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Electrical & Electronics Engineering vocabulary · Signals and Analog Electronics

Signal

Meaning in electrical & electronics engineering, with examples

/ˈsɪɡnəl/nounCore term

In electrical & electronics engineering, signal means: A voltage or current that carries information, such as a sensor reading, a sound or digital data. Signals can be analog, changing smoothly, or digital, switching between fixed levels.

In Turkish: sinyal, işaret

How it is used

Used across electronics and communications. Signals are sent, received, measured, amplified, filtered and sampled. Common phrases are input signal, control signal, signal level, signal integrity and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR).

Example sentences

  1. The sensor signal is only a few millivolts, so we need to amplify it.

  2. We lose the signal when the cable is longer than ten meters.

Common collocations

  • input signal
  • control signal
  • signal level
  • signal integrity
  • signal-to-noise ratio
  • noiseUnwanted random or interfering signals that mix with the signal you want and make it harder to measure or use. It can come from components, power supplies, motors or radio sources.
  • amplifierA circuit or device that makes a signal larger, increasing its voltage, current or power while keeping its shape. How much larger it becomes is called the gain.
  • waveformThe shape of a signal when its voltage or current is drawn against time, such as a sine, square, triangle or sawtooth wave.
  • frequencyThe number of times a signal repeats its cycle in one second, measured in hertz (Hz). Mains electricity in Turkey has a frequency of 50 Hz.
  • ADCShort for analog-to-digital converter: a circuit that measures an analog voltage and turns it into a number a processor can use. Its resolution is given in bits, for example 12-bit.

More terms: Signals and Analog Electronics

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