Communication Systems

(ECEg4271)

By: H/MARYAM G.

Megabit 20, 2014 E.C.

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 CHAPTER III
Digital Modulation Techniques
▶ Introduction
▶ Advantages of Digital Communication
▶ Bandpass Modulation
▶ ASK, FSK, PSK and QAM
▶ Coherent Detection vs Noncoherent Detection
▶ Asynchronous ASK Demodulation/detection
▶ Synchronous ASK Demodulation/detection

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Introduction
▶ The conventional methods of communication used analog signals for long
distance communications, which suffer from many losses such as distortion,
interference, and other losses including security breach.
▶ In order to overcome these problems, the signals are digitized using different
techniques.
▶ The digitized signals allow the communication to be more clear and accu-
rate without losses.
▶ The goal of a digital communication system is to deliver information rep-
resented by a sequence of binary symbols, through a physical channel, to
a user.
▶ The mapping of these symbols into signals, selected to match the features
of the physical channel, is called digital modulation.

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Introduction
▶ As the signals are digitized, there are many advantages of digital commu-
nication over analog communication, such as:
1. The effect of distortion, noise, and interference is much less in digital signals as they
are less affected.
2. Digital circuits are more reliable, easy to design and cheaper than analog circuits.
3. Hardware implementation in digital circuits are more flexible than analog.
4. The occurrence of cross-talk is very rare in digital communication.
5. The signal is un-altered as the pulse needs a high disturbance to alter its properties,
which is very difficult.
6. Signal processing functions such as encryption and compression are employed in
digital circuits to maintain the secrecy of the information.
7. The probability of error occurrence is reduced by employing error detecting and error
correcting codes.
8. Spread spectrum technique is used to avoid signal jamming.
9. Many of the digital circuits have almost common encoding techniques and the con-
figuring process is easier than analog signals.
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Introduction
▶ Digital data needs to be carried on an analog signal. A carrier signal
(frequency fc ) performs the function of transporting the digital data in an
analog waveform.
▶ The analog carrier signal is manipulated to uniquely identify the digital
data being carried.
▶ Digital modulation provides more information capacity, high data security,
quicker system availability with great quality communication. Hence, dig-
ital modulation techniques have a greater demand, for their capacity to
convey larger amounts of data than analog ones.
▶ There are many types of digital modulation techniques and we can even
use a combination of these techniques as well.

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Introduction

Figure 1: Representation of signals.

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Why Modulation?
▶ Digital modulation is the process by which digital symbols are transformed
into waveforms that are compatible with the characteristics of the channel.
▶ In the case of baseband modulation, these waveforms usually take the
form of shaped pulses.
▶ But in the case of bandpass modulation the shaped pulses modulate a
sinusoid called a carrier wave, or simply a carrier; for radio transmission
the carrier is converted to an electromagnetic (EM) field for propagation
to the desired destination.
▶ One might ask why it is necessary to use a carrier for the radio
transmission of baseband signals. The answer is as follows.
▶ The transmission of EM fields through space is accomplished with the use
of antennas. The size of the antenna depends on the wavelength and the
application.
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Why Modulation?
▶ For cellular telephones, antennas are typically λ /4 in size, where wavelength
is equal to c/ f , and c, the speed of light, is 3 × 108 m/s.
▶ Consider sending a baseband signal (say, f = 3000 Hz) by coupling it to
an antenna directly without a carrier wave. How large would the antenna
have to be?
Let us size it by using the telephone industry benchmark of λ /4 as the antenna
dimension. For the 3, 000 Hz baseband signal, λ /4 = 2.5 × 104 m ≈ 15 miles.
To transmit a 3000 Hz signal through space, without carrier-wave modulation, an
antenna that spans 15 miles would be required.
▶ However, if the baseband information is first modulated on a higher fre-
quency carrier, for example a 900 MHz carrier, the equivalent antenna
diameter would be about 8 cm.
▶ For this reason, carrier-wave or bandpass modulation is an essential step
for all systems involving radio transmission.
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Why Modulation?
▶ Bandpass modulation can provide other important benefits in signal trans-
mission.
▶ If more than one signal utilizes a single channel, modulation may be used
to separate the different signals. Such a technique, known as frequency-
division multiplexing.
▶ Modulation can be used to minimize the effects of interference. A class of
such modulation schemes, known as spread-spectrum modulation, requires
a system bandwidth much larger than the minimum bandwidth that would
be required by the message.
▶ Modulation can also be used to place a signal in a frequency band where
design requirements, such as filtering and amplification, can be easily met.
▶ This is the case when radio-frequency (RF) signals are converted to an
intermediate frequency (IF) in a receiver.
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Bandpass Modulation
▶ Bandpass modulation (either analog or digital) is the process by which
an information signal is converted to a sinusoidal waveform; for digital
modulation, such a sinusoid of duration T is referred to as a digital symbol.
▶ The sinusoid has just three features that can be used to distinguish it from
other sinusoids: amplitude, frequency, and phase.
▶ Thus bandpass modulation can be defined as the process whereby the
amplitude, frequency, or phase of an RF carrier, or a combination of them,
is varied in accordance with the information to be transmitted.
▶ The general form of the carrier wave is:

