CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION TO COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

Introduction

Communication is the basic process of exchanging information. The flow of information is as shown in Figure 1.1.

Flow of information
Source
Figure 1.1 A simple communication system

Destination

Electronic Communication System : the whole mechanism of sending and receiving as well as processing of information electronically from source to a destination. Examples : Telephone, radio and television, radar and satellite systems. The original source could be in analog form (human voice, music) or digital form (binary-coded numbers). Analog signals are the time-varying voltages or currents that are continuously changing (sine or cosine waves) whereas digital signals are the time-varying voltages or currents that change in steps or levels (binary). All forms of information must be converted to electromagnetic energy before being propagated through an electronic communications system.

Elements Of A Communication System

1. 2. 3.

Figure 1.2 shows the basic elements of an electronic communication system. The basic elements are: Transmitter Communications channel Receiver

Message input (Voice, data, pictures, etc)

Transmitter

Communications Channel (Medium)

Receiver

Destination

Noise

Figure 1.2

Basic block diagram of a communication system

Transmitter

The transmitter : collection of electronic components and circuits designed to convert the information into a signal suitable for transmission over a given communications medium. It may be as simple as a microphone or as complex as a microwave radio transmitter. The primary function of the transmitter : to convert the input message or information into electrical signals ( voltage or current) or into electromagnetic waves (radio waves, microwaves, or light waves) such that it is suitable for transmission and compatible with the channel. The main process in the transmitter is modulation and encoding (for digital signal). Figure 1.3 describes a basic block diagram of a transmitter. The types of circuits that depend on the type of communication system adopted.

Modulating Signal/ Information Signal

Transmitting Antenna Audio Amplifier Modulator RF Amplifier

Carrier Signal

Figure 1.3

Basic block diagram of a transmitter

Communications channel or transmission medium

The communications channel : medium by which the electronic signal is sent from one place to another either using line (or conducted media) or free space (or radio). Examples of conducted media are pair of wires that carry a voice signal from a microphone to a headset or a fiber-optic. Free space or radio is the general term of wireless communication which makes use of the electromagnetic spectrum where signals are communicated from one point to another by converting them into electric and magnetic fields that propagate readily over long distances. There is normally no signal processing in the transmission medium, it is just the medium where the transmitter is connected to the receiver. However, each medium introduces losses termed as attenuation, distortion and adds noise to some degree to the transmitted signal. The amount of attenuation, distortion, and noise depends on the type of transmission medium used.

Noise Noise is random, undesirable electrical energy that enters the communications system via the communication medium and interferes with the transmitted message. Noise may be produced internally or externally.

Receiver

The receiver is a collection of electronic components and circuits that accept the transmitted message from the channel and convert it back into a form understandable by humans. The primary purpose of the receiver is to separate the information from the received signal or wave and sent the information to the user/ destination. Receiver normally compensates for the attenuation and distortion and reduces noise caused by the transmission medium. An example of the receiver is earphone or a complex electronic receiver.

The circuits used in a receiver again depend on the type of communication system used. Basically, a receiver consists of several stages of amplification, frequency conversion, and filtering. The main process is demodulation or detection of the received signal. The receiver must always match the transmitter and the transmission medium. Figure 1.4 illustrates a typical block diagram of a receiver.

Receiving Antenna

RF Amplifier Intermediate Frequency Amplifier & Filter

Mixer

Demodulator

Audio Amplifier

Destination

Local Oscillator

Figure 1.4

Block diagram of a typical receiver

Modulation and Demodulation

Baseband Signals

Baseband signal is the original information signal either in a digital or analog form. Putting the original signal directly into the medium is referred to as baseband transmission. However, there are many instances when the baseband signals are incompatible with the media and cannot be transmitted directly. This is when the modulation techniques must be used.

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Modulation

Modulation is the process of modifying or changing one or more of the properties of the analog carrier by the modulating signal (baseband signal or information signal). The carrier is usually a sine wave having a higher frequency than the modulating signal. The changing one or more properties of the analog carrier is in proportion with the information signal. The basic properties of the carrier that can be changed are either amplitude, frequency, or phase. A modulator is a circuit which performs modulation in a transmitter.

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The process of modulation is needed in any communication system. The reasons why modulation is needed are:

To generate modulated signal that is suitable for transmission and compatible with the channel.

