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AM/FM Broadcasting 11/5/20

Communication Systems

Prof. Hesham Tolba

Alexandria University
Faculty of Engineering
Electrical Engineering Department
Alexandria
2020

Prof. Hesham Tolba Communication Systems 1

AM/FM
Broadcasting

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Communication Systems
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4. AM/FM Broadcasting 11/5/20

AM Broadcasting
q AM broadcasting is a radio broadcasting technology, which
employs amplitude modulation (AM) transmissions.

q The 1st method developed for making audio radio transmissions,

and is still used worldwide.

q Used primarily for medium wave (aka "AM band") transmissions,

but also on the longwave & shortwave radio bands.

q The earliest experimental AM transmissions began in the early

1900s.

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AM Broadcasting …
q However, widespread AM broadcasting was not established until
the 1920s, following the development of vacuum tube receivers
and transmitters.

q AM radio remained the dominant method of broadcasting for the

next 30 years (Golden Age of Radio), until television
broadcasting became widespread in the 1950s and received most
of the programming previously carried by radio.

q AM radio's audiences have also greatly shrunk due to

competition from FM (frequency modulation) radio, Digital Audio
Broadcasting (DAB), satellite radio, HD (digital) radio and
Internet streaming.
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AM Broadcasting …
q AM transmissions are much more susceptible than FM or digital
signals are to interference, and often have lower audio
fidelity.

q Thus, AM broadcasters tend to specialize in spoken-word

formats, such as talk radio, all news and sports, leaving the
broadcasting of music mainly to FM and digital stations.

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AM Broadcasting …
q Allocated the band 530 kHz – 1600 kHz (with minor variations)

q 10 kHz per channel. (9 kHz in some countries)

q More that 100 stations can be licensed in the same geographical

area.

q Uses AM modulation (DSB + C)

q In radio communication systems, the transmitted signal is very

weak when it reaches the receiver, particularly when it has
traveled over a long distance.

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AM Broadcasting …
q The signal has also picked up noise of various kinds.

q Receivers must provide the sensitivity and selectivity that

permit full recovery of the original signal.

q The radio receiver best suited to this task is known as the

superheterodyne receiver.

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AM Broadcasting …
q Sensitivity

q A communication receiver’s sensitivity, or ability to pick

up weak signals, is a function of overall gain, the factor
by which an input signal is multiplied to produce the output
signal.
q The higher the gain of a receiver, the better its
sensitivity.
q The more gain that a receiver has, the smaller the input
signal necessary to produce a desired level of output.
q High gain in receivers is obtained by using multiple
amplification stages.

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AM Broadcasting …
q Selectivity

q A receiver with good selectivity will isolate the desired

signal and greatly attenuate/eliminates other signals.

q To improve selectivity is to add stages of amplification,

both before and after demodulator

q Example: Tuned Radio Frequency.

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Tuned Radio Frequency (TRF) Receiver

q In a TRF receiver the signal is modulated directly at the
frequency at which it is received (homodyne receiver).
q In the tuned radio frequency (TRF) receiver sensitivity is
improved by adding a number of stages of RF amplification
between the antenna and detector, followed by stages of audio
amplification.
q The RF amplifier stages increase the amplitude/gain before it
is applied to the detector.
q The recovered signal is amplified further by audio amplifiers,
which provide sufficient gain to operate a loudspeaker.

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Tuned Radio Frequency (TRF) Receiver …

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Tuned Radio Frequency (TRF) Receiver …

q The main problem with TRF receivers is tracking the tuned
circuits.

q In a receiver, the tuned circuits must be made variable so that

they can be set to the frequency of the desired signal.

q Another problem with TRF receivers is that selectivity varies

with frequency.

q The radio receiver best suited to this task is known as the

superheterodyne receiver.

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Frequency Translation
qTranslating signals from different stations with carrier
frequency !! to an intermediate frequency !" (where !" is usually
lower than !! ) is always done in AM & FM using a mixer and
oscillator.

qThe carrier frequency generated by the local oscillator !#$ has

two choices:
!#$ = !! ± !"

qA BPF can be used to select the component with frequency !" .

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Frequency Translation …

!!" cos 2&'!" (

qThe system is called high-side tuning if !#$ = !! + !"

qThe system is called low-side tuning if !#$ = !! − !"

qHowever, another input frequency can be translated to !" , which

is called the image frequency.
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Image Frequency
qIf !#$ = !! + !" , then a signal at frequency !! + &!" can also be
moved to !" .

qExample: if !! = '((( )*+, !" = ,-- )*+, then for high-side tuning
!#$ = !! + !" ,the undesired image signal at !! + &!" should be
filtered out before the product modulator.

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Image Frequency …
qIf !#$ = !! − !" , then a signal at frequency !! − &!" can also be
moved to !" .

qCase I: !! > &!"

qExample: if !! = '((( )*+, !" = ,-- )*+, then for high-side
tuning !#$ = !! + !" ,the undesired image signal at !! − &!"
should be filtered out before the product modulator.

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Image Frequency …
qIf !#$ = !! − !" , then a signal at frequency !! − &!" can also be
moved to !" .

qCase II: !! < &!"

qExample: if !! = --- )*+, !" = ,-- )*+, then for high-side
tuning !#$ = !! + !" ,the undesired image signal at &!" − !!
should be filtered out before the product modulator.

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Image Frequency …
qTo get rid of the image frequency, we filter
out the unwanted image signal before the
mixer.

qThe center frequency of the RF filter is at

the desired frequency.

qThe filter is called RF filter.

qThe RF filter and local frequency are

changed at the same time.

