Communication system

BLOCK DIAGRAME OF COMMUNICATION SYSTEM:

In a communication system, the transmitter is located at one place, the receiver is

located at some other place (far or near) separate from the transmitter and the channel is the physical
medium that connects them. Depending upon the type of communication system, a channel may be in
the form of wires or cables connecting the transmitter and the receiver or it may be wireless.
1. Information source : The information or message signal is originated from
information source. Source of information generates message signal examples of which are
human voice, telephone pictures, teletype data, atmospheric temperature and pressure in
the above example.
2. Transmitter: A transmitter processes the incoming message signal so as to make it
suitable for transmission through a channel and subsequent reception.
The function of transmitter is to process the electrical signal from different
aspects: The signal received from the information source after converting it into electrical signal
is not suitable for transmission over the channel. The message signal requires same processing like
filtering and modulation etc, so that it is suitable for the transmission over the channel. Inside the
transmitter, signal processing such as restriction of range of audio frequencies, amplification and
modulation are achieved. All these processing of the message signal are done just to ease the
transmission of the signal through the channel.
3. Channel : The physical connection between transmitter output and receiver input is
provided by the channel. The channel is a medium such as wire, co-axial cable, waveguide,
optical fiber or a radio link through which the transmitter output is sent.
There are mainly two types of channels.
a. Point to point channel
b. Broad cast channel
a. Point to point channel : The point to point channels are wirelines, microwave
links, optical fibers. The wirelines are operated by guided electromagnetic waves used in
local telephone transmission. In microwave links, the transmitted signal is radiated as an
electromagnetic wave in free space and or used in long distance communication.
b. Broadcast channel : Broadcast channels provides a capability where several
receiving stations can be reached simultaneously from a single transmitter. An example of
Broadcast channels is a satellite in geostationary orbit, which covers one third of earth’s
surface.
4. Noise : Noise is an unwanted signal which tend to interface with the required with the
required signal. Noise signal is always random in character. Noise may interfere with signal
at any point in a communication system. However, the noise has its greatest effect on the
signal in the channel.
5. Receiver:- The receiver reprocesses the signal received from the channel by undoing
the signal modifications made at the transmitter and the channel. The receiver output is fed
 to the output transducer which converts the electrical signal to its original form- the
message.
6. User of information or Destination : Destination is the final stage which is used to
convert an electrical message signal into its original form. For example in radio
broadcasting, the destination is a loudspeaker which works as a transducer i.e. it converts
the electrical signal form of original sound signal.

Basic term used in communication system

(i) Transducer: Any device that converts one form of energy into another can be termed as a
transducer.. An electrical transducer may be defined as a device that converts some physical
variable (pressure, displacement, force, temperature, etc) into corresponding variations in the
electrical signal at its output.
(ii) Signal: Information converted in electrical form and suitable for transmission is called a signal.
Signals can be either analog or digital. Analog signals are continuous variations of voltage or
current. Digital signals are those which can take only discrete stepwise values.
(iii) Noise: Noise refers to the unwanted signals that tend to disturb the transmission and
processing of message signals in a communication system. The source generating the noise may be
located inside or outside the system.
(iv)Transmitter: A transmitter processes the incoming message signal so as to make it suitable for
transmission through a channel and subsequent reception.
(v) Receiver: A receiver extracts the desired message signals from the received signals at the
channel output.
(vi) Attenuation: The loss of strength of a signal while propagating through a medium is known as
attenuation.
(vii) Amplification: It is the process of increasing the amplitude (and the strength) of a signal using
an electronic circuit called the amplifier Amplification is necessary to compensate for the
attenuation of the signal in communication systems.
(viii) Range: It is the largest distance between a source and a destination up to which the signal is
received with sufficient strength.
(ix) Bandwidth: Bandwidth refers to the frequency range over which equipment operates or the
portion of the spectrum occupied by the signal.
(x) Modulation: The original low frequency message/information signal cannot be transmitted to
long distances because of reasons. Therefore, at the transmitter, information contained in the low
frequency message signal is superimposed on a high frequency wave, which acts as a carrier
of the information. This process is known as modulation. As will be explained later, there are
several types of modulation, abbreviated as AM, FM and PM.
(xi) Demodulation: The process of retrieval of information from the carrier wave at the receiver is
termed demodulation. This is the reverse process of modulation.
(xii) Repeater: A repeater is a combination of a receiver and a transmitter. A repeater, picks up the
signal from the transmitter, amplifies and retransmits it to the receiver sometimes with a
change in carrier frequency.

