COMM 1208 Unit 5 Baseband Communications

Baseband Communications
1. Bandwidth...............................................................................................................................................2
1.1 Bandwidth definitions (Google definitions)......................................................................................2
1.2 Minimum Bandwidth Requirements.................................................................................................3
2. Line Coding.............................................................................................................................................4
2.1 Requirements....................................................................................................................................4
2.2 Analogue Telephone Line Considerations........................................................................................4
2.3 Digital Signalling Formats................................................................................................................4
2.3.1 Unipolar Non Return to Zero (NRZ).........................................................................................4
2.3.2 Bipolar NRZ.............................................................................................................................5
2.3.3 Unipolar Return to Zero (RZ)...................................................................................................5
2.3.4 Bipolar RZ................................................................................................................................5
2.3.5 Alternate Mark Inversion (AMI) RZ Signalling........................................................................6
2.3.6 Manchester Coding...................................................................................................................6
2.3.7 Coding comparison...................................................................................................................7
3. M-Ary Line Coding................................................................................................................................8
4. Line Transmission Systems....................................................................................................................9
4.1 Equaliser.........................................................................................................................................10
5. Transmission Line Impairments.........................................................................................................10
5.1 Amplitude distortion and phase distortion......................................................................................11
5.2 Inter Symbol Interference...............................................................................................................11

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 COMM 1208 Unit 5 Baseband Communications

1. Bandwidth

1.1 Bandwidth definitions (Google definitions)

 A measure of the capacity of a communications channel. The higher a channel's bandwidth, the
more information it can carry.
www.tamu.edu/ode/glossary.html

 A relative range of frequencies that can carry a signal on a transmission medium.

www.adaptivedigital.com/services/serv_definitions.htm

 A measure of spectrum (frequency) use or capacity. For instance, a voice transmission by telephone
requires a bandwidth of about 3000 cycles per second (3 KHz). A TV channel occupies a bandwidth
of 6 million cycles per second (6 MHz) in terrestrial Systems. In satellite based systems a larger
bandwidth of 17.5 to 72 MHz is used to spread or "dither" the television signal in order to prevent
interference.
www.spidersat.net/glossary/glossary_b.htm

 The range of frequencies, expressed in hertz (Hz), that can pass over a given transmission channel.
The bandwidth determines the rate at which information can be transmitted through the circuit.
www.ssloral.com/html/products/glossary.html

 The complete range of frequencies over which a circuit or electronic system is allocated to function.
In transmission, the US analog and digital television channel bandwidth is 6 MHz.
www.wgcu.org/watch/hdtv_glossaryofterms.html

 The range of frequencies a channel can carry. The higher the frequency, the higher the bandwidth
and the greater the capacity of a channel. In Internet terms, higher bandwidth means a higher ability
to transmit and receive data.
www.7designavenue.com/glossary.htm

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1.2 Minimum Bandwidth Requirements

Any signal can be treated as if it were made up of an infinite number of frequency components. We have
seen the spectrum of a square wave already in which case the (significant) frequency components include
much higher frequencies than the fundamental frequency. To transmit the waveform without significant
distortion would therefore require a channel with a considerable bandwidth, together with a suitable phase
change characteristic.
A pulse train does not have to be received
+V undistorted in order to make correct decisions
about its binary states. In fact, in the case
Time illustrated, so long as the fundamental
component, at f=l/(T) Hz, of the square wave
corresponding to the bit stream ...01010101…
Period = T can be transmitted, then correct decisions can
B T Bit Interval B = T/2 be made about the binary states. It is possible,
in theory at least, to transmit 2/T symbols per
second over a channel of bandwidth 2/(T) Hz.
B=2xf
Bits per second = 2 x bandwidth

For example a 64 kbit/s data stream, could be sent and recovered over a 32 kHz bandlimited channel.
This is an important general rule (due to Nyquist) for digital waveforms.

Example: A primary ISDN signal has a bit rate of 2.048 Mbit/s. What would be the minimum
theoretical bandwidth required to transmit this signal?

