Digital Communications Systems DIGITAL-TO-DIGITAL CONVERSION

• Includes systems where relatively high frequency In this section, we see how we can represent digital data
analog carriers are modulated by relatively low by using digital signals. The conversion involves three
frequency digital information signals and techniques
systems involving transmission of digital pulses.
• It covers a broad area of communications • line coding
techniques including digital transmissions and
• block coding
digital radio.
• scrambling
Digital Transmission Systems
Line coding is always needed; block coding and
• Is the transmission of digital pulses between two scrambling may or may not be needed.
or more points in a communication system.
• Require a physical facility between the
transmitter and receiver, such as a metallic wire Signal Element VS Data Element
pair, a coaxial cable, or an optical fiber cable.
• Data element
Digital Radio – The smallest entity that can represent a piece of
• Is the transmittal of digitally modulated analog information: this is bit.
carriers between two or more points in a • Signal element
communication system.
• Require a physical facility between the – The shortest unit (timewise) of a digital signal.
transmitter and receiver, such as a metallic wire
• In other words
pair, a coaxial cable, or an optical fiber cable, the
transmission medium could also be free space or – Data element are what we need to send.
earth’s atmosphere.
– Signal elements are what we can send.
Binary Transmission

BIT

•Is a contraction of the term “binary digit”.

•A unit of information represented by either a ‘1’
or ‘0’
BIT RATE / DATA RATE

• The number of 0’s and 1’s that pass on a

communication channel each second
• Transmission rate in bits per second

ERROR RATE

• A measure of data connectivity’s performance

• Often the unit of measurement is bit error rate
(BER), which is probability of error
• A BER of 1 in 105 means that there is a probability
of one error will occur for every 100,000 bits
Data Rate versus Signal Rate Although the actual bandwidth of a digital signal is
infinite, the effective bandwidth is finite.
• Data rate

– The number of data elements (bits) sent in

1s Nyquist Bit rate
– The unit is bits per second (bps)
– Called bit rate

• Signal rate
N = Nyquist Bit rate
– The number of signal elements sent in 1s
B = Bandwidth
– The unit is the baud
L = number of signal levels
– Signal rate is sometimes called the pulse
--------Noiseless Channel
rate, the modulation rate, or the baud
rate

Shannon Capacity
Relationship between data rate and signal rate

I max = Information Capacity

B = Bandwidth
S: number of signal elements, S/N = Signal to Noise Ratio
c: the case factor, --------Noisy Channel
N: data rate (bps),
r: data elements per signal elements
LINE CODES – refers to the way in which symbols are
Example encoded by means of pulses
A signal is carrying data in which one data element is
Non-Return to Zero (NRZ)
encoded as one signal element (r = 1). If the bit rate is 100
kbps, what is the average value of the baud rate if c is  A “1” represents the active state and a “0” the
between 0 and 1? passive state

Solution  A change of state occurs when there is 1-to-0 or

0-to-1 transition
We assume that the average value of c is 1/2 . The baud
rate is then  A string of 1’s is a continuous pulse or “ON”
condition and a string of 0’s is a continuous
“OFF” condition

