Basics of Radio Transmitters for Effective Communication

1. Chapter 2- Part 4 ELEMENTS OF A COMMUNICATION SYSTEM – RADIO TRANSMITTERS Prepared by Dr M.Murugappan

2. Topics Covered • Transmitter Fundamentals • Carrier Generators • Power Amplifiers • Impedance-Matching Networks • Typical Transmitter Circuits

3. Transmitter Fundamentals • The transmitter is the electronic unit that accepts the information signal to be transmitted and converts it into an electronic signal compatible with the communication medium. • This process involves carrier generation, modulation, and power amplification. • The signal is fed by wire, coaxial cable, or waveguide to an antenna that launches it into free space. • Typical transmitter circuits include oscillators, amplifiers, frequency multipliers, and impedance matching networks.

4. Requirements of Transmitter Every transmitter has four basic requirements: • It must generate a carrier signal of the correct frequency at a desired point in the spectrum. • It must provide some form of modulation that causes the information signal to modify the carrier signal. • It must provide sufficient power amplification to ensure that the signal level is high enough to carry over the desired distance. • It must provide circuits that match the impedance of the power amplifier to that of the antenna for maximum transfer of power.

5. Transmitter Configurations Transmitter Configurations • The simplest transmitter is a single-transistor oscillator connected to an antenna. • This form of transmitter can generate continuous wave (CW)transmissions. • The oscillator generates a carrier and can be switched off and on by a telegraph key to produce the dots and dashes of the International Morse code. • CW is rarely used today as the oscillator power is too low and the Morse code is nearly extinct.

6. Schematic Diagram of Transmitter Figure 8-1: A more powerful CW transmitter.

7. Transmitter Types • High-Level Amplitude Modulated (AM) Transmitter • Oscillator generates the carrier frequency. • Carrier signal fed to buffer amplifier. • Signal then fed to driver amplifier. • Signal then fed to final amplifier.

8. Transmitter Types (contd) • Low-Level Frequency Modulated (FM) Transmitter • Crystal oscillator generates the carrier signal. • Signal fed to buffer amplifier. • Applied to phase modulator. • Signal fed to frequency multiplier(s). • Signal fed to driver amplifier. • Signal fed to final amplifier.

9. Transmitter Types (contd) • Single-Sideband (SSB) Transmitter • Oscillator generates the carrier. • Carrier is fed to buffer amplifier. • Signal is applied to balanced modulator. • DSB signal fed to sideband filter to select upper or lower sideband. • SSB signal sent to mixer circuit. • Final carrier frequency fed to linear driver and power amplifiers.

10. Carrier Generators • The starting point for all transmitters is carrier generation. • Once generated, the carrier can be modulated, processed in various ways, amplified, and transmitted. • The source of most carriers is a crystal oscillator. • PLL frequency synthesizers are used in applications requiring multiple channels of operation.

11. Crystal Oscillators • The only oscillator capable of maintaining the frequency precision and stability demanded by the FCC is a crystal oscillator. • A crystalis a piece of quartz that can be made to vibrate and act like an LC tuned circuit. • Overtone crystalsand frequency multipliers are two devices that can be used to achieve crystal precision and stability at frequencies greater than 30 MHz.

12. Crystal Oscillators (contd) • A crystal oscillatoris an electronic circuit that uses the mechanical resonance of a vibrating crystal of piezoelectric material to create an electrical signal with a very precise frequency. • This frequency is commonly used to keep track of time (as in quartz wristwatches), to provide a stable clock signal for digital integrated circuits, and to stabilize frequencies for radio transmitters and receivers.

13. Crystal Oscillators (contd)

14. Crystal Oscillators (contd) • The Colpitts-type crystal oscillator is the most commonly used crystal oscillator. • Feedback is derived from a capacitive voltage divider. • Transistor configuration is typically an emitter-follower. • The output is taken from the emitter.

