11/18/2024

FREQUENCY MODULATION
PRINCIPLES OF COMMUNICATIONS

FREQUENCY MODULATION
• FM is a system in which the amplitude of the modulated carrier is
kept constant while its frequency and rate of change are varied by the
modulating signal.
• PM is a similar system in which the phase of the carrier is varied
instead of frequency and the amplitude of the carrier remains
constant.
• The amplitude of the frequency modulated wave remains constant at
all times.

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Advantages of FM over AM
• The amplitude of FM wave is constant. Independent of the modulation
depth. All the transmitted power in FM is useful.
• FM receivers can be fitted with amplitude limiters to remove the amplitude
variations caused by noise. Making FM reception more immune to noise.
• Possibility to further increase the deviation. It can exceed 100 percent
modulation without causing severe distortion.
• Standard frequency allocations by CCIR of ITU. Guard band has been
provided between commercial FM stations, for less adjacent-channel
interference.
• Operates in the upper VHF and UHF frequency range, in which lesser noise
than in MF and HF ranges.
• Space wave is used for propagation, radius of operation is limited to slightly
more than the LOS. Possible to operate several independent transmitters
on the same frequency with less interference.

Disadvantages of FM over AM
• A much wider channel is required, up to 10 times as large as that
needed by AM.
• FM transmitters and receivers device are more complex, particularly
for modulation and demodulation.
• The area of reception is limited due to LOS. This may be an
advantages for co-channel allocations but disadvantage for FM mobile
communications over wide area.

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FM
• The deviation of the carrier is proportional to the amplitude of the
modulating voltage.
• DEVIATION RATIO- the shift in the carrier frequency from its resting
point compared to the amplitude of the modulating voltage.
• Deviation ratio of 5 is the maximum allowed in commercially
broadcast FM.
• Deviation Ratio= fdev (max)/fAF (max)

Modulation Index Sidebands

1 3
2 4
3 6
4 7
5 8 maximum

The rate at which the carrier shift from its resting point to a non resting point is determined
by the frequency of the modulating signal.
( The interaction between the amplitude and frequency of the modulating signal on the
carrier is complex and requires the use of Bessel’s functions to analyze the results)

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Modulation Index
• If the frequency deviation of the carrier is known and the frequency
of the modulating voltage AF is known, we can establish the
modulation index, MI.
• 𝑀𝐼 =

System Description
• The general equation of an unmodulated wave or carrier is
• 𝑥 = 𝐴 sin(𝜔𝑡 + 𝜙)
• Where:
x=instantaneous value (of voltage or current)
A=(maximum) amplitude
ω=angular velocity, rad per second
ɸ=phase angle, rad
Note: 𝜔𝑡 represents an angle in radians.

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• If any of the three parameters is varied in accordance with another

signal, normally of a lower frequency, then the second signal is called
the modulation, and the first is said to be modulated by the second.
• AM is achieved when amplitude A is varied.
• Alteration of the phase angle phi will yield phase modulation.
• If the frequency of the carrier is made to vary, FM waves are
obtained.

• It is assumed that the modulating signal is sinusoidal.

• It has two important parameters, its amplitude and frequency. It is
understood that the phase relations of a complex modulation signal
will be preserved.
• FM as defined, the amount by which the carrier frequency is varied
from its unmodulated value, called the deviation, is made
proportional to the instantaneous amplitude of the modulating
voltage. The rate at which this frequency variation changes is equal to
the modulating frequency.

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In FM, all signals having the

same amplitude will
deviate the carrier
frequency by the same
amount.

For example, 45kHz, no

matter what their
frequencies. All signals of the
same frequency, for example,
2 kHz, will deviate the carrier
at the same rate of 2000
times per second, no matter
what their individual
amplitudes.

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FM Representation
• The instantaneous frequency 𝑓 of the frequency modulated wave is,
𝑓 = 𝑓 (1 + 𝑘𝑉 cos 𝜔 𝑡)
• Where:
𝑓 = 𝑢𝑛𝑚𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦
𝑘 = 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡
𝑉 cos 𝜔 𝑡 = 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑒𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑚𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 (cos 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑖𝑛 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠)

The maximum deviation for this particular signal will occur when the cosine term has its maximum value ±1.
Under these conditions, the instantaneous frequency will be
𝑓 = 𝑓 (1 ± 𝑘𝑉 )
That the maximum deviation δ will be given by
𝛿 = 𝑘𝑉 𝑓
The instantaneous amplitude of the FM signal will be given by the formula of the form
𝑣 = 𝐴 sin 𝐹 𝜔 , 𝜔 = 𝐴 sin 𝜃

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FM Voltage
After derivation of the relationship of the angle and vectors, the
instantaneous value of FM voltage becomes:
𝛿
𝑣 = 𝐴 𝑠𝑖𝑛(𝜔 𝑡 + sin 𝜔 𝑡)
𝑓
The modulation index for FM, 𝑚 , is defined as
𝑚𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 𝑑𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝛿
𝑚 = =
𝑚𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 𝑓
Futhermore,
𝑣 = 𝐴 𝑠𝑖𝑛(𝜔 𝑡 + 𝑚 sin 𝜔 𝑡)

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FM
• Note that as the modulating frequency decreases and the modulating
voltage amplitude (δ) remains constant, the modulation index
increases.
• Note as well that 𝑚 which is the ratio of two frequencies, is
measured in radians.

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Example
• In an FM system, when the audio frequency (AF) is 500 Hz and the AF
voltage is 2.4V, the deviation is 4.8 kHz. If the AF voltage is now
increased to 7.2V, what is the new deviation? If the AF voltage is
raised to 10V while the AF is dropped to 200 Hz, what is the
deviation? Find the modulation index in each case.