 Information is extracted from transitions or lack

of transitions in synchronous format, and a single
pulse completely occupies the designated bit
interval
Unipolar Non-Return to Zero
 A logic 1 is represented by a +A and logic 0 by a
space or 0 level
POLAR NRZ
 Has both negative and positive pulses
RETURN TO ZERO (RZ)
 There is a transition for every bit transmitted,
whether a 1 or 0, and as a result, a pulse width is
less than the bit interval to permit the NRZ
condition
 The waveform returns to a zero–volt level for a
portion (usually one–half) of the bit interval.
MANCHESTER CODE
 Is commonly used in digital fiber optic systems.
 The binary information is carried in the transition
which occurs at midpulse.
 By convention, logic “0” is defined as a positive
going transition and logic “1” as a negative going
transmission. This signal can either be unipolar
or bipolar.
ALTERNATE MARK INVERSION LINE CODE
Binary 0’s are coded as zero voltage, and binary
1’s are coded alternately +A and –A
- Also known psuedoternary code
HIGH DENSITY BIPOLAR LINE CODES (HDBn)
- generally used where there is higher density of Marks
(1’s)
-Is one in which sequences of more than n zeroes are
encoded as special sequences that is identified by certain
rules
-The most popular version is HDB3, in which 0000 is
encoded by one of special sequences, SSSX or YSSX
X stands for a mark that violates the AMI code, and Y
stands for Mark that does not violate the AMI code.
SSSX sequence can be encoded either an SSSP or an
SSSN depending on the previous Mark.
YSSX sequence can be encoded either PSSP or an NSSN
again depending on the precious mark
SSSX sequence is used on the first occurrence of 0000
and where an odd number of 1’s occurs between
successive 0000 sequences in the original message
YSSX sequence is used where an even number of 1’s
occurs between successive 0000 sequences in the
original message
EX 1: Determine the equivalent HDB3 code for the given
message: 101000001000011010100
EX 1: Determine the equivalent HDB3 code for the given
message: 1010000011000010000000
DIFFERENTIAL ENCODING OR DECODING
It is possible that 1’s are converted to 0 and 0 to
1 during transmission.
This is not a problem with digitized speech but a
big problem with data transmission
To overcome this problem, the original data
signal is transmitted by comparing any given bit with the
previous bit.
ADVANTAGES OF DIGITAL TRANSMISSION:
1. Noise Immunity – Digital pulses are less susceptible
than analog signals to variations caused by noise
2. Better suited to processing and multiplexing – digital
pulses can be stored easily and easy to adapt to different
environments and interface with different equipments
*DSP – Digital Signal Processing – processing of analog
signals using digital methods.
3. Noise resistant compared to analog counterpart –
Digital transmission is not using amplifier where noise is
generated. It uses regenerator where the weak digital
signals are being regenerated
4. Simpler to measure and evaluate
5. Better suited to evaluate error performance
DISADVANTAGES OF DIGITAL TRANSMISSION:
1. Requires more bandwidth than analog systems
2. Additional encoding and decoding circuitries are
necessary.
3. Requires precise time synchronization between
transmit and receive clocks
4. Incompatible with older analog transmission facilities
PULSE MODULATION
includes many different method of converting
information into pulse form for transferring pulses from
source to destination.
Forms of Pulse Modulation
1. Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) – the pulse width is
proportional to the amplitude of the analog signals
-also know as Pulse Length Modulation (PLM)
or Pulse Duration ( PDM)
2. Pulse Position Method (PPM) – the position of a
constant width pulse within a prescribed time slot is
varied according to the amplitude of the analog signals
3. Pulse Amplitude Modulation (PAM) – The amplitude
of a constant width pulse within a prescribed time slot
is varied according to the amplitude of the analog
signals
4. Pulse Code Modulation (PCM) – The analog signal is
sampled and converted to a fixed-length, serial binary
number for transmission
PAM : used as an intermediate form of modulation with
PSK, QAM, and PCM, although it is seldom used by itself
PWM and PPM : used in special-purpose
communication systems but are seldom used for
commercial systems.
PCM : The most prevalent method of Pulse Modulation.
 - Developed by AT&T in 1937 at their Paris Flat top Sampling
Laboratories.

- Alex H. Reeves is credited for its invention

1. U1 serve as the analog input amplifier and provides a

low impedance analog signal to Sampler circuit

2. Q1 is an FET that serve as the sampler

3. Q2 provide the necessary clock pulse

4. C1 Serve as the holder circuit

SAMPLE AND HOLD

1. Natural Sampling – Sample and Hold circuit where the

tops of the sampled analog waveform retain there
natural shape

2. Flat Top Sampling – Sample and Hold circuit where the

tops of the sampled analog waveform are flattened

- The most common method used for sampling voice

signals.

* Aperture error – an error that occurs when using flat

top sampling Aperture time – the time when the Q1 is in on condition
(acquisition time)
* Aperture or acquisition time – when Q1 is on
A/D Conversion time – the holding time of the capacitor

Droop - gradual discharge across the capacitor during

the conversion time

- caused by the capacitor discharging through its

own leakage resistance and the input impedance of
voltage follower U2

Ex 1. For the sample-and-hold circuit shown in Figure 5a,

determine the largest-value capacitor that can be used.
Use an output impedance for Z1 of 10 Ω, an on resistance
for Q1 of 10 Ω, an acquisition time of 10 μs, a maximum
peak-to-peak input voltage of 10 V, a maximum output
current from Z1 of 10 mA, and an accuracy of 1%.
where C= maximum capacitance (farads)

i= maximum output current from Z1, 10 mA

dv= maximum change in voltage across C1, which equals

10 V

dt =charge time, which equals the aperture time, 10 μs