Basic Microwave Propagation

01/038 13 - LZU 113 302 B 1 MINI-LINK HC Operation & Maintenance

Basic Microwave Propagation
Agenda

Link budget
• Free Space Loss
• Radio and Antenna properties
Line of Sight

Fading

Frequency planning

Transmission quality

01/038 13 - LZU 113 302 B 2 MINI-LINK HC Operation & Maintenance

Link budget

GTX GRX
Antenna Gain Frequency Antenna Gain

Power
Level
[dBm]
PTX
A = Free Space Loss
Output Power (incl. Gas Absorption)

PRX Input Power

Fade Margin

Receiver
Distance Threshold Level

01/038 13 - LZU 113 302 B 3 MINI-LINK HC Operation & Maintenance

Basic Free Space Loss Calculation

Basic Free Space Loss

A 0 = 92.4 + 20 log d + 20 log f
d = distance in km
f = frequency in GHz
A 0 = 92.4 + 20 log 30 + 20 log 15 = 145 dB

01/038 13 - LZU 113 302 B 4 MINI-LINK HC Operation & Maintenance

Free space loss

“High” frequency
Easier to get license
Short range
Urban use in general

“Low” frequency
Long range
Generally used in rural areas

Generally frequency licenses shall be applied for from national administrations

01/038 13 - LZU 113 302 B 5 MINI-LINK HC Operation & Maintenance

Modulation Techniques, examples
C-QPSK (4QAM) 16-QAM 128-QAM

4 symbols 16 symbols 128 symbols

2 bits/symbol 4 bits/symbol 7 bits/symbol

Traffic capacity [Mbit/s] Traffic capacity

per bandwidth
Channel spacing [MHz] C-QPSK 16QAM 128QAM
3.5 4 128QAM
7 8 16
14 16 37 16QAM
28 37 155
56 (2x 28) 155 C-QPSK
Distance [km]
Available combinations in MINI-LINK

01/038 13 - LZU 113 302 B 6 MINI-LINK HC Operation & Maintenance

Antenna
Antenna gain

A “small” antenna gives:

Less windload, less visibility and
lower cost for antenna
and installation

A “large” antenna gives:

Higher gain, thereby longer hop
and/or higher transmission
quality

Lower radio frequency  Larger antenna

Longer path length  Larger antenna

01/038 13 - LZU 113 302 B 7 MINI-LINK HC Operation & Maintenance

Link Budget
Antenna Gain

Power
Level
[dBm]
Antenna
Transmitter Gain
output power [dBi]

Input power to
1.2m antenna

the receiver
0.6m antenna

0.3m antenna

Receiver threshold level

0 km n km Distance [km]
01/038 13 - LZU 113 302 B 8 MINI-LINK HC Operation & Maintenance
Basic Microwave Propagation
Agenda

Link budget

Line of Sight
• Atmospheric properties
• Fresnell zone
• Ground clearance
Fading

Frequency planning

Transmission quality

01/038 13 - LZU 113 302 B 9 MINI-LINK HC Operation & Maintenance

Line of sight
Radio optical line of sight
Ground clearence
Geometrical line of sight

• Heights of masts must be designed so that there is

a radio optical free line of sight and a sufficiently large
ground clearance.
• Due to atmospheric properties the radio beam is normally
bent slightly downwards

01/038 13 - LZU 113 302 B 10 MINI-LINK HC Operation & Maintenance

Line of sight
Refraction
Radio optical line of sight
Ground clearence
Geometrical line of sight

• The bending effect is described by the k-factor

• k = 4/3 corresponds to a “standard” atmosphere
• The earth radii is multiplied with the k-factor and thereby,
at standard atmosphere, making the earth flatter.

