Data and Computer

Communications
Chapter 5 – Signal Encoding
Techniques
 KEY POINTS
• Both analog and digital information can be encoded as either
analog or digital signals. The particular encoding that is chosen
depends on the specific requirements to be met and the media
and communications facilities available.

• Digital data, digital signals: The simplest form of digital

encoding of digital data is to assign one voltage level to binary
one and another to binary zero. More complex encoding
schemes are used to improve performance, by altering the
spectrum of the signal and providing synchronization capability.

• Digital data, analog signal: A modem converts digital data to

an analog signal so that it can be transmitted over an analog line.
The basic techniques are amplitude shift keying (ASK),
frequency shift keying (FSK), and phase shift keying (PSK). All
involve altering one or more characteristics of a carrier frequency
to represent binary data.
 KEY POINTS
• Analog data, digital signals: Analog data, such as voice and
video, are often digitized to be able to use digital transmission
facilities. The simplest technique is pulse code modulation
(PCM), which involves sampling the analog data periodically and
quantizing the samples.

• Analog data, analog signals: Analog data are modulated by a

carrier frequency to produce an analog signal in a different
frequency band, which can be utilized on an analog transmission
system. The basic techniques are amplitude modulation (AM),
frequency modulation (FM), and phase modulation (PM).
Signal Encoding Techniques
• For digital signaling, a data source g(t), which may be either
digital or analog, is encoded into a digital signal x(t).The actual
form of x(t) depends on the encoding technique and is chosen to
optimize use of the transmission medium. For example, the
encoding may be chosen to conserve bandwidth or to minimize
errors.

• The basis for analog signaling is a continuous constant-frequency

signal known as the carrier signal. The frequency of the carrier
signal is chosen to be compatible with the transmission medium
being used. Data may be transmitted using a carrier signal by
modulation.

• Modulation is the process of encoding source data onto a carrier

signal with frequency All modulation techniques involve
operation on one or more of the three fundamental frequency
domain parameters: amplitude, frequency, and phase.
• The input signal m(t) may be analog or digital and is called
the modulating signal or baseband signal.The result of
modulating the carrier signal is called the modulated signal
s(t).

• As Figure 5.1b indicates, s(t) is a bandlimited (bandpass)

signal. The location of the bandwidth on the spectrum is
related to fc and is often centered on fc. Again, the actual
form of the encoding is chosen to optimize some
characteristic of the transmission.

• Each of the four possible combinations depicted in Figure

5.1 is in widespread use. The reasons for choosing a
particular combination for any given communication task
vary.
• Digital data, digital signal: In general, the equipment for encoding
digital data into a digital signal is less complex and less expensive
than digital-to analog modulation equipment.

• Analog data, digital signal: Conversion of analog data to digital

form permits the use of modern digital transmission and switching
equipment.

• Digital data, analog signal: Some transmission media, such as

optical fiber and unguided media, will only propagate analog signals.

• Analog data, analog signal: Analog data in electrical form can be

transmitted as baseband signals easily and cheaply. This is done
with voice transmission over voice-grade lines. One common use of
modulation is to shift the bandwidth of a baseband signal to another
portion of the spectrum. In this way multiple signals, each at a
different position on the spectrum, can share the same transmission
medium. This is known as frequency division multiplexing.
 Digital Data, Digital Signal
• Digital signal
– discrete, discontinuous voltage pulses
– each pulse is a signal element
– binary data encoded into signal elements
 Some Terms
• Unipolar - All signal elements have the same sign

• Polar ‐ One logic state represented by positive voltage the other by

negative voltage

• data rate - Rate of data (R) transmission in bits per second

• duration or length of a bit ‐ Time taken for transmitter to emit the

bit (1/R)

• modulation rate - Rate at which the signal level changes, measured

in baud = signal elements per second. Depends on type of digital
encoding used.

