Digital To Analog Conversion

Digital-to-analog conversion is the process of changing one of the characteristics of an analog signal based on the information in digital data.

Types of Digital to Analog Conversion

Digital to Analog Conversion

Digital data needs to be carried on an analog

signal. A carrier signal (frequency fc) performs the function of transporting the digital data in an analog waveform. The analog carrier signal is manipulated to uniquely identify the digital data being carried.

Aspects of Digital to Analog Conversion

Data element and signal element
Data element is the smallest piece of information to be

exchanged i.e. bits. Signal elements is the smallest unit of a signal

Data rate and signal rate
S=N*1/r

=> S<=N Where S is the signal rate in baud i.e. no of signal elements per second N is the data rate in bps i.e. no of bits per second r is the number of data elements carried in one signal element In analog transmission r=log2L NOTE: L is not the number of levels but is the type of signal element.

Example An analog signal carries 4 bits per signal element. If 1000 signal elements are sent per second, find the bit rate. Solution In this case, r = 4, S = 1000, and N is unknown. We can find the value of N from

Example An analog signal has a bit rate of 8000 bps and a baud rate of 1000 baud. How many data elements are carried by each signal element? How many signal elements do we need? Solution In this example, S = 1000, N = 8000, and r and L are unknown. We find first the value of r and then the value of L.

 Bandwidth:

Bandwidth is proportional to the signal rate except in FSK where a difference between the carrier signals needs to be added. Carrier Signal: In analog transmission, the sending device produces a high frequency signal which acts as the base signal for information signal. This is known as carrier signal

The receiving device must be tuned to this carrier frequency.

Amplitude Shift Keying

Here the amplitude of the signal is varied to

create the signal elements while frequency and phase are kept constant. Types: Binary ASK (BASK) and Multilevel ASK

Binary ASK
Here ASK is implemented with only two levels Also known as on-off keying(OOK).

Peak amplitude of one signal level is 0, while for the

other its same as amplitude of carrier frequency.

Bandwidth for ASK: Bandwidth is proportional to signal rate. But there is another factor involved, called d, which depends on modulation and filtering process. Value for d ranges between 0 and 1 B = (1+d) * S It is clear from the formula that minimum required bandwidth is S and maximum allowed value is 2S.

Implementation of Binary ASK:

Here we have a Unipolar NRZ signal on the carrier signal

from the oscillator. When amplitude of signal is 1 amplitude of carrier frequency is retained. When amplitude of signal becomes 0 then amplitude of carrier frequency is also made zero.

Example

We have an available bandwidth of 100 kHz which spans from 200 to 300 kHz. What are the carrier frequency and the bit rate if we modulated our data by using ASK with d = 1? Solution The middle of the bandwidth is located at 250 kHz. This means that our carrier frequency can be at fc = 250 kHz. We can use the formula for bandwidth to find the bit rate (with d = 1 and r = 1).

Example

In data communications, we normally use full-duplex links with communication in both directions. We need to divide the bandwidth into two with two carrier frequencies, as shown in figure.
The figure shows the positions of two carrier frequencies and the bandwidths. The available bandwidth for each direction is now 50 kHz, which leaves us with a data rate of 25 kbps in each direction.

5.14

Multilevel ASK: In multilevel ASKwe can also have more than two levels. Like 4,8,16 and so on using 2,3,4 or more bits at a time. Not implemented with pure ASK rather it is implemented with QAM.

Frequency Shift Keying

Here the frequency of the carrier signal is varied to

represent the data. Frequency is constant during the duration of one signal element but changes the next signal element if the data element changes. Peak amplitude and phase remain constant. Two types: Binary FSK and Multilevel FSK

Binary FSK: Here two carrier frequencies say f1 and f2 are used. We use the f1 when data element is 0 and f2 when data element is 1.

Bandwidth of BFSK: From previous figure we can see that middle of one bandwidth is f1 and middle of other bandwidth is f2. The difference between the two frequencies is 2f. B = (1+d) * S + 2f The minimum value for 2f must be equal to S for proper operation of modulation and demodulation.

