Chapter 3

Antenna & Modulation

3.1. Basics of EM waves

Radio signals exist as a form of electromagnetic wave. This is the same form of radiation as
light, ultra-violet, infra-red, etc., differing only in the wavelength or frequency of the radiation.

Electromagnetic radiation can travel through many forms of medium. Air and free space form
ideal media. However conductive media like metals form a barrier through which they do not
travel. There are also some media through which they can travel but are attenuated.
Electromagnetic Waves: e/m radiation

Electromagnetic waves or E/M radiation are the basic wave type that are used for radio waves,
light and many more forms of radiation.

Electromagnetic wave wavelength, frequency & velocity

There are a number of basic properties of electromagnetic waves, or any repetitive waves that are
particularly important. Frequency, wavelength and speed are three key parameters for any
electromagnetic wave.

 E/m wave speed: Radio waves travel at the same speed as light. For most practical
purposes the speed is taken to be 300 000 000 meters per second although a more exact
value is 299 792 500 meters per second. Although exceedingly fast, they still take a finite
time to travel over a given distance. With modern radio techniques, the time for a signal to
propagate over a certain distance needs to be taken into account. Radar for example uses the
fact that signals take a certain time to travel to determine the distance of a target. Other
applications such as mobile phones also need to take account of the time taken for signals to
travel to ensure that the critical timings in the system are not disrupted and that signals do
not overlap.
 E/m wave wavelength: This is the distance between a given point on one cycle and the
same point on the next cycle as shown. The easiest points to choose are the peaks as these

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 are the easiest to locate. The wavelength was used in the early days of radio or wireless to
determine the position of a signal on the dial of a set. Although it is not used for this purpose
today, it is nevertheless an important feature of any radio signal or for that matter any
electromagnetic wave. The position of a signal on the dial of a radio set or its position
within the radio spectrum is now determined by its frequency, as this provides a more
accurate and convenient method for determining the properties of the signal.
 Frequency: This is the number of times a particular point on the wave moves up and down
in a given time (normally a second). The unit of frequency is the Hertz and it is equal to one
cycle per second. The frequencies used in radio are usually very high.

3.2. Types of Antenna & Antenna parameters

What is an Antenna

If two people want to communicate who are at longer distances, then we have to convert these
sound waves into electromagnetic waves. The device, which converts the required information
signal into electromagnetic waves, is known as an Antenna.

An Antenna is a transducer, which converts electrical power into electromagnetic waves and vice
versa.

An Antenna can be used either as a transmitting antenna or a receiving antenna.

 A transmitting antenna is one, which converts electrical signals into electromagnetic

waves and radiates them.
 A receiving antenna is one, which converts electromagnetic waves from the received
beam into electrical signals.
 In two-way communication, the same antenna can be used for both transmission and
reception.

In order to contact a remote area, the wiring has to be laid down throughout the whole route
along the valleys, the mountains, the tedious paths, the tunnels etc., to reach the remote location.
The evolution of wireless technology has made this whole process very simple. Antenna is the
key element of this wireless technology.

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Antenna parameters

 Antenna Gain
 Aperture
 Directivity and bandwidth
 Polarization
 Polar diagram

Antenna Gain: In electromagnetics, an antenna's power gain or simply gain is a key

performance number which combines the antenna's directivity and electrical efficiency. In a
transmitting antenna, the gain describes how well the antenna converts input power into radio
00waves headed in a specified direction. In a receiving antenna, the gain describes how well the
antenna converts radio waves arriving from a specified direction into electrical power.

Aperture (hole): This aperture is also known as the effective aperture of the antenna that
actively participate in transmission and reception of electromagnetic waves. The power received
by the antenna gets associated with collective area. This collected area of an antenna is known as
effective aperture.

Directivity and Bandwidth: The directive of an antenna is defined as the measure of

concentrated power radiation in a particular direction. It may be considered as the capability of
an antenna to direct radiated power in a given direction. It can also be noted as the ratio of the
radiation intensity in a given direction to the average radiation intensity.

