Question:medium

A wireless digital transmission scheme is using \(16\)-QAM over an additive white Gaussian noise channel and a maximum-likelihood receiver. Consider the information bit rate from source to be \(4\times10^{6}\) bits per second.

The minimum transmission bandwidth (in MHz) of the modulated signal necessary for optimum recovery of information at the receiver is (rounded off to two decimal places).

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Find bits per symbol from \(\log_2(16)\), convert bit rate to symbol rate, then use \(B_{min}=R_s\) for QAM.
Updated On: Jul 20, 2026
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Correct Answer: 1

Solution and Explanation

Step 1: Work out bits per symbol.
A 16-QAM constellation has 16 points, and since $2^4 = 16$, every symbol transmitted carries $4$ bits of information.

Step 2: Convert the bit rate into a symbol rate.
Given the bit rate $R_b = 4\times10^6$ bits/s, dividing by the $4$ bits carried per symbol gives the baud rate:
\[ R_s = \frac{4\times10^6}{4} = 10^6 \text{ symbols/s} \]

Step 3: Recall the Nyquist minimum bandwidth rule for QAM.
For an ideal (Nyquist, zero-ISI) pulse shape, a passband QAM signal needs a transmission bandwidth equal to the symbol rate, $B_{min}=R_s$, since the in-phase and quadrature channels share the same passband through quadrature multiplexing instead of doubling it.

Step 4: Plug in the numbers.
\[ B_{min} = 10^6 \text{ Hz} = 1 \text{ MHz} \]

Step 5: Conclude.
\[ \boxed{B_{min} = 1.00 \text{ MHz}} \]
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