INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY ROORKEE

Analog
Communication
Electromagnetic wave – Basics
• Electromagnetic radiations are composed of electromagnetic
waves that are produced when an electric field comes in
contact with the magnetic field.
• In other words, electromagnetic waves are the composition
of oscillating electric and magnetic fields.
• Generally, an electric field is produced by a charged particle.
A force is exerted by this electric field on other charged
particles along the direction of the field.
• The Magnetic field is produced by a moving charged particle.
A force is exerted by this magnetic field on other moving
particles; direction of the force always perpendicular to the
direction of their velocity and therefore only changes the
direction of the velocity, not the speed.
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Electromagnetic wave – Basics

• Electromagnetic waves are nothing but electric and magnetic

fields travelling through free space with the speed of light c.
• When accelerating charged particle oscillates about an
equilibrium position with frequency f, then it produces an
electromagnetic wave with frequency f.
• The wavelength λ of this wave is λ = c / f.
• Electromagnetic waves transfer energy through space.
• Electromagnetic waves are solutions of Maxwell’s equations,
which are the fundamental equations of electrodynamics.

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Electromagnetic wave – Basics

• The EM wave consists of time-varying electric and magnetic

fields which are perpendicular to each other and are also
perpendicular to the direction of propagation of waves.
• Therefore, electromagnetic waves are transverse in nature.

𝐸 𝑥, 𝑡 = 𝐸0 cos 𝑘𝑥 − 𝜔𝑡 + 𝜑

𝐵 𝑥, 𝑡 = 𝐵0 cos 𝑘𝑥 − 𝜔𝑡 + 𝜑

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Electromagnetic wave – Basics

• General equation for wave motion:

𝑦 𝑥, 𝑡 = 𝐴 cos 𝜔𝑡 − 𝑘𝑥 = 𝐴 cos 𝑘𝑥 − 𝜔𝑡

2𝜋
𝑦 𝑥, 𝑡 = 𝐴 cos 𝑘𝑥 − 𝜔𝑡 = 𝐴 cos 𝑥 − 𝑐𝑡
λ

• Differential equation for wave motion: 𝜕2 𝑦 1 𝜕2 𝑦

2
= 2 2
𝜕𝑥 𝑐 𝜕𝑡

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Electromagnetic wave – Basics
• Maxwell’s four equations in free space:
Gauss’ Law for electrostatics for charge free space
Gauss’ Law for magnetostatics
Faraday’s Law of Electromagnetic Induction

Maxwell’s modification to Ampere’s Law

Ԧ 𝑑 𝑆Ԧ
• Divergence theorem: ‫ 𝛻 ׮‬. 𝐹Ԧ 𝑑𝑉 = ‫𝐹 ׭‬.
Ԧ 𝑑𝑙Ԧ
• Stoke’s theorem: ‫𝐹 × 𝛻 ׭‬Ԧ 𝑑𝑆Ԧ = ‫𝐹 ׬‬.
𝜌
• Gauss’ Law for electrostatics: 𝛻 . 𝐸 =
𝜖
𝜕𝐸
• Modified Ampere’s Law: 𝛻 × 𝐵 = 𝜇 𝐽Ԧ + 𝜖
𝜕𝑡
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Electromagnetic wave – Basics

• Taking curl on both sides of the 3rd equation:

• Similarly, from 4th equation we get:

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Electromagnetic wave – Basics

• Now, for free space:

1
– Permittivity: 𝜖0 = farad / m
4𝜋 × 9 × 109

– Permeability: 𝜇0 = 4𝜋 × 10−7 weber / ampere-m

• Therefore, 𝜇0 𝜖0 = 1Τ𝑐 2

• So, the EM wave equations are:

• Compare these with the general equation for wave

equations.
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Electromagnetic wave – Basics

• So, by solving the wave equations (taking only the real part
of the solution), we get the wave equations as:

𝐸 𝑥, 𝑡 = 𝐸0 cos 𝑘𝑥 − 𝜔𝑡 + 𝜑

𝐵 𝑥, 𝑡 = 𝐵0 cos 𝑘𝑥 − 𝜔𝑡 + 𝜑

• The direction of propagation of the electromagnetic wave is

given by vector cross product of the electric field
and magnetic field, called Poynting vector (unit watt per m2).
𝑃= 𝐸 × 𝐻
• This is power flow per area in a direction perpendicular to the
directions of 𝐸 and 𝐻.
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Transmission Line

• Guided medium for transmission of radio waves:

– Transmission lines
– Waveguides

• As the name suggests, transmission line is a structure that

transports electrical energy from one point to another.
• A transmission line consists of two linear conductors
separated by a distance.
• When an electrical source is applied between the two
conductors, the line gets energized and the electrical energy
flows along the length of the conductors.

