Lecture notes Telecommunications Engineering I by Jorma Kekalainen

Telecommunications
Engineering I
Jorma Kekalainen

Telecommunications
Engineering I
Introduction to signals and
systems

Introduction to signals and systems 1

Lecture notes Telecommunications Engineering I by Jorma Kekalainen

Telecommunications Engineering I

Contents
Signals and noise in electrical communication

Books
Carlson, Communication Systems
Haykin, Moher, An Introduction to Analog and
Digital Communications
Haykin & van Veen: Signals & Systems

Information and messages

Telecommunication is the transmission of information from one place
to another in electromagnetic form.
The message carries the information.
It can be a waveform, a bit sequence, or other physical manifestation of
information.
The goal of a communication system is to reproduce at the destination an
acceptable replica of the source message.
The original message can be analog (e.g. speech) or digital (e.g. text).
Independent of the source, the message can be sent in analog or digital
form.
In analog transmission there are certain quality criteria e.g.
signal-to-noise ratio (SNR),
distortion,
bandwidth
which should be taken into account when designing the system.
In digital transmission, usually, the goal is to minimize the probability
of error.
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Communication system
The transmitter processes the input signal and produces a signal
suited to the characteristics of the transmission channel.
This involves almost always
Modulation
Coding
The channel is the electrical medium that bridges the distance from
source to destination.
The channel may cause some undesired changes to the message
signal such as:
Attenuation,
Phase and frequency distortions
Noise (random signal)
Interference (e.g., other channels)

Communication system

The receiver restores the message signal to its form via

amplification,
decoding,
demodulation,
filtering,
and minimizes the effect of non-idealities of the channel.
Transmission can be one-way or two-way:
Simplex: one-way (e.g., TV, radio, GPS receivers)
Half-duplex: transmission in either directions but not at the same time
(e.g., walkie-talkies, Citizen Band (CB)radio in US, etc
Full-duplex: simultaneous transmission in both directions (e.g., mobile
phones)

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Mode of communication

A communication system should be suited to

the channel.
The system is influenced by the mode of
communication:
one-to-one (e.g., point-to-point),
one-to-many (e.g., broadcasting),
many-to-many (e.g., networking).

Shannons model

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Transmission channels

Cables
wire pairs (e.g., ordinary telephone line)
coaxial cable
waveguide (metallic waveguide and optical fiber)
Radio transmission
broadcasting (e.g.: DVB-T, DVB-S, DVB-H,)
satellite position transmission (GPS, Galileo)
cell networks (GSM, WCDMA)
(Portable memory equipment)
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Physical limitations
The fundamental limitations when designing a communication
system are the noise and the bandwidth.
There is always thermal noise (due to the random motion of charged
particles at temperatures above absolute zero), which is the main
problem when the transmission distance increases.
Every communication system has a finite bandwidth.
The bandwidth is the main problem when the transmission speed is
increased because they are directly proportional to each other.
Channel capacity is
C = Blog2(1+ SNR),
where B is the bandwidth and SNR is the Signal-to-Noise Ratio
(SNR) of the channel.
This relationship is also known as Hartley-Shannon law.

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Noise -- white noise

Noise is a random and unwanted" signal.

White noise is often used as a theoretical test noise.
White noise is a theoretical concept, which contains
all frequencies (analogy with white light, which
contains all visible wavelengths).
As long as the bandwidth of the noise is much wider
than that of the signal, we can treat the noise as white
noise.
Thermal noise is close to white in a large range of
frequencies.
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Modulation what and why?

