CE304-DC603 Slides

LECTURE 9:
NOISE IN
CONTINUOUS-WAVE
MODULATION SYSTEMS
Dr. N. Das and A/Prof Zhuquan Zang
Dept of Electrical and Computer
Engineering
Curtin University
Perth, Western Australia
Semester 2, 2012 0
CE304-DC603 Slides
LECTURE 9: NOISE IN
CONTINUOUS-WAVE
MODULATION SYSTEMS
In performing the noise analysis of a communica-
tion system, the customary practice is to assume
that the noise n(t) is additive, white and Gaus-
sian noise (AWGN).
Let the double-sideband power spectral density
(PSD) S
n
(f) of n(t) be N
o
/2, as shown below:
Semester 2, 2012 1
CE304-DC603 Slides
Note:
N
o
is the average noise power per unit bandwidth
measured at the front end of the receiver, which
has a bandwidth of 2B Hz centered at the fre-
quency f
c
.
With f
c
>> 2B, the narrowband noise can be
represented as
n(t) = n
I
(t) cos(2f
c
t) n
Q
(t) sin(2f
c
t)
where n
I
(t) is the in-phase and n
Q
(t) the quadra-
ture noise component, both measured with re-
spect to the carrier frequency f
c
.
The PSD of n
I
(t) and n
Q
(t) is
S
n
I
(f) = S
n
Q
(f) =
_
S
n
(f +f
c
) +S
n
(f f
c
) |f| B
0, |f| > B
=
_
N
0
2
+
N
0
2
= N
0
|f| B
0, |f| > B
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Now, the average bandpass noise power is
n
2
= 2
_
f
c
+B
f
c
B
N
0
2
df = 2N
0
B
The average baseband noise power of n
I
(t) and
n
Q
(t) is
n
2
I
= n
2
Q
= 2
_
B
0
N
0
df = 2N
0
B
Therefore, n
2
I
= n
2
Q
= n
2
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Noise in DSB-SC-AM Receivers
A double sideband suppressed-carrier amplitude-
modulated (DSB SC AM) signal c(t) is rep-
resented by
c(t) = A
c
m(t) cos(2f
c
t)
where A
c
is the carrier amplitude, and m(t) is the
modulating signal with a bandwidth of B Hz.
White Gaussian noise n(t) (e.g., arising from the
front end stages of the receiver) is added to the
received signal c(t), and the resultant compos-
ite signal of [c(t) + n(t)] is then detected by a
coherent product demodulator as shown:
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CE304-DC603 Slides
The input to the product demodulator is
v
i
(t) = c(t) +n(t) =
= A
c
m(t) cos(2f
c
t) +n
I
(t) cos(2f
c
t)
n
Q
(t) sin(2f
c
t) =
= [A
c
m(t) +n
I
(t)] cos(2f
c
t) n
Q
(t) sin(2f
c
t)
The local carrier
L
(t) is assumed phase-locked
to the transmitted carrier, i.e.,

L
(t) = cos(2f
c
t)
.
Therefore, the output of the demodulator is given
by
v

o
(t) = v
i
(t) v
L
(t)
= [A
c
m(t) +n
I
(t)] cos
2
(2f
c
t)
n
Q
(t) sin(2f
c
t) cos(2f
c
t)
= [A
c
m(t) +n
I
(t)]
1
2
[1 +cos(4f
c
t)]