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Transmission Line

• Transmission line may be of any of the following forms:

• Microstrip Line: Thin metallic strip on one side of a

dielectric substrate and ground plane on the other side.
• Majority of the fields are confined in the dielectric substrate.
• Usually found in printed circuit boards at high frequencies.

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Transmission Line
• If the two conductors are symmetric around the ground, then
the line is called the balanced line, otherwise the line is an
un-balanced line.
• Co-axial cable, microstrip line and single-conductor line are
un-balanced lines; twin (parallel) wire is a balanced line.
• Delay (transmit time) between source and load points:
𝑙 𝑙 𝑙𝑇 Assuming vel.
• 𝑡𝑟 = = = of the wave
𝑐 𝑓λ λ
same as light
• We will like to have 𝑡𝑟 ≪ 𝑇
• So, large λ (small 𝑓) desired.
• That means, on the other hand, this delay effect becomes
significant at higher frequencies
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Transmission Line

• A conductor carrying a current has magnetic field and

consequently has flux linkage. The conductor therefore has
inductance distributed along the length of the conductor.
• Similarly the two conductors form a parasitic capacitor
having capacitance distributed along the length of the
conductor.
• For non-ideal conductors there is resistance along the length
of the line.
• Also if the medium separating the conductors is non-ideal,
there is leakage current through the medium which can be
accounted for by placing equivalent conductance between
the conductors distributed along the length of the conductor.

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Transmission Line

• So, there is voltage drop along the conductor due to

resistance and inductance effect while current reduces due
to conductance and capacitance effect.

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Transmission Line

• From these we get,

• Similarly, where 𝛾 = 𝑅 + 𝑗𝜔𝐿 𝐺 + 𝑗𝜔𝐶 = 𝛼 + 𝑗𝛽

is called the propagation constant.

• General solutions to the above differential equations give

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Transmission Line

• So, these equations give voltage and current at any point on

the conductor as a function of combined space and time,
what we know as “wave motion”.
• That means, Voltage and the Current exist in the form of
waves on a transmission line. Both waves have two
components:
– Forward travelling wave
– Backward travelling wave
• The waves decay exponentially along the direction of
propagation; 𝛼 is the ‘attenuation constant’ (unit: neper/m).
• 𝛽 = 2𝜋Τλ gives phase change per unit length and hence
called ‘phase constant' of the line (unit: radian/m).
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Transmission Line

• The ratios of forward / backward voltage and current waves

are given as

= Z0

= −Z0

• Z0 is called the characteristic impedance of the line.

• For high frequency, inductance and capacitance effect plays
significant role → phase constant will increase →
transmission delay will increase, as said earlier.
• In a lossless line 𝑅 = 0 and 𝐺 = 0. Then 𝛼 = 0.
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Wave Guides

• Wave Guide is a structure which can guide or transport

Electro Magnetic Energy with minimal loss.
• Two types of wave guide in structure:
– Metallic Wave Guide: used in high frequency,
microwaves and millimeter waves. Hollow rectangular or
circular wave guides fall in this category.
– Dielectric Wave Guide: used at sub-millimeter
wavelengths and optical frequencies. Optical fibres fall in
this category.
• Parallel wave guide is formed by two infinite parallel
conducting planes; the EM energy is confined between the
planes and moves in a direction parallel to the planes.

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Wave Guides

• The electro magnetic

waves which can exists
between the parallel
planes can be of three
types
– Transverse Electric
Fields (TE mode)
– Transverse Magnetic
Flelds (TM mode)
– Transverse EM Fields
(TEM mode)

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Wave Guides

• TEM Mode:

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Optical Fibres

• Three bands of light waves in the near-IR part of spectrum

centered at 850 nm, 1300 nm and 1550 nm are used.
• Photo-diode and photo-detectors used as transducers at two
ends.
• Total internal reflection used
for light propagation

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Modes of transmission

• Different classes of communication systems based on the

modes of transmission:
– Simplex: one-way, e.g. the first form of telegraphy
system, TV broadcasting, pager, keyboard to CPU.
– Semi-duplex: two-way but not simultaneously, e.g. old-
days’ telegraphy system, walkie-talkie.
– Duplex: – two-way simultaneously, e.g. latest telegraphy
system, present day telephony, mobile phone.
– Diplex: two messages transmitted simultaneously but
only in one-direction (diplex telegraphy developed by
Thomas A. Edison)
– Quadruplex: somewhat like duplexed diplex (quadruplex
telegraphy developed by Thomas A. Edison)
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Issues in question

