21ECC302T – Analog and Digital

Communication
Course Credit : 3
Theory : 9 Hours

1. Singh. R. P & Sapre. S. D,“Communication Systems:Analog & Digital,” 3rd edition, McGrawHill
Education, Seventh Reprint, 2016.

2.Simon Haykin,“Communication Systems”, John Wiley & Sons, 4th Edition, 2008
Course Outline
1. Analog
Modulation

5. Information 2. Radio
theory Concepts Transmitters and
Receivers

ADC

4. Passband Data 3. Digital Modulation

Transmission System and Baseband
Detection
Unit 2 – Radio transmitters and Receivers
• AM transmitter : Low Level, ▪ Tuned Radio Frequency receiver
High level transmitter ▪ Super-heterodyne receiver- AM
• FM transmitter – Direct Method ▪ Super-heterodyne receiver- FM
• FM transmitter – Indirect ▪ Sources of Noise
Method ▪ Noise in AM (Envelope Detector)
• Classification of radio receiver, ▪ Noise in FM
Functions and Characteristics
▪ Threshold effect, Pre-emphasis
of radio receivers and De-emphasis
Introduction:
Radio
Receivers
Introduction: Radio Receivers
Radio receiver is a electronic device which picks up any desired radio
frequency signal and recovers baseband signal from it
Introduction: A M Re c e i v e r s
• Converts AM modulated wave to original message signal
• Types of Receivers:
1. Tuned Radio Receiver (TRF) receiver.
2. Super heterodyne Receiver
Introduction: A M Receivers
Interception
Functions of a Receiver
➢ Interception Selection

➢ Selection RF Amplification

➢ R.F. Amplification Detection

➢ Detection
Audio
➢ Audio Amplification Amplification

➢ Reproduction Reproduction
 Introduction: A M Receivers
Functions of a Receiver
➢ Interception

• The function is performed by a receiving antenna(small conductor).The radio

waves coming from various transmitting stations arrive at this antenna

• Radio waves contain electrical energy in the form of an electromagnetic wave.

When this electro magnetic wave is intercepted by the receiving antenna , a
voltage is induced in it.

• A single antenna intercepts radio waves of all carrier frequencies.

 Introduction: A M Receivers
Functions of a Receiver
➢ Selection

• Process by which the receiver selects a particular desired carrier frequency and
rejects others so that at any time a signal from only one is received.

• Tank circuit performs selection. The resonant frequency of the circuit can be
changed with the help of a variable capacitor or inductor

• Though large no.of modulated carriers from various transmitters is intercepted,

only one frequency gets selected
 Introduction: A M Receivers
Functions of a Receiver
➢ R.F. Amplification

• The selected carrier is amplified by a class of C tuned amplifier

• Necessary to raise the voltage level so that linear diode detector following this
stage may operate in linear region

• Increased carrier voltage also suppresses the effect of noise

➢ Detection

• Process of recovering a baseband signal from a modulated carrier

 Introduction: A M Receivers
Functions of a Receiver
➢ Audio Amplification

• The detected audio signal is further amplified so that it can drive the speaker.

• Consist of R-C coupled amplifier followed by a class B push pull power

amplifier
➢ Reproduction

• Process by which the electrical signal is converted into a desired physical

message

• In a commercial broadcast receiver, the output of the audio amplifier is fed into
a speaker that produces sound according to the input audio signal
Introduction: A M Receivers
Characteristics of a Receiver
➢ Selectivity

➢ Sensitivity

➢ Fidelity
 Introduction: A M Receivers
Characteristics of a Receiver
➢ Selectivity

• Selectivity is receiver’s ability between two

adjacent carrier frequencies.
• This feature tells us how perfectly the receiver is
able to select the desired carrier frequency and reject
the others.
• Selectivity depends on the sharpness of the
resonance curve of tuned circuits involved in the
receiver.
• Sharper the resonance curve , the better the
selectivity. 𝑓𝑐
• Better selectivity means capability to reject Q=
𝐵𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑤𝑖𝑑𝑡ℎ
undesired signals.
• Sharpness of the curve depends on Q of
resonance circuit. Q↑ → Selectivity ↑
 Introduction: A M Receivers
Characteristics of a Receiver
➢ Sensitivity

• The ability of a receiver to detect the weakest possible signal is known as sensitivity .A
receiver with a good sensitivity will provide more output for similar input signal as against the
poor sensitivity.
• The sensitivity of a receiver is decided by the gain of its amplifying stages.

