Communication Technology

Communication Concepts: Sampling &

Quantization RG 12
Communication Concepts
Lecture 7&8
Analogue-to-Digital Conversion:
Sampling, Quantization and Encoding
Communication Concepts
I. Messages & Information
II. Data Compression and Coding
III. The Communication Channel
IV. Analogue and Digital Communications
RG 09
Analogue and Digital
Many message sources are analogue in nature:
Analogue means the signal amplitude can have any value
(within a defined range)
E.g. audio, video, speech, images.
Most communication systems transmit digital signals.
Digital means the signal is restricted to a finite set of values
(and those values are represented by binary numbers)
the trend is for more and more e.g. digital switch-over
Converting from analogue to digital involves
sampling and quantization
Advantages of Digital Communications
Transmission Bandwidth
It takes less analogue bandwidth to transmit the digitized
message source than the analogue message (only because
source coding- data compression- can be used!)
Immunity from noise
The digital message can be transmitted with as few errors as
we require. We end up with an exact replica of the digital
message (i.e. no distortion of the message apart from the
digitization process itself). With analogue messages noise
accumulates.
Compatibility with digital message sources
Data networks (such as the Internet) are intrinsically digital
by digitizing analogue sources we can use the same
networks for all sources.
Security
Very sophisticated encryption techniques can be used to
protect the transmitted messages
Analogue-to-Digital Conversion in Communications
Analogue
Message
Source
A/D
Conversion
Coding
Digital
Transmission
Decoding
Analogue
Message
Sink
D/A
Conversion
Analogue-to-Digital Conversion
Sampling
Quantization
Encoding
Communication Technology
Communication Concepts: Sampling &
Quantization RG 12
Sampling
Need for sampling
Sampling a waveform
The sampling theorem
Sampling in the frequency domain
Aliasing
Signal reconstruction
Practical sampling issues
The need for Sampling
Sampling is a crucial step in digitization* of analogue signals.
Applies to time waveforms (signals) and spatial waveforms
(images)
Sampling can also happen to already digital signals.
unsampling or reconstructing the analogue from samples
relies on low pass filtering this effectively fills in the gaps
between samples.
In communications sampling facilitates time division
multiplexing where we can send multiple sampled message
sources over the same communication channel (just put
samples of second signal in gaps of first).
*note that sampling itself is an analogue process
Sampling a Waveform
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-1
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Sampling a sine-wave too slowly
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The Sampling Theorem
A signal is completely represented by
samples of that signal provided the sample
rate is at least twice the highest frequency in
the signal.
max
2 f f
s
>
Notes:
This is always true.
The sampled signal is still analogue
Nothing has been lost in this process.
[for bandpass signals you might be able to get away with a
lower sampling rate]
Viewed in the frequency domain. The resulting sampled
signal has many replica signals attached to harmonics of
the sampling frequency
Recovering the Original Signal
To recover the original signal (i.e. unsample the
sampled signal) we need to:
remove all the unwanted high frequency replica signals
(or equivalently fill in the gaps of the time waveform)
This can be done with a low-pass filter that removes
(attenuates) signals with frequencies greater than
f
s
/2.
Called a reconstruction filter
This process makes sampling completely reversible
nothing is lost in the sampling process provided we obey the
sampling theorem
Communication Technology
Communication Concepts: Sampling &
Quantization RG 12
Aside: Spectrum
A recipe (usually represented by a graph) for making a
signal (e.g. an audio wave) out of different amounts of
different frequencies.
In audio:
Pressure,
Power or
voltage (e.g.
from a
microphone)
Frequency (Hz)
Fundamental frequency
Harmonics
5
th
Harmonic
Aside: Filters
Filters change the amplitude (and usually phase)
of the frequencies present at the input of the filter
and put them on the output.
Filter
frequency
frequency
frequency
A
m
p
l
i
t
u
d
e
A
m
p
l
i
t
u
d
e
Filter Frequency Response
Input
Output
Sampling a sinusoid sampled waveform
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Sampled waveform: very different from original
Sampling a sinusoid
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A sampled waveform also represents signals at higher frequencies!
Frequency spectrum of sampled wave
f
s 2f
s
3f
s
0
frequency
Spectral
content
Original this line only
Sampled this line and all the others
Reconstruction filter leaves only original
sampling completely reversible
Communication Technology
Communication Concepts: Sampling &
Quantization RG 12
Signal Reconstruction
Recovering an unsampled signal
Pass samples through LPF
f
s
0
F
s
/2
Spectrum of sampled signal
Reconstruction Filter
These removed
In time domain:
The reconstruction filter joins the samples with a smooth line
Aliasing
What happens when sampling theorem not obeyed?
Frequencies in the input (=original analogue message
signal) greater than f
s
/2 generate frequencies less than
f
s
/2 in the sampled and therefore recovered signal.
These overlap with the original message signal.
This is called aliasing.
Note that aliasing tends to occur at the high frequencies of
the signal (in audio this will appear as high frequency
noise, in imaging Moire patterns).
Since the alias overlaps the original message it cannot be
removed by the reconstruction filter (or other means) and
distorts recovered message signal.
