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Properties of Electrical Signals

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BASIC SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY SECTION
GUNNERY CAREERS COURSES

Properties of Electrical Signals

INTRODUCTION

n electrical signal could be defined as a voltage or current that conveys some information. This distinguishes it from a voltage or current whose primary purpose is to power some equipment and from voltages or currents that have arisen from noise and interference. The signal may be amplified to increase its power (e.g. prior to being connected to a loudspeaker), manipulated to change its balance of frequencies (e.g. tone control), processed to present its information in another form (e.g. when a monitor converts electrical signals to a picture) or transmitted to another place (e.g. by cable between two equipment trailers. Its information content remains essentially unchanged by these processes. This handout describes the basic properties of information signals in preparation for the work on systems that use them.

then the power in the signal must usually be much greater than the combined power of the noise and interference. Note that the term noise is not limited to audible signals: noise on a television picture makes it seem speckly whilst noise on one of the old types of radar display (A-Scope) resembles grass (the original display was green).

SIGNAL TO NOISE RATIO

his is calculated by dividing the power in the signal by the power in the noise. When the signal level is liable to vary (e.g. voice and music) then the maximum signal power is normally used as this gives the best figure. S/N Ratio = 10 Log Signal Power Noise Power dB

POWER

ne important property of a signal is its power. A signal must have sufficient power for its purpose and there is no simple answer to the question, How much power is required? When the signal exists to carry information, only, then the power might be much less than a millionth of a Watt. When the signal has to operate a device such as a radar transmitter then a power of many kilo-Watts might be needed. In practice, the power of a signal can usually be increased using an amplifier of some sort. Electrical power is the product of Volts and Amps - an amplifier may increase either or both when it amplifies a signal. The essential requirement is that the required signal is detectable amongst any other signals that might be present.

NOISE & INTERFERENCE

ny unwanted signal can be called noise although this is usually reserved for signals that are generated by natural processes inside and outside the equipment. Interference is a signal that has been generated by other pieces of equipment or electrical devices. Both types of unwanted signal can obscure the required signal and, therefore, prevent the use of the information in it. Sounds of passing traffic can interfere with a conversation when the traffic sound becomes so loud that speech becomes difficult to understand. Hiss and crackle on old 78 rpm records is a noise that reduces the effectiveness of the recording. Generally, noise arises from the equipment itself whereas interference comes from other devices. For effective use of a signal

Analogue television reception (using an ordinary TV aerial), for example, requires a signal to noise ratio (S/N Ratio) at the input to the TV set of at least 50 dB. This means that the signal power is 100,000 times greater than the noise (and interference) power. Car radios (Stereo FM) require a similar S/N Ratio for good performance whilst Compact Disks and other digital recordings are capable of producing an output with S/N Ratios better than 90 dB (signal 109 or 1 000 000 000 times greater power than the noise). However, all the above examples are intended for leisure activities where pictures and music are spoiled by extraneous noises. For situations where information only is to be conveyed then much lower S/N Ratios are possible. Under some circumstances, a useable signal can be extracted even when it has less power than the noise. Most people can hear a conversation in a noisy crowd by using the ability of the human auditory system to select those sounds that it wants to hear and, simultaneously, to reject others. The function rejecting noise is an important one as it enables useful information to be extracted from a signal that, at first sight, appears to be dominated by noise. It also has advantages in military applications where jamming is present, as jamming can have similar characteristics to noise. When examining the waveform of a sinusoid with noise then the easiest parameter to measure is the amplitude of the signal compared to the amplitude of the noise. However, Signal to Noise Ratio is a ratio of powers not amplitudes, and a different formula is used when we have amplitudes:

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S/N Ratio =

20 Log Signal Voltage Noise Voltage

THE SOURCE OF ELECTRICAL NOISE

In Figure One, where a signal of 7 V rms (or 9.9 V peak) has 1 V rms (or 1.41 V peak) of noise then the signal to noise ratio is: S/N Ratio = = = 20 Log (7 1) 20 Log 7 17 dB

he production of electrical noise is linked to the basic nature of charge and energy. In general, the energy that produces the noise comes from heat (remember that room temperature is about 295 Kelvins). There are several ways that electrical noise is produced and some of the important ones are listed below: Shot Noise: When an electric current flows then this is a flow of electrical charge (usually electrons). Because the flow consists of individual electrons, there will be fluctuations in the number that arrive each second, mill-second, micro-second, etc. This is because the electrons do not all have the same energy and so they travel at different speeds. The arrival of each electron will cause a (small) increase in the amount of charge. This produces a variation in current flow that is random and, when it occurs in an audio system, sounds like the hissing of falling rain. (Rain produces the same sound because of the noise of impact of individual drops and fluctuations in the numbers of rain drops arriving on ground.) Thermal Noise. The electrons in a conductor have thermal energy and this makes them move at random. Although this movement will have an average value of zero (because, for example, there will just as many electrons going up as there are going down) the numbers do not balance exactly due to the random nature of the movement. This random movement of charge is a current and it produces a voltage signal wherever there is some resistance. (V = I R). This noise increases with temperature and bandwidth. Partition Noise: This type of noise is produced in thermionic devices (e.g. Klystron, Travelling-Wave Tube)) where the current can take one of a number of routes (parallel paths) through the device. Fluctuations in the division of current cause random noise. Photon Noise: Similar to the shot noise of electric current, this noise arises in thermal imagers and night sights. When the light levels are very low then each individual photon contributes to the output signal from the detector. Random fluctuations in the numbers of photons cause similar fluctuations in the signal. allow some radiation to escape. Cables can also be screened, using either foil or braid (for flexibility). Twisted pair cables: where cables run side-byside then pairs can be twisted together to reduce radiation and cross-talk. This works because the pair of cables will always have one positive and one negative - when twisted, an adjacent cable will alternately be near a positive and a negative. Over a long run of cable then the interference tends to cancel out. Fibre-optic cables may be used instead

Note that the same result would have been obtained had we used both peak voltages: S/N Ratio = = = 20 Log (9.9 1.41) 20 Log 7 17 dB

Note that it is not possible to improve the S/N Ratio using an amplifier, as this will not only amplify both signal and noise by the same amount - but also add some noise of its own. The end result is more noise and a deterioration in S/N Ratio.

