Communication Systems

A communication system conveys information

from its source to a destination.
Examples:
Telephone
TV
Radio
Cell phone
PDA
Satellite
 Communication Systems
A communication system is composed of the
following:

Source
Input Output
Transducer Transmitter Channel Receiver
Transducer
 To be transmitted, Information (Data)
must be transformed to electromagnetic
signals.
 Input Transducer
Source: Analog or digital
Example: Speech, music, written text
Input Transducer: Converts the message
produced by a source to a form suitable for the
communication system.
Example:
Speech wavesMicrophoneVoltage
Electromagnetic Waves

.
Electromagnetic Waves

.
 Transmitter
Couple the message to the channel
Operations: Amplification, Modulation
Modulation encodes message into amplitude,
phase or frequency of carrier signal (AM, PM,
FM)
Advantages:
Reduce noise and interference
Multiplexing
Channel Assignment
Examples: TV station, radio station, web server
 1.6 Radio Wave Propagation Modes

1 Ground Wave Propagation

Follows contour of the earth Can Propagate considerable distances
Frequencies up to 2 MHz Example : AM radio
2 Sky Wave Propagation
Signal reflected from ionized layer
of atmosphere. Signal can travel
a number of hops, back and forth
Examples SW radio

3 Line-of-Sight Propagation
Transmitting and receiving antennas
must be within line of sight
example
Satellite communication
Ground communication
 Channel
Physical medium that does the transmission
Examples: Air, wires, coaxial cable, radio wave,
laser beam, fiber optic cable
Every channel introduces some amount of
distortion, noise and interference
 Receiver
Extracts message from the received signal
Operations: Amplification, Demodulation,
Filtering
Goal: The receiver output is a scaled, possibly
delayed version of the message signal (ideal
transmission)
Examples: TV set, radio, web client
 Output Transducer
Converts electrical signal into the form desired
by the system
Examples: Loudspeakers, PC
Figure Comparison of analog and digital signals
Time and frequency domains
Time and frequency domains (continued)
Time and frequency domains (continued)
 Example

The frequency domain is more compact and

useful when we are dealing with more than one
sine wave. For example, Next Figure shows
three sine waves, each with different amplitude
and frequency. All can be represented by three
spikes in the frequency domain.
 A single-frequency sine wave is not
useful in communication systems;
we need to send a composite signal, a
signal made of many simple sine
waves.The frequency domain is more
compact and useful when we are dealing with
more than one sine wave.
Figure The time domain and frequency domain of three sine waves
Example Amplitude modulation
 Figure The time and frequency domains of a nonperiodic signal

Above Figure shows a nonperiodic composite signal. It can be the

signal created by a microphone or a telephone set when a word or two
is pronounced. In this case, the composite signal cannot be periodic,
because that implies that we are repeating the same word or words with
exactly the same tone.
The bandwidth of a composite signal is
the difference between the
highest and the lowest frequencies
contained in that signal.
Figure The bandwidth of periodic and nonperiodic composite signals
 Capacity of a Channel
The most important question for a
communication channel is the maximum rate at
which it can transfer information.
There is a theoretical maximum rate at which
information passes error free over the channel,
called the channel capacity C.
The famous Hartley-Shannon Law states that
the channel capacity C is given by:
C=B*log(1+(S/N)) b/s
where B is the bandwidth, S/N is the signal-to-
noise ratio.
 Fundamental Limitations
Therefore, there are two factors that determine
the capacity of a channel:
Bandwidth (BW) is that portion of the
electromagnetic spectrum occupied by a signal.
Channel bandwidth refers to the range of
frequencies required to transmit the desired
information.
Noise
 Frequency Spectrum
Most precious resource in communications is
frequency spectrum
The frequency spectrum has to be shared by a
large number of users and applications:
AM Radio, FM Radio, TV, cellular telephony,
wireless local-area-networks, satellite, air traffic
control
 Frequency Spectrum
The frequency spectrum has to be managed for a
particular physical medium
The spectrum for over-the-air communications
is allocated by international communications
organization
International Telecommunications Union (ITU)
Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
designates and licenses frequency bands in the
US.
Frequency Spectrum Example

