Communication by devices, such as the HC11 processor, is a key and vital part of most systems that are used in military, commercial, and academic settings.  In fact, most of these communication systems can be critical to new technologies, as well as current ones.  To allow devices to send out information, data is typically sent as a communication packet or group of information by a device.  However, the problem that exists for most systems is permeating a particular medium, such as a wire or the air.

To accomplish this task, a technique that is still widely  used today is employed that is called modulation.  Modulation, although typically associated with analog signals, has been transitioned to digital devices to communicate data.  One of the most popular communication protocols is called Ethernet and it uses modulation to take each bit and move it across a wired or wireless environment.  

Modulation is really just a simple multiplication.  It takes data and moves it faster, so it is easier to move through a medium, such as air or a wire.  There are other uses of this multiplication, such as multiplexing, but for the majority of cases it is designed to transmit data. 

Modulation has been used in many mediums, since it is easy and relatively simple to implement.  The use within digital devices is also quite simple in that it just involves rapidly switching data on and off via a faster frequency, typically called the carrier.  The carrier is basically the medium in which the signal traverses the medium in that higher frequencies can move easier through a domain than lower frequencies.  

For this project, we are planning on using one of the more popular methods of data transmission.  It is also a common device that many utilize in their households, making the ideas simple to understand.  In order to make the project more accessible, we hope to control a device, such as television, to do something simple, such as powering on or off.  More importantly, the concepts in this project are close to other advanced topics, such as Cell phones and other advanced communicating devices, making the topic great for young engineers.