Pulse Modulation

• In Continuous Wave modulation (AM,FM,PM) some parameter of a sinusoidal

carrier wave is varied continuously in accordance with the message signal
• In pulse modulation, some parameter of a pulse train is varied in accordance with
the message signal
• Two families of pulse modulation
1) Analog pulse modulation: A periodic pulse train is used as the carrier wave and
some characteristic feature of each pulse (e.g., amplitude, duration or position)
is varied in a continuous manner in accordance with the corresponding sample
value of the message signal. Information is transmitted in an analog form, but
the transmission takes place at discrete times. They include PAM, PWM and
PPM
2) Digital Pulse modulation: message signal is represented in a form that is
discrete in both time and amplitude, therefore transmission is in digital form as
a sequence of coded pulses e.g. PCM
Pulse Width Modulation (PWM)
• As its name suggests this method of modulating the carrier signal
alters the width of the digital pulses in accordance with the
modulating signal. The width of the pulse is proportional to the
instantaneous amplitude of the modulating signal. For a positive
modulating signal the width of the pulse increases proportionally, and
for a negative modulating signal the width of the pulse decreases
proportionally. This is best illustrated by looking at an example
Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) cont …
Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) cont …
• Examination of the PWM signal (shown in green) should illustrate
how the original carrier (blue) has been altered by the modulating
signal. In this case when the modulating signal is positive, the width
of the un-modulated carrier increases in proportion, and when the
modulating signal is negative, the width of the un-modulated carrier
decreases in proportion.
PWM Example 1
• In the following example 3 possible answers are provided, A, B and C. Which one is the correct answer?
PWM Example cont…
• In the previous example, you will have hopefully decided that Output
signal B is consistent with the input signal as the pulse width
continuously increases in width as the signal increases.

• Example 2: In the following example 3 possible answers are provided,

A, B and C. Which one is the correct answer?
PWM Example cont…
PWM Example cont…
• In this example Modulating Signal C is the correct answer.
• Note: If you are asked to draw the modulating signal, you are only
required to give an indication of what the modulating signal is doing.
We will not be performing detailed calculations on the pulses and so
indicative graphs are all that is required. i.e. in example 2, the
following modulating signal would have been acceptable as a possible
answer
Issues with PWM
• During the last section we have looked at a very simplistic view of
Pulse Width Modulation.
• From an examination perspective, you will have to know what pulse
width modulation does to a series of carrier pulses, and apply the
rules given here consistently in order to obtain a correct
representation of the output graph. For example: one way of being
consistent is if the modulating signal is positive, then the pulse width
should be wider than the original pulse, and the greater the positive
voltage the wider the pulse should be. When the pulse is negative the
pulse should be narrower than the original and the more negative the
modulating signal becomes the narrower the output pulse should be.
• However it is important to realise that in practical applications there
are some issues we need to consider.
Issues with PWM cont …
i) When we have drawn our graph, we have drawn the output directly
underneath the modulating signal. This has sometimes meant that the
pulse width has to increase, and start before the sample of the
modulating signal was taken. Clearly this is impossible to achieve in
reality.
ii) In practical circuits an offset, typically half a cycle, is introduced
between the sampling of the modulating signal and the production of
the output signal.
iii) For examination purposes this leads to confusion about whether an
offset should be applied and where to place this offset. Therefore to
clear up any confusion for examination questions the graphs will
always be drawn in the same manner as the examples within these
notes.
Exercise 1
• Complete the following diagram to show the PWM modulated output
for the given modulating signal. The original carrier pulses are shown
dotted in bottom graph to help you complete the output.
Exercise 2
• Complete the following diagram to show the PWM modulated output for the
given modulating signal. The original carrier pulses are shown dotted in bottom
graph to help you complete the output
Exercise 3
• The following diagram shows an un-modulated carrier, and the modulated PWM
Output. Complete the lower graph to show the modulating signal
Pulse Position Modulation (PPM)
• In this variation of the modulation process, the modulating signal
alters the position of the pulse from its normal centre position. The
position of the pulse is proportional to the instantaneous amplitude
of the modulating signal. For a positive modulating signal the position
of the pulse moves ahead (to the right) proportionally, and for a
negative modulating signal the position of the pulse moves earlier (to
the left) proportionally. The width of the pulse however remains
unaltered. This is best illustrated by looking at an example.
Pulse Position Modulation (PPM) cont…
Pulse Position Modulation (PPM) cont…
• Examination of the PPM signal (shown in green) should illustrate how
the original carrier (blue) has been altered by the modulating signal.
In this case when the modulating signal is positive, the un-modulated
carrier pulse occurs before its normal position, and when the
modulating signal is negative, the un-modulated carrier pulse occurs
later than it would normally.
• The construction of PPM systems is complex
• Example 1: In the following example 3 possible answers are provided,
A, B and C. Which one is the correct answer?
PPM Example
PPM Example cont…
• In the previous example, you will have hopefully decided that Output
signal C is consistent with the input signal.

