A METHOD OF OBTAINING LINEAR FREQUENCY DEVIATION IN A WIDE-BAND FREQUENCY-MODULATION SYSTEM* By Z. K. MASS, Dipl. Ing.

f
(The paper was first received 22nd January, and in revised form 2\st March, iy47.)

SUMMARY This report describes u method of obtaining linear frequency deviation in a wide-band frequency-modulation system. The primary cause of harmonic distortion in a frequency-modulation system is the non-linenrity of the slope of the reactance valve. A method is described of linearizing this slope, and thereby obtaining very good linearity of the frequency modulation. The harmonic distortion is of the order of 60 db below the fundamental. This report also describes a method of checking high-fidelity frequency modulation. (1) CAUSES OF NON-LINEARITY IN F.M. SYSTEMS The non-linearity of the frequency deviation occurring in oscillators controlled by any conventional reactance valve, is due primarily to the non-linearity of the slope, gtn, of the reactance valve. The linearity of the deviation is also a function of the deviation ratio, so that it would be impossible to obtain the required linearity with a deviation of 100 kc/s on 300 kc/s by direct means. Oscillator

The factor 0-5A represents the linear deviation Aco, and the factors containing higher powers of A represent the distortion. The frequency deviation is : 0-5/()A, therefore the total admissible deviation A/is equal to f{)k, where 2^ o>{). (b) When the reactance valve represents an inductance /.,.:
1
L L c

or

/G/\)

I0/Lr)

Where Here again the quantity LQ/l.r is very much less than unity, and may be called k. (2) LINEARIZATION OF THE SLOPE OF A REACTANCE VALVE Assuming that the grid voltage VgU applied to a valve is given by the function V Xt - e0 r c'i sin cot, the slope gm of the valve may be defined in two ways: (a) When the grid excitation ex is infinitesimal, then
g

,.__*>..
dv s\t

This may be defined as the differential slope (gj^). (b) When the grid excitation el is large, the plate current /(;/ may be expressed in the form of a Fourier series: Iat r - 70 -!- /, sin (cot h sin {2cot i/ s i n (mot ; </>w)

Where <f>y, cf)2, etc., represent successive phase angles. The ratio Il/el may be defined as the incremental slope (g incr.) A reactor valve connected across an oscillating circuit L0C0, at the working point defined by e0, and in all practical applicaas shown in Fig. 1, may represent either an inductance Lr, or a tions it is this incremental slope with which we are concerned. capacitance Cr, depending upon the phase-shift network. A method of correcting the incremental slope of a valve is (a) When the reactance valve represents a capacitance Cr: shown in Figs. 2 and 3. An r.f. voltage [e in Fig. 2(6) of constant and small amplitude, i.e. small in comparison with the cut-off 1 1 to 0 bias] is fed to the control grid, Gj, of the valve, the slope of W '" V f t Q ^ g ) ' V[L0C0(l i CrIC0)] " V which is to be corrected. The modulating voltage, Vm, is also fed into the same grid; this voltage sweeps the whole gm characteristic and thus alters periodically the working point of the The quantity Cr/C0 will be called k, this quantity being very valve as shown in Fig. 2(). Under these conditions, the r.f. component, frr of the plate small compared with unity., current appearing in the anode circuit is strictly proportional to coQ which may be expanded the instantaneous slope gr We have therefore co + Two distinct conditions may be considered. into a power series as follows: (a) If the r.f. current is rectified and gm is proportional to the \){n 2) modulating voltage over the range of the valve characteristic covered by the latter, then the envelope of the rectified current 273" will represent the undistorted modulating voltage and no Putting n equal to - we h a v e : > correction would result, or would be necessary. O-5AH-O-375A:2 .) co o>0(l (b) If gm does not vary proportionately to the modulating voltage, then the envelope of the rectified current will represent Radio Section paper. t British Telecommunications Research, Ltd.; formerly with Signals Research and a distorted modulating voltage. Development Establishment. [497]

w ee hr

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MASS: A M E T H O D O F OBTAINING LINEAR F R E Q U E N C Y DEVIATION IN

1 2
'S *in

kuuUllt f
^

emvbj: rt

10

u
ibi L

Fte

V!h eyrie

- v

db

HI

voltage

i H.F. choke
cycle

0 0

y rA A
20

A A</ * V (A
15 60 20 80 100

40

10

25

30B 120 A

Fig. 4.Slope characteristic of CV173 valve.

(a) (b) Fig. 2 . Correction of incremental slope (1).

order by making A(C inpuO/C, sufficiently small. The factor A(C input)/C! in a reactor valve will have a detrimental influence on the linearity of the frequency deviation. A suitable value for C, is usually 100-200 JU/ZF.
Low-pass filter

EM. oscillator

H.F linear amplifier

Linear rectifier

Linear L.F. amplifier

(3) LINEARIZATION OF FREQUENCY DEVIATION Referring to Fig. 3, linearization of the frequency deviation of an oscillator by a reactance valve may be achieved by using a separate (auxiliary) oscillator of a frequency of about 60 to 100 Mc/s. An alternative circuit using the h.f. oscillations from the f.m. oscillator itself for linearization purposes is shown in Fig. 5.

