Successful Modulation Analysis in 3 Steps

Muhammad Abbas (202363)

March 1, 2018

The Research Institute for Microwave and Millimeter-Wave Studies (RIMMS),

NUST
This webcast is focus on the design, testing and troubleshooting of digital
modulated systems and signals. Signals are complex, standards are demanding,
and the environment is crowded with dynamic signalsleading to problems with
interference and impairments. The 3 step approach described in this webcast has
proven eective in design and troubleshooting of wireless systems and becomes
even more useful as the task gets more complex and tools evolve to include real
time analysis and signal capture. The agenda lies on presenting below three
steps for modulation analysis.
ˆ Spectrum, frequency & time domain, vector
ˆ Basic digital demodulation
ˆ Advanced digital demodulation

Figure 1: Three steps sequence

Before getting into detail of above mentioned steps let rst briey review
digital modulation. DM stands for Digital Modulation and is a generic name for
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modulation techniques that uses discrete signals to modulate a carrier wave.In
comparison, FM and AM are analog techniques.The three main types of digital
modulation are Frequency Shift Keying (FSK), Phase Shift Keying (PSK) and
Amplitude Shift Keying (ASK).
0.1 Time & Frequency Analysis
Now starting with step one i-e time and frequency analysis. Time-frequency
analysis identies the time at which various signal frequencies are present, usu-
ally by calculating a spectrum at regular intervals of time. Following gure
explains it;

Figure 2: Time and Frequency Analysis

Frequency--Wideband Spectrum

ˆ Approximate center frequency, occupied BW, power level/range

ˆ Other signals present, spurs & interference
ˆ Wideband also for non-demod measures such as ACPR

Frequency--Narrowband Spectrum ~1.1x(nominal BW)

ˆMore accurate center frequency

ˆ Transition to frequency & time
ˆ Spectrum alone (even with averaging) is inadequate for pulsed signals with
AM
ˆ Accurate spectrum requires triggering

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0.2 Basic Digital Demodulation
Lets move foreword to second step, the basic digital demodulation. Following
gure summarize the whole steps;

Figure 3: Second Step Summery

In this we look for signal quality numbers, constellation and basic error vector
measurements.A constellation diagram is a representation of a signal modulated
by a digital modulation scheme such as quadrature amplitude modulation or
phase-shift keying. It displays the signal as a two-dimensional xy-plane scatter
diagram in the complex plane at symbol sampling instants.
0.3 Advanced & Specic Demodulation
Lets move foreword to third and last step, the advanced and specic demodu-
lation. Following gure summarize the whole step;

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 Figure 4: Third Step Summery
As we advanced the signal get multiple layered and we then need more
advanced techniques to handle them. We can have the following advantages
with this third step;
ˆ Demod Results for Specic Carriers

ˆ Demod Results for Specic Symbols

ˆ Enable/Disable Pilot Tracking of Amplitude, Phase, Timing

ˆ Data Sub-Carrier Manual Select

ˆ Symbol Timing Adjust

ˆ Equalizer Training Select (preamble only, preamble + data)

ˆ Preamble Error Measurements

ˆ X & Y-Axis Scaling (display zoom; actual demod results are not changed)

Following gure just summarizes all the three steps in this webcasts.

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Figure 5: Summery