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EiT-M , School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Electronics and Communication Engineering Chair
Introduction to communication
systems, ECEg3152
By: Amanuel A.
Amanuel A. (M.Sc.)
1. Introduction
1.1. Introduction on Random Experiments

• Random experiment: its outcome, for some reason, cannot be
predicted with certainty.
 Examples: throwing a die, flipping a coin and drawing a
card from a deck.
• Sample space: the set of all possible outcomes, denoted by S.
Outcomes are denoted by E’s and each E lies in S, i.e., E ∈ S.
• A sample space can be discrete or continuous.
• Events are subsets of the sample space for which measures of
their occurrences, called probabilities, can be defined or
determined.
Int. comm. sys By Amanuel A. 2
Cont…….
1.2. Random Variable

• Functions whose domain is a sample space and whose range is
a some set of real numbers is called random variables.
• Type of RV’s
 Discrete
• E.g. outcomes of flipping a coin etc
 Continuous
• E.g. amplitude of a noise voltage
at a particular instant of time
Int. comm. sys By Amanuel A.

Cont….
1.3. Random process

• A random process is a collection of time functions, or signals,
corresponding to various outcomes of a random experiment.
• For each outcome, there exists a deterministic function, which
is called a sample function or a realization.
Random
Real number
variables
Sample functions
or realizations
(deterministic
time (t) function)
Cont…..
1.4. Power Spectral Density

• In communication systems signals are used to communicate between
devices
• The spectral density of the signals is used to characterize the
distribution of the signal’s energy or power, in the frequency domain
• This concept is particularly important when considering filtering in
communication systems while evaluating the signal and noise at the
filter output.
• The energy spectral density (ESD) or the power spectral density
(PSD) is used in the evaluation.
• Need to determine how the average power or energy of the process
is distributed in frequency.
Cont……
• The power spectral density (PSD) function Sx(f) of a signal x(t) is a function
of frequency that gives the distribution of the power of x(t) in the frequency
domain.
• The PSD is the Fourier transform of the auto-correlation function.
T
S x ( f )   Rx ( )e  j 2ft dt
T
Rx ( )  Ex(t ) x(t   )
• The power can be calculated from a random signal over a given band of
frequencies as follows: 
Total Power in x(t): P   S x ( f )df

f2
Power in x(t) in range f1 - f2: P12   S x ( f )df
f1
Cont…….
1.5. Time domain Vs Frequency Domain

Cont…….

Cont…

Cont……

Cont……

Cont……

Introduction to
Communication Systems
What is a Communication System ?

• A communication system transfers an information bearing
signal from a source to one or more destinations.
Examples
• Radio
• TV
• Telephone (landline or wireless)
• Computer Network (terminal-computer or computer – computer)
• Radar
• Wireless Microphone

Cont…….
Block Diagram of Communication Systems

cont………
Components of communication systems:

Cont…….

Cont……….

Cont…….

Signal Impairments in
Communication System
• In communication system the transmitted signal is not received

as it is sent rather it is impaired due to 3 main reasons:
Attenuation, Distortion, Noise
• Discussions will be made on each cause in the next sections

Noise in the
Communication System
• The term noise refers to unwanted electrical signals that are

always present in electrical systems
• Changes the shape and amplitude of the transmitted signal
• Appropriate design is required to reduce the effect of noise

Cont……..
From the circuit

components of the
comm. Sys.
From the
external
environment

Cont…..
• Shot noise, also called quantum noise, is the variation in a

signal that is caused by the quantized nature of the light and
electricity making up the signal.
• Thermal noise occurs in all transmission media and
communication equipment, including passive devices. It arises
from random electron motion
• The higher the temperature of the components or the medium,
the greater the level of thermal noise.

Cont……
• We can describe thermal noise as zero-mean Gaussian random

process
• A Gaussian process n(t) is a random function whose value n at
any arbitrary time t is statistically characterized by the
Gaussian probability density function

White Noise
• The primary spectral characteristic of thermal noise is that its

power spectral density is the same for all frequencies of
interest in most communication systems
• A thermal noise source emanates an equal amount of noise
power per unit bandwidth at all frequencies
• Power spectral density G(f)

Cont……
• Autocorrelation function of white noise is
• The average power P of white noise is infinite