s(t) = A(t) cos[2π fct + ϕ(t)] (1)

here, A(t) is called the time-varying amplitude and ϕ(t) the phase of the carrier.
Before this carrier is transmitted, data are used to modulate or change its amplitude,
frequency, phase or some combination of these.
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Bandpass Modulation
▶ The basic bandpass modulation/demodulation types are listed in Figure 2.
▶ When the receiver exploits knowledge of the carrier’s phase to detect the
signals, the process is called coherent detection; when the receiver does
not utilize such phase reference information, the process is called nonco-
herent detection.
▶ In ideal coherent detection, there is available at the receiver a prototype
of each possible arriving signal. These prototype waveforms attempt to
duplicate the transmitted signal set in every respect, even RF phase.
▶ The receiver is then said to be phase locked to the incoming signal.
During demodulation, the receiver multiplies and integrates (correlates)
the incoming signal with each of its prototype replicas.
▶ Under the heading of coherent modulation/demodulation in Figure 2 are
listed phase shift keying, frequency shift keying, amplitude shift keying,
continuous phase modulation, and hybrid combinations.
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Bandpass Modulation

Figure 2: Basic digital communication transformations.

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Bandpass Modulation
▶ Noncoherent demodulation refers to systems employing demodulators
that are designed to operate without knowledge of the absolute value of
the incoming signal’s phase; therefore, phase estimation is not required.
▶ Thus the advantage of noncoherent over coherent systems is reduced com-
plexity, and the price paid is increased probability of error (PE).
▶ In Figure 2 the modulation/demodulation types that are listed in the non-
coherent column, DPSK, FSK, ASK, CPM, and hybrids, are similar to those
listed in the coherent column.
▶ We had implied that phase information is not used for noncoherent recep-
tion; how do you account for the fact that there is a form of phase shift keying under
the noncoherent heading? It turns out that an important form of PSK can be classified
as noncoherent (or differentially coherent) since it does not require a reference in phase
with the received carrier.
▶ This ”pseudo-PSK,” termed Differential PSK, utilizes phase information of
the prior symbol as a phase reference for detecting the current symbol.
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Bandpass Modulation
▶ Because baseband digital signals have sizable power at low frequencies,
they are suitable for transmission over a pair of wires or coaxial cables.
▶ Baseband digital signals cannot be transmitted over a radio link because
this would require impractically large antennas to efficiently radiate the
low-frequency spectrum of the signal.
▶ Hence, for such purposes, we use analog modulation techniques in which
the digital messages are used to modulate a high-frequency continuous-
wave (CW) carrier.
▶ In binary modulation schemes, the modulation process corresponds to
switching (or keying) the amplitude, frequency, or phase of the CW carrier
between either of two values corresponding to binary symbols 0 and 1.
▶ The three types of digital modulation are amplitude-shift keying, frequency-
shift keying, and phase-shift keying.
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Bandpass Modulation
▶ All media used for transmission act as filters that attenuate different fre-
quencies by different values. So it is beneficial to move the spectrum of a
signal to a frequency that is less susceptible to attenuation over a medium.
▶ Higher frequencies (smaller wavelengths) can reduce the size of the antenna
and thus the transceiver. Again, this makes it necessary to move the
spectrum to a higher frequency range.
▶ In processing signals, circuits are sometimes designed to best operate in
only a certain range of frequencies. The same circuit may have to be used
used to process signals that occupy different frequency bands.
▶ A common way of separating such different transmissions is to use separated
frequency bands for these transmissions.
▶ Once again, this implies that the spectrum of a signal must be shifted
to the range of frequencies that it is allowed to occupy. Modulation is
necessary in all of the above scenarios.
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Digital Modulation Techniques
▶ There are many types of digital modulation techniques and we can even
use a combination of these techniques as well.

