2009-CPE-03

UCE&T BZU MULTAN

Amplitude Modulation
What is Modulation
 Modulation
 In the modulation process, some characteristic of a high-
frequency carrier signal (bandpass), is changed according
to the instantaneous amplitude of the information
(baseband) signal.
 Why Modulation is used
 Suitable for signal transmission (distance…etc)
 Multiple signals transmitted on the same channel
 Capacitive or inductive devices require high frequency AC
input (carrier) to operate.
 Stability and noise rejection

CSULB May 22, 2006 3

About Modulation
 Application Examples
 broadcasting of both audio and
video signals.
 Mobile radio communications, such
as cell phone.

• Basic modulation types

– Amplitude Modulation: changes the amplitude.
– Frequency Modulation: changes the frequency.
– Phase Modulation: changes the phase.

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Basic Amplitude Modulation
 Amplitude Modulation is
the simplest and earliest
form of transmitters
 The information signal
varies the instantaneous
amplitude of the carrier
AMPLITUDE MODULATION (AM)
 In amplitude modulation, the message signal m(t) is impressed on
the amplitude of the carrier signal c(t) = Accos(2fct)
 This results in a sinusoidal signal whose amplitude is a function
of the message signal m(t)
 There are several different ways of amplitude modulating the
carrier signal by m(t)
 Each results in different spectral characteristics for the
transmitted signal
 We will describe these methods, which are called
(a) Double sideband, suppressed-carrier AM (DSB-SC AM)

(b) Single-sideband AM (SSB AM)

Oh-Jin Kwon, EE dept., Sejong Univ., Seoul, Korea:

http://dasan.sejong.ac.kr/~ojkwon/ 6
Amplitude Modulation
 The condition for envelope detection of the AM signal
for all t [ A  m(t )]  0
 If m(t )  0 and A=0 also satisfy the above condition
 Let be the peak amplitude of
m p (t ) m(t )
m(t )isequivalent
 This condition  m p (t ) to
A  m p (t )
 The min. carrier amplitude required for envelope
detection is
m p (t )
Modulation index
  m (t ) / A p
 The modulation index
0   1
Modulation Index of AM Signal

CSULB May 22, 2006 10

Modulation Index of AM Signal

CSULB May 22, 2006 11

Double-Sideband Suppressed-Carrier AM
 A double-sideband, suppressed-carrier (DSB-SC) AM signal is
obtained by multiplying the message signal m(t) with the carrier
signal c(t) = Accos(2fct)
 Amplitude-modulated signal
u (t )  m(t )c(t )  Ac m(t ) cos(2 f c t )
 An example of the message signal m(t), the carrier c(t), and the modulated
signal u (t) are shown in Figure 3.1
 This figure shows that a relatively slowly varying message signal m(t) is
changed into a rapidly varying modulated signal u(t), and due to its rapid
changes with time, it contains higher frequency components
 At the same time, the modulated signal retains the main characteristics of the
message signal; therefore, it can be used to retrieve the message signal at the
receiver
Oh-Jin Kwon, EE dept., Sejong Univ., Seoul, Korea:
http://dasan.sejong.ac.kr/~ojkwon/ 12
Double-Sideband Suppressed-Carrier AM
 Figure 3.1 An example of message, carrier, and DSB-SC modulated
signals

Oh-Jin Kwon, EE dept., Sejong Univ., Seoul, Korea:

http://dasan.sejong.ac.kr/~ojkwon/ 13
Single-Sideband AM
 The two sidebands of an AM signal are mirror images of one
another
 As a result, one of the sidebands is redundant
 Using single-sideband suppressed-carrier transmission results in
reduced bandwidth and therefore twice as many signals may be
transmitted in the same spectrum allotment
 Typically, a 3dB improvement in signal-to-noise ratio is achieved
as a result of SSBSC
Single-Sideband AM
.
 A method, illustrated in Figure
3.16, generates a DSB-SC AM
signal and then employs a filter
that selects either the upper
sideband or the lower sideband
of the double-sideband AM
Figure 3.16 Generation of a single-
signal sideband AM signal by filtering one of
the sidebands of a DSB-SC AM signal.

., 15
Sideband and carrier power
 Carrier term does not carry information, and hence
the carrier power is wasted
 AM (t )  A cos ct  m(t ) cos ct  carrier  sidebands
 The carrier power Pcis the mean sq. value of
A cos c twhich is A2 / 2
 The sideband power Ps is the mean sq. value
 of m (t ) cos  t
c which is m 2
(t ) / 2
Power Efficiency

 The power efficiency

Ps m2 (t )
  100%
Pc  Ps A  m (t )
2 2

 For the special case of tone modulation

m(t )  A cos mt m (t )  A / 2
2 2

 Hence Ps
  2
A2 / 2
100% 
2
100%
Pc  Ps A  A / 2 2
2 2

  1, m ax  33 %
Quadrature AM
 Two carriers generated at the same frequency but 90º out of
phase with each other allow transmission of two separate
signals
 This approach is known as Quadrature AM (QUAM or QAM)
 Recovery of the two signals is accomplished by synchronous
detection by two balanced modulators
Quadrature Operation
Advantages/disadvantages
Advantages of Amplitude Modulation, AM
There are several advantages of amplitude modulation, and some of these reasons
have meant that it is still in widespread use today:
 It is simple to implement
 it can be demodulated using a circuit consisting of very few components
 AM receivers are very cheap as no specialized components are needed.

Disadvantages of amplitude modulation

Amplitude modulation is a very basic form of modulation, and although its
simplicity is one of its major advantages, other more sophisticated systems
provide a number of advantages. Accordingly it is worth looking at some of the
disadvantages of amplitude modulation.
 It is not efficient in terms of its power usage
 It is not efficient in terms of its use of bandwidth, requiring a bandwidth
equal to twice that of the highest audio frequency
 It is prone to high levels of noise because most noise is amplitude based and
obviously AM detectors are sensitive to it.