FDM versus TDM

FDM is the short form of frequency division multiplexing and TDM is the short form of time division multiplexing.
In FDM each signal is modulated onto different unique RF carrier frequency and all carrier frequencies are
separated significantly so that bandwidth of the signals do not overlap in frequency domain.

Fig.1 FDM
As shown in the fig.1 four signal sources are fed into a multiplexer and that each modulates onto different RF
carriers i.e. f1,f2,f3 and f4. To prevent interference between adjacent channels i.e. adjacent channel
interference, each RF carriers are separated by guard bands.
In TDM, more than one digital signals can be carried on single medium for transmission by interleaving each
signals in time.

Fig.2 TDM
As shown in figure 2, four channels each having about 2.4 kbps data rate can accommodate/multiplexed onto a
single line having capacity to carry 9.6kbps using TDM. TDM is not only used for digital signals but also used
for analog signals also.
Combination of TDM and FDM scheme is also possible where in first frequency is divided into number of
channels as required by system and later each channel is further divided into time intervals via TDM