Wireless

Communications
System
 Microwaves – are described as
electromagnetic waves with
frequencies that range from
approximately 500 MHz to 300 GHz
or more.
 Microwave Transmission -
transmission of information or
energy by microwave radio waves
 Microwave Communication
 Thereare two general category of
microwave communication. Terrestrial
Microwave and Satellite Microwave
 TerrestrialMicrowave generally provide
wireless signal connection between two
specific points on earth.
 Satellite
Microwave generally provide
wireless signal connection between
earth station and satellite station which
is outside the earth
 Terrestrial

Satellite
 Advantage of using Terrestrial
Microwave Communication
 Do not require a right of way acquisition
between station purchase or lease only
small area of land
 Can carry large quantities of information
 Require relatively small antenna
 Signal easily propagated around physical
obstacle
 Fewer repeater are necessary for
amplification
Advantage of using Terrestrial
Microwave Communication
 Distance between switching centers
are less
 Underground facilities are minimized
 Minimum delay time are introduced
 Minimal crosstalk exist between voice
channels
 Increased reliability and less
maintenance are important factors
Dis-Advantage of using Terrestrial
Microwave Communication

 Line of Sight will be disrupted

if any obstacle, such as new
buildings, are in the way
 Signal absorption by the
atmosphere. Microwaves
suffer from attenuation due to
atmospheric conditions
 Towers are expensive to build
 Licensed to use frequency
 Common Application for
Microwave
 Mobile backhaul – cellular tower
worldwide use microwave links to
connect the base station back to
the transmission network
 Metro access – microwave links
are used by incumbent and
competitive carriers to provide
high-speed access to office
buildings
 Long-Haul Backbone – while fiber has
generally replaced microwave on high-
capacity long haul routes, microwave
links are common for backbone links to
smaller cities and towns, and where the
terrain is difficult
 Enterprise – many enterprises, hospitals,
and universities are use microwave links
to connect campuses, bypassing the
telephony company
 Control and monitoring – utility
companies, railways and pipeline
companies use microwave to control and
Engineering a Terrestrial
Microwave Communication
Systems
 Themajor issues with microwave link
engineering are rain fade, multipath,
and interference
A transmission engineer begins a design
by doing a link budget analysis
A given radio system has a system gain
that depends on the design of the radio
and the modulation used.
 The energy of microwave signals is
absorbed by rain; rain can cause an
outage if enough energy is absorbed so
that the receiver losses the signal.
 Multipathis a phenomenon that affects
the lower frequencies more than the
higher frequencies.
A multipath condition occurs when the
radio receiver receives multiple signals.
 Interference must be planned
for. Interference comes from
other radio systems using the
same channel or an adjacent
channel.
Microwave Path Design
Process

I. Site Selection
II. Determining whether a
proposed path is “line-of-sight”
III. Evaluating path clearances with
regard to refractive effects
IV. Evaluating path clearance with
regard to fresnel zones
V. Considering path reflections
VI. Power budget calculations
VII. Fade margin
VIII. Path Reliability
IX. Increasing path reliability
Step I – Site Selection
 The project starts with the
assumption that preliminary
facility planning including
1 . Operational requirements
2. Traffic Studies
3. Expansion Potential
4. Reliability Requirement
5. Cost Studies
 SiteRequirement
1. What is the lot area?
2. Existing Building or
structure in the area?
 Site Consideration
1. Full description of each terminal site by?
- geographical coordinates to the nearest
seconds of latitude and longitude
- political subdivision
- access roads
2. Unusual weather condition to be expected
in the area
- rainfall rate
- wind velocity
Range of temperature
3. Physical characteristic of the site
- amount of leveling required
-removal of rocks , trees or other structures
4. Proximity of the site to any commercial,
military or airport
- needed to determine compliance with
government regulations on potential
obstructions to air traffic
5. Elevation above sea level of the site at the
recommended tower location
6. Full description or recommendation for
an access road from the nearest improved
road to the proposed building location
7. Nearest location where commercial
electric power may be obtained and the
name and office location of the power
company
8. Nearest location of telephone facility
together with the name and office location
of the company and the type of service
available
Step 2 – Determining Line-
of-Sight

 Determining whether the path is

line-of-sight can be partially
accomplished with the aid of a
topographical map
 Plottingthis elevations at intervals
will produce a path profile
showing terrain relative to the
antenna elevations
Via google earth
Determine the Geographical Coordinates of the
System
Note:
log
Bm/Am
and log
Am are
taken
from the
table
 Step 3 – Evaluating Path
Clearances with Regard to
Refractive Effects

