NAME: Nemo, Czriss Paulimer C.

COURSE/YEAR/SECTION: BSECE/3/A

DATE: September 15, 2020

ACTIVITY 1: DIGITAL TANSMISSION

QUESTIONS:
1. Give four advantages and one disadvantage of using digital (rather than analog) techniques for
the transmission of voice signals.
a. Advantages
1. Data compression is possible with digital techniques making the transmitted signal’s
bandwidth lesser compared to using its analog alternative.
2. Manipulating digital signals are much easier than analog signals.
3. Signal regeneration via error control can be administered in digital signals in order to
reduce accumulated noise and distortion as it goes through a series of signal processors
unlike in analog signals where error control is impossible.
4. Security-wise, digital signals have the upper hand due to their ease in encryption.
b. Disadvantage
1. Some digital techniques cannot employ higher fidelity and improved frequency response
compared to analog techniques.

2. Explain the necessity for sampling an analog signal before transmitting it digitally.

Unlike digital signals that have a single polarity as time progresses, analog signals vary
continuously thus, finding an alternate form of these analog signals having discrete values is
required for digital transmission; which is through the process called sampling, a method in which
the signal’s amplitude during discrete time intervals is obtained in order to produce a finite series of
numbers for digital transmission.

3. What is the Nyquist rate? What happens when a signal is sampled at less than the Nyquist rate?

It is the ideal sampling rate for the original analog signal to retain its form upon reconstruction.
It also obeys the Nyquist Theorem, a theory stating that the sampling rate must be at least twice the
frequency of the highest-frequency component of the signal for the analog signal reconstruction to
be possible.

If the utilized sampling rate is lower than the Nyquist rate, then aliasing or foldover distortion
will be formed. Aliasing is a form of distortion wherein the frequencies in the sampled signal are
translated downward thus, the output signal will have a lower-frequency contrasted to the original
signal.
 4. Explain the difference between natural and flat-topped sampling.

Natural sampling is done by assuming that the sampling pulses have a finite width τ. This results
to a sample pulse that follows the original signal’s shape. On the other hand, flat-topped sampling is
administered by a sample-and-hold circuit that sustains the starting amplitude of the sample pulse.
Hence, instead of taking the original signal’s shape, the signal is followed only at the samples’
starting points.

PROBLEMS:
1. It is necessary to transmit the human voice using a frequency range from 300 Hz to 3.5 kHz using
a digital system.
(a) What is the minimum required sampling rate, according to theory?
As the Nyquist theorem stated, the minimum required sampling rate for no distortion to
take place is twice the highest frequency component. Hence,
( f s )min =2 ( f H )=2(3500 Hz)
( f s )min =7000 Hz∨7 kHz

(b) Why would a practical system need a higher rate than the one you calculated in part (a)?

In practice, higher rates are used since other external conditions such as channel
complexity, time constraints, availability of the practical circuits, application, etc. are also taken
into consideration. Another reason is that the theorem used in part (a) is under the assumption
that an ideal low-pass filter is used which is not the case in practice.

2. The human voice has a spectrum that extends to much higher frequencies than are necessary
for communication. Suppose a frequency of 5 kHz was present in a sampler that sampled at 8
kHz.
(a) What would happen?

Since the low-pass filter was not able to filter out those signals lower than the baseband, an
aliased component will appear in the reconstructed signal.

(b) How can the problem described in part (a) be prevented?

In order to prevents such problems, it is best to sample the signal at much higher rates;
providing higher sampling frequencies that the low-pass filter can surely remove. However, this
may seem costly since it requires systems that are capable of fast A/D conversion and more data
to be processed.

Another solution that may be cheaper than the first is to make use of another filter that can
help in filtering out these unwanted components.