frequency modulation

American  

noun

Electronics, Radio.

1. FM.

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frequency modulation British  

noun

1.  FM.  a method of transmitting information using a radio-frequency carrier wave. The frequency of the carrier wave is varied in accordance with the amplitude and polarity of the input signal, the amplitude of the carrier remaining unchanged Compare amplitude modulation

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frequency modulation Scientific  

1. A method of transmitting signals, especially in radio broadcasting, in which the value of the signal is given by the frequency of a high frequency carrier wave. In FM radio transmission, for example, the signal to be carried is a sound wave, and its increasing and decreasing value is reflected in the increasing and decreasing frequency of a radio frequency carrier wave.

2. Compare amplitude modulation

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frequency modulation Cultural  

1. A type of radio signal in which the frequency of the radio wave is varied to carry information from the transmitter to the receiver. (Compare amplitude modulation (AM).)

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Etymology

Origin of frequency modulation

First recorded in 1920–25

Example Sentences

The difference between AM, or amplitude modulation, and FM, or frequency modulation, involves how sound waves are encoded into a signal that can be picked up by receivers.

From Washington Times • Jun. 6, 2023

FM stands for frequency modulation, another method of carrying information.

From Textbooks • Aug. 12, 2015

He collaborated with Alexander Graham Bell on long distance telephony, pioneered in vacuum tubes, frequency modulation, television.

From Time Magazine Archive

Interference noises can simulate amplitude modulation and therefore disturb signals broadcast by this system, but they do not simulate frequency modulation.

From Time Magazine Archive

These people use an ancient system of electromagnetic wave propagation called frequency modulation, and once Lee and I rigged up a suitable transceiver the rest was simple.

From Control Group by Aycock, Roger D.