RADIO TELEPHONY SATELLITE COMMUNICATION RADIO TELEMETRY

BROADCASTING RADAR NAVIGATIONAL AIDS

POIN-TO-POINT PREPARED BY ENGR. JO-ANN V.

COMMUNICATION MAGSUMBOL
COMPUTER COMMUNICATION MICROWAVE COMMUNICATION
 FORMS OF
COMMUNICATIONS

PREPARED BY ENGR. JO-ANN V.

MAGSUMBOL
MODULE 1

Introduction to Communications
Systems

Prepared by:
Engr. Jo-Ann V. Magsumbol
PREPARED BY ENGR. JO-ANN V.
MAGSUMBOL
OBJECTIVES:
1. Define communications
2. Name the four main elements of any communications
system
3. State what each element does
4. List the frequencies, designations, and abbreviations
for various ranges in the electromagnetic spectrum
5. Illustrate different modes of communications
6. Identify the factors that limit communications
7. Review the importance of decibel

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COMMUNICATION
- Is the process of sending and/or receiving
messages between 2 or more points via
electronic, electromagnetic or radio waves.

- The basic process of exchanging information.

- It processes, collates and stores messages.

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 OBJECTIVE OF COMMUNICATION

- To receive the information correctly and

clearly

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 INFORMATION

– is that which is conveyed (bits/dits)

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 MESSAGE

– the physical manifestation of information as

produced by the source ( whatever form of the
message takes, the goal of communication system
is to reproduce at the destination an acceptable
replica of the source message)

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 FORMS OF MESSAGE
1. Signal
a. Analog – a physical quantity that varies with
time, usually in a smooth and continuous
fashion. (human voice)
b. Digital – is an ordered sequence of symbols
selected from a finite set of discrete elements
( keyboard)
2. Codes
3. Letters/Numbers
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ELEMENTS OF A COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM

Transmitted
Input signal signal

Information
Transmitter
Source

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 1. TRANSMITTER

A collection of electronic components and

circuits designed to convert the information
into a signal suitable for transmission over a
given communications medium
(ex. Microphone, microwave communication
radio transmitter)

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Microwave Antenna Microphone

Classic Army Radio Transmitter

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RADIO TRANSMITTER

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 BASEBAND

– the band of frequencies occupied by an

information signal before it modulates the carrier.

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 CARRIER
– A signal that can be modulated by an information
signal

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ELEMENTS OF A COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM

Transmitted
Input signal signal

Information Transmission
Transmitter
Source Channel

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2. COMMUNICATION CHANNEL

The medium by which the electronic signal is

sent from one place to another.

A path for the transmission of signals

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 2 GENERAL CATEGORIES

1. Wire Medium
The signal is confined within the proximity of the
channel or medium.

2. Wireless Medium
The signal is not subjected to limits, boundaries,
or channel restrictions.

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Coaxial Cable Fiber Optics

Classic Army Radio Transmitter

Twisted Pair of Wire

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WIRED TELEPHONY

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WIRELESS SYSTEM

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CELLULAR TELEPHONY

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ELEMENTS OF A COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM

Transmitted
Input signal signal

Information Transmission
Transmitter
Source Channel

Noise
Interference
Distortion

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 NOISE

Is random, undesirable electric energy that

enters the communications system via the
communicating medium and interferes with the
transmitted message

Any undesired disturbance that is

superimposed on a signal and obscures its
information content
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NOISE

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 TIME DOMAIN

Representation of a signal’s amplitude as a

function of time

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NOISE SHOWN IN THE TIME DOMAIN

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 FREQUENCY DOMAIN

A representation of a signal’s amplitude as a

function of frequency

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 SPECTRUM ANALYZER

Device for displaying signals in the frequency

domain

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NOISE SHOWN IN THE FREQUENCY DOMAIN

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 DISTORTION

Is a waveform perturbation caused by

imperfect response of the system to the
desired signal itself

Any undesirable change in an information

signal

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DISTORTION

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 INTERFERENCE

Is contamination by extraneous signals from

human sources – other transmitters, power
lines, machine switching circuits

If more than one signal uses the same

transmission medium, the signals may interact
with each other.

