EN-322: Analog & Digital

Communication
Instructor: Dr. Sajjad Ahmed
Department of Electronics Engineering University of
Engineering & Technology Taxila
Email: sajjad.ahmed@uettaxila.edu.pk

Week 1
Spring 2024
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 Course information
• Resources are on OneDrive.
– Course syllabus
– Slides and notes (the course is not fully slide-based but
we have a combination of slides and class notes)
Note: The textbook provides more in-depth coverage of the
material than I can cover in class.
– Make sure you attend the class and take notes
– Homework assignments
– Exams
– Quizzes

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 Grading
• Midterm exam: 25%
• Final exam 50%
Homework/Assignments 13%
• Quizzes 12%
➢ Plagiarism and copying others’ work is a form of cheating.3
 Textbook

Modern Digital and Analog Communication

Systems, by B. P. Lathi and Zhi Ding,
5th Edition, Oxford University Press, 2018
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Other References (Not Required, But Recommended)

Fundamentals of Communication Systems,

by John G. Proakis and Masoud Salehi, 2nd
Edition, Pearson, 2014
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Chapter 1: Introduction

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 What is a communication system?
• Communication systems
are designed to transmit
information.
• Information, by nature,
is not predictable. If it
were, we would not
need to transmit it in the
first place.
• The more unpredictable
(or surprising) a message
is, the more information
it carries.

Some examples of communications systems

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 Parameters affecting communications

• In electrical communications, we use waveforms to transmit

information.

• A transmitted waveform (with a certain amount of energy) occupies

a certain amount of bandwidth in the frequency spectrum – these
are consumable resources.

• The waveforms will also be corrupted by unwanted, unpredictable

electrical perturbations – the noise.

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• We want to transmit as much information as possible, while
maximizing performance and minimizing cost and the use of
resources – these are conflicting goals!

• Some main concerns for a communications system designer:

– Selection of the information-bearing waveform
– Bandwidth and power of the waveform
– Effect of system noise on the received information
– Cost of the system

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 Digital and analog sources

• Digital information sources produce a finite set of possible

messages.

• Analog information sources produce messages defined on a

continuum.

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 Digital and analog systems

• A digital communication system transmits information from

a digital (or digitized) source.
• An analog communication system transmits information
directly from an analog source.

• Digital waveform vs analog waveform: A digital waveform is

defined as a function of time that can have only a discrete
set of amplitude values. If the digital waveform is a binary
waveform, only two values are allowed. An analog
waveform is a function of time that has a continuous range
of values.
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 Advantages of digital communications
• Relatively inexpensive digital circuits may be used.
• Privacy is preserved by using data encryption.
• Data from voice, video, and data sources may be merged and
transmitted over a common digital transmission system.
• In long-distance systems, noise does not accumulate from
repeater to repeater.
• Errors in detected data may be small, even when there is a large
amount of noise on the received signal.
• Errors may often be corrected by the use of coding.
• Disadvantage: Generally, more bandwidth is required than that
for analog systems. Furthermore, synchronization is a
requirement.

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 Waveforms: deterministic vs. random

• A deterministic waveform can be completely specified as

a function of time.
w(t ) = A cos( 0 t +  0 )
All three parameters above (A, ω0 and φ0) have known
values.
• A random (stochastic) waveform cannot be completely
determined in advance – needs probabilistic modeling.
• In communications, noise and information waveforms are
random.

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 Block diagram of a communication system
• Every communication system has to have a
transmitter, a channel, and a receiver.

• It also obviously needs an information source, and an

information sink or output.
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 Block diagram of a digital communication system

- The information generated by the source may be of the form of voice (speech
source), a picture (image source), or plain text in some particular language.
- Output is described in probabilistic terms, i.e., the output of a source is not
deterministic. Otherwise, there would be no need to transmit the message.

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- A transducer is usually required to convert the output of a source into an
electrical signal that is suitable for transmission.

- For example, a microphone serves as the transducer that converts an

acoustic speech signal into an electrical signal, and a video camera that
converts an image into an electrical signal. At the destination, a similar
transducer is required to convert the electrical signals that are received
into a form that is suitable for the user, e.g., acoustic signals and
images.

