Frequency Modulation EL3016 Sistem Komunikasi

In the previous chapter, we studied the different AM technique in which the amplitude of
some carrier signal is modified according to the message signal. The frequency and phase
of the carrier of the carrier signal in all AM modulation techniques were constant. In this
chapter, we will study a different method for transmitting information by changing the
phase or frequency (changing the angle) of the carrier signal and keeping its amplitude
constant.

Instantaneous Frequency
The frequency of a cosine function x(t) that is given by

x(t )  cosct   0 

is equal to c since it is a constant with respect to t, and the phase of the cosine is the
constant 0. The angle of the cosine (t) = ct +0 is a linear relationship with respect
to t (a straight line with slope of c and y–intercept of 0). However, for other sinusoidal
functions, the frequency may itself be a function of time, and therefore, we should not
think in terms of the constant frequency of the sinusoid but in terms of the
INSTANTANEOUS frequency of the sinusoid since it is not constant for all t. Consider
for example the following sinusoid

y(t )  cos (t ),

where (t) is a function of time. The frequency of y(t) in this case depends on the
function of (t) and may itself be a function of time. The instantaneous frequency of y(t)
given above is defined as

d (t )
i (t )  .
dt

As a checkup for this definition, we know that the instantaneous frequency of x(t) is
equal to its frequency at all times (since the instantaneous frequency for that function is
constant) and is equal to c. Clearly this satisfies the definition of the instantaneous
frequency since (t) = ct +0 and therefore i(t) = c.

If we know the instantaneous frequency of some sinusoid from – to some time t, we can
find the angle of that sinusoid at time t using

t
 (t )   i ( )d .


Changing the angle (t) of some sinusoid is the bases for the two types of angle
modulation: Phase and Frequency modulation techniques.

1
Frequency Modulation EL3016 Sistem Komunikasi

Phase Modulation (PM)

In this type of modulation, the phase of the carrier signal is directly changed by the
message signal. The phase modulated signal will have the form

g PM (t )  A  cos ct  k p m (t )  ,

where A is a constant, c is the carrier frequency, m(t) is the message signal, and kp is a
parameter that specifies how much change in the angle occurs for every unit of change of
m(t). The phase and instantaneous frequency of this signal are

PM (t )  c t  k p m (t ),
dm (t )
i (t )  c  k p  c  k p m (t ).
dt

So, the frequency of a PM signal is proportional to the derivative of the message signal.

Frequency Modulation (FM)

This type of modulation changes the frequency of the carrier (not the phase as in PM)
directly with the message signal. The FM modulated signal is

 t

g FM (t )  A  cos ct  k f

 m ( )d   ,


where kf is a parameter that specifies how much change in the frequency occurs for
every unit change of m(t). The phase and instantaneous frequency of this FM are

t
FM (t )  c t  k f  m ( )d  ,


d  
t
i (t )  c  k f   m ( )d    c  k f m (t ).
dt   

Relation between PM and FM

PM and FM are tightly related to each other. We see from the phase and frequency
relations for PM and FM given above that replacing m(t) in the PM signal with
t
dm (t )
 m ( )d  gives an FM signal and replacing m(t) in the FM signal with dt gives a
PM signal. This is illustrated in the following block diagrams.

2
Frequency Modulation EL3016 Sistem Komunikasi

Frequency Modulator (FM)

t  m (t )d  Phase
 ()d 

m(t) Modulator gFM(t)
 (PM)

Phase Modulator (PM)

dm (t )
d () dt Frequency
m(t) Modulator gPM(t)
dt (FM)

3
Frequency Modulation EL3016 Sistem Komunikasi

4
Frequency Modulation EL3016 Sistem Komunikasi

Continuity of the Phase of PM and FM signals

Message signals that are phase or frequency modulated can be classified into
a) continuous signals WITH NO delta functions,
b) discontinuous signals WITH NO delta functions,
c) continuous signals WITH delta functions.
c) discontinuous signals WITH delta functions.
For the above signals, we can summarize the continuity or discontinuity of the phase of
PM and FM signals in the following table.
t
Signal PM (t )  ct  k p m (t ) gPM(t) FM (t )  ct  k f  m ( )d 

gFM(t)

a) Continuous Cont. Continuous Cont.

b) Discontinuous Discont. Continuous Cont.
Cont. with
Cont. with delta Discontinuous WITH NO
c) random phase Discont.
functions delta functions
at deltas
Discont. with
Discont. with delta Discontinuous WITH NO
d) random phase Discont.
functions delta functions
at deltas

Example 1: Sketch the FM signal that results when modulating the message signal m(t)
shown below with kf = 2(2) and c = 2 (10) rad/s.

5
Frequency Modulation EL3016 Sistem Komunikasi

m(t)
2

1 0.3

t
–10 –7 –4 –2 2 4 5 6

–1

–2

fi(t) in Hz 10 10 11 12 12 12 12 14 10 6 6 8 14 14 6 6 10 10 10 10
is equal to

Phase Discontinuity here because of delta in m(t)

Phase Discont. = 0.3*kf = 1.2 rad

Example 2: Sketch the PM signal that results when modulating the message signal m(t)
shown below with kp = 2 and c = 2 (14) rad/s.

To sketch the PM signal, we can compute dm(t)/dt and sketch the frequency modulated
signal when dm(t)/dt is input to an FM block similar to Example 1.

