DESIGN AND PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION

The principle of operation of the superheterodyne receiver depends on the use of heterodyning or frequency mixing. The signal
from the antenna is filtered sufficiently at least to reject the image frequency and possibly amplified. A local oscillator in the
receiver produces a sine wave, which mixes with that signal, shifting it to a specific intermediate frequency (IF), usually a lower
frequency. The IF signal is itself filtered and amplified and possibly processed in additional ways. The demodulator uses the IF
signal rather than the original radio frequency to recreate a copy of the original information (such as audio).

Block diagram of a typical superheterodyne receiver
The diagram at right shows the minimum requirements for a single-conversion superheterodyne receiver design. The following
essential elements are common to all superheterodyne circuits: a receiving antenna; a tuned stage, which may optionally contain
amplification (RF amplifier); a variable frequency local oscillator; a frequency mixer; a band pass filter and intermediate
frequency (IF) amplifier; and a demodulator plus additional circuitry to amplify or process the original audio signal (or other
transmitted information).

Circuit Description
To receive a radio signal, a suitable antenna is required. This is often built into a receiver, especially in the case of AM broadcast
band radios. The output of the antenna may be very small, often only a few microvolts. The signal from the antenna is tuned and
may be amplified in a so-called radio frequency (RF) amplifier, although this stage is often omitted. One or more tuned circuits at
this stage block frequencies that are far removed from the intended reception frequency. In order to tune the receiver to a
particular station, the frequency of the local oscillator is controlled by the tuning knob (for instance). Tuning of the local
oscillator and the RF stage may use a variable capacitor, or varicap diode. The tuning of one (or more) tuned circuits in the RF
stage must track the tuning of the local oscillator.
Notice that the accompanying diagram shows a fixed-frequency local oscillator, as the symbol is for a fixed-frequency crystal
frequency-determining device. A tuneable receiver would show a variable-frequency oscillator with operational connection to the
tuned circuits of the antenna and radio-frequency amplifier stages.
Local Oscillator and Mixer
The signal is then fed into a circuit where it is mixed with a sine wave from a variable frequency oscillator known as the local
oscillator (LO). The mixer uses a non-linear component to produce both sum and difference beat frequencies signals, each one
containing the modulation contained in the desired signal. The output of the mixer may include the original RF signal at f
RF
, the
local oscillator signal at f
LO
, and the two new heterodyne frequencies f
RF
+ f
LO
and f
RF
f
LO
. The mixer may inadvertently
produce additional frequencies such as third- and higher-order intermodulation products. Ideally, the IF bandpass filter removes
all but the desired IF signal at f
IF
. The IF signals contains the original modulation (transmitted information) that the received radio
signal had at f
RF
.
Historically, vacuum tubes were expensive, so broadcast AM receivers would save costs by employing a single tube as both a
mixer and also as the local oscillator. The pentagrid converter tube would oscillate and also provide signal amplification as well
as frequency shifting.
The frequency of the local oscillator f
LO
is set so the desired reception radio frequency f
RF
mixes to f
IF
. There are two choices for
the local oscillator frequency because the dominant mixer products are at f
RF
f
LO
. If the local oscillator frequency is less than
the desired reception frequency, it is called low-side injection (f
IF
= f
RF
f
LO
); if the local oscillator is higher, then it is
called high-side injection (f
IF
= f
LO
f
RF
).
The mixer will process not only the desired input signal at f
RF
, but also all signals present at its inputs. There will be many
mixer products (heterodynes). Most other signals produced by the mixer (such as due to stations at nearby frequencies) can
be filtered out in the I F amplifier; that gives the superheterodyne receiver its superior performance. However, if f
LO
is set
to f
RF
+f
IF
, then an incoming radio signal at f
LO
+f
IF
will also produce a heterodyne at f
IF
; this is called the image
frequency and must be rejected by the tuned circuits in the RF stage. The image frequency is 2 f
IF
higher (or lower) than f
RF
,
so employing a higher I F frequency f
IF
increases the receiver's image rejection without requiring additional selectivity in the
RF stage.
To suppress the unwanted image, the tuning of the RF stage and the LO may ne\
ed
to "track" each other. In some cases, a narrow-band receiver can have a fixed tuned RF amplifier. In that case, only the local
oscillator frequency is changed. In most cases, a receiver's input band is wider than its IF center frequency. For example, a typical
AM broadcast band receiver covers 510 kHz to 1655 kHz (a roughly 1160 kHz input band) with a 455 kHz IF frequency; an FM
broadcast band receiver covers 88 MHz to 108 MHz band with a 10.7 MHz IF frequency. In that situation, the RF amplifier must
be tuned so the IF amplifier does not see two stations at the same time. If the AM broadcast band receiver LO were set at
1200 kHz, it would see stations at both 745 kHz (1200455 kHz) and 1655 kHz. Consequently, the RF stage must be designed so
that any stations that are twice the IF frequency away are significantly attenuated.. The tracking can be done with a multi-section
variable capacitor or some varactors driven by a common control voltage. An RF amplifier may have tuned circuits at both its
input and its output, so three or more tuned circuits may be tracked. In practice, the RF and LO frequencies need to track closely
but not perfectly.
[11][12]

