MODULE 4

4.1 MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEM SCHEME

• Communication is the science and practice of transmitting information from one point
to another.
• Communication engineering also deals with the techniques of transmitting
information. i.e; electrical communication, in which information is transmitted through
electrical signals.
• Thus, electrical communication is a process by which the information/message is
transmitted from one point to another, from one person to another, or from place to another
in the form of electrical signals, through some communication link.
• A basic communication system provides a link between the information source
and its destination. The process of electrical communication involves sending, receiving,
and processing information in electrical form. A basic communication system consists of
certain units, called constituents, subsystems, or stages.
• The information to be transmitted passes through a number of stages of the
communication system prior it reaches its destination.

Figure 1.1 shows a block schematic diagram of the most general form of basic
communication system.

Message Baseband/Message Transmitted Received Recovered Original signal

signal signal baseband/Message signal

Fig. 1.1 Schematic block diagram of a basic communication system in most general form

•The main constituents (stages) of basic communication system are:

(i) Information source and input transducer
(ii) Transmitter
(iii) Channel or medium
(iv) Noise
(v) Receiver
(vi) Output transducer and final destination.

• There are many types of communication systems, e.g. analog, digital, radio,
and line communication systems. The different communication systems apply
different principles of operation and physical appearance to each constituents,
in accordance with its type.
 ➢ Information Source and Input Transducer
• A communication system transmits information from an information source
to a destination and hence the first stage of a communication system is the
information source. The physical form of information is represented by a message
that is originated by an information source, e.g. a sentence or paragraph spoken by a
person is a message that contains some information. The person, in this case, acts as
information source. Few other familiar examples of messages are voice, live scenes,
music, written text, and e-mail.
• A communication system transmits information in the form of electrical signal or
signals. If the information produced by the source is not in an electrical form, a
transducer, to convert the information into electrical form.
A transducer is a device that converts a non-electrical energy into its
corresponding electrical energy called signal and vice versa, e.g. during a telephone
conversation, the words spoken by a person are in the form of sound energy. This has to be
converted to its equivalent electrical form prior it is transmitted.
• An example of a transducer is a microphone. Microphone converts sound signals
into the corresponding electrical signals. Similarly, a television (TV) picture tube converts
electrical signals into its corresponding pictures. Some other examples of transducers are
movie cameras, Video Cassette, Recorder (VCR) heads, tape recorder heads, and
loudspeakers.
• The information produced by the information source is applied to the next stage,
termed the information or Function input transducer. This in turn, produces an electrical
signal value corresponding to the information as output. This electrical signal is called the
baseband signal. It is also called a message signal, an information signal, an intelligent
signal, or an envelope. In the communication theory, the (a) baseband signal is usually
designated by s(t).
• There are two types of signals. (a) analog signal, and (b) digital signal.

(a) Analog Signal

• An analog signal is a function of time, and has a continuous range of values.
There is a definite function value of the analog signal at each point of time.
An example of analog signal or analog wave form is a pure sine wave form. A
practical example of an analog signal is a voice signal.
• When a voice signal is converted to electrical form by a microphone, we get
a corresponding electrical analog signal. One can see this electrical signal on
an oscilloscope. An analog signal, this wave form has definite values at all
points of time.
 • Analog signals are shown in Fig. 1.2. (b)

(b) Digital Signal

• A digital signal does not have continuous function values on a time scale. It is
discrete in nature, i.e., it has some values at discrete timings. In between two
consecutive values, the signal values is either zero, or different value. A familiar
example of a digital signal is the sound signal produced by drumbeats.
• Figure 1.3 shows a graphical representational of a digital signal.
Digital signals in their true sense correspond to a binary digital signal, where the
discrete amplitude of the signal is coded into binary digits represented by '0' and '1 '.

• The analog signal, which is continuous in time, is converted to discrete time, using
a procedure calling sampling.
• The continuous amplitude of the analog signal is converted to discrete amplitude
using a process called quantization.
• Sampling and quantization are together termed as analog-to-digital conversion
(ADC) and the circuitary that performs this operation is called an analog to-digital
converter.
 ➢ Transmitter

• The next block in the communication system of Fig. 1.1 is the transmitter. The base band
signal, which is the output of an input transducer, is input to the transmitter. This base
band signal, s(t), is suitable for transmission in the form in which it is generated by the
transducer.
• The transmitter section processes the signal prior transmission. The nature of processing
depends on the type of communication system. However, the processing carried out for
signal transmission in the analog form is different from signal transmission in the digital
form.

