Radio Theory FM Part 1

1
AVAV 3106
Frequency Modulation
Part 1
2
Objectives:
➢ Introduction to FM
➢ Introduction to PM
➢ Modulation index & sidebands
➢ Bandwidth in FM
➢ Benefits of FM
➢ Pre-emphasis & de-emphasis
3
Reference
➢ Frenzel chapter 4
4
Frequency Modulation
➢ Carrier amplitude remains constant
➢ Carrier frequency is changed by the

modulating signal
5
Signal analysis
6
Signal analysis
7
Frequency Deviation
➢ The amount of change in carrier frequency
produced by the modulating signal
➢ Maximum frequency deviation occurs at the

maximum amplitude of the modulating signal
8
Deviation rate
➢ Frequency of the modulating signal determines how
many times per second the carrier frequency varies
above & below its normal center frequency
➢ eg. If the modulating signal is 100 Hz :

▪ The carrier frequency will shift above & below it’s
center point 100 times in a second
Carrier Modulating signal
Resting fc
FM
Increasing fc
Decreasing fc
Increasing fc
Resting fc
10
Calculating frequency deviation

➢ Carrier frequency 50 MHz
➢ Peak amplitude of modulating signal causes

200 kHz carrier frequency shift
11
Important point
➢ Frequency deviation is
caused by modulating signal
AMPLITUDE
➢ Rate of frequency deviation

(variations per second) is
caused by modulating signal
FREQUENCY
12
Common FM applications
➢ FM radio broadcasting
➢ TV sound broadcasting
➢ Two-way mobile radio
▪ Police, fire, public service
▪ Marine
▪ Amateur radio
▪ Family radio
➢ Cellular telephone
➢ Digital data transmission
13
FM info
➢ FM frequencies: 88-108Mhz
➢ Total bandwidth of FM station is 200Khz
➢ This includes a guard band of 50Khz
Image source: https://www.fmuser.net/content/?2352.html

14
Sidebands
➢ All modulation produces side frequencies
➢ FM & PM also produce sidebands, but more

of them than AM (theoretically an infinite
number)
➢ This results in a very wide bandwidth

15
Spectrum Analyser view of FM

16
Amplitude of sidebands
▪ Amplitudes of the sidebands vary
17
Amplitude of sidebands
18
Modulation index (m)

➢ Ratio of frequency deviation to modulating
frequency
m = fd
fm
19
Number of significant sidebands

➢ If the modulating index is known, the number of
sidebands & their amplitude can be calculated
Bessel Function Table
Mod. Sidebands (Pairs)
Carrier
Index 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th
0.00 1.00
0.25 0.98 0.12
0.50 0.94 0.24 0.03
1.00 0.77 0.44 0.11 0.02
1.50 0.51 0.56 0.23 0.06 0.01
2.00 0.22 0.58 0.35 0.13 0.03
2.50 -0.05 0.50 0.45 0.22 0.07 0.02
3.00 -0.26 0.34 0.49 0.31 0.13 0.04 0.01
4.00 -0.40 -0.07 0.36 0.43 0.28 0.13 0.05 0.02
5.00 -0.18 -0.33 0.05 0.36 0.39 0.26 0.13 0.05 0.02
6.00 0.15 -0.28-0.24 0.11 0.36 0.36 0.25 0.13 0.06 0.02
7.00 0.30 0.00-0.30-0.17 0.16 0.35 0.34 0.23 0.13 0.06 0.02
8.00 0.17 0.23-0.11-0.29-0.10 0.19 0.34 0.32 0.22 0.13 0.06 0.03
21
Calculating bandwidth
➢ BW = 2Nfm max
➢ N = the number of sidebands
▪ found on the Bessel function table
➢ But wait! There’s a better way!
➢ Carson’s rule:
Only consider sidebands whose amplitude is greater
than 2% of the carrier (values on Bessel chart greater
than 0.02)
➢ BW = 2 (fd max + fm max)

