ANALOGUE COMMUNICATIONS

1
 MAIN TOPICS (Part I)

1) Introduction to Communication Systems

2) Signal Generation
3) Amplitude, Frequency and Phase Modulation & De-
Modulation.
4) AM / FM Transmitters & Receivers.
5) Wave Propagation.
6) Antennae.

2
 Elements of a Communication System

• Communication involves the transfer of information

or intelligence from a source to a recipient via a
channel or medium.
• Basic block diagram of a communication system:

Source Transmitter Receiver Recipient

3
 Brief Description

• Source: analogue or digital

• Transmitter: transducer, amplifier, modulator,
oscillator, power amp., antenna
• Channel: e.g. cable, optical fibre, free space
• Receiver: antenna, amplifier, demodulator, oscillator,
power amplifier, transducer
• Recipient: e.g. person, speaker, computer

4
Noise in communication…

5
 External Noise

• Equipment / Man-made Noise

is generated by any equipment that operates with
electricity
• Atmospheric Noise
is often caused by lightning
• Space or Extraterrestrial Noise
is strongest from the sun and, at a much lesser
degree, from other stars

6
 Internal Noise

• Thermal Noise
• is produced by the random motion of electrons in a
conductor due to heat.
• Noise power, PN = kTB
where T = absolute temperature in oK
k = Boltzmann’s constant, 1.38x10-23 J/oK
B = noise power bandwidth in Hz
Noise voltage,

VN  4kTBR

7
 Internal Noise (cont’d)
• Shot Noise
• is due to random variations in current flow in active
devices.
• Partition Noise
• occurs only in devices where a single current
separates into two or more paths, e.g. bipolar
transistor.
• Excess Noise
• is believed to be caused by variations in carrier
density in components.
• Transit-Time Noise
• occurs only at high f.
8
 Noise Spectrum of Electronic Devices

Device
Noise
Transit-Time or
High-Frequency
Excess or Effect Noise
Flicker Noise

Shot and Thermal Noises

f
1 kHz fhc
9
 Signal-to-Noise Ratio

• An important measure in communications is the

signal-to-noise ratio (SNR or S/N). It is often
expressed in dB:

10
Transmission Modes

11
 Transmission Modes

 Simplex (SX) – one direction only, e.g. TV

 Half Duplex (HDX) – both directions but not at the
same time, e.g. CB radio
 Full Duplex (FDX) – transmit and receive
simultaneously between two stations, e.g. standard
telephone system
 Full/Full Duplex (F/FDX) - transmit and receive
simultaneously but not necessarily just between two
stations, e.g. data communications circuits

12
 Frequency Bands

BAND Hz BAND Hz
 ELF 30 - 300  VHF 30M-300M
 AF 20 Hz to 20 KHz  UHF 300M - 3 G
 VLF 3 k - 30 k  SHF 3 G - 30 G
 LF 30 k - 300 k  EHF 30 G - 300G
 MF 300 k - 3 M
 HF 3 M - 30 M

•Wavelength, l = c/f

13
 Information and Bandwidth

 Bandwidth required by a modulated signal depends

on the baseband frequency range (or data rate) and
the modulation scheme.

14
 Time and Frequency Domains

• Time domain: an oscilloscope displays the

amplitude versus time.

• Frequency domain: a spectrum analyzer displays the

amplitude or power versus frequency.

• Frequency-domain display provides information on

bandwidth and harmonic components of a signal

15
16
 Modulation

• Modulation is the process of impressing information

onto a high-frequency carrier for transmission.
• Reasons for modulation:
– to prevent mutual interference between stations
– to reduce the size of the antenna required
• Types of analogue modulation: AM, FM, and PM
• Types of digital modulation: ASK, FSK, PSK, and
QAM

17
 Amplitude Modulation

An Example of a message signal m(t)

Waveform for Amplitude modulation of the message 18

 Amplitude Modulation

An Example of message energy

spectral density.
Carrier component
together with the 2
message B

Energy spectrum of the AM modulated

message signal.
19
 AM – Percentage Modulation
 Definition: The percentage of positive modulation on an AM signal is

Amax  Ac
% Positive Modulation  100  max  m(t )  100
Ac

 The percentage of negative modulation on an AM signal is

Ac  Amin
100   min  m(t )  100
Ac

 The percentage of overall modulation is

Amax  Amin max  m(t )  min  m(t ) 
% Modulation  100  100
2 Ac 2
Amax - Maximum value of Ac [1  m(t )]
Amin - Minimum value of Ac [1  m(t )]
Ac - Level of AM envelope in the absence of modulation [i.e., m(t)  0]

If m(t) has a peak positive values of +1 and a peak

negative value of -1
20
 AM Signal Waveform

% Positive modulation= 50%

Amax = 1.5Ac % Negative modulation =50%
Overall Modulation = 50%
Amin = 0.5 Ac 21
 AM – Percentage Modulation

