COMMUNICATION

Introduction
The process of transmitting and receiving meaningful information or intelligence is termed communication.
Electronic communication involves converting speech or intelligence into electrical signals using transducers.
The signals are processed and transmitted. Receiver located kilometers away from the transmitter receives these
signals. The receiver processes the received signals and finally drives the transducer which converts the processed
signals into speech or intelligence. Transducers are the devices which convert energy from mechanical to
electrical and vice-versa. Radio communication (Transmission and reception) is one of the effective
communication system.

Definition of Some Terminology

Signal: It may be a changing electric current or waveform that carries information.
Encoding: It is the process of transforming the information into a suitable form for transmission.
Decoding: It is the process of extracting the original information from a received signal.

Modulation and Demodulation

The transmission of information and reception of meaningful information can be successfully achieved with the
help of two processes. The two processes are

 Modulation
 Demodulation

Modulation: Modulation is the process of combining the low – frequency audio waves with a very – high
frequency radio waves. The low – frequency wave is called Modulating Wave. The very – high frequency radio
wave which carries the low frequency audio wave information is called a Carrier Wave. The resultant wave
obtained is called Modulated Carrier.

Demodulation: Demodulation involves recovering the low – frequency audio wave from the Modulated Carrier
Wave. This process is performed at the receiving end. It is the reverse process of modulation.

Need for Modulation

Audio frequency signals are low – frequency signals. There are disadvantages in transmitting the unmodulated
low frequency signals during communication. They are

 Low frequency signals cannot propagate over long distances. They are short range signals
 If there are many transmissions of low frequency signals directly without modulation, they interfere and
the information at the receiving end will not be clear.
 The antenna length required for the transmission of audio – frequency signals is around 75 which is
practically very large.

Thus a low frequency signal cannot be transmitted effectively and efficiently without modulation. Hence radio
frequency carrier waves are modulated by low frequency signals and are transmitted to reach longer distances.
Even the antenna size required for the transmission of the radio frequency waves is of reasonable size.
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Types of Modulation
Based on the change in characteristic property of the carrier wave when combined with the low frequency audio
signals, the modulation is classified into the following.

 Amplitude Modulation: In amplitude modulation the amplitude of the radio – frequency (RF) carrier
wave is varied by low frequency audio signals (AF) without affecting the frequency and phase of the
carrier wave.

 Frequency Modulation: If the frequency of the radio frequency carrier wave is varied by low frequency
audio signals then the modulation is called Frequency Modulation. In frequency modulation the amplitude
and phase of the carrier wave remain unchanged.

Comparison between AM and FM

Advantages
1. FM has a batter quality and audio fidelity than AM.
2. FM signals use a much bigger bandwidth and carry a greater quantity of information than AM signals.
3. FM signals suffer less interference from adjacent bands.
4. FM signals receivers suffer from less noise and distortion. This is because the amplitude of the carrier is
constant.

Disadvantages
1. The circuits needed are more complex than those for AM transmission
2. It is expensive to run, i.e. F.M transmission cannot travel very far. For this reason, the national radio
stations have many repeater stations to re – transmit the signal.
Carrier Wave: Carrier wave is a high frequency radio wave produced using radio – frequency oscillators. The
radio frequency ranges from 3 300 . In radio transmission, Carrier waves in the radio frequency range
from hundreds of kHz to few MHz are preferred.

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Sidebands and Bandwidth
If is the carrier R.F. and is the much smaller modulating . ., the three waves have respective frequencies
of (i) , (ii) ( + ) called the upper sideband frequency and (iii) ( – ) called the lower sideband
frequency.
e.g. if = 1 and the highest modulating a.f. is 10 0.01 , then,

upper sideband frequency = + =1 + 0.01 = 1.01

=1

Lower sideband frequency = − =1 − 0.01 = 0.99

Practically, the carrier is modulated by all frequencies in the a.f. range from high to low.
The bandwidth is the range of frequencies carried within a signal. It is the difference between the upper and lower
frequencies in a continuous set of frequency. It is measured in ℎ ( ).

Radio Communication Systems

A typical radio communication system from a broadcasting station consists of a transmitter. The broadcasting
station is allocated with a unique RF carrier wave along with a well – defined channel width. The transmitter
transmits the modulated carrier into space through an antenna. These wave propagate through space. Elsewhere
in a remote location there exists a receiver which receives the modulated carrier through the receiving antenna
with the help of a tuning circuit. The receiver demodulates the modulated carrier and converts it into speech or
intelligence.