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Superheterodyne Receivers
qHeterodyning is the process where two frequencies are mixed in
order to produce secondary frequencies that are exactly the sum
and difference (absolute value) of the original two
frequencies.

qTypically, the difference in the frequencies is referred to as

the “beat” frequency.

qSuper-heterodyning is a process that selects only the beat

frequency in order to reduce the frequency of source signal.

qReducing the frequency of the source signal allows you move the
signal into a frequency range that the test equipment might be
better designed to operate in.
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Superheterodyne Receivers …
qSuperheterodyne receivers convert all incoming signals to a
lower frequency, known as the intermediate frequency (IF), at
which a single set of amplifiers is used to provide a fixed
level of sensitivity and selectivity.

qGain and selectivity are obtained in the IF amplifiers.

qThe key circuit is the mixer, which acts like a simple

amplitude modulator to produce sum and difference frequencies.

qThe incoming signal is mixed with a local oscillator signal.

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Superheterodyne Receivers …
qAn example of a Superheterodyne receiver is as shown.

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Superheterodyne Receivers …
Antenna

Converter
(Multiplier)
RF Stage IF Stage Envelope Detector Audio Stage
a(t) (radio frequency) b(t) d(t) (intermediate frequency) e(t) f(t) g(t)

RF Amplifier
X IF Amplifier Diode, Capacitor,
Power amplifier
& RF BPF & IF BPF Resistor, & DC blocker

c(t)

Local
Oscillator
Ganged RF
BPF and cos[(wc+wIF)t]
Oscillator

qWith one knob, we are tuning the RF Filter and the local
oscillator simultaneously.

qThe filter are designed with high gain to provide

amplification as well.
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Superheterodyne Receivers …
qRF Amplifier
qThe antenna picks up the weak radio signal and feeds it to
the RF amplifier.

qRF amplifiers provide some initial gain and selectivity and

are sometimes called pre-selectors.

qThe main task of the RF amplifier is to pass !% + 0&/& while

rejecting the image frequency signal !'% .

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Superheterodyne Receivers …
qRF Amplifier …

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Superheterodyne Receivers …
qMixer
qEssentially performs a mathematical multiplication of its two
inputs: the signal to be translated to another frequency, and
the sine wave from a local oscillator.

qThe output contains sidebands formed when the local

oscillator and input signal are mixed.

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Superheterodyne Receivers …
qThe local oscillator
qThe frequency of the local oscillator used for translation
from RF to IF is !#$ = !% + !() (up-conversion) or !#$ = !% − !()
(down-conversion) and the tuning ratio is defined as !#$,+,- /
!#$,+./

qUp-conversion: ('3(( + ,--)/(-5( + ,--) ≈ & & Down-conversion:

('3(( − ,--)/(-5( − ,--) ≈ '&.

qEasier to design oscillator with small tuning ratio.

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Superheterodyne Receivers …
qIF Amplifiers
qThe primary objective in the design of an IF stage is to
obtain good selectivity.

qNarrow-band selectivity is best obtained at lower

frequencies.

qAt low frequencies, circuits are more stable with high gain.

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Superheterodyne Receivers …
qIF Amplifiers …
qThe output of the mixer is an IF signal containing the same
modulation that appeared on the input RF signal.

qThe signal is amplified by one or more IF amplifier stages,

and most of the gain is obtained in these stages.

qSelective tuned circuits provide fixed selectivity.

qSince the intermediate frequency is usually lower than the

input frequency, IF amplifiers are easier to design and good
selectivity is easier to obtain.

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Superheterodyne Receivers …
qDemodulators
qThe highly amplified IF signal is finally applied to the
demodulator, which recovers the original modulating
information.

qThe demodulator may be a diode detector (for AM), a

quadrature detector (for FM), or a product detector (for
SSB).

qThe output of the demodulator is then usually fed to an audio

amplifier.

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Superheterodyne Receivers …
qImage Frequency
qThe main task of the RF amplifier is to pass !% + 0&/& while
rejecting the image frequency signal !'% .

qIf !'% reaches the mixer it would be down converted to

!'% − !#$ = !#$ + !() − !#$ = !()

qThis would create co-channel interference.

qThus 0& < 00) < &!() .

qThe IF filter rejects the adjacent channels.

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Superheterodyne Receivers …

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Example
qIf !! = '((( )*+, !" = ,-- )*+; then for high-side tuning !#$ =
'((( + ,-- = ',-- )*+.

qThe image frequency is at '((( + &×,-- = '8'( )*+.

qThe undesired image signal at !! + &!" should be filtered out

before the product modulator.

qOn the other hand, for low-side tuning !#$ = '((( − ,-- = -,- )*+.

qThe image frequency is at '((( − &×,-- = 8( )*+.

qThe undesired image signal at !! − &!" should be filtered out

before the product modulator.
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Example
qIf !! = --- )*+, !" = ,-- )*+; then for low-side tuning !#$ = --- −
,-- = '(( )*+.

qThe image frequency is at &!" − !! = &×,-- − --- = 5-- )*+.

qThe undesired image signal at &!" − !! should be filtered out.

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Superheterodyne Receivers …
qAdvantages

qTuning happens entirely in the front-end while the rest of

the circuitry requires no tuning.

qMost of the gain and selectivity can be allocated to the IF

section.

qWhen wide frequency range is required, the suitable choice

for !12 may result in a smaller LO tuning ratio.

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Superheterodyne Receivers …
q Parameters of AM & FM radios

AM FM
Carrier frequency 540-1600 kHz 88.1-107.9 MHz
Carrier Spacing 10 kHz 200 kHz
IF 455 kHz 10.7 MHz
IF bandwidth 6-10 kHz 200-250 kHz
Audio bandwidth 3-5 kHz 15 kHz

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FM Stereo Transmitter

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FM Stereo Receiver

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