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Principles

of Air
Force
Electronic
Systems

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
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ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
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Scope
The purpose of this text is to provide a basic background of electrical engineering for non-
engineers. It supports the United States Air Force Academy core class: Principles of Air Force
Electronic Systems, which is divided into three blocks of instruction. The blocks in order are:
Power Distribution (lessons 1-9), Signal Processing (lessons 14-21), and Communication,
Navigation and Radar (Lessons 25-34). Two lessons covering Electronic Warfare is added at the
end of the course to introduce the topic.


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Acknowledgements

This text was originally written and is continually modified by the faculty of the Department of
Electrical and Computer Engineering, United States Air Force Academy. The faculty involved
includes, but is not limited to Lt Col Darren Wilson (Ret), Maj Constance Hendrix, Dr. Randall
Musselman, and Lt Col Anne Clark. As special thanks to those who wrote and contributed to the
ECE 215 textbook, Introduction to Electrical Engineering, which this book was born from.

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Table of Contents

Scope ............................................................................................................................................................. 3
Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................................... 4
Table of Contents .......................................................................................................................................... 5
Block I Overview .......................................................................................................................................... 10
Lesson 1 Basics of Electrical Engineering ................................................................................................. 13
Decisions, decisions ................................................................................................................................ 14
Electric Charges and Voltage .............................................................................................................. 15
Current ................................................................................................................................................ 16
Power and Resistance ......................................................................................................................... 18
Engineering Notation .......................................................................................................................... 21
Basic Electrical Devices ....................................................................................................................... 23
Lesson 2 Circuit Analysis .......................................................................................................................... 31
Kirchoffs Voltage Law (KVL) ................................................................................................................... 33
KVL Analysis (Circuit #1) ...................................................................................................................... 33
KVL Analysis (Circuit #2) ...................................................................................................................... 34
Kirchoffs Current Law (KCL) ................................................................................................................... 36
KCL Analysis (Circuit #1) ...................................................................................................................... 36
KCL Analysis (Circuit #2) ...................................................................................................................... 37
Circuit Analysis .................................................................................................................................... 37
Lesson 3 Circuit Analysis (cont.) and Protection ...................................................................................... 43
Circuit Analysis (Equivalent Resistance).................................................................................................. 44
Series Resistors ................................................................................................................................... 45
Voltage Division .................................................................................................................................. 49
Parallel Resistors ................................................................................................................................. 50
Current Division .................................................................................................................................. 53
Circuit Protection ................................................................................................................................ 55
Lesson 4 Signals and AC Circuit Analysis .................................................................................................. 65
AC Signals ............................................................................................................................................ 68
AC Power ............................................................................................................................................. 70
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Efficiency ............................................................................................................................................. 72
Lesson 6 Power Generation and Motors ................................................................................................. 79
Power Plants ....................................................................................................................................... 80
Motors ................................................................................................................................................. 84
Motor Efficiency .................................................................................................................................. 87
Generators .......................................................................................................................................... 89
Lesson 7 Power Transmission .................................................................................................................. 94
Power Transmission ............................................................................................................................ 95
Transformers ....................................................................................................................................... 96
AC Power Transmission ....................................................................................................................... 99
Lesson 8 AC-to-DC Conversion ............................................................................................................... 106
Basics of AC-DC Conversion .............................................................................................................. 107
AC-to-DC Conversion......................................................................................................................... 110
Decision Making (Normalization and Weighted Scores) .................................................................. 114
Lesson 9 Power Distribution .................................................................................................................. 124
Block II Overview ....................................................................................................................................... 144
Lesson 14 Instrumentation Systems ...................................................................................................... 146
Transducers ....................................................................................................................................... 147
Instrumentation Systems .................................................................................................................. 148
Instrumentation System (with Biasing) ............................................................................................. 150
Lesson 15 Transistors and Operational Amplifier Implementations ..................................................... 156
Amplifier Design ................................................................................................................................ 157
Op-amp Limitations .......................................................................................................................... 161
Instrumentation System (Biasing Circuit) ......................................................................................... 164
Lesson 16 Filters ..................................................................................................................................... 172
Frequency Domain ............................................................................................................................ 173
Electronic Filters ................................................................................................................................ 175
Lesson 17 Analog-to-Digital Conversion, Part I ...................................................................................... 180
Sampling ............................................................................................................................................ 182
Resolution ......................................................................................................................................... 185
Analog to Digital Conversion ............................................................................................................. 189
Lesson 18 Analog-to-Digital Conversion, Part II ..................................................................................... 196
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Lesson 19 Digital-to-Analog Conversion (DAC) ...................................................................................... 206
Digital to Analog Conversion ............................................................................................................. 207
Lesson 20 Digital Signal Channels .......................................................................................................... 216
Parallel-to-Serial (P/S) Conversion .................................................................................................... 217
Circuit Switching................................................................................................................................ 221
Bandwidth versus Throughput .......................................................................................................... 224
Lesson 21 - Cyberspace ............................................................................................................................. 230
Packet-Switching ............................................................................................................................... 231
Cyberspace ........................................................................................................................................ 232
References ........................................................................................................................................ 234
Block III Overview ...................................................................................................................................... 237
Lesson 25 Modulation ............................................................................................................................ 239
Lesson 26 Amplitude Modulation .......................................................................................................... 255
Amplitude Modulator ....................................................................................................................... 256
Lesson 27 Demodulation ........................................................................................................................ 271
Modulation Efficiency ....................................................................................................................... 272
Demodulation - Envelope Detector .................................................................................................. 274
Demodulation - Synchronous Detection ........................................................................................... 278
Choosing AM Modulators and Demodulators .................................................................................. 281
Lesson 29 Antennas ............................................................................................................................... 285
General Antenna Theory ................................................................................................................... 286
Types of Antennas ............................................................................................................................. 289
Antenna Parameters ......................................................................................................................... 291
Antenna Range and Bandwidth Considerations ............................................................................... 294
Communication Channels ................................................................................................................. 294
Lesson 30 Wireless Communications ..................................................................................................... 299
Wireless Communications .................................................................................................................... 300
Radio Frequency (RF) Spectrum ........................................................................................................ 300
Wireless Channel Types .................................................................................................................... 301
RF Summary ...................................................................................................................................... 304
Line-of-sight Communications .......................................................................................................... 305
Lesson 31 - The FRIIS Equation ................................................................................................................ 311
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Friis Equation .................................................................................................................................... 312
Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) ............................................................................................................... 316
Lesson 32 Radio Detection And Ranging (Radar) ................................................................................... 322
Radar Range ...................................................................................................................................... 323
Radar Detection Range ..................................................................................................................... 324
Lesson 33 Radar (Continued) ................................................................................................................. 332
Radar Pulse Parameters .................................................................................................................... 333
Maximum Unambiguous Range ........................................................................................................ 334
Radar Range Resolution .................................................................................................................... 335
Target Speed Determination ............................................................................................................. 337
Lesson 34 Global Positioning System (GPS) ........................................................................................... 344
GPS System Architecture .................................................................................................................. 345
GPS Signals ........................................................................................................................................ 346
GPS Position Determination.............................................................................................................. 351
Lesson 39 and 40 Electronic Warfare (EW) ............................................................................................ 360
Radio Jamming Techniques and Countermeasures .......................................................................... 361
Radar Jamming Techniques and Countermeasures .......................................................................... 366
Homework Answers .................................................................................................................................. 374
Lesson 1................................................................................................................................................. 374
Lesson 2................................................................................................................................................. 374
Lesson 3................................................................................................................................................. 375
Lesson 4................................................................................................................................................. 376
Lesson 6................................................................................................................................................. 376
Lesson 7................................................................................................................................................. 377
Lesson 8................................................................................................................................................. 377
Lesson 9................................................................................................................................................. 378
Lesson 14............................................................................................................................................... 379
Lesson 15............................................................................................................................................... 380
Lesson 16............................................................................................................................................... 382
Lesson 17............................................................................................................................................... 383
Lesson 18............................................................................................................................................... 384
Lesson 19............................................................................................................................................... 385
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Lesson 20............................................................................................................................................... 386
Lesson 21............................................................................................................................................... 387
Lesson 25............................................................................................................................................... 388
Lesson 26............................................................................................................................................... 390
Lesson 27............................................................................................................................................... 391
Lesson 29............................................................................................................................................... 392
Lesson 30............................................................................................................................................... 393
Lesson 31............................................................................................................................................... 393
Lesson 32............................................................................................................................................... 393
Lesson 33............................................................................................................................................... 393
Lesson 34............................................................................................................................................... 394
Lesson 39 & 40 ...................................................................................................................................... 394

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ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
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Block I Overview

Power Plant
R
line
a=3/50 a=165/3
120 VAC
1
st
XFMR 2
nd
XFMR
120 VAC
Bus
120 VAC Dining Rm
Den
Bedroom
House circuit breaker:
15
8
15
Lessons 1-4
Lesson 6
Lesson 7
AC/DC
Converter
10
Laptop
Lesson 8
Lesson 9










ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
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ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
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Lesson 1 Basics of Electrical Engineering

Learning Outcomes
1. Use engineering notation to communicate large and small numbers in a convenient,
abbreviated format.
2. Understand the basic electrical variables, voltage and current, and how they interact to
produce power.
3. Use Ohms Law to solve for current, voltage, or resistance in a simple DC circuit.
4. Understand that Ohms Law works only for devices that can be modeled as a resistor.
5. Use the power equations to solve for power, current, or voltage in a simple DC circuit.
6. Understand the relationship between the variables in Ohms Law (e.g. how does current
change with respect to voltage if resistance is held constant).
7. Understand the relationship between the variables in the power equation.
8. Given a single measure of merit, choose the best available option.
9. Understand the difference between real devices and ideal devices.
10. Clearly articulate the answer to an engineering question.


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Lesson 1 Basics of Electrical Engineering

If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.
-- Neil Peart (Rush)

Decisions, decisions
Hopefully, you already know what would happen if you connected a 9-Volt (V) battery to a
simple light bulb. As long as the battery was sufficiently charged and the wires connected
correctly, you would probably expect electrons to flow from the battery and through the filament
inside the bulb, causing the bulb itself to glow.

If we were interested in the physics involved, we could discuss how the various metals inside the
battery cause the electrons to flow or why the flowing electrons cause the filament to glow. We
could even measure the brightness of the light and describe it using some obscure unit of
illumination. But this is not a physics text and while these things are interesting, we will focus
on applications in this course.
Ultimately, engineering is all about making decisions. In the example above, we arbitrarily
picked a 9-V battery to connect to the bulb, but maybe a different voltage would have worked
better. Likewise, we decided to power a single bulb, but its possible we really need to power
two bulbs. Or perhaps three.
Assuming we know what it is we wish to accomplish, engineering can help us figure out the best
way to do it. To properly choose the best known solution, however, we need to do four things:
- First we need to understand what is really happening in the problem were trying to solve,
- Second, we must use this knowledge to predict what would happen if we make changes,
- Next, we need some way to compare competing designs with each other, and
- Finally, we need to decide which option is best.
And these four steps, first part of the Engineering Method, more or less sum up engineering. We
try to understand well enough to predict, then we compare our predictions to help us decide the
best course of action.
In this first lesson, well demonstrate this sequence. Well start with an understanding of what is
happening in our simple light bulb circuit. Then well introduce some simple tools to help us
predict what would happen if we made changes to the circuit. Finally, well use our
understanding and our tools to make simple engineering decisions.
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
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So lets get started.

Electric Charges and Voltage
To understand whats going on in our light bulb circuitor anything else in the exciting world of
electrical engineeringwe need to briefly discuss electric charges.
You probably already know that electrons have a negative charge (-) and protons have a positive
charge (+). Accordingly, any atom or molecule with more electrons than protons would have a
negative charge while any atom or molecule with more protons than electrons would have a
positive charge.
At this point, most textbooks would tell you that these charged atoms and molecules are called
ions, but were not going to. Ions themselves are not important to the focus of this class. What
is important, however, is the interaction that occurs between positive and negative charges.
In fact, whenever current flows through a light bulb or numbers are crunched in your computer
or radio waves are sent to control an unmanned vehicle, it all happens because of interacting
electric charges. Note, it takes work (or energy) to separate electrons from atoms. When we use
electrons to do something, we are really just getting gthis energy back.
So lets take a single negative charge and place it near a single positive charge:

- +

Because the charges are opposite, they will attract, which is to say there will be a measurable
force that pulls the two charges towards each other.
Voltage, which is one of the fundamental concepts in electrical engineering, is simply a way to
describe this force between the opposite charges.
To explain what we mean by this, lets say that the negative charge is actually an electron and
the positive charge is some positive ion that is fixed in place. Lets also say that we want to
move the electron from point A to point B:
- +
A B
Like everything else in the world, an electron doesnt move unless some energy (or work) is
expended to make it move. In this case, the energy comes from the force created by the positive
and negative charges of the electron and the positive ion. If we carefully measured the amount
of work (or energy) expended to move the electron from point A to point B and divided this
amount by the charge of the electron being moved, we would get the voltage required to move
the electron from point A to B.
For those of you that speak mathematics, we can write this definition for voltage as


ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
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In other words, voltage is the amount of work required (dw) per unit of charge (dq) to move a
charge from one point to another.
So what does this mean?
The simple answer is to think of voltage as a pressure that causes electrons to move.
By way of analogy, consider what happens when you connect a hose to a water faucet. When
you turn the faucet on, the water pressure from the pipes in your house pushes water into and
through the hose.
Likewise, when you hook some wires up to a battery, the voltage pressure causes electrons to
flow through the wire (as long as the path makes a complete circuit back to the other battery
terminal).
We measure this pressure with the unit volts. As you might expect, the more volts we have,
the faster the electrons flow. A 9-V battery has twice the pressure of a 4.5-V battery, and
would therefore cause the electrons to move twice as fast through our light bulb.
Before we move on and talk about current, we need to stress two things about voltage:
- First, voltage is always measured between two points. For this reason, we often talk
about the voltage across a device. The voltage across our light bulb, for instance, tells us
how much work is actually being done (per unit charge) to move electrons from one end
of the filament to the other.
- Second, voltage exists even if nothing is flowing. This is a subtle, but important point.
Voltage doesnt measure the movement of electrons, but rather the pressure that causes
(or would cause) electrons to move. This is why voltage is sometimes referred to as
potential.
Our water analogy helps with this last point. Connect a hose to a faucet, but keep the faucet
turned off. Even though no water flows through the hose, there is still water pressure in the
system. Likewise, a battery has voltage, even if it is not connected.
Current
Once voltage gets electrons moving, current can be measured to determine how many actually
move. Mathematically, we use the letter I to represent current, which is defined by the equation
1
1


In case you are curious, a volt can be defined as
Youre probably familiar with some of these units: J is for joules, the unit of energy; N is
for newton, the unit of force; and m is for meters.
C, which is probably new, is for coulomb, which is the unit of electric charge. One
coulomb has the same charge as 6.24 * 10
18
electrons.
Fortunately, you are not responsible for knowing this equation in this course. Just
understand that voltage measures the force that moves electrons over a certain distance.

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I
+
-


Therefore, current measures the amount of charge (dq) that passes through a specific point in a
given amount of time (dt).
If you think of current as measuring how many electrons flow per second, you have the right idea.
The unit of current is the ampere (often shortened to amp) and is abbreviated, A. The more amps
you have, the more electrons that flow. As you might expect, a current of 9 A has three times as
many flowing electrons as a current of 3 A.
One key point to understand is that current is always measured through a single point.
Therefore, if we say that the current through a light bulb is 2 A, what we really mean is that the
current through any point in the light bulbs filament is 2 A. Well explore this issue a little
more next lesson.

For the most part, current is a fairly straightforward concept. Unfortunately, way back when
men like Benjamin Franklin were trying to make sense of electricity, they made a simple
decision that confuses the issue slightly.
By definition, current is positive in nature. What we mean by this is that when we connect a
battery to a light bulb, the current flows from the positive terminal (+), through the bulb, and
then back to the negative terminal (-).
This correct depiction of current is shown by the arrow in the following diagram:







If youve been paying attention, though, you might already know whats wrong with this. We
say that current is positive, but we also know that electrons are negative. When we connect a
battery to a light bulb, what really happens is that the electrons leave the negative terminal (-),
cause the bulb to glow, and then return to the positive terminal (+) and doing work in the process.
1
1


For those of you who need to know such things, 1 A of current is equal to 1
coulomb per second.
A coulomb is the unit of electrical charge and has the same magnitude of charge
as 6.24 * 10
18
electrons. Therefore, 1 A is defined as a flow rate of 6.24 * 10
18

electrons per second.
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Simply put, we model the flow of current as flowing in one direction when the electrons actually
flow in the opposite direction.
So whats up with that?
The good news is that it really doesnt matter. If you simply follow the convention that current
flows from positive to negative, youll be okay.
If you want a more formal understanding, take another look at the definition of current:


The key here is that dq is defined in terms of charges and not electrons. Specifically, dq is a
measure of the positive charges that are flowing. If we could somehow get protons to flow
through our wire, we would have a very nice electrical current to measure. Even better, the flow
of the protons would be in the same direction as the current.
Realistically, however, protons dont flow. Were pretty much stuck with electrons, since it is
fairly easy to get them to move.
So now for the tricky part. In order to simulate a bunch of positive charges flowing forward,
we simply get a bunch of negative charges to flow backwards:
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
It can be a tough concept to grasp, but from an electrical engineering point of view, there is no
discernable difference between positive charges flowing in one direction and negative charges
flowing in the opposite direction. Its all the same.
Again, all this really doesnt matter. If you understand that electricity usually deals with the flow
of electrons and that current flows from positive to negative, youll be fine.

Power and Resistance
Voltage and current are fundamental to EE, but there is much more to engineering besides
understanding this relationship.
Think back to our water hose analogy. Its nice that we have lots of water pressure running
through our pipes, but if we never turn on the faucet, nothing would ever get done. Likewise, we
could open the faucet to let water flow through the hose, but if we dont do something with the
water, then the water current pretty much wasted.
Its all about doing. We take a shower. We wash the car. We fill up a water balloon.
In the electrical world, we use the term power to measure the work that gets done. We light up a
room. We toast some bread. We use a computer.
All of these require power, which is defined by the equation


ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
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In terms of our light bulb, power is the energy consumed (dw) by the bulb in a given amount of
time (dt). Since energy and work use the same units, we can also say that power measures the
work that is done in a given amount of time.
The unit of power is the watt (W), which is equivalent to joules per second. Therefore, a 100-W
light bulb consumes 100 joules of energy per second. A 50-W bulb consumes 50 joules per
second.
So what do current and voltage have to do with power? The short answer is everything. To
explain, lets review the definitions for both current and voltage:


Notice what happens when we multiply these together:
(

) (


In other words,

Power is equal to current times voltage. This equation is called the Power Equation and is really
quite useful.

Example Problem: The filament of a light bulb has 9 V placed across it, which causes 90 mA to
flow through it. How much power does the bulb consume?

Big Picture: The power consumed by a light bulb depends on the current through it and the
voltage across it.
Key Issues: None.
Analysis: Since we know both the current through the filament and the voltage across it, we can
use the Power Equation to find:
( )( ) 1
Answer: The light bulb consumes 810 mW of power.

This example problem is okay for reinforcing the notion that power is the product of current and
voltage, but its actually lousy in terms of teaching you whats going on in the circuit. The
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
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scenario implies we can control both the current through and the voltage across the light bulb,
which isnt the case.
In simple circuits like these, we can control the current or the voltage, but not both.
The key to understanding what is really going on is the concept of resistance. The filament of a
light bulb is designed to resist the flow of electrons in order to generate heat, which causes the
filament to glow white-hot. This is because, as electrons flow through the filament, they bounce
off of atoms in the filament and lose energy. When enough energy is lost to the filament, its
heats up and eventually glows. Mathematically, we use R for resistance, which is defined by the
equation


This equation is known as Ohms Law, which is more commonly written as,

As you might already know, we measure resistance using ohms (). A device that has 200
resists the flow of electricity twice as much as a 100 device.
What does this mean?
Think about our hose and faucet. With most faucets, we can control the flow of water depending
on how many times we turn the handle. Whats really happening is that as we open the faucet,
we cause the opening to get bigger and bigger, allowing more and more water to flow. In other
words, we decrease the resistance by making the opening bigger, which allows more water to
flow.
When we start to close the faucet, we increase the resistance by causing the opening to get
smaller and therefore less water flows.
One important point about Ohms Law: it only works with devices that can be modeled as
resistors. Later on, when we start dealing with transformers and other non-resistive devices, we
will have to use other tools to solve for voltages and currents.

Example Problem: The filament of a light bulb has a resistance of 100 . If 9 V are placed
across it, how much power does the bulb consume?

Big Picture: We want to find out how much energy per second the bulb consumes.
Key Issues: Before we can solve for power, we need to first solve for current.
R = 100
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
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Analysis: We know the resistance of the bulbs filament and the voltage across it. We can use
Ohms Law to find the current through it. Ohms Law is

Solving for current, gives us



1

Notice that this is the same current as the previous problem. Since the voltage is also the same,
the light bulb will consume the same amount of power:
( )( ) 1
Answer: The light bulb consumes 810 mW of power.

Engineering Notation
The answer to the previous problems was 810 mW. In case you didnt know, mW means
milliwatts, which means thousandths of a watt. Therefore, 810 mW means 810 thousandths of a
watt, or 0.81 W.
When we use terms like milliwatts, kilovolts, or Gigahertz, we are using engineering notation,
which helps to more clearly communicate the values in an engineering problem
If you are familiar with scientific notation, then you have a good start for understanding
engineering notation. The basic format of scientific notation is simple:
1


In this format, the variable a (called the coefficient, in case youre curious) must have a value
between 1 and 9.9999. In other words, you get a single digit (from 1 to 9) before the decimal
point, and as many digits as you need after it.
The variable b (called the exponent) can be any positive or negative integer (including 0).
Therefore, if you have a lightning bolt with 825,300,000,000 watts of peak power, scientific
notation says we have 8.253 * 10
11
W. If the lightning bolt lasts for 0.0001975 seconds, we
could write this as 1.975 * 10
-5
s.
In scientific notation, the exponent simply keeps track of how we move the decimal point. If we
move it 11 places to the left, then we have 10
11
. If we move it 5 places to the right, then we have
10
-5
.
Easy.
Engineering notation is similar to scientific notation, but with two main differences. First, the
exponent must always be a multiple of 3.
Fortunately, you already know how to do this for larger numbers. If you wanted to write the
power of this lightning bolt, you would never write it like this: 825300000000 W. Even though
its the right number, its not very useful because it too difficult to understand with all of the
digits crammed together. Instead, you would use commas to make the number more readable:
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
22
825,300,000,000 W. Without even trying, we now know the power of the bolt is hundreds of
billions of watts.
And thats what engineering notation does for us. It helps us to intuitively understand the
magnitude of the values were using.
For large numbers, then, we can use the commas to figure out where the decimal point goes.
What we want to do is replace the first comma with the decimal point.
For our lightning bolt, the first comma falls between the 825 and the 300, which means we have
to shift the decimal point 9 places to the left. This means our exponent is 9. Therefore, the peak
power is 825.3 * 10
9
W.
Notice the coefficient can range from 1 to 999.999 however, it is common practice to use the
range of 0.1 to 9999. For example, you would list a hairdryer as 1200 W, not 1.2 kW.
The second difference between engineering and scientific notations is the use of prefixes. Once
we figure out what the exponent should be, we replace the entire exponential term with a single-
letter prefix.
The following chart lists all of the prefixes well use in this course, which can also be found on
your equation sheet located in your syllabus:
Prefix Symbol Power
tera
T 10
12

giga
G 10
9

mega
M 10
6

kilo k 10
3

milli m 10
3

micro 10
6

nano n 10
9

pico p 10
12

femto f 10
15

atto a 10
18

From this chart, we see that 10
9
is represented by the prefix giga, or G. Therefore, the value
825.3 * 10
9
W becomes 825.3 GW.
Important Note: We will be using engineering notation almost exclusively in this course and
we expect you to use it as well. Towards this end, we recommend you figure out how to put your
calculator in engineering mode, so it can shift the decimal point for you. Ask your instructor for
help, if needed.

So how do we convert 0.0001975 s to engineering notation?
One technique is to add commas, like we did for larger numbers. If we write the duration of the
lightning bolt as 0.000,197,5 s, we can see what needs to be done: we recognize that we need to
replace the second comma with the decimal point. This means the decimal point needs to shift 6
places to the right, so our exponent is -6.
The answer is therefore 197.5 * 10
-6
s, which we write as 197.5 s.
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
23

Example Problem A transformer allows us to step up the voltage in a power line while stepping
down the current. If the voltage is 43,175V and the current is 0.00096 A, write these values using
correct engineering notation.
Big Picture: We need the exponents to be multiples of 3 so we can use the proper prefix.
Key Issues: Be careful with converting the current. The number 0.00096 is potentially tricky.
Analysis: Hopefully, you quickly realized the voltage is 43.175 kV, since the comma has done
most of the work for us. We need to move the decimal point between the 43 and the 175, which
means we need to move it three places to the left, which means the exponent is 3. The voltage is
therefore 43.175 * 10
3
V, which we write as 43.175 kV.
Please realize, however, that this is not yet a good engineering answer. The problem is that there
are too many significant figures. In this class, unless we explicitly state otherwise, we will
expect you to use 3 or 4 significant figures. Therefore, the final answer is 43.18 kV if you use 4
significant figures or 43.2 kV if you only use 3.
If we use the comma technique for the current, we get 0.000,96 A. At this point, a few of you
might be tempted to say the current is 96 A, but that would be wrong. What we really need is
to add a few trailing zeros (which cost nothing, by the way). Using commas and trailing zeros,
the current is, 0.000,960,000,000.
Hopefully, you can see that we need to move the decimal point to the second comma, which is 6
places to the right. Therefore, the current is 960 * 10
-6
, or 960 A.
Answer: 43.18 kV, 960 A
Basic Electrical Devices
Way back on page 3, we said we were going to follow a four step process for this lesson: first,
understand whats happening in the light bulb circuit; second, introduce some tools to help us
predict what would happen if we made changes; third, use all this to compare options; and fourth,
decide what option is best.
For this lesson, we are now done with the first step. Hopefully, you understand what happens
when we connect a battery to a light bulb. The battery provides a voltage pressure that causes
electrons to flow. The filament resists the flow, which determines the actual current. The
voltage and current determine the power consumed by the bulb.
Now we have to figure out how to predict what will happen when we start changing things. To
do this, were going to change how we model the devices in our circuit.
First, well model the voltage source with the following symbol:

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
24
Notice the positive (+) and negative (-) terminals on the voltage source. As you might expect,
the pressure at the positive terminal is higher than the pressure at the negative one.
Therefore, the current flows out of the positive terminal and returns to the negative.
We will model the light bulb as a resistor. Exactly as the name implies, a resistor is a device that
resists the flow of electricity. As with the previous example problem, well assume the light
bulb has a resistance of 100 .

Using these devices, we can redraw our battery and light bulb as the circuit below. We added
some arrows with labels to show the currents coming out of the voltage source and passing
through the resistor. We also labeled the voltage across the resistor, V
R
, and the current through
the resistor,

.
+
VR
-
IS
IR
Vs = 9 V R = 100 O

Notice the polarity (where we put the + and -) of the resistor. As with the voltage source, we
label the side with the greater pressure as positive (+) and the side with the lower pressure as
negative (-).
Notice also the relationship between the polarity of the devices and the current flow. In the
voltage source, current comes out of the positive terminal, but in the resistor, current flows into
the positive terminal.
If this isnt making sense, think about the voltage source as a water pump pushing water through
the circuit. The resistor, then, represents everything that tries to slow the water down. The
arrows represent the direction of water flow. The polarity labels (+ and -) represent relative
pressure. The pressure is always higher coming out of a pump than going into it. Likewise, the
pressure is always higher going into a resistor than coming out of it.
Important Disclaimer: The key to our modeling of electrical devices is that we model a device
for what it does, rather than what it is. What a 9-V battery does is provide 9 volts, therefore we
model it as a 9 V power source.
The benefit of this is the ability to replace the battery with anything that provides 9 V without
changing what happens to the circuit. For example, we could use six AAA batteries or an AC-
DC converter to produce a 9-V output, and it wouldnt matter. The current and power would be
the same.
Unfortunately, we also lose something whenever we model it. Because of cost or weight or
convenience constraints, it might actually matter what kind of power source we use. These
issues are lost in the circuit model and need to be tracked separately.
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
25
Additionally, the model doesnt fully represent what really happens in a real circuit. First of all,
there are inherent errors associated with real devices. A real 100 resistor, for example, might
have an actual resistance of 96.7 . Likewise, even if a 9-V battery actually provided 9 volts, it
would not do so forever. Over time, a battery will lose power and the voltage will drop.
For much of electrical engineering, modeling circuits using ideal devices helps to simplify the
analysis to allow us to more quickly solve a given problem. The term ideal implies zero error and
100% efficiency. Although there is always error, the error when modeling ideal devices is
usually small enough to not impact the decision that needs to be made.
In this course, we will mostly use ideal devices in our analysis.
Believe it or not, you now have all the tools you need to predict what will happen of we change
something in our circuit.
Example Problem: A light bulb with a resistance of 200- is connected to two AA batteries in
series (3 V total), as modeled as the circuit below. If the wiring in the flashlight is limited to 20
mA, will the flashlight function as designed?
+
V
R
-
I
S
I
R
Vs = 3 V R = 200 O

Big Picture: We need to determine the current in the wiring.
Key Issues: If the actual current is 20.00 mA or less, the flashlight will work. If it is greater
than 20 mA, the wire will burn up, ruining the flashlight.
Analysis: The tool of choice for solving for current in a resistive circuit is Ohms Law.

1 1
Therefore the current through the resistor is 15 mA.
The next pertinent question is how much current flows through the wiring. Applying a little bit
of logic, we can also figure out how much current is traveling through the wires. Since 15 mA is
entering the bulb, it should make sense that the 15 mA is coming from the source and must
therefore travel through the wires to reach the resistor.
Answer: Yes, the flashlight will work as designed since the current in the circuit is only 15 mA,
which is less than the 20 mA limit.

Example Problem: Two competing flashlight designs are modeled below. If the sole measure
of merit is to minimize power consumption, which of the two is the better design?
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
26
+
V
R
-
90
I
S
I
R
+
V
R
-
6 V
I
S
I
R
Option A Option B
9 V
50

Big Picture: Which is the better flashlight design, that is, which design consumes the lesser
amount of power?
Key Issues: We should probably define what we mean by measure of merit. A measure of
merit (sometimes called a criterion, or criteria if there is more than one) is simply something we
use to compare the relative goodness between competing options.
A common measure of merit is cost, which is usually minimized. If two options cost $50 and
$65, then with respect to cost, the $50 option is more good than the $65 option. If cost is our
only measure of merit, then we say that the $50 option is better than the $65 option.
Since in this example power consumption is our sole measure of merit, then the option with the
lesser power consumption will be the better option.
Analysis: Lets first solve for the power consumed by Option A:
+
V
R
-
I
S
I
R

We can use voltage and resistance to solve for the current, by using Ohms Law:

1
Applying the power equation, gives:
()(1)
Therefore, Option A consumes 900 mW of power.
Before we solve for Option B, lets do a bit of algebra to simplify the process. First, well solve
Ohms Law for current, as we have done previously:


Next, we will plug this equation into the power equation:
() (


ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
27
This is a fairly useful equation that allows us to skip a step in solving for power. Since this
equation is based on Ohms Law, however, it is only applicable to resistors.
Solving for Option B:
+
V
R
-
I
S
I
R

Applying the revised power equation, gives us:

()



Answer: Option B is the better design because it consumes 720 mW, which is less than the 900
mW consumed by Option A.

For simple problems like the one we just solved, the decision is obvious as soon as the
comparison is made. However, in engineering (and many other pursuits), it is not enough to
reach the right decision; we must also adequately articulate the decision so that other will agree
with it and act accordingly. Therefore, are answer is not Option B, but rather Option B is the
better design because it consumes 720 mW, which is less than the 900 mW consumed by Option
A.


ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
28
Lesson 1 Homework
1. Two light bulbs, one rated at 50 W and the other rated at 100 W bulb are each connected to a
110 V source. Which bulb has more current going through it (i.e., draws more current)?




2. The lighting for a new UAS control console is modeled as a voltage source and a resistor, as
shown below. For each of the following proposed options (a through f), find the unknown
value.
+
V
R
-
I
R
R

a. R = 5.4 k, I
R
= 2 mA, V
R
= ?

b. R = 4.8 k, I
R
= 5 mA, V
R
= ?

c. R = 7.4 k, V
R
= 8 V, I
R
= ?

d. R = 4.8 k, V
R
= 5 V, I
R
= ?

e. V
R
= 10 V, I
R
= 15 mA, R = ?

f. V
R
= 9 V, I
R
= 8 mA, R = ?

3. For problem 1.2, if the sole measure of merit is to minimize current, which of the six options
is best?




ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
29
4. The GPS receiver for an experimental cruise missile can be modeled as a single resistor
connected to a voltage source. Given the six designs below (a through f), if the sole measure
of merit is to minimize power consumption, which of the designs is best?
+
V
R
-
I
R
R

a. V
R
= 1.5 V, I
R
= 15 mA

b. V
R
= 2.4 V, I
R
= 8 mA

c. I
R
= 5 mA, R = 8.2 k

d. I
R
= 12 mA, R = 4.8 k

e. R = 1.5 k, V
R
= 9 V

f. R = 1.2 k, V
R
= 12 V

5. Given the following model of the cooling system of a laptop computer, clearly articulate
how the current in the circuit would change if the resistance of the fan doubled from 1.5 k
to 3.0 k.
+
VR
-
IS
IR
Vs = 12 V R = 1.5 kO

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
30
6. Given the following model of an electric clock, clearly articulate how the power consumed
by the clock would change if the voltage source decreased from 9.0 V to 4.5 V.
+
V
R
-
I
S
I
R
Vs = 9 V R = 3.2 kO





7. To be effective as an illumination source, the thunderstorm lighting of an aircraftmodeled
as a single 10 resistor connected to a voltage sourcemust consume a minimum of 250 W.
a. Would a 28-Volt battery be an acceptable voltage source?



b. What is the minimum allowable voltage for the voltage source?



8. A background light for a home stereo system is limited to 1 W, to prevent damage to the
stereo housing. The light is modeled as a single 100 resistor.
a. Is a current of 9.2 mA acceptable?



b. What is the maximum allowable current in the circuit?



ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
31
Lesson 2 Circuit Analysis

Learning Outcomes
11. Identify all closed loops within a circuit and then write the associated Kirchoffs Voltage
Law (KVL) equations for them.
12. Identify all nodes within a circuit and then write the associated Kirchoffs Current Law (KCL)
equations for them.
13. Understand that for any circuit, the total power produced is equal to the total power
consumed.
14. Calculate the voltages, currents, and power associated with devices in a simple circuit using
KVL, KCL, Ohms Law, and the power equation in concert.


ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
32
Lesson 2 - Circuit Analysis I (Kirchoffs Voltage and Current Laws)
As we add more devices to a circuit, interesting and useful things begin to happen.
Unfortunately, the nature of these interesting and useful things sometimes depends on how the
devices are arranged.
By way of example, if we choose to light more than one light bulb using a 9-V battery, the way
that they are connected will have a direct (and visible) effect on how much light is produced.
Today, we will lay the foundation of analyzing more complicated resistive circuits using the two
configurations below to explain Kirchoffs Voltage and Current Laws.

First, we will model them as electrical circuits by replacing the batteries with voltage sources and
the light bulbs with resistors. The results are shown in the circuits below (for now, weve left the
voltages and currents as variables to keep the analysis general).
+
V
A
-
+
V
C
-
+
V
B
-
V
S
I
A
I
B
I
C
I
S

I
A
I
B
I
C
I
S
+
V
C
-
+
V
B
-
+
V
A
-

Circuit #1 Circuit #2

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
33
Kirchoffs Voltage Law (KVL)
KVL is a basic circuit analysis method used to predict circuit characteristics.
Key Concept: KVL states that for any closed loop, all the voltages in that loop add up to exactly
zero.
Look at the devices in our two circuits. Notice first that each of the devices is labeled with both
a plus (+) and a minus (-) to designate the potential across the device. For any device, moving
from a minus to a plus results in a voltage rise. Similarly, moving from a plus to a minus results
in a voltage drop.
KVL Analysis (Circuit #1)
It is very easy to count the number of closed loops in Circuit #1 since there is only one. A closed
loop is a path where starting at an arbitrary connection or node, you can trace a path back to
the original node without passing through any transition nodes more than once.

Circuit #1
+
V
A
-
+
V
C
-
+
V
B
-
V
S
I
A
I
B
I
C
I
S
Node 2
Node 3
Node 1
Node 4
Loop



Since there is only one loop, KVL will only give us one equation to help analyze this circuit. If
we start in the lower left-hand corner and move clockwise, the first thing we come to is a voltage
source. Since we move from a minus (-) to a plus (+) through the source, V
s
, it is considered a
voltage rise.
Continuing around the loop, we come to three resistors, each of which drops the voltage by V
A
,
V
B
, and V
C,
respectively. Applying KVL to this circuit gives us:


ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
34

Another way to view KVL is to say that for any loop in a circuit:
Total Voltage Rises = Total Voltage Drops.
If we apply this to the circuit above, we get:


This equation is mathematically identical to the first one, but it is usually easier to use. The very
important principle to remember about KVL is that it only applies to closed loops in a circuit.
If we were using a 9-V source, for example, then the sum of the voltage drops must equal the 9 V
increase from the source. In other words,


The actual voltages would depend on the resistor values as well see next lesson. But if we
somehow knew that V
A
= 2 V and V
B
= 4 V, then V
C
would have to equal 3 V, since


KVL Analysis (Circuit #2)
Now go back to the previous page and count the number of closed loops in the circuit. Hint: its
more than three!
There are actually six closed loops within this circuit and therefore we can write six KVL
equations:


The interesting result is that all of these six equations simplify to the identity:


Again, if we were using a 9-V source, this would mean that the full 9 V drops across each of the
light bulbs. If we were to add a fourth or a fifth or a twentieth bulb in parallel, each additional
bulb would also get the full 9 V.
Food for thought: What happens to a loop if a resistor is replaced by an OPEN circuit?

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
35

Example Problem: A 9-V battery is used to power the circuit below. The current through R
1
is
found to be 2 mA and the output voltage, V
out
, is 2 V. Find the voltages V
R
and V
P
.

9 V
R
1
= 1.5 k
+
V
R
-
+
V
out
= 2 V
-
I
1
= 2 mA
+ V
P
-
L
1
+ V
1
-

Big Picture: We need to use Ohms Law and KVL to solve this.
Key Issues: None.
Analysis: Since we know both the resistance of and the current through the 1.5 k resistor, we
can easily find the voltage across it using Ohms Law:

( )(1 )
Now we can apply KVL around the loop L
1
,
Total Voltage Rises = Total Voltage Drops


We now have two other loops that we can use to find VP. Well use the outside loop, which
contains the source, the two resistors on top, and the rightmost resistor.
Applying KVL gives us,


Answer: V
R
= 6 V and V
P
= 4 V.


ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
36
Kirchoffs Current Law (KCL)
We will illustrate Kirchoffs Current Law (KCL) using the same two circuits introduced in the
beginning of this lesson.
Take a look at the labeling of currents in the circuits. Note that their directions are labeled as
emerging from the positive terminal of the sources while entering the positive terminal of the
resistors. This reflects the fact that the source provides power while the resistors dissipate it.
Key concept: KCL tells us that the sum of all currents coming into and out of a node is exactly
zero.
To understand this concept, we must first explain what a node is. A node is simply the wiring
that connects individual devices. Circuit #2 has two nodes, one at the top and one at the bottom.
If we remove the devices from the circuit (as shown below), well have a better view of what a
node looks like. Go back and examine Circuit #1 - you should find four nodes!
Circuit #2
I
A
I
B
I
C
I
S
Node 1
Node 2

KCL Analysis (Circuit #1)
If we apply KCL to the node in the top left-hand corner, we find the only current entering the
node comes from the source, I
S
, while the only current leaving the node is the one entering the
first resistor, I
A
. The same thing happens with each of the other nodes: exactly one current
comes into the node and exactly one current leaves it. If we write an equation for each of these
nodes, we get,



These four equations can be combined into the following identity:
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
37


KCL Analysis (Circuit #2)
The current flow in Circuit #2 is a bit more complicated than Circuit #1, but we only have two
nodes to deal with.

Applying KCL at Node 1, we find that currents entering and leaving a node equal zero:


Now look what happens when we apply KCL to Node 2,


This is the same equation except the signs are reversed. If we wished, we could simplify either
of these equations into:


For any node in a circuit, KCL can also be written as
Total Current In = Total Current Out.
By way of example, lets power Circuit #2 with a 9-V source. If we measured the currents in
each of the bulbs to be I
A
= 1 A, I
B
= 3 A, and I
C
= 2 A, then our voltage source would have to
provide 6 A of current, since

1

Circuit Analysis
KVL and KCL provide sets of equations that describe the relationships of voltages and currents
within a circuit. When combined with Ohms Law (in a resistive circuit) and the power equation,
they can be used to completely analyze a circuit. The following example problems show how
this process works.

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
38

Example Problem: A 9-V battery is used to light two 45 light bulbs, modeled in the circuit
below. How much current flows through each bulb?

Big Picture: We need to find the currents through the two bulbs, labeled as I
1
and I
2
.
Key Issues: Well need to use KCL, KVL, and Ohms law to solve this one.
Analysis: This circuit has three nodes. Applying KCL to the nodes gives us the following
identity:


In other words, the current is same throughout the circuit. Whatever leaves the source must
return to it.
This circuit also contains one closed loop. Applying KVL to this loop provides the following
equation:


We seem to be at a standstill, though, as neither equation can be solved further. Since we are
modeling the bulbs as resistors, however, we can use Ohms Law to tie the two equations
together. For each of the resistors, Ohms Law tells us:

( )

( )
If we substitute these into the KVL equation, we get:

( )

( )
Since all of the currents are the same in the circuit, this equation can be simplified to:

( )

( )

()
This final equation can then be solved,




100 mA
Answer: The 9-V battery provides 100 mA of current to each bulb.
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
39
Example Problem: A car stereo (modeled as a 40 resistor) and a GPS navigation system
(modeled as a 2 k resistor) are connected to a 12 V car battery, modeled as the circuit below.
Determine how much power is consumed by each device and how much current the source
provides.



Big Picture: We must first find the voltage across or the current through each resistor before we
can use the power equation to find the power consumed.
Key Issues: KVL and KCL will help us understand what is going on with this circuit.
Analysis: This circuit has three closed loops and two nodes. Using KVL to analyze the circuit
provides the following equation:
1


Our KVL equation can be used to find the power consumed by each device:




We can also use Ohms Law in concert with our KCL equation to solve for the source current, I
S
.

(1) 1


When inserted into the power equation, we find that the amount of power provided to the circuit
is the same as the power consumed by the two devices - a very useful crosscheck!

()(1)


Answer: The stereo consumes 3.6W while the GPS consumes 72mW. The source provides 306
mA.
= 40O

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
40
Lesson 2 Homework
1. Use KVL to solve for the unknown voltages in the circuit below.







2. Use KCL to find the unknown current in the circuit below.


ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
41
3. Use KVL and KCL to solve for the currents and voltages in the circuit below. Compute the
power for each element and show that power is conserved (i.e., power supplied = power
used).






4. Solve for the unknown parameter(s) in each of the following circuits


ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
42
5. A satellite control module is to be hooked to a data processing element, modeled as a single
12.5 k resistor (R2). The entire system will be powered by a 5 volt solar cell. Different
options for the control module are modeled as 5 k, 10 k, or 15 k resistors (R1). For
each of these options, calculate the values in the table below.


Option V
S
R
1
V
1
V
2
I
1
I
2
P
1
P
2
P
S

A 5 V 5 k
B 5 V 10 k
C 5 V 15 k

6. If the circuit in the previous problem had the following two requirements, which of the three
options are viable?
Requirements:
-- Total current cannot exceed 250 A
-- Voltage across the control module (V
1
) must be at least 2 V.



ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
43
Lesson 3 Circuit Analysis (cont.) and Protection
Learning Outcomes
15. Understand that the same current flows through all devices in series.
16. For resistors in series, know that the greater voltage drops across the larger resistor.
17. Calculate the equivalent resistance of resistors in series.
18. Calculate current, voltage, and power in a circuit with multiple resistors in series.
19. Understand that the same voltage is present across all devices in parallel.
20. For resistors in parallel, understand that the greater current flows through the smaller resistor.
21. Calculate the equivalent resistance of resistors in parallel.
22. Calculate current, voltage, and power in a circuit with multiple resistors in parallel.
23. For significantly disparate resistors in parallel, know that the equivalent resistance is equal to
the small resistor
24. Know that a short circuit can cause dangerously large currents to flow
25. Understand the purpose of circuit protection
26. Determine the required rating of a fuse to protect a resistive circuit
27. Determine whether a fuse will blow in a given circuit
28. Calculate the equivalent resistance of any circuit with up to 4 resistors
29. Understand that a closed switch and an unblown fuse can each be modeled as a wire
30. Understand that an open switch and a blown fuse do not allow any current to flow


ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
44
Lesson 3 - Circuit Analysis (Equivalent Resistance) and Protection
Bad things can happen if we fail to keep electricity under control: equipment can be damaged;
buildings can catch fire; and people can be injured or even killed. Fortunately, using simple
devices like fuses and circuit breakers can protect us and our circuits if something goes wrong.
On the other hand, if the wrong fuse or circuit breaker is chosen for an application, it will
constantly blow or trip during normal usage or be ineffective in protecting the circuit. The
outcome will be dependent upon whether the rating of the fuse or circuit breaker was too high or
too low for the circuit.

(a) Typical Fuses
(Source: Electronicrepairguide.com)
(b) Circuit Breaker
(Source: CPSC.gov)
(c) Aircraft Circuit Breaker Panel
(Source: http://www2.tech.purdue.edu)
So in order to make sure we choose the correct circuit protection element, it is crucial that we
know how much current or voltage particular elements within a circuit can handle. Therefore we
need some additional circuit analysis techniques.
Today, we will continue our exploration of basic circuit analysis techniques by introducing the
use of equivalent resistance to simplify a circuit to just a source and single resistance. This
relatively simple approach allows us to determine how much current is needed by a scenario and
therefore determine an appropriate value for its circuit protection.
Circuit Analysis (Equivalent Resistance)
We spent a lot of time last lesson analyzing two different configurations for powering three light
bulbs using a battery. These configurations, known as series and parallel, were deliberately
chosen because they are fundamental ways of connecting devices together and the behavior of
the circuit varies depending on which is selected. The circuit models for the two are repeated
below and will be analyzed separately.
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
45
+
V
A
-
+
V
C
-
+
V
B
-
V
S
I
A
I
B
I
C
I
S

I
A
I
B
I
C
I
S
+
V
C
-
+
V
B
-
+
V
A
-

Circuit #1 Circuit #2
Series Resistors
When we applied KCL to Circuit #1, we found a very important identity:


This identity is the foundation of series equivalent resistance.
Key Concept: Two (or more) devices are in series if they share the same current and their
equivalent resistance is:

()


In other words, if all the current flowing through one device has to flow through another device,
then those devices are in series. In Circuit #1, all the current that leaves the source has to flow
through resistor R
1
; it doesnt have anywhere else to go. Likewise, all of this current continues
to flow through R
2
. Therefore, the source and both resistors are in series.
We also found (using KVL) that:


and that this equation can be written (using Ohms Law) as:


Since these resistors are in series, and we know that the currents are all equal, this equation
simplifies to:

()

where R
EQ(SERIES)
is the sum of the resistances in series. This result means that we can replace the
three resistors in Circuit #1 with an equivalent circuit as shown below, giving us a much
simpler circuit to analyze.
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
46
+
V
A
-
+
V
C
-
+
V
B
-
V
S
+
V
EQ
-
V
S
I
A
I
B
I
C
I
S
I
EQ
I
S
V
EQ
=V
S
=V
A
+V
B
+V
C
I
EQ
=I
S
=I
A
=I
B
=I
C

Example Problem: Light bulbs are placed in series in the two circuits below. How does the
performance of the circuit differ if the resistance of the light bulbs in the first set is both 45 O
while in the second set, they are 30 O and 60 O?
Big Picture: These configurations can be modeled as below. We must analyze the voltages,
currents, and power consumption within the circuits to describe their performance.



Key Issue: Since the resistors are in series, we know the currents will be equal.
Analysis: To find the current flowing through both circuits, we first solve for their equivalent
resistance:
Circuit #1 Circuit #2



Note that the equivalent resistance for both circuits is the same: 90O. This means that we can
model both circuits with the simple circuit below.
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
47


Analyzing this circuit using KVL and Ohms Law gives us the following results:

()

1
Now this is a very important point; this result gives us a lot of information about the two original
circuits but does not completely describe whats going on. The fact that the resistors are in
series tells us that all of the devices see 100 mA. We can also calculate the power provided to
both circuits (its the same!):

()(1)
What varies between the circuits are the voltage drops across the individual resistors and the
power consumed by each device:
Circuit #1 Circuit #2

()

()(1)

()

()(1)

()

()(1)

()

()(1)

()(1)

()(1)

()(1)

()(1)

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
48
Example Problem: An inertial navigation system (INS) for a UAS is modeled as 4 resistors in
series with a 28-Volt power supply, as shown below. How much power is produced by the
power supply?

Big Picture: We need to solve for current, so we can use the power equation at the source, P =
IV.
Key Issues: Since the resistors are in series, we can use equivalent resistance to solve this.
Analysis: Since all the devices are in series, they share the same current. Also, since they are in
series, we can add the resistors to find the equivalent resistance:

1 1

If we wanted, we could redraw the circuit using only this equivalent resistance:

Suddenly, this is an easy circuit to solve. Applying KVL, we know that V
EQ
= 28 V.
Using Ohms Law, we also find:

1

Since the source and R
EQ
are in series, the source current is also 28 mA. Finally, we can apply
the power equation:
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
49

()()
Answer: The source provides 784 mW of power.
Voltage Division
Before proceeding with the next section, lets take a look at the voltages in our two original
circuits. As previously calculated, the current in each circuit is 100 mA. The voltages can be
calculated as shown below or derived using a shortcut known as voltage division. This shortcut
allows us to quickly calculate the voltages dropped across individual resistors in series.

