Communication Fundamental Bilad Alrafidain University College

Second class Edited by

Dr. Omar Salim

Introduction to Communication Engineering

The principle objective of a communication system is to transmit
information signals from one point to another. The information signals
may be the result of a voice message, a T.V. picture, a meter reading, or
may take on a variety of other formats depending on the specific
application. Communication Engineering involves the analysis, design,
and fabrication of an operating system that performs the communication
objective.

Functional Elements of a Communication System

Communication system between two remotely located points can be
illustrated by the following diagram:-
Communication Fundamental Bilad Alrafidain University College
Second class Edited by
Dr. Omar Salim

Usually, Systems involve three major subsystems:

1. Transmitter,

2. Channel,

3. Receiver.

We will now discuss briefly each functional element shown in Fig. 1

1. Input Transducer

Converts source signal to electric signal

a. Microphone

b. Camera

c. Keyboard

Example in figure 2:

Fig 2: Transducer

2. Transmitter:

a. The purpose of the transmitter is to couple the message to the channel.

Communication Fundamental Bilad Alrafidain University College
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Dr. Omar Salim

b. Modulate a carrier wave with the signal from the input transducer.

Modulation Reasons:

There are several reasons for using a carrier:

(1) Ease of radiation,

(2) Reduce noise and interference,

(3) Channel assignment,

(4) Multiplexing or transmission of several messages over a single

channel,

(5) Overcome equipment limitations.

3. Channel:

Medium used to transfer signal from transmitter to receiver. Point to point

or Broadcast and it is Often adds noise / weakens & distorts signal

All channels have one thing in common: the signal undergoes degradation
from transmitter to receiver. This degradation results from noise and other
undesired signals or interference but also may include other distortion
effects as well, such as fading signal levels, multiple Transmission paths
and filtering.
Communication Fundamental Bilad Alrafidain University College
Second class Edited by
Dr. Omar Salim

Wire lines Wireless

1. Physically connect transmitter to 1. Logical connection over a
receiver with a "wire", multiplexed medium,
2. more private and much less prone 2. Less,
to interference,
3. Not, 3. Allowing portable transmission
and reception,
4. Coaxial Cable, Fiber Optics…Etc. 4. Radio Channel.

3. Receiver:
a. The receiver's function is to extract the desired message from the
received signal at the channel output and to convert it to a form suitable
for the output transducer.

b. Amplification, where the received signal may be extremely weak ,

c. The main function of the receiver is to demodulate the received signal.

4. Output Transducer:
The device converts the electric to the original message signal at its
input into the form desired by the system user.
a. Loudspeaker ,
b. Recorders,
c. Personal computers,
d. Meters ,
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Dr. Omar Salim

e. Cathode – ray tubes.

Signals and Systems

Signals are a set of information or data like telephone or television

signals. Signals are represented mathematically as a function of one or
more independent variable. Signal may be processed using systems which
may modify them or extract additional information from them.

System is an entity that processed a set of signals (inputs) to yield another

set of signals (outputs). Systems may be made up of physical components
as in electrical, mechanical systems (Hardware realization), or they may
Communication Fundamental Bilad Alrafidain University College
Second class Edited by
Dr. Omar Salim

be an algorithms that compute the output from input signals (software

realization).

Example of signals

1. Electrical signals like voltages, current and EM field intensity in

Circuit,

2. Acoustic signals like audio or speech signals (analog or digital),

3. Video signals like intensity variation in an image,

4. Biological signal like sequence of bases in gene,

5. Noise which will be treated as unwanted signal.

Signal Classification

1. Continuous-time Signal

A continuous-time signal is a signal that can be defined at every instant

of time. A continuous-time signal contains values for all real numbers
along the X-axis. It is denoted by x (t).
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Dr. Omar Salim

2. Discrete-time Signal

Signals that can be defined at discrete instant of time is called discrete

time signal. Basically discrete time signals can be obtained by sampling
a continuous-time signal. It is denoted as x(n).Figure 1(b) shows
discrete-time signal.

