Module 3

Module 3
A continuous-wave goes on continuously without any intervals and it is the

baseband message signal, which contains the information. This wave has to
be modulated.
According to the standard definition, “The amplitude of the carrier signal

varies in accordance with the instantaneous amplitude of the modulating
signal.” Which means, the amplitude of the carrier signal containing no
information varies as per the amplitude of the signal containing information,
at each instant. This can be well explained by the following figures.
The first figure shows the modulating wave, which is the message signal. The
next one is the carrier wave, which is a high frequency signal and contains no
information. While, the last one is the resultant modulated wave.
It can be observed that the positive and negative peaks of the carrier wave,
are interconnected with an imaginary line. This line helps recreating the
exact shape of the modulating signal. This imaginary line on the carrier wave
is called as Envelope. It is the same as that of the message signal.
Therefore, Equation 3 and Equation 8 are the two formulas for Modulation
index. The modulation index or modulation depth is often denoted in
percentage called as Percentage of Modulation. We will get the percentage
of modulation, just by multiplying the modulation index value with 100.
For a perfect modulation, the value of modulation index should be 1, which

implies the percentage of modulation should be 100%.
For instance, if this value is less than 1, i.e., the modulation index is 0.5, then
the modulated output would look like the following figure. It is called
as Under-modulation. Such a wave is called as an under-modulated
wave.
Such a wave is called as an under-modulated wave.

If the value of the modulation index is greater than 1, i.e., 1.5 or so, then the
wave will be an over-modulated wave. It would look like the following
figure.
As the value of the modulation index increases, the carrier experiences a

180o phase reversal, which causes additional sidebands and hence, the wave
gets distorted. Such an over-modulated wave causes interference, which
cannot be eliminated.
Bandwidth of AM Wave
Bandwidth (BW) is the difference between the highest and lowest
frequencies of the signal. Mathematically, we can write it as
Power Calculations of AM Wave
Consider the following equation of amplitude modulated wave.
Double-side band suppressed carrier (DSB-SC) modulation
In the process of Amplitude Modulation, the modulated wave consists of the
carrier wave and two sidebands. The modulated wave has the information
only in the sidebands. Sideband is nothing but a band of frequencies,
containing power, which are the lower and higher frequencies of the carrier
frequency.
The transmission of a signal, which contains a carrier along with two
sidebands can be termed as Double Sideband Full Carrier system or
simply DSBFC. It is plotted as shown in the following figure.
figure.
However, such a transmission is inefficient. Because, two-thirds of the power

is being wasted in the carrier, which carries no information.
If this carrier is suppressed and the saved power is distributed to the two
sidebands, then such a process is called as Double Sideband Suppressed
Carrier system or simply DSBSC. It is plotted as shown in the following
figure.
Switching Modulator
Following is the block diagram of switching modulator.
Switching modulator is similar to the square law modulator. The only

difference is that in the square law modulator, the diode is operated in a non-
linear mode, whereas, in the switching modulator, the diode has to operate
as an ideal switch.
Balanced Modulator
Following is the block diagram of the balanced modulator.
The DSBSC modulated signal has two sidebands. Since, the two sidebands
carry the same information, there is no need to transmit both sidebands. We
can eliminate one sideband.
The process of suppressing one of the sidebands along with the carrier and
transmitting a single sideband is called as Single Sideband Suppressed
Carrier system or simply SSBSC. It is plotted as shown in the following
figure.
In the above figure, the carrier and the lower sideband are suppressed.
Hence, the upper sideband is used for transmission. Similarly, we can
suppress the carrier and the upper sideband while transmitting the lower
sideband.
This SSBSC system, which transmits a single sideband has high power, as the
power allotted for both the carrier and the other sideband is utilized in
transmitting this Single Sideband.
Mathematical Expressions
Advantages
 Bandwidth or spectrum space occupied is lesser than AM and DSBSC
waves.
 Transmission of more number of signals is allowed.
 Power is saved.
 High power signal can be transmitted.
 Less amount of noise is present.
 Signal fading is less likely to occur.
Disadvantages
 The generation and detection of SSBSC wave is a complex process.
 The quality of the signal gets affected unless the SSB transmitter and
receiver have an excellent frequency stability.
Applications
 For power saving requirements and low bandwidth requirements.
 In land, air, and maritime mobile communications.
 In point-to-point communications.
 In radio communications.
 In television, telemetry, and radar communications.
 In military communications, such as amateur radio, etc.
 Coherent Detector
 Here, the same carrier signal (which is used for generating DSBSC
signal) is used to detect the message signal. Hence, this process of
detection is called as coherent or synchronous detection. Following
is the block diagram of the coherent detector.

 In this process, the message signal can be extracted from DSBSC wave
by multiplying it with a carrier, having the same frequency and the
phase of the carrier used in DSBSC modulation. The resulting signal is
then passed through a Low Pass Filter. Output of this filter is the
desired message signal.
Envelope Detector
Envelope detector is used to detect (demodulate) high level AM wave.
Following is the block diagram of the envelope detector.
This envelope detector consists of a diode and low pass filter. Here, the diode
is the main detecting element. Hence, the envelope detector is also called as
the diode detector. The low pass filter contains a parallel combination of
the resistor and the capacitor.
In the positive half cycle of AM wave, the diode conducts and the capacitor
charges to the peak value of AM wave. When the value of AM wave is less
than this value, the diode will be reverse biased. Thus, the capacitor will
discharge through resistor R till the next positive half cycle of AM wave.
When the value of AM wave is greater than the capacitor voltage, the diode
conducts and the process will be repeated.
We should select the component values in such a way that the capacitor
charges very quickly and discharges very slowly. As a result, we will get the
capacitor voltage waveform same as that of the envelope of AM wave, which
is almost similar to the modulating signal.

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Module 3

A continuous-wave goes on continuously without any intervals and it is the

According to the standard definition, “The amplitude of the carrier signal

For a perfect modulation, the value of modulation index should be 1, which

Such a wave is called as an under-modulated wave.

As the value of the modulation index increases, the carrier experiences a

However, such a transmission is inefficient. Because, two-thirds of the power

Switching modulator is similar to the square law modulator. The only

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