1
2
n
Q
(t) sin(4f
c
t)
=
[A
c
m(t)+n
I
(t)]
2
+
1
2
{[A
c
m(t) +n
I
(t)] cos(4f
c
t)
n
Q
(t) sin(4f
c
t)}.
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After lowpass ltering by LPF, the demodulated
output becomes
v
o
(t) = k[A
c
m(t) +n
I
(t)]
where k is an amplitude constant.
Now, the performance of a demodulator is de-
termined by comparing its output signal-to-noise
power ratio (SNR
o
) with is input signal-to-noise
power ratio (SNR
I
).
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(i) Determination of SNR
I
The input modulated carrier power is given by
P
si
= lim
T
1
2T
_
T
T
c
2
(t)dt =
= lim
T
1
2T
_
T
T
A
2
c
m
2
(t)
2
[1 +cos(4f
c
t)]dt =
= lim
T
1
2T
_
T
T
A
2
c
m
2
(t)
2
dt = P
c
P
m
where P
c
= A
2
c
/2 is the carrier power, and P
m
is
the average power of m(t).
The input noise power is
P
ni
= lim
T
1
2T
_
T
T
n
2
(t)dt = 2
_
f
c
+B
f
c
B
N
o
2
df = 2N
o
B
where N
o
/2 is the double-sideband power spec-
tral density of n(t).
The signal-to-noise ratio at the input of the de-
modulator is given by
SNR
I
=
P
si
P
ni
=
P
c
P
m
2N
o
B
.
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(ii) Determination of SNR
o
The output signal power is given by
P
so
= lim
T
1
2T
_
T
T
[kA
c
m(t)]
2
dt = 2k
2
P
c
P
m
,
and the output noise power is given by
P
no
= lim
T
1
2T
_
T
T
[kn
I
(t)]
2
dt = k
2
2
_
B
0
N
o
df = k
2
2N
o
B.
The signal-to-noise ratio at the output of
the demodulator is
SNR
o
=
P
so
P
no
=
2k
2
P
c
P
m
2k
2
N
o
B
=
P
c
P
m
N
o
B
.
Therefore, SNR
o
= 2 SNR
I
or
SNR
o
(dB) = SNR
I
(dB) +3dB.
Note: The coherent demodulation of DSB-SC-
AM signal achieves a 3dB improvement in the
output signal-to-noise power ratio at the expense
of requiring twice the baseband bandwidth for its
transmission.
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Envelope Detector in the Presence of Noise
An envelope detector is commonly used to de-
modulate a DSB-AM signal represented by
c(t) = [m(t) +A
c
] cos(2f
c
t)
where A
c
and f
c
are the carrier amplitude and fre-
quency, respectively, and m(t) is the modulating
signal of bandwidth B Hz and |m(t)|A
c.
The received DSB-AM signal c(t) is corrupted
by white Gaussian noise n(t) as shown below:
The input to the envelope detector is given by
v
i
(t) = c(t) +n(t) =
= [m(t) +A
c
] cos(2f
c
t) +n
I
(t) cos(2f
c
t)
n
Q
(t) sin(2f
c
t).
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Now, rewrite n
I
(t) = x, n
Q
(t) = y, and m(t) =
m, then
v
i
(t) = [m+A
c
+x] cos(2f
c
t) y sin(2f
c
t).
This can be expressed in the polar form, such
that
v
i
(t) = e(t) cos[2f
c
t +(t)]
where e(t) envelope of v
i
(t) = [(m+A
c
+x)
2
+
y
2
]
1
2
,
and (t) = tan
1
_
y
m+A
c
+x
_
.
The envelope detector extracts e(t) out from
v
i
(t), and after lowpass ltering by LPF, the out-
put becomes
v
o
(t) = e(t) = [(m+A
c
+x)
2
+y
2
]
1
2
= [A
2
c
+m
2
+x
2
+y
2
+2A
c
x +2A
c
m+2mx]
1
2
.
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To simplify the analysis, consider the following
two extreme conditions:
(i) Input carrier-to-noise ratio CNR
I
is very large,
i.e., A
c
>>x, and y, and that the modulation
index is small, i.e., A
c
>>m.
(ii) CNR
I
being very small, i.e., A
c
<<x, and y.
Condition (i) Rewrite v
o
(t), such that
v
o
(t) = A
c
_
1 +
_
m
A
c
_
2
+
_
x
A
c
_
2
+
_
y
A
c
_
2
+
2m
A
c
+
2x
A
c
+
2mx
A
2
c
_1
2
.
Since A
c
>>x, and y, and also A
c
>>m, then v
o
(t)
can be approximated by
v
o
(t)

= A
c
_
1 +
2(m+x)
A
c
_1
2
.
Applying the Binomial expansion,
v
o
(t) = A
c
_
_
_
1 +
1
2
2(m+x)
A
c
+
_
1
2
__
1
2
1
_
2!
_
2(m+x)
A
c
_
2
+...
_
_
_
= A
c
_
1 +
(m+x)
A
c

