Frequency and Wave Length

Frequency
3kHz 30kHz 300kHz 3000kHz 30MHz 300MHz 3000MHz 30GHz 300GH
(3MHz) (3GHz)
VLF LF MF HF VHF UHF SHF EHF
(Very Low ( Low ( Medium ( High (Very High (Ultra High (Supper High (Extreme High
Frequency) Frequency) Frequency) Frequency) Frequency) Frequency) Frequency) Frequency)
100km 10km 1km 100m 10m 1m 10cm 1cm

Wave Length
 Radio Signal Propagation
VHF (TV) Daytime
F2 Layer (200500km)
F1 Layer(170230km)

E Layer (90130km)

D Layer(6090km)
Radio Signal Propagation
VHF F Layer Night time
(300500km)

E Layer (90130km)
 Frequency Modulation
In this the instantaneous frequency of
the carrier is caused to vary by an
amount proportional to the amplitude of
the modulating signal. The amplitude is
kept constant.
More complex than AM this is because it
involves minute changes in frequency
FM is more immune to effects of noise
FM and PM are similar
In Frequency Modulation

The modulating signal changes the freq. fc

of the carrier signal
The bandwidth for FM is high
It is approx. 10x the signal frequency
Frequency modulation
FM band allocation
Assume we have a carrier at a
frequency of 100MHz,
called the resting frequency. If a
modulating signal is then applied, this
will cause the carrier to shift
(deviate) from its resting frequency
by a certain amount. If the amplitude
is increased then the amount of
deviation also increases.
Frequency Deviation and
Modulation Sensitivity
An important concept in the understanding of
FM is that of frequency deviation. The amount
of frequency deviation a signal experiences is
a measure of the change in transmitter output
frequency from the rest frequency of the
transmitter. The rest frequency of a
transmitter is defined as the output frequency
with no modulating signal applied.
 In this frequency modulated situation, is the
maximum change in frequency that
modulated wave undergoes; it is called the
frequency deviation. The total variation in
frequency, from the lowest to the highest, is
referred to as the carrier swing. Thus, for a
modulating signal which has equal positive
and negative peaks, such as pure sine wave,
the carrier swing is equal to two times the
frequency deviation.
 = frequency deviation
Carrier swing = 2 X frequency deviation
 The Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) requires frequency modulation be used
as the modulation technique for the band of
frequencies between 88 MHz to 108 MHz.
This is the required FM broadcast band.
They mandated also that FM should be used
as the modulation technique for the audio
portion of the television broadcast band.
 FCC also set that the maximum frequency
deviation of 75 kHz.
A maximum frequency deviation of 25 kHz is
permitted for the sound portion of television
broadcasts.
For a transmitter with linear modulation
characteristics, the frequency deviation of the
carrier is directly proportional to the
amplitude of the applied modulating signal.
 The rate is proportional to frequency of the
intelligence signal. If the signal is removed
then the carrier frequency shifts back to its
resting frequency.

This shift in frequency compared with the

amplitude of the modulating voltage is called
the deviation ratio.
The deviation ratio is also called the deviation
constant and
it defines how much the carrier frequency will
change for a given input voltage level.

The units are kHz/V

Example
Given that the deviation constant is 1kHz/10mV,
what is the shift in frequency for a voltage level of
50 mV?

= 50 1 5kHz
10
Mathematical representation of FM

The following equation can be used to represent FM

f f c (1 kVm cos t )
where fc is the unmodulated carrier frequency
k is a proportionality constant
and the last term is the modulating voltage

It will be seen that the maximum deviation will occur

when the cosine term is unity and hence we obtain
f f c (1 kVm )
maximum deviation kVm f c
It can be shown that the instantaneous value of the FM
voltage is given by

v A sin ct sin mt
fm

The modulation index for FM is defined as

max frequency deviation

mf
modulating frequency fm

To solve for the frequency components of the FM

requires the use of Bessel functions.
 This solution may be shown to be given by

v A{J o m f sin ct
J1 m f [sin c m t sin c m t ]
J 2 m f [sin c 2 m t sin c 2 m t ]
J 3 m f [sin c 3 m t sin c 3 m t ]
J 4 m f [sin c 4 m t sin c 4 m t ]...}
To evaluate the individual values of J is quite tedious and
so tables are used.
 FM Signal Waveforms.
Frequency changes at the input are translated to rate of change o
An attempt to illustrate this is shown below:
output.

17
 FM Spectrum Bessel Coefficients.

The FM signal spectrum may be determined from

v s (t ) Vc J
n
n ( ) cos( c n m )t

The values for the Bessel coefficients, Jn() may be found from
graphs or, preferably, tables of Bessel functions of the first kind.

18
 FM Spectrum Bessel Coefficients.

Jn()

Vc J 0 ( ) cos(c t )
= 2.4 =5

In the series for vs(t), n = 0 is the carrier component, i.e.

hence the n = 0 curve shows how the component at the
carrier frequency, with modulation index .
19
 FM Spectrum Bessel Coefficients.
Hence for a given value of modulation index , the values of
Jn() may be read off the
graph and hence the component amplitudes (VcJn()) may
be determined.
A further way to interpret these curves is to imagine
them in 3 dimensions

20
 Examples from the graph
= 0: When = 0 the carrier is unmodulated and J0(0) =
1, all other Jn(0) = 0, i.e.

= 2.4: From the graph (approximately)

J0(2.4) = 0, J1(2.4) = 0.5, J2(2.4) = 0.45 and J3(2.4) = 0.2

21
 Significant Sidebands Spectrum.
As may be seen from the table of Bessel functions, for values
of n above a certain
value, the values of Jn() become progressively smaller. In FM
the sidebands are
considered to be significant if Jn() 0.01 (1%).
Although the bandwidth of an FM signal is infinite, components with amplitudes
VcJn(), for which Jn() < 0.01 are deemed to be insignificant and may be ignored.

