Adama Science & Technology University

School of Electrical Engineering and Computing

Program of Electronics and Communication Engineering

Introduction to Communication systems (ECE-3202)

Chapter 1: Introduction

The purpose of a communication system is to transmit information signals from a source,

located at one point in space, to a user destination, located at another point. Mostly, the
message produced by the source is not electrical in nature. Thus an input transducer is used to
convert the message generated by the source in to time varying electrical signal called the
message signal. By using another transducer at the receiver, the original message will be
reproduced at the user destination. The message signal can be analog form or digital form.

1.1. Major Parts of Communication Systems

Basically communication system consists of three major parts: Transmitter, Communication
Channel and Receiver.

Transmitter Channel Receiver

Fig.1.1: Basic parts of communication system

Transmitter: -The main purpose of the transmitter is to modify the message signal into a
form suitable for transmission over the channel. It involves modulation and amplification.
Modulation is a process of mixing the message signal with a very high frequency carrier,
which is suitable for propagation.

Communication Channel: -The communication channel may be a transmission line (as in

Telephony and Telegraphy), an optical fiber (as in optical communication), or merely free
space in which the signal is radiated as an EM wave (as in radio and Television).

Receiver: - The main purpose of the receiver is to reproduce the original message signal from
the degraded version of the transmitted signal after propagation through the channel. This is
accomplished by using a process of demodulation and amplification. Demodulation is a
reverse of modulation. It is a process of extracting the original message from the received
signal.

1.2. Classification of Communication Systems

There are three ways in which communication systems are classified: analog or digital
systems, one-way (simplex) or two-way (half & full duplex) systems, and base band or
modulated systems.

According to the message signal communicated, communication systems can be classified in

to two types: Analog and Digital. Analog communication system is the one in which message
signal is transmitted and received in analog form. Digital communication systems are systems
in which message signal is transmitted and received in digital form. Analog systems were the

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first to be developed, however in recent years digital systems have become more popular due
to its superior performance.

There are also two basic types of communication systems. The simplest is one-way
communication, normally referred to as simplex. In simplex, information travels in one
direction only. For example radio and TV broadcasting are simplex. The bulk of
communication system, however, is two way which is referred as full duplex. Another form of
two-way communications is where only one party transmits at a time. This is known as half
duplex.

In a communication system, the information signal may be transmitted by itself over the
medium or may be used to modulate a carrier for transmission over a long distance. The
former is a base band communication while the later is a bandpass (Modulated signal)
communication.

1.3. Typical Communication Systems

Analog Communication System

The block diagram of a typical analog communication system is shown in fig 1.2. The analog
signal to be transmitted can be a voice waveform, television signal, or any other information-
bearing signal. Typically, this message signal must first be filtered to eliminate undesired
components and amplified to a suitable level, depending on the source.
Analog Modulation Power Amp
Message IN

Channel
Carrier Osc.

Analog Filter Demodulation LNA

Message Out
Fig. 1.2: Typical Block diagram of Analog communication Systems

The message signal often modulated onto a carrier, which can be a sinusoidal signal, pulse
train, or a light wave. In the modulation process, the signal affects some parameter of the
carrier in a predetermined way. The modulated signal is then amplified and radiated from an
antenna. Various things may happen to the signal in transmission through the channel usually
attenuated an attacked by noise.

The corrupted signal received from the channel are amplified to a suitable level and filter to
eliminate noise and interfering signals that are all outside the frequency range of the desired
signal. The amplified signal is then demodulated to recover the original message. After it is
filter the original signal will be reproduced.

Digital Communication System

Nowadays digital communication systems are found better in performance than analog
communications systems, and therefore communication systems are becoming fully digital.
Digital systems demand efficient and reliable digital data transmission and storage systems.
This demand has been accelerated by the emergence of large scale, high speed data networks
for the exchange, processing and storage of digital information in military, government and

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private spheres. A merging of communication and computer technology is also required in the
design and implementations of these systems.

A major concern of the designer in digital systems is the control of error so that reliable
reproduction of data can be obtained. From Shannon's theory, it is known that by proper
encoding of the information, errors induced by a noisy channel or storage medium can be
reduced to any desired level without sacrificing the rate of information transmission and
storage. Thus the use of coding for error control has become an integral part in the design of
modern digital communication systems and digital computers. A typical digital
communication system is shown in fig 1.3.
Multiplexer Channel Digital Power
Digital
Coder Modulator Amp
IN

Channel
Analog ADC Source
IN Coder

Digital Demultiplexer Channel Demodulation LNA

Out Decoder

Analog Carrier
Out DAC Source Sync
Decod
er
Fig. 1.3: Typical Block diagram of Digital Communication Systems

The source encoder converts the source information in to digital form if it has been analog.
Then the channel encoder encodes the digital information using a certain coding so that errors
can be detected and corrected at the receiver. The coded digital signal is then send to the
digital modulator and it would be modulated using a certain type of digital modulation. The
transmitter will amplify and sent the modulated signal through the communication channel.

