✬ ✩

EE4601
Communication Systems

Week 1

Introduction to Digital Communications

Channel Capacity

✫ ✪

0
c
2013, Georgia Institute of Technology (lect1 1)
✬ ✩

Contact Information

• Office: Centergy 5138

• Phone: 404 894 2923
• Fax: 404 894 7883
• Email: stuber@ece.gatech.edu (the best way to contact me)
• Web: http://www.ece.gatech.edu/users/stuber/4601
• Office Hours: Tuesdays 2-4pm

✫ ✪

0
c
2013, Georgia Institute of Technology (lect1 2)
✬ ✩

Introduction
Digital communications is the exchange of information using a finite set of signal
waveforms. This is in contrast to analog communication (e.g., AM/FM radio)
which do not use a finite set of signals.
Why use digital communications:
• Natural choice for digital sources, e.g., computer communications.
• Source encoding or data compression techniques can reduce the required
transmission bandwidth with a controlled amount of message distortion.
• Digital signals are more robust to channel impairments than analog signals.
– noise, co-channel and adjacent channel interference, multipath-fading.
– surface defects in recording media such as optical and magnetic disks.
• Higher bandwidth efficiency than analog signals.
• Data encryption and multiplexing is easier.
• Benefit from well known digital signal processing techniques.
✫ ✪

0
c
2013, Georgia Institute of Technology (lect1 3)
✬ ✩

Protocol Stack (3G cdma2000 EV-DO)

Overview 3GPP2 C.S0024 Ver 4.0

Default Signaling Default Packet

Application Application
Flow
Signaling Control
Network Protocol Application
Protocol
Layer
Signaling Location
Radio Link
Link Update
Protocol
Protocol Protocol

Stream Stream
Protocol Layer

Session Address Session

Session
Management Management Configuration
Protocol Protocol Protocol Layer

Air Link
Initialization Idle State Connected
Management
State Protocol Protocol State Protocol
Protocol
Connection
Layer
Packet Overhead
Route Update
Consolidation Messages
Protocol
Protocol Protocol

Key Security
Security Authentication Encryption
Exchange
Protocol Protocol Protocol Layer
Protocol

Control Forward Traffic Reverse Traffic

Access Channel MAC
Channel MAC Channel MAC Channel MAC
MAC Protocol Layer
Protocol Protocol Protocol

Physical Layer Physical

Protocol Layer

2 Figure 1.6.6-1. Default Protocols

3

• This course concentrates on the Physical Layer or PHY Layer.

✫ ✪

0
c
2013, Georgia Institute of Technology (lect1 4)
✬ ✩

Cellular Radio Chipset

Product Brief
Application Example Quad-Band EGPRS Solution

AC-Adaptor NiMH/LiIon
Battery
I2C
Interface VDD
I2C Charger Amp
Power Bus
Pre-Charge
Peripherals
VUSB Host Motor
M
Driver
VMemory
SM-POWER
(PMB 6811)
Power Bus VBB I/O Hi
LED
Baseband Driver
VBB USB

VBB Analog Power Bus

Control
Bluetooth
VRTC VBT BB

FLASH/SDRAM VBB1 VRF3 (BT)

VBB2 Power Bus

RF
VRF Main
S-GOLD2 BB (LR)/Mem/Copro On-chip
(PMB 8876) I2S I2S / DAI SSC GPTU IR-Memory Step down 600 mA Reference VRF VCXO

