Digital Communication & Information Theory

Course Code TC-311

LECTURE 6

Dr Sunila Akbar
 Noise in Communication Systems
▪ The term noise refers to unwanted electrical signals that are always
present in electrical systems; e.g. spark-plug ignition noise, switching
transients, and other radiating electromagnetic signals.
▪ Noise due to thermal agitation of electrons in electronic circuits
(known as thermal noise) is the most dominant in communication
systems.
▪ Can describe thermal noise as a zero-mean Gaussian random process.
▪ A Gaussian process n(t) is a random function whose amplitude at any
arbitrary time t is statistically characterized by the Gaussian
probability density function
1  1 n  
2

p ( n) = exp  −   
 2  2    
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 Noise in Communication Systems
▪ The normalized or standardized Gaussian density function of a zero-
mean process is obtained by assuming unit variance.

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 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
▪ Power spectral density Gn(f )
N0
Gn ( f ) = watts / hertz
2
▪ Autocorrelation function of white noise is
N0
Rn ( ) =  {Gn ( f )} =
−1
 ( )
2
▪ The average power Pn of white noise is infinite
∞
𝑁0
𝑃𝑛 = න 𝑑𝑓 = ∞
2
−∞

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 Additive White Gaussian Noise (AWGN)
▪ The effect on the detection process of a channel with additive white
Gaussian noise (AWGN) is that the noise affects each transmitted
symbol independently.

▪ Such a channel is called a memoryless channel.

▪ The term “additive” means that the noise is simply superimposed or

added to the signal.

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 Signal Transmission through Linear Systems
▪ A system can be characterized equally well in the time domain or the
frequency domain, and the techniques will be developed in both
domains.

▪ The system is assumed to be linear and time invariant.

▪ It is also assumed that there is no stored energy in the system at the

time the input is applied.

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 Impulse Response
▪ The linear time invariant system or network is characterized in the time domain
by an impulse response h (t ), to an input unit impulse (t).
𝑦 𝑡 = ℎ 𝑡 when 𝑥(𝑡) = 𝛿(𝑡)
▪ The response of the network to an arbitrary input signal x (t ) is found by the
convolution of x (t ) with h (t ): 
y(t ) = x(t )  h(t ) =  x( )h(t −  )d
−

▪ The system is assumed to be causal, which means that there can be no output
prior to the time, t =0, when the input is applied.
▪ The convolution integral can be expressed as

y (t ) =  x( ) h(t −  ) d
0

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 Frequency Transfer Function
▪ The frequency-domain output signal Y (f )is obtained by taking the
Fourier transform
Y( f )= X ( f )H( f )
▪ Frequency transfer function or the frequency response is defined as:
Y( f )
H( f ) =
X(f )
H ( f ) = H ( f ) e j ( f )
▪ The phase response is defined as:
Im{H ( f )}
 ( f ) = tan −1
Re{H ( f )}

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 Random Processes and Linear Systems
▪ If a random process forms the input to a time-invariant linear system,
the output will also be a random process.

▪ The input power spectral density GX (f )and the output power spectral
density GY (f )are related as

GY ( f ) = GX ( f ) H ( f )
2

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 Distortion-less Transmission
▪ The output signal from an ideal transmission line may have some time
delay and different amplitude than the input
▪ It must have no distortion—it must have the same shape as the input.
▪ For ideal distortion-less transmission:

• Output signal in time domain y (t ) = Kx(t − t0 )

• Output signal in frequency Y ( f ) = KX ( f )e− j 2 ft0
domain
• System Transfer Function H ( f ) = Ke− j 2 ft0

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 What is the required behavior of an ideal
transmission line?
▪ The overall system response must have a constant magnitude response.
▪ The phase shift must be linear with frequency.
▪ All of the signal’s frequency components must also arrive with identical time delay in order to add
up correctly.
▪ Time delay t0 is related to the phase shift  and the radian frequency  = 2f by:
t0 (seconds) =  (radians) / 2f (radians/seconds )
▪ Another characteristic often used to measure delay distortion of a signal is called envelope delay
or group delay:
1 d ( f )
( f ) = −
2 df
▪ For distortion-less transmission, group delay should be constant.
▪ In practice a signal may be distorted in passing through some parts of a system.
▪ Phase or amplitude correction (equalization) network may be used to correct distortion.

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 Filters
Ideal Filters
▪ Ideal filter passes (without
distortion) all frequency
components between frequencies
𝑓𝑙 and 𝑓𝑢 . For ideal filters the
response exists between two cut-
off frequencies 𝑓𝑢 (upper cutoff)
and 𝑓𝑙 (lower cutoff).
▪ For band pass filters: 𝑓𝑙 > 0, 𝑓𝑢 <
∞, 𝑓𝑢 > 𝑓𝑙
▪ For low pass filters: 𝑓𝑙 = 0, 0 <
𝑓𝑢 < ∞
▪ For high pass filters: 0 < 𝑓𝑙 <
∞, 𝑓𝑢 → ∞

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 Transfer Function of Ideal Low Pass Filter
▪ For the ideal low-pass filter transfer function with bandwidth Wf = fu
hertz can be written as:

H ( f ) = H ( f ) e− j ( f )
where
1 for | f |  fu
H( f ) =
0 for | f |  fu

− j ( f ) − j 2 ft0
e =e

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 Impulse Response of Ideal Low Pass Filter
▪ The impulse response of the ideal low-pass filter:
ℎ(𝑡) = ℑ−1 {𝐻(𝑓)}
∞

= න 𝐻(𝑓)𝑒 𝑗2𝜋𝑓𝑡 𝑑𝑓
−∞
𝑓𝑢

= න 𝑒 −𝑗2𝜋𝑓𝑡0 𝑒 𝑗2𝜋𝑓𝑡 𝑑𝑓
−𝑓𝑢
𝑓𝑢

= න 𝑒 𝑗2𝜋𝑓(𝑡−𝑡0 ) 𝑑𝑓
−𝑓𝑢
sin 2 𝜋𝑓𝑢 (𝑡 − 𝑡0 )
= 2𝑓𝑢
2𝜋𝑓𝑢 (𝑡 − 𝑡0 )
= 2𝑓𝑢 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑐2𝑓𝑢 (𝑡 − 𝑡0 )
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 Realizable Filters
▪ The simplest example of a realizable low-pass filter; an RC filter
1 1
𝐻 𝑓 = = 𝑒 −𝑗𝜃(𝑓)
1+𝑗2𝜋𝑅𝐶 1 + (2 𝜋 𝑅 𝐶)2

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 Realizable Filters
▪ There are several useful approximations to the ideal low-pass filter characteristic
and one of these is the Butterworth filter.
1
Hn ( f ) = n 1
1 + ( f / fu ) 2 n
▪ Where fu is upper −3dB cutoff
frequency and n is referred to as
the filter order.

▪ Butterworth filters are popular

because they are the best
approximation to the ideal, in the
sense of maximal flatness in the
filter pass band.
▪ Filter Shape Factor is a measure of how well a realizable filter approximates the
ideal filter. It is typically defined as the ratio of filter bandwidth at −60dB and −6dB
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 Signals, Circuits, and Spectra
▪ Signals are described in terms of their spectra.
▪ Circuits are described in terms of their spectral characteristics.

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Signals, Circuits, and Spectra
▪ T : Pulse Duration
▪ Wp: Input Pulse
Bandwidth (Wp = 1/T)
▪ Wf : Filter Bandwidth
[Wf =1/(2πRC)]

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