Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1: Introduction to
Communication Systems
By Dr Khairun Nidzam bin Ramli
Topics Covered in Chapter 1

1.
Introduction to Communication Systems
2.
Terminology
3.
Types of Electronic Communication
4.
Modulation and Multiplexing
5.
The Electromagnetic Spectrum
6.
Bandwidth
7.
Decibel and Power
BEB31803 ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

Dept of Communication Engineering, FKEE
Introduction to Communication System
Communication is the process of exchanging

information form one point to another.
Main barriers are language and distance
Contemporary societys emphasis is now the

accumulation, packaging and exchange of
information.
Should be efficient, reliable, and secure.
Requires transmitter, channel or medium and

receiver.
During the communication process, noise degrades

or interferes with the transmitted information.

Transmitter
Signal source
Base band
converter
Modulation and
power
amplification
Transmission
(Electromagn
etic Field)
Subsystem
synchronization
Receiver
Amplification and
demodulation
Electromagneti
c field
Base band
inverter
Synchronization
system

Base band
processing
World without Electronic Communication!

TERMINOLOGY
Electronic communication
Information
The commodity produced by the source for transfer to

some user at the destination.
Message
transmission, reception and processing of information

between 2 or more locations using electronic circuit.
The physical manifestation of information as produced by

the information source.
Signals
A physical embodiment of information voltage signal or

current signal
Review 1: Signals
In Signals and Systems, we

have learned various types
of signals, e.g..
Continuous Time Signal
Discrete Time Signal
Periodic/ Aperiodic Signals
Even/ Odd Signals
Power/ Energy Signals
We have also learned

techniques that can be used
to do signal analysis:
Signal transformation
Fourier series
Fourier transform

TERMINOLOGY
Transmitter (Tx)
collection of one or more electronic devices or circuits that

converts the original source into a signal that is more suitable for
transmission over a given transmission medium, e.g. modulation,
coding, mixing, translate
Other functions performed - Amplification, filtering, radiation

(antenna)
Message converted to into electrical signals by transducers
Receiver (Rx)
collection of electronic devices and circuits that accepts the

transmitted signal from the transmission medium and converts them
back to their original form, e.g.. mixing, demodulation, decoding
Other functions performed: Amplification, filtering.
Transducer converts the electrical signal at its input into a form

desired by the system used
Modulation
Mixing
a process of changing one or more properties of the

analog carrier in proportion to the information signal.
A process of combining two or more signals.
Filtering
A process of removing some unwanted components or

features from a signal.
Most often, this means removing some frequencies and

not others in order to suppress interfering signals and
reduce background noise.

TERMINOLOGY
Baseband Signal/ Transmission
Signal has spectral magnitude that is non zero near .
The original information signal such as audio, video, or

computer data. Can be analog or digital.
Transmission of baseband signals without modulation,

that is, without any shift in the range of frequencies of
the signal.

Broadband signal/ Transmission
The baseband signal modulates or modifies a carrier

signal, which is usually a sine wave at a frequency much
higher than the baseband signal.
Transmission of broadband signal simultaneously over a

range of different frequencies as electromagnetic waves.
The bandwidth of a broadband system can usually carry

multiple, simultaneous data signals.
These signals are unidirectionaltraveling in only one

direction at a timeso a broadband system can generally
either transmit or receive but cannot do both
simultaneously.

TERMINOLOGY
Base band converter
Subsystem synchronization
to convert the signal source into base band waveform for

the carrier signal before transmission. Can be either
analog or digital system.
synchronizing connection between the TX and RX for
recovery processes.
Transmission medium
provides a means of transporting signal from the Tx to

the Rx.
e.g. : copper wire (signal as electrical current flow),

optical fiber cable (signal in electromagnetic light wave),
free space (signal in electromagnetic radio wave)
TERMINOLOGY
Transmission impairments
Noise
random, undesired electrical energy that enters the

communication system via the communication media (i.e. inserted
between Tx and Rx) and interferes with the transmitted message.
Attenuation
any undesired effect on the signals while traveling from the

transmitter to the receiver, such as noise, attenuation,
interference and other losses caused by the atmosphere or the
medium itself.
drop in signal power due to distance travel by the signal.
Interference
noise signal that has the same frequency as the information signal.

