MODULATION AND DEMODULATION

I.1. INTRODUCTION For successful transmission and reception of different base band signals (code, voice, music etc.), base by the use of radio waves, two processes are essential. Those processes are Modulation and Demodulation. Speech and music etc. are sent thousands of kilometers away by a radio transmitter. The scene in front of a television camera is also sent many kilometers away to viewers. Similarly, a Moon probe or Venus probe checking its environments sends the information it gathers millions of kilometers through space to receivers on earth. In all these cases, the carrier is the high-frequency radio wave. The intelligence i.e. sight, sound or other data collected by the probe is impressed on the radio wave and is carried along with it to the destination. Modulation is the process of changing the carrier wave parameters using the message (modulating signal) for easy transmission. This can be done by changing the carrier waves amplitude, frequency or phase. The resultant wave is called modulated carrier and this job is done at the transmitting station. The carrier wave is high-frequency undamped radio waves produced by radio-frequency oscillators. These waves have constant amplitude and travel with the velocity of light. They are inaudible i.e. by themselves they cannot produce any sound in the loudspeaker of a receiver. Demodulation is the process of separating or recovering the signal from the modulated wave. It is just the opposite of modulation and is performed at the receiving end. Bellow is Radio Frequency Spectrum Classification Very Low F (VLF) Low F (LF) Frequency range 3-30 KHZ 30-300 KHZ Wave length (100-10).103m (10-1).103m uses Long distance telegraphy broadcasting Long distance point-to-point service, navigational aids, sounds broadcasting and line carrier systems. sound broadcasting, ship-shore services and line carrier systems Medium and long-distance point-to-point services, sound broadcasting, linear carrier systems short-distance communication, TV and sound broadcasting sound broadcasting, radar outer-space radio communication, Point-to-point microwave

Medium F (MF) High F (HF)

300-3000 KHZ 3-30 MHZ

(1000-100)m (100-10)m

Very High F (VHF) Ultra High F (UHF) Super High F (SHF)

30-300 MHZ 300-3000 MHZ 3-30 GHZ

(10-1)m (1-0.1)m (10-1)cm (1-0.1)cm

Extremely High F (EHF) 30-300 GHZ

communication radar.

systems

and

Need for Modulation Someone can ask himself why do we need modulation? Why not simply transmit the base band signal as it is? But they are many reasons that we modulate. Some are: 1. Avoid signal interference All base band signals are concentrated in a short range of frequency, so if all signal are transmitted without any differentiation, mutual interference will render all of them ineffective. But with modulation all base band signal are converted in different portion of electromagnetic spectrum so that at the receiving end a specific circuit can be used to detect a specific signal. 2. Size of antennas For efficient radiation of a signal, the minimum length of an antenna is one quarter wavelength (/4). The antenna length L is connected with the frequency of the signal wave by the relation L = 75 106/f metres. For transmitting an audio signal of f = 1000 Hz, L = 75 106/103 = 75,000 m = 75 km! In view of this immense size of antenna length, it is impractical to radiate audio-frequency signals directly into space. 3. Signal multiplexing Several messages can be transmitted on a given channel, by assigning to each message signal an appropriate slot in the pass-band of the channel. For example in AM and FM the pass-band is 550 KHz to 1650 KHz and 88 MHz to 108 MHz respectively. 4. Easy radiation When base band signal are converted into RF (radio frequency) energy, they can travel a long distance than the same energy transmitted as base band energy. 5. Improve signal-to-noise ratio Some modulation scheme (notably frequency and phase modulation) have feature of withstanding the channel noise. This feature can be taken advantages when the quality of the receiver output is very important. I.2. AMPLITUDE MADULATION AND DEMODULATION This is a type of modulation where the amplitude of the carrier wave is varied in accordance to the instantaneous amplitude of the modulating signal. Obviously, the amplitude of the carrier wave is changed but not its frequency. Greater the amplitude of the AF signal, greater the fluctuations in the amplitude of the carrier wave. Below is the block diagram of AM (Amplitude Modulation)

I.2.1. Mathematical analysis of an AM signal Let () ( ) () ( )

Here we will consider the initial phase angle to be zero. As said AM consist of carrier amplitude variation he AM signal is as follows; , ( ), ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )

CW USB LSB This signal is called AM DSB FC which means, Amplitude Modulation Double Side Band Full Carrier CW: Carrier Wave; USB: Upper Side Band; LSB: Lower Side Band Note: For easy calculation it was assumed that the modulating signal is a co-sinusoidal signal with a fixed frequency, fm but normally in practical, the modulating signal has a variable frequency with fm(MAX) and fm(MIN). As seen Modulation Index, and it ranges from 0 to 1 means, Below are some Modulation index and their corresponding modulated signal

