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MOB Subject 3 Transmission Techniques

1. Signal transmission techniques - Practical
Data transmission, digital transmission, or digital communications is the physical transfer of data (a digital bit stream) over a point-to-point or point-to-multipoint communication channel. Examples of such channels are copper wires, optical fibres, wireless communication channels, and storage media. The data is represented as an electromagnetic signal, such as an electrical voltage, radiowave, microwave, or infrared signal. The radio transmissions however are subjected to many constraints which return the narrow band transmission sometimes insufficient. It is the case in particular when the radio wave propagation is effected by multi traffics. The transmission techniques like the spreading out of spectrum dispersion and OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) have been developed to fight against the elimination problems which result of these multi traffics. These techniques then use all the bandwidth available. One has then a transmission known as broad band. This practical aims to study these different aspects.

1.1. Definitions and basic concepts

1.1.1 Message, signal and of transmission modes Message is composed by the information elements or data that the user wishes to transmit. One distinguishes two types of message: - Analog message: data are analog. They are presented in the form of a continuously varying function f(t) (ex: voice, video); - Digital message: data are digital. They are presented in the form of a series {ik} of data elements that can take one among a given set of discrete values called alphabet (ex: characters of a text, integers). An analog message can be digitized by a sampling operation (discretization of the time axis), followed by a quantification phase (discretization of the values taken by the sampled analog data) and a coding of data. Signals are the physical representation of the message to transmit. They are generally in an electric form (tension, current), which is then converted into an electric or electromagnetic wave to be transmitted. Again, one makes the distinction between: Analog signal: signal associated to an analog message; Digital signal: signal representing a digital message. A digital signal is presented in the form of a succession of waveforms taking one among finished possibilities values used to code information.

Transmission is the operation of transmitting the signal from a machine towards another, on 1/12 Fladenmuller Subject 3

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a given communication medium. We can differentiate 2 types of transmissions: Baseband transmission: it corresponds to transmission on a channel of the lowpass signal whose range of frequencies is measured from close to 0 hertz to a cut-off frequency. It is the case of the majority of the signals associated to analog messages (voice, music, video) but also for multilevel digital signals ("square" form). Carrier frequency transmission: when the channel is bandpass as in the case of the hertzian transmission, it is essential to transpose the signal spectrum around one carrier frequency located in the center of the frequency band of the communication channel. This operation is called modulation. It is carried out by modifying one of the characteristics of the sinusoid carrier (its amplitude, phase, or frequency) from the information carried in the signal. When this signal is analog, one refers to an analog modulation. If the signal is digital, the modulation is said to be digital.

Basebandsignal Energyasafunction ofthefrequency

1.1.2. Frequency spectrum of a signal - Periodic signals example Any periodic signal can be represented as a sum of sine and cosine functions with various amplitude, phase and frequency. The fundamental frequency refers to the reverse of the period of the signal. The Fourier transform is a mathematical operation that decomposes a signal into its constituent frequencies. The original signal depends on time, and therefore is called the time domain representation of the signal, whereas the Fourier transform depends on frequency and is called the frequency domain representation of the signal. Exercise Consider the following example where the signal s(t) has two frequency components, one with the frequency f0 and the second with the frequency 3f0:

Show graphically that s(t) is periodic of period T = 1/f0. Decomposition in Fourier series In the 19th century, Jean-Baptiste Fourier showed how all periodic function g(t) of period T can be decomposed in a sum (possibly infinite) of sine and cosine functions:

where f0 is the fundamental frequency (opposite of the period T), an and bn are the cosine and 2/12 Fladenmuller Subject 3

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sine amplitudes of nth harmonic and c0 is the continuous component of the signal. Such a decomposition is called Fourier series. The ratio c0, an and bn appearing in this decomposition are given by the integral, defined over T the period of the function:

Exercise One considers a periodic signal of period T which can be represented by the function g(t):

This signal is used to code a 2-level digital signal: +1 V and -1V. It is supposed that an impulse of +1V codes one "1" and that an impulse of -1V codes one "0". This coding type is called NRZ-coding (Non Return to Zero). 1. Trace the corresponding function g(t). 2. It is considered that the signal frequency is 1 MHz. What is the resulting throughput of the signal (in bits per second)? 3. Find the value of the coefficients an, bn and c0 of g(t). Deduce the decomposition of the Fourier series of g(t) and draw the frequencies spectrum signal for the first five harmonics. 4. Only the first five harmonics of the signal are transmitted by the channel, the following being attenuated completely (low-pass channel). What is the form of the received signal? Does it seem possible to decode the data?

