CHAPTER #1:

Basic of Communication Systems

 OUTLINE

Elements of communication system and its functionality

Types of communication modes

Information theory, bandwidth and channel capacity

Gain and loss ratio in decibel

Signal-to-noise ratio
 Introduction

All communication systems have the same basic function of

information transfer.

A communication system conveys information from its source to a

destination some distance away.

Source Flow of information Destination

A simple communication system

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 Introduction

Electronic Communication Systems is defined as the whole mechanism

of sending and receiving as well as processing of information
electronically from source to destination.

Example: Radiotelephony, broadcasting, point-to-point, mobile

communications, computer communications, radar and satellite
systems.

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 Introduction

Main objective of having an established communication system is to

produce an accurate replica of the transmitted information that is
transferred between two or more points (destinations) through a
communication channel, with minimum error.
Why we need communication systems?

Interaction purposes enables people to interact in a timely fashion on

a global level in social, political, economic and scientific areas, through
telephones, electronic-mail and video conference.

Transfer Information Transmission in the form of audio, video, texts,

computer data and picture through facsimile, telegraph or telex and
internet.

Broadcasting Broadcast information to masses, through radio,

television or teletext.
Elements of Communication System
and
Its Functionality
Elements of Communication System
 1) Information Source

Information Source: Messages come from voice, data, video and other
types of sources (ex: Microphone, Camera, Keyboard)

The message produced by a source must be converted by an input

transducer to a form suitable for the particular type of communication
system.

Input Transducer Converts source to electric signal.

Example: In electrical communications, speech waves are converted by a
microphone to voltage variation.
 2) Transmitter

The transmitter is a collection of electronic components and circuits that

converts the electrical signal into a signal suitable for transmission
over a given medium.

Transmitters are made up of oscillators, amplifiers, tuned circuits and

filters, modulators, frequency mixers, frequency synthesizers, and other
circuits.

Signal processing for transmission almost always involves modulation and

may also include coding. In addition to modulation, other functions
performed by the transmitter are amplification, filtering and coupling
the modulated signal to the channel.
 2) Transmitter

Block diagram of a general transmitter:

Transmitting
Antenna

Modulating Audio RF
Modulator
Signal Amplifier Amplifier

Carrier
Signal
 3) Channel / Medium
Channel/Medium is the link or path or electric medium over which information flows from
the source to destination. Many links combined will establish a communication networks.

There are 5 criteria of a transmission system; Capacity, Performance, Distance, Security

and Cost which includes the installation, operation and maintenance.

2 main categories of channel that commonly used are:

line (guided media) wires, coaxial cables, optical fibers (laser beam)
free space (unguided media) antennas (radio wave), waveguide

Every channel introduces some amount of loss or attenuation, so the signal power
progressively decreases with increasing distance.

When long distances are required, repeater amplifier may be used along the path to
maintain the signal integrity.
 4) Receiver

Receives the electrical signals or electromagnetic waves that are sent by the
transmitter through the channel.

It is a collection of electronic components and circuits that accepts the transmitted

message from the channel and converts it back into a form understandable by
humans.

Receivers contain amplifiers, oscillators, mixers, tuned circuits and filters, and a
demodulator or detector that recovers the original intelligence signal from the
modulated carrier.
 4) Receiver

Block diagram of a general receiver:

Receiving Antenna

RF
Amplifier

Intermediate
Mixer Frequency Audio
Demodulator Destination
Amplifier Amplifier

Local
Oscillator

Destination is where the user receives the information, such as loud speaker, visual display,
computer monitor, plotter and printer.
 5) Noise

Noise is random, undesirable electronic energy that enters the communication

system via the communicating medium and interferes with the transmitted
message.

One type of noise is Attenuation: reduces signal strength

Distortion appear as alterations of the signals wave shape or spectrum. It is

caused by imperfect respond of the system and it usually disappears when the
signal is turned off.

If the channel has a linear but distorting response, distortion may be corrected, or
reduced with the help of equalizers.
 5) Noise

Interference is contamination by extraneous signals from human sources like

other transmitter, power lines, machinery, switching circuits and etc.

