CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Communication systems employing electrical signals to convey information from

one place to another over a pair of wires provided an early solution to the problem of
fast and accurate means of long distance communication. The field of electrical communication engineering received tremendous attention during and after World War
II. Significant developments during this era includes radar and microwave systems,
transistor and miniaturized integrated circuits, communication satellites, and lasers.
Today, electrical communication systems span the entire world carrying voice, text,
pictures, and a variety of other information.
During the post-war era there was also a vast growth in the automation and computer industries. This growth made it necessary for computers and other machines to
communicate not only with people but also with other machines. In many cases the
information to be exchanged between people and machines, and between machines is
digital or numerical in contrast to the predominantly analog information exchanged
in personal communications. Irrespective of the nature of information transmitted,
and the actual method of transmission, we can use the following model to describe a
communication system.

Communication Systems II, First Edition.

c 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
By Osama A. Alkishriwo Copyright

INTRODUCTION

1.1

Model of a Communication System

Figure 1.1 depicts the elements of a communication system, omitting transducers but
including unwanted contaminations. There are three essential parts of any communication system, the transmitter, transmission channel, and receiver. Each pat plays
a particular role in signal transmission, as follows.
1. Transmitter
The transmitter processes the input signal to produce a transmitted signal suited
to the characteristics of the transmission channel. Signal processing for transmission almost always involves modulation and may also include coding.
2. Transmission Channel
The transmission channel is the electrical medium that bridges the distance from
source to destination. It may be a pair of wires, a coaxial cable, or a radio
wave or laser beam. Every channel introduces some amount of transmission
loss or attenuation, so the signal power progressively decreases with increasing
distance.
3. Receiver
The receiver operates on the output signal from the channel in preparation for
delivery to the transducer at the destination. Receiver operations include amplification to compensate for transmission loss, and demodulation and decoding to
reverse the signal-processing performed at the transmitter. Filtering is another
important function at the receiver

Figure 1.1

Elements of a Communication System

Various unwanted undesirable effects crop up in the course of signal transmission. Attenuation is undesirable since it reduces signal strength at the receiver. More
serious, however, are distortion, interference, and noise, which appear as alterations
of the signal shape. Although such contaminations may occur at any point, the standard convention is to blame them entirely on the channel, treating the transmitter and
receiver as being ideal. Figure 1.1 reflects this convention.
Distortion is waveform perturbation caused by imperfect response of the system
to the desired signal itself. Unlike noise and interference, distortion disappears when
the signal is turned off. If the channel has a linear but distorting response, then

ELEMENTS OF A DIGITAL COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

distortion may be corrected, or at least reduced, with the help of special filters called
equalizers.
Interference is contamination by extraneous signals from human sources other
transmitters, power lines and machinery, switching circuits, and so on. Interference
occurs most often in radio systems whose receiving antennas usually intercept several signals at the same time. Radiofrequency interference (RFI) also appears in
cable systems if the transmission wires or receiver circuitry pick up signals radiated
from nearby sources. Appropriate filtering removes interference to the extent that
the interfering signals occupy different frequency bands than the desired signal.
Noise refers to random and unpredictable electrical signals produced by natural
processes both internal and external to the system. When such random variations
are superimposed on an information-bearing signal, the message may be partially
corrupted or totally obliterated. Filtering reduces noise contamination, but there inevitably remains some amount of noise that cannot be eliminated. This noise constitutes one of the fundamental system limitations.

1.2

Elements of A Digital Communication System

Figure 1.2 shows the functional elements of a digital communication system. The
overall purpose of the system is to transmit the messages (or sequences of symbols)
coming out of a source to a destination point at as high a rate and accuracy as possible. The source and the destination point are physically separated in space and a
communication channel of some sort connects the source to the destination point.
The channel accepts electrical/electromagnetic signals, and the output of the channel
is usually a smeared or distorted version of the input due to the nonideal nature of the
communication channel. In addition to the smearing, the information bearing signal
is also corrupted by unpredictable electrical signals (noise) from both man-made and
natural causes. The smearing and noise introduce errors in the information being
transmitted and limits the rate at which information can be communicated from the
source to the destination. The probability of incorrectly decoding a message symbol
at the receiver is often used as a measure of performance of digital communication
systems. The main function of the coder, the modulator, the demodulator, and the
decoder is to combat the degrading effects of the channel on the signal and maximize
the information rate and accuracy.
1.2.1

Information Source

Information sources can be classified into two categories based on the nature of their
outputs: analog information sources and discrete information sources. The output
of discrete information sources such as a teletype or the numerical output of a computer consists of a sequence of discrete symbols or letters. An analog information
source can be transformed into a discrete information source through the process
of sampling and quantizing. Discrete information sources are characterized by the
following parameters:

INTRODUCTION

Figure 1.2

Functional blocks of a digital communication system.