1 1.3 Bandwidth, capacity, and signal-with-noise ratio One considers subsequently the transmission of digital signals. The numerical message to transmit has therefore been coded in a suitable way using binary elements. Bit rate D is the number of bits transmitted per second: D = 1/Tb (in bit/s) with Tb duration of a bit. In digital communications, symbol rate (a.k.a. baud or modulation rate) is the number of symbol changes (waveform changes or signalling events) made to the transmission medium per second. The symbol rate R is measured in baud (Bd) or symbols/second. 3/12 Fladenmuller Subject 3

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There exists a relation between the number of values M, a symbol can take and the maximum number of bits n that can be coded on each symbol : M = 2n. (e.g. for a binary signal M=2 and n=1, for 2 bits per symbol, the valence of the signal M is equal to 4). Modulation rate is the number of symbols transmitted per second: 1 (in symb/s or bauds) R= TS with where Ts is duration of a symbol. Nyquists law imposes a limit on the modulation speed of a low-pass channel of bandwidth B: R 2B Shannons theorem provides the fundamental limit on the maximum bit rate, also called capacity of a transmission channel (low-pass or band-pass) of bandwidth B subject to additive Gaussian white noise. This capacity express in the way following:

S ) (in bit/s) N where S/N represents the signal-to-noise ratio of the channel (it refers to the useful signal power over the noise power, and is expressed in mW). This limit, resulting from the information theory, provides a theoretical boundary for the design of communication system. The most advanced systems try to approach this limit.
C = B log2 (1 + The main purpose of Nyquists law and the Shannons theorem is to give an approximation of the bit rate which one can hope to reach on a given channel given. Ratio Eb/N0 (without unit) is equal to the ration of consumed energy Eb by transmitted bit (in J) and of the spectral density of the noise power N0 (in W/Hz). This ratio can be expressed according to the bandwidth B of the signal, of the bit rate D and of the signal-to-noise ratio: The performances of the communication systems depend naturally very strongly on this ratio. Spectral efficiency is expressed in bit/s/Hz. It characterizes the capacity of a communication system to transfer a flow D in a given bandwidth B. It is a measure of how efficiently a limited frequency spectrum is utilized by the physical layer protocol, and sometimes by the media access control (the channel access protocol). It is the net bitrate (useful information rate excluding error-correcting codes) or maximum throughput divided by the bandwidth in hertz of a communication channel or a data link. 4/12 Fladenmuller Subject 3

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Shannons theorem provides in an implicit way the theoretical maximum spectral efficiency: Exercise 1. Express the relation between the bit rate and the modulation rate. Does the Nyquists law impose a limitation on the bit rate which one can transmit in a channel of bandwidth B? 2. One wishes to transmit the digital video having the following characteristics: matrix of 480640 pixels where each pixel corresponds to an intensity which can take 32 different values. The required speed is of 25 images per second. a) What is the bit rate of the video source? b) The lowpass channel, has a bandwidth of 4,5 MHz and a signal-to-noise ratio of 35 dB. Can one transfer the video signal on this channel? What is the maximum spectral efficiency that one can theoretically reach on such a channel?

1.2 Digital modulations

Modulation of a sine waveform is used to transform a baseband signal into a passband signal. Modulating a sine-wave carrier makes it possible to keep the frequency content of the transferred signal as close as possible to the centre frequency (typically the carrier frequency) of the passband. When the channel is bandpass as of hertzian radio transmissions, it is essential to transpose the signal spectrum around a carrier frequency located in the center of the available frequency band of the channel. One realizes thus a transmission on a carrier frequency. The modulation technique shifts the signal spectrum naturally located around the null frequency (baseband signal), around one carrier frequency. The process is carried out while

itude, phase, modifying one of the characteristics (ampl instantaneous frequency) of one sinusoid carrier from the information carried by the signal to transmit and called modulating signal. When the modulating signal is analog, one talks about analog modulation. The modern transmission systems named the digital techniques have been introduced to improve the transmission quality. The modulating signal results from the coding of a digital message. Line coding consists of representing the digital signal to be transported, by an amplitude- and time-discrete signal, that is optimally tuned for the specific properties of the physical channel (and of the receiving equipment). The waveform pattern of voltage or current used to represent the 1s and 0s of a digital signal on a transmission link is called line encoding. The common types of line encoding are NRZ, unipolar, polar, bipolar and Manchester encoding. Line codes are used commonly in computer communication networks over short distances but they produce a baseband signal. The resulting signal is a baseband signal but signal There are numerous ways digital information can be coded onto a transmission medium. Some of the more common include: line cod used for a baseband transmission are varied (NRZ, 5/12 Fladenmuller Subject 3