Here when we have m>1 we call it overmodulation and when we have m=1 we call it unity modulation. In case of m>1, the carrier changes its phase which results in modification of modulating or original signal at the receiving end and this later can become useless or inefficient reason why overmodulation must be avoided. I.2.2. Power in AM The AM signal ( ) ( ) and it contains all power that is being transmitted. This include Power transmitted by the carrier (PC), Power transmitted by both side-bands (USB and LSB) Hence ( with ) ( ) ( )

.
power and carriear wave power is Where

Here relationship between the total transmitted

.
Therefore

I.2.3. Transmission efficiency () Transmission efficiency, for AM and This shows that, the transmission efficiency depends on where

the modulation index. When the modulation index m=1, the transmission efficiency is only 33.33% therefore we can conclude that: Each sideband is equal in bandwidth to that of the modulation signal and it is a mirror image of the other. Amplitude Modulation is inefficient as its transmitted power is mostly consumed by the carrier wave though the needed information is contained in side-band. At least two-thirds of the total power is concentrated in the carrier wave. The remaining part is split between two identical sidebands though only one of these is enough since both contain identical information. I.2.4. Upper and Lower Side Frequencies An unmodulated carrier wave consists of only one single-frequency component of frequency fc. When it is combined with a modulating signal of frequency fm, heterodyning action takes place. As a result, two additional frequencies called side frequencies are produced. The AM wave is found to consist of three frequency components: 1. The original carrier frequency component, fc. 2. A higher frequency component (fc+ fm). It is called the sum component. 3. A lower frequency component (fc fm). It is called the difference component. The two new frequencies are called the upper-side frequency (USF) and lower-side frequency (LSF) respectively and are symmetrically located around the carrier frequency. Below is the AM signal frequency spectrum

CW: carrier wave

I.2.5. Upper and Lower Sidebands It was assumed that the modulating signal was composed of one frequency component only. However, in a broadcasting station, the modulating signal is the human voice (or music) which contains waves with a frequency range of 20-4000 Hz. Each of these waves has its own LSF and USF. When combined together, they give rise to an upper-side band (USB) and a lower-side band (LSB) as shown in Figure below, the USB, in fact, contains all sum components of the signal and carrier frequency whereas LSB contains their difference components. The channel width (or bandwidth) is given by the difference between extreme frequencies i.e. between maximum frequency of USB and minimum frequency of LSB. As seen, Channel width = 2 maximum frequency of modulating signal = 2 fm (max)

Examples 1) A modulated carrier wave has maximum and minimum amplitudes of 750 mV and 250 mV. Calculate the value of percentage modulation. Solution Here, Ec(max) = 750 mV and Ec(min) = 250 mV

2) A 10-MHz sinusoidal carrier wave of amplitude 10 mV is modulated by a 5 kHz sinusoidal audio signal wave of amplitude 6 mV. Find the frequency components of the resultant modulated wave and their amplitudes. Here, fc = 10 MHz and fm = 5 kHz = 0.005 MHz. The modulated carrier contains the Following frequencies: original carrier wave of frequency fc = 10 MHz, USF of frequency = 10 + 0.005 = 10.005 MHz, LSF of frequency = 10 0.005 = 9.995 MHz Here =6mV/10mV=0.6 and Amplitude of LSB=USB=m /2=0.6*10/2=3mV Below is the frequency spectrum

3) An audio signal given by 15 sin 2 (2000 t) amplitude-modulates a sinusoidal carrier wave 60 sin 2 (100,000) t. Determine : (a) modulation index, (b) percent modulation, (c) frequencies of signal and carrier, (d) frequency spectrum of the modulated wave. Solution, here Em=15, Ec=60 so (a) m=15/60=0.25; (b) %mod. =0.25*100=25% (c) By inspection of the given equation fc=100000Hz and fm=2000Hz (d) The frequency spectrum of the modulated wave is composed by three frequencies; fc=100000Hz=105Kz, fc+fm=100000+2000=102Kz, fc-fm=100000-2000=98KzA 4) A bandwidth of 15 MHz is available for AM transmission. If the maximum audio signal frequency used for modulating the carrier is not to exceed 15 kHz, how many stations can broadcast within this band simultaneously without interfering with each other? Solution BW required by each station =2 fm (max) = 2 15 = 30 kHz Hence, the number of station which can broadcast within this frequency band without interfering with one another is =15 MHz/30kHz= 500 stations