We have a lower-frequency signal, such as voice or

music (can be data bits too).
This is called the modulating signal. It is also called
intelligence signal or random signal.
We want to transmit this over air or wire.
We need a frequency that will propagate (travel
through) this medium.
The signal is carried on a carrier wave.
Somehow we combine the modulating signal with the
carrier wave to form a modulated signal.
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Example

s(t): source signal (e.g., speech or audio signal)

where frequency fc is much higher than the frequency

of s(t).
This is called double sideband suppressed carrier
(DSB-SC) modulation
What is the bandwidth of y(t)?
Can be answered by Fourier analysis.
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Modulation
The modulation involves two waveforms:
A modulating signal that that represents the message, and
a carrier wave that suits the particular application.
In general, the carrier frequency is much higher than the
highest frequency component of the modulating signal.
In this case, the spectrum of the modulated signal consists
of a band of frequency components clustered around the
carrier frequency.
Therefore, the modulation produces frequency translation.
In the receiver, the message can be retrieved using
demodulation.

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Example
Here are some examples
of amplitude modulation
using a sinusoidal and a
pulse train as carriers.
The message signal can
be seen in the envelope of
the modulated signal.
a) Modulating signal;
b) Sinusoidal carrier with
amplitude modulation;
c) Pulse-train carrier
with amplitude
modulation.

Modulation benefits
Modulation for efficient transmissions
The efficiency of any transmission method depends on the frequency of the
signal being transmitted.
For example, efficient line-of-sight radio propagation requires antennas
whose physical dimensions are at least 1/10 of the signal wavelength.
E.g., unmodulated transmission of an audio signal at 100Hz would require 300
km long antenna, while modulated transmission at 100MHz allows a practical
antenna size of about 1 m.
Modulation to overcome hardware limitations
The design of a communication system may be constrained by the cost and
availability of hardware, whose performance often depends on the
frequencies involved.
Modulation permits the designer to place a signal in some frequency range
that avoids hardware limitations.

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Modulation benefits

Modulation for frequency assignment

For example, since each radio/TV station has a different
assigned carrier frequency, the desired signal can be separated
from the others by filtering.
Radio frequencies are allocated by international
agreements.
Multiplexing
Several signals can be combined for simultaneous
transmission on one channel if, e.g. the carrier frequencies are
different (frequency division multiplexing).

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Coding and decoding

Coding is a processing of message signal for

improving digital communication.
Decoding is the inverse operation.
Source coding is a technique that reduces the
redundancy in the signal to achieve more
efficiency.
Channel coding is a technique used to
introduce controlled redundancy to improve
the performance reliability in a noisy channel.
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Coding examples

ASCII-code: coding of the alphanumerical

characters to binary data.
Transmission capacity can be improved by
sending 2M level symbols that represent binary
code words of length M (source coding).
By appending extra check digits to each binary
code word we can detect or correct most of the
errors in the receiver (channel coding).

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Signals and spectra

In the following we consider the representation of

signals in the time and frequency domains, and
the relationship between these representations.
In the frequency domain we view the signal as
consisting of sinusoidal components at various
frequencies.
The mathematical definition of the frequency
domain representation, that is the spectrum, is
determined by the Fourier transform.
The spectrum for periodic signals is obtained
using the Fourier series.
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Mathematical tools for telecommunication

Calculus, Linear Algebra

Signals & Systems
Fourier Transform
Probability
Stochastic Processes
Digital Signal Processing (DSP)
Statistical Signal Processing
Based on Probability and Stochastic Processes
Information Theory and Coding
Also based on Probability and Stochastic Processes
These tools are also useful in many other areas
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Sinusoidal signal
In this course, we usually assume that s(t) is a
sinusoidal signal itself
Trigonometric identities will be extremely useful
Example:

The frequency components of the signal can be easily

identified.
This is an example of modulation.
The trigonometric identities are also useful in
demodulation
to get back the signal s(t) at the receiver.
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Probability
Probability is very useful in analyzing digital
communication:

m(t): 1 or -1 (binary)
n(t): zero-mean, unit variance Gaussian noise.
Given the received signal r(t), how to estimate the
signal?
What is the probability of the decoding error?
Will be solved by probability knowledge.

