CNET304 – Wireless

Technology
Lecture 2
RF Signal Power

Ahmed Reza
areza@my.centennialcollege.ca

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 Gain
• Gain means amplification. Gain is simply the ratio of the output to the input. For
input (Vin) and output (Vout) voltages, voltage gain AV is expressed as follows:

• Since most amplifiers are also power amplifiers, the same procedure can be used
to calculate power gain AP:

where Pin is the power input and Pout is the power output.
Example
What is the voltage gain of an amplifier that produces an output of 750
mV for 30-μV input?
Example
The power output of an amplifier is 6 watts (W). The power gain is 80.
What is the input power?
 Gain
• Total gain of cascaded circuits is the product of individual stage gains.
Example
Three cascaded amplifiers have power gains of 5, 2, and 17. The input
power is 40 mW. What is the output power?
 Attenuation
• Attenuation refers to a loss introduced by a circuit or component. If the
output signal is lower in amplitude than the input, the circuit has loss,
or attenuation.
• The letter A is used to represent attenuation as well as gain:

• Total attenuation is the product of individual attenuations of each

cascaded circuit.
 Relative Measurements of Radio Frequency Power

• dB and dBi are relative measurements of power.

• Decibel (dB): The decibel (dB) is a ratio of two different power levels
caused by a change in power.

• The gain or loss of a circuit is usually expressed in decibels (dB)

• dB is s relative value used to compare 2 values (output/input) of

power, voltage, current gains or losses of components.
 Relative Measurements of Radio Frequency Power

• The formulas for computing the decibel gain or loss of a circuit are

• If the input power to an amplifier is 10 mW and the output power is 100

mW, the gain of the amplifier is 10 dB—a change in power.
 Gain (dB)

Po
AP   power gain
Pi
AP ( dB )  10 log( AP )
Po
 10 log( )
Pi
 10 log( Po )  10 log( Pi )
AP ( dB )  Po ( dB )  Pi ( dB )
Example
a) An amplifier has an input of 3 mV and an output of 5 V. What is the gain in
decibels?

b) A filter has a power input of 50 mW and an output of 2 mW. What is the gain or
attenuation?
 Relative Measurements of Radio Frequency Power

• Total gain or attenuation is the algebraic sum of the individual stage

gains in decibels.
 Antilog
• To calculate the input or output voltage or power, given the decibel gain Antilog or
attenuation and the output or input, the antilog is used. The antilog is the number
obtained when the base is raised to the logarithm, which is the exponent:

• Remember that the logarithm y of a number N is the power to which the base 10
must be raised to get the number
Example
A power amplifier with a 40-dB gain has an output power of 100 W.
What is the input power?
 Rounding to Significant Figures
Significant figures are digits considered reliable as a result of
calculation or measurement. Example: round to 3 significant
figures.
Right: 0.0000123 = 12.3 μ
Wrong: 0.0000123 = 0

Right: 1,006,000 = 1.01 M

Wrong: 1,006,000 = 1 M
Example:
Calculate given power ratios rounded to 3 significant figures
and then express them in dB:
a) 100W/655mW =

b) 0.00105W/526mW =

c) 590pW/340nW =
 Relative Measurements of Radio Frequency Power

• When the gain or attenuation of a circuit is expressed in decibels, implicit is a

comparison between two values, the output and the input.

• When the ratio is computed, the units of voltage or power are canceled, making the
ratio a dimensionless, or relative, figure.

• When you see a decibel value, you really do not know the actual voltage or power
values.

• In some cases, this is not a problem; in others, it is useful or necessary to know the
actual values involved. When an absolute value is needed, you can use a reference
value to compare any other value.
• An often used reference level in communication is 1 mW. When a
decibel value is computed by comparing a power value to 1 mW, the
result is a value called the dBm. It is computed with the standard power
decibel formula with 1 mW as the denominator of the ratio:

• Here Pout is the output power, or some power value you want to
compare to 1 mW, and 0.001 is 1 mW expressed in watts.
• The output of a 1-W amplifier expressed in dBm is, e.g.

