Analog Electronics Definition, Circuits, and Applications

What is Analog Electronics?

Analog electronics is the branch of electronics that deals with the electronic systems and devices with the continuous time signals. The term “analog or analogue” describes a proportional relationship between a signal and an electrical quantity (voltage or current) that represents the signal.

 

The word "analogue" is essentially a Greek word with the meaning "proportional." In many electronic applications, such as FM radios, TVs, telephones, etc., where the signals are produced from analog sensors, analog electronics is widely employed. However, noise and distortion are more likely to occur with analog circuitry.

 

The active elements, such as diodes and transistors, and the passive elements, such as resistors, capacitors, and inductors, are utilized to construct the systems in analog electronics.

 

Analog Electronic Circuits

An analog electrical circuit is made up of several components, including passive components like resistors, capacitors, and inductors, as well as active components like transistors. These components are coupled in various ways to build circuits such as amplifiers, filters, oscillators, and analog-to-digital converters (ADCs).

 

Analog electronic circuits can perform a wide range of operations, including signal amplification, noise filtering, and the generation of repeating waveforms. They are frequently used in conjunction with other circuit types, such as digital circuits, to form complicated electronic systems.

 

What Do Analogue Electronics Do?

There are numerous parameters we want to measure, control and adjust. Atmospheric humidity and pressure, speed or position: a wide range of applications require accurate measurements. These physical processes work along a continuous spectrum and have no discrete units, just like digital signals. Therefore, analogue electronics are indispensable whenever digital electronics interact with the real world. They are critical in applications requiring high accuracy or speed.

 

Applications of Analogue Electronics

Speedometers

Position sensors (laser, radar)

Microphones

Thermometers

Amplifiers

RF devices

Heart rate monitors

Pressure gauges

Fast control loops

Signal processing

Signal conditioning

Interfaces

Product monitoring

Sensors