Analog Modulation

FM & PM Part 3

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Frequency Modulation (FM)
• Frequency Modulation is a system of modulation in which the amplitude of
the carrier frequency is kept constant, while its frequency and rate of
change is varied by the modulating signal.
• The amplitude of the modulating signal causes the carrier to deviate from its
resting frequency by a certain amount.
• The maximum deviation allowed by FCC is 75KHz.
• Therefore, the Carrier swing = 2 x Maximum deviation = 2x75= 150KHz

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 Description of FM and PM systems

The general equation of an un-modulated wave or carrier, can be written as,

x = Ac sin (ωc t + Ф) where,
x = instantaneous value (voltage or current)
A = maximum amplitude
ω = angular velocity in radians per second (rad/s)
Ф = phase angle in radians

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 Mathematical representation of an FM wave
When the frequency of the carrier wave is made to vary in accordance with the
modulating signal, the modulation is called Frequency modulation.
x = A sin θ = A sin (ωt + Ф)
FM is performed, the value of Ф(phase) is ignored and equal to 0.
Equation of an unmodulated wave (carrier) is xc = Ac sin (ωc t + Ф)-(1)
Equation of an modulating wave is xm = Am cos (ωm t)-(2)
Equation for the instantaneous frequency of the FM wave is
f = fc[1+k.xm]
f = fc[1+k Am cos (ωm t)]----(3) in terms of frequency
ω= ωc[[1+k Am cos (ωm t)]] in terms of angular frequency
Where fc is unmodulated carrier frequency
K is proportionality constant
Am CosWmt is the instantaneous modulating voltage.

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The instantaneous amplitude of the FM signal

V = A sin [ ωc t + mf sin (ω t) ]----16

m

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 Modulation Sidebands
Modulation Index of a FM wave Index
(Modulation Index) mf = maximum frequency deviation =δf 1 3
Modulation frequency fm 2 4
3 6
Frequency Spectra – FM wave 4 7
• Mathematically, the FM wave, is the sine of a sine, and the 5 8
solution which matches this solution is the use of Bessel functions. n infinite

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Carson’s Thumb Rule

• States that the bandwidth required to pass an FM wave is approximately

twice the sum of the deviation and the highest modulating frequency.
BW=2(fm+δf)
• If the frequency deviation is 75kHz and the modulating signal frequency is
15kHz.
• BW = 2(fm+δf) = 2(15+75) = 2(90) = 180 KHz
• Bandwidth required is 180 kHz.

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 Advantages of FM
1. In FM, the Amplitude of the FM wave is constant and therefore the
Transmitter power remains constant irrespective of the depth of
modulation; however in AM the Transmitter power depends on the depth
of modulation and thus the transmitter has to be capable of managing up to
four times the average power.
2. All the transmitted power in FM is useful, whereas in AM most of it is in
the transmitted carrier, which contains no useful information.
3. FM receivers can be fitted with amplitude limiters to remove the amplitude
variations caused by noise; this makes FM reception much more immune
to noise than AM reception.
4. Provides a guard band between commercial FM stations, so that there is
less adjacent channel interference than in AM.

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 Disadvantages of FM
1. Wider channel is required by FM, up to 10 times as large as that needed by
AM. This is the most significant disadvantage of FM.

2. FM transmitting and receiving equipment tends to be more complex,

particularly for modulation and demodulation.

3. Reception is limited to line of sight, the area of reception for FM is much

smaller than for AM.

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 Phase Modulation
• Phase Modulation is a process by which the phase of the carrier signal is
varied (made proportional) to the instantaneous voltage of the modulating
signal.
• If the phase in the equation v = A sin (ꙍct + ɸ) is varied so that its
magnitude is proportional to the instantaneous amplitude of the modulating
voltage, the resulting wave is phase-modulated.

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 Equivalence and comparisons between AM and FM
• Stands for: AM stands for Amplitude Modulation
• Modulating differences: In AM, a radio wave known as the "carrier" or
"carrier wave" is modulated in amplitude by the signal that is to be transmitted.
The frequency and phase remain the same.
• Pros and cons: AM has poorer sound quality compared with FM, but is
cheaper and can be transmitted over long distances. It has a lower bandwidth
so it can have more stations available in any frequency range.
• Frequency Range: AM radio ranges from 535 to 1705 KHz.
• Bandwidth Requirements: Twice the highest modulating frequency. In AM
radio broadcasting, the modulating signal has frequency of 15kHz, and hence
the bandwidth of an amplitude-modulated signal is 30kHz.
• Complexity: Transmitter and receiver are simple but synchronization is
needed in case of SSBSC AM carrier.

