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Introduction to Electronic Communications System

Noman Ahmed
Assistant Professor
EE Dept.

Main purpose of an electronic communications system is to transfer

information from one place to another.

Electronic communications can be viewed as the transmission, reception

and processing of information between two or more locations using
electronic circuit/device.

In this chapter, we will cover

Communication models
Communication transmission modes
Power measurement in electronics communication
Electromagnetic frequency spectrum
Communication bandwidth
Information capacity
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Basic communication models shows the communication flows between 2

points.

Source sender of the information

Sink receiver that receive the information
Channel transmission path/medium of the information between the
source and sink

Communication system model

Transmission channel physical link between the communicating parties

Modulator transform the source signal so that it is physically suitable for
the transmission channel
Transmitter introduce the modulated signal into the channel (also act as
amplifier)
Receiver Detect the signal on the channel and amplify it (due to the
attenuation)
Demodulator Get the source signal (original) from the received signal and
pass it to the recipient
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Communication system can be designed for transmitting information in one

or both direction. Generally, the mode of communication can be divided
into 3 types :

Simplex

System : the system capable of sending information in one

direction only where only the sender can send the information and only the
recipient can receive the information. (e.g. TV & radio broadcasting)

Half-duplex System : the system capable to carry information in both

direction, but only one direction is allowed at a time. The sender transmits to the
intended receiver, and then reverse their roles. (e.g. walkie-talkie, 2-way
intercom)

Full-duplex System : Information can be carried in both direction at the

same time. The 2 directions of information travel are independent of each other.
(e.g. ordinary/mobile phone systems, computer systems)

Half-duplex System vs Full-duplex System

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Magnitudes of communication signals span a very wide range causing a

drawbacks as follow :

Extremely large scale (graph/drawing)

Hard calculation (too big vs too small numbers)
Prone to errors (e.g. 0.0001 vs 0.00001)
Hard to compare the signals

As a solution, logarithmic scale is used !

Used to measure the ratio between 2 values value to be measured relative to a

reference value

In the electronic communication field, decibel is normally used to define the power
ratios between 2 signals
To express relative gain and lose of the electronic device/circuit
Describing relationship between signal and noise

In the common usage, it also used to express the ratios of voltage and current
If 2 powers are expressed in the same units (e.g. watt, miliwatt), their ratio is a
dimensionless quantity that can be expressed in decibel form as follow

dB 10 log

Where

10

P1

P2

P1 : power level 1 (watts)

P2 : power level 2 (watts)
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In the case to measure the power gain or loss of any electronic circuit or
device, equation (1) can be written as follow

P out
A p ( dB ) 10 log 10

P in
where

(2)

Ap(dB) : power gain (unit in dB) of Pout with respect to Pin

Pout : output power level (watts)
Pin
: input power level (watts)
Pout/Pin : absolute power gain (unitless)

Positive (+) dB value indicates the output power is greater than the input
power, which indicates power gain or amplification
Negative (-) dB value indicates the output power is less that the input power
which indicates power loss or attenuation
If Pout = Pin, the absolute power gain is 1, which means dB power gain is 0
(referred as unity power gain)

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Ex 1 : Convert the absolute power ratio of 200 to a power gain in dB.

Ex 2 : Convert a power gain Ap = 30 dB to an absolute power ratio.

Ex 3 : Expressing power gain in term of voltage ratio

From

PV

(3)
Substituting (3) into (2),

i.e.

Voltage Gain

Vout 2

dB 10 log 10
2
Vin

Vout
Av ( dB ) 20 log 10

Vin

(3-1)

(3-2)

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A dBm is a unit of measurement used to indicate the ratio of power level with
respect to a fixed reference level. With dBm, the reference level is 1 mW
(miliwatts).
dBm unit can be expressed as follow

P
dBm 10 log 10

0.001

Ex 4 : Convert a power level of 200 mW to dBm

Ex 5 : Convert a power level of 30 dBm to an absolute power

(4)

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A Bel is one-tenth of a decibel

P out
Bel log 10

P in

(5)

The Decibel unit was originated from the Bel unit, in honor of Alexander
Graham Bell.
Bel unit compressed absolute ratios of 0.00000001 to 100000000 to a
ridiculously low range of only 16 Bel (-8 Bel to + 8 Bel).
Difficult to relate Bel unit to true magnitudes of large ratios and impossible
to express small differences with any accuracy.
To overcome this, Bel was simply multiplied by 10, creating a decibel.

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When power levels are given in watts and power gains are given as
absolute values, the output power is determined by multiplying the input
power with the power gains.