Types of Signals
analog signal : a continuously varying
voltage or current
e.g. sound, video
digital signal : binary pulses

or codes
Figure 1.3 : Examples of signals (a) analog (b) digital.

Analog Signals
Components of Speech
Frequency range (of hearing) 20 Hz-20 kHz
Speech 100Hz-7kHz
Easily converted into electromagnetic signal for

transmission
Sound frequencies with varying volume converted into
electromagnetic frequencies with varying voltage
Limit frequency range for voice channel ~ 300-3400Hz

Digital Signal
From computer terminals etc.
Bandwidth depends on data rate

ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM
Electromagnetic wave is
a signal where its
electrical and magnetic
field change at fixed
rate.
Frequency range for

communication start
roughly from 200kHz until
few giga Hertz (GHz).
Figure 3 : Electromagnetic wave
E: Electric fields
B: Magnetic fields
Frequency (f)
cycle
no. of times a periodic motion occurs in a given period

of time
Hertz (Hz) or cycles per second
Period = time for one repetition (T)
T = 1/ f
one complete alternation of a waveform
wavelength ()
distance traveled by an electromagnetic wave during

one period
= cT
f = c
c = 3 x 108 ms-1 (speed of light in free space)

Table 1: Frequency range (a) designation (b) applications



Extremely Low Frequency (ELF)
ac power line distribution (50 and 60 Hz)
low freq telemetry signal
Voice Frequency (VF)
human speech (most intelligent sound)
Very Low Frequency (VLF)
upper end of human hearing range
musical instrument
government and military (e.g.. submarine)
Low Frequency (LF)
marine and aeronautical navigation
as subcarriers
Medium Frequency (MF)
AM radio broadcasting
marine and aeronautical comm application
High Frequency (HF)
Also known as short wave (SW)
2-way radio communication
SW radio broadcast amateur radio and citizen band (CB)
Very High Frequency (VHF)
mobile radio
marine and aeronautical communication
FM broadcast, TV, amateur radio

Ultra High Frequency (UHF)
* frequency > 1GHz is known as microwave
TV, amateur radio
land mobile communication, cellular phone
Military, certain radar and navigation system
microwave and satellite radio system
Super High Frequency (SHF)
microwave and satellite radio system, radar
specialized form of 2-way radio
Extremely High Frequency (EHF)
seldom used in radio communication except in very sophisticated,

expensive and specialized application
satellite communication, Radar

Infrared*
refers to electromagnetic radiation generally associated with heat
anything that produced heat generate infrared signal e.g. : light

bulb, human body
astronomy (to detect stars), electronic photography
heat-seeking guidance system (weapon)
TV remote control
visible light
optical communication
* freq > 300 GHz are not referred as radio wave

BANDWIDTH
Bandwidth
Portion of the electromagnetic

spectrum occupied by the signal
Frequency range over which a

receiver or other electronic circuits
operate.
Difference between the upper and

lower limit frequency, limits of the
signal, or equipment operation range
Channel bandwidth
Range of frequencies required to

transmit the desired information
e.g. an audio signal (3kHz) being

modulated byBEB31803
a 1000kHz
carrier signal
ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION SYSTEM
using AM modulation
TRANSMISSION MEDIUM
Guided coaxial cable, twisted pair, fiber optic,

waveguide.
Unguided wireless (terrestrial, spacewave, free

space, earth wave).
Characteristics and quality determined by medium

and signal.
For guided, the medium is more important.
For unguided, the bandwidth produced by the

antenna is more important.
Key concerns are data rate and distance.

Characteristics of Guided Media
Twisted pair
Twisted
pairs
(multi-pair
Coaxial
cables)
cable
Optical
fiber
Frequency
Range
0 to 3.5
kHz
Typical
Attenuati
on
0.2 dB/km
@ 1 kHz
Typical
Delay
50 s/km
Repeater
Spacing
2 km
0 to 1 MHz
0.7 dB/km
@ 1 kHz
5 s/km
2 km
0 to 500
MHz
186 to 370
THz
7 dB/km @
10 MHz
0.2 to 0.5
dB/km
4 s/km
1 to 9 km
5 s/km
40 km

