Effective number of bits (ENOB) is a measure of the quality of a digitised signal. The resolution of a digital-to-analog or analog-to-digital converter (DAC or ADC) is commonly specified by the number of bits used to represent the analog value, in principle giving 2N signal levels for an N-bit signal. However, all real signals contain a certain amount of noise. If the converter is able to represent signal levels below the system noise floor, the lower bits of the digitised signal only represent system noise and do not contain useful information. ENOB specifies the number of bits in the digitised signal above the noise floor. Often ENOB is used as a quality measure also for other blocks like sample-and-hold amplifiers. This way also analog blocks can be easily included to signal-chain calculations as the total ENOB of a chain of blocks is usually below the ENOB of the worst block.
Read more about Effective Number Of Bits: Definition, Example
Famous quotes containing the words effective, number and/or bits:
“Recent studies that have investigated maternal satisfaction have found this to be a better prediction of mother-child interaction than work status alone. More important for the overall quality of interaction with their children than simply whether the mother works or not, these studies suggest, is how satisfied the mother is with her role as worker or homemaker. Satisfied women are consistently more warm, involved, playful, stimulating and effective with their children than unsatisfied women.”
—Alison Clarke-Stewart (20th century)
“Today, almost forty years later, I grow dizzy when I recall that the number of manufactured tanks seems to have been more important to me than the vanished victims of racism.”
—Albert Speer (1905–1981)
“Assemble, first, all casual bits and scraps
That may shake down into a world perhaps;
People this world, by chance created so,
With random persons whom you do not know—”
—Robert Graves (1895–1985)