REDUCING INTERFERENCE

tandard means of reducing interference operate in one of two ways. Firstly, to reduce the amount of interference that is generated by the equipment that is causing it and, secondly, by blocking the means of entry of the interference into the equipment that is being affected by it. When you have access to any equipment that is causing interference then it can be fitted with any of the following: Suppressors: these aim to reduce the interference at source and are usually capacitors for carbon brushes or inductors for cables or, perhaps, a combination of the two. (The lump in a computer keyboard and monitor cable adds inductance to the cable to reduce interference.) Screens: EM waves cannot pass through conductors so enclosing the interference-causing equipment in a metal box will reduce radiated interference. Any gaps in the metal screen might

Figure 1: A Sinusoid of 7 V (rms) with 1 V (rms) of Noise (Clean Wave Shown in Grey)

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THE SOURCE OF ELECTRICAL INTERFERENCE

henever there is an acceleration of electrical charge then an electro-magnetic (EM) wave is produced. Examples of this include the following: Switching on a lamp: this will cause the electrons in the wiring to accelerate as the current starts. The same effect occurs when the device is switched off. This can often be heard as a click from a nearby radio receiver. Electric motors: dc motors are especially bad as every time a commutator segment passes a carbon brush then the current stops and starts (acceleration of electrons). Computer signals: these are often on/off (binary) signals and, because they occur very rapidly (e.g. 500 MHz) the acceleration of electrons is large. Radio or radar transmitters: these are, of course, designed to produce EM waves and, when these waves find their way into another circuit then they cause interference (e.g. when your Hi-Fi picks up transmissions from taxies in the road nearby).

transmitter. Some modern antennae are able to ignore signals that arrive from a particular direction they have a steerable-null that can be directed at a source of interference or jamming. Cable screening: your cables can be fitted with foil or braid screens that can block the entry of interfering signals. Twisted-pair wiring may also be used as the interference that it picks up tends to cancel out. Using fibre-optics will give complete immunity to interference.

Interference differs from noise in that it tends to be more impulsive (i.e. suddenly increasing from nothing to some large value and then returning to zero again) whereas noise is random. Interference may occur at a regular interval or frequency, depending on the device that is causing it. When several data links or communications channels share a common cable-duct to multi-way cable then it is possible for some of the signal on one to cross-over to an adjacent cable. Cables that run parallel to each other can have this crosstalk produced by inductive or capacitive coupling between the cables. As with noise, some forms of jamming have similar characteristics to interference. of copper - these are immune to electrical interference. To reduce the interference that gains entry to your system then the following steps might be used: Equipment screening: your equipment can be fitted with a metal case and, when necessary, particularly sensitive parts of the equipment might be installed inside smaller metal boxes within the main box. EM Waves cannot penetrate a metal box - provided that there are no gaps. (Since the wires must pass in and out of the box then perfect screening cannot be achieved.) Directional Antennae: ordinary television aerials usually point towards the transmitter - this means that any interference from another direction is reduced as the aerial does not receive it well. This approach obviously does not work when the interference comes from the same direction as the

Generally, any measurements made on a signal will be more reliable, more accurate and more repeatable when the signal to noise ratio increases. This can be as a result of increasing the signal (e.g. be using more power) or by decreasing the noise (e.g. by cooling some or all of the circuits in use or using devices that are less noisy.) The amount of information that can be sent down any communications channel increases as the S/N Ratio improves. If you have used a dial-up modem then you might have noticed how the data-rate varies from, say, 49 k one day to 39 k the next: this is because the quality (i.e. S/N Ratio) of the particular route through the public, switched telephone-network (PSTN) was different on each day. The modems are capable of operating at a data rate of 56 k bits per second - but few ever achieve it. Broadband connections use a different transmission system and do not suffer from this problem of daily variation. However, they are affected by the distance between the exchange and the computer, as the signal gets weaker with distance and, after several kilo-metres, eventually the signal-to-noise ratio is degraded and full speed cannot be obtained. One function of jamming is to degrade a communications channel by reducing its S/N Ratio. This includes radar systems, where the radar echo carries information about the target - when the S/N Ratio is poor then the radar becomes progressively less accurate.

NOISE FACTOR

he worsening of S/N ratio that occurs when a signal passes through any circuit is called its Noise Factor. It is found by subtracting the output S/N ratio from the input S/N ratio (all expressed in dB). Thus, if a signal with a S/N ratio of 30 dB passes through an amplifier and emerges with a S/N ratio of 24 dB then the noise factor of the amplifier would be 30 - 24 = 6 dB. The best possible value is 0 dB - but this is not achievable in practice.

