Module 5

Syllabus
Analog and Digital Communication – Modern communication system
scheme, Information source, and input transducer, Transmitter, Channel
or Medium – Hardwired and Soft wired, Noise, Receiver, Multiplexing,
Types of communication systems.
Types of modulation (only concepts) – AM FM, Phase Modulation, Pulse
Modulation, PAM , PWM, PPM, PCM. Concept of Radio wave
propagation (Ground, space, sky with Fig)
 What is Communication?
Transfer of information from one point to other (or)
Exchange of Information between two points

❑Sending data or Information using Electronic devices: Electronic Communication

❑Allows rapid transfer of goods, money and ideas
***Need for Communication?***
❑Speedy transmission: Requires only few seconds to communicate
through electronic media due the technology available for quick
transmission
❑Wide Coverage: The whole world has become a global village and
communication around the globe requires just a second
❑Low Cost: Cost of an SMS is cheaper than sending a letter by post
❑Exchange of feedback: Instant exchange of feedback
❑24/7 accessibility: Can be accessed anytime
***Communication timeline***
General form of a Basic Communication
System
General form of a Basic Communication System
Constituents of a Communication System
⮚Information source and transducer
⮚Transmitter
⮚Channel or medium
⮚Noise
⮚Receiver
⮚Output transducer and final destination
 Information Source and Transducer

❑A communication system transmits information from an information source

(message) to a destination.
❑Examples: Voice, Live scenes(video), music, written text, and e-mail.
❑A transducer is a device that converts a non-electrical energy into its
corresponding electrical energy called signal and vice versa.
Example Transducers: Sound : Microphone
Picture: Camera
Text : Keyboard
Temperature/Pressure: Sensor with transducer
Example Transducers
Type of Signals

Signals are functions that carry information. We use signals to convey

information from place to place. In electronics, signals are mainly in
the form of varying voltages
There are two types of signals.
(a)Analog signals

(b) Digital signals

 Analog Signals
▪ Analog signals are continuous signals.
▪ The values of voltage will change in a continuous
range w.r.t time.
▪ Usually represented using sinusoidal waves.
▪ Records the information as it is.
▪ These signals are used in analog devices
▪ More affected by Noise

▪ Examples: Any natural sound, human voice,

data read by analog devices.
 Digital Signals
▪ Digital signals are not continuous, but change in
discrete steps or increments they are discrete
signals.
▪ The values of voltage will be discontinuous w.r.t
time.
▪ Can represent in the form of square waves..
▪ Converts the information into binary form.
▪ Generated by Digital electronic devices like
computers, smartphones, smartwatches, etc.
▪ More resilient to Noise
▪ Examples: Electronic signals, computer signals,
data read by digital devices.
TRANSMITTER
 TRANSMITTER

❑The base band signal, output from the input transducer, is input to the
transmitter.
❑The transmitter section processes the signal prior to transmission. The nature
of processing depends on the type of communication system.
❑There are two options for processing signals prior transmission
❑(i) The baseband signal, which lies in the low frequency spectrum, is
translated to a higher frequency spectrum----carrier communication system.
❑(ii) The baseband signal is transmitted without translating it to a higher
frequency spectrum.----baseband communication system.
Processing of a
baseband Signal
ANALOG
TRANSMITTER

• s(t) applied to the modulated stage, the baseband signal is translated from low 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 .
• 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).
 Power Amplifier Stage

❑The power amplifier 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.
 Antenna - For Wireless transmission of signals

Antenna: Converts electrical signal to

EM waves.
Communication Channel
Communication Bands
(Radio Frequency Spectrum)
Radio signals are transmitted as Electromagnetic waves (radio waves)in a Radio
communication system
The RF Spectrum
 CHANNEL OR MEDIUM

❑The transmission medium between the transmitter and the receiver is

called a channel.
❑The transmitted signal should have adequate power to withstand the
channel noise.
❑The channel characteristics also impose constraints on the bandwidth
❑Depending on the physical implementations, one can classify the channels
in the following two groups:
❑a)Hardwired channels and
❑b) Soft-wired channels.
 Hardwired (Hardware) Channels
Are manmade structures which can be used as transmission medium. There
are following three possible implementations of the hardware channels.
❑Transmission lines- Twisted pair cable(landline telephony) and Coaxial cables (cable TV transmission).
❑Waveguides- For High frequency transmission (Waveguides are hollow, circular or rectangular metallic structure).
❑Optical Fiber Cables (OFC) – Highly sophisticated media ( thin circular pipes) – signals are transmitted in the form
of light energy.

