Amplitude

Modulation
 Learning Outcomes

1. Write the time-domain equation for an AM signal and describe

how the equation relates to the signal itself.
2. Calculate the bandwidth of an AM signal and explain why
bandwidth is an important factor in a communications system.

3. Calculate power and voltage for an AM signal and for each of

its components.

4. Describe the operations of an amplitude modulator, amplitude

demodulator and balanced modulator.
Modulation
– is the process of having the information
to be transmitted alter a higher-
frequency signal for the purpose of
transmitting the information somewhere
in the electromagnetic spectrum via
radio, wire or fiber-optic cable.
 3 Principal Types of Electronic
Communications

– Amplitude Modulation (AM)

– Frequency Modulation (FM)
– Phase Modulation (PM)
 Modulation

– the information signal, usually called the

modulating signal be it voice, video,
binary data or some other information,
is normally used to modify a higher-
frequency signal known as the carrier or
modulated wave .
 Amplitude Modulation

– the oldest and simplest form of modulation.

– the information signal varies the amplitude
of the carrier sine wave.
– the instantaneous value of the carrier
amplitude changes in accordance with the
amplitude and frequency variations of the
modulating signal.
 Amplitude Modulation
Principles
– the carrier frequency remains constant during
the modulation process but that its amplitude
varies in accordance with the modulating signal
– an increase in the modulating signal amplitude
causes the amplitude of the carrier to increase.
– Time domain signals are the actual variation
of voltage over time. They are what you
would see displayed on the screen of an
oscilloscope.

– Frequency domain signals are the actual

variation of frequency over time. They are
what you would see on the screen of a
spectrum analyzer.
– High Level (Plate) Amplitude Modulation
– Overmodulation as seen at the Receiver
Envelope - the imaginary line on the carrier
waveform and is the same as the modulating
signal
Sine Wave Carrier

– In this expression, represents the instantaneous value of

the sine wave voltage at some specific time in the cycle.
– The represents the peak value of the sine wave as
measured between zero and the maximum amplitude of
either the positive or negative-going alternations.
– The term is the frequency of the carrier
– represents some particular point in time during the ac
cycle
 Sine Wave Modulating Signal

– m is the frequency of the modulating signal.

– The modulating signal uses the peak value of the carrier
rather than zero as its reference point.
– The envelope of the modulating signal varies above and
below the peak carrier amplitude, the zero reference
line of the modulating signal coincides with the peak
value of the unmodulated carrier.
– If the amplitude of the modulating signal
is greater than the amplitude of the
carrier, distortion will occur.

– Distortion causes incorrect information

to be transmitted.

– It is important in AM that the peak value

of the modulating signal be less than the
peak value of the carrier.
– a new mathematical expression for the completed
modulated wave using the mathematical expressions for the
carrier and the modulating signal:

carrier modulation x carrier

– The expression consists of 2 parts:
 1st part is simply the carrier waveform
 2nd part is the carrier waveform multiplied
by the modulating signal waveform.

– It is this second part of the expression that is

the characteristic of AM.

– A circuit must be able to produce

mathematical multiplication of analog signals
in order for AM to occur.
Modulator - the circuit used for producing AM, and
computes the product of the carrier and modulating
signals.
 Modulation Index and
Percentage of Modulation
– In order for proper AM to occur, the modulating signal voltage must
be less than the carrier voltage

Modulation index (m) – expresses the relationship between the

amplitudes of the modulating signal and the carrier
- also called modulation factor, modulation coefficient, or the
degree of modulation.
- ratio of the modulating signal voltage to the carrier voltage
 m=

– The modulation index should be a number between 0 and 1.

– If the amplitude of the modulating voltage is higher than the

carrier voltage, will cause severe distortion of the modulated
wave, a condition called overmodulation.

– if the signal is of such small amplitude that it cannot be

picked up or adequately amplified by the receiver (because
of background noise and/or the strength of the carrier
frequency), it is said to be undermodulated.
 m=

– The values for Vmax and Vmin can be read directly from an
oscilloscope screen and plugged into the formula to compute
the modulation index.
 Example:

Suppose the Vmax value read from the

graticule on the oscilloscope screen is
4.6 divisions and Vmin is 0.7 divisions.
What is the modulation index?
– Whenever the modulation index is multiplied by 100,
the degree of modulation is expressed as a percentage.

– In practice, it is desirable to operate with as close to

100% modulation as possible, in this way, the maximum
information signal amplitude is transmitted.
 Sidebands and the Frequency
Domain
– Whenever a carrier is modulated by an information
signal, new signals at different frequencies called side
frequencies or sidebands are generated as part of the
process
– It occur in the frequency spectrum directly above and
below the carrier frequency.
– Sidebands occur at frequencies that are the sum and
difference of the carrier and modulating frequencies.
 fusb
flsb = fc – fm
BW = fusb - flsb
– This sidebands take up spectrum space.

Example:
If the carrier frequency is 2.8 MHz and the max.
modulating frequency is 3 kHz, what is the
maximum and minimum sideband frequencies?
The total bandwidth?
 Amplitude Modulation Power
Distribution

– To communicate by radio, the AM signal is amplified

by a power amplifier and fed to the antenna with a
characteristic R.
– The total transmitted power divides itself between
the carrier and the upper and lower sidebands.

– The power in the sidebands depends upon the value

of the modulation index.
– The power in each sideband is given by the
expression

Assuming 100% modulation where m = 1, the

power in each sideband is ¼ or 25% of the
carrier power. Since there are two sidebands,
their power together represents 50% of the
carrier power.
– Carrier power represents 2/3 of the total
transmitted power assuming 100%
modulation.

Example:
Assuming m=1 and carrier power is
100W and the total power is 150W, what is
the carrier power percentage? The sideband
power percentage?
The carrier itself conveys no information. It can be
transmitted and received, but unless modulation
occurs, no information will be transmitted. When
modulation occurs, sidebands are produced.

Example:
Assume a carrier power of 500 W and a
modulation of 70%. What is the power in each
sideband?
Another way to calculate the Total AM Power:

/2)

Pc – unmodulated carrier power

Example:
If the carrier power is 1200W and the % of
modulation is 90%, what is the total power? The
power in each sidebands?
To determine the total modulated current
I:
/2)
where:
I – unmodulated carrier current

Example:
If the unmodulated carrier current is 4A
and the % of modulation is 70%, what is the
total output current?
 3 Basic Ways to Calculate the Power dissipated
in the load:

/R
P =R
– In an AM radio transmitting station, R is the load
resistance, which is an antenna.
– To a transmitter, the antenna looks like a resistance
referred to as the characteristic resistance of the
antenna.
Solve the following:

1. If the unmodulated carrier current is 2.5 A in an

antenna with a characteristic resistance of 73,
what is the power? If the modulated carrier current
is 3A?
2. Assume that the measured unmodulated carrier
current is 1.8 A and with modulation, the total
current is 2A, what is the % of modulation?
Amplitude Modulators &
Demodulators
Low-Level AM Modulators
– Diode Modulator. One of the simplest amplitude
modulators is the diode modulator. The practical
implementation consists of a resistive mixing network,
a diode rectifier, and an LC tuned circuit.
– The carrier is applied to one input resistor and the
modulating signal to the other. The mixed signals
appear across R3 . This network causes the two signals
to be linearly mixed, i.e., algebraically added.
– If both the carrier and the modulating signal are sine
waves, the waveform resulting at the junction of the
two resistors appears that the carrier wave is riding on
the modulating signal. Modulation is a multiplication
process, not an addition process.
Diode Modulator
– This signal produces high-quality AM, but
the amplitudes of the signals are critical to
proper operation. Because the nonlinear
portion of the diode’s characteristic curve
occurs only at low voltage levels, signal
levels must be low, less than a volt, to
produce AM.
– At higher voltages, the diode current
response is nearly linear. The circuit works
best with millivolt-level signals.
 Transistor Modulator

An improved version that uses a transistor instead of the

diode, the circuit has gain. The emitter-base junction is a diode
and a nonlinear device.

Modulation occurs as described previously, except that the

base current controls a larger collector current, and therefore
the circuit amplifies.

Rectification occurs because of the emitter-base junction. This

causes larger half-sine pulses of current in the tuned circuit.
The tuned circuit oscillates (rings) to generate the missing half-
cycle. The output is a classic AM wave.
 Differential Amplifier
– A differential amplifier modulator makes an
excellent amplitude modulator (Fig. 4-10(a)).
Transistors Q1 and Q2 form the differential pair,
and Q3 is a constant-current source.
– The output voltage can be taken between the two
collectors, producing a balanced, or differential,
output. The output can also be taken from the
output of either collector to ground, producing a
single-ended output. The two outputs are 180°
out of phase with each other.
If the balanced output is used, the output voltage across the load is twice the single-
ended output voltage. No special biasing circuits are needed, since the correct value
of collector current is supplied directly by the constant-current source Q3.
Amplifying Low-Level AM Signals
– In low-level modulator circuits such as those discussed above, the
signals are generated at very low voltage and power amplitudes. The
voltage is typically less than 1 V, and the power is in milliwatts.

