Channels, Modulation and

Demodulation
ETE/EEE 422
Saif Ahmed (SfA)
What is Signal Modulation?
• A message carrying signal has to get transmitted over a distance and for it
to establish a reliable communication, it needs to take the help of a high
frequency signal which should not affect the original characteristics of the
message signal.
• The characteristics of the message signal, if changed, the message
contained in it also alters. Hence it is a must to take care of the message
signal. A high frequency signal can travel up to a longer distance, without
getting affected by external disturbances. We take the help of such high
frequency signal which is called as a carrier signal to transmit our message
signal. Such a process is simply called as Modulation.
• Modulation is the process of changing the parameters of the carrier signal,
in accordance with the instantaneous values of the modulating signal.
Why modulation?
The baseband signals are incompatible for direct transmission. For such
a signal, to travel longer distances, its strength has to be increased by
modulating with a high frequency carrier wave, which doesn’t affect
the parameters of the modulating signal.
Advantages of Modulation
Frequency is inversely proportional to the physical size of the active element of an antenna system.
The antenna for GSM900 is twice as big as the ones used for GSM1800.
The antenna used for transmission, had to be very large, if modulation was not introduced. The
range of communication gets limited as the wave cannot travel to a distance without getting
distorted.
Following are some of the advantages for implementing modulation in the communication systems.
• Antenna size gets reduced.
• No signal mixing occurs.
• Communication range increases.
• Multiplexing of signals occur.
• Adjustments in the bandwidth is allowed.
• Reception quality improves.
Signals in the Modulation Process
• Message or Modulating Signal:
The signal which contains a message to be transmitted, is called as
a message signal. It is a baseband signal, which has to undergo the process
of modulation, to get transmitted. Hence, it is also called as
the modulating signal.
• Carrier Signal:
The high frequency signal which has a certain phase, frequency, and
amplitude but contains no information, is called a carrier signal. It is an
empty signal. It is just used to carry the signal to the receiver after
modulation.
• Modulated Signal:
The resultant signal after the process of modulation, is called as
the modulated signal. This signal is a combination of the modulating signal
and the carrier signal.
Types of Modulation
There are many types of
modulations.
Depending upon the
modulation techniques
used, they are classified
as shown in the
following figure.
Continuous-wave Modulation
In the continuous-wave modulation, a high frequency sine wave is used as a carrier
wave. This is further divided into amplitude and angle modulation.
• If the amplitude of the high frequency carrier wave is varied in accordance with
the instantaneous amplitude of the modulating signal, then such a technique is
called as Amplitude Modulation.
• If the angle of the carrier wave is varied, in accordance with the instantaneous
value of the modulating signal, then such a technique is called as Angle
Modulation.
• The angle modulation is further divided into frequency and phase modulation.
• If the frequency of the carrier wave is varied, in accordance with the instantaneous value of
the modulating signal, then such a technique is called as Frequency Modulation.
• If the phase of the high frequency carrier wave is varied in accordance with the
instantaneous value of the modulating signal, then such a technique is called as Phase
Modulation.
Pulse Modulation
• In Pulse modulation, a periodic sequence of rectangular pulses, is used as a
carrier wave. This is further divided into analog and digital modulation.
• In analog modulation technique, if the amplitude, duration or position of a
pulse is varied in accordance with the instantaneous values of the
baseband modulating signal, then such a technique is called as Pulse
Amplitude Modulation (PAM) or Pulse Duration/Width Modulation
(PDM/PWM), or Pulse Position Modulation (PPM).
• In digital modulation, the modulation technique used is Pulse Code
Modulation (PCM) where the analog signal is converted into digital form of
1s and 0s. As the resultant is a coded pulse train, this is called as PCM. This
is further developed as Delta Modulation (DM), which will be discussed in
subsequent chapters. Hence, PCM is a technique where the analog signals
are converted into a digital form.
Amplitude Modulation
“The amplitude of the carrier signal varies in
accordance with the instantaneous amplitude of
the modulating signal.” Which means, the
amplitude of the carrier signal which contains no
information varies as per the amplitude of the
signal, at each instant, which contains
information. This can be well explained by the
following figures.
It can be observed that the positive and negative
peaks of the carrier wave, are interconnected
with an imaginary line. This line helps recreating
the exact shape of the modulating signal. This
imaginary line on the carrier wave is called
as Envelope. It is the same as the message signal.
