2.4.

TV signal broadcast using analog modulation

Television signal broadcasting can be either a baseband broadcast or radio frequency
broadcast. When using baseband broadcast, transmission is usually done using coaxial cables,
with a more or less limited signal bandwidth, depending on the TV system. Most of the time,
baseband broadcast applies to CCTV systems.
When using RF broadcast, the video signal will modulate a carrier in the TV allocated
frequency domain, starting from about 50MHz and spanning up to 1000MHz (with some
discontinuities allocated for other types of communications).

2.4.1. Amplitude modulation (AM)

Consider a modulation waveform U (t )  U 0 sin t and a carrier signal

a(t )  ( A0  u ) cos  p t , where A0  U 0 and  p   . By amplitude modulating a(t) with the
modulation waveform, we obtain:
a m (t) = A (1+ msinΩt)cosωp t (1)
0
U0
where m  is the modulation index, and m  [0,1] because A0 >U0.
not A0

Fig. 2.13. Amplitude modulation

amax  amin
It can be observed that m  and because amax=A0 +U0 , amin=A0-U0 we have
amax  amin
A  U 0  ( A0  U 0 ) U 0
m 0  .
A0  U 0  A0  U 0 A0
 Equation (1) can be rewritten as: a m (t )  A0 cos  p t  mA0 sin t cos  p t or
furthermore:
1 1
a m (t )  A0 cos  p t  mA0 sin( p  )t  mA0 sin( p  )t (2)
2 2
According to (2), the result of AM consists of three components with angular
frequencies p, p+  and p-  (fig. 2.14.). fp is the carrier frequency and fp +F and fp –F
represent the sidebands of the AM modulation. The modulated information appears only in the
two sidebands (the carrier fp from (2) has no information regarding u(t)).

Baseband signal AM modulated signal

Fig. 2.14. Spectrum of AM with a sinewave modulating signal
The extraction of u(t) from the modulated signal is called detection (or demodulation).
The simplest form of AM demodulator consists of a diode which is configured to act as
envelope detector. Another type of demodulator, the product detector, can provide better-
quality demodulation with additional circuit complexity. Observation: it is not essential to
consider the modulation signal a sine and the carrier a cosine; regardless of how they are chosen
in terms of phase, the spectral result is the same.
In reality the modulation signal u(t) does not have a single spectral component. If we
assume that it has a certain bandwidth defined by the lower and upper frequencies F1
(minimum) and F2 (maximum), the spectrum of the AM modulated signal will contain the
carrier fp and two sidebands, as in fig. 2.15.

AM

Baseband signal

AM modulated signal channel width

Fig. 2.15. AM for a bandwidth limited signal
The carrier (fp) will have the most energy, however it will not contain any information.
In telecommunications, the total bandwidth occupied by the AM signal in named channel. Its
width, f is:
f  f p  F2  ( f 2  F2 )  2 F2 ,
where F2 is the maximum frequency in the modulator signal spectrum.
Observation: in the case of the composite video signal, F1 =50Hz and F2 = 6MHz. The
channel width would be 12MHz, which is significantly large. The two sidebands are located
50Hz away from the carrier which is extremely close considering fp, is in the range of hundreds
of MHz
 Suppressed carrier AM

Since the carrier, fp, does not contain useful information, in many applications it is useful
not to transmit it, therefore obtaining a suppressed carrier amplitude modulation. The energy
efficiency of the transmission is greatly improved in this situation. Carrier suppression is done
simply by removing the first term of the sum from (1), or the cosωpt term from (2):
1 1
a m (t) = A m sinΩt cosωp t = mA sin(ωp + Ω)t - mA sin(ωp - Ω)t .
0 2 0 2 0
When restoring the original signal, the carrier will first need to be recovered and then
added to the received signal. Only after that standard AM detection techniques can be applied.
Carrier recovery should be done so that both frequency and phase are identical to that used at
transmission. For the particular case of suppressed carrier modulation however the phase does
not have to strictly match the phase of the carrier at transmission, but special care should be
taken because at 90o phase shift, recovery is not possible.

