Chapter 3 – Angle Modulation

Undergraduate Program
School of Electrical and Computer
Engineering
Contents
· Basic Concepts
· Properties of Angle-Modulated Waves
· Relationship between PM and FM Waves
· Narrow-Band Frequency Modulation
· Wide-Band Frequency Modulation
· Transmission Bandwidth of FM and PM Waves
· Generation of FM Waves
· Demodulation of FM Signals

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Limitations of Amplitude Modulation
· Susceptibility to noise
· Vulnerable to noise and
interference, impacting
signal quality
· Transmission medium often
introduce amplitude
distortion
· Power inefficiency
· Higher power levels for
sufficient signal-to-noise
ratio (SNR)
· SNR determines signal
quality and power
inefficiency
· Limited range and
application
· Suited
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short-range and3 – Angle Modulation 3
Angle Modulation: Definitions
· Angle Modulation: A technique where the angle
(frequency or phase) of the carrier signal is varied
according to the information-bearing signal,
· Amplitude of is maintained constant
· Nonlinear modulation – add complexity
· Spectrum of the modulated signal, is not related in any
simple fashion to
· Types of Angle Modulation
· Frequency Modulation (FM): The instantaneous frequency
of is varied linearly with
· Phase Modulation (PM): The instantaneous phase of is
adjusted linearly with

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Basic…
· Key feature: Improved noise performance at the
expense of bandwidth efficiency and system
complexity
· Better Noise Immunity: Angle modulation is less
susceptible to noise compared to AM
· Signal strength remains relatively constant
· Improved power efficiency
· Inefficient Bandwidth: Requires larger bandwidth than AM
· More complex system
· Practical insight
· FM radio: Clear audio despite noise
· Satellite links: Use PM/Frequency-shift keying for phase
stability
· Mobile & Wi-Fi: Rely on phase-based digital schemes
(QPSK, QAM)

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Angle Modulation: Basic Definitions
· Angle modulator modulate the angle of the carrier
signal (complex envelope) with the message signal
m(t).
· what is meant by the phase and frequency of a bandpass
signal ?
Take

· is a rotating phasor of length and angle

· Instantaneous frequency is rate of change .

· In the case of an unmodulated carrier,

· Phasor rotates at a constant angular velocity of
· is a constant, angle of the unmodulated carrier at time

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Angle Modulation: Basic Definitions……
· Angle-modulated signal (PM or FM) can be
expressed as

message signal
· Phase modulation: the phase angle of the Carrier signal in
direct proportion to the message signal.
, assume = 0

 - phase deviation constant (Max phase deviation):


(units of radians per unit of m(t)) is the phase-sensitivity factor of
the modulator.

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Angle Modulation: Basic Definitions…
· Frequency modulation: the instantaneous radian
frequency of the Carrier signal in direct proportion to the
message signal.

· - frequency deviation

· Max frequency deviation constant:

is the frequency phase-sensitivity factor of the modulator. (units Hertz per unit
of m(t))

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 Angle Modulation: Analysis summary
𝑚 ( 𝑡 ) =|𝑚 ( 𝑡 )|𝑚 𝑎𝑥 𝑚𝑛 (𝑡 )
· Instantaneous frequency

· Modulated signal angle:

· Max. phase deviation:

· Max. freq. deviation:

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 Example
Sketch FM and PM waves for the pulse modulating
signal m(t) shown in below. The constants kf and kp
are Hz/V and rad/V , respectively, and .

𝑘𝑝 𝑑 𝑚 (𝑡) 8 1 𝑑𝑚 ( 𝑡 )
8 5𝑓𝑖=
𝑓𝑖= 𝑓𝑐 +𝑘𝑓 𝑚(𝑡 )=10 +10 𝑚 (𝑡 ) 𝑓𝑐 + =10 +
2𝜋 𝑑𝑡 4 𝑑𝑡

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 Example: Sinusoidal Modulating Signal
· Assume that: , and

· FM Modulated signal: · PM Modulated signal:

· Instantaneous frequency:
· Instantaneous frequency:

· Instantaneous phase:
· Instantaneous phase:
· Modulation indices:

· Modulation indices:

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Cont.…

(a) Carrier wave

(b) Sinusoidal modulating signal

(c) Amplitude-modulated (carrier

suppressed) signal

(d) Phase-modulated signal

(e) Frequency modulated signal

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Properties of Angle-Modulated Waves
1. Constancy of Transmitted Power
· From both PM and FM equations

we see that amplitude = for all t.

