Communication

Engineering
B.Tech 2nd Year
RECK
Background of Communication

 1837
Invention of
the telegraph
by Samuel
Morse
Background of Communication

 1876 Invention
of the telephone
by Alexander
Graham Bell
Background of Communication
Introduction to Communication
Engineering
 Communication can be defined as the transmission of message signal from the
transmitter (i.e. sender) to the receiver.
 basic process of conveying information.
 Communication can be done by means of speech, visuals, facial expression, behaviour
or gestures etc.
 Speech is the most common and effective mode of communication, but is limited to a
certain distance.
 Initially non-electrical modes like running messenger, pigeons, smoke signals, drum
sounds were used for long distance communication.
Introduction
 Radio communication (i.e. wireless communication) started in the beginning
of 20th century.
 In recent years, wireless communication is the most common mode of
communication with the use of satellites and fiber optics. It includes
broadcasting, mobile communication, satellite communication, radar
communication etc.
 Different communication equipment's assemble together to form a
communication system which is essential to communicate.
 A communication system basically consists of a transmitter, channel (or
medium) and a receiver.
Modes
 Based on the direction of communication, there are two systems-
1. Simplex – The information is communicated only in one direction. E.g. –
radio or TV broadcasting
2. Duplex – There is bidirectional flow of information. It can be further divided
into two categories.
 Half duplex- The system can either transmit or receive the signal at a time. E.g. –
walky-talky set.
 Full duplex – These systems can transmit as well as receive signals simultaneously.
E.g. – telephone system.
Simplex, communication is unidirectional
Only one of the devices sends the data and the other one
only receives the data.
Half duplex and full duplex communication
In half duplex both the stations can transmit as well as receive but not at the same time.
Ex. A walkie-talkie.

In Full duplex mode, both stations can transmit and receive at the same time.
Example: mobile phones
Classification
 A communication system can be broadly classified as analog communication
system and digital communication system.
 The classification is mainly based on the type of baseband (or message or
modulating) signal.
 If the message signal to be transmitted is analog or continuous in nature, then
it is known as analog communication.
 If message signal is in digital or discrete form, it is known as digital
communication.
 In this chapter only analog communication will be discussed.
Application of Different Communication
systems in General Life
 Amplitude Modulation -Radio & TV broadcasting
 Frequency Modulation -Point to Point Communication, TV broadcasting, Radio, Police
Wireless
 Phase Modulation - Some Mobile systems
Elements of a communication system

 The block diagram of a general communication system is shown in Fig. 1. The system
consists of mainly three blocks: transmitter, communication channel and receiver.

Fig. 1: Functional block diagram of a communication system.