Modulation
 The process of changing some characteristic (e.g. amplitude, frequency or phase) of a carrier wave
in accordance with the intensity of the signal is known as modulation.
.Need for modulation. Modulation is extremely necessary in communication system due to the
following reasons :
(i) Practical antenna length. Theory shows that in order to transmit a wave effectively, the length of
the transmitting antenna should be approximately equal to the wavelength (λ) of the wave or λ/4.
For example,
A unmodulated audio wave A modulated audio wave
i.e. having frequency i.e. having frequency 106Hz.
15KHz. V= νλ
V= νλ V 3× 10
8
λ= ν = 6 = 300 m
V 3× 10
8
10
λ= ν = 3 = 20000
15× 10
m λ 300
height of the antenna = 4 = 4

λ = 75 m
height of the antenna = =
4
20000
4
= 5000 m
= 5 km

As the audio frequencies range from 20 Hz to 20 kHz, therefore, if they are transmitted directly into
space, the length of the transmitting antenna required would be extremely large. This is too long antenna
to be constructed practically. The other hand, if a carrier wave say of 1MHz is used to carry the signal,
we need an antenna length of 75 meters only and this size can be easily constructed.
(ii) Operating range. The energy of a wave depends upon its frequency. The greater the
frequency of the wave, the greater the energy possessed by it. As the audio signal frequencies
are small, therefore, these cannot be transmitted over large distances if radiated directly into
space. The only practical solution is to modulate a high frequency carrier wave with audio
signal and permit the transmission to occur at this high frequency (i.e. carrier frequency).
(iii) Wireless communication. One desirable feature of radio transmission is that it should be
carried without wires i.e. radiated into space. At audio frequencies, radiation is not
practicable because the efficiency of radiation is poor. However, efficient radiation of
electrical energy is possible at high frequencies (> 20 kHz). For this reason, modulation is
always done in communication systems.
(iv) Effective power radiated by an antenn A theoretical study of radiation from a

the power radiated ∝ 2

2
l
linear antenna (length l) shows that
λ
This implies that for the same antenna length, the power
radiated increases with decreasing i.e. increasing frequency. Hence, the
effective power radiated by a long wavelength baseband signal would be
small.
(v) Mixing up of signals from different transmitters Suppose many people are
talking at the same time or many transmitters are transmitting baseband information
 signals simultaneously. All these signals will get mixed up and there is no simple way to
distinguish between. Them. This points out towards a possible solution by using
communication at high frequencies and allotting a band of frequencies to each message
signal for its transmission

Types of Modulation
As you will recall, modulation is the process of changing amplitude or frequency or phase of a carrier
wave in accordance with the intensity of the signal. Accordingly, there are three basic types of
modulation, namely
(i) amplitude modulation (ii) frequency modulation (iii) phase modulation
In India, amplitude modulation is used in radio broadcasting. However, in television transmission,
frequency modulation is used for sound signal and amplitude modulation for picture signal. Therefore,
our attention in this chapter shall be confined to the first two most important types of modulation .
Amplitude Modulation
When the amplitude of high frequency carrier wave is changed in accordance with the intensity of the signal, it is
called amplitude modulation.