• Is it possible to transmit telegraph and telephonic (voice)

signals over a long distance without much attenuation?
– No, attenuation will be there due to R and G of the cable
and also radiation loss.
– So, needs to install intermediate relay stations to boost
the signal power.
• Can we transmit telegraph and telephonic (voice) signals
over a long distance wirelessly without the use of cable?
– Research in radio waves showed that it is possible to
transmit high frequency radio waves wirelessly over a
long distance – this led to the invention of radio system.

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Issues in question

• Even point-to-point communication over a long distance via

guided medium may use radio wave communication.
• How to take care of cross-talk in wireless communication?
• Can we do 2-way transmission over the same dedicated line
connecting a pair of users?
• Can we multiplex multiple pairs of users over a single line?
• Answer to all these questions is Multiplexing.
• How can we translate the low frequency telegraph and
telephonic (voice) signals to high frequency radio waves?
• This can be done by a process called Modulation.

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Multiplexing

• Multiplexing – sharing of channels among multiple signals for

economy and maximum utilization of the communication
networks.
• Some multiplexing schemes:
– Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM)
– Time Division Multiplexing (TDM)
– Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)
– Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM)
– Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA)

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Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM)

• The inherent bandwidth of a transmission medium is

generally much greater than that needed for a single signal.
• FDM can be employed to take advantage of this in sending
multiple signals over a single medium .
• The available bandwidth of the transmission medium is
divided into a number of narrower frequency bands
(subbands), each of these subbands is allocated to each
user or transmitting station.
𝑓2
𝑓3 𝑓4 𝑓1
𝑓2 𝑓5
𝑓3
𝑓1 𝑓6
𝑓4

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Frequency Division Multiplexing

• How? A carrier signal of appropriate frequency (center

frequency of the sub-band allocated to a transmitting station
or user) is modulated by the signal originated at that
particular station.
• The message is thus inserted within the sub-band allocated
to that station in the form of modulated wave carrying the
signal information.
• A sufficient amount of separation (guard band) between the
sub-bands is generally allowed so as to avoid any
interference between the adjacent channels.

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Frequency Division Multiplexing

• Any arbitrary
signal can be
expressed as
the sum of
many sinusoids
of different
frequencies and
amplitudes.
• Spectrum of a
signal – plot of
amplitude vs.
frequency.

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Frequency Division Multiplexing

• This scheme has been used in radio and TV broadcasting, in

multiplexing calls over a telephone line and continues to be
used in present day cellular networks and satellite
communication.
• FDM is also utilized in fiber-optic transmission systems,
where it is customarily referred to as wavelength division
multiplexing (WDM).
• When multiple users share a physical communication
channel using frequency division multiplexing, it is called
frequency division multiple access (FDMA).

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Amplitude Modulation (AM)

• The basic purpose of modulation is to translate baseband

(low frequency) message signal to a higher frequency band.
• This frequency translation serves two purposes
– High freq. (radio wave, mm wave, microwave) comm.
– Simultaneous transmission of a number of message
signals over a common channel using FDM,
• Consider simple single-tone message signal with freq. 𝑓𝑚 .
• When two cosines with 𝑓𝑚 ≪ 𝑓𝑐 are multiplied:
𝑠 𝑡 = 𝑚 𝑡 × 𝑐 𝑡 = 𝐴𝑚 cos 2𝜋𝑓𝑚 𝑡 + 𝜑 × 𝐴𝑐 cos 2𝜋𝑓𝑐 𝑡
1
= 𝐴𝑐 𝐴𝑚 cos 2𝜋 𝑓𝑐 − 𝑓𝑚 𝑡 − 𝜑 + cos 2𝜋 𝑓𝑐 + 𝑓𝑚 𝑡 + 𝜑
2
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Amplitude Modulation (AM)
• So, we get message signal translated from lower frequency
𝑓𝑚 to two higher frequencies 𝑓𝑐 − 𝑓𝑚 and 𝑓𝑐 + 𝑓𝑚 .
• This is the modulation process that we do at transmitter;
carrier signal 𝑐 𝑡 modulated by message signal 𝑚 𝑡 .
• At receiver, we multiply the received modulated signal 𝑠 𝑡
again by the same carrier signal:
1 2
𝑣 𝑡 =𝑠 𝑡 ×𝑐 𝑡 = 𝐴 𝐴 cos 2𝜋𝑓𝑚 𝑡 + 𝜑
2 𝑐 𝑚
1 2
+ 𝐴𝑐 𝐴𝑚 cos 2𝜋 2𝑓𝑐 − 𝑓𝑚 𝑡 − 𝜑 + cos 2𝜋 2𝑓𝑐 + 𝑓𝑚 𝑡 + 𝜑
4
• Next, pass 𝑣 𝑡 through a low-pass filter (LPF) with cut-off
frequency just more than 𝑓𝑚 ; the original message (amplified
1
by a factor 𝐴2𝑐 ) is retrieved. This is demodulation process.
2
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Amplitude Modulation (AM)

