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MODULE – 5
ANALOG COMMUNICATION AND DIGITAL MODULATION SCHEMES

COMMUNICATION SYSTEM
Communication is –
• The science and practice of transmitting information
• Transfer of information from one point to another
• Exchange of inf or m ation bet ween t wo poi nts.
Communication Engineering –
• Deals with the techniques of transmitting information
• Means electrical communication, in which information is transmitted through electrical
signals
• Is the process of converting the information or message (e.g. spoken words, live scenes,
photographs, and sounds) into electrical signals and then transmitted through electrical
links.
Electrical Communication –
• Is a process by which the information/message is transmitted from one point to another, from one
person to another, or from place to another in the form of electrical signals, through some
communication link
• Involves sending, processing, and receiving information in electrical form.
Basic Communication System –
• Provides a link between the information source and its destination
• Consists of certain units, called constituents, subsystems, or stages.

MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEM SCHEME:

The information to be transmitted passes through a number of stages of the communication
system prior it reaches its destination.

Figure 5.1: Block Diagram of Basic Communication System

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Figure 5.1 shows a block schematic diagram of the most general form of basic communication
system. The main constituents or subsystems of basic communication system are:
i. Information Source and Input Transducer
ii. Transmitter
iii. Channel or Medium
iv. Noise
v. Receiver
vi. Output Transducer and Final Destination.
There are many types of communication systems, e.g. analog, digital, radio, and line
communication systems. Figure 4.1 shows each type of communication system comprises the
constituents. Different communication systems apply different principles of operation and
physical appearance.

INFORMATION SOURCE AND INPUT TRANSDUCER:

A communication system transmits information from an information source to a destination and
hence the first stage of a communication system is the information source. The physical form of
information is represented by a message that is originated by an information source.
E.g. a sentence or paragraph spoken by a person is a message that contains some information.
Few other familiar examples of messages are voice, live scenes, music, written text, and e-mail.

A communication system transmits information in the form of electrical signal or signals. If the
information produced by the source is not in an electrical form, one will have to use a device,
known as transducer, to convert the information into electrical form.
A transducer is a device that converts a non-electrical energy into its corresponding electrical energy
called signal and vice versa.
E.g. during a telephone conversation, the words spoken by a person are in the form of sound
energy. This has to be converted to its equivalent electrical form prior it is transmitted.
An example of a transducer is a microphone. Microphone converts sound signals into the
corresponding electrical signals. Similarly, a television (TV) picture tube converts electrical
signals into its corresponding pictures. Some other examples of transducers are Movie Cameras,
Video Cassette Recorder (VCR) Heads, Tape Recorder Heads, and Loudspeakers.

The information produced by the information source is applied to the next stage, termed the
information or input transducer. This in turn, produces an electrical signal corresponding to the
information as output. This electrical signal is called the baseband signal. It is also called a

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message signal, an information signal, an intelligent signal, or an envelope. In the communication

theory, the baseband signal is usually designated by s(t).

There are two types of signals. (a) analog signal, and (b) digital signal .

Analog Signal: An analog signal is a function of time, and has a continuous range of values.
An analog signal has definite values at all points of time.
An example of analog signal or analog wave form is a pure sine waveform. A practical example of
an analog signal is a voice signal, as shown in Figure 5.2.

Figure 5.2: Analog Signals – (a) Pure Sine Wave (b) Typical Speech Signal
A voice signal is converted to electrical form by a microphone. An electrical signal can be
observed on an oscilloscope.

Digital Signal: A digital signal does not have continuous function values on a time scale. It is
discrete in nature, i.e., it has some values at discrete timings. In between two consecutive values, the
signal value is either zero, or different value. An example of a digital signal is the sound signal
produced by drumbeats.

Figure 5.3: Digital Signal

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Digital signals in their true sense correspond to a binary digital signal, where the discrete
amplitude of the signal is coded into binary digits represented by ‘0’ and ‘1’. The analog signal,
which is continuous in time, is converted to discrete time, using a procedure calling sampling.
The continuous amplitude of the analog signal is converted to discrete amplitude using a
process called quantization. Sampling and quantization are together termed as analog-to-digital
conversion (ADC) and the circuitry that performs this operation is called an analog to-digital
converter.

