PCM AND SAMPLING

1. Introduction.......................................................................................................................... 2
2. TimeDivisionMultiplexing(TDM)Principle..............................................................3
3. SamplingTheorem............................................................................................................... 4
3.1 SamplingMethods............................................................................................................ 4
3.2 AliasingError................................................................................................................... 5
4. PulseAmplitudeModulation.............................................................................................6
5. PulseCodeModulation.......................................................................................................7
5.1 Quantization..................................................................................................................... 7
5.2 Companding...................................................................................................................... 8
5.3 PCMEncodingProcess(HDB3).......................................................................................8
5.4 PCMTimingandSynchronisation...................................................................................9
6. Differentialpulsecodingschemes.................................................................................11
6.1 DeltaModulation............................................................................................................11
6.2 DifferentialPCM(DPCM)andADPCM........................................................................11
7. TDMandCodecs.................................................................................................................12
8. DigitalTransmissionHierarchies..................................................................................13
8.1 PrimaryRateFrame.......................................................................................................13
9. PlesiochronousDigitalHierarchy(PDH).....................................................................14

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1. Introduction
Inthesimplestmodelofatelephonespeechcommunicationthereisadirect,dedicated,
physicalconnectionbetweenthetwoparticipantsintheconversation,andthislinkisheldfor
thedurationoftheconversation.Theanalogueelectricalsignalproducedbythetelephoneat
eitherendissentontoconnectionwithoutmodification.
InPulseAmplitudeModulation(PAM),theunmodifiedelectricalsignalisnotsentontothe
connection.Instead,shortsamplesofthesignalaretakenatregularintervals,andthese
samplesaresentontotheconnection.Theamplitudeofeachsampleisidenticaltothesignal
voltageatthetimewhenthesamplewastaken.Typically,8,000samplesaretakenper
second,sothattheintervalbetweensamplesis125s,andthedurationofeachsampleis
approximately4s.
Becauseeachsampleisveryshort(~4s)thereisalotoftimebetweensamples(~121s).
Samplesfromotherconversationsareputintothissparetime.Usuallythesamplesfrom32
separateconversationsareputontoasingleline.ThisprocessiscalledTimeDivision
Multiplexing(TDM).
Eachsampleisveryshort,andwillbedistortedasittravelsacrossacommunications
network.Inordertoreconstructtheoriginalanaloguesignaltheonlyinformationthereceiver
needstohaveaboutasampleisitsamplitude,butifthisisdistortedthenallinformation
aboutthesamplehasbeenlost.Toovercomethisproblem,thepulseisnottransmitted
directly,insteaditsamplitudeismeasuredandconvertedintoan8binarynumbera
sequenceof1sand0s.Atthereceiverend,thereceivermerelyneedstodetectifa1ora0has
beenreceivedsothatitcanstillrecovertheamplitudeofaPAMpulseevenifthe1sand0s
usedtodescribeithavebeendistorted.
Theprocessofconvertingtheamplitudeofeachpulseintoastreamof1sand0siscalled
PulseCodeModulation(PCM)
NotethattheprocessofPAMandPCM(butwithouttheuseofTDM)isessentiallyusedto
storemusicandspeechonCDs,butwithahighersamplerate,morebitspersampleand
complexerrorcorrectionmechanisms.
Sometermsare:
Sampling Theprocessofmeasuringtheamplitudeofacontinuoustimesignalatdiscrete
instants.Itconvertsacontinuoustimesignaltoadiscretetimesignal.
Quantizing Representingthesampledvaluesoftheamplitudebyafinitesetoflevels.It
convertsacontinuousamplitudesampletoadiscreteamplitudesample.
Encoding Designatingeachquantizedlevelbya(binary)code.
Samplingandquantizingoperationstransformananaloguesignaltoadigitalsignal.
UseofquantizingandencodingdistinguishesPCMfromanaloguepulsemodulationmethods.
Thequantizingandencodingoperationsareusuallyperformedinthesamecircuitatthe
transmitter,whichiscalledanAnaloguetoDigitalConverter(ADC).Atthereceiverendthe
decodingoperationconvertsthe(8bit)binaryrepresentationofthepulsebackintoan
analoguevoltageinaDigitaltoAnalogueConverter(DAC)

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2. Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) - Principle
Whensendingsamplesofasignalinsteadofthesignalitselfthereistimeavailablebetween
eachofthesamples.Samplesfromotheranaloguesignalscanbeputintothisspace.The
Receiver processofsplittingupthe
Transmitter
Timing Timing timeintoslotsandputting
differentsignalsintothe
Ch1
Buffer LPF1
Ch1 timeslotsisknownasTime
i/p o/p
Ch1 TransmissionLine Ch1 DivisionMultiplexing
Buffer LPF2
i/p
SW1 SW2
o/p (TDM).AbasicrealTDM
Ch1 Ch1
i/p Buffer LPF3 o/p systeminterleaves32

signalsanduseselectronic
switches.Thisisadiagramofa3channelPAMTDMsystem.
ThisdiagramshowsthewaveformsproducedduringtheoperationofthePAMTDMsystem
Theswitchesconnectthetransmitterandthereceivertoeachofthechannelsinturnfora
Ch1

