Amplitude Modulation Reception

AM De-mod.is reverse process of AM mod.

capable of receiving, amplifying ,de-modulating AM
wave

RF section is 1st stageof , its functions are detecting , band-

limiting & amplifying received RF signals
2nd is mixer / converter section . It converts the received RF
frequencies to intermediate frequencies(IF’s)
Primary function of IF section are amplification&selectivity
AM detector de-modulates AM & convert to original signal
Receiver Parameters :-
Most important parameters are selectivity&sensitivity used
to compare quality of one radio to another

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Selectivity
Ability of to accept given band of frequencies & reject others

 Several ways to describe selectivity of radio receiver

reject unwanted frequencies

Sensitivity
Sensitivity of is minimum RF signal level that detected at
i/p to & still produce a usable de-mod info. signal
S/N &power of signal at o/p determine quality of signal
sensitivity called threshold
Sensitivity of AM depends on noise power present at i/p to
. Improve sensitivity of is to reduce noise level.
It is done by reducing temperature or BWof or improving
noise figure.
Fidelity
Ability of comm. Sys to produce at o/p of , an exact replica of
original source info.or
Fidelity of to produce accurate o/p over wide range of freq’s
Any freq, phase or ampl variation present in de-mod WF that
were not in original info. signal are considered distortion
3 forms of distortion that deteriorate or drop fidelity of -Comm.
Sys are amplitude, frequency & phase

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Phase distortion is not important for voice transmission b/c
human ear is insensitive to phase variations
It is devastating / damping to data transmission
Pre-dominant causes of phase distortion is filtering(wanted or
unwanted)
Amplitude distortion occurs when amp.vs freq. of a signal at
o/p of differ from original signal. It is result of gain in
amplifier& filter
Frequency distortion occur when frequencies are present in
received signal that were not present in original source info.
It is result of harmonic & inter-modulation distortion & caused by
non-linear amplification
AM Receivers
2 types of Radio Receivers(RR)
I )Coherent Receiver ( synchronous )
Frequency generated in & used for de-mod are synchronized to
oscillator frequencies generated in
II) Non- coherent( asynchronous )
Either no frequencies are generated in of frequencies used for
de-mod are completely independent from
Non-coherent detection is called envelop detection b/c info is
recovered from received WF by detecting shape of modulated
envelop
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Tuned Radio-Frequency (TRF) Receiver
TRF earliest AM
TRF are simplest design RR available today
TRF have shortcoming (defects) that limit use to special
applications

It is 3-stage TRF , RF stage , detector stage , audio stage

Generally 2 or 3 RF-amplifier are required to filter & amplify
received signal to level sufficient to drive detector stage
Detector converts RF signals to information
Audio stage amplifies information signals to usable level
TRF are simple & high sensitivity
3 disadvantages that limit to single channel & LF applications
1st primary disadvantage is their BW is inconsistent(lack) & varies
with center frequency ( )when tuned over wide range of i/p
frequencies caused by phenomena called skin effect
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 At RF , current flow is limited to outermost area of conductor ,
thus higher frequencies , smaller effective area & greater
resistance Quality factor of tank ckt (Q = ) of tank ckt
remains constant over wide range of frequencies , causing BW (
f/Q) increase with frequency
2nd disadvantage of TRF is instability due to large no .of RF
amplifier all tuned to same center frequency ( )
HF-amps are susceptible(allergic) to breaking into oscillator
Problem reduced by tuning each amp. to different freq. slightly
above or below desired
 This technique is called stagger tuning
3rddisadv.of TRF is their gains are not uniform over a very wide
frequency range b/c of non-uniform ratio of transformer-
coupled tank circuits in RF amplifiers
Super-heterodyne (SH) Receiver
Non selectivity of TRF led to development of SH - near the end
of 1st World War
It quality improved to its original design, its basic configuration
Still today for wide variety of radio communication services
It remains in use b/c its gain, selectivity &sensitivity are superior
to other configurations
Heterodyne mix 2 frequencies together in non-linear device or
translate one freq. to another using non-linear mixing