Analog Signals versus Digital Signals:

Analog Signals Digital Signals
Analog signal is continuous and time varying. Digital signal have two or more states and in
binary form.
Analog signal is easily affected by noise. Digital signal is less prone to noise.
Analog signal consumes less bandwidth. Digital signal consumes more bandwidth.
Analog signals have low cost, use more power Digital signals have high cost, less power and
and are portable. are not portable.
Analog signals give observation error. Digital signals do not give observation error.
Analog circuits use components like Resistors, Digital circuits use components like
Capacitors, Inductors, Diodes, etc. Transistors, Logic Gates, Microprocessors,
Microcontrollers, etc.
Examples: Temperature, Pressure, Flow Examples: Valve Feedback, Motor Start, Trip,
Measurement, etc. etc.

TRANSMITTER:
Transmitter is a collection of electronic components and circuits that converts electrical signal
into a signal suitable for transmission over a given medium. Transmitters are made up of
oscillators, amplifiers, tuned circuits and filters, modulators, frequency mixers, frequency
synthesizers, and other circuits.
The baseband signal, s(t), which is the output of an input transducer, is input to the transmitter.
The transmitter section processes the signal prior to transmission. The processing carried out for
signal transmission in the analog form is different from signal transmission in the digital form.
The following two options are available for processing signals prior transmission:
1. The baseband signal, which lies in the low frequency spectrum, is translated to a
higher frequency spectrum – a carrier communication system

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o The baseband signal is carried by a higher frequency signal, called the carrier
signal. This system is based on the principle of translating a low frequency
baseband signal to higher frequency spectrum. This process is termed as
modulation.
✓ If the baseband signal is a digital signal, the carrier communication system
is called a digital communication system. The digital modulation methods
are employed for this.
✓ If the baseband signal is an analog signal, the carrier communication
system is called as an analog communication system and for processing
the analog modulation techniques are used.
o Figure 4.4 shows the baseband signal, s(t), applied to the modulated stage.
Modulated stage translates the baseband signal from its low frequency spectrum
to high frequency spectrum. This stage also receives another input called the
carrier signal, c(t), which is generated by a high frequency carrier oscillator.
Modulation takes place at this stage with the baseband and the carrier signals –
the baseband signal is translated to a high frequency spectrum and the carrier
signal is said to be modulated by the baseband signal. The output of the modulated
stage is called the modulated signal, and is designated as x(t ).
o The voltage of the modulated signal is then amplified to drive the last stage of the
transmitter, called the power amplifier stage (Figure 5.4). This stage amplifies the
power of the modulated signal and thus it carries enough power to reach the
receiver stage of the communication system. Finally, the signal is passed to the
transmission medium or channel.

Figure 5.4: Schematic of an Analog Transmitter Section

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Figure 5.5: Processing of a Baseband Signal

2. The baseband signal is transmitted without translating it to a higher frequency spectrum – a
baseband communication system
o The baseband signal is transmitted without translating it to a higher frequency
spectrum. But, some processing of the signal is required prior its transmission;
e.g. a train of pulses that are to be transmitted can be replaced by a series of two
sine waves of different frequencies. One of these two frequencies represents a
low and the other represents a high value of the digital pulse, as illustrated in
Figure 5.5.

NOTE:
In radio communication systems, radio signals are transmitted through electromagnetic (em) waves,
also referred as radio waves. The radio waves have a wide frequency range starting from a few ten
kilo Hertz (kHz) to several thousand Mega Hertz (MHz). This wide-range of frequencies is referred
as the radiofrequency (RF) spectrum.
The RF spectrum is classified according to the applications of the spectrum in different
service areas. The following Table shows the classification of the RF spectrum along with the
associated applications in communication systems.