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Block diagram of a telecommunication system

Input message may not be suitable for transmission directly

e.g., may need to be sampled and compressed
Transmitter: make the signal suitable for transmission
By modulating a carrier signal: change its amplitude, phase, or frequency
Channel: air, phone line, coaxial cable, power line, optical cable,
Noise can be introduced during transmission
Different channels and noises have different characteristics
Receiver: recover (demodulate) the message signal
The transmitter and the receiver are jointly designed.
Modem: the combination of Modulator and Demodulator
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Radio spectrum
Abbreviation Frequency Range description

VLF 3kHz 30kHz Very Low Frequency

LF 30kHz 300kHz Low Frequency
MF 300kHz 3MHz Medium Frequency
HF 3MHz 30MHz High Frequency
VHF 30MHz 300MHz Very High Frequency
UHF 300MHz 3GHz Ultra High Frequency
SHF 3GHz 30GHz Super High Frequency
EHF 30GHz 300GHz Extremely High Frequency
HHF 300GHz -3THz Hyper High Frequency
(submillimeter waves)

Most common usage in bands 300kHz 30GHz.

Radio spectrum usage

AM Radio MF band
2-way Radio HF
FM Radio VHF
TV was VHF, now UHF
Wireless LAN SHF

Note: Sometimes we refer to the wavelength e.g., centimeter waves (SHF

Super High Frequency, 3GHz 30GHz) and millimeter waves (EHF 26
(Extremely High Frequency, 30GHz 300GHz).

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Resources and performance

The two primary communication resources:
Transmitter power
Channel bandwidth
The performance of the system is also affected by the noise
Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR):
Joint effect of the signal power and noise power
The design of a communication system is a trade-off between
SNR and channel bandwidth.
To improve the performance of a system:
If there is a limitation on bandwidth, we can increase the SNR (easier)
If there is a limitation on SNR, we can increase the bandwidth (more
difficult)

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What are signals?

Amplitude varies with time.

We can think of it this way, called Time
Domain, or else in the Frequency Domain.
Example: pitch of your voice.
Pure sinusoidal signal vs. complex signal.
Bandwidth range of frequency components.

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Classification

Variable voltages and currents in electric

circuits are described by three classes of time
functions:
random functions
nonperiodic functions
periodic functions

Note: Here the time domain of all functions is - < t < and the terms functions
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= waveforms = signals.

Random signals

There exists a class of signals, which can be specified only

partly.
These signals are called random signals.
Random signals can carry information.
Noise, which corrupts the information contents of the signal, is
also a random signal.
The future course and values of random signals can be
predicted only in average and not precisely.

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Random signals

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Deterministic signals

Signals, which can completely specified are

called deterministic.
For example, the values of a sinusoidal
waveform can be determined for all times if its
amplitude, frequency, and phase are known.
Deterministic signals can be nonperiodic or
periodic.

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Examples of nonperiodic functions

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Examples of nonperiodic functions

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Periodic signal

A periodic signal varies with time such that it continually

repeats.
The smallest nonrepeatable portion of a periodic waveform is a
cycle, and the duration of a cycle is the period T of the wave.

The reciprocal of the period, and the number of cycles in a

second, is the frequency, which has a quantity symbol f:

The SI unit of frequency is the hertz, with unit symbol Hz.

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Example: Periodic waves

A square wave A low-pass filtered square wave

A sawtooth wave

Theoretically, the periodic waves have no

beginnings and no ends.

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Example: Periodic waves

A three term Fourier series of the square wave

(sin(t)+sin(3*t)/3+sin(5*t)/5)

A three term Fourier series of the triangular wave

(cos(t)+sin(3*t)/9+sin(5*t)/25)

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Sinusoidal functions

The sinusoidal wave is the most common

periodic wave in electrical engineering,
because
generation,
transmission,
distribution, and
consumption of electric energy
occur under essentially sinusoidal steady-state
conditions.
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Continuous-time vs. discrete-time

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Continuous-valued vs. discrete-valued

signal

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Deterministic vs. random

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Sinusoidal functions
We can express a sinusoidally varying function with either the sine
function or the cosine function

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The coefficient or v is the amplitude of the sinusoidal quantity.