Ch2

Ch3

TDM

Signal

GuardSlots
Time
Slots 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3

specificintervaloftime.Ineffecteachchannelissampledandthesampleistransmitted
Whentheswitchesareinthechannel1position,channel1formsaPAMchannelwithanLPF
forreconstruction,andsoonforchannels2and3.Theresultisthattheamplitudessamples
fromeachchannelsharethelinesequentially,becominginterleavedtoformacomplexPAM
wave,asshownabove.
AmajorproblemsinanyTDMsystemisthesynchronisationofthetransmitterandreceiver
timingcircuits.Thetransmitterandreceivermustswitchatthesametimeandfrequency.
AlsoSW1mustbeinthechannel1positionwhenSW2isinthechannel1position,sothatthe
switchesmustbesynchronisedinpositionalso.
Inasystemthatusesanaloguemodulation(PAM)thetimeslotsareseparatedbyguardslots
topreventcrosstalkbetweenchannels.

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3. Sampling Theorem
Considerabandlimitedsignalwithnofrequencycomponentsaboveacertainfrequencyf m.
Thesamplingtheoremstatesthatthissignalcanberecoveredcompletelyfromasetof
samplesofitsamplitude,ifthesamplesaretakenattherateoffs>2fmsamplespersecond.
Thisisoftencalledtheuniformsamplingtheoremforbasebandorlowpasssignals.
Theminimumsamplingrate,2fmsamplespersecond,iscalledtheNyquistsamplingrate(or
Nyquistfrequency);itsreciprocall/(2fm)(measuredinseconds)iscalledtheNyquistinterval.
fs=2*fmiscalledtheNyquistsamplingrate.
Fortelephonespeechthestandardsamplingrateis8kHz(oronesampleevery125s).

3.1 Sampling Methods

Spectrum of Supposewehaveanarbitrarysignal
Signal(mt)
Unsampled (thebasebandsignalm(t))which
Signal M(f) hasaspectrumM(f).Take
Freq infinitesimallyshortsamplesofthe
Sampling pulses signalm(t)atauniformrateonce
fs 2fs 3fs everytssecondsi.e.atafrequencyfs.
Thisistheidealformofsampling,itis
Spacing = 1/fs Spectrum of Sampling Pulses
calledinstantaneous(orimpulse)
Samples sampling.
fs 2fs 3fs

Time
Spectrum of Sampled Signal

Ineffectthesignalm(t)ismultipliedbyatrainofimpulsesgivingrisetoatrainofpulsesas
inthelowerlineofthediagram.Thetrainofsamplingimpulseshasafrequencyspectrum
consistingofallharmonicsormultiplesoffsandallareatthesameamplitude.
ThissampledsignalhasaspectrumasshownwhereM(f)isrepeatedunattenuated
periodicallyandappearsaroundallmultiplesofthesamplingfrequency(f s=1/ts).
Torecoverm(t)fromthesampledsignalweneedonlypassthesampledsignalthroughalow
passfilterwithastopfrequencyoffs/2.Allofthehigherfrequencycomponentswillbe
dropped.Inthediagram,iffsisgreaterthantwicethehighestfrequencyinm(t)the
repetitionsofthesampledspectraaroundtheharmonicsofthef sdonotoverlap.

3.1.1 Flat - top Sampling

AnAnaloguetoDigitalConverterrequiresthatthesamplevaluebeheldconstantforafixed
timeuntiltheconversioniscompleted.Thisrequiresaflattopsampledsignal.Thishas
approximatelythesamerepeatedfrequencyspectrumaswiththeinstantaneoussampling
above,butwitheachrepetitionslightlyspreadout.
Thesimplestandmostcommonsamplingmethodisperformedbyafunctionalblocktermeda
SampleandHold(S/H)circuit.
Theoutputfromthecircuitmustbeheldata
constantlevelforthesamplingduration.Vcontrol
- switchestheMOSFETONuntilthechargeonC
Input signal isequaltotheamplitudeofthesampledvoltage.
+ Sample
Out VcontrolthengoesLOW,theMOSFETisOFF
andthechargeisheldbythecapacitor.The
chargeheldonthecapacitorputsavoltageacross
Vcontrol Gnd thecapacitor,anditisheldatthatvalueuntilthe
nexttimethatVcontrolswitchestheMOSFETON.Thisiscalledasampleandholdcircuit
andisusuallyusedastheinputtoanADC.