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 ATTENUATION

Is the reduction of signal amplitude as it

passed over the transmission medium

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ATTENUATION

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TRANSMITTED SIGNAL BEFORE THE
COMMUNICATION LINK

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TRANSMITTED SIGNAL AFTER THE
COMMUNICATION LINK

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ELEMENTS OF A COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM

Transmitted Received
Input signal signal Signal Output signal

Information Transmission
Transmitter Receiver Destination
Source Channel

Noise
Interference
Distortion

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 3. RECEIVER

Is another collection of electronic components

and circuits that accept the transmitted message
from the channel and convert it back into a form
understandable by humans (earphone,
electronic receiver)

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Television Headset

Classic Army Radio Transmitter

Computer Monitor
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 RADIO RECEIVER

Antenna

Radio
Waves
Oscillator

Output
Filter Demodulator Amplifier Equalizers
Signal

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BARRIERS TO HUMAN COMMUNICATIONS

 Language
 Distance

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 LIMITATIONS

 Noise
 Bandwidth – is that portion of the
electromagnetic spectrum occupied by a signal
- It is also the frequency range over which an
information signal is transmitted over which
a receiver or other electronic circuit
operates
- USF - LSF
- or the equipment operation range
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ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM
Name Frequency Applications
ELF 30 – 300 Hz ac power lines
VF 300 – 3000 Hz human voice
musical instruments, navy
VLF 3 KHz – 30 KHz
LF 30 – 300 KHz Aeronautical & marine
navigation

MF 300 – 3 MHz AM broadcasting

HF 3 – 30 MHz Amateur radio, CB comm.

VHF 30 – 300 MHz FM broadcasting, TV

UHF 300 – 3 GHz UHF TV

SHF 3 – 30 GHz Satellite comm., radar

EHF 30 – 300 GHz Satellite comm.,

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 EXAMPLE

Determine the wavelength in meters for the

following frequencies: 1kHz, 100kHz, and
10MHz.

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 EXAMPLE

Calculate the wavelength in free space

corresponding to a frequency of:

a. 1 MHz ( AM radio broadcast band)

b. 27 MHz (CB radio band)
c. 4 GHz ( used for satellite television)

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 MODES OF TRANSMISSION
1. Simplex – one way communication
2. Duplex – two way communications
a. Half-duplex – 2-way alternate, either way, over-&-out
system
b. Full-duplex – transmit and receive simultaneously but
not necessarily between the same locations.
c. Full-Full Duplex - transmit in both directions
simultaneously not using the same terminals
3. Echoplex – the receiver sends back again
the signal to the original sender

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 DISADVANTAGES OF USING ABSOLUTE
VALUES
1. Any graph or drawing of the signal as it goes
through the various stages needs an
extremely long scale or it will be difficult to
read.
2. Any calculations or analysis on the signal
strength would involve numbers that are too
large or too small to deal with easily.
3. Very hard to compare two signals at one
point with its value at another point in the
system
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 DECIBEL RATIOS
- is a logarithmic unit that can be used to
measure ratios of virtually anything

- is a “transmission-measuring unit used to

express relative gains and losses of electronic
devices and circuits and for describing
relationship between signals and noise.

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 DECIBEL RATIOS
- abbrev. as dB
- decibel measurement is based on the
comparison of 2 power level
- G = P2/P1 GdB = 10 log G

P1 G P2

Note:
If P2 > P1 G > 1 dB true gain
If P2 < P1 G < 1 dB loss
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FOR ATTENUATOR NETWORK AND FILTERS
P2 < P1 the absolute loss, L
L = P1/P2 LdB = 10 log L
LdB = - GdB
Voltage and Current Ratios
GdB = 20 log (V2/V1)
GdB = 20 log (I2/I1)

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 DECIBEL MEASUREMENT STANDARDIZED
ABOUT SPECIFIC REFERENCE LEVEL
1. dBm
2. dBW
3. dBf

Addition of decibels
1. dB + dB = dB
2. dBm + dB = dBm
3. dBf + dB = dBf
4. dBmV + dB = dBmV
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 EXAMPLES
1. Convert the following absolute power gain to
decibel power gain.
a. G = 1 b. G = 2n
c. G = 10 d. G = 0.1
2. Express the following absolute voltage gain to
decibel power gain assuming that the
resistance level are the same at the input and
output.
a. Av = 2 b. Av = 2n
c. Av = 0.2 d. Av = 10
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 EXAMPLES
3. Find the absolute value of the following

a. AV = 46 dB
b. AV = 23 dB
c. AP = 46 dB
d. AP = 46 dB

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 CASCADED SYSTEM

- successive stages for amplification and

attenuation.

