Chapter Two

Amplitude Modulation
Learning Outcomes
At the end of this chapter, student should be able to :
Understand the concepts modulation and its applications in
communication transmission
Sketch waveforms and frequency spectrums of various types of
analogue modulated signals and analyze the effects of various
modulation indexes on the modulated signals
Determine total and sideband power, voltage, bandwidth and
signal-to-noise ratio in AM systems.


Modulation of analog Signals
Representation of analog information by an analog signal
Analog to analog modulation can be accomplished in three
ways:
Amplitude Modulation
Frequency Modulation
Phase Modulation
Amplitude Modulation
Process of changing / varying the amplitude of a relatively
high frequency carrier signal in proportion with the
instantaneous value of the modulating signal.
AM is a relatively inexpensive, low-quality form of modulation
that is used for commercial broadcasting of both audio and
video signals.
Linear addition of the two sine waves
To produce a usable AM signal is to combine the carrier and
intelligence through a nonlinear device and can be proven by
mathematics operation with these following components:
I. A dc level
II. Components at each of the two original frequencies
III. Components at the sum and difference frequencies of the
two original frequencies
IV. Harmonics of the two original frequencies

AM(cont.)
Mathematical analysis of this process as below;

AM(cont.)
Non-linear mixing
Types of AM
1) Double sideband full carrier (DSBFC)
- Contains USB, LSB and Carrier

2) Double sideband suppressed carrier (DSBSC)
- Contains only USB & LSB
- A circuit that produces DSBSC is Balanced
modulator

3) Single sideband (SSB)
- Contains either LSB or USB
- Produce efficient system in term or
power consumption and bandwidth

AM Modulator
AM modulator are nonlinear devices with two
inputs and one output
One input is a single, high frequency carrier
signal of constant amplitude
Second input is comprised of relatively low-
frequency information signals that may be a
single freq or complex waveform made up of
many freq
Produces the sum and difference products of
carrier and the modulation frequencies
Cont..
Nonlinear devices produce output signal that are
not proportion to their input
Combining two freq through nonlinear devices
produces a mixing action, resulting in harmonics
as well as sum and difference frequencies of the
original signal

AM MODULATOR
Modulated wave
Modulating signal
carrier
Analysis of AM Wave
A carrier frequency, , has been amplitude modulated
with a sine wave,
The AM waveform reaches maximum value when the
modulating signal amplitude is at maximum value.
The AM waveform reaches minimum value when the
modulating signal amplitude is at maximum negative.
The repetition rate of the envelope is equal to the
frequency of the modulating signal, and the shape of
the envelope is identical to the shape of the
modulating signal.


c
e
m
e
AM waveform under varying intelligence signal conditions
cont
The instantaneous voltage, e
m
, of the sine wave used to
modulate the carrier frequency is given by:


Where and V
m
= peak amplitude of modulating
signal

The instantaneous voltage, e
c
, of the carrier frequency is
given by

Where and V
c
= peak amplitude of carrier signal


t V e
m m m
e cos =
t V e
c c c
e cos =
m m
f t e 2 =
f
c
t e 2 =
Cont
] cos 1 [ cos ) (
] cos 1 [ cos ) (
cos ] cos [ ) (
cos )] ( [ ) (
t m t V t e
t
V
V
t V t e
t t V V t e
t t e V t e
m a c c AM
m
c
m
c c AM
c m m c AM
c m c AM
e e
e e
e e
e
+ =
+ =
+ =
+ =
Therefore:
1
2
3
4
Cont
Equation is called the general AM equation where M
a
is called
the modulation index
M
a
= V
m
/ V
c
and having a value of 0<m
a
<1
By substituting trigonometric identities into equation 4:


t
V m
t
V m
t V t e
m c
c a
m c
c a
c c AM
) cos(
2
) cos(
2
cos ) ( e e e e e + + + = 5
Modulation by a band of intelligence frequencies
Parameter of AM signal
1) Carrier Frequency
For proper operation of the AM circuits, the carrier frequency must
be at least 50 times greater than the highest frequency contained
in the modulating signal


(max)
50
m c
f f >
6
Parameter of AM signal
2)Modulation Index, m
a

Indicates the amount that the carrier signal is
modulated
It is an expression of the amount of power in the
sidebands, the information content
Modulation levels normally ranges from 0% to 100%
where 0% is when there is no modulation and 100% is
a full modulation
It is the ratio of the peak amplitude of modulation
voltage to the peak amplitude of the carrier voltage

AM waveform
Cont
c m
V V V + =
max
Thus;

From previous figure ,


Equation 7 + 8;

Equation 7 8;

By dividing 10 / 9;



c
m
a
V
V
m =
m c
V V V =
min
c
V V V 2
min max
= +
m
V V V 2
min max
=
min max
min max
V V
V V
m
V
V
a
c
m
+

= =
7
8
9
10
11
Percentage Modulation
Increasing intelligence amplitude will cause a condition known as
over-modulation to occur.
Thus modulated carrier will go to more than double its un-
modulated value but will fall to zero for an interval of time will
cause a gap.
This will cause interference and a loud splattering sound to be
heard at the receiver.
Effect of Over Modulation
Cont
Note that the peak value terms, mV
c
/2, of the LSB and USB are equal.
Thus:


When all three frequency components are in phase, they add
together linearly and form the maximum signal amplitude, V
max
;


V
max
is also equal to the sum of V
c
and V
m
, that is


Thus;


USB LSB
c
V V
mV
= =
2
USB LSB C
V V V V + + =
max
m c
V V V + =
max
USB LSB m
V V V + =
14
15
16
17
Parameter of AM signal
3) AM sidebands
Sideband is a component above and below the centre
frequency.
In AM signal, a sideband freq is a freq above and
below the carrier frequency, f
c
, by an amount of f
m

Lower sideband freq = freq below the carrier freq
= f
c
-

f
m
Upper sideband freq = freq above the carrier freq
= f
c
+

f
m


12
13
Example
AM DBSFC Modulator with a carrier frequency, fc = 100
kHz and maximum modulating signal frequency, fm of 10
kHz, determine the following :

a. LSB & USB
b. Bandwidth
c. Upper and Lower side frequencies if the modulating
signal is a single frequency of 5kHz.
d. Draw the output frequency spectrum

Solution:
Frequency
Lower side band Upper side band Carrier
f
c
-f
m(max
f
c
+
m(max

f
c

f
LSF

f
USF

100kHz 95kHz 105kHz 90kHz 110kHz
Parameter of AM signal
4)Frequency Spectrum and bandwidth
Freq spectrum is a plot of amplitude versus frequency.
Figure before shows the AM frequency spectrum
Bandwidth for the AM signal;
B = (f
c
+ f
m
) - (f
c
f
m
)
B = 2f
m

Cont
If f consists of a range of frequencies f
1
to f
2
, the components
of sideband :
USB = (f
c
+ f
1
) to (f
c
+ f
2
)
LSB = (f
c
f
2
) to (f
c
f
1
)
Bandwidth for this case;
B = (f
c
+ f
2
) - (f
c
f
2
)
B = 2f
2

Parameter of AM signal
5) Power content in AM
The total effective (rms) power in the AM wave is the sum of the
effective carrier power level, and the effective sideband power
levels

Cont
( ) ( ) ( )
R
V
R
V
R
V
P
R
V
R
V
R
V
P
R
V
R
V
R
V
P
P P P P
USB LSB C
T
USB LSB C
T
rms
USB
LSB C
T
USB LSB C T
rms rms
2 2 2
707 . 0 707 . 0 707 . 0
2 2 2
2 2 2
2
2 2
+ + =
+ + =
+ + =
+ + =
Cont
Since the power of sideband is equal, the 2
nd
and 3
rd
terms are
equal
4 8
2
707 . 0
2 2 2
2
c c
USB LSB
c
USB LSB
P m
R
V m
P P
R
mV
P P
= = =
(
(

|
.
|

\
|
= =
Cont
Therefore;
( )
2
2
2 2
2
1
2
4 4
m
C T
C
C T
C C
C T
USB LSB C T
P P
P m
P P
P m P m
P P
P P P P
+ =
+ =
+ + =
+ + =
Efficiency of AM
signal,
SB C
SB
P P
P
+
= q
Adv & Disadv
Advantages:
Simply with proven
reliability
Low cost
Disadvantages:
Wastage of power as most of the
transmitted power are in the
carrier component which does
not contain information. 2/3
power is wasted when m=1
AM requires a BW which is
double to audio frequency
noisy
AM TX TECHNIQUES
1) DSBSC
Its a technique where it is transmitting both the sidebands
without the carrier
The carrier being suppressed
Power as in standard AM
Bandwidth as in standard AM
2/3 of the total power in AM wave is carrier
Disadvantages: i) receiver is complex and expensive where it
requires the re-insertion of the carrier at the receiving end. Ii)
Less information about the carrier will be delivered to the
receiver.


Cont
2) SSBSC
DSBFC & DSBSC waste a lot of power and occupy large
bandwidth
The USB and LSB components in the AM signal are essentially
mirror images.
Contain same information, have identical power level and
displaced by the carrier with the same freq.
Cont
By further suppressing one of the sidebands an additional 50%
of the power is saved
Thus for 100% modulation, an overall power saving of at least
83% is realized.
Suppressing the carrier freq and one of the sidebands is
referred to as SSBSC
SSB is not only power efficient, it is also bandwidth efficient.
Cont
SSB Applications:
Used in the systems which require minimum bandwidth such as
telephone multiplex system
Point to point communications at frequency below 30 Mhz ex;
amateur radio, military & navigation radio; where power saving is
needed
Cont.
3)Vestigal Sideband
An intermediate AM technique between SSBSC and DSBFC is
called vestigial sideband.
Used in the commercial television industry for transmission
and reception of television video signals.
In VSB, a portion of the lower sidebands is transmitted along
with the full carrier power and upper-sideband content.
Cont
This ensures that the USB, including the video carrier is
transmitted entirely
A video signal consists a range of frequencies and the max
freq is 4.5MHz.
Required BW is 9.0MHz.
According to standardization, TV signal is limited to 6 MHz
only.
A part of LSB is not transmitted
Comparison of various AM systems

1. Receiver end
For the receiver, a standard (conventional) AM (large carrier)
system has advantage of simple and inexpensive envelope
detectors. Therefore, the standard AM system is preferably used
in public communication systems where a transmitter is
associated with a large number of receivers. The receivers of
suppressed carrier system are complex and costly as they need
additional synchronizing circuits.

