ENS/ELT466

TelecommunicationSystemsLab
(formerlyTelecommunications&Networks)
Fall2013
Week1 Sept.3

Part0:AbouttheCourse
TelecommunicationSystemsLab(ENS466)
Fall2013
Week1 Sept.3

LetMeIntroduceMyself
Dr.MarkFeuer
Office:1N231
Email:mark.feuer@csi.cuny.edu
Phone:(718)9822808
Officehours:Tue1:302:30pm,Thu10:30am12:00n
Background:
AT&TLabs Research,JDSUniphaseResearch
(fiberopticcommunicationsystems&networks)
BellLabs
(highspeedtransistors&ICsinIIIVsemiconductors)
YaleUniversity
(superconductingdevices)

MyExperienceasaProfessor
islimited.
AdjunctatColumbiaUniv.,20112013
Lightwave Systems,Lightwave Devices
ENS466willbemyfirst:(a)labcourse;(b)undergradcourse
Please:
Ifsomethingisntclear,askaquestion!
Comeseemeatofficehours(previousslide)
Ialsowelcomeyoursuggestionsonthecourse

ENS/ELT466CourseMechanics

Onelecture/labsessioneachTuesday;5:3010:50pm;

Weeklylabreports/homeworkassignmentsaredueatthebeginningofthe
nextclass

Assignmentswilllose10%iftheyareoneweeklate(orless),20%iftheyare
morethanoneweeklate.

3labteams(2+3+3)

Eachindividualmustwritetheirownlabreports/homework nocopying,
please!

Recommendedreference E.BryanCarne,TelecommunicationsPrimer,(2nd
ed.,PrenticeHall,1999,ISBN0130221554)

Lecturenotes&supplementaryreadingspostedonBlackboard

Midtermquiz

Finalexam

Grading:40%forlabassts/homework+25%formidterm+35%forfinal

CourseTopics
Circuits

Systems

oscillators

Signaltonoise

demodulators

Spectralefficiency

Phaselocked
loops

Multipleaccess

Media

Modulationformats

copperwire

amplitude

frequency

radio

phase

quadrature

opticalfiber

polarization
MIMO

Tools
LabView/Multisim
oscilloscopes
breadboards
RFspectrum
analyzers
signalgenerators
GRF3300RFtrainer
EC796digitaltrainer
fibersplicer

Part1:TelecomBasics
TelecommunicationSystemsLab(ENS466)
Fall2013
Week1 Sept.3

WhatisCommunication?
Communicationistheprocessoftransferring
informationfromoneplacetoanother.

Acommunicationsystem isanassembly
oftechnologyelementsdesignedto
performcommunication.
(notnecessarilyhightech)

Moderncommunicationssystemsincludetelephones(wired&wireless),broadcast
radio,Ethernet/WiFi localareanetworks(LANs),theInternet,andUSBconnections,
tonameafew.

Tele=Distant
Althoughshipssignalflagscouldbeconsideredtelecommunication,theeraof
moderntelecommunicationssystemsbeginsin1839withthefirstcommercial
telegraph.By1872,telegraphcablesreachedacrossAmericaandtheAtlantic,aswell
astoIndiaandAustralia.

Thistelegraphsethasakeyto
transmitandanelectromagnet
clickertoreceivemessagesfrom
theremotestation.

Thetelegraphwasquicklyfollowedbytelephoneandradio,withfiberopticsand
packetnetworks(e.g.,theInternet)appearinginthelate20th century.
Distantisarelativeterm manyofthetechniqueswewillcoverinthecourseare
usedinshortlinks,suchasWiFi,aswell.

Today GlobalIsRoutine

Thesearetheworldssubmarinelightwave systemsasof2009.
NoteconnectionstoGreenlandandMadagascar.
Terrestrialcablesaremuchmorenumerous,andcapacitiesaremuchgreater.

Signal

AGenericCommunicationSystem

Time

Message
toSend

Transmitter
(Tx)

Channel

Receiver
(Rx)

Received
Message

Typicalmessages includevoicesignals,pictures,video,bankrecords,sensordata,
controlmessages anendlessvariety.
Typicalchannels includecopperwires,opticalfibers,andradio.
Transmitterandreceiveraredesignedtoworkwiththeexpectedchannel
characteristicstodeliverafaithfulcopyofthemessage.
3practicallimitationsconstraintheperformanceofallcommunicationsystems:
finitebandwidth;
noise;
distortion.

