telecommunication Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...

, a ternary signal is a

signal In signal processing, a signal is a function that conveys information about a phenomenon. Any quantity that can vary over space or time can be used as a signal to share messages between observers. The ''IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing'' ...

that can assume, at any given instant, one of three states or

significant condition In a digitally modulated signal or a line code, symbol rate, modulation rate or baud rate is the number of symbol changes, waveform changes, or signaling events across the transmission medium per unit of time. The symbol rate is measured in '' ...

s, such as

power Power most often refers to: * Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work" ** Engine power, the power put out by an engine ** Electric power * Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events ** Abusive power Power may a ...

level,

phase Phase or phases may refer to: Science *State of matter, or phase, one of the distinct forms in which matter can exist *Phase (matter), a region of space throughout which all physical properties are essentially uniform * Phase space, a mathematic ...

position,

pulse duration In signal processing and telecommunication, pulse duration is the interval between the time, during the first transition, that the amplitude of the pulse reaches a specified fraction (level) of its final amplitude, and the time the pulse amplitude ...

, or

frequency Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit of time. It is also occasionally referred to as ''temporal frequency'' for clarity, and is distinct from ''angular frequency''. Frequency is measured in hertz (Hz) which is eq ...

. Examples of ternary signals are (a) a pulse that can have a positive, zero, or negative voltage value at any given instant ( PAM-3), (b) a sine wave that can assume phases of 0°, 120°, or 240° relative to a

clock A clock or a timepiece is a device used to measure and indicate time. The clock is one of the oldest human inventions, meeting the need to measure intervals of time shorter than the natural units such as the day, the lunar month and the ...

pulse (3- PSK), and (c) a

carrier signal In telecommunications, a carrier wave, carrier signal, or just carrier, is a waveform (usually sinusoidal) that is modulated (modified) with an information-bearing signal for the purpose of conveying information. This carrier wave usually has a ...

that can assume any one of three different frequencies depending on three different

modulation In electronics and telecommunications, modulation is the process of varying one or more properties of a periodic waveform, called the ''carrier signal'', with a separate signal called the ''modulation signal'' that typically contains informatio ...

signal significant conditions (3- FM). Some examples of PAM-3

line code In telecommunication, a line code is a pattern of voltage, current, or photons used to represent digital data transmitted down a communication channel or written to a storage medium. This repertoire of signals is usually called a constrained c ...

s that use ternary signals are: *

hybrid ternary code In telecommunications, the hybrid (H-) ternary line code is a line code that operates on a hybrid principle combining the binary non-return-to-zero-level (NRZL) and the polar return-to-zero (RZ) codes. The H-ternary code has three levels for sign ...

bipolar encoding In telecommunication, bipolar encoding is a type of return-to-zero (RZ) line code, where two nonzero values are used, so that the three values are +, −, and zero. Such a signal is called a duobinary signal. Standard bipolar encodings are designed ...

MLT-3 encoding MLT-3 encoding (Multi-Level Transmit) is a line code (a signaling method used in a telecommunication system for transmission purposes) that uses three voltage levels. An MLT-3 interface emits less electromagnetic interference and requires less band ...

used in 100BASE-TX Ethernet * B3ZS *

4B3T 4B3T, which stands for 4 (four) binary 3 (three) ternary, is a line encoding scheme used for ISDN PRI interface. 4B3T represents four binary bits using three pulses. Description It uses three states: * + (positive pulse), * 0 (no pulse), and * � ...

used in some ISDN

basic rate interface Basic Rate Interface (BRI, 2B+D, 2B1D) or Basic Rate Access is an Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) configuration intended primarily for use in subscriber lines similar to those that have long been used for voice-grade telephone service ...

* 8B6T used in 100BASE-T4 Ethernet *

return-to-zero Return-to-zero (RZ or RTZ) describes a line code used in telecommunications signals in which the signal drops (returns) to zero between each pulse. This takes place even if a number of consecutive 0s or 1s occur in the signal. The signal is s ...

* SOQPSK-TG uses ternary continuous phase modulation 3-PSK can be seen as falling between "binary phase-shift keying" (

BPSK Phase-shift keying (PSK) is a digital modulation process which conveys Data (computing), data by changing (modulating) the Phase (waves), phase of a constant frequency reference signal (the carrier wave). The modulation is accomplished by varying ...

), which uses two phases, and "quadrature phase-shift keying" (

QPSK Phase-shift keying (PSK) is a digital modulation process which conveys data by changing (modulating) the phase of a constant frequency reference signal (the carrier wave). The modulation is accomplished by varying the sine and cosine inputs at a ...

), which uses four phases.

References

See also