• A carrier wave is defined as:

A waveform that is modulated by either AM or FM before being transmitted

• A carrier wave which has an amplitude modulated by a single audio frequency is equivalent to the carrier wave frequency together with two sideband frequencies
• When a carrier wave is modulated in this way, further signals are created on either side of the carrier with varying frequencies
  • These are called sidebands and carry the modulation information
• The AM sidebands are generated above and below the main carrier