What is FM: Frequency Modulation

FM used for modulating a radio signal to carry sound or other

information.
Frequency modulation, FM is widely used for a variety of radio communications
applications. FM broadcasts on the VHF bands still provide exceptionally high quality
audio, and FM is also used for a variety of forms of two way radio communications, and it
is especially useful for mobile radio communications, being used in taxis, and many other
forms of vehicle.
FM, frequency modulation has been in use for many years. However its advantages were
not immediately apparent. In the early days of wireless, it was thought that a narrower
bandwidth was required to reduce noise and interference. As FM did not perform well
under these conditions, AM predominated and FM was not used.
Now wideband FM is still regarded as a very high quality transmission medium for high
quality broadcasting.

Frequency modulation basics

The most obvious method of applying modulation to a signal is to superimpose

the audio signal onto the amplitude of the carrier. However this is by no means the only method
which can be employed. It is also possible to vary the frequency of the signal to give frequency
modulation or FM. The frequency of the signal varies as the voltage of the modulating signal
changes.
The amount by which the signal frequency varies is very important. This is known
as the deviation and is normally quoted as the number of kiloHertz deviation. As an example
the signal may have a deviation of 3 kHz. In this case the carrier is made to move up and
down by 3 kHz.
 Concept of frequency modulation

FREQUENCY MODULATION

It is a method of transmitting information using a carrier wave. The frequency of

the carrier wave is varied in accordance with the amplitude and polarity of the
input signal, the amplitude of the carrier remaining unchanged.
In amplitude modulation (AM) there is interference, such as static, lightning and
man made noise. These noises largely effects amplitude of RF wave. This is
because the noise is added and superimposed on the transmitted AM signal.
Thats why we prefer frequency modulation over amplitude modulation.
Modulated FM Carrier:
When the FM carrier is modulated, the frequency of the carrier varies by an
amount that is proportional to amplitude of the modulating waveform, this
occurs at a rate that is determined by the modulation frequency.
At time
t = <0, RF carrier operating at a specific frequency
t=0,the modulating signal is applied to the RF carrier. t=1 , the frequency of the
modulated RF carrier has increased proportionally.
t=2, the amplitude of the modulating signal attains a maximum value. At the same
time, the RF carrier has increased to its maximum frequency.
t=3, the modulating waveform begins to decrease in amplitude and the carrier
frequency also begins to decrease [Fig. 2 (b)].
t=4, the modulating wave returns to zero and the carrier frequency returns to the
resting frequency.
t=6, the modulating signal has decreased to its maximum negative value and the
frequency of modulated carrier also reaches its minimum [Fig. 2(b)].
t=7, the modulation amplitude begins its return journey back to zero
t=8, the carrier frequency returns to the resting frequency.
Observations:
As the amplitude of the modulating source increases, the frequency of the
carrier increases.
As the amplitude of the modulating source decreases, the frequency of the
carrier decreases.
The amplitude of the FM modulated carrier remains constant as the amplitude
of the modulating source varies.
Modulation Effects on AM Vs FM

Modulating Amplitude Decreases

Increases

FM Frequency Frequency swing

swing increases decreases

AM Carrier level Carrier level

increases decreases

Power Relation in FM Carrier Wave:

The amplitude of the carrier wave is not affected during the process of frequency
modulation. Hence the total power in the wave remains unchanged irrespective
of the degree of modulation. In frequency modulation, only the capacitance of
the oscillator tank circuit is changed due to the modulating signal so that a change
in frequency of oscillator takes place but the power output of the oscillator
remains unaffected during the process of frequency modulation.