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Frequency and angular frequency

T is the period of the function.
The reciprocal of T gives the number of cycles per second, or the
frequency, of the sinusoidal function and is denoted

A cycle per second is referred to as a hertz, abbreviated Hz.

Omega () represents the angular frequency of the sinusoidal function.
(Sometimes the terms angular velocity or radian frequency are used
instead of angular frequency.)
The SI unit of angular frequency is radian per second, and the unit symbol
is rad/s.
The frequency f and the angular frequency are related by

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Phase angle
The sine or cosine function passes Note also that if is positive, the
through a complete set of values sinusoidal function shifts to the
each time its argument, t, passes left.
through 2 rad (360).
The angle is known as the phase
angle of the sinusoidal quantity.
It determines the value of the
sinusoidal function at t = 0;
therefore, it fixes the point on the
periodic wave at which we start
measuring time.
Changing the phase angle shifts
the sinusoidal function along the
time axis but has no effect on
either the amplitude or the angular 44
frequency.
Note also that if is positive, the

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Phase angle

If is negative, the function shifts to the right. Note. With t

expressed in radians,
you would expect to
be also. However,
normally is given in
degrees.

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Conversion formulas
From trigonometry we recall that the conversion between radians and
degrees is given by

Using the previous ratio we get conversion formulas

Of course, a calculator will perform either conversion at the press of a key.

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Phase and time relations

Let us look at sinusoids

Because of the added in its argument, we say that v2 leads v1 by

degrees.
Alternatively, we say that v1 lags v2 by degrees.
This means that the peaks, zeros, and other values of v2 occur earlier than
those of v1 by a time corresponding to degrees.
Another but less specific way of expressing this phase relation is to say that
v1 and v2 have a degrees phase difference or that they are degrees out of
phase.
Sinusoids that have no phase difference are said to be in phase.
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In phase and out of phase

Sinusoids in phase Sinusoids 180 deg out

of phase

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Time shift and phase shift

If the function v(t) = sin(t) is delayed by seconds, we get

v(t-)=sin[(t-)]=sin(t-), where =.
The delay shifts the graph of v(t) to the right by an amount of
seconds, which corresponds to a phase lag of ==2f.
A time shift of seconds to the left on the graph produces v(t
+ ), resulting in a leading phase angle called an advance.
Conversely, a phase shift of corresponds to a time shift of .
Therefore, for a given phase shift the higher is the frequency,
the smaller is the required time shift

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Sum of two sinusoids

The sum of two sinusoids with the same frequency and the same phase is
also sinusoid

The sum of two sinusoids with the same frequency and different phase is
also sinusoid.

The sum of sinusoids with the same frequency is also sinusoid.

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Sum of sinusoids with different

frequencies

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Frequency and amplitude changed,

waveforms multiplied

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Phase changed, waveforms added

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Experimenting with signals

Oscilloscope Amplitude of signal (vertical) versus

time (horizontal)
Show time waveform
Spectrum analyzer Amplitude of a particular
frequency component versus its frequency
Show frequency components
Signal generator produces a signal waveform
(amplitude varies with time)
Generate waveforms

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Frequency components

Frequency components occupy a range of

frequencies
Magnitude (strength) tapers off (is reduced) for
higher frequencies
Real-world signals are low-pass in nature

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Bandwidth of a signal

Bandwidth: the range of frequencies in a signal

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Frequency and wavelength

Velocity (c) = frequency (f) times wavelength ()

For electromagnetic waves in free space, the velocity
is the speed of light.
For many purposes this can be approximated as
c 3 x 108 m/s

So
c=f

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Amplitude (peak value)

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Peak-to-Peak

Peak-to-peak Ap-p= 2A, since sine goes from -1 to +1

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Amplitude gain

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Waveform operations: Integration

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Waveform operations:
Differentiation

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Sinusoidal signal in time domain

Spectrum
The line spectrum associates a certain frequency to a particular
amplitude and phase.
The one sided line spectrum of a sinusoidal signal is:

The amplitude and phase spectrum have an impulse at f0 .

