CHAPTER

2
AMPLITUDE MODULATION (AM)
CO1 Explain the different concepts of electronic communication in basic
communication engineering (C2).

CO2 Analyse the performance of analogue and digital modulation

transmission process in basic communication engineering (C4).

PO1 Apply knowledge of mathematics, science and engineering

fundamentals to the solution of engineering problems.

PO2 Identify, formulate, research literature and analyze complex

electrical/electronic engineering problems reaching substantiated
conclusions.
 2.1 Introduction to Amplitude

Modulation
Definition of AM : process of varying the amplitude of the
radio frequency (RF) carrier wave by the amplitude variations
of a modulating signal or the information signal.
Instantaneous value of the carrier amplitude changes in
accordance with the amplitude and frequency variations of the
modulating signal.
Applications of AM :
Radio broadcasting, TV pictures (video), Facsimile
transmission.
Frequency range for AM : 535 kHz – 1600 kHz
Bandwidth :10 kHz
• Figure 2.1 shows how an AM signal is generated when
a carrier signal is modulated by a modulating signal.

Figure 2.1 : (a) Modulating signal (b) Carrier signal (c) Modulated signal
i) A single frequency sine wave or modulating
signal modulates a higher frequency carrier signal.
ii) When there is no modulating signal, the output waveform is
simply the carrier signal.
iii) When a modulating signal is applied, the amplitude of the
output varies accordingly. When the modulating signal’s
amplitude is increased, the modulated signal’s amplitude is
increased and vice versa.
iv) If we interconnect the positive and negative peaks of the
carrier waveform with a line, we recreate the exact shape of
the modulating signal which is called as the envelope.
v) The envelope represents the modulating signal. Note that
the carrier frequency remains constant during the
modulation process.
2.2 AM signal analysis
• Let the instantaneous wave of sinusoidal carrier and modulating signal
are:
Carrier signal : vc (t )  Vc sin 2f c t (2.1)
Modulating signal : v m (t )  Vm sin 2f m t (2.2)
Where : f c  f m and Vc  Vm
f c = frequency of carrier signal
f m = frequency of modulating signal
Vc = peak value of the carrier signal
Vm= peak value of the modulating signal
 :

• Referring to Figure 2.1(c) modulating signal uses the peak value

of the carrier rather than zero as its reference point.
• The envelope of the modulating signal varies above and below the peak
carrier amplitude.
• In AM, the amplitude of the carrier wave varies sinusoidally between the
values of (Vc  Vm ) and (Vc  Vm ).
• The instantaneous value of either the top or bottom voltage envelope
v1
,can be computed by this expression :
v1  Vc  v m(t) (2.3)

vm(t)
• By substituting the trigonometric expression for :
v1  Vc  Vm sin 2f m t (2.4)

v AM (t )
• The instantaneous value of the modulated wave , given as :
v AM (t )  v1 sin 2f c t (2.5)
• Substituting (2.4) into (2.5) :
v AM (t )  Vc  Vm sin 2f m t sin 2f c t
 Vc sin 2f c t  (Vm sin 2f m t ) (sin 2f c t ) (2.6)

carrier + Modulating x carrier

signal signal signal
• Equation 2.6 shows that it consists of two parts :
1) The first part – carrier waveform
2) The second part – carrier waveform multiplied by the modulating
signal
• The circuit used for producing AM is called a modulator :

Information / modulating
signal , vm(t) modulated signal
AM Modulator
v AM (t)  Vc sin 2f c t  (Vm sin 2f mt ) (sin 2f c t )

carrier signal , vc(t)