Fig. 1.5 Block diagram representing schematic of an analog transmitter section

There are two following options for processing signals prior transmission:
(i) The baseband signal is transmitted without translating it to a higher frequency
spectrum. Here we call the system as a baseband communication system, because
the baseband signal is transmitted without translating it to a higher frequency
spectrum. However, some processing of the signal is required prior its transmission,
e.g. a train of pulses that are to be transmitted can be replaced by a series of two sine
waves of different frequencies prior to transmission. One of these two frequencies
represent a low and the other represents a high value of the digital pulse.
Therefore, the baseband signal is converted into a corresponding series of sine
waves of two different frequencies prior to transmission. Figure 1.4 illustrates this
processing.
 (ii) The baseband signal, which lies in the low frequency spectrum, is translated to a
higher frequency spectrum. Here we call the communication system as a carrier
communication system. In this system, the baseband signal is carried by a higher
frequency signal, called the carrier signal. The process of translating a low
frequency baseband signal to higher frequency spectrum using a high frequency
carrier signal is called Modulation.

• Figure 1.5 shows the baseband signal, s(t) applied to the modulated stage. This stage
translates the baseband signal from its low frequency spectrum to high frequency
spectrum. This stage also receives another input called the carrier signal, c(t), which is
generated by a high frequency carrier oscillator.
• Modulation takes place at this stage with the baseband and the carrier signals as
two inputs after modulation, the baseband signal is translated to a high frequency
spectrum and the carrier signal is said to be modulated by the baseband signal. The
output of the modulated stage is called the modulated signal, and is designated as x(t).
• Now, if the baseband signal is a digital signal, the carrier communication system
is called a digital communication system.
• The digital modulation methods are employed for this. If the baseband signal is an
analog signal, the carrier communication system is called as an analog communication
system and for processing the analog modulation techniques are used.
• The voltage of the modulated signal is then amplified to drive the last stage of
the transmitter, called the power amplifier stage (Fig. 1.5). This stage amplifies the
power of the modulated signal and thus it carries enough power to reach the receiver
stage of the communication system. Finally, the signal is passed to the transmission
medium or channel.
 ➢ Channel Or Medium

After the required processing, the transmitter section passes the signal to the transmission
medium. The signal propagates through the transmission medium and is received at the
other side by the receiver section. The transmission medium between the transmitter
and the receiver is called a channel.

The channel is a very important part of a communication system as its characteristics

add many constraints to the design of the communication system, e.g. most of the noise is
added to the signal during its transmission through the channel. The transmitted signal
should have adequate power to withstand the channel noise. Further, the channel
characteristics also impose constraints on the bandwidth. The bandwidth is the frequency
range that can be transmitted by a communication system. Moreover, the channel
characteristics are also taken into consideration as a design parameter while designing the
transmitting and receiving equipment.

The transmitting power, signal bandwidth, design and cost of the communication
system are affected by channel characteristics.
Depending on the physical implementations, one can classify the channels in the
following two groups:
➢ Hardware Channels
➢ These channels are manmade structure which can be used as transmission
medium. There are following three possible implementations of the hardware
channels.
• Transmission lines
• Waveguides
• Optical Fiber Cables (OFC)

The examples of transmission lines are twisted-pair cables used in landline telephony
and coaxial cables used for cable TV transmission.
However, transmission lines are not suitable for ultra high frequency (UHF)
transmission. To transmit signals at UHF range, waveguides are employed as medium.
Waveguides are hollow, circular, or rectangular metallic structures. The signals enter the
waveguide, are reflected at the metallic walls, and propagate towards the other end of the
waveguide.
Optical fiber cables are highly sophisticated transmission media, in the form of
extremely thin circular pipes. Signals are transmitted in the form of light energy in optical
fiber cables.
• In general, there is always a physical link between the transmitter and receiver in
hardware channels. A communication system that makes use of a hardware channel is
called as a line communication system, e.g. landline telephony and cable TV network.