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Manchester code; bipolar code). Their choice depends on the spectral characteristics of the signal produced with the exit of online coding (spectral occupation, presence of one continuous component, facility of rhythm recovery on the reception). The online code used when the signal is destined to be transmitted on carrier frequency is practically always the NRZ code M-surface. The modulating signal is thus a multi-levels signal constituted by the succession of duration level Ts and of proportional amplitude to the symbol value to emit. The signal g(t) met higher can be considered like resulting of a binary NRZ coding of the binary digital message "10101". The modulation operation, when it is realized with a modulating digital signal, is then called digital modulation. 1.2.1 Digital modulations definition The modulations consist in modifying the amplitude, the phase or the frequency of a sinusoid carrier of frequency f0 according to the symbol value to transmit on each interval of duration Ts. There are thus three great modulation types: Amplitude Shift Keying (ASK), Phase Shift Keying (PSK), and Frequency Shift Keying (FSK). The figure associated with the initials of one modulation corresponds to the total number of possible states of the modulated signal. Thus, a PSK-4 corresponds to a phase modulation where the modulated signal could be in one of the four states of possible phase of the modulation. Each state is associated with a symbol. The number of states is thus equal to the value of M. The increase of the number of states of modulation allows decreasing the band-width of the resulting signal, but at the price of a greater sensitivity with the noise. Amplitude Shift Keying (ASK) associates each symbol to transmit different amplitude. This is about the simplest technique and most natural to modulate a sinusoid carrier. In the case of the ASK-2, the signal can be written over the first symbol duration: s(t) = A cos(2f0t + 0) for one "1" binary ; s(t) = - A cos(2f0t + 0) for one "0" binary. Phase Shift Keying (PSK) associates each symbol to transmit a different phase. A modulation with two levels PSK-2, Binary Phase Shift Keying (BPSK), can be defined on the first symbol duration by the following resulting signal: s(t) = A cos(2f0t + 0) for one "1" binary; s(t) = A cos(2f0t + 0 + ) for one "0" binary. With this chose of phase states (0 and ), PSK-2 and ASK-2 are rigorously identical. Frequency Shift Keying (FSK) associates each symbol to transmit a different frequency. A modulation with two states FSK-2, Binary Frequency Shift Keying (BFSK), can be represented over the first symbol duration by the following resulting signal:

s(t) = A cos(2f1t + 0) for one "1" binary; s(t) = A cos(2f2t + 0) for one "0" binary.
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The modulated signals in phase or frequency are less sensitive with the noise than the amplitude modulated signals. The counterpart is that the transmitter and the receiver are more complex and thus more expensive. Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) is a hybrid technique of modulation which employs a combination of amplitude modulation and phase modulation. It realized while separating symbols to transmit into two parallel flows. Each flow is then transmitted in amplitude modulation on each way thus made up. On one of these two channels, called in phase channel, a sinusoid carrier is modulated in MDA- M . On the second channel, called in quadrature channel , a MDA- M is realized in using this time a version shift phased from /2 of same sinusoid carrier. The orthogonality of two channels is exploited to the reception to allow the symbols decoding. The figure 1 represents the principle diagram of a modulator QAM-4. The resulting modulated signal can also express itself from a same sinusoid function which the amplitude and the phase dependent on bits to emit. It is the reason why a QAM can be seen like the combination of an amplitude modulation and a phase modulation.

Fig. 1 QAM Coder A modulation of four QAM-4 states can be represented over the duration of first symbol by the resulting signal following:

s(t) = A cos(2f0t + 0) + A cos(2f0t + 0 + /2) for a binary couple "11"; s(t) = - A cos(2f0t + 0) + A cos(2f0t + 0 + /2) for a binary couple "01"; s(t) = - A cos(2f0t + 0) - A cos(2f0t + 0 + /2) for a binary couple "00"; s(t) = A cos(2f0t + 0) - A cos(2f0t + 0 + /2) for a binary couple "10".

That is also written:

s(t) = A 2 cos(2f0t + 0 + /4) for a binary couple "11" ; s(t) = A 2 cos(2f0t + 0 + 3/4) for a binary couple "01" ; s(t) = A 2 cos(2f0t + 0 + 5/4) for a binary couple "00" ;
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s(t) = A 2 cos(2f0t + 0 + 7/4) for a binary couple "10".