3. Periodic and Aperiodic Signal

A signal is said to be periodic if it repeats itself after some amount of time
x(t+T)=x(t), for some value of T. The period of the signal is the minimum
value of time for which it exactly repeats itself. Signal which does not
repeat itself after a certain period of time is called aperiodic signal. The
Communication Fundamental Bilad Alrafidain University College
Second class Edited by
Dr. Omar Salim

periodic and aperiodic signals are shown in Figure 2(a) and 2(b)
respectively.

4. Random and Deterministic Signal

A random signal cannot be described by any mathematical function,
where as a deterministic signal is one that can be described
mathematically. A common example of random signal is noise. Random
signal and deterministic signal are shown in the Figure 3(a) and 3(b)
respectively.
Communication Fundamental Bilad Alrafidain University College
Second class Edited by
Dr. Omar Salim

5. Causal, Non-causal and Anti-causal Signal

Signal that are zero for all negative time, that type of signals are called
causal signals, while the signals that are zero for all positive value of time
are called anti-causal signal.

A non-causal signal is one that has non zero values in both positive and
negative time. Causal, non-causal and anti-causal signals are shown below
in the Figure 4(a), 4(b) and 4(c) respectively.

6. Even and Odd Signal

An even signal is any signal 'x' such that x(t) = x(-t). On the other hand,
an odd signal is a signal 'x' for which x(t) = -x(-t). Even signals are
symmetric around the vertical axis, so that they can easily spotted.
Communication Fundamental Bilad Alrafidain University College
Second class Edited by
Dr. Omar Salim

Properties of signal:

1. Amplitude-Scaling of Signal

Consider a signal x(t) which is multiplying by a constant 'A' and this can
be indicated by a notation x(t) → Ax(t). For any arbitrary ’t’ this multiplies
the signal value x(t) by a constant 'A'. Thus, x(t) → Ax(t) multiplies x(t) at
every value of 't' by a constant 'A'. This is called amplitude-scaling. If the
amplitude-scaling factor is negative then it flips the signal with the t-axis
as the rotation axis of the flip. If the scaling factor is -1 then only the signal
will be flip. This is shown in the Figure (a), (b), (c) which is given below.
Communication Fundamental Bilad Alrafidain University College
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Dr. Omar Salim

2. Time-Shifting of Signal

In signals and system amplitude scaling, time shifting and time

scaling are some important properties. If a continuous time signal is
defined as x(t) = s(t - t1). Then we can say that x(t) is the time shifted
version of s(t).

Consider a simple signal s(t) for 0 < t < 1

Which is simply s(t) with its origin shifted to the left or advance in time
by 1 seconds. This time-shifting property of signal is shown in the Figure
8(a), 8(b) and 8(c) given above.
Communication Fundamental Bilad Alrafidain University College
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Dr. Omar Salim

3. Time-Scaling of Signal

Time scaling compresses or dilates a signal by multiplying the time

variable by some quantity. If that quantity is greater than one, the signal
becomes narrower and the operation is called compression. If that quantity
is less than one, the signal becomes wider and the operation is called
dilation or (Expansion). Figure 7(a), 7(b), 7(c) shows the signal x(t),
compression of signal and dilation of signal respectively.

Example (1)
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Example (2):
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Example (3)
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Interconnections of Two Systems:

1. Cascade Interconnection

2. Parallel interconnection
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3. Feedback interconnection

Signal Domain Analysis

In time-domain we can see a shape of the signal in a certain amount of time (depends

on how large the graph is horizontally), in frequency-domain we can see the position

of the same signal on the frequency axis and it looks like a vertical line where the

height of this line represents the amplitude. In this case we have depictured a single

sine frequency and that is the most explicit case – it is simple to view in both graphs.
Communication Fundamental Bilad Alrafidain University College
Second class Edited by
Dr. Omar Salim