Digital

Communication
Unit 4
 Introduction
• The communication that occurs in our day-to-day life
is in the form of signals. These signals, such as sound
signals, generally, are analog in nature. When the
communication needs to be established over a
distance, then the analog signals are sent through
wire, using different techniques for effective
transmission.
 The Necessity of Digitization

• The conventional methods of communication

used analog signals for long distance
communications, which suffer from many
losses such as distortion, interference, and
other losses including security breach.
 Digitization…
• In order to overcome these problems, the
signals are digitized using different techniques.
The digitized signals allow the communication
to be more clear and accurate without losses.
The following figure indicates the
difference between analog and digital
signals. The digital signals consist of 1s
and 0s which indicate High and Low
values respectively.
 Advantages of Digital
 Less expensive
 More reliable
 Easy to manipulate
 Flexible and adaptable
 compatibility with other digital systems
 Have better noise immunity
 Multiplexing becomes easier
 Only digitized information can be transported through
a noisy channel without degradation in Integrated
networks
 Error correction and decoding becomes more effective.
 Disadvantages of Digital
 Sampling Error
 Digital communications require greater bandwidth
than analogue to transmit the same information.
 The detection of digital signals requires the
communications system to be synchronized, whereas
generally speaking this is not the case with analogue
systems.
Elements of Digital Communication
 Elements of Digital Communication…

Source
The source can be an analog signal. Example: A
Sound signal
Input Transducer
This is a transducer which takes a physical input
and converts it to an electrical signal (Example:
microphone). This block also consists of an
analog to digital converter where a digital signal
is needed for further processes.
A digital signal is generally represented by a
binary sequence.
Elements of Digital Communication…

Source Encoder
The source encoder compresses the data into minimum
number of bits. This process helps in effective utilization
of the bandwidth. It removes the redundant bits
unnecessary excess bits,i.e.,zeroes
.
Channel Encoder
The channel encoder, does the coding for error correction.
During the transmission of the signal, due to the noise in
the channel, the signal may get altered and hence to avoid
this, the channel encoder adds some redundant bits to the
transmitted data. These are the error correcting bits.
 Elements of Digital Communication…

Digital Modulator
The signal to be transmitted is modulated here by
a carrier. The signal is also converted to analog from the
digital sequence, in order to make it travel through the
channel or medium.
Channel
The channel or a medium, allows the analog
signal to transmit from the transmitter end to the
receiver end.
 Elements of Digital Communication…

Digital Demodulator
•This is the first step at the receiver end. The received
signal is demodulated as well as converted again from
analog to digital. The signal gets reconstructed here.
Channel Decoder
•The channel decoder, after detecting the sequence, does
some error corrections. The distortions which might
occur during the transmission, are corrected by adding
some redundant bits. This addition of bits helps in the
complete recovery of the original signal.
Source Decoder
•The resultant signal is once again digitized by sampling
and quantizing so that the pure digital output is obtained
without the loss of information. The source decoder
recreates the source output.
Output Transducer
•This is the last block which converts the signal into the
original physical form, which was at the input of the
transmitter. It converts the electrical signal into physical
output (Example: loud speaker).
Output Signal
•This is the output which is produced after the whole
process. Example − The sound signal received.
 Sampling Theorem

