Amplitude Shift Keying & Frequency Shift

Keying
Aim:
To generate and d
e
m
odulate an am
plitude shift keyed (ASK) signal and a binary
FSK signal.
Intro to Generation of ASK
Am
plitude shift keying - ASK - in the contex
t of digital com
m
unications is a m
odulation
process, which im
parts to a sinusoid two or
m
o
re discre
te am
plitud
e
leve
ls. These ar
e
related to the num
ber of levels
adopted by the digital m
e
ssage.
For a binary m
e
ssage sequence there are two le
vels, one of which is typically zero.
Thus the m
o
dulated wavefor
m
cons
ists of bursts of a sinusoid.
Figure 1 illustrates a binary ASK signal (lowe
r), together with the binary sequence w
h
ich
initiated it (upper). Neither signal has been bandlim
ited.
Figure 1: an ASK signal (below
) and the message (above)
There are sh
arp discon
tinuities shown at the tr
an
sition po
ints
. These resu
lt in the s
i
gn
al
having an unnecessarily wide bandwidth. Ba
ndlim
iting is generally introduced before
transm
ission, in which case these disc
ontinuities would be
‘rounded off’. The
bandlim
iting
m
a
y be applied to the d
i
gital
m
e
ssage, or the m
odulated sign
al itself.
The data r
a
te is of
ten made a sub-m
u
ltip
le of
the
carr
i
er f
r
eq
uency. This
has been do
ne in
the waveform of Figure 1.
One of the disadvan
t
ages
of ASK, compared
with FSK and PSK, for example, is that it
has not got a constant envel
ope. This m
a
kes its processing (eg, power amplification)
more difficult, sin
ce linearity becomes an im
portant factor. However, it does m
a
ke for
ease of demodulation with an envelope detector.
Intro to Bandw
i
dth Modification
As already indicated, the sharp discontinuitie
s in the ASK wa
vefor
m
of Fi
gure 1 im
ply a
wide bandwidth. A sign
ificant reduction can b
e
accepted b
e
fore errors at the receiver
increase unacceptab
l
y. This can be brought
abo
u
t by bandlim
iting (puls
e
shaping) the
m
e
ssage
before
m
odulation, or band
lim
iting the ASK signal itself
after
generation.
Figure 2: ASK generation method
Figure 3 shows the signals present in a m
ode
l of Figure 2, where the m
e
ssage has been
bandlim
ited. The shape, after band
lim
iting, depends naturally enough upon the
am
plitude and phase ch
arac
ter
i
stics of
the bandlim
iting f
ilter.
Figure 3: original TTL message (low
er), bandl
imited message (center),
and ASK (above)
Intro to De
modulation
It is apparent from
Figures
1 and 4 that the ASK signal has a well defined envelope.
Thus it is am
enable to dem
odulation by an envelope detector.
W
ith bandlim
iting of the transm
itted ASK
neither of these d
e
m
odulation m
e
thods
(envelope detection or sync
hronous dem
odulation) would re
cover the original binary
sequence; instead, their outputs
would be a bandlim
ited versi
on. Thus further processing
- by som
e
sort of decision-m
aking circ
uitry for exam
ple - would be necessary.
Thus dem
o
dulation is a two-stage process:
1.
recovery of the bandlim
ited bit stream
2.
regeneration of the binary bit stream
Figure 4 illustrates.
Figure 4: the tw
o stages of the demodulation
process
Modeling an ASK Generator
It is po
ssib
l
e
to m
odel the rath
er
basic generator shown in Figure 2.
The switch can be m
odeled by one half of
a DUAL ANALOG SW
IT
CH module. Being
an
analog
switch, the carrier frequency would need
to be in the audio range. The TTL
output from
the SEQUENCE GE
NERATOR is connected d
i
r
ectly to the CONTROL
input of the DUAL ANALOG SW
I
T
CH. For a
synchronous carrier and m
e
ssage use the
8.333 kHz TTL sam
p
le c
l
ock (filtered by
a TUNEABLE LPF) and the 2.083 kHz
sinusoidal message from
th
e MASTER SIGNALS m
odule.
If you need the TUNEABLE LPF for bandlim
iting
of the ASK, use the sinusoidal ou
tput
from
an AUDIO OSCILLATOR as the carrier
. For a synchronized m
e
ssage as above,
tune the oscillator close to 8.333 kHz, and lock
it there with the sam
p
le clock connected
to its SYNCH input.
This arrangem
e
nt is shown m
odeled in Figure 5.
Figure 5: modeling A
S
Kw
i
th the arrangement of Figure 2
Demodulation of an ASK signal
Having a very definite envelope
, an envelope detector can be
used as the f
i
rst step in
recovering the original sequence. Further pr
ocessing can be em
ployed to regenerate the
true binary wavefor
m
.
Figure 6 is a m
odel for envelope re
covery from
a baseband ASK signal.
