Communication_channel

# Communication channel  ## Microsims — p5.js ### Communication channel (p5.js) · `capacity C` <div class="microsim-player"> <iframe src="https://editor.p5js.org/sciencenibber/full/JYRk5uLuS" width="100%" height="480" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin" title="Communication channel — p5.js microsim"></iframe> </div> *The medium a signal travels through, set by bandwidth, noise, and a hard capacity ceiling.* **Open in the editor:** [▶ fork this sketch](https://editor.p5js.org/sciencenibber/sketches/JYRk5uLuS) · movement *V · Coding, compression & communication* · library `p5js` ### Related microsims Live sims on neighbouring articles — 6 of them inside this article's own Wikipedia link tree: - [[Analog_signal]] *(in tree)* - [[Data_compression]] *(in tree)* - [[Decibel]] *(in tree)* - [[Discrete_cosine_transform]] *(in tree)* - [[Discrete_time_and_continuous_time]] *(in tree)* - [[Distortion]] *(in tree)* *Sim hosted off-article; the article owns the reference, not the runtime (WIKI_RULES §10.4). Placed by `g08_place_microsims.py`.*  ## Links (Wikipedia order)  `ARPANET` · `Additive_white_Gaussian_noise` · `Alexander_Graham_Bell` · `Alfred_Vail` · `Almon_Brown_Strowger` · `Amateur_radio_operator` · `Amateur_radio_repeater` · `Amos_Dolbear` · [[Analog_signal]] · `Analog_television` · `Antonio_Meucci` · `Arbitrarily_varying_channel` · `Attenuation` · `Audio_coding_format` · `BITNET` · `Bandwidth_(computing)` · `Bandwidth_(signal_processing)` · `Baseband` · `Baud` · `Beacon` · `Binary_erasure_channel` · `Binary_symmetric_channel` · `Bit_error_rate` · `Bit_rate` · `Burst_error` · `CYCLADES` · `Cable_protection_system` · `Cable_television` · `Camille_Tissot` · `Cellular_network` · `Channel_(broadcasting)` · `Channel_16_VHF` · `Channel_capacity` · `Charles_Bourseul` · `Charles_Grafton_Page` · `Charles_K._Kao` · `Charles_Sumner_Tainter` · `Charles_Wheatstone` · `Circuit_switching` · `Claude_Chappe` · [[Claude_Shannon]] · `Co-channel_interference` · `Coaxial_cable` · 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`Public_switched_telephone_network` · `Radia_Perlman` · `Radio` · `Radio_frequency` · `Radio_network` · `Radio_wave` · `Radiotelephone` · `Ray_tracing_(physics)` · `Rayleigh_fading` · `Real_number` · `Receiver_(information_theory)` · `Reginald_Fessenden` · `Relay_channel` · `Repeater` · `Return_channel` · `Robert_Hooke` · `Robert_Metcalfe` · `Roberto_Landell_de_Moura` · `Round-trip_delay` · `Samuel_Morse` · `Second` · `Semaphore` · `Semiconductor` · [[Semiconductor_device]] · `Sender_(telephony)` · [[Signal]] · `Signal-to-interference_ratio` · [[Signal-to-noise_ratio]] · `Smartphone` · `Smoke_signal` · `Social_media` · `Space-division_multiple_access` · `Spectral_efficiency` · `Spread_spectrum` · `Store_and_forward` · `Streaming_media` · `Streaming_television` · `Submarine_communications_cable` · `Symbol` · `Symbol_rate` · `TANet` · `Telautograph` · `Telecommunication_circuit` · [[Telecommunications]] · `Telecommunications_cable` · `Telecommunications_equipment` · `Telecommunications_link` · `Telecommunications_network` · `Telegraphy` · `Telephone` · `Telephone_exchange` · `Teleprinter` · `Telex` · `Terminal_(telecommunication)` · `The_Telephone_Cases` · `Thomas_A._Watson` · `Thomas_Edison` · `Tim_Berners-Lee` · `Time-division_multiplexing` · `Time-variant_system` · `Tivadar_Puskás` · `Toasternet` · `Track_(disk_drive)` · `Transmission_line` · `Transmission_medium` · `Transmission_time` · `Tuple` · `UUCP` · `Unicast` · `Upstream_(networking)` · `Usenet` · `Video_coding_format` · `Vint_Cerf` · `Virtual_channel` · `Vladimir_K._Zworykin` · `Whistled_language` · `Wi-Fi` · `Wide_area_network` · `Wireless` · `Wireless_network` > Signal Processing concept · part of the Signal Processing Portal · movement V · !74 記号 kigō.svg  !480 *Rendered from the live microsim (▶ motion).*  ## See it next [![Data transmission|200](Data_transmission_thumb.png)](Data_transmission) *→ Data transmission*  --- Back to Signal Processing Portal · the room · Semiotic gateway  ## What it is A communication channel is the physical medium or logical pathway over which a signal travels from a transmitter to a receiver — a wire, optical fiber, radio link, or storage medium considered as something that carries information. ## How it works / why it matters Every real channel distorts and adds noise to the signal it carries, and Shannon's channel-capacity theorem sets the maximum rate $C$ at which information can be sent over it with arbitrarily low error. Channel models (the additive-white-Gaussian-noise channel, the binary symmetric channel, fading channels) let engineers analyze this limit and design modulation and coding to approach it. Understanding the channel is central to communication because it dictates how much redundancy error correction must add and how signals must be shaped to survive the trip. ## Signs & universals Instantiates noise and network, and involves signal and probability — a channel carries a signal while adding probabilistic noise, and its capacity bounds reliable communication. ## Related The medium across which Data transmission occurs; its noise is what motivates [[Error_detection_and_correction]] and Forward error correction. See also Wireless communication and [[MIMO]], which exploit multiple channels at once.  ## From the Real GENERATIVE library > A communication channel refers either to a physical transmission medium such as a wire, or to a logical connection over a multiplexed medium such as a radio channel in telecommunications and computer networking. A channel is used for information transfer of, for example, a digital bit stream, from one or several senders to one or several receivers. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communication_channel))   *Built to the [[WT!P5_js_Microsim_Master_Class|p5.js Master Class]].*  ## Wikipedia : Wikitube **Strict pair:** [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communication_channel) : [Wikitube](https://en.wikitube.io/wiki/Communication_channel) ## Previous hub tags Tree parent: [[Information_theory]]. Legacy hubs: none. --- *Sources: 1 legacy note. Minted wave 1, 2026-07-30 (v1.6 order).*