Chapter-8

Introduction to Digital Communication

In analog communication, the message signals are continuous-time and can take infinite
amplitude levels. When these signals are transmitted over long distances, even a small
disturbance (noise) can cause distortion in the signal. The signal gets distorted, and it is difficult
to recover the original signal in the presence of noise at the receiver. In digital communication,
errors in the transmission can be detected and corrected using error correction coding
techniques. Hence digital communication has more benefits as compared to analog
communication. In digital communication, the message signal is in a discrete form with finite
amplitude levels. If the message signal is analog, it must be converted to the digital format by
Analog-to-Digital Conversion.

Module-1: Digitization of Analog signals

The signal must be converted to digital form for any analog information to be transmitted using
a digital communication system. The analog-to-digital conversion process involves sampling,
quantizing, and encoding the analog signal. The digitized signal is then modulated using digital
modulation techniques.

Learning Outcomes:

At the end of this module, students will be able to:

1. State Nyquist Sampling Theorem and explain.
2. Explain qualitatively pulse amplitude modulation technique with the help of suitable
waveforms.
3. Draw and explain the general block diagram of Digital Communication system.
4. Explain qualitatively different types of digital modulation techniques with the help of
suitable waveforms.

8.1.1 Basic principle of Sampling: Sampling Theorem

The basic principles of Analog to Digital Conversion are shown in Fig 8.1.1. The analog signals
are converted into digital signals with simple steps called sampling, quantizing, and encoding.
Sampling can be observed in numerous real-life applications. For example, music CDs
(Compact Discs) are produced by sampling live sound at frequent intervals and then quantizing
and encoding each sample. If the sampling rate is too high, the human sensory organs cannot
discriminate each frame they are played back. If the sampling rate is low, there will be
distortion in the reconstructed picture obtained from the digitized samples. Therefore, while
sampling an analog signal, there is a minimum sampling rate requirement, called the Nyquist
Sampling rate, to avoid distortion in the reconstructed signal. The sampling theorem states, "It
is possible to reconstruct a band-limited analog signal from periodic samples, as long as the
sampling rate is at least twice the signal's highest frequency component.”
Where fs is the sampling frequency, and fc is the highest frequency contained in the signal. This
theorem is also commonly called the Nyquist sampling theorem .

If a voice signal has frequencies ranging from 0 to 4kHz (Low pass signal), then according to
the Nyquist Sampling Theorem, to sample this signal without distortion, the minimum required
sampling rate is equal to 8kHz. If an analog signal has frequency components ranging from 2
kHz to 5 kHz (Band pass signal), then according to the sampling theorem, the Nyquist sampling
rate is equal to twice that of the signal's bandwidth. ie. 2*(5-2) kHz = 6 kHz and not 10 kHz.

Fig 8.1.1 Steps involved in Analog-to-Digital Conversion

Self -test:

1 A signal contains components with frequencies up to 10 kHz. What is the minimum

frequency at which the signal should be sampled?

6 kHz
12 kHz
14.4 kHz
20 kHz
Example Problem:
1 Consider the analog signal x (t) =3cos100 π t. Determine the minimum sampling
rate required to avoid aliasing.
Solution:
The frequency of the analog signal can be calculated as 2πfc=100π.
Therefore fc=50Hz. According to the Nyquist sampling rate, the minimum sampling
 rate required to avoid aliasing is fs = 100 Hz.

Exercise:
1 Consider the analog signal x (t) = 3cos50πt+10sin300πt -cos100πt. What is
the Nyquist rate of sampling for this signal? (Ans: 300Hz)

Note: The effect of incorrect sampling rate can be seen when the rotation of a helicopter blade is
observed. As the speed of the blade increases, our eyes are under sampling the true speed of the
blade with a rate which is limited by the human brain. Similarly, in movies, when the motion of car
wheels with increasing speed is observed, the movie camera is under sampling the motion of car
wheels by sampling at a rate equal to the fixed frames per second of the camera. In both the
examples it is observed that as the speed increases, it creates an illusion of backward rotation.
This is because in both cases the actual speed is under sampled.

