Coherent Frequency-Shift Keying

M-ary PSK and M-ary QAM share a common property:

Both are examples of linear modulation.
Coherent frequency-shift keying (FSK) is however, a
nonlinear method of passband data transmission.
Binary FSK
In a binary FSK system, symbols 1 and 0 are distinguished from
each other by transmitting one of two sinusoidal waves that
differ in frequency by a fixed amount.
A typical pair of sinusoidal waves is described by



where i = 1, 2, and E
b
is the transmitted signal energy per bit;
the transmitted frequency is


Thus symbol 1 is represented by s
1
(t), and symbol 0 by s
2
(t).



Binary FSK
The FSK signal described here is a continuous-phase signal in
the sense that phase continuity is always maintained, including
the inter-bit switching times.
This form of digital modulation is an example of continuous-
phase frequency-shift keying (CPFSK).
Unlike coherent binary PSK, a coherent binary FSK system is
characterized by having a signal space that is two-dimensional
(i.e., N = 2) with two message points (i.e., M = 2), as shown in
Figure 6.25.
The two message points are defined by the
Binary FSK
and


with the Euclidean distance between them equal to (2E
b
).
Figure 6.25 also includes a couple of inserts, which show
waveforms representative of signals s
1
(t) and s
2
(t).
Figure 6.25
Signal-space diagram for binary FSK system. The diagram also
includes two inserts showing example waveforms of the two
modulated signals s
1
(t) and s
2
(t).
Error Probability of Binary FSK
The average probability of bit error or, equivalently, the bit error
rate for coherent binary FSK is (assuming equiprobable
symbols)



We see that, in a coherent binary FSK system, we have to
double the bit energy-to-noise density ratio, E
b
/N
0
, to maintain
the same bit error rate as in a coherent binary PSK system.
Generation and Detection of Coherent Binary
FSK Signals
To generate a binary FSK signal, we may use the scheme shown
in Figure 6.26a.
The incoming binary data sequence is first applied to an on-off
level encoder, at the output of which symbol 1 is represented by
a constant amplitude of E
b
volts and symbol 0 is represented
by zero volts.
By using an inverter in the lower channel in Figure 6.26a, we in
effect make sure that when we have symbol 1 at the input, the
oscillator with frequency f
l
in the upper channel is switched on
while the oscillator with frequency f
2
in the lower channel is
switched off, with the result that frequency f
l
is transmitted.
Figure 6.26
Block diagrams
for (a) binary FSK
transmitter and
(b) coherent
binary FSK
receiver.
Generation and Detection of Coherent Binary
FSK Signals
When we have symbol 0 at the input, the oscillator in the upper
channel is switched off and the oscillator in the lower channel is
switched on, with the result that frequency f
2
is transmitted.
The two frequencies f
1
and f
2
are chosen to equal different
integer multiples of the bit rate 1/T
b
.
In the transmitter of Figure 6.26a, we assume that the two
oscillators are synchronized, so that their outputs satisfy the
requirements of the two orthonormal basis function
1
(t) and

2
(t).
To detect the original binary sequence given the noisy received
signal x(t), we may use the receiver shown in Figure 6.26b.
Generation and Detection of Coherent Binary
FSK Signals
It consists of two correlators with a common input which are
supplied with locally generated coherent reference signals
1
(t)
and
2
(t).
The correlator outputs are then subtracted, one from the other,
and the resulting difference, y, is compared with a threshold of
zero volts.
lf y > 0, the receiver decides in favor of 1.
On the other hand, if y < 0, it decides in favor of 0.
lf y is exactly zero, the receiver makes a random guess in favor
of 1 or 0.
Power Spectra of Binary FSK Signals
Consider the case which the two transmitted frequencies f
1
and
f
2
differ by an amount equal to the bit rate 1/T
b
, and their
arithmetic mean equals the nominal carrier frequency f
c
; phase
continuity is always maintained, including inter-bit switching
times.
We may express this special binary FSK signal as follows:
Power Spectra of Binary FSK Signals
Using a wellknown trigonometric identity, we get





The plus sign corresponds to transmitting symbol 0, and the
minus sign corresponds to transmitting symbol 1.
Power Spectra of Binary FSK Signals
It is apparent that the in-phase and quadrature components of
the binary FSK signal are independent of each other.
Accordingly, the baseband power spectral density of FSK signal
equals the sum of the power spectral densities of these two
components, as shown by
Minimum Shift Keying
By proper use of the phase when performing detection, it is possible to
improve the noise performance of the receiver significantly.
This improvement is, however, achieved at the expense of increased
receiver complexity.
Consider a continuous-phase frequency-shift keying (CPFSK) signal,
which is defined for the interval 0 t T
b
as follows:




where E
b
is the transmitted signal energy per bit, and T
b
is the bit
duration.
Minimum Shift Keying
The phase (0), denoting the value of the phase at time t = 0,
sums up the past history of the modulation process up to time t =
0.
The frequencies f
1
and f
2
are sent in response to binary symbols
1 and 0 appearing at the modulator input, respectively.
Another useful way of representing the CPFSK signal s(t) is to
express it in the conventional form of an angle-modulated signal
as follows:


where (t) is the phase of s(t).
Minimum Shift Keying
The phase (t) of a CPFSK signal increases or decreases linearly
with time during each bit duration of T
b
seconds, as shown by


where the plus sign corresponds to sending symbol 1, and the
minus sign corresponds to sending symbol 0; parameter h is
given by

The nominal carrier frequency f
c
is obtained as


Phase Trellis
We find that at time t = T
b
,


That is to say, the sending of symbol 1 increases the phase of a
CPFSK signal s(t) by h radians, whereas the sending of symbol
0 reduces it by an equal amount.
The variation of phase (t) with time t follows a path consisting
of a sequence of straight lines, the slopes of which represent
frequency changes.
Figure 6.27 depicts possible paths starting from time t = 0.
A plot like that shown in Figure 6.27 is called a phase tree.
Figure 6.27
Phase tree.
Phase Trellis
According to Figure 6.27 the phase change over one bit interval
is radians.
In contrast, we have a completely different situation when the
deviation ratio h is assigned the special value of 1/2.
We now find that the phase can take on only the two values /2
at odd multiples of T
b
, and only the two values 0 and at even
multiples of T
b
, as in Figure 6.28.
This second graph is called a phase trellis, since a "trellis" is a
treelike structure with remerging branches.
Each path from left to right through the trellis of Figure 6.28
corresponds to a specific binary sequence input.
Figure 6.28
Phase trellis; boldfaced path represents the
sequence 1101000.
Phase Trellis
For example, the path shown in boldface in Figure 6.28 corresponds to
the binary sequence 1101000 with (0) = 0.
Henceforth, we assume that h = 1/2.
With h = 1/2, we find that the frequency deviation (i.e., the difference
between the two signaling frequencies f
1
and f
2
) equals half the bit rate.
This is the minimum frequency spacing that allows the two FSK
signals representing symbols 1 and 0 to be coherently orthogonal in the
sense that they do not interfere with one another in the process of
detection.
It is for this reason that a CPFSK signal with a deviation ratio of one
half is commonly referred to as minimum shift keying (MSK).