23 September 2019 EXPERIMENT-5

DELTA MODULATION
AIM:
To implement a delta modulation with fixed step height for a sine wave with
different frequencies 500Hz, 2KHz, 4KHz and show the effects of granular noise
and slope overhead error in all 3 cases.
SOFTWARE USED:
Matlab R2016a.
THEORY:
DELTA MODULATION:
A delta modulation (DM or Δ-modulation) is an analog-to-digital and digital-to-
analog signal conversion technique used for transmission of voice information
where quality is not of primary importance. DM is the simplest form of differential
pulse-code modulation (DPCM) where the difference between successive samples
are encoded into n-bit data streams.
The sampling rate of a signal should be higher than the Nyquist rate, to achieve
better sampling. If this sampling interval in Differential PCM is reduced
considerably, the sample to sample amplitude difference is very small, as if the
difference is 1-bit quantization, then the step-size will be very small i.e., Δ (delta).
The type of modulation, where the sampling rate is much higher and in which the
step size after quantization is of a smaller value Δ, such a modulation is termed
as delta modulation.
FEATURES OF DELTA MODULATION:
• An over-sampled input is taken to make full use of the signal correlation.
• The quantization design is simple.
• The input sequence is much higher than the Nyquist rate.
• The quality is moderate.
• The design of the modulator and the demodulator is simple.
 • The stair-case approximation of output waveform.
• The step-size is very small, i.e., Δ (delta).
• The bit rate can be decided by the user.
• This involves simpler implementation.
DELTA MODULATOR:
The Delta Modulator comprises of a 1-bit quantizer and a delay circuit along with
two summer circuits. Following is the block diagram of a delta modulator.

ADVANTAGES OF DM OVER DPCM:

• 1-bit quantizer
• Very easy design of the modulator and the demodulator
DISADVANTAGES:
• Slope Over load distortion (when Δ is small)
• Granular noise (when Δ is large)
SLOPE OVERLOAD DISTORTION:
This distortion arises because of large dynamic range of the input signal.

We can observe from figure, the rate of rise of input signal x(t) is so high that the
staircase signal cannot approximate it, the step size ‘Δ’ becomes too small for
staircase signal u(t) to follow the step segment of x(t). Hence, there is a large
error between the staircase approximated signal and the original input signal x(t).
This error or noise is known as slope overload distortion. To reduce this error, the
step size must be increased when slope of signal x(t) is high.

GRANULAR NOISE:

Granular or Idle noise occurs when the step size is too large compared to small
variation in the input signal. This means that for very small variations in the input
signal, the staircase signal is changed by large amount (Δ) because of large step
size. The figure shows that when the input signal is almost flat, the staircase signal
u(t) keeps on oscillating by ±Δ around the signal. The error between the input and
approximated signal is called granular noise. The solution to this problem is to
make the step size small.

ADAPTIVE DELTA MODULATION:

In order to overcome the quantization errors due to slope overload and granular
noise, the step size (Δ) is made adaptive to variations in the input signal x(t).
Particularly in the steep segment of the signal x(t), the step size is increased. And
the step is decreased when the input is varying slowly. This method is known as
Adaptive Delta Modulation (ADM). The adaptive delta modulators can take
continuous changes in step size or discrete changes in step size.

ALGORITHM:

1. Initially we generate sine signal. [f=500Hz,2000Hz,4000Hz]

2. And we fix the initial step size as xn=-0.2.

3. We will do the delta modulation for 3 different values of

Δ=0.365,0.1,0.9

4. If the value of the sine wave is greater than the xn then we add the Δ
to xn and if the signal value is less than xn we subtract the Δ value
from xn. [xn(i+1)=xn(i) ±Δ]

5. We will do this for two cycles of the sine wave.

6. Then plot the graphs of modulated signal and sine wave.

OBSERVATIONS:

Δ=0.365 F=500Hz
Δ=0.365 F=2KHz

Δ=0.365 F=4KHz
Δ=0.1 F=500Hz

Δ=0.1 F=2KHz
Δ=0.1 F=4KHz

Δ=0.9 F=500Hz
Δ=0.9 F=2KHz

Δ=0.9 F=4KHz
INFERENCE:
From the graphs we can observe that as the delta value decreases there is slope
overload distortion and when delta value increases there is granular noise.
RESULT:
Delta modulation with fixed step height for a sine wave with different frequencies
500Hz, 2KHz, 4KHz is implemented and the effects of granular noise and slope
overhead error in all 3 cases are shown for different delta values.
APPENDIX:
clc
clear all;
close all
f=[500 2000 4000];
fs=100000;

for p=1:3
t=0:2*pi*f(p)/fs:4*pi;
x=5*sin(t);
figure
L=length(x);
plot(x,'r');
delta=0.9;

hold on;
xn=-0.2;

for i=1:L
if x(i)>xn(i)
d(i)=1;
xn(i+1)=xn(i)+delta;
else
d(i)=0;
xn(i+1)=xn(i)-delta;
end
end
stairs(xn)
hold on

for i=1:d
if d(i)==1
xn(i+1)=xn(i)+delta;
else

xn(i+1)=xn(i)-delta;
end
end
plot(xn,'g');
end