2. Modulation: Preparing a Signal for its Journey

Modulation is the process of strengthening a message signal for long-distance travel by combining it with a high-frequency signal called a carrier signal. This process impresses the information from your message onto the stronger carrier wave, allowing it to travel much farther without being lost or distorted.

Modulation provides several key advantages:

• Reduced Antenna Size: Without modulation, the antennas required for transmission would have to be impractically large.
• Increased Communication Range: Modulation strengthens the signal, allowing it to cover longer distances before it fades or distorts.
• No Signal Mixing: It prevents different signals from interfering with one another, ensuring that messages don’t get mixed up during transmission.

There are two primary families of modulation, distinguished by their carrier wave: Continuous-wave Modulation, which uses a high-frequency sine wave as its carrier, and Pulse Modulation, which uses a periodic sequence of rectangular pulses as its carrier.

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We will now focus on Pulse Modulation, which serves as a bridge between analogue concepts and the world of purely digital communication.

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