To allow efficient transmission

By using a high frequency carrier signal, the information signal e.g. voice can travel and propagate through the air at greater distances, and shorter transmission time. Also, high frequency signal is less prone to noise and interference. Certain types of modulation have the useful property of suppressing both noise and interference. For example, FM systems use limiter to reduce noise and keep the signal amplitude constant. PCM systems use repeaters to regenerate the signal along the transmission path.

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To overcome hardware limitations

The physical sizes of some electronic components depend on the range of frequencies that are used in the circuit. The higher the frequencies, the physical size of the components may be reduced.

Example 1: Calculate the length of the antenna for a baseband signal of frequency 300Hz. c 1 Solution: L f 10 Minimum antenna length, And

1 c 1 3.0 x10 8 x x 100 km Therefore, L = L 10 f 10 300

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Example 2: Based on example 1, the antenna length required is 100km. After modulation process, if assuming the carrier frequency is 100MHz, then the antenna length becomes:
New antenna length,

1 3.0 x10 8 L x 0.3m 6 10 100 x10

To allow frequency assignment Frequency assignment is where, several channels which carry different messages are assigned with different carrier frequencies to be transmitted simultaneously using a common communication medium.

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Multiplexing Multiplexing is a process of sending multiple signals simultaneously through the same channel facility. By choosing appropriate carrier frequencies, all the signals can be multiplexed together and the channel can be shared, as shown in Figure 1.5
Different input signals Different output signals

Multiplexer

Transmission medium

Demultiplexer

All the signal are transmitted through the same transmission facility

Figure 1.5

Multiplexing in a communication system

By modulation techniques, transmission speed and distance can be increased

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Demodulation

Demodulation is the reverse process of modulation. Demodulation will extract the original baseband information signal and transmitted message. The demodulation process will convert the modulated carrier back to original information (detection of information from the carrier). A demodulator is a circuit which performs demodulation in a receiver.

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Transmission Media
Guided transmission media

Guided transmission media is a form of conductor that provides a conduit in which electromagnetic signals are contained. Only devices physically connected to the medium can receive the signals. Examples of guided transmission media is metallic cables which transport signals using electrical current and optical fiber which propagating electromagnetic waves through a nonconductive material. There are two basic types of transmission line:

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i.

Two wire/ balanced line

Balanced line is made up of two parallel conductors spaced from one another by a distance of inch up to several inches. The same current flows in each wire with respect to ground, but the direction is 180 out of phase with the current in the other wire. The wires are not connected to ground.
Insulating spacers normally used to keep the wires separated, or sometimes the spacing is maintained by a continuous plastic insulator that is part of the conductor insulation (called twin lead). Main application of two-wire lines is in transmission of low frequency signal such as in transmitting telephone signal or low data rate transmission. For higher frequency signal, two-wire line is not suitable due to energy loss by radiation from the wire. So, coaxial cable is suitable for higher frequency applications.
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(a) Figure 1.6 (a) Open-wire,

(b) (b) twin-lead two wire transmission line

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Unbalanced Line

In an unbalanced line, one conductor is connected to ground. Coaxial cable is an example of unbalanced line. It consists of a plastic insulator such as Teflon and over the insulator is a second conductor called shield. An outer plastic sheath protects and insulates the braid. Coax is unbalanced line since the current in the center conductor is referenced to the braid which is connected to ground.

Figure 1.7 Structure of Coaxial cable

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Unguided transmission media

Unguided transmission media is a wireless system. Signals are emitted then radiated through air or a vacuum (sometimes water). The direction of propagation depends on the direction in which the signal was emitted and any obstacles the signal may encounter while propagating. It is available to anyone who has a device capable of receiving them. Examples of an unguided transmission media are air (Earth atmosphere) and free space (vacuum).

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Transmission Modes

Electronic communication systems can be designed to handle transmission in two transmission modes. They are:
1.

Simplex (Sx)
In simplex communications, the information travels in one direction only. Simplex systems are sometimes called one-way only, receive only, or transmit only systems. Example: radio and television (TV) broadcasting, telemetry system of satellite to earth, pager services

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2.

