Analog Modulation Technique:AM

Calculates & Plots the Waveform for the Amplitude Modulated Signal

Amplitude modulation (AM):
It is a technique used in electronic communication, most commonly for transmitting information via a radio carrier wave. AM works by varying the strength of the transmitted signal in relation to the information being sent. For example, changes in signal strength may be used to specify the sounds to be reproduced by a loudspeaker, or the light intensity of television pixels.

In radio communication, a continuous wave radio-frequency signal (a sinusoidal carrier wave) has its amplitude modulated by an audio waveform before transmission. The audio waveform modifies the amplitude of the carrier wave and determines the envelope of the waveform. In the frequency domain, amplitude modulation produces a signal with power concentrated at the carrier frequency and two adjacent sidebands. Each sideband is equal in bandwidth to that of the modulating signal, and is a mirror image of the other. Amplitude modulation resulting in two sidebands and a carrier is called "double-sideband amplitude modulation" (DSB-AM). Amplitude modulation is inefficient in power usage; at least two-thirds of the power is concentrated in the carrier signal, which carries no
useful information (beyond the fact that a signal is present).

To increase transmitter efficiency, the carrier may be suppressed. This produces a reduced-carrier transmission, or DSB "double-sideband suppressed-carrier" (DSB-SC) signal. A suppressed-carrier AM signal is three times more power-efficient than AM.

If the carrier is only partially suppressed, a double-sideband reduced-carrier (DSBRC) signal results. For reception, a local oscillator will typically restore the suppressed carrier so the signal can be demodulated with a product detector.