Electrical Engineering Department

EE 471: Communication Systems

Chapter 1: Introduction(1)

Dr. Nayeff Najjar

(1) Figures
included in this lecture notes are extracts from the text book Modern Digital and Analog Communication Systems by B.P. Lathi and Zhi Ding,
Copyright © 2009 by Oxford University Press, Inc. 1
Introduction

1. Communication systems

2. Analogue and digital messages

3. Signal-to-noise ratio SNR, channel bandwidth and the rate of

communication

4. Modulation

5. Randomness, redundancy, and coding

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Examples of Communication Systems
Wire-Line and Cellular Phone TV Broadcasting System
Systems

Wireless Computer Network

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Satellite Communication System

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Modes of Communications

1. Simplex Mode – one direction (TV, radio)

Simplex Mode

2. Half Duplex Mode – two directions but at

different times (push to
talk walkie-talkie) Half Duplex Mode

3. Full Duplex Mode – two directions

simultaneously (telephone)
(i) Frequency Division Duplexing (FDD) Full Duplex Mode
(ii) Time Division Duplexing (TDD)

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Communication Systems
Simplified Block Diagram

Input Signal Output Signal

Input Output
𝑚(𝑡) 𝑚
ෝ (𝑡)
message
Input Communication Output
message
Transducer Transducer
System

• Ideally, 𝑚 𝑡 = 𝑚(𝑡)
ෝ Noise!
• However, in actual life 𝑚 𝑡 ≅ 𝑚(𝑡)
ෝ because there is some error due to:
i. Noise
ii. Distortion
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Communication Systems
Example
• To illustrate the functionality of the communication systems, we will consider the
DTMF Robot Project. The project is explained in the next few bullets:
• DTMF Control: The robot is controlled using tones generated by a phone keypad.
• Mobile Phone Interface: Users can call the robot's phone and send keypad tones to control
its movement.
• DTMF Decoder: The robot has a decoder to understand tones and execute commands.
• Basic Movement: It can move forward, backward, turn, and stop in response to DTMF
commands.
• Educational and DIY: Often used for learning electronics and robotics, it can be a fun DIY
project or a commercial product.
• Arduino DTMF Control with Phone Cell
• DTMF Sample Generator
DTMF Robot Example

• For the DTMF Robot, the input • Each time a number is pressed, a message
message is the number that you
𝑚 𝑡 = cos 2𝜋𝑓1 𝑡 + cos(2𝜋𝑓2 𝑡) is generated
press on the DTMF pad

• 𝑓1 and 𝑓2 are unique for each number

• 𝑚 𝑡 is your input message

• The DTMF is the input

transducer
𝒇𝟏 and 𝒇𝟐 for DTMF Pad Symbols
𝑓2

𝑓1

• DTMF Sample Generator 9

DTMF Input Messages
(Ts = 0.00001s, fs = 100 kHz)

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DTMF Robot Output Transducer

• The purpose of the output transducer is to realize the number

that was pressed given the output message 𝑚(𝑡)
ෝ

The number that

Output was pressed is ℓ
𝑚(𝑡)
ෝ
Transducer
ℓ ∈ {2, 4, 6, 8}

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Electrical Communication System
Detailed Block Diagram
Electric signal (like
Electric Signal (like
audio and video Electric Signal Electric Signal
Sound, picture, ... Electric the outputs of a Sound, picture, ...
outputs ofsignal (like
a video (transmitted signal) (received signal) Electric Signal (like
audio and video Electric Signal Electric Signal satellite receiver)
Sound, picture, ... camera the outputs of a Sound, picture, ...
outputs of a video (transmitted signal) (received signal)
satellite receiver)
camera

Added Noise
Added Noise

𝑚(𝑡) 𝑚(𝑡)
ෝ
Channel
Input Channel Output
Input (distorts Output
Input
Input
Transmitter
Transmitter (distorts Receiver
Receiver Output
Output
Transducer
Transducer transmitted
transmitted Transducer
Transducer
signal)
signal)

Communication Systems

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Keywords
1. A source provides a message input (data, voice, picture, …).

2. If the source signal is not electrical (pressure, temperature, …) a transducer is used to

convert it to electrical signal.

3. The electrical signal is sent to a transmitter for modulation (for efficient transmission).

4. The modulated signal pass through a channel (wire, optical fiber, air, ..).

5. A receiver receives the signal from the channel and performs the demodulation to
restore the original signal (message signal or also called baseband signal).

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Parameters Effecting the Performance of a Communication System

• Signal Power – Received signal power depends on the transmitted power and the power lost in the channel.

• Noise – collection of undesirable signals

• External – interferences from signals transmitted on nearby channels, noise from faulty contact switches, automobile
spark plugs, fluorescent lights, natural lightning.
• Internal – thermal motion of electrons in conductors, random emissions, diffusion or recombination of charged carriers
in electronic devices.

• Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) – ratio of signal power to noise power

• Along the path signal power reduces, the channel distorts the signal, and noise accumulates  SNR reduces.
• Amplification of received signal does not alter SNR at best.

• Channel Bandwidth – range of frequencies the channel can transmit with reasonable fidelity.

• Transmission rate (pulses/s, symbols/s, bits/s)-can be increased either by increasing the SNR or channel
bandwidth
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Message Types – Analog, Digital

• Analog
– values vary over a continuous range, assume an infinite
number of possible values
– Examples: temperature or atmospheric pressure of a
certain location, speech waveform

• Digital
– Constructed with a finite number of symbols
– Example: • 𝑆𝑦𝑚𝑏𝑜𝑙𝑠 = {11,10,01,00}
• Printed English text: 26 letters  a digital message
consisting of 26 symbols • The blue signal is digital, but
• Human speech: finite vocabulary (symbols) in a language not discrete!

– M-array message: A digital message constructed

from M symbols
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Analog-to-Digital (A/D) Conversion

• Sampling
• Sampling Theorem – If the highest frequency in the signal spectrum is B (Hertz), the signal
can be reconstructed from its samples, taken at a rate not less than 2B samples/s.

• Quantization – samples are “rounded off” to the nearest Quantized level.

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Pulse Code Modulation

• Based on the number of symbols 𝑀, decide on the

number of bits 𝑚
• Example: if 𝑀 = 16, then 𝑚 = log 2 16 = 4 bit

• List the codes for each symbol

𝐴
• For logic 0, transmit −
2

𝐴
• For logic 1, transmit
2

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Advantages of Digital Signals over Analog Signals
• Noise Immunity

Figure 1.3 (a) Transmitted signal. (b) Received distorted signal (without noise).
(c) Received distorted signal (with noise). (d) Regenerated signal (delayed).
• Viability of Regenerative Repeaters

Transmitter Repeater 1 Repeater n Receiver

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Exercise 1–1: Specify if the following communication
systems are (A)nalog or (D)igital:

a) TV in the 1970s:
b) TV in the 2030s:
c) Fax machines
d) Local area networks (LANs):
e) First–generation cellular phones
f) Second–generation cellular phones
g) Third–generation cellular phones

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