Single Sideband and Vestigial

Sideband Modulation

Lesson 08
EEE 352 Analog Communication Systems
Mansoor Khan
EE Dept.
CIIT Islamabad Campus
 Single-Sideband Modulation

• SSB Signals
 One sideband is all that is necessary to convey information in a
signal.
 A single-sideband suppressed carrier (SSSC) signal is
generated by suppressing the carrier and one sideband.
 Single-Sideband Modulation

• SSB Signals
 SSB signals offer three major benefits:
 Spectrum space is conserved and allows more signals to be
transmitted in the same frequency range.
 All power is channeled into a single sideband. This produces a
stronger signal that will carry farther and will be more reliably
received at greater distances.
 Occupied bandwidth space is narrower and noise in the signal is
reduced.
 Amplitude Modulation: Single Sideband
(SSB)
• The idea is to transmit either the USB or LSB
 SSB (cont)
• Let m+(t) and m-(t) be the complex conjugates of m(t)

m (t )  m(t )  jm h (t )
1
2
m (t )  m(t )  jm h (t )
1
2

• Where mh(t) is unknown

 SSB (cont)
• To determine mh(t) we know that

M  (w)  M (w)u(w)

 M ( w)1  sgn( w)

1
2
1 1
 M ( w)  M ( w) sgn( w)
2 2
• Comparing above equation with the one on the previous slide

jmh (t )  M (w) sgn( w)

• Hence
M h (w)   jM (w) sgn( w)
• Applying duality prop. to pair 12 of table 3.1 yields

1
  j sgn( w)
t
M h ( w)  mh (t )  m(t ) 1 t
• Which gives

1m( )
mh (t )   d
  t  
• This is the Hilbert transform of m(t)
 Hilbert Transform
• We can Hilbert transform m(t) if we pass it through a filter
with
H ()   j sgn()

 j  1e  j 2
w0
 j 2
 j  1e w0
• It follows that |H(w)|=1 and that

 h ()    2 for w  0 and  2 for w  0

Hilbert Transform (cont)
 Mathematics
• From previous figure USB spectrum can be expressed as
USB (w)  M  (w  wc )  M  (w  wc )
• The inverse transform yields

USB (t )  m (t )e jw t  m (t )e jw t
c c

• Substituting m+(t) and m-(t) from previous eqs

USB (t )  m(t ) cos wct  mh (t ) sin wct

 Mathematics (cont)
• Similarly we can show

 LSB (t )  m(t ) cos wct  mh (t ) sin wct

• General SSB signal can expressed as

SSB(t )  m(t ) cos wct  mh (t ) sin wct

EXAMPLE
 Generation of SSB Signals
• Two methods are used for the generation of SSB signals

– Selective Filtering Method

– Phase Shift Method
 Selective Filtering Method
• Selective Filtering using filters with sharp cutoff
characteristics. Sharp cutoff filters are difficult to design

• The audio signal spectrum has no dc component, therefore ,

the spectrum of the modulated audio signal has a null around
the carrier frequency

• This means a less than perfect filter can do a reasonably good

job of filtering the DSB to produce SSB signals
Filtering (cont)
Filtering (cont)
Phase Shift Method
 Demodulation
• SSB signals can be coherently modulated in the same way as
DSB-SC
 Demodulation (cont)
• Since
 Amplitude Modulation: Vestigial
Sideband (VSB)
• The generation of SSB signals is rather difficult in practice

• To produce SSB signal from DSB signal ideal filters should be

used to split the spectrum in the middle so that the
bandwidth of bandpass signal is reduced by one half

• The selective filtering method demands dc null in the

modulating signal

• The generation of DSB signals is simple, but DSB signals

require twice the signal bandwidth of SSB
 Vestigial Sideband (cont)

• Vestigial sideband (VSB) modulation was designed to provide

a compromise between DSB and SSB

• In VSB instead of rejecting one sideband completely, we do a

gradual cutoff of one sideband

• It can be detected with a synchronous detector in conjunction

with an appropriate filter at the receiver output

• If a carrier is sent along the transmission, the VSB can be

recovered by an envelope or a rectifier detector
 Vestigial Sideband (cont)

