WAVEFORM QUANTIZATION

AND CODING
Introduction
 To handle the transmission of analog message signals by
digital means, the signal has to undergo an analog-to-
digital conversion.
 Analog information is formatted using three separate
processes: Sampling, Quantization and Coding.
 Sampling converts a continuous time signal into a
discrete time signal by measuring the signal value at
regular intervals of time. This is known as discretization of
the signal along the time axis.
 One popular technique is flat-top PAM.
 Using a waveform coding technique we convert the
analog PAM signal into the digital signal.
 In pulse analog modulation, only time is expressed in the
digital form and any one of the pulse parameters
(amplitude or time) is varied with the message signal.
 Information transmission is accomplished in an analog
form at discrete time.
 In pulse digital modulation, the time and the pulse
parameter (usually amplitude) occur in discrete form
and digital coded form respectively.
 Pulse digital modulation converts an analog signal to its
corresponding digital form.
 Thus, ADC is sometimes known as pulse digital
modulation.
 The simplest form of pulse digital modulation is called
Pulse Code Modulation (PCM).
Discretization in Time and Amplitude
 In PCM, the message signal is first sampled and then
amplitude of each sampled is rounded off to the
nearest one of a finite allowable values known as
quantization levels.
 Both time and amplitude are in the discrete form.
 This process is called as discretization in time and
amplitude.
 Thus, digitizing a signal results in improved transmission
quality, with reduction in distortion and an improvement
in SNR.
Quantization
 Quantization converts a continuous amplitude signal
into a discrete signal by dividing the amplitude axis into
several uniformly spaced/non-uniformly spaced
amplitude levels called quantization levels.
Quantization Process
 Quantization process is classified as:
 Uniform Quantization
 Non-uniform Quantization

 In uniform quantization the step size remains same

throughout the input range.
 In non-uniform quantization the step size varies
according to the input signal value. Moreover, the
output level are not in the center of each interval.
Uniform Quantizer
 There are two types of uniform quantizer:
 Symmetric quantizer of the midtread type,
 Symmetric quantizer of the midrise type
Working Principle of Quantizer
Transmission Bandwidth in a PCM
System

Quantization Noise/Error in PCM

Signal to Quantization Noise ratio for

Linear Quantization
Non-Uniform Quantization
 In uniform quantization, the quantizer has a linear
characteristics. The step size remains same throughout
the range of quantizer.
 For high voltage signal the quantization error is small and
for low voltage signal quantization error is high.
 The SNRq should remain constant over a wide range of
input power level. A quantizer that satisfies this
requirement is known as Robust Quantizer.
 In voice applications, variable separation between
quantizing levels is more advantageous.
Companding
 The non-uniform quantization is practically achieved
through a process called Companding.
 Companding is a word derived from two words:
Companding = Compressing + Expanding
 In practice, it is difficult to implement the non-uniform
quantization because the signal level is not known in
advance.
 Thus, the weak signals are amplified and the strong
signals are attenuated before applying them to a
uniform quantizer.
 This process is called as compression and the block that
provides it is called as compressor.
 At the receiver exactly opposite is followed which is
called as an expander.
 The compression of signal at the transmitter and
expansion at the receiver is combined called as
Companding.
Compressor and Expander
Characteristics
Compander Characteristics
Various Compressor Characteristics
 Ideally, we need a linear compressor characteristics for
small amplitudes of the input signal and a logarithmic
characteristics elsewhere.

 This is achieved by using two methods:

 μ-law Companding
 A-law Companding
μ-Law Companding

 In μ-law Companding, the compressor characteristic is

continuous.
 It is approximately linear for smaller values of input levels
and logarithmic for high input levels.
 Mathematically expressed as:
ln(1 + 𝜇 𝑥 𝑥𝑚𝑎𝑥 )
𝑧 𝑥 = (𝑠𝑔𝑛 𝑥)
ln(1 + 𝜇)
OR
 The μ-law compressor characteristics for different value
of μ:
 The practical value of μ is 255.
 The characteristic corresponds to μ=0 is a uniform
quantization.
 The μ-law Companding is used for speech and music
signals.
 It is used for PCM telephone systems in US, Canada and
Japan.
 The signal to quantization noise ratio with respect to
input signal level is almost constant at all the signal level.
 The variation of signal to quantization noise ratio with
respect to signal level.
A-law Companding
 In A-law Companding, the compressor characteristic is
piecewise.
 It consists linear segment for low level of input and
logarithmic segment for high level input.
 A=1 corresponds to a linear characteristic of uniform
quantization.
 The practical used value is A=87.56
 The A-law Companding is used for PCM telephone
systems in Europe.
 Mathematically expressed as:
 The most important difference between the two types of
compressor is that the A-law compressor has a mid-riser
at the origin whereas the μ-law has a mid-tread at the
origin.
 Thus the A-law compressor has no zero value.