In amplitude modulation, only the amplitude of the carrier wave is changed in accordance with the
intensity of the signal. However, the frequency of the modulated wave remains the same i.e. carrier
frequency. Fig. (i) shows the principle of amplitude modulation. Fig.(i) shows the audio electrical signal
whereas Fig (ii) shows a carrier wave of constant amplitude. Fig. (iii) shows the amplitude modulated
(AM) wave.
The following points are worth noting in amplitude modulation :
(i) The amplitude of the carrier wave changes according to the intensity of the signal.
(ii) The amplitude variations of the carrier wave is at the signal frequency fs.
(iii) The frequency of the amplitude modulated wave remains
the same i.e. carrier frequency fc.
Analysis of Amplitude Modulated Wave
A carrier wave may be represented by :
C(t) = AC sin ωc t
where C(t) = instantaneous voltage of carrier and AC = amplitude of carrier
In amplitude modulation, the amplitude AC of the carrier wave is varied in accordance with the
intensity of the signal as shown in Fig. Suppose the modulation factor is µ.Therefore, the signal can be
represented by :
m (t)= Am sin ωm t
where m(t) = instantaneous voltage of signal and Am= amplitude of signal
The amplitude of the carrier wave varies at signal frequency ωC Therefore, the amplitude of AM
wave is given by

C m(t) = (AC +Am sin ωm t) sin ωc t

(
= AC 1+
Am
Ac )
sin ωm t sin ωc t

Am
Here, µ = A is known as modulating index.
c
C m(t) = AC (1+µ sin ωm t) sin ωc t

= AC sin ωc t +µ AC sin ωm t sin ωc t

+ µ Ac µ Ac
= AC sin ωc t
2
cos ( ω C−ω m ) t −¿ 2
cos ( ω C +ω m )t

The following points may be noted from the above equation of amplitude modulated wave:
(i) The AM wave is equivalent to the summation of three sinusoidal waves; one having amplitude AC
and frequency ωC, the second having amplitude µAC/2 and frequency (ωC + ωm) and the third having
amplitude µAC/2 and frequency ωC − ωm.
(ii) The AM wave contains three frequencies viz ωC, ωC + ωm and ωC – ωm. The first frequency is the
carrier frequency. Thus, the process of modulation does not change the original carrier frequency but
produces two new frequencies (ωC + ωm) and (ωC − ωm) which are called sideband frequencies.
(iii) The sum of carrier frequency and signal frequency i.e. (ωC + ωm) is called upper sideband frequency.
The lower sideband frequency is (ωC − ωm) i.e. the difference between carrier and signal frequencies.

Bandwidth. In an AM wave, the bandwidth is from (ωC −¿ ωm) to (ωC +¿ ωm) i.e., 2 ωm.
B.W. = (ωC +¿ ωm) −¿(ωC −¿ ωm)
Thus in amplitude modulation, bandwidth is twice the signal frequency. The tuned amplifier
which is called upon to amplify the modulated wave must have the required bandwidth to include
the sideband frequencies. If the tuned amplifier has insufficient band-width, the upper sideband
frequencies may not be reproduced by the radio receiver.
PRODUCTION OF AMPLITUDE MODULATED WAVE:

Amplitude modulation can be produced by a variety of methods. A conceptually simple method is

shown in the block diagram of Fig. Here the modulating signal Am sin ωm t is added to the carrier
signal AC sin ωc t to produce the signal x (t). This signal x (t) = Am sin ωm t +¿ AC sin ωc t
is passed through a square law device which is a non-linear device which produces an output
y (t) = B x (t ) + C x 2(t )
where B and C are constants. Thus,
y (t) = B [Am sin ωm t +¿ AC sin ωc t] + C[ A2 m sin2 ωm t +¿ A2C sin2 ωc t +¿ 2Am AC sin ωm t sin
ωc t ]
2 2
CA m + CA c 2
= B Am sin ωm t +¿ BAC sin ωc t + sin ωm t
2
A C sin ωc t
2
2 2
+¿ CAm AC cos ( ω c −ω m ) t −¿ CAm AC cos ( ω c + ωm ) t]

2 2 2 2
CA m CA CA c CA
=B Am sin ωm t +¿ BAC sin ωc t + −¿
m
cos ωm t+¿
2
−
c
A
2
C cos ωc
2
2 2 2 2
t
+¿ CAm AC cos ( ω c −ω m ) t −¿ CAm AC cos ( ω c + ωm ) t]

2 2
CA c + CA m
there is a dc term and sinusoids of frequencies ω m, 2 ωm , ω c
2 2
,2ω c ,(ωc +ωm)∧(ωc−ωm). This signal is passed through a band pass filter which rejects dc and the
sinusoids of frequencies ω m , 2ω m and 2 ω cand retains the frequencies ω c ,(ωc +ωm)∧(ωc−ωm).
The output of the band pass filter therefore is of the same form as in the amplitude modulation and
is therefore an AM wave.

