COMMUNICATIONS 2

LABORATORY
WEDNESDAY, 5:00 PM-8:50 PM
EXPERIMENT NO.: 5
EXPERIMENT TITLE: Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM)

GROUP NO.: 1

TIME OF
ATTENDANCE MEMBERS SIGNATURE GRADE
COMPLETION
Experiment
Executioner /
Present Barbacina, Lyndone
Documentation /
Leader
Drawing of
Present Cadorna, Glenn Graphs / Word
Documentation
Experiment
Present de Vera, Airell Francis Executioner /
Documentation
Drawing of
Present Mariano, Bryle Miguel Graphs /
Documentation
Drawing of
Present Morden, Lian Shane Graphs /
Documentation
Drawing of
Present H-Zainal, Alraji Graphs /
Documentation

DOP: October 7, 2024 Remarks:

DOS: November 5, 2024

BERNADETH B. ZARI, PECE

INSTRUCTOR
 ELECTRICAL/ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
Digital Communications Laboratory Manual

ACTIVITY NO. 5: Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM)

5.1 Program Outcomes (POs) Addressed by the Activity

a. ability to apply knowledge of mathematics and science to solve engineering problems
b. ability to design and conduct fieldworks, as well as to analyse and interpret data
c. ability to function on multidisciplinary teams

5.2 Activity’s Intended Learning Outcomes (AILOs)

At the end of this activity, the student shall be able to:
a. identify instruments and accessories that are essential in QAM
b. generate quadrature amplitude modulation signal
c. evaluate the precision of the experiment conducted

5.3 Objectives of the Activity

The objectives of this activity are to:
a. Sketch QAM signal in the time domain using QAM Generator.
b. Describe the characteristics of a QAM signal.

5.4 Principle of the Activity

THE QAM PRINCIPLE
When two double sideband suppressed carrier (DSBSC) signals are combined on a common carrier,
and multiplexing them in phase quadrature, such process is called Quadrature Amplitude Modulation
(QAM).
Figure 1 below is the block diagram of a QAM modulator. The two paths to the adder are
typically referred to as the ‘ I ‘ (in-phase) and ‘Q’ (quadrature), arms.

Not shown in Figure 1 is any bandlimiting. In practical situation this would be implemented either at
message level – at the input to each multiplier – and/or at the output of the adder.
The motivation for QAM comes from the fact that a DSBSC signal occupies twice the bandwidth of the
message from which it is derived. This is considered wasteful of resources. QAM restores the balance by
placing two independent DSBSC, derived from message #1 and message #2, in the same spectrum space
as one DBSBSC. The bandwidth imbalance is removed.

In digital communication this arrangement is popular. It is used because of its bandwidth conserving (and
other ) properties.

It is not used for multiplexing two independent messages. Given an input binary sequence (message) at the
rate of n bit/s, two sequences may be obtained by splitting the bit stream into two paths, each of n/2 bit/s.
This is akin to a serial-to-parallel conversion. Because of the halved rate, the bits in the I and Q paths are
stretched to twice the input sequence bit clock period.

The two messages are recombined at the receiver, which uses a QAM-type demodulator. The two bit
streams would typically be band limited and/or pulse shaped before reaching the modulator.

5.5 Materials/Equipment/Modules

1-unit Digital Oscilloscope

1- unit BNC
1- set Connecting wires, Audio Oscillator, 2 x Multiplier, Adder

5.6 Circuit Diagrams / Figures

5.7 Procedure/s
a. Connect the figure 2 shown above.
b. Set the Audio Oscillator to 500 Hz frequency by connecting sin μt to the
oscilloscope while adjusting the frequency control of the Audio Oscillator.
c. Confirm there are DSBSC at the output of each multiplier by connecting its
output to an oscilloscope (Multiplier 1 to Ch 1, and Multiplier 2 to Ch 2). Adjust
 their amplitudes to be equal at the output of the Adder, by using the Adder
gain controls (remove the “A” input when adjusting “g”, and the “B” input when
adjusting “G”.
d. Sketch the output waveform of the following by connecting it to an
oscilloscope:
1. Multiplier 1 output terminal
2. Multiplier 2 output terminal
3. QAM out
4. Audio Oscillator output terminal
e. Repeat steps 1 to 4, by setting the frequency of the Audio Oscillator to 2 kHz
frequency.

Note:
Since the QAM signal will be the input to an analog channel, its amplitude should be at about 4
volts peak-to-peak.

5.8.1 Data and Results:

For 500 Hz:

AUDIO OSCILLATOR OUTPUT:

MULTIPLIER 1 OUTPUT:
MULTIPLIER 2 OUTPUT:

QAM OUTPUT:

For 2000 Hz:

AUDIO OSCILLATOR OUTPUT:
MULTIPLIER 1 OUTPUT:

MULTIPLIER 2 OUTPUT:

QAM OUTPUT:
5.8.2 Questions
1. Define QAM.
- Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) is a signal modulation technique that
combines two signals that are 90 degrees out of phase to transmit data using both amplitude
and phase fluctuations. Through the manipulation of a wave's phase (timing) and amplitude
(signal strength), QAM basically creates a signal that carries information. Because of this
combination, QAM can transmit more data than other methods within a given bandwidth.
A QAM's rank increases with the amount of data it can store (e.g., 16-QAM, 64-QAM).
QAM is therefore often employed in applications that need large data rates.

