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LAB No. 04

Fundamentals of Frequency Modulation

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Lab Objectives
 To study basics frequency modulation &
demodulation
 To develop matlab program/code to perform frequency
modulation & demodulation

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Basic Principles
of Frequency Modulation
 A sine wave carrier can be modified for the purpose of
transmitting information from one place to another by
varying its frequency. This is known as frequency
modulation (FM).
 In FM, the carrier amplitude remains constant and the
carrier frequency is changed by the modulating signal.

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Basic Principles
of Frequency Modulation
 As the amplitude of the information signal varies, the
carrier frequency shifts proportionately.
 As the modulating signal amplitude increases, the
carrier frequency increases.
 With no modulation the carrier is at its normal center
or resting frequency.

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Basic Principles
of Frequency Modulation
 Frequency deviation (fd) is the amount of change in
carrier frequency produced by the modulating signal.
 The frequency deviation rate is how many times per
second the carrier frequency deviates above or below
its center frequency.
 The frequency of the modulating signal determines the
frequency deviation rate.
 A type of modulation called frequency-shift keying
(FSK) is used in transmission of binary data in digital
cell phones and low-speed computer modems.

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Basic Principles
of Frequency Modulation
Figure 5-1: FM and PM
signals. The carrier is drawn
as a triangular wave for
simplicity, but in practice it is
a sine wave. (a) Carrier. (b)
Modulating signal. (c) FM
signal. (d) PM signal.

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Modulation Index
and Sidebands
 Any modulation process produces sidebands.
 When a constant-frequency sine wave modulates a
carrier, two side frequencies are produced.
 Side frequencies are the sum and difference of the
carrier and modulating frequency.
 The bandwidth of an FM signal is usually much wider
than that of an AM signal with the same modulating
signal.

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Modulation Index
and Sidebands
Modulation Index
 The ratio of the frequency deviation to the modulating
frequency is known as the modulation index (mf).
 In most communication systems using FM, maximum
limits are put on both the frequency deviation and the
modulating frequency.
 In standard FM broadcasting, the maximum permitted
frequency deviation is 75 kHz and the maximum
permitted modulating frequency is 15 kHz.
 The modulation index for standard FM broadcasting is
therefore 5.

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Frequency Modulation Versus
Amplitude Modulation
Advantages of FM
 FM typically offers some significant benefits over AM.
 FM has superior immunity to noise, made possible by
clipper limiter circuits in the receiver.
 In FM, interfering signals on the same frequency are
rejected. This is known as the capture effect.
 FM signals have a constant amplitude and there is
no need to use linear amplifiers to increase power
levels. This increases transmitter efficiency.

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Frequency Modulation Versus
Amplitude Modulation
Disadvantages of FM
 FM uses considerably more frequency spectrum space.
 FM has used more complex circuitry for modulation and
demodulation.
 In the past, the circuits used for frequency modulation
and demodulation involved were complex. With the
proliferation of ICs, complex circuitry used in FM has all
but disappeared. ICs are inexpensive and easy to use.
FM and PM have become the most widely used
modulation method in electronic communication today.

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Frequency Modulation Versus
Amplitude Modulation

Major applications of AM and FM

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Frequency Modulators
 There are many circuits used to produce FM and PM
signals. There are two types of frequency modulator
circuits: direct circuits and phase modulation circuits.
 A frequency modulator is a circuit that varies carrier
frequency in accordance with the modulating signal.
 The carrier is generated by LC or crystal oscillator
circuits.

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Frequency Modulators
 In LC oscillators, the carrier frequency can be
changed by varying either the inductance or
capacitance.
 The idea is to find a circuit or component that converts
a modulating voltage to a corresponding change in
capacitance or inductance.
 In crystal oscillators, the frequency is fixed by the
crystal.
 A varactor is a variable capacitance diode used to
change oscillator frequencies.

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Frequency Modulators
Varactor Operation
 A junction diode is created when P- and N-type
semiconductors are formed during the manufacturing
process.
 A depletion region, where there are no free carriers,
holes, or electrons, is formed in the process.
 This region acts like a thin insulator that prevents
current from flowing through the device.
 A forward bias will cause the diode to conduct.
 A reverse bias will prevent current flow.

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Frequency Modulators
Varactor Operation
 A reverse-biased diode acts like a small capacitor.
 The P- and N-type materials act as the two plates of the
capacitor.
 The depletion region acts as the dielectric material.
 The width of the depletion layer determines the width of
the dielectric and, therefore the amount of capacitance.
 All diodes exhibit variable capacitance.
 Varactors are designed to optimize this characteristic.

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Frequency Modulators

Figure 6-2: Schematic symbols of a varactor diode.

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Frequency Modulators

Figure 6-4: A direct-frequency-modulated carrier oscillator using a varactor diode.

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Frequency Modulators
Varactor Modulator
 In Figure 6-4, the capacitance of varactor diode D1 and
L1 form the parallel tuned circuit of the oscillator.
 The value of C1 is made very large so its reactance is
very low.
 C1 connects the tuned circuit to the oscillator and blocks
the dc bias on the base of Q1 from being shorted to
ground through L1.
 The values of L1 and D1 fix the center carrier frequency.
 The modulating signal varies the effective voltage
applied to D1 and its capacitance varies.

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Frequency Modulators
Varactor Modulator
 Most LC oscillators are not stable enough to provide a
carrier signal.
 The frequency of LC oscillators will vary with
temperature changes, variations in circuit voltage, and
other factors.
 As a result, crystal oscillators are normally used to set
carrier frequency.