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SH has 5 sections are :-
 RF , mixer/converter , IF , audio detector , audio amplifier
1.RF Section : Consist of pre-selector & amp (separate or single
combined ckt)
Pre-sel. is broad-tuned BPF with adjustable & tuned to desired
freq.
 a)Pre-selector provide band limiting & prevent specific
unwanted RF called image frequency
It reduce noise BW of & provides initial step reducing overall
BW to minimum BW to pass info.signals
 b) RF amplifier determines sensitivity of (set signal
threshold).
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 have one or more RF amp. Depending on desired sensitivity
Advantages of RF amplifier in are :-
I.Greater gain, better sensitivity III. Better S/N ratio
II. Improved image –freq. rejection IV. Better selectivity
2. Mixer/ Converter :- It includes RF oscillator (local oscillator )&
called 1st detector. It convert RF- IF
Heterodyning in mixer & RF are down- converted to IF
Carrier & SB frequencies are translated from RF to IF ,shape of
envelop remains same & original info. in envelop remain
unchanged
Note: carrier, USF ,LSF& BW is unchanged by heterodyning
process
3. IF section:- consist of of IF-amp, BPFs & called IF strip
 gain & selectivity in this section
IF is always lower in freq. than RF b/c easier& less expensive to
construct high –gain, stable amp. for LF signals
 IF amp. are less likely to oscillate than their RF counterparts
4.Detector section :- convert IF signals back to original source
info.
called audio detector or 2nddetector in a broadcast b/c info.
signal are audio frequencies
 Detector simply a diode or complex PLL or bal. de-mod.

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5. Audio amplifier section :- consists of several cascaded audio
amplifiers or more speakers

Receiver Operation
During de-mod. SH ,recvd. signals go 2 or more freq. translation
1st RF convert IF,then IF to source info.
RF &IFaresystem dependent& often misleading b/c they do not
.indicate specific range of frequencies
Frequency conversion: - It is in mixer / converter & identical to
freq. conversion in modulator stage of except in freq. are
down-converted rather than up-converted
In mixer RF signal combined with LO in non-linear device & o/p’s
are:-
i) infinite no. of harmonic
ii) Cross- product include sum & diff freq. b/w RF & LO
frequencies

 IF filters are tuned to different frequencies

RF(freq.) + LO(freq.) = IF
Gang tuning
Adjustment for of pre-selector & adjustment for called
ganged tuning (2 adjustment are mechanically tied together)
tuned above RF high-side injection or high-beat injection
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& below RF low-beat injection
 In AM broadcast-band high- side injection always used
= for high & low side injection

 Fig shows freq. conversion for AM, SH - using high

injection
 I/p to any AM channel occupy BW b/w 535KHz
1605KHz
 Pre-selector tuned to Ch. 2 which operates = 550KHz & SB
extending from 545KHz to 555KHz(10KHz BW)
 Pre-selector tuned to PB = 30KHz, allowing ch’s 1, 2 , 3 & pass
to mixer where they mixed with = 1005KHz
 Mixer o/p contain 3 ch’s except b/c high- rejection used
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  Heterodyning process causes SB’s to be inverted (USB & LSB)
of each channel are flipped (inter-change ) over
 Ch. 1 & 3 places in frequency domain (FD) w.r.t ch. 2
 i.ech 1 above ch 2 in FD &ch. 3 below ch. 2

Heterodyning process convert

 Ch 1 535KHz to 545KHz band 460KHz to 470KHz band
 Ch 2 545KHz to 555KHz band 450KHz to 460KHz band
 Ch 3 555KHz to 565KHz band 440KHz to 450KHz band
Note :-
Ch.2 is only ch.falls within BW of IF filters (450KHz to 460KHz)
ch. 2 is only channel through to IF amp. finally AM de-mod
ckt
Local oscillator tracking
Ability of LO in to oscillate above & below RF carrier by equal
amount to IF throughout RF – band
Fig shows pre-selector & LO tuned ckt in AM

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2 tuning capacitors are ganged together

Resonant freq ,Difference b/w actual & called

tracking error.Fig shows typical tracking curve

Fig shows electronically tuned pre-selector & LO

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Changing position of wiper arm on precision variable resistor &
dc rev. bias for two tuning diodes ( & ) changed
Diode capacitance & of tuned ckt vary with rev. bias
 In SH- selectivity accomplished (achieved )in IF
Image frequency ( )
is any freq. other than selected RF carrier , if allowed to enter
& mix with LO will produce a cross –product frequency equal
to IF

