University Tunku Abdul Rahman

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND GREEN

TECHNOLOGY

UGEA2523 COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS

LABORATORY REPORT 1
Signal Transmission & Distortion

Student Name Student ID

1. Low Hui Tyen 14AGB06230

Lecturer in charge:
Ir. Chan Cheong Loong

Submission Date : 16/06/2017

1 Introduction
The process of sending, propagating and receiving an analogue or digital infor-
mation signal over a physical point-to-point or point-to-multipoint transmission
medium, either wired, optical fiber or wireless is called transmission. A distor-
tion is defined as the alteration of the original shape of an object, image, sound,
waveform or other form of information or representation. Distortion is usually
unwanted, and often many methods are employed to minimize it in practice.

In this experiment, we are dealing with frequency response of RC circuit.

Frequency response is defined as the analysis of circuit with different frequency
of a sinusoidal source. With the sinusoidal source, the transfer function, H(s)
will be the magnitude and phase of output voltage to the magnitude and phase
of input voltage of a circuit :

Vo (s)
H(s) =
Vi (s)

The circuit in Figure 1 is a first order low pass filter circuit. First order is
defined as 1 pair of resistor and capacitor connected in series in a circuit. A low
pass filter attenuates high frequency signal input and only allows low frequency
which below the cut-off frequency to pass through. Cut-off frequency is the fre-
quency filter start to attenuate the passage of the input signals: fc = 2RC. At
low frequncy, the reactance of capacitor is high and the resistance is low. This
result the voltage potential across the capacitor is higher than voltage drop across
the resistor. Therefore, high frequency signals are attenuated in the experiment.

The circuit in Figure 2 is acting as second order high pass filter which is op-
pose to the meaning of low pass filter. High pass filter passes signals above the
cut-off frequency and attenuates low frequency signals. By reversing the roles
of resistors and capaciors, the reactance of capacitors are low at high frequency
signals. Therefore, the capacitors in the circuit act as open circuit and attenuate
low frequency input signals until cut-off frequency reached.

In last part of this experiment, we are studying the multipath propagation as

show in Figure 3. Multipath occurs when a signal takes more than one path from
the transmitting antenna to the receiving antenna. Regarding to lecture notes, the
signals are received in a terrestrial environment, i.e. where reflections are present
and signals arrive at the receiver from the transmitter via a variety of paths.
The overall signal at the radio receiver is a summation of the variety of signals
being received. As they all have different path lengths, the signals will add and
subtract from the total dependent upon their relative phases. Sometimes these
will be in phase with the main signal and will add to it, increasing its strength.
At other times they will interfere with each other. This will result in the overall
signal strength being reduced.

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2 Objectives and Learning Outcomes
1. Distortion of signal during transmission occurs if the frequency response of
the transmission channel is not of constant amplitude and linear phase. In
this laboratory work, the student will:

(a) Design and conduct an experiment to analyse the frequency, amplitude

and phase responses of a RC transmission line model.
(b) Conduct an experiment to demonstrate the frequency sensitive fading
phenomenon using a simple two-path model of multi-path propagation.

2. To understand some factors that may cause signal transmission distortion,

and be motivated to study further other factors such as non-linearity, load
mismatching, time variant transmission medium properties and Gaussian
noise.

3 Equipments
Breadboard, two 100 Ohm resistors, two 51 Ohm resistors, and three 10 k
Ohm resistors, four 1F capacitors and three 741 Op-Amp.

DC power supply, Function generator, Oscilloscope and Digital multi- me-

ter.

4 Methodology
4.1 Frequency Response Measurement
4.1.1 Part 1
1. An experiment was designed to study the amplitude and frequency response
of the circuit shown in Figure 1.

2. Data collected was recorded in an appropriate format. The results were

analysed and interpreted.

Figure 1: RC circuit(Low pass filter)

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4.1.2 Part 2
1. A 100 Hz square wave was applied to the input and the effect on the output
waveform V2 was observed.
2. Repeated with 1kHz follow by 10 kHz square wave.
3. The observations were analysed and interpreted.

4.1.3 Part 3
1. The changes in the results obtained in Part 2 were discussed if the circuit
shown in Figure 1 is replaced with circuit shown in Figure 2 below:

Figure 2: CR circuit(High pass filter)

4.2 Fading due to Multipath Propagation

1. Vs was set to sine wave, frequency 500 Hz and Amplitude 10 volts, the
waveform V2 was sketched and its amplitude was recorded.
2. Repeated for frequencies 1, 1.5, 3 and 5 kHz and identify the frequency that
results in fading.