- As another example in wireless communications, in radio

and TV broadcasts, the FCC specifies the frequency range
for each transmitting station. Hence, the transmitter must
translate the outgoing information signal into the
appropriate frequency range that matches the frequency
allocation assigned to the transmitter. Thus, signals
transmitted by multiple radio stations do not interfere with
one another. Similar functions are performed in telephone
communication systems where the electrical speech
signals from many users are transmitted over the same
wire. LoRa (long range) Radio
Developed by Semtech Corporation

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- In general, the transmitter matches the message signal to the channel via a process
called modulation. Usually, modulation involves the use of the information signal to
systematically vary either the amplitude or the frequency or the phase of a sinusoidal
carrier.
- For example, in AM radio broadcast, the information signal that is transmitted is
contained in the amplitude variations of the sinusoidal carrier, which is the
center frequency in the frequency band allocated to the radio transmitting
station. This is an example of amplitude modulation.
- In an FM radio broadcast, the information signal that is transmitted is contained
in the frequency variations of the sinusoidal carrier. This is an example of
frequency modulation.
- Phase modulation (PM) is yet a third method for impressing the information
signal on a sinusoidal carrier.

- In general, carrier modulation such as AM, FM, and PM is performed at the

transmitter, as previously indicated, to convert the information signal to a form that
matches the characteristics of the channel. Thus, through the process of modulation,
the information signal is translated in frequency to match the allocation of the
channel. The choice of the type of modulation is based on several factors, such as the
amount of bandwidth allocated, the types of noise and interference that the signal
encounters in transmission over the channel, and the electronic devices that are
available for signal amplification prior to transmission. In any case, the modulation
process makes it possible to accommodate the transmission of multiple messages
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from many users over the same physical channel.
• Channel: The medium through which information is
transmitted.
– Wired Channels, e.g.,
• Coaxial cables, twisted-pair of wires, optical fiber,
etc.
– Wireless Channels, e.g.,
• Air, vacuum (space), water, …
• Channel is where noise is added.
– Noise, from natural and manmade sources, introduces
unpredictable corruption of the transmitted signal in a
random manner.
• In wireless transmissions, channel may also distort the
signal, and add multipath reflections and other
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impairments.
• Receiver Carrier Circuits block: Moves the corrupted
received bandpass signal back into baseband for
processing.
• Receiver Signal Processing block: “Cleans up” the
corrupted baseband signal to produce the “best”
estimate of the source message.
• “Best” might mean a number of things, e.g.,
– A minimum probability of bit error, Pb, or a minimum
bit error rate, BER, for a digital communications
system.
– A maximum signal-to-noise ratio, SNR, at the output
of the receiver for an analog communications system.

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 Frequency allocations
• When information is wirelessly transmitted, the
associated waveform, radiated electromagnetically
through the air, occupies a portion of the available
frequency spectrum.
• Since there are countless users of this resource (the
spectrum), international and national governing bodies
regulate its use by allocating portions of it for various
applications.
• International Telecommunications Union (ITU) is the
international overseer, and in the Pakistan, Frequency
Allocation Board (FAB) is the national overseer.

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Frequency bands- big picture

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Frequency bands explanation (1)

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Frequency bands explanation (2)

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Frequency bands explanation (3)

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 Propagation of electromagnetic waves

• There are three main, mostly

frequency-dependent (and
time-dependent) modes of
propagation for
electromagnetic waves:
▪ Ground-wave propagation
▪ Sky-wave propagation
▪ Line-of-sight (LOS)
propagation

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• These modes of propagation are due to the effects of ionized
regions of the atmosphere, and may be time-of-day dependent.
1. In ground-wave propagation, signals follow the curvature of
the earth due to diffraction (bending).
- This is the propagation mode used in AM broadcasting, where
the local coverage follows the Earth’s contour and the signal
propagates over the visual horizon.

