1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS

COMMUNICATION
a process by which information is exchanged between individuals through a common system of symbols
a technique for expressing ideas effectively
a system of routes for moving troops, supplies, and vehicles

Communication is the transfer of information from one point in space and time to another point. The block
diagram of a communication system is shown in Figure 1.1.

SOURCE TRANSMITTER
(modulator)

CHANNEL NOISE

RECEIVER DESTINATION
(demodulator)

Figure 1.1 A block diagram of a communication systems

Transmitter - couples the message onto the channel using high frequency signals
Receiver - restores the signal to its original form
Channel - the medium used for transmission of signals
Modulation - the process of shifting the frequency spectrum of a message signal to a frequency range in which
more efficient transmission can be achieved
Demodulation - the process of shifting the frequency spectrum back to the original baseband frequency range
and reconstructing the original form, if necessary
Baseband - refers to the lower portion of the over-all electromagnetic spectrum (Figure 1.2)

Baseband versus Passband (Lui, Principles and Applications of Optical Communications. Irwin, Times Mirror
Higher Education Group, Inc, Chicago, 1996)
A signal can be transmitted in different frequency bands. If the signal is transmitted over its original frequency
band, the transmission is called baseband transmission. On the other hand, if the signal is shifted to a frequency
band higher than its original baseband, it is called passband transmission.
There are several reasons to shift a baseband signal to passband. First, some transmission media have
either a large loss or high noise at low frequencies. For example, optical fibers have a cut-off frequency below
which electromagnetic waves have a high loss. Therefore, we need to convert a baseband signal to lightwave for
transmission over optical fibers. Similarly, in seawater communications, either extremely low frequency (ELF)
of a few hundred hertz or blue light in the visible frequency range is chosen because of the low attenuation (this
is why seawater is blue).
Another reason for passband transmission is to multiplex multiple signals in the same transmission
medium. For example, AM/FM radio and TV channels are multiplexed in the frequency domain by a process
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called frequency division multiplexing (FDM), where each channel is centered around a pre-assigned carrier
frequency. AM, FM, and TV are in the frequency ranges of 530-1700 kHz, 88-108 MHz, and 54-88 MHz plus
120-600 MHz, respectively. Therefore, the higher carrier frequency, the more information it can carry.

Electromagnetic spectrum

longer wavelengths higher frequencies

Audio Radio Microwave Terahertz radiation Infrared Visible Ultraviolet X-rays Gamma rays

Very Very Ultra

Audio Low Low Medium High High High
frequency Fcy Fcy Fcy Fcy Fcy Fcy
(AF) (VLF) (LF) (MF) (HF) (VHF) (UHF)
f
30 Hz 300 Hz 3 kHz 30 kHz 300 kHz 3 MHz 30 MHz 300 MHz 3 GHz
Audio
baseband
AM FM TV
High-fidelity passband passband passband
audio baseband
Video baseband

Micro Millimeter Visible Ultra-

wave wave Infrared violet
f
3 GHz 30 GHz 300 GHz 3 THz 30 THz 300 THz 3000 THz

Satellite Optical
communications frequency
passband

Figure 1.2 Electromagnetic spectrum

Table 1.1 Spectrum of Communication Systems

Frequency Designation Transmission Propagation Applications

Media Modes
Infrared Optical fibers Laser beam Wideband Data
1 THz 430 THz Multimedia
ATM
Super High Frequency Waveguides Line-of-Sight (LOS) Satellite
(SHF) Radio Microwave
3 GHz 30 GHz Radar
Navigational
Ultra High Fcy (UHF) Waveguides/ Co-axial cable LOS Radio UHF TV
300 MHz 3000 MHz Mobile
Very High Fcy (VHF) Co-axial cable LOS Radio Mobile
30 MHz 300 MHz VHF TV, FM
High Fcy (HF) Co-axial cable Skywave Radio CB Amateur Radio
3 MHz 30 MHz Civil Defense
Medium Fcy (MF) Co-axial cable Groundwave Radio AM
300 kHz 3000 kHz

