Adama Science and Technology University

School of Electrical Engineering and Computing

Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering

ECEg- 3202

Chapter Five: Noise in Amplitude Modulation Sytems

June 4, 2024

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Outlines

1 Introduction

2 Noisy Receiver Model

3 Noise in AM DSB-FC Receivers

4 Threshold Effect

5 Noise in AM DSB-SC Receivers

6 Noise in AM SSB-SC Receivers

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Introduction

Key Characteristics of analog communication systems:

Time-domain and frequency-domain representations of modulated
signals.
Bandwidth requirements.
Power content of modulated signals.
Implementation of modulators and demodulators.
Effect of Noise:
Angle-modulation systems (especially FM) offer high noise immunity.
Ideal for severe noise conditions or low signal power scenarios.
Angle-modulation systems require higher bandwidth compared to
amplitude-modulation systems.
Noise immunity comes at the cost of increased channel bandwidth.

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Introduction

Determine the SNR of the receiver output for demodulated

amplitude-modulated (AM) signals.
Assess the impact of noise on different types of analog-modulated
signals.
Compare the noise effect on analog-modulated signals with that on
equivalent baseband communication systems.
Begin by evaluating the effect of noise on a baseband system.

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Noisy Receiver Model

Main function : to recover the message from the received signal.

Some what inverse of the transmitter function
Demodulate, decode and extract the information content of the
received signal. Operates in the presence of noise, interference,
attenuation
Hence, some distortions are unavoidable Some other functions:
filtering, suppression of noise and interference
Error detection and correction.

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Noisy Receiver Model. . . .

Signal Impairment occurs due to

Attenuation: Loss of energy due to resistance of medium.
Distortion: The signal changes its form due to the differing
propagating speed of each of the frequencies that make up a signal.
Noise: External or internal environment that corrupts a signal.
Noise Level Factors
Temperature and Bandwidth
Amount of current flowing in a component
Gain of the circuit
Resistance of the circuit

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Signal Impairment

Limited by: equipment capability, cost, government restrictions,

interference with other channels, etc.
The psd of the noise n(t) N20 ,

defined for both positive and

negative frequencies.
N0 is the average noise power per
unit bandwidth measured at the
receiver.
Higher N0 leads to higher received
power (PR ) and higher SNR.
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Noisy Receiver Model. . . .
The filtered noise n(t) can be represented in its canonical form:

n(t) = nI (t) cos(2πfc t) − nQ (t) sin(2πfc t)

Where,nI (t): In-phase noise component, nQ (t): Quadrature noise

component
Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR)
The SNR is used to measure the quality of a system.
It indicates the strength of the signal relative to the noise power in the
system.
 
PS PS
SNR = , SNRdB = 10 log10 = 10 log10 PS − 10 log10 PN
PN PN
Where:
PN = k · T · B
PN is the thermal noise power, k: Boltzmann’s constant, T :
Temperature, B: Bandwidth.
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Noisy Receiver Model. . . .

Figure of Merit
Indicates the noise performance of the receiver.
Formula:
(SNR)o
Figure of Merit =
(SNR)c
Interpretation:
Higher Value: Better noise performance.
Value = 1: Indicates ideal performance.
Value < 1: Indicates performance degradation.
Value > 1: Indicates performance improvement.

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Noisy Receiver Model. . . .

Baseband System:
No demodulator
Receiver: Lowpass filter with bandwidth W
Noise Power:
Noise power at the output of the receiver is
ˆ W
No
Pno = df = No W
W 2

Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR):

Denote received power by PR
Baseband SNR:
PR
SNR =
No W

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Noise in AM DSB-FC Receivers

Given the standard equation for AM wave:

s(t) = Ac (1 + ka m(t)) cos(2πfc t)

Expanded form of AM wave:

s(t) = Ac cos(2πfc t) + Ac ka m(t) cos(2πfc t)
Average signal power of AM wave:
A2c A2 k 2 P A2 (1 + ka2 P)
Ps = + c a = c
2 2 2
where P is the power of the message signal.
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Noise in AM DSB-FC Receivers, . . .
Average power of noise in the message bandwidth is
P n o = No W
Channel Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) for AM Wave:
Average Power of AM Wave
(SNR)C ,AM =
Average Power of noise in message bandwidth

A2c (1 + ka2 P)
(SNR)C ,AM =
2N0 W
The input to the AM demodulator is:
v (t) = Ac (1 + ka m(t)) cos(2πfc t)+[nI (t) cos(2πfc t)−nQ (t) sin(2πfc t)]
After simplification, the input becomes:
v (t) = [Ac + Ac ka m(t) + nI (t)] cos(2πfc t) − nQ (t) sin(2πfc t)
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Noise in AM DSB-FC Receivers, . . .
The output of the AM demodulator is the envelope of the input
signal, given by:
q
d(t) = [Ac + Ac ka + nI (t)]2 + (nQ (t))2

Assuming average carrier power ≫ average noise power, the output

can be approximated as:

d(t) ≈ Ac + Ac ka + nI (t)
2 2
Average power of the demodulated signal: Pm = A2Nc koaWP
Average power of noise at the output:Pno = N0 W
Channel Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) for AM Demodulator:

A2c ka2 P
(SNR)O,AM =
2N0 W
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Noise in AM DSB-FC Receivers, . . .

Figure of merit of AM Receiver:

(SNR)O,AM ka2 P
FAM = =
(SNR)C ,AM 1 + ka2 P

the Figure of merit of AM receiver is less than one.