22
Distortion & number of sidebands
➢Increasing amplitude or frequency of the

modulating signal will NOT cause
“overmodulation” distortion like in AM
➢It simply produces more sidebands & a wider

bandwidth which usually is limited
23
Percent of modulation
➢ FM % mod = actual carrier dev x 100
max allowed carrier dev
➢ Must not exceed 100% modulation or

bandwidth will be excessive & sidebands will
run into adjacent channels causing interference
24
FM vs AM
➢ FM is considered superior
➢ Benefits over AM
▪ Better noise immunity
▪ Capture effect rejects interfering signals
▪ Better transmitter efficiency
➢ Disadvantage
▪ Excessive use of spectrum space
➢ To fix this in certain practices we reduce the
deviation ratio (aka Modulation index) & created
“NBFM”
25
Phase modulation
➢ By varying the amount of phase shift, information
can be impressed on a carrier
➢ Method called “phase modulation” (PM)
➢ Carrier deviation is proportional to the:

▪ Modulating frequency
▪ Modulating amplitude
Carrier Modulation
No change
Freq.
increase
No change
Freq. decrease
No change
Phase Modulation
Freq. increase
No change
27
Indirect FM
➢ As the carrier leads & lags it’s original position, it
looks as though the carrier frequency changed
➢ Since PM effectively produces FM, it is often

referred to as “indirect FM”
28
FM and PM compared
➢ With FM, the maximum carrier frequency deviation
occurs at the maximum modulating voltages.
Modulating
signal
➢ With PM, the maximum carrier frequency deviation occurs

at the maximum rate of change of the modulating signal.
29
Low pass filter

30
Noise immunity
➢ Interference generated by lightning, motors,
ignition systems & power line switching
➢ Typically narrow voltage spikes over broad

frequency causing amplitude variations
31
Capture effect
➢ When two or more FM signals are received
simultaneously, if one is more than twice as
strong as the other. The stronger signal will
“capture” the channel & completely eliminate the
other signal.
32
High frequency noise suppression
Noise is primarily sharp spikes of energy
It contains a high number of harmonics & other high frequency

components
These can be larger in amplitude than the modulating signal & may
cause distortion
A technique known as “pre-emphasis” is used to make the

modulating signal high frequency components stronger than noise
33
Pre-emphasis
34
De-emphasis
35
Transmission efficiency
➢ Most efficient amplifiers are class C
➢ AM uses linear amplifiers that are class A or B
➢ FM does not use linear amplifiers, but does use

some power amplifiers that are class C &
consequently is more efficient
36
Questions
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1

➢ Carrier frequency is changed by the

➢ Maximum frequency deviation occurs at the

➢ eg. If the modulating signal is 100 Hz :

Calculating frequency deviation

➢ Peak amplitude of modulating signal causes

➢ Rate of frequency deviation

Image source: https://www.fmuser.net/content/?2352.html

➢ FM & PM also produce sidebands, but more

➢ This results in a very wide bandwidth

Spectrum Analyser view of FM

Modulation index (m)

Number of significant sidebands

➢ But wait! There’s a better way!

➢ BW = 2 (fd max + fm max)

Distortion & number of sidebands

➢Increasing amplitude or frequency of the

➢It simply produces more sidebands & a wider

➢ Must not exceed 100% modulation or

➢ Method called “phase modulation” (PM)

➢ Carrier deviation is proportional to the:

➢ Since PM effectively produces FM, it is often

➢ With PM, the maximum carrier frequency deviation occurs

Low pass filter

➢ Typically narrow voltage spikes over broad

High frequency noise suppression

Noise is primarily sharp spikes of energy

It contains a high number of harmonics & other high frequency

A technique known as “pre-emphasis” is used to make the

➢ AM uses linear amplifiers that are class A or B

➢ FM does not use linear amplifiers, but does use

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