Emirates Aviation College

EMIRATES AVIATION COLLEGE 2011
INTRODUCTION The investigation reported in this paper describes the generation and detection, with a conventional discriminator, of narrow-band SSB FM, and presents the threshold characteristics of the system. The generation and detection of wide-band SSB FM is also reported. The narrow-band signal is easily detected with a limiter discriminator and offers improved signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) over conventional FM for modulation indexes less than approximately 0.25. The wide-band signal is generated by an exponential frequency multiplier which multiplies the frequency and modulation index of the narrow-band signal. This signal is detected as an AM signal and the detected envelope is passed through a logarithmic transfer device to recover the original signal. Since "single-sideband frequency modulation" is not an appropriate description of this special case, the authors have called it "Single-Sided Wide-band Analog Modulation" (SSWAM). This document describes the decision factors that bear on the selection of the modulation process for the wireless underground medium frequency. The selected modulation process must satisfy the Bureau of Mines stated objective of improving general comnunications within an underground mine. The improvement being sought includes the development of a wire1ess comnunication technology o f measurable benefit to both mine safety and mine productivity . The improvement will allow wireless communications paths to exist between r o v i n g m i n e r s . The w i r e l e s s c o m n u n i c a t i o n p a t h s w i l l a l s o be made compati b l e w i t h t h e e x i s t i n g u n d e r g r o u n d t e l e p h o n e s y s t em t o e x t e n d p a g i n g and v o i c e c o m n u n i c a t i o n t h r o u g h o u t t h e u n d e r g r o u n d mine.
The new w i r e l e s s e q u i pme n t w i l l i n c l u d e man-pack, v e h i c u l a r , r e p e a t e r , and base s t a t i o n t r a n s c e i v e r s . Re p e a t e r s and base s t a t i o n s w i l l f e a t u r e coup1 ing networks for interfacing with the existing telephone cir c u i t s. Frequency modulation (FM) and single side band (SSB) modulation processes are
SSB AND FM COMMUNICATIONS
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analyzed in view of t h e s p e c i a l c o n d i t i o n s a s s o c i a t e d w i t h u n d e r g round mining . O f p r i m a r y i m p o r t a n c e i s t h e t remendous e l e c t r i c a l noise generated i n an operating mine that could adversely affect comnunications quality. High noise coupled with h i g h a t t e n u a t i o n r a t e o f n e a r f i e l d s i g n a l s forces the communication system t o be inherently s h o r t r a n g e . F o r t u n a t e l y , near f i e l d s i g n a l s can p r o p a g a t e o v e r g r e a t d i s t a n c e s on u n d e r g r o u n d w i r e s and cab1 es. I n an FM r e c e i v e r , t h e l i m i t e r and d i s c r i m i n a t o r n e t w o r k s may p r oduce a t r a n s i e n t r e s p o n s e . The r e c o v e r e d a u d i o s i g n a l w i l l i n c l u d e b o t h ampl it u d e and f r e q u e n c y v a r i a t i o n s o f t h e t r a n s i e n t s i g n a l . The a u d io output w i 11 e x h i b i t s h o r t d u r a t i o n damped s i n u s o i d a l p u l ses. I t s h o u l d be n o t e d t h a t i f t h e damped s i n u s o i d a l f r e q u e n c y band o c c u r s o u t o f the a u d i o passband, t h e r e s u l t i n g d i s t u r b a n c e w o u l d ' n o t be n o t i c e a ble. I n an SSB r e c e i v e r , t h e p r o d u c t d e t e c t o r w i l l r e c o v e r b o t h t h e amp1 i t u d e and f r e q u e n c y v a r i a t i o n s o f t h e t r a n s i e n t s i g n a l . F u r t h e r , t h e AGC n e t work w i l l r e s p o n d t o t h e p r o d u c t d e t e c t o r o u t p u t s i g n a l b y p r oducing a g a i n c o n t r o l s i g n a l w i t h i t s own t r a n s i e n t c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s . The actual a u d i o o u t p u t d i s t u r b a n c e i s much g r e a t e r i n an SSB r e c e i v e r . N o i s e b l a n k e r c i r c u i t s can be d e s i g n e d t o r e d u c e n o i s e p u l se interference. N o i s e b l a n k e r c i r c u i t s p r e v e n t t h e n o i s e p u l s e f r o m r e a ching the