• Generation of VSB is done by multiplying m(t) by 2cos(wct)

and applying this signal to a filter Hi(w)
 Vestigial Sideband (cont)

• Because the VSB is not a SSB, the bandwidth is 25 to 33%

larger only, but it also makes the band-pass filter easier to
realize
 Vestigial Sideband (cont)

• The VSB signal spectrum is given by

VSB w  M w  wc   M w  wc H i w

• Where Hi(w) is VSB shaping filter, which allows the

transmission of one sideband and suppresses the other
sideband gradually
 Vestigial Sideband (cont)

• We can recover the message by using synchronous

demodulation
• Multiply the incoming VSB signal by 2cos(wct)
 Vestigial Sideband (cont)

• The product e(t) is given by

et   2VSB t cos wct

• The Fourier Transform of e(t)

E w  VSB w  wc   VSB w  wc 

• After Passing the signal from low pass filter

M w  VSB w  wc   VSB w  wc H o w

 Vestigial Sideband (cont)

M w  M wH i w  wc   H i w  wc H o w

• Hence

H o w 
1
, w  2B
H i w  wc   H i w  wc 
Spectrum of Hi(w) and Ho(w)
 Linearity of Amplitude Modulation

• In all types of AM discussed before, linearity is satisfied

• k1m1 (t )  k 2 m2 (t ) produces the modulated signal k11 (t )  k 2 2 (t )

• The modulation system following the superposition theorem

of spectra is known as linear modulation system

– The theorem states that the sideband spectrum of a multiple tone AM

signal is equal to the sum of the sideband spectrum of the individual
tone modulation.
 AM Broadcasting
• Allocated the band 530 kHz – 1600 kHz (with minor variations)
• 10 kHz per channel. (9 kHz in some countries)
• More that 100 stations can be licensed in the same geographical area.
• Uses AM modulation (DSB + C)
 AM Broadcasting
Ability of a receiver to
pick up weak signal

• In radio communication systems, the transmitted signal is

very weak when it reaches the receiver, particularly
when it has traveled over a long distance.
• The signal has also picked up noise of various kinds.
• Receivers must provide the sensitivity and selectivity
that permit full recovery of the original signal.
• The radio receiver best suited to this task is known as the
superheterodyne receiver.

Ability of a receiver to select a signal of a

desired frequency while rejecting those on
closely adjacent frequencies
Sensitivity
– A communication receiver’s sensitivity, or ability
to pick up weak signals, is a function of overall
gain, the factor by which an input signal is
multiplied to produce the output signal.
– The higher the gain of a receiver, the better its
sensitivity.
– The more gain that a receiver has, the smaller
the input signal necessary to produce a desired
level of output.
– High gain in receivers is obtained by using
multiple amplification stages.
Selectivity
– A receiver with good selectivity will isolate the
desired signal and greatly attenuate/eliminates
other signals.
– To improve selectivity is to add stages of
amplification, both before and after
demodulator
– Eg : Tuned Radio Frequency
 Tuned Radio Frequency (TRF) Receiver

Figure: Tuned radio-frequency (TRF) receiver.

 Tuned Radio Frequency (TRF) Receiver

– In the tuned radio frequency (TRF) receiver sensitivity

is improved by adding a number of stages of RF
amplification between the antenna and detector,
followed by stages of audio amplification.
– The RF amplifier stages increase the amplitude /gain
before it is applied to the detector.
– The recovered signal is amplified further by audio
amplifiers, which provide sufficient gain to operate a
loudspeaker.
 Tuned Radio Frequency (TRF) Receiver