5) In a broadcasting studio, a 1000 kHz carrier is modulated by an audio signal of frequency range, 100-5000 Hz. Find (i) width or frequency range of sidebands (ii) maximum and minimum frequencies of USB (iii) maximum and minimum frequencies of LSB and (iv) width of the channel. Solution (i) Width of sideband = 5000 100 = 4900 Hz (ii) Max. Frequency of USB = 1000 + 5 = 1005 kHz Min. frequency of USB= 1000 + 0.1 = 1000.1 kHz (iii) Max. Frequency of LSB= 1000 0.1 = 999.9 kHz Min. frequency of LSB= 1000 5 = 995 kHz (iv) Width of channel = 1005 995 = 10 kHz 6) The total power content of an AM wave is 1500 W. For a 100 percent modulation, determine (i) Power transmitted by carrier, (ii) power transmitted by each side band. 7) A certain transmitter radiates 10 kW of power with the carrier unmodulated and 11.8 kW with the carrier sinusoidally modulated. (a) Find the modulation factor, (b) If another wave modulated to 40% is also transmitted, calculate the radiated power

I.2.6. Forms of Amplitude Modulation

As seen, one carrier and two sidebands are produced in AM generation. It is found that it is not necessary to transmit all these signals to enable the receiver to reconstruct the original signal. Accordingly, we may attenuate or altogether remove the carrier or any one of the sidebands without affecting the communication process. The advantages would be; 1. Less transmitted power and 2. Less bandwidth required The different suppressed component systems are: (a) DSB-SC It stands for double-sideband suppressed carrier system [Fig. below (a)]. Here, carrier component is suppressed thereby saving enormous amount of power. As seen from Art. 66.14, carrier signal contains 66.7 per cent of the total transmitted power for m = 1, Hence, power saving amounts to 66.7% at 100% modulation. (b) SSB-TC As shown in Fig. below (b), in this case, one sideband is suppressed but the other sideband and carrier is transmitted. It is called single sideband transmitted carrier system. For m = 1, power saved is 1/6 of the total transmitted power.

(c) SSB-SC This is the most dramatic suppression of all because it suppresses one sideband and the carrier and transmits only the remaining sideband as shown in Fig. below (c). In the standard or doublesideband full-carrier (DSB.FC) AM, carrier conveys no information but contains maximum power. Since the two sidebands are exact images of each other, they carry the same audio information. Hence, all information is available in one sideband only. Obviously carrier is superfluous and one side band is redundant. Hence, one sideband and the carrier can be discarded with no loss of information. The result is SSB signal

Figure: Amplitude modulation forms The advantages of SSB-SC system are as follows: 1. Total saving of 83.3% in transmitted power (66.7% due to suppression of carrier wave and 16.6% due to suppression of one sideband). Hence, power is conserved in an SSB transmitter. 2. Bandwidth required is reduced by half i.e. 50%. Hence, twice as many channels can be multiplexed in a given frequency range. 3. The size of power supply required is very small. This fact assumes vital importance particularly in a spacecraft. 4. Since the SSB signal has narrower bandwidth, a narrower pass-band is permissible within the receiver, thereby limiting the noise pick up. However, the main reason for wide spread use of DSB-FC (rather than SSB-SC) transmission in broadcasting is the relative simplicity of its modulating equipment. Example: In an AM wave, calculate the power saving when the carrier and one sideband are suppressed corresponding to (i) m = 1 (ii) m = 0.5 SOL (i) When m=1

(ii) When m=0.5

I.2.7. AM SIGNAL GENERATION AND DETECTION I.2.7.1. AM Signal Generation This is the action of producing an AM signal and this action takes place at the transmitting end. There are two methods of achieving amplitude modulation: (i)Amplifier modulation, (ii) Oscillator modulation (i) Amplifier modulation The figure below illustrates the basic idea of amplifier modulation. Here, carrier and AF signal are fed to an amplifier and the result is an AM output. The modulation process takes place in the active device used in the amplifier.

Figure: Amplifier modulation In this category we have; Product Modulator like Nationals LM1496, Motorolas MC1496 (ii) Oscillator modulation

Block Diagram of an AM Transmitter Figure below shows the block diagram of a typical transmitter. The carrier wave is supplied by a crystal oscillator at the carrier frequency. It is followed by a tuned buffer amplifier and an RF output amplifier. The source of AF signal is a microphone. The audio signal is amplified by a low level audio amplifier and, finally, by a power amplifier. It is then combined with the carrier to produce a modulated carrier wave which is ultimately radiated out in the free space by the transmitter antenna as shown.

Figure: Block Diagram of an AM Transmitter Modulating Amplifier Circuit It is shown in Figure below. The carrier signal from a crystal oscillator is coupled to the base of Q through transformer T1. The low-frequency modulating signal is also coupled to the base of Q by capacitor C1. The voltage divider R1 R2, as usual, provides proper forward bias for the transistor whereas C2 and C3 are bypass capacitors. The modulating signal applied across R2 causes variations in the base bias in step with its own variations. The amplitude of the transistor RF output changes according to the changes in AF modulating signal. The L1 C4 circuit is kept tuned to the carrier frequency. The amplitude-modulated carrier or RF current in L1 induces similar current in L2 which is connected to an antenna. Finally, the AM carrier wave is radiated out in space by the transmitting antenna.

