201300105310030

What is Modulation?

● Operation of varying amplitude, frequency or phase of carrier signal

accordingly with the instantaneous amplitude of the message signal
is called modulation.
● Modulation = Adding information to a carrier signal.
Amplitude modulation (AM) is a modulation technique used in
electronic communication, most commonly for transmitting
messages with a radio wave.AM was the earliest modulation
method used for transmitting audio in radio broadcasting. It was
developed during the first quarter of the 20th century beginning
with Roberto Landell de Moura and Reginald Fessenden's
radiotelephone experiments in 1900.

In amplitude modulation, the amplitude (signal strength) of the wave

is varied in proportion to that of the message signal.For example, in
AM radio communication, a continuous wave radio-frequency signal
has its amplitude modulated by an audio waveform before
transmission. The audio waveform modifies the amplitude of the
radio wave and determines the envelope of the waveform. In the
frequency domain, amplitude modulation produces a signal with
power concentrated at the carrier frequency and two adjacent
sidebands. Each sideband is equal in bandwidth to that of the
modulating signal, and is a mirror image of the other. Standard AM is
thus sometimes called "double-sideband amplitude modulation"
(DSBAM).
In a carrier signal, the extent to which modulation is done is represented by the modulation
index.
In amplitude modulation, it is defined as the ratio of the amplitude of modulating signal to that
of the carrier signal.
It is mathematically given as-

A m
_____
μ=
Ac

Where,

μ = modulation index
Am = Amplitude of Modulating signal
Ac = Amplitude of carrier signal
● Let Am be the peak amplitude of the modulating signal ,m(t) and Acis the carrier
amplitude.
● We define modulation index as :
A m
μ = _____
Ac
● When 0 ≤ μ ≤ 1 : this means that A+m(t) ≥ 0 for all t and the SAM(t) (modulated
signal) can be demodulated by the envelope detector.
● When μ ≥ 1 (overmodulation): this means that A+ m(t) is not ≥ 0 for all t and
the option of envelope detection is no longer viable.
● Modulation index is normally expressed as a percentage, and may be displayed
on a meter connected to an AM transmitter.
● So, if μ = 0.5 carrier amplitude varies by 50 % above and below unmodulated
level.
It is helpful to see some examples of amplitude modulated waveforms with different levels of modulation index :

The most widely seen modulation level is for a signal that has 100%
modulation. Under these circumstances the signal level falls to zero
and rises to twice the value with no modulation. In this case the
voltage rises to a maximum of twice the normal level – this means
that the power will be four times that of the quiescent value, i.e. 22 the
value of the no modulation level.

If less than 100% modulation is applied, then the carrier will not fall to
zero, no will it rise to twice the level, but the deviation will be less than
this from the quiescent level. The diagram below shows a level of 50%
modulation, but the principle holds good for any value between 0 and
100% modulation.

If level of modulation is raised up above a modulation index of 1, i.e. more

than 100% modulation this causes what is termed over-modulation.The
carrier experiences 180° phase reversals where the carrier level would try to
go below the zero point. These phase reversals give rise to additional
sidebands resulting from the phase reversals (phase modulation). These
sideband caused by the phase reversal extend out, in theory to infinity. This
can cause serious interference to other users if not filtered