2 AMPLITUDE MODULATION

A system of modulation in which the envelope of the transmitted wave contains a component similar to
the waveform of the signal to be transmitted.
The envelope of the modulated carrier has the same shape as the message waveform, achieved by adding
the translated message that is appropriately proportional to the unmodulated carrier.
2.1 DOUBLE-SIDEBAND FULL-CARRIER MODULATION
2.1.1 Single-Tone Modulation
2.1.1.1 Time Domain Representation
A single-tone modulating signal may be represented as x(t) = A
m
cos
m
t. It has a waveform shown in
Figure 2..
-1.2
-0.8
-0.4
0
0.4
0.8
1.2
0 200 400 600 800 1000
Figure 2.1 A 1-kHz single-tone moul!ting sign!l
A carrier wave is a sinusoidal voltage or current generated in a transmitter and is subse!uently modulated by a
baseband or modulating signal. The carrier signal can have the e!uation c (t) = A
c
cos
c
t. Its waveform is given
in Figure 2.2.
-1
-0.8
-0.6
-0.4
-0.2
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
Figure 2.2 A 1"-kHz #!rrier $!%e
The waveform for the standard A" or double-sideband full-carrier A" is shown in Figure 2.#. It is described by
the e!uation, x
c
(t) = A
c
$ % m cos
m
t & cos
c
t, where m is the modulation inde'.
(
-1.5
0
1.5
0 1000
Figure 2.& A D'(F) AM sign!l

-1.5
0
1.5
0 1000
Figure 2.* An AM sign!l $it+ moul!ting !n #!rrier sign!ls s+o$n
From Figure 2.(, the amplitude of the waveform may be represented by the e!uation
A = A
c
% A
m
cos
m
t
A = A
c
$ % m cos
m
t &
where m =
A
A
m
c
.

)ence, the A" e!uation for single-tone modulation is

x
c
(t) = A
c
$ % m cos
m
t & cos
c
t

( )
m
A
A
A A
A A
m
c

ma' min
ma' min
*
A
ma'
A
min
A
c
2.1.1.2 Frequency Domain Representation
The e!uation of x
c
(t) can be rewritten as
[ ]
x t A t
mA
t t
c c c
c
c m c m
+ , cos cos + , cos + , + + +
2
since 2 cos A cos B = cos +A % B, % cos +A - B,. )ence, the fre!uency domain representation of x
c
(t) is shown in
Figure 2.*, where f
c
- f
m
is the lower side fre!uency and f
c
% f
m
is the upper side fre!uency.
Figure 2., AM s-e#trum o. single-tone moul!tion
2.1.1.3 Power Calculations
Average -arrier .ower, P
c
P
V
R
I R
c
C
C

2
2
2

Average /ide Fre!uency .ower, P
S B
( ) ( ) P
mV
R R
mV mI
m
P
S B
C
C C C

_
,

2 2

0

0 (
2
2 2
2
Total A" .ower, P
T
P
T
= P
c
% 2 P
S B
P P
m
T C
+

1
]
1

2
2
2.1.1.4 Current Calculations
The total power and carrier power can be represented by the following e!uations1
P I R
T T

2
P I R
C C

2
I
C
is the unmodulated carrier current and I
T
is the total, or modulated, current of an A" transmitter. These
currents are usually applied or measured at the antenna. )ence, R is the antenna resistance.
P
P
I
I
m
T
C
T
C
+

1
]
1
2
2
2

2
2
f
c
% f
m
f
c
f
c
- f
m
A
c
2
mA
c
(
mA
c
(
-f
c
% f
m
-f
c
-f
c
- f
m
A
c
2
mA
c
(
mA
c
(
I I
m
T C
+
2
2
2.1.2 Multi-Tone Modulation
x
c
(t) = A
c
$ % m

cos
m1
t % m
2
cos
m2
t % m
#
cos
m#
t + ... & cos
c
t
[ ]
x t A t
m A
t t
C C C
C
C m C m
+ , cos cos+ , cos+ , + + +

2
[ ] [ ]
+ + + + + + +
m A
t t
m A
t t
C
C m C m
C
C m C m
2
2 2
#
# #
2 2
cos+ , cos+ , cos+ , cos+ , ...
The total transmitted power is
P P
m
P
m
P
m
P
T C C C C
+ + + +

