Module -3

Modulation
• It is the process of varying the characteristics of high frequency carrier in accordance with
instantaneous values of modulating or message or baseband signal.
• It is a frequency translation technique which converts baseband or low frequency signal to
band pass or high frequency signal.

Types of Signals in Modulation

1) Message signal : Signal which contains a message to be transmitted to the destination

is called a message signal. It is also known as a modulating signal or baseband signal.
2) Carrier signal: High energy or high frequency signal which has characteristics like
amplitude, frequency, and phase but contains no information is called a carrier signal.
3) Modulated signal: When the message signal is mixed with the carrier signal, a new
signal is produced. This new signal is known as a modulated signal.
Amplitude Modulation (AM)
The amplitude of the carrier signal is varied in proportion to the instantaneous amplitude of
the information (or message) signal. The carrier signal itself is typically a high-frequency
sinusoidal wave, and the information signal is often a lower-frequency signal such as an
audio signal.
Phase angle is ignored in the expressions since it is
unchanged in Amplitude modulation process.
Equation for the amplitude of the amplitude modulated voltage

where
• Three frequencies in amplitude modulated wave fc, fc + fm and f c – fm corresponding to
ωc, ωc + ωm and ωc – ωm respectively. where fc → carrier wave frequency, fm →
modulating signal frequency. In general fc > > fm
• Carrier is an un-modulated sine wave which has a single value of frequency and carries no
useful information.
• When a carrier is modulated with a message signal, other frequencies can be detected in it.
These new frequencies that are caused by modulation are called sidebands.
These sidebands are created above and below the carrier frequency.

• The sidebands that are created above the carrier frequency are called upper
sidebands (sum frequencies).

• The other sidebands that are created below the carrier frequency are called lower
sidebands (difference frequencies).

• i.e. fUSB = fc + fm and fLSB = fc – fm

• fLSB is lower sideband frequency, fUSB is upper sideband frequency

Modulation index (m)
• Based on m there are three types of modulation:

• Under-Modulation (m <1) : Max. amplitude of the modulating signal is less than the
Max. amplitude of the carrier signal (Am < Ac). The modulated signal does not reach
zero at any point, meaning the carrier is not fully suppressed. This condition is generally
desirable because it avoids overmodulation, ensuring that the signal remains within the
carrier envelope and avoids distortion.
• Perfect-Modulation (m = 1) : Max. amplitude of the modulating signal is exactly equal to
the Max. amplitude of the carrier signal (Am = Ac). The modulated signal's envelope
touches the zero level at the minimum points. This condition is considered ideal as it
achieves maximum modulation without distortion.
• Over-Modulation (m >1) : Max. amplitude of the modulating signal is greater than the
Max. amplitude of the carrier signal (Am > Ac). The amplitude of the modulating signal
exceeds that of the carrier signal. The envelope of the modulated signal crosses the zero
level, leading to phase reversal or clipping. Over-modulation causes distortion, making it
difficult to demodulate the signal properly.
DSBSC SYSTEM
If the carrier is suppressed and the saved power is distributed to the two sidebands, then such
a process is called as Double Sideband Suppressed Carrier system or simply DSBSC.
DSBSC SYSTEM
Mathematically, we can represent the equation of DSBSC wave as the product of modulating
and carrier signals.

Let the message signal (also called the baseband signal) be denoted as m(t). It can be any
band-limited signal, for example, a sinusoidal signal:

The carrier signal is a high-frequency sinusoidal wave, denoted by c(t):

Using the trigonometric identity for the product of cosines:
DSBSC modulated wave has only two frequencies.
• So, the maximum and minimum frequencies are fc + fm and fc - fm respectively.
• Bandwidth = fmax – fmin = 2fm
• Bandwidth of DSBSC wave is same as that of AM wave and it is equal to twice the
frequency of the modulating signal.

Power of DSBSC wave is equal to the sum of powers of upper sideband and lower
sideband frequency components.

Pt= PUSB+ PLSB

Pt = 𝐴𝑐2𝐴𝑚2/8R + 𝐴𝑐2𝐴𝑚2/8R

Pt = 𝐴𝑐2𝐴𝑚2/4R
SSBSC Modulation
• DSBSC modulated signal has two sidebands.
• The two sidebands carry the same information, there is no need to transmit both sidebands.
• We can eliminate one sideband.
• 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 SSBSC.
• It is plotted as shown in the following figure.
To obtain an SSB signal, either the USB or LSB is filtered out. Therefore, the SSB signal is
mathematically represented as either:

Upper Sideband (USB):

Lower Sideband (LSB):

Thus, only one sideband is transmitted in SSB, while the other is suppressed.
Advantages
• Bandwidth or spectrum space occupied is lesser than AM and DSBSC waves.
• 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.