2
 Low Fcy (LF) Wire pairs Groundwave Radio Aeronautical
30 kHz 300 kHz Transoceanic Radio
Very Low Fcy (VLF) Wire pairs Groundwave Radio Telephone
3 kHz 30 kHz Telegraph
Audio Fcy (AF) Wire pairs
20 Hz 20 kHz

Table 1.2 A CHRONOLOGY OF ELECTRICAL COMMUNICATION

1800-1837 Preliminary Developments

Volta discovers the battery; the mathematical treatises by Fourier, Cauchy, and Laplace; experiments
on electrical and magnetism by Oersted, Ampere, Faraday, and Henry; Ohms Law (1826); early
telegraph systems by Gauss, Weber, and Wheatstone
1838-1866 Telegraphy
Morse perfects his system; Steinhill finds that the earth can be used for a current path; commercial
service initiated (1844); multiplexing techniques devised; William Thomson (Lord Kelvin) calculates
the pulse response of a telegraph line (1855); transatlantic cables installed by Cyrus Field and
associates
1845 Kirchhoffs circuit laws enunciated
1864 Maxwells equation predicts electromagnetic radiation
1876-1899 Telephony
Acoustic transducer perfected by Alexander Graham Bell, after earlier attempts by Reis; first
telephone exchange, in New Haven, with eight lines (1878); Edisons carbon-button transducer; cable
circuits introduced; Strowger devises automatic step-by-step switching (1887); the theory of cable
loading by Heaviside, Pupin, and Campbell
1887-1907 Wireless telegraphy
Heinrich Hertz verifies Maxwells theory; demonstrations by Marconi and Popov; Marconi patents a
complete wireless telegraph system (1897); the theory of tuning circuits developed by Sir Oliver Lodge;
commercial service begins, including ship-to-shore and transatlantic systems
1892-1899 Oliver Heavisides publication on operational calculus, circuits, and electromagnetics
1904-1920 Communication electronics
Lee De Forrest invents the Audion (triode) based on Flemings diode; basic filter types devised by G. A.
Campbell and others; experiments with AM radio broadcasting; transcontinental telephone line with
electronic repeaters completed by the Bell System (1915); multiplexed carrier telephony introduced; E.
H. Armstrong perfects the superheterodyne radio receiver (1918); first commercial broadcasting
station, KDKA, Pittsburgh
1920-1928 Transmission theory
Landmark papers on the theory of signal transmission and noise by J. R. Carson, H. Nyquist, J. B.
Johnson, and R. V. L. Hartley
1923-1938 Television
Mechanical image-formation system demonstrated by Baird and Jenkins; theoretical analysis of
bandwidth requirements; Farnsworth and Zworykin propose electronic systems; vacuum cathode-ray
tubes perfected by DuMont and others; field tests and experimental broadcast begin
1931 Teletypewriter service initiated
1934 H. S. Black develops the negative-feedback amplifier
1936 Armstrongs paper states the case for FM radio
1937 Alec Reeves conceives pulse code modulation
1938-1945 World War II
Radar and microwave systems developed; FM used extensively for military communications; improved
electronics, hardware, and theory in all areas
1944-1947 Statistical communication theory
Rice develops a mathematical representation of noise; Weiner, Kolmogoroff, and Kotelnikov apply
statistical methods to signal detection
1948-1951 Information theory and coding
C. E. Shannon publishes the founding papers of information theory; Hamming and Golay devise error-
correcting codes
1948-1951 Transistor devices invented by Bardeen, Brattain, and Shockley
1950 Time-division multiplexing applied to telephony
1953 Color TV standards established in the United States
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 1955 J. R. Pierce proposes satellite communication systems
1956 First transoceanic telephone cable (36 voice channels)
1958 Long-distance data transmission system developed for military purposes
1960 Maiman demonstrates the first laser
1961 Integrated circuits go into commercial production
1962 Satellite communication begins with Telstar I
1962-1966 High-speed digital communication
Data transmission service offered commercially; wideband channels designed for digital signalling;
pulse code modulation proves feasible for voice and TV transmission; major breakthroughs in the
theory and implementation of digital transmission, including error-control coding methods by Viterbi
and others, and the development of adaptive equalization by Lucky and co-workers
1963 Solid-state microwave oscillators perfected by Gunn
1964 Fully electronic telephone switching system (No. 1 ESS) goes into service
1965 Mariner IV transmits pictures from Mars to earth
1966-1975 Wideband communication systems
Cable TV systems; commercial satellite relay service becomes available; optical links using lasers and
fiber optics; the forerunner of the Internet, ARPANET was created in 1969;
1975-1985 Integrated-circuit communication modules; high-frequency power MOS devices; digital signal
processing with microprocessors; filter circuits using switched capacitors and surface acoustic waves;
rate distortion theory and predictive coding applied to data compression
1983 TCP/IP became the official protocol of ARPANET/Internet
1985 to present Gigabit Networks, B-ISDN or ATM Networks, Digital TV
beyond 2000 Third- and fourth-generation wireless systems (Advanced mobile communications)
International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT)-2000; Wireless ATM (WATM)

