The AST could be applied to both the analogue (for digitization) and digital signals (for compression).
The technology, called WhiteFire, translates analog sounds into digital signals.
By F.C.C. mandate, broadcasters must be transmitting their programming via high-definition digital signals by 2006.
"Digital signals are sometimes more finicky than analog signals," said Rick Kaplan, an F.C.C. spokesman.
Among other things, local TV stations couldn't transmit digital signals on their existing analog channels.
Very few people have high-definition TV sets that can receive digital signals.
Phones labeled as wireless usually use digital signals to send and receive calls.
The Federal Communications Commission is encouraging television stations to convert digital signals by 2003.
Distance doesn't affect digital signals as much as it does analog signals, and digital signals provide crisper images and the same high-quality sound heard on compact discs and in most movie theaters.
The new chips would receive digital signals that would display uninterrupted images while a user is moving.
John Hayden, an aerospace engineer who grew up in Great Neck, explained the differences between analog and digital signals.
