TOPIC 1 INTRODUCTION to COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

Introduction Communication is the act of transmission of information. Every living creature in the world experiences the need to impart or receive information almost continuously with others in the surrounding world. For communication to be successful, it is essential that the sender and the receiver understand a common language. Man has constantly made endeavors to improve the quality of communication with other human beings. Languages and methods used in communication have kept evolving from prehistoric to modern times, to meet the growing demands in terms of speed and complexity of information. It would be worthwhile to look at the major milestones in events that promoted developments in communications.

Elements of a Communication System

Figure 1.1 : Block diagram of communication system The above figure depicts the elements of a communication system. There are three essential parts of any communication system, the transmitter, transmission channel, and receiver. Each part plays a particular role in signal transmission, as follows: The transmitter processes the input signal to produce a suitable transmitted signal suited to the characteristics of the transmission channel. Signal processing for transmissions almost always involves modulation and may also include coding. ii. The transmission channel is the electrical medium that bridges the distance from source to destination. It may be a pair of wires, a coaxial cable, or a radio wave or laser beam. Every channel introduces some amount of transmission loss or attenuation. So, the signal power progressively decreases with increasing distance. iii. The receiver operates on the output signal from the channel in preparation for delivery to the transducer at the destination. Receiver operations include amplification to compensate for transmission loss. These also include demodulation and decoding to reverse the signal procession performed at the transmitter. Filtering is another important function at the receiver. The figure represents one-way or simplex (SX) transmission. Two way communications of course requires a transmitter and receiver at each end. A full-duplex (FDX) system has a channel that allows simultaneous transmission in both directions. A half-duplex (HDX) system allows transmission in either direction but not at the same time. i.

Informations, Messages and Signals Informations Information is an ordered sequence of symbols that record or transmit a message. It can be recorded as signs, or conveyed as signals by waves. Information is any kind of event that affects the state of a dynamic system.

Messages A message is an object of communication. It is a vessel which provides information.

Signals A signal is any time-varying or spatial-varying quantity. Signal is a discrete part of a communication.

Comparison between Baseband and Bandpass Baseband In telecommunications and signal processing, baseband is an adjective that describes signals and systems whose range of frequencies is measured from close to 0 hertz to a cut-off frequency, a maximum bandwidth or highest signal frequency; it is sometimes used as a noun for a band of frequencies starting close to zero. Baseband can often be considered as a synonym to lowpass or non-modulated, and antonym to passband, bandpass, carrier-modulated or radio frequency (RF) signal.

Figure 1.2 : Spectrum of a baseband signal, energy as a function of frequency Bandpass Bandpass refers to a specific range of frequencies requires for transmission of a signal over a appreciable distance for effective communication by applying special modulation techniques for effective transmission of a signal.

Modulation and Demodulation In understanding the concept of modulation and demodulation, student must studying the condition happened by referring to the table below.

Table 1.1 : Modulation and demodulation process

Definition of Modulation Modulation is a process of transmit a lower frequency of information spectrum band to the higher frequency of information spectrum band. Modulation is necessary in order to transmit the information signal.

Figure 1.3 : The frequency spectrum of the information signal

In the other words, modulation is a process of modifying a carrier signal (example:electromagneticwave (emf)) by the information signal by varying one of the parameters (example: - amplitude, frequency or phase) of the carrier signal. Usually the information signal or modulating signal would be in the voice, video, binary data or some other information in the lower audio frequency signal (AF) into the higher radio frequency signal (RF) in order to make the signal suitable for transmission in a long distance.

The two components that have been used when modulation process happened are: i. Information Signal (fm) As known as Intelligence Signal, modulating signal and audio signal or base band signal. ii. Carrier Signal (fc) as known as Carrier frequency There are two types of modulation. The first is an analog modulation and the second is a digital modulation. In analog modulation, the modulation is applied continuously in response to the analog information signal. Common analog modulation techniques are: i. Amplitude modulation (AM). ii. Frequency modulation (FM). iii. Phase modulation (PM In digital modulation, an analog carrier signal is modulated by a discrete signal. Digital modulation methods can be considered as digital-to-analog conversion, and the corresponding demodulation or detection as analog-to-digital conversion. The changes in the carrier signal are chosen from a finite number of M alternative symbols (the modulation alphabet). A device that performs modulation is known as a modulator and a device that performs the inverse operation of modulation is known as a demodulator (sometimes detector or demod). A device that can do both operations is a modem (modulatordemodulator).

Definition of Demodulation Demodulation is the act of extracting the original information-bearing signal from a modulated carrier wave. A demodulator is an electronic circuit (or computer program in a software defined radio) that is used to recover the information content from the modulated carrier wave. These terms are traditionally used in connection with radio receivers, but many other systems use many kinds of demodulators. Another common one is in a modem, which is a contraction of the terms modulator/demodulator.

