AM Transmission System

Emer Paolo Sidamon

Christian Dave Santos
How is it transmitted?
Signals are transmitted between a transmitter
over some form of transmission medium
But normally signals are not in the form that is
suitable for transmission and need to be
transformed
Impressing (applying) a low frequency
information signals onto a relatively high
frequency carrier signal

What is AM?
Amplitude Modulation

a process of changing the amplitude of a
relatively high frequency carrier signal with
the instantaneous value of the modulating
signal (information signal).

Modulator
In the modulator, the information signal
modulates the RF carrier signal to produce a
modulated waveform made up of many
frequencies. This modulated waveform also
called as AM envelope
AM Envelope
The most commonly used AM modulation
technique is the AM double- sideband full
carrier (DSBFC) scheme.
Given a signals representation as follow,
Carrier signal = Vc sin [2 fc t ]
Modulating signal = Vm sin [2 fm t ]
Modulated wave = Vam [t ]

Graph for AM envelope
AM Frequency Spectrum and
Bandwidth
Output envelop is a complex wave made up of
a DC voltage, the carrier frequency, sum
frequencies (fc + fm) and difference
frequencies (fc -fm).
The sum and difference frequencies are
displaced from carrier frequency by an
amount equal to modulating frequency
Am Frequency Spectrum and
Bandwidth
The AM spectrum ranges from fc - fm(max) to fc
+ fm(max).
Parameters :
Lower sideband (LSB) = band of frequencies
between fc - fm(max) and fc


Lower side frequency (LSF) = any frequency
within LSB
Upper sideband (USB) = band of
frequencies between fc and fc + fm(max)
Upper side frequency (USF) = any
frequencies within USB
Bandwidth : twice the highest modulating
signal frequency


Coefficient of Modulation and Percent
Modulation
Coefficient of Modulation is a term used to
describe the amount of amplitude change
presents in an AM waveform.

Percent Modulation is the coefficient of
modulation stated as a percentage.


AM Voltage Distribution
AM Power Distribution
AM Power Distribution
AM Modulator Circuit
The location in a transmitter where
modulation occurs determines whether the
circuit is a low or high-level transmitter.
With low-level modulation, the modulation
takes place, prior to the output element of the
final stage of the transmitter, in other words,
prior to the collector of the output transistor.


An advantage of low-level modulation is that
less modulating signal power is required to
achieve a high percentage of modulation.
With high-level modulation, the final
modulating signal amplifier must supply all
the sideband power, which could be as much
as 33% of the total transmit power.


In high-level modulators, the modulation
takes place in the final element of the final
stage where the carrier signal is at its
maximum amplitude and, thus, requires a
much higher amplitude modulating signal to
achieve a reasonable percent modulation.


An obvious disadvantage of low-level
modulation is in high-power applications
when all the amplifiers that follow the
modulator stage must be linear amplifiers,
which is extremely inefficient.

Low-Level AM Modulator
A small signal class A amplifier can be used to
perform amplitude modulation, however, the
amplifier must have two inputs: one for the
carrier signal and the second for the
modulating signal.



However, when a modulating signal is applied,
the amplifier operates nonlinearly and signal
multiplication occurs.
The modulating signal varies the gain of the
amplifier at a sinusoidal rate equal to the
frequency of the modulating signal.



Medium-Power AM Modulator
To achieve high power efficiency, medium-
and highpower AM modulators generally
operate class C.
Therefore, a practical efficiency of as high as
80% is possible.


Simultaneous Emitter and Collector
Modulation
Collector modulators produce a more
symmetrical envelope than low-power emitter
modulators, and collector modulators are
more power efficient.
However, collector modulators require a
higher amplitude-modulating signal, and they
cannot achieve a full saturation-to-cutoff
output voltage swing, thus, preventing 100%
modulation from occurring.



Therefore, to achieve symmetrical
modulation, operate at maximum efficiency,
develop a high output power, and require as
little modulating signal drive power as
possible, emitter and collector modulations
are sometimes used simultaneously.

High-Powered AM
It is AM modulator that uses a combination of
both emitter and collector modulations.
The modulators are not required to operate
over their entire operating curve to achieve
100% modulation.
AM Transmitters
There are TWO kinds of TRANSMITTERS:

1. Low-Level Transmitters
2. High-Level Transmitters
Low-Level Transmitters
For voice or music transmission, the source of
the modulating signal is generally an
acoustical transducer, such as a microphone, a
magnetic tape, a CD disk, or a phonograph
record.


The preamplifier is typically a sensitive, class A
linear voltage amplifier with a high input
impedance.
The function of the preamplifier is to raise the
amplitude of the source signal to a usable level
while producing minimum nonlinear distortion
and adding as little thermal noise as possible.

The driver for the modulating signal is also a
linear amplifier that simply amplifies the
information signal to an adequate level to
sufficiently drive the modulator.
More than one drive amplifier may be required.

The RF carrier oscillator can be any of the
oscillator configurations discussed previously.
Due to requirements on transmitter accuracy
and stability the crystal controlled oscillators
are the most common circuits used.

The buffer amplifier is a low-gain, high-input
impedance linear amplifier.
Its function is to isolate the oscillator from the
high-power amplifiers.
The buffer provides a relatively constant load to
the oscillator, which helps to reduce the
occurrence and magnitude of short-term
frequency variations.
Emitter followers or integrated-circuit op-amps
are often used for the buffer.

The modulator can use either emitter or
collector modulation.
The intermediate and final power amplifiers are
either linear class A or class B push-pull.
This is required with low-level transmitters to
maintain symmetry in the AM envelope.

The antenna coupling network matches the
output impedance of the final power amplifier
to the transmission line and antenna.
Low-level transmitters are used
predominantly for low-power, low-capacity
systems such as wireless intercoms, remote-
control units, pagers...
High-Level Transmitters
The modulating signal is processed in the
same manner as in the low-level transmitter
except for the addition of a power amplifier.
With high-level transmitters, the power of the
modulating signal must be considerably higher
than is necessary with low-level transmitters.


This is because the carrier is at full power at
the point in the transmitter where modulation
occurs and, consequently, requires a high-
amplitude modulating signal to produce 100%
modulation
The RF carrier oscillator, its associated buffer,
and the carrier driver are also essentially the
same circuits used in low-level transmitters.


With high-level transmitters, the modulator
circuit has three primary functions
It provides the circuitry necessary for modulation
to occur (that is, nonlinearity),
it is the final power amplifier (class C for
efficiency), and
it is a frequency up-converter.
Up-Converter
up-converter simply translates the low-
frequency intelligence signals to radio-
frequency signals that can be efficiently
radiated from an antenna and propagated
through free space.

Carrier Shift
Carrier shift may be either positive or
negative.
If the positive alternation of the modulated signal
has a larger amplitude than the negative
alternation, positive carrier shift results.
If the negative alternation is larger than the
positive, negative carrier shift occurs.


Carrier shift is an indication of the average
voltage of an AM modulated signal.
If the positive and negative halves of the
modulated signal are equal, the average voltage is
0 V.
If the positive half is larger, the average voltage is
positive, and if the negative half is larger, the
average voltage is negative.