EET 304 COMMUNICATION SYSTEM ENGINEERING

TUTORIAL 4
CHAPTER 4

Part A – Digital Modulation

1. Define M-ary encoding with the support of mathematical expression.

The number of bits necessary to produce a given number of conditions is expressed
mathematically as N  log 2 M where
N = number of bits necessary
M = number of conditions, level or combinations possible with N bits.
• Each symbol represents n bits, and has M signal states, where M = 2N.

2. Find the number of voltage levels which can represent an analog signal with
a. 8 bits per sample
M = 2N = 28 = 256 levels
b. 12 bits per sample
M = 2N = 212 = 4096 levels

3. Calculate the rate of serial data flow, given the one bit time of 2μs.
Rate of serial data flow = 1/2 μs = 500,000 baud per second.

4. A modulator transmits symbols, each of which has 64 different possible states, 10K
times per second (is actually 10 kHz). Determine the bit rate.
With 64 different possible states, 6 bits can be propagated through the system.
Maximum bit rate = 6 x 10,000 = 60 kbps

5. If an audio frequency signal is band limited to a range of 300 Hz to 3.4 kHz, find the
minimum frequency required to sample the audio signal in order to be transmitted
without aliasing. Also find the Nyquist interval.
Minimum sampling frequency, Fs = 2fmax = 2 x 3.4 kHz = 6.8 kHz
Nyquist interval = 1/6.8 kHz = 147.06 μs.
6. Digital modulation can be grouped as Amplitude-shift keying (ASK), Frequency-shift
keying (FSK) and Phase-shift keying (PSK). Briefly explain each of them with your
own words.
Amplitude-shift keying (ASK)
A binary information signal directly modulates the amplitude of an analog carrier.
Sometimes called Digital Amplitude Modulation (DAM)
vask (t )  [1  vm (t )] A2 cos(c tWhere
)
vask (t) = amplitude shift keying wave
vm(t) = digital information signal (volt)
A/2 = unmodulated carrier amplitude (volt)
ωc = analog carrier radian frequency (rad/s)

 A cos(c t ) for logic'1' , vm (t )  1

vask (t )  
 0 for logic'0' , vm (t )  1

Frequency-shift keying (FSK)

• Called as Binary Frequency Shift Keying (BFSK)
• The phase shift in carrier frequency (∆f) is proportional to the amplitude of the binary
input signal (vm(t)) and the direction of the shift is determined by the polarity
• v fsk (t )  Vc cos 2 [ f c  vm (t ) f ]t
Where
vfsk(t) = binary FSK waveform
Vc = peak analog carrier amplitude (volt)
fc = analog carrier center frequency (Hz)
∆f = peak shift in analog carrier frequency (Hz)
vm(t) = binary input signal (volt)
 Phase shift keying (PSK)
• Another form of angle-modulated, constant amplitude digital modulation.
• Binary digital signal input & limited number of output phases possible.
• M-ary digital modulation scheme with the number of output phases defined by M.
• The simplest PSK is Binary Phase-Shift Keying (BPSK)
– N= 1, M=2
– Two phases possible for carrier with one phase for logic 1 and another phase for
logic 0
– The output carrier shifts between two angles separated by 180°

a) Truth Table b) Phasor Diagram c) Constellation Diagram

7. What is a constellation diagram?

Definition: A graphical representation of the complex envelope of each possible symbol state.

 The x-axis represents the in-phase component and the y-axis the quadrature component of
the complex envelope

 The distance between signals on a constellation diagram relates to how different the
modulation waveforms are and how easily a receiver can differentiate between them.
8. A typical dial-up telephone connection has a bandwidth of 3 kHz and a signal to noise
ratio of 30 dB. Calculate the Shannon limit.
I  3.32 B log10 (1  NS )
30
S/N  10 10
 10 3  1000
I  3.32(3k ) log10 (1  1000)
 9.96k (log10 1001)
 29.88kbps

9. For the digital message 1111 0100 1001, sketch the waveform for the following:
a. ASK
b. FSK
c. PSK
d. QAM
10. For 16-PSK system, operating with an information bit rate of 32 kbps, determine:
a. Baud
Baud = 32,000/4 = 8000 baud per second
b. Minimum bandwidth
Bandwidth = 32,000/4 = 8000 Hz
c. Bandwidth efficiency
Bη = transmission bit rate/minimum bandwidth
= 32,000 bps/8000 Hz
= 4 bits per second per cycle of bandwidth
11. List down the factors in choosing the digital modulation technique for a specific
application.
To decide which modulation method should be used, we need to make considerations of
a) Bandwidth
b) Speed of Modulation
c) Complexity of Hardware

Part B – Digital Transmission

12. What is the sampling process?

A process of taking samples of information signal at a rate of Nyquist’s sampling frequency.
Nyquist’s Sampling Theorem:
The original information signal can be reconstructed at the receiver with minimal distortion if
the sampling rate in the pulse modulation system equal to or greater than twice the maximum
information signal frequency.
fs >= 2fm (max)

