ELE 3203: Communication Systems

Learning Outcome 2 part 1

Amplitude Modulation

12/4/22
Learning Outcomes
At the end of this module you will be expected to:
Define modulation and the different modulation types
Calculate the modulation index and percentage of modulation of an AM signal, given the
amplitudes of the carrier and modulating signals.
Explain how the power in an AM signal is distributed between the carrier and the sideband,
Compute the carrier and sideband powers, given the percentage of modulation.
Compute sideband frequencies, given carrier and modulating signal frequencies.
Compare time-domain, frequency-domain, of an AM signal.
Explain what is meant by the terms DSB and SSB and state the main advantages of an
SSB signal over a conventional AM signal.
Compare between the different generations methods of AM-DSB, AM- DSB-SC and SSB.
 Need for Modulation
Why not send audio signals directly over the air?

1- Sharing and interference: It is difficult and almost impossible to operate more than one
radio station at the same time because they all w o u l d use the same audio frequency.

2- Antenna size: Radio transmitting antenna need to be at least one-quarter of a

wavelength of the transmitting frequency. Audio frequency lies in the range of 20HZ to 20
KHz. For example, for 5 kHz signal into the air requires an antenna size of 15km! This shows
that it’s not suitable to build practical antenna size.

To make suitable and practical antennas, the frequency needs to be increased high enough for
radio transmission. Therefore any frequency above the audio range (20 KHz) is known as
Radio Frequency. For example FM transmission is at around 90MHz. With 90MHz you can build
antenna with a size of 83.3 cm.
What is Modulation?
Modulation is the process of changing the characteristics (parameter) of a high
frequency carrier signal in proportion with the instantaneous value of a modulating
signal (information). A common form of a carrier is a sine wave. Note that Modulation process
is performed at the transmitter.
 Carrier Parameters
What are the parameters of a sine wave? v(t)  V sin(2ft  )
A sine wave (Carrier) has three parameters v(t) Time varying
voltage
V Peak voltage
f Frequency in Hertz
 phase in radians
There are three main parameters for a sine wave, Amplitude, Frequency and Phase. Changing
any parameter in accordance to an information signal will produce Modulation:

• Varying the Amplitude produces, Amplitude Modulation (AM), AM band (500 - 1600 kHz)

• Varying the Frequency produces , Frequency Modulation (FM), FM Radio (88 - 108 MHz)

• Varying the Phase produces, Phase Modulation (PM).

Watch: How do AM and FM work? (AKIO TV)

 Amplitude Modulation
Amplitude Modulation is the process of changing the amplitude of a carrier signal in proportion
with the instantaneous value of a modulating signal (information).
Vm sin (2fmt) Upper envelop
Modulator
Modulating signal
Carrier

Lower envelop
Modulated Signal
Vc sin(2fct)
Carrier signal

 Carrier frequency >> (much much greater) than the information frequency .
 Carrier amplitude is varied with the amplitude of the information
 The Upper and Lower envelopes are imaginary lines joining the peaks of the modulated carrier.
They look like information signal.
 Modulated waveform is made up of the carrier waveform only
 The carrier frequency indicates radio station frequency, e.g. Asianet Radio broadcasts at 657kHz)
 Modulation Index and Percentage
In AM signal, modulation index or modulation percentage is a

Increasing the information amplitude

measure of how strongly the carrier wave is being changed by
the information.

The higher modulation, the better quality signal and higher

signal to noise ratio at the receiver. Therefore radio stations
would try to maximize modulation index.

The modulation index is the ratio of peak amplitude of the

modulating signal Vm to the amplitude of the carrier Vc. Note
that Vm ≤ Vc , therefore the modulation index is bounded
between 0 and 1.

The modulation index is calculated using: ; where 0  m  1

The modulation percentage is:

Modulation Index and Percentage
The maximum percentage of modulation is 100% which represents maximum
intelligence and 0% modulation represents 0%. A signal that has over 100%
modulation is known as over modulated and is unacceptable as the signal
produces distorted version at the receiver.