❑A COMMUNICATION SYSTEM THAT MAKES USE OF A HARDWARE CHANNEL IS

CALLED AS A LINE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM. EG: LANDLINE TELEPHONY
AND CABLE TV NETWORK.
 Soft-wired (Software) Channels

❑Natural resources which can be used as the transmission medium for

signals.
❑Eg. Air or Open space and Sea water.
❑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)
❑RADIO COMMUNICATION SYSTEM – RADIO BROADCAST, TELEVISION TRANSMISSION,
SATELLITE COMMUNICATION, CELLULAR MOBILE COMMUNICATION.
 NOISE – INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL NOISE

❑Noise is defined as unwanted electrical energy of random

and unpredictable nature.
❑Noise is a highly undesirable part of a communication system,
and has to be minimized.
❑When noise is mixed with the transmitted signal, it rides over
it and deteriorates its waveform
❑SNR and Noise figure (F)
Measurement of SNR
Noise Factor and Noise Figure
 RECEIVER

❑The task of the receiver is to provide the original information to

the user.
❑The signal received by the receiver is r(t).
❑This signal contains both the transmitted signal, x(t), and the
noise, n(t), added to it during transmission
RECEIVER
Detailed block diagram of a Typical Receive Section
 Multiplexing is a process which allows
MULTIPLEXING more than one signal to be transmitted
through a single channel.
TYPES OF MULTIPLEXING
 Advantages of Multiplexing
❑Multiplexing allows the maximum possible utilization of the
available bandwidth of the system.
❑The use of multiplexing also makes the communication system
economical because more than one signal can be transmitted
through a single channel.
 TYPES OF COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS
One may categorize communication systems based on their physical
infrastructure and the specifications of the signals they transmit.
❑Communication Systems based on Physical Infrastructure
❑1. Line Communication Systems AND Radio communication system
❑Radio broadcast – Purely radio communication
❑Landline Telephony- Purely Line communication
2. SIMPLEX AND DUPLEX

❑Communication systems based on Signal specifications

❑Analog/ Digital Communication systems
❑Baseband/ Carrier Communication systems
1.Communication
Systems based on
Physical
Infrastructure
2. Communication Systems based on Signal Specifications

The signal specifications used to decide the type of communication

include:
❑Nature of baseband or information signal
❑Nature of the transmitted signal.

❑A. Based on the nature of the baseband signal

❑Analog communication systems
❑Digital communication systems.
 B. Based on the nature of the transmitted signal

❑The two systems can then be put under following categories:

❑Baseband communication system
❑Carrier communication system
Thus, there are four types of communication system categories based on
signal specification. These are:
❑Analog communication system
❑Digital communication system
❑Baseband communication system
❑Carrier communication system
Of the four, at least two types are required to specify a particular
communication system. These groups can be put as:
Analog/Digital communication system
Baseband/Carrier communication system
 Modulation
❑Modulation – process of translating the low frequency baseband
signal to higher frequency spectrum
❑Process of changing the parameters of the carrier signal, in
accordance with the instantaneous values of the modulating signal.
❑Need for modulation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00ZbuhPruJw
Need for Modulation
⮚Improves Quality of reception
⮚Reduces Height of antenna
⮚Options for Multiplexing
⮚Bandwidth Extension
⮚Increased Range of Communication
⮚Reduced noise and interference
❑ Types of Analog (Continuous Wave) Modulation

❑ Amplitude modulation

❑ Frequency modulation

❑ Phase modulation
 1. Amplitude Modulation
❑Amplitude modulation (AM) -modulation technique in which the
instantaneous amplitude of the carrier signal is varied in accordance
with the instantaneous amplitude of the analog modulating signal to
be transmitted
❑Modulating signal - an analog baseband signal which is random.
❑Carrier signal- a sinusoidal wave with high frequency
Variations in amplitude of carrier signal represent the information
Amplitude Modulation
Demonstrations
https://demonstrations.wolfram.com/AmplitudeModulation/
https://demonstrations.wolfram.com/PowerEfficiencyOfAmplitudeModulation/
2. Frequency Modulation
 Frequency Modulation