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CHANNEL OR MEDIUM:
After the required processing, the transmitter section passes the signal to the transmission
medium. The signal propagates through the transmission medium and is received at the other
side by the receiver section. The transmission medium between the transmitter and the receiver is
called a channel.
The channel is a very important part of a communication system as its characteristics add many
constraints to the design of the communication system. E.g. most of the noise is added to the
signal during its transmission through the channel.
The transmitted signal should have adequate power to withstand the channel noise. Further,
the channel characteristics also impose constraints on the bandwidth. The bandwidth is the
frequency range that can be transmitted by a communication system. Moreover, the channel
characteristics are also taken into consideration as a design parameter while designing the
transmitting and receiving equipment.
In general, the transmitting power, signal bandwidth, and cost of the communication system are
affected by channel characteristics.
Depending on the physical implementations, the channels are classified in the following two
groups:
1. Hardware Channels – are man-made structure which can be used as transmission
medium. There arefollowing three possible implementations of the hardware channels:
• Transmission lines – Examples of transmission lines are twisted-pair cables used in
landline telephony and coaxial cables used for cable TV transmission.
o Transmission lines are not suitable for ultra high frequency (UHF)
transmission.
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• Waveguides – Are hollow, circular, or rectangular metallic structures. The signals

enter the waveguide, are reflected at the metallic walls, and propagate towards the
other end of the waveguide.
o To transmit signals at UHF range, waveguides are employed as medium.
• Optical Fiber Cables (OFC) – are highly sophisticated transmission media, in the form
of extremely thin circular pipes. Signals are transmitted in the form of light energy in
optical fiber cables. In general, there is always a physical link between the
transmitter and receiver in hardware channels.
A communication system that makes use of a hardware channel is called as a line
communication system. E.g. landline telephony and cable TV network.

2. Software Channels – are certain natural resources which can be used as the transmission
medium for signals. The possible natural resources that can be used as software channels are:
air or open space and sea water.
We may note that in communication systems that use software channels, there is no physical link
between the transmitter and the receiver. The transmitter passes the signals in the required form
to the software channel. The signals propagate through the natural resource and reach the
receiver.
• The most widely used software channel is air or open space. The signals are transmitted in the
form of electromagnetic (em) waves, also called radio waves.
)
Radio waves travel through open
space at a speed equal to that of light (c = 3 * 108 m/s).
The transmitter section converts the electrical signal into em waves or radiation by using a
transmitting antenna. These waves are radiated into the open space by the transmitting antenna. At
the receiver side, another antenna, called the receiving antenna, is used to pick up these radio
waves and convert them into corresponding electrical signals. Systems that use radio waves to
transmit signals through open space are called radio communication systems.
E.g. radio broad cast, television transmission, satellite communication, and cellular mobile
communication.

NOISE:
In electronics and communication engineering, noise –
• Is defined as unwanted electrical energy of random and unpredictable nature present in the
system due to any cause
• Is an electrical disturbance, which does not contain any useful information
• Is a highly undesirable part of a communication system, and have to be minimized.

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Noise cannot be eliminated once it is mixed with the signal. When noise is mixed with the
transmitted signal, the original information gets altered and hence, wrong information is
received.
In order to avoid this undesirable noise, the system designer can make the signal adequately
powerful prior to transmitting it. This enables the signal to withstand the noise. The system
designer increases the power of the signal in comparison with that of the noise. This increases the
ratio of the signal power to the noise power, signal to noise ratio (SNR). The designer provides
adequate signal strength at the time of transmission so that a high SNR is available at the
receiver.

The channel contributes the major part of the noise. The other noise sources along the
communication chain can also add noise to the signal. Noise may also be mixed with the signal
from within the transmitting and receiving equipments. The noise block in Figure 4.1 represents
the total noise present in the system, contributed by all the sources. The noise signal, n(t), is
applied to the channel block.
The noise introduced by the transmission medium is called extraneous or external noise. The main
cause of the internal noise is the thermal agitation of atoms and electrons of electronic components
used in the equipment.

SNR and Noise Figure (F): One can define the SNR as the ratio of the signal power to the
noise power at a point in the circuit. SNR is the measure of the signal power relative to the noise
power at a particular point in a circuit.
If Ps is signal power and Pn is noise power, then SNR expressed as S/N, is given as
𝑆 𝑃𝑠
=
𝑁 𝑃𝑛
But, Ps = Vs2R and Pn = Vn2R; hence,
𝑆 𝑃𝑠 𝑉𝑠2 𝑅
= =
𝑁 𝑃𝑛 𝑉𝑛2 𝑅
where Vs is signal voltage and Vn is noise voltage.
The SNR can be expressed in terms of decibels (dB) as
𝑆 𝑉𝑠2 𝑺 𝑽𝒔
( ) = 10 𝑙𝑜𝑔10 ( 2 ) 𝑜𝑟 ( ) = 𝟐𝟎 𝒍𝒐𝒈𝟏𝟎 ( )
𝑁 𝑑𝐵 𝑉𝑛 𝑵 𝒅𝑩 𝑽𝒏