The essential parameters of the signal can be seen from the
spectrum: frequency, amplitude, and phase.

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Combination of sinusoidal signals

Linear combination of sinusoidal signals
w(t) = 7 10cos(40t 60) + 4sin120 t

This can be rewritten in the standard form:

w(t) = 7cos2 0t +10cos(2 20t +120) + 4cos(2 60t
90),
which can be utilized to plot the one-sided line spectrum:

Fourier components
Given an arbitrary periodic waveform, we can
decompose it into a fundamental and harmonics and
vice versa we can compose an arbitrary periodic
waveform from its fundamental and harmonics.
Why is this important?
Telecommunications transmission relies on generating
waveforms.
Telecommunications reception relies on recovering
waveforms.
Use a lot of tricks with filtering, integration, differentiation.
So its important to have a good understanding of these
waveform concepts.

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Fourier components Square

waveform
Given a square wave: what are the frequency
components it possesses?
In finite case
What sinusoidal components could we add
together to approximate this square wave?

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Fourier components Square

waveform

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Fourier components Square

waveform

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Fourier components

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Fourier series approximation of a

square wave
Fourier series approximation of a square wave; K is the number
of coefficients in the Fourier series:

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Fourier components Sawtooth

waveform

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Fourier components Sawtooth

waveform

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Fourier components

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Average values for periodic waves

The average value of a periodic wave is the total area between the
waveform and time axis for one period divided by one period.

The average value of a pure ac signal is zero because over one period the
positive and negative areas cancel in the sum of the two areas.
This result can be used as a definition of pure ac signal.
Actually, the average value represents the dc part of the signal.
If the average value is zero, there is in the signal no dc part and the signal is
a pure ac signal.
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Average values
The average value of a periodic wave is

The average value of a pure sinusoid is zero because over one period the
positive and negative areas cancel in the sum of the two areas

The average value of the rectified sinusoidal is

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Average values
Rectified sinusoidal quantity and its average

Squared sine
The mean value of the squared sinusoidal function is

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Power
Ohms Law: V = I R
Power P = V I = Volts Amps
So if we substitute for V (= IR) in P equation, we get
P = (IR) I =I2R
If we substitute for I(= V/R) in P equation, we get
P = V (V/R) =V2/R .
So
P = I2R and P = V2/R .

Now we want average power, which is related to I2 or V2

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Squared waveform

Waveforms (continuous)

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Squared waveform

Waveforms (samples)

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Effective value
An important characteristic of the signal is its rms value.
The rms value of a periodic function is defined as the square root of the
mean value of the squared function.
Hence, the rms value of i(t) is

The effective or rms value of the sinusoidal function is

Note. The thermal power
caused by ac current in
resistance R is RI2.

Therefore, the effective value of a sinusoidal equals the peak value divided
by 2.
Note: By definition, the effective value (root mean square, rms) of an ac quantity
(voltage or current) is the dc quantity that produces exactly the same thermal effect81
(average power) in a resistor as an ac quantity.

Root mean square (rms)

First we need to square all the values in the

waveform.
Then add them up.
Then divide by the time period.
Then take the square root.
Hence we get root-mean-square

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Recap: Signals
Physical representation of data
Function of time and location
Signal parameters: parameters representing the value of data
Parameters of periodic signals:
period T, frequency f=1/T, amplitude A, phase
shift

Sinusoidal wave as special periodic signal for a carrier:

s(t) = Asin(2ft + ) or s(t) = Acos(2ft + )

Classification of signals

Time domain
continuous time/discrete time
Amplitude domain
continuous values/discrete values

Analog signal = continuous time and continuous values

Digital signal = discrete time and discrete values

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Fourier representation of periodic signals

E.g., in so called real form of

1
g (t ) = c + an sin(2nft ) + bn cos( 2nft )
2 n =1 n =1

1 1

0 0
t t
ideal periodic signal real composition
(based on harmonics)

Representations of signals
Different representations of signals
Time function (time domain)
frequency or spectrum function (frequency domain)
phase state diagram (amplitude M and phase in polar coordinates)
A [V] A [V] Q = M sin

t[s]
I= M cos

f [Hz]

Composed signals transferred into frequency domain using Fourier

transformation
Digital signals need
infinite frequencies for perfect transmission
modulation with a carrier frequency for transmission (analog signal!)