• Sometimes the output of a circuit or device is given in dBm. For

example, if a micro- phone has an output of -50 dBm, the actual output
power can be computed as follows:
 Signal Level Conversion – dBm & dBW

• dBm:
• a unit of measurement of absolute power level with respect to 1 mW.
• Simplify in power measurement and calculation in communication systems.
P (dBm)  10 log( P(mW ))
 10 log( P (W ))  30
P (dBm)  P (dBW )  30

Examples:
1.P=1mW; P(dBm) = 10 log (1mW) = 10log(100) =0 dBm
2.P=10 mW; P(dBm) = 10 log (10 mW) = 10log(101 ) = 10 dBm
3.P=.01 mW; P(dBm) = 10 log(10-2 )=-20log(10) =-20 dBm
4.P=1W= 1000 mW, P(dBm)= 10 log(103mW)= 30 dBm
or P(dBm)= 10log(1W)+30= 30 dBm
since 10log(1)=0.
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 Signal Level Conversion - dBm/dBW

• dBW:
• a unit of measurement of absolute power level with respect to 1 W.
• Used for measuring signal level of RF power amplifiers.

P (dBW )  10 log( P(W ))

 P(dBm)  30

1W = 0 dBW
10 W= 101 W = 10 dBW
100 W = 102 W = 20 dBW
40W= 16 dBW
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Signal Level Conversion Summary
dBm/mW
P (dBm)
P ( dBm)  10 log( P ( mW ) then P (mW )  log 1 ( )
10
dBW/W
P ( dBW )
P ( dBW )  10 log( P(W ) then P (W )  log 1 (
10
dB/Scale

A( dB )
A( dB )  10 log( A) then A  log 1 ( )
A ( dB ) 10
1A ( dB ) (P
)
Note : log ( P )  10 10
10
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 Radio Frequency Signal Measurements

• Receive Sensitivity: is the measurable amount of radio frequency signal

usable by a receiver.

• Radio Frequency Noise: is the term for RF signals from sources other
than the transmitter and receiver that are in communication.

• In the following Figure, a screen capture from a noise analyzer utility

shows a wireless basic service set on channel 40 in the 5 GHz UNII-1
band. Also shown is the radio frequency noise floor of about -95 dBm.
 Radio Frequency Signal Measurements

Depending on the level

of the radio frequency
noise, it may be difficult
for the transmitter and
receiver to understand
each other.
 Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI)
• Received signal strength indicator (RSSI) is an arbitrary number assigned
by the radio chipset or device manufacturer.
• This value is a key determinant of how well the wireless LAN device will
perform.
• How the device is used with the network will determine the required
levels of signal for optimal connectivity.
• Most wireless client device manufacturers allow their chipsets to access
the higher data rates as long as they are getting a -70 dB signal or
stronger.
• Wireless VoIP manufacturers recommend deploying so that the client
devices can receive a -67 dB or better signal from the access point, a
strength that is double the -70 dB required for higher data rate use due to
the need for better signaling in QoS communications.
 

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Thermal Noise Power Density at 27C (T=27+273=300K)

=-143.83 dB
Signal-to-Noise Ratio
• Ratio of the power in a signal to the power contained in the
noise that’s present at a particular point in the transmission
• Typically measured at a receiver. It represents the difference
between the amount of received signal and the noise floor.
• Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR, or S/N)
signal power PS
SNR  
noise power PN
PS
( SNR) dB  10 log10  PS (dB )  PN (dB)
PN
• If a client device records a received signal of –85 dBm and
the noise floor is –95 dBm, the signal-to-noise ratio will be 10
dB

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• A high SNR means a high-quality signal, low number of
required intermediate repeaters
• SNR sets upper bound on achievable data rate
• Below, a screen capture from a noise analyzer utility shows a
wireless basic service set on channel 40 in the 5 GHz. Also
shown is the radio frequency noise floor of about -95 dBm.

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 Acknowledgments
These slides may contain material prepared and copyrighted by:

1. Dr. Sattar Hussain, Course lead, CNET 304.

2. CWTS® Certified Wireless Technology Specialist Official Study

Guide, 2nd ed. , by Robert J. Bartz. ©John Wiley & sons inc.,
2012.

3. Principles of Electronic Communication Systems, 4th Ed., By

Louis E. Frenzel Jr., McGraw-Hill Education 2016.

4. Wireless communications and networks, 2nd ed, by William

Stallings, © Pearson education inc., 2005