Angle Modulation

Objectives
• To introduce angle modulation and frequency modulation (FM)
• To define frequency deviation
• To describe the relationship between PM and FM
• To determine the bandwidth of FM signal
• To explain the methods for generating wideband FM signals
• To explain wideband FM demodulation method
• Toevaluate the noise effect in AM and FM systems
• To illustrate frequency division multiplexing (FDM) method
• To compare AM and FM

Angle modulation is the process of varying the total phase angle of a carrier wave in accordance with the
instantaneous value of the modulating signal, keeping amplitude of the carrier constant. The angle
modulation system is not linear and superposition does not apply.
Angle modulation has the advantage of using peak power capability of a transmitter more efficiently as the
amplitude of the carrier does not change. However, angle modulation requires more complicated
transmitters and receivers as compared to amplitude modulation.
A generalized sinusoidal signal of constant peak amplitude A can be expressed as
s(t) = A cosθ(t)
where θ(t) is the instantaneous or generalized angle.
The instantaneous or generalized frequency is then given by
ω(t) = dθ(t) / dt

Types of angle modulation

There two types of angle modulation, phase modulation (PM) and frequency modulation (FM) according to
the ways of varying θ(t). PM and FM are closely related ⇒ we can get FM by using PM or vice versa.
In the following we will deal only with FM.

Frequency modulation (FM)

In this type of angle modulation, the instantaneous frequency ω(t) is varied linearly with a modulating
signal m(t) about an unmodulated frequency ωc. In other words, the instantaneous value of the angular
frequency ω(t) is equal to the frequency of an unmodulated wave ωc plus a time varying component
proportional to m(t), i.e.
ωFM(t) = ωc + kFMm(t)
where kFM represents the frequency sensitivity of the modulator.
The total phase angle of the FM wave can be obtained by integrating the instantaneous frequency ω(t)
θ FM (t ) = ∫ ω (t )dt = ∫ [ω c + k FM m(t )]dt = ω c t + θ 0 + k FM ∫ m(t )dt
The corresponding FM wave is given by
sFM (t ) = A cos[ω c t + θ 0 + k FM ∫ m(t )dt ]

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Frequency deviation
The instantaneous frequency of FM signal, ωFM(t) = ωc + kFMm(t), varies with time. The maximum change
in instantaneous frequency from the average, i.e. ∆ω, is known as frequency deviation.
∆ω = kFM|m(t)|max

The frequency deviation is a useful parameter for determining the bandwidth of the FM signals.

Example: Tone modulation

The message signal
m(t) = Am cosωmt

FM
sFM (t ) = A cos[ω c t + θ 0 + k FM ∫ m(t ) dt ] = A cos[ω c t + θ 0 + k FM ∫ Am cos ω mtdt ]
k FM Am
= A cos[ω c t + θ 0 +sin ω mt ] = A cos[ω c t + θ 0 + m f sin ω mt ]
ωm
where mf = kFMAm / ωm = ∆ω / ωm, i.e. the ratio of frequency deviation to the modulating frequency, is
called the frequency modulation index.
mf = ∆ω / ωm

Since the amplitude of an FM signal is kept constant, the power of an FM signal is the same as that of an
unmodulated carrier, i.e., PFM = A2/2. In other words, the power is independent of the frequency
modulation process since the power is not dependent on the signal’s frequency.
It can be shown that 98% of the total power of an FM signal is contained in the bandwidth:
WFM = 2(mf + 1)ωm = 2(∆ω + ωm)
or BFM = 2(mf + 1)fm = 2(∆f + fm)

Types of frequency modulation

The bandwidth of an FM signal depends on the frequency deviation. When the deviation is high (and
hence the frequency modulation index mf), the bandwidth will be large, and vice-versa. Thus, depending on
the value of mf , we have narrowband FM and wideband FM. If mf < 1, this is narrowband FM; if mf > 1, it
is wideband (it is also known as broadcast FM).

Assignment 13:
Typically, ∆f = 75 kHz and fm = 15 kHz. Find the FM bw and compare this with the AM bw.

Assignment 14:
An FM signal is described by:
x(t ) = 10 cos[2π × 106 t + 0.1sin π × 103 t ].
Assuming that kFM is a constant, find the information signal m(t).

It is clear from the result of Assignment 13 that FM normally requires a considerably larger bandwidth
than AM.