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Telecommunications
Engineering I
Systems

87

What are systems?

A way of representing complex circuits or

software in terms of input and output.
We can joint simple (sub)systems (blocks)
together to make more complicated systems.
They follow certain rules, and this helps us
analyze/understand complex systems.

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Example: Systems
Satellite communications

Internet technologies Broadcast networks

User requrements and

behaviour

Wireless broadband

Telephony networks

Vehicular networks

Wireless sensor networks

Example: Communication system

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Example: Radio receiver

Radio receiver is made up of functional blocks.

Antenna
Radio frequency amplifier
Tuner
Audio amplifier
Speaker
Each of these is a separate entity, that does
something definable.
Each is made up, in turn, of sub-components.
Eg., tuner is made up a local oscillator, mixer and filter.

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Example: Elements (sub-systems) of a

conventional radio system

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Systems Block diagrams

A system takes an input x(t) and gives an output y(t)

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Input-Output relationship
Input on x axis, output on y axis

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I/O-relationship

How an input value is mapped to an output value

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I/O-relationship

Each input value gives a mapped output value

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I/O-relationship

Gain is the change in output y divided by the change in input x

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Linear I/O-relationship

Suppose the input is x(t).

The gain is k = y/x
If the input is a sinusoidal wave, it could be
x(t) = Asint.
What is the output y(t) then?

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Linear I/O-relationship

Input x(t) = Asint.

Output for a pure gain k is k x(t).

So

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Nonlinear I/O-relationship
A nonlinear system

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Nonlinear I/O-relationship
Input-Output mapping in a nonlinear system

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Nonlinear I/O-relationship

Suppose the output y(t) is a linear function of

input x(t),
y(t) = k x(t)
with input x(t) = Asint, the output will be
y(t) = kAsint
But if it is a nonlinear function, eg.,

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Nonlinear I/O-relationship

The output will be

Note: there is a cos2t term, which means a

doubling of the frequency.

Note: 103

Linear vs. nonlinear relationship

Mostly we want linear, but sometimes we do actually want a
nonlinear characteristic
eg., in radio mixers, where we want generate new frequencies
Following practical examples are:
Linear, output is input multiplied by a constant gain factor.
Square-law relationship, typical of Field Effect Transistors (FETs)
Exponential, typical of bipolar junction transistors (BJTs)
x3/2 law, typical of vacuum tubes (valves)

So what does this do to the waveforms?

Look at these examples in
time domain (the voltage waveforms) and
frequency domain (the frequency spectrum)

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Linear vs. nonlinear relationship

Time domain, various characteristic functions

105

Linear vs. nonlinear relationship

Frequency domain, various characteristic functions

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Linear vs. nonlinear relationship

Visual inspection of the time domain waveform may indicate
nonlinearity, but it may be difficult to spot.
Analysis of the frequency spectrum can tell much more, and
the frequency multiples present are easy to see.
Notice how nonlinear devices introduce harmonics (frequency
multiples), including possibly a DC (zero-frequency)
component.
The DC component is not usually a problem (capacitor can
block that), but the harmonics introduce harmonic distortion,
raising the THD (Total Harmonic Distortion)

where A1 is the fundamental, A2 is the first harmonic multiple,

etc. 107

Cascaded systems

Output of one system block becomes the input to another

Blocks in Cascade

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Joining systems - Adding signals

Add two outputs from other systems to get a new output

109

Joining systems - Multiplying signals

Multiply two outputs from other systems to get a new output

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Filtering signals

Block certain frequencies from the input.

