8/15/2007 Intoduction 1/3

1. Introduction
A. History of Radio

HO: A Brief History of the Radio

B. Radio Transmission Systems

There are more “radios” being built

than every before!

1. Telephony

* Cellular
* PCS
* Global Satellite Systems
* Microwave Links

2. Broadcasting

* AM radio, FM radio, VHF/UHF TV

* Satellite Links
* Direct Broadcasting

3. Networking

* Wireless LANs
* Picocells

Jim Stiles The Univ. of Kansas Dept. of EECS

8/15/2007 Intoduction 2/3

4. Radar and Navigation

* Global Positioning System (GPS)

* Radar detection, tracking and imaging
* Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)

Q: Just what is a radio ?

A: A device that transfers information

to a distant site, by means of unbounded
electromagnetic propagation.

A radio system has three sections, with antennas serving as

couplers between each section:

1. HO: The Radio Transmitter

2. HO: The Propagation Channel
3. HO: The Radio Receiver

D. The Electromagnetic Spectrum

We can propagate energy anywhere within the

electromagnetic spectrum, but we typically use frequencies
less than, say, 40 GHz.

HO: The Electromagnetic Spectrum

HO: FCC Spectrum Chart

Jim Stiles The Univ. of Kansas Dept. of EECS

8/15/2007 Intoduction 3/3

Q: Why don’t we use frequencies greater then 40 GHz ?

A: Two reasons:

1) The difficulty in making electronic components.

2) The Earth’s atmosphere rapidly attenuates the

propagating wave!

Jim Stiles The Univ. of Kansas Dept. of EECS

 The History of Radio
• The history of radio can be traced
through the lives of these people:
– Maxwell
– Hertz
– Heavyside
– Marconi
– DeForest
– Armstrong
– Farnsworth
– Sarnoff
 James Clerk Maxwell
• Unified Electric and
Magnetic Theory.
• Predicted
Electromagnetic Wave
Propagation
• Theorized that light
was an electromagnetic
wave.
• Could “low-frequency”
waves be generated ?
James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879)
 Heinrich Hertz
• Experimentally
verified Maxwell’s
Theories.
• Generated and
propagated “radio
waves”
• Built first
transmitter,
antenna, and
receiver apparatus.
Heinrich Hertz (1857-1894)
 Guglielmo Marconi

• The “inventor of
radio”.
• Improved and
commercialized
Hertz’ apparatus.
• Used for radio
telegraphy.
• Among the first
radio engineers. (1874-1937)
 Oliver Heavyside
• Mr. Heavyside was perhaps
the first true electrical
engineer.
•He was an odd recluse, who
was entirely self taught!
•Although unappreciated in
his time, he provided
mathematical solutions to
important problems.
•Among his accomplishments
are transmission line theory Oliver Heavyside
and Heavyside (Laplace)
1850-1925
Transforms.
 Lee DeForest

• Invented the “audion”

vacuum tube.
• Allowed for
ampflication and
detection.
• Led to first
transmission of voice
and music.

Lee DeForest (1873-1961)

Edwin Howard Armstrong
• Perhaps the greatest
EE in history.
• Inventor of the:
– feedback amplifier
– electronic oscillator
– super-hetrodyne
receiver
– FM radio.
• These inventions allowed
for the transmission of
voice and music.
Edwin H. Armstrong • His ideas are still widely
(1890-1954) used today!
 Philo T. Farnsworth
• Inventor of
electronic television.
• Largely self-taught.
• Developed initial
design while in high
school!
• A victim of bad
timing and small
Philo T. Farnsworth (1907-1971)
capital.
David Sarnoff
• Began as telegraph
operator for Marconi.
• Originated idea of
“broadcasting.”
• Became president of
the Radio Corporation
of America
• Was not an engineer —
and the only guy who
became really wealthy!
8/15/2007 The Radio Transmitter 1/2

The Radio Transmitter

There are 5 main components of a transmitter:

1) The signal a(t)

2) The radio frequency (RF) source

3) The modulator

4) The amplifier

5) The antenna

a (t) s(a,ω0)
modulator e( ω0 , a , r )

amplifier antenna
cos ω0t

RF source

The Radio Transmitter System

Jim Stiles The Univ. of Kansas Dept. of EECS

8/15/2007 The Radio Transmitter 2/2

Let’s examine each component:

1) The signal a(t) – This is the information we are trying to

transmit. It may be in either digital or analog form. It also
may have been encoded to remove redundancy, in a process
known as source coding.

2) RF source – Generates electromagnetic energy at

RF/microwave frequencies that are suitable for electromagnetic
propagation (subject to FCC restrictions !).

3) Modulator – Places signal a(t) (i.e., the information) onto the

RF signal, known as the carrier. Accomplished by modulating
some parameter of the carrier signal – e.g., magnitude, phase,
frequency, or some combination thereof. In general, this
process is called channel coding. Its goal is to maximize the
rate at which information is sent, while minimizing the effect of
unknown channel parameters.

4) Power Amplifier – Increases the power (i.e., energy flow) of

the modulated carrier signal, without (hopefully) distorting it.

5) Antenna – Acts as the coupling mechanism between the

bounded e.m. wave of a transmission line and the unbounded
propagating wave in space. Often, an antenna is required to
launch the unbounded wave in a specific direction.

Jim Stiles The Univ. of Kansas Dept. of EECS

8/15/2007 The Propagation Channel 1/1

The Propagation Channel

The propagation channel – The space between the antennas!

Tx channel Rx

* Ideally, the channel is free-space (i.e., nothing).

* In reality, the channel is full of stuff !