SystemBandwidth
Bandwidth describesasystemsabilitytotransmitmessagesatdifferentfrequencies.
Forexample,apairofaudioheadphonesmayhaveabandwidth(a.k.a.frequency
response)of4020,000Hz.

Signal

fsignal within
systemBW

Time
Message
toSend

Transmitter
(Tx)

Channel

Receiver
(Rx)

Received
Message

Signal

fsignal exceeds
systemBW

Time

Asystemwithlargebandwidthcantransmitmoredataperunittimethanasystem
withsmallerbandwidth.

Noise
Noise,duetothermallydrivenelectronmotions,quantumuncertainty,andother
causes,isapropertyofallphysicalsystems.Incommunications,noiseisusually
describedasarandomsignalthatisaddedtothereceivedmessage.

Signal

Lownoise
message

Time
Transmitter
(Tx)

Channel

Receiver
(Rx)

Received
Message

Noisy
message

Signal

Message
toSend

Time

Asystemwithsmallnoisepowercantransmitmoredataperunittimethana
systemwithlargenoisepower.

Distortion

Signal

Distortion,likenoise,changestheshapeofthereceivedmessage.However,
distortionisdeterministic:foragivensystemandinputmessage,thedistortionisthe
sametimeaftertime.Distortioncanbecausedbynonlinearresponseofasystem
element,suchasclipping whenanamplifierisoverdrivenbeyonditsacceptable
outputvoltage.
Distorted
(Clipped)
message

Time

Transmitter
(Tx)

Channel

Receiver
(Rx)

Somekindsofdistortioncanbecorrectedatthereceiver(iftheaddedcomplexityis
acceptable).Butgenerally,distortioncombineswithnoisetofurtherreducedata
carryingcapacity.

Interference
Interference occurswhenpartofanunwantedsignalisaddedtotheintendedsignal
atthereceiveroutput.Multipathinterference(MPI) isavariantwherethe
unwantedsignalisadelayedcopyoftheintendedsignal.

MPI+
message
Delayedpath
Signal

Time

Direct
path

MPIisanimportantfactorinurbancellphonenetworks.
Somekindsofinterferencecanbemitigatedbysignalprocessing.Butingeneral,
mostinterferencetendstoreducedatacarryingcapacity.

Analog&DigitalSignals
Ananalog messagecantakeonanyvalueinacontinuousrange,whiledigital
messagesarelimitedtoafinitesetofdiscretevalues.Themostcommondigital
signalsarebinary signals,whichhaveonlytwolevels.
1

Anyvalue
from0to1
0

Signal

Signal

Valueisalways
0or1
0

Time

Time

AnalogSignal

BinarySignal

Digitalsignalswithmorethan2
valuesarecalledmultilevel,
multinary orMary signals.

Signal

Valueisalways
0,.33,.67or1
0
Time

4levelSignal

AnalogCommunicationSystems
Amoredetailedlookatatypicalanalogcommunicationsystemshowsacarrier
source,amodulator,ademodulator,andoneormoreamplifiers.

Thecarrier isoftenahighfrequencyelectromagneticwave,suchasaradio
frequency(RF)waveoralightwave.Themodulator servestoencodethemessage
ontothecarrier.Thefrequencyandothercharacteristicsofthecarrierwaveare
chosentoworkwellwiththeexistingchannel.

Baseband&ModulatedSignals
Themessagebeforethemodulatorandafterthedemodulatorisusuallyabaseband
signal,madeupoffrequencycomponentsfromDCtofm.Themodulatedwave
passingthroughthechannelismadeupoffrequencycomponentsinabandnearthe
carrierfrequency,oftenfromfcfm tofc +fm.

baseband

fm
Frequency

Power

Power

basebandsignal
modulatedwave

AMmodulated

fcfm fc fc+fm
Frequency

ModulatedCarrierExamples
RFcarriersintheshortwaveradioband(fcarrier =330MHz)allowthesignaltobounce
offtheEarthsionospheretopermitroundtheworldcommunicationwithout
satellites,cables,orotherinfrastructure.

Lightwave (=optical)carriersinthenearinfrared(fcarrier ~200THz)candelivermulti

gigabitdatastreamsthrough>100kmofglassopticalfiberwithoutamplification.

AmplitudeModulation(AM)
Inamplitudemodulation(AM),theamplitudeofthecarrierisvariedaccordingtothe
(analog)messagesignalm(t).
message
carrierwave
1
modulationindex
smax
smin

Foracosinemessage,

smax smin

smax smin

LargecarrierAMenablesuseofverysimple,inexpensivereceivers,soitisthe
modulationmethodusedforbroadcastradiofrom5351610kHz(intheUSA).

