MICROWAVE

LINK
KULIAH KE 4
LINE OF SIGHT (LOS)
TYPICAL CELLULAR NETWORK
LINK HOP CONCEPT
RADIO CHARACTERISTICS
 CAPACITY AND BANDWIDTH

• NEEDED BANDWITH ON RADIO

PATH :IS PROPOTIONAL TO THE
TRANSMISSION RATE
 RADIO PATH CALCULATION

• ISOTROPIC ANTENNA RADIATED POWER EVENLY IN ALL DIRECTION

• LOSS : FREE SPACE LOSS
FREE SPACE LOSS FSL
 FREE SPACE LOSS

FREE-SPACE LOSS IS GIVEN BY

L = 92 .5 + 20 LOG(D) + 20 LOG(F O )

• WHERE
• LO IS THE FREE-SPACE LOSS (DB)
• D IS THE HOPLENGTH (KM)
• F IS THE RADIO FREQUENCY (GHZ)
 PARABOLIC ANTENNA

• BEAMWIDTH PENCIL : GOOD DIRECTIVITY

 RADIO EQUIPMENT

• NEC • Rohde & Schwartz

• Ericsson • Kuhne
• Nokia • Codan
• Marelli • Alcatel
• Marconi • Fujitsu
• GT&E • Siemens
• GE • ATI
• Phillips • Hughes
 ANTENNA GAIN
• PARABOLIC ANTENNA HAS GOOD DIRECTIVITY
• ANTENNA GAIN DEPENDS ON
• ANTENNA DIAMETER
• FREQUENCY
• ANTENNA SHAPE
• ANTENNA QUALITY

• ANTENNA MANUFACTURERS GIVE THE EXACT ANTENNA GAIN IN

THE TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION OF THE ANTENNA
 ANTENNA GAIN
• ANTENNA GAIN CAN BE ESTIMATED BY THE FOLLOWING
FORMULA. THE GAINIS GIVEN WITH RELATION TO AN ISOTROPIC
ANTENNA
GA = 20 LOG(DA) + 20 LOG(F ) + 17.5
• WHERE
• GA = THE ANTENNA GAIN (DB)
• DA = THE ANTENNA DIAMETER (M)
• F = THE RADIO FREQUENCY (GHZ)
 HOP LOSS

• THE HOP LOSS WITHOUT FADING IS CALCULATED AS FOLLOWS

• L HO = L O - G A1- G A2 + LAT +LEX
• WHERE
• LHO ISNONFADED HOP LOSS
• LO IS FREE-SPACE LOSS
• GA1 AND GA2 ARE ANTENNA GAINS
• LEX ISTHE EXTRA ATTENUATION
• LAT ISTHE ATMOSPHERIC ATTENUATION CAUSED BY WATER
VAPOUR AND OXYGEN.
 THE FLAT FADE MARGIN

• THE FLAT FADE MARGIN M OF A RADIO LINK HOP IS GIVEN

BY THE FOLLOWING FORMULA
• M = P TX- L HO - P RXTH . .
• WHERE
• M = THE FADE MARGIN
• PTX = THE TRANSMITTER OUTPUT POWER (DBM)
• LHO = HOP LOSS WITHOUT FADING (DB)
• PRXTH = THE THRESHOLD POWER LEVEL (DBM) OF THE RECEIVER
(THE INFLUENCE OF POSSIBLE INTERFERENCE HAS BEEN INCLUDED)
RADIOPATH CALCULATION (LOSS)
 ATMOSPHERIC ATTENUATION

• FREQUENCIES ABOVE ABOUT 17 GHZ: 0.1 -0.7 DB/KM

• OXYGEN AND WATERVAPOUR CAUSES ATTENUATION
• ATTENUATION CAUSED BY OXYGEN DIMINISHES WITH ALTITUDE,
BUT THIS DOESN’T HAVE NOTICEABLE EFFECT BELOW 1-2 KM
• ALSO ATTENUATION CAUSED BY WATERVAPOUR DIMINISHES WITH
ALTITUDE
• VALUES FOR ATMOSPHERIC ATTENUATION CAN BE OBTAINED
FROM ITU-R RECOMMENDATIONS P.676-3 AND P.836-
 CALCULATION EXERCISE

1. CALCULATE THE FADE MARGIN FOR THE FOLLOWING HOP:

• HOP LENGTH : 5 KM
• FREQUENCY : 38 GHZ
• ANTENNA SIZE : 30 CM
• ATMOSPHERIC ATTENUATION: 0,234 DB/KM
• TRANSMIT POWER : 16DBM
• RECEIVER THRESHOLD : -76 DB M

• NO EXTRA ATTENUATION ASSUMED.