Phase-shiftcorrecting | network

i^. 3.--Correction of incremental slope (2). A voltage is therefore obtained which represents the distortion of the modulating voltage due to the variation in gm not being proportional to the modulating voltage, and this can be fed back into the grid circuit in anti-phase, thus reducing the harmonic distortion due to non-linearity of the slope characteristic in accordance with negative feedback theory. This method of correcting the incremental slope of the reactor valve in f.m. application gives very low total harmonic distortion: the second and third harmonics may be reduced to 60 db below the fundamental level. Referring to Fig. 4 curve B shows how the slope gm of a ("VI73 valve varies with the modulating voltage on the grid, while curve A shows the slope characteristic when corrected in the manner described above. Referring again to Figs. 2 and 3, the condenser Cl should offer sufficient by-pass for the high frequency exciting voltage e, but at the same time should be small enough to avoid short circuiting the low-frequency voltage Vm. Condenser Q , in conjunction with the input condenser (C input ) forms a voltage divider, thus reducing the effective highfrequency excitation. When the modulating voltage Vm is applied, the input capacitance varies (space-charge variation) thus giving additional cross modulation of the exciting voltage, e, by the voltage Vm. This effect may be reduced to a negligible

Fig. 5.Linearization of frequency deviation. This is superior to the two-valve circuit but requires more care in the design. The r.f. current of the reactance valve is taken through the cathode coil Lx and the minute voltage appearing across this coil, due to In, is coupled to coil L2 and finally amplified in a linear r.f. amplifier (as shown in Fig. 3), having sufficient bandwidth to make ample allowance for frequency modulation. The amplified voltage is then rectified by a linear rectifier (a diode working at high level), the output, after filtering, being again amplified in a linear a.f. amplifier which reverses, at the same time, the phase of the rectified voltage. An additional phase shift network inserted in the negative feedback loop restores the original phase relations.

A WIDE-BAND FREQUENCY-MODULATION SYSTEM

J

499

(3.1) Precautions Necessary for Correct Operation of Circuit shown in Fig. 5 kc/s (a) The total impedance of the coil 1^ (working as the primary 10200 of a loaded transformer) should be very small in comparison with the reactance represented by the reactance valve, otherwise the frequency characteristics will be affected. 10100 cv 173 (/?) The amplitude modulation, due to the varying load represented by the reactance valve, should be eliminated. Fig. 6 o Vdl\ el shows the current and voltage vectors in their respective positions. 10000 + 3 The loading current / 3 flowing through the internal resistance of the reactance valve may be compensated by the component //, in opposite phase. If this component is too small, still better 9900 compensation can be obtained by means of the condenser C3 passing an additional (out of phase) component, thus obtaining 9800 nearly perfect elimination of the amplitude modulation. 3 4 5 6 7 8 S 10 (c) Tn addition to the useful current Irt in coil L lt another y current I2 flows through the same coil, due to the fact that this Fig. 7.Frequency deviation with different samples of CV173 valve. coil lies in the path of the r.f. phase-shift network. This unwanted current must therefore be compensated by a current Tx (3.3) Practical Applications (controlled by the adjustable resistor R2, Fig. 5). The ideas and principles described in this paper were applied When <he above conditions are satisfied, the voltage U (Fig. 5) will be negligible when the reactance valve is shut, and the in the design of the new 1 4 modulator for the Army Set opening of the reactance valve will cause the voltage U to rise No. 10 (see Fig. 8). proportionately to the instantaneous slope.

Sender

R.F. receiver

13

Sender pulger 300100-kc/s amplifier

Amplifier and f>licer

14

Receiver pulger Low-paf>5 filter TOkc/p Output amplifier 300-16000 c/s Line amplifier 300-16000 C/S

15

8
lOMc/s 4
OJSC.

+
Mixer

16

rt

3 10301-Mc/5 oscillator
1

17 Out

35Mc/js

osc.

I
10

t Reactor

In

Fig. 6. Vectors in linearizing circuit. (3.2) Practical Details and Results Practical details of the circuit shown in Figs. 3 and 5 are as follows: Reactance valveCV173 R.F. amplifierOne CV173 with highly damped input and output circuits. Diode rectifierConventional A.F. amplifier One 6V6 cathode follower. Fig. 7 shows the frequency deviation obtained with this circuit using three different samples of CV173 (top, middle and bottom).* The graphs demonstrate the smallness of the frequency shift caused by changing the reactance valve. Once the circuit has been properly set up, it does not require any additional trimming, and the neutralization is not affected by changing the reactance valve. Trimming of the r.f. amplifier and setting of the neutralization can be observed on a meter reading the diode current.
The d.c. component in the negative-feedback loop is preserved.

