LECTURE 3

CONVENTIONAL DOUBLE SIDEBAND

AMPLITUDE MODULATION
A/Prof Dr Zhuquan Zang
Dept of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Curtin University
Perth, Western Australia
CE304-DC603 LECTURE NOTES Lecturer & Tutor: Z.Zang@curtin.edu.au
LECTURE 3: CONVENTIONAL AMPLITUDE MODULATION
Generally speaking, DSB-SC AM systems need sophisticated circuitry at the receiver
for the purpose of generating a local carrier of exactly the right frequency and phase for
synchronous demodulation. But such systems are very ecient from the point of view
of power requirements at the transmitter. In point-to-point communications, where
there is one transmitter for each receiver, substantial complexity in the receiver system
can be justied, provided it results in a large enough saving in expensive high-power
transmitting equipment. On the other hand, for a broadcast system with a multitude of
receivers for each transmitter, it is more economical to have one expensive high-power
transmitter and simpler, less expensive receivers. For such applications, a large carrier
signal is transmitted along with the suppressed-carrier modulated signal m(t) cos(
c
t),
thus eliminating the need to generate a local carrier signal at the receiver. This is the
so-called AM (amplitude modulation), in which the transmitted signal
AM
(t) is given
by

AM
(t) = m(t) cos(
c
t) + Acos(
c
t) = [A + m(t)] cos(
c
t)
The spectrum of
AM
(t) is the same as that of m(t) cos(
c
t) plus two additional
impulses at
c

AM
(t)
1
2
[M( +
c
) + M(
c
)] + A[( +
c
) + (
c
)]
The condition for demodulation by an envelope detector is
A + m(t) > 0 for all t
This is the same as
A min{m(t)}
We dene the modulation index as
=
min{m(t)}
A
1 is the required condition for proper demodulation of AM by an envelope detector.
For > 1 (overmodulation), the option of envelope detection is no longer available.
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We then need to use synchronous demodulation. Note tha synchronous demodulation
can be used for any value of . The envelope detector, which is considerably simpler
and less expensive than the synthronous detector, can be used only for 1. For
1, it is possible to extract the required local carrier from the received signal by
using a narrowband lter tuned to
c
(the carrier can be readily extracted by using a
phas-lock loop).
Sideband and carrier power. The advantage of envelope detection in AM has its
price. In AM, the carrier term does not carry any information, and hence, the carrier
power is wasted.

AM
(t) = Acos
c
t
. .
carrier
+m(t) cos
c
t
. .
sidebands
The carrier power P
c
is the mean squre value of Acos
c
t, which is A
2
/2. The sideband
power P
s
is the power of m(t) cos
c
t, which is 0.5 m
2
(t). Hence,
P
c
=
A
2
2
and P
s
=
1
2
m
2
(t)
The sideband power is the useful power and the carrier power is the power wasted for
convenience. The total power is the sum of the carrier (wasted) power and the sideband
(useful) power. Hence, , the power eciency, is
=
useful power
total power
=
P
s
P
c
+ P
s
=
m
2
(t)
A
2
+ m
2
(t)
100%
For the special case of tone modulation
m(t) = Acos
m
t and m
2
(t) =
(A)
2
2
Hence,
=

2
2 +
2
100%
with the condition that 0 1. It can be seen that increases monotonically with
, and
max
occurs at = 1, for which
max
= 33%. Thus, for tone modulation, under
best conditions ( = 1), only one-third of the transmitted power is used for carrying
message. For practical signals, the eciency is even worse on the order of 35% or
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lower compared to that of DSB-SC case. The best condition implies = 1. Smaller
values of degrade eciency further. For this reason volume compression and peak
limiting are commonly used in AM to ensure that full modulation ( = 1) is maintained
most of the time.
Generation of AM Signals
Nonlinear modulators. Modulation can be achieved by using nonlinear devices. A
semicondductor diode or a transistor is an example of such a device. Nonlinear charac-
teristics such as these may be approximated by a power series:
i = ae + be
2
AM signals can be generated by any DSB-SC generator if the modulating signal is
A + m(t) instead of just m(t). AM can be generated in simpler ways, however. For
example, the nonlinear modulator ( see Fig. 1) used for DSB-SC is a balanced modulator.
We can show that to generate AM, we need use only one of the two branches. Assume
Figure 1: Nonlinear DSB-SC modulator
that the nonlinear characteristic between i and e is given by
i = ae + be
2
The output of the upper modulator is i
1
R, given by
i
1
R = R[a(cos(
c
t) + m(t)) + b(cos(
c
t) + m(t))
2
]
= aRcos(
c
t) + 2bRm(t) cos(
c
t) + aRm(t) + bRm
2
(t) + bRcos
2
(
c
t)
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When this signal is passed through a bandpass lter tuned to
c
, the last three terms
are suppressed, leaving only the rst two terms, which in fact represent an AM signal.
Switching modulators. Fig. 2 shows an AM modulator with a single diode acting as
a switch. The input is c cos(
c
t) + m(t) with c m(t), so that the switching action
of the diode is controlled by c cos(
c
t). The diode opens and shorts periodically with
Figure 2: Switching modulator - AM generator
cos(
c
t), in eect multiplying the input signal [c cos(
c
t) +m(t)] by k(t). The voltage
across terminall bb