Ex 6 : Given a 3 stages system comprised of two amplifiers and filter. The

input power Pin = 0.1 mW. The absolute power gains are AP1 = 100, AP2 =
40 and AP3 = 0.25. Determine
a) the input power in dBm
b) output power (Pout) in watts and dBm
c) the dB gain of each of the 3 stages
d) the overall gain in dB

Ex 7 : For a 3-stages system with an input power Pin = -20 dBm and the
power gains of the 3-stages as AP1 = 13 dB, AP2 = 16 dB and AP3 = -6 dB,
determine the output power (Pout) in dBm and watts.
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Communicating the information between two or more location is done by

converting the original information into electromagnetic energy and then
transmitting it to the receiver where it is converted back to its original form
The electromagnetic energy is distributed throughout infinite range of
frequencies
The total electromagnetic frequency spectrum with the approximate
locations of various services is shown below.

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The spectrum is divided into bands, with each band having a different
name and boundary.
The radio frequency band (30Hz ~300GHz) is divided into narrower band
as follow.

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Wavelength : is the length that one cycle of electromagnetic wave

occupies in space. It is inversely proportional to the frequency of the
wave and directly proportional to the velocity of propagation.
Wavelength can be defined as follow,

c
f
where = wavelength (m), c = velocity of light (3 x 108 m/s),
f = frequency (Hz)
Total electromagnetic wavelength spectrum is shown below.

(6)

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Bandwidth of an information signal is the difference between the highest

and the lowest frequency contained in that signal.

Bandwidth of a communication channel is a difference between the highest

and the lowest frequency that the channel will allow to pass through it.

Bandwidth of a communication channel must be equal or greater than the

bandwidth of the information.

Ex : voice signals contain frequencies between 300 Hz ~ 3000 Hz. For that
a voice signal communication channel must have a bandwidth of 2700 Hz
or greater.

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Information capacity is a measure of how much information can be

propagated through a communication system.
It can be expressed in the function of bandwidth and transmission time.
It represents the number of independent symbols that can be carried
through a system in a given unit of time
Based on Hartleys Law,
(7)

I B t

where I = information capacity (bits per second)

B = bandwidth (Hz)
t = transmission time (seconds)

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In 1948, Claude E. Shannon published what is called as Shannon limit for

information capacity defined as follow
Based on this law, the information capacity of any communication channel
is related to its bandwidth and the signal-to-noise ratio.
The higher the signal-to-noise ratio, the better the performance and the
higher the information capacity is.
Mathematically, it is defined as,

I B log 21
N

S
I 3.32B log101
N

where I = information capacity (bits per second)

B = bandwidth (Hz)
S/N = signal to noise power ratio (unitless)
Ex 9 : For a standard telephone circuit with a signal-to-noise ratio of 1000
(30 dB) and a bandwidth of 2.7 kHz, determine the Shannon limit for I
information capacity.
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(9)

Definition any undesirable electrical energy that falls within the passband of
the signal.
Effect of noise on the electrical signal :

2 general categories of noise :

Correlated noise noise that exists only when a signal is present.

Uncorrelated noise noise that presents all the time whether there is a signal or not

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2 general categories of uncorrelated noise :

1. External noise noise that generated outside the device or circuit.

Atmospheric noise
- naturally occurring electrical disturbances that originate within earths atmosphere such as
lightning.
- also known as static electricity.

Extraterrestrial noise
- consists of electrical signal that originate from outside earths atmosphere and therefore also
known as deep-space noise.
- 2 categories of extraterrestrial noise.
i solar noise noise that generated directly from the suns heat.
ii cosmic noise / black-body noise noise that is distributed throughout the galaxies.

Man-made noise
- noise that is produced by mankind.
- source : spark-producing mechanism (commutators in electrical motors, automobile ignition
systems, ac power generating/switching equipment, fluorescent lights).

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2 general categories of uncorrelated noise :

2. Internal noise noise that generated within the device or circuit.

Shot noise
- caused by the random arrival of carriers (holes and electrons) at the output element of an
electronic device.
- shot noise is randomly varying and is superimposed onto any signal present.

Transit-time noise
- irregular, random variation due to any modification to a stream of carriers as they pass from
the input to the output of a device.
- this noise become noticeable when the time delay takes for a carrier to propagate through a
device is excessive.

thermal / random noise

- noise that is produced by mankind.
- source : spark-producing mechanism (commutators in electrical motors, automobile ignition
systems, ac power generating/switching equipment, fluorescent lights).

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2 general categories of uncorrelated noise :

2. Internal noise noise that generated within the device or circuit.

Thermal / random noise
- associated with the rapid and random movement of electrons within a conductor due to
thermal agitation.
- also known as Brownian noise, Johnson noise and white noise.
- uniformly distributed across the entire electromagnetic spectrum.
- a form of additive noise, meaning that it cannot be eliminated, and it increase in intensity with
the number of devices and with circuit length.
- the most significant of all noise sources
- thermal noise power can be defined as follow :

N KTB

(6.1)

where N : noise power (watts)

