PULSE-CODE MODULATION

Pulse-code modulation systems are complex in that the message signal is subjected to a large number of
operations. The essential operations in the transmitter of a PCM system are sampling, quantizing, and
encoding, as shown in the top part of Fig. 5.1. The sampling, quantizing, and encoding operations are
usually performed in the same circuit, which is called an analog-to-digital
converter. Regeneration of impaired signals occurs at intermediate points along
the transmission path (channel) as indicated in the middle part of Fig. 5.1. At
the receiver, the essential operations consist of one last stage of regeneration
followed by decoding, then demodulation of the train of quantized samples, as
in the bottom part of Fig. 5.1. The operations of decoding and reconstruction
are usually performed in the same circuit, called a digital-to-analog converter.
When time-division multiplexing is used, it becomes necessary to synchronize
the receiver to the transmitter for the overall system to operate satisfactorily.
It is noteworthy that pulse-code modulation is not modulation in the conventional sense.

The term "modulation" usually refers to the variation of some

1. Sampling
The incoming message wave is sampled with a train of narrow rectangular
pulses so as to closely approximate the instantaneous sampling process. In order to ensure perfect
reconstruction of the message at the receiver, the
sampling rate must be greater than twice the highest frequency component W of
the message wave (in accordance with the sampling theorem). In practice, a
low-pass pre-alias filter is used at the front end of the sampler in order to
exclude frequencies greater than W before sampling. Thus, the application of
sampling permits the reduction of the continuously varying message wave to a
limited number of discrete values per second.

2. Quantizing
An analog signal, such as voice, has a continuous range of amplitudes and
therefore its samples cover a continuous amplitude range. In other words,
within the finite amplitude range of the signal we find an infinite number of
amplitude levels. However, it is not necessary in fact to transmit the exact
amplitudes of the samples. Any human sense (the ear or the eye), as ultimate
receiver, can detect only finite intensity differences. This means that the original analog signal
may be approximated by a signal constructed of discrete amplitudes (selected on a minimum
error basis from an available set). The existence of a finite number of discrete amplitude levels is
a basic condition of PCM. Clearly, if we assign the discrete amplitude levels with sufficiently
close
spacing, we may make the approximated signal practically indistinguishable
from the original analog signal.
The conversion of an analog (continuous) sample of the signal into a digital
(discrete) form is called the quantizing process. Graphically, the quantizing
process means that a straight line representing the relation between the input
and the output of a linear analog system is replaced by a transfer characteristic
that is staircase-like in appearance
The quantizing process has a two-fold effect: (1) the peak-to-peak range of
input sample values is subdivided into a finite set of decision levels or decision
thresholds that are aligned with the "risers" of the staircase, and (2) the output
is assigned a discrete value selected from a finite set of representation levels or
reconstruction values that are aligned with the "treads" of the staircase. the separation between
the decision thresholds and the separation between the representation
levels of the quantizer have a common value called the step size

A quantizer of the midtread or midriser type, as defined, is memoryless in

3. Encoding
In combining the processes of sampling and quantizing, the specification of a
continuous baseband signal becomes limited to a discrete set of values, but not
in the form best suited for transmission over a line, radio path, or optical fiber.
To exploit the advantages of sampling and quantizing, we require the use of an
encoding process to translate the discrete set of sample values to a more
appropriate form of signal. Any plan for representing each member of this
discrete set of values as a particular arrangement of discrete events is called a
code. One of the discrete events in a code is called a code element or symbol.
For example, the presence or absence of a pulse is a symbol. A particular
arrangement of symbols used in a code to represent a single value of the
discrete set is called a code-word or character.
In a binary code, each symbol may be either of two distinct values or kinds,
such as the presence or absence of a pulse. The two symbols of a binary code
are customarily denoted as 0 and I. In a ternary code, each symbol may be one
of three distinct values or kinds, and so on for other codes. However, the
maximum advantage over the effects of noise in a transmission medium is
obtained by using a binary code, because a binary symbol withstands a relatively high level of
noise and is easy to regenerate.
Suppose that, in a binary code, each code-word consists of n bits. Then,
using such a code, we may represent a total of 2 n distinct numbers. There are several ways of
establishing a one-to-one correspondence between representation levels and code-words. A
convenient one is to express the ordinal number of the representation level as a binary number.