M = 0% M = 50%

M = 100% Over Modulated

 Measuring the modulation index from the modulated
waveform on the oscilloscope
The figure below shows an Amplitude modulated waveform. This waveform is also view on
the oscilloscope screen. Using this waveform and the following formula the modulation index
can be calculated.

𝑉 𝑚𝑎𝑥 −𝑉 𝑚 𝑖𝑛
𝑚=
𝑉 𝑚𝑎𝑥 +𝑉 𝑚𝑖𝑛
Examples

Example 1
A carrier signal with a peak voltage of 5 volts is amplitude modulated with 1 volt peak
information, what is the modulation index and percentage?

m = 1/5 = 0.2 , M= 20%

Example 2
A carrier signal with a Vmax =3 volts and Vmin=1 volt peak information, what is the
modulation index and percentage?

m= 0.5 M= 50%
Envelop of the AM waveform
The envelope of an AM waveform is an imaginary line drawn between the peak values of
each cycle. The envelope is the sum of the carrier amplitude and the information signal.
The envelop can be described by
Positive envelope
eenv  Vc 1 m sin(mt )
eenv  Vc Vm sin (mt)

m  Vm/Vc  Vm=mVc

eenv  Vc  mVc sin (mt)

eenv  Vc 1 m sin (mt) 
eenv  Vc 1 m sin (mt )
Negative envelope
Example

A carrier signal with a peak of 2 V is amplitude modulated with 10kHz sine wave. The
modulating signal has a peak value of 1 V, determine the instantaneous voltage of the
positive and negative envelope when the 10kHz sine wave has completed 68 micro sec?

The percentage modulation is 50% and the envelop is:

eenv  Vc 1 m sin mt 

eenv  2  (1 0.5sin(210000  68 106 )
eenv  1.095 V  ve envelop
eenv  1.095 V ve envelop

The envelop is calculated here to help find the spectrum of the AM signal in the next section
The Frequency Spectrum of the AM waveform
The previous analysis of AM signal is carried out in the time domain. Viewing the AM signal in
the frequency domain provides information about the bandwidth and power of the AM signal.
The envelope of the AM waveform describes ONLY an imaginary line drawn between the peak
values of each cycle. The complete AM waveform is necessary to describe the frequency
composition of AM which can be described as:

V AM eenv sin( c t) eenv  Vc 1 m sin (mt )

V AM  V c sin( c t)  mV c sin ( c t) sin(  m t) Remember:
carrier
modulation carrier × information
index

V AM  V c sin( c t)  (mV c / 2 ) [ cos (( c -  m )t)- cos (( c +  m )t)]

carrier Lower Side Band Upper Side Band
fc LSB USB
fc - fm fc + fm
The Frequency Spectrum of the AM waveform
V AM  V c sin( c t)  (mV c / 2 ) [ cos (( c -  m )t)- cos (( c +  m )t)]
carrier Lower Side Band Upper Side Band
fc LSB USB
fc - fm fc + fm

LSB Carrier
USB Observations on the frequency spectrum :

mVc mVc
• The AM waveform produces a carrier and two sidebands
2 2
f f • The two sidebands are USB and LSB
m m

• The USB has a frequency of fc + fm

f -f f +f • The LSB has a frequency of fc – fm
c
fc c
m m

The AM waveform in the frequency domain • The amplitude of each sideband has a value of mVc /2
• When all frequencies are in phase the max voltage is:

Vmax  Vc Vm Vmax  Vc VUSB VLSB

The Frequency Spectrum of the AM waveform
AM generation
The block diagram shows the generation of the AM DSB signal. Note that the DC offset
is added to the modulating signal and is used to introduce the carrier in the spectrum.

