UNIT V

FUNDAMENTALS OF
COMMUNICATION ENGINEERING
 OUTLINE
• Analog and Digital Signal
• Modulation and Demodulation
• Communication systems
 NOTE
• To be transmitted, data must be
transformed to electromagnetic signals.
 ANALOG AND DIGITAL
• Data can be analog or digital. The term analog
data refers to information that is continuous;
digital data refers to information that has
discrete states. Analog data take on continuous
values. Digital data take on discrete values.
ANALOG AND DIGITAL DATA
 Data can be analog or digital.
 Analog data are continuous and take
continuous values.
 Digital data have discrete states and take
discrete values
 ANALOG AND DIGITAL SIGNAL
• Signals can be analog or digital.
• Analog signals can have an infinite
number of values in a range.
• Digital signals can have only a limited
number of values.
COMPARISON OF ANALOG AND
DIGITAL SIGNAL
 MODULATION
• Modulation is the process of changing some
parameter of a high frequency carrier signal in
accordance with the instantaneous variations of
the message signal.
• The carrier signal has a constant amplitude and
frequency .
• The function of a carrier signal is to carry the
message signal
• Message signal ranges from 20 Hz to 20 KHz
 NEED FOR MODULATION
• Modulation is an essential process in
communication systems to overcome the
following difficulties in transmitting an
unmodulated message signal.
 ANALOG MODULATION
• The altering of a carrier by an analog signal.
• The two types of Analog Modulation are
1.Amplitude Modulation
2.Angle Modulation
• The Angle Modulation is further classified as
1.Frequency Modulation
2.Phase Modulation
AMPLITUDE MODULATION
 AMPLITUDE MODULATION
Modulation by a sine wave:
• v(t) = AC cos (2π fCt) {1 + m cos (2π fmt)}
• AC = unmodulated peak carrier amnplitude
• fC = carrier frequency
• fm = modulation frequency
• m = modulation index (“degree” of modulation)
• • m must be between 0 and 1
• • If m > 1 get overmodulation (bad …distortion)
 AMPLITUDE MODULATION
• Amplitude Modulation is the process of changing
the amplitude of a relatively high frequency
carrier signal in
• proportion with the instantaneous value of the
modulating signal (information).
• AM is used in commercial broadcasting of both
audio and video signals.
• It is also used for two-way mobile radio
communications, such as citizens band (CB)
radio.
AMPLITUDE MODULATION
VARYING MODULATION INDEX
MEASURING MODULATION
INDEX
FREQUENCY MODULATION
 FREQUENCY MODULATION
• Modulation by a sine wave:
• v(t) = AC cos {2π fCt -m sin (2π fmt)}
• AC = unmodulated peak carrier amnplitude
• fC = carrier frequency
• fm = modulation frequency
• m = modulation index (“degree” of modulation)
• • Δf = ±75 kHz for commercial FM
• • Channel spacing 200 kHz
• modulating frequency (f )
• m peak carrier deviation ( f)
 PHASE MODULATION
• Phase modulation (PM) is a form of
modulation that represents information as
variations in the instantaneous phase of a
carrier wave
 DEMODULATION
• Demodulation is the act of removing the modulation
from an analog signal to get the original baseband
signal back
 NEED FOR DEMODULATION
• It is necessary because the receiver system receives a
modulated signal with specific characteristics, which
must be returned to base-band
 COMMUNICATION
• It is a process of transfer of information bearing
signals from one place to another .
• The equipment that transmits the information is
the transmitter and that receives the information
is the receiver.
• Channel is the medium through which the signal
travels from the transmitter to the receiver.
• Examples of communication systems are Radio,
TV, Fax Microwave Satellite and Optical Fibre
BLOCK DIAGRAM
 TRANSMISSION PATH
• Transmission of messages can be either through
bound media such as a pair of wires, coaxial cables,
optical fibre cables, wave guide, etc. or through
unbound media such as a free space or atmosphere
 LINE COMMUNICATION
• Line communication refers to communication through pair of
wires, coaxial cable and waveguides.
• The pair of wires or parallel wires is normally carried out
using overhead lines on poles and the cables are normally
buried under the ground.
• The pairs are twisted to avoid cross talk between subscribes.
• A coaxial line consists of a pair of concentric conductors with
some dielectric filling the middle space, where the outer is
invariably grounded to act as an electrical shield.
• Coaxial lines are employed for higher frequencies up
to 18 GHz.
• A wave guide is used for signal transmission in the
UHF range, and the SHF range i.e above 1GHz.
• An optical fibre is a waveguide used for transmitting
signals in the optical frequency range range from
1013to1015 Hz
 RADIO COMMUNICATION
• Propagation of signals is through atmosphere or free
space.
• Radio broadcasting, ground based microwave
communication and satellite communication are few
examples of radio communication.
• Radio waves of electromagnetic waves in the low
frequency region and medium frequency range are
normally
 RADIO TRANSMISSION
PROPERITIES
– At low frequencies (<100MHz) radio waves pass
through obstacles well but the signal power
attenuates (falls off) sharply in air
– At higher frequencies (>100MHz) radio waves
tend to travel in straight lines and bounce of
obstacles and can be absorbed by rain (e.g in the
8GHz range)
– At all frequencies, radio waves are subject to
interference from motors and other electrical
equipment
– In very low frequencies (VLF), low
frequencies (LF) and medium frequency
bands (MF) (<1Mhz) radio waves follow
the ground.
• The maximum possible distance that
these waves can travel is approximately
1000km
• AM radio stations use the MF band as
they can penetrate buildings. Their main
problem is their relatively low data rates
– In high frequency (HF) and very high frequency
(VHF) bands (> 1MHz and <100MHz) ground
waves are absorbed by the earth
– Waves that reach the outer atmosphere of the
earth, the ionosphere, are refracted by it and sent
back to earth
– These frequencies tend to be used by amateur radio
operators (ham radio) and the military
MICROWAVE COMMUNICATION
– Above 100MHz, waves travel in straight lines and
can be narrowly focused into a small beam using a
special parabolic antenna
– The transmitters and receivers must be aligned
correctly
• Multiple transmitters and receivers can be set up
in parallel without interfering with each other
• Repeaters are needed to retransmit the signals
due to the curvature of the earth. Typically,
transmitting towers are 100 metres high and
repeaters are needed every 80km
– Unlike radio waves, microwaves typically do not pass
through solid objects
– Some Waves can be refracted due to atmospheric
conditions and may take longer to arrive than direct
waves. These delayed waves can arrive out of phase with
the direct wave, causing destructive interference and
corrupting the received signal
– This effect is called multipath fading
– Because of increased demand for more spectrum
(frequencies used to transmit), transmitters are using
higher and higher frequencies
– However at around 8Ghz, the signal can be absorbed by
water. Therefore links have to be shutdown when it rains.
– Microwave communication is widely used for long
distance telephone communication and cell phones
 TELEPHONY SYSTEM
– If computers are further apart (e.g. in different cities),
network designers need to rely on the existing
telecommunications facility
– The telephone system was designed and patented in
1876 by Alexander Graham Bell with the aim of
transmitting human voice in some form.
– Traditionally, telephone lines have been copper
resulting in slow and unreliable transmission of data
– Enabling two computers in the same room to
communicate is relatively easy, simply run a cable to
connect one to the other
1. Telephone companies have made huge efforts to
upgrade their systems to fiber optic cable.
– The reason for telephone companies to upgrade
is that LANs can transfer data between
computers at up to 108bps while a domestic
telephone line can transfer data at 104 bps
– During the early development of the telephone system,
telephones were sold in pairs.
– Customers bought two phones and connected a line
between them
– This resulted in wires everywhere. To tidy up the lines, a
central switching office was set up
– Customers had a line to the central office and were
connected to other customers by human operators
– Secondary switching offices were needed as demand
grew
MAKING A MEDIUM DISTANCE CALL
1. Today, telephones are connected to a local
switching office (also called an end office)
2. A number of End offices are connected to a Toll
office which are in turn connected to Intermediate
switching offices
3. Toll offices are connected to Intermediate switching
offices using fiber optical cable
4. Many calls at a toll office are multiplexed onto the
high speed links to the Intermediate switching office
and de-multiplexed at the remote toll office
• Multiplexing Schemes
– There are two basic categories of Multiplexing schemes :
FDM - Frequency Division Multiplexing
TDM - Time Division Multiplexing
– AM radio broadcasting provides illustrations of both kinds
of multiplexing