2. What is the advantage of QAM versus PSK?

- QAM can provide higher data throughput than Phase Shift Keying (PSK) because it uses
both phase and amplitude fluctuations instead of only phase shifts. Because QAM can hold
more bits per symbol, each shift in the signal can therefore represent a larger amount of
data. As a result, for the same bandwidth, QAM can enable higher data rates than PSK.
This has the drawback of being more susceptible to noise, which can distort the amplitude
component of the signal. When dependable signal quality and high data rates are crucial
factors, QAM is typically selected.

3. Compare the bandwidth of 4 - QAM versus QPSK.

- Both 4-QAM and Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) use the same bandwidth
because they transmit two bits each symbol. The main difference between the two lies in
the representation of the data; 4-QAM alters both the phase and the amplitude, while QPSK
just alters the phase. In terms of spectrum efficiency, they are similar at this level, however
QAM works better at higher data rates. Therefore, even if both are bandwidth-efficient at
this level, QAM has the advantage in higher modulation orders.

4. List down at least two applications of QAM.

- QAM is widely used in digital communication systems, particularly in situations where
high data rates are essential. For instance, when a large amount of audio and video data
needs to be sent rapidly, this modulation approach is essential in digital television
transmission. In Wi-Fi technology, QAM is also widely employed to maximize data
transfer rates within limited bandwidth. QAM is essential for modern high-speed networks
since these systems can use it to deliver reliable, fast communication.

5. For a 8-QAM modulator with a carrier frequency of 100 MHz and an input bit rate of
20 Mbps, determine the ff:

a. fN
- In this case, 20 Mbps ÷ 2 = 10 MHz is the Nyquist frequency (fN), which is half the
input bit rate. The lowest rate at which the signal may be sampled without information
loss is represented by this frequency.

b. fa
- Because 8-QAM is involved, each symbol can stand for three bits. The bit rate divided
by the number of bits per symbol is the symbol rate, so 20 Mbps ÷ 3 = 6.67 Msymbols
per second, or roughly 6.67 MHz.
 c. BW
- The bandwidth and the symbol rate of a QAM system are about equal. Thus, in this
case, the bandwidth (BW) would be roughly 6.67 MHz. The signal functions within
this range, which enables efficient data transmission.

d. trigonometric equation
- An 8-QAM signal with a carrier frequency of 100 MHz would have the following
trigonometric equation:
𝑠(𝑡) = 𝐴(𝑡)cos⁡((2𝜋)(100𝑀𝐻𝑧)(𝑡) + 𝜃(𝑡))
Where 𝐴(𝑡) and 𝜃(𝑡)⁡
are time-varying functions representing amplitude and phase changes corresponding
to the 8-QAM symbol being transmitted.

e. Lower side frequency

- Half of the bandwidth is subtracted from the carrier frequency to determine the lower
side frequency. Thus, 100 MHz - (6.67 MHz ÷ 2) = 96.665 MHz would be the result.

f. Upper side frequency

- This 8-QAM signal's output spectrum will span from the lower side frequency
(96.665 MHz) to the upper side frequency (103.335 MHz), with the 100 MHz carrier
frequency at its center. The primary carrier frequency and the sidebands brought on
by amplitude and phase modulation would be among the several frequency
components visible in this spectrum.

g. Output spectrum
- This 8-QAM signal's output spectrum will span from the lower side frequency
(96.665 MHz) to the upper side frequency (103.335 MHz), with the 100 MHz carrier
frequency at its center. The primary carrier frequency and the sidebands brought on
by amplitude and phase modulation would be among the several frequency
components visible in this spectrum.

5.9 Analysis:
Following the procedures of this experiment, we noticed the changes of our waveform from our
equipments. The output of 500 Hz audio oscillator is a sine wave with short amplitude, while on the 2000
Hz audio oscillator output, showed the sine wave signal with high amplitude modulation. With the
exception of the second multiplier module's phase shift, the output from the first and second multiplier
modules is identical. This is because the second multiplier module uses a cosine wave, which lags the sine
wave by 90 degrees. The 500 Hz and 2 kHz QAM output waveforms are thus comparable. The 2 kHz QAM
output waveform appears more compressed than the 500 Hz QAM output waveform, indicating that their
frequency is the only difference.
5.10 Conclusion/s:
In this experiment, we learned the importance of Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) and
its functions. Amplitude Shift Keying (ASK) and Phase Shift Keying (PSK) are two modulation techniques
that are combined in QAM. More symbols can be represented by QAM than by each approach alone since
it alters both the amplitude and phase of a carrier signal. greater data rates result from this greater symbol
rate. QAM are essential nowadays since we are now in modern technology its functions will greatly affect
those applications. As technology advances, QAM will continue to be a fundamental component of digital
communication, allowing for networks with greater capacity, speed, and dependability.