 1. Information source and input transducer
 The function of an information source is to originate the message signal which is to be
transmitted, like human voice, audio, video, television signal etc. The message may or
may not be in electrical form. The non-electrical signals are converted into electrical
signals by input transducer (e.g. microphone).
 2. Transmitter
 The function of a transmitter is to transmit the message signal from information source
to communication channel and modify the same (if required) for efficient transmission.
 This is done by a process of modulation (discussed later). The modulated signal
present at the output of transmitter is fed to the communication channel.
 Transmitter block involves various operations such as amplification of signal,
generation of high frequency carrier signal, modulation and radiation of modulated
signal.
 3. Channel and noise
 Communication channel is the physical medium through which the message travels
from the transmitter to the receiver. The commonly used communication channels are:
 • Wired /bounded/ guided channel:
 Twisted pair cable and parallel (or twin wire) cable are used in telephone lines.
 Coaxial cables used in cable TV and DTH.
 Waveguides and OFC (Optical Fiber Cable) used in aircraft and space craft etc.
 • wireless /unbounded/unguided channel:
 Free space is used as a medium for communication.
 During the process of transmission and reception through communication channel, the
message signal may get distorted due to noise introduced in the system.
 Noise is an unwanted signal which tends to interfere with the required signal. Noise
may interfere with signal at any point in a communication system, but it has its greatest
effect when the signal is weakest; i.e. noise in the channel or at the input to the
receiver is most noticeable.
 Noise may be put into following two categories.
 1. External noises, i.e. noises whose sources are external. External noise may be
classified into the following three types: Atmospheric noise, Extra-terrestrial noise,
Man-made noise or industrial noise
 2. Internal noises, i.e. noises which get generated within the receiver or
communication system.
 Internal noise may be put into the following four categories:
 Thermal noise or white noise or Johnson noise (due to the rapid and random
motion of electrons in the resistors),
 Shot noise (produced by the random arrival of electrons or holes at the output
electrode of an amplifying device; Shot noise is also produced by the random
movement of electrons or holes across a PN junction),
 Transit time noise (occurs at very high frequencies where the transit time of
electrons from emitter to collector becomes comparable to signal frequency),
Miscellaneous internal noise.
 4. Receiver
 The function of a receiver is to recover the message signal from the transmitted signal.
Receiver can be a very simple crystal receiver with headphones, to a far more complex
radar receiver.
 The most commonly used receiver is super heterodyne type. The receiver performs
various operations, such as reception, amplification, mixing, demodulation and
recreation of message signal.
 The output of the receiver may be fed to a loudspeaker, video display unit, television
picture tube, pen recorder or computer.
 Thus different arrangements are made in receiver designs. Whichever receiver is used,
its most important function is demodulation.
 5. Output transducer
 Output transducer receives the message signal (electrical form) and converts it into
non-electrical form. The loudspeaker is an example of output transducer where
electrical input is converted into an audio output (non-electrical signal).
Need of modulation
 The baseband or the message signal transmission has many limitations which can be
overcome by modulation.
 Modulation is the process of changing some characteristics of carrier signal (high
frequency signal) in accordance with the message signal (low frequency signal).
 In electronic communication system, modulation plays an important role. Following are
the reasons for the need of modulation –
 1. Reduces height of antenna
 For proper transmission and reception of signal, the length of transmitting antenna
required is at least equal to a quarter to the wavelength of the signal to be transmitted.
 Since the message signal is of low frequency (audio spectrum is below 20 KHz), the
length of antenna should be large.
 Height of antenna for efficient reception is given as,
 H=λ/4
 where, H = height of antenna, λ = wave length of signal.
 Consider a message signal of 15 kHz, the minimum height of transmitting antenna for
transmission & reception of this signal will be,
 𝐻=𝜆/4= 𝐶/4𝑓=3𝑋108 / 4*15*103
 = 5000m
 where f is frequency of signal and c is speed of light in meter/sec.
 A vertical antenna of such large height is impractical. But for a high frequency message
signal say 1MHz, height of antenna will be,
 𝐻 = 𝐶/4𝑓 = 3*108 / 4*1*106
 H=75m
 The antenna of this height can be installed practically. Thus, by using modulation, height of
antenna can be reduced.
 2. Enhances the range of communication
 The message signals are low frequency signals. At low frequencies radiation
(or transmission) is weak and signals get highly attenuated.
 Therefore, message signals cannot travel long distance. The attenuation
reduces with increase in frequency of the transmitted signal.
 So the distance travelled by any signal in atmosphere is directly
proportional to its frequency. Hence, modulation is needed to increase the
range of communication as it increases the frequency of the signal to be
transmitted.
 3. Avoids mixing of signals
 All the baseband sound signals are in the same frequency range i.e. 20 Hz to 20 KHz.
 If these sound signals are transmitted without modulation then they will interfere with
each other.
 It will be difficult to separate these mixed signals at the receiver end.
 Hence each of the baseband sound signal modulates a different carrier to occupy
different portions (channels) in the frequency domain.
 This separation has been shown in Fig. 2. Let m 1(t) , m2(t) and m3(t) be the three
message signals each having a bandwidth of 20 KHz and f c1 , fc2 and fc3 are the carrier
frequencies, with fc1=100 KHz, fc2 =200 KHz, fc3=300 KHz . A tuned circuit at the
receiver end selects a particular frequency signal it is tuned for.

Fig. 2 Different channels to avoid mixing of signals

• 4. Allows multiplexing of signal
 Multiplexing means simultaneous transmission of two or more message signals
over the same communication channel.
 This is possible only with modulation. Multiplexing allows the same channel to
be used by many signals.
 Broadcasting of various television channels simultaneously is the most common
example of multiplexing.
• 5. Improves quality of reception
• The effect of noise is greatly reduced with modulation techniques like
frequency modulation and pulse code modulation.
• Reduction in noise improves the quality of signal reception.
Questions ??