University Institute of Engineering

DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE

& ENGINEERING
Bachelor of Engineering (Computer Science & Engineering)
Subject Name : Foundation Course in Wireless and Mobile
Communication
Subject Code: ECO-455
Topic: Lecture-2.2.3
Lecture- Prepared by: Naveen Chander

DISCOVER . LEARN . EMPOWER

 Basic Principles of Signal Reproduction
 Superheterodyne Receivers
 Frequency Conversion
 Intermediate Frequency and Images
 Noise
 Typical Receiver Circuits
 Receivers and Transceivers
• In radio communication systems, the
transmitted signal is very weak when it
reaches the receiver, particularly when it has
traveled over a long distance.
• The signal has also picked up noise of
various kinds.
• Receivers must provide the sensitivity and
selectivity that permit full recovery of the
original signal.
• A communication receiver must be able to identify and
select a desired signal from the thousands of others
present in the frequency spectrum (selectivity) and to
provide sufficient amplification to recover the
modulating signal (sensitivity).
• A receiver with good selectivity will isolate the
desired signal and greatly attenuate other signals.
• A receiver with good sensitivity involves high circuit
gain.
• The radio receiver best suited to this task is known as
the superheterodyne receiver.
– Defined by the extend to which the receiver is
capable to differentiating the desired signal and
other frequencies.
– Selectivity in a receiver is obtained by using tuned
circuits and/or filters.
– LC tuned circuits provide initial selectivity.
– Filters provide additional selectivity.
– By controlling the Q of a resonant circuit, you can
set the desired selectivity.
– The optimum bandwidth is one that is wide enough
to pass the signal and its sidebands but narrow
enough to eliminate signals on adjacent frequencies.
Figure 1: Selectivity curve of a tuned circuit.
› The sides of a tuned circuit response curve
are known as skirts.
› The steepness of the skirts, or the skirt
selectivity, of a receiver is expressed as
the shape factor, the ratio of the 60-dB
down bandwidth to the 6-dB down
bandwidth.
› The lower the shape factor, the steeper the
skirts and the better the selectivity.
– ability to pick up weak signals at the
receiver
– It’s a function of overall gain, the factor by
which an input signal is multiplied to produce
the output signal.
– The higher the gain of a receiver, the better
its sensitivity.
– High gain in receivers is obtained by using
multiple amplification stages.
– The more gain that a receiver has, the smaller
the input signal necessary to produce a desired
level of output.
– Another factor that affects the sensitivity of a
receiver is the signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio (SNR).
– One method of expressing the sensitivity of a
receiver is to establish the minimum discernible
signal (MDS).
– The MDS is the input signal level that is
approximately equal to the average internally
generated noise value.
– This noise value is called the noise floor of the
receiver.
– MDS is the amount of signal that would produce
the same audio power output as the noise floor
signal.
› The simplest radio receiver is a crystal set
consisting of a tuned circuit, a diode
(crystal) detector, and earphones.
› The tuned circuit provides the selectivity.
› The diode and a capacitor serve as an AM
demodulator.
› The earphones reproduce the recovered
audio signal.
Figure 2: The simplest receiver—a crystal set.
– In the tuned radio frequency (TRF) receiver
sensitivity is improved by adding a number of
stages of RF amplification between the
antenna and detector, followed by stages of
audio amplification.
– The RF amplifier stages increase the gain
before it is applied to the detector.
– The recovered signal is amplified further by
audio amplifiers, which provide sufficient
gain to operate a loudspeaker.
Figure 3: Tuned radio-frequency (TRF) receiver.
– Many RF amplifiers use multiple tuned circuits.
– Whenever resonant LC circuits tuned to the same
frequency are cascaded, overall selectivity is
improved.
– The greater the number of tuned stages
cascaded, the narrower the bandwidth and the
steeper the skirts.
– The main problem with TRF receivers is tracking
the tuned circuits.
– In a receiver, the tuned circuits must be made
variable so that they can be set to the frequency of
the desired signal.
– Another problem with TRF receivers is that
selectivity varies with frequency.
• Superheterodyne receivers convert all incoming
signals to a lower frequency, known as the
intermediate frequency (IF), at which a single set
of amplifiers is used to provide a fixed level of
sensitivity and selectivity.
• Gain and selectivity are obtained in the IF
amplifiers.
• The key circuit is the mixer, which acts like a simple
amplitude modulator to produce sum, carrier and
difference of the input frequencies.
• The incoming signal is mixed with a local
oscillator signal.
Figure 4: Block diagram of a superheterodyne receiver.
RF Amplifier
› The antenna picks up the weak radio signal and feeds it
to the RF amplifier, also called a low-noise amplifier
(LNA).
› RF amplifiers provide some initial gain and selectivity
and are sometimes called preamplifiers.
› RF stage is also acts like a preselector to select a
specific range of signal from entire bandwidth.
› Several amplifiers connected in series are cascade
mode is used as RF amplifier in receiver.
› Tuned circuits help to select the frequency range in
which the signal resides.
› Special transistors and other components with low
noise characteristics are selected.
 The task of the RF amplifier is complicated
› The received signal is not constant but varies
continuously as a result of fading, changes in
atmospheric conditions.
 This will affects the proper functioning of receiver
system
› Solution is given by Automatic Gain Control (AGC)
 It must take the received signal and leave out the
variations.
 This is achieved by adjusting the gain of the RF
stage as needed to maintain the desired constant
output level.
Mixers and Local Oscillators
– The output of the RF amplifier is applied to the input of
the mixer.
– The mixer also receives an input from a local
oscillator or frequency synthesizer.
– The mixer and oscillator work together to take the
signal from the RF stage and convert it to the
Intermediate Frequency (IF).
– A tuned circuit at the output of the mixer selects the
sum and difference frequency, or IF.
– The local oscillator is made tunable so that its
frequency can be adjusted over a relatively wide range.
• Frequency conversion is the process of
translating a modulated signal to a higher or lower
frequency while retaining all the originally
transmitted information.
• In radio receivers, high-frequency signals are
converted to a lower, intermediate frequency. This
is called down conversion.
• In satellite communications, the original signal is
generated at a lower frequency and then
converted to a higher frequency. This is called up
conversion.
Mixing Principles
› Frequency conversion is a form of
amplitude modulation carried out by a
mixer circuit or converter.
› The function performed by the mixer is
called heterodyning.
Principles of Mixing:
– Mixers accept two inputs: The signal to be
translated to another frequency is applied to
one input, and the sine wave from a local
oscillator is applied to the other input.
– Like an amplitude modulator, a mixer
essentially performs a mathematical
multiplication of its two input signals.
– The output contains not only the carrier
signal but also sidebands formed when the
local oscillator and input signal are mixed.
Figure 5: Concept of a mixer.
Mixer and Converter Circuits: Diode
Mixer
› The primary characteristic of mixer circuits
is nonlinearity.
› Any device or circuit whose output does
not vary linearly with the input can be
used as a mixer.
› One of the most widely used types of
mixer is the simple diode modulator.
Mixer and Converter Circuits: Diode Mixer
– The input signal is applied to the primary winding
of the transformer.
– The signal is coupled to the secondary winding and
applied to the diode mixer, and the local oscillator
signal is coupled to the diode by way of a capacitor.
– The input and local oscillator signals are linearly
added and applied to the diode, which produces the
sum and difference frequencies.
– The output signals are developed across the tuned
circuit which selects the difference frequency.
Figure 6: A simple diode mixer.
Types of Mixer and Converter Circuits:
– Single balanced mixer: A popular mixer circuit
using two diodes.
– Double balanced mixer: This version of the
diode balanced modulator is probably the single
best mixer available, especially for VHF, UHF,
and microwave frequencies.
– FET Mixers: FETs make good mixers because
they provide high gain, have low noise, and
offer a nearly perfect square-low response.
Mixer and Converter Circuits: IC Mixer
– The NE602, a typical IC mixer, is also known as a
Gilbert transconductance cell or Gilbert cell.
– It consists of a double balanced mixer circuit made up
of two cross-connected differential amplifiers.