➢Fidelity
• Fidelity of a receiver is its ability to reproduce the exact replica of the transmitted signals
at the receiver output.
• The amplifier must pass high bandwidth signals to amplify the frequencies of the
outermost sidebands, while for better selectivity the signal should have narrow bandwidth.
T RF Rec ei ver(o r) Strai g ht rec ei ver
Block diagram of TRF Receiver

➢ No mixing of frequencies
➢ Incoming signal is first amplified in one or more tuned RF amplifier stage
➢ Increases magnitude of signal and improves sensitivity of the receiver
➢ Amplified signals are then fed to detector to reobtain the original modulation frequency signal
➢ Modulation frequency is further amplified by audio amplifier
Limitations
➢ With too many stages, circuit becomes too selective and has lower fidelity

➢ Selectivity decreases as carrier frequency increases

Superheterodyne Receiver

➢ Limitations of TRF receiver is overcome by Superheterodyne receivers

➢ Heterodyne means to mix. Heterodyne reception involves simple change or
translation of carrier frequency
➢ Frequency translation is achieved by mixing carrier frequency(𝑓𝑐 ) with locally
generated high frequency (𝑓𝑙 )
➢ Mixer is also known as first detector. Mixer generates the sum and difference of
𝑓𝑐 and 𝑓𝑙 at the output
➢ The difference of frequency (𝑓𝑙 - 𝑓𝑐 ) is selected by properly tuned circuit and this
frequency is known as Intermediate frequency (IF) (𝑓𝑖 )
Superheterodyne Receiver
➢ Superheterodyne or Double detection receiver- Frequency conversion takes
place once before detection
➢ Double superheterodyne or Triple detection receiver- Frequency conversion
takes place twice before detection
➢ 𝑓𝑖 for commercial radio receivers is fixed to 455KHz
➢ Advantages- After mixer succeeding stages operate on fixed frequency, 𝑓𝑖
➢ Design becomes simple
➢ Improved performance
Superheterodyne Receiver

Block diagram of Superheterodyne Receiver

Stages of Superheterodyne Receiver
➢ RF Amplifier
• Class C tuned amplifier
• Main functions are
• Amplification of received radio frequency to provide better sensitivity and improve SNR
• Rejection of unwanted signals to improve selectivity
• Rejection of image signals
• Image Signal
❖ This is a signal whose frequency (𝑓𝑐 ’ ) is above local oscillator (LO) frequency (𝑓𝑐 ) by
same amount as desired frequency

❖𝑓𝑐 is below 𝑓𝑙 by an amount 𝑓𝑖 . The image signal 𝑓𝑐′ is above 𝑓𝑙 by same amount 𝑓𝑖 .
Stages of Superheterodyne Receiver
❖ Image signal 𝑓𝑐′ is 2𝑓𝑖 more than desired carrier signal.
❖ When this reaches mixer, it produces same IF as produced by 𝑓𝑐
❖ 𝑓𝑙 - 𝑓𝑐 =𝑓𝑖 and 𝑓𝑐′ - 𝑓𝑙 = 𝑓𝑖
❖ Spurious IF (𝑓𝑐′ ) signal is also amplified by IF amplifier and produces
interference in the receiver output.

