Continuous Phase Modulation (CPM)

CPM
Carrier phase varies in a continuous manner
Constant envelope

An infinite variety of CPM signals can be generated by adjusting
Frequency pulse shaping functions
Modulation index h
Modulation alphabet size M
Pulse duration L

Phase transition diagram

Spectra of CPM signals
Compact PSD: narrow main lobe and fast sidelobe roll-off

Continuous Phase Modulation

Sidebands produced by modulation schemes like FSK and
PSK can interfere with nearby channels (adjacent channel
interference) or with other communications systems (co
channel interference). It is important that modulation used to
transmit information over the radio channels of a cellular
phone network be bandwidth efficient so that more
subscribers can be served in a given frequency band.
In addition, modulation schemes that introduce phase
discontinuities will tend to introduce undesirable frequency
sidelobes when amplified through a nonlinear ampli-
fier. However, linear amplifiers are less power efficient
(transmitted power versus power supplied) than non
linear (Class C) amplifiers.
Continuous Phase Modulation
By imposing, within a modulation scheme, that the phase
of a carrier be continuous from one symbol to the next,
the level of sidebands of the transmitted signal can be
reduced. In conventional FSK or PSK the phase of the
carrier may change at the beginning of each symbol.
Some improvement in the case of QPSK modulation is
introduced by a variation called offset QPSK (OQPSK),
which limits the range of possible phase variations.
Con tinuous phase is effectively achieved with CPFSK
(continuous phase frequency shift keying) schemes like
minimum shift keying (MSK).
Variations on CPM

Minimum Shift Keying (MSK)

Special form of CPFSK
Minimum spacing that allows two frequencies states to be
orthogonal
spectral efficient, easily generated

Gaussian Minimum Shift Keying (GMSK)

MSK + premodulation Gaussian lowpass filter
Increase spectral efficiency with sharper cutoff,
excellent power efficiency due to constant envelope
Used extensively in 2nd-generation digital and
cordless telephone applications

CPM
g(t) is a pulse, e.g., rectangular, RC,
If g(t)=0 , t>Ts Full-response CPM
If g(t) 0, t > Ts Partial-response CPM
Different CPM signals can be generated by
varying M, {h}, and g(t)
If q(t) is rectangular pulse, the CPM is
continuous-Phase FSK (CPFSK)
Furthermore, if h = CPFSK is called
Minimum Shift Keying (MSK)
Minimum shift keying (MSK)

Goal: avoid sudden change.
Two frequencies are used, f2 =2f1.
Separate into even and odd bits.
The duration of each bit is doubled.
A higher frequency is chosen if even and
odd bits are equal.
The signal is inverted if the odd bit equals 0.
Example of MSK
MSK
Similarly to OQPSK, MSK is encoded with
bits alternating between quarternary
components, with the Q component
delayed by half a bit period. However,
instead of square pulses as OQPSK uses,
MSK encodes each bit as a half sinusoid.
This results in a constant-modulus signal,
which reduces problems caused by non-
linear distortion.

MSK
The spacing between the two carrier
frequencies is the minimum: f = 1/2Ts
Hence, it is called minimum shift keying
Minimum shift keying
Proper utilization of phase during detection, for
improving noise performance
Complexity increases
CPFSK (Continuous-phase frequency-shift keying)
.

+
+
=
0 ] ) 0 ( 2 [
2
1 ] ) 0 ( 2 [
2
) (
2
1
Symbol f or t f Cos
T
E
Symbol f or t f Cos
T
E
t s
b
b
b
b
u t
u t
(0) denotes the value of the phase at time t=0

] ) ( 2 [
2
) ( t t f Cos
T
E
t s
c
b
b
u t + =
An angle-modulated wave
(t) is the phase of s(t), continuous function of time.
) (
2
1
2 1
f f f
c
+ = Carrier frequency
Phase
b
b
T t t
T
h
t s s = 0 ) 0 ( ) (
t
u u
) f f ( T h
2 1 b
=
Deviation ratio
Measured with respect to bit rate 1/T
b
At time t=T
b

=
0
1
) 0 ( ) (
Symbol for h
Symbol for h
T
b
t
t
u u
Phase Tree
Phase Trellis, for sequence 1101000

) 2 ( )] ( [
2
) 2 ( )] ( [
2
) ( t f Sin t Sin
T
E
t f Cos t Cos
T
E
t s
c
b
b
c
b
b
t u t u =
In terms of In phase and Quadrature Component
b
b
T t t
T
t s s = 0
2
) 0 ( ) (
t
u u
+ Sign corresponds to symbol 1
- Sign corresponds to symbol 0


h=1/2

b b
b b
b
b b
b
b
b
T t T t
T
Cos
T
E
t
T
Cos Cos
T
E
t Cos
T
E
t s
s s
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
=
2
2
2
] ) 0 ( [
2
] ) ( [
2
) (
1
t
t
u
u
For the interval of
b b
T t T s s
Half cosine pulse
In phase components
+ Sign corresponds to (0) =0
- Sign corresponds to (0) =


b
b b
b
b
b
b
b
b
b
Q
T t t
T
Cos
T
E
t
T
Cos T Sin
T
E
t Sin
T
E
t s
2 0
2
2
2
] ) ( [
2
] ) ( [
2
) (
s s
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
=
t
t
u
u
Quadrature components
+ Sign corresponds to (T
b
) =/2
- Sign corresponds to (T
b
) = -/2

