[CHAPTER 1] [Digital Communication] INTRODUCTION

Introduction

Communication is the study of the fundamental concepts and principles related to

transferring information from one place to another. In simple words communication is
the process of establishing connection or links between two points for information
exchange. Information exchange involves transmission, reception and processing of
information between locations.

Various intermediate steps are involved while transmitting information from the source
to destination. Each step is carried out using specific equipment to perform certain
transformation to the information. These individual equipment which are used for
communication purpose, are called communication equipment. Different
communication equipment when assembled together forms a communication system.

Basically, communication system is of analog or digital type. In analog communication

system, the information bearing signal is continuously varying in both amplitude and
time, and it is directly used to modify some characteristic of a sinusoidal carrier wave,
such as amplitude, phase, or frequency. Whereas in digital communication system, the
information bearing signal is processed so that it can be represented by a sequence of
discrete messages. This book deals with the study of digital communications.

1.1 Signal

A signal is a function of one or more independent variables which contains some

information. In electrical sense, the signal can be voltage or current which is the
function of time as an independent variable. In our daily life, we come across several
signals such as radio signal, T.V. signal, computer signal etc.

Major types of signal encountered in the communication systems are:

Analog Signals

The continuous variation of dependent variable (i.e., voltage or current) with respect
to a continuous variation of independent variable (usually the time), is called analog or
continuous time signal. In other words an analog signal is defined for every value of
time and they take on continuous values in a given interval of time.

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For example,

x(t )  50 sin(100t )

is an analog or continuous time signal, because for every instance of time 't' the value
of x(t) can be defined.

Discrete Signals

If we have infinite continuous variation of dependent variable with respect to discrete

values of independent variable, then it is called discrete signal. Thus, discrete signals
are defined for discrete valve of time so they can be referred as discrete time signal. It
doesn’t mean that dependent variable don’t have any valve at the times other than
defined by discrete valve of independent variable, time. It may or may not have valves
at those instant.

For example.

x[n]  50 sin(100n)

where n  0,1, 2, ...

This signal is defined, i.e., the value of x[n] is known, only for the given values of 'n'.
Here the value of x[n] could be anything between -∞ to +∞.

Digital Signal

If we limit the infinite continuous variation in a discrete signal by allowing only finite
fixed variations of dependent variables with respect to discrete values of independent
variable, then signal is called discrete time; discrete valued signal. In general language
it is called Digital signal.

For example,

1 for n  0
x[n]  
0 for n  2

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So we can summarize the signal as follows:

Analog signal Continuous dependent variable Continuous independent variable

Discrete signal Continuous dependent variable Discrete independent variable
Digital signal Discrete dependent variable Discrete independent variable

1.2 Elements of Digital Communication System

The purpose of a communication system is to transmit an information bearing signal,

from a source to destination, located at some distance away. The intermediate steps
involved while transmitting information from the source to destination in digital
communication system is described by the block diagram shown in Figure 1.1.

Information
Source Encoder Channel Encoder Modulator
Source

Noise Σ Channel

Destination Source Decoder Channel Decoder Demodulator

Figure 1.1. Block diagram of digital communication system.

In the overall functional block diagram of digital communication system shown in

Figure 1.1, three basic signal processing operations are, source coding/decoding,
channel coding/decoding, and modulation/demodulation.

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The various elements of the block are as follows.

1. Information source
Based on the nature of electrical signal produced at the output of information source, it
is classified into two categories .i.e., analog information source and discrete
information source.

The output of analog information source is analog electrical signal, which is a

continuous function of time. A speech signal, a television signal, and a signal
representing atmospheric temperature or pressure at some location are the examples of
analog signals produced by analog information source.

In digital communication system, the information source produces a message signal

which is an analog but discrete time signal. The output of discrete information sources
such as a teletype or the numerical output of a computer consists of a sequence of
discrete symbols or letters. An analog information source may be transformed into a
discrete information source with the help of quantization process. Discrete information
sources are characterized by the following parameters:

i. Source symbols: These are letters, digits or special characters available from the
information source.
ii. Symbol rate: It is the rate at which the information source generates source
symbols. It is generally expressed in symbols/sec.
iii. Source symbol probabilities: Each source symbol from the source has independent
occurrence rate in the sequence. As an example in normal English text, letters A, E,
I, O, U etc., occur frequently in the sequence. Hence probability of the occurrence
of each source symbol can become one of the important properties useful in digital
communication.
iv. Probabilistic dependence of symbols in sequences: The information carrying
capacity of each source symbol is different in a particular sequence. This
parameter, called the source entropy, defines average information content of the
symbols. The entropy of a source describes the average information content per
symbol in long and statistically independent sequence of symbols in the messages.
Entropy may be defined in terms of bits per symbol. Bit is the abbreviation for a
binary digit (or sometime the binary unit to represent the measure of information).