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 Equivalence and comparisons between AM and FM
Stands for: FM stands for Frequency Modulation
Modulating differences: In FM, a radio wave known as the "carrier" or "carrier
wave" is modulated in frequency by the signal that is to be transmitted. The
amplitude and phase remain the same.
Pros and cons: FM is less prone to interference than AM. However, FM signals
are impacted by physical barriers. FM has better sound quality due to higher
bandwidth.
Frequency Range: FM radio ranges in a higher spectrum from 88 to 108 MHz.
Bandwidth Requirements: Twice the sum of the modulating signal frequency
and the frequency deviation.
Complexity: Transmitter and receiver are more complex.

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Generation of Frequency Modulation by VCO
Direct method
• Devices whose reactance can be varied by the application of a voltage.
• Achieved by placing a voltage variable reactance device across the tuned circuit.
• Capacitance / inductance of an LC oscillator tank is varied in proportion to the voltage.
Three Terminal Devices: Reactance Field-Effect Transistor (FET) or Bipolar transistor.
Two-terminal devices : Varactor diode.

In VCO, the frequency is controlled by external voltage.

1. Hartley oscillator

2. Colpitt’s oscillator

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 FET AS REACTANCE MODULATOR(not in syllabus)

• A three-terminal reactance that may be connected across the tank circuit of the
oscillator to be frequency-modulated.
• Value of this reactance is proportional to the transconductance of the device,
which can be made to depend on the gate bias and its variation
• Equivalent capacitance Ceq depends on the device transconductance and can
be varied by the bias voltage.
• Capacitance can be adjusted to any value by varying the components R and C.
• The expression gmRC has the correct dimensions of capacitance.

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 VARACTOR DIODE MODULATOR (not in syllabus)

• A varactor diode is a semiconductor diode whose junction capacitance varies linearly with
the applied voltage when the diode is reverse- biased.
• The diode has been back-biased to provide the junction capacitance effect, and since this
bias is varied by the modulating voltage which is in series with it, the junction capacitance
will also vary, causing the oscillator frequency to change accordingly.

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 FM Demodulator
FM demodulator (detector) is a frequency to amplitude converter and it convert the
frequency variations in FM wave into amplitude variations to recover the original
modulating signal.
Requirements of a FM Demodulator
1. Must convert frequency variations into amplitude variations.
2. Conversion must be linear and efficient.
3. Demodulator circuit should be insensitive to amplitude changes. It should respond
only to the frequency changes.
• FM Demodulators :
 Slope Detector ( *)
 Foster-Seeley Discriminator
 Ratio Detector
 Phase-Locked Loops

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 FM slope detector basics (Refer only)
• FM slope detector consists of a tuned
circuit where the center frequency is tuned
to a frequency slightly offset from the
carrier of the signal.
• In this way the frequency modulated
signal sits on the slope of the response
curve, giving rise to the name of FM slope
detector.
• As the frequency of the signals varies up
and down in frequency according to its
modulation, so the signal moves up and
down the slope of the tuned circuit
response curve.
• This causes the amplitude of the signal to
vary in line with the frequency variations.

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 Working of a FM slope detector
• The center frequency of the FM signal is f c and the frequency deviation is Δf.
• A frequency modulated signal is applied at the input of this tuned circuit (T1 & C1)
• The resonant frequency of the tuned circuit (T1 & C2) is deliberately adjusted to (f c + Δf).
• The amplitude of the output voltage of the tank circuit depends on the frequency deviation of the
input FM signal.
• The output voltage of the tank circuit is then applied to a simple diode detector circuit D1
• The diode provides the rectification, while C3 removes any unwanted high frequency
components, and R provides a load to provide the AF modulating signal.

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 Advantages of FM slope detectors
1. They are simple and can be used to provide FM demodulation when only
an AM detector is present.

2. Enables FM to be detected without any additional circuitry.

Disadvantages of FM slope detectors
1. It is inefficient.
2. It is linear only over a limited frequency range.
3. It is difficult to adjust as the primary and secondary winding of the
transformer must be tuned to slightly different frequencies.

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 Block diagram of Super heterodyne receiver

1. The receiver is tuned to 550 kHz.

2. The local oscillator (because of mechanical linking) will generate a frequency of 1005 kHz.
(always 455kHz above the station carrier frequency)
3. The mixer will produce a usable output of ± 455KHz difference frequency of the local oscillator
and the receiver frequency, i.e., 1005 kHz – 550 kHz = 455 kHz)
4. The mixer output is fed to the IF amplifier which can respond to 455 kHz and all the other
frequencies are rejected.
5. The converted signal is rectified by the diode detector and filtered, to eliminate the unusable
portions, and amplified for listening purposes.

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