of the two varieties.
Pur
Analog Circuits Scie
Before we get into what an analog circuit is, let’s
Eye
try to understand what an analog signal is. An
Ope
analog signal implies that the electronic signal a
circuit receives is continuous and real. The real
Soc
world we live in is entirely analog, having infinite
Scie
natures and forms. Take any phenomena, such as
smells, visual experiences, auditory exposures…
Vide
the combinations and possibilities are in the
billions. Before we delve into analog signals, we
should have a basic understanding of what a

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8/9/2019 Analog vs Digital Circuits: What's The Difference Between Analog And Digital Circuits?

signal is. In terms of electrical engineering, a

 Nat
signal can be defined as a combination of time-
varying quantities (such as voltage and
Hum
current). Thus, as we proceed, we are talking
about a voltage that changes over time.
Tec
Analog signals use some attribute of a medium to
convey the signal’s information. Electrical signals Pur
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can represent information for voltage, current,
frequency or the total charge. The signals can
Eye
take any value in a given range. Each signal gives
Ope
unique and different information. Any change in the
analog signal is meaningful, and each level of the
Soc
signal represents a different level of the Scie
phenomenon that it represents. For example,
consider a signal that is used to represent the Vide
ambient temperature of a given surrounding.
Where one volt represents one degree Celsius, in Nat
such a system, 10 volts would be represented as
10 degrees. Hum

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Pur
Scie

Eye
Ope

Soc
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Vide

(Photo Credit : Fleshgrinder/Wikimedia

Commons)
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8/9/2019 Analog vs Digital Circuits: What's The Difference Between Analog And Digital Circuits?

Analog circuits can be defined as a combination of

 Nat
op-amps, resistors, capacitors, and other
essential electronic components. The combination
Hum
of the circuits can vary greatly. It can either be a
simple combination of two resistors to form a
Tec
voltage divider or an elegantly built example with
many other components. Two applications of
Pur
analog circuits are useful in the following use Scie
cases:
Eye
Ope

Soc
Scie

Vide

Nat

Filtering Signals: When dealing with a

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continuous signal, a continuous analog filter is
needed to remove all possible frequency
Tec
content that you don’t want. As compared to
a digital filter, it is much easier to use and
Pur
costs less. Scie
Sensors: Sensors convert the real-world
information into data that can be recognized Eye
by a computer or an embedded system. The Ope
information is often not readily available in the
real world; instead, the sensors first create an Soc
analog signal and then later convert it into Scie
digital signals. Unlike high-voltage systems,
sensors have a low amplitude and need signal Vide
conditioning to increase the value of the signal
to make better use of the full range of an
ADC.
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8/9/2019 Analog vs Digital Circuits: What's The Difference Between Analog And Digital Circuits?

Digital Electronics  Nat

Digital electronics are electronics that work on
Hum
digital signals. While that might straightforward
and pretty obvious, let’s take a look at what a
Tec
digital signal is. A digital signal is a signal that is
used to represent data as a sequence of discrete
Pur
values. At any given time, a signal can only contain
Scie
a set of finite possibilities. Unlike analog signals,
which can take real independent values at any
Eye
given time, digital signals work on a combination Ope
of 0’s and 1’s to represent the same analog value
in digital form. Soc
Scie

Vide

Nat

Hum

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Pur
(Photo Credit : Wikimedia Commons) Scie

A digital system is more precise in its

Eye
representation of a signal, as it uses binary to Ope
represent the signal. Since the binary system is
the process of expressing any number or value Soc
(alphabets and special characters) in the form of a Scie
combination of 0 and 1, this representation of logic
in the form of 0 and 1 is known as Boolean logic. Vide
This makes the digital circuit more scalable, as the
storage of information becomes much more
natural than in an analog system.
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8/9/2019 Analog vs Digital Circuits: What's The Difference Between Analog And Digital Circuits?

A digital circuit is usually constructed from small

 Nat
electronic circuits called logic gates. A logic gate
is generally created from one or more
Hum
electronically controlled switches, which are
traditionally transistors. The output of logic can
Tec
then feed and run other logic gates. These logics
can be used to represent all forms of logical
Pur
representation, which leads to the creation of Scie
combinational logic. Combinational logic is the
combination of various simple logics to achieve an Eye
objective. Each logic gate is designed to perform Ope
a specific logical function. The application of digital
electronics is very versatile, and almost all the Soc
electronic components you use today are based Scie
on some form of a digital electronic model.
Vide

Nat

Hum

Tec

Pur
Scie

Eye
(Image Credit: Flickr) Ope

The Differences Soc

Scie
Although the above sections should provide a
rather clear idea of the differences between Vide
analog and digital circuits, let’s take a concise look
at a few more key differences.

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8/9/2019 Analog vs Digital Circuits: What's The Difference Between Analog And Digital Circuits?

Analog circuits operate on analog signals,

 Nat
commonly known as continuous valued
signals.
Hum
Digital circuits function on signals that exist
at only two levels, i.e., zeros and ones.
Tec
The design of an analog circuit is difficult,
since every component must be positioned by
Pur
hand for designing the circuits.
Scie
Digital circuits are very simple to design
since the technique of automation can be
Eye
useful at a variety of levels of circuit design. Ope
No change of input signals is necessary
before processing; the circuit straightly Soc
executes different logical operations and Scie
generates an analog output.
In digital circuits, the input signals change Vide
from an analog to a digital form before it is
processed, meaning that the digital circuit is Nat
accomplished by processing digital signals
only and generates output, which is again Hum
changed back from digital to analog signals
(D/A) so that the output gives relevant results Tec
that can be understood by individuals.
Analog circuits are typically routine made Pur
and lack flexibility. Scie
Digital circuits have a high degree of
elasticity. Eye
Ope

References: Soc
Scie
1. Spark Fun
2. Digital Electronics Vide
3. Analog vs Digital

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About the Author: Scie

Venkatesh is an Electrical and Electronics Vide

Engineer from SRM Institute of Science and
Technology, India. He is deeply fascinated by Nat
Robotics and Artificial Intelligence. He is also a
chess aficionado, He likes studying chess Hum
classics from the 1800 and 1900’s. He enjoys
writing about science and technology as he Tec
finds the intricacies which come with each topic
fascinating. Pur
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