2. In sky-wave propagation, signals reflect back from the

“ionosphere” due to refraction.
In the ionosphere the waves are refracted (i.e., bent)
gradually in an inverted U shape, because the index of
refraction varies with altitude as the ionization density
changes. The refraction index of the ionosphere is given by

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 Simplest mathematical model for communications channels

Additive noise
channel

• In this model, the transmitted signal s(t) is corrupted by the

additive random-noise process n(t).
• Physically, the additive noise process may arise from electronic
components and amplifiers at the receiver of the communication
system, or from interference encountered in transmission, as in
the case of radio signal transmission.
• If the noise is introduced primarily by electronic components and
amplifiers at the receiver, it may be characterized as thermal
noise. This type of noise is characterized statistically as a Gaussian
noise process. 29
• Hence, the resulting mathematical model for the channel
is usually called the additive Gaussian noise channel.
Because this channel model applies to a broad class of
physical communication channels and because it has
mathematical tractability, this is the predominant
channel model used in the analysis and design of
communication systems.
• Channel attenuation is easily incorporated into the
model.

Where a represents the attenuation factor.

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 The Linear Filter Channel

• In some physical channels, filters are used to ensure that the

transmitted signals do not exceed specified bandwidth limitations;
thus, they do not interfere with one another. Such channels are
generally characterized mathematically as linear filter channels
with additive noise.

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where h(t) is the impulse response of the linear filter and * denotes convolution.
 The Linear Time-Variant Filter Channel

• Physical channels, such as underwater acoustic channels and

ionospheric radio channels, which result in time-variant multipath
propagation of the transmitted signal, may be characterized
mathematically as time-variant linear filters.
• Such linear filters are characterized by the time-variant channel
impulse response h(τ ; t), where (τ ; t) is the response of the channel
at time t , due to an impulse applied at time t - τ. Thus, τ represents
the "age" (elapsed time) variable.

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• Let us consider signal propagation through a multipath channel,
such as the ionosphere (at frequencies below 30 MHz) and
mobile cellular radio channels. For such channels, a good model
for the time-variant impulse response has the form

where the {ak(t)} represents the possibly time-variant attenuation

factor for the L multipath propagation paths. If the above equation is
substituted into the equation in the previous page, the received
signal has the form

Hence, the received signal consists of L multipath components,

where each component is attenuated by {ak} and delayed by {τk}.
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• Nyquist investigated the problem of
determining the maximum signaling rate that
can be used over a telegraph channel of a
given bandwidth without intersymbol
interference.
• He formulated a model of a telegraph system
in which a transmitted signal has the general
form 𝑠 𝑡 = σ𝑛 𝑎𝑛 g(t − nT)

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• where g(t) represents a basic pulse shape and {an} is the
binary data sequence of {±1} transmitted at a rate of 1/T
bits/sec.
• Nyquist set out to determine the optimum pulse shape that
was bandlimited to W Hz and maximized the bit rate 1/T
under the constraint that the pulse caused no intersymbol
interference at the sampling times k/T, k = 0, ±1, ±2, ….
• His studies led him to conclude that the maximum pulse rate
1/T is 2W pulses/sec. This rate is now called the Nyquist rate.
• Moreover, this pulse rate can be achieved by using the pulses
g(t) = (sin 2π Wt)/2π Wt. This pulse shape allows the
recovery of the data without intersymbol interference at the
sampling instants. Nyquist's result is equivalent to a version
of the sampling theorem for bandlimited signals, which was
later stated precisely by Shannon (1948).
• The sampling theorem states that a signal of bandwidth W
can be reconstructed from samples taken at the Nyquist rate
of 2W samples/sec
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 Information Theory
Shannon established many important
theorems such the basic limits on
communication of information and gave birth
to a new field that is now called information
theory.

Claude Shannon, Photograph by Alfred Eisenstaedt

/ The LIFE Picture Collection / Getty
 Measuring Information

• We know intuitively that the more surprising, or

unpredictable a message is, the more information it
carries.
• We can formalize this concept as follows:
– Information (sent from a digital source when jth
message is transmitted) is
I j = log2 (1 / Pj ) bits
where Pj is the probability of transmitting the jth
message.
• Using log2, information is measured in “bits.” This usage
of the term bit is distinct from the one that refers to a
binary digit. 37
• We can also define the average information content for a
source by taking the expectation of Ij over all messages:
– Average information measure (of a digital source) is

H =  Pj I j =  Pj log 2 (1 / Pj ) bits
m m

j =1 j =1

where m is the number of messages.

