AMPLITUDE MODULATION

FUNDAMENTALS
TOPICS

 AM Concepts
 Modulation Index and Percentage of Modulation
 Sidebands and the Frequency Domain
 AM Power
 Single – Sidebands Modulation
AM CONCEPTS
AM CONCEPTS

The instantaneous value of the

In AM, the information carrier amplitude changes in
(modulating) signal varies the accordance with the amplitude and
amplitude of the carrier sine wave. frequency variations of the
modulating signal
AM CONCEPTS
The carrier frequency remains
constant during the modulation
process but its amplitude varies
in accordance with the
modulating signal
AM CONCEPTS

The envelope is an imaginary line on the

AM waveform that gives the exact shape
of the modulating signal
AM CONCEPTS

The zero reference line of

the modulating signal
coincides with the peak
value of the unmodulated
carrier.
AM CONCEPTS
 Using trigonometric functions, the sine wave carrier can be expressed as:
𝒗𝒄 = 𝑽𝒄 𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝟐𝝅𝒇𝒄 𝒕
Where:
𝑣𝑐 = 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑒𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒
𝑉𝑐 = 𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑢𝑛𝑚𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑣𝑒
𝑓𝑐 = 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑣𝑒
𝑡 = 𝑎 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑑𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑟 𝑐𝑦𝑐𝑙𝑒
AM CONCEPTS
 The sine wave modulating signal can be expressed with a similar formula:
𝒗𝒎 = 𝑽𝒎 𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝟐𝝅𝒇𝒎 𝒕
Where:
𝑣𝑚 = 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑒𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑠𝑖𝑔𝑛𝑎𝑙
𝑉𝑚 = 𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘 𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑠𝑖𝑔𝑛𝑎𝑙
𝑓𝑚 = 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑖𝑔𝑛𝑎𝑙
𝑡 = 𝑎 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑑𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑖𝑔𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑦𝑐𝑙𝑒
AM CONCEPTS
 The peak value of the carrier is the
reference point of the modulating signal.
 The modulating signal (instantaneous)
value adds to or subtracts from the
peak value of the carrier.
 The instantaneous value of either the top
or bottom voltage envelope can be
computed by:
𝑣1 = 𝑉𝑐 + 𝑣𝑚
AM CONCEPTS

𝑣1 = 𝑉𝑐 + 𝑣𝑚
 With 𝑣𝑚 = 𝑉𝑚 sin 2𝜋𝑓𝑚 𝑡:
𝑣1 = 𝑉𝑐 + 𝑉𝑚 sin 2𝜋𝑓𝑚 𝑡
 𝑣1 is the envelope of the carrier
wave.
AM CONCEPTS

 The instantaneous value of the completed

modulated wave is:
𝑣𝐴𝑀 = 𝑣1 sin 2𝜋𝑓𝑐 𝑡
𝑣𝐴𝑀 = 𝑉𝑐 + 𝑉𝑚 sin 2𝜋𝑓𝑚 𝑡 sin 2𝜋𝑓𝑐 𝑡
𝑣𝐴𝑀 = 𝑉𝑐 sin 2𝜋𝑓𝑐 𝑡 + 𝑉𝑚 sin 2𝜋𝑓𝑚 𝑡 sin 2𝜋𝑓𝑐 𝑡

CARRIER + MODULATING
SIGNAL
x CARRIER
AM CONCEPTS

An amplitude modulator is a
circuit used to produce AM.
𝑣𝑚 = 𝑉𝑚 sin 2𝜋𝑓𝑚 𝑡 Amplitude modulators
compute the product of the
carrier and modulating signals.
𝑣𝐶 = 𝑉𝐶 sin 2𝜋𝑓𝐶 𝑡
MODULATION INDEX AND
PERCENTAGE OF MODULATION
MODULATION INDEX

In general, the amplitude of

the modulating signal should
be less than the amplitude of
the carrier.
Vm < Vc
MODULATION INDEX

 The relationship between the amplitude of the modulating signal and carrier is
expressed in terms of a ratio known as the modulation index, m.
𝑽𝒎
𝒎=
𝑽𝑪
 Multiplying the modulation index by 100 gives the percentage of modulation.
 The modulation index should be a number between 0 and 1
OVERMODULATION AND DISTORTION
 Overmodulation 𝑚 > 1 is a
condition wherein the amplitude of the
modulating signal is higher than the
carrier voltage.
 It can cause distortion of the
modulated waveform.
 The ideal condition for AM is when
𝑉𝑚 = 𝑉𝑐 , or 𝑚 = 1.
PERCENTAGE OF MODULATION

The modulation index can

also be computed from
measurements taken on the
composite modulated wave.

Using oscilloscope voltage

values:
𝑽𝒎𝒂𝒙 − 𝑽𝒎𝒊𝒏
𝒎=
𝑽𝒎𝒂𝒙 + 𝑽𝒎𝒊𝒏
EXAMPLE
Suppose that on an AM signal, the
Vmax(p-p) value read from the
graticule on the oscilloscope
screen is 5.9 divisions and
Vmin(p-p) is 1.2 divisions. (a)
What is the modulation index?
(b) Calculate the peak amplitude
of the modulating signal and the
carrier signal and the modulating
signal if the vertical scale is 2 V
per division.
SIDEBANDS AND THE FREQUENCY
DOMAIN
SIDEBANDS AND THE FREQUENCY DOMAIN

 Side frequencies or sidebands are new signal at different frequencies that are
generated as part of the modulation process.
 They occur in the frequency spectrum directly above and directly below the
carrier frequency.
 Their frequencies are the sum and difference of the carrier and modulating
frequencies.
SIDEBAND CALCULATIONS

Single-frequency sine-wave
modulation generates two
sidebands.
The upper sideband (fUSB) and the
lower sideband (fLSB) are
calculated:
fUSB = fc + fm and fLSB = fc − fm
Complex wave (e.g. voice or
video) modulation generates a
range of sidebands.
SIDEBAND CALCULATIONS

The existence of sidebands can be demonstrated

mathematically:
𝑣𝐴𝑀 = 𝑉𝐶 sin 2𝜋𝑓𝐶 𝑡 + 𝑉𝑚 sin 2𝜋𝑓𝑚 𝑡 sin 2𝜋𝑓𝐶 𝑡

cos 𝐴−𝐵 cos 𝐴+𝐵

Recall: sin 𝐴 sin 𝐵 = −
2 2
𝑉𝑚 𝑉𝑚
𝑣𝐴𝑀 = 𝑉𝐶 sin 2𝜋𝑓𝐶 𝑡 + cos 2𝜋𝑡 𝑓𝐶 − 𝑓𝑚 − cos 2𝜋𝑡 𝑓𝐶 + 𝑓𝑚
2 2
The AM wave, which is a composite signal,
is the algebraic sum of the carrier and
upper and lower sideband sine waves.
(a) Intelligence or modulating signal.
(b) (b) Lower sideband.
(c) (c ) Carrier.
(d) (d ) Upper sideband.
(e) (e ) Composite AM wave
FREQUENCY – DOMAIN REPRESENTATION OF AM

A plot of signal amplitude versus frequency is referred to as frequency-

domain display.

A spectrum analyzer is used to display the frequency domain as a signal.

SIDEBAND CALCULATIONS

A frequency – domain display of

an AM signal (voltage)
FREQUENCY – DOMAIN REPRESENTATION OF AM
The relationship between
the time and frequency
domains.
EXAMPLE
A standard AM broadcast station is allowed to transmit modulating frequencies up to 5
kHz. If the AM station is transmitting on a frequency of 980 kHz, what are sideband
frequencies and total bandwidth?