2. Transmitter end
The suppressed carrier system need low power transmitters as
they transmit only sideband power and no carrier power is
transmitted. The low power transmitters used in suppressed
carrier systems are less expensive than the large power AM
transmitters. Suppressed carrier system are useful in point to
point communication where we need many transmitters but only
few receivers per transmitter.
Cont.
3. Generation of modulated signals
SSB-SC is more difficult to generate than DSB-SC.

4. Bandwidth
SSB-SC system is most advantageous from bandwidth point of view, it
has the message bandwidth. SSBSC is used in long-range high-
frequency communications, especially in audio communication, where
phase-distortion is not significant. Both the DSB-SC and standard AM
systems have twice message bandwidth.

5. Transmission efficiency
Efficiency of a suppressed carrier system is 100%, whereas, in a
standard AM system, the maximum efficiency is only 33.3%,
corresponding to m = 1.
AM Modulator
Modulation circuit designs can be broadly divided into low and high
level. It is determined from the location where modulation occurs in
transmitter.
The Low-Level AM Modulator
Low-level modulators generate AM with small signals and must be
amplified before transmission
Intelligence superimposed on the carrier, then the modulated
waveform is amplified before reaching the antenna
It is also called as Emitter Modulator.
The High-Level AM Modulator
High-level modulators produce AM at high power levels, usually in
the final amplifier stage of a transmitter.
Intelligence superimposed on the carrier at the last point before
the antenna
A Class C Amplifier which is also called Collector Modulator
because a modulating signal is applied directly to the Modulator.
Low-Level AM Modulator
Advantages
Less modulating signal power is required to achieve
high percentage of modulation
The advantage of using a linear RF amplifier is that the
smaller early stages can be modulated, which only
requires a small audio amplifier to drive the
modulator.
Disadvantages
The great disadvantage of this system is that the
amplifier chain is less efficient, because it has to be
linear to preserve the modulation.
Transistor Modulator
Circuit Operation
Low-Level AM: Transistor Modulator
Transistor modulation consists of a resistive mixing
network, a transistor, and an LC tuned circuit.
The emitter-base junction of the transistor serves as a
diode and nonlinear device.
Modulation and amplification occur as base current
controls a larger collector current.
The LC tuned circuit oscillates (rings) to generate the
missing half cycle.


High-Level AM Modulator
Advantages
One advantage of using class C amplifiers in a broadcast
AM transmitter is that only the final stage needs to be
modulated, and that all the earlier stages can be driven
at a constant level.
These class C stages will be able to generate the drive
for the final stage for a smaller DC power input.

Disadvantages
A large audio amplifier will be needed for the
modulation stage, at least equal to the power of the
transmitter output itself.
Traditionally the modulation is applied using an audio
transformer, and this can be bulky.

Collector modulator
Circuit Operation
The collector modulator is a linear power amplifier that takes the
low-level modulating signals and amplifies them to a high-power
level.
A modulating output signal is coupled through a modulation
transformer to a class C amplifier.
The secondary winding of the modulation transformer is
connected in series with the collector supply voltage of the class C
amplifier.
Cont
The choice between high and low level system is
made base on the required power output
High level modulation requires larger intelligence
power to produce modulation but allow extremely
efficient amplification of high powered carrier
Low level allow low power intelligence signal to be
used, but all subsequent output stages must use less
efficient linear configurations.
Low level systems usually offer the most economical
approach for low power transmitter.
AM transmitter system
The oscillator generates the carrier signal and maintain the
high accuracy
The buffer amplifier provides a high impedance load for the
oscillator to minimize drift
The intelligence amplifier receive its signal from the input
transducer (microphone) and contains whatever stages of
intelligence amplification are required except for the last one.
At modulator, the output is mixed in the following stage with
the carrier to generate AM signal



Cont.
AM Transmitters
Modulating
signal
source
RF carrier
oscillator
Preamplifier
Buffer
amplifier
Bandpass
filter
Modulating
signal driver
amplifier
Carrier
driver
AM
modulator
and output
power
amplifier
Linear
intermediate
power
amplifier
Bandpass
filter
Antenna
Linear final
power
amplifier
Low level
AM Transmitters
Modulating
signal
source
RF carrier
oscillator
Preamplifier
Buffer
amplifier
Bandpass
filter
Modulating
signal driver
amplifier
Carrier
driver
AM
modulator
and output
power
amplifier
Carrier
power
amplifier
Matching
network
Modulating
signal power
amplifier
Bandpass
filter
Antenna
High level
AM Demodulation
Reverse process of AM modulation
Converts a received amplitude modulated wave
back to the original source information
Receiver must be capable of receiving,
amplifying and demodulate AM wave and also
bandlimiting the total radio frequency spectrum
to a specific desired band of frequencies
AM receiver Block Diagram
RF
section
Bandpass
Filter
Mixer/
converter
section
Bandpass
filter
IF section
Bandpass
filter
AM
detector
Bandpass
filter
Audio
section
Cont
The RF section is the first stage of the receiver and is therefore
often called the receiver front end. Function: detecting,
bandlimiting and amplifying the received RF signals
The mixer/converter section is the next stage- down converts
the received RF frequencies to intermediate freq freq that fall
between RF and information freq
Function of IF section are amplification and selectivity
The AM detector demodulates the AM wave & converts it to
the original information signal
Audio section simply amplify the recovered information

AM Receiver
Tuned Radio Frequency receiver
Earliest types of AM receiver
These receiver generally had three stages which include
an RF stage, a detector stage, an audio stage
Two or three RF amplifiers are required to filter and
amplify the received signal to a level sufficient to drive
the detector stage
The detector converts RF signals directly to information
The audio stage amplifies the information signals to a
usable level.