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3.2 Aliasing Error
Ifasignalisundersampled(sampledataratebelowthe
Nyquistrate),thespectrumconsistsofoverlapping
repetitionsofthesampledspectrum.Becauseofthe
overlappingtailsasinglerepetitionofthespectrumno
Spectrum of Sampled Signal longerhasthecompleteinformationabouttheunsampled
signal,anditisnolongerpossibletorecoveritfromthe
sampledsignal.Torecovertheoriginalsignalatthereceivingendthesampledsignalis
passedthroughalowpassfilterwithacutoffoffs/2,wegetaspectrumthatisnotthesampled
signalbutisadifferentversiondueto:
Lossofthetailofthesampledsignalspectrumbeyondf s/2
Thissametailappearsinverted,orfolded,ontothespectrumatthecutofffrequency.
Thistailinversionisknownasaliasing,(orspectralfoldingorfoldoverdistortion).
Thealiasingdistortioncanbeeliminatedbycuttingthetail(i.e.filtering)ofthesampled
signalbeyondf>fs/2beforethesignalissampled.Bysodoing,theoverlapofsuccessive
cyclesinthesampledsignalisavoided.Theonlyerrorintherecoveryoftheunsampledsignal
isthatcausedbythemissingtailabovefs/2.
fm fs 2fs 3fs Itissimplertoconsideraliasingbyconsidering
asinglefrequencycomponentofm(t).Wewill
lookatthefrequencyfmanditissampledata
fs-fm fs+fm 2fs-fm 2fs+fm 3fs-fm 3fs+fm
ratefs.Thediagramsshowthefrequencies
whichwillbepresentinthesampledsignal.
Therewillbefrequencycomponentsatfm,fsfm,
fs+fm,2fsfm,2fs+fm,3fsfm,3fs+fm,etc.etc.
fm

fs-fm fs+fm 2fs-fm 2fs+fm 3fs-fm 3fs+fm

fm

fs-fm 2fs-fm fs+fm 3fs-fm 2fs+fm 3fs+fm

Frequency

Inthefirstcasefmisverymuchlessthanfs,sothatfsfmismuchhigherthanthecutoffof
thefilter(fs/2).
Inthesecondcasefmisbelow,butclosetofs/2,sothatasharpcutofffilterisrequiredto
ensurethatfmispassedbutfsfmisstopped.
Inthethirdcasefmishigherthanfs/2,sothatfsfmislessthanfs/2.Thelowpassfilterwitha
cutoffoffs/2willthereforeblockfm(theactualsignalfrequency)butwillpassasignalwith
frequencyfsfm.
Thisisaliasing
Strictlyspeaking,abandlimitedsignaldoesnotexistinreality.Itcanbeshownthatifa
signalistimelimiteditcannotbebandlimited.Allphysicalsignalsarenecessarilytime
limitedbecausetheybeginatsomefiniteinstantandmustterminateatsomeotherfinite
instant.Hence,allpracticalsignalsaretheoreticallynonbandlimited.

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Arealsignalcontainsafiniteamountofenergy,thereforeitsfrequencyspectrummustdecay
athigherfrequencies.Mostofthesignalenergyresidesinafiniteband,andthespectrumat
higherfrequenciescontributeslittle.Theerrorintroducedbycuttingoffthetailbeyonda
certainfrequencyBcanbemadenegligiblebymakingBsufficientlylarge.
Thus,forallpracticalpurposesasignalcanbeconsideredtobeessentiallybandlimitedat
somevalueB,thechoiceofwhichdependsupontheaccuracydesired.Apracticalexampleof
thisisaspeechsignal.Theoretically,aspeechsignal,beingafinitetimesignal,hasan
infinitebandwidth.Butfrequencycomponentsbeyond3400Hzcontributeasmallfractionof
thetotalenergy.WhenspeechsignalsaretransmittedbyPCM theyarefirstpassedthrough
alowpassfilterofbandwidthof3500Hz.(Thisfilteriscalledanantialiasingfilter).Higher
samplingrates(i.e.8000samples/sec)permitsrecoveryofthesignalfromitssamplesusing
relativelysimplefiltersi.e.itallowsforguardbandsbetweentherepetitionsofthespectrum
(otherwiserecoveringsignalssampledattheNyquistratewouldrequireverysharpcutoff
(ideal)filters).
Insummary,aliasingdistortionproducesfrequencycomponentsinthedesiredfrequency
bandthatdidnotexistintheoriginalwaveform.Aliasingproblemsarenotconfinedtospeech
digitisationprocesses.Thepotentialforaliasingispresentinanysampledatasystem.
Motionpicturetaking,forexample,isanothersamplingsystemthatcanproducealiasing.A
commonexampleoccurswhenfilmingarotatingwheel.Oftenthesamplingprocess(the
picturerefreshrate)istooslowtokeepupwiththewheelmovementsandspuriousrotational
ratesareproduced.Ifthewheelrotates355 0betweenframes,itlookstotheeyeasifithas
movedbackwards50.