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BANDWIDTH

NOISE POWER

his is the difference between the highest and the lowest frequency of the range of frequencies that make up a signal or are used in a system. The average human ear can hear frequencies ranging from about 20 Hz to about 20 kHz so its bandwidth is 20,000 - 20 or 19,800 Hz. This is usually rounded up to 20 kHz. The bandwidth of a signal is related to its information content, the rate at which information is transmitted and the method used to encode the information. Some systems use bandwidth less efficiently than others. A teleprinter, limited by the rate at which the human operator can press the keys, can operate in a bandwidth of about 200 Hz. Broadcast television requires a bandwidth of around 5.5 MHz, stereo-FM - which sends audio frequencies between 20 Hz and 15 kHz - uses 250 kHz bandwidth when transmitted (the apparent waste of bandwidth is partly responsible for the low background noise). The bandwidth of the system indicates the range of frequencies that it accepts and the range of noise and interference frequencies to which it is susceptible. An interfering frequency of 600 Hz might not have much effect on a teleprinter system, because it is outside its bandwidth, but it would certainly be able to affect a television. To limit the effects of noise and interference then most systems are designed so that they reject signals that lie outside the bandwidth of their normal signals.

he amount of noise depends on a number of factors, but temperature is usually the significant one. Other factors include bandwidth, component design, the materials used for construction and circuit design. For thermal noise, the effective noise power (in Watts) from any resistance at a temperature T Kelvin over a bandwidth B Hz is: Noise Power = kTB Watts

The symbol k is Boltzmans Constant - a number that relates to the amount of energy in a thermal system. It has a value of 1.38 1023 JK1 (Joules per Kelvin). A temperature in degrees Celsius can be converted to Kelvins by adding 273. Example: the antenna of a ground-surveillance points towards the ground, which has a temperature of 300 K. If it is designed to work with a receiver that has a bandwidth of 1 MHz then the thermal noise power in the antenna would be: Noise Power = = 1.38 1023 300 106 4.15 1015 W

CHANNEL WIDTH

any communications systems (e.g. television, telephone and radio) use transmission links (cable, radio, fibre-optic) that have limited bandwidth. For example, the FM (VHF) radio band has a total bandwidth, for all signals, of about 25 MHz. The available bandwidth must be shared out between all the users, with guard-bands sometimes used between each channel, so that there is a gap between the frequenciy band used by one channel and that used by the next, to avoid adjacent channel interference. In the band allocated for stereo-VHF, from around 85 MHz to 110 Mhz, there is 25 MHz of bandwidth. This would allow for about 4 TV channels (6 MHz each) or about 100 FM-Stereo channels (250 kHz each). Since the signals can travel hundreds of miles then, once a radio channel is allocated, no other station may use that range of frequencies unless its transmitter is located at a distance significantly greater than the range of the other station on that frequency. This makes it important to try to minimise the bandwidth of each channel to enable the maximum number of radio stations. Local radio stations minimise this problem by transmitting on much lower power than the national stations. Telephone signals are restricted to a total bandwidth of 4 kHz (300 - 3400 in use, 0 - 300 and 3400 4000 as Guard Bands and AM radio signals arre restricted to a bandwidth of 4.5 kHz, even though the range of audible frequencies is 20 kHz. This bandwidth

The antenna of an air-defence radar points upwards - where the temperature is much lower (e.g. 250 K) this means that this part of the noise would be lower. Any received radar echo would have to compete with this noise. Increasing the amount of amplification would bring no benefits because it would amplify the noise as much as the signal. As the signal passes through the various circuits in a radar, radio, amplifier or whatever, then any noise generated there is added to the signal. The result is that the signal to noise ratio (S/N Ratio) gets worse as the signal proceeds through the system. Noise Factor: if a signal enters a system with a S/N Ratio of 40 dB and leaves it with a S/N Ratio of 36 dB then the noise factor (sometimes called noise figure) is found by subtraction of the two ratios: 40 dB - 36 dB = 4 dB and is a measure of how much worse the noise gets as the signal passes through. The best possible factor is 0 dB, when the S/N Ratio is unchanged restriction is necessary as it allows more channels within the allowed band but it does mean that some frequencies are lost from the original sound. Compression: the signal may be processed before transmission to identify and reduce redundant information. This can be performed by a powerful computer: a television picture (usually 5.5 MHz) can be reduced to a bandwidth of around 50 kHz to give a fuzzy, jerky picture that can be sent through a 56 k modem, on the Internet. A PC, equipped with a Pentium III CPU is

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Figure 2: Noise Distribution Curve

required, at the other end, to decode the compressed data at sufficient speed to produce a moving picture. Now that broadband is commonly available, videos compressed using a technique called MPEG, can be transmitted with data rates of around 128 - 256 kilo-bits per second. These videos have significantly better quality than those that could be used with ordinary modems. Digital television and DVD movies are also compressed so that more information may be transmitted or recorded.

NOISE DISTRIBUTION

lthough noise is random and, therefore, unpredictable, it is no less unpredictable than other random events, We know, for example, that tossing a coin is random - but we also know that about 50% of the results will be heads. In other words, we can predict the likelihood of a certain outcome. If we throw two dice then the chance of a double-six is 1 / 36 and the chance of throwing a seven is 1 / 6, for example, but this does not tell us which throws will result in a double-six or add up to seven. If there is an element of random noise in our system then we can measure its power or Voltage and, from that, calculate the chance that the noise will exceed certain limits. It turns out that the distribution, or spread, of noise values is shaped like a bell - the same distribution as that of many other random events. This is illustrated in Figure Two, which is the distribution of noise voltages for a noise of 1 Watt in a resistor of 1 . This corresponds to an average voltage of 1 V rms. From the curve, you should be able to see that a noise voltage of greater than +3V or less than 3V is very unlikely - in fact the chance of the noise voltage exceeding those limits is less than 0.5%. Other results that emerge from an analysis of this curve is that the noise lies between 1 Volt for 68% of the time and between 2 Volts for 95% of the time. The chance that the noise would exceed four-times the rms value is less than one in ten-thousand. A radar receiver, listening for echoes from potential targets, would be receiving these echoes against a

