AM and FM Receivers

Design Description and Comparison

By

Ashar Salman
CE04-0383

Project Report of Communication System

 INDEX

Modulation 1
¾ Amplitude Modulation 1
¾ Frequency Modulation 2
Demodulation 2
AM Receiver 2
Superheterodyne Receivers 3
Circuit for Superheterodyne Receiver 5
¾ Local Oscillator Stage 7
¾ Mixer Stage 7
¾ Coupling Capacitor 8
¾ Intermediate Frequency Transformer/Filter (IFT) 8
¾ Detector Stage 9
¾ Audio Amplifier Stage 9
FM Receiver 10
¾ (a) F.M. Discriminator (figure 12) 10
¾ (b) Ratio Detector 11
¾ (c) Crystal Discriminator 11
¾ (d) Phase Lock Loops 11
FM receiver with TDA7088T 11
Comparison between AM and FM 14
References 16
Modulation
Modulation is a technique for transferring information or message of lower frequency by
riding it on the higher frequency carrier. In other words, the process by which some
characteristic of a higher frequency wave is varied in accordance with the amplitude of a
lower frequency wave.i This solves the major problem of antenna size and signal
distortion (or noise) in communication system. There are two types of modulation:
1 AM
2 FM

Amplitude Modulation
The basic idea of AM is that “vary the amplitude of carrier wave in proportion to the
message signal”. For this purpose message is multiplied with a sinusoidal of frequency
ωο. The highest frequency of the modulating data is normally less than 10 percent of the
carrier frequency. The instantaneous amplitude (overall signal power) varies depending
on the instantaneous amplitude of the modulating data.ii Figure below shows an AM
signal.

Figure 1: (a) Carrier signal. (b) message (c) AM signaliii

 Frequency Modulation
In Frequency Modulation, the frequency of carrier wave is varied with respect to the
amplitude of message signal. Another definition could be Frequency modulation (FM) is
a form of modulation, which represents information as variations in the instantaneous
frequency of a carrier wave.iv In figure below a FM signal shown.

Figure 2: (a) Message signal. (b) FM signal

Demodulation
Demodulation is the reverse of modulation that is a process for retrieving an information
signal that has been modulated onto a carrier.
AM Receiver
For extracting the message signal back from the carrier wave we “demodulate” the RF
signal. For AM demodulation we have different methods: v
¾ Early Receiver Architectures
o 4.1.1 Tuned RF Receivers
o 4.1.2 Regenerative Receivers
o 4.1.3 Super-Regenerative Receivers
¾ Superheterodyne Receivers
o Modern Single Conversion Implementations
o Multiple Conversion Implementations
o Up Conversion Implementations
o Designs with Ultra-Low IFs
o Designs with Image Rejection Mixers
o Designs with Selective Demodulators
¾ Direct Conversion Receivers
¾ Digital Receivers
¾ Ideal Low-Power Receivers

Keeping in mind the limited pages of this report, I will discuss only superheterodyne
receiver.

Superheterodyne Receivers

The concept of heterodyning an

incoming signal to convert it to a
lower frequency was developed by
Armstrong and others in 1918.
Armstrong's original design, shown
in Figure, was intended to allow low
frequency radiotelephone receivers
to be adapted for use at newer HF
frequencies being used in Europe.

Figure 3: Original Superheterodyne design

However, it was quickly recognized that the basic approach offered many additional
benefits, including:
¾ The low-frequency receiver (typically a high quality tuned-RF design) could be
adjusted once, and thereafter all tuning could be done by varying the heterodyne
oscillator.
¾ Amplification could be provided primarily at a lower frequency where high gains
were easier to achieve.
¾ Amplification was split between two frequencies, so that the risk of unwanted
regenerative feedback could be reduced.
¾ Narrow, high-order filtering was more easily achieved in the low frequency receiver
than at the actual incoming RF frequency being received.

Eventually, the separate tuned-RF receiver was replaced by the dedicated IF section of
the modern superheterodyne design, in which pre-tuned fixed-frequency filters are
employed. The result became the well-known architecture used today with high quality
channel-select filtering and no adjustments aside from volume and tuning controls.vi

Two demodulation techniques are used with superheterodyne receivers, Synchronous and
Asynchronous.
 Figure 4: Synchronous and Asynchronous superheterodyne receivers.