Characteristics of Wireless Propagation
Signal travels along three routes
Ground wave
Follows contour of earth
Up to 2MHz
AM radio
Sky wave
2 MHz < f < 30 MHz
Amateur radio, BBC world service, Voice of America
Signal refracted from ionosphere layer of upper atmosphere
Line of sight
Above 30MHz
cellular phone
TRANSMISSION IMPAIRMENTS
Signal received may differ from signal transmitted
Analog - degradation of signal quality
Digital - bit errors
Caused by
Attenuation and attenuation distortion
Delay distortion
Noise

Attenuation
Signal strength falls off with distance
Depends on medium
Received signal strength:
must be enough to be detected
must be sufficiently higher than noise to be received without

error
Attenuation is an increasing function of frequency
Delay Distortion
Propagation velocity varies with frequency
Noise
Will be discuss later

TYPES OF ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION
Can be classified in three ways
Transmission mode (one-way, two-way)
Analog or digital system
Baseband or broadband transmission

Transmission Mode
One-way (Simplex)
info travels in 1 direction only
receive-only, transmit-only
e.g.. Radio and TV broadcasting, telemetry system
Two-way (duplex)
a) half duplex
both direction, but only one way at a time
2-way-alternate, either-way, over-and-out
e.g. police radio
b) Full duplex
Both directions at the same time
2-way-simultaneous, both-way
e.g.. telephone
Analog Or Digital System
Analog system
energy is transmitted and received in analog form
both info and carrier are analog signals
Digital system
Digital transmission
a true digital system where digital pulses are transferred

between 2 or more points
no analog carrier
original source info may be in digital or analog signal
if analog signal convert to digital pulses prior to

transmission and converted back to analog signal at the RX
require a physical medium between TX-RX

Digital radio
transmission of digitally modulated analog carriers between

2 or more points
modulating signal and demodulated signals are digital pulses
the digital pulses could originate from a digital transmission

system, from a digital source i.e. computer, or a binary
encoded analog signal
transmission medium may be physical facility or free space

Advantages of Digital Transmission
Digital technology
Data integrity
Longer distances over lower quality lines
Capacity utilization
High bandwidth links economical
High degree of multiplexing easier with digital techniques
Security & Privacy
Low cost LSI/VLSI technology
Encryption
Integration
Can treat analog and digital data similarly

Baseband Or Broadband Transmission
Baseband transmission
putting the original signal directly into the medium
Baseband:
Digital signals are used, but it can also be used with analog
technologies.
Frequency division multiplexing is not possible
Baseband is bi-directional transmission
Short distance signal travelling
Entire bandwidth of the cable is consumed by a single signal

in a baseband transmission.
Eg : (i) Ethernet

Broadband transmission
original signal is used to modulate a carrier for

transmission over the medium
Broadband:
Analog signals are used
Transmission of data is unidirectional
Signal travelling distance is long
Frequency division multiplexing is possible.
The signals are sent on multiple frequencies and allow all

the multiple signals are sent simultaneously in broadband
transmission.
Eg : (i) Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) and Cable Television

Networks


Encoding Techniques
From the previous discussion, it is obvious that we

can have 4 types of transmission system.
Digital data, digital signal
Analog data, digital signal
Digital data, analog signal
Analog data, analog signal

Digital Data, Digital Signal
Need to know
Timing of bits - when they start and end
Signal levels
Factors affecting successful interpreting of signals
Signal to noise ratio
Data rate
Bandwidth
Example
Nonreturn to Zero-Level (NRZ-L)
Nonreturn to Zero Inverted (NRZI)
Bipolar -AMI
Pseudoternary
Manchester
Differential Manchester
B8ZS
HDB3
Digital Data, Analog Signal
Public telephone system
300Hz to 3400Hz
Use modem (modulator

- demodulator)
Example
Amplitude shift keying

(ASK)
Frequency shift keying

(FSK)
Phase shift keying (PSK)

Analog Data, Digital Signal
Digitization
Conversion of analog data into digital data
Digital data can then be transmitted using digital

encoding such as NRZ-L
Digital data can then be converted to analog signal
Analog to digital conversion done using a codec
Example
Pulse code modulation
Delta modulation

Analog Data, Analog Signals
modulate analog signals to the higher

frequency
Types of analog modulation
Amplitude
Frequency
Phase
Modulation : process of changing one or

more properties (amplitude, frequency,
phase) of the carrier in proportion with
the info signal

MODULATION
Why?
It is extremely difficult to radiate low frequency signals

from an antenna in the form of electromagnetic energy
it is possible theoretically but impractical realistically
f ,
antenna length usually 1/2 or 1/4 of
Thus, for voice signal (300 - 3000 Hz), require very large
antenna expensive to construct and consume more
pore (arperture).