For Analogy of sampling to Wagon wheel effect, visit the following link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XwgbHjRo30

Introduction to pulse modulation techniques

Pulse modulation involves the communication of information using a train of pulses as the
carrier. It may be used to transmit either analog information such as continuous speech or
digital data. If the modulating signal is in analog form, it is called the analog pulse
modulation technique. The pulse modulation techniques are Pulse Amplitude Modulation
(PAM), Pulse Width Modulation (PWM), and Pulse Position Modulation (PPM). If digital
data is used to modulate a train of pulses, then it is called the digital pulse modulation
technique. Pulse Code Modulation (PCM) and Delta Modulation (DM) are digital pulse
modulation techniques.
Analog Pulse modulation is a process in which continuous waveforms are sampled at
regular intervals using a train of impulses. Information regarding the signal is transmitted
only at the sampling times and any synchronizing pulses that may be required. At the
receiving end, the original waveforms may be reconstructed from the information regarding
the samples if these are taken frequently enough. In analog pulse modulation, the sample
amplitude may be infinitely variable. In digital pulse modulation such as PCM and DM, a
code that indicates the sample amplitude assigned the nearest predetermined discrete
amplitude level is sent.

A pulse train has three parameters: Pulse Amplitude, Pulse Width, and the instant of
occurrence of the pulse – Pulse Position. The information to be transmitted can be varied
 any of these parameters according to the instantaneous amplitude of the modulating signal.
Three different pulse modulation types: Pulse Amplitude Modulation, Pulse Width
Modulation, and Pulse Position Modulation, as shown in Fig 8.1.2.

Fig 8.1.2: Different types of pulse modulation signals

8.1.2 Pulse Amplitude Modulation (PAM)

Pulse Amplitude Modulation (PAM) is the simplest form of pulse modulation. The signal is
sampled at regular intervals, and each sample is proportional to the amplitude of the message
signal at the sampling instant. Telephone modems faster than 300bits/sec use PAM, and
Ethernet also uses PAM.
 Fig 8.1.3: PAM signal

8.1.3 Pulse Width Modulation

The Pulse Width Modulation is also called Pulse Duration Modulation (PDM). The
amplitude and starting time of each pulse is fixed, but each pulse's width is proportional to
the amplitude of the modulating analog signal at that instant. (Refer to Fig 8.1.2) PWM has
a lot of real-world applications. For example, the transmission of voice or music can be
performed using PWM and is also used in dimmer circuits. They are also used for power
saving in some audio applications. PWM is also used to control the speed and torque of DC
motors.

8.1.4 Pulse Position Modulation (PPM)

In this method, both the amplitude and the duration are .kept constant while the position of
each pulse in relation to the position of a recurrent reference pulse is varied by each
instantaneous sampled value of the modulating signal. (Refer to Fig 8.1.2) PPM is used in
both analog and digital data transmission. It is commonly used in optical fiber
communication, remote controls for TV, toys, etc.

8.1.5 Digital Communication System

The pulse modulation techniques discussed in the previous section are used to transmit
message signals over short distances. They are also called baseband modulation
techniques. Suppose message signals have to be transmitted over longer distances. In that
case, the pulse modulation technique is unsuitable because the modulated signal is in
digital form (information is contained in either the amplitude, width, or position of the
train of pulses). For this reason, digital modulation techniques are also called bandpass
modulation techniques. Here a continuous signal such as a high-frequency sinusoid acts
like a carrier.
 ELEMENTS OF DIGITAL COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS:

Fig 8.1.4 Block Diagram of a Digital Communication System

Fig 8.1.4 shows the functional elements of a digital communication system. The function
of each block is explained as follows:

a. Information Source and Input transducer.

Many of the real-world signals are physical in nature. An input transducer is a device used
to convert these physical parameters to corresponding electrical signals. The input
transducer converts voice, speech, music, or image to electrical signals. Examples of input
transducers are microphones, cameras, etc. Usually, the output signal from the transducer
will be analog in nature. This analog signal is converted into digital form using an analog-
to-digital converter. The analog-to-digital conversion consists of sampling, quantizing, and
encoding. In the case of the output data of a computer, the signal is available in digital form
directly.

b. Source Encoder / Decoder

The source coding aims to efficiently represent the digital signal with as much fewer bits
as possible. This will reduce the bandwidth required for transmission—Ex: Huffman
coding. The source decoder performs the inverse operation of the source encoder. ie. It is
used to get back the data in its original representation.
c. Channel Encoder / Decoder
Channel coding consists of systematically adding extra bits in a known manner to the digital
data to be transmitted. These extra bits do not convey any information but help the receiver
detect and correct some errors in the received data. Channel encoding is done by using
either Block Coding or Convolution Coding methods. The channel decoder performs the
inverse operation of the channel encoder. It extracts the digital data from its encoded form
with minimum possible error. The decoder helps detect and correct errors in the received
data that gets introduced during transmission.

