DEE, CEME, NUST

EE 351 Communication Systems

Lab 7: SSB and FDM

Conducted on:

Submitted on:

Instructor:
Lab Engineer:
Group Members
1)
2)
3)

Aim
Simulation of SSB and FDM techniques in MATLAB

Theory
1) Topic 3.6 of Communication System 5th edition by Simon Haykin
2) Topic 4.5 of Modern Digital and Analog Communication 3rd edition Systems by B. P. Lathi
3) Topic 3.2.3 of Communication Systems Engineering 2nd edition by John G. Proakis

Equipment
PC with MATLAB Installed

Task

Marks
Take two low pass filtered audio signals (message signals sampled at
44khz), (pass band of filter = 0--2k) perform SSB Modulation on both (use
fc1=8k for level 1 modulation of both signals). Then use FDM (use fc1=9k for
level 2 modulation of FD multiplexed signal) to transmit both signals in one
band, then retrieve both signals through Demodulation and frequency
10

translation techniques.

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EE 351 Communication Systems

Explanation
SSB Modulation
Remember that an AM signal
s(t) = Ac[1 + km(t)] cos ct
has the Fourier transform
S() = Ac( + c) + Ac( c) + 0.5AckM( + c) + AckM( c)
The spectral components in the AM signal equal distances above and below the carrier frequency
contain identical information because they are complex conjugates of each other. The portion above
the carrier frequency is called the upper sideband and the portion below the lower sideband. In
single-sideband (SSB) modulation only the upper sideband or the lower sideband is transmitted.
Thus, SSB modulation requires half the bandwidth of AM or DSBSC-AM modulation. We will assume
that the baseband message signal m(t) is band limited with a cut off frequency W which is less than
the carrier frequency c. Then the required channel bandwidth for an SSB signal is W. For SSB
modulation first the DSBSC-AM signal a(t) = Acm(t) cos ct is formed which has the transform
A() = 0.5AcM( c) + 0.5AcM( + c)
and is centered at the carrier frequency c. Then H() selects the desired sideband. Upper sideband
modulation uses the high pass filter

1 for c
Hu
0 elsewhere
and the lower sideband SSB modulation uses the low pass filter

1 for < c
Hl
0 elsewhere
Block diagram of SSB Modulator using DSBSC-AM and a filter is given below

Figure 1: SSB Modulator

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EE 351 Communication Systems

SSB Demodulation
Block diagram of SSB demodulator is given below

Figure 2: SSB Demodulator

Output of the Mixer IS given by
b(t) = Acm(t) cos2ct H(w)
= 0.5Acm(t)H() + 0.5Acm(t) cos 2ctH()
First part of equation is desired demodulated component. However for cancelling the effect of filter H()
another filter G() can be used.

Frequency Division Multiplexing

We have seen that amplitude modulation of a sinusoidal carrier by a message signal
m(t) translates the message signal in frequency by an amount equal to the carrier frequency fc. If we
have two or more message signals to transmit simultaneously over the communications channel, it is
possible to have each message signal modulate a carrier of a different frequency, where the minimum
separation between two adjacent carriers is either 2W (for DSB AM) or W (for SSB AM), where W is the
bandwidth of each of the message signals. Thus, the various message signals occupy separate
frequency bands of the channel and do not interfere with one another in transmission over the
channel. The process of combining a number of separate message signals into a composite signal for
transmission over a common channel is called multiplexing. There are two commonly used methods
for signal multiplexing: (1) time-division multiplexing and (2) frequency-division multiplexing. Timedivision multiplexing is usually
used in the transmission of digital information Frequency-division multiplexing (FDM) may be used
with either analog or digital signal transmission.
In FDM, the message signals are separated in frequency as described above. A typical configuration of
an FDM system is shown in Figure 3. This figure illustrates the frequency division multiplexing of K
message signals at the transmitter and their demodulation at the receiver. The low pass filters at the
transmitter are used to ensure that the bandwidth of the message signals is limited to W Hz. Each
signal modulates a separate carrier; hence, K modulators are required. Then, the signals from the K
modulators are summed and transmitted over the channel. For SSB, the modulator outputs are filtered
prior to summing the modulated signals. At the receiver of an FDM system, the signals are usually
separated by passing through a parallel band of band pass filters, where each filter is tuned to one of
the carrier frequencies and has a bandwidth that is sufficiently wide to pass the desired signal. The
output of each band pass filter is demodulated and each demodulated signal is fed to a low pass filter
3

DEE, CEME, NUST

EE 351 Communication Systems

that passes the baseband message signal and eliminates the double frequency components. FDM is
widely used in radio and telephone communications. For example, in telephone communications, each
voice-message signal occupies a nominal bandwidth of 3 kHz.
The message signal is single-sideband modulated for bandwidth efficient transmission. In the first level
of multiplexing, 12 signals are stacked in frequency, with a frequency separation of 4 kHz between
adjacent carriers. Thus, a composite 48-kHz channel, called a group channel, is used to transmit the 12
voice-band signals simultaneously. In the next level of FDM, a number of group channels (typically five
or six) are stacked together in frequency to form a supergroup channel, and the composite signal is
transmitted over the channel. Higher-order multiplexing is obtained by combining several super group
channels. Thus, an FDM hierarchy is employed in telephone communication systems

Figure 3: Frequency division multiplexing

CAUTIONS
1) Block diagram for help is shown below.
2) Show FFT plots at every level i.e. before and after modulation/ filtering/ demodulation/
multiplexing
3) Write Matlab code for FFT plots in stop function of Model properties of the same Simulink file
neither use scope nor use separate M file
4) Analyse and validate the change in spectrum of signal at every level using SSB and FDM theory (i.e.
compare with on paper designed spectrums)
5) Play the demodulated signal it should be same as input message signal..