Chapter 4

Summary
Submitted to:
Dr. Saeed
Submitted by:
Abdul Hayee
16-E-798
Contents
 Modulation
 Amplitude modulation
 Modulators
 Switching modulators
 Diode bridge modulator
 Ring modulator
 Generation of AM signals
 Envelope detector
 Rectifier detector
 Quadrature Amplitude modulation
 Vistigial side band modulation
 Modulation:
 Modulation is a process that causes a shift in the range of frequency in a signal
 Types of modulation:
 Amplitude modulation:
In this modulation, the amplitude of the carrier signal varies in accordance with the
message signal, and other factors like phase and frequency remain constant.
 Phase modulation:
In this type of modulation, the phase of the carrier signal varies in accordance with the
message signal. When the phase of the signal is changed, then it affects the frequency. So, for
this reason, this modulation is also comes under the frequency modulation.
 Frequency modulation:
In this type of modulation, the frequency of the carrier signal varies in accordance with
the message signal, and other parameters like amplitude and phase remain constant. Frequency
modulation is used in different applications like radar, radio and telemetry, seismic prospecting
and monitoring newborns for seizures via EEG, etc.
Amplitude modulation DSB

 Amplitude modulation (AM) varies the amplitude of a carrier signal Acos(wct + qc )

according to a modulating signal m(t).
 The modulated signal is m(t) cos(wct)

m(t) cos w t 1/2[M (w + w ) + M (w - w )]

This modulation shifts the frequency spectrum to the right and the left by w
c
The modulated signal is composed of two parts, above wc and
below w
c
the upper sideband (USB) containing the frequencies |w| > | wc |
the lower sideband (LSB) containing the frequencies |w| < | wc|
Demodulation
The process of receiving the original signal from the modulated signal is called
demodulation.
Demodulation is similar to modulation and can be performed by multiplying the modulated
signal again with the carrier signal cos(wct)
E(w) = 12 M (w) + 14 [M (w + 2wc ) + M (w - 2wc )]
Modulators

 Multiplier modulators:
 Modulation is achieved directly by multiplying m(t) by cosw t using an analog multiplier.
 The output is proportional to the product of two input signals.
 Difficult to maintain linearity and are expensive.
 Nonlinear modulators:
 Modulation is achieved by using nonlinear devices such as semiconductor diode or a
transistor

Let output characteristics of NL be approximated by the power

series as
•Spectrum m(t) is centered at the origin, while of
m(t)coswct is centered at
+-wc
•The signal is ready for transmission but we do not need
the m(t) part of z(t)
•Z(t) is passed through a band-pass filter tuned to wc ,
the signal m(t) is
suppressed while 4bm(t)coswct passed unharmed.
Summary nonlinear modulator:
 
•Two inputs m(t) and coswct
•The summer output does not contain one of the input
coswct
•Circuits which have this characteristic are called
balanced circuits.
•The previous circuitry is an example of balanced
modulators.
Switching Modulators

 Multiplication operation of modulation can be replaced by switching operation. If a

periodic signal having Fourier series as:

 Now consider a periodic square pulse train with Fourier series as

 The modulated signal m(t)w(t) is given by

 Modulated signal m(t)w(t) consists of the component m(t) plus infinite numbers of
modulated signals with carrier frequencies w ,3w ,5w ,.....
 The spectrum of m(t)w(t) consists of M(w) and M(w) shifted to
 ± w ,±3w ,±5w ,.....
 As we are interested in modulated component m(t) cos w t
only. To separate this
component from others we pass m(t)w(t) through a
 bandpass filter of bandwidth 2BHz, centered at± w gives the required modulated signal 2/pi
m(t) cos w t . Therefore the multiplication of a signal by a square pulse train is is reality a
switching operation means turning off and on signal m(t) periodically and can be
accomplished by switching element controlled by w(t).
Diode bridge modulator:

Consider the following electronic switch circuit driven by Acos w t to produce the
switching action
D1 ,D2 andD3 ,D4
are matched pairs.When terminal c is positive with respect to d, all the diodes
conduct, terminal a & b are effectively shortened.
During the next half cycle d is positive with respect to c, all the diodes open, terminal
a & b are open.
Therefore the the circuit act as a desired electronic switch, where the terminal a & b
open and close periodically with the carrier frequency fc . When Acos wct is applied
across the terminal ab
Shunt-bridge diode modulator Series-bridge diode modulator