• Generalizing to arbitrary multi-tone

signal with 𝑓𝑚,𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 𝑊 ≪ 𝑓𝑐 :

This is Double-sideband-suppressed-carrier (DSBSC) type

amplitude modulation
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Amplitude Modulation (AM)

• Now, let us modify the modulation scheme by scaling the

DSBSC signal and adding the carrier signal to it:

• 𝑘𝑎 = amplitude sensitivity of the modulator

• This is the Double-sideband-full-carrier (DSBFC) type
amplitude modulation or simply the general amplitude
modulation scheme.
• Obviously, this will demand more transmission power
compared to DSBSC.
• Then why use it?

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Amplitude Modulation (AM)

• Magnitude spectrum in case of DSBFC-AM modulation

34
Amplitude Modulation (AM)

35
Amplitude Modulation (AM)

• The parameter 𝜇 is called modulation index, 𝜇 = 𝑘𝑎 𝑚𝑚𝑎𝑥

• So, the maximum and minimum amplitudes of the modulated
wave possible are
𝑠𝐴𝑀,𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 𝐴𝑐 1 + 𝜇 and 𝑠𝐴𝑀,𝑚𝑖𝑛 = 𝐴𝑐 1 − 𝜇

• Hence, for 0 < 𝜇 ≤ 1 (i.e. max. 100% modulation) we have

upper envelope of the modulated wave always non-negative.
• This may be useful in doing demodulation simply by
envelope detection (by low-cost diode rectification)

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Amplitude Modulation (AM)

• Disadvantage with both DSBFC and DSBSC modulation

techniques is that the transmission bandwidth is double (2𝑊)
the actual bandwidth (𝑊) of the message signal; particularly
bad in large BW messages such as TV transmission.
• For real signals, the two sidebands (on two sides of the
carrier frequency 𝑓𝑐 ) are symmetric.
• So, no need to transmit both the sidebands → accordingly,
select any one of the two sidebands (either lower or upper
sideband) by bandpass filtering and transmit only that
sideband → this is single-sideband (SSB) modulation.
• SSB may be either with full-carrier or suppressed-carrier.
• Problem with SSB is that it requires filtering by ideal filter
with sharp cut-off at 𝑓𝑐 , practically not possible.
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Amplitude Modulation (AM)

• So, SSB may be modified by including some part of the

adjacent sideband, though redundant → this is Vestigial
sideband (VSB) modulation (commonly used in TV
transmission).

• Disadvantage of all the different types of AM is that AM

signal is highly prone to noise.
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Angle Modulation

• In amplitude modulation, any change in amplitude during

transmission will result in distortion in the message
recovered after demodulation in the receiver.
• Channel noise are generally additive in nature and hence,
will alter the amplitude of AM modulated wave → an AM
signal is highly prone to noise.
• This may be taken care of by modulating the angle
(frequency or phase) of the carrier signal in accordance with
the message signal while the amplitude of the carrier signal
is maintained constant.
• Angle modulation schemes provide good immunity to noise
but at the cost of increased bandwidth – better noise
immunity can be achieved by increasing transmission BW.
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Angle Modulation

• There are two forms of angle modulation –

– phase modulation (PM): instantaneous angle 𝜃𝑖 (𝑡) is
varied linearly with the message signal 𝑚(𝑡) by adding a
time-varying phase proportional to 𝑚(𝑡)
𝜃𝑖 𝑡 = 2𝜋𝑓𝑐 𝑡 + 𝑘𝑝 𝑚(𝑡)

