Most text books will declare that, for an envelope detector to recover the envelope of an
envelope modulated (AM) signal, the carrier frequency must be very much greater than the
message frequency. This is the requirement for a simple ‘diode detector’, but not necessary
for an ‘ideal envelope detector’. Such a detector can be modelled using a so called ‘ideal
diode’ 4, and an appropriate lowpass filter (LPF). There is an ideal diode in the UTILITIES
module, and a TUNEABLE LPF serves as a suitable LPF.
Model the approximation to an envelope detector 5 – namely, the ‘diode detector’. Use the
DIODE + LPF in the UTILITIES. Set up an AM signal on 100 kHz and use a 2 kHz message
(say) as described in the previous section. Set to a low depth of modulation.
Is the output of the DIODE + LPF a reasonable copy of the message ? Increase the depth of
modulation, and watch the envelope. Is there a degradation ?
Now reduce the carrier frequency to 15 kHz and watch the envelope ! The conditions for
the diode detector to approximate an envelope detector are completely upset.
Now change to an ideal rectifier and a (relatively) ideal lowpass filter (LPF) set, say, to a
cutoff of 6 kHz. Since the message is 2 kHz (would it not be preferred to set the cutoff to
just above 2 kHz ?). For measurement purposes, absolutely not ! For measurement
purposes it should be just below the carrier frequency ! Explain !