4. Pulse Amplitude Modulation

Asampledsignalconsistsofatrainof
pulses,whereeachpulsecorresponds
totheamplitudeofthesignalatthe
Input Transmission
Signal Band Limiting Sampling Link Sample
correspondingsamplingtime.The
LPF
Filter Circuit and Hold signalsenttolineismodulatedin
amplitudeandhencethenamePulse
Sampling Pulses
AmplitudeModulation(PAM).
AcompletePAMsystemmustincludeabandlimiting(orantialiasing)filterbefore
samplingtoensurethatnospuriousorsourcerelatedsignalsgetfoldedbackintothedesired
signalbandwidthnoaliasing.Theinputfiltermayalsobedesignedtocutoffverylow
frequenciestoremoved50Hzhumfrompowerlines.
SeveralPAMsignalscanbemultiplexedtogetheraslongastheyarekeptdistinctandare
recoverableatthereceivingend.ThissystemisoneexampleofTimeDivisionMultiplex
(TDM)transmission(althoughithasneverbeenwidelyusedfospeech,ithasapplicationsin
remotemonitoringandtelemetry).
Thesampleandholdcircuittakesineachpulseandholdstheamplitudeofthatpulseuntil
thearrivalofthenextpulse.Itproducesastaircaseapproximationtothesampledwaveform.
Withuseofthestaircaseapproximation,thepowerlevelofthesignalcomingoutofthe
reconstructivefilter(LPF)isnearlythesameasthelevelofthesampledinputsignal.
Thefiltersareassumedtohaveidealcharacteristicsnotlikerealfilters.Filterswithreal
attenuationslopesatthebandedgecanbeusediftheinputsignalisslightlyoversampled.If
samplingfrequencyisgreaterthantwicethebandwidth,thespectralbandsaresufficiently
separatedfromeachotherthatfilterswithgradualrolloffcharacteristicscanbeused.
Asanexample,sampledvoicesystemstypicallyusebandlimitingfilterswitha3dBcutoff
around3.4kHzandasamplingrateof8kHz.Thusthesampledsignalissufficiently
attenuatedatof4kHztoadequatelyreducetheenergylevelofthefoldoverspectrum.

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5. Pulse Code Modulation
PulseCodeModulation(PCM)isanextensionofPAMwhereineachanaloguesamplevalueis
quantizedintoadiscretevalueforrepresentationasadigitalcodeword.
Thus,asshownbelow,aPAMsystemcanbeconvertedintoaPCMsystembyaddinga
suitableanaloguetodigital(A/D)converteratthesourceandadigitaltoanalogue(D/A)
converteratthedestination.
Modulator PCMisatruedigitalprocess
Analogue PCM
ascomparedtoPAM.In
Input
A to D Binary
Parallel Digital Output PCMthespeechsignalis
Sampler to Serial Pulse
Converter Coder
Converter Generator
convertedfromanalogueto
digitalform.
Demodulator
PCM Analogue
Serial to
Input D to A Output
Parallel LPF
Converter
Converter

PCMisstandardisedfortelephonybytheITUT(InternationalTelecommunicationsUnion
Telecoms,abranchoftheUN),inaseriesofrecommendationscalledtheGseries.For
exampletheITUTrecommendationsforoutofbandsignalrejectioninPCMvoicecoders
requirethat14dBofattenuationisprovidedat4kHz.Also,theITUTtransmissionquality
specificationfortelephonyterminalsrequirethatthefrequencyresponseofthehandset
microphonehasasharprollofffrom3.4kHz.
Inquantizationthelevelsareassignedabinarycodeword.Allsamplevaluesfallingbetween
twoquantizationlevelsareconsideredtobelocatedatthecentreofthequantizationinterval.
Inthismannerthequantizationprocessintroducesacertainamountoferrorordistortion
intothesignalsamples.Thiserrorknownasquantizationnoise,isminimisedbyestablishing
alargenumberofsmallquantizationintervals.Ofcourse,asthenumberofquantization
intervalsincrease,somustthenumberorbitsincreasetouniquelyidentifythequantization
intervals.Forexample,ifananaloguevoltagelevelistobeconvertedtoadigitalsystemwith
8discretelevelsorquantizationstepsthreebitsarerequired.IntheITUTversionthereare
256quantizationsteps,128positiveand128negative,requiring8bits.Apositivelevelis
representedbyhavingbit8(MSB)at0,andforanegativeleveltheMSBis1.

