Intersymbol Interference

 Intersymbol Interference (ISI)

– Arises when the communication channel is dispersive

Figure from (Couch, 2007)

Communication Engineering 1
Intersymbol Interference
 Baseband Binary Data Transmission System

+ 1 if bk = 1
Pulse amplitude modulator ak = 
− 1 if bk = 0
Transmissi on filter of impuse response g (t )
∞
→ s (t ) = ∑ a g (t − kT )
k = −∞
k b

Figure from (Haykin & Moher, 2010)

Communication Engineering 2
Intersymbol Interference

∞
Receiver filter output Y (t ) = µ ∑a
k = −∞
k p (t − kTb ) + N (t )

where µ p (t ) = g (t ) ∗ h(t ) ∗ c(t ) with p (0) = 1

µ P( f ) = G ( f ) H ( f )C ( f )
∞
→ Y (iTb ) = µ ∑ ak p (iTb − kTb ) + N (iTb )
k = −∞
∞
= µai + µ ∑ ak p ((i − k )Tb ) + N (iTb )
k = −∞

k ≠i channel noise


ISI
* Goal: to determine p(t) for which ISI is completely eliminated
Communication Engineering 3
Intersymbol Interference
 Dispersive Nature of Telephone Channel

Figure from (Haykin & Moher, 2010)

Communication Engineering 4
Intersymbol Interference
 1600 & 3200 bps transmission over telephone channel
Polar NRZ Manchester

Figure from (Haykin & Moher, 2010)

Communication Engineering 5
 Eye Pattern
 Eye pattern

Figure from https://www.signalintegrityjournal.com/articles/432-s-parameters-signal-integrity-analysis-in-the-blink-of-an-eye

Communication Engineering 6
Eye Pattern
 Interpretation of eye pattern

Figure from (Haykin & Moher, 2010)

Communication Engineering 7
 Eye Pattern
 Eye diagrams for binary and quaternary systems

No
bandwidth
limitation

Bandwidth
limited
channel

Figure from (Haykin & Moher, 2010)

Communication Engineering 8
Nyquist’s Criterion for Distortionless Transmission
∞
Y (iTb ) = µ ∑ ak p (iTb − kTb ) + N (iTb )
k = −∞
∞
= µai + µ ∑ ak p (iTb − kTb ) + N (iTb )
k = −∞
k ≠i

1, i = k
Zero ISI when p (iTb − kTb ) = 
0, i ≠ k

→ Y (iTb ) = µai ( Assuming N (iTb ) = 0)

Communication Engineering 9
Nyquist’s Criterion for Distortionless Transmission
1, i = k
Zero ISI when p (iTb − kTb ) = 
0, i ≠ k
∞
Let pδ (t ) ≡ ∑ p(mT )δ (t − mT )
m = −∞
b b

∞
1
Pδ ( f ) = Rb ∑ P( f − nRb )
n = −∞
( Rb =
Tb
: bit rate )

∞ ∞ 
= ∫  ∑ p (mTb )δ (t − mTb ) exp(− j 2πft )dt
−∞
m = −∞ 
−∞
=∫ p (0)δ (t ) exp(− j 2πft )dt = p (0) = 1
∞

 Nyquist’s criterion for distortionless baseband transmission

∞

∑ P( f
n = −∞
− nRb ) = Tb

Communication Engineering 10
Ideal Nyquist Channel
∞

∑ P( f
n = −∞
− nRb ) = Tb

 1
1  f   , | f |≤W
P( f ) = rect   =  2W
2W  2W   0 ,
 otherwise
Rb 1
W= = → Rb = 2W : Nyquist rate
2 2Tb
sin( 2πWt )
p (t ) = = sinc(2Wt )
2πWt

Figure from (Haykin & Moher, 2010)

Communication Engineering 11
Ideal Nyquist Channel
1  f 
P( f ) = rect   ↔ p (t ) = sinc(2Wt )
2W  2W 

Figure from (Haykin & Moher, 2010)

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Ideal Nyquist Channel
 Ideal Nyquist Channel
– Advantage
• Zero ISI with minimum bandwidth
– Practical difficulty
• Physically unrealizable
• Timing error causes significant ISI
– Solution
• Pulse shaping to reduce ISI