Figure: Modulating Amplifier Circuit I.2.7.2. AM Signal Detection When we say signal detection this means signal recovery and with AM signal detection or demodulation is a process of recovering the modulating or original signal from the modulated or AM signal. This process takes action at the receiving end. For recovering the AF waveform from modulated wave, it is essential to find some way of reducing or eliminating one half of the modulated wave. The result of this elimination would be that the average value of the wave would not be zero because, now, the impulse would be all in one direction. If this new wave is now passed through a headphone shunted by a suitable capacitor, then AF wave will pass through the headphone whereas the RF wave will be by-passed by the capacitor. Hence, two will become separated. Diode Detector Diode detection is also known as envelope-detection or linear detection. In appearance, it looks like an ordinary half-wave rectifier circuit with capacitor input as shown in Figure below. It is called envelope detection because it recovers the AF signal envelope from the composite signal. Similarly, diode detector is called linear detector because its output is proportional to the voltage of the input signal.

Figure: Diode Detector Circuit operation Various RF voltages induced in the receiver aerial, only those having the same frequency as the resonant frequency of LC circuit are tuned in due to electromagnetic induction between coils L1 and L. By varying C, the resonant frequency of the LC circuit can be varied and hence RF signal of any desired frequency can be tuned in. This input signal is rectified by the diode and passed on to the low-pass filter RC1. The RF carrier wave is filtered out by low-reactance capacitor C1 which is called RF filter capacitor or RF by-pass capacitor. The dc component of the remaining signal is shunted out through R because it cannot pass through blocking capacitor CB. But the low, frequency AF signal can easily get through CB and becomes available across the output. When passed through a suitable device, say, a headphone, the original sound can be heard. Advantages Diode detectors are extensively used in AM broadcast receivers because they have the following advantages: 1. They can handle comparatively large input signals; 2. They can be operated as linear or power detectors; 3. They rectify with negligible distortion and, hence, have good linearity; 4. They are well-adopted for use in simple automatic-gain control circuits. Disadvantages However, the disadvantages are that 1. They do not have the ability to amplify the rectified signal by themselves as is done by a transistor detector. However, it is not a very serious drawback since signal amplification can be effectuated both before and after rectification; 2. While conducting, the diode consumes some power which reduces the Q of its tuned circuit as well as its gain and selectivity.

Transistor Detector Transistors can be used as detector amplifiers i.e. both for rectification and amplification. As shown in Figure below, the RF signal is applied at the base-emitter junction where rectification takes place. The amplification of the recovered signal takes place in the emitter-collector circuit. It should be noted that when used as a detector, the transistor has to be biased at cut-off or operated as class-B. As is usual, C2 ac grounds R3 whereas voltage divider R1 R2 establishes proper bias which holds the transistor just at cut-off.

Figure: Transistor Detector Obviously, only positive half-cycles of the modulated RF input signal will drive the transistor into conduction, whereas negative half-cycles would be cut-off. Thus, rectification of the input signal takes place in the base-emitter circuit. The small variations in base current produced by the positive half-cycle of the input signal produce large ( time) variations in the collector current. Hence, an amplified version of the rectified signal appears across RC C3 combination. C3 eliminates RF component so that only AF signal voltage drops across RC. The capacitor C4 permits AF signal to pass through but blocks its dc component. Tutorials 1. A carrier wave has an amplitude of 500 mV. A modulating signal causes its amplitude to vary from 200 mV to 800 mV. What is the percentage modulation? 2. A 100.MHz carrier having an amplitude of 50 V is amplitude-modulated by a 5 kHz audio signal having an amplitude of 20 V. Find (i) modulation index, (ii) percent modulation, (iii) components of modulated wave, (iv) the amplitudes of sidebands.

