Adaptive communications can mean any communications system

Communications system

In telecommunication, a communications system is a collection of individual communications networks, transmission systems, relay stations, tributary stations, and data terminal equipment usually capable of interconnection and interoperation to form an integrated whole...

, or portion thereof, that automatically uses feedback

Feedback

Feedback describes the situation when output from an event or phenomenon in the past will influence an occurrence or occurrences of the same Feedback describes the situation when output from (or information about the result of) an event or phenomenon in the past will influence an occurrence or...

 information

Information

Information in its most restricted technical sense is a message or collection of messages that consists of an ordered sequence of symbols, or it is the meaning that can be interpreted from such a message or collection of messages. Information can be recorded or transmitted. It can be recorded as...

 obtained from the system itself or from the signals carried by the system to modify dynamically one or more of the system operational parameters to improve system performance or to resist degradation

Degradation (telecommunications)

In telecommunication, degradation, which may be categorized as either "graceful" or "catastrophic", has the following meanings:#The deterioration in quality, level, or standard of performance of a functional unit....

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The modification of a system parameter may be discrete, as in hard-switched diversity reception, or may be continuous, as in a
predetection combining algorithm.