CHAPTER 1:

INTRODUCTION TO
COMMUNICATION
SYSTEMS (BEB31803)
DR. NOORSALIZA BINTI ABDULLAH
DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATION ENGINEERING
FACULTY OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS
ENGINEERING
OVERVIEW ON
COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS
TRANSMISSION
IMPAIRMENTS
Figure 1.1 : (a) Basic block diagram for communication (b) example
Transmitter



Receiver
Signal source
Base band
converter
Modulation and
power
amplification
Transmission
(Electromagn
etic Field)
Subsystem
synchronization
Amplification and
demodulation
Base band
inverter
Synchronization
system
Base band
processing
Electromagnetic
field
Figure 1.2 : (a) Basic transmitter block diagram (b) basic receiver.
Terminology
Electronic communication : transmission, reception
and processing of information between 2 or more
locations using electronic circuit.
Information : analog or digital signal that had been
converted to electromagnetic energy
Transmitter : collection of one or more electronic
devices or circuits. That convert the original source
into a signal that is more suitable for transmission
over a given transmission medium
Receiver : collection of electronic devices and
circuits that accepts the transmitted signal from the
transmission medium and converts them back to their
original form

Base band converter: to convert the signal source into
base band waveform for the carrier signal before
transmission. Can be either analog or digital system.
Subsystem synchronization: synchronizing connection
between the TX and RX for recovery processes.
Transmission medium: provides a means of
transporting signal from the TX to the RX.
eg : copper wire (signal as electrical current flow),
optical fiber cable (signal in e/magnetic light wave),
free space (signal in e/magnetic radio wave)
Transmission impairments : 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.
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 : 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).
Frequency (f)
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
cycle
one complete alternation of a waveform
wavelength ()
distance traveled by an electromagnetic wave during one
period
= cT f = c
c = 3 x 10
8
ms
-1
(speed of light in free space)

Wavelength
Distance between corresponding
points of two consecutive waves
f
c
=
is wavelength
c is velocity of light
f is frequency
Designation Freq. Range (Hz)
range (m)
ELF 30 300 10
7
10
6

VF 300 3 k 10
6
10
5

VLF 3 k 30 k 10
5
10
4

LF 30 k 300 k 10
4
10
3

MF 300 k 3 M 10
3
10
2

HF 3 M 30 M 10
2
10
1

VHF 30 M 300 M 10
1
10
0

UHF 300 M 3 G 10
0
10
-1

SHF 3 G 30 G 10
-1
10
-2

EHF 30 G 300 G 10
-2
10
-3


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 (eg. 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)
* freq > 1GHz is known as microwave
TV
land mobile communication
cellular phone
military
certain radar and navigation system
microwave and satellite radio system
amateur radio
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
* freq > 300 GHz are not referred as radio wave
Infrared
refers to electromagnetic radiation generally associated with heat
anything that produced heat generate infrared signal
eg : light bulb, human body
astronomy (to detect stars)
electronic photography
heat-seeking guidance system (weapon)
TV remote control
visible light
optical communication

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
i.e. an audio signal (3kHz) being
modulated by a 1000kHz carrier
signal 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


Frequency
Range

Typical
Attenuation

Typical
Delay

Repeater
Spacing

Twisted pair

0 to 3.5 kHz

0.2 dB/km @
1 kHz

50 s/km

2 km

Twisted pairs
(multi-pair
cables)

0 to 1 MHz

0.7 dB/km @
1 kHz

5 s/km

2 km

Coaxial cable

0 to 500 MHz

7 dB/km @
10 MHz

4 s/km

1 to 9 km

Optical fiber

186 to 370
THz

0.2 to 0.5
dB/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
eg. 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
bet. 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
Low cost LSI/VLSI 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
Encryption
Integration
Can treat analog and digital data similarly
Baseband Or Broadband Transmission
Baseband transmission
putting the original signal (analog or digital)
directly into the medium
eg : in many telephone and intercom system, it
is the voice itself that is placed on the wires &
transmitted
Broadband transmission
original signal is used to modulate a carrier
for transmission over the medium
when baseband signal is incompatible with the
medium
Analog Signals Carrying Analog and Digital
Data
Digital Signals Carrying Analog and Digital Data
Encoding Techniques
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, Digital Signal
Digitizing Analog Data
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
c= f
f +, |
antenna length usually 1/2 or 1/4 of
for voice signal (300 - 3000 Hz), require very
large antenna expensive to construct and
consume more pore (aperture).

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
i.e. 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 v(t) = V
c
sin (2tft + u)
general expression for a time varying sine wave of
voltage as a high frequency carrier signal

modulating signal modulation performed

analog AM FM PM
l l l
v(t) = V
c
sin (2t . f . t + u)
l l l
digital ASK FSK PSK
QAM
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
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
Fiber cable

1
,
2
..
n

1

2






n

1

2






n

Laser optic source
To laser
optical
detector
Gain
Ratio output to the input
Output has greater amplitude than the input






Most amplifiers are power amplifier, the same
procedure can be used to calculate power gain, A
p
.
A
p
= P
out
/P
in


FIgure 1.4 Amplifier Gain

in
out
V
V
V
input
output
A = =
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
A
T
=A
1
x A
2
x A
3
..
Voltage divider network may introduce attenuation

in
out
V
V
A n Attenuatio =
Figure 1.5 Voltage divider introduces attenuation
Attenuation can be offset by introducing gain

Figure 1.6 Total attenuation in cascaded network
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 R
1

= 10kO and R
2
= 47kO.
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 A
1
= amplifier gain =
45,000; A
2
= attenuation factor; A
T
= total gain.
DECIBEL
Gain and attenuation often expressed in decibels, rather than
ratio value (decimal)
Decibel unit of measurement originally created as a way of
expressing the hearing response of human ear to various sound
levels. A decibel is one-tenth of a bel.
Using decibel, total gain or attenuation can be calculated by
simply adding the gains and the attenuation expressed in
decibel.

20log
20log
10 log
out
in
out
in
out
in
V
For votage dB
V
I
For current dB
I
P
For power dB
P
=
=
=
Beside performing ratio operation, decibel is also
used to expressed power in communication.
A notation is added after the dB simbol
dBW, dBm, dB etc.
For dBm, reference level 1mW
A larger unit, dBW has reference value of 1W.
dBm and dBW are decibel units used for expressing
power in communication.

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




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