Fundamentals of Electronic Communications Chapter 3: Amplitude Modulation

Intended Learning Outcomes

1. To describe how an Amplitude Modulated signal is generated.
2. To be able to calculate and analyze the time, frequency and power of Double Sideband
(DSBFC) and Single Sideband (SSB) AM Systems.

Activities

Tune in to an AM radio station. Imagine how does a signal from a broadcast studio
travel through the airwaves and then detected by an AM receiver.

Processing

Modulation is the process of altering a characteristic of the carrier in accordance with

the instantaneous value of the intelligence signal. The characteristics of the carrier that can be
varied are amplitude, frequency and phase.

Demodulation is the process of recovering the intelligence signal from a modulated

carrier signal.

Consider a sine wave carrier;

Carrier signal

Mathematically,
e c =Ec sin(ω c t +θ)
where:
e c =instantaneous peak amplitude
Ec = peak carrier amplitude
ω c =carrier radian frequency
θ=carrier phase

Reasons for Modulation

 For minimizing interference
 For frequency assignment
 For making antenna sizes practical
 For multiplexing
FCC Emission Designation
 In FCC emission designation, the first symbol signifies the type of modulation of the
main carrier; the second symbol signifies the nature of the modulation; and the third
symbol signifies the type of information being transmitted.

Abstraction

Amplitude Modulation (AM)

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Fundamentals of Electronic Communications Chapter 3: Amplitude Modulation

 It is the simplest way of superimposing the characteristic of the intelligence signal onto
a carrier. The AM signal is produced by varying the amplitude of the carrier signal in
proportion to the instantaneous amplitude of the intelligence signal.

The trace of the peaks in the AM wave is called the envelope which has the same shape
as the modulating signal.

Mathematically, the instantaneous value of the AM signal is

e AM = A sin ω c t

Where: A=EC +e m
e AM =( E ¿ ¿ C+e m )sin ωc t ¿

Where: e m=instantaneous valueof the intelligence signal

e m=E m sin ωm t

Substituting,
e AM =( E ¿ ¿ C+ E m sin ω m t)sin ωc t ¿
e AM =EC sin ω c t+ E m sin ωm t sin ω c t

The complete AM expression is

Em
e AM =EC sin ω c t+ ¿
2
Em
e AM =EC sin ω c t+ ¿
2

The expression is composed of three signals, the carrier, lower sideband and upper sideband.

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Fundamentals of Electronic Communications Chapter 3: Amplitude Modulation

Modulation Index
 The term that describes the amount of amplitude change in an FM waveform is called
the index of modulation.
 It is also called the Coefficient of Modulation, Modulation Factor, or Modulation Depth

Em
m=
EC

The graph shows that

V max =Ec + Em and V min =E c −Em

Thus the modulation index can be expressed as

Em V max −V min
m= =
EC V max + V min

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Fundamentals of Electronic Communications Chapter 3: Amplitude Modulation

Percentage of Modulation
%M=m×100 %

Classification According to the Degree of Modulation

AM Frequency Spectrum

Bandwidth for AM
BW =f USB−f LSB
BW =( f c +f m )−( f c −f m )
BW =( 2 f m )

Power Calculations

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Fundamentals of Electronic Communications Chapter 3: Amplitude Modulation

 Unmodulated carrier power

V C 2 Ec 2
Pc = RMS
=
R 2R

 Lower Sideband Power, PLSB and Upper Sideband Power, PUSB

2
V LSB PC m 2
P LSB=PUSB= RMS
=
R 4

 Total Transmitted Power, PT

PT =Pc + P LSB + PUSB
m2
PT =Pc (1+ )
2
Where:
Ec = peak voltage of the unmodulated carrier
R=load resistance , Ω
m=modulationindex
Pc =unmodulated carrier power , W
PT =total transmitted power ,W
PUSB=upper sideband power , W
P LSB=lower sideband power , W

AM Power Spectrum for DSBFC Wave

Percent Power in the carrier, %PC

P 1
%PC = c =
PT m2
(1+ )
2
Percent Power in the sidebands, %PSB
m2
P 2
%P SB = SB =
PT m2
(1+ )
2
Among the three signals comprising AM, only the sidebands contain the information.
The information found in the upper sideband is identical to the lower sideband. Notice that at
100% modulation, 66.67% of the total power is in the carrier and 33.33% for the sidebands.
Thus, it is wasteful to transmit the carrier and it is redundant to transmit both sidebands.

Voltage Calculations
 Peak voltage of the Modulated Carrier, ET
m2
√
ET =E c 1+
2

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Fundamentals of Electronic Communications Chapter 3: Amplitude Modulation

Current Calculations
 Peak current of the Modulated Carrier, IT
m2

Where:
√
I T =I c 1+
2

I c = peak current of theunmodulated carrier , V

I T = peak current of the modulated signal ,V
Ec = peak voltage of theunmodulated carrier , V
ET = peak voltage of the modulated signal ,V

