Modulation/Demodulation

Asst. Prof. Chaiporn Jaikaeo, Ph.D.

chaiporn.j@ku.ac.th
http://www.cpe.ku.ac.th/~cpj
Computer Engineering Department
Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand

Adapted from the notes by Lami Kaya, LKaya@ieee.org

© 2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.
 Carrier Frequencies
 In many long-distance communication
systems, certain frequencies propagate
better than others
 These frequencies are used as carriers
 The system makes small changes to the
carrier that represent information being sent
 This process is known as Modulation

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 Modulation/Demodulation
modulated signal

input signal

Communication
 Channel 
modulator demodulator

carrier wave
Modulator and demodulator are usually integrated
into a single device, called a modem 3
 Modulating Analog Signals
 Amplitude Modulation (AM)
 Frequency Modulation (FM)
 Phase Modulation (PM)

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 Amplitude Modulation (AM)
 AM varies the amplitude of a carrier in
proportion to the information being sent

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 Frequency Modulation (FM)
 FM varies the frequency of a carrier in
proportion to the information being sent

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 Phase Modulation (PM)
 PM varies the phase shift of a carrier in
proportion to the information being sent
 For analog signals, PM is considered a special
form of FM
 Difference is clearer in digital modulation process

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 Modulating Digital Signals
 Amplitude Shift Keying (ASK)
 Frequency Shift Keying (FSK)
 Phase Shift Keying (PSK)
 Combinations of the above

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ASK and FSK

Carrier

Digital Input

ASK

FSK

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Phase Shift Keying (PSK)

0o phase shift 180o phase shift

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 PSK Constellation Diagrams
 Constellation diagram is used to express the
exact assignment of data bits to specific
phase changes

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 4-PSK
 Uses 4 different phase shifts
 Each phase shift can represent 2 data bits

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 n-PSK
 In theory, it is possible to increase the data
rate by increasing the range of phase shifts
 Thus, a 16-PSK mechanism can send twice
as many bits per second as a 4-PSK
mechanism
 In practice, noise and distortion limit the
ability of hardware to distinguish among
minor differences in phase shifts
 How can data rate increase furthur?
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 Quadrature Amplitude Modulation
 Known as QAM or or Quadrature Amplitude
Shift Keying (QASK)
 Combining ASK and PSK
 Uses both change in phase and in amplitude

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QAM – Time Domain

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 Modem Hardware
 Modem  Modulator/Demodulator
 Modems are designed to provide communication
over long distances
 Such as telephone system

Wireless/3G
Acoustically modem
coupled PCI modem ADSL modem
modem
Pictures from Wikipedia 16
Communication over Modems

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 Dial-up Modems
 A dialup modem uses data to modulate an
audible carrier
 which is transmitted to the phone system

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Bandwidth of Dialup Modems

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