Measurement Units in

Telecommunications
 Units of Power and Comparison

• Key ideas for wireless are coverage

and performance
• To measure power, we can
measure absolute or relative
power
– Absolute is compared to a known
scale
– Relative is to another signal
 Units of Power and Comparison

• Comparative units can help:

– compare coverage areas for different signals
– Measure gain or loss
• Measure the change in power
 Units of Power and Comparison

Units of Power Units of Comparison

(absolute) (Relative)
watt (W) decibel (dB)
milliwatt (mW) dBi
dBm dBd
 Watt

• Basic unit of power

– 1 ampere of current at 1 volt
• Volts x Amps
• Ability to move/push/etc
 MilliWatt (mW)

• 1/1000 th of a watt
• Most 802.11 equipment is measured in milliwatts
– Usually 1 to 100 mw
• FCC may allow up to 1 W in some cases, but it isn’t
usually needed except in point to point.
 Decibel (dB)

• Base unit of comparison, not of power

• Represents the difference between two values
• Compare the power of two transmitters
• Compare the output of a transmitter and received at
the receiver
• From the term bel
– Bell Labs
– 10 to 1 ratio
 Decibel (dB)

• Bels are logarithmic

– Use the log10 to calculate

101=10 Log10(10)=1

102=100 Log10(100)=2

103=1000 Log10(1000)=3

104=10000 Log10(10000)=4
 Decibel (dB)

• Decibels are 10 x a bel

• bel=log10(P1/P2)
• decibel= 10Xlog10(P1/P2)

• No log math on the test!

• We use decibels instead of watts as it is easier to
write in many cases.
Decibel (dB)
dBi
dBd
dBm
dBm
Inverse Square Law
RF Math
RF Math
RF Math
 Convert Watt to dBm

[ ]
dBm = 10 log 10 P (W) x 1000 mW
1W
 Convert dBm to Watt

W = (10dBm/10)mW * 1 W
1000 W
dB + dB = dB
dB – dB = dB
dBm + dB = dBm
dBm – dB = dBm
dBm – dBm = dB
dBm + dBm = dBm; in this case apply the
following equation

dBm + dBm = 10 log 10(10dBm/10 +10dBm/10)

RF Math
RF Math

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RF Math

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 Step by Step Exercise
3 + X 2
10 - / 10
dBm mW

0 1

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RF Math Summary

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RF Math Summary
¡GRACIAS!