Figure 3: Multipath circuit(Band pass filter)

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5 Result
5.1 Frequency Response Measurement for RC circuit(Low
pass filter)
5.1.1 Experimental Result

Table 1: Experimental result for Second order low pass filter

Vin (mV ) f V2 (mV ) (I.L)dB Phase ()

5760 100 Hz 1190 -13.70 5
5730 200 Hz 1160 -13.87 11
5630 500 Hz 1070 -14.42 21
5320 1 kHz 849 -15.94 38
4930 2 kHz 560 -18.89 65
4830 5 kHz 265.1 -25.21 74
4780 10 kHz 123.86 -31.73 77
4700 20 kHz 32.55 -43.19 79
4700 50 kHz 7.7 -55.7 83
4700 100 kHz 2.29 -63.26 85

Figure 4: Graph of insertion loss versus frequencies (Low pass filter)

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 Figure 5: Graph of phase versus frequencies (Low pass filter)

5.1.2 Transmission distortion over a RC channel

(a) frequency = 100Hz (b) frequency = 1kHz

(c) frequency = 10kHz

Figure 6: Signal Transmission Distortion for LPF

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5.2 Frequency Response Measurement for the CR cir-
cuit(High pass filter)
5.2.1 Experimental Result

Table 2: Experimental result for Second order low pass filter

Vin (mV ) f V2 (mV ) (I.L)dB Phase ()

7310 100 Hz 14.19 -54.24 173
7040 200 Hz 40.0 -44.91 164
6720 500 Hz 170.0 -31.94 151
6430 1 kHz 492.85 -22.31 131
5370 2 kHz 1050 -14.18 108
3920 5 kHz 1840 -6.57 72
3180 10 kHz 2040 -3.86 45
2840 20 kHz 2170 -2.34 25
2530 50 kHz 2200 -1.21 12
2580 100 kHz 2230 -1.27 7

Figure 7: Graph of insertion loss versus frequencies (High pass filter)

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 Figure 8: Graph of phase versus frequencies (High pass filter)

5.2.2 Transmission distortion over a CR channel

(a) frequency = 100Hz (b) frequency = 1kHz

(c) frequency = 10kHz

Figure 9: Signal Transmission Distortion for HPF

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5.3 Frequency Response Measurement for Fading due to
Multipath Propagation (Band pass filter)
5.3.1 Experimental Result

Table 3: Experimental result for Multipath Propagation (Band pass filter)

f V2 (mV ) (I.L)dB
500 Hz 1520 -13.27
1000 Hz 1320 -14.49
1200 Hz 1260 -14.89
1400 Hz 1120 -15.92
1600 Hz 1280 -14.76
1800 Hz 1310 -14.56
2000 Hz 1450 -13.67
2500 Hz 1490 -13.44
3000 Hz 1510 -13.32
5000 Hz 1650 -12.55

Figure 10: Graph of insertion loss versus frequencies (Band pass filter)

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6 Discussion
A signal transmission system is the electrical channel between an informa-
tion source and destination. Signal transmission distortion can be divided into
amplitude distortion and frequency distortion. Linear distortion includes any
amplitude or delay distortion associated with a linear transmission system. Am-
plitude distortion is easily described in the frequency domain; it means simply
that the output frequency components are not in correct proportion. Since this
is caused by H(f ) not being constant with frequency, amplitude distortion is
sometimes called frequency distortion. The most common forms of amplitude
distortion are excess attenuation or enhancement of extreme high or low fre-
quencies in the signal spectrum. While the frequency-domain description is easy,
the effects in the tie domain are far less obvious, except for very simple signals.
The loss of the high-frequency term reduces the sharpness of the waveform.
The flat frequency response means that the frequency range over which |H(f )|
must be constant to within a certain tolerance so that the amplitude distortion
is sufficiently small.

6.1 Part1
For the part 1 of the experiment, we are dealing with the frequency response
for a RC circuit which is also a first order low pass filter. The low pass filter only
allows low frequency signals from 0Hz to its cut-off frequency, fc point to pass
while blocking those any higher. The circuit shown in Figure 1 uses two passive
first-order low pass filters connected or cascaded together to form a second-
order or two-pole filter network. Hence, we can see that a first-order low pass
filter can be converted into a second-order type by simply adding an additional
RC network to it and the more RC stages we add the higher becomes the order
of the filter. As the order of the filter is increased, the roll-off slope becomes
steeper and the actual stop band response of the filter approaches its ideal stop
band characteristics [1].

Based on the Table 1, we obtained that the range of insertion loss from -
13.70dB to -63.26dB which is decreasing as the frequency increasing. The fre-
quency response and phase response of the low pass circuit were show in Figure 4
and Figure 5 respectively. The result from the Frequency Response graph shows
that the insertion loss decreases gradually as the frequency is increasing. Regard-
ing to the Phase Response graph plotted, the degree of phase decreases as the
frequency increases. The Frequency Response of the filter to be nearly flat for low
frequencies until it reaches its Cut-off Frequency point (fc ). This is because the
reactance of the capacitor is high at low frequencies and blocks any current flow
through the capacitor. We obtained the cutoff frequency at -16.7dB (-13.7dB-
3dB) which are 1100Hz experimental result. The phase shift for experimental
result is 43 .