Simple radio receiver block
diagram
Receiver parameters
Selectivity: measure the ability of receiver to accept a given
band of frequencies and reject others
Bandwidth improvement: reducing bandwidth in receiver is
needed in order to reduce noise
Sensitivity: threshold value-minimum RF signal that can be
detected by the receiver
Fidelity: a measure of the ability of a communication system
to produce output signal that is a replica of the original
source information
Dynamic range input power range over which the receiver
is useful
Insertion Loss (IL) is a parameter associated with the
frequencies that fall within the passband of a filter and is
generally defined as the ratio of the power transferred to a
load with a filter in the circuit to the power transferred to a
load without the filter
Noncoherent Tuned Radio-Frequency Receiver
Audio
detector
Audio
amplifier
RF
amp.
RF
amp.
RF
amp.
Antenna
coupling
network
AM: 535 1605 kHz
Channel BW = 10 kHz
Difficult to tune

Nonuniform selectivity
AM demodulator
It is a circuit that accepts a modulated signal and recovers the original
modulating signal
It is a key circuit in receiver and also called as detector
The widely used AM demodulator is Diode Detector, by means of a diode
rectifier which may be either a vacuum tube or semiconductor diode
The demodulator must meet three requirements:
i. It must be sensitive to the type of modulation applied at the input
ii. It must be nonlinear
iii. It must be provide filtering
AM waveform contains only three RF frequencies : carrier, sum and
difference frequency
The modulating signal is contained in the difference between these
frequencies
The vector addition of these frequencies provides the modulating envelope
which approximates the original modulating waveform
Thus it is this modulation envelope that the Diode detectors use to
reproduce the original modulating frequencies.
Demodulation is defined as a downward frequency translation
in order to recover the message from the modulated wave.
Frequency translation is used to shift a modulated signal to a
lower frequency
Two broad categories of demodulator :
i) Synchronous detectors
ii) Envelope detector/diode detector - it is much simpler than
synchronous detector because the envelope of an AM wave
has the same shape as the message, independent of carrier
frequency and phase, demodulation can be accomplished
by extracting the envelope with no worries about
synchronization.

AM detection
Cont.
It is a circuit that accepts a modulated signal and recovers
the original modulating signal.

It is a key circuit in Receiver and also called as DETECTOR.

The widely used AM Demodulator is DIODE DETECTOR, by
means of a diode rectifier, which may be either a vacuum
tube or a semiconductor diode.

The demodulator must meet three requirements:
It must be sensitive to the type of modulation applied at
the input,
it must be nonlinear
it must provide filtering.



Cont.
Remember that the AM waveform contains only three RF
frequencies: the carrier frequency, the sum frequency, and
the difference frequency.

The modulating signal is contained in the difference
between these frequencies.

The vector addition of these frequencies provides the
modulation envelope which approximates the original
modulating waveform.

Thus it is this modulation envelope that the DIODE
DETECTORS use to reproduce the original modulating
frequencies.
Diode detector
Cont.
Diode rectifier
Diode detector is the simplest and most effective types of detectors
The modulated carrier is introduced into the tuned circuit (LC1)
Since the diode conduct only during half cycle, this circuit removes
al the negative half cycles and gives result as (d)
The average output as shown in (e)
The low pass filter (R and C2) removes the RF (carrier frequency)
C2 charges rapidly to the peak voltage through the small resistance
of the conducting diode, but discharges slowly through the high
resistance
The resultant with C2 is a varying voltage that follows the peak
variation of the modulated carrier (envelope detector)
Dc component is removed by C3 and producing AC voltage
waveshape.


Cont.
Advantages;
I. It can handle relatively high power signals. There is no
practical limit to the amplitude of the input signal
II. Distortion levels are acceptable for most AM applications.
Distortion decrease as the amplitude increase
III. It highly efficient.
IV. It develop a readily usable dc voltage for the automatic gain
control circuits.
Disadvantages:
I. Power is absorbed from the tuned circuit by the diode
circuit. This reduces the quality (Q) and selectivity of the
tuned input circuit.
II. No amplification occurs in a diode detector circuit.
Cont.
Sometimes called product or heterodyne detectors
Advantages;
i. Low distortion under 1%
ii. Greater ability to follow fast-modulation waveforms, as in
pulse modulation or high-fidelity applications
iii. The ability to provide gain instead of attenuation as in diode
detectors

Synchronous Detector
Heterodyne
To heterodyne means to mix to frequencies
together so as to produce a beat frequency,
namely the difference between the two.
Amplitude modulation is a heterodyne process:
the information signal is mixed with the carrier to
produce the side-bands.
The side-bands occur at precisely the sum and
difference frequencies of the carrier and
information.
These are beat frequencies (normally the beat
frequency is associated with the lower side-band,
the difference between the two).
Superheterodyne Receiver
When the lower side-band has been used(the
difference between the two frequencies), there is
superheterodyning.
the term superheterodyne refers to create a beat
frequency that is lower than the original signal.
What superheterodying does is to purposely mix
in another frequency in the receiver, so as to
reduce the signal frequency prior to processing.