Answer: Minimum bandwidth = 2.048 Mbit/s = 1.024 MHz

Example: A spectrum analyser and antenna is used to record the radiation pattern from a TDM
system which contains clock generators. There are two peaks, at 153.088 MHz and 154.112 MHz.
(a) What is the frequency of the clock generator which is responsible for these peaks?
(b) What is the order of these harmonics?
(c) How might these peaks be reduced without affecting the performance of the system?

Answer: (a) A clock generator outputs a square wave which contains only odd harmonics.
Therefore these frequencies are odd multiples of the clock frequency, and the difference between them
is twice the clock frequency (or perhaps 4 or six times - but much less likely). The difference is
154.112 - 153.088 MHz = 1.024 MHz. Therefore the clock is 512 kHz.
(b) 154.122 MHz is the 301st harmonic (154.122/.512 = 301). The other one is the 299 th
harmonic
(c) The output from the clock generator should be filtered e.g. by using a ferrite bead in series,
or a small capacitor to earth. Track layout is important, keeping all tracks as short as possible. Or the
circuit could be screened - effectively put in a metal box.

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2. Line Coding

2.1 Requirements
Digital data can be transmitted by various pulse waveforms, also called line codes. The following properties
are desirable for a line code:
 It is important that the pulses stream to be transmitted does not have a DC component. It can case
baseline wander or Galvanic Corrosion.
 It should be relatively easy to recover the data clock.
 The line coding scheme should be bandwidth efficient.
 The line code should be robust in the presence of noise.
 It should be possible to recognise a line coding error, sometimes called a line violation. (In some
signalling protocols, a line violation is deliberately generated to mark the start of a frame)

2.2 Analogue Telephone Line Considerations

To review the telephone line. At the local exchange a
voltage is applied, via inductors and resistors to the copper
R pair. This allows the transmitting equipment to sink current.
+ The variations in current correspond to change in the
C L voltage signal on the line. The receiver terminal reads this
TX
Telephone
RX voltage. In most cases the receiving terminal is allowed to
Line
take a DC feed from the line itself.
R
+ Terminal
L

Local Exchange
The bandwidth of an analogue telephone line connection is 300 Hz to 3.4 kHz. A square wave or any pulse
train with very fast rise times will be distorted if it is sent along a telephone line. Therefore an analogue
telephone line is not suitable for sending digital pulses as all frequency components outside the 300 - 3 kHz
range will be removed. This bandwidth limitation is not caused totally by the copper pair but by the filters in
the local exchange which are part of the analogue to digital process. In the past some analogue telephone
lines also had loading coils (inductors) on the line which were intended to give a flat frequency response.
On a digital telephone line all analogue filters are removed so the usable bandwidth of the copper pair itself
is much greater and can extend to a few Megahertz. These lines are suitable for pulse transmission e.g.
ISDN.

2.3 Digital Signalling Formats

2.3.1 Unipolar Non Return to Zero (NRZ)

Symbol 1 is represented by transmitting a pulse of constant amplitude for the entire duration of the bit
interval, and symbol 0 is represented by no pulse. NRZ indicates that the assigned amplitude level is
maintained throughout the entire bit period. This allows for long series without change, which makes
synchronization difficult (difficult to recover the clock). Unipolar also contains a strong DC component.

From www.wikipedia.com
In telecommunication, a non-return-to-zero (NRZ) line code is a binary code in which "1's" are represented
by one significant condition and "0's" are represented by the other significant condition, with no other

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neutral or rest condition. The pulses have more energy than a RZ code, but it does not have a rest state,
which means a synchronization signal must also be sent alongside the code.

For a given data signaling rate, i.e., bit rate, the NRZ code requires only half the bandwidth required by the
Manchester code.

When used to represent data in an asynchronous communication scheme, the absence of a neutral state
requires other mechanisms for data recovery, to replace methods used for error detection when using
synchronization information when a separate clock signal is available.

2.3.2 Bipolar NRZ

Pulses of equal positive and negative amplitudes represent symbols 1 and 0. (e.g. ± 5 volts, ± 12 volts) In
either case, the assigned pulse amplitude level is maintained throughout the bit interval. Because of the
positive and negative levels the average voltage will tend towards zero and hence little DC component.
Again synchronisation will be difficult.

2.3.3 Unipolar Return to Zero (RZ)

Symbol 1 is represented by a positive pulse that returns to zero before the end of the bit interval and symbol
0 is represented by the absence of pulse.