Circuit #1 Circuit #2

()

()(1)

()

()(1)

()

()(1)

()

()(1)
Notice two things from these results using Ohms Law. First, for resistors in series, the bigger
resistor drops the greater voltage. Second, since the 60 resistor is twice as big as the 30
resistor, it drops twice as much voltage. This illustrates the principle of voltage division.
If we know the values of the resistors in series, we can easily determine how much voltage drops
across each resistor, no matter how many resistors there are. The voltage drop across any
particular resistor, R
X
, in a series circuit is given by the equation:

)
In this equation, V
SUM
is the sum of the voltages dropped across all of the resistors and R
SUM
is
the total of all the resistances in series. We call this the voltage division equation.

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
50
Example Problem: The inertial navigation system for a UAS is modeled as 4 resistors in series
with a 28-volt power supply, as shown below. How much voltage is dropped across the laser-
ring gyro, modeled as the 200 resistor in the circuit?

Big Picture: We need to figure out the voltage drop across the 200 resistor.
Key Issues: We can use voltage division to solve this.
Analysis: We have four resistors in series. The total voltage drop across them is 28 V.
Applying the voltage division equation with R
X
= 200 , we get

1
()

1
()
Answer: The laser-ring gyro drops 5.6 volts.
Parallel Resistors
When we applied KVL to Circuit #2 (page 3), we found a very important identity:


This identity is the foundation of parallel equivalent resistance.
Key Concept: Two (or more) devices are parallel if they share the same voltage and their
equivalent resistance is always less than the smallest of the individual resistors. This equivalent
resistance is:

()

1
1


The derivation of the equation above is similar to that used to find the equation for series
equivalent resistance.
We found (using KVL) that:


and that this equation can be written (using Ohms Law) as:
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
51


Since these resistors are in parallel and we know that the voltages are all equal, this equation
simplifies to:

(
1

)
A little rearranging gives us:

1
1


()


where R
EQ(PARALLEL)
is equal to the reciprocal of the sum of the reciprocal of individual
resistances. This result means that we can replace the three resistors in Circuit #1 with an
equivalent circuit as shown below, giving us a much simpler circuit to analyze.
I
A
V
S
I
B
I
C
I
S
+
V
C
-
+
V
B
-
+
V
A
-
+
V
EQ
-
V
S
I
EQ
I
S
I
EQ
=I
S
=I
A
+I
B
+I
C
V
EQ
=V
S
=V
A
=V
B
=V
C

An easier way to combine these resistors in parallel is to combine them through attrition. First,
combine R
C
and R
B
:


Then, combine RAB with RC:

()



Either way, you will arrive at the same conclusion:


()



ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
52
Example Problem: An AC to DC converter produces 6 V and is used to charge various cell
phones connected in parallel. Two different types of phone are currently being charged, one
modeled as a 120 resistor and the other as a 60 resistor. How much power does the voltage
source provide?

Big Picture: Modeling the AC to DC converter as a voltage source allows us to not worry about
what an AC to DC converter is. Also, the resistors are in parallel.
Key Issues: Since the resistors are in parallel, we can use equivalent resistance to solve this, and
we know that the voltages are the same.
Analysis: Using equivalent resistance, this circuit can be simplified as shown below.

where R
EQ
is found by:

1
1

1
1

Notice the equivalent resistance is smaller than the smallest value resistor. Next, we can solve
for the source current and power provided:

(1)()
Now we really didnt need to solve for the equivalent resistance in this problem. The simple fact
that the resistors are in parallel tells us that:


and therefore,

()

()

1

Answer: The power provided by the source is 900 mW.
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
53
Example Problem: A cooling fan, which is modeled as a 30 resistor, is powered by a 2.4 V
battery. To monitor the battery, a voltmeter with an input resistance of 660 k is added in
parallel as shown. What is the equivalent resistance of this circuit?
2.4 V R
meter
= 660 k R
fan
= 30

Big Picture: The two resistors are in parallel.
Key Issue: Two things. First, the term input resistance is simply used to mean the equivalent
resistance of the voltmeter, measured at its inputs. Second, the two resistances are significantly
different in magnitude; the 660 k resistor is more than 20,000 times bigger than the 30
resistor.
Analysis: Before calculating the equivalent resistance, lets learn a handy short cut. It only
works for two resistors in parallel, but it gives the exact same answer as taking all those
reciprocals.
Here it is:

()


All you have to do is multiply the resistances together, then divide by the sum. If we apply this
equation to our cooling fan circuit, we get

()

()()
() ()

However, if we limit ourselves to four significant digits, we get

()

This is a very important part of engineering. Because the 660 k resistor is much, much bigger
than the 30 resistor, we can effectively ignore it and act as if it isnt there. In fact, engineers
often use this principle to minimize the effect of monitoring equipment such as voltmeters. To
summarize:
If two resistors in parallel have significantly different values (use a factor of 10,000 times or
more as a guide), then the equivalent resistance is equal to the smaller resistor.
Answer: The equivalent resistance of the circuit is 30 .
Current Division
Parallel resistors have a KCL-based shortcut similar to the voltage divider introduced earlier in
this reading, but this time, it is current behavior that were examining. Lets take a look at the
circuit below.
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
54


Since the resistors are in parallel, we know that the voltage drops are the same but because the
resistors are not equal, the current from the source does not divide equally. Lets take a look at
which resistor gets the greater current:

1

No doubt you have heard something similar to the following statement:
Electricity prefers the path of least resistance.
We can see in the circuit above that this is true. More current flows through the smaller 60
resistor than through the larger 120 resistor. In fact, twice as much current flows through the
60 resistor because it is half the size of the 120 resistor.
If the resistors differed by a factor of five (i.e. a 1 k resistor in parallel with a 5 k resistor),
then the smaller resistor would draw five times as much current. This is the principle behind
current division.
If we have two resistors in parallel, R
X
and R
Y
, the current through either resistor is given by the
equations:

)
In these equations, I
sum
is simply the sum of the two currents, I
X
and I
Y
, and R
sum
is the sum of the
two resistors. We call these current division equations. The key to these equations is the resistor
in the numerator (the top half of the fraction). If we want to find the current through R
X
, we put
R
Y
in the numerator. Likewise, if we want to find the current through R
Y
, then R
X
goes in the
numerator. This is not as straightforward as the voltage division equation, but is can be simple
once you get the hang of it.
Unfortunately, for more than two resistors in parallel, the equation for current division gets
complicated.
Key Concept: Unlike voltage division, the current divider shortcut can only be used for a two
resistor problem.
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
55
Example Problem: In our AC to DC converter from above, how much current passes through
the 120 O resistor?

Big Picture: The resistors are in parallel.
Key Issues: Since the resistors are in parallel, we can use current division to find the current.
Analysis: We found that the source current was equal to 150 mA in the problem above. KCL
tells us that this current will split between the two resistors. Since we want to find the current in
the 120 O resistor, we use 60 O in the numerator:

1
(1)
Answer: The current passing through the 120 O resistor is 50 mA.
Circuit Protection
We introduced this reading discussing the need for circuit protection. Lets use the circuit
analysis skills that weve learned so far to take a look at this area. Many of you have probably
heard of the term, short circuit, and know that its bad (in the smoke pouring out of your
electrical device kind of bad). Well, a short circuit is simply a wire that connects the positive
terminal of a voltage source directly to the negative terminal as in the example circuit below.

So in this scenario, how much current will be drawn from the source? Well, weve learned today
that solving for a circuits equivalent resistance allows us to model the circuit as a source and a
single resistor. So what is the equivalent resistance of the circuit above? If we model the wire as
a 0 resistor, we can solve for the equivalent resistance of the circuit (you saw that they were in
parallel already, right?):

()

(1)()
(1) ()

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
56
What this means is that all the current will flow through the short circuit, leaving none to flow
through the resistor. Therefore, the circuit can be redrawn as:

Since the wire and the source are parallel, we know that 5 V has to drop across the wire. Using
Ohms Law to solve for current,


In reality, the current is not infinite. The wire itself has a wee bit of resistance, which will keep
the current from going infinite.
The important point, though, is that a short circuit causes a very large amount of current to be
drawn from the source. In the wiring in a house, for example, a short circuit can draw enough
current to melt a wires plastic coating and cause any wood or insulation near the wire to catch
fire. This, obviously, is a bad thing. In addition to fires, short circuits can melt wires and
destroy electrical components. To prevent this from occurring, engineers incorporate fuses and
circuit breakers into their designs.
A fuse is nothing more than a very thin wire which usually allows the current of a circuit to flow.
Under normal conditions, the current flow is low enough for the fuse to act as a simple wire. As
the current increases, however, the wire begins to heat until at some point, the fuse melts, which
severs the connection, stopping the flow of current.
The highest current that a fuse can handle without melting is the rating of the fuse. A fuse rated
at 2 amps will be able to handle anything up to 2 amps. Once the current rises above 2 amps,
though, it will melt.

Blown Fuses (Source: Electronicrepairguide.com)
A circuit breaker (or breaker) has the exact same function as a fuse, but has an advantage over
the fuse in that it doesnt have to be replaced every time it blows. Most modern house and
aircraft wiring systems have circuit breakers while most cars still have fuses. Like the fuse, the
circuit breaker protects against current surges and has its rated capability printed on it. Circuit
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
57
breakers are a more expensive investment at first but usually they pay for themselves over a
lifetime. Breakers generally consist of a spring-loaded switch that is held closed by a catch. The
catch is released when the current level gets too high, opening the circuit to prevent damage.
Usually, the breaker is reset by tripping a lever or pushing a button.
So what rating do we choose for our fuse or circuit breaker? In case it is not yet obvious, there
are two rules to consider when choosing ratings:
1. The rating must be higher than the expected current in the circuit.
2. The rating must be lower than the failure point of the wiring.
Example Problem: The wiring inside a smoke detector will fail if the current exceeds 1 A. The
detectors internal circuitry has an equivalent resistance of 15 and is powered by a 9 V battery.
What rating of fuse would you choose to protect this circuit?
Big Picture: This scenario can be modeled as the circuit below (note the use of a squiggly
wire to denote a fuse).

Key Issue: We must solve the normal source current in order to determine an appropriate rating
for the fuse.

1

Therefore, we now know two important things about this circuit. First, the smoke detector needs
600 mA to operate. Second, the wiring will fail if the current rises above 1 A.
Using these rules with our circuit above, we can accept any fuse rating between 600 mA and 1 A.
Therefore well pick a value comfortably between these two extremes.
Answer: We would select a fuse rated for 800 mA, which falls well within the acceptable range
of 600 mA to 1 A.
Example Problem: The internal circuitry of a battery powered camera is modeled as the
resistive circuit below. What fuse rating would you choose to protect the circuit?
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
58


Big Picture: We must find the current drawn from the source but this is a slightly more
complicated circuit than weve solved before. Weve added a switch which allows current to
flow through to the 8 kO resistor when its closed and blocks the current when its open. And
the circuit includes both series and parallel conncections.
Key Issues: The circuits equivalent resistance (and thus the source current drawn from the
voltage source) will change based on whether the switch is open or closed.
Analysis: When the switch is open, no current gets to the 8 k resistor and therefore it has no
effect on the circuit. If we model the fuse as a wire and remove all hanging wires/components,
the circuit simplifies to the circuit below, a 5.1-V source in series with the 1.4 k and the 2 k
resistors.

Solving for the equivalent resistance gives us:

1
Redrawing the circuit

Since were modeling the fuse as a wire, R
EQ
drops all 5.1 volts. The current through R
EQ
is
therefore:
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
59

1
Since R
EQ
is in series with the source and the fuse, all three devices share the same current.
Therefore the fuse rating has to be at least 1.5 mA.
Now we get to start all over again, but this time the switch is closed. Note that the switch is also
modeled as a wire when its closed.


The 2 k and 8 k resistors are parallel, so we can combine them with the equation:

()

()()
() ()
1
We can now redraw the circuit using this value:

We can now find the equivalent resistance for the entire circuit:

1
()
1 1
Redrawing the circuit

Again, R
EQ
drops all 5.1 volts. The current through R
EQ
is
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
60

1
With the switch closed, the current through the fuse is 1.7 mA. With the switch open, the current
through the fuse drops to 1.5 mA. Since we want the circuit to work whether the switch is open
or closed, we need the fuse to be rated at least higher than the higher current, 1.7 mA.
Answer: We would choose a fuse with a 2 mA rating to protect this circuit. (Note: 2 mA is a
little bit arbitrary. Any answer of higher than 1.7 mA would be acceptable)

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
61
Lesson 3 Homework
7. T / F For resistors in series, a bigger resistor drops more voltage than a smaller resistor.
8. T / F For resistors in series, more current flows through the bigger resistor.
9. T / F In a current divider, the greater current always flows through the smaller resistor.
10. T / F For resistors in parallel, the equivalent resistance is always less than the smallest
resistor.
11. What is the purpose of a fuse (more than one answer may be correct)?
a. To keep a circuit from working under normal conditions
b. To allow a circuit to work under normal conditions
c. To protect the wiring of a circuit
d. To break the circuit during excessive currents
12. Solve for the unknown parameter(s) in each of the following circuits.





ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
62
13. Four 36 light bulbs are connected in parallel to a 9 volt battery, as shown. How much
power does the battery produce?


14. The control module for a digital camera is modeled as the circuit below. Which of the
following is true (more than one may be correct)?

a. I1 = I2
b. V2 = V3
c. I2 > I3
d. V1 + V3 = VS

15. The proposed arming circuitry of an experimental unmanned bomber is modeled as the
following resistive circuit powered by a 15 V source. Will this circuit work as designed?
Articulate your answer (include a proposed fix if it will not work as designed).


ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
63
16. The circuit below shows a variable power supply capable of providing up to 50 V. Assume
each bulb can be modeled by a 3 O resistor.

a. Calculate the maximum voltage setting on the power supply before the fuse blows.





b. Calculate the voltage for each light bulb assuming maximum current flow (i.e., just
before the fuse blows).


ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
64









(Intentionally Left Blank)

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
65
Lesson 4 Signals and AC Circuit Analysis
Learning Outcomes
31. Understand the difference between DC and AC signals.
32. Understand that frequency and time are reciprocals of each other.
33. Given the frequency of a signal, calculate the period.
34. Given the equation of a signal in standard form, determine the frequency and amplitude of
the signal.
35. Draw the graph of a single cosine term.
36. Understand that KVL, KCL, and Ohms Law act the same for AC-powered resistive circuits.
37. Understand that the RMS value (current or voltage) of an AC signal is the equivalent DC
value that would provide the same amount of average power.
38. Calculate the RMS value for an AC signal.
39. Calculate the average power produced or consumed in an AC circuit.
40. Understand that real-world electrical scenarios are not 100% efficient.
41. Calculate the efficiency of a voltage divider.

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
66
Lesson 4 - Signals and AC Circuit Analysis
We know what signals are, because our lives are filled with them. We raise our hand to signal
the instructor when we know the answer to a question. The light turns red to signal we should
stop. The phone rings to signal we should answer it. A signal, then, is simply something that
conveys information.
In the world of electrical engineering, we also use signals to convey information. The TV signal
that comes to our homes via cable, satellite dish, or old-fashioned antenna, is an electrical signal
that contains video images and the sound that goes with them. When we click our mouse, an
electrical signal is processed by our computers microprocessor to tell the correct program what
to do. In our combat aircraft, electrical signals are used to release bombs and missiles at the
proper time to affect the most damage on our adversaries.
Signals convey information. Electrical signals convey information (or power) using electricity.
Electrical signals are usually measured as voltage or current with respect to time.
Example Problem: A programmable laser pointer is modeled as the following circuit. Graph
the current provided by the voltage source as a signal with respect to time.

Big Picture: Before we can graph the current, we need to calculate it. Solve first for the
equivalent resistance. This is a sneaky review of material from last lesson.
Key Issues: None.
Analysis: R
2
and R
3
are parallel. We can combine them using the appropriate equation for
equivalent resistance:

()()
() ()

This resultant 250 resistor is now in series with R
1
. The equivalent resistance is:



ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
67
We can now redraw the simplified circuit:

Since all 1.5 V drops across R
EQ
, the current through R
EQ
is


This is also the source current, since the source and R
EQ
are in series. Therefore I
S
is 5 mA.
Answer: The graph of the current signal is:

The first thing to notice about this graph is that it is boring. Very boring, actually. The reason
for this is that it is a DC signal, where DC stands for Direct Current. DC signals, by definition,
do not change over time. So far in this text, all of the voltages and currents we have used have
been DC signals.
Although boring, DC signals are very useful. Many of the electrical and electronic devices in
our lives run off of DC power, including flashlights, cell phones, and laptops. Basically, if it has
a battery, it is DC powered. Also, if it has an AC adaptor, it is DC powered as well. AC stands
for Alternating Current, and an AC adaptor is really an AC to DC converter. Well discuss how
these work in a few lessons.
Furthermore, many devices that appear to be AC powered, such as computers, have their own
AC to DC converters hidden inside of them and are at least partly DC powered.
Were we to graph the DC signals from any of these devices, the graph would look nearly
identical to the one above. The units and value might change, but otherwise it would be the same
boring straight line.
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
68
AC Signals
On the other hand, AC signals are more interesting to examine with respect to time since they are
sinusoidal and actually vary. We use the following standard equation form to describe them:
()

( )
where
- V
BIAS
is the DC component of the signal, also known as the average value;
- A is the amplitude of the signal, or maximum excursion from the average value;
- 360 is used to convert f t into an angle (sometimes shown as a radial conversion, 2t);
- f is the frequency of the signal or the number of times it cycles in a second. Frequency has
units of Hertz (Hz) and oftentimes, in this course, will include a k or an M for kilohertz or
megahertz. Note: Hertz is equal to 1;
- t is time (in seconds) and serves as the independent variable in the equation;
- | is the phase shift and defines how far the cosines peak is from zero seconds. This variable is
nearly always zero in this text and therefore usually omitted; and finally
- V is the signals units. We will also use the same format for current.
This standard format is also portrayed in the figure below. In order to graph the signal, we must
introduce two more parameters. First, the period of the signal, T, is the time that the signal takes
to cycle and is equal to:

1


Secondly, the time delay, t, is the amount of time between the first positive peak and the origin (t
= 0 s). This variable is found by converting the phase shift into time using the following identity:





ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
69
Example Problem: A building is wired with AC power with a voltage of:

() 1 ( )
If two 200 light bulbs are connected in parallel to this source, graph the signal of the current
drawn from the source.

Big Picture: All of the rules weve learned for resistive circuits still apply! We can solve this
problem by finding the equivalent resistance.
Key Issues: v(t) = 170 cos(360 * 60t) V seems much more frightening than any of the DC
voltages weve been using. Fortunately, the math is fairly straight forward.
Analysis: The equivalent resistance of the two resistors is:

()()
() ()
1
Note: Have you noticed that two of the same resistors in parallel always simplify to half of their
resistance?
We can redraw the circuit as:

Since these two devices are in parallel, we know that all of the source voltage drops across R
EQ
.
In other words,

() 1 ( )
Applying Ohms Law, gives us:

()

1 ( )
1
1 ( )
We now need to graph the current. Lets compare it to the standard equation format:
()

( )
() 1 ( )
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
70
First of all, notice the standard equation format is presented as a voltage and were graphing a
current. Thats no big deal we just need to change the units. Also, the current doesnt have a
bias (DC component) or phase shift so we dont need to worry about them.
The amplitude is 1.7 A, which is a measure of how far the signal gets from the average value.
Since the average value (I
Bias
) for this signal is zero, we know that the signal will vary from -1.7
A to 1.7 A. This is a direct result of the fact that the cosine itself varies from -1 to 1.
The frequency of the signal is 60 Hz. We can quickly solve for the signals period:

1

1
Answer: The graph of the source current signal is
t, ms
i(t), A
1.7
-1.7
16.67

Before moving on, lets expand a little on the standard equation for a more complex sinusoidal
voltage signal.
()

)
Notice that this is the same thing we had before, but now we allow for more than one cosine term.
Most real-world signals that we want to process, including voice and music signals, can be
represented by a sum of cosine terms.
AC Power
The concept of power for AC signals is more difficult to understand than translating a straight
DC line into an AC sinusoid. If we simply take the voltage across and the current through a
device and multiply them together, we get something known as instantaneous power:
() ()()
Lets use the values from the example above to explain what this concept is. Looking at the
voltage and current at t = 0 s, we have v(0) = 170 V while i(0) = 1.70 A. At this instant in time,
the power output from the source is:
() ()() (1)(1)
As time progresses, though, both the voltage and the current drop off. At t = 4.167 ms, both the
current and voltage have gone to zero and the power output at that instant is also zero.
Continuing onward, at t = 8.333 ms, the voltage and current have reached their negative peaks.
The power at that instant is
( ) ( )( ) (1)(1)
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
71
If we graph the function p(t), we get
t, ms
i(t), A
1.7
-1.7
16.67
t, ms
v(t), V
170
-170
16.67
t, ms
289
16.67
p(t), W

While we might occasionally want to know the power output at specific slice of time, generally
its not what we need. What we want is a way to measure the average power produced and
dissipated in the circuit.
Unfortunately, we cant simply multiply the average voltage by the average current to get
average power.
Why not?
Simply put, the average voltage and current in the graphs above are both zero. If we multiply
these two zeroes together, we would find that the average power was zero, which doesnt make
sense. We can see that the light bulbs stay lit and we therefore intuitively know that the average
power has to be some positive number.
In order to calculate average power, we must introduce a new concept - the root-mean-square
(RMS) or effective value. This value is a mathematical way of finding averages of complicated
functions like sinusoids. In AC electrical circuits, it represents the magnitude of the equivalent
DC voltage (or current) that would dissipate the same amount of power in a resistor that is
dissipated with this AC (alternating current) signal. For sinusoidal voltage, the effective value,
or RMS value, is equal to

(
)


ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
72
where the A stands for amplitude of the signal. The same equation is also used to calculate the
RMS value for current.
For nearly all of our signals the bias will be zero. Solving for V
RMS
with V
Bias
= 0 gives us,

(
)

()


Now we can use these values to calculate the average power produced by the system. The
equation for average power is


So for our example above,

1
Note, by the way, that the voltage was used in the problem above has a frequency of 60 Hz
and a voltage of 120 V
RMS
. This is exactly the voltage we get out of our wall outlets in the
United States. When we say the wall outlet gives us 120 volts, what we really should say is that
it gives 120 volts RMS. In actuality, the voltage signal varies from 170 V to -170 V at a
frequency of 60 cycles per second.
Efficiency
As we prepare to move into more real-world scenarios (using our new-found circuit analysis
skills), we need to introduce one more concept - efficiency. Efficiency is a measure of how much
power is wasted when we use electricity to do useful tasks. If we dont waste any power, our
efficiency is 100%. If we only waste a little power, then our efficiency is high. If we waste a lot
of power, our efficiency is low.
The equation for efficiency is


where P
useful
is the power consumed by doing what we want done while P
produced
is the total
amount of power supplied to a circuit. Up until this point, we have presented ideal circuits (100%
efficient) where all of the devices were performing useful functions. Most electrical circuits
actually lose power somewhere - think of the heat radiating off of your laptop after it has run for
awhile. We can model these losses fairly easily by including an additional resistor in series that
expends power. The circuit below illustrates this concept.
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
73
P
produced
P
losses
P
useful

Example Problem: An AC-powered rotating beacon, modeled as a 120 k resistor, is to be
installed on an aircraft. Since the beacon requires 40 V
RMS
to operate, a resistor is placed in
series to act as a voltage divider. The aircraft generator produces a voltage of v(t) =
84.85cos(360*400t) V. If the required efficiency for this circuit is 85%, is this a viable option?
Big Picture: This is a voltage division problem where the resistor R will drop voltage so that the
beacon only receives 40 V
RMS
. In the circuit above, we want the rotating beacon to operate, so
the power consumed by the beacon itself is useful. The power consumed by the resistor R,
however, is wasted. Yes, we need it to make the circuit work, but that is only because the source
is producing more voltage than we need.
Key Issues: The power dissipated by the resistor is a loss that lowers efficiency.
Analysis: The first thing we need to do is convert the source voltage into RMS. Since no V
Bias

was mentioned, we will assume it is zero and that the V
RMS
is:


We can therefore model this scenario as the circuit below.

We know that the source produces 60 V
RMS
and the beacon drops 40 V
RMS
. KVL and a little bit
of common sense tell us that R must drop 20 V
RMS
.
Since the beacon drops twice as much voltage as R, the beacons resistance (120 k) must be
twice the value of R. Therefore R = 60 k. This reasoning only works because the beacon and
the resistor are in series.
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
74

Since the resistors are in series, the equivalent resistance is

1 1
Since all 60 V
RMS
drops across this equivalent resistance, the current in the circuit is


All devices are in series, so this current is shared throughout the circuit.
We can now determine the power produced by the source,

)(

)
The power consumed by the beacon is

)(

) 1
Finally, the efficiency is


Answer: No, this is not a viable option, since the efficiency is only 66.67%.

.

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
75
Lesson 4 Homework
1. What is
1

equivalent to?
a. s
b. 1/s
c. f
d. None of the above

2. A 9 v battery is connected to a resistor which consumes 7.22 mW of power. Which of the
following AC sources would cause the same resistor to consume 7.22 mW of average power?
a. 7.22cos(3602kt) mV
b. 9cos(3602kt) V
c. 7.22 mV
RMS

d. 9 V
RMS


3. A B-52 generator produces a signal of v(t) = 290cos(360*400t) V. Graph this signal as a
function of time.








4. What is the RMS voltage for the generator above?
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
76
5. The fuse for a 2000-pound general purpose bomb includes a spinner which produces an AC
signal of v(t) = 15cos(360*2kt) mV. The arming circuit is modeled as three resistors, as
shown below. Graph the current signal coming out of the spinner, I
S
(t).











6. Which of the two sources below produces more average power?










ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
77
7. The circuit below has a current source providing
() 11 ( ) .
Find v
1
(t).








8. An AC-powered electric fan, modeled as a 150 resistor, is to be plugged into a standard
120 V
RMS
wall outlet. Since the fan requires 90 V
RMS
to operate, a resistor is added to form
a voltage divider. The required efficiency for the fan is 75%. Is this a viable option?



ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
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(Intentionally Left Blank)

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
79
Lesson 6 Power Generation and Motors
Learning Outcomes
1. Understand the advantages of being able to transmit power from remote plants.
2. Understand the three categories of power usage.
3. Understand the advantages/disadvantages of the five primary sources of electricity.
4. Understand the relationship of power, torque and rotational speed.
5. Understand how a DC motor creates torque.
6. Understand how the polarity of a DC motor reverses to continue generating torque.
7. Know the major sources of loss in a motor.
8. Understand how to calculate efficiency of a motor and how it affects the power consumed by
the motor.
9. Understand how to calculate the efficiency of a generator and how it affects the power
delivered to a load.


ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
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Lesson 6 - Power Generation and Motors
Although electricity is all around us, very few of us give much thought to where it comes from.
The power plants are usually, but not always, far removed from the population so we simply do
not have to deal with them on a regular basis.
This was not always true though. In the late 1800s, when electricity was first beginning to be
used, multiple power stations were spread out through population centers due to the power losses
(in the form of heat) caused by resistance in the wires travelling over long distances. Well learn
the details later in the course of how transformers helped solve that problem, of the battle
between Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse/ Nikola Tesla, and how we are able to use
power plants located far away from population centers with low power losses.
Power Plants
There are many advantages to having power plants far removed from population centers. This
allows them to:
Be closer to the fuel/resources which generate the electricity
Be large plants which are more efficient due to economy of scale
Minimize the impact of exhaust/pollution within the community
The location of the power plant depends on its fuel as well as the type of power it is designed to
supply. Power usage is classified into three categories: base, intermediate, and peak loads.
Some plants are designed to meet base loads while others are for intermediate and peak loads.

Source: http://www.megawattsolar.com/applications/peak-demand
The base power load is the consistent amount of power that is required throughout the day.
Some manufacturing plants operate at night, requiring power. More importantly, even though
the lights, stove, and TVs in houses are often turned off at night, there are still several things
which draw power: the refrigerator/freezer, heater/air conditioning fan, clocks, and power save
modes of computers and modern TVs (which are really still on). So there is a minimum amount
of power being consumed throughout the day. This is the base load.
Intermediate power is the predictable increase of power use throughout the day. As people wake
up and businesses open, they obviously will begin using more electricity. This increase
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
81
generally can be anticipated and planned for. The average increase throughout the day makes up
the intermediate load.
Peak power load, on the other hand, varies from minute to minute and day to day. This is
somewhat random since power plants cannot anticipate if a bunch of people just happen to all
turn on their lights and stove at the same time (or crank up their air conditioning during a heat
wave). If the power plant does not quickly adapt, the consumers will try to draw more power
than is being generated, causing a brownout where the voltage provided to users drops.
Depending on the electronics, some may not notice, others will run for a while but will be
damaged if the brownout continues too long, and others will stop working. Computers are
especially vulnerable to brownouts.
Almost all electrical power plants share one thing in common: electricity is generated by turning
the shaft of a generator. Rotating magnets passing a wire induces a current. We will examine
the details of motors/generators later in the reading.
Thermal power plants turn the shaft of the generator by heating water into steam. The steam
then passes through a turbine which then turns the shaft of the generator.
Boiler
Fuel
Air
Ash
Condenser
Turbine
Generator

This obviously is not the only way the shaft can be turned. Wind, water, expanded air, or even
mechanical energy such as a motor can turn the shaft, generating electricity. Still, more than 70%
of our electricity is generated using steam to turn large turbines.
Electricity in America is generated by several types of sources but five provide 99% of the
electricity:
Coal. These thermal plants are used for base loads since they cannot change their output quickly
and provide 50% of U.S. electricity. Their primary advantages are that they provide a consistent
amount of power and tend to be very cost effective, especially here in the U.S. where coal is
relatively plentiful. They are poor candidates for filling just intermediate and peak power
requirements because they require more than a day to start up due to the need to heat large
amounts of water to the boiling point. They are also a source of pollution and emissions which
can damage the environment. The Clean Air Act of 1970 did a lot to help clean up the coal
power plants by requiring them to install equipment limiting contaminants.
The Martin Drake Power Plant is a 257 MW plant located in Colorado Springs:
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
82
Source: http://www.panoramio.com/photo/11885755 Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ethanbeute/3072001757/

Nuclear. These thermal plants provide approximately 20% of US electricity and are also used
for base loads since they cannot change their output quickly. Their primary advantages are that
they provide a consistent amount of power and tend to be very cost effective because of the
amount of energy gained from a small amount of plutonium. Similar to coal plants, they are
poor candidates for filling just intermediate and peak power requirements because they require
more than a day to start up due to the need to heat large amounts of water to the boiling point. In
contrast to coal plants, nuclear plants do not emit contaminants into the atmosphere though the
large amount of water required for cooling can have an environmental impact. Nuclear plants
are a very popular electricity source in Europe, where France receives 80% of its electricity from
nuclear production. On the other hand, construction of nuclear plants in the U.S. has dragged
because of concerns about radiation accidents such as the one from Three Mile Island in 1979.
Finding a long-term, safe method of disposing of waste products, especially for the enriched
uranium used to make nuclear weapons, has also been a significant problem.
Natural Gas. Natural gas plants directly use the expansion of the gas when burned to turn
turbines (though some hybrid plants exist which also use steam) and provides approximately 20%
of US electricity. Since they do not need to heat water for steam, they are very responsive to
changing power needs and are often used to provide peak power. While they are not as clean as
nuclear plants, they have fewer emissions than coal plants. Their most severe disadvantage
comes from the difficulty and high cost of transporting and storing natural gas in bulk because of
the gas low density and instability (its prone to erupting into flames).
Hydroelectric. Dams in the U.S. provide 7% of the countrys electricity by using moving water
to turn a turbine. Once built, hydroelectric plants are relatively cost effective (so long as water
continues to flow) and do not emit contaminants. They are very responsive to peak power needs
because of their ability to ramp up power generation by increasing water flow through the plant.
These advantages make hydroelectric plants extremely popular but there are a limited number of
locations where they can be built and most of them have already been dammed. A final
disadvantage is that, when these locations are far from population centers, power must be
transmitted large distances which requires significant infrastructure.
Wind. Generating power by using wind to turn a turbine accounts for approximately 2% of US
electricity (though this percentage is rising). Wind turbines tend to be cost effective because of
their use of a renewable resource and are also clean (though many detractors point to their
destruction of landscapes and impact on bird populations as environmental concerns). Their
biggest disadvantages are common to many renewable sources of energy (hydroelectric plants
are an exception). Power generation is highly variable and completely unrelated to power needs.
This makes them unreliable for base power loads and in order for them to be useful in helping
with intermediate and peak loads, storage mechanisms are needed to keep the energy for periods
when it is needed. For example, some wind turbine farms can redirect power to move water
uphill into tanks where it can be released when required to generate hydroelectric power.
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
83

Source: http://www.greenthinkers.org/blog/2007/04/highway_wind_turbine_ideas.html Source: http://dynglobal.com/index.php?page=wind-systems
Other sources include geothermal, where heat from the earth is extracted to heat homes or, if hot
or deep enough, boil water for a thermal plant.

Finally, there are two types solar energy:
thermal and photovoltaic. Thermal, like
other thermal plants, uses the suns
energy to heat oil which is then used to
boil water.





Source: http://www.renewablepowernews.com/archives/1735
http://academic.evergreen.edu/g/grossmaz/geowells.jpeg http://www.informedbuilding.com/images/geothermal/pond_geother

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
84

r
F

Photovoltaic, however, directly uses photons
from from the sun to excite materials like silicon
to release electrons, directly creating electricity.






Source: http://www.iei-la.org/projects.asp?File=ThePhotovoltaicSolarEnergyinBrazilandtheCurrentLegislation.asp
So how, exactly, do generators work? Well, it is easiest to first understand motors work and then
realize that motors and generators are almost the exact same thing.
Motors
Motors allow us to convert electrical energy into rotational mechanical energy. We put electrical
power in and the output is a rotating shaft which can do work. From there, mechanical engineers
can convert it into all sorts of other mechanical work such as moving a vehicle, raising an
elevator, or pumping water. Generators simply reverse this process by turning the shaft of a
generator and the magnets inside generates a current (resulting in a voltage) when they pass by
stationary wires.
A motor outputs a torque, or a moment, which is the twisting force the shaft of a motor
produces. It is the work a motor produces and is the tendency of a force to rotate an object about
an axis. Anyone who has every used a wrench or a ratchet has generated torque. Torque is
usually measured in Newton-meters since it is the perpendicular force (N) times the length (m)
of a lever arm using the equation:






Example Problem: A motor producing 15 Nm of torque will be able to withstand what force
applied perpendicularly to a 20 cm wrench attached to the shaft?
Big Picture: We want to just barely keep the wrench from turning the motor shaft
Analysis: Determine what force applied creates the same torque



1
()

Answer: A 15 Nm torque would stand in equilibrium with a 75 N force
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
85

Although the torque is important in motors, we usually dont care to just oppose some moment
and hold it still. We want it to turn something! Therefore, motors are rated in how much work
they can do per unit time. Does this sound familiar? Its power!
While electrical engineers use Watts to rate power (remembering P=IV), motors are rated in
horsepower since thats what they were used for before electricity was (thankfully) discovered.
One horsepower is equivalent to 745.7 Watts.
So how does power relate to torque?

where f is the rotational frequency (in Hz) or how many times the shaft rotates per second, and
power is in Watts.
Example Problem: If a motor rated at 16 hp spins the rotor shaft at 60 Hz at rated conditions,
how much torque is being put out?
Big Picture: Rated conditions specify the conditions at which the motor normally will run.
Analysis: Determine the torque:
1 1

1
11

11

1
Answer: The motor will output 31.64 Nm when running at 60 Hz at rated conditions.
So just how does a motor convert electrical energy into mechanical energy? Magnetic fields!
Motors can work on either AC or DC electricity and within each of those groups, there are
several different designs. But they all work on the concept of magnetic fields trying to align.
If you have two magnets, they want to line up so the North end is near the South end of the
other. For example, if we place a magnet on a shaft that can rotate, called a rotor, and place it
inside another magnet that stays stationary, called a stator, the rotor will perform work (create a
torque) in rotating to align itself.
Work!


ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
86
That is how a motor works! Of course, it is a tad more complex than that because, in the
example shown, the magnets would move to this position and just stay there.
BOOORING.
We want the magnet to keep spinning and we can make that happen because we do not need to
use permanent magnets (like you would put on your refrigerator), but instead can make electro-
magnets.
Recall that a wire with an electric current going through it creates a magnetic field around it. If
we coil that wire around a ferromagnetic material, a material that can be magnetized, it
strengthens the field and makes a magnet with a North and South pole. Many kids make an
electromagnet by wrapping a wire around a large nail and then connecting the wire to a battery.
The most useful thing about electromagnets in motors is that if the direction of the current is
reversed, the polarity of the magnet switches.
Switching polarity
of wire reverses
polarity of magnet

When we reverse the polarity, now the magnet wants to be in the opposite position from where it
is now. If it is already in motion and we time the polarity reversal correctly, it will continue on
to that position, creating torque as it tries to reach that position. If it is sitting still, unfortunately,
the forces of attraction go directly through the pivot point of the shaft.
So, how do we get the polarity to reverse? With an AC motor, the AC source already reverses
polarity. However, if we deal with AC power going through coils of wire, those wires act like
inductors, which store energy in the magnetic field. This makes our lives difficult
mathematically because components like inductors and capacitors have reactive power, which is
modeled using complex math (i.e., using i or 1). Although AC motors can allow us to do
interesting things, we will stick with DC motor to keep things simple.
The next logical question is how the electricity gets to the electromagnet, which is spinning. It
would seem the wires would quickly get wrapped up. Better yet, how does the polarity get
reversed, especially with the strict timing needed to make it always have the correct polarity to
keep spinning?
A DC motor uses a commutator and brushes to both transfer the electricity and reverse the
polarity. A commutator is a metal strip on the outside of the shaft which provides metal
conductivity from the rotating shaft to the coils on the rotor. Brushes are metal strips (or a roller)
that touch the commutator and provide the electric source.
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
87
Brushes
Commutator
Rotor shaft
Rotor electromagnet
coils

Note in the picture below that the rotor rotates and suddenly Part 1 and Part 2 of the commutator
(which are connected to the two ends of the coil on the electromagnet) switch which terminal of
the battery they are connected to. This allows us to switch the direction of the current in the coil
when we want to so the electromagnet in the rotor will always try to spin.
Rotor rotates!

Motor Efficiency
Now lets look at the big picture of power within a DC motor. The diagram below simply shows
the relationship between the input electrical power we supply to the motor compared to the
output power (recognize the torque-power equation from above?). The input power will be the
voltage we provide across the terminal of the motor, V
T
, times the current going into the motor.
P
IR
P
core
P
mech
P
out
= t
app
2f
rotor
P
dev
= t
ind
2f
rotor
P
brush
P
in
= I
L
V
T

Before the electricity gets to the coils on the rotor to create the electromagnet, it must pass across
the brushes/commutator. As those connections are made and switched, there is typically a little
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
88
sparking. This is energy that is lost to heat/light and called P
brush
. Within the motor there are
resistive (heat) losses due to the current flowing through components that have resistance. These
are called copper losses or I
2
R losses since the resistance is in the copper wires used to make the
coils have resistance. The power developed, P
dev
, is the power that actually gets transferred
(torque is induced) through the magnetic fields to make the rotor turn after the copper and brush
losses are accounted for. There are core losses within the electromagnet, such as some of the
magnetic flux leaking outside the part of the motor which generates the torque and energy
needed to reorient the molecules within the electromagnet. These are lumped as core losses.
Also, some power is lost to friction of the rotor spinning as well as wind resistance. These
mechanical losses are lumped together as P
mech
. That is left is the power transferred out of the
motor as torque is applied.
If we model this discussion as a circuit with lossy devices, we would get circuit below, where:



P
in
P
core
P
out
P
mech
P
brush
P
I2R

We can use the input and output power to determine the efficiency of the motor. The efficiency
tells us how much power we get out of it that we can actually use compared to how much we put
in and is usually expressed as a percentage.


Example Problem: An 87% efficient, 40-hp motor is plugged into a standard electrical outlet.
How much power will it consume and how much current will it draw when operating at rated
conditions?
Big Picture: By definition, a motor of a given rated horsepower is expected to deliver that
quantity of power in a mechanical form at the motor shaft.
Analysis: Determine the power delivered to the shaft:



1

Then use the efficiency equation to determine the motors power requirement.
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
89




Since a standard electrical outlet delivers 120 V
RMS
, we can use the average power equation to
determine current draw:


Answer: The motor will consume 34.29 kW and draw 285 A
RMS
when running at rated
conditions.
Generators
Thus far, weve exclusively discussed motors and have not really mentioned generators.
However, we are very sneaky. Without you realizing it, we have also taught you about
generators. Generators, except in some very specialized cases, look exactly like motors.
Physically, they are the same. Instead of applying a voltage and watching the rotor spin, we can
physically spin the rotor. The coils of wire from the electro magnet, moving through the
magnetic field of the stator, induce a voltage!
P
IR
P
core
P
mech
P
in
= t
app
2f
rotor
P
dev
= t
ind
2f
rotor
DC Generator Power Flow
P
brush
P
out
= I
L
V
T
In an aircraft, an AC generator is driven by the rotation of the engine though the picture below
shows the myriad of different generators and motors found on a standard aircraft. These
generators are typically used to provide 115 V
RMS
running at 400 Hz to the devices on board with
some of it converted to DC voltage (well talk about how to do that later in this block).
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
90

http://www.hamiltonsundstrand.com/StaticFiles/HS/Aerospace/Power%20Systems/Images/ES%20Plane2_small%20334kr.jpg
Example Problem: How much torque does the main engine generator on a KC-135 require in
order to deliver 45 kW of power to the on-board systems? Assume that the generator is
operating at rated conditions with 92% efficiency.
Big Picture: We must find the required power that spinning the rotor must deliver in order to
deliver 45 kW. We can then use the power-torque equation to find the needed torque.
Analysis: Determine the power delivered from the rotor:




Since aircraft generators typically operate at a frequency of 400 Hz, the required torque is:



1
Answer: The generator will require a torque of 19.46 Nm to deliver 45 kW to its on-board
systems.

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
91
Lesson 6 Homework
1. T / F Power plants are typically placed far from population centers so that we can build
many smaller plants.
2. Which power generation source is the best for satisfying intermediate and peak power
demands because it can respond quickly to changing requirements?
a. Coal Plants
b. Nuclear Plants
c. Natural Gas Plants
d. Wind Turbine Farms
3. What components allow a DC motor to transfer electricity and reverse polarity?





4. What rating (in hp) would a 60 Hz motor on an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) robot
require if the targeted terrain for its operation will require 70Nm to traverse?









ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
92
5. Youve just finished a major upgrade to your garage where you installed an industrial-grade
lathe. The lathes motor is rated to be 88% efficient under rated condition and is capable of
outputting 550W. You plug it into the wall (a standard 120 V
RMS
wall socket) and start
using it, only to have the power go out as soon as you start cutting. When you look in your
circuit breaker box, you find that the 5A breaker for the garage popped. Why?













6. You are researching home standby generator systems which automatically take over if the
power goes out. You determine that you can survive with the following appliances:
refrigerator (1.2 kW), oven (1.8 kW), and microwave (800 W). Will you be able to run
these appliance and central air conditioning (5.2 kW) with a 7 kW generator or will you
need to upgrade to the more expensive 12 kW version?















ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
93
7. A generator is responsible for powering the scenario below. What efficiency must it be
rated for in order to provide enough power?

Pin = 3kW
Vrms = 115 Vrms
20 10
7
8




ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
94
Lesson 7 Power Transmission
Learning Outcomes
1. Know that transformers only work with AC power
2. Understand how transformers affect efficiency in a power transmission system
3. Understand why AC power is used in our national power grid
4. Given a transformers primary and secondary voltages, calculate the required turns ratio
5. Calculate the efficiency of a power transmission system
6. Calculate the source voltage and power of a power transmission system

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
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Lesson 7 - Power Transmission
Way back at the dawn of time, two great men contended for the destiny of electrical power in
this country. In one corner was Thomas Alva Edison, who invented the phonograph, the
telegraph, and the light bulb (all of which are distant ancestors of our iPhones). He advocated
the transmission of DC power to American homes. In the other corner was George
Westinghouse, who advocated the more efficient transmission of AC power, using a system
developed by Nikola Tesla. Ultimately, AC power won and is now used exclusively in our
nations power grid.
As with many technological decisions in history, one of the primary considerations in this
decision was cost. AC power transmission can be much more efficient than DC transmission. In
this lesson, we will explore why this is so.
Power Transmission
The fundamental problem with transmitting large amounts of power across long distances is that
the lines carrying the power are not the ideal wires used so far in this course. When distances are
small, we can ignore the roughly 250 mO/km resistance but if a power generation plant is 20 km
from its users, the line will have 5 O of resistance busily dissipating power. At 100 km, this
increases to 25 O. Since this power dissipation is in the form of heat and we do not get any
useful work out of it, the line resistance causes inefficiency and in the power transmission world,
inefficiency means lost money.
So whats the big deal about a 5 O resistance dissipating power? Well, lets look at a simple
scenario where a power generation plant located 20 km away needs to deliver 2 kW at 120 V
to your house and see how efficient it is. We can model this situation using the circuit below.
Power
Plant
R
Line
= 5
+
V
house
= 120 V
_
P
house
= 2 kW
I

Since we already know how much power is consumed by the house (2 kW), we need to figure
out how much power is lost in the 5 transmission line. The best way to solve for this power is
to find the current. Fortunately, the power plant, transmission line, and house are all in series,
which means they share the same current. All we need to do, then, is determine the current of
either the power plant or the house and we will get the current we need. Since we are told
nothing about the power plant, lets look at the house. We know both the voltage drop across the
house and the power consumed by it. Solving the power equation for the current through the
house gives us
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
96



1
1
Again, since this is a series circuit, the 16.67 A flows through each device in the circuit. We can
use this current to find the power lost in the transmission line:

(1 )

1
Therefore, for every 2 kW of power that is used, 1.39 kW is wasted!
Hopefully, you dont need a fancy equation to tell you that this is not an efficient way to deliver
power. What the efficiency equation does, however, is allow us to quantify how bad this option
is.
Solving for the total power produced and the efficiency:

1







Note that we didnt tell you whether this was a DC or an AC power plant inefficiently
transmitting power. At this point, it doesnt matter because they lose an equal amount of power.
In other words, there is not real advantage to either AC or DC power transmission. Fortunately,
though, the story doesnt end here.
Transformers
Weve already introduced the fundamental difference between DC and AC signals. As time
passes, DC signals stay the same, while AC signals always change. If we compare the voltage
provided to the house above in a DC power transmission scenario to an AC-version, we get the
signals below. Of course, you remember that a sinusoidal signal with amplitude of 170 V gives
us an effective value of 120 V
RMS
, right?
t, ms
V
house
(t), V
AC
170
-170
16.67
t, ms
V
house
, V
DC
120
16.67

Why does this matter? The answer is magnetism. If you pass an electric current through a coil
of wire, it produces a magnetic field. The strength of the field depends on the derivative (or
slope) of the signal coming in.
If you look at the slope of the DC signal, you see that the slope is zero, since the value never
changes. Therefore a DC signal creates no magnetic field.
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
97
The AC signal, however, is always changing and its slope is also always changing. If we dusted
off our calculus book we would see that the derivative of a cosine wave is a sine wave (or a
negative sine wave, to be precise).
A single coil of wire forms an electrical device called an inductor. If you pass an AC signal
through an inductor, it creates a magnetic field (remember Faradays Law?). If we put two
inductors close together, we get a very useful device called a transformer. In the figure below,
the inductor connected to the AC source is called the primary. The AC signal produces an
alternating magnetic field around the primary coils and when another coil is placed in this
alternating magnetic field, an AC voltage is induced in this secondary set of coils. Remember,
DC creates no magnetic field, so a DC source is not used with inductors or transformers. One
example common example of a transformer is the one located outside a house (sometimes on a
pole). The primary side is connected to the outgoing power lines, while the secondary side is
connected to the house.
N
1
:N
2
+
V
1
-
+
V
2
-
Primary Secondary
Load
AC
Source

The amount of voltage induced in the secondary of a transformer depends on the ratio of the
number of turns in the two coils, where N
1
is the number of turns in the primary coil and N
2
is
the number of turns in the secondary coil. The turns ratio, a, may be expressed as a number,

,
or as a ratio, N
1
:N
2
. For an ideal transformer, the relationship between the turns ratio and voltage
is given by:


If the number of coils in the secondary is less than the number in the primary (a > 1), the
transformer is called a step-down transformer because the secondary voltage will be less than the
primary voltage. If the number of coils in the secondary is greater than the number in the
primary (a < 1), the transformer is called a step-up transformer because the secondary voltage
will be greater than the primary voltage.
Now quickly before we move on, lets look what happens to our currents in a transformer. If we
assume that its ideally efficient (which is actually a pretty good assumption at the low
frequencies were examining), this means power is conserved as the voltage is either stepped-
down or stepped-up. In other words,


ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
98


Since the ratio of V
1
to V
2
is equal to the turns ratio, it follows that


Example Problem: A transformer with a turns ratio of 100:50 is used to deliver power from a
120 V
RMS
source to a 100 O load. How much power does the resistor consume? How much
power does the source provide?
120 V
RMS
R = 100
+
V
2
-
+
V
1
-
I
1
I
2

Big Picture: A transformer is used to change the voltage and current of an AC signal.
Key Issues: Since the first inductor has 100 turns and the second one has 50 turns, the turns
ratio is


Analysis: Notice that we effectively have two distinct circuits. On the left, we have the voltage
source and the primary side of the transformer. On the right, we have the secondary side of the
transformer and the resistor. Notice that a > 1. As a result, we should expect the transformer to
step-down the voltage.
Lets look at the left side first, because its fairly easy. Since the source and the primary side of
the transformer are in parallel, they share the same voltage. Therefore,


That was easy. So lets figure out V
2
using the turns ratio:


Therefore, the voltage on the secondary side of the transformer is 60 V
RMS
. Continuing with our
circuit, we see that the secondary side of the transformer is parallel with the resistor, which
means that once again, they share the same voltage. Therefore,



ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
99
We can reverse this process to find the current in the circuit. Using Ohms Law,

1

Since the resistor is in series with the secondary coil, the currents are the same and


We can use the turns ratio to solve for the current in the primary:


Now that we have the voltages and currents on both sides of the transformer, we can compare
powers.

