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Modulation

FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Inelectronicsandtelecommunications,modulationistheprocessofvaryingoneormorepropertiesofa
periodicwaveform,calledthecarriersignal,withamodulatingsignalthattypicallycontainsinformationto
betransmitted.Mostradiosystemsinthe20thcenturyusedfrequencymodulation(FM)oramplitude
modulation(AM)tomakethecarriercarrytheradiobroadcast.

Ingeneraltelecommunications,modulationistheprocessofconveyingamessagesignal,forexamplea
digitalbitstreamorananalogaudiosignal,insideanothersignalthatcanbephysicallytransmitted.
Modulationofasinewaveformtransformsanarrowfrequencyrangebasebandmessagesignalintoa
passbandsignal,onethatcanpassthroughafilter.

Amodulatorisadevicethatperformsmodulation.Ademodulator(sometimesdetectorordemod)isa
devicethatperformsdemodulation,theinverseofmodulation.Amodem(frommodulatordemodulator)
canperformbothoperations.

Theaimofanalogmodulationistotransferananalogbaseband(orlowpass)signal,forexampleanaudio
signalorTVsignal,overananalogbandpasschannelatadifferentfrequency,forexampleoveralimited
radiofrequencybandoracableTVnetworkchannel.

Theaimofdigitalmodulationistotransferadigitalbitstreamoverananalogbandpasschannel,for
exampleoverthepublicswitchedtelephonenetwork(whereabandpassfilterlimitsthefrequencyrangeto
3003400Hz)oroveralimitedradiofrequencyband.

Analoganddigitalmodulationfacilitatefrequencydivisionmultiplexing(FDM),whereseverallowpass
informationsignalsaretransferredsimultaneouslyoverthesamesharedphysicalmedium,usingseparate
passbandchannels(severaldifferentcarrierfrequencies).

Theaimofdigitalbasebandmodulationmethods,alsoknownaslinecoding,istotransferadigitalbit
streamoverabasebandchannel,typicallyanonfilteredcopperwiresuchasaserialbusorawiredlocal
areanetwork.

Theaimofpulsemodulationmethodsistotransferanarrowbandanalogsignal,forexampleaphonecall
overawidebandbasebandchannelor,insomeoftheschemes,asabitstreamoveranotherdigital
transmissionsystem.

Inmusicsynthesizers,modulationmaybeusedtosynthesisewaveformswithanextensiveovertone
spectrumusingasmallnumberofoscillators.Inthiscasethecarrierfrequencyistypicallyinthesame
orderormuchlowerthanthemodulatingwaveform(seefrequencymodulationsynthesisorring
modulationsynthesis).

Contents

1 Analogmodulationmethods
1.1 Listofanalogmodulationtechniques

2 Digitalmodulationmethods

2.1 Fundamentaldigitalmodulationmethods

2.2 Modulatoranddetectorprinciplesofoperation

2.3 Listofcommondigitalmodulationtechniques

2.4 Automaticdigitalmodulationrecognition(ADMR)

2.5 Digitalbasebandmodulationorlinecoding

3 Pulsemodulationmethods

4 Miscellaneousmodulationtechniques

5 Furtherreading

6 Seealso

7 References

8 Externallinks

Analogmodulationmethods
Inanalogmodulation,themodulationisappliedcontinuouslyin
responsetotheanaloginformationsignal.

Listofanalogmodulationtechniques

Commonanalogmodulationtechniquesare:

Amplitudemodulation(AM)(heretheamplitudeofthecarrier
signalisvariedinaccordancetotheinstantaneousamplitudeof
themodulatingsignal) Alowfrequencymessagesignal
Doublesidebandmodulation(DSB) (top)maybecarriedbyanAMor
Doublesidebandmodulationwithcarrier(DSB FMradiowave.
WC)(usedontheAMradiobroadcastingband)
Doublesidebandsuppressedcarriertransmission
(DSBSC)
Doublesidebandreducedcarriertransmission(DSBRC)
Singlesidebandmodulation(SSB,orSSBAM)
Singlesidebandmodulationwithcarrier(SSBWC)
Singlesidebandmodulationsuppressedcarriermodulation(SSBSC)
Vestigialsidebandmodulation(VSB,orVSBAM)
Quadratureamplitudemodulation(QAM)
Anglemodulation,whichisapproximatelyconstantenvelope
Frequencymodulation(FM)(herethefrequencyofthecarriersignalisvariedinaccordanceto
theinstantaneousamplitudeofthemodulatingsignal)
Phasemodulation(PM)(herethephaseshiftofthecarriersignalisvariedinaccordancewith
theinstantaneousamplitudeofthemodulatingsignal)
TranspositionalModulation(TM),inwhichthewaveforminflectionismodifiedresultingina
signalwhereeachquartercycleistransposedinthemodulationprocess.TMisapesudoanalog
modulation(AM).WhereanAMcarrieralsocarriesaphasevariablephasef().TMis
f(AM,)