Superheterodyne Receiver
Preselector
RF
amplifier
Mixer
Bandpass
filter
IF
amplifier
Audio
detector
Audio
amplifier
oscillator
RF-section
IF-section
Fixed BPF at lower frequencies than RF
AM superheterodyne receiver and waveforms.
RF Section
Function : detecting, bandlimiting and amplifying the receive RF
signals

Preselector
Broad-tuned bandpass filter with adjustable center frequency
that is tuned to the desired frequency
Provide enough initial bandlimiting to prevent unwanted radio
frequency (image frequency)
Reduce noise bandwidth of the receiver and initial step to
reducing the whole bandwidth
RF amplifier
Determine the sensitivity of the receiver
Advantages:
Greater gain, thus better sensitivity
Improved image-frequency rejection
Better signal to noise ratio
Better selectivity

Mixer section
Accepts 2 inputs, the output of RF amplifier and a steady sine
wave from the local oscillator (LO)
Include a radio frequency oscillator
The mixer stage is a non-linear device and its purpose is to
convert radio frequencies to intermediate freq ( RF to IF
frequency translation)
Its function is to mix AM signal with a sine wave to generate a
new set of sum and difference frequencies.
IF- frequency that fall between RF and information frequency
RF-to-IF conversion
Preselector
535 - 565 kHz
Mixer
IF filter
450 460 kHz
Oscillator
1005 kHz
Receiver RF input (535 1605 kHz)
565 kHz 535 545 555
470 kHz 440 450 460
450 460 kHz
IF Filter output
high-side
injection
(f
LO
> f
RF
)
lo RF IF
f f f = +
550
445
540 560
455 465
455
Channel 1 Channel 2 Channel 3
Channel 1
Channel 2
Channel 3
Channel 2
IF section
Consists of a series of IF amplifiers and bandpass filters
The IF center freq and BW are constant for all stations and are
chosen so that their freq is less than any of the RF signals to
be received
It provides the bulk of radio frequency signal amplification at a
fixed frequency.
This allows for a constant BW over the entire band of the
receiver and is the key to superior selectivity of
superheterodyne receiver.
Function: amplification and selectivity
Since IF is lower than RF, voltage gain of the signal is easily
attained at IF frequency.
Detector section
Audio detector- the information are audio freq
Convert the IF signal back to the original source information


Audio amplifier section
Comprise several cascaded audio amplifiers and one or more
speakers.
The number of amplifiers used depends on the audio signal
power desired.
Frequency Modulation (FM)
Introduction
is the process of varying the frequency of a carrier wave in
proportion to a modulating signal
the important features about FM waveforms are:-
the frequency varies
the rate of change of f
c
changes is the same as the f
m

the amount of f
c
changes is proportional to the amplitude of the
information signal
the amplitude is constant

Frequency Modulation (FM)
FM
Modulator
Carrier Signal
Information Signal
FM Signal
Frequency Modulated Signal
Frequency Modulation (FM)
Frequency Modulation (FM)
Analysis of FM

The instantaneous frequency
of the FM wave:
e = e
c
+ kv
m
(t)
e = e
c
+ kV
m
cos e
m
(t);
k is constant or
f = f
c
+ k V
m
/2t cos e
m
(t)
= f
c
+ Af cos e
m
(t);
f
c
= carrier frequency
Af = kV
m
/2t; Af is frequency
deviation
Af = k
f
V
m
; k
f
is frequency deviation
constant or deviation sensitivity,
Hz/V





m c
m m m
c c c
where
t V t v
t V t v
e e
e
e
))
=
=
) ( cos ) ( Signal n Informatio
) ( cos ) ( Signal Carrier
Frequency Modulation (FM)
The wave equation of the FM is:
u
FM
(t) = V
c
cos u

( ) t m t V t V
or
t
kV
t V t v
m f c c FM
m
m
m
c c FM
e e
e
e
e
sin cos ) (
sin cos ) (
+ =
|
|
.
|

\
|
+ =
where m
f
= kV
m
/ e
m
= k V
m
/2tf
m
and called FM modulation index
As k V
m
/2t = Af, m
f
=Af/f
m
; f
m
= modulating frequency
FM modulation index, m
f
= Af/f
m

Frequency Modulation (FM)
Frequency Deviation, Af
represents the maximum change of the instantaneous frequency of
the Fm signal from the carrier frequency, f
c
.
frequency deviation, Af is proportional to the amplitude of the
modulating signal, V
m
and is independent of the modulating
frequency.

