Demodulation of AM

Demodulation is the process of recovering the

information signal (base band) from the
incoming modulated signal at the receiver.
a. Square law demodulator
Applying Fourier transform on both sides, we get
The dc component (first term) can be eliminated using a
coupling capacitor or a transformer.
The effect of second harmonics of information signal can be
reduced by maintaining its level very low.
When m(t) is very low, the filter output is given by
 Envelop detector
We assume the diode D to be ideal. When it is
forward biased, it acts as a short circuit and
thereby, making the capacitor C charge
through the source resistance Rs
When D is reverse biased, it acts as an
open circuit and C discharges through
the load resistance RL .
As the operation of the detector circuit
depends on the charge and discharge of the
capacitor C , we shall explain this operation
with the help of Figure below.
Envelope detector waveforms
(a) v1 (t ) (before DC block)
(b) vout (t) (after DC block)
If the time constants Rs C and RLC are
properly chosen, v1 (t ) follows the
envelope of s (t ) fairly closely
During the conduction cycle of D, C quickly
charges to the peak value of the carrier at that
time instant. It will discharge a little during the
next off cycle of the diode
CB is a blocking capacitor and the final
vout (t) will be proportional to m(t )
During the charging cycle, we want the
capacitor to charge to the peak value of
the carrier in as short a time as possible.
 Virtues, Limitations
AM is the oldest method of performing modulation.
Its biggest virtue is the ease with which it is generated and
reversed.
- In the transmitter: a switching modulator or a square-law
modulator
- In the receiver: an envelope detector or a square-law detector
Its system is relatively cheap to build.
- The reason that AM radio broadcasting has been popular for so
long.
Transmitted power and channel bandwidth are our two primary
communication resources. AM suffers form limitations.
Spectra of the various modulated
signals
 DSB-SC Modulation

s (t) = gm m (t) (Ac cos (ct))

The time domain behavior of the DSB-
SC signal (with Ac = 1)

F (a) The message signal (b) The DSB-SC signal

The Fourier transform of s(t)

we see that the modulation

process has simply shifted the
message spectrum by fc .
 EXAMPLE
Let m(t ) be a real signal with the spectrum
M(f ) shown below. Let fc be 100 kHz.
Assuming Ac/2 = 1 , we have S(f ) as
shown below
 Generation of DSB-SC
a. Product modulator

Generation of a DSB-SC signal involves the multiplication

of m (t) with Accos(c)t. To generate this signal in the
laboratory, any of the commercially available
multipliers can be used. Some of them are:
National: LM 1496
Motorola: MC 1496
Analog Devices: AD 486, AD 632 etc
The power levels that can be generated, the carrier
frequencies that can be used will depend on the IC
used
b. Ring modulator

Square wave xp (t)

 The Fourier series expansion of Xp (t) can be
written as

When v (t) is passed through a BPF tuned to

fc, the output is the desired DSB-SC signal,
namely,
c. Balanced Modulator (Product
modulator)
 Coherent demodulation of DSBSC
It is assumed that the local oscillator signal is exactly
coherent or synchronized, in both frequency and phase,
with the carrier wave c(t) used in the product modulator
to generate s(t). This method of demodulation is known
as coherent detection or synchronous detection.
 v (t ) = dg (Ac m(t )cos(c t )) (Ac' cos(ct ))
dg is the gain constant of the multiplier or the
detector gain constant
For dg = 1

Assuming that AcAc' = 2 we have

v (t ) = m(t ) + m(t ) cos(4fc t )
Let us illustrate the operation of the
detector in the frequency domain.
Let m(t ) be real with the spectrum
 Case i): Constant phase difference between c (t )
and cr (t)
Let c (t ) = cos(2fc t ) and cr (t ) = cos[2fc t + ]

At the output of the LPF, we will have only the term

Case ii): Constant frequency difference
between c (t ) and cr ( t)
Carrier recovery for coherent
demodulation
Costas loop
 The VCO (Voltage Controlled Oscillator) is a source that
produces a periodic waveform whose frequency is controlled
by the input voltage ec (t ) .
The output frequency fo of the VCO when ec (t ) = 0 is called
the free running frequency of the VCO. The frequency put out
by the VCO at any instant depends on the sign and magnitude
of the control voltage, ec (t) .
Let us assume that the frequency and phase of the VCO
output are the same as that of the incoming carrier. Then,
 Now suppose that VCO develops a small phase offset of
radians. The I-channel output will remain essentially
unchanged but a small voltage will develop at the output of
the Q-channel which will be proportional to sin (If the
phase shift is rad, then the Q channel output is
proportional to sin Because of this, e(t ) is a non-zero
quantity given by

e(t ) is input to LPF3, which has very narrow passband (Note

that LPF1 and LPF2 should have a bandwidth of at least W
Hz). Hence ec (t) = C0 sin2 where C0 is the DC value of
This DC control voltage ensures that
the VCO output is coherent with the
carrier used for modulation
 Single-Sideband (SSB)
Assume that from a DSB-SC signal, we have
completely suppressed one of the sidebands, say the
LSB. Let

where M(f ) is as shown (a). The resulting spectrum

S (f)USB will be as shown below
 product modulator and
Bandpassfilter

v (t ) is the DSB-SC signal generated by the product modulator.

The BPF is designed to suppress the unwanted sideband in V (f ) ,
thereby producing the desired SSB signal.
 Vestigial Side Band (VSB) Modulation

distinguishes VSB from SSB modulation

Application:
- Transmission of picture signals (video signals) in TV
broadcast.