– In systems using low-level modulation, the AM signal is applied to

one or more linear amplifiers (Fig. 4-11), to increase its power level
without distorting the signal. These amplifier circuits—class A, class
AB, or class B—raise the level of the signal to the desired power
level before the AM signal is fed to the antenna.
 High-Level AM

– In high-level AM, the modulator varies the voltage and power in the
final RF amplifier stage of the transmitter. The result is high efficiency
in the RF amplifier and overall high-quality performance.

– Collector Modulator. One example is the collector modulator in Fig. 4-

12. The output stage of the transmitter is a high-power class C
amplifier. Class C amplifiers conduct for only a portion of the positive
half-cycle of their input signal. The collector current pulses cause the
tuned circuit to oscillate (ring) at the desired output frequency.
The modulator is a linear power
amplifier that takes the low-level
modulating signal and amplifies it to a
high-power level. The modulating
output signal is coupled through
modulation transformer T1 to the
class C amplifier.

The secondary winding of the

modulation transformer is connected
in series with the collector supply
voltage VCC of the class C amplifier.
 In practice, 100% modulation cannot be achieved with the high-
level collector modulator circuit because of the transistor’s
nonlinear response to small signals. To overcome this problem,
the amplifier driving the final class C amplifier is collector-
modulated simultaneously.

High-level modulation produces the best type of AM, but it

requires an extremely high-power modulator circuit. In fact, for
100% modulation, the power supplied by the modulator must be
equal to one-half the total class C amplifier input power.

If the class C amplifier has an input power of 1000 W, the

modulator must be able to deliver one-half this amount, or 500 W.
Example 1:
Amplitude Demodulators

– Demodulators, or detectors, are

circuits that accept modulated signals
and recover the original modulating
information.

– The demodulator circuit is the key

circuit in any radio receiver. In fact,
demodulator circuits can be used
alone as simple radio receivers.
 Diode Detectors

– The simplest and most widely used amplitude demodulator is the diode
detector. As shown, the AM signal is usually transformer-coupled and
applied to a basic half wave rectifier circuit consisting of D1 and R1 . The
diode conducts when the positive half-cycles of the AM signals occur.
 Crystal Radio Receivers

– The crystal component of the crystal radio receivers that were widely
used in the past is simply a diode. A long wire antenna picks up the
radio signal, which is inductively coupled to the secondary winding of
T1 , which forms a series resonant circuit with C1 .
Note that the secondary is not a parallel circuit, because the
voltage induced into the secondary winding appears as a voltage
source in series with the coil and capacitor. The variable capacitor
C1 is used to select a station. At resonance, the voltage across the
capacitor is stepped up by a factor equal to the Q of the tuned
circuit. This resonant voltage rise is a form of amplification.

This higher voltage signal is applied to the diode. The diode

detector D1 and its filter C2 recover the original modulating
information, which causes current l ow in the headphones. The
headphones serve as the load resistance, and capacitor C2
removes the carrier. The result is a simple radio receiver;
reception is very weak because no active amplification is
provided.
Synchronous Detection

– Synchronous detectors use an internal clock signal at the carrier

frequency in the receiver to switch the AM signal off and on,
producing rectification similar to that in a standard diode detector.

– The AM signal is applied to a series switch that is opened and closed

synchronously with the carrier signal. The switch is usually a diode or
transistor that is turned on or off by an internally generated clock
signal equal in frequency to and in phase with the carrier frequency.
The AM signal shown in the full wave synchronous detector is applied to
both inverting and noninverting amplifiers. The internally generated carrier
signal operates two switches A and B. The clock turns A on and B off or turns
B on and A off. This arrangement simulates an electronic single-pole,
double-throw (SPDT) switch.
– A practical synchronous detector is shown in Fig. 4-21. A center-tapped
transformer provides the two equal but inverted signals.
– The carrier signal is applied to the center tap. Note that one diode is
connected oppositely from the way it would be if used in a full wave
rectifier.
– These diodes are used as switches, which are turned off and on by the
clock, which is used as the bias voltage.
– The carrier is usually a square wave derived by clipping and amplifying the
AM signal.
 Solve the Following Problems:

1. A collector modulated transmitter has a supply voltage of 48 V

and an average collector current of 600 mA. What is the input
power to the transmitter? How much modulating signal power is
needed to produce 100 percent modulation?

2. An SSB generator has a 9-MHz carrier and is used to pass voice

frequencies in the 300- to 3300-Hz range. The lower sideband is
selected. What is the approximate center frequency of the filter
needed to pass the lower sideband?
References

– Blake, Roy. (2018). Electronic Communication Systems,

Paperback International Edition. Cengage, India
– Frenzel, Louise Jr, E. (2016). Principles of Electronic
Communication Systems, 4th Edition. McGraw Hill
Education, New York
– Tomasi, Wayne. (2019). Advanced Electronic
Communications Systems, 6th Edition. Pearson Education,
Inc. New Jersey