Tamed Frequency Modulation, A Novel Method to Achieve Spectrum Economy in Digital Transmission

This paper describes a new type of frequency modulation, called Tamed Frequency Modulation (TFM), for digital transmission. The desired constraint of a constant envelope signal is combined with a maximum of spectrum economy which is of great importance, particularly in radio channels. The out-of-band radiation is substantially less as compared with other known constant envelope modulation techniques. With synchronous detection, a penalty of only 1 dB in error performance is encountered as compared with four-phase modulation. The idea behind TFM is the proper control of the frequency of the transmitter oscillator, such that the phase of the modulated signal becomes a smooth function of time with correlative properties. Simple and flexible implementation schemes are described.