A transceiver is a device that has both a transmitter and a receiver which are combined and share common circuitry or a single housing. If no circuitry is common between transmit and receive functions, the device is a transmitter-receiver. The term originated in the early 1920s. Technically, transceivers must combine a significant amount of the transmitter and receiver handling circuitry. Similar devices include transponders, transverters, and repeaters. Transceivers are called Medium Attachment Units (MAUs) in IEEE 802.3 documents.
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Computer networks
Transceivers known as Medium Attachment Units were widely used in 10base2 and 10base5 Ethernet networks. Fibre-optic gigabit and 10 gigabit Ethernet utilize transceivers known as GBIC, SFP, XFP and XAUI.
Radio technology
In radio terminology, a transceiver means a unit which contains both a receiver and a transmitter. It was quite common to have these units separated. Ham radio operators can build their own equipment and it is always easier to design and build a simple unit having one of the functions, transmitting or receiving. Almost every modern amateur radio equipment is now a transceiver but there is an active market for pure radio receivers, mainly for Shortwave listening operators. An example of a transceiver would be a walkie-talkie, or a CB radio.
Telephony
On a wired telephone, the handset contains the transmitter and receiver for the audio. The whole unit is colloquially referred to as a "receiver." On a mobile telephone or other radiotelephone, the entire unit is a transceiver, for both audio and radio. A cordless telephone uses an audio and radio transceiver for the handset, and a radio transceiver for the base station. If a speakerphone is included in a wired telephone base or in a cordless base station (less common), the base also becomes an audio transceiver in addition to the handset.
Sources
External articles
| Electronics Portal |
- Patents
- U.S. Patent 0,716,136, John Stone Stone, "Apparatus for Simultaneousl transmitting and receiving space-telegraph signals"
- U.S. Patent 1,526,308, A. J. Kloneck, "Simultaneous sending and receiving system"
- U.S. Patent 1,570,261, A. J. Kloneck, "Simultaneous sending and receiving system"
- U.S. Patent 1,715,701, C. Le G. Fortescue, "Combined wireless sending and receiving system"
- General
- 7 MHz SSB TRANSCEIVER 7 MHz SSB TRANSCEIVER
