Principles of Frequency Modulation

1. The frequency of the carrier signal is varied in accordance with the instantaneous amplitude of
the modulating signal is called frequency modulation, the amplitude and phase are kept
constant. FM and PM are collectively referred to as angle modulation.

2. As the modulating signal amplitude increases, the carrier frequency increases. If the amplitude
of the modulating signal decreases, the carrier frequency decreases.

3. The amount of change in carrier frequency produced by the modulating signal is known as the
frequency deviation fd. Maximum frequency deviation occurs at the maximum amplitude of the
modulating signal. The frequency of the modulating signal has no effect on the amount of
deviation, it is a function of the amplitude of the modulating signal.

Principles of Phase Modulation

1. The Phase of the carrier signal is varied in accordance with the instantaneous amplitude of the
modulating signal, keeping the amplitude and frequency constant is called Phase modulation.

2. As the modulating signal goes positive, the amount of phase lag, and thus the delay of the
carrier output, increases with the amplitude of the modulating signal. When the modulating
signal goes negative, the phase shift becomes leading. This causes the carrier sine wave to be
effectively speeded up, or compressed.

3. The maximum frequency deviation produced by a phase modulator occurs during the time when
the modulating signal is changing at its most rapid rate.
For a sine wave modulating signal, the rate of change of the modulating signal is greatest when the
modulating wave changes from plus to minus or from minus to plus, the maximum rate of change of
modulating voltage occurs exactly at the zero crossing points.

In contrast, note that in an FM wave the maximum deviation occurs at the peak positive and negative
amplitude of the modulating voltage. Thus, although a phase modulator does indeed produce FM,
maximum deviation occurs at different points of the modulating signal.

Phase modulation (PM) is that form of angle modulation in which the angle is varied linearly with the
message signal m(t) given by

Expression for FM wave:

Frequency modulation is that form of angle modulation in which the instantaneous frequency is varied
linearly with the message signal m(t) given by

The carrier signal

Impressing an information signal on a carrier by changing its frequency produces FM. Varying the
amount of phase shift that a carrier experiences is known as phase modulation (PM). Varying the phase
shift of a carrier also produces FM. FM and PM are collectively referred to as angle modulation

The angle modulated signal is given by

where is the instantaneous angle of the modulated signal.

The instantaneous frequency is given by

For frequency modulation

Instantaneous angle

Frequency Modulated signal

Smaller values of modulation index indicates NBFM

Larger values of modulation index indicates WBFM

What is the deviation ratio of TV sound if the maximum deviation is 25 kHz and the maximum
modulating frequency is 15 kHz?

Narrow Band FM (NBFM)

WBFM

FM Wave

Using Bessel functions

Where J0,J1,J2……. are Bessel coefficient which is the function of modulation index mf
Bessel coefficients are given by
What is the maximum modulating frequency that can be used to achieve a modulation index of 2.2
with a deviation of 7.48 kHz? fm = 3.4kHz

State the amplitudes of the carrier and the first four sidebands of an FM signal with a modulation
index of 4. J0 = -0.4, J1 = -0.07, J2 = 0.36, J3 = 0.43, J4 = 0.28

FM Signal Bandwidth

The bandwidth of FM

BW = 2fmN where N is the no of significant side bands

BW = 2(3 kHz)(4) = 24 kHz

Carson’s rule.

BW = 2[fm+fd]

BW = 2fm[ 1+mf]

What is the maximum bandwidth of an FM signal with a deviation of 30 kHz and a maximum modulating
signal of 5 kHz as determined by Carson’s rule.

Frequency Modulators

A frequency modulator is a circuit that varies carrier frequency in accordance with the modulating
signal. Varactor is a semiconductor junction diode operated in a reverse-bias mode A reverse-biased
junction diode acts as capacitor. The P- and N-type materials act as the two plates of the capacitor, and
the depletion region acts as dielectric. As the reverse bias increases, the depletion region thickness
increases and capacitance decreases. Decreasing the reverse bias narrows the depletion region;
increasing the capacitance.
Varactor Modulators

1
fi (t ) 
2 ( L1  L2 )C (t )

Frequency of oscillation is given by

1
fi (t ) 
2 ( L1  L2 )C (t )

where c(t) is the total capacitance, C(t) = C0 – Kcm(t) where C0 is the fixed tuning capacitance.
f0
f i (t ) 
kc
1 m(t )
C0 1
f0 
2 C0 ( L1  L2 )

 kc 
fi (t )  f 0 1  m(t ) 
 2C0 
f kc
kf  0
2C0
fi (t )  f 0  
1  k f m(t ) 
Voltage-Controlled Oscillators
Oscillators whose frequencies are controlled by an external input voltage are referred to as voltage-
controlled oscillators (VCOs).

Block diagram of IC VCO, the NE566

External resistor R1 at pin 6 sets the value of current

produced by the internal Current sources. The current
sources linearly charge and discharge external
capacitor C1 at pin 7. An external voltage VC applied
at pin 5 is used to vary the amount of current
produced by the current sources.

The Schmitt trigger circuit is a level detector that

controls the current source by switching between
charging and discharging when the capacitor charges
or discharges to a specific voltage level. A linear saw-tooth of voltage is developed across the capacitor
by the current source. This is buffered by an amplifier and made available at pin 4. The Schmitt trigger
output is a square wave at the same frequency available at pin 3. If a sine wave output is desired, the
triangular wave is usually filtered with a tuned circuit resonant to the desired carrier frequency.