 CAL.....

2. HOW LONG A HOP CAN BE IF THE FADE MARGIN MUST EXCEED 40

DB
• A) IGNORE THE ATMOSPHERIC ATTENUATION
• B) IF YOU REDUCE THE HOP LENGTH BY 100 M AND TAKE INTO
ACCOUNT THE ATMOSPHERIC ATTENUATION, IS THE FADE MARGIN
MORE THAN 40 DB
 PROPAGATION PHENOMENA

• RAIN
• GASEOUS ATHMOSPHERE
• SNOW, DUST, FOG ETC.
• MULTIPATHFADING
• K-FADING
FADING FADING
RAIN
 RAIN
• Rain causes attenuation that has a greater effect than the
gaseous contents
• Attenuation caused by SCATTERING & ABSORPTION
• Effect can be calculated using ITU - R model and rain rate
tables (IT U-R P.837)
• Dependent on frequency, polarization and rain intensity and
lesser amount of temperature, drop size distribution, etc.
• Rain has the dominating effect in design in frequencies
above about 15 GHz
HOP LENGTH VS. RAIN INTESITY INTESITY
(WHEN UNAVAILABILITY DUE TO RAIN IS 0.01 %)
 RAIN ATTENUATION CALCULATION
• The attenuation caused by rain can be calculated by
A0.01   R * r * d
• Where
•  R Is the is the rain attenuation (db/km), dependent on
frequency, polarization and rainfall rate R0.01
• R is the reduction factor taking into account that rainfall
rate is not constant over the link
• D is the link length
• Diffraction and multipath fading play usually a minor role in
short hops in high frequencies
• Tools should be used for performance calculations
 SNOW, FOG, DUST ETC.

• Normally no great effect in design

• Snow may occasionally have a distinct effect on attenuation
at frequencies above about 10 ghz. Dry snow causes
relatively small attenuation (it is taken into account in the
rain values)
• Thick snow layers on the radomes of the antennas may
contribute most of the extra attenuation
 SNOW, FOG, DUST ETC
• If the snow or ice only partially cover the radome, it changes
the antenna radiation pattern and may cause deep minima
in some directions, sometimes also to the boresight
• The effect of fog is usually important only at frequencies
above 100G hz
• The effect of dust is usually insignificant
 THE FIRST FRESNELL ZONE
ELLIPSOID WHERE D1+D2-D EQUALS HALF OF THE
WAVELENGTH
 MULTIPATH FADING

• CAUSED BY LAYERS IN THE ATMOSPHERE WHICH REFLECT AND

REFRACT THE RADIOWAVES, ALSO SURFACE REFLECTIONS MAY BE
PART OF THIS PHENOMENON.
• EFFECTS CAN BE CALCULATED WITH ITU - R FORMULAS AND USING
A DIGITAL TERRAIN MAP
• BELOW 34 MBIT/S CAPACITY SYSTEMS IT MAY BE CONSIDERED TO
BE FLAT, I.E. THE WHOLE SIGNAL BAND IS HAVING A UNIFORM
ATTENUATION.
 MULTIPATH FADING

• DEPENDENT ON FREQUENCY AND DISTANCE. THE MOST

IMPORTANT FACTOR INFLUENCING ON THE PERFORMANCE OF
RADIO LINKS BELOW ABOUT 10G HZ. IT ALSO HAS NOTICEABLE
EFFECTS ON LINKS USING FREQUENCIES ABOVE 17 GHZ BUT THE
IMPORTANCE DIMINISHES WITH SHORTENING HOP LENGTHS AT
INCREASING FREQUENCIES ABOVE ABOUT 26 GHZ THE FADING
CAUSED BY RAIN IS DOMINANT.
• DURATION OF DEEP FADES USUALLY LESS THAN ONE SECOND I.E.
CONSIDERED AS ERROR PERFORMANCE.
 OVERCOMING MULTIPATH FADING

• Space diversity can be used to overcome fading caused

by multipath
• Da is selected to make dm -ds an odd multiple of half-
wavelength
 OVERCOMING MULTIPATH FADING

INSTALL ANTENNA SO THAT PATH TO REFLECTING

SURFACE IS OBSTRUCTED
 K-FADING

• THE VARIATION OF ATMOSPHERIC REFRACTIVE INDEX WITH

HEIGHT CAUSES THE RADIOWAVES PROPAGATE ALONG CURVED
PATHS (DIFFRACTION).
• NORMALLY RADIOWAVES ARE BENT IN SUCH A WAY TOWARDS THE
EARTH THAT THE RADIO HORIZON IS SLIGHTLY FURTHER AWAY
THAN THE OPTICAL HORIZON
 K-FADING