• mark and space - Binary 1 and Binary 0 respectively

 Interpreting Signals
• need to know
– timing of bits ‐ when they start and end
– signal levels
• factors affecting signal interpretation
– signal to noise ratio
– data rate
– bandwidth
– encoding scheme
 Comparison of Encoding Schemes

• signal spectrum
• clocking
• error detection
• signal interference and noise immunity
• cost and complexity
• Signal spectrum: Several aspects of the signal spectrum are
important. A lack of high-frequency components means that less
bandwidth is required for transmission. In addition, lack of a direct-
current (dc) component is also desirable. With a dc component to
the signal, there must be direct physical attachment of
transmission components. With no dc component, ac coupling via
transformer is possible; this provides excellent electrical isolation,
reducing interference. Finally, the magnitude of the effects of signal
distortion and interference depend on the spectral properties of the
transmitted signal. A good signal design should concentrate the
transmitted power in the middle of the transmission bandwidth. In
such a case, a smaller distortion should be present in the received
signal.

• Cost and complexity: Although digital logic continues to drop in

price, this factor should not be ignored. In particular, the higher the
signaling rate to achieve a given data rate, the greater the cost.We
shall see that some codes require a signaling rate that is greater
than the actual data rate.
• Clocking: We mentioned the need to determine the beginning and
end of each bit position.This is no easy task. One rather expensive
approach is to provide a separate clock lead to synchronize the
transmitter and receiver.The alternative is to provide some
synchronization mechanism that is based on the transmitted signal.
This can be achieved with suitable encoding, as explained
subsequently.

• Error detection: We will discuss various error-detection techniques

in Chapter 6 and show that these are the responsibility of a layer of
logic above the signalling level that is known as data link control.
However, it is useful to have some error detection capability built
into the physical signaling encoding scheme. This permits errors to
be detected more quickly.

• Signal interference and noise immunity: Certain codes exhibit

superior performance in the presence of noise. Performance is
usually expressed in terms of a BER.
Encoding Schemes

• Nonreturn to Zero-Level (NRZ-

L)
• Nonreturn to Zero Inverted
(NRZI)
• Bipolar –AMI
• Pseudoternary
• Manchester
• Differential Manchester
• B8ZS
• HDB3
 Nonreturn to Zero‐Level
(NRZ‐L)
• The most common, and easiest, way to transmit digital signals
is to use two different voltage levels for the two binary digits.

• Codes that follow this strategy share the property that the
voltage level is constant during a bit interval; there is no
transition (no return to a zero voltage level).

• Can have absence of voltage used to represent binary 0, with a

constant positive voltage used to represent binary 1. More
commonly a negative voltage represents one binary value and
a positive voltage represents the other. This is known as
Nonreturn to Zero-Level (NRZ-L).
 Nonreturn to Zero‐Level
(NRZ‐L)
• two different voltages for 0 and 1 bits
• voltage constant during bit interval
– no transition I.e. no return to zero voltage
– such as absence of voltage for zero, constant
positive voltage for one
– more often, negative voltage for one value and
positive for the other
 Nonreturn to Zero Inverted

• A variation of NRZ is known as NRZI (Nonreturn to Zero, invert on

ones). As with NRZ-L, NRZI maintains a constant voltage pulse for the
duration of a bit time.

• The data bits are encoded as the presence or absence of a signal transition
at the beginning of the bit time. A transition (low to high or high to low) at
the beginning of a bit time denotes a binary 1 for that bit time; no
transition indicates a binary 0.

• NRZI is an example of differential encoding. In differential encoding,

the information to be transmitted is represented in terms of the changes
between successive signal elements rather than the signal elements
themselves.
 Nonreturn to Zero Inverted
• The encoding of the current bit is determined as follows: if the current bit
is a binary 0, then the current bit is encoded with the same signal as the
preceding bit; if the current bit is a binary 1, then the current bit is
encoded with a different signal than the preceding bit.

• One benefit of differential encoding is that it may be more reliable to detect a

transition in the presence of noise than to compare a value to a threshold.

• Another benefit is that with a complex transmission layout, it is easy to lose

the sense of the polarity of the signal.

