EECE 3500

Communication Systems

Topic: Frequency Modulation

Dr. Hong

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© Dr. Liang Hong
 Angle Modulation
• Definition:
The angle of the carrier wave is varied according to the
modulating signal. The amplitude of the carrier wave is
constant.

• Advantage:
Provide better discrimination against noise and
interference than AM

Performance improvement is achieved at the expense of

• Increased transmission bandwidth
• Increased system complexity in both the transmitter
and receiver
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© Dr. Liang Hong
 • Mathematical model of angle-modulated signal:
s(t )  Ac cos[i (t )]

i (t ) : angle of a modulated sinusoidal carrier,

it is a function of the message signal
Ac : carrier amplitude

• Instantaneous frequency:

i (t  t )  i (t )  1 di (t )
f i (t )  lim   
t 0
 2 t  2 dt

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© Dr. Liang Hong
 • Example:
Find and plot the instantaneous frequency of the
following waveform

cos 2 t t 1

s(t )  cos 4 t 1  t  2
cos 6 t 2t


• Example:
Find and plot the instantaneous frequency of
s(t )  10 cos[2 (1000t  sin 10 t )]

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© Dr. Liang Hong
 • Frequency modulation:
a form of angle modulation in which the instantaneous
frequency is varied linearly with the message signal.

f i (t )  f c  k f m(t )

f c : frequency of the unmodulated carrier

k f : frequency sensitivity
unit : Hz/volt assuming m(t ) is a voltage waveform

f c  k f min[ m(t )]  fi (t )  f c  k f max[ m(t )]

t t
i (t )  2  f i ( )d  2 f c t  2 k f  m( )d
0 0
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© Dr. Liang Hong
 t
s(t )  Ac cos[2 f c t  2 k f  m( )d ]
0

Unmodulated
Carrier waveform

Message signal

FM signal

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© Dr. Liang Hong
 • Difference of FM waveform from AM waveform:
– Zero crossings do not have a perfect regularity in their
spacing in FM signals.
– Envelop of a FM signal is constant.
– Visualization difficulty of message waveform

Unmodulated
Carrier waveform

Message signal

AM signal

FM signal
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© Dr. Liang Hong
 • Phase modulation:
a form of angle modulation in which the angle varies
linearly with the message signal.

i (t )  2 f c t  k p m(t )

s(t )  Ac cos[2 f c t  k p m(t )]

• Relationship between FM and PM:

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© Dr. Liang Hong
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© Dr. Liang Hong
 • Example: (Zero-crossing)
Consider a modulating wave m(t ) that increases linearly
with time t, starting at t = 0, as shown by

at , t  0
m(t )  
 0, t  0

where a is the slope parameter. Determine the zero-

crossings of the PM and FM waves produced by m(t ) for
the following set of parameters:

1
fc  Hz a  1 volt/s
4

 k f  1 Hz/volt
kp  radians/vo lt
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© Dr. Liang Hong
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© Dr. Liang Hong
 Frequency Modulation
• FM is nonlinear modulation process:
Because the FM signal s(t) is a nonlinear function of
the modulating signal m(t)

• FM with single-tone modulating signal

m(t )  Am cos(2 f m t )
f i (t )  f c  k f m(t )  f c  k f Am cos(2 f m t )  f c  f cos(2 f m t )
t f
i (t )  2  f i ( )d  2 f c t  sin(2 f m t )
0 fm

f  k f A m : frequency deviation
f
 : modulation index
fm 12
© Dr. Liang Hong
 • FM signal:

s(t )  Ac cos[2 f c t   sin(2 f m t )]

Narrowband FM:   1 radian

Wideband FM:   1 radian

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© Dr. Liang Hong
 Narrowband FM vs. Wideband FM
• Narrowband FM:   1 radian (  0.3)

s(t )  Ac cos(2 f c t ) cos[  sin(2 f m t )]

 Ac sin(2 f c t ) sin[  sin(2 f m t )]

 cos[  sin(2 f m t )]  1
  1 radian 
sin[  sin(2 f m t )]   sin(2 f m t )

s(t )  Ac cos(2 f c t )   Ac sin(2 f c t ) sin(2 f m t )

 Ac cos(2 f c t )   Ac cos[2 ( f c  f m )t ]  cos[2 ( f c  f m )t ]

1
2

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© Dr. Liang Hong
 • Compare with AM signal:
s(t )  Ac cos(2 f c t )   Ac cos[2 ( f c  f m )t ]  cos[2 ( f c  f m )t ]
1
2
s AM (t )  Ac [1  k a Am cos(2 f m t )] cos(2 f c t )

 Ac cos(2 f c t )   Ac cos[2 ( f c  f m )t ]  cos[2 ( f c  f m )t ]

1
2

  ka Am

• Narrowband FM signal is similar to an AM signal

• Narrowband FM signal has the same transmission
bandwidth as the AM signal

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© Dr. Liang Hong
 • Modulator:

Block diagram of a method for generating a narrowband FM signal.