)(1

)(


Answer: The source provides and the resistor consumes 36 W of average power.
AC Power Transmission
Yes, this discussion is only for AC power because were going to use transformers to make our
power transmission more efficient.
Big Picture: The key is to reduce the current in the line. Transformers allow us to step up and
step down AC voltage and current to manipulate the design.
Key Concept: Transformers do not work for DC signals and cannot help distribute DC power.
Lets go back to our original power transmission problem, but this time lets add a transformer to
step down voltage. How efficient is this system?
AC
Power
Plant
R
Line
= 5
+
V
house
= 120 V
RMS
_
P
house
= 2 kW
+
V
2
-
+
V
1
-
I
1
I
2
a = 10

This is pretty much the same problem as the example above except that we have the transmission
line resistance added to the primary circuit. Note that once again useful power is dissipated by
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
100
the house while power is lost in the line (because we are assuming that no power is lost in the
transformer).
We now need to solve for the current through the resistor. In order for the house to dissipate 2
kW of power at 120 V
RMS
, it will still require 16.67A. Since the house is in series with the
secondary coil, I
2
is also 16.67A. We can solve for the current into the primary using turns ratio:

1
1
Since the transmission line resistance and the primary coil are in series, the current through the
resistor is also 1.67A. We can use this current to find the power lost in the transmission line:

(1 )

1

Therefore, the simple addition of a transformer with a turns ratio of 10 dropped the power loss
from 1.389 kW to 13.945 W! This increases the systems efficiency from 59% to

1 1





1


This large increase in efficiency (and associated cost savings) is the fundamental reason that AC
power transmission was chosen as the way to go!

National Power Grid
In our national power grid, transformers are used to step up the voltage of the transmitted
electricity. The voltages used can exceed 700 kV. More importantly, though, is the fact that the
current is stepped down to very low values. By keeping the transmission line current low, the
power lost in the line is kept low, which in turn leads to very high efficiencies. The figure below
shows a general layout for an electrical power grid.
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
101

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Electricity_grid_schema-_lang-en.jpg

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
102
Lesson 7 Homework
1. T / F DC sources can be used with transformers.
2. Which law from Physics 215 allows transformers to step up and down voltage?
a. Coulombs Law
b. Gausss Law
c. Faradays Law
d. Ohms Law

3. Why does our national power grid use AC power?







4. An in-room air conditioning unit requires 30 V
RMS
to operate. A transformer is used to step
down the 120 V
RMS
provided by a standard wall outlet. What turns ratio should be used in
the transformer?










ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
103
5. Given the ideal transformer below with V
S
= 200 V
RMS
, answer the following questions.
R
1
= 4 k
+
V
2
-
+
V
1
-
I
1
I
2
5 : 1
R
2
= 20 k
R
3
= 5 k
V
S
= 200V

a. Does this circuit contain a step-up or step-down transformer?
b. What is the voltage across the primary?
c. What is the voltage across the secondary?
d. How much total current is flowing in the secondary?
e. Assuming no power losses, how much average power is supplied by the source?







ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
104
6. A power plant provides power to a small community 300 km away. The resistance in the
power line can be modeled as a 10 resistor. A transformer with a turns ratio of a = 70 is
used between the transmission line and the community.

AC
Power
Plant
R
Line
= 10
+
120 V
RMS
_
P
community
= 123 kW
+
V
2
-
+
V
1
-
I
1
I
2
a = 70

a. If the community uses 123 kW of power at 120 V
RMS
, how efficient is this system?





b. How many volts does the power plant need to provide?






c. A contractor has proposed replacing the transmission line with one having only 5 of
resistance. If everything else remains the same, how efficient would the improved
system be?


ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
105









(Intentionally Left Blank)

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
106
Lesson 8 AC-to-DC Conversion
Learning Outcomes
1. Understand that AC-to-DC Conversion often takes four separate steps to complete.
2. Know that a diode is a simple semiconductor device that allows current to flow in only one
direction.
3. Know that a diode kills the negative portion of an AC signal and that a capacitor smoothes
the output of an AC-to-DC Converter.
4. Given an equation or a peak voltage for an AC input to an AC-to-DC Converter, determine
the unloaded, unregulated DC output voltage.
5. Given an AC-to-DC Converter efficiency and voltage specifications, calculate the power
supplied by the AC source and the power lost or current through an AC-to-DC Converter.
6. Given options with multiple measures of merit, evaluate and choose the best option.

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
107
Lesson 8 - AC-to-DC Conversion
Although transformers make it more efficient to transmit AC power over long distances, many
devices require DC power to operate. Computers, for instance, need DC power to run all of the
data processing circuitry that makes a computer useful. Even though we plug them directly into
our wall outlets, they actually have built-in AC-to-DC Converters to provide the necessary DC
power. Furthermore, anything that runs off of battery power, such as cell phones or mp3 players,
uses DC power. When we charge these devices, via a plugin adapter, the charger converts an
outlets 120 V
RMS
signal into an appropriate DC signal which is used to charge the battery. In
this lesson, we will see how AC-to-DC Converters work.
Basics of AC-DC Conversion
The most basic AC-to-DC Converter is the half-wave rectifier. To understand how a this type of
converter works, we need to introduce two common electrical devices:
- A diode is a semiconductor device that allows electricity to flow in only one direction.
The light-emitting diode (LED) is the most commonly seen diode but electrical engineers
use diodes for a lot of other applications. The rectification process is accomplished with
this device, with rectification meaning the process of converting an alternating signal to
one that is ALWAYS positive when used in the AC/DC Conversion process, as discussed
in this course.
- A capacitor is a storage device that acts like a temporary battery. If a voltage is present
across the capacitor, it will charge up to that voltage. If the voltage is taken away, it will
discharge if given a path to do so. The key characteristic is that this charging and
discharging does not happen instantaneously. This device smooths the rectified signal.
Lets take a close look at a general AC signal, starting at time t = 0 sec, and consider what is
really going on with this signal.
t, s
v(t), V
V
peak
-V
peak

We can think of the voltage as a pushing force that causes electrons to move. When we first start
on the graph at 0 ms, the pushing force of the signal is at 0V. As time passes, however, this
pushing force begins to increase until it reaches its peak voltage. As time passes even further,
the pushing force decreases until it reaches 0V, then turns negative and continues to decrease
until it reaches its minimum. At this point, it starts increasing until it returns to its peak voltage.
Now think about the current that this changing voltage would produce. When the voltage is
positive, the pushing force pushes electrons through the circuit. When the voltage is negative,
however, it becomes a negative pushing force, which pulls the electrons the other way. Push,
pull. Push, pull. Push, pull.
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
108
Thats why it is called an alternating current; because it spends half the time flowing forward
and the other half flowing back.
What would happen if we allowed this signal to pass through a diode, which only allows current
to flow in one direction? As the figure below shows, the diode kills the negative part of the
signal, but lets the positive part continue:
t, s
v(t), V
V
peak
-V
peak
Diode
v(t), V
V
peak
t, s

The signal coming out of the diode is not a DC signal, but weve gotten rid of all the negative
voltages, which means were one step closer. Instead of push, pull, the signal is now push, pause,
push, pause. The signal is now said to be rectified.
The key is understanding that the signal at the input of the diode has an average voltage over
time of 0V, while the output signal has an average voltage over time greater than 0V.
Now that we know how the diode affects the signal, lets look at the effects of the capacitor and
its contribution to the resultant signal. Remember that the capacitor acts as a temporary battery.
At t1 ms, the output of the diode (shown as the dashed line in the figure below) is at its peak.
This voltage quickly charges the capacitor to the same value.

v(t)
+
V
C
-
AC/DC Converter

The output, represented by the solid line, would remain constant, since no current is flowing and
no power is being consumed by the capacitor.

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
109
v
C
(t), V
V
Peak
t, ms
t1

In this ideal case, where the AC-to-DC Converter is not supplying power to anything,



Now, if we placed a load (R
Load
) on the output of the AC-to-DC Converter, the output will look a
little different. First of all, R
Load
is not actually part of the AC-to-DC Converter. Instead, it is
the mp3 player or cell phone or computer that uses the DC power that is created. Notice that
R
Load
is in parallel with the capacitor. Since devices in parallel share the same voltage, the output
voltage, V
out
(t) will be the same as the capacitor voltage V
C
(t).
v(t)
+
V
out
-
R
Load
+
V
C
-
AC/DC Converter

Now, remember that the capacitor acts as a temporary battery. At t1 ms, the output of the
diode (shown as the dashed line in the figure below) is at its peak. This voltage quickly charges
the capacitor to the same value. Then, as the output of the diode drops off to zero volts, the
capacitor takes over and begins to supply voltage to R
Load
. Because it is a real device, the
capacitor voltage decreases slightly over time, which means V
out
decreases slightly. When the
voltage from the diode reappears and climbs back towards its peak, the capacitor is again
charged up to V
peak
and the cycle continues. We call this variation in voltage over time a ripple.
The resultant output below is not a perfect DC signal, but its reasonably close.
v
out
(t), V
V
peak
t, ms
t1
V
ripple

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
110
The rate at which the capacitor voltage decreases is determined by two things: the size of the
capacitor (bigger is better) and the magnitude of R
Load
(a smaller R
Load
means the capacitor
discharges faster). The ripple voltage (the variance between charge and discharge) can be
determine using the following relationship, where f is the frequency of the input, R (same as R
load
)
is the resistor value, and C is the capacitor value (expressed in farads):


The bottom line is that the diode kills the negative voltages (rectifies) and the capacitor smoothes
out the bumps.
AC-to-DC Conversion
Before we look at AC-to-DC Converters from a block diagram perspective, lets look at the
overall process. It typically takes four steps to convert an AC signal into the needed DC format:
1. Transformation: While this step is sometimes optional, we rarely get the exact AC
signal that converts into our needed DC requirement. We often have to step-down the
120 V
RMS
coming out of the wall plates or the 115 V
RMS
provided by a generator to more
acceptable levels. There are also times where we would need a large DC voltage and will
need to step-up the AC voltage. Remember, the V
DC
is related to the V
peak
, so a
transformer is used to get the correct V
peak
input.
2. Rectification: Rectification is sometimes used synonymously with AC-to-DC Conversion
because this is where most of the work is performed. Rectifiers eliminate the negative
portion of the AC signal and translate as much as of the AC signals energy into DC as
possible. Their output still varies so an additional step or two is often added. The half-
wave rectifier is the simpliest design; however, more complicated diode circuits are more
common.
3. Smoothing: The last step of AC-to-DC Conversion is to use a time-reactive component
such as a capacitor to smooth out the final output.
4. Regulation: Most times the smoothed output is regulated, using a voltage regulator, to
ensure a constant voltage level is provided to the device that we are trying to power. This
regulation further reduces the ripple described on page 5. It also minimizes the affect of
changing R
Load
.
The figure below shows the different steps of the AC-to-DC Conversion process.
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
111
Transformer
AC Signal
Rectifier
+
V
in
-
+
V
out
-
Smoothing
+
V
DC
-
Regulator
+
Digital Signal
-

For the rest of this lesson, this process will be displayed as a block diagram. The XFMR block
will represent the transformation step, and a AC/DC Block will represent rectification,
smoothing, and regulation. If a half-wave rectifier and capacitor were used with a transformer in
an AC-to-DC Convertor design, the design could be represented using a block diagram,
schematic or combination of both, as shown in the next two drawings.
XFMR AC/DC
V
out
a
V
S
Block Diagram

V
s,
+
V
out
-
R
Load
+
V
C
-
+
V
2
-
a
Schematic


Example Problem: The AC signal, v(t) = 169.7cos(360 * 1kt) V is input into an ideal half-wave
rectifier with a 10:1 turns ratio transformer. What is the DC output, neglecting the ripple?
v(t) XFMR
+
V
DC,out
-
a = 10:1

Big Picture: We will need to step down the voltage before solving for our final DC output.
Key Issues: None
Analysis: The input voltage is stepped down by the transformer to:


ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
112


1
1
1
The DC voltage coming out of the converter is then

1
Answer: The DC output from the AC-to-DC Converter is 16.97 V.
Example Problem: Assume the AC/DC block below is limited to the rectification, smoothing
and regulation stages, and the required input from the transformer should be 8 V. Determine the
turns ratio of the transformer to make the circuit work.
Big Picture: We will need a transformer to step down the voltage.
Key Issues: This is a much more realistic problem than the first example. We will actually have
to work backwards to decide what kind of transformer is needed.
Analysis: We know that the basic design for our AC-to-DC Converter will look like this:
XFMR AC/DC
V
S
(t) = 120 cos(360
o
60t)V
6 V
DC
V
in
= 8 V
V
out
= 6 V

The key to this problem is realizing that the peak voltages will be used to determine the turns
ratio. These voltages could be given, like the output of the transformer (8 V), or provided in an
equation, like the input (V
S
(t)). Bottom line is the transformer has to step the 120 V signal down
to 8 V. The AC-to-DC Converter will then change it to 6 V
DC
. Notice that the output of the AC-
DC converter is not the same value as the input. This is very common, especially if a regulator
is used in the smoothing process.
All thats left to do is determine the turns ratio of the transformer:


1

1

Answer: The design to convert 120 VRMS to 6 V
DC
is:

XFMR AC/DC
6 V
DC
a = 15
V
S



peak
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
113
Example Problem: The AC-to-DC Converter in the previous problem is used to power an
electric drill, modeled as a 180 resistor. If the AC-to-DC Converter has an efficiency of 80%,
how much power must the source provide?
XFMR AC/DC
V
S
= 120 V
6 V
DC
a = 15
Drill
(180 )
= 80%

Big Picture: AC-to-DC Converters are not 100% efficient; therefore, if we need to track current
values through the system, knowing the efficiency is key. In this case, we will work backwards
by first considering the power consumed by the drill as well as the power lost in the AC-to-DC
Conversion process.
Key Issues: None.
Analysis: First, lets figure out the useful power, which is the amount of power the drill
consumes. Consider the following circuit:
6 V 180

Weve modeled the entire AC-to-DC Converter (with transformer) into a single 6 V
DC
source,
which helps us figure out the power consumed by the drill. Since these two devices are in
parallel, they share the same voltage of 6 V. Therefore, the power consumed by the drill is


( )

1

We will assume that all of this power is useful power. Now lets look at just the AC-to-DC
Converter:
AC/DC
P
out
= 200 mW
= 80%
P
in


We have some power that is provided to the converter, P
in
. The converter loses 20% of this
power, which is what an efficiency of 80% means. After losing 20%, the remaining power is
200 mW, which is provided to the drill.

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
114
If we think about P
in
as the power that must be produced and P
out
as the useful power, our
efficiency equation becomes


Solving for Pin:





Therefore, we need to provide 250 mW to the AC-to-DC Converter so it can provide 200 mW to
the drill.
Now lets look at what happens to the power in the entire system:
XFMR AC/DC
a = 15
Drill
(180 )
= 80%
P
out
P
in

P
S

V
S
= 120 V

We start with P
S
, which is the power produced by the source. This power passes through a
transformer, but since the transformer consumes no power, P
S
= P
in
= 250 mW. This power then
goes to an AC-to-DC Converter, which loses 20% in the conversion process. The output is 200
mW.
Answer: The source has to produce 250 mW.
Decision Making (Normalization and Weighted Scores)
Oftentimes, you find yourself trying to make a decision based on two or more different criteria.
For example, suppose we had several transformer and AC-to-DC Converter combinations and
we had to chose one for integration into a system. In order to decide which option is the best
design, we must either convert both parameters to a common metric (i.e., cost or efficiency) or
find a way to combine the two measures into a single score. The danger of converting to a
common metric is that while the measures may seem the same, their importance may vary. For
example, if we compare cost to the AC-to-DC Converters efficiency, we lose sight of the fact
that buying a transformer and converter is a one-time cost while the systems efficiency is a
recurring cost driver.
A very useful tool for solving this problem is normalization. If we think of the different factors
as raw values, then normalization works to convert all the raw values to normalized scores which
are always at or below 1. For each measure of merit, heres what you do:
- Assign a score of 1.0 to the option with the best raw value. For example, since lower
costs are better, the lowest cost would get a 1.0 while since higher efficiencies are
better, the highest efficiency would get a 1.0.
- Use one of the following equations to assign normalized scores to the other options:




- or -





ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
115
Which of these two equations do you use? If you are dealing with something that should be
minimized, like cost, then use the first one. If youre dealing with something that should be
maximized, like efficiency, use the second.
Key concept: When normalizing, the score should always be less than or equal to one. If you
end up with a normalized score greater than one, then you used the wrong equation.
Once you have normalized your measures of merit, you still need to combine them into a single
score. This combination step gives us the opportunity to also increase the value of one measure
over the other by assigning weights to the scores. For example, in the problem above, the cost of
the different generators would probably not be as important as overall efficiency since the cost is
a one-time investment while efficiency drives costs for the entire life of the systems. We
therefore assign weights to each measure of merit based on their relative importance where the
weights must total to 100%. We can then calculate an options weight score by:
(

) (

)

Example Problem: Lets compare the two options from the example above. After finding the
efficiencies of the two options, you research the costs for each option. Since Option B requires a
larger transformer and more efficient converter, it costs more. If Option A costs $600 and
Option B costs $1500, which should the government buy? Assume the two measures of merit
are cost and efficiency and that they are equally important.
Big Picture: We need to compare options with multiple measures of merit.
Key Issues: The options we are comparing are summarized in the following table:
Option A Option B
Cost $600 $1500
Efficiency 95.13% 99.19%
Analysis: Lets start by normalizing cost. The best cost is option A, which gets a normalized
cost score of 1.0. To calculate Option Bs cost score, we use the equation:

1

Therefore the normalized cost score for Option B is 0.4. One way to view this number is that in
terms of cost, Option B is only 40% as good as Option A.
Now lets look at efficiency. The best efficiency is Option B, so it gets a normalized score of 1.0.
What about Option As efficiency score? Lets use the same equation and see what happens:





1
1
1

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
116
Something is wrong here! Option B has the better efficiency, but we just gave a higher score to
Option A. The problem and solution are simple; we used the wrong equation. When comparing
efficiencies, higher numbers are better, so our equation should have been:





1
1

This makes more sense.
Since both measures of merit are equally weighted, we can simply add the normalized scores to
get an overall score for comparison.
Option A Option B
Cost 1.0 0.4
Efficiency 0.959 1.0
Total 1.959 1.4
The best answer is simply the one with the highest score.
Answer: Option A is the best option and should be chosen. Its cost was less than half that of
Option B and its efficiency was fairly close

Example Problem: Lets do the same analysis but this time, well account for the difference in
importance by assigning a weight of 70% to efficiency (since its a long-term recurring cost) and
only 30% to the cost.
Big Picture: We need to compare options using different weights.
Key Issues: None. We can reuse the normalized scores from above and simply recalculate the
scores using a weighted average.
Option A Option B
Cost 1.0 0.4
Efficiency 0. 959 1.0

Analysis: We need to use the provided weights to calculate new scores:

) (

( 1) ( ) 1

) (

( ) ( 1)
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
117
When we compare the scores, we find that Option A is still the best choice. Our use of
normalized scores and weighted averages kept us from assuming that the more efficient system
was automatically the best choice. If we do some more calculations (as shown in the graph
below), we find that Option B wont be chosen until we assign a weight of 94% to efficiency
(and 6% to cost)! The change in efficiency is small but if you plan to run this system for 50
years, the cost savings may become that important!


0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
Cost Weight
Option A
Option B
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
118
Lesson 8 Homework
1. What is a semiconductor device that allows current to flow in only one direction?
a. Diode
b. Capacitor
c. Circuit Breaker
d. Transistor
2. What does a capacitor do in an AC-to-DC Converter?
a. Eliminates the Bias
b. Kills the negative voltage
c. Smoothes the output
d. Protects the circuit
3. The signal v(t) = 45cos(360*400t) V is used as an input to an AC-to-DC Converter.
What is the unloaded, unregulated output if the AC-to-DC Converter does not include a
transformer?





4. Design an AC-to-DC Converter to convert 120 V RMS at 60 Hz to an unregulated, unloaded
6 V DC. Draw both the block diagram and circuit for the final design.










ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
119

5. You are building a sensor to detect if someone is using an ion thruster around your top-
secret satellite. You need to design a power system to take the unregulated voltage from the
satellites solar panels and drive high-voltage 150 V plates on your ion detector, which can
be modeled as a resistor with infinite resistance and do not require a regulated input. While
the power from the solar panels isnt strictly AC (it varies slowly from roughly 28V on the
dark side to 32 V when the panels are illuminated), you calculate that the effective voltage is
21.2 V RMS. Design your required AC-to-DC Converter system. You only need to draw
the block diagram for your design.












ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
120
6. An AC-to-DC Converter (with a transformer) is used to convert V
S
(t) to 12 V to power a
laptop. The AC-to-DC Converter has an efficiency of 86%. If the laptop is modeled as a
300 resistor, how much power does the source provide to this system?
XFMR AC/DC
V
S
(t) = 120 cos(360
o
60t) V
12 V
Laptop
(300 )
= 86%



















7. What type of transformer is needed in Problem 6?












ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
121
8. You are evaluating three different AC-to-DC Converters that all meet your requirements for
ripple (how much the supposed DC output actually changes) and cost. Since you want to
use these devices for a scientific instrument, you really want to minimize ripple but are also
poor scientist with a small budget. Choose the best one. Clearly support your decision
process for making your choice.

Part Ripple Cost
A 30 mV $20
B 35 mV $14
C 45 mV $12





ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
122
9. Three options are proposed to provide power to a new community. The cost and efficiency
for each option is shown below.
Cost
($ Millions)
Efficiency
(%)
Option X 3.2 99.4
Option Y 3.0 97.2
Option Z 2.8 86.0
a. If cost and efficiency are to be considered equally, which is the better option?











b. If efficiency is assigned a weight of 90%, which is the better option?


ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
123


















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ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
124
Lesson 9 Power Distribution
Learning Outcomes
1. Understand that electrical busses provide a specified voltage to all connected devices.
2. Determine the required turns ratios for a transformer located between two electrical busses.
3. Determine appropriate circuit breaker ratings to protect an electrical bus system.
4. Calculate the efficiency and source voltage of a power transmission system with one or more
transformers.
5. Given a power distribution system with AC and DC busses, calculate the required
transformer turns ratio and determine appropriate values for circuit breaker protection.

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
125
Lesson 9 - Power Distribution
Power distribution is the process of getting power where it needs to go. It can involve getting
electricity from a power plant to a community as we discussed in the previous lesson, or it can
provide the appropriate power to every electrical component on an airplane.
As systems become more and more complex, trying to draw the circuit accurately can become
both tedious and confusing. For this reason, engineers often use simple block diagrams to
capture the essence of electronic systems.
Consider the following representation of a part of the T-52 electrical system:
28 V
RMS

Alternator
Main
Bus
(28
V
RMS
)
MFD
Strobe
AV Fan
Taxi/Map
Position
Inst
Fuel Pump
CDU Fan
to Avionics Bus
to Essential Bus
= Circuit Breaker

On the right of this diagram, we see eight components (MFD, CDU Fan, etc.) which require 28
V
RMS
to operate (dont worry about what the components actually are we dont need to know in
order to model the system). These items receive 28 V
RMS
from the Main Bus which gets 28
V
RMS
from the alternator (another name for generator most often applied to small rotating
machines driven by automotive and other internal combustion engines). Additionally, the Main
Bus also provides 28 V
RMS
to two other busses, an Avionics Bus and an Essential Bus. Every
device in the system, including the busses themselves, is protected by circuit breakers.
A bus is simply a piece of metal or wiring which has a known voltage applied to it. To explain
what this means, lets see what the circuit diagram for the same portion of the T-52 electrical
system might look like:
28 V
RMS

Alternator
= Circuit Breaker
MFD CDU
Fan
Fuel
Pump
Inst Strobe Position Taxi/
Map
AV
Fan
Essential
Bus
Avionics
Bus

It is important to realize that both of the above diagrams are equivalent since they both convey
the same amount of information about the electrical system. They just do it differently.
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
126
Since all of the devices (including the Essential and Avionics Busses) require the same voltage,
we put everything in parallel with the voltage source (the 28 V
RMS
alternator). Hopefully, this
makes sense, since devices in parallel share the same voltage and we want everything to share 28
V
RMS
. If we added anything else to the bus, it would also be added in parallel and would
therefore get the full 28 V
RMS
dropped across it. But where is the Main Bus in this circuit
diagram? The bus is simply the upper node of the circuit, as shown below:
28 V
RMS

Alternator
= Circuit Breaker
MFD CDU
Fan
Fuel
Pump
Inst Strobe Position Taxi/
Map
AV
Fan
Essential
Bus
Avionics
Bus
Main Bus
Common Ground

Many electrical systems, including our homes, will use a metal bar (example shown in the
picture below), to serve as a bus. Any device that is added to the bus is simply wired directly to
this metal bar. As long as everything is wired in parallel, all devices get the advertised voltage.

Source: http://www.vonwentzel.net/Prout/02.Electrical/08.Wiring/
We often talk about a bus (or a node) as having a specific voltage, such as saying the T-52 Main
Bus has a voltage of 28 V
RMS
. While this is very useful, it is not technically accurate. What we
really mean is that the voltage drop from the bus to a common ground is 28 V
RMS
. Just as a bus
is a common node used to provide a common voltage to different devices, a common ground is
also a common node used to return the current flow back to the source. The circuit diagram
above shows the common ground as the lower node in the circuit.
Most vehicles, such as cars and airplanes, actually use the metal frame of the vehicle to serve as
a common ground. Therefore, adding electrical devices is as simple as running a wire from the
appropriate bus to provide power, and then grounding the device to the metal frame to provide a
return path back to the battery or generator. This is why many of you have been taught to clamp
the black jumper cable to the charging cars chassis - this is the safest way of making sure you
have the circuit grounded!
If we arbitrarily define the common ground to be zero volts, then all other voltages can be given
with respect to this value. Therefore, when we say that the Main Bus has 28 V
RMS
, what we
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
127
really mean is that it has a voltage that is 28 V
RMS
higher than the common ground. This same
principle is true with the electrical power we receive from our wall outlets. We say we get 120
V
RMS
from a wall outlet, but what we really get is a voltage that is 120 V
RMS
higher than the
common ground running through our house.
Key concept: Electrical buses provide power to devices connected in parallel between the bus
and a common ground.
Example Problem: An aircraft power system is to be powered by a 190 V
RMS
generator.
Design the power distribution system for this airplane to allow two busses, one at 190 V
RMS
and
the other at 40 V
RMS
.
Big Picture: We will use a transformer to drop the voltage to 40 V
RMS
.
Key Issues: None.
Analysis: Heres a preliminary block diagram of the required power distribution system:
190 V
RMS
190 V
RMS

Bus
A
Y
Z
X
C
B
40 V
RMS

Bus
XFMR

The devices A, B, C, X, Y, and Z are added merely to show how various devices are connected
to each bus. The 190 V
RMS
bus receives power from the generator and distributes this power to
devices A, B, and C, and also to a transformer. The transformer steps the voltage down to 40
V
RMS
and sends the dropped-down voltage to the 40 V
RMS
bus, which in turn provides power to
devices X, Y, and Z.
The only thing that needs to be done is to calculate the turns ratio of the transformer. Using the
turns ratio equation gives us:



ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
128
Answer: The aircraft power distribution system can be implemented with a transformer with a
turns ratio of a = 4.75 as shown in the following diagram:

190 V
RMS
190 V
RMS

Bus
A
Y
Z
X
C
B
40 V
RMS

Bus
XFMR
a = 4.75

So if you were thinking that that was too easy, you were right. We havent talked about current
draws and power dissipation for these systems. Thankfully, since the components are all
connected in parallel, analyzing current draws and power dissipation is relatively simple. We
know that the voltage drops are all the same and that the current provided by the source (or
entering the common bus node) equals the currents distributed between the individual devices (or
exiting the common bus node). In our T-52 example, the current drawn from the 28 V
RMS

alternator would be equal to the sum of the current draws from the MFD, CDU Fan, Fuel Pump,
etc. plus the total current draws of the Essential Bus and Avionics Bus. Also, since we have
assumed that there are no power losses in the lines, the power that the source must deliver is
equal to the sum of the power dissipated by the individual components and additional buses.

28 V
RMS

Alternator
= Circuit Breaker
MFD CDU
Fan
Fuel
Pump
Inst Strobe Position Taxi/
Map
AV
Fan
Essential
Bus
Avionics
Bus
Main Bus
Common Ground
Is
I
MFD
I
CDU Fan
I
F.P.
I
Inst
I
Strobe
I
Position
I
Taxi
I
AV Fan
I
Essential Bus
I
Avionics Bus


ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
129
Example Problem: Add circuit protection to the following aircraft power system given the
following component current draws:
Device Current
A 3 A
RMS
B 8 A
RMS

C 3 A
RMS

X 10 A
RMS

Y 4 A
RMS

Z 5 A
RMS

Also, calculate how much power must be provided to drive all of the components on the two
buses.
190 V
RMS
190 V
RMS

Bus
A
Y
Z
X
C
B
40 V
RMS

Bus
XFMR
a = 4.75

Big Picture: The key to circuit protection is to figure out the flow of currents in the system.
Since we can consider a bus to be the same thing as a node, the total current flowing into the bus
will be equal to the total current flowing out of it.
Key Issues: Conceptually, a circuit breaker is the same thing as a fuse. A circuit breaker rated
at 3 A
RMS
will allow any current up to 3 A
RMS
to pass. If the current exceeds 3 A
RMS
, however,
the circuit breaker will pop, breaking the flow of current in the circuit. The primary difference
between a circuit breaker and a fuse is that circuit breakers can be reset and are therefore
reusable.
Analysis: Lets look at the currents into and out of the 40 V
RMS
Bus first, using the values from
the table above:
Y
Z
X
40 V
RMS

Bus
XFMR
a = 4.75
10 A
RMS
4 A
RMS
5 A
RMS
I
2
I
1


ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
130
Using the KCL equation:


Therefore, the current coming from the transformer to the 40 V
RMS
bus is 19 A
RMS
. We can now
use this current in the turns ratio equation to determine the current coming into the transformer:


Therefore the transformer steps the voltage down from 190 V
RMS
to 40 V
RMS
and it steps the
current up from 4 A
RMS
to 19 A
RMS
.
Lets now look at the currents in the rest of the system:
190 V
RMS
190 V
RMS

Bus
A
C
B
XFMR
a = 4.75
3 A
RMS
4 A
RMS
3 A
RMS
8 A
RMS
19 A
RMS
I
S

We can solve for the current coming from the source to the 190 V
RMS
Bus. It is very important
to realize that only 4 A
RMS
leaves the bus to go to the transformer.


We now know all the currents in the circuit, and therefore can add the required circuit protection
as shown below:
190 V
RMS
190 V
RMS

Bus
A
Y
Z
X
C
B
40 V
RMS

Bus
XFMR
a = 4.75
20
6
5
12
20 5
4
10
4
x
= Circuit Breaker
of x Amps

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
131
Note that because we are adding circuit protection, the fuse ratings are all selected so that normal
current draws will never cause the breaker to pop open.
The last step is to calculate the power that the 190 V
RMS
system must be provided. The easiest
way to calculate this is to add up the power draws of each individual component:

(1

)(

) (

)(1


Note how the power draw varies significantly between the two busses.
Answer: The power distribution system with circuit protection as shown in the previous
diagram must provide 3.42 kW of power.

Example Problem: You are managing a team tasked to create the power supply system for a
UAS controller station. The equipment consumes 640 W at a voltage of 25 V
RMS
. The
transmission line is modeled as a 5 resistor. Contractors have submitted two designs. Option
A uses a turns ratio of 10:1 while Option B uses a turns ratio of 25:1. Calculate the efficiency
and generator voltage for both options.
Big Picture: We need to calculate the current through the transmission line for both options.
This will allow us to determine the power losses and then the efficiencies, as well as allow us to
find the voltage drop across the transmission line which we need to find the sources voltages.
Key Issues: We will use block diagrams to solve this.
Analysis: Lets start by drawing a block diagram to represent Option A:
XFMR
V
1
V
2
= 25 V
RMS
UAS Ctrl
V
S
I
1
I
2
R
Line
= 5 a = 10 P = 640 W

Notice there are only two currents in this system: I
1
, which flows from the source through the
transmission line to the primary side of the transformer; and I
2
, which flows through the
secondary side of the transformer to the UAS controller.
We also know that V
2
= 25 V
RMS
and that the average power consumed by the UAS control
station is 640 W.
Lets start by solving for both currents. Using the power equation:


We can now use the turns ratio to calculate I
1
:
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
132


We can use this current to determine the power lost in the transmission line and the efficiency of
the system:




1
At this point, we can solve for the voltages as well using the turns ratio:


It is important to realize that V
1
is the voltage that drops across the primary side of the
transformer. It is not the same as the voltage that drops across the power line, nor is it the same
as the source voltage. Both of these voltages can be calculated fairly easily, however, using
KVL and Ohms Law:


Therefore, Option A (with a 10:1 turns ratio) requires a 262.8 VRMS generator and has a 95.13 %
efficiency.
XFMR
V
1
V
2
= 25 V
RMS
UAS Ctrl
V
S
I
1
= 2.56 A
RMS
I
2
= 25.6 A
RMS
R
Line
= 5 a = 10 P = 640 W
= 95.13%


Now, lets do the same analysis for Option B.

XFMR
V
1
V
2
= 25 V
RMS
UAS Ctrl
V
S
I
1
I
2
= 25.6 A
RMS
R
Line
= 5 a = 25 P = 640 W

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
133

Since the power and voltage are the same as the previous option, we know that the current is also
the same. Therefore,


Using the turns ratio equation,


Solving for the power lost in the transmission line and the efficiency of the system:

(1




1
Finally, we can solve for V
Line
and V
S
:


With a turns ratio of 25:1, Option B requires a 630.1 V
RMS
generator and has a 99.19% efficiency.
Answer: Option A (with a turns ratio of 10:1) requires a 262.8 VRMS generator and has a 95.13%
efficiency while Option B (with a turns ratio of 25:1) needs a 630.1 V
RMS
generator and has a
99.19% efficiency.
Example Problem: An aircraft electrical system consists of a 160 V
RMS
Bus and a 28 V DC
Bus, as shown. Calculate the turns ratio of the transformer and pick acceptable values for the
circuit breakers labeled A and B. Assume the Comm and Camera each draw 3 A. The AC to
DC converter is 90% efficient.
160 V
RMS
160 V
RMS

Bus
Flaps
Camera
Comm
Navigation
Avionics
28 V
DC Bus
XFMR
B A
= Circuit Breaker
AC/DC
I
A
I
B
V
in
= 30 V
q = 90%

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
134
Big Picture: This example considers the scenario where a DC Bus is required. We will need to
solve for power to figure out circuit breaker A.
Key Issues: The I
A
current will be difficult to solve for without using the power equation during
your analysis.
Analysis: This is actually three separate problems, which we will solve separately.
The easiest of the three is solving for circuit breaker B. Since the DC Bus is really just an
electrical node, KCL tells us:


Therefore, we can pick a circuit breaker rating for B that is a little higher than 6 A. We will pick
an 8 A circuit breaker.
The next problem is to find the turns ratio for the transformer. If we look just at the AC to DC
converter (with transformer) portion of the system, we have:
XFMR AC/DC
160 V
RMS
28 V 30 V

We already solved a problem like this earlier. The key is to realize that 30V is the peak voltage,
not the RMS. With transformers you can determine the turns ratio using the peak voltages or the
RMS voltage, but it must be consistent. For this example we will convert the 30 V peak voltage
to RMS:

11



XFMR AC/DC
160 V
RMS
28 V 21.21 V
RMS


11


Therefore, we will need a transformer with a turns ratio of 7.544.
The hardest of the three problems is to figure out the current flowing into the transformer, at
circuit breaker A. The key to this is to treat this as a power problem and solve for the power
consumed by the DC equipment. Let me repeat that: the key to this is to solve for power
consumed.
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
135
XFMR AC/DC
160 V
RMS
= 90%
I
B
= 6 A
P
in
DC Bus
(28 V)
P
out
P
DC bus
I
A

Lets start at the right and work left. The DC Bus uses 6 A at 28 V. Therefore, the power
consumed by the equipment on the DC bus is

1
Since this is the amount of power that the AC to DC converter needs to provide,

1
Now we need to use the efficiency equation to solve for P
in
:


1

1
Since the transformer consumes no power,

1
We call this power, P
DC bus
, since this is the total amount of power provided to the 28 V
DC
bus,
including the power lost in conversion.

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
136
What this means is that the 160 V
RMS
Bus provides 186.7 W of average power to the DC system
at 160 V
RMS
. If we use the power equation, we can solve for current:


1
1

11
Therefore the current through circuit breaker A is 1.167 A. We will choose a 1.5 A circuit
breaker to protect the circuit.
Answer: The aircraft power system needs a transformer with a turns ratio of 7.143. The
selected circuit breaker values are 1.5 A for circuit breaker A, and 8 A for circuit breaker B.
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
137
Lesson 9 Homework
1. T / F Buses work by delivering power to devices connected in series.
2. T / F A circuit breaker works the same as a fuse in that it opens when current exceeds
the circuit breakers rating.
3. The electrical system for a small reconnaissance aircraft is shown below. The aircraft has
two busses, one at 160 V
RMS
and one at 50 V
RMS
, powered by a 160 V
RMS
alternator.
160 V
RMS
160 V
RMS

Bus
Flaps
Camera
Comm
Navigation
Avionics
50 V
RMS

Bus
XFMR
A
D
C B
= Circuit Breaker

a. What transformer turns ratio is required to drive the 50 V
RMS
bus?





b. Given the following table of required currents, what circuit breaker ratings would you
choose for the circuit breakers labeled A, B, C, and D?
Equipment
Current
(A
RMS
)
Flaps 2.5
Avionics 4
Navigation 6
Comm 3.5
Camera 4.5


ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
138
4. The electrical system for a fighter is shown below. The aircraft has two busses, one at 80
V
RMS
and one at 20 V
RMS
, powered by a 115 V
RMS
alternator.
115 V
RMS
80 V
RMS

Bus
Flaps
IRS
Computer
Radar
Landing Gear
20 V
RMS

Bus
XFMR2
XFMR1

a. What transformer turns ratios are required to drive the two buses?








b. Given the following table of required currents, how much power must the alternator
provide?
Equipment
Current
(A
RMS
)
Flaps 5
Landing Gear 8
Radar 4
Computer 2
IRS 5


ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
139
5. The electrical system for a fighter is shown below. The aircraft has two busses, one at 80
V
RMS
and one at 20 V
RMS
, powered by a 115 V
RMS
alternator.
115 V
RMS
80 V
RMS

Bus
Flaps
IRS
Computer
Radar
Landing Gear
20 V
RMS

Bus
XFMR
2
XFMR
1

a. What transformer turns ratios are required to drive the two buses?







b. Given the following table of required currents, how much power must the alternator
provide?
Equipment
Current
(A
RMS
)
Flaps 5
Landing Gear 8
Radar 4
Computer 2
IRS 5


ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
140
6. Why were the power draws from the fighter 115 V
RMS
alternators the same in Problems #4
and #5?













7. Compare the current drawn from the source and found in the different buses in Problems #4
and #5.










ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
141
8. An aircraft requires a 205 V
RMS
Bus and a 32 V DC Bus as shown below. Calculate the
turns ratio of the transformer and the circuit breaker values for circuit breakers A and B.
The Comm equipment draws 4 A of current and the Camera draws 5 A. The efficiency of
the AC-to-DC Converter is 80%.
205 V
RMS
205 V
RMS

Bus
Flaps
Camera
Comm
Navigation
Avionics
32 V
DC Bus
XFMR
B A
= Circuit Breaker
AC/DC
q = 80%
V
in
= 35 V
RMS







ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
142
9. You have previously designed everything shaded gray in the block diagram below for an
end user. Now, your user has decided to give you a new requirement to drive a 5 V DC bus
for the satellites computer and camera. Since you really dont want to have to start all over,
you decided to retrofit your system as below. Is this a good design? Why or why not?
20 V
RMS
150 V
DC Bus
Detector Plates
Camera
5 V
DC Bus
XFMR AC/DC
Camera
XFMR
q = 89%
V
in
= 165 V
RMS




10. The electrical distribution system for a deployed Main Operating Base (MOB) is shown
below. The system provides an average of 150 kW of power at 120 V
RMS
. The transmission
line has a cumulative resistance of 2 and uses a transformer with a turns ratio of a = 8.
What are the source voltage and the efficiency of this system?
XFMR
V
2
= 120 V
RMS
MOB
R
Line
= 2
a = 8 P = 150 kW
V
S











ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
143
11. An Air Force Base receives power from a power station located 200 km away. The power
station uses a step-up transformer with a = 0.0625 and the base uses a step down transformer
with a = 500. The transmission line has a cumulative resistance of 5 . If the base
consumes an average power of 2.4 MW, what is the source voltage and efficiency of this
system?
XFMR
V
2
= 120 V
RMS
AFB
R
Line
= 5
a = 500 P = 2.4 MW
V
S

XFMR
a = 0.0625



ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
144
Block II Overview

Input Transducer
(sensor)
Physical World
(light, sound, motion, etc.)
Filter
Analog-to-Digital
Converter
Parallel-to-Serial
Converter
Multiplexer De-multiplexer
Serial-to-Parallel
Converter
Digital-to-Analog
Converter
Filter
Output Transducer
(Speaker, motor,
display, etc.)
Physical World
(light, sound, motion, etc.)
Instrumentation
System
Analog
Digital
Lessons 14 & 15
Lesson 16
Lessons 17 & 18
Lesson 19
Lesson 20
Cyberspace
Lesson 21
Digital Comm Channel


ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
145









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ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
146
Lesson 14 Instrumentation Systems
Learning Outcomes
1. Know that a transducer is a device that interfaces between the real world and the electrical
world.
2. Know the difference between an input transducer and an output transducer.
3. Define an instrumentation system.
4. Know why we do not use transformers to amplify our information signals.
5. Given the output and input of a scalar multiplier, calculate the gain.
6. Know that a summer is a device that adds two or more signals.
7. Given a system that requires an amplifying interface, design the interface.
8. Design an instrumentation system to correctly connect two transducers.
9. Determine the output of a instrumentation system for a given input.

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
147
Lesson 14 Instrumentation Systems
Take your computer mouse and move it around a little bit and see what happen. If your
computer is actually turned on while you do this, you will probably see the pointer on your
computer display move left or right or up or down in sync with the movements you made with
the mouse.
Now think about what is really happening during this process. If you have an optical mouse, the
light from a light-emitting diode (LED) reflects off of the surface of your desk and is picked up
by an opto-electronic sensor which sends the image to an image-processing chip. This chip
compares the image from one moment to the next and determines how much the mouse has
moved and in what direction. The mouse then creates an electronic signal that contains this
movement information and sends it to the computer, which does a whole bunch of fancy
computer stuff to cause the small picture of the mouse arrow to move with respect to the rest of
the display.
So far in this course, weve looked at signals that primarily convey power. While these signals
are certainly useful, there is also much value in being able to transmit and process signals that
convey information. The Air Force spends a massive amount of time gathering information with
its satellites, reconnaissance aircraft, and unmanned aerial systems (UAS) but the data is
worthless if we cant get it to the right place for our people to use it.
In this lesson, we will show you the devices used to collect the information (i.e., input
transducers) and introduce you to a way of conditioning the signal (using an instrumentation
system) in order to make the information known.
Transducers
Transducers are devices that interface the physical world with the electrical world. They do this
by performing some sort of energy conversion or energy controlling function. Transducers that
interface from an electronic system to the physical world are called output transducers. In fact,
we covered a class of output transducers previously when we discussed motors. Your computer
display is an output transducer that converts electronic information into a picture while a light
bulb turns an electrical signal into illumination and a speaker turns an electrical signal into sound.
Those that interface from the physical world to an electronic system are called input transducers.
Your computer mouse turns physical movement into an electrical signal that the computer uses
to position the mouse pointer. A light sensor turns the presence (or absence) of light into an
electrical signal. A microphone turns sound waves into electrical signals. Any sensor that we
want to analyze using a computer must include an input transducer.

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
148
The image below shows an example of physical information translated into electrical data where
a voice has been converted into a voltage waveform.

http://www.answers.com/topic/frequency-spectrum
Instrumentation Systems
Most input transducers do not provide electrical signals that are ready to be displayed. Arriving
at the pretty images above requires a significant amount of signal conditioning where we
manipulate the signals electrical parameters so that it can more easily be read by follow-on
equipment. We also cant drive most output transducers using standard electrical equipment
without some kind of additional signal conditioning help. This is where an instrumentation
system becomes useful. An instrumentation system typically connects an input transducer to an
output transducer in a meaningful way.
1

The simplest, most basic instrumentation system is the amplifier. The amplifier, you guessed it,
amplifies. In amplification, we need to take a small signal and increase it proportionally so its
easier to work with but we dont want to lose the embedded information. For example, if you
want to detect motion by using an infrared detector, your detector will literally sense fluxuations
in the infrared spectrum. If you had one of these mounted outside your home, you could amplify
the output to a level which could turn on your outside light when motion is detected.
The block diagram for this process is
Infrared Detector Light Bulb
K
V
in
V
out
Input
Transducer
Output
Transducer
Physical
Variable
Physical
Variable

The box labeled K is an electrical device called a scalar multiplier or more commonly, an
amplifier. This device takes the input, Vin, and multiplies it by its gain, or K. The term scalar

1
Thomas, Rosa, et Toussaint. The Analysis and Design of Linear Circuits. pp. 194
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
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means that K is a dimensionless number; it doesnt change the units of the signal. If volts go in,
then volts come out. The mathematical model for a scalar multiplier is amazingly simple:


We take whatever the input is and multiply it by the gain, K. Thats it.
So why dont we just use a transformer to do this? Well, there are two different reasons why
transformers wont work.
The first reason is one of power. Remember that transformers conserve power so when we step-
up our voltage, our current drops. The problem is that most of the time in signal conditioning,
we need the current to also increase. The example above where we want to control a motor
using a computer is a classic example of this situation. So what we really need is something that
will do both increase the voltage and the power.
The second reason why a transformer wont work is because transformers require an AC signal.
While it is certainly possible that the signal could continually change its mind as to where it
wanted to be, it could also very easily choose to remain at the same level for an extended period.
For example, you dont move your mouse longer than a few seconds at a time. Any period in
which the signal didnt change would effectively be a DC signal, which would not work with a
transformer. What we need is something that will amplify the input signal, whether it is AC or
DC.
Example Problem: The autopilot for an experimental cruise missile sends a signal of -3 mV
when it needs an aileron to move fully down and sends 3 mV for full up. The aileron actuators
require -5 V for full down and 5 V for full up. Design an interface between the autopilot and the
actuators.
Big Picture: We need to amplify the signal.
Key Issues: We need to match the ranges of the autopilots output to the ranges of the signal
needed by the ailerons actuators. If we assume that both of the signals are linear inside their
ranges, this analysis becomes a lot easier so we will (its actually a pretty good assumption for
most transducers).
Analysis: The block diagram for this system is
K
V
in
V
out
Autopilot Actuators
Aileron
Deflection
-3 mV
3 mV
-5 V
5 V up
down

Since we already know values for Vin and Vout, we can use them to find K:




1
Its not a bad idea to make sure this result works for Vin = -3 mV:


1
So, yes, it does work.
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
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Answer: To interface between the autopilot and the aileron actuators, we need a scalar
multiplier with a gain of K = 1667.
K = 1667
V
in
V
out
Autopilot Actuators
Aileron
Deflection


Instrumentation System (with Biasing)
Amplification works well when we have very small values that we simply need to make larger.
Oftentimes though, when we amplify our signal, we find that the magnitude of our values is
correct but they are offset from where we need them to be. Lets look at an example problem to
explain what were talking about.
Example Problem: A small aircraft uses an input transducer called a thermocouple to measure
the outside air temperature. When the temperature is -60 C, the thermocouple produces -2 mV.
When the temperature is 50 C, it produces 8 mV. The signal from the thermocouple is used by
a temperature gauge in the cockpit to display the outside air temperature to the pilot. The gauge
requires -5 V to display a temperature of -60 C and 10 V to display 50 C. Design the interface
to connect these two devices (assuming that both the thermocouple and gauge are linear devices).
Big Picture: We want the pilot to know what the outside air temperature is. We need
something to convert the thermocouple voltage into the correspondingly higher gauge voltage, so
we can display the correct temperature.
Key Issue: Obviously, the signal needs to be amplified, because were going from mV to V.
Unfortunately, there is not a single amplifier gain that would convert -2 mV into -5 V and also
convert 8 mV into 10 V. We need something more than simple amplification.
To see what were up against, lets plot the voltage produced by the thermocouple against the
voltage required by the gauge:
V
Gauge
, V
V
Thermo
, mV
5
-5
10
8 -2
at 50 C the thermocouple
gives 8 mV and the gauge
needs 10 V
at -60 C the thermocouple
gives -2mv and the gauge
needs -5 V

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
151
Since the devices are linear, we can draw a straight line between them, to represent what we
want our interface to do. As the thermocouple voltage rises linearly from -2 mV to 8 mV, we
want the gauge voltage to rise from -5 V to 10 V.
Recall the straight-line equation in the slope-intercept form is y = mx + b, where m is the slope
and b is the y-intercept. For an instrumentation system that accounts for this shift in voltage, we
use a very similar equation:

()

()
In this equation, K is the gain of a scalar multiplier and B is a bias voltage which is added. The
block diagram for this circuit is:
K

B
v
in
(t)
v
out
(t) = Kv
in
(t) + B Kv
in
(t)

The circle with the Greek sigma inside is a summer, which is simply an electronic device that
mathematically adds the signals that are input into it.
Analysis: Lets start by drawing the system we want to design:
K

B
v
in
(t) v
out
(t) = Kv
in
(t) + B Kv
in
(t)
Thermocouple Gauge

In this system, we have a thermocouple that produces a voltage which corresponds to the outside
air temperature around the airplane. This voltage, v
in
(t), is multiplied by the gain K, to produce
the signal K v
in
(t). To this signal, we add the bias voltage, B, giving us our output voltage of:

()

() ,
which is used by the gauge to display the correct temperature.
Now lets look at all the information we need to design this specific system:
Condition Input (v
in
(t)) - Thermocouple Output (v
out
(t)) - Gauge
-60 C -2 mV -5 V
50 C 8 mV 10 V
When the thermocouple produces -2mV, we will multiply this by K and then add B; the result
should be -5 V. Likewise, when the thermocouple produces 8 mV, we multiply this by K, add B,
and should get 10 V.
Plugging these values into the equation above gives the following:
( )
1 ( )
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152
If you remember anything about algebra, you should remember that since we have two equations
with two unknowns, we can solve for both K and B. There are several ways we can do this, but
there is a simple one which will work for all instrumentation system problems. All we have to
do is subtract the second equation from the first. This will quickly allow us to solve for K, since
the B terms will cancel. Heres what it looks like:
( 1 ) ( ) ( )
1 (1 )
Solving this for K gives us:

1
1
1
As mentioned last lesson, K is a dimensionless number with no units. We can now plug K back
into either equation to find B. If we use the first equation, we get:
1( )

Solving this for B gives us:

Therefore, we need to build an interface that accomplishes the following function:

() 1

()
Answer: The design for an interface between the thermocouple and the gauge is as follows:
K = 1500

B = -2 V
Thermocouple Gauge


Example Problem: Using the system designed in the previous problem, what voltage would be
sent to the gauge if the thermocouple produces 1.3 mV?
Big Picture: We must calculate the changes to our input that the interface circuit will implement.
Key Issues: None.
Analysis: The equation for the system above is simply

() 1

()
Since v
in
(t) = 1.3 mV, we have

() 1(1)
Answer: This system would send -50 mV to the gauge if the thermocouple voltage was 1.3 mV.
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
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Example Problem: An elevator actuator for a UAS requires 1 V to move the elevator fully
down and -9 V to move the elevator fully up. The control unit produces -1 mV when fully down
and 4 mV for fully up. Design the interface between the control unit and the actuator.
Big Picture: Well solve this exactly like the earlier problem, only quicker.
Key Issues: The most important step in these problems is identifying which device is inputting
into the interface and which device needs the output from the interface. Did you realize that the
control unit was providing v
in
(t) while the elevator actuator needs v
out
(t)?
Analysis: The key data for this problem are contained in the following table:
Condition Input (v
in
(t)) - Control Unit Output (v
out
(t)) - Actuator
Fully down -1 mV 1 V
Fully up 4 mV -9 V
Using the values from the table above, we can build two equations:
1 (1 )
( )
If we subtract the bottom equation from the top equation, we get:
(1 ) (1 ) ( )
1 ( )

1


Using the first equation to solve for B,
1 (1 )
1
1
Answer: The required interface is as follows:
K = -2000

B = -1 V
Elevator
Control Unit
Elevator
Actuator




ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
154
Lesson 14 Homework
1. For each of the following devices, determine whether it is an input transducer, an output
transducer, both, or neither.
a. Computer mouse
b. Electric motor
c. Stereo speakers
d. Op amp
e. Light bulb
f. Electronic thermometer
g. Transformer
h. iPhone touch screen
i. Control stick of a fly-by-wire aircraft
j. Aircraft HUD (Head Up Display)
2. Why dont we use transformers to amplify information signals?