In the receiver side, the first stage receives a very weak signal and amplifies it. Then the
demodulator section separates the coded digital information from the carrier. The channel
decoder decodes the coded digital signal in its un-coded form and detects and corrects errors
in found in the signal. The source decoder finally converts the digital information back to the
original signal.

Comparison of Digital and Analog communication Systems

Digital communication has a number of advantages
 Relatively inexpensive digital circuits can be used
 Privacy is preserved by using data encryption
 Greater dynamic range is possible
 Data from voice, video, and data sources can be merged and transmitted over a
common digital transmission system.
 In long distance systems, noise does not accumulate from repeater to repeater.
 Errors in detected data are small, even when there is a large amount of noise on the
received signal.
 Errors can often be corrected by the use of coding
Digital communication also has disadvantages
 Generally more bandwidth is required than that for analog systems.
 Synchronization between the transmitter and receiver is required.
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1.4. Frequency Spectrum
The frequency spectrum is divided into segments for the purpose of classifying the various
portions and how they are used. These are given in table below.

Name Frequency Wavelength Applications

Extremely Low 30-300Hz 107-106m Ac line frequency, low end of human
frequency (ELF) hearing
Voice frequency (VF) 300-3000Hz 106-105m Normal range of human speech.
Very Low Frequency 3-30KHz 105-104m Higher end of human hearing, sounds
(VLF) from musical instruments
Low frequency (LF) 30-300KHz 104-103m Used as sub carrier, and also in marine
navigation.
Medium frequency 300-3000KHz 103-102m MW AM radio broadcasting
(MF)
High frequency (HF) 3-30MHz 102-101m SW AM radio, Two way
communications
Very High frequency 30-300MHz 101-1m FM radio, VHF TV channels, marine
(VHF) and aeronautical Comn, Mobile
Ultra High frequency 300-3000MHz 1-10-1 m UHF TV channels, Cellular Mobile,
(UHF)
Super High frequency 3-30GHz 10-1-10-2m Microwave frequency used in satellite,
(SHF) radar and long distance comn.
Extremely High 30-300GHz 10-2-10-3m Limited activities so far
frequency (EHF)
Infrared - 0.7 – 10 m In astronomy to detect stars, for
guidance in weapons, TV remote
control.
The Visible Spectrum - 0.4 –0.8 m Optical communication

1.5. Fundamental Limitations of Communication Systems

The goal of a communication system engineer is to design systems that provide high quality
service for the maximum number of user with the smallest cost and least usage of limited
resources. The resources to be conserved include hardware for generating, transmitting, and
receiving information signal, the channel bandwidth, and the transmitter power. In other words,
engineers attempt to design communication systems that transmit information at a high rate,
with high performance, using the minimum amount of transmitted power and bandwidth. Given
these requirements, what is the fundamental limitation of a digital communication system? The
most significant limitations on the performance of communication system are noise, distortion
and bandwidth. Usually, the transmitter and the receiver are carefully designed so as to
minimize the effects of noise and distortion on the quality of reception. Bandwidth of a
communication system is the range of frequencies that it can pass through. The information
capacity of a communication system is a measure of how much information can be carried
through the system in a given period of time. It is a function of system bandwidth.

Is it possible to invent a system with no bit error at the output even when we have noise
introduced in to the channel? The answer is stated by Shannon-Hartely capacity theorem,
according to which digital communication systems that attain as close to zero error probability
as described are theoretically possible, provided that the rate of information transmitted is less
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than the capacity of the channel C. In other words, Shannon showed that if the rate of
information R (in b/s) is less than C, the probability of error would approach zero. The
channel capacity C (in b/s) could be calculated by using the equation given below which is
S
referred to as Shannon equation. Here, B is bandwidth in Hz, is signal-to-noise power ratio
N
and as already mentioned C is the channel capacity. Signal-to-noise power ratio indicates the
measure of noise relative to information signal.
 S
. C  B log 2 1   (1.1)
 N
In analog systems the optimum system might be defined as the one that achieves the largest
signal to noise ratio at the receiver output subject to design constraints such as channel
bandwidth and transmitted power.
Is it possible to design a system with infinite signal to noise ratio at the output when noise is
introduced by the channel? The answer is of course no.

1.6. Signal Distortion in Transmission

A signal transmission system is the electrical channel between an information source and
destination. These systems range in complexity from a simple pair of wires to a sophisticated
laser-optics link. But all transmission systems have two physical attributes of particular
concern in communication: internal power dissipation that reduces the size of the output
signal, and energy storage that alters the shape of the output (distortion).

