Telecommunications Engineering

Dr. David Tay

Room BG434
x 2529
d.tay@latrobe.edu.au

DT
Baseband Demodulation and Detec-
tion
• Demodulator’s task is to clean up received pulse that has
been distorted / corrupted by noise and interference.

• Detector’s task is to decide which waveform (symbol) was

actually transmitted.

• Equivalence theorem: linear signal processing in band-

pass frequencies followed by a shift in frequency (het-
erodyning) to baseband is the same as heterodyning to
baseband followed by linear signal processing in the base-
band.

• Can study / analyze most communication systems in

baseband.

Causes for error-performance degradation:

1. Intersymbol interference (ISI) - smearing or spreading of

waveform due to filtering effect of channel.

2. AWGN (Additive White Gaussian Noise) due to thermal

noise.

DT
Demodulation and Detection
Consider the simplest case of binary signalling with interval
T . Transmitted waveform is
⎧
⎨ s (t) 0 ≤ t ≤ T for binary 1
1
si (t) =
⎩ s2 (t) 0 ≤ t ≤ T for binary 0

Received waveform

r(t) = si (t) ∗ hc (t) + n(t)

hc (t) - impulse response of channel.

n(t) - AWGN with zero mean (μ = 0).
Block diagram of receiver:

DT
• Demodulate - recovery of waveform. Detection - decide
which symbol transmitted.

• Receiving filter - recover a baseband pulse with the best

SNR (matched filter).

• Equalizer (optional) - to compensate channel induced

ISI.

DT
Output of receiving/equalizing filter

z(t) = ai (t) + no (t)

is then sampled at the end of symbol duration T to give

z(T ) = ai (T ) + no (T )

ai (T ) - desired signal component. no (T ) - noise component -

not white but still Gaussian.
In simpler notation we have the sample or test statistics

z = ai + no

which is a Gaussian random variable with mean of either a1

or a2 depending on whether s1 or s2 was sent.
Conditional pdf’s
  2 
1 1 x − a1
p(z/s1 ) = √ exp −
σ0 2π 2 σ0
  2 
1 1 x − a2
p(z/s2 ) = √ exp −
σ0 2π 2 σ0

DT
After sampling, the actual shape of the waveform is no longer
important. It is the magnitude of z(T ) that is important.
Decision making:

• Decide H1 (s1 was transmitted) if z(T ) > γ.

• Decide H2 (s2 was transmitted) if z(T ) < γ.

Optimum value of γ assuming both symbols s1 (t) and s2 (t)

are equally likely is
a1 + a2
γ0 =
2
a1 - signal component of z(T ) when s1 (t) transmitted.
a2 - signal component of z(T ) when s2 (t) transmitted.
see book for justification and proof.
However error sometimes still occur if

DT
 1. s1 (t) sent but z(T ) < γ0 .

2. s2 (t) sent but z(T ) > γ0 .

Probability of error (see book for derivation) is

 
a1 − a2
PB = Q
2σ0

where the complementary error function is given by

∞  2
1 u
Q(x) ≡ √ exp − du
2π x 2

Tables for Q(x) are widely available.

DT
DT
For x > 3 can use approximation
 2
1 x
Q(x) ≈ √ exp −
x 2π 2

Example: A binary communication systems transmits ei-

ther signal s1 (t) or s2 (t) with equal probability. The signal
component output of the correlator receiver is ai (T ) = +1 or
−1. The noise at the correlator output is Gaussian with unit
variance. Find the bit error probability.
Solution: a1 = +1, a2 = −1 and σ0 = 1. Bit error probability
(using Table B.1 in book)
 
a1 − a2
PB = Q = Q(1) = 0.1587
2σ0

Vector space description of signal and

noise
• A geometrical view of signal waveforms which is very
useful in analyzing communication systems - pioneered
by Kotelnikov.

• Define an N -dimensional space of functions by first defin-

ing a set of N linearly independent functions

{Ψ1 (t), Ψ2 (t), . . . , ΨN (t)}

DT
 These functions are called basis functions and satisfy
T
Ψj (t)Ψk (t)dt = 0 if j = k
0

• These functions are orthogonal to each other and hence

do not interfere with each other.

• The energy of the basis functions are

T
Ej = Ψ2j (t)dt
0

If Ej = 1 then the functions are normalized and the set is

called an orthonormal set (orthogonal and normalized).

• The basis functions can be represented by axes which

are perpendicular to each other. We thus have an OR-
THOGONAL SIGNAL SPACE.

