Advanced Radio Systems

Section 1 - Radio transmitters and

receivers
• Carrier frequency stability in radio transmitters
• Frequency synthesizers and their application
• Functions of a final stage power amplifier
• Difference between low-level and high-level modulation
• Block diagram of a simple AM & FM transmitter and functions
• Methods for eliminating harmonics
• Power level control in radio transmitters (Exciter)
• Duplexers
• Dual conversion super heterodyne process
• Block (system) diagram of a double super heterodyne
• Noise figure
• Subsystems in communications receivers
• Diplexers in radio transceivers
• Spread spectrum & techniques
Transmitters:
Classification of Radio Transmitters
• According to the type of modulation used
(AM Transmitter, FM Transmitter, PCM Transmitter)
• According to the service involved
(Radio broadcast, radio telephony, television, radar, navigational)
• According to the frequency range used
(Long wave, medium wave, short wave, VHF / UHF, microwave)
• According to the power used
(Low level modulated, high level modulated)
Radio transmitters

• A radio transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio

waves with an antenna.
• Radio waves are electromagnetic waves with frequencies between
about 30 Hz and 300 GHz. 
• The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current,
which is applied to the antenna.
• When excited by this alternating current, the antenna radiates radio
waves. 
• Radio transmitters are used in radio broadcasting, TV broadcasting,
cellular networks etc..
Radio transmitters

• Most transmitters consist of an electronic oscillator which generates

an oscillating carrier wave, optionally one or more frequency
multiplication stages , a modulator which impresses an information
bearing modulation signal on the carrier, and an amplifier which
increases the power of the signal and a filter and matching network
to connect to an antenna

• Transmitters are strictly regulated by national regulation laws in order

to avoid radio interference.
Transmitters
• The sub-units in the transmitter are responsible for:
• Carrier Generation
• Modulation
• Raising the signal to a sufficient power level
Transmitters
• Power supply - Provides the necessary electrical power to operate the transmitter.

• Oscillator - Creates alternating current at the frequency on which the transmitter will transmit. The
oscillator usually generates a sine wave, which is referred to as a carrier wave.

• Modulator - Adds useful information to the carrier wave. There are two main ways to add this
information. The first, called amplitude modulation or AM, makes slight increases or decreases to
the intensity of the carrier wave. The second, called frequency modulation or FM, makes slight
increases or decreases the frequency of the carrier wave.

• Amplifier - Amplifies the modulated carrier wave to increase its power. The more powerful the
amplifier, the more powerful the broadcast.

• Antenna - Converts the amplified signal to radio waves.

Radio transmitter design issues
• When designing radio transmitters, we must pay attention to the following factors.

-  Frequency of operation
- Type of modulation
- Stability and purity of the resulting signal
- Efficiency of power use
- Power level required to meet the system design objectives.

Apart from these, if it is a high power transmitter, then we must be aware of

radiation safety, generation of X-rays, and protection from high voltages.
Determining the frequency
• Fixed frequency systems – Normally uses a crystal oscillator which has an
almost stable frequency

• Variable frequency systems - used to enable a transmitter to be used on

several different frequencies. For that we can have multiple options like using
an array of crystal oscillators, VFO (variable frequency oscillator, Frequency
synthesizer)

• Frequency multiplication based systems – A frequency multiplier can be used

to obtain the multiples of fundamental frequency (odd or even) to create a
set of different freqiencies.
Fixed frequency systems
• Use a crystal oscillator to generate a fixed and stable frequency.

• Crystal oscillator contains a quartz crystal.

• A voltage applied to the electrodes on the crystal causes it to change shape; when the
voltage is removed, the crystal generates a small voltage as it elastically returns to its
original shape.

• This is known as electrostriction or inverse piezoelectricity.

• The quartz oscillates at a stable resonant frequency with a high stability.

Fixed frequency systems

A crystal oscillator
Carrier Frequency Stability of
transmitters
•The Frequency Stability of a Transmitter is a measure of how close the actual frequency
transmitted is to the wanted. The difference between the wanted frequency and that actually
produced is known as the Frequency Error or Frequency Drift.

• Frequency stability represents the variation of output frequency of a crystal oscillator due to

external conditions like temperature variation, voltage variation, output load variation, and
frequency aging.

• The reason for the stability is so that they might possibly put the transmissions outside the radio
bands. Frequency stability assure that the transmission is inside the desired frequency bands.

• Frequency Stability is generally quoted in Parts per Million (ppm) but can sometimes be quoted
as a discrete number of Hertz (Hz).
Carrier Frequency Stability of
transmitters
• Parts per Million (ppm): 1 ppm means 1/106 part of a nominal
frequency.