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This means that the source information rate is the product of symbol rate and
source entropy i.e.,
Information rate = symbol rate  source entropy
(bits/sec) (symbols/sec) (bits/symbols)

Thus, the information rate represents minimum average data rate required to
transmit information from source to the destination. The detail description about
entropy and information rate will be dealt in upcoming chapters.

2. Source encoder/decoder
The sequence of symbols from the information source acts as an input to the source
encoder. In digital communication, these symbols are in the form of discrete signals.
These symbols are converted into binary sequence of 1’s and 0’s by assigning code
words (i.e., combination of 1’s and 0’s) as shown in Figure 1.2. For each distinct
symbol, there is a unique code word.

Sequence of 1101, 1011, 0101

symbols etc.
Source Encoder

A, Q, I, 5, Z etc

Figure 1.2. Operation of Source encoder

For example the output of an English teletype is a sequence of symbols containing total
32 different symbols. To assign code words to each symbol we need at least 5 bit code
i.e., 25=32 symbols. Now if the symbol rate is 10 symbols/sec then the data rate at the
output of the source encoder will be 10×5=50 bits/sec.

The above coding technique is an example of a Fixed Length Coding (FLC), in which
each symbol is represented by fixed number of bits in a code word. FLC is efficient
only if the input symbols occur with equal probability and are statistically independent.

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This is not the case in English text, probability of occurrence of symbols a, e, i, o, u is

much higher than symbols q, v, or z.
Secondly, the symbol occurrence sequence is not statistically independent. It is most
probable that symbol ‘u’ will occur after symbol ‘q’ and consonant in most cases are
followed by a vowel symbol. This property is exploited in generation of a source code
by assigning short code words to frequent source symbols, and long code words to rare
source symbols. Such a source code is known as Variable Length Code (VLC). The
examples of variable length codes are Huffman coding and Shannon-Fano coding
which will be discussed later in this book.
An optimum source encoder is that which has the output data rate Rout nearly or equal
to input symbol rate Rin. The efficiency of source encoder is therefore measures in
terms of ratio of output data rate to minimum theoretically achievable data rate.
Source decoder is used to perform the reverse operation of to the source encoder. It
converts the binary output of the channel decoder into sequence of symbols with
minimum error (due to bit errors) and maximum efficiency.

3. Channel encoder/decoder
Channel encoder is used to enhance reliability & efficiency of high-speed digital signal
transmission. In general the output of source encoder, in the binary form, can be
directly fed to modulator. However, in doing so, loss or improper detection of any of
the information bearing bit in the receiver side may distort the complete word or even
the complete message. The channel encoder therefore adds some error control bits to
the bit stream of source encoder output. These error control bits (redundancy), that
does not carry any information make possible for the receiver to detect and, in most
cases, correct, some of the errors in message bearing bits.

Usually in each block of ‘k’ information bearing bits, ‘r’ error control bits are added.
This type of coding method is called block coding. In other method, called convolution
method, information bit and error control bits are continuously interleaved. All channel
encoding methods require storage & processing of the information.

Basic parameters of channel encoder are, method of coding, rate or efficiency of the
coder, error control capabilities, complexity etc.

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Channel decoder recovers information bearing bit streams from coded bit streams with
minimum error and maximum efficiency. Complexity of the decoder and the time
delay are the two basic design criteria of the channel decoder.

4. Channel modulator/demodulator
Channel modulator is intended to convent bit streams from channel encoder to
electrical waveform suitable for transmission over communication channel. The
modulator operates by keying shifts in the amplitude, frequency, or phase of a
sinusoidal carrier wave by the pulses from channel encoder output resulting in digital
modulation technique referred to as amplitude-shift keying (ASK), frequency-shift
keying (FSK), or phase-shift keying (PSK) respectively. Proper design of channel
modulator can effectively minimize effects of noise, increase matching of signal-
characteristic (frequency, power and bandwidth) with channel characteristics and
provide multiple data communication over the same physical channel, (multiplexing).

Channel demodulator converts received electrical signal into sequence of bits (pulses)
with minimum error & maximum efficiency.

