PSK:

PSK is very similar to phase modulation (PM) in analog communication. We know that if m(t)
is the message signal and c(t) is the carrier signal then the modulated signal in PM is

XPM(t)= ACCos(wCt +m(t))

where c(t)= AC Cos(wCt) and wCfrequency of carrier in radian and ACamplitude of

the carrier signal

m(t) is a analog signal in PM, so it has infinite number of values. At the receiver end it is very
difficult to detect those infinite number of phases using a PLL. This problem is solved in PSK.
In PSK message signal is a binary signal. So it has only two values. And it is very simple to
detect those two phases using a decision device which will only decide either 1 or 0 is received.

We have to choose the values of m(t) in such a way so that detection process is simple.

m(t) =0 degree for binary 1

= 1800 or π radian for binary 0

Then the modulated signal in AM becomes

For binary 1 X1 = AC Cos(wCt+0)= AC Cos(wCt)

For binary 0 X0 = AC Cos(wCt+ π) = -A C Cos(wCt)

So we send the carrier only for binary 1 and we send 1800 phase shifted version of the carrier
for binary 0. This is called phase-shift keying as the phase of the carrier signal varies according
to the digital input signal.

PSK Transmitter:

= AC Cos(wCt) for binary 1

Binary polar NRZ Product
m(t) Modulator = - AC Cos(wCt) for binary 0

Carrier
PSK Modulated Wave
Signal

When binary 1 passes through the polar NRZ, 1 is converted into a pulse of amplitude one and
binary 0 is converted into a pulse of amplitude minus one. Then this signal is multiplied with
the carrier signal at the product modulator. So after the product modulator we get only carrier
signal for binary 1 and 1800 phase shifted version of carrier for binary 0. This PSK transmitter
circuit diagram is very simple and this is the advantage of PSK.
 PSK Receiver (Coherent detection):

1 if >λ
PSK Decision
Product LPF or
modulated Device 0 if <λ
Modulator Integrator
signal Threshold= λ

Carrier
signal

As it is a coherent detector the local oscillator which generates the carrier signal is fully
synchronized with the transmitter local oscillator. If the received signal is 1 that is AC Cos(wCt)
2
then after the product modulator it becomes (AC Cos(wCt) ) and then it passes through the LPF
and becomes . If the received signal is 0 then it received - AC Cos(wCt) and this is multiplied
2
with AC Cos(wCt) and we get -(AC Cos(wCt) ) . And after the LPF we get - . We choose

threshold of the decision device as the average of and - that is 0. So if the received signal
at decision device is more than 0 then it assumes it receives 1 and otherwise it receives 0.

PSK Waveform:

Modulating Signal
Time 

Carrier Signal

PSK Modulated Signal

PSK Bandwidth:

PSK Applications:
 PSK is broadly used for bio-metric application
 Wireless LAN, like Bluetooth and RFID.
 Optical Communications
 Multi-channel WDM
 Delay & add demodulator
 Nonlinear WDM transmission
Energy per bit in PSK:

For binary ‘1’

For binary ‘0’ similarly we can show energy per bit for binary ‘0’ is same as binary ‘1’

PSK Constellation Diagram:

Constellation diagram is a representation of a signal modulated by a

digital modulation scheme such as PSK. It displays the signal point in terms of unit energy
function as a two-dimensional xy-plane scatter diagram in the complex
plane at symbol sampling instants.

So the modulated function for bnary 1 can be represented w.r.t. its unit energy function as

X1 = AC Cos(wCt) = Cos(wCt) = φ(t)

So the modulated function for bnary 0 can be represented w.r.t. its unit energy function as

X1 = - AC Cos(wCt) = - Cos(wCt) = - φ(t)