DT
• Consider an arbitrary finite set of waveforms

{s1 (t), s2 (t), . . . , sM (t)}

Each waveform can be expressed as a weighted sum of

the N orthogonal basis functions.

s1 (t) = a11 Ψ1 (t) + a12 Ψ2 (t) + . . . + a1N ΨN (t)

..
.

sM (t) = aM 1 Ψ1 (t) + aM 2 Ψ2 (t) + . . . + aM N ΨN (t)

DT
 or come compactly as

N
si (t) = aij Ψj (t) i = 1, . . . , M
j=1

Now N ≤ M .

• The coefficient aij is the value of the Ψj (t) component

of the signal si (t) and is given by
T
aij = si (t)Ψj (t)dt
0

• Each waveform can be represented as a point in the signal

space, e.g.

sm (t) = am1 Ψ1 (t) + am2 Ψ2 (t) + am3 Ψ3 (t)

is represented as a point with coordinates (am1 , am2 , am3 )

- see figure.

• Each transmitted signal waveform, si (t), is completely

determined by the vector of its coefficients

si ≡ (ai1 , ai2 , . . . , aiN )

i.e. coordinates in the signal space.

si (t) ←→ si

DT
• The length of the vector squared

N
2
Ei = |si | = a2ij
j=1

gives the energy of the signal.

• This vector view of waveforms is useful to study the effect

of noise in the received signal

– Noise pertubs the vector from its original position,

sj → sj + n.

DT
 – Given a received signal, represented by r, the receiver
must decide which prototype signal vector sj is the
nearest to r, i.e. minimum distance criterion.
– The study and analysis of all demodulation/detection
schemes involves this concept of distance.

• The transformation of a signal si (t) into a vector of coef-

ficients si is also referred as the generalized Fourier trans-
form - see example.

DT
DT
Example: Consider the functions

ψ1 (t) = e−|t| ψ2 (t) = 1 − Ae−2|t|

Determine the constant, A, such that ψ1 (t) and ψ2 (t) are

orthogonal over the interval (−∞, ∞).
Solution:
∞ ∞
ψ1 (t)ψ2 (t)dt = e−|t| (1 − Ae−2|t| )dt = 0
−∞ −∞

Now the function f (t) = e−|t| (1−Ae−2|t| ) is even, i.e. f (−t) =

∞ ∞
f (t), so −∞ f (t)dt = 2 0 f (t)dt. Also |t| = t for t > 0.
Therefore ∞
2 e−t (1 − Ae−2t )dt = 0
0
∞
(e−t − Ae−3t )dt = 0
0
 
 −t A −3t ∞
−e + e  = 0
 3 
0

A
1− =0
3
A=3

DT
Basic SNR parameter for DCS
• In evaluating the effect of noise, the usual figure of merit
used is the SNR
S Signal power
SN R = =
N Noise power

• However for DCS, a more often used measure is given by

Eb energy per bit

=
N0 noise PSD

and is related to SNR as follows:

 
Eb S W
=
N0 N R

where W is the bandwidth and R is the bit-rate.

• Plot of bit error probability PB versus Eb

N0 an important
indication of performance

DT
Matched filter
• Receiving filter designed to maximize the SNR at its out-
put for a given transmitted waveform s(t) with spectrum
S(f ).

• A time t = T , the sampler output is

z(T ) = ai + n0

ai - signal component with power a2i .

n0 - noise component with power σ02 .

DT
• SNR at time t = T is
 
S a2i
= 2
N T σ0

• What is the filter with impulse response h(t) and transfer

function H(f ) that will maximize the SNR?

• It can be shown (see book) that the SNR can be ex-

pressed as
  ∞
S | −∞ H(f )S(f )ej2πf T df |2
= 
N0 ∞
N T 2 −∞
|H(f )|2 df

• For a given S(f ) (fixed waveform), what is the H(f ) that

will maximize the SNR?

• Using the Schwarz inequality, it can be shown (see book)

that the optimal H(f ) is given by

HO (f ) = kS ∗ (f )e−j2πf T

where k is a constant and the maximum SNR is

  ∞
S 2 2
max = |S(f )|2 df = Es
N T N0 −∞ N0

where Es is the energy of s(t) (transmitted waveform).

