Processor controlled systems can intelligently synchronize to incoming signals and make good use of coherence. Multiple timing possibilities can be simultaneously examined while acquiring sync, providing faster lock times. Data received during acquisition can be decoded after the fact once the true timing is determined, reducing or eliminating the need for sync-preamble headers. Appropriate frequency control and signal filtering can be applied automatically according to complex parameters. Error Correction Noise and interference occasionally cause errors in every communications system.
Further improvement is possible using some form of redundancy.
This gives the receiver a way to test incoming data for accuracy. As a simple example, the message could be sent twice. If the two received messages do not match, some error or errors must have occurred. More redundancy tends to permit detection and correction of more errors, but also increases the amount of data that needs to be sent. This in turn reduces the information throughput, or requires higher speeds which call for wider transmission bandwidth or more signal states in the modulation system, which in turn decreases resistance to noise, which results in more errors to correct.