man with drill
A logarithmic amplifier is used to identify any change in the input signal of a circuit and correct for it. The logarithmic amplifier corrects for changes by converting the log input to a constant output voltage. Also known as logarithmic amplifiers, these types of electrical components have been used for years in electrical circuits to compress input signals and to maintain a stable signal in signal computation.
Today logarithmic amplifiers are often used in test or measurement devices. “Log amplifiers,” as a log amplifier is often called by technical operators familiar with them, also have many uses in medical device and video circuit applications. Finally, they are also frequently used in wireless and fiber optic devices.
The electronics and fiber optic cable industries began using logging amplifiers in the 1990s to measure and maintain signal strength throughout the optical circuit after technology had advanced to the point where the use of these devices that were once bulky and expensive became technologically and economically efficient. Before the 1990s, log amps were expensive because they were typically difficult to produce. Technological advances, however, have allowed a much more efficient production, decreasing the size and therefore making them easier to apply. There are now three different types of logarithmic amplifier products.
The first and simplest form is known as a DC log amplifier. DC log amplifiers are strictly unipolar circuits, meaning they hold either the current or the voltage of an input signal, but never both. Typically, these types of log amplifiers are used in fiber-based systems as a means of measuring signal strength within the system. However, they are not exclusive to fiber circuits. DC log amplifiers are also used in devices in the biological and medical research fields, primarily in units designed to process biological and chemical sample parts.
The other two logarithmic amplifiers are called baseband and demodulation, and each has its own specific usage framework. Baseband, for example, is often used to compress the rapidly changing signals used to power many AC-powered audio or video processing devices, while also compressing them to be constant. On the other hand, demodulation register amplifiers are mainly used in signal transmission devices as a means of measuring the output signal supplied to the transmission unit.