By Ky T.

Luu, W ayne D uello and A nders M attsson

H arris Broadcast C om m unications
Advances in AM Modulation
Techniques to Improve Digital
Transmission of HD Radio and DRM
The tw o m ain requirem ents on any transm itter are to deliver a clean signal at the desired output pow er
and w ith as high efficiency as possible. C reating a clean signal spectrum for H D radio and D RM w hile
sim ultaneously getting high efficiency, is problem atic. Traditionally, one w as forced to trade off betw een
linearity and efficiency, or try to com pensate for the distortion caused by the transm itter.
The increased availability and the ever low ering cost of D SP has m ade it interesting to see to w hat extent
D igital Signal Processing technology can be used to correct for distortion in the transm itter. The goal is to
use high efficiency transm itters and to correct for the distortion w ith D SP in the low level stages, this w ay
achieving the dual goals of high efficiency and low distortion. C orrecting for transm itter distortion is not
trivial. W e believe the best approach is to have a thorough understanding about w hat happens in the
transm itter and then figure out the correct structure based on this. There are techniques that bypass this
step and sim ply look at the input and outputs. For exam ple: N eural netw orks and Volterra series based
m ethods. In our experience, pre-distorters based on these techniques still need too m uch processing
pow er to be econom ical.
A lthough w e started w ith an efficient transm itter and linearized it w ith pre-distortion, there is an
interaction betw een pre-distortion and the transm itter. Som e types of distortion are m ore easily corrected
by changing the transm itter design. These changes m ight m ake the transm itter m ore non-linear but easier
to correct for. The designer w ill have to add pre-distortion techniques to his repertoire, but this cannot be
taken in isolation. It m ust be part of the system architecture design process.
This paper covers the design of an advanced PD M transm itter including how w e chose to correct the
different types of distortion that are present in the m odulator and pow er am plifiers. The paper is
organized by an introduction: W hy PD M m odulation?, Basic PD M techniquesand The Vector
ABSTRACT
M odern digital transm ission standards (H D Radio, D RM ) dem and higher perform ance from transm itter
equipm ent to ensure effective transm ission of the digital signal. These digital signals use vector m odulated
techniques (Envelope Elim ination and Restoration), w hich require the envelope and phase com ponents of
the digital signal to be accurately com bined w ithin the transm itter to produce the correct digital spectrum .
To ensure consistent and reliable reception, the transm itter m ust have highly linear and m atched
transm ission paths for both the envelope (m agnitude) and RF (phase) signals.
Recent technologies breathe new life into fam iliar m odulation schem es such as PD M . These advancem ents
allow w ider bandw idth transm issions and higher m odulation levels, w hile m aintaining a consistent tim e
and am plitude response to m inim ize effects of the EE& R vector m odulation technique on the digital
broadcast.
In this paper w e w ill discuss such advancem ents and show how they im prove the perform ance of the
com plete digital A M transm ission system . W e w ill also show how m any of the techniques extend the
perform ance of basic analogue broadcasts.
INTRODUCTION
m odulation signal using EER. This is follow ed by a description of the practical problem s in the section:
A dvanced PD M techniques. explaining the chosen correction techniques, and presentation of various
m easurem ents.
Why PDM modulation?
Losses in a transistor occur only w hen there is sim ultaneous voltage and current passing through the
device. A typical exam ple is a class A am plifier. U sing the transistor as a sw itch can m inim ize the losses
exhibited in a classical linear am plifier. Since there is no current through the device w hen it is O FF, the
loss is zero. Sim ilarly, w hen the device is O N (saturated), the voltage drop across the drain to source is
practically zero, resulting in no pow er dissipation. In practice, there w ill be som e loss due to the finite
on-resistance. D uring the sw itching tim e, both the current and voltage are non-zero. It follow s that the
losses w ill increase w ith sw itching frequency. This technique is often referred to as a sw itching am plifier.
To achieve the goal of high efficiency, som e type of sw itching transm itter is probably the best choice.
