LECTURE 6 WIDEBAND ANGLE MODULATION

A/Prof Zhuquan Zang and Dr. Narottam Das Dept of Electrical and Computer Engineering Curtin University Perth, Western Australia

CE304-DC603 LECTURE NOTES Lecturer & Tutor:

Narottam.Das@curtin.edu.au

LECTURE 6: WIDEBAND ANGLE-MODULATED WAVE

It is dicult to derive the spectrum of a wideband angle-modulated wave for a general modulating signal. To obtain an insight into the bandwidth occupancy of such a wave, the modulating signal is generally assumed to be a single sinusoidal tone with a peak amplitude Am , and an angular frequency m , such that m(t) = Am cos(m t).

Note: Tone modulation (one, two, or three tones) is commonly used in practice for verifying specications of equipment. Wideband FM (WBFM) A WBFM wave is expressed as cf (t) = Ac cos[c t + c (t)]. Now, with the modulating signal being m(t) = Am cos(m t) then c (t) = kf
t m t) m( )d = kf Am sin( . m

Since kf Am corresponds to the maximum deviation in the carrier frequency, we dene the modulation index (or deviation ratio) as = kf Am Peak frequency deviation = . Modulating frequency m m

This follows that the WBFM wave is given by cf (t) = cos[c t + sin(m t)] = cos(c t) cos[ sin(m t)] sin(c t) sin[ sin(m t)] Since cos[ sin(m t)] and sin[ sin(m t)] are periodic signals, they can be expanded into the following Fourier series cos[ sin()] = Jo ( ) + 2[J2 ( ) cos(2) + J4 ( ) cos(4) + ...] and sin[ sin()] = 2[J1 ( ) sin() + J3 ( ) sin(3) + ...]
Semester 2, 2012

CE304-DC603 LECTURE NOTES Lecturer & Tutor:

Narottam.Das@curtin.edu.au

where Jn ( ) are known as Bessel functions of order n of the rst kind. Based on the relationship that Jn ( ) = (1)n Jn ( ), the WBFM can be rewritten as

cf (t) =
n=

Jn ( ) cos(c + nm )t.

The FM wave has a carrier component and an innite number of frequencies c m , c 2m , , c nm . The amplitude of the nth sideband at = c nm is given by Jn ( ). A plot of Jn ( ) is shown as follow:

It is observed that for small values of (e.g., < 1), the FM wave consists of a large carrier component, and few sideband frequencies of large amplitude. This is typically narrowband FM. When becomes large (WBFM ), the carrier component decreases in value, but there are many sideband frequencies. Note: Most FM broadcast stations use a peak frequency deviation of 75 kHz at the highest modulating frequency of 15 kHz, and this yields a modulation index of =
75 15

= 5.

Semester 2, 2012

CE304-DC603 LECTURE NOTES Lecturer & Tutor:

Narottam.Das@curtin.edu.au

Bandwidth of a WBFM wave

In practice, it is only necessary to consider a nite number of signicant sideband components (e.g., with amplitudes greater than about 4 % of the unmodulated carrier). Note that Jn ( ) decreases for increasing value of n. It is observed that the amplitudes of Jn ( ) becomes negligibly small for n> +2. This suggests that a good approximation of the bandwidth for WBFM wave is to consider n= +2 sideband components. In this case, is taken to be the modulation index for the highest modulating frequency. Using this assumption, the bandwidth of a WBFM wave is given by BWW BF M = 2nm = 2( + 2)m = 2( + m ) where =
. m

Semester 2, 2012

CE304-DC603 LECTURE NOTES Lecturer & Tutor:

Narottam.Das@curtin.edu.au

Note: In practice, a well-known formula, called the Carsons rule, is widely accepted as a criterion of bandwidth occupancy for angle-modulated system with analogue modulating signal. From Carsons rule, the bandwidth for an FM wave is BW = 2m + 2( ) = 2m ( + 1) rad/sec. Note the dierence in the estimated bandwidth using the Carsons rule and that derived assuming n= + 2 sidebands. A good compromise is BW = 2m ( + k ) where 1 k 2. This is true for the intermediate conditions that is neither <<1 nor >>1. Wideband phase modulation (WBPM) The procedures for deriving the bandwidth of a WBFM wave are applicable to a WBPM wave. For WBPM, c (t) = kp m(t), and the instantaneously frequency is i = d[c (t)] d[m(t)] = kp . dt dt

Now, assume m(t) = Am cos(m t) as in WBFM, then i = Am kp m sin(m t) = PM sin(m t)

Semester 2, 2012

CE304-DC603 LECTURE NOTES Lecturer & Tutor:

Narottam.Das@curtin.edu.au

where P M = Am kp m is called the peak frequency deviation of the WBPM signal. Note that P M is a function of the modulating frequency m . The bandwidth for the WBPM wave is approximated by BWW BP M = 2[P M + 2m ] Note: Phase modulation produces a spectrum, which has a width dependent on both the amplitude and frequency of the modulating signal. Methods of generating a wideband angle-modulated signal There are two general methods of generating a wideband angle-modulated signal: 1. Indirect method 2. Direct method.