Application Frequency Band

AM Radio 0.54-1.6 MHz

TV (Channels 2- 54-88 MHz

6)

FM Radio 88-108 MHz

TV (Channels 7- 174-216 MHz

13)
 1-3: Types of Electronic Communication

Simplex
The simplest method of electronic communication is
referred to as simplex.
This type of communication is one-way. Examples are:
Radio
TV broadcasting
Beeper (personal receiver)

29
 1-3: Types of Electronic Communication

Full Duplex
Most electronic communication is two-way and is
referred to as duplex.
When people can talk and listen simultaneously, it is
called full duplex. The telephone is an example of this
type of communication.

30
 1-3: Types of Electronic Communication

Half Duplex
The form of two-way communication in which only
one party transmits at a time is known as half duplex.
Examples are:
Police, military, etc. radio transmissions
Citizen band (CB)

31
History of Communications
Year Event

1838 Telegraphy
(Morse)

1876 Telephone (Bell)

1902 Radio
transmission
(Marconi)

1933 FM radio
History of Communications

Year Event

1962 Satellite
communication

1972 Cellular phone

1985 Fax machines

1990s GPS, HDTV,

handheld
 Comparisons of Digital and Analog
Communication Systems
Digital Communication System
Advantage :
inexpensive digital circuits
privacy preserved (data encryption)
can merge different data (voice, video and
data) and transmit over a common digital
transmission system
error correction by coding
Disadvantages :
larger bandwidth
synchronization problem is relatively
difficult
Analog Communication System
Disadvantages :
expensive analog components : L&C
no privacy
can not merge data from diff. sources
no error correction capability
Advantages :
smaller bandwidth
synchronization problem is relatively
easier
 NOISE -INTRODUCTION

Noise may be defined as any unwanted

introduction of energy tending to interfere with the
proper reception and reproduction of transmitted
signal.
Noise is random energy that interfere with the
information signal.
In radio receiver, noise may produce hiss in the
loudspeaker output.
Noise can limit the range of systems.
It affects the sensitivity of the receiver.
 Classification of Uncorrelated
Noise
NOISE

EXTERNAL INTERNAL

ATMOSPHERIC INDUSTRIAL THERMAL SHOT

NOISE NOISE NOISE NOISE

EXTRATERRESTRIAL
NOISE
Figure 6.1
 ATMOSPHERIC NOISE

Caused by lightning discharges in thunderstorms and other

natural electric disturbances occurring in the atmosphere.
Consist of spurious radio signal with components distributed
over a wide range of frequencies.
It propagates over the earth in the same way as ordinary
radio waves of the same frequencies.
Become less severe at frequencies above 30MHz because:
The higher frequencies are limited to line-of-sight
propagation.
Nature of the mechanism generating this noise is such
that very little of it is created in the VHF range and
above.
 EXTRATERRESTRIAL NOISE

SOLAR NOISE:
Normal condition, there is a constant noise radiation from the sun,
simply because large body at a very high frequency.
Radiates over a very broad frequency spectrum.
COSMIC NOISE:
Stars radiate RF noise in the same manner of sun.
The noise received is called thermal noise and distributed fairly
uniformly over the entire sky.
 INDUSTRIAL NOISE

Between 1 to 600 Mhz.

Sources such as: automobile, aircraft, electric
motors and other heavy machine.
The nature of industrial noise is so variable that it
is difficult to analyze.
 THERMAL NOISE

Is associated with the rapid and random

movement of electrons within a conductor due to
thermal agitation.
Present in all electronic component and
communications systems.
Referred as white noise.
Is a form of additive noise, cannot be eliminated.
It increases in intensity with the number of
devices in a circuit.
 Thermal noise power is proportional to the product of
bandwidth and temperature.
Mathematically, noise power is

N=KTB

N = noise power,
K=Boltzmanns constant (1.38x10-23 J/K)
B = bandwidth,
T = absolute temperature (Kelvin)(17oC or 290K)
 NOISE VOLTAGE
Figure shows the equivalent circuit
for a thermal noise source.
Internal resistance RI in series with VN 4 RkTB

the rms noise voltage VN.