• Sampling is defined as, “The process of measuring

the instantaneous values of continuous-time signal in
a discrete form.”
• Sample is a piece of data taken from the whole data
which is continuous in the time domain.
• When a source generates an analog signal and if that
has to be digitized, having 1s and 0s i.e., High or
Low, the signal has to be discretized in time. This
discretization of analog signal is called as Sampling.
• The following figure indicates a continuous-
time signal x (t) and a sampled signal xs (t).
When x(t) is multiplied by a periodic impulse
train, the sampled signal xs (t) is obtained.
Sampling Rate
To discretize the signals, the gap between the
samples should be fixed. That gap can be
termed as a sampling period Ts.
SamplingFrequency=1/Ts=fs
Where,
•Ts is the sampling time
•fs is the sampling frequency or the sampling
rate
• Sampling frequency is the reciprocal of the
sampling period. This sampling frequency, can be
simply called as Sampling rate. The sampling rate
denotes the number of samples taken per second, or
for a finite set of values.
• For an analog signal to be reconstructed from the
digitized signal, the sampling rate should be highly
considered. The rate of sampling should be such that
the data in the message signal should neither be lost
nor it should get over-lapped. Hence, a rate was fixed
for this, called as Nyquist rate.
Nyquist Rate
Suppose that a signal is band-limited with no frequency
components higher than W Hertz. That means,
W is the highest frequency. For such a signal, for
effective reproduction of the original signal, the
sampling rate should be twice the highest frequency.
Which means,
fS=2W
Where, fS is the sampling rate
•W is the highest frequency
This rate of sampling is called as Nyquist rate.
A theorem called, Sampling Theorem, was stated on the
theory of this Nyquist rate.
Sampling Theorem
The sampling theorem, which is also called as
Nyquist theorem, delivers the theory of sufficient
sample rate in terms of bandwidth for the class of
functions that are bandlimited.
The sampling theorem states that, “a signal can be exactly
reproduced if it is sampled at the rate fs which is greater
than twice the maximum frequency W.”
To understand this sampling theorem, let us consider a
band-limited signal, i.e., a signal whose value is non-
zero between some –W and W Hertz.
Such a signal is represented as x(f)=0 for |f|>W
• For the continuous-time signal x(t), the band-
limited signal in frequency domain, can be
represented as shown in the following figure.
 Sampling Theorem…

We need a sampling frequency, a frequency at which there

should be no loss of information, even after sampling. For
this, we have the Nyquist rate that the sampling frequency
should be two times the maximum frequency. It is the
critical rate of sampling.
If the signal x(t) is sampled above the Nyquist rate, the
original signal can be recovered, and if it is sampled below
the Nyquist rate, the signal cannot be recovered.
• The following figure explains a signal, if
sampled at a higher rate than 2w in the
frequency domain.

The above figure shows the Fourier transform of a signal xs(t).

Here, the information is reproduced without any loss.
There is no mixing up and hence recovery is possible.
 Xs(w)=1/Ts∑n=−∞∞X(w−nw0)

Where Ts = Sampling Period and w0=2π/Ts s

Let us see what happens if the sampling rate is

equal to twice the highest frequency (2W)
That means,
fs=2W
Where,
•fs is the sampling frequency
•W is the highest frequency
The result will be as shown in the above
figure. The information is replaced without any
loss. Hence, this is also a good sampling rate.
 Now, let us look at the condition,
fs<2W

We can observe from the above pattern that the over-

lapping of information is done, which leads to mixing
up and loss of information. This unwanted
phenomenon of over-lapping is called as Aliasing.
• Aliasing
• Aliasing can be referred to as “the phenomenon of a high-
frequency component in the spectrum of a signal, taking on
the identity of a low-frequency component in the spectrum
of its sampled version.”
• The corrective measures taken to reduce the effect of
Aliasing are −
• In the transmitter section of PCM, a low pass anti-aliasing
filter is employed, before the sampler, to eliminate the high
frequency components, which are unwanted.
• The signal which is sampled after filtering, is sampled at a
rate slightly higher than the Nyquist rate.
• This choice of having the sampling rate higher than Nyquist
rate, also helps in the easier design of the reconstruction
filter at the receiver.
 Types of Digital Communication
• Digital Transmission
In this there is no modulation. Digital data is
transmitted directly over a pair of wires, co-
axial cable or Fiber optic cable.
• Digital Radio (Or ) Digital Carrier System
(Or) Digital CW Modulation
In this technique, the digital data modulates
some high frequency carrier. And then the
signal is transmitted in free space.
 Advantages of Digital Radio
Signals are transmitted over long distances.
Because CW modulation uses high carrier
frequency.
Signals generated by digital carrier system are
analog in nature. Hence all the type of analog
channels can be used for transmission.
Because of modulation of analog carrier,
Multiplexing techniques can also be
employed for bandwidth conservation.
 Advantages of Digital Radio
(cdn..,)
ISI and cross talk problems are absent in
digital CW modulation. But present in digital
Transmission.
Large number of Digital modulation methods
Base band signal transmission needs fiber
optic cable or co-axial cable to carry the
signals. But CW modulated signals can be
transmitted on radio channels also.
 Disadvantages of Digital Radio
Needs complex modulation and demodulation
equipments, Transmitting and receiving
antennas.
Interference problems are also created
 INTRODUCTION
* In order to transmit digital information over
bandpass channels, we have to transfer
the information to a carrier wave of
appropriate frequency.