background of noise. If a signal is detected that is twice the rms level of the noise then there is a 5% chance that it is false - no echo, just the noise itself which, at random times, can be bigger than its rms (average) value. This implies that the radar might receive an average of five false echoes for every hundred pulses that it transmitted. The operator would soon give up because there would be too many false alarms. Many types of radar receiver monitor both noise and signal power and then use the above probabilities to determine the probability that an echo originated from a real target or was merely noise. A radar system could monitor the noise level and set a threshold (e.g. five times the noise) with a suitably low probability of being exceeded by noise. Any signals above that threshold would be treated as likely targets. This is the basic operating principle of the Constant, False-Alarm Rate Radar (CFAR). The exact specifications of threshold levels, etc., will depend on the design of the particular radar. Knowledge of these data would assist a jammer and, naturally, the specifications for military radars are not released. This feature of noise, that it obeys simple, statistical theory, enables us to predict the error rate in a digital communications channel. A digital (binary) signal is one that has only two states, zero and one. If a zero is represented by 0 Volts and a one by 10 V then, in effect, any signal bigger than 5 V is recognised as a one and eny signal less than 5 V is recognised as a zero. If the rms (average) noise is, say, 1 Volt, then the noise would have to exceed five-times the rms value to change a zero into a one - hence causing an error. The chance that this might happen can be calculated and comes to about one error in 200,000 bits. If the noise in a digital system increases then the error rate increases. However, the error rate remains fairly low for reasonable values of signal to noise ratio.

EQUIVALENT INPUT NOISE POWER

t is easy to measure the noise at the output of an amplifier because the noise will have been amplified and, consequently, will be at its highest value. However, one important parameter of an amplifier is the smallest input signal that it can process. If we take the power of the noise that comes from the output of an amplifier and divide it by the gain of the amplifier then the result represents the amount of input power that would produce the output noise. This indicates the minimum possible value that could be used for the actual signal. An input signal smaller than this would emerge smaller than the noise - probably indetectable over the noise. For example, an amplifier that produced 10 mW of noise at its output and had a gain of 20 dB (100) would have an equivalent input noise of 10 mW 100 or 100 W. This would not be suitable for the first amplifier in a radar receiver, where the echo would often be much less than 1 W.

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THE POWER IN A PULSED SIGNAL

any signals are intermittent or pulsed in nature and their voltages and currents do not remain constant. Previously, in dc and ac theory, methods of calculating power have used either steady state (dc) values or rms (ac) values of voltage and current to calculate the power. For example, when a 12 V battery supplies 1 A then the power is 12 W and when a 12 V rms supply provides 1 A rms then the power is also 12 W. A lamp that was illuminated for 10 ms and then switched off for another 10 ms would not appear to flash because the human eye has persistence of vision that hides the short, dark period. However, the brightness of the lamp would appear to be less than usual - it would seem to be operating at half brightness because it is on for only half the time. Consider the pulsed signal shown in Figure Three. When the signal is on then it has 10 V and 0.5 A so the power is 5 W. When the signal is off then it has zero voltage and current so the power is zero. The power when averaged over one cycle of the waveform, is the effective power of the signal. In this case, the signal is on for 5 ms out of a possible 25 ms. The ratio of these two times is called the Duty Cycle of the waveform and it is 5/ 25 or 1 / 5, 0.2 or 20%. Duty Cycle: this is defined as the proportion of the total time for which the pulse is supplying power. It only applies to pulsed waveforms that switch on and off (e.g. radar). The equation needed to calculate it is: Duty Cycle = Time Switched ON Total Time

In the example above, where a pulse with 5 W had a duty cycle of 20% then the average power is 20% of the peak power: in this case, 20% of 5 W or 1 W. This technique is used in most electric cookers to vary the amount of heat produced by the elements. On a low setting, the element is switched on for a short time and hten left off for a longer time. On a high setting, the on-time is increased, increasing the dutycycle. The switch that performs this function often makes an audible clicking noise, as it operates. Radar transmitters, such as that used in Rapier systems, might transmit a pulse lasting a few micro-seconds and then wait a few hundred micro-seconds for an echo. For example, if the radar pulses are 30 kW, last for 5 s and are emitted at a rate of 10 000 pulses per second then we can calculate: Over one second: Duty Cycle = = = = Time On Total Time 10 000 5 s 1s 0.05 5%

During each week, a man might work for 37 hrs out of a possible 7 24 = 168 hrs: his duty cycle is 37 168 or about 22%. Duty Cycle is useful because, for rectangular pulses like those used in computers and radar, it links the peak power to the average power, using the formula: Average Power = Peak Power Duty Cycle

Note that since there are ten thousand pulses emitted each second and each pulse is five micro-seconds then the on time must be 50 000 s out of each second. To convert a decimal (0.05) to a percentage (5%) then multiply by 100. Alternatively, since there are 10 000 pulses per second then the pulse interval, or time between one pulse and the next, must be 1 / 10 000 second or 100 s. The pulse lasts for 5 s out of a possible 100 s so the duty cycle can be calculated using: Duty Cycle = = = = = Time On Total Time Pulse Duration Pulse Interval 5 s 100 s 0.05 5%

(Duty Cycle may also be called Duty Factor)

25 ms
10 V 0.5 A

Once the duty cycle is known then the average power can be calculated, as follows: Average Power = = = Peak Power Duty Cycle 30 kW 5% 1.5 kW

5 ms

10 15 20 25 30 35 ms
Figure 3: A Pulsed Waveform

This average power represents the power drawn from the electrical system that supplies the radar circuits that generate the transmitted signal. During transmission of the pulse, these circuits generate a significant amount of heat. During the time between pulses - which is 95% of the time - the devices have

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4 2 0
Figure 4: A Complex Wave, made from the Addition of Two Sine Waves time to cool. This allows them to generate large pulses that are well beyond their continuous power rating. Continuous-Wave radars emit what seems to be much lower power than pulsed radars. However, when the effects of duty-cycle are taken into account then the power levels of the two types of radar are often similar to each other.

