Digital Communication (GTU)

5-1

Pulse Code Modulation

Chapter 5 : Pulse Code Modulation

Section 5.9 :
Ex. 5.9.4 :

A PCM system uses a uniform quantizer followed by a 7 bit encoder. The system bit rate
is 50 Mbits/sec. Calculate the maximum bandwidth of the message signal for which this
system operates satisfactorily.

.Page No. 5-26.

Soln. :
It has been given that : Bit rate r = 50 Mbits/sec and N = 7
We know that bit rate r = N fs
r
50 10
fs = N =
= 7.14 MHz
7
6

Maximum signal bandwidth BW = fs /2 =

7.14 MHz
2

BW = 3.57 MHz
Ex. 5.9.5 :

...Ans.

The bandwidth of a video signal is 4.5 MHz. This signal is to be transmitted using PCM
with the number of quantization levels Q = 1024. The sampling rate should be 20% higher
than the Nyquist rate. Calculate the system bit rate.

.Page No. 5-26.

Soln. :
Bandwidth W = 4.5 MHz

As per Nyquist rate fs = 2W = 9 MHz

But fs should be 20% higher than Nyquist rate

We know that,

Ex. 5.9.7 :

fs = 1.2 9 MHz = 10.8 MHz

Q =

2 ,

...(1)

1024 = 2

N = 10

System bit rate r = N fs = 10 10.8 MHz

Plot the characteristics of a -law compressor.

Soln. :
To plot the characteristics of -law compressor :
The expression for the normalized output of a -law compressor is given by,
ln (1 + | x | )
Z (x) =
..... x 1
ln (1 + )
Let

...(2)

= 255.

.Page No. 5-30

Digital Communication (GTU)

5-2

Pulse Code Modulation

Note that instead of |x| / xmax we have written only |x| and restricted the values of x only upto 1.
This has the same effect as that of normalizing.
ln (1 + 255 |x| )
Z (x) =
...(1)
ln 256
Substitute x = 0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8 and 1 in Equation (1) to get the corresponding values of Z as
shown in the following table.
|x|

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

0.71

0.84

0.9

0.96

Therefore the compressor characteristics is as shown in Fig. P. 5.9.7.

Fig. P. 5.9.7 : -law compressor characteristics

Section 5.15 :
Ex. 5.15.7 :

Soln. :
Given :

If a voice frequency signal is sampled at the rate of 32,000 samples/sec and

characterized by peak value of 2 Volts, determine the value of step size to avoid slope
overload. What is quantization noise power Nq and corresponding SNR ? Assume
bandwidth of signal as 4 kHz.
.Page No. 5-60.

fs = 32,000 samples/sec.
Peak value of the signal A = 2V.
Bandwidth B = 4 kHz.

1.

Step size to avoid slope overload :

To avoid slope overload the following condition should be satisfied.
A

fs

=
2 fm Ts 2 fm

Digital Communication (GTU)

5-3

Pulse Code Modulation

Substituting the values we get,

32000
3
2 4 10
3
2 2 4 10

32000
1.57 Volt

2.

Quantization noise power (Nq) :

...Ans.

The quantization noise power for a delta modulator is given by,

2
2
(1.57)
Nq =
=
3
3
Nq = 0.822 W
3.

...Ans.

Signal to noise ratio :

3

SNR =
Ex. 5.15.8 :

3 fs

8 fm B
2

3 (32 10 )
3 2
3 = 19.45
8 (4 10 ) 4 10
3 3

A compact disc (CD) records audio signals digitally by PCM. Assume audio signal's
bandwidth to be 15 kHz. If signals are sampled at a rate 20% above Nyquist rate for
practical reasons and the samples are quantised into 65,536 levels, determine bits/sec
required to encode the signal and minimum bandwidth required to transmit encoded
signal.
.Page No. 5-60

Soln. :
W = 15 kHz,
fs = 1.2 2 W = 2.4 15 kHz = 36 kHz,
Q = 65,536.
1.

Signaling rate (r) :

N

We know that Q = 2
N = log2 Q
log10 (65,536)
N =
= 16
log10 2
Signaling rate r = N fs = 16 36 kHz = 576 kbits/sec.

...(1)
...Ans.

Thus the signaling rate r is 576 kbits/sec.

2.

Minimum bandwidth :
1
BT = 2
576
Signaling rate = 2 kbits/sec
Minimum bandwidth BT = 288 kHz

Ex. 5.15.9 :

...Ans.

In a single integration DM scheme, the voice signal is sampled at a rate of 64 kHz. The
maximum signal amplitude is 1 Volt.
1.

Determine the minimum value of step size to avoid slope overload.

2.

Determine granular noise power N0, if the voice signal bandwidth is 3.5 kHz.

