UNIT V

FUNDAMENTALS OF COMMUNICATION ENGINEERING

Types of Signals: Analog and Digital Signals – Modulation and Demodulation: Principles of
Amplitude and Frequency Modulations - Communication Systems: Radio, TV, Fax, Microwave,
Satellite and Optical Fibre (Block Diagram Approach only).

COMMUNICATION- Introduction

 Communication is a process of transfer of information bearing signals from one place to

another. In broad sense, the term communication refers to the sending, receiving and
processing of information by electronic means.
 In the recent years, the use of satellites and fiber optics has made communications even more
widespread with an increasing emphasis on computer and other data communications.

The block diagram representation of communication system is shown in fig 10.1

 The basic function of a communication system is to communicate a message. This message

comes from the information source which originates it in the sense of selecting one message
from a group of messages.
 In most of the cases, the information will be non-electrical in nature. This information in the
original form is converted into a corresponding electrical variation known as the message
signal by using a transducer in the transmitter.
 This message signal cannot be directly transmitted due to various reasons. Hence this
message signal is superimposed on a high frequency sine wave (carrier signal) before
transmission. This process is known as modulation.
 After modulation, the modulated carrier wave is amplified by using power amplifiers in the
transmitter and fed to the transmitting antenna.
 Channel is a medium through which the signal travels from the transmitter to the receiver.
There are various types of channels, such as radio atmosphere for broadcasting wires for
telegraphy, telephony and optical fibres for optical communications.
 It is inevitable that the signal will deteriorate during the process of transmission and
reception as a result of some distortion in the system.
 At the receiving end, a weak modulated carrier wave that is transmitted from the transmitter
is received. As the received signal power will be very small, it has to be amplified first, so as
to increase the power level and the process of demodulation which is done to recover the
original message signal from the modulated carrier.
 The output of a receiver may be fed to a loud speaker, video display unit, teletypewriter,
various radar displays, television picture tube, pen recorder or computer.

SIGNALS AND ITS TYPES

A ‘signal’ is defined as any physical quality that varies with time, space and any other
independent variable or variables. Signals are broadly classifieds into two types- analog signal
and digital signal.

1. Analog signal
 The analog signals are sinusoidal in nature with or without harmonics and represent the
variations of a physical quantity like a sound wave. A telephone, radio broadcast or TV
signals are very common types of analog signals.
 They are represented by voltage wave forms that have different amplitudes at different
instants of time.

Example 1: Telephone Signal

 A telephone message comprises of speech sounds having vowels and consonants. These
sounds produce audio waves which makes the diapharm of a microphone to vibrate. To this
diapharm is attached a coil surrounded by a static magnetic field on all the sides. The motion
of the coil in this field causes an emf to be induced in the coil, which is the electrical
equivalent of the sound waves.
 These speech signals may be broken up into sinusoidal wave forms of different frequencies.
Most of the energy in these signals are found to be contained in the range of about 300 Hz to
3400 Hz and this frequency range is quite sufficient to recover intelligible message from
telephone signals.

Example 2: TV Picture Signals

 A picture is composed of bright and dark spots called picture elements arranged in a
particular sequence. To televise pictures, these images are focused to some kind of a
photosensitive screen more commonly known as target which is symmetrically scanned by an
electron beam. In this way of scanning, all the picture elements are scanned and converted
into electrical signal in a particular order. At fixed intervals of time synchronizing pulses are
added to this electrical signal.
 2. Digital Signals
 Digital signals consist of pulses occurring at discrete intervals of time. The pulse may occur
singly at a discrete period of time or as a coded group.
 These signals play a very important role in the transmission and reception of coded
messages. Simplest types of digital signals are the Telegraph and Teleprinter signals.

Example 1: Telegraph signal

 A telegraph and tele-printer are the important instruments that are used to transmit written
texts in the form of coded signals. Codes are allotted to different characters.

Example 2: Radar Signal

 Radar is a device which is used to find out the location of distance objects in terms of range
and bearing.
 This is done by transmitting a short period signal and beaming it to the target. The reflected
signal is picked up by the radar receiver and is used to determine the location of the object.