Figure 6: Spectrum of the Waveform of Figure Four

DISTORTION

signal such as that shown in Figure Four is, clearly, not a sine-wave. Nevertheless, it bears some resemblance to a sine-wave. This signal was constructed by the simple addition of two sine-waves, with the following properties: Wave One has an amplitude of five units, frequency of one unit and phase of zero, at time zero. Wave Two has an amplitude of one unit, frequency of two units and phase of +90 at time zero.

These two waves are shown in Figure Five. You can see from Figure Five that the smaller wave is negative during the positive peak of the larger signal and negative (again) at the negative peak of the larger signal. When these two waves are are added then the positive peaks of the total are smaller than the negative peaks of the total. The end result is a distorted sinewave with one flattened peak and one narrow peak.

This sort of waveform often occurs during signal processing, when the circuits through which the signal passes are imperfect. or during transmission through a cable or through the atmosphere. This change in the shape of the wave is called Distortion and it can take many forms. One consequence of distortion in signals, as they pass through such circuits as amplifiers, is that it introduces frequencies in the output that were not present in the original signal (input). In a radio communications system, for example, if the operator were listening for a singal on a frequency of 10 MHz and his radio received a signal of 5 MHz, from another transmitter, then any distortion in his receiver could generate a false signal of 10 MHz from the 5 MHz signal. The false signal might either be mistaken for the real one or, more likely, mask the real one and prevent its reception. The distortion often generates a whole series of frequencies, each being an integer (whole-number) multiple of the basic frequency. These signals are called Harmonics. Therefore, a signal that contained only 5 MHz could, if distorted, produce signals of 10, 15, 20 MHz, etc. Simple amplifiers can produce signals that contain a few percent of distortion; high-quality amplifiers might produce less than 0.01% distortion. This simple example shows how one complex waveform can be built up from a mixture of sine-waves. It turns out that all waveforms are made up of mixtures of sine-waves. It might not be immediately obvious what the mixture actually is, but there are mathematical processes that can be used to determine this. One reason why the simple sine-wave is used to illustrate a signal is that all signals, of any shape and size, are made up from a mixture of sine-waves. Spectrum: the diagram of Figure Six shows another way of illustrating the mixture of signals that makes the wave-form of Figure Four. The two, vertical bars show the relative amounts of each sine-wave that is required to make the wave-form. This is a much simpler representation than those shown in Figures Four and Five. Note that the spectrum does not show details of the phase relationship between the harmonics.

Figure 5: The Two Sine-Waves that Form the Waveform fo Figure Four

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Figure 7: A Square Wave

COMPONENTS OF A SIGNAL

Figure 9: Square Wave with First Three Harmonics this with the graph of Figure Seven, which has all the harmonics included. One implication of these harmonics is that a bandwidth of many times the basic frequency is needed to transmit square waves without significant distortion.

ost real signals are not perfect sine waves and consist of a mixture of sine-waves. A mathematician called Fourier developed a method by which any periodic signal (one that has repeating elements, with a fundamental frequency of repetition) can be broken down into a number of sine waves. The sine waves produced are the components or harmonics of the original waveform. In effect, sine waves are the building blocks of all other waveforms.

TRIANGULAR WAVE
hen a waveform is assembled using only evennumbered harmonics then it is triangular in form, as shown in Figure Ten. Such waveforms are used when scanning is required. The waveform is applied to a drive system and it moves an object from left to right, or up and down, as the voltage of the triangular wave alters. Examples of this include: The waveform used to control the servo system that produces the laser grid in Javelin and HVM systems. The waveform used to move the sub-reflector of the Rapier tracking radar, when it is seraching for targets. The waveform used to scan a television to produce the lines that form the picture.

THE SQUARE-WAVE

he square-wave is shown in Figure Seven. The wave is square when its two halves are of equal size. (The pulsed waveform of Figure Three would be called a rectangular wave - not a square wave!) A Fourier Analysis of a square wave reveals that it is made up of an infinite number of sine waves. The lowest frequency is the same as the repetition frequency of the square wave (equal to 1/t) and the harmonics are all odd-numbered multiples of that; the higher harmonics have ever decreasing amplitudes. The even-numbered harmonics have zero amplitude - which means that they do not exist in the square-wave. In simple terms, a square wave of basic frequency 1 kHz is made up of harmonics at 1 kHz, 3 kHz, 5 kHz, 7 kHz, 9 kHz, etc. This spectrum is illustrated in Figure Eight. The dotted line joining the tops of the spectrum lines is a hyperbola because the proportion of each harmonic is dependant on the inverse of its multiplier. Thus, the 3rd harmonic (3 kHz in this example) is onethird of the amplitude (or 1/9th of the power) of the 1st harmonic (the main frequency of 1 kHz). Figure Nine, drawn using Excel, shows the result of adding the first three, non-zero harmonics (frequencies of 1, 3 and 5 the fundamental frequency). Compare

As with any wave, if there is a requirement either to amplify or process a signal in some other way then the circuits used must be capable of processing a sufficiently large number of harmonics to avoid distorting the shape of the wave.

