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DTC5038 ANALOG COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS Trimester 3 2008-2009

LECTURE NOTES 6

CHAPTER 6: AM SUPERHETERODYNE RECEIVER

Subtopic:
6-1 Introduction to Receiver
6-2 AM Superheterodyne Receiver
6-3 Receiver’s Operation

6-1 INTRODUCTION TO RECEIVER

At the AM receiver, it simply converts a received amplitude-modulated wave back to the original
source information, which is the process of demodulation. To do this, the receiver must be
capable of receiving, amplifying and demodulating an AM wave. It must also capable of
band limiting the total radio frequency spectrum to a specific desired band of frequencies. The
selection process is called tuning the receiver.

There are several parameters of a good receiver:


(a) Selectivity
(b) Sensitivity
Those parameters are often used to compare the quality of one radio receiver to another.

6-1-1 Selectivity
Selectivity is a receiver parameter that is used to measure the ability of the receiver to accept a
given band of frequencies and reject all others. For example, with the commercial AM broadcast
band, each station’s transmitter allocated a 30kHz bandwidth. Therefore, for a receiver to select
must limit its bandwidth to 30kHz . If the passband is greater than 30kHz , more than one
channel may be received and demodulated simultaneously. If the passband of a receiver is less
than 30kHz , a portion of the modulating signal information for that channel is rejected or
blocked from entering the demodulator and, consequently, lost.

6-1-2 Sensititvity
Sensitivity is the minimum RF (radio-frequency) signal level that can be detected at the input of
the receiver and still produce a usable demodulated information signal. Generally, the signal-to-
noise ratio and the power of the signal at the output of the audio section (will be explained later)
are used to determine the quality of a received signal. Therefore the sensitivity of an AM receiver

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depends on the noise power present at the input of the receiver and the receiver’s noise figure.
The best way to improve the sensitivity of a receiver is to reduce the noise level.

6-2 AM SUPERHETERODYNE RECEIVER

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Figure 6-1: AM superheterpdyne receiver and its simplified block diagram

Heterodyne means to mix two frequencies together in a nonlinear device or to translate one
frequency to another using nonlinear mixing. Basically, there are 5 sections to a
superheterodyne receiver:
(a) RF section
(b) Mixer/converter section
(c) IF section
(d) AM detector section
(e) Audio section

6-2-1 RF Section
RF section is the first stage of the receiver and is therefore often called the receiver front
end. It generally consists of a preselector and an amplifier stage. The preselector is a broad-
tuned bandpass filter with adjustable center frequency that is tuned to the desired carrier
frequency. The primary purpose of preselector is to provide enough initial bandlimiting to
prevent a specific unwanted radio frequency. The other functions of the RF section are
detecting, band limiting and amplifying the received RF signals.

6-2-2 Mixer/Converter Section


Mixer/converter section is the stage of down-converts the received RF frequencies to
intermediate frequencies (IF) which are simply frequencies that fall somewhere between the RF
and information frequencies, hence the name intermediate. This section also includes a local
oscillator (LO). The mixer accepts two inputs, the output of the RF amplifier and a steady sine

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wave from the local oscillator. Its function is to mix the AM signal with a sine wave to generate a
new set of sum and difference frequencies. It can be shown that the mixer output is an AM
signal with a constant carrier frequency regardless of the transmitter frequency. It is important
to note that, although the carrier and upper and lower side frequencies change frequency, the
bandwidth is unchanged by the heterodyning process.

6-2-3 IF (Intermediate frequency) Section


IF or intermediate frequency section is the stage where its primary functions are amplification
and selectivity.

6-2-4 AM detector Section


AM detector section is the stage that demodulates the AM wave and converts it to the original
information signal.

6-2-5 Audio section


Audio section is the stage that amplifies the recovered information.

6-3 RECEIVER’S OPERATION

During the demodulation process in a superheterodyne receiver, the received signals undergo
two frequency translations: First, the RF converted to IF; then the IF is converted to the source
information. Usually for commercial AM broadcast, the RF are frequencies between 535kHz
and 1605kHz , and IF signals are frequencies between 450kHz and 460kHz .

Three main operations will be described:


(a) Frequency conversion
(b) Local oscillator tracking
(c) Image frequency

6-3-1 Frequency Conversion


In the mixer/converter section, RF signals are combined with the local oscillator frequency in a
nonlinear device. The output of the mixer contains the sum and difference frequencies between
the desired RF carrier and local oscillator frequencies. The local oscillator is designed such that
its frequency of oscillation is always above or below the desired RF carrier by an amount equal

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to the IF center frequency. Therefore, the difference between the RF and the local
oscillator frequency is always equal to the IF.

The adjustment for the center frequency of the preselector (RF section) and the adjustment of
the local oscillator are gang tuned which means that the two adjustments are mechanically tied
together so that the single adjustment will change the center frequency of the RF section and, at
the same time, change the local oscillator frequency. When the local oscillator frequency is
tuned above the RF, it is called the high-side injection and when it is tuned below the RF, it is
called low-side injection. In AM broadcast-band receivers, high-side injection is always used.
Mathematically, the local oscillator frequency is

High-side injection: f LO = f RF + f IF

Low-side injection: f LO = f RF − f IF

Consider this example:

A 1000kHz carrier, f c = 1000kHz has been modulated by a 1kHz sine wave, f m = 1kHz (AM

signal into the mixer), thus producing side frequencies at 999kHz LSF and 1001kHz USF. The
tuned circuit is designed such as it only accepts frequency near 455kHz .