Communication Engineering 13
Ideal Nyquist Channel
 Effect of Timing Error
∞ ∞
y (t ) = µ ∑ ak p (t − kTb ) ⇒ y (∆t ) = µ ∑ ak p (∆t − kTb ) for iTb = 0
k = −∞ k = −∞
∞ ∞
1
y (∆t ) = µ ∑ ak sinc[2W (∆t − kTb )] = µ ∑ ak sinc[2W∆t − k ] (2W = )
k = −∞ k = −∞ Tb
∞
sin( 2π W∆t − π k )
= µa0sinc(2W∆t ) + µ ∑ ak
k = −∞ 2π W∆t − π k
k ≠0

Since sin( 2π W∆t − π k ) = sin( 2π W∆t ) cos(π k ) − cos(2π W∆t ) sin(π k )

= sin( 2π W∆t )(−1) k

µ sin(2π W∆t ) ∞ (−1) k ak

y (∆t ) = µa0sinc(2W∆t ) +
π
∑
k = −∞ ( 2W∆t − k )
k ≠0

ISI caused by timing error

Communication Engineering 14
Raised Cosine Filter
– Alleviates timing error problem at the expense of
increased bandwidth (between W and 2W )
 1
 2W , 0 ≤ f ≤ f1

 1   π ( f − f1 )  
P( f ) =  1 + cos   , f1 ≤ f < 2W − f1
 4W   2(W − f1 )  
0, 2W − f1 ≤ f


f1
Rolloff factor α = 1− (Controls excess bandwidth)
W
BT = 2W − f1 = W (1 + α )
cos(2παWt )
p (t ) = sinc(2Wt ) ⋅
1 − 16α 2W 2t 2
Communication Engineering 15
Raised Cosine Filter
– Responses for different rolloff factors
 1
 2W , 0 ≤ f ≤ f1

 1   π ( f − f1 )  
P( f ) =   1 + cos   , f1 ≤ f < 2W − f1
 4W   2 (W − f 1 
) 
0, 2W − f1 ≤ f



cos(2παWt )
p (t ) = sinc(2Wt ) ⋅
1 − 16α 2W 2t 2

Figure from (Haykin & Moher, 2010)

Communication Engineering 16
Raised Cosine Filter
When α = 1 (perfect rolloff characteristic)
 1 πf
 [1 + cos( )], 0 < f < 2W sinc(4Wt )
P( f ) =  4W 2W ⇔ p (t ) =
 0, f ≥ 2W 1 − 16W 2t 2

Useful properties for synchronization (when α =1)

Tb 1
At t = ± =± , p (t ) = 0.5
2 4W
Pulse width at half amplitude = T
b

3 5
p (t ) = 0 t = ± Tb , ± Tb , 
2 2
as well as p(t)=0 at t = ±Tb , ± 2Tb , 
Figure from (Haykin & Moher, 2010)

Communication Engineering 17
BW Requirement of the T1 System
 24 voice channels (8kHz, 8bit µ-law )
Rb = 1.544 (Mbps)
1
Tb = (sec) = 0.647 ( µs )
1,544,000
1
BT = W (1 + α ) = (1 + α ) = 722(1 + α ) (kHz)
2Tb
− Ideal Nyquist channel (α = 0) : 722 kHz
− Full - cosine rolloff (α = 1) :1.544 MHz

cf. Analog FDM based on SSB : BT = 24 × 4 = 96 kHz

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Topics Covered
 Introduction to Communication
 Amplitude Modulation
 Phase & Frequency Modulation
 Random Process and Noise
 Noise in Analog Modulation
 Digital Representation of Analog Signals
 Baseband Transmission of Digital Signals

Communication Engineering 19
Remaining Issues
 Band-pass Transmission of Digital Signals
 Information Theory and Error Control Coding

Communication Engineering 20
References for Figures
 Haykin and Moher, Communication Systems, 5th Ed., Wiley,
2010.
 Haykin, Communication Systems, 4th Ed., Wiley, 2001.
 Shay, Understanding Data Communications and Networks,
3rd Ed., PWS Publishing Company, 2003.
 Rabiner and Schafer, Theory and Applications of Digital
Speech Processing, Pearson, 2010.
 Couch, Digital and Analog Communication Systems, 8th Ed.,
Pearson, 2012.
 https://www.amazon.com/
 https://en.wikipedia.org/
 https://www.signalintegrityjournal.com/

Communication Engineering 21