Figure 6: envelope demodulation
of baseband ASK
The output from
the above dem
odul
ators will
not be a copy of the binary sequence T
TL
wavef
o
rm
. Bandlim
iting will have s
h
aped it,
as (
f
o
r exam
ple) illustrated in Figure 3.
If the ASK has been bandlim
ited before or
during transm
ission (or
even by the receiver
itse
l
f
)
then the recove
re
dm
e
ssage, in the de
m
o
dulato
r, will need res
t
ora
tion (
‘
cleaning
up’) to its o
r
igina
l
bi-po
l
ar f
o
rm
at.
Som
e
sort of decision device is
then required to regenerate th
e original binary sequence.
This could be done with a COMPARATOR.
Introduction to Part II:
FSK Gen
eration:
As its nam
e
suggests, a f
r
equency sh
ift keyed tran
sm
itter has its frequency
shifted by the
m
e
ssage.
Although there could be m
o
re than two frequenc
ies involved in an FSK signal, in this
experim
e
nt the m
e
ssage will be a b
i
n
a
ry bit strea
m
, and so only two f
r
equencies will b
e
involved.
The word ‘keyed’ suggests that the m
e
ssage is
of the ‘on-off’ (m
ark-space) variety, such
as one (historically) generate
d by a morse key, or more likel
y in the pres
ent context, a
binary sequence. The output from
suc
h
a ge
nera
to
r is illus
t
r
a
te
d in Figure 1 below.
Conceptually, and in fact, the transm
itter cou
l
d consist of tw
o oscillators (on frequencies
f1 and f2), with only one being connected to
the output at any one tim
e. This is show
n in
block diagram for
m
in Fi
gure 2 below.
Unless there are special relationships between
the two oscillator frequencies and the bit
clock there will be abrupt phase discontinuiti
es of the output waveform during transitions
of the message.
Bandwidth:
Practice is for the tones f1 and f2 to bear
special inter-relationshi
ps, and to be integer
multiples of the bit rate. This leads to the possibility of continuous phase,
which offers
advantages, especially with re
spect to bandwidth control.
Alternatively the frequency of a single osc
illator (VCO) can be switched between two
values, thus guaranteeing
continuous phase - CPFSK.
The continuous phase advantage of the VCO is not accompanied by an
ability to ensure
that f1 and f2 are integer multiples of the bi
t rate. This would be difficult (impossible ?)
to implement with a VCO.
FSK signals can be generated at baseba
nd, and transmitted over telephone lines (for
example). In this case, both f1 and f2
(of Figure 2) would be
audio frequencies.
Alternatively, this signal could be translated
to a higher frequency. Yet again, it may be
generated directly at
‘carrier’ frequencies.
Demodulation:
There are different methods of demodulati
ng FSK. A natural classification is into
synchronous (coherent) or asynchronous (non-coherent).
Representative demodulators of th
ese two types ar
e the following:
Asynchronous Demodulator:
A close look at the waveform of Figure 1 re
veals that it is the sum of two amplitude
shift keyed (ASK) signals.
The receiver of Figure 3 takes advantage of
this. The FSK signal has
been separated into
two parts by bandpass filters (BPF) tuned
to the MARK and SPACE frequencies.
The output from
each BPF looks lik
e an am
plitude shift keyed (ASK) signal. These can
be dem
odul
ated asynchronously, using the envelope.
The decis
i
o
n
circu
it, to which the o
u
tputs of
the envelope detector
s are p
r
esented, selects
the output which is the most lik
ely one of the two inputs. It also re-shapes the wavef
o
rm
from
a bandlim
ited to a rectangular f
o
rm
.
This is, in
effect, a two channel receiver. The ban
d
width of each is depend
ent on the
m
e
ssage bit rate. The
r
e will be a m
i
nim
u
mf
r
equency sepa
r
a
tion require
d of
the two
tones.
Hint:
You are adv
i
sed to read ahead, before at
tem
p
ting the experiment, to consider the
modelling of this dem
o
dulator. Unlike m
o
st
TIMS m
odels, you are not free to choose
param
e
ters - particularly frequenc
ies. If they are to be tuned
to different frequencies, then
one of these frequencies must be 2.083 kHz (def
ined as the MARK frequency). This is a
restriction imposed by the BIT CLOCK RE
GEN m
odule, of which the B
P
F are sub-
system
s. As a result of this, m
o
st other
frequencies involved ar
e predetermined. Make
sure you appreciate why this
is so, then decide upon:
•
bit clock rate
•
SPACE frequency
•
envelope detector LPF characteristics
Synchronous Demodulator:
In the b
l
ock diagram
of Figure 4 two
local car
riers, on each of the two freq
uencies of th
e
binary FSK signal, are used in two sync
hronous dem
odulators. A decision circuit
exam
ines the two outputs, and decides which is the m
o
st likely.
This is, in
effect, a two channel receiver. The ban
d
width of each is depend
ent on the
m
e
ssage bit rate. The
r
e will be a m
i
nim
u
mf
r
equency sepa
r
a
tion require
d of
the two
tones. This dem
odulator is m
o
re comp
lex than most asynchronous demodulators.