35-MC/S amplifier

+
t

>
Audio amplifier 300- loOOOC/S

11 Diode rectifier

XI

Fig. 8.Block schematic of 1 4 modulator. As the modulator had to be suitable for working in conjunction with the same sender as the Signalling Equipment No. 10, it was necessary to use pulse modulation with about the same duty factor, i.e. about 0-5, and in order to obtain the high degree of linearity required, it was decided to use pulse frequency modulation. A block diagram of the modulator is given in Fig. 8. The input from the 1 + 4 line (4-wire system) is amplified in the line amplifier 1, and passed to the reactor 2, which controls the frequency of the 10-3-Mc/s oscillator 3. The output from this oscillator, and the output from a fixed 10-Mc/s oscillator 8, are fed to the mixer 4.

500

HASS: A METHOD OF OBTAINING LINEAR FREQUENCY DEVIATION IN

The output of the mixer, 300 kc/s modulated 100 kc/s, is passed through the video amplifier 5 to the counting circuit 6. This produces pulses of fixed width at a recurrence frequency of 300 kc/s modulated t 100 kc/s by the input from the line, and these are used to modulate the sender 7. The video output from the receiver 13 is passed through the video amplifier and slicer 14, the receiver pulser 15, the lowpass filter 16, and output amplifier 17 to the 1 ~|- 4 line. The above is a description of the fundamental principles of the modulator, but in order to obtain the required low level of harmonic distortion it was necessary to develop a suitable counting circuit and a means of obtaining linear frequency deviation. , (3.4) Characteristics and Applications of the Circuit The circuit described above for obtaining linear frequency modulation possesses all the features of a negative-feedback amplifier, and has the following desirable characteristics: (a) Very good linearity with a large frequency deviation (e.g. I 200 kc/s deviation in a 10-Mc/s oscillator). (b) Frequency deviation and centre frequency are independent of valve characteristics, thus allowing complete interchangeability of reactance valves. (c) Reduction of hum to a greater extent than in a balanced reactor. The system also gives, as a by-product, very linear amplitude modulation. This amplitude modulation is obtained by driving the grid of the valve by a constant r.f. voltage and varying the grid bias in the usual manner with the modulating voltage. When the slope of the valve is corrected by the method described, the r.f. component appearing in the anode circuit is linearly amplitude modulated. (4) LINEAR COUNTING CIRCUIT The linearity of the frequency deviation obtained may be checked by means of the counting circuit, giving a d.c. output proportional to the frequency. The conventional type of pulse counting circuit, comprising a pulse lengthener relying on a time-constant (CR), is sufficiently linear with frequency when the mark/space ratio (duty factor) is small. In the case now under discussion, the duty factor was about 0-5, and the counting circuit which was developed, and is described below, conserves very good linearity even to the point when the lengthened pulses are almost touching each other. The counting circuit chain is shown in Fig. 9 and consists of three distinct circuits: (i) Pulser. (ii) Artiiicial delay line, (iii) Triggered pulse lengthener. The principle of this counting circuit is as follows. An alternating voltage of a given frequency f0, and of arbitrary shape It cf)(t), (sine wave, distorted sine-wave or pulses) transformed in the pulser circuit A [Fig. 9(a)] into a train of very narrow pulses having a frequency fx. The two frequencies fQ and/j are correlated: J\
m

Fig. 9.Counting circuit. lengthened pulses are very well defined (constant length and very good shape), so that a d.c. component can be obtained from the lengthening circuit which is strictly proportional to the frequency f0. The circuit therefore gives very good linearity when used as a discriminator for f.m. signals. Other possible applications of the circuit are for frequency meters, or for generating square pulses of constant width in pulse communication systems. (5) HARMONIC DISTORTION IN COUNTING CIRCUITS USED AS DEMODULATORS FOR F.M. SYSTEMS A train of f.m. pulses of constant width possesses a strong audio component, and if such a train of pulses is passed through a condenser into a limiting amplifier, the variation of the audio component with frequency, due to insufficient by-pass, causes an appreciable change of the pulse shape. This change of shape produces, after amplification, serious harmonic distortion. When condenser feed is used, the linearity of the counting circuit depends greatly on the value of the capacitors, the value required depending upon the number of limiting amplifier stages connected in cascade. At low modulating frequencies the size of the condensers becomes prohibitive, and it is therefore preisferable not to use condenser feed, but to preserve the d.c. component throughout the whole equipment. In a limiting amplifier, the problem of linearity is still more complicated by the variation of grid and screen potentials, as these are often derived from high resistance potentiometers. To illustrate the effect of the condenser feed, let us calculate the plate d.c. component (Idc in Fig. 11) in a limiting amplifier, as a function of the recurrence frequency frec; this calculation will also be valid for very low modulating frequencies /. For further simplification, let us consider a linear anode-bend detector, biassed just to cut-off. Positively-going pulses applied to the grid through a condenser will reproduce similarly shaped (but negatively-going) pijlses in the anode circuit of the detector. The voltage applied to the grid is measured in respect to the zero line. If we assume that the d.c. component is stopped by the con-

