Lesson 21: Digital Modulation

Objectives:
(a) Quantitatively describe the relationship between a bit and a symbol, and the bit rate and the symbol rate (baud).
(b) Describe how digital information is conveyed using various digital modulation techniques (ASK or OOK, FSK, PSK and
QAM) and recognize their waveforms, and constellations.
(c) Calculate the bandwidth of an ASK, OOK, FSK, PSK, or QAM signal.
(d) Using a constellation diagram analyze an M-ary PSK or QAM signal to determine its symbols and bits per symbols.
(e) Discuss the effect of noise on M-ary PSK and how Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) helps overcome these
detrimental effects.

1. Information and Symbols

Waveforms that represent bits are commonly referred to as symbols. Symbols are the physical means by which bits move
from transmitter to receiver, and exactly how it is done depends on the communication medium being used. If we wish to
send bits over a wire, we usually use voltage pulses. For example, a high pulse may represent a 1-bit and a low pulse (or no
pulse) may represent a 0-bit (or vice versa). In this case, the voltage pulses are the symbols, and each pulse carries 1 bit of
information. In this example, there are two possible symbols that can be sent (a high pulse or a low pulse), and the process of
sending digital information with voltage pulses forms a baseband (low frequency), digital signal.
Usually, we are concerned about how fast the information is being transmitted, and this relates to symbol rate, Rsym, which is
the number of symbols per second being transmitted and is measured in a unit called baud. Because of this symbol rate is
sometimes referred to as baud rate, but they mean the same thing. The figure below shows the relation between information
(bits) and symbols (voltage pulses) for an Ethernet transmission.

In the figure above, there are 10 total bits being transmitted, and they are carried in the 10 symbols shown. The time it takes
to send one symbol, Tsym, is 1 µsec as shown. The symbol rate is the inverse of the time to transmit one symbol, and the bit
rate is the inverse of the time to transmit one bit, i.e.,
1
𝑅𝑅𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 = .
𝑇𝑇𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠
In this example, since Tsym is 1 µsec, then Rsym=1/10-6 = 1 × 106 symbols/sec or 1 × 106 baud. Generally, when we send
information between computers we do not care so much about the symbol rate as the bit rate or how many bits are we
sending per second. Is there a correlation between symbol rate and bit rate? Yes! In general, the symbol rate and bit rate are
related by

where N is the number of bits per symbol. How can we find N? If we know how many possible symbols we have, called M,
can we find out how many bits we can send per symbol? In the example above, we have two symbols, so M = 2. One symbol,
0 V, corresponds to a 0 bit, and the other symbol, 1 V, corresponds to a 1 bit. From this, it seems as if we can only send one
bit per symbol or N = 1. What if we had four symbols, M = 4? It turns out that we could send two bits at a time, N = 2.
Symbol 1 could be the binary word 00; Symbol 2 could be the binary word 01; Symbol 3 could be the binary word 11; and
Symbol 4 could be the binary word 11. There is a relationship between the number of possible symbols that could be
transmitted, and the number of bits per symbol:
𝑁𝑁 = 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙2 𝑀𝑀 and 𝑀𝑀 = 2𝑁𝑁 .
For the example in the previous figure, there are two possible symbols for the transmitter to transmit, and so N = log2(2) = 1
bit/symbol. Thus, the bit rate is 1 × 106 bits/sec = 1 Mbps.
2. Digital Signal Frequency Spectrum
In the last lecture, it was mentioned that in many cases, we wished to convert analog signals into digital signals to take
advantage of the benefits of digital technologies. Samples of the analog signal were converted into bits and the bits were then
used to create a binary voltage waveform that represented the bits. If we then wanted to transmit this digital waveform
through free space, then all we need to do is connect the wire carrying the voltage pulses to an antenna, right?

Sadly, it is not that easy. The binary voltage waveforms to which we are so accustomed are, typically, voltage pulses that
alternate between 0V (for a 0-bit ) and 5V (for a 1-bit). It just so happens that the frequency content in these voltage pulses is
predominantly very low (a baseband signal), and just like was pointed out in our lesson on modulation, any baseband signal
requires an antenna that would be impractically large to send through free space.
For a large number of seemingly random 0-bit and 1-bit voltage pulses, as is normally the case in digital communication, the
frequency spectrum of the pulses would take the following shape during the transmission. In this figure, the largest frequency
content is at 0 Hz, and at regular intervals the frequency content goes to zero magnitude. This occurs at multiples of the
symbol rate in Hz.