Source alphabet (symbols or letters)

Symbol rate
Source alphabet probabilities
Probabilistic dependence of symbols in a sequence
From these parameters, we can construct a probabilistic model of the information
source and define the source entropy (H) and source information rate (R) in bits per
symbol and bits per second, respectively. The term bit is used to denote a binary
digit.
To develop a feel for what these quantities represent, let us consider a discrete
information sourcea teletype having 26 letters of the English alphabet plus six special characters. The source alphabet for this example consists of 32 symbols. The
symbol rate refers to the rate at which the teletype produces characters; for purposes
of discussion, let us assume that the teletype operates at a speed of 10 characters or
10 symbols/sec.
An important parameter of a discrete source is its entropy. The entropy of a
source, denoted by H, refers to the average information content per symbol in a
long message and is given the units of bits per symbol where bit is used as an abbreviation for a binary digit. In our example, if we assume that all symbols occur with
equal probabilities in a statistically independent sequence, then the source entropy is
five bits per symbols (i.e., 25 = 32).
The source information rate is defined as the product of the source entropy and
the symbol rate and has the units of bits per second. The information rate, denoted
by R, represents the minimum number of bits per second that will be needed, on the
average, to represent the information coming out of the discrete source. Alternately,
R represents the minimum average data rate needed to convey the information from
the source to the destination.
1.2.2

Source Encoder/Decoder

The input to the source encoder (also referred to as the source coder) is a string
of symbols occurring at a rate of rs symbols/sec. The source coder converts the

ELEMENTS OF A DIGITAL COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

symbol sequence into a binary sequence of 00 s and 10 s by assigning code words to

the symbols in the input sequence. The simplest way in which a source coder can
perform this operation is to assign a fixed length binary code word to each symbol
in the input sequence. For the teletype example we have been discussing, this can be
done by assigning 5 bit code words 00000 through 11111 for the 32 symbols in the
source alphabet and replacing each symbol in the input sequence by its preassigned
code word. With a symbol rate of 10 symbols/sec, the source coder output data rate
will be 50 bits/sec.
Fixed length coding of individual symbols in a source output is efficient only if
the symbols occur with equal probabilities in a statistically independent sequence.
In most practical situations symbols in a sequence are statistically dependent, and
they occur with unequal probabilities. In these situations the source coder takes a
string of two or more symbols as a block and assigns variable length code words to
these blocks. The optimum source coder is designed to produce an output data rate
approaching R, the source information rate. Due to practical constraints, the actual
output rate of source encoders will be greater than the source information rate R. The
important parameters of a source coder are block size, code word lengths, average
data rate, and the efficiency of the coder (i.e., actual output data rate compared to the
minimum achievable rate R).
At the receiver, the source decoder converts the binary output of the channel decoder into a symbol sequence. The decoder for a system using fixed length code
words is quite simple, but the decoder for a system using variable length code words
will be very complex. Decoders for such systems must be able to cope with a number
of problems such as growing memory requirements and loss of synchronization due
to bit errors.
1.2.3

Communication Channel

The communication channel provides the electrical connection between the source
and the destination. The channel may be a pair of wires or a telephone link or free
space over which the information bearing signal is radiated. Due to physical limitations, communication channels have only finite bandwidth (B Hz), and the information bearing signal often suffers amplitude and phase distortion as it travels over
the channel. In addition to the distortion, the signal power also decreases due to the
attenuation of the channel. Furthermore, the signal is corrupted by unwanted, unpredictable electrical signals referred to as noise. While some of the degrading effects
of the channel can be removed or compensated for, the effects of noise cannot be
completely removed. From this point of view, the primary objective of a communication system design should be to suppress the bad effects of the noise as much as
possible.
One of the ways in which the effects of noise can be minimized is to increase the
signal power. However, signal power cannot be increased beyond certain levels because of nonlinear effects that become dominant as the signal amplitude is increased.
For this reason the signaltonoise power ratio (S/N ), which can be maintained at
the output of a communication channel, is an important parameter of the system.

