Baseband Digital Communications

• Characteristics and Constraints of Wireless Channels

• Baseband Pulse Transmission: Line Signal Codings [NRZ, AMI, Manchester,
2B1Q, ...]
• Pulse Amplitude Modulation [PAM]: Transmitter and Receiver pulse shaping
• Intersymbol Interference [ISI]: Eye Pattern
• The Nyquist Criterion:
– Raised Cosine Pulses
– Multipath
– Performance: Mean-Square Error
– Probability of Error

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 Baseband Modulation

• An information bearing-signal must conform to the limits of its channel

• Generally modulation is a two-step process
– baseband: shaping the spectrum of input bits to fit in a limited spectrum
– passband: modulating the baseband signal to the system rf carrier
• Most common baseband modulation is Pulse Amplitude Modulation (PAM)
– data amplitude modulates a sequence of time translates of basic pulse
– PAM is a linear form of modulation: easy to equalize, BW is pulse BW
– Typically baseband data will modulate in-phase [cos] and quadrature [sine] data
streams to the carrier passband
• Special cases of modulated PAM include
– phase shift keying (PSK)
– quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM)

2
 Need for Baseband Modulation

• An analog signal has a finite bandwidth.

• A digital stream or signal, with sharp transitions, has an infinite

bandwidth.

• Due to the limited available system bandwidth, only the major portion of
a digital signal spectrum can be transmitted and restored. Even if there is
no loss or noise in the communication system, the received signal will
have distortion due to the limited channel bandwidth.

time

time

To avoid or to reduce this signal distortion, we

use baseband modulation techniques 3
 Typical Baseband PAM Signals
an represents data (M-ary) S(t) = Σ ang(t-nT)
n
1/T = symbol (baud) rate
1
= a0g(t) + a1g(t-T) + ...
Bit rate = T log2 M=R
M an g(t) s(t)
RZ 1 0 0 1 0 0 1
2 0 → 0
1 → 1
0 T
NRZ
2 0 → -1
1 → 1 0 T

BANDLIMITED an
2 0 → -1 S(t)
1 → 1
0 T
4 00 → -3 4-LEVEL
01 → 1
11 → 1
10 → 3 0 T 2T

BIPOLAR/AMI [Alternate Mark Inversion]

3 0 → 0
1 → ±1
0 T
Each technique will have different spectrum (at DC and band edge),
ease of timing recovery
 State Diagram for AMI Signaling

1/-p(t) 0/0
0/0

State “+” 1/p(t) State “-”

Branch Labels: Input bit (an)/output waveform or symbol [dnp(t)]

The modulator has two states, labeled “+” and “-”. The modulator responds to a source symbol
0 with a zero waveform and to a source symbol 1 with the waveform p(t) or -p(t) depending on
whether its state is “-” or “+” respectively.

Note that the choice of the states is not obvious. A common mistake is to choose the output levels,
0, 1, and -1 as states. But, if you make this choice, it is hard/impossible(?) to capture the memory
of the system.
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 Examples of Baseband Impulse Responses

h (t) |H(f)|
(1) NRZ (non return to zero)

0 T t 0 1/T f

(2) Raised Cosine

E.g Equalized Voiceband,
Cellular or Microwave
LOS Modem
0 T 2T 0 1/2T 1/T

(3) Bipolar (AMI)

T e.g. 1.544/2.048 Mbps

2T
T1 /E1 Carrier on
0
Twisted-Pair
0 1/2T 1/T

(4) Manchester
e.g. Ethernet on Coaxial
0 T Cable (3-10 Mbps)

0 1 2 3
T T T 6
 Examples of Baseband Impulse Responses (continued)

h (t) |H(f)|

(5) Multipath: Class I Partial Response

(Duobinary) • Multipath (Cellular)
• Need Powerful Equalizer
(DFE, VA)

0 T 0 1
2T

(6) Multipath: Class IV Partial Response

• Multipath Nulls at DC and
T 2T Nyquist frequency
0
0 1
2T

(7) Minimum - Bandwidth Nyquist Pulse

• Regularly spaced zero

crossings
• Not Realized in Practice
sin2π Wt
0 1
2π WT =W
2T
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 Typical Linear Channel Characteristics

Frequency Response Impulse Response

H(f) h(t)
Voiceband Telephone After Demodulation
h(t)
|H(f)| Linear Equalizer
ang H(f)

t
~10 ms
0 f
Twisted Copper Pair with Transformers (DSL)
h(t)
|H(f)|
~DFE
ang H(f)

t
0 f
Radio h(t)
Nulls require a non-linear
|H(f)| ang H(f) equalizer: DFE or MLSE/VA

t
I/Q Equalizer

Gitlin1_8
0 f0 f
Pulse Distortion Due to MultiPath

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 Digital Baseband Modulation Techniques

• Baseband (PAM): Baseband Channels

• NR (Non-Return-to-zero)
• Bipolar (AMI)
• Partial response
• Manchester

Typical Power Spectra:

NRZ

0 Freq.
1 to 1
2T T

Bipolar, Partial Reponse,

or Manchester

0 Freq.

Examples: Twisted-Pair and Coaxial Cable Channels 10

 Doubling the Data Rate

1 Recall that 1/T is the symbol rate

• Date Rate = log 2 N
T and N is the number of modulation levels

• If SNR limited ----> double the symbol rate [3 dB SNR penalty]