TEAKLite® GSM RF
Headset Cipher Unit Control
SMARTi DC+
D A (PMB 6258) GSM 900/1800 850
Ringer A Speech D
MUX

and Channel Equalizer 900

Earpiece D Decoding A Atomatic
A D Offset 1800
Compensation
I 1900
Car Kit D GSM 850/1900
Speech A
A 8 PSK/GMSK
D and Channel
Modulator D Q
Encoding A CLK
USB FS DAT Control SAM
SRAM GEA-1/2/3 AFC CGU ENA Logic Fast PLL
1 2 3 OTG
4 5 6 26 MHz
Keypad DMAC ICU CAPCOM AUX GSM 850
7 8 9 ADC Timer AFC 900 Rx/Tx
* 0 #
GPIOs GPTU I2C SCCU
1800
USIM ARM®926 EJ-S RTC JTAG 1900 Multi
EBU Mode
Fast PA
MOVE Copro Multimedia IC IF RF Control
IrDA
MMC/SD USIF SSC USARTs Camera Display FCDP
IF IF IF

MMC
SDC

• This course concentrates on the digital baseband;

baseband modulation/demodulation.
✫ ✪

0
c
2013, Georgia Institute of Technology (lect1 5)
✬ ✩

Course Objectives

1. Brief review of probability and introduction to random processes.

• message waveforms, physical channels, noise and interference are all ran-
dom processes.
2. Mathematical modelling and characterization of physical communication
channels, signals and noise.
3. Design of digital waveforms and associated receiver structures for recovering
channel-corrupted digital signals.
• emphasis will be on waveform design, receiver processing, and perfor-
mance analysis for “additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channels.”
• mathematical foundations are essential for effective physical layer mod-
elling, waveform design, receiver design, etc.
• communication signal processing is a key element of this course. Our
focus will be on the “digital baseband” and not the “analog RF.”
✫ ✪

0
c
2013, Georgia Institute of Technology (lect1 6)
✬ ✩

Basic Digital Communication System

source channel digital

source encoder encoder modulator

waveform
channel

source channel digital

sink decoder demodulator
decoder

✫ ✪

0
c
2013, Georgia Institute of Technology (lect1 7)
✬ ✩

Some Types of Waveform Channels

• wireline channels, e.g., twisted copper pair, coaxial cable, power line
• fiber optic channels (optical communication is not considered in this course)
• wireless (radio) channels
– line-of-sight (satellite, land microwave radio)
– non-line-of-sight (cellular, wireless LAN, BAN, PAN)
• underwater acoustic channels (submarine communication)
• storage channels, e.g., optical and magnetic disks.
– communication from the present to the future.

✫ ✪

0
c
2013, Georgia Institute of Technology (lect1 8)
✬ ✩

Mathematical Channel Models

Additive White Gaussian Noise Channel (AWGN):
s(t) r(t) = s(t) + n(t) Sn(f)
+
No /2

n(t) -W 0 W

Receiver thermal noise can be modeled as spectrally flat or “white.”

Thermal noise power in bandwith W is

No
· 2 · W = No W Watts
2
At any time instant t0 , the noise waveform n(t0) is a Gaussian random variable
with zero mean and variance No W , n(t0 ) ∼ N (0, NoW ).

For a given channel input s(t0), the channel output r(t0 ) is also a Gaussian
random variable with mean s(t0 ) and variance No W , n(t0) ∼ N (s(t0), NoW ).
✫ ✪

0
c
2013, Georgia Institute of Technology (lect1 9)
✬ ✩

Mathematical Channel Models

Linear Filter Channel:
s(t) r(t) = s(t)* c(t) + n(t)
c(t) +

n(t)

An ideal channel has impulse response c(t) = αδ(t − t0 ) and, therefore,

r(t) = αs(t − to ) + n(t)

An ideal channel only attenuates and delays a signal, but otherwise leaves it
undistorted. The channel transfer function is

C(f ) = F [c(t)] = αe−j2πf to , |f | < B

where B is the system bandwidth.

• The magnitude response |C(f )| = α is flat in frequency f .

✫• The phase response 6 C(f ) = −2πf to is linear in frequency f . ✪

0
c
2013, Georgia Institute of Technology (lect1 10)
✬ ✩

Mathematical Channel Models

Two-Ray Multi-path Channel:

Suppose r(t) = αs(t) + βs(t − τ ).

