Rather than carrying analogue audio signals on dedicated pairs of wires, it becomes possible (and nowadays economic) to convert them to digital from and multiplex many of them together, producing a single-high-speed channel with a very large capacity. This channel can be distributed quite simply; an optical fibre provides a highway with much more capacity than a copper cable, yet is usually smaller, lighter, has much lower loss and is often cheaper. For a large broadcasting organisation, routeing signals in this manner can form a very attractive alternative to conventional methods of signal selection. The BBC have produced an experimental routeing system to investigate the practicality of this type of system.
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