CHAPTER-3

AMPLITUDE MODULATION:
Introduction:

Amplitude modulation is the frequency translation process in which the message signal
and the carrier signal combines to produce a resultant wave, which varies in amplitude in
accordance with the instantaneous parameters of the message signal. i.e amplitude
modulation is defined as the process in which the amplitude of the carrier wave is varied
about a mean value , linearly with the baseband signal(message signal m(t)). Before
going into details about amplitude modulation, lets have a look on what is baseband
communication and carrier communication.

Baseband and Carrier Communication:

The term baseband specifies the band of frequencies of the signal delivered by the source
or input transducer. In telephony, the baseband is the audio band of 0 to 3.5 or 4KHz.
Similarly in the case of television the baseband is the video band occupying 0 to 4.3
MHz. In baseband communication, the baseband signals are transmitted without
modulation, that is, without any shift in the range of frequencies of the signal. Because
the baseband signal has sizeable power at low frequencies, the cannot be transmitted over
a radio link but are suitable for transmission over a pair of wires, coaxial cables, optical
fibers. Local telephone communication, short haul PCM(between two exchanges) use
baseband communication.

Communication that uses modulation to shift the frequency spectrum of a signal is known
as carrier communication. In this mode one of the basic parameters (amplitude,
frequency, phase) of a sinusoidal carrier of high frequency ωc is varied in proportion to
the baseband signal m(t). This results in amplitude modulation (AM), Frequency
modulation (FM) or Phase modulation (PM).

Amplitude Modulation:

Amplitude Modulation is characterized by the fact that the amplitude Ac of the Carrier Ac
Cos(ωct+θc) is varied proportion to the baseband signal m(t),the modulating signal. The
frequency ωc and phase θc are constant. We can assume the phase to be zero. Now in the
process of amplitude modulation, the amplitude of the carrier is varied about a mean
value, linearly with the baseband signal m(t). so the AM wave can be written as:

s(t)= Ac [1+Kam(t)] Cos(2πfct) ………(A)

 Figure: Amplitude Modulated Wave

Where Ka is called the amplitude sensitivity of the modulator.

i) The amplitude of Ka m(t) is always less than unity, that is
|Ka m(t)| <1, for all t.

This ensures that the function 1+Ka m(t) is always positive, and so we may express the
envelope of the AM wave s(t) as Ac[1+Ka m(t)]. When the amplitude sensitivity of the
modulator is large enough to make | Ka m(t)| >1 for any t, the carrier wave becomes over-
modulated, resulting in carrier phase reversal whenever the factor 1+K a m(t) crosses zero.
The modulated wave then exhibits envelope distortion. The absolute value of Ka m(t)
multiplied by 100 is known as percentage of modulation.

ii) The carrier frequency fc is much greater than the highest frequency
component ‘W’ of the message signal. That is
fc»W
We call W the message bandwidth. If the above condition is not satisfied an envelope
cannot be visualized satisfactorily. Now applying the Fourier transform on Equation (A):
S(f)=[Ac/2]*[δ(f- fc)+ δ(f+ fc)] + [KaAc/2]*[M(f- fc)+M(f+ fc)] …(B)
Suppose that the baseband signal m(t) is band limited to the interval –W ≤ f ≤ W,

Figure: Spectrum of Baseband signal.

Figure: Spectrum of AM wave.

The above spectrum contains two delta functions weighted by the factor A c/2, occurring
at ± fc and the two versions of the baseband signal translated in frequency by ± f c and
scaled in amplitude by KaAc/2 . From the above spectrum we can say:

`i) For positive frequencies, the portion of the spectrum of an AM wave lying above the
carrier frequency fc is referred to as the upper sideband, whereas the symmetrical portion
below fc is known as lower sideband.

ii) For positive frequencies, the highest frequency component of the AM wave equals fc
+W and the lowest frequency component equals to fc –W. The difference between the two
frequencies defines the transmission bandwidth BT for an AM wave, which is exactly
twice the message signal bandwidth.
BT=2W

Index or Depth of Modulation:

Now,
m=Vm/Vc
From the figure above:
Vm = (Vmax-Vmin)/2

Again, Vc = Vmax-Vm

= Vmax – (Vmax-Vmin)/2

= (Vmax+Vmin)/2

Therefore:
m= (Vmax-Vmin)/( Vmax+Vmin)
The above equation is the standard equation for evaluating the modulation index, when
calculating a waveform, such as may be seen in the oscilloscope. That is when both the
carrier and modulating voltages are known. It may not be used in any other situation.
When only the RMS values of the carrier and the modulated voltages and currents are
known then it is necessary to understand the power relations of AM wave.