FM Demodulator
Slope Detectors
 The FM signal is applied to transformer T1 made up of L1 and L2.
Together L2 and C1 form a series resonant circuit. The signal
voltage induced into L2 appears in series with L2 and C1 and the
output voltage is taken from across C1. At the resonant frequency
fr the voltage across C1 peaks. At lower or higher frequencies, the
voltage falls off. The center or carrier frequency of the FM signals is approximately centered on the
leading edge of the response curve.

If the frequency goes lower than the carrier frequency, the output voltage across C1 decreases. If the
frequency goes higher, the output across C1 goes higher. The ac voltage across C1 is proportional to the
frequency of the FM signal. The voltage across C1 is rectified into dc pulses that appear across the load
R1. These are filtered into a varying dc signal that is an exact reproduction of the original modulating
signal.

The circuit of a balanced slope detector employees two slope detectors connected back to back to the
opposite ends of a centre tapped secondary of the transformer. This FM detector is more efficient than
slope detector as it gives more linear response over the useful frequency range.

Phase Locked Loop

A phase-locked loop (PLL) is a frequency- or phase-sensitive feedback control circuit used in frequency
demodulation.
It has three basic elements:
1. A phase detector is used to compare the FM input, sometimes referred to as the reference
signal, to the output of a VCO.
2. The VCO frequency is varied by the dc output voltage from a low-pass filter.
3. The low-pass filter smoothes the output of the phase detector into a control voltage that varies
the frequency of the VCO.
The phase detector is to compare the two input signals and generate an output signal that, when
filtered, will control the VCO. If there is a phase or frequency difference between the FM input and VCO
signals, the phase detector output varies in proportion to the difference. The filtered output adjusts the
VCO frequency in an attempt to correct for the original frequency or phase. This dc control voltage,
called the error signal, is the feedback in this circuit.

When no input signal is applied, the phase detector and low-pass filter outputs are zero. The VCO then
operates at free-running frequency. The VCO in a PLL is capable of tracking the input frequency over a
wide range. The range of frequencies over which a PLL can track an input signal and remain locked is
known as the lock range. The range of frequencies over which a PLL will capture an input signal, known
as the capture range, is much narrower than the lock range.

Pre-emphasis

Noise can interfere with an FM signal, and particularly with the high-frequency components of the
modulating signal. Since noise is primarily sharp spikes of energy, it contains a lot of harmonics and
other high-frequency components. These frequencies can be larger in amplitude than the high-
frequency content of the modulating signal, causing frequency distortion that can make the signal
unintelligible.

In musical instruments, generate signals at low frequencies but contain many high-frequency harmonics
that give them their unique sound and must be passed if that sound is to be preserved. Thus a wide
bandwidth is needed in high-fidelity systems. Since the high-frequency components are usually at a very
low level, noise can obliterate them. Pre-emphasis To overcome this problem, most FM systems use a
technique known as pre-emphasis that helps offset high-frequency noise interference.

De-emphasis

To return the frequency response to its normal, “flat” level, a de emphasis circuit, a simple low-pass
filter is used at the receiver. The pre-emphasis at the transmitter is exactly offset by the de-emphasis
circuit in the receiver.

The combined effect of pre-emphasis and de-empha sis is to increase the signal-to-noise ratio for the
high- frequency components during transmission so that they will be stronger and not masked by noise

Super-heterodyne Receivers

A sensitive and selective receiver can be made using only amplifiers, selective filters, and a demodulator.
This is called a tuned radio frequency or TRF receiver. Super-heterodyne receivers convert all incoming
signals to a lower frequency, known as the intermediate frequency (IF), at which a single set of
amplifiers and filters is used to provide a fixed level of sensitivity and selectivity. The key component of
the circuit is the mixer, which acts as a simple amplitude modulator to produce sum and difference
frequencies. The incoming signal is mixed with a local oscillator signal to produce intermediate
frequency.
The antenna picks up the weak radio signal and feeds it to the RF amplifier, which is low-noise amplifier
(LNA). The output of the RF amplifier is applied to the input of the mixer. The mixer also receives an
input from a local oscillator or frequency synthesizer. The output of the mixer is the difference of input
and local oscillator frequency, known as intermediate frequency (IF). The amplified IF signal is applied to
the demodulator, or detector, which recovers the original modulating information.

The recovered signal, is rectified and filtered into a dc voltage by a circuit known as the automatic gain
control (AGC) circuit. This dc voltage is fed back to the IF amplifiers, and the RF amplifier, to control
receiver gain.

Frequency Conversion

Frequency conversion is the process of translating a modulated signal to a higher or lower frequency
while retaining all the originally transmitted information. In radio receivers, high-frequency radio signals
are regularly converted to a lower, intermediate frequency, where improved gain and selectivity can be
obtained. This is called down conversion. In satellite communications, the original signal is generated at
a lower frequency and then converted to a higher frequency for transmission. This is called up
conversion.

Mixing Principles

Frequency conversion is a form of amplitude modulation or analog multiplication carried out by a mixer
circuit or converter. The function performed by the mixer is called heterodyning.
Mixers accept two inputs. The input signal fs, and the local oscillator frequency fo. The output of the
mixer, consists of signals fs , fo , fo - fs , and fo - fs or fs - fo.

FET Mixers

FETs provides gain, have low noise, and offer square-law response. The FET mixer is biased so that it
operates in the nonlinear portion of its range. The input signal is applied to the gate, and the local
oscillator signal is coupled to the source. The tuned circuit in the drain selects the difference frequency.