Single sideband amplitude modulation

Single sideband amplitude modulation appears when only one of the two sidebands is
transmitted. In this case demodulation should be done using synchronous detection.

2.4.2. Quadrature amplitude modulation - QAM

Let us consider two independent signals, M(t) and N(t) and two quadrature carrier
signals: a1 (t )  A1 cos t and a 2 (t )  A2 sin t . For simplicity we will consider A1 = A2 =1.
M(t) will be the amplitude modulator signal for a1(t), so applying equation (2) we obtain:
a M (t )  (1  M (t )) cos t  cos t  M (t ) cos t .
Similarly, N(t) modulates a2(t), so:
a N (t )  (1  N (t )) sin t  sin t  M (t ) sin t .
For each of the above two we will consider a suppressed carrier AM, and we will also
sum the resulting signals:
a(t )  M (t ) cos t  N (t ) sin t (3)
The obtained signal will represent the suppressed carrier quadrature amplitude
modulation of M(t) and N(t).
A block diagram that allows the generation of QAM based on equation (3) is presented
in figure 2.16.

Modulator
(multiplier)

Quadrature
oscillator

Modulator
(multiplier)

Fig. 2.16. Quadrature amplitude modulation

 In the following paragraph we will rewrite equation (3) for a better insight on the
properties of QAM. For M(t) and N(t) we will simplify the notations to M and N.
M
a (t )  M cos t  N sin t  N ( cos t  sin t )  N (tg cos t  sin t ) 
N
(4)
N N
(sin  cos t  sin t cos  )  sin(t   )
cos  cos 
M sin 
where:  tg  (    (t ) ).
N not cos not
We also know that
M 2 sin 2  M 2  N 2 sin 2   cos 2  1 N
     M2  N2 
N 2
cos 
2
N 2
cos 
2
cos 
2
cos
And if we replace this in (4) we obtain:
M
a(t )  M 2  N 2 sin(t   ) and   arctg (5)
N
The equation in (5) equivalent to (3) and points out that the suppressed carrier QAM is
both an amplitude and phase modulation. Obviously M(t) and N(t) are the signals that carry
information, and are usually band-limited. After modulation the spectrum will be similar to any
amplitude modulated signal (figure 2.15).

QAM detection

In the case of QAM, detection requires the regeneration of the carrier with both phase
and frequency identical with the signal used for modulation (synchronous detection).
First the carrier signals cos t and sin t must be correctly restored by a local
oscillator. The received signal a(t) is then simultaneously multiplied by cos t and by sin t :
a(t )  cos t  (M cos t  N sin t )  cos t  M  cos2 t  N  sin t  cos t 
M M N (6)
  cos 2t  sin 2t
2 2 2
1 1
where we used cos 2   (1  cos 2 ); sin 2   (1  cos 2 ) .
2 2
The result obtained in (6), which represents the output of the multiplier, is then low pass
filtered to reject the high frequency components cos 2t and sin 2t , and this will lead to
M
obtaining only the component (lower half of figure 2.17).
2

Low pass
multiplier
filter

Quadrature
oscillator

Low pass
multiplier
filter

Fig. 2.17. Synchronous detection applied to QAM

 In a similar fashion we will evaluate the product between a(t) and sin t :
a(t )  sin t  (M cos t  N sin t )  sin t  M  cos t  sin t  N  sin 2 t 
N N M
 - cos 2t  sin 2t
2 2 2
N
After filtering we will obtain (upper half of figure 2.17).
2