Under modulated 100% Over Modulated

(<100%) modulated (>100%)

Envelope Envelope Detector

Detector Gives Distorted signal
Can be used

22
 AM Waveform

AM signal:
ec = Ec sin wct es = (Ec + em) sin wct
em = Em sin wmt
23
 Modulation Index

• The amount of amplitude modulation in a signal is

given by its modulation index:

Em Emax  Emin
m or
Ec Emax  Emin
where, Emax = Ec + Em; Emin = Ec - Em (all pk values)
When Em = Ec , m =1 or 100% modulation.
Over-modulation, i.e. Em>Ec , should be avoided
because it will create distortions and splatter.
24
 Effects of Modulation Index

m=1 m>1
In a practical AM system, it usually contains many
frequency components. When this is the case,
mT  m12  m22  ...  mn2
25
 AM in Frequency Domain

• The expression for the AM signal:

es = (Ec + em) sin wct
can be expanded to:
es = Ec sin wct + ½ mEc[cos (wc-wm)t-cos (wc+wm)t]
• The expanded expression shows that the AM signal
consists of the original carrier, a lower side
frequency, flsf = fc - fm, and an upper side frequency,
fusf = fc + fm.

26
 AM Spectrum

Ec

mEc/2 mEc/2

fm fm
f
flsf fc fusf

fusf = fc + fm ; flsf = fc - fm ; Esf = mEc/2

Bandwidth, B = 2fm
27
 AM Power

• Total average (i.e. rms) power of the AM signal is: PT

= Pc + 2Psf , where
Pc = carrier power; and Psf = side-frequency power
• If the signal is across a load resistor, R, then: Pc =
Ec2/(2R); and Psf = m2Pc/4. So,

m2
PT  Pc (1  )
2
28
Block Diagram of AM TX

29
 Transmitter Stages

• Crystal oscillator generates a very stable sinewave

carrier. Where variable frequency operation is
required, a frequency synthesizer is used.
• Buffer isolates the crystal oscillator from any load
changes in the modulator stage.
• Frequency multiplier is required only if HF or higher
frequencies is required.

30
 Transmitter Stages (cont’d)

• RF voltage amplifier boosts the voltage level of the

carrier. It could double as a modulator if low-level
modulation is used.
• RF driver supplies input power to later RF stages.
• RF Power amplifier is where modulation is applied
for most high power AM TX. This is known as high-
level modulation.

31
 Transmitter Stages (cont’d)

• High-level modulation is efficient since all previous

RF stages can be operated class C.
• Microphone is where the modulating signal is being
applied.
• AF amplifier boosts the weak input modulating
signal.
• AF driver and power amplifier would not be required
for low-level modulation.

32
AM Modulator Circuits

33
 Angle Modulation

 Angle modulation includes both frequency and

phase modulation.
 FM is used for: radio broadcasting, sound signal in
TV, two-way fixed and mobile radio systems, cellular
telephone systems, and satellite communications.
 PM is used extensively in data communications and
for indirect FM.

34
 Comparison of FM or PM with AM

Advantages over AM:

1) better SNR, and more resistant to noise
2) efficient - class C amplifier can be used, and less
power is required to angle modulate
3) capture effect reduces mutual interference
Disadvantages:
1) much wider bandwidth is required
2) slightly more complex circuitry is needed

35
 Frequency Modulation

Carrier

Modulating
Signal

FM
signal

36
 Frequency Modulation (cont’d)

• Note the continuous change in frequency of the FM

wave when the modulating signal is a sine wave.
• In particular, the frequency of the FM wave is
maximum when the modulating signal is at its
positive peak and is minimum when the modulating
signal is at its negative peak.

37
 Frequency Deviation

• The amount by which the frequency of the FM signal

varies with respect to its resting value (fc) is known
as frequency deviation: Df = kf em, where kf is a
system constant, and em is the instantaneous value
of the modulating signal amplitude.
• Thus the frequency of the FM signal is:
fs (t) = fc + Df = fc + kf em(t)

38
 Maximum or Peak Frequency Deviation

• If the modulating signal is a sine wave, i.e., em(t) =

Emsin wmt, then fs = fc + kfEmsin wmt.
• The peak or maximum frequency deviation:
d = kf Em
• The modulation index of an FM signal is:
mf = d / fm
• Note that mf can be greater than 1.