Info signal often occupy the same frequency

band, and if signals from 2 or more sources are
transmitted at the same time, they would
interfere with each other
e.g. all commercial FM station broadcast voice and music

signals that occupy the AF from 300 Hz - 15 kHz
to avoid interference, each station converts its into to a

different frequency band
more space at higher frequency many channels can be

formed to carry many simultaneous communication
without interference

Modulation Techniques
let
general expression for a time varying sine wave of

voltage as a high frequency carrier signal
modulating signal
analog
modulation performed
AM
FM
ll
ll
PM
let
digital
ASK
FSK
QAM
PSK
MULTIPLEXING
Transmission of info from more than one source

over the same transmission medium
increase the no. of communication channel

more info transmitted reduce cost and higher
utilization of the transmission line

Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM)
Multiple signals share common BW of a single

communication channel
Useful BW of medium exceeds required bandwidth of

channel
each signal occupies a separate portion of the BW
Each signal modulates a different sub-carrier freq
Sub-carriers are linearly mixed to form a composite

signal that is usually used to modulate a final carrier
for transmission
carrier frequencies separated so signals do not

overlap (guard bands)
Channel allocated even if no data

at the RX, the recovering

of the individual signal is
done with a DEMUX whose
main component is BPF
tuned to the individual
sub-carrier freq.
For analog signal, i.e.

radio broadcast

FDM System

Time Division Multiplexing (TDM)
Each channel is assigned a time

slot and may transmit for a
brief period using the entire
BW of the medium
Data rate of medium exceeds

data rate of digital signal to be
transmitted
signal sources takes times to

transmit
Time slots do not have to be

evenly distributed amongst
sources
for both analog and digital

signal
TDM System

TDM of Analog and Digital Sources

Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM)
Similar of FDM, but for optical communication
coupling light at 2 or more discrete wavelengths,

into and out of an optical fiber
Multiple beams of light at different frequency
Each colour of light () carries separate data

channel
unlike FDM (same time, same transmission path),

different travels at different speed and did not
take the same path, but enter the fiber at the
same time and same transmission medium
each arrives at the RX at a slightly different time

WDM System
Laser optic source
2
To laser
optical
detector
Fiber cable
1, 2 ..

Gain
Ratio output to the input
Output has greater amplitude than the input

AV
output Vout
input
Vin
FIgure 1.4 Amplifier Gain
Most amplifiers are power amplifier, the same

procedure can be used to calculate power gain, Ap.
Ap = Pout/Pin
Example 1.1
What is the gain of an amplifier that produces an output of 750
mV for 30 V input?
Example 1.2
The power output of an amplifier is 6 W. The power gain is 80.
What is the input power?
Example 1.3
Three cascade amplifier have power gains of 5, 2, and 17. The
input power is 40 mW. What is the output power?
Attenuation
Refers
to loss introduced by a
circuit
Output is less than input
For cascade circuit, total

attenuation is
Voltage divider network may

introduce attenuation
Figure 1.5 Voltage divider introduces attenuation
Figure 1.6 Total attenuation in cascaded network
Attenuation can be
offset by introducing
gain
Figure 1.7 Gain offsets the attenuation

Figure 1.8 Total gain is the product of the individual stage gains and attenuation

Example 1.4
A voltage divider shown in Figure 1.7 has values of R1 = 10k
and R2 = 47k.
1.
What is the attenuation?
2.
What amplifier gain would you need to offset the loss

for an overall gain of 1?

Example 1.5
An amplifier has gain of 45,000, which is too much for the
amplification. With an input voltage of 20 V, what attenuation
factor is needed to keep the output voltage from exceeding
100mV? Let A1= amplifier gain = 45,000; A2 = attenuation factor;
AT = total gain.

