ECE 3300 Lab 6

FSK Communication System

Located in MEB 2275

Overview: This document is the lab 6 procedure. In this lab a frequency shift keyed
(FSK) communication system for a cardiac pacemaker will be tested, and the link budget
will be verified by checking how far the system transmits

Equipment: Network Analyzer HP 8720D; E4404B Spectrum Analyzer; E4438C Signal

Generator; and other circuit and materials referred to in this lab.

For more info: Contact the lab TA or class instructor. See: www.ece.utah.edu/~ece3300

Objectives:

1. Understand a simplex frequency shift keyed (FSK) communication system.

2. Compute the link budget for the communication system considering transmit power,
receiver sensitivity, etc.
3. Perform a 2 port calibration on the Network Analyzer in preparation for 2 port
analysis.
4. Learn to use the E4404B Spectrum Analyzer and the E4438C Signal Generator from
Agilent. (See lab web sight for additional information on instrument use.)
5. Send a simple Morse Code FSK message.

Prelab:

1. Read the Introduction below and the information on FSK given on the lab website.
2. Write a brief description of each component to be used in this lab. Do this by looking
up the data sheets for the following components found at www.minicircuits.com:
ZOS-535, ZFSC-2-11, ZFL-500LN.
Also, look up the data sheet for the helical filters at www.toko.com:
493S-1067A, 493S-1075A
3. Create an Excel spreadsheet or Matlab script that calculates the power received
including the effects of all of the major losses in the system (see power link budget on
the website and lecture notes if needed).

Introduction and Class Discussion

A simplex (single direction) FSK system consists of a transmitter and a receiver. The
transmitter is shown in Figure 1. It consists of control circuitry that specifies to a voltage
controlled oscillator (VCO) the frequency to generate. The VCO connects directly to the
transmitter folded dipole antenna. The control circuitry is shown in Figure 2.

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UNIVERSITY OF UTAH DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING
50 S. Central Campus Dr | Salt Lake City, UT 84112-9206 | Phone: (801) 581-6941 | Fax: (801) 581-5281 | www.ece.utah.edu
 ECE 3300 Lab 6

Figure 1- Transmitter

Figure 2. Transmitter Control Circuitry

The receiver circuit is more complex as shown in Figure 3. It consists of the receiving
monopole antenna and matching network (built during a previous lab), followed by a
radio frequency (RF) amplifier. A splitter then evenly splits the input power to two
outputs. Each output is then fed into identical legs of the receiver circuit. A bandpass
filter passes only the desired frequency. An RF diode passes the signal and rectifies it. A
capacitor holds the rectified signal, where it is fed to a decision making circuit that
determines which frequency is being sent. The receiver decision circuit is shown in
Figure 4.

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UNIVERSITY OF UTAH DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING
50 S. Central Campus Dr | Salt Lake City, UT 84112-9206 | Phone: (801) 581-6941 | Fax: (801) 581-5281 | www.ece.utah.edu
 ECE 3300 Lab 6

Figure 3. Receiver

Figure 4. Receiver Decision Circuit

In this lab, you will gain a better understanding of how each of the components works,
and how to use the test equipment to measure the components.

Procedure

Steps 1 through 6 should be completed during the first week of this lab. The lab section
will be broken into three or four groups, each group will work on different steps.

1. (Group 1) Measure the receiver sensitivity. To measure the sensitivity, connect the
signal generator to the input of the splitter. The splitter should be connected to the
receiver box. Generate 420 MHz and 460 MHz signals and decrease the signal power
until the receiver can no longer differentiate between the signals.

2. (Group 2) Connect the VCO to a DC power supply, and adjust the power supply until
it provides either 420 MHz or 460 MHz signals. Measure the VCO output power and
frequency. To measure the output power, connect the VCO output to the spectrum
3
UNIVERSITY OF UTAH DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING
50 S. Central Campus Dr | Salt Lake City, UT 84112-9206 | Phone: (801) 581-6941 | Fax: (801) 581-5281 | www.ece.utah.edu
 ECE 3300 Lab 6

analyzer, and observe the peak. Put a marker on the peak for better measurements.
Adjust the power supply until the correct frequencies are obtained, and note the DC
voltage required for each frequency. Measure the power at each frequency.