Interference occurs most often in radio systems whose receiving antennas usually
intercept several signals at the same time.
Types of Communication Modes
 Direction of transmission
Simplex: one-way transmission.
Two-way communication requires a transmitter
and receiver at each end.
Full duplex system has a channel that allows
simultaneous transmission in both directions.
Half-duplex system allows transmission in either
direction but not at the same time.

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 1-3: Types of Electronic Communication

Electronic communications are classified according to whether they

are
1. One-way (simplex) or two-way (full duplex or half duplex) transmissions
2. Analog or digital signals.
 1-3: Types of Electronic Communication

Simplex
The simplest method of electronic communication is referred to as simplex.
This type of communication is one-way. Examples are:
Radio
TV broadcasting
Beeper (personal receiver)
 1-3: Types of Electronic Communication

Full Duplex
Most electronic communication is two-way and is referred to as duplex.
When people can talk and listen simultaneously, it is called full duplex. The
telephone is an example of this type of communication.
 1-3: Types of Electronic Communication

Half Duplex
The form of two-way communication in which only one party transmits at a
time is known as half duplex. Examples are:
Police, military, etc. radio transmissions
Citizen band (CB)
Family radio
Amateur radio
 1-3: Types of Electronic Communication

Analog Signals
An analog signal is a smoothly and continuously varying voltage or current.
Examples are:
Sine wave
Voice
Video (TV)
1-3: Types of Electronic Communication

Figure 1-5: Analog signals (a) Sine wave tone. (b) Voice. (c) Video (TV) signal.
 1-3: Types of Electronic Communication

Digital Signals
Digital signals change in steps or in discrete increments.
Most digital signals use binary or two-state codes. Examples are:
Telegraph (Morse code)
Continuous wave (CW) code
Serial binary code (used in computers)
1-3: Types of Electronic Communication

Figure 1-6: Digital signals (a) Telegraph (Morse code). (b) Continuous-wave (CW)
code. (c) Serial binary code.
Information Theory, Bandwidth and
Channel Capacity
 Fundamental Limitation
Technological problems
Hardware availability, economics factor, federal
regulations, and so on.

Limitations on performance
electrical noise and bandwidth allocated for the
transmitted signals.

Bandwidth: a measure of speed.

Noise measured relative to an information signal in
terms of the signal-to-noise power ratio, S/N
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 Electromagnetic wave
propagation
Communication channel employs electromagnetic
wave propagation through the atmosphere.

Present in any circuit in which time-varying voltage

and currents are present.

Velocity of propagation = speed at which electrical

waves travel.
The velocity of propagation is assumed to be the same
as the speed of light, or in some cases it is less.

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 Wavelength and frequency
Wave propagation are the frequency, the period and the
wavelength.
Period is the time duration of one cycle.
Wavelength: the distance a given point in a wave travels in
one cycle.

In many applications, the velocity of propagation is

assumed to be that of free space.
The symbol c, is commonly used to represent the free-
space velocity.

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 Information Theory
Information
is that quantity if information that is
transferred between transmitter and receiver
Information is based upon probability
Information does not have meaning

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 Bits, Digits and Symbols
Bits are units of information
Digits are binary symbols to transport Bits
Symbols are M-ary transport of Bits and Digits
R = bit rate or information rate
rb = digit rate
rs = symbol rate or baud rate

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 Mathematical Expressions
Self Information of a symbol

1 b = base
I i log b Pi = probability of
Pi message occurring

For base 2, the resulting unit of information is called bit.

When Pi=, Ii=1. Thus, 1 bit is the amount of information when one of
the two possible equally likely events occurs.

The total information equals the sum of individual message

contributions.