Example: If, at a point in a circuit, the signal and noise voltages are given as 3.5 mV and 0.75
mV, respectively, SNR in dB is calculated as:

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𝑺 𝑉𝑠 𝑆 3.5 ∗ 10−3
( ) = 20 𝑙𝑜𝑔10 ( ) = ( ) = 20 𝑙𝑜𝑔10 ( ) = 20 𝑙𝑜𝑔10 (4.66) = 𝟏𝟑. 𝟑𝟖 𝒅𝑩
𝑵 𝒅𝑩 𝑉𝑛 𝑁 𝑑𝐵 0.75 ∗ 10−3

The noise figure (F) is the measure of the noise introduced by the circuit. It is defined as the ratio
of the signal-to-noise power at the input of the circuit and the signal-to-noise power at the output of
the circuit. Noise figure (F) can be expressed as
𝑺
𝑷𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒑𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒊𝒓𝒄𝒖𝒊𝒕
𝑵
𝑭= 𝑺
𝑷𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒑𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒊𝒓𝒄𝒖𝒊𝒕
𝑵

i
Note that, if F is unity, the noise power introduced by the circuit is zero, as both the input and
output S/N powers are the same.

RECEIVER:
The task of the receiver is to provide the original information to the user. This information is
altered due to the processing ( m o d u l a t i o n) at the transmitter side. The signal received by the
receiver does not contain information in its original form. The receiver system receives the
transmitted signal and performs some processing (demodulation) on it to recover the original
baseband signal.

In Figure 5.1, the signal received by the receiver is r( t). This signal contains both the transmitted
signal, x(t), and the noise, n(t), added to it during transmission. The function of the receiver
section is
• To separate the noise from the received signal, and
• Thenrecover the original baseband signal by performing some processing on it.
The receiver receives a weak signal, as the transmitted signal losses its strength during its
propagation through the channel. A voltage amplifier first amplifies the received signal so that it
becomes strong enough for further processing, and then recovers the original information. The
receiver performs an operation known as demodulation, which brings the baseband signal from
the higher frequency spectrum to its original low-frequency spectrum.
In carrier communication systems –
• The demodulation process removes the high frequency carrier from the received signal
and retrieves the original baseband.
In baseband communication systems –
• When the receiver receives the signal, it recovers the original baseband pulse by
replacing the two sinusoidal waveforms with the corresponding originallevels.

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The recovered baseband signal is then handed over to the final destination, which uses a
transducer to convert the electrical signal to its original form. It is essential that enough signal
power is given to the transducer so that it satisfactorily reproduces the message. Therefore, prior
to handing over the recovered baseband signal to its final destination, the voltage and power
are amplified by the amplifier stages.
The detailed block diagram of a typical receiver section is shown in Figure 5.6.

Figure 5.6: Block Diagram of a Receiver Section

MULTIPLEXING:
This is a technique that is most widely used in nearly all types of communication systems, radio
and line communication systems. Multiplexing –
• Is a process which allows more than one signal to transmit through a single channel
• Facilitates the simultaneous transmission of multiple messages over a single
transmission channel.
Multiplexing –
• Allows the maximum possible utilization of the available bandwidth of the system.
• Makes the communication system economical because more than one signal can be
transmitted through a single channel.

Multiplexing is possible in communication system only through modulation.

The audio signals may come from, say ten different persons. While the speech frequency of
different persons will be different, all the ten signals will lie in the same audio range of 20 Hz to
20 kHz. If all these baseband audio signals are simultaneously transmitted through a single
channel, then they will be mixed together. The transmitter will transmit these mixed signals,
and the receiver will receive them. The purpose of the receiver is to deliver the audio signals in
their original form. However, all the received signals lie within t h e same audio range, and
the receiver is notcapable of separating them into individual signals.