Mixer and Converter Circuits: Image Reject

Mixer
– An image reject mixer is a special type of mixer used in
designs in which images cannot be tolerated.
– It uses Gilbert cell mixers in a configuration like that
used in a phasing-type SSB generator.
Figure 7: NE602 IC mixer. (a) Block diagram and pinout. (b) Simplified schematic.
Figure 8: A frequency synthesizer used as a receiver local oscillator
 The primary objective in the design of an IF
stage is to obtain good selectivity.
 Narrow-band selectivity is best obtained at lower
frequencies.
 At low frequencies, circuits are more stable with
high gain.
 At low frequencies, image interference is
possible. An image is an RF signal two times the
IF above or below the incoming frequency.
 At higher frequencies, circuit layouts must take
into account stray inductances and capacitances.
 At higher frequencies, there is a need for
shielding.

Figure 9: Relationship of the signal and image frequencies.

Figure 10: Signal, local oscillator, and image frequencies in a superheterodyne.
Solving the Image Problem
› To reduce image interference, high-Q tuned
circuits should be used ahead of the mixer
or RF amplifier.
› The IF is made as high as possible for
effective elimination of the image problem,
yet low enough to prevent design problems.
› In most receivers the IF varies in proportion
to the frequencies that must be covered.
Figure 11: A low IF compared to the signal frequency with low-Q
tuned circuits causes images to pass and interfere.
IF Amplifiers
– The output of the mixer is an IF signal
containing the same modulation that
appeared on the input RF signal.
– The signal is amplified by one or more IF
amplifier stages, and most of the gain is
obtained in these stages.
– Selective tuned circuits provide fixed
selectivity.
– Since the intermediate frequency is usually
lower than the input frequency, IF amplifiers
are easier to design and good selectivity
is easier to obtain.
Automatic Gain Control (contd)
– The amplitude of the RF signal at the antenna of a
receiver can range from a fraction of a microvolt to
thousands of microvolts; this wide signal range is known
as the dynamic range.
– Typically, receivers are designed with very high gain
so that weak signals can be reliably received.
– However, applying a very high-amplitude signal to a
receiver causes the circuits to be overdriven, producing
distortion and reducing intelligibility.
– With AGC, the overall gain of the receiver is
automatically adjusted depending on the input signal
level.
– AGC circuits help maintain a constant output level
Demodulators
› The highly amplified IF signal is finally applied
to the demodulator, which recovers the
original modulating information.
› The demodulator may be a diode detector
(for AM), a quadrature detector (for FM), or
a product detector (for SSB).
› The output of the demodulator is then usually
fed to an audio amplifier.