2
2
2
#
2
2 2 2
...
P P
m
T C
t
+

1
]
1

2
2
where
m m m m
t
2

2
2
2
#
2
+ + + ...
To prevent overmodulation,
m
t

m

, m
2
, m
#
, ...
In general,
x
c
(t) = A
c
$ % m

x(t) &

cos
c
t
where
m = modulation inde'
x(t) = modulating or baseband signal
x
c
(t) = modulated or transmitted signal
3e observe that the envelope of x
c
(t) has the same shape as the baseband signal x(t) provided two
re!uirements are satisfied.
, The amplitude m x(t) is always less than unity or
| m x(t) | 4
for all values of t. This condition ensures that the function % m x(t) is always positive.
3hen not satisfied, the carrier wave becomes overmodulated, resulting in carrier phase reversals and
therefore, envelope distortion. It is, therefore, apparent that by avoiding overmodulation, a one-to-one
relationship is maintained between the envelope of the A" wave and the modulating wave for all values of t.
2, The carrier fre!uency
c
is much greater than the highest fre!uency component of x(t) or

c
55 !
where ! is the message bandwidth. If this condition is not satisfied, an envelope cannot be visuali6ed
satisfactorily.
7
The envelope has the shape of x(t) providing that a, the carrier fre!uency is much greater than the rate of
variation of x(t), otherwise, an envelope cannot be visuali6ed, and b, there are no phase reversals in the
modulated wave, that is, the amplitude A
c
$ % m x(t)&does not go negative.
.reserving the desired relationship between envelope and message thus re!uires
c
55 ! and m .
3ith m = , 8nown as 99 percent modulation, the modulated amplitude varies between 9 and 2 A
c
.
:vermodulation, m 5 , results in carrier phase reversals and envelope distortion.
2.1.3 AM Spectrum
x
c
(t) = A
c
$ % m

x(t) &

cos
c
t
If the spectrum of the baseband signal is as shown in Figure 2.2, then, similar to /ec. 2...2 on Fre!uency
;omain <epresentation, the spectrum of the A" wave is shown in Figure 2.7.
Figure 2./ (!se0!n s-e#trum
Figure 2.1 AM s-e#trum
.<:.=<TI=/ :F T)= A" /.=-T<>"
, There is symmetry about the carrier fre!uency, with the amplitude being even. For positive fre!uencies, the
portion of the spectrum lying above
c
is referred to as the upper sideband, whereas the symmetrical portion
below
c
is referred to as the lower sideband. For negative fre!uencies, the upper sideband is represented by the
portion above -
c
and the lower sideband by the portion above -
c
. )ence the designation double sideband
amplitude modulation. The condition
c
55 ! ensures that the sideband do not overlap.
2, The transmission bandwidth, "
T
, for an A" wave is e'actly twice the message bandwidth, !, that is,
"
T
# 2W
The result points out that A" is not attractive when one must conserve bandwidth. After all, the message could
be sent at baseband with one-half of the A" bandwidth.
2.2 DOUBLE-SIDEBAND SUPPRESSED-CARRIER MODULATION (DSBSC)
From Figure 2.7, it is clear that the carrier wave is completely independent of the information-carrying
signal or baseband signal x(t). This means that the transmission of the carrier wave represents a waste of power,
which points to a shortcoming of A". That is, only a fraction of the total transmitted power is affected by x(t).
0
?+f,
3 -3
9
?
-
+f,
f
-
%3 f
-
f
-
-3 -f
-
-3 -f
-
%3 -f
-
9
2
mA
-
To overcome this shortcoming, we can suppress the carrier component from the modulated wave. This results in
a double-sideband suppressed carrier modulation, or ;/@ for short.
;ropping the carrier term and the now meaningless modulation inde', we have the e!uation defining a
;/@ signal as
x
c
(t) = A
c


x(t) cos
c
t
>nli8e A", the modulated wave is 6ero in an absence of modulation. That is, if x(t) is 9, then x
c
(t) is 9. /ince the
carrier has been suppressed, the average transmitted power is