Techniques There are several ways of demodulation depending on how parameters of the base-band signal are transmitted in the carrier signal, such as amplitude, frequency or phase. For example, for a signal modulated with a linear modulation, like AM (Amplitude Modulated), we can use a synchronous detector. On the other hand, for a signal modulated with an angular modulation, we must use an FM (Frequency Modulation) demodulator or a PM (Phase Modulation) demodulator. Different kinds of circuits perform these functions. Many techniquessuch as carrier recovery, clock recovery, bit slip, frame synchronization, rake receiver, pulse compression, Received Signal Strength Indication, error detection and correction, etc. -- are only performed by demodulators, although any specific demodulator may perform only some or none of these techniques.

The purpose of modulation process. i. An easier transmission because of the size of antenna can reduced. This is happened because the lower frequency can be transmit or sent to the higher frequency and can decrease the antenna size. Example the frequency of transmission FM (88 108MHz) is 1metre. You can calculate to get antenna size. If one information didnt do modulation, imaging the information frequency is 500 Hz and by using this equation v = f, get the answer of , from this answer ,you must divide with 4, this is because in the theory antenna size can effective to received the signal is /4. To reduce the noise and distortion By using wideband like PCM ( The signal has been converting to pulse condition. The information signal has been transmit directly will be produce suddenly distortions. This is because the combination of radio waveform has same with range frequency. Can make frequency division. Where the user can choose the station, because each station has own wideband. Multiplication technique. Allow only one or some signal can transmit with parallel in one difference wideband. The type of multiplexing is frequency division multiplexing (FM) and time division multiplexing (TDM).

ii.

iii. iv.

NOISE In common use, the word noise means any unwanted input signal. In both analog and digital electronics, noise is an unwanted perturbation to a wanted signal.

Figure 1.4 : Block diagram of Communication System

As we have seen, noise is an ever present part of all systems. Any receiver must contend with noise. In analog systems, noise deteriorates the quality of the received signal, e.g. the appearance of snow on the TV screen, or static sounds during an audio transmission. In digital communication systems, noise degrades the throughput because it requires retransmission of data packets or extra coding to recover the data in the presence of errors. In the process of communication, noises arives in various form: i. Corrupted in the transmitter by thermal noise due to the presence of an electronic device. ii. Experiences multiplicative noise in the process of being transmitted from the channel due to turbulance in the air, reflection, refrection, multipath etc. iii. Suffers from additive noise during transmission (passing automobiles, ststic electricity, lightning, power lines, sunspots, etc). iv. Thermal and short noise at the receiver.

Types of Noise Thermal noise JohnsonNyquist noise (sometimes thermal, Johnson or Nyquist noise) is unavoidable, and generated by the random thermal motion of charge carriers (usually electrons), inside an electrical conductor, which happens regardless of any applied voltage. Thermal noise is approximately white, meaning that its power spectral density is nearly equal throughout the frequency spectrum. The amplitude of the signal has very nearly a Gaussian probability density function. A communication system affected by thermal noise is often modeled as an additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel. The root mean square (RMS) voltage due to thermal noise vn, generated in a resistance R (ohms) over bandwidth f (hertz), is given by :

where kB is Boltzmann's constant (joules per kelvin) and T is the resistor's absolute temperature (kelvin). As the amount of thermal noise generated depends upon the temperature of the circuit, very sensitive circuits such as preamplifiers in radio telescopes are sometimes cooled in liquid nitrogen to reduce the noise level.

Shot noise Shot noise in electronic devices consists of unavoidable random statistical fluctuations of the electric current in an electrical conductor. Random fluctuations are inherent when current flows, as the current is a flow of discrete charges (electrons).

Flicker noise Flicker noise, also known as 1/f noise, is a signal or process with a frequency spectrum that falls off steadily into the higher frequencies, with a pink spectrum. It occurs in almost all electronic devices, and results from a variety of effects, though always related to a direct current.

Burst noise Burst noise consists of sudden step-like transitions between two or more levels (non-Gaussian), as high as several hundred microvolts, at random and unpredictable times. Each shift in offset voltage or current lasts for several milliseconds, and the intervals between pulses tend to be in the audio range (less than 100 Hz), leading to the term popcorn noise for the popping or crackling sounds it produces in audio circuits.

Avalanche noise Avalanche noise is the noise produced when a junction diode is operated at the onset of avalanche breakdown, a semiconductor junction phenomenon in which carriers in a high voltage gradient develop sufficient energy to dislodge additional carriers through physical impact, creating ragged current flows.

Interference Interference is the phenomenon in which two waves superpose each other to form a resultant wave of greater or lower amplitude. Interference usually refers to the interaction of waves that are correlated or coherent with each other, either because they come from the same source or because they have the same or nearly the same frequency.

Distortion Distortion, in acoustics and electronics, any change in a signal that alters the basic waveform or the relationship between various frequency components; it is usually a degradation of the signal. Straight amplification or attenuation without alteration of the waveform is not usually considered to be distortion. Amplitude distortion refers to unequal amplification or attenuation of the various frequency components of the signal, and phase distortion refers to changes in the phase relationships between harmonic components of a complex wave. Intermodulation distortion is a result of nonlinearities in the system such that one frequency component tends to modulate another frequency component-e.g., a high audio frequency modulating a low audio frequency. In audio systems, the most noticeable types of distortion are amplitude, frequency, and intermodulation. In video systems, appreciable distortion of any kind may be observed as a degradation of the reproduced image. Noise added to a signal, either purposely or inadvertently, is sometimes referred to as distortion.

