ADNU ECEM416

Radio Receivers

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Outline

Introduction
Receiver types
Superheterodyne Receiver
AM Receiver
FM Receiver
TV Receiver
Software-Defined Radio(SDR)
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Introduction
Receivers

Collect signal from the medium in which

it exist
Able to identify and select desired signal
and to provide sufficient amplification to
recover the modulating signal

Functions:

Transduction and matching

Selection of desired signals
Rejection of undesired signals
Amplification be very large factors
Demodulation
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Introduction
Characteristics:
Selectivity: Q and Bandwidth

Ability to amplify weak signal

Obtained by using LC tuned circuit
Controlling Q
setting desired selectivity
controlling the bandwidth
Optimum bandwidth
wide enough to pass the signal
but narrow enough to eliminate
signals on adjacent frequencies

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Selectivity: Q and Bandwidth

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Introduction
Characteristics:
Selectivity: Shape Factor
Skirts sides of a tuned circuit
response
Steepness of the skirt or skirt
selectivity
Expressed as the shape factor
Lower shape
higher
sensitivity
SF =factor
Shape
factor
(unitless)
B 60 dB
B(-60 dB) = bandwidth 60 dB below

SF

B 3dB

maximum signal level

B(-3 dB) = bandwidth 3 dB below
maximum signal level

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Introduction
Characteristics:
Sensitivity

Ability to pick up weak signals

High gain High sensitivity
the minimum input RF signal to a
receiver required to produce a
specified audio signal at output.
The ability to drive the output
transducer (e.g., speaker) to an
acceptable level
Measured in microvolt or decibels
above 1mW
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Receiver Types
Simplest Radio Receiver

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Receiver Types
Tuned Radio-Frequency(TRF)

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Receiver Types
Tuned Radio-Frequency(TRF)

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Receiver Types
Tuned Radio-Frequency(TRF)

Simple receiver
2 or 3 RF amplifier, all tuning together, are
used to improved the sensitivity.
Greater the number of tuned circuits, the
narrower the bandwidth and steeper the
skirts

Disadvantages:

Tracking the tuned circuits

Selectivity is bad at higher frequency
Instability
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Receiver Types
Superheterodyne receiver

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Receiver Types
Superheterodyne receiver
convert all incoming signals to a lower
frequency, known as the intermediate
frequency (IF), at which a single set of
amplifiers is used to provide a fixed level of
sensitivity and selectivity.
Gain and selectivity are obtained in the IF
amplifiers.
The key circuit is the mixer, which acts like
a simple amplitude modulator to produce
sum and difference frequencies.
The incoming signal is mixed with a local
oscillator signal.
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Superheterodyne
Receiver

Main sections:

RF stage
Mixer and Local oscillator
IF Amplifier
Detector/Demodulator
Automatic Gain Control
Audio Amplifier

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Superheterodyne
Receiver

RF Amplifier

used mainly to select the wanted frequency,

to reject interference such as the image
frequency and (especially at high
frequencies) to reduce the noise figure of
the receiver.
The antenna picks up the weak radio signal
and feeds it to the RF amplifier, also called
a low-noise amplifier.
RF amplifiers provide some initial gain and
selectivity and are sometimes called
preselectors.
Bipolar and FETs can be used as RF
amplifiers.
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Superheterodyne
Receiver

RF Amplifier
Advantage:

Better sensitivity
Improved image frequency rejection
Improved signal-to-noise ratio
Improved rejection of adjacent
unwanted signals
Rejection of spurious signals
Minimize the oscillator radiation

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Superheterodyne
Receiver
Mixer and Local Oscillator

A nonlinear device having two sets of

input terminals and one set of output
terminals
One input is from the RF amplifier and the
other is from the local oscillator
Most common type are the bipolar
transistor, FET and MOSFET.
The mixer output is the input signal, the
local oscillator signal, and the sum and
difference frequencies of these signals.

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Superheterodyne
Receiver
Mixer: How it Works

Frequency conversion
the process of translating a modulated
signal to a higher or lower frequency
while retaining all the originally
transmitted information.
form of amplitude modulation carried
out by a mixer circuit or converter.
In radio receivers, high-frequency signals
are converted to a lower, intermediate
frequency.
This
is
called
down
conversion.
The function performed by the mixer is
called heterodyning.
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Superheterodyne
Receiver
Mixer: How it Works

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Superheterodyne
Receiver
Mixer: How it Works
Types of Mixers:
Diode Mixers
Doubly Balanced Mixer
FET Mixers
IC Mixers
Image Reject Mixer

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Superheterodyne
Receiver
IF Amplifier

A fixed-frequency amplifier with the very

important function of rejecting adjacent
unwanted frequency.
The output of the mixer is an IF signal
containing the same modulation that
appeared on the input RF signal.
Usually two or more IF amplifiers are used
to provide adequate receiver gain.
Since the intermediate frequency is
usually lower than the input frequency, IF
amplifiers are easier to design and good
selectivity is easier to obtain.
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Superheterodyne
Receiver
IF Amplifier

IF amplifiers are tuned class A circuits

capable of providing gain in the 10- to 30dB range.
Ferrite-core transformers are used for
coupling between stages.
Selectivity is provided by tuned circuits.

