4 WNTRODUCTION 1. Dienst SicnaL PROCESSING OPERATIONS IN i MMUNICATIONS a block diagram of a digital commune the ic signal-processing operations are identific igen coding, and modulation, Itis assumed that the Source Th some tte OF converted into it by design. aa ad Coding, the encoder maps the digital signal generate OntPut into another signal in digital form. The mapping is onc-to~ / Objective is to eliminate or reduce redundancy so as to provide an efficient representation of the source output. Since the source encoder mapping is one to-one, the source decoder simply performs the inverse mapping and thereby delivers to the user destination a reproduction of the original digital source Output. The primary benefit thus gained from the application of source coding is a reduced bandwidth requirement. oe _In channel coding, the objective is for the encoder to map the incoming digital signal into a channel input and for the decoder to map the channel output into an output digital signal in such a way that the effect of channel noise is minimized. That is, the combined role of the channel encoder and decoder is to provide for reliable communication over a noisy channel. This provision is satisfied by introducing redundancy in a prescribed fashion in the channel encoder and exploiting it in the decoder to reconstruct the original encoder input as accurately as possible. Thus, in source coding, we remove redun- dancy, whereas in channel coding, we introduce controlled redundancy. Clearly, we may perform source coding alone, channel coding alone, or the two together. In the latter case, naturally, the source encoding is performed first, followed by channel encoding in the transmitter as illustrated in Fig. 1.3. In the receiver, we proceed in the reverse order; channel decoding is performed first, followed by source decoding. Whichever combination is used, the result- n system, In this ource coding of information is diagram, three b; at the source one, and the Transmitter eS Diserete channel 1 7 s Channel i I ee ore — 1 I ! I | ' \ i Noise ——>| Channet ! ! Hl ' 1 ! ' Source Channel i ' User decoder [+ Secouer Detector Ly } i fl 4 Receiver Figure 1.3 Block diagram of digital communication ‘system. Scanned with CamScanner13 CHANNELS FOR DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS 5 ing improvement in syst cit compleiy. 'ystem performance is achieved at the cost of increased As for modulation, it is ; efficient transmission ofthe al with the purpose of providing for the tor (constituting the last stage of the ver the channel. In particular, the modula- shifts in the amplitude, frequency, o transmitter in Fi. 1.3) operates by keying channel encoder output. The aah phase ofa sinusoidal carrier wave to the ecradltoras\Gmncliiaaeaniae iia modulation technique for so doing is re- ing, respectively. The detector nb, reguency sil Fens 05 acest tee ine’ 1.3) performs demodulation boasting the first stage of the receiver in ing a signal that follows the time eee of modulation), thereby produc- (except for the effects of noise). ions in the channel encoder output ee eal of modulator, channel, and detector, enclosed inside the i tangle shown in Fig. 1.3, is called a discrete channel. Itis so called since both its input and output signals are in discrete form. Traditionally, coding ‘and modulation are performed as separate operations, and the introduction of redundant symbols by the channel encoder appears to imply increased transmission bandwidth. In some ‘applications, however, these two operations are performed as one function in such a way that the transmis- sion bandwidth need not be increased. In situations of this kind, we define the the channel encoder and modulator as the imposition of dis- ‘he transmitted signal, which are discernible by the combined nd detector in the receiver. joint function of tinct patterns on ti action of the channel decoder ai DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS .d in a digital communication system | and the application of interest. The .r, constitute the primary com- 4.3 CHANNELS FOR The details of modulation and coding use depend on the characteristics of the channel two channel characteristics, bandwidth and powel con munication resources available to the designer. Other channel characteristics of particular concern are the degree to which the amplitude and phase r sponses of the channel are determined, whether the channel is linear or nonlin- i 1 interference. In the sequel, we and how free the channel is from externa aca ty the context of five specific channels: telephone chan- di ese issues in : ! n se al snes tical fibers, microwave radio, and satellite channels. t felephone channel is designed "0 ‘provide voice-grade communication i “nto a worldwide network that encom= f thas evolve' : During the past 100 years, oT edia (open-wire lines, cables, optical fibers, Passes SS itching systems. This ty of trans! ae microwave radio, and satel id a comp! ee ow i alo kes the telephone channel lent candidate for data communttt makes the telephone Cr nel has a band-pass character “occupying the over long distances, 10400 Hz, ahigh signal-to-noise ‘of about 30 4B, and