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 Entropy
Average Information per symbol
m
1
entropy H ( x) Pi log 2
1 Pi
Entropy (H) is defines as the average amount of information conveyed
per symbol.
Entropy is maximized when the symbols are equiprobable.
In the binary case, as either of the 2 messages becomes more likely, the
entropy decreases.
Generally : 0H(x)log M

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 Channel Capacity
The ability of a channel to transfer information
error free.
Cannot be exceeded without errors.
Controlled by:
Bandwidth
Signal to Noise

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 Capacity Equation
Taking both limitations into account, Shannon stated that
the rate of information transmission cannot exceed the
channel capacity.

C = B log (1+S/N)
B is the channel bandwidth in hertz, rs =2BW

C = rs log2M
Where log2M is max entropy of source H(Y)
Thus, C give max error free transmission

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 Achieving Capacity
Communication Systems are designed with capacity in
mind.
This cannot be achieved in practice.
Requires:
Source Coding
Error Coding
Signalling

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 Example
Bandwidth = 1MHz
S/N = 15 = 11.76dB
Capacity = 4Mbps
Maximum baud rate = 2Mbaud
(baud rate: num of symbols/sec transferred)

M rb rs
2 2Mbps 2Mbaud

Implies4that 4 symbols
4Mbps
to be used. 2Mbaud

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 Example
The SNR of a transmission channel is 12dB. If the
channel capacity is 6Mbps, determine the maximum
transmission symbol rate for error free
transmission.

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 Noise
Electrical noise - undesired voltages or current
that ultimately end up appearing in the receiver
output.
Static noise electrical noise that may occur in the
output of a receiver.

External noise - present in a received radio signal

has been introduced in the transmitting medium.
Internal noise - introduced by the receiver.

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 External noise
Man-made noise often produced by spark-producing
mechanisms.
This noise radiated from its generating source through the
atmosphere in the same fashion that a transmitting antenna
radiated desirable electrical signals to a receiving antenna.

Atmospheric noise caused by naturally occurring disturbances

in the earths atmosphere.
The frequency content is spread over the entire radio spectrum,
but its intensity is reversely related to frequency.

Space noise external noise arrived from outer space.

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 Internal noise
The noise already present at the receiving antenna has
another component added to it before it reaches the
output.

Thermal noise generated by electronic circuits, due to the

thermal interaction between the free electron and vibrating
ions in a conductor.
White noise its frequency content is uniform across the
spectrum.
Pn=kTB
Short noise noise introduce by the transistor due to the
discrete-particle nature of the current carriers in the p-n
junction of semiconductor.

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 Example:
A 500 resistor is connected across the 500
antenna input of a television receiver. The
bandwidth of the receiver is 6 MHz and the resistor
is at room temperature 20oC. Find the noise power
and noise voltage applied to the receiver input.

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 1-4: Modulation and Multiplexing

Modulation and multiplexing are electronic techniques for

transmitting information efficiently from one place to another.
Modulation makes the information signal more compatible with the
medium.
Multiplexing allows more than one signal to be transmitted
concurrently over a single medium.
 1-4: Modulation and Multiplexing

Baseband Transmission
Baseband information can be sent directly and unmodified over the medium or
can be used to modulate a carrier for transmission over the medium.
In telephone or intercom systems, the voice is placed on the wires and
transmitted.
In some computer networks, the digital signals are applied directly to coaxial or
twisted-pair cables for transmission.
 1-4: Modulation and Multiplexing

Broadband Transmission
A carrier is a high frequency signal that is modulated by audio, video, or data.
A radio-frequency (RF) wave is an electromagnetic signal that is able to travel
long distances through space.
 1-4: Modulation and Multiplexing

Broadband Transmission
A broadband transmission takes place when a carrier signal is modulated,
amplified, and sent to the antenna for transmission.
The two most common methods of modulation are:
Amplitude Modulation (AM)
Frequency Modulation (FM)
Another method is called phase modulation (PM), in which the phase angle of
the sine wave is varied.
 1-4: Modulation and Multiplexing

Figure 1-7: Modulation at the transmitter.

1-4: Modulation and Multiplexing

Figure 1-8: Types of modulation. (a) Amplitude modulation. (b) Frequency modulation.
 1-4: Modulation and Multiplexing

Broadband Transmission
Frequency-shift keying (FSK) takes place when data is converted to
frequency-varying tones.