5. Communication Channel
The communication channel is a physical media (cable for wire communication or free
space for radio communication) with parameters that limit the speed or rate of data
communication. Communication channel has finite frequency bandwidth, i.e., the
range of frequencies for which the channel does not introduce substantial attenuation.
The signal power is attenuated as it travels along the channel and noise is introduced
by the system blocks. Because of power attenuation and noise, the received signal is
distorted.
Shannon, Hartley & Nyquist played significant role in characterizing channel in terms
of its capacity to transmit signal with minimum acceptable signal to noise ratio (SNR)
or equivalent Bit Error Rate (BER).
The Shannon-Hartley channel capacity theorem state that for given channel bandwidth
(B) and required (at the input of the receiver) level of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), the
maximum speed of data transmission (or the channel capacity (C)) is limited i.e., for
given B & SNR only C can maintain error free communication.

C = B log (1+SNR)

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From users point of view the complete digital communication system comprises of
Data Terminal Equipment (Teletype, computer, data-logger etc) and modulator-
demodulator (MODEM) units.

6. Noise
Unwanted or undesirable electrical signal which are introduced adds up with a message
signal during the transmission are called noise. Noise corrupts a desired message signal
and degrades the performance of communication system. In general, noise is
unpredictable (random) in nature. Detection of the message signal at the receiver
depends upon the amount of noise accompanied by the message during the process of
communication. The amount of noise power present in the received signal decides the
minimum power level of the desired message signal at the transmitter.
There are various sources of random noise and are broadly classified as external noise,
and internal noise.

a. External Noise

i. Atmospheric Noise
ii. Extraterrestrial Noise
iii. Industrial Noise (Man-made noise)

b. Internal noise
i. Thermal noise (Johnson Noise):
ii. Shot noise
iii. Burst Noise
iv. TransitTime Noise
v. Partition Noise
vi. Flicker Noise

Interference

Interference typically refers to the addition of unwanted, usually manmade signals

which alters, modifies, or disrupts a useful signal as it travels along a channel between

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a source and a receiver. Most common interference are manmade and is usually signal
from various broadcasting and communication systems.

Most common type of interference encountered in digital communication is

Intersymbol Interference (ISI). ISI is a form of distortion of a signal in which one
symbol interferes with subsequent symbols. This is an unwanted phenomenon as the
previous symbols have similar effect as noise, thus making the communication less
reliable. ISI is usually caused by multipath propagation or the inherent non-linear
frequency response of a channel causing successive symbols to "blur" together.

The presence of ISI in the system introduces errors in the decision device at the
receiver output. Therefore, in the design of the transmitting and receiving filters, the
objective is to minimize the effects of ISI, and thereby deliver the digital data to its
destination with the smallest error rate possible.

Ways to fight intersymbol interference include adaptive equalization and error

correcting codes.

Distortion

Distortion refers to the deviation in any parameter (like amplitude, frequency, shape)
of a signal from that of an ideal signal. When a piece of equipment changes the shape
of this sine wave, or any signal, then distortion is created. Simple sine wave consists of
only one frequency. Distortion generates additional frequencies that were not present
in the original signal.

Two parameters that are of particular interest in communication system regarding

distortion are the internal power dissipation that reduce the size of the output signal,
and energy storage that alter the shape of the output.

Distortions can be categorized into two types, linear and non-linear distortion.

1. Linear distortion

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The term “linear distortion” means any change to the signal that does not change the
shape of the individual sine wave components of a signal. This could be an irregularity
in the frequency response, or it could be a change in the relative phase (timing) of the
various frequencies. It can make the individual sine wave components bigger or
smaller, or shift them in time, but it doesn't change them. Linear distortion includes any
amplitude or delay distortion associated with a linear transmission system. Amplitude
and delay distortion is easily described in the frequency domain as

i. Amplitude Distortion
When different frequency components of the input signal are amplified or attenuated
by different amounts, the output signal consists of distortions, known as amplitude
distortions i.e., when the amplification or attenuation of the signal is not constant over
the useful range of frequencies. Amplitude distortion, which occurs when
H( f )  K
Where H(f) is the transfer function of the system.

ii. Phase or Delay Distortion

If the phase of the output signal is different from the phase of input signal then such
distortion is known as phase distortion. Phase distortion leads to delay in the
transmission of the signal. Hence, it is known as delay distortion. If different amounts
of phase shifts occur at different frequencies of an output signal then it becomes
necessary to compensate for such phase distortions. Whereas if same amount of phase
shift occurs at all frequencies then such phase distortion can be ignored. Delay
distortion occurs when
arg H ( f )  2t d f  m180o
Where H(f) is the transfer function of the system, t d is the finite delay time and m is
an integer.

