Frequency-shift keying

Frequency-shift keying (FSK) is a frequency modulation scheme in which digital information is transmitted through discrete frequency changes of a carrier signal. The technology is used for communication systems such as amateur radio, caller ID and emergency broadcasts. The simplest FSK is binary FSK (BFSK). BFSK uses a pair of discrete frequencies to transmit binary (0s and 1s) information. With this scheme, the "1" is called the mark frequency and the "0" is called the space frequency. The time domain of an FSK modulated carrier is illustrated in the figures to the right.

Reference implementations of FSK modems exist and are documented in detail. The demodulation of a binary FSK signal can be done using the Goertzel algorithm very efficiently, even on low-power microcontrollers.

In principle FSK can be implemented by using completely independent free-running oscillators, and switching between them at the beginning of each symbol period. In general, independent oscillators will not be at the same phase and therefore the same amplitude at the switch-over instant, causing sudden discontinuities in the transmitted signal.

In practice, many FSK transmitters use only a single oscillator, and the process of switching to a different frequency at the beginning of each symbol period preserves the phase. The elimination of discontinuities in the phase (and therefore elimination of sudden changes in amplitude) reduces sideband power, reducing interference with neighboring channels.

Rather than directly modulating the frequency with the digital data symbols, "instantaneously" changing the frequency at the beginning of each symbol period, Gaussian frequency-shift keying (GFSK) filters the data pulses with a Gaussian filter to make the transitions smoother. This filter has the advantage of reducing sideband power, reducing interference with neighboring channels, at the cost of increasing intersymbol interference. It is used by DECT, Bluetooth,Cypress WirelessUSB, Nordic Semiconductor,Texas Instruments LPRF, Z-Wave and Wavenis devices. For basic data rate Bluetooth the minimum deviation is 115 kHz.

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