Devices called modems (modulator-demodulator) translate the data from

digital to analog and back again.

Demodulation or detection takes place in the receiver when the original

baseband (e.g. audio) signal is extracted.
 1-4: Modulation and Multiplexing

Multiplexing
Multiplexing is the process of allowing two or more signals to share the same
medium or channel.
The three basic types of multiplexing are:
Frequency division
Time division
Code division
 1-4: Modulation and Multiplexing

Figure 1-11: Multiplexing at the transmitter.

 1-5: The Electromagnetic Spectrum

The range of electromagnetic signals encompassing all frequencies is

referred to as the electromagnetic spectrum.
1-5: The Electromagnetic Spectrum

Figure 1-13: The electromagnetic spectrum.

 1-5: The Electromagnetic Spectrum

Frequency and Wavelength: Frequency

A signal is located on the frequency spectrum according to its frequency and
wavelength.
Frequency is the number of cycles of a repetitive wave that occur in a given
period of time.
A cycle consists of two voltage polarity reversals, current reversals, or
electromagnetic field oscillations.
Frequency is measured in cycles per second (cps).
The unit of frequency is the hertz (Hz).
 1-5: The Electromagnetic Spectrum

Frequency and Wavelength: Wavelength

Wavelength is the distance occupied by one cycle of a wave and is usually
expressed in meters.
Wavelength is also the distance traveled by an electromagnetic wave during the
time of one cycle.
The wavelength of a signal is represented by the Greek letter lambda ().
1-5: The Electromagnetic Spectrum

Figure 1-15: Frequency and wavelength. (a) One cycle. (b) One wavelength.
1-5: The Electromagnetic Spectrum
Frequency and Wavelength: Wavelength
Wavelength () = speed of light frequency
Speed of light = 3 108 meters/second
Therefore:
= 3 108 / f
Example:
What is the wavelength if the frequency is 4MHz?
= 3 108 / 4 MHz
= 75 meters (m)
1-5: The Electromagnetic Spectrum

Frequency Ranges from 30 Hz to 300 GHz

The electromagnetic spectrum is divided into segments:

Extremely Low Frequencies (ELF) 30300 Hz.

Voice Frequencies (VF) 3003000 Hz.
Very Low Frequencies (VLF) include the higher end of the
human hearing range up to
about 20 kHz.
Low Frequencies (LF) 30300 kHz.

Medium Frequencies (MF) 3003000 kHz

AM radio 5351605 kHz.
1-5: The Electromagnetic Spectrum

Frequency Ranges from 30 Hz to 300 GHz

High Frequencies (HF) 330 MHz

(short waves; VOA, BBC
broadcasts; government and
military two-way communication;
amateur radio, CB.
Very High Frequencies (VHF) 30300 MHz
FM radio broadcasting (88108
MHz), television channels 213.
Ultra High Frequencies (UHF) 3003000 MHz
TV channels 1467, cellular
phones, military communication.
1-5: The Electromagnetic Spectrum

Frequency Ranges from 30 Hz to 300 GHz

Microwaves and Super High 130 GHz
Frequencies (SHF)
Satellite communication, radar,
wireless LANs, microwave ovens

Extremely High Frequencies (EHF) 30300 GHz

Satellite communication, computer
data, radar
 1-5: The Electromagnetic Spectrum

Optical Spectrum
The optical spectrum exists directly above the millimeter wave region.
Three types of light waves are:
Infrared
Visible spectrum
Ultraviolet
 1-5: The Electromagnetic Spectrum

Optical Spectrum: Infrared

Infrared radiation is produced by any physical equipment that generates heat,
including our bodies.
Infrared is used:
In astronomy, to detect stars and other physical bodies in the universe,
For guidance in weapons systems, where the heat radiated from airplanes or missiles
can be detected and used to guide missiles to targets.
In most new TV remote-control units, where special coded signals are transmitted by
an infrared LED to the TV receiver to change channels, set the volume, and perform
other functions.
In some of the newer wireless LANs and all fiber-optic communication.
 1-5: The Electromagnetic Spectrum