Since r(t) = s(t) ∗ c(t), we have c(t) = αδ(t) + βδ(t − τ ).

Hence C(f ) = α + βe−j2πf τ .

Using |C(f )|2 = C(f )C ∗(f ), we can obtain

q
|C(f )| = α2 + β 2 + 2αβ cos(2πf τ )

Using the Euler identity, ejθ = cos(θ) + j sin(θ) in C(f ) above, we can obtain
β sin(2πf τ )
6 (C(f ) = −Tan−1
α + β cos(2πf τ )

✫ ✪

0
c
2013, Georgia Institute of Technology (lect1 11)
✬ ✩

Mathematical Channel Models

Two-Ray Multi-path Channel:

Suppose α = β = 1. Then
q
|C(f )| = 2 + 2 cos(2πf τ )
sin(2πf τ )
6 C(f ) = −Tan−1
1 + cos(2πf τ )
2 2

1.8
1.5
1.6
1

∠ C(f) radians
1.4
0.5
1.2
|C(f)|

1 0

0.8
−0.5
0.6
−1
0.4
−1.5
0.2

0 −2
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4
fτ fτ
Observe that the multi-path channel is frequency selective.
✫ ✪

0
c
2013, Georgia Institute of Technology (lect1 12)
✬ ✩

Mathematical Channel Models

Two-Ray Fading Channel:

Suppose we transmit s(t) = cos(2πfot) and the received waveform is

r(t) = α cos(2πfot) + β cos(2π(fo + fd )t), where fd is a “Doppler” shift.

fd = (v/λo ) cos(θ), where v is velocity, λo is the carrier wavelength, θ is the

angle of arrival at the receiver. Note that c = fo λo , where c is the speed of light.

Using the complex phaser representation of sinusoids, we can write

r(t) = A(t) cos(2πfot + φ(t))

where
q
A(t) = α2 + β 2 + 2αβ cos(2πfd t)
β sin(2πfdt)
φ(t) = −Tan−1
α + β cos(2πfd t)

✫ ✪

0
c
2013, Georgia Institute of Technology (lect1 13)
✬ ✩

Mathematical Channel Models

Two-Ray Fading Channel:

Suppose α = β = 1. Then
q
A(t) = 2 + 2 cos(2πfd t)
sin(2πfd t)
φ(t) = −Tan−1
1 + cos(2πfd t)
2 2

1.8
1.5
1.6
1
1.4

φ (t) radians
0.5
1.2
|A(t)|

1 0

0.8
−0.5
0.6
−1
0.4
−1.5
0.2

0 −2
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4
f t f t
d d

Observe that the fading channel is time varying.

✫ ✪

0
c
2013, Georgia Institute of Technology (lect1 14)
✬ ✩

Shannon Capacity of a Channel

Claude Shannon in his paper “A Mathematical Theory of Communication”
BSTJ, 1948, proved that every physical channel has a capacity, C, defined as
the maximum possible rate that information can be transmitted over the channel
with an arbitrary reliability.

Arbitrary reliability means that the probability of information bit error or bit
error rate (BER) can be made as small as desired.

Conversely, information cannot be transmitted reliably over a channel at any

rate greater than the channel capacity, C. The BER will be bounded from zero.

The channel capacity depends on the channel impulse response or channel trans-
fer function, and the received bit energy-to-noise ratio (Eb/No ).

Arbitrary reliability can be realized in practice by using error control coding

techniques.
✫ ✪

0
c
2013, Georgia Institute of Technology (lect1 15)
✬ ✩

Coding Channel and Capacity

The channel capacity depends only on the coding channel, defined as the portion
of the communication system that is “seen” by the coding system.

The input to the coding channel is the output of the channel encoder.

The output of the coding channel is the input to the channel decoder.

