Principles of

Communications
 Module 4
Amplitude Modulation
Theory and Calculations
• Basic Principles of AM
• Modulation Index and Percentage of Modulation
• AM Power, Voltage, and Current
Basic Principles of AM
• In the modulation process, the voice, video, or digital
signal modifies another signal called the carrier.
• In amplitude modulation (AM) the information signal
varies the amplitude of the carrier sine wave.
• Carrier amplitude changes in accordance with the
amplitude and frequency variations of the modulating
signal.
• An imaginary line called the envelope connects the
positive and negative peaks of the carrier waveform.
Amplitude modulation. (a) The modulating or information signal.
Amplitude modulation. (b) The modulated carrier.
For a sine wave carrier,

vc = Vc sin2πfct
Where:

vc = the instantaneous value of the carrier sine wave

Vc = the peak value of the constant unmodulated
carrier sine wave
fc = the frequency of the carrier sine wave
t = particular point in time during the cycle
For a sine wave modulating signal,

vm = Vm sin2πfmt
Where:

vm = the instantaneous value of the information signal

Vm = the peak value of the information signal
fm = the frequency of the modulating signal
t = particular point in time during the cycle
• In AM, it is particularly important that:
V m < Vc

• Distortion occurs when the amplitude of the modulating

signal is greater than the amplitude of the carrier.
• A modulator is a circuit used to produce AM.
• Amplitude modulators compute the product of the carrier
and modulating signals.
• Circuits that compute the product of two analog signals
are also known as:
• analog multipliers, mixers, converters, product detectors or
phase detectors.
• A circuit that changes lower-frequency baseband or
intelligence signal to a higher-frequency signal is called a
modulator.
• A circuit that changes higher-frequency signal to a lower-
frequency signal is generally referred to as a mixer.
• A circuit used to recover the original intelligence signal
from an AM wave is known as a detector or
demodulator.
Amplitude modulator showing input and output signals.
• Side frequencies, or sidebands are generated as part of
the modulation process
• Sidebands occur in the frequency spectrum directly above
and below the carrier frequency.
• Single-frequency sine-wave modulation generates two
sidebands.
• Complex wave (e.g. voice or video) modulation generates a
range of sidebands.
• The upper sideband (fUSB) and the lower sideband (fLSB) are
calculated:
fUSB = fc + fm and fLSB = fc − fm
The AM wave is the algebraic
sum of the carrier and upper and
lower sideband sine waves. (a)
Intelligence or modulating signal.
(b) Lower sideband. (c ) Carrier.
(d ) Upper sideband. (e )
Composite AM wave.
• On an oscilloscope, AM signal is the amplitude variations
of the carrier with respect to time.
• A plot of signal amplitude versus frequency is referred to
as frequency-domain display.
• A spectrum analyzer is used to display the frequency
domain as a signal.
• Bandwidth is the difference between the upper and lower
sideband frequencies.

BW = fUSB−fLSB
The relationship between the time
and frequency domains.
Example 1:

A standard AM broadcast station is allowed to transmit

modulating frequencies up to 5 kHz. If the AM station is
transmitting on a frequency of 980 kHz, what are sideband
frequencies and total bandwidth?

ANS. fUSB = 985 kHz

fLSB = 975 kHz
BW = 10 kHz
• When complex signals such as pulses or rectangular
waves modulate a carrier, a broad spectrum of
sidebands is produced.
• A modulating square wave will produce sidebands
based on the fundamental sine wave as well as its
odd harmonics.
Composite wave with fundamental frequency plus third and fifth harmonics
A square wave is made up of
fundamental sine wave and an
infinite number of odd harmonics
Pulse Modulation
• Amplitude modulation by square waves or rectangular
pulses is referred to as amplitude shift keying
(ASK).
• ASK is used in some types of data communications.
Frequency spectrum of an
AM signal modulated by a
square wave.
Amplitude modulation of a sine wave carrier by a pulse or rectangular wave. (a) Fifty percent modulation. (b) One
hundred percent modulation.
 Modulation Index and
Percentage of Modulation
The modulation index (m) :
m = Vm / Vc

• This index is also known as the modulating factor or

coefficient, or the degree of modulation.
• Multiplying the modulation index by 100 gives the
percentage of modulation.
• Using oscilloscope voltage values:
Vmax − Vmin
Vm =
2