https://youtu.be/4SOGF4AUIY
 Phase Modulation
❑Process in which the instantaneous phase of the carrier signal is
varied in accordance with the instantaneous amplitude of the
modulating signal
❑The modulating signal is mapped to the carrier signal in the form
of variations in the instantaneous phase of the carrier
Phase Modulation
WHY DIGITIZE ANALOG SOURCES?
❑Less sensitive to noise.
❑It is easier to integrate different services
❑video and the accompanying soundtrack, into the same transmission scheme.
❑The transmission scheme can be relatively independent of the source.
❑Circuitry for handling digital signals is easier to repeat
❑Digital circuits are less sensitive to physical effects
❑such as vibration and temperature.
❑Digital signals are simpler to characterize ,this makes the associated
hardware easier to design.
 Contd..
❑Easy to Implement techniques like
❑ Multiplexing
❑ Channel compensation
❑ Equalization
❑ Error correction
❑There are techniques for removing redundancy from a digital transmission, so
as to minimize the amount of information that has to be transmitted.

❑Digital techniques make it easier to specify complex standards that may be

shared on a worldwide basis.
❑ This allows the development of communication components with different features and
their interoperation with a different component produced by a different manufacturer.
 Pulse Modulation
❑Pulse Modulation - Used to transmit analog information such
as continuous speech or data
❑Has the advantage of ability to use constant amplitude pulses
 Pulse Modulation Schemes
Two types of pulse modulation schemes
1. Pulse Amplitude Modulation(PAM)
2. Pulse Time Modulation(PTM)
- Pulse Width Modulation (PWM)
- Pulse Position Modulation (PPM)
Pulse Amplitude Modulation(PAM)

In PAM , the amplitude of the

pulses of the carrier pulse train is
varied in accordance with the
modulating signal
 Pulse Amplitude Modulation(PAM)
•Simplest form of pulse modulation
•Signal is sampled at regular intervals and each sample is made
proportional to the amplitude of the signal at the instant of sampling
Advantages of pulse amplitude modulation :
Generation and detection is easy. This modulation is the base for all digital
modulation techniques. It is a simple process for both modulation and
demodulation techniques.
Disadvantages of pulse amplitude modulation :
Added noise cannot be removed easily as it has an impact on amplitude
which carries information.
Noise will be great.
It is difficult to remove noise, as this amplitude part which carries
information.
Noise interference is higher.
Nyquist criteria have high bandwidth required.
 Pulse width or Pulse duration
modulation(PWM or PDM)
❑Starting time and amplitude of the pulse are constant but the width
or duration of each pulse is made proportional to the instantaneous
value of analog signal
❑Disadvantage
❑Pulses are of varying width and hence of varying power content.
❑The transmitter must be powerful to handle the maximum width
pulses
Pulse width or Pulse duration
modulation(PWM or PDM)
Pulse width or pulse-duration
modulation (PWM or PDM)
 Pulse Position Modulation (PPM)
Amplitude and width of the pulses are constant but the
position of each pulse in relation to the position of the
reference pulse is varied according to the instantaneous
sampled value of the modulating signal
Pulse Position Modulation (PPM)
 Pulse Code Modulation(PCM)
❑A digital process in which the message is sampled and rounded off
to the nearest value of a finite set of allowable values
❑The rounded off values are coded
❑PCM generator produces a series of numbers or digits
❑Each of these digits in binary code represents the amplitude of the
signal sample at that instant.
Pulse-code modulation (PCM)
Pulse Code Modulation(PCM)
Summary: Pulse modulation techniques
Sampling

• It is necessary that we choose the sampling rate properly

• Sequence of samples uniquely defines the original analog signal
 Sampling Theorem
Sampling theorem :
States that any continuous time signal can be completely represented in its
samples and recovered back if the sampling frequency is greater than or
equal to twice the highest frequency component of base band signal. That is
Sampling frequency, fs >= 2*fm.
◦ Where fm= Highest frequency in base band continuous time signal.

This condition is also called Nyquist condition for sampling process.