4. Regeneration
The most important feature of PCM systems lies in the ability to control the
effects of distortion and noise produced by transmitting a PCM wave through a
channel. This capability is accomplished by reconstructing the PCM wave by
means of a chain of regenerative repeaters located at sufficiently close spacing
along the transmission route. Three basic functions are
performed by a regenerative repeater, namely, equalization, timing, and decision making. The
equalizer shapes the received pulses so as to compensate for
the effects of amplitude and phase distortions produced by imperfections in the
transmission characteristics of the channel. The timing circuit provides a periodic pulse train,
derived from the received pulses, for sampling the equalized
pulses at the instants of time where the signal-to-noise ratio is a maximum. The
decision device is enabled when, at the sampling time determined by the timing
circuit, the amplitude of the equalized pulse plus noise exceeds a predetermined voltage level.
Thus, for example, in a PCM system with on-off signaling, the repeater makes a decision in each
bit interval as to whether or not a pulse is present. If the decision is "yes," a clean new pulse is
transmitted to the next
repeater. If, on the other hand, the decision is "no," a clean base line is
transmitted. In this way, the accumulation of distortion and noise in a repeater
span is completely removed, provided that the disturbance is not too large to
cause an error in the decision-making process. Ideally, except for delay, the
regenerated signal is exactly the same as the signal originally transmitted. In
practice, however, the regenerated signal departs from the original signal for
two main reasons:
1. The presence of channel noise and interference causes the repeater to
make wrong decisions occasionally, thereby introducing bit errors into the
regenerated signal;
2. If the spacing between received pulses deviates from its assigned value, a
jitter is introduced into the regenerated pulse position, thereby causing distortion.

7. Multiplexing
In applications using PCM, it is natural to multiplex different message sources
by time-division, whereby each source keeps its individuality throughout the
journey from the transmitter to the receiver. This individuality accounts for the
comparative ease with which message sources may be dropped or reinserted in a time-division
multiplex system. As the number of independent message
sources is increased, the time interval that may be allotted to each source has to
be reduced, since all of them must be accommodated into a time interval equal
to the reciprocal of the sampling rate. This, in turn, means that the allowable
duration of a code-word representing a single sample is reduced. However,
pulses tend to become more difficult to generate and to transmit as their duration is reduced.
Furthermore, if the pulses become too short, impairments in the transmission medium begin to
interfere with the proper operation of the system. Accordingly, in practice, it is necessary to
restrict the number of independent message sources that can be included within a time-division
group.

8. Synchronization
For a PCM system with time-division multiplexing to operate satisfactorily, it is
necessary that the timing operations at the receiver, except for the time lost in
transmission and regenerative repeating, follow closely the corresponding operations at the
transmitter. In a general way, this amounts to requiring a local clock at the receiver to keep the
same time as a distant standard clock at the transmitter, except that the local clock is somewhat
slower by an amount corresponding to the time required to transport the message signals from the
transmitter to the receiver. One possible procedure to synchronize the transmitter and receiver
clocks is to set aside a code element or pulse at the end of a frame (consisting of a code-word
derived from each of the independent message sources in succession) and to transmit this pulse
every other frame only.

In such a case, the receiver includes a circuit that would search for the pattern of
1s and 0s alternating at half the frame rate, and thereby establish synchronization between the
transmitter and receiver.
When the transmission is interrupted, it is highly unlikely that the transmitter and receiver clocks
will continue to indicate the same time for long. Accordingly, in carrying out a synchronization
process, we must set up an orderly procedure for detecting the synchronizing pulse. The
procedure consists of observing the code elements one by one until the synchronizing pulse is
detected. That is, after observing a particular code element long enough to establish the absence
of the synchronizing pulse, the receiver clock is set back by one code element and the next code
element is observed. This searching process is repeated until the synchronizing pulse is detected.
Clearly, the time required for synchronization depends on the epoch at which proper transmission
is reestablished.