Chapter 2

Amplitude Modulation

Part 2

Learning Outcomes

Calculate and draw AM

in time domain and frequency domain

Frequency Domain

The frequency domain provides an alternative description of signal in which the time axis is replaced by
a frequency axis.

The relationship between the time and frequency domains

Sidebands

Side frequencies or sidebands are generated as part of the modulation process and occur in the
frequency spectrum directly above and below the carrier frequency.
 • Single-frequency sine-wave modulation generates two sidebands.

• Complex wave (e.g. voice or video) modulation generates a range of sidebands.

Sidebands and
the Frequency Domain

[ Ec + Em cos (2 pi fm t) ] cos (2 pi fc t)

Ec cos (2 pi fc t) + 0.5 Em cos (A-B) + 0.5 cos (A+B)

Ec cos (2 pi fc t) + 0.5 Em cos 2 pi (fc-fm) t + 0.5 Em cos 2pi (fc+fm) t

Draw output in the

time domain and frequency domain

(a) Modulating signal, f = 0

(b) Modulating signal, f = 10

(c ) Modulating signal, f = 20
Sidebands
Bandwidth
 Signal bandwidth is an important characteristic of any modulation scheme
 In general, a narrow bandwidth is desirable
 Bandwidth is calculated by:
B  2 fm
Bandwidth is the difference between the upper and lower sideband frequencies.
BW = fUSB−fLSB

Example 1:
A standard AM broadcast station is allowed to transmit modulating frequencies up to 5 kHz. If
the AM station is transmitting on a frequency of 980 kHz, what are sideband frequencies and total
bandwidth?

1. Highlight and identify important information in the question:

A standard AM broadcast station is allowed to transmit modulating frequencies up to 5 kHz. If
the AM station is transmitting on a frequency of 980 kHz, what are sideband frequencies and
total bandwidth?

2. Use the formulas to solve the problem:

fUSB = fc +fm =980 + 5 = 985 kHz
fLSB = fc - fm = 980 – 5 = 975 kHz
BW = fUSB – fLSB = 985 – 975 = 10 kHz
Or
BW = 2 fm = 2 (5 kHz) = 10 kHz
EXAMPLE :
AM DBSFC Modulator with a carrier frequency of 100 kHz and maximum modulating signal frequency of
10 kHz, determine the following :
a. LSB & USB
b. Bandwidth
c. Upper and Lower side frequencies if the modulating signal is a single frequency of 5kHz.
d. Draw the output frequency spectrum

Solution:
Exercise

Given the first input to AM Modulator is 500 kHz Carrier signal with Amplitude of 20V. The second input
to AM Modulator is the 10kHz modulating signal with ± 7.5 Vp. Determine the following :-

a) USB & LSB

b) Modulation Index (m) and percent modulation (M)

c) Peak Amplitude of modulated carrier and Upper & Lower side frequency voltage

d) Maximum & Minimum Amplitude of the envelope, Vmax and Vmin

e) Draw output in frequency domain & time domain

Solution

(a) Upper and lower side frequencies:

(b) Modulation Index and percent modulation, M

f usb  500  10  510kHz

f lsb  500  10  490kHz

Solution (c)-method 1
Solution (c)- method 2

Solution

(d) Maximum & Minimum Amplitude of the envelope, Vmax and Vmin

Vmax  Ec  Em  20  7.5  27.5V p

Vmin  Ec  Em  20  7.5  12.5V p

Solution

(e) frequency domain

Solution

How to calculate AM power ???

AM Power

 The AM signal is a composite of the carrier and sideband signal voltages.

 Each signal produces power in the antenna.

 Total transmitted power (PT) is the sum of carrier power (Pc ) and power of the two sidebands
(PUSB and PLSB).

AM Power

Power in a transmitter is important, but the most important power measurement is that of the portion
that transmits the information

AM Signal power

Recall that the average power dissipated by resistor R with a sinusoidal source of amplitude Vpk is given
by
AM signal power

Since the vAM is composed of three sinusoids

the total average power dissipated by the antenna R is given

AM signal power

PT  Pc  PLSB  PUSB

V / 2  V   V 
2 2 2
c m /2 2 m /2 2
 
R R R
Vc2 Vm2 Vm2
  
2 R 8R 8R
Remembering that the modulation index
m = Vm /Vc we can write

Remembering that the modulation index

m = Vm /Vc we can write

AM Power

Power in an AM transmitter is calculated according to the formula below:

 m2 
PT  PAM  Pc 1  
 2 
Watt

Power of carrier and sidebands

  The greater the percentage of modulation, the higher the sideband power and the higher the
total power transmitted.

