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COMMUNICATING INFORMATION

PART I

1) (a) Draw an amplitude-modulated wave with a carrier wave of frequency 1.0 MHz and a
signal frequency of 100 kHz. The time axis on your graph should be from 0 to 10 s. On your
graph, mark the time for one complete wave of the signal and for one complete wave of the
carrier.
(b) Explain how an amplitude-modulated wave changes when the input signal (i) increases in
loudness, (ii) increases in frequency.
(c) Explain how a frequency-modulated wave changes when the input signal (i) increases in
loudness, (ii) increases in frequency.
(d) A signal of frequency 16 kHz and amplitude 3.0 V is used for frequency modulation of a
carrier wave of frequency 500 kHz.
The frequency deviation of the carrier wave is 8.0 k HzV -1.
(i) What is the maximum frequency shift produced?
(ii) What is the maximum frequency of the modulated carrier wave?
(iii) How many times per second does the modulated carrier wave increase and decrease in
frequency?

2) (a) Calculate the number of separate AM radio stations of bandwidth 9 kHz that are
possible in the frequency spectrum available for AM between 530 and 1700 kHz.
(b) Suggest why FM stations of bandwidth 200 kHz are not used for this range of
frequencies.

3) A radio station broadcasts music having frequencies between 100 Hz to 3.5 kHz with a
wave carrier of frequency 500 kHz in the long-wave waveband (30 kHz to 300 kHz).
(a) Determine (i) the bandwidth of the broadcast, (ii) the maximum number of radio stations
that could transmit simultaneously in the same area within the long-wave waveband.
(b) Sketch a graph to show how the power of the signal from the radio station varies with
frequency.

4) A carrier wave of frequency 100 kHz is amplitude modulated by a single sinusoidal audio
signal of frequency 10 kHz. (i) Sketch the frequency spectrum of the AM signal. State its
bandwidth. (ii) Sketch the AM signal.

5) Two amplitude-modulated radio waves are shown. Each

wave has the same carrier frequency and is carrying an audio
signal.
(a) State and explain one similarity and one difference
between the audio signals that they carry.
(b) Explain how the graphs show that the carrier frequency is
the same.
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6) (a) Describe the difference between amplitude and frequency modulation.

(b) A carrier wave has a frequency 800 kHz. It is modulated in frequency by an audio signal
of frequency 6 kHz and amplitude 2.0 V.
The frequency deviation of the carrier wave is 30 kHz V−1.
(i) Determine the maximum frequency shift produced. (ii)Determine the minimum frequency
of the modulated carrier wave. (iii) Describe how the frequency of the carrier wave changes.
(c) A country intends to start a new broadcasting system. State two reasons why it is more
expensive to set up an FM broadcasting system rather than an AM system.

7) The graph shows the frequency spectrum of an AM radio wave carrying an audio signal
of a single frequency.

35 40 45 Frequency / kHz

(a) (i) State the name of the component with frequency 40 kHz.
(ii) State the name of the components with frequency 35 and 45 kHz.
(iii) Determine the frequency of the audio signal.
(b) (i) Calculate the time for one complete carrier wave.
(ii) Calculate the time for one complete wave of the audio signal.
(iii) Sketch a graph of the variation of the signal with time. On your graph mark the values
obtained in (b) (i) and (b) (ii).
(c) The frequency spectrum shown above is formed from a carrier wave and an audio signal
of one frequency. Draw the frequency spectrum formed at one instant if the audio signal
contains a range of frequencies up to 15 kHz.

PART II

1) (a) Convert the decimal numbers (i) 4, (ii) 16 into binary numbers.
(b) Convert the binary numbers (i) 1111, (ii) 0001011 into decimal numbers.