15. Crystal Oscillators (contd) Figure 8-6: An emitter-follower crystal oscillator

16. Crystal Oscillators (contd) • Pulling, or rubberingcapacitors are used to make fine adjustments to the crystal oscillator frequency. • Field-effect transistors (FETs) make good crystal oscillators. The Pierce oscillatoris a common configuration that uses a FET. • An overtone crystalis cut so that it optimizes its oscillation at an overtone of the basic crystal frequency. • The term harmonic is often used as a synonym for overtone.

17. Crystal Oscillators (contd) Crystal Switching • If a transmitter must operate on more than one frequency, but crystal precision and stability are required, multiple crystals can be used and the desired one switched on. • Mechanical rotary switches and diode switches are often used in this kind of application. • Diode switching is fast and reliable.

18. Crystal Oscillators (contd) Figure 8-9: Using diodes to switch crystals.

19. Frequency Synthesizers • Frequency synthesizersare variable-frequency generators that provide the frequency stability of crystal oscillators but the convenience of incremental tuning over a broad frequency range. • It is an electronic system for generating any of a range of frequencies from a single fixed time base or oscillator. • Frequency synthesizers provide an output that varies in fixed frequency increments over a wide range.

20. Frequency Synthesizers (contd) • In a transmitter, a frequency synthesizer provides basic carrier generation. • Frequency synthesizers are used in receivers as local oscillators and perform the receiver tuning function.

21. Phase-Locked Loop Synthesizer • The phase-locked loop (PLL) consists of a phase detector, a low-pass filter, and a VCO(voltage-controlled oscillator). • The input to the phase detector* is a reference oscillator. • The reference oscillator is normally crystal-controlled to provide high-frequency stability. • The frequency of the reference oscillator sets the increments in which the frequency may be changed. *A phase detector is a frequency mixer or analog multiplier circuit that generates a voltage signal which represents the difference in phase between two signal inputs.

22. Phase-Locked Loop Synthesizer (contd) Figure 8-10: Basic PLL frequency synthesizer.

23. Direct Digital Synthesis • A direct digital synthesis (DDS)synthesizer generates a sine-wave output digitally. • The output frequency can be varied in increments depending upon a binary value supplied to the unit by a counter, a register, or an embedded microcontroller.

24. Direct Digital Synthesis (contd) • A read-only memory (ROM) is programmed with the binary representation of a sine wave. • These are the values that would be generated by an analog-to-digital (ADC) converter if an analog sine wave were digitized and stored in the memory. • If these binary values are fed to a digital-to-analog (DAC) converter, the output of the D/A converter will be a stepped approximation of the sine wave. • A low-pass filter (LPF) is used to remove the high-frequency content smoothing the sine wave output.

25. Direct Digital Synthesis (contd) Figure 8-15: Basic concept of a DDS frequency source

26. Direct Digital Synthesis (contd) • DDS synthesizers offer some advantages over PLL synthesizers: • The frequency can be controlled in very fine increments. • The frequency of a DDS synthesizer can be changed much faster than that of the PLL. • However, a DDS synthesizer is limited in its output frequencies.

27. Power Amplifiers • The three basic types of power amplifiers used in transmitters are: • Linear • Class C • Switching

28. Linear Amplifiers • Linear amplifiers provide an output signal that is an identical, enlarged replica of the input. • Their output is directly proportional to their input and they faithfully reproduce an input, but at a higher level. • Most audio amplifiers are linear. • Linear RF amplifiers are used to increase the power level of variable-amplitude RF signals such as low-level AM or SSB signals.

29. Linear Amplifiers (contd) • Linear amplifiers are class A, AB or B. • The class of an amplifier indicates how it is biased. • Class Aamplifiers are biased so that they conduct continuously. The output is an amplified linear reproduction of the input. • Class Bamplifiers are biased at cutoff so that no collector current flows with zero input. Only one-half of the sine wave is amplified. • Class ABlinear amplifiers are biased near cutoff with some continuous current flow. They are used primarily in push-pull amplifiers and provide better linearity than Class B amplifiers, but with less efficiency.

30. Linear Amplifiers (contd) • Class Camplifiers conduct for less than one-half of the sine wave input cycle, making them very efficient. • The resulting highly distorted current pulse is used to ring a tuned circuit to create a continuous sine-wave output. • Class C amplifiers cannot be used to amplify varying-amplitude signals. • This type amplifier makes a good frequency multiplier as harmonics are generated in the process.