INTRODUCTION

Other important parameters of the channel are the usable bandwidth (B), amplitude
and phase response, and the statistical properties of the noise.
1.2.4

Modulator

The modulator accepts a bit stream as its input and converts it to an electrical waveform suitable for transmission over the communication channel. Modulation is one
of the most powerful tools in the hands of a communication systems designer. It can
be effectively used to minimize the effects of channel noise, to match the frequency
spectrum of the transmitted signal with channel characteristics, to provide the capability to multiplex many signals, and to overcome some equipment limitations.
The important parameters of the modulator are the types of waveforms used, the
duration of the waveforms, the power level, and the bandwidth used. The modulator accomplishes the task of minimizing the effects of channel noise by the use of
large signal power and bandwidth, and by the use of waveforms that last for longer
durations.
1.2.5

Demodulator

Modulation is a reversible process, and the extraction of the message from the information bearing waveform produced by the modulator is accomplished by the demodulator. For a given type of modulation, the most important parameter of the
demodulator is the method of demodulation. There are a variety of techniques available for demodulating a given modulated waveform; the actual procedure used determines the equipment complexity needed and the accuracy of demodulation. Given
the type and duration of waveforms used by the modulator, the power level at the
modulator, the physical and noise characteristics of the channel, and the type of demodulation, we can derive unique relationships between data rate, power bandwidth
requirements, and the probability of incorrectly decoding a message bit.
1.2.6

Channel Encoder/Decoder

Digital channel coding is a practical method of realizing high transmission reliability

and efficiency that otherwise may be achieved only by the use of signals of longer
duration in the modulation/demodulation process. With digital coding, a relatively
small set of analog signals, often two, is selected for transmission over the channel
and the demodulator has the conceptually simple task of distinguishing between two
different waveforms of known shapes. Error control is accomplished by the channel
coding operation that consists of systematically adding extra bits to the output of the
source coder. While these extra bits themselves convey no information, they make it
possible for the receiver to detect and/or correct some of the errors in the information
bearing bits.
There are two methods of performing the channel coding operation. In the first
method, called the block coding method, the encoder takes a block of k information
bits from the source encoder and adds r error control bits. The number of error con-

DESIGN OF COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS

trol bits added will depend on the value of k and the error control capabilities desired.
In the second method, called the convolutional coding method, the information bearing message stream is encoded in a continuous fashion by continuously interleaving
information bits and error control bits. Both methods require storage and processing
of binary data at the encoder and decoder. While this requirement was a limiting factor in the early days of data communication, it is no longer such a problem because
of the availability of solid state memory and microprocessor devices at reasonable
prices.
The important parameters of a channel encoder are the method of coding, rate or
efficiency of the coder (as measured by the ratio of data rate at input to the data rate
at the output), error control capabilities, and complexity of the encoder.
The channel decoder recovers the information bearing bits from the coded binary
stream. Error detection and possible correction is also performed by the channel
decoder. The decoder operates either in a block mode or in a continuous sequential
mode depending on the type of coding used in the system. The complexity of the
decoder and the time delay involved in the decoder are important design parameters.

1.3

Design of Communication Systems

When planning a communication system, the designers task is one of deciding on

a particular type of communication system for a given application. The system he
proposes should meet a specified set of performance requirements. For analog message signals, the system performance is specified in terms of the ratio of the average
message signal power to noise power at the destination point. For discrete message
signals the probability of incorrectly decoding a message symbol at the receiver is
used as a performance measure.
While designing a communication system the engineer faces several constraints.
These constraints are: timebandwidth constraints, noise limitation, and equipment
(cost) constraints.
1.3.1

TimeBandwidth Constraint

For efficient utilization of a communication system, it is necessary to send as much

information as possible in as short time span as possible. A convenient measure
of signaling speed in a communication system is the bandwidth of the signal. When
signal transmission takes place in real time over a communication channel, the design
should insure that the signal bandwidth is less than or equal to the channel bandwidth.
If this constraint cannot be satisfied, then it may be necessary to decrease signaling
speed and thereby increase transmission time.
1.3.2

Noise Limitation

Noise refers to unwanted, often unpredictable, electrical waveforms that corrupt the
message signal. Noise can be classified into two broad categories depending on its