On the other hand, a band of frequencies in a wavelength, specified for the particular
communication, is known as bandwidth. The signal when transmitted or received is done over a
range of frequencies. These particular ranges of frequencies are allotted to a particular signal, so
that other signals may not interfere in its transmission.

 Bandwidth is the band of frequencies between the higher and lower frequencies over
which a signal is transmitted.
 The bandwidth once allotted, cannot be used by others.
 The whole spectrum is divided into bandwidths to allot to different transmitters.

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Polarization: An electromagnetic wave launched from an antenna may be polarized vertically
and horizontally. If the wave gets polarized in the vertical direction, then the E vector is vertical
and it requires a vertical antenna. If vector E is in horizontal way, it needs a horizontal antenna to
launch it. Sometimes, circular polarization is used; it is a combination of both horizontal and
vertical ways. An antenna is a transducer that converts radio frequency electric current to
electromagnetic waves that are then radiated into space. The electric field or "E" plane
determines the polarization or orientation of the radio wave. In general, most antennas radiate
either linear or circular polarization. A linear polarized antenna radiates wholly in one plane
containing the direction of propagation. In a circular polarized antenna, the plane of polarization
rotates in a circle making one complete revolution during one period of the wave. If the rotation
is clockwise looking in the direction of propagation, the sense is called right-hand-circular
(RHC). If the rotation is counterclockwise, the sense is called left-hand-circular (LHC). An
antenna is said to be vertically polarized (linear) when its electric field is perpendicular to the
Earth's surface. An example of a vertical antenna is a broadcast tower for AM radio or the
"whip" antenna on an automobile. Horizontally polarized (linear) antennas have their electric
field parallel to the Earth's surface. Television transmissions in the USA use horizontal
polarization. A circular polarized wave radiates energy in both the horizontal and vertical planes
and all planes in between. The difference, if any, between the maximum and the minimum peaks
as the antenna is rotated through all angles, is called the axial ratio or ellipticity and is usually
specified in decibels (dB). If the axial ratio is near 0 dB, the antenna is said to be circular
polarized. If the axial ratio is greater than 1-2 dB, the polarization is often referred to as
elliptical.

Maximum signal strength between stations occurs when both stations are using identical
polarization. When choosing an antenna, it is an important consideration as to whether the
polarization is linear or elliptical. If the polarization is linear, is it vertical or horizontal? If
circular, is it RHC or LHC?

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Types of Antennas

A classification of antennas can be based on:

 Frequency and size

Antennas used for HF are different from the ones used for VHF, which in turn are different
from antennas for microwave. The wavelength is different at different frequencies, so the
antennas must be different in size to radiate signals at the correct wavelength.

 Directivity

Antennas can be omnidirectional, sectorial or directive. Omnidirectional antennas radiate the

same pattern all around the antenna in a complete 360 degrees pattern. The most popular
types of omnidirectional antennas are the Dipole-Type and the Ground Plane. Sectorial antennas
radiate primarily in a specific area. The beam can be as wide as 180 degrees, or as narrow as 60
degrees. Directive antennas are antennas in which the bandwidth is much narrower than in
sectorial antennas. They have the highest gain and are therefore used for long distance
links. Types of directive antennas are the Yagi, the biquad, the horn, the helicoidal, the patch
antenna, the Parabolic Dish and many others.

 Physical construction
Antennas can be constructed in many different ways, ranging from simple wires to parabolic
dishes, up to coffee cans.

 Application
We identify two application categories which are Base Station and Point-to-Point. Each of these
suggests different types of antennas for their purpose. Base Stations are used for multipoint
access. Two choices are Omni antennas which radiate equally in all directions, or Sectorial
antennas, which focus into a small area. In the Point-to-Point case, antennas are used to connect
two single locations together. Directive antennas are the primary choice for this application.

