ANALOG MODULATIONS

AND DEMODULATIONS
Introduction
 In this chapter, we will focus on the classic analog
modulations: amplitude modulation and angle modulation.
 Before we begin our discussion of different analog
modulations, it is important to distinguish between
communication systems that do not use carrier modulation
(baseband communications) and systems that use carrier
modulation (carrier communications).
BASEBAND VERSUS CARRIER
COMMUNICATIONS
The term baseband is used to designate the frequency
band of the original message signal from the source or the
input transducer.
 In telephony, the baseband is the audio band (band of voice
signals) from 0 to 3.5 kHz.
 In analog NTSC television, the video baseband is the video
band occupying 0 to 4.3 MHz.
 For digital data or pulse code modulation that uses bipolar
signaling at a rate of Rb pulses per second, the baseband is
approximately 0 to Rb Hz
Baseband Communications
 In baseband communications, message signals are directly
transmitted without any modification. Because most
baseband signals such as audio and video contain
significant low-frequency content, they cannot be
effectively emitted over radio (wireless) links.
 Instead, dedicated user channels such as twisted pairs of
copper wires and coaxial cables are assigned to each user
for distance communications. Because baseband signals
have overlapping bands, they would mutually interfere if
sharing a common channel.
 Modulating several baseband signals and shifting their
spectra to non-overlapping bands allows many users to
share one physical channel by utilizing wider available
channel bandwidth through frequency division
multiplexing (FDM).
 Long-haul communication over a radio link also requires
modulation to shift the signal spectrum to higher
frequencies in order to enable efficient power radiation by
antennas of reasonable dimensions.
Carrier Modulations
 Communication that uses modulation to shift the frequency
spectrum of a signal is known as carrier communication.
 In terms of analog modulation, one of the basic parameters
(amplitude, frequency, or phase) of a sinusoidal carrier of
high frequency fc Hz (or ωc =2πfc rad/s) is varied linearly
with the baseband signal m(t).
 This results in amplitude modulation (AM), frequency
modulation (FM), or phase modulation (PM), respectively.
 A comment about pulse-modulated signals [pulse
amplitude modulation (PAM), pulse width modulation
(PWM), pulse position modulation (PPM), pulse code
modulation (PCM), and delta modulation (DM)] is in order
here.
 Despite the common term modulation, these signals are
baseband digital signals.
 “Modulation” is used here not in the sense of carrier
modulation for frequency or band shifting.
Amplitude Modulations and Angle
Modulations
 We shall use m(t) to denote the source message signal in
baseband to be transmitted by the sender to its receivers
and denote its Fourier transform as M(f ).
 To move the frequency response of m(t) to a new frequency
band centered at fc Hz, the Fourier transform has already
revealed a very strong property, the frequency-shifting
property, that will allow us to achieve this goal.
 In other words, all we need to do is to multiply m(t) by a
sinusoid of frequency fc such that
 This immediately achieves the basic aim of carrier
modulation by moving the signal frequency content to be
centered at ±fc via

This simple multiplication is in fact allowing changes in

the amplitude of the sinusoid s1(t) to be proportional to the
message signal.
Such a method is indeed a very valuable modulation
known as amplitude modulation.
 More broadly, consider a sinusoidal signal