BW

Frequency spectrum for random voltage pulses Null bandwidth for random voltage pulses
(a baseband signal—primarily low frequencies)

For example, if the symbol rate was 500 symbols/sec, then the frequency content’s magnitude would be zero at 500 Hz, 1000
Hz, etc. This plot of frequency content is much different than that of a signal composed only of sinusoids! There are no
spikes! Nevertheless, the bulk of the frequency content is at very low frequencies. The frequency content does continue out to
an infinite frequency, but the magnitude drops dramatically at higher frequencies. In a perfect world, we would say the
bandwidth of voltage pulses approaches ∞ Hz, but this is impractical. Thus, for digital signals, we will use the null-bandwidth
as our actual bandwidth. The null-bandwidth is defined as the amount of the frequency spectrum (in Hz) from the maximum
magnitude (which here occurs at 0 Hz) to where the frequency spectrum first goes to a magnitude of 0 (called a null). This
happens at Rsym Hz. We will ignore all of the other bumps in the graph since they are so much smaller. The bandwidth is then
given by:
𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵 = 𝑓𝑓𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 − 𝑓𝑓𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 = 𝑅𝑅𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 − 0 = 𝑅𝑅𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 Hz
We must come up with a method to transmit the baseband digital information (1s and 0s) using electromagnetic waves, but
since the frequency content is primarily low frequencies, as pointed out earlier, the antenna size would be impracticably
large. Digital modulation techniques solve this problem. As you recall, one goal of modulation is to upshift the frequency
spectrum of the information signal to allow transmission through free space using a reasonably sized antenna. With digital
modulation, the transmitted signal’s frequency spectrum would then look like the following:
Frequency Spectrum for modulated voltage pulses (now a bandpass signal—primary frequency content at a high frequency, centered at a carrier frequency)

Like in analog amplitude modulation, the information signal’s frequency spectrum is shifted up by fc Hz, and there is a mirror
image of the frequency content on the left side of fc. The transmission bandwidth (using the null-bandwidth definition along
with the fact that there is now a null to the left and right of the carrier frequency) is
𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵 = 𝑓𝑓𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 − 𝑓𝑓𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 = (𝑓𝑓𝑐𝑐 + 𝑅𝑅𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 ) − (𝑓𝑓𝑐𝑐 − 𝑅𝑅𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 ) = 2𝑅𝑅𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 Hz
Note that the bandwidth of the modulated signal is twice the bandwidth of the baseband signal (the voltage pulses).
3. Binary Digital Modulation
Binary digital modulation refers to types of modulation where there are two symbols (M = 2), and so each symbol carries 1
bit of information (N = 1). In a later section, we will talk about Digital Modulation where M is not 2.
Recall the equation for a high frequency carrier: vc(t)=Vc cos(2πfct + θ). As discussed in our lesson on modulation, we can use
an information signal (message) to modulate a carrier by varying its amplitude, frequency, or phase. So, how do we go about
representing digital information (1s and 0s) with modulation? Just as we can vary amplitude, frequency, and phase of a high-
frequency carrier in accordance with an analog information (message) waveform, we can do the same with a digital
waveform. Since bit values “shift” between 1s and 0s, digital modulation techniques that vary the carrier’s amplitude,
frequency, and phase are referred to as shift keying.
3.1 Frequency Shift Keying (FSK) Frequency-shift keying (FSK) is a frequency modulation scheme in which digital
information is transmitted through discrete frequency changes (shifts) of a carrier wave. The simplest form of FSK is Binary
FSK (BFSK), in which a carrier’s frequency is shifted to a low frequency or a high frequency to transmit 0s and 1s. The plot
below shows a sample FSK signal along with the associated bits.

FSK was used “back in the day” with dial-up modems to connect your home computer to your Internet service provider over
your analog phone. With a modem, a 0-bit was represented with a lower frequency carrier of 1070 Hz and a 1-bit was
represented with a higher carrier frequency of 1270 Hz. The lower frequency, binary 0, was called the “space” frequency
while the higher frequency, binary 1, was called the “mark” frequency. The terms mark and space were a throwback to the
days of Morse code where we utilized flashing light communications.
In the frequency domain, we use two carrier frequencies and consider FSK to be two different digital transmissions, one at
the mark frequency (the higher frequency) and one at the space frequency (lower frequency). The resulting FSK frequency
plot would look like the following. This graph is two copies of the frequency plot on the previous page, one centered at fmark
and one centered at fspace.