./<) where /;/ and n are integers

An artificial delay line B is connected across the output terminals of the pulser, thus echoing the narrow pulses. As a result of the action of A and B, the original train of narrow pulses is followed by a similar train of pulses, slightly delayed in time. Fig. 9(Z>) shows the voltages across terminals 1 and 2, 3 and 4, and 7 and 8. The two trains of narrow pulses trigger the lengthening circuit C, shown in Fig. 10. As a result of this trigger action, the

A WIDE-BAND FREQUENCY-MODULATION SYSTEM

501

All valves EF50 G2andG3;S omitted on drg.

Ui
Fig. 10.Circuit diagram and waveforms of the counting circuit. denser feed, so that Sa Sb in Fig. 11, the parameter Z may be calculated from the equations

and
from which

H //(L

' ' S)

Now i/r - / , .
Eliminating Z from the expression for Sa, we have, when H equals unity: Sa - (L - 5) - KL - % c > + S(L - SW&. When the pulses are not sliced, i.e. when there is no top limitation, H -- Z <; P, H --= 1, S and P are fractional, the d.c. component.
T (L (1)

When the pulses are sliced at the level P, so that H the cross-hatched area Sc is given by
S.. and LP

Z > P, Fig. 11.-Distortion in counting circuit.

2SP(L

S)
S)f?ec, (2)

When the pulse shape approaches a rectangle, S approaches zero and equations (1) and (2) can be reduced to
*dc ' *-Jre ^ Jrcc.

(3) (4)
2

and

'dc

LPfrec.

Equation (3) contains a non-linear factor L frlc, whereas equation (4) does not, so that slicing of the pulses is imperative to obtain good linearity. The non-linear factor, 2SP(L S)f?vc in equation (2) may be greatly reduced by making L much greater than S, or by choosing a low working frequency frec By preserving the d.c. component, perfect linearity may be achieved for all modulating frequencies.

(6) REFORMING THE PULSES ON THE RECEIVER SIDE It is known that in pulse frequency modulation a substantial increase of signal/noise ratio can be effected by reforming the pulses on the receiver side. When this is done, the input to the counting circuit will consist of pulses of constant width and height, and the random variation of pulse width caused by noise will be avoided. Reforming the pulses in this manner also greatly reduces the crosstalk (caused by overlapping of the pulses) in carrier-telephony applications. This is due to the fact that the counting circuit, described previously, is not affected by the shape of the counted pulses, and therefore its indications are only a function of the frequency of the pulses. As an example, the addition of the pulse reforming circuit to the Wireless Set No. 10 when used with the 1 + 4 modulator provides an average gain in signal to noise ratio and signal to crosstalk ratio of about 30 db.

502 HASS: METHOD OF OBTAINING LINEAR FREQUENCY DEVIATION IN WIDEBAND FREQUENCY-MODULATION SYSTEM (7) PERFORMANCE OF THE COMPLETE MODULATOR Measurements of harmonic distortion have been carried out with a complete modulator, details of which were as follows: (a) Frequency modulating and linearizing circuit as shown in Fig. 8. Main oscillators100 Mc/s and 10-3 Mc/s. Auxiliary oscillatorapproximately 35 Mc/s. Frequency deviation lOOkc/s. (/>) Counting circuit as shown in Fig. 9. Main recurrence frequency300 kc/s. Recurrence frequency deviation : 100 kc/s. Pulse length1 6 microseconds. (<) D.C. component preserved, and pulses sliced (limited). The best results obtained with this circuit were as follows: Second harmonic55 db below the fundamental. Third harmonic 60 db below the fundamental. High-order harmonicsgreater than 80 db below the fundamental. The figures quoted in (c) above apply to both the 1 H- 4 modulator itself and to the overall performance of the whole link (i.e. including the radio circuits and pulse-reforming circuits). Direct measurements of crosstalk were also carried out with the modulator used in conjunction with the A.C.T. 1 + 4 line equipment, and this was found to be 65 db down on any of the carrier channels when the other channels were modulated by speech. This result is comparable with the crosstalk introduced by the A.C.T. 1 -f 4 equipment itself. (8) ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Acknowledgments are due to the Chief Scientist, the Ministry of Supply, for permission to publish the paper, and to Messrs. W. Palmer, E. Coop and V. A. G. Brown for considerable help in its preparation.