Amplitude Modulation and Frequency Modulation
INTRODUCTION: This laboratory demonstrates the basic modulation techniques and
demodulation of such modulated waveforms with the aid of MODULATION and
DEMODULATION BOARDS which are provided with the Apparatus. These techniques might
aid the students to understand the basic modulation techniques and the same time, to
observe such waveforms in time domain and frequency domain using the apparatus.
Students are guided to obtain different outcomes by changing the parameters of such
circuitry to observe and understand the relationships between such parameters. The
knowledge and hands-on experience gathered from this laboratory would be vital for the
students who are specializing in the field of Telecommunication.
EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES:
1. Use and familiarize with the MODULATION BOARD.
2. Use and familiarize with the DEMODULATION BOARD.
3. Learn to observe a waveform in time domain using a Digital Oscilloscope.
4. Learn to observe a waveform in frequency domain using a Spectrum Analyzer.
5. Learn the concepts behind modulation techniques and demodulation with respect to
components of the MODULATION / DEMODULATION boards.
6. Learn to compare the input and output waveforms of the circuitry.
EXPERIMENTAL OBJECTIVES:
1. Sketch input and output waveforms through observation.
2. Compare and contrast amplitudes and frequencies of different waveforms.
3. Identify the significance of frequency components displayed in a frequency spectrum.
PRE-LAB:
Reading:
Read and study the Background section of this Laboratory.
Writing:
1. Based upon your general knowledge of AM and FM broadcasting, mention the
ranges of AM and FM broadcast stations?
2. Sketch an amplitude modulated waveform when the modulation index is larger than
100%
3. For a VCO having the constant 100 (kHz/V), which is operating at a center frequency
of 100 MHz, what are the highest and lowest output frequencies if the input is:
?
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EQUIPMENT NEEDED:
1. Modulation Board
2. Demodulation Board
3. Signal Generator
4. Digital Oscilloscope
5. Spectrum Analyzer
6. Multi-meter
SECTION A: AMPLITUDE MODULATION
BACKGROUND
Modulation is defined as the process by which some characteristics of a carrier signal is
varied in accordance with a modulating signal . The base band signal is referred to as
the modulating signal or information signal and the output of the modulation process is
called as the modulated signal.
All analog and many digital communications systems that transmit data over cable or using
electromagnetic waves use some form of signal modulation. Mainly under Analog
Modulation category, there are two modulation techniques. They are Amplitude
Modulation and Angle Modulation. In simple terms, amplitude modulation is about
changing the characteristics of the carrier signal in accordance to the information signal.
If the Carrier signal and the information signal are represented from following
mathematical expressions,
Carrier signal: :
Information signal: :
Then the AM Modulated can be given by; ,where is the
modulation index. There are two conditions that should be satisfied to obtain these results.
; vice versa will result in over-modulation
The following waveforms represent the information signal, carrier signal and modulated
signals obtained through standard or conventional Amplitude Modulation (AM) and Double
Sideband Suppressed Carrier (DSB-SC) modulation.
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Figure 1
Figure 2
The significance of DSB-SC modulation is that the modulation index is set to unity and the
carrier component in the modulated signal is suppressed so that, the resulted modulated
signal yields to;
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Frequency Domain Representation
Usually, a modulated signal can be represented as two sideband components in the
frequency domain. These two sideband components are obtained by converting the AM
modulated signal to frequency domain using the Fourier transforms.
If we assume the bandwidth of the information signal as , the representation of the
above spectral components can be illustrated as in the Figure 3. The two sidebands are
known as Lower Sideband (LSB) and Upper Sideband (USB) respectively. Both the
sidebands are carrying the same information. Therefore, this approach is wasting the
bandwidth of the communication channel. The modulation techniques DSB-SC, Single
Sideband (SSB) and Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) were introduced to improve
the spectral efficiency by suppressing and changing the standard methods of modulation.
In SSB, instead of two sidebands, one sideband is transmitted. In QAM, two modulated
signals are transmitted simultaneously in the same communication channel.