To determine the bandwidth for FSK modulation, we take a closer look at the frequency spectrum around the mark and space
frequencies. We use the null-bandwidth definition to compute the bandwidth as shown below.
In the figure, the bandwidth effectively runs from the first null to the left of fspace to the first null to the right of fmark.
Mathematically, we can compute the FSK bandwidth as:

𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵 = 𝑓𝑓𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 − 𝑓𝑓𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 = �𝑓𝑓𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 + 𝑅𝑅𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 � − �𝑓𝑓𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 − 𝑅𝑅𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 � = 𝑓𝑓𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 − 𝑓𝑓𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 + 2𝑅𝑅𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 Hz

Practice Problem 21.1

You have an FSK transmitter using a mark frequency of 500 kHz, a space frequency of 380 kHz, and sending 10 kbps. How
much bandwidth do you need for your transmission?
Solution:

Of course, who still uses dial-up? What else is there?

3.2 Amplitude Shift Keying (ASK) and On-Off Keying (OOK) Amplitude Shift Keying is a form of amplitude modulation
that represents digital data as shifts in the amplitude of a carrier wave: for example, using a small amplitude for a 0-bit, and a
larger amplitude for a 1-bit. ASK signal looks like the figure below:

The simplest digital modulation scheme is a form of ASK called On-Off keying (OOK). This is analogous to flashing light
communication. In OOK, a carrier is transmitted for a 1-bit and nothing is transmitted for a 0-bit; this is the same as saying
that the smaller ASK amplitude is 0. Note that OOK is just a type of ASK and not its own scheme.

Note that in all forms of ASK, the frequency and phase of the carrier are the same for both symbols; it is only the amplitude
that changes.

Practice Problem 21.2

Sketch an OOK signal that represents the bit stream below, if the bit rate is Rb = 20 kbps.

1 0 0 0 1 1
3.3 Phase Shift Keying (PSK) Phase shift keying (PSK) is a form of phase modulation where the carrier’s phase shifts to
one of a finite set of possible phases. For binary phase shift keying (BPSK), the carrier phase is shifted between one of only
two phases (typically 0° and 180°) depending on whether a 0-bit or a 1-bit is being transmitted. For example:
0-bit: the symbol transmitted is Vc cos(2πfc t).
1-bit: the symbol transmitted is Vc cos(2πfc t +180°) = − Vc cos(2πfc t)
Using ±cos(2πfc t) as the symbols is not the only type of BPSK modulation; the two symbols just have to be 180° apart. For
example, you could also use cos(2πfc t+10°) and cos(2πfc t+190°). A sample BPSK transmission is shown in the following
figure. As you look at the figure, you will notice that it is hard to see the transitions in phase between the 0 bit symbol and 1
bit symbol, but rest assured that a BPSK receiver can do it easily.

It is important to point out that in PSK, the amplitude of all output symbols is the same; it is the phase of the output symbols
that are different, while in ASK, both symbols have the same phase, but different amplitudes.
The bandwidth associated with ASK, OOK, or BPSK is what we saw earlier, BW = 2Rsym, and is shown in the figure below.

In the case of ASK, OOK, or BPSK, since N = 1 bits/symbol, BW = 2Rsym = 2Rb/N = 2Rb. For example, for binary ASK,
OOK, or BPSK, if the symbol rate is 100,000 baud (symbols/sec), the bitrate is 100 kbps, and so the required bandwidth is
2(100,000) = 200 kHz.
Let us now summarize the types of binary digital modulation that have been introduced so far. On a wire, the symbols take
the form of voltage pulses, which are, for example, a high pulse for a 1 and a low (or no) pulse for a 0. In binary FSK, binary
ASK, OOK or BPSK, the symbols take the form of a high frequency carrier that has its frequency or amplitude or phase
altered based on whether a 0 or a 1 is being transmitted. In binary modulation, the number of symbols that can be transmitted
is two (M = 2) and each symbol represents one bit of data (N = 1 bit per symbol). The following figure depicts the
relationship between bits and symbols for voltage pulses (the baseband signal), and binary FSK, binary ASK, OOK and
BPSK (the modulated signals).
4. M-ary Digital Modulation
Up to this point we have discussed only binary digital modulation (M=2) with one bit per symbol (N=1), which means that at
any time, only one of two possible symbols would be transmitted. However, it is possible to have a modulation scheme with
more than two symbols. This means that with each symbol, more than one bit is transmitted at a time. These types of
modulation schemes are referred to as M-ary digital modulation.
Before launching into these more complicated digital modulation schemes, we will introduce a graphical way to relate what
the output symbols are, and the bits that each symbol represents. This is called a constellation diagram. A constellation
diagram is a plot in polar coordinates of the phase and amplitude of each symbol in a digital modulation scheme. In terms of
the symbol’s phase, 0° is along the positive x-axis, and phase increases as you move counterclockwise around the unit circle.
The symbol’s amplitude is measured as distance from the origin of the plot. The symbols are represented with large dots, and
adjacent to them are the bits they represent. Symbols that have the same amplitude are the same distance from the origin (on
the same circle around the origin). All symbols with the same phase would fall on the same line segment that originates at the
origin and goes out at a certain angle (on the same radius from the origin).
For example, here are two possible BPSK systems’ constellation diagrams. In BPSK, the output symbols both have the same
amplitude (both of the symbols are equidistant from the origin), but their phases are 180° apart. There are other possible
combinations of two carrier phases that might be used, and any will work as long as the transmitter and receiver use the same
constellation.

