SINGLE-SIDEBAND MODULATOR

LAB REPORT 1

Yu- Hsien, Chang（Student ID: 420061366）

Digital Audio Systems, DESC9115, Semester 1 2012

Graduate Program in Audio and Acoustics
Faculty of Architecture, Design and Planning, the University of Sydney

1. INTRODUCTION
The objective of this project was for students to deepen their 2.2 Function SSB.m [1]
understanding of the topic covered in assignment 1 of this unit. The first processing step of function SSB.m was to perform a
The intention was that by studying Matlab code used in Hilbert Transform on the original signal, m, to produce a new
single-sideband modulation, the concept and operation of signal, mh. Function SSB.m separated the original signal, m,
modulators would become clearer. This project included an into two parts: the upper sideband signal, sbu, and the lower
explanation of the Matlab code, illustrations specifying the sideband signal, sbl. This was achieved, by adding and
characteristics of single-sideband modulators, and interpretation subtracting the new signal, mh, to the original signal, m. The
of the equations in the Matlab code. second step of function SSB.m was to perform a Fast Fourier
Transform on the signals, sbu and sbl, to obtain two signals,
2. EXPLANATION OF MATLAB CODE SBU and SBL. The reason for performing a Fast Fourier
Transformation with the signals, sbu and sbl, was to analyze
The Matlab code used in this project comprised two scripts:
these two signals in the frequency domain.
Script.m and SSB.m. Script.m was a script used to import data
The third processing step of function SSB.m was to plot
from an audio file, call a function to perform single-sideband
charts of the signals, sbu and sbl, in the time domain, and the
modulation, and return results. SSB.m was a function that
signals, SBU and SBL, in the frequency domain. The fourth
implemented single-sideband modulation, and produced
processing step of function SSB.m was to demodulate and plot
diagrams of specific signal processing. SSB.m was based on a
the original signal, m, and the demodulated signal, mf, in the
script posted on Matlab Central [1].
time domain in order to enable comparisons to be made.
2.1 Script Script.m
2.3 Mathematical specification of function SSB.m
Initially Script.m extracted a signal from the audio file
To create the upper sideband signal, sbu, and the lower sideband
Track06.wav. The derived signal, x, was only a portion of the
signal, sbl, it was necessary to shift the phase of the original
audio file from point 6097090 to point 7113270, because the
signal, m, by 90 degrees. This process produced a new signal,
signal Track06.wav was too large for Matlab to deal with. A
mh. The equations used to generate the signals, sbu and sbl,
column of signal was then derived from x and named signll.
were:
Signll was rotated by 90 degrees to produce the message signal,
m. This signal was used to produce the algorithm together with
= .× 2 × (2 ) − ℎ.× 2 × (2 ) (1)
other matrices in function SSB.m.
= .× 2 × (2 ) + ℎ.× 2 × (2 ) (2)
The second part of Script.m called function SSB.m to use
signll as an input signal, along with other matrices in the
The cosine wave led the sine wave by 90 degrees, and the
function algorithm, and create output wave files: original.wav,
new signal, mh, lagged the original signal, m, by 90 degrees.
sbu.wav, sbl.wav, and demodulated.wav. Original.wav was the
Subtracting the lagging signal, mh, from original signal, m, gave
source file of the original signal, m. Sbu.wav was the wave file
the value of the upper sideband signal, sbu. Adding the original
of the upper sideband signal. Sbl.wav was the wave file of the
signal, m, to the new signal, mh, gave the lower sideband signal,
lower sideband signal. Demodulated.wav was the wave file of
sbl.
the demodulated signal which was the final output signal of this
single-sideband modulation arrangement.
 The equation for demodulation was:

= .× (2 ) (3)

The equation above shows that single-sideband modulation

uses only one sideband signal to demodulate a signal. This
reduces the power needed to transmit signals, which means
signals can be transmitted using less power by applying
single-sideband modulation.
3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
In Figure 1. it can be seen that the lower sideband signal in the
frequency domain, SBL, has more impulse responses than the
upper sideband signal in the frequency domain, SBU. This
demonstrates that the upper sideband signal, sbu, is clearer than
the lower sideband signal, sbl. Such a difference between these
two signals might be the reason that the upper sideband signal,
sbu, is usually chosen for demodulation.
Figure 3. and Figure 4. respectively show the original signal,
m, and the demodulated signal, mf. These two signals look
almost the same in these diagrams, but the sound of original.wav
is quite different from the sound of demodulated.wav. This
indicates that the original signal does change after
single-sideband modulation.

4. BIBLIOGRAPHY
[1] S. R. Tuladhar, “Matlab Central,” Amplitude Modulation.
14th October 2005.
 5. DIAGRAMS
The diagrams generated in function SSB.m are listed and
illustrated below.

Figure 3. The original signal, m.

Figue 1. The upper sideband signal (left) and the lower sideband
signal(right) in the time domain and the frequency domain.

Figure 4. The demodulated signal, mf.

Figure 2. This diagram compares the upper side-band signal,

SBU, and the lower side-band signal, SBL, in the frequency
domain.