➢ Software Channels

• There are certain natural resources which can be used as the transmission
medium for signals. Such transmission media are called software channels. The
possible natural resources that can be used as software channels are: air or open space
and sea water.
• In communication systems that use software channels there is no physical link
between the transmitter and the receiver. The transmitter passes the signals in the
required form to the software channel. The signals propagate through the natural resource
and reach the receiver.
• The most widely used software channel is air or open space. The signals are
transmitted in the form of electromagnetic (em) waves', also called radio waves. Radio
waves travel through open space at a speed equal to that of light (c = 3 x 108 m/s).
• The transmitter section converts the electrical signal into em waves or radiation by
using a transmitting antenna. These waves are radiated into the open space by the
transmitting antenna.
• At the receiver side, another antenna, called the receiving antenna, is used to pick
up these radio waves and convert them into corresponding electrical signals. Systems that
use radio waves to transmit signals through open space are called radio communication
systems, e.g. radio broad cast, television transmission, satellite communication, and
cellular mobile communication.

• Radio signals are transmitted through electromagnetic(em) waves, also referred

as radio waves, in a radio communication system. The radio waves have a wide
frequency range starting from a few ten kilo Hertz (Hz) to several thousand
Mega Hertz (MHz). This wide range of frequencies is referred as the radio
frequency (RF) spectrum.

The RF spectrum is classified according to the applications of the spectrum in different

service areas.

Table 1.1 shows the classification of the RF spectrum along with the associated
applications in communication systems.
 Table 1.1: Classification of radio frequency (RF) spectrum along with the associated applications in
communication systems.
Radio frequency Wavelength Class Applications
range (meters)
10-30 kHz 3 x 104 - 104
Very Low Frequency Point-to-point communication
— 103 (VLF) (long distance)
30-300 kHz
Low Frequency (LF) Point-to-point communication
(long distance) and navigation
300-3000 kHz 3- 102 - 10 Medium Frequency (MF) Radio broadcasting
30 MHz
High Frequency (HF) Overseas radio broadcasting,
10 - 1.0 Point-to-point radio
1.0 - 0.1 telegraphy, and telephony
30-300 MHz FM broadcast, television,
0.1 - 0.01 Very High Frequency
(VHF) and radar
300-3000 MHz
Ultra High Frequency Television and navigation
3000-30,000 MHz (UHF)
Radar navigation and radio
Super High Frequency
(SHE) relays

•
➢ Noise
• In electronics and communication engineering, noise is defined as unwanted
electrical energy of random and unpredictable nature present in the system due to
any cause. Noise is an electrical disturbance, which does not contain any useful
information. Thus, noise is a highly undesirable part of a communication system, and
have to be minimized. We may note that noise cannot be eliminated once it is mixed with
the signal. When noise is mixed with the transmitted signal, it rides over it and deteriorates
it waveform. This results in the alteration of the original information so that wrong
information is received.
• The receiver processes the signal to cover the original information produced by the
information source at the transmitter end. If the amplitude of the noise is comparable with
that of the signal, then the noise may render the transmitted signal unintelligible, and the
receiver recovers nothing but the noise.
• In order to avoid this undesirable situation, the system designer can make the signal
adequately powerful prior to transmitting it. This enables the signal to withstand the noise.
In fact, the system designer increases the power of the signal in comparison with that of
the noise. This increases the ratio of the signal power to the noise power, i.e. SNR (signal
to noise ratio: The ratio of Signal power to the noise power).
• The designer provides adequate signal strength at the time of transmission so that
a high SNR is available at the receiver.
• The noise block in Fig. 1.1 represents the total noise present in the system,
contributed by all the sources. The noise signal n(t), is applied to the channel block.
 However, this does not mean that the noise is intermingled with the signal only during its
propagation through the channel.
• In fact, the channel contributes the major part of the noise. However, other noise
sources along the communication chain can also add noise to the signal.
• The noise may also be mixed with the signal from within the transmitting and
receiving equipments. Since it is not possible to show all the individual sources of noise
along the communication chain, we have shown only one noise block in Fig. 1.1, beneath
the channel block, as the channel in the main source of noise.
• The noise introduced by the transmission medium is called extraneous or external
noise.
• The main cause of the internal noise is the thermal agitation of atoms and electrons
of electronic components used in the equipment.

