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 Glossary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 Modulation
   Analog, Digital
   AM, QAM
   FM
   FSK, MSK, GMSK
   PM
   BPSK, QPSK
   Pi/4 DQPSK
   ODQPSK
   m-ary

 Acronyms

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

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Modulation

 

Modulation can be defined as adding information to a carrier frequency by varying some combination of signal amplitude, signal phase, and or signal frequency.

Modulation may be either analog (continuous) or digital (transmission of a finite number of discrete states).

Common types of modulation include:

AM: amplitude modulation - information is passed by varying the signal strength
QAM: Quadrature Amplitude Modulation
FM: frequency modulation - information is passed by varying the signal frequency
FSK: Frequency Shift Key [example system: CT-2]
MSK: Minimum Shift Key
GMSK: Gaussian filtered Minimal Shift Key [example system: GSM Cellular]

PM: phase modulation - information is passed by varying the phase of the signal
BPSK: Bi-Phase Shift Key varies between 2 phase angles 180 degrees apart. [example system: many low cost ISM transceivers]
QPSK: Quadra-Phase Shift Key varies between 4 states at 90 degree spacing.
/4 DQPSK: Pi by four differential QPSK- QPSK rotated 45 degrees [example systems: IS-54 (TDMA) US Cellular, Japan Cellular]
ODQPSK: Offset Differential QPSK - QPSK alternately rotated zero and 45 degrees. [example systems: base station of IS-95 (CDMA) US Cellular]
m-ary modulation varies both amplitude and phase to produce m states.
Common m-ary schemes include quaternary (4-ary), 16-ary, and 64-ary. [example systems: Point-to-Point communications links; Digital Cable TV]
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this page last updated: 1 October 1999