3. (Group 3) Calibrate the network analyzer using a full 2-port calibration. Measure
the reflection coefficient (Γ=S11) of the folded dipole shown below on the network
analyzer. Record values at 420, 440, and 460 MHz when the antenna is in air (where it
was not designed properly) and tissue simulant material (where it is well designed).

Figure 5. Folded dipole antenna is built with one end soldered to and SMA feed, and the
other end soldered to ground (the outside of the SMA connector). This antenna is 125
mm long from tip to tip, and was designed to be resonant at 440 MHz in tissue simulant
material.

Figure 6. Real and imaginary impedance of the folded dipole antenna in Figure 5 as
simulated in XFDTD (3D FDTD software, see Remcom.com) and measured on a
network analyzer. Solid lines are real, dotted lines are imaginary.

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UNIVERSITY OF UTAH DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING
50 S. Central Campus Dr | Salt Lake City, UT 84112-9206 | Phone: (801) 581-6941 | Fax: (801) 581-5281 | www.ece.utah.edu
 ECE 3300 Lab 6

4. (Group 4) Going back to the Lab #3 procedure, construct a single-wire monopole

antenna and connect it to the microstrip circuit. Adjust the length of the antenna to be
resonant at 440 MHz. Construct and verify the matching stub.

5. (All) Connect the transmitting antenna to the network analyzer port 1 and the
receiving antenna (in tissue simulant material) to port 2. Measure S21 from the
transmitting antenna to the receiving antenna 1 meter away using the network
analyzer.

6. (All) Measure all of the distances and related values that are needed in order to
compute the power link budget for your system. Plug these values into your
spreadsheet, and determine the expected received power. Consider the cases where
the receiving antenna is 1 to 10 meters from the body surface. Given the sensitivity
that you measured in part 1, at approximately what distance is there enough power for
the receiver to measure? If you have time, add an amplifier in front of the splitter at
the receiver, and repeat. What is the new receiver sensitivity?

Steps 7 through 10 should be completed during the second week of the lab. The lab
section will be separated into two groups and each group will work with a separate set of
equipment.

7. Connect the complete communication system as shown in Figures 1-4. The

transmitter control circuitry and the decision circuit have already been built for you.
Verify that the system works by sending a short Morse Code message.

Figure 7 - Morse Code

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UNIVERSITY OF UTAH DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING
50 S. Central Campus Dr | Salt Lake City, UT 84112-9206 | Phone: (801) 581-6941 | Fax: (801) 581-5281 | www.ece.utah.edu
 ECE 3300 Lab 6

8. Observe the effect of multipath propagation on your received power. Choose at least
one distance where you receive a good signal. Move the antenna in air in 1”
increments for at least 1 foot. Plot the received power as a function of distance. For
these closely spaced measurements, you should see what looks like a lot of noise,
typically 10-30 dB of variation. Observe one point as a function of time. Does it
change as you move around?

9. Now measure the maximum transmission distance by moving the transmit and
receive antennas apart until the receiver can no longer reliably receive a signal. Be
aware that the multipath ‘noise’ is present in these measurements as well.

10. Determine the effect of an amplifier. Connect the receiving antenna to the amplifier.
Connect the output of the amplifier to the spectrum analyzer. Make sure that the
power input to the amplifier is below 5 dBm, or else it will saturate. What is the gain
of the amplifier? What is the maximum distance that the receiver can receive a
signal?

If there’s time, add the second amplifier in series with the receiving antenna and
repeat. Make sure that the power input to the amplifier is below 5 dBm. What is the
new calculated maximum distance that the receiver and receive a signal?

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UNIVERSITY OF UTAH DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING
50 S. Central Campus Dr | Salt Lake City, UT 84112-9206 | Phone: (801) 581-6941 | Fax: (801) 581-5281 | www.ece.utah.edu