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Solution
As 𝛿 ∝ 𝑉 we may write
.
= = 2 𝑘𝐻𝑧/𝑉 of modulating signal
.
When 𝑉 = 7.2 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑠
𝛿 = 2𝑥7.2 = 14.4 𝑘𝐻𝑧
Similarly when 𝑉 = 10 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑠
𝛿 = 2𝑥10 = 20 𝑘𝐻𝑧
Note that the change in modulating frequency made no difference to the deviation
since it is independent of the modulating frequency.
Calculation of the modulation indices gives
.
𝑚 = = = 9.6
.
.
𝑚 = = = 28.8
.
𝑚 = = = 100
.
The modulating frequency change did have to be taken into account in the
modulation index calculation.

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Example
• Find the carrier and modulating frequencies, the modulation index
and the maximum deviation of the FM wave represented by the
voltage equation 𝑣 = 12 sin(6𝑥10 𝑡 + 5 sin 1250𝑡). What power
will this FM wave dissipate in a 10 ohm resistor?

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Solution
Comparing the given equation with our previous equation;
𝑣 = 𝐴 sin(𝜔 𝑡 + 𝑚 sin 𝜔 𝑡)
𝑣 = 12 sin(6𝑥10 𝑡 + 5 sin 1250𝑡)
𝑓 = = 95.5 𝑀𝐻𝑧 ; carrier freq
𝑓 = = 199 𝐻𝑧; modulating freq
𝑚 = 5 ; modulation index
𝛿 = 𝑚 𝑓 = 5𝑥199 = 995 𝐻𝑧 ; maximum deviation
( ⁄ )
𝑃= = = 7.2 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑠 ; power dissipated

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• Instantaneous frequency deviation

 Instantaneous change in the frequency of the carrier and is defined as
the first time derivative of the instantaneous phase deviation
instantaneous frequency deviation   '(t ) rad/s
 '(t ) rad/s cycle
or    Hz
2 rad/cycle s

• Instantaneous frequency
 the precise frequency of the carrier at any given instant of time and is
defined as the first time derivative of the instantaneous phase

d
instantaneous frequency  i (t )  c t   (t )
dt
 c   '(t ) rad/s

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• Substituting 2fc for c gives

instantaneous frequency  fi (t )
 rad   cycles 
and i (t )   2  f c    '(t )  2 f c   '(t ) rad/s
 cycle  s 

• Frequency modulation is angle modulation in which the

instantaneous frequency deviation, ’(t), is proportional to the
amplitude of the modulating signal, and the instantaneous
phase deviation is proportional to the integral of the
modulating signal voltage.

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DEVIATION SENSITIVITY
• For modulating signal vm(t), the frequency modulation are
frequency modulation = ’(t) = kfvm(t) rad/s

where kf are constant and are the deviation sensitivities of

the frequency modulator.

• Deviation sensitivities are the output-versus-input transfer

function for the modulators, which gave the relationship
between what output parameter changes in respect to
specified changes in the input signal.

• frequency modulator, rad/s   

kf   
V  V 

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FREQUENCY MODULATION (FM)

• Variation of d/dt produces Frequency Modulation

• Frequency modulation implies that d/dt is
proportional to the modulating signal.
• This yields vFM (t )  Vc sin ct   (t )
 Vc sin c t    '(t )dt 
 
 Vc sin c t   k f vm (t )dt 
 
 Vc sin c t  k f Vm  sin m (t )dt 
 
 k f Vm 
 Vc sin c t  cos m (t ) 
 m 

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FM WAVEFORM

Phase and Frequency modulation ; (a) carrier signal (b) modulating signal
(c) frequency modulated wave (d) phase modulated wave

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• Carrier amplitude remains constant

• Carrier frequency is changed by the modulating signal.
 amplitude of the information signal varies, the carrier frequency shift
proportionately.
 modulating signal amplitude increases, the carrier frequency increases.
 modulating signal amplitude varies, the carrier frequency varies below
and above it normal center or resting, frequency with no modulation.
• The amount of the change in carrier frequency produced by
the modulating signal known as frequency deviation fd.
• Maximum frequency deviation occurs at the maximum
amplitude of the modulating signal.
• The frequency of the modulating signal determines the
frequency deviation rate

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MODULATION INDEX
• Directly proportional to the amplitude of the modulating signal
and inversely proportional to the frequency of the modulating
signal
• Ratio of the frequency deviation and the modulating frequency
• FM equation : vFM (t )  Vc sin c t   cos m (t ) 
•  as modulation index :
f c
mf   
fm
Example:
• Determine the modulation index for FM signal with modulating
frequency is 10KHz deviated by ±10kHz.
 Answer : (20KHz/10KHz) = 2 .0 (unitless)
• The total frequency change, 10kHz x 2 is called the carrier swing =
frequency deviation x 2.

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Example:
• a simple transmitter with an assigned rest frequency of 100MHz
deviated by a ±25kHz, the carrier changes frequency with
modulation between the limits of 99.975MHz and 100.025MHz
• The total frequency change, 25kHz x 2 is called the carrier swing
• Table 1 display the transmission band that use FM and the legal
frequency deviation limit for each category
• Deviation limits are based on the quality of the intended
transmissions, wider deviation results in higher fidelity
• The frequency deviation is a useful parameter for determining the
bandwidth of the FM-signals

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 Table 1 display the transmission band that use FM and the legal
frequency deviation limit for each category

Specifications for transmission of FM signal

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PERCENT MODULATION

• Simply the ratio of the frequency deviation actually

produced to the maximum frequency deviation
allowed by law stated in percent form
f actual
% modulation 
f max

• For example if a given modulating signal produces

±50kHz frequency deviation, and the law stated that
maximum frequency deviation allowed is ±75kHz,
then 50kHz
% modulation =  100  67%
75kHz

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