Waveform graphs can be helpful when not knowing how to model domains appropriately. Signal sources and interference are also defined in the time domain. We analyze signals, mathematical functions, or perhaps scientific data, as measured in sequential time samples. In the time domain, the value will always be in real numbers. An electrical signal can be displayed as a voltage versus time waveform on an oscilloscope, which draws a graph of the instantaneous signal voltage over time. For example, data showing the progression of amplitude over a specific time period, would be "amplitude given time". Signal sampling taken over time renders a representation of time as measured by a periodic change in the signal or data. When the unit of measurement is recorded in seconds or its multiples (minutes, hours), then the analysis is in the time domain. These three domains of signal analysis allow the engineer to "map" the signal's characteristics. By being able to separate out the variables and components, one notices relationships between them. All the same information is present, but by seeing the data distributed differently, new correlations are noted. It could be compared to using three sets of eye glasses with convex, concave, and fish-eye lenses. The time, frequency and modal domains are three distinctly different vantage points from which to analyze signals. One application of the modal domain would be testing systems and structures under the vibrational excitation of an earthquake. The modal domain examines the frequencies at which structures, fluids or signals can behave erratically, and their changing shapes in instantaneous dynamic response to high vibration. This fluency in time domain and frequency domain can be expanded even more if one adds the modal domain to one's analysis toolkit. To be a more effective engineer, enhancing one's comfort level in both realms allows for more creative options in design, and far more efficient troubleshooting. Likewise, radio frequency/microwave engineers sometimes must analyze signals in digital applications, so they must master time domain measurement. As communications scale up to a million bits per second, digital engineers must be able to utilize frequency domain measurements to interpret time domain behavior. However, signals can also be analyzed as a function of frequency, in the "frequency domain". Microwave signals can coexist with high transmission digital serial busses.ĭigital engineers involved in high-speed communications are at home analyzing signals as a function of time, in the "time domain". As one's industry experience broadens however, the lines become blurred, and the two worlds often merge. When an electrical engineering student graduates, by necessity he or she has had to focus on either digital electronics or RF/microwave theory, to be able to master the breadth and volume of material.
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