Half sine pulse
Four possibilities



b b c
b b
T t T t f Cos t
T
Cos
T
t s s
|
|
.
|

\
|
= ) 2 (
2
2
) (
1
t
t
|
b c
b b
T t t f Sin t
T
Sin
T
t 2 0 ) 2 (
2
2
) (
2
s s
|
|
.
|

\
|
= t
t
|
b
T t t s t s t s s s + = 0 ) ( ) ( ) (
2 2 1 1
| |
Basic functions

| |
b b b
T
T
T t T Cos E
dt t t s s
b
b
s s =
=
}

) 0 (
) ( ) (
1 1
u
|
| |
b b b
T
T t T Sin E
dt t t s s
b
b
2 0 ) (
) ( ) (
2
0
2 2
s s =
=
}
u
|
coefficients


Signal Space Characterization of MSK


b b
T
T
T t T w s
dt t t x x
b
b
s s + =
=
}

1 1
1 1
) ( ) ( |
b
T
T t w s
dt t t x x
b
2 0
) ( ) (
2 2
2
0
2 2
s s + =
=
}
|
|
|
.
|

\
|

|
|
.
|

\
|
=
0
2
0
4
1
N
E
erf c
N
E
erf c P
b b
e
|
|
.
|

\
|
~
0
N
E
erf c P
b
e

MSK Transmitter
MSK receiver

Q-channel
PSD of MSK
The PSD is given by:
P(f) = 16 /
2
[cos(2 fT) / 1.16fT]
MSK has a wider first null than QPSK
but lower 99%-power BW
PSD of MSK
Problem:

Sketch the waveform of the MSK signal for the sequence
for the 101101.Assume that the carrier frequency
a) Is 1.25 times the bit rate. b) Equal to the bit

Solution (a) f
c
=(f
1
+f
2
)/2

=1.25/ T
b
OR f1+f2=2.5/Tb
Also f
1
-f
2
=1/(2T
b
)
Solving f
1
=1.5/T
b
f
2
=1/T
b


(b) f
c
=1/T
b
f
1
+f
2
=2/T
b
f
1
-f
2
=1/(2T
b
)\
Solving f
1
=1.25/T
b
f
2
=0.75/T
b

GMSK
GMSK is similar to MSK except it incorporates a premodulation
Gaussian LPF





Achieves smooth phase transitions between signal states which
can significantly reduce bandwidth requirements
There are no well-defined phase transitions to detect for bit
synchronization at the receiving end.
With smoother phase transitions, there is an increased chance
in intersymbol interference which increases the complexity of
the receiver.
Used extensively in 2nd generation digital cellular and cordless
telephone apps. such as GSM
Gaussian MSK (GMSK)
A derivative of MSK that uses a Gaussian pulse
shaping filter to filter the NRZ binary
modulating waveform
h
G
(t) = / exp(-
2
t
2
/
2
)

This converts the signal from full-response
CPM to a partial-response CPM signal
Gaussian Pulse
GMSK
The Gaussian pulse-shaping filter reduces the levels
of side-lobes of the GMSK spectrum compared to
MSK
It can be coherently detected (as MSK) or
noncoherently detected (as FSK)
Block diagram of a GMSK transmitter using
MSK modulator
GMSK
GMSK is characterized by its BT product:
- B is the 3-dB BW of the Gaussian filter
- T is the symbol duration
B = 0.5887/alpha, alpha is the filter parameter
As alpha increases B decreases
- Sidelobes power decreases
- More spectral efficiency
- But more ISI because pulse is wider
MSK corresponds to alpha = 0
In GSM, GMSK is used with BT=0.3
GMSK
BT 90% BW 99% BW 99.9% BW 99.99% BW
0.2 0.52 0.79 0.99 1.22

0.25 0.57 0.86 1.09 1.37

0.5 0.69 1.04 1.33 2.08

MSK 0.78 1.2 2.76 6.00


RF Bandwidth as a fraction of Rb

Probability of Error
Is defined as the probability of detecting a
received observations as one signal given the
other signal was transmitted
It is a function of:
- Distances between signals in the
constellation (a function of the SNR)
- Noise distribution (Usually Gaussian
AWGN)
- Rx signal level distribution (in case of fading)
The closer the signals in constellation, the
higher the error probability
GMSK Performance
The GMSK filtering can cause ISI if the BT is
too small (too narrow filter and wide pulse)
The GMSK error rate is given by:
Pe = Q( 2E
b

/ No)
where = 0.68 for BT = 0.25

= 0.85 for BT =
Performance Over Rayleigh Channels
The performance is usually 20 to 40 dB worse
than the AWGN case (no fading) for reasonable
BER
This is mostly due to deep fades which occur
often because of the Rayleigh distribution
For a Ricean or Nakagami fading distributions
with large K-factor , or m, the error probability is
smaller
This is because the probability of deep fade is
smaller
Mitigation:
-Diversity, Channel Coding, Adaptive modulation