Power Relation of AM-wave:

The carrier component of the modulated wave has the same amplitude as the
unmodulated carrier. However the modulated wave contains two sidebands as well so it is
obvious that the modulated wave contains more power than the carrier had before
modulation takes place. More over since the amplitude of the sidebands depend upon the
modulation index, it is anticipated that the total power in the modulated wave will depend
on the modulation index also, so:
Total Power(Pt)= Power of carrier(Pc) + Power of lower sideband (Pl)+ Power of upper
sideband(Pu)
V 2 carr V 2 l V 2 u
Pt = + +
R R R
Now when all the three voltages are in RMS value & R is the resistor, (e.g. antenna
resistance) in which power is dissipated,
2
Vc 
V 2 carr  2 
2
Vc
Pc = = = ⇒
R R 2R Unmodulated Carrier Power.
Similarly,
2
 mVc 
 2
 2  2
V 2 sb m 2Vc
Pl = Pu = =  =
R R 8R
2
m 2 Vc m2
= ⋅ = ⋅ Pc
4 2R 4
m2 m2
∴ Pt = Pc + ⋅ Pc + ⋅ Pc
4 4
 m2 
Pt = Pc 1 + 
 2 
Pt  m 2 
= 1 + 
Pc  2 

The above equation relates the total power in the amplitude-modulated wave to the
unmodulated carrier power. It is interesting to note that the maximum power in the AM
wave is Pt =1.5 Pc when m =1. This is important because it is the maximum power that
relevant amplifier must be capable of handling without distortion.
Current Calculation:
The situation that often arises in AM is that the modulated and unmodulated currents are
easily measurable, and it is then necessary to calculate the modulation index from them:
2
It R  It 
2
Pt m2
= =   =1+
Pc I c 2 R  I c  2
It m2
= 1+
Ic 2
m2
It = Ic 1+
2

Where It = Total Current, Ic = Carrier Current.

Single Tone Modulation:

Consider a modulating wave m (t) that consists of a single tone or a frequency

component, i.e.
m(t ) = Am Cos (2πf m t )
Now from the standard equation of AM wave:
s (t ) = Ac [1 + K a m(t )]Cos (2πf c t )
= Ac [1 + K a Am Cos ( 2πf m t )]Cos (2πf c t )
= Ac [1 + mCos (2πf m t )]Cos (2πf c t )
1 1
= Ac Cos (2πf c t ) +
mAc Cos (2π ( f c + f m )t ) + mAc Cos (2π ( f c − f m )t )
2 2
Now applying the Fourier transform in the above equation:
1 1
S( f ) = Ac [δ ( f − f c ) +δ ( f + f c )] + mA c [δ ( f − f c − f m ) +δ ( f + f c + f m )]
2 4
1
+ mA c [δ ( f − f c + f m ) +δ ( f + f c − f m )]
2

Thus the spectrum of an AM wave for the special case of sinusoidal modulation consists
of delta functions at ± fc, fc±fm, & ----fc±fm as shown in the figure below.

From the above figure and the mathematical expression it was clearly seen that sidebands
are the new frequency components produced during amplitude modulation. Both the
sidebands contain the intelligence of the signal to be transmitted. For this reason,
sidebands are of great importance when considering the transmission of the signal
intelligence by an amplitude-modulated wave.

Carrier Power and Sideband Power:

It is quite apparent that the carrier in AM conveys no information. This is obvious from
the fact that the carrier remains constant in amplitude and frequency even after the
modulation. It is also clear that one of the sideband can convey all the intelligence. The
carrier is superfluous and one of the sideband is redundant. The two sidebands result in
large bandwidth requirement for transmission of AM wave. The power requirement is
also high for AM as the carrier power and one of the sideband powers is superfluous. The
main reason for the widespread use of AM is the relative simplicity of the transmitting
and receiving circuitry. Hence this form of transmission is used in Radio Broadcasting.

If the carrier is suppressed and both the sidebands are transmitted, then a new form of
modulation is obtained which is known as Double Sideband Suppressed Carrier
(DSBSC). Now, the suppression of the carrier results in saving of 2/3 powers at 100%
modulation and even more is saved when the depth of modulation is reduced. Or more
clearly we can say that, we need less transmitted power to obtain the same Signal to
Noise ratio as in AM.

Double Sideband Suppressed Carrier Modulation (DSBSC):

We have seen in the standard form of Amplitude Modulation, the carrier wave c(t) is
completely independent of the message signal m(t), which means that the transmission of
the carrier wave is simply a waste of power. This is the shortcoming of AM wave. So to
overcome the shortcoming of AM, we may suppress the carrier component from the
modulating wave, resulting in DSBSC modulation.
Thus by suppressing the carrier we obtain the wave that is proportional to the product of
the carrier wave and the message signal. So to describe DSBSC as a function of time we
can write:
s (t ) = c (t ).m(t )
= Ac Cos ( 2πf c t )m(t )
This modulated wave undergoes the phase reversal whenever the signal m(t) crosses zero
as shown in the figure below.