A QAM-4 is thus nothing of other but a PSK-4 (QPSK) where the phase states are selected equal to /4, 3/4, 5/4, 7/4. The QAM is very largely employed by the modems because it allows doubling the flow obtained with a ASK using the same band, all in preserving the same performances, with condition of having a signal-with-noise report sufficient at the reception. Exercises 1. One wishes to transmit the binary digital message "0010011100" a) One chooses to transmit this sequence with help of a modem which uses a FSK-2. Draw the signal transmitted by the modem. b) One wishes to transmit our binary digital message with help of an ASK-4. Propose a binary coding rule for M-surface. Draw the signal transmitted by the modem. c) One wishes finally to transmit our digital message with help of a QAM-4. Describe the constitution mode the in phase and in quadrature channels. Give the duration of a symbol. Propose a binary coding rule for M-surface and represent the transmitted signal by the modem. 2. Generic expression of a modulated signal a) Which generic formula allows expressing the modulated signal m(t) whatever the type of modulation? b) Which way the information is carried by in ASK, PSK and FSK? 3. One wishes to transmit a digital message of bit rate 4 Mbit/s. The necessary bandwidth to transmit a modulated signal being approximately equals to the modulation rate, let calculate the necessary frequency band. a) in ASK-16? b) in QAM-16? c) Which is one of these two modulations preferable to use? d) One wishes to double the bit rate transmitted in the frequency band that one employs above. How to proceed?

1.2.2 Constellation The combinations of possible value on the in phase channel and the in quadrature channel of a modulation are commonly represented by a constellation of points, where each point represents a symbol associated with a bit group to transmit. The distance of a constellation point in comparing with the origin indicates the amplitude of the modulated signal; its angle indicates the shift of phase. The figure 2 represents the constellation QAM-16 used on the WLAN 802.11a.

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Fig. 2 QAM-16 Constellation One will note the binary coding for M-surface used at the same time on the in phase channel (symbols ak) and on the in quadrature channel (symbols bk). An error of detection on an ak at the reception is do not induce the error on two bits of weak weight, coded independently by the values of the symbols bk. A code of Gray is in addition used on each channel. Exercise 1. Which modulation does a constellation diagram correspond to two co-ordinates points (1, 0) and (+1, 0)? 2. The same question if all points of the diagram are on same ring centered on the origin. 3. Can one meet a constellation diagram of 11 points? 4. Give a generic formula giving the number of points of a modulation QAM-M. 1.2.3. Spectral characteristic of a modulated signal - Root Nyquist Filtering The signal modulating NRZ is filtered before modulation. This operation limits the occupied band by the base band signal. The digital communications theory show that this filtering must be realized by a root Nyquist filter at the emission and at the reception to minimize the noise effect at the reception and to avoid the interference between symbols (IES). The chain of processing used at the emission is represented in Fig. 3.

Fig.3 Coder QAM with filtering.

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The figure 4 gives the frequential representation of a modulated signal QAM by the chain of processing represented in Fig. 1. The figure 5 gives the frequential representation of the same pre-filtered signal by a root Nyquist filter in according to the chain of processing represented in Fig. 3.

Fig. 4 Spectrum of the modulated signal not filtered. What is the consequence of this operation on the spectral occupation of the modulated signal? 1.2.4 Spectral efficiency of modulations The figure presents curves of performances of the ASK-2, FSK-2, PSK-2 and QAM-4. It will be noted that these curves suppose conditions of specific transmission and do not have the general character. In referring you with these curves, determine the spectral efficacy of the ASK-2, FSK-2, PSK-2 and QAM-4 for a signal-with-noise report S/N of 12 dB and binary error rate of 10-7 under these transmission conditions. The performance of a modulation technique is measured in particular starting from the band-width BT necessary to transmit the modulated signal. That depends on the type of modulations used:

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Fig.5 Spectrum of the filtered modulated signal.

Fig.6 Theoretical binary error rate of some modulations.

with D bit rate and overflow coefficient of the Nyquist filter (0 < <1).

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Fig.7 Binary error rate according to coding. According to the figure 7, what does it occur to the transmission quality (BER) for a PSK-M and a FSK-M if M increases? What does it happen to the spectral efficacy?

1.2.5 Characteristic of the frequency modulation 1. What does the necessary bandwidth depend on for a FSK-2? 2. Explain graphically why a signal FSK-2 can present discontinuities of phase.

1.2.6 Minimum-shift keying (MSK) modulation One defines the modulation MSK according to the characteristics following: the binary message to modulate is initially broken up in two distinct binary messages constituted starting from the bits of even rang for one and bits of odd rang for the other (bits of even rang: 2, 4 and odd: 1, 3, 5). For each one of these signals, the duration of each bit is doubled. The signal MSK is a sinusoid signal of frequency f1 or f2 = 2f1, multiplied by +1 or 1 (inversion), according to the value of the bit of even rang and the bit of current odd rang at a moment given. The correspondence rule is as follows: Even Rang Odd Rang Signal frequency Possible Inversion (-) 0 0 f2 1 0 f1 0 1 f1 + 1 1 f2 +

Represent graphically the digital message "1011010" modulated MSK (one will get "0" like initialization value of bit trains).

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