d. Modulator/ Demodulator
 The Modulator converts the digital input information into an electrical waveform suitable
for transmission over the communication channel. Mainly there are three types of Digital
modulation techniques viz., Amplitude Shift Keying (ASK), Frequency Shift Keying
(FSK), and Phase Shift Keying (PSK). The demodulator accomplishes the extraction of the
digital data from the received signal.

e. Channel

The channels are either wired, coaxial cable, optical fiber, or wireless (free space), such as
a radio channel, satellite channel, or a combination of these. The communication channels
have only finite bandwidth, and the signal often suffers amplitude and phase distortion as
it travels over the channel. The signal power in the channel decreases with distance. It may
also get corrupted by unwanted, unpredictable electrical signals called noise. The two
important parameters used to measure the channel characteristics are Signal to Noise power
Ratio (SNR) and usable bandwidth.

• Advantages of Digital Communication

1. The effect of distortion, noise, and interference is less in a digital communication
system.
2. Regenerative repeaters can be used at a fixed distance along the link to identify and
regenerate a pulse before it is degraded to an ambiguous state.
3. Digital circuits are more reliable and cheaper compared to analog circuits.
4. The Hardware implementation is more flexible than analog hardware because of the
use of microprocessors, VLSI chips etc.
5. Signal processing functions like encryption and compression can be employed to
maintain the secrecy of the information.
6. Error detecting and Error-correcting codes improve the system performance by
reducing the probability of error.

• Disadvantages of Digital Communication

1. Large System Bandwidth: - Digital transmission requires an extensive system

bandwidth to communicate the same information in a digital format compared to analog
format.
2. System Synchronization: - Digital detection requires system synchronization, whereas
the analog signals generally have no such requirement.

8.1.6 Digital Modulation Techniques

There are three basic types of digital modulation techniques. They are:
i. Amplitude Shift Keying (ASK)
ii. Frequency Shift Keying (FSK)
iii. Phase Shift Keying (PSK)
 In all these techniques, the amplitude, frequency or phase of a sinusoidal carrier varies to
represent the information to be sent. The digitized data is mapped into the above three
aspects of the sine wave and transmitted. The sine wave at the receiver is remapped back
to the information. The digital modulation techniques are widely used in MODEMs (
MOdulator DEModulator), mobile communication etc. Usually, FSK and PSK modulations
are more frequently used than ASK.

i. Amplitude Shift Keying (ASK)

The amplitude of the carrier is changed according to the binary data to be transmitted while
the frequency and phase of the carrier are kept fixed. Bit 1 is transmitted by a carrier of one
particular amplitude. In this case, bit 0 is transmitted by changing the amplitude to 0 Volt
or no signal. The ASK, also called On-Off keying (OOK), is shown in Fig 8.1.5.

Fig 8.1.5 Binary ASK signal

ii. Frequency Shift Keying (FSK)

The frequency of the carrier is changed in accordance with the binary information. i.e., one
frequency for bit 1 and another frequency for bit 0. FSK signal is as shown in Fig8.1.6.
 Fig 8.1.6 Binary FSK signal
iii. Phase Shift Keying (PSK)
The sinusoidal carrier phase is changed according to the binary information. Phase in this
context is the starting angle at which the sinusoid starts. Transmit bit 0, and the phase of
the sinusoid is shifted by 180o , Transmit bit 1 and another 180o shifts the phase of the
sinusoidal carrier. Thus the carrier phase shift represents the change in the state of the
information. Fig 8.1.7 shows the binary PSK representation.

Fig 8.1.7 Binary PSK Signal

Summary

1. Sampling theorem states that “It is possible to reconstruct a band-limited analog

signal from periodic samples, as long as the sampling rate is at least twice the
highest frequency component of the signal”.
2. Pulse modulation involves communication of information using a train of pulses as
carrier.
3. Some of analog pulse modulation techniques are: Pulse Amplitude Modulation
(PAM), Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) and Pulse Position Modulation (PPM).
4. Digital modulation is achieved by varying either the amplitude or frequency or
phase of the carrier in accordance with the digital data to be transmitted.
5. There are three basic types of digital modulation techniques. They are:
Amplitude Shift Keying (ASK)
Frequency Shift Keying (FSK)
Phase Shift Keying (PSK)