Radio Transmitter:

The microphone converts sound waves into electrical signals (a range from 20 20 ). These signals are
amplified by the audio frequency amplifier. The carrier frequency is generated by the radio frequency generator.
The audio is superimposed onto the carrier by the modulator. The low power modulated carrier is boosted in

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amplitude by the radio frequency power amplifier. The aerial produces an electromagnetic wave which is radiated
into space.

Radio Receiver

The radio receiver consists of an antenna connected to a tuning circuit. The aerial picks up a signal (frequency)
which is converted to an a.c. voltage across C when it is tuned to the RF carrier wave. The received modulated
RF carrier is amplified and then passed through the demodulator to extract the AF signals. The AF signal is then
amplified in the AF amplifier. This is finally passed to an AF power amplifier, so that maximum sound energy is
obtained from loudspeaker which converts it into speech or intelligence.

The Tuning Circuit

Tuning circuit consist of an inductor coil and a capacitor (often variable), usually in parallel. A tuning circuit has
a very high impedance at its resonant frequency (ideally = infinity). At other frequencies, its impedance is lower.
Tuning circuits are used to select or tune in radio stations on a particular frequency and reject all the others.

At the resonant frequency, the voltage across the circuit is at its maximum value. The capacitor and inductor have
equal effects on the circuit because they have equal reactance, = . The current in the capacitor is equal to
the current in the inductor. The current in the tuning circuit is in phase with the signal generator voltage. The
current (to ground/earth) through an ideal tuning circuit will be zero.
Below the resonant frequency:

 The voltage across the circuit is lower

 The inductor carries most of the current
 The capacitor has less effect
 The current lags behind the applied voltage
Above the resonant frequency:

 The voltage across the circuit is lower

 The capacitor carries most of the current
 The inductor has less effect
 The current leads the applied voltage
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At resonant frequency:
f is the frequency (hertz, Hz), C is the capacitance (farads, F), L is the inductance (henry, H)

=
1
= ; =2
2
1
=2
2
1
=
4
1 1 1
= ; = ; =
2 √ 4 4

 The capacitor is often variable for radio tuning

 The inductor sometimes has a ferrite or iron core
 Variable inductors can be used too.

Examples:
1. At what resonant frequency will a tuning circuit operate if = 0.4 , and = 0.4 ?

2. In the tuning circuit of a radio system, the capacitor and inductor are always connected in parallel to each other.
Draw graphs showing the variation of
i) Resonant frequency and capacitance
ii) Resonant frequency and inductance

3. At resonance, the frequency of a tuning circuit is 50 . What is the inductance of the circuit if the capacitance
is 12 ?

4. Calculate the lowest and highest values of a capacitor needed with a 0.1 inductor to tune through the
commercial broadcast band from 88 108 .

Wave Guides
A wave guide is a medium or material through which EM waves can be transmitted from one point to another
without allowing the waves to spread out.

Wave guides are very efficient at transmitting energy because they allow for very little energy loss. For power
transmission, wave guides operate most effectively if the wavelength of the wave is of the same order of
magnitude as the width of the guide.

Rectangular wave guides with metal walls transmit microwaves, carrying larger amount of power with very little
heating effects. There are basically two (02) types:

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 a) The Co – axial Cable: This consists of a single copper wire along the centre of an insulating roll. A sheath
of copper surrounds the roll with an insulating layer over the sheath. The sheath prevents unwanted signals
from being picked up because it shields the inner wire. More importantly, it allows the signal from the
aerial to be transmitted without energy loss.

The coaxial cable keeps the EM waves in the space between the inner wire and the outer sheath so that the waves
travel from the aerial to the receiver without being radiated.

b) Optical Fibre: Optical fibre is a thin transparent thread made from glass or plastic such that light can travel
through it.

It is surrounded by a material of lower refractive index called cladding. Light is transmitted from one end of the
optical fibre to the other end through the principle of total internal reflection. This means that in optical fibre
transmission system, e.g. a telephone system, the electrical signals are converted into pulses of light of very high
frequency (GHz). At the receiving end of the optical fibre, the light pulses are converted back into electrical
signals by a photodiode. The LASER and the photodiode are so fast in acting such that hundreds of photo signals
can be transmitted down the same fibre simultaneously.

