Digital Communications

Instructor: Dr. Phan Van Ca Lecture #4: Introduction to Digital Communications

Lecture Overview

This course deals with the study of digital communications systems To date we have reviewed the tools necessary for the study of communication signals and systems

Fourier Transforms allow us to examine the frequency representation of signals Later we will review random variables which will allow the study of the performance

Today we begin our study of digital communications systems by examining the basic features of digital systems, particularly baseband systems What to read Skim chapters 5-6 in the text
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Communications

Definition: Communications is the transfer of information at one time or location to another time or location
Transmitter
Converts information into appropriate waveform Can include analog-todigital conversion, modulation and waveform coding. Can be baseband or bandpass

Information Source

Channel

Receiver

Destination or sink

Can be analog or digital. Almost always baseband signal

Transports and corrupts signal

Makes best guess as to what the transmitted signal was

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Examples

Broadcast television Broadcast radio Cellular telephony Wireless LAN Landline telephony Global position system Internet Cable TV
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Transmitting Information

The basic function of a communication system is to transfer the source information from source to sink The transmitter converts the message signal to a format suitable for transmission The message sent can be

Analog or digital Baseband or bandpass

In this class we will focus on digital messages even if the underlying source is analog We will initially focus baseband waveforms and later bandpass waveforms
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Analog vs. Digital

Analog Communications

The message signal can take on an infinite number of possible values Directly uses an analog information source (or some oneto-one mapping of it) as the message to be sent The message signal must be one of a small number of discrete messages Must convert analog signals into a sequence of discrete messages If the number of possible messages is 2, the system is binary and the messages are termed binary digits or bits.
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Digital Communications

Example

Analog system that transmits a voltage value between -2V and +2V.

An example digital system transmits either +1V or -1V

1.5

Analog Message Signal

1.5

Digital Message Signal

Message Value (V)

Message Value (V)

0.5

0.5

0.5

0.5

1.5

1.5

10 Time (sec)

12

14

16

18

20

10 Time (sec)

12

14

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Digital Examples

The previous example of a digital system used the two waveforms

(a) (b)

We could use any two (or more) waveforms that we wished to use

Ex:

(a)

(b)

The keys to choosing waveforms are (a) are they easy to distinguish from each other and (b) what are their spectra like?
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Baseband vs Bandpass

The transmitters job is to convert the information source into a waveform suitable for transmission. The resulting transmit signal can either be baseband or bandpass
Baseband

- frequency content is primarily around

DC
sent

signal is typically a series of modulated pulses

Bandpass
sent

frequency content is primarily around some center frequency fc >> 0

signal is typically a modulated sinusoid
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Why digital communications?

Any noise introduces distortion to an analog signal. Since a digital receiver need only distinguish between a finite number of waveforms it is possible to recover digital information without corruption a large percentage time. Many signal processing techniques are available to improve system performance: source coding, channel (error-correction) coding, equalization, encryption Digital ICs are inexpensive to manufacture. A single chip can be mass produced at low cost, no mater how complex Digital communications allows integration of voice, video, and data on a single system Digital communications systems provide a more flexible tradeoff between bandwidth efficiency and energy efficiency than analog communications
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Example Revisited

When noise is added to the signal, all of the values are still valid
How do we eliminate the noise?

When noise is added to the signal, the resulting values are not valid, thus we can correct them.

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1.5

Message Value (V)

Message Value (V)

0 2 4 6 8 10 Time (sec) 12 14 16 18 20

0.5

0.5

0.5

0.5

1.5

1.5

10 Time (sec)

12

14

16

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RM Buehrer Virginia Tech Fall 2007

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Limitation of Digital

Analog system can naturally represent all of the message signal values Digital systems cannot represent all possible input values, thus, if the message is analog then all of the information can not be transmitted The process of converting an analog input signal to a digital signal is termed analog-todigital conversion and is a lossy process
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Block Diagram of Digital Communications System

Analog Input Signal Sample Quantize Digital Input Data Source Encoder Encryption Channel Encoder Modulator Channel Digital Output Data Analog Output Signal D/A Converter Source Decoder Decryption Channel Decoder Equalization Demodulator
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Overview of Upcoming Lectures/Chapters

Sampling (Lecture 5 Section 5.1)

Needed for analog information source

Analog Pulse Modulation (Lecture 6 Sections 5.25.3) Digital Pulse Modulation (Lectures 7-9 Sections 5.4-5.9)