Optical Spectrum: The Visible Spectrum

Just above the infrared region is the visible spectrum we refer to as light.
Red is low-frequency or long-wavelength light
Violet is high-frequency or short-wavelength light.
Light waves very high frequency enables them to handle a tremendous amount
of information (the bandwidth of the baseband signals can be very wide).
 1-5: The Electromagnetic Spectrum

Optical Spectrum: Ultraviolet

Ultraviolet is not used for communication
Its primary use is medical.
 1-6: Bandwidth
Bandwidth (BW) is that portion of the electromagnetic spectrum
occupied by a signal.

Channel bandwidth refers to the range of frequencies required to

transmit the desired information.
 1-6: Bandwidth

More Room at the Top

Today, virtually the entire frequency spectrum between approximately 30 kHz
and 300 MHz has been spoken for.
There is tremendous competition for these frequencies, between companies,
individuals, and government services in individual carriers and between the
different nations of the world.
The electromagnetic spectrum is one of our most precious natural resources.
 1-6: Bandwidth

More Room at the Top

Communication engineering is devoted to making the best use of that finite
spectrum.
Great effort goes into developing communication techniques that minimize the
bandwidth required to transmit given information and thus conserve spectrum
space.
This provides more room for additional communication channels and gives
other services or users an opportunity to take advantage of it.
 1-6: Bandwidth

Spectrum Management and Standards

Spectrum management is provided by agencies set up by the United States
and other countries to control spectrum use.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the National Telecommunications and
Information Administration (NTIA) are two agencies that deal in spectrum management.
Standards are specifications and guidelines necessary to ensure compatibility
between transmitting and receiving equipment.
Gain and Loss Ratio in decibel (dB)
 Decibel Power Gain

Decibel power gain

2
The absolute power gain G is defines as, =
1

The decibel power gain in decibels is defined by

2
= 10 log10 G = 10 log10
1
When output power > input power; power gain >1, there is a true
gain, decibels gain is positive.
When output power < input power; power gain < 1, this means loss
of power, decibels power gain is negative.

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 Decibels power loss
The absolute power loss L defines as
1 1
= =
2

The decibel power loss LdB define as

P1
= 10 log L = 10 log
P2

Thus, a negative gain is a positive loss and vice versa.

=

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Decibel measure of voltage and
current
While most of the basic decibel form is concerned with
power ratios, it is also possible to convert voltage and
current ratios to equivalent decibel forms.
2 2 2 /
= 10 log = 10 log 2 = 10 log 2 /1 2
= 10 log 2
1 1 /
2
= 20 log 2 /1 = 20 log
2
= 20 log 2 /1 = 20 log

All of the decibel values that are derived from power level
that are integer power of 10 are exact. Note that a decibel is
not an absolute unit.

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 Decibel signal level reference
standards
One milliwatt (mW), and all decibel measurements relative to
that level are assigned the unit dBm.

If the power level us given directly in mW, then division is by 1 in

the same manner as for dbW. If the power level is given in watts,
one can divide by as indicated in the last form.

()
() = 10 log
1

= 10 log = 10 log
1 1 103

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Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR)
 Signal-to-Noise Ratio
Assume that the average signal power is P and that the average noise
power is N, both measured in the same units. The absolute signal power
to noise power ratio is often express symbolically as S/N, and it can be
define as

=

Decibel Signal to Noise ratio

(/) = 10 log(/)
(/) = 10 log 10 log
The signal-to-noise ratio in db is equal to the signal power express in
any arbitrary decibel signal level minus the noise power level express
in the same units.

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 Example
At a certain power in a communication system, the signal
power is 5 mW, and the noise power is 100 nW. Determine
the absolute signal-to-noise ratio and the decibel signal-to-
noise ratio. Convert both signal and noise power levels to
dBm values and determine the decibel signal-to-noise ratio
from this values.

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