9-1 Basic Principles of

‫مرغوب‬
Signal Reproduction
A communication receiver must be able to identify and select a desired signal from thou-
RF= radio frequency sands of others present in the frequency spectrum (selectivity) and to provide suficient
ampliication to recover the modulating signal (sensitivity). A receiver with good selectiv-
ity will isolate the desired signal in the RF spectrum and eliminate or at least greatly
attenuate all other signals. A receiver with good sensitivity involves high circuit gain.

Selectivity
Selectivity Selectivity in a receiver is obtained by using tuned circuits and/or ilters. The LC tuned
circuits provide initial selectivity; ilters, which are used later in the process, provide
additional selectivity.

Q and Bandwidth. Initial selectivity in a receiver is normally obtained by using LC

Bandwidth
GOOD TO KNOW
If you know the Q and the resonant
‫انحدار‬
frequency of a tuned circuit, you
can calculate the bandwidth by
using the equation BW 5 fr /Q.
tuned circuits. By carefully controlling the Q of the resonant circuit, you can set the
desired selectivity. The optimum bandwidth is wide enough to pass the signal and its
sidebands but also narrow enough to eliminate or greatly attenuate signals on adjacent
frequencies. As Fig. 9-1 shows, the rate of attenuation or roll-off of an LC tuned circuit
is gradual. Adjacent signals will be attenuated, but in some cases not enough to com-
pletely eliminate interference. Increasing the Q will further narrow the bandwidth and
improve the steepness of attenuation, but narrowing the bandwidth in this way can be
taken only so far. At some point, the circuit bandwidth may become so narrow that it
starts to attenuate the sidebands, resulting in loss of information.
The ideal receiver selectivity curve would have perfectly vertical sides, as in
Fig. 9-2(a). Such a curve cannot be obtained with tuned circuits. Improved selectivity is
achieved by cascading tuned circuits or by using crystal, ceramic, or SAW ilters. At
lower frequencies, digital signal processing (DSP) can provide almost ideal response
curves. All these methods are used in communication receivers.

Figure 9-1 Selectivity curve of a tuned circuit.

:Q ‫زيادة الـ‬
BW ‫ تضيف الـ‬-١ ⫺3 dB
( Attenuation ) ‫ زيادة إنخفاض الفقد‬-٢

fr
BW ⫽
Attenuation

BW ⫽ f2 ⫺ f1

f1 fr f2

Frequency

292 Chapter 9
 Figure 9-2 Receiver selectivity response curves. (a) Ideal response curve. (b) Practical response curve showing
shape factor.

BW
ideal Partical

0
6 dB
0 10

Attenuation in Decibels
10
20
Attenuation in Decibels

20 f4 ⫺ f 3
30 Shape factor ⫽
30 f2 ⫺ f 1
BW ⫽ f2 ⫺ f1
40
40
50
60 50
Shape factor
70
60
80
Skirt 70
90
fr Frequency
f1 f2 Frequency f3 f4
fr f1 f2
Perfectly vertical sides (a) (b)
Shape factor comes with particular curve

Shape Factor. The sides of a tuned circuit response curve are known as skirts. The
steepness of the skirts, or the skirt selectivity, of a receiver is expressed as the shape Skirt selectivity
factor, the ratio of the 60-dB down bandwidth to the 6-dB down bandwidth. This is Shape factor
illustrated in Fig. 9-2(b). The bandwidth at the 60-dB down points is f4 2 f3; the band-
‫مقسومني ع بعض‬
width of the 6-dB down points is f2 2 f1. Thus the shape factor is ( f4 2 f3 )/( f2 2 f1 ).
Assume, for example, that the 60-dB bandwidth is 8 kHz and the 6-dB bandwidth is ‫ كان الـ‬، ‫كلما انخفض الشكل‬
‫ اكثر انحدارًا والـ‬shape factor
3 kHz. The shape factor is 8/3 5 2.67, or 2.67:1. ( particular) ‫ افضل‬selectivity
The lower the shape factor, the steeper the skirts and the better the selectivity. The ideal,
shown in Fig. 9-2(a), is 1. Shape factors approaching 1 can be achieved with DSP ilters.

Sensitivity
A communication receiver’s sensitivity, or ability to pick up weak signals, is mainly a func- Sensitivity
tion of overall gain, the factor by which an input signal is multiplied to produce the output
signal. In general, the higher the gain of a receiver, the better its sensitivity. The greater gain
that a receiver has, the smaller the input signal necessary to produce a desired level of out-
put. High gain in communication receivers is obtained by using multiple ampliication stages. ‫القدرة على التقاط‬
Another factor that affects the sensitivity of a receiver is the signal-to-noise (S/N) ‫االشارات الضعيفة‬
ratio (SNR). Noise is the small random voltage variations from external sources and from
noise variations generated within the receiver’s circuits. This noise can sometimes be so
high (many microvolts) that it masks or obliterates the desired signal. Fig. 9-3 shows
high
noise
what a spectrum analyzer display would show as it monitored two input signals and the
background noise. The noise is small, but it has random voltage variations and frequency
components that are spread over a wide spectrum. The large signal is well above the
noise and so is easily recognized, ampliied, and demodulated. The smaller signal is
barely larger than the noise and so may not be successfully received.
One method of expressing the sensitivity of a receiver is to establish the minimum
discernible signal (MDS). The MDS is the input signal level that is approximately equal
to the average internally generated noise value. This noise value is called the noise loor input signal ‫مستوى الـ‬
‫يمكن تمييزه‬
of the receiver. MDS is the amount of signal that would produce the same audio power ‫الذي يساوي تقريبا الـ‬
output as the noise loor signal. The MDS is usually expressed in dBm. noise
Another often used measure of receiver sensitivity is microvolts or decibels above
1 mV and decibels above 1 mW (0 dBm).