DT
• Taking the inverse Fourier transform gives the impulse
response of the matched filter
⎧
⎨ ks(T − t) 0 ≤ t ≤ T
h(t) =
⎩ 0 elsewhere

The receiver that maximizes the SNR has an impulse

response that is a mirror image of the message signal
s(t) and is delayed by the symbol duration T

DT
DT
Correlation filter
• The matched filter gives an output given by

z(t) = r(t) ∗ h(t)

where r(t) is the received signal which is the input to the

filter.

• For detection only need z(t) at time t = T and other

values are irrelevant.

• In that case it can be shown (see book) that

T
z(T ) = r(τ )s(τ )dτ
0

which is a correlation between r(t) (received waveform)

and s(t) (transmitted waveform).

• There is no need to build and implement an actual filter.

Calculating correlation is all that is need which is simpler
than implementing an actual filter.

• Correlation calculation is the basis of all digital receivers.

• In general if we have a set of M possible transmitted

waveform {s1 (t), s2 (t), . . . , sM (t)}

– Correlate the received signal r(t) with each of the pos-

sible waveform si (t).

DT
 – Choose the waveform which gives the largest correla-
tion value.

Optimizing error performance

• For binary signalling (s1 (t) or s2 (t)) the bit error proba-
bility is  
a1 − a2
PB = Q
2σ0
−a2
• The larger the ratio a12σ0
the smaller the PB . This is
equivalent to maximizing the following SNR
 
S (a1 − a2 )2
=
N T σ02

which is very similar to the matched filter problem.

• The difference now is that (a1 − a2 ) correspond to the

waveform (s1 (t) − s2 (t)).

• This means that to maximize the SNR above the receiver

filter needs to be matched to the difference signal d(t) =
(s1 (t) − s2 (t)):
T
Ed = (s1 (t) − s2 (t))2 dt
0

DT
 • If the filter is matched, using results above
 
S 2 (a1 − a2 )2
max = Ed =
N T N0 σ02
   
a1 − a2 Ed
PB = Q =Q
2σ0 2N0

Two important special cases:

1. Antipodal signals: s2 (t) = −s1 (t); d(t) = 2s1 (t) and

Ed = 4Eb where Eb is the energy per bit.
 
2Eb
PB = Q
N0

Example: Bipolar signalling - see book for details.

T
2. Orthogonal signals: 0 s1 (t)s2 (t)dt = 0 and Ed = 2Eb
 
Eb
PB = Q
N0

Example: Unipolar signalling - see book for details.

Antipodal signals have better error performance (lower PB )

than orthogonal signals.
In the signal space diagram, the vectors in the antipodal case
has a larger distance.

DT
DT
For the more general case of two signals
⎛ ⎞
Eb (1 − ρ) ⎠
PB = Q ⎝
N0

where T
1
ρ= s1 (t)s2 (t)dt = cos θ
Eb 0
Note that for antipodal case ρ = −1 and for the orthogonal
case ρ = 0.
Example: A bipolar binary signal s1 (t) = +1 V, s2 (t) = −1
V during the interval (0, T ). AWGN having N0 = 2 × 10−3
is added to the signal. If the received signal is detected with
a matched filter, determine the maximum bit rate that can
be sent with a bit error probability of PB ≤ 10−3 .
Solution: For a bipolar signal with amplitude A V, the aver-
age energy per bit over the interval (0, T ) is Eb = A2 T = T .
From equation above for antipodal signal
   
2Eb 2T √
PB = Q =Q −3
= Q( 1000T ) ≤ 10−3
N0 2 × 10
Using table B.1 we have Q(3.09) = 0.001. Therefore
√
1000T ≥ 3.09
T ≥ 3.092 × 10−3
Bit-rate
Rb = Rs = 1/T = 104.8 bits/s

DT
Intersymbol Interference
There are various filtering process throughout the communi-
cation link:

1. Transmit filter Ht (f ) - shape pulse to comply with band-

width constraint.

2. Channel filter Hc (f ) - undesirable effect that distorts

pulse shape.

3. Receiving / Equalizing filter Hr (f ) - to compensate for

distortion from channel filtering and also to reduce the
effect of noise.

DT
Overall equivalent system transfer function

H(f ) = Ht (f )Hc (f )Hr (f )

• Due to H(f ), the received pulses can overlap each other.

• The tail of a pulse can ’smear’ into adjacent symbol in-

tervals.

• The inteference from adjacent pulses is known as ISI (In-

tersymbol Inteference) and degrades the performance of
the detector by increasing PB .

