Analog and Digital Communication

(ET--323)
(ET

Lecture
L t 8,9,10,11
8 9 10 11
(Chapter 4)

By

Engr. Haq Nawaz

AMPLITUDE MODULATION (AM)
 Chapter Overview
• Introduction
• Baseband and Carrier Communication
• Amplitude Modulation
– Double Sideband ((DSB)) and DSB-SC
– Amplitude Modulation (AM) with carrier
– Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM)
– Single Sideband (SSB)
– Vestigial Sideband (VSB)
• Carrier Acquisition
• Superheterodyne AM Receiver
• Television
 Introduction
• Analog signals are electrical replicas of the original signals such as audio and video.

• Analog signals may be converted into digital signals for transmission.

• Digital signals also originate in the form of computer and other data.

• In general, a digital signal is a coded version of the original data or analog signal.

• Modulation is a process that causes a shift in the range of frequencies in a signal.

• Modulation is used to gain certain advantages:

– Ease of Radiation
– Simultaneous Transmission of Several Signals
– Effecting the Exchange of SNR with B

• M d l i is
Modulation i used
d to transmit
i analog
l as wellll as digital
di i l baseband
b b d signals.
i l

• Before discussing modulation, it is important to distinguish between communication

that does not use modulation ((baseband communication)) and communication that
uses modulation (carrier communication).
 Baseband Communication
• The term baseband is used to designate the band of frequencies of the signal
delivered by the source or the input transducer
transducer.

• In telephony, the baseband is the audio band (band of voice signals) of 0 to 4kHz.

• In television
television, the baseband is the video band occupying 0 to 4
4.5
5 MHz
MHz.

• For digital data or PCM using bipolar signaling at a rate of Rb pulses per second, the
baseband is 0 to Rb Hz.

• In baseband communication, baseband signals are transmitted without modulation,

that is, without any shift in the range of frequencies of the signal.

• Because the baseband signals have sizable power at low frequencies

frequencies, they cannot
be transmitted over a radio link but are suitable for transmission over a pair of wires,
coaxial cables, or optical fibers.

• Local telephone communication

communication, short-haul pulse-code modulation (PCM) (between
two exchanges), and long- distance PCM over optical fibers use baseband
communication.
Digital Baseband signals transmission
 g signal
Analog g

Digital signal

Less Noisy Digital signal

Much Noisy Digital signal

 End Office/Exchange

Analog Digital
ADC Digital
Signal Switch
Internal
Signal
Codec

Local Loop
DAC
Home
Telephone
 Carrier Communication
• Baseband signals produced by various information sources are not always suitable for direct
transmission over a given channel.

• These signals are usually further modified to facilitate transmission. This conversion process
is known as modulation.

• IIn this
thi process, the
th bbaseband
b d signal
i l iis used
d tto modify
dif some parameter
t off a hi
high-frequency
hf
carrier signal.

• A carrier is a sinusoid of high frequency, and one of its parameters such as amplitude,
frequency or phase is varied in proportion to the baseband signal m(t)
frequency, m(t). Accordingly
Accordingly, we
have:
– Amplitude Modulation (AM)
– Frequency Modulation (FM
– Phase Modulation (PM)

• The latter two types of modulation are similar, and belong to the class of modulation known
as angle modulation.

• Modulation can be helpful in utilizing the vast spectrum of frequencies available because of
technological advances.

• By modulating several baseband signals and shifting their spectra to nonoverlapping bands,
one can use all the available bandwidth through frequency division multiplexing (FDM).

• Long- haul communication over a radio link also requires modulation to shift the signal
spectrum to higher frequencies in order to enable efficient power radiation using antennas of
reasonable dimensions.
 Basic Analog communication system

Baseband signal
EM waves (modulated
(electrical signal) Transmitter signal)

Input Transmission
transducer M d l
Modulator
Channel

EM waves (modulated
Carrier signal)
i l)
Baseband signal
(electrical signal) Receiver

Output
Demodulator
transducer
 Basic digital communications system

Transmitter EM waves (modulated

Digital signal
signal)
Analog signal

Input Transmission
Modulator
transducer Channel

Carrier EM waves
Receiver (modulated signal)
analog signal digital signal

Output Demodulator
transducer
FDM of Three Voice band Signals
 Special type of Baseband signals
• Pulse-modulated signals like:
– Pulse Amplitude Modulation (PAM)
– Pulse Width Modulation (PWM)
– Pulse Position Modulation (PPM)
– Pulse Code Modulation (PCM)
– Delta Modulation (DM).