Wireless communications networks today are based largely on first-generation analog and second-generation
digital technologies. The specifications and standards for the new generation of wireless technologies (known as
IMT-2000) are being developed by the ITU. The third-generation wireless systems will work in a range of
service environments, from in-building to global. These systems will be offered in the 2-GHz frequency bands.
(Shafi, et al., Wireless Communications in the Twenty-First Century: A Perspective, Proceedings of the IEEE,
vol. 85, no. 10, October 1997, 1622-1638)

1.2 RADIO FREQUENCY AMPLIFIERS AND OSCILLATORS

1.2.1 TUNED AMPLIFIERS

Resonance Amplifier Resonance

Input Output
Circuit Circuit Circuit

Figure 1.3 A simple block diagram of a tuned amplifier

1.2.1.1 Series Resonance

R

C
Z

4
 1 1
Z R jL R j L
jC C

At resonance 0, Z = R, which is its minimum value. Hence,

1
0L 0
0C

1
f0
2 LC

1.2.1.2 Parallel Resonance

Parallel resonance circuits are used when a high-impedance tuned circuits are required.

R L C

1
f0
2 LC

f
fL fo fH

V V
V3

V2
V1

f
f1 f2 f3
fo
5
 1.2.1.3 Quality Factor and Bandwidth

Inductors store energy in the magnetic field surrounding the device. Capacitors store energy in the space
between electrodes. The energy is stored during one-half of the ac cycle and returned during the other half. Any
energy lost during the cycle is associated with a dissipative resistance.
The sharpness of the response curve of any resonant circuit is determined by the maximum amount of
energy that can be stored in the circuit, compared with the energy that is lost during one complete period of the
response. This sharpness of the response curve is related the parameter called the quality factor, Q.

maximum energy stored .

Q=
amount of enegy lost per cycle

Since energy-storage devices must lose the least amount of energy, the higher the Q of the resonant circuit
means that the capacitors and inductors used have good quality.
The width of the resonant response curve that can provide the required output is between the half-power
frequencies, fH and fL. This width is usually called the bandwidth, B.

