MODULATION AND DEMODULATION
Sidebands in FM:
In Frequency Modulation (FM), sidebands are frequency components that appear above and
below the carrier frequency, carrying the transmitted information. Unlike AM, where sidebands
are fixed at fc±fm
FM creates an infinite number of sidebands in theory, but in practice, only a few significant ones
carry most of the signal's energy within a specific bandwidth determined by the frequency
deviation and modulation frequency, as described by Carson's Rule.
How Sidebands are Generated in FM
1. Carrier and Modulating Signal: An FM signal consists of a high-frequency carrier
wave and a lower-frequency message (modulating) signal.
2. Frequency Fluctuation: The carrier's frequency is changed (deviated) in proportion to
the instantaneous amplitude of the modulating signal.
3. Non-linear Multiplication: This frequency change is mathematically equivalent to a
non-linear interaction, or multiplication, of the carrier and modulating signals in the
frequency domain.
4. Creation of Sidebands: This multiplication process generates new frequencies at the
sum and difference of the carrier and modulating frequencies, resulting in sidebands.
Characteristics of FM Sidebands
Infinite in Theory: FM theoretically produces an infinite number of sidebands, unlike
AM which produces only two.
Energy Concentration: Most of the signal's power is concentrated in a few prominent
sidebands, with their number and significance depending on the modulation index (the
ratio of frequency deviation to modulating frequency).
Bandwidth: The total bandwidth occupied by the significant sidebands is predicted by Carson's
Rule:
B≈2(Δf+fm)
𝑓𝑚 is the highest modulating frequency.
Δ𝑓 is the peak frequency deviation and
Key Difference from AM
AM: Produces two distinct, fixed sidebands: Upper Sideband (USB) at
𝑓𝑐+𝑓𝑚
Lower Sideband (LSB) at fc−fm
.FM: Produces a theoretically infinite set of sidebands clustered around the carrier, with
the number of significant sidebands depending on the modulation characteristics.
Demodulation of AM wave and diode detector circuit:
For AM wave demodulation, the most common and simple method is the envelope
detector, which is used in basic AM radio receivers. More advanced techniques
include synchronous and product detection, which offer improved performance.
Envelope detector (Diode detector)
This is the simplest and most cost-effective method for demodulating an
AM signal.
Circuit components
Diode: Acts as a rectifier to remove the negative half of the AM signal.
Resistor (R) and Capacitor (C): Form a low-pass filter to smooth the
rectified signal and recover the original audio message.
Working principle
1. Rectification: The AM signal is fed into a diode, which allows current to
flow in only one direction. This removes the negative half of the signal,
leaving a pulsating positive signal.
2. Envelope detection: The rectified signal is then passed through the RC filter.
The capacitor charges quickly to the peak voltage of the incoming signal. As
the signal voltage falls, the diode stops conducting, and the capacitor begins
to discharge slowly through the resistor.
3. Time constant (RC): The values of the resistor and capacitor are chosen so
that the capacitor discharges slowly enough to follow the envelope of the
AM wave but quickly enough not to smooth out the audio signal.
4. The ideal 𝑅𝐶 time constant is much larger than the period of the high-
frequency carrier wave but much smaller than the period of the low-
frequency message signal.
5. Smoothing and output: This process results in an output voltage that traces
the shape of the original audio signal (the envelope). A DC-blocking
capacitor can be added to remove any remaining DC offset.
Synchronous detection
This method offers much better performance than an envelope detector, especially
in noisy conditions, by precisely re-creating and multiplying the carrier signal.
Working principle
1. Carrier regeneration: The receiver uses an internal oscillator to generate a
signal with the same frequency and phase as the original carrier wave.
2. Multiplication: The incoming AM signal is multiplied by this locally
generated carrier signal. This process is effectively the reverse of modulation
and moves the message signal spectrum back to its original baseband
frequencies.
3. Low-pass filtering: The multiplied signal is passed through a low-pass filter
to remove the high-frequency components created during multiplication. The
filter isolates the original, low-frequency message signal.
Product detector
This is a variation of synchronous detection and is often used for demodulating
single-sideband (SSB) signals, a type of AM.
Working principle
1. Carrier injection: The incoming SSB signal is mixed with a locally
generated signal from a beat frequency oscillator (BFO), which replaces the
suppressed carrier.
2. Multiplication and filtering: The multiplication process and subsequent low-
pass filtering are the same as in synchronous detection to recover the
original message.