• Despite the term modulation, these signals are baseband signals.

• The term modulation is used here in another sense

sense.

• Pulse-modulation schemes are really baseband coding schemes, and they yield
baseband signals.

• These signals must still modulate a carrier in order to shift their spectra.

• The scheme of transmitting data by digitizing and then using pulse codes to transmit
the digitized data is known as pulse-code
pulse code modulation (PCM)
(PCM).

• The binary case is of great practical importance because of its simplicity and ease of
detection.

• Virtually all digital communication today is binary.

Pulse Amplitude Modulation (PAM) Wave
Pulse Code Modulation (PCM)
 Amplitude Modulation: DSB-SC
• Amplitude modulation is characterized by the fact that the amplitude A of the carrier
Acos(wct +θc) is varied in proportion to the baseband (message) signal rn (t)(t), the
modulating signal. The frequency wc and the phase θc are constant.

• If the carrier amplitude A is made directly proportional to the modulating signal m(t), the
modulated signal is m(t)coswc:

• The process of modulation shifts the spectrum of the modulating signal to the left and the
right by wc.

• If the
th bandwidth
b d idth off m(t)
(t) is
i B Hz,
H then
th the
th bandwidth
b d idth off the
th modulated
d l t d signal
i l is
i 2B Hz.
H

• The modulated signal spectrum centered at wcis composed of two parts:

– a portion that lies above wc, known as the upper sideband (USB), and a portion that lies below wc,
k
known as the
th lower
l sideband
id b d (LSB).
(LSB)
– Similarly, the spectrum centered at -wchas upper and lower sidebands.
– Hence, this is a modulation scheme with double sidebands.

• The modulated
Th d l t d signal
i l in
i this
thi scheme
h d
does nott contain
t i a discrete
di t componentt off the
th carrier
i
frequency wc. For this reason it is called double-sideband suppressed carrier (DSB-SC)
modulation.
Double-Sideband Suppressed Carrier (DSB-SC) Modulator
 Choice of B and wc
• The relationship of B to wc is of great interest. wc ≥ 2πB in order to avoid the overlap
off the
th spectra
t centered
t d att wc and d wc.

• If wc< 2πB, these spectra overlap and the information of m(t) is lost in the process of
modulation which makes it impossible to get back m(t) from the modulated signal
modulation,
m(t) cos wct.

• Practical factors may impose additional restrictions on wc.

• For instance, in the case of broadcast applications, a radiating antenna can radiate
only a narrow band without distortion.

• This means that to avoid distortion caused by the radiating antenna, wc>> 2πB.

• The broadcast
Th b d t band
b d AM radio,
di for
f instance,
i t with
ith B =5
5 kHz
kH andd the
th band
b d off 550 to
t
1600 kHz for the carrier frequency give a ratio of wc/2πB roughly in the range of 100
to 300.
 DSC-SC Demodulation
• To recover the original signal m(t) from the modulated signal, it is necessary to
retranslate the spectrum to its original position.
position

• The process of recovering the signal from the modulated signal (retranslating the
spectrum to its original position) is referred to as demodulation, or detection.

• The demodulation, which is almost identical to modulation, consists of multiplication

of the incoming modulated signal m(t)coswct by a carrier coswct followed by a low
pass filter.
p

• This method of recovering the baseband signal is called synchronous detection, or

coherent detection, where we use a carrier of exactly the same frequency (and
phase) as the carrier used for modulation.

• Thus, for demodulation,

Thus demodulation we need to generate a local carrier at the receiver in
frequency and phase coherence (synchronism) with the carrier used at the
modulator.
 Modulators
• Modulation can be achieved in several ways. Some important categories of
modulators
d l t are:
– Multiplier Modulators
– Nonlinear Modulators (single balanced modulators)
– Switching Modulators
• Diode-bridge modulator
• Series-bridge diode modulator
• Shunt-bridge diode modulator
• Ring modulator( a double balanced modulator)
 Multiplier Modulators
• The modulation is achieved directly by multiplying m(t) by coswct using an analog
multiplier whose output is proportional to the product of two input signals.
signals

• It is rather difficult to maintain linearity in this kind of amplifier, and they tend to be
rather expensive.
p

• Such a multiplier may be obtained from a variable-gain amplifier in which the gain
parameter is controlled by one of the signals, say m(t).

• When the signal coswct is applied at the input of this amplifier, the output is
proportional to m(t) coswct .

• Another way to multiply two signals is through logarithmic amplifiers.