2.3.4 Bipolar RZ
Positive and negative pulses of equal amplitude are used for symbol 1 and symbol 0. In either case the pulse
returns to 0 before the end of the bit interval.

From www.wikipedia.com
Return-to-zero (RZ) describes a line code used in telecommunications signals in which the signal drops
(returns) to zero between each pulse. This takes place even if a number of consecutive zeros or ones occur in
the signal. The signal is self-clocking. This means that a separate clock does not need to be sent alongside
the signal, but suffers from using twice the bandwidth to achieve the same data-rate as compared to non-
return-to-zero format.
The "zero" between each bit is a neutral or rest condition, such as a zero amplitude in pulse amplitude
modulation (PAM).

2.3.5 Alternate Mark Inversion (AMI) RZ Signalling

Positive and negative pulses (of equal amplitude) are used for alternative symbols 1 .No pulse is used for
symbol 0. In either case the pulse returns to 0 before the end of the bit interval. An advantage of AMI is that
it is easy to recognise a line violation.

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From www.wikipedia.com
A binary 0 is encoded as zero volts as in unipolar encoding. A binary 1 is encoded alternately as a positive
voltage and a negative voltage. This prevents a significant build-up of DC, as the positive and negative
pulses average to zero volts. Little or no DC-component is considered an advantage because the cable may
then be used for longer distances and to carry power for intermediate equipment such as line repeaters. The
DC-component can be easily and cheaply removed before the signal reaches the decoding circuitry.

Bipolar encoding is preferable to non-return-to-zero where signal transitions are required to maintain
synchronization between the transmitter and receiver. Other systems must synchronize using some form of
out-of-band communication, or add frame synchronization sequences that don't carry data to the signal.
These alternative approaches require either an additional transmission medium for the clock signal or a loss
of performance due to overhead, respectively. A bipolar encoding is an often good compromise: runs of ones
will not cause a lack of transitions, however long sequences of zeroes are still an issue. Long sequences of
zero bits result in no transitions and a loss of synchronization. Where frequent transitions are a requirement,
a self-clocking encoding such as return-to-zero or some other more complicated line code may be more
appropriate, though they introduce significant overhead.

2.3.6 Manchester Coding

Symbol 1 is represented by a positive pulse followed by a negative pulse - with each pulse being of equal
amplitude and duration of half a pulse. For symbol 0 the polarities of these pulses are reversed. An
advantage of this coding is that it is easy to recover the original data clock.

From www.wikipedia.com
Manchester coding provides a simple way to encode arbitrary binary sequences without ever having long
periods without level transitions, thus preventing the loss of clock synchronization, or bit errors from low-
frequency drift on poorly-equalized analog links (see ones-density).
If transmitted as a bipolar signal (i.e. where the two signaling levels are of opposite polarity), the DC
component of the encoded signal is zero, again preventing baseline drift of the repeated signal, making it
easy to regenerate and preventing waste of energy.

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 Time is divided into periods, and one bit is transmitted per period
 A "0" is expressed by a low-to-high transition, a "1" by high-to-low transition (according to G.E.
Thomas' convention--in the IEEE 802.3 convention, the reverse is true)
 The transitions signifying 0 or 1 occur at the midpoint of a period

Manchester codes always have a transition at the middle of each bit period, and depending on the state of the
signal, may have a transition at the beginning of the period as well. The direction of the mid-bit transition is
what carries the data, with a low-to-high transition indicating one binary value, and a high-to-low transition
indicating the other.

2.3.7 Coding comparison

1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0

Unipolar NRZ

Bipolar NRZ

Unipolar RZ

Biplolar RZ

AMI

Manchester

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3. M-Ary Line Coding

The utilisation of bandwidth can be made more efficient by adopting an M-Ary format for the representation
of the input binary data . A Binary code consists of two symbols- '1' and '0'. A quaternary (i.e. 4 level) code
would consist of 4 symbols. The 4 symbols could be assigned to 00, 01, 10 and 11 for example. This would
allow us to half the symbol rate on a transmission line compared to one bit per symbol.
Note that binary data rate is measured in bits/second whereas the symbol rate is measured in Baud.
(Symbols per second).
An example of M-Ary Line coding is 2B1Q line code, as above, used on ISDN basic rate telephone lines
between a subscribers premises and the local telephone exchange. In this
case the baud rate will be half the bit rate. (There are 4 possible symbols,
11 each of which requires 2 bits. If the probability of each symbol is ¼ then
10 the information in each symbol is log2 (1/¼) = log2 4 = 2 bits, so that the
Time information rate is 2 * baud rate = bit rate).