Af = kV
m
/ 2 t
or Af o V
m

Frequency Modulation (FM)
The highest frequency for FM wave is :
f
max
= f
c
+ Af
The minimum frequency is :
f
min
= f
c
- Af
The total change of the frequency from minimum frequency
to the maximum frequency is called carrier swing, where :-
Carrier Swing, f
cs
= f
max
f
min

= (f
c
+ Af) (f
c
- Af)
= 2 Af


Frequency Modulation (FM)
modulation index determines the extent and the rate of
modulation. The modulation index, m
f
is defined as :-



m
f
f A
= =
frequency modulating
deviation frequency maximum
m
f
Frequency Modulation (FM)
FM frequency spectrum
- The FM modulated signal is

=
=
+ =
=
+ =
even n
m n m
even n
m n o m
m f c m f c c
m f c c FM
t n J t
t n J J t
t m t t m t V
t m t V t V
) ( sin 2 ] sin sin[m
) ( cos 2 ] sin cos[m
]) sin [ sin sin ] sin cos[ (cos
) sin cos( ) (
f
f
e e
e e
e e e e
e e
Cont.
By using mathematical expressions,









Where J
n
is a Bessel Function from first type, nth order
J
0
=amplitude of the carrier
J
n
=amplitude of the sidebands
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |

+ + +
+ +
+ + +
+ + +
=
)
`

+ +
+ + +
=
..... ) 4 cos( ) 4 cos(
) 3 cos( ) 3 cos(
) 2 cos( ) 2 cos(
) cos( ) cos( cos
...... 3 sin sin sin
.... 4 cos 2 cos cos
) (
5 4
3
2
1 0
5 3 1
4 2
J t t J
t t J
t t J
t t J t J
V
J t J t J t
t J t J J t
V t V
m c m c
m c m c
m c m c
m c m c c
c
m m c
m m o c
c Fm
e e e e
e e e e
e e e e
e e e e e
e e e
e e e
Cont.
An important characteristic of Bessel Function is,


J
(-n)
=(-1)
n
J
n

Actual amplitude for the sideband = J
n
xV
c

Relative amplitude for the sideband= J
n



= = power) ( V or 1
2
2 2
c
2
o
c n n
V J J
FM frequency spectrum
J
o

J
1
J
1

J
2
J
2

J
3
J
3

J
4

J
4

n
J
f(Hz)
f
c
f
c
+f
m
f
c
-f
m
f
c
+2f
m
f
c
-2f
m
f
c
-3f
m
f
c
-4f
m
f
c
+3f
m
f
c
+4f
m

Frequency spectrum for FM
From bessel table between m
f
= 2 and m
f
=2.5, the carrier
goes from a plus to minus
The minus sign indicates a phase reversal but when m
f
= 2.4,
the carrier component has zero amplitude and all the energy
is contained in the side frequencies same as when m
f
=5.5.
At the point where the carrier amplitude goes zero, the
modulation index is determined based on the number of
sidebands displayed.
Zero carrier amplitude
FM bandwidth
Bandwidth using Bessel Function table



Bandwidth using Carsons Rule

signal modulating the frequency the f
sideband t significan the of pairs of number the is - n where
2
m

=
m Fm
nf BW
| |
frequency signal modulating highest f
deviation frequency peak
2
m(max)
(max)
=
= A
+ A =
f
f f BW
m
Power in FM
In FM the amplitude of the modulated signal is the
same as the amplitude of the unmodulated carrier
signal



But the power in the carrier is distributed over the
various FM sidebands that result form the
modulation
c FM
c rms
FM
P P
R
V
R
V
P
=
= =
2 2
2
2
Power in FM
The total modulates wave power is







The average power of the modulated carrier (P
T
) must be
equal to the average power of the unmodulated carrier.

R
V
R
V
R
V
R
V
P P P P P P
J J P P
n o
n o T
n
n
n o c T
2
) ( 2
...
2
) ( 2
2
) ( 2
2
.....
2
2 2
2
2
1
2
3 2 1
1
2 2
+ + + + =
+ + + + =
(

+ =

=
Narrow band FM (NBFM)
Modulation index approximates to 1
Af is between 5kHz to 10KHz
BW 10-30KHz
F
m(max)
= 3kHz
Use for communication (eg.taxicabs, ambulance, ship to shore
services). These applications are often voice transmission
Wideband FM(WBFM)
F
m
range from 30Hz to 15kHz
Af is between 75KHz
Modulation index is more than 1 (btwn 5 to 2500)
BW is approximately 15 times higher than NBFM
system
Used for broadcasting with or without stereo
multiplex and for the sound accompanying TV
transmission.
Advantages of FM compared to
AM
All the transmitted power is useful
Possible to reduce noise by increasing frequency deviation
Provide greater protection from noise for the lowest modulating
frequency.
Operate in the upper VHF and UHF frequency ranges which less
effect on noise.
Guard bands are provided between adjacent channel to avoid or
reduce channel interference
The use of pre-emphasis and de-emphasis in FM will reduce the
effect of noise
Because of constant amplitude, FM can improve immunity to noise
and interference.