Digital Communication (GTU)

Assuming signal to be sinusoidal, calculate signal power So and signal to noise

ratio (SNR).

4.

Assuming that the voice signal amplitude is uniformly distributed in the range,
( 1, 1), determine So and SNR.
.Page No. 5-60

A = 1 Volt

Minimum step size to avoid slope overload :

fs
A
,
2 fm
min =

2.

Pulse Code Modulation

3.

Soln. :
Given : fs = 64 kHz
1.

5-4

2 fm A 2 3.5 103 1
=
= 0.3436 Volt
3
fs
64 10

Granular noise power :

2

fm (0.3436) 3.5
3

= 2.15 10 W
64
3 fs
3
2

Nq =
3.

...Ans.

...Ans.

Signal power So and SNRo :

As the signal is sinusoidal, the normalized output signal power
2

So = [A/ 2] = A/2 = 1/2 Watt.

So
0.5
SNRo =
=
= 232.3 or 23.66 dB.
Nq 2.15 10 3
4.

...Ans.

Signal power for uniformly distributed signal :

The signal PDF for a uniformly distributed signal is as shown in Fig. P. 5.15.9.

Fig. P. 5.15.9
1
Mean square value of the signal, E[S ] =
2

1
S fs (S) dS =
2
2

S dS =

1
1 3
[S / 3] 1 = 1/3
2

Assuming R = 1.
Normalized signal power So = Mean square value = 1/3 W
1/3 W
Signal to noise ratio = SNR =
= 155.03 or 21.9 dB
3
2.15 10 W
Ex. 5.15.10 :

...Ans.
...Ans.

The information in an analog signal voltage waveform is to be transmitted over a PCM

system with an accuracy of 0.1 % full scale accuracy. The analog voltage waveform has
a bandwidth of 100 Hz and an amplitude range of 10 to + 10 Volts.
(a)

Determine the minimum sampling rate required.

(b)

Determine the number of bits in each PCM word.

Digital Communication (GTU)

5-5

Pulse Code Modulation

(c)

Determine the minimum bit rate required in the PCM system.

(d)

Determine the minimum absolute channel bandwidth required for the transmission
of the PCM signal.

.Page No. 5-61

Soln. :
It has been given that,
1.
Accuracy of 0.1 % of full scale is expected.
2.
W = 100 Hz and amplitude range is 10 to + 10 V
(a)

Sampling rate fs :
By sampling theorem the minimum sampling rate is
fs (min) = 2W = 200 Hz

(b)

...Ans.

Number of bits per word (N) :

As accuracy is expected to be 0.1 % of full scale, the maximum quantization error should be
0.1 % of full scale.

max = 0.1 % of full scale

= 0.001 [10 ( 10)] = 0.001 20

max = 0.02 Volts

...(1)

We know that the maximum value of the quantization error is

max = S/2

...(2)

S/2 = 0.02

S = 0.04 Volt

...(3)

VH VL
But S =
Q
where
and

VH = 10 V
VL = 10 V
Q =
=

10 + 10
0.04
20
= 500
0.04

...(4)

But Q = 2

N log10 2 = log10 500

(c)

N = 8.96 9

...Ans.

System bit rate :

System bit rate (r) = N fs = 9 200 = 1800 bits/sec

...Ans.

Digital Communication (GTU)

(d)

5-6

Pulse Code Modulation

Transmission channel bandwidth (BT) :

BT

1
N fs
2

BT 900 Hz
Ex. 5.15.11 :

...Ans.

The information in an analog waveform with a maximum frequency fm = 3 kHz is to be

transmitted over an M level PCM system, where the number of pulse levels is M = 16.
The quantization distortion is specified not to exceed 1% of peak to peak analog signal.
1.

What is the maximum number of bits per sample that should be used in this
PCM system ?

2.

What is the minimum sampling rate and what is the resulting bit transmission rate ?
.Page No. 5-61

Soln. :
Given : fm = 3 kHz,
Number of quantization levels M = 16.
1.

Number of bits/sample (N) :

N

We know that, number of quantization levels M = 2 .

2.

= 16

N = 4

...Ans.

Minimum sampling rate :

fs (min) = 2 fm = 2 3 kHz

By sampling theorem :

3.

fs (min) = 6 kHz

...Ans.

Bit transmission rate :

r = N fs = 4 6 kHz

1.

Number of quantization levels, Q = 2 = 2 = 128

Ex. 5.15.12 :

Soln. :
Given :

r = 24 kbits/sec.

...Ans.
...Ans.

A TV signal with a bandwidth of 4.2 MHz is transmitted using binary PCM. The number of
quantization levels is 512. Calculate :
1.