Note that BPSK transmits 1 bit per symbol, so only one bit value is placed next to each symbol.
If it is desired to get the information from the transmitter to the receiver faster, we have to increase the number of bits per
second (bps) that are transmitted. The cost of increasing the bitrate (besides requiring more complex components) is that it
increases the transmission bandwidth: recall that for binary ASK, OOK or BPSK, BW = 2Rsym = 2Rb, and that bandwidth can
be expensive! Is there a way to transmit a higher bitrate without the associated increase in bandwidth? The answer is yes, by
using M-ary digital modulation! Yay.
4.1 Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK)
In M-ary modulation, we can preserve bandwidth if we keep the symbol rate the same while increasing the number of bits
per symbol. For example, instead of transmitting just 2 possible phase shifts (0˚and 180˚), we could transmit one of 4
possible phase shifts per symbol. This is called quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK).
In QPSK, there are 4 symbols (M = 4) and thus, 2 bits per symbol (N = log2M = 2). Two of the possible constellations for
QPSK are shown in the following figure, and the four symbols from QPSK Constellation #2 are shown to the right of these
constellations. The carrier with a phase of 0˚ is plotted in a dashed line with each symbol for reference. The four symbols in
the right-hand constellation are: Vc cos(2πfc t +45°), Vc cos(2πfc t +135°), Vc cos(2πfc t +225°) and Vc cos(2πfc t +315°).

The following figure is a plot using QPSK Constellation #2 in the previous figure to transmit the bit stream
0001111000110110.

The frequency spectrum for M-ary modulation schemes is shown in the figure below, which is the same one that appeared
earlier in the chapter for binary ASK, OOK and BPSK.

Notice that for a set amount of Bandwidth, we can now increase our bitrate. From the figure, it is seen that the bandwidth for
QPSK (N = 2) is given by
For example, if the given Bandwidth is 200 kHz, then the bitrate is 200 kbps, double that of binary ASK, OOK or BPSK!
4.2 M-ary PSK
We can further increase the number of bits per symbol by increasing the number of
possible phase shifts. The M in M-ary refers to the number of symbols. Consider the 8-
PSK constellation to the right (one of many possible 8-PSK constellations).
How many bits per symbol are transmitted? There are 8 symbols (M = 8), so N = log2M
= log28 = 3 bits/symbol. This is also evident from the diagram because the three bits
associated with each symbol appear next to the symbol. 1
What is the bandwidth for 8-PSK? Since N=3 bits/symbol, bandwidth is given by
2𝑅𝑅𝑏𝑏 2𝑅𝑅𝑏𝑏
𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵 = 2𝑅𝑅𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 = = .
𝑁𝑁 3
For example, if the given Bandwidth is 200 kHz (like before), the bitrate for 8-PSK is
now Rb = 3(200,000)/2 = 300 kHz, even faster than for QPSK!
We could further increase to 4
bits/symbol using 16-PSK. Here, M =
16 and N = 4 bits/symbol. A 16-PSK
constellation is shown to the right,
where each phase is separated by
360o/16 = 22.5o. As a reminder, for
PSK, all of the symbols have the same
carrier frequency and amplitude; only
their phase is different. For that reason,
on a PSK constellation diagram, all of
the symbols appear on a circle about
the origin.
4.3 Noise Effects
More complex M-ary PSK modulations are possible: 32-PSK, 64-PSK, etc., but it becomes more susceptible to noise as the
symbols get closer together. To demodulate any type of PSK, a receiver must determine the phase of the received symbol.
For 16-PSK, the receiver must determine the phase within ±11.25˚, since the phases are separated by 22.5o. A portion of the
constellation diagram for 16-PSK is shown above, indicating the wedge of phase values that separates one of the symbols
from the adjacent symbols.
The number one most limiting factor in communication systems is noise. In all transmissions, the received signal will be
degraded by noise. The following figure shows a BPSK signal and the same signal corrupted by noise. You might imagine
that it is harder for a receiver to determine the correct phase (correct symbol) that was transmitted for the noisy signal.

