Communication Systems

Assignment No: 2
FM Broadcast

Name: Hamza Akram Khan

Class: BEE-5C
Reg No: 5402
Dated: 16th December 2015
Submitted to: Dr Ali Arshad

[Type text]

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Table of Contents

FM Broadcasting

Transmitter Operation
Receiver Operation
Frequency Domain Parameters
Power
Sensitivity
Bandwidth
Implementation (Continuous wave Radar)

Conclusion
References

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FM Broadcasting:
FM broadcasting is a VHF broadcasting technology, which uses frequency
modulation (FM) to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. Frequency modulation (FM) is the
encoding of information in a carrier wave by varying the instantaneous frequency of the wave. In analog
frequency modulation, such as FM radio broadcasting of an audio signal representing voice or music, the
instantaneous frequency deviation, the difference between the frequency of the carrier and its center
frequency, is proportional to the modulating signal.
A broadcast system consists of a transmitter and receiver, which have been discussed below:

Transmitter Operation:
A traditional FM transmitter consists of a pre-emphasis filter,
modulator, a RF transmitter and a power amplifier. The FM transmitter first passes the left and right audio
signals (assuming stereo systems) through a pre-emphasis filter. The pre-emphasis filter improves the
signal to noise ratio of the fm signal.
The transmitter then combines the signals with the Radio Data Systems (RDS) data to generate the
multiplex (MPX) message signal m (t).
Next, the transmitter modulates the frequency of the message signal and passes it to an RF transmitter,
where it is up-converted to radio frequencies generating the output, xFM(t) Designers can use a voltagecontrolled oscillator (VCO) to implement the FM modulator and RF transmitter functions. Conceptually,
this direct method of FM modulation will work. In practice, however, designers generally use a phaselocked loop (PLL) to stabilize the carrier frequency from frequency drifts and a power amplifier (which
restores the signal strength up to the desired level) to drive the antenna.
A typical FM transmitter has been shown in the figure 1(a).

Figure 1(a)

Receiver Operation:
The FM receiver uses an RF receiver to down-convert the RF
signal xFM(t) to baseband. Ideally, the FM demodulator recovers the original message by inverting the
modulation process. The receiver then applies the message signal m(t) to the MPX decoder to separate the
audio signals and the RDS data. The receiver passes the left and right audio signals through a de-emphasis
block to compensate for the linear distortion introduced by the pre-emphasis filter. The cascade action of
the pre-emphasis and de-emphasis filters does not affect the left and right signals, but it can
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FM Broadcast Systems
substantially attenuate high-frequency noise and interference, giving a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR)
improvement of approximately 13 dB.
It is primarily the RF receiver and FM demodulator blocks that determine the performance of an FM
tuner. The most basic FM demodulator architecture is a frequency discriminator consisting of a time
domain differentiator and an envelope detector. With this type of demodulator, the differentiator converts
an FM signal, where the information is contained in the phase, to an AM signal, where the information is
contained in the amplitude. The envelope detector then recovers the information from the amplitude.
However, amplitude variations from the FM carrier can corrupt the demodulated output of a frequency
discriminator. Therefore, an amplitude limiter typically precedes a frequency discriminator to remove the
amplitude variations from the carrier. Other common types of FM frequency discriminators are the
Foster-Seeley discriminator and the ratio detector. Most early manufacturers designed FM demodulators
with frequency discriminators using discrete components such as transformers, transistors, diodes,
resistors and capacitors. Today, most designs use integrated circuit solutions.
Engineers frequently use PLLs as FM demodulators because they can be designed to have lower FM
thresholds compared to frequency discriminator demodulators. PLLs, frequency-locked loops (FLLs), and
frequency demodulators with feedback (FMFBs) are related, and all have the ability to extend the
threshold of an FM demodulator. Other FM demodulator architectures exist, but designers most
commonly implement these demodulators in integrated circuits with analog and digital techniques.
A typical FM receiver has been shown in the fig 1(b)

Figure 1(b)

Specifications:
Frequency domain parameters:
As frequency modulation is non-linear process so to describe the
spectrum is often difficult of a random message signal. But for simpler signals we can predict and
describe the spectrum signal like for a sinusoidal signal,

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The frequency spectrum is shown in the fig 2(a).

Figure 2(a)

In FM, the modulated signal frequency changes with the amplitude of the message signal. If the
frequency of carrier signal is Wc and peak amplitude of the message signal is m p then maximum and
minimum frequency of the modulated signal is w c+ kmp and wc- kmp, where k is an arbitrary constant. The
frequency content of the modulated signal will remain in this range with the bandwidth of km p, and
bandwidth centered at wc . The bandwidth of the signal can be controlled by factor k.
Power:
In FM, all power is consumed in order to transmit the modulated signal. Also as the amplitude
of the signal is always constant so its power is also A2/2, independent of Kf or Kp.
Sensitivity:
At frequencies above 30 MHz the levels of noise start to reach a point where the noise
generated within the receiver becomes far more important. By improving the noise performance of the
receiver, it becomes possible to detect much weaker signals.
Bandwidth:
The estimated bandwidth for FM is expressed as:
BFM=2(f +B)
Where f is the frequency deviation and B is the bandwidth of the message signal. The FM bandwidth
can also be expressed as:
BFM=2B (+1)
Where =f / B and is called the deviation ratio and controls the amount of modulation and consequently
plays a role similar to the modulation index in AM.

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Implementation of FM system (Continuous wave Radar):

Continuous wave
radar transmits a signal with constant frequency and constant amplitude. The received echo signal is
shifted by the amount of Doppler frequency. This technique is used to measure the speed of the objects,
but modulating frequency can also be used to calculate the distance of an object.
The transmitter transmits a frequency-modulated sine wave, given as:

Where,

The transmitted signal on after being reflected from an object is received on the receiver as :

The received signal is similar to the transmitted one but only delayed in time. The time taken by the signal
is,

Received signal is then mixed with the transmitted signal, which results in a signal whose frequency is
proportional to the target distance,

FFT of the signal is taken after passing through low pass filter, to increase the signal to noise ratio. The
resulted signal has varying amplitude. Minimum amplitude is set for object detection to occur, but if
amplitude does not reach to the threshold level it is assumed zero. Non-zero peaks in the spectrum will
indicate the object.

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Conclusion:

FM signal has fixed amplitude and varying frequency.

FM requires more bandwidth as compared to AM.
Frequency modulation is used more commonly over AM
FM is less prone to interference than AM, however is affected by physical barriers.
Transmitter and recover are more complex as variation of modulating signal has to be converted
and detected from corresponding variation in frequencies.
FM is less susceptible to noise because information in an FM signal is transmitted through
varying the frequency, and not the amplitude.

References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FM_broadcasting
https://www.edgefx.in/types-of-modulation-techniques-with-applications/
http://www.diffen.com/difference/AM_vs_FM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frequency_modulation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuous_wave

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