Code word length

2.

Transmission bandwidth

3.

Final bit rate

4.

Output signal to quantization noise ratio.

.Page No. 5-61

fm = 4.2 MHz and Q = 512.

Code word length (N) :

N

Q = 2
log 512
N =
log 2
N = 9 bits/word

...Ans.

Digital Communication (GTU)

2.

5-7

Pulse Code Modulation

Transmission bandwidth :
BT =

1
1
N fs = N (2 fm)
2
2

BT = 9 4.2 MHz = 37.8 MHz

3.

...Ans.

Final bit rate (r) :

r = N fs = 9 2 fm = 18 4.2 MHz
r = 75.6 Mb/s

...Ans.

4.

Signal to quantization noise ratio :

Since the TV signal is not a sinusoidal signal, let us use the general expression of signal to
quantization noise ratio.

S = 4.8 + 6 N dB = 4.8 + (6 9)
Nq

S
= 58.8 dB
Nq

...Ans.

This is the maximum signal to noise ratio that we are expected to get from this system.
Ex. 5.15.13 :

The output signal to noise ratio (SNR) of a 10 bit PCM was found to be 30 dB. The
desired SNR is 42 dB. It was decided to increase the SNR to the desired value by
increasing the number of quantization levels. Find fractional increase in the transmission
bandwidth required for this SNR.

Soln. :
Given :
1.

.Page No. 5-61

SNR = 30 dB, N = 10
Desired value of SNR = 42 dB.

To find N for SNR = 42 dB

With increase in N by 1 bit the value of SNR increases by 6 dB. Therefore to increase the value
of SNR by 12 dB it is necessary to increase N by 2.
N = 10 + 2 = 12
2.

...Ans.

Fractional increase in BW :
BW of PCM system =

1
N fs
2

BW with N = 10 is given by, BW10 =

1
10 fs = 5 fs
2

and BW with N = 12 is given by, BW12=

1
12 fs = 6 fs
2

Change in BW = BW = 6 fs 5 fs = fs

Fractional change in BW =

fs
BW
=
100 % = 20 %
BW10 5 fs

...Ans.

Digital Communication (GTU)

Ex. 5.15.14 :

5-8

Pulse Code Modulation

A telephone signal with cut-off frequency of 4 kHz is digitised into 8 bit PCM, sampled at
Nyquist rate. Calculate the baseband transmission bandwidth and quantization S/N ratio.
.Page No. 5-61

Soln. :
1.

The Nyquist rate

2.

Transmission bandwidth, BT

3.

SNRq

Ex. 5.15.15 :

= 2 4 kHz = 8 kHz.
=

1
1
N fs = 8 8 kHz = 32 kHz
2
2

...Ans.

= (1.8 + 6N) dB = 1.8 + (6 8) = 49.8 dB

...Ans.

In a single integration DM scheme the voice signal is sampled at a rate of 64 kHz. The
maximum signal amplitude is 2 Volts. Voice signal bandwidth is 3.5 kHz. Determine the
minimum value of step size to avoid slope overload and granular noise power.
.Page No. 5-61

Soln. :
Given :
1.

fs = 64 kHz,

Amax = 2V,

fm = 3.5 kHz

Minimum step size to avoid slope overload :

We know that
Amax =

2.

min =

min fs
2 fm
2 fm Amax 2 3.5 103 2
=
= 0.6872 Volt
3
fs
64 10

...Ans.

Granular noise power :

Nq =

Ex. 5.15.16 :

2
2
fm (0.6872) 3.5
3
=

= 8.6 10 W
64
3 fs
3

...Ans.

A television signal (video and audio) has a bandwidth of 4.5 MHz. This signal is sampled,
quantized and binary coded to obtain a PCM signal.
1.

Determine the sampling rate if the signal is to be sampled at a rate 20% above the

2.

If the samples are quantized into 1024 levels, determine the number of binary pulses

3.

Determine the binary pulse rate (bits per second) of binary coded signal and the

Nyquist rate.
required to encode each sample.
minimum bandwidth required to transmit the signal.
If above linear PCM system is converted to companded PCM, will the output bit rate
changed ? Justify.

.Page No. 5-62

Digital Communication (GTU)

5-9

Pulse Code Modulation

Soln. :
Given :

W = 4.5 MHz
Sampling rate = 1.2 Nyquist rate = 1.2 2 W

1.

= 1.2 2 4.5 10 = 10.8 MHz

6

2.

...Ans.

Given that number of quantization levels, Q = 1024

But Q = 2

Number of binary pulse per word, N = log2 Q

N = log2 1024

N = 10

Bandwidth =
Ex. 5.15.17 :

...Ans.

