| n. | 1. | the process in which part of the output of a system is returned to its input. |
| 2. | response to an inquiry or experiment. |
| Noun | 1. | feedback - the process in which part of the output of a system is returned to its input in order to regulate its further output |
| 2. | feedback - response to an inquiry or experiment |
| (electronics) | feedback - Part of a system output presented at its input.
Feedback may be unintended. When used as a design feature,
the output is usually transformed by passive components which
attenuate it in some manner; the result is then presented at
the system input. Feedback is positive or negative, depending on the sign with which a positive change in the original input reappears after transformation. Negative feedback was invented by Black to stabilise vacuum tube amplifiers. The behaviour becomes largely a function of the feedback transformation and only minimally a function of factors such as transistor gain which are imperfectly known. Positive feedback can lead to instability; it finds wide application in the construction of oscillators. Feedback can be used to control a system, as in feedback control. |