Nyquist criterion for no ISI: Overlapping pulses is OK as

long as at the sampling instants (during decision making)
the values are zero

h(kT ) = 0 for k = 0

It can be shown that the overall transfer function must satisfy

∞

1
H(f + nRs ) =
n=−∞
Rs

where Rs is the symbol rate.

1. An ideal H(f ) that satisfy this is shown below. The

theoretical minimum bandwidth is Rs /2 = 1/(2T ).

DT
 2. The impulse response is the sinc function
sin(πt/T )
h(t) = sinc(t/T ) =
πt/T

3. The filter is called the ideal Nyquist filter and the sinc
pulse is called the ideal Nyquist pulse.

4. The pulse is infinitely long but has the required zero-

crossings at the sampling instants. Therefore the pulses
do not interfere with each other at the sampling instants
assuming perfect timing.

Problem with Nyquist pulse:

1. Difficult to build something approximating the ideal brick

wall transfer function H(f ).

DT
 2. With imperfect timing (which is going to happen in prac-
tice) the amplitude of the adjacent pulses can be quite
large as the side-lobes of the sinc function are quite large
resulting in significant ISI.

Pulse shaping

Reduce amplitude of tails (to reduce ISI) but comes at the

expense of increased bandwidth.
Raised cosine filter:

HRC (f ) = 1 |f | < 2W0 − W

 
π |f |+W −2W0
HRC (f ) = cos2 4 W −W0 2W0 − W < |f | < W
HRC (f ) = 0 |f | > W

where

• W is the absolute bandwidth.

• W0 = 1/(2T ) is the minimum Nyquist bandwidth.

• W − W0 = excess bandwidth.

• The roll-off factor is defined as

W − W0
r=
W0

DT
 which is the percentage of excess bandwidth.

Impulse response given by:

cos(2π(W − W0 )t)
h(t) = 2W0 (sinc(2W0 t))
1 − (4(W − W0 )t)2

DT
Spectrum and time function:

DT
Relationship between bandwidth and symbol rate

1
W = (1 + r)Rs
2
For bandpass-modulated signal (considered next chapter)

WDSB = (1 + r)Rs

• HRC (f ) is for the total transfer function.

• Divide HRC (f ) between transmit and receive filter


Ht (f ) = Hr (f ) = HRC (f )

square root raised cosine filter.

• Trade-off in pulse-shaping filters:

1. Large r: short pulse tails and smaller amplitudes.

Less sensitive to timing error - reduced degradation
due to ISI. However bandwidth W increases.
2. Small r: longer pulse tails and larger amplitudes.
More sensitive to timing error - greater degradation
due to ISI. However bandwidth W decreases.

Nyquist pulse and square-root pulse difference: see book for

details.

DT
Example:

• What is the theoretical minimum system bandwidth needed

for a 10 MBits/s signal using 16-level PAM without ISI?

• Determine the maximum roll-off factor if the allowable

system bandwidth is 1.375 MHz.

Solution: M = 16 so k = 4 bits/symbol. Minimum band-

width (when r = 0) is

1 1R 1 107
Rs = = = 1.25MHz
2 2k 2 4

1
W = (1 + r)Rs
2
1
1.375 × 106 = × 2.5 × 106 (1 + r)
2
r = 0.1

Example: A voice signal with maximum frequency of 3300

Hz is sampled at 8000 samples/s. The signal is transmitted
either directly as PAM pulses or each sample is converted to a
PCM format and transmitted using binary PCM waveforms.

• Determine the minimum system bandwidth for detection

with no ISI if PAM pulses are used with a filter roll-off
of r = 1.

DT
 • Using the same filter roll-off, determine the minimum
bandwdith if the samples are quantized to 8 levels and
binary PCM waveforms are used for transmission.

• Using the same filter roll-off, determine the minimum

bandwdith if the samples are quantized to 128 levels and
binary PCM waveforms are used for transmission.

Solution:

• Rs = fs = 8000
1
W = (1 + r)Rs = 8000 Hz
2
• Number of bits per sample l = 3. Rs = R = lfs = 24000.
1
W = (1 + r)Rs = 24000 Hz
2
• Number of bits per sample l = 7. Rs = R = lfs = 56000.
1
W = (1 + r)Rs = 56000 Hz
2
Eye pattern: practical way to evaluate the degree of ISI - see
book for details.
Equalization: technique to reduce ISI - see book for details.
Exercise to try yourself from texbook: problems 3.2
(page 163), 3.12 (page 164), 3.13 (page 164), 3.14
(page 164). Solution will be provided at a later date on
LMS.

DT