01
00

For example, the input binary sequence 11100001 is viewed as a new sequence of dibits (pairs of bits); 11
10 00 01. Each dibit symbol is assigned one of 4 levels. If we increase the number of levels there will be a
trade-off between noise performance and bandwidth.
Example: Explain how a ternary line coding system can code 3 bits per symbol.
Answer: At 3 bits per symbol, 23 = 8, therefore we need at least 8 symbols. A single ternary pulse
would only allow one of 3 symbols to be represented. Two ternary pulses in a particular order,
however would allow for 9 combinations of levels. This code could be abbreviated as 3B2T. It is not
as efficient as 2B1Q but one advantage is that zero volts is one of the levels and the wave form would
resemble a binary bipolar format, Note that 4B3T coding is also used on ISDN lines in some
countries.

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4. Line Transmission Systems

Problems are encountered when a digital signal is sent through a channel. The diagram shows the basic
stages in a digital signal transmission. A simple non-return-to-zero (NRZ) code is assumed, as already
defined. The transmission medium might be a coaxial cable or a copper twisted pair, as often used in local
area networks or digital telephone systems. Similar principles apply, however, to systems using other
transmission media and/or more complicated codes.

Noise Retiming
Digital Information Extracot
clocked at fc E
- may be source Received
and/or channel Digital
Channel
coded Threshold Retiming Information
Transmitter e.g. Co-ax Equaliser
A B C Detector D Sector F
Copper pair

Typical waveforms at the points labelled A to F in the system are shown. After passing down the cable the
original waveform A is attenuated and a noise component is added. Also because of a finite system response
time and propagation delays, the clear transition between voltage levels become indistinct.

To counteract the distortion illustrated,

1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 Binary information
the system includes an equaliser which
A NRZ Line code from Transmitter
sharpens the received waveform, so that
the relationship of the equaliser output C
B Received signal from TX channel to the original binary symbols is much
clearer. The equaliser would normally
consist of an amplifier stage combined
C Output from equaliser with a filter to reduce unwanted
frequency components. For example, it is
D Output from threshold detector quite common for copper cables to pick
up a 50 Hz noise component from the
mains. It is essential that the equaliser
E Output from timing extractor removes this component. Also, in certain
configurations copper cables will pick up
F Output from re-timing circuit electromagnetic interference, which must
be filtered out. Note also that the input to
1 0 1 1 0 1 0
the equaliser must be protected from
over-voltages such as induced lightning and other transients.
Passing the equalised waveform through a threshold detector (e.g. a Schmitt trigger) generates a binary
signal very similar to the transmitted one. If the threshold settings are too small then noise will trigger the
detector. If the settings are too large then the data may not trigger the detector. It is important that the slew
rate of the comparator used in the detector is fast enough for the data rate.
Provided that the noise levels are sufficiently low, and the equaliser and threshold detector are properly
designed, then the only difference between binary waveforms A and D is that the transitions of the latter are
not perfectly in step with those of the former. The transitions of D will correspond to the threshold-crossings
of waveform C which will not precisely mirror those of the original binary waveform.
The final stage is the re-timing of the received waveform. If this were not carried out, then the irregularities
(jitter) in the waveforms would soon build up to cause error over a long link.
A regular timing reference signal F - the data clock - is derived from the received waveform itself by a
special circuit, (the timing extraction circuit which is based on a Phase Locked Loop). The clock signal and
the output from the threshold detector are then processed to give a final regenerated digital signal F whose
transitions now coincide with the instants at which the clock signal goes from low to high.
A comparison of waveforms C and F shows that the combined effect of threshold detection and re-timing is
equivalent to sampling waveform C near its peaks and troughs to determine the appropriate binary states. So
even in the presence of noise, regenerated signal F can be an almost perfect (delayed) replica of the

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transmitted signal, provided only that the noise is not sufficient to cause an incorrect decision to be made at
the threshold detector.