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h i g h l y s e l e c t i v e c i r c u i t s o f t h e I F a m p l i f i e r . T h i s can be a c h i e ved in a number o f ways. However, t h e most common method i s t o open t h e r e c e i v e r s i g n a l p a t h i m m e d i a t e l y a f t e r t h e f i r s t m i x e r . O t h e r methods i n c l ude l o w e r i n g e i t h e r t h e RF o r m i x e r g a i n . These approaches a r e l e s s s a t i s factory s i n c e t h e y i n t r o d u c e new t r a n s i e n t s upon t h e r e s t o r a t i o n o f n o rma l g a i n . http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/mining/pubs/pdfs/acbsa.pdf
A n o i s e b l a n k e r t u n e d t o a f r e q u e n c y ( f N ) b e l ow t h e o p e r a t i n g frequency band w i l l d e t e c t n o i s e s i g n a l s much g r e a t e r i n l e v e l t h a n any n o ise s i g n a l a p p e a r i n g i n t h e o p e r a t i n g r a n g e o f t h e system. A further refinement in the design of the noise blanker is to i n c l u d e an AGC d e t e c t o r i n t h e n o i s e b l a n k e r c i r c u i t . The AGC s h o u l d be d e signed to control the gain of the noise blanker such that only noise pulses above an a v e r a g e n o i s e d e p e n d e n t t h r e s h o l d w i l l r e s u l t i n b l a n king. SSB AND FM COMMUNICATIONS FAZAL MUBARAK Page 3

IMPULSE NOISE TESTING BETWEEN FM & SSB: FM and SSB r e c e ive r s were evaluated using t h e t e s t set-up below;
The behavior of t h e SSB r e c e i v e r output signal with a r e cur r ing noise pulse was s tudi ed with t h e os c i l los cope shown in Figure 8.0. The part i c u l a r SSB r e c e i v e r incl uded an inband noise blanker. For p u l s e r i s e times of more than 1 microsecond, the noise blanker e f f e c t i v e l y reduced t h e p u l s e i n t e r f e r e n c e as t h e r i s e t i m e a p p r o a c h e d . 1 mi c r o s e c o n d . (The EM1 s i g n a l i n t h e r e c e i v e r passband i n c r e a s e s b y 20 dB when p u l s e r i s e time i s r e d u c e d t o . 1 m i c r o s e c o n d ) . The r e c o v e r e d o u t p u t became n o isy at the 360 Hz p u l s e r a t e . When t h e s i g n a l g e n e r a t o r l e v e l was i n c r e a s e d above 30 m i c r o v o l t s , t h e e f f e c t o f n o i s e i n t h e a u d i o o u t p u t d i s a p p e a r e d . The o u t p u t n o i s e appeared t o be s i l e n c e d because t h e s i g n a l l e v e l exceeded t h e p u l s e n o i s e (See F i g u r e 6 . 0 ) w i t h i n t h e b a n d w i d t h o f t h e r eceiver. An FM r e c e i v e r was e v a l u a t e d i n t h e same way e x c e p t t h e s i g n a l g e n e r a t o rd was f r e q u e n c y m o d u l a t e d w i t h a peak f r e q u e n c y d e v i a t i o n o f - + 5 kHz. The
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a u d i o o u t p u t o f t h e r e c e i v e r e x h i b i t e d a damped s i n u s o i d a l b e havior. The SSB r e c e i v e r r e s p o n s e t o a n o i s e p u l s e i s d e t e r m i n e d b y t he transient b e h a v i o r o f t h e a u t o m a t i c g a i n c o n t r o l (AGC) n e t w o r k .
An SSB r e c e i v e r w i l l r e s p o n d t o a n o i s e p u l s e b y i m m e d i a t e l y lowering the signal path gain for a period of time equal to the release ti me of the AGC c i r c u i t . Each r e c u r r i n g n o i s e p u l s e i s e v i d e n t i n t h e r e c o v ered audio signal . The FM r e c e i v e r p r o d u c e d r e c o v e r e d a u d i o p u l s e s a t t h e 360 Hz disturbance f r e q u e n c y . The damped s i n u s o i d a l f r e q u e n c y was we1 1 above t h e 3000 Hz f r e q u e n c y o f t h e r e c e i v e r a u d i o amp1 i f i e r . The r e c o v e r e d n o i s e disturbance was n o t as n o t i c e a b l e i n t h e FM r e c e i v e r as i t was i n t h e SSB r e c e iver.
SUMMARY SSB AND FM COMMUNICATIONS FAZAL MUBARAK Page 5

A n o i s e b l a n k e r n e t w o r k i s r e q u i r e d i n t h e d e s i g n o f an SSB r e ceiver to avoid receiver desensitization with noise pulses. A noise bl anker will also e x t e n d t h e o p e r a t i n g r a n g e o f an FM r e c e i v e r.