B fH fL

The bandwidth is related to the quality factor Q by the equation

f0
B
Q

R
Q0 0 RC
0L

1
B
2RC

vi R L C
R B

v0 hfeZ

vi hie

1
Designing the circuit to have C >> Cbe + Cbc and R << ,
hoe

6
 1 1 1 1 R
Y jC 1 jRC
Z R jL R jL

1 0
Y 1 jQ0
R 0


v0 hfe 1
R
vi hie
1 jQ0 0

0

7
v0
2
vi 2
0 8

si 0
Gain at = o
Gain at = si

2
9
f
 1.2.2 OSCILLATORS

SW

A
+
V V C L
c
- X1 X2

X3
Basic Configuration of a Resonant Circuit Oscillator

Oscillator Circuits
V CC
V CC

RFC
RFC
Tank
Circuit

C 1

L V o
C L V o
C 2
R 1 R 1

C C C C

R 2 R 2
R R
E C E
E C E

Colpitts Oscillator Hartley Oscillator

1.3 FREQUENCY TRANSLATION AND FILTER RESPONSES

1.3.1 Frequency Translation

1

v (t ) V ( f )
-W W

v(t )e j ct V ( f f c )
fc

1/2
1

v (t )cos c t V f f c V f f c
2

fc
j/2
10

- fc
 1
v (t )sin c t
j2
V f fc V f fc

1
1 ( f )

1/2
1

cos c t f f c f f c
2

fc

j/2
1

sin c t f f c f f c
j2

- fc
1.3.2 Filter Response

1.3.2.1 Low Pass Filter

A

LPF
fc o , B = f L
f
- fL fL
1.3.2.2 High Pass Filter

A
HPF
fc o = f L
f
- fH fH

1.3.2.3 Bandpass Filter

W
A
BPF
fo = f C
B=W f
- fH - fc - fL fL fc fH

1.3.2.4 Block Diagram Examples

1) The system below is a simplified speech scrambler used to ensure communication privacy and foil
wiretapping. Analyze its operation by sketching the spectrum at each stage, taking X(f) as shown. Draw also a
descrambler for the system.

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 X(f) HPF LPF
x(t) fC0 = 20 kHz B = 20 kHz

-5 5
f (kHz)

20 kHz 25 kHz

2) Consider the system skeched in the figure below, F1 (f) and F2 (f) as shown.
a) Sketch the transform of f3 (t).
b) Sketch the transform of g (t).
c) Draw one possible realization of a complete receiver.

F1 (f)
1
f1 (t)

-5 5
f (kHz)

F2 (f)
1 10 kHz
f2 (t)
-5 5 25 kHz
f (kHz)

3) Draw the spectrum of the different time-domain values.

a(t)

cos c t
c(t) d(t) e(t)
HPF LPF f(t)
fc o = f c fc o = f c
90
PHASE
SHIFT

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cos c t

b(t)
 1.3.3 Bandpass Systems

The simplest bandpass system is the parallel resonant or tuned circuit. Since practical tuned circuits
usually have 10 < Q < 100, the 3-dB (half-power) bandwidth falls between 1% and 10% of the center frequency
value.
B
0.01 < < 0.1
fc

B
1% < < 10%
fc

For instance, the antennas in a radio system produce considerable distortion unless the frequency range
is small compared to fc. Moreover, designing a reasonably distortionless bandpass amplifier turns out to be quite
difficult if B is either very large or very small compared to fc. As a rough rule of thumb, the fractional
bandwidth B/fc must be kept within the range considered.

1.4 MODULATION

Modulation is the systematic alteration of a high-frequency carrier wave in accordance with the
instantaneous value of the modulating signal. The modulating signal that varies the parameters of the carrier is
usually the baseband signal. The carrier wave after modulation is also called the modulated signal or the
transmitted signal.

A carrier wave may be represented by the equations

e(t) = Em cos ( c t + )

c(t) = Ac cos ( c t + )

where e(t) and c(t) is the instantaneous value of the carrier

Em and Ac is the maximum amplitude
c is the angular velocity of the carrier (2fc )
is its phase angle

1.4.1 Why Modulate?

Modulation is required to match the signal to the transmission medium. Some of the major reasons why
modulation is required are:
Modulation for ease of radiation
Modulation for frequency assignment and multiplexing
Modulation to reduce noise and interference

1.4.1 General Types of Modulation

Continuous Wave (CW) Modulation

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 - carrier is a sinusoidal waveform

Pulse Modulation
- carrier is a periodic train of pulses

Digital Modulation
- modulation of binary symbols

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