Amplitude Modulation

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 Introduction

Baseband signal produced by various information

sources are not always suitable for direct
transmission over a given channel.

In the modulation process, the intelligence signal

(voice, video, or digital signal) modifies another high
frequency (RF) signal called the carrier

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 The two most common methods of modulation are:

o Amplitude Modulation (AM)

o Frequency Modulation (FM)

Another method is called phase modulation (PM),

in which the phase angle of the sine wave is varied

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 Waveforms of Intelligence, Amplitude
Modulation, and Frequency Modulation Signals

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 Amplitude modulation.
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 Frequency modulation

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 Amplitude Modulation Fundamentals

In amplitude modulation (AM) the information

signal varies the amplitude of the carrier sine wave.
This mixing process of both signals is achieved
through a nonlinear device.

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 Nonlinear Mixing

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 AM Waveforms

The equation for the AM waveform is given as

Where
Ec = the peak amplitude of the carrier signal
Ei = the peak amplitude of the intelligence signal
i t = the radian frequency of the intelligence signal
c t = the radian frequency of the intelligence signal

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The instantaneous value of the carrier amplitude
changes in accordance with the amplitude and frequency
variations of the modulating signal.

Amplitude modulator showing input and output signals

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 Carrier and side-frequency components result in AM waveform

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 In the previous discussion, a pure sine-wave
intelligence signal is used to modulate a carrier.

However, in most practical situation the intelligence

signal is a rather complex waveform that contains
many frequency components.

In this case, we will have upper and lower sidebands

instead of single components, as illustrated in the
following figure.

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 Modulation by a band of intelligence frequencies

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 Percentage Modulation

In AM, it is particularly important that the peak value

of the modulating signal be less than the peak value of
the carrier.

Distortion occurs when the amplitude of the modulating

signal is greater than the amplitude of the carrier.

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 Distortion of the envelope caused by over modulation where the
modulating signal amplitude Ei is greater than the carrier signal Ec

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 AM waveform under varying intelligence signal (ei) conditions

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 The percentage modulation is a measure of the extent
to which a carrier voltage is varied by the intelligence.

The percentage modulation is also referred to as

modulation index or modulation factor, and they are
symbolized by m.

or expressed simply by a ratio:

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  The modulation index should be a number
between 0 and 1.

 If the amplitude of the modulating voltage is higher

than the carrier voltage, m will be greater than 1,
causing distortion.

 If the distortion is great enough, the intelligence

signal becomes unintelligible.

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 Also, m can be obtained from the maximum and minimum
peak-to-peak values of the AM waveform, as illustrated in
the above figure.
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 Over Modulation
If the AM waveform’s minimum value A falls to zero as
a result of an increase in the intelligence amplitude, the
modulation index becomes

Any further increase in the intelligence amplitude will

cause a condition known as over modulation to occur. In
such condition distortion is occurred and the intelligence
signal will not be recovered at the receiver side.

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 Overmodulation

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 Example

Determine the %m for the following conditions for

an unmodulated carrier of 80 v peak-to-peak.

Maximum peak-to-peak value Minimum peak-to-peak value of

of AM waveform (B) in volt AM waveform (A) in volt

a. 100 60
b. 125 35
c. 160 0
d. 180 0
e. 135 35

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 Solution
a.

b.

c.

d. Case of Overmodulation

e. Case of distortion due to unbalance around 80 v.

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 AM Analysis
Recall that, the equation for the AM waveform is given as

This proves that the AM wave contains three components;

constant (no information) component at the carrier frequency
fc, and the upper and lower sidebands components at
frequencies fc  fi that contain the information.

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 The relationship between the time and frequency domains

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 Also, it is obvious that the amplitude of sideband
components Esf are at most one-half the amplitude
of the carrier (assume pure sine wave intelligence)

The above equation indicates that it is important to

use as high a percentage modulation as possible.

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

Total transmitted power (Pt) is the sum of carrier power

(Pc) and power of the two sidebands (Pusb and Plsb).

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The amplitude of the AM signal is

This can be expressed in RMS form as

The total transmitted power is

Where R is the characteristic impedance of the radiating element

(ideally pure resistance)

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 Similar equations can be manipulated to utilize current and
voltage instead of power

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Examples
If the carrier output power is 1 kW, determine the
sideband and total transmitted power for m = 0.5 and 1.0

Solution
m = 0.5

m = 1.0

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 The above example shows the importance of
working at higher percentage modulation.

Most of AM transmitters attempt to maintain

working between 90 to 95 percent modulation.

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  The antenna current of an AM transmitter is 12 A
when unmodulated but increases to 13 A when
modulated. Calculate %m.

Solution

or

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 If a carrier is modulated by more than a single
wave sine, the effective percentage modulation is
given by

The total effective percentage modulation must not

exceed 1 to avoid distortion.

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 A transmitter with a 10 kW carrier transmits 11.2 kW
when modulated with a single sine wave. Calculate the
modulation index.
If the carrier is simultaneously modulated with
another sine wave at 50 percent modulation, calculate
the total transmitted power.

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 Solution

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