Intermediate Frequency Amplifier
The stages of an intermediate frequency amplifier ("IF amplifier" or "IF strip") are tuned to a fixed frequency that does not
change as the receiving frequency changes. The fixed frequency simplifies optimization of the IF amplifier.
[7]
The IF amplifier is
selective around its center frequency f
IF
. The fixed center frequency allows the stages of the IF amplifier to be carefully tuned for
best performance (this tuning is called "aligning" the IF amplifier). If the center frequency changed with the receiving frequency,
then the IF stages would have had to track their tuning. That is not the case with the superheterodyne.
Typically, the IF center frequency f
IF
is chosen to be less than the desired reception frequency f
RF
. The choice has some
performance advantages. First, it is easier and less expensive to get high selectivity at a lower frequency. For the same
bandwidth, a tuned circuit at a lower frequency needs a lower Q. Stated another way, for the same filter technology, a higher
center frequency will take more IF filter stages to achieve the same selectivity bandwidth. Second, it is easier and less expensive
to get high gain at a lower frequency. When used at high frequencies, many amplifiers show a constant gainbandwidth
product (dominant pole) characteristic. If an amplifier has a gainbandwidth product of 100 MHz, then it would have a voltage
gain of 100 at 1 MHz but only 10 at 10 MHz. If the IF amplifier needed a voltage gain of 10,000, then it would need only two
stages with an IF at 1 MHz but four stages at 10 MHz.
Usually the intermediate frequency is lower than the reception frequency f
RF
, but in some modern receivers (e.g. scanners and
spectrum analyzers) a higher IF frequency is used to minimize problems with image rejection or gain the benefits of fixed-tuned
stages. The Rohde & Schwarz EK-070 VLF/HF receiver covers 10 kHz to 30 MHz.
[13]
It has a band switched RF filter and mixes
the input to a first IF of 81.4 MHz. The first LO frequency is 81.4 to 111.4 MHz, so the primary images are far away. The first IF
stage uses a crystal filter with a 12 kHz bandwidth. There is a second frequency conversion (making a triple-conversion receiver)
that mixes the 81.4 MHz first IF with 80 MHz to create a 1.4 MHz second IF. Image rejection for the second IF is not a major
problem because the first IF provides adequate image rejection and the second mixer is fixed tuned.
In order to avoid interference to receivers, licensing authorities will avoid assigning common IF frequencies to transmitting
stations. Standard intermediate frequencies used are 455 kHz for medium-wave AM radio, 10.7 MHz for broadcast FM receivers,
38.9 MHz (Europe) or 45 MHz (US) for television, and 70 MHz for satellite and terrestrial microwave equipment. To
avoid tooling costs associated with these components, most manufacturers then tended to design their receivers around a fixed
range of frequencies offered, which resulted in a worldwide de facto standardization of intermediate frequencies.
In early superhets, the IF stage was often a regenerative stage providing the sensitivity and selectivity with fewer components.
Such superhets were called super-gainers or regenerodynes.
Bandpass Filter
The IF stage includes a filter and/or multiple tuned circuits in order to achieve the desired selectivity. This filtering must
therefore have a band pass equal to or less than the frequency spacing between adjacent broadcast channels. Ideally a filter would
have a high attenuation to adjacent channels, but maintain a flat response across the desired signal spectrum in order to retain the
quality of the received signal. This may be obtained using one or more dual tuned IF transformers, a quartz crystal filter, or a
multipole ceramic crystal filter.
DEMODULATION
The received signal is now processed by the demodulator stage where the audio signal (or other baseband signal) is recovered and
then further amplified. AM demodulation requires the simple rectification of the RF signal (so-called envelope detection), and a
simple RC low pass filter to remove remnants of the intermediate frequency.
[15]
FM signals may be detected using a
discriminator, ratio detector, or phase-locked loop. Continuous wave (Morse code) and single sideband signals require a product
detector using a so-called beat frequency oscillator, and there are other techniques used for different types of modulation.
[16]
The
resulting audio signal (for instance) is then amplified and drives a loudspeaker.
When so-called high-side injection has been used, where the local oscillator is at a higher frequency than the received signal (as
is common), then the frequency spectrum of the original signal will be reversed. This must be taken into account by the
demodulator (and in the IF filtering) in the case of certain types of modulation such as single sideband.