PHYSICS

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STUDY PACKAGE – 02
For – JEE / NEET
 Communication Systems
AIEEE Syllabus
Propagation of electromagnetic waves in the atmosphere; Sky and space
wave propagation, Need for modulation, Amplitude and Frequency
13
CHAPTER
Modulation, Bandwidth of Signals, Bandwidth of Transmission medium, Basic
Elements of a Communication System (Block Diagram only)

Communication of information to each other is a basic human activity. For THIS CHAPTER
example, one person wishes to tell something or give a message to another person COVERS :
sitting near him. Then he speaks and transmits sound waves through air medium
or channel. The other person receives the message by listening through his/her  Types of
ears. In modern communication systems the information is first converted into Communication
electrical signals or electromagnetic waves and then sent electronically. This has Systems
the advantage of speed, reliability and possibility of communicating over long
distances.  Modulation

The key to communication system is to obtain an electrical signal voltage or  Fax & Modem
current which contains the information. For example, a microphone can convert
speech signals into electrical signals. Similarly, pressure can be sensed by  Communication
piezoelectric sensor which gives pressure in terms of electrical signal. A signal
Channels
is defined as a single-valued function of time (that conveys the information)  Wave Propagation
and which, at every instant of time has a unique value.
 Satellite
Transmission
Communication
Generation
of
Transmission Receiver
Information
Signal
Channel

Basic units of all communication systems

TYPES OF COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS

1. According to the Nature of Information Source
(i) Speech transmission (as in radio)
(ii) Picture transmission (picture including moving and live pictures)
(iii) Facsimile transmission (Fax)
(iv) Data transmission
2. According to the Mode of Transmission
(i) Analog Communication
(ii) Digital Communication

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3. According to the Transmission Channel

(i) Line communication
(a) Two wire transmission line
(b) Coaxial cable
(c) Optical fibre cable
(ii) Space communication
4. According to the type of Modulation
(i) Amplitude modulation (AM)
(ii) Frequency modulation (FM)
(iii) Phase modulation

Some Important Terms used in Electronic Communication Systems

1. Signal : When some information is converted into electrical form suitable for transmission, it is called signal.
kSignals can be either analog or digital.
In analog signal the voltage or current varies continuously with time. For example an analog signal in which
voltage (or current) varies sinusoidally can be shown as

V0
O time

Such a signal can be expressed mathematically as

V = V0 sin t, where V0 is the peak value of the signal voltage and  the angular frequency of variation.
Digital signal is the one in which only two levels of voltage (or current) are possible. The one level (the
higher one) of voltage (or current) is marked as ‘1’ while the other level (the lower one) is marked as ‘0’.
A digital signal can be shown as

time

2. Transducer : A device that converts one form of energy into another is known as a transducer e.g., an
electrical transducer converts some physical variable (pressure, displacement, force, temperature etc.) into
electrical form.
3. Noise : It is an unwanted signal that tends to disturb the transmission and processing of the message
signals in a communication system. The source of noise may be located within the system or out of the
system.
4. Transmitter : It is a device which makes an incoming message signal suitable for transmission through
a channel and subsequent reception.
5. Receiver : This device extracts the desired message signals from the received signals at the channel
output.
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6. Attenuation : The loss of strength of a signal while propagating through a medium is known as attenuation.

7. Amplification : It is a process of increasing the amplitude (and consequently the strength) of a signal.
It is required in order to compensate for the attenuation of the signal in communication systems. The device
which does amplification is known as an amplifier.

8. Range : It is the largest distance between a source and a destination up to which the signal is received
with sufficient strength.

9. Band width : It is the frequency range over which an equipment operates or the portion of the spectrum
occupied by the signal.

10. Modulation : It is the process carried out at transmitter in which the low frequency message signal is
superimposed on a high frequency carrier signal.

11. Demodulation : The process of retrieval of information from the carrier wave at the receiver is called
demodulation. This is the reverse process of modulation.

12. Repeater : It is a combination of a receiver and a transmitter. A repeater picks up the signal from a
transmitter, amplifies and retransmits it at the same frequency or with a change in frequency. Repeaters
are used to extend the range of a communication system. A communication satellite is essentially a
repeater station in space.