Binary pulse rate (bit rate) = N fs = 10 10.8 MHz = 108 Mbps

3.

...Ans.

1
bit rate = 54 MHz
2

...Ans.

A compact disc (CD) records audio signals digitally by using PCM. Assume the audio
signal bandwidth to be 15 kHz.
1.

What is Nyquist rate ?

2.

If the Nyquist samples are quantized into L = 65,536 levels and then binary
coded,determine the number of binary digits required to encode a sample.

3.

Determine the number of binary digits per second (bit/s) required to encode
the audio signal.

4.

For practical reasons, the signals are sampled at a rate well above Nyquist rate
at 44,100 samples per second. If L = 65,536, determine number of bits per second
required to encode the signal and transmission bandwidth of encoded signal.
.Page No. 5-62.

Soln. :
Given :
W = 15 kHz
1.
Nyquist rate = 2 W = 2 15 kHz = 30 kHz.
...Ans.
2.
Number of quantization levels Q = 65,536
N
we know that Q = 2
N
2 = 65,536
N = 16 bits.
...Ans.
Number of bits to encode each sample is N = 16.
3.
Number of bits per second
= Number of samples/sec. Number of bits/sample
3
...Ans.
= 15 10 16 = 240 k bits/sec.
4.
Practical sampling rate fs = 44.1 kHz
Number of bits per second = 44.1 16 10 = 705.6k bits/sec.
3
Bit rate 705.6 10
Transmission bandwidth B =
=
= 352.8 kHz.
2
2
3

...Ans.

Digital Communication (GTU)

Ex. 5.15.18 :

5-10

Pulse Code Modulation

A Delta Modulator system operates at 3 times Nyquist rate for signal with 3.3 kHz
bandwidth. The quantisation step is 250 mV. Determine the maximum amplitude of a 1
kHz input sinusoid for which the DM does not show slope overload.

Soln. :
Given :
1.

.Page No. 5-62.

W = 3.3 kHz, fm = 1 kHz, = 250 mV, fs = 3 2W = 19.8 kHz.

Let the maximum amplitude of 1 kHz input sinusoid be A.

The condition to avoid the slope overload is

A
m Ts
Maximum value of A =

fs

=
m Ts 2 fm

Substituting the values we get,

250 10 19.8 10
2 1 103
3

Amax =

Amax = 0.787
Ex. 5.15.19 :

An audio signal with highest frequency component 3300 Hz is pulse code modulated with
a sampling rate of 8000 samples/sec. The required signal-to-quantisation noise ratio is
40 dB.
1.

What is the minimum number of uniform quantising levels needed ?

2.

What is the minimum number of bits per sample needed ?

3.

Calculate the minimum number of bits per sample needed ?

.Page No. 5-62.

Soln. :
Given : fs = 8000 samples/sec. , fm = 3300 Hz.
1.

S
Nq = 40 dB

To calculate Q and N :
Assuming the input signal to be non sinusoidal we write
S/N = (4.8 + 6 N) dB
40 = 4.8 + 6N
N = 5.86 6
Thus the number of bits per word is 6.
N
6
Q = 2 = 2 = 64
Thus the number of quantization level is 64.

2.

...Ans.
...Ans.

The signaling rate (r) :

r = N fs = 6 8 10 = 48 kbits/sec.
3

3.

Transmission bandwidth :
Minimum BW,

BT =

1
r = 24 kHz.
2

Digital Communication (GTU)

Ex. 5.15.20 :

5-11

Pulse Code Modulation

Delta modulator (DM) gives output pulses + p (t) of p (t). The output of DM is + p (t)
when instantaneous sample is larger than previous sample value and is p(t) when
instantaneous sample is smaller than previous sample value (last sample). The p(t) has
2 microsecond duration and 628 mV amplitude and repeats every 10 microsecond. Plot
the input and output of DM on graph paper one below other to same scale if the input to
DM is 1 Volt sine wave of frequency 10 kHz for one cycle of input wave. What is the
maximum frequency with 1 Volt amplitude that can be used in this system without slope
overload distortion.

.Page No. 5-62.

Soln.
Part I : To plot the DM signal
The D. M. Signal is as shown in Fig. P. 5.15.20.

Fig. P. 5.15.20 : DM signal

Part II : Maximum frequency :
Given :
A = 1V, fm = 10 kHz,
fs = 1/Ts = 1/10 s = 100 kHz. = 265 mV.
The condition for avoiding the slope overload is
A >

m Ts

Digital Communication (GTU)

5-12

Pulse Code Modulation

256 10
6
m 10 10
3

1 =

n = 25.6 10 rad /sec.

3

fmax = 4074.36 Hz

...Ans.

This is the maximum input frequency without introducing any slope overload distortion.