4 2 0 1 3 5 7 9 kHz
Figure 10: A Triangular Wave Figure 8: Spectrum of a Square Wave

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25 ms
10 V 0.5 A

5 ms

10 15 20 25 30 35 ms

Figure 11 : A Pulsed Waveform

COMPLEX WAVEFORMS

he frequencies of the various harmonics that make up any waveform are often based on a fundamental or main frequency accompanied by a series of higher frequencies (harmonics) that are whole-number multiples of that frequency. For the pulsed waveforsm, that are often encountered in radar and digital systems, these frequencies can be estimated in a relatively simple way: Fundamental Frequency (Lowest Frequency): this is related to the duration of one cycle of the waveform (e.g. the interval marked as 25 ms in Figure Eleven). The lowest frequency is the reciprocal of this time: 1/(25 ms) or 40 Hz. Note that any waveform that does not have equal and opposite polarities will have a Zeroeth harmonic - which is equivalent to the dc value of its average amplitude (the peak value multiplied by the duty cycle). In the case of Figure Eleven, the average value would be 5/15 of 10 V or 2 V. Spacing Between Harmonics: this is always the same as the fundamental. Note that some harmonics might have zero amplitude (in other words they are not required to produce the waveform). Thus, in Figure

Eleven, the harmonics are 40 Hz, 80 Hz, 120 Hz, 160 Hz, etc. There is usually - in theory - an infinite number of harmonics, although their amplitude decreases quite rapidly as the frequency increases. This means that a circuit that passes the fundamental and some of the lower harmonics will often give a satsifactory approximation to the original signal, even though the higher harmonics are missing. Bandwidth: this is the spread of frequencies that contains most of the power in the signal. It is related to the time of the smallest element in the waveform (e.g. the interval marked as 5 ms in Figure Three). The bandwidth is the reciprocal of this smallest interval: in Figure Three, it is 1/(5 ms) or 200 Hz. This means that the signal shown can retain its information content within a bandwidth of 200 Hz. Thus, for the waveform of Figure Three, the harmonics beyond 200 Hz are present in relatively small amounts and can, therefore, be ignored.

Consequently, as described above, the two frequencies that are important for the waveform of Figure Three are 1/(25 ms) or 40 Hz and 1/(5 ms) or 200 Hz. The signal would, therefore, contain significant amounts of frequencies of: Zero, 40, 80, 120, 160 and 200 Hz. Any higher frequencies will be present in small amounts and can be ignored. The complete spectrum of the wave of Figure Eleven is shown in Figure Twelve. The levels of the higher harmonics rises and falls (along the grey line) whilst steadily reducing (along the dotted line). Widening the bannwidth to include these higher harmonics will add only a small amount to the main signal but will also add a large amount to the noise (because noise is proportional to bancwidth). Consequently, in many practical situations, the bandwidth is limited as described. Thus, the waveform of Figure Elven contains six, different harmonics as follows: DC: 40 Hz: 80 Hz: 120 Hz: 160 Hz: 200 Hz: zero frequency, +2 V. fundamental frequency. second harmonic (reducing amplitude compared to the fundamental) third harmonic (even less of this). fourth harmonic. fifth harmonic.

Spacing between lines is 40 Hz or 1/(Pulse Interval) The first null occurs at a frequency of 1/(Pulse Duration)

In general, when information about the timing of a waveform is available - but it is frequency that is required - the conversion between time and frequency is very simple: f = 1/t and t = 1/f

200 Hz

400 Hz

600 Hz

800 Hz

Freq.

Figure 12: Full Spectrum of Harmonics of a Pulsed Waveform of Pulse Duration 5 ms and Pulse Interval of 25 ms.

The two times that we have considered have been the duration of one cycle of the waveform and the duration of its smallest element.

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Figure 13: Pulsed Wave, Produced by Adding Together the First Four Harmonics of the Spectrum

ADDING HARMONICS TO MAKE A PULSE

he diagram of Figure Thirteen shows a graph from an Excel spreadsheet where four sinusoids have been added together to produce an approximation to a pulsed waveform. The sinusoids form the first four in the spectrum illustrated in Figure Twelve - representing frequencies of zero, 40 Hz, 80 Hz, 120 Hz, etc., with amplitudes decreasing as indicated in Figure Twelve. You will note that the resulting pulses are not exactly rectangular - because some harmonics are missing. Also, the missing harmonics cause ripples in between the pulses. When more harmonics are added then the pulses become narrower and the ripples reduce. Figure Fourteen shows the wavefrom obtained when the first eight harmonics are used. The pulse is narower, rises

to maximum in a shorter time and the ripples or sidelobes are smaller. Since all real signals have a limited bandwidth then it is not possible to have a pulse that rises from, say, Zero Volts to 5 five Volts in zero time - the rise must always take some finite time. Nevertheless, we often draw pulsed waveforms as if they had a rise-time of zero, because it represents an ideal pulse. The risetime is linked to the bandwidth and wider bandwidths allow for shorter rise-times. Since the pulse has curved sides, with no clear beginning and end, practical measurements of rise-time are usually made be taking the time between the 10% and 90% points on the waveform (since the zero and one-hundred points are on a gentle curve and, therefore, difficult to measure with precision).

Figure 14: Pulsed Wave, Produced by Adding Together the First Eight Harmonics of the Spectrum
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sion. You will easily observe that, on a terrestrial television, there is significant twinlkling in areas that contain uniform colour. This is caused by noise. The corresponding digital picture does, actually, have noise but the amount is so small that you probably will not be able to see it.