FrequencyModulation(FM)
Infrequencymodulation(FM),theinstantaneousfrequencyofthecarrierisvaried
accordingtothe(analog)messagesignalm(t).
FMindex

s(t ) Ac cos[2 f i (t )t ], where f i (t ) f c k f m(t )

message

Amplitude

centerfrequency

Message

Amplitude

smax
FMisaconstantpowerformat.
Frequency-modulated wave

smin

FMisusedintheveryhighfrequency(VHF)bandfrom87.5107.9MHz(intheUSA).

PhaseModulation(PM)
Inphasemodulation(PM),theinstantaneousphase(t) ofthecarrierisvaried
accordingtothe(analog)messagesignalm(t).
PMindex
message

Amplitude

s(t ) Ac cos[2 f ct (t )], where (t ) k p m(t )

Message

Amplitude

smax
PMisaconstantpowerformat.
smin
Phase-modulated wave

Phasemodulationrequiresarelativelycomplexreceiver;inanaloglinks,itismost
widelyusedasacomponentofthehybridmodulationformatQAM(quadrature
amplitudemodulation.

AngleModulation
ForbothFMandPM,thetimingofthecarrierwaveisadjustedtocarrythemessage.
Indeed,itispossibletoexpressFMinthesamemathematicalformasPMbythe
integralofthemessage:
FMindex
t

s(t ) Ac cos[2 f ct (t )], where (t ) 2 k f m( x )dx

0

{FM}
message

Forthisreason,FMandPMaresometimestreatedasaspectsofasinglemodulation
format,calledanglemodulation.

AnalogSignalQuality SNR
Regardlessofmodulationformat,themostimportantmeasureofsignalqualityin
analogsystemsissignaltonoiseratio(SNR),definedsimplyby:

{signal power}
SNR
{noise power}
Avarietyofnoiselikesignalimpairments aresometimesaddedtothetruenoise,
creatingvariantssuchassignaltointerferenceandnoiseratio(SINR).
Inseriesofpapersinthelate1940s,ClaudeShannon showedthatSNRisdirectly
relatedtothemaximumpossiblerateofinformationtransfer,earninghimacclaim
asthefatherofinformationtheory.

DigitalCommunicationSystems
Atypicaldigitalcommunicationsystemismorecomplex,includingachannelcoder
anddecodertoguaranteethespecifiedperformancethroughthechannel.

Channelcodertypesincludescramblers,spectralshapingcodes,Graycodesand
forwarderrorcorrection(FEC) codes.UseofFECcodeshasexplodedsincethe1980s;
theyareessentialincomputerdiskdrives,fiberopticlinks,satelliteTV

DigitalModulationFormats
Themostcommondigitalmodulationformatsarebinaryversionsoftheanalog
formats:amplitudeshiftkeying(ASK);frequencyshiftkeying(FSK);andphaseshift
keying(PSK).Thesimplestisonoffkeying(OOK),usedineitherreturntozero(RZ)or
nonreturntozero(NRZ)versions.

afterRamaswami

OOK

returnstozerobetween
consecutive1s

Quadraturephaseshiftkeying(QPSK)isaneffectivewaytopacktwo bitsof
informationintoeachsymboltimeslot.

QPSK

Phase

01 01 10 11 00 10 01 11 11 10 10 10 00

0
Time

AnalogMessagesOverDigitalLinks

Signal

Increasingly,analogmessagesarecarriedoverdigitalcommunicationlinks,relyingon
analogtodigitalconverters(ADCs) atthetransmitteranddigitaltoanalog
converters(DACs) atthereceiver.

Time

AnalogLink

DAC

Signal

ADC

Time

DigitalLink

Westillstudyanalogsystemsbecause:(1)theyareimportantinlegacyapplications;
(2)theybuildunderstandingoffundamentals;and(3)advancedMary digitalsystems
experiencemanyofthesameissuesasanalog.

Digitization
Digitization involvessampling andquantization processes.Thesignalistestedat
regulartimeintervals(sampling)andthenroundedtothenearestalloweddiscrete
value(quantized).

Finitesamplerate leadstoabandwidthlimitforthesystem theNyquist criterion:

{sample rate} 2 f max

Finitebitspersample(resolutionorbitdepth)leadstoquantizationerror.Thoughit
isnottrulyrandom,quantizationerrorisoftenmodeledasnoise.

