Amplitude Modulation

Fundamentals
ENGR. REN
 Modulation

The process of altering a characteristic of the carrier

in accordance with the instantaneous value of the
intelligence signal.
 Types of modulation

Amplitude modulation
Frequency modulation
Phase modulation
 AM Concepts

The information signal varies the amplitude of the

carrier sine wave.
The instantaneous value of the carrier amplitude
changes in accordance with the amplitude and freq
variations of the modulating signal.
 AM concepts
 The carrier frequency remains constant during the modulation process,
but its amplitude varies in accordance with the modulating signal.

 An increase or decrease in the amplitude of the modulating signal

causes a corresponding increase or decrease in both the positive and
negative peaks of the carrier amplitude.
 Envelope
 An imaginary line connecting the
positive peaks and negative peaks
of the carrier waveform. This
imaginary line on the carrier
waveform is known as the
envelope.
 The modulating signal uses the peak value of the carrier
rather than zero at its reference point.
 The amplitude of the modulating signal should be less than
the amplitude of the carrier.
 Vm < Vc
 When the amplitude of the modulating signal is greater
than the amplitude of the carrier, distortion will occur.
v=(Vc + Vm*sin (ωm*t) )sin (ωc*t)
v=instaneous value of the modulated signal
Vm=peak amplitude of the information signal
Vc=peak amplitude of the carrier
ω =2f
Problem 1

A carrier wave with an RMS voltage of 2V and a

frequency of 1.5 MHz is modulated by a sine wave
with a frequency of 500 Hz and an amplitude of
1Vrms. Write the equation for the resulting signal.
 Modulator

The circuit used for producing AM.

Amplitude modulators compute the product of the
carrier and modulating signals.

Demodulator is used to recover the original

intelligence signal from an AM wave.
 Modulation index

To avoid distorted AM to occur, the modulating

signal voltage Vm must be less than the carrier
voltage Vc.
Also called modulating factor, coefficient or the
degree of modulation.
It is the ratio of,
m=Vm/Vc
 Percentage of modulation

Multiplying 100% gives the percent modulation.

%m=m*100%
The ideal condition for AM is when Vm=Vc
m=1
%m=100%
 Overmodulation and Distortion

The modulation index should be bet 0 and 1.

Vm= (Vmax – Vmin)/2
Vc=(Vmax + Vmin)/2
 Problem 2

An unmodulated carrier is 400 V p-p. Calculate the

%m when its maximum p-p value reaches 500,600,
and 800V and the minimum p-p value reaches
300,200,0V respectively upon modulation.
Problem3

Suppose that on an AM signal, the Vmax(p-p) value

read from the gratitude on the oscilloscope screen is
5.9 divisions and Vmin(p-p) is 1.2 divisions.
 What is the modulation index?
 Calculate Vc, Vm and m if the vertical scale is 2V per division.
Problem 4

An AM signal has the equation:

V(t)= (25 + 5sin(44x10^3 t))sin(46.5x10^6 t) V
 Find the carrier frequency
 Find the freq of the modulating signal
 Find the value of m
 Sidebands and the Frequency Domain

Whenever a carrier is modulated by an information

signal, new signals at different frequencies are
generated as part of the process.

Side frequencies / sidebands – new freq occur in the

freq spectrum directly above or below the carrier
freq.
 Sideband calculations

When only a single-freq sine wave modulating signal

is used, the modulation process two sidebands.

fusb = fc + fm
flsb = fc – fm
 Where: fc=carrier freq
 fm=modulating signal
Where:
First term=carrier
Second term=difference fc-fm, lower sideband
Third term=sum fc+fm, upper sideband
Problem 4

An AM signal has the equation:

V(t)= (25 + 5sin(44x10^3 t))sin(46.5x10^6 t) V
 What are the frequency components comprising the AM
signal?
 Sketch the signal in the time domain and frequency domain.
 Problem 5

Assume that a 400-Hz tone modulates a 300-kHz

carrier. The upper and lower sidebands are:
 Frequency domain representation of AM