Disadvantages of FM compared
to AM
Since reception is limited to line of sight, the area of reception for
FM is much smaller than AM
Equipments for the transmitter and receiver are more expensive
and complex
A much wider bandwidth is required by FM, up to 10 times larger
than needed by AM.
FM and AM noise comparison
The spikes of external noise picked up during transmission are
clipped off by a limiter circuit and/or through the use detector
circuits that are insensitive to amplitude changes.
Phase Modulation (PM)
Is defined the phase of carrier signal is varied by the
information signal.
The amplitude of the carrier is kept constant.
The phase is varied so that its magnitude is
proportional to amplitude of modulating signal
The maximum frequency deviation occurs during the
zero crossings of the modulating signal.
Thus Af is proportional to the slope or first derivative
of the modulating signal.
PM equation
) cos cos( ) ( v
) cos cos( ) ( v
give
cos
) ( v
where
) cos( ) (
) ( cos ) (
) ( cos ) (
pm
pm
m
t m t V t
then
m kV
where
t kV t V t
t kV
t
t V t v
t V t v
t V t v
m p c c
p m
m m c c
m m
c c pm
m m m
c c c
e e
|
e e
e
o |
| e
e
e
+ =
= A =
+ =
=
+ =
=
=
V
c
(t)
V
m
(t)
V
pm
(t)
t
t
t
Noise immunity the limiters removes Am noise from the
received signal before the final demodulation process occurs
and cannot be used with AM receiver because removing the
noise would also remove the information
Noise performance and signal-to-noise improvement with
the use of limiters, FM and PM can reduce the noise level and
improve the signal-to-noise ratio
Capture effect allows receiver to differentiate between two
signals received with the same frequency
Power utilization and efficiency the total power remains
constant regardless if modulation is present and power is
taken from carrier with modulation and redistributed in the
sidebands means most of its power in the information.

Advantages of FM and PM
Bandwidth produces many side frequencies thus need much
wider bandwith
Circuit complexity and cost modulators, demodulators,
transmitter and receivers are more complex to design and
build than their AM counterparts and if more complex more
expensive.
Disadvantages of FM and PM
Comparison between PM and FM
PM FM
-modulation index
m
p
=A|=kV
m

- The phase deviation is
proportional to the amplitude
of the modulating signal.
-when f
m
is changed the PM
modulation index will remain
constant.
-m
f
= A/f
m

-frequency deviation is
proportional to the amplitude
of the modulating signal
- When f
m
is changed, F
m

modulation index will change

The FM minimizes the effects of noise interference.
This can be effective when interference is weak compared to
FM signal.
But if the interference is stronger than FM signal, then FM
receiver locks to interference. This suppresses FM signal.
When noise interference as well as FM signal are of equal
strength, then the FM receiver locking fluctuates between
them.
This phenomenon is called capture effect.


Capture Effect
As the carrier to noise ratio is reduced, clicks are heard in the
receiver output.
As the carrier to noise ratio reduces further, cracking or
sputtering sound appears at the receiver output.
Near the breaking point the theoretically calculated output
signal to noise ratio becomes large, but its actual value is very
small. This phenomenon is called threshold effect.
Threshold means the minimum carrier to noise ratio yielding
an FM improvement which is not significantly deteriorated
from the value predicted by the usual signal to noise formula
assuming small noise.
FM threshold effect
Three criteria must be satisfied before FM thresholding can
occure:
I. The predetection singal-to-noise ratio must be 10dB or
greater
II. The IF signal must be sufficently amplified to overdrive the
limiter
III. The signal must have a modulation index equal to or greater
than unity (m>1)

Cont. (FM threshold effect)
Higher modulating frequency has a lower SNR than the lower
frequency.
To compensate for this, the high frequency modulating signals
are emphasized or boosted in amplitude in the transmitter
prior to performing modulation.
To compensate for this boost, the high frequency signals are
deemphasized (attenuated) in the receiver after demodulation
has been performed.
De-emphasis is the reciprocal of pre-emphasis
Pre-emphasis and De-emphasis produce more uniform SNR
throughout the modulating signal frequency spectrum
A preemphasis network is a high pass filter(differentiator) and
a deemphasis network is a low filter (integrator)


Pre-emphasis and de-emphasis
Cont. (Pre-emphasis and de-emphasis)
To increase SNR
Preemphasis
Filter
FM
transmitter
FM
Receiver
Deemphasis
Filter
Message
Demodulated
output
f
f1 f2
f
f1
:Boost high frequency
:Attenuate high frequency
When the frequency of the carrier is modulated by the information
signal, direct FM (indirect PM) results
When the phase of the carrier signal is modulated by the
information signal, direct PM (indirect FM) results.
Advantages
Direct FM high frequency deviations and modulation indices are
easily obtained because the oscillators are inherently unstable
Direct PM the carrier is isolated from the actual modulator circuit
and extremely stable source
Disadvantages
Direct FM unstable LC oscillator which prohibits using crystal
oscillator
Direct PM the crystal oscillators are inherently stable and it is more
difficult to achieve high phase deviations and modulation indices.

Frequency and phase modulators
FM & PM Modulator & Demodulator
A Phase Modulator is a circuit in which the carrier is
varied in such a way that its instantaneous phase is
proportional to the modulating signal.

