Endec

In electronic communications, an endec is a device which acts as both an encoder and a decoder on a signal or data stream, either with the same or separate circuitry or algorithm. The combining of these names is a portmanteau.

Definition

The general difference between an endec and a codec (compressor / decompressor) is that hardware is usually considered to be an endec, while software is considered to be the codec.

A device or program which uses a compression algorithm to create MPEG audio and/or video is often called an encoder, and one which plays back such files is a decoder. However, this is technically a codec, especially if performed in software.

Examples

• A modem is an endec
• An Emergency Alert System unit is usually an endec, but sometimes just a decoder
• Hardware that encodes data bits to a run length limited line code, and decodes the line code back to data bits, is an endec^[1]
• When implementing the Infrared Data Association (IrDA) protocol, an endec may be used between the UART and the optoelectronics^[2]

References