Amplitude Modulation

A continuous-wave goes on continuously without any

intervals and it is the baseband message signal, which
contains the information. This wave has to be modulated.

According to the standard definition, “The amplitude of

the carrier signal varies in accordance with the
instantaneous amplitude of the modulating signal.” Which
means, the amplitude of the carrier signal containing no
information varies as per the amplitude of the signal
containing information, at each instant. This can be well
explained by the following figures.
The first figure shows the modulating wave, which is the
message signal. The next one is the carrier wave, which
is a high frequency signal and contains no information.
While, the last one is the resultant modulated wave.

It can be observed that the positive and negative peaks

of the carrier wave, are interconnected with an imaginary
line. This line helps recreating the exact shape of the
modulating signal. This imaginary line on the carrier
wave is called as Envelope. It is the same as that of the
message signal.

Mathematical Expressions
Following are the mathematical expressions for these
waves.

Time-domain Representation of the Waves

Let the modulating signal be,

m (t) = Am cos(2π fm t)

and the carrier signal be,

c (t) = Ac cos(2π fc t)
 Where,

Am and Ac are the amplitude of the modulating

signal and the carrier signal respectively.

fm and fc are the frequency of the modulating

signal and the carrier signal respectively.

Then, the equation of Amplitude Modulated wave will be

s(t) = [Ac + Am cos(2π fm t)] cos(2π fc t)

(Equation 1)

Modulation Index
A carrier wave, after being modulated, if the modulated
level is calculated, then such an attempt is called as
Modulation Index or Modulation Depth. It states the
level of modulation that a carrier wave undergoes.

Rearrange the Equation 1 as below.

s(t) = Ac [1 + ( Amc ) cos(2π fm t)] cos(2π fc t)

A

⇒ s (t) = Ac [1 + μ cos(2π fm t)] cos(2π fc t)

(Equation 2)

Where, μ is Modulation index and it is equal to the

ratio of Am and Ac . Mathematically, we can write it

as

Am
μ= Ac

(Equation 3)

Hence, we can calculate the value of modulation index

by using the above formula, when the amplitudes of the
message and carrier signals are known.
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 Now, let us derive one more formula for Modulation index
by considering Equation 1. We can use this formula for
calculating modulation index value, when the maximum
and minimum amplitudes of the modulated wave are
known.

Let Amax and Amin be the maximum and minimum

amplitudes of the modulated wave.

We will get the maximum amplitude of the modulated

wave, when cos(2π fm t) is 1.

⇒ Amax = Ac + Am
(Equation 4)

We will get the minimum amplitude of the modulated

wave, when cos(2π fm t) is -1.

⇒ Amin = Ac − Am
(Equation 5)

Add Equation 4 and Equation 5.

Amax + Amin = Ac + Am + Ac − Am = 2Ac

Amax +Amin
⇒ Ac = 2
(Equation 6)

Subtract Equation 5 from Equation 4.

Amax − Amin = Ac + Am − (Ac − Am ) = 2Am

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 Amax −Amin
⇒ Am = 2
(Equation 7)

The ratio of Equation 7 and Equation 6 will be as follows.

Am (A − Amin ) /2
= max
Ac (Amax + Amin ) /2

Amax −Amin
⇒μ= Amax +Amin

(Equation 8)

Therefore, Equation 3 and Equation 8 are the two

formulas for Modulation index. The modulation index or
modulation depth is often denoted in percentage called
as Percentage of Modulation. We will get the
percentage of modulation, just by multiplying the
modulation index value with 100.

For a perfect modulation, the value of modulation index

should be 1, which implies the percentage of modulation
should be 100%.

For instance, if this value is less than 1, i.e., the

modulation index is 0.5, then the modulated output would
look like the following figure. It is called as Under-
modulation. Such a wave is called as an under-
modulated wave.
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 If the value of the modulation index is greater than 1, i.e.,
1.5 or so, then the wave will be an over-modulated
wave. It would look like the following figure.

As the value of the modulation index increases, the

carrier experiences a 180o phase reversal, which causes
additional sidebands and hence, the wave gets distorted.
Such an over-modulated wave causes interference,
which cannot be eliminated.

Bandwidth of AM Wave
Bandwidth (BW) is the difference between the highest
and lowest frequencies of the signal. Mathematically, we
can write it as

BW = fmax − fmin

Consider the following equation of amplitude modulated

wave.
:
 s (t) = Ac [1 + μ cos(2π fm t)] cos(2π fc t)

⇒ s (t) = Ac cos(2π fc t) + Ac μ cos(2π fc t) cos(2π fm t)

Ac μ Ac μ
⇒ s (t) = Ac cos(2π fc t) + 2
cos[2π (fc + fm ) t] + 2
cos[2π (fc − fm ) t]

Hence, the amplitude modulated wave has three

frequencies. Those are carrier frequency fc , upper

sideband frequency fc + fm and lower sideband

frequency fc − fm

Here,

fmax = fc + fm and fmin = fc − fm

Substitute, fmax and fmin values in bandwidth

formula.

BW = fc + fm − (fc − fm )

⇒ BW = 2fm

Thus, it can be said that the bandwidth required for

amplitude modulated wave is twice the frequency of the
modulating signal.

Power Calculations of AM Wave

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 Consider the following equation of amplitude modulated
wave.

Ac μ Ac μ
s (t) = Ac cos(2π fc t) + 2
cos[2π (fc + fm ) t] + 2
cos[2π (fc − fm ) t]

Power of AM wave is equal to the sum of powers of

carrier, upper sideband, and lower sideband frequency
components.

Pt = Pc + PUSB + PLSB

We know that the standard formula for power of cos

signal is

(v m /√2‾)
2
v rms 2
P= =
R 2

Where,

v rms is the rms value of cos signal.

v m is the peak value of cos signal.

First, let us find the powers of the carrier, the upper and
lower sideband one by one.

Carrier power

(Ac /√2‾)
2
Ac 2
Pc = =
R 2R

Upper sideband power

:
 (Ac μ/2√2‾)
2
Ac 2 μ 2
PUSB = =
R 8R

Similarly, we will get the lower sideband power same as

that of the upper side band power.

Ac 2 μ 2
PLSB =
8R

Now, let us add these three powers in order to get the

power of AM wave.

Ac 2 Ac 2 μ 2 Ac 2 μ 2
Pt = + +
2R 8R 8R

( 2R ) ( 4 )
Ac 2 μ2 μ2
⇒ Pt = 1+ +
4

( 2 )
μ2
⇒ Pt = Pc 1 +

We can use the above formula to calculate the power of

AM wave, when the carrier power and the modulation
index are known.

If the modulation index μ = 1 then the power of AM

wave is equal to 1.5 times the carrier power. So, the
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 power required for transmitting an AM wave is 1.5 times
the carrier power for a perfect modulation.

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