EE 251 - Fall 2009 San José State University

Solution of midterm exam # 2

Problem 1 (35 points) A transmit filter used in a digital communication system has impulse
response given by
1
g(t) = √ e−t/5T , 0 < t ≤ T.
5T

(a) Sketch carefully the impulse response h(t) of the matched filter for g(t). (You may assume
that the constant of in matched filter is k = 1.)

Solution: The impulse response is sketched in the figure below:

g(t) h(t)=g(T-t)

(1/5T)1/2 (1/5T)1/2
e-1/5/(5T)1/2 e-1/5/(5T)1/2

t t
0 T 0 T

(b) Evaluate the response of the matched filter at t = T , yM F (T ).

Solution: At t = T , the response of the matched filter is equal to the energy Eg of the pulse:
Z T 1  2

yM F (T ) = Eg = g 2 (t) dt = 1 − e− 5 .
0 2

(c) Determine the response ycor (t) of a correlator for g(t), when the input is g(t) itself. Sketch it
and verify it using the answer from part (b).

Solution: The response of the correlator is

  
Z t  1
1 − e− 5T
2t
, 0 ≤ t ≤ T,
2
ycor (t) = g 2 (t) dt = 
− 25

0  1
1−e , t > T.
2

As expected, ycor (T ) = yM F (T ) = Eg . A sketch is shown below:

ycor(t)

(1-e—2/5)/2

t
0 T
Problem 2 (40 points) A binary communication system employs unipolar mapping and a square-
root raised cosine pulse for transmission over an ideal band limited channel. The system is subject
to AWGN of average power N0 /2. The bandwidth of the channel is 3 MHz and the bit rate 3.5
Mbps.

(a) Find the value of the excess bandwidth of this system, α.

2W 2×3 12 5
Solution: α = Rb −1 = 3.5 −1 = 7 −1= 7 or 71.4%.

(b) Sketch carefully, showing all pertinent labels, the raised cosine spectrum P (f ) used by this
system.

Solution: A sketch of the spectrum is shown in the figure below:

P(f)/T

0.5

f (MHz)
-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3

0.5 1.75

(c) Due to a timing error, the output of the matched filter (MF) at the receiver is given by
1 1 1
Yk = √ Ak + √ Ak−1 + √ Ak−2 + Nk .
2 3 6
Approximate the average probability of a bit error, in terms of a single Gaussian Q-function
with Eb /N0 as a parameter. No details of the probability of error analysis are required, only
those of the most dominant term.
√
Solution: Recall that with unipolar
p mapping, 0 7→ 0 and 1 7→ 2Eb . The decision threshold
(without ISI) is set at λ = Eb /2. A list of all combinations of bits and MF outputs are
shown below:

Bk Bk−1 Bk−2 Yk − N k
0 0 0 p 0
0 0 1 p2Eb /6
0 1 0 p 2Ebp
/3
0 1 1 2Ebp
/3 + 2Eb /6
1 0 0 p 2Ebp
/2
1 0 1 p2Eb /2 + p2Eb /6
1 1 0 p 2Ebp
/2 + 2Ebp/3
1 1 1 2Eb /2 + 2Eb /3 + 2Eb /6

The worst cases occur for Bk = 0, Bk−1 = 1, Bk−2 = 0 and Bk−1 = Bk−2 = 1:
( p p ! p p p !)
1 Eb /2 − 2Eb /3 Eb /2 − 2Eb /3 − 2Eb /6
Pb ≈ Q p +Q p
8 N0 /2 N0 /2
 (" s !# " s !#)
1 Eb Eb
= 1 − Q 0.97 + 1 − Q 0.16 .
8 N0 N0

Problem 3 (25 points) Two systems for binary transmission over an AWGN channel are being
evaluated: System S1 uses polar mapping with Manchester pulses. System S2 uses polar mapping
with NRZ pulses.

(a) What system has best performance? Justify carefully your answer.

Solution: Both systems use the same mapping. As a result, the performance is the same
in terms of average probability of a bit error, for the same average bit energy-to-noise ratio
Eb /N0 .

(b) Suppose that the transfer function H(f ) of the channel has zero DC gain so that H(0) = 0.
What system has best performance? (Hint: Power spectral densities.)

Solution: The power spectral density of Manchester pulses satisfies SX (0) = 0. On the other
hand, for NRZ pulses, SX (0) 6= 0 and the output of the channel will be distorted. Therefore
system S1 performs better.