1
4
_
m+x
A
c
_
2
+...
_

= A
c
+m+x [A
c
+m(t)] +n
I
(t).
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CE304-DC603 Slides
Note:
Under very good CNR
i
, the output v
o
(t) of the
envelope detector is the same as that of the
product demodulator.
Condition (ii)
Rewrite v
o
(t) in the form
v
o
(t) = (x
2
+y
2
)
1
2
_
1 +
A
2
c
+m
2
+2A
c
m+2x(A
c
+m)
x
2
+y
2
_1
2
(x
2
+y
2
)
1
2
[1 +z]
1
2
.
Under the condition of low CNR
I
, z<1, and using
Binomial expansion,
v
o
(t)

= (x
2
+y
2
)
1
2
_
1 +
1
2
z +...
_
= (x
2
+y
2
)
1
2
+
A
2
c
+m
2
+2A
c
m+2x(A
c
+m)
2(x
2
+y
2
)
1
2
.
Note that under the condition of low CNR
I
, v
o
(t)
does not contain the modulating signal m(t) ex-
plicitely. It can be shown that as the CNR
I
falls
Semester 2, 2012 12
CE304-DC603 Slides
below about 10 dB, the performance of the en-
velope detector begins to deteriorate rapidly, in-
dicating the presence of threshold eect.
Note: The actual location of the threshold de-
pends on the diode law.
There is no threshold eect with the product
demodulator.
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DSB-SC-AM versus DSB-AM
The product demodulator can be used for de-
tecting both DSB-SC-AM and DB-AM signals,
while the envelope detector is only applicable for
DSB-AM.
If a product demodulator is used, then for equal
average power in the sidebands for both the DSB-
SC-AM and DSB-AM signals, the output SNR
will be the same in both cases, i.e., SNR
o
=
2SNR
I
.
Now, for a given average power of the transmit-
ter, the carrier power present in the DSB-AM
signal will help to increase the sideband power in
DSB-SC-AM.
For example, the voltage spectrum of a DSB-AM
signal for modulation index M=1 is as shown:
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CE304-DC603 Slides
The total transmitted power
P
t
=
_
A
c
4

2
_
2
+
_
A
c
4

2
_
2
+
_
A
c
2

2
_
2
=
3A
2
c
16
The transmitted sideband power with DSB-AM
is
P
DSBAM
=
_
A
c
4

2
_
2
+
_
A
c
4

2
_
2
=
A
2
c
16
.
The transmitted sideband power with DSB-SC-
AM is
P
DSBSCAM
= P
t
=
3A
2
c
16
.
Under this condition,i.e., M=1, the resulting out-
put SNR will be
SNR
o(DSBSCAM)
= 3 SNR
o(DSBAM)
.
Note:
The gain in SNR for DSB-SC-AM is even greater
for smaller values of modulation index M.
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CE304-DC603 Slides
Noise performance of a frequency discrimi-
nator
For noise analysis, the frequency discriminator is
modelled as a phase detector (PD) followed by
a dierentiator.
A frequency-modulated (FM) signal is represented
as
c(t) = A
c
cos[2f
c
t +
c
(t)]
where A
c
and f
c
are the carrier amplitude and fre-
quency,respectively, and the information bearing
phase function is given by

c
(t) = k
f
_
t

m()d
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where m(t) is the modulating signal, and k
f
is
the modulator constant.
A frequency discriminator extracts from c(t) the
dierential phase term, i.e.,
d[
c
(t)]
dt
.
The predetection bandpass lter BPF has a band-
width of B Hz (usually determined using the Car-
sons rule) for minimising noise.
At the output of BPF, the bandlimited noise is
represented by its quadrature components, such
that
n(t) = n
I
(t) cos(2f
c
t) n
Q
(t) sin(2f
c
t)
where n
I
(t) and n
Q
(t) are white Gaussian noise
waves of power P
n
and bandwidth B/2.
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CE304-DC603 Slides
To simplify analysis, assume
c
(t) = 0.
This is justied as it can be shown that for rea-
sonably large value of modulation index, e.g.,
> 3, modulation does not aect the perfor-
mance of the detector.
Now, the output of the BPF is
v
i
(t) = c(t) +n(t) =
= A
c
cos(2f
c
t) +n
I
(t) cos(2f
c
t)
n
Q
(t) sin(2f
c
t) =
= e(t) cos[2f
c
t +(t)]
where e(t) is the envelope of v
i
(t) given by
e(t) = {[A
c
+n
I
(t)]
2
+n
2
Q
(t)}
1
2
and (t) = tan
1
_
n
Q
(t)
A
c
+n
I
(t)
_
.
The limiter suppresses the amplitude variation
e(t), and its output becomes
v
1
(t) = cos
_
2f
c
t +tan
1
_
n
Q
(t)
A
c
+n
I
(t)
__
.
Semester 2, 2012 18
CE304-DC603 Slides
The phase detector output for the information
bearing phase function is
v
2
(t) = k tan
1
_
n
Q
(t)
A
c
+n
I
(t)
_
where k is the phase detector constant, and can
be assumed to be equal to 1 without loss of
generality.
For large carrier-to-noise ratio, A
c
+n
I
(t)