Analysis of FM Carrier Wave:

Let the carrier and modulating voltage waves be represented as
vc = Vccos (wct + ) and vm = Vmcos (wmt)
where , Vc, wc and are the instantaneous value, peak value, angular velocity and
the initial phase angle of the carrier and vm, Vm and wm are the instantaneous, 9
value and the angular velocity of the modulating signal.
Let c (t) = wc t + (f) is the total instantaneous phase angle of the carrier wave at
time t.
vc = Vccosc(t) ...(1)
The instantaneous angular velocity wc, defined as the instantaneous rate of
increase of instantaneous phase (or angular displacement), is related to phase
angle c as below
wc = d/dt ...(2)
In frequency modulation, the frequency of the carrier wave varies with time in
accordance with the instantaneous value of the modulating voltage. Thus the
frequency of the carrier after frequency modulation is given as
w= wc + Kfvm = wc + KfVmcoswmt...(3)
where K, is a constant of proportionality
The total instantaneous phase of the FM wave is obtained by integrating Eq.
(3) i.e.,

(t) = wdt =(wc + KfVmcoswmt)dt

= wct + KfVm (1/wm sin wmt + 1)

Where 1 is the constant of integration and represents the initial phase. The
initial phase 1 may be neglected since it is insignificant in the modulation
process. So we have
(t) = wct + KfVm /w msin w mt ...(4)
The equation of FM wave is given by
vfm= Vcsin(t)
= Vc sin ( wct + KfVm/wmsinwmt )....(5)
The instantaneous frequency of FM wave can be had from Eq. (3) i.e.
f=w/2=wc/2+kfVm/2 coswmt
=fc +kfVm/2 coswmt
From above Eq. the maximum and mini mum values of frequency are given as
fmax =fc +kfVm/2
fmin =fc -fd
Thus the frequency deviation, defined as the maximum change in frequency from
mean value fc, is given as
fd =fmax -fc=fc -fmin =kfVm/2
The total variation in frequency from the mini mum to maximum value is called
the carrier swing and it is given as
Carrier swing, CS = fd = kfVm/
The frequency modulation index mf, defined as the ratio of frequency deviation to
modulation frequency (i-e. fd/fm), is given as
mf = fd / fm =wd /wm=kfVm/wm
Thus the equation for the FM wave [Eq. (5)] in terms of mf, becomes
vfm= Vcsin [wct + mfsin wmt] or ufm= Vc [sin wctcos (mm sin wm t) + coswct sin (mf sin
wm t] ...(6)
Percent of Modulation in FM:
In AM,100% modulation is defined as the point where the amplitude of the RF
carrier rises to twice the nor mal amplitude at its maximum and drops to zero at
its minimum. Anything greater than 100% modulation in AM causes distortion to
the modulated wave.
With FM, it is the amount of frequency deviation that determines the degree of
modulation. Actually the main difference between amplitude and frequency
modulation is that in amplitude modulation the modulation index can be max
100% but in frequency modulation it could be greater than 100% and even no
information is clipped off.

Modulation Index:
Modulation index is defined as the ratio of the frequency deviation to the
frequency of the modulating signal.
Frequency modulation index,
mf = kfVm/wm
From above equation it is obvious that for a given frequency deviation or for a
constant amplitude of modulating voltage, the modulation index varies inversely
as the modulating frequency fm.
Unlike amplitude modulation, the frequency modulation index can exceed unity.

FM DETECTION
For the detection of FM waves, the method usually employed involves the
conversion of FM into AM and then application of conventional methods of
detection. Thus, demodulation of an FM wave involves three operations which
are given below :
(i) Conversion of frequency variations produced by modulating signal into
corresponding amplitude variations.
(ii) Rectification of modulating signal
(iii) Elimination of RF component of the modulated wave.
For the FM detection we need a circuit in which magnitude of output voltage
varies in accordance with the instantaneous frequency variation in the input
voltage. Such circuits are called discriminators.

Slope Detector:
The circuit diagram of a slope detector is depicted in Fig. 3. The circuit uses two
tuned circuits which are tuned to two different frequencies. First one is tuned to
the incoming FM carrier frequency wc where as the second is tuned to a
frequency slightly different from the carrier frequency. Thus, this portion of circuit
which contains two tuned circuits tuned to different frequencies, is called
discriminator. This circuit converts FM into an AM signal as shown in the slope
detector characteristic curve. The another portion of the circuit is envelope
detector. The AM signal from the output of the discriminator is applied at the
input of the envelope detector. At the output of the envelope detector, the
original modulating signal is obtained.

