Lab 4

Objective

Understand the Amplitude Modulation

Analysis of Amplitude modulation waveform using different frequencies
Analysis of Amplitude modulation waveform using different modulating index

Introduction
In order that a steady radio signal or "radio carrier" can carry information it must be changed or
modulated in one way so that the information can be conveyed from one place to another. There are a
number of ways in which a carrier can be modulated to carry a signal - often an audio signal and the most
obvious way is to vary its amplitude.

Amplitude modulation applications

Broadcast transmissions
Air band radio
Quadrature amplitude modulation

Amplitude modulation
AM, the information signal varies the amplitude of the carrier sine wave. The
instantaneous value of the carrier amplitude changes in accordance with the
amplitude and frequency variations of the modulating signal.
The carrier frequency remains constant during the modulation process, but its
amplitude varies in accordance with the modulating signal. An increase in the
amplitude of the modulating signal causes the amplitude of the carrier to increase.
Both the positive and the negative peaks of the carrier wave vary with the
modulating signal. An increase or a decrease in the amplitude of the modulating
signal causes a corresponding increase or decrease in both the positive and the
negative peaks of the carrier amplitude.Using trigonometric functions, we can
express the sine wave carrier with the simple expression
vm =Vm sin 2fmt
Where vm =instantaneous value of information signal
Vm =peak amplitude of information signal
fm =frequency of modulating signal

Modulating signal

Carrier signal

Modulation Index
For undistorted AM to occur, the modulating signal voltage must be less than the
carrier voltage Therefore the relationship between the amplitude of the modulating
signal and the amplitude of the carrier signal is important. This relationship, known
as the modulation index m (also called the modulating factor or coefficient, or the

degree of modulation), is the ratio these are the peak values of the signals, and the
carrier voltage is the un-modulated value. Multiplying the modulation index by 100
gives the percentage of modulation.
For example, if the carrier voltage is 9 V and the modulating signal voltage is 7.5 V,
the modulation factor is 0.8333 and the percentage of modulation is Over
modulation and Distortion The modulation index should be a number between 0 and
1. If the amplitude of the modulating voltage is higher than the carrier voltage, m
will be greater than 1, causing 0.833 * 100 =83.33.

Over modulation and Distortion

The modulation index should be a number between 0 and 1. If the amplitude of the
modulating voltage is higher than the carrier voltage, m will be greater than 1,
causing distortion of the modulated waveform.
The ideal condition for AM is when or, which gives 100 percent modulation. This
results in the greatest output power at the transmitter and the greatest output
voltage at the receiver, with no distortion

Over modulated signal

Matlab Code
clc;
clear all;
close all;
t=0:0.001:1;
set(0,'defaultlinelinewidth',2);
A=5;%Amplitude of signal
fm=input('Message frequency=');%Accepting input value
fc=input('Carrier frequency=');%Accepting input value (f2>f1)
mi=input('Modulation Index=');%Modulation Index
Sm=A*sin(2*pi*fm*t);%Message Signal
subplot(3,1,1);%Plotting frame divided in to 3 rows and this fig appear at 1st

plot(t,Sm);
xlabel('Time');
ylabel('Amplitude');
title('Message Signal');
grid on;
Sc=A*sin(2*pi*fc*t);%Carrier Signal
subplot(3,1,2);
plot(t,Sc);
xlabel('Time');
ylabel('Amplitude');
title('Carrier Signal');
grid on;
Sfm=(A+mi*Sm).*sin(2*pi*fc*t);%AM Signal, Amplitude of Carrier changes to (A+Message)
subplot(3,1,3);
plot(t,Sfm);
xlabel('Time');
ylabel('Amplitude');
title('AM Signal');
grid on;

Lab Task
Choose different frequencies and show output results

Exercise
Q1: What would happen if the modulating index were bigger than 1.
Q2: Use modulating index 2 and 4 show results in your report and discuss its
output.
Q3: Choose modulating voltage much greater than the carrier voltage show results
and discuss its output.