 There are three variables in a sinusoid: amplitude,

(instantaneous) frequency, and phase. Indeed, the message
signal can be used to modulate any one of these three
parameters to allow s(t) to carry the information from the
transmitter to the receiver:
 Amplitude A(t) is a linear function of m(t) ⇐⇒ amplitude
modulation
 Frequency is linear function of m(t) ⇐⇒ frequency
modulation
 Phase φ(t) is a linear function of m(t) ⇐⇒ phase modulation
DOUBLE-SIDEBAND AMPLITUDE
MODULATION
Demodulation of DSB-SC Modulation
Signals
Amplitude Modulators
 Multiplier Modulators:
 Here modulation is achieved directly by using an analog
multiplier whose output is proportional to the product of
two input signals m(t) and cos ωct.
 Typically, such a multiplier is obtained from a variable-gain
amplifier in which the gain parameter (such as the β of a
transistor) is controlled by one of the signals, say, m(t).
 When the signal cos ωct is applied at the input of this
amplifier, the output is proportional to m(t) cos ωct.
 Nonlinear Modulators:
 Modulation can also be achieved by using nonlinear
devices, such as a semiconductor diode or a transistor.
Figure 4.3 shows one possible scheme, which uses two
identical nonlinear elements (the boxes marked NL).
 Their respective outputs y1(t)and y2(t) are sent to a
subtractor whose output z(t) is then processed by a band-
pass filter (BPF) centered at frequencies ±fc (or angular
frequencies ±ωc).
 Let the input-output characteristics of either of the
nonlinear elements be approximated by a power series:
 The spectrum of m(t) is centered at the origin, whereas the
spectrum of m(t) cos ωct is centered at ±ωc. Consequently,
when z(t) is passed through a band-pass filter tuned to ωc,
the signal am(t) is suppressed and the desired modulated
signal 4bm(t) cos ωct can pass through the system without
distortion.
 In this circuit, there are two inputs: m(t) and cos ωct. The
output of the last summer, z(t), no longer contains one of
the inputs, the carrier signal cos ωct. Consequently, the
carrier signal does not appear at the input of the final
bandpass filter.
 The circuit acts as a balanced bridge for one of the inputs
(the carrier). Circuits that have this characteristic are called
balanced circuits.
The nonlinear modulator in Fig. 4.3 is an example of a
class of modulators known as balanced modulators.
This circuit is balanced with respect to only one input
(the carrier); the other input m(t) still appears at the
final band-pass filter, which must reject it.
For this reason, it is called a single balanced
modulator. A circuit balanced with respect to both
inputs is called a double balanced modulator.
 Switching Modulators:
 The multiplication operation required for modulation can
be replaced by a simple switching operation if we realize
that a modulated signal can be obtained by multiplying m(t)
not only with a pure sinusoid but also with any periodic
signal φ(t) of the fundamental radian frequency ωc.
 Such a periodic signal can be expressed by a trigonometric
Fourier series as
Switching Demodulation of DSB-SC
Signals
 As discussed earlier, demodulation of a DSB-SC signal
essentially involves a multiplication with the carrier signal
and is identical to modulation (see Fig. 4.1).
 At the receiver, we multiply the incoming signal by a local
carrier of frequency and phase in synchronism with the
incoming carrier. The product is then passed through a low-
pass filter.
The only difference between the modulator and the
demodulator lies in the input signal and the output
filter.
In the modulator, message m(t) is the input and the
multiplier output is passed through a band-pass filter
tuned to ωc, whereas in the demodulator, the DSB-SC
signal is the input and the multiplier output is passed
through a low-pass filter.
For demodulation, the receiver must generate a carrier
that is synchronous in phase and in frequency with the
incoming carrier. These demodulators are
synonymously called synchronous or coherent (also
homodyne) demodulators.
AMPLITUDE MODULATION (AM)
 In the last section, we began our discussion of amplitude
modulation by introducing DSB-SC amplitude modulation
because it is easy to understand and to analyze in both time
and frequency domains.
 However, analytical simplicity is not always accompanied
by an equivalent simplicity in practical implementation.
 The (coherent) demodulation of a DSB-SC signal requires
the receiver to possess a carrier signal that is synchronized
with the incoming carrier.
 This requirement is not easy to achieve in practice. Because
the modulated DSB-SC signal
Message Signals m(t) with Zero Offset:
Example
 Sketch ϕAM(t) for modulation indices of μ=0.5 and μ=1,
when m(t)=bcos ωmt. This case is referred to as tone
modulation because the modulating signal is a pure
sinusoid (or tone).
 Solution
Sideband Power, Carrier Power,
and Modulation Efficiency
 The advantage of envelope detection in AM has its
simplicity. In AM, the carrier term does not carry any
information, and hence, sending pure carrier power is
wasteful from this point of view,
Example
Determine η and the percentage of the total power
carried by the sidebands of the AM wave for tone
modulation when (a) μ = 0.5 and (b) μ = 0.3.
Solution
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