13. Differentiate between Natural Sampling & Flat top sampling.

Natural Sampling:
- Tops of the sample pulses retain their natural shape during the sample interval.
- Frequency spectrum of the sampled output is different from an ideal sample.
- Amplitude of frequency components produced from narrow, finite-width sample
pulses decreases for the higher harmonics
a. Requiring the use of frequency equalizers

Flat top sampling:

□ Common used in PCM systems.
□ Accomplish in a sample-and-hold circuit
□ To periodically sample the continually changing analog input voltage & convert to
a series of constant-amplitude PAM voltage levels.
□ The input voltage is sampled with a narrow pulse and then held relatively constant until the
next sample is taken.
□ Sampling process alters the frequency spectrum & introduces aperture error.
 □ The amplitude of the sampled signal changes during the sample pulse time.
□ Advantages:
□ Introduces less aperture distortion
□ Can operate with a slower ADC

14. Sketch the waveform of pulse modulation for

(a) Pulse Amplitude Modulation (PAM)
(b) Pulse Width Modulation (PWM)
(c) Pulse Position Modulation (PPM)

15. A CD audio laser disk has a frequency bandwidth of 20 Hz to 20 kHz. What is the
minimum sample rate required to satisfy the Nyquist sampling rate?
 Minimum sampling rate, fs = 2 x 20 kHz = 40 kHz

16. What is meant by quantization?

A process of converting an infinite number of possibilities to a finite number of
conditions (rounding off the amplitudes of flat-top samples to a manageable number of
levels).

17. Sketch the diagram that shown the quantization error.

18. Explain the companding process.

• The process of compressing and then expanding.
• The higher amplitude analog signals are compressed prior to transmission
and then expanded in receiver.
• Improving the DR of a communication system.
 19. A PCM system requires 72 dB of dynamic range. The input frequency is 10 kHz.
(a) Determine the number of sample bits required.
72 dB = 20 log(2n – 1)
3.6 = log (2n – 1)
103.6 = 2n – 1
DR(absolute value) = 3981.1 = 2n – 1
n = log (3981.1 + 1)/log 2 = 11.96 ≈ 12 bits

(b) Specify the minimum sample frequency to satisfy the Nyquist sampling
frequency.
fs = 2(10 kHz) = 20 kHz
20. (a) A companding system with  = 100 is used to compand maximum 10 volts
sinusoid signal. Draw the characteristic of the typical system.
(b) Repeat the same step in (a) but using  = 350
(c) Draw an 8 level non-uniform quantizer characteristic that corresponds to the
mentioned µ in (a) and (b).
21. Explain the details of Delta Modulation circuit’s problem.

• Slope overload distortion is due to the fact that the staircase approximation mq(t) can't
follow closely the actual curve of the message signal m(t ). In contrast to slope-overload
distortion, granular noise occurs when  is too large relative to the local slope
characteristics of m(t). granular noise is similar to quantization noise in PCM.
• It seems that a large  is needed for rapid variations of m(t) to reduce the slope-overload
distortion and a small  is needed for slowly varying m(t) to reduce the granular noise. The
optimum  can only be a compromise between the two cases.
 • To satisfy both cases, an adaptive DM is needed, where the step size  can be adjusted in
accordance with the input signal m(t).

22. Sketch the data wave form for a bit stream 1101 1110 using
a. NRZL
b. NRZI
c. Bipolar AMI
d. Pseudoternary
e. Manchester

Part C – Multiplexing

23. What is multiplexing?

The transmission of information from one or more source to one or more destination over
the same medium.
Or
The process which two or more signals are combined for transmission over a single
communications path.
Or
A process where multiple analog message signals or digital data streams are combined into
one signal with the aim is to share an expensive resource.

24. Briefly explain the following

(a) Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM)
 Predominantly used in analog communications.
 Widely used in FM stereo broadcast.
 Compatibility with mono-receivers.
 Requires only a slight increase in BW.
 Great advantage in increasing system capacity.
  Process
– Each signal assigned s different carrier frequency.
– Modulated carrier frequencies are combined for transmission over a
single line by MUX.
– At Rx, a DEMUX separates channels by their frequencies & routes
them to the proper end users.

(b) Time Division Multiplexing (TDM)

 Offers greater system improvement.
 Capable of combining various protocols & different types of signals
onto a single high speed transmission link.
o E.g. voice and data
 More efficient than FDM
 Process
o The transmission must be digital in nature.
o To transmit telephone conversations (voice is analog signal)
o Analog signal is converted to digital and transmitted
o Reconverted into analog at the Rx telephone.
 Drawbacks
o Greater complexity.
o Greater transmission BW required.

(c) Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM)

 Cost effective way to increase the capacity of fiber optic communications.
 Make use of the optical fiber’s available BW by multiplexing many
wavelengths along a single mode optical fiber channel.
 Each wavelength of light can transmit encoded information at the optimum
data rate.
25. With the aid of diagram, explain the transmitting end of FDM system.

 Process
– Each signal assigned s different carrier frequency.
– Modulated carrier frequencies are combined for transmission over a
single line by MUX.
– At Rx, a DEMUX separates channels by their frequencies & routes
them to the proper end users.

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