Figure 3
Demodulation
The Demodulation can be defined as the process of recovering the information signal from
the modulated signal. Mainly there are two amplitude demodulation types. They are
synchronous / coherent detection and non-synchronous detection. In coherent detection,
modulated signal is being multiplied by the same carrier signal that has been used to
modulate the signal through a frequency multiplier. The outcome is then filtered through a
low-pass filter to obtain the desired demodulated signal.
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In non-synchronous detection, different circuitry is used to extract or detect the envelope
of the modulated signal. (Envelop is the outer line which bounds the maximal and minimal
points of the modulated signal). The below Figure illustrates the circuit that is used to
detect the envelope of the modulated signal. The RC constant of the circuit below should be
within the given limits.
Figure 4
MODULATION BOARD 4280
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DEMODULATION BOARD 4281
SAFETY PRECAUTIONS
1. Always turn off power to the circuit when changing the circuit.
2. Only reapply power after verifying that the circuit is properly wired and that the
voltage to be applied is at or below the required value.
3. Failure to turn off power when making circuit changes is a major reason for blowing
fuses in the equipment, thereby rendering the equipment unusable and wasting
your time and that of others. Please carefully check circuit wiring, resistor settings,
and voltage settings before applying power to the circuits.
PROCEDURE
These experiments are conducted using MODULATION and DEMODULATION BOARDS.
They have electronic circuits built-into the board which conducts different functions
depending on the component of the board. Usually, the information signal and
carrier signal are provided to the modulation circuit by combining it with a DC
waveform . The schematic of such a diode-based modulator is given by the following
Figure.
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Figure 5
Part 1: Controlling the Diode Modulator
Consider the following experimental setup.
Figure 6
Connect the circuit given in the above Figure and set the amplitudes as given below,
Draw the waveforms and against time .
Observe the modulated signal in frequency domain by feeding the output waveform to the
oscilloscope.
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Part 2: Filtering the Modulated Signal
1. Connect the output of the experimental setup given in Figure 6 to the band-pass
filter.
2. Observe the frequency spectrum of the output from the oscilloscope.
Part 3: Amplitude Modulation with a Multiplier
Connect the leads to obtain the experimental setup illustrated in the Figure 7.
Figure 7
1. Set the value of U DC between 2.5 to 3.0 V.
2. Change the values of U T and for 3 instances and measure the input and output
voltages and record them.
Part 4: Spectrum and Bandwidth of an AM wave
1. Assemble the modulator circuit given in Figure 8. Observe the waveforms Uin
and UAM at the same time using two channels in the digital oscilloscope.
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Figure 8
2. Reduce gradually to 2.5 V. What do you observe?
3. Draw the oscilloscope and spectrum analyzer outputs of for the above two
values of
4. Comment on the amplitude values of the output waveforms.
Part 6: Demodulating an AM waveform
MODULATION BOARD and the DEMODULATION BOARD are two separate entities. Our
intention is to feed a modulated signal which is generated from the MODULATION BOARD
to DEMODULATION BOARD, in order to observe the resemblance of the input information
signal and the output demodulated signal.
1. Connect the circuitry shown in Figure 9. Use the following settings for the circuit.
2. Observe both UDEM and UOUT waveforms and sketch them.
3. Record the amplitudes of the output signals.
4. Compare and comment on and .
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Figure 9
DISCUSSION
1. What frequencies does the output voltage contain at the specific input values?
2. Do the newly produced frequencies have a specific relationship with the existing
frequencies?
3. On what variable does the shape of the envelop curve depend?
4. What is radiated by an AM transmitter when there is a pause in the broadcast?
5. In the diode modulator, is it necessary to have a band-pass filter?
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SECTION B: FREQUENCY MODULATION
BACKGROUND
If the Carrier signal and the information signal are represented from following
mathematical expressions,
Carrier signal: :
Information signal: :
Instantaneous angular frequency of the carrier can be given by, and
. In FM, is altered linearly with the message signal .