V AM  V c sin( c t)  mV c sin ( c t) sin(  m t)

V AM  V c sin( c t) [1 msin(  m t)]
DC offset

DSBAM Generation
DSBAM Antenna

Information + × BPF

Amp
DC

Carrier
Block Diagram of AM DSB transmitter
Example
For the AM signal shown, calculate the following:
20 V
1.The information frequency
2.The voltage of the upper sideband
3.The bandwidth of the AM signal
5V ???
5V
4.The modulation index and percentage modulation
5.The frequency of the LSB

Answers:
1.The information frequency is: 813k-810k=3kHz
2.The voltage of the upper sideband is: 5V 807
???kHz 810 kHz 813 kHz
3.The AM bandwidth is: 6kHz=2x3kHz
4.The modulation index is: 2x5V/20V= 0.5 and
percentage modulation is 50%
5.The frequency of the LSB is: 810k-3k=807kHz
Example
An AM broadcast station’s peak carrier voltage is 2 kV has been amplitude
modulated to an index of 75% with 2 kHz test tone. The station's broadcast’s
frequency is 810 kHz.
Determine the following:
1.The lower and upper side band frequencies
2.The peak modulating voltage (information)
3.The peak lower and upper sideband voltages VLSB and VUSB
4.The maximum signal amplitude Vmax
5.sketch the waveform in the frequency domain
AM Spectrum with Audio signals:
• In real life, the minimum required audio signals for understandable voice communications
lies between 300Hz to 3 kHz.
• Frequencies below 300Hz have more bass and less contribution to the intelligence of the
signal and also frequencies above 3000Hz.
• The AM spectrum shows that the spectrum contains the audio range [300Hz to 3kHz ] both
in the USB and the LSB. Carrier

What is the BW of the AM signal?

LSB USB

f - 3000 f - 300 f f + 300 f + 3000

c c c c c
Power distribution in the AM
The total effective (rms) power PT in the AM wave can be calculated easily from the frequency

domain waveform. The total power is the sum of the effective power of the carrier PC and the

effective power in the sidebands PUSB and PLSB.

𝑉 𝑟𝑚𝑠=𝑉 𝑟𝑚𝑠 × 0 . 707
+
𝑉 2𝑐𝑟𝑚𝑠 𝑉 2𝐿𝑆𝐵 𝑟𝑚𝑠 𝑉 2𝑈𝑆𝐵 𝑟𝑚𝑠
[ ]
2
𝑃𝑡= + + 𝑚
𝑅 𝑅 𝑅 𝑃𝑡=𝑃𝑐 1+
2
Pcarrier PLSB PUSB
𝑉 2𝑐𝑟𝑚𝑠 𝑚2 𝑉 2𝑐𝑟𝑚𝑠 𝑚2 𝑉 2𝑐𝑟𝑚𝑠
𝑃𝑡= + +
𝑅 4𝑅 4𝑅
𝑉 2𝑐𝑟𝑚𝑠 𝑚2 𝑉 2𝑐𝑟𝑚𝑠 𝑉 2𝑐𝑟𝑚𝑠
[ ]
2
𝑚
𝑃𝑡= + = 1+
𝑅 2𝑅 𝑅 2
 Example:
A spectrum analyzer with input impedance of 50 Ohm is used to measure the power in an AM
waveform. The AM signal is modulated with a sine wave. The effective carrier power PC is 750 mW and
each sideband power PUSB and PLSB is 120 mW, compute:

• The total effective power

• The peak carrier voltage VC
• The lower and upper peak sideband voltages VLSB and VUSB
• The modulation index m

Solution:

• The total effective power is: Pt =750+2x120=990mW

• The peak carrier voltage VC: Vc=sqrt(50x750mW)/0.707=8.66V
• The lower and upper peak sideband voltages VLSB and VUSB are:
VLSB=VUSB= Vc=sqrt(50x120mW)/0.707=3.46V
• The modulation index m : m=(2x3.46)/8.66=0.8
Example 2
If the carrier of an AM transmitter is 1000 W and is modulated to 100 percent, what is the total AM
power ? =1500W