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Example
A 10 MHz carrier is frequency modulated by a sinusoidal signal such that the peak frequency deviation is
50 kHz. Determine the bandwidth of the FM signal if the frequency of the modulating sinusoidal is (a) 500
Hz; (b) 10 kHz.
Solution
(a) mf = ∆f / fm = 50000/500 = 100
B = 2(mf+ 1)fm = 2(101)500 = 101 kHz

(b) mf = ∆f / fm = 50/10 = 5
B = 2(mf + 1)fm = 2(6)10 = 120 kHz

Wideband modulation methods

There are two methods for generating wideband FM signals: direct and indirect methods.

Direct method, voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO)

The direct method depends on varying the frequency of an oscillator linearly with m(t) for FM.

In the VCO, the modulating signal varies the voltage across the capacitor, as a consequence, the
capacitance changes and causes a corresponding change in the oscillator frequency, i.e
C = C0 + ∆C = C0 + k0m(t)
where k0 is a constant.
Assume that 1
ω0 =
LC0
then
1 1 1 1 ∆C k m(t ) ωk
ω= = = ≈ ω 0 (1 − ) = ω 0 (1 − 0 ) = ω 0 − 0 0 m(t ) = ω 0 − km(t )
LC ∆C LC0 ∆C 2C0 2C0 2C0
LC0 (1 + ) 1+
C0 C0
where k = ω0k0/2C0 is a constant, and the result: (1 + x)-1/2 = 1 – x/2, when x is small, is used.

Indirect or multiplication method

The indirect method depends on first generating a narrow FM signal and then using a multiplication
technique whereby the deviation ratio can be raised to a large value.

The multiplier is a device that multiplies the instantaneous frequency of its input waveform by a factor N.

Wideband FM demodulation method

Apply sFM(t) to a differentiator, the output is
dsFM (t ) d{ A cos[ω c t + k FM ∫ m(t )dt ]}
= = − A[ω c + k FM m(t )]sin[ω c t + k FM ∫ m(t )dt ]
dt dt
which is similar to a standard AM signal with small deviation ratio. The deviation ratio is small, since
usually ∆ω = kFM|m(t)|max << ωc. The response of an envelope detector becomes
A[ωc + kFMm(t)]
Blocking the dc term Aωc, the output is so(t) = AkFMm(t)

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The FM detector extracts a modulating signal from a frequency modulated carrier in two steps:
1. It converts the frequency modulated (FM) signal into a corresponding amplitude modulated (AM)
signal by using frequency dependent circuits whose output voltage depends on input frequency. Such
circuits are called frequency discriminators.
2. The original modulating signal m(t) is recovered from this AM signal by using a linear diode envelope
detector.

A comparison of AM and FM systems

Communication in the presence of noise

In communication systems, message signal travels from the transmitter to the receiver via a channel. The
channel introduces additive noise in the message and, hence, the message reaching the receiver becomes
corrupted. The receiver detects both noise and message signals, it reproduces a noisy message at the output.
It is thus necessary to discuss the noise effect in the communication system.

In a communication system, the noise is mainly introduced by the transmission channel and considered as
white noise.

White noise
White noise is noise whose power spectral density is uniform over the entire the frequency range. The term
white is used in analogy with white light, which is a superposition of all visible spectral components.
Sn(ω) = η / 2
Where η is a constant.

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Effects of Noise
White noise with double-sided spectral density η/2, after passing through a bandpass filter centred on fo
with bandwidth equal to the transmission bandwidth BT, has the following spectrum:

The total noise power at the filter output is ηBT.

The bandpass noise can be expressed as:

n(t) = R(t) cos[ωct + ϕ(t)] = R(t) cosωct cosϕ(t) – R(t) sinωct sinϕ(t)
where R(t) represents the slowly varying amplitude and ϕ(t) represents the slowly varying phase.
n(t) can be written as
n(t) = nc(t)cosωct – ns(t)sinωct
where
nc(t) = R(t)cosϕ(t)
ns(t) = R(t)sinϕ(t)
2 2
R (t ) = nc (t ) + ns (t )
the noise power
1 2
n 2 (t ) = R 2 (t ) cos 2 [ω c t + ϕ (t )] = R (t )
2
1 2
nc (t ) = R 2 (t ) cos 2 ϕ (t ) =
2
R (t )
2
1
ns (t ) = R 2 (t ) sin 2 ϕ (t ) = R 2 (t )
2