* We will study some of the most commonly

used digital modulation techniques wherein
the digital information modifies the amplitude
the phase, or the frequency of the carrier in
discrete steps
2 Dr. Uri Mahlab
 Shannon limit for information
Capacity
• Information Capacity (Or ) System Capacity
No. of Bits per Second
C = information x ( 1/Tm)= (1/Tb) log 2 M
C  2 f c (min log 2 M

Tm is the message time

1/Tb is the signaling rate
log2M is the number of bits
 Shannon limit for information
Capacity (cdn….)
• Hartley Law:

I  Bt
I - Information Capacity (bps)
B – Bandwidth (Hz)
T – Transmission Time (s)
 Shannon limit for information
Capacity….
• Channel capacity: The maximum data rate at which the error-
free communication over the channel is performed.
• Channel capacity on AWGV channel (Shannon-Hartley
capacity theorem):

 S  S
I  B log 2 1    3.32 B log10 1  
 N  N
W [Hz] : Bandwidth
S  EbC [ Watt ] : Average received signal power
N  N 0W [Watt] : Average noise power
Bandwidth and information capacity
Example:
 S  S
I  B log 2 1    3.32 B log10 1  
 N  N
Standard telephony
S
 1000 (30 dB)
N
B = 2,7 kHz

I ?
Bandwidth and information capacity
Example:
 S  S
I  B log 2 1    3.32 B log10 1  
 N  N
Standard telephony
S
 1000 (30 dB)
N
B = 2,7 kHz

I  2700 log 2 1  1000   26.9 kbit/sec

BD of Digital Radio System
Encoding
Encoding (cdn..,)
Encoding (cdn..,)
Encoding (cdn..,)
Encoding (cdn..,)
Encoding (cdn..,)
Encoding (cdn..,)
Encoding (cdn..,)
Encoding (cdn..,)
Encoding (cdn..,)
 Note:

Bit rate is the number of bits per

second. Baud rate is the number of
signal units per second. Baud rate is
less than or equal to the bit rate.
Bit rate = Baud rate ҳ no. of bits
encoded in to one signaling element
Example 1
An analog signal carries 4 bits in each signal unit. If 1000
signal units are sent per second, find the baud rate and the
bit rate

Solution
Baud rate = 1000 bauds per second (baud/s)
Bit rate = 1000 x 4 = 4000 bps
Example 2
The bit rate of a signal is 3000. If each signal unit carries
6 bits, what is the baud rate?

Solution
Baud rate = 3000 / 6 = 500 baud/s
 Modulation principle
Change parameters of a carrier

vmod t   Ac cos  2 f ct   c 
Information signal: Ac(t)
fc(t)
(t) Analog Digital

Ac(t) : amplitude modulation AM ASK

fc(t) : frequency modulation FM FSK
(t) : phase modulation PM PSK

Ac(t) and (t)  QAM (Digital)

Types of digital modulation
 The modulation waveforms for
transmitting :binary information over
bandpass channels
 Amplitude Shift Keying (ASK) (Or)
On-Off keying (Or) Digital Amplitude

Modulation
Use different Amplitude to represent 0 and 1.
 One binary digit represented by presence of carrier at
constant amplitude.
 Other binary digit represented by absence of carrier

 When the carrier signal is Acos(2Πfct)

 Used to transmit data over optical fiber
 ASK (cdn..,)
• Amplitude difference of carrier frequency
ASK (cdn..,)
 ASK Bit Rate, Baud, and Band
width
Rate of change of the ASK waveform (baud) is
the same as the rate of change of the binary
input (bit).
(i.e.,) Bit rate (fb) =baud rate (B)
 In ASK, Bit rate (fb)= Min Nyquist BW(B
Hz=baud)
Proof
B=bit rate /No. of bits= fb/N (where N=1)
Therefore B=fb
Advantages and disadvantages of
ASK
Advantages
 Simple
 Low Band Width
 Low cost
Disadvantages
 Very sensitive to noise
 Used for very low bit rates less than around 100bps.
 Susceptible to sudden gain changes
 Inefficient modulation techniques (low quality)
 Frequency Shift Keying
 In this method the frequency of the carrier is changed to two
different frequencies depending on the logic state of the input
bit stream.