Digitalmodulationmethods
Indigitalmodulation,ananalogcarriersignalismodulatedbyadiscretesignal.Digitalmodulation
methodscanbeconsideredasdigitaltoanalogconversion,andthecorrespondingdemodulationor
detectionasanalogtodigitalconversion.Thechangesinthecarriersignalarechosenfromafinitenumber
ofMalternativesymbols(themodulationalphabet).

Asimpleexample:Atelephonelineisdesignedfor
transferringaudiblesounds,forexampletones,andnot
digitalbits(zerosandones).Computersmayhowever
communicateoveratelephonelinebymeansofmodems,
whicharerepresentingthedigitalbitsbytones,called
symbols.Iftherearefouralternativesymbols
(correspondingtoamusicalinstrumentthatcangenerate
fourdifferenttones,oneatatime),thefirstsymbolmay
representthebitsequence00,thesecond01,thethird10 Schematicof4baud(8bit/s)data
andthefourth11.Ifthemodemplaysamelodyconsisting linkcontainingarbitrarilychosen
of1000tonespersecond,thesymbolrateis1000 values.
symbols/second,orbaud.Sinceeachtone(i.e.,symbol)
representsamessageconsistingoftwodigitalbitsinthis
example,thebitrateistwicethesymbolrate,i.e.2000bits
persecond.Thisissimilartothetechniqueusedbydialup
modemsasopposedtoDSLmodems.

Accordingtoonedefinitionofdigitalsignal,themodulatedsignalisadigitalsignal.Accordingtoanother
definition,themodulationisaformofdigitaltoanalogconversion.Mosttextbookswouldconsiderdigital
modulationschemesasaformofdigitaltransmission,synonymoustodatatransmissionveryfewwould
consideritasanalogtransmission.

Fundamentaldigitalmodulationmethods

Themostfundamentaldigitalmodulationtechniquesarebasedonkeying:

PSK(phaseshiftkeying):afinitenumberofphasesareused.
FSK(frequencyshiftkeying):afinitenumberoffrequenciesareused.
ASK(amplitudeshiftkeying):afinitenumberofamplitudesareused.
QAM(quadratureamplitudemodulation):afinitenumberofatleasttwophasesandatleasttwo
amplitudesareused.

InQAM,aninphasesignal(orI,withoneexamplebeingacosinewaveform)andaquadraturephasesignal
(orQ,withanexamplebeingasinewave)areamplitudemodulatedwithafinitenumberofamplitudes,and
thensummed.Itcanbeseenasatwochannelsystem,eachchannelusingASK.Theresultingsignalis
equivalenttoacombinationofPSKandASK.

Inalloftheabovemethods,eachofthesephases,frequenciesoramplitudesareassignedauniquepattern
ofbinarybits.Usually,eachphase,frequencyoramplitudeencodesanequalnumberofbits.Thisnumber
ofbitscomprisesthesymbolthatisrepresentedbytheparticularphase,frequencyoramplitude.

Ifthealphabetconsistsof alternativesymbols,eachsymbolrepresentsamessageconsistingofN
bits.Ifthesymbolrate(alsoknownasthebaudrate)is symbols/second(orbaud),thedatarateis
bit/second.

Forexample,withanalphabetconsistingof16alternativesymbols,eachsymbolrepresents4bits.Thus,
thedatarateisfourtimesthebaudrate.

InthecaseofPSK,ASKorQAM,wherethecarrierfrequencyofthemodulatedsignalisconstant,the
modulationalphabetisoftenconvenientlyrepresentedonaconstellationdiagram,showingtheamplitudeof
theIsignalatthexaxis,andtheamplitudeoftheQsignalattheyaxis,foreachsymbol.

Modulatoranddetectorprinciplesofoperation

PSKandASK,andsometimesalsoFSK,areoftengeneratedanddetectedusingtheprincipleofQAM.The
IandQsignalscanbecombinedintoacomplexvaluedsignalI+jQ(wherejistheimaginaryunit).The
resultingsocalledequivalentlowpasssignalorequivalentbasebandsignalisacomplexvalued
representationoftherealvaluedmodulatedphysicalsignal(thesocalledpassbandsignalorRFsignal).