Therefore,
and . Then the FM modulated signal
can be given by, , where is a constant. (Known as
the VCO constant in VCO FM modulator). The following Figure represent the information
signal, carrier signal and the FM modulated sign
Figure 10
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Modulation index of FM is denoted by and is given by, . Where is the peak
frequency deviation and is the bandwidth of the message signal. (Usually ). The
FM modulated spectrum is quite complicated. It is represented using a Bessel function of
first order.
Bessel function for FM tone modulated spectrum is given by,
There are several methods that could generate FM waveforms. Most frequently used
method for FM generation is the use of a Voltage Controlled Oscillator (VCO). Variation in
the message signal is reflected on to the frequency of the carrier signal. VCO inbuilt
oscillator will produce the carrier signal.
Frequency Demodulation
Several scenarios are considered to demodulate a FM wave. Such techniques are;
Differentiator-Envelop-Detector
Slope detector
Zero crossing detector
Phase Locked Loop (PLL) circuit
PROCEDURE
Part 1: Generating a Frequency Modulated Wave
Determination of VCO constant
Figure 11
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1. Connect the circuit given in the Figure 11.
2. Vary the input DC Voltage from -1.5V to +2.5V in steps of 0.5V.
3. Measure the frequency output related to each step and tabulate it in Table 1.
4. Draw the graph of Frequency vs. Input Voltage.
5. Determine the VCO constant by computing the slope of the graph.
6. Input sine waves with frequencies 2 kHz and 1 kHz separately to the VCO and
observe the output waveforms.
Table 1
DC Voltage (V) -1.5 -1.0 -0.5 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5
Output Frequency
( )
Measuring the frequency deviation and the modulation index
Figure 12
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1. Connect the circuit given in the Figure 12.
2. Measure and record the maximum and minimum fmin frequencies for the information
signals described by the characteristics given in Table 2.
Table 2
Voltage of the Frequency of the Maximum Minimum Frequency Modulation
information information Frequency Frequency Deviation Index
signal Signal
500 Hz
0.25 V 1 kHz
2 kHz
500 Hz
0.5 V 1 kHz
2 kHz
1. Complete the Table 2 by calculating the frequency deviation and the modulation
index for each case.
2. Draw the following graphs;
Frequency Deviation vs. Information signal Voltage
Modulation Index vs. Information signal Voltage
3. Observe the FM spectrum for each case.
Table 3
Amplitude of the information signal (Am) Frequency of the information signal (fm)
200 mV 500 Hz
0.5 V 1 kHz
1V 2 kHz
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PART 2: FM DEMODULATION
Under this section, FM demodulation is carried out in three different ways.
C - Discriminator
1. Feed the modulated signal to the C - DISCRIMINATOR circuit in the demodulation
board as shown in Figure 14.
2. Observe and record the output waveform of this circuit.
3. Connect the output of the C-DISCRIMINATOR to the AM Demodulation circuit in the
Demodulation Board. Connect the second input to the summer component by
bypassing the line with a connector node.
4. Observe and record the output waveform.
Count - Discriminator
1. Again, feed the modulated signal to the COUNT - DISCRIMINATOR circuit in the
demodulation board as shown in Figure 15.
2. Observe and record the demodulated waveform.
PLL Circuit
1.
indication as shown in the Figure 16.
2. Observe and record the demodulated waveform.
Figure 13
Figure 14
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Figure 15
DISCUSSION
Part 1:
1. How would you distinguish the VCO output when the input to the VCO is DC and
sinusoidal respectively?
2. Mention the input variable of the VCO that is proportional to the frequency
deviation.
3. How does the modulation index change when different frequencies are used without
changing the amplitude of the signal?
Part 2:
1. Discuss the difference of FM signal band while increasing corresponding to the
following approaches;
a. is varying with fixed.
b. is varying with fixed.
Part 3:
1. Comment on the differences and similarities of the retrieved information signals
from the three demodulation techniques. What gives the best demodulated output?
REPORT:
Your Laboratory Teaching Assistant will inform you when a report is due. Make sure
that you have recorded all necessary information and data in your laboratory
notebook to enable you to prepare a report on this experiment, if so directed, at some
time in the future.
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