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Frequency Modulation
(FM) 5.1 Introduction
In FM the frequency of the carrier is varied in accordance with the
instantaneous value of modulating signal. Here amplitude and phase is
kept constant. To generate a frequency modulated signal, the frequency
of the radio carrier is changed in line with the amplitude of the incoming
audio signal. The frequency of the carrier is made to increase as the
voltage in the information signal increases and to decrease in frequency
as it reduces.

When the audio signal is modulated onto the radio frequency carrier, the
new radio frequency signal moves up and down in frequency. The
amount by which the signal moves up and down is important. It is
known as the deviation and is normally quoted as the number of
kilohertz deviation. As an example, the signal may have a deviation of
plus and minus 3 kHz. In this case the carrier is made to move up and
down by 3 kHz.We can write an FM wave in the form:
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5.2 Modulation index

As in other modulation systems, the modulation index indicates by how
much the modulated variable varies around its unmodulated level. It
relates to variations in the carrier frequency. The modulation index of
FM is defined as:

5.3 Common Applications

Frequency modulation (FM) is most commonly used for radio and
television broadcast. The FM band is divided between a variety of
purposes. Analog television channels 0 through 72 utilize bandwidths
between 54 MHz and 825 MHz. In addition, the FM band also includes
FM radio, which operates from 88 MHz to 108 MHz. Each radio station
utilizes a 38 kHz frequency band to broadcast audio.
5.4 The spectrum of FM
Any signal that is modulated produces sidebands. In the case of an
amplitude modulated signal they are easy to determine, but for
frequency modulation is not quite easy. They are dependent upon the not
only the deviation, but also the level of deviation, i.e. the modulation
index 𝛽. The total spectrum is an infinite series of discrete spectral
components expressed by a complex formula using Bessel functions of
the first kind.
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Based on Bessel function, it can be shown that 𝑠(𝑡) has the series
expansion:

Where 𝐽𝑛(𝛽) is the n-th order Bessel function of the first kind. These
functions can be computed by the series:

A short listing of Bessel function of first kind of order n and discrete

value of argument 𝛽 is shown in Table 5.1, and graph of the function is
shown in Figure 5.1. Note that for very small 𝛽 value 𝐽0(𝛽) approach
unity, while
𝐽1(𝛽) to 𝐽𝑛(𝛽) approach zero.

Figure 5.1: Bessel function of kind 1 and of order 1 to 10.

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Table 6.1:

Figure 5.2 shows frequency spectrum which refers to FM signal in

frequency domain which can be seen on the spectrum analyzer.

Figure 5.2: Frequency spectrum of FM signal

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Important notes:
 FM wave contains an infinite number of sidebands thus suggesting
an infinite bandwidth requirement for transmission or reception. The
sidebands are at (𝑓𝑐 ± 𝑓𝑚) , (𝑓𝑐 ± 2𝑓𝑚), (𝑓𝑐 ± 3𝑓𝑚) ⋯ ⋯
 The number of sideband components are decided by modulation
index value (𝛽).
 The amplitude of sidebands depends on the value of coefficient
𝐽𝑛(𝛽) as given in the Bessel table 6.1.
 The sidebands are symmetry at 𝑓𝑐 Each two sidebands at a similar
distance to 𝑓𝑐 will have the same amplitude. 𝐽𝑛(𝛽) with negative
value shows phase difference of 180°.
5.5 Narrowband FM (NBFM) and Wideband FM (WBFM)
An FM signal produced with low modulation index ( 𝖰 ≪ 𝟏 𝐨𝐫 ∆𝒇 ≪ 𝒇𝒎
) , is called a narrow band FM signal. However, for most purposes we
can ignore the high-order Bessel function contributions and
represent its spectrum with the approximation:

The narrowband FM is similar to AM in that it has sideband components

at ( 𝑓𝑐 ± 𝑓𝑚 ),hence it requires a transmission bandwidth of 2𝑓𝑚. Its
spectrum differs from AM in the two sideband components, by the fact
that they are 180 degrees out of phase”. However, an FM signal with
high modulation index ( 𝖰 ≫ 𝟏 𝐨𝐫 ∆𝒇 ≫ 𝒇𝒎 ) , is called wideband FM
and its bandwidth is approximately 2∆𝑓.
Combining the results of WBFM with that of NBFM leads to
Carson’s Rule, that the
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minimum practical bandwidth required to transmit an FM signal will be