 Nonlinear Modulators (single balanced modulators)
• Modulation can also be achieved by using nonlinear devices, such as a semiconductor
di d or a ttransistor.
diode i t
 Switching Modulators
• The multiplication operation required for modulation can be replaced by a simpler
switching operation if we realize that a modulated signal can be obtained by
multiplying m(t) not only by a pure sinusoid but by any periodic signal Φ(t) of the
fundamental radian frequency wc.

• The spectrum of the product m(t) Φ(t) is the spectrum M(w) shifted to

• If this signal is passed through a bandpass filter of bandwidth 2B Hz and tuned to wo

then we get the desired modulated signal.
 Diode-bridge modulator
• Multiplication of a signal by a square pulse train is in reality a switching operation.

• It involves switching the signal m(t) on and off periodically and can be accomplished
by simple switching elements controlled by w(t).

• The diode-bridge modulator is one such electronic switch driven by a sinusoid A

coswct to produce the switching action.

• To obtain the signal m(t)w(t), we may place this electronic switch in series or across
(in parallel) m(t).

• These modulators
Th d l t are known
k as the
th series-bridge
i b id di d modulator
diode d l t and
d the
th shunt-
h t
bridge diode modulator, respectively.

• This switching on and off of m (t) repeats for each cycle of the carrier,
carrier resulting in the
switched signal m(t)w(t), which when band pass filtered, yields the desired
modulated signal.
 Ring modulator
• In Ring modulator the output is proportional to m(t) during the positive half-cycle and
to -m(t)
m(t) during the negative half
half-cycle.
cycle

• In effect, m(t) is multiplied by a square pulse train wo(t).

• When this waveform is passed through a bandpass filter tuned to wc the filter output
will be the modulated signal.

• The input to the final band pass filter does not contain either of these inputs
inputs.

• Consequently, this circuit is an example of a double balanced modulator.

 Demodulation of DSB-SC Signals
• Demodulation of a DSB-SC signal is identical to modulation.

• At the receiver, we multiply the incoming signal by a local carrier of frequency and
phase in synchronism with the carrier used at the modulator.

• The product is then passed through a low-

low pass filter.
filter

• The only difference between the modulator and the demodulator is the output filter.

• In the modulator, the multiplier output is passed through a band pass filter
f tuned to
wc, whereas in the demodulator, the multiplier output is passed through a low-pass
filter.

• Therefore, all the modulators discussed earlier can also be used as demodulators,
Therefore demodulators
provided the bandpass filters at the output are replaced by low-pass filters of
bandwidth B.

• For demodulation,
demodulation the receiver must generate a carrier in phase and frequency
synchro- nism with the incoming cartier.

• These demodulators are called synchronous or coherent (also homodyne)

demodulators.
 Amplitude Modulation (AM):DSB with carrier
• For the suppressed carrier scheme , a receiver must generate a carrier in frequency
and pphase synchronism
y with the carrier at the transmitter that mayy be located
hundreds or thousands of miles away.

• This calls for a sophisticated receiver and could be quite costly.

• The other alternative is for the transmitter to transmit a carrier A cos wct [along with
the modulated signal m(t) cos wct] so that there is no need to generate a carrier at
the receiver.

• In this case the transmitter needs to transmit much larger power, which makes it
rather expensive.

• In point-to-point communications, where there is one transmitter for each receiver,

substantial
b t ti l complexity
l it in
i the
th receiver
i system
t can be
b justified,
j tifi d provided
id d it results
lt in
i a
large enough saving in expensive high-power transmitting equipment.

• On the other hand, for a broadcast system with a multitude of receivers for each
transmitter it is more economical to have one expensive high-power
transmitter, high power transmitter and
simpler, less expensive receivers.

• The second option (transmitting a carrier along with the modulated signal) is the
obvious choice for this case.
case This is the so
so-called
called AM (amplitude modulation).
modulation)
The transmitted signal is given by:

• The condition for envelope detection of an AM signal is:

• The modulation index μ is defined as:

• So the required condition for the viability of demodulation of AM by an envelope

detector is:

• When A < mp then μ > 1 (overmodulation). In this case, the option of envelope
detection is no longer viable. We then need to use synchronous demodulation.

• The synchronous demodulation can be used for any value of μ.

• The envelope detector,

detector which is considerably simpler and less expensive than the
synchronous detector, can be used only for μ ≤ 1.
 Sideband and Carrier Power
• The advantage of envelope detection in AM has its price. In AM, the carrier term
d
does nott carry any iinformation,
f ti and
dhhence, th
the carrier
i power iis wasted.
t d

• The total power is the sum of the carrier (wasted) power and the sideband (useful)
power.