– The allocated frequency spectrum is about 1MHz, roughly

500 to 1500kHz. Different frequencies are allocated to
different logical channels (stations), each operating in a
portion of the spectrum with the interchannel separation
sufficient to ensure no interference. (FDM)

– In addition it is possible to have two alternate subchannels

operating on the same frequency. E.g. music then
advertising, then music … (TDM)
• Frequency Division Multiplexing
– Filters limit the usable bandwidth to about 3000Hz per
voice-grade channel
– Each voice channel is then raised in frequency, each
by a different amount.
– No channels now occupy the same portion of the
frequency spectrum, so they can now be combined.
– The FDM schemes used around the world are to some
degree standardized.
– A variation of FDM for Fiber optic channels
Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) is used.
– Here two fibers come together at their diffraction
grating, each with its energy in a different band, and
combined onto a single shared fiber, where
transmission takes place.
– Popular as fiber optics are reliable and very fast.
• Time Division Multiplexing
– FDM requires analog circuitry and is not amenable to
being done by a computer, unlike TDM which can be
handled completely by digital electronics.
– Unfortunately TDM can only be used for digital data,
therefore multiple analog signals must be digitized and
combined onto a single outgoing channel.
– The analog signals are digitized by a device called a
coder-decoder, producing a 8-bit number. Samples are
taken /second, sucha that at a lower sampling rate
information would be lost, at a higher one, nothing
would be gained, called Pulse Code Modulation (PCM)
– There is no agreed international standard for PCM, for
example T1 in US, Japan.
– TDM allows multiple different T1 carriers to be
multiplexed into higher-order carriers, with all given a
certain amount of time to use the channel in a round-
robin fashion.
THANK YOU