Amplitude Modulation Reception

AMPLITUDE
MODULATION
RECEPTION
ENGR REN
AM Receiver
• Converts an amplitude – modulated wave back to the original source

information.
RF Section
• Antenna
• Antenna coupling network
• Receiver input filter, preselector
• And one/more RF amplifiers
Mixer/Converter Section
• Down-converts the received RF freq to intermediate freq (IF)
IF Section
• Includes several cascaded amplifiers and bandpass filters
• Functions are amplification and selectivity
AM Detector
• Demodulates the AM wave and recovers the original source information

from the envelope.
Audio Section
• Simplifies the recovered information to a usable level

Receiver Parameters
• Selectivity
• Is a measure of the ability of the receiver to accept a given band of
frequencies and reject all others
• Defined as the bandwidth of the receiver at some predetermined attenuation
factor (commonly -60dB) to the bandwidth at the -3dB (half-power points)
• The ratio called, Shape Factor (SF) = B(-60 dB) / B(-3dB)

• %selectivity = SF x 100%
• Ideal SF = 1
Example
• Determine the shape factor and the percent selectivity for the gain-
versus-frequency plot shown in figure
Bandwidth improvement
• Is noise reduction ratio achieved by reducing the bandwidth
• BI = B(RF) / B(IF)
• NF(improvement) = 10 log BI
• Where B(RF) = RF bandwidth

• B(IF) = IF bandwidth
Example
• Determine the improvement in the noise figure for a receiver with an RF

bandwidth equal to 200 kHz and an IF bandwidth equal to 10 kHz.
SENSITIVITY
• Is the minimum RF signal level that can be received and still produce a
usable demodulated signal.
• Ex: 10 dB S/N with ½ W of audio power for commercial AM broadcast

band receiver
SENSITIVITY
• Also called receiver threshold

• Sensitivity unit in microvolts of the received signal
• Ex: commercial AM receiver, 50 uV
• Two way mobile radio, 0.1 to 10uV
FIDELITY
• Is a measure of the ability of a communications system to produce, at the

output of the receiver, an exact replica
• Amplitude, freq and phase reduce the fidelity of the receiver
Insertion loss
• Is a parameter that is associated with the frequencies that fall within the
passband of a filter and is generally defined as the ratio of the power
transferred to a load with a filter in the circuit to the power transferred to
the load without a filter.
Noise temperature and equivalent noise
temperatures
• Noise can be expressed in degrees as well as watts and volts
• T = N/KB
• Where
• T = environmental temperature
• N = noise power in watts
• K=Boltzmann constant (1.38x10^-23 J/K
• B=bandwidth in Hz
Equivalent noise temperature, Te
• Is a hypothetical value that cannot be directly measured.

• Te = T(F-1)
• Te=equivalent noise temperature in K
• T= environmental temperature in K
• F=noise factor (unitless)
• The lower the Te, the better the quality of the receiver
AM receivers
• Coherent – synchronous receiver, the carrier freq used for demodulation in

the receiver is synchronized to the carrier freq used in the transmitter
• Non-coherent – asynchronous receiver, either there is no carrier freq

generated in the receiver or the carrier freq used for demodulation is
totally independent from the transmitter carrier freq,
• Envelope detection
Tuned Radio – Frequency AM Receiver
• Was one of the earliest type of AM receivers and it still probably the
simplest design available.
Example
• For an AM commercial broadcast-band receiver (535 to 1605 kHz) with an

input filter Q-factor of 54, determine the bandwidth at the low and high
ends of the RF spectrum.
Superheterodyne Receiver
• Heterodyne means to mix frequencies together in a nonlinear device or to

translate one frequency to another using nonlinear mixing.
RF Section
• Usually has a preselector stage and an RF amplifier stage.

• The preselector is a broad-tuned bandpass filter with an adjustable center
freq that is tuned to the desired RF carrier.
• The purpose of the preselector is to provide enough initial bandlimiting to
prevent a specific unwanted radio freq called the image freq from
entering the receiver.
RF amplifier
• First active device encountered by a receive signal

• Primary contributor of noise and therefore a predominant factor in
determining the noise figure for the receiver.
Mixer/Converter Section
• Include an RF oscillator (local oscillator) and a mixture stage

IF Section
• The IF section comprises a series of IF amplifiers called IF strip

• The IF is constant for all stations and is chosen so that its freq is less than
any of the RF signals to be received.
• 455 kHz
Detector Section
• The purpose of detector section is to convert the IF envelope back to

original source information.
• The audio detector can be as simple as a diode or a complex as a phase
lock loop or balanced demodulator.
Audio Section
• The audio section comprises several cascaded audio amplifiers

• The number of amplifiers depends on the audio signal power desired.
FREQUENCY CONVERSION
• In the mixer, the RF signals are mixed with the local oscillator freq in a nonlinear
device
• The output contains an infinite number of harmonics and cross product freq which
include the sum and diff freq bet the desired RF and local oscillator freq
• The adjustment for the center freq of the preselector and local oscillator are gang
tuned
• When the local osc freq is tuned below the RF, it is called low-side injection
• Flo = Frf - Fif
• When the local osc freq is tuned above the RF, it is called high-side injection
• Flo=Frf + Fif
Example
• For an AM superheterodyne receiver that uses high-side injection and has

a local oscillator freq of 1355 kHz, determine the IF carrier, upper side freq
and lower side freq for an RF envelope which is made up of a carrier and
upper and lower side frequencies of 900, 905 and 895 kHz, respectively.

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AMPLITUDE

• Converts an amplitude – modulated wave back to the original source

• Down-converts the received RF freq to intermediate freq (IF)

• Demodulates the AM wave and recovers the original source information

• Simplifies the recovered information to a usable level

• The ratio called, Shape Factor (SF) = B(-60 dB) / B(-3dB)

• Is noise reduction ratio achieved by reducing the bandwidth

• Where B(RF) = RF bandwidth

• Determine the improvement in the noise figure for a receiver with an RF

• Ex: 10 dB S/N with ½ W of audio power for commercial AM broadcast

• Also called receiver threshold

• Is a measure of the ability of a communications system to produce, at the

• Is a hypothetical value that cannot be directly measured.

• Coherent – synchronous receiver, the carrier freq used for demodulation in

• Non-coherent – asynchronous receiver, either there is no carrier freq

• For an AM commercial broadcast-band receiver (535 to 1605 kHz) with an

• Heterodyne means to mix frequencies together in a nonlinear device or to

• Usually has a preselector stage and an RF amplifier stage.

• First active device encountered by a receive signal

• Include an RF oscillator (local oscillator) and a mixture stage

• The IF section comprises a series of IF amplifiers called IF strip

• The purpose of detector section is to convert the IF envelope back to

• The audio section comprises several cascaded audio amplifiers

• For an AM superheterodyne receiver that uses high-side injection and has

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