 When The dielectric constant of the

atmosphere changes, the refractive
index will also change.
 The refractive variation in turn
causes the propagating
wavefront to effectively bend.
 There is a possibility that a
wavefront will travel straight
line, bend upward or bend
downward
To provide a simple model
describing the path traveled by a
wavefront for a particular
condition, engineers have
developed a factor “K”
A numerical figure that
considers the non ideal
condition of the atmosphere
refraction that causes the ray
beam to be bent toward the
earth or away from the earth
 3 values of K

K = infinity – aka “super standard”

atmosphere and condition referred
as earth flattening
- Wavefront follows the true
curvature of earth
 K= 2/3 – aka “substandard”
atmosphere and a condition
referred as earth bulging
 K= 4/3 – median value for standard
atmospheric conditions in
temperature
Physical Earth Bulge

 Itdescribes the effect of

physical earth curvature
along a direct path between
two points on the earth
surface
 Theearth surface appears to be “bulge
upwards” in the path, with the peak of
the bulge occurring at the mid path
 The“physical earth bulge must be
added to the terrain topology profile
Physical Earth Bulge

 eb- vertical distance from a horizontal

reference
 d1- distance from the data point A in km
 d2- distance from the data point B in km
Effective Earth Bulge
 Itrepresents the effects of the
atmospheric refraction or K
combined with physical earth
bulge
Problem

What is the earth bulge for a

value of K= 4/3 in a
distance of 20km from site
B if the total distance
between Site A and Site B is
45km ?
Problem

What is the value of K if

the earth bulge is 2.5m
of 15km from site B and
35km from site A?
Step 4 – Evaluating Path
Clearances with Regard
to Fresnel Clearance

 Fresnelzone was defined as

series of concentric ellipsoid
surrounding the line-of-sight
path
 The radii of these zones reach a
maximum at mid path and
diminish on either side of the
mid path
 Each ellipse represents the
boundary of particular fresnel
zone.
 The boundary of the first radius
out from the center represent
the first fresnel
 Which contain all wave
components whose distance
traveled to the far end is exactly
½ wavelength longer than the
direct path
 The boundary of the second
radius out from the center
represent the fresnel zone
 Which contain all wave
components whose distance
traveled to the far end is
exactly 1 wavelength longer
than the direct path
 F1 = first fresnel zone radius (meters)
 d1 = distance from one endpoint to the point being
considered (km)
 D= total path length (km)
 d2= D- d1 (km)
 F GHz = frequency
 Theradius of any fresnel
zone numer can be
calculated using the
equation below once the
radius of the first fresnel
zone has been determined
 Problem
A line of sight radio link operating
at a frequency of 6 GHz has a
separation of 40 km between
antennas. An obstacle in the path
is located 10 km from the
transmitting antenna. By how
much must the beam clear the
obstacle?
Problem

 Suppose that the

transmitter and receiver
towers have equal height.
How high would they have
to be communicate over a
distance of 40 km?
Problem

Solve for the fresnel ratio.

Consider K=1
 A system 50 km in distance from site A to site B
and using 6 GHz frequency. An obstruction is
sighted 20km away from site A. The obstruction
was assumed to have a tree growth of 15m.

Other data is given below

site A elevation 100m
site A antenna height 20m
site B elevation 90m
site B antenna height 20m
obstruction elevation 40m
effective earths radius factor 1
solve for earth bulge and fresnel clearance
Problem
 Solve for the antenna height at site A and site B
assuming that the required fresnel ratio is 1
and tree growth on both obstruction site is 15
meters in a standard atmosphere
 If the operating frequency of the link is 7
GHz and the antenna height at Site A is
15 meters, compute for the necessary
antenna height at Site B that will provide
line-of-sight propagation using a
minimum allowable clearance of 60% of
the 1st Fresnel zone in a standard
atmosphere. Consider an obstruction with
an elevation 68 meters ASL (above sea
level) located approximately 9.5 km from
Site A. Site A elevation is 70m, site B
elevation is 92 m and total distance
between is 21.5 km
A microwave link between site A, 23 m ASL, and site B,
45 m ASL, uses an 10-meter tall flat billboard type
metal reflector, 80 m ASL, located 24 km away from
site A and 18 km away from site B. A possible
obstruction between site A and the billboard was
sighted 7.5 km away from site A and has an elevation
of 40 m ASL.
Another obstruction was sighted between the billboard
and site B which is 11 km away from the billboard
and has an elevation of 53 m ASL.
Considering a 15 m tree growth for all obstructions and
a Fresnel ratio of 0.6 in a homogenous atmosphere,
find the height of the antennas on both sites if the
system is operating at 8 GHz.
STEP 5: Considering Path
Reflections