2) The diagrams show a digital signal at the start of a long cable and at the end of the cable.
Both diagrams are drawn to the same horizontal scale (time) and vertical scale (voltage)

before transmission

at the end of a long

cable
(i) Explain what feature of the top diagram shows that the signal is digital.
(ii) State and explain 2 advantages of digital transmission rather than analogue transmission
of data.
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(iii) State and explain two reasons why the signal at the end of the long cable differs from the
signal at the start.
3) Data is often produced as an analogue signal and then converted into digital form
for transmission. (a) Explain, with the aid of sketch graphs, the difference between an analogue and
a digital signal. (b) Explain the process of sampling in which an analogue signal is turned
into a digital signal.

4) Fig 4.1 shows a digital signal input to a long copper cable.

Fig 4.1

(a) (i) Explain what aspect of Fig 4.1 indicates that the signal is digital.
(ii) State and explain two advantages of digital data transmission compared with analogue
data transmission.

(b) Fig. 4.2 shows the output signal at the end of the long copper cable.

Fig. 4.2

(i) State and explain two reasons why the output signal differs from the input signal.
ii) Suggest the name of a transmission medium which overcomes these problems.
(iii) Despite the differences between the input and output signals there may be no error in
reading the output signal provided the sensitivity of the coding is appropriate. Choose
appropriate voltage ranges to represent 0 and 1 in order to allow the output signal to be
correctly read.
range of voltage to represent 0 ..................................................................................
range of voltage to represent 1 .............................................................................................
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5) Fig. 5.1 shows the analogue signal from a transducer.

Fig. 5.1
(i) For transmission the signal is digitally sampled at 0.002 s intervals starting at 0 s. In the
analogue to digital, A to D, converter
0 to 1 mV produces a digital output 0000
+10 mV produces a digital output 1010
The bits for each sample are transmitted down four parallel wires.
Show on the axes below how the output of the A to D converter varies with time.
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6) The diagram shows the analogue signal from a microphone.

For transmission, the signal is digitally sampled every 0.5 ms starting at time t = 0 s.
In the analogue-to-digital (ADC) converter,
0 to 0.99 mV produces a digital output 0000
1 to 1.99 mV produces a digital output 0001
and so on.
(a) State the value of the digital output when t = 0 s and when t = 0.5 ms.
(b) The digital signal from the ADC is eventually converted back into analogue form.
Draw a sketch diagram showing the final analogue signal produced.
(c) (i) Explain how increasing the sampling frequency improves the final analogue signal
produced and suggest a suitable maximum value for the sampling frequency.
(ii) Telephone systems use 8-bit numbers, rather than 4-bit numbers. Explain why this
improves the final analogue signal produced.

7) (a) The radio is tuned to a frequency of 560 kHz. The loudspeaker emits a maximum
frequency of 8 kHz. Explain the significance of using these frequencies.

(b) The transmitters emit an analogue signal. An alternative is to transmit the signal in a
digital form. Explain how an analogue signal in the figure below may be converted
into a digital form.
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8) Fig.8.1 shows an analogue voltage signal varying in time. lt is sampled every 1.0ms for
conversion into a digital signal.

Fig.8.1

(a) (i) State the number of bits used for the binary code of each sample in Fig.5.1
(ii) State the number of different signal levels defined by this number of bits.
(b) Fig. 8.1 illustrates that the digital signals introduced during digital sampling can differ
from the analogue signal.
(i) State the largest difference (measured in mV) that could be introduced in this example.
(ii) Suggest one way in which these differences could be reduced to make the sampling more
accurate.
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9) This question is about converting an analogue musical sound signal into a digital signal so
that it may be written to a CD.
This is for high fidelity (good quality) sound reproduction.
The graph Fig.9.1 shows part of the analogue waveform and the digital sampling points.

Fig.9.1

(a) (i) The sampling rate is 44 k Hz.

Show that the time between samples is between 20 s and 25 s.

(ii) The system uses 16 bit sampling.

Show that the number of voltage levels coded by 16 bits is about 66 000.

(b) A telephone line uses 8 bit sampling at an information rate of 64 kbits per second.
Explain the disadvantages of this sound reproduction system compared with the high quality
system described in (a).
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Part III

1) A telephone call is made from London to New York via a geostationary satellite. Estimate
the transit time for the signal to travel between the two callers.