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Fig shows relatively freq. spectrum for RF, IF LO & image
frequencies for SH- using high injection
Note:-
For better image- frequency rejection high IF preferred
Image- frequency rejection ratio (IFRR)
It is numerical measure ability of pre-selector to reject
For single tuned pre-selector , IFRR
IFRR =
Where =( -
Note:

Ratio = is important consideration for rejection

Double spotting
Occurs when picks up same station nearby points on tuning
dial
One point at desired location & other point is called spurious
point (unauthentic)
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It caused by poor front-end selectivity or inadequate rejection
AM Receiver Circuits
RF amplifier is high-gain , low noise , tuned amplifier used as 1st
active stage encountered by received signal
Primary purpose of RF stage are :-
*Selectivity* Amplification *Sensitivity
Following characteristics are desirable for RF amplifier:-
1. Low thermal Noise
2. Low noise figure
3. Moderate to high gain
4. Low inter- modulation &harmonic distortion
5. Moderate selectivity
6. High IFRR
Most important parameters for are
 Amplification & noise figure
AM- demod detects amplitude variations in modulated wave
& convert them to amplitude changes in its o/p
Fig show RF amplifier circuit

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BJT RF- amp.with , , & form coupling circuit from
antenna
reducenon-linear distortion
Collector transformer coupled to mixer through which is
double coupled tuned for more selectivity
& are RF bypass capacitors offer less inductance. These are
specially constructed feed through capacitors
These Capacitors offer less inductance which prevent portion of
signal from radiating from their leads
- - - - Neutralization capacitor
& forms ac voltage divider for feedback signal

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AM Detector Circuits
AM detector de-mod. AM signal & recover or reproduce original
source information
Recovered signal contain same frequencies & amp. of original
signal
Peak detector
Fig shows AM de-mod. called peak detector

Non-linear mixing occur in when 2 or more signals are applied

to i/p also called positive peak- detector
O/p have original i/p freq’s, their harmonics & their cross products
RC is LP-filter ,only difference freq’s are passed on to audio
section
 Diode detector is simple mixer
 De-mod ckt shown above called diode detector
Diode a non-lineardevice(pk detector), it detects pk of

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Fig for detector WF, WF & detector WF

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Fig i/ p & o/p WF for pk. detector with various

Automatic Gain Control (AGC) Circuits

AGC compensateminor variation in received RF signal level

Cktautomatically increase for weak level &

automatically decrease when strong signal
received
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Weak signal buried in noise & impossible to detect

Strong signal can overdrive RF/ IF- amp &produce excessive non-
linear distortion even saturation

Several types AGC are:-

*Simple AGC *Delayed AGC *Forward AGC

Simple AGC

Fig shows AM-SH with simple AGC

AGC ckt monitor received signal level & sends a signal back to RF &
IF-amp to adjust their gain
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AGC is a form of degenerative or – ve feedback

AGC allow to detect & de-mod, equally well , signals

transmitted from different stations whose & distance
from vary

AGC ckt produce voltage that adjust gain & keeps IF carrier
power at i/p to AM detector at constant level

 AGC ckt is not a form of automatic volume control(AVC)

AGC is independent of modulation & unaffected by normal

change in modulating signal amplitude

Fig shows simple AGC ckt. It is peak detector & take correction
voltage from o/p of audio detector

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In ckt –ve pk. detector & produce –ve voltage at its o/p

Greater amplitude of , more –ve

-ve voltage from AGC is fed back to IF stage , where it control bias
voltage on base of

Squelch Circuits

Purpose of squelch ckt to quiet in absence of recvd signal

If AM tuned in & no RF signal , AGC ckt adjust for

maximum gain

amplifies & de-mod its own internal noise

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Sq.ckt uses AGC voltage to monitor recvd RF signal level

Greater AGC voltage ,stronger RF signal

When AGC voltage drops below a preset level , Sq. ckt activated &
disable audio section of

Sq. detector uses resistive volt. divider to monitor AGC volt.

When RF signal drops below sq. threshold turn ON& shuts

OFF audio amp.

When RF signal increase above sq. threshold AGC voltage

becomes more –ve turning OFF & enable audio amp.

Sq. threshold level adjusted by

Solve e.g 5.1 to 5.6

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Ganged Capacitor

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