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In order to avoid this difficulty, each signal can be translated to a different frequency spectrum,
such that every signal differs in its transmitted frequency. This is done through modulation.
Therefore, if all the baseband signals are modulated, i.e., translated to higher frequencies by
using different carrier frequencies, then each signal is easily distinguishable from the other
although they all lie within the same audio band. At the transmitter they can be mixed and
transmitted.
At the receiver, the different signals can be easily separated because they are at different
frequencies, and these can be delivered to the next stages of the receiver for further processing.
Obviously, multiplexing becomes possible only because of modulation.

TYPES OF COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS:

Communication systems may be categorized based on
• Physical infrastructure – pertains to the type of the channel used and the hardware design
of the transmitting and receiving equipments
• Specifications of the signals – signify the nature and type of the transmitted signal.

Communication Systems based on Physical Infrastructure:

There are two types of communication systems based on the physical infrastructure:
1. Line / Radio Communication Systems:
o There is a physical link, called the hardware channel, between the transmitter and
the receiver in line communication systems – E.g . l a n d l i n e telephony.
o In radio communication systems, there is no such link and natural resources, such
as space and water are used as softwire channels – E. g . radio
broadcast.
2. Simplex / Duplex Communication Systems:
o Consider a TV system, in which a user can only receive the signals and view
available channels. A television receiver cannot transmit the signals. TV
transmission is a one-way transmission. This is called as simplex.
o Consider a telephony, in which one can simultaneously send and receive signals.
Telephony transmission is a two-way transmission. This is called as duplex.
✓ A derivative of duplex is half duplex, in which two-way transmission is
carried out, but not simultaneously. In this system, the signal can either
be sent or received at a time.

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Communication Systems Based on Signal Specifications:

The signal specifications used to decide the type of communication include:
• Nature of Baseband or Informal Signal – two types
• Analog Communication Systems – E.g. TV transmission.
• Digital Communication Systems – E.g. High definition television (HDTV)
transmission and Internet.
• Nature of the Transmitted Signal – two types
• Baseband Communication Systems – the baseband signal is transmitted without
modulation – E.g. Landline telephony and Fax.
• Carrier Communication Systems – the baseband signal is transmitted through a
carrier signal with modulation – E.g. TV transmission, Radio broadcast, and
Cable TV.

MODULATION
Modulation is the process of varying one or more properties of a periodic waveform, called the carrier
signal, with a separate signal called the modulation signal that typically contains information to be
transmitted. A modulator is a device or circuit that performs modulation.
Figure 5.7 illustrates about different types of modulations.

Figure 5.7: Types of Modulation

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AMPLITUDE MODULATION:
Amplitude modulation (AM) is defined as the modulation technique in which the
instantaneous amplitude of the carrier signal is varied in accordance with the instantaneous
amplitude of the analog modulating signal to be transmitted.
The modulating signal is the analog baseband signal which is random and has low frequency
while the carrier signal is always a sinusoidal wave with high frequency. The variations in the
amplitude of carrier signal represent the information carried.
Amplitude modulation has various applications which include radio broadcasting, television
broadcasting, satellite communication, etc.

Figure 5.8 shows the high frequency carrier signal, modulating signal and the modulated signal.

It can be seen from the figure that the amplitude of the carrier signal is varies in
accordance with the modulating signal while the frequency and the phase of the carrier
signal remain unchanged; i.e., modulating signal is superimposed on the carrier signal. The
amplitude variations in the peak values of the carrier signal exactly replicate the modulating
signal at different points in time which is known as an envelope.

Figure 5.8: Waveforms Related to Amplitude Modulation

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FREQUENCY MODULATION:
A modulating signal may vary the frequency of the carrier keeping the amplitude and phase
constant. This type of modulation is called frequency modulation (FM). Frequency modulation is the
process of changing the frequency of the carrier voltage in accordance with the instantaneous
value of the modulating voltage (See Figure 5.9).

Figure 5.9: Waveforms Related to Frequency Modulation

The original frequency of the carrier signal is called centre or resting frequency and denoted by
fc.
The amount by which the frequency of the carrier wave changes or shifts above or below the
resting frequency is termed as frequency deviation, ∆f.
The total variation is frequency of FM wave from the lowest to the highest is termed as carrier
swing (CS), i.e. CS = 2 x frequency deviation in centre frequency.