❖ External Noise
• External noise is introduced by the transmission medium. External noise is so
called b cause the transmission medium external to the receiver. One can divide
the external noise into the following three groups:
(i) Atmospheric or static noise
The main source of this noise are lightning discharges and natural electrical disturbances
in the atmosphere. These electrical disturbances are received by the receiving antenna and
are mixed with the signal as noise. As atmospheric noise is caused by nature and hence
there is no way to eradicate it. The only remedy is that the receiver is provided with ample
gain so the atmospheric noise is countered.
(ii) Man-made or industrial noise
The main sources of this noise are automobile and aircraft ignition, electric motors, heavy
electrical machines, switching gears, leakage from high-voltage electrical supply lines, and
fluorescent lights. This noise is heavier in industrial areas than in non-industrial areas, and
this is why it is called as industrial noise. The transmitting equipment should be installed
away from the industrial areas to avoid this type of noise.

(iii) Extraterrestrial or Space noise

Outer space is also a source of external noise that comes from sun and stars. This noise is
of two types: (a) solar noise, and (b) cosmic noise.

The source of solar noise is the sun, which continuously emits electrical energy which
gets mixed with the transmitting radio signal and appears as noise.

The source of cosmic noise is also stars, which also radiate electrical energy over a
wide frequency range covering the radio frequency spectrum.
Galaxies are also the source of space noise.
 ❖ Internal noise
The noise introduced within the receiver is known as internal noise. This noise can be
grouped into: (a) Thermal or Johnson's noise or white noise, and (b) Shot or transistor
noise.
a) Thermal or Johnson's noise or white noise
This noise is generated with resistors used in the circuit. This noise appears due to the
random motion of electrons and molecules inside the resistor. The resistive part of the
complex impedance in a circuit is also a source of thermal noise.
b) Shot or Transistor noise
This noise is generated inside a transistor used in an amplifier. Shot noise appears because
of the rando movement of electron and holes inside the transistor and the presence of
random electrons a he output termina of the transistor in an amplifier.

❖ SNR and Noise Figure (F)

The SNR as the ratio of the signal power to the noise power at a point in the circuit. SNR
is the measure of the signal power relative to the noise power at a particular point in a
circuit.
Now, if Ps is signal power and Pn is noise power, then SNR expressed as S/ N, is given
𝑺
as 𝑵 = Ps / Pn = (Vs)2 R / (Vn)2 R = (Vs)2 / (Vn)2 Signal to noise ratio expressed in
decibel is given by (S/N ) in dB = 10 log [(Vs)2 / (Vn)2 ]

• Noise Factor is defined as the ratio of SNR at the input to the SNR at the output’
Noise figure is simply the noise factor expressed in decibels.
• N = 10 log10 (Si/Ni) / (So/No) where Si is the signal at the input, Ni is the noise at the
input, So is the signal at the output, No is the noise at the output.
 ➢ Receiver
• The task of the receiver is to provide the original information to the user. This
information is altered due to the processing at the transmitter side. The signal
received by the receiver, thus, does not contain information in its original form. The
receiver system receives the transmitted signal and performs some processing on it to
recover the original baseband signal.
• The signal received by the receiver by r(t) in Fig. 1.1. This signal contains both the
transmitted signal, x(t), and the noise, n(t), added to it during transmission. The
function of the receiver section is to separate the noise from the received signal, and
then recover the original baseband signal by performing some processing on it. The
receiver receives a weak signal because the transmitted signal loses its strength during
its propagation through the channel. This occurs due to the attenuation of the signal.
• A voltage amplifier first amplifies the received signal so that it becomes strong enough for
further processing, and then recovers the original information. The original baseband
signal is recovered by performing an operation opposite to the one performed by the
transmitter section.
• The detailed block diagram of a typical receiver section is shown in Fig. 1.7.

• The transmitter performs modulation on the baseband signal to translate it to a higher