Phasor diagrams

As a starting point for a phasor representation we will use the two sets of equivalent
equations that describe QAM:
a(t )  M (t )cos t  N (t )sin t and
M
a(t )  a(t ) sin(t   ) where a(t )  M 2  N 2 and   arctg
N
For the phasor diagram we will consider an orthogonal axis system where one axis will
be sin t and the other cos t . With this convention, the QAM modulated signal a(t) will be
represented as in figure 2.18.
cos ωt

sin ωt
Fig.2.18. Phasor diagram of the QAM signal
The detection operation that reconstructs M and N can be also interpreted using the
phasor diagram:
 a(t) is received;
 The two axes, sin and cos, are reconstructed;
 M and N are the projections of a(t) on each axis;
This means that multiplying a(t) by sinωt will create its projection on one axis (sinωt)
and similarly multiplying it by cosωt will create its projection on the cosωt axis.
Figure 2.19 shows the process of reconstruction and illustrates the importance of correct
phase synchronization for the sinωt and cosωt signals: only in figure 2.19. b. the sinωt and cosωt
axis are parallel to those used for modulation and as a consequence the M and N projections are
calculated correctly.

a b c
modulation detection

Fig.2.19. QAM modulation and detection

 2.4.3. Frequency modulation - FM

Frequency modulation (FM) is the encoding of information in a carrier wave by varying

the instantaneous frequency of the wave while keeping the amplitude constant. Compared to
AM, FM has the advantage of superior noise immunity, which affects the amplitude of the
signal. Since the amplitude carries no information, noise reduction is done in receivers by
limiting the amplitude of the signal in IF stages.
If we consider the carrier in the form a  A0 sin  p t , then to frequency modulate this
carrier means to make its frequency fp vary proportional with the modulating signal amplitude
u  U m sin t , with   2F . In other words the instantaneous frequency fi varies around fp
with extreme values at f p  f and f p  f , corresponding to maximum and minimum
amplitudes +Um and -Um. f is called frequency deviation.
FM is used in television systems to carry sound, where the maximum deviation is
f max   50 kHz.
f
By modulation index in frequency modulation, we understand the ratio   , and
F
using this definition, the instantaneous frequency of the carrier becomes f i  f p  f sin t and
the mathematical expression of a frequency modulated wave becomes:
U (t )  A0 sin( p t   sin t )
The spectrum of FM modulated signals contains a series of components placed
symmetrically around the carrier fp , at distances multiple of F ( fp, fp  F, fp  2F,…).
The spectrum has a wide span and the amplitude of the components decreases as they
are place further away from the central frequency. The higher the modulation index, the closer
the spectral components will be placed to the central frequency.

2.5. TV channel structure in RF

In analog television broadcast, AM is used for the composite video signal and FM is
used for the associated sound.

100% - synchro level

75%- blanking level
70.3% - black level

12.5% - white level

Fig. 2.20. Am applied to the video signal

Negative type modulations is used (at carrier maximum amplitude corresponds the
synchronization pulse of the CVS) because of several advantages:
- The modulation peak (SV+H) is independent of the image content;
- Pulse shaped noise that may appear during transmission (if added to the signal) is less
perceptible if towards black;
 The bandwidth of the CVS is 6MHz and a full bandwidth AM modulation would occupy
too much bandwidth (figure 2.21. a.) and the frequency domains allocated for television would
fi a too small number of channels. For this reason a vestigial sideband AM is used, for the
purpose of reducing part of the bandwidth (figure 2.21.b). Suppressed sideband AM is
practically impossible to obtain since the upper and lower sidebands are placed too close to
each other (100 Hz apart).
Because of this solution, the information contained in the lower part of the sidebands
appears doubled, and the filter used at reception must have the characteristic in figure 2.21.c to
compensate.
Lower sideband
partially
supressed

Fig.2.21. a. TV channel resulted from AM

b. Channel after partial suppression of lower sideband
c. filter selectivity that must compensate the remainder of the lower sideband
The structure of an analog TV channel defined in the CCIR D/K norms is presented in
figure 2.22. In accordance with this structure, the maximum video signal frequency is of 6 MHz
(0,81 Kell factor)

Image carrier Sound carrier

Channel 1 Channel 2 Channel 3

Fig. 2.22. TV channel structure