PRINCIPLES OF ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS (4th Edition)

By LOUIS E. FRENZEL JR.

CHAPTER 2

Electronic Fundamentals for Communications

Modulation is the act of modifying a higher frequency signal called a carrier with

the information to be transmitted. The simplest and oldest method of modulation is

amplitude modulation (AM). In AM, the carrier's amplitude is adjusted in response to the

modulating signal's amplitude, wavelength, and other characteristics. The carrier

frequency does not change. The envelope is the amplitude difference of the carrier

peaks that has the form of the modulating signal. The amplitude versus time difference

of AM and other signals is seen in a time-domain display. A modulator is a circuit of two

inputs and an output that produces amplitude modulation.

The carrier and information signals are multiplied by the modulator in a statistical

manner. Their analog product is the production. The modulation index m (m = Vm l Vc)

is the ratio of the modulating signal's peak voltage value Vm to the carrier's peak

voltage value Vc. It's also known as the modulation coefficient, or factor, and the

modulation degree. The optimal value type is 1, but much of the time m is less than 1.

The case where m is greater than 1 should be avoided because it causes extreme

modulating signal distortion. This is referred to as over modulation. The percentage of

modulation is calculated by multiplying the modulation index by 100. From AM

waveforms shown on an oscilloscope, the percentage of modulation can be calculated

Vmin is the minimum peak carrier amplitude.

Sidebands are the new signals generated by the modulation phase that exist at

frequencies above and below the carrier frequency. The upper f USB and lower f LSB

sideband frequencies are the number and variance of the carrier frequency f C and the

modulating frequency f M, respectively, and are calculated using the following

expressions:

A frequency-domain display is a representation of signal amplitudes as a function

of frequency. The carrier signal applied to the sideband signals provided by AM is

known as an AM signal. In an AM signal, the total transmitted power is the sum of the

carrier and sideband powers PT = (PC+PUSB+ PLSB) and is spread among the carrier

and sidebands. The modulation percentage affects the power distribution. The overall

amount of electricity is

while the power in each sideband is

The larger the sideband strength and the smoother and more understandable the

transmitted and received signal, the higher the percentage of modulation. Despite its

ease of use and efficacy, AM is a very inefficient modulation process. The carrier in an

AM signal is devoid of any detail. The sideband is the only place where information is

sent. As a result, the carrier will be silenced and not broadcast. A double-sideband
(DSB) signal is an AM signal with a suppressed carrier. Since the transmitted

information is the same in both the upper and lower sidebands, one is redundant. Only

one sideband is needed to transmit complete information. A single-sideband (SSB)

signal is an AM signal with no carrier and just one sideband. The detail on the upper

and lower sidebands is same, and neither is favored. The primary benefit of an SSB AM

signals over an AM or DSB signal is that it takes up half the spectrum space. In terms of

power consumption, both DSB and SSB signals are more powerful. The fuel that would

have been lost in the useless carrier is spared, allowing more power to be allocated to

the sidebands. Peak envelope power (PEP), the power generated on voice peaks, is

used to score the power in an SSB transmitter. The expression is used to calculate PEP

output, where PEP is in watts and V is the rms voltage around the antenna.

The PEP input is calculated using the expression, where Vs denotes the final amplifier

stage's de supply voltage and Imax denotes the amplifier's peak current.

An SSB transmitter's average output is around a quarter to a third of the PEP

volume. Frequency conversion is a form of AM that is used to convert signals to higher

or lower frequencies for better transmission. A circuit known as a mixer or converter

performs frequency conversion. The mixer multiplies the input signal by a local oscillator

signal in analog mode. Any modulation (AM, PM, etc.) on the input is diligently

preserved throughout the frequency conversion process. The modulation is the same in

the interpreted signal. The local oscillator signal fo, as well as the number and deviation
frequencies of the local oscillator and input frequencies, are the outputs of a mixer. A

filter selects either the total or difference frequency, while the others are rejected.

Heterodyning is the term for the mixing phase.