F a c t o r 7 : FM systems can o f f e r n o i s e q u i e t i n g a d v a n t a g e s when two c o n d i tions are satisfied: 1 ) The FM c a r r i e r t o n o i s e r a t i o must be g r e a t e r t h a n 13 dB, and 2 ) The FM m o d u l a t i o n i n d e x ( A F / f m ) must be g r e a t e r t h a n a p p r o x - i m a t e l y 0.6 The modulation index of 0.6 defines the t r a n s i t i o n between narrow-band and wide-band FM. Narrow-band FM o f f e r s no improvement over SSB so f a r as t h e demodulation process i s concerned. The FM noise improvement i s due t o t h e generation of signal compohents within the transmission bandwidth. Factor 8: The action of a l i m i t e r in an FM r e c e ive r has been inve s t iga t ed by Davenport ( 1 ) . A l i m i t e r being a device e x h i b i t i n g a constant o u t p u t power independent of input power will a1 t e r t h e signal t o noise r a t i o in passing through t h e l i m i t e r .
Factor 9: FM r equi r e s g r e a t e r IF bandwidth than an SSB communication system. The required bandwidth f o r an SSB communication system i s equal t o the voice baseband frequency range. F a c t o r 1 0 : FM t r a n s c e i v e r s a r e l e s s c o s t l y t o d e s i g n and m a n ufacture. The r e a s o n s f o r t h e l o w e r c o s t a r e : 1 ) Low demand c u r r e n t FM I F a m p l i f i e r s a r e a v a i l a b l e i n i n t e g r a t ed c i r c u i t form. 2 ) Mono1 i t h i c q u a r t z c r y s t a l s a r e a v a i l a b l e f o r use i n FM r e c e i v e r s . FAZAL MUBARAK Page 6

These f i l t e r s a r e l e s s c o s t l y t h a n SSB f i l t e r s because t h e y r e q u i r e l o w e r r e s o n a t o r Q. 3 ) The d e s i g n does n o t r e q u i r e A L C c o n t r o l c i r c u i t s i n t h e t r a n smitter. 4 ) The l o c a l o s c i l l a t o r s t a b i l i t y v e r s u s t e m p e r a t u r e s p e c i f i c a tion is l e s s c r i t i c a l f o r FM t h a n SSB t r a n s c e i v e r s . F a c t o r 12: The n a r r o w band FM a r t i c u l a t i o n i n d e x i s a b o u t t h e same as SSB. A c o m p a r i s o n o f SSB a n d FM m o d u l a t i o n systems based upon a r t i c u l ation index c o n s i d e r a t i o n shows t h a t f o r a peak e n v e l o p e power t o n o i s e power density i n dB - Hz o f l e s s t h a n 40 dB, FM (m = 1 o r 2 ) has no a d v a n t a g e o v e r SSB.
F a c t o r 13: The s e n s i t i v i t y o f an SSB r e c e i v e r i s b e t t e r t h a n a n a r r o w band R4 r e c e i v e r by a p p r o x i m a t e l y 2 . 0 dB. The s e n s i t i v i t y improvement o f SSB o v e r FM i s g i v e n b y where BW i s t h e r e q u i r e d s i g n a l t r a n s m i s s i o n b a n dwi d t h . The SSB s y s t em w i l l e x h i b i t b e t t e r t h r e s h o l d s e n s i t i v i t y. F a c t o r 14: SSB t r a n s m i t t e r i s more e f f i c i e n t . SSB w i l l r e q u i r e l e s s b a t t e r y c a p a c i t y and hence s m a l l e r p h y s i c al battery v o l ume. 3.0 S e l e c t an SSB system. Advantages: a ) The d e m o d u l a t i o n s y s t em i s 1 i n e a r and t h r e s h o l d e f f e c t s a r e avoided. b ) The r e c e i v e r b a n d w i d t h o n l y needs t o be as w i d e as t h e h i g h e s t v o i c e band f r e q u e n c y (BW = 2200 Hz ) . The r e c e i v e r w i l l have a SSB AND FM COMMUNICATIONS FAZAL MUBARAK Page 7

s e n s i t i v i t y a d v a n t a g e o v e r n a r r o w band FM. The improvement may be l e s s t h a n 2 dB. c ) More c ommu n i c a t i o n c h a n n e l s can be used i n a g i v e n b a n d w i d t h. d) In a receiver with a properly designed noise blanker, a n oise p u l s e w i l l cause t h e r e c e i v e r o u t p u t a u d i o s i g n a l t o become q u i e t i n s t e a d o f a f u l l n o i s e o u t p u t as i s t h e case i n FM. e ) The a n t e n n a Q can be t h e h i g h e s t p o s s i b l e t o r e d u c e c i r c u i t loss, a l l o w maximum c i r c u l a t i n g c u r r e n t and t h u s a h i g h t r a n s m i t magn e t i c moment. f ) S i n c e t h e s y s t em need n o t t r a n s m i t d u r i n g pauses i n t h e v o i c e signal, the