ABSTRACT
Telemetry systems are found in a variety of applications-from automobiles, to hospitals, to interplanetary
spacecraft. Although these examples represent a broad range of applications, they all have many characteristics
in common: a natural parameter is measured by a sensor system, the measurement is converted to numbers or
data, the data are transported to an analysis point, and an end user makes use of the data gathered. This series
of actions fulfills the definition of telemetry, which is to ‘‘measure at a distance.’’ It is not unusual for the data
collection function to be part of an overall control system where information also flows back from the
monitoring point to modify the measurement discipline or to initiate some action. For example, in controlling
a manufacturing process, the telemetry data about the process will cause the process monitor to change a
parameter such as a temperature or flow rate to optimize the process. The flow of information back is
telecommand data from the monitoring point.