Example: Wagon Wheel
http://www.michaelbach.de/ot/mot_wagonWhee
l/index.html
Aliasing: frequency representation
f
s 2f
s
3f
s
0
Aliasing: Lower side frequency of spectral
replica overlaps with original signal. Original
cannot be recovered exactly
frequency
Spectral
content Spectrum of sampled signal
Avoiding Aliasing
Anti-alias filtering
Oversampling (guard band).
f
s
0
Oversampling allows
practical reconstruction
filter and no aliasing
F
s
/2
Anti-Alias
filter
Sample
Bandwidth < f
sample
/2
Filtered
signal
f
s
0
Aliasing avoided
Signal to
be sampled
Signal with no
frequencies
above fs/2.
Sampled signal
with no aliasing
Oversampling
Reduce specification on analogue* (anti-
alias) filter
can have slower transition from passband to
stopband
In practice: Oversample to allow low cost
analogue filter then use digital filter.
Can also be used to reduce quantization
noise
quantization noise is spread over all frequencies;
digital filter removes frequencies outside of
frequency range of the message signal including
some of the quantization noise.
*actually also applies if we are re-sampling a digital signal
Communication Technology
Communication Concepts: Sampling &
Quantization RG 12
Sampling: Summary
Sampling essential step in digitization, but is
an analogue process.
If sampling theorem obeyed nothing lost (we
can get back the original exactly)
Use filters in anti-aliasing and message-
signal reconstruction.
Quantization
Quantization is the process that turns an analogue
signal (that can have any amplitude value) into a
digital one (that can only have amplitudes at specific
values).
The quantized signal is an approximation to the
analogue one.
The difference between them is the quantization
error or when averaged (mean-square error): the
quantization noise. This cannot be removed once
introduced*.
Generally attempt to minimize quantization noise.
Quantization is not a completely reversible process
(unlike sampling) as we have added quantization
noise to the original signal which is present when we
convert back to analogue.
* Unless we have oversampled then some of it can
Putting it Together
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Putting it Together
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Sampled Signal:
amplitude exactly the
same as original at
sampling time
Putting it Together
Quantized Signal
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Quantization
Error
N = no. of
bits
is the
quantization
step-size
Quantization can also happen
to an already digital signal
where the number of discrete
levels is reduced
Quantization Error
and Noise
Ratio of biggest to smallest
signal
The process of quantization introduces errors to
the digital signal compared to the original
analogue one called quantization error.
This is a random error that for an ideal A/D is
between the limits (+1/2 and -1/2 ).
It can be shown that the signal-to-quantization-
noise-ratio in dB is:
S/N
q
= 1.8+ 6N dB
The dynamic range increases by 6dB (doubles
amplitude) for every extra bit.
Communication Technology
Communication Concepts: Sampling &
Quantization RG 12
Quantization Examples
How many bits does a (perfect) A/D converter
require to give a signal-to-(quantization) noise
ratio of 67dB?
An A/D converter has a 10bits what is the
best S/N that can be obtained?
A signal into an A/D has an output of 100mV
(rms). The quantization noise is measured to
be 0.03mV (rms). What is the minimum
number of bits for the A/D?
Summary: Quantization
Quantization is the process of restricting an
analogue signal to discrete values.
It is used widely in communication systems,
audio, video and image processing
It is usually combined with sampling
It distorts the original signal by adding
quantization noise.
Quantization noise is minimized by having a
large number of quantization steps (more bits
for the A/D); but this means more data
(bits/sec).
Encoding
Each quantization level is given a binary
code.
This can be natural binary: e.g. 000 001 010
011 100 etc. or some other code.
Encoding
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1010
1001
1000
0111
0110
0101
0100
0011
0010
0001
0000
1000 0110 0011
PCM Transmission
PCM stands for pulse code modulation.
Each binary message-word is transmitted one
bit at a time.
The transmission must also contain a means
for the receiver to synchronize to the bit-
stream. It needs to know:
when a bit starts and finishes
When a word starts and finishes
There are a number of techniques for doing
this.
CalculationsAARGH!
What is the bit-rate (bits/second) from a
PCM encoder?
Bit-rate=sample-rate x bits/sample
Bits/second
bps
Hertz
bits
Sample-rate
determined
by bandwidth
of signal and
sampling
theorem
Bits per
Sample
determined
by
acceptable
quantization
noise and/or
dynamic
range
Communication Technology
Communication Concepts: Sampling &
Quantization RG 12
Multiplexing
Since the transmissions are bits it is possible to
combine samples from different encoders. This is
called Time Division Multiplexing.
10111000|10000111|11110011|000110011|10000111|10010011|100..
Channel 1 Channel 2 Channel 3 Channel 1 Channel 2 Channel 3
time
This is how different telephone conversations are carried
together in the telephone network: except that 30 channels
are combined
Summary
Analogue message sources often converted
to digital for transmission
Processes involved:
Sampling: Sampling theorem
Quantization: Quantization noise, no. of bits.
Transmit bit as PCM or use source-coding to
reduce bit rate.