MODULATION AND DEMODULATION

 Modulation may be defined as the process by which some parameter of a high frequency
signal termed as carrier is varied in accordance with the signal to be transmitted.
 Modulation can also be defined as superimposition of a carrier signal over a modulating
signal.
 Demodulation is the process to recover the original message signal from the modulated
carrier.

CLASSIFICATION OF MODULATION
1. Analog Modulation- Sinusoidal Modulation and Pulse Modulation
2. Digital Modulation – Pulse Code Modulation

 Sinusoidal Modulation is further classified into – Amplitude & Frequency Modulation

 Pulse Modulation is further classified into – Pulse Amplitude Modulation, Pulse Position
Modulation & Pulse Width Modulation
Amplitude Modulation
 The process of amplitude modulation consists of varying the peak amplitude of a sinusoidal
carrier wave in proportion to the instantaneous amplitude of the modulation signal.
 In AM, the amplitude of the carrier wave is changed but its frequency remains the same. The
envelope of the modulated carrier is an exact replication of the audio frequency signal wave.

Let the carrier signal be represented by.

where,
Vcm - constant amplitude of the carrier signal
wc - carrier angular frequency
and the modulating signal is represented by,

where,
Vm - amplitude of the modulating signal
wm - signal frequency
These components along with the resulting modulated waves as shown in Fig. 10.4.

The process of modulation increases the peak amplitude of the carrier so that for the
modulated wave peak amplitude is given as,

and its instantaneous value is given as

 Where, ma= Vm
Vcm
is termed as the degree of modulation or modulation - index

νmod equation shows that the AM wave consists of three components

Consequently, second and third components are termed as Lower Side Band (LSB) and
Upper Side Band (USB). Fig. 10.5 shows the Upper and Lower side bands for single frequency
AM wave.
POWER IN AN AM WAVE
The average power in each component of the wave is given by the square of RMS values
of the components concerned.

For carrier wave,

where,
Vcm is the peak value of the carrier wave voltage
For power in side bands

Thus, the total power is equal to the sum of carrier wave power and the power in side
bands.

If the carrier voltage has a Rms value Vc then total power,

CURRENT RELATION
Let IC be the unmodulated current and It is the total or modulated current of an AM transmitter

R is the resistance in which these current flows

Frequency Modulation
 Frequency Modulation is the process of varying the frequency of a carrier wave in proportion
to the instantaneous amplitude of the modulating signal without any variation in the
amplitude of the carrier wave.
 Because the amplitude of the wave remains unchanged, the power associated with an FM
wave is constant. Fig. 10.6 shows the wave forms in a FM wave.

From the figure shown below, when the modulating signal is zero, the output frequency
equals fc (centre frequency). When the modulating signal reaches its positive peak, the frequency
of the modulated signal is maximum and equals (fc +fm). At negative peak of the modulating
signal, the frequency of the FM wave becomes minimum and equal to (fc-fm).
 Thus, the process of frequency modulation makes the frequency of the FM wave to
deviate from its centre frequency (fc) by an amount (± f) where f is termed as the frequency
deviation of the system. During this process, the total power in the wave does not change but a
part of the carrier power is transferred to the side bands.

Assume the modulating signal can be represented by,

After frequency modulation takes place, angular velocity of the carrier wave varies in
proportion to the instantaneous amplitude of the modulating signal. The instantaneous angular
velocity wi is given by,

where,
K is a constant of proportionality.

Advantages of FM over AM

1. The amplitudes of the frequency modulated wave in FM is independent of the depth of

modulation, where as in AM, it is independent on this parameter.
2. In AM, when the modulation index increases, the total transmitted power is increased
with the increased modulation index.
3. FM is much more immune to noise than AM and hence there is an increase in the
Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) in FM.
4. By increasing frequency deviation, the noise can further be reduced in FM, where as
AM does not have this feature.
5. As there is a guard band between FM stations, there is less adjacent channel
interference in FM than in AM.
 6. Since the FM transmitter operates in the upper VHF and UHF ranges, the space wave
is used for propagation so that the radius of reception is limited to Line of Sight (LOS).

Disadvantages of FM over AM
1. FM requires a much wider channel, perhaps 7 to 15 times as large as that needed by AM.
2. FM transmitting and receiving equipments are more complex and expensive.
3. Since reception is limited to line of sight, the area of reception for FM is much smaller
than for AM.

