T 703 Modern Communication Systems

MODULE 2 MICROWAVE COMMUNICATION

What Are Microwaves
Microwave frequencies range from 300 MHz to 30 GHz, corresponding to wavelengths of 1 meter to 1 cm. These frequencies are useful for terrestrial and satellite communication systems, both fixed and mobile. In the case of point-to-point radio links, antennas are placed on a tower or other tall structure at sufficient height to provide a direct, unobstructed line-of-sight (LOS) path between the transmitter and receiver sites. In the case of mobile radio systems, a single tower provides point-to-multipoint coverage, which may include both LOS and non-LOS paths. LOS microwave is used for both short- and long-haul telecommunications to complement wired media such as optical transmission systems. Applications include local loop, cellular back haul, remote and rugged areas, utility companies, and private carriers. Early applications of LOS microwave were based on analog modulation techniques, but todays microwave systems used digital modulation for increased capacity and performance.

Standards
In the United States, radio channel assignments are controlled by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for commercial carriers and by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) for government systems. The FCC's regulations for use of spectrum establish eligibility rules, permissible use rules, and technical specifications. FCC regulatory specifications are intended to protect against interference and to promote spectral efficiency. Equipment type acceptance regulations include transmitter power limits, frequency stability, out-of-channel emission limits, and antenna directivity. The International Telecommunications Union Radio Committee (ITU-R) issues recommendations on radio channel assignments for use by national frequency allocation agencies. Although the ITU-R itself has no regulatory power, it is important to realize that ITU-R recommendations are usually adopted on a worldwide basis.

Historical Milestones
1950s Analog Microwave Radio

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Used FDM/FM in 4, 6, and 11 GHz bands for long-haul Introduced into telephone networks by Bell System Digital Microwave Radio Replaced analog microwaves Became bandwidth efficient with introduction of advanced modulation techniques (QAM and TCM) Adaptive equalization and diversity became necessary for high data rates

1970s

1990s and 2000s

Digital microwave used for cellular back-haul Change in MMDS and ITFS spectrum to allow wireless cable and point-tomultipoint broadcasting IEEE 802.16 standard or WiMax introduces new application for microwave radio Wireless local and metro area networks capitalize on benefits of microwave radio

Principles and Operation

Microwave Link Structure. The basic components required for operating a radio link are the transmitter, towers, antennas, and receiver. Transmitter functions typically include multiplexing, encoding, modulation, up-conversion from base band or intermediate frequency (IF) to radio frequency (RF), power amplification, and filtering for spectrum control. Receiver functions include RF filtering, down-conversion from RF to IF, amplification at IF, equalization, demodulation, decoding, and demultiplexing. To achieve point-to-point radio links, antennas are placed on a tower or other tall structure at sufficient height to provide a direct, unobstructed line-of-sight (LOS) path between the transmitter and receiver sites. Microwave System Design. The design of microwave radio systems involves engineering of the path to evaluate the effects of propagation on performance, development of a frequency allocation plan, and proper selection of radio and link components. This design process must ensure that outage requirements are met on a per link and system basis. The frequency allocation plan is based on four elements: the local

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T 703 Modern Communication Systems frequency regulatory authority requirements, selected radio transmitter and receiver characteristics, antenna characteristics, and potