Communication Systems

Week 4
Chapter-4 Amplitude Modulation
Modulation
o Modulation is an important step of
communication system. Modulation is
defined as the process whereby some
characteristic (amplitude, frequency,
phase of a high frequency signal wave
(carrier wave) is varied in accordance
with instantaneous value intensity of low
frequency signal wave (modulating
A cos( wct   c )
wave.)

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Modulation
baseband CW

o Modulation is a process that causes

a shift in the range of frequencies in
a signal
o Two Type of communications
– In baseband communication
baseband signals are sent without any
shift in the range of frequencies .( PSTN
local loop
– PCM communications for instance between exchanges
– (fiber-) optical communication)
o Any communication that uses
modulation of a high-frequency carrier 3
Modulation
o In continuous-wave (CW) modulation, the
carrier is a sinusoid. (cos(2πfct)).
(AM ,FM,PM)
o This is the traditional mode for all-analog
communications.
o In pulse modulation, the carrier is a
pulse train. This is a mode that allows for
digital communications.(PAM,PPM and PWM)

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Application of Modulation
o Audio frequencies are within the range of 20 Hz to 20 kHz.
Without modulation all signals at same frequencies from
different transmitters would be mixed up. There by giving
impossible situation to tune to any one of them. In order to
separate the various signals, radio stations must broadcast at
different frequencies. Each radio station must be given its own
frequency band. This is achieved by frequency translation as
a result of modulation process.
o For efficient transmission the transmitting antennas should have
length at least equal to a quarter of the wavelength of the signal
to be transmitted. For an electromagnetic wave of frequency 15
kHz, the wavelength λ is 20 km and one-quarter of this will be
equal to 5 km. Obviously, a vertical antenna of this size is
impractible. On the other hand, for a frequency of 1 MHz, this
height is reduced to 75m.
o Also, the power radiated by an antenna of length l is
proportional to (l/λ)2. This shows that for the same antenna
length, power radiated is large for shorter wavelength. Thus, our 5
 …
• Using carrier to shape and shift the frequency
spectrum (eg CW techniques) enables
modulation by which several advantages are
obtained
– Different radio bands can be used for
communications
– Wireless communications
– Multiplexing techniques become applicable
Amplitude Modulation

o Amplitude modulation (AM) varies the amplitude of a carrier signal

A cos( wc t   c )
according to a modulating signal m(t).
o The modulated signal is
m(t ) cos(wc t )

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 Types of Amplitude
Modulation
• (1) AM (amplitude modulation),
• (2) DSB (double sideband modulation),
• (3) SSB (single sideband modulation)
• (4) VSB (vestigial side Band)
AM

DSB

LSB

USB
Amplitude Modulation (DSB)

• Frequency-Shifting Property of Fourier

transform:

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Amplitude Modulation (DSB)

• This type of modulation shifts the

spectrum of m(t) to the carrier frequency.
• If m(t ) cos wc t 
1
M ( w  wc )  M (w  wc )
2

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Amplitude Modulation (DSB)
1
m(t ) cos wc t  M ( w  wc )  M ( w  wc )
2

• This modulation shifts the frequency spectrum to the right and the left by
• The modulated signal is composed of two parts, abovewc and below
– the upper sideband (USB) containing the frequencies |w| > | |
wc
– the lower sideband (LSB) containing the frequencies |w| < | |
wc

• The modulated signal in this scheme does not have a discrete component of
the carrier frequency w for this reason this is called double-sideband
c
suppressed carrier (DSB-SC) modulation

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 Amplitude Modulation (DSB)
B Vs wc
• If the bandwidth of the original signal m(t) is 2 B, then the bandwidth of the modulated signal
will be 4 B, consisting of
– the upper sideband (USB) containing the frequencies |w| > |w|
c
– the lower sideband (LSB) containing the frequencies |w| < |wc|

In practice messages are never

strictly band limited due to
their nature in frequency
domain (Fourier series
coefficients may extend over
very large span of
To avoid overlap of the two spectral parts, wc > 2pB must be fulfilled frequencies)
non-ideal filtering
(if wc < 2pB , the information of m(t) will be partly lost in the process of modulation)

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Modulation / Demodulation
Modulation

Demodulation

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 Demodulation
• The process of receiving the original signal from the
modulated signal is called demodulation.
• Demodulation is similar to modulation and can be performed
by multiplying the modulated signal again with the carrier signal
cos(w t )
c

The resulting signal

e(t ) m(t ) cos w t  1 m(t )  m(t ) cos(2 w t )

2

c
2 c

It has the Fourier transform

E ( w)  1 M ( w)  1 M ( w  2 w )  M ( w  2 w )
2 4 c c

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Demodulation

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11/05/2024 Free template from www.brainybetty.com
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 Modulators

Multiplier modulators:
• Modulation is achieved directly by multiplying m(t) byw t
c
using an analog multiplier.
• The output is proportional to the product of two input
signals.
• Difficult to maintain linearity and are expansive.

Better
Betterto
toavoid
avoid

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 Modulators (cont…)
Nonlinear modulators:
Modulation is achieved by using nonlinear devices such as
semiconductor diode or a transistor

NL:
NL:Two
Twoidentical
identical
nonlinear
nonlinearelements
elements

Let output characteristics of NL be approximated by the power series

as:

Where x(t) and y(t) are input & output 21

 Modulators (cont…)

Changing inputs

Gives:
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 Modulators (cont…)

• Spectrum m(t) is centered at the origin, while of m(t)coswct is

centered at +-wc
• The signal is ready for transmission but we do not need the m(t) part
of z(t)
• Z(t) is passed through a band-pass filter tuned to wc , the signal m(t)
is suppressed while 4bm(t)coswct passed unharmed.

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 Modulators (cont…)
Summary nonlinear modulator:
• Two inputs m(t) and coswct
• The summer output does not contain one of the input coswct
• Circuits which have this characteristic are called balanced
circuits.
• The previous circuitry is an example of balanced modulators.

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 Modulators (cont…)
Modulation through any periodic signal:
Modulated signal can not only be obtained by a pure sinusoid but
by any periodic signal.of fundamental frequency wc. E.g:

Trigonometric
TrigonometricFourier
Fourierseries
series

Spectrum of the modulated signal is the spectrum M(w)

shifted to
If we pass this modulated signal through band-pass filter
of bandwidth 2B tuned to wc 25
 Switching Modulators
Multiplication operation of modulation can be replaced by
switching operation. If we a periodic signal having Fourier series
as:
carrier

Modulated signal

Now consider a periodic square pulse train with Fourier series

as
1 2 1 1 1 
w(t )    cos w t  cos 3w t  cos 5w t  cos 7 w t  ....
2  3 5 7 
c c c c

From
Fromexample
example2.8
2.8 26
 Switching Modulators
The modulated signal m(t)w(t) is given by

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 Switching Modulators
Modulated signal m(t)w(t) consists of the component m(t) plus
infinite numbers of modulated signals with carrier frequencies
w ,3w ,5w ,.....
c c c

The spectrum of m(t)w(t) consists of M(w) and M(w) shifted to

w ,3w ,5w ,.....
c c c

As we are interested in modulated component m(t ) cos w t only. c

To separate this component from others we pass m(t)w(t)

through a bandpass filter of bandwidth 2BHz, centered at w c

gives the required modulated signal 2 m(t ) cos w t

 c

Therefore the multiplication of a signal by a square pulse train is

in reality a switching operation means turning off and on signal
m(t) periodically and can be accomplished by switching element
controlled by w(t) 28
 Switching Modulators
Diode bridge modulator:
Consider the following electronic switch circuit driven by A cos w t to c

produce the switching action

D ,D
1 2
andD 3 , D 4
are matched pairs

When terminal c is positive with respect to d, all the diodes conduct, terminal
a & b are effectively shortened.

During the next half cycle d is positive with respect to c, all the diodes open,
terminal a & b are open.
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 Switching Modulators
Therefore the the circuit act as a desired electronic switch, where the terminal a
& b open and close periodically with the carrier frequency f c . When A cos wc t
is applied across the terminal ab
To obtain m(t)w(t) we may place terminal ab in series or in parallel as:

Series-bridge diode modulator Shunt-bridge diode modulator

Switching on and off m(t) for each cycle of the carrier, resulting in the
switched signal m(t)w(t) and passing through bandpass filter gives the
desired signal:

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 Switching Modulators
Ring modulator:
Consider the following circuit

During the positive half cycle of the carrier D1 & D3

conduct and D2 & D4 are open, hence terminal a is
connected to c & b to d

During the negative half cycle of the carrier D1 & D3 are

open and D2 & D4 conduct, hence terminal a is connected
to d & b to c
Output is proportional to m(t) during positive cycle &
-m(t) during negative cycle
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 Switching Modulators
The Fourier series of bipolar square wave is given by:

Example
Example2.8
2.8p-52
p-52

Gives modulated signal

as:

Filtering this signal to bandpass filter tuned to wc gives

the required modulated signal:

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AM station Reception

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 Example 4.2
Frequency mixer or converter:
Frequency mixer or converter is used to change the carrier frequency of the
modulated signal m(t)coswct to some other frequency wl
Can be achieved by multiplying m(t)coswct by

where or

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 Example 4.2
In both cases the filter tuned to Wl will pass the term m(t)coswct and suppress
the other term and giving the required output

m(t)coswct (the carrier frequency is translated to wl from wc)

Frequency mixing or frequency conversion is also known as heterodyning.