BASIC PDM TECHNIQUE
Pulse duration m odulation (PD M ), also know n as pulse w idth m odulation (PW M ), has been know n for
several decades. It is the prim ary m ethod of choice for high efficiency m odulation such as A m plitude
M odulation of M edium W ave transm itters and high efficiency sw itching pow er supplies. The rectangular
w aveform is applied to a low -pass filter that allow s only the low frequency com ponent to appear on the
load device. The rectangular pulse w idth is changed to produce the desired output signal, as illustrated in
Figure 1.
Pulse w idth m odulation inherently produces som e
distortion of the m odulating signal even if the
m odulator produces perfectly tim ed pulses. A lthough
the length of the pulses is proportional to the signal
am plitude, the m odulation schem e is actually non-
linear. The distortion inherent in PD M m odulation w ill
decrease w ith sw itching frequency and m odulation
am plitude. A sim ple spectral plot is show n in the signal
below . The desired signal is recovered at the load
through a low -pass filter netw ork. Those spurious products that fall inside the pass band of the
m odulator filter w ill appear in the load as interm odulation distortion.
The distortion prim arily depends on the centering of the pulses.
For exam ple, the center of the pulses should all occur at the sam e
tim e for m inim um distortion. Figure 3 show s the distortion as a
function of am plitude of the m odulating tone. N ote how the
am plitude slightly drops as the level increases and how the
harm onics increase. A lso note that the distortion is rather low so
that one can say that PD M m odulation is alm ostlinear. The
relative am plitude in Figure 3 is the am plitude relative to the
m axim um allow able input.
Figure 1. PD M m odulated sine w ave
Desired
Signal
Fs
LPF
2Fs
Figure 2. Spectrum of the m odulating signal
In a polyphase system , there are several PD M m odulators that are phase offset from each other. This w ill
help by suppressing harm onics of the PD M clock frequency and reduce the distortion associated w ith the
harm onics, but it w ill not com pletely elim inate the distortion on the m odulating/fundam ental signal as
show n in Figure 4. In order to have good PD M harm onic suppression, the phase and am plitude responses
of the PD M filter need to be precisely constant. In practice, this is seldom achieved, resulting in extra
distortion.
The m ost im portant choice in the design of a PD M system is the sw itching frequency, the higher the
better, since this w ill m inim ize distortion on the m odulating signal and w ill also put the harm onics of the
PD M sw itching frequency far aw ay from the desired m odulation com ponent. A polyphase PD M system
w ill elim inate the first harm onic spectrum of the PD M clock frequency, w hich provides som e possible
tradeoffs betw een the num ber of phases vs. PD M sw itching frequency. In practice, the sw itching
frequency w ill be lim ited by the transistor sw itching tim es and the associated loss in efficiency.
The distortion also depends on the frequency of
the m odulating signal. In Figure 3, the harm onic
levels show n in the (3) curves refer to the
harm onics of the m odulating tone, not the
harm onics of the PD M clock frequency. The
com plete PD M signal w ill have m odulated
harm onics at m ultiples of the PD M clock
frequency as show n in Figure 2. These harm onic
spectra are fairly w ide and w ill, to som e extent,
bleed into the base band spectra causing
additional distortion.
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4
-120
-100
-80
-60
-40
-20
Harmic levels rel. to fundamental. 2nd x, 3rd +, 4th o 5th .
d
B
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4
22.66
22.68
22.7
22.72
d
B
Normalized gain, oversampling 4 times (N=8)
Relative amplitude
Relative amplitude
Figure 3. O ver sam pling 4 tim es N =8. G ain change of 0.05 dB
POLYPHASE PDM SYSTEM
Figure 4. Polyphase PD M using four phases
Besides these theoretical distortions, there are also several
other w ays that distortion gets into the system through a
non-ideal im plem entation. For exam ple, the pulses
them selves can be distorted. This is very noticeable if the
duty cycle is short and the load current is m inim al, therefore
distorting the output rectangular signal by giving the pulses
a tailon the decay side of the pulse. In addition, pow er
supply ripple and dynam ic load variation w ill also contribute
to signal distortion.
GENERATING A VECTOR MODULATION SIGNAL
Using Envelope Elimination and Restoration (EE&R)
M ost m odern A M transm itters consist of both an
envelope m odulator and a final output RF sw itching
pow er am plifier. These tw o circuits operate
independently in a conventional A M transm itter.
