Module 1: Basics of Communication System

A
transmitter A
is a transduce
device r is a
that device
creates Transducer: There can be various messages in the form of words, group of words, that
and codes, symbols, measured parameters like level, pressure etc, and of course sound converts
sends
signals.
signal. Transducer induces a different type of signal. Input Transducer converts one form
Message signal to Electrical signal and Output Transducer converts Electrical signal of energy
It's like a into
sender in to Message signal. For example, when Message signal is voice, Input Transducer is another.
a
communic
Microphone and Output Transducer is Speaker.
into
ation electrical
system. Transmitter: Inside the transmitter, signal processing such as restriction of range of
signals or
audio frequencies (to limit noise), amplification (for long-distance radio vice
communication) and modulation (message signal is superimposed upon the high versa.
frequency carrier signal) are achieved.

Channel is Channel: Channel refers to the physical medium (wire-line of wireless) through
In wireless
the medium which the message travels from the transmitter to the receiver. There are two types of communicati
or path channels, namely point-to-point channels and broadcast channels. on systems,
through signals
which Wirelines (operate by guided electromagnetic waves, used for local telephony), travel
information
is Microwave links (used in long-distance telephony) and Optical Fibres (low-loss, guided through the
air, using
transmitted optical medium) are examples of point-to-point channels. radio
from a frequency
sender The broadcast channels provide a capability where several receiving stations can be (RF) or
(transmitter) reached simultaneously from a single transmitter. An example of a broadcast channel microwave
to a receiver
is a satellite in geostationary orbit, which covers about one-third of the earth's surface. frequencies.
Examples
During the process of transmission and reception, the signal gets distorted and noise include
radio and
gets introduced in the system. television
broadcasting
, Wi-Fi, and
cellular
Page 1 communicati
Wired channels involve physical cables or transmission lines to carry signals. This includes traditional on.
telephone lines, coaxial cables for cable TV, and optical fibers for high-speed internet.
By Distortion, we mean unwanted changes (like in Amplitude, Shape, and Timing) of
the transmitted signal. We will talk about the regenerators after introducing Analog &
Digital signals.
Whereas, Noise is an unwanted signal which tends to interfere with the transmitted
signal. Noise signal is always random in character. We will discuss more about noise
along with bandwidth.
Receiver: Function of the receiver is to reproduce the message signal in electrical
form from the distorted received signal. This reproduction is accomplished by
Demodulation, which is the reverse process of modulation carried out in transmitter.
In coherent detection the local carrier generated at the receiver is phase-locked with
the carrier at the transmitter. Hence it is also called synchronous detection. In non
coherent detection the local carrier generated at the receiver need not be phase-locked
with the carrier at the transmitter.

Analog and Digital signals

Analog Signals Digital Signals

Continuous signals Discrete signals

Represented by sine waves Represented by square waves

Human voice, natural sound, analog Computers, optical drives, and other
electronic devices digital electronic devices

Continuous range of values Discontinuous values

Records sound waves as they are Converts into a binary waveform

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More about Distortions and Regenerators
Possible distortion of transmitted signal and measures to recover the original signal by
using 3R Regenerators are shown in the figure below.

1R Resizing: Amplification by say, NPN Transistor in CE mode

2R Reshaping: Using LPF (say by using C in shunt) to even out variations
(contour/envelope detection), Adding Harmonics to square out, Using Schmitt Trigger

3R Retiming: say, by synchronizing with local reference clock

Inter-symbol Interference (ISI)
ISI arises when the data transmitted through the channel is dispersive, in which each
received pulse is affected somewhat by adjacent pulses and due to which interference
occurs in the transmitted signals as illustrated in the figure below. We do not discuss
Equalization to alleviate ISI

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Bandwidth and more about Noise
Bandwidth is the total range of frequency (measured in Hz) required to pass a specific
signal that has been modulated to carry data without distortion or loss of data.
Transmitters and receivers have bandwidths. The "wider" the receiver's bandwidth is,
the more information it can receive on different frequencies.
The term bandwidth is used metaphorically for the carrying ability of Internet carriers.
For example, if you can receive information from the Internet over a slow modem,
you get less information per second than if you were connected to a fast modem.
Thus, you have "low bandwidth" and the Internet appears slower to you.
For transmitting speech, the frequency range of 300 Hz to 3100 Hz is sufficient and
hence the current telephones operate at a bandwidth of 2800 Hz. Transmission of
music requires a bandwidth of the signal of 20 kHz because of the various instruments
with a variety of pitches.
Note 1: Band Width is analogous to Bit Rate for Digital signals, measured in bps.
Note 2: Too narrow a bandwidth will result in loss of data. Too wide a bandwidth will
pass excessive noise.
AWGN: Noise is Random and usually modeled as Additive, White (having equal
intensity at different frequencies, giving it a constant power spectral density), and
Gaussian (having Gaussian distribution). Say No is the uniform p.s.d. of AWGN, B is
the Bandwidth. Then if Ps is the Transmitted Signal Power, NoB is the Noise Power
which is added to Ps. Note that, doubling B will double Noise Power but may not
double Signal Power.
SNR (Signal to Noise Ratio): Ratio of Signal Power and Noise Power, measured in
Decibel (dB). SNR = 10 log10 (Ps/Pn). SNR needs to be high (25 to 40dB is good),
else Errors will be introduced. Signal strength doubles every 3dB.
Ps = Pn => SNR is 0 dB, Ps = 10 Pn => SNR is 10 dB,
SNR ↑ to 40dB from 37dB => Ps doubled for same Pn / Pn halved for same Ps

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What are radio waves?
Radio waves are part of a larger group of waves classified all together
as electromagnetic radiation. This large group of waves is broken down into smaller
groups based upon their frequencies and wavelengths. Below is an illustration of how
electromagnetic radiation is broken down into groups. The section that covers radio
waves is marked Radio Frequencies. The list of examples on the left is there to give
you an idea of how long the wavelength is for that type of wave.

Note: f = c / λ, where f is frequency in Hz, c is speed of light (3 x 1010 cm/s) in

vacuum and λ is wavelength in cm. λ = 100 cm => f = 3 x 108 Hz = 300 MHz

Sample Numericals for Module 1

Q1. Violin generates frequencies from 200 Hz to 3100 Hz and Bass Guitar from 30
Hz to 450 Hz. What is the bandwidth of the generated orchestra before modulation?
Q2. A digital voice signal takes 64 Kbps to transmit. How many voice signals can be
transmitted with a T1 line of 1.544 Mbps?
Q3. SNR was 29 dB. Without changing bandwidth, signal power was increased 4
times. What will be new SNR?
Q4. SNR was 29 dB. Bandwidth was doubled and in the process, signal power got
increased 4 times. What will be new SNR?
Q5. Find the p.s.d of AWGN (with unit) if Signal power of 1mW (milliWatt) gives
SNR of 30 dB with channel bandwidth of 5 KHz
Q6. What is the range of Micro waves in terms of frequency (use figure above)?
Q7. Minimum antenna height for a vertical antenna is given as λ/4 (this information
will not be given after Module 2). Find minimum antenna height required with 1 GHz
transmission.

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