All the modulators discussed previously can be used for frequency mixing.
Frequency selected as operation called up-conversion
Frequency selected as operation called down-conversion

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AM with carrier

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 AM power efficiency
• AM wave total power consists of the idle carrier part and the
useful signal part:

• See book

• Therefore at least half of the total power is wasted on carrier

• Detection of AM is simple by enveloped detector that is the
reason why AM is still used
 Generation of AM signals
• Am signals can be generated by any DSB-SC modulators.
• The input should be A + m(t) instead of just m(t).
• The modulating circuit do not have to be balanced because there is no
need to suppress the carrier

Switching
Switchingaction
actionisisprovided
providedbybyaasingle
singlediode
diode
and controlled by
and controlled by c cos wc t with
with

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 Generation of AM signals

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multiplying
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w(t).

The voltage across bb / is:

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 Demodulation of AM Signals
The AM signal can be demodulated coherently by a locally generated carrier.
E.g.
 A  m(t ) cos wct  cos wct No
Nobenefit
benefitof
ofsending
sendingcarrier
carrieron
onthe
thechannel
channel

There are two well known methods of demodulation of AM signals:

1) Rectifier detection 2) Envelope detection
Rectifier detector:

AM signal is applied to a diode and resistor circuit, the negative part of the the
AM wave will be suppressed.
The output across the resistor is the half wave rectified version of the AM
signal means multiplying AM with w(t).

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3D
 Rectifier Detector

The rectified output VR


vR  A  m(t ) cos w t w(t )
c

1 2 1 1 
 A  m(t ) cos w t    cos w t  cos 3w t  cos 5w t  ...  
c 2   c 3 c 5 c 

1
  A  m(t )  otherTerms

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Rectifier Detector (cont…)

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55
 Envelope Detector
In an envelope detector, the output follows the envelope of the modulated
signal.
The following circuit act as an envelope detector:

• During the positive cycle of the input signal, the diode conducts and the
capacitor C charges up to the peak voltage of the input signal.
• When input signal falls below this peak value, the diode is cut off.
(because the diode voltage which is nearly the peak voltage is greater than
the input signal voltage causing the diode to open ).
• At this stage the capacitor discharge at the slew rate (with a time constant
RC)
• during the next positive cycle the process repeats. 56
 Envelope Detector (cont…)

During each positive cycle the capacitor charges up to the peak voltage
of the input signal and then decays slowly until the next positive cycle.
This behavior of the capacitor makes output voltage Vc(t) follow the
envelope of the input signal.
Capacitor discharges during each positive peaks causes a ripple signal of
frequency wc at the output 57
 Envelope Detector (cont…)
The ripple can be reduced by increasing the time constant RC so the
capacitor discharges very little between positive peaks of the input signals

Making RC too large, makes capacitor voltage impossible to follow the

envelope.

Conditions:
1
RC should be large compared to 1/wc, but should be small compared to2B
Where B is the highest frequency in m(t)

Also requires a condition which is necessary for well defined

envelope.

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 Envelope Detector (cont…)
The envelope detector output is with a ripple of
frequency wc

The DC term A can be blocked by a capacitor or a simple RC high pass

filter, and the ripple may be reduced further by another low-pass RC filter.

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 Quadrature Amplitude
Modulation
The DSB signals of AM require twice the bandwidth required for the
baseband signal!

Idea: Try to send two signals m1(t) and m2(t) simultaneously by modulating
them with two carrier signals of same frequency but shifted in phase by –p/2

The combined signal is

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 Quadrature Amplitude Modulation
(cont…)

Both modulated signals occupy the same

band
• At the receiver the two baseband signals can be separated by using a
second carrier that is shifted in phase by –p/2

• The first signal m1(t) can be detected by a multiplication with 2cos(wct)

followed by a low-pass filter

The second signal x2(t) can be detected accordingly by a multiplication with

sin(wct) followed by a low-pass filter

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 Quadrature Amplitude Modulation
(cont…)
• Thus, two baseband signals, each of bandwidth B, can be simultaneously
transmitted over a channel with bandwidth 2B

• This principle is called quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM),

because the carrier frequencies are in phase quadrature.

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