31. Switching Amplifiers • Switching amplifiers act like on/off or digital switches. • They effectively generate a square-wave output. • Harmonics generated are filtered out by using high-Q tuned circuits. • The on/off switching action is highly efficient. • Switching amplifiers are designated class D, E, F, and S.

32. Class A Amplifiers • Class A Buffers • A class A buffer amplifier is used between the carrier oscillator and the final power amplifier to isolate the oscillator from the power amplifier load, which can change the oscillator frequency.

33. Class A Amplifiers (contd) Figure 8-21: A linear (class A) RF buffer amplifier

34. Class B Amplifiers • Class B Push-Pull Amplifier • In a class B push-pull amplifier, the RF driving signal is applied to two transistors through an input transformer. • The transformer provides impedance-matching and base drive signals to the two transistors that are 180° out of phase. • An output transformer couples the power to the antenna or load.

35. Class B Amplifiers (contd) Figure 8-23: A push-pull class B power amplifier

36. Class B Amplifiers (contd) Figure 8-23: A push-pull class B power amplifier

37. Class C Amplifiers • The key circuit in most AM and FM transmitters is the class C amplifier. • These amplifiers are used for power amplification in the form of drivers, frequency multipliers, and final amplifiers. • Class C amplifiers are biased so they conduct for less than 180° of the input. • Current flows through a class C amplifier in short pulses, and a resonant tuned circuit is used for complete signal amplification.

38. Class C Amplifiers (contd)

39. Tuned Amplifiers Tuned Output Circuits • All class C amplifiers have some form of tuned circuit connected in the collector. • The primary purpose of a tuned circuit is to form the complete AC sine-wave output. • A parallel tuned circuit rings, or oscillates, at its resonant frequency whenever it receives a DC pulse.

40. Tuned Amplifiers (contd) • The pulse charges a capacitor, which then discharges into an inductor. • The exchange of energy between the inductor and the capacitor is called the flywheel effect and produces a damped sine wave at the resonant frequency.

41. Tuned Amplifiers (contd) Figure 8-27: Class C amplifier operation

42. Tuned Amplifiers (contd) • Any class C amplifier is capable of performing frequency multiplicationif the tuned circuit in the collector resonates at some integer multiple of the input frequency.

43. Switching Power Amplifiers • A switching amplifieris a transistor that is used as a switch and is either conducting or nonconducting. • A class D amplifier uses a pair of transistors to produce a square-wave current in a tuned circuit. • In a class Eamplifier, only a single transistor is used. This amplifier uses a low-pass filter and tuned impedance-matching circuit to achieve a high level of efficiency.

44. Switching Power Amplifiers (contd) • A class F amplifier is a variation of the E amplifier. • It contains an additional resonant network which results in a steeper square waveform. • This waveform produces faster transistor switching and better efficiency. • Class Samplifiers are found primarily in audio applications but have also been used in low- and medium-frequency RF amplifiers.

45. Impedance-Matching Networks • Matching networks that connect one stage to another are very important parts of any transmitter. • The circuits used to connect one stage to another are known as impedance-matching networks. • Typical networks are LC circuits, transformers, or some combination.

46. Impedance-Matching Networks (contd) • The main function of a matching network is to provide for an optimum transfer of power through impedance matching techniques. • Matching networks also provide filtering and selectivity.

47. Impedance-Matching Networks (contd) Figure 8-36: Impedance Matching in RF Circuits

48. Impedance-Matching Networks (contd) Networks • There are three basic types of LC impedance-matching networks. They are: • L network • T network • πnetwork

49. Impedance-Matching Networks (contd) • L networks consist of an inductor and a capacitor in various L-shaped configurations. • They are used as low- and high-pass networks. • Low-pass networks are preferred because harmonic frequencies are filtered out. • The L-matching network is designed so that the load impedance is matched to the source impedance.

50. Impedance-Matching Networks (contd) Figure 8-37a: L-type impedance-matching network in which ZL < Zi.