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Frequency Modulators
Frequency-Modulating a Crystal Oscillator
 Crystal oscillators provide highly accurate carrier
frequencies and their stability is superior to LC
oscillators.
 The frequency of a crystal oscillator can be varied by
changing the value of capacitance in series or parallel
with the crystal.
 By making the series capacitance a varactor diode,
frequency modulation can be achieved.
 The modulating signal is applied to the varactor diode
which changes the oscillator frequency.

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Frequency Modulators

Figure: Frequency modulation of a crystal oscillator with a VVC.

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Frequency Modulators
Frequency-Modulating a Crystal Oscillator
 Varactors are made with a wide range of capacitance
values, most units having a nominal capacitance in the
1- to 200-pF range.
 A frequency multiplier circuit is one whose output
frequency is some integer multiple of the input
frequency.
 A frequency multiplier that multiplies a frequency by two
is called a doubler.
 A frequency multiplier that multiplies a frequency by
three is called a tripler.
 Frequency multipliers can also be cascaded.
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Frequency Modulators

Figure : How frequency multipliers increase carrier frequency and deviation.

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Frequency Modulators
Voltage-Controlled Oscillators
 Oscillators whose frequencies are controlled by an
external input voltage are generally referred to as
voltage-controlled oscillators (VCOs).
 Voltage-controlled crystal oscillators are generally
referred to as VXOs.
 VCOs are primarily used in FM.
 VCOs are also used in voltage-to-frequency conversion
applications.

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Frequency Modulators
Reactance Modulator
 A reactance modulator is a circuit that uses a
transistor amplifier that acts like either a variable
capacitor or an inductor.
 When the circuit is connected across the tuned circuit of
an oscillator, the oscillator frequency can be varied by
applying the modulating signal to the amplifier.
 Reactance modulators can produce frequency deviation
over a wide range.
 Reactance modulators are highly linear, so distortion is
minimal.

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Frequency Modulators

Figure : A reactance modulator.

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Frequency Demodulators
 Any circuit that will convert a frequency variation in the
carrier back into a proportional voltage variation can
be used to demodulate or detect FM signals.
 Circuits used to recover the original modulating signal
from an FM transmission are called:
 Demodulators
 Detectors
 Discriminators

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Frequency Demodulators
Slope Detector
 The slope detector makes use of a tuned circuit and a
diode detector to convert frequency variations into
voltage variations.
 The main difficulty with slope detectors lies in tuning
them.

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Frequency Demodulators

Figure : Slope detector operation.

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Frequency Demodulators
Pulse-Averaging Discriminators
 A pulse-averaging discriminator uses a zero crossing
detector, a one shot multivibrator and a low-pass filter in
order to recover the original modulating signal.
 The pulse-averaging discriminator is a very high-quality
frequency demodulator.
 Originally this discriminator was limited to expensive
telemetry and industrial control applications.
 With availability of low-cost ICs, this discriminator is
used in many electronic products.

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Frequency Demodulators

Figure 6-17: Pulse-averaging discriminator.

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Frequency Demodulators
Quadrature Detector
 The quadrature detector is probably the single most
widely used FM demodulator.
 The quadrature detector is primarily used in TV
demodulation.
 This detector is used in some FM radio stations.
 The quadrature detector uses a phase-shift circuit to
produce a phase shift of 90 degrees at the unmodulated
carrier frequency.

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Frequency Demodulators

Figure : A quadrature FM detector.

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Frequency Demodulators
Phase-Locked Loops
 A phase-locked loop (PLL) is a frequency- or phase-
sensitive feedback control circuit used in frequency
demodulation, frequency synthesizers, and various
filtering and signal-detection applications. PLLs have
three basic elements. They are:
 Phase detector
 Low-pass filter
 Voltage-controlled oscillator

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Frequency Demodulators

Figure 6-21: Block diagram of a PLL.

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Frequency Demodulators
Phase-Locked Loops
 The primary job of the phase detector is to compare the
two input signals and generate an output signal that,
when filtered, will control the VCO.
 If there is a phase or frequency difference between the
FM input and VCO signals, the phase detector output
varies in proportion to the difference.
 The filtered output adjusts the VCO frequency in an
attempt to correct for the original frequency or phase
difference.

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Frequency Demodulators
Phase-Locked Loops
 This dc control voltage, called the error signal, is also
the feedback in this circuit.
 When no input signal is applied, the phase detector and
low-pass filter outputs are zero.
 The VCO then operates at what is called the free-
running frequency, its normal operating frequency as
determined by internal frequency-determining
components.

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Frequency Modulation &
Demodulation Circuits
Fs = 10000; % Sampling rate of signal
Fc = 200; % Carrier frequency
t = [0:Fs-1]'/Fs; % Sampling times
x = sin(2*pi*t);
subplot(3,1,1); plot(x);
title('Modulating Signal')
dev = 100; % Frequency deviation in modulated signal
y = fmmod(x,Fc,Fs,dev); % Modulate .
subplot(3,1,2); plot(y);
title('FM Modulated waveform')
z = fmdemod(y,Fc,Fs,dev); % Demodulate both channels.
subplot(3,1,3); plot(z);
title('FM deModulated waveform')

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TASK

 FM Performance

 Comparison b/w AM & FM

 TO PLOT AND COMPARE BETWEEN DSB AND

SSB AMPLITUDE MODULATION USING MATLAB.

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RERENCES
Principles of Electronic
Communication Systems

Third Edition

Louis E. Frenzel, Jr.

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