RADIO
A radio transmitter is a device that transmits information by means of radio waves. The
signal intelligence is translated in terms of a high frequency wave commonly termed as carrier
wave and the process of intelligence translation into high frequency is termed as modulation. All
radio transmitters use one form of modulation or the other for transmission of intelligence.

All radio transmitting systems have a section for generation of high frequency carrier
wave, a section for converting information into electrical impulses and amplifying them to the
required level, a section for modulating the carrier with signal intelligence, amplification stages
for increasing the level of the modulated wave to the desired power and antenna system for
transmitting these signals into free space. A basic set up for a radio transmitter is shown in fig
10.7

Transmitters are usually named depending upon the type of signal to be transmitted, type
of modulation: employed, the carrier frequency used or the types of radio waves radiated by the
system. A transmitter may be named as broadcast transmitter, telephony or telegraphy transmitter
depending upon whether the signal is an entertainment programme speech- signal or picture
signal. It may be termed as an AM or FM transmitter depending upon the modulation process
employed.
 (i) AM Transmitter

AM transmitters are generally used for radio broad casts over long, medium or short
waves, point to point communication systems using radio telephony/ telegraphy signals over
short waves or VHF waves. These transmitters employ one or the other method of producing
modulated waves such that the depth of modulation is directly proportional to the magnitude of
the modulation signal.

Fig 10.8 shows a typical block diagram of an AM transmitter, where either low level or
high level modulation is employed. As shown in the block diagram the audio voltage is filtered
so as to occupy the correct bandwidth and amplified by two or three stages of audio frequency
amplifiers. The radio frequency carrier wave generated by the frequency stabilized.

Crystal oscillator is amplified by two or three stages of amplifiers, to generate the

required output power. For high level modulation, the amplified audio frequency signal is
applied in series with the plate of circuit of class C radio frequency output amplifier. The
generated AM wave is directly given to the transmitting antenna.

For low level modulation, the amplified audio frequency signal is applied in series with
the grid or cathode circuit of class C radio frequency amplifier and the generated AM wave is
amplified by using a class B radio frequency linear power amplifier and fed to the transmitting
antenna. Broad cast transmitters invariably use high level modulation because of the large
amount of power requirement to be generated.
 (ii) FM Transmitter

A frequency modulated transmitter may consist of modulating system that can directly
produce frequency modulated waves by varying the master oscillator frequency. Such circuits
employ T.C circuits in Master Oscillator circuits. Fig 10.9 shows the block diagram of the FM
transmitter.

The transmitter shown above employs a reactance tube modulator to produce frequency
deviation in proportion to the signal amplitude. Alternatively, a varactor diode modulator or a
ferrite core modulator may also be employed for this purpose. The resulting wave is passed
through a number of frequency multiplier stages. These stages not only raise the centre
frequency of the signal but the frequency deviation is multiplied by the same factor as well. The
modulated wave is then amplified to the required power level by class C power amplifier stages
and transmitted.

A part of the output of the frequency multiplier stages is passed to AFC circuit shown in
dotted lines. The purpose of this circuit is to make correction in the centre frequency of the
transmitter should any drift in it take place due to changes in circuit parameters. Signal from the
frequency multiplier is mixed with the crystal oscillator (Local oscillator) output in a mixer and
the difference frequency is fed to a discriminator which gives DC output according to frequency
shift with respect to centre frequency.

When the frequency of the transmitter is exactly equal to centre frequency, discriminator
output is zero and there is no DC correcting bias. Any positive or negative drift in the frequency
produces a corresponding correction bias at the discriminator which when applied to the
reactance tube modulator brings the LC oscillator frequency back to its centre value If a
modulating signal is present resulting AF signal produced at the discriminator output not allowed
to reach the reactance tube modulator because of low pass filter which has a cut-off lower than
the signal.
AM Broad Cast Receivers

AM broad cast receivers are used to produce the programme of speech or music radiated
by AM broadcast transmitting stations operating on long wave, medium wave or short wave
bands and provide a variety of entertainment to millions of families all over the world fig 10.10
shows the block schematic of a superhetrodyne receiver used for AM broadcast reception.