Neither nor affects the instantaneous amplitude — only the
angle changes.
· Implication:

Power remains constant regardless of modulation depth.

· Why it matters:
· Nonlinear RF amplifiers can be used → more power efficiency.
· FM transmitters can operate near saturation without distortion.
· Makes angle modulation ideal for high-power radio links.

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Properties…
2. Nonlinearity of the Modulation Process

Angle modulation violates superposition → it is nonlinear.

· If then

Why it matters:
· Frequency components mix → sidebands overlap in
nonlinear ways.
· Spectral analysis is harder — no simple linear spectrum
like AM.
· But nonlinearity = strength → it helps suppress additive
noise.
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Properties…

3. Irregularity of Zero-Crossings
· In AM, zero-crossings are evenly spaced — tied to the
carrier frequency.
· In FM/PM, they shift with m(t) → irregular spacing.

Physical meaning:
Information in angle modulation resides in the timing of
zero-crossings.
Two special cases where regularity remains:
· m(t) increases linearly → frequency settles at a new
constant value.
· m(t) = constant → carrier shifts to a fixed offset frequency.
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Properties…
4. Difficulty Visualizing the Message Waveform
In AM, the envelope directly shows
In FM/PM, is hidden inside phase or frequency variations.

Reason:
Because the process is nonlinear — the waveform no longer
visually reflects amplitude variations.

Implication:
· Hard to infer message by eye → needs coherent
demodulation.
· Useful for secure or interference-resistant communication.

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Properties…
5. Bandwidth vs Noise Performance Tradeoff
· Angle modulation has better noise performance over AM
· Amplitude is a constant and independent of 𝑚(𝑡)
· Additive noise mainly affects affect amplitude of the carrier
· However, the bandwidth requirement increases
· I.e., exchanging an increase in transmission bandwidth for an
improvement in noise performance
· Such a tradeoff is not possible with AM

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Relationship Between PM and FM Waves
• FM and PM are uniquely related to each other
• FM is a PM produced by and FM is produced from PM by

Ref: Communication Systems Engineering By John G. Proakis, Masoud Salehi

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 Angle Modulation: Analysis summary
𝑚 ( 𝑡 ) =|𝑚 ( 𝑡 )|𝑚 𝑎𝑥 𝑚𝑛 (𝑡 )
· Instantaneous frequency

· Modulated signal angle:

· Max. phase deviation:

· Max. freq. deviation:

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Spectrum of Angle-Modulated Signal
· Consider sinusoidal modulated signal

· Expansion with Taylor series and complex sinusoidal

(1+
=
· Approximated Angle modulated signal

is order Bessel function of the first kind and argument

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 Spectrum of Angle-Modulated Signal
𝐴𝑐 ∞
( 𝑓 )= ∑
2 𝑛=− ∞
𝐽 𝑛 ( 𝛽 ) [δ ( 𝑓 − 𝑓 𝑐 −𝑛 𝑓 𝑚 ) + δ ( 𝑓 + 𝑓 𝑐 + 𝑛 𝑓 𝑚 ) ]
2 ∞
𝐴𝑐
𝑃 𝑎𝑣𝑔 =
2
∑ 2
𝐽 𝑛 ( 𝛽)
𝑛=− ∞

· The spectrum consists of a carrier-frequency component plus

an infinite number of sidebands components at frequencies fc
 nf m (n=1,2,3,…)
· The relative amplitude of the spectral lines depend on the
value of Jn()
· The value of Jn() becomes very small for larger of n
· The number of significant spectral lines (i.e., is having
appreciable relative amplitude) is a function of 
· With  <<1, only J0 and J1 are significant, so the spectrum will
consists of carrier and two sideband lines  Narrowband Angle
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modulated
Narrowband Angle Modulation
· For narrow-band must be small compared to one
radian (typically < 0.3)
· Expanding and using the approximations
cos ⁡¿
sin ⁡¿
· Narrow-band FM signal is approximated as
𝑠 ( 𝑡 ) ≈ 𝐴 𝑐 cos ( 2 𝜋 𝑓 𝑐 𝑡 ) − 𝛽 𝐴 𝑐 sin ( 2 𝜋 𝑓 𝑐 𝑡 ) sin ( 2 𝜋 𝑓 𝑚 𝑡 )
𝛽 𝐴𝑐
¿ 𝐴𝑐 cos ( 2 𝜋 𝑓 𝑐 𝑡 ) − ¿
2