Phase Locked Loop:
A phase locked loop is a well known m
e
thod of
dem
odulating an FM signal. It is thus
capable of dem
odulating an FSK signal. It is
shown, in block diagram
form, in Figure 5
below.
The control signal, which forces the lock, is
a bandlim
ited copy of
the m
e
ssage sequence.
Depending upon the bandwidth of the loop in
te
grator, a sep
a
rate LPF will p
r
obably be
required (as shown) to
recover the message.
Experim
e
ntal Procedure:
Generation:
Scheme # 1:
A VCO m
o
dule is idea
lly
suited f
o
r th
e genera
tion of a continuous phase F
S
K signal, as
shown in Figure 6.
In FSK m
o
d
e
the VCO is keyed by the m
e
ssage
TTL sequence. Internal circuitry results
in a TTL HI switching the VCO to fr
eque
ncy f1, while a TTL LO switches it to
frequency f2. These two frequencies m
a
y be in
the audio range (front
panel toggle switch
LO), or in the 100 kHz range (f
ront panel togg
le switch HI).
The frequencies f1 and f2 are set by the
on-board variable resistors RV8 and RV7
respectively, while a continuous TTL
HI or
a TTL LO is connected to the DATA inpu
t
socket.
In FSK m
o
de neither of the front panel ro
tary controls of the VCO is in operation
.
Scheme # 2:
Figure 7 shows a m
odel of the
arrangem
ent of Figure 2. It
switches either o
n
e of two
tones to the output, in respons
e to the m
e
ssage sequence.
The binary sequence is shown clocked by a di
vided-by-8 version of the output of an
AUDIO OSCILLATOR. This oscillat
or cannot itself be tuned to
this relatively low (for
TIMS) frequency. The DIVIDE-BY-8 sub-syst
em is in the BIT CLOC
K REGE
Nm
o
dule
(set the on-board switch SW
2
with both toggles DOWN).
The signals at f1 and f2 are provided
by the 2.083 kHz MESSAGE
from
the MASTER
SIGNALS module, and a VCO, respectivel
y . The DUAL AUDIO SW
I
T
CH module is
used to switch between them
.
•
one of the two ANALOG SW
ITCHES is
driven directly by the TTL binary
m
e
ssage
sequence.
•
the other ANALOG S
W
I
T
CH is d
r
iven by the sam
e
TTL s
e
quence, reversed in
polarity, and then DC shifted by +5 volts.
The reversal and DC shift is perform
e
d
by the ADDER, with a m
a
xi
m
u
m-
v
e out
put from
the VARIABLE DC module.
Although 5 volt signals exceed the
TIMS ANALOG REFERENCE LEVEL the
ADDER design is such that
it will not be overloaded.
Demodulator:
An exa
m
ple of this is the dem
odulator
of Figure 3, shown m
o
delled in Figure 8.
The dem
odulator requires two bandpass (BPF)
filters, tuned to the MARK and SPACE
frequencies. Suitable filters exist as s
ub-system
s in the BIT CLOCK REGEN m
odule.
To prepare the filte
rs it is necessa
ry to
set th
e on-board switc
h SW
1. Put the left hand
toggle UP, and right hand toggle DOWN. Th
is tunes BPF1 to 2.083 kHz, and BPF2
anywhere in the range 1 < fo < 5 kHz, dependi
ng on the VCO (the filt
er centre frequency
will be 1
/
50 of
the VCO f
r
equency).
If you do not have extra UTILITIES and T
UNEABLE LPF modules, then com
p
lete just
one arm
of t
h
e dem
odul
ator.
Alignm
ent requires the BPFs to be tuned to
the
MARK and SPACE fr
equencies. The first
is already done (2.083 kHz is
already pre-set with SW
1); th
e other is set with the VCO
(already pre-set with SW2).
Note that th
e specif
i
ed b
it r
a
te is, by TI
MS stand
a
rds, rather low. The average
oscilloscope display can be a
little flickery. Use a short sequence, and the SYNC signa
l
f
r
om
the SEQUENCE GENERATOR to ext. trig
.
Phase Locked Loop:
A phase locked loop is shown in block diagra
m
form
in Figure 5, and m
o
delled in Figure
9.
For the pre
s
ent expe
riment the integ
r
ator
(of Figure 5) is m
o
delled with the LOOP
FILTER in the BIT CLOCK REGEN m
odule. Th
is m
odule contains four independent
sub-system
s. The DIVIDE-BY-8 sub system
m
a
y alre
ady be
in use a
t
the
transm
itte
r.
Discussion Questions:
1) Suggest an advantage of m
a
king the data ra
te a sub-m
u
ltiple of th
e carrier rate in ASK
2) W
h
at will you observe in the sp
ectrum
of
ASK signal if the binary m
e
ssage frequen
c
y
is of alternate ones and zeros?