Advantages of Optical Fibre over Copper Cable

1. Optical fibre has a wider band width which permits a larger transmission capacity

2. Signal power losses in optical fibre are relatively smaller, making use of less regenerator amplifiers (boosters)
and data can move at higher speeds and greater distances.
3. Optical fibres are cheaper than copper wires

4. Optical fibres are more secured because they do not radiate energy and there is negligible cross – talk between
fibres.
5. Optical fibre is ideal for digital transmission
6. Optical fibre provides extremely reliable transmission of information. It is completely immune to many
environmental factors that affect copper cable. The core is made of glass which is an insulator, so no electrical
current can flow through

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Data Transmission
The transmission of information is based on two (02) types of signals, analog and digital
a) Analog Transmission: In this system, the signal is a continuous varying voltage or current. In telephone and
radio systems, the message consists of information conveyed by a voice (analog signal) and so, can take any value
within the overall range allowed.

 The disadvantage of such a communication system is that it produces too much noise coming from the
modulator, the transmitter, the communication link, the receiver, the demodulator and so on.
 Analog systems do not identify corrupt signals.
b) Digital Transmission: In this system, digits or numbers (digital signals) are used. A digital signal is one in
which the current or the voltage has one of two values at a given time.

Data is any form of information that have been put into digital form, so that it can be transmitted by a digital
system.

A digital data transmission requires Analog to Digital Converters (ADC) at the transmitting end and the Digital
to Analog Converter (DAC) at the receiving end.

The electrical signals derived from speech are analog audio frequency signals which vary continuously with time.
The ADC converts the analog signals into digital signals. After the analog signal has been converted into digital
signals and transmitted, the original signal is received when the DAC changes back the digital signal into analog
signal.

In telephone line, a modem is used to convert digital signals into analog signals and also to demodulate the
analog signals at both ends of the communication circuit.

Advantages of Digital Transmission over Analog

1. High quality transmission irrespective of the distance between the terminals
2. Easy amplification and boosting of signals without producing any noise
3. Digital signals can be encrypted for security and privacy
4. Digital signals are easily stored
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5. More information can be packed into a smaller band width
6. Easy detection and maintenance of error

Disadvantages
1. It is expensive
2. Problem of disposal of the analog technology

Mobile Telephone
A mobile phone is a portable telephone which receives and make calls through a cell site (transmitting load).
A mobile phone is actually a transreceiver because it transmits one radio signal and receives another radio signal
from a base station. This is because the two radio signals have different frequencies.
When someone speaks into a telephone, a microphone converts sound waves (analog) into an electrical signal (a
current or a voltage). This is used to generate radio waves which are digital. These signals are then transmitted to
a microwave tower at a base station.

Block diagram of a mobile phone:

The Cellular Network

A cellular or mobile network is a radio network distributed over land areas called cell each served by at least one
fixed located transceiver known as a cell site or a base station.

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The base stations are located several kilometers apart. An automated central station transfer signals from one cell
to another on the case were the user moves from one cell to another. In a cellular network, each cell uses a different
set of frequencies from neighbouring cells to avoid interference and to provide guaranteed band width between
each cell.

When linked, these cells provide coverage over a wide geographical area enabling a large number of portable
transceivers to communicate with each other and with many others anywhere in the network.

Satellite Telephone System

In order to call, the telephone transmits radio waves directly to a satellite, then, the satellite relays a signal to a
ground station and the call is passed onto a telephone network.

The GPS is a system of satellite with ground monitoring stations and receivers that provide details about the exact
location on or above the earth’s surface. To determine the exact position of the user, at least signals from four
(04) different satellites are needed.

The Mobile Telephone Network

A cellular network is used by mobile phone operators e.g. CAMTEL, ORANGE, NEXTEL, MTN.

Modern mobile phones networks uses cells because radio frequencies are a limited shared resource cell sites and
changes frequency under computer control so that the limited number of radio frequencies can be simultaneously
used by many callers with less interference. This explains why large geographic areas are split into smaller cells
to avoid signal loss or to support a large number of active phones in that area. All the cell sites are connected to
a telephone switch or exchanger which then connects to PSTN (Public Switch Telephone Network).
All mobile phones use GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication). However, there are a number of
different digital cellular technology such as: CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), GPRS (Global Packet
Radio Service), SDMA (Space Division Multiple Access), Ev – DO (Evolution Data Optimized), FDMA
(Frequency DMA), TDMA (Time DMA), AMPS (Advance Mobile Phone System).