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Analog and Digital Signals

To say a signal is analog simply means that the signal is continuous in time and amplitude. Take,
for example, a standard mercury glass thermometer. This device is analog because the
temperature reading is updated constantly and changes at any time interval. A new value of
temperature can be obtained whether you look at the thermometer 1 s later, half a second later, or
a millionth of a second later, assuming temperature can change that fast. The readings from the
thermometer are also continuous in amplitude. This means that assuming your eyes are sensitive
enough to read the mercury level, readings of 37, 37.4, or 37.440183432°C are possible. In
actuality, most cardiac signals of interest are analog by nature. For example, voltages recorded
on the body surface and cardiac motion is continuous functions in time and amplitude.

Analog signals suffer one major drawback – their susceptibility to noise and distortion. Consider
an audio tape with your favorite classical music performance that you bought in the 1980s.

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Chances are that the audio quality has degraded since the tape was purchased. Also consider the

situation where a duplicate of the tape was made. The copy of the tape would not have the same
quality as the original. If a duplicate of the duplicate of the duplicate was made, the
imperfections of the duplication process would add up. In an analog system, noise cannot be
easily removed once it has entered the system.

Digital Signal

Digital systems attempt to overcome the analog system’s susceptibility to noise by sacrificing the
infinite time and amplitude resolution to obtain perfect reproduction of the signal, no matter how
long it has been stored or how many times it has been duplicated. That is why your audio CD

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purchased in the 1990s (assuming it is not too scratched up) will sound the same as when you
first purchased it. The advantages can also be readily seen in the cardiology field. For example,
making photocopies of an ECG tracing will result in loss of quality. However, printing a new
copy from the saved digital file will give you a perfect reproduction every time. The discrete
time and discrete amplitude nature of the digital signal provide a buffer to noise that may enter
the system through transmission or otherwise. Digital signals are usually stored and transmitted
in the form of ones and zeros. If a digital receiver knows that only zeros or ones are being
transmitted and when approximately to expect them, there is a certain acceptable level of noise
that the receiver can handle.

Beyond the advantages of noise robustness during reproduction and transmission, digital signals
have many other advantages. These include the ability to use computer algorithms to filter the
signal, data compression to save storage space, and signal processing to extract information that
may not be possible through manual human analysis. Thus there can be a large benefit in
converting many of the signals that are used in cardiology to digital form.

Modulation and Demodulation

In telecommunications, modulation is a process of conveying message signal, for example, a

digital bit stream or an analog audio signal, inside another signal that can be physically
transmitted. As discussed earlier, a high frequency carrier wave is used to carry the audio signal.
The question arises how the audio signal should be ‘‘added’’ to the carrier wave. The solution
lies in changing some characteristic of carrier wave in accordance with the signal. Under such
conditions, the audio signal will be contained in the resultant wave. This process is called
modulation and may be defined as under:

The process of changing some characteristic (e.g. amplitude, frequency or phase) of a carrier
wave in accordance with the intensity of the signal is known as modulation. Modulation means
to “change”. In modulation, some characteristic of carrier wave is changed in accordance with
the intensity (i.e. amplitude) of the signal. The resultant wave is called modulated wave or radio
wave and contains the audio signal. Therefore, modulation permits the transmission to occur at
high frequency while it simultaneously allows the carrying of the audio signal.

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Modulation of a sine waveform transforms a narrow frequency range baseband message signal
into a moderate to high frequency range passband signal, one that can pass through a filter. A
modulator is a device that performs modulation. A demodulator (sometimes detector or
demod) is a device that performs demodulation, the inverse of modulation. A modem (from
modulator–demodulator) can perform both operations.

The aim of analog modulation is to transfer an analog baseband (or low pass) signal, for
example an audio signal or TV signal, over an analog band pass channel at a different frequency,
for example over a limited radio frequency band or a cable TV network channel. The aim of
digital modulation is to transfer a digital bit stream over an analog band pass channel, for
example over the public switched telephone network (where a band pass filter limits the
frequency range to 300–3400 Hz) or over a limited radio frequency band. Analog and digital
modulation facilitate frequency division multiplexing (FDM), where several low pass
information signals are transferred simultaneously over the same shared physical medium, using
separate passband channels (several different carrier frequencies).

