Advanced level study programme in Electronics Design and Integration Technologies

28213-IC-1-2005-1-BE-ERASMUS-PROGUC-3 2006-2322 / 001-001 SO2

RF Signals and Systems

1. Introduction. Communications Systems

Ivan Uzunov

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Table of Contents
1. Information, Messages, Signals ............................................................................................................ 3
2. Elements of a Communication System ................................................................................................. 4
3. Fundamental Limitations in Communications ...................................................................................... 7
3.1. Limitations Due to Technological Problems ................................................................................... 7
3.2. Fundamental Physical Limitations .................................................................................................. 8
4. Modulation ............................................................................................................................................ 9

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1.Information, Messages, Signals
Information: general intuitive term.

Message: a physical manifestation of the information as produced by the source.

Various sources of messages (people, machines, measuring instruments, etc.).

Analog message: a physical time-variable quantity usually in smooth and continuous form.

Digital message: ordered sequence of symbols selected from finite set of elements.

Signal: physical embodiment of the information.

Signal ≈ Message

Electrical signal: voltage or current representing the message.

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2.Elements of a Communication System

Figure 1. Block-diagram of a communication system with input and output transducers.

Input transducer converts the message to an The receiver converts the received signal in a
electrical signal. form appropriate for the output transducer.
The transmitter converts the input signal to Output transducer converts the output electrical
transmitted signal suited for the transmission signal the desired message form.
channel.
Transmission cannel is the electric medium that
bridges the distance from source to destination.

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 Figure 1 (repeated). Block-diagram of a communication system with input and output transducers.

Basic operations in the transmitter Effects of the channel on the transmitted signal
• Modulation • Attenuation: decreasing the signal strength;
• Coding • Distortion of the signal waveform: caused by
channel characteristics (linearity, frequency
Basic operations in the receiver response, etc.)
• Amplification • Noise: contamination of random natural signals
• Filtering added to the transmitted signal
• Demodulation • Interference: contaminations of extraneous
• Decoding signal of human sources – machinery, power
lines, digital switching circuits, etc.

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 Figure 1 (repeated). Block-diagram of a communication system with input and output transducers.

One-way or simplex (SX) transmission. Transmission in one direction only. Example - Figure 1.

Full-duplex (FDX) system – a system, which channel allows transmission in both directions.

Full-duplex (HDX) system – a system, which channel allows transmission in both directions but not
simultaneously.

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3.Fundamental Limitations in
Communications
3.1. Limitations Due to Technological
Problems
• Hardware availability
• Economic factors
• International and national regulating norms

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 • The noise degrades the fidelity in analog
3.2. Fundamental Physical Limitations
communication systems and produces errors in
3.2.1. Transmission Bandwidth B. digital communications.
• Limits the spectrum of the transmitted signal, • Noise generation limits the weakest transmitted
i.e. the maximum speed of variation of the signal. Significant in long-distance
transmitted signal. communications when the signal attenuation is
large.
• The time required for transmission of a given
amount of information is inversely proportional to • Signal-to-noise ratio S/N
the transmission bandwidth B.
power of the signal
S N=
power of the noise
3.2.2. Noise
• Noise is generated in all conductors and in 3.2.3. Hartley-Shannon low
electronic devices as well.
The rate of information transmission cannot
• Thermal noise due to random motion of the exceed the channel capacity C
charged particles like electrons.
C = B log(1 + S N )
• Noises generated in electronic devices: shot,
flicker, popcorn, avalanche.

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4. Modulation
4.1. Modulation Methods
• Modulating signal – represents the message.
• Carrier wave – suits the application.
• Usually the modulation signal is much slower than the carrier wave.
• Modulation – altering one or more of the parameters (amplitude, frequency, phase, pulse width) of the
carrier in correspondence with the modulating signal.
• Demodulation – extraction of modulating signal from modulated signal; reverse operation to
modulation.
• Continuous wave modulation – when the carrier is sinusoidal.
• Pulse modulation – the carrier is pulse train.

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 Figure 2. Examples of the basic continuous modulations.

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 Figure 3. Examples of the basic pulse modulations.

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4.2. Modulation Benefits and Applications 4.3. Analog and Digital Communications
• Modulation for efficient transmission; • Analog communication systems: the
informative signal is transmitted in continuous
• Modulation to overcome hardware form.
limitation; • Digital communication system: the
• Modulation to overcome noise and informative signal is represented as a sequence
interference; of limited set of symbols (digits) and these
symbols are transmitted via the channel by
• Modulation for frequency assignment applying of and appropriate modulation. The
input signal must be sampled if it enters in
• Modulation for multiplexing: frequency
analog form.
division; time division, multiple access
• Basic advantages of the digital communication
• Coding methods and benefits systems:
¾ better resistivity against the noise;
¾ allows the use of effective coding methods;
¾ more flexible signal handling suggested by
digital signal processing methods
• However the front end of radiofrequency (RF)
communication systems are always analog
since signals are existing only in analog form.

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References:
1. [1] A. Bruce Carlson, P. B. Crilly, J. C. Rutledge, Communication Systems, 4th ed., McGraw-Hill,
2002, ISBN 0-07-011127-8.

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