A point of reflection will exist

somewhere along the length of
the path where (with regard to
the reflecting plane and
antennas at both ends) the angle
of incidence equals the angle of
reflection
 Same antenna heights above the
reflecting surface; reflection point is
located midway
Different antenna elevation;
reflection point will be closer to the
lower antenna
 Manipulation of antenna heights is a method
of moving the reflection point to a different
spot along the length of the path so that it
may fall on a less reflective surface
 The magnitude of the reflection coefficient
also increases as the angle of incidence
decreases
 The magnitude of reflection can vary from 0
t0 -1.0. The negative sign refers to a 180
phase reversal at the point of reflection
The magnitude of the
reflection coefficient
with vertical
polarization is much
less than that of
horizontal polarization
The distance to the reflection
point can be calculated
depending on the value of K
 STEP 6 – Power Budget
Calculations

A path power budget is nothing

but an itemized list of all system
losses and gains from the
transmitter on one end of the
path to the receiver on the other
hand and everything in between
 Power budget calculation is
fundamental to microwave
path design because it
allows the designer to
scrutinize the feasibility of
the link from a signal level
perspective
Antenna Gain
Parabolic Antenna

Flat Billboard
A Microwave system is given with the
following specifications:
Transmitter Output 2 watts
Operating frequency 1.86 GHz
Path length 30 km
Transmitter Receiver
Waveguide length 150 ft 200 ft
Waveguide attenuation 3dB/100ft
Antenna diameter 6 ft
Find the signal strength at the receiver (RSL)
 Plot
the System
Configuration of the
communication link in the
previous problem
 Given the following equipment and operating specifications:
Tx power output 2 watts
Operating frequency 2 GHz
Attenuation factor 3 dB/ 100ft
Antenna gain 18 dB
Minimum receiver input be 116 dB below the tx output
Path A-B loss 142 dB
Path A-C loss 124 dB
A B C
Antenna height 100 ft 100 ft 100 ft
Transmission line 150 ft 200 ft 125 ft
Determine which path is acceptable. Path A-B or A-C?
 A certain cellular network intends to put-up a base-
transceiver station in town A to improve their system
capacity. The base-transceiver station is located 25 km away
from the base station and the most economical mode of
communication between two station is through the
application of microwave link. Given an operating frequency
of 7 GHz and
BTS antenna 18m
Base antenna 21m
Elevation ASL of BTS 42m
Elevation ASL of BS 73 m
Total fixed losses and cable attenuation at BTS 3.5 dB
Total fixed losses and cable attenuation at BS 4.5 dB
Parabolic dish at BTS 10 ft
Transmitter output power -33.01 dBm
Assuming that the received signal level of the system is
-87.918 dBm, what is the required antenna diameter at the
BS
A transmitter and a receiver
operating at 6 GHz are
separated by 40 km. How much
power is delivered to the
receiver if the transmitter has
an output power of 2W, the
transmitting antenna has a gain
of 20 dBi, and the receiving
antenna has a gain of 25 dBi?
Non Free Space Loss

 Rain Attenuation
 Oxygen Absorption
 Water Absorption
 Diffraction Loss
 Rain Attenuation
Crane Rain Attenuation
ITU-R Rec. 530 Rain
Attenuation
 Compute the attenuation due to
rain using ITU-R Rec. 530 and
Crane Attenuation method of 7.125
GHz, 20 km terrestrial microwave
link in Luzon if the rainfall
intensity is exceeded 0.01% of the
year if:
The signal is vertically polarized
Oxygen Absorption Loss
Water Absorption Loss
Compute the oxygen and
water vapor absorption loss
of a 7.125 GHz, 20 km
terrestrial microwave link
in Luzon. Assume a water
vapor density of 10 gm/m3
 Receiver Sensitivity or Threshold
-Weakest Signal the receiver can detect

 Receiver Thermal Noise

- Sometimes called “Detection Threshold” or
“absolute Noise Threshold)

NTdBm = -114 + 10 log BW MHz + NFdB

 Improvement Threshold
- This is the point at which the RF carrier-to-noise
ratio is equal to 10 dB
- The point at which the “capture effect” take place
ITdBm = -104 + 10 log BWMHz + NFdB
 Carrier to Noise Ratio
- The ratio of the minimum wideband carrier power at
the input of a receiver that will provide a usable
baseband output to the wideband noise power
present at the input of a receiver and the noise
introduced within the receiver
- C/NdB = RSL dBm – NT dBm
Step 7 – Fade Margin
 The difference between the receiver
threshold value and the receiver signal level
(RSL) being applied to the receiver under
normal path conditions is referred to as the
fade margin (expressed in dB)
 This is a “safety margin” of excess signal that
the path can fade before the receiver
becomes “unusable” due to noise.

