Why use quadrature modulation

1. Why do we use quadrature amplitude modulation?
2. Why do we use quadrature signals?
3. What is the main advantage of QAM compared to PSK?
4. Where is QAM modulation used?

Why do we use quadrature amplitude modulation?

Key Takeaway: QAM (quadrature amplitude modulation) is a modulation scheme used by network operators when transmitting data. QAM relates to a way of changing the amplitude, or power level, of two signals. QAM enables an analog signal to efficiently transmit digital information and increases the useable bandwidth.

Why do we use quadrature signals?

Quadrature signal processing is used in many fields of science and engineering, and quadrature signals are necessary to describe the processing and implementation that takes place in modern digital communications systems.

What is the main advantage of QAM compared to PSK?

The constellation diagram of QAM shows that the distance between each combination is constant for any order. PSK has a smaller distance; thus, it is very rational for QAM to perform better than PSK for the higher-order as 16-QAM, 64-QAM, and 256-QAM.

Where is QAM modulation used?

QAM is used extensively as a modulation scheme for digital telecommunication systems, such as in 802.11 Wi-Fi standards. Arbitrarily high spectral efficiencies can be achieved with QAM by setting a suitable constellation size, limited only by the noise level and linearity of the communications channel.