3. A device that is used to add two or more signals is a
a. Input transducer
b. Output transducer
c. Summer
d. Instrumentation System

4. A microphone converts an incoming voice signal to a range of 2.5 mV. Design an
instrumentation system to amplify this signal to drive a speaker which requires 4 V.




5. Using the transducer interface you designed in Problem #4 above, what would the output
voltage be if the signal from the rudder control unit was 1 mV?



ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
155

6. The rudder control unit for a fly-by-wire aircraft produces a -2.5 mV signal when fully left is
desired and 2.5 mV for fully right. The rudder actuator requires -5 V for fully left and +10
V for fully right. Design the instrumentation system to allow the rudder system to work
correctly.











7. Design the instrumentation system between the flight control computer and the aileron
actuators for an experimental UAS. The flight control computer generates a 4 mV signal
when the ailerons need to be deflected 15 and a -16 mV signal when -20 deflection is
needed. The aileron actuators require 15 V to deflect the control surface 15 and -10V to
deflect the control surface -20.


ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
156
Lesson 15 Transistors and Operational Amplifier Implementations
Learning Outcomes
1. Know that a transistor is a semiconductor device that can act as a switch or an amplifier.
2. Know that an operational amplifier (or op-amp) is a transistor-based device used to amplify
signals.
3. Design a circuit using one or two op-amps to produce a desired gain.
4. Using an inverting summer(s), design a circuit to implement a transducer interface design.
5. For a given input to an amplifying op-amp circuit, determine the output.
6. Draw the appropriate block diagram design for a instrumentation system op-amp
implementation.
7. Understand that the output to an op-amp will be clipped if it exceeds the power supply
voltage and be able to adjust the circuits output accordingly.

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
157
Lesson 15 Transistors and Op-amp Implementations
In order for transducers to be useful, we usually have to do some kind of processing between
input and output transducers. We rarely are able to tie the output from an input transducer
directly to an output transducer because the electrical signal produced by most input transducers
is usually too weak to activate the output transducer. In the previous lesson, we learned about
using instrumentation systems to condition such signals. We looked a block diagrams describing
the function of an instrumentation system, but how are these systems actually built? Today
were going to continue our discussion by introducing two components that allow us to amplify
and add voltages: transistors and op-amps.
Amplifier Design
In the last lesson, we started the discussion of instrumentation systems by first talking about
amplifiers (scaler multipliers). So, how do we build one of these? The answer starts with an
amazing little semiconductor device called a transistor. Transistors are everywhere; there are
probably billions of them near you right now, no matter where you are. Figuring out how to
build them using sand (or silicon) is what kicked off the technology revolution that you are still
living in!
In a circuit, a transistor will look something like this (the three inputs are the collector, the base,
and the emitter):
B
C
E

The operation of a transistor is fairly simple to understand. The amount of current that flows
between C and E depends on the how much current there is at B. If there is no current at B, then
there wont be any current flowing from C to E. If theres a little bit of current at B, then the
transistor will act like an amplifier, causing a greater amount of current to flow from C to E. As
the current at B increases, the current from C to E will also increase until it reaches its maximum
value.
At any instant, a transistor is operating in one of three modes:
- OFF: no current is flowing from C to E
- Amplifier: The current from C to E is equal to B multiplied by some gain
- ON: The current from C to E has reached its maximum possible value
When transistors are used in computers or logic circuits, they pretty much are either OFF or ON,
and therefore function as switches. In audio equipment, transistors act mostly as amplifiers.
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
158
Key Concept: Transistors are semiconductor devices that can act either as switches or as
amplifiers.
Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately), it is well beyond the scope of this text to explain how to
configure transistors to serve as a scalar multiplier with a specific gain. Over the years, though,
some very clever people have developed a set of devices that do most of the work for us. These
devices are called operational amplifiers, or op-amps for short.
Purely for the purpose of showing that op-amps are, indeed, complicated, here is the circuit
diagram of a commercially available op-amp (the LM741 from National Semiconductor).
Twenty transistors, eleven resistors, and a capacitor all working together to make our lives easier.


Thankfully we can grab this device and model it as something much simpler. A standard op-amp
has five connections as shown in the scary circuit above and in the simple diagram below. Two
of the connections (+VCC and -VCC) provide additional power to the op-amp. Two connections
are inputs (VP and VN) while the last connection is the output (Vout).
V
OUT
-
+
Vcc
-Vcc
V
N
V
P

Unlike a resistor, an op-amp requires an external power source to operate. Because of this, the
output voltage, Vout, cannot be greater than +VCC and it cant be less than VCC. The good news,
though, is that an op-amp can supply more power to the output than it receives at the input.
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
159
By themselves, op-amps generally take the difference between two inputs voltages (VN and VP)
and multiply it by some gain, K, to produce the output, Vout. The really cool (and useful) thing
about op-amps is that you can choose your gain by using different resistor values. The circuit
below shows a simple but powerful op-amp configuration.
V
out
V
in
-
+
R
F
R
in

The pieces of this amplifier are:
- V
in
The signal to be amplified
- R
in
The input resistor
- R
F
The feedback resistor
- V
out
The amplified signal
This circuit is called an inverting amplifier because its gain is ALWAYS a negative number:


Thats it. If R
F
is five times bigger than R
in
, then the gain of the circuit would be K = -5 and the
output would be V
out
= -5 * V
in
.
Notice, by the way, that the two power inputs were not included in the diagram above. They are
still there (if not, the op-amp wouldnt work), but as long as the input stays small enough to keep
the output in the range VCC to +VCC, they dont interfere with how the circuit works.
The bottom line to all of this is that the gain of an inverting amplifier is controlled solely by the
resistors around it. Very useful. In fact, look at what happens if R
F
is smaller than R
in
our K
will be less than one and we can make the signal smaller or attenuate it.
Example Problem: Design a circuit to produce a gain of -1667.
Big Picture: Notice that the gain is a negative number. Op-amps can be configured to produce
positive gains, but negative gains are much simpler to produce, so well focus on those for now.
Key Issues: None.
Analysis: If we use an inverting amplifier, we simply need to pick an RF that is 1667 times
bigger than Rin. To make the math easy, lets let Rin 1 . Solving for RF gives us

()

(1) 1 1
Answer: The circuit below produces a gain of -1667.
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
160
V
out
V
in
-
+
1.667 M
1 k


We just very sneakily took you through a design problem where you had to choose R
in
before
you could go any further. While the equations in this lesson are really simple, this concept of
just choosing a resistor value often makes students uncomfortable. Its not really as arbitrary
as we said above. When we, the electrical engineers, design op-amp circuits, we commonly:
- Only use the resistor values that manufacturers decide to build. The industry settled on a
common list of resistor values a long time ago so we stick with them.
- Use k to M resistors because anything less than that doesnt play nicely with op-amps.
- Dont try to get too much gain out of a single amplifier stage. Typically, multiple op-
amps are used for high gain configurations. We do this by cascading op-amp circuits
together where we hook the output of one op-amp circuit into the input of another as in
the circuit below.
V
in,1
-
+
V
out
-
+
R
F,1
R
in,1
R
F,2
R
in,2
V
in,2

This technique causes the gains of the individual circuits to multiply each other:

)
At this point though, if you simply use a k-level value for your first resistor, youll be golden.
Key Concept: Designing amplifier circuits requires you to choose at least one resistor and use it
to find the others. Always use a k-level resistor for this first value.

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
161
Example problem: Design a circuit to produce a gain of 1667.
Big picture: Weve already created a circuit to produce -1667. All we need to do is to invert the
signal (multiply by -1) and were done.
Key issues: Op-amp circuits can be cascaded, if necessary.
Analysis: The block diagram for what we need to do is
K
1
= -1667
V
in
V
out
K
2
= -1


K = K
1
* K
2

Since we already solved the circuit for K1 = -1667, we need only to solve for K2 = -1. Again,
lets let Vin 1 :

(1) 1 1
Not surprisingly, whenever we have an inverting amplifier with Rin = RF, then the gain will be -1.

K = -1667

* -1 = 1667

Answer: The following circuit, with two cascaded Op-amps, produces a gain of K = 1667.
V
in
-
+
1.667 M
1 k
V
out
-
+
1 k
1 k


Op-amp Limitations
Before we move on to how to implement a summer, lets really emphasize a key op-amp
limitation.
Key Concept: An op-amp circuit cannot output more voltage than the power supplies that its
hooked up to.
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
162
This is very important point. Op-amps are active devices in that they can increase voltage levels
but they do not actually generate more voltage (and power). When you ask them to output more
voltage than they have available, they will give you the best that they can do and end up
clipping the signal. The figure shows what this would look like for a sinusoid whose desired
peak value is greater than the power supply voltages. The dashed lines show what we are asking
the op-amp to provide while the solid line is what we will actually get.
v(t), V
V
CC
t, s
-V
CC


Example Problem: An Op-amp is powered by VCC = 15 V and is configured as an inverting
amplifier as shown below. If the input is 2.3 mV, what is the output? If the input is -100 mV,
what is the output?
V
out
V
in
-
+
3.2 M
20 k

Big Picture: Solve for the gain first, then use the equation showing the relationship between
V
out
, V
in
, and gain.
Key Issues: VCC = 15 V simply means that +VCC is +15 V and VCC is -15 V.
Analysis: We must first solve for the gain of this circuit:




1
Now lets look at our two outputs:

1 1 1
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
163
Since

is within the boundries of VCC and +VCC, the circuit will be able to provide
. We have a problem with the second voltage though. Since

is greater than
+VCC, the circuit will clip the output and only give 15 V.
Answer: The outputs of the circuit are -368 mV and 15 V.
Example Problem: A communication signal, modeled as the equation

() ( )
is input into the inverting amplifier below. The op-amp is powered by VCC = 20 V. Graph the
output.
V
out
V
in
-
+
3 M
1 k

Big Picture: We are amplifying the input signal.
Key Issues: We need to make sure the signal does not exceed VCC.
Analysis. The first thing we need to do is solve for the gain of the circuit,



1

Therefore, this circuit has a gain of -3000. Now we need to figure out the output signal:

() 1()
To graph the signal, we need to calculate the period:

1


1


Before we graph the signal, we need to realize that the output signal is negative. Normally, a
cosine function will cross the y-axis at its highest level. Since this function is a negative cosine,
it will cross the y-axis at its lowest point. Heres a graph of the function of our desired output:
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
164
t, s
v
out
(t), V
21
-21
250

Theres one more thing we need to consider: the amplitude of the output signal is greater than the
power supply, VCC = 20V. Therefore, the output signal will actually be clipped at 20 V.
Answer: The graph for the output signal is clipped at 20 V, as shown below
t, s
v
out
(t), V
20
-20
250

Instrumentation System (Biasing Circuit)
Adding a bias to an amplifier circuit requires us to build an inverting summer. It is nearly
identical to the inverting amplifier circuit we just discussed. The only difference is the addition
of a second input resistor for the bias input.
Lets start with just the amplifier piece of the circuit:
V
out
V
in
-
+
R
F
R
in

We know that:


Now lets see what happens if we add a second resistor to the input of our circuit, like this:
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
165
v
out
v
in
R
F
R
in
-
+
V
Bias
R
Bias


For reasons that would be fascinating to you if you were an engineer, the equation for the output,
v
out
, is now:


This equation looks a little scary, but we can make it a lot friendlier with one simple act: lets
always pick R
Bias
to be the same value as R
F
. Therefore:

1
The equation now simplifies to:


If we compare the equation above to the equation from our interface block diagrams,

()

()
we find that they are very similar. In fact, if we use the following identities:


we can build our interfaces using this circuit.
Example Problem: Build an op-amp circuit which implements this equation:

()

() 1
Big Picture: We can actually build this with a single op-amp and three resistors.
Key Issues: We need to use an inverting summer to implement this design.
Analysis: Lets start with just the amplifier piece of the circuit. We know that:



ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
166
We can now pick any value we want for R
in
, but a value of 1 k to 10 k would work well in a
real circuit. Lets pick 1 k and find the needed feedback resistor:

(1 )
Therefore the amplifier portion of the interface would look like this:
V
out
V
in
R
F
= 2 M
R
in
= 1 k
-
+

Now lets modify this to give us an inverting summer. Since we know that our bias needs to be
-1 V, lets apply our rules from above to find R
BIAS
:


Finally, we can solve for V
Bias
:

1

Answer: The following circuit will implement the equation:

()

() 1
v
out
v
in
R
F
= 2 M
R
in
= 1 k
-
+
R
Bias
= 2 M
V
Bias
= 1 V



ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
167
Example Problem: Draw the block diagram corresponding to the following circuit:
v
out
v
in
R
F
= 270 k
R
in
= 1 k
-
+
R
Bias
= 270 k
V
Bias
= 2 V

Big Picture: This op-amp serves as both a scalar multiplier and a summer.
Key Issues: None.
Analysis: Notice that R
F
= R
Bias
. Because these are equal, we can model the circuit with the
following equations:

()

() ,



Solving for K and B,


Answer: The block diagram for the circuit above is:
K = -270

B = -2 V
v
out
v
in




ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
168
Lesson 15 Homework
1. A __________ is a semiconductor device that can act as a switch or as an amplifier
a. Capacitor
b. Diode
c. Transformer
d. Transistor

2. A transistor-based device used to amplify signals is a(n) ___________.
a. Feedback resistor
b. Op-amp
c. Potentiometer
d. Transformer

3. An instrumentation system interfaces a rudder control unit to a rudder actuator. The system
amplifies the signal from the rudder control by 3,000, then adds a 2.5 V bias. Design an Op-
amp implementation of this system.






4. What is the gain of the following circuit?
-
+
500 k
10 k
V
out
-
+
10 k
10 k
V
in


ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
169
5. What range of input voltages will work in the circuit in Problem #4 (i.e., not result in
clipping) if both op-amps are driven by 10 V power supplies?






6. Design an op-amp circuit to implement the following transducer interface design.
K = -3500

B = -6.2 V
v
out
v
in

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
170
7. Draw the block diagram design for the following op-amp circuit circuit:
v
out
v
in
R
F
= 86 k
R
in
= 1 k
-
+
R
Bias
= 86 k
V
Bias
= 5.28 V





8. The airspeed measurement system for a Really Advanced Technology Fighter (RATF) has a
linear response that produces -1.0 mV for Mach 1.4 and 2.0 mV for Mach 0. The Mach
meter in the cockpit requires 20 V for Mach 1.4 and 10 V for Mach 0. Design the op-amp
circuit needed to connect the air speed sensor to the Mach meter.






9. The op-amp shown below is powered by VCC = 12 V. If the input signal is given by the
equation vin(t) = 2.7cos(3602.5kt) mV, graph the output signal.
V
out
V
in
-
+
5 M
1 k

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
171
10. You need an amplifier circuit that produces a gain of 10,250. Which of the circuits below is
better? Minimize both cost and error equally where error is defined as:
|

| 1
Circuit #1:
-
+
2.7 k
1 k
V
out
-
+
3.9 M
1 k

Circuit #2:
-
+
12 k
1 k
V
out
-
+
820 k
1 k


Parts Cost/Part
1k O - 10 k O $2
> 10k O - 100 k O $4
> 100k O - 1M O $6
> 1M O - 10M O $10
Assume Op-amps cast $20 each

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
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Lesson 16 Filters
Learning Outcomes
1. Given a sinusoidal equation for a signal, graph the signals spectrum.
2. Calculate the bandwidth for a signal if given information about the signals frequency
content.
3. Understand that a low pass filter kills frequencies higher than its cutoff frequency.
4. Understand that a high pass filter kills frequencies lower than its cutoff frequency.
5. Understand that a band pass filter kills frequencies outside its two cutoff frequencies.
6. Understand that a band reject filter kills frequencies between its two cutoff frequencies.
7. Given a sinusoidal equation or spectrum of a signal, determine the output if the signal were
passed through a low pass filter, high pass filter, or band pass filter.
8. Given the input signal spectrum and the output requirements, select the appropriate filter and
cutoff frequency(s).

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Lesson 16 - Filters
Whether music or text messages or target coordinates or telemetry data, signals carrying
information causes things to happen.
So far, weve only looked at very simple AC signals sinusoids. However, real signals are
inherenetly complex! Consider your favorite Lady Gaga song (if you have one). At any one
point in time you will hear several instruments which produce a range of frequencies. Can you
imagine how difficult it would be to analyze the signal in the time domain? Engineers can too!
This is why when signals become complex, we perform analysis of the signal with respect to
frequency instead of time. Also, we can do very cool things like filtering. Say if you wanted to
add more bass and less treble to your song. You would use an equalizer. An equalizer is no
more than a filter a filter that filters frequencies. If you wanted more bass, then you would
want to lessen the volume of the high frequencies while keep the volume of the low frequencies
the same.
In this lesson, we will look at signals in the frequency domain and learn the ins and outs of
filters.
Frequency Domain
Before we dive into learning about filters, we need to spend some time exploring the frequency
domain. In Lesson 4, we explained that the frequency of a sinusoid told us how many times the
signal repeated in a second. To graph the signal as a function of time (or in the time domain), we
had to translate this value into a period using the following equation:

1


When we start looking at moving information around, we find that understanding how fast a
signal changes is more important than being able to trace it as it changes. Well find that fast
changing signal (with high frequencies) requires us to collect more data to fully capture them.
The technique that we will use to represent the frequency content of a message is known as an
amplitude spectrum, or a plot or graph that describes a signals characteristics as a function of
frequency. It is important to realize that a signal does not exist exclusively in the time or
frequency domain, but in both domains simultaneously. Some signals and processes are best
described in the time domain, others, in the frequency domain. As we proceed further, it will
become clearer that there is a definite relationship between the two domains and a definite need
to understand both.
Lets look at a sinusoid first. Electrical engineers like sinusoids because they have the unique
property that they have only one frequency component. The cool part about graphing a sinusoid
is that theres only one value on the x-axis instead of the infinite values for time that we needed
when we graphed sinusoids in time. Really the easiest way to explain spectra is to show you one.
If we wanted to graph the spectrum of:
() ()
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
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we simply draw a spike at 440 Hz (the frequency of the cosine term), where the y-axis represents
voltage and the x-axis represents frequency, as shown below. We make the spike 100 mV tall
(the amplitude of the cosine term). Its that easy.
f, Hz
|v(f)|, mV
100
0 440

If we dont worry about the possibility of phase shifts (and we wont worry about them), then we
can say that the graph above contains the exact same information as the original equation.
This is an important point. We now have three distinct and useful ways of representing an
electrical signal:
- An equation
- A waveform (graphing with respect to time)
- An amplitude spectrum (graphing with respect to frequency).
Now we can complicate things a little bit. True sinusoids dont happen very often in the physical
world. Even the most pure tone of a piccolo contains some vibrato (did you realize tones in
music are determined by their frequency?). If we were to play the same note on a piano, it
contains more than one frequency. This is the reason why a piano sounds like a piano.
When we play an A above middle C, we get a signal with a fundamental frequency of 440 Hz,
plus a series of harmonic frequencies, each one at a multiple of 440 Hz.
Graphing this in the time domain would get very ugly very quickly, so were not going to try.
But if we graph them in an amplitude spectrum, it might look something like this:
f, Hz
|v
music
(f)|, mV
100
0 440 2200 1760 1320 880
68
71
86
91
...
...

The graph above shows the first five harmonics of our piano note. In theory, these harmonics
continue out to infinity, each one located at a multiple of 440 Hz. Again, the amplitudes are a bit
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
175
arbitrary, because they depend on many factors, but the key point here is that a single note from a
single instrument produces a very complicated signal. As we add more notes from more
instruments, the signal becomes even more complex.
If we really wanted, we could write the signal above as an equation:

() ( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( )
Hopefully, you can see two things from this equation:
- First, the equation is fairly tedious and not that easy to digest
- Second, each spike in the graph corresponds to a single cosine term in the equation
Electronic Filters
We mentioned in the first section how the analog bandwidth of a signal, or the range of
frequencies that it contains, drives our information processing and transmission systems. We
will often reduce the bandwidth of our signals using a device known as an electronic filter which
only allows certain frequencies to pass through the device, rejecting all of the other frequencies.
While we need to be careful in how we do this (because we can drastically change the original
signal if we do too much filtering), it can help us get our information transmitted faster.
The telephone is a good example of what happens to a signal when a signal is filtered. When we
speak on the phone, our voice is converted into an electric signal that is limited to a bandwidth of
4 kHz even though human voices commonly include frequencies greater than 10 kHz. The
phone companies figured out that the lower 4 kHz of your voice is enough to understand what is
being said and even recognize the voice of the speaker. But we can clearly tell the difference
between someone speaking to us in person and that same someone speaking to us over the phone!
There are four basic types of ideal electronic filters:
- low pass filters (LPF) which only allow frequencies below a specific cutoff frequency
through,
- high pass filters (HPF) which only allow frequencies above a specific cutoff frequency
through,
- band pass filters (BPF) which only allow frequencies between two specific cutoff
frequencies through, and
- band reject filters (BRF) which block frequencies between two specific cutoff
frequencies.
For the purposes of this course, you may assume that the ideal filter does not change the
amplitude or phase of the input, and all frequencies outside of the pass range are eliminated.
So the telephone companies use a low pass filter with a cutoff of 4 kHz to eliminate the upper
frequencies in your voice and limit the amount of bandwidth that they must transmit to 4 kHz.
Example Problem: Design a filter system for a stereo to allow only high frequency signals (
1.5 kHz) to be sent to the tweeter and only low frequency signals ( 1 ) to be sent to the
woofer.
Big Picture: In case you dont already know, tweeters are speakers designed to reproduce high
frequency sounds, while woofers are speakers designed to reproduce low frequency sounds.
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Key issues: We will need to use two filters to accomplish this process.
Analysis: We want to divide our music signal into two pieces. We can do this by using two
filters in parallel:
V
in
(t)
V
low
(t)
LPF
HPF
V
high
(t)
woofer
tweeter

The low pass filter is used to feed the woofer, since it kills the high frequencies and allows low
frequencies to pass. Likewise, we use the high pass filter to feed the tweeter, since it passes the
high frequencies and kills the low.
Since the problem specifies a cross-over frequency of 1.5 kHz, we simply choose filters with
cutoff frequencies of 1.5 kHz.
Answer: The following filter system can be used to feed the woofer and tweeter:
V
in
(t)
V
low
(t)
LPF
HPF
V
high
(t)
f
C
= 1.5 kHz
f
C
= 1.5 kHz


Example Problem: A signal passes through a band pass filter. What is the output signal?
f, kHz
|v
1
(f)|, mV
100
0 2 10 8 6 4
86
71
81
62
V
in
(t) V
out
(t)
BPF
f
c1
= 3 kHz
f
c2
= 9 kHz

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177
Big Picture: The band pass filter kills frequencies outside the depicted cutoff frequencies and
allows the frequencies within the band to pass.
Key Issues: None.
Analysis: The cutoff frequencies for the band pass filter are 3 kHz and 9 kHz. These cutoff
frequencies are depicted as dashed lines in the graph below:
f, kHz
|v
1
(f)|, mV
100
0 2 10 8 6 4
86
71
81
62

The filter will kill any frequencies outside of these cutoffs.
Answer: The output signal from the depicted band pass filter is shown in the frequency
spectrum graph below:
f, kHz
|v
out
(f)|, mV
0 2 10 8 6 4
71
81
62






f
c1
=3kHz f
c2
= 9 kHz
f
c1
=3kHz f
c2
= 9 kHz
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Lesson 16 Homework

1. Graph the following signal in the frequency domain:
() 1 ( 1 ) ( ) 1 ( ) ( )







2. The signal given in Problem #1 is input to each of the following filters. What is the output
of each filter? Provide the frequency domain plot and the equation.
a.
V
in
(t) V
out
(t)
LPF
f
c
= 8 kHz

b.
V
in
(t) V
out
(t)
HPF
f
c
= 3 kHz

c.
V
in
(t) V
out
(t)
BPF
f
c1
= 2.5 kHz
f
c2
= 6 kHz

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
179

3. What is the bandwidth for each of the output signals in Problem #2?








4. You just recorded your voice using a voice recorder in a room full of equipment. The
equipment emits a loud 60 Hz hum. You decide you want to eliminate the hum from your
recording. Your voice ranges from 300 to 3400 Hz. Design a filter to eliminate the hum.







ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
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Lesson 17 Analog-to-Digital Conversion, Part I
Learning Outcomes
1. Understand the advantages and disadvantages of digital signals
2. Know that aliasing occurs when a signal is sampled at less than the Nyquist rate
3. Given a signal to be sampled, determine the Nyquist rate
4. Understand the engineering trade-off when selecting a sampling rate for an analog to digital
converter (ADC)
5. Understand that sampling rate and resolution are independent
6. Understand that resolution is the smallest voltage change that can be measured by the analog
to digital conversion process and is determined by the size of the quantization levels
7. Know that a smaller resolution is a better resolution
8. Understand the engineering trade-off when selecting a resolution for an ADC
9. Given the parameters of an ADC, calculate the resolution
10. Given a desired resolution, calculate the minimum number of bits required
11. Given an input value and a given ADC, determine the expected level, quantized level, and
binary output
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Lesson 17 - Analog to Digital Conversion, Part I
As humans, we use analog senses to perceive the world. Our eyes detect subtle variations in the
color and intensity of light. Our ears discriminate between a wide and continuous range of
frequencies and sound levels. Our senses of taste, touch, and smell also differentiate between a
continuous range of inputs.
By definition, analog values are continuous, where they can have any value between a defined
maximum and minimum value. Instead of black and white, we have infinite shades of gray.
Football scores, on the other hand, are digital, which means they can only have certain discrete
values. Imagine someone telling about a football game with a final score of 3 to 1. You dont
have to know much about the game to realize that it is not possible to only score 1 point. It just
cant happen. Likewise, if the score was reported to have been 12.3 to 13.43, we wouldnt
believe it. Football scores must be whole numbers.
Football scores are digital.
The games outcome is also digital. A certain team can win, lose, tie, or the game can be
canceled. No matter what happens, the outcome has to be one of a predefined and finite set of
possibilities. Thats what makes it digital.
One special type of digital value is called binary, which only allows two possible values. If the
game continued until one team won and there was no chance of cancelling, then the win-lose
outcome would be both digital (because there are a predefined and finite set of possibilities) and
binary (because there are only two possible outcomes).
Black and white, with no gray. Computers (and many of the things that we call digital) use
collections of binary values for information.
A huge amount of electrical and computer engineering is spent bridging the gap between the
physical worlds analog information and digital technology. Sit back and think of all the
technologies which have been digitized over the last 15 years - cameras, cell phone
communications, and TVs are just a few examples. Why are many technologies now digital?
- Digital is less susceptible to noise (the static that you hear in older radios and cell phones)
- Digital can be easily stored and recovered (especially when its a collection of binary values
because computers and their binary memory can be used)
- Digital allows for easier encryption and processing (mostly because of computers again).
Digital has disadvantages though which is why many technologies start off with analog
implementations (did you know computers were originally analog?). When you convert your
original analog information into a digital format, you lose information. Theres no way to go
from a continuous range to discrete levels without throwing something away. Minimizing this
information loss requires you to increase your set of possible discrete values (e.g., take your
digital camera from a measly 1 Mpixels to 10.2 Mpixels), but this also increases the amount of
digital information that you have to save, process, and transmit (increased digital bandwidth
requirements, more memory, etc.)
Today, well discuss the trade-offs that must be balanced in order to convert analog signals into
digital data.
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Sampling
The first thing that we need to do to convert from analog to digital is sample the analog signal by
taking a set number of measurements each second. The rate at which we take these
measurements, or the sampling rate, is simply how often we take a snapshot of whatever it is
were trying to sample within a second. Think about watching a show on TV. Even though the
movement on the screen looks fairly natural, it really has a sampling rate of 30 frames per second,
or 30 Hz. Every 1/30 of a second, the camera takes a picture (HDTV increases the sampling rate
to as high as 60 Hz, by the way).
But what if we only got 1 picture per second, would that be enough? What about 1 picture per
minute?
Obviously, there is some minimum standard for how often we need to sample whatever were
trying to digitize. For video, the limit is based on how many frames per second the eye can see.
For analog signals, the limit is based on the Nyquist rate, which is simply two times the highest
frequency in the signal:


If we sample at a frequency below the Nyquist rate, we get a distortion in the signal known as
aliasing that once it occurs, cant be fixed. We can correct a lot of problems but aliased data is
unrecoverable!
One simple visual example of aliasing is watching a wagon wheel on a TV stagecoach. Even
though the coach is obviously moving forward, the wheel sometimes looks as if it is rolling
backwards. This is because the wheel is spinning at a rate higher than 15 Hz (or 15 rpm). Lets
arbitrarily say the wheel spins at a rate of 20 Hz (or rpm). The required sampling rate would
then need to be


Since the actual TV sampling rate is less than 40 Hz, we get aliasing and the wheel looks like it
is moving backwards. While explaining why aliasing occurs is beyond the scope of this course,
it literally changes the frequency content of the signal so that its indistinguishable from other
signals (or an alias of another signal).

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183
The pictures below show another example of aliasing. Did you realize that edges in images are a
form of high frequency content? The image on the left is sampled well above the Nyquist
minimum. When we reduce the number of pixels (or samples), we get aliasing in the form of the
Moir pattern in the lower right corner.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Moire_pattern_of_bricks.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Moire_pattern_of_bricks_small.jpg

Last lesson, when we told you that the two different bandwidths (analog and digital) were related,
this is one of the fundamental reasons why. If you want to capture a signal whose highest
frequency range is 40 kHz, you must sample, at a minimum, at 80 kHz. If you increase the
bandwidth to 80 kHz, you have to take twice as many samples a second to avoid aliasing!
Example Problem: A typical human voice has a maximum frequency of 3.4 kHz. If we wish to
digitize a voice signal, at what frequency must it be sampled to prevent aliasing?
Big Picture: Aliasing is the distortion in a signal when we do not sample it at a fast enough rate.
Key Issues: None.
Analysis: We must sample at a rate higher than the Nyquist rate to prevent aliasing. Therefore,


Answer: We must sample at a rate higher than 6.8 kHz to prevent aliasing.

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184
We have to sample at a rate greater that the Nyquist rate, but what rate should we use?
A good example of something you are probably familiar with is music CDs, which are simply
digital representations of analog music signals. Using filters, the original music signals are
limited to frequencies lower than 15 kHz. The Nyquist rate for these signals would be:


Therefore, CDs need to have a sampling rate higher than 30 kHz. The actual sampling rate for
CDs is 44.1 kHz, which is only about 1.5 times the Nyquist rate.
If 44.1 kHz is good, wouldnt 50 kHz or even 100 kHz be even better?
Yes and no. Again, we have an engineering trade off. The key is to sample at a high enough
frequency to adequately reproduce the signal when needed and a low enough frequency to not
exceed our memory capacity or digital bandwidth. For a CD, each sample is stored as a 16-bit
binary number (2 bytes). A sampling rate of 44.1 kHz allows up to 80 minutes of uncompressed
music to be loaded onto a single disc. While the quality of the music would increase slightly
with higher sampling rates, it would require larger discs or reduced play time.
Before we move on, lets look quickly at what a sampled signal looks like.
Example Problem: A sinusoidal signal

() ( ) needs to be converted into


a digital signal. What would the sampled signal look like if we used a 30 kHz sampling
frequency?
Big Picture: Before we start sampling, we must always check the Nyquist rate to make sure that
we wont distort the signal. If our sampling frequency is higher than the Nyquist rate, we can
start collecting samples.
Key Issues: None.
Analysis: We must sample at a rate higher than the Nyquist rate to prevent aliasing. Therefore,


Since 30 kHz is greater than 6 kHz, we can start taking samples. How would we do that? Well,
we have to solve for the sample period (the time between samples) using the frequency equation:

1


So we will take a sample every 33.33 sec. Lets solve for the first three samples:

( ) ( ())

( ) ( ( )) 1

( ) ( ( ))
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185
Look at the following diagram. As you can hopefully see, at 30 kHz, weve captured a fairly
good representation of the sinusoidal curve we started with. Its not a perfect representation, but
depending on what we using it for, it will most likely be good enough.

Resolution
By being continuous, analog signals contain an infinite range of magnitude values. We must
convert these values to a finite number of digital outputs. After an analog signal is sampled, we
must then determine which output to associate with the sampled value. In order to calculate the
discrete level of any given sample, we need to set voltage limits (V
max
and V
min
) and a number of
bits, b, for the process:
- The maximum voltage, V
max
, is the highest input voltage that will be correctly converted.
Input voltages higher than V
max
will be treated as though they were V
max
.
- The minimum voltage, V
min
, is the lowest input voltage that will be correctly converted.
Voltages lower than V
min
will be treated as though they were at V
min
.
2V
1.62V
0.62V
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
186
- The number of bits, b, that will be used to represent the final digital value determines that
total number of possible values for the process:


Lets look at two different settings for converting () (1) . In the top example, we
allowed each sample to be assigned to one of 16 possible levels while in the example on the
bottom, we only allowed 4 levels (easier to see the individual levels). Obviously, the levels
assigned to each sample in the top graph are a truer representation of the original signal. An
important point here is that the sampling rate and the resolution are completely independent.
Sampling is dividing the signal along the x-axis, while resolution involves dividing the signal
along the y-axis.


resolution
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
187
Resolution is the smallest voltage change that can be measured by the analog to digital
conversion process and is equal to:


In the examples above, our resolutions were 312.5 mV/level (top graph) and 1.25 V/level
(bottom graph).
Key Concepts: There are some important points that need to be emphasized before we move on:
1. Resolution is determined by the analog to digital converter (ADC), not necessarily the analog
signal being converted. While we want

and

to encompass the range of our input


signals, the two ranges are not the same.
2. A smaller resolution is a better resolution because you can resolve finer details from your
analog signal.
3. The units for resolution are volts per level.
Example Problem: A 6-bit ADC has a V
max
of 5 V and a V
min
of -1 V. What is the resolution of
this ADC?
Big Picture: The maximum and minimum voltages do not have to be symmetric around 0 V.
Key Issues: None.
Analysis: Using our resolution equation:


(1 )


Answer: The resolution for the given ADC is 93.75 mV per level.
Example Problem: An ADC is to be used with V
max
= 4 V and V
min
= -2 V. If the worst
acceptable resolution is 200 mV per level, what is the minimum number of bits that can be used?
Big Picture: The more bits we have the better (smaller) the resolution is.
Key Issues: If we solve the resolution equation for 2
b
, we get


Analysis: If we plug in the worst case resolution, we get the minimum number of levels


( )


Theres two different ways to solve this for b. The easiest way is to simply list the powers of 2
until we get one higher than thirty: 2, 4, 8, 16, 32. 32 is the fifth power of 2 (2
5
= 32), so
therefore 5 bits will give us an acceptable resolution.

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
188
The second way is to use logarithms, where

( )





Since we want a better resolution than 200 mV per level, we need more than 4.907 bits.
Therefore, 5 is the minimum number of allowable bits.
Answer: To get a better resolution than 200 mV per level, 5 bits are required.
So how do we convert a sample into a binary number? Look at the following diagram:

The black dots on this diagram represent 7 samples taken from an analog signal. Notice that
each dot falls into one of 8 levels. The first dot clearly falls into level 5, and therefore is encoded
as 101. The second dot is in level 6, or 110. The next two dots are in level 7 (the highest level)
and are therefore encoded as 111. The final three dots are in levels 6, 5, and 3 and are encoded
as 110, 101, and 011 respectively.
The binary values resulting from these 7 samples would be:
101 110 111 111 110 101 011
While graphing might work with small graphs such as this, they are not practical for real-world
systems. As mentioned earlier, a music CD uses 16 bits per sample. The number of levels
would therefore be


Fortunately, there is a simple equation to determine which level a given signal should be
assigned:

()


Once you take a sample (

()), you can solve for the expected level and then truncate (or
round down) the result to get an integer value which can be converted into a binary number for
saving on a computer. Remember though, when you throw away the decimal part of the
expected level, you are introducing error into your result.
So what is the engineering trade-off when choosing a resolution? In this case, we want to
minimize the amount of information that is lost when we quantize our samples by assigning them
an integer level. If you look at the figure above, it should be obvious that the maximum amount
of signal that you can lose is a single resolution so our maximum quantization error is equal to:


ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
189
We can lower our resolution by either 1) reducing the range of acceptable voltages (by bringing

and

closer together) or 2) increasing the number of available levels (by increasing the
number of bits used to represent our values).
Since oftentimes we cant reduce the range of acceptable voltages because it would clip our input
signal, the best way to minimize lost information is to increase the number of bits used for each
sample. The downside though is the same as the one mentioned above: each bit added to our
samples increases the amount of memory and digital bandwidth needed to save and transmit our
information.
Analog to Digital Conversion
Now that weve talked about the trade-offs involved in deciding how to convert an analog signal
into a digital format, lets take a moment to cover how you would actually convert your signal
given a specific ADC. Note that you will need to know the sampling rate, the range of
acceptable voltages (

and

), and the number of bits to be used before you can convert


the signal (see diagram below).
ADC
V
in
(t)
V
max
V
min
f
s
b

The three steps of the analog to digital conversion process are:
1. Sample: Take snapshots of the signal at the sample rate, f
s
.
2. Quantize: Determine the level that your sample is associated with by solving for its expected
level, E.L., and truncating the number to an integer quantized level, Q.L.
3. Encode: Convert your quantized level to a binary number that is b bits long.
This easiest way to show these steps is to look at an example.

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
190
Example Problem: A sinusoidal signal

() ( ) needs to be converted into


a digital signal using the following ADC:
ADC
V
m
(t)
V
max
= 3 V
V
min
= -3 V
f
s
= 30 kHz
b = 5

Big Picture: Since weve already sampled the signal above, we now need to quantize and
encode the samples.
Key Issues: None.
Analysis: We found that the first three samples would be:

() ( ( ))

( ) ( ( )) 1

( ) ( ( ))
Before we can do the last two conversion steps, we need to find the ADCs resolution:


( )





1
If we solve for our expected levels, we get:

()

( )
1

( )

1 ( )
1

( )

( )
1
11
We would truncate these values to get our quantized levels:

1
These values need to be converted into 5-bit binary numbers:

111

11

1 111
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
191
Answer: At t = 0, the ADC would output the binary number, 11010. At t = 33.33 sec, the ADC
would output the binary number, 11000. At t = 66.66 sec, the ADC would output the binary
number, 10011.



ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
192
Lesson 17 Homework
1. What is aliasing and how can it be prevented?





2. What are the three steps for converting an analog signal into digital?





3. Given the following spectra, determine the minimum sampling frequency.
a.
0 100 200 300
|M
a
(f)|, V
f, MHz

b.
|M
b
(f)|, V
f, kHz
50 0


4. Find the number of levels and resolution for an 8-bit ADC with V
max
= 6 V and V
min
= -4V.





ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
193
5. Given a cosine input

() 1 ( ), answer the following questions:


a. What is the Nyquist sampling frequency for this input signal?



b. Which of these sampling frequencies would you use: 75 kHz, 90 kHz, or 120 kHz?



c. What are the minimum and maximum values of the input signal?



d. Which of the following ADCs would work with this signal?
- Vmax = 5 V and Vmin = -3 V
- Vmax = 5 V and Vmin = -1 V
- Vmax = 3 V and Vmin = -3 V



e. Using the V
max
and V
min
from part d, how many bits would be required to achieve a
resolution of 600 mV or better?





f. Given the number of bits calculated in part e, what is the actual resolution of the ADC?

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194
6. An input signal,

() ( ), is to be digitized using the ADC below.


What is the binary output for the first 3 samples, starting with t = 0 s?
ADC
V
in
(t)
V
max
= 10 V
V
min
= -2 V
f
s
= 20 kHz
b = 4
V
out
(t)






















ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
195
7. What are the advantages of digital signals?




8. T / F. Improving the resolution is always better.

9. T / F. Increasing the sampling rate improves resolution.

10. T / F. A smaller resolution is a better resolution.

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Lesson 18 Analog-to-Digital Conversion, Part II
Learning Outcomes
1. Given an off-the-shelf ADC, choose a filter that will prevent aliasing for all possible input
signals.
2. Given an off-the-shelf ADC and the range of an input signal, choose an amplifier which will
minimize quantization error by spreading the input signal over the ADCs full dynamic range.
3. Understand that clipping will occur if the input to an ADC is greater than Vmax or less than
Vmin.
4. Given an input signal and an ADC system, determine the expected level, quantized level, and
binary output for the first three samples.
5. Given the specifications of an ADC, determine the digital bandwidth (bit rate) of the output.




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Lesson 18 - Analog-to-Digital Conversion, Part II
So we threw a lot of information at you last lesson. Dont worry - today is mostly a review and
wrap-up of the topic. Of course, if you didnt do the reading, youre going to be totally lost
today!
There are two general ways to approach analog-to-digital conversion: 1) you can carefully tune
your ADC to measure a specific signal by adjusting its sampling frequency, voltage limits, and
number of bit outputs and then turn around and repeat the process whenever anything changes or
2) you can adjust your information so that it works with an off-the-shelf ADC. Guess which one
most people do!
Today were going to take what we learned last lesson (and some material from lessons 14 and
15) to design ADC systems. Well then look at how to evaluate different ADC solutions to
select the best one.
Example Problem: The 8-bit ADC below is used in a cheap voice recorder to convert the
voltage signal from the microphone. The microphone outputs range from -10 mV to 10 mV.
Modify the ADC to accurately record the voice signal.
ADC
V
max
= 5 V
V
min
= -5 V
f
s
= 40 kHz
b = 8
V
in
(t)

Big Picture: The ADC above uses a set sampling frequency and voltage limits. At a minimum,
we must make sure that aliasing does not happen. Aliasing is caused when the sampling rate is
smaller than the Nyquist rate. We then want to make sure we have an accurate capture of the
signal.
Key Issues: In the last lesson, if we wanted to prevent aliasing, we simply picked an ADC with
a sufficiently large sampling frequency. In this problem, however, we are given the sampling
frequency we need to use. The ADC also has a large voltage range when compared to our input
transducer. We need to see if this is a problem.
Analysis: The Nyquist equation is:


Since we already know that f
S
= 30 kHz, we can use the Nyquist equation to solve for f
High
:


Therefore, to prevent aliasing, we need make sure that the highest frequency in the input signal is
less than 20 kHz. How can we do this? With a low pass filter.
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Because of the Nyquist rate, the low pass filters cutoff frequency needs to be less than 20 kHz.
Well use 18 kHz and assume that we also did a whole bunch of engineering and analysis to
make sure that by eliminating the frequencies from 18 to 20 kHz from our signal (the upper
range of sound) we wont lose any essential information. Since the frequency content in a
human voice falls between 125 Hz to about 6 kHz, we should be safe.
LPF
f
C
= 20 kHz
ADC
V
max
= 5 V
V
min
= -5 V
f
s
= 40 kHz
b = 8
V
in
(t)

The key here is that we can prevent aliasing in one of two ways:
- Increase the sampling frequency or
- Decrease the highest frequency in the input with a low pass filter
Since aliasing is such a serious problem, it is common practice to add a low pass filter to the
front of an ADC based on its sampling rate even if the frequencies in the input will never push
the Nyquist limit.
So now that we know we can sample the voice signal safely, lets examine whether the result
will be accurate enough and specifically, lets concentrate on our ability to resolve changes in the
signals magnitude. First, lets solve for ADCs resolution:


( )



1

1
Oops, we have a problem. The entire range of the microphones output falls into a single level
on the ADC. So we may not be able to resolve any change at all! There are a couple of ways
that we could solve this by:
- reducing the ADCs dynamic range (by bringing

and

closer together) or
- adding more bits to the ADCs output so you have more levels.
Since were stuck with this ADC, neither one of these options is available. So we need to adjust
our input signal so that it fits into the ADCs dynamic range better. How can we do this? Weve
already learned how to solve this problem with the transducer interface! Since both voltage
ranges are symmetric around the time axis, we simply need to add an amplifier to the circuit of:



1


Adding an amplifier will give us the block diagram below:
f
c
= 18 kHz
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LPF
f
C
= 20 kHz
ADC
V
max
= 5 V
V
min
= -5 V
f
s
= 40 kHz
b = 8
500
V
in
(t)

Since were on a roll, lets finish the voice recorder (well worry about playback later!). Weve
got 40,000 8-bit samples being taken every second. How much memory would we need to save
an hour of conversation? This is easier than it looks because our samples are all 8-bits long, or
one byte. In other words, we need to save 40 kBytes of data each second. This means that over
an hour, well need to save:
()

1


1
1
In other words, our voice recorder can make do with a very small memory card. Since memory
tends to come in sizes that are powers of two, a 256 MByte card is sufficient.
LPF
f
C
= 20 kHz
ADC
V
max
= 5 V
V
min
= -5 V
f
s
= 40 kHz
b = 8
K=500
V
in
(t)
256 MByte
Memory
Card


f
c
= 18 kHz
f
c
= 18 kHz
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Example Problem: An accelerometer is used to measure the G loading on an aircraft. The
signal from the accelerometer is passed through an amplifier with a gain of 1,000, filtered to
prevent aliasing, and then sent through an ADC to be digitized. The digitized signal is then
stored in a 512 Mbits flight data recorder.
ADC
V
max
= 8 V
V
min
= -2 V
f
s
= 10 kHz
K=1,000
Flight Data
Recorder
Accelerometer
b = 4
LPF
f
C
= 5 kHz

At different times, the accelerometer can output 490 V, 7.8 mV, and -2.4 mV. What is the
binary output at each of these times?
Big Picture: To this problem, we need to amplify the voltages to determine the samples to be
digitized. The second part of the problem requires us to solve for the systems digital bandwidth.
Key Issues: None.
Analysis: We need to solve for the three samples after the amplifier:

) 1( )

) 1( )

) 1( )
Notice that the third value, -2.4 V, is smaller than V
min
. Whenever a sample falls outside of the
V
min
to V
max
range, the ADC cannot adequately represent the signal and clipping will occur. This
is similar to the clipping discussed with Op Amps in Lesson 14.
If the input exceeds V
max
, the ADC simply outputs the highest possible binary value (all ones; for
a 4-bit ADC the output is 1111, for a 5-bit ADC the output is 11111, etc.). Since our third input
is less than V
min
, the ADC will output the lowest possible 4-bit binary value, 0000.
(Obviously, if we were in charge of designing this system, we would not want our flight data
information to be clipped, since we would no longer be able to tell the actual G loading on the
aircraft. To fix this problem, we would need to either reduce the gain of the amplifier or pick an
ADC with a lower V
min
.)
We now need to quantize and encode these values. To quantize these values, we first need to
find the resolution for the ADC. For the problem above, the resolution is


( )



1
1


Notice that the resolution depends only on the ADC and is independent of the input signal.
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We can now use this V to find the expected level and quantized level for each value. Well
start with the first input, 490 mV:

()


( )



11
Remember the rule for converting an expected value into a quantized value: always round down.
Therefore, even though our expected level is really, really close to 4, we still round down to 3.
Also, note how we write the output as a 4-bit number with the two zeros in front. A wire will
physically carry a voltage representation of zero so these zeros are important pieces of
information.
Lets look at our next input, 7.8 V.

()


( )

1
1
1111
Its somewhat important to realize that even though we get 16 levels with 4 bits, the highest level
is really level 15, or 1111 in binary. The reason for this is that the lowest level is level 0, or 0000
in binary.
Speaking of the lowest level, the final input value, -2.4 V turns out to be pretty easy.

Again, whenever the input is less than V
min
, the output will be zero.
Additionally, the digital bandwidth (bit rate) of the output can be calculated knowing the
sampling frequency (f
s
) and the number of bits:
1( )
At this rate, the 512 Mbit flight recorder will fill up with data:




1

1
Answer: The binary output for each of the three signals is shown below
Output from Amplifier ADC output
490 mV 0011
7.8 V 1111
-2.4 V 0000
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Lesson 18 Homework
1. How can a low pass filter be used to prevent aliasing?





2. The following ADC is to be used to convert a music signal into a digital output:
LPF
f
C
= ?
ADC
V
max
= 10 V
V
min
= -10 V
f
s
= 25 kHz
b = 5
V
in
(t)

a. To prevent aliasing, what must the highest frequency of the input be limited to by the low
pass filter?





b. What is the resolution for this ADC?






