Signal Signal Principles: Principles: Modulation Modulation and and Bandwidth Bandwidth

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Radio Signals
There are many different ways a radio signal can be used to carry information Modulation means changing (modulating) some characteristic of a radio signal to convey information to an observer Examples of modulation: television broadcast stations vary their power to change the brightness of a flying spot which crosses the screen in lines, producing a picture FM radio stations vary their frequencies to convey the shape of the sound waves to the listeners receivers When a radio signal is not being modulated, it consists of energy at only one exact frequency. When modulation is applied, it spreads out to occupy a range of frequencies. The width of the signal is called its bandwidth.
No Modulation
Power Power Bandwidth = 0

With Modulation
Bandwidth

Frequency

Frequency

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Characteristics of a Radio Signal

SIGNAL CHARACTERISTICS
The complete, timevarying radio signal Natural Frequency of the signal

S (t) = A cos [ c t + ]
Amplitude (strength) of the signal Phase of the signal

There are three characteristics of an RF signal which are commonly varied to carry information:

Compare these Signals:

Different Amplitudes

Amplitude Frequency Phase

Different Frequencies Different Phases

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Claude Shannon:
The Einstein of Information Theory and Signal Science
The core idea that makes broadband possible was first explained by Claude Shannon, a Bell Labs research mathematician Shannon's work relates amount of information carried, channel bandwidth, signal-to-noise-ratio, and detection error probability It shows the theoretical upper limit of spectrum efficiency which can be achieved
In 1948 Claude Shannon published his landmark paper on information theory, A Mathematical Theory of Communication. He observed that "the fundamental problem of communication is that of reproducing at one point either exactly or approximately a message selected at another point." His paper so clearly established the foundations of information theory that his framework and terminology are standard today. Shannon died Feb. 24, 2001, at age 84. September, 2005 111v1.0 (c) 2005 Scott Baxter and Associates 111 - 4

Major Parameters of a Radio Signal

Frequency: the number of vibrations per second of the RF signal for an unmodulated signal, this is the one frequency it occupies for a modulated signal, this is the average or center frequency Bandwidth: the width of the range of frequencies that the signal occupies while it is modulated Data rate: the number of information bits per second carried by the signal Throughput: the average number of bits per second of information that the signal carries, including effects of any limitations or transmission problems Bandwidth depends on: the data rate in bits/sec the type of modulation used
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Bandwidth

Frequency

Data Rate

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Shannons Bit Rate vs Bandwidth Formula

Each variation of a digitally modulated RF signal conveys a number of bits of information determined by the number of degrees of modulation freedom More complex modulation schemes can carry more bits per symbol in a given bandwidth, but require better signal-to-noise ratios The actual number of bits per second which can be conveyed in a given bandwidth under given signal-to-noise conditions is described by Shannons equations
Type of Modulation BPSK QPSK 8PSK 16 QAM 32 QAM 64 QAM 256 QAM Shannon Limit, BitsHz 1 b/s/hz 2 b/s/hz 3 b/s/hz 4 b/s/hz 5 b/s/hz 6 b/s/hz 8 b/s/hz

SHANNONS CAPACITY EQUATION

C = B log2 [

1+

S N

B = bandwidth in Hertz C = channel capacity in bits/second S = signal power N = noise power

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Modulation Types Used in Broadband

Broadband transmitters use many different modulation schemes the most complex schemes can carry data very fast without requiring much signal bandwidth however, the most complex schemes are the least tolerant of interference and noise

QPSK
CDMA IS-95, IS-2000 1xRTT, and lower rates of 1xEV-DO, DV

16QAM
1xEV-DO at highest rates

BFSK
Motorola Canopy

64QAM
1xEV-DV at highest rates

f1
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f2
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