• Hence η the power efficiency is:

 Special case of tone modulation
• For the special case of tone modulation:

• Thus, for tone modulation, under best conditions (µ = 1), only one-third of the
transmitted power is used for carrying message.

• For practical signals, the efficiency is even worse-----on the order of 25% or lower as
compared to that of the DSB-SC case.

• The best condition implies µ = 1. Smaller values of µ degrade efficiency further.

• For this reason volume compression

p and p
peak limiting
g are commonly
y used in AM to
ensure that full modulation (µ = 1) is maintained most of the time.
 Generation of AM Signals
• AM signals can be generated by any DSB-SC modulators if the modulating signal
i A + m(t)
is (t) instead
i t d off just
j t m(t).
(t)

• But because there is no need to suppress the carrier in the output, the modulating
circuits do not have to be balanced
balanced.

• This results in considerably simpler modulators for AM.

 Demodulation of AM Signals
• The AM signal can be demodulated coherently by a locally generated carrier.

• However coherent or synchronous demodulation of AM will defeat the very purpose

of AM and hence is rarely used in practice.

• The two noncoherent methods of AM demodulation are:

– Rectifier detection
– Envelope
p detection.
 Rectifier detector
• If an AM signal is applied to a diode and a resistor circuit the negative part of the AM
wave will
ill be
b suppressed.d

• The output across the resistor is a half-wave rectified version of the AM signal.

• In essence, the AM signal is multiplied by w(t):

• The output can be doubled by using a full wave rectifier.

• The rectifier detection is in effect synchronous detection performed without using a

local carrier.
 Envelope detector
• In an envelope detector, the output of the detector follows the envelope of the
modulated
d l t d signal.
i l

• The rectifier detector is basically a synchronous demodulator but the envelope

detection is a nonlinear operation
operation.

• The low pass filter used in rectifier detector does not depend on the value μ.

• On the other hand, the time constant RC of the low-pass filter for the envelope
detector does depend on the value of μ.
 Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM)
• The DSB signals occupy twice the bandwidth required for the baseband.

• This disadvantage can be overcome by transmitting two DSB signals using carriers of the
same frequency but in phase quadrature.

• If the two baseband signals to be transmitted are m1(t) and m2(t), the corresponding QAM
signal is the sum of the two DSB-modulated signals:

• Thus, two baseband signals, each of bandwidth B Hz, can be transmitted simultaneously
over a bandwidth 2B by using DSB transmission and quadrature multiplexing.
multiplexing

• The upper channel is also known as the in-phase (I) channel and the lower channel is the
quadrature (Q) channel.

• Both modulated signals occupy the same band. Yet two baseband signals can be
separated at the receiver by synchronous detection using two local carriers in phase
quadrature.
quadrature
• QAM is somewhat of an exacting scheme. A slight error in the phase or the frequency of
the carrier at th.e demodulator in QAM will not only result in loss and distortion of signals,
but will also lead to interference between the two channels.

• The low-pass filter suppresses the two signals with frequency 2wc, resulting in the output
m1(t) cosθ – m2(t) sin θ.

• Thus, in addition to the desired signal rn1(t),

Thus rn1(t) we also receive signal m2 (t) in the upper
branch.

• Similar argument shows that in addition to the desired signal m2(t), we receive signal m1(t)
i the
in th lower
l b
branch.
h This
Thi cochannel
h l interference
i t f i undesirable.Similar
is d i bl Si il difficulties
diffi lti arise
i
when the local frequency is in error.

• In addition, unequal
q attenuation of the USB and the LSB during
g transmission also leads to
crosstalk or cochannel interference.

• Quadrature multiplexing is used in Color television to multiplex the so-called chrominance

signals which carry the information about colors.
signals, colors

• There the synchronization is achieved by periodic insertion of a short burst of carrier signal
(called color burst in the transmitted signal.
 AM-Single Sideband (SSB)
• The DSB spectrum has two sidebands:

– The upper sideband (USB) and the lower sideband (LSB), both containing the complete
information of the baseband signal .

• A scheme in which only one sideband is transmitted is known as single-sideband (SSB)

transmission, which requires only one-half the bandwidth of the DSB signal.

• An SSB signal can be coherently (synchronously) demodulated.

• The demodulation of SSB signals is identical to that of DSB-SC

DSB SC signals.
signals

• We will discuss only SSB signals without an additional carrier and hence they are
suppressed carrier signals (SSB-SC).
 Time-Domain Representation of SSB Signals

• Let m+(t) and m-(t) be the inverse Fourier transforms of M+(w) and M_(w) respectively.