5.1 Quantization
Thisistheprocessofsettingthesampleamplitude,whichcanbecontinuouslyvariabletoa
discretevalue.LookatUniformQuantizationfirst,wherethediscretevaluesareevenly
spaced.

5.1.1 Uniform Quantization

Weassumethattheamplitudeofthesignalm(t)isconfined
totherange(mp,+mp).Thisrange(2mp)isdividedintoL
Output

levels,eachofstepsize,givenby

-mp +mp
Input

=2mp/L

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Asampleamplitudevalueisapproximatedbythemidpointoftheintervalinwhichitlies.
Theinput/outputcharacteristicsofauniformquantizerisshown.

5.2 Companding
InauniformorlinearPCMsystemthesizeofeveryquantizationintervalisdeterminedby
theSQRrequirementofthelowestsignaltobeencoded.Thisintervalisalsoforthelargest
signalwhichthereforehasamuchbetterSQR.
Example: A26dBSQRforsmallsignalsanda30dBdynamicrangeproducesa56
dBSQRforthemaximumamplitudesignal.
InthiswayauniformPCMsystemprovidesunneededqualityforlargesignals.Inspeechthe
maxamplitudesignalsaretheleastlikelytooccur.ThecodespaceinauniformPCMsystem
isveryinefficientlyutilised.
Amoreefficientcodingisachievedifthequantizationintervalsincreasewiththesample
value.Whenthequantizationintervalisdirectlyproportionaltothesamplevalue(assign
smallquantizationintervalstosmallsignalsandlargeintervalstolargesignals)theSQRis
constantforallsignallevels.Withthistechniquefewerbitspersamplearerequiredto
provideaspecifiedSQRforsmallsignalsandanadequatedynamicrangeforlargesignals
(butstillwiththeSQRasforthesmallsignals).Thequantizationintervalsarenotconstant
andtherewillbeanonlinearrelationshipbetweenthecodewordsandthevaluesthey
represent.

Originallytoproducethenonlinear
quantizationthebasebandsignalwas
compressed signal level

passedthroughanonlinearamplifierwith
input signal level
input/outputcharacteristicsasshown
beforethesamplesweretaken.Lowlevel
signalswereamplifiedandhighlevel
signalswereattenuated.Thelargerthe
samplevaluethemoreitiscompressed
beforeencoding.ThePCMdecoderexpandsthecompressedvalueusinganinverse
compressioncharacteristictorecovertheoriginalsamplevalue.Thetwoprocessesarecalled
companding.
Thereare2compandingschemestodescribethecurveabove:
1. LawCompanding(alsocalledlogPCM)
ThisisusedinNorthAmericaandJapan.Itusesalogarithmiccompressioncurvewhichis
idealinthesensethatquantizationintervalsandhencequantizationnoiseisdirectly
proportionaltosignallevel(andsoaconstantSQR).

2. ALawCompanding
ThisistheITUTstandard.ItisusedinEuropeandmostoftherestoftheworld.Itisvery
similartotheLawcoding.Itisrepresentedbystraightlinesegmentstofacilitatedigital
companding.
Originallythenonlinearfunctionwasobtainedusingnonlineardevicessuchasspecial
diodes.ThesedaysinaPCMsystemtheAtoDandDtoAconverters(ADCandDAC)include
acompandingfunction.

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5.3 PCM Encoding Process (HDB3)
Theoutputfromtheanaloguetodigitalconverter(ADC)hasnparallelbits.Inthecaseof
telephonyn=8.Themostsignificantbitisthesignedbit.Ifthemeasuredsampleispositive
thenthesignedbitis0.Ifthemeasuredsampleisnegativethenthesignedbitis1.The
remaining7bitsareusedtocodethesamplevalue.TheITUTdefinealookuptablewhich
allocatesaparticularbinarycodetoeachquantifiedAlawvalue.
Thelinecodingwhichisusedassignsoppositepolaritiestosuccessive1s.Thiseliminates
anyDCvoltageontheline,andreducestheintersymbolinterferenceifadjacentbitsare1.
IfthereissilenceonthePCMchannelthenthemeasuredsampleswillbe0V rmsandthe
outputoftheDACwillbe10000000.Astreamofallzerosisnotdesirableonanactive
channelbecause
allzeroscouldalsobeafaultconditionand
itisdifficulttorecovertheclocksignalfromtheincomingsignal.
ThecodingsystemHDB3isusedandwasdevelopedtoeliminateallzeros,andtoassign
oppositepolaritiestosuccessive1s.
Thisisabipolarsignallingtechnique(i.e.reliesonthetransmissionofbothpositiveand
negativepulses).
InAMIpositiveandnegativepulses(ofequalamplitude)areusedforalternativesymbols1.
Nopulseisusedforsymbol0.Ineithercasethepulsereturnsto0beforetheendofthebit
interval.ThiseliminatesanyDContheline.
HDB3encodingrulesfollowthoseforAMI,exceptthatasequenceoffourconsecutive0'sare
encodedusingaspecial"violation"bit.The4th0bitisgiventhesamepolarityasthelast1bit
whichwassentusingtheAMIencodingrule.Thispreventslongrunsof0'sinthedatastream
whichmayotherwisepreventareceiverfromtrackingthecentreofeachbit.Byintroducing
violations,extra"edges"areintroduced,enablingaDigitalPLLtoreliablyreconstructthe
clocksignalatthereceiver.TheHDB3istransparenttothesequenceofbitsbeing
transmitted(i.e.whateverdataissent,theDigitalPLLcanreconstructthedataandextract
thebitsatthereceiver).
TopreventaDCbeingintroducedbyexcessiverunsofzerosanyrunofmorethanfourzeros
encodesasB00V.ThevalueofBisassigned+oralternatelythroughoutthebitstream.
Example 11111111 = ++++
BBBBBBBB