spectrum from its low frequency spectrum. The receiver, in turn, performs an operation
known as demodulation, which brings the baseband signal from the higher frequency
spectrum to its original low-frequency spectrum.
• The demodulation process removes the high frequency carrier from the received signal
and retrieves the original baseband. This occurs in a carrier communication system. The
baseband communication systems, assume that the transmitter replaces the digital
baseband signal with a series of two sinusoidal wave forms of different frequencies as
shown in Fig. 1.4.
• When the receiver receives this signal, it recovers the original baseband pulse by replacing
the two sinusoidal waveforms with the corresponding original levels.
• The recovered baseband signal is then handed over to the final destination, which uses a
transducer to convert this electrical signal to its original form.
• It is essential that enough signal power is given to the transducer so that it
satisfactorily reproduces the message. Therefore, prior to handing over the recovered
baseband signal to its final destination, the voltage and power are amplified by the
amplifier stages.
• From Fig. 1.7 it is evident that the received signal, r(t), is first amplified by the
front-end voltage amplifier. This is done to strengthen the received signal, which is weak
and to facilitate easy processing.
• Next, this signal is given to the demodulator, which in turn, demodulates the
received signal to recover the original baseband signal. Interestingly, the type of
demodulation is based on the type of modulation employed at the transmitter.
• After recovering the original baseband signal, its voltage and power is amplified
prior it to final destination block.

➢ Final Destination
• The final destination is the last block of the communication chain. The
destination is the user that receives the information and interprets it for useful
purposes.
• The user can either be a human being or a machine that can make certain decisions
based on the information received, e.g. if a message is transmitted in the form of spoken
words, then the user can be a human being who makes certain decisions on its reception.
A live telecast of a football match is meant a human being as a user. In meant for a human
being as a user. In some cases, one can use a computer for the interpretation of the
received information and takes appropriate action based on the information.
• The destination block converts the baseband signal, which contains information
in electrical form back into its original non-electrical rm back into its original non-
electrical form, to be delivered to the user. The constituents of the destination block are
an output transducer, which converts the baseband signals from its electricaI form to
its original non-electrical form and the user.

4.2 MULTIPLEXING
• This is a technique that is most widely used in nearly all types of communication
systems, radio and line communication systems. Basically, multiplexing is a process
which allows more than one signal to transmit through a single channel. Clearly,
multiplexing facilitates the simultaneous transmission of multiple messages over a
single transmission channel.
 • Multiplexing allows the maximum possible utilization of the available
bandwidth of the system. Bandwidth is an important entity in any communication
system.
• The use of multiplexing also makes the communication system economical
because more than one signal can be transmitted through a single channel.
• Multiplexing is possible in communication system only through modulation.

• To consider multiplexing, let us consider the following example. If many people

speak loudly and simultaneously, then it becomes nearly impossible to understand their
conversion because the overall result is noise. This noise is the result of mixing of all the
speeches. The human ear is not capable of separating these intermingled speeches and
therefore no intelligent words are communicated to brain.
• The same situation is now applied to the transmission of audio signals. These audio
signals may come from, say ten different persons. While the speech frequency of
different persons will be different, all the ten signals will lie in the same audio range
of 20 Hz to 20 kHz. If all these baseband audio signals are simultaneously transmitted
through a single channel, then they will be mixed together. The transmitter will
transmit these mixed signals, and the receiver will receive them. The purpose of the
receiver is to deliver the audio signals in their original form. If all the received signals
lie within the same audio range, the receiver is not capable of separating them into
individual signals, similar to the case with human ears.
• In order to avoid this difficulty, each signal can be translated to a different
frequency spectrum, such that every signal differs in its transmitted frequency through
modulation. Therefore, if all the baseband signals are modulated, i.e., translated to higher
frequencies by using different carrier frequencies, then each signal is easily distinguishable
from the other although they all lie within the same audio band. At the transmitter they can
be mixed and transmitted.
• At the receiver, the different signals can be easily separated because they are at
different frequencies, and these can be delivered to the next stages of the receiver for
further processing. Multiplexing becomes possible only because of modulation.
 The important types of multiplexing are:

• Time Division Multiplexing

In TDM, the channel is divided into several time slots, and each signal is
transmitted during its allocated time slot. As a result, several signals share the
channel without interfering with each other. Eg multiple users sharing the printer. The
printer processes the print jobs one at a time, in the order they were received, during
their allocated time slots. Another eg: Traffic lights at an intersection use time division
multiplexing to manage the flow of traffic.

• Frequency Division Multiplexing

• Divides bandwidth into subchannels of different frequencies, each channel
carrying a signal in parallel. Guard bands will be provided between the channels to
avoid mixing up of channels.

• Examples: Radio and television broadcasting, where multiple radio signals at

different frequencies are transmitted simultaneously.
• Cable television, which carries many television channels on a single cable.
• Commercial broadcast radio (AM and FM radio), where each station gets its
own frequency band.