In practice, the coding channel inputs are often chosen from a digital modula-
tion alphabet, while the coding channel outputs are continuous valued decision
variables generated by sampling the corresponding matched filter outputs in the
receiver.
Encoder

Coding
Channel

Decoder
✫ ✪

0
c
2013, Georgia Institute of Technology (lect1 16)
✬ ✩

AWGN Channel Capacity

s(t) r(t) = s(t) + n(t) Sn(f)

+
No /2

n(t) -W 0 W

For the AWGN channel, the capacity is

P
!
C = W log2 1+
No W

W = channel bandwidth (Hz)

P = constrained input signal power (watts)
No = one-sided noise power spectral density (watts/Hz)
No /2 = two-sided noise power spectral density (watts/Hz)

✫ ✪

0
c
2013, Georgia Institute of Technology (lect1 17)
✬ ✩

Capacity of the AWGN Channel

Dividing both sides by W
C P Eb R
! !
= log2 1 + = log2 1+ ·
W No W No W

R = 1/T = data rate (bits/second)

Eb = energy per data bit (Joules) = P T
Eb/No = received bit energy-to-noise spectral density ratio (dimensionless)
R/W = bandwidth efficiency (bits/s/Hz)

If R = C, i.e., we transmit at a rate equal to the channel capacity, then

C Eb C
!
= log2 1 + ·
W No W
or inverting this equation we get Eb/No in terms of C, viz.
Eb 2C/W − 1
=
✫ ✪
No C/W

0
c
2013, Georgia Institute of Technology (lect1 18)
✬ ✩

AWGN Channel Capacity

✫ ✪

0
c
2013, Georgia Institute of Technology (lect1 19)
✬ ✩

Capacity of the AWGN Channel

Example: Suppose that W = 6 MHz (TV channel bandwidth) and the received
∆
SNR = P/(No W ) = 20 dB. What is the channel capacity?
Answer: C = 6 × 106log2 (1 + 100) = 40 Mbps. It is impossible to transmit
information reliably on this channel with a rate greater than 40 Mbps.

Asymptotic behavior: as C/W → 0.

Using L’Hôpital’s rule
Eb
limC/W →0 = limC/W →0 2C/W ln 2
No
= ln 2
= 0.693
= −1.6dB

Conclusion: It is impossible to communicate on an AWGN channel with arbitrary

reliability if Eb /No < −1.6 dB, regardless of how much bandwidth we use.

✫ ✪

0
c
2013, Georgia Institute of Technology (lect1 20)
✬ ✩

AWGN Channel Capacity

Power Efficient Region: R/W < 1 bits/s/Hz. In this region we have band-
width resources available, but transmit power is limited, e.g., deep space com-
munications.

Bandwidth Efficient Region: R/W > 1 bits/s/Hz. In this region we have

power resources available, but bandwidth is limited, e.g., commercial wireless
communications. Note: we still want to use power efficiently, i.e., bandwidth
and power efficient communication

Observe that most uncoded modulation schemes operate about 10 dB from the
Shannon capacity limit for an error rate of 10−5.

State-of-the-art “turbo” coding schemes can close this gap to less than 1 dB,
with the cost of additional receiver processing complexity and delay.

Generally, we can tradeoff power, bandwidth, processing complexity, delay.

✫ ✪

0
c
2013, Georgia Institute of Technology (lect1 21)
✬ ✩

What is SNR?

INFO BLOCK, CONV, Gray/SP – OFDM/OFDMA

BITS TRELLIS TURBO QAM, PSK CDMA, etc..

Time/
Bit
coder frequency
mapping
spreading
p g
Eb /No Er /No Es /No Ec /No
bit SNR codebit SNR symbol SNR chip SNR

Eb = energy per information bit

Er = energy per code bit
Es = energy per modulated symbol
Ec = energy per spreading chip

The term signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) used by itself is vague:

It could mean Bit-SNR, Code-bit-SNR, Symbol-SNR, Chip-SNR.

We always need to compare different systems on the basis of received

✫ ✪
Bit-SNR, Eb /No .

0
c
2013, Georgia Institute of Technology (lect1 22)