Digital-to-Analog signals is the next conversion we will discuss in this chapter.

These
techniques are also called as Digital Modulation techniques.
Digital Modulation provides more information capacity, high data security, quicker
system availability with great quality communication. Hence, digital modulation
techniques have a greater demand, for their capacity to convey larger amounts of data
than analog modulation techniques.
There are many types of digital modulation techniques and also their combinations,
depending upon the need. Of them all, we will discuss the prominent ones.
ASK – Amplitude Shift Keying
The amplitude of the resultant output depends upon the input data whether it should be
a zero level or a variation of positive and negative, depending upon the carrier
frequency.

FSK – Frequency Shift Keying

The frequency of the output signal will be either high or low, depending upon the input
data applied.

PSK – Phase Shift Keying

The phase of the output signal gets shifted depending upon the input. These are mainly
of two types, namely Binary Phase Shift Keying (BPSK) and Quadrature Phase Shift
Keying (QPSK), according to the number of phase shifts. The other one is Differential
Phase Shift Keying (DPSK) which changes the phase according to the previous value.
M-ary Encoding
M-ary Encoding techniques are the methods where more than two bits are made to
transmit simultaneously on a single signal. This helps in the reduction of bandwidth.
The types of M-ary techniques are −
• M-ary ASK
• M-ary FSK
• M-ary PSK

Amplitude Shift Keying (ASK)

Amplitude Shift Keying (ASK) is a type of Amplitude Modulation which represents the
binary data in the form of variations in the amplitude of a signal.
Any modulated signal has a high frequency carrier. The binary signal when ASK
modulated, gives a zero value for Low input while it gives the carrier
output for High input.
The following figure represents ASK modulated waveform along with its input.

To find the process of obtaining this ASK modulated wave, let us learn about the working
of the ASK modulator.
ASK Modulator
The ASK modulator block diagram comprises of the carrier signal generator, the binary
sequence from the message signal and the band-limited filter. Following is the block
diagram of the ASK Modulator.
The carrier generator sends a continuous high-frequency carrier. The binary sequence
from the message signal makes the unipolar input to be either High or Low. The high
signal closes the switch, allowing a carrier wave. Hence, the output will be the carrier
signal at high input. When there is low input, the switch opens, allowing no voltage to
appear. Hence, the output will be low.
The band-limiting filter shapes the pulse depending upon the amplitude and phase
characteristics of the band-limiting filter or the pulse-shaping filter.
ASK Demodulator
There are two types of ASK Demodulation techniques. They are −
• Asynchronous ASK Demodulation/detection
• Synchronous ASK Demodulation/detection
The clock frequency at the transmitter when matches with the clock frequency at the
receiver, it is known as a Synchronous method, as the frequency gets synchronized.
Otherwise, it is known as Asynchronous.

Asynchronous ASK Demodulator

The Asynchronous ASK detector consists of a half-wave rectifier, a low pass filter, and a
comparator. Following is the block diagram for the same.
The modulated ASK signal is given to the half-wave rectifier, which delivers a positive
half output. The low pass filter suppresses the higher frequencies and gives an envelope
detected output from which the comparator delivers a digital output.
Synchronous ASK Demodulator
Synchronous ASK detector consists of a square law detector, low pass filter, a
comparator, and a voltage limiter. Following is the block diagram for the same.

The ASK modulated input signal is given to the square law detector. A square law
detector is one whose output voltage is proportional to the square of the amplitude
modulated input voltage. The low pass filter minimizes the higher frequencies. The
comparator and the voltage limiter help to get a clean digital output.
Frequency Shift Keying (FSK)
Frequency Shift Keying (FSK) is the digital modulation technique in which the
frequency of the carrier signal varies according to the digital signal changes. FSK is a
scheme of frequency modulation.
The output of a FSK modulated wave is high in frequency for a binary High input and is
low in frequency for a binary Low input. The binary 1s and 0s are called Mark and Space
frequencies.
The following image is the diagrammatic representation of FSK modulated waveform
along with its input.

