Page 1 of 6

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.
 Page 2 of 6

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(2πfm t)

and the carrier signal be,

c (t) = Ac cos(2πfc 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(2πfm t)] cos(2πfc 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.

Am
s(t) = Ac [1 + ( ) cos(2πfm t)] cos(2πfc t)
Ac

⇒ s (t) = Ac [1 + μ cos(2πfm t)] cos(2πfc t) (Equation 2)

Where, μ is Modulation index and it is equal to the ratio of Am and Ac . Mathematically,

Am
μ = (Equation 3)
Ac

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.

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(2πfm t) is 1.

⇒ Amax = Ac + Am (Equation 4)

We will get the minimum amplitude of the modulated wave, when cos(2πfm 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

Amax −Amin
⇒ Am =
2
(Equation 7)

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

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

Amax −Amin
⇒ μ = (Equation 8)
Amax +Amin

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.

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.
 Page 5 of 6

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.

Explore our latest online courses and learn new skills at your own pace. Enroll and
become a certified expert to boost your career.

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(2πfm t)] cos(2πfc t)

⇒ s (t) = Ac cos(2πfc t) + Ac μ cos(2πfc t) cos(2πfm t)

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

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

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

Power of AM wave is equal to the sum of powers of carrier, upper sideband, and lower
sideband frequency components.

Pt = Pc + PU SB + PLSB

We know that the standard formula for power of cos signal is

– 2
2
vrms (vm /√ 2)
P = =
R 2

Where,

vrms is the rms value of cos signal.

vm 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

– 2
2
(Ac /√ 2) Ac
Pc = =
R 2R

Upper sideband power

– 2 2 2
(Ac μ/2√ 2) Ac μ
PU SB = =
R 8R

Similarly, we will get the lower sideband power same as that of the upper side band
power.

2 2
Ac μ
PLSB =
8R

Now, let us add these three powers in order to get the power of AM wave.

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

2 2 2
Ac μ μ
⇒ Pt = ( ) (1 + + )
2R 4 4

2
μ
⇒ Pt = Pc (1 + )
2

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