Figure 3: Different classes of digital modulation.

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Digital Modulation
▶ Amplitude Shift Keying (ASK): The amplitude of the resultant output
depends upon the input data whether it should be a zero level or a variation
of positive and negative, depending upon the carrier frequency.
▶ Frequency Shift Keying (FSK): The frequency of the output signal will be
either high or low, depending upon the input data applied.
▶ Phase Shift Keying (PSK): The phase of the output signal gets shifted
depending upon the input. These are mainly of two types, namely Binary
Phase Shift Keying (BPSK) and Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK),
according to the number of phase shifts. The other one is Differential Phase
Shift Keying (DPSK) which changes the phase according to the previous
value.

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Amplitude Shift Keying (ASK)
▶ Amplitude shift keying is a type of Amplitude Modulation which represents
the binary data in the form of variations in the amplitude of a signal.
▶ Any modulated signal has a high frequency carrier. The binary signal when
ASK modulated, gives a zero value for Low input while it gives the carrier
output for High input.

Figure 4: ASK modulated waveform

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ASK Modulator
▶ The ASK modulator block diagram comprises of the carrier signal gener-
ator, the binary sequence from the message signal and the band-limited
filter. Following is the block diagram of the ASK Modulator.

Figure 5: ASK generation method.

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ASK Modulator
▶ The carrier generator, sends a continuous high-frequency carrier. The bi-
nary sequence from the message signal makes the unipolar input to be
either High or Low.
▶ The high signal closes the switch, allowing a carrier wave. Hence, the
output will be the carrier signal at high input. When there is low input,
the switch opens, allowing no voltage to appear. Hence, the output will be
low.
▶ The band-limiting filter, shapes the pulse depending upon the amplitude
and phase characteristics of the band-limiting filter or the pulse-shaping
filter.

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ASK Demodulator
▶ There are two types of ASK Demodulation techniques.
i. Asynchronous ASK Demodulation/detection
ii. Synchronous ASK Demodulation/detection
▶ The clock frequency at the transmitter when matches with the clock fre-
quency at the receiver, it is known as a Synchronous method, as the fre-
quency gets synchronized. Otherwise, it is known as Asynchronous.
▶ The Asynchronous ASK detector consists of a half-wave rectifier, a low
pass filter, and a comparator. Following Fig. 6 is the block diagram for
the Asynchronous ASK detector.
▶ The modulated ASK signal is given to the half-wave rectifier, which delivers
a positive half output. The low pass filter suppresses the higher frequencies
and gives an envelope detected output from which the comparator delivers
a digital output.
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Asynchronous ASK Demodulator

Figure 6: Asynchronous ASK Demodulator

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Synchronous ASK Demodulator
▶ Synchronous ASK detector consists of a Square law detector, low pass
filter, a comparator, and a voltage limiter. Following Fig. 7 is the block
diagram for the same.
▶ The ASK modulated input signal is given to the Square law detector. A
square law detector is one whose output voltage is proportional to the
square of the amplitude modulated input voltage.
▶ The low pass filter minimizes the higher frequencies. The comparator and
the voltage limiter help to get a clean digital output.

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Synchronous ASK Demodulator

Figure 7: Synchronous ASK Demodulator

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Frequency Shift Keying (FSK)
▶ FSK is the digital modulation technique in which the frequency of the
carrier signal varies according to the digital signal changes.
▶ The output of a FSK modulated wave is high in frequency for a binary
High input and is low in frequency for a binary Low input. The binary 1’s
and 0’s are called Mark and Space frequencies.

Figure 8: FSK modulated waveform

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Phase Shift Keying (PSK)
▶ We vary the phase shift of the carrier signal to represent digital data.
▶ PSK technique is widely used for wireless LANs, bio-metric, contactless
operations, along with RFID and Bluetooth communications.

Figure 9: PSK modulated waveform

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 Any Questions?
END

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