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 EXAMPLES
1. What are the power output of each stage of a
3-stage amplifier having a gain equal to 25dB,
-38dB & 50dB respectively, if the input power
is 10mW?

2. Determine the attenuation in decibels for the

attenuator having input power of 100 mW and
an output power of 3.5mW.

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 EXAMPLES
3. Draw the circuit diagram of a communication
link being described in the problem. The input
to the amplifier is 26dBm and its gain is 12 dB.
The output of the amplifier is connected to a
telephone line which has an efficiency of 80%
and is terminated with a transformer where
loss is 1.5W. The secondary load on the
transformer is 10Ω. What is the voltage
appearing across the load.
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 EXAMPLES
4. Express the following absolute power levels to
decibels with reference to 1mW/1W.
a. 1mW b. 1 kW
5. A three-stage system comprised of two
amplifiers and one filter. The input power Pin
= 0.1mW. The absolute power gains are 100,
40 and 0.25. Determine (a) the input power
(dBm), (b) output power (W, dBm), (c) the dB
gain of each of the three stages, and (d) the
overall gain in dB.
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 EXAMPLES

6. For a three-stage system with an input power

Pin = -20dBm and power gains of the three
stages as A1 = 13dB, A2 = 16dB, and A3 = -
6dB, determine the output power in dBm and
watts.

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 MASTERY EXERCISES
1. What is communications?
2. What are the barriers to communications?
3. What are the modes of transmission?
4. State the elements of a communication
system?
5. What is the importance of decibel?
6. Undesirable interference in communications is
__________ which is added to the signal in
the __________.
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 MASTERY EXERCISES
7. Signals that travel through free space for long
distances are called __________.
8. The human hearing range is approximately
__________ to __________ Hz.
9. The frequency range of the human voice is
__________ to __________ Hz.
10. HF signals are also called __________.

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 MASTERY EXERCISES
11. Identify the band of each of the ff.
frequencies:
a. 10 MHz (used for standard time and frequency
broadcast)
b. 2.45 GHz (used for microwave ovens)
c. 100 kHz (used for the LORAN navigation system for
ships and aircraft)
d. 4 GHz (used for satellite television)
e. 880 MHz (used for cellular telephony)

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 SEATWORK
1. Calculate the dB ratio for these pairs of power
values:
a) 3.9 W & 25mW b) 100mW & 550 mW
c) 250 mW & 145 mW
2. What is the dB ratio for these voltages:
a) 2.75 V & 1.93 V b) 2.05 mV & 75 mV
c) 19 V & 10 V d) 3 mV & 1V
3. A 100-W signal goes through a circuit with a
30 dB loss. WhatPREPARED
is theBY final power value?
ENGR. JO-ANN V.
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 SEATWORK
4. A voltage signal suffers a 20% loss. What is
the loss in dB?
5. A reference value sometimes used in the radio
and TV transmitter industry is based on the
kilowatt (1000 W), called dBk. Express 1 W in
terms of dBk.
6. A signal between a transmitter and a receiver
is reduced to just 1% of its original power
value because of the distance between
antennas. How many dB
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BY ENGR. is this?
V.
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 SEATWORK
7. Convert 250 mW to dbW and dBm.
8. A new communication cable is installed and
the signal level, in volts increases by one half,
or 50% ( it is now 150% of what it was). What
is the increase in dB?
9. A multi-stage system has three amplifier
stages, providing power gains of 3, 7 and 25
dB, respectively. What is the overall gain, in
dB? For an input signal of 0.05W, what is its
power at the output of the final stage?
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 ASSIGNMENT
1. Answer Section 3.4, #7 Electronic
Communication System 4th edition by William
Schweber

2. Answer section 1-2, 3s 6 -14, Modern

Electronic Communication 8th edition by Jeffrey
S. Beasley and Gary M. Miller

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 ASSIGNMENT

3. Answer Problems 1-1 to 1 - 11, Electronic

Communications Systems 5th edition by Wayne
Tomasi

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