What is FM, Frequency Modulation Tutorial - overview or tutorial about the basics of what is frequency modulation, FM used for

modulating a radio signal to carry sound or other information. Frequency modulation, FM tutorial includes: FM tutorial Advantages & disadvantages FM modulation index & deviation ratio FM spectrum & bandwidth Frequency modulation, FM is widely used for a variety of radio communications applications. FM broadcasts on the VHF bands still provide exceptionally high quality audio, and FM is also used for a variety of forms of two way radio communications, and it is especially useful for mobile radio communications, being used in taxis, and many other forms of vehicle. in view of its widespread use, frequency modulation, FM, is an important form of modulation, despite many forms of digital transmission being used these days. FM, frequency modulation has been in use for many years. However its advantages were not immediately apparent. In the early days of wireless, it was thought that a narrower bandwidth was required to reduce noise and interference. As FM did not perform well under these conditions, AM predominated and FM was not used. However, Edwin Armstrong, an American engineer looked at the use of wideband FM for broadcasting and introduced the idea against the trend of the thinking of the time. Since its first introduction the use of frequency modulation, FM has grown enormously. Now wideband FM is still regarded as a very high quality transmission

medium for high quality broadcasting. FM, frequency modulation is also widely used for communications where it is resilient to variations in signal strength.

FM, frequency modulation basics The most obvious method of applying modulation to a signal is to superimpose the audio signal onto the amplitude of the carrier. However this is by no means the only method which can be employed. It is also possible to vary the frequency of the signal to give frequency modulation or FM. It can be seen below that the frequency of the signal varies as the voltage of the modulating signal changes.

Concept of frequency modulation The amount by which the signal frequency varies is very important. This is known as the deviation and is

normally quoted as the number of kiloHertz deviation. As an example the signal may have a deviation of 3 kHz. In this case the carrier is made to move up and down by 3 kHz.

Narrowband FM, NBFM, and Wideband FM, WBFM The level of deviation is important in many aspects. It obviously is important in determining the bandwidth of the overall signal. As a result the deviation used for FM is different between different applications. Broadcast stations in the VHF portion of the frequency spectrum between 88.5 and 108 MHz use large values of deviation, typically 75 kHz. This is known as wideband FM (WBFM). These signals are capable of supporting high quality transmissions, but occupy a large amount of bandwidth. Usually 200 kHz is allowed for each wideband FM transmission. For radio communications purposes less bandwidth is used. Narrowband FM, NBFM often uses deviation figures of around 3 kHz or possibly slightly more. As quality is not as important for radio communications applications, the much narrower bandwidth has advantages in terms of radio spectrum efficiency.

Improvement in Signal to Noise Ratio It has already been mentioned that FM can give a better signal to noise ratio than AM when wide bandwidths are used. The amplitude noise can be removed by limiting the signal to remove it. In fact the greater the deviation the better the noise performance. When comparing an AM signal to an FM one an improvement equal to 3 D2 is obtained where D is the deviation ratio.

Pre-emphasis and de-emphasis when using frequency modulation An additional improvement in signal to noise ratio can be achieved if the audio signal is pre-emphasised. To achieve this the lower level high frequency sounds are amplified to a greater degree than the lower frequency sounds before they are transmitted. Once at the receiver the signals are passed through a network with the opposite effect to restore a flat frequency response. To achieve the pre-emphasis the signal is passed through a capacitor-resistor (CR) network. At frequencies above the cut-off frequency the signal increases in level by 6 dB per octave. Similarly at the receiver the response falls by the same amount. Both the receiver and transmitter networks must match one another. In the UK the CR time constant is chosen to be 50sS. For this the break frequency f1 is 3183 Hz. For broadcasting in North America values of 75s with a break frequency of 2.1 kHz is used. Pre-emphasising the audio for an FM signal is effective because the noise output from an FM system is proportional to the audio frequency. In order to reduce the level of this effect, the audio amplifier in the receiver must have a response that falls with frequency. In order to prevent the audio signal from losing the higher frequencies, the transmitter must increase the level of the higher frequencies to compensate. This can be achieved because the level of the high frequency sounds is usually less than those lower in frequency.