Switching on and off m(t) for each cycle of the carrier, resulting in the switched
signal m(t)w(t) and passing through bandpass filter gives the desired signal:
Ring modulator:

 Consider the following circuit

 During the positive half cycle of the carrier D1 & D3 conduct and D2 & D4 are open,
hence terminal a is connected to c & b to d
 During the negative half cycle of the carrier D1 & D3 are open and D2 & D4 conduct,
hence terminal a is connected to d & b to c
 Output is proportional to m(t) during positive cycle & -m(t) during negative cycle
 In this circuit there are two inputs m(t) and coswct, the input of the final bandpass filter
does not contain either of the inputs……
 this circuit is an example of double balanced modulator
Amplitude Modulation (AM)

 For DSB-SC a receiver must generate a carrier in frequency and phase synchronism with
the carrier at the transmitter.
 Problem:
 Transmitter and receiver may be located thousands of miles away, this call for a
sophisticated receiver and could be costly.
 Solution:
 Transmit a carrier Acoswct along with the modulated signal m(t)coswct so no need to
generate a carrier at the receiver.
 This type of modulation is called amplitude modulation and denoted by j(t) and is given
by:
 This type of modulation is called amplitude modulation and denoted by j(t) and is given
by:

 It has the Fourier spectrum

 The spectrum of jAM (t) is the same as m(t)coswct plus two additional impulses at± w
 •DSB-SC signal m(t)coswct and AM signal
To sketch j (t) ,we sketch A+m(t) & -(A+m(t) ) and fill in between the carrier AM frequency.
•As we sketch A+m(t) & -(A+m(t) )
 Consider two cases:
 A + m(t) >= 0 and A + m(t) <=0
 For simple envelope detection for AM signal is:

 A = 0, also satisfies the condition. In this case there is no need to add carrier, because the
envelope of DSB-SC signal m(t)coswct is m(t)
 Such a DSB-SC signal can be detected by envelope detection
 Assume for all t
 Let mp is the peak amplitude (positive or negative) of m(t)

 Hence the condition is equivalent to

 Thus the minimum carrier amplitude required for the envelope detection is mp
 We define the modulation index m as:
 A = carrier amplitude mp = constant of m(t)
 As A is the carrier amplitude and there is no upper bound on A,

 This is the condition for the viability of demodulation of Am signal by an envelope

detector
 Sideband and carrier power:
 There is a disadvantage of envelope detection in terms of power waste, as the carrier term
does not contain any information

 The sideband power Ps is given by

Hence the power efficiency is given by

Generation of AM signals

 Am signals can be generated by any DSB-SC modulators.

 The input should be A + m(t) instead of just m(t).
 The modulating circuit do not have to be balanced because there is no need to suppress the
carrier
Demodulation of AM Signals

 There are two well known methods of demodulation of AM signals:

 1) Rectifier detection 2) Envelope detection
 Rectifier detector:
 AM signal is applied to a diode and resistor circuit, the negative part of the the AM wave
will be suppressed.
 The output across the resistor is the half wave rectified version of the AM signal means
multiplying AM with w(t).
Envelope Detector

 In an envelope detector, the output follows the envelope of the modulated signal. The
following circuit act as an envelope detector:

 During the positive cycle of the input signal, the diode conducts and the capacitor C charges
up to the peak voltage of the input signal.
 When input signal falls below this peak value, the diode is cut off. (because the diode voltage
which is nearly the peak voltage is greater than the input signal voltage causing the diode to
open ).
 At this stage the capacitor discharge at the slew rate (with a time constant RC) during the next
positive cycle the process repeats
 During each positive cycle the capacitor charges up to the peak voltage of the input signal and
then decays slowly until the next positive cycle.
 This behavior of the capacitor makes output voltage Vc(t) follow the envelope of the input
signal.
 Capacitor discharges during each positive peaks causes a ripple signal of frequency wc at the
output
 The ripple can be reduced by increasing the time constant RC so the capacitor discharges very
little between positive peaks of the input signals

 Making RC too large, makes capacitor voltage impossible to follow the envelope.