To find the process of obtaining this FSK modulated wave, let us know about the working
of a FSK modulator.
FSK Modulator
The FSK modulator block diagram comprises of two oscillators with a clock and the
input binary sequence. Following is its block diagram.
The two oscillators, producing a higher and a lower frequency signals, are connected to
a switch along with an internal clock. To avoid the abrupt phase discontinuities of the
output waveform during the transmission of the message, a clock is applied to both the
oscillators, internally. The binary input sequence is applied to the transmitter so as to
choose the frequencies according to the binary input.
FSK Demodulator
There are different methods for demodulating a FSK wave. The main methods of FSK
detection are asynchronous detector and synchronous detector. The synchronous
detector is a coherent one, while asynchronous detector is a non-coherent one.
Asynchronous FSK Detector
The block diagram of Asynchronous FSK detector consists of two band pass filters, two
envelope detectors, and a decision circuit. Following is the diagrammatic
representation.
The FSK signal is passed through the two Band Pass Filters (BPFs), tuned
to Space and Mark frequencies. The output from these two BPFs look like ASK signal,
which is given to the envelope detector. The signal in each envelope detector is
modulated asynchronously.
The decision circuit chooses which output is more likely and selects it from any one of
the envelope detectors. It also re-shapes the waveform to a rectangular one.
Synchronous FSK Detector
The block diagram of Synchronous FSK detector consists of two mixers with local
oscillator circuits, two band pass filters and a decision circuit. Following is the
diagrammatic representation.
The FSK signal input is given to the two mixers with local oscillator circuits. These two
are connected to two band pass filters. These combinations act as demodulators and
the decision circuit chooses which output is more likely and selects it from any one of
the detectors. The two signals have a minimum frequency separation.
For both of the demodulators, the bandwidth of each of them depends on their bit rate.
This synchronous demodulator is a bit complex than asynchronous type demodulators.

Phase Shift Keying (PSK)

It is the digital modulation technique in which the phase of the carrier signal is changed
by varying the sine and cosine inputs at a particular time. PSK technique is widely used
for wireless LANs, bio-metric, contactless operations, along with RFID and Bluetooth
communications.
PSK is of two types, depending upon the phases the signal gets shifted. They are −
Binary Phase Shift Keying (BPSK)
This is also called as 2-phase PSK or Phase Reversal Keying. In this technique, the sine
wave carrier takes two phase reversals such as 0° and 180°.
BPSK is basically a Double Side Band Suppressed Carrier (DSBSC) modulation scheme,
for message being the digital information.
Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK)
This is the phase shift keying technique, in which the sine wave carrier takes four phase
reversals such as 0°, 90°, 180°, and 270°.
If this kind of techniques are further extended, PSK can be done by eight or sixteen
values also, depending upon the requirement.
BPSK Modulator
The block diagram of Binary Phase Shift Keying consists of the balance modulator which
has the carrier sine wave as one input and the binary sequence as the other input.
Following is the diagrammatic representation.

The modulation of BPSK is done using a balance modulator, which multiplies the two
signals applied at the input. For a zero binary input, the phase will be 0° and for a high
input, the phase reversal is of 180°.
Following is the diagrammatic representation of BPSK Modulated output wave along
with its given input.
The output sine wave of the modulator will be the direct input carrier or the inverted
(180° phase shifted) input carrier, which is a function of the data signal.
BPSK Demodulator
The block diagram of BPSK demodulator consists of a mixer with local oscillator circuit,
a bandpass filter, a two-input detector circuit. The diagram is as follows.
By recovering the band-limited message signal, with the help of the mixer circuit and the
band pass filter, the first stage of demodulation gets completed. The base band signal
which is band limited is obtained and this signal is used to regenerate the binary
message bit stream.
In the next stage of demodulation, the bit clock rate is needed at the detector circuit to
produce the original binary message signal. If the bit rate is a sub-multiple of the carrier
frequency, then the bit clock regeneration is simplified. To make the circuit easily
understandable, a decision-making circuit may also be inserted at the 2nd stage of
detection.

Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK)

The Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) is a variation of BPSK, and it is also a
Double Side Band Suppressed Carrier (DSBSC) modulation scheme, which sends two
bits of digital information at a time, called as bigits.
Instead of the conversion of digital bits into a series of digital stream, it converts them
into bit pairs. This decreases the data bit rate to half, which allows space for the other
users.
QPSK Modulator
The QPSK Modulator uses a bit-splitter, two multipliers with local oscillator, a 2-bit
serial to parallel converter, and a summer circuit. Following is the block diagram for the
same.

At the modulator’s input, the message signal’s even bits (i.e., 2nd bit, 4th bit, 6th bit, etc.)
and odd bits (i.e., 1st bit, 3rd bit, 5th bit, etc.) are separated by the bits splitter and are
multiplied with the same carrier to generate odd BPSK (called as PSKI) and even BPSK
(called as PSKQ). The PSKQ signal is anyhow phase shifted by 90° before being
modulated.
The QPSK waveform for two-bits input is as follows, which shows the modulated result
for different instances of binary inputs.

QPSK Demodulator
The QPSK Demodulator uses two product demodulator circuits with local oscillator, two
band pass filters, two integrator circuits, and a 2-bit parallel to serial converter.
Following is the diagram for the same.
The two product detectors at the input of demodulator simultaneously demodulate the
two BPSK signals. The pair of bits are recovered here from the original data. These
signals after processing, are passed to the parallel to serial converter

Differential Phase Shift Keying (DPSK)

In Differential Phase Shift Keying (DPSK) the phase of the modulated signal is shifted
relative to the previous signal element. No reference signal is considered here. The
signal phase follows the high or low state of the previous element. This DPSK technique
doesn’t need a reference oscillator.
The following figure represents the model waveform of DPSK.

It is seen from the above figure that, if the data bit is Low i.e., 0, then the phase of the
signal is not reversed, but continued as it was. If the data is a High i.e., 1, then the phase
of the signal is reversed, as with NRZI, invert on 1 (a form of differential encoding).
If we observe the above waveform, we can say that the High state represents an M in the
modulating signal and the Low state represents a W in the modulating signal.
DPSK Modulator
DPSK is a technique of BPSK, in which there is no reference phase signal. Here, the
transmitted signal itself can be used as a reference signal. Following is the diagram of
DPSK Modulator.
DPSK encodes two distinct signals, i.e., the carrier and the modulating signal with 180°
phase shift each. The serial data input is given to the XNOR gate and the output is again
fed back to the other input through 1-bit delay. The output of the XNOR gate along with
the carrier signal is given to the balance modulator, to produce the DPSK modulated
signal.
DPSK Demodulator
In DPSK demodulator, the phase of the reversed bit is compared with the phase of the
previous bit. Following is the block diagram of DPSK demodulator.

From the above figure, it is evident that the balance modulator is given the DPSK signal
along with 1-bit delay input. That signal is made to confine to lower frequencies with the
help of LPF. Then it is passed to a shaper circuit, which is a comparator or a Schmitt
trigger circuit, to recover the original binary data as the output.

