Free Space Loss

Bending of Radio Wave Ray Beam

Free Space Loss
• It is the loss in signal strength of an electromagnetic
wave that would result from a line-of-sight path
through free space (usually air), with no obstacles
nearby to cause reflection or diffraction.
• It does not include factors such as the gain of the
antennas used at the transmitter and receiver, nor any
loss associated with hardware imperfections.
Free Space Loss
• It is also called Free-Space Path Loss (FSPL).
Free Space Loss
Free Space Loss
• Example
Calculate free space loss for a distance separation of
40 Km and frequency of 6 GHz
Bending of Radio Wave Ray Beam
Radio Waves and Microwaves
• Radio waves have wavelengths of 1 m up. The
frequency at 1 m is 300 MHz.

• Microwaves have wavelengths of 1 mm (millimeter)

to 1 m. The frequency at 1 mm is 300 GHz.

• Note: some people say microwaves are just a type of

radio wave, so for them radio waves have
wavelengths of 1 mm up.
Radio Waves and Microwaves
• Radio waves are good at broadcasting
• are good at bending around buildings and hills by
diffraction but can also suffer from
Free Space Loss.
• Radio communications signal spread out as an ever
increasing sphere. As the signal has to cover a wider
area, conservation of energy tells us that the energy in
any given area will reduce as the area covered
becomes larger.
Microwaves
• Are good at point-to-point
communication.
• And for microwaves the transmitter
and receiver must be "line of sight"
(they can see each other).
• A typical microwave antenna is a
parabolic dish of about 0.3 m to 3 m
in diameter.
But microwaves can cut right through the ionosphere so they are good
for communicating with satellites.
Tropospheric scatter
• (also known as troposcatter) is a method of communicating
with microwave radio signals over considerable distances –
often up to 300 kilometres (190 mi), and further, depending
on terrain and climate factors.
A tropospheric scatter
system can bridge large
distances while a microwave
relay system (below) requires
multiple relay stations due to
its line of sight limitation.
Bending of Radio Wave Ray Beam above
100 MHz from Straight Line
If radio wave above 100 MHz travelled a straight line ,
the engineering of LOS microwave systems would be
much easier

We could accurately predict

▫ Height of towers required at repeater and terminal stations
▫ Position of the radiating device on tower
Bending of Radio Wave Ray Beam above
100 MHz from Straight Line
Methodology
• To determine tower height
▫ We establish position and height of obstacles in path
between stations
▫ To each obstacle height we will add earth bulge
Earth Bulge
limits the range of communication methods that require a
line-of-sight path, like high frequency radio waves,
microwaves, or lasers.
Earth Bulge: Distance to horizon
Earth Bulge
-the propagation paths are somewhat curved. Thus, the
maximum service range of the station, is not equal to the line
of sight distance. Usually a factor k is used in the equation
-Experience has shown that, under normal weather
conditions k is 4/3.
Earth Bulge
k > 1 means geometrically reduced bulge and a longer service
range. On the other hand, k < 1 means a shorter service
range.
Example:
In normal weather conditions, the service range of a
transmitting station at an altitude of 1500 m. with respect to
receivers at sea level can be found as,
Earth bulge given a certain height
• Let d be the distance in km from the observer to the
maximum earth bulge, h be the height in m of earth bulge
and k the bulging factor.
Earth Bulge
Earth Bulge
• The value commonly used for r0 is 6370 km
• The effective earth radius is calculated from the formula

• Where exp means e the natural number

• Ns is surface refractivity
Surface Refractivity
• This is the refractivity at the altitude of LOS microwave
site that we selected or the average refractivity of the
path
• The sea level refractivity can be obtained for the area
from the nearby weather bureau or from a chart
Surface Refractivity
Surface Refractivity
Surface Refractivity
K-Factor and Tower Height
• For k>1 , ray beam is bent towards earth which
essentially allows us to shorten radio link towers

• For k<1, earth bulge is effectively increased and

tower height has to be increased as range is reduced
Problems
1.) Calculate free space loss for a distance
separation of 40 Km and frequency of 6 GHz

Ans: 260.04 db
Problems
2.)In normal weather conditions,find the altitude of a
transmitting station with respect to receivers at sea
level, given the service range of 200km.

Ans: 2356.49 m
Problems
3.)Given the surface refractivity of 301, find the
effective radius of the earth and the K-factor.