, is
v
bb
(t) = [c cos(
c
t) + m(t)]k(t)
= [c cos(
c
t) + m(t)]
_
1
2
+
2

_
cos(
c
t)
1
3
cos(3
c
t) +
1
5
cos(5
c
t) +
__
=
c
2
cos(
c
t) +
2

m(t) cos(
c
t) + other terms
The bandpass lter tuned to
c
suppresses all the other terms, yielding the desired AM
signal at the output.
Demodulation of AM Signals
The AM signal can be demodulated coherently by a locally generated carrier. Co-
herent, or synthronous, demodulation of AM, however, will defeat the very purpose
of AM and, hence, is rarely used in practice. We shall consider here three noncoher-
ent methods of AM modulation: 1) rectier detection, 2) envelope detection, and 3)
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square-law detection.
Rectier detector. If AM is applied to a diode and a resistor circuit (see Fig. 3), the
negative part of the AM wave will be suppressed.
Figure 3: Rectier detector for AM
The output across the resistor is a rectied version of the AM signal. In essence,
the AM signal is multiplied by k(t). Hence, the rectied output v
k
is
v
k
(t) = {[A + m(t)] cos(
c
t)}k(t)
= [A + m(t)] cos(
c
t)
_
1
2
+
2

_
cos(
c
t)
1
3
cos(3
c
t) +
1
5
cos(5
c
t) +
__
=
1

[A + m(t)] + other terms of higher frequencies

When v
R
(t) is applied to a lowpass lter of cuto B, the output is [A+m(t)]/, and
all other terms in v
R
(t) of frequencies higher than B are suppressed. The dc term A/
may be blocked by a capacitor to give the desired output m(t)/. The output cna be
doubled by using a full-wave rectier.
It is interesting to note that rectier detection is in eect synchronous detection
performed without using a local carrier. The high carrier content in the received signal
makes this possible.
Envelope detector. In an envelope detector, the output of the detector follows the
envelope of the modulated signal. The circuit show in Fig. 4 functions as an envelope
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detector. On the positive cycle of the input signal, the capacitor C charges up the
Figure 4: Envelope detector for AM
peak voltage of the input signal. As the input signal falls below this peak value, the
diode is cut o, because the capacitor voltage (which is very nearly the peak voltage)
is greater than the input signal voltage, thus causing the diode to open. The capacitor
now discharges through the resistor R at a slow rate. During the next positive cycle,
when the input signnal becomes greater than the capacitor voltage, the diode conducts
again. The capacitor again charges to the peak value of this (new) cycle. The capacitor
discharges slowly during the cut-o, thus changing the capacitor voltage very slightly.
During each positive cycle, the capacitor charges up to the peak voltage of the input
signal and then decays slowly until the next positive cycle. The output voltage thus
follows the envelope of the input. Making RC too large would make it impossible for
the capacitor voltage to follow the envelope (see Fig. 4). A ripple signal of frequency

c
, however, is caused by capacitor discharge between positive peaks. This ripple is
reduced by increasing the time constand RC so that the capacitor discharges very little
between the positive peaks (RC 1/
c
). Making RC too large, however, would
make it impossible for the capacitor voltage to follow the envelope. Thus, RC should
be large compared to 1/
c
but should be small compared to 1/2B, where B is the
highest frequency in m(t). This, incidentally, also requires that
c
2B, a condition
that is necessary for a well-dened envelope.
The envelop-detector output is A + m(t) with a ripple of frequence
c
. The dc
term A can be blocked out by a capacitor or a simple RC highpass lter. The ripple
may be reduced further more another (lowpass) RC lter
Example: For tone modulation (m(t) = A
m
cos(
m
t)), determine the upper limit on
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RC to ensure that the capacitor voltage follows the envelope.
Solution: Fig. 5 shows the envelope and the voltage across the capacitor. The capacitor
Figure 5: Single tone envelope detection
discharges from the peak value E at some arbitrary instant t = 0. The voltage v
c
across
the capacitor is given by
v
c
(t) = Ee
t/RC
Because the time constant is much larger than the interval between the two successive
cycles of the carrier (RC 1/
c
). the capacitor voltage v
c
discharges exponentially
for a short time compared to its time constant. Hence, the exponential can be ap-
proximateed by a straight line obtained form the rst two terms in Taylors series of
Ee
t/RC
.
v
c
(t) E
_
1
t
RC
_
The slope of the discharge is E/RC. In order for the capacitor to follow the enve-
lope E(t), the magnitude of the slope of the RC discharge must be greater than the
magnitude of the slope of the envelope E(t). Hence