The digital signal is typically m odulated using O FD M
(O rthogonal Frequency D ivision M ultiplex). O FD M is a
parallel m odulation schem e in w hich the data stream
m odulates a large num ber of sub carriers that are
transm itted sim ultaneously. The digital signal is a vector
signal and can be represented in polar coordinates having both m agnitude and phase inform ation. In a
traditional m ono A M transm itter, the relationship betw een the phase of the carrier and the envelop is
irrelevant, but for O FD M signals, the relationship is crucial.
Figure 5 show s a block diagram splitting an input vector signal into an envelope and a phase com ponent
know n as Envelope Elim ination and Restoration, (EE& R). The envelope signal is am plified using a high
efficiency PD M m odulator cascaded w ith an RF sw itching pow er am plifier (ie: H igh efficiency full-bridge
class D am plifier).
The A M H D Radio transm itter receives individual phase and m agnitude inputs from the A M H D Radio
exciter. The outputs are then com bined into a vector m odulated signal to the external broadcast antenna
system .
ADVANCED PDM MODULATION
The EE& R technique requires a linear A M transm itter having a constant group delay and flat frequency
response in both the envelope and RF channels for m inim um interm odulation distortion (IM D ) product.
There are a num ber of potential sources of IM D in a EE& R type transm itter w hich affect digital radio
transm ission. They are:
1. Bandw idth of the pulse w idth m odulator.
2. Pulse w idth m odulator distortion.
3. Bandw idth lim iting of the am plitude and phase signals.
4. D ifferential delay betw een the envelope and phase signals.
5. A M to A M distortion in the m odulator, pow er am plifier, and com biner.
6. A M to PM distortion in the final pow er am plifier stage.
7. RF phase reversal at low envelope levels.
By overcom ing these distortion sources, w e have created a new advanced A M m odulation technique
w hich provides significant perform ance im provem ents over existing PD M transm itters in the present
m arket place. The rest of this section w ill focus on the discussion of the hardw are and D igital Signal
Figure5. EE& R block diagram
Processing (D SP) advancem ents and show how they im prove the perform ance of the com plete digital A M
transm ission system . D igital m odulation schem es, as w ell as, conventional analogue broadcasting w ill
benefit from these im provem ents.
A s show n in Figure 1, typical PD M sw itching frequencies (Fs) used today in A M audio frequency
m odulators are approxim ately 60 to 70 kH z. This lim its the practical filter bandw idth to 1/3 Fs (or 20
kH z). This is insufficient for good digital radio transm ission using the EE& R technique. H arrisnew
advanced PD M transm itter uses an average PD M sw itching frequency of 175 kH z and has an audio
bandw idth of greater than 50 kH z. To achieve a high sw itching frequency w hile m aintaining low pulse
w idth distortion, an im proved PD M m odulator using a push-pull transistor arrangem ent w ith a shoot
through elim ination resistor circuit is em ployed (know n as tail-biter circuit), see Figure 6 below . This circuit
sw itches transistors Q 1 and Q 2 that are operating in a true push-pull m ode w ithout the need for any
dead tim e betw een the transistors Q 1 and Q 2. A sm all value resistor R1 is added to lim it the shoot
through current if both transistors Q 1 and Q 2 are turned O N m om entary at the sam e tim e. R1 has
negligible effect on the overall efficiency of the m odulator. This push-pull m odulator is especially
beneficial w hen the pulse w idth duty cycle is sm all. Q 2 increases the turn-off speed of Q 1 by providing a
return path for the com m utating current in L1. In addition, using this push-pull sw itch arrangem ent
reduces the sensitivity to load changes.
C onventional PD M m odulation show s a substantial am ount of distortion from the input rectangular pulse
w ith respect to the output PD M pulse depicted in Figure 7. The turn-off delay is extended and creates a
tail effect. Significant im provem ent can be seen in Figure 8 using the A PD M (A dvanced Pulse D uration
M odulation) m odulator w ith the new tail-bitertechnique (Patents Pending). The circuit diagram is
show n in Figure 6.