A Frequency Modulator is a circuit in which the
carrier is varied in such a way that its instantaneous
phase is proportional to the integral of the
modulating signal.
PM Modulator = Differentiator followed by an FM
Modulator

PM Demodulator = FM demodulator followed by an
integrator

FM modulator = integrator followed by a PM
Modulator

FM Demodulator = PM demodulator followed by a
differentiator
Direct FM is angle modulation in which the frequency of the
carrier is varied directly by modulating signal.
The instantaneous frequency deviation is directly proportional
to the amplitude of the modulating signal.
Note: i) the modulating amplitude determines the amount of
carrier frequency. ii) the modulating frequency determines the
rate of carrier frequency deviation
Ex: Simple direct FM generator
Direct FM modulators
The tank (L & C) is the frequency determining section for standard LC
oscillator.
The capacitor microphone is a transducer that converts acoustical
energy to mechanical energy which is used to vary the distance
between the plates of C and change its capacitance.
As C is varied, resonant frequency is varied
Thus the oscillator output frequency varies directly with the external
sound source
This is direct FM because the oscillator frequency is changed directly
by the modulating signal, and the magnitude of the frequency
change is proportional to the amplitude of the modulating signal
voltage.
Three common methods: varactor diode modulators, FM reactance
modulators and linear integrated circuit direct FM modulators
Cont.(Direct FM modulators)
Varactor diode modulators
With no intelligence signal applied, the parallel of combination
C
1
, L
1
and D
1
s capacitance forms the resonant carrier
frequency.
The diode D
1
is effectively in parallel with L
1
and C
1
because
V
cc
supply appears as a short circuit to the ac signal.
The coupling capacitor C
c
isolates the dc levels and intelligence
signal while looking like a short to the high frequency carrier.
When the E
i
is applied, its reverse bias is varied and caused
the diodes junction capacitance to vary in step with E
i
.
The oscillator frequency is subsequently varied and FM signal
is available at Q
1
s collector
Sometimes varactor diode modulator called as reactance
modulator.
Cont. (Varactor diode modulators)
Usually referred to Armstrong modulator
This modulator indirectly generates FM by changing the phase
of a crystal oscillator output by varying the phase angle of an
RC network
Indirect FM generation
JFET is biased in the ohmic region by keeping V
DS
low thus a
resistance from drain to source is variable by gate voltage
(modulating signal).
In the ohmic region, the drain-to-source resistance for JFET
transistor behaves like a voltage-controlled resistance
(variable resistor)
The resistance value is controlled by the gate voltage (V
GS
),
where a change in the gate voltage will create a change in the
drain-to-source resistance.
Frequency correcting network is a low pass RC circuit (an
integrator) that makes the audio output amplitude inversely
proportional to its frequency.
This is because in phase modulation, the frequency deviation
is proportional to modulating signal amplitude and frequency
Cont. (Indirect FM generation)
A phase locked loop or (PLL) is an electronic circuit that is used for
frequency control.
It is used in stabilizing particular communications channel (keeping it
set to a particular frequency) and can be configured as frequency
multipliers, demodulators, tracking generators or clock recovery
circuits.
Each of these applications demands different characteristics but
they all use the same basic circuit concept. PLL are used in both
transmitters and receivers.
PLLs are frequently used in wireless communication, particularly
where signals are carried using frequency modulation (FM) or phase
modulation (PM).
PLL devices are commonly manufactured as integrated circuits (ICs).
Phase Locked Loop
A basic PLL is shown in figure below. It is basically a feedback
control system. A PLL consist of three basic components:
(a) Phase detector
(b) Low pass filter
(c) Voltage Controlled Oscillator (VCO)
Cont. (Phase Locked Loop)
Phase Detector
The role is to allow the relative phase relationship of two
inputs to be compared with each other.
A larger phase difference produces a larger magnitude output.
The output of the phase detector is a voltage proportional to
the phase difference between the two inputs.
Low Pass Filter
The role is to filter out the high frequency components of the
multiplication of the phase detector.
The output of the filter is a dc voltage corresponding to the
phase difference of the two phase detector inputs.
This dc voltage acts as the control voltage to the next element,
the voltage controlled oscillator.
Cont. (Phase Locked Loop)
Voltage Controlled Oscillator (VCO)
The role is to produce a periodic waveform, the frequency of
which may be varied about some free running frequency, f
n

according to the value of the applied voltage.
The VCO operates at a set of frequency called its natural or
free running frequency, f
n
which is set by external resistor and
capacitor.

Cont. (Phase Locked Loop)
PLL Operation:
Once the input signal V
in
(t) in is applied to the system, the phase
comparator compares the phase and frequency of the input signal
with the VCO natural frequency, f
n
.
The phase detector will generate an error voltage, V
d
(t) that is
related to the phase and frequency difference between the two
signals. If there is no error (the two signals are matched in phase),
the VCO control voltage is 0V and the VCO frequency stays
unchanged.
If there is a difference, the error voltage is nonzero and acts to cause
the VCO output to change its phase (and frequency) so that it
matches the input signal.
This error voltage is then filtered, amplified and applied to the input
terminal of VCO.
If the input frequency, f
in
is sufficiently close to the VCO natural
frequency, f
n
the VCO will synchronize, or lock to the incoming signal
and will be output signal as V
out
(t) .
Cont. (Phase Locked Loop)