• Because the amplitude spectra M+(w) and M_(w) are not even functions of w, the signals
m+(t) and m_(t) cannot be real; they are complex. Moreover, M+(w) and M_(w) are the two
halves of M(w).
 Hints
Conjugate Symmetry Property

• If g(t) is a real function of t, then G(w) and G(-w) are complex conjugates:

• For real g (t), the amplitude spectrum is an even function, and the phase spectrum is
an odd function of w.
• This property (the conjugate symmetry property) is valid only for real g(t).

Symmetry Property

if

10.03.2011
then
• If m(t) is passed through a transfer function H (w) = -j sgn (w), then the output is mh(t), the
Hilbert transform of m(t).

• Thus, if we delay the phase of every component of m (t) by pi/2 (without changing its
amplitude), the resulting signal is mh(t), the Hilbert transform of m(t).

• Therefore, a Hilbert transformer is an ideal phase shifter that shifts the phase of every
spectral component by –pi/2.
 Generation of SSB Signals
• Two methods are commonly used to generate SSB signals are:
– Selective-Filtering Method
– Phase-Shift Method

• The first method uses sharp

p cutoff filters to eliminate the undesired sideband,, and the
second method uses phase-shifting networks.
 Selective-Filtering Method
• This is the most commonly used method of generating SSB signals.

• In this method a DSB-SC signal is passed through a sharp cutoff filter to eliminate the undesired
sideband.

• To obtain the USB, the filter should pass all components above wc unattenuated and completely
suppress all components below wc. Such an operation requires an ideal filter,
filter which is unrealizable.
unrealizable

• Such filter can however, be realized closely if there is some separation between the pass band and the
stop band.

• Fortunately, the voice signal provides this condition,

Fortunately condition because its spectrum shows little power content at
the origin in addition articulation tests have shown that for speech signals, frequency components below
300 Hz are not important.

• In other words, we may suppress "all speech components below 300 Hz without affecting the
intelligibility appreciably.
appreciably

• Thus, filtering of the unwanted sideband becomes relatively easy for speech signals because we have a
600-Hz transition region around the cutoff frequency wc.To minimize adjacent channel interference, the
undesired sideband should be attenuated at least 40 dB.

• For very high carrier frequencies, the ratio of the gap band (600 Hz) to the carrier frequency may be too
small, and, thus, a transition of 40 dB in amplitude over 600 Hz may pose a problem.

• In such a case, the modulation is carried out using a smaller carrier frequency first(wc1). The resulting
SSB signal effectively widens the gap to 2wc11. Now,
Now treating this signal as the new baseband signal,
signal it is
possible to SSB-modulate the high-frequency carrier.
 Phase-Shift Method
• The implementation of this method is based on:

• An ideal phase shifter is unrealizable. We can at most approximate it over a finite band.

• However, it is p
possible to realize a filter with two outputs
p such that both outputs
p have the
same (constant) amplitude spectrum, but their phase spectra differ by pi/2 rad over a given
band of frequencies.

• In terms of bandwidth requirement,

requirement SSB is similar to QAM but less exacting in terms of the
carrier frequency and phase or the requirement of a distortionless transmission medium.

• However, SSB is difficult to generate if the baseband signal has no dc null in its spectrum.

• It is easy to build a circuit to shift the phase of a single frequency component by pi/2 rad,
but a device to achieve a pi/2 phase shift of all the spectral components over a band of
frequencies is unrealizable.
 Demodulation of SSB-SC Signals

• SSB-SC signals
g can be coherently
y demodulated.

• So SSB-SC demodulator is identical to the synchronous demodulator used for DSB-

SC.

• Thus, any one of the synchronous DSB-SC demodulators can be used to demodulate
an SSB-SC signal.
Envelope Detection of SSB Signals with a Carrier (SSB+C)
Telephone-Channel Multiplexing
 Standard/Basic Group

• M lti l i off 12 V
Multiplexing Voice
i channels
h l tto fform a standard
t d d group.

• Frequencies assigned to standard group are from 60kHz to 108 kHz.

• The LSB are selected while USB are rejected after mixing process.

• The mixing process causes frequencies inversion

inversion.
 Super Group
• Multiplexing of 5 standard groups to form a Super group.

• Frequencies assigned to Super group are from 312kHz to 552 kHz.

• Th carrier
The i ffrequencies
i are assigned
i d as
For Standard group1:420KHz
For Standard group1:468KHz
For Standard group1:516KHz
g p
For Standard group1:564KHz
For Standard group1:612KHz

• The LSB are selected while

hile USB are rejected after mi
mixing
ing process
process. The mi
mixing
ing
process causes frequencies inversion.