Radio Broadcasting, Transmission and Reception

Radio communication means the radiation of radio waves by the transmitting station, the
propagation of these waves through space and their reception by the radio receiver. The
following figure shows the general principles of radio broadcasting, transmission and reception.
As a matter of convenience, the entire arrangement can be divided into three parts; transmitter,
transmission of radio waves and radio receiver.

1. Transmitter: Transmitter is extremely important equipment and is housed in the broad

casting station. Its purpose is to produce radio waves for transmission into space. The important
components of a transmitter are microphone, audio amplifiers, oscillator and modulator.

(i) Microphone. A microphone is a device which converts sound waves into electrical waves.
When the speaker speaks or a musical instrument is played, the varying air pressure on the
micro-phone generates an audio electrical signal which corresponds in frequency to the original

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signal. The output of microphone is fed to a multistage audio amplifier for raising the strength of
weak signal.

(ii) Audio amplifier: The audio signal from the microphone is quite weak and requires
amplification. This job is accomplished by cascaded audio amplifiers. The amplified output
from the last audio amplifier is fed to the modulator for rendering the process of modulation.

(iii) Oscillator. The function of oscillator is to produce a high frequency signal, called a carrier
wave. The power level of the carrier wave is raised to a sufficient level by radio frequency
amplifier stages. Most of the broadcasting stations have carrier wave power of several kilowatts.
Such high power is necessary for transmitting the signal to the required distances.

(iv) Modulator: - The amplified audio signal and carrier wave are fed to the modulator. Here,
the audio signal is superimposed on the carrier wave in a suitable manner. The resultant waves
are called modulated waves or radio waves and the process is called modulation. The process of
modulation permits the transmission of audio signal at the carrier frequency. As the carrier
frequency is very high, therefore, the audio signal can be transmitted to large distances. The
radio waves from the transmitter are fed to the transmitting antenna or aerial from where these
are radiated into space.

Figure 3.2: broadcasting, transmission and reception

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2. Transmission of radio waves: The transmitting antenna radiates the radio waves in space in
all directions. These radio waves travel with the velocity of light i.e. 3 × 108m/sec. The radio
waves are electromagnetic waves and possess the same general properties.

3. Radio receiver. On reaching the receiving antenna, the radio waves induce tiny e.m.f. in it.
This small voltage is fed to the radio receiver. Here, the radio waves are first amplified and then
signal is extracted from them by the process of demodulation. The signal is amplified by audio
amplifiers and then fed to the speaker for reproduction into sound waves.

Digital modulation methods

Digital Modulation provides more information capacity, high data security, quicker system
availability with great quality communication. Hence, digital modulation techniques have a
greater demand, for their capacity to convey larger amounts of data than analog modulation
techniques. There are many types of digital modulation techniques and also their combinations,
depending upon the need. The most prominent ones are based on keying:

 PSK (phase-shift keying): a finite number of phases are used.

 FSK (frequency-shift keying): a finite number of frequencies are used.
 ASK (amplitude-shift keying): a finite number of amplitudes are used.

ASK – Amplitude Shift Keying

ASK 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. The following figure represents ASK modulated waveform along with its
input.

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

The carrier generator sends a continuous high-frequency carrier. The binary sequence from the
message signal makes the unipolar input to be either High or Low. The high signal closes the

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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.

If the message signal is represented by: -

And carrier signal by,

Then the equation of amplitude modulation is given by,

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. FSK is a scheme of frequency modulation. 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 1s and 0s are called Mark and Space frequencies. The following
image is the diagrammatic representation of FSK modulated waveform along with its input.

Let the modulating signal be

And the carrier signal be

Then the modulating signal e(t) is expressed as

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To find the process of obtaining this FSK modulated wave, let us know about the working of a
FSK modulator.

FSK Modulator

The FSK modulator block diagram comprises of two oscillators with a clock and the input binary
sequence. Following is its block diagram.

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The two oscillators, producing a higher and a lower frequency signals, are connected to a switch
along with an internal clock. To avoid the unexpected phase discontinuities of the output
waveform during the transmission of the message, a clock is applied to both the oscillators,
internally. The binary input sequence is applied to the transmitter so as to choose the frequencies
according to the binary input.