B : bandwidth (Hertz)
T : absolute temperature (kelvin) .......... T = C + 273

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A form of internal noise that is correlated to the signal and cannot be present in a
circuit unless there is a signal.
produced by a nonlinear amplification resulting in nonlinear distortion.
there are 2 types of nonlinear distortion that create unwanted frequencies that
interfere with the signal and degrade the performance :
1. Harmonic distortion
occurs when unwanted harmonics of a signal are produced through nonlinear
amplification.
harmonics are integer multiples of the original signal. The original signal is the first
harmonic (fundamental harmonic), a frequency two times the fundamental
frequency is the second harmonic, three times is the third harmonic and so on.
Distortion measurements :

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1. Harmonic distortion
distortion measurements :
- Nth harmonic distortion = ratio of the rms amplitude of Nth harmonic to the rms amplitude
of the fundamental.
- Total Harmonic Distortion (THD)

% THD

v higher
v fundamenta

100

(6.4)

where

v higher

v 2 2 v 3 3 v 4 4 .... allv nin2rms value.

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2. Intermodulation distortion
intermodulation distortion is the generation of unwanted sum and difference
frequencies produced when two or more signals mix in a nonlinear device (cross
products).
unwanted !

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1. Impulse noise
characterized by high amplitude peaks of short duration (sudden burst of irregularly
shaped pulses) in the total noise spectrum.
common source of impulse noise : transient produced from electromechanical
switches (relays and solenoids), electric motors, appliances, electric lights, power lines,
poor-quality solder joints and lightning.

2. Interference
electrical interference occurs when information signals from one source produces
frequencies that fall outside their allocated bandwidth and interfere with information
signal from another source.
most occurs in the radio frequency spectrum.

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signal-to-noise power ratio (S/N) is the ratio of the signal power level to the
noise power level and can be expressed as

in logarithmic function

S
Ps

N
Pn

(6.5)

S
Ps
( dB ) 10 log
N
Pn

(6.6)

in terms of voltages and resistance

V s 2 / R in
S
( dB ) 10 log 2
N
V n / R out

(6.7)

in the case Rin = Rout, (6.7) can be reduced to

S
Vs
( dB ) 20 log
N
Vn

(6.8)

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Noise factor is the ratio of input signal-to-noise ratio to output signal-to-noise

ratio
( S / N ) in
(6.9)
F

( S / N ) out

Noise figure is the noise factor stated in dB and is a parameter to indicate the
quality of a receiver

( S / N ) in
NF 10 log F 10 log
( S / N ) out

(6.10)

Noise Figure in Ideal and Non-ideal Amplifiers

- an electronic circuit amplifies signal and noise within its passband equally well
- in the case of ideal/noiseless amplifier, the input signal and the noise are
amplified equally.
- meaning that, signal-to-noise ratio at input = signal-to-noise ratio at output

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Noise Figure in Ideal and Non-ideal Amplifiers (continue)

- in reality, amplifiers are not ideal, adds internally generated noise to the
waveform, reducing the overall signal-to-noise ratio.

- in figure (a), the input and output S/N ratios are equal.
- in figure (b), the circuits add internally generated noise Nd to the waveform,
causing the output signal-to-noise ratio to be less than the input signal-tonoise
ratio.

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Noise Figure in Ideal and Non-ideal Amplifiers (continue)

- in figure (b), the circuits add internally generated noise Nd to the waveform,
causing the output signal-to-noise ratio to be less than the input signal-tonoise
ratio.

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Noise Figure in Cascaded Amplifier

- when two or more amplifiers are cascaded as shown in the following figure,
the total noise factor is the accumulation of the individual noise factors.
- Friss formula is used to calculate the total noise factor of several cascade
amplifiers
F 2 1 F 3 1
FN 1
(6.11)
FT F 1

...

A1

A1 A 2

A1 A 2 ... A N

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Noise Figure in Cascaded Amplifier (continue)

- the Total Noise Figure

NF T 10 log F T

(6.12

When using Friss formula, the noise figures must

be converted to noise factors !!!

Ex 1 : Convert the following temperatures to Kelvin : 100 C, 0 C and -10 C.

Ex 2 : For and electronic device operating at a temperature of 17 C, with a

bandwidth of 10 kHz, determine
a. thermal noise power in watts and dBm.
b. rms noise voltage for a 100 load resisstance.

Ex 3 : For an amplifier with an output signal power of 10 W and output noise

power of 0.01 W, determine the signal-to-noise power ratio.
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Ex 4 : For an amplifier with an output signal voltage of 4V, an output noise voltage
0.005 V and an input and output resistance of 50 , determine the signal-to-noise
power ratio.

Ex 5 : For a non-ideal amplifier with a following parameters, determine

a. input S/N ratio (dB)
b. output S/N ratio (dB)
c. noise factor and noise figure
Input signal power = 2 x 10-10 W
Input noise power = 2 x 10-18 W
Power gain = 1000000
Internal noise Nd = 6 x 10-12 W

Ex 6 : For 3 cascaded amplifier stages, each with a noise figures of 3 dB and power
gain of 10dB, determine the total noise figure.

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