v
c
dt

=
E
RC

dE
dt

(1)
But the envelope E(t) of a tone-modulated carrier is
E(t) = A[1 + cos(
m
t)]
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dE
dt
= A
m
sin(
m
t)
Hence, Eq. 1 becomes
A(1 + cos(
m
t))
RC
A
m
sin(
m
t)
for all t, or
RC
A(1 + cos(
m
t))

m
sin(
m
t)
for all t. The worst possible case occurs when the right-hand side is the minimum.
This is found (as usual, by taking the derivative and setting it to zero) to be when
cos(
m
) = . For this case, the right-hand side is
_
(1
2
)/
m
. Hence,
RC
1

m
_
1
2

_
Square-law detector. An AM signal can be demodulated by squaring it and then
passing the squared signal through a lowpass lter. This can be readily seen from the
fact that

AM
(t) = [A + m(t)] cos(
c
t)
and

2
AM
(t) =
[A
2
+ 2Am(t) + m
2
(t)]
2
(1 + 2 cos(2
c
t)
The lowpass lter output y
o
(t) is
y
o
(t) =
A
2
2
_
1 + 2
m(t)
A
+
m
2
(t)
A
2
_
Usually, m(t) A for most of the time. Only when m(t) is near its peak is this
violated. Hence,
y
o
(t)
A
2
2
+ Am(t)
A blocking capacitor will suppress the dc term, yielding the output Am(t). Note that
square-law detector causes signal distortion. The distortion, however, is negligible when
is small. This type of detection can be performed by any nonlinear device that does
not have odd symmetry. Whenever a modulated signal pass through any nonlinearity
of this type, it will create a demodulation component, whether intended or not.
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Comparison of Various AM Systems
The AM system has an advantage over the AM-SC systems (that is, DSB-SC and
SSB-SC) at the receiver. The detectors required for AM are relatively simpler (rectier
or envelope detectors) than those required for suppressed-carrier systems. For this
reason, all AM broadcast systems AM. In addition, AM signals are easier to generate at
high power levels, as compared to suppressed-carrier signals. The balanced modulators
required in the latter are somewhat dicult to design.
Suppressed-carrier systems have an advantage over AM in that they require less
power to transmit the same information. Under normal conditions, the carrier takes
up to 75 percent (or even more) of the totaltransmitted power. This necessitates
a rather expensive transmitter for AM. For suppressed-carrier systems, however, the
receiver is much more complex and consequently more expensive. For a point-to-point
communication system, where there are only a few receivers for one transmitter,, the
complexity in a receiver is justied, whereas for public broadcast systems, where there
are millions of receivers for each transmitter, AM is the obvious choice.
The AM signal also suers from the phenomenon of fading, as mentioned earlier.
Fading is strongly frequency dependent; that is, various frequency components suer
dienrnt attenuation and nonlinear phase shifts. This is known as selective fading.
The eect of fading is more serious on AM signals than on AM-SC signals, because in
AM the carrier must maintain a certain strength in relation to the sidebands. Because
of selective fading, the carrier may be attenuated to the point where the modulation
index is no longer less than 1. In such a case, the received signal detected by an
envelope detector will show severe distortion. Even if the carrier is not badly attenuation
and the modulation index is still less than 1, selective fading can still badly distort
the AM signal because of unequal attenuation and nonlinear phase shifts of the two
sidebands and the carrier. The eect of selective fading becomes pronounced at higher
frequencies. Therefore, suppressed-carrier systems are prefrred at higher frequencies.
The AM system is generally used for medium-frequency broadcast transmission.
Next we compare the DSBN-SC system with the SSB-SC system. Here we nd
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that the balance is mostly in favour of SSB-SC. The following are the advantages of
the SSB-SC over DSB-SC.
1. SSB-SC needs only half the bandwidth needed for DSB-SC. Although this dif-
ference can be balanced out by quadrature multiplexing two DSB-SC signals,
practical diculties of crosstalk are much more serious in quadrature multiplex-
ing.
2. Frequency and phase errors in the local carrier used for demodulation have more
serious eects in DSB-SC than in SSB-SC, particularly for voice signals.
3. Selective fading disturbs the relationship of the two sidebands in DSB-SC and
causes more serious distortion than in the case of SSB-SC, where only one side-
band exists.
For these reasons, DSB-SC is rarely used in audio communication. Long-haul telephone
systems use SSB-SC multiplexed systems with a pilot carrier. For short-haul systems,
DSB is sometimes used., PCM, however, is gradually replacing both.
SSB compares poorly to DSB in one respect: the generation of high-level SSB
signals is more dicult than that of DSB signals. This disadvantage is overcome in
what is called vestigial sideband transmission.
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