• For example, on a multidrop twisted-pair line, if the leads from an attached

device to the twisted pair are accidentally inverted, all 1s and 0s for NRZ-L
will be inverted. This does not happen with differential encoding.
 Nonreturn to Zero Inverted
• nonreturn to zero inverted on ones
• constant voltage pulse for duration of bit
• data encoded as presence or absence of signal
transition at beginning of bit time
– transition (low to high or high to low) denotes binary 1
– no transition denotes binary 0
• example of differential encoding since have
– data represented by changes rather than levels
– more reliable detection of transition rather than level
– easy to lose sense of polarity
 NRZ Pros & Cons
• Pros
– easy to engineer
– make good use of bandwidth
• Cons
– dc component
– lack of synchronization capability
– ‐Consider that with a long string of 1s or 0s for NRZ-L or a long
string of 0s for NRZI, the output is a constant voltage over a long
period of time. Under these circumstances, any drift between the
clocks of transmitter and receiver will result in loss of
synchronization between the two.
• used for magnetic recording due to its simplicity
• not often used for signal transmission‐ not attractive
 Bipolar Schemes
• In bipolar encoding (sometimes called multilevel binary),
there are three voltage levels:
• positive,
• negative, and
• zero.

• The voltage level for one data element is at zero, while the
voltage level for the other element alternates between
positive and negative.

• Example: AMI and Pseudoternary

 Bipolar‐AMI
• In the bipolar-AMI scheme, a binary 0 is represented by no
line signal, and a binary 1 is represented by a positive or
negative pulse. The binary 1 pulses must alternate in polarity.
• There are several advantages to this approach.
• there will be no loss of synchronization if a long string of
1s occurs. Each 1 introduces a transition, and the receiver
can resynchronize on that transition. A long string of 0s
would still be a problem.
• because the 1 signals alternate in voltage from positive to
negative, there is no net dc component. Also, the
bandwidth of the resulting signal is considerably less than
the bandwidth for NRZ.
• Finally, the pulse alternation property provides a simple
means of error detection. Any isolated error, whether it
deletes a pulse or adds a pulse, causes a violation of this
property.
 Bipolar‐AMI

• Use more than two levels

• Bipolar‐AMI
– zero represented by no line signal
– one represented by positive or negative pulse
– one pulses alternate in polarity
– no loss of sync if a long string of ones
– long runs of zeros still a problem
– no net dc component
– lower bandwidth
– easy error detection
 Pseudoternary
• The comments of the previous paragraph also apply to
pseudoternary.

• The binary 1 that is represented by the absence of a line signal,

and the binary 0 by alternating positive and negative pulses.

• There is no particular advantage of one technique versus the

other, and each is the basis of some applications.
 Pseudoternary

• one represented by absence of line signal

• zero represented by alternating positive and
negative
• no advantage or disadvantage over bipolar‐
AMI
• each used in some applications
 Multilevel Binary Issues
• Although a degree of synchronization is provided with these
codes, a long string of 0s in the case of AMI or 1s in the case
of pseudoternary still presents a problem.

• Several techniques have been used to address this deficiency.

One approach is to insert additional bits that force transitions.
This technique is used in ISDN (integrated services digital
network) for relatively low data rate transmission. Of course,
at a high data rate, this scheme is expensive, because it results
in an increase in an already high signal transmission rate. To
deal with this problem at high data rates, a technique that
involves scrambling the data is used.
 Multilevel Binary Issues
• synchronization with long runs of 0’s or 1’s
– can insert additional bits, i.e. ISDN
– scramble data (later)
• not as efficient as NRZ
– each signal element only represents one bit
• receiver distinguishes between three levels: +A, ‐A, 0
– a 3 level system could represent log23 = 1.58 bits
– requires approx. 3dB more signal power for same
probability of bit error
 Biphase
• There is another set of coding techniques, grouped under the
term biphase, that overcomes the limitations of NRZ codes.

• Two of these techniques:

• Manchester and
• differential Manchester

• In Manchester and differential Manchester encoding, the

transition at the middle of the bit is used for synchronization.