proxima ites) am an excel i i ‘cations, see chapter 1 entitled resign media for digital communications io + the book edited by Bartee (1985). discussion ja” by D. N. Hatfield it Scanned with CamScannerSmission of response over the n is given to the Voice signals results in a flat amplitude es pannel, However, no particular attentiot ee variations On'ths Since the ear is relatively insensitive to phase-dela a phase-delay yen data and image transmissions are strongly eee over atelepnon ions. Accordingly, the efficient transmission : Rie flat amplitude reggae eduies the use of an equalizer designed to ma Tain interest. Trang eons’ and a linear phase response over the frequency os a achieved ca mission ates up to 16.8 kilobits per second (kb/s) hat ie tion technique ‘elephone lines by combining the use of sophisticated Le te fact inet ma wes a adaptive equalization. The term “adaptive” refers ee conan ach ee eer acne Wi = S, ransmission is maintained. eee cable consists of a single-wire conductor centered inside an outer 7 » Which are insulated from each other by means of a dielectric mate- rial. The two primary advantages of coaxial cables as a transmission medium are a relatively wide bandwidth and freedom from external interference. How- ¢ver, their operational characteristics require the use of closely spaced repeat- ers. Indeed, efficient digital transmission systems using-coaxial cables have been built to operate at a data rate of 274 megabits per second (Mb/s), with repeaters spaced at 1 km intervals. An optical fiber consists of a very fine inner core made of silica glass, sur- rounded by a concentric layer called cladding that is also made of glass. The glass in the core has a refractive index (or optical density) slightly higher than that of the glass in the cladding. A basic property of light is that when a ray of light passes from a medium of high refractive index to another medium of low refractive index, the ray is bent back toward the medium with the higher refrac- tive index. Accordingly, if a ray of light is launched into an optical fiber at the right oblique acceptance angle, it is continually refracted into the core by the cladding. That is, the difference between the refractive indices of the core and the cladding helps guide the propagation of the ray of light inside the core of the fiber from one end to the other. Compared to coaxial cables, optical fibers are smaller and they offer higher transmission bandwidths and longer repeater separations. A microwave radio, operating on a line-of-sight link, consists basically of a transmitter and a receiver that are equipped with antennas of their own. The antennas are placed on towers at sufficient height to have the transmitter and receiver in line-of-sight of each other. The operating frequencies range from about | to 30 GHz. For a large fraction of the time in most locations, the propagation conditions do not vary significantly from a direct (line-of-sight) path between the transmitter and receiver. Under such conditions, the radio channel operates as a nondispersive transmission medium, capable of highly reliable, high-speed digital transmission. At other times, however, anomalous propagation conditions develop in the channel due to meteorological varia- tions, causing severe degradation in the radio system’s performance. These conditions manifest themselves in a phenomenon known as multipath fading. The term ‘‘multipath”’ refers to the fact that propagation between the transmit- ter and receiver takes place along several paths of different electrical lengths. te Scanned with CamScanner14 SOME HISTORICAL NOTES 7 The recciver thus sees a weighted sum of delayed replicas of the transmitted signal from these multiple paths, interfering with each other constructively or destructively. Consequently, the received signal experiences “fading” in that its amplitude varies with time. When the replicas arrive at the receiver in- phase, they reinforce each other; however, when they arrive in anti-phase, they cancel cach other. In order to design a digital radio system to work in such an environment, it is therefore necessary that provisions be made to overcome the effects of multipath fading. A satellite channel consists of @ satellite in geostationary orbit, an uplink from a ground station, and a downlink to another ground station. Typically, the uplink and the downlink operate at microwave frequencies, with the uplink frequency higher than the downlink frequency. On board the satellite there is low-power amplifier, which is usually operated in its nonlinear mode for hig) efficiency. Thus, the sutellite channel may be viewed as a repeater in the skj permitting communication (from one ground station to another) over long di tances at high bandwidths and relatively low cost. The nonlinear nature of tt channel restricts its use to constant envelope modulation techniques (i. phase modulation, frequency modulation). The five channels described illustrate the diverse nature of physical me that support the transmission of digital data. The list of channels for d: transmission include many others that offer unique features of their own. Scanned with CamScanner