ESAT

Electronic communications
 Electronic communications
• Transmission, reception, and, processing of information
• Using electronic circuits

Communication
Channel

Transmitter Receiver

NOISE
Primary Sections
 Transmitter
• Source of information
• Converts electrical signal to a suitable signal for transmission over a
given communication medium.
 Communication Channel
• Where the information travels
• Medium
• Electronic signal is sent from one place to another
 Receiver
• Accepts the transmitted message from the channel
• Converts the signal back that is understandable by humans.
 Sine Wave

𝒗𝒕=𝑽𝒔𝒊𝒏(𝟐𝝅𝒇𝒕+∅)
• - time-varying sine wave of voltage
• – peak amplitude (Volts)
• – frequency (Hz)
• - phase (deg)
• Three properties of a sine wave that can be varied
• Amplitude
• Frequency
• Phase
Types of Information Signal
 Analog Signal
• Characterized by a waveform by continuously varying voltage or
current.
• Continuous flow of energy/voltage
• Ex. Voice and Video voltage
• Commonly represented as sine wave
 Digital Signal
• One at a time
• Messages via a sequence of discrete values
• Ex. Binary signal
• Represented as square or rectangular wave
Frequency Generation
 Oscillators
• Produces oscillation
• Applications
• High frequency carrier supplies
• Pilot supplies
• Clock circuits – digital electronics
 Barkhausen Criteria
• net gain around the feedback loop (positive feedback)
• Unity of greater
• Net phase shift
• Loop must be a positive integer multiple
 LC Oscillators
• Frequency of oscillation is determined by the LC tank circuit
• Hartley Oscillator
• Colpitts Oscillator
• Clapp Oscillator
• Does not include Armstrong due to its characteristics.
 Varactor Tuned Oscillator
• = Capacitance at reverse voltage, (F)
• = capacitance with no reverse voltage, (F)
• = tuning voltage, V
• Variable Capacitor Diode
• Tuned by varying the inductance or
capacitance of the circuit.
• Changed electrically.
• More convenient substitutes than
variable capacitors in many
circumstances.
• Reversed biased
 Crystal Oscillator
• Most adequate frequency stability
• Used most in radio communication
• Frequency stability is the ability of an oscillator to remain at a fixed frequency.
• = change in frequency / Hz
• = natural crystal frequency / MHz
• = temperature coefficient / Hz/MHz/ or ppm/
• = Change in temperature /
 Frequency Multipliers
• Multiplies the frequency of the input signal and generates harmonics
of that frequency.
• Harmonic frequency is an integer multiple of the fundamental frequency.

• Extremely inefficient and are impractical for multiplication factors above 3.

 Mixing
• Combining two or more signals
• An essential process in electronic communications.
• Two ways:
• Linear Mixing
• Non-Linear Mixing
 Linear Mixing
• Heterodyning
• Two or more signals combine in a linear device such as resistive or
inductive network or a small signal-amplifier
• Linear summing
• In communications, Mixing almost always implies non – linear mixing
 Non-Linear Mixing
• Two or more signals combine in a non linear device such as a diode or
a large scale amplifier
• Produces cross product frequencies
• Sum and difference of two original frequencies and the sum and difference of its
harmonics.
• There is an infinite number of harmonic and cross-product frequencies
produced when two or more frequencies mix in a non-linear device.
 Linear vs Non-Linear Mixing

𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡−𝑚𝑓 𝑎±n𝑓 𝑏
Va

Vb
A
Baseband vs Broadband
 Baseband Signal
• Original information or intelligence signals
• Analog or digital
 Baseband Transmission
• Transmittal of the original voice, video, or digital signals directly into
the medium.
• Household intercom and Ethernet (LAN)
 Major Problem
• Incompatibility with medium for long distance (Free space or the
atmosphere) communication.
 Broadband transmission
• Baseband signal is used to modulate a higher frequency carrier upon
transmission.
• AM, FM, PM, Cellular, PSK, Satellite, etc.

• Advantages
• Convenience and accessibility in the wireless systems
• Allows a coaxial cable to carry RF signals across multiple channels
 Electromagnetic spectrum
• Range that encompasses all the frequencies in the electromagnetic
signal.
 Frequency
• Number of times a particular phenomenon occurs over a given period
of time.
 Wavelength
• Distance occupied by one cycle of a wave