10101010 = +00+00
B0B0B0B0

10000001 +000+00
= B000V00B

10000110 = +000++0
= B000VBB0

5.4 PCM Timing and Synchronisation

ThePCMreceivermustbeabletoidentifythestartandfinishofeachfullsamplingsequence
andtoidentifyeachbitposition.Thesamplingclockneedstobeeithersentto,orregenerated
at,thereceivingsidetodeterminewheneachfullsequenceofsamplingbeginsandends.The
dataclockisalsoneededtodetermineexactlywhentoreadeachbitofinformation.

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APCMchannelissampledat8,000Hzoronceevery125s.Ifthereisonechannelor30
data clock 64 kbit/s TDMchannelsthesamplingperiodisfixedat125
15.625 s
sandthisperiodisknownasaframe.Therefore
theframeclockmusthaveaperiodof125s.The
frame clock 125 s risingedgeoftheframeclockinformsthereceiver
thatthenextbitwillbeBit1ofanewsample.The
fallingedgeofthedataclockinformsthereceiver
thatitmustreadthedatabit.
B1 B2 B3 B4 B5 B6 B7 B8 B1
1 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 ?

Whenthebitstreamistransmittedalongalinethepulsesbecomedistortedandtheriseand
falltimesbecomesignificant.Ideally,a1willbehighfor15.625s.Inpracticethepulse
mayonlybeabovethehighthresholdforafewssoitisveryimportantthatthebitisread
withinacertaintimelimitoftheclockpulse.
ThesimplestwaytosynchroniseaPCMsendertoaPCMreceiveristosendtheclocksignals
ondifferentcircuitstothedataThiswouldbedoneinaselfcontainedsystemsuchasprivate
branchexchange(PBX).Telephonyisfullduplexsothatthereisacoderandadecoderateach
port,buteachwouldusethesameclock.
Tominimisethenumberofcircuitsitispossibletousealinecodingschemewhichallowsthe
receivertoextracttheclocksfromthePCMsignal.Inthiscasethereceiverwillhavefree
runningclocksthatlock(usingaPLL)tothephaseandfrequencyofthetransitionsinthe
datastream.Thelinecodingschemeensuresthatthereisatransitionforeverydatabit.

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6. Differential pulse coding schemes
PCMtransmitstheabsolutevalueofthesignalforeachframe.Insteadwecantransmit
informationaboutthedifferencebetweeneachsample.Thetwomaindifferentialcoding
schemesare:
DeltaModulation
DifferentialPCMandAdaptiveDifferentialPCM(ADPCM)

