Superheterodyne Detector: What Heterodyning Is
Superheterodyne Detector: What Heterodyning Is
What Heterodyning is
What Superheterodyning is
When you use the lower side-band (the difference between the two frequencies), you are
superheterodyning. Strictly speaking, the term superheterodyne refers to creating a beat
frequency that is lower than the original signal. Although we have used the example of
amplitude modulation side-bands as an example, we are not talking about encoding
information for transmission. What superheterodyning does is to purposely mix in another
frequency in the receiver, so as to reduce the signal frequency prior to processing. Why and
how this is done will be discussed below.
Now, we easily see that this type of receiver can be constructed, but for what purpose? All we
have accomplished is to reduce the frequency to the IF value. We still must process the signal
as before. So why are so many receivers using the superheterodyne method? There are three
main advantages, depending on the application used for:
It reduces the signal from very high frequency sources where ordinary components
wouldn't work (like in a radar receiver).
It allows many components to operate at a fixed frequency (IF section) and therefore
they can be optimized or made more inexpensively.
It can be used to improve signal isolation by arithmetic selectivity
Summary
Superheterodyne receivers reduce the signal frequency be mixing in a signal from a local
oscillator to produce the intermediate frequency (IF).
Superheterodyne receivers have better performance because the components can be
optimized to work a single intermediate frequency, and can take advantage of
arithmetic selectivity.
Superheterodyne receiver circuit blocks
There are some key circuit blocks that form the basic superheterodyne receiver. Although more
complicated receivers can be made, the basic circuit is widely used – further blocks can add
improved performance or additional functionality and their operation within the whole receiver
is normally easy to determine once the basic block diagram is understood.
The signals are then applied to the mixer along with the local oscillator where the wanted signal
is converted down to the intermediate frequency. Here significant levels of amplification are
applied and the signals are filtered. This filtering selects signals on one channel against those on
the next. It is much larger than that employed in the front end. The advantage of the IF filter as
opposed to RF filtering is that the filter can be designed for a fixed frequency. This allows for
much better tuning. Variable filters are never able to provide the same level of selectivity that
can be provided by fixed frequency ones.
Once filtered the next block in the superheterodyne receiver is the demodulator. This could be
for amplitude modulation, single sideband, frequency modulation, or indeed any form of
modulation. It is also possible to switch different demodulators in according to the mode being
received.
The final element in the superheterodyne receiver block diagram is shown as an audio
amplifier, although this could be any form of circuit block that is used to process or amplified
the demodulated signal.
In cars, to compensate for road noise, wind, traffic, open windows, fans, radios, and
occupants talking
In public places, such as airports, malls, stadiums, meeting halls, stores, markets,
lobbies, to compensate for what is mostly human-generated noise
Outdoors, to compensate for wind, traffic noise, and passers-by
Potential AVC Applications
AVC has potential applications in any audio devices or platforms that are sometimes used in
noisy environments:
AMD (Advanced Micro Devices) described the first modern digital AVC in U.S. Patent No.
5,666,426 in 1996. The patent proposed a supplementary microphone on a car radio to
measure total ambient noise.
Nokia modified this invention in 1999 with U.S. Patent No. 5,907,823 by measuring not total
noise, but rather the A-weighted noise level, which is a measure of how loud noise sounds to
the human ear. The invention keeps constant the ratio of signal to A-weighted noise (S/NA).
Conventional AVC can be found today, with default setting ‘Off,’ on many mobile phone models
from Nokia, LG, Motorola, Sony, RIM, and others and on Bluetooth headsets from Jabra,
Samsung, and others.
AVC Benefits
AVC tackles a universal problem with mobile phones and other portable communications
devices – the user can’t consistently hear and understand clearly. A survey reported at an AARP
conference that 57% of baby boomers with mobile phones had trouble using them because of
their hearing loss, and 30% of those with hearing loss said the problem is mostly their hearing.
Significantly, 40% said they would use their mobile phones more if they could hear better. The
benefits of AVC, all of which could lead to an expanded customer base, are:
Reference
https://fas.org/man/dod-101/navy/docs/es310/superhet.htm
https://www.electronics-notes.com/articles/radio/superheterodyne-receiver/block-
diagram.php
http://www.starmarktechnologies.com/Automatic-Volume-Control/index.html