Includes quantization for analog information source

Choosing the proper pulse or pulse shaping Lectures 10-12 (Sections 6.1-6.8)

Includes intersymbol interference and equalization

Sinusoidal modulation (Lectures 13-21 Chapter 7)

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Modulation

In communication systems, information is conveyed by modulating (i.e., changing some parameter of) a carrier The carrier is typically either
Pulse

train Sinusoid

Modulation can either be

Analog

an infinite number of possible messages Digital a finite number of possible messages

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Modulation
1.5
1.5

1
1

0.5
0.5

-0.5

-0.5

-1

Unmodulated pulse stream

-1.5
-1 0 1 2 3 4 5 Time 6 7 8 9 10

Unmodulated sinusoid
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 time (sec) 1.4 1.6 1.8 2

Baseband signal
1.5 1

Bandpass signal
1.5 1

Amplitude modulated pulse stream

Amplitude modulated sinusoid

0.5
0.5

0
0

-0.5

-0.5

-1

-1

5 Time

10

-1.5

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0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 time (sec) 1.4 1.6 1.8 2

Baseband Communications

Over the next few weeks we will study baseband communications techniques that modulate a pulse train using the message signal
Pulse

Amplitude Modulation (PAM) Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) Pulse Position Modulation (PPM) Pulse Code Modulation (PCM)

Pulse modulated by analog or digital signal Requires conversion to digital signal prior to modulation
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Analog Information

Regardless of the type of system (analog or digital; bandpass or baseband) the original information source can be either analog or digital Traditional communication systems focused on the transfer of analog information

Examples: voice or video

If the system uses continuous pulse modulation, the analog information signal must be sampled (made discrete in time) If the system is digital, the analog information signal must be sampled and quantized (made discrete in time and amplitude)
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Digital Information

With the rise of the internet, very often the source of information is simply a computer which inherently uses digital information Such digital information fits naturally with a digital communication system No analog-to-digital conversion is necessary There may be conversion from binary to Mary information within the digital communication system
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Basic Structure of PAM / PPM / PWM

Input Signal Sampling Transmitter
Maps samples to waveforms Makes signal discrete in time

Pulse Modulation Transmitted Signal

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Basic Structure of PCM

Input Signal
Makes signal discrete in time Makes signal discrete in Amplitude and converts to bits Maps bits to waveforms

Sampling Transmitter Quantization

Map Quant. Levels to bits & Pulse Modulation

Transmitted Signal
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PAM / PWM / PPM vs PCM

PAM/PWM/PPM are systems where the information signal is typically discrete in time but not necessarily in amplitude (thus not truly digital)

Infinite number of waveforms can be sent Useful for time multiplexing multiple signals Noise readily degrades information Not particularly common PAM is the first step in PCM, thus is useful for study of PCM

PCM are systems where the information must be discrete in time and amplitude

Finite number of waveforms can be sent (i.e., digital) Requires both sampling and quantization Can be made more robust to noise
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Both require sampling, thus we study sampling first

Digital Representation of Analog Signals

Analog signals (e.g. voice,video) are continuous in time and amplitude:

1 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0 -0.2 -0.4 -0.6 -0.8 -1 0 2 4 6 8 10
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Digital Representation of Analog Signals

Sampling analog signals makes them discrete in time:

1 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0 -0.2 -0.4 -0.6 -0.8 -1 0 2 4 6 8 10
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Digital Representation of Analog Signals

Quantization of sampled analog signals makes the samples discrete in amplitude:

2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 -0.5 -1 -1.5 -2 -2.5 0 2 4
RM Buehrer

The number of discrete amplitude levels is directly related to the number of bits we are willing to use to represent each sample. Thus, we trade-off bit rate and fidelity
6 8 10
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Digital Representation of Analog Signals

If done properly, sampling introduces no distortion into the signal Quantization does introduce distortion

There is a tradeoff between distortion and bandwidth requirements More bits per sample less distortion Fewer bits per sample lower bandwidth requirements

We will consider sampling in the next lecture. We will discuss quantization next week.
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Summary

In this lecture we have briefly overviewed some of the basic concepts in digital communications including
Analog

vs Digital communications Baseband vs. Bandpass signals Pulse Amplitude Modulation, Pulse Position Modulation, Pulse Code Modulation

Next lecture we begin to study digital communications in detail by studying sampling

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