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203
c. What is the binary output for the following inputs
i. -5.2 V





ii. 0 V





iii. 11.3


d. What is the digital bandwidth of this system (e.g., how many bits per second does the
ADC system output)?








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204
3. Given the two analog-to-digital converters below, answer the questions and provide
justification.
ADC A ADC B
ADC
V
max
= 5 V
V
min
= 0 V
f
s
= 12 kHz
b = 6

ADC
V
max
= 10 V
V
min
= -2 V
f
s
= 10 kHz
b = 7

a. Determine the resolution for each analog-to-digital converter.




ADC A: ______________________ ADC B: _______________________

b. Which one has the better resolution? A B



c. Which one will take more samples of the input in 10 seconds? A B




d. If connected to a 2Gbit thumb-drive, which ADC would fill it faster? A B





ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
205
4. An accelerometer is used to measure the G loading on an aircraft. The accelerometer
generates a +20 mV signal when pulling 8 Gs, and it generates a -10 mV signal when
pulling -2 Gs. This signal must be conditioned before entering the ADC below.


ADC
V
max
= 12 V
V
min
= -2 V
f
s
= 10 kHz
b = 4
Accelerometer
V
in
(t)
K

B


a. Design a transducer interface to condition the accelerometer output signal for the ADC,
covering its full dynamic range.







b. What is the resolution of this ADC?



c. During inflight maneuvers, the accelerometer generated the following three input
voltages: 8.75 mV, -4 mV, and -22 mV. What is the Expected Level, Quantized Level,
and binary output for these input voltages.




ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
206
Lesson 19 Digital-to-Analog Conversion (DAC)
Learning Outcomes
1. Know that a DACs output is a digital signal.
2. Given a set of binary inputs to a 0 to 5 V weighted-sum DAC, determine the DACs output.
3. Given an ADC input, determine the quantization error.
4. Know that a low pass filter is used after a DAC to smooth out the signal and make it analog.
5. Design an instrumentation system to correctly connect a DACs output to an output
transducer.








ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
207
Lesson 19 - Digital to Analog Conversion (DAC)
Once we have converted an analog signal to digital, it is sometimes useful to convert it back
again to analog. Music is an obvious example. We digitize the sound to put it in our iPods or on
CDs, and then we convert it back to analog to listen to it.
Digital-to-analog converters (DAC) are also useful in control systems. If the computer in an
aircraft is providing inputs to control the aircraft in autopilot, a DAC must be used to convert the
computer signal into a voltage that can be used to move the aircraft.
In this lesson, we will show how to calculate the output of a DAC. We will also discuss the
errors that are inherent in the ADC/DAC process.
Digital to Analog Conversion
There are several methods used to convert digital signals to analog format. The one well use is
called a 0 to 5 V weighted-sum Digital-to-Analog Converter (DAC). The minimum voltage this
DAC can produce is 0 V while the maximum voltage this DAC can produce is 5 V. A weighted-
sum DAC works by assigning a particular weight, or voltage, to each input bit based on that bits
position in the binary code. The most significant bit (MSB) is weighted the most and contributes
the largest amount to the output voltage while the least significant bit (LSB) contributes the
smallest amount to the output voltage.
One might assume we can weight the bits similarly as in a binary-to-decimal conversion. Why
wont this work? Lets look at an example. In a four-bit DAC, an input of 1101 would equate to
the decimal number of 8 + 4 + 0 + 1 = 13. The problem comes when we want to translate the
level back into voltage. If we multiply this number by a voltage, say 5 V, 1101 would be output
as 8(5 V) + 4(5 V) + 2(0 V) + 4(5 V) = 80 V! Sure, we could use a smaller voltage, but every
time we add a bit, we would still need a higher voltage output.
Instead, the bits are weighted fractionally. The MSB is the first bit and is weighted by


This means the bit will contribute

( ) when set to a logical 1. In other words, the


weight of each bit is

, where n is the position in the binary code word (counting from the left,
the MSB is position 1). For example, a 1 in the MSB position will always be worth 2.5 V, a 1 in
the next position is 1.25 V, and so on.
The DAC output can be calculated by multiplying the input of each line by the scalar multiplier
and then adding the result, as shown in the following equation:


where MSB down to LSB are either 0 V or 5 V depending on whether the bit is a one or a zero.
Thankfully, this equation can be simplified to:


where QL is the quantized level (the decimal level associated with the binary output) coming
from the ADC and b is the number of bits in the output.
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208
Example Problem: A 3-bit digital to analog converter (DAC) receives the binary input signal
011. What is the output of the DAC?
DAC
011
f
s
= 25 kHz
V
out
(t)
b = 3

Big Picture: An ADC takes a voltage input and converts it into a binary signal. A DAC does
just the opposite: it takes a binary signal and converts it into an output voltage.
Key Issues: Since we are only trying to convert one binary code back into voltage, we do not
need to worry about timing yet (even though were showing that the original signal was digitized
using a 25 kHz sampling frequency).
Analysis: For an input of 011, the QL was a three. Applying the DAC equation gives us:

1
Answer: For an input of 011, the 3-bit DAC will output 1.875 V.
Example Problem: The following diagram shows the output of an ADC connected directly to a
DAC. If the input to the ADC is -1.2 V, what is the DAC output?
DAC
f
s
= 30 kHz
ADC
V
max
= 4 V
V
min
= -4 V
f
s
= 30 kHz
b = 5
V
out

Big Picture: Sample. Quantize. Encode. Then convert the binary code to a voltage to get the
DAC output.
Key Issues: None.
Analysis: We first need to determine the ADC output. Since we are already given a sample
value of -1.2 V, the sample step is done.
The next step is to quantize, starting with calculating the resolution:


( )


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209
Calculating the expected and quantized levels gives:

()


1 ( )

11
11
(Remember to always truncate, or round down, to determine the quantized level.)
The final step of the ADC process is to encode the QL into binary.
binary output = 01011.
Now that we know what value is being sent to the DAC, we can solve for the output:


11

11
Answer: The output of the DAC is 1.719 V.
Lets take a step back and look at whats going on in these ADC and DAC processes. Well start
sampling the following analog signal using a 3-bit ADC:
4 V
0
-4 V

The black dots represent sampling the signal at some regular interval, f
S
. To sample the curve,
we simply find the value of the curve at each time point were interested in.
Next, we quantize these sampled values.

Notice that the black dots are no longer on the curve itself, but have moved down to the
horizontal lines representing the quantization levels. Some of the dots moved more than others,
depending on the actual sampled value.
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210
This difference between the sampled value and the quantized value represents the quantization
error. The equation for calculating the quantization error QE is
( )
If we had an EL = 11.2, QL = 11, and V = 250 mV/level (in other words, if we truncate 0.2 of a
level when we quantize the EL), the QE equation gives us
(11 11 )


Therefore, the sampled value has an error of 50 mV.
It is very important to realize that everything we do from this point on is based on the quantized
level and will therefore perpetuate this error. The only thing we can do to help the issue is to
increase the number of bits. More bits directly cause more quantization levels. As we add more
levels, we necessarily get less error.
Now lets look at the output of a DAC for the above curve:
5 V
0 V
There are a couple things to notice about this output signal from the DAC:
- It is actually a digital signal. To smooth it out, we would need to pass the signal through
a low pass filter.
- The signal is based on the quantized levels from the ADC. As such, it includes any
quantization error introduced during the original conversion.
- The signal ranges from 0 to 5 V and not -4 to 4 V like the original.
- The DAC replicates the original signal using the same sampling frequency as was used to
digitize the original. While we can get away with using different voltage ranges, we must
get timing information for how the original data was sampled to convert it back into
analog.
Obviously, the output curve looks a little bit like the original signal, but not a lot like it. Keep in
mind, however, 3 bits is not a very good system. The maximum error in a 16-bit system, like
those used for CDs, is very small, on the order of V.
So why do we build DACs with set voltage ranges (0 to 5 V) instead of the variable input ranges
used for ADCs? Well, lets think about what we would do with the output from a DAC. Many
systems will want to hook the signal up to an output transducer. Remember - we record music
using microphones and then play it back using speakers, two totally different devices. A
DAC Output
Scaled ADC Input
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
211
common interface from our DAC makes it easier to use a instrumentation system to drive our
output transducer.
Example Problem: We want to build the playback system for the voice recorder covered in last
lessons reading. Remember that we were able to save more than an hours worth of voice data
using the system below. The speaker in the playback system accepts voltages between -12 V and
12 V.

LPF
f
C
= 18 kHz
ADC
V
max
= 5 V
V
min
= -5 V
f
s
= 40 kHz
b = 8
K = 500
V
in
(t)
256 MByte
Memory
Card

Big Picture: We have a collection of 8-bit samples saved on a 256 MByte memory card that we
now want to convert back into an analog signal that we can play through a speaker.
Key Issues: In many ways, we have to reverse the process from above. Well need to calculate
a voltage based on a quantized level (or directly from its encoded value) and then output these
values at the same rate that they were sampled. So, the first step is to grab a basic 0 to 5 V
weighted-sum DAC, give it the same sampling frequency as used in the ADC process, and hook
it up to the memory card:
b = 8
256 MByte
Memory
Card
DAC
f
s
= 40 kHz
V
out
(t)

Since the v
out
(t) signal coming from the DAC will still be heavily digitized, we need to add a LPF
after the DACs output to smooth out the signal. Dont worry about the filters cutoff frequency.
Since were simply smoothing the signal, theres no set frequency that we must eliminate, just
high frequency components.
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212
b = 8
256 MByte
Memory
Card
DAC
f
s
= 40 kHz
V
out
(t)
LPF

We now need to hook this DAC system to the speakers using a instrumentation system. The
v
out
(t) signal coming from the filter will vary between 0 to 5 V (since the original recording
process fully used the ADCs dynamic range) that we need to transform into a -12 to 12 V signal
for the output transducer.
K

B
Speaker
b = 8
256 MByte
Memory
Card
DAC
f
s
= 40 kHz
LPF
V
out
(t)

Sadly, the two voltage ranges above are not symmetric around zero, so we need to solve for both
an amplifier and bias value:
1 ( )
1 ( ) .
Since the minimum voltage from the DAC is 0 V, solving these equations is fairly simple though:
1 ( )
1
1 ( )
1 ( ) 1




These values allow us to finish the design of our voice play back system:
K = 4.8

B = -12 V
Speaker
b = 8
256 MByte
Memory
Card
DAC
f
s
= 40 kHz
LPF
V
out
(t)


ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
213
Lesson 19 Homework
1. T / F An ADCs maximum quantization error is equal to its resolution.
2. How many possible output values can a 4-bit DAC produce?



3. What is the maximum output value for a 6-bit DAC?




4. Calculate the quantization error for the ADC below given the following inputs?
ADC
V
max
= 5 V
V
min
= -5 V
f
s
= 30 kHz
b = 4
V
in
V
out

a. -4.82 V


b. -3.1 V


c. 0 V


d. 3.78 V


e. 5 V
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
214
5. The following ADC is to be used to convert a music signal into a digital output:
LPF
f
C
= ?
ADC
V
max
= 10 V
V
min
= -10 V
f
s
= 25 kHz
b = 5
V
in
(t)

a. What is the quantization error if v
in
(t) = -5.2V?



b. If we hook this system to a 5-bit, 0 to 5 V weighted sum DAC, what will the DAC output
for v
in
(t) = -5.2V?




6. Given the following binary input to an 8-bit 0 to 5 V weighted sum DAC, sketch the DAC
output:

Time (ms) DAC Input
0 0010 1010
5 0100 0111
10 1011 0011
15 0001 0000
20 0101 1111
25 1001 0010







ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
215
7. An accelerometer is used to measure the G loading on an aircraft. The signal from the
accelerometer is passed through an amplifier with a gain of 1,000, filtered to prevent
aliasing, and then sent through an ADC to be digitized using the system below.
ADC
V
max
= 8 V
V
min
= -2 V
f
s
= 10 kHz
1,000
Flight Data
Recorder
Accelerometer
b = 4
LPF
f
C
= 5 kHz

a. Design a DAC that can be used to reconvert the digital signal.





b. Design a instrumentation system that can use the DACs output to drive a gauge in the
cockpit which requires a range of voltages of -12 to 12 V.







c. T / F The output of the DAC is a digital signal.

d. What component would need to be added between the DAC and instrumentation system
to smooth the DACs output?


ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
216
Lesson 20 Digital Signal Channels
Learning Outcomes
1. Understand why most digital communication is performed using serial data streams instead
of parallel.
2. Know the two different ways to transmit digital data.
3. Given two parallel samples of data and a Parallel-to-Serial (P/S) converter, draw the
waveform of the P/S converters output.
4. Calculate a P/S converters bit rate.
5. Understand why the phone system uses circuit switching and time-division multiplexing
(TDM).
6. Given a TDM system, calculate the clock frequencies and bit rates for each stage.
7. Translate bytes to bits, then back to bytes using binary prefixes, when applicable.
8. Understand the difference between bandwidth and throughput when transmitting digital data.
9. Calculate the amount of time that a signal would ideally take to download given a bandwidth
of a digial signal in bits per second.
10. Calculate the amount of time that a signal will probably take to download given a data
throughput.

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
217
Lesson 20 - Digital Signal Channels
In the previous lessons, we discovered how the A/D conversion process takes samples of an
analog signal, quantizes it, and then encodes it. The resulting binary code is in a parallel format,
meaning that all the bits for each coded sample are generated at the same time. We then hooked
up this parallel data directly up to a DAC to reconvert back to analog. Honestly, this technique is
fast and efficient - we can move whole samples of data at the same time.
ADC
b = 5
V
in
(t)
DAC
V
out
(t)

On the other hand, when data is stored in a digital system, or transmitted over wires or a wireless
connection, we start to have problems with the parallel format. Electrical signals generate a field
around the wire that is carrying them. If you have multiple wires close to each other and theyre
all carrying data, these fields will interfere with each other (an effect known as crosstalk) and the
effect worsens as the wires get longer. This places an upper limit on the length of a parallel data
connection that is usually shorter than a serial connection.
Have you ever popped the side off a desktop computer and looked inside? Youll find that most
of the cables in there are either power cords or ribbons of many different wires carrying data in
parallel. However, everything that hooks up to your computer externally is a serial connection.
Even your printers have moved from parallel cables to Universal Serial Bus (USB) connections!
And yes, the Internet moves data in serial streams.
Todays reading discusses how we convert parallel data into serial format and then discusses two
common ways of combining multiple serial data streams into a single channel and the rates in
which they transfer information.
Parallel-to-Serial (P/S) Conversion
Conceptually, a parallel-to-serial (P/S) converter takes data in parallel format and converts it
into serial format. The figure below illustrates the concept, though in reality there are more
considerations than just taking the parallel data and changing it to serial format. Two of the main
considerations are overhead and bit rate.
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
218
P/S
Converter
Parallel
Input Data
1 0 1 1
MSB
0
1
LSB
f
P/S
1
1
MSB
LSB

When data is changed from a parallel to a serial format, it becomes a stream of 1s and 0s. In
order for the reading device or the receiving device to know where one word ends and the next
begins, we need to provide some kind of markers. The P/S converter supplies these markers,
and they are called start bits and stop bits. As one might expect, the start bits are generated
right before the data starts and the stop bits are put at the end of the data, thus framing the word.
A P/S converter may have any number of start and stop bits, but usually not more than two of
each. These start and stop bits are called overhead, because they are part of the price for
converting data from parallel to serial format. The number of overhead bits must be clearly stated
in order to determine clock frequencies, bit rates, and output waveforms. The figure below
illustrates a parallel input sample being sent through a P/S converter with one start bit and two
stop bits. Notice that we are now showing 1s and 0s as voltages levels, specifically 5 V for a
logical 1 and 0 V for a logical zero, just as we did for D/A conversion.
1
5
V
D
, V
t, ms
1
5
V
C
, V
t, ms
1
1
t, ms
V
B
, V
5
V
A
, V
t, ms
MSB
LSB
Serial
Output
1 Start = "0"
2 Stop = "11"
f
P/S
A
B
C
D
P/S
Converter
t, ms
1
MSB
Start
Bit
Data Bits
1 0 1 1
Stop
Bits
V
out
,V
5

Weve already talked about bit rate being how fast data is transmitted on an input or output line
and that it is measured in bits per second (bps). Data coming into the P/S converter is in a
1
1
1
0
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
219
parallel format. The input bit rate is determined by the clock of the device before the P/S
converter, e.g., an ADC running at a sampling frequency, f
s
. On the other side of the P/S
converter, the data (and overhead) will be output in a serial format, one bit at a time, so the
output bit rate must be faster than the input bit rate. The P/S converter clock determines the
output bit rate, so it must be fast! How fast depends on the speed of the data input lines and the
number of bits that are sent out, data plus overhead. We can calculate the P/S bit rate using:

( )
where b is the number of parallel lines of data entering the P/S converter and overhead is the
total number of additional bits added for each set of data.
For example, the figure above shows a P/S converter with four input lines. The bits last 1 ms, so
the sampling frequency that produced them ran at 1 kHz. If the P/S converter adds one start bit
(= 0) and two stop bits (= 1 1), then for each clock pulse on the input (4 data bits at 1 kbps),
a total of 7 bits must exit the P/S converter (4 data + 1 start + 2 stop). The output is serial, so a
total of 7 P/S clock pulses are required to output the data for each clock pulse that caused the
data to be on the input lines. Therefore the output bit rate must be 7 times as fast as the input bit
rate (7 1000 bps = 7 kbps), and the clock frequency,

, must be 7 kHz. Once the parallel


format data is converted to serial format, it can be transmitted on a single line or stored for later
use (e.g., written to a CD).
Example Problem: The output from a 5-bit ADC is sent to a P/S converter which adds two start
bits (01) and one stop bit (0) to each output value. If the first two samples are 5 V and 1.14 V,
what will the output from the P/S converter look like?
ADC
V
max
= 5 V
V
min
= 1 V
f
s
= 50 kHz
b = 5
V
in
(t)
P/S
Start = 01
Stop = 0
f
CLK
V
out
(t)

Big Picture: We need to figure out what binary values will be output by the ADC and when.
These samples will then have overhead bits added to them and be output by the P/S converter as
a data stream.
Key Issues: None.
Analysis: Since we know the sample values, we need to quantize and encode the values to find
the ADCs output. First though, we need to solve for the ADCs resolution:


(1 )


ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
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Now we can use the resolution to find the expected level. For our first sample (t = 0), our
sampled value is v
in
(t) = 5 V. Solving for the expected level gives us,

()


(1 )
1

Although it might not look like it, this result gives us a little bit of a problem. For 5 bits, we
have 2
5
= 32 levels. Because we start with level 0, however, our highest level is actually level 31.
Therefore our quantized level for this sample is actually 31, since that is as high as we go.
Again, if the input value is at or above V
max
, the output will be the highest possible value (all
ones).
1
11111

For the second sample (t = 20 s), our sampled value is v
in
(t) = 1.140 V. Solving for the output
gives us,

()


11 (1 )
1
11
1
1
Before adding the overhead bits, our output is simply 11111 00001. After adding the overhead
bits, our output becomes 01111110 01000010.
In order to graph the stream of bits above, we need to find the clock rate for the P/S converter.
This clock rate is based on the parts bit rate:

( ) ( 1 )

This means that

will need to be 400 kHz and that the bit period will be:


Assuming that a 1 is represented by 5 V and a 0 is represented by 0 V, the data stream above will
look like:
t, s
V
out
(t),V
5
5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
0 1 11 11 1 0 0 1 00 00 1 0


ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
221
Circuit Switching
There are two basic ways to transmit serial digital data: circuit switching and packet switching.
We will limit our discussion to circuit-switching in this lesson, then continue our discussion with
packet-switching next lesson. In circuit switching, an actual circuit or connection is established
before users can communicate. Once the channel is established, the users have exclusive access
to it. Packet switching uses a different approach where data is broken in packet-sized blocks and
forwarded onto the network where they are buffered and queued along a series of links, and the
actual path that the data takes depends on the overall traffic on the network.
Most landline telephone systems use circuit switching. You pick up the phone, dial the number,
and wait for a connection to be made before you hear the phone ring on the other end. If a
connection is not available, you get a busy signal. If you get a connection, your voice is
translated into a stream of serial data bits through an ADC and P/S converter-type system. This
data is sent to a circuit switch and combined onto higher capacity communications channels
using a technique known as time-division multiplexing (TDM).
A simplified TDM system is shown on the next page. This is commonly referred to as the
mechanical analogy because it resembles the operation of a rotating switch. The mux (short for
multiplexer) and demux (demultiplexer) switches must rotate at the same rate (i.e., f
TDM
) and
must be synchronized. In other words, when the mux switch is sampling signal one, the demux
switch must be positioned at output one. (Those of you more familiar with the workings of a car
understand this is how a distributor works. The rotating switch delivers the spark to a
predetermined sequence of spark plugs.) The result is an intermingled stream of data that
combines bits from the three separate channels.
TDM mux
TDM demux
v
1
(t)
v
2
(t)
v
3
(t)
Transmission
System
v
1
(t)
v
2
(t)
v
3
(t)
f
TDM
f
DEMUX
Synchronization


In other words, looking at the picture below, the blocks represent bits from the three incoming
data streams. As the switch rotates, a bit from each signal is transmitted in one serial stream. At
the receiver, the stream is sent through a demultiplexer to separate the bits into separate channels.
TDM mux TDM demux
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
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Source: http://net4j.berlios.de/

The block diagram on the next page illustrates a complete digital TDM system. The input signals
are fed through a bank of low-pass filters (LPFs) to band-limit the signals. These filters are used
to prevent aliasing. The ADCs share a common sampling clock, which is chosen to satisfy the
Nyquist Criterion for all signals. This will ensure each signal is properly sampled. The parallel-
to-serial converters ensure the digital signals going into the TDM block are in a serial format.
The bit rate flowing out of the P/S converter is equal to the P/S clock rate, f
P/S
, which is
determined by:

( )
v
1
(t)
b
v
2
(t)
b
v
3
(t)
b
TDM
mux
start bits
stop bits
v
TDM
(t)
LPF
1
LPF
2
LPF
3
P/S
1
P/S
2
P/S
3
f
S
ADC
1
ADC
2
ADC
3
f
P/S
f
TDM
f
c1
f
c2
f
c3

The TDM block accepts the serial data (1s and 0s) and interleaves the various input lines at the
f
TDM
clock rate. Just as the P/S clock must run faster than the ADC clock in order to keep up with
the incoming data, so must the TDM clock keep pace with the data from the P/S blocks. Thus,
the TDM clock must operate at a rate equal to the number of inputs (n) times the bit rate entering
on each line (i.e., P/S output in bps).

()
Consider the TDM system above with three inputs. Assume each input is flowing into the block
at 4 bps. Thus the TDM block has a total of 12 bps entering as well as 12 bps leaving it. So the
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
223
TDM has to work three times as fast as a P/S block. Therefore, the TDM bit rate (in bps) is
equal to the clock frequency (i.e., f
TDM
= 12 Hz). Weve used simple numbers for example only;
real-world TDM rates are much higher than 12 Hz.

Example Problem: Two signals with the following spectra are input into the following TDM
system. What are the clock frequencies for the P/S converters and the TDM system?
4
f, kHz
|V
1
|, V
7 f, kHz
|V
2
|, V

v
1
(t)
4
v
2
(t)
4
1 start bit
2 stop bits
v
TDM
(t)
LPF
1
LPF
2
P/S
1
P/S
2
f
S
ADC
1
ADC
2
f
P/S
f
c1
f
c2
TDM
f
TDM

Big Picture: We need to find the LPF cutoff frequencies, minimum ADC sampling frequency,
P/S bit rate, TDM bit rate, and the TDM clock frequency.
Key Issues: Were starting with frequency spectra for our inputs instead of time-based
waveforms!
Analysis: The LPFs are included to prevent aliasing of the input signals. The highest LPF
cutoff frequency will determine the minimum ADC sampling frequency based on the Nyquist
criterion:
Input f
H
LPF f
c
Minimum f
S

V
1
4 kHz 4 kHz 8 kHz
V
2
7 kHz 7 kHz 14 kHz
The minimum sampling frequency for the ADCs must be f
s,min
= 2 * f
H,max
, so f
s
= 14 kHz.
Next, find the bit rate at the output of the P/S converter using:

( ) 1 ( 1 )
There are two signals into the TDM, so the clock frequency and bit rate of the TDM are:

() 1
Answer: The final system is shown below:
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
224
v
1
(t)
4
v
2
(t)
4
1 start bit
2 stop bits
v
TDM
(t)
LPF
1
LPF
2
P/S
1
P/S
2
f
S
= 14 kHz
ADC
1
ADC
2
f
P/S
= 98 kbps
f
c1
= 4 kHz
TDM
f
TDM
= 196 kbps
f
c2
= 7 kHz


The advantage of using circuit switching and TDM is that this setup employs a constant bit
transfer rate and minimizes the amount of data overhead because a dedicated path is identified
ahead of time to route the information. Notice that we didnt need to add any extra information
to the signals above when they reached the TDM because the information path is already
determined. In other words, you know when you start sending the data when it will arrive and
because youve dedicated hardware to the process, its sent efficiently.
Dont forget, the overarching purpose of this whole process is to transfer information from one
place to the other. Unfortunately, as we increase the amount of information we wish to send, we
start running into problems with the time that it takes to transmit it. Those of you who recently
tried to download a movie have been introduced to the joys of transporting large amounts of data.
Why is understanding the basics of data transfer important? Because the smaller the channel
(bandwith/throughput) or the larger the file, the longer it will take to send and receive
information.
Bandwidth versus Throughput
It is important to understand how we measure the amount of information that can be moved.
Two basic terms are used in conversation to help describe this measurement: bandwidth (in the
context of digital data) and throughput.
The Internet Revolution in the 90s led to a common misunderstanding about data transmission.
When people upgraded their Internet connection to an ultra-fast 100Mbps broadband line, they
thought that they would never have to wait for files to download again. Well, you are still
watching the download bar scroll across the window. Lets talk about why.
First of all, the connection is described in terms of bits per second (bps). Everything on the
Internet is saved in terms of binary logic levels, or 1s and 0s, and the more information that you
want to save (and transmit), the more bits. Well get into the specifics of how we convert
information into bits starting next lesson, but for now, consider how much memory your image
files need now that digital cameras are providing more than 10 Mpixels of information. While
we upgraded how much data we could transmit, we also massively increased the amount of data
that we wanted to send.
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
225
Finally, theres a difference between the number that the internet service providers (ISP) give
you and what you actually get in terms of download speeds. ISPs typically give you the ideal
amount of information that their connection can transmit, or its bandwidth. Note that this is the
second time that this term has been used in this course! The meaning of the term depends on the
context in which the term is is used:
- The bandwidth of a signal is generally the range of frequencies present in a signals
spectrum, as discussed in the Filter Lesson.
- The bandwidth, as discussed in this lesson, of a digital data connection refers to the
maximum number of bits that a digital communication channel can transfer per unit time
or sometimes referred to as bit rate. Another way of looking at it: It is the size of the
pipe you are using to send information.
So back to our ultra-fast 100 Mbps broadband line. When you pay extra money for this access,
the ISP is simply promising that the maximum amount of data that you can move across the
connection to their server is 100,000,000 bits per second. You rarely get this transmission rate
though because theres a lot more happening with your data transmission before it reaches the
ISP and oftentimes, even your ISP will slow down if too many people are trying to use its
resources.
Throughput, or the average bit rate of successful data transfer through a communication path, is
the number that you actually want to know. On average, what speed a certain number of bits
make it from the sender to your computer. If you look at the definition for throughput carefully,
youll see two primary reasons why your transmission throughput will always be lower than your
bandwidth. First of all, bit rate varies because the path that your information follows changes
constantly as it is routed through the Internet. Secondly, data gets lost. The Internet is built to
detect the loss and resend but this reduces the overall amount of data that gets through per
second.
Example Problem: You want to download a 10 MByte file over a 5 Mbps connection. What is
the fastest time that the file can be downloaded in?
Big Picture: The file size is given in bytes. We need to convert this number to bits.
Key Issues: Since we are looking for a fastest possible time, using the connections bandwidth
of 5 Mbps is appropriate.
Analysis: Lets first figure out how many bits are in the file. Hopefully you know that a byte is
8 bits (while a nibble is only 4). Also, there is an additional step when converting Mbytes to
bytes. Using the International Systems of Units (SI) prefixes, mega means 10
6
; however, in the
digital world when we discuss file sizes or memory, we use the binary prefixes shown below.




( ) 1

G (gigabyte)

MB (megabyte)

kB (kilobyte)

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
226
The fastest that a 5 Mbps connection can download this file is:

1
Answer: The file will take at least 16.78 sec to download.
Example Problem: You start to download the 10 MByte file. The connection speed in the file
transfer window keeps jumping around between 600 kbps and 800 kbps. How long will it take to
actually download?
Big Picture: We already know that we need to download a total of 83.88 Mbits.
Key Issues: We are now looking at how much data is actually being downloaded or the
systems current throughput.
Analysis: We need to calculate an average bit rate for our throughput. A rough estimate of our
average download speed is:


Based on this estimate of our actual throughput, the amount of time that it will take to download
the file is:



11
Answer: The file will probably take closer to 119.7 sec, about 2 minutes, to download.


ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
227
Lesson 20 Homework
1. T / F Parallel communications are used to communicate with peripherals (e.g.,
computer mouse) because they are more efficient over long distances.
2. T / F A transmission channels bandwidth and throughput are normally the same value.
3. T / F Internet channels are typically rated in terms of their throughput.
4. The following signal was sent to transmit two binary code words between two digital
systems. What is the binary code (i.e., 1s and 0s) for the two code words? Does this signal
represent serial or parallel data transmission? What is the overhead?
t
Start
Bit
MSB
MSB LSB LSB
Start
Bit
Stop
Bit
Stop
Bit


5. Given the following system:
ADC
V
max
= 6 V
V
min
= -4 V
f
s
= 10 kHz
b
V
in
(t)
P/S
Start = 01
Stop = 00
f
P/S
V
out
(t)

a. If the maximum f
P/S
possible is 114 kHz, compute the maximum b and actual f
P/S
resulting from your choice of b.





ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
228
b. Graph the output from the P/S converter for samples of v
in
(t) = 3 V and -2 V.














6. Given the TDM system below and v
1
(t) = 4cos(360 15kt) V; v
2
(t) = 3 + 3cos(360 2kt) V.
v
1
(t)
8
v
2
(t)
8
1 start bit
2 stop bits
v
TDM
(t)
LPF
1
LPF
2
P/S
1
P/S
2
f
S
ADC
1
ADC
2
f
P/S
f
c1
TDM
f
TDM
f
c2

a. Determine: f
s
(minimum), f
p/s
, and the output bit rate (bps) of the TDM.


b. If you wanted to process a third signal, v
3
(t) = 25cos(360 9kt) V using the system on the
previous page, but f
TDM
bit rate cannot exceed 800kbps, what would you change? What
would be the impact of that change?






ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
229
7. Your World of Warcraft game was corrupted when it crashed and you need to download the
installation files for it and all of its expansions. The download page warns you that the files
will amount to 2.6 GBytes of data.
a. Ideally, how long will it take to download the file across USAFAs T1 connection with
its bandwidth of 1.544 Mbps?






b. Based on your estimate above, you decide to go for it. After all the SAMI isnt
happening for another 6 hours. So you start downloading and realize that you are only
getting 400 kbps of throughput. Do you think youll have everything downloaded in time?


ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
230
Lesson 21 - Cyberspace
Learning Outcomes
1. Understand why the Internet is implemented using packet switching.
2. Given a packet size, calculate the data overhead rate of sending that packet over the Internet
using an Ethernet Type II frame.
3. Understand and identify the definition of Cyberspace and Cyberspace Operations.
4. Understand the purpose of the Global Information Grid (GIG).
5. Indentify common terms used when describing system characteristics and safeguards to
lower our risk of attack.

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
231
Lesson 21 - Cyberspace

The mission of the United States Air Force is to fly, fight, and win in air, space and
cyberspace. United States Air Force Official Website, 2011.

Cyperspace is the only realm referenced in the Air Forces mission statement that may be
considered ill-defined. It not only covers the software of networks, but also the hardware we
have been discussing. But before we delve into this realm, lets first continue our discussion of
digital signal channels and the Internet.
Packet-Switching
Last lesson, we discussed circuit-switching and its applications. There is another way to transmit
serial digital data, which is commonly used. This method used by the Internet and is called
packet switching. Packet switching is significantly different from the circuit switching approach
previously discussed. Packet switching packages all transmitted data into small blocks (i.e.,
packets) which are placed on a shared network of resources. These packets are placed into
streams of data with other packages and forwarded down the line. At each node of the network
(these nodes can be network adapters, switches, routers, etc.) the packet is placed in line. When
it gets to the front of the line, the node determines the best route for the packet based on its
destination and overall network traffic.
Although packet switching does not support a constant bit transfer rate like circuit switching, it
does offer the following advantages:
- network nodes are constantly monitoring traffic loads to make sure that communication
channels are used effectively,
- packets are routed to their location as fast as possible instead of waiting on a constant
(perhaps, slow for data) bit rate, and
- improved robustness (some data recovery is possible using error checking) of the overall
network.
For example, if undersea, cross-Atlantic phone lines are damaged, the number of circuits that can
handle international phone calls is significantly reduced. When the cross-Atlantic Internet
backbone is damaged (due to earthquakes, foreign objects, erosion, etc.), Internet traffic is
simply rerouted through Asian Pacific network nodes. The packets take longer to arrive (i.e.,
increased latency) but they do arrive at their destination.
The downside of packet switching is the amount of overhead that must be added to each packet
of information. The picture at the top of the next page shows how a basic Internet packet is built.
Every single packet of data (which can be 46 to 1,500 bytes) has 18 bytes of routing information
added to it to tell the network nodes where to send the data.
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
232

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/13/Ethernet_Type_II_Frame_format.svg/1000px-Ethernet_Type_II_Frame_format.svg.png

These frames of data are not only vulnerable to interception, but also to spoofing and corruption.
The Department of Defense is aware of the constant threat (foreign and domestic) to our
networks (information systems), which we rely so heavily upon to perform our mission. This is
why cyberspace has become the newest domain and an integral part of our mission statement.
Cyberspace
There are many definitions of cyberspace. Cyberspace has become the forefront of consideration
when it comes to military operations. Cyberspace is defined as a domain characterized by the
use of electronics and the electromagnetic spectrum to store, modify, and exchange data via
networked systems and associated physical infrastructures. " National Military Strategy for
Cyberspace Operations, 2006. The Joint Publication 1-02 further defines cyberspace operations
as the employement of cyber capabilities where the primary purpose is to achieve military
objectives or effects in or through cyberspace. Such operations include computer network
operations and acitivites to operate and defend the Global Information Grid (GIG). So what
does networked systems and physical infrastructures mean? Does it just mean using the Internet?
What is a GIG? Is there a difference between information and data? As an Air Force officer, it
is essential to at least have a basic understanding of what encompasses cyberspace and
cyberspace operations, and to know the answers to these questions. Hopefully, we can help
provide that understanding in this lesson.
Lets first define the difference between the Internet and the GIG. In accordance with the
Internet World Stats webpage, run by the Miniwatts marketing group, 78% of Americans use the
Internet. It is the largest open information source there is to date. No need to own a set of
encyclopedias anymore you dont know something, just Google it! However, the United
States Department of Defense uses their own communications network, different than the
Internet: the GIG. The GIG is defined in DoDD 8000.01 as a globally interconnected, end-to-
end set of information capabilities for collecting, processing, storing and disseminating, and
managing information on demand to warfighters, policy makers, and support personnel. The
management and oversight of the GIG is accomplished by USCYBERCOM (United States
Cyber Command), which is subordinate to the United States Strategic Command
(USSTRATCOM). The GIG is intended to be available at all military installations or deployed
sites and interfaced with non-GIG systems. It includes computers, network cables and processors,
and application programs which fall into the networked systems and physical infrastructure
category. All with the intent of guarding our information.
So, is there a difference between information and data? Many people use these terms
interchangeably. However, there is a slight difference. Data refers to the low-level digital
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
233
signals that tend to be time-sensitive but disorganized.
2
When we organize the data in a logical
way, it becomes information.
What we have learned thus far is that data containing information is transferred/stored on the
GIG to allow the military to access and process information for mission accomplishment.
Obviously, this data needs to be protected. The following terms are commonly used when
describing system characteristics and safeguards to lower our risk of attack:

Term Definition
Confidentiality Confidentiality strives to allow information
access to only authorized individuals.
Encryption One way of protecting against unauthorized
access is through encryption. Encryption uses
a key to scramble information using a
mathematical function. Scrambled data is
referred to as ciphertext.
Integrity When one refers to system integrity, they mean
to describe the systems ability to prevent
unauthorized data modification.
Availability Availability refers to the accessibility to the
hardware or software application of a computer
system. Your Common Access Card (CAC) is
one method which is used to restrict
availability.
Authentication How can your verify the identity of a person on
the network? Digital signatures and trusted
certificates are two ways to authenticate
someones identity. Proper identification is
essentitial for granting access of information to
authorized individuals.
Attribution Attribution refers to the action of finding the
point of origin of data access. The Internet
operates on inherently unauthenticated
protocols.
1





2
Jabbour, 50 Cyber Questions Every Airman Can Answer
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
234
Dr. Kamal Jabbour, the author of 50 Cyber Questions Every Airman Can Answer, discusses in
his article the importance of information operations in cyberspace in relation to mission success,
the different categories of information operations, and some of the terms and common defense
we use to protect information. His articles details many aspects of Cyber, and can be found of
the course website for further reading.

References

Jabbour, Kamal T., PhD. 50 Cyber Questions Every Airman Can Answer. 2008.

Fahrenkrug, David T. Lt Col. Cyberspace Defined. The Wright Stuff, Air University, 17 May
07

Jabbour, Kamal T., PhD. The Science and Technology of Cyber Operations. High Frontier. Vol.
5, No. 3. pp. 11

National Security Agency, Central Security Service Website. Information Assurance.
http://www.nsa.gov/ia/programs/global_industry_grid/index.shtml


ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
235
Lesson 21 Homework

17. What is the data overhead (in bytes) of sending the following packet sizes using an Ethernet
Type II frame? (Hint: refer to the Ethernet Type II frame in the reading)
a. 46 bytes




b. 500 bytes




c. 5,000 bytes




18. Identify one advantage and one disadvantage each of using circuit switching and packet
switching to transmit digital data. Why do telecommunication companies use circuit
switching for voice calls and packet switching for data transmission?





19. Your cell phone plan charges you differently depending on the services. Which type of
digital communications is probably being used for each?
a. Voice: $0.10/minute Circuit Switching / Packet Switching
b. Data: $0.10/MByte Circuit Switching / Packet Switching


ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
236
20. Which term describes a systems ability to prevent unauthorized data modification?
a. Authentication
b. Integrity
c. Attribution
d. Availability

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
237
Block III Overview

Lessons 25-27
Modulation/Demodulation
Lessons 29-31
Antennas/Wireless Comm
Lessons 32-33
Radar
Lesson 34
GPS


ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
238



















(Intentionally Left Blank)

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
239
Lesson 25 Modulation
Learning Outcomes
1. Understand why we modulate signals.
2. Know the three basic types of modulation and understand the difference between them.
3. Given a modulated signals waveform, determine if it is AM, FM, or PM.
4. Know that FM is far more immune to noise than AM.
5. Understand that a function multiplier is a vital building block of modulation.
6. Graph the output of a function multiplier in the time domain for a single cosine term
multiplied by a carrier signal.
7. Determine the output equation for a function multiplier for a sum of cosine terms multiplied
by a carrier signal.
8. Graph the output of a function multiplier in the frequency domain.
9. Understand that function multipliers can be used to place signals at specific places in the
spectrum.
10. Understand why we filter a message signal before modulating.
11. Graph the output of a given FDM system.

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
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Lesson 25 Modulation
Without any technological assistance, our ability to communicate over a given distance is limited
by how loud we can speak. If we wanted to talk to someone next to us, we could use a normal
conversational volume. However, if we wanted to talk to someone on the other side of Mitchell
Hall, we would need to yell fairly loud to get their attention. As the communication distance
increases, we would need to become louder and louder in order to be heard.
But, what if we wanted to talk to someone many miles away, or deliver information without
sending a messenger?
Whether you want to relax and listen to music from your favorite radio station, or whether your
life depends on maintaining a tactical communication link during a battle with enemy forces,
modulation plays a key role. You will never understand how communication systems (radio,
satellites, optical fiber links, even the dial-up modem or network card in your computer) operate
if you dont have at least a basic understanding of modulation.
Another advantage of modulation is that it allows us to transmit more than one signal over a
single communications channel. A single telephone line can carry both voice and computer data
because the two signals use different frequencies for modulation. Similarly, many radio stations
can serve the same area because their signals use different frequencies for modulation.
Why should you care? Most likely, you wont be designing or building transmitters any time
soon. Yet, even if youre only operating a communication system of some kind, a basic
understanding of how it works can be a great help; it might even save your life someday.
In this lesson, we will discuss the basic principles of modulation.
Types of Modulation
What is modulation? To modulate simply means to change something in some way. In electrical
engineering, what do we modulate? Well, we normally modulate a sinusoidal signal called the
carrier signal. Why? In its new form, it will be more useful or suitable for the intended
application. How do we change it? Look at the generalized equation of a sinusoidal carrier signal
shown below.

()

)
Typically, you change either the amplitude, the frequency, or the phase of the sinusoidal carrier
in such a way that the information (i.e., voice, music, video, targeting coordinates, intel report,
etc.) becomes part of the modulated carrier, v
out
(t).

()

()(

()

())
The basic modulation types are:
- Amplitude modulation (AM) information carried in the signal by varying


- Frequency modulation (FM) information carried in the signal by varying


- Phase modulation (PM) information carried in the signal by varying


where,
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
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Variable Meaning
A
C

Amplitude of the carrier
f
C

Frequency of the carrier

C

Phase shift of the carrier
We are most familiar with AM and FM terminology because of the radios in our cars. Lets take
a look at how AM is different from FM by looking at time-domain waveforms.

The system that created these modulated signals is depicted in the following block diagram. The
input, v
m
(t), is the voice or data signal (message) that we want to send. The carrier, v
c
(t), will be
modified by v
m
(t) depending on the type of modulation. The output of the modulator would be
v
FM
(t) (message carried in the frequency) in the case of an FM modulator, or v
AM
(t) (message
carried in the amplitude) in the case of an AM modulator. The difference between the outputs of
the two different modulation schemas is evident and directly connected to the name of the
modulator. Of course, to the listener the most noticeable difference when listening to an AM
radio versus an FM radio is the noise. In general, noise affects the amplitude of a signal. Since
the message in an AM signal is contained entirely in the amplitude, AM signals are very
susceptible to noise. For FM signals, however, the message is contained in the frequency and
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
242
not the amplitude. Even if the amplitude of an FM signal is affected by a noisy environment,
such as a lightning storm, this noise is effectively thrown away during the demodulation process.
Modulator
v
m
(t)
v
c
(t)
v
modulated
(t)

Along with FM, PM signals are also far more immune to noise than AM. You may be less
familiar with PM; however, it is used extensively with cell phones. PM is based on the signals
rate of change (or slope). The highest frequency in the PM signal occurs when the message has
the steepest positive slope. The lowest frequency occurs where the message has the steepest
negative slope. The graphs below compare the output of an FM modulator compared with a PM
demodulator. And yes, PM is very similar to FM!

In each of these graphs, the message displayed is a sinusoid. However, the message signal will
vary depending on the application. In general, there are two types of messages: analog and
digital. When an analog signal is modulated, we call that analog modulation. In contrast, when
a digital signal is modulated, we call it you guessed it digital modulation. In this and the
next lesson, we will focus on analog modulation.
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Function Multiplier
The function multiplier is an electronic function (modulator in this case) that produces an output
signal equal to the product of the input signals. When radio frequency (RF) signals are used, this
device is also known as a mixer. The function multiplier is different than the scalar multiplier
discussed earlier with transducer interfaces because the output of the scalar multiplier is a scaled
version of the input. However, the output of the function multiplier is a signal whose shape
follows the product of the input functions. Keep in mind that the units do not multiply, so the
product of two voltage signals will have units of volts also. The figure below depicts a diagram
of a function multiplier.
v
1
(t)
v
2
(t)
v
out
(t) = v
1
(t) x v
2
(t)


If the message was a pure sinusoid,

() (

1 ) , and the carrier was also


a sinusoid,

() (

) , the output would look like the signal below in


the time domain.

Modulated
signal
Message
Carrier

Notice that the output has the same frequency as the carrier; however, the amplitude varies as the
message changes over time. This tells us that the function multiplier is used in amplitude
modulation.
Two important facts to note with function multipliers:
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
244
1. The carrier frequency is ALWAYS much higher than the message frequency.
2. The carrier is ALWAYS a sinusoid; however, the message could be any analog or digital
signal its the information you want to communicate!
So mathematically speaking, how would we represent the result of two signals multiplied in the
time domain? Easy, right? It is nothing more than

()

(

)
where the m subscript denotes the message and the c subscript denotes the carrier. However,
when the two functions to be multiplied are cosines, we must apply a special equation:

)

1

)
1

)
This equation looks both scary and complicated, but it really isnt. In general terms, the answer
is:

( )

( )
There is one clarification in terms of units. Notice that the units of the result is volts and not
volts-squared. A function multiplier multiples the value of one voltage by the value of a second
voltage. The output voltage is equal to the product of the two input values. For example, if the
input signals were 300 mV and 500 mV, then the output would be 150 mV, since
1 1

Example Problem: A function multiplier is used to multiply a sinusoidal message signal,

() ( 1) by a carrier signal,

() ( 1) . What is the
resulting output signal, V
out
(t)?
v
M
(t)
v
C
(t)
v
out
(t)

Big Picture: We simply need to multiply the two functions together.
Key Issues: Keep track of what parts in the V
out
(t) equation will be affected by the inputs.
Analysis: lets look at the two cosine terms we need to multiply:

() ()

() ()
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245
The amplitude of the message is A
M
= 3 V, and the frequency of the message is f
M
= 1 kHz.
The amplitude of the carrier is A
C
= 2 V, and the frequency of the carrier is f
C
= 100 kHz.
To find the solution, we first need to find:


Now we need to find the difference and sum of the two frequencies:

1 1

1 1
We now put the solution in the form of

( ( ) )

( ( ) )
Therefore,

() ( ) ( )
Answer: The output of the function multiplier is the function:

() ( ) ( 11)

For the example above, what would the output signal look like in the time domain? The output
of the function multiplier can be broken down into the following steps:
1. Draw the message on the graph using dashed lines.
2. Set your amplitude to (A
C
* A
M
), and mark the period of the message signal.

t, ms
6
-6
1
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
246
Draw its reflection about the x-axis using dashed lines.

3. Color in the carrier frequency between the two lines. The dashed lines are called the
envelope, and are used as a guideline to better draw the changes in amplitude of the carrier.



Carrier period = 10 usec
Many times the carrier frequency will be difficult to draw accurately. When in doubt about the
exact scaling of your plot, make sure that the period of the message and the period of the carrier
are both either depicted on the plot or listed.
Your next question might be how does this translate to the frequency domain? Remember the
output equation:

() ( ) ( )
There are only 2 moving parts to consider in each cosine term, amplitude and frequency, which
are the bolded numbers shown. Just plot each signal separately in the frequency domain!

t, ms
1
6
-6
t, ms
1
6
-6
v
out
(t), V
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247







Notice that the the message is contained in frequencies symetrical about the carrier frequency,
100kHz. So essentially, we can change the carrier frequency to move the signal to another spot
on the frequency spectrum. The more general form is shown below for a single cosine message.
|v
out
(f)|, V
0 f
c
-f
m
f
c
+f
m


FDM System
In order to send two or more signals simultaneously within the same channel, we consider two
options. First, a signal can be sent at any frequency, but only during specified time intervals. This
is called Time Division Multiplexing (TDM), which we discussed last block. Second, a signal
can be sent at any time, but only in a specified frequency range. This is Frequency Division
Multiplexing (FDM).
FDM is a multiplexing technique used in analog telephone communications, FM stereo, space
vehicle telemetry, and many other applications. In FDM, several independent signals are
simultaneously transmitted on one channel by allocating each signal a unique band of the
available frequency spectrum. Many times the signal will need to be filtered to restrict its
bandwidth over the frequency spectrum to prevent interference with other signals. The signals
shown in the frequency domain below are from three local Colorado Springs FM radio stations.
Notice that each signal has its own unique center frequency. This is an example of FDM.




ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
248
Breaking this process down, FDM involves band-limiting the input signals, moving their spectra,
and combining these into one composite signal. In general, an FDM signal is generated from any
number of input signals (i.e., two or more) by translating each one to a unique frequency band.
The translated signals are then added together creating the composite FDM signal whose
amplitude spectrum consists of the non-overlapping, frequency translated spectrum of all the
signals. Your basic FDM system is shown on the next page.

To guarantee no overlap of spectra at the output of the adder, the input signals to the multipliers
must not contain frequencies higher than the FDM system allows. This is accomplished by low
pass filters with cutoff frequencies set to the highest desired frequency of the input signal.

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249
Example Problem: Two music signals are multiplexed according to the system below. Graph
the output signal in the frequency domain.