MODULATION : An Important Step of Communication Systems

The purpose of a communication system is to transmit information or message signals. These are also called
baseband signals. No signal, in general, is a single frequency but it spreads over a range of frequencies called
the signal bandwidth. Suppose we wish to transmit an electronic signal in the Audio frequency (AF) range
(baseband signal frequency less than 20 kHz) over a long distance. Can we do it? The answer is ‘No’, because
of the following problems.
1. Size of the Antenna or Aerial : Antenna (inductive device) should have a size comparable to the
wavelength of the signal (at least /4 in dimension).
2. Effective Power Radiated by an Antenna : The power radiated by an antenna is given as : Power
2
l
radiated    . This implies that for the same antenna length, the power radiated by short wavelength

or high frequency signals would be large.
3. Mixing up of Signals from Different Transmitters : Suppose many transmitters are transmitting baseband
information signals simultaneously. All of these signals will get mixed up and there is no way to distinguish
between them. So, multiple user-friendly communication is not possible.
The above arguments suggest that there is a need for translating the original low frequency baseband
message or information signal into high frequency wave before transmission such that the translated signal
continues to possess the information contained in the original signal. This is achieved by a process known
as modulation.
We will describe only one type of modulation called amplitude modulation.

Amplitude Modulation :
In amplitude modulation the amplitude of the carrier wave is made to vary proportional to the message signal.
In amplitude modulation :
1. The amplitude of the carrier wave varies with signal frequency fs.
2. The frequency of the resulting wave (called the amplitude modulated wave) is equal to the carrier frequency fc.

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3. The ratio of change of amplitude of carrier wave to the amplitude of the normal carrier wave is called the
modulation factor or index of modulation (m).

Amplitude change of carrier wave A

m=  m
Amplitude of normal (unmodulated carrier wave) Ac
where, Am = amplitude of the message signal (or modulating wave)
Ac = amplitude of the normal carrier wave.
Application : If amplitude of carrier wave is A and that of message signal is 0.5 A then index of modulation
will be given as
0 .5 A
m  0.5 or 50%
A

Note : The index of modulation determines the strength and quality of the transmitted signal. Its value
is kept slightly smaller than 1.

4. An AM-wave is equivalent to the summation of three sinusoidal waves whose frequencies are c, (c + m)
mVc mVc
and (c – m) and the amplitudes are respectively Vc, and
2 2
5. The frequency fc is known as carrier frequency and (fc + fm) and (fc – fm) are known as upper side band
and lower side band respectively.

Note : In an AM-wave the difference between upper side band and lower side band (which is equal
to 2fm) is known as the band width.

Graphically, the carrier frequency and the side bands can be shown as :
Amplitude

Ac

mAc
2

f (Hz)
(fc – fm) fc (fc + fm)
Detection of Amplitude Modulated Wave :
The process of reception of the AM-wave, its detection and retrieval of the original message signal can be shown
by the following block diagram :

Receiving Antenna

Output
Amplifier IF Stage Detector Amplifier
Received signal
The signal received by the antenna is quite weak, so it is first amplified. Now, the signal is fed into a device
called IF stage (intermediate frequency stage). This device changes the frequency of the signal to some lower
value. After this the signal is fed into the detector. The detector separates the modulating wave (the message
signal) and the carrier wave. The modulating wave now, is amplified and fed to a speaker or some display
device.

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A detector consists of a rectifier and an RC-circuit (called envelope detector).

The detection process can be described by the following diagram :

AM-Wave : time
(Input)

Rectifier

Rectified Wave : time

Envelope Detector
(RC-Circuit)

Output time
(Without RF component)

vm =Vm cos mt

IV
Vm
(a)
O
IV
AF Signal

vc = Vc cos ct
1.5V
Vc
(b)