Phase Shift Keying (PSK)

PSK is the digital modulation technique in which the phase of the carrier signal is changed by
varying the sine and cosine inputs at a particular time. PSK technique is widely used for wireless
LANs, bio-metric, contactless operations, along with RFID and Bluetooth communications.

PSK have two types, depending upon the phases the signal gets shifted. They are −

Binary Phase Shift Keying (BPSK)

This is also called as 2-phase PSK or Phase Reversal Keying. In this technique, the sine wave
carrier takes two phase reversals such as 0° and 180°.

BPSK is basically a Double Side Band Suppressed Carrier (DSBSC) modulation scheme, for
message being the digital information.

Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK)

This is the phase shift keying technique, in which the sine wave carrier takes four phase reversals
such as 0°, 90°, 180°, and 270°.

If this kind of techniques is further extended, PSK can be done by eight or sixteen values also,
depending upon the requirement.

BPSK Modulator

The block diagram of Binary Phase Shift Keying consists of the balance modulator which has the
carrier sine wave as one input and the binary sequence as the other input. Following is the
diagrammatic representation.

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The modulation of BPSK is done using a balance modulator, which multiplies the two signals
applied at the input. For a zero binary input, the phase will be 0° and for a high input, the phase
reversal is of 180°.

Following is the diagrammatic representation of BPSK Modulated output wave along with its
given input.

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The output sine wave of the modulator will be the direct input carrier or the inverted (180° phase
shifted) input carrier, which is a function of the data signal.

Pulse Code Modulation

We use predefined levels and choose the level closest to the signal. This is called Pulse Code
Modulation

– Example: 8 levels needs 3 bits; 16 levels needs 4 bits, etc.

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– However we now have a new kind of distortion: Quantization Error.

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 Spread Spectrum

Spread spectrum is a technique in which a telecommunication signal is transmitted on a

bandwidth considerably larger than the frequency content of the original information. Frequency
hopping is a basic modulation technique used in spread spectrum signal transmission. Spread
spectrum generally makes use of a sequential noise-like signal structure to spread the normally
narrowband information signal over a relatively wideband (radio) band of frequencies. The
receiver correlates the received signals to retrieve the original information signal. Originally
there were two motivations: either to resist enemy efforts to jam the communications (anti-jam,
or AJ), or to hide the fact that communication was even taking place, sometimes called low
probability of intercept (LPI).

Frequency-hopping spread spectrum (FHSS) and direct-sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) are
forms of spread spectrum.

Frequency Hopping Spread-Spectrum

Frequency-hopping spread spectrum (FHSS) is a method of transmitting radio signals by

rapidly switching a carrier among many frequency channels, using a pseudorandom sequence
known to both transmitter and receiver.

FHSS is a wireless technology that spreads its signal over rapidly changing frequencies. Each
available frequency band is divided into sub-frequencies. Signals rapidly change ("hop") among
these in a pre-determined order. Interference at a specific frequency will only affect the signal
during that short interval.

Direct-sequence spread spectrum

In telecommunications, direct-sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) is a spread spectrum

modulation technique used to reduce overall signal interference. The spreading of this signal
makes the resulting wideband channel more noisy, allowing for greater resistance to
unintentional and intentional interference.

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With DSSS, the message signal is used to modulate a bit sequence known as a Pseudo Noise
(PN) code; this PN code consists of a radio pulse that is much shorter in duration (larger
bandwidth) than the original message signal. This modulation of the message signal scrambles
and spreads the pieces of data, and thereby resulting in a bandwidth size nearly identical to that
of the PN sequence. In this context, the duration of the radio pulse for the PN code is referred to
as the chip duration. The smaller this duration, the larger the bandwidths of the resulting DSSS
signal; more bandwidth multiplexed to the message signal results in better resistance against
interference.

Some practical and effective uses of DSSS include the Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)
channel access method and the IEEE 802.11b specification used in Wi-Fi networks.

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