Big Picture: We are multiplexing signals in the frequency domain (two signals on the same
graph).
Key Issues: We dont mean to be confusing, but please realize we are using f
C
to mean two
different things in this system. For the filters, f
C
means the cutoff frequency. For the signals
coming into the function multipliers, f
C
means carrier frequency.
Analysis: Lets look at the first signal and what happens when it passes through the filter. Since
f
C
=15 kHz, everything to the right of 15 kHz will be killed. Therefore, the signal coming out of
the filter will be:

For the second signal, the filter will also kill all frequencies greater than 15 kHz:

Everything else we do is the same as the previous problem. We shift the first signal by 120 kHz,
then draw its mirror image. Next, we shift the second signal by 155 kHz and draw its mirror
image. Because of the filters, though, the resulting signals no longer interfere with each other.
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
250
Answer: The output signal for the multiplexing system is shown in the following graph:






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251
Lesson 25 Homework

1. In frequency modulation
a. The frequency of the carrier changes
b. The frequency of the message changes
c. The amplitude of the carrier changes
d. The amplitude of the message changes

2. T / F. The message is typically a higher frequency than the carrier.

3. Given the following message and carrier signals,
v
M
(t) = 2 cos(360 7k t) V
v
C
(t) = 4 cos(360 205k t) V
a. What is the output of the function multiplier, V
out
(t)?





b. Graph the output in the time domain:







ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
252

4. Graph the output in Problem 3 in the frequency domain.











5. Given the following message and carrier signal, graph the output in the frequency domain:
v(t) = 12cos(3601kt) + 8cos(3602kt) + 15cos(3604kt) + 2cos(3607kt) mV
v
C
(t) = 4cos(360205kt) V










6. Given the following spectra, what is V
out
(t)?
f, kHz
|v
out
(f)|, V
2 2
0 97 99 101 103
3 3


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253

7. Graph the output of the multiplexer in the frequency domain. What is the bandwidth of
V
out
(t)?























8. T / F. Modulation allows us to transmit more than one signal over a single
communications channel.

9. What kind of modulation does the following signal use?
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
254



10. T / F. FM signals are more susceptible to noise than AM signals.

11. Why do we add low pass filters to an FDM system? How do we select the cutoff
frequencies for these LPFs?


0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2
-15
-10
-5
0
5
10
15
t, s
V
o
u
t
(
t
)
,

V
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255
Lesson 26 Amplitude Modulation
Learning Outcomes
1. Understand that a function multiplier is used to produce a simple AM signal.
2. Understand that the message signal is contained in the envelope of an AM signal.
3. Understand the effect of adding bias to a message signal.
4. Graph a message signal with bias in the time domain.
5. Graph the output signal of an AM modulator in the time domain.
6. Determine the modulation index for a given modulation system.
7. Graph a message signal with bias in the frequency domain.
8. Graph the output signal of an AM modulator in the frequency domain.
9. Determine the bandwidth of an AM signal.

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
256
Lesson 26 - Amplitude Modulation
Amplitude modulation (AM) is the easiest type of modulation to understand and visualize. Once
you are familiar with AM, all types of modulation will make more sense to you. As discussed in
the previous lesson, given some sinusoidal carrier, we will vary the carrier amplitude A
c
while
holding the frequency f
c
and phase
c
constant. Thus, if the varying carrier amplitude is A
c
(t),
then the carrier equation becomes

()

() (

)
This modulated signal can then be transmitted over long distances. To perform this type of
modulation, we use a function multiplier.
In this lesson, we will continue to discuss modulation by focusing on amplitude modulation and
its various design considerations.
Amplitude Modulator
The function multiplier is considered a "bare-bones" AM modulator. As a review from the
previous reading, the following diagram shows the basic block diagram and the input and output
signals.
Modulated
signal
Message
Carrier

As you might recall, this function multiplier just "multiplies" point-by-point in the time domain.
For example, at time t = 0, the message amplitude (lets call it A
m
) equals 2 V, the carrier
amplitude (lets call it A
c
) equals 3 V, and the resulting modulated carrier amplitude (lets call it
A
AM
) equals 2V 3V = 6V. Likewise at t = 0.5 ms, A
m
= 2 V, A
c
= 3 V, and thus A
AM
= 6 V.
What would you expect A
AM
to equal at t = 0.25 ms, when the message equals 0 V? The point
t = 0.25 ms highlights an interesting result. At any point where the message signal changes its
sign from positive to negative (or the other way around), the modulated carrier must also
instantaneously change its sign (in other words it must instantaneously change its phase by 180)!
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
257
As we will discuss next lesson, it is relatively difficult to demodulate the message from such a
transmission. Is there a simple way to keep the message signal from changing its sign? There is!
We just use an adder before the function multiplier (see block diagram below). Suppose we
desire to keep the message from ever going negative. Then, all we need to do is add a positive
DC voltage (i.e., a constant voltage over time) to the message that is equal to or larger than the
most negative voltage of the message (+V
DC
> A
m
). As you might recall, we call this DC voltage
the bias (B).
Carrier

Modulated
signal
Message
Bias

To understand the effect of bias, let's say the message signal v
M
(t) = 2cos(3602kt) V is input
into the following amplitude modulator. We will start with a bias of 1 V, and then change it to 2
V and then to 3 V, then graph the output signal, v
AM
, in the time domain for each.
f
C
= 590 kHz
A
C
= 2 V

v
AM v
M
B

First, we come to a summer which adds a bias voltage. Lets graph the output of the summer for
each of the three cases. Since our message frequency is 2 kHz, the period of the message is 500
sec.
Lets start with the case where the bias is 1 V. The graph of the message signal is:
t, s
v
M
(t)+B, V
3
-1
500
Bias = 1V
o =2

The amplitude of our message signal is 2 V, which means it varies from 2 V to -2V. By adding a
bias of 1 V, we shift the entire signal up, so that it alternates between 3 V and -1 V, as shown.
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
258
Now is a good time to introduce a few new terms. The first of these is modulation index (o)
which is given by the equation:


In this equation, A
M
is the amplitude of the message signal (2 V) and B is the bias voltage (1 V).
Therefore, our modulation index is

1

By definition, whenever > 1, then our output signal will be overmodulated. Realize that if we
did not include the adder in our design, the output signal would always be overmodulated. Well
explain why this is important later. Notice in the graph above that part of the signal still drops
below the x-axis. This is another indication that the output signal will be overmodulated.
Now lets look at the case where the bias is 2 V:
t, s
v
M
(t)+B, V
4
500
Bias = 2V
o =1

Weve now shifted the original curve up to the point where it just touches the x-axis. This will
always occur when the bias equals the amplitude of the message signal. Accordingly, the
modulation index is:

1
Whenever = 1, we will have an output signal that is 100% modulated. This case occurs when
the message just barely touches the x-axis. Finally, we have the case where the bias is 3 V:
t, s
v
M
(t)+B, V
5
500
Bias = 3V
o = 0.667
1

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
259
Our signal now varies from 5 V to 1 V, with none of the signal dropping below or touching the
x-axis. Our modulation index in this case is


When < 1, our output signal will be undermodulated. Undermodulation occurs when the
message signal is entirely above the x-axis.
Why do we care whether a signal is under-, over-, or 100% modulated? It all comes down to
demodulation. If we have an overmodulated signal, then we have to use the more expensive
modulator. If the signal is 100% modulated or undermodulated, however, we can use the
cheaper demodulator. Hopefully, this will make more sense after the next lesson.
Now lets start graphing the output. We do this by first sketching the message signal and its
reflection about the x-axis as a dashed line. Well use the case where the bias is 1 V as our
example:
t, s
v
envelope
(t), V
500

Next, we draw the carrier signal between these envelopes and then label the y-axis:
t, s
v
AM
(t), V
500
6
-2
-6
2


ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
260
Notice that the dashed line representing the message varies from 6 V to -2 V. Why is this? Lets
look at the maximum and minimum values of the message as it flows through the modulation
system:
f
C
= 590 kHz
A
C
= 2 V

V
AM
V
M
B = 1 V
2 V
-2 V -1 V
3 V 6 V
-2 V

When we start, our message has an amplitude of 2 V, which means it varies from 2 V to -2 V.
When we pass through the summer, however, we add 1 V of bias, so our signal now varies from
3 V to -1 V. Finally, we pass through the function multiplier where our biased message is
multiplied by a carrier signal. Since the amplitude of the carrier signal is 2 V, we simply
multiply 3 V and -1 V by 2, giving us 6 V and -2 V.
Lets do this same thing for the case where the bias is 2 V. This case represents a 100%
modulated output since B = A
M
( 1)

f
C
= 590 kHz
A
C
= 2 V

V
AM
V
M
B = 2 V
2 V
-2 V 0 V
4 V 8 V
0 V

Following the same steps for graphing, the output, v
AM
(t), looks as shown:
t, s
500
8
0
-8
v
AM
(t), V

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
261
Finally, for the case in which the bias is 3 V, we have the following. Notice that this case
represents a undermodulated signal.
f
C
= 590 kHz
A
C
= 2 V

V
AM V
M
B = 3 V
2 V
-2 V 1 V
5 V 10 V
2 V

Therefore, the message envelope varies from 10 V to 2 V and the mirror image varies from -2 V
to -10 V. The output signal is therefore:
t, s
500
10
2
-10
v
AM
(t), V
-2

To summarize, the output signals for bias voltages of 1 V, 2 V, and 3 V are as follows:
t, s
v
AM
(t), V
500
6
-2
-6
2

t, s
500
8
0
-8
v
AM
(t), V

t, s
500
10
2
-10
vAM(t), V
-2

o


Overmodulated
o


100% modulated
o


Undermodulated
Notice the effect the bias has on the output signals. In the first signal, the two envelopes overlap.
As more bias is added, however, the envelopes are pulled apart until by the last signal, they are
no longer touching. At 100% modulation and for undermodulated signals, the phase change of
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
262
the carrier does not occur; therefore, it is easier to demodulate, and we can use a cheaper
demodulator.
Now, let's take a look at the frequency domain and see how the signal is affected when bias is
added. Looking back at the same system (using a 2V bias) and input, heres the graph of our
message signal in the frequency domain:
f, kHz
|v
m
(f)+B|, V
2
0 2
2

Note that the bias appears at 0 Hz! When we add a bias signal, we are adding a DC voltage to
our message. If the voltage level doesnt change, its period is infinitely long and its frequency is
zero. Another way to remember this is to ask how you would write 2 V as a cosine term:

() (1) ()
Next, we multiply this signal (message + bias) by our carrier signal, which has an amplitude of 2
V and a frequency of 590 kHz. Multiplying by the bias is a little tricky, so well solve this
problem one spike at a time, starting with the easy one. The spike at 2 kHz has an amplitude of 2
V and a frequency of 2 kHz. The necessary calculations are:


Graphing this result gives us:
f, kHz
|v
AM
(f)|, V
2
0 588 592
2

Now, lets use this same process for our bias spike at 0 kHz.


ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
263


Notice that we have a spike of 2 V at 590 kHz plus a second spike of 2 V at 590 kHz. If we add
these spikes together, we get a single spike of 4 V, located at the carrier frequency. Whenever
we have a bias, we will have a spike at the carrier frequency. Always. Simplifying, we could
determine the height of the spike at the carrier by calculating A
c
*B. The derivation of the final
graph is shown below:
f, kHz
|v
AM
(f)|, V
0
f
c
- f
m
A
C
B
AcAm
2
f
c
+ f
m
f
c
AcAm
2

f, kHz
|v
AM
(f)|, V
2
0 588 592
4
590
2

From this graph you can easily calculate the bandwidth of the AM signal:
BW = f
high
- f
low
= 592 kHz - 588 kHz = 4 kHz
Or, you can realize, that the bandwidth ALWAYS equates to twice the highest frequency of
message signal!
So, how does the equation of the output change? Lets look at this mathematically. Multiplying
the inputs of the function multiplier yields this expression:

() (

) ) (

))
Multiplying through simplifies to:

()

)
We know the first part:

))

))
Substituting this result into the equation above:

()

))

))

)

Notice that the amplitudes and frequencies correspond to the amplitudes and frequencies of our
graph!


ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
264
Example Problem: The message signal v
M
(t) = cos(360 10kt) V is input into the following
AM modulator. If the bias is 2 V, graph the output signal, v
AM
, in the time and frequency domain,
and identify the type of modulation (under-, 100% or overmodulated).
f
C
= 1 MHz
A
C
= 4 V

v
AM
(t) v
M
(t)
B = 2 V

Big Picture: We are adding bias to our signal before using a function generator to modulate it
into v
AM
(t).
Key Issues: The major difficulty in this problem is understanding how the amplitude changes as
you follow the signal through the block diagram, from left to right, for graphing in the time
domain, and understanding that bias is 0 Hz when graphing in the frequency domain. The type
of modulation can be determined by calculating the modulation index.
Analysis: Like we did before, well solve by working from left to right. First, following the
signal through the block diagram, record the amplitude changes.
f
C
= 1 MHz
A
C
= 4 V

B = 2 V
1 V
-1 V 1 V
3 V 12 V
4 V
v
M
(t) v
AM
(t)

If we draw the waveform after the bias has been added and then after its gone through the
function multiplier, we get the following two graphs:
v
M
(t)+B, V
t, s
3
100
1

t, s
100
12
4
-12
v
AM
(t), V
-4

Message Signal after Bias is added Modulated Signal
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
265
Lets go ahead and calculate the modulation index to see if the graph of the modulated signal
above makes sense:

1


Since o < 1, the modulated signal is undermodulated and therefore, the envelopes are completely
separated. Check!
Now, lets look at the frequency domain. Remember that we need to calculate what happens to
first the message component and then the bias when it goes through the function multiplier.

Message Component Bias Component

1 1

1 1 11

1 1

1 1


When we plot this along the frequency spectrum, we get two 2 V sidebands at 990 kHz and 1.01
MHz and an 8 V carrier (because two 4 V components are at the same location) at 1 MHz:
f, MHz
|v
AM
(f)|, V
2
0 0.99 1.01
8
1
2

Answer: The signal is undermodulated with time, and frequency plot is shown above.







ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
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Lesson 26 Homework
1. For an AM modulator, how does changing the amplitude of the bias affect the output
waveform and the output amplitude spectrum?



2. For an AM modulator, why would a question that asked about changing the frequency of
the bias be a nonsense question?





3. The message signal v
M
(t) = 7cos(360 5kt) V is input into the following AM modulator.


a. What is the modulation index for this system?





b. Will the output signal be under-, over-, or 100% modulated?





ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
267
c. Graph the message signal in the time domain after the bias has been added.







d. Graph the output signal in the time domain.








4. The bias in the previous problem is increased to 8 V. Determine the following:
a. What is the modulation index for this system?





b. Will the output signal be under-, over-, or 100% modulated?



ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
268
5. A message signal is input into an AM modulator as shown.

a. Graph the message signal in the frequency domain after the bias has been added.





b. Graph the output signal in the frequency domain.







c. What is the bandwidth of the output signal?




ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
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6. Given the following message signal for an AM modulator, determine a positive voltage bias
value to yield a maximum modulation of 80%.













7. T/F In an AM signal, the message is contained in both the envelope of the signal and
the frequency of the carrier.



ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
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(Intentionally Left Blank)


ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
271
Lesson 27 Demodulation
Learning Outcomes
1. Understand the engineering trade-off between modulation index and power efficiency when
designing an AM modulation system.
2. Understand that an envelope detector can only demodulate under- or 100% modulated AM
signals.
3. Understand the function of each of the three components (diode, LPF, and HPF) of an
envelope detector.
4. Given an AM modulator that produces an under- or 100% modulated AM signal, design an
envelope detector to recover the original message.
5. Understand that a synchronous detector can be used to demodulate any AM signal.
6. Understand the function of each of the three components (function multiplier, LPF, and HPF)
of a synchronous detector.
7. Given an AM modulator, design a synchronous detector to recover the original message.
8. Given an AM signal and a demodulator (either synchronous or envelope), graph the output of
the demodulator.



ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
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Lesson 27 - Demodulation
Weve spent the last two lessons talking about modulating signals to prepare them for
transmission. Today, well take a look at the other end of the line - demodulating the signals to
recover the original information. We will also look at the different trade-offs that are made when
choosing how to modulate and demodulate a signal.
Transducer
Interface
Modulator amplifier demodulator amplifier
Transducer
Interface
Transmit
Antenna
Receive
Antenna
Transmitter
Receiver

Modulation Efficiency
Last lesson, we introduced the concept of adding a bias signal to our message before sending the
message through a function multiplier. We compared the waveforms and spectra for three
different modulation indexes (using the same message and biases of 0 V, 4 V, and 6 V,
respectively, assuming that A
c
= 1 V), as shown below. You can see that as we add more bias to
our message, the envelopes of the time-domain waveform draw apart until they are completely
separated for modulation indexes less than 1. At the same time, a frequency component appears
in the spectrum at the carrier frequency that grows larger as we increase the amount of bias
added. The signals on the far left and far right are examples of two classes of amplitude
modulation:
- Double sideband, suppressed carrier (DSB-SC): Information is carried in sidebands found
on either side of the carrier signal. Signal power is split evenly between the two
sidebands.
- Double sideband, large carrier (DSB-LC): Information is carried in sidebands found on
either side of the carrier signal. Signal power is split between the two sidebands AND
the carrier frequency.
t, s
v
AM
(t), V
4
-4

Envelopes touch
t, s
500
8
0
-8
v
AM
(t), V

t, s
500
10
2
-10
v
AM
(t), V
-2
Envelopes completely
separated

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
273
f, kHz
|vAM(f)|, V
2
0 588 592 590
2

f, kHz
|vAM(f)|, V
2
0 588 592
4
590
2

f, kHz
|vAM(f)|, V
2
0 588 592
6
590
2

o
Overmodulated

o = 1
100% modulated

o = 0.667
Undermodulated

In order to understand how efficient AM is, we need to determine what part of the signals is
useful power and what part is wasted power. As we can see above, the sidebands hold our
original information (and are therefore useful) while the component at the carrier frequency is
simply there because we pumped more power into our AM signal by adding a bias. So when we
speak of the efficiency of AM modulation, , we are referring to the ratio of the power
transmitted in the sidebands to the total power transmitted in the AM signal. Note that is
always defined in terms of power, not voltage - be careful! We can calculate directly from the
known power values by:







Recall that power can be easily calculated by squaring the voltage and dividing by the resistance
(

). To simplify our power calculations, we usually normalize resistance, which means


we set R = 1. Thus, a sinusoids power is simply proportional to the square of its voltage
signals amplitude. If we apply this principle and substitude

into the equation above, we


find a simple equation for AM (really, its that simple):


While the first equation is valid for any type of message signal, keep in mind that the simplified
equation is only valid for a message that consists of a single sinusoid. This type of sinusoidal
message is called a test tone by radio engineers and is most commonly heard when the federal
Emergency Alert System is tested. Since its still a pretty good estimate, we will use the simple
equation to calculate AM efficiency in this course.
Note that the efficiency of DSB-SC is always 100% (do you know why?). For DSB-LC, the best
efficiency is when = 1 (recall > 1 is not allowed); in this case = 0.33 or equivalently 33%.
This means that 67% of the transmitted power is wasted in the carrier frequency component! So
why do most AM radio stations opt to use DSB-LC for their signals? Well, it comes down to
what kind of demodulator you want to use to retrieve your message.
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
274
Demodulation - Envelope Detector
Lets look at an undermodulated AM signal again. Weve added enough bias to our message
that the signal entering the function multiplier is completely positive. This means that the
resulting AM signal has completely separate envelopes AND that the original message can be
easily retrieved if we can grab the upper envelope.
t, s
500
v
AM
(t), V
Envelopes completely
seperated
Demodulator
t, s
v
M
(t), V

So what do we need to eliminate in the AM signal above to get our message back? Well, just
looking at the picture, we need to get rid of the fast changing carrier signal, the negative
envelope, and the bias. The device that accomplishes these tasks is called an envelope detector.
An envelope detector consists of a diode, a low pass filter, and a high pass filter. As was
discussed in AC to DC conversion, a diode is simply an electronic component that acts as a one-
way street for current. The diode used in an envelope detector allows just the positive part of the
signal to pass through it. An AM signal, V
AM
(t), arrives at the input to the diode. The diode
blocks the negative portion of the AM signal producing the signal, V
R
(t). V
R
(t) carries only the
envelope on the positive portion of the carrier. This process is called rectification in electrical
engineering.
V
R
(t), which contains both high and low frequency components in its spectrum, is filtered
through the low pass filter, which results in an offset signal that has the same shape as the
positive envelope of V
R
(t). The low pass filter eliminates the high frequency part of V
R
(t) and
passes only the low frequency part of V
R
(t). This low frequency part corresponds to the AM
envelope which has a shape similar to the original information signal. The high pass filter is used
to eliminate the component of the low pass filtered version of V
R
(t) which has a frequency of 0
Hz (this corresponds to the original bias, B, that was added to the message before modulation to
ensure that o s 1). The final result is a signal which looks very much like the original message
signal V
m
(t). In this way, the envelope detector demodulates and recovers the original
information signal.
This signal progression is shown pictorially on the next page.
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
275
LPF
HPF
positive envelope of v
R
(t), V
t, s
500
v
AM
(t), V
t, s
500
v
R
(t), V
t, s
v
m
(t), V
t, s

Consequently, we can demodulate our signal using very cheap parts if its 100%- or
undermodulated. In fact, during WWII, GIs were able build the radio below (which is basically
an envelope detector) from on-hand parts. We sacrifice efficiency in order to gain a cheap
solution to recovering our information.

http://www.wired.com/geekdad/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/fox3.jpg
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
276
Example Problem: A voice message is input into an AM modulator. The output of the
modulator is shown below. Design an AM demodulator to recover the message signal.
t, s
250
v
AM
(t), V
15
3
-15
-3

Big Picture: The message we want to recover is the upper envelope (dashed line) in the graph
above.
Key Issues: We need to remove the negative portion of the signal, the high frequency signal,
and the bias.
Analysis: The first step is easy - we can use a diode to remove the negative content, leaving us
with:
t, s
15
3
250

In order to kill the high frequency carrier signal, we need to pass this signal through a low pass
filter. So how do we figure out what cutoff frequency to use? Well, we know that we want to
keep the envelope but remove the higher frequencies. So lets figure out what frequency our
original message was:

1


So as long as we choose a cutoff frequency above 4 kHz, our detector will remove the high
frequency information, giving us:
t, s
15
3
250

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
277
Almost done - we simply need to remove the bias signal from the message. This step doesnt
require any calculations because we already know the frequency of a bias signal (DC = Dont
Change = 0 Hz). Since its always 0 Hz, we simply need a high pass filter with a cutoff greater
than 0.
Answer: The envelope detector below will successfully retrieve our original voice message.
LPF HPF
fc = 5 kHz fc = 10 Hz


Before we move on, lets quickly review what the three components in an envelope detector do:
- Diode: Kills the negative voltages
- Low pass filter: Kills the carrier
- High pass filter: Kills the bias
Also, we have two important rules:
- The cutoff frequency of the low pass filter will always be greater than the highest
frequency in the message.
- The cutoff frequency of the high pass filter will always be slightly greater than 0 Hz.
And the most important concept of all - envelope detectors DO NOT work for overmodulated
signals or DSB-SC modulation. They simply trace the upper envelope, and as you can see by the
example below, they definitely give you the wrong message back.
Envelope
Detector
t, s
v
M
(t), V
t, s
v
AM
(t), V
Message contained
in the envelope



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278
Demodulation - Synchronous Detection
So how do we demodulate DSB-SC signals? Well, well need to move to the frequency domain
to explain how our second demodulator, the synchronous detector, works. This approach is more
complicated than the envelope detector but the cool part is that it will work for all AM signals.
So we need a modulator that will handle the following scenario:
f, kHz
|v
AM
(f)|, V
0 80
2
77 83
3
Demodulator
f, kHz
|v
M
(f)|, V
0 3

Note that the input is an overmodulated signal even if you dont know what a triangle in the
frequency domain looks like in the time domain. First, look at the message amplitude its 4 V.
Why? Recall that the message amplitude is divided by 2 in the frequency domain because there
is a mirror image. Second, look at the bias voltage its 3 V. The modulation index, , is
simply the ratio between the message amplitude and the bias. That is,

1
Therefore, an envelope detector will not work for this signal.
So, conceptually, what do we need to do to the spectrum on the left to get it to look like the one
on the right? Well, we need to find a way to move the signal from being centered around 80 kHz
back down to baseband and we need to eliminate the bias term. The key to a synchronous
detector is the first step figuring out what signal to multiply the AM signal by, to allow us to
recover the message. It turns out, thanks to a trigonometric identity, that we simply multiply the
AM signal by the same frequency as the carrier frequency that was used to create the AM signal.
In case we havent mentioned it, this is very important (and somewhat interesting as well).
Lets start by looking at the AM signal itself:
f, kHz
|v
AM
(f)|, V
0 80
2
77 83
3
Message
Bias
Mirror Image
of Message

As shown in the above graph, the signal is a combination of a message signal, a bias spike, and a
mirror image of the message signal.
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
279
In an AM signal, a center spike (if present) will always be located at the carrier frequency.
Therefore, we can easily tell from this graph that the carrier signal was 80 kHz. We can also tell
that the original message was a triangle located from 0 to 3 kHz.
So, lets start by shifting the signal using a function multiplier with a frequency of 80 kHz and an
amplitude, A
c
= 2 V. What happens? Simple:
- The signal will be shifted to the right by 80 kHz (the carrier frequency)
- We will need to draw a mirror image of the signal, with 80 kHz as the center of reflection
f, kHz
|v
AM
(f)|, V
0 80
2
157 163
3
160

Nothing very surprising here. Instead of being centered at 80 kHz, it is now centered at 160 kHz
(80 kHz + 80 kHz). (Note: the amplitudes stay the same since we are conveniently using a
carrier frequency with an amplitude of 2 V.)
Now lets draw the mirror image. The shifted signal was found by adding 80 kHz to the signal.
The mirror image can be found by subtracting 80 kHz:
f, kHz
|v
AM
(f)|, V
0 80
2
157 163
3
160
2
3
-3 3
Message

Based on a trigonometric identity, the mirror image of the signal lands centered around 0 Hz.
This occurs because we are multiplying by the original carrier frequency. Notice also (and most
importantly) that the message signal, represented by a triangle, is exactly where we want it to be.
Theres actually one more thing that works in our favor in this system: theres no such thing as a
negative frequency. The portion of the signal that is shown between 0 and -3 kHz can actually
be added to the message between 0 and 3 kHz.
In case you care, this is because the cosine of a negative number is equal to the cosine of a
positive number:
() ()
If you dont care or dont understand, dont worry. The important point is that the negative
frequencies are really positive, which effectively doubles the amplitude of our desired message:
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
280
f, kHz
|v
AM
(f)|, V
0 80
2
157 163
3
160
4
3
3
Message

Of course, were not done yet. We still have a bias spike to kill and weve also added to our
problem with all of that stuff hovering around 160 kHz.
So how do we kill frequency content that we dont want? Filters! After passing through the
function multiplier, we send the signal through a low pass filter. Just as we did with the
envelope detector, we set the cutoff frequency of the low pass filter to be greater than the highest
frequency in the message signal. In this case, it will be f
C
= 4 kHz.
This filter will kill everything to the right of our message, giving us:
f, kHz
|v
AM
(f)|, V
0 80 160
4
3
3

Now all we have to do is kill the bias. Exactly as we did with the envelope detector, well do
this by passing the signal through a high pass filter with f
C
> 0 Hz. In this case, well use 10 Hz
again.
This returns us to our original message signal (although the amplitude may have changed).
So, our synchronous detector looks like this:
V
m
(t)
f
C
= 80 kHz
A
C
= 2V
LPF HPF
f
c/o
= 4 kHz f
c/o
= 10 Hz

Before we move on, lets quickly review the three components in a synchronous detector:
- Function multiplier: Moves the AM signal back down to baseband frequencies
- Low pass filter: Kills the added high frequency image added by the function
multiplier
- High pass filter: Kills the bias

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
281
We have two same rules as in the envelope detector:
- The cutoff frequency of the low pass filter will always greater than or equal to the
highest frequency in the message.
- The cutoff frequency of the high pass filter will always be slightly greater than 0 Hz.
Choosing AM Modulators and Demodulators
How do we choose which type of modulators and demodulators to use? Well, its an engineering
trade-off. Where do we want to invest technical complexity, cost, weight, power budget, etc.?
The key is whether we want to drive modulation index below 1 by pumping in extra power with
a bias signal. This drops our efficiency significantly but allows us to use the simpler envelope
detector as a receiver. If we need an efficient modulator, we have to keep our modulation index
high (DSB-SC is practically infinite) and will need to use the more expensive synchronous
detector to recover our message.
If we need a simple, low-power modulator, we can get away with just using a function multiplier
in the transmitter (in other words, use DSB-SC) but well need to have a full synchronous
detector in the receiver in order to recover the message. If we want to get our message out to GIs
sitting in foxholes building receivers with razor blades and pipe, we had better be willing to sink
extra power into our AM signal (DSB-LC) so they can use an envelope detector to retrieve the
message.




ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
282
Lesson 27 Homework
1. What is the purpose of the diode in an envelope detector?
a. Kill the bias
b. Kill the negative voltages
c. Kill the carrier

2. What is the purpose of the high pass filter in a synchronous detector?
a. Kill the bias
b. Kill the negative voltages
c. Kill the carrier

3. The message signal below is input into an AM modulator. Assuming the resulting AM
signal is 100% modulated, design an envelope detector to demodulate the signal.





ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
283
4. Given the following AM signal, design a synchronous detector to recover the message signal.














5. What is the output of the synchronous detector you designed in the last problem?












ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
284
6. A synchronous detector can be use to demodulate:
a. a DSB-LC signal
b. a DSB-SC signal
c. both signals
d. neither signal

7. An envelope detector can be use to demodulate:
a. a DSB-LC signal
b. a DSB-SC signal
c. both signals
d. neither signal

8. Given the following AM signal, answer the questions below. (Assume A
c
= 1 V.)


a. What is the modulation index, , of this signal?



b. What is the power efficiency, , of this signal?




c. Identify one pro and one con of increasing the modulation index to = 3.

V
AM
(f) , V
f, kHz
0 99 100 101
3 3
8
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
285
Lesson 29 Antennas
Learning Outcomes
1. Understand how a basic dipole antenna works.
2. Calculate the wavelength of an electromagnetic signal given the frequency and vice versa.
3. Understand that an antenna can transmit equally well as it can receive.
4. Given the carrier frequency of a signal, calculate the length of a dipole or monopole antenna
to be used for that signal.
5. Understand that antenna gain describes it ability to focus energy in a specific direction.
6. Calculate the gain of a parabolic dish.
7. Know the differences in gain between the three types of antennas.
8. Understand that more bandwidth is available in higher frequency carrier signals while lower
frequency signals travel further.
9. Know the advantages and disadvantages of the four types of communication channels.
10. Understand that waveguides act as high pass filters.
11. Calculate the cutoff frequency of a waveguide.

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
286
Lesson 29 - Antennas and Channels
If were willing to simplify the process, we can divide electronic communications into five steps:
1. Preparing the message for transmission using a transducer and transmitter
2. Sending the prepared signal using a transmit antenna
3. Moving the signal from sender to receiver
4. Receiving the transmitted signal using a receive antenna
5. Recovering the message using a receiver and transducer

Transducer
Interface
Modulator
Power
Amplifier
demodulator
Low-Noise
Amplifier
Transducer
Interface
Transmit
Antenna
Receive
Antenna
Transmitter
Receiver

In Block 2 and the first three lessons of Block 3, we learned about the steps 1 and 5. We prepare
the message by converting the information to an electrical signal, modifying the amplitude,
filtering, and/or digitizing, then modulate and amplify the signal to be transmitted. Likewise, we
recover the message by amplifying, demodulating, then use some optional signal conditioning
techniques, such as converting to analog, amplifying, and/or filtering, before we send it to some
type of output transducer.
In the remainder of Block 3, we will discuss the process of sending and receiving signals. As we
do so, we will use line-of-sight communications, Global Positioning System (GPS), and radar as
examples. We will then explore how this process affects our tactics by taking a look at
electronic warfare techniques. To start, lets look at how we send a signal through the air using
an antenna.
General Antenna Theory
You may remember from Physics that Coulombs Law states that an electric force exists between
a stationary positive charge and a stationary negative charge. Since the electric field is just the
force per charge, the electric-field pattern in the following figure can be found by knowing the
direction of force on a positive test charge placed in the vicinity of the two fixed charges. The
arrows indicate the direction of force on a positive test charge, if one existed.
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
287
- +
E
+
Test Charge
F
o
r
c
e

In this case, the charges are stationary. However, Amperes Law states that if the charges move
along a conductor (such as a wire or a sheet of metal), these moving charges (current) generate a
magnetic field around the current. The charge separation causes an electric field, and the current
causes a magnetic field. Together, we call these interdependent fields an electromagnetic field
which radiates away from the conductor in waves like ripples from a stone thrown in a pond. But
instead of the two-dimensional rings in the pond, the electromagnetic waves radiate outward in
three- dimensional spheres. Consider a dipole antenna made out of two wires as shown in the
figure below.

The key to knowing how an antenna works is to remember that electrical charges are similar to
magnets: like charges repel and opposite charges attract. It also helps to know that metals
easily give up electrons, which can create areas of positive charge (when electrons have departed)
and negative charge (when electrons accumulate).
Look what happens when we apply a voltage across the input of this antenna:
+
-
V
in
+
+
+
+
+
-
-
-
-
-
E

In the bottom half of this antenna, we have a negative charge at the input (-). This negative
charge pushes the electrons in the lower wire away, causing negative charges to accumulate at
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
288
the tip of the antenna. Similarly, in the top half of the antenna, there is a positive charge at the
input (+). This positive charge draws electrons in the wire towards the input, leaving behind an
area of positive charges at the tip of the antenna. The result is an area of positive charges at one
tip of the antenna and an area of negative charges at the other. The difference in charges
between the two ends of the antenna creates an electric field, labeled E in the above diagram.
Now what happens if we were to put another antenna inside this electric field?
+
-
V
in
+
+
+
+
+
-
-
-
-
-
E
+
-
-
-
-
-
+
+
+
+

In the diagram above, the top part of the electric field is positive, which draws electrons to the
top of the new antenna. Likewise, the bottom of the field is negative, which pushes the electrons
away, leaving behind an area of positive charges.
In order for an electric field to propagate (move), the input needs to change over time. One way
we can get it to change is by applying an alternating current, such as a sinusoidal signal, to the
input.
When the value of the input is positive, we get the situation above. When the value of the input
becomes negative, however, the electric field is reversed. We get negative charges in the top of
the transmitting antenna and positive charges in the bottom.
In the receiving antenna, we get just the opposite. Positive charges accumulate in the top of the
receiving antenna and negative charges accumulate in the bottom.
Transmit Antenna Receive Antenna
+
-
V
in
+
+
+
+
+
-
-
-
-
-
+
-
-
-
-
-
+
+
+
+
E
V
out

Therefore, as our input signal changes from positive to negative, the output signal changes from
negative to positive.
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
289
Before we move on, there is one more thing we need to know about antennas: there is no
difference between a receive antenna and a transmit antenna. If an antenna can be used to
transmit, it can also be used equally well to receive.
Types of Antennas
There are many types of antennas, but we will discuss three main types: the dipole, monopole,
and parabolic dish.
Dipole: The basic dipole has already been discussed and is one of the most common types of
antennas because of its radiation characteristics and ease of construction. By far, the most
common type of antenna is a dipole antenna that is a half wavelength long. The following
example illustrates how to calculate the length of a half-wave dipole.

Example Problem: The carrier frequency of an FM broadcast station is 100.7 MHz. How long
of a dipole antenna should we use to receive this signal?
Big Picture: The length of the antenna is inversely proportional to the frequency of the signal.
Key Issues: A dipole antenna can also be called a half-wave dipole antenna. The best length for
a dipole antenna is one half of the wavelength of the signal.
Analysis: To find the wavelength of a signal, we use the following equation:


where lambda () is the signals wavelength, c is the speed of light, and f is the frequency of the
signal. Since f = 100.7 MHz,


1

Therefore, this signal has a wavelength of just under 3 meters. A dipole antenna (or should we
say a half-wave dipole antenna) only needs to be one half of the wavelength of the signal.
Therefore,

1
Answer: The dipole antenna needs to be 1.490 m long.
Many cars embed a dipole antenna in the car window to receive FM signals. These antennas are
roughly 1.5 meters in length (or just under 5 feet) to maximize reception of the frequencies used
for FM stations.
Monopole: An equally common antenna is the quarter-wave monopole. In order for a monopole
antenna to work, it needs to have a reflective surface called a ground plane. This ground plane
acts like a mirror to the electromagnetic field and reflects the opposite image just as a mirror
does to the light image that it reflects. Just as mirrors can sometimes fool us into thinking that a
room is larger than it really is, the ground plane fools the quarter-wave monopole into
behaving like the top half of a half-wave dipole.
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
290
Ground Plane

Therefore, the radiation characteristics of the quarter-wave monopole are the same as the half-
wave dipole from the ground plane up. Radio antennas mounted on cars are monopoles. This
antenna works the same as if the sheet metal of the car under the antenna were replaced by the
bottom half of a half-wave dipole.
Example Problem: The carrier frequency of an FM broadcast station is 100.7 MHz. How long
of a monopole antenna should we use to receive this signal.
Big Picture: A monopole is basically half of a dipole.
Key Issues: Since a dipole needs a half wave to work, a monopole only needs a quarter wave.
Therefore, a monopole antenna can also be called a quarter-wave monopole antenna.

Analysis: We calculated the wavelength of this signal in the problem above. The antenna length
is therefore:


The antennas that you see sticking out of car hoods are monopoles. 744.8 mm is about 2.5 feet,
which is the approximate length of car antennas.
Answer: The required length of a monopole antenna is 744.8 mm.
Example Problem: An AM radio station transmits at 740 kHz. If the station broadcasts using a
monopole antenna, how tall should the antenna be?
Big Picture: A monopole antenna needs to be one fourth of the wavelength.
Key Issues: None.
Analysis: Calculating the wavelength of this signal,




Please notice how big this number is. The wavelength for this signal is more than 4 football
fields long. Even with a quarter-wave dipole, the required antenna height is still:

11
Answer: A monopole antenna broadcasting a 740 kHz signal needs to be 101.4 m (332.7 ft) tall.
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Remember that a monopole antenna requires a ground plane in order to work. For an AM
monopole antenna, the ground itself is used as the ground plane (although sometimes metal bars
need to be buried in the dirt to increase connectivity).
Also, you might wonder about the answer to the above question. If we need more than 100
meters to send the signal, dont we also need more than 100 meters to receive it?
The simple answer is yes. Fortunately, though, there are some convenient ways to make
antennas more usable.
Find someone with an AM antenna attached to his stereo and take a look at it. Instead of being
one long, straight antenna, a typical AM antenna is actually a thin copper wire that is wrapped
around a frame hundreds of times. This wrapping allows us to keep a necessarily long antenna in
a conveniently small space.
Parabolic Dish: A parabolic dish antenna (shown below) focuses signals so that theyll travel
farther. You may remember from your Math courses that a parabola focuses parallel rays to its
focal point. The actual antenna element, called the feed, is usually a dipole or horn antenna and is
placed at the focal point. The feed acts as a collector for all the rays that are focused by the
parabolic reflector dish, which can capture much more of the energy than just the feed antenna
by itself.
Parabolic Dish
Support for Dish
Feed Structure
Support Structure
for Feed

Antenna Parameters
In what directions do antennas radiate energy and how much energy do they radiate in each
direction? In what directions do antennas receive energy and how much energy do they receive
in each direction? Thankfully, the concepts are the same whether the antenna is transmitting or
receiving. In order to answer these questions, we like to graph radiation patterns. These graphs
provide us a pictorial representation of the amount of energy the antenna radiates (or receives) in
all directions for some arbitrarily chosen fixed distance. Consider once again the dipole antenna.
We want to know relatively how much power is radiating in all directions from the antenna.
If we place the dipole vertically and walk around the dipole in a circle keeping our distance to
the antenna constant, we would find that all of the received power measurements are equal. So
the radiation pattern around the axis of the dipole would be a circle as shown in the figure below
on the left. Note that on the radiation pattern, the radial distance from the dipole represents
power and not distance in meters. Therefore, if the radiation pattern is closer to the antenna, less
power is being radiated in that direction.
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Next place the dipole antenna in a horizontal position and again, walk around it in a circle taking
power measurements. We would find that the maximum power comes from the two points on the
circle where we can see the full length of the dipole as shown in shown in the figure below on
the right. We would also find that no energy radiates off the end, where there is a null in the
pattern. In addition, as we go from the null to the maximum on the circle, the energy gradually
increases.
.
Bird's Eye View of
Vertical Dipole
Antenna
Radiation
Pattern

Bird's Eye View
of Horizontal
Dipole Antenna
Maximum
Null
Maximum
Increasing
Energy
Null

(a) Vertical Dipole Radiation Pattern (b) Horizontal Dipole Radiation Pattern
If we combine the radiation patterns shown above, the three-dimensional radiation pattern is
shaped as a toroid, which is the shape of a doughnut. This radiation pattern explains why you
never point the top of a radio antenna in the direction from which you are trying to receive signal.
Instead hold the radio upright so the entire length of the antenna can capture radiation.
A parabolic dish has a different radiation pattern because of its ability to focus radiation in one
direction. The pattern is narrower and longer as shown below. This means that a parabolic dish
radiates and receives extremely well in a specific direction but has terrible performance
everywhere else.

How much does the antenna focus energy in one direction? Antenna gain refers to the antennas
ability to focus energy in a specific direction. You might be familiar with flashlights that can
focus the light beam by turning the head of the flashlight. As the beamwidth becomes narrower,
the light intensity becomes brighter. The brightness of the bulb is constant; however, as the light
from the bulb is focused, it can be concentrated into one direction. In antenna terminology, we
would say that the brighter, narrower beam has more gain.
Antenna gain is defined as the ratio of the energy focused in a direction compared to a standard.
The standard that we will use is a radiating point source, which is simply an antenna that radiates
equally in all directions. This is called an isotropic source and is only a theoretical concept. The
shape of a three-dimensional radiation pattern from a point source is a sphere. In other words, if
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the antenna does nothing to focus energy in a specific direction to increase intensity in that
direction, its gain is simply one.
When we compare the radiation pattern of a dipole antenna to that of a point source, as shown
below, we find that the dipole antenna has more power radiated in some directions than the point
source (Gain > 1) while in some directions, no power is radiated (Gain = 0 or a null zone).
Radiation
Pattern
of a Point
Source
Radiation Pattern
of a Dipole
Antenna
View
perpendicular to
antenna axis
Gain > 1 Gain = 0 (Null)

Both the dipole and monopole have modest gain. Ideally, a half-wave dipole has a gain of
G = 1.64. The quarter-wave monopole ideally has twice the gain of a half-wave dipole (G =
3.28). However, this is only true if the monopole is directly over a perfectly conductive ground
plane that extends to infinity, which is rarely the case.
In contrast, a parabolic dish antenna would typically have a gain ranging from hundreds to even
thousands of times that of a point source and depends on both how the dish is built and the
frequency of the transmitted signal. We can calculate this gain using the following equation:

()


In this equation, r is the radius of the circular dish (in meters), is the wavelength of the
transmitted signal (in meters), and is the reflective efficiency of the material the dish is made
out of.

Example Problem: A circular parabolic dish with a radius of 250 mm is used to send a
microwave communication signal at 2.7 GHz. The dish has an efficiency of 91%. What is the
dishs gain?
Big Picture: Since we have the dishs radius and efficiency, we can calculate its gain for 2.7
GHz transmission.
Key Issues: None.
Analysis: The wavelength of the transmitted signal is

1111 1111
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We can now calculate the gain.

()


( )

(1111 )

1 11
Answer: The dishs gain is 181.9.
Antenna Range and Bandwidth Considerations
So far, we have discussed how an antenna works and what length it needs to be. If antenna
length were the only consideration, then it would be easy to conclude that higher frequencies are
better since antenna sizes get progressively smaller as frequency increases. Cell phones, for
instance, use frequencies in the GHz range, enabling antennas to be one or two inches long.
Additionally, at higher carrier frequencies, more bandwidth is available for use. As a rough
estimate, the available bandwidth for a signal is about 1% of the carrier frequency.
AM radio stations, operating around 1 MHz, only have 10 kHz of bandwidth available. Fiber
optics, however, use beams of light with carrier frequencies on the order of 100 THz (100 trillion
cycles per second). These light beams have available bandwidths up to 1 THz. In other words,
we can transmit approximately 100 Million times more information over a light beam than we
can over a radio signal.
Unfortunately, the transmission range of signals also depends on the frequency. AM radio
stations can easily transmit hundreds of miles and can even follow the curvature of the earth to
reach beyond line of sight. Light beams, on the other hand, are quickly attenuated in the
atmosphere. In order to overcome this limitation while still reaping the benefits of the huge
bandwidth available in beams of light, optical fibers are generally used. Well discuss how
frequency effects how far a signal travels in the next two lessons, but for now, lets talk about the
different mediums available for transmitting signals.
Communication Channels
An optical fiber is an example of a communications channel. A channel is simply the stuff
through which the signal travels. So far, we have mentioned two different types of channels:
radio transmission through the air and optical transmission through optical fibers.
In general, there are four main types of channels that are used in communications:
- Wireless
- Transmission Lines (wires)
- Wave guides
- Optical fibers
Wireless communication has already been introduced above and will be discussed more
throughout the remaining lessons in Block 3.
Transmission lines were more or less covered in the first block. If you remember, over long
distances, transmission lines had internal resistances which reduced the efficiency of power
transmission. Additionally, transmission lines can only support a limited range of frequencies.
With specially designed lines (e.g., coaxial cables), signals up to a few hundred MHz can be
transmitted, but nothing higher.
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Despite these drawbacks, transmission lines have some advantages: 1) they are very reliable, 2)
they are easy to repair, and 3) they are relatively secure.
A waveguide is simply a hollow pipe through which an electromagnetic signal is sent. The
internal surfaces of a waveguide reflect the signal, allowing for very low losses in signal strength.
Many waveguides are rectangular in shape. Some microwave ovens use waveguides to convey
the energy from the magnetron, which creates the signal, to the cooking chamber. In combat
aircraft, waveguides are used to connect the transmitter to the antenna.
The size of the waveguide determines what frequencies can be transmitted through it. Basically,
the concept is fairly simple. As we have already discussed, the wavelength of a signal gets
bigger as the frequency gets smaller. If the wavelength gets too big, the signal will no longer fit
in the waveguide.
The key point here is that high frequencies have small wavelengths, so they pass just fine.
However, the low frequencies (and their big wavelengths) are blocked. Therefore, a waveguide
acts as a high pass filter. The cutoff frequency of a waveguide is given by the equation


In this equation, c is the speed of light and a is the longest side of the waveguide:
a
b waveguide

The primary advantage of waveguides is very low attenuation, which is to say the signal doesnt
lose much power as it moves through the waveguide. Disadvantages include being heavy, rigid,
and fairly difficult to repair.
Optical fibers are pretty much just waveguides made for beams of light. The light signal itself is
most often a laser beam, modulated by the information that is being sent. Once we get light into
the optical fiber, it literally bounces off the sides of the glass fibers as it travels at the speed of -
you guessed it - light.
As previously mentioned, optical fibers allow for HUGE amounts of bandwidth. Additionally,
the fibers are flexible and are relatively inexpensive (especially when considering cost per
bandwidth). They also have fairly low attenuation.
The primary disadvantage of optical fibers is that they are very difficult to install and repair. The
F-22 uses optical fiber to implement its fly-by-light system but maintaining the cabling can be
a nightmare for the crews, especially when theyre in Chem/Bio gear.

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Example Problem: A freeway underpass is 8 m tall and 18 m wide. If the underpass acts as a
waveguide, will a signal from an AM radio station be able to pass through?
Big Picture: Next time youre driving, tune to an AM station before driving under an underpass
and see what happens.
Key Issues: AM stations transmit near 1 MHz.
Analysis: Using the waveguide equation,


(1 )

Answer: The underpass should prevent any frequencies below 8.33 MHz from passing.
Therefore AM stations will be blocked.
(FM stations, on the other hand, transmit near 100 MHz, and the FM signals can be received
under the same underpass).

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Lesson 29 Homework
1. T / F Increasing the carrier frequency in a communications system increases the size of
the necessary antenna.

2. A TACAMO aircraft is used to send messages to a submarine using a carrier frequency of
30 KHz. How long of an antenna must the aircraft use to send the signal (assume a dipole
antenna is used)?




3. T / F Antenna gain tells us how much the antenna can focus power.

4. A circular dish antenna is to be used to communicate with a satellite communication system,
using a frequency of 4.6 GHz. The dish has a diameter of 300 mm and an efficiency of 86%.
What is the gain of the antenna?



5. T / F A waveguide acts as a high pass filter.

6. Which of the following are advantages for optical fibers (more than one may be correct)?
a. Easy to repair
b. Light weight
c. Relatively inexpensive
d. High attenuation

7. Eisenhower Tunnel is approximately 5 m wide and 4 m tall. Assuming the tunnel acts as a
waveguide, which of the following frequencies could be used to communicate to someone in
the tunnel?
a. A CB radio, operating at 27 MHz
b. An AM radio station operating at 94.5 MHz
c. An FM station operating at 101.5 MHz
d. A Family Radio Service transmitter, operating at 462 MHz
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8. T / F An antenna can be used to transmit signals more easily than it can be used to
receive signals.

9. Which of the following is an advantage of low frequency carrier signals (compared to high
frequency carrier signals)?
a. They can be transmitted or received using smaller antennas
b. They can support signals of greater bandwidth
c. They can travel farther


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Lesson 30 Wireless Communications
Learning Outcomes
1. Know the advantages and disadvantages of the four types of wireless communication
channels.
2. Know which wireless communication channels can be used for the RF frequency bands (e.g,
VLF/LF, MF, HF, VHF, UHF/SHF, and EHF).
3. Calculate the maximum line-of-sight (LOS) distance between two objects, given the height
above the terrain for each.
4. Determine if two objects are within each others line-of-sight.


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Lesson 30 Wireless Communications

So there you are, behind enemy lines, a few kilometers from the smoking remains of what used
to be your airplane. From intelligence briefs received before the mission, you know youre in a
safe area, with only a very slight chance of capture. Still, you find a reasonably sheltered spot
and pull out your survival radio, hoping to contact a rescue helicopter.
Assuming theres actually a helicopter out there, whether or not the helicopter crew can hear you
depends on several factors, all of which will be addressed in this lesson.
Ultimately, though, there are two key questions that need to be answered:
- Is there a communications channel between me and the helicopter?
- Is my radio signal strong enough for the helicopter to receive?
In this lesson, well address the first question. In Lesson 31, well address the second question.
Wireless Communications
In order to communicate with the helicopter, you will need a wireless channel. These wireless
channels are still the primary means of most communications. Even some communications that
required dedicated point-to-point channels in the past, such as the telephone system, are moving
more and more to wireless communications because of the low cost involved in building the
needed infrastructure and then the low cost (OK, the zero cost) of actually using the medium.
Much of the third world is almost solely dependent on wireless for their communications.
Radio Frequency (RF) Spectrum
The lower end of the electromagnetic spectrum (shown below) is subdivided into eight bands
spanning from 3 kHz to 300 GHz. Civilian applications such as commercial AM and FM radio,
television, cellular telephony, and civilian aviation navigation and air traffic control frequencies
are found in the RF portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. Military applications such as global
positioning system (GPS), radar, munitions guidance and fusing, strategic and tactical
communication, and surveillance and reconnaissance systems span these same RF bands.

