Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM)

Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) is a technique used to transmit data by changing both the amplitude and the phase of a carrier signal simultaneously. Imagine two signals, one in sync with each other but shifted in phase by 90 degrees (a quadrature). By varying their amplitudes independently, QAM can encode a large amount of information in a single signal, making it efficient for high-speed data transmission in digital TV, internet, and wireless communication. In essence, QAM combines amplitude and phase adjustments to pack more data into the same signal space.