2.2 AM Signal Characteristics and
Parameters

AM Envelope
• The shape of the modulated wave : AM envelope.
• AM envelope is indicated by dotted line in Figure 2.1(c).
• The repetition rate of envelope is equal to the frequency of
the modulating signal and the shape of the envelope is
identical to the shape of the modulating signal.
 2.3.1 AM Frequency
Spectrum
 Frequency spectrum : a plot of amplitude versus frequency.
 Frequency spectrum can be view using spectrum analyzer.
 When a carrier is modulated by an information signal, new signals at
different frequencies are generated as part of the process => side
frequencies or sidebands.
 Sidebands occur in the frequency spectrum directly above and
below the carrier frequency.
 Assuming a carrier frequency, fc and a modulating frequency, fm :
Lower sideband frequency = frequency below the carrier frequency
f LSB  f c  f m
Upper sideband frequency = frequency above the carrier frequency

f USB  f c  f m
The side frequencies can be proven mathematically. Using Eq. 2.6:

v AM (t )  Vc sin 2f c t  (Vm sin 2f m t ) (sin 2f c t )

Using a trigonometric identity :
cos (A - B) cos (A  B)
sin A sin B  -
Eq.2.6 become : 2 2

Vm V
v AM (t )  Vc sin 2f c t  cos 2 ( f c  f m )t  m cos 2 ( f c  f m )t (2.7)
2 2

carrier LSB USB

Eq. 2.7 proof that an AM wave contains not only the carrier but also the sideband
frequencies.
Figure 2.3 shows the AM frequency spectrum

Amplitude Carrier
Vc

mVc mVc
V LSB  VUSB 
2 2

fc - fm fc fc + fm Frequency

fm
Fig 2.3 : AM spectrum when the modulating signal frequency is
From Fig 2.3, bandwidth for the AM signal is :

B  ( fc  fm )  ( fc  fm )
B  2 fm
Where : f m is the modulating frequency

If f m consists of a range of frequencies f 1 to f 2 , the components of

the sidebands become :
Upper sideband (USB) range is from ( f c  f 1 ) to ( f c  f 2 )
Lower sideband (LSB) range is from ( f c  f 2 ) to ( f c  f1 )
Frequency spectrum is illustrated in Figure 2.4

to

Fig 2.4 : AM spectrum when the modulating signal is a baseband

signal from frequency f 1 to f 2
Bandwidth for this case :

B  ( fc  f2 )  ( fc  f2 )
B  2 f2

where f 2 is the highest frequency in the baseband signal

COEFFICIENT OF
MODULATION & PERCENT OF
MODULATION
Coefficient of modulation : ratio of the modulating signal
voltage to the carrier voltage.
Vm
m
Vc
The modulation index should be a number between 0 and
1.
Overmodulation
Vc Vm
: If the amplitude of the modulating
voltage, is higher than the carrier voltage, , m will be
greater than 1 and cause severe modulation.
 COEFFICIENT OF MODULATION &
PERCENT OF MODULATION
Overmodulation waveform :

Figure 2.6 : Distortion of the envelope caused by overmodulation

From Figure 2.6, a sine wave information signal modulates a sine wave
carrier, but the modulating voltage is much greater than the carrier
voltage. As a result, the waveform is flattened near the zero line
Modulation index also can be computed from measurements
taken on the composite modulated wave itself

Carrier plus
Upper and lower
+Vmax = Vc + Vm Side frequencies
+Vmin = Vc - Vm

Vm

Vc

-Vmin = -Vc + Vm

-Vmax =- Vc - Vm
COEFFICIENT OF MODULATION &
PERCENT OF MODULATION

• The peak value of the modulating signal, Vm is given by this expression :

Vmax  Vmin
Vm  (2.11)
2
• The peak value of the carrier signal, Vc is given by this expression :
Vmax  Vmin
Vc   Vmin
2
Vmax  Vmin (2.12)

2

• Substituting these values into original formula for modulation index (Eq.
2.10) produces the result Vmax  Vmin
m (2.13)
Vmax  Vmin
COEFFICIENT OF MODULATION &
PERCENT OF MODULATION

Percentage of Modulation : multiplying the modulation index

by 100%
Vm
%m   100% (2.14)
Vc
In practice, it is desirable to operate with as closed as to 100
percent modulation so that the maximum information signal
can be transmitted.
Vmax( p  p ) Vmin( p  p )

Vc Vm
AM Voltage and Power
Distribution
From AM signal equation (Eq. 2.7) :
Vm V
v AM (t )  Vc sin 2f c t  cos 2 ( f c  f m )t  m cos 2 ( f c  f m )t
2 2