Figure 15: A Sinusoid of 7 V (rms) with 1 V (rms) of Noise (Clean Wave Shown in Grey)

BENEFITS OF DIGITAL SIGNALS

igital siggnls are square-waves or pulsed waves. When digital signals are received in the presence of noise then, provided that the noise is much less than half the peak height of the digital signal, the noise has no effect. Compare the waveforms shown in Figures Fifteen and Sixteen. Both show a signal that has has one Volt (rms) of noise added to it. The analogue signal, Figure Fifteen, is of the same basic shape as the noise. Once contaminated by noise then it cannot be removed (a bit like putting lime in your lager - both are liquids and there is no way of getting it out again). A music signal, like that of Figure Fifteen, that contained so much noise would be unuseable - the noise would spoil the sound. A television picture, fromed from a signal with as much noise as Figure Fifteen would be unwatchable. The digital signal is rectangular whereas the noise is sinusoidal, as shown in Figure Sixteen. To extract data from a digital signal, it is only necessary to know whether the signal is up or down - i.e. above or below a reference point. It is clear from the Figure that the presence of the noise has not impaired the ability to identify the up and down parts of the digital signal. An almost perfect signal can be easily extracted from the signal of Figure Sixteen, simply by determining whether the signal is up or down. This resistance to small and medium amounts of noise is one reason why digital signals are replacing analogue signals in virtually every signal application. Compare the picture quality of a digital television (satellite) against an ordinary, terrestrial televi-

Figure 16: A Square of 10 V (peak) with 1 V (rms) of Noise (Clean Wave Shown in Grey)

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FORMULAE & TERMS IN THIS HANDOUT

SIGNAL TO NOISE RATIO AND DATA RATE

Power =

V2 / R

hannons Law links the maximum number of bits per second, without error, that can be sent down a transmission channel to the bandwidth (B) and the S/N ratio of the channel. The formula, using logarithms (log) to base ten, is as follows: Max Data-rate S/N ) Examples: 1. A poor-quality telephone line has a bandwidth of 3 kHz and a S/N ration of 20 dB. Its maximum datarate is found by using the formula quoted: 20 dB has a numerical value of 100 times. =3.33 B Log ( 1 +

S/N Ratio

10 Log Signal Power Noise Power

S/N Ratio

10 Log Square of Signal Voltage Square of Noise Voltage

Bandwidth

Highest Freq - Lowest Freq

Noise Power

kTB

Watts
-23

(k = 1.38 10

JK )

-1

Max Data-Rate

= 3.33 3000 log ( 101 ) =3.33 3000 2 = 19,980 bits per second (19 kb/s)

Noise Factor

= Input S/N Ratio - Output S/N Ratio

2. A good-quality telephone line has a bandwidth of 3.3 kHz and a S/N ratio of 45 dB. Its maximum datarate is found by using Shannons Law: 45 dB has a numerical value of 31,623 times.

Equivalent Input Noise = Ouput Noise Pwr Pwr Gain

Duty Cycle

Time Switched ON Total Time Pulse Duration Pulse Interval Pulse Duration PRF

Max Dat- Rate

= 3.33 3300 log (31,624 ) = 3.33 3300 4.5 = 49,450 bits per second (49 kb/s)

Duty Cycle

Duty Cycle

Average Power

Peak Power Duty Cycle

Sine Wave Values

A Sin ( 2 ft )

Effective Bandwidth = of a Pulse

1 Pulse Duration

Shannons Law gives the theoretical maximum data capacity of a line. Since the equipment that is used to transmit and recieve the data is imperfect then this figure cannot be achieved in practice. If you use a modem to connect to the Internet then you might have noticed that the conenction rate varies from day to day. This is because your modem probably gets allocated a different telephone route each day (by the exhcnage) and, consequently, the quality differs from day to day. The modem tests the line at the start of the session to determine its maximum data-rate.

Fundamental Frequency = Pulse Repetition Frequency

Harmonic Spacing =

1 Pulse Repetition Frequency

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SELF-TEST QUESTIONS
1. A external signal that enters your system and gets mixed in with the signal that you are trying to receive is called: a. b. c. d. Shot noise. Interference. Grass Partition noise.

7. The bandwidth of a signal that contains frequencies from dc (zero Hz) to 9 kHz is: a. b. c. d. 4.5 kHz 9 kHz 18 kHz 90 kHz

2. A signal that has been produced by random effects within your equipment and which gets mixed in with the signal that you are trying to receive is called: a. b. c. d. Interference. Jamming. Noise. Harmonic.

8. An amplifier with a noise factor of 6 dB is used to amplify an input signal that has a Signal to Noise Ratio of 56 dB. The Signal to Noise Ratio of the output signal will be: a. b. c. d. 62 dB 56 dB 50 dB 6 dB

3. A signal has a power of 10 W and there is 0.2 W of noise mixed in with it. The Signal to Noise Ratio is: a. b. c. d. 17 dB 1.7 dB 50 dB 2 dB

9. An amplifier receives a signal with a Signal to Noise Ratio of 75 dB and produces an amplified output with a Signal to Noise Ratio of 65 dB. The noise factor of the amplifier is: a. b. c. d. 75 dB 65 dB 140 dB 10 dB

4. A signal of 10 V has a noise of 1 V mixed in with it. The Signal to Noise Ratio is: a. b. c. d. 10 dB 20 dB 11 dB 9 dB

10. An amplifier has a power gain of 20 dB and, when there is no signal at its input, produces a output power of 1 mW of noise. The equivalent input noise power is: a. b. c. d. 10 W 50 W 100 mW 20 mW

5. One difference between noise and interference is that noise: a. b. c. d. occurs at regular intervals. is random. is mostly positive. is mostly negative.