 One frequency for logic 0 and another frequency for logic 1.

 Frequency difference near carrier frequency
 It needs larger Bandwidth
 FSK bit rate=baud rate
FSK (cdn..)
FSK (cdn..)
FSK Transmitter
FSK Modulator
FSK Frequency Spectrum
 FSK Demodulation
Process of removing the carrier signal
3 types
Coherent detection
Non coherent detection
PLL Demodulation
 FSK Demodulation (cdn…)
• Coherent Detection (Or) Synchronous Detection
 FSK Demodulation (cdn…)
• Non Coherent Detection (or) Asynchronous Detection
 FSK Demodulation (cdn…)
• Phase Locked Loop Detection
FSK Bit Rate, Baud, and Band width
FSK Bit Rate, Baud, and Band width
FSK Bit Rate, Baud, and Band
width
FSK Bit Rate, Baud, and Band width
FSK Bit Rate, Baud, and Band width
FSK Bit Rate, Baud, and Band
width
FSK Advantages and
Disadvantages
 MSK – Minimum Shift Keying
 It is a digital modulation scheme in which the phase
remains continuous while the frequency changes.
 MSK is a continuous phase FSK (CPFSK) where the
frequency changes occur at the carrier zero crossings.
 To avoid discontinuity , continuous phase modulation
can be used.
 MSK (cdn..)
MSK is unique due to the relationship between
the frequency of a logic 0 and 1.
– The difference between the frequencies (fm & fs)
is always ½ the data rate. (i.e., fm-fs=[1/2]fb )
– This is the minimum frequency spacing that
allows 2 FSK signals to be coherently orthogonal.
To avoid discontinuity continuous phase
modulation can be used.
MSK (cdn..)
MSK (cdn..)
 Binary Phase shift keying (BPSK)
• It is a method of digital communication in which the phase of
a transmitted signal is varied to convey information.
• The simplest PSK technique is called binary phase-shift
keying (BPSK). It uses two opposite signal phases (0 and 180
degrees).
 PSK (cdn..,)
• Synchronization is important
• More resistance to interference
• More complex Transmitter and Receiver
• Also called Phase Reversal Keying (PRK) or
Biphase Modulation
Binary Phase shift keying (BPSK)
• BPSK Truth Table & Phasor
Diagram
Binary Out phase
input
Logic 0 1800
Logic 1 00
BPSK Transmitter
 BPSK Transmitter
Balanced Ring
modulator
PSK Bit Rate, Baud, and Band width
BPSK problem
 Coherent Detection psk

The signal appearing out of the multiplier is:

1

 sin c tsin c t   1  cos 2 ct 
2

After the LPF, we obtain:  1
2
after the amplifier [with a gain of 2], we obtain: ±1

This corresponds to the original binary data input.

 Quaternary Phase Shift Keying
• QPSK refers to PSK with 4 states.
• In BPSK has only two states.
• The "Quad" in QPSK refers to four phases in which a carrier is sent
in QPSK: 45, 135, 225, and 315 degrees.