 Conditions:
 RC should be large compared to 1/wc, but should be small compared to 1/2piB Where B is
the highest frequency in m(t)
 Also requires a condition which is necessary for well defined envelope
 The envelope detector output is with a ripple of frequency wc
 The DC term A can be blocked by a capacitor or a simple RC high pass filter, and the
ripple may be reduced further by another low-pass RC filter.
Quadrature Amplitude Modulation

 The DSB signals of AM require twice the bandwidth required for the baseband signal!
 Idea: Try to send two signals m1(t) and m2(t) simultaneously by modulating them
with two carrier signals of same frequency but shifted in phase by –pi/2
 The combined signal is m1 (t) + m2 (t) = m1 (t) cos wct + m2 (t) sin wct

 Both modulated signals occupy the same band

 At the receiver the two baseband signals can be separated by using a second carrier that is
shifted in phase by –pi/2
 The first signal m1(t) can be detected by a multiplication with 2cos(wct) followed by a
low-pass filter
 
 The second signal x2(t) can be detected accordingly by a multiplication with sin(wct)
followed by a low-pass filter
 Thus, two baseband signals, each of bandwidth B, can be simultaneously transmitted over
a channel with bandwidth 2B
 This principle is called quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM), because the carrier
frequencies are in phase quadrature.
Amplitude Modulation (Single Sideband SSB)

 The DSB spectrum has two sidebands: USB and LSB

 Both USB and LSB contain complete information of the baseband signal.
 A scheme in which only one sideband is transmitted is known as single-sideband ( SSB)
transmission.
 In SSB transmission the required bandwidth is half compared to DSB signal.
 An SSB signal can be coherently (synchronously) demodulated. E.g.
 For example multiplying USB signal by cos wct shifts its spectrum to the left and right by
wc
 Low pass filtering will give the required baseband signal at the receiver.
 Time domain representation of SSB signals:

Where minus sign applies to USB and the plus sign applies to
LSB
 Generation of SSB Signals

 Two methods are generally used to generate SSB signals.

 Sharp cutoff filters
 Phase shifting networks
 Selective Filtering Method:
 In this method the DSB-SC signal is passed through a sharp cutoff filter to eliminate the undesired sideband.
 To obtain USB , the filter should pass all components above wc, attenuated and completely suppress all
components below wc
 Such an operation requires an ideal filter that is practically not possible.
 This method of generating SSB signal can be used when there is some separation between the passband and
stopband.
 In some application this can be achieved e.g. voice signals
 Voice signals spectrum shows little power content
at the origin. Thus filtering the unwanted
sideband is relatively easy
 Phase-Shift Method:
 The basis of this method is the following equation
Vestigial Side Band Modulation
 The selective–filtering method requires that the two side bands of the DSBSC modulated
signal which will be filtered are separated by a guard band that allows the bandpass filters
that are used to have non–zero transition band (so it allows for real filters). An ideal
Hilbert transform for the phase–shifting method is impossible to build, so only an
approximation of that can be used. Therefore, the SSB modulation method is hard, if not
impossible, build. A compromise between the DSBSC modulation and the SSB modulation
is known as Vestigial Side Band (VSB) modulation. This type of modulation is generated
using a similar system as that of the selective–filtering system for SSB modulation
 The above example for generating VSB modulated signals assumes that the VSB filter
(HVSB(ω)) that the transition band of the VSB filter is symmetric in a way that adding the
part that remains in the filtered signal from the undesired side band to the missing part of
the desired side band during the process of demodulation produces an undusted signal at
baseband. In fact, this condition is not necessary if the LPF in the demodulator can take
care of any distortion that happens when adding the different components of the bandpass
components at baseband.
 To illustrate this, consider a baseband message signal m(t) that has the FT shown in the
following figure.
 The DSBSC modulated signal from that assuming that the carrier is 2cos( ω Ct) (the 2 in
the carrier is placed there for convenience) is

 In frequency–domain, this gives

 Passing this signal into the VSB filter shown in the modulator block diagram above gives
 Note that the VSB filter is not an ideal filter with flat transfer function, so it has to appear
in the equation defining the VSB signal.

Now, let us demodulate this VSB signal using the demodulator shown above but use a non–
ideal filter HLPF( ω ) (the carrier here is also multiplied by 2 just for convenience)
 For this communication system to not distort the transmitted signal, the output signal Z( ω
) must be equal to the input signal (or a scaled and shifted version of it).

 This gives us the following relationship between the LPF at the demodulator and the VSB
fitler at the modulator