Answers

6. Electrical equipment might be enclosed in a metal case to reduce the effects of electrical: a. b. c. d. Thermal noise. Shot noise. Interference. Harmonics.

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1. Interference is an external signal 2. Noise is produced by random effects 3. S/N = 10 Log (10 0.2) = 17 dB 4. S/N = 10 Log (V22 V12) = 10 Log 100 = 20 dB 5. Noise is random. 6. External interfernce cant penetrate metal 7. Bwidth = Fmax - Fmin = 9 kHz 8. Noise Factor is subtracted from I/p S/N 9. NF = Input S/N - Output S/N = 75 - 65 = 10 dB 10. Gain is 20 dB (x100), EIN = 1 mW 100
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Properties of Electrical Signals

11. A system has an output noise voltage of 2 mV rms. The probability that the noise voltage will lie outside the range 6 mV (i.e. three times greater than the rms value) is: a. b. c. d. 0.5% 32% 68% 99.5%

17. Using Fourier Analysis, a square wave can be broken down into: a. b. c. d. a single harmonic frequency. many even-numbered harmonics many odd-numbered harmonics both odd and even harmonics.

12. When the bandwidth of a system is doubled then the thermal noise in the system will usually: a. b. c. d. double in power. halve in power. remain the same double in voltage.

18. A pulse of duration 20 s that repeats at a rate of 4 000 pulses per second has harmonics that are separated by: a. b. c. d. 4 kHz. 50 kHz 54 kHz 20 kHz

13. A signal that is on for 15 ms and off for 60 ms has a duty cycle of: a. b. c. d. 20% 25% 15% 60%

19. A pulse of duration 2 s that repeats at a rate of 1 500 pulses per second has an effective bandwidth of: a. b. c. d. 1.5 kHz 6.7 kHz 500 kHz 2 MHz

14. A signal has a peak power of 500 W and operates on a duty cycle of 10%. Its average power is: a. b. c. d. 10 W 50 W 5 kW 500 W

20. The effective bandwidth of a pulse of duration 10 s that repeats at a rate of 10 000 pulses per second has a spectrum that contains about: a. 10 harmonics. b. 100 harmonics. c. even harmonics only. d. odd harmonics only.

15. A signal has an average power of 200 W and a duty cycle of 1%. Its peak power would be: a. b. c. d. 1W 200 W. 20 kW 2W

Answers

16. A radar transmits pulses lasting 4 s at a rate of 1 000 per second. The duty cycle of this radar is: a. b. c. d. 0.4% 0.2% 2.5% 4%

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11. Chance of exceeding 3x average is 0.5% (a) 12. Noise Pwr = 4kTB. Proportional to B (a) 13. DC = 15 75 (Time ON TOTAL) = 20% (a) 14. Ave Pwr = Pk Pwr DC = 500 0.1 = 50 W (b) 15. Pk Pwr = Ave Pwr DC = 200 0.01 = 20 kW (c) 16. Pulse Interval = 1/1000 = 1 ms. DC = 4 s 1 ms = 0.004. Times by 100 to get percentage 0.4% (a) 17. Square waves have many ODD harmonics (c) 18. Separation of harmonics = PRF = 4 kHz (a) 19. Eff B/W = 1/(pulse durn) = 1/(2 s) = 500 kHz (c) 20. Eff B/W = 1/(10 s) = 100 kHz and the harmonics are spaced at intervals of 10 kHz. There is room for 10 harmonics of 10 kHz in a B/W of 100 kHz (a)
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Teaching Objectives

Comments

E.05.01 Describe the Basic Properties of Electrical Signals

E.05.01.01 E.05.01.02 Describe an electrical signal as a voltage or current that represents information in a system. State that the signal must be recognisable abo ve noise and interference

E.05.02 Describe the Properties of Electrical Noise

E.05.02.01 E.05.02.02 E.05.02.03 E.05.02.04 E.05.02.05 E.05.02.06 E.05.02.07 Define noise as a random voltage or current produced by natural processes in the equipment and surroundings. Define the meaning of signal to noise ratio (S/N Ratio) and calculate its value. Describe the formation and properties of various types of noise Define the meaning of noise figure for a circuit and calculate i ts value. Define the term equivalent input noise of a circuit and calculate its value. State that the average value of a noise voltage or current is zero. Describe methods of reducing the effects of noise. Can be reduced by averaging, limiting bandwidth, careful design, cooling. Including shot, thermal, partition, photon. As input S/N output S/N in dBs As output noise power gain Difficult to screen.

E.05.03 Describe the Properties of Electrical Interference

E.05.03.01 State that interference is a signal produced by other electrical equipment and transfers by induction or radiation. State that interference is usually impulsive and non random. Describe methods of reducing interference. Not necessarily reduced by averaging. Screening, antenna orientation, re duction at source

E.05.03.02 E.05.03.03

E.05.04 Describe the Spectrum of a Signal

E.05.04.01 E.05.04.02 E.05.04.03 E.05.04.04 State that a continuous sine wave consists of a single frequency. State that any periodic signal is comprised of a number of sinusoids of different amplitudes, phases and frequencies. Describe the spectra of common waveforms. State the bandwidth requirements of common signals Fourier Analysis, FFT Including: square, triangular, pulse Including: AM/FM Radio, Telephone, TV, Digital

E.05.05 Calculate the power in a signal

E.05.05.01 E.05.05.02 Describe duty cycle as the fraction of the period for which a pulse is active. Calculate the average power using peak pwr DCyc Duty Cycle = pulse duration pulse intervalMay also be expressed as a percentage And vice-versa

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