Since Vm  mV c , v AM (t ) becomes :

mVc mVc
v AM (t )  Vc sin 2f c t  cos 2 ( f c  f m )t  cos 2 ( f c  f m )t (2.15)
2 2

where :
Vc sin 2f c t = carrier signal
mVc
 cos 2 ( f c  f m )t = upper side frequency signal
2
mVc
 cos 2 ( f c  f m )t = lower side frequency signal
2
From the above equation (2.15), note that :
i) Amplitude of the carrier after modulation is the same as it was
before modulation which is Vc .

ii) The amplitude of the upper and lower side frequencies depends on
both the carrier amplitude and the coefficient of modulation index.

iii) The relative phase relationship between the carrier and the side
frequencies can be determined. The carrier component is a + sine
function, the upper side frequency is a – cosine function, and the
lower side frequency is a + cosine function.
 • Figure 2.8 illustrates the
algebraic sum of the carrier,
upper side and lower side
signals to form an AM wave.

Fig 2.8: The algebraic sum of the carrier and sideband signals in the AM signal ;
(a) Upper sideband signal (b) Carrier signal
(c) Lower sideband signal (d) AM signal
Trapezoidal pattern of modulation index

(a) Modulated signal pattern (b) Trapezoidal pattern

AM Power Distribution

• The power in the AM signal is the total power in the carrier and the
power in the sidebands. This is expressed by equation below:

PT  Pc  PUSB  PLSB
Where : PT = total power in AM signal
Pc = carrier power
PUSB = upper sideband power
PLSB = lower sideband power
• Power in AM signal is calculated by using original AM equation (Eq.
2.15). From Eq. 2.15,
mVc mVc
v AM (t )  Vc sin 2f c t  cos 2t ( f c  f m )  cos 2t ( f c  f m )
2 2
• For power calculation, rms value must be used for the voltages.
The carrier and sidebands
2
power is calculated by using the
formula P  Vrms ; thus the total power is:
R

PT 

V / 2  mV / 2 2  mV / 2 2 
c

2


c
2
c
2

R R R


Vc
2

mVc  mVc 
2

2

2R 8R 8R
2 2 2
Vc m 2Vc m 2Vc
  
2R 8R 8R
2
Vc  m 2 m 2 
 1    (2.17)
2R  4 4 
2
V
• As Pc  c
2R
 m2 
PT  Pc 1   (2.18)
 2 
• The power in each sideband, is given by the expression :
m 2 Pc
PSB  PLSB  PUSB 
4
• From the expression, the power in the sidebands depends on the value
of the modulation index . The greater the percentage of modulation, the
higher the sideband power.
• The total power in the sidebands is given by :
P2 SB  PLSB  PUSB
m 2 Pc m 2 Pc
 
4 4
m 2 Pc

2
3
• From equation 2.18, at modulation index of 100%, PT  P,c
2
or the carrier power represents two-thirds of the total transmitted
power
A conventional AM wave displayed on oscilloscope has
maximum and minimum amplitudes of 12 V and 8 V
respectively. The carrier frequency used for the modulation
is 1.5 MHz and the modulating signal frequency of 10 kHz.
Determine:
i)The amplitude of the carrier and the modulating signal, (Vc
= 10V , Vm = 2V)
ii)The modulation index (0.2 , 20%)
iii)The frequency of the upper sideband and lower sideband,
(1.51 MHz, 1.49 MHz)
iv)The total bandwidth and (20kHz)
v)The power in each sideband if the power of the carrier
signal is 7.5W (0.075W)
AM
TRANSMITTER
• An AM transmitter perform the amplitude modulation process.
• An example of AM transmitter or modulator is diode modulator as shown
in Figure 2.9.

Fig 2.9 : Amplitude modulation with a diode

• Diode modulator consists of a resistive mixing network, a diode rectifier,

and an LC tuned circuit.
AM TRANSMITTER (Diode
Modulator)
• The operation of diode modulator as follows :

The carrier is applied to one input resistor and the modulating signal to
the other. The network caused the two signals be linearly mixed and this
mixed signals appear across R3. Fig. 12.10(c) shows the result of linearly
mixed carrier and modulating signal where the carrier wave is riding on the
modulating signal.

