MICROWAVE

COMMUNICATION
ECE 157 ELECTIVE III
WIRELESS COMMUNICATION

ENGR NICHOLAS MARIOUS B ASILO, ECT

 MICROWAVE

Microwave is an electromagnetic wave that has a wavelength between 0.1

cm and 100 cm, thus covering 300 MHz to 300 GHz.
INTERNATIONAL TELECOM UNION (ITU) BAND DESIGNATIONS
MICROWAVE FREQUENCY ASSIGNMENT
ADVANTAGES
• Larger bandwidth
• Shorter antennas
• Higher directivity
• Radio signals are more easily propagated around physical obstacles such
as water and high mountains.
• Fewer repeaters are necessary for amplification.
• Distances between switching centers are less.
• Minimal crosstalk exists between voice channels.
• Increased reliability and less maintenance are important factors.
• Long distance (15 to 30 miles between Transmitter and Receiver)
DISADVANTAGES
• It is more difficult to analyze and design circuits at microwave frequencies
.
• Measuring techniques are more difficult to perfect and implement at micro
wave frequencies.
• It is difficult to implement conventional circuit components (resistors, capa
citors, inductors, and so on) at microwave frequencies.
• Transient time is more critical at microwave frequencies. 5. It is often nec
essary to use specialized components for microwave frequencies.
• Microwave frequencies propagate in a straight line, which limits their use t
o line-of-sight applications.
CAUSE OF INTERFERENCE
• Weather conditions such as rain, hail, snow and fog

• Extremely high temperature

• Strong dangerous winds

• Exposure to lighting strikes

• Adjacent-link interference in low LOS clearance

APPLICATIONS
• Point-to-point tail-end facility of large networks for common carriers,
private & government entities.
• Cable TV (CATV)
• Broadband Services
• RADAR
• Air traffic control
• Telephony
• GPS Navigation
MICROWAVE RADIO COMMUNICATIONS LINK
 TYPES OF MICROWAVE TRANSMISSION LINK
 SHORT HAUL
• It is used for short distance microwave transmission
• Transmission between cities or within the state only
• 64 kbps up to 2 Mbps

 LONG HAUL
• It is used for long distance / multi-hop microwave transmission
• Interstate or backbone route applications
• 34 Mbps up to 620 Mbps
FM MICROWAVE TRANSMITTER
FM MICROWAVE RECEIVER
FACTORS AFFECTING MAXIMUM PATH LENGTH

• Transmitter Output Power

• Receiver Threshold
• Atmospheric Conditions
• Terrain
• Reliability Objectives
 MICROWAVE REPEATERS
 PASSIVE MICROWAVE REPEATERS
It is a device that re-radiates microwave energy without additional electronic
power. There are two types of passive microwave repeater.

• Parabolic Antenna

• Flat “Billboard-Type”
PARABOLIC ANTENNA REPEATER
FLAT “BILLBOARD-TYPE” REPEATER
 MICROWAVE REPEATERS
 ACTIVE MICROWAVE REPEATERS
It is a receiver and a transmitter placed back-to-back or in tandem with the
system. It receives the signal, amplifies and reshapes it, then retransmits
the signal to the next station.

• IF Repeater or Heterodyne Repeater

• Baseband Repeater
 IF REPEATER
The received RF carrier is down-converted to an intermediate frequency,
amplified and then retransmitted. The signal is never demodulated below
intermediate frequency, baseband is unmodified.
 BASEBAND REPEATER
The received RF carrier is down-converted to an intermediate frequency,
amplified, filtered and then further demodulated to baseband. Baseband
has been reconfigured.
 LINK PROTECTION SYSTEM
Microwave link protection system is designed to safeguard the microwave
communication network from failure.

 DIVERSITY  PROTECTION SWITCHING

• Frequency Diversity • Hot Standby
• Space Diversity • Diversity
• Hybrid Diversity • Channels

• Polarization Diversity
 DIVERSITY
It is a way of improving system reliability by increasing availability. It suggests
that there are more than one transmission path or method of transmission
between a transmitter and the receiver.