Again for simplicity, I will stick to only with Asynchronous Superheterodyne model.
Below in the figure is shown a more general block diagram of superheterodyne
receiver.vii

Figure 5: block diagram of superheterodyne receiver

 Circuit for Superheterodyne Receiver

Although superheterodyne radio receivers looks not very complicated but for practicable
purposes there must be additional circuitry involved in the design. One of them is
Automatic Gain Control (AGC).viii The AGC circuit keeps the receiver in its linear
operating range by measuring the overall strength of the signal and automatically
adjusting the gain of the receiver to maintain a constant level of output. When the signal
is strong, the gain is reduced, and when weak, the gain is increased, or allowed to reach
its normal maximum.ix
For simplicity of circuit, I will present a circuit without AGC. The complete circuit at
next page appears complicated, that is why I have decided to explain it systematically.
 Local Oscillator Stage

In most of AM receivers, local oscillator (LO) is designed with

the help of a special component, known as oscillator coil. They
are not more than ordinary transformer but with an additional
capability, that their core is movable between the coils. The main
purpose of having a moveable core is to tune the oscillator at
desire band. The top side of LO is colored white in order to
distinguish it from intermediate frequency transformers. They
come in metal housing and there are five pins plus two pins of
metal housing. The pin configuration of LO is shown in figure 7. Figure 6

Figure 7: Three different views of LO

Figure 8

Mixer Stage

Multiplying the RF signal from the antenna with the frequency of LO is an essential part
of demodulation. Different methods are employed for this purpose, transistors, diodes,
transformers or other electronic components may be used. But I prefer IC NE612 for this
purpose in my circuit for many reasons. The main reason is that using IC instead of other
component is that the need of RF stage amplifier is reduced very much, because NE612
takes very little power from input signal. Moreover, other important reason is that the
quality of mixing is very good and output signal is very much close to the intermediate
frequency (IF). Another good reason is that as we all know that for mixer circuit the

Figure 9: Block Diagram and pin configuration of NE612

supply voltage should be very constant, and NE612 has its own voltage regulator, that
mean that we don’t have to implement one by our self. And the biggest advantage is that
its use is very simple, attach antenna to pin 1 or 2, ground pin no. 3 and 6 volt to pin no.
8. Then connect LO between pin 6 and 7, and get IF frequency out from pin 4 and 5.

Coupling Capacitor
As we know that in superheterodyne design our RF stage and LO should oscillate in such
a way that their difference is always 455 kHz (IF frequency). In order to get
simultaneously tuning of both circuits, we use coupling capacitor. They are just pair of
two capacitors connected parallel to each other. One is for main tuning and other is for
fine-tuning. In the case of FM, there are four capacitors. There block diagram and pin
configuration is shown bellow.

Intermediate Frequency Transformer/Filter (IFT)

Intermediate frequency filter is made with the help of transformer similar to the LO stage,
so it is called IFT. They too came in metal housing as LO. The only difference is that
they also have a capacitor built in them. The capacitor can be seen in the following
figure. As you can see it in figure, the IFT is, in fact, a parallel oscillatory circuit with a
leg on its coil. The coil body has a ferrite core (symbolically shown with single upward
straight dashed line) that can be moved (with screwdriver), which allows for the setting
of the resonance frequency of the circuit, in our case 455 kHz. The same body contains
another coil, with fewer quirks in it. Together with the bigger one it comprises the HF
transformer that takes the signal from the oscillatory circuit into the next stage of the
receiver. Both the coil and the capacitor C are placed in the square-shaped metal housing
that measure 10x10x11 mm. From the bottom side of the housing you can see 5 pins
emerging from the plastic stopper, that link the IFT to the PCB, being connected inside
the IFT. Besides them, there are also two noses located on the bottom side, which are to
be soldered and connected with the device ground. Japanese IFT's have the capacitor C
placed in the cavity of the plastic stopper, as shown in figure. The part of the core that
can be moved with the screwdriver can be seen through the eye on the top side of the
housing, figure 10-d. This part is colored in order to distinguish the IFT's between
themselves, since there are usually at least 3 of them in an AM receiver. The colours are
white, yellow and black (the coil of the local oscillator is also being placed in such
housing, but is being painted in red, to distinguish it from the IFT).x
Figure 10: Details and pin description of IF Filter

Detector Stage
The detector stage is implemented with the easiest
method that is with envelop detection. No description is
necessary, only the circuit is given below. Please not
that this method is known asynchronous detection.