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Threshold Effect

It is defined as the value of input signal to noise ratio below which the
output signal to noise ratio decreases much rapidly than the input
signal to noise ratio.
It is loss of message signal in the output of the envelope detector due
to low carrier-to-noise ratio.
It occurs due to presence of large noise and therefore causes loss in
the message signal.
When the noise is very large as compared to the input at envelope
detector, the message signal at the output is mixed with noise.

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Noise in AM DSB-SC Receivers

The amplitude of the locally generated sinusoidal wave is assumed to

be unity.
For the demodulation scheme to operate satisfactorily, it is necessary
that the local oscillator be synchronized both in phase and in
frequency with the oscillator generating the carrier wave in the
transmitter. We assume that this synchronization has been achieved.

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Noise in AM DSB-SC Receivers

Standard equation for DSBSC modulated wave:

s(t) = Ac m(t) cos(2πfc t)
m(t) is the message signal with a stationary process of zero mean,
and its power spectral density SM (f ) is limited to a maximum
frequency W , i.e., W is the message bandwidth.
A2c P
Average power of DSBSC modulated wave: Ps = 2
Average power of noise in the message bandwidth: Pnc = WN0
Channel Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) for DSBSC Modulated Wave:

Average Power of DSBSC Modulated Wave

(SNR)C ,DSBSC =
Average Power of noise in message bandwidth

A2c P
=
2N0 W

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Noise in AM DSB-SC Receivers. . . .

The input to the product demodulator is given by:

v1 (t) = Ac m(t) cos(2πfc t) + [nI (t) cos(2πfc t) − nQ (t) sin(2πfc t)]

After simplification, it becomes:

v1 (t) = [Ac m(t) + nI (t)] cos(2πfc t) − nQ (t) sin(2πfc t)

The local oscillator generates the carrier signal c(t) = cos(2πfc t).
This signal is applied as another input to the product demodulator.
Therefore, the output of the product demodulator is the product of
v1 (t) and c(t), given by:

v2 (t) = v1 (t) · c(t)

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Noise in AM DSB-SC Receivers. . . .
After multiplying v1 (t) and c(t), the output v2 (t) becomes:
v2 (t) = ([Ac m(t) + nI (t)] cos(2πfc t) − nQ (t) sin(2πfc t)) cos(2πfc t)
v2 (t) = ([Ac m(t) + nI (t)] cos2 (2πfc t) − nQ (t) sin(2πfc t) cos(2πfc t))
[Ac m(t) + nI (t)] nQ (t)
v2 (t) = − sin(4πfc t)
1 + cos(4πfc t) 2
When this signal is applied as an input to a low-pass filter, the output
becomes:
[Ac m(t) + nI (t)]
d(t) =
2
Average power of the demodulated signal:
A2c P
Pm =
8
Average power of noise at the output:
WN0
Pno =
4
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Noise in AM DSB-SC Receivers. . . .

Channel Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) for DSBSC Demodulator:

A2c P
(SNR)O,DSBSC =
2N0 W

(SNR)O,DSBSC
FDSBSC = =1
(SNR)C ,DSBSC
Therefore, the Figure of Merit of the DSBSC receiver is 1.

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Noise in AM SSB-SC Receivers

The SSBSC modulated wave with the lower sideband is given by:
 
Am Ac fm t
s(t) = cos 2πfc t −
2 2
Average power of DSBSC modulated wave:
A2c A2m
Ps =
8
Average power of noise in the message bandwidth:

Pnc = WNo

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Noise in AM SSB-SC Receivers. . . .
Channel Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) for SSBSC:
Average Power of SSB-SC Modulated Wave
(SNR)C ,SSBSC =
Average Power of Noise in Message Bandwidth
A2m A2c
=
8N0 W
Input of product demodulator:
v1 (t) = s(t) + n(t)
Am Ac
v1 (t) = cos(2πfc t − fm t) + nI (t) cos(2πfc t) − nQ (t) sin(2πfc t)
2
Substituting v1 (t) values:
1
v2 (t) = (Am Ac cos(2πfc t − fm t) cos(2πfc t) + nI (t) cos2 (2πfc t)
2

−nQ (t) sin(2πfc t) cos(2πfc t))

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Noise in AM SSB-SC Receivers. . . .
Output signal after multiplication with the local oscillator:
 
Am cos(2πfc − fm )t cos(2πfm t) nI (t)
v2 (t) = + +
Ac 4 4 1 + cos(4πfc t)/2
nQ (t) sin(4πfc t)
−
2
Output of the low pass filter:
 
Am nI (t) cos(2πfm t)
d(t) = +
Ac 2 4
Average power of the demodulated signal:
A2m A2c
Pm =
32
Average power of noise at the output:
WN0
Pno =
4
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Demodulation Process and SNR Calculation

Channel Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) for SSBSC Demodulation:

A2m A2c
(SNR)O,SSBSC =
8WN0
Figure of merit of SSBSC receiver:

FSSBSC = 1

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Receiver Figure of Merit(DSB-FC,DSB-SC,SSB)

The figure of merit of a DSB-SC receiver or that of an SSB receiver

using coherent detection is always unity.
However, the corresponding figure of merit of an AM (DSB FC)
receiver using envelope detection is less than unity.
In other words, the noise performance of an AM receiver is always
inferior to that of a DSB-SC receiver.
This is primarily due to the wastage of transmitter power resulting
from transmitting the carrier as the component of the AM wave.

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 Thank You

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