Mathematical Expression: AM
Modulating signal:
𝑚 𝑡 = 𝐴𝑚 cos(2𝜋𝑓𝑚 𝑡)
Carrier Signal:
𝑐 𝑡 = 𝐴𝑐 cos(2𝜋𝑓𝑐 𝑡)
The modulated signal is formulated as:
𝑆 𝑡 = 𝐴𝑐 [1 + 𝐾𝑎 𝑚(𝑡)] cos 2𝜋𝑓𝑐 𝑡
𝑆 𝑡 = 𝐴𝑐 1 + μ cos 2𝜋𝑓𝑚 𝑡 cos 2𝜋𝑓𝑐 𝑡
Where,
𝜇 = 𝐾𝑎 𝐴𝑚
Modulation Index
A carrier wave, after being
modulated, if the modulated level is
calculated, then such an attempt is
called as Modulation
Index or Modulation Depth. It states
the level of modulation that a carrier
wave undergoes.
𝐴𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 𝐴𝑐 1 + 𝜇
𝐴𝑚𝑖𝑛 = 𝐴𝑐 (1 − 𝜇)
Modulation Index
𝐴𝑚𝑎𝑥 1 + 𝜇
=
𝐴𝑚𝑖𝑛 1 − 𝜇
Finally, the modulation index,
𝐴𝑚𝑎𝑥 − 𝐴𝑚𝑖𝑛
𝜇=
𝐴𝑚𝑎𝑥 + 𝐴𝑚𝑖𝑛
• Hence, the equation for Modulation Index is obtained. µ denotes the
modulation index or modulation depth. This is often denoted in percentage
called as Percentage Modulation. It is the extent of modulation denoted in
percentage, and is denoted by m.
• For a perfect modulation, the value of modulation index should be 1, which
means the modulation depth should be 100%.
Under and Over modulated
For instance, if this value is less than 1, i.e., the
modulation index is 0.5, then the modulated output
would look like the following figure. It is called as
Under-modulation. Such a wave is called as
an under-modulated wave.
If the value of the modulation index is greater than
1, i.e., 1.5 or so, then the wave will be an over-
modulated wave. It would look like the following
figure.
As the value of modulation index increases, the
carrier experiences a 180° phase reversal, which
causes additional sidebands and hence, the wave
gets distorted. Such overmodulated wave causes
interference, which cannot be eliminated.
Sideband Modulation
A Sideband is a band of
frequencies, containing power,
which are the lower and higher
frequencies of the carrier
frequency. Both the sidebands
contain the same information.
The representation of amplitude
modulated wave in the frequency
domain is as shown in the
following figure.
DSBSC
Both the sidebands in the image contain the
same information. The transmission of such a
signal which contains a carrier along with two
sidebands, can be termed as Double Sideband
Full Carrier system, or simply DSB-FC. It is
plotted as shown in the following figure.
However, such a transmission is inefficient. Two-
thirds of the power is being wasted in the
carrier, which carries no information.
If this carrier is suppressed and the power saved
is distributed to the two sidebands, such a
process is called as Double Sideband
Suppressed Carrier system, or simply DSBSC. It
is plotted as shown in the following figure.
DSBSC
• Now, we get an idea that, as the two
sidebands carry the same information
twice, why can’t we suppress one sideband.
Yes, this is possible.
• The process of suppressing one of the
sidebands, along with the carrier and
transmitting a single sideband is called
as Single Sideband Suppressed
Carrier system, or simply SSB-SC or SSB. It
is plotted as shown in the following figure.
• This SSB-SC or SSB system, which transmits
a single sideband has high power, as the
power allotted for both the carrier and the
other sideband is utilized in transmitting
this Single Sideband (SSB).
• Hence, the modulation done using this SSB
technique is called as SSB Modulation.
Sideband Modulation − Advantages and
Disadvantages
The advantages of SSB modulation are −
• Bandwidth or spectrum space occupied is lesser than AM and DSB signals.
• Transmission of more number of signals is allowed.
• Power is saved.
• High power signal can be transmitted.
• Less amount of noise is present.
• Signal fading is less likely to occur.
The disadvantages of SSB modulation are −
• The generation and detection of SSB signal is a complex process.
• Quality of the signal gets affected unless the SSB transmitter and receiver have an
excellent frequency stability.
Sideband Modulation − Applications
The applications of SSB modulation are −
• For power saving requirements and low bandwidth requirements.
• In land, air, and maritime mobile communications.
• In point-to-point communications.
• In radio communications.
• In television, telemetry, and radar communications.
• In military communications, such as amateur radio, etc.