COMMUNICATION SYSTEM EECB353

Chapter 2 Part II
AMPLITUDE MODULATION

Anas Bin Muhamad Bostamam

Dept of Electrical Engineering
Universiti Tenaga Nasional
http://metalab.uniten.edu.my/~shafinaz
AM Voltage Distribution
 Mathematically an unmodulated carrier can be described as:

vc (t ) = Ec sin( 2πf c t )
where vc(t) = time-varying voltage for the carrier
Ec = peak carrier amplitude (volts)
fc = carrier frequency (hertz)

 But Vmax = Ec + Em , then the instantaneous modulated amplitude:

vam (t ) = [ Ec + Em sin( 2πf mt )][sin(2πf c t )]

[ Ec + Em sin(2πf mt )]
where = amplitude of modulated wave
Em = peak change in the amplitude of the envelope (volts)
fm = frequency of the modulating signal (hertz)

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AM Voltage Distribution
Em = mEc

vam (t ) = [ Ec + mEc sin( 2πf mt )][sin(2πf c t )]

= [1 + m sin( 2πf mt )][ Ec sin( 2πf c t )]

[1 + m sin( 2πf mt )]
[ Ec sin( 2πf c t )]
= constant + modulating signal
= unmodulated carrier
vam (t ) = Ec sin( 2πf c t ) + [mEc sin( 2πf m t )][sin(2πf c t )]
mEc mEc
= Ec sin( 2πf ct ) − cos[2π ( f c + f m )t ] + cos[2π ( f c − f m )t ]
2 2
Carrier Signal Upper side freq signal Lower side freq signal

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 AM Voltage Distribution
mEc mEc
Vam = Ec sin( 2πf ct ) − cos[2π ( f c + f m )t ] + cos[2π ( f c − f m )t ]
2 2
 Notes from DSBFC eqn, Vam
 Amplitude of the carrier Ec is unaffected by the
modulation process
 Amplitude of the upper (Eusf) and lower side frequencies
(Elsf )depend on both carrier amplitude, Ec and coefficient
of modulation,m.

Voltage Spectrum for

AM DSBFC wave

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Example 3
 One input to a conventional AM modulator is a 500kHz
carrier with an amplitude of 20Vp. The second input is
a 10kHz modulating signal that is of sufficient
amplitude to cause a change in the output wave of ±
7.5Vp. Determine
a. Upper and lower side frequencies.
b. Modulation coefficient and percent modulation
c. Peak amplitude of the modulated carrier and the upper and
lower side frequency voltages.
d. Maximum and minimum amplitudes of the envelope.
e. Expression for the modulated wave.
f. Draw the output spectrum.
g. Sketch the output envelope.

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Example 4
 If the modulated wave has the equation,
vam (t ) = 150 sin( 2π 250t ) − 60 cos(2π 282t ) + 60 cos(2π 218t )V

find
(a) the carrier freq
(b) the usf and lsf
(c) the modulating signal freq
(d) the peak amplitude of the carrier signal
(e) the upper and lower side signal peak amplitude
(f) the change In peak amplitude of the modulated wave
(g) the coefficient of modulation.

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AM Power Distribution
 The average power dissipated in a load by
unmodulated carrier is equal to the rms carrier
voltage, Ec squared divided by the load resistance, R.

 Mathematically, power in unmodulated carrier, Pc is:

( Ec ( rms ) ) 2 ( Ec 2 )2 Ec 2
Pc = = =
R R 2R

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AM Power Distribution
 The upper and lower sideband powers:
2
(mEc 2) 2 m 2 Ec
Pusb = Plsb = =
2R 8R
where mEc/2 is the peak voltage of usf and lsf.
Then,
m 2  Ec  m 2
2
Pusb = Plsb =  = Pc
4  2R  4

 Total transmitted power in DSBFC AM envelope:

Pt = Pc + Pusb + Plsb
m2 m2
= Pc + Pc + Pc
4 4
m2  m2 
= Pc + Pc = Pc 1 + 
2  2 
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AM Power Distribution
m2 m2 m2  m2 
Pt = Pc + Pusb + Plsb = Pc + Pc + Pc = Pc + Pc = Pc 1 + 
4 4 2  2 

Power Spectrum for

AM DSBFC wave

Note:
 Carrier power in the modulated signal is the same in the unmodulated signal i.e
carrier power is unaffected by the modulation process.
The total power in an AM envelope increase with modulation (i.e as m ↑, Pt ↑).
 Major disadvantage of AM DSBFC is most of the power is wasted in the carrier.
(It does not contain info, info is contained in the sidebands).
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Efficiency of AM

 Efficiency, E is defined as the percentage of total power

that conveys information i.e it is the percentage of total
transmitted power that is in the sidebands.

PSBs Pusb + Plsb

Efficiency, E = =
PT Pc + Pusb + Plsb

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Example
 Draw the power spectrum for a given expression
and determine the modulation index and
efficiency. (Assume R=1Ω)

m(t ) = 20 sin 300πt − 6 cos 320πt + 6 cos 280πt

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Example
 Determine the maximum sideband power if the carrier
output is 1 kW and calculate the total maximum
transmitted power.

Since ESF = mEc/2,

It is obvious that the max SB power occurs when m = 1 or 100%, and
also when m = 1, each side freq is ½ the carrier amplitude.
Since power is proportional to the square of voltage, each SB has ¼
of the carrier power i.e ¼ x 1kW, or 250W.
Therefore, total SB power is 250W x 2 = 500W.
And the total transmitted power is 1kW + 500W = 1.5kW

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Importa nce of High- percent age
Modul ati on
m Pc P1SB PSBs PT E
1.0 1kW 250W 500W 1.5kW 0.3
0.5 1kW 62.5W 125W 1.125kW 0.1
Table: Effective transmission at 50% versus 100% modulation

Notes
 Even though the total transmitted power has only fallen from 1.5kW to
1.125kW, the effective transmission has only ¼ the strength at 50%
modulation as compared to 100%.
 Because of these considerations, most AM transmitter attempts to maintain
between 90 and 95 percent modulation as a compromise between efficiency
and the chance of drifting into overmodulation.
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Example
 A DSBFC AM Signal with a 1kW carrier was modulated to a depth of
60%. How much power is contained in the upper sideband?
m2 0.6 2
Given Pc = 1kW then, Pusb = Plsb =
4
Pc =
4
(1k ) = 90W

but, total power  0 .6 2 

Pt = 10001 +  = 1180W

 2 

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Exercise

The total power of an AM transmitter is measured to

be 850W. What is the total output sideband power if
it has a percent modulation of 100%? Calculate the
efficiency.

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Example 5
 For an AM DSBFC wave with a peak unmodulated
carrier voltage Vc = 10Vp, a load resistance RL = 10
Ω, and a modulation coefficient, m = 1, determine
 Powers of the carrier and the upper and lower
sidebands.
 Total sideband power.
 Total power of the modulated wave.
 Draw the power spectrum.
 Repeat steps (a) to (d) for a modulation index, m = 0.5.

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Example 6
A 1.5MHz carrier signal is modulated with 3.4kHz
modulating signal. The modulated carrier voltage is
28Vmax and 14Vmin across a 100Ω resistive load
impedance. Determine:

a) Peak amplitude of the unmodulated carrier.

b) Coefficient of modulation
c) Carrier power.
d) Sideband power
e) Total power
f) Upper and lower sideband frequencies.
g) Bandwidth.

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