Digital Communication

Module 2
 Syllabus
• Waveform coding: quantization, PCM, DPCM, Delta modulation, Adaptive delta modulation- Design of typical systems and
performance analysis. Pulse Shaping, Nyquist criterion for zero ISI, Signalling with duobinary pulses, Eye diagram, Equalizer,
Scrambling and descrambling.
Pulse Code Modulation
Pulse Code Modulation
 Quantization
• Quantization output is discrete in both time and amplitude.

• The quality of a Quantizer output depends upon the number of quantization levels
used.

• The discrete amplitudes of the quantized output are called as representation

levels or reconstruction levels.

• The spacing between the two adjacent representation levels is called

a quantum or step-size.
Quantization
Types of Quantizer
Uniform and Non-Uniform Quantizer
Non-Uniform Quantizer
• Nonuniform quantization is equivalent to passing the baseband signal
through a compressor and then applying the compressed signal to a
uniform quantizer.
 μ - Law Compression

m and v are the normalized input and output voltages, and μ is a positive constant

Quantum steps, the derivative of |m| with respect of |v|,

μ-law is neither strictly linear not strictly logarithmic, but it is

approximately linear at low input levels corresponding to μ|m|
<< 1 and approximately logarithmic at high input levels
corresponding to μ|m| >> 1
 A - Law Compression

m and v are the normalized input and output voltages, and A is a positive constant

Quantum steps, the derivative of |m| with respect of |v|,

 Compander
• Expander:
• Device used in the receiver with a characteristic complementary to the compressor.

• Restores the compressed signal samples to their correct relative level.

• Compander:
• Ideally, the compression and expansion laws are exactly inverse.

• The expander output is equal to the compressor input.

• The combination of a compressor and an expander is called a compander.

 Quantization Noise
• Quantization introduces an error defined as the difference between the amplitude of the input
signal (m) and the output signal (v).
• This error is called quantization noise.
SNR
Encoding
Regeneration
• The equalizer shapes the received pulses so as to compensate for
the effects of amplitude and phase distortions produced by the
nonideal transmission characteristics of the channel.
• The timing circuitry provides a periodic pulse train, derived from the
received pulses, for sampling the equalized pulses at the instants of
time where the signal-to-noise ratio is a maximum.
• Each sample so extracted is compared to a predetermined threshold
in the decision-making device.
• In each bit interval, a decision is then made whether the received
symbol is a 1 or a 0 on the basis of whether the threshold is
exceeded or not.
• If the threshold is exceeded, a clean new pulse representing symbol
1 is transmitted to the next repeater. Otherwise, another clean new
pulse representing symbol 0 is transmitted.
 Regeneration
Reasons for performance degradation in regenerative repeater:
• The unavoidable presence of channel noise and interference causes the repeater to make
wrong decisions occasionally, thereby introducing bit errors into the regenerated signal.

• If the spacing between received pulses deviates from its assigned value, a jitter is
introduced into the regenerated pulse position, thereby causing distortion.
 Decoder
• The first operation in the receiver is to regenerate (i.e., reshape and clean up) the received pulses one
last time.
• These clean pulses are then regrouped into code words and decoded (i.e., mapped back) into a
quantized PAM signal.
• The decoding process involves generating a pulse the amplitude of which is the linear sum of all the
pulses in the code word, with each pulse being weighted by its place value (20,21, 22, ... 2R-1) in the code,
where R is the number of bits per sample.
 Reconstruction Filter
• The final operation in the receiver is to recover the message signal by passing the
decoder output through a low-pass reconstruction filter whose cutoff frequency is
equal to the message bandwidth W.

• Assuming that the transmission path is error free, the recovered signal includes no
noise except that introduced by quantization noise.
 Noise Considerations in PCM
The performance of a PCM system is influenced by two major sources of noise:
• Channel noise, which is introduced anywhere between the transmitter output and the
receiver input. Channel noise is always present, once the equipment is switched on.

• Quantization noise, which is introduced in the transmitter and is carried all the way
along to the receiver output. Unlike channel noise, quantization noise is signal
dependent and it disappears when the message signal is switched off.
 Advantages of PCM
• Robustness to channel noise and interference.

• Efficient regeneration of the coded signal along the transmission path.

• Efficient exchange of increased channel bandwidth for improved signal-to-noise ratio, obeying an
exponential law.

• A uniform format for the transmission of different kinds of baseband signals, hence their
integration with other forms of digital data in a common network.

• Comparative ease with which message sources may be dropped or reinserted in a time-division
multiplex system.

• Secure communication through the use of special modulation schemes or encryption; the
encryption and decryption of data
Differential PCM
 Delta Modulation
• Simplest form of differential pulse-code modulation (DPCM).

• In delta modulation, the transmitted data are reduced to a 1-bit data

stream representing either up ( ) or down ( ).