• Disadvantages
• The generation and detection of SSBSC wave is a complex process.
• The quality of the signal gets affected unless the SSB transmitter and receiver
have an excellent frequency stability.
Applications
• 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.
SSBSC Transmitter
To generate SSBSC wave using the following two methods.
• Frequency discrimination method
• Phase discrimination method
Frequency discrimination method
• The block diagram of SSBSC modulator using frequency discrimination method.
Frequency discrimination method
• In this method, first will generate DSBSC wave with the help of the product
modulator.
• Apply this DSBSC wave as an input of band pass filter.
• Band pass filter produces an output, which is SSBSC wave.
• Select the frequency range of band pass filter as the spectrum of the desired
SSBSC wave.
• The band pass filter can be tuned to either upper sideband or lower sideband
frequencies to get the respective SSBSC wave having upper sideband or lower
sideband.
Phase discrimination method
• The block diagram of SSBSC modulator using phase discrimination method.
 Phase discrimination method
• Block diagram consists of two product modulators, two -900 phase shifters,
one local oscillator and one summer block.
• Product modulator produces an output, which is the product of two inputs.
• The -900 phase shifter produces an output, which has a phase lag of -900
with respect to the input.

• Local oscillator is used to generate the carrier signal.

• Summer block produces an output, which is either the
sum of two inputs or the difference of two inputs based on
the polarity of inputs.
• Modulating signal Amcos(2πfmt) and the carrier signal Accos(2πfct) are
directly applied as inputs to the upper product modulator.
• The upper product modulator produces an output, which is the product of
these two inputs.
• The output of upper product modulator is
s1(t) = AmAc cos(2πfmt) cos(2πfct)
……………(1)

• Modulating signal Amcos(2π fm t) and the carrier signal Accos(2π fc t) are

phase shifted by -900 before applying as inputs to the lower product modulator.
The lower product modulator produces an output, which is the product of these
two inputs.
• The output of lower product modulator is

…………(2)

• Add s1(t) and s2(t) in order to get the SSBSC modulated wave s(t) having a
lower sideband.
Subtract s2(t) from s1(t) in order to get the SSBSC modulated wave s(t) having
a upper sideband.

• Hence, by properly choosing the polarities of inputs at summer block, we will

get SSBSC wave having a upper sideband or a lower sideband.
SSBSC Receiver
• The process of extracting an original message signal from SSBSC wave is
known as detection or demodulation of SSBSC.
• Coherent detector is used for demodulating SSBSC wave.
Coherent detector
• Here, the same carrier signal (which is used for generating SSBSC wave) is
used to detect the message signal. Hence, this process of detection is called as
coherent or synchronous detection.
• Following is the block diagram of coherent detector.
Coherent detector
• In this process, the message signal can be extracted from SSBSC wave by multiplying it
with a carrier, having the same frequency and the phase of the carrier used in SSBSC
modulation.
• The resulting signal is then passed through a Low Pass Filter.
• The output of this filter is the desired message signal.
• Consider the following SSBSC wave having a lower sideband.
s(t)= AmAc cos[2π(fc- fm)t]
• The output of the local oscillator is c(t)=Accos(2πfct)
• From the figure, we can write the output of product modulator as
v(t)=s(t)c(t)
Coherent detector
• Substitute s(t) and c(t) values in the above equation.
v(t) = (AmAc) cos[2π(fc- fm)t] Ac cos(2πfct)
= (AmAc2 ) cos[2π(fc- fm)t] cos(2πfct)
= (AmAc2 / 2){cos[2π(2 fc- fm)] + cos(2π fm)t}
v(t)=(AmAc2 / 2) cos(2π fm t) + (AmAc2 / 2) cos[2π(2 fc- fm)t]
• First term is the scaled version of the message signal.
• It can be extracted by passing the above signal through a low pass filter.
• Therefore, the output of low pass filter is
v0(t) = (AmAc2 / 2) cos(2π fm t)
• Here, the scaling factor is Ac2/2
Coherent detector
• Consider the following SSBSC wave having a upper sideband.
• s(t) = AmAc cos[2π(fc + fm)t]
• we can write the output of product modulator as
• v(t) = s(t)c(t)
• Substitute s(t) and c(t) values in the above equation.
• v(t) = (AmAc) cos[2π(fc + fm)t] Accos(2π fc t)
= (AmAc2)cos[2π (fc + fm) t] cos(2π fc t)
= (AmAc2 / 2){cos[2π(2 fc + fm)] + cos(2π fm)t}
• v(t) = (AmAc2 / 2) cos(2π fm t) + (AmAc2 / 2)cos[2π(2 fc + fm)t]
• First term is the scaled version of the message signal.
• It can be extracted by passing the above signal through a low pass filter.
Coherent detector
• Therefore, the output of low pass filter is
• v0(t)=(AmAc2 / 2) cos(2π fm t)
• Here too the scaling factor is Ac2/2
• Therefore, we get the same demodulated output in both the cases by using
coherent detector.
Angle Modulation
The other type of modulation in continuous-wave modulation is Angle Modulation.
Angle Modulation is the process in which the frequency or the phase of the carrier signal
varies according to the message signal.
The standard equation of the angle modulated wave is

Where,
Ac is the amplitude of the modulated wave, which is the same as the amplitude of the carrier
signal, θi(t) is the angle of the modulated wave

Angle modulation is further divided into frequency modulation and phase modulation.
•Frequency Modulation is the process of varying the
frequency of the carrier signal linearly with the message
signal.
•Phase Modulation is the process of varying the phase
of the carrier signal linearly with the message signal.

