Single-Side-Band Demodulation

General Instructions

This spectral simulation is an interactive Java applet. You can change parameters by clicking on the vertical arrow keys. The five control buttons at the lower right are used to start (triangle) and pause (square) the simulation, to skip forward or back one section at a time (double triangles), and to change speed (+ and -).

After the simulation is complete, the start button takes you back to the beginning of the simulation. You may experience a delay at this point.

In single-side-band demodulation, the carrier is reinserted before the modulation signal is extracted using envelope detection. The amplitude of the reinserted carrier determines how close the demodulated signal is to the original modulating signal.

This applet demonstrates the error in demodulating a single-sideband signal as a function of the relative amplitude of the reinserted carrier. The program compares the demodulated waveform to the waveform and shows the difference.