Bit Error Rate
Another significant measure of system performance in

term of noise is bit error rate (BER)
Specify the number of bits that are corrupted or destroy

as data are transmitted from TX to the RX
BER of 10-6 indicate that 1 bit out of 1 million bits is

corrupted in the transmission
Several factor contribute to BER is
Bandwidth
Transmission speed
Transmission medium
Environment
Transmission distance
Transmitter and receiver performance

Decibel
A common
way to express power, gain and loss is to use the

decibel unit.
The conversion from absolute value to decibel is given by
dB is not really a unit, it is just a notation to tell the reader

that the value is given in dB.
E.g. 2 in dB is .
E.g. 0.5 in dB is (Loss)
Logarithmic nature of dB large range in absolute value is compressed
Gain and attenuation often expressed in decibels, rather than

absolute value
Using decibel, total gain or attenuation can be calculated by

simply adding the gains and the attenuation expressed in
decibel
Decibel - Power
Decibel
is also used to expressed power in communication.
A notation is added after the dB simbol
dBW, dBm, dB etc.
dBm and dBW are decibel units used for expressing power in
communication.
For dBm, reference level (denominator) 1mW
A larger unit, dBW has reference value of 1W.
E.g. 1 mW
E.g. 1000mW
E.g 1000 mW = 1W

Notice that the

notation dBm is
used for power in
mW and dBW for
power in Watt.
Power in mW
0.01
0.1
0.5
1
2
10
100
1000
dBm
-20
-10
-3
0
3
10
20
30

dBW
Decibel - Power Ratio
Decibel (dB) is also used to measure ratios, i.e. gain,

attenuation, SNR.
Power ratio in communication is usually expressed in dB.

dB = 10 log10 (P1/P2)
For ratios, there is no unit (just dB to tell the value is in dB)
Voltage or current ratios can also be expressed in dB

For voltage dB 20 log
Vout
Vin
For current dB 20 log
I ou t
I in
For power dB 10 log
Pout
Pin

Example 1.6
A microphone has output value of -50dBm, calculate the actual
output power?

Example 1.7
For a three-stage system with an input power Pin = -20 dBm and power gains
of the three stages are 13 dB, 16 dB, and -6 dB, determine the output power:
1.
in dBm
2.
in mW

Chapter 1

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CHAPTER 1: Introduction to

Topics Covered in Chapter 1

Introduction to Communication Systems

Types of Electronic Communication

Modulation and Multiplexing

The Electromagnetic Spectrum

Decibel and Power

BEB31803 ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

Introduction to Communication System

Communication is the process of exchanging

Main barriers are language and distance

Contemporary societys emphasis is now the

Should be efficient, reliable, and secure.

Requires transmitter, channel or medium and

During the communication process, noise degrades

BEB31803 ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

BEB31803 ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

World without Electronic Communication!

BEB31803 ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

The commodity produced by the source for transfer to

transmission, reception and processing of information

The physical manifestation of information as produced by

A physical embodiment of information voltage signal or

In Signals and Systems, we

Continuous Time Signal

Discrete Time Signal

Periodic/ Aperiodic Signals

Even/ Odd Signals

Power/ Energy Signals

We have also learned

BEB31803 ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

collection of one or more electronic devices or circuits that

Other functions performed - Amplification, filtering, radiation

Message converted to into electrical signals by transducers

collection of electronic devices and circuits that accepts the

Other functions performed: Amplification, filtering.

Transducer converts the electrical signal at its input into a form

a process of changing one or more properties of the

A process of removing some unwanted components or

Most often, this means removing some frequencies and

BEB31803 ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

Baseband Signal/ Transmission

Signal has spectral magnitude that is non zero near .

The original information signal such as audio, video, or

Transmission of baseband signals without modulation,

BEB31803 ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

Broadband signal/ Transmission

The baseband signal modulates or modifies a carrier

Transmission of broadband signal simultaneously over a

The bandwidth of a broadband system can usually carry

These signals are unidirectionaltraveling in only one

BEB31803 ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

Base band converter

to convert the signal source into base band waveform for

provides a means of transporting signal from the Tx to

e.g. : copper wire (signal as electrical current flow),

random, undesired electrical energy that enters the

any undesired effect on the signals while traveling from the

drop in signal power due to distance travel by the signal.

BEB31803 ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

digital signal : binary pulses

Figure 1.3 : Examples of signals (a) analog (b) digital.