For the worst condition, the load
resistance R = RI , noise voltage
Figure : Noise source
dropped across R = half the noise equivalent circuit
source (VR=VN/2) and
The mathematical expression :
From the final equation The noise
power PN , developed across the load
resistor = KTB
 1. Thermal Noise (Johnson Noise) (Contd)
The law relating noise power, N, to the temperature and bandwidth is

N = k TB watts

Thermal noise is often referred to as white noise because it has a

uniform spectral density.

44
 Resisters in Series

let Rser represent the total resistance of the series

chain, where Rser = R1 + R2 + R3 + .; then the noise
voltage of equivalent series resistance is
En2 = 4Rser kTBn
= 4( R1 + R2 + R3 + )kTBn
= En12 + En22 + En32 + .....
Hence the noise voltage of the series chain is given by:
En = (En12 + En22 + En32 + .....)

Resisters in Parallel
With resistors in parallel it is best to work in terms of conductance.
Let Gpar represent the parallel combination where Gpar = G1 + G2 + G3 +
; then
In2 = 4Gpar kTBn
= 4( G1 + G2 + G3 + )kTBn
= In12 + In22 + In33 + .
 2. Shot Noise
Shot noise was originally used to describe noise due to random
fluctuations in electron emission from cathodes in vacuum tubes
(called shot noise by analogy with lead shot).
Shot noise also occurs in semiconductors due to the liberation of
charge carriers.
For pn junctions the mean square shot noise current is

Where
is the direct current as the pn junction (amps)
is the reverse saturation current (amps)
is the electron charge = 1.6 x 10-19 coulombs
B is the effective noise bandwidth (Hz)

Shot noise is found to have a uniform spectral density as for thermal

noise 46
 In case of bipolar junction transistors , the bias current crossing the
forward biased emitter base junction carries the shot noise.
When amplified, this noise sounds as though a shower of lead shots
were falling on a metal sheet. Hence the name shot noise.

Although it is always present, shot noise is not normally observed

during measurement of direct current because it is small compared
to the DC value; however it does contribute significantly to the
noise in amplifier circuits.

The mean square noise component is proportion

to the DC flowing, and for most devices the mean-
Square, shot-noise is given by:
In2 = 2Idc qe Bn ampere2

Where Idc is the direct current in amperes, qe is the magnitude of

electronic charge and Bn is the equivalent noise bandwidth in hertz.
 3. Low Frequency or Flicker Noise

Active devices, integrated circuit, diodes, transistors etc also exhibits

a low frequency noise, which is frequency dependent (i.e. non
uniform) known as flicker noise or one over f noise.

This noise is present in all semiconductor devices under biasing.

This noise is usuallyassociated with material failures or with
imperfection of a fabrication process.

49
4. Burst Noise or Popcorn Noise

Some semiconductors also produce burst or popcorn noise with a

spectral density which is proportional to

The most common cause for this noise in ICs is believed to be the random trapping
and release of charge carriers at thin film interfaces. Also defect sites in bulk
semiconductor crystal can give rise to burst noise. In some cases the effect can have
a greater effect than others

Burst noise, or popcorn noise was an issue when the first operational amplifiers
were introduced.

50
51
52
53
 7. General Comments

For frequencies below a few KHz (low frequency systems), flicker

and popcorn noise are the most significant, but these may be ignored
at higher frequencies where white noise predominates.

54
 Example 1
Convert the following temperatures to
kelvin:
a) 100C
b) 0C
c) -10C

T=aC+273C