Thesearethegeneralstepsusedbythemodulatortotransmitdata:

1. Grouptheincomingdatabitsintocodewords,oneforeachsymbolthatwillbetransmitted.
2. Mapthecodewordstoattributes,forexampleamplitudesoftheIandQsignals(theequivalentlow
passsignal),orfrequencyorphasevalues.
3. Adaptpulseshapingorsomeotherfilteringtolimitthebandwidthandformthespectrumofthe
equivalentlowpasssignal,typicallyusingdigitalsignalprocessing.
4. Performdigitaltoanalogconversion(DAC)oftheIandQsignals(sincetodayalloftheaboveis
normallyachievedusingdigitalsignalprocessing,DSP).
5. Generateahighfrequencysinecarrierwaveform,andperhapsalsoacosinequadraturecomponent.
Carryoutthemodulation,forexamplebymultiplyingthesineandcosinewaveformwiththeIandQ
signals,resultingintheequivalentlowpasssignalbeingfrequencyshiftedtothemodulatedpassband
signalorRFsignal.SometimesthisisachievedusingDSPtechnology,forexampledirectdigital
synthesisusingawaveformtable,insteadofanalogsignalprocessing.InthatcasetheaboveDAC
stepshouldbedoneafterthisstep.
6. Amplificationandanalogbandpassfilteringtoavoidharmonicdistortionandperiodicspectrum.

Atthereceiverside,thedemodulatortypicallyperforms:
1. Bandpassfiltering.
2. Automaticgaincontrol,AGC(tocompensateforattenuation,forexamplefading).
3. FrequencyshiftingoftheRFsignaltotheequivalentbasebandIandQsignals,ortoanintermediate
frequency(IF)signal,bymultiplyingtheRFsignalwithalocaloscillatorsinewaveandcosinewave
frequency(seethesuperheterodynereceiverprinciple).
4. Samplingandanalogtodigitalconversion(ADC)(sometimesbeforeorinsteadoftheabovepoint,
forexamplebymeansofundersampling).
5. Equalizationfiltering,forexampleamatchedfilter,compensationformultipathpropagation,time
spreading,phasedistortionandfrequencyselectivefading,toavoidintersymbolinterferenceand
symboldistortion.
6. DetectionoftheamplitudesoftheIandQsignals,orthefrequencyorphaseoftheIFsignal.
7. Quantizationoftheamplitudes,frequenciesorphasestothenearestallowedsymbolvalues.
8. Mappingofthequantizedamplitudes,frequenciesorphasestocodewords(bitgroups).
9. Paralleltoserialconversionofthecodewordsintoabitstream.
10. Passtheresultantbitstreamonforfurtherprocessingsuchasremovalofanyerrorcorrectingcodes.

Asiscommontoalldigitalcommunicationsystems,thedesignofboththemodulatoranddemodulator
mustbedonesimultaneously.Digitalmodulationschemesarepossiblebecausethetransmitterreceiverpair
havepriorknowledgeofhowdataisencodedandrepresentedinthecommunicationssystem.Inalldigital
communicationsystems,boththemodulatoratthetransmitterandthedemodulatoratthereceiverare
structuredsothattheyperforminverseoperations.

Noncoherentmodulationmethodsdonotrequireareceiverreferenceclocksignalthatisphase
synchronizedwiththesendercarriersignal.Inthiscase,modulationsymbols(ratherthanbits,characters,or
datapackets)areasynchronouslytransferred.Theoppositeiscoherentmodulation.

Listofcommondigitalmodulationtechniques

Themostcommondigitalmodulationtechniquesare:

Phaseshiftkeying(PSK)
BinaryPSK(BPSK),usingM=2symbols
QuadraturePSK(QPSK),usingM=4symbols
8PSK,usingM=8symbols
16PSK,usingM=16symbols
DifferentialPSK(DPSK)
DifferentialQPSK(DQPSK)
OffsetQPSK(OQPSK)
/4QPSK
Frequencyshiftkeying(FSK)
Audiofrequencyshiftkeying(AFSK)
Multifrequencyshiftkeying(MaryFSKorMFSK)
Dualtonemultifrequency(DTMF)
Amplitudeshiftkeying(ASK)
Onoffkeying(OOK),themostcommonASKform
Maryvestigialsidebandmodulation,forexample8VSB
Quadratureamplitudemodulation(QAM),acombinationofPSKandASK
PolarmodulationlikeQAMacombinationofPSKandASK
Continuousphasemodulation(CPM)methods
Minimumshiftkeying(MSK)

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