Amplitude Modulation versus Frequency Modulation:

Amplitude Modulation (AM) Frequency Modulation (FM)
Amplitude of the AM wave will change with Frequency of the FM wave will change with
the modulating voltage; frequency of the AM the modulating voltage; amplitude of the FM
wave is constant. wave is constant.
Transmitted power is dependent of modulation Transmitted power remains constant; and all
index; carrier power and sideband power are the transmitted power is useful.
useless.
AM receivers are not immune to noise. FM receivers are more immune to noise.
Band width is much less than FM. BW is large; hence, wide channel is required.
BW = 2fm; BW is not dependent on modulation BW = 2[∆f + fm]; BW depends on modulation

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index. index.
AM transmitter and receiver equipments are FM transmitter and receiver equipments are
less complex. more complex.

RADIO WAVE PROPOGATION:

Free space is a medium that is free of gravitational or magnetic fields. In space communication
electromagnetic waves of different frequencies are used to carry information through the physical
space acting as the transmission medium. Electromagnetic waves with frequencies extending
from about 10 kHz to 300 GHz are classed as radio waves.
Depending on the frequency, a radio wave travels from the transmitting to the receiving
antenna in several ways. On the basis of the mode of propagation, radio waves can be broadly
classified as (See Figure 5.10):

Figure 5.10: Propagation of e.m. Waves

1. Ground/ Surface Wave propagation: In ground wave propagation, radio waves are
guided by the earth and move along its curved surface from the transmitter to the receiver.
As the wave moves over the ground, they are strongly influenced by the electrical
properties of the ground. As high frequency waves are strongly absorbed by ground,
ground wave propagation is useful only at low frequencies. Below 500 kHz, ground waves
can be used for communication within distances of about 1500 km from the transmitter.
o AM radio broadcast in the medium frequency band cover local areas and take
place primarily by the ground wave.
o The ground waves at higher frequencies employed by frequency modulation
(FM) and television (TV) are increasingly absorbed and therefore become very

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weak beyond a distance of several kilometers from the transmitter.

2. Space or Tropospheric Wave Propagation: When a radio wave transmitted from an
antenna, travelling in a straight line directly reaches the receiving antenna, it is termed
as space or tropospheric wave. In space wave or line of sight propagation, radio waves
move in the earth's troposphere within about 15 km over the surfaceof the earth.
o The space wave is made up of two components:
i. a direct or line-of- sight waveform the transmitting to thereceiving antenna and
ii. the ground-reflected wave traversing form the transmitting antenna to
ground and reflected to the receiving antenna. Television frequencies in the
range 100-220 MHz are transmitted through this mode.

3. Sky wave propagation: In this mode of propagation, radio waves transmitted from the
transmitting antenna reach the receiving antenna after reflection form the ionosphere, i.e.
the ionized layers lying in the earth's upper atmosphere. Short wave transmission around
the globe is possible through sky wave via successive reflections at the ionosphere and
the earth's surface.
The ionized region of the earth's upper atmosphere extending from about 40 km to the height of a
few earth radii above the earth is referred to as the ionosphere. The ionosphere is made up of
electrons, and positive and negative ions in the background of neutral particles of the atmosphere.
The propagation of radio wave through the ionosphere is affected by the electrons and ions in the
ionosphere. The effect of the electrons on the propagation is much greater than that of the ions
since the electronic mass is much less than the ionic mass.

DIGITAL COMMUNICATION
There are two types of signals, continuous-time and discrete-time signals. The processing of
discrete-time signals is more flexible and is also preferable than the continuous-time signals.

Figure 5.11: Sampling an Analog Signal

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The conversion of continuous-time signal into discrete- time signal is governed by the sampling
theorem. Figure 5.11 shows sampling an analog signal.
Sampling theorem states that, any continuous-time signal may be completely represented in its
samples and recovered back if the sampling frequency is greater than or equal to twice the
maximum/ highest frequency component of base band signal; i.e., fs ≥ 2fm. Here, fs is the sampling
frequency and fm is the maximum frequency present in the signal.

When the sampling rate becomes exactly equal to 2fm samples per second; then it is called Nyquist rate.
Nyquist rate is the minimum sampling rate.

Advantages of Digital Communication Over Analog Communication:

1. Digital communication circuits are more reliable.
2. Digital circuits are easy to design and cheaper than analog circuits.
3. The occurrence of cross-talk is very rare in digital communication.
4. The hardware implementation in digital circuits is more flexible than analog.
5. Digital signals can convey information with less noise, distortion, and interference.
6. Digital communication circuits can be reproduced easily in mass quantities at comparatively low
cost.