highest overall efficiency is achieved. g ) A b e l o w t h r e s h o l d p a g i n g c a p a b i l i t y can be r e a l i z e d b y u s i ng a n a r r o w band t r a c k i n g f i l t e r and d e c o d e r f o l l o w i n g t h e r e c e i v e r product detector. Disadvantages : a ) To a v o i d s p u r i o u s r e c e i v e r r e s p o n s e p r o b l e m s , a h i g h I F f requency mu s t be used i n t h e d e s i g n . T h i s f o r c e s t h e f i r s t m i x e r i n j e c t i o n o s c i l l a t o r t o have a f r e q u e n c y s t a b i l i t y v e r s u s t e m p e r a t u r e o f - + 1 PPM. The r e q u i r e d c r y s t a l o s c i l l a t o r w i l l c o s t c o n s i d e r a b l y m r e t h a n a c omme r c i a l g r a d e o s c i l l a t o r f o r an FM system. The c o s t may e x c e e d $1 00 i n p r o d u c t i o n q u a n t i t i e s . b ) The I F c i r c u i t s must i n c l u d e a means o f s h a r i n g t h e I F c r y s t a l f i l t e r i n b o t h t h e t r a n s m i t and r e c e i v i n g modes o f o p e r a t i o n . T h i s adds c o m p l e x i t y t o t h e d e s i g n . SSB AND FM COMMUNICATIONS FAZAL MUBARAK Page 8

c ) R e c e i v e r AGC must have a s h o r t a t t a c k and r e l e a s e t i m e t o p r e vent r e c e i v e r d e s e n s i t i z a t i o n a f t e r a n o i s e p u l se. There a r e p r o b l ems i n a c h i e v i n g t h i s o b j e c t i v e because t h e f a s t r e l e a s e SSB AGC n e t wo r k s a r e d i f f i c u l t t o s t a b i l i z e w i t h v o i c e m o d u l a t e d SSB s i g n als. 2.0 S e l e c t a narrow band FM system. Advantages : 1 a ) Although FM improvement would not be p o s s i b l e in t h e system, t h e 1 1 e f f e c t of thr e shold could be avoided in t h e communication system. 1 1 The modulation index would be l e s s than u n i t y t o avoid thr e shold 1 e f f e c t s . The required r e c e i v e r bandwidth f o r acceptabl e audio qua1 i t y becomes = 3520 Hz The voice band would extend t o 2200 Hz and i s adequate f o r good legibility. b ) The t r a n s c e i v e r loc a l o s c i l l a t o r frequency s t a b i l i t y versus t e m p e r a t u r e r e q u i r e m e n t i s r e a l i z a b l e w i t h a commerci a1 g r a d e q u a r t z c r y s t a l o s c i 11 a t o r . Di sadvantases : a ) No d e m o d u l a t i o n improvement o v e r SSB. b) In areas of low signal to noise ratio, receiver 1 imiter will degrade t h e o u t p u t SIN r a t i o by 1 dB. c ) S i n c e t h e f i n a l power amp1 i f i e r can be o p e r a t e d i n C l a s s C, t h e t r a n s m i t t e r h a rmo n i c o u t p u t w i l l be g r e a t e r t h a n i n a C l a s s AB or B SSB d e s i g n . A more complex h a rmo n i c f i l t e r w i l l be r e q u i r e d . HowSSB AND FM COMMUNICATIONS FAZAL MUBARAK Page 9

e v e r , t h e c o s t o f t h e a d d i t i o n a l f i l t e r e l e m e n t w i l l be l e s s t h an $1.00. d) In a receiver with a properly designed noise blanker, a noise puls e w i l l cause t h e r e c e i v e r o u t p u t n o i s e t o i n c r e a s e f o r t h e d u r a t i o n of the bl anking period. e ) In high carrie r t o n o i s e r a t i o a r e a s , t h e r e c e i v e r l i m i t e r w i l l i m p r o v e t h e o u t p u t s i g n a l t o n o i s e r a t i o b y 3 dB. f ) I f t h e r e c e i v e r can be t u n e d t o f r e q u e n c i e s used b y t h e e x i s t i ng c a r r i e r c u r r e n t t r o l l e y t e l e p h o n e s , t h e t r a n s c e i v e r can be s i m ply added t o some e x i s t i n g mi n e c o n u n i c a t i o n system. g ) The n o i s e i m p u l s e r e s p o n s e w o u l d be b e t t e r t h a n i n an SSB system. A n o i s e b l a n k e r can e x t e n d t h e o p e r a t i n g r a n g e o f t h e FM r e c e iver. h ) A v e r y n a r r o w band t r a c k i n g f i l t e r f o l l o w i n g t h e d i s c r i m i n a t or can be used t o d e t e c t p a g i n g and s q u e l c h c o n t r o l s i g n a l s . The t r a c k i n g f il t e r can e x t e n d t h e t h r e s h 0 1 d o f c ommu n i c a t i o n s y s t em f o r p a g i n g and s q u e l c h c o n t r o l p u r p o s e s .