P P
m
P
T SB C
2
2
2
The ;/@ spectrum is simply the translated message spectrum, as shown in Figure 2.0. The fre!uency
spectra of A" and ;/@ are similar, but the time-domain picture is another story. Figure 2.A shows the ;/@
waveform using single-tone modulation.
The modulated wave undergoes a phase reversal whenever the baseband signal x(t) crosses 6ero. The
;/@ envelope does not have the same shape as the message since negative values of x(t) are reflected in the
carrier phase. Full recovery of the message, therefore, entails an awareness of these phase reversals and an
envelope detector would not be sufficient. /tated in another way, ;/@ involves more than Bust CamplitudeD
demodulation.
Figure 2.2 D'( s-e#trum
;/@ conserves power but re!uires comple' detection circuitry. -onversely, A" demodulation is simply
envelope detection but at the cost of greater transmitted power.
-1
0
1
0 1000
A
?
-
+f,
f
-
%3 f
-
f
-
-3 -f
-
-3 -f
-
%3 -f
-
9
2
mA
-
Figure 2.3 D'( $!%e.orm
2.3 SINGLE-SIDEBAND SUPPRESSED-CARRIER MODULATION (SSBSC)
A" and ;/@ are wasteful of bandwidth. They re!uire a transmission bandwidth e!ual to twice the
message bandwidth. The upper and lower sidebands are related to each other by virtue of their symmetry about
the carrier fre!uencyE that is, given the amplitude and phase spectra of either sidebands, we can uni!uely
determine one from the other. This means that insofar as the transmission of information is concerned, only one
sideband is necessary, and if the carrier and the other sideband are suppressed at the transmitter, no information
is lost.
The average transmitted power of //@ is

P P
m
P
T SB C

2
(
2.4 FREQUENCY-DOMAIN REPRESENTATION
29
2.5 TIME-DOMAIN REPRESENTATION OF SINGLE-TONE MODULATION


-1
0
1
0 1000
-1
0
1
0 1000
2
22
=?=<-I/=/
, A broadcast A" transmitter radiates *9 83 of carrier power. 3hat will be the radiated power at 0* percent
modulationF
2, A certain A" transmitter has an unmodulated <F carrier power of 83. ;etermine the total power, the
power in each sideband, and the pea8 power for each of the following modulation percentages using single-tone
modulation1 a, 2*G, b, *9G, and c, 99G.
#, 3hen the modulation percentage is 7*, an A" transmitter produces 9 83. )ow much of this is the carrier
powerF )ow much is the power per sidebandF 3hat would be the percentage power saving if the carrier and one
of the sidebands were suppressed before transmission too8 placeF
(, At what depth of modulation can an A" transmitter save A9G of power if the carrier and one sideband are
suppressedF
*, The antenna current of an A" transmitter is 0 A when only the carrier is sent, but it increases to 0.A# A when
the carrier is sinusoidally modulated. ;etermine the antenna current when the depth of modulation is 9.0.
2, 3hen a broadcast A" transmitter is *9G modulated, its antenna current is 2 A. 3hat will the current be
when the modulation depth is increased to 9.AF
7, The input impedance at the base of a certain 9 83 commercial broadcasting station antenna is *9 resistive.
For single-tone modulation, the rms ammeter at the base of the antenna reads 2 A. ;etermine the percentage of
modulation.
0, A certain transmitter radiates A 83 with the carrier unmodulated, and 9.2* 83 when the carrier is
sinusoidally modulated. -alculate the modulation inde'. If another sine wave, corresponding to (9 percent
modulation, is transmitted simultaneously, determine the total radiated power.
A, The antenna current of an A" broadcast transmitter modulated to a depth of (9G by an audio sine wave, is
A. It increases to 2 A as a result of simultaneous modulation by another audio sine wave. 3hat is the
modulation inde' due to this second waveF
9, A #29-3 carrier is simultaneously modulated by two audio waves with modulation percentages of ** and
2*, respectively. 3hat is the total sideband power radiatedF
, The output current of a 29G modulated A" generator is .* A. To what value will this current be if the
generator is modulated additionally by another audio wave whose modulation inde' is 9.7F 3hat will be the
percentage power saving if the carrier and one of the sidebands are now suppressedF
2, A 29 d@m A" transmitter is to be modulated simultaneously by two audio waves of indices 9.* and 9.7.
3hat is the total current if the antenna resistance is 7*F
#, An //@ transmission contains 09 83. It is re!uired that the system be replaced by a standard amplitude-
modulated signal with the same power content. ;etermine the power content of each of the sidebands in the new
system if the percentage modulation is 09G.
(, The antenna current of an A" broadcast transmitter modulated to a depth of #0.*G by an audio wave is
9.* amperes. It increased by (G as a result of simultaneous modulation caused by another wave. ;etermine the
percent modulation caused by the second wave.
2#
*, At a certain depth of modulation, the power used is 22G of the total power when the carrier is suppressed. If
another simultaneous wave is added and the carrier and one of the sidebands are suppressed, the power saved is
0*G. 3hat are the modulation indicesF
2(