EE6604

Personal & Mobile Communications

Week 11
Continuous Phase Modulation

Continuous Phase Modulation (CPM)

The CPM bandpass signal is



j(t) j2fc t

s(t) = Re Ae
e
= A cos (2fct + (t))

(1)

where the excess phase is

(t) = 2h

t X

k=0

xk hf ( kT )d

h is the modulation index

xn {1, 3, . . . , (M 1)} are the M -ary data symbols

hf (t) is the frequency shaping pulse of duration LT , that is zero for

t < 0 and t > LT , and normalized to have an area equal to 1/2. Full
response CPM has L = 1, while partial response CPM has L > 1.
The instantaneous frequency deviation from the carrier is

1 d(t)
X
fdev (t) =
=h
xk hf (t kT ) .
2 dt
k=0

Frequency Shaping Pulses

hf (t)

pulse type

L-rectangular (LREC)

1
u (t)
2LT LT

L-raised cosine (LRC)

1
2LT

L-half sinusoid (LHS)

4LT

sin(t/LT )uLT (t)

L-triangular (LTR)

1
LT

1 cos

2t
LT

|tLT /2|
LT /2



uLT (t)

Excess Phase and Tilted Phase

During the time interval nT t (n + 1)T , the excess phase (t) is
(t) = 2h

n
X

k=0

xk (t kT ).

where the phase shaping pulse is

R
t
0

(t) =

hf ( )d
1/2

, t<0
, 0 t LT
, t LT

For the case of full response CPM (L = 1), during the time interval nT t
(n + 1)T the excess phase is
(t) = h

n1
X
k=0

xk + 2hxn(t nT )

During the time interval nT t (n + 1)T , the CPM tilted phase is

(t) = h

n1
X
k=0

xk + 2hxn(t nT ) + h(M 1)t/T

= (t) + h(M 1)t/T

Note that s(t) can be generated by replacing (t) with (t) and fc by fc
h(M 1)t/2T in (1).
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Continuous Phase Frequency Shift Keying (CPFSK)

Continuous phase frequency shift keying (CPFSK) is a special type of CPM

that uses the shaping function
hf (t) =

1
1
uT (t) =
(u(t) u(t T ))
2T
2T

As a result

0
(t) =
t/2T

1/2

, t<0
, 0tT
, tT

Since the shaping function is rectangular, the CPFSK excess phase trajectories are linear.

+1

4 h
3 h

-1

2 h

h
0

- h

-2 h
-3 h
-4 h

Phase tree of binary CPFSK.

t/T

Phase-state Diagrams

-1

-1
+1

+1

-1

-1
+1

+1

+1

+1

-1

-1
+1

+1

-1

-1

Phase-state diagram of CPM with h = 1/4.

Minimum Shift Keying (MSK)

MSK is a special case of continuous phase frequency shift keying (CPFSK),
where the modulation index h = 21 is used.
The phase shaping pulse is

0
(t) =
t/2T

1/2

, t<0
, 0tT
, tT

The MSK bandpass waveform is

n1
t

nT

X
xk +
xn , nT t (n + 1)T
s(t) = A cos 2fct + +
2 k=0
2T
The excess phase on the interval nT t (n + 1)T is
n1
t nT
X
(t) =
xk +
xn
2 k=0
2T
The tilted phase on the interval nT t (n + 1)T is
t
(t) = (t) +
2T
Combining the above two equations, we have

((n + 1)T ) = (nT ) + (1 + xn)

2
8

 ( t ) (Mod 2 )
3 /2

/2

0
1

excess phase trellis diagram for MSK.

t/T

 Example: MSK (h=1/2)

excess phase
h

2
+1
+1

-1
1
+1

-1

+1
1
-1
-1
+1

-1

+1
+1

-1

+1
-1
-1
+1

-1

+1
+1

-1

+1
-1
-1
+1

-1

4 t t
4-states

t/T

tilted phase

+1
-1

0
0

-1
+1
+1
-1

-1
+1
+1
-1

-1
+1
+1
-1

-1
+1
+1
-1

-1
+1
1
+1
-1

2-states
6

t/T
0

Wireless Systems Laboratory

Excess Phase and Tilted Phase, example MSK (h = 1/2).

10

-1
+1

+1

+1

+1

-1

-1

-1

Phase state diagram for MSK signals.

11

Linearized Representation of MSK

An interesting representation for MSK waveforms can be obtained by using Laurents decomposition to express the MSK complex envelope in the
quadrature form
X
s(t) = A b(t 2nT, xn) ,
n

where

b(t, xn) = x2n+1ha(t T ) + j x2nha(t)

and where xn = (
x2n+1, x2n),

x2n = x2n1 x2n

x2n+1 =
x2nx2n+1
x1 = 1
and

(2)
(3)
(4)

t
ha(t) = sin u2T (t) .
2T

The sequences, {
x2n} and {
x2n+1}, are independent binary symbol sequences
taking on elements from the set {1, +1}.
The symbols x2n and x2n+1 are transmitted on the quadrature branches with
a half-sinusoid (HS) amplitude shaping pulse of duration 2T seconds and an
offset of T seconds.
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Gaussian MSK (GMSK)

x(t)

g(t)

h(t)

FM
Modulator

s(t)

Gaussian Pre-modulation filtered MSK (GMSK).