• So, instantaneous frequency is

1 𝑑 𝑘𝑝 𝑑
𝑓𝑖 𝑡 = 𝜃 𝑡 = 𝑓𝑐 + 𝑚(𝑡)
2𝜋 𝑑𝑡 𝑖 2𝜋 𝑑𝑡

• 𝑘𝑝 represents the phase sensitivity of the modulator,

expressed in radians per volt.
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Angle Modulation

– frequency modulation (FM): instantaneous frequency 𝑓𝑖 (𝑡)

is varied linearly with the message signal 𝑚(𝑡)
𝑓𝑖 𝑡 = 𝑓𝑐 + 𝑘𝑓 𝑚(𝑡)

• So, instantaneous angle is

𝑡 𝑡
𝜃𝑖 𝑡 = 2𝜋 න 𝑓𝑖 𝜏 𝑑𝜏 = 2𝜋𝑓𝑐 𝑡 + 2𝜋𝑘𝑓 න 𝑚 𝜏 𝑑𝜏
−∞ −∞

• 𝑘𝑓 represents the frequency sensitivity of the modulator,

expressed in hertz per volt.

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Angle Modulation

42
Angle Modulation
• So, we see that PM can be generated using a frequency-
𝑑
Τ
modulator with 𝑘𝑓 = 𝑘𝑝 2𝜋, and modulating signal 𝑚(𝑡)
𝑑𝑡

• Then, the instantaneous frequency generated in the FM

𝑘𝑝 𝑑
modulator is 𝑓𝑖 𝑡 = 𝑓𝑐 + 𝑚(𝑡)
2𝜋 𝑑𝑡
𝑡
• Consequently, 𝜃𝑖 𝑡 = 2𝜋 ‫׬‬−∞ 𝑓𝑖 𝜏 𝑑𝜏 = 2𝜋𝑓𝑐 𝑡 + 𝑘𝑝 𝑚(𝑡)

as desired in PM

43
Angle Modulation
• Similarly, FM can be generated using a phase-modulator
𝑡
with 𝑘𝑝 = 2𝜋𝑘𝑓 , and modulating signal ‫׬‬−∞ 𝑚 𝜏 𝑑𝜏

• Then, the instantaneous angle generated in the PM

𝑡
modulator is 𝜃𝑖 𝑡 = 2𝜋𝑓𝑐 𝑡 + 2𝜋𝑘𝑓 ‫׬‬−∞ 𝑚 𝜏 𝑑𝜏
1 𝑑
• Consequently, 𝑓𝑖 𝑡 = 𝜃 𝑡 = 𝑓𝑐 + 𝑘𝑓 𝑚(𝑡)
2𝜋 𝑑𝑡 𝑖

as desired in FM

44
Angle Modulation

• For the modulating message signal 𝑚 𝑡 = 𝐴𝑚 cos 2𝜋𝑓𝑚 𝑡 ,

the maximum departure of the instantaneous frequency in
the FM wave from its carrier frequency 𝑓𝑐 is Δ𝑓 = 𝑘𝑓 𝐴𝑚 .

• This quantity Δ𝑓 is called the frequency deviation.

• The ratio of the frequency deviation to the modulating
frequency is called the modulation index, denoted as

45
Angle Modulation

• So, for single-tone message signal 𝑚 𝑡 = 𝐴𝑚 cos 2𝜋𝑓𝑚 𝑡 ,

the FM wave can be re-written as

• Narrow-band FM: When the modulation index 𝛽 is small

• So, the FM wave is somewhat like the DSBFC-AM wave,

hence transmission bandwidth is 2𝑊, i.e. twice the message
bandwidth 𝑊.

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Angle Modulation

• Wide-band FM: When the modulation index 𝛽 is large

where

where 𝐽𝑛 (𝛽) is the 𝑛th order Bessel function of the first kind
with argument 𝛽
• So,

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Angle Modulation

• Thus, theoretically wide-band FM requires infinite bandwidth

for transmission.
• However, in practice, the significant portion of the FM wave
is limited to a finite number of side-frequencies.
• In case of single-tone sinusoidal modulation, the
transmission bandwidth is approximated using Carson’s rule,
given as

• For arbitrary modulating signal 𝑚(𝑡),

where Δ𝑓 = 𝑘𝑓 𝐴𝑚𝑎𝑥 , 𝐴𝑚𝑎𝑥 = max. amplitude of 𝑚(𝑡),

Δ𝑓
𝐷= ൗ𝑊, 𝑊 = max. frequency in 𝑚(𝑡)
48
Radio Transmitter System

• Oscillators are electronic circuits that generates sinusoidal

signal of a particular frequency to which the oscillator is
tuned – high frequency microwaves are generated in special
microwave tube oscillators (klystron, magnetron, gyrotron),
and solid-state oscillators (Gunn diode, PIN diode).