• In the Manchester code, there is a transition at the middle of

each bit period. The midbit transition serves as a clocking
mechanism and also as data: a low-to-high transition represents
a 1, and a high-to-low transition represents a 0. Biphase codes
are popular techniques for data transmission. The more common
Manchester code has been specified for the IEEE 802.3
(Ethernet) standard for baseband coaxial cable and twisted-pair
bus LANs.
 Manchester Encoding
• has transition in middle of each bit period
• transition serves as clock and data
• low to high represents one
• high to low represents zero
• used by IEEE 802.
 Differential Manchester Encoding
• midbit transition is clocking only
• transition at start of bit period representing 0
• no transition at start of bit period representing 1
– this is a differential encoding scheme
• used by IEEE 802.5
In Manchester encoding, the duration of the bit is divided into two halves. The
voltage remains at one level during the first half and moves to the other level in
the second half. The transition at the middle of the bit provides synchronization.

Differential Manchester, on the other hand, combines the ideas of RZ and

NRZ-I. There is always a transition at the middle of the bit, but the bit values are
determined at the beginning of the bit. If the next bit is 0, there is a transition; if
the next bit is 1, there is none.
 Biphase Pros and Cons
• All of the biphase techniques require at least one transition per bit time
and may have as many as two transitions. Thus, the maximum
modulation rate is twice that for NRZ; this means that the bandwidth
required is correspondingly greater. The bandwidth for biphase codes is
reasonably narrow and contains no dc component. However, it is wider
than the bandwidth for the multilevel binary codes.
• On the other hand, the biphase schemes have several advantages:
• Synchronization: Because there is a predictable transition during
each bit time, the receiver can synchronize on that transition, known as
self-clocking codes.
• No dc component: Biphase codes have no dc component
• Error detection: The absence of an expected transition can be used
to detect errors. Noise on the line would have to invert both the signal
before and after the expected transition to cause an undetected error.
 Biphase Pros and Cons
• Con
– at least one transition per bit time and possibly two
– maximum modulation rate is twice NRZ
– requires more bandwidth
• Pros
– synchronization on mid bit transition (self clocking)
– has no dc component
– has error detection
 Modulation Rate
• When signal-encoding techniques are used, a distinction
needs to be made between data rate (expressed in bits per
second) and modulation rate (expressed in baud).
• The data rate, or bit rate, is 1/Tb, where Tb = bit duration.
The modulation rate is the rate at which signal elements are
generated.
• Consider, for example, Manchester encoding. The minimum
size signal element is a pulse of one-half the duration of a
bit interval. For a string of all binary zeroes or all binary
ones, a continuous stream of such pulses is generated.
Hence the maximum modulation rate for Manchester is
2/Tb. This situation is illustrated in Stallings DCC8e Figure
5.5, which shows the transmission of a stream of binary 1s
at a data rate of 1 Mbps using NRZI and Manchester.
Modulation Rate
 Scrambling
• Although the biphase techniques have achieved widespread use
in local area network applications at relatively high data rates (up
to 10 Mbps), they have not been widely used in long-distance
applications.
• The principal reason for this is that they require a high
signaling rate relative to the data rate. This sort of inefficiency
is more costly in a long-distance application.
• Another approach is to make use of some sort of scrambling
scheme. The idea behind this approach is simple: sequences that
would result in a constant voltage level on the line are replaced
by filling sequences that will provide sufficient transitions for the
receiver's clock to maintain synchronization.
 Scrambling
• use scrambling to replace sequences that would
produce constant voltage
• these filling sequences must
– produce enough transitions to sync
– be recognized by receiver & replaced with original
– be same length as original
• design goals
– have no dc component
– have no long sequences of zero level line signal
– have no reduction in data rate
– give error detection capability
B8ZS and HDB3
 B8ZS and HDB3
• Two techniques are commonly used in long-distance
transmission services; A coding scheme that is commonly used
in North America, based on a bipolar-AMI, is known as
bipolar with 8-zeros substitution (B8ZS). To overcome the
drawback of the AMI code that a long string of zeros may
result in loss of synchronization, the encoding is amended with
the following rules:
• If an octet of all zeros occurs and the last voltage pulse
preceding this octet was positive, then the eight zeros of
the octet are encoded as 000+–0–+.
• If an octet of all zeros occurs and the last voltage pulse
preceding this octet was negative, then the eight zeros of
the octet are encoded as 000–+0+–.
Two cases of B8ZS scrambling technique

B8ZS substitutes eight consecutive zeros with

000VB0VB.
 B8ZS and HDB3
• This technique forces two code violations (signal patterns not allowed
in AMI) of the AMI code, an event unlikely to be caused by noise or
other transmission impairment. The receiver recognizes the pattern and
interprets the octet as consisting of all zeros.