Frequency modulation highlights

Frequency modulation is used in a wide variety or radio communications applications from broadcasting to two way radio communications links as well as mobile radio communications. It possesses many advantages over amplitude modulation and this is the reason for its widespread use. Nowadays, many digital forms of radio communications are being introduced, but despite this the use of frequency modulation, FM will undoubtedly continue for many years to come in many areas of radio communications. Frequency Modulation Advantages and Disadvantages - summary of the advantages and disadvantages of frequency modulation, FM, detailing why it is used in certain applications and not others. Frequency modulation, FM tutorial includes: FM tutorial Advantages & disadvantages FM modulation index & deviation ratio FM spectrum & bandwidth FM is widely used because of the many advantages of frequency modulation. Although, in the early days of radio communications, these were not exploited because of a lack of understand of how to benefit from FM, once these were understood, its use grew. There are many advantages of FM, but also some disadvantages, and as a result it is suitable for many applications, but other modes may be more suited to other applications. An understanding of the disadvantages and advantages of FM will enable the choice of the best modulation format to be made.

Advantages of frequency modulation There are many advantages to the use of frequency modulation. These have meant that it has been widely used for many years, and will remain in use for many years.

Resilient to noise: One of the main advantages of

frequency modulation that has been utilised by the broadcasting industry is the reduction in noise. As most noise is amplitude based, this can be removed by running the signal through a limiter so that only frequency variations appear. This is provided that the signal level is sufficiently high to allow the signal to be limited. Resilient to signal strength variations: In the same way that amplitude noise can be removed, so too can any signal variations. This means that one of the advantages of frequency modulation is that it does not suffer audio amplitude variations as the signal level varies, and it makes FM ideal for use in mobile applications where signal levels constantly vary. This is provided that the signal level is sufficiently high to allow the signal to be limited.

Does not require linear amplifiers in the transmitter: As only frequency changes are
required to be carried, any amplifiers in the transmitter do not need to be linear.

Enables greater efficiency than many other modes: The use of non-linear amplifiers, e.g.
class C, etc means that transmitter efficiency

levels will be higher - linear amplifiers are inherently inefficient.

quadrature amplitude modulation formats are on the increase. Nevertheless, the advantages of frequency modulation mean that it is an ideal format for many analogue applications. Frequency Modulation, FM Modulation Index & Deviation Ratio - notes and details of frequency modulation, FM, modulation index and deviation ratio. Frequency modulation, FM tutorial includes: FM tutorial Advantages & disadvantages FM modulation index & deviation ratio FM spectrum & bandwidth In just the same way that it is useful to know the modulation index of an amplitude modulated signal the same is true for a frequency modulated signal. The modulation index is equal to the ratio of the frequency deviation to the modulating frequency. The modulation index will vary according to the frequency that is modulating the transmitted carrier and the amount of deviation. However when designing a system it is important to know the maximum permissible values. This is given by the deviation ratio and is obtained by inserting the maximum values into the formula for the modulation index.

Dis-advantages of frequency modulation There are a number of dis-advantages to the use of frequency modulation. Some are can be overcome quite easily, but others may mean that another modulation format is more suitable.

Requires more complicated demodulator: One of

the minor dis-advantages of frequency modulation is that the demodulator is a little more complicated, and hence slightly more expensive than the very simple diode detectors used for AM. Also requiring a tuned circuit adds cost. However this is only an issue for the very low cost broadcast receiver market.

Some other modes have higher data spectral efficiency: Some phase modulation and

quadrature amplitude modulation formats have a higher spectral efficiency for data transmission that frequency shift keying, a form of frequency modulation. As a result, most data transmission system use PSK and QAM. Sidebands extend to infinity either side: The sidebands for an FM transmission theoretically extend out to infinity. To limit the bandwidth of the transmission, filters are used, and these introduce some distortion of the signal. There are many advantages to using frequency modulation - it is still widely used for many broadcast and radio communications applications. However with more systems using digital formats, phase and

D = (Max deviation frequency) / (Max modulation frequency)

This may also be expressed as: = / m For a VHF FM sound broadcast transmitter the maximum deviation is 75 kHz and the maximum modulation frequency is 15 kHz giving a deviation ratio of 5.

