ELC 224 – Electric Communications
Introduction to
Communication Systems
Lecturer: Dr. Reham Samir
References
Behrouz A. Forouzan “Data Communication and
Networking” (5th Edition), McGraw Hill International
Edition, 2015.
B.P. Lathi, “Modern Digital and Analog
Communication Systems” (3rd Edition), Oxford
University Press, 1998.
Communication System Block Diagram
Communication System Block Diagram
The components of a communication system are as follows:
The source originates a message, such as a human voice, a television
picture.
If the data is nonelectrical (human voice, television picture), it must
be converted by an input transducer into an electrical waveform
referred to as the baseband signal or message signal.
The transmitter modifies the baseband signal for efficient
transmission.
The channel is a medium such as wire, coaxial cable, a waveguide,
an optical fiber, or a radio link through which the transmitter output is
sent.
Communication System Block Diagram
The receiver reprocesses the signal received from the channel by
undoing the signal modifications made at the transmitter and the
channel.
The receiver output is fed to the output transducer, which converts
the electrical signal to its original form (the message).
Modulation
Baseband signals produced by various information sources are not
always suitable for direct transmission over a given channel.
These signals are usually further modified at the transmitter to
facilitate transmission. This conversion process is known as
modulation.
At the receiver, the modulated signal must pass through a reverse
process called demodulation in order to reconstruct the baseband
signal.
In the process of modulation, the baseband signal is used to modify
some parameter of a high-frequency carrier signal.
Modulation
The carrier and the baseband signal may be compared to a stone
and a piece of paper. If we wish to throw a piece of paper, it cannot
go too far by itself. But by wrapping it around a stone (a carrier), it
can be thrown over a longer distance.
Carrier
A carrier is a sinusoid of high frequency, and one of its parameters
such as amplitude, frequency, or phase is varied in proportion to the
baseband signal.
Accordingly, we have amplitude modulation (AM), frequency
modulation (FM), or phase modulation (PM).
In AM, the carrier amplitude varies in proportion to base band signal
m(t) , and in FM, the carrier frequency varies in proportion m(t).
Modulation
Carrier signal
Modulating (base band) signal
Amplitude-modulated wave
Frequency-modulated wave
Modulation
Important reasons for modulation are:
Modulation reduces antenna size.
We modulate a high-frequency carrier, thus translating the signal
spectrum to the region of carrier frequencies that corresponds to a much
smaller wavelength then a smaller radiating antenna size.
Modulation Increases the range of communication
The low frequency baseband signals are hard to transmit at large
distance.
The energy of a signal depends upon its frequency. So the greater the
frequency, the greater the distance of transmission.
Modulation
Important reasons for modulation are:
Modulation allows simultaneous transmission of several Signals
(allows multiplexing)
If Several radio stations broadcast audio baseband signals directly,
without any modification, they would interfere with each other.
Thus, it would be possible to broadcast from only one radio or television
station at a time but this is wasteful.
We can use various audio signals to modulate different carrier
frequencies, thus translating each signal to a different frequency range.
