Communication Systems

Week 1

Dr. Farah Haroon

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OBJECTIVES:
This course aims to build up basic knowledge related to main elements of
Communication Systems including Transmitter, Channel and Receiver. It will
further inculcate basic engineering skills related to Analog and Discrete
Communication Systems, Information Theory and Transmission Channels.
COURSE OUTLINE:
Introduction to Information Theory and Communication Systems: Basic
Probability rules, Concepts of Information measure, Source Coding, Channel
Coding, Block Codes. Communication Systems-Transmission, Channels and
Reception, Review of mathematical tools for Signal Analysis (Deterministic &
Random).
Noise Concepts: Basic Principles, Thermal Noise, Shot Noise, Partition Noise,
Flicker Noise and Transit time noise, Equivalent Noise Resistance, Signal-Noise
Ratio.
Analog Communication Systems: Amplitude Modulation (AM): Mathematical
Models for AM Modulator & Demodulator, AM Receivers, Primitive concept
Super heterodyne, Single Side Band Principles, Single Side Band reception.
Frequency Modulation (FM): Fundamentals of FM, Phase Modulation (PM),
Narrow and Wideband FM, Pre-emphasis and De-emphasis, Bandwidth
Allocations for Commercial, Services and Industrial AM/FM Transmission.

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Discrete-Time Communication Systems:
Pulse amplitude modulation (PAM), Sampling theorem, Natural PAM sampling,
Flat-topped PAM sampling, Time Division Multiplexing, Frequency Division
Multiplexing, Quantization of signals, Pulse Coded Modulation (PCM), Comparison
of Digital Communication System with Analog communication system.
Transmission Channels:
Radio Wave Propagation, Ground, Sky and Space waves, Basics of Transmission
Lines, Equivalent Circuit and Characteristics of Transmission lines, Antenna,
Concepts of Reciprocity., Antenna Types (for different frequencies), Free Space
Transmission.
TEXT BOOK:
Modern Digital and Analogue Communication by B.P Lathi, Latest Edition.

RECOMMENDED BOOKS
 Communication Systems by Simon Haykin, Latest Edition.
 Electonic Communication by Kennedy

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COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES: A student who successfully completes
course of Communication Systems is expected to
• Comprehend the basics of Information Theory, Noise, Analog and Discrete Time
Communication Systems.
• Compare Continuous wave (AM and FM) with Pulse modulation techniques.
• Apply and carryout the theoretical concepts into simulation and experimental
practice

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 Introduction to communications

Elements of a communication system

 Sources (information inputs)
voice (audio), text, image/video and data
 Signals
Analogue signals, Digital signals
 Sinks (information output devices)
Computer screens, speakers, TV screens, etc

Signal Carrier Transmission Medium Carrier Circuits Signal

Processing Circuits Processing
m(t) mˆ (t )

TRANSMITTER s(t) CHANNEL r(t) RECEIVER

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 Brief Description
Source: analogue or digital
Transmitter: transducer, amplifier,
modulator, oscillator, power amp., antenna
Channel: cable, optical fiber, free space
Noises, Distortion, Attenuation, Interference
are added.
Receiver: antenna, amplifier, demodulator,
oscillator, power amplifier, transducer
Recipient: e.g. person, speaker, computer

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Elements of a Communication Systems

Transmitter
– Convert Source (information) to signals
– Converts the processed base band signal
into a frequency band that is appropriate for
the transmission medium of the channel.
– Send converted signals to the channel (by
antenna if applicable)
Channel
– Wireless: atmosphere (free space)
– Wired: coaxial cables, twisted wires,
optical fibre

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Receiver
– Reconvert received signals to original
information
– It takes the corrupted signal at the channel
output and converts it to be a base band
signal
– The base band processor cleans up this
signal and delivers an estimate of the
source information m(t) to the
communication system output
– In digital systems, the measure of signal
deterioration is usually taken to be the
probability of bit error P(e) also called Bit
Error Rate (BER) of the delivered data m(t)
– In analog systems, the performance measure
is usually taken to be the Signal-to-noise
Ratio (SNR) at the receiver output.
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 Modulation
Modulation is the process of impressing
information onto a high-frequency carrier for
transmission.
Reasons for modulation:
◦ to prevent mutual interference between stations
◦ to reduce the size of the antenna required
Types of analogue modulation: AM, FM, and
PM
Types of digital modulation: ASK, FSK, PSK,
and QAM
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Deterministic and Random Signals

• A Deterministic waveform can be modeled as a

completely specified function of time.

w(t )  A cos( 0t  0 )

• A Random Waveform (or stochastic waveform)

cannot be modeled as a completely specified
function of time and must be modeled
probabilistically.

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A good Communication System
 How close is the estimate to the original signal m(t)
 Better estimate = higher quality transmission
 Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) for analog m(t)
 Bit Error Rate (BER) for digital m(t)

 How much power is required to transmit s(t)?

 Lower power = longer battery life, less interference

 How much bandwidth B is required to transmit s(t)?

 Less B means more users can share the channel
 Exception: Spread Spectrum -- users use same B.

 How much information is transmitted?

 In analog systems information is related to B of m(t).
 In digital systems information is expressed in bits/sec .
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 Frequency Bands
twisted coax cable optical transmission
pair

1 Mm 10 km 100 m 1m 10 mm 100 m 1 m
300 Hz 30 kHz 3 MHz 300 MHz 30 GHz 3 THz 300 THz

VL LF M HF VHF UHF SHF EHF infrared visible light UV

F F
 VLF = Very Low Frequency UHF = Ultra High Frequency
 LF = Low Frequency SHF = Super High Frequency
 MF = Medium Frequency EHF = Extra High Frequency
 HF = High Frequency UV = Ultraviolet Light
 VHF = Very High Frequency

 Frequency and wave length:

 = c/f
wave length , speed of light c  3x108m/s, frequency f

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 Channel Capacity
• Bandwidth required by a modulated signal
depends on the baseband frequency range (or data
rate) and the modulation scheme.
• Shannon’s Formula: C= B log2 (1+ S/N) in bps
where S/N = signal-to-noise power ratio
C = capacity of information
B = channel bandwidth
For reliable communication source data rate
R ≤ C ----- channel coding
If S/N is ∞, noise is zero then C is ∞ and Pe is 0.
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Information Theory deals with
 The Measure of Source Information
 The Information Capacity of the channel
 Coding

If the rate of Information from a source does not exceed the

capacity of the Channel, then there exist a Coding Scheme such that
Information can be transmitted over the Communication Channel with
arbitrary small amount of errors despite the presence of Noise

Equivalent noiseless
Channel

Source Channel Noisy Channel Source

Encoder Encoder Channel Decoder Decoder

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