• A coding scheme that is commonly used in Europe and Japan is known

as the high-density bipolar-3 zeros (HDB3) code. It is also based on
the use of AMI encoding. In this case, the scheme replaces strings of
four zeros with sequences containing one or two pulses. In each case,
the fourth zero is replaced with a code violation. In addition, a rule is
needed to ensure that successive violations are of alternate polarity so
that no dc component is introduced. Thus, if the last violation was
positive, this violation must be negative and vice versa.

• Neither of these codes has a dc component. Most of the energy is

concentrated in a relatively sharp spectrum around a frequency equal to
one-half the data rate. Thus, these codes are well suited to high data
rate transmission.
Different situations in HDB3 scrambling technique

• If the number of nonzero pulses after the last substitution is odd, the
substitution pattern will be 000V, which makes the total number of nonzero
pulses even.

• If the number of nonzero pulses after the last substitution is even, the
substitution pattern will be B00V, which makes the total number of nonzero
pulses even.
 Digital Data, Analog Signal
• main use is public telephone system
– has freq range of 300Hz to 3400Hz
– use modem (modulator‐demodulator)
• encoding techniques
– Amplitude shift keying (ASK)
– Frequency shift keying (FSK)
– Phase shift keying (PK)
Digital-to-analog conversion
Modulation Techniques
 Amplitude Shift Keying
• encode 0/1 by different carrier amplitudes
– usually have one amplitude zero
• susceptible to sudden gain changes
• inefficient
• used for
– up to 1200bps on voice grade lines
– very high speeds over optical fiber
 Binary Frequency Shift Keying
• most common is binary FSK (BFSK)
• two binary values represented by two different
frequencies (near carrier)
• less susceptible to error than ASK
• used for
– up to 1200bps on voice grade lines
– high frequency radio
– even higher frequency on LANs using co‐ax
Multiple FSK
 Multiple FSK
• A signal that is more bandwidth efficient, but also more
susceptible to error, is multiple FSK (MFSK), in which more than
two frequencies are used.

• In this case each signaling element represents more than one bit.
To match the data rate of the input bit stream, each output signal
element is held for a period of Ts = LT seconds, where T is the bit
period (data rate = 1/T).

