Wireless FAQ  -> What is the meaning of the term 'Analog'?

The term analog has many meanings in wireless technology.

Analog communication refers to any communication that does not use a digital modulation format to convey its information. For example, a form of analog communication is the amplitude-modulated (AM) or the frequency-modulated (FM) station that you listen to in your vehicle or home.

In general, the term analog usually refers to an FM signal. For a cellular communication system, when a person refers to an analog channel, he or she means the 30-KHz AMPS channel that was used prior to the advent of digital radio platforms and that continues to be used today.

For an SMR system, the term analog refers specifically to a two-way push-to-talk (PTT) environment.

It must be stressed that although analog may be used in reference to cellular and SMR systems, these systems rely on digital modulation for conveying control and subscriber information. Therefore, when someone refers to a system as "analog", he or she means the voice communication portion only.