Certain Factors Affecting Telegraph Speed

paper by Nyquist

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July 16, 2026

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Harry Nyquist's 1924 paper, \"Certain Factors Affecting Telegraph Speed,\" analyzed the relationship between a telegraph system's speed and the number of signal values it uses. This work, along with his 1928 paper on telegraph transmission theory, laid foundational principles for converting continuous signals into digital ones.1

Nyquist derived a formula for the maximum data rate in a noiseless channel: Maximum Data Rate = 2 B log₂ V bits per second. Here, B represents the channel's bandwidth, and V is the number of discrete signal levels. This means that for a given bandwidth, increasing the number of signal levels allows for faster transmission, but practical limitations arise due to the need for distinct signal levels and the impact of noise.2

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information theory
Historical background
…published a paper entitled “Certain Factors Affecting Telegraph Speed.” Nyquist realized that communication channels had maximum data transmission rates, and he derived a formula for calculating these rates in finite bandwidth noiseless channels. Another pioneer was Nyquist’s colleague R.V.L. Hartley, whose paper “Transmission of Information” (1928) established the first…
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…published a paper entitled “Certain Factors Affecting Telegraph Speed.” Nyquist realized that communication channels had maximum data transmission rates, and he derived a formula for calculating these rates in finite bandwidth noiseless channels. Another pioneer was Nyquist’s colleague R.V.L. Hartley, whose paper “Transmission of Information” (1928) established the first…
Read More