• Thus, one signal element, which is a constant-frequency tone,

encodes L bits. The total bandwidth required is 2Mfd. It can be
shown that the minimum frequency separation required is 2fd =
1/Ts. Therefore, the modulator requires a bandwidth of Wd = 2Mfd
= M/Ts.
 Multiple FSK
• each signalling element represents more than
one bit
• more than two frequencies used
• more bandwidth efficient
• more prone to error
 Phase Shift Keying
• In PSK, the phase of the carrier signal is shifted to represent data. The
simplest scheme uses two phases to represent the two binary digits
(Figure 5.7c) and is known as binary phase shift keying.
• An alternative form of two-level PSK is differential PSK (DPSK). In
this scheme, a binary 0 is represented by sending a signal burst of the
same phase as the previous signal burst sent. A binary 1 is represented
by sending a signal burst of opposite phase to the preceding one.
• This term differential refers to the fact that the phase shift is with
reference to the previous bit transmitted rather than to some constant
reference signal. In differential encoding, the information to be
transmitted is represented in terms of the changes between successive
data symbols rather than the signal elements themselves. DPSK avoids
the requirement for an accurate local oscillator phase at the receiver
that is matched with the transmitter. As long as the preceding phase is
received correctly, the phase reference is accurate.
 Phase Shift Keying
• phase of carrier signal is shifted to represent
data
• binary PSK
– two phases represent two binary digits
• differential PSK
– phase shifted relative to previous transmission
rather than some reference signal
 Quadrature PSK
• More efficient use of bandwidth can be achieved if each signaling
element represents more than one bit.
• For example, instead of a phase shift of 180˚, as allowed in BPSK, a
common encoding technique, known as quadrature phase shift keying
(QPSK), uses phase shifts separated by multiples of π/2 (90˚). Thus
each signal element represents two bits rather than one. The input is a
stream of binary digits with a data rate of R = 1/Tb, where Tb is the
width of each bit.
• This stream is converted into two separate bit streams of R/2 bps each,
by taking alternate bits for the two streams. The two data streams are
referred to as the I (in-phase) and Q (quadrature phase) streams. The
streams are modulated on a carrier of frequency fc by multiplying the
bit stream by the carrier, and the carrier shifted by 90˚.
• The two modulated signals are then added together and transmitted.
Thus, the combined signals have a symbol rate that is half the input bit
rate.
 Quadrature PSK
• get more efficient use if each signal element
represents more than one bit
– eg. shifts of /2 (90o)
– each element represents two bits
– split input data stream in two & modulate onto
carrier & phase shifted carrier
• can use 8 phase angles & more than one
amplitude
– 9600bps modem uses 12 angles, four of which
have two amplitudes
QPSK and OQPSK Modulators
 Performance of Digital to Analog
Modulation Schemes
• bandwidth
– ASK/PSK bandwidth directly relates to bit rate
– multilevel PSK gives significant improvements
• in presence of noise:
– bit error rate of PSK and QPSK are about 3dB
superior to ASK and FSK
– for MFSK & MPSK have tradeoff between
bandwidth efficiency and error performance
Quadrature Amplitude Modulation
• Quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) is a popular analog signaling
technique that is used in the asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL),
described in Chapter 8, and in some wireless standards.
• This modulation technique is a combination of ASK and PSK. QAM
can also be considered a logical extension of QPSK.
• QAM takes advantage of the fact that it is possible to send two different
signals simultaneously on the same carrier frequency, by using two
copies of the carrier frequency, one shifted by 90˚ with respect to the
other.
• For QAM, each carrier is ASK modulated. The two independent
signals are simultaneously transmitted over the same medium. At the
receiver, the two signals are demodulated and the results combined to
produce the original binary input.
Quadrature Amplitude Modulation
• QAM used on asymmetric digital subscriber line
(ADSL) and some wireless
• combination of ASK and PSK
• logical extension of QPSK
• send two different signals simultaneously on same
carrier frequency
– use two copies of carrier, one shifted 90°
– each carrier is ASK modulated
– two independent signals over same medium
– demodulate and combine for original binary output
QAM Modulator
• Figure shows the QAM modulation scheme in general
terms. The input is a stream of binary digits arriving at a rate
of R bps. This stream is converted into two separate bit
streams of R/2 bps each, by taking alternate bits for the two
streams.

• In the diagram, the upper stream is ASK modulated on a

carrier of frequency fc by multiplying the bit stream by the
carrier. Thus, a binary zero is represented by the absence of
the carrier wave and a binary one is represented by the
presence of the carrier wave at a constant amplitude.

• This same carrier wave is shifted by 90˚ and used for ASK
modulation of the lower binary stream. The two modulated
signals are then added together and transmitted.
 QAM Variants
• two level ASK
– each of two streams in one of two states
– four state system
– essentially QPSK
• four level ASK
– combined stream in one of 16 states
• have 64 and 256 state systems
• improved data rate for given bandwidth
– but increased potential error rate
 Analog Data, Digital Signal
• digitization is conversion of analog data into
digital data which can then:
– be transmitted using NRZ‐L
– be transmitted using code other than NRZ‐L
– be converted to analog signal
• analog to digital conversion done using a
codec
– pulse code modulation
– delta modulation
Digitizing Analog Data
 Pulse Code Modulation (PCM)
• The simplest technique for transforming analog data into digital signals
is pulse code modulation (PCM), which involves sampling the analog
data periodically and quantizing the samples.