DIGITAL MODULATION SCHEMES:

As we know, PAM, PWM and PPM are analog pulse modulation methods, because the
modulating signal is analog in nature. In digital communications, the modulating signal consists
of binary data. When it is required to transmit digital signals on a channel, the amplitude,
frequency or phase of the sinusoidal carrier is varied in accordance with the incoming digital
data. Since, the digital data is in discrete steps, the modulation of the sinusoidal carrier is also
done in discrete steps. Hence, this type of modulation is known as digital modulation.

Digital modulation schemes as classified as under:

Amplitude Shift Keying (ASK) – ASK represents digital data as variations in the amplitude of a carrier
wave.

Dr. MAHESH PRASANNA K., VCET, PUTTUR

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Figure 5.12: Amplitude Shift Keying (ASK)

ASK signal may be generated by simply applying the incoming binary data and the sinusoidal
carrier to the two inputs of a product modulator. The demodulation of binary ASK waveform
can be achieved with the help of coherent detector (See Figure 5.12).

Frequency Shift Keying (FSK) – Digital information is transmitted through discrete frequency changes
of a carrier signal. The simplest FSK is binary FSK (BFSK). BFSK uses a pair of discrete frequencies to
transmit binary (0s and 1s) information (See Figure 5.13).

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Figure 5.13: Frequency Shift Keying (FSK)

Phase Shift Keying (PSK) – Conveys data by changing (modulating) the phase of constant frequency carrier.

Figure 5.14: Phase Shift Keying (PSK)

Each symbol is represented by a particular phase. The simplest form of PSK, binary PSK (BPSK), uses phases
00 and 1800. It is widely used for RFID, LANs and Bluetooth Communication (See Figure 5.14).
Because of constant amplitude of FSK or PSK, the effect of non-linearity, noise interference is
minimum on signal detection. These effects are more pronounced on ASK. Therefore, FSK and
PSK are preferred over ASK.

Dr. MAHESH PRASANNA K., VCET, PUTTUR

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Analog Modulation versus Digital Modulation:

Analog Modulation Digital Modulation
An analog modulated signal can represent any A digitally modulated signal can only
value within a range. represent one of a set of discrete values.
Produces a signal that carries continually Produces a signal whose value changes at
changing information. specific intervals of time.
Difficult to separate signal from noise. Signal can be easily separated from noise.
Schemes: AM, FM and PM Schemes: ASK, FSK and PSK

RADIO SIGNAL TRANSMISSION

Figure 5.15 shows the most important components of a wireless transmission system.
The transmitter accepts a stream of bits from the application software. It then encodes these bits
onto a radio wave, known as a carrier, by adjusting parameters of the wave such as its amplitude
or phase.

Figure 5.15: Architecture of Wireless Communication Transmitter

As shown in the Figure, the transmitter usually processes the information in two stages. In the
first stage, a modulator accepts the incoming bits, and computes symbols that represent the
amplitude and phase of the outgoing wave. It then passes these to the analogue transmitter,
which generates the radio wave itself.
The modulation scheme used in Figure 5.15 is known as quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK).
A QPSK modulator takes the incoming bits, two at a time and transmits them using a radio
wave that can have four different states. These have phases of 45°, 135°, 225° and 315°.
We can represent the four states of QPSK using the constellation diagram shown in Figure 5.16.
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Figure 5.16: QPSK Waveform & Constellation Diagram

In this diagram, the distance of each state from the origin represents the amplitude of the
transmitted wave, while the angle (measured anti-clockwise from the x-axis) represents its
phase.
Usually, it is more convenient to represent each symbol using two other numbers, which are
known as the in-phase (I) and quadrature (Q) components. These are computed as follows:
𝐼 = 𝑎 𝐶𝑜𝑠 ∅
𝑄 = 𝑎 𝑆𝑖𝑛 ∅
where a is the amplitude of the transmitted wave and ϕ is its phase.

As shown in Figure 5.17, LTE (Long Term Evolution – standard for wireless broadband communication for 4G
mobile devices) uses four modulation schemes altogether.