2) A ground station transmits a signal power of 1.8 kW towards a geostationary satellite. If

there is a 180 dB loss in the uplink, calculate the signal power actually received by the
satellite.

3) The signal entering an amplifier has a power of 7.6 mW and the signal leaving it is 2.4 W.
Calculate the power gain in decibels of the amplifier.

4) A signal of 450 mW is input to a cable of attenuation 6 dB km-1. Calculate the power Pout
of the signal that emerges after travelling through 4 km of this cable.

5) The signal emerging from a coaxial cable has a power of 33 mW. If the signal-to-noise
ratio is 22 dB calculate the noise power Pnoise in the cable.

6) A 200 mW signal enters a cable system of length 100 km. The cable has an attenuation of
8 dB km-1. Amplifiers of gain 41 dB are located at 5 km intervals. Calculate
(a) the total power loss of the signal as a result of travelling through the 100 km cable;
(b) the total signal gain as a result of passing through the 20 amplifiers in the system;
(c) the signal power emerging from the twentieth amplifier, at the end of the system.

7) A laser provides power input of 6.0 mW into an optic fibre, where the average noise is
2.0 × 10−19 W. Calculate the signal-to-noise ratio in dB.
8) A signal has a power of 1.0 mW and a noise of 0.001 mW.
(a) What is the signal-to-noise ratio in dB?
(b) The signal is attenuated by 30 dB and the noise remains constant.
What is the new signal-to noise ratio in dB?
9) In the modern telephone system, more and more coaxial cable has been replaced for
long-distance transmission of telephone signals by optic fibre.
State and explain two reasons for this change.
10) (a) State a typical value of wavelength for: (i) space waves, (ii) sky waves.
(b) Explain why satellite communication is more reliable than a sky wave for long-distance
communication between two points on the Earth’s surface.
11) (a) Describe the orbit of a geostationary satellite.
(b) State a typical wavelength for communication between the Earth’s surface and a
geostationary satellite.
(c) State one advantage and one disadvantage of the use of a geostationary satellite
rather than a satellite in polar orbit for telephone communication.
12) In the original telephone system of 1876, every telephone was connected to every other
telephone by a pair of wires. Today the telephone is used worldwide as the result of the
invention of the exchange and the use of sampling using digital electronics.
Describe how each of these developments has meant that many telephone conversations
can take place at once.
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PAST EXAMS QUESTIONS:

1) The figure shows the signal received at the aerial of a radio.

(a) State the form of modulation shown in the figure.

(b) Calculate (i) the frequency of the transmission, (ii) the frequency of the modulating
waveform. (c) Sketch a graph to show the variation of the signal voltage with frequency f of
the signal. Show appropriate values on the frequency axis.

2) (a) State a typical value of wavelength for (i) sky waves, (ii) space waves.
(b) Explain why radio communication via satellite is more reliable than communication using
sky waves.
3) Railway tracks provide a convenient route for communication cables. However, passing
electric trains produce interference (noise) of power 7.3 10-5 W in a certain co-axial cable.
The signal-to-noise ratio in this cable must not fall below 25 dB for the effective transmission
of the signal.
(a) Show that the minimum effective signal power in the cable is 0.023W.
(b) The cable has a loss of 4.8 dB km–1. Calculate the maximum length of cable which can
be used without the need for repeater amplifiers for an input signal of power 5.8W.
(c) Co-axial cables are being replaced by optic fibres along railway tracks. Suggest two
reasons why this is being done.

4) (a) State two uses of polar orbiting satellites.

(b) State two uses, other than for television transmissions, of geostationary satellites.
(c) (i) State a typical wavelength used for satellite communication.
(ii) Explain briefly why the transmission frequency from Earth to a satellite is different from
the frequency that the satellite transmits back to Earth.

5) (a) Draw a labelled diagram of a section through a coaxial cable.

