Which receiver function converts the negative portion of the RF signal to positive?

Which receiver function converts the negative portion of the RF signal to positive?

• A. Rectification
• B. Compression
• C. Enveloping
• D. Demodulation

Answer: (A)

When you want to extract the amplitude information from an RF signal, you need to convert the alternating waveform into a single-polarity version. This is done by rectification, which uses a diode (or similar device) to pass one polarity and block the other. As a result, the negative half-cycles are transformed into positive ones, producing a unipolar signal that preserves the carrier’s envelope for further processing. This unipolar signal is what an envelope detector can follow to recover the modulation. The other processes don’t inherently flip the sign of the waveform: demodulation is the broader process of retrieving information from the carrier (and may involve rectification as part of the chain), enveloping refers to tracking the envelope but doesn’t specify converting negative swings to positive, and compression changes dynamic range without sign inversion.

When you want to extract the amplitude information from an RF signal, you need to convert the alternating waveform into a single-polarity version. This is done by rectification, which uses a diode (or similar device) to pass one polarity and block the other. As a result, the negative half-cycles are transformed into positive ones, producing a unipolar signal that preserves the carrier’s envelope for further processing. This unipolar signal is what an envelope detector can follow to recover the modulation.

The other processes don’t inherently flip the sign of the waveform: demodulation is the broader process of retrieving information from the carrier (and may involve rectification as part of the chain), enveloping refers to tracking the envelope but doesn’t specify converting negative swings to positive, and compression changes dynamic range without sign inversion.