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Electrical Communications
In electrical communications, two basic types of multiplexing exist. Time-division multiplexing works by interleaving momentary fluctuations in voltage or current, known as pulses, from different channels to create a single, aggregate signal. Frequency-division multiplexing, on the other hand, works by assigning a separate range of frequencies to each channel.
Optical Communications
In optical communications, a technique known as wavelength-division multiplexing increases the number of optical carriers, or wavelengths, transmitted through a single optical fiber. In simple terms, one or more optical signals, with different wavelengths, are transmitted through a single optical fiber and separated by wavelength at the other end.
Demultiplexing
In digital electronics, demux may also refer to the process of activating specific output lines based on the digital code received by the inputs of the decoding circuit, or decoder. In other words, a demultiplexer may be a digital integrated circuit that accepts one or more binary digits, or bits, as input and activates one of several digital outputs depending on the value of the input. The output lines could, for example, activate memory chips that share a common set of electrical conductors, otherwise known as a bus, such that only one memory chip is activated at a time.
Applications
Multiplexing and demultiplexing are used in digital electronics to allow several microchips, on which a transistor or an entire integrated circuit can be formed, to share common signal buses. The transmission medium for the signal can be any material substance -- such as coaxial cable, twisted pair cable, fiber optic cable, water or air -- capable of transmitting, or propagating, signals. Multiplexing and demultiplexing applications include local area networks, such as gigabit Ethernet and fiber optic networks, digital video applications, such as high-definition television, and high-speed, low-cost, global networks, such as those based Synchronous Optical Network and Synchronous Digital Hierarchy technologies.