Modern Communications Receiver Design a (Artech House Intelligence and Information Operations)

Very outdated trivial stuff. I am so puzzled by the good reviews. You are paying for the weight not for the content. This is the kind of book I would have never bought had I browsed through it in a book store. Amazon's paranoia; one cannot have a good enough view of the book at the time of purchase.

Any book that aims to cover this complex field in a single volume ofsuch relatively modest size would necessarily have to be a compromise,or at least assume a great deal of prior knowledge - or so I expected when Iordered Drentea's book, expecting to receive a usable reference book, but notmuch more.I was pleasantly surprised: This book is much more than a reference;it is thorough, honest, well researched, educational and eminently readable.Drentea's style in fact makes a good bedtime reading, something I could not say withmost other technology books on my bookshelves.Drentea writes in an easy-to-read no-nonsense style of someone who isconfident of his expertise and does not need to hide behind pretentiousverbiage to make himself look knowledgeable. He knows his stuff. He writesnot to be admired, but to share.I did not expect - but greatly appreciated! - the historical chaptersat the beginning. This is not just a quick lip service to the old giantswhose pioneering work made radio possible (an iPhone is also a radio!),but interesting, entertaining material - an appetizer that introducesone to Drentea's informal, friendly writing style and sets the stage foryet more pleasant surprises.Yes, there is mathematics, of course - lots of it! - but even that isprovided in a most intelligible form. When Drentea explains, he neverintimidates.To illustrate general design concepts and the usage of various designtools, generously provided in his book, Drentea uses specific examplesof actual designs, discussed in great detail to illustrate the thoughtprocesses and real-world considerations that led to numerous designdecisions that had to be made. This engaging narrative contributes tothe general impression that the author is taking the reader on aimpressive journey of discovery.Much has been written about software-defined radios recently, and manytechnology readers might be tempted into thinking that they can simplyhook up an A/D with a D/A, throw in a little processing between them -and that is today's modern radio. Of course nothing is further from thetruth; the devil is, as always, in the detail. Drentea explainspainstakingly practical limitations of DSP technologies that impact onpractically achieved performance and points a way ahead.I can only highly recommend this book. I was so impressed that I havebought six copies for our engineers (I happen to work in a radiocommunications field).Milan Hudecek

This book encompasses the technology and art that go into modern receiver design. It starts out with a history of radio receivers that helps the reader understand how receiver design has progressed over the past 100 years. It then covers all of the facets of receiver design with plenty of examples that contain both theory and real world examples of successful designs. The chapters on dynamic range are especially relevant to today’s modern receiver design because the airwaves are filled with a lot of RF signals that need to be discriminated against by a combination of linear front-ends, proper mathematical selection of LO and IF frequencies, as well as RF and IF filtering. Digital signal processing (DSP) is an important part of today’s modern receivers, and the book informs the reader that the linearity and noise characteristics of the circuitry in front of the A/D converter has a critical effect on the overall performance of digital receivers. Digital signal processing has dynamic range limitations as a function of the analog converters’ bit depth, linearity, sample-to-sample jitter, and conversion frequency. The author covers analog and digital demodulation as well as how receiver dynamic range and phase noise characteristics play into the overall link margin of modern digital communication systems. Other topics that the book covers include brute-force synthesizers, simple and complex multiple loop phase-locked loops, as well as Direct Digital Synthesizers (DDS) and DDS-Driven phase-locked loop synthesizers, filter design, filter characteristics, overall link margin calculations, audio circuits, and power supply considerations. Although modern receivers use more digital signal processing and fewer linear circuits, the signal processing often mimics its analog counterpart, and the book provides a solid basis for signal processing designs. Another important thread throughout the book is how the various receiver components interact with each other, and provides methods to optimize a design for particular characteristics. After going through the full text, the book becomes a go-to reference for receiver designs.Carl Foster, RF Design Engineer

Having been in RF design for 30 years, there is a lot I can say about this book. First, Cornell has captured the essence of the "Art" of RF design in a comprehensive, easy to read format. From early radio history to complex intermodulation products, this book covers it all with enough math to describe a concept without getting lost in complex equations. Secondly, Cornell has put together a wide range of topics that are stitched together in a way that is both informative and easy to read while not loosing the practical aspects of each topic. It is clear that Cornell's intent is to transfer his experience and knowledge to the reader by breaking down complex topics using easy to read diagrams and figures along with text that keeps the reader engaged. For both the beginning engineering student to the experienced RF engineer, this book contains a wealth of RF design knowledge presented in a clear and concise manner.Joel Blumke - Senior Engineering Fellow

It is a great book to have. It is a well written text explaining the details of receiver technology clearly.It is reflecting the author's years of hands-on experience. A must-have book for the design engineers as well as the college students.