 Radio wave propagation
•Depending on the frequency, a radio wave travels from the transmitting to
the receiving antenna in several ways.
•On the basis of the MODE OF PROPAGATION, radio waves(10 Khz to 300
Ghz) can be broadly classified as:
(i) Ground or Surface wave
(ii) Space or tropospheric wave, and
(iii) Sky way
Different modes of propagation of electromagnetic waves
 Ground wave propagation
•Radio waves are guided by the earth and move along its curved surface from the
transmitter to the receiver.
•As waves move around ground they are strongly influenced by the electrical properties
of the ground.
• As high frequency waves are strongly absorbed by ground. Ground wave
propagation is useful only at only LOW frequencies.
•Below 500 kHz, ground waves can be used for communication within distances of about
1500 km from the transmitter.
• AM radio broadcast in the medium frequency band cover local areas and take place
primarily by the ground wave.
•Ground wave transmission is very reliable whatever the atmospheric conditions be.
Space or tropospheric wave propagation
•Radio wave transmitted from an antenna, travels in a straight line directly reaches
the receiving antenna
•In space wave or line of sight propagation, radio waves move in the earth’s
troposphere within about 15 km over the surface of the earth.
•The space wave is made up of two components:
(a) a direct or line-of- sight wave from the transmitting to the receiving antenna and
(b) the ground-reflected wave traversing form the transmitting antenna to ground and
reflected to the receiving antenna
•Television frequencies in the range 100-220 MHz are transmitted through this
mode.
 Sky wave propagation
•Radio waves transmitted from the transmitting antenna reach the receiving antenna after
reflection from the ionosphere, i.e. the ionized layers lying in the earth’s upper atmosphere.
• Short wave transmission around the globe is possible through sky wave via successive reflections at
the ionosphere and the earth’s surface.

•ionosphere - The ionized region of the earth’s upper atmosphere extending from about 40 km to the
height of a few earth radii above the earth.
•The ionosphere is made up of electrons, and positive and negative ions in the background of
neutral particles of the atmosphere.

•The propagation of radio wave through the ionosphere is affected by the electrons and ions in the
ionosphere. The effect of the electrons on the propagation is much greater than that of the ions since
the electronic mass is much less than the ionic mass.
 Digital Modulation Schemes
•In digital communications, the modulating signal consists of binary data or M-ary
version of it.
•When it is required to transmit digital signals, the amplitude, frequency or phase
of the sinusoidal carrier is varied in accordance with the incoming digital data.
•Digital modulation schemes are classified as
◦ Amplitude Shift Keying (ASK)
◦ Frequency Shift Keying (FSK)
◦ Phase Shift Keying (PSK)
 Amplitude Shift Keying(ASK)
•Represents digital data as variations in the amplitude of a carrier wave
•ASK signal may be generated by simply applying the incoming binary data and
the sinusoidal carrier to the inputs of a product modulator.
Amplitude Shift Keying(ASK)

ASK Modulation
Amplitude Shift Keying(ASK)
 Frequency Shift Keying(FSK)
•Digital information is transmitted through discrete frequency changes of a carrier signal.
•The simplest FSK is binary FSK (BFSK).
•BFSK uses a pair of discrete frequencies to transmit binary (0s and 1s) information
Frequency Shift Keying(FSK)
Phase Shift Keying(PSK)
Phase Shift Keying(PSK)
Phase Shift Keying(PSK)
PSK and FSK more preferred over ASK?

•Because of the constant amplitude of FSK or PSK, the effect of noise and
interference is minimum whereas it is more pronounced in ASK

Link for ASK, PSK and FSK video

•https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8eebS5MhuU
 Modulation schemes used in LTE- Long term
Evolution
LTE ((Long Term Evolution(LTE) - standard for wireless broadband
communication for mobile devices marketed as 4G)
•Binary Phase Shift Keying - BPSK
•Quadrature Phase Shift Keying - QPSK
•16 Quadrature Amplitude Modulation -16 QAM
•64 Quadrature Amplitude Modulation - 64 QAM
 Binary Phase Shift Keying (BPSK)
Binary Phase Shift Keying (BPSK) - sends bits one at a time, using 2 states that can be
interpreted as phases 0 and 180 or as amplitudes +1 and -1.
One bit per symbol

Constellation diagram of BPSK

Note : LTE uses this scheme for limited number of control streams but does not use it for
normal data transmissions
Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK)
Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) – sends bits 2 at a time, using 4 states that can be interpreted as
phases 45,135,215 and 315 which correspond to bit combinations of 00, 10, 11 and 01 respectively.

