NETWORK TECHNOLOGY ITT 05104

LECTURE No. 1

MODULATION.

BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE

Data communication refers to the exchange of data between a source and a receiver via form of
transmission media such as a wire cable. Data communication is said to be local if
communicating devices are in the same building or a similarly restricted geographical area.

The meanings of source and receiver are very simple. The device that transmits the data is
known as source and the device that receives the transmitted data is known as receiver. Data
communication aims at the transfer of data and maintenance of the data during the process but
not the actual generation of the information at the source and receiver.

Data communications incorporates several techniques and technologies with the primary
objective of enabling any form of electronic communication. These technologies include
telecommunications, computer networking and radio/satellite communication. Data
communication usually requires existence of a transportation or communication medium
between the nodes wanting to communicate with each other, such as copper wire, fiber optic
cables or wireless signals.

For example, a common example of data communications is a computer connected to the

Internet via a Wi-Fi connection, which uses a wireless medium to send and receive data from one
or more remote servers.

Communication is the basic attraction of mankind as it gives the knowledge of what is going on
around us. In our daily life, we communicate with many people and use the entertainment media
like television, radio, internet and newspaper to get ourselves involved. These entertainment
media act as a source of communication.

Components of data communication system

A Communication system has following components:

1. Message: It is the information or data to be communicated. It can consist of text, numbers,

pictures, sound or video or any combination of these.

2. Sender: It is the device/computer that generates and sends that message.

3. Receiver: It is the device or computer that receives the message. The location of receiver
computer is generally different from the sender computer. The distance between sender and
receiver depends upon the types of network used in between.
4. Medium: It is the channel or physical path through which the message is carried from sender
to the receiver. The medium can be wired like twisted pair wire, coaxial cable, fiber-optic cable
or wireless like laser, radio waves, and microwaves.

5. Protocol: It is a set of rules that govern the communication between the devices. Both sender
and receiver follow same protocols to communicate with each other.

Electronic communication comprises TV, radio, internet, etc. When we want to transmit a
signal from one location to another, we have to strengthen the signal. After undergoing
strengthening process the signal travels to a long distance. This is called as MODULATION.

What is Modulation?

Modulation is a process by which some characteristics of carrier wave is varied in accordance

with a modulating signal. Modulation is nothing but, a carrier signal that varies in accordance
with the message signal. Modulation technique is used to change the signal characteristics.

Needs for modulation

i. Reduction in the height of antenna

ii. Avoids the mixing of signals

iii. Make multiplexing possible

iv. Increase the range of communication.

Block diagram of modulation

Basically, the modulation is of two types

Analog Modulation

Analog modulation refers to the process of transferring an analog baseband (low frequency)
signal, like an audio or TV signal over a higher frequency signal such as a radio frequency band.

In analog modulation, analog signal (sinusoidal signal) is used as a carrier signal that modulates
the message signal or data signal three parameters can be altered to get modulation – they are
amplitude, frequency and phase; so, the types of analog modulation are:

 Amplitude Modulation (AM)

 Frequency Modulation (FM)
 Phase Modulation (PM

Amplitude Modulation AM
Amplitude of wave is the distance from center line (or still position) to the top of the crest or to
the bottom of trough. Amplitude is measured by meter. The greater the amplitude of the wave
then the more energy it is carrying.

Amplitude modulation was developed in the beginning of the 20th century. It was the earliest
modulation technique used to transmit voice by radio. This type of modulation technique is used
in electronic communication. In this modulation, the amplitude of the carrier signal varies in
accordance with the message signal, and other factors like phase and frequency remain constant.

The modulated signal is shown in the figure above, and its spectrum consists of the lower
frequency band, upper frequency band and carrier frequency components. This type of
modulation requires more power and greater bandwidth; filtering is very difficult. Amplitude
modulation is used in computer modems, VHF aircraft radio, and in portable two-way radio.

Advantages of Amplitude modulation

i. Coverage area of AM receiver is wide

ii. AM is long distance propagation
iii. AM circuit is cheaper and non complex
iv. AM have bandwidth limited

Disadvantages of Amplitude modulation

i. The only way to avoid is noise happen is increasing power transmitter

ii. Signal of AM is not strong
iii. Only the sideband of AM transmitted information signal so it loss power on other
sideband and carrier.

Frequency Modulation FM
Frequency of the wave is the number of waves passing a point in a certain time. Unit of
frequency is hertz (Hz). One hertz is equal to one wave per second.

In this type of modulation, the frequency of the carrier signal varies in accordance with the
message signal, and other parameters like amplitude and phase remain constant. Frequency
modulation is used in different applications like radar and radio.
This type of modulation is commonly used for broadcasting music and speech, magnetic tape
recording systems, two way radio systems and video transmission systems. When noise occurs
naturally in radio systems, frequency modulation with sufficient bandwidth provides an
advantage in cancelling the noise.

Advantages of Frequency modulation

i. Improve noise immunity

ii. Entire transmitted signal is useful
iii. Covers a larger area with the same amount of transmitted power
iv. Transmitted power remains constant.

Disadvantages of Frequency modulation

i. Very large bandwidth is required

ii. FM transmitter and receiver are very complex

Phase Modulation PM
Phase is the position of a point in time on a waveform circle.

In this type of modulation, the phase of the carrier signal varies in accordance with the message
signal. When the phase of the signal is changed, then it affects the frequency. So, for this reason,
this modulation is also comes under the frequency modulation.

Generally, phase modulation is used for transmitting waves. It is an essential part of many digital
transmission coding schemes that underlie a wide range of technologies like Global System for
Mobile communication, Wi-Fi, and satellite television.
Therefore, Analog modulation includes AM, FM and PM and these are more sensitive to noise.
If noise enters into a system, it persists and gets carried up to the end receiver. So, this drawback
can be overcome by the digital modulation technique.

Digital Modulation

For a better quality and efficient communication, digital modulation technique is employed. The
main advantages of the digital modulation over analog modulation include available bandwidth,
high noise immunity and permissible power. In digital modulation, a message signal is converted
from analog to digital message, and then modulated by using a carrier wave.

The carrier wave is switched on and off to create pulses such that the signal is modulated.
Similar to the analog, in this system, the type of the digital modulation is decided by the
variation of the carrier wave parameters like amplitude, phase and frequency.

The most important digital modulation techniques are based on keying such as

 Amplitude Shift Keying,

 Frequency Shift Keying,
 Phase Shift Keying

Amplitude Shift Keying ASK

In an Amplitude shift keying, the amplitude of the carrier wave changes based on the message
signal or on the base-band signal, which is in digital format. It is sensitive to noise and used for
low-band requirements.

Frequency Shift Keying FSK

In frequency shift keying, the frequency of the carrier wave is varied for each symbol in the
digital data. It needs larger bandwidths as shown in the figure. Similarly, the phase shift keying
changes the phase of the carrier for each symbol and it is less sensitive to noise.
Phase Shift Keying PSK

In Phase Shift Keying (PSK) phase of the carrier wave (analog) is switched as per input digital
signal.

Phase-shift keying (PSK) is a digital modulation process which conveys data by changing
(modulating) the phase of a constant frequency reference signal (the carrier wave). It is widely
used for wireless LANs, Radio Frequency Identification and Bluetooth communication.

Any digital modulation scheme uses a finite number of distinct signals to represent digital data.
PSK uses a finite number of phases; each assigned a unique pattern of binary digits. Usually,
each phase encodes an equal number of bits. Each pattern of bits forms the symbol that is
represented by the particular phase