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Communication Systems Overview

The document provides an overview of communication systems, discussing the differences between analog and digital signals and how they are represented, the components of a basic communication system including source encoding, transmission, reception and decoding, examples of different communication channels, how analog signals are converted to digital through sampling and quantization, and the performance metrics used to evaluate communication systems such as data rate and error probability.

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Ashish Gupta
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76 views

Communication Systems Overview

The document provides an overview of communication systems, discussing the differences between analog and digital signals and how they are represented, the components of a basic communication system including source encoding, transmission, reception and decoding, examples of different communication channels, how analog signals are converted to digital through sampling and quantization, and the performance metrics used to evaluate communication systems such as data rate and error probability.

Uploaded by

Ashish Gupta
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Communication Systems Overview

Lathi & Ding Chapter 1

◮ Information representation

◮ Communication system block diagrams

◮ Analog versus digital systems

◮ Performance metrics

◮ Data rate limits

Next week: signals and signal space (L&D chapter 2)


Types of Information
◮ Major classification of data: analog vs. digital
◮ Analog signals
◮ speech (but words are discrete)
◮ music (closer to a continuous signal)
◮ temperature readings, barometric pressure, wind speed
◮ images stored on film
◮ Analog signals can be represented (approximately) using bits
◮ audio: 8, 16, 24 bits per sample
◮ digitized images (can be compressed using JPEG)
◮ digitized video (can be compressed to MPEG)
◮ Bits: text, computer data
◮ Analog signals can be converted into bits by quantizing/digitizing

The word “bit” was coined in the late 1940s by John Tukey, co-inventor of Fast Fourier Transform
Analog Messages
◮ Early analog communication
◮ telephone (1876)
◮ phonograph (1877)
◮ film soundtrack (1923, Lee De Forest, Joseph Tykociński-Tykociner)
◮ Key to analog communication is the amplifier (1908, Lee De Forest,
triode vacuum tube)
◮ Broadcast radio (AM, FM) is still analog
◮ Broadcast television was analog until 2009
Digital Messages
◮ Early long-distance communication was digital
◮ semaphores, white flag, smoke signals, bugle calls, telegraph
◮ Teletypewriters (stock quotations)
◮ Baudot (1874) created 5-unit code for alphabet. Today baud is a unit
meaning one symbol per second.
◮ Working teleprinters were in service by 1924 at 65 words per minute
◮ Fax machines: Group 3 (voice lines) and Group 4 (ISDN)
◮ In 1990s the accounted for majority of transPacific telephone use. Sadly,
fax machines are still in use.
◮ First fax machine was Alexander Bains 1843 device required conductive ink
◮ Pantelegraph (Caselli, 1865) set up telefax between Paris and Lyon
◮ Ethernet, Internet

There is no name for the unit bit/second. I have proposed claude.


Communication System Block Diagram (Basic)

◮ Source encoder converts message into message signal (bits)


◮ Transmitter converts message signal into format appropriate for channel
transmission (analog/digital signal)
◮ Channel conveys signal but may introduce attenuation, distortion, noise,
interference
◮ Receiver decodes received signal back to message signal
◮ Source decoder decodes message signal back into original message
Communication System Block Diagram (Advanced)