Cont…..
 This noise is called White noise and is defined as an

uncorrelated noise process with equal power at all
frequencies.
 A noise that has the same power at all frequencies in the
range of ± ∞ would necessarily need to have infinite
power.
 white  indicates all frequencies
 In practice communication systems work in a limited range of
frequency
 ex. bandwidth can be –W<f<W
 In such case the white noise is band limited

Band Limited White
Noise

Signal to Noise Ratio
(SNR)
• SNR, is the ratio of meaningful signal power to noise power

• SNR=Pm/Pn where Pm= meaningful signal power Pn= noise power
• Ex: occurs consider a communication is done over a channel which has
bandwidth from 0-4kHz. The white noise in the system has psd of 0.001
milli watts/hertz. And the meaningful signal has power of 4 watts. Find
SNR (assume other noises are negligible)
Solution: f2

4000Hz
Noise power= P12  f1 S n ( f )df = 0 Hz 
0.001mW / Hzdf
0.001mW/Hz*4kHz=0.004W
SNR=4W/0.004W=1000=30dB (mostly described in dB)
 There are certain minimum allowed SNR values for different applications
 Commonly SNR >10dB

Attenuation
• Attenuation can be known as the power loss of a signal

travelling through any media.
• It is a natural phenomenon and occurred due to the wave
characteristics such as refraction, reflection and diffraction.
• For instance, sound waves containing our voice cannot be
heard at long distances due to attenuation.
• Naturally, attenuation happens exponentially with the travelled
distance. Hence, usually measured in decibels per unit length

Cont……..
• Amplifiers are used to remove the effect of attenuation and

repeaters are used to transmit the reconstructed signals.

Distortion
• Distortion is known as the alternation of the original signal.

This may happen due to the properties of the medium.
• There are many types of distortion such as amplitude
distortion, harmonic distortion, and phase distortion.
• For electromagnetic waves polarization distortions also
occurs. When the distortion occurs, shape of the waveform is
changed.

Cont……..
• For example, amplitude distortion happens if all the parts of

the signals are not equally amplified. This happens in wireless
transmissions because the medium get changed by the time.
The receivers should be able to identify these distortions.

Types of Communication
Systems
• Based on Channel used communication systems are classified as

– Wired
– Wireless
• In wired communication the channel can be; coaxial cable, twisted
cable, fiber optic cable…
– Ex: Fixed phone (PSTN), Wired internet (LAN)
• In wireless communication the media used is air
– ex: TV, Radio, Mobile, bluetooth, Wifi, C share, Zapya, Xender…

Cont…
• There are three main types of propagation modes of wireless

communication
 Ground wave propagation – for low frequency waves (less
than 2MHz)
 LOS propagation – for high frequency waves (>30 MHz)
 Sky wave propagation mode – long distance high
frequency waves (<30MHz)

Cont…….
• Graphical representation of propagation modes

Cont…..
• There are three main types of communication based on duplexing

(set rule for the communication of a specific active pair).
1)Simplex
– One way data communication only
– Rarely and carefully used as no back way to send error
– Examples :- live broadcasting (Radio and TV), interface of
keyboard in computer
2) Half Duplex
– Can send and receive but not at the same time. Example:-
Walkie-Talkie
3) Full Duplex
– Data can transfer in both direction simultaneously. Example :-
Mobile

Cont…….
• Generally, based on the type of information it carry a

communication system can be:
– Analog or
– Digital
• An analog communication system transfers analog information from
a source to the sink.
• A digital communication system transfers digital information from a
source to the intended receiver (also called the sink).

Cont…….
• Based on Multiplexing (principle of serving multiple users )

communication systems can be classified as
– Time division multiple access (TDMA): d/t users different time
– Frequency division multiple access (FDMA): d/t users different
frequency
– Code division multiple access (CDMA): d/t users different code
• Based on transmission principle communication systems can be
classified as
– Base band- signal is transmitted with out frequency shifting
– Pass band – signal is transmitted by shifting the frequency to
higher frequency using modulation principle

2. Amplitude Modulation
• Introduction
• The purpose of a communication system is to transmit information
signals (baseband signals) through a communication channel
• The term baseband is used to designate the band of frequencies
representing the original signal as delivered by the input transducer
• To transmit the baseband signal an appropriate procedure is needed
to shift the range of baseband frequencies to other frequency ranges
suitable for transmission and a corresponding shift back to the
original frequency range after reception.
• The frequency shifted signal is pass band signal
• These frequency shifting and reverse processes are called the
process of modulation and demodulation