01/038 13 - LZU 113 302 B 11 MINI-LINK HC Operation & Maintenance

Line of sight
Earth bulge

Flat earth surface

Earth bulge

Hop length: 5km 15km 50km

Radio optical earth bulge at
0.4m 3.3m 37m
standard atmosphere, k = 4/3
“Real” earth bulge, k = 1 0.5m 4.4m 50m
Radio optical earth bulge at
0.7m 6.7m 75m
sub refractive atmosphere, k = 2/3

01/038 13 - LZU 113 302 B 12 MINI-LINK HC Operation & Maintenance

Line of sight
The 1:st Fresnell zone

The signal power is distributed in the

space surrounding the direct line of sight

Line of sight

1st zone

01/038 13 - LZU 113 302 B 13 MINI-LINK HC Operation & Maintenance

Line of sight
The 1:st Fresnell zone, examples of radii at mid path

rF

Hop length: 5km 15km 50km

7GHz 7m 12m 23m

15GHz 5m 8m 16m
38GHz 3m 5m 10m

01/038 13 - LZU 113 302 B 14 MINI-LINK HC Operation & Maintenance

Line of sight
Design Objective

rF

• The 1st Fresnel zone shall be free from obstacles when k = 4/3
• On paths over water surfaces or desert areas,
it is recommended to have the 1st Fresnel zone free from
obstacles when k = 1

01/038 13 - LZU 113 302 B 15 MINI-LINK HC Operation & Maintenance

Line of sight
Obstruction Loss - Knife-edge Obstructions

Line of Sight

0 dB 0 dB 6 dB 12 dB 16 dB 20 dB

01/038 13 - LZU 113 302 B 16 MINI-LINK HC Operation & Maintenance

Basic Microwave Propagation
Agenda

Link budget

Line of Sight

Fading
• Rain fading
• Multipath fading

Frequency planning

Transmission quality

01/038 13 - LZU 113 302 B 17 MINI-LINK HC Operation & Maintenance

Rain fading

Rain drops real shape:

V
H

Horizontally polarised waves are

attenuated more than vertically
polarised waves

01/038 13 - LZU 113 302 B 18 MINI-LINK HC Operation & Maintenance

Rain fading
50 150
Tropical
37 dB/km 100
Downpour
50
30 Heavy
10 22 Rain
6.0 dB/km 10

Instantaneous Rain Intensity (mm/h)

Rain Absorption Coefficient (dB/km)

4 Medium
2.4 dB/km Heavy
2
Rain
1 1

0.4 Light
Rain

0.15 dB/km Drizzle

0.1

0.01
5 7 GHz 10 20 38 GHz 50 100
Radio frequency (GHz)

01/038 13 - LZU 113 302 B 19 MINI-LINK HC Operation & Maintenance

Rain fading
Effect and what to do

Rain fading will be seen as:

• Low RF input power to the receiver deff
resulting in Unavailable time (UAT) d

What to do?
• Lower frequency band
• Increased system gain (increased fade margin)
Larger antennas, increased transmitter output power.
• Vertical antenna polarization
• (Shorter hop…)

01/038 13 - LZU 113 302 B 20 MINI-LINK HC Operation & Maintenance

Multipath Fading
Due to Atmospheric Layers

01/038 13 - LZU 113 302 B 21 MINI-LINK HC Operation & Maintenance

Multipath Fading
Due to Atmospheric Layers

01/038 13 - LZU 113 302 B 22 MINI-LINK HC Operation & Maintenance

Multipath Fading

Flat fading
• The loss is uniform across the
frequency spectrum

Selective fading
• The loss varies across the
frequency spectrum

01/038 13 - LZU 113 302 B 23 MINI-LINK HC Operation & Maintenance

Multipath Fading
Frequency Spectrum

Fading free Flat fading

Selective fading
power level [dBm]
Received

Center fq Channel bandwidth (MHz)

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Multipath Fading
Effect and what to do

Multipath fading will be seen as:

Bit errors in the transmission.
Resulting in
• Errorred seconds (ES)
• Severely errorred seconds (SES)

What to do? What to do?