Audio Amplifier Stage

In order to get good and loud voice from the speaker it is essential to have an audio
frequency (AF) amplifier or simply audio amplifier. For this purpose well-known audio
amplifier IC LM386 is used. It is low priced and good quality IC. We can get 20 to 200
times amplification from it. Pin 5 gives the output, which in turn is connected with the
loudspeaker. The speaker should be round about 10Ω rated to 1W. If speaker is not
available just omit the LM386 and place a headphone just after the detector.
Figure 11: Audio Amplifier and LM386 pin description

FM Receiver
As I described earlier that FM receiver is not much different with AM superheterodyne
except the detector stage. A number of FM detection schemes have evolved over the
years. The principal discrete ones were:

(a) F.M. Discriminator (figure 12)

Figure 12

This discriminator simply works on the principal that with no modulation applied to the
carrier there is no output at the detector. Briefly T1 converts the f.m. signal to a.m. and
when rectified the output is still zero because they would be equal but opposite in
polarity, if modulation is applied then there is a shift in the phase of the input component
with a corresponding difference in the signals out of the diodes. The difference between
these outputs is the audio.

As an aside, this is somewhat similar to some Automatic Fine Tuning (A.F.T.) schemes
in some a.m. receivers, notably early T.V. receivers. With no frequency variation there is
no output, with frequency drift there will be an output difference (in either direction)
which is amplified and applied to front end tuning diodes for correction.
 (b) Ratio Detector

The schematic looks a little similar to figure 6 but has a third (tertiary) winding on the
secondary of T1, diode D2 has its polarity reversed and the two divider resistors are
replaced by capacitors. This scheme was quite popular in entertainment type receivers.
You detect f.m. but NOT a.m. and it placed some relaxation on the severe limiting
requirements.

(c) Crystal Discriminator

Once favored by radio amateurs but superseded by later I.C. designs

(d) Phase Lock Loops

Among the relatively newer designs and PLL's overcome many of the drawbacks and
costs associated with building and aligning LC discriminators.

FM receiver with TDA7088T

This IC is the successor of the famous TDA7000, i.e. it is an improved model of
TDA7000, that allows to implement both monophonic and stereophonic FM receiver.
The basic features of TDA7088T are given in the
following table.
The electronic diagram of the HF part of the monophonic FM receiver made with
TDA7088T IC is given on following figure. The IC contains all the parts of the classic
superheterodyne receiver: the local oscillator, IF amplifier and FM detector, but also
some other circuits that extend the possibilities and improve the features of this IC.
As far as practical use is concerned, the most significant novelty is the auto-tuning
circuitry. No variable capacitor is necessary for tuning, as it was in all the previous
projects, the BB910 varicap diode is used instead.