39
 Relationship between FM and PM

• For PM, phase deviation, Df = kpem, and the peak

phase deviation, fmax = mp = mf.
• Since frequency (in rad/s) is given by:

d (t )
w (t )  or  (t )   w (t )dt
dt
the above equations suggest that FM can be
obtained by first integrating the modulating
signal, then applying it to a phase modulator.
40
 Equation for FM Signal

• If ec = Ec sin wct, and em = Em sin wmt, then the

equation for the FM signal is:
es = Ec sin (wct + mf sin wmt)
• This signal can be expressed as a series of
sinusoids: es = Ec{Jo(mf) sin wct
- J1(mf)[sin (wc - wm)t - sin (wc + wm)t]
+ J2(mf)[sin (wc - 2wm)t + sin (wc + 2wm)t]
- J3(mf)[sin (wc - 3wm)t + sin (wc + 3wm)t]
+ … .}

41
 Bessel Functions

• The J’s in the equation are known as Bessel

functions of the first kind:
mf J o J1 J2 J3 J4 J5 J6 . . .
0 1
0.5 .94 .24 .03
1 .77 .44 .11 .02
2.4 0.0 .52 .43 .20 .06 .02
5.5 0.0 -.34 -.12 .26 .40 .32 .19 . . .

42
 Notes on Bessel Functions

• Theoretically, there is an infinite number of side

frequencies for any mf other than 0.
• However, only significant amplitudes, i.e. those
|0.01| are included in the table.
• Bessel-zero or carrier-null points occur when mf =
2.4, 5.5, 8.65, etc. These points are useful for
determining the deviation and the value of kf of an
FM modulator system.

43
Graph of Bessel Functions

44
 FM Side-Bands

• Each (J) value in the table

gives rise to a pair of side-
frequencies.
• The higher the value of mf,
the more pairs of significant
side- frequencies will be
generated.

45
 Power and Bandwidth of FM Signal

• Regardless of mf , the total power of an FM

signal remains constant because its
amplitude is constant.
• The required BW of an FM signal is:
BW = 2 x n x fm ,where n is the number of pairs of
side-frequencies.
• If mf > 6, a good estimate of the BW is given by
Carson’s rule: BW = 2(d + fm (max) )

46
 Narrowband & Wideband FM

• FM systems with a bandwidth < 15 kHz, are

considered to be NBFM. A more restricted definition
is that their mf < 0.5. These systems are used for
voice communication.
• Other FM systems, such as FM broadcasting and
satellite TV, with wider BW and/or higher mf are
called WBFM.

47
 Pre-emphasis

• Most common analog signals have high frequency

components that are relatively low in amplitude than
low frequency ones. Ambient electrical noise is
uniformly distributed. Therefore, the SNR for high
frequency components is lower.
• To correct the problem, em is pre-emphasized before
frequency modulating ec.

48
 Pre-emphasis circuit

• In FM broadcasting, the high

frequency components are
boosted by passing the
modulating signal through a
HPF with a 75 ms time
constant before modulation.
 t = R1C = 75 ms.

49
 De-emphasis Circuit

• At the FM receiver, the

signal after demodulation
must be de-emphasized by a
filter with similar
characteristics as the pre-
emphasis filter to restore the
relative amplitudes of the
modulating signal.

50
 FM Stereo Broadcasting: Baseband Spectra

• To maintain compatibility with monaural system, FM

stereo uses a form of FDM or frequency-division
multiplexing to combine the left and right channel
information:

19 kHz Pilot
Carrier SCA
L+R (optional)
(mono) L-R L-R
kHz
.05 15 23 38 53 60 67 74
51
 FM Stereo Broadcasting

• To enable the L and R channels to be reproduced at

the receiver, the L-R and L+R signals are required.
These are sent as a DSBSC AM signal with a
suppressed subcarrier at 38 kHz.
• The purpose of the 19 kHz pilot is for proper
detection of the DSBSC AM signal.
• The optional Subsidiary Carrier Authorization (SCA)
signal is normally used for services such as
background music for stores and offices.

52
 Block Diagram of FM Transmitter

FM Frequency
Modulator Multiplier(s) Antenna

Buffer Driver Power

Amp
Pre-emphasis

Audio

53
 Direct-FM Modulator

• A simple method of generating FM is to use a reactance

modulator where a varactor is put in the frequency determining
circuit.

54
 Crosby AFC System

• An LC oscillator operated as a VCO with automatic

frequency control is known as the Crosby system.

55
 Phase-Locked Loop FM Generators

• The PLL system is more stable than the Crosby system and can
produce wide-band FM without using frequency multipliers.

56
 Indirect-FM Modulators

• Recall earlier that FM and PM were shown to be

closely related. In fact, FM can be produced using a
phase modulator if the modulating signal is passed
through a suitable LPF (i.e. an integrator) before it
reaches the modulator.
• One reason for using indirect FM is that it’s easier to
change the phase than the frequency of a crystal
oscillator. However, the phase shift achievable is
small, and frequency multipliers will be needed.

57
Example of Indirect FM Generator

Armstrong
Modulator

58