2
thus
ηWm
n 2 (t ) = nc 2 (t ) = ns 2 (t ) = η BT (or )
2π
The double-sided spectral densities are

SN ( f ) = η for f 〈 BT / 2
Baseband system

The baseband signal is assumed to be band limited and the channel be distortionless, then
The output signal:
so(t) = si(t) = m(t)
The output signal power:
So = Ps = m 2 (t )
The output noise power:
∞ ∞ W
1 η 2 η η m ηWm
No = Ni =
2π −∞∫2 d ω =
2π ∫0 2
d ω =
2π ∫0
dω =
2π

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The output signal-to-noise ratio for baseband system
2π Ps P
SNRo ,base = = s =δ
ηWm η BT

DSB-SC system

Input signal power:

m 2 (t )
Ps = [m(t ) cos ωc t ]2 =
2
Input noise power:
ω c +Wm
2 η ηWm
Ni = 2
2π ∫
ω 2
dω =
π
c

Input signal-to noise ratio:

π Ps P δ
SNRi = = s =
ηWm 2η BT 2
By use of coherent demodulation
yi (t ) = [ m(t ) cos ωc t + n(t )] cos ωc t
m(t ) + nc (t ) n (t )
= (1 + cos 2ωc t ) − s sin 2ωc t
2 2

Terms centered on 2ωc are removed by the LPF giving 1 1

yo (t ) = m(t ) + nc (t )
2 2
Thus, the output SNR for the DSB-SC system:
(Don’t forget the terms centered on -2ωc!)
m 2 (t ) Ps
SNRo , DSB − SC == = =δ
nc 2 (t ) η BT
Note that the SNR prior to demodulation was half of that for baseband transmission, whereas the SNR after
demodulation is equal to that for baseband transmission.
The improvement in SNR between the input and the output of the demodulator is due to the rejection of ns(t)
by the filter. ns(t) carries half of the bandpass noise power.

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SNR for SSB transmission
It can easily be shown that:
SNR o , SSB = SNR i , SSB = SNR o , base = δ

SNR for AM transmission

For envelope AM, it is also easy to show that:
δ
SNR i , AM =
2
Since, only a fraction k of the total transmitted power is contained in the information-bearing sidebands
(the remainder being carrier power), we get:

SNR o. AM = kδ

Typically, k is considerably smaller than 1; therefore SNR for conventional AM is a small fraction of the
SNR for DSB-SC and SSB for the same transmitted power. Therefore, much larger transmitted power is
needed to achieve a given SNRo with conventional AM than with DSB-SC or SSB modulation.

SNR for FM transmission

At the receiver input,
PS δ
SNR i , FM = =
2η BT (1 + m f ) 2(1 + m f )
where we have used the formula for FM signal bandwidth
BFM = 2(mf + 1)fm
At the output of the demodulator, it can be shown after lengthy calculation (see O’Reilly, pp. 72 – 74), that:
SNR o, FM = 3m f 2 m 2 (t ) δ

The maximum value of the time average of m2(t) is 1, and mf2 is normally much larger than 1. Therefore,
the SNR achieved by FM is higher than that of DSB-SC, SSB and baseband transmission.
This explains why FM radio stations provide a much better quality of sound than AM radio stations.

Note also that FM demodulation can provide a significant improvement over the SNR prior to
demodulation:
SNR o , FM
= 6 m f 2 (1 + m f ) m 2 (t )
SNR i , FM
In conclusion, a large mf gives a large SNR, but at the expense of a larger bandwidth requirement.

The power signal-to-noise ratio performance of receivers in baseband and various modulation systems is
summarized below (here β = mf ):

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Assignment 15:
An audio signal m(t) is to be transmitted over a radio frequency channel with additive white noise. It is
required that the SNR at the output of the receiver be greater than 40 dB. Calculate the transmission
bandwidth BT and the required average transmitted power ST for:
(a) DSB-SC modulation
(b) AM with envelope detection (assuming k = 0.2)
(c) FM
Assume the following characteristics for the channel and m(t):

m(t ) ≤ 1, m 2 = 0.5, W (bandwidth of m(t )) = 15 kHz

Power spectral density of white noise: η/2 = 10-10 W/Hz; Power loss in channel = 50 dB. Furthermore, the
deviation ratio mf in FM transmission is 5.