Suppose that the LO frequency input, f LO is a 1455kHz sine wave. The mixer, being a

nonlinear device, will generate the following components:


1. Frequencies at all of the original inputs to the mixer: 999kHz , 1000kHz , 1001kHz and
1455kHz .
2. Sum and difference components of all the original inputs:
1455kHz ± (999kHz,1000kHz,1001kHz ) - recall that mixer contains the sum and difference
frequencies between the desired RF carrier and local oscillator frequencies. This means
outputs at 2454kHz , 2455kHz , 2456kHz , 454kHz , 455kHz and 456kHz .
3. The IF amplifier has a tuned circuit that only accepts components near 455kHz , in this case
454kHz , 455kHz and 456kHz . Note that, although the carrier and upper and lower side
frequencies change frequency, the bandwidth is unchanged; the signal now passing through
the IF amplifiers is a replica of the original AM signal.

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4. The only difference is that now its carrier frequency is 455 kHz. Its envelope is identical to
that of the original AM signal. A frequency conversion/translation has occurred that has
translated the carrier from 1000kHz to 455kHz .

6-3-2 Local Oscillator Tracking


Tracking is the ability of the local oscillator in a receiver to oscillate either above or below the
selected radio frequency carrier by an amount equal to the intermediate frequency throughout
the entire frequency band. With high-side injection, the local oscillator should track above the
incoming RF carrier by a fixed frequency equal to f RF + f IF and with low-side injection, the

local oscillator should track below the RF carrier by a fixed frequency equal to f RF − f IF .

Consider this example:

Consider the effect of changing the tuned circuit at the front end of the mixer to accept a station
at 1600kHz .
1. As it is ganged tuning between RF stage and the local oscillator, thus the local oscillator's
tuned circuit is simultaneously reduced so that its frequency of oscillation goes up by
600kHz .

2. The mixer's output still contains a component at 455kHz (among others), as in the previous
case when we were tuned to a 1000kHz station. Of course, the other frequency components
at the output of the mixer are not accepted by the frequency selective circuits in the IF
amplifiers.

3. Thus, the key to superheterodyne operation is to make the LO frequency "track" with the
circuit or circuits that are tuning the incoming radio signal such that their difference is a
constant frequency (the IF).

4. For a 455kHz IF frequency, the most common case for broadcast AM receivers, this means
the LO should always be at a frequency 455kHz above the incoming carrier frequency for
high-side injection.

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6-3-3 Image Frequency


An image frequency is any frequency other than the selected radio frequency carrier that, if
allowed to enter a receiver and mix with the local oscillator, will produce a cross-product
frequency that is equal to the intermediate frequency. It also said to be equivalent to a second
radio frequency that will produce an IF an IF that will interfere with the IF from the desired
radio frequency.

Once an image frequency has been mixed down to IF, it cannot be filtered out or suppressed.If
the selected RF carrier and its image frequency enter a receiver at the same time, they both mix
with the local oscillator frequency and produce different frequencies that are equal to the
IF.Consequently, two different stations are received and demodulated simultaneously,
producing two sets of information frequencies.

With high-side injection, the selected RF is below the local oscillator by an amount equal to the
IF: f LO = f RF + f IF . Therefore, the image frequency is the radio frequency that is located in the

IF frequency above the local oscillator, for high side injection, the image frequency,
f im = f LO + f IF or f im = f RF + 2 f IF

Below is the relative frequency spectrum for the RF, IF, local oscillator and image frequencies
for a superheterodyne receiver using high-side injection:

IF RF LO Im

f (Hz )
Image

f IF f IF

2 f IF

Figure 6-2: Relative frequency spectrum for the RF, IF, local oscillator and image frequencies

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To reject the image frequency, it has to be blocked prior to the mixer/converter section. If the
bandwidth of the preselector is sufficiently narrow, the image frequency is prevented from
entering the receiver

Figure below illustrates how proper RF and IF filtering can prevent an image frequency from
interfering with the desired radio frequency:

Figure 6-3: RF and IF filtering block diagram

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Consider this example:

A receiver tuned to receive a 20 MHz station that uses a 1MHz IF. The LO would, in this case,
be at 21MHz to generate a 1MHz frequency component at the mixer output. The tuned circuit
is designed to be at 20 MHz .
1. If an undesired station at 22 MHz were also on the air, it is possible for it to also get into the
mixer. Even though the tuned circuit at the mixer's front end is "selecting" a center
frequency of 20 MHz .

2. As soon as the 22 MHz signal is fed into the mixer, we have a problem.

3. It mixes with the 21MHz LO signal and one of the components produced is
22 MHz − 21MHz = 1MHz which is the IF frequency.

4. Thus, we now have a desired 20 MHz station and an undesired 22 MHz station. Both look
correct to the IF amplifier. Depending on the strength of the undesired station, such a
situation can interfere with (or even completely override) the desired station.

The undesired 22 MHz station is called the image frequency station.

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