It is to be mentioned that the modulated signal cannot be transmitted as such. The modulator is to
be followed by a power amplifier which provides the necessary power and then the modulated
signal is fed to an antenna of appropriate size for radiation
DETECTION OF AMPLITUDE MODULATED WAVE:

The transmitted message gets attenuated in propagating through the channel. The receiving antenna is
therefore to be followed by an amplifier and a detector. In addition, to facilitate further processing, the
carrier frequency is usually changed to a lower frequency by what is called an intermediate frequency (IF)
stage preceding the detection. The detected signal may not be strong enough to be made use of and
hence is required to be amplified.

Detection is the process of recovering the modulating signal from the modulated
carrier wave. We just saw that the modulated carrier wave contains the frequencies ωc and ωc ± ωm. In
order to obtain the original message signal m(t ) of angular frequency ωm. The modulated signal is
passed through a rectifier to produce the output shown in (b). This envelope of signal (b) is the message
signal. In order to retrieve m(t ), the signal is passed through an envelope detector.

Radio Wave Propagation

In Radio communication systems, we use wireless electromagnetic waves as
the channel. The antennas of different specifications can be used for these
purposes. The sizes of these antennas depend upon the bandwidth and frequency
of the signal to be transmitted.

The mode of propagation of electromagnetic waves in the atmosphere and in free

space may be divided in to the following three categories −

 Line of sight (LOS) propagation

 Ground wave propagation

 Sky wave propagation

In ELF (Extremely low frequency) and VLF (Very low frequency) frequency bands,
the Earth, and the ionosph ere act as a wave guide for electromagnetic wave
propagation.
In these frequency ranges, communication signals practically propagate around
the world. The channel band widths are small. Therefore, the information is
transmitted through these channels has slow speed and confined to digital
transmission.

Line of Sight (LOS) Propagation

Among the modes of propagation, this line-of-sight propagation is the one, which
we commonly notice. In the line-of-sight communication, as the name implies,
the wave travels a minimum distance of sight. Which means it travels to the
distance up to which a naked eye can see. Now what happens after that? We need
to employ an amplifier cum transmitter here to amplify the signal and transmit
again. This is better understood with the help of the following diagram.

The figure depicts this mode of propagation very clearly. The line-of-sight
propagation will not be smooth if there occurs any obstacle in its transmission path.
As the signal can travel only to lesser distances in this mode, this transmission is
used for infrared or microwave transmissions.

If the Earth is assumed to be a featureless sphere (rather than an oblate spheroid)

with no atmospheric refraction, then the
distance to the horizon can easily be
calculated.
The equation can be derived using
the Pythagorean Theorem. Since the
line of sight is a tangent to the Earth, it
is perpendicular to the radius at the
horizon. This sets up a right triangle,
with the sum of the radius and the
height as the hypotenuse. With

 d = distance to the horizon

 h = height of the observer
above sea level
 R = radius of the Earth
Referring to the figure at the right leads to the following:
( R+h )2=R2 +d T 2
 2 2 2 2
R +2 Rh+ h =R +d T
d T =√ h(2 R+h)
Since R ≫ h , So h can be neglegted . Hence
d T =√ 2 Rh

Hence the line of sight in communication is

d=d T +d R

d= √ 2 R h +√ 2 R h
T R

Ground Wave Propagation

Ground wave propagation of the wave follows the contour of earth. Such a wave is
called as direct wave. The wave sometimes bends due to the Earth’s magnetic
field and gets reflected to the receiver. Such a wave can be termed as reflected
wave.

The above figure depicts ground wave propagation. The wave when propagates
through the Earth’s atmosphere is known as ground wave. The direct wave and
reflected wave together contribute the signal at the receiver station. When the
wave finally reaches the receiver, the lags are cancelled out. In addition, the signal
is filtered to avoid distortion and amplified for clear output.