Line of Sight
VLF LF MF HF VHF UHF SHF EHF
3 kHz 30 kHz
300 kHz
3 MHz 30 MHz 300 MHz 3 GHz 30 GHz 300 GHz
Surface Wave
Sky Wave
Forward Scatter

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Wireless Channel Types
So what kind of wireless channel will you use to communicate with the helicopter? Yes, there
are actually different kinds of wireless communications channels. In fact, there are four primary
ways in which radio waves propagate: direct or line-of-sight (LOS), surface wave, sky wave, and
forward scatter. Each of these involves a propagation path, and it is possible for a signal to be
transmitted over several paths simultaneously which may cause interference.
1. Line-of-sight (LOS) Propagation: All electromagnetic energy will propagate by LOS in a
wireless channel, although atmospheric conditions will attenuate some frequencies more than
others. As can be seen below, LOS communications on earth are limited by the curvature of
the earth and the heights of transmitting and receiving antennas. (Of course, transmitter
power is also a limiting factor.) Thus the signal transmitted from point T reaches the
receiving antennas R
1
and R
2
. However, R
3
is not in the LOS path of the signal and cannot
receive any of the radio energy. For communication and telemetry between earth and space
vehicles, LOS propagation is used. Short distance, secure military communication commonly
occurs through the use of LOS microwave links. LOS is also used by some of the trunks
used by telephone companies as well as cell phone towers. These are the repeater towers and
dish (or cornucopia) antennas you see by the highways.
T
R
3
R
2
R
1

2. Surface Wave Propagation: In surface wave propagation, the radio wave travels from the
transmitting antenna to the receiving antenna with the bottom of the wave touching the
ground. The surface wave is actually guided along and around the surface of the earth so
distances greater than LOS can be obtained. In this guiding process, minute currents are
induced in the ground directly beneath the surface wave. Although the ground is a fairly good
conductor, it does have some resistance and the energy required for these currents to flow is
absorbed from the wave.
As frequency is increased, the losses due to the conductivity of the ground also increase and
the surface wave is greatly attenuated. Surface waves are very effective for signal
propagation in the VLF and LF bands. However, as frequency is increased through the MF
band, this effectiveness decreases rapidly due to attenuation. Surface waves are not generally
useful above about 3 MHz. Commercial AM broadcasting stations typically use surface
waves to transmit their signals which is one of the main reasons why AM radio signals can
travel much further than FM radio signals.
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All electromagnetic waves will penetrate into a conductor to a small fraction of their
wavelength. For all but very low frequencies (VLF), this depth is inconsequential. At VLF, a
radio wave can penetrate ocean water to a depth of several meters. The Navy uses this
phenomenon to communicate with its submarines. Unfortunately, VLF transmissions require
very long antennas (miles) to transmit and receive the signals; hence, there is always a trade-
off between lowest frequency and shortest antenna.
Transmitter Receiver

3. Sky Wave Propagation: Radio energy reflected or refracted from the ionosphere back to
the earth such is known as a sky wave. To understand how the ionosphere affects radio
waves of different frequencies, think of the ionosphere as a huge sieve surrounding the earth.
Whether or not a wave passes through this sieve depends partially upon the relative
dimensions of the wavelength and of the mesh openings. Thus, radio energy with a long
wavelength (low frequency) is more likely to be reflected back to earth than that with a short
wavelength (high frequency). Additionally, the angle of incidence, in the figure below,
with which a wave strikes the ionosphere must be considered.
Transmitter
Receiver
Ionosphere
beta

In general, the larger the angle, , the greater the probability that the wave will be reflected.
However, if is made too large, the layers of the ionosphere will act like a waveguide and
the wave will effectively remain in the ionosphere and not be returned to earth. By now, it
should be obvious that there can be a tradeoff between this angle and frequency. That is, for a
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
303
given angle, there is some maximum frequency that can be used for sky wave propagation.
Likewise, for a given frequency (within certain limits), there is some maximum angle that
will produce a sky wave.
Maximum usable frequencies usually lie in the HF band; waves whose frequencies are above
this are refracted slightly by the ionosphere but propagate through it. A peculiarity of the
ionosphere is that its lower layers readily absorb energy in the MF band. Thus, sky waves in
this band are possible only at night when the lower ionospheric layers dissipate. Narrowband
long haul communications are in the HF band via sky wave.
Sky wave propagation has a significant limitation. At the point where a sky wave returns to
earth, a very strong signal can be detected. However, between this point and the transmitter,
there is essentially no energy from the sky wave at all. The distance from the transmitting
antenna to the spot where the reflected wave strikes the earth is called the skip distance. At
all points less than the skip distance from the transmitting antenna, none of the sky wave
signal is received. Therefore, the only way to communicate is through LOS or surface wave
communications.
Especially in the HF band, where surface wave propagation is somewhat less than 200 miles,
there is often a considerable distance in which essentially no radiated energy from either the
surface wave or the sky wave is present and no communication is possible. This region is
called the quiet zone. The figure below illustrates the concepts of skip distance and quiet
zone.
Transmitter
Receiver
Ionosphere
Skip Distance
Quiet Zone - No
Communication
Possible


4. Forward Scatter Propagation: When a radiated signal strikes the discontinuous blobs of
air in the troposphere, it is scattered in various directions. Some of this scattering is in the
forward direction and the resulting radio signal, although relatively weak, can be received at
a point that is beyond the horizon from the transmitter. Most of the Air Forces non-satellite
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wideband long haul communications use tropospheric forward scatter (with carriers in the
300 to 400 MHz range) for some links.
Although the scatter is dependent upon atmospheric conditions, it is possible to achieve
reliable communications using high-power transmitters and sensitive receivers. Tropospheric
forward scatter is effective in the VHF, UHF, and SHF bands. The tropo links use billboard
antennas and typically transmit about 100 kW of power. Before satellite communication
became prevalent, much in-theater military communication was accomplished using this
type of propagation.
Transmitter
Receiver
Troposperic Blob

RF Summary
Lets quickly summarize which types of wireless communications the different radio frequencies
can use. The RF spectrum figure from the beginning of the reading is repeated below. The ITU
(International Telegraphic Union) designation of frequency bands (e.g., VHF, UHF) and the
frequency ranges for some of the more common uses of radio waves are indicated. Since the
transmitted signal in a communication system usually has a relatively narrow bandwidth, the
propagation characteristics are determined almost exclusively by the carrier frequency. This
figure also summarizes which radio frequencies are best suited to the four primary ways in which
radio frequency waves propagate through the air and space: direct or line-of-sight (LOS), surface
wave, sky wave, and forward scatter.

Line of Sight
VLF LF MF HF VHF UHF SHF EHF
3 kHz 30 kHz
300 kHz
3 MHz 30 MHz 300 MHz 3 GHz 30 GHz 300 GHz
Surface Wave
Sky Wave
Forward Scatter


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- VLF and LF (Very Low Frequencies and Low Frequencies): At these lower frequencies,
surface waves are attenuated very little and may be used for signal propagation of a thousand
miles or more. This maximum distance gradually decreases with increasing frequency and is
about 400 miles at 300 kHz. The sky wave does exhibit slight fluctuations with changes in
the ionosphere, but it is still fairly reliable. Sky waves can be used for communication over
distances from about 500 to 8000 miles in the LF band. In the VLF range, the combination of
the surface and sky wave mechanisms make possible worldwide signal propagation with
radiated power levels of about 1 MW.
- MF (Medium Frequencies): In this band, the maximum distance for surface wave
propagation varies from about 400 miles at 300 kHz to about 200 miles at 3MHz.
Ionospheric absorption of electromagnetic energy in this band (maximum absorption occurs
at 1.4 MHz) makes sky wave propagation impossible during the day. At night, sky waves
furnish reception at distances from about 100 to 3000 miles.
- HF (High Frequencies): The attenuation of surface waves above about 3 MHz is so great
that the surface wave is effectively of no use for communication. Sky waves are used
extensively in this band and their behavior is mostly governed by ionospheric conditions.
Although sky wave propagation is not always reliable, it is possible over distances of 12,000
miles and more. For distances such as this, frequencies from 5 to 20 MHz have proven most
effective. This is one main reason why the U.S. Government transmits timing signals on
these frequencies (via their WWV stations in Boulder, CO and Kauai, HI). Many military
aircraft have HF radios onboard used for long-range communication. Also, Ham radios
operate primarily in this part of the spectrum.
- VHF (Very High Frequencies): Although sky waves may occur at lower VHF frequencies,
their reliability is so poor that they are virtually useless for communication. The predominant
form of propagation in this band is line-of-sight. The effectiveness of forward scatter
becomes increasingly important as frequencies reach 50 MHz and above.
- UHF and SHF (Ultra High Frequency and Super High Frequency): Line-of-sight
propagation is widely used at these frequencies since excellent low-noise reception is
possible. Ranges of a few hundred miles can be realized up to about 10 GHz. Most forward
scatter applications use frequencies well below this. Many space assets use this frequency
band for communications.
- EHF (Extra High Frequency): Direct radio waves at these frequencies attenuate in uses
such as radar.

Line-of-sight Communications
So back to our original question - what kind of wireless channel would you use between you and
a helicopter. Realistically, youll most likely find yourself trying to establish a line-of-sight link.
A survival radio does not have the power required to use the more specialized forms of wireless
communications such as ground waves, sky waves, and forward scatter. So the key to
establishing communications is actually being able to see the helicopter (where this means that
your radio signals can travel unimpeded to the helicopter).
Obviously, there are a lot of variables associated with determining exactly how far away you can
see the helicopter. Are you on a hill or in a valley? How high is the hill? Is the terrain flat or
bumpy? How high is the helicopter?
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If we assume that the terrain is relatively flat, however, we can use a simple equation to give us a
good idea of how far the helicopter (or anything else) can see. Consider an antenna sitting at
height, h, above sea level. The maximum range, r, between transmit and receive antennas is
calculated as the distance from the transmit antenna to the point that is tangential to the surface
of the earth as shown in the figure below.

Since

and r make two sides of a right triangle with (

+ h) as the hypotenuse (and applying


a
2
+ b
2
= c
2
),


For terrestrial and even airborne applications (i.e., non-space), we can assume that

is much
greater than the antenna height, so

can be ignored. This results in a maximum LOS range


equation of



Furthermore, due to propagation refraction in the atmosphere, the radius of the Earth is adjusted
to account for the effects. The resultant radius is addused from 3960 miles to 5280 miles, using a
4/3 radius model. Coincidentally, there are 5280 feet in a mile. As a result, the antenna height
(h) is entered in feet, and the equation above simplifies to:



In this equation, h is the height (in feet) of the observer, and r is the distance (in miles) that the
observer can see before the horizon gets in the way. Notice that this is an improper equation,
which is to say the units dont match. If we take the square root of feet, we should not end up
with miles. As engineers, were willing to overlook this discrepancy and use this improper
equation because it is useful, and its derivation is mathematically logical.
Example Problem: A helicopter is searching for a downed airman at 2000 feet AGL (above
ground level). Assuming relatively flat terrain, how close will he have to get to the airman to
establish line-of-sight?
Big Picture: Military survival radios require line-of-sight to communicate.
Key Issues: So long as we assume that the terrain is flat (mountains cause problems!), we can
use the maximum LOS range equation.
r
h, height of antenna
R
e
No
Reception
Earth
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307
h
r
earth

Analysis: We know the helicopter is 2000 feet above the earth. Plugging this into the equation
gives us:

Again, we put feet into the equation and we get miles out.
Answer: At 2000 feet AGL, the helicopter can see for approximately 63.25 miles. Therefore, it
needs to be within 63.25 miles to see an airman on the ground.
Example Problem: The helicopter in the previous example is still flying at 2000 feet AGL. If
the airman climbed to the top of a 50-foot tall hill, how far away could the helicopter establish
line-of-sight?
Big Picture: We have to use the LOS equation twice because the airman has raised himself
above the surface.
h
1
r
1
Earth
h
2
r
2

Key Issues: Remember that we are trying to determine the maximum distance that the helicopter
can see the airman. As the picture above hopefully shows, this occurs when the airman climbs
high enough to just barely be in the helicopters line-of-sight. At this point, the helicopter will
see the airman on the horizon, not even knowing the airman is standing on a hill (since the hill is
below the helicopters horizon). From the point of view of the airman, the helicopter will also
appear right at the horizon.
Calculating this maximum LOS distance is very straight forward. We first figure out how far the
horizon is from the helicopter and then we figure out how far the horizon is from the airman. If
we add these two distances, we get the maximum distance they can see each other.
Analysis: We already calculated the distance from the helicopter to the horizon in the previous
problem. It is 63.25 miles. Since the airman is on a 50-foot hill, the distance for him to the
horizon is:
1 1
Adding these distances together gives us our answer:

1
Answer: If the airman stands on a 50-foot hill, the helicopter could establish line-of-sight at
73.25 miles.
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308

Lesson 30 Homework
1. T / F Line-of-sight communications are the primary way of communicating with
satellites.

2. T / F The distance that ground waves travel increases as the frequency of the signal
increases.

3. T / F Sky wave propagation requires blobs of air in the troposphere to bounce off.

4. Which form of wireless communications works the best at night?
a. Line-of-sight (LOS)
b. Ground wave
c. Sky wave
d. Forward scatter

5. Which frequency band attenuates rapidly in space, but the short wavelengths permit very
precise measurements?
a. Very low frequencies (VLF)
b. High frequencies (HF)
c. Ultra high frequencies (UFH)
d. Extra high frequencies (EHF)

6. If your eyes are six feet from the ground and youre standing at sea level, how far on the
oceans horizon can you see?







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7. An A-10 needs to establish LOS radio contact with a Special Forces team on the ground. If
the A-10 is flying at 200 feet and the Special Forces team is on a 32-foot tall ridgeline, how
close must the A-10 get before establishing LOS contact?











8. A fighter aircraft, orbiting at 5000 AGL is searching for a bomber, ingressing at 100 AGL.
If the two aircraft are 93 miles apart, does the fighter have LOS with the bomber?



ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
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ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
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Lesson 31 - The FRIIS Equation
Learning Outcomes
1. Understand that the maximum range that two radios can communicate is the smaller of either
the maximum LOS range or the range at which the power received is less than is needed to
process the information.
2. Determine if two radios will be able to communicate with each other by calculating
maximum LOS range and power received.
3. Use the Friis equation to solve for power, gain, frequency, or distance when given the rest of
the variables in a scenario.
4. Calculate the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) for a given system.
5. Use the SNR equation to solve for power or bandwidth.

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Lesson 31 - Friis Equation
Last lesson, we talked about the various channels used for communicating wirelessly. We left
off with a fairly simple equation to calculate whether two antennas can actually establish line of
sight (LOS) communications without the curvature of the earth getting in the way. Hopefully at
this point in the course, you wondered if that was the only obstacle faced by LOS wireless
communications since weve already shown you some of complicated and oftentimes big
antennas used to help with our communications.
Well, if you did wonder, you were the right track. Just because two antennas have line of sight
between them doesnt mean they can actually communicate. Electrical signals attenuate
(become weaker) as they travel through the air. If the signal becomes too weak, the antenna
thats supposed to receive the signal will not be able to process it. So how do we quantify how
much the signal will attenuate and what it means for the signal to become too weak to be
processed?
Friis Equation
The equation for determining how much power actually reaches the receiving antenna is called
the Friis (rhymes with Greece) equation:

()


The variables in the equation are as follows:
- P
R
: The power collected by the receiving antenna (in Watts)
- P
T
: The power sent by the transmitting antenna (in Watts)
- G
T
: The gain of the transmitting antenna (unitless)
- G
R
: The gain of the receiving antenna (unitless)
- : The wavelength of the radio signal (in meters)
- R: The distance between the two antennas (in meters)
Lets look at these variables and how they affect the amount of signal that gets to our receiving
antenna.
Power Transmitted, P
T
: The power transmitted, P
T
, affects the power received. In fact, P
T
and
P
R
are proportional. As P
T
increases, P
R
will also increase.
Distance (or Radius) between Antennas, R: To see the effect that distance between antennas
has on the amount of received power, consider a point source which radiates P
T
Watts of power
equally in all directions. If we look at any point on a sphere of radius, R, away from the
transmitting point source, we can define the power density, S, in Watts/m
2
, as the total power
radiated, P
T
, divided by the surface area of the sphere, 4R
2
. For a point source,


So, the power density is proportional to

. Later in this section, we will see that the received


power, P
R
, is also proportional to the power density. As a result, received power is proportional
to

.
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313
Gain of the Transmitting Antenna, G
T
: The gain of the transmitting antenna, G
T
, is its ability
to focus energy in one direction. The power density, S, on a sphere of distance, R, in the
direction of maximum gain, for any type of antenna is


where the gain, G
T
, is unitless. Therefore, when the receiving antenna is placed in the direction
of maximum gain, the power density will also be maximized. Since S is proportional to G
T
, P
R
is
proportional to G
T
.
Gain of Receiving Antenna: In order to see how the gain of the receiving antenna affects how
much power we receive, consider the power density that is being transmitted through free space
in the shape of a sphere. As we get farther and farther from the transmitting antenna, the surface
of the sphere starts to appear flat to the receiving antenna. This idea is shown in the figure below,
and is similar to the perception of a flat earth due to its large radius compared to the limited
surface area that we perceive.
Transmit Antenna
Almost Flat
Spherical Pattern
Power Radiating
in a
Spherical Pattern
A
eff
Receive Antenna

The amount of power density that the receiving antenna can capture from free space depends on
the effective area of the antenna, A
eff
. As an example, parabolic antennas have an effective area
that is slightly smaller than their physical area. The power received then is the effective area of
the receiving antenna times the power density.


To put the received power, P
R
, in terms of the gain of the receiving antenna, G
R
, we use the
following relationship between G
R
and the effective area, A
eff:


Substituting this equation into the one above gives us the final Friis equation introduced above,

()



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314
So lets summarize how the variables affect the power received:
- If I double my transmitted power, the power received also doubles. Hopefully, this makes
sense.
- If I double either the transmitted gain or the receiving gain, the power received doubles. If I
double both, the power quadruples.
- If I double my wavelength, the power received quadruples! Doubling the wavelength is the
same thing as cutting the frequency in half. We already mentioned that lower frequencies
travel further than higher frequencies. Therefore, if I use a lower frequency, it makes sense
that I get more power to the receiver.
- If I double my distance, only a fourth as much power is received. This is due to the inverse-
square law that you learned in Physics class. The strength of an electromagnetic wave
depends on the square of the distance. If you get farther away, the signal gets weaker.

Example Problem: A search and rescue helicopter is at 450 AGL because of clouds, while the
airman that they are trying to find is on a 50-foot hill. The airmans survival radio transmits 6 W
of power at 121.5 kHz, and uses a monopole antenna with a gain of 3.0. The helicopters radio
has a gain of 3.2 and requires 50 W of power to receive the transmission. If the helicopter is 50
km away from the airman, will the helicopter crew be able to hear the airman?
Big Picture: Before determining how much power reaches the helicopter, we must first see if
they have LOS.
Key Issues: There are two key issues here:
- We calculate the line of sight in miles, but the distance is given in kilometers. We must
therefore convert (use 1 mile = 1.61 km).
- When using the Friis equation, take caution to avoid making errors as you punch the numbers
into your calculator. Some common errors include:
o Calculating incorrectly. If you neglect to include the speed of light, your answer
will be off by a factor of 90 x 10
15
.
o Using the wrong distance. Remember that the distance is in meters, not kilometers.
Therefore, in the problem at hand, R = 50,000 m.
o Not squaring the 4 (or the ) in the denominator.
Analysis: If the helicopter and the airman do not have line of sight, then it does not matter how
powerful their radios are. The best way to solve this is figure out how far away LOS can be
established, and then compare that to the actual distance.
Again, we simply find out how far away the horizon is for each, then add the results. For the
helicopter at 450 AGL,

For the airman on a 50 hill,
1 1

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315
Therefore, LOS is established for any distance up to 40 miles. If we convert this to kilometers:

11
1

The actual separation of 50 km is well within the 64.4 km maximum LOS range, so LOS is
established. Therefore, we can move on to solving for power received.
Before using the Friis equation, we need to find the wavelength:


11

Notice that this is a huge wavelength, nearly 2.5 km (or more than 1.5 miles). Plugging all the
data into the Friis equation:

()

()()
( )

( )


Since the receiver only needs 50 W of power, the actual signal is more than strong enough to
allow the helicopter crew to hear the airman.
Answer: Yes, the helicopter crew will be able to hear the airman. LOS is established and the
power received is 889.4 W, which is much greater than the required 50 W.
Example Problem: Two circular parabolic dishes, each with a radius of 250 mm, are used to
send a microwave communication signal at 2.7 GHz. Both dishes have an efficiency of 91%. If
the transmit power is 1.2 kW, how much power is received if the antennas are 120 km apart?
Big Picture: We need to first calculate the gain of the two antennas.
Key Issues: None.
Analysis: The wavelength of the transmitted signal is

1111 1111
We can now calculate the gain.

()


( )

(1111 )

1 11
Since the gain is the same for both transmitting and receiving, this gain will work for both
antennas.
We can now use the Friis equation to calculate the power received.

1 (11)(11)
(1111 )

( 1 )

1
Answer: The receiving antenna receives 215.5 nW of power.

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316
Example Problem: A control station uses a monopole antenna on top of a 15 tower to control
an unmanned surveillance aircraft which will be orbiting at an altitude of 3000 AGL. The
station broadcasts an 800 W control signal at a frequency of 300 MHz. The transmitting antenna
has a gain of 3.2 and the receiving antenna on the aircraft has a gain of 3.0. If the aircraft needs
3.3 nW of power to process the signal, what is the maximum distance the aircraft can be
controlled by the ground station?
Big Picture: We must solve for both maximum LOS range and the maximum range that the
antennas can still communicate with. The second part is a Friis problem, but we need to solve
for R.
Key Issues: We are using the minimum acceptable power to solve for the maximum acceptable
distance.
Analysis: We must first calculate the scenarios maximum LOS range. Hopefully youve
reached point where you can simply do this operation:

1 1
We now need to use something called algebra to solve the Friis equation for R. Once we do that,
we can plug in all the other variables and get an answer. In case it has been a while since you
last algebrad, I suggest you practice finding the following new equation (since we only give you
the original Friis Equation on the Equation Sheet):


Before we can use this equation, we need to solve for ,



1
Now we can plug in all the numbers and solve for R:

1 ()()
1


11
Weve found two ranges: a maximum LOS range of 132.7 km and a maximum power range of
121.4 km. The maximum communications range is the smaller of the two distances, or 121.4 km.
Answer: Then maximum distance the aircraft can be controlled is 121.4 km.
Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR)
Lets discuss one final topic for this lesson. Imagine yourself trying to have a conversation with
someone in a very noisy room. We can use the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) to describe how well
the other person can hear you:







Simply put, the signal-to-noise ratio is the ratio of the signal to the noise. If the other person can
understand you, then the SNR is acceptable. If she cant hear you, the SNR is too low. In this
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
317
case, you have two options: either increase the signal (talk louder) or decrease the noise (tell
everyone else to be quiet). Either option will effectively increase the SNR.
In electrical engineering, we describe SNR in terms of power:


In the above example, the noise came from everybody else talking. Where does the noise come
from when we are transmitting signals? It comes from several places, actually, but one of the
main sources of noise is thermal noise, caused by the thermal agitation of charge carriers.
To oversimplify, the electrons inside something warm move around more than the electrons
inside something thats cold. This inherent movement interferes with the signal as noise.
The equation to calculate the noise power is

)
In this equation,
- k is the Boltzmann constant of 1.38 * 10
-23
J/K.
- T
sys
is the effective noise temperature of the system.
- BW is the bandwidth of the signal.
Since we know how to calculate the noise power, the signal-to-noise ratio is therefore:

)

Example Problem: With a 500 mm-radius antenna, the power received is 166.0 fW, or 166.0 x
10
-15
Watts. If the signal received has a bandwidth of 10 MHz and the system noise has an
effective temperature of 310 K, what is the signal-to-noise ratio?
Big Picture: SNR measures of how hard we have to work to process the signal.
Key Issues: The effective noise temperature was 310 K. This temperature is equivalent to
98.3 F. This does not mean that the temperature of the antenna is necessarily 98.3F. Instead, it
means that all the noise in the system is equivalent to the thermal noise of 98.3F.
Analysis: Using the SNR equation gives us,

)

1 1

(1 1

) (1 )(1 )

Answer: For the given system, the signal-to-noise ratio is 3.880.


ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
318
Example Problem: You are designing a communication system to receive a signal with a
bandwidth of 12 MHz. In order to process the signal, your receiver requires a signal-to-noise
ratio of 3.5. Assuming the effective noise will not get worse than 320 K, what is the minimum
received power required by your system?
Big Picture: In earlier examples, we were provided the minimum received power. Now, we
have to calculate it.
Key Issues: None.
Analysis: Again, we have to use algebra. This time, we need to solve the SNR equation for P
R
:

(1
1

)( ) 1 1
If we wished, we could then use this value to determine the required antenna size or to tell what
the maximum distance would be.
Answer: The minimum power required by your system is 185.5 fW.

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
319
Lesson 31 Homework
1. Two identical communication towers are to be placed 40 miles apart. A parabolic dish
antenna at the top of each antenna will be used to relay telecommunication signals.
a. Assuming relatively flat terrain, how high must the towers be to establish line of sight
communications?








b. For a transmit frequency of 3.5 GHz, you determine that each antenna needs a gain of
1986. What radius of antenna should be used? (Assume an efficiency of 91%.).








2. A reconnaissance UAS is flying over flat terrain at 800 AGL trying to detect the radio
traffic of an insurgent group. The insurgents camp is on a small plateau, 25 above the
surrounding terrain. The insurgents transmit 120 W of power at 24 MHz, using a dipole
antenna with a gain of 1.5. The UAS uses a monopole antenna with a gain of 3.0. The UAS
requires 80 nW of power to detect and process the transmission. If the UAS is 80 km away
from the insurgent camp, will it be able to detect the signals?






ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
320
3. The receiver on a search and rescue HC-130 requires a signal-to-noise ratio of 7.5 to detect
and process a signal. If the voice mode of a survival radio uses a bandwidth of 16 kHz, what
is the minimum received power needed by the HC-130? (Assume that Tsys = 300).











4. The HC-130 in the above problem is flying a search pattern at 10,000 AGL. Your radio
transmits a 4 W signal at 243.0 MHz, with an antenna gain of 2.8. The HC-130 has an
antenna gain of 3.0.
a. How far away from you will the HC-130 be able to detect and process your signal?







b. At the distance you calculated in part (a), what is the actual SNR?



ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
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ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
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Lesson 32 Radio Detection And Ranging (Radar)
Learning Outcomes
1. Given the time for a radar signal to return from an object, calculate the distance to the object.
2. Calculate the power density at a given distance for a given radar system.
3. Calculate the total reflected power from an object given its radar cross section (RCS) and its
distance to a radar system.
4. Calculate the power received for a radar system.
5. Given a radar system and an aircraft with radar detection capability, determine who will
detect the other first.
6. Understand that the power received for a radar signal is much weaker (decreases by factor of
1/R
4
) than the power received for a communication signal (decreases by factor of 1/R
2
) at
identical distances.

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Lesson 32 - Radio Detection And Ranging (Radar)
You probably already know the basics of radar. You send energy out into the world and if some
comes back, you know something is out there. If we timed how long it takes for the reflection to
return, we can figure out how far away that something is.
You might also know that the word radar is an acronym, standing for RAdio Detection And
Ranging. Simply put, with radar we use radio signals to tell if anything is there (detection) and
to tell how far away it is when we find something (ranging). We can do a lot more than that but
those are the basics.
Radar Range
So how does radar calculate how far away its target is? Thankfully, this is a fairly simple
application of physics (yes, there are easy physics problems). The amount of time between
sending an energy pulse and receiving its echo determines the range of the target.

Source: http://www.tpub.com/content/neets/14190/css/14190_14.htm
If t is the elapsed round-trip time for the signal to travel to the target, reflect from it, and then
return to the radar receiver, then the range to the target is


where c is the speed of light. It takes half the round-trip time for the transmitted signal to travel
the distance, R.
Example Problem: A radar signal returns 573.4 s after being transmitted. How far away is the
detected object?
Big Picture: Radar signals travel at the speed of light.
Key Issues: It is important to remember that radar involves a two-way trip. The signal travels to
an object and then it has to return.
Analysis: We need to calculate how far the signal travel and then divide by two for the two-way
trip:

( 1

)( )


Answer: The object is 86 km away.
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
324
Radar Detection Range
Obviously, once you find an object with a radar, calculating its distance is easy. The problem is
actually finding the object. If youre tracking a baseball or cars, it probably wont be too bad,
but finding aircraft and even a missile coming in from over the horizon is another matter. This
lesson, well discuss how far away radar can detect a target. Next lesson, well talk about what
you need to do with your radar to detect multiple targets.
First, lets look at a radars maximum range. This is really just an application of the
communications concepts that weve already learned. In order to detect a target, we need to
establish a wireless channel to the object and then get enough energy to the target that, when
reflected, it can travel back across the wireless channel to the radars receiver (which happens to
be the same antenna that transmitted the original signal). A little more complicated than what
weve done so far, but it shouldnt be too bad.
Lets look at establishing a wireless channel first and how it affects our radars maximum range.
Theres absolutely no difference between this problem and when we calculated maximum ranges
for a communications link. Of course, theres a very good chance that in this case, the other side
is trying to prevent us from establishing the channel by flying as low as possible!
While there are radars that use other wireless channels (e.g., forward scatter), most of them need
LOS so we must make sure that our radar is within LOS maximum range:


Once the target comes into LOS, we also need to deliver energy to the target and then collect the
energy that is reflected back. Hopefully, youve reached the point where you realize that this is a
much harder task than simply getting your signal to someone elses radio!
Well need to modify the Friis equation to handle this new scenario. The first step is fairly easy
to calculate. The power density hitting the target will be:


When we developed the Friis equation, we multiplied this power density by the receiving
antennas effective area to find how much power was received. Well, were not quite there yet.
We first need to figure out how much of the power density is reflected by our target.
We use a parameter called radar cross section or RCS (with units of m
2
) to quantify how much
electrical signal is reflected by an object. Developing stealthy aircraft involves using a myriad
of techniques from structural changes (to deflect signals instead of reflecting them back) to
special coatings (which absorb the energy instead of reflecting it) to making this RCS number as
small as possible. Even though a B-52 and a B-2 are roughly the same size from head on, the
B-2 is specifically designed to not reflect energy back to the radar, so its RCS is much lower and
it is therefore much harder to detect with a radar.
Note: we will use a single value to describe an objects RCS but really this value changes
depending on where the radar signal hits the object.
Thus, the power reflected back to the radar receiver is
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
325
(

) ()


After it travels back to the receiver (assuming that the distance hasnt changed during the time
that it takes to travel back which since is a pretty good assumption since the signal is traveling at
the speed of light), the power will be
(

) (
1

()


We must then catch this power with the receiving antennas effective area which is


The power that is received by our radar is therefore:

()

) (

)
Thankfully, we can combine some terms and use the fact that were using the same antenna for
both transmitting and receiving to simplify this equation a little bit into our final radar equation:

()


Lets look at how the variables affect the power received for radar versus a communications link:
- If I double my transmitted power, the power received also doubles. No change there.
- If I double the radar antennas gain, the power received quadruples because were effectively
doubling both antennas (transmit and receive) at once.
- If I double my wavelength, the power received quadruples. No change here either. If I use a
lower frequency, I get more power to the receiver. The problem is that reducing the radars
frequency also decreases the radars accuracy (stay tuned, well discuss this next lesson).
- Heres the kicker. If I double my distance, only a sixteenth as much power is received!
This last fact is what makes building radars difficult. You simply do not get a lot of energy back
from the target. Most radars have much more sensitive receivers than a radio would have. Also,
most modern radar receivers have the ability to integrate their received power over the duration
of the pulse width and extract all possible energy in the pulse. Therefore, the longer the pulse
duration, the more energy the receiver can detect, giving a better signal-to-noise ratio.
Example Problem: A B-52 with an RCS of 100 m
2
is ingressing hostile territory at 30,000
AGL. The enemy radar is on a 100 hill and has the following parameters:
- P
T
= 1 kW
- G = 150
- f = 300 MHz
- Minimum P
R
= 12 fW
The B-52 has a warning receiver to detect enemy radar signals. Its parameters are:
- G = 3.0
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326
- Minimum P
R
= 215 nW
Who sees who first?
Big Picture: This problem uses almost all of the concepts from the last three lessons. We need
to solve for three separate ranges: the maximum LOS range between the B-52 and the site, the
maximum radar detection range for the enemys radar site, and the maximum communications
range for the B-52 warning receiver.
Key Issues: None.
Analysis: Lets solve the LOS piece first.

1 1
The high altitude that the B-52 is flying allows LOS to be established at a long range.
Now, lets look at how far the radar can detect the bomber. First, we need to solve for the
signals wavelength



1
Next, we use the radar equation,

()


After some algebra machinations, we can re-write this equation as

()


Plugging in the values in the problem,

(1 )(1)

(1

)(1 )

()

(11


Therefore, the radar will see the bomber when it is 98.6 km away.
So, when will the bomber be able to detect the radar? Consider the following:
A radar site broadcasts a 1 kW signal to a bomber using a frequency of 300 MHz and an
antenna gain of 150. The B-52 receiver uses an antenna with a gain of 3.0 and requires 215 nW
to detect the incoming signal. How far away can the bomber detect the radar?
Hopefully, you recognize that this is not only the same question as is asked above, but that it also
clearly requires the Friis equation to solve.
Therefore, we need to solve the Friis equation for R,

()


(1 )(1)()(1 )

()

11


111
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
327
Answer: Since LOS is established at 414.4 km, both the radar site and the B-52 are capable of
seeing each other. Since the bomber can detect the radar at 115.1 km, but the radar does not
detect the bomber until 98.6 km, the bomber will see the radar before the radar will see the
bomber.
Example Problem: Lets change the problem a little. Instead of a B-52 at high altitude, lets
use a B-1 (with a smaller RCS of 10 m
2
) ingressing hostile territory at 300 AGL. All other
parameters are the same.
When will the radar site see the B-1?
Big Picture: We need to solve for two ranges: the maximum LOS range between the B-1 and
the radar site and the maximum radar detection range for the enemys radar site.
Key Issues: None.
Analysis: Lets solve the LOS piece first.

1 1
Now, lets look at how far away the radar can detect the bomber. First, we start with the re-
arranged radar equation,

()


Plugging in the values in the problem,

(1 )(1)

(1

)(1 )

()

(11


Therefore, the radar will first have LOS at 61.8 km and be able to detect the ingressing B-1 at
55.4 km.












ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
328


Lesson 32 Homework
1. An F-15 has enough fuel to travel 100 km. The F-15 is receiving a signal from the TACAN
located on the airfield. The TACAN signal propagates from the station to the F-15 in 500 s.
Does the pilot need to hit a tanker or does it have enough fuel to reach to the runway?







2. A fighter has an RCS of 20 m
2
. Will a fire-control radar that operates at 1 GHz, has a
transmit power of 50 kW, and a gain of 50 be able to lock onto the fighter if the range is 50
km (and LOS is established)? To lock-on, the received power must be at least 10 pW.








3. The RCS of a fighter is approximately 20 square meters. The RCS of a missile is
approximately 0.2 square meters. How many times farther away can the fighter be detected
than the missile?

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
329
4. During an exercise, a UAS is used to gather information on the red forces. The red team has
deployed a mobile radar unit, with the following parameters:
- Frequency = 450 MHz
- Transmit power = 1.5 kW
- Antenna gain = 200
- Minimum power received = 1 fW
The UAS has the following parameters:
- RCS = 0.4 m
2

- Receive antenna gain = 3
- Minimum power received = 1.25 W

Answer the following questions:
a. If the radar signal takes 133.3 s to return, how far away is the UAS?






b. What is the power density at 30 km from the radar?






c. Given your answer in part b, how much power does the UAS reflect?







ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
330


d. How much power is received by the radar if the UAS is 30 km from the radar?








e. If the radar is located on a 45 hill and the UAS is ingressing at 200 AGL, who will see
who first?


ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
331














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ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
332
Lesson 33 Radar (Continued)
Learning Outcomes
1. Given the pulse repetition frequency (PRF) of a radar system, calculate the pulse repetition
interval (PRI) or vice versa.
2. Given the PRF or PRI of a radar system, calculate the maximum unambiguous range.
3. Understand that a radar system will not know the exact position of an object located outside
of its maximum unambiguous range without additional processing.
4. Determine the PRF needed to achieve a desired maximum unambiguous range.
5. Understand that radar range resolution determines whether a radar will be able to distinguish
between multiple targets.
6. Given the pulse width of a radar system, calculate the radars range resolution.
7. Determine the pulse width that would be required to distinguish between two objects at a
given separation.
8. Use the Doppler equation to determine the frequency of a radar return.
9. Use the Doppler equation to determine the velocity of an object.

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
333
Lesson 33 Radar (Continued)

In the previous lesson, we introduced the basic concept of radar. We mentioned that most radars
use the same antenna for both transmitting the original signal and receiving the bounce back.
We then calculated how much power would actually return for some operational scenarios. Lets
take a look at an example to start todays reading:
A radar transmits 1 kW of power at a frequency of 300 MHz using an antenna with a gain of 150
towards a B-52 (with a radar cross section (RCS) of 100 m
2
), which is 86 km away. How much
power will the radar receive and what signal to noise ratio (SNR) will this give?
Solving for wavelength and then the received power gives:

()


(1 )(1)

(1

)(1 )

()

( )


Theres nothing wrong with 20.73 fW given a sensitive radar receiver, unless the radar is still
transmitting its 1 kW of power at the same time. If we treat this transmitted power as noise, we
can calculate a signal to noise ratio of



1
1


This number is small. Unacceptably small, actually. There are two distinct ways to solve this
problem:
- Send pulses of energy, instead of a continuous stream, or
- Use two antennas, one to transmit and one to receive.
The first of these is the most common, since most radar systems use the same antenna to transmit
and receive. In this lesson, we will discuss some of the ramifications of using radar pulses.
The second solution is called a bistatic radar. This type of radar is sometimes used in ground-
site applications because the transmitter and receiver hardware are actually kept separate from
each other (to prevent interference) but is significantly more complex than the more common
monostatic radar used in airplanes.
Radar Pulse Parameters
A monostatic radar works by periodically sending a high-frequency pulse (typically in the UHF
to EHF frequency band) electrical signal for a short period of time, waiting for a return, sending
out the next pulse, waiting for a return, and so on. The figure below shows the various
parameters that determine how this process works:
- Pulse width (t, sec): The amount of time that the radar transmits a pulse
- Pulse Repetition Interval (PRI, sec): The amount of time between pulse transmission
- Pulse Repetition Frequency (PRF, Hz): The number of pulses transmitted per second where,
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
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1


Pulse width (t)
Pulse Repetition Interval (PRI)
Dead Zone

Maximum Unambiguous Range
A radars PRI determines its maximum unambiguous range. This range is different than the
maximum ranges calculated last lesson from the LOS and radar equations. Those equations tell
us when the radar will see anything. The use of pulses has now introduced a problem we have
multiple pulses traveling through space at one time.
Lets look at an example to see whats going on. An aircraft radar has a PRF of 10 kHz which
gives us a PRI of 100 s. So, lets say the first pulse is transmitted at t = 0 s. The pulse travels
through the air until it strikes an aircraft at t = 30 s (of course, you easily calculated that this
would be at a range of 9 km, right, by multiplying the time by the speed of light?). The echo
travels back to the radar, taking another 30 s so that it returns at 60 s into the 100 s pulse
interval. This means that the radar signal can make its entire two-way trip and get back to the
antenna before the next radar pulse is transmitted. This is good.
Pulse 1 transmitted
(t = 0s)
Pulse 1 hits A/C
and generates an echo
(t = 30 s)
Echo returns to radar
(t = 60 s)
Pulse 2 transmitted
(t = 100 s)

Our range ambiguity appears when we receive echoes from farther away. Lets take our aircraft
out to 18 km so that the first pulse doesnt reach it until 60 s after it is sent. The echo from
reflecting off the aircraft wont make it back to the transceiver until 20 s after the second pulse
has been sent. How does the radar know whether this echo came from the first pulse (and
therefore from an object 18 km away) or the second one (and therefore from an object only 3 km
away)? For a simple radar system, the answer is that it doesnt know. In fact, a simple radar
system will always assume that any received energy comes from the most recent pulse!
Pulse 1 transmitted
(t = 0s)
Pulse 1 hits A/C
and generates an echo
(t = 60 s)
Echo returns to radar
(t = 120 s)
Pulse 2 transmitted
(t = 100 s)

We use a radars PRI to define the maximum unambiguous range, R
max
, as:
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
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()


In other words, a radars PRI setting directly determine R
max
where:
- If a radar target is outside of R
max
, then the radar will not know exactly where the target is
located; its position will be ambiguous.
- If the radar target is less than or equal to R
max
, then the radar will know exactly where the
target is located; its position will be unambiguous.
In the previous example, the radars maximum unambiguous range was 15 km so the echo from
the aircraft at 18 km would actually be seen as only 3 km away. To help prevent this from
happening, many ground radar sites actually set their R
max
to be equal to their maximum LOS
range to prevent ambiguities.
There are ways around range ambiguities. Modern radars frequently stagger the interval between
pulses to allow the correct range to be determined. With a staggered PRF, a 'packet' of pulses is
transmitted, each pulse a slightly different interval from the last pulse (or viewed a different way;
delayed variable amounts from the reference trigger). At the end of the packet, the timing returns
to its original value, in sync with the trigger.
Example Problem: A ground radar stations antenna is located 15 ft above the ground. What
PRF should be used to prevent range ambiguities?
Big Picture: We want to set our maximum unambiguous range to our maximum LOS range by
adjusting the radars PRI (and therefore its PRF).
Key Issues: None
Analysis: We need to calculate the antennas maximum LOS range first:


1
We need to set our PRI so that

( )
1



We can now quickly calculate the needed PRF:

1

1

1
Answer: The ground radar station should be set to a PRF of 17 kHz.
Radar Range Resolution
A radars ability to resolve different ranges (AR) refers to the radar receivers ability to
discriminate between two targets at different ranges. This ability is limited by how long each
pulse is on, also known as the pulse width (t). A wider pulse means theres more energy in the
received signal making it easier to detect. However, a wider pulse also causes less resolution in
range information.
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336
Lets use another example to show what we mean. Our radar with PRF of 10 kHz and PRI of
100 s sends out a 10 s-wide pulse. It hits two separate aircraft at t = 25 s (7.5 km) and t = 40
s (12 km), respectively. The radars receiver will then get two different echoes, the first at 50
s and the second at 80 s. These two aircraft can both be seen by the radar.
Pulse 1 transmitted
(t = 0s)
Pulse 1 hits A/C #1
and generates Echo #1
(t = 25 s)
Echo #1 returns to radar
(t = 50 s)
Pulse 2 transmitted
(t = 100 s)
Pulse 1 hits A/C #2
and generates Echo #2
(t = 40 s)
Echo #2 returns to radar
(t = 80 s)

If we close the separation between the two aircraft to only 1.2 km, we will still get two echoes.
The pulse hits the first aircraft at t = 25 s (7.5 km) and the second aircraft at t = 29 s (8.7 km).
Both echoes return to the receiver at t = 50 s and t = 58 s, respectively. Our problem is that
the radar only sees one continuous pulse because the second echo arrives before the first echo
had completed. In this case, a radar operator may suspect that there is more than one aircraft out
there, but there is no way to determine how many and where.
Pulse 1 transmitted
(t = 0s)
Pulse 1 hits A/C #1
and generates Echo #1
(t = 25 s)
Echo #1 returns to radar
(t = 50 s)
Pulse 2 transmitted
(t = 100 s)
Pulse 1 hits A/C #2
and generates Echo #2
(t = 29 s)
Echo #2 returns to radar
(t = 58 s)

We use a radars pulse width to set its range resolution, AR, as:

()


In other words, a radars pulse width setting directly determines AR where:
- If a radars targets are within AR of each other, the radar will not know exactly how many or
exactly where the targets are.
- If the radars targets are separated by more than AR, the radar will be able to resolve them
into individual entities.
In the example above, the radars resolution is 1.5 km, so when we closed the distance between
the aircraft to 1.2 km, the planes could no longer be seen separately.
Example Problem: Two inbound aircraft have a nose-tail separation of 20 m. If a tracking
radar has a pulse width of = 1 s, will it be able to tell that there is more than one airplane?
Big Picture: We can use the pulse width to determine the radar resolution.
Key Issues: None
Analysis: In the given problem, = 1 s. We can use this to solve for the radar resolution,
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
337


( 1

)(1 )

1
Therefore, with a pulse width of 1 s, the radar cannot distinguish between objects with less than
150 m separation. Since our planes are 20 m apart, they will be seen as a single object.
Answer: No, the radar will not be able to tell that there is more than one airplane, because its
radar resolution is too big, R = 150 m.
Target Speed Determination
The amount of frequency shift in a returned signal relative to the known frequency of the
transmitted signal determines the relative speed of the target. What could cause the frequency of
the radar return to differ from the transmitter frequency? The answer is Doppler Shift.
Everyone is familiar with the phenomenon. A passing car has a higher pitch tone as it approaches
than it does after it passes by. This is Doppler Shift. The sound waves are traveling at a fixed
speed, but the waves are compressed as the car approaches, creating an increase in frequency. As
the car passes by, the waves stretch so that the peaks spread apart. This causes a decrease in the
frequency. The same phenomenon occurs with the electromagnetic waves of a radar signal, as
shown in the figure below.

A stationary target will return a pulse of (

) where f
o
is the radars transmitter
frequency. An approaching target with a closing speed of v (m/s) will return a pulse of
[

(1

) ] [ (

) ] [ (

) ]
where

is the wavelength from the stationary target. A retreating target will have a negative
Doppler Shift.
If the target is not traveling straight toward the radar, but rather makes an angle as in the figure
above, the frequency will be

()
for closing targets, and
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
338

()
for retreating targets. By determining the difference between the transmitted frequency and the
frequency of the received radar return, the radar system can determine the relative speed with
respect to the radar.
Example Problem: A supersonic aircraft is approaching a radar system at a speed of 400 m/s,
with an approach angle of 30. If the radar uses a frequency of 1 GHz, at what frequency will
the signal return?
Big Picture: We can use Doppler shift to determine the frequency.
Key Issues: If the airplane is moving towards us, the frequency will increase. If the airplane
moves away, the frequency will decrease.
Analysis: Using the Doppler equation,

[1

] (1 ) [1
() ()
1

] 111
Answer: The return signal will be at a frequency of 1.000001155 GHz.

Notice the use of significant figures here. Since the real information is in how much the signal
changes, well keep enough digits to capture that change!

Example problem: An airplane is flying overhead with an approach angle of 60. If a radar
signal is transmitted at 300 MHz and returns at 299.999875 MHz, how fast is the airplane
travelling?
Big Picture: We can use Doppler shift to determine the speed of objects.
Key Issues: None.
Analysis: The hard part is solving the Doppler equation for velocity - more algebra! Our
original equation

[1

]
can be converted to

(



with a few algebra steps (yes, you should practice this if youre still struggling with algebra in
this course).
We can now use this equation to solve for v:

(



(1

)( )
( )

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339
Notice that the velocity is a negative 250 m/s. What does this mean? Well, a positive number
means it is moving towards us, a negative number means it is moving away.
Answer: The airplane is moving away from us with a velocity of 250 m/s.
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
340
Lesson 33 Homework
1. A radar with a PRI of 200 s is trying to detect an aircraft that is 50 km away. The radar
receives the return from the approaching aircraft, but the radar operator does not realize the
power level is too low to be a viable signal. How far away will the radar think the aircraft is?












2. An integral part of an instrument flight rules navigation system is its radar altimeter. Adam
Aircraft is designing a new jet. The radar engineer decided to use a pulse width of 1 s.
Would you feel safe flying in this airplane? Why or why not?












ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
341
3. The radar for a surface to air missile (SAM) system uses a PRF of 6 kHz and a pulse width
of 300 ns. Answer the following questions:
a. What is the PRI?





b. If you are 28 km from the SAM site, does it know where you are (without additional
processing)?






c. If you are ingressing as a two-ship with 10 m spacing, will the SAM be able to tell there
are two of you?





4. You need to design a radar system that can distinguish between objects with a separation of
25 m. You also need to be able to unambiguously determine the position of an object out to
75 km. What PRF and pulse width will you use?




ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
342
5. A radar ground station wants to set their radars maximum unambiguous range to 20 km.
What PRF should they use for the radar and how high off the ground does its antenna need
to be?













6. A UAS is moving directly away from you ( = 0) at a speed of 90 meters per second. If
your radar uses a frequency of 2.4 GHz, at what frequency will the radar signal return?














ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
343
7. A radars operating frequency is 4 GHz. An enemy aircraft is approaching at 800 km/h.
What is the Doppler shift to the signal received by the radar if the aircraft coming directly at
the radar? Suppose the aircraft turns around and heads in the opposite direction. What is the
new Doppler shift?












8. An unidentified aircraft is travelling towards you with an approach angle of 40. If your
radar transmits at 1.2 GHz and receives a 1.2000008465 GHz signal in return, how fast is
the aircraft travelling?







ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
344

Lesson 34 Global Positioning System (GPS)
Learning Outcomes
1. Describe the three segments in the Global Positioning System.
2. Calculate the power received and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of a GPS signal.
3. Describe the three main signals transmitted by GPS satellites.
4. Understand the benefits of using a pseudo-random noise (PRN) code.
5. Understand how PRN codes are used to help a GPS receiver find a GPS signal.
6. Know that four satellites are required to determine your location in three dimensions
7. Given the time it takes for a signal to reach a receiver, calculate the distance traveled by the
signal.
8. Calculate the range error induced by the receiver clock.
9. Given transmission times for one, two, or three signals, graph your possible locations.
10. Identify the different types of GPS errors.
11. Understand that the receiver clock error is the largest error induced in the position solution.