4.1 Equaliser
From www.wikipedia.com
An equalization (EQ) filter is a filter, usually adjustable, chiefly meant to compensate for the unequal
frequency response of some other signal processing circuit or system.

An EQ filter typically allows the user to adjust one or more parameters that determine the overall shape of
the filter's transfer function. It is generally used to improve the fidelity of sound, to emphasize certain
instruments, to remove undesired noises, or to create completely new and different sounds.

5. Transmission Line Impairments

Until now we have assumed that the transmitter sends a rectangular pulse. A transmission line acts like a
filter so the output response of the transmission line to a rectangular pulse can be quite distorted. The
distortion can mean that pulses can become overlapped thus causing receiver errors. We therefore need to
model the effects of transmitting pulses through a transmission line.
a) Rectangular pulse response of a first order lowpass filter,
V input pulse where the duration of the pulse is approximately equal to
the filter time constant.
pulse response

(a) Time

1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0

(b)
b) Response of the same filter to a binary waveform.
The figure shows the response to a single pulse, and the superimposed pulse responses corresponding to an
input pulse train (binary waveform). Note that because the response to a single pulse takes longer to decay
that the duration of a symbol period, the output waveform gradually accumulates a DC offset. In the absence
of further processing this would clearly cause problems for threshold detection. Even in the positions
corresponding to a binary 0 there can be a considerable output voltage.

input pulse This figure, on the other hand, shows a much more desirable
V overall pulse response for a telecommunications channel. It
shows the possible response of a telecommunications channel
pulse response to (a) a rectangular pulse and (b) a binary waveform. Here the
system response to a bit stream could be decoded without
(a) Time difficulty, owing to the clear distinction in the combined
response between binary 1 and 0.
1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0

(b)
An alternative approach to modelling a linear channel or component is based on the second definition of
linearity. Any practical message signal can be described in terms of its frequency content - or, to be more

10

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precise, modelled as a frequency spectrum. Similarly, any linear system can be completely specified by its
frequency response function, which is a description of amplitude and phase shifts introduced by the system
for all frequencies.

5.1 Amplitude distortion and phase distortion

An ideal transmission channel would pass all frequency components of a signal with their amplitude and
phase relationships unchanged The simplest frequency domain model of such behaviour would be a constant
amplitude ratio and zero phase shift for all
Transmitted Signal
frequencies of interest. For example a square wave
Time would be unaffected by the transmission channel. In
practice, the higher order harmonics will be greatly
Phase and Pulse has spread
attenuated by the transmission channel. Also the
Amplitude Distortion due to phase delay
for harmonics phase shift will be different for each harmonic. For
example, the fundamental harmonic may have a
Amplitude Distortion phase shift of 45 degrees whereas the fifth harmonic
Only could have a phase shift of 80 degrees. This will
cause components of the pulse to be delayed or
stretched. Specifications for digital receiver systems usually include limits for phase delay.

5.2 Inter Symbol Interference

Due to the fact that the transmission channels are bandlimited, the transmitted pulses
tend to spread during transmission. This pulse spreading or dispersion causes overlap
of pulses into adjacent pulse time slots. This signal overlap may result in an error at
t the point where the receiver makes a decision as to which pulse has been transmitted,
especially when other impairments are present (such as noise, interference).

Intersymbol
Interferencce
This effect of pulse overlap and the resultant difficulty of discriminating between symbols at the receiver are
termed inter symbol interference (ISI).

From www.wikipedia.com
In telecommunication, intersymbol interference (ISI) means a form of distortion of a signal that causes the
previously transmitted symbols to have an effect on the currently received symbol. This is usually an
unwanted phenomenon as the previous symbols have similar effect as noise, thus making the
communication less reliable. ISI is usually caused by echoes or non-linear frequency response of the
channel. Ways to fight against intersymbol interference include adaptive equalization or error correcting
codes.

In a digital transmission system, distortion of the received signal, which is manifested in the temporal
spreading and consequent overlap of individual pulses to the degree that the receiver cannot reliably
distinguish between changes of state, i.e., between individual signal elements. At a certain threshold,
intersymbol interference will compromise the integrity of the received data.

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