FMThermal = RSL dBm – IT dBm

Rayleigh Fading Distribution
 Problem
 Compute for the required output power
of the transmitter in a 99.9999% reliable
point-to-point communication system
using a 10 ft parabolic dish on both ends
with a transmission line and fixed losses
of 3.5 dB per site. The system is
operating at 8 GHz with site separation of
45 km and using a receiver with an
absolute noise threshold of -103 dBm
 Problem
 AnFM LOS microwave link operates at 6.15
GHz. The required receiver IF bandwidth is
20 MHz. The transmitter output power is 30
dBm. The receiver’s front end active stage is
a mixer with a noise figure of 9 dB. The path
length is 21 mi, the antennas at each end
have a 35 dB gain and the transmission line
losses at each end are 3 dB. If the FM
Improvement threshold is used as the
unfaded reference, what is the reliability of
the radio link?
 The two 25 miles apart will be provided with a
point-point-point microwave system operating at
7.5 GHz. The system will be used by a telephone
company and it will be designed to carry 500
voice channels with a reliability of 99.99%.
Considering a bandwidth of 4 kHz per voice
channel, find the size of the antenna that will
meet the required availability if:
Tx output power 7.06 dBm
Receiver noise figure 12 dB
Connector loss per site 0.5 dB
Radome loss per site 1 dB
Waveguide attenuation 1.5 dB/100ft
Waveguide length per site 100 ft
 Path Reliability
 Reliability may also be termed
“availability” and is expressed as a
percentage.
 It represents the percentage of time the
link is expected to operate without an
outage caused by propagation conditions.
“Unavailability” or the probability of an
outage (because of propagation conditions)
is often referred to and, if expressed in
percentage, the value is determined by
subtracting the availability (expressed as a
percentage) from 100.
 Availability
and Unavailability are
referenced to a year.

For 0.001%.
 [365.25 days/yr * 24 hr/day * 60
min/hr * 0.001/100 = 5.26 mins
of unavailability (outage) per yr
System Gain

 Thedifference between the nominal

output power of a transmitter and the
minimum input power required by the
receiver.

G system(dB) = PO - IT
System Reliability
 The percentage of time the system or
link meets performance requirements

R = (1 – outage) · 100%

For multi-hop link

R = R1 · R2 · R3
System Unavailability

U = Downtime
Total time

 U= MTTR
MTTR + MTBF

A = (1-U) · 100%
 Problem

 If the MTBF of a communication circuit is 20000

hrs and its MTTR is 3hrs, what is the
availability?
 What is the reliability of the equipment with a
total downtime of 16 hrs during the whole year?
 A long distance telephone company employs
five microwave radio hops over a single route
to link two important cities. If each hop has an
MTBF of 10,000 hrs and an MTTR of 3 hrs, what
is the outage ratio of the entire system and the
reliability of the system
Problem
A full- duplex, 1+0 (non- redundant)
microwave radio system comprises of
three (3 hops)
 How many transmitters are used?
 How many receivers are used?
 How many antennas are used?
 Whatis the minimum number of
frequencies used (or re-used) by the
system?
 How many repeaters are required?
Vigants- Barnett Model
 Non- diversity annual outage
probability (unavailability) due
to multipath fading

UNDP = a • b • 6 • 10-7 • fGHz • Dkm3 •

– FM
10 10
FMdB = 30 log (Dkm ) + 10 log (6 a b fGHz ) –
10 log (1 – RNDP ) – 70
 – FMCOMPOSITE
UNDP = 6•10-7• C• fGHz • Dkm3• 10 10
 Givena 25-mile path with
average terrain but with some
roughness in an inland temperate
climate, and a link operating at a
frequency of 6.7 GHz with a
desired propagation reliability of
99.95%,
 Determine the fade margin
for a 60-km microwave hop.
The RF carrier is 8 GHz, the
terrain is very smooth and
dry and the reliability
objective is 99.95%.
STEP 9 – Increasing Path
Reliability

 Increase the Fade Margin

 Increased the reflector of
antenna
 Using Space Diversity
 Using Frequency Diversity
Space Diversity Improvement Factor

FMdB
1.2 • 10−3 • fGHz •S2feet• 10 10
I SD =
Dmiles
Frequency Diversity Improvement
Factor

FMdB
80.5 • ∆f • 10 10
I FD = f
fGHz • Dkm
 Considera 30-mile path
with average terrain (1),
with some roughness, in an
inland temperate climate
(1/4), operating at a
frequency of 6.7 GHz with
fade margin of 40 dB.
 Compute for the reliability for (a) non-diversity path (b)
path with 5% frequency diversity (c) path with 28-foot
vertical space diversity of a microwave communication
system with a 35-km path having a very smooth terrain
(4) in a hot and humid climate (1/2) operating at 7 GHz
with fade margin of 35 dB.