Why is AM and FM in binary?

Question

Why don't we code electromagnetic waves with AM and FM in more then two different frequencies/amplitudes? 2 to the power n seems less interesting than 3 or more to the power n for coding information.

Answer 1

Hi Olivier!

 

I would say that, to do the job that needs to be done, two signals are all that is required: a carrier wave and and input signal.  The interference between those carries all the information that is necessary, and there is nothing significantly more useful that could be done with three or more signals.  So it would complicate the situation without any real benefit.

Answer 2

Binary here means either presence of a voltage or no voltage.

For example 5 Volt  or zero volt makes it 1 and 0.In digital electronics we use binary digits. In analogue system we can use any voltage/s