ECSE 308, Fall 2018

Introduction to Communication Systems and Networks

Laboratory L2

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McGill University
Montreal, Canada
Introduction:
Lab 2 was centered on observing analog signals. The objective of this lab is to understand the
basic principles of amplitude modulation (AM) and demodulation (Part 1), as well as frequency
modulation (FM) and demodulation (Part 2). We were tasked with constructing different systems
using MATLAB’s Simulink to simulate signals and observe their behavior.

Part 1: Amplitude Modulation (AM)

Question 1:

Figure 1: Source Scope

 Figure 2: Source Spectrum

Figure 3: Receiver Scope

Figure 4: Receiver Spectrum

The figures above show that the receiver is not getting any useful information (only noise). The
cause of this problem could be the filter removed all the relevant frequencies of the signal. One
possible solution would be creating an intermediate signal through modulation (frequency
shifting) since the frequency of the input signal might be too low to pass the filter.
Question 2:

Figure 5: Source Scope

Figure 6: Mod Scope

Double-sideband suppressed-carrier (DSB-SC) modulation is an amplitude modulation which

has two symmetrical sidebands and no carrier band. Their carrier does not carry any information
and only sidebands contains useful information. Therefore, this type of modulation saves power
for signal transmission. The saved power can be inserted into the two sidebands, guaranteeing a
stronger signal over long distance transmission. However, the baseband signal will not get
affected during the transmission.
 Equation 1: DSB-SC

Figure 7: Block Diagram of the DSB-SC

Question 3:

Figure 8: Source Spectrum

 Figure 9: Mod Spectrum

As shown in figure 8 the original signal has three peaks of positive frequency (fundamental, 2nd
and 3rd harmonics) and after the DSB-SC modulation, their peaks have been doubled to six and
the frequency of the original spectrum has been shifted to a much higher frequency as well,
symmetrically located above and below the carrier frequency. The bandwidth of the DSB signal
is two times larger than the bandwidth of the original signal, since the new modulated signal is
completely on the positive side of the frequency axis, whereas half of the original signal
spectrum is situated in the negative side of the frequency axis.

Question 4:

Figure 10: Source Spectrum

 Figure 11: Receiver Spectrum

By comparing the source spectrum (figure 10) and the receiver spectrum (Figure 11), we can
dedeuce that the bandwidth of the signal has been doubled and the central frequency has been
shifted to a lever (15kHz). However, there is noise in the received signal. In order to filter out the
noise without distorting the desired signal, we need to know the desired signal’s bandwidth. The
lower passband and the upper passband of the filter should match with the frequency of the
lowest and highest components of the modulated signal.

Question 5:

Figure 12: Demod Scope

As shown in figure 12, the demodulated signal (blue line with slight inconsistencies) almost
matches the original signal with a little deformation. DSB-SC demodulation requires the
incoming DSB-SC signal to be multiplied by a pure sinewave that must be the same frequency as
the DSB-SC signal’s suppressed carrier. This sine wave is known as local carrier. DSB-SC
demodulation also required synchronous detection, so that the modulated wave is multiplied with
the carrier frequency which is exactly the same frequency and phase as the transmission carrier
wave.

Figure 13: DSB-SC Demodulator Block Diagram

Question 6:

Figure 14: Demod Scope: increasing the frequency of the Demod sine wave by 1%
As shown in Figure 14, after changing the frequency of the demodulation sine wave by 1%, the
result signal (blue) is no longer matching up with the original signal. Therefore, we are losing the
signal.

Question 7:

Figure 15: Demod Scope: increasing the phase of the Demod sine wave by 1%

Similar to the result from Question 6, increasing the phase of the demodulation sine wave by 1%
has a significant impact on the result signal. The output signal (blue) is no longer matching up
with the original signal. Therefore, we are losing the signal.

Question 8:
The biggest problem of DSB is the synchronization of the signals. Reconstructing the
suppressed carrier requires very precise frequency and phase synchronization. Therefore, it is
difficult to recover information at the receiver. Secondly, DSB contains unnecessary components
because each sideband has the complete spectrum of the original signal (extra power use for
irrelevant material). One possible way to overcome the extra power use would be to instead use
single-sideband. SSB requires only half the bandwidth by sending only one of the sidebands and
eliminates the other sideband and the carrier. This means it also requires less power.
As for the synchronization issue, one way of solving this is to not supress the carrier
frequency since it could be used to synchronize the transmitter and receiver. Having a constant
carrier would allow the transmitter to find the starting point more easily. FM is easier to
synchronize but requires more bandwidth than AM due to it being non-linear.
Question 9:

Figure 16: Source Scope

Figure 17: Mod Scope

Amplitude modulation is a technique used in electronic communication. It is the simplest form of
signal modulation. In AM the amplitude of the carrier wave is varied in proportion to that of the
message signal being transmitted. If m(t) denotes an analog information signal with bandwidth B
and maximum amplitude of |m(t)| < 1. The amplitude modulation of m(t) onto a harmonic carrier
waveform can be expressed as:
�(�)=�[1+���(�)] cos(2𝜋���)
Where A is the carrier amplitude, fc is the carrier frequency and na is the modulation index. The 1
being added to the input signal nam(t) is a dc component that shifts the signal up to prevent loss
of information.