The RF amplifier, being a tuned voltage amplifier selects the desired signal from the
antenna and after amplifications delivers it to the mixer. At the mixer, the signal voltage is mixed
with local oscillator voltage and at the output of the mixer is selected a voltage of intermediate
frequency. This voltage is amplified by the IF amplifier le., a fixed frequency tuned voltage
amplifier. The output of this amplifier is fed to a linear diode detector which not only provides
AF signal to the audio amplifier, but also supplies bias to the RF and IF stages in the form of
AGC. The AF signal is amplified by the audio amplifier stages and fed to the loudspeaker which
converts it into sound waves.

TELEVISION SYSTEMS
Television means seeing the scene at a distance. A television system must reproduce the
structure details, relative brightness, motion, sound and colour of the scene. The standard
television picture has a ratio of 4:3 of width to height which is called as the aspect ratio. Modern
TV camera systems employ one of the following devices for conversion of picture signals into
electrical currents (i) image orthicon (ii) Vidicon (iii) Plumbicon

Image orthicon is widely used in TV broadcast studios for broad cast of monochrome TV
signals because of high sensitivity, stability and quality. Plumbicon uses the same basic
principles as vidicon but has a different photo-conductive coating that makes it suitable for TV
colour transmission. It is, therefore, mainly used in colour transmission. It is therefore mainly
used in colour TV cameras but is now increasingly used in black and white cameras also. While
the usual dimensions of image orthicon are about 1” x 6” plumbicon has slightly bigger
dimension of about 1.25” x 8”. Vidicon has a small size, simplicity and low cost. These factors
make it suitable for use in industrial, educational, space applications and portable TV cameras.

(i) Television Transmission

Video signals produced by a TV camera contain picture information during the scan
period but during retrace or fly back period, the camera output is zero. In order to transmit these
signals, it is essential to add the synchrononization pulses before modulating this signal at the
desired carrier frequency. The complete setup of a TV transmission system is shown in fig
(10.11).

Video signals produced by the camera are amplified by the video amplifier and given to
an adder circuit where line and field synchronization pulses are added to the signal. These pulses
also play an important role in keeping TV receivers synchronized with the transmission system
thereby allowing picture reception. The complete video signal is used to amplitude modulate an
RF carrier. The audio chain consists of an audio amplifier which amplifies the audio signals
received from the microphone and feeds them to a FM modulator. This modulator changes the
RF oscillator frequency in accordance with the amplitude of the AF signal thereby producing a
FM wave. This signal is amplified to the desired magnitude by an RF amplifier stage and passed
on the common aerial for transmission.

(ii) Monochrome TV Receiver

A television receiver whether monochrome (Black and white) or colour is basically a
superheterodyne receiver which is designed to pickup TV signals in the VHF or UHF range,
process them and detect from them video and audio signals which are then converted into their
original form (Picture and sound). The basic block diagram of a black and white TV receiver
system is shown in fig 10.12
 The TV signals picked up by the receiving antenna are in VHF or UHF range and are
very weak. These signals are fed to the receiver tuner comprising of RF amplifier at its front end
and followed by a mixer stage to which the local oscillator output is also fed for frequency
conversion. The RF amplifier must have a large bandwidth of 7 MHz so that all signals with in a
video channel get equal amplification. The amplified RF signals as well as local oscillator output
are fed to the mixer which is the second stage in the RF chain. The two signals beat with one-
another and produce a difference frequency signal at the mixer output. The output of the tuner is
always fed to the IF amplifier by means of a co-axial cable to minimize noise pick-ups.

Vision IF signals obtained at the mixer output has very low amplitude of the order of a
few millivolts or evenless. Vision IF amplifier is designed to provide a high gain and selectivity
to these signals. A linear diode detector circuit is usually employed for detection of vision IF
signals and obtain from them video signals lying in the range 0-5 MHz and frequency modulated
signals at 5.5 MHZ.

The video detect separates video, synchronizing signals, blanking and audio signals.
Video signals are amplified by the video amplifiers and given to the picture tube.