• QPSK is able to encode two bits per symbol. transmits two bits in
four modulation states
• In QPSK Bit Rate is twice the Baud Rat.
 QPSK
 Used To increase the bit rate , we can code 2 bits
onto one signal element.
 One carrier frequency is phase shifted 90o from
the other - in quadrature.
 The two PSK ed signals are then added to produce
one of 4 signal elements. L = 4 here.
QPSK Modulator
QPSK Modulator
QPSK Wave Forms
Phasor Diagram
QPSK
 Band Width - QPSK Modulator
• With Qpsk, input data are divided into two
channels
• The bit rate in either the I and Q channel is
one half of the input data rate (fb/2).
• Therefore the highest fundamental
frequency fa=fb/4.
• BW= 2*fa
= 2*fb/4
= fb/2
• Baud = BW
Band Width - QPSK Modulator
Band Width - QPSK
Modulator
QPSK Coherent Demodulation
Advantages of QPSK
Bandwidth of BPSK and QPSK
Disadvantages of QPSK
Offset QPSK
Offset QPSK BIT ALIGNMENT
Offset QPSK…
Offset QPSK…
Offset QPSK…
Offset QPSK…
Offset QPSK…
Offset QPSK…
Offset QPSK…
Signal Constellation
 Signal Constellation (cdn…)
• A constellation diagram helps us to define
the amplitude and phase of a signal when
we are using two carriers, one in
quadrature of the other.
• The X-axis represents the in-phase carrier
and the Y-axis represents quadrature
carrier.
Concept of a constellation
diagram
constellation diagram
2,4 & 8 PSK Constellation
summary
summary
summary
Differential Phase Shift Keying
(DPSK)
 DPSK
• DPSK = Differential phase-shift keying: In the
transmitter, each symbol is modulated relative
to
(a) the phase of the immediately preceding
signal element and
(b) the data being transmitted.
 DPSK Receiver
• The Received signal is delayed by one bit
time, Then compared with the next
signaling element in the balanced
modulator.
• If they are same – logic 1 is generated
• If they are different - logic 0 is generated
• If reference phase is incorrectly assumed,
only the 1st demodulated bit is in error.
DPSK Receiver
 DPSK Advantages & Disadvantages
Advantages
• Simple to implement
• No carrier recovery circuit is needed.(Non coherent)
Disadvantages
• Differential modulation is theoretically 3dB poorer than
coherent. This is because the differential system has 2
sources of error:
 a corrupted symbol, and
a corrupted reference (the previous symbol)
• It requires between 1dB and 3dB more signal-to-noise ratio
to achieve the same bit error rate as that of absolute psk.
M-ary Signaling/Modulation
 QUADRATURE AMPLITUDE
MODULATION
• Quadrature amplitude modulation
(QAM) is a modulation scheme
• which conveys data by changing
(modulating) the amplitude of two
carrier waves.
• These two waves, usually sinusoids, are
out of phase with each other by 90° and
are thus called quadrature carriers—hence
the name of the scheme.
QAM summery
 constellation diagram
Quadrature amplitude modulation is a
combination of ASK and PSK.
 The 4-QAM and 8-QAM
• Combining ASK and PSK, we could have x variations in
phase and y variations in amplitude, giving us x times y
possible variations and the corresponding number of bits
per variation. Quadrature amplitude modulation does
that.
• Quadrature amplitude modulation is a combination of
ASK and PSK so that a maximum contrast between
each signal unit (bit, dibit, tribit, and so on) is achieved.
• In 4-QAM and 8-QAM, number of amplitude shifts is
fewer than the number of phase shifts. Because
amplitude changes are susceptible to noise and require
greater shift differences than do phase changes, the
number of phase shifts used by a QAM system is always
larger than the number of amplitude shifts.
constellations
 16-QAM constellations

• The first example, 3 amplitudes and 12 phases, handles noise best because
of a greater ratio of phase shift to amplitude. It is ITU-T recommendation.
• The second example, four amplitudes and eight phases, is the OSI
recommendation.
• It is to be noted that every intersection of phase and amplitude is utilized.
• In fact, 4 times 8 should allow for 32 possible variations. But by using only
one-half of those possibilities, the measurable differences between shifts
are increased and greater signal readability is ensured. In addition, several
QAM designs link specific amplitudes with specific phases. This means that
even with the noise problems associated with amplitude shifting, the
meaning of a shift can be recovered from phase information.
• QAM has an advantage over ASK as is its less susceptibility to noise.
• Minimum bandwidth required for QAM transmission is the same as that
required for ASK and PSK transmission. QAM has the same advantages as
PSK over ASK.
 Limitations
• Almost always requires a highly stable local
oscillator
• In the optical domain this is very expensive
• Possible (but difficult) to use differential phase
keying
• Performance limits still not reached for
– Direct detection
– Signal Dimensionality (DWDM)
– Transmitter Power
 Applications of QAM
• Used in bandwidth-limited applications
– Modems: telephones have 3kHz bandwidth,
excellent SNR (20dB) => M-ary QAM
– Cellular Telephones: Bandwidth is at a
premium, very expensive (However, POWER
is also at a premium...)
 Bandwidth Efficiency for QAM
• There are log2M information bits per symbol 
Rb = log2M / Ts
– For pT(t) = rect. pulse, B ≈ 2/Ts: BW = (log2M)/2 b/s/Hz
– For pT(t) = sinc pulse, B ≈ 1/Ts: BW = log2M b/s/Hz
• QAM is twice as power efficient as PAM
 Figure 5.17 Bit and baud

