What is "square wave"

n. (context maths engineering signal processing English) A function or waveform that alternates regularly and instantaneously between two levels.

A square wave is a non-sinusoidal periodic waveform (which can be represented as an infinite summation of sinusoidal waves), in which the amplitude alternates at a steady frequency between fixed minimum and maximum values, with the same duration at minimum and maximum. The transition between minimum to maximum is instantaneous for an ideal square wave; this is not realizable in physical systems. Square waves are often encountered in electronics and signal processing. Its stochastic counterpart is a two-state trajectory. A similar but not necessarily symmetrical wave, with arbitrary durations at minimum and maximum, is called a pulse wave (of which the square wave is a special case).