Is ADSL digital or analog?

Question

I've read that ADSL uses frequency-divided multiplexing and only analog signals use FDM. Then why there's the term 'digital' in ADSL(Asymmetric digital subscriber line) if it uses analog signals?

The "D" in any xDSL variant stands for "Digital." ADSL is Asymmetric _Digital_ Subscriber Line. — Ron Maupin, Sep 06 '21 at 16:28

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Nov 03 '21 at 02:19

A simple way to imagine it, digital signal is broken into different frequencies like a piano keys.

Then each tone is sent down the copper wire like a sound, this is then picked up at the far end and then Demodulated back into a digital string of 1s a nd 0s.

A modems name is created from the job it does as a Modulator / Demodulator.

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 10 '21 at 05:44

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The signal is digital, the line encoding that implements this signal is described in the real macro world with analog.

answered Sep 10 '21 at 05:44

Andrew

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Does signal travel through transmission media as an analog signal? – KavG Sep 10 '21 at 16:02
Yes, in layman's terms. it's a combo of phase, frequency, and amplitude modulation/"shift-keying", aka "QAM". – Andrew Sep 10 '21 at 23:50

Is ADSL digital or analog?

2 Answers2