DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS

INTRODUCTION

Digital Radio
Digital Transmission
COURSE ORIENTATION

• Course Title: Digital Communication

• Course Code: ECE 41
• Credits: 4 units (3 hours lecture; 3 hours laboratory)
COURSE ORIENTATION

Course Description:
This course deals with random variables, bit error rate; matched
filter; Digital modulation techniques; ASK, FSK, QAM,
PSK/QPSK, CDMA and W-CDMA systems; signal space;
generalized orthonormal signals; information measures-entropy;
channel capacity; efficient encoding; error correcting codes
information theory; data compression; coding theory.
COURSE ORIENTATION

Course Outcomes (CO)

CO1: Demonstrate knowledge on operations associated with
digitization and information transmission.
CO2: Analyze digital transmission techniques and digital transmission
media.
CO3: Analyze multiplexing and multiple access techniques.
CO4: Design and simulate different types of signaling and error
detection and correction in digital communication.
ACADEMIC POLICIES

Section 6 Class Attendance

6.4: The student is considered tardy when he/she arrives to class past
25% of the scheduled class time, and if a student is tardy 3
times, he/she will be considered absent for one class meeting.
6.6: Absence due to illness may be excused if the student submits a
medical certificate issued by the University Physician or any
physician.
ACADEMIC POLICIES

Section 13 Examination
13.4: The student may be given late examination in case of illness,
accident, or death of an immediate member of the family
(present medical or death certificate).
13.5: For unexcused late examination, the student may be allowed to
take the examination, within one week.
ACADEMIC POLICIES

Section 13 Examination
13.6: In case a student incurred a conditional grade (3.1 to 3.5 ), the
the instructor concerned shall give a removal examination within
the week after the Final Examination is conducted provided that
the deadline for submission of grades is still observed.
ACADEMIC POLICIES
SECTION 14 GRADING SYSTEM

PERIODIC GRADE PERIODIC GRADE TERM GRADE: 75% LECTURE

(LECTURE) (LABORATORY): + 25% LABORATORY

Periodic Exam - 30 % Lab - 30 % Criterion: Passing score is

Quizzes - 40 % Hands-on Exercise - 30 70% of the score per
Performance Task - 20% Lab Major - 40 % quiz/examination.
Class Performance - 10 % 100 %
100 % Final Grade = __% Midterm
+ __% Final Term
HOUSE RULES

•RESPECT everyone and everything.

•NO CHEATING !!!
INTRODUCTION

• electronic communications
• information
• digital modulation
• digital radio
• amplitude modulation (AM), frequency modulation (FM), and
phase modulation (PM)
• digital communications
INTRODUCTION
DIGITAL RADIO
• systems where relatively high-
frequency analog carriers are
modulated by relatively low-
frequency digital information signals
• the carrier facility could be a
physical cable, or it could be free
space
DIGITAL TRANSMISSION
• systems involving the transmission of
digital pulses
• it transports information in digital
and, therefore, require a physical
facility between the transmitter and
receiver, such as a metallic wire pair,
a coaxial cable, or an optical fiber
cable
INTRODUCTION

Q1. Why does digital transmission require a physical

facility (could it be transmitted-received wirelessly)?
Q2. What is the difference between digital radio systems
and conventional analog-modulation communication
systems?
Q3. Why use modulation?
 A1.
• Wireless channels are subject not only to additive noise but also random
fluctuations in the strength of multiple paths between transmitter and receiver.
• Digital pulses cannot be propagated through a wireless transmission system,
such as Earth’s atmosphere or free space (vacuum).
• When a signal is transmitted by radio, its amplitude is seriously reduced.
• A step change in a waveform requires infinite bandwidth.
• The frequency spectrum of a square wave (pulse) signal contains an infinite
number of harmonics in addition to the fundamental frequency.
A2.
The property that distinguishes digital radio systems from
conventional analog-modulation communications systems is the nature
of modulation signal. Both analog and digital systems use analog
carriers to transport the information through the system. However,
with analog modulation systems, the information signal is also
analog, whereas with digital modulation, the information signal is
digital, which could be computer-generated data or digitally
encoded analog signals.
A3.
Need for Modulation in Communication System
Modulation is a signal-processing operation that is basic to the transmission of
an information-bearing signal over a communication channel, whether in the
context of digital or analog communications.
This operation is accomplished by changing some parameter of a carrier wave
in accordance with the information-bearing (message) signal.
The IEEE defines modulation as “a process” whereby certain characteristics of a
wave, often called the carrier, are varied or selected in accordance with a
modulating information.
A3.
What is a carrier wave?
It’s a pure wave of constant frequency, a bit like a sine wave. By itself, it does
not carry much information of a kind that we can relate to such as speech or
data. To include speech information or data information, we need to impose
another wave on top of the carrier, an input signal.
This process of imposing an input signal unto the carrier wave is called
modulation.
Modulation can be thought of us changing the shape of the carrier wave to
somehow encode the information that we’re interested in carrying, speech or
data information. It’s like hiding the code inside the carrier wave.
 Modulation schemes can