• A basic master group of 600 channels is formed by multiplexing 10 super groups in

North American Hierarchy.

• In the CCITT hierarchy, a basic master group is formed by multiplexing five super
groups (300 voice channels).

• There are two standard master group configurations: the L600 and the U600.
 AM-Vestigial Sideband (VSB)
• The generation of SSB signals is rather difficult:

– The selective-filtering method demands dc null in the modulating signal spectrum.

– A phase shifter required in the phase- shift method is unrealizable, or realizable only approximately.

• The generation of DSB signals is much simpler, but requires twice the signal bandwidth.

• A vestigial-sideband (VSB), also called asymmetric sideband system is a compromise between

DSB and SSB.

• It inherits the advantages of DSB and SSB but avoids their disadvantages at a small cost.
cost

• VSB signals are relatively easy to generate and at the same time, their bandwidth is only
(typically 25%) greater than that of SSB signals.

• In VSB, instead of rejecting one sideband completely (as in SSB), a gradual cutoff of one
sideband is accepted.

• The baseband signal can be recovered exactly by a synchronous detector in conjunction with an
appropriate
app op a e equa
equalizer
e filter
e Ho((w)) a
at the
e receiver
ece e ououtput.
pu

• If a large carrier is transmitted along with the VSB signal, the baseband signal can be recovered
by an envelope (or a rectifier) detector.
• If the vestigial shaping filter that produces VSB from DSB is Hi(w) then the resulting VSB
signal spectrum is:

• VSB shaping filter Hi(w) allows the transmission of one sideband, but suppresses the other
sideband not completely but gradually.

• This makes it easy to realize such a filter, but the transmission bandwidth is now
somewhat higher than that of the SSB.
• We require that m(t) be recoverable from VSB modulated signal using synchronous
demodulation at the receiver. This is done by multiplying the incoming VSB signal with
carrier. The product e(t) is given by:

• The signal e (t) is further passed through the low-pass equalizer filter of transfer function
Ho(w).

• The output of the equalizer filter is required to be m(t). Hence, the output signal spectrum is
given by:

but

so

because Hi(w) is a band pass filter, the terms Hi(w±wc) contain low-pass components.
 Envelope Detection of VSB+C Signals
• VSB+C signals can be envelope detected in the same way as that for SSB+C signals.

• Both the SSB and the VSB modulated signals have the same form, with mh(t) in SSB
replaced by some other signal ms(t) in VSB.

• SSB+C requires a much larger carrier than DSB+C (AM) for envelope detection.

• Because VSB+C is an in-between case,, the added carrier required

q in VSB is larger
g than
that in AM, but smaller than that in SSB+C.
 Use of VSB in Broadcast Television
• VSB is a clever compromise between SSB and DSB, which makes it very attractive for
television broadcast systems.

• The baseband video signal of television occupies an enormous bandwidth of 4.5 MHz, and
a DSB signal needs a bandwidth of 9 MHz.

• It would seem desirable to use SSB in order to conserve the bandwidth. Unfortunately, this
creates several problems.

– First, the baseband video signal has sizable power in the low-frequency region, and consequently
it iis diffi
difficult
lt tto suppress one sideband
id b d completely.
l t l

– Second, for a broadcast receiver, an envelope detector is preferred over a synchronous one in
order to reduce the receiver cost but SSB+C has a very low power efficiency and use of SSB will
increase the receiver cost.

• The vestigial shaping filter Hi(w) cuts off the lower sideband spectrum gradually starting at
0.75 MHz to 1.25 MHz below the carrier frequency fc.

• The receiver output filter Ho(w) is designed accordingly and the resulting VSB spectrum
bandwidth is 6 MHz as compared to DSB bandwidth of 9 MHz and the SSB bandwidth of
4.5 MHz.
Use of VSB in Broadcast Television
 Linearity of Amplitude Modulation

• In all the types of modulation (DSB,

(DSB SSB,
SSB AM,
AM and VSB) the modulated signal
satisfies the principles of superposition.

• For example, if modulating signals m1(t) and m2(t) produce modulated signals φ1(t)
and φ2(t) respectively, then the modulating k1m1(t) + k2m2(t) produces the
modulated signal k1φ1(t) + k2 φ2(t).

• Because any signal can be expressed as a sum (discrete or in continuum) of

sinusoids, the complete description of the modulation system can be expressed in
terms of tone modulation.