Communication Receivers 293

 Figure 9-3 Illustrating noise, MDS, and receiver sensitivity.

Desired signal
(good S/N )

Signal voltage or power amplitude

MDS

(dB or dBm)
(poor S/N )

Noise

Noise
floor

Frequency

Most receivers have an antenna input impedance of 50 V. So a 1-µV signal produces

a power P across the 50 V of
V2 1 3 1026
5 5 2 3 10214 W
P5
R 50
Expressing this in dBm (power referenced to 1 mW) gives
P 2 3 10214
Convert it to dBm
dBm 5 10 log 5 10 log 5 2107 dBm
1 mW 0.001
Now if a receiver has a stated sensitivity of 10 µV, then expressing this in decibels yields
dB 5 20 log 10 5 20 dB
The sensitivity above 1 mW then is
dBm 5 10 2 107 5 287 dBm
An input sensitivity of 0.5 µV translates to a sensitivity of
dB 5 20 log 0.5 5 26

dBm 5 26 2 107 5 2113 dBm

Bit error rate (BER)
There is no one ixed way to deine sensitivity. For analog signals, the signal-to-
noise ratio is the main consideration in analog signals. For digital signal transmission,
the bit error rate (BER) is the main consideration. BER is the number of errors made
in the transmission of many serial data bits. For example, one measure is that the
sensitivity is such that the BER is 10210 or 1 bit error in every 10 billion bits transmitted.
Several methods for stating and measuring sensitivity have been deined in various
communications standards depending upon the type of modulation used and other factors.
For example, the sensitivity of a high-frequency communication receiver is usually
expressed as the minimum amount of signal voltage input that will produce an output
signal that is 10 dB higher than the receiver background noise. Some speciications state
a 20-dB S/N ratio. A typical sensitivity igure might be 1-µV input. The lower this igure,
the better the sensitivity. Good communication receivers typically have a sensitivity of
0.2 to 1 µV. Consumer AM and FM receivers designed for receiving strong local stations
have much lower sensitivity. Typical FM receivers have sensitivities of 5 to 10 µV; AM
receivers can have sensitivities of 100 µV or higher. Common wireless transceiver
sensitivities are in the 285 to 2140 dBm range.

The Simplest Receiver Configuration

Fig. 9-4 shows the simplest radio receiver: a crystal set consisting of a tuned circuit, a
diode (crystal) detector, and earphones. The tuned circuit provides the selectivity, the

294 Chapter 9
Figure 9-4 The simplest receiver—a crystal set.

T1
Headphones

Primary
C1 C2

Secondary

diode and C2 serve as an AM demodulator, and the earphones reproduce the recovered
audio signal.
The crystal receiver in Fig. 9-4 does not provide the kind of selectivity and sensitivity
necessary for modern communication. Only the strongest signals can produce an output, and
selectivity is often insuficient to separate incoming signals. This receiver can only receive
very strong local AM radio stations, and a very long antenna is needed. However, a demod-
ulator like this is the basic circuit in any receiver. All other circuits in a receiver are designed
to improve sensitivity and selectivity, so that the demodulator can perform better.

Selective filters + demodulator

9-2 Superheterodyne Receivers = TRF

A sensitive and selective receiver can be made using only ampliiers, selective ilters, and
a demodulator. This is called a tuned radio frequency or TRF receiver. Early radios used
this design. However, such a receiver does not usually deliver the kind of performance
expected in modern communications applications. One type of receiver that can provide
that performance is the superheterodyne receiver. Superheterodyne receivers convert all
incoming signals to a lower frequency, known as the intermediate frequency (IF), at which Intermediate frequency (IF)
a single set of ampliiers and ilters is used to provide a ixed level of sensitivity and selec-
tivity. Most of the gain and selectivity in a superheterodyne receiver are obtained in the IF
ampliiers. The key circuit is the mixer, which acts as a simple amplitude modulator to
produce sum and difference frequencies. The incoming signal is mixed with a local oscillator
signal to produce this conversion. Fig. 9-5 shows a general block diagram of a superhetrodyne

Figure 9-5 Block diagram of a superheterodyne receiver.

Antenna
IF amplifiers

RF amplifier Mixer

Demodulator

Selective
filter
AGC
Local oscillator
or
frequency synthesizer

Speaker Audio amplifier

Communication Receivers 295