Figure 5.17: Modulation Schemes Used by LTE

1. Binary phase shift keying (BPSK) sends bits one at a time, using two states that can be
interpreted as starting phases of 0° and 180°, or as signal amplitudes of +1 and -1. LTE uses

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this scheme for a limited number of control streams, but does not use it for normal data
transmissions.
2. Quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) sends bits two at a time, using four different states,
having phases of 45°, 135°, 225° and 315°.
3. 16 quadrature amplitude modulation (16-QAM) sends bits four at a time, using 16 states
that have different amplitudes and phases.
4. Similarly, 64-QAM sends bits six at a time using 64 different states, so it has a data rate six
times greater than that of BPSK.

MULTIPLE ACCESS TECHNIQUES:

The techniques described so far work well for one-to-one communications. In a cellular network, a
base station has to transmit to many different mobiles at once. This is done by sharing the
resources of the air interface, in a technique known as multiple access.
Mobile communication systems use following different multiple access techniques, (See Figure
5.18).
1. Frequency division multiple access (FDMA) was used by the first generation analogue
systems. In this technique, each mobile receives on its own carrier frequency, which it
distinguishes from the others by the use of analogue filters. The carriers are separated by
unused guard bands, which minimize the interference between them.
2. In time division multiple access (TDMA), mobiles receive information on the same carrier
frequency but at different times.

Figure 5.18: Multiple Access Techniques

GSM (Global System for Mobile) communication uses a mix of frequency and time division
multiple access, in which every cell has several carrier frequencies that are each shared amongst
eight different mobiles. LTE uses another mixed technique known as orthogonal frequency
division multiple access (OFDMA).

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3. Third generation communication systems uses a different technique, known as code

division multiple access (CDMA). In this technique, mobiles receive on the same carrier
frequency and at the same time, but the signals are labeled by the use of codes, which
allow a mobile to separate its own signal from those of the others.

Multiple access is actually a generalization of a simpler technique known as multiplexing. The

difference between the two is that a multiple access system can dynamically change the
allocation of resources to different mobiles, while in a multiplexing system the resource allocation
is fixed.

FDMA versus TDMA versus CDMA:

FDMA TDMA CDMA
Low data rates Medium data rates High data rates
Mode of data is continuous Signal in bursts Digital signal
Capacity of the system is low Capacity of the system is Capacity of the system is large
medium
Synchronization is not required Time synchronization is required Synchronization is not required
Code word not required Code word not required Code word required by mobile
station

FDD AND TDD MODES:

A mobile communication system can operate in the transmission modes as shown in Figure
5.19.
Using frequency division duplex (FDD), the base station and mobile, transmit and receive at
the same time; but using different carrier frequencies.
Using time division duplex (TDD), the base station and mobile, transmit and receive on the
same carrier frequency; but at different times.

FDD and TDD modes have different advantages and disadvantages. In FDD mode, the
bandwidths of the uplink and downlink are fixed and are usually the same. This makes it
suitable for voice communications, in which the uplink and downlink data rates are very similar.

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Figure 5.19: Operations of FDD and TDD Modes

In TDD mode, the system can adjust how much time is allocated to the uplink and downlink.
This makes it suitable for applications such as web browsing, in which the downlink data rate
can be much greater than the rate on the uplink.

TDD mode can be badly affected by interference if, for example, one base station is
transmitting while a nearby base station is receiving. To avoid this, nearby base stations must be
carefully time synchronized and must use the same allocations for the uplink and downlink, so
that they all transmit and receive at the same time. This makes TDD suitable for networks that
are made from isolated hotspots, because each hotspot can have a different timing and
resource allocation.
In contrast, FDD is often preferred for wide-area networks that have no isolated regions.

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FDD versus TDD:

FDD TDD
Uplink and downlink use different frequency. Uplink and downlink use different slots in time; but
both operate in the same frequency.
Data transmission and reception is continuous and Receives data for about the first half of the frame,
simultaneous. and then transmits data for about last half of the
frame.
Simultaneous downlink and uplink transmission. Only uplink or downlink at any time.
No need for synchronization; hence simpler Needs synchronization within the network; hence
implementation. implementation is complex.

By: DR. Mahesh Prasanna K.

Dept. of ECE, VCET.
____________*********____________
*********

Dr. MAHESH PRASANNA K., VCET, PUTTUR

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