• The amount, or depth, of AM is then expressed as the

percentage of modulation (100 × m) rather than as a fraction.
AM wave showing peaks
(Vmax) and troughs (Vmin).
• The peak value of the carrier signal Vc, is
Vmax + Vmin
Vc =
2

• The modulation index is

Example 2:
Suppose that an AM waveform has Vmax = 18 Vp
and Vmin = 2 Vp. Determine:
a. Peak amplitude of the unmodulated carrier
b. Peak change in the amplitude of the envelope
c. Coefficient of modulation
d. Percent modulation
Ans. a. 10 V c. 0.8
b. 8 V d. 80%
Example 3:

The maximum peak-to-peak value of an AM wave is 45 V.

The peak-to-peak value of the modulating signal is 20 V.
What is the percentage of modulation?

Ans. 80%
• The modulation index should be a number between 0 and
1.
• If the amplitude of the modulating voltage is higher than
the carrier voltage, it will cause distortion.
• If the distortion is great enough, the intelligence signal
becomes unintelligible.
• Distortion of voice transmissions: garbled, harsh, or
unnatural sounds in the speaker.
• Distortion of video signals: a scrambled and inaccurate
picture on a TV screen.
• Automatic circuits called compression circuits amplifies
lower-level signals and suppresses higher-level signals.
Distortion of the envelope
caused by overmodulation
AM Power, Voltage, and
Current
• In radio transmission, the AM signal is amplified by a
power amplifier.
• A radio antenna has a characteristic impedance that is
ideally almost pure resistance.
• The AM signal is a composite of the carrier and
sideband signal voltages.
• Each signal produces power in the antenna.
• Total transmitted power (PT) is the sum of carrier power
(Pc ) and power of the two sidebands (PUSB and PLSB).
• When carrier power and percentage of modulation is
known:
• When the percentage of modulation is less than the
optimum 100, there is much less power in the
sidebands.
• Output power can be calculated by using the formula
Where:
PT = (IT ) 2R IT = measured RF current
R = antenna impedance

• And for IT
Where:
IT = IC√(1+m2/2) IC = unmodulated carrier current in the load
m = modulation index
• The greater the percentage of modulation, the higher
the sideband power and the higher the total power
transmitted.
• Power in each sideband is calculated

PSB = PLSB = PUSB = Pcm2 / 4

• Maximum power appears in the sidebands when the

carrier is 100 percent modulated.
• An unmodulated carrier can be described
mathematically as,

Where:
vc(t) = time-varying voltage waveform for the carrier
Vc = peak carrier amplitude (volts)
fc = carrier frequency (hertz)
• For the instantaneous amplitude of the modulated
wave,

• If mVc is substituted for Vm,

• For the total AM voltage,
Where:
VT = VC√(1+m2/2) VC = unmodulated carrier voltage
m = modulation index
Example 4
An AM transmitter has a carrier power of 30W. The
percentage of modulation is 85 percent. Calculate (a) the
total power and (b) the power in one sideband.

ANS.
a. PT = 40.8 W
b. PSB(one) = PSB/2 = 10.8/2 = 5.4 W
Example 5

An antenna has an impedance of 40Ω. An unmodulated AM

signal produces a current of 4.8 A. The modulation is 90
percent. Calculate (a) the carrier power, (b) the total power,
and (c) the sidebands power.
Example 5 (Answers)

a. PC = 921.6 W
b. PT = 1,295 W
c. PSB(both) = 373.4 W
Example 6

Calculate the power in one sideband of an AM signal whose

carrier power is 50 W. The unmodulated current is 2A while
the modulated current is 2.4 A.

Ans. 11 W
Example 7

Calculate the amplitude and resulting side frequency if a

carrier wave of frequency 10 MHz with a peak value of 10 V
is amplitude modulated by a 5 kHz sine wave of amplitude 6
V.

Ans. VSB = 3Vp; fLSB = 9.995 MHz; fUSB = 10.005 MHz

Example 8

The output voltage of an AM transmitter is 40 V when

sinusoidally modulated to a depth of 100%. Calculate the
voltage at each side frequency when the modulation depth is
reduced to 50%.

Ans. Vc = 32.65 V; Vside = 8.16 V

Principles of Electronic Communication Systems (4th
Edition)
By: Louis E. Frenzel Jr.

Electronic Communications Systems: Fundamentals

through Advanced (5th Ed.)
By: Wayne Tomasi