What is PM, Phase Modulation

- overview, information and tutorial about the basics of what is phase modulation, PM, used for many radio communications applications.

Phase modulation is a form of modulation that can be used for radio signals used for a variety of radio communications applications. As will be seen later, phase modulation, and frequency modulation are closely linked together and it is often used in many transmitters and receivers used for a variety of radio communications applications from two way radio communications links, mobile radio communications and even maritime mobile radio communications.

Phase modulation is also the basis for many forms of digital modulation based around phase shift keying, PSK which is a form of phase modulation. As various forms of phase shift keying are the favoured form of modulation for digital or data transmissions, this makes phase modulation particularly important.

Phase modulation basics

Before looking at phase modulation it is first necessary to look at phase itself. A radio frequency signal consists of an oscillating carrier in the form of a sine wave is the basis of the signal. The instantaneous amplitude follows this curve moving positive and then negative, returning to the start point after one complete cycle - it follows the curve of the sine wave. This can also be represented by the movement of a point around a circle, the phase at any given point being the angle between the start point and the point on the waveform as shown.

Phase modulation works by modulating the phase of the signal, i.e. changing the rate at which the point moves around the circle. This changes the phase of the signal from what it would have been if no modulation was applied. In other words the speed of rotation around the circle is modulated about the mean value. To achieve this it is necessary to change the frequency of the signal for a short time. In other words when phase modulation is applied to a signal there are frequency changes and vice versa. Phase and frequency are inseparably linked as phase is the integral of frequency. Frequency modulation can be changed to phase modulation by simply adding a CR network to the modulating signal that integrates the modulating signal. As such the information regarding sidebands, bandwidth and the like also hold true for phase modulation as they do for frequency modulation, bearing in mind their relationship.

Forms of phase modulation

Although phase modulation is used for some analogue transmissions, it is far more widely used as a digital form of modulation where it switches between different phases. This is known as phase shift keying, PSK, and there are many flavours of this. It is even possible to combine phase shift keying and amplitude keying in a form of modulation known as quadrature amplitude modulation, QAM.

The list below gives some of the forms of phase shift keying that are used:

• PM - Phase Modulation



• PSK - Phase Shift Keying



• BPSK - Binary Phase Shift Keying



• QPSK - Quadrature Phase Shift Keying



• 8 PSK - 8 Point Phase Shift Keying



• 16 PSK - 16 Point Phase Shift Keying



• QAM - Quadrature Amplitude Modulation



• 16 QAM - 16 Point Quadrature Amplitude Modulation



• 64 QAM - 64 Point Quadrature Amplitude Modulation



• MSK - Minimum Shift Keying



• GMSK - Gaussian filtered Minimum Shift Keying

These are just some of the major forms of phase modulation that are widely used in radio communications applications today. With today's highly software adaptable radio communications systems, it is possible to change between the different types of modulation to best meet the prevailing conditions.

Overview

Phase modulation, PM, is widely used in today's radio communications scene, with phase shift keying being widely used for digital modulation and data transmission. It is used in all forms of radio communications from cellular technology to Wi-Fi, WiMAX, radio broadcasting of digital audio and TV, and many more forms of transmission.