Advantages of Communication Channels

Telephone communication involves sending and receiving much information through the same path or channel at
the same time. The most effective way of using a communication system is to end more than one signal at the
same time. This is achieved through multiplexing (electric switching), that is, subdividing or splitting an aspect
of the channel information while keeping the various signal separate and intact to prevent confusion or
interference at the receiving end.
There are two basic ways by which multiplexing can be achieved.

(i) Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM): Each telephone signal requires a signal band width of 3.1 but
at the modulating and demodulating ends, the frequencies are shifted so that each of the fits into any 3.1
block. Depending on the band width capacity of the cable used many saver stations can be sent at the same time
with each of them occupying its own slice of the channel.

(ii) Time Division Multiplexing (TDM): Here the signals are broken into busts of information, each lasting 8
and consisting of digitally encoded information.

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TDM has an advantage over FDM because it keeps the system’s band width low, but transmits a larger amount
of information in a short time.

Degradation of Information
Every communication channel suffers from noise, distortion and attenuation.

(i) Attenuation: is the phenomenon by which signals are weakened and tend to lose their strength or form. In
telephone systems, this is mostly due to resistance of wire and in optical fibres, attenuation is due to scattering
because of total internal reflections.

One way of compensating for attenuation is to put amplifiers at various points along the channel. Regenerators
(repeaters) of digital signals are used to clean up or reshape the pulse. A regenerator is an electronic device used
to produce a new pulse that effectively copies and replaces the original pulse.
(ii) Noise: is one unwelcomed, random, extra signal added to the information signal being transmitted. Noise is
always produced in electronic systems due to random thermal motion of electrons and also by atmospheric
conditions (thunder) and artificial sources such as electric motions and switches for large currents. These noise is
easily picked up by radio and T.V receivers.

Super – heterodyne System:

The heterodyne system was invented to overcome the defects of the straight radio receiver. So, all modern
receivers have the superheterodyne circuit. The functional block diagram of the heterodyne system of an AM
receiver system of a super heterodyne type is shown below.

Radio waves from various broad casting stations are interpreted by the receiving antenna. The waves are coupled
to the rf amplifier which selects the desired radio waves and enhances the strength of the wave to desired level.
The amplified output of the radio amplifier is fed into a mixer so that it is combined with the output of a local
oscillator. The two frequency beats produced an intermediate frequency. By achieving this intermediate frequency
usually of the order of 455 . The receiver is made to operate within maximum stability, sensitivity and
selectivity. The intermediate frequency is always the same irrespective of the station to which the receiver is
tuned. The output of the mixer circuit (the intermediate frequency) is fed to the tuned intermediate amplifier. The
detector extracts the audio signal from the intermediate frequency output by means of a diode detector circuit.

The audio frequency signal is usually very weak. Consequently, it is amplified by the audio frequency amplifier
before the signal is fed into the loudspeaker.

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The loudspeaker then converts the audio signals into sound waves which correspond to the original sound at the
broadcasting station.

Superheterodyne is the mixing of the incoming rf signal with the frequency of the local oscillator signal to produce
an intermediate frequency (IF).

= −

Advantages
i) High radio frequency amplification: the superheterodyne principle makes it possible to produce and
intermediate frequency which is less than the r.f making it more stable.

ii) Improved selectivity: the quantity factor of the tuned circuit is increased because energy loses in tuned circuit
are lower circuit are lower at lower at inter.

iii) Lower cost: the superheterodyne receiver is by far clean far than other receivers because a fixed intermediate
frequency (455 ) is always obtained regard less of the radio waves scattered.

iv) It has an excellent radio fidelity.

Necessity of heterodyning
Superheterodyne AM receiver works on the principle of heterodyning action. The necessity of heterodyning
action is due to the following reasons.
1. It is difficult to design a RF amplifier with high gain and high band width.

2. It is relatively easier to design a high gain IF amplifier having uniform gain over a narrow band of comparatively
lower intermediate frequencies (IF).
3. Hence it is necessary to convert the Radio frequencies to Intermediate Frequencies for efficient processing.

Some definitions
SIM: subscriber identification module
SMS: short message service
WIFI: wireless fidelity
GPRS: general packet radio service
GPS: global positioning system
GSM: global system for mobile communications

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