In telecommunication

Telecommunication

Telecommunication is the transmission of information over significant distances to communicate. In earlier times, telecommunications involved the use of visual signals, such as beacons, smoke signals, semaphore telegraphs, signal flags, and optical heliographs, or audio messages via coded...

, attack time is the time

Time

Time is a part of the measuring system used to sequence events, to compare the durations of events and the intervals between them, and to quantify rates of change such as the motions of objects....

 between (a) the instant that a signal at the input of a device or circuit

Telecommunication circuit

A telecommunication circuit is any line, conductor, or other conduit by which information is transmitted.A dedicated circuit, private circuit, or leased line is a line that is dedicated to only one use...

 exceeds the activation threshold of the device or circuit and (b) the instant that the device or circuit reacts in a specified manner, or to a specified degree, to the input. Attack time occurs in devices such as clippers

Clipping (audio)

Clipping is a form of waveform distortion that occurs when an amplifier is overdriven and attempts to deliver an output voltage or current beyond its maximum capability...

, peak limiters, compressors, and vox

Voice operated switch

In telecommunications, a voice operated switch, also known as VOX or Voice Operated eXchange, is a switch that operates when sound over a certain threshold is detected. It is usually used to turn on a transmitter or recorder when someone speaks and turn it off when they stop speaking...

es.

See also

• Transmitter attack-time delay
  Transmitter attack-time delay
  In telecommunication, transmitter attack-time delay is the interval from the instant a transmitter is keyed-on to the instant the transmitted radio frequency signal amplitude has increased to a specified level, usually 90% of its key-on steady-state value....
  
  
• Federal Standard 1037C
  Federal Standard 1037C
  Federal Standard 1037C, titled Telecommunications: Glossary of Telecommunication Terms is a United States Federal Standard, issued by the General Services Administration pursuant to the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, as amended....
  
  
• Fall time
  Fall time
  In electronics, fall time \scriptstyle t_f\, is the time required for the amplitude of a pulse to decrease from a specified value to another specified value...
  
  
• Overshoot (signal)
  Overshoot (signal)
  In signal processing, control theory, electronics, and mathematics, overshoot is when a signal or function exceeds its target. It arises especially in the step response of bandlimited systems such as low-pass filters...