(b) State three advantages of a coaxial cable compared with a wire pair for the transmission
of an electrical signal.
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6) A radio signal may be transmitted between a transmitter and a receiving aerial by means of
sky waves, ground (surface) waves or space waves. Complete the table by giving a typical
wavelength and the maximum transmission range for each type of wave.

type wavelength / m range

sky wave …………………. ………………….
ground (surface) wave …………………. ………………….
space wave …………………. ………………….

7) A sinusoidal wave of frequency 75 kHz is to be amplitude modulated by a wave of

frequency 5.0 kHz.
(a) Explain what is meant by amplitude modulation.
(b) Sketch a graph to show the variation of power P of the modulated wave with its
frequency f.
(c) State the bandwidth of the modulated wave.

8) Explain what is meant by (i) analogue signal, (ii) digital signal, (iii) noise, (iv)
attenuation, (iv) cross-linking?

9) (a) The gain of an amplifier is 45 dB. Calculate the output power of the amplifier for an
input power of 2.0 W.

(b) The input power to a cable of length 25 km is 500 mW. The attenuation per unit length of
the cable is 2 dB km-1. (i) Calculate the output power of the signal from the cable (ii) Given
that the cable has an average background noise power 5 10-13 W and the minimum signal-to-
noise ratio permissible is 20 dB, calculate the maximum uninterrupted length of cable along
which the signal can be transmitted.

10) The figure illustrates a ray of light entering a step-index optic fibre.

(a) On the figure, complete the path of the ray of light along the fibre.
(b) Suggest why the core of the fibre is made as narrow as possible.
(c) State three advantages, other than smaller attenuation allowing much greater uninterrupted
transmission lengths, that optic fibres have compared with co-axial cables.
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11) The diagram shows a microphone connected directly to an amplifier having a gain of
63 dB.

The microphone and amplifier are connected to a receiver by means of a wire pair having an
attenuation of 12 dB per kilometre length. The output signal from the microphone is 2.5 W
and there is a constant noise power in the wire pair of 0.035 W.
(a) Explain what is meant by (i) attenuation, (ii) noise.
(b) Calculate the power output of the amplifier.
(c) Calculate the length of the wire pair for the signal power to be reduced to the level of the
noise power.

12) In a certain telephone system, the actual signal power in a wire is expressed as the
number of decibels (dB) above or below a reference power level of 1.0mW.
(a) State a formula for the ratio of two powers P1 and P2, expressed in decibels (dB). [1]
(b) A signal in a wire has a power of 25.4mW. Express this signal power as a number of dB
above or below the reference level. [2]
(c) The wire has an attenuation per unit length of 3.2 dB km–1.
(i) Explain what is meant by attenuation.
(ii) Calculate the length of the wire for the signal in (b) to be reduced to the reference level.

13 (a) Explain what is meant by amplitude modulation. [2]

(b) The variation with frequency f of the power P of an amplitude-modulated signal from a
radio station is shown in Fig. 15.1.

Fig. 15.1
Use Fig. 15.1 to determine
(i) the wavelength at which the radio station is broadcasting,
(ii) the bandwidth of the radio signal,
(iii) the maximum frequency of the demodulated signal. [5]
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14 In a certain telephone system, the actual signal power in a wire is expressed as the
number of decibels (dB) above or below a reference power level of 1.0mW.

(a) State a formula for the ratio of two powers P1 and P2, expressed in decibels (dB). [1]
(b) A signal in a wire has a power of 25.4mW. Express this signal power as a number of
dB above or below the reference level. [2]
(c) The wire has an attenuation per unit length of 3.2 dB km–1.

(i) Explain what is meant by attenuation.

(ii) Calculate the length of the wire for the signal in (b) to be reduced to the reference
level. [3]

15 (a) Describe the orbit of a geostationary satellite. [3]

(b) (i) State a typical frequency for communication between the Earth’s surface and a
geostationary satellite. [1]
(ii) Suggest why the frequency of transmission from the satellite is different from that
received by the satellite from Earth. [1]
(c) Give one advantage and one disadvantage of the use of geostationary satellites when

compared with polar-orbiting satellites for telephone communication. [2]