The sound signals are separated and amplified by sound IF amplifiers. Then the sound
demodulator demodulates the sound signals which are then amplified by the audio amplifier. The
loudspeaker converts the output of the audio amplifier into sound signals.
FACSIMILE (FAX)
A Facsimile or FAX system is a document carrier, with the help of a FAX machine one
can send an image on a sheet of paper to another FAX machine over regular telephone lines.

The document with message written on it is inserted in the FAX machine at the input of
the machine. The document is scanned by the electronic scanner line by line and from top to
bottom using light and mirror. The electronic scanner uses a photocell which senses the light
reflected from the document. Whenever there is mark on this, the photocell output voltage is
very small or binary 0 is generated. If there is no mark, the voltage generated is very large and
binary 1 is generated. As line by line is scanned series of 1’s and 0’s are generated. Each scan
line is divided into 200 points per inch, So 8 ½” wide paper produces 1700 bits/line, These 1’s
and 0’s are further represented by two frequency tones when sent over the telephone line. A
block diagram of facsimile system is shown in fig (10.13).

At the receiving terminal, beam of light scan a specially treated drum surface in
synchronization with the scan of the sending unit. As series of l’s and 0’s are received, the beam
of light is turn on and off and drums at the end of each line. The drum carries the electrical
charges on its surface that have the complete image like photo-graphic negative, and then uses
these charges to transfer toner ink to a piece of paper. The reproduced image is the exact replica
of the sending unit.

Application
1. Transmission of photographs
2. Transmission of languages text
3. Transmission of document, map etc.,
‘poo;l
MICRO WAVE COMMUNICATION
Electromagnetic waves in the frequency range of 1 GHz to 30 GHz are referred to as
microwaves. As microwaves travel only on line-of -sight paths, the transmitter and receiver
should be visible to each other. The microwave communication offers a large transmission -
bandwidth, many thousands of telephone channels along with a few TV channels can be
transmitted over the same route using the same facilities. Normally, carrier frequencies in the 3
to 12 GHz range are used for microwave communication. The transmitter output powers can be
low because highly directional, high gain antennas are used. Fig (10.14) shows the one channel
of a ground based microwave system.

It consists of two terminals stations and one or more repeater stations. At the sending
terminal several thousand telephone channels and one or two television channels are frequency
multiplexed. Then it can be produced a base band signal. The base-band signal is allowed to
modulate an Intermediate frequency (IF) carrier in the lower frequency large, which is then up
converted to the microwave, output frequency of 4 GHz. The signal is amplified and fed through
a directional antenna towards a repeater station at a distance of about 50 km.

At the repeater station, the signal is received on one antenna directed towards the
originating station; the received signal is down converted to IF, amplified and up converted to a
new frequency of 6 GHz. The frequency conversion is done so that the outgoing and incoming
signals do not interfere with each other in the repeater stations. This signal is retransmitted
towards the receiving terminal stations where it is down converted to the IF and demodulated to
recover the base band signal. This base band signal is then demultiplexed to recover the
individual telephone or television channel signals.
SATELLITE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM
A satellite communication is basically a RF repeater station which has made broadband
long distance communication feasible and ensures a high quality service. The basic components
of satellite communication system has three main parts
(i) Earth station or ground station
(ii) Medium and
(iii) Satellite itself

The earth station converts the local signals (like telephone telex, Fax, TV signal etc.) to
high frequency with the help of various earth station equipments. This high frequency signal is
transmitted towards satellite by big parabolic antenna of earth station. Earth stations are of
various types. These are big earth station; direct reception system (DRS) earth station and TV
receive only (TVRO) earth station. Big earth stations of antenna diameter like 6.1 ms, 7.5 ms and
11 ms are transmitting stations. They have both transmitting and receiving equipments at earth
station. DRS earth station is only receiving station. TVRO earth station is used for receiving TV
programme from satellite and then the received programme is relayed through local TV
transmitters. The quality of TVRO earth station for TV signals is better than DRS earth station.

The high frequency satellite earth station signal then travels through earth atmosphere
medium upto few kilometers and then after that it is space environment which is vacuum. The
medium also alternates the high frequencies signal which is then received by the satellite.