–1.5V
RF carrier wave

2.5V
Ec(max)
0.5V Ec(min)
(c)
–0.5V

–2.5V
Amplitude Modulated Wave
e = (Vc + Vm cos mt) cos ct

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EC (max)  EC (min)
Modulation Index, M 
EC (max)  EC(min)
Amplitude modulation is widely used for commercial broadcast of voice signals. The carrier wave frequency
ranges from approximately 0.5 to 2.0 MHz. AM signals are noisy as atmospheric (like lightning discharge)
or man-made electrical noise signals significantly affect this. Frequency modulation (FM) gives better quality
transmission. The range of frequencies allotted for commercial FM-radio and TV-broadcast are given in the
table shown below.
Some Important Wireless Communication Frequency Bands

Standard AM broadcast 540 - 1600 kHz

FM broadcast 88 - 108 MHz

Television 54 - 72 MHz
VHF
76 - 88 MHz
174 - 216 MHz
420 - 890 MHz UHF

Cellular Mobile Radio 896 - 901 MHz

(Mobile to base station)
840 - 935 MHz
(Base station to mobile)

Satellite Communication 5925 - 6425 MHz (uplink)

37 - 42 MHz (downlink)

Pulse Modulation
Here the carrier wave is in the form of pulses. These are more relevant for digital communication. The pulse
modulation is of the following three types :
(i) Pulse Amplitude Modulation (PAM)
(ii) Pulse Duration Modulation (PDM) or Pulse Width Modulation (PWM)
(iii) Pulse Position Modulation (PPM)

Data and Document Transmission : Fax and Modem

The name modem is a contraction of the terms modulator and demodulator (MO + DEM). Modems are placed
at both ends of the communication circuit. The modem at the transmitting station changes the digital output
from a computer to a form which can be easily sent via a communication channel, while the receiving modem
reverses the process.

Communication Channels
A physical medium through which signals may propagate is referred to as communication channel. Principally
there are two types of communication channels.
(i) Space communication (Satellite communication)
(ii) Line communication

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Ground Wave Propagation

This mode of propagation can exist when the transmitting and receiving antenna are close to the surface of
the earth. The electrical fields due to the wave induce charges in the earth’s surface. As the wave travels, the
induced charges in the earth or ground also travel along with it. As the ground wave passes over the surface
of the earth, it is weakened as a result of energy absorbed by the earth. Due to these losses the ground waves
are not suited for very long range communication.

Space Wave Propagation or Tropospheric Wave Propagation

The transmitted waves, travelling in a straight line, directly reach the receiver end and are then picked up by
the receiving antenna. This mode of communication is termed as line of sight communication.
Q
h
A P B

O
Ray pat h of tr ans mi tted wav es fol lowi ng
space-wave (or line of sight) mode of propagation.
The transmitter is located at the ground on a tall lower.
Range

d= 2rh
This distance is of the order of 40 km.

Sky Wave Propagation or Ionospheric Propagation

A transmitted wave going up in the sky is reflected back from the ionised region of the earth’s atmosphere,
the ionosphere. The ionosphere extends from a height of ~ 80 to 300 km above the earth’s surface.

Ionosphere

Sky waves

Transmitter R R R

Ionospheric or sky wave propagation

The refractive index of ionosphere is less than its free space value of n0. That is, it behaves as a rarer medium.
Different frequencies  will be reflected from different regions of the ionosphere having different values of N. If
the frequency  is too high, then after a certain value, the electron density N may never be so high as to
produce enough bending for attainment of critical angle or condition of reflection. This is called critical frequency.
If maximum electron density of the ionosphere is Nmax per m3, then the critical frequency fc is approximately
given by :
fc  9 (Nmax)1/2
The fc ranges approximately from 5 to 10 MHz. Frequencies higher than this cross the ionosphere and do not
return back to the earth.
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SATELLITE COMMUNICATION
The basic principle of satellite communication is schematically shown in figure. A communication satellite is
a spacecraft placed in an orbit around the earth which carries a transmitting and a receiving equipment (termed
as Radio Transponder). The transmitted signal is UP-Linked and received by the satellite station which Down-
Links it with the ground station through its transmitter. Uplink and downlink frequencies are kept different in
order to reduce the interference of transmitted and received signals.

Satellite 1
Communication
satellite Geostationary
orbit

Up-link Down-link
Ionosphere Earth

Transmitter Receiver Satellite 3 Satellite 2

Principle of satellite communication Three communication satellites placed

on equilateral points on geostationary
orbit for global communication coverage



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