49
Antenna

• An antenna is a device that serves as interface between the

electric circuit and space, designed to transmit and/or
receive electromagnetic waves within a certain frequency
range according to its size, shape and form.
• Every wireless communication device must contain at least
one antenna.
• A transmission antenna carries an electric current whose
intensity fluctuates over time and converts it into
radiofrequency radiation that propagates in space.
• A receiving antenna performs the reverse process – it
receives radiofrequency radiation and converts it into electric
currents in an electric circuit connected to the antenna.

50
Radio Receiver System
• Signal received by the receiving antenna is to be
demodulated in the receiver – either by simple envelope
detection or by multiplying with carrier signal generated by a
local oscillator (LO) in the receiver (in AM) or by using phase
detector with carrier signal as reference signal (in FM).
• But, a general purpose radio receiver is designed to receive
signals from multiple channels (radio broadcast stations).
• So, antenna is first connected to a tuning circuit followed by
an LO (if not using envelope detector), both tuned to desired
radio station frequency 𝑓𝑠 (carrier freq. of that station).

51
Radio Receiver System

• The tuning circuit (also called tank circuit)

selects signal in a small band with centre Resonating Freq.
frequency 𝑓𝑠 to which it is tuned. 1
𝑓𝑠 =
2𝜋 𝐿𝐶
• Multiple stages of tuning circuits
generally used for better selectivity – this
is Tuned Radio Frequency (TRF) receiver
in use till 2nd / 3rd decade of 20th century.
• However, tuning TRF receiver took a little
while as each stage needed to be
adjusted separately. Later ganged tuning
capacitors were introduced, but by this
time the superheterodyne receiver was
becoming more widespread.

52
Radio Receiver System

• One problem with tuned circuit is that the selectivity is not

uniform over the frequency band – selectivity at higher
frequencies is poorer than that at lower frequencies.
• So, 2 stages employed – this is superheterodyne receiver.
– In 1st stage signal of desired frequency 𝑓𝑠 is selected and
then down-converted to a fixed frequency 𝑓𝐼𝐹 called
intermediate frequency (IF); tank circuit and LO
accordingly tuned.
– In 2nd stage filtering is done again and then demodulated.
Thus, 2nd stage circuitry is fixed irrespective of radio
station selected → uniform overall performance for all
radio stations.

53
Analog Communication System
• Super-heterodyne receiver block diagram
All frequencies 𝑓𝑠 𝑓𝐼𝐹 = 𝑓𝐿𝑂 − 𝑓𝑠

𝑓𝐿𝑂 = 𝑓𝑠 + 𝑓𝐼𝐹

• Basic elements of an analog communication system

54
EM Wave Propagation

• How to choose the value of carrier frequency?

– Distance and/or location of the transmitter-receiver pair
– Intended system of communication
• EM wave propagation modes in atmosphere and free space:
– Ground wave propagation
– Line of sight propagation
– Skywave propagation

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Ground wave propagation

• In ELF (Extremely low frequency upto 3 kHz), VLF (Very low

frequency upto 30 kHz), LF (Low frequency upto 300 kHz)
and medium wave (MW upto 3 MHz) frequency bands, the
Earth and the ionosphere act as a wave-guide for
electromagnetic wave propagation.
• EM wave travels following the contour of the earth.
• Gets attenuated very fast and so cannot travel long distance

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Skywave propagation

• Skywave propagation is preferred when the wave has to

travel a longer distance, even on the other side of the globe.
• Short-waves (3 to 30 MHz) are projected onto the sky and
are reflected from the ionosphere (reflected by the charged
particles in ionosphere) back to the Earth.
• Here the waves transmitted from one place can be received
by many receivers and so good for broadcasting.

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Line of sight propagation

• Used for transmission of VHF (Very high frequency 30 to 300

MHz), UHF (Ultra high frequency upto 3 GHz) and
Microwaves (above 3 GHz).
• The wave travels directly in a straight line to the distance up
to which a naked eye can see.

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Line of sight propagation

• The line-of-sight propagation is not possible if there occurs

any obstacle in its transmission path, or on the other side of
the globe.
• Solution is to use extremely tall antenna towers or in-
between relay antennas.

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Satellite Communication System

• Better and recent days’ solution is satellite communication.

• Artificial satellites that provide communication and other

related services to a variety of consumers is called a
communication satellite or comsat in short.

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