The composite waveform is applied to a diode rectifier that has an

exponential response. During the positive portion of wave, diode is
forward biased. The diode is operating and signal can passes through it
while during the negative portion of the wave, the diode is cut off and no
signal passes. The current through the diode is a series of positive going
pulses whose amplitude varies in proportion with amplitude of modulating
signal. Fig. 12.10 (d) shows the response.

Then these positive going pulses are applied to the parallel tuned circuit
made up of L and C. Each time the diode conducts, a pulse of current flows
through the tuned circuit and caused an oscillation or “ringing” at the
resonant frequency. The oscillation creates a negative half cycle for every
positive input pulses. Fig. 12.10(e) shows the response.
AM TRANSMITTER (Diode
Modulator)

Fig 2.10 : Waveforms in the

diode modulator
AM Reception / Detection
• The simplest AM demodulator is a diode detector. Diode detector circuit
is shown in Fig 2.11.

D1
Demodulated
AM signal
signal R1 C1

• The simplest AM demodulator is a diode detector. Diode detector

circuit is shown in Fig 2.11.
• The operation of diode detector circuit :
o The AM signal in Figure 2.12 (a) which usually transformer-coupled is
applied to a basic half wave rectifier circuit consisting of D1 and R1.
o During the positive half cycle of AM signal, diode conducted. During the
negative half cycle, the diode is reversed biased and no current flows
through it. As a result, the voltage across R1 is a series of positive pulses
whose amplitude varies with the modulating signal. Figure 2.12(b)
shows the voltage across R1.
o To recover the original modulating signal, a capacitor is connected
across R1. To ensure good performance, the value of capacitor is chosen
carefully. At the carrier frequency, capacitor gives lower impedance
while at the frequency of modulating signal, it has much higher
impedance. The result is that the capacitor effectively filters out the
carrier and leaving the original modulating signal as shown in Fig. 2.12(c)
 (a) AM signal

(b) Current pulses through D1

(c) Demodulated signal

Fig 2.12 : Waveforms in the AM reception/detection

 2.2.6 AM Transmission
Techniques
2.2.6.1 Double Sideband Suppressed Carrier (DSBSC)

• Transmitting both the sidebands without the carrier.

• From total power transmitted calculation, two-thirds of the transmitted
power appears in the carrier which conveys no information. The real
information is contained within the sidebands.
• To overcome this problem, carrier is suppressed. The resulting signal is
simply the upper and lower sidebands.
• A typical DSB signal is shown in Figure 2.13

Fig 2.13 : A time domain display of a DSB AM signal

2.2.6 AM Transmission
Techniques
• This signal is simply the algebraic sum of the two sinusoidal
sidebands. During the modulation process, the carrier is suppressed
but the two sidebands signals remain.
• From figure 2.13, even though the carrier is suppressed , the time
domain DSB signal is a sine wave at the carrier frequency varying in
amplitude. But the envelope of the DSB waveform is not same as
the modulating signal as it is in a pure AM signal with the carrier
• Frequency spectrum of a DSBSC signal is shown in Figure 2.14.

Amplitude
Suppressed
Carrier

Sideband Sideband

fc - fm fc fc + f m Frequency
2.2.6 AM Transmission
Techniques
• From Figure 2.14 spectrum space occupied by a DSBSC signal is the
same as that for a conventional AM signal except that the carrier is
being suppressed.

Advantage of Double Sideband Suppressed Carrier :

• The power is saving because the carrier is eliminated. This power

can be put into the sidebands for stronger signals over longer
distances.

Disadvantages of Double Sideband Suppressed Carrier :

• Needs a complex receiver because the signal is difficult to recover at
the receiver although it is relatively easy to generate at the
transmitter by using a balanced modulator.

