IN 1501

Data Communication

Lesson 6.4: Analog Data, Analog Signal

 Analog Data, Analog Signals

• Modulation has been defined as the process of combining an input signal

m(t) and a carrier at frequency fc to produce a signal s(t) whose bandwidth
is (usually) centered on fc .
• There are two principal reasons for analog modulation of analog signals:
– A higher frequency may be needed for effective transmission. For
unguided transmission, it is virtually impossible to transmit baseband
signals; the required antennas would be many kilometers in diameter.
– Modulation permits frequency division multiplexing, an important
technique.
• The principal techniques for modulation using analog data: amplitude
modulation (AM), frequency modulation (FM), and phase modulation
(PM).

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 Amplitude Modulation

• Amplitude modulation (AM) is the simplest form of modulation.

• Mathematically, the process can be expressed as;
AM s(t) = [1 + na x(t) ] cos 2 fct

• where cos 2fct is the carrier and x(t) is the input signal (carrying data),
both normalized to unity amplitude.
• The parameter na , known as the modulation index, is the ratio of the
amplitude of the input signal to the carrier.
• Corresponding to our previous notation, the input signal is m(t) = nax (t).
• The “1” in the equation is a dc component that prevents loss of
information.
• This scheme is also known as double sideband transmitted carrier
(DSBTC).

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Amplitude Modulation

AM s(t) = [1 + m(t) ] cos 2 fct

Figure 6.1 Amplitude Modulation

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 Amplitude Modulation

• From figure it can be seen that AM involves the multiplication of the input
signal by the carrier.
• The envelope of the resulting signal is [1 + nax (t)] and, as long as na < 1,
the envelope is an exact reproduction of the original signal.
• If na > 1, the envelope will cross the time axis and information is lost.

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 Example

• Derive an expression for s(t) if x(t) is the amplitude-modulating signal

cos2fmt. We have

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Spectrum of an AM Signal

Figure 6.2 Spectrum of an AM Signal 7

Amplitude Modulation Bandwidth

Figure 6.3 Amplitude Modulation Bandwidth

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 Spectrum of an AM Signal

• It is instructive to look at the spectrum of the AM signal.

• An example is shown in Figure 6.2.
• The spectrum consists of the original carrier plus the spectrum of the
input signal translated to fc .
• The portion of the spectrum for |f| > |fc| is the upper sideband, and the
portion of the spectrum for |f| < |fc| is lower sideband.
• Both the upper and lower sidebands are replicas of the original spectrum
M(f ), with the lower sideband being frequency reversed.

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 Example

• As an example, consider a voice signal with a bandwidth that extends from

300 to 3000 Hz being modulated on a 60-kHz carrier. The resulting signal
contains an upper sideband of 60.3 to 63 kHz, a lower sideband of 57 to
59.7 kHz, and the 60-kHz carrier. An important relationship is

• where Pt is the total transmitted power in s(t) and Pc is the transmitted

power in the carrier.
• We would like na as large as possible so that most of the signal power is
used to carry information.
• However, na must remain below 1.

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 Amplitude Modulation

• It should be clear that s(t) contains unnecessary components, because

each of the sidebands contains the complete spectrum of m(t).
• A popular variant of AM, known as single sideband (SSB), takes advantage
of this fact by sending only one of the sidebands, eliminating the other
sideband and the carrier.
• The principal advantages of this approach are as follows:
– Only half the bandwidth is required, that is BT = B, where B is the
bandwidth of the original signal. For DSBTC, BT = 2B.
– Less power is required because no power is used to transmit the
carrier or the other sideband. Another variant is double sideband
suppressed carrier (DSBSC), which filters out the carrier frequency and
sends both sidebands.

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 Amplitude Modulation

• The disadvantage of suppressing the carrier is that the carrier can be used
for synchronization purposes.
• For example, suppose that the original analog signal is an ASK waveform
encoding digital data.
• The receiver needs to know the starting point of each bit time to interpret
the data correctly.
• A constant carrier provides a clocking mechanism by which to time the
arrival of bits.
• A compromise approach is vestigial sideband (VSB), which uses one
sideband and a reduced-power carrier.

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 Angle Modulation

• Frequency modulation (FM) and phase modulation (PM) are special cases
of angle modulation.
• The modulated signal is expressed as;

Angle Modulation s(t) = Ac cos [2 fct +  (t) ]

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 Angle Modulation

• For phase modulation, the phase is proportional to the modulating signal:

PM  (t) = np m(t)
were np is the phase modulation index

• For frequency modulation, the derivative of the phase is proportional to

the modulating signal:

FM  ’ (t) = nf m(t)

where nf is the frequency modulation index and  ’ (t) is the derivative of (t)

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Frequency Modulation

Figure 6.4 Frequency Modulation

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Frequency Modulation Bandwidth

Figure 6.5 Frequency Modulation Bandwidth

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 Angle Modulation

• The phase of s(t) at any instant is just 2 fct +  (t).

• The instantaneous phase deviation from the carrier signal is  (t).

• In PM, this instantaneous phase deviation is proportional to m(t).

• Because frequency can be defined as the rate of change of phase of a

signal, the instantaneous frequency of s(t) is;

• and the instantaneous frequency deviation from the carrier frequency is

’(t), which in FM is proportional to m(t).

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Figure 6.6 Amplitude, Phase, and
Frequency Modulation of a Sine-Wave
Carrier by a Sine-Wave Signal
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 Angle Modulation

• The shapes of the FM and PM signals are very similar.

• Indeed, it is impossible to tell them apart without knowledge of the
modulation function.
• Several observations about the FM process are in order.
• The peak deviation ∆F can be seen to be

• where Am is the maximum value of m(t).

• Thus an increase in the magnitude of m(t) will increase ∆F, which,
intuitively, should increase the transmitted bandwidth BT .

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 Performance

• As with AM, both FM and PM result in a signal whose bandwidth is

centered at fc .
• However, we can now see that the magnitude of that bandwidth is very
different.
• Amplitude modulation is a linear process and produces frequencies that
are the sum and difference of the carrier signal and the components of
the modulating signal.
• Hence, for AM,
BT = 2B

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 Performance

• Angle modulation includes a term of the form cos ( (t)), which is

nonlinear and will produce a wide range of frequencies.
• In essence, for a modulating sinusoid of frequency fm , s(t) will contain
components at fc + fm , fc + 2fm and so on.
• In the most general case, infinite bandwidth is required to transmit an FM
or PM signal.
• As a practical matter, a very good rule of thumb, known as Carson’s rule
[COUC01], is

BT = 2 (  + 1 ) B

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 Performance

BT = 2 (  + 1 ) B

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END

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