Signal Transmission over

Communication Channel

Lesson 03
EE352 Analog Communication Systems
Mansoor Khan
 Signal Transmission over a Linear
Channel
For an LTI, continuous time system the input output relation is given
by:

where g(t) is the input(transmitted signal) on channel, h(t) is the

impulse response of a LTI channel and y(t) is the convolution output
of g(t) and h(t) as shown above. If

where H(w) is the system transfer function, the from the time convolution
property:
 Signal Distortion in Transmission
• During transmission the input signal changes
from g(t) to output signal y(t) as shown
before.
• The equation below illustrates the
modification of g(t):

Where G(w) and Y(w) are the spectra of input

output signals respectively.
• Spectral shaping of input signal by spectral response
of the system is given by(polar form):

• During transmission the spectrum of input signal changes:

amplitude changes from |G(w)| to |G(w)||H(w)| and
phase changes from θg to θg+θw.

• During transmission some frequency components of

signal are boosted and some are attenuated the
relative phases also vary. In general signal received at
the receiver side is different from transmitted one.
 Distortionless Transmission
• Requirement : output waveform be the replica
of input signal.
• Characteristics of a distortionless channel:
I. The input and output waveform are identical within a multiplicative
constant.
II. A delayed output retaining the input waveform.

Thus in a distortionless channel g(t) and y(t) should satisfy the

condition:
• This shows that for a distortionless channel the amplitude
response |H(w)| must be constant and phase response
θh(w) must be the linear function of w.
LTI sytem frequency response of a distortionless system. The slope
θh(w) with respect to w is -td, where td is the delay in input signal.
If the slope remains constant over the band of interest then each
frequency component of g(t) undergoes same time delay, but if
amplitude response and phase response vary over the w(freq) scale
different frequency components(sinusoids) in g(t) will undergo
different attenuations and phase delays (varying with the frequncy) as
a result the output signal will not be the exact replica of input.
 Ideal and Practical Filters
Ideal filters(systems) allows distortionless transmission of input signals allowing
certain band of frequencies and suppressing remaining frequencies. For example
an ideal low pass filter below allows all frequency components below ω = W rad/s
to pass through without attenuation and suppress all others above W rad/s. Phase
slope θ(w) is linear (-td) over ω scale which results in a time delay of –td for all
frequency components below W rad/s.
Hence for an input signal g(t) bandlimited to W rad/s the output y(t) is g(t) delayed
by td.
Since h(t) is the response to the impulse δ(t)
applied at t = 0. The response should be causal
i.e. h(t) = 0 for t < 0.
The impulse response got previously clearly
shows that h(t) ≠ 0 for t < 0, making the filter
noncausal and not realizable.
• Practical filters have gradual characteristics
without any discontinuities or jumps as in non
causal filters.
• Well known is the butterworth filter for
example have the amplitude response of:

The amplitude response approaches ideal for

(order of filter n) n = ∞
A certain tradeoff exists between phase and
amplitude response if order of filter is increased the phase
response is distorted badly from ideal.
Example
 Signal Distortion over a
Communication Channel
• Signal distortion in LTI channels are caused by non ideal
characteristics of amplitude or phase response or both. Suppose a
pulse exist over an interval say (a , b) and is zero elsewhere, the
components of its Fourier spectrum phase and magnitude will add
in such a way that it is zero elsewhere of interval and exists in (a ,
b). For an ideal LTI channel frequency spectrum components are
multiplied by same constant and frequency components delayed by
the same interval resulting in the output replica of input. If for non
idealities frequency components are delayed by different intervals
and attenuated by different amounts due to non ideal phase or
amp characteristics the pulse would spread outside the interval.

• This pulse spreading is highly undesirable in TDM systems where it

causes interference with neighboring pulses and consequently with
neighboring channel resulting in crosstalk.
 Example of non ideal LTI Channel
A low pass filter with transfer function H(ω) shown below is given by:

A pulse g(t) bandlimited to B Hz is applied at the input of this filter find output y(t)
SOLUTION
 Distortion caused by Non Linear
Channels
Consider an input g and its corresponding output y of a channel related by the
following equation where f() is a nonlinear function:
y = f(g)
Expanding the right handside of above equation by Mclaurin’s series as:

Using the property if the bandwidth of input signal g(t) is B Hz then g^κ is kB
Hz. Hence output y(t) in the above expression will have bandwidth kB Hz, thus
output spectrum extend well beyond the input spectrum giving rise to new
frequency components not contained in the input previously. If the signal is
transmitted over a non linear channel it will cause serious interference
with other signals on the channel (spectral spreading). The problem is more
severe in FDM systems(not in TDM)
Example
Distortion Caused by Multipath Effects
• Arrival of transmitted signal at the receiver by
two or more paths with different delays.
• Transmission channel can be modeled as two or
more parallel channels over which the same
signal travels with varying delay and attenuations.
• For example reflections from hills, buildings and
other objects in the path of transmitter and
receiver, resulting in direct wave plus reflections
arriving at receiver end.
Consider a case of two paths one with the delay of td and
unity gain and other with the gain of α and delay of td + Δ.
The transfer function of both channels are given by
• exp(-jωtd )
• α exp(-jω(td + Δ))
Overall Transfer function H(ω) of parallel channels is given by:

H(ω) = exp(-jωtd )+α exp(-jω(td + Δ))

Simplifying the above expression:

The magnitude and phase response of H(ω) of the system are periodic in ω with the period of 2*pi/ Δt.
The multipath transmission therefore causes non idealities in amplitude and phase characteristics of
channel resulting in pulse dispersion(spectral spreading) of input signal.

If the gains of both channels are near to each other the received signal undergoes destructive
interference where the phases are pi radians apart. These frequencies are
multipath null frequencies (n*pi/ Δt) n is odd. For even n there is a constructive
interference and gain is enhanced. Such channels cause frequency selective fading of
transmitted signal.
 Fading Channels
• Characteristics of channel vary with time practically
especially long range radio communication systems using
ionosphere for reflection of transmitted signal the channel
characteristics vary with the seasonal or weather
conditions heavily.
• Random changes in the propagation characteristics of
channel.
• Random changes in channel transfer function results in
random signal attenuation and frequency delay.
• Different frequency components suffer unequal
attenuation and phase delays such fading is known as
frequency selective fading. Multipath propagation can
cause frequency selective fading.