• Pulse code modulation (PCM) is based on the sampling theorem

(quoted above). Hence if voice data is limited to frequencies below
4000 Hz (a conservative procedure for intelligibility), 8000 samples per
second would be sufficient to characterize the voice signal completely.

• Note, however, that these are analog samples, called pulse amplitude
modulation (PAM) samples. To convert to digital, each of these analog
samples must be assigned a binary code.
 Pulse Code Modulation (PCM)
• sampling theorem:
– “If a signal is sampled at regular intervals at a rate
higher than twice the highest signal frequency, the
samples contain all information in original signal”
– eg. 4000Hz voice data, requires 8000 sample per
sec
• strictly have analog samples
– Pulse Amplitude Modulation (PAM)
• so assign each a digital value
Components of PCM encoder

4.71
PCM Example
 PCM Example
• Figure shows an example in which the original signal is
assumed to be bandlimited with a bandwidth of B.

• PAM samples are taken at a rate of 2B, or once every Ts = 1/2B

seconds. Each PAM sample is approximated by being quantized
into one of 16 different levels.

• Each sample can then be represented by 4 bits. But because the

quantized values are only approximations, it is impossible to
recover the original signal exactly.

• By using an 8-bit sample, which allows 256 quantizing levels,

the quality of the recovered voice signal is comparable with that
achieved via analog transmission. Note that this implies that a
data rate of 8000 samples per second  8 bits per sample = 64
kbps is needed for a single voice signal.
 PCM Block Diagram

Thus, PCM starts with a continuous-time, continuous-amplitude (analog)

signal, from which a digital signal is produced, as shown in the figure. The
digital signal consists of blocks of n bits, where each n-bit number is the
amplitude of a PCM pulse. On reception, the process is reversed to reproduce
the analog signal. Notice, however, that this process violates the terms of the
sampling theorem. By quantizing the PAM pulse, the original signal is now
only approximated and cannot be recovered exactly. This effect is known as
quantizing error or quantizing noise. Each additional bit used for
quantizing increases SNR by about 6 dB, which is a factor of 4.
 Non‐Linear Coding

Typically, the PCM scheme is refined using a technique known as nonlinear encoding,
which means, in effect, that the quantization levels are not equally spaced. The problem
with equal spacing is that the mean absolute error for each sample is the same, regardless
of signal level. Consequently, lower amplitude values are relatively more distorted. By
using a greater number of quantizing steps for signals of low amplitude, and a smaller
number of quantizing steps for signals of large amplitude, a marked reduction in overall
signal distortion is achieved. Nonlinear encoding can significantly improve the PCM
SNR ratio. For voice signals, improvements of 24 to 30 dB have been achieved.
Companding
 Companding
• The same effect can be achieved by using uniform quantizing but
companding (compressing-expanding) the input analog signal.

• Companding is a process that compresses the intensity range of a

signal by imparting more gain to weak signals than to strong
signals on input. At output, the reverse operation is performed.

• Figure shows typical companding functions. Note that the effect

on the input side is to compress the sample so that the higher
values are reduced with respect to the lower values. Thus, with a
fixed number of quantizing levels, more levels are available for
lower-level signals. On the output side, the compander expands
the samples so the compressed values are restored to their
original values.
 Delta Modulation
• A variety of techniques have been used to improve the performance of
PCM or to reduce its complexity.

• One of the most popular alternatives to PCM is delta modulation (DM).