= A
c
,
so that
v
2
(t)

= tan
1
_
n
Q
(t)
A
c
_

=
n
Q
(t)
A
c
.
The noise power at the output of the phase de-
tector is given by
P
n,PD
= E[v
2
(t)]
2
=
E[n
2
Q
(t)]
A
2
c
=
P
n
A
2
c
.
(Note: The output of the phase detector con-
tains only noise because it has been assumed that

c
(t) = 0).
Semester 2, 2012 19
CE304-DC603 Slides
Since n
Q
(t) is white and Gaussian, then the power
spectral density (PSD) of the noise at the out-
put of the phase detector is also white as given
by
PSD
PD
=
P
n,PD
B
=
P
n
A
2
c
B
.
Now, for the frequency discriminator (FD), the
output of the phase detector is dierentiated.
The transfer function of a dierentiator is given
by
H(f) = j2f.
Therefore, the PSD of the noise at the output
of a frequency discriminator is
PSD
FD
= |H(f)|
2
PSD
PD
=
=
_
_
_
4
2
f
2
P
n
A
2
c
B
for
B
2
f
B
2
0 elsewhere.
Note that the PSD of noise at the output of a
frequency discriminator is parabolic.
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CE304-DC603 Slides
The noise power at the output of the lowpass
lter LPF, assumed ideal with a bandwidth of
f
m
, is
P
no
=
_
f
m
f
m
PSD
FD
df =
_
f
m
f
m
4
2
f
2
P
n
A
2
c
B
df =
8
2
f
3
m
P
n
3A
2
c
B
.
To determine the signal power, it is customary
to assume that the modulating signal m(t) is si-
nusoidal of frequency f
m
, such that
m(t) = A
m
cos(2f
m
t).
Further, assume that this modulating signal m(t)
yields a peak frequency deviation f.
Semester 2, 2012 21
CE304-DC603 Slides
If the phase detector constant is 1 volt/radian,
and the dierentiator giving an output of 1 volt
per volt/sec, the same assumptions as adopted
for the noise calculations, then the frequency dis-
criminator constant becomes 2 volt/Hz.
Hence, the signal amplitude at the output of the
frequency discriminator is 2f volts, and the
signal power is
P
s,FD
=
_
2f

2
_
2
= 2
2
f
2
.
The signal-to-noise ratio at the output of the
frequency discriminator becomes
SNR
o
=
P
s,FD
P
no
=
2
2
f
2
8
2
f
3
m
P
n
3A
2
c
B
=
=
3A
2
c
Bf
2
4f
3
m
P
n
= 3
f
3
f
3
m
_
A
c

2
_
2
P
n
= 3
3
SNR
I
where B = 2f, and the modulation index =
f
f
m
.
Semester 2, 2012 22
CE304-DC603 Slides
Express in decibel, the output signal-to-noise
ratio is
SNR
o
(dB) = SNR
I
(dB)+30log
10
()+4.77 dB.
Notes:
The improvement in output signal-to-noise
ratio for FM is achieved at the expense in
transmission bandwidth which increases with
modulation index .
The above analysis assumes a sinusoidal mod-
ulating signal yielding a peak deviation f.
However, for a noise-like modulating signal
yielding the same frequency deviation, its mean
square amplitude or power is only 2/9 time
that of a sinusoidal signal. This corresponds
to a decrease of about 6.5 dB in SNR
o
for
noise-like modulating signal.
The SNR
o
obtained from the above analysis
is reasonably accurate for

