19.

325 Project 1 – Analogue Communication Colin Arthur, 9736247

Description of Heterodyning

The process of Frequency Division Multiplexing allows us to send several different information
signals simultaneously by choosing carrier frequencies sufficiently spaced apart, allowing each
individual signal to be retrieved by filtering.
Heterodyning is the process used at the receiver that allows one of these individual carrier frequencies
to be selected, and then shifted to a pre-defined frequency that is suitable for the detector in the
receiver.
The term heterodyning means “frequency translation”, and is the process which mixes a signal
generated by a local oscillator, with that of the received RF signal. By ensuring a fixed frequency
difference between fRF and fLO the resultant “Intermediate Frequency” is held at a constant value – but
contains all of the information in it’s sidebands previously held by the RF signal’s sidebands. This
makes it possible to design a receiver that is optimised to operate at one frequency – the intermediate
frequency, and allows decoding of the information signal completely independent of the frequency the
receiver is tuned to.
In the block diagram, the heterodyning process is carried out in the “Mixer” – the output of which is
the intermediate frequency, defined by fIM=fRF- fLO. A typical value for fIM in commercial AM
broadcast receivers is 455kHz, and because when tuning the receiver the frequency of the local
oscillator is also changed, the relationship between fRF and fLO is kept constant and therefore the
intermediate frequency always remains constant.

The Motivation behind the use of the superheterodyne receiver

Before the superheterodyne receiver, simple radio receiver’s had been of the “Tuned Radio Frequency
(TRF)” type, where the required frequency is selected by the tuned circuits in the RF amplifier, and
then applied directly to the detector stage.
Problems associated with this receiver were ensuring sufficient RF gain was provided to allow a diode
detector to be used. Greater still were the problems of instability at higher frequencies caused by
several stages of amplifiers operating at non-characteristic frequencies, and the TRF’s lack of high
selectivity to reject unwanted signals.
It was therefore required to design a receiver that had it’s characteristics and circuitry optimised for
use at a single frequency – thereby ensuring stability and improving on the receiver’s selectivity and
sensitivity – the heterodyning process allows this to be implemented.

The TRF’s problems of bandwidth variation, insufficient adjacent-channel rejection and instability are
all solved by the superheterodyne receiver, all because the superhet performs all amplification and
filtering at a fixed frequency – nomatter what carrier frequency the receiver is tuned to.
Block diagram of the Superheterodyne receiver

Description of the role of each block:-

RF Amplifier Stage
From the antennae, the RF stage amplifies the carrier frequency of the incoming wave that it is tuned
to, and suppresses signals near the image and intermediate frequencies that would cause problems with
the heterodyning process if they were to enter the mixer.

Mixer (frequency changer) & Local Oscillator

The mixer carries out the heterodyning process, by mixing the wanted signal frequency fRF and the
local oscillator frequency fLO, and producing the intermediate frequency (fLO- fRF), and the image
frequency (fLO+fRF ).
The intermediate frequency is a constant value, therefore, the local oscillator must be tuneable to the
frequency of the receiver plus the intermediate frequency. To allow the local oscillator and the RF
stage to be tuned simultaneously, they are connected together by mounting on a common spindle – a
process called ganging. The preservation of the correct intermediate frequency between the local
oscillator and RF stage is called tracking.

IF Amplifier
The IF amplifier provides most of the gain and selectivity of the receiver. It consists of one or more
stages of tuned amplification that are designed and optimised to operate at the intermediate frequency
– ensuring that only the IF and the information in it’s sidebands will be able to pass through to the
detector.

Detector
The detector or demodulator recovers the original baseband signal from the IF by standard FM/AM
demodulation techniques, and passes this through the Audio Frequency Amplifier and onto the speaker
for audio transmission.
Differences between receiver designed for AM and FM

Both AM and FM receivers use the superheterodyne method, but the obvious difference between these
receivers is that an FM receiver uses an FM demodulator and requires an “amplitude limiter”
following the IF section to remove variations in the carrier amplitude caused by noise and interference
– ensuring the input to the FM demodulator is sinusoidal and of constant amplitude.
Furthermore with the FM receiver, much higher operating frequencies are used, the bandwidths of the
RF and IF stages are different from those used in AM and because of this, different intermediate
frequencies are used.

RF
The term RF stands for radio- frequency, and it is the RF stage of the receiver that couples the aerial to
the receiver and minimises the number of frequencies that could cause problems with the heterodyning
process at the mixer.
The RF itself is defined as the carrier frequency of the desired audio signal that we wish to detect, and
it is the relationship of the RF’s sidebands to it’s carrier that we wish to preserve in the IF, and
demodulate – thus providing the baseband information.

IF
The intermediate frequency is a fixed single frequency (commonly 455kHz) that the detector and IF
amplifier of the circuit are optimised to operate at. By heterodyning the RF signal to the IF frequency,
the performance of the circuit and the sensitivity of the radio are improved.
The IF is found by subtracting the RF from the local oscillator frequency.

LO
The Local Oscillator frequency is used during the heterodyning process to produce the intermediate
frequency, and is kept at a fixed value relative to the RF input frequency – commonly 455kHz higher
than the RF. By gang-tuning the RF stage and the IF stage, the relationship remains constant hence the
intermediate frequency remains constant, nomatter what audio frequency we wish to listen to.

Image Frequency
The image frequency is a disadvantageous by-product of the heterodyning process, which makes the
receiver susceptible to frequencies transmitted at twice the intermediate frequency either above or
below the actual RF frequency (depending on whether the local oscillator tracks above or below the
tuned RF signal). If tuning to 5975kHz and the IF is 455kHz, images of the station would appear at
either 5065kHz or 6885kHz. If there so happens to be stations transmitting on either of these
frequencies, audio information from this frequency and the RF frequency will leave the mixer stage
and enter the detector – leading to a high pitched squealing effect as both these signals are
demodulated.

Range of Commercial Frequencies in the UK

In the UK, the range of MW/AM signals used for broadcasting is approximately between 530-
1611kHz. This frequency range is affected by the standardised value chosen for IF, commonly set to
455kHz. Example MW radio stations that could be used to test the radio receiver built during the
experiment are
Radio 5 Live 909 kHz
Virgin Radio 1215 kHz
Aims of experiment:-
From my research into this topic, I believe that the fundamental issues associated with the superheterodyne
receiver are entirely focussed on the heterodyning process itself and ensuring that the output from the mixer
stage will allow an accurate representation of the baseband information to be detected by the demodulator. A
superheterodyne receiver can make use of relatively standard circuitry in both the IF amplifier and detector
stages, simply because they only need to operate at one frequency. Therefore during the experiment I feel that
analysis should centre around the heterodyning process – with specific regard to the choice of the intermediate
frequency, and methods to prevent the image frequency causing excessive interference.

Objectives that I feel should be investigated during the laboratory experiment:-

• What frequencies are screened by the RF stage of the receiver?
• What methods can be employed to ensure the image frequency does not cause excessive interference?
• Why is the value of the intermediate frequency taken to be 455kHz in most commercial receivers?
• How does the bandwidth of the original RF signal affect that of the intermediate frequency?
• What can be done to ensure the tracking (difference between f LO and f RF) is maintained?
References:-
Electric Communications Systems, Frank R. Dungan ISBN: 0-534-07698-X
Radio Systems for Technicians, 2 nd Edition, D C Green ISBN: 0-582-24516-8
Introduction to Communications Systems 3 rd edition, Ferrel G Stremler

Web:Radio Receiver design basics for the electronic hobbyist, http://www.iebusiness.com/~purdic/am_rec.htm

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