DEPARTMENT OF TECHNICAL EDUCATION

ANDHRA PRADESH
Name : N. Ramanjaneyulu.
Designation : Lecturer.
Branch : ECE.
Institute : G.P.W., Hindupur.
semester : Third.
Subject : Analog communication.
Code : EC-305.
Topic : Transmitters & receivers.
Sub-topic : Receivers-sensitivity,selectivity,fidelity,etc
Duration : 50Mts.
Teaching aids : PPTs,Diagrams.

EC305.52 1
Objectives:

Upon completion of this lesson, you will be able to:

• Know the sensitivity of the receiver.
• Know the selectivity of the receiver.
• Know the Fidelity of the receiver.
• Know the Fading
• Know the Image rejection ratio in the receiver.

EC305.52 2
Recap

• Full form of AVC is automatic volume control.

• The output of a radio receiver is constant with the

changing strength of the received signal.

• This is due to AGC.

EC305.52 3
Sensitivity:
• The sensitivity of the receiver is its ability to amplify weak
signals.

• It is defined in terms of the voltage that must be applied

to the receiver input terminals to give a standard output
measured at the output terminals .

EC305.52 4
• Sensitivity is often expressed in micro volts or in decibels
below one volt and measured at three points along the
tuning range .

• The most important factors determining the sensitivity of

a super heterodyne receiver are the gain of the IF
amplifier and that of the RF amplifier, if there is one.

EC305.52 5
Sensitivity curve:

Fig : Selectivity Curve

EC305.52 6
• From the sensitivity curve ,it shows that sensitivity varies
over the tuning range.

• The most important factors determining the sensitivity of

the super heterodyne receiver are the gains of the IF and
RF amplifiers.

EC305.52 7
Selectivity:

• The selectivity of a receiver is its ability to reject

unwanted signals .It shows the attenuation that the
receiver offers to signals at frequencies adjacent to the
one to which it is tuned.

• The most important factors determining the selectivity of

super heterodyne receiver are the gains of the IF
amplifiers.

EC305.52 8
Selectivity curve:

Fig : Selectivity Curve

EC305.52 9
• Selectivity varies with receiving frequency and becomes
worse when the receiving frequency is raised.

• The selectivity of a super heterodyne receiver is mainly

decided by the IF amplifier stages.

EC305.52 10
Fidelity:

• Fidelity is defined as the ability of a receiver to reproduce

the original signal faithfully after demodulation.

• In addition to have good selectivity and sensitivity an

ideal receiver would reproduce the original modulating
signal exactly.

EC305.52 11
Fading:

• The random variation in the signal strength at the input

of the receiver due to multi path reception is called
fading.

• The signals from the transmitter arrive at the receiver by

multiple paths ,each path having a different length.

• The path length varies randomly due to random changes

in the ionosphere conditions.

EC305.52 12
• Signals arriving at the receiver by different path lengths
randomly differ in phase.

• The strength of resultant received signal varies randomly

with signals received and this produce fading effect.

• Fading is a frequency sensitive and hence carrier and

side bands may suffer by different amounts of fading.

EC305.52 13
• There are basically two types of fading namely general
fading and selective fading.

• In general fading, the entire signal is affected by fading

i.e., the carrier and two side bands fade synchronously.

• In selective fading only portion of the signal is affected

by fading i.e., carrier and side bands do not fade
simultaneously.

EC305.52 14
Image rejection ratio:

• It is defined as the ratio of the gain at the signal

frequency fs to the gain at the image frequency.

• This is also defined as the rejection of an image

frequency by a single tuned circuit.

EC305.52 15
• The rejection of the image frequency is given by
• α = √ (1+Q2 p2)
Where p = (fsi /fs)– (fs / fsi)
Q = loaded Q of tuned circuit.
• Image rejection depends on the front end selectivity of
the receiver must be achieved before the IF stage.

EC305.52 16
Summary:

After completion of this topic we have learnt about:

• Sensitivity of the receiver.
• Selectivity of the receiver.
• Fidelity of the receiver.
• Fading in the receiver.
• Image rejection ratio.

EC305.52 17
 Quiz
1. The ability of the receiver to amplify the weak signal is
called
a) selectivity.
b) sensitivity.
c) fading.
d) fidelity.

Ans. b

EC305.52 18
2. The ability of the radio receiver to reject the unwanted
signals called
a) Fading
b) sensitivity
c) Selectivity
d) AVC

Ans. c

EC305.52 19
3.The image frequency rejection is given as
a) α = √ (1×Q2 p2 )
b) α = √ (1+Q2 p2 )
c) α = √ (1-Q2 p2 )
d) α = √( 1/Q2 p2 )

Ans. b

EC305.52 20
 Frequently asked questions

1.Define sensitivity, selectivity, fidelity and fading with

respect to receivers?

2.Define image rejection ratio and calculate it?

3.Explain sensitivity and selectivity and draw the

characteristic curves?

EC305.52 21