Question 10:

Figure 18: Source Spectrum

Figure 19: Mod Spectrum

Compared to the spectrum of the source signal (Figure 18), the frequency component of the
modulation signal has a much higher central frequency then the original signal. Moreover, the
spectrum of the modulated signal has a bandwidth equal to twice the bandwidth of the baseband
signal. We can clearly see that the carrier appears as a peak in the spectrum of the modulated
signal (at 15kHz).
Question 11:

Figure 20: Demod Scope

AM demodulation uses an envelope detector which takes the peak voltage of a high frequency
amplitude modulated signal (illustrated by the orange line in figure 17) to reconstruct the original
signal. The desired signal is the outer bound of the envelope (modulation of original signal with
carrier signal). In order to only capture the positive amplitude, the demodulation portion of our
system first squares the signal before going into the analog receiver. The signal is then square
rooted and the previously added DC amplitude (used for avoiding information loss for
mod/demod) is removed.
Question 12:

Figure 21: Input signal & Demodulated signal: Changing the value of the constant from 1 to 5
 Figure 22: Input signal & Demodulated signal: Changing the value of the constant from 1 to 0.1

We changed the DC bias constant and observed the output of our demodulated signal
accordingly. Initially we increased the constant to 5. As the scope comparison shows (figure 21),
the demodulation of the original signal was successful with only a slight expected phase shift.
We then lowered the constant to 0.1. Figure 22 demonstrates the error that occurs if the DC offset
is not set high enough to make the signal positive before modulation. The negative information is
lost. Thus, in order to successfully demodulate a signal, the DC constant must be larger than the
amplitude of the original signal (to bring that signal into the positive domain).

Question 13:
DSB-SC is advantageous over DSB-LC when it comes to power efficiency. Since the carrier
frequency is being supressed, power is no longer wasted to transmit the carrier. Unfortunately,
not having a carrier makes synchronization at the receiver end much more complicated.
Advanced circuitry would be required at the receiver end to determine and maintain phase
synchronization. Also, the demodulation of the signal would be worthless with even very minor
differences in phase between transmitter and receiver. Instead, DSB-LC uses the carrier
frequency to simplify synchronization on the receiver side. The envelope of the AM signal must
be DC biased to be fully positive. This makes the demodulation of the signal dramatically
simpler. DSB-LC is more reliable and less costly to implement, but the extra power needed to
transmit the large carrier is wasted and does not offer value to the signal itself.
Part 2: Frequency Modulation (FM)

Question 14:

The principle of Frequency Modulation is that the amplitude of the original signal can be
represented by varying the frequency of the carrier. In our frequency modulation, the original
analog signal has a frequency of 4 Hz and amplitude 1. This baseband signal is then integrated
with respect to time before being modulated with a carrier sinusoid. The FM modulator has a
frequency deviation of 50 Hz, which deviates depending on the baseband signal.

The equation above represents the calculations involved when modulating the frequency. fc is the
carrier frequency, which is then increased in the modulated signal with respect to the original
signal amplitude at a given time. When demodulating the signal, one must know the frequency
deviation of the original modulator in order to properly extract the original signal accurately. The
bandwidth of an FM system is realized as BT=2(Δf+fm), where Δf is the deviation in carrier
frequency and fm is the modulating frequency.

Question 15:
 Figure 23: Mod Scope

The FM signal is related to the modulated signal in the time domain with respect to a change in
frequency. As figure 23 depicts, the frequency of the modulated signal increases as the amplitude
of the baseband signal increases. This then represents the original signal with time-varying
frequency.

Question 16:
Figure 24: Sum of two sine waves FM modulated signal

Figure 25: 4Hz sine wave FM modulated signal

 Figure 26: 8Hz sine wave FM modulated signal

After summing the two sine waves (4 Hz and 8 Hz), the amplitude of the modulating signal
increased while the period was left unchanged. The FM signal shown in figure 24 has a varying
frequency based on the summed modulating signal’s amplitude. There does not appear to be any
correlation between the FM signal of figure 24 and those of figures 25 and 26. This may be
because FM signals are non-linear and will produce a wide range of frequencies based on the
deviation frequency. Meanwhile AM signals are linear and generally require less bandwidth.
Question 17:
Vary modulating frequency (Amplitude: 1):
Transmit Power: 27.386 dBm

Figure 27: Mod Spectrum with Modulating Frequency of 50 Hz

Transmit Power: 27.218 dBm

Figure 28: Mod Spectrum with Modulating Frequency of 100 Hz

Transmit Power: 26.988 dBm

Figure 29: Mod Spectrum with Modulating Frequency of 300 Hz

Increasing the carrier modulating frequency appears to slightly decrease the transmit power of
the system, but this may be due to averaging.

Vary amplitude of the sine wave (Modulating Frequency: 50 Hz):

Transmit Power: 27.020 dBm
 Figure 30: Mod Spectrum with sine wave amplitude of 5

Transmit Power: 26.968 dBm

Figure 31: Mod Spectrum with sine wave amplitude of 7

Vary both modulation frequency and amplitude of the sine wave

Transmit Power: 27.218 dBm

Figure 32: Mod Spectrum with modulation frequency of 20Hz and sine wave amplitude of 5

Explain how the transmit power changes accordingly and why.

After varying both the modulation frequency and wave amplitude, we observed the modulated
spectrums to see how the transmitting power was changed. We noticed a negligible change in
channel power due to increasing carrier frequency or increasing the amplitude. Increasing the
amplitude or deviation frequency does widen the bandwidth of the spectrum significantly, but
transmit power stays rather constant at about 27 dBm.

Question 18: Comment on the differences between an FM signal and an AM

signal in terms of transmit power in relation to the modulating signal.

In an FM signal the transmit power appears to not

Question 19:
 Figure 33: Result Scope

Figure 33 compares the modulated signals of two sine waves added before and after baseband
modulation. When adding the sine waves before modulation, the fm signal’s amplitude increases
which is then reflected in the modulating signal. Alternatively, when adding the modulating
signals of each sine wave the amplitude remains constant. The resulting scope(mod) shows that
FM modulation is a non-linear process because of the differential deviation of the carrier
frequency. Amplitude modulation on the other hand is a linear process which produces
frequencies that are the sum and difference of carrier signal components.