At flat multipath fading: At frequency selective multipath fading:
• Increased system gain • Space or Frequency diversity
Larger antennas, • (Shorter hop…)
Increased transmitter output power.
• Space or Frequency diversity
• (Shorter hop…)

01/038 13 - LZU 113 302 B 25 MINI-LINK HC Operation & Maintenance

Basic Microwave Propagation
Agenda

Link budget

Line of Sight

Fading

Frequency planning
• Frequency plan
• Sub-band allocation
• Interfering signals
Transmission quality

01/038 13 - LZU 113 302 B 26 MINI-LINK HC Operation & Maintenance

Frequency Planning
Channel Spacing
By international regulations microwave radio-link frequency bands are divided
into channels with different frequency bandwidths, defined as channel spacing.
Wide bandwidth: more information, traffic, can be sent over the path.
Narrow bandwidth: more paths can be present in a certain geographical area
without disturbing each other, and each path may be longer.

Channel spacing 3.5 MHz

3.5 MHz
7 MHz
7 MHz
14 MHz
14 MHz
28 MHz
28 MHz

01/038 13 - LZU 113 302 B 27 MINI-LINK HC Operation & Maintenance

Frequency Planning
Channel arrangement example, 15GHz band, ITU-R Rec. F.636

Upper band
1’A 3’A 5’A 7’A 3.5 MHz 114’A 116’A 118’A 120’A
14924 MHz

15343 MHz
1’B7 MHz2’B 3’B 4’B 57’B 58’B 59’B 60’B

1’C 14 MHz 2’C 29’C 30’C

1’D 28 MHz 15’D

Lower band
1A 3A 5A 7A 3.5 MHz 114A 116A 118A 120A
14500 MHz

14925 MHz
1B 7 MHz2B 3B 4B 57B 58B 59B 60B

1C 14 MHz 2C 29C 30C

1D 28 MHz 15D

01/038 13 - LZU 113 302 B 28 MINI-LINK HC Operation & Maintenance

Frequency Planning
Sub-band Allocation

NO YES

LOW LOW

HIGH LOW

01/038 13 - LZU 113 302 B 29 MINI-LINK HC Operation & Maintenance

Frequency Planning
Sub-band Allocation

LOW HIGH HIGH LOW LOW

01/038 13 - LZU 113 302 B 30 MINI-LINK HC Operation & Maintenance

Frequency Planning
Interfering signals

V-pol. V-pol.
Vertical polarization

H-pol.

V-pol
H-pol.

V-pol

H-pol H-pol

01/038 13 - LZU 113 302 B 31 MINI-LINK HC Operation & Maintenance

Frequency Planning
Interfering signals
GTX GRX
Antenna Gain Antenna Gain

Power
Level
[dBm]
PTX
Output Power

PRX
Input Power
Degraded Threshold Level
Nominal Threshold Level

01/038 13 - LZU 113 302 B 32 MINI-LINK HC Operation & Maintenance

Frequency Planning
Interfering signals, effect and what to do

Interfering signals will be seen as:

• Degraded path performances resulting
in ES / SES / UAT despite correct
RF input power to the receiver

What to do?
• Change of antenna polarization
• High Performance antennas
• Larger antennas / lower transmitter output power
• Shadow the interfering signal
Lower the antenna / Move the site
• Use another frequency

01/038 13 - LZU 113 302 B 33 MINI-LINK HC Operation & Maintenance

Microwave fundamentals
Agenda

Link budget

Line of Sight

Fading

Frequency planning

Transmission quality

01/038 13 - LZU 113 302 B 34 MINI-LINK HC Operation & Maintenance

Basic Microwave Propagation P
Quality targets

D
Quality and Availability Targets
• All links are designed to meet a certain transmission quality.
• Internationally accepted recommendations for transmission quality
and how to predict it are published by the ITU
(International Telecommunication Union).
• Quality is based on the ratio of errored bits.
• In microwave radio links it is, besides the distance, fading from rain
or the fact that the signal can reach the receiver via different
paths in the atmosphere, multipath fading, that commonly
limits the performances.

01/038 13 - LZU 113 302 B 35 MINI-LINK HC Operation & Maintenance