– The main problem with TRF receivers is tracking

the tuned circuits.
– In a receiver, the tuned circuits must be made
variable so that they can be set to the frequency
of the desired signal.
– Another problem with TRF receivers is that
selectivity varies with frequency.
 Superheterodyne Receivers
• Superheterodyne receivers convert all incoming signals
to a lower frequency, known as the intermediate
frequency (IF), at which a single set of amplifiers is used
to provide a fixed level of sensitivity and selectivity.
• Gain and selectivity are obtained in the IF amplifiers.
• The key circuit is the mixer, which acts like a simple
amplitude modulator to produce sum and difference
frequencies.
• The incoming signal is mixed with a local oscillator signal.
 Superheterodyne Receiver Block Diagram

Antenna

Converter
(Multiplier)
RF Stage IF Stage Envelope Detector Audio Stage
a(t) (radio frequency) b(t) d(t) (intermediate frequency) e(t) f(t) g(t)

RF Amplifier
X IF Amplifier Diode, Capacitor,
Power amplifier
& RF BPF & IF BPF Resistor, & DC blocker

c(t)

Local
Oscillator Notes:
Ganged RF
BPF and cos[(c+IF)t]
• With one knob, we are tuning the RF Filter
Oscillator
and the local oscillator.
•The filter are designed with high gain
to provide amplification as well.
 Superheterodyne Receivers
RF Amplifier
– The antenna picks up the weak radio signal and
feeds it to the RF amplifier
– provide some initial gain and selectivity and are
sometimes called preselectors.
– Pick up desired station by tuning filter to right
frequency band
 Superheterodyne Receivers

Mixer

From
RF
output

Figure: Concept of a mixer.

 Superheterodyne Receivers
Mixing Principles
– Mixers accept two inputs: The signal to be translated to
another frequency is applied to one input, and the sine
wave from a local oscillator is applied to the other input.
– Like an amplitude modulator, a mixer essentially performs
a mathematical multiplication of its two input signals.
– The oscillator is the carrier, and the signal to be translated
is the modulating signal.
– The output contains not only the carrier signal but also
sidebands formed when the local oscillator and input
signal are mixed.
 Local Oscillator

• What should be the frequency of the local

oscillator used for translation from RF to IF?
fLO = fc + fIF (up-conversion)
or fLO = fc  fIF (down-conversion)
• Tuning ratio = fLO, max / fLO, min
• Up-Conversion: (1600 + 455) / (530+455) ≈ 2
• Down-Conversion: (1600–455) / (530–455) ≈ 12
• Easier to design oscillator with small tuning ratio.
 Superheterodyne Receivers
IF Amplifiers
• The primary objective in the design of an IF
stage is to obtain good selectivity.
• Narrow-band selectivity is best obtained at
lower frequencies.
• At low frequencies, circuits are more stable
with high gain.
 Superheterodyne Receivers

IF Amplifiers
– The output of the mixer is an IF signal containing
the same modulation that appeared on the input
RF signal.
– The signal is amplified by one or more IF amplifier
stages, and most of the gain is obtained in these
stages.
– Selective tuned circuits provide fixed selectivity.
– Since the intermediate frequency is usually lower
than the input frequency, IF amplifiers are easier
to design and good selectivity is easier to obtain.
 Superheterodyne Receivers

Demodulators
– The highly amplified IF signal is finally applied to
the demodulator, which recovers the original
modulating information.
– The demodulator may be a diode detector (for
AM), a quadrature detector (for FM), or a product
detector (for SSB).
– The output of the demodulator is then usually fed
to an audio amplifier.
Superhetrodyne AM Receiver
 Why IF

• At very high frequencies, signal processing circuitry

performs poorly

• It is difficult to build amplifiers, filters, and detectors

that can be tuned to different frequencies

• It is also used to improve frequency selectivity

 Advantage Superhetrodyne
• Overcome equipment : cannot operate at high
frequency
• Component operate at fixed frequency
– Optimize utilization
– Reduce cost
AM Vs FM

Radio AM Radio FM
Carrier range RF 0.535 – 1.605 MHz 88 – 108 MHz
IF 0.455 kHz 10.7 MHz
Bandwidth IF 10 kHz 200 kHz