E.G., buildings, trees, rain, plasma, gasses, and the Earth.

Problem : This “stuff” modifies the propagating wave.

Therefore, we must consider the e.m. phenomena of:

* scattering

* refraction

* reflection

* diffraction

* extinction

Jim Stiles The Univ. of Kansas Dept. of EECS

8/15/2007 The Radio Receiver 1/3

The Radio Receiver

There are 8 basic components in a radio receiver:

1) Antenna

2) Low-noise Amplifier (LNA)

3) Preselection Filter

4) Local Oscillator/Mixer

5) Intermediate Frequency (IF) Amplifier

6) IF Filter

7) Detector/Demodulator

8) The recovered signal a(t)

ˆ

Å A receiver design
schematic I found on the
web.

Note the amplifier (amp),

oscillator (osc), mixer (mix),
and filter (filt) sections.

Jim Stiles The Univ. of Kansas Dept. of EECS

8/15/2007 The Radio Receiver 2/3

Let’s examine each component:

1) Antenna – Couples the incoming e.m. propagating wave

into the receiver.

2) Low-Noise Amplifier – Boosts the power of the initial

signal above the receiver noise.

3) Preselector Filter – Allows only the frequency band of

interest to pass into the receiver (e.g., for FM radio
88-108 MHz).

4) Local Oscillator/Mixer – Translates the signal from its

propagation frequency to a lower, fixed intermediate
frequency (IF).

5) IF Amplifier – A high-gain amplifier that greatly

increases signal power (i.e., to a detectable level).

6) IF Filter - Allows only the signal of interest to pass.

Bandwidth is typically that of the desired signal. (e.g.,
200 kHz for FM radio, 20 kHz for AM radio).

7) Detector/Demodulator – Extracts the signal information

(or, at least tries to !) from the IF signal.

8) The Recovered Signal a(t)

ˆ - The receiver’s “guess” at
what the original signal was. Ideally, a(t)
ˆ = a(t) , but
channel propagation “uncertainties” and noise make
perfect reproduction impossible !

Jim Stiles The Univ. of Kansas Dept. of EECS

 Dept. of EECS
3/3

mixer
preselector IF filter
LNA IF
filter
antenna

The Univ. of Kansas

The Radio Receiver

local
Demodulator/
oscillator
Detector
a(t)
The Basic Radio Receiver
The “recovered “
A “Super Heterodyne” signal
8/15/2007

Jim Stiles
8/15/2007 The Electromagnetic Spectrum 1/2

The Electromagnetic
Spectrum
Below is a description of standard Radio Frequency “Bands”, as
well as the applications that use them.

Band Frequency
Extremely Low Frequency (ELF) 0 to 3 KHz
Very Low Frequency (VLF) 3 KHz to 30 KHz
Radio Navigation &
9 KHz to 540 KHz
maritime/aeronautical mobile
Low Frequency (LF) 30 KHz to 300 KHz
Medium Frequency (MF) 300 KHz to 3000 KHz
AM Radio Broadcast 540 KHz to 1630 KHz
Travelers Information Service 1610 KHz
High Frequency (HF) 3 MHz to 30 MHz
Shortwave Broadcast Radio 5.95 MHz to 26.1 MHz
Very High Frequency (VHF) 30 MHz to 300 MHz
Low Band: TV Band 1 - Channels 2-6 54 MHz to 88 MHz
Mid Band: FM Radio Broadcast 88 MHz to 174 MHz
High Band: TV Band 2 - Channels 7-13 174 MHz to 216 MHz
Super Band (mobile/fixed radio & TV) 216 MHz to 600 MHz
Ultra-High Frequency (UHF) 300 MHz to 3000 MHz
Channels 14-70 470 MHz to 806 MHz
L-band: 500 MHz to 1500 MHz
Canada DARS 1452 MHz to 1492 MHz
Personal Communications Services (PCS) 1850 MHz to 1990 MHz
Unlicensed PCS Devices 1910 MHz to 1930 MHz

Jim Stiles The Univ. of Kansas Dept. of EECS

8/15/2007 The Electromagnetic Spectrum 2/2

S-band for DARS 2310 MHz to 2360 MHz

microwave TV 2500 MHz to 2700 MHz
Superhigh Frequencies (SHF) 3 GHz to 30.0 GHz
C-band & big-dish 6-10' 3600 MHz to 7025 MHz
X-band: 7.25 GHz to 8.4 GHz
Ku-band & small-dish 1-4' 10.7 GHz to 14.5 GHz
Ka-band 17.3 GHz to 31.0 GHz
Extremely High Frequencies (EHF)
30.0 GHz to 300 GHz
(Millimeter Wave Signals)
Additional Fixed Satellite 38.6 GHz to 275 GHz
Infrared Radiation 300 GHz to 810 THz
Visible Light 810 THz to 1620 THz
Ultraviolet Radiation 1.62 PHz to 30 PHz
X-Rays 30 PHz to 30 EHz
Gamma Rays 30 EHz to 3000 EHz
This chart derived from ADEC and FCC charts
© 1999 by Steven E. Schoenherr. All rights reserved.

The point here is basically, all of the “usable” electromagnetic

spectrum has been allocated to some application—and new
applications are being developed all the time!

Thus, as radio engineers, we must assume

that there is—or at least could be—a
significant signal at any and all possible
frequencies. This is the challenge of a
radio engineer. Effectively, there are
thousands of people all whispering very
softly—all at the same time. The radio
engineers job is to amplify one of these
voices, while suppressing all the others, so
that single voice can be clearly understood!
Jim Stiles The Univ. of Kansas Dept. of EECS