This noise corruption can be depicted in the constellation diagram to the

right, where the two transmitted BPSK symbols are indicated in the two
large black circles (phase = 0° and phase = 180°), and some noisy received
symbols are the smaller red and blue circles.

1
The symbols in this picture are labeled using gray code where only one bit changes between adjacent symbols. This helps to
minimize bit errors
A BPSK receiver must make a decision to determine the phase of a received signal to determine the corresponding bit. If the
noise is severe enough, a receiver might make a mistake and
decide that it had received a 0 when it actually received a 1. These
are called bit errors.
Now, consider the same noise in the presence of an 8-PSK signal.
Is it easier for the receiver to make bit errors? The answer is yes,
since more phases are used in PSK. This makes the symbols closer
together and thus, makes it easier for the receiver to make bit
errors. In the figure to the right you could even see that some red
circles are mischaracterized as blue x’s. The advantage of more
symbols is a faster bitrate, if the bandwidth is held constant, but
the disadvantage is more bit errors.
4.4 Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM)
Is there a way to use more symbols while reducing the chances of
making bit errors? We would need to somehow increase the
distance between each of the symbols since the distance between
symbols is inversely related to the rate of bit errors. By using
symbols that have different amplitudes AND different phases, we could spread the symbols out more. This is called
Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM).
4.4.1 8-QAM
An 8-QAM constellation is shown below (one of many possible 8-QAM constellations). This system uses 2 possible
amplitudes and 4 possible phases. The eight symbols along with the 3-bit digital words corresponding to each are shown to
the right of the constellation. Note that there are both phase and/or amplitude changes for each symbol. For the system with
the constellation shown below, the eight output symbols might be 2cos(2πfc t +45°), 2cos(2πfc t +135°),
2cos(2πfc t +215°), 2cos(2πfc t +305°), 4cos(2πfc t +45°), 4cos(2πfc t +135°), 4cos(2πfc t +215°), and 4cos(2πfc t +305°).

What is the bandwidth for 8-QAM? The same as for 8-PSK, since the bandwidth for all digital modulation types (except for
FSK) is
𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵 = 2𝑅𝑅𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 .
And it doesn’t stop there.
4.4.2 Higher level QAM signals
QAM signaling can be extended to have a larger number of symbols, which then allows a much higher bitrate in the same
bandwidth (because there are more bits per symbol). 64-QAM and 256-QAM are common in cable modems, satellites, and
high-speed fixed broadband wireless. Some possible constellations are in the following figure.
In 256-QAM, you find that for each symbol you are transmitting (there are 256 symbols), there are 8 bits of information.
Assuming the symbol rate remains constant, then for the same bandwidth you are sending 8 times more information when
you use 256-QAM than when you use OOK, ASK or BPSK. For 256-QAM, if the bandwidth is 200 kHz, then the bitrate is
8(200,000)/2 = 800 kbps.
Now that’s powerful!
Practice Problem 21.3
Using the signal constellation shown, answer the following questions. 90˚

(a) What type of modulation does this represent?

(b) How many symbols are represented (M)? 180˚ 0˚

(c) How many bits per symbol are used (N)?

270˚
(d) If the Baud is 10,000 symbols/second, what is the bit rate (Rb)?

(e) Would 16-QAM be more or less susceptible to noise than this type of modulation?

Practice Problem 21.4

Label the modulation schemes.

Note: there are 2 different

symbols on this plot

Note: there are 4 different

symbols on this plot

5. Summary of Types of Digital Modulation

The following table summarizes some of the various types of digital modulations introduced. With M-ary digital modulation,
even more symbols are used (so there are more bits/symbol). This means there are PSK and QAM modulations with M=32,
64, 128, etc, although usually M=32 is the maximum number of symbols used with PSK due to the noise effects.

Modulation # Symbols # Bits/symbol Bandwidth

(M) (N=log2M) (BW)

FSK 2 1 fmark−fspace+2Rsym

ASK 2 1 2Rsym= 2Rb/N=2Rb

OOK 2 1 2Rsym= 2Rb/N=2Rb

BPSK 2 1 2Rsym= 2Rb/N=2Rb

QPSK 4 2 2Rsym= 2Rb/N= Rb

8PSK 8 3 2Rsym= 2Rb/N = 2Rb/3

8QAM 8 3 2Rsym= 2Rb/N = 2Rb/3

16PSK 16 4 2Rsym= 2Rb/N = Rb/2

16QAM 16 4 2Rsym= 2Rb/N = Rb/2