❖RF amplifier add one more tuned circuit per stage to attenuate the image
frequency.
Stages of Superheterodyne Receiver
➢ Mixer
• Non-linear device that mixes the incoming
signal of 𝑓𝑐 with 𝑓𝑙 and produces 𝑓𝑖
• Mixer produces 𝑓𝑙 ± 𝑓𝑐
• Desired IF 𝑓𝑙 - 𝑓𝑐 is selected by tuned circuit
known as Intermediate frequency
transformer (IFT)
• IFT is tuned by adjusting core of the
transformer known as inductive tuning
Separately excited Mixer
• Separately excited mixers → separate
devices for mixing and generating local
oscillator voltage
• Self excited mixer → single device as mixer
and local oscillator. Also called as frequency
convertors
Stages of Superheterodyne Receiver
❖ Self excited Mixer Frequency
Converter

• No RF amplifier stage in receiver

• Incoming signal applied to base of
transistor
• LO voltage develops across
emitter of the same transistor
• Tuning capacitors are ganged
together (mounted on same
rotating shaft) to provide single
dial tuning
Self excited Mixer
Stages of Superheterodyne Receiver
➢ Tracking and Alignment
• Ganged capacitor forms a mechanically coupled system for simultaneous tuning of a number
of resonant circuits by a single knob.
• Front end circuits (RF circuit and mixer) are tuned to incoming 𝑓𝑐 .
• LO has to be tuned to a frequency higher than 𝑓𝑐 by 𝑓𝑖 (simultaneously done by ganged
capacitor).
• The LO coil has less inductance than the coil of RF section to achieve tracking i.e. to keep
𝑓𝑖 = 𝑓𝑙 – 𝑓𝑐
• Tracking is done such that the difference frequency matches IF at two points along the dial,
allowing some errors along rest of the dial (Tracking error).
• The precise alignment of tuned circuit to achieve zero tracking error at two points along the
dial is known as two point tracking.
• Possible to precisely align the tuned circuits at 3 points along the dial by including series
capacitance (padder) and shunt capacitor (Trimmer)
• Process is known as three point tracking
Stages of Superheterodyne Receiver
➢ Local Oscillator (LO)
• Type of LO depends on operating frequency, tuning range and stability
• Superheterodyne receives up to 36MHz use mostly Armstrong or Hartely
Oscillator
• LO frequency (𝑓𝑙 ) is always kept higher than 𝑓𝑐 by 𝑓𝑖 for following reasons
• (a) Maximum to minimum capacitance ratio of the two sections (signal and LO)
of the ganged capacitor is quite close. For medium wave (550KHz –
1650KHz), the max to min capacitance ratio required by signal section of the
ganged capacitor is

• When 𝑓𝑙 is kept higher, ratio is

Stages of Superheterodyne Receiver
• Ganged capacitor with identical sections serves the purpose of tuning the front end as well as
LO circuit
• If LO kept lower, the ratio required is

• Ratio is beyond the limit imposed by tuning capacitor of signal section and cannot be covered
by the oscillator in one sweep
• Ganged capacitor with identical sections will not serve the purpose

