Formatting & Baseband

Modulation
Chapter No.2
(Digital Communications Fundamentals
and Applications By Bernard Sklar)

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INTRODUCTION TO DIGITAL COMMUNICATION

A digital signal is a physical signal that is a
representation of a sequence of discrete values (a
quantified discrete-time signal).
The term digital signal can refer to
a continuous-time waveform signal used in any form of digital
communication.
a pulse train signal that switches between a discrete number
of voltage levels or levels of light intensity, also known as a a
line coded signal, for example a signal found in digital
electronics or in serial communications using digital baseband
transmission in, or a pulse code modulation (PCM)
representation of a digitized analog signal.
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Baseband Vs Broadband signals

In a baseband transmission, the entire bandwidth of the cable is
consumed by a single signal. In broadband transmission, signals
are sent on multiple frequencies, allowing multiple signals to be
sent simultaneously.
Baseband Signalling:

Broadband Signalling:

1)Uses digital signalling

1)Uses analog signalling

2)No frequency-division multiplexing

2) Frequency-division multiplexing is
possible

3)Bi-directional transmission

3) Unidirectional transmission

4)Signal travels over short distances

4)Signal can travel over long distances

before being attenuated

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Baseband transmission using a dedicated medium

Baseband transmission of a digital signal

that preserves the shape of the digital
signal is possible only if we have a lowpass channel with an infinite or very wide
bandwidth.
3.8

Example
An example of a dedicated channel where the entire
bandwidth of the medium is used as one single channel is a
LAN. Almost every wired LAN today uses a dedicated
channel for two stations communicating with each other. In a
bus topology LAN with multipoint connections, only two
stations can communicate with each other at each moment in
time (timesharing); the other stations need to refrain from
sending data. In a star topology LAN, the entire channel
between each station and the hub is used for communication
between these two entities.
In baseband transmission, the required bandwidth is proportional
to the bit rate;
if we need to send bits faster, we need more bandwidth.
3.9

Bandwidth of a bandpass channel

If the available channel is a bandpass channel, we cannot send

the digital signal directly to the channel;
we need to convert the digital signal to an analog signal before
transmission.
i.e. We do MODULATION
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Modulation of a digital signal for transmission on a bandpass

channel

3.11

Examples
1. An example of broadband transmission using modulation is the sending of
computer data through a telephone subscriber line, the line connecting a
resident to the central telephone office. These lines are designed to carry
voice with a limited bandwidth. The channel is considered a bandpass
channel. We convert the digital signal from the computer to an analog
signal, and send the analog signal. We can install two converters to change
the digital signal to analog and vice versa at the receiving end. The
converter, in this case, is called a modem

2. A second example is the digital cellular telephone. For better reception,

digital cellular phones convert the analog voice signal to a digital signal .
Although the bandwidth allocated to a company providing digital cellular
phone service is very wide, we still cannot send the digital signal without
conversion. The reason is that we only have a bandpass channel
available between caller and callee. We need to convert the digitized
voice to a composite analog signal before sending.
3.12

Formatting and transmission of baseband signal

Digital info.
Format

Textual
source info.
Analog
info.

Sample

Quantize

Pulse
modulate

Encode

Bit stream

Format
Analog
info.

sink

Low-pass
filter

Textual
info.

Decode

Transmit

Pulse
waveforms

Channel

Demodulate/
Detect

Receive

Digital info.

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Format analog signals

To transform an analog waveform into a form that is compatible

with a digital communication, the following steps are taken:
1. Sampling

This is the conversion of analog continuous time signal into discrete time
signal by taking the samples of the signal at discrete time intervals

2. Quantization and encoding

Conversion of a discrete time continuous valued signal into discrete

valued discrete time (digital) signal. The value of each signal sample by a
value selected from a finite set of possible values
The difference between unquantized and quantized sample is known as
quantization error
Each discrete sample is represented by a b-bit binary sequence

3. Baseband transmission

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Conversion of binary sequence into digital waveform

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Figure 4.22 Three different sampling methods for PCM

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Impulse Sampling & Natural Sampling

Impulse Sampling
Also known as Ideal Sampling
A band limited signal xd(t) is multiplied with periodic train
of unit impulse function x(t), to get the sampled version
xs(t).

Natural Sampling
In natural sampling a band limited signal x(t) is multiplied
by the pulse train or switching waveform xp(t) which has
width T and amplitude 1/T
It can b viewed as opening and closing of a switch
Top of each sampled pulse xp(t)of maintains the original
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Sample and Hold Operations/ flat-top Sampling

A very common, and easily implemented method of sampling of an analog
signal uses the sample-and-hold operation. This produces flat top samples.

In electronics, a sample and hold ('S/H, also "follow-and-hold") circuit is

an analog device that samples (captures, grabs) the voltage of a continuously
varying analog signal and holds (locks, freezes) its value at a constant level
for a specified minimal period of time.