The word binary represents two bits. M represents a digit that corresponds to the
number of conditions, levels, or combinations possible for a given number of binary
variables.
This is the type of digital modulation technique used for data transmission in which
instead of one bit, two or more bits are transmitted at a time. As a single signal is used
for multiple bit transmission, the channel bandwidth is reduced.
M-ary Equation
If a digital signal is given under four conditions, such as voltage levels, frequencies,
phases, and amplitude, then M = 4.
The number of bits necessary to produce a given number of conditions is expressed
mathematically as
N = log 2M
Where
N is the number of bits necessary
M is the number of conditions, levels, or combinations possible with N bits.
The above equation can be re-arranged as
2N = M
For example, with two bits, 22 = 4 conditions are possible.
Types of M-ary Techniques
In general, Multi-level (M-ary) modulation techniques are used in digital
communications as the digital inputs with more than two modulation levels are allowed
on the transmitter’s input. Hence, these techniques are bandwidth efficient.
There are many M-ary modulation techniques. Some of these techniques, modulate
one parameter of the carrier signal, such as amplitude, phase, and frequency.
M-ary ASK
This is called M-ary Amplitude Shift Keying (M-ASK) or M-ary Pulse Amplitude
Modulation (PAM).
The amplitude of the carrier signal takes on M different levels.
Representation of M-ary ASK
Sm(t)=A m cos(2πfct) Amϵ(2m−1−M)Δ,m=1,2....M and 0≤t≤Ts
Some prominent features of M-ary ASK are −
• This method is also used in PAM.
• Its implementation is simple.
• M-ary ASK is susceptible to noise and distortion.

M-ary FSK
This is called as M-ary Frequency Shift Keying (M-ary FSK).
The frequency of the carrier signal takes on M different levels.

Some prominent features of M-ary FSK are −

• Not susceptible to noise as much as ASK.
• The transmitted M number of signals are equal in energy and duration.
• The signals are separated by 12Ts12Ts Hz making the signals orthogonal to each
other.
• Since M signals are orthogonal, there is no crowding in the signal space.
• The bandwidth efficiency of M-ary FSK decreases and the power efficiency
increases with the increase in M.
M-ary PSK
This is called as M-ary Phase Shift Keying (M-ary PSK).
The phase of the carrier signal takes on M different levels.

Some prominent features of M-ary PSK are −

• The envelope is constant with more phase possibilities.
• This method was used during the early days of space communication.
• Better performance than ASK and FSK.
• Minimal phase estimation error at the receiver.
• The bandwidth efficiency of M-ary PSK decreases, and the power efficiency
increases with the increase in M.
So far, we have discussed different modulation techniques. The output of all these
techniques is a binary sequence, represented as 1s and 0s. This binary or digital
information has many types and forms, which are discussed further.
Coherent and non-Coherent of BFSK
Non-coherent detection does not require the phase of the received signal to be
synchronized with the transmitter. Here's the working step-by-step:
1. Input Signal:
o The received BFSK signal X(t)X(t)X(t) is fed into two branches for parallel
processing.
2. Matched Filters:
o Each branch has a filter matched to a specific frequency component:
▪ Upper Branch: Matches frequency f1f_1f1 (symbol 0).
▪ Lower Branch: Matches frequency f2f_2f2 (symbol 1).
o The filters amplify the respective frequency components of the BFSK
signal.
3. Envelope Detectors:
o After filtering, envelope detectors in each branch extract the amplitude of
the signal. This represents the energy of the signal at f1f_1f1 and f2f_2f2.
4. Sampling:
o The outputs of the envelope detectors are sampled at t=Tbt = T_bt=Tb
(end of the bit duration).
5. Comparator:
o The sampled values X1X_1X1 (upper branch) and X2X_2X2 (lower branch)
are compared:
▪ If X1>X2X_1 > X_2X1>X2: Output corresponds to frequency f1f_1f1
(symbol 0).
▪ If X2>X1X_2 > X_1X2>X1: Output corresponds to frequency f2f_2f2
(symbol 1).
6. Output:
o The comparator generates the detected binary output (0 or 1) based on
which frequency was dominant.
Coherent Detection of BPSK
Working of Coherent BFSK Receiver:
1. Synchronization:
o The receiver maintains synchronization with the transmitter's carrier
frequencies f1f_1f1 and f2f_2f2.
o This is achieved using a phase-locked loop (PLL) or a known reference
signal.
2. Mixing:
o The received signal X(t)X(t)X(t) is mixed with the locally generated
sinusoidal signals cos⁡(2πf1t)\cos(2\pi f_1 t)cos(2πf1t) and
cos⁡(2πf2t)\cos(2\pi f_2 t)cos(2πf2t).
o This isolates the frequency components corresponding to f1f_1f1 and
f2f_2f2.
3. Low-Pass Filtering:
o LPFs remove the high-frequency components introduced during mixing.
o The remaining signals represent the energy levels of f1f_1f1 and f2f_2f2.
4. Energy Comparison:
o The filtered signals are compared to determine which frequency
component is stronger.
o Higher energy at f1f_1f1: Binary 0.
o Higher energy at f2f_2f2: Binary 1.
5. Output:
o The binary symbol is decided based on the frequency with higher energy.