Short comings:-
The circuit's nonlinear characteristic produces a harmonic distortion.
 The circuit does not eliminate the amplitude variation and the
output is sensitive to any amplitude variations in the input FM signal which
is obviously not a desirable feature
It is less efficient.

Narrowband FM, NBFM, & Wideband FM, WBFM

The level of deviation is important in many aspects. It obviously is important in determining
the bandwidth of the overall signal. As a result the deviation used for FM is different
between different applications. Broadcast stations in the VHF portion of the frequency
spectrum between 88.5 and 108 MHz use large values of deviation, typically 75 kHz. This
is known as wideband FM (WBFM). These signals are capable of supporting high quality
transmissions, but occupy a large amount of bandwidth. Usually 200 kHz is allowed for
each wideband FM transmission. For radio communications purposes less bandwidth is
used. Narrowband FM, NBFM often uses deviation figures of around 3 kHz or possibly
slightly more. As quality is not as important for radio communications applications, the
much narrower bandwidth has advantages in terms of radio spectrum efficiency.

Signal to Noise Ratio, SNR

There are a number of ways in which the noise performance, and hence the sensitivity
of a radio receiver can be measured. The most obvious method is to compare the
signal and noise levels for a known signal level, i.e. the signal to noise (S/N) ratio or
SNR. Obviously the greater the difference between the signal and the unwanted noise,
i.e. the greater the S/N ratio or SNR, the better the radio receiver sensitivity
performance.
As with any sensitivity measurement, the performance of the overall radio receiver is
determined by the performance of the front end RF amplifier stage. Any noise
introduced by the first RF amplifier will be added to the signal and amplified by
subsequent amplifiers in the receiver. As the noise introduced by the first RF amplifier
will be amplified the most, this RF amplifier becomes the most critical in terms of radio
receiver sensitivity performance. Thus the first amplifier of any radio receiver should
be a low noise amplifier.

Concept of signal to noise ratio SNR

Although there are many ways of measuring the sensitivity performance of a radio
receiver, the S/N ratio or SNR is one of the most straightforward and it is used in a
variety of applications. However it has a number of limitations, and although it is widely
used, other methods including noise figure are often used as well. Nevertheless the
S/N ratio or SNR is an important specification, and is widely used as a measure of
receiver sensitivity

Signal to noise ratio for a radio receiver

The difference is normally shown as a ratio between the signal and the noise (S/N)
and it is normally expressed in decibels. As the signal input level obviously has an
effect on this ratio, the input signal level must be given. This is usually expressed in
microvolts. Typically a certain input level required to give a 10 dB signal to noise ratio
is specified.

Signal to noise ratio formula

The signal to noise ratio is the ratio between the wanted signal and the unwanted
background noise.

It is more usual to see a signal to noise ratio expressed in a logarithmic basis using
decibels:
 Effect of bandwidth on SNR
A number of other factors apart from the basic performance of the set can affect the
signal to noise ratio, SNR specification. The first is the actual bandwidth of the receiver.
As the noise spreads out over all frequencies it is found that the wider the bandwidth
of the receiver, the greater the level of the noise. Accordingly the receiver bandwidth
needs to be stated.

Improvement in Signal to Noise Ratio

It has already been mentioned that FM can give a better signal to noise ratio than AM when
wide bandwidths are used. The amplitude noise can be removed by limiting the signal to
remove it. In fact the greater the deviation the better the noise performance.

FM modulators
There is a variety of different methods that can be used to generate frequency
modulated signals.

Varactor diode oscillator: This method simply requires the use of a varactor
diode placed within the tuned circuit of an oscillator circuit. It is even possible to use
a varactor diode within a crystal oscillator circuit. Typically when crystal oscillators
a re used the signal needs to be multiplied in frequency, and only narrow band FM
is attainable.
Phase locked loop: Phase locked loops provide an excellent method of
generating frequency modulation. It is often necessary to manage the constraints
within the loop carefully but once done it provides and excellent solution.