• Provides staircase approximation to the oversampled version of the

message signal.

• The difference between the input and the approximation is quantized into
two levels ±Δ corresponding to positive and negative differences.
Delta Modulation
Delta Modulation
Delta Modulation
Noise in Delta Modulation
DM Transmitter & Receiver
Noise in Delta Modulation
 Limitations of Delta Modulation
• If successive errors are of opposite polarity, then the delta modulator is operating in its
granular mode; in this case, it may be advantageous to reduce the step size.

• If successive errors are of the same polarity, then the delta modulator is operating in its
slope-overload mode; in this second case, the step size should be increased.
 Adaptive Delta Modulation
By varying the step-size in accordance with the message, the delta modulator is
enabled to cope with changes in the input signal
Adaptive Delta Modulation
Adaptive Delta Modulation
Adaptive Delta Modulation
 Baseband Transmission System
• Consider then a baseband binary PAM system
Detection of Digital Signals
 Inter Symbol Interference (ISI)
• Bit errors that arise in baseband pulse transmission system when the
communication channel is dispersive.
 Inter Symbol Interference (ISI)
• Bit errors that arise in baseband pulse transmission system when the
communication channel is dispersive.
Matched Filter
Matched Filter
Matched Filter
Matched Filter
Matched Filter
Error Rate due to Noise in Matched Filter
 Error Rate due to Noise in Matched Filter
Two possible kinds of error:

• Symbol 1 is chosen when a 0 was actually transmitted

• Symbol 0 is chosen when a 1 was actually transmitted

Average probability of symbol error:

erfc is the complementary
error function defined by

A – Transmitted pulse amplitude

Tb – Bit duration

N0/2 – Power spectral density of white noise

Transmitted signal energy per bit is defined by

 Error Rate due to Noise in Matched Filter
• Average probability of the symbol error for the receiver is

The average probability of symbol error in a binary symmetric channel depends solely on the ratio of the
transmitted signal energy per bit to the noise spectral density.
 Properties of Matched Filter
• Property 1: The peak pulse signal to noise ratio of a matched filter
depends only on the ratio of the signal energy to the power spectral
density of the white noise at the filter input.

𝐸𝑏 2𝐸𝑏
𝑆𝑁𝑅𝑚𝑎𝑥 = =
𝑁𝑂 Τ2 𝑁𝑂
 Properties of Matched Filter
• Property 2: The maximum signal component at the sampling instant
t=T has a magnitude E i.e. energy of the signal.

• Property 3: The output signal of a matched filter is proportional to

the shifted version of the auto correlation function of the input signal
to which the filter is matched.
 Inter Symbol Interference (ISI)
• Bit errors that arise in baseband pulse transmission system when the
communication channel is dispersive.
 Inter Symbol Interference (ISI)
• Bit errors that arise in baseband pulse transmission system when the
communication channel is dispersive.
 Inter Symbol Interference (ISI)
• Consider then a baseband binary PAM system
 Inter Symbol Interference (ISI)
• The sequence of short pulses so produced is applied to a transmit filter of impulse
response g(t), producing the transmitted signal

• The signal s(t) is modified as a result of transmission through the channel of impulse
response h(t).

• The receive filter output is written as

where μ is a scaling factor, and the pulse p(t) is to be defined.

 Inter Symbol Interference (ISI)
• The scaled pulse up(t) is obtained by a double convolution involving the impulse
response g(t) of the transmit filter, the impulse response h(t) of the channel, and the
impulse response c(t) of the receive filter.
 Inter Symbol Interference (ISI)
• Receive filter output y(t) is sampled at time t is given as

• The first term μai, represents the contribution of the ith transmitted bit.

• The second term represents the residual effect of all other transmitted bits on the decoding of the ith bit;

• This residual effect due to the occurrence of pulses before and after the sampling instant t, is called
intersymbol interference (ISI).

• The last term n(t) represents the noise sample at time t,. In the absence of both ISI and noise, we observe
from Equation (4.48) that
 Inter Symbol Interference (ISI)
• In the absence of both ISI and noise

• Under these ideal conditions, the ith transmitted bit is decoded correctly.

• The unavoidable presence of ISI and noise in the system, however,

introduces errors in the decision device at the receiver output.

• When the signal-to-noise ratio is high, as is the case in a telephone system,

for ex- ample, the operation of the system is largely limited by ISI rather
than noise;
 Nyquist Criterion for Distortionless Baseband Binary
Transmission
• Objective of the Receiver: To determine the frequency responses of the transmit and
receive filters so as to reconstruct the original binary data sequence {bk}.

• This is done by extracting and then decoding the corresponding sequence of coefficients
{ak} from the output y(t) at time iTb.

• The decoding requires that the weighted pulse contribution akp(iTb – kTb) for k = i to be
free from ISI due to the overlapping tails of all other weighted contributions represented
by k ≠ i.
Nyquist Criterion for Distortionless Baseband Binary
Transmission
Nyquist Criterion for Distortionless Baseband Binary
Transmission
Sampling in time domain produces periodicity in frequency domain.
 Nyquist Criterion for Distortionless Baseband Binary
Transmission
Using sifting property of delta function and p(0) = 1, condition for zero ISI is satisfied if

• Nyquist criterion for distortionless baseband transmission in the absence of noise:

The frequency function P(f) eliminates intersymbol interference for samples taken at
intervals Tb provided that it satisfies above equation.
• P(f) refers to the overall system incorporating transmit filter, channel and receive filter.
 Ideal Nyquist Channel
• The simplest way of satisfying the condition for zero ISI is to specify the frequency function
P(f) to be in the form of a rectangular function

• Overall system bandwidth is given by

• No frequencies of absolute value exceeding half the bit rate are needed

• Hence signal waveform that produces zero intersymbol interference is defined by the sinc
function:
 Ideal Nyquist Channel
• Hence signal waveform that produces zero intersymbol interference is defined by the sinc
function:

• The special value of the bit rate Rb = 2W is called the Nyquist rate,

W is itself called the Nyquist bandwidth.

• Ideal Nyquist channel:

Frequency Domain: Time Domain:
Ideal Nyquist Channel
Practical Difficulties with Ideal Nyquist Channel
Practical Difficulties with Ideal Nyquist Channel
Raised Cosine Spectrum
Raised Cosine Spectrum
Raised Cosine Spectrum
 Duobinary Signaling
• Also called as correlative level coding, partial response signalling.

• Introduces some controlled amount of ISI into the data stream.

• Practical method of achieving the theoretical maximum signalling rate

of 2W symbols per second
Duobinary Signaling
 Duobinary Signaling
• Before being shaped by the ideal filter, the pulses pass through a simple digital filter.
• The digital filter incorporates a one-digit delay; to each incoming pulse, the filter adds the value of the
previous pulse.
• For every pulse into the digital filter, we get the summation of two pulses out. Each pulse of the sequence
{yk} out of the digital filter can be expressed as

yk = xk +xk-1
• Each yk digit carries with it the memory of the prior digit.
• The ISI introduced to each yk digit comes only from the preceding X-1 digit.
• This correlation between the pulse amplitudes of {yk} can be thought of as the controlled ISI introduced by
the duobinary coding.
• The {yk} sequence is followed by the ideal Nyquist filter that does not introduce any ISI
 Duobinary Signaling
• The decision rule simply implements the subtraction of each 1 decision from each 𝑥ො𝑘−1 .
• One drawback of this detection technique is that once an error is made, it tends to
propagate, causing further errors, since present decisions depend on prior decisions.
• A means of avoiding this error propagation is known as precoding.
Duobinary Signaling
Pre coded Duobinary Signaling
 Pre coded Duobinary Signaling
• Precoding is accomplished by first differentially encoding the {xk} binary sequence
into a new {wk} binary sequence by means of the equation:

• Symbol represents modulo-2 addition.

• The {wk} binary sequence is then converted to a bipolar pulse sequence
• With precoding, the detection process is quite different from the detection of
ordinary duobinary.
• The modulo-2 addition producing the precoded {wk} sequence is performed on the
binary digits, while the digital filtering producing the {yk} sequence is performed on
the bipolar pulses.
 Pre coded Duobinary Signaling
• The differential precoding enables us to decode the {𝑦ො𝑘 } sequence by making a decision
on each received sample singly, without resorting to prior decisions that could be in error.
• The major advantage is that in the event of a digit error due to noise, such an error does
not propagate to other digits.
• The first bit in the differentially precoded binary sequence {wk} is an arbitrary choice.
• If the startup bit in {wk} had been chosen to be a binary one instead of a binary zero, the
decoded result would have been the same.
Pre coded Duobinary Signaling
 Duobinary Equivalent Transfer Function
• Frequency response of input digital filter:
Duobinary Equivalent Transfer Function
Equalizer
Operation of an Equalizer
 Operation of an Equalizer
• Two Modes of Operation:
• Training Mode

• Decision Directed Mode

Decision Feedback Equalizer
Transversal Equalizer
Adaptive Equalizer
 Eye Pattern
• An experimental tool for evaluating ISI

• Synchronized superposition of all possible realizations of the signal of interest (e.g.,

received signal, receiver output) viewed within a particular signaling interval.

• It resembles the human eye for binary waves.

Eye Pattern
 Eye Pattern
• The width of the eye opening defines the time interval over which the received
signal can be sampled without error from ISI.

• It is apparent that the preferred time for sampling is the instant of time at which the
eye is open the widest.

• The sensitivity of the system to timing errors is determined by the rate of closure of
the eye as the sampling time is varied.

• The height of the eye opening, at a specified sampling time, defines the noise margin
of the system.