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What is Microwave
Communication（3）——
Microwave Frequency Bands
and RF Channels
 Published on July 7, 2016
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Ivy Zeng
Huawei - Information Engineer for Transport Product

Microwave Frequency Bands

Microwave frequency bands are officially assigned by the radio
frequency spectrum management authorities especially for microwave
communication. ITU-R recommends the following microwave
frequency bands: 7 GHz, 8 GHz, 11 GHz, 13 GHz, 15 GHz, 18 GHz,
23 GHz, 26 GHz, 32 GHz, and 38 GHz.

Due to component performance limitation, a piece of microwave

equipment supports only a part of the entire frequency range in a
frequency band. Therefore, microwave vendors divide each
microwave frequency bands into multiple sub bands. That is, a piece
of microwave equipment supports only a microwave frequency sub
band.

NOTE: Microwave equipment vendors define their own sub bands.

Therefore, the frequency ranges of sub bands may be different on
different vendors' microwave equipment.

RF Channels
The entire frequency range in a frequency band can be divided into
multiple smaller frequency ranges that cover the frequency spectra
required for transmitters to radiate microwave signals. These smaller
frequency ranges are called RF channels.

NOTE: Some frequency bands are first divided into multiple

frequency ranges and then further divided into RF channels.

An RF channel is indicated by its center frequency and a sequence

number. See Figure 1.
Basic concepts related to RF channels are as follows:

 Center frequency

When a piece of microwave equipment transmits or receives

microwave signals over a channel, the carrier frequency
(transmit/receive frequency) must be the center frequency of this
channel. If the TX low site on a radio link transmits microwave
signals over frequency f1, its transmit frequency is f1 and its receive
frequency is f1'; for the Tx high site, its transmit frequency is f1' and
its receive frequency is f1.

 Channel spacing

T/R spacing refers to the spacing required between two neighboring

channels. The bandwidth of a channel must be equal to or less than
the channel spacing. Usually, the channel spacing is equal to the
channel bandwidth. The channel spacing for a microwave signal is
related to the microwave capacity and modulation mode of this signal.
ETSI recommends the following channel spacings: 3.5 MHz, 7 MHz,
14 MHz, 28 MHz, 40 MHz, and 56 MHz. The larger the channel
spacing, the larger the channel bandwidth allowed. That is, when the
frequency bandwidth utilization ratio is fixed, the microwave air-
interface capacity increases with the channel spacing. However, the
larger the channel spacing, the more prone to interference and
selective fading the channel.

 T/R spacing

T/R spacing refers to the spacing between the transmit frequency and
receive frequency. The channels in a frequency range have the same
T/R spacing.

NOTE:

The frequency range, channel, channel spacing, and T/R spacing

specific to a frequency band are officially defined by the local
country/area.
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Ivy Zeng
Huawei - Information Engineer for Transport Product
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