Example We have an available bandwidth of 100 kHz which spans from 200 to 300 kHz. What should be the carrier frequency and the bit rate if we modulated our data by using FSK with d = 1? Solution The midpoint of the band is at 250 kHz. We choose 2f to be 50 kHz; this means

Implementation of BFSK: Two ways: noncoherent and coherent. In noncoherent BFSK there is a discontinuity in phase when one signal element ends and the next begins. In coherent the phase is continuous.

 VCO changes its frequency according to the input

voltage. The input is unipolar NRZ. VCO keeps its regular frequency when amplitude of input is zero and when input is 1 frequency is increased.

Multilevel FSK: We use more than two frequencies. Like to send 2 bits we can have 4 different frequencies say f1,f2,f3 and f4. To send 3 bits we can use 8 bits and so on. Frequencies must be 2f apart and minimum value of 2f must be S. Bandwidth is B = (1+d) * S + (L-1)/2f = L * S (when d=0)

Example
We need to send data 3 bits at a time at a bit rate of 3 Mbps. The carrier frequency is 10 MHz. Calculate the number of levels (different frequencies), the baud rate, and the bandwidth. Solution We can have L = 23 = 8. The baud rate is S = 3 Mbps/3 = 1 Mbaud. This means that the carrier frequencies must be 1 MHz apart (2f = 1 MHz). The bandwidth is B = 8 1M = 8M. Figure shows the allocation of frequencies and bandwidth.

5.23

Phase Shift Keying(PSK)

In the phase shift keying, We vary the phase shift of

the carrier signal to represent digital data. Both peak amplitude and frequency remain constant as the phase changes. Thus it is more common than ASK and FSK. Two types are: Binary PSK(BPSK) and Quadrature PSK(QPSK). 1.Binary PSK(BPSK) Here we have two signal elements one with a phase of 0o and other with phase 180o . It is more simple than binary ASK with one advantage-it is less susceptible to noise.

Figure 5.9 Binary phase shift keying

Implementation of Binary PSK

It is simple as that of ASK because the signal

element with phase 180o can be seen as complement of signal with phase 0o.
The polar NRZ signal is multiplied by the carrier

frequency; The 1 bit is represented by a phase starting at 0o. The 0 bit is represented by a phase starting at 180o.

Implementation of Binary PSK

Quadrature PSK(QPSK)
QPSK uses two separate BPSK modulations; one is

in-phase, the other is quadrature(out-of-phase). The incoming bits are passed through a serial to parallel converter that sends one bit to one modulator and next bit to other modulator. If the duration of each bit in the incoming signal is T, the duration of each bit sent to corresponding BPSK is 2T.

Figure 5.11 QPSK and its implementation

Example 5.7

Find the bandwidth for a signal transmitting at 12 Mbps for QPSK. The value of d = 0.

Solution For QPSK, 2 bits is carried by one signal element. This means that r = 2. So the signal rate (baud rate) is S = N (1/r) = 6 Mbaud. With a value of d = 0, we have B = S = 6 MHz.

5.30

Constellation Diagram
A constellation diagram helps us to define the

amplitude and phase of a signal when we are using two carriers, one in quadrature of the other. The X-axis represents the in-phase carrier and the Yaxis represents quadrature carrier. For each point in diagram four pieces of information can be deduced:1.The projection of point on X-axis defines the peak amplitude of in-phase component. 2.The projection of point on Y-axis defines the peak amplitude quadrature component. 3.The length of the line that connects the point to the origin is the peak amplitude of the signal element. 4.The angle of the line with X-axis the phase of the

Concept of a constellation diagram

Three constellation diagrams

5.33

Quadrature Amplitude Modulation

It is a combination of ASK and PSK. Thus it uses two carriers one in-phase and other

quadrature with different amplitude levels for each carrier. The minimum bandwidth for QAM transmission is same as that for ASK and PSK transmission. Figure represent: a. The simplest 4-QAM scheme using unipolar NRZ signal to modulate each carrier. b. 4-QAM using polar NRZ, exactly same as QPSK. c. Signals with two positive levels to modulate each of the two carriers. d.16-QAM constellation of a signal with eight levels, four positive and four negative.

Constellation diagrams for some QAMs