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Superheterodyne
IF Amplifier: CoupledReceiver
Circuit Selectivity

Changing the amount of coupling

between the primary and secondary
windings allows the desired amount of
bandwidth to be obtained.
Degree of coupling
Undercoupling
Critical coupling
Optimumcoupling
Overcoupling

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Superheterodyne
Receiver
Intermediate Frequency and Images
Image
Potentially interfering RF signal that is
spaced from the desired incoming
signal by a frequency 2 times the
intermediate frequency above or below
the incoming frequency

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Superheterodyne
Receiver
Intermediate Frequency and Images
The primary objective in the design of an
IF stage is to obtain good selectivity.
Narrow-band selectivity is best obtained at
lower frequencies.
At low frequencies, circuits are more
stable with high gain.
At low frequencies, image interference is
possible.

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Superheterodyne
Receiver
Intermediate Frequency and Images

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Superheterodyne
Receiver
Intermediate Frequency and Images
To eliminate the image:
The IF is made as high as possible for
effective elimination of the image
problem, yet low enough to prevent
design problems.
Using Dual-conversion that has two
mixer, two oscillator and two IF.
Using Direct Conversion, not using a IF
filter.

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Superheterodyne
Receiver
Demodulators/Detectors

The highly amplified IF signal is finally

applied to the demodulator, which
recovers
the
original
modulating
information.
The demodulator may be a diode
detector (for AM), a quadrature detector
(for FM), or a product detector (for SSB).
The output of the demodulator is then
usually fed to an audio amplifier.

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Superheterodyne
Receiver
Automatic Gain Control

The recovered signal from the output of

the modulator that is rectified and filtered
into a DC voltage by a circuit is called
AGC circuit.
Typically, receivers are designed with
very high gain so that weak signals can
be reliably received. However, applying a
very high-amplitude signal to a receiver
causes the circuits to be overdriven,
producing
distortion
and
reducing
intelligibility.
With AGC, the overall gain of the receiver
is automatically adjusted depending on
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Superheterodyne
Receiver
Automatic Gain Control:
Controlling Circuit Gain

The gain of a bipolar transistor amplifier

is proportional to the amount of collector
current flowing.
Two methods of applying AGC are as
follows:
1. The gain can be decreased by
decreasing the collector current. This
is called reverse AGC.
2. The gain can be reduced by increasing
the collector current. A stronger signal
increases AGC voltage and base
current and, in turn, increases
collector current,
reducing the gain.
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Superheterodyne
Receiver
Automatic Gain Control:
Controlling Circuit Gain

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AM Receiver

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AM Receiver
Demodulation
Diode Detector

Simplest and most widely used AM

demodulator
Often
termed as envelope detector
circuit.
If the RC time constant in a diode
detector is too long, the capacitor
discharge will be too slow to follow the
faster changes in the modulating signal.
It is referred to as diagonal distortion.

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AM Receiver
Diode Detector

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AM Receiver
Diode Detector: How it Works
On positive alternations of the AM signal,
the capacitor charges quickly to the peak
value of pulses passed by the diode.
When the pulse voltage drops to zero, the
capacitor discharges into the resistor.
The time constant of the capacitor and
resistor is long compared to the period of
the carrier.
The capacitor discharges only slightly
when the diode is not conducting.
The resulting waveform across the
capacitor is a close approximation to the
original modulating
signal.
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AM Receiver
Demodulation
Diode Detector
Advantages:
Handle relatively high power signals.
Distortion levels are acceptable for
most AM applications. It decreases as
the amplitude increases.
Highly efficient.
Develop a readily usable dc voltage for
AGC circuits.

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AM Receiver
Demodulation
Diode Detector
Disadvantage:
Power is absorbed from the tuned
circuit by the diode circuit that reduces
the Q and selectivity of the tuned input
circuit.
No amplification occur.