 Each frequency shift represents a single bit; so it requires 1200 signal units to send
1200 bits. Its baud rate, therefore, is also 1200 bps.
 Each signal variation in an 8-QAM system, however, represents 3 bits. So a bit
rate of 1200 bps, using 8-QAM, has a baud rate of only 400.
 A dibit system has a baud rate of one-half the bit rate, a tribit system has a baud
rate of one-third the bit rate, and a quadbit system has a baud rate of one-fourth the
bit rate.

Bits/ Baud Bit

Modulation Units
Baud rate Rate
ASK, FSK, 2-PSK Bit 1 N N

4-PSK, 4-QAM Dibit 2 N 2N

8-PSK, 8-QAM Tribit 3 N 3N

16-QAM Quadbit 4 N 4N
32-QAM Pentabit 5 N 5N
64-QAM Hexabit 6 N 6N
128-QAM Septabit 7 N 7N
256-QAM Octabit 8 N 8N
Topics in this session:
Synchronization
Carrier synchronization
Symbol synchronization
Applications
1 Voice-grade modem
2 Digital radio
3 Digital communication by satellite
Synchronization

1 carrier recovery or Carrier Synchronization

2 Clock recovery or Symbol Synchronization
3 Word Synchronization
Timing recovery
Carrier recovery
 Carrier recovery
– Coherent detection
• Receiver exploits knowledge of carrier’s phase to detect
signals
• Require accurate phase (and frequency as well) estimation
• Higher performance (lower error rate), but increased
complexity
• Extremely similar to baseband processing mathematically if
signal space is used
– Noncoherent detection
• Receiver does not exploit carrier phase
• Do not need accurate phase estimation
• Reduced complexity, but lower performance (higher error
rate)
• Unique for bandpass processing: via differential encoding, or
FSK energy detector
•Carrier Synchronization

 Mth power loop

 Square loop ( M = 2 )
 Costas loop
Mth power loop
Costas loop
 •Symbol Synchronization

1 Transmitting clock along with the data-bearing signal

[ multiplexed form ]
- waste of clock power
2 Use a noncoherent detector to extract clock
3 Clock is extracted from the demodulated base band
signal
DPSK limited to 4800bps
 Bandwidth Efficiency
fb  E f 
 log 2 1  b b 
W  W 
fb  capacity (bits per second)
W  bandwidth of the modulating baseband signal (Hz)
Eb  energy per bit
  noise power density (watts/Hz)
Thus
Eb fb  total signal power
W  total noise power
fb
 bandwidth use efficiency
W
= bits per second per Hz
Comparison of Modulation Types

Modulation Bandwidth Log2(C/B) Error-free

Format efficiency C/B Eb/No
16 PSK 4 2 18dB
16 QAM 4 2 15dB
8 PSK 3 1.6 14.5dB
4 PSK 2 1 10dB
4 QAM 2 1 10dB
BFSK 1 0 13dB
BPSK 1 0 10.5dB
 Modulation Summary
• Phase Shift Keying (PSK) is often used as it
provides efficient use of RF spectrum. /4 QPSK
(Quadrature PSK) reduces the envelope
variation of the signal.
• High level M-array schemes (such as 64-QAM)
are very bandwidth-efficient but more
susceptible to noise and require linear
amplification
• Constant envelope schemes (such as GMSK)
allow for non-linear power-efficient amplifiers
• Coherent reception provides better performance
but requires a more complex receiver
• Coherent Reception
• An estimate of the channel phase and
attenuation is recovered. It is then
• possible to reproduce the transmitted
signal, and demodulate. It is necessary
• to have an accurate version of the carrier,
otherwise errors are introduced.