CT 214: Analog and Digital Communications

FM Differential Equation
(Date: April 15, 2011)

Let the carrier frequency be ωc . Then the frequency modulation of the message signal fm (t) is
given as

ω = ωc + Kf fm (t) (1)
= ωc + Kf Em cos(ωm t) (with fm (t) = Em cos(ωm t)) . (2)

The resultant phase

Z t Z t
φ(t) = ωdt = ωc t + Kf fm (t)dt (3)
Kf Em
= ωc t + sin(ωm t) (with fm (t) = Em cos(ωm t)) (4)
ωm
| {z }
=δ
= ωc t + δ sin(ωm t) (5)
dφ
where δ denotes the frequency deviation ratio. Equations (3) - (5) follow because ω = dt .
Thus the FM signal ec (t) in general is given by
 Z t 
ec (t) = Ec cos ωc t + Kf fm (t)dt

= Ec cos (ωc t + δ sin(ωm t)) (with fm (t) = Em cos(ωm t)) (6)

We need to know the differential equation of which (6) is the solution. For convenience assume Ec = 1.
 Z t 
dec (t)
= − sin ωc t + Kf fm (t)dt (ωc + Kf fm (t))
dt | {z }
=ω
 Z t 
= −ω sin ωc t + Kf fm (t)dt (7)

Differentiating (7) again we obtain

 Z t   Z t 
d2 ec (t) 2 dω
= −ω cos ω c t + K f f m (t)dt − sin ω c t + K f f m (t)
dt2 dt
| {z }
dec (t) 1 dt
=−
dt ω

dω dec (t) 1
= −ω 2 ec (t) + (8)
dt dt ω

1
 L0
C0
C(t)=C0 + αfm (t)

Figure 1: The figure above shows an LC circuit. The capacitance component in the LC circuit is
variable. The equivalent capacitance in the LC circuit is C0 + C(t).

Note: Henceforth the time derivative of a function (say) f (t) is denoted as f˙(t). Using this notation
we can write (8) as

ω̇ e¨c (t)
ec (t) − e˙c (t) + 2 = 0 . (9)
ω3 ω
The (9) is the FM differential equation. We can approximate (9) by ignoring the middle term. The
approximate FM differential equation is

e¨c (t)
ec (t) + = 0
ω2
( =⇒ ) e¨c (t) = −ω 2 ec (t) (10)

The rationale for approximation in (10) is as follows: Consider

ec (t) = cos (ωc t + δ sin(ωm t))

e˙c (t) = −ω sin (ωc t + δ sin(ωm t)) (11)
ω̇ = −Kf Em ωm sin(ωm t) (12)

Note that the maximum value of e˙c (t) is ω and the maximum value of ω̇ is ∆ωωm , where ∆ω , Kf Em .
Therefore the term ω̇eω˙c3(t) roughly scales as ∆ωω
ω2
m
(at max.), which is very negligible for all the
practical cases of interest. For example ω = 2π × 100 × 106 (since fc for FM is of several hundred MHz)
and ∆ω = 2π ×75×103 (since usually ωc >> δω) and ωm = 2π ×6×103. Therefore, ∆ω ω 2 ≈ 450×10
−10
.
Hence we can safely ignore the middle term in (9).
The (10) refers to the differential equation of a general LC circuit shown in Fig. 1 The frequency

2
of oscillation of the LC circuit in Fig. 1 is
1
ω = p
L0 (C0 + C(t))
1
= p
L0 (C0 + C 0 + αfm (t))
1
= v
p u α
L0 (C0 + C 0 )u1 + fm (t)
t C + C0
| 0 {z }
=x
ω0
= √ , (13)
1+x
1
where ω0 = √ .
L0 (C0 +C 0 )
1
Expanding the term √ in (13) using MacLaurin series and retaining the first two terms we
(1+x)
obtain  
α
ω = ω0 1 − f m (t) , (14)
2(C0 + C 0 )
which is frequency modulation.
1
Note: (1 + x)− 2 = 1 − x2 + 83 x2 − · · · · · · .
Thus, in principle by varying the capacitance of an LC circuit we can indeed generate an FM signal.

References
[1]. D. T. Hess, “FM Differential Equation”, Proceedings of IEEE, pp. 1089, vol. 4, no. 8, August
1966.