Advantage: They are relatively unaffected by changing atmospheric conditions.

Disadvantages: Requires relatively high transmission power, they are limited to

very low, low and medium frequencies which require large antennas, losses on the
ground vary considerably with surface material.
Sky Wave Propagation
Sky wave propagation is preferred when the wave has to travel a longer distance.
Here the wave is projected onto the sky and it is again reflected back onto the
earth.

The sky wave propagation is well depicted in the above picture. Here the waves
are shown to be transmitted from one place and where it is received by many
receivers. Hence, it is an example of broadcasting.

The waves, which are transmitted from the transmitter antenna, are reflected from
the ionosphere. It consists of several layers of charged particles ranging in altitude
from 30- 250 miles above the surface of the earth. Such a travel of the wave from
transmitter to the ionosphere and from there to the receiver on Earth is known
as Sky Wave Propagation. Ionosphere is the ionized layer around the Earth’s
atmosphere, which is suitable for sky wave propagation.

Earth’s atmosphere has several layers. These layers play an important role in the
wireless communication. These are mainly classified into three layers.

Troposphere
This is the layer of the earth, which lies just above the ground. We, the flora and
fauna live in this layer. The ground wave propagation and LOS propagation take
place here.

Stratosphere
This is the layer of the earth, which lies above Troposphere. The birds fly in this
region. The airplanes travel in this region. Ozone layer is also present in this
region. The ground wave propagation and LOS propagation takes place here.

Ionosphere
This is the upper layer of the Earth’s atmosphere, where ionization is appreciable.
The energy radiated by the Sun, not only heats this region, but also produces
positive and negative ions. Since the Sun constantly radiates UV rays and air
pressure is low, this layer encourages ionization of particles.

Importance of Ionosphere
The ionosphere layer is a very important consideration in the phase of wave
propagation because of the following reasons −

 The layer below ionosphere has higher amount of air particles and lower UV
radiation. Due to this, more collisions occur and ionization of particles is
minimum and not constant.
 The layer above ionosphere has very low amount of air particles and density
of ionization is also quite low. Hence, ionization is not proper.
 The ionosphere has good composition of UV radiation and average air density
that does not affect the ionization. Hence, this layer has most influence on
the Sky wave propagation.

The ionosphere has different gases with different pressures. Different ionizing
agents ionize these at different heights. As various levels of ionization are done at
each level, having different gases, few layers with different properties are formed
in the ionosphere.

The layers of ionosphere can be studied from the following figure.

The number of layers, their heights, the amount of sky wave that can be bent will
vary from day to day, month to month and year to year. For each such layer, there
is a frequency, above which if the wave is sent upward vertically, it penetrates
through the layer.

The function of these layers depends upon the time of the day, i.e., day time and
night time. There are three principal layers- E, F1 and F2 during day time. There is
another layer called D layer, which lies below E layer. This layer is at 50 to 90kms
above the troposphere.

The following figure depicts the layers present in both day time and night time in
the earth’s atmosphere.
This D layer is responsible for the day time attenuation of HF waves. During night
time, this D layer almost vanishes out and the F1 and F2 layers combine together
to form F layer. Hence, there are only two layers E and F present at the night time.

In the process of propagation of a wave, there are few terms which we come
across quite often.

Virtual Height
When a wave is refracted, it is bent down gradually, but not sharply. However, the
path of incident wave and reflected wave are same if it is reflected from a surface
located at a greater height of this layer. Such a greater height is termed as virtual
height.
The figure clearly distinguishes the virtual height (height of wave, supposed to be
reflected) and actual height (the refracted height). If the virtual height is known,
the angle of incidence can be found.

Critical Frequency
Critical frequency for a layer determines the highest frequency that will be
returned down to the earth by that layer, after having been beamed by the
transmitter, straight up into the sky.

The rate of ionization density, when changed conveniently through the layers, the
wave will be bent downwards. The maximum frequency that gets bent and reaches
the receiver station with minimum attenuation can be termed as critical frequency.
This is denoted by fc.