ABSTRACT
The field of telecommunications had traditionally been divided into two major segments: analog communications and digital communications. This chapter looks at techniques used to measure phenomena present in the natural world and communicating the results. While practitioners give these techniques different names in different disciplines, the users commonly refer to them as telemetry systems. The chapter provides a high level overview of a generic telemetry system that is common in any application area. All telemetry systems have three major pieces: the payload segment (the place where the measurements are made) containing the necessary measurement electronics, the user base station for collecting the data and interacting with the operator, and the data channel between the two. The text is grouped into three major parts: System Elements, Data Transport, Timing, and Synchronization, and Data Transmission Techniques. The chapter also presents some topics related to data sampling, signal processing, and real-time computer systems.
