II.

Introduction
The process of separating or extracting the modulation from a signal is called
demodulation or detection. For amplitude modulation, the process of demodulation
or detection can be accomplished very simply using a diode, or it may be achieved
in other ways that provide more effective demodulation of the waveform. As
amplitude modulation is still widely used as a result of its simplicity, receivers
incorporating AM demodulators are manufactured in quantities of many millions
each year. Within these radios a simple AM detector consisting of a diode is used. In
order to look at the amplitude demodulation, process it is necessary to first look at
the format of an AM signal. An AM signal consists of a carrier which acts as the
reference. Any modulation that is applied then appears as sidebands which stretch
out either side of the signal - each sideband is a mirror image of the other.

Figure A
Within the overall AM signal the carrier possess the majority of the power - a fully
modulated, i.e. 100% modulation - AM signal has sidebands which have 25% that
of the main carrier.

When demodulating a signal, two basic steps may be considered:

Create baseband signal: The main element of AM demodulation is to

create the baseband signal. This can be achieved in a number of ways - one
of the easiest is to use a simple diode and rectify the signal. This leaves

elements of the original RF signal. When other forms of demodulation are

used, they too leave some elements of an RF signal.
Within the overall AM signal the carrier possess the majority of the power - a fully
modulated, i.e. 100% modulation - AM signal has sidebands which have 25% that
of the main carrier.

When demodulating a signal, two basic steps may be considered:

Create baseband signal: The main element of AM demodulation is to

create the baseband signal. This can be achieved in a number of ways - one
of the easiest is to use a simple diode and rectify the signal. This leaves
elements of the original RF signal. When other forms of demodulation are
used, they too leave some elements of an RF signal.

Filter: The filtering removes any unwanted high frequency elements from
the demodulation process. The audio can then be presented to further stages
for audio amplification, etc.

The AM demodulation process is outlined in the diagram below. This particular

example applies particularly to a diode detector.

Figure B

LABEL
R1
R2
R3
R4
C1
C2
C3
IC1

COMPONENT
CARBON RESISTOR
CARBON RESISTOR
CARBON RESISTOR
CARBON RESISTOR
CERAMIC CAPACITOR
CERAMIC CAPACITOR
ELECTROLYTIC CAPACITOR
LF 353

DESCRIPTION
10K
10K
1K
2.2K
10nF
10nF
100nF
DUAL JFET OP-AMP

III. Materials Used

Materials Used for Envelope Detector

IV. Circuit Diagram

Figure A-1. PCB Layout of the Envelope Detector Circuit

Figure A-2. Schematic Diagram of the Envelope Detector Circuit

V. Computation

VI. Technical Discussion

For this experiment, we are tasked to construct an envelope detector that
demodulates a given signal. This given signal is indicated by the amplitude
demodulator we have constructed in our design experiment no. 3. To start with, it
was expected that the envelope demodulator circuit would not be given directly so
we would be needing some adjustments to modify the circuit and eventually come
up with the desired output.
We were given the envelope detector circuit shown:

Figure 1. (First Test Envelope Detector Circuit)

The above circuit comprised of a basic AM envelope detector with a diode

between the input and a capacitor (0.1uF) and a resistor (1.09Kohms) connected in
parallel. This circuit produced a high frequency carrier signal only that has a lower
sideband clipped off. No envelope was detected. This clipping was due to the
presence of the semiconductor diode. It was also noted that the the constructed
given circuit was not ground connected. What happened here was the output at the
diode and opamp was exactly the same. The absence of ground has to do with the
obtained output because the reference point was not set. Moreover, the circuit was
not able to detect any envelope of the modulated signal because of the absence of a
low pass filter which eliminates high frequency signal and let only low frequency
pass through. The high pass filter present in the demodulator circuit just lets the
high frequency signal pass through that is why we obtained the output given below.

Figure 1.1 (Output of the First Test Envelope Detector Circuit)

From this, we reconstructed it by putting a ground component and a negative

feedback comprised of a parallel connected resistor and capacitor with values 1kilo
ohms and 0.1uF respectively. We also interchanged the position of the basic
detector circuit comprised of a parallel connected resistor (1Kohm) and capacitor
(0.1uF). By doing this, the output is still a high frequency signal with distortion and
it was out of phase with respect to the AM wave. The modified circuit and its
corresponding output signal is shown below.

Figure 2. (Second Test Envelope Detector Circuit)

Figure 2.1 (Output of the Second Test Envelope Detector Circuit)

With the purpose of detecting the envelope of the AM signal, we have inserted
a low pass filter at the output side of the opamp. This eliminates the high frequency
carrier signal and lets only low frequency signal appear at the output resulting to a
demodulated signal. Upon the addition of the low pass filter, we have noticed that
the envelope is somehow out of phase with respect to the AM signal. According to
what we have researched, it is in its nature that when a low pass filter is added
after amplification, slight phase shift of envelope occurs. We tried modifying the
circuit by changing capacitors and resistors value but it just either made the
output worse, or worst. For clarity, we have prepared below the final AM detector
circuit and its output signal.

Figure 3. (Third Test Envelope Detector Circuit)

Figure 3.1 (Output of the Third Test Envelope Detector Circuit)

VII. Specs