Constellation diagram of QPSK

 16 Quadrature Amplitude Modulation
(16 - QAM)
16 Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (16 - QAM) – Sends bits 4 at a time,
using 16 states that have different amplitudes and phases

Constellation diagram of 16 - QAM

 64 Quadrature Amplitude Modulation
(64-QAM)
•64 Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (64-QAM) – Sends bits 6 at a time
using 64 different states.
•Data rate is six times greater than that of BPSK.

YouTube video for constellation diagram:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfJeL4LQ43s

Constellation diagram of 16 - QAM

Radio signal transmission
 Radio signal transmission
Important components of wireless transmission system

Note : The modulation

scheme used here is QPSK

Architecture of wireless communication transmitter

 Modulation scheme used - QPSK

Fig (a) QPSK Waveform (b) QPSK Constellation

Diagram

• The distance of each state from the origin represents the amplitude of the transmitted wave while angle
measured anti-clockwise from x-axis represents the phase
 Multiple Access Techniques
•In cellular network, the base station has to transmit to many different mobiles at
once by sharing the resources of air interface using a technique known as
multiple access.
•Multiple access techniques
o Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA)
o Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA)
o Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)

NOTE: MULTIPLE ACCESS is the generalization of known concept MULTIPLEXING, the

difference between them is, the multiple access system can dynamically change the allocation of
resources to different mobiles, while in a multiplexing system the resource allocation is fixed.
 Frequency Division Multiple Access
(FDMA) – used by first generation analog systems
Each mobile receives signal on its own carrier frequency, which it distinguishes using
analogue filter.
The carriers are separated by unused guard bands to minimize the interference
between the carriers
 TIME Division Multiple Access
(TDMA)
Mobiles receive signals on the same carrier but at different times.
 Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)

•Technique used by third generation communication systems

•Mobiles receive signals on the same carrier frequency and at the same time.
•The signals are labelled by the use of codes, which allows a mobile to separate its own signal
from the others.
FDMA,TDMA & CDMA
 FDD and TDD Modes
•By using the various multiple access techniques, a base station can distinguish
the transmissions to and from the individual mobiles in the cell.
•To distinguish the mobiles’ transmissions from those of the base stations, a
mobile communication system can operate in the transmission modes.
•Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) -The base station and mobile transmit and
receive at the same time, but using different carrier frequencies.

•Time Division Duplex (TDD) - the base station and mobile transmit and receive
on the same carrier frequency but at different times.
Operation of FDD and TDD modes

uplink and downlink

frequency

FDD Mode TDD Mode

 FDD and TDD Modes
•In FDD mode,
o The bandwidths of the uplink and downlink are fixed and are usually the
same.
o Suitable for voice communications, in which the uplink and downlink data
rates are very similar.
• In TDD mode,
oThe system can adjust how much time is allocated to the uplink and downlink
oSuitable for applications such as web browsing, in which the downlink data
rate can be much greater than the rate on the uplink.
 Multipath and Fading
• As a result of reflections, rays can take several different paths from the
transmitter to the receiver. This phenomenon is known as multipath.
 Interference
•At the receiver, the incoming rays can add together in different ways, which are
shown in figure below.
 Constructive Interference
•If the peaks of the incoming rays coincide then they reinforce each other, a
situation known as constructive interference.

Constructive Interference
 Destructive Interference
•peaks of one ray coincide with the troughs of another, the result is destructive
interference, in which the rays cancel.

•Destructive interference can make the received signal power drop to a very low
level, a situation known as fading.
 Fading as a function of time and
frequency
•If the mobile moves from one place to another, then the ray geometry changes, so the
interference pattern changes between constructive and destructive. Fading is
therefore a function of time, as shown in Fig.

Fading as a function of (a) time and (b) frequency

Coherence time and Doppler
Frequency
Coherence Bandwidth
Delay spread
 Question Bank
1.With relevant waveforms define and explain amplitude modulation.
2.Define the following terms a) Frequency modulation b)Phase modulation
3.Explain the following with the help of waveforms
a) PAM b)PWM c) PPM d) PCM
4.With neat diagram explain different types of radio wave propagation.
5. What are the four modulation schemes used in LTE?
6. Explain the various Multiple Access Techniques used in cellular network.
7. Discuss the transmission modes used in mobile communication system.
8. Define the following
Question Bank
i)Multipath
ii)Constructive and destructive interference
iii)Coherence time
iv)Coherence bandwidth
v)Delay spread
THANK YOU