Duplex
Full Duplex

Full duplex transmission is when individuals communicate with one another and each can transmit and receive simultaneously. Full duplex system is sometimes called two-way simultaneous, duplex, or both way lines. With full duplex system, simultaneous transmission is not necessarily between the same two locations. One station can transmit to a second station and receive from a third station at the same time. Example: telephone

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Half Duplex

Half duplex operation is another form of two-way communications but not simultaneously. With half duplex system, the direction alternates which means transmission can occur in both directions but not at the same time. Example: walkie-talkie

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Electromagnetic Spectrum And Transmission Frequencies

Electromagnetic signals are also referred to as radio-frequency (RF) waves. Electromagnetic waves are waves that travel at the speed of light and oscillate such that it is made up of an electric field and magnetic field at right angles to one another and to the direction of propagation. These oscillations may occur at a very low frequency or at an extremely high frequency. This entire range of frequencies is called electromagnetic spectrum. Figure 1.8 shows the entire electromagnetic spectrum. The frequency spectrum is divided into segments for the purpose of classifying the various portions and how they are used as shown in Figure 1.9.

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Figure 1.8

Electromagnetic spectrum used in electronic communications

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Transmission Frequencies and wavelength

Frequency is the number of times a particular phenomenon occurs in a given period or time. The frequency is measured in hertz (Hz). Wavelength is the distance traveled by an electromagnetic wave during one period. Period is the distance between two points of similar cycles of a periodic wave. For the electromagnetic waves, the relationship between wavelength and frequency is given by the equation,

c f

where : c the speed of light f the frequency of the signal (Hz) the wavelength of the signal (meters)
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Example 3:
If given f = 21 MHz, find the wavelength.

Solution:

c 3.0 x10 8 14 .29 m f 21M

If given the wavelength, =2.4m, find the frequency.

Solution:

3.0 x10 8 f 125 MHz 2.4 c

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Bandwidth

Bandwidth (BW)

f1 = 300 Hz
Figure 1.10

f2 = 3000 Hz
Bandwidth of the voice frequency

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The bandwidth is then,

BW f 2 f 1 3000 300 2700 Hz

In a modulated signal, bandwidth is the range of frequencies that contain the information. For higher frequency operations, there is more spectrum space for information signals. It also permits wider bandwidth signals to be used. Since the electromagnetic spectrum is one of the most precious natural resources, techniques must be developed to minimize the bandwidth required to transmit given information.

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Information Capacity

Information capacity is a measure of how much information can be propagated through a communication system. It is expressed in bit rate. Bit rate is the number of bits transmitted within one second and is expressed in bits per second (bps).

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Hartleys Law

Another important aspect of information theory is the impact of noise on the signal. The presence of noise reduces the amount of information that can be transmitted in a given bandwidth. If the bandwidth is increases, the information rate will also increase but it will also allows more noise to pass.

The above relationship is summarized below, known as ShannonHartley theorem: IBxt

Where: I = Information capacity (bps) B = Bandwidth (Hz) T = transmission time (s)

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Shannon-Hartley Theorem

Another important aspect of information theory is the impact of noise on the signal. The presence of noise reduces the amount of information that can be transmitted in a given bandwidth. If the bandwidth is increases, the information rate will also increase but it will also allows more noise to pass. The above relationship is summarized below, known as ShannonHartley theorem: I = B log2 ( 1 + S/N ) or I = 3.32 B log10 ( 1 + S/N ) Where: I = Information capacity (bps) B = Bandwidth (Hz) T = transmission time (s) S/N = Signal-to-noise power ratio

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Noise

Noise is random, undesirable electric energy that enters the communication systems via the communication medium and interferes with the transmitted message. However, some noise is also produced in the receiver. It is unavoidable and thus, becomes a problem in communications systems because the received signals are so low in amplitude. Noise comes from many sources. They are:

1.

Atmosphere Atmospheric noise originated from electrical disturbances that occur naturally in the earths atmosphere, referred to as static. Static usually comes from lightning. It has greatest impact at frequencies less than 30MHz.

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2.

Cosmic noise Sun and other stars emit various kinds of radiation, which causes the greatest disruption in the 15 to 150MHz range.
Electrical interference It is created by manufactured equipment such as automotive ignition and electric motors and generators. Electric ignition systems of cars, electric motors, fluorescent lights, and other types of equipment generate signals. Thermal agitation Thermal agitation refers to the random motion of the atoms and electrons in an electronic component caused by heat. Increasing the temperature causes this motion to increase. Usually noise signal are low but has great impact on extremely low-level signals being transmitted over long distance.

3.

4.

5.

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