Figure 6. A dvanced PD M m odulator sim plified diagram
CR1
Ramp
Audio
R1
Q2
Vdc
Q1
RL
Reconstruction Filter
L1
PDM Generator
Figure 7 C onventional PD M m odulator w aveform s
Figure 8. A dvanced PD M m odulator w aveform s
The output PD M pulse is now follow ing the input drive pulse m uch m ore closely, even at very short duty
cycles. There is still a sm all am ount of error due to practical com ponent drive speed, propagation delay,
etc. Further im provem ent using D SP w ill be described in the follow ing section and is used to reduce the
residual A M -A M distortion.
Proper tim ing alignm ent of S
1
(t) and S
2
(t) is also critical to recreate the accurate vector signals. Besides
having a w ider bandw idth reconstruction filter, it is im portant to m aintain a constant group delay in the
filter pass band to allow the envelope and phase reconstruction to properly align for accurate
reproduction of the digital vector m odulated input signals. This is of course, not a problem w hen
transm itting analogue A M w ith no phase m odulation.
Splitting the signal into phase and envelope com ponents generally results in the tw o com ponents
occupying a larger bandw idth than that of the original I and Q signals. In theory, the envelope and phase
com ponents can have nearly infinite bandw idth. A ny practical design m ust allow for envelope and phase
signals that have 5-10 tim es the bandw idth of the corresponding I and Q com ponents. H ow m uch m ore
bandw idth is needed, w ill depend on how m uch distortion that can be tolerated on the final signal. In
addition, the higher bandw idth on the envelope signal w ill require a PD M clock frequency that is
sufficiently high. This, in turn, can cause other problem s for the PD M m odulator. For a higher PD M
sw itching frequency, the tail-bitercircuit is a m ust to ensure a good output pulse, since any sm all pulse
w idth distortion w ill be a larger percentage of the total pulse w idth.
Figure 9 Sim plified A D PM system block diagram
Keeping the phase and envelope signals pristine is of little use if they are m isaligned in tim e or am plitude
w hen com bined into the com posite RF w aveform at the output of the transm itter. H ence, know ing the
difference in delay betw een the phase and envelope is crucial. To com plicate m atters, the delay tends to
vary w ith changes in the output filter and antenna load im pedance. C onsequently, estim ating and
correcting for the delay is a task ideally suited for a D SP.
APDM transmitter using advanced correction
A s stated previously, there are num erous sources of non-linearities in a high efficiency PD M transm itter,
w hich, if not corrected, can produce less than optim al spectral perform ance and higher BER (Bit Error
Rate). N on-linear effects of the m odulator, pow er am plifier, and RF com biner can all contribute to the
spectral degradation if left uncorrected.
A dvancem ents in D SP technology and advanced PD M m odulation coupled w ith an innovative RF design
have lead to a cost effective solution in achieving a highly linear PD M transm itter. The sim plified system
block diagram in Figure 9 depicts correction circuits used to linearize a new generation of A PD M
transm itters (Patents Pending). Im plem entation of a N L (non-linear) A M /A M C orrector, M odulator Filter
Equalizer, and N L A M /PM C orrector using the new advanced PD M technology can dram atically reduce
IM D distortion as show n in Figure 10 and Figure 11 below . These graphs w ere taken on a 5KW D A X
transm itter passing an H D Radio hybrid signal.
AM/AM corrector
The N L A M /A M corrector w orks on a pre-distortion
principal. The linearization technique applies the inverse of the am plitude distortion in the transm itter to
the input envelope. A D SP is used to calculate the inverse using sam ples collected from the input
envelope and the output RF envelope. The resulting inverse is a polynom ial equation im plem ented in
real-tim e by dedicated hardw are or by the D SP.
AM/PM corrector
Sim ilarly, the A M /PM distortion is estim ated by the D SP. Sam ples of the input envelope and RF phase are
correlated w ith the sam pled transm itter RF output. The tim e correlation allow s the D SP to calculate the
am ount of phase distortion present at any given input am plitude. O nce calculated, the phase correction
signal is sim ply added to the input phase signal. The resulting pre-corrected phase signal is then used as
the PA RF drive signal. W hen the pre-corrected RF drive signal passes thru the PA , a consistent RF phase
delay is achieved regardless of the RF envelope.