3. An audio signal given by 30 sin (2 2500t) is used for modulating a carrier wave given by the equation 60 sin (2 200,000t). Find (i) percent modulation, (ii) frequencies of the signal and the carrier, (iii) frequency spectrum of the modulated wave. 4. How many AM broadcast stations can be accommodated in a 5 MHz bandwidth if each station transmits a signal modulated by an audio signal having a maximum frequency of 5 kHz. 5. A 100 kHz bandwidth is to accommodate 5 AM broadcasts simultaneously. What is the maximum modulating frequency permissible for each station? 6. Total power content of an AM signal is 3000 W. For 100 percent modulation, calculate (i) carrier power (ii) power in each sideband 7. The total power content of an AM wave is 1320 W. What is the percent modulation if each sideband contains 160 W? 8. An SSB-SC signal contains 2 kW. Find power contained in (i) carrier (ii) sideband. 9. As compared to DSB-FC, Calculate the power saving in SSB-SC when percent modulation is (i) 1 (ii) 0.8 (iii) 0.5

I.3. FREQUENCY MADULATION AND DEMODULATION

As the name shows, in this modulation, it is only the frequency of the carrier which is changed and not its amplitude. The amount of change in frequency is determined by the amplitude of the modulating signal whereas rate of change is determined by the frequency of the modulating signal. As shown in Figure aside, in an FM system, information is carried as variations in its frequency. As seen, frequency of the modulated carrier increases as the signal amplitude increases but decreases as the signal amplitude decreases. It is at its highest frequency (point H) when the signal amplitude is at its maximum positive value and is at its lowest frequency (point L) when signal amplitude has maximum negative value. When signal amplitude is zero, the carrier frequency is at its normal frequency f0 (also called resting or centre frequency.)

In short, we can conclude two important points about the nature of frequency modulation: (i) The amount of frequency deviation (or shift or variation) depends on the amplitude (loudness) of the audio signal. Louder the sound, greater the frequency deviation and viceversa. However, for the purposes of FM broadcasts, it has been internationally agreed to restrict maximum deviation to 75 kHz on each side of the centre frequency for sounds of maximum loudness. Sounds of lesser loudness are permitted proportionately less frequency deviation. (ii) The rate of frequency deviation depends on the signal frequency Frequency Deviation and Carrier Swing The frequency of an FM transmitter without signal input is called the resting frequency or centre frequency (f0) and is the allotted frequency of the transmitter. In simple words, it is the carrier frequency on which a station is allowed to broadcast. When the signal is applied, the carrier frequency deviates up and down from its resting value f0. This change or shift either above or below the resting frequency is called frequency deviation (f) The total variation in frequency from the lowest to the highest is called carrier swing (CS). Obviously, carrier swing = 2 frequency deviation; CS = 2 f A maximum frequency deviation of 75 kHz is allowed for commercial FM broadcast stations in the 88 to 168 MHz VHF band. There is a 25 kHz guard band on either side meant to prevent interference between adjacent channels or stations. This means that at the maximum, each channel can occupy 200 kHz bandwidth (BW=CS+GB with CS=2f=275 kHz and GB (Guard Band) =225kHz) this is shown in the following graph. However, a maximum frequency deviation of 25 kHz is allowed in the sound portion of the TV broadcast. In FM, the highest audio frequency transmitted is 15 kHz.

Modulation Index It is given by the ratio

. Unlike amplitude modulation, this

modulation index can be greater than unity. By knowing the value of mf, we can calculate the number of significant sidebands and the bandwidth of the FM signal.
Deviation Ratio It is the worst-case modulation index in which maximum permitted frequency deviation and maximum permitted audio frequency are used.

Now, for FM broadcast stations, (f)max = 75 kHz and of modulating audio signal is 15 kHz. Then

maximum

permitted

frequency

=5. For sound portion of commercial TV deviation ratio is given

by

Percent Modulation When applied to FM, this term has slightly different meaning than when applied to AM. In FM, it is given by the ratio of actual frequency deviation to the maximum allowed frequency deviation.

( ) Obviously, 100% modulation corresponds to the case when actual deviation equals the maximum allowable frequency deviation. Value of m = 0 corresponds to zero deviation i.e. unmodulated carrier wave. It is seen from the above equation that is proportional to ( ) . It means that when frequency deviation (i.e. signal loudness) is doubled, modulation is doubled. Examples 1. What is the modulation index of an FM carrier having a carrier swing of 100 kHz and a modulating signal of 5 kHz?

2. An FM transmission has a frequency deviation of 18.75 kHz. Calculate percent modulation if it is broadcast (i) in the 88-108 MHz band (ii) as a portion of a TV broadcast.

3. An FM signal has a resting frequency of 105 MHz and highest frequency of 105.03 MHz when modulated by a signal of frequency 5 kHz. Determine (i) frequency deviation, (ii) carrier swing, (iii) modulation index, (iv) Percent modulation, (v) lowest frequency reached by the FM wave.