10

INTRODUCTION

source. Noise generated by components within a communication system is referred

to as internal noise. The second category of noise, called external noise, results
from sources external to the communication system. External noise sources include
manmade sources and extraterrestrial natural sources.
1.3.3

Equipment Limitation

Timebandwidth and noise limitations dictate what can or cannot be achieved in

terms of performance in a communication system. This theoretical limit, however,
may not be reached in a practical system due to equipment limitations. For example, theory might call for a band pass filter with a quality factor of 100 at a center
frequency of 1 kHz and a cutoff rate of 90 dB/decade. Such a filter cannot be
realized in practice. Even if a filter with nearly identical characteristics can be built,
the cost may exceed what the user of the communication system is willing to pay.
1.4

Mathematical Models for Communication Channels

In the design of communication systems for transmitting information through physical channels, we find it convenient to construct mathematical models that reflect the
most important characteristics of the transmission medium. Then, the mathematical
model for the channel is used in the design of the channel encoder and modulator at
the transmitter and the demodulator and channel decoder at the receiver. Next, we
provide a brief description of the channel models that are frequently used to characterize many of the physical channels that we encounter in practice.
1.4.1

The Additive Noise Channel

The simplest mathematical model for a communication channel is the additive noise
channel, illustrated in Fig. 1.3. In this model the transmitted signal s(t) is corrupted
by an additive random noise process (t). Physically, the additive noise process may
arise from electronic components and amplifiers at the receiver of the communication
system, or from interference encountered in transmission, as in the case of radio
signal transmission.

Figure 1.3

The additive noise channel.

If the noise is introduced primarily by electronic components and amplifiers at the

receiver, it may be characterized as thermal noise. This type of noise is characterized
statistically as a Gaussian noise process. Hence, the resulting mathematical model

MATHEMATICAL MODELS FOR COMMUNICATION CHANNELS

11

for the channel is usually called the additive Gaussian noise channel. Because this
channel model applies to a broad class of physical communication channels and
because of its mathematical tractability, this is the predominant channel model used
m our communication system analysis and design. Channel attenuation is easily
incorporated into the model. When the signal undergoes attenuation in transmission
through the channel, the received signal is

r(t) = s(t) + (t)

(1.1)

where represents the attenuation factor.

1.4.2

The Linear Filter Channel

In some physical channels such as wireline telephone channels, filters are used to
ensure that the transmitted signals do not exceed specified bandwidth limitations and,
thus, do not interfere with one another. Such channels are generally characterized
mathematically as linear filter channels with additive noise, as illustrated in Fig. 1.4.
Hence, if the channel input is the signal s(t), the channel output is the signal
r(t)

= h(t) s(t) + (t)

Z t
=
h( ) s(t ) d

(1.2)

where h(t) is the impulse response of the linear filter and denotes convolution.

Figure 1.4

1.4.3

The linear filter channel with additive noise.

The Linear TimeVariant Filter Channel

Physical channels such as underwater acoustic channels and ionospheric radio channels which result in timevariant multipath propagation of the transmitted signal
may be characterized mathematically as timevariant linear filters. Such linear filters are characterized by timevariant channel impulse response h(, t) where h(, t)
is the response of the channel at time t, due to an impulse applied at time t . Thus,
represents the age (elapsed time) variable. The linear timevariant filter channel
with additive noise is illustrated Fig. 1.5. For an input signal s(t), the channel output
signal is

12

INTRODUCTION

Figure 1.5

Linear timevariant filter channel with additive noise.

r(t)

= h(, t) s(t) + (t)

Z t
=
h(, t) s(t ) d

(1.3)

A good model for multipath signal propagation through physical channels, such
as the ionosphere (at frequencies below 30 M Hz) and mobile cellular radio channels, is a special case of Eq. (1.3) in which the timevariant impulse response has
the form
h(, t) =

L
X

ak (t) ( k )

(1.4)

k=1

where the ak (t) represent the possibly timevariant attenuation factors for the L
multipath propagation paths. If Eq. (1.4) is substituted into Eq. (1.3), the received
signal has the form
r(t) =

L
X

ak (t) s(t k ) + (t)

(1.5)

k=1

PROBLEMS
1.1

What are the basic components of communication systems?

1.2

What is the difference between channel encoding and source encoding?

1.3 How we can measure the performance of an analog communication system

and a digital communication system?
1.4 From the mathematical models that you have learned, what is the convenient
model for a mobile communication channel?