• (b) Tracking errors can be reduced to great extent by keeping constant ratio of 𝑓𝑙 to 𝑓𝑐 . Ratio
varies between 1005/550= 1.83 and 2105/1650= 1.28 for medium wave when 𝑓𝑙 is kept above
𝑓𝑐 . The ratio varies between 550/95= 5.79 and 1650/1195= 1.38 when 𝑓𝑙 is below 𝑓𝑐 . Variation
in former case is small compared to latter.
Stages of Superheterodyne Receiver
➢ IF Amplifier
• Tuned voltage amplifiers and provides most of receiver gain. More than one stage may be used
to improve sensitivity. The output appears across a tuned transformer circuit.
• n stages of IF amplifier need n+1 IF transformers
Choice of IF
For commercial AM receivers, 𝑓𝑖 = 455KHz. It is chosen as a compromise between 2 factors:
(i) For proper adjacent channel selectivity and easy tracking 𝑓𝑖 should be low.
(ii) For Image frequency rejection, 𝑓𝑖 should be high.
For channel selectivity, 𝑓𝑖 should be low. Low 𝑓𝑖 need lower Q.
For 𝑓𝑖 = 455KHz , baseband frequency 10KHz,
For 𝑓𝑖 = 10MHz ,
Design of tuned ciruit with such high Q is impractical. Thus, fi should be low for proper selectivity.
A low fi makes the difference between signal and Lo frequency small, making the tracking easy.
Stages of Superheterodyne Receiver
• For image rejection, 𝑓𝑖 should be large
𝑓𝑐′ = 𝑓𝑐 + 2 𝑓𝑖
𝑓𝑐′ / 𝑓𝑐 = 1+(2 𝑓𝑖 / 𝑓𝑐 )
• If 𝑓𝑖 is kept large, the image signal can be easily rejected.
• At short waves, the image signal rejection become poor due to double spotting
(Signals from same short wave station is picked at two nearby points on the
receiver tuning dial).
• Double spotting can be avoided by having good selectivity to reject image
signal.
Stages of Superheterodyne Receiver
➢ Second Detector
• Linear diode detector is used because
of its simple circuit and low cost.
• To keep the receiver output constant
with time for any variations in input
voltage, automatic voltage control
(AVC) bias is obtained from this
stage.
• Variations in input voltage occurs due
to fading or when the receiver is
tuned from one station to another
having different signal strength. AVC
eliminates the effects of these
variations.
Stages of Superheterodyne Receiver
➢ Second Detector
• Linear diode detector is used because of its simple circuit and low cost.
• To keep the receiver output constant with time for any variations in input voltage,
automatic voltage control (AVC) bias is obtained from this stage.
• Variations in input voltage occurs due to fading or when the receiver is tuned
from one station to another having different signal strength. AVC eliminates the
effects of these variations.
➢ Audio Amplifier
• RC coupled voltage amplifier followed by push pull power amplifier.
• Fidelity of receiver is determined by the frequency response characteristics of this
stage.
Double Superheterodyne Receiver

➢ Desired signal is reduced by first mixer to first IF amplifier is of high value ( 2

to 7 MHz)
➢ Second mixer heterodynes first IF signal to second IF to suitably low value
➢ Frequency heterodyning is done twice
➢ 3 detection process is performed
FM Receiver
➢ The function is to intercept the FM signal incoming from and FM transmitter
and recover the original modulating signal.
FM Receiver
➢ RF Amplifier
• Amplifies the radio signal. FM uses RF range 40MHz to 1GHZ for various
applications like FM broadcasting, police radio etc. RF amplifier also
rejects image signal as in AM receivers.
➢ Frequency mixer and Local oscillator
• Separate active devices are used for mixer and LO as frequency involved
is VHF and UHF. The IF of FM receiver is much higher than FM, IF
=10.7MHz.
➢ IF Amplifier
• Amplifies the intermediate frequency signals. It comprises multistage
double-tuned or stagger tuned amplifiers to provide high gain and overall
BW (150KHz).
FM Receiver
➢ Limiter
• Keeps the IF amplifier output
voltage constant to a pre-
determined value and
removes the amplitude
fluctuations due to noise.
• Essential because FM
detector needs constant
amplitude FM voltage at
input for satisfactory
operations.
• As the input increase, the
bias at CS increases and gain
of amplifier is reduced to
keep output voltage constant.
FM Receiver
➢ FM detector
• Recovers modulating signal from IF signal. De-emphasis circuit does the
inverse job of pre-emphasis circuit.
• The high modulating frequency boosted by pre-emphasis are brought back
to original amplitude level by de-emphasis circuit.
➢ AF Amplifier and Speaker
• Amplifies the audio frequency modulating signal recovered by FM
detector.
• The loudspeaker converts the electrical signal to the sound signal.