Modulator filter linearity corrector
The envelope signal used to m odulate the RF carrier suffers som e linear distortion caused m ainly by the
m odulator filter. For exam ple, the pow er supply voltage applied to the RF am plifier represents the
envelope signal, but due to the linear distortion of the m odulator filter, the pow er supply signal is slightly
distorted. This is corrected by estim ating this distortion and sending the envelope through an inverse filter
before m odulating the pow er supply. In addition to correcting the frequency response and group delay of
the m odulator filter, the equalization filter ensures that the delay thru the envelope path of the
transm itter rem ains constant. A s previously stated, this is critical for EE& R transm itters to ensure that the
phase and m agnitude com ponents recom bine accurately for m inim um interm odulation distortion
products.
DRM PERFORMANCE
D RM (D igital Radio M odiale) is a new w orldw ide standard for digital radio broadcast of m edium w ave and
short w ave transm issions. A m ajor benefit of the D RM system is its ability to cope w ith m ultipath
propagation (selective fading) w hich has been a continued source of irritation for m edium w ave listeners.
M ultipath is elim inated except in the m ost severe cases by em ploying C O FD M m odulation. Typically, a
D RM signal has a peak to m ean ratio of 10-12dB, thus an am plifier producing a signal having an average
pow er of 1kW m ust have a peak pow er capability of 10kW . The recom m endation from the
Broadcasters G uide To D RM suggesting that, for a 10kH z D RM signal, the audio path bandw idth needs
to be 40kH z w hile m aintaining a constant group delay.
Figure 10. H D Radio output spectrum from a typical
PD M transm itter
Figure 11. H D Radio output spectrum from an advanced PD M
transm itter w ith D SP correction
Figures 12 and 13 show the spectral plots com paring a conventional PD M transm itter to the D A X-5,
A PD M transm itter. In both cases, 2000W of D RM RF output pow er w as generated using an experim ental
D RM exciter. The actual perform ance w as som ew hat lim ited by the prototype D RM exciter so the actual
perform ance of the transm itter is better than that show n in Figures 12 and 13.
Figure 12 is the output spectrum of a typical PD M transm itter having an audio bandw idth of 20 kH z.
W hile running the sam e test, Figure 13 has m ore than a 13dB shoulder im provem ent using the D A X-5
transm itter having a 250% w ider bandw idth. Sim ilar im provem ents in H D Radio perform ance are also
illustrated in Figure 10 and Figure 11 w hen running a side-by-side com parison of the tw o technologies.
Figure 12. Typical PD M transm itter output spectrum D RM spectrum
Figure 13 D A X D RM output spectrum
CONCLUSION
The em erging digital m odulation form ats for A M M edium W ave transm itters dem and higher perform ance
from transm itter equipm ent to ensure effective transm ission of the digital signals. These signals,
H D -Radio (In Band O n C hannel) or D RM (the w orldw ide standard), require m ore bandw idth, higher
linearity, and constant group delays in the envelope and phase paths to achieve low IM D and im proved
spectral perform ance.
The addition of an adaptive D SP m odulator filter equalizer ensures a constant group delay in the envelope
path of the transm itter. This elim inates the need for constant tw eaking of the Exciter delay adjustm ent to
optim ize recom bining of the envelope and phase signals.
U sing a new A PD M m odulator design coupled w ith an advanced RF pow er am plifier design and D SP
correction, it is possible to greatly im prove the perform ance of a traditional PD M transm itter. The A PD M
transm itters excellent perform ance offers im proved spectral results for both H D Radio and D RM w hile at
the sam e tim e, providing very high overall transm itter efficiency at low er cost than other m odulation
techniques.
These transm itter advancem ents allow broadcasters to offer a superior signal to their audience by utilizing
the latest digital technology to m aintain optim al perform ance w ithout constant adjustm ents.
REFERENCES
[1] P. B. Kensigton, H igh-linearity RF am plifier design, A rtech H ouse, London, 2000.
[2] ETSI, ETSI TS 101 980 V1.1.1 (2001-09), Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM); System Specification.2001.
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