ELEC1010 Tutorial 4

Frequency Filter
Frequency Translation
Filter
 Allows some frequencies of a signal to pass through and
block other frequencies of the signal.
 In Frequency domain, the output spectrum Y is the

product of the filter characteristic H and the input of

spectrum X.
input X • filter spectral response H = output Y
H

X Y

Filtering is a multiplication process! 2

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Lowpass Filter
 fc is the cutoff frequency ideal
 Only allows signal with frequency f < fc to
practical
pass through
 Signal with frequency f > fc will be
bandwidth fc
blocked
Amplitude Amplitude
8
6 0.5 3
4 2
2 5 f/Hz
2 4 6 8 f/Hz 2 4 f/Hz

input X • filter spectral response H = output Y

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Bandpass Filter
 Signal with frequency f (fL < f < fH) ideal
can pass through practical
 Signal with frequency f < fL or f > fH

will be blocked f/Hz

fL Bandwidth fH
 filter bandwidth = fH – fL

Amplitude Amplitude

8 8
6 1
4
2 2
3 5 7 9 f/Hz
2 4 6 10 f/Hz 4 6 f/Hz
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input X • filter spectral response H = output Y
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Filter – Exercise 1
The frequency domain representation of a signal is shown below:
amplitude

1 2 3 4 f/kHz

Suggest a method to double the fundamental frequency.

Answer: apply bandpass filters with frequency response as shown
below:

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Filter – Exercise 2
Assume we have a signal:
S (t )  sin 2 500t  2 sin 2 1500t  3 sin 2 2000t  5 sin 2 4000t
Assume we have a bandpass filter as shown below:

If the input signal to the filter is S(t), and the frequency domain
representation of the output signal, after passing through the filter, is
shown below:

Find the frequencies of A, B, C and D. 6

Filter – Exercise 2 answer
The frequency domain representation of the signal is
S (t )  sin 2 500t  2 sin 2 1500t  3 sin 2 2000t  5 sin 2 4000t

Filtering

The amplitude of 1.5 kHz is halved and the frequency response of the
filter change from 0 to 1 along with the frequency A and B, therefore
1.5 kHz is the middle point of A and B.
The amplitude of 2 kHz does not change, therefore B ≤ 2 ≤C.
The amplitude of 4 kHz is halved, namely 4 kHz is the middle point of
C and D.
A can be 1 kHz, B can be 2 kHz, C can be 3 kHz and D can be 5 kHz

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Modulation

 A process of varying a periodic high frequency radio wave (Carrier

signal).
 Use the baseband signal (information) to modulate (change) a high

frequency radio wave.

 Baseband signal: the original information/message.

 Carrier signal: higher frequency radio wave.

Demodulation: the process to recover the baseband signal from the

modulated radio wave.
 Modulation & demodulation are used in wired and wireless

transmission.

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Modulation
 Why modulation?
 Size of antenna required to radiate EM waves is proportional to
wavelength of the wave. (low frequency signal require a large
antenna).
 There are many signals being transmitted over the air, need to
separate them.
 Three basic types of analog modulation

 Amplitude Modulation (AM)

 Frequency Modulation (FM)

 Phase Modulation (PM)

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Amplitude Modulation (AM)
 Varies the amplitude of the carrier in order to carry the information
signal.
 Modulates (adjusts) the amplitude of radio frequency carrier with

the baseband signal.

 Multiplication of the low frequency information (baseband signal)

with the high frequency radio wave (carrier). s A M ( t )  x ( t ) sin 2  f c t

 Amplitude of the modulated signal reflects the amplitude of the
baseband signal. Baseband signal

Carrier

Modulated signal

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Amplitude Modulation

 Baseband Bandwidth: the highest frequency of the

baseband signal (assuming that the lowest frequency of the
baseband signal is 0 Hz)
 Multiply two signals together
 Resulted signal contains two frequency components:
 Sum of the frequencies in the original signals
 Difference of the frequencies in the original signals

 Multiplying two sine waves of frequencies f1 and f2:

sin (2π f1t) x sin (2 π f2t) = ½ cos (2 π (f1–f2) t) - ½ cos (2 π (f1+f2) t)

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Modulation
Amplitude Modulation (AM) – Example 1
 An audio message at f2= fm=1 kHz: sin(2π1000t)
 A carrier at f1= fc= 1 MHz: sin(2 π106t)
“before modulation” “after modulation”
999 kHz 1.001 MHz

100 1k 10k 100k 1M 100 1k 10k 100k 1M

 Modulated signal has frequency component on both sides
of the carrier frequency (f1 + f2 =1M+0.001M=1.001MHz, f1 - f2 =999kHz)
 After modulation, the bandwidth is double the original

signal (if lowest freq.=0 Hz) See Example 2…

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Modulation
Amplitude Modulation (AM) – Example 2
Signal Carrier
A A
2-kHz bandwidth
 Modulation
2 1

1k 2k f/Hz 1M

A
4-kHz bandwidth

f/Hz

1M
1M-2k 1M + 2k
1M-1k 1M+1k

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Modulation
Amplitude Modulation (AM) – Example 2
 Demodulation
 Multiply the modulated signal by the carrier again.
 Apply a lowpass filter to filter out the high frequencies.

Lowpass filter A
A
×

2k f/Hz 1k 2k f/Hz

14 Demodulated Signal
Amplitude Modulation (AM) Exercise
Spectrum of three baseband signals S1, S2 and S3 are shown as below:

(a) What is the bandwidth of the baseband signals S1, S2 and S3,
respectively?

Answer:
S1 bandwidth=3 kHz – 0 = 3 kHz
S2 bandwidth=4 kHz – 0 = 4 kHz
S3 bandwidth=5 kHz – 0 = 5 kHz

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(b) Assume that we transmit these three signals S1, S2 and S3 together
using the carrier frequencies of 1.51MHz, 1.52MHz and 1.53MHz
respectively. Draw the resulting frequency spectrum containing the
three modulated signals. (Put all the channels into one graph, and use
the frequency range of 1.50 MHz to 1.54 MHz in the horizontal axis.)

Answer:

For S1: 1.51-0.003=1.507, 1.51+0.003=1.513

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(c) What is the bandwidth of each of the three modulated signals,
respectively?
Answer:
From (b):

Modulated S1: 1.513 – 1.507 = 0.006M = 6 kHz

Modulated S2: 1.524 – 1.516 = 0.008M = 8 kHz
Modulated S3: 1.535 – 1.525 = 0.01M = 10 kHz

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(d) Now, we tune our radio to listen to channel 3.
(i) What kind of filter we should apply in order to select channel 3?
(ii) Draw the frequency spectrum after applying the filter (assume
an ideal filter is used).

Answer:
From (b):

(i) bandpass filter, centered at 1.53MHz, with bandwidth 10kHz

(ii) after applying filter:

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(e) After filtering, what additional process is needed in order to recover
the baseband signal from the modulated signal? (Give detailed
description on how this process works)

Answer:
Step 1: multiply the modulated signal by the carrier at frequency 1.53
MHz

1.53-1.53 1.53+1.53
Step 2: apply a lowpass filter with cutoff frequency of 5 kHz

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