• W can generalize
We li this
thi result
lt to
t any non-sinusoidal
i id l modulating
d l ti signal
i l m(t).
(t)
Carrier Acquisition
 Carrier Acquisition
• In the suppressed-carrier amplitude-modulated system (DSB-SC, SSB-SC, and VSB-SC),
one mustt generatet a local
l l carrier
i att the
th receiver
i f
for th purpose off synchronous
the h
demodulation.

• Ideally,
y the local carrier must be in frequency
q y and p
phase synchronism
y with the incoming
g
carrier.

• Any discrepancy in the frequency or phase of the local carrier gives rise to distortion in the
detector output.
output

• Consider a DSB-SC case where a received signal is m(t)coswct and the local carrier is in
error. The product of the received signal and the local carrier is e(t), given by:

• If there is no frequency or phase error in local carrier then

 Two special cases
Case 1: If ∆w = 0 then

• This output is proportional to m(t) when δ is a constant. The output is maximum when δ =
0 and minimum (zero) when δ=±π/2.

• Thus, the phase error in the local carrier causes the attenuation of the output signal
without causing any distortion, as long as δ is constant.

• Unfortunately, the phase error δ may vary randomly with time.

Unfortunately time This may occur,
occur for
example, because of variations in the propagation path.

• This causes the gain factor cosδ at the receiver to vary randomly and is undesirable.

Case 2: If ∆δ=0 then

• The output here is not merely an attenuated replica of the original signal but is also
distorted.
distorted

• Because ∆w is usually small, the output is the signal m(t) multiplied by a low-frequency
sinusoid.

• This causes the amplitude of the desired signal rn (t) to vary from maximum to zero
periodically at twice the period of the beat frequency ∆w. This "beating" effect is
catastrophic even for a small frequency difference.
 Carrier Acquisition Techniques
• To ensure identical carrier frequencies at the transmitter and the receiver, we can use
quartz crystal oscillators,
oscillators which generally are very stable.
stable

• Identical crystals are cut to yield the same frequency at the transmitter and the receiver.

• At very high carrier frequencies, the crystal dimensions become too small to match
exactly, quartz-crystal performance may not be adequate.

• In such a case, a carrier or pilot is transmitted at a reduced level (usually about -20 dB)
along with the sidebands.

• The pilot is separated at the receiver by a very narrow-band filter tuned to the pilot
frequency. It is amplified and used to synchronize the local oscillator.

• The phase-locked loop (PLL), plays an important role in carrier

synchronization/acquisition.

• The nature of the distortion caused by asynchronous carrier in SSB-SC is somewhat

different than that in DSB-SC.
 Phase-Locked Loop (PLL)

• The phase-locked loop (PLL) can be used to track the phase and the frequency of the
carrier component of an incoming signal.

• It is, therefore, a useful device for synchronous demodulation of AM signals with

suppressed carrier or with a little carrier (the pilot).
pilot)

• It can also be used for the demodulation of angle-modulated signals, especially under low
SNR conditions.

• For this reason, the PLL is used in such applications as space-vehicle-to-earth data links,
where there is a premium on transmitter weight, or where the loss along the transmission
path is veryy large.
p g

• PLL is also used in commercial FM receivers.

• A PLL has three basic components:

– voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO)
– A multiplier serving as a phase detector (PD) or a phase comparator
– A loop
p filter H(s)
( )
 Voltage-Controlled Oscillator (VCO)
• An oscillator whose frequency can be controlled by an external voltage is a voltage
controlled
t ll d oscillator
ill t (VCO).
(VCO)

• In a VCO, the oscillation frequency varies linearly with the input voltage.

• If a VCO input voltage is eo(t), its output is a sinusoid of frequency w given by:

where c is a constant of the VCO and w is the free-running frequency of the VCO
PLL Working
• Th two
The t signals
i l are said
id to
t be
b mutually
t ll phase
h coherent
h t or in
i phase
h l k
lock.

• The VCO thus tracks the frequency and the phase of the incoming signal.

• A PLL can track

t k the
th incoming
i i f
frequency only
l over a finite
fi it range off frequency
f shift.
hift This
Thi
range is called the hold-in or lock range.

• Moreover, if initially the input and output frequencies are not close enough, the loop may
not acquire lock.
lock

• The frequency range over which the input will cause the loop to lock is called the pull-in or
capture range.

• Also if the input frequency changes too rapidly, the loop may not lock.
 Applications of PLL
• If the input sinusoid is noisy, the PLL not only tracks the sinusoid, but also cleans it up.

• The PLL can also be used as an FM demodulator and frequency synthesizer.