Indirect method for

generating a narrow-band
FM wave

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 Narrowband Cont.…
𝑆( 𝑓 ) 𝐴𝑐 𝐽 𝑜 ( 𝛽) • Phasor comparison of narrow-
𝐴 𝑐 𝐽 1 ( 𝛽) 2 𝐴 𝑐 𝐽 1 ( 𝛽) band FM and AM waves for
4 − 𝑓 𝑐+ 𝑓 𝑚 4
𝑓𝑐 −𝑓 sinusoidal modulation.
− 𝑓 𝑐− 𝑓 −
𝑚
𝑓
𝑚 𝑓 𝑐 𝑓 𝑐𝑓 𝑐 + 𝑓 𝑚
𝐴 𝑐 𝐽 − 1 ( 𝛽) 𝐴 𝑐 𝐽 − 1 ( 𝛽)
4 4

𝐴𝑐 𝛽𝐴𝑐
𝑆( 𝑓 )= [𝛿( 𝑓 −𝑓 𝑐)+( 𝑓 +𝑓 𝑐)]− [𝛿( 𝑓 −𝑓 𝑐+𝑓 𝑚)+( 𝑓 +𝑓 𝑐−𝑓 𝑚)−𝛿( 𝑓 −𝑓 𝑐−𝑓 𝑚)+( 𝑓 +𝑓 𝑐+𝑓 𝑚)]
2 4 Narrow-band FM wave

· Two sidebands at ​.
· same as DSB-SC but with
phase shift in sidebands.
· Bandwidth ≈ .
AM wave

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Wideband Angle Modulation
· Consider a single tone sinusoidal modulating signal
with an arbitrary value and

· The wide-band modulated signal is given as

· Fourier transform gives discrete spectrum of

𝐴𝑐 ∞
· 𝑆Infinite ∑
( 𝑓 ) = number
2 𝑛=− ∞ 𝑛( 𝛽
𝐽of ) [δ ( 𝑓functions
delta 𝑚 ) +δ ( 𝑓at
− 𝑓 𝑐 −𝑛 𝑓spaces + 𝑓 𝑐 +𝑛 𝑓 𝑚 ) ]

2
𝐴𝑐 ∞
𝑃 𝑎𝑣𝑔 = ∑
2 −∞
2
𝐽 𝑛( 𝛽 )

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 Spectrum of Angle-Modulated Signal
1. For different integer (positive
and negative) values of n, we
have
= , for n even
= for n odd

2. For large values of the

modulation index we have

3. The equality holds exactly for

arbitrary
Plots of the Bessel function for varying order.

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Spectrum of Angle-Modulated Signal

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Bandwidth of Angle-Modulated Signal
· Power bandwidth (98% of the power) of angle-modulated
signal (Carson’s rule)

· Power bandwidth (Carson's bandwidth) of PM and FM

signals

· These expressions hold for a general modulating signal

as well
· fm - the max. modulating frequency or bandwidth

· Note: Angle modulation with large modulation index

expands spectrum!

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Arbitrary Modulation
· For arbitrary angle modulating signal m(t)
bandwidth limited to , the deviation ratio
(modulation index) is defined as
Δ𝑓
D=
Bw m

· D plays the same role as the modulation index 

plays for sinusoidal modulation
· Replacing  by D and fm by we have

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Cont.…
· For Narrowband signals (modulation index is very small,  <<
1)
· The signal bandwidth is:
𝐵 𝑇≈ 2𝑛 𝑓 =2 𝑓𝑚
𝑚

· For Wideband signals (Modulation index is high,  >> 1)

𝐵𝑇 ≈ 2𝑛 𝑓 𝑚
{ 2 ( 𝛽 𝑓 ) 𝑓 𝑚= 2 ( Δ 𝑓 ) 𝐹𝑀
2 ( 𝛽 𝑝 ) 𝑓 𝑚 =2 ( Δ 𝜃 ) 𝑓 𝑚 𝑃𝑀
· Wideband FM
· The bandwidth is twice the frequency deviation
· Does not depend on the modulating frequency
· Wideband PM
· The bandwidth depends on modulating frequency

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Ex: Amplitude Spectrum Sinusoidally Modulated FM
Signal
· Investigate the ways in which variations in the amplitude
modulating wave affect the spectrum of the FM wave.
· Consider a case when the frequency of the modulating wave
is fixed, but its amplitude is varied, producing a corresponding
variation in the frequency deviation.