With delta modulation, an analog input is approximated by a staircase
function that moves up or down by one quantization level () at each
sampling interval (Ts). The important characteristic of this staircase
function is that its behavior is binary:

• At each sampling time, the function moves up or down a constant

amount . Thus, the output of the delta modulation process can be
represented as a single binary digit for each sample. In essence, a bit
stream is produced by approximating the derivative of an analog signal
rather than its amplitude: A 1 is generated if the staircase function is to
go up during the next interval; a 0 is generated otherwise.
 Delta Modulation
• analog input is approximated by a staircase
function
– can move up or down one level () at each sample
interval
• has binary behavior
– since function only moves up or down at each
sample interval
– hence can encode each sample as single bit
– 1 for up or 0 for down
Delta Modulation Example
 Delta Modulation Example
• Figure shows an example where the staircase function is overlaid on
the original analog waveform. A 1 is generated if the staircase function
is to go up during the next interval; a 0 is generated otherwise. The
transition (up or down) that occurs at each sampling interval is chosen
so that the staircase function tracks the original analog waveform as
closely as possible.
• There are two important parameters in a DM scheme: the size of the
step assigned to each binary digit, , and the sampling rate. As the
above figure illustrates,  must be chosen to produce a balance
between two types of errors or noise. When the analog waveform is
changing very slowly, there will be quantizing noise. This noise
increases as  is increased.
• On the other hand, when the analog waveform is changing more
rapidly than the staircase can follow, there is slope overload noise. This
noise increases as  is decreased. It should be clear that the accuracy of
the scheme can be improved by increasing the sampling rate. However,
this increases the data rate of the output signal.
Delta Modulation Operation
 Delta Modulation Operation
• Stallings DCC8e Figure 5.21 illustrates the logic of the
process, which is essentially a feedback mechanism. For
transmission, the following occurs: At each sampling time, the
analog input is compared to the most recent value of the
approximating staircase function. If the value of the sampled
waveform exceeds that of the staircase function, a 1 is
generated; otherwise, a 0 is generated. Thus, the staircase is
always changed in the direction of the input signal.

• The output of the DM process is therefore a binary sequence

that can be used at the receiver to reconstruct the staircase
function. The staircase function can then be smoothed by
some type of integration process or by passing it through a
lowpass filter to produce an analog approximation of the
analog input signal.
 PCM verses Delta Modulation
• DM has simplicity compared to PCM
• but has worse SNR
• issue of bandwidth used
– eg. for good voice reproduction with PCM
• want 128 levels (7 bit) & voice bandwidth 4khz
• need 8000 x 7 = 56kbps
• data compression can improve on this
• still growing demand for digital signals
– use of repeaters, TDM, efficient switching
• PCM preferred to DM for analog signals
 Analog Data, Analog Signals
• Analog data can be modulated by a carrier frequency to produce
an analog signal in a different frequency band, which can be
utilized on an analog transmission system.

• The basic techniques are

• amplitude modulation (AM),
• frequency modulation (FM), and
• phase modulation (PM).

• Modulation has been defined as the process of combining an input

signal m(t) and a carrier at frequency fc to produce a signal s(t)
whose bandwidth is (usually) centered on fc. For digital data, the
motivation for modulation should be clear:
 Analog Data, Analog Signals
• When only analog transmission facilities are available, modulation is
required to convert the digital data to analog form. The motivation
when the data are already analog is less clear. After all, voice signals
are transmitted over telephone lines at their original spectrum (referred
to as baseband transmission). There are two principal reasons for
analog modulation of analog signals:
• A higher frequency may be needed for effective transmission, since
for unguided transmission, it is virtually impossible to transmit
baseband signals;
• Modulation permits frequency division multiplexing, an important
technique explored in Chapter 8.
• In this section we look at the principal techniques for modulation
using analog data: amplitude modulation (AM), frequency modulation
(FM), and phase modulation (PM). As before, the three basic
characteristics of a signal are used for modulation.
 Analog Data, Analog Signals
• modulate carrier frequency with analog data
• why modulate analog signals?
– higher frequency can give more efficient transmission
– permits frequency division multiplexing (chapter 8)
• types of modulation
– Amplitude
– Frequency
– Phase
 Analog
Modulation
Techniques
• Amplitude Modulation
• Frequency Modulation
• Phase Modulation
 Summary
• looked at signal encoding techniques
– digital data, digital signal (NRZ‐L,NRZI, etc )
– analog data, digital signal (PCM, Delta modulation)
– digital data, analog signal (ASK, FSK, PK)
– analog data, analog signal ( AM, FM, PM)