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Sampling
Time domain

xs (t) x (t) x(t)

x(t )

x (t )

xs (t )

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Frequency domain

Xs ( f ) X ( f ) X ( f )
| X( f )|

| X ( f ) |

| Xs( f ) |

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Aliasing
In signal processing and related disciplines, aliasing refers to
an effect that causes different signals to become
indistinguishable (or aliases of one another) when sampled. It
also refers to the distortion or artifact that results when the
signal reconstructed from samples is different from the original
continuous signal.
OR

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Aliasing
When a digital image is viewed, a reconstruction is
performed by a display or printer device, and by the
eyes and the brain. If the image data is not properly
processed during sampling or reconstruction, the
reconstructed image will differ from the original image,
and an alias is seen.

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Aliasing effect

Aliased spectral components represents the ambiguous

data that appears in frequency band (fs-fm) and fm

LP filter

Nyquist rate
aliasing

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fs-fm and fm

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Sampling theorem
Analog
signal

Sampling
process

Pulse amplitude
modulated (PAM) signal

Sampling theorem: A band limited signal

with no spectral components beyond , can
be uniquely determined by values sampled
at uniform intervals of
The sampling rate,
Nyquist rate.
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is called
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According to the Nyquist theorem, the sampling rate must be at least 2

times the highest frequency contained in the signal.
Figure 4.23 Nyquist sampling rate for low-pass and bandpass signals

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Example 4.6
For an intuitive example of the Nyquist theorem, let us sample a
simple sine wave at three sampling rates: fs = 4f (2 times the Nyquist
rate),
fs
=
2f
(Nyquist
rate),
and
fs = f (one-half the Nyquist rate). Figure 4.24 shows the sampling
and the subsequent recovery of the signal.
It can be seen that sampling at the Nyquist rate can create a good
approximation of the original sine wave (part a). Oversampling in
part b can also create the same approximation, but it is redundant
and unnecessary. Sampling below the Nyquist rate (part c) does not
produce a signal that looks like the original sine wave.

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Figure 4.24 Recovery of a sampled sine wave for different sampling rates

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Example 4.10
A complex low-pass signal has a bandwidth of 200 kHz. What is the
minimum sampling rate for this signal?
Solution
The bandwidth of a low-pass signal is between 0 and f, where f is
the maximum frequency in the signal. Therefore, we can sample
this signal at 2 times the highest frequency (200 kHz). The
sampling rate is therefore 400,000 samples per second.

Example 4.11
A complex bandpass signal has a bandwidth of 200 kHz. What is
the minimum sampling rate for this signal?
Solution
We cannot find the minimum sampling rate in this case because we
do not know where the bandwidth starts or ends. We do not know
the maximum frequency in the signal.
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Figure 4.21 Components of PCM encoder

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Quantization
The samples from the analog signal are not yet in the digital
form (bit stream) because these samples have infinite
amplitudes.
To make the amplitudes have finite levels (i.e. belong to a
finite range of amplitude levels), different amplitude levels
are created known as the quantized level.
Each sample is going to be mapped into one of these levels
(i.e. the nearest level for that sample).
More levels mean lower error of mapping known as the
quantized error but at the expense of increasing BW.
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Quantization

Vpp=peak-to-peak voltage= Vp -(-Vp )= 2 Vp Volts

The step size between quantization levels is known as
quantile interval, denoted by q volts
Each sample value of analog pulse is approximated with
a quantized pulse: the approximation results in error no
longer than q/2 in either direction

Amplitude quantizing: Mapping samples of a continuous amplitude waveform

to a finite set of amplitudes.

Quantized
values

Out

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In

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Quantization
Average quantization noise power
2=

2 =

+2

2 1/

Signal peak power

Vp2 = /2

(1) 2
2

Signal power to average quantization noise power

22/4
= 2
q
/12

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Encoding (PCM)
A uniform linear quantizer is called Pulse Code Modulation
(PCM).
Pulse code modulation (PCM): Encoding the quantized signals
into a digital word (PCM word or codeword).
Each quantized sample is digitally encoded into an l bits codeword
where L in the number of quantization levels and

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Quantization
Assume original signal has instantaneous amplitudes in
between Vmin and Vmax
Divide the range into L zones each of height

V max V min
L

Assign quantized values 0 to L-1 to the mid point o each zone

Let Vmin=-20V and Vmax=+20V, L=8 and 5V
Normalized Value = Actual Amplitude/
Quantization process selects quantized values from the middle
of each zone
Normalized error = normalized value quantized value
Contribution of Quantization error to SNRdb is given by:
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SNRdb 6.02nb 1.76db

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Figure 4.26 Quantization and encoding of a sampled signal

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Example 4.12
What is the SNRdB in the example of Figure 4.26?
Solution
We can use the formula to find the quantization. We have eight
levels and 3 bits per sample, so
SNRdB = 6.02(3) + 1.76 = 19.82 dB
Increasing the number of levels increases the SNR.
Example 4.13
A telephone subscriber line must have an SNRdB above 40. What is
the minimum number of bits per sample?
Solution
We can calculate the number of bits as
Telephone companies usually assign 7 or 8 bits per sample.
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Example 4.14
We want to digitize the human voice. What is the bit rate, assuming
8 bits per sample?