Indirect method
As discussed previously, an NBFM or NBPM wave is approximated by c(t) = Ac cos[1 t + 1 (t)] = Ac [cos(1 t) 1 (t) sin(c t)] for |1 (t)| << 1.

A narrowband signal source based on the above expression is usually used as a starting point for generating an angle-modulated wave with increase phase and instantaneous frequency deviation. The NBFM or NBPM wave is normally generated at a carrier much lower than the desired nal carrier frequency. As such, the frequency or phase deviation of the NBFM or NBPM wave is usually many times smaller than the required value, in order to fulll the condition that |(t)| << 1 to help in limiting distortion. The required wide deviation is then obtained by subjecting the NBFM or NBPM signal to one or more stages of severe nonlinearity. The result is frequency or phase multiplication. An example of generating a WBFM wave starting from a NBFM signal is shown as follow:
Semester 2, 2012

CE304-DC603 LECTURE NOTES Lecturer & Tutor:

Narottam.Das@curtin.edu.au

If the nal deviation is nc1 (t), then the nth harmonic at the output of the nonlinear circuit or frequency multiplier is extracted by using an appropriate bandpass lter with the center frequency at nc1 . The output of this lter is given by c (t) = Ac cos[nc1 t + nc1 (t)]. The nal WBFM output c (f ) at the desired carrier frequency c is obtained by translating the WBFM signal c (f ) at the intermediate frequency c1 using a frequency translator. The local oscillator frequency c2 of the frequency translator is c2 = c nc1 .

Direct method of generating an FM signal

An FM wave can be generated by applying the modulating signal m(t ) to control and vary the instantaneous frequency i (t ) of a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO ), such that i (t) = c + kf m(t). A VCO could be realised as an LC oscillator in which either its inductance L or capacitance C of the resonant tank circuit is made variable by an external signal voltage e.g., m (t ). For practical reasons, capacitance C is almost always chosen as the variable reactance which takes the form of a varicap-diode or varactor-diode. A varactor-diode is a reverse-biased semiconductor diode whose capacitance varies with the bias voltage in accordance to 1 C V
Semester 2, 2012

CE304-DC603 LECTURE NOTES Lecturer & Tutor:

Narottam.Das@curtin.edu.au

Figure 1: A varactor-diode modulator circuit for generating an FM signal. where V is the applied reverse-baised voltage. Note: VDD is the nominal reverse-biased voltage for D1 L2 is a radio frequency choke (RFC ) that isolates the RF signal from the input signal m (t ) C2 blocks VDD from the oscillator. The resonant frequency of the LC oscillator is given by r = 1 LCt

with Ct = C1 + Cd , where Cd is the capacitance of the varactor diode D1 at nominal reverse bias with the input signal m(t)=0. In the presence of a modulating signal m(t), the capacitance of the varactor diode becomes Cd = Cd + C where C = f [m(t)]. Note: A silicon varactor diode has a typical Cd of 150 - 200 pF at a reverse biased voltage of Vr =1 volt. The capacitance Cd reduces to 50 pF at Vr =10 v. C is about 10-15 pF per volt of reverse bias. Example: An oscillator operating at 100 MHz has a 80 pF capacitor in its tuning circuit. What
Semester 2, 2012

CE304-DC603 LECTURE NOTES Lecturer & Tutor:

Narottam.Das@curtin.edu.au

should be the total capacitance swing,C , of the varactor diode for the FM modulator to achieve a peak frequency deviation of 75 kHz ? The nominal resonant frequency is given by r = 1 . LC

If the tuning capacitance is increased by C , then the resonant frequency decreases by , such that r = or
r r

1 L(C + C )

1 LC 1 +
C C 1/2

= 1+

C C

1/2

From the binomial series 1 1 2 13 3 (1 + x)1/2 = 1 x + x x ..., 2 24 246 for 1 < x 1, then r 1 C =1 r 2 C for
C C

<< 1, so that
r

C . 2C

Note:

is kept small, so that C is a small part of C to help limit the harmonic

distortion. The required capacitance change for f = 75 kHz is 75 103 C = 2 80 1012 = 0.12 pF. = 2C r 100 106 Since the total frequency swing is 75 kHz, the total capacitance change is 0.12 pF.

Semester 2, 2012