FM Sidebands In FM, when a carrier is modulated, a number of sidebands are formed. Though theoretically their number is infinite, their strength becomes negligible after a few sidebands. They lie on both sides of the centre frequency spaced fm apart as shown in Figure below. Sidebands at equal distances from f0 have equal amplitudes. If f0 is the centre frequency and fm the frequency of the modulating signal, then FM carrier contains the following frequencies: (i) f0 (ii) f0 fm (iii) f0 2 fm (iv) f0 3 fm and so on, The bandwidth occupied by the spectrum is BW = 2nfm where n is the highest order of the significant sideband. Another approximate expression for spectrum bandwidth is BW = 2 (1 + mf) fm

This expression is based on the assumption that sidebands having amplitudes less than 5% of the unmodulated carrier wave are negligible or when mf is at least 6. This formula comes for better Bandwidth approximation in case of high number of sidebands. Modulation Index and Number of Sidebands It is found that the number of sidebands 1. Depends directly on the amplitude of the modulating signal, 2. Depends inversely on the frequency of the modulating signal.

Since frequency deviation is directly related to the amplitude of the modulating signal, the above two factors can be combined in one factor called modulation index. Hence, number of sidebands depends on mf = f / fm Obviously, the number of pairs of sidebands; (i) Increases as frequency deviation (or amplitude of modulating signal) increases. (ii) Increases as the modulating signal frequency decreases. Below is a table showing the relation between the number (n) of sidebands on either side of the carrier and the corresponding bandwidth of the spectrum.

Examples 1. A 5 kHz audio signal is used to frequency-modulate a 100 MHz carrier causing a frequency deviation of 20 kHz. Determine (i) modulation index (ii) bandwidth of the FM signal.

we have used this formula, BW = 2nfm, because mf<6 2. In an FM circuit, the modulation index is 10 and the highest modulation frequency is 20 kHz. What is the approximate bandwidth of the resultant FM signal? Solution Since the value of mf is more than 6, we will use the expression BW = 2 (f + fm)

BW = 2 (200 + 20) = 440 kHz

Mathematical Expression for FM Wave Normally the message or the modulating signal is not uniform. Dealing with it in FM signal mathematical expression is so difficult. For mathematical calculation simplification we opt for sinusoidal or cosinusoidal signal. The carrier signal can be either sinusoidal or cosinusoidal signal as its amplitude is constant.

( ) Let () be the carrier wave signal and m(t) be the modulating signal which is a time varying signal. As it is known, in FM we vary the frequency of the carrier wave in accordance with the modulating signal. ( ) ( ) ( ), this is the instantaneous frequency of the modulated signal. Hence And the instantaneous Phase is given by ( ) ( ) ( ) the integration comes to show that we have the message at anytime. When the phase of the carrier becomes the instantaneous phase we get: (iii) in (i) we get

* *
+, with + {

( )

},

this equation is

called FM signal. Here is the frequency sensitivity of the modulator and it is the amount of frequency change per unit amplitude change in the message. With as the carrier the FM signal becomes

( )

+,

for

simplification let modulating signal be a sinusoidal signal * += * * * , we get }

, we will have, +

Tutorials 1. What is the modulation index of an FM carrier having a carrier swing of 120 kHz and a
modulating signal of 10 kHz? 2. An FM signal has a resting frequency of 100 MHz and the highest frequency of 100.05 MHz when modulated by an audio signal of 5 kHz. Determine (i) frequency deviation, (ii) carrier swing, (iii) modulation index, (iv) percent modulation. 3. A 10 kHz audio signal is used to frequency-modulate a 100 MHz carrier causing a frequency deviation of 50 kHz. Determine (i) modulation index, (ii) bandwidth of FM signal.

4. A 100MHz carrier wave is frequency modulated by a 10 kHz sinusoidal modulating signal. If the maximum frequency deviation is 50 kHz. Find the modulation index. FM SIGNAL GENERATION AND DETECTION 1. FM SIGNAL GENERATION

By definition generation comes from generate which means to create or produce something. Here FM generation means produce an Fm signal. We can generate FM signals by using various FM modulators. The basic requirement of FM modulator (FM signals generator) is to provide a variable output frequency with varying proportions to the instantaneous amplitude of the modulating voltage. The FM signals can be generated by two methods

1.1. DIRECT METHOD of fm signal generation The FM signals can be generated directly by frequency modulating the carrier. Here the modulating signal is directly fed into the input of VCO (Voltage controlled Oscillator), the voltage controlled oscillator is a sinusoidal oscillator. Its frequency is controlled by an external voltage, thus it is a kind of frequency modulator. It is also available in the form of an IC chip. The figure bellow shows a block diagram of the VCO modulator as direct method

