Definition of Terms

Terms regarding microwave systems were enlisted in alphabetical order below.

Throughout this paper, these technical terms must be noted by the reader for deeper
understanding of the design.

Antenna
- is a device which interprets electrical signals/radio waves and transforms it to
the other form (signal to waves, waves to signal).

Antenna Gain
- is the ability to transmit waves in a specific direction instead of all directions. It is
a measure of directionality.

Antenna Orientation
- is the positioning of antennas in one hop where they face each other at
line-of-sight.

Attenuation
- is the loss of amplitude of a signal as it passes through a medium.

Coordinate
- is the values of longitude and latitude of certain location on the globe.

dB (Decibel)
- is the logarithmic unit measuring the ratio of input to output. It is generally used
as the unit for gain and loss.

dBm
- is decibel that is related to 1 mW. The microwave industry uses 1 mW as the
standard unit to measure power level.

Earth Bulge
- is the ideal earth curve as a circle.

Fade Margin
- is the measure of how much signal attenuation due to multipath and rain
fading can be accommodated by the radio system without exceeding a minimum
level of performance.

Free Space Loss

- is the attenuation of propagating signal in free space from one point to another.

Frequency
- is the number of cycles of a periodic activity per unit time. The typical
measurement is Hz (Hertz), which is cycles per second.

Fresnel Clearance
- is the clearance or gap from the center of beam to the tip of considered
obstruction.

Fresnel Zone
- is the area that the microwave signal spreads out or cylindrical ellipse drawn
between transmitter and receiver.
Insertion Loss
- is the loss of power caused by having a switch located between two
connectors in the transmission. It is measured in decibels (dB). All RF/Microwave
devices have insertion loss > 0.

Line-of-Sight
- is the propagation of waves between two antennas in direct beam without being
affected by curvature of earth and blockage of obstruction.

Link Budget
- is the accounting of all gains and losses from the transmitter (TX) through the
medium (free space) to the receiver (RX) in a wireless communication system.

Microwave
- is a section of the electromagnetic spectrum extending between 1 and 300 GHz.
The microwave spectrum is between the RF and infrared spectrums, and is used
in many applications, including communications.

Microwave Communication
- is the unbounded line-of-sight transmission of frequency between 1 and 300
GHz.

Microwave System
- also called hop or link, is a system of two radio transceivers communicating to
each other.

Net Path Loss

- is the difference of total gains to total losses in one microwave system.

Path Analysis
- is the means of determining system performance as a function of the
desired path length, required configuration, and prevailing climate and terrain
characteristics of the area under consideration.

Path Loss
- describes the amount of signal loss (attenuation) between a receiver and a
transmitter.

Point-to-Point Link
- is the connection of one transceiver to another transceiver and
nothing else.

Receiver’s Sensitivity
- is defined as the minimum signal-to-noise ratio times the mean noise power.
The weakest signal the receiver can detect.

Reliability
- is the availability of the system over the total time of operation.

Return Loss
- is the measure of the amount of reflected power when it is connected to
any active or passive device or terminated on a transmission line. Return loss can
be used to calculate VSWR and the Reflection Coefficient expressed in dB.

Transceiver
 - is a component capable of both transmitting and receiving signals.

Tower
- is a tall structure designed to support antennas for telecommunications and
broadcasting.