• THE FADING IS CAUSED BY SUCH CHANGES IN THE

REFRACTIVITY (K-FACTOR) THAT MAKE THE HOP TO
BECOME OBSTRUCTED
• CHANGES IN REFRACTIVITY CAN ALSO MAKE THE HOP
DEFOCUSED
 K -FACTOR

• THE AMOUNT AND DIRECTION OF REFRACTION IS DESCRIBED USING

THE K-VALUE, WHICH GIVES THE RATIO OF THE EFFECTIVE EARTH
RADIUS TO THE REAL EARTH RADIUS WHEN PROPAGATION PATH
IS A STRAIGHT LINE
• K-VALUE IS DEPENDENT ON TEMPERATURE, AIR PRESSURE AND
HUMIDITY
• THE NORMAL K-VALUE IS 4/3. IT IS TYPICALLY BIGGER IN THE TROPIC
THAN IN COLDER CLIMATES
 SELECTION OF ANTENNA HEIGHTS

• NOT TOO HIGH, NOT TOO LOW

• IF TOO LOW => OCCASIONAL
FADING OF LONG DURATION IN
THE RECEIVED POWER
• IF TOO HIGH => EXPENSIVE DESIGN
AND INCREASED FADING OWING
TO MULTIPATH PROPAGATION AND
SURFACE REFLECTIONS
 SELECTION OF ANTENNA HEIGHTS

• IN CASES OF UNCERTAINTY, IT IS SAFER TO CHOOSE TOO HIGH

THAN TOO LOW
• RULE OF THUMB: 1.5 X 1ST FRESNELZONE FREE OR
• OBSTRUCTIONS AT MOST UP TO LINE-OF-SIGHT AT K = 0.5 (BELOW
15 KM)
• DETERMINED BY THE REQUIRED CLEARANCE AND THE TERRAIN
PROFILE
 INTERFERENCE

• In addition to the wanted signal the antenna receives

unwanted interfering signals
• Antenna discrimination depends on the angle between
the wanted signal S and the interfering signal I
• The amount of discrimination can be found in the
radiation pattern of the antenna
 INTERFERENCE

• THE AMOUNT OF
DECOUPLING DEPENDS
OF THE FREQUENCIES
USED IN SIGNALS S
AND I
 OVERCOMING AND AVOIDING
INTERFERENCE
• Increase channel spacing to increase decoupling by radio
filters
• Polarisation
• Antenna discrimination
• Attenuating interfering transmitter
• Topology
 OVERCOMING INTERFERENCE

• THE INTERFERING SIGNAL CAUSES DEGRADATION IN RECEIVE

THRESHOLD VALUE
• THE RADIO EQUIPMENT SPECIFY SIGNAL TO INTERFERENCE (S/I)
RATIOS FOR RECEIVE THRESHOLD DEGRADATIONS OF 1 AND 3 DB.
• CORRELATED SIGNAL INTERFERENCE EASIER TO ESTIMATE BECAUSE
SIGNALS FADE TOGETHER
 TYPICAL PLANNING ORDER

• SELECTION OF FREQUENCY BAND

• •SETTING THE DESIGN OBJECTIVES
• •ERROR PERFORMANCE
• •AVAILABILITY
• •ITU-R CATEGORIES

• •PATH PROFILE (TERRAIN)

• •LINE OF SIGHT CHECK
• •REFLECTION ANALYSIS
• •ANTENNA HEIGHTS
 TYPICAL PLANNING ORDER

• RADIOPATH CALCULATION (RADIO PARAMETERS)

• CABLE TYPE
• ANTENNA DIAMETERS
• UNFADED FADE MARGIN (FREE SPACE LOSS)
• PROPAGATION PHENOMENA
• RAIN, MULTIPATH, K-FADING
• PERFORMANCE CALCULATION
• AVAILABILITY CALCULATION
• INTERFERENCE AND CHANNEL ALLOCATION IF NEEDED
• ITERATE
 PROFILE

• CALCULATES THE ANTENNA HEIGHTS

• REQUIRES MANUAL INPUT OF THE GROUND PROFILE
• PROFILE IS TYPICALLY TAKEN FROM PAPER MAPS
• INPUTS:
• SITE NAMES
• RADIO FREQUENCY
• K-VALUE
• HOP LENGTH
• STATION ELEVATIONS
• CLEARANCE CRITERION (FRESNELZONE)
• TERRAIN PROFILE
• HEIGHTS OF OBSTACLES (TREES ETC.)
• OUTPUTS ARE ANTENNA HEIGHTS