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Question

What bandwidth is needed for an FM signal that has a peak deviation of ± 3 KHz and handles audio signals from 200 Hz to 5 KHz ?

This question was previously asked in
UGC NET 2014 Paper 1 Question Paper (28-Dec-2014)
The correct answer is

16 KHz

 Carson's rule gives the bandwidth of an FM signal directly :

\(B=2\left(\Delta f+f_{m}\right)\)

where \(\Delta f\) is the peak deviation and \(f_{m}\) the highest modulating frequency.

Identify the two quantities. The deviation is given as ±3 kHz, so \(\Delta f=3\ \text{kHz}\). The audio spans 200 Hz to 5 kHz, and bandwidth is set by the worst case — the top of that range:

\(f_{m}=5\ \text{kHz}\)

The 200 Hz lower limit plays no part; it is there to see whether the candidate reaches for the wrong end of the band.

Substitute :

\(B=2\left(3+5\right)=16\ \text{kHz}\)

which is option 2.

Wrong routeGivesError
\(2\Delta f\)6 kHzIgnores the modulating frequency entirely
\(2f_{m}\)10 kHzThe AM bandwidth, not FM
\(2(3+1.8)\)9.6 kHzUses some intermediate audio frequency
\(2(\Delta f+f_{m})\)16 kHzCorrect

Check the modulation index to see what kind of FM this is:

\(\beta=\dfrac{\Delta f}{f_{m}}=\dfrac{3}{5}=0.6\)

With \(\beta\lt1\) this is narrowband FM, and Carson's rule sensibly returns a value close to \(2f_{m}=10\ \text{kHz}\), the AM-like limit, rather than the \(2\Delta f\) that dominates in wideband FM.

Why Carson's rule is only approximate. An FM signal strictly has infinitely many sideband pairs, spaced \(f_{m}\) apart, with amplitudes given by the Bessel functions \(J_{n}(\beta)\). Carson's rule counts the sidebands that together carry about 98 % of the power and discards the negligible remainder — a working engineering compromise rather than an exact result.

The comparison worth remembering : broadcast FM uses \(\Delta f=75\ \text{kHz}\) with \(f_{m}=15\ \text{kHz}\), giving \(B=180\ \text{kHz}\) inside a 200 kHz channel allocation.

Hence, the bandwidth needed is 16 kHz.

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Similar Questions

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  2. Consider the following :

    ST1 : F.M. signal produces more side bands than A.M.
    ST2 : The carrier in a F.M. signal can never be dropped to zero amplitude.

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Important Questions from Frequency Modulation

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