A3. be analog or digital. An

analog modulation scheme
has an input wave that
varies continuously like a
sine wave. A digital
modulation scheme, voice is
sample at some point and
then compressed and
turned into a bit stream. A
string of zeroes and ones.
And this in turned is
created into a particular
type of wave which is then
superimposed into the
carrier.
 Why are carriers needed in modulation at

A3. all?
That kind of information could be carried
by very very long frequency
electromagnetic waves and there’s a
problem with this, in order to transmit those
very low frequencies; you’re going to need
quite a bit of amplification in order to
boost the power because they themselves
don’t have much power. And you’re going to
need some very large antennas in order to
transmit all of these. So in order to make it
a cheap and convenient, and uses low
power to carry as much information as
possible, we use this carrier system with
modulation.
INTRODUCTION
• amplitude shift keying (ASK), frequency shift keying (FSK),
phase shift keying (PSK), and quadrature amplitude
modulation (QAM)

EQ1.
where v(t) = time-varying voltage sine wave
V = peak voltage (volts)
𝑣 𝑡 = 𝑉 sin(2 𝜋 𝑥 𝑓𝑡 + 𝜃) f = frequency (hertz)
𝜃 = phase shift (radians)
2𝜋𝑓 = angular velocity (radians per second)
INTRODUCTION
Applications of Digital Modulation:
• relatively low-speed voice-band data communications
modems, such as those found in most personal computers
• high-speed data transmission systems, such as broadband
digital subscriber lines (DSL)
• digital microwave and satellite communications systems
• cellular telephone Personal Communications Systems (PCS)
INTRODUCTION
Some important applications of digital communication systems:
• It is used in military application for secure communication and missile guidance.

• It is used in image processing for pattern recognition, robotic vision and image enhancement.
• It is used in digital signal processing.
• The digital communication systems used in telephony for text messaging, etc.

• It is used in space communication where a spacecraft transmits signals to earth.

• It is used in video compression.
• It is used in speech processing.
• It is used in digital audio transmission.
• It is used in data compression.
INTRODUCTION
Advantages of Digital Transmission:
• Noise Immunity – With digital signals, it is not necessary to
evaluate the precise amplitude, frequency, or phase to
ascertain its logic condition (binary 0 and 1). Instead, pulses
are evaluated during a precise time interval, and a simple
determination is made whether the pulse is above or below a
prescribed reference level.
INTRODUCTION
Advantages of Digital Transmission:
• Better Suited for Processing (DSP) and Combining
(Multiplexing) – Digital data communication is adaptable to
time-division multiplexing schemes. It is much simpler to store
digital signals than analog signals, and the transmission rate
of digital signals can be easily changed to adapt to different
environments and to interface with different types of
equipment.
INTRODUCTION
Advantages of Digital Transmission:
• More Resistant to Additive Noise Due to Signal Regeneration – Noise produced in
electronic circuits is additive (i.e., it accumulates); therefore, the signal-to noise
ratio deteriorates each time an analog signal is amplified. Consequently, the
number of circuits the signal must pass through limits the total distance analog
signals can be transported. However, digital regenerators sample noisy signals
and then reproduce an entirely new digital signal with the same signal-to noise
ratio as the original transmitted signal. Therefore, digital signals can be
transported longer distances than analog signals.
INTRODUCTION
Advantages of Digital Transmission:
• Digital Signals are Simpler to Measure and Evaluate -
Therefore, it is easier to compare the error performance of
one digital system to another digital system. Also, with digital
signals, transmission errors can be detected and corrected
more easily and more accurately than is possible with analog
signals.
INTRODUCTION
Disadvantages of Digital Transmission:
• Requires Significantly More Bandwidth Which is Costly and Limited
• Necessitates Additional Coding and Decoding Circuitry
• Requires Precise Time Synchronization Between the Clocks in the
Transmitter and Receivers
• DigitalTransmission Systems are Incompatible with Older Analog
Transmission Systems
INTRODUCTION

Figure 1. Simplified block diagram of a digital radio system.