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
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Lesson 34 Global Positioning System
Theres a pretty good chance that youve used the Global Positioning System (GPS) before.
Whether youre navigating to the nearest Chipotle, finding that elusive geocache, or using a
single 2000-pound bomb to strike its target with near-precision, GPS has become an integral part
of what we do, both in and out of the military.
In this lesson, we will explore the basics of GPS and how it works. Fortunately, weve already
learned a few analysis tools to help us understand whats really going on.
GPS System Architecture
The Global Positioning System is made up of three segments:
- The Space Segment. There are more than 24 operational satellites (yes, we have backup
satellites available if needed) in orbit 20,181 km above the earth. These satellites are evenly
positioned in six orbital planes with a 55 inclination angle relative to the equator. The
orbital period of each satellite is about 12 hours, so each satellite circles the earth twice per
day.
- The Control Segment. Based out of Schriever AFB, these are the folks who make sure the
satellites are where they should be and are broadcasting proper data. Other monitoring
stations are located at Cape Canaveral, Hawaii, Ascension Island, Diego Garcia, and
Kwajalein.
- The User Segment. This is where we come in. Cell phones, car navigation systems, pilots
shooting a GPS approach in the weather. Anyone that uses GPS is (not surprisingly) part of
the User Segment.

The figure below gives more detail about the space and control segments and is used by the GPS
Joint Program Office (JPO) to explain the many parts of the system needed to provide positional
information to the user segment. Hopefully, after the last few lessons, you now understand some
of the acronyms used in this chart, especially all of the frequencies used for different
communications.


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346

GPS Signals
Before we analyze the signals transmitted by GPS satellites, lets step back and look at the signal
levels that our GPS receivers must be able to handle.
Lets assume, for simplicity, that a satellite is located 20,000 km from your position and is
transmitting a 30 W, 20 MHz bandwidth signal at 1.575 GHz using a 15.8-gain transmit antenna.
If your receiver has a gain of 1.1, what signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) will you get?
The first thing we need to do is solve for the wavelength of the signal,


1
1
Now, we can calculate the power received, using the Friis equation:

()

( )(1)(11)
(1 )

( )


(Yes, we really are dividing by 20,000,000
2
!). This is a very small amount of power. Lets use
this value to find the SNR (assuming a T
sys
of 290 K for room temperature),

)

1


(1 1

) ( )( )

This is a very small SNR. Not only is it below 1, but it is well, well below 1. The following
diagram is not to scale, but it gives a visual idea of whats going on with the SNR for a GPS
signal. In order to find our GPS signal, we will in effect have to go fishing for it!
Noise way
up here
Signal way
down here
Frequency
A
m
p
l
i
t
u
d
e


Obviously, our GPS devices are able to find the signal amidst all the noise, so how do they do it?
The answer lies in the signal itself. To start with, each satellite actually transmits three separate
signals. Two signals on L1 frequency, 1.575 GHz: C/A Code and P Code; and, one signal on L2
frequency, 1.227 GHz: P-Code.



ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
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Source: http://www.kowoma.de/en/gps/satellites.htm
















Source: Misra and Enge, Global Positioning System, Signals, Measeurements and Performance, 2
nd
Ed, 2006

GPS Satellite Signals
Signal Frequency Purpose
C/A (Course Acquisition) Code 1.575 GHz (L1) Intended for initial acquisition of the
GPS signal
P (Precision) Code 1.575 GHz (L1) and
1.227 GHz (L2)
Encrypted P Code (called Y Code)
used by military for precise navigation
solution

To be honest, other signals now exist as GPS
continues to modernize. For example, GPS now
supports the following signals starting with the GPS,
Block IIR upgrade: 1) a C/A-code at L2, 2) a new
military code (M-code) at L1 and L2, and 3) civilian-
use signal at the new frequency, L5 (1.7645 GHz).
However, for this lesson, we will focus on the three
signals identified in the table above.
Notice a couple of things about these signals. First of
all, two of the signals are precision signals. These
signals are used by the Department of Defense to not
only determine a very accurate position, but also to
reduce the possibility of spoofing. The non-precision
signal is the one you have most likely used, since its
the one available for commercial use.
f, MHz
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
348
Also, notice that both L1 signals are transmitted on the same frequency. This isnt true for just
one satellite, but for all of them. With 24 satellites, we have a total of 48 signals, all being
transmitted on the same 1.575 GHz frequency.
So, not only do we have a very low SNR, but we also have multiple signals coming in on the
same frequency at the same time. Again, we need to look a little bit closer at the signal to figure
out whats going on.
All three of the signals are similar in nature, so well start off talking about the L1 Coarse
Acquisition Signal. This signal has three parts:

- A carrier frequency of 1.575 GHz.
- Navigation data. This is a binary signal that transmits the time, the satellites position (i.e.,
ephemeris data), and a few other pieces of information (i.e., the almanac). The data rate
is an agonizingly slow 50 bits per second and takes 12.5 minutes for the entire message to be
transmitted (the satellite position and clock are repeated every 30 seconds).
- A pseudo-random noise (PRN) code. This is the key to digging a very low power signal out
of the noise surrounding it. The data rate for the 1023-bit PRN code (used for the L1 Coarse
Acquisition Signal) is 1.023 Mbps, or about 1 s per bit. Thus, the entire PRN code repeats
every 1 ms, and in fact, the entire PRN code repeats twenty times for each bit in the
navigation data message.

So, the L1 Coarse Acquisition Signal uses a pseudo-random code that is 1023 bits long. What do
we mean by the term pseudo-random?
The random part means that the string of 1023 bits looks, well, random. There are no
discernable patterns, and in fact, it looks very much like noise. The pseudo part of the term
means that it really isnt random. We know ahead of time what it looks like.
Heres what the satellite does to create the signal it transmits:

- It generates the message signal with a data rate of 50 bps.
- It generates the PRN code, which repeats every 1023 bits. The PRN data rate is 1.023 Mbps.
- It combines the PRN code and the message into a single binary signal with a 1.023 Mbps
data rate by effectively adding them together (using a binary exclusive OR (XOR) function).
- It uses phase shift keying to modulate the 1.575 GHz carrier signal.

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349
The figure below offers a general pictorial of this process.

Source: http://www.colorado.edu/geography/gcraft/notes/gps/gif/signals.gif
The result is a modulated signal that contains the message encoded into a PRN code. In order to
find and decode the message, we need to know which PRN code was used. Each of the 24
operational satellites uses a different PRN code (there are 32 total PRN codes in the standard).
Fortunately, for the L1 Coarse Acquisition Signal, the PRN codes are common knowledge. If
were using the PRN code for a given satellite to try to recover its message signal, then all of the
other PRN codes will look like noise. The only signal we see is the one were looking for. Its
almost as if each satellite is speaking a different language and we only listen to the language we
want.
To decode the signal after its been demodulated, the GPS receiver starts adding different PRN
codes to the incoming signal until it finds a match. In order to recover the signal, the two 1023-
bit PRN codes (the one in the transmitted signal and the one being used to recover the message)
need to line up exactly. If they dont, the result is as if we simply added more noise to noise.
When the PRN codes line up, however, we have a match which causes the resulting signal to
jump above the noise level!
The other cool part is that this process also knows how long it took the signal to arrive based on
how many bits it had to shift the PRN code. Lets look at how it works. Well start by assuming
the receivers clock is exactly synchronized with the satellite clock. If so, then both the receiver
and the satellite are capable of generating the same PRN code at exactly the same time.
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
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Source: https://www.e-education.psu.edu/natureofgeoinfo/book/export/html/1620

Remember, though, that it takes around 70 ms for the signal to reach the receiver. Therefore, the
signal that is received will not automatically line up with the same PRN code generated by the
receiver. To find the signal, then, the receiver shifts the PRN code in time until the codes line up.
The number of times that the receiver has to shift the codes gives it an estimate of how long it
took the signal to travel to the receiver.
The main difference between the civilian GPS signal and the two precision signals is the PRN
code. The precision signals use a PRN code that is 6.1871 10
12
bits long (6,187,100,000,000
bits) and only repeats once a week (it is transmitted at 10.23 Mbps). By encoding the navigation
data using a longer PRN code, we have a better estimate of how long it took the signal to travel
to the receiver since each bit takes a shorter amount of time. In order to use these precision
signals, you need a military-class GPS receiver with the longer GPS PRN codes loaded.
This process is very much trial and error. The GPS receiver chooses a PRN code and compares
it to its signal. If there isnt a match, it shifts the PRN guess to the right and compares again.
This process continues until a match is detected or all 1,023 possible cases have been tried. The
codes are then combined to increase the signal strength beyond the noise threshold. If the PRN
guess doesnt work, the receiver chooses another PRN and tries again. Of course, the receiver
tries to be efficient with which PRN codes it chooses to correlate first. This is why the first time
your GPS receiver is turned on (or when you fly somewhere else far from your previous
location), it can take forever to determine its location. It is laboriously going through all possible
PRN codes (having started with the incorrect guess) until it finds the correct set. After you get
a lock though, your receiver will initialize much faster from then on.

GPS Satellite
Transmitter
GPS Receiver
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
351



Source: http://www.colorado.edu/geography/gcraft/notes/gps/gps_f.html

To summarize the benefits of PRN codes:
- They enable us to find and decode signals well below the noise level
- They allow us to transmit multiple signals on the same frequency
- They can be used to restrict use (such as with the precision signals)
Not only are PRN codes used in GPS signals, but they also are used for cell phones, for very
similar reasons: the signals are relatively weak, there are many users talking over few
frequencies, and we want to restrict access to who can listen.
GPS Position Determination
So how do we actually calculate our position using these signals? Well, heres an over-
simplified explanation of how GPS works: each satellite sends a signal that contains the location
of the satellite and the time when the signal was sent. When a GPS receiver receives a signal
from a satellite, it compares the time information with its own internal clock and determines how
long it took for the signal to arrive (by comparing PRN codes). From this information, it can
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
352
determine the distance from the satellite by simply multiplying the time of flight by the speed of
light.
Knowing how far we are from a single satellite is nice, but not very useful. If we determine our
distance to a second satellite, though, we begin to narrow down our position using a process
called trilateralization, which is little more than using multiple fix points to triangulate your
position.
So how many satellites do you need data from in order to find your location in three-dimensions?
Four. You will find that only given signals from three satellites have a range error so large that
it becomes unusable for the majority of applications. However, in two-dimensions, only three
transmitters are required to obtain an accurate navigation solution.
Lets look at a two-dimensional example to explain whats going on, then we will navigate (pun
intended) a three-dimensional scenario. If you know that you are a certain distance from a fixed
point (e.g., 100 miles from Denver), then you also know that you are somewhere on a circle
surrounding Denver. If you know another piece of information (say, that youre 120 km from
Colorado Springs), you can narrow down your location to two locations (the intersection of the
two circles). In order to determine your exact location, you need one more fix so you can
triangulate your location. This is the technique used by search-and-rescue teams when theyre
trying to locate a skier buried by an avalanche using a transponder.
Denver
100 km

Denver
100 km
120 km

Denver
100 km
120 km
60 km

One fix Two fixes Three fixes


ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
353
Example Problem: Three navigation towers are configured as shown below. Your navigation
equipment gives you the following time of flight information: 20.00 s from Tower A, 13.33 s
from Tower B, and 23.33 s from Tower C. Assuming no clock error, plot your position on the
chart.


Big Picture: This is a two-dimensional problem so we should be able to determine our location
with the three fixes above. Well need to calculate distances away from each tower.
Key Issues: None.
Analysis: We can calculate distances away from each tower using:

( 1

)( )

( 1

)(1 )

( 1

)()
If we plot the circles for each fix, we end up with the location below (the red dot).
A
B
C
1 2 3 8 7 6 5 4
1 2 3 8 7 6 5 4
1
2
3
8
7
6
5
4

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
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Determining your location using GPS is slightly more complicated because the problem is now
three-dimensional and a single fix provides spherical information. Two intersecting spheres give
you a perfect circle while the intersection of spheres that comes from seeing three satellites will
narrow down your location to two points. You need a fourth sphere to completely determine
your location.


So how can you get your location with just three satellites? Well, if necessary, you can use the
earth itself as the fourth sphere to determine which of the two points is in space versus on the
earths surface. This approach works best though when youre in a boat or aircraft and have an
accurate idea of your elevation. Receivers generally look for four or more satellites to improve
accuracy and provide precise altitude information. Without a fourth satellite, the receiver clock
error (which can be the most significant position error) cannot be determined. This error can
translate to a position error in the hundreds of meters. To help you better understand this concept,
lets take a look at how this is done!
With GPS, your position is first calculated in the Earth-Centered, Earth-Fixed (ECEF) reference
system, which is then later translated to a latitude, longitude and elevation. The ECEF system
places the (0, 0, 0) coordinate at the center of mass of the earth, as shown below.


Source: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=90c03103-071c-4411-bfa0-ccfc9a7a1dc1


ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
355
After the range to each of the four satellites is calculated, the position (x, y, z) and the clock error
(ot) can be determined. Below you have four equations; therefore, you can solve for four
unknowns.

( )

( )

( )

( )

As long as four or more satellites are available, this clock error can be calculated out. Being
within the footprint of four satellites are rarely an issue. At latitudes in North America, it is
common to see 6-10 satellites at a given time.

Example Problem: The clock error (ot) was determined to be 1/1000
th
of a second. What is the
position error associated with ot?
Big Picture: We need to use the range equation, R = ct.
Key Issues: None.
Analysis: Subsituting ot in for t, we can determine the range error:

( 1

)(1)

Answer: The range error associated with a clock error of 1 ms is 300 km.

As we mentioned before the receiver clock error is the most predominant error. The relationship
between all errors, the true range and the calculated range can be seen below.










T
s
T
s
+ ot
sv
T
u
T
u
+ ot T
u
time
True Range
Satellite
Clk Error
Receiver Clock Error
Other
Errors
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
356
The other errors that add to a less than accurate solution are contributed to the Ionosphere,
Troposphere, Receiver noise, multipath, hardware errors, and broadcast ephemeris errors. Each
type of error that is induced in the process and their relative impact is listed in the table below.
Other Error Cause Mitigation Typical Range
Error (C/A code
only)
Ionospheric Error Floating blobs of electrons
in the Ionosphere causes
rapidly changing delays
Use a mapping function
to calculate out the
delay
1.5-20 meters
Tropospheric Error More predictable delay that
is highly dependent on
humidity and temperature
Use a mapping function
to calculate out the
delay
0.7 meters
Receiver Noise Noise within the GPS
receiver
Differential GPS or a
baseline test is the only
mitigation
1.5 meters
Multipath Reflected signals Baseline test, increase
elevation or move to
different location
0 - 1.2 meters
Hardware Errors Bias between L1 and L2
measurements
Can be removed by
tracking a common
satellite between two
receivers
centimeters
Broadcast Ephemeris
Error
Satellite position error More precise orbital
data uploaded to
satellite
1 meter


ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
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Lesson 34 Homework
1. Describe the three segments in the Global Positioning System.





2. Which of the following is not a purpose of the PRN code?
a. It enables us to find and decode signals well below the noise level
b. It allows us to transmit multiple signals on the same frequency
c. It conveys the time the signal was sent
d. It can be used to restrict use

3. T / F In order to accurately determine my position, I must receive signals from 4 GPS
satellites.

4. Which of the following errors does not attribute to range errors in GPS?
a. Multipath
b. Receiver clock
c. Pseudo-random Noise
d. Ionospheric error

5. Two GPS satellites send signals at exactly 1200 Zulu time. Your very accurate clock
indicates you receive the first signal at 73.33 ms after 1200 and the second one at 78 ms
after 1200. How far are you from each satellite?







ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
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6. A GPS satellite is located 24,500 km from your position. It transmits a 27 W signal at 1.575
GHz with a 2 MHz bandwidth. The transmit antenna has a gain of 14.8 and the receiver has
a gain of 1.1. Assuming a Tsys of 290 K, what is the signal-to-noise ratio at the receiver?






















7. A cell phone has to shift the PRN code by 16.67 s to receive in incoming call. How far
away is the cell phone tower?






ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
359
8. Given your answer in the previous question, graph your possible locations in the diagram
below.


9. What two frequencies and two codes are used to generate the three main signals transmitted
by GPS satellites?




10. T / F In order to recover the GPS signal, the two PRN codes (the one in the transmitted
signal and the one being used to recover the message) must line up exactly.

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
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Lesson 39 and 40 Electronic Warfare (EW)
Learning Outcomes
1. Determine the signal-to-noise ratio for a radio or radar signal that is being jammed.
2. Know which three variables in the Friis equation can be controlled by jamming platforms.
3. Understand that communications jamming gets more effective as you move towards the
receiver.
4. Know that Low Probability of Intercept (LPI) techniques such as chirp signals, frequency
hopping, and direct-sequence spread spectrum are used to counter jamming.
5. Know the three variables in the radar equation that can be controlled by an aircraft trying to
avoid radar detection.
6. Understand the basic concepts of suppression of enemy air defenses (SEAD) and destruction
of enemy air defenses (DEAD).
7. Understand the purpose of chaff.
8. Calculate the effective length of chaff.
9. Understand that radar jamming becomes less effective as you get closer to the radar.
10. Determine how close aircraft need to stay together to be seen as a single radar target.
11. Understand that an approach angle of 90 causes a Doppler radar to perceive that you are not
moving.

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
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Lessons 36 & 37 Electronic Warfare

Electronic warfare (EW) is defined as the art and science of preserving the use of the
electromagnetic spectrum for friendly use while denying its use to the enemy.
The goal of EW is simple: keep the enemy from doing his job while making sure we can still do
ours. If the bad guys need their radios, then we jam them. If they try to jam us, then we must
find a way to continue communicating.
The good news for you is that these EW lessons do not present any new equations, just new ways
of applying them.
Nearly everything in EW has a countermeasure, and many countermeasures have counter-
countermeasures to work against them. It can get quite confusing very quick, if we want it to. In
accordance with Joint Doctrine 3-51, dated April 2000, EW includes three major subdivisions:
- Electronic Attack is the subdivision of EW involving the use of EM energy, directed
energy, or antiradiation weapons to attack personnel, facilities, or equipment with the
intent of degrading, neutralizing, or destroying enemy combat capability and is
considered a form of fires
- Electronic Protection is the subdivision of EW involving passive and active means taken
to protect personnel facilities, and equipment from any effects of friendly or enemy
employment of EW that degrade, neutralize, or destroy friendly combat capability.
- Electronic Warfare Support is the subdivision of EW involving actions tasked by, or
under direct control of, an operational commander to search for, intercept, identify, and
locate or localize sources of intentional and unintentional radiated EM energy for
the purpose of immediate threat recognition, targeting, planning, and conduct future
operations.
The topics discussed during this and the next lesson will fall within one of these three categories.
Fortunately, the basic concepts of EW are fairly simple, especially with the material you have
already learned in this course. To show what we mean by this, lets consider jamming, a form of
Electronic Attack.
Radio Jamming Techniques and Countermeasures
You already know how jamming works. When the crowd at a football game becomes so loud
that the quarterback cant communicate with his team, jamming has occurred. In electrical
engineering terms, we use the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) equation to describe whats happening:


In the football example, P
Signal


represents the volume of the quarterback at the intended receiver,
and P
Noise
represents the volume of the crowd. As the crowd gets louder, the SNR becomes
smaller. At some point, the SNR becomes too small for the quarterbacks team to hear him.
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
362
In order to apply this concept to a communications scenario, how would you go about jamming
the communications link between two communication sites?
Think about the Friis equation. The power received (and thus the P
Signal
in the SNR equation
above) at the receiving site is based on this equation. Now, if you place a third transmitter near
the receiver, you can effectively reduce the SNR by increasing the P
Noise
to a point where the
receiver can no longer receive the intended signal. The following figure shows this concept. If
two transmitters with the same antenna, power, and frequency characteristics both transmit a
signal to a receiver, the closer transmitter (the jammer) has a distinct advantage in the Friis
equation since its range to the receiver is less than the range of transmitter 1 to the receiver.



This example is similar to two people talking to you at the same time at the same volume, but
one is right next to your ear, while the other is some distance away. Obviously, the person closer
to your ear has the advantage and can prevent you from hearing the desired transmitter clearly.
For this same reason, a communications jammer on an aircraft gets more effective as the aircraft
gets closer to the receiver.
Notice that the jammer must transmit on the same frequency as the transmitter that is to be
jammed.

Transmitter
Receiver
Jammer


ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
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Example Problem: A surface to air missile (SAM) site is receiving position information about
your aircraft. Jamming seems like a good idea, so you turn on your jamming equipment. The
parameters for the radio transmitter and your jamming equipment are shown below. If the SAM
site needs a signal to noise ratio of 0.06 to process and receive the communication signal, is your
jamming effective?
SAM radio communications: Your Jamming Equipment:
Power transmitted = 1 kW
Transmit Antenna Gain = 3
Receive Antenna Gain = 3
Frequency = 750 MHz
Distance = 80 km
Power transmitted = 2.0 kW
Transmit Antenna Gain = 20

Frequency = 750 MHz
Distance = 75 km
Big Picture: Well use the Friis equation twice.
Key Issues: The equation for SNR is simply


In other words, the signal is the radio transmission that the SAM site is trying to receive and the
noise is the jamming you are producing. We get to use the Friis equation to solve for both of
these values.
Analysis: Lets start by figuring out how much power is received from the radio signal. First,
we need to calculate the wavelength of the radio signal:




Now we can use the Friis equation to find the power received,

()


1 ()()( )

( )

1
So far, so good. But now what do we do?


ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
364
Basically, we do the same thing with the same Friis equation, but now we use your jamming
equipment as the transmitter. Heres a review of all the variables well be using:
Variable What Well Use
P
T
The transmit power of your jammer
G
T
The gain of your jammer
G
R
The gain of the antenna you are trying to jam

The wavelength associated with the radio
frequency
R Your distance from the SAM site
It may or may not seem obvious, but in order to jam a communication signal, we need to transmit
at the same frequency. Therefore, to jam a 750 MHz signal, our jamming signal also needs to be
750 MHz. Thus, the wavelengths will also be the same.
Also, since we are jamming the SAM site, we use the SAM site antenna gain as the receiver gain.
Finally, since we are 75 km from the SAM site, our jamming signal has to travel 75 km.
We can now calculate the amount of jamming power received by the SAM site,

()


()()( )

( )

1
Before we calculate the SNR, please notice that the jamming platform can only control three
variables in the Friis equation:
- the amount of power in our jamming signal,
- the gain of our jamming transmitting antenna, and
- the distance between our jammer and the object we are jamming.
Everything else is out of our control.
To calculate the SNR, we simply divide the power received from the radio signal by the power
received from the jamming signal:


1
1

Therefore, our jamming is not effective, since we needed to get the SNR below 0.06.
Answer: The jamming is not effective, since the actual SNR of 0.066 is greater than the
required SNR of 0.06.
Example Problem: To increase the jamming effectiveness in the previous problem, you fly
closer to the SAM site. Is your jamming effective when you are 50 km away from the site?
Big Picture: Distance is one of the three things we can change to improve our jamming
effectiveness.
Key Issues: None.

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
365
Analysis: As we mentioned in the previous problem, the equation for signal to noise ratio is


Nothing has changed with the radio transmission, so

1
The only thing that has changed with the jamming is the distance. Using the Friis equation:

()


()()( )

( )


Therefore, our SNR is


1


Answer: At a distance of 50 km, the jamming is effective.
So how do we counter jamming? To prevent jamming, there are three primary Low Probability
of Intercept (LPI) techniques (among many others) used by the military to protect their
communications (at the expense of larger bandwidths). They are: 1) chirp signals (which sweep
across the available bandwidth), 2) frequency hopping, and 3) direct-sequence spread spectrum.
(Technically, frequency hopping is also a form of spread spectrum, but to minimize confusion
we will just refer to it as frequency hopping herein.)
The first LPI technique is the use of chirp signals. A chirp signal starts at some point of the
spectrum and sweeps up or down at a set rate. When it reaches the end of its assigned spectrum,
it jumps back to the beginning and does it again. This is like changing the dial on an FM radio
from one end to another. As long as the transmitter and receiver move across the frequencies
together, they are able to communicate.
The second LPI technique is frequency hopping. In frequency hopping, multiple carrier
frequencies are used and the transmitter uses a pseudo-random noise (PRN) code to jump around
frequencies. Of course, the receiver must also jump to the same frequencies at the same time
(thus, like chirp signals, synchronization is vital) in order for the message to be successfully
received.
Frequency hopping is difficult to detect or jam since the transmitter never stays on one frequency
long enough to allow the jammer to find the signal and then decide what frequency to jam. Thus,
the quicker the frequency is changed, the harder the signal is to detect or jam. The SINgle
Channel Ground and Airborne Radio System (SINCGARS) currently used by the U.S. military
as a primary combat net radio for voice and data communications includes an Electronic
Counter-Countermeasures (ECCM) frequency-hopping capability which hops frequencies at
more than 100 changes per second across the 30 to 88 MHz frequency band.
Bluetooth is an example of another frequency hopping system. This system operates in the 2.4
2.4835 GHz band (same band as some wireless routers, cordless phones, and microwave ovens),
and the signal hops 1,600 times per second to 79 different frequencies within that band.
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The third LPI technique is direct-sequence spread spectrum. This is the classic version of
spread spectrum that people think about when this term is used. Spread spectrum was
introduced during the GPS lesson though we didnt call it that at the time. The digital signal to be
transmitted is sampled (called chipping) at a much higher rate and then exclusive ORd (XOR)
with a PRN code which makes the signal behave as a noise signal. The figure below shows an
example, including how XOR combines the chip values with the PRN values to determine the
signal to be transmitted. The higher sampling rate introduced by chipping causes the signal to
occupy a much higher bandwidth, so the transmitter power is spread out, making it very hard to
detect. At the receiver, the same PRN code is applied, which allows the receiver to pull the signal
out of the noisy received signal. This received signal is then passed through a low pass filter
which smoothes out the chips into the original bit sent by the transmitter.
Interestingly enough, the heritage of spread spectrum (both direct-sequence
spread spectrum and frequency hopping) can be traced back to film actress,
Hedy Lamarr. She was a well-known actress in the 1940s through the
1960s, and she has her name on the patent for a secret communication
system (U.S. Patent 2,292,387 on 11 Aug 42), the basis for the coding used to
generate our spread spectrum signals today.
Source: http://www.patentplaques.com/blog/?p=105
Direct-Sequence Spread Spectrum example:

Bit to be transmitted: 1 (this bit lasts 10 s)
Chipped bit (resampled) 1111111111 (each chip is 1 s)
PRN 1011010101
XOR result 0100101010 Note: XOR: one + one = 0; one + zero =1

The sequence of 0100101010 is transmitted to the receiver:

Bits received: 0100101010
Receiver applies PRN 1011010101 Note: PRN is exactly the same as above
XOR result 1111111111
This string of ten 1s is passed through a low pass filter which recreates the original 10 s-long
bit.
Radar Jamming Techniques and Countermeasures
Another area of electronic warfare deals with radar. Consider the radar equation for a moment.

()


If our goal is to not be seen by the radar, there are three things that we have control over:
- our radar cross section,
- our distance from the radar site, and
- the amount of power transmitted by the radar.
The first two of these probably make more sense than the third one, so lets discuss them first.
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Billions and billions of dollars have been spent over the last few decades to develop stealthy
aircraft with very low radar cross sections. But once the airplane is built, theres really nothing
the crews can do to change the radar cross section, right?
Well, yes and no.
We typically use a single number to describe the radar cross section of any given airplane, but
doing so is not accurate. The actual radar cross section depends on the orientation of the airplane
with the radar system and other factors such as its load-out (external fuel tanks and weapons will
increase RCS).
Some aircraft, for instance, have a lower RCS from the side than they do from the front. In such
an aircraft you can reduce your chances of being detected if you keep your wing towards the
radar site as much as possible.
Of course, you can also reduce your chance of being detected by staying as far away from the
site as possible. This is one of the key roles the intelligence community plays in electronic
combat. If we know where the enemy radar sites are, we can plan our routes to minimize
exposure.
One reason we consistently win wars is that we combine these factors very well: using stealthy
aircraft flying carefully constructed flight plans around known threats.
But what if we have to fly right through the middle of a radar site in order to get to our target? In
this case, there are several things we can do.
The first is something called suppression of enemy air defenses, or SEAD (pronounced SEED,
although the Navy calls it SEE-ADD).
Basically, SEAD is the art of affecting the amount of power the bad guys transmit.

()


Heres how it works:
Instead of sending your air-to-ground force unprotected, you also send in a handful of Navy EA-
6B aircraft. As you approach the radar site, the EA-6Bs launch a few High-speed Anti-
Radiation Missiles (HARMs). The radio call Magnum informs you the missiles are in the air
and gives you a warm feeling inside, knowing the support team is doing their job.
The HARM is designed to detect the carrier signal of a radar transmission, and follow it all the
way to its origin, destroying the radars ability to operate. With these missiles in the air, the
radar operator has two choices: he can transmit and risk the missile destroying his radar system
or he can simply choose not to transmit.
The key element to SEAD is that we dont really care if the radar is still there when were done.
All we need to do is suppress the radar in order to successfully attack whatever needs to be
attacked.
An interesting component to SEAD is that it is somewhat psychological in nature. During the
first Gulf War, for instance, some American crews would simply broadcast Magnum over the
radio whenever a radar tried to take a look. Usually, the radar operators would then cease
transmitting, not knowing that there were no actual missiles inbound.
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
368
The bottom line here it that we effectively reduce the transmit power of the radar to zero because
of something we do.
One step further is the destruction of enemy air defenses, or DEAD (pronounced DEED). A B-
52 dropping bombs from 40,000 feet, a Special Forces team taking out a SAM site, or a
submarine launching some Tomahawk missiles are all viable options for conducting DEAD.
The key here is that sometimes in electronic warfare its best to simply blow things up.
Another countermeasure used to deal with radar sites concerns the line of sight equation:

Since radar requires line of sight to work, an attacking aircraft can simply fly lower to avoid
detection. Furthermore, the simplified equation we use for line of sight is based on generally flat
terrain. If there are any hills or mountains, the aircraft can terrain mask by working to keep
terrain features between it and the radar.
The B-1 bomber was designed to do this very effectively. By flying very low, it can greatly limit
the opportunity for an enemy radar to see it. Even when it is seen by a radar, the B-1 has another
advantage.
Before a SAM site can launch a missile, several things need to happen. The site needs to see the
aircraft on radar, it needs to identify it as a threat, it needs to target the missile, and then launch it.
This all takes time. Because it flies very fast, the B-1 can often cross through a SAM sites area
before the SAM is able to launch.
The B-1s ability to survive is increased by countermeasures of its own. If desired, the B-1 can
jam the radar site to temporarily blind it, or it can drop chaff to confuse the site as to where the
airplane really is.
Chaff is little more than a bundle of metallic strips that are released into the air. Each strip acts
like a small antenna that absorbs the radar energy and then retransmits it. The end result is that
chaff creates a false radar target that is brighter than the actual target (flares work the same way
against infrared sensors, by the way) thereby confusing the radar.
Example Problem: An attacking force will be passing through an area of radar coverage and
desires to use chaff as a radar countermeasure. If the radar operates at 2.5 GHz, how long should
the pieces of chaff be?
Big Picture: To be effective, the length of the chaff must depend on the wavelength of the
signal.
Key Issues: In terms of what we have covered in this class, think of chaff as a dipole antenna.
In other words, the chaff needs to be a half-wavelength to be effective.
Analysis: The wavelength of the radar signal is



1 1
To be effective, then, the chaff needs to be half this length, or 60 mm long.
Answer: The chaff needs to be 60 mm long to be effective against a 2.5 GHz radar.
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
369
We mentioned briefly that the B-1 could jam the radar signal. A curious phenomenon occurs
when you are jamming a radar signal.
As with communications jamming, the key equation is the signal-to-noise ratio:


In this scenario, instead of using the Friis equation, the top part of this fraction is based on the
radar equation.

()

()

()


This is an ugly equation, but we can do a little bit of simplifying.

()


This equation is still a bit ugly, but hopefully it is good enough to make the intended point.
What happens when the jamming platform gets closer and closer to the radar site? In the
equation above, as R gets smaller, SNR gets bigger.
What does that mean? Well, as you get closer to a radar site, your jamming becomes less and
less effective, which is the exact opposite of communications jamming. At some point, the radar
will begin to burn through your jamming and be able to see you. This is seldom good.
So, using some basic knowledge of the radar and Friis equations, we were able to analyze a
scenario and figure out how the jamming system will perform. The following two examples take
a look at other radar scenarios and use your knowledge base to derive more tactical information.

Example Problem: You are ingressing as a flight of four fighters and wish to conceal your
numbers. If the search radar has a pulse width of 75 ns, how close must your formation stay?
Big Picture: The radar resolution tells us how close we need to stay.
Key Issues: As we discussed last lesson, the equation for radar resolution is:


In this equation, is the pulse width.
Analysis: Solving for radar resolution.


( 1

)( 1

11
Answer: Each airplane needs to stay within 11.25 meters of the aircraft in front of it to allow the
formation to appear as a single radar target.
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
370
Example Problem: While egressing after a successful bombing mission, you are attacked by an
enemy fighter with a Doppler radar. You immediately turn to put the fighter at your 9 oclock
position. If you are traveling at 200 m/s and the radar operates at 3.1 GHz, what frequency is
returned to the radar?
Big Picture: Sometimes a little maneuver can have big results.
Key Issues: Lets look at the geometry of whats going on:
Radar
Energy
Aircraft
Direction
= 90

By putting the fighter at our 9 oclock, we make our path perpendicular to his. This makes the
approach angle 90.
So what? In the Doppler equation, we take the cosine of the approach angle and the cosine of 90
is exactly zero.
Analysis: Solving the Doppler equation:

[1

] (1 ) [1
( ) ()
1


] 1
The radar signal will return with the same frequency. Therefore, if the Doppler radar is
sufficiently smart (or I guess, dumb in this case), it will assume your velocity is zero and you
will disappear off of the radar scope.
Really.
Answer: The signal will return at 3.1 GHz, implying a relative velocity of 0 m/s.
It reality, you dont need to turn exactly 90 to disappear off of a Doppler radar scope. Generally,
a relative angle of about 80 to 100 should be sufficient to fool a fairly smart Doppler system.

REFERENCES:
Adamy, D. L. (2009) EW103 Tactical Battlefield Communications Electronic Warfare, Artech
House, Norwood, MA.
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
371
Lesson 36 and 37 Homework

1. In the Friis equation, what three variables can be controlled by the jamming platform?




2. A convoy in Iraq employs a jammer system to prevent the remote detonation of improvised
explosive devices (IEDs). As the convoy approaches an IED, according to the Friis equation,
is the jammer becoming more or less effective?




3. In the radar equation, what three variables can be controlled by an aircraft that is trying to
avoid detection?



4. In order for an attack to be successful, the planners determine a SAM site must be destroyed.
What kind of electronic warfare is this?
e. SEAD
f. DEAD
g. Jamming
h. Chaff


5. T / F Both radar jamming and communications jamming become more effective as the
jamming platform moves towards the site being jammed.


ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
372
6. A UAS under your control is jamming the communications for a command and control site.
The communications signal is transmitted from a distance of 50 km at a frequency of 1.8
GHz with a transmit power of 1.4 kW. The transmit antenna and receive antenna both have
a gain of 3.0. The jammer on your UAS has an antenna gain of 20 with a transmit power of
2.4 kW. Your UAS is 35 km from the command and control site. If the communications
system requires a signal to noise ratio of 0.1 to process and receive the communications, is
your jamming effective?










7. A targeting radar has a pulse width of 50 ns. If you wish to mask the number of aircraft in
your formation, how close must your aircraft fly?




8. A search radar transmits at 800 MHz. What length of chaff do you need to be effective
against this radar?




9. If attacked by a fighter with Doppler radar, why might you want to turn to put the fighter on
your 3 or 9 oclock position?





10. Which of these techniques is not used to counter jamming?
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
373
a. Chirp signals
b. Chaff and flares
c. Direct-sequence spread spectrum
d. Frequency hopping


11. T / F Chaff creates a false radar target that is brighter than the actual target.



ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
374
Homework Answers

Lesson 1
1. The 100 W bulb has more current.
2. Unknown values underlined below:
a. R = 5.4 k, I
R
= 2 mA, V
R
= 10.8 V
b. R = 4.8 k, I
R
= 5 mA, V
R
= 24 V
c. R = 7.4 k, V
R
= 8 V, I
R
= 1.081 mA
d. R = 4.8 k, V
R
= 5 V, I
R
= 1.042 mA
e. V
R
= 10 V, I
R
= 15 mA, R = 666.7
f. V
R
= 9 V, I
R
= 8 mA, R = 1.125 k
3. Option d is the best option since it has the lowest current of 1.042 mA.
4. The power consumed in resistor, R, is found for each of the six designs:
a. 22.5 mW
b. 19.2 mW
c. 205 mW
d. 691.2 mW
e. 54 mW
f. 120 mW
Option b is the best since it has the lowest power consumption.
5. If the resistance doubles from 1.5 k to 3.0 k, then the current in the circuit cuts in half
from 8 mA to 4 mA.
6. If the voltage decreases by a factor of two, from 9.0 V to 4.5 V, then the power will
decrease by a factor of four from 25.31 mW to 6.328 mW.
7. Answers shown below.
a. No
b. 50 V
8. Answers shown below.
a. Yes
b. 100 mA

Lesson 2
1. Unknown voltages:
a. V
I
= -12 V
b. V
K
= 2 V
c. V
L
= 8 V
d. V
M
= -1 V
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
375
2. Unknown currents:
a. I
H
= -3 A
b. I
K
= -7 A
c. I
L
= 5 A
d. I
M
= 1 A
3. Unknown currents, voltages, and power:
a. V
P
= 6 V V
Q
= 10 V V
R
= 4 V V
S
= 4 V
b. I
P
= -2 A I
Q
= 2 A I
R
= 1 A I
S
= 1 A
c. P
P
= 12 W P
Q
= 20 W P
R
= 4 W P
S
= 4 W
4. Unknown parameters:
a. (1) V
X
= 3.5 V
b. (2) I
X
= 250 mA
c. (3) V
X
= 850 mV
5.
Option V
S
R
1
V
1
V
2
I
1
I
2
P
1
P
2
P
S

A 5 V 5 k 1.429 V 3.571 V 285.7 A 285.7 A 408.3 W 1.020 mW 1.428 mW
B 5 V 10 k 2.222 V 2.778 V 222.2 A 222.2 A 493.7 W 617.3 W 1.111 mW
C 5 V 15 k 2.727 V 2.273 V 181.8 A 181.8 A 495.8 W 413.3 W 909.1 W
6. Options B and C are viable options.

Lesson 3
1. T
2. F
3. T
4. T
5. b, c, and d.
6. Unknown parameters:
a. V
X
= 12 V
b. I
X
= 1.5 A
7. P
S
= 9 W
8. b, c, and d.
9. The circuit will not work because under normal operating conditions, the fuse will blow.
10. V
a. V
S,max
= 45 V
b. V
bulb,max
= 15 V
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
376
Lesson 4
1. a
2. d
3.
t, ms
i(t), A
1.7
-1.7
16.67

4. V
RMS
= 205 V
5.
t, ms
i(t), A
1.7
-1.7
16.67

6. They produce the same power.
7.

() (

)
8. Yes! It is a viable option since the efficiency () equals 75%.

Lesson 6
1. T
2. c
3. The commutator and brushes.
4. 35.39 hp
5.

1


6. You will need to upgrade to the 12 kW version in order to run all of the appliances and the air
conditioner.
7. 96% or better.
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
377
Lesson 7
1. F
2. c
3. To effectively transfer power over long distances with minimized power losses.
4. a = 4
5.
a. Step-down transformer
b.


c.


d.


e.
6.
a. efficient
b.


c. 99.14%

Lesson 8
1. a
2. c
3. T
4. V
DC
= 45 V
5.
Transformer
a = 28.28
AC/DC Converter
v(t) = 169.7 cos(360
o
60t) V
6 V DC

V
s
+
V
out
-
+
V
C
-
+
V
2
-
a =28.28



ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
378
6.
Transformer
a = 0.2
AC/DC Converter
v
in
= 29.98 V peak
150 V DC

7. P
s
= 558 mW
8. A step-down transformer.
9. Option C
10.
a. Option Y
b. Option X

Lesson 9
1. F
2. T
3.
a. a = 3.2
b.








4.
a. a
1
=1.4375, a
2
=5.75
b. P
S
=1.50 kW
5.
a. a
1
=1.4375, a
2
=4
b. P
S
=1.50 kW
Circuit Breaker Rating
(A
RMS
)
*These can vary depending on your design
A 16
B 3
C 9
D 4
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
379
6. Since we assume that transformers are ideal and no line losses are shown, the power
required by the two buses should be the same.
7. Since we assume that transformers are ideal and no line losses are shown, the current drawn
from the source will be the same. The currents seen by XFMR1 and the 80 VRMS bus are
different while the currents seen by XFMR2 and the 20 VRMS bus will be the same.
8. a = 5.857. A reasonable rating for Circuit Breaker A is 2 A. A reasonable rating for
Circuit Breaker B is 10 A.
9. No, this is not a good design because transformers work with AC only.
10. = 75.44%, V
S
= 1.272 kV
11. = 99.67%, V
S
= 3.763 kV

Lesson 14
1.
a. Computer mouse - Input transducer
b. Electric motor - Output transducer
c. Stereo Speakers - Output transducer
d. Op amp- Neither
e. Light bulb - Output transducer
f. Electronic thermometer - Input transducer
g. Transformer - Neither
h. iPhone touch screen - Both
i. The control stick of a fly-by-wire aircraft - Input transducer
j. Aircraft HUD (Head Up Display) - Output transducer
2. Two reasons:
a. Transformers conserve power, so increasing the voltage signal would cause a
corresponding decrease in the current. With an information signal, we ususally also need
the current to increase.
b. Transformers require an AC signal. If the information signal went unchanged for a
perios of time, the transformer wouldnt work.
3. c
4.

Microphone K=1600 Speaker V
in
V
out


5. V
out
= 1.6 V

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
380
6.









7.






Lesson 15

1. d
2. b
3.

1 kO
V
out
V
in

-
-
+
+
3 MO
10 kO
10 kO
10 kO
-2.5 V


K = 3000

B = 2.5 V
V
out

V
in

K = 1250

B = 10 V
V
out

V
in

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
381
4. K = 50
5.


6.
v
out
v
in
R
F
= 3.5 M
R
in
= 1 k
-
+
R
Bias
= 3.5 M
V
Bias
= 6.2 V



7.




8.

v
out
v
in
R
F
= 3.3 M
R
in
= 1 k
-
+
R
Bias
= 3.3 M
V
Bias
= -16.67 V





K = -86

B = -5.28 V
V
out

V
in

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
382

9.

10. Circuit #1 is better.

Lesson 16

1.

|v(f)|, mV
1
7
4 2
f, kHz
2
8
12
15

2.
a.

1 (

1 ) (

) 1 (

) (

)
b.

1 (

) (

)
c.

1 (

)
3.
a. 6 kHz
b. 3 kHz
c. 0 kHz
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
383
4. There is more than one correct answer. A HPF, BRF or BPF design would work.

V
in
(t) V
out
(t)
BRF
f
c1
= 55 Hz
f
c2
= 65 Hz

Lesson 17

1. Aliasing is distortion caused by low sampling rate. It can be prevented by selecting a
sampling frequency (fs) above the Nyquist Rate (2*fhigh).
2.
a. Sample
b. Quantize
c. Encode
3.
a. 600 MHz
b. 100 kHz
4. Levels = 256


5.
a. 100 kHz
b. 120 kHz
c.
()

d.
()

e. Vmax = 5 V and Vmin = -3 V
f.


6. 1st sample: 1110
2nd sample: 0101
3rd sample: 0010
7. Digital signals are less susceptible to noise. Digital signals can be easily stored and
recovered. Digital allows for easier encryption and processing
8. F
9. F
10. T

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
384
Lesson 18

1. It can modify the f
high
of the signal into the ADC by setting the cutoff freq (f
c
) to the desired
f
high
(

).
2.
a.

1
b.


c.
i. 00111
ii. 10000
iii. 11111
d. Bit rate = 125 kbps
3.
a. ADC A: 1 ADC B:
b. A
c. A
d. A
4.
a.

b.


c.
V
in
(t) Expected Level Quantized Level Binary Output
8.75 mV 10 10 1010
-4 mV 3.20 3 0011
-22 mV 0 0 0000



ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
385

Lesson 19
1. T
2. 16
3. 4.92 V
4.
a. QE = 180 mV
b. QE = 25 mV
c. QE = 0 mV
d. QE = 30 mV
e. QE = 625 mV
5.
a. QE = 425 mV
b. 1.09 V
6.
t, ms
V
out
(t), V
5 10 15 20 25
820 mV
1.39 V
3.5 V
313 mV
1.86 V
2.85 V

7.
a.





ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
386
b.


c. T
d. Low Pass Filter

Lesson 20

1. F
2. F
3. F
4. First word: 10100010
Second word: 01101111
Serial data transmission
Overhead:

start bit = 0, start bit = 1



5.
a. b = 7;

11
b.
9.09 18.18 27.27 36.36 45.45
5V
54.54
63.63
63.63

72.72 81.81 90.90
0 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0
99.99
0
Start Bits Stop Bits
t, usec
V
out
(t), V
Output for V
in
= 3 V

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
387

9.09 18.18 27.27 36.36 45.45
5V
54.54
54.54
63.63
63.63

72.72 81.81 90.90
0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0
99.99
0
Start Bits Stop Bits
t, usec
V
out
(t), V
Output for V
in
= -2 V

6.
a.


b. One possible change would be to use fewer bits, e.g., use 6 data bits instead of 8 and use
2 overhead bits instead of 3. This change would lower fP/S to 240 kbps and fTDM to
720 kbps.

7.
a. 14,465 sec or 4.02 hours
b. No

Lesson 21

1.
a. Overhead = 18 bytes
b. Overhead = 18 bytes
c. Overhead = 72 bytes
2.
Circuit Switching:
- Advantage: Dedicated connection. Ussers have exclusive accesst to the dedicated
channel, once established.
- Disadvantage: Inefficient. Data does not travel at a constant bit rate, and voice
calls are inconsistent (how much silent time exists in a single call?). Thus,
these circuits are generally not very efficient.


ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
388
Packet Switching:
- Advantage: Efficient. Nodes on the internet (e.g., routers, switches, etc.) forward
packets based on network loading and priority to find the fastest way to forward
the packets to the destination.
- Disadvantage: Possibility of losing information and overhead. To route the
packets, we must add overhead (header and footer bits) to the packets. Also,
since the packets are sent separately, there is a chance that some packets may not
arrive and well lose information. (On a side note, if a packet arrives with minor
errors, the overhead bits can be used to correct some of the errors.)
3.
a. Circuit switching
b. Packet switching
4. Integrity

Lesson 25

1. a
2. F
3.
a.

) (

)
(

1 ) (

1 )
b.
t, s
v
AM
(t), V
143
8
-8


ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
389

4.

|v
AM
(f)|, V
f, kHz
4 4
212 198
4

5.

|v
AM
(f)|, mV
f, kHz
30
4
201 198 203 204 206 207 209 212
16
24 24
16
30
4
6.

) (

)
(

11 ) (

1 )
7.

|v
out
(f)|, mV
115
130
125 120
f, kHz
7.5
135
7.5 7.5 7.5
4.5 4.5
117 123
3
3

8. T
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
390
9. Amplitude Modulation
10. F
11. LPFs ensure that input signals to the multiplexers do not contain higher frequencies than the
FDM system allows. The LPF cutoff frequencies are set to the highest desired frequency of
the input signal.

Lesson 26

1. The amplitude of the bias determines whether the envelopes of the output waveform
overlap in the time domain. Increasing the bias will cause the envelopes to move further
apart. The amplitude of the bias determines how large the spike at the carier frequency is
for the output amplitude spectrum.
2. Bias is a DC voltage added to out message and therefore, does not have a frequency
(

)
3.
a.
b. Overmodulated
c.
t, s
v
M
(t)+B, V
10
-4
200
3

d.
t, s
v
AM
(t), V
200
30
-12
-30
12

4.
a.
b. Undermodulated
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
391
5.
a.

|v
M
(f) + B|, V
0
f, kHz
3
6
4
2 1
6

b.

|v
AM
(f)|, V
80
f, kHz
3
81
3
2 2
83
6
79 77

c. BW = 6 kHz
6. B = 5V
7. F

Lesson 27

1. b
2. a
3.

ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
392
4.

5.

6. c
7. a
8.
a.
b.
c. Pro: higher power efficiency
Con: must use more expensive, more complex demodulator (synchronous detector)

Lesson 29

1. F
2. Length = 5 km
3. T
4. Gain = 179.7
5. T
6. b and c
7. b, c, and d
8. F
9. c
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
393
Lesson 30

1. T
2. F
3. F
4. c
5. d
6.


7.


8. Yes

Lesson 31

1.
a. 200 feet
b. 637.3 mm
2. No
3.


4.
a.


b. SNR = 94,495

Lesson 32

1. Yes, the F-15 needs to refuel.
2. No, the fire-control radar will not be able to lock onto the fighter.
3. The fighter will be detected 3.16x further away.
4.
a. 19.95 km
b.


c.

11
d.


e. The mobile radar will see the UAS first!

Lesson 33

1. 20 km
2. This system wouldnt be safe because it cant resolve altitude changes smaller than 150 m.
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
394
3. F
a. 1
b. No
4. PRF = 2 kHz, 1
5. PRF = 7.5 kHz, h = 80 ft
6. f = 2.39999928 GHz
7. f
approaching
=4.0000003 GHz, f
retreating
=3.9999997 GHz
8.



Lesson 34

1.
- The Space Segment. There are more than 24 operational satellites (yes, we have backup
satellites available if needed) in orbit 20,181 km above the earth. These satellites are
evenly positioned in six orbital planes with a 55 inclination angle relative to the equator.
The orbital period of each satellite is about 12 hours, so each satellite circles the earth
twice per day.
- The Control Segment. Based out of Schriever AFB, these are the folks who make sure
the satellites are where they should be and are broadcasting proper data. Other
monitoring stations are located at Cape Canaveral, Hawaii, Ascension Island, Diego
Garcia, and Kwajalein.
- The User Segment. This is where we come in. Cell phones, car navigation systems,
pilots shooting a GPS approach in the weather. Anyone that uses GPS is (not
surprisingly) part of the User Segment.
2. c
3. T
4. c
5.


6. SNR = 0.021
7. 5 km
8. You are somewhere on the circle with a 5 km radius around the cell phone tower.
9.
- C/A Code at L1 frequency (1.575 GHz)
- P-Code at L1 frequency (1.575 GHz)
- P-Coe at L2 frequency (1.227 GHz)
10. T

Lesson 39 & 40

1.


2. More Effective
ECE 315: Principles of Air Force Electronic Systems
395
3.


4. b
5. F
6. Yes
7. No more than 7.5 m apart.
8. 187.5 mm
9. Either position will cause your aircraft to disappear off the radar scope.
10. b
11. T

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