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Example 3:

· A carrier is FM modulated by a sinusoidal modulating signal

𝑚(𝑡) of frequency 2 KHz, it results in frequency deviation of
5KHz.
· Find the BW occupied by the FM waveform.

· If the amplitude of the modulating sinusoid is increased by a

factor of 3 and its frequency lowered by 1KHz. Find the new BW.

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Example 2:

· An angle-modulated signal with carrier frequency

MHz is described by the equation:

a. Find the power of the modulated signal.

b. Find the max frequency deviation and max phase
deviation β.
c. Estimate the bandwidth of S(t).
d. If the max frequency of the message signal is scaled up
by a factor of 4. how would the bandwidth of the modulated
signal change, assuming its FM or PM signal.

Sem. I, 2025/26
If needed take
Chapter 3 (kpModulation
– Angle = 10rad/v, kf =15kHz/v)
32
Important Properties of Angle-Modulated Signals:
Summary
· FM/PM signal is a nonlinear function of the message
· The signal’s bandwidth increases with the
modulation index
· The carrier spectral level varies with the modulation index,
being 0 in some cases
· Narrowband FM/PM
· Signal’s bandwidth is twice that of the message (same as
for AM)
· Amplitude of the FM/PM signal is constant
· Hence, the power does not depend on the message
· Angle modulation has better noise performance
over AM
· Additive noise mainly affects affect amplitude of the carrier
· However, the bandwidth requirement increases
· I.e., exchanging an increase in transmission bandwidth for an
[Link]
I, 2025/26 in noiseChapter
performance
3 – Angle Modulation 33
Generation and Demodulation of
Analog Modulated Signals

Undergraduate Program
School of Electrical and Computer
Engineering
Generation of Analog Modulated Signals

· Practical Angle Modulators

· Narrowband Angle Modulator
· Wideband Angle Modulator
· Direct method

· Indirect method

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Narrowband Angle Modulator

𝑠 ( 𝑡 ) ≈ 𝐴𝑐 cos ( 2 𝜋 𝑓 𝑐 𝑡 ) − 𝛽 𝐴𝑐 sin ( 2 𝜋 𝑓 𝑐 𝑡 ) sin ( 2 𝜋 𝑓 𝑚 𝑡 ) ¿

𝛽 𝐴𝑐
¿ 𝐴 𝑐 cos ( 2 𝜋 𝑓 𝑐 𝑡 ) − ¿
2

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Direct method
· Uses sinusoidal oscillator, with one of the reactive elements
(e.g., capacitive element) in the tank circuit of the oscillator
being directly controllable by the message
· PM Modulator:

· FM Modulator:

· Simple, real-time modulation.

· Frequency deviation/Phase shift ∝ input voltage.
· Used in low-cost radios and narrowband angle modulated signals in SDRs
systems.
· Limitations: Frequency stability and drift issues.
· requires frequency stabilization with feedback around the oscillator

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Direct Wideband Angle Modulator

· Explain how it operates

· Hint: consider it without feedback first
· Explain why feedback is required
· Explain why frequency divider is required

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Indirect Wideband Angle Modulator: Armstrong
modulator
· Generate NBFM via
phase modulator.
· Multiply frequency
(×N) to increase Δf →
WBFM.
· Mix to desired carrier
frequency.

Block diagram of frequency multiplier.

· Sometimes, we may require multiple stages of frequency

multiplier and mixers in order to increase the frequency
deviation and modulation index of FM wave.
· Advantages: Excellent frequency stability, used in
broadcast FM transmitters.
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Example
· Design commercial FM modulator to transmit a
radio station at 96MHz at 3KW.
· Note that the Max. freq. deviation for commercial
radio stations is 75KHz with max transmission band
with of 150KHz with 25 KHz guard band to each
side.
· The audio signal has max bandwidth of 15KHz.