PCM &BER
Oncetheanalogmessagehasbeendigitized,itmaybetransmittedthroughthe
channelasaseries0sand1s,aprocesssometimescalledpulsecodemodulation
(PCM).

Signal

Signal

PCM
ADC

Time

Time

Thebitrate ofthePCMdatastreamis:
{bit rate}={sample rate} {bit depth} {overhead}
Inasimplelinkwithnocontrolmessages,theoverheadisusually0.
Theprimaryqualitymetricfordigitaltransmissionisthebiterrorrate(BER):
BER=

{errors/sec}
{bit rate}

dBunits
Intelecommunications,signalpowerisoftenexpressedinlogarithmicunitsas:
P(indBm)=10*log10(PinmW)
Thisleadstotheconvenientexpressionofpowerlossas:
Loss(indB)=10*log10(mWout/mWin)=dBmin dBmout
CablelossindBincreaseslinearlywithfiberlength;whenlossy componentsare
cascaded,theirlossesindBareaddedtogetthetotalloss.
Whenspecifyingcurrentorvoltage,thedBformulaisdifferent:
V(indBV)=20*log10(PinV)
Sincepowerisproportionaltothesquareofvoltage,thisconventionmeansthata
6dBchangeinvoltage(factorof2)yieldsa6dBchangeinpower(factorof4).

Summary

Telecommunicationtechnologyisastaple ofmodernlife,withglobalreach.
Acommunicationsystem usesatransmitter,achannel,andareceiver totransmit
informationinamessage fromonelocationtoanother.
Allcommunicationsystemsexperiencepracticallimitationsduetofinite
bandwidth,noise, anddistortion.
Messagesandsignalscanbeanalog (acontinuousrangeofpossiblevalue)or
digital (afinitesetofdiscretevalues).
MessagesareoftenmodulatedontoahighfrequencyRForopticalcarrierwaveto
adaptthemtotheavailablechannel.
Analogmodulationformatsincludeamplitudemodulation(AM),frequency
modulation(FM),andphasemodulation(PM).
Digitalcommunicationsystemsoftenhavechannelcoding,suchasForwardError
Correction(FEC) coding,toensurelowbiterrorrate(BER).
Thesimplestbinarydigitalmodulationformatisonoffkeying(OOK).
Whenanalogmessagesarecarriedoverdigitallinks,digitization intheanalogto
digitalconverter(ADC) canbecomeasourceofquantizationerror.
Theprocessoftransmittingananalogmessagebyquantizingitintoastreamof
digital(usuallybinary)valuesiscalledpulsecodemodulation(PCM).
LogarithmbaseddBunitsareverywidelyusedintelecommunications.When
lossesarecascaded,theirdBvaluesadd.

ENS466/ELT466 Assignment9/3

RecommendedReading

LabAssignment#1

Carne,Sections3.1,3.2,3.4(readforgeneralunderstanding dontsweatthe
details)
Labreport1.1isdueatthebeginning ofclasson9/10

Assignment1.1:
UseLabView tobuildaVI:
A. thatdigitizesa30HzsinusoidalmessageandgeneratesabinaryPCMdatastreamto
transmitit.(Hint:useProgramming>Waveforms>AnalogtoDigitalfunction.)
B. thenreconstructstheanalogmessagefromPCMandcomputesthequantization
errorsignal.(Hint:useProgramming>Waveforms>DigitaltoAnalogfunction.)
C. anddisplaystheinputsignal,binaryPCMcode,reconstructedsignal,anderror
signal.(Hint:todisplaythebinaryPCMcode,convertthedigitalwaveformtypetoa
Booleanarray,reshapetoa1dimarray,thenconverttheBooleanvaluesto0:1
values.)
Repeattheexperimentfor2to8bitcoding.
Documentallyourworkinalabreport,including(1)printoutsoftheblockdiagram;(2)
chartsoftheinput/outputsignals;(3)atableofmaximumerrorasafunctionofPCMbit
rate,and(4)anexplanationofyourresults.

Part1B:Backups/Alternates
TelecommunicationSystemsLab
(ENS466)
Fall2013
Week1 Sept.3

DigitalCommunication FullSystem
Atypicaldigitalcommunicationsystemismorecomplex,includingachannelcoder
anddecodertoguaranteethespecifiederrorrate.

Manydigitalcommunicationlinkscarryanalogmessages,relyingonanalogtodigital
converters(ADCs) atthetransmitteranddigitaltoanalogconverters(DACs) atthe
receiver.