Digital Modulation techniques

Tag Modulation

What Is The Modulation?

Modulation is the process of encoding information from a message source in a

manner suitable for transmission.
It is generally involves translating a baseband message signal (called the source) to
a bandpass signal at frequencies that are very high when compared to the base
band frequency.

The bandpass signal is called the modulated signal, and the baseband message
signal is called the modulating signal.

Modulation may be done by varying the amplitude, phase or frequency of a high

frequency carrier in accordance with the amplitude of the message signal.

Demodulation is the process of extracting the baseband message from the carrier so
that it may be processed by the intended receiver.

Why we modulate signals?

 In order to ease propagation process and use an antenna of a suitable length. Since the
effective radiation of EM waves requires antenna dimensions comparable with the
wavelength:

eg. -Antenna for 3 kHz would be ~100 km long.

-Antenna for 3 GHz carrier is 10 cm long.

Sharing the access to the telecommunication channel resources:

This is done by using FDM (Frequency division multiplexing) technique.

In order to transmit larger power for wide area:

If we amplify the data power using power amplifiers, it will be distorted, so we perform
modulation and amplify the carrier power.

In order to reduce noise effects in case of non-white Gaussian noise.

Why Digital? (Analog versus Digital):

Modern mobile communication systems use digital modulation techniques.

Advancements in very large-scale integration (VLSI) and digital signal processing (DSP)
technology have made digital modulation more cost effective than analog transmission systems.

Digital modulation offers many advantages over analog modulation.

Some advantages include greater noise immunity and robustness to channel impairments, easier
multiplexing of various forms of information (e.g., voice, data, and video), and greater security.

Furthermore, digital transmissions accommodate digital error-control codes which detect and/or
correct transmission errors, and support complex signal conditioning and processing techniques
such as source coding, encryption, and equalization to improve the performance of the overall
communication link.

New multipurpose programmable digital signal processors have made it possible to implement
digital modulators and demodulators completely in software.

Instead of having a particular modem design permanently frozen as hardware, embedded

software implementations now allow alterations and improvements without having to redesign or
replace the modem. Table (1.1) shows a comparison between analog and digital modulation
schemes to conclude the assessment of both modulation schemes usage in Wireless
communication systems.
 Table (1.1) comparisons between analog and digital modulation schemes

Factors that influence the choice of digital

modulation:

A desirable modulation scheme should provide: Low bit error rates at low received signal to noise
ratio.

Performs well in multi-path and fading conditions, and in interference environment.

Occupies a minimum bandwidth.

 Easy and cost-effective to implement.

Cost and complexity of the receiver subscribers must be minimized.

Modulation which is simple to detect is most attractive.

Note That: There is no modulation scheme that satisfies all these requirements, so trade-offs are
made when selecting a modulation scheme.

The performance of a modulation scheme:

The performance of the modulation scheme is measured by

Power efficiency (P).

Bandwidth efficiency(B).
Power spectral density.
System complexity.

Power efficiency P:

The power efficiency is defined as the required Eb/No (Ratio of the signal energy per bit to noise
power spectral density) at the input of the receiver for a certain bit error probability Pb over an
AWGN channel
.
Power efficiency describes the ability of a modulation technique to preserve the bit error
probability of digital message at low power levels.

In digital modulation systems, in order to increase the noise immunity, it is necessary to increase
the signal power, so there is a trade-off between the signal power and the bit error probability.

The power efficiency is a measure of how favorably this trade-off is made.

Bandwidth efficiency (Spectral efficiency) B:

Bandwidth efficiency describes the ability of a modulation scheme to accommodate data within
a limited bandwidth. As the data rate increases, pulse width of the digital symbols decreases and
hence the bandwidth increases.

The system capacity of a digital mobile communication system is directly related to the
bandwidth efficiency for a modulation scheme.
So a modulation scheme with greater value of B will transmit more data in a given spectrum
allocation.
Note that the maximum possible bandwidth efficiency is limited by the noise in the channel
according to Shannon's Theorem as:

Where C is the channel capacity in bps , and S/N is the signal to noise ratio .

Bandwidth efficiency, Power efficiency Trade-off:

Adding error control coding to message increases the required bandwidth, then Bdecreases,
but the required received power for a particular bit error rate decreases and hence P
increases.

On the other hand using high levels M'ary modulation schemes (except in Mary FSK modulation
which isnt bandwidth limited modulation scheme), decreases the bandwidth occupancy, B
increases, but the required received power for a particular bit error rate increases and hence P
decreases.

System Complexity:

System complexity refers to the amount of circuits involved and the technical difficulty of the
system.

Associated with the system complexity is the cost of manufacturing, which is of course a major
concern in choosing a modulation technique.

Usually the demodulator is more complex than the modulator. Coherent demodulator is much
more complex than no coherent demodulator since carrier recovery is required.
For some demodulation methods, sophisticated algorithms like the Viterbi algorithm are required.
Also note that, for all personal communication systems which serve a large user community, the
cost and complexity of the subscriber receiver must be minimized, and a modulation which is
simple to detection is most attractive All these are basis for complexity comparison.

Since power efficiency, bandwidth efficiency, and system complexity are the main criteria of
choosing a modulation technique, we will always pay attention to them in the analysis of
modulation techniques.

Other considerations:

While power and bandwidth efficiency considerations are very important, other factors also affect
the choice of a digital modulation scheme.

For example The performance of the modulation scheme under various types of channel
impairments such as Rayleigh and Rician fading and multipath time dispersion, given a particular
demodulator implementation, is another key factor in selecting a modulation.

In cellular systems where interference is a major issue, the performance of a modulation

scheme in an interference environment is extremely important.

Sensitivity to detection of timing jitter, caused by time-varying channels, is also an important

consideration in choosing a particular modulation scheme.

In general, the modulation, interference, and implementation of the time varying effects of the
channel as well as the performance of the specific demodulator are analyzed as a complete
system using simulation to determine relative performance and ultimate selection.

Digital modulation techniques may be classified into coherent and non-coherent techniques
depending on whether the receiver is equipped with a phase-recovery circuit or not.

The phase recovery circuit ensures that the oscillator supplying the locally generated carrier
wave in the receiver is synchronized (in both frequency and phase) to the transmitter oscillator.
 Fig.(1.1) Digital modulation according to demodulation type

The modulation schemes listed in the fig. (1.2) and the tree are classified into two large
categories: constant envelope and non-constant envelope.

Under constant envelope class, there are three subclasses: FSK and PSK. Under non constant
envelope class, there are three subclasses: ASK and QAM.
 Fig.(1.2) Digital modulation hierarchy

Types of modulation schemes in different advanced

digital communication systems:

Table (1.2) shows examples of the used modulation schemes in different wireless modern
communication systems
Table (1.2) Modulation schemes used in advanced communication systems