Simultaneous Modulation
When several frequencies simultaneously amplitude modulate a carrier, the combined
coefficient of modulation is defined as:
m T =√ m12 +m 22 +m 32 +…+m n2

where: m T =total modulation index

m1 ,m 2 , m3 , mn=index of modulation for input 1,2,3 ,n

Double Sideband Suppressed Carrier AM

 In conventional AM, transmitting the carrier the whole time is a waste of power.
Moreover, chances of interference with other signals is very likely. Information is
present only in the sidebands so it is sensible to transmit only the sideband and to
reinsert the carrier at the receiver using an oscillator. This is called “Double Sideband
Transmission with Suppressed Carrier (DSBSC).
 Balanced modulators are circuits used to produce double sidebands by effectively
cancelling the carrier at the output.
 The DSBSC is not much used in practice since it is not easy to reinsert the carrier
correctly. The difficulty of transmission using two sidebands is that there is a tendency
that the reinserted signals could cancel each other out if the phase of the reinserted
carrier is incorrect. Either one of the sidebands, together with the replacement carrier,
can recover the original modulating signal.
Balanced Ring Modulator

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Fundamentals of Electronic Communications Chapter 3: Amplitude Modulation

Frequency Spectrum of DSBSC AM

Single Sideband System

Single Sideband Full Carrier, H3E

 A form of amplitude modulation in which the carrier is transmitted at full power but only one of
the sidebands is transmitted.
 The SSBFC requires less bandwidth than the conventional double sideband AM, but also
produces a demodulated signal with a lower amplitude.

Power Spectrum of SSBFC

In a perfectly modulated SSBFC, the carrier power constitutes 80% of the total power
and only 20% is in the sidebands. Although the SSBFC requires less total power than the DSBFC,

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Fundamentals of Electronic Communications Chapter 3: Amplitude Modulation

it actually utilizes a smaller percentage of that power for the information-carrying portion of
the signal.
At 100% modulation, 116.67% of power is saved by suppressing one of the sidebands.

Single Sideband Suppressed Carrier, J3E

 A form of amplitude modulation in which the carrier is totally suppressed and one of the
sidebands is removed.
 The SSBSC requires half as much bandwidth as the conventional double sideband AM and less
transmitted power.

Power Spectrum of SSBSC

In SSBSC, the sideband power constitutes 100% of the total power. The SSBSC requires
less total power than the conventional AM. At 100% modulation, 83.3% of power is saved by
suppressing the carrier and one of the sidebands.

Comparison of Common AM Transmission Systems

Single Sideband Reduced Carrier, R3E

 A form of amplitude modulation in which one of the sidebands is totally removed and the carrier
voltage is reduced to approximately 10% of its unmodulated amplitude

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Fundamentals of Electronic Communications Chapter 3: Amplitude Modulation

 To produce a reduced carrier component, the carrier is totally suppressed during modulation
and then reinserted at reduced amplitude.

Independent Sideband, B8E

 A form of amplitude modulation in which a single carrier frequency is independently modulated
by two different modulating signals.
 The ISB is a form of double sideband transmission in which the transmitter consists of two
independent single-sideband suppressed carrier modulators. The outputs of the two modulators
are combined to form a double sideband signal.

AM Vestigial Sideband, C3F

 A form of amplitude modulation in which the carrier frequency and one complete sideband is
transmitted, but only part of the second sideband is transmitted.
 The most widely known VSB is the picture portion of an analog commercial television
broadcasting signal.

Single Sideband Generation

 Filter Method

 Phase Shift Method

Single Sideband Transmitter Rating

2
V pk

PEP=
√2 ( )
R

Where:
PEP= peak envelope power ,W
V pk = peak voltage ,V
R=load resistance , R

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Fundamentals of Electronic Communications Chapter 3: Amplitude Modulation

Reading Assignment

Research on the different symbols of FCC Emission Designation

Assessment Tasks

Practice Problems
1. An AM signal has the equation:
e AM =¿
a. Find the carrier frequency.
b. Find the frequency of the modulating signal.
c. Find the value of m.
d. What are the frequencies comprising the AM signal?
e. Sketch the signal in the time domain and the frequency domain.
2. An AM transmitter is modulated by two audio tones at 1 kHz and 2.5 kHz, with
modulation depths of 0.25 and 0.50 respectively. Find the effective modulation index.
3. A 1000-W carrier is to be modulated to a 95% level. Determine the total transmitted
power.
4. An AM broadcast station operates at its maximum allowed total output of 50 kW and at
85% modulation. How much of the transmitted power contains the intelligence?
5. The antenna current of an AM transmitter is 11 A when unmodulated but increases to
14 A when modulated. Find the percent modulation.
6. Calculate the percentage power saving when the carrier and one of the sidebands is
suppressed in an AM signal if the modulation is a) 100% and b) 25%.
7. For a 500-W carrier modulated toa depth of 80%, find the total power and %P.S. in each
of the following forms of AM.
a. J3E
b. H3E
c. DSB
8. An AM transmission 1000W is fully modulated. Calculate the power transmitted if it is
transmitted as SSB signal.
9. A SSB transmission drives 110-Vpk into a 75- antenna. Calculate the PEP.
10. An SSB transmitter has a PEP of 10 kW, what is the average power?

References:

1. Tomasi W. Electronic Communications Systems – Fundamentals through Advanced 5th

Edition, New Jersey, Prentice Hall
2. Roddy J., Coolen E., Electronic Communications 5th Edition, New Jersey, Prentice Hall
3. Frenzel L., Principles of Electronic Communication Systems, New York, Mc Graw Hill

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