67% Of the total power in the carrier. That leaves 500 W in both sidebands. Since the sidebands
are equal in size, each sideband has 250 W.
For m=1, the total sideband power is always one-half that of the carrier power.
The efficiency of the AM signal is:

Complete the table below:

Pc m Pt Pinfo PLSB PUSB η • The greater the percentage of modulation, the

1000 1 1500 500 250 250 33% higher the sideband power.
• The greater the percentage, the higher the total
1000 0.75
power transmitted.
1000 0.5 • The maximum efficiency of the AM with double
1000 0.2 sidebands is 33%.
 Improvments of DSB AM
• AM is a widely used modulation in communication, AM transmitters are relatively simple and AM
receivers can be built inexpensively using a few components, despite this simplicity it is inefficient
system both is terms of bandwidth and power.
• The AM signal contains two identical side bands and as such the information is redundant. This
causes the transmitter bandwidth to be twice the information. In terms of power, most of the
power is concentrated in the carrier.
• The AM signal or the Double Side Band (DSB AM) can be modified in few ways to improve its
efficiency. Single Side band (SSB) systems offer some solution to this inefficiency of AM
transmissions. Of course this improvement is added with the complexity of both the transmitter
and the receiver.
 Double Side Band Suppressed Carrier - DSB SC

Because most of the power is concentrated in the carrier of the AM signal, it is suggested to
suppress the carrier signal. Suppressing the carrier improves the efficiency of the AM signal in
terms of power. The carrier can be suppressed using a balanced modulator. With this
improvement, all the transmitted power is therefore concentrated in the sidebands. A balanced
modulator is A modulator in which the carrier and modulating signal are introduced in such a way
that the output contains the two sidebands without the carrier.

Improvements in
LSB USB
terms of power, get
rid of the carrier

f - 3000 f - 300 f f + 300 f + 3000

c c c c c

Double Side Band Suppressed Carrier - DSB SC

Balanced Modulator
• A balanced modulator is a circuit that generates a DSB signal, suppressing the
carrier and leaving only the sum and difference frequencies at the output.

• The output of a balanced modulator can be further processed by filters or phase-

shifting circuitry to eliminate one of the sidebands, resulting in a SSB signal.

• Types of balanced modulators include lattice, 1496/1596 IC, and the analog
multiplier.
Balanced Modulator: Lattice Modulator
• A popular and widely used balanced modulator is the
diode ring or lattice modulator.

• The lattice modulator consists of an input transformer,

an output transformer and four diodes connected in a
bridge circuit.

• The carrier signal is applied to the center taps of the

input and output transformers.

• The modulating signal is applied to the input

transformer.

• The output appears across the output transformer.

Single Side Band Suppressed Carrier - SSB SC
The efficiency can be further improved when single side band is used. This can be
achieved by eliminating one of the side bands the upper or the lower. When the USB
is kept the SSB is called in the USB mode. And like wise for the LSB. Using SSB SC the
bandwidth is reduced to half.
Improvements in terms of
power and BW, get rid of the
LSB Suppressed Suppressed USB carrier and one side band
Carrier

fc - 3000 fc - 300 fc f + 300 fc + 3000

c
Single Side Band generation

 Method 1: The filter method

 Single Side Band generation
 Method 2: The Phase shift method

• The information is split into two parts,

the original and 90 phase shifted copy.
• Two balanced modulators are used at
the top and the bottom
• The carrier signal is also split into
original and 90 phase shift
• Each branch generates a DSB SC at
the same time with the USB has
different polarity or sign
• adding these two branches cancels the
two USB and leaves the LSB

Note that switching the position of the phase shifted carrier or the
information signal (but not both ) can be used to produce USB!
Single Side Band generation
 Method 2: The Phase shift method
End of LO2 Part 1
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