FM spectrum & bandwidth The bandwidth, spectrum and sidebands are of great importance when using frequency modulation. The sidebands of a frequency modulated signal extend out either side of the main carrier, and cause the bandwidth of the overall signal to increase well beyond that of the unmodulated carrier. As the modulation of the carrier varies, so do the sidebands and hence the bandwidth and overall spectrum of the signal.

Modulation index and narrowband FM narrow band FM is defined as the where the value of is small enough that the terms in the Bessel expansion, i.e. sidebands are negligible.

= / m < 0.5 Often a figure of < 0.2 may be used.

Modulation index and wideband FM Wideband FM is defined as the situation where the modulation index is above 0.5. Under these circumstances the sidebands beyond the first two terms are not insignificant. Frequency Modulation Bandwidth, Spectrum & Sidebands - notes and details of frequency modulation bandwidth, spectrum and sidebands, and their impact on the use of FM. Frequency modulation, FM tutorial includes: FM tutorial Advantages & disadvantages FM modulation index & deviation ratio

Frequency modulation Bessel functions & sidebands Any signal that is modulated produces sidebands. In the case of an amplitude modulated signal they are easy to determine, but for frequency modulation the situation is not quite as straightforward. . They are dependent upon the not only the deviation, but also the level of deviation, i.e. the modulation index M. The total spectrum is an infinite series of discrete spectral components expressed by a complex formula using

Bessel functions of the first kind.

The total spectrum can be seen to consist of the carrier plus an infinite number of sidebands spreading out on either side of the carrier at integral multiples of the modulating frequency. The relative levels of the sidebands can be obtained by referring to a table of Bessel functions. It can be seen from the image below that the relative levels rise and fall according to the different values of modulation index.

As the modulation index increases it is found that other sidebands at twice the modulation frequency start to appear. As the index is increased further other sidebands can also be seen.

Relative levels of carrier and sidebands for a frequency modulated signal For small values of modulation index, when using narrow-band FM, and FM signal consists of the carrier and the two sidebands spaced at the modulation frequency either side of the carrier. This looks to be the same as an AM signal, but the difference is that the lower sideband is out of phase by 180 degrees.

Spectra of an FM signal with differing levels of modulation index At certain levels of modulation, where the modulation index equals figures of 2.41, 5.53, 8.65 and other higher specific levels, the carrier actuals falls to a figure of zero, the signal being comprised simply of the sidebands.

There are a few interesting points of summary relative to frequency modulation bandwidth: Bandwidth of a frequency modulation signal In the case of an amplitude modulated signal the bandwidth required is twice the maximum frequency of the modulation. Whilst the same is true for a narrowband FM signal, the situation is not true for a wideband FM signal. Here the required bandwidth can be very much larger, with detectable sidebands spreading out over large amounts of the frequency spectrum. Usually it is necessary to limit the bandwidth of a signal so that it does not unduly interfere with stations either side. As a frequency modulated signal has sidebands that extend out to infinity, it is normal accepted practice to determine the bandwidth as that which contains approximately 98% of the signal power. A rule of thumb, often termed Carsons' Rule states that 98% of the signal power is contained within a bandwidth equal to the deviation frequency, plus the modulation frequency doubled, i.e.: The bandwidth of a frequency modulated signal varies with both deviation and modulating frequency. Increasing modulating frequency reduces modulation index - it reduces the number of sidebands with significant amplitude and hence the bandwidth. Increasing modulating frequency increases the frequency separation between sidebands. The frequency modulation bandwidth increases with modulation frequency but it is not directly proportional to it. Frequency modulation bandwidth is of importance as it is with any other form of signal. With band occupancy growing, and pressure on spectrum space, it si necessary to ensure the bandwidth of a frequency modulated signal falls within its specified allowance. Any undue signal spread outside this is likely to cause interference to other users.

BT =

2(

f +

fm)

Normally the bandwidth of a wideband FM signal is limited to the Carson's Rule limit - this reduces interference and does not introduce any undue distortion of the signal. In other words for a VHF FM broadcast station this must be (2 x 75) + 15 kHz, i.e. 175 kHz. In view of this a total of 200 kHz is usually allowed, enabling stations to have a small guard band and their centre frequencies on integral numbers of 100 kHz.