• This is also known as the entropy of a source.
– We may also obtain the source rate from the entropy,
with T as the time per message, by

R = H /T bits/s.

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 Coding
• When the error rate is more than desired in a digital
communication system, errors may be reduced by the
use of coding.
– In automatic repeat request (ARQ) coding, when the
receiver detects presence of errors through parity
checks, it requests retransmission of erroneous data –
needs a return channel.
– In forward error correction (FEC) coding, the receiver
can detect and correct errors, through judicious use of
redundancy, up to a certain limit set by the capability
of the code – increases the channel data rate.

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• The choice between using the ARQ or the FEC technique
depends on the particular application.

• ARQ is often used in computer communication systems

because it is relatively inexpensive to implement and there is
usually a duplex (two-way) channel so that the receiving end
can transmit back an acknowledgment (ACK) for correctly
received data or a request for retransmission (NAC) when the
data are received in error.

• FEC techniques are used to correct errors on simplex (one-

way) channels, where returning of an ACK/NAC indicator
(required for the ARQ technique) is not feasible.
• FEC is preferred on systems with large transmission delays,
because if the ARQ technique were used, the effective data
rate would be small; the transmitter would have long idle
periods while waiting for the ACK/NAC indicator, which is
retarded by the long transmission delay.
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 Types of FEC codes

• FEC coding, also known as channel coding (as opposed to

source coding), can be split into two broad categories:
– Block codes, where there is one-to-one mapping of
every block of k input symbols to n coded output
symbols, with no memory involved.

– Convolutional codes, where still n coded output

symbols are produced for every k input symbols but
the sequence of n output symbols depends on a
sequence k+v input symbols – memory involved.

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• In both cases, the code rate for an (n, k) code is defined
as
𝑘
𝑅𝑐 =
𝑛

where n > k so that the rate is always less than one

(redundancy introduced).
• In general, everything else being the same, convolutional
codes are more powerful than block codes but they also
require more complicated decoding processes.
• There are some very advanced coding schemes based on
combinations of existing codes that produce
communication systems approaching the channel
capacity.

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• Channel capacity provides us with a theoretical performance
bound that we try to approach with practical communications
systems.
• Capacity can be calculated for any channel; for the highly
prevalent additive white Gaussian noise channel (AWGN), it is
given as
 S
C = B log 2 1 +  bits/s
 N
where B is the bandwidth of the channel, S is the signal power
and N is the noise power.
• To summarize: If the information rate from the source is less
than C (rate < C), then it is theoretically possible to achieve
reliable (error-free) transmission through the channel by
appropriate coding. On the other hand, if rate > C, reliable
transmission is not possible regardless of the amount of signal
processing performed at the transmitter and receiver.
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• Some Examples

➢ Example 1: Find the information content of a message that

consists of a digital word 12 digits long in which each digit
may take on one of four possible levels. The probability of
sending any of the four levels is assumed to be equal, and
the level in any digit does not depend on the values taken
on by previous digits.

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➢ Example 2: A telephone touch-tone keypad has the digits 0 to 9,
plus the * and # keys. Assume that the probability of sending *
or # is 0.005 and the probability of sending 0 to 9 is 0.099 each.
If the keys are pressed at a rate of 2 keys/s, compute the data
rate for this source.

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➢ Example 3: A computer user plans to buy a higher-speed modem
for sending data over their telephone line. The telephone line has
a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 25 dB and passes audio
frequencies over the range from 300 to 3,200 Hz. Calculate the
maximum data rate that could be sent over the telephone line
when there are no errors at the receiving end.

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 Summary and Further Reading
• we presented an introduction of the basic
elements of analog and digital communication
systems and described several important
advances in the development of digital
communications.

• Highly recommending: Ch. 1 (Lathi)

• Optional: Ch.1 (Proakis-Salehi)

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