Very important in telecommunications.

111

Filtering signals

Low-pass allows lower frequencies through, blocks

higher.
E.g., remove carrier in radio receiver demodulator.
High-pass allows high, blocks low.
E.g., DC removing.
Band-pass allows only frequencies in a certain band.
E.g., tuner in radio receiver.
Band-stop blocks certain frequency band.
E.g., removing mains interference (50/60Hz).

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Low-pass filter

Low-pass allows lower frequencies through, blocks higher.

Example: remove carrier in radio receiver demodulator.

113

High-pass filter

High-pass allows high frequencies, blocks low.

Example: DC removing.

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Band-pass filter

Band-pass allows only frequencies in a certain band.

Example: tuner in radio receiver.

115

Band-stop filter

Band-stop blocks certain frequency band.

Example: removing mains interference ( 50/60Hz).

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Example: Radio system

We can see how blocks are combined to make a more

complicated system

117

Telecommunications
Engineering I
Power gain and transmission
loss

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Decibel
Widely used in different contexts
After Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the
telephone.
Acoustics (sound power level), optics, antennas,
electronics, control, signal to noise (SNR)
Abbreviation dB
Various rationales: human perception of sound and
light intensity is nonlinear
ie. doubling sound power is not perceived as twice as loud
Large numbers more easily expressed
dB in cascaded systems are added (not multiplied)

119

Decibel

For power ratio:

For (amplitude) gain value:

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Note: Logarithm function

121

Note: Graph of y = log x

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Note: Logarithm rules

We use log to base 10, but there is also natural logarithms (base e 2.718). 123

In information theory log to base 2 unit bit).

Decibels and logarithms

So now we can explain the different

coefficients in the earlier definitions:

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Decibels and logarithms

So for gain or voltage ratios, the coefficient is 20 not 10.

125

Note: Using logarithms

If you use MATLAB, then log calculates

logarithm to base e.
If you want log to base 10, use log10.
In Excel, use LOG(number, base).
If you dont give base, it defaults to 10.
Most calculators have log for base 10, ln for
base e.

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Examples

Suppose you have a system with a gain of 2

The gain in dB is

Suppose you have a system with a gain of

The gain in dB is

127

Logarithmic scale

Logarithmically-scaled x-axis
3 decades shown (decade = factor of 10)

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Signal-to-Noise Ratio

Noise affects any communications channel

What is important is the ratio of signal power
to noise power
Ratio is called SNR.
Usually quoted in dB

Signal power S, Noise power N 129

SNR examples

Suppose the signal power was 10 times the noise power.

Suppose the signal power equals the noise power.

Suppose the noise power was 10 times as strong as the signal.

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Note

When the signal is more than the noise, SNR

in dBs is positive.
When the signal is equal to the noise power,
the SNR is 0dB
When the signal is less than the noise, the SNR
is negative.

131

Transmission loss

In addition to any signal distortion, a transmission

system also reduces the power level or strength of
the output signal.
This signal-strength reduction is expressed in terms
of transmission power loss.
Although transmission loss can be compensated by
power amplification, the ever-present electrical noise
may prevent successful signal recovery in the case of
large transmission loss.

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Power gain

Let it be an linear time-invariant (LTI) system whose input

signal has average power Pin.

If the system is distortionless, the average signal power at the

output will be proportional to Pin.
Thus, the systems power gain is

133

Power gain in decibels

Systems that include amplification may have

very large values of g, so well find it
convenient to express power gain in decibels
(dB) defined as

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Power gain in decibels

Since the decibel is a logarithmic unit, it converts powers of 10

to products of 10.
For instance, g = 10e becomes gdB = e x 10 dB.
Power gain is always positive, of course, but negative dB
values occur when g < 1.0 = 100 and hence gdB < 0 dB.
Note that 0 dB corresponds to unity gain (g = 1).
Given a value in dB, the antilogarithmic value is