6
Frequency Modulation EL3016 Sistem Komunikasi

m(t)
8

5.2
4

1.5
t
–10 –7 –4 –2 –2 2 3 4 6 7 8

–4

–6.5
–8

dm (t )
 m (t )
dt
8

4 3.7
1.5

–10 –8 –6 –4 –2 2 4 5 6
–1.2
–4

–8

fi(t) in Hz 18 18 14 14 6 6 14 14 16 16 14 14 14 14 12 12 16 16
is equal to

Phase discont. because of discont. in

m(t) [delta function in dm(t)/dt]
Phase discont. because of discont. in
Phase Discont. = 1.5*kp = 3 rad
m(t) [delta function in dm(t)/dt]
Phase Discont. = 3.7*kp = 7.4 rad
Phase discont. because of discont. in
m(t) [delta function in dm(t)/dt]
Phase Discont. = – 1.2*kp = – 2.4 rad

7
Frequency Modulation EL3016 Sistem Komunikasi

Bandwidth of FM and PM Signals

The bandwidth of the different AM modulation techniques ranges from the bandwidth of
the message signal (for SSB) to twice the bandwidth of the message signal (for DSBSC
and Full AM). When FM signals were first proposed, it was thought that their bandwidth
can be reduced to an arbitrarily small value. Compared to the bandwidth of different AM
modulation techniques, this would in theory be a big advantage. It was assumed that a
signal with an instantaneous frequency that changes over of range of f Hz would have
a bandwidth of f Hz. When experiments were done, it was discovered that this was not
the case. It was discovered that the bandwidth of FM signals for a specific message signal
was at least equal to the bandwidth of the corresponding AM signal. In fact, FM signals
can be classified into two types: Narrowband and Wideband FM signals depending on the
bandwidth of each of these signals

Narrowband FM and PM
The general form of an FM signal that results when modulating a signals m(t) is

 t

g FM (t )  A  cos ct  k f

 m ( )d   .


A narrow band FM or PM signal satisfies the condition

| ( )|

For FM and

| ( )|

For PM, where

t
a(t )   m ( )d  ,


such that a change in the message signal does not results in a lot of change in the
instantaneous frequency of the FM signal.

Now, we can write the above as

g FM (t )  A  cos ct  k f a(t ) .

Starting with FM, to evaluate the bandwidth of this signal, we need to expand it using a
power series expansion. So, we will define a slightly different signal

8
Frequency Modulation EL3016 Sistem Komunikasi

gˆ FM (t )  A e j ct k f a (t )  A e j ct e jk f a (t ) .

Remember that

gˆ FM (t )  A  e j ct  k f a (t )  A  cos ct  k f a (t )  jA  sin ct  k f a (t ) ,

so

g FM (t )  Re gˆ FM (t ) .

Now we can expand the term e jk f a (t ) in gˆ FM (t ) , which gives

j c t
 j 2 k f2a 2 (t ) j 3k f3a 3 (t ) j 4 k f4a 4 (t ) 
gˆ FM (t )  A  e  1  jk f a (t )     
 2! 3! 4! 
 k 2a 2 (t ) j c t jk f3a 3 (t ) j ct k f4a 4 (t ) j ct 
 A  e j c t  jk f a (t )e j c t  f e  e  e  
 2! 3! 4! 

Since kf and a(t) are real (a(t) is real because it is the integral of a real function m(t)),
and since Re{ejct} = cos(ct) and Re{ jejct} = –sin(ct), then

g FM (t )  Re gˆ FM (t )
 k f2a 2 (t ) k f3a 3 (t ) k f4a 4 (t ) 
 A  cos(c t )  k f a (t )sin(c t )  cos(c t )  sin(ct )  cos(ct )  
 2! 3! 4! 

The assumption we made for narrowband FM is (| ( )| ). This assumption will

result in making all the terms with powers of k f a (t ) greater than 1 to be small compared
to the first two terms. So, the following is a reasonable approximation for g FM (t )

g FM ( Narrowband ) (t )  A  cos(ct )  k f a(t )sin(ct ) , when | ( )| .

It must be stressed that the above approximation is only valid for narrowband FM signals
that satisfy the condition (| ( )| ). The above signal is simply the addition (or
actually the subtraction) of a cosine (the carrier) with a DSBSC signal (but using a sine as
the carrier). The message signal that modulates the DSBSC signal is not m(t) but its
integration a(t). One of the properties of the Fourier transform informs us that the
bandwidth of a signal m(t) and its integration a(t) (and its derivative too) are the same
(verify this). Therefore, the bandwidth of the narrowband FM signal is

BW FM ( Narrowband )  BW DSBSC  2  BW m (t )  .

9
Frequency Modulation EL3016 Sistem Komunikasi

We will see later that when the condition (kf << 1) is not satisfied, the bandwidth of the
FM signal becomes higher that twice the bandwidth of the message signal. Similar
relationships hold for PM signals. That is

g PM ( Narrowband ) (t )  A  cos(c t )  k p m (t )sin(c t )  , when k p  m (t ) 1,

and
BW PM ( Narrowband )  BW DSBSC  2  BW m (t )  .

Construction of Narrowband Frequency and Phase Modulators

The above approximations for narrowband FM and PM can be easily used to construct
modulators for both types of signals.

kf<<1
t a(t)
m(t)

 ()d  X kf

sin(ct)

–/2  A gFM (NarrowBand)(t)

cos(ct)

Narrowband FM Modulator

kp<<1

m(t) X kp

sin(ct)

–/2  A gPM (NarrowBand)(t)

cos(ct)

10
Frequency Modulation EL3016 Sistem Komunikasi

Narrowband PM Modulator

11