6.1 Delta Modulation

Deltamodulationconvertsananaloguesignal,normallyvoice,intoadigitalsignal.
TheanaloguesignalissampledasinthePCM
granular noise
process.Thenthesampleiscomparedwith
1 1
1
theprevioussample.Theresultofthe
1 0 0 1 comparisonisquantifiedusingaonebitcoder.
1 1 0 Ifthesampleisgreaterthantheprevious
0 0 1 samplea1isgenerated.Otherwisea0is
0 0 0
0
generated.Theadvantageofdeltamodulation
overPCMisitssimplicityandlowercost.But
thenoiseperformanceisnotasgoodasPCM.
Toreconstructtheoriginalfromthequantization,ifa1isreceivedthesignalisincreasedbya
stepofsizeq,ifa0isreceivedtheoutputisreducedbythesamesizestep.Slopeoverload
occurswhentheencodedwaveformismorethanastepsizeawayfromtheinputsignal.This
conditionhappenswhentherateofchangeoftheinputexceedsthemaximumchangethat
canbegeneratedbytheoutput.Overloadwilloccurif:
dx(t)/dtq/T=q*fs
where: x(t)=inputsignal,q=stepsize,T=periodbetweensamples,f s=samplingfrequency
AssumethattheinputsignalhasmaximumamplitudeAandmaximumfrequencyF.The
mostrapidlychanginginputisprovidedbyx(t)=A*sin(2**F*t).
Forthis dx(t)/dt=2**F*A*sin(2**F*t).
Thisslopehasamaximumvalueof 2**F*A
Overloadoccursif 2**F*A>q*fs
Topreventoverloadwerequire q*fs>2**F*A
Example A=2V,F=3.4kHz,andthesignalissampled1,000,000timespersecond,
requiresq>2*3.14*3,400*2/1,000,000V>42.7mV
Granularnoiseoccursiftheslopechangesmoreslowlythanthestepsize.Thereconstructed
signaloscillatesby1stepsizeineverysample.Itcanbereducedbydecreasingthestepsize.
Thisrequiresthatthesampleratebeincreased.DeltaModulationrequiresasamplingrate
muchhigherthantwicethebandwidth.Itrequiresoversamplinginordertoobtainan
accuratepredictionofthenextinput,sinceeachencodedsamplecontainsarelativelysmall
amountofinformation.DeltaModulationrequireshighersamplingratesthanPCM.

6.2 Differential PCM (DPCM) and ADPCM

DPCMisalsodesignedtotakeadvantage
Differentiator Encoded
Analogue Difference
oftheredundanciesinatypicalspeech
Quantiser
Input Band Limiting
+ Enoder
Samples waveform.InDPCMthedifferences
Filter
- ADC betweensamplesarequantizedwithfewer
bitsthatwouldbeusedforquantizingan
Accumulator
DAC

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individualamplitudesample.ThesamplingrateisoftenthesameasforacomparablePCM
system,unlikeDeltaModulation.
AdaptiveDifferentialPulseCodeModulationADPCMisstandardisedbyITUT
recommendationsG.721andG.726.Themethoduses32,000bits/spervoicechannel,as
comparedtostandardPCMs64,000bits/s.Fourbitsareusedtodescribeeachsample,which
representsthedifferencebetweentwoadjacentsamples.Samplingis8,000timesasecond.It
makesitpossibletoreducethebitflowbyhalfwhilemaintaininganacceptablequality.While
theuseofADPCM(ratherthanPCM)isimperceptibletohumans,itcansignificantlyreduce
thethroughputofhighspeedmodemsandfaxtransmissions.
TheprincipleofADPCMistouseourknowledgeofthesignalinthepasttimetopredictthe
signalonesampleperiodlater,inthefuture.Thepredictedsignalisthencomparedwiththe
actualsignal.Thedifferencebetweentheseisthesignalwhichissenttolineitistheerrorin
theprediction.Howeverthisisnotdonebymakingcomparisonsontheincomingaudiosignal
thecomparisonsaredoneafterPCMcoding.
ToimplementADPCMtheoriginal(audio)signalissampledasforPCMtoproduceacode
word.Thiscodewordismanipulatedtoproducethepredictedcodewordforthenextsample.
Thenewpredictedcodewordiscomparedwiththecodewordofthesecondsample.Theresult
ofthiscomparisonissenttoline.ThereforeweneedtoperformPCMbeforeADPCM.
TheADPCMwordrepresentsthepredictionerrorofthesignal,andhasnosignificanceitself.
Insteadthedecodermustbeabletopredictthevoltageoftherecoveredsignalfromthe
previoussamplesreceived,andthendeterminetheactualvalueoftherecoveredsignalfrom
thispredictionandtheerrorsignal,andthentoreconstructtheoriginalwaveform.
ADPCMissometimesusedbytelecomoperatorstofittwospeechchannelsontoasingle
64kbit/slink.Thiswasverycommonfortransatlanticphonecallsviasatelliteupuntilafew
yearsago.Now,nearlyallcallsusefibreopticchannelsat64kbit/s.

7. TDM and Codecs

TimeDivisionMultiplexing(TDM)isthetimeinterleavingofsamplesfromseveralsourcesso
thattheinformationfromthesesourcescanbetransmittedseriallyoverasingle
communicationchannel.
Clocks ThediagramillustratestheTDMconcept
2.048 Mbit/s appliedto3PCMCodecs.Inthissystemthe
64 kbit/s
8 kbit/s PCMcodersamplestheanaloguesignalat8
kHzandgeneratesan8bitcodeforeach
input PCM Code input PCM Code input PCM Code
Slot 0 Slot 1 Slot 2
sample.Thecodermapsthe8bitcodeontoa
2,048Mbit/sbusataprecisetime.Thistime
slot slot slot slot slot slot slot
isdeterminedbytheslotthatthecoderis
1 2 3 29 30 31 32 programmedtooperateon.Theprocessis
repeatedevery125s.Obviouslythecodecs
mustbeexactlysynchronisedtothemasterPCMbus.ThePCMdecodersimplyreadsthe
dataintheparticulartimeslotofinterest.
Thismethodofmultiplexingispopularintelephonesystemsandtherearemanychipsets
availabletoperformtheabovefunctions.