(MF) c o m u n i c a t i o n
system.
AVIATION: Although aircraft are often flying in areas where line-of-sight communications (such as UHF and VHF frequencies) are useful, HF equipment is necessary for any long-distance transmissions. SSB is so popular because the mode is much more efficient than any other voice mode and because the signals are narrower, so it is rarely hampered by fading. http://www.sgcworld.com/Publications/Books/hfguidebook.pdf
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Single sideband technology requires a more sophisticated receiver to intercept signals than VHF/UHF systems, which use simple FM signals. Although the SSB mode is somewhat common among amateur operators, it inherently provides some security of communication SSB: Before you can understand what SSB is, you must understand how audio is transmitted via radio waves. The method by which audio is impressed on a radio signal is called modulation. The two types of modulation that most people are familiar with are AM (amplitude modulation) and FM (frequency modulation), for which the AM and FM broadcast bands were named. http://www.sgcworld.com/whatisssbtechnote.html
The Carrier In an AM-modulated radio signal, a base signal, called the carrier, is continuously broadcast. The two modulating signals are called the sidebands. Any audio that you hear on an AM broadcast station is from the two sidebands. When the radio station is not transmitting any sound, you can still hear that a signal is present; that is the carrier. These two modulating (audio) sidebands are located on either side of the carrier signal--one just above the other just below. As a result, the sideband located just above the carrier frequency is called the upper sideband and that which is located just below the carrier frequency is called the lower sideband. COMPARISON BETWEEN AM & DSB SIGNALS:
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Both signals are modulated by the same frequency. In the second one the carrier is missing in action and the two sidebands add together to produce a signal apparently containing twice the frequency. An attempt to detect this wave with a conventional diode detector would result in a tone of twice the actual frequency. SSB's High Efficiency Let's run some numbers: Suppose you have a typical 5-kW broadcast transmitter. You will only be able to impress 2.5 kW of audio power on that signal. This means that each of the two sidebands will have only 1.25 kW of power. But in highly effective communications using single sideband, a single sideband signal removes the carrier and one sideband and concentrates all of its energy in one sideband. Thus, a 1-kW SSB signal will "talk" as far as a 4-kW conventional AM or FM transmitter. It is one reason why long distances can be covered effectively with SSB. Single sideband's benefit is not only evident on transmission. The reverse happens on receive. When you work out the math, the efficiency with an SSB signal is 16 times greater than with a conventional AM signal. http://www.sgcworld.com/whatisssbtechnote.html The Sidebands The pieces that fit together to form an AM broadcast signal are quite important. Although AM signals were transmitted almost exclusively for decades, it was discovered that the AM signal could be dissected. The first amateur radio operators to experiment with these processes often used both sidebands without the carrier. This is known as double sideband (DSB). DSB was typically used in the earlier operations because it was much easier to strip out just the carrier than to strip out the carrier and one of the sidebands.
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Several years later (and still true today), it was much more common in the amateur bands to transmit merely using one of the sidebands, which is known as single sideband (SSB). Single sideband transmissions can consist of either the lower sideband (LSB) or the upper sideband (USB) http://www.sgcworld.com/whatisssbtechnote.html
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EMIRATES AVIATION COLLEGE 2011

SSB AND FM COMMUNICATIONS