135

Absolute units: dBW and dBm

While decibels represent power ratios, signal

power itself may be expressed in dB if you
divide P by one watt or one milliwatt, as
follows:

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Power gain in dB-units

Rewriting the definition equation of power

gain as (Pout/1 mW) = g(Pin/1 mW) and taking
the logarithm of both sides then yields the dB
equation

137

Transfer function

Now consider a system described by its transfer function

H(f).
A sinusoidal input with amplitude Ax produces the output
amplitude
Ay = |H(f)|Ax,
and the normalized signal powers are
Px= Ax2/2 and Py = Ay2/2= |H[f)|2Px
If the system has the same impedance level at
input and output
Py/ Px = Pout/ Pin = |H[f)|2=g
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Square of amplitude
function |H[f)|2
In any case |H[f)|2 tells us how the power gain
varies as a function of frequency.
For a useful measure of frequency dependence
in terms of signal power we take

This represents the relative gain in dB.

139

Example (a)

(a) Verify that dBm = dBW + 30 dB.

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Example (b)

(b) Show that if |H(f)|dB = -3 dB then

|H(f)|1/2.

141

Transmission loss or attenuation

Any passive transmission medium has power loss rather than

gain, since Pout < Pin
We therefore prefer to work with the transmission loss or
attenuation

Hence

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Attenuation coefficient

In the case of transmission lines, coaxial cables, and

waveguides, the output power decreases exponentially with
distance.
Well write this relation in the form

where l is the path length between source and destination and

is the attenuation coefficient in dB per unit length.
Then

143

Radio transmission

Signal transmission by radiowave propagation can reduce the

required number of repeaters, and has the additional advantage
of eliminating long cables.
Although radio involves modulation processes, it seems
appropriate here to examine the transmission loss for line-of-
sight propagation illustrated in the following figure where the
radio wave travels a direct path from transmitting to receiving
antenna.
This propagation mode is commonly employed for long-
distance communication at frequencies above about 100 MHz.

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Line-of-sight radio transmission

145

Free-space loss

The free-space loss on a line-of-sight path is due to spherical

dispersion of the radio wave.
This loss is given by

in which is the wavelength, the signal frequency, l the

distance (path length), and c the speed of light 3108m/s.
If we express l in kilometers and in gigahertz (109 Hz) then

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Free-space loss(dB) log(path

length)
We see that LdB increases as the logarithm of the path length.
Thus, for instance, doubling the path length (but still in line-
of-sight) increases the loss by only 6 dB. (Prove this as
homework!)
We also see that LdB increases as the logarithm of the
frequency.
Thus, for instance, doubling the frequency increases the loss
by 6 dB.

Note: Here LdB is the free-space line-of-sight attenuation and doubling the
path length can violate this free-space line-of-sight assumption. 147

Antenna gain

Furthermore, directional antennas have a

focusing effect that acts like amplification in
the sense that

where gT and gR represent the antenna gains at

the transmitter and receiver.

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Effective aperture area

The maximum transmitting or receiving gain of an antenna

with effective aperture area Ae is

where c 3 x 108 m/s.

The value of Ae for a horn or dish antenna approximately
equals its physical area, and large parabolic dishes may
provide gains in excess of 60 dB.

149

Example
Satellite relay system shows a transoceanic radio system with a satellite
relay serving as a repeater.
The satellite is about 40000 km from either ground station, and the signal
frequency is 6 GHz.
The satellite has a repeater amplifier with gamp = 80 dB, and the input
power at the ground station is Pin = 100 W .

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Example

Free space loss equation gives the uplink and

downlink path loss

Since we have all the data in dB, we can

compute Pout, by adding gains and subtracting
losses in the following tabulation:

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Example

152
Note: Very small power levels are typical for satellite systems.

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Problem

A 40-km cable system has Pin 2 W and a

repeater with 64-dB gain is inserted 24 km
from the input.
The cable sections have = 2.5dB/km.
Use dB equations to find the signal power at:
(a) the repeaters input;
(b) the final output.

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