Repeater

A device that amplifies or refreshes a stream of data transmitted over a network so it can travel to more remote receivers. Without a repeater, transmissions will deteriorate as they travel farther and farther from the source, which can ultimately render them unusable. Repeaters come in many different forms depending upon their intended use. For example, wireless communication systems such as cell phones are aided by repeater stations that retransmit signals to broaden a given coverage area. In a fiber optic system a repeater would consist of a photocell, an amplifier, and an LED to retransmit the data. Often times in digital systems the signal is read and then regenerated again. The reason for this is that if a signal is only amplified certain types of degradations such as noise and distortion are also amplified. A digital signal can be read and then generated as if it’s a new, clean signal again. Many synchronizers have a Jam Sync feature in which they essentially act as a repeater.