DSB application :
i) Used in FM and TV broadcasting to transmit two-channel stereo
signals.
2.2.6.2 Single Sidebands
(SSB)
• SSB is a process of transmitting one of the sidebands of the
standard AM by suppressing the carrier and one of the
sidebands.
• In a DSB signal, the basic information is transmitted twice,
once in each sideband. The information is contained in
both sidebands. In order to convey the information,
transmitting one sideband is enough. One sideband may be
suppressed. The remaining sideband is called a Single
Sideband Suppressed Carrier (SSSC or SSB) signal.
• Figure 2.16 shows the frequency spectrum and time
domain display of an SSB signal produced when a 2 kHz sine
wave tone modulates a 14.3 MHz carrier. Amplitude
modulation would produce sidebands of 14.298 and 14.302
MHz. In SSB, only one sideband is used, therefore only the
upper sideband is generated as shown in Figure 2.17.
2.2.6.2 Single Sidebands
(SSB)
Amplitude

Carrier

LSB USB

Suppressed

14.298 14.3 14.302 Frequency

(MHz)

Figure 2.16 : A frequency domain display of a SSB signal

 2.2.6.2 Single Sidebands
(SSB)
SSB signal
14.302 MHz sine wave

Fig 2.17: A time domain display of a SSB signal

The SSB signal may be either the upper sideband (USB) or the lower
sideband (LSB). In practice, an SSB transmitter generates both
sidebands and a switch is used to select either the USB or LSB for
transmission.
2.2.6.2 Single Sidebands
(SSB)
Advantages of SSB :
• Bandwidth requirement is only half that of AM and DSB signal. This
allows more signals to be transmitted in the same frequency range.
Therefore, less interference between signal.
• All power that reserved to the carrier and other sidebands can be
channeled into the single sideband, thereby producing a stronger
signal that should carry farther and more reliable at greater
distance. Alternately, SSB transmitters can be made smaller and
lighter than an equivalent AM or DSB transmitter because less
circuitry and power are used.
• Less noise on the signal. The less bandwidth, the less noise. Since
SSB signal has less bandwidth than AM or DSB signal, there will be
less noise on it. This is a major advantage for a long distance
telecommunication.
• Less selective fading. Fading means that a signal alternately
increases and decreases in strength as it is picked up by the
receiver. It occurs because the carrier and sidebands may reach the
receiver shifted in time and phase respect to one another. With SSB,
there is only one sideband, so this kind of fading does not occur.
2.2.6.2 Single Sidebands
(SSB)

SSB application :
i) Used in the system which require minimum bandwidth such as
telephone multiplex system and it is not used in broadcasting.
ii) Point to point communications at frequency below 30 MHz –
amateur radio, mobile communication, military and navigation radio,
where power saving is needed
2.2.6.3 VESTIGIAL SIDEBAND
(VSB)
• Vestigial Sideband is a technique of AM transmission where the carrier,
one sideband and a part of the other sideband are transmitted
• VSB applications :
VSB is mainly used in TV broadcasting for their video transmissions. TV
signal consists of :
i) audio signal – is transmitted by FM
ii) video signal – is transmitted by VSB

A video signal consists a range of frequencies and the maximum

frequency is as high as 4.2 MHz. If it is transmitted using the
conventional AM system, the required bandwidth is 2(4.2 MHz) = 8.4
MHz. But according to FCC standardization, TV signal is limited to 6 MHz
only. To reduce to 6 MHz bandwidth, a portion of the lower sideband
(LSB) is suppressed leaving only a small vestige of the lower sideband.
This is known as a vestigial sideband signal. Figure 2.18 shows vestigial
sideband transmission of a TV picture signal.
2.2.6.3 VESTIGIAL SIDEBAND
(VSB)

Amplitude Picture Audio

carrier carrier

Total TV signal bandwidth = 6 MHz

Upper video
bands

fc- 0.75 MHz fc fc+ 4.2 MHz

Frequency
fc+ 4.5 MHz

Figure 2.18 : Vestigial Sideband Frequency Spectrum

Video signals above 0.75 MHz (750 kHz) are suppressed in the lower
sideband, and all video frequencies are transmitted in the upper
sideband.
• Compare Double Sideband Suppressed Carrier
(DSBSC) to Single Sideband Suppressed Carrier
(SSBSC) transmission in terms of power
conservation and bandwidth requirement.