FM pre-emphasis & de-emphasis

What is Emphasis?
Emphasis is the process of boosting the Amplitude Vs Frequency characteristics of
a signal to reduce the effects caused by noise while transmission or reception of
message signal over the channel. The noise that may occurs include both single
frequency interference and thermal noise. Noise is inherently greater in amplitude at
higher modulating signal than at lower frequencies, because the signals with higher
frequencies have low SNR (Signal to Noise Ratio). By emphasis, approximately a
12db of improvement in noise can be achieved in FM.
What is Pre-Emphasis?
Signals with higher modulation frequencies have lower SNR, In order to compensate
this, the high frequency signals are emphasised or boosted in amplitude at the
transmitter section of a communication system prior to the modulation process. That
is, the pre emphasis network allows the high frequency modulating signal to
modulate the carrier at higher level, this causes more frequency deviation.

Pre-emphasis: The noise suppression ability of FM decreases with the

increase in the frequencies. Thus increasing the relative strength or amplitude
of the high frequency components of the message signal before modulation is
termed as Pre-emphasis. The Fig3 below shows the circuit of pre-emphasis.

Pre-emphasis circuit
Circuit Diagram For Pre-Emphasis

The Figure shows an active pre-emphasis network, which consisting of a transistor,

resistor and an inductor. It is basically an high pass filter or Differentiator. A pre-
emphasis circuit produces a constant increase in the amplitude of the modulating
signal with an increase in frequency. The Break Frequency is determined by the RC
or L/R time constant of the network. Normally, the break frequency occurs at the
frequency where XC or XL equals R.

Note:- Break Frequency is the Frequency where Pre-emphasis or De-emphasis just

begins.
FB = 1/(2RC) OR FB = 1/(2(L/R))

By the use of an active pre-emphasis network we can reduce the signal loss and
distortion with the increase of SNR. Also the output amplitude of the network
increases with frequencies above Break Frequency.

What is De-Emphasis?

De emphasis is the inverse process of pre-emphasis, used to attenuate the high

frequency signal that is boosted at the transmitter section. The network at the
receiver section restores the original amplitude Vs frequency characteristics of the
information signal, after the demodulation process. The pre-emphasis and De-
emphasis produces a more uniform SNR throughout the modulating signal frequency
spectrum.
 Circuit Diagram For De-Emphasis

De-emphasis: In the de-emphasis circuit, by reducing the amplitude level of

the received high frequency signal by the same amount as the increase in
pre-emphasis is termed as De-emphasis. The Fig4. below shows the circuit of
de-emphasis.

De-emphasis circuit

The above circuit shows a passive de emphasis network consisting of a resistor and a
capacitor. It is basically a Low Pass Filter or an Integrator. The pre emphasis network in
front of the FM modulator and a De-emphasis network at the output of the FM
demodulator improves the Signal to Noise Ratio for higher modulating signal frequencies,
thus producing a more uniform SNR at the output of demodulator.

The pre-emphasis process is done at the transmitter side, while the de-
emphasis process is done at the receiver side.
Thus a high frequency modulating signal is emphasized or boosted in
amplitude in transmitter before modulation. To compensate for this boost, the
high frequencies are attenuated or de-emphasized in the receiver after the
demodulation has been performed. Due to pre-emphasis and de-emphasis,
the S/N ratio at the output of receiver is maintained constant.
 The de-emphasis process ensures that the high frequencies are returned to
their original relative level before amplification.
Pre-emphasis circuit is a high pass filter or differentiator which allows high
frequencies to pass, whereas de-emphasis circuit is a low pass filter or
integrator which allows only low frequencies to pass.

Frequency modulation highlights

Frequency modulation is used in a wide variety or radio communications applications from

broadcasting to two way radio communications links as well as mobile radio
communications. It possesses many advantages over amplitude modulation and this is the
reason for its widespread use. Nowadays, many digital forms of radio communications are
being introduced, but despite this the use of frequency modulation, FM will undoubtedly
continue for many years to come in many areas of radio communications.