Learning Outcomes

29 April 2012 1
Interpret various type of Pulse
Modulation (PAM, PWM,
PPM,PCM).
Analyze Pulse Modulation and
discuss the process of Sampling,
Quantization and Coding, which
forms the fundamental for digital
transmission of any signal
Pulse Modulation
29 April 2012 2
Pulse Modulation is a process of sampling analog
signal and then converting them into discrete
pulses and transporting the pulses from a source
to a destination over a transmission medium.
A device to perform this is called ADC (Analog-to-
Digital Converter) & DAC (Digital-to-Analog
Converter).





Pulse Modulation
29 April 2012 3
1. PAM (Pulse Amplitude Modulation)
2. PWM (Pulse Width Modulation)
3. PPM (Pulse Position Modulation)
4. PCM (Pulse Code Modulation)

PAM (Pulse Amplitude Modulation)
29 April 2012 4
It is used to describe the conversion of
analog signal to pulse-type signal in which
the amplitude of the pulse denotes the
analog information.

In addition, it is a series of pulses in which
the amplitude of each pulse represents the
amplitude of the information signal at a
given time.

Pulse Modulation
29 April 2012 5
PWM (Pulse Width Modulation)
It is a pulse duration modulation (PDM) or pulse
length modulation. The width of pulse is varied
proportional to the Amplitude of the analog signal at
the time signal is sampled.

PPM (Pulse Position Modulation)
It is a series of pulses in which the timing of each
pulse represents the amplitude of the information
signal at a given time.

PCM (Pulse Code Modulation)
29 April 2012 6
It is a series of pulse in which the amplitude of the
information signal at a given time is coded as a
binary number. The pulses are of fixed length and
fixed amplitude.

PCM is generated by 3 processes; Sampling,
Quantization & Encoding.

An Integrated circuit that perform PCM encoding
and decoding function is called CODER OR
DECODER.

29 April 2012 7
Pulse Modulation
Analog signal
Sample pulse
Pulse width
modulation
Pulse position modulation
Pulse amplitude
modulation
Pulse code
modulation
8 bit
t
s

Pulse Modulation
Pulse Modulation consists of:
Easily effected by
noise
Less susceptible to
noise
Less susceptible to
noise compared to
PAM
Sampling Quantization Coding
A method used to represent an analog signal in terms of digital word
Constitutes 3 process:
1. Sampling the analog signal
2. Quantization of the amplitude of the sampled signal
3. Coding of the quantized sample into digital signal
LPF
S/H ADC PCM
S/H : Sample and hold
circuit
Analog
signal
Anti aliasing
filter
ADC : analog to digital converter
PCM process:
f
s

Sampling
An analog signal must be sampled at Nyquist rate to avoid aliasing
Quantization & Coding
Quantization : Process of Mapping samples of a continuous
amplitude waveform to a finite set of amplitudes.
A fixed number of levels including the maximum and
minimum value of the analog signal
Number of levels is determined by the number of bits used
for coding
Coding : translate the quantized sample into a code
number.
29 April 2012 11
Quantization Interval (V)
Represent the voltage value for each quantized level
For example: For a sampled signal(m
p
) that has 5V amplitude, V
pp
=
10 V divide by the quantized level, L

= 8 level,
Therefore, quantized interval ,
Quantization level, L = 2
n
Quantization level depends on the number of binary bits, n used to
represent each sample.
For example:For = 3; Quantization level, L = 2
3
= 8 level.
In this example, first level (level 0) is represented by 000, whereas bit
111 represents the eigth level
V 25 . 1
8
V 10
2
= = = A
L
m
V
p
quantization

13
M = L
+m
p
-m
p
0
1 11
1 10
1 01
1 00
0 00
0 01
0 10
0 11
t
V
We assume that the amplitude of
m(t) is confined to the range (-m
p
,
m
p
)
L
m
V
p
2
= A
n
L 2 =
Quantization value, V
k

The middle voltage for each quantized level
For example: for n = 3, quantized level, L

= 8 and a sampled sinusoidal
signal with +5 V ,
The middle quantized value for level 0,



In this example, for a sample that is in level 0 segment will be
represented by bit 000 with a voltage value of 4.375 V.

The difference between the sampled value and the quantized value
results in quantization noise.
V 375 . 4
2
V 25 . 1
V 5
0
= + = V
V
+m
p
-m
p
0
1 11
1 10
1 01
1 00
0 00
0 01
0 10
0 11

value
Sign bit
t
100 101 111 111 111 110 101 000 010 011 011 010 000 001 110 110 110 100
Quantization error
Q
e
PCM code
t
The same code representing several
samples with different amplitudes
Step size
The binary codes used for PCM are n-bit codes (sign-magnitude
code) where the MSB bit is the sign bit. If PCM is 3-bit codes,
then the sign and magnitude are shown below:











In terms of Voltage, the maximum signal voltages are 3 V or -3 V
and the minimum signal voltages are 1 V or -1 V.
Sign Magnitude Decimal value Quantization range
(V)
1 1 1 +3 +2.5 to +3.5
1 10 +2 +1.5 to +2.5
1 01 +1 +0.5 to 1.5
1 00 +0 0 to +0.5
0 00 -0 0 to -0.5
0 01 -1 -0.5 to -1.5
0 10 -2 -1.5 to -2.5
0 11 -3 -2.5 to -3.5
Folded binary code
0 V codes each
have an input
range equal to
only one half a
quantum
t
Level 0 : 000
Level 1 : 001
Level 2 : 010
Level 3 : 011
Level 4 : 100
Level 5 : 101
Level 6 : 110
Leve l 7 : 111
1.9V
+5.0V
-5.0V
4.375V
3.125V
1.875V
0.625V
-0.625V
-1.875V
-3.125V
-4.375V
4.3V
1.9V
-3.2V
-4.5V
Quantization level &
binary representation
Quantized
value
Sampled signal
UNIFORM QUANTIZATION
Uniform quantization is a quantization process with a uniform (fixed) quantization
interval/step size.
Example : n = 3 , L

= 8 , signal +5 V ; => V = 1.25 V . Bit rate:
s b
nf f =
Input analog signal
Sampling pulse
PCM code
Quantization
PAM signal
What is the PCM code for +2.6 V??
+2.6
V
Input analog signal
Sampling pulse
PCM code
PAM signal
Question: What is the quantized interval and PCM code for +1.75 V??
Quantization Error/ Noise
Folded PCM code = sample voltage
resolution
For input at 2.6 V, the PCM code is therefore:
2.6/1 = 2.6
But since there is no code for +2.6, the magnitude is
rounded off to the nearest valid code, which is 111
(+3V)
Thus there is difference of 0.4
QUANTIZATION ERROR (Q
e
)
or also known as quantization noise (Q
n
)
Qe =sample voltage - original analog signal


Maximum
magnitude Q
e
is
equal to one-half
a quantum

Low Resolution
, more accurate
the quantized
signal will
resemble the
original analog
sample

22 29 April 2012
resolution
2
e
Q =
Linear input-output transfer curve
Linear
Quantization
Error
Dynamic Range
max max
min
2 1
resolution
n
V V
DR
V
= = =
DR = dynamic range (unitless)
V
min
= the quantum value
V
max
= the maximum voltage magnitude of the DACs
n = number of bits in a PCM code (excl. sign bit)
( )
( )
20log 2 1
n
dB
DR =
Ratio of the largest possible magnitude to the smallest
(other than 0) magnitude that can be decoded by the
digital-to-analog converter (DAC) in the receiver
Number of bits used for a PCM code depends on
the dynamic range
DR = 2
n
-1
Thus 2
n
= DR + 1

And therefore, The minimum number of bit used:
n = log ( DR + 1 )
log 2
2 1 2
n n
DR = ~
For n > 4
( )
( )
20log 2 1 20 log2 6
n
dB
DR n n ~ = ~
No of Bits No of Levels DR (dB)
1 2 6.02
2 4 12
3 6 18.1
4 16 24.1
5 32 30.1
6 62 36.1
7 128 42.1
8 256 48.2
9 512 54.2
10 1024 60.2
11 2048 66.2
12 4096 72.2
13 8192 78.3
14 16348 84.3
15 32768 90.3
16 65536 96.3
Dynamic Range
Dynamic Range
Total dynamic range in (dB) = 6 x (number of bits)
Coding Efficiency
minimum number of bits
coding efficiency= 100
actual number of bits

Coding efficiency is a numerical indication of how
efficiently a PCM code is utilized
EXAMPLE
A PCM systems has the following specification:
Maximum Analog Input Frequency = 4 kHz
Maximum decoded voltage at the receiver = 2.55 V
The dynamic range = 46 dB

Determine the following :
(a) Minimum Sampling Rate
(b) Minimum number of bits used in PCM code
(c) Resolution
(d) Quantization Error
(e) Coding Efficiency
Solution
(a) The minimum sampling rate:
f
s
= 2f
a
= 2(4 kHz) = 8 kHz

(b) Calculate the Dynamic range :
46 = 20log(V
max
/ V
min
)
V
max
/ V
min
= antilog (46/20) = 199.5
Thus, the minimum number of bit
used:
n = log (199.5 + 1) / Log 2 = 7.63

(c) Resolution is defined as:
V
max
/ 2
n
- 1 = 0.01 V

(d) Quantization Error :
Q = resolution / 2 = 0.01 V / 2 =
0.005 V
(e) Coding Efficiency

Coding efficiency
= (8.63/9)(100)
= 95.89%



PCM
system
Example :
V
pp
= 31.5 V

6 bit code (5 bits for
magnitude and 1 bit for
sign
(a) No of levels:
(b) LSB voltage, AV :
(c) Voltage value for 101101 ;
(d) Voltage value for 011001 ;
(e) PCM Code for input +13.62 V
(g)PCM Code for input 9.37 V
PCM
system
Example :
V
pp
= 31.5 V

6 bit code (5 bits for
magnitude and 1 bit for
sign
(a) No of levels: 2
6
= 64
(b) LSB voltage, AV : 31.5/64 = 0.492 V
(c) Voltage value for 101101 ; +(13 x 0.492) = +6.4 V
(d) Voltage value for 011001 ; (25 x 0.492) = -12.3 V
(e) Code for input +13.62 V
= 13.62/0.492 = 27.68 ~ 28 => 111100
(g)Code for input 9.37 V
= 9.37/0.492 = 19.04 ~ 19 => 010011