The direct method of FM generation have some limitations as, in the direct methods of FM generation, it is difficult to obtain a high order of stability in carrier frequency. This is because the modulating signal directly controls the tank circuit which is generating the carrier. The crystal oscillator cannot be used as it provides a stable but fixed frequency. The non linearity produces a frequency variation due to harmonics of the modulating signal hence there are distortions in the output FM signal. But it has as advantage the reduction of the need of frequency multiplication and heterodyne frequency conversion. Examples: varactor diode modulator, Reactance modulator, VCO modulator, Stabilized reactance modulator 1.2.INDIRECT METHOD of fm signal generation The FM signals can be generated indirectly by integrating the modulating signal and then allowing it to phase modulate the carrier. Or by using the modulating signal first to produce a narrow band FM signal and then by frequency multiplication, the frequency deviation may be increased to the desired level. The indirect method removes the limitations of direct method. The indirect method employs the phase modulation to obtain FM signal. It is only necessary to integrate the modulating signal prior to applying it to the phase modulator. The general block diagram for such a method is shown in figure bellow. This is used in VHF and UHF radio telephony.

PA: power amplifier Osc: Oscillator

Examples: Armstrong method, RC phase shift method

2.

FM SIGNAL DETECTION

A detector or demodulator is a device that recovers information of interest contained in a modulated wave thus detection or demodulation is a process of recovering information from a modulated wave at the receiving end. As known, an FM carrier signal contains information in the form of frequency variations above and below the centre frequency of the carrier. For recovering the information, we must change the frequency variation of the FM signal into its proportional voltages variations. A simple method of converting frequency variations into voltage variations is to make use of the principle that reactance (of coil or capacitor) varies with frequency. When an FM signal is applied to an inductor, the current flowing through it varies in amplitude according to the changes in frequency of the applied signal. Now, changes in frequency of the FM signal depend on the amplitude of the modulating AF signal. Hence, the current in the inductor varies as per the amplitude of the original modulating signal. In this way, frequency changes in FM signal are converted into amplitude changes in current. These changes in current when passed through a resistor produce corresponding changes in voltage. However the FM demodulation is carried out using different methods such as: FM to AM conversion Phase shift discriminator PLL, Phase locked loop FM demodulator 1. FM to AM conversion This technique is based on FM to AM conversion and then after getting an AM signal from an FM signal, the AM demodulator, like diode detector, can be used to obtain the message. In this category we have two techniques; Slope Detector and its variant Balanced Slope Detector. Slope Detector has some drawback as its linear amplitude response of a tuned circuit is limited, making the demodulation of a WBFM (Wide Band FM) unsatisfactory. This drawback can be overcame by using its variant, Balanced Slope Detector. 2. Phase shift discriminator A discriminator is a device or circuit that translates phase or frequency variations into amplitude variations in a modulated signal such as a radio signal. This method of FM demodulation involves converting frequency variations into phase variations and detecting phase changes. In other words, this method makes use of linear phase networks instead of linear amplitude characteristics of the circuits used in the previous method. Under this category, we have Foster-Seely Discriminator, its variant, the Ration Detector and the Quadrature detector.

3. Phase locked loop (PLL) FM demodulator A phase-locked loop or phase lock loop (PLL) is a control system that generates an output signal whose phase is related to the phase of an input "reference" signal. In this case of demodulation of FM, the input signal to PLL is the FM signal. Here, the phase-locked loop detector requires no frequency-selective LC network to accomplish demodulation. In this system, a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) is phase locked by a feedback loop, which forces the VCO to follow the frequency variations of the incoming FM signal. The low-frequency error voltage that forces the VCO's frequency to track the frequency of the modulated FM signal is the demodulated audio output. Bellow is the block diagram of a PLL Detector

The PLL detector used PLL technology to demodulate FM signals. The phase detector compares the phase of the FM input and the VCO output. The carrier frequency deviation results in phase difference between the two and the phase detector sends error voltage to the low pass filter. The filtered error signal is used to change the VCO output frequency in order to reduce the phase error. The output of the low pass filter has amplitude that is proportional to the deviation of FM input which is a replica of the original modulating signal. Summary on the Detector Slope detector shows how a simple FM detector looks like but it is not used in practical because of its limited linearity range. Though its variant, balanced slope detector offers linearity over a wider range of frequency, it suffers from the problem of tuning. Foster-seely discriminator and its variant ration detector are becoming less and less utilized. PLL performs better than other detector. These detectors can be available on chips except phase-shift networks. Pulse-Code Modulation

There are several ways to digitally encode audio, but the most common method (and the one used in telephony systems) is known as Pulse-Code Modulation (PCM). Pulse-code modulation (PCM) is a method used to digitally represent sampled analog signals. Below is PCM blockdiagram

To illustrate how this works, let's go through a few examples. PCM involves some techniques such as Sampling, quantization, Encoding and Decoding. Sampling In signal processing, sampling is the reduction of a continuous signal to a discrete signal. A common example is the conversion of a sound wave (a continuous signal) to a sequence of samples (a discrete-time signal). A sample refers to a value or set of values at a point in time and/or space. A sampler is a subsystem or operation that extracts samples from a continuous signal. For the signal to be reconstructed at the receiving end there is a theorem that have to be applied, this theorem is called Nyquist sampling theorem. By this theorem the sampling frequency or sampling rate, fs is defined as the number of samples obtained in one second (samples per second), thus fs = 1/T, it must be above 2fmax with fmax the maximum frequency of the signal to be sampled.

