Basic Definitions

Confidential
Bandwidth

Bandwidth is the difference between the upper and lower frequencies in a continuous set of
frequencies. It is typically measured in hertz, and may sometimes refer to passband bandwidth,
sometimes to baseband bandwidth, depending on context. Passband bandwidth is the
difference between the upper and lower cutoff frequencies of, for example, a bandpass filter, a
communication channel, or a signal spectrum. In case of a low-pass filter or baseband signal, the
bandwidth is equal to its upper cutoff frequency.

Bandwidth is different from frequency spectrum (allocation)

A key characteristic of bandwidth is that any band of a given width can carry the same amount of
information, regardless of where that band is located in the frequency spectrum. For example, a
3 kHz band can carry a telephone conversation whether that band is at baseband (as in a POTS
telephone line) or modulated to some higher frequency.
Bandwidth

For different applications there are different precise definitions. For example, one definition of
bandwidth could be the range of frequencies beyond which the frequency function is zero. This
would correspond to the mathematical notion of the support of a function (i.e., the total
"length" of values for which the function is nonzero).

A less strict and more practically useful definition will refer to the frequencies where the
frequency function is small. Small could mean less than 3 dB below (i.e., power output < 1/2 or
voltage output < Sqrt(1/2) = 0.707 of) the maximum value, or more rarely 10 dB below, or it
could mean below a certain absolute value. As with any definition of the width of a function,
many definitions are suitable for different purposes.
Bandwidth

In some contexts, the signal bandwidth in hertz refers to the frequency range in which the
signal's spectral density (in W/Hz or V2/Hz) is nonzero or above a small threshold value. That
definition is used in calculations of the lowest sampling rate that will satisfy the sampling
theorem. The threshold value is often defined relative to the maximum value, and is most
commonly the 3dB-point, that is the point where the spectral density is half its maximum value
(or the spectral amplitude, in V or V/Hz, is more than 70.7% of its maximum)
dB and dBm

In Decibel (dB) and dB relative to a milliwatt (dBm) represent two different but related concepts.

A dB is a shorthand way to express the ratio of two values. As a unit for the strength of a signal,
dB expresses the ratio between two power levels. To be exact, dB = log (P1/P2).

Using the decibel allows us to contrast greatly differing power levels (a common predicament in
radio link design) with a simple two- or three-digit number instead of a more burdensome nine-
or 10-digit one.

For instance, instead of characterizing the difference in two power levels as 1,000,000,000 to 1,
it's much simpler to use the decibel representation as 10*log (1,000,000,000/1), or 90 dB. The
same goes for very small numbers: The ratio of 0.000000001 to 1 can be characterized as -90 dB.
This makes keeping track of signal levels much simpler.

The unit dBm denotes an absolute power level measured in decibels and referenced to 1
Spectral Efficiency

Spectral efficiency, spectrum efficiency or bandwidth efficiency refers to the information rate
that can be transmitted over a given bandwidth in a specific communication system. It is a
measure of how efficiently a limited frequency spectrum is utilized by the physical layer protocol,
and sometimes by the media access control (the channel access protocol).

The link spectral efficiency of a digital communication system is measured in bit/s/Hz, or, less
frequently but unambiguously, in (bit/s)/Hz. It is the net bitrate (useful information rate
excluding error-correcting codes) or maximum throughput divided by the bandwidth in hertz of a
communication channel or a data link. Alternatively, the spectral efficiency may be measured in
bit/symbol, which is equivalent to bits per channel use (bpcu), implying that the net bit rate is
divided by the symbol rate (modulation rate) or line code pulse rate.
Capacity

Capacity
Bandwidth

dB
dBm
dBi
Capacity
Eb/ N0
EVM
Coding Gain
Code Rate
Thank You