Question

Range of an electronic communication system is the
(a) Distance to the nearest TV station.
(b) Distance to the nearest radio station.
(c) Largest distance the signal can travel.
(d) Largest distance between a source and destination up to which the signal is received with sufficient energy.

Answer 1

In electronic communication systems a signal is transmitted from one source to another source and the distance in which the signal travels from transmitter to receiver is considered as the range of the system. Using this concept, we will find the solution to our question.

Complete step by step answer:
Before solving the problem, we will try to understand what a transmitter, receiver, signal and range are.
So, first of all, a transmitter is an electronic device used in telecommunication to produce radio waves for transmitting data from a source to a receiver. In a communication system, information from any source is converted into a form that can be easily transmitted and transferred by a transmitter.
Now, a receiver is an electronic device that receives the data transmitted from the transmitter. That means, on the receiver’s end, the transmitted information is converted back to a form that can be understood and interpreted by a user with the help of a receiver.
A signal is the form in which the data is transmitted from a transmitter to a receiver. A signal could be any time-varying voltage, current or electromagnetic wave that carries information.
Now, the range of any system can be defined as the distance travelled by the signal. But precisely, it is the largest distance between a source and destination up to which the signal is received with sufficient energy because the signal must have sufficient energy to reach the receiver. If the signal is not having enough energy, the receiver will likely encounter bit errors while decoding.
So, if we consider the given options, in option (d), we can see that it is correct because the option states the same thing which we saw in the definition. Thus, option (d) is correct.

Note:
We may get confused between options (c) and (d) as both are almost the same but we must keep in mind that the signal must be having sufficient energy. It is because a signal can travel longer than its range, but it couldn’t be converted into proper information by decoding due to a lack of sufficient energy. So we must be aware that a signal can travel a larger distance than its range.