• Example 2: In the following example 3 possible answers are provided,

A, B and C. Which one is the correct answer?
PPM Example cont…
PPM Example cont…
• The correct answer for Example 2 is Modulation Signal B.
• As was the case with PWM, if you are asked to draw the modulating signal
without any indication of the exact shape of the graph, there are a number of
possibilities that can be accepted as being correct. Once again a consistent
approach is all that is required, so an alternative, but equally correct answer to
the previous example is as follows:
Issues with PPM
• During the last section we have looked at a very simplistic view of Pulse
Position Modulation.
• From an examination perspective, you will have to know what pulse
position modulation does to a series of carrier pulses, and apply the rules
given here consistently in order to obtain a correct representation of the
output graph. For example: one way of being consistent is if the
modulating signal is positive, then the pulse position should be after the
original pulse, and the greater the positive voltage the further the pulse
should be from its origin. When the pulse is negative the pulse should be
before the original and the more negative the modulating signal becomes
the earlier the output pulse should be.
• However it is important to realise that in practical applications there are
some issues we need to consider.
Issues with PPM cont…
i) As before when we have drawn our graph, we have drawn the output
directly underneath the modulating signal. This has sometimes meant that
the pulse position has to move before the original pulse took place, and start
before the sample of the modulating signal was taken. Clearly this is
impossible to achieve in reality.
ii) In practical circuits an offset, typically half a cycle, is introduced between
the sampling of the modulating signal and the production of the output
signal.
iii) For examination purposes this leads to confusion about whether an offset
should be applied and where to place this offset. Therefore to clear up any
confusion for examination questions the graphs will always be drawn in
the same manner as the examples within these notes.
Exercise 4
• Complete the following diagram to show the PPM modulated output for the given
modulating signal. The original carrier pulses are shown dotted in bottom graph
to help you complete the output.
Exercise 5
• Complete the following diagram to show the PPM modulated output for the given
modulating signal. The original carrier pulses are shown dotted in bottom graph
to help you complete the output.
Exercise 6
• The following diagram shows an un-modulated carrier, and the modulated PPM
Output. Complete the lower graph to show the modulating signal
Pulse Amplitude Modulation (PAM)
• In this variation of the modulation process the modulating signal
alters the amplitude of the pulse from its normal amplitude. The
amplitude of the pulse is proportional to the instantaneous amplitude
of the modulating signal. For a positive modulating signal the
amplitude of the pulse matches the instantaneous amplitude of the
information signal, and for a negative modulating signal the
modulated pulse also becomes negative, with an amplitude matching
that of the information signal. The width of the pulse however
remains unaltered. This is best illustrated by looking at an example
Pulse Amplitude Modulation (PAM) cont…
Pulse Amplitude Modulation (PAM) cont…

• Examination of the PAM signal (shown in green) should illustrate how the
original carrier (blue) has been altered by the modulating signal. In this
case when the modulating signal is positive, the un-modulated carrier
pulse takes the amplitude of the modulating signal, and when the
modulating signal is negative, the un-modulated carrier pulse takes a
negative value, again equal to the value of the modulating signal.
• Pulse Amplitude Modulation is by far the easier of the three
modulation techniques since the only thing that changes is the amplitude
of the carrier pulse train to match that of the modulating signal. This will
be very important when we look at Pulse Code Modulation (PCM) in more
detail
• Complete the following diagram to show the PAM modulated output for
the given modulating signal. The original carrier pulses are shown dotted in
bottom graph to help you complete the output.
Exercise 1
Exercise 2
• Complete the following diagram to show the PAM modulated output
for the given modulating signal. The original carrier pulses are shown
dotted
Exercise 3
• The following diagram shows an un-modulated carrier, and the modulated PAM
Output. Complete the lower graph to show the modulating signal
PULSE CODE MODULATION (PCM)
Pulse code modulation (PCM) is essentially analog-to-digital conversion of a
special type where the information contained in the instantaneous samples of an
analog signal is represented by digital words in a serial bit stream.

The advantages of PCM are:

• Relatively inexpensive digital circuitry may be used,
• PCM signals derived from all types of analog sources may be merged with data signals and
transmitted over a common high-speed digital communication system,
• In long-distance digital telephone systems requiring repeaters, a clean PCM waveform can be
regenerated at the output of each repeater, where the input consists of a noisy PCM
waveform,
• The noise performance of a digital system can be superior to that of an analog system,
• The probability of error for the system output can be reduced even further by the use of
appropriate coding techniques.
PCM Cont …
 The PCM signal is generated by carrying out three basic operations:
1. Sampling
2. Quantizing
3. Encoding
1. Sampling operation generates a PAM signal.
2. Quantizing operation approximates the analog values by using a finite number
of levels.
3. PCM signal is obtained from the quantized PAM signal by encoding each
quantized sample value into a digital word.
The above three steps describe the Analog to Digital conversion process
Analog to Digital Conversion
The Analog-to-digital Converter (ADC) performs three functions:
• Sampling
• Makes the signal discrete in time.
• If the analog input has a bandwidth of B Hz, then the minimum sample frequency such that the signal can be
reconstructed without distortion is 2B or more. (Nyquist Shannon Theorem)
• Quantization
• Makes the signal discrete in amplitude.
• Round off to one of q discrete levels.
• Encode
• Maps the quantized values to digital words that are  bits long.
• Nyquist-Shannon Theorem
ADC is governed by a very important law – the Nyquist-Shannon Theorem which states:
An analogue signal of bandwidth B can be completely recreated from its sampled form
provided its sampled at a rate equal to at least twice it bandwidth.
That is S >= 2 B where S is sampling rate. The Nyquist sampling rate = 2B
Example: a speech signal has an approximate bandwidth of 4KHz. If this is sampled by an
8-bit ADC at the Nyquist sampling, the bit rate R is
R= 8x 2 B=64000 b/s=64k b/s
If the (Nyquist) Sampling Theorem is satisfied, then only quantization introduces
distortion to the system.
ADC PROCESS
ADC PROCESS Cont…
ADC PROCESS Cont…
• Quantizing and Encoding
• Quantizing:
• Partitioning the reference signal range into a number of discrete
quanta, then matching the input signal to the correct quantum.
• • Encoding:
• Assigning a unique digital code to each quantum, then allocating the
digital code to the input signal
ADC PROCESS cont…