𝑪
• = wavelength / m
• = frequency / Hz

𝝀= • = speed of light in vacuum,

𝒇
 Bandwidth
• Frequency range over which an information is transmitted or over
which a receiver or other circuits operates.
• Width of the band
Electromagnetic Spectrum
 Electromagnetic Spectrum
Name Range Significant Application
ELF 30 – 300 Hz AC power lines; low end of the human audio range
VF 300 – 3000 Hz Normal range of human voice
VLF 3 – 30 kHz Musical instruments; used by the navy to communicate with submarines
LF 30 – 300 kHz Aeronautical and marine navigations; subcarriers
MF 300 – 3000 kHz AM Broadcasting (535 to 1605kHz)
Shortwave HF 3 – 30 MHz Amateur Radio and CB Communication (Sky Wave)
VHF 30 – 300 MHz FM Broadcasting (88 to 108MHz); Television Ch 2 -13
Microwave (1Ghz
above) UHF 300 – 3000 MHz UHF TV Ch 14- 51; Cellular 2.4G, radar; navigation
SHF 3 – 30 GHz Satellite communications, radar, cellular 5G, WLAN
Satellite communications; telephony; computer data; short-haul cellular networks;
Millimeter Waves EHF 30 -300 GHz
specialized radar
Optical Spectrum
 Infrared (IR)
• Short Infrared : 770nm – 1000nm
• Long Infrared : 1000nm – 10000nm
• Generally associated with heat
• Used in communications
• Usage
• Astronomy to detect physical bodies in the universe.
• Guidance in weapons systems.
• TV – remote control
• Fiber optic communications
 Visible Light
• 390nm to 770nm
• 770 nm – red
• 390nm – violet
 Ultraviolet (UV)
• 4nm to 390nm
• UVA (315-400 nm)
• UVB (280-315 nm)
• UVC (100-280 nm).
• Not used in
communications but
mostly used in medical.
Decibel, Gain, Attenuation
 Decibel
• Relative unit of measurement corresponding to one tenth of Bel (B)
• Named after Alexander Graham Bell
• Ratio of powers, voltages, or currents.
• Decibel (dB) is used for defining amplifier gains, component losses,
attenuation, as well as a host of other measurements such as noise
figure, signal to noise ratio and many others.
 Decibel
• 1B = 10dB • Positive dB means GAIN (Output > Input)
• Power • Negative dB means LOSS (Output < Input)
• 0 dB means UNITY GAIN (Output = Input)
• Voltage/
Current
 Absolute unit of Power: dBW, dBm, dBu,
dBn
• To use absolute unit of power, a reference power must be chosen.
• Reference power can be
• 1 watt dBW
• 1 milliwatt dBm
• 1 microwatt dBu
• 1 nanowatt dBn
• +dBX = P > 1X
• -dBX = P < 1X
• 0dBX = P = 1X
dB Computation Summary
Noise
 Electrical Noise
• Defined as any wanted electrical energy present
• Usable passband of a communications circuit
 Correlated
• Present as a direct result of a signal.
• Receiver overload
• Intermodulation interference
• Spurious emission
 Receiver Overload
• Receiver
• Early stages of a receiver (RF amplifier or Mixer) are overwhelmed by
some strong nearby transmitter
• Front-End Overload or RF Overload
• Characteristics
• Interference is about the same no matter what frequency is used for the transmitter
• Remedy
• Installing a suitable filter at the receiver.
 Intermodulation Interference
• Receiver
• High-powered transmitters used for commercial purposes multiply the
possibilities that two or more signals mix and produce a result (product
/ sum and difference) which overload the receiver
• Characteristics
• Undesired signal in the background of the desired signal.
• Remedy
• Installing a suitable filter at the receiver
 Spurious Emission
• Transmitter
• Frequency other than the operating frequency
• Splatter
• Immediately outside the normal necessary bandwidth caused normally by overmodulation
• Harmonic Radiation
• Unwanted energy at integer multiples of the operating frequency
• Parasitic Oscillations
• Unwanted oscillations above or below the operating frequency.
• Remedy:
• Proper adjustment and shielding prevent this transmitter problems
 Uncorrelated
• Present even in the absence of any
signal
• External • Internal
• Atmospheric noise • Thermal noise
• Extraterrestrial noise • Shot noise
• Solar noise • Partition noise
• Cosmic noise • Excess noise
• Industrial noise • Transit time noise
 Thermal Noise
• Caused by a phenomenon known as thermal agitation = thermal noise power / W

• Random motion of free electrons in a conductor caused by = thermal noise voltage / V

heat = Boltzmann’s constant/ / Cons 25
• Characteristics : Equal power in all spectrum = Temperature / Kelvin / ()
• Also called: = System bandwidth / Hz
• Brownian noise = Resistance /
• Johnson Noise
• Random noise
• Resistance noise – can develop in resistors
• White noise
 Shot Noise
• Random arrival of carriers (electrons and holes) at the output element
of an active device such as a diode, FET, BJT, or tube.

= Shot noise current / rms / A

= charge on an electron / / Cons 23
= direct current / A
= bandwidth / Hz
Other Internal Noise
 Partition Noise
• Current divides into two or more paths
 Flicker Noise
• Only at lower frequencies below 500hz.
• Excess noise
• 1/f noise
• Pink noise
• Modulation noise
 Transit-Time Noise
• Above VHF and beyond.
Noise Level Analysis
 Signal to Noise Ratio
• Relative strengths of the signal and the noise in a communication
system SNR > 1
• SNR Signal Level > Noise Level
SNR < 1
• Power SNR • Voltage SNR Signal Level < Noise Level
SNR = 1
Signal Level = Noise Level
Ideal SNR =
The higher the SNR, the better the
system’s noise performance
 Noise Factor (F)
• Ratio of the S/N power at the input to the S/N power at the output.
• Noise Ratio
• Noise Figure (NF) – Noise Factor expressed in dB
• Noise Factor • Noise Figure
 Noise Factor Analysis
• Degradation of the SNR ratio as a signal passes through an amplifier
• Ideal F = 1
• SNR(in) = SNR
• Ideal NF = 0dB
• F=1
• Noiseless amplifiers have Noise factor of
• SNR(in) > SNR unity “1” and Noise Figure of 0dB
• F>1
 Equivalent Noise Temperature (Teq)
• Ideal = 0
• Temperature at which the equivalent noise resistor has to be
maintained at the input of a noiseless version of the system to produce
the same amount of noise power at the output as that produced by the
actual system
Noisy Networks
 Frii’s Formula for Noise
• Harald T. Friis
• Danish Electrical Engineer
•
•
•
Sine Wave Wavelength

Varactor Tuned Oscillator Decibel

1B = 10dB
Crystal Oscillator

Linear vs Non-Linear Mixing

Absolute unit of Power Power SNR

Voltage SNR

Thermal Noise

Noise Figure

Shot Noise
Noise Factor Frii’s Formula for Noise