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© Dr. Liang Hong
 • Wideband FM:   1 radian
Idea: use complex envelop and Fourier series
s(t )  Re{ Ac exp[ j 2 f c t  j sin(2 f m t )]}
 Re{ ~s (t)exp(j2 f t )} c

~
s (t )  Ac exp[ j sin(2 f m t )] Periodic signal

 
~
s (t )  c
n  
n exp( j 2 n f m t )  Ac J
n  
n (  ) exp( j 2 n f m t )

1 
J n ( ) 
2   exp[ j( sin x  nx)]dx


nth order Bessel function of the first kind

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 Plots of Bessel functions of the first kind for varying order.

• Table of Bessel functions:

Appendix 3 (Table A3.1, Page 467)
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© Dr. Liang Hong
   
s (t )  Ac Re  J n (  ) exp[ j 2 ( f c  n f m ) t ]
n   

 Ac J
n  
n (  ) cos[2 ( f c  n f m ) t ]


A
S( f )  c
2
J
n  
n (  )[  ( f  f c  n f m )   ( f  f c  n f m )]

• The spectrum of an FM signal contains a carrier

component and an infinite set of side frequencies
located symmetrically on either side of the carrier.
• The amplitude of the carrier component of an FM
signal is dependent on the modulation index .

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© Dr. Liang Hong
 k f Am

fm

Amplitude spectra of FM Amplitude spectra of FM

(fixed fm, varying Am) (varying fm, fixed Am)
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© Dr. Liang Hong
 • Example:
Consider the tone-modulated FM signal
x(t )  cos(2 108  t  sin 400 t )

applied to an ideal Band pass filter of bandwidth 500

Hz and centered at 108 Hz.
The output from this filter has sinusoidal components
at frequencies:
a) 108 Hz plus (108 + 200) Hz plus (108 + 400)Hz
b) 108 Hz plus (108 - 200) Hz plus (108 - 400)Hz
c) 108 Hz plus (108 - 200) Hz plus (108 + 200)Hz
d) None of the above

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© Dr. Liang Hong
 • Modulator:
– Direct FM: carrier frequency is directly varied in
accordance with the input modulating signal.
implementation: use voltage-controlled oscillator
– Indirect FM (two steps)
• Produce a narrowband FM using the modulating signal
• Use frequency multiplier to increase the frequency deviation
to the desired level
* Indirect method is preferred in commercial radio broadcasting

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© Dr. Liang Hong
 FM Demodulator
• Method
– Direct: use frequency discriminator
– Indirect: use phase lock loop
• Direct (Frequency discriminator)
The instantaneous output amplitude is directly
proportional to the instantaneous frequency of
the input FM signal.
s(t ) ds (t ) Envelop constant  m(t )
dt detector

t
Proof s(t )  Ac cos[2 f c t  2 k f  m( )d ]
0

ds(t ) t
 2 Ac [ f c  k f m(t )] sin[2 f c t  2 k f  m( )d ]
dt 0

In practice, f c | k f m(t ) | 23

© Dr. Liang Hong
 Transmission Bandwidth of FM Signals
• In theory:
– The spectrum of an FM signal contains a carrier
component and an infinite set of side frequencies
located symmetrically on either side of the carrier.

• In practice
– Specify an effective bandwidth

• Methods
– empirical rule: Carson’s rule
– Maximum number of significant side frequencies

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© Dr. Liang Hong
 • Carson’s rule (empirical rule)
– Single-tone modulating signal
1
BT  2f  2 f m  2f (1  )

– General case of an arbitrary modulating signal m(t )
1
BT  2f  2W  2f (1  )
D
where W : highest frequency component of m(t )
f  k f A max

A max : maximum possible amplitude of m(t )

f
D : deviation ratio
W 25
© Dr. Liang Hong
 • Example: (BT for US FM broadcasting)
Find BT of US FM broadcasting, where
f  75 kHz W  15 kHz

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© Dr. Liang Hong
 • Example:
Find the approximate band of frequencies occupied by
an FM wave with
f c  5 kHz k f  10 Hz / volt

i. m(t )  10 cos10 t volts

ii. m(t )  100 cos 2000 t volts

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© Dr. Liang Hong
 • Example:
A 10-MHz carrier is frequency modulated by a
sinusoidal signal of 5-kHz frequency such that the
maximum frequency deviation of the FM wave is
500kHz. Find the approximate band of frequencies
occupied by the FM waveform. Is this signal wideband
FM or narrowband FM?

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© Dr. Liang Hong
 • Example:
A 100-MHz carrier is frequency modulated by a
sinusoidal signal of 1-volt amplitude. kf is set at 100
Hz/volt. Find the approximate bandwidth of the FM
signal if the modulating signal has a frequency of 10
kHz. Is this signal wideband FM or narrowband FM?

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© Dr. Liang Hong
 • Example:
A FM signal is described by

s(t )  10 cos[2 107  t  20 sin(1000 t )]

Find the approximate bandwidth of this FM signal. Is it

wideband FM or narrowband FM?

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© Dr. Liang Hong
 FM Stereo Multiplexing
• Stereo multiplexing:
– A form of FDM designed to transmit two separate
signals via the same carrier so as to give a spatial
dimension to its perception by a listener at the
receiver end.

• Requirements
– The transmission has to operate within the allocated
FM broadcast channels
– It has to be compatible with monophonic radio
receivers.

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© Dr. Liang Hong
 m(t )  [ml (t )  mr (t )]  K cos(2 f c t )
 [ml (t )  mr (t )] cos(4 f c t )

f c  19 kHz

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© Dr. Liang Hong