Quantization

After the sampling we have a sequence of numbers which can theoretically still take on any value on a continuous range of values. Because this range in continuous, there are innitely many possible values for each number, in fact even uncountably innitely many. In order to be able to represent each number from such a continuous range, we would need an innite number of digits - something we dont have. Instead, we must represent our numbers with a nite number of digits, that is: after discretizing the time-variable, we now have to discretize the amplitudevariable as well. This discretization of the amplitude values is called quantization Encoding and Decoding In communications and information processing, encoding is the process by which information from a source is converted into symbols to be communicated. Decoding is the reverse process, converting these code symbols back into information understandable by a receiver. 1.7.1Digitally encoding an analog waveform The principle of PCM is that the amplitude of the analog waveform is sampled at specific intervals so that it can later be recreated. The amount of detail that is captured is dependent both on the bit-resolution of each sample and on how frequently the samples are taken. A higher bitresolution and a higher sampling rate will provide greater accuracy, but more bandwidth will be required to transmit this more detailed information. To get a better idea of how PCM works, consider the waveform displayed in Figure A. To digitally encode the wave, it must be sampled on a regular basis, and the amplitude of the wave at each moment in time must be measured. The process of slicing up a waveform into moments in time and measuring the energy at each moment is called sampling. The samples will need to be taken frequently enough and will need to capture enough information to ensure that the far end can recreate a sufficiently similar waveform. To achieve a more accurate sample, more bits will be required. To explain this concept, we will start with a very low resolution, using four bits to represent our amplitude. This will make it easier to visualize both the quantization process itself and the effect that resolution has on quality. Figure B. shows the information that will be captured when we sample our sine wave at four-bit resolution.

Figure A. A simple sinusoidal (sine) wave

Figure B. Sampling our sine wave using four bits

At each time interval, we measure the amplitude of the wave and record the corresponding intensity in other words, we sample it. You will notice that the four-bit resolution limits our accuracy. The first sample has to be rounded to 0011, and the next quantization yields a sample of 0101. Then comes 0100, followed by 1001, 1011, and so forth. In total, we have 14 samples (in reality, several thousand samples must be taken per second). If we string together all the values, we can send them to the other side as: 0011 0101 0100 1001 1011 1011 1010 0001 0101 0101 0000 1100 1100 1010 On the wire, this code might look something like Figure C.

Figure C. PCM encoded waveform

When the far end's digital-to-analog (D/A) converter receives this signal, it can use the information to plot the samples, as shown in Figure D. Figure D. Plotted PCM signal

From this information, the waveform can be reconstructed (see Figure E). Figure E. Delineated signal

As you can see if you compare Figure F with Figure G, this reconstruction of the waveform is not very accurate. This was done intentionally, to demonstrate an important point: the quality of the digitally encoded waveform is affected by the resolution and rate at which it is sampled. At too low a sampling rate, and with too low a sample resolution, the audio quality will not be acceptable. Increasing the sampling resolution and rate Let's take another look at our original waveform, this time using five bits to define our quantization intervals (Figure F). Figure F. The same waveform, on a higher-resolution overlay

In reality, there is no such thing as five-bit PCM. In the telephone network, PCM samples are encoded using eight bits. Other digital audio methods may employ 16 bits or more. We'll also double our sampling frequency. The points plotted this time are shown in Figure G. We now have twice the number of samples, at twice the resolution. Here they are: 00111 01000 01001 01001 01000 00101 10110 11000 11001 11001 11000 10111 10100 10001 00010 00111 01001 01010 01001 00111 00000 11000 11010 11010 11001 11000 10110 10001 When received at the other end, that information can now be plotted as shown in Figure H.

Figure G. The same waveform at double the resolution

Figure H. Five-bit plotted PCM signal

From this information, the waveform shown in Figure I can then be generated. As you can see, the resultant waveform is a far more accurate representation of the original. However, you can also see that there is still room for improvement. Note that 40 bits were required to encode the waveform at 4-bit resolution, while 156 bits were needed to send the same waveform using 5-bit resolution (and also doubling the sampling rate).

The point is, there is a tradeoff: the higher the quality of audio you wish to encode, the more bits will be required to do it, and the more bits you wish to send (in real time, naturally), the more bandwidth you will need to consume. Figure I. Waveform delineated from five-bit PCM