Its capacitance is being changed by varying the DC voltage supplied to its anode over the
5k6 resistor. This is how the tuning is performed: When the user press and releases the
pushbutton marked with “RUN”, the positive voltage impulse is released to the S(et)
input of the SEARCH TUNING circuit. The 100 nF capacitor then starts chargingl and
the voltage on the pin 16 increases. This voltage is then transferred, over the 5k6, to the
anode of the BB910, causing its capacitance to decrease, which increases the frequency
of the local oscillator (VCO). The VCO voltage is led into the mixer (MIXER) which
also receives, over pin 11, the signals of all the other FM stations. The mixer outputs the
FM signals whose frequencies are equal to the differences of the oscillator and the
original station frequency. The only signal that can reach the demodulator (FM detector)
is the one whose carrier frequency is equal to the inter-frequency, i.e. fm=73 kHz
(selectivity is being accomplished by two active filters whose components are the
capacitors connected to pins 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10). Therefore, the oscillator frequency
increases until it gets the condition fO-fS=73 kHz is accomplished. When this happens,
the charging of the capacitor is halted by the command that is sent into the SEARCH
TUNING circuit by two detectors (diode-blocks) located in the MUTE circuit. The AFC
(Automatic Frequency Control) circuit now gets its role and prevents the voltage on pin
16 to be changed, until the RUN button is pushed again (this voltage can vary from 0 V
til 1.8 V during the tuning).
When the RESET button is pushed, the 100 nF capacitor is discharged, the voltage on pin
16 drops down to zero, and the receiver is set to the low end of the reception bandwidth,
i.e. 88 MHz.
Let us get back to the mixer. On its output, the 73 kHz FM signal is obtained, and it is
modulated by the programme of the first station that is found after the RUN button is
pushed. This signal then passes the active filters, gets amplified in the IF amplifier (IF
LIMITER) and passed onto the input of the demodulator. By connecting the demodulator
exit, over the LOOP FILTER, the adder (+) and resistor, to the VCO, the so-called FFL
(Frequency Feedback Loop) circuit is accomplished, reducing the deviations of the signal
being received from ±75 kHz to ±15 kHz.
The LF (AF) signal is led from the demodulator, over the LOOP FILTER stage, the
invertor (-1) and MUTE circuit onto the pin 2. The detectors (diode-blocks) control the
operation of the MUTE circuit, preventing the LF (AF) signal to reach the output pin (2)
until the tuning on the station that creates the signal in the antenna that is strong enough
for quality reception is obtained.
 Comparison between AM and FM
1. The first difference between two is their modulation technique.
2. Frequency modulation is superior to AM in the sense that there is very little or no
effect of random noise on FM as compared to AM. The reason is that the noise in
its nature can only change amplitude as in AM. The phase or frequency is usually
not effected by the noise because of its nature, as in FM.
3. Commercial AM bands are between 550 kHz and 1600 kHz while FM is between
88 MHz and 108 MHz.xi
4. FM radio stations have 200 kHz of bandwith, with the carrier frequency in the
middle. The range allows a broad range of audio frequencies to be represented
allowing for better music. By contrast, AM radio stations are allocated only 10
kHz of bandwidth, with the carrier frequency again in the middle of the range.
5. Am has longer range because its wavelengths are so much larger. An AM wave is
about 500 meters long; An FM wave is only around 10 meter long.
6. An AM wave seldom notices things as small as houses and buildings, as it can
travel through them. An FM wave can be affected by anything at least a few feet
wide as it bounces back after colliding with it.
7. The frequencies used in AM broadcasting are reflected by the ionosphere and by
the earth so these frequencies can bounce back and forth. On the other hand, the
frequencies used in FM broadcasting are not reflected by the ionosphere, so the
reception of these signals is pretty much "line of sight", approximately.xii
8. There can be at most a maximum of (108-88)/0.2 = 100 stations on the FM dial.
Whereas there can be at most (1605-535)/10 = 107 AM stations in an area.
9. In practice, the number of AM stations in an area is much lower for a number of
other reasons. AM signals can be reflected from the ionospheric layer back to
earth, so that the signals can reach unintended places that are thousands of miles
away. Further, the ionospheric reflection is increased during the night time.
Therefore, the AM signal from a powerful station in one city can be received in
another city, which may be in another country. Consequently, AM signals are
often subject to regulations such as the use of directional antennae or reduced
power at nighttime or even going off the air at night.xiii
10. AM receivers are easy to built but difficult to tune or adjust for good
performance. On the other hand, FM receivers are bit difficult to make but they
can be optimized easily.
11. Additional circuitry may be required in AM design such as Automatic Gain
Control (AGC) and Low Noise Filter (LNF) for better performance.
12. FM receiver can be easily manufactured in ICs and very easy to use. Most FM
receivers today are made with the use of ICs such as TDA7000 or TDA7088A.
13. FM receiver requires small antennas as compared to AM receivers.
 Here I will cite some survey data from the TGI Argentina study. This is a survey of
12,346 persons between 12 and 75 years old conducted by IBOPE Argentina during
1999-2000. These respondents were presented with a list of radio program types and ask
their preferences for either AM or FM reception in listening to each program type. Each
respondent may indicate an preference for AM or FM or indifference. The survey results
are shown in the form of a scatter plot below.

(Source: TGI Argentina, IBOPE Argentina)

The scatterplot contains a 45 degree diagonal line. Any radio program type that is
below this diagonal line is preferred more in FM, and any program program type above
this diagonal line is preferred more in AM. Clearly, the consumers prefer to listen to
music in FM and to spoken words in AM. There are two interpretations of this
phenomenon. First of all, this reflects the strengths of each transmission method ---
larger coverage with theoretically poorer quality for AM, and smaller coverage with
theoretically better quality for FM. Alternately, this simply reflects the fact that AM
stations carry mostly spoken words and FM stations carry most music, each playing to its
own perceived strengths. Thus, the most and the best music programs are found on the
FM spectrum, and the most and the best news programs are found on the AM spectrum.xiv
 References

i
www.flw.com/define_m.htm
ii
www.shopzilla.com/3E--Portable_CD_Players_-_cat_id--11570000
iii
http://www.mikroe.com/en/books/rrbook/
iv
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frequency_modulation
v
William B. Kuhn “Design of Integrated, Low Power, Radio Receivers in BiCMOS Technologies”, 1995
vi
W. M. Dalton The Story of Radio, Volumes 1-3, Adam Hilger, London, 1975.
vii
Image courtesy of Peter A. Stark copyright © 2002
viii
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_gain_control
ix
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_gain_control#AM_radio
x
http://www.mikroe.com/en/books/rrbook/
xi
http://staff.science.nus.edu.sg/~parwani/htw/c2/node72.html
xii
http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/archive.htm
xiii
http://www.zonalatina.com/index.htm
xiv
http://www.zonalatina.com/Zldata72.htm