All these different noise components degrade the performance of communication system.

Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) Signal-to-noise ratio is defined as the power ratio between a signal (meaningful information) and the background noise (unwanted signal):

where P is average power. Both signal and noise power must be measured at the same or equivalent points in a system, and within the same system bandwidth. If the signal and the noise are measured across the same impedance, then the SNR can be obtained by calculating the square of the amplitude ratio:

where A is root mean square (RMS) amplitude (for example, RMS voltage). Because many signals have a very wide dynamic range, SNRs are often expressed using the logarithmic decibel scale.

In decibels, the SNR is defined as :

which may equivalently be written using amplitude ratios as :

The concepts of signal-to-noise ratio and dynamic range are closely related. Dynamic range measures the ratio between the strongest un-distorted signal on a channel and the minimum discernable signal, which for most purposes is the noise level. SNR measures the ratio between an arbitrary signal level (not necessarily the most powerful signal possible) and noise. Measuring signal-to-noise ratios requires the selection of a representative or reference signal. In audio engineering, the reference signal is usually a sine wave at a standardized nominal or alignment level, such as 1 kHz at +4 dBu (1.228 VRMS). SNR is usually taken to indicate an average signal-to-noise ratio, as it is possible that (near) instantaneous signal-to-noise ratios will be considerably different. The concept can be understood as normalizing the noise level to 1 (0 dB) and measuring how far the signal 'stands out'.

Noise Factor, F The noise factor, at a specified input frequency, is defined as the ratio of the total noise power per unit bandwidth available at the output port when noise temperature of the input termination is standard (290 K) to that portion of engendered at the input frequency by the input termination.
F= Available output noise power Available output noise due to source

Noise Figure, NF Noise figure (NF) is a measure of degradation of the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), caused by components in a radio frequency (RF) signal chain. The noise figure is defined as the ratio of the output noise power of a device to the portion thereof attributable to thermal noise in the input termination at standard noise temperature T0 (usually 290 K). The noise figure is thus the ratio of actual output noise to that which would remain if the device itself did not introduce noise. It is a number by which the performance of a radio receiver can be specified.
NF = 10 log( F )

Frequency Spectrum The frequency spectrum of a time-domain signal is a representation of that signal in the frequency domain. The frequency spectrum can be generated via a Fourier transform of the signal, and the resulting values are usually presented as amplitude and phase, both plotted versus frequency.[1] Any signal that can be represented as an amplitude that varies with time has a corresponding frequency spectrum. This includes familiar concepts such as visible light (color), musical notes, radio/TV channels, and even the regular rotation of the earth. When these physical phenomena are represented in the form of a frequency spectrum, certain physical descriptions of their internal processes become much simpler. Often, the frequency spectrum clearly shows harmonics, visible as distinct spikes or lines, that provide insight into the mechanisms that generate the entire signal.

Figure 1.5 : Spectrum frequency

How can we convert between the two? As with any moving waves, the frequency and wavelength are simply related by the velocity of motion : Velocity (c) = frequency (f) x wavelength () And where we have EM radiation propagating through free space or a vacuum, its velocity is well known. It.s the so-called speed of light, usually labelled c: c = 299,793,000 +/-300 metres/second (m/s)

To convert from frequency (f) to wavelength () and vice versa, recall that : f = c/ , or = c/f; where c = speed of light.

Some quick rules of thumb follow: Metric: Wavelength in cm = 30 / frequency in GHz For example: at 10 GHz, the wavelength = 30/10 = 3 cm English: Wavelength in ft = 1 / frequency in GHz For example: at 10 GHz, the wavelength = 1/10 = 0.1 ft

Figure 1.6 : Band of frequency

Various Types of Communication System Communication network equipment for intelligent transportation systems can be divided into two different categories: analog and digital. Analog technology conveys data as electronic signals of varying frequency or amplitude that are added to carrier waves of a given frequency. Broadcast and phone transmission has conventionally used analog technology. Digital describes electronic technology that generates, stores, and processes data in terms of two states: positive and non-positive. Positive is expressed or represented by the number 1 and non-positive by the number 0. Thus, data transmitted or stored with digital technology is expressed as a string of 0's and 1's. Each of these state digits is referred to as a binary digit, or bit in short. A string of bits that a computer can address individually as a group is a byte. Within each of these categories are Voice typically radio communications, but can include PBX telephone type systems between centers, Data - elements from system detector stations, ramp meters, dynamic trailblazer assemblies, and variable message signs, which do not require large bandwidth (i.e., small packages of data). Video - elements require transmission of full-motion video for incident verification and traffic surveillance, such as closed-circuit television cameras or local agency video (large bandwidth/transmission requirements). The majority of ITS equipment requires data or video transmission requirements.