Distortionless transmission means that the output signal has the same shape as the
input. More precisely, given an input signal x (t ) , we say that the output is undistorted
if it differs from the input only by a multiplying constant and a finite time delay.

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Analytically, we have distortionless transmission if

y(t )  Kx(t  t d )
Where K is multiplying constant and t d is the finite delay time and are constants.
Thus the output spectrum is
Y ( f )  F [ y (t )]  Ke  jwtd X ( f )
Now by definition of transfer function,
Y ( f )  H ( f ) X ( f ) ,so
H ( f )  Ke  jwtd
In words, a system giving distortionless transmission must have constant amplitude
response and negative linear phase shift, so
H( f )  K
arg H ( f )  2t d f  m180o

These criteria for distortionless transmissions are theoretical formulation. In practical

application the transmission system always produce some amount of signal distortion.

2. Nonlinear distortion
When the sine wave components of the signal are changed by nonlinear elements then
the distortion is nonlinear. A system having nonlinear elements cannot be described by
a transfer function. Instead, the instantaneous values of input and output are related by
a curve or function y (t )  T [ x(t )] , commonly called the transfer characteristic. In
general, the input and output characteristics of a device/system can be approximated
using the following equation:
y(t )  a1 x(t )  a2 x 2 (t )  a3 x 3 (t )  ........
The first component x(t) of the right hand side of the above equation produces the
exact replica of the input signal scaled by some constant factor a1. The remaining other
terms produce non-linear distortion.

The nonlinear distortion appears as harmonics of the input wave. Generation of

harmonics of the fundamental frequency of the input signal due to nonlinearity of the
device can be evaluated as the ratio of amplitude of nth harmonic component and the
amplitude of the fundamental frequency expressed in percentage as

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An
% n th harmonic distortion  % Dn   100%
A1
Total harmonic distortion (THD) is expressed as
%TDH  D22  D32  D42  ...  ...  100%

Higher-order harmonics are treated similarly. However, their effect is usually much
less, and many can be removed entirely by filtering.

If the input is a sum of two cosine waves, say cos w1t  cos w2 t , the output will
include all the harmonics of f 1 , and f 2 , plus crossproduct terms which yield f 2  f 1 ,
f 2  f 1 , f 2  2 f 1 , etc. These sum and difference of frequencies are designated as
intermodulation distortion. Generalizing the intermodulation effect, if
2 2
x(t )  x1 (t )  x2 (t ) , then y (t ) contains the components like x (t ) , x (t ) , and
1 2

crossproduct x1 (t ) x2 (t ) . The frequency component of x1 (t ) x2 (t ) may overlap with

frequency components of x1 (t ) and x2 (t ) causing intermodulation distortion (or cross
talk) and is of great concern in case of multiplexed transmission of number of message
over common channel.

Advantages and Disadvantages of digital communication

Following are the advantages of digital communication

iii. Cheaper: Digital communication system are simpler and cheaper than analog
communication system because of the advancement made in the IC technology.
iv. Accommodation of other services: Since all signals in a digital system have the
same format, other traffic sources (video, data) can be intermixed in a single
transmission medium without mutual interference.
v. Performance monitorability: The quality of digital signal is easier to monitor by
observing the signal patterns or by introducing redundancy in form of parity bits.
Analog systems cannot be monitored or tested for quality while in service.
vi. Ease of signalling: Call set-up establishment and other control information such as
(on hook/off hook) are digital in nature and can be integrated easily into the digital
system. In analog systems, this information needs a special attention.

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vii. Encryption: Using data encryption, only permitted receiver may be allowed to
detect the transmitted data. This property is of its most importance in military
applications.
viii. Signal regeneration: In analog systems, the attenuation in the signal is corrected
by employing amplifiers, which not only boost the signal’s power but the noise’s
too. In digital systems, the attenuated signals are regenerated by reading the binary
digits and retransmitting a replica of the original signal while removing any noise,
distortion, or interference.
ix. Noise tolerence: Since the transmitted signal is digital in nature, large amount of
noise may be tolerated.
x. Error detection: Since in digital communication, channel coding is used, therefore
the error maybe detected and corrected in the receivers.

Disadvantage

i. A/D and D/A conversion: Because of the analog nature of voice, conversion
between analog and digital forms is required. The electronics required to perform
this task add additional cost to the digital systems.
ii. Need for time synchronizatio: A clock is needed whenever a digital signal is
transmitted for time reference. The synchronization problem is more obvious when
links and switches are interconnected to form the network.
iii. Incompatibility with existing analog equipment: The full advantages of digital
systems are not realized unless the networks are all digital

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