• If bandwidth limited ----> only choice is to double the number of bits/symbol
by increasing the number of points
– For example: going from 4-QAM to 16-QAM [from 2 to 4 bits/symbol]
– This has a ~6-7 dB penalty
• So, assuming that the bandwidth is available it is always better to double the
symbol rate
• The above also assumes that the background noise and/or interference is flat
with frequency

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 Coded Baseband Digital Modulation Techniques
• Coded Systems
• Can be combined with any of the above
• Performance improvement at the cost of increased receiver delay
and complexity
• Allows rate to approach channel capacity
• Types: - block coding
- convolutional or trellis coding

Uncoded System
Error
Probability

Coded Systems with

Increasing Complexity
Signal-to-Noise Ratio
Channel Capacity Limit
Examples of Application: - Cellular Phones
- Satellite Channels
- High Speed Voiceband 12
Telephone Modems
 Example of a Baseband PAM System
an r(t) r(nT) ân
0 →1 Trans. Baseband Receive
Quantize
0 → −1
− Filter Channel Filter
A B C
1/T per
sec.
Overall Impulse Response = x(t) Sample at
t = nT + τ

• Baud = Symbols/sec x(t)

ISI

0 T
At A:
{an}
∑ anδ(t-nT)
n
T

Timing Margin
r(t) = ∑ anx(t-nT)
At B:
n
r(t) T 2T 3T 4T 5T 6T 7T 8T PAM

At C: Margin Against Noise

{r(nt)}

At D:
{ân}

Intersymbol Interference (ISI) Can Cause Errors Without Noise 13

Band-Limited Signal for No Intersymbol Interference
Don’t Need Time Limited Pulses for “0” ISI

x(t)

• Ideal Pulse t
sinπWt
πWt

-4T -3T -2T -T 0 T 2T 3T 4T

t

X(f)
• Minimum Bandwidth Pulse
1/T Symbols/sec
1
2W

f
-W = - 1 0 W= 1
2T 2T

Nyquist (1928) 14
 Why Equalization Is Needed

(A)

Amplitude

0 F1
Frequency

Amplitude
(B)
P(t)
Transmitted Pulse

-3T -2T -T 0 T 2T 3T
Time

(C)
P(t) + P(t-T)

-3T -2T -T 0 T 2T 3T
Time
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 INTERSYMBOL INTERFERENCE: ISI
• Cause of IS I:

• Elimination or reduction of ISI

- filtering
- equalization

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 EQUALIZATION: Pulse Shaping

Ideal pulse shaping [to satisfy the Nyquis t

criterion]:

y(t) = 0 at t = nT [n = 1, 2, 3, . . . ] 17
The Eye Pattern [as a measure of distortion]

PAM Waveform : r(t) = ∑ an x(t − nT)

n

0 T 2T 3T 4T 5T 6T 7T 8T

r (kT ) = ak x(0) + ∑ ak − m xm
m≠ 0

Desired Intersymbol Interference = is a random variable

(pdf is difficult to compute)

By the Central Limit Theorem the ISI can be approximated by a Gaussian

∞
Random Variable of zero mean and variance ∑ xn2
n ≠0
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 Eye Pattern
“Bad” - Closed “Good” - Open

Eye Pattern Display

Margin
for Error
Due To
Noise
Threshold
Level Margin
for Error
Due to
Timing

Sample Instant

Scope Trigger
From Modem

Symbol Timing Wave

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 The Raised Cosine Family of Nyquist Pulses

Raised Cosine Excess Bandwidth

1.0 ω)
X (ω
0.9
α=0
0.8
0.7 0.9
0.6 0.8
0.5 0.7
0.4 α=0 0.6
0
0.3 0.5
0.5
0.2 1 0.4
0.1 1 0 Time 0.3
1
0 0.2
-3T -2T -T T 2T 3T Fequency
-0.1 0.1 0.5

-0.2 0.5
0
π/T π/T
2π

(a) (b)

π
 T, 0 ≤ ω ≤ (1 − α )
sin πt / T cos απt/T  T
x (t) = X (ω) = 
 π 
 T 1 − sin  T  ω −    , π (1 − α) ≤ ω ≤ π (1 + α )
πt / T 1 - 4α 2 t2 / T 2 
 2   2α  T   T T

Raised Cosine Pulse Shaping: (a) Frequency Response, (b) Time Response

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Performance of PAM Systems: No ISI/Multipath
(Gaussian Noise)
1

10-1

10-2

Pe 10-3 L=2 4 8 16
10-4

10-5

10-6
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Ps / P N [SNR], dB
Probability of error Ps for L-level PAM, where P s / PN is the
signal-to-noise power ratio in the Nyquist bandwidth. Note
that doubling the bit rate requires about 6-7 dB of SNR

For Nyquist Pulse

L/2
2 L12 d 2  L2 − 1 
Ps = XMITT POWER = a 2 /IT
T= ∑ [d(2i − 1)]2 =  
LT i =1 T  3 

1   3 Ps  
1/ 2
 1 
Pe =  1 −  Pr {η > d} = 2 1 −  Q  2  
 L  L   L - 1 PN  
1 ∞ −t 22
Q(x ) = ∫ e dt
2π x
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 Adaptive Equalization

Input Output
binary binary
data {a(n)} Transmitting y(n) data
Σ
Pulse Receiving Adaptive Decision
Channel
generator filter filter equalizer device
Sampler

Transmitter Noise Receiver

Block diagram of a baseband data transmission system.

Decision
device
Switch Stored
Input Adaptive reference
signal equalizer generator

-
Error
Σ + Desired Response = Replica of transmitted signal

Adaptive equalizer with a decision-directed mode of operation.

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