For example - If a quartz oscillator has an output frequency of 1 MHz (1000000 Hz) and it has a
Frequency instability of 5 ppm, it will vary in frequency by 5 Hz. 
Advanced block diagram of the transmitter

Generates the Carrier Signal

Message Signal
Frequency Stabilizer

Simple block diagram of the transmitter

14
Carrier Frequency Stability of
transmitters
• The audio amplifier (Amplified message signal) is linked to the modulator. Once the appropriate modulation has
been applied, modulator outputs a modulated signal which may be appropriately filtered; but it is not on the
correct frequency.

• This signal is then mixed with the output from the Synthesiser + Oscillator to produce the desired output
frequency and the output signal is then passes into the RF power amplifier.

• Finally, the signal is filtered again before it goes into the aerial.
• So the transmitter has;
• Created an RF signal inside the desired frequency band by selecting all the oscillators properly.
• Created a nice and clean signal by appropriate design and filtering.
• Created a stable, accurate and known signal with the help of crystal oscillator + Synthesizer.
• Guaranteed minimum band width required for the type of transmission by using amplification and modulation.
• Guaranteed correct power output with the correct use of RF power amplifier.
• Guaranteed minimum output on other frequencies with Band pass and harmonic filtering.
Carrier Frequency Stabilizer – Circuit 1

Modulated Message Signal

A frequency stabilization scheme using the negative feedback

16
Components of a frequency Stabilizer
• Voltage Controlled Oscillator (VCO) - An oscillator with an output signal whose
output can be varied over a range, which is controlled by the input DC voltage. It is an oscillator
whose output frequency is directly related to the voltage at its input. By varying the input DC
voltage, the output frequency of the signal produced is adjusted.

• Crystal Oscillator - A crystal oscillator is an electronic oscillator circuit that uses the
mechanical resonance of a vibrating crystal of piezoelectric material to create an electrical
signal with a precise frequency. This frequency is often used to keep track of time, to provide a
stable clock signal for digital integrated circuits, and to stabilize frequencies for radio
transmitters and receivers.

• Mixer - A frequency mixer, is a nonlinear electrical circuit that creates new frequencies from
two signals applied to it. It produces new signals at the sum and difference of the original
frequencies.
• Frequency discriminator - A discriminator is an electronic circuit that delivers an
output voltage which is proportional to the deviations of a signal from a predetermined
frequency value. In other words, it will convert a frequency change into an amplitude
change.

• Low Pass Filter (LPF) – LPF allows signals with a frequency lower than the cut-off
frequency to pass through it thereby removing short-term fluctuations, and provide a
smoother form of signal.

18
Function of a Frequency stabilizer
• When the modulated message signal and the output of the crystal oscillator (Crystal
oscillator + Synthesizer) are fed to the mixer, it yields the frequency difference
between the two signals.
• Then, the mixer output is fed to the frequency discriminator, it provides an error
voltage which is proportionate to the frequency difference.
• When the modulated message signal has a frequency exactly equal to its assigned
carrier frequency (i.e. no drift), then the output of the Low-pass Filter (LPF) is zero.
• If there is any difference (drift) in the transmitter carrier frequency (which creates a
deviation in modulated message signal), the discriminator – LPF combination to yield a
DC output voltage with a polarity determined by the direction of the frequency drift.
• This DC output with the appropriate polarity is applied to the Voltage-controlled
Oscillator to restore the carrier frequency to the desired value.
Function of a Frequency stabilizer :
frequency synthesizer
• A frequency synthesizer is an electronic circuit that generates a range
of frequencies from a single reference frequency.

• A frequency synthesizer may use the techniques of frequency

multiplication, frequency division, direct digital synthesis, frequency
mixing, and phase-locked loops to generate its frequencies.
Carrier Frequency Stabilizer – Circuit 2
Phase-Locked Loop (PLL)
• A phase-locked loop (PLL) is an electronic circuit that constantly adjusts to match
the frequency of an input signal with a reference signal. It works as a carrier
frequency stabilizer in transmitters.
Reference Signal generated by
Modulated
( Crystal Oscillator + Message Signal
Synthesizer)

21
Carrier Frequency Stabilizer – Circuit 2
Phase-Locked Loop (PLL)

• A phase locked loop is a feedback control system.

• It compares the phases of two input signals and produces an error signal that is proportional to the
difference between their phases.
• The error signal is then low pass filtered and used to drive a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) which creates
an output frequency. 
• The output frequency is fed through a frequency divider back to the input of the system, producing
a negative feedback loop.
•  If the output frequency drifts, the phase error signal will increase, driving the frequency in the opposite
direction to reduce the error.
• Thus the output is locked to the frequency at the other input.
• This other input is called the reference and is usually derived from a crystal oscillator, which is very stable in
frequency. 
Example
• Suppose the reference signal is 100 kHz, and the divider can be preset
to any value between 1 and 100. The error signal produced by the
comparator will only be zero when the output of the divider is also
100 kHz. For this to be the case, the VCO must run at a frequency
which is 100 kHz x the divider count value. Thus it will produce an
output of 100 kHz for a count of 1, 200 kHz for a count of 2, 1 MHz for
a count of 10 and so on.
THANK YOU!!!