Constructional Features of Satellite

A satellite has many sub-systems; these sub-systems are responsible for various
functions. These sub-systems are antenna, transponder, power generation and storage system
telemetry and telecommand sub-system, attitude and orbit control sub-system, propulsion sub-
system and thermal control sub-system.

The satellite antenna is a parabolic reflector which receives signals from ground station I;
The same antenna is used for transmission. The transponder is the heart of a satellite. All
operations related to communication take place inside the transponder. A block diagram of a
single conversion satellite transponder is shown in Fig 10.15. When the signal is received at
satellite, it is amplified by a low noise amplifier, its frequency is down converted by down
converter and then it is radiated back by satellite towards the earth. All the earth station and dish
antenna within the visible range of the satellite receive this down converted signal.

The power generation and storage sub-system consists of solar cells and storage batteries.
The solar cells convert solar energy into electrical energy. This electrical energy is supplied to
various equipments of the satellite for proper operation. In addition to solar cells, satellite also
has storage batteries. The power from these batteries is used when satellite comes in the shadow
zone of the earth. Telemetry and telecommand sub-system of the satellites gives the condition of
the satellite.

The telemetry is a system which gives information about the satellite. When a partial
parameter of a satellite deviates from its signal value, then a particular signal is sent. This is
called telecommand. If a satellite charges its position in its orbit, it needs some pushes and pulls
to keep the satellite in its desired position in space. The propulsion sub-system keep the satellite
in its desired location with the help of small hydrazine thrusters fitted around the body of the
satellite. An exploded view of a communication satellite is shown in Fig 10.16.

Attitude and orbit control sub-system perform two functions. Firstly it keeps the satellite
in its desired location and secondly, adjust the position of the satellite. The thermal control sub-
system maintains the inside temperature of the satellite and other equipments. These temperature
drops to as low as — 150°C when satellite comes in the shadow zone of the earth and shoot up
very high when satellite faces the sun.
FIBRE OPTICAL COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

The outlines of an optical communication system are given in Fig. 10.17. The sound
signals from different subscribers are multiplexed and converted into digital form by the
ADC/ENCOER. The signal is then modulated using a pulse modulation technique and given by
Electrical to Optical (E-0) converter. This device produces modulated optical signals. These
signals are transmitted through an optical fibre to the desired destination.

Optical fibers are used for transmission of optical signals in the same manner as coaxial
cables for radio wave transmission. The main advantage of using optical frequencies as the
carrier is that a very high density information transmission becomes possible at these
frequencies. In addition to this, the optical fibers also have extremely low loss of nearly 0.2
db/Vm, which permits larger repeater spacing.

Other advantages of optical fibers are their much smaller size, light weight as compared to
coaxial cables. They require much less duct space and transportation cost. Since they are made of
dielectric materials, they are immune to electromagnetic interference, short-circuits/ground loops
and are free from cross-talks. They are more tolerant to hostile temperature environments and
very much cost effective, as compared to other transmission media for a large volume of
information traffic.
 Figure 10.18 gives the geometry of an optical fibre. The fibre consists of a central core
made of silica glass or polystyrene/perspex. In a silica fibre, the cladding is also of silica glass,
but its refractive index is lower than the refractive index of the core. In the polystyrene/perspex
cable, the cladding is also of the same plastic material. Silica fibers have a better performance at
higher bit rates but their cost is high. The plastic fibers have higher attenuation and low
temperature withstanding capability and can be used for short distance transmission.

The core has a diameter of 4-100 m and cladding is about 100-200 m. The standard
overall diameter of the optical fibre is 125 m.

A light ray injected through the air-core interface of the core will undergo total internal
reflection, if it is incident at an angle θ smaller than the circuit angle θc for that interface

where θc in the critical angle and given as θc = sin-1(n2/n1), n1 and n2 are the refractive
indices of the core and cladding respectively.

At the receiver end, an optical detector is employed to convert optical signals to electrical
form. The resultant digital signals are converted into analogue form by the Digital to Analog
converter and given to the subscribers.

Among the important application of optical fibre systems are

(a) International communication, (b) Inter-city communication (c) Inter-exchange

communication, (d) Data links (e) Domestic communication (f) Plant and traffic control, (g)
Defence applications like communications, night vision, thermal imaging, laser radar (h) laser
instrumentation etc.