Following, we have observed the transmission distortion for the RC circuit for
different values of frequencies. The integrator is basically a low pass filter circuit
operating in the time domain that converts a square wave step response input
signal into a triangular shaped waveform output as the capacitor charges and
discharges. A triangular waveform consists of alternate but equal, positive and

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negative ramps. From observation on the output waveform as show as Figure 6,
the output become more triangle in shape as the frequency of the input signal
increase. This is because of the exponential charging and discharging processes
of the capacitor cause the triangular waveform at output. As our input waveform
is square wave, it consists of summation of odd harmonic of sinusoid. Since LPF
attenuates high frequency components, the summation of low frequency of odd
harmonic sinusoid give rise to the triangle shape of output waveform.

6.2 Part2
In part 2 of the experiment, we are dealing with the frequency response for
a CR circuit which is also a second order high pass filter. The high pass filter
only allows high frequency signals from its cut-off frequency, fc point and higher
to infinity to pass through while blocking those any lower. The circuit shown in
Figure 2 uses two first-order high pass filters connected or cascaded together to
form a second-order or two-pole high pass network.

Based on the Table 2, we obtained that the range of insertion loss from -
54.24dB to -1.27dB which is increasing as the frequency increasing. The frequency
response and phase response of the high pass circuit were show in Figure 7 and
Figure 8 respectively. The result Frequency Response graph shows a positive rela-
tionship between the insertion loss and the frequency. The insertion loss increases
as the frequency increases. Whereas for the Phase Response graph, the degree
of phase decreases as the frequency increases. Frequency Response for high pass
filter is the exact opposite to that of a low pass filter. It has a response curve
that extends down from infinity to the cut-off frequency. We obtained the cutoff
frequency at -4.27dB (-1.27dB-3dB) which are 10000Hz experimental result. Also
we can see that the phase angle () of the output signal LEADS that of the input
and is equal to +46 for experimental result at frequency fc .

Thereafter, we have observed the transmission distortion for the CR circuit

for different values of frequencies. If we change the input signal to that of a
square wave shaped signal that has an almost vertical step input, the response
of the circuit changes dramatically and produces a circuit known commonly as
a Differentiator. However, if we feed the High Pass Filter with a Square Wave
signal operating in the time domain giving an impulse or step response input,
the output waveform will consist of short duration pulse or spikes as shown in
Figure 9. Each cycle of the square wave input waveform produces two spikes at
the output, one positive and one negative and whose amplitude is equal to that
of the input. The rate of decay of the spikes depends upon the time constant,
(RC) value of both components, (t = R x C) and the value of the input frequency.
The output pulses resemble more and more the shape of the input signal as the
frequency increases.

6.3 Part3
In part 3 of the experiment, we have dealing with the fading due to the mul-
tipath propagation. The circuit is actually a combination of first order low pass
filter and second order high pass filter to form a simple two-path model of mul-
tipath propagation. As the input signal transmitted through the low pass filter

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and high pass filter, each of the signal will be attenuated and cause the phase
shift by different amount. Hence, when the signals reach the load resistance, the
summation of each signal will cause interference and phase shift of output signal
which is known as multipath fading. Fading means rapid fluctuations of the am-
plitudes, phases or multipath delays of a radio signal over a short period or short
travel distance. This might be so severe that large scale radio propagation loss
effects might be ignored. The frequency response is shown in Figure 10. From
the Table 3, the fading frequency is 1.4kHz because it has the lowest amplitude
among the 10 frequencies. The results proved that the frequency 1.4kHz has the
narrowest bandwidth and allow minimum signal to pass through.

Last but not least, there are some precautions that we should realize through-
out the experiment. The lesser number of wire are encouraged to avoid any
confusion when having circuit checking if any error occurs. Moreover, the electri-
cal devices and breadboard should be checked if its well-functioning before using
it to avoid any delay. Lastly, the polarity of the capacitor must place correctly
to avoid any accident happen.

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7 Conclusion
There are many factors may cause distortion in signal transmission. After
completion of the experiment, we understand some factors from experiment,
which are channel with insufficient bandwidth, multipath propagation channel
and fading channel. In the last part of this experiment, the frequency that caused
fading due to multipath propagation is 1.4kHz.

8 References
[1] Electronics Tutorials Low Pass Filter http://www.
electronics-tutorials.ws/filter/filter_2.html.

[2] Electronics Tutorials High Pass Filter http://www.

electronics-tutorials.ws/filter/filter_3.html.

[3] Multipath Wave Propagation and Fading http://www.iitg.ernet.

in/scifac/qip/public_html/cd_cell/chapters/a_mitra_mobile_
communication/chapter5.pdf.

[4] Frequency response of RC and LR circuits http://www.ece.sunysb.edu/

~oe/Leon/ESE211/Lab05

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