Solution
The human voice normally contains frequencies from 0 to 4000 Hz.
So the sampling rate and bit rate are calculated as follows:

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Figure 4.27 Components of a PCM decoder

Example 4.15
We have a low-pass analog signal of 4 kHz. If we send the analog
signal, we need a channel with a minimum bandwidth of 4 kHz. If
we digitize the signal and send 8 bits per sample, we need a channel
with a minimum bandwidth of 8 4 kHz = 32 kHz.
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Performance criteria
For digital signals, probability of bit error( PB ) is
the main performance criteria. Higher this error rate,
lower the performance of such systems.

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Probability and random signals

For random signal, we use the statistical and
probabilistic methods to describe a signal since
there is no definite expression for such random
signals.

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What is a random variable?

A Random Variable is a function, which assigns unique numerical values to all
possible outcomes of a random experiment under fixed conditions
OR
A random variable is not a variable but rather a function that maps events to
numbers
x

X()

A random variable X is a function that assign a real number, X()to each outcome
in the sample space S of a random experiment.
Domain of the random variable -- S
Range of the random variable -- Sx

What is a random variable?

Example 1: Suppose that a coin is tossed 3 times and the sequence of heads
and tails is noted.
Sample space S={HHH,HHT,HTH,HTT,THH,THT,TTH, TTT}
Sx={0,1,2,3}
X :number of heads in three coin tosses.
Outcome HHH HHT
X()

HTH

THH

HTT

THT

TTH

TTT

Two types of random variables

A discrete random variable has a countable number of possible values.

X: number of heads when trying 5 tossing of coins.
The values are countable
A continuous random variable takes all values in an interval of numbers.
X: the time it takes for a bulb to burn out.
The values are not countable

Distribution Functions of a Random Variable

A random variable is characterized by a distribution. The
distributions associated with the discrete and continuous RVs are
PMF/PDF is equal to or within an interval; CDF is less than or
equal to
Discrete random variable
If the random variable is discrete, then the probability mass function (PMF)
is the probability that the discrete assumes the exact value of x; i.e., PMF:
P(X = x).

Continuous random variable

If the random variable is continuous, then the probability density function
(PDF) is the probability that the random variable assumes a value over an
interval or range; i.e., PDF: P(x1 < X <= x2).

Probability of random variable

Example 2: The event {X=k} ={k heads in three coin tosses} occurs when
the outcome of the coin tossing experiment contains k heads.
P[X=0]=P[{TTT}]=1/8
P[X=1]=P[{HTH}]+P[{THT}]+P[{TTH}]=3/8
P[X=2]=P[{HHT}]+P[{HTH}]+P[{THH}]=3/8
P[X=3]=P[{HHH}]=1/8

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Distribution Functions of a Random Variable

If FX(x) (cdf) changes value only in jumps and is constant between jumps, i.e. FX(x)
is a staircase function, then X is called a discrete random variable.

The function px(x) is called the probability mass function (pmf) of the discrete r.v. X.

Properties of px(x):

0 p X ( xk ) 1 k 1,2,...
p X ( x) 0
x xk
(k 1,2,...)
p X ( xk ) 1
k

A typical example of cdf

Tossing a coin 3 times and counting the number of heads

x
-1
0
1
2
3
4

Xx

{TTT}
{TTT,TTH,THT,HTT}
{TTT,TTH,THT,HTT,HHT,HTH,THH}
S
S

pk =P[X=k]

FX(x)

1/8
3/8
3/8
1/8

0
1/8
4/8
7/8
1
1

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Example of cdf for discrete r.v.

Example of pmf for discrete r.v.

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Pdf of a Signal

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What does it mean?

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The Issue of Noise

Noise is a non-predictable (i.e. random), corrupting signal that

adds to the desired signal
For RF receiver, most of it comes from the analog circuits
that amplify and demodulate the input signal
An undesired signal is a predictable, corrupting signal which
also adds to the desired signal
May be called noise if it is difficult to predict

Experiment to see Statistical Distribution of Noise

Take on different
sequences for
different trials
Think of trials as
different
measurement
intervals from the
same experimental
setup

Sample
values

A Histogram generates data for the

number of occurrences of a value in
a data set.

Create histograms of sample

values from trials of
increasing lengths
Histogram should converge
to a shape known as a
probability density function
(PDF)

Formalizing the PDF Concept

Define x as a random variable

whose PDF has the same
shape as the histogram we
just obtained
Denote PDF of x as fX(x)

Scale fX(x) such that its

overall area is 1

This shape is referred

to as a Gaussian PDF

Formalizing Probability
The probability that random variable x takes on a value in the
range of x1 to x2 is calculated from the PDF of x as:

Note that probability values are always in the range of 0 to 1

Higher probability values imply greater likelihood that the event

will occur

Example Probability Calculation

This shape is
referred to as a
uniform PDF

Verify that overall area is 1:

Probability that x takes on a value between 0.5 and 1.0:

AWGN

Properties
The noise signal has low amplitudes with high probabilities
and high amplitudes with low probability.
So the noise signal is mostly low amplitude signals.
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Normal or Gaussian PDF

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Power of AWGN

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