Example: A message signal with a frequency fm Hz modulates a carrier fc to produce

FM with a modulation index = 1. Sketch the spectrum.

n Jn(1) Amplitude Frequency

0 0.7652 0.7652Vc fc
1 0.4400 0.44Vc fc+fm fc - fm
2 0.1149 0.1149Vc fc+2fm fc - 2fm
3 0.0196 0.0196Vc fc+3fm fc -3 fm
4 0.0025 Insignificant
5 0.0002 Insignificant
22
 Significant Sidebands Spectrum.

As shown, the bandwidth of the spectrum containing significant

components is 6fm, for = 1.
23
 Significant Sidebands Spectrum.
The table below shows the number of significant sidebands
for various modulation
indices () and the associated spectral bandwidth.
No of sidebands 1% of Bandwidth
unmodulated carrier
0.1 2 2fm
0.3 4 4fm
0.5 4 4fm
1.0 6 6fm
2.0 8 8fm
5.0 16 16fm
10.0 28 28fm
e.g. for = 5,
16 sidebands
(8 pairs).

24
Observations
Unlike AM where there are only three
frequencies, FM has an infinite number of
sidebands
The J coefficients decrease with n but not
in any simple form and represent the
amplitude of a particular sideband. The
modulation index determines how many
sideband components have significant
amplitudes
 The sidebands at equal distances from fc have
equal amplitudes
In AM increase depth of modulation increases
sideband power and hence total transmitted
power. In FM total transmitted power remains
constant, increase depth of modulation
increases bandwidth
The theoretical bandwidth required for FM
transmission is infinite.
 Examples

In an FM system when the audio frequency is 300 Hz and the

audio voltage is 2.0V, the deviation is 5kHz. If the audio
voltage is now increased to 6V what is the new deviation? If
the voltage is now increased to 9V and the frequency
dropped to 100Hz what is the deviation? Find the modulation
index in each case.
Vm when V 9v
when V 6v
5
2.5kHz / V 2.5 6 15kHz 2.5 9 22.5kHz
Vm 2
5 15 22.5
mf 16.67 mf 50 mf 225
fm 0.3 fm 0.3 f m 0.1
 Find the carrier and modulating frequencies, the
modulating index, and the max. deviation of an FM wave
below. What power will the wave dissipate in a 10 ohm
resistor?
v 12 sin 6 10 t 5 sin 1250t
8

Compare this with:

v A sin ct sin mt
fm

c 6 108 m 1250
fc 95.5MHz fm 199Hz
2 2 2 2

Modulating index=5 as given.

2
12
Power, Vrms
2 72
P 7.2W
R 10 10
 What bandwidth is required to transmit an FM signal
with intelligence at 12KHz and max deviation 24 kHz

24
mf 2
fm 12

Consult Bessel function table to note that for modulating

index of 2, components which exist are J1,J2,J3,J4 apart
from J0.

This means that apart from the carrier you get J1 at +/-
10kHz, J2 at +/- 20kHz, J3 at +/- 30kHz and J4 at +/-
40 kHz.

Total bandwidth is therefore 2x40=80kHz.

 Carsons Rule

This is an approximate method used to predict the

required bandwidth necessary for FM transmission

BW 2 max f s max

About 98% of the total power is included in the

approximation.
 For an FM signal given by

v 60 sin 4 10 t 2 sin 2 10 t
8 3

If this signal is input into a 30 ohm antenna, find

the carrier frequency

the transmitted power
the modulating index
the intelligence frequency
the required bandwidth using Carson's rule and tables
the power in the largest and smallest sidebands
 AM Vs FM systems

In both systems a carrier wave is modulated by an audio

signal to produce a carrier and sidebands. The
technique can be applied to various communication
systems eg telephony and telegraphy

Special techniques applied to AM can also be applied to

FM

Both systems use receivers based on the

superheterodyne principle
In AM, the carrier amplitude is varied whereas in FM the
carrier frequency is varied

AM produces two sets of sidebands and is said to be a

narrowband system. FM produces a large set of
sidebands and is a broad band system

FM gives a better signal to noise ratio than AM under

similar operating conditions

FM systems are more sophisticated and expensive than

AM systems
Transmitters
In an AM transmitter, provision must be made for
varying the carrier amplitude whilst for FM the
carrier frequency is varied.

AM and FM modulators are therefore essentially

different in design. FM can be produced by direct
frequency modulation or by indirectly phase
modulation.

The FM carrier must be high usually in the VHF

band as it requires large bandwidth which is not
available in the lower bands.
Receivers
The FM and AM receivers are basically the
same, however the FM receiver uses a limiter
and a discriminator to remove AM variations
and to convert frequency changes to amplitude
variations respectively. As a result they (FM)
have higher gain than AM.

FM receivers give high fidelity reproduction

due to their large audio bandwidth up to 15 kHz
compared with about 8 kHz for AM receivers.