Assignment 16:
A synchronous (coherent) single-sideband AM demodulator is shown below along with the transfer
functions of both filters. The SSB signal at the input can be assumed to be si(t) = Acos[2π(fc + fm)t] with fm
≤ fM. At the input, there is also white noise n(t) with spectral power density η/2. Find an expression
relating the power SNR at point 3 to the power SNR at point 1.

Frequency division multiplexing (FDM)

Multiplexing is combining several messages into a composite signal for transmission over a single
communication channel. When the multiplexing is carried out in the frequency domain, it is called
Frequency division multiplexing (FDM). The various messages have different carrier frequencies and the
modulated signals are added together to form a composite signal. In order to facilitate channel separation
filtering at the receiver, the channel spacing is slightly greater than the message bandwidth to avoid spectral
overlap.
In order to make efficient use of transmitter power and bandwidth, SSB-SC is preferred in FDM.

FDM allows the transmission of many messages over a single transmission medium (copper wire, air, etc.).
It is used in long distance telephone, radio/TV broadcasts, etc. But adjacent FDM signals are vulnerable to
crosstalk and the requirement for bandpass filters increase the cost and complexity of the FDM system.

Main advantages and disadvantages of FDM

• Ability to convey many simultaneous messages
• Expense and size of the band-pass filters
• Vulnerability to crosstalk

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Comparison between AM and FM
1. Noise performance
Wideband FM has better noise performance than AM. The greater the bandwidth, better is the noise
performance. Narrowband FM has a noise performance equivalent to AM.

2. Channel bandwidth
The wideband FM has a larger bandwidth as compared to AM because wideband FM produces a larger
number of sidebands. In a typical broadcast system, each channel bandwidth in AM is 15kHz, whereas, in
FM, it is 150kHz. Therefore, FM has a disadvantage over AM.

Example
In a typical broadcast system, each channel bandwidth in AM is 15kHz, whereas, in FM, it is 150kHz.

Assignment 17
Twelve speech signals are to be combined using FDM for transmission over a wideband radio link. Each
signal is concentrated in 300Hz < |f| << 3.4kHz and is allocated a nominal low pass channel bandwidth of
4kHz to allow for the use of practical filters with finite transition regions. Estimate the radio bandwidth
required if the signals are combined using SSB-SC frequency division multiplexing and the radio receiver
employs conventional amplitude modulation.

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 Review Questions

1. What is FM ? Write the waveform expression for FM.

2. What is frequency modulation index?
3. How to determine the bandwidth of FM signal?
4. How to generate wideband FM signal in a direct method?
5. How to demodulate wideband FM signal?
6. Compare the performance of various AM and FM systems
7. What is the SNR of a baseband system?
8. What is FDM and what is its main advantage?

Exercise Problems (Angle Modulation)

1. An angle modulated signal is s(t) = Acos(ωct + 100cosωft).

(a) For a PM, what is m(t) when kPM = 2?
(b) What is the peak frequency change ∆ω caused by m(t) in (a)?

2. Work problem 1 assuming modulation is FM and kFM = 2.

3. A 100 MHz carrier is frequency modulated by a sinusoidal signal of frequency 5kHz. If the peak
frequency deviation is 50kHz, what is the approximate band of frequencies occupied by the FM
waveform.

4. For a carrier wave with frequency of 1MHz and amplitude of 3V, if the sinusoidal message signal is a
cosine function with unit amplitude, and has the frequency of 2kHz, and the maximum frequency
deviation is 4kHz, determine the time domain expression of the FM wave.

5. A carrier wave has fc = 50MHz, is frequency modulated by a sinusoidal wave of frequency fm = 20kHz,
(a) if the frequency deviation is 20Hz, determine the minimum bandwidth;
(b) if the frequency deviation is increased to 1MHz, what is the corresponding bandwidth?

6. The carrier wave of frequency 100MHz, is frequency modulated by a sinusoidal message signal of
frequency 10kHz, the maximum frequency deviation is 1MHz,
(a) determine the approximate bandwidth of the FM wave;
(b) if the amplitude of modulating signal is doubled, determine the bandwidth of the FM wave;
(c) if the frequency of the modulating wave is also doubled, determine the bandwidth of the FM wave.

7. A sinusoidal signal of 10kHz is used to modulate a carrier wave of 100MHz, assuming that the
maximum frequency deviation is 50kHz, determine the bandwidth for
(a) AM wave; (b) SSB wave; (c) FM wave.

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