With MSK the modulating signal is
x(t) =

1
2T

n=

xnuT (t nT )

We filter x(t) with a low-pass filter to remove high frequency content prior
to modulation, i.e., g(t) = x(t) h(t).
For GMSK, the low-pass filter transfer function is
2

f
ln 2

H(f ) = exp

B
2

where B is the 3 dB bandwidth.

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 A rectangular pulse rect(t/T ) = uT (t + T /2) transmitted through this filter

yields the GMSK frequency shaping pulse

(BT )2x2

1 2
2
t/T +1/2
(BT ) t/T 1/2 exp

2T ln 2
ln 2

1 t/T 1/2
t/T
+
1/2

Q
Q

=
2T

hf (t) =

where

v
u
u
u
t

dx
Correction!

1
2
ex /2dx

2
ln 2
2 =
.
4 2(BT )2

Q() =

the total pulse area is

hf (t)dt = 1/2 and, therefore, the total contribution
to the excess phase for each data symbol is /2.
R

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0.4
BT=0.2
BT=0.25
BT=0.3

0.35
0.3

hf(t)

0.25
0.2
0.15
0.1
0.05
0
0

t/T

GMSK frequency shaping pulse for various normalized filter bandwidths BT .

15

 The GMSK phase shaping pulse is

1
t 1
t
1
(t) = hf (t)dt = G + G
2
T 2
T 2
Z

where

x!
x22
G(x) = x
+ e 2 ,

and
() =

1
2
ex /2dx

Observe that () = 1/2 and, therefore, the total contribution to the excess
phase for each data symbol remains at /2.

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0.5

0.4

(t)

0.3

0.2
BT=0.2
BT=0.25
BT=0.3

0.1

0
0

2
t/T

GMSK phase shaping pulse for various normalized filter bandwidths BT .

17

 The excess phase change over the interval from T /2 to T /2 is

(T /2) (T /2) = x00(T ) +
where
n(T ) =
and

T /2nT

T /2nT

n=
n6=0

xnn(T )

hf () d .

1 t/T 1/2
t/T + 1/2
Q
Q

hf (t) =
2T

The first term, x00(T ) is the desired term, and the second term,

P
n=
n6=0

xnn (T ),

is the intersymbol interference (ISI) introduced by the Gaussian low-pass

filter.
Conclusion: GMSK trades off power efficiency for a greatly improved bandwdith efficiency.

18

Svv(f) (dB)

-20
-40
-60
MSK
BT = 0.2
BT = 0.25
BT = 0.3

-80
-100
-120

0.0

0.5

1.0
1.5
Frequency, fT

2.0

2.5

Power spectral density of GMSK with various normalized filter bandwidths BT .

19

Linearized Gaussian Minimum Shift Keying

(LGMSK)
Laurent showed that any binary partial response CPM signal can be represented exactly as a linear combination of 2L1 partial-response pulse amplitude modulated (PAM) signals, viz.,
s(t) =

n=0

2L1
X1
p=0

ejhn,p cp(t nT ),

where
cp (t) = c(t)
n,p =

n
X

m=0

L1
Y
n=1

c (t + (n + Ln,p)T ) ,

xm

L1
X

m=1

xnm m,p,

and n,p {0, 1} are the coefficients of the binary representation of the index
p, i.e.,
p = 0,p + 21,p + + 2L2 L2,p .
The basic signal pulse c(t) is
c(t) =

sin(2h(t))
sin h
sin(h2h(tLT ))

sin h

, 0 t < LT
, LT t < 2LT
, otherwise

where (t) is the CPM phase shaping function.

20

Linearized Gaussian Minimum Shift Keying

(LGMSK)
note that the GMSK frequency shaping pulse spans approximately L = 4
symbol periods for practical values of BT .
Often the pulse c0 (t) contains most of the signal energy, so the p = 0 term in
can provide a good approximation to the CPM signal. Numerical analysis
can show that the pulse c0(t) contains 99.83% of the energy and, therefore, we can derive a linearized GMSK waveform by using only c0 (t) and
neglecting the other pulses.
This yields the waveform
s(t) =

n=0

ejhn,o c0(t nT ),

where, with L = 4,
c0(t) =
n,0 =

3
Y

n=0
n
X

c (t + nT ) ,

m=0

xm

Since the GMSK phase shaping pulse is non-causal, when evaluating c(t) we
use the truncated and time shifted GMSK phase shaping pulse
= (t 2T )
(t)
with L = 4 as shown previously.

21

1
BT=0.2
BT=0.25
BT=0.3

0.9
0.8
0.7

c0(t)

0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
0

t/T

LGMSK amplitude shaping pulse for various normalized premodulation filter bandwidths
BT .

22

Linearized Gaussian Minimum Shift Keying

(LGMSK)
For h = 1/2 used in GMSK,

an,0 = ej 2 n,0 {1, j} ,

and it follows that
s(t) = A

x2n+1c0(t 2nT T ) + j x2n c0(t 2nT )

where
x2n = x2n1 x2n
x2n+1 =
x2nx2n+1
x1 = 1
This is the same as the OQPSK representation for MSK except that the
half-sinusoid amplitude pulse shaping function is replaced with the LGMSK
amplitude pulse shaping function.
Note that the LGMSK pulse has length of approximately 4T , while the
pulses on the quadrature branches are transmitted every 2T seconds. Therefore, the LGMSK pulse introduces ISI.

23