Source Channel
Source Encrypt Modulator
Encoder Encoder

Channel Noise

Source Channel
Sink Decrypt Demodulator
Decoder Decoder

◮ Source encoder compresses message to remove redundancy


◮ Encryption protects against eavesdroppers and false messages
◮ Channel encoder adds redundancy for error protection
◮ Modulator converts digital inputs to signals suitable for physical channel
Examples of Communication Channels
◮ Communication systems convert information into a format appropriate
for the transmission medium
◮ Some channels convey electromagnetic waves (signals).
◮ Radio (20 KHz to 20+ GHz)
◮ Optical fiber (200 THz or 1550 nm)
◮ Laser line-of-sight (e.g., from Mars)
◮ Other channels use sound, smell, pressure, chemical reactions
◮ smell: ants
◮ chemical reactions: neuron dendrites
◮ dance: bees
◮ Analog communication systems convert (modulate) analog signals into
modulated (analog) signals
◮ Digital communication systems convert information in the form of bits
into binary/digital signals
Physical Channels
◮ Physical channels have constraints on what kinds of signals can be
transmitted
◮ Radio uses E&M waves at various frequencies
◮ Submarine communication at about 20 KHz
◮ Cordless telephones: 45 MHz, 900 MHz, 2.4 GHz, 5.8 GHz, 1.9 GHz
◮ Wired links may require DC balanced codes to prevent voltage build up
◮ Fiber optic channels use 4B5B modulation to accommodate time-varying
attenuation
◮ CD and DVD media require minimum spot size but position can be more
precise
◮ The process of creating a signal suitable for transmission is called
modulation (modulate from Latin “to regulate”)
AM and FM Modulation
(a) Carrier

(b) Signal

(c) Amplitude modulated

(d) Frequency modulated


Analog vs. Digital Systems

◮ Analog signals
Values varies continously

◮ Digital signals
Value limited to a finite set
Digital systems are more robust

◮ Binary signals
Have 2 possible values
Used to represent bit values
Bit time T needed to send 1 bit
Data rate R = 1/T bits per
second
Sampling and Quantization, I
To transmit analog signals over a digital communication link, we must
discretize both time and values.

2mp
Quantization spacing is ; sampling interval is T , not shown in figure.
L
Sampling and Quantization, II
◮ Usually sample times are uniformly spaced.
◮ Higher frequency content requires faster sampling. (Soprano must be
sampled twice as fast as a tenor.)

0.2

0.1

−0.1

−0.2
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9

◮ Quantization levels are usually uniformly spaced (linear). Logarithmic


compression is useful for greater dynamic range.
Digital Transmission and Regeneration
Simplest digital communication is binary amplitude-shift keying (ASK)

(a) binary signal input to channel; (b) signal altered by channel;


(c) signal + noise; (d) signal after detection by receiver
Channel Errors
If there is too much channel distortion or noise, receiver may make a
mistake, and the regenerated signal will be incorrect. Channel coding is
needed to detect and correct the message.
2

0
A

−1

−2
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

0
B

−2

−4
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1
C

−1

−2
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
t
Pulse Code Modulation (PCM)

To communicate sampled values,


we send a sequence of bits that
represent the quantized value.
For 16 quantization levels, 4 bits
suffice.
PCM can use binary
representation of value.
The PSTN uses 8-bit companded
PCM (similar to floating point)
Performance Metrics
◮ Analog communication systems
◮ Metric is fidelity, closeness to original signal
◮ We want m̂(t) ≈ m(t)
◮ A common measure of infidelity is energy of difference signal:
Z T
|m̂(t) − m(t)|2 dt
0

◮ Digital communication systems


◮ Metrics are data rate R in bits/sec and probability of bit error

Pe = P{b̂ 6= b}

◮ Without noise, we never experience bit errors


◮ With noise, Pe depends on signal power, noise power, data rate, and
channel characteristics.
Data Rate Limits
◮ Data rate R is limited by signal power, noise power, distortion
◮ Without distortion or noise, we could transmit at R = ∞ and error
probably Pe = 0
◮ The Shannon capacity is the maximum possible data rate for a system
with noise and distortion
◮ Maximum rate can be approached with error probability approaching 0
◮ For additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channels,
 P
C = 12 B log(1 + SNR) = 21 B log 1 +
N
◮ The theoretical result does not tell how to design real systems
◮ Shannon obtained C ≈ 32 Kbps for telephone channels
(B = 3700 − 300 = 3400 Hz)
◮ Modern modems achieve higher rates by using more bandwidth
Next
SDR (software-defined radio) lab on Friday
◮ We will give you your RTL SDR’s
◮ Bring your laptops, and headphones
◮ We’ll get you up and running!

Next week
◮ (Very brief) review of EE 102A
◮ Fourier series and Fourier transforms in 2πf
◮ Vector space perspective on signal processing
◮ L&D Chapter 2 (skim this, most should look very familiar)

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