Spectral Properties of QPSK:

1. Symbol Rate: Rs=Rb2R_s = \frac{R_b}{2}Rs=2Rb, where each symbol represents
2 bits.
2. Bandwidth: Occupies bandwidth similar to BPSK, approximately B=RsB =
R_sB=Rs.
3. Constellation: 4 points (90° apart) representing 2 bits per symbol.
4. Spectral Shape: Main lobe is wider, with noticeable side lobes.
5. Side Lobe Falloff: Side lobes fall off at a slower rate than MSK.
 6. Occupied Bandwidth: Boccupied=Rs(1+α)B_{occupied} = R_s(1 +
\alpha)Boccupied=Rs(1+α), where α\alphaα is the roll-off factor.
7. Amplitude: Amplitude fluctuates (non-constant envelope).

Spectral Properties of MSK:

1. Symbol Rate: Rs=RbR_s = R_bRs=Rb, where each symbol represents 1 bit.
2. Bandwidth: More bandwidth-efficient than QPSK, approximately B≈1.5RsB
\approx 1.5 R_sB≈1.5Rs.
3. Constellation: Two frequency shifts representing binary 0 and 1.
4. Spectral Shape: Main lobe is narrower, with lower side lobes.
5. Side Lobe Falloff: Side lobes fall off faster, reducing out-of-band radiation.
6. Occupied Bandwidth: Boccupied≈1.5RsB_{occupied} \approx 1.5
R_sBoccupied≈1.5Rs, narrower compared to QPSK for the same bit rate.
7. Amplitude: Constant envelope (no amplitude fluctuations).

What Is QAM?
Quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) is an advanced modulation scheme widely
used in Wi-Fi communication systems. It combines phase modulation and amplitude
modulation.
How Does QAM Work?
QAM loads signals to two orthogonal carriers (typically sine and cosine), adjusts the
amplitudes of the carriers, and superimposes their amplitudes to generate the signals
modulated by both the phase and amplitude. The two carriers are usually referred to as I
and Q signals. Therefore, this modulation mode is also known as IQ modulation.
IQ modulation
QAM is also considered a combination of phase modulation and amplitude modulation
because QAM-modulated signals involve the conversion of both the phase and
amplitude.

Modulation Formats:
1. Amplitude Modulation (AM): Changes the amplitude of the carrier signal to
represent data.
2. Phase Modulation (PM): Changes the phase of the carrier signal based on data.
3. Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM): Combines both amplitude and
phase modulation to transmit data.

Minimum Shift Keying (MSK):

1. What is MSK?
o MSK is a type of frequency modulation where the frequency shifts are
minimal, ensuring efficient use of bandwidth.
o It’s a form of continuous-phase frequency-shift keying.
2. Why MSK?
 o Sharp transitions in binary data cause wide sidebands, leading to
interference with adjacent channels. MSK reduces these sidebands by
avoiding phase discontinuities.
o MSK helps reduce the bandwidth needed compared to other modulation
types, like phase or frequency-shift keying.
3. How MSK Works:
o MSK uses frequency shifts that occur at the zero-crossing points of the
carrier wave, preventing any abrupt phase changes.
o The frequency difference between “1” and “0” states is half the data rate,
giving MSK a modulation index of 0.5.
4. Advantages of MSK:
o Spectral Efficiency: MSK uses less bandwidth and reduces interference.
o Power Efficiency: Since it’s based on frequency modulation, RF
amplifiers can run in saturation for high efficiency.