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8. Digital Transmission Hierarchies
Overanygivenroute,themostcosteffectivetransmissionwill,ingeneral,beachievedby
multiplexingasmanyaspossibleofthePCMchannelstogether.Astechnologyhasadvanced,
ithasbecomefeasibletocombineanincreasingnumberofchannelsbyoperatingatever
highersignallingrates.Someroutes,ofcourse,willonlyneedafewchannels,sowillnot
requireveryhighsignallingrates.
Transmissionnetworksinthepublicswitchedtelephonenetwork(PSTN)aredesignedaround
hierarchiesoftransmissionrates,correspondingtoincreasingnumbersofchannelsconveyed
onasinglemultiplexedlink.Thesehierarchiesaredefinedinnationalandinternational
standards.InEuropethehierarchyisbaseduponthe30channel2,048kbit/sprimaryrate,
whileintheUSAandJapanitisbaseduponthe24channel1,544kbit/sprimaryrate.Recall
thateachPCMchanneloperatesat64kbit/s.Inaddition,ITUTdefinedtheworldstandard
knownasSynchronousDigitalHierarchy(SDH).Thisisdesignedtointerfacewithboththe
2048kbit/sand1544kbit/shierarchies.

8.1 Primary Rate Frame

1 IntheEuropeansystem,30PCMchannelsaremultiplexed,using8000Hzsampling
and8bitcoding.Framingandsignallingareallocated8groupedbitseachperframe.The
totalnumberofbitsineachframecanbeworkedoutasfollows;
30x8bitvoicetimeslots = 240bits
1x8bitsignallingtimeslot = 8bits
1x8bitframingtimeslot = 8bits
Totalnoofbitsperframe = 256bits
Thereare8000frames/secondandthereforethesystembitrateis8000*256=2.048Mb/sec.

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9. Plesiochronous Digital Hierarchy (PDH)
Theprimaryrateinformationcanbefurthermultiplexedontoevenhigherdataratesas
showninthetablebelow.
Digital US European Frequency
hierarchy hierarchy hierarchy Tolerance
level (kbit/s) (ppm)
(kbit/s)
1 1,554 2,048 50
2 6,312 8,448 30
3 44,736 34,364 20
4 139,264 15
Hierarchy1(primaryrate)carries30speechchannels+2overheadchannels.
Hierarchy2carriesfourprimaryrates+overheadbits =120speechchannels.
Hierarchy3carriesfourhierarchy2s+overheadbits =480speechchannels.
Hierarchy4carriesfourhierarchy3s+overheadbits =1920speechchannels.

2,048 kbit/s Thesuccessivelevelsofmultiplexingas

2-8 8,448 kbit/s
channels
MUX
recommendedbyITUTaretimingcritical.
from primary
multiplexer 1 Thisshowshowthemultiplexersare
34 Mbit/s
Transmission
arrangedinatelephoneexchange.At34
Other
8-34
System Mbit/satimingerrorof5nscouldcause
MUX
tributaries errors.(Thisislessthanthepropagation
delayofasingle74HCserieslogicgate!)
Telephone Exchange at A
Theclocktoleranceattheseratesistypically20partspermillion(20ppm)i.e.thetolerance
at34,368kbit/sis687Hz.
Standardisationoftheinterfacesallowstelecommunicationsauthoritiestobuildandre
configurethetransmissionnetworkonamodularbasis,withdifferentmodulespurchased
fromdifferentsuppliers.
Tomaintaintheoutputsignalwithintolerance,eachmultiplexercontainsastabilisedclock
source.Ataprimarymultiplexer,asubdivision(1/32)ofthemultiplexerclockisalsosentout
tothecodecs,sothetimingofthe30incoming64kbit/schannelsissynchronisedtothe
outgoing2048Mbits/ssignal.
Forhigherordermultiplexers,however,thefourincoming(tributary)signalswillhave
originatedatlowerordermultiplexers,eachwithitsownclocksource.Sothefourtributaries
willeachhaveadifferentprecisebitratealthoughallshouldbewithinthespecified
tolerance.Suchsignals,havingnominallythesamefrequencybutdifferingwithinadefined
tolerance,aredescribedasplesiochronoussignals.
Multiplexingplesiochronoussignalsobviouslyinvolvesasynchronisationandtimingproblem.
Thisisovercomebytheuseofjustificationorstuffingasbelow.

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