Frequency Modulation
In Frequency Modulation (FM), the frequency of the
carrier signal varies in accordance with the instantaneous
amplitude of the modulating signal.
Hence, in frequency modulation, the amplitude and the
phase of the carrier signal remains constant.
• The frequency of the modulated wave increases, when the amplitude of the
modulating or message signal increases.
• Similarly, the frequency of the modulated wave decreases, when the
amplitude of the modulating signal decreases.
• Note that, the frequency of the modulated wave remains constant and it is
equal to the frequency of the carrier signal, when the amplitude of the
modulating signal is zero.
Note:
Note:
Bandwidth of FM
• From frequency spectrum of FM wave the bandwidth of FM wave is infinite.
• But practically, the Simple Method to calculate the bandwidth is BW=2 fm * Number of
significant sidebands.
• With increase in modulation index, the number of significant sidebands increases. So that
bandwidth also increases.
• The second method to calculate bandwidth is by Carson’s rule.
• Carson’s rule states that, the bandwidth of FM wave is twice the sum of deviation and
highest modulating frequency.
Power in FM Transmission
• In FM, the total transmitted power is always constant and the total
average power is equal to the unmodulated carrier power, that is the
amplitude of the FM remains constant whether or not it is modulated.
P t = Pc = Ac2/2R
Comparison Between AM and FM
Types of FM
FM can be divided into Narrow band FM and Wideband FM based
on the values of modulation index mf
Narrowband FM
• This frequency modulation has a small bandwidth when compared
to wideband FM.
• The modulation index mf is small, i.e., less than or slightly greater
than 1.
• Its spectrum consists of the carrier, the upper sideband and the lower
sideband.
• Bandwidth is small approximately same as that of AM
• BW = 2fm
• This is used in mobile communications such as police wireless,
ambulances, taxicabs, etc.
Wideband FM
• This frequency modulation has infinite bandwidth.
• The modulation index β is large, i.e., higher than 1.
• Its spectrum consists of a carrier and infinite number of sidebands, which are located
around it.
• This is used in entertainment, broadcasting applications such as FM radio, TV, etc.
• Bandwidth is 2fm [mf +1]
FM Transmitter
FM Transmitter
• The audio signal from the output of the microphone is sent to the pre-amplifier, which boosts
the level of the modulating signal.
• This signal is then passed to high pass filter, which acts as a pre-emphasis network to filter
out the noise and improve the signal to noise ratio.
Pre-emphasis
In FM, the noise has a greater effect on the higher modulating frequencies.
• This effect can be reduced by increasing the value of modulation index for higher modulating
frequencies.
• This can be done by increasing the deviation and can be increased by increasing the
amplitude of modulating signal at higher frequencies.
• Definition: The artificial boosting of higher audio modulating frequencies in accordance with
prearranged response curve is called pre-emphasis.
Pre-emphasis
• Pre-emphasis circuit is a high pass filter.
• Pre-emphasis is an RC network that linearly boosts the amplitude of the frequencies in
proportion to frequency. This increases the SNR at the higher frequencies. As modulating
frequency (fm) increases, capacitive reactance decreases and modulating voltage goes on
increasing.
FM Transmitter
This signal is further passed to the FM modulator circuit.
• The oscillator circuit generates a high frequency carrier, which is sent to the
modulator along with the modulating signal.
• Frequency multiplier (Frequency up conversion) are used to increase the operating
frequency.
• A RF power amplifier is used at the end to increase the power of the modulated
signal. This FM modulated output is finally passed to the antenna to be transmitted.
FM Receiver
FM Receiver
• In FM modulation, the amplitude of FM wave remains constant.
• Some noise is added with FM wave in the channel, due to that the amplitude of FM wave
may vary.
• With the help of amplitude limiter the amplitude of FM wave as constant by removing
the unwanted peaks of the noise signal.
• The reverse process of pre-emphasis is known as de-emphasis.
• In FM receiver, the de-emphasis network (Low pass filter) is included after FM
demodulator.
De-emphasis
• De-emphasis circuit is used at FM receiver.
• The artificial boosting of higher modulating frequencies in the process of pre emphasis is
nullified at receiver by process called de-emphasis.
• De-emphasis circuit is a low pass filter.
• As shown in Figure de-modulated FM is applied to the de-emphasis circuit (low pass filter)
where with increase in fm, capacitive reactance Xc decreases. So that output of de-emphasis
circuit also reduces.
FM Receiver

In FM receiver, the de-emphasis network (Low pass filter) is included after FM

demodulator.
• This signal is passed to the audio amplifier to increase the power level. Finally, we get the
original sound signal from the loudspeaker.
Phase Modulation

The phase of the carrier signal varies in accordance

with the instantaneous amplitude of the modulating
signal.
So, in phase modulation, the amplitude and the
frequency of the carrier signal remains constant.