TYPES OF DIVERSITY
 FREQUENCY DIVERSITY
 SPACE DIVERSITY
 HYBRID DIVERSITY
 POLARIZATION DIVERSITY
 FREQUENCY DIVERSITY
It modulates two different RF carrier frequencies with the same IF intelligence,
then transmitting both RF signals to a given destination
 SPACE DIVERSITY
The output of a transmitter is fed to two or more antennas that are physically
separated by an appreciable number of wavelengths
 HYBRID DIVERSITY
It consists of a standard frequency-diversity path where the two transmitter
or receiver pairs at one end of the path are separated from each other and
connected to different antennas that are vertically separated as in space
diversity.
 POLARIZATION DIVERSITY

A single RF carrier is propagated with two different electromagnetic polarizations

(vertical & horizontal). Polarization diversity is generally used in conjunction with
space diversity. One transmit or receive antenna pair is vertically polarized, and
the other is horizontally polarized. It is also possible to use frequency, space, and
polarization diversity simultaneously.
 PROTECTION SWITCHING
Alternate facilities or equipment are made temporarily available in what is called
“protection switching arrangement”.

TYPES OF PROTECTION SWITCHING

 HOT STANDBY
 DIVERSITY
 HOT STANDBY
Each working channel has a dedicated back-up or spare channel (standby).
 DIVERSITY
A single back-up channel is made available to as many as 11 working channels
SYSTEM CONFIGURATION
& PARAMETERS
• TRANSMIT POWER
The power at the transmitter that is usually expressed in dBm.

or

 
A microwave transmitter has a power output of
2 watts, what is its output in dBm?
• BRANCHING LOSS
Branching losses are introduced by the hardware used to carry the microwave
signal and is generally specified by the equipment manufacturer, usually given
in dB.

• FEEDER LOSS
Feeder losses are introduce by the transmission line connected to the antenna
(transmitter) and from the antenna (receiver). It is usually given in dB or
dB/unit length.

 
 • TRANSMIT AND RECEIVE ANTENNA GAIN
Parabolic reflector antennas provide extremely high gain and directivity and
are very popular for microwave radio and satellite communications links

Where:
= Diameter of the parabolic reflector
= efficiency of the antenna (typical efficiency is 55% or 0.55)
= wavelength of the signal
  

 
• PATH LOSS
The loss incurred by an electromagnetic wave as it propagates in a straight line
through the vacuum with no absorption or reflection from nearby objects

Where:
= Distance from transmitter to receiver
= wavelength of the signal
  

 
• RECEIVER THRESHOLD
It is the minimum wideband carrier power at the input to a receiver that will
produce a usable baseband output. It is sometimes called “receiver sensitivity”.

 
Where:
= carrier-to-noise ratio
= Noise Power
= Boltzmann’s Constant =
= Equivalent Noise Temperature at receiver (290K for room temp.)
= Noise bandwidth
For an equivalent noise bandwidth of 10 MHz,
determine the noise power.
If the minimum C/N requirement for a receiver
with a 10-MHz noise bandwidth is 24 dB, the m
inimum receive carrier power is
• FADE MARGIN
It is an attenuation allowance so that anticipated fading will still keep the
Received Signal Level (RSL) above the minimum RF input receiver.

MULTIPATH TERRAIN RELIABILITY

OBJECTIVE
– terrain characteristic (roughness factor)   – climate characteristic
= over water or a very smooth terrain = hot humid areas
= over an average terrain = average inland areas
= over a very rough, mountainous = very dry areas
 SYSTEM GAIN
The difference between the nominal output power of a transmitter and the minimum
input power to a receiver.

TX SYSTEM GAIN RX
SUMMARY
TRANSMIT POWER

BRANCHING LOSS

FEEDER LOSS
 ANTENNA GAIN &
 

PATH LOSS
 

FADE MARGIN
 

RECEIVER THRESHOLD
 
Consider a space-diversity microwave radio
system operating at an RF carrier frequency of
1.8 GHz. Each station has a 2.4-m-diameter
parabolic antenna that is fed by 100 m of
air-filled coaxial cable. The terrain is smooth,
and the area has a humid climate. The distance
between stations is 40 km. A reliability objective
of 99.99% is desired. Determine the system gain.