Explain Pulse Code Modulation

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Pulse Code Modulation (PCM) is a digital representation technique used for converting analog signals into digital signals. PCM converts the continuous-time analog signal into a discrete-time signal, represented by binary numbers, which can be easily processed by digital systems.

In PCM, the analog signal is sampled at a regular interval to obtain a sequence of numbers that represents the amplitude of the signal at each sampled point. Then, the amplitude values are quantized into a finite number of levels (usually represented by binary numbers). The quantization error between the actual amplitude value and the quantized value is then rounded off to the nearest level.

The resulting digital signal is a sequence of binary numbers, each representing the amplitude of the signal at a particular point in time. These binary numbers are transmitted or stored for playback and can be converted back into an analog signal by using a digital-to-analog (DAC) converter.

PCM is widely used in telecommunications, audio recording and playback, and other digital signal processing applications. One of the main advantages of PCM is that it provides high-quality and reliable signal transmission with minimal distortion.