Another method of showing the sideband signals is

to plot the carrier and sideband amplitudes with
respect to freq.
Horizontal axis-freq
Vertical axis – amplitude
Test instrument-spectrum analyzer
 Bandwidth

BW = fusb – flsb

 Or

BW = 2fm
 Problem 6

A standard AM broadcast station is allowed to

transmit modulating freq up to 5kHz. If the AM
station is transmitting on a freq of 980 kHz, compute
the maximum and minimum upper and lower
sidebands and the total bandwidth occupied by the
AM station.
 AM Power

 In radio transmission, the AM signal is amplified by a

power amplifier and fed to the antenna with a characteristic
impedance that is ideally, but not necessarily, almost pure
resistance.
 AM signal is a composite of signal voltages namely: the
carrier, and the two sidebands.
 PT= Pc + PLSB + PUSB
For power calculations, rms values must be used for
the voltages.
 Total power

PT = Pc [1 + m^2/2]

Ex. If the carrier of an AM transmitter is 1000W and

it is modulated 100%, the total AM power is?
For a 100% modulated AM transmitter, the total
sideband power is always ½ of the carrier power.

For a percentage of modulation less than the

optimum 100, there is much less power in the
sidebands.
 Problem 7

An AM transmitter has a carrier power of 30W. The

percentage of modulation is 85%. Calculate
(a)the total power
(b)the power in one sideband
 DSB Signals

Double-sideband suppressed carrier (DSSC or DSB)

signal
Benefit: no power wasted on the carrier
DSBSC are generated by a circuit called a balanced
modulator.
The purpose is to produce the sum and difference of
the frequencies but to cancel or balance out the
carrier.
Despite DSB saves power, it is difficult to recover in
the receiver.
 SINGLE-SIDEBAND MODULATION

In AM, two-thirds of the transmitted power is in the

carrier, which itself conveys no information.
The real information is contained within the
sidebands
 SSB

One sideband is suppressed; the remaining sideband is

called single-sideband suppressed carrier (SSSC or SSB)
signal.
 Spectrum space it occupies is only one-half that of AM and DSB signals.
 All the power can be channeled into the single sideband producing a
stronger signal. SSB transmitter can be made smaller and lighter than
an equivalent AM/DSB tx
 Amount of noise is reduced because of narrow bw
 Less selective fading over long distances
An SSB signal has some unusual characteristics.
First, when no information or modulating signal is
present, no RF signal is transmitted. In a standard
AM transmitter, the carrier is still transmitted even
though it may not be modulated.
Sidebands are generated only during the modulation
process, e.g., when someone speaks into a
microphone.
 Signal Power Considerations

In SSB, the transmitter output is expressed in terms

of peak envelope power (PEP), the maximum power
produced on voice amplitude peaks.

PEP = Vrms^2 / R; PEP=VsIm

Pavg=PEP/4 to PEP/3
 Problem

An SSB transmitter produces a peak-to-peak voltage

of 178V across a 75 ohm antenna load. What is the
PEP?
 Problem

An SSB transmitter has a 24-V dc power supply.

On voice peaks the current achieves a maximum of
9.3 A.
 What is the PEP?
 What is the average power of the transmitter?
 SW

What is the total power supplied by an AM Tx with a carrier

power of 2500W and modulation of 77%?
An AM signal has a 12-W carrier and 1.5W in each sideband.
What is %m?
An SSB Tx has a power supply voltage of 250V. On voice peaks,
the final amplifier draws a current of 3.3A. What is the PEP?
An SSB Tx with a carrier of 2.3MHz is modulated by an
intelligence signal in the 150-Hz to 4.2kHz range. Calculate the
freq.range of the lower sideband?
 Modulation Index for Multiple Modulating Frequencies

 Practical AM systems are seldom used to transmit sine waves, of

course. The information signal is more likely to be a voice signal, which
contains many frequencies. When there are two or more sine waves of
different, uncorrelated frequencies (that is, frequencies that are not
multiples of each other) modulating a single carrier, m is calculated by
using the equation
 Problem

Find the modulation index if a 10-volt carrier is

amplitude modulated by three different frequencies,
with amplitudes of 1,2, and 3 volts respectively.