· Take ( and for NBFM), use multiple sets of frequency

multipliers
WBFM
𝑚(𝑡 )
NBFM ×5
3
×2❑ × BPF

𝑐 1 (𝑡 ) 𝑐 2 (𝑡 )

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EX:

Consider FM radio broadcasting that uses the resource of free

space radio wave propagation. The shared use (multiplexing) of
the FM band is done with the help of a combination of frequency
multiplexing and location multiplexing (stations far enough away
from each other can use the same transmission frequency). The
standard assigned the spectrum of 87.5- 108.5 MHz, where each
station is spaced about 200KHz apart (). spaced about 10KHz
apart Each

· IF There are 103 FDM channels and each station provides an

audio signal of about 15KHz bandwidth (Wi=15KHz). The
efficiency of FM broadcast band?
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FM/PM Demodulation
· Recover message from frequency variation.
· Methods:
· Slope Detector (Frequency Discriminator) (analog,
simple).
· PLL Demodulator (modern, accurate).

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FM Demodulators -- Frequency Discriminator
· FM-to-AM conversion and non–coherent
demodulator

Possible candidate:
(differentiator over the band-pass signal bandwidth)

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Frequency Discriminator – Phase
Demodulation
· Discriminator can also be used for PM demodulation
· Differentiating the PM gives

· PM demodulation: Differentiation + envelope

detector + DC blocking + integration

∫ (∙) 𝑑𝜏
𝑑 (∙) Envelope
𝑠(𝑡 ) 𝑑𝑡 Detector
𝑚(𝑡 )

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Cont.… Frequency Discriminator
· Simplest analog FM demodulator.
· Bandpass filter with linear slope around carrier frequency →
amplitude changes proportional to frequency deviation.
· Envelope detector follows.
· Limitations:
· Poor linearity.
· Sensitive to frequency drift.
· Limited to narrowband FM.

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Phase-Locked Loop (PLL)
· A closed-loop feedback system with multiplier (gain ), loop
filter and voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO)
· Assume:
· Incoming FM signal:
with
· Multiplier: phase detector
· Loop filter: Low pass filter
· VCO output: with
· is also an FM wave with 𝑡

phase 1 ( t )=2 𝜋 𝑘 𝑓 ∫ 𝑚 ( 𝜏 ) 𝑑 𝜏
· Error signal 0

𝑡
2 ( t )=2 𝜋 𝑘𝑣 ∫ 𝑣 ( 𝜏 ) 𝑑 𝜏
0

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Phase-Locked Loop - Phase Detector Output
· Using trigonometric identify, we note that the error
signal has two components:
1. High frequency component of

2. Low-frequency component of

· Loop-filter
· Low-pass filter
· Suppress the high-frequency component
· For small phase error, , hence, the error is

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 Phase-Locked Loop (PLL)
· Feedback adjusts to keep error small and nearly
constant
· Phase locked: if
· When , i.e.,

· Differentiating both sides, we

· And

· Output of the VCO , hence, is the demodulated signal

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Phase-Locked Loop – Summary
· PLL locks a VCO to an incoming FM signal by
continuously comparing phases
· Phase detector (i.e., the multiplier) generates an
error,
· Loop filter keeps only the low-frequency part as a
smooth control voltage
· Voltage tunes the VCO to follow the FM’s
instantaneous frequency
· When locked the control voltage is a scaled copy of
the original message

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FM Demodulators -- Phased Locked Loop (PLL)
Detector
· In FM/PM systems, the carrier’s phase varies
continuously with the modulating signal.
· To demodulate accurately, the receiver must track and
lock onto this phase.
· The PLL does exactly that:
· Tracks the instantaneous phase of the incoming signal.
· Produces an error voltage proportional to the deviation (→
message signal).

· Advantages:
· Excellent linearity.
· Automatic carrier tracking.
· Works over wide dynamic ranges.

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Summary
· Amplitude modulation
· Is simple (envelope detector) but no noise/interference
immunity (low quality)
· Bandwidth is twice or the same as the modulating signal
(no bandwidth expansion)
· Power efficiency is low for conventional AM
· DSB-SC & SSB – good power efficiency, but complex
circuitry
· FM/PM
· Spectrum expansion & noise immunity
· Good quality
· More complex circuitry
· However, ICs allow for cost effective implementation

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