• Frequency multipliers and dividers can also be built using PLL.

• The PLL, being a relatively inexpensive integrated circuit, has become one of the most
frequently used communication circuits.

• In space vehicles, because of the Doppler shift and the oscillator drift, the frequency of
the received signal has a lot of uncertainty.

• The Doppler shift of the carrier itself could be high whereas the desired modulated signal
band may be very low.

• To receive such a signal by conventional receivers would require a filter of bandwidth of

twice of Doppler shift

• This would cause an undesirable increase in the noise received because the noise power
is proportional to the bandwidth.

• The PLL proves convenient here because it tracks the received frequency continuously,
and the filter bandwidth required is same as that of original signal.
 Carrier Acquisition in DSB-SC
• Signal
g squaring
q g Technique
q
• Costas loop Technique
Signal squaring Technique
Costas loop Technique
 Carrier Acquisition in SSB-SC
• For the purpose of synchronization at the SSB receiver, one may use highly stable crystal
oscillators,
ill t with
ith crystals
t l cutt for
f the
th same frequency
f att the
th transmitter
t itt and
d the
th receiver.
i

• At very high frequencies, where even quartz crystals may have inadequate performance, a
pilot carrier may
p y be transmitted.

• However signal squaring technique as well as the Costas loop used in DSB-SC cannot be
used for SSB-SC.

• There is nothing we can do to remove the time-varying phase 2θ(t) from this sinusoid.
Hence for SSB
SSB, the squaring technique does not work
work.
 Frequency-Division Multiplexing (FDM)
• Signal multiplexing allows the transmission of several signals on the same channel.

• In FDM, several signals share the band of a channel. Each signal is modulated by a
different carrier frequency.

• The various carriers are adequately separated to avoid overlap (or interference) between
the spectra of various modulated signals.

• These carriers are referred to as subcarriers. Each signal may use a different kind of
modulation ((for example,
p , DSB-SC,, AM,, SSB-SC,, VSB-SC,, or even FM or PM).
)

• The modulated-signal spectra may be separated by a small guard band to avoid

interference and facilitate signal separation at the receiver.

• When all of the modulated spectra are added, we have a composite signal that may be
considered as a baseband signal to further modulate a high-frequency [radio frequency
(RF)] carrier for the purpose of transmission.

• At the receiver,
receiver the incoming signal is first demodulated by the RF carder to retrieve the
composite baseband, which is then bandpass filtered to separate each modulated signal.

• Then each modulated signal is demodulated individually by an appropriate subcarrier to

g
obtain all the basic baseband signals.
 Superheterodyne AM Receiver

• The radio receiver used in an AM system is called the superheterodyne AM receiver

receiver.

• It consists of :
– An RF (radio-frequency) section
– a frequency converter
– an intermediate-frequency (IF) amplifier
– an envelope detector
– an audio amplifier.
• The RF section
Th ti iis b
basically
i ll a ttunable
bl filt
filter and
d an amplifier
lifi ththatt picks
i k up th
the d
desired
i d
station by tuning the filter to the right frequency band.

• The frequency
q y mixer ((converter),
) translates the carrier from RF to a fixed IF frequency
q y of
455 kHz.

• For this purpose, it uses a local oscillator whose frequency is exactly 455 kHz above the
incoming carrier frequency .

• The tuning of the local oscillator and the RF tunable filter is done by one knob.

• Tuning capacitors in both circuits are ganged together and are designed so that the tuning
frequency of the LO is always 455 kHz above the tuning frequency of the RF filter.
• This means every tuned station is translated to a fixed carder frequency of 455 kHz by the
frequency converter.

• The reason for translating all stations to a fixed carrier frequency of 455 kHz is to obtain
adequate selectivity.

• It is difficult to design sharp bandpass filters of bandwidth 10 kHz (the modulated audio
spectrum) if the center frequency fc is very high. This is particularly true if this filter is
tunable.

• Hence, the RF filter cannot provide adequate selectivity against adjacent channels.

• But when this signal is translated to an IF frequency by a converter, it is further amplified

b an IF amplifier
by lifi ((usually
ll a th
three-stage
t amplifier),
lifi ) which
hi h d
does h
have good d selectivity.
l ti it

• This is because the IF frequency is reasonably low and secondly its center frequency is
fixed.

• Hence, the IF section can effectively suppress adjacent-channel interference because of

its high selectivity. It also amplifies the signal for envelope detection.

• In reality, practically all of the selectivity is realized in the IF section; the RF section plays
a negligible role. The main function of the RF section is image frequency suppression.