5.6 Bandwidth
A bandwidth gives the frequency spectrum required for transmission.
FM bandwidth depends on modulation index 𝖰. It can be said that the
higher the modulation index, the greater required system bandwidth. FM
signal bandwidth can be calculated using the equations below:

5.7 Power of FM signal

The total power in the infinite spectrum is:

Hence, the carrier power is:

5.8. Generation of NBFM

Narrowband FM, like DSB-LC, is an example of linear modulation. It is
possible to generate NBFM signal by using phase shifter and balance
modulator as shown in figure 5.3
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Figure 5.3: Generation of NBFM.

5.9. Generation of WBFM

One method of generating wideband FM signals is to first produce a
narrowband FM signal and then use frequency multiplication to increase
the modulation index to the desired range of values. This is known as the
indirect method of generating wideband FM signals. A second method,
known as direct method, is to vary the carrier frequency directly with the
modulating signal.
1- Indirect Method
This method is called as Indirect Method because we are generating a
wide band FM wave indirectly. This means, first we will generate
NBFM wave and then with the help of frequency multipliers we will get
WBFM wave. The block diagram of generation of WBFM wave is
shown in the following figure.
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Figure 5.4: Indirect method for WBFM Generation

This block diagram contains mainly two stages. In the first stage, the
NBFM wave will be generated using NBFM modulator. We have seen
the block diagram of NBFM modulator at the previous section. We
know that the modulation index of NBFM wave is less than one. Hence,
in order to get the required modulation index (greater than one) of FM
wave, choose the frequency multiplier value properly. Frequency
multiplier is a non- linear device, which produces an output signal whose
frequency is ‘n’ times the input signal frequency. Where, ‘n’ is the
multiplication factor.
2- Direct Method
This method is called as the Direct Method because we are generating a
wide band FM wave directly. In this method, Voltage Controlled
Oscillator (VCO) is used to generate WBFM.VCO produces an output
signal, whose frequency is proportional to the input signal voltage. This
is similar to the definition of FM wave. The block diagram of the
generation of WBFM wave is shown in the following figure.
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Figure 5.5: Direct method for WBFM Generation.

5.10 Demodulation of FM
The most popular method for FM demodulation is the Phase Locked
Loop (PLL). The working of a PLL FM demodulator is very easy to
understand. The input FM signal and the output of the VCO are applied
to the phase detector circuit. The output of the phase detector is filtered
using a low pass filter, the amplifier and then used for controlling the
VCO. When there is no carrier modulation and the input FM signal is in
the center of the pass band (i.e. carrier wave only) the VCO’s tune line
voltage will be at the center position. When deviation in carrier
frequency occurs (that means modulation occurs) the VCO frequency
follows the input signal in order to keep the loop in lock. As a result the
tune line voltage to the VCO varies and this variation is proportional to
the modulation done to the FM carrier wave. This voltage variation is
filtered and amplified in order to get the demodulated signal.
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Figure 5.6: PLL FM demodulator circuit.

Example: A 10 MHz carrier is frequency modulated by a pure signal

tone of frequency 8 kHz. The frequency deviation is 32 KHz. Calculate
the bandwidth of the resulting FM waveform.
Solution:
𝐵𝑊 = 2( 𝑓𝑚 + ∆𝑓 )
𝐵𝑊 = 2( 8 + 32 )
𝐵𝑊 = 80 KHz
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H.w/
1. A sinusoidal message signal of frequency of 1 KHz is used as a
modulating signal in an AM and FM system. The unmodulated carrier
amplitude is the same in both systems. The peak frequency deviation of
the FM system is set to 4 times the bandwidth of the AM system. The
magnitudes of the spectral components at (𝑓𝑐 ∓1000 Hz) are equal for
both systems. Determine the modulation index for the AM and FM
system.

2. State Carson’s Rule for the bandwidth of an FM signal. A 10 MHz

carrier is frequency modulated by a sinusoidal baseband signal such that
the frequency deviation is 50 KHz. Estimate the bandwidth of the FM
signal if the frequency of the modulating
signal is:
(i) 500 KHz,
(ii) 500 Hz.
In each case, state whether narrowband or wideband FM is used.

3. Determine the power distribution in carrier and sidebands if the

transmitted power is 1000 watt and the modulation index is 1.