= 3. For smaller
Semester 2, 2012 23
CE304-DC603 Slides
values of , FM becomes quasi-linear, i.e.,
narrowband FM, and its performance then
approaches that of DSB-SC-AM demodulated
using a coherent product demodulator.
The above performance analysis assumes the
input carrier-to-noise ratio CNR
I
is high. The
analysis for low CNR
I
is very dicult. At low
values of CNR
I
, the noise amplitude is suf-
ciently large to cause the addition or dele-
tion of a pair of zero crossings to be inserted
into the detected carrier. This gives rise to
positive or negative impulse of area 2 radi-
ans depending whether an extra cycle having
been slipped in or deleted. The eect is sig-
nicant deterioration in SNR
o
.
It has been shown that as the CNR
I
falls, the
number of impulses per second increases as
given by
No. of impulses/sec
exp(SNR
I
)
2
m(t).
For a frequency discriminator, this eect oc-
curs at an CNR
I
value of about 10 dB, which
Semester 2, 2012 24
CE304-DC603 Slides
is normally taken as the threshold of the dis-
criminator.
A phase-locked loop exhibits a much lower
impulse rate than a conventional frequency
discriminator. Consequently, the threshold
of a PLL FM demodulator can be up to 10
dB lower than a conventional frequency dis-
criminator.
Semester 2, 2012 25
CE304-DC603 Slides
Noise performance of the FM discriminator
Semester 2, 2012 26
CE304-DC603 Slides
Pre-emphasis and de-emphasis in FM
The PSD of noise at the output of a frequency
discriminator is emphasised at the higher fre-
quencies, being proportional to f
2
.
However, audio signals, such as speech and mu-
sic, are found to have their energy concentrated
in the lower frequency ranges.
If nothing is done, this will produce unacceptably
low output SNR at the high frequency portion of
the audio signal.
One way to compensate this problem is to arti-
cially emphasise the high-frequency components
of the audio input at the transmitter before the
noise is introduced.
In order to recover the original audio signal, the
inverse operation, called de-emphasis, is performed
Semester 2, 2012 27
CE304-DC603 Slides
at the output of the frequency discriminator in
the receiver.
Further, in this de-emphasis process, the high-
frequency components of noise are being reduced.
Pre-emphasis
A transfer function suitable for emphasising hf
components is given by
H
e
(f) = 1 +j
f
f
o
where f
o
is the break frequency above which the
components are emphasised.
In practice, H
e
(f) is approximated by a simple
RC network:
Semester 2, 2012 28
CE304-DC603 Slides
This network has two break frequencies, f
1
and
f
2
given by
f
1
=
1
2R
1
C
and f
2

=
1
2R
2
C
with R
1
>>R
2
.
For broadcast FM, R
1
C=75 sec, so that f
1
=2.1
kHz.
The second break frequency f
2
is introduced to
prevent emphasising frequency components higher
than the audio range.
For this reason, f
2
is normally chosen to be f
2

30 kHz.
Semester 2, 2012 29
CE304-DC603 Slides
De-emphasis
The de-emphasis network, following the frequency
discriminator, must have an inverse characteris-
tic given by
H
d
(f) =
1
1 +j
f
f
o
.
The transfer function H
d
(f) can be realised using
a simple RC-network:
The break frequency f
1
=
1
2CR
= 2.1kHz, with
CR=75sec for broadcast FM.
The noise power after de-emphasis is given by
P
no,d
=
_
f
m
f
m
PSD
FD
|H
d
(f)|
2
df
=
_
f
m
f
m
4
2
f
2
P
n
A
2
c
B
1
1+4
2
C
2
R
2
df
.
Semester 2, 2012 30
CE304-DC603 Slides
The decrease in noise power with de-emphasis
as compared to the case with no de-emphasis
corresponds to the improvement in output SNR.
With CR=75sec, and f
m
=15 kHz, an improve-
ment in output SNR of 13 dB (or 20 times) is
achieved using pre-emphasis and de-emphasis in
FM.
Semester 2, 2012 31