Cont……
• Modulation is changing one or more of the characteristics of

a signal (known as the carrier signal) based on the value of
another signal (known as the information or modulating
signal) to produce a modulated signal.
• A carrier is a sinusoidal of high frequency with one of its
parameters (amplitude, phase, or frequency) is varied in
proportion to the message m(t)
• Modulation is the process of impressing a low-frequency
information signal (baseband signal )onto a higher frequency
carrier signal for transmission
• Modulation is done to bring information signals up to the
Radio Frequency (or higher) signal.
The need for modulation
Passban
Baseband
d signal
signal
Purpose of freq. translation

Frequency Multiplexing
Practicability of Antennas
Narrow Banding
Common Processing
Cont…….
• Frequency division multiplexing: Used to support multiple

transmissions via a single channel and to avoid interference
• With out modulation both signals are in the same range of

frequency and they interfere with each other.
• But they can be shifted to different range of frequency so that
both signals can be transmitted at the same time with out being
mixed
Cont……….
• Practicability of Antenna
o Transmitting very low frequencies require antennas with large length.
o Commonly antenna length is around quarter of the wavelength of the
transmitted signal.
o Low frequency high wavelength long antenna ×
o High frequency  low wavelength  shorter antenna 
o Ex: if f=1khz antenna length 75km and if f=1Ghz antenna length
0.075m
• Narrow Banding
o Assume an audio range extends from 50 to 104 Hz
o The ratio of the highest to the lowest is 200
o Suppose we translate the audio signal to 106 + 50 Hz to 106 + 104 Hz. Now the
ratio is 1.01.
• Common Processing- similar applications shifted to a certain freq. range
CH-2

Amplitude modulation
 Amplitude Modulation (AM) is defined as a process in which

the amplitude of the carrier wave c(t) is varied about a mean
value, linearly with the base band signal m(t).
 The instantaneous value of the carrier amplitude changes
in accordance with the amplitude and frequency variations of
the modulating signal.
 The carrier frequency remains constant during the
modulation process, but its amplitude varies in accordance
with the modulating signal.
 An increase or a decrease in the amplitude of the modulating
signal causes a corresponding increase or decrease in both the
positive and the negative peaks of the carrier amplitude.
Cont………….
m(t) AM Modulator sAM(t)=(1+m(t))c(t)
Carrier Signal : Ac cos(2f c t )
Modulating Message Signal : m(t )

Ac [1  m(t )] cos(2f c t )
The AM Signal : s AM (t ) 
• For example if a carrier signal is described by
vc(t)=Ac cos ( 2πfc t )
• The modulating/base band/message signal m(t)is defined as
m(t)=Am cos (2π fm t )
• The amplitude of the carrier signal after modulation is given by:
= AC(1+ Am cos (2π fm t )) cos (2π fc t )
• Note that carrier signal can be sin wave vc(t)=Ac sin(2π f c t )
Cont……….
• You may get different expressions of AM signal in different

references
• Do not get confused! The main concept is varying the amplitude
of the carrier signal with respect to the message signal
• Some common AM signal expressions include
 SAM (t)= (1+ m(t)) C (t )=(1+ m(t)) ACcos (2π fc t )
or
 SAM (t)= (AC+ m(t)) cos (2π fc t )
or
 SAM (t)= m(t)* c(t)=m(t)*AC cos (2π fc t )
Cont……..
A sinusoidal Carrier
A modulating wave form
Amplitude modulated signal
Note that the amplitude of the modulated

Int. comm. sys signalBy Amanuel
follows A. the shape the message signal
Cont…
• Ex: consider m(t)=Vm sin ( 2πfm t ) and c(t)= VC sin ( 2πfC t ) . find the
expression of the AM signal and sketch the graph.
• Solution: sAM(t)=(1+m(t))c(t)=VC(1+ Vm sin(2π fm t )) sin (2π fc t )

Modulation index
• The modulation index should be a number between 0 and 1

• If the value of m is grater than 1, causing distortion of the
modulated wave.
× ×
Cont…..
• The modulation index can also computed by measuring the

maximum and minimum amplitudes of the modulated signal

Cont……….
 The Vmax and Vmin are obtained from the graph of the modulated
signal

Example

Spectrum of AM signal
• The spectrum of the AM signal is Fourier Transform (FT) of

sAM(t)
• FT(sAM(t))=FT((1+m(t))c(t)) =c(f)+ Ac /2 *(m(f- fc )+m(f- fc ))
• Note this FT property

Cont……..

Cont……..

Cont……

Cont……
• Ex: the spectrum of the message signal is as shown in the

graph. Sketch the spectrum of the AM signal and show the
sidebands.

Cont……..
• Ex: Consider a voice message signal which has freq range

300-3000Hz (shown in the graph)is amplitude modulated with
carrier c(t)=cos(2π 28*10^5 t). Find the lowest and highest
frequencies of the modulated signal. Also find the spectrum
and bandwidth

Cont……..
• Solution

AM signal inTime Vs
Freq. domain

Cont……..

Types of AM
o Based on the sidebands used Am is classified into

o Double sideband AM Large Carrier(DSBAM-LC)
o Double sideband AM Suppressed Carrier(DSBAM-SC)
o Single sideband AM(SSBAM)
o Vestigial sideband AM(VSBAM)
o In DSB-LC, the carrier signal, LSB and USB are used
o In DSB-LC, BW=2fm and

o Total power= power of LSB +power of USB +power of carrier

Cont………
• DSB-SC intends to suppress the carrier signal in order to save

the power dissipated on the transmission of the carrier signal.
• The carrier component in full AM or DSB-LC does not convey
any information. Hence it may be removed or suppressed
during the modulation process to attain higher power
efficiency.
• The trade off of achieving a higher power efficiency using
DSB-SC is at the expense of requiring a complex and
expensive receiver due to the absence of carrier in order to
maintain transmitter/receiver synchronization.
• The receiver has to inject carrier by its own in order to detect
the original signal
Cont…….
• In DSB-SC, BW=2fm and

• Total power= power of LSB +power of USB (no carrier
power)
• So, DSB-LC saves power but complex receiver circuitry since
it has to inject carrier by itself. A compromise!

Cont……….
o SSB intends to only one sideband i.e either LSB or USB

 LSB and USB of an AM signal are mirror images of each other
 USB is a frequency shifted replica of m(t) and LSB is a
frequency inverted/shifted replica of m(t)
 both sidebands each contain the same message information,
hence either the LSB or USB could be removed (because they
both contain the same information).

Cont……..
• In SSB, BW=fm and

• Total power in SSB = power of LSB =power of USB
• SSB has the ff. advantages
 Since one sideband and the carrier are suppressed power efficiency is
high. The power saved by suppressing one sideband and the carrier
can be used o transmit a strong single sideband which increase
reliability.
 Saves BW, requires half of the spectrum needed in DSB-SC
 Reduces noise effect since noise power is psd of the noise*BW i.e less
BW less noise power
 Reduces frequency selective fading
• SSB main challenge is it requires complex receiver circuitry that injects carrier signal
for demodulation process.
• To avoid this challenge, a low amplitude carrier signal called pilot carrier is used along
with the single sideband signal. (instead of totally suppressing the carrier)

Cont……….
o VSB uses one sideband and a vestige /portion of the other

o Single-sideband modulation works satisfactorily for an information-
bearing signal (e.g. speech signal).
o However, for the spectrally efficient transmission of wideband
signals, we have to look to a new method of modulation for two
reasons:
→Typically, the spectra of wideband signals (exemplified by television
video signals and computer data) contain significant low
frequencies, which make it impractical to use SSB modulation.
→The spectral characteristics of wideband data befit the use of DSB-
SC. However, DSBSC requires a transmission bandwidth equal to
twice the message bandwidth, which violates the bandwidth
conservation requirement.

Cont………..
• VSB uses one sideband and a vestige /portion of the other

• Single-sideband modulation works satisfactorily for an information-
bearing signal (e.g. speech signal).
• However, for the spectrally efficient transmission of wideband
signals, we have to look to a new method of modulation for two
reasons:
→Typically, the spectra of wideband signals (exemplified by television
video signals and computer data) contain significant low
frequencies, which make it impractical to use SSB modulation.
→The spectral characteristics of wideband data befit the use of DSB-
SC. However, DSBSC requires a transmission bandwidth equal to
twice the message bandwidth, which violates the bandwidth
conservation requirement.

Cont……..
o To overcome these two practical limitations, we need a

compromise method of modulation that lies somewhere
between SSB and DSB-SC in its spectral characteristics.
Vestigial sideband, is that compromise scheme.
o Vestigial sideband (VSB) modulation distinguishes itself from
SSB modulation in two practical respects:
→1. Instead of completely removing a sideband, a trace or
vestige of that sideband is transmitted; hence, the name
“vestigial sideband.”
→2. Instead of transmitting the other sideband in full, almost
the whole of this second band is also transmitted.