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AM Receiver
Demodulation
Synchronous Detectors
Use an internal clock signal at the carrier
frequency in the receiver to switch the
AM signal off and on, producing
rectification similar to that in standard
detector.
Synchronous detectors or coherent
detectors have less distortion and a
better signal-to-noise ratio than standard
diode detectors.
The signal producing the switching
action should be perfectly in phase with
the received AMjjcb
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AM Receiver
Synchronous Detectors

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AM Receiver
SSB Demodulation
To recover the intelligence in a DSB or
SSB signal, the carrier that was
suppressed at the receiver must be
reinserted.
A product detector is a balanced
modulator used in a receiver to recover
the modulating signal.
Any balanced modulator can be used as
a product detector to demodulate SSB
signals.

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AM Receiver
SSB Demodulation

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FM Receiver
Limiter
A circuit whose output is a constant
amplitude for all inputs above a critical
value.
Remove any unwanted amplitude
modulation and amplitude variation
due to noise.
Provides AGC action because it
provides constant input level to the
detector.

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FM Receiver
Limiter

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FM Receiver
FM discriminator/detector
Slope Detector
Simplest frequency demodulator.
Makes use of a tuned circuit and a
diode detector to convert frequency
variations to voltage variations.
The main difficulty with slope detectors
lies in tuning them.

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FM Receiver
Slope Detector

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FM Receiver
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
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FM Receiver

Pulse-Averaging Discriminators

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FM Receiver
FM discriminator/detector
Quadrature Detectors
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 phaseshift circuit to produce a phase shift of
90 degrees at the unmodulated carrier
frequency.
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FM Receiver
Quadrature Detectors

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FM Receiver
FM discriminator/detector
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 signaldetection applications. PLLs have three
basic elements. They are:
1. Phase detector
2. Low-pass filter
3. Voltage-controlled oscillator
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FM Receiver
Phase-Locked Loops

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FM Receiver
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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FM Receiver
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 frequencydetermining components.
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FM Receiver
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 frequencydetermining components.
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TV Receiver
Background:
Maximum modulating rate for video
signal is 4MHz
Allowable bandwidth per radio station
is 6MHz.
The lower sideband extends to
1.25MHz.
The upper sideband is transmitted in
full.
Vestigial-sideband operation

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TV Receiver
Background:
Lower VHF Band

Upper VHF Band

Channel

Lowest
Freq.
(Mhz)

Channel

Lowest
Freq.
(Mhz)

Channel

Lowest
Freq.
(Mhz)

54

174

14

470

60

180

24

530

66

186

34

590

76

10

192

44

650

82

11

198

54

710

12

204

64

770

13

210

69

800

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UHF Band

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Background:

TV Receiver

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TV Receiver
Receiver
Utilizes superheterodyne principle
Handle video and synchronizing signals
and audio.

How it works:
Incoming signal is selected and
amplified by the RF amplifier
Stepped down to the IF frequency by
the mixer-local oscillator and.
IF amplifiers handle the composite
signal TV signals.
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TV Receiver

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TV Receiver
How it works (cont.):
Video detector separates the sound
and video signals.
The sound signal detected is the FM
signal and send to FM receiver(sound
channel block).
The output of the video detector is the
video(plus sync) signal.
The video signal is amplified in the
video amplifier and controls the
strength of the beam that is scanning
the phosphor of the CRT.
The sync precisely controls the
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TV Receiver
Tuner
Contains RF amplifier, mixer and local
oscillator
For UHF, no RF amplifier is needed
because of poor noise performance at
high frequency

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TV Receiver
Stagger Tuning
Cascading a number of tuned bandpass
filters each having slightly offset
bandpass frequency to form a wider
flat bandpass with steep high and low
frequency roll-off skirts.

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TV Receiver
IF Amplifiers
Intercarrier system is a system that
process the sound and the video in the
same IF stage.
Same function as the regular radio
reciever: provide the bulk of the sets
sensitivity and amplification.
Standard IF frequencies.
45.75 MHz picture carrier
41.25 MHz(45.75 minus 4.5MHz)
sound carrier

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TV Receiver
SAW Filters
Extremely high Q filters often used in
TV and radar application.

rely on the surface effects in a

piezoelectric material.

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TV Receiver
Wavetrap
Also called trap
High Q bandstop circuit that attenuates
a narrow band of frequencies

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TV Receiver
Video Section

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TV Receiver
Color Receiver

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Software-Defined
Radio

A software-defined radio (SDR) is a receiver

in which most of the functions are
performed by a digital signal processor
(DSP).
The benefits of SDRs are improved
performance and flexibility.
The receiver characteristics (type of
modulation, selectivity, etc.) can be easily
changed by running a different program.
Radio with functionality defined by software
Programmable on-board processing units
for satellites
Cognitive radios to avoid interference
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Ideal SCR:

Software-Defined
Radio

ADCs and DACs placed next to the antenna

ADCs and DACs directly connected to FPGA
or DSP
General purpose machines for further
processing
Data delivered to applications

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