Distortionless Transmission
Distortionless transmission means that the output signal has the same "shape" as the input.
More precisely, given an input signal x(t), we say that the output is undistorted if it differs
from the input by a multiplying constant and a finite time delay.
Analytically, we have distortionless transmission if

Where K and td are constants

The properties of a distortionless system are easily found by examining the output spectrum

The stringent demands of distortionless transmission can only be satisfied approximately in

practice, so transmission systems always produce some amount of signal distortion. For the
purpose of studying distortion effects on various signals, we'll define three major types of
distortion:

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The first two types can be grouped under the general designation of linear distortion, described
in terms of the transfer function of a linear system. For the third type, the nonlinearity
precludes the existence of a transfer function.

Linear Distortion
Linear distortion includes any amplitude or delay distortion associated with a linear
transmission system. Amplitude distortion is easily described .in the frequency domain; it
means simply that the output frequency components are not in correct proportion. Since this is
caused by |H(f)| not being constant with frequency, arnplitude distortion is sometimes called
frequency distortion.

The most common forms of amplitude distortion are excess attenuation or enhancement of
extreme high or low frequencies in the signal spectrum. Less common but equally bothersome
is disproportionate response to a band of frequencies within the spectrum. For illustration, a
suitably simple test signal is x(t) = cos(wot) - 1/3cos(3wot) + 1/5cos(5wot), a rough
approximation to a square wave sketched in Fig. 1.4. If the low-frequency or high-frequency
component is attenuated by one-half, the resulting outputs are as shown in Fig. 1.5. As
expected, loss of the high-frequency term reduces the "sharpness" of the waveform.

Fig. 1.4: Test signal x (t) = cos wot - 1 / 3 cos 3wot + 1 /5 cos 5wot

Fig. 1.5: (a) Low frequency attenuated; (b) high Frequency attenuated

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A common area of confusion is constant time delay versus constant phase shift. The former is
desirable and is required for distortionless transmission. The latter, in general, causes distortion.
Suppose a system has the constant phase shift not equal to 0° or + m180°. Then each signal
frequency component will be delayed by  cycles of its own frequency; this is the meaning of
2
constant phase shift. But the time delays will be different, the frequency components will be
scrambled in time, and distortion will result.

That constant phase shift does give distortion is simply illustrated by returning to the test signal of
Fig. 1.4 and shifting each component by one-fourth cycle =-90°. Whereas the input was roughly
a square wave, the output will look like the triangular wave in Fig. 1.6.

Fig. 1.6: Test signal with constant phase shift =-90°.

Nonlinear Distortion
A system having nonlinear elements cannot be described by a transfer function. Instead, the
instantaneous values of input and output are related by a curve or function y(t) = T[x(t)],
commonly called the transfer characteristic. Fig. 1.7 shows a representative transfer
characteristic; the flattening out of the output for large input excursions is the familiar saturation-
and-cutoff effect of transistor amplifiers. We'll consider only memoryless devices, for which the
transfer characteristic is a complete description.

Under small-signal input conditions, it may be possible to linearize the transfer characteristic
in a piecewise fashion, as shown by the thin lines in the figure. The more general approach is a
polynomial approximation to the curve, of the form

and the higher powers of x(t) in this equation give rise to the nonlinear distortion.
Even though we have no transfer function, the output spectrum can be found, at least in a
formal way, by transforming the above equation. Specifically, invoking the convolution
theorem,

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 Fig. 1.7: Transfer characteristic of a nonlinear device

Equalization
Linear distortion-both amplitude and delay is theoretically curable through the use of
equalization networks. Fig. 1.8 shows an equalizer Heq(f) in cascade with a distorting
transmission channel HC( f ) . Since the overall transfer function is H( f )  H C ( f ) H eq (f) , the
final output will be distortion-less if H C ( f ) H eq (f) = Ke -jwt d , where K and td are more or less
arbitrary constants. Therefore, we require that
Ke -jwt d
H eq (f) = , where H c (f)  0
HC ( f )

Channel Equalizer
x(t)
H C (f) H eq (f) y(t)

Fig. 1.8 Channel with equalization for linear distortion

Rare is the case when an equalizer can be designed to satisfy the above equation exactly which
makes equalization be a theoretical cure. But excellent approximations often are possible so that
linear distortion can be reduced to a tolerable level.

Companding
Although nonlinear distortion has no perfect cure, it can be minimized by careful design. The
basic idea is to make sure that the signal does not exceed the linear operating range of the
channel's transfer characteristic. Ironically, one strategy along this line utilizes two nonlinear
signal processors, a compressor at the input and an expander at the output, as shown in Fig.
1.9.

x(t) Compressor Channel Expander y(t)

Fig.1.9: Companding System

A compressor has greater amplification at low signal levels than at high signal levels, and
thereby compresses the range of the input signal. Ideally, then, the expander has a
characteristic that perfectly complements the compressor so the expanded output is
proportional to the input, as desired. The joint use of compressing and expanding is called
companding.