 Power in each sideband is calculated

PSB = PLSB = PUSB = Pcm2 / 4

 Maximum power appears in the sidebands when the carrier is 100 percent modulated.

Pc = (Vc )2 / 2R

where Pc = carrier power (W)

Vc =peak carrier voltage(V)

R= load resistance (Ohm)

AM power efficiency

If m = 1 (100% modulation), the average power, PSB = 50% Pc= Pc/2. It shows that the PSB is dependent on
m.

AM power efficiency

Therefore given the equation for power of an AM waveform, the efficiency is:

It can be seen that the efficiency of AM modulation increases as the modulation index increases.

Example

An AM transmitter has a carrier power of 30 W.

The percentage modulation is 85%.

Calculate (a) the total power

(b) the power in one sideband

Solution

An AM transmitter has a carrier power of 30 W.  Pc = 30 W

The percentage modulation is 85%.  M = 85% or m = 0.85

Calculate (a) the total power

 (b) the power in one sideband

PT= 40.8 W

AM power efficiency

From the previous example, what percentage of the total power was dedicated to transmitting the
carrier?
Is any information conveyed by the carrier itself?

How could we maximize the power in the sidebands?

AM power efficiency

Sideband power is maximized by setting m = 1.

For m = 1, what percentage of the total power is dedicated to the sidebands?

AM power efficiency

Sideband power is maximized by setting m = 1.

For m = 1, what percentage of the total power is dedicated to the sidebands?

 m2 
PT  Pc 1  
 2 
AM power efficiency

At maximum modulation, the sideband power is at most 33% of the total transmitted power.
AM power efficiency

• Two-thirds of the power is wasted in the carrier.

• Further, 100% modulation only occurs at peaks in the modulating signal, thus the average
sideband power is considerably worse than the ideal.

Improving on AM

• Besides the 67% power loss due to the carrier, the sidebands contain redundant information.
Why is still widely used?

AM is still widely used because it is simple and effective.

• AM broadcast radio

• CB radio (11m range)

• TV broadcasting

• Air traffic control radios

• Garage door opens, keyless remotes

Improving on AM

1) Double sideband full carrier (DSBFC)

- Contains USB, LSB and Carrier

 - This is the most widely used type of AM modulation. In fact, all radio channels in the AM band use
this type of modulation.

2) Double sideband suppressed carrier (DSBSC)

- Contains only USB & LSB

- A circuit that produces DSBSC is Balanced modulator

3) Single sideband (SSB)

- In this modulation, only half of the signal of the DSBSC is used

- Contains either LSB or USB

- Produce efficient system in term of power consumption and bandwidth

4) Vestigial Sideband (VSB):

- This is a modification of the SSB to ease the generation and reception of the signal.

Exercise1

For AM DSBFC wave with an unmodulated carrier voltage of Vc = 10 Vp , a load resistance of 10

and modulation index of 1, determine the following :

a. Power of the carrier

b. Power of sidebands

c. Draw Power Spectrum

Solution
An AM Transmitter has a carrier power output of 50W.

Determine the total power that produced 80% modulation.

SOLUTION :

Total Power is defined as :

PT = Pc[1 + (m2 /2)]

Thus,

PT = (50 W)[1 + ((0.8)2 /2)]

= 66 W

For AM DSBFC transmitter with an unmodulated carrier Power of Pc = 100 W is modulated

simultaneously with 3 other modulating signals with coefficient index of m1 = 0.2, m1 = 0.4, m1 = 0.5,

determine the following :-

a. Total Modulation Index or Coefficient

b. Upper and Lower sideband power

c. Total transmitted power

m  m12  m22    

Chapter 2: AM

2.1 Various Types of Amplitude Modulation,

2.2 Voltage & Power Analysis, Modulation Index and Efficiency

2.3 Time & Frequency Domain Waveform and Bandwidth

2.4 DSB, SSB, VSB, Suppressed Carrier

2.6 DSB & SSB Modulator/Demodulator

2.8 SHF Receiver

2.9 Noise in AM System