Cont……
• In VSB, BW=fm + fv where fv =βfm

• Total power in SSB = β * power of LSB + power of USB
• For example if we consider β=0.25, BW=1.25fm which is
between the SSB bandwidth, fm , and DSB-SC bandwidth, fm .

Cont……..
carrier LSB
Cont…….
• Hence, the spectrum of DSB-LC is

Cont……

Cont………

Cont……..

Amplitude
Demodulation
• The recovery of the baseband signal, a process referred to as

demodulation or detection, is accomplished by envelope
detector.
 Consist of a diode and a resistor-capacitor (RC) filter.
• The very great merit of the amplitude modulated signal is the
ease with which the baseband signal can be recovered

Cont…….
• Assume that the diode is ideal

• The capacitor voltage have the form shown below

Cont……..
• On a positive half-cycle of the input signal, the diode is

forward-biased and the capacitor C charges up rapidly to the
peak value of the input signal.
• When the input signal falls below this value, the diode
becomes reverse-biased and the capacitor C discharges slowly
through the load resistor R.
• The discharging process continues until the next positive half-
cycle The discharging process continues until the next positive
half-cycle.
• When the input signal becomes greater than the voltage across
the capacitor, the diode conducts again and the process is
repeated.
Cont……..
• AM is good in spectral efficiency

– Ex: a 4kHz BW can be used for a 4kHz message signal in SSB
AM
• But poor in noise tolerance
– Ex: an AM radio signal has poor quality
• Which would you prefer FM 102.2 or AM 102.2 to get better radio
signal quality?
– Of course FM 102.2 has better signal quality
• Why?
– Because it uses Frequency modulation which is designed
with better noise tolerance – An issue in the Next chapter

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EiT-M , School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Electronics and Communication Engineering Chair

1.1. Introduction on Random Experiments

1.2. Random Variable

Int. comm. sys By Amanuel A.

1.3. Random process

1.4. Power Spectral Density

1.5. Time domain Vs Frequency Domain

Int. comm. sys By Amanuel A.

Int. comm. sys By Amanuel A.

Int. comm. sys By Amanuel A.

Int. comm. sys By Amanuel A.

Int. comm. sys By Amanuel A.

Int. comm. sys By Amanuel A.

What is a Communication System ?

Int. comm. sys By Amanuel A.

Block Diagram of Communication Systems

Int. comm. sys By Amanuel A.

Components of communication systems:

Int. comm. sys By Amanuel A.

Int. comm. sys By Amanuel A.

Int. comm. sys By Amanuel A.

Int. comm. sys By Amanuel A.

• In communication system the transmitted signal is not received

• Discussions will be made on each cause in the next sections

Int. comm. sys By Amanuel A.

• The term noise refers to unwanted electrical signals that are

Int. comm. sys By Amanuel A.

From the circuit

Int. comm. sys By Amanuel A.

• Shot noise, also called quantum noise, is the variation in a

Int. comm. sys By Amanuel A.

• We can describe thermal noise as zero-mean Gaussian random

Int. comm. sys By Amanuel A.

• The primary spectral characteristic of thermal noise is that its

Int. comm. sys By Amanuel A.

• Autocorrelation function of white noise is

• The average power P of white noise is infinite

Int. comm. sys By Amanuel A.

 This noise is called White noise and is defined as an

Int. comm. sys By Amanuel A.

Int. comm. sys By Amanuel A.

• SNR, is the ratio of meaningful signal power to noise power

Int. comm. sys By Amanuel A.

• Attenuation can be known as the power loss of a signal

Int. comm. sys By Amanuel A.

• Amplifiers are used to remove the effect of attenuation and

Int. comm. sys By Amanuel A.

• Distortion is known as the alternation of the original signal.

Int. comm. sys By Amanuel A.

• For example, amplitude distortion happens if all the parts of

Int. comm. sys By Amanuel A.

• Based on Channel used communication systems are classified as

Int. comm. sys By Amanuel A.

• There are three main types of propagation modes of wireless

Int. comm. sys By Amanuel A.

• Graphical representation of propagation modes

Int. comm. sys By Amanuel A.

• There are three main types of communication based on duplexing

Int. comm. sys By Amanuel A.

• Generally, based on the type of information it carry a