Sampling

• Sampling is the process of taking a sample value, individual values of a sequence, of the continuous waveform at regularly spaced time intervals.

  Figure 1: The ideal analog-to-digital converter.

  
• The time interval (in seconds) between samples is called the sampling period $T_s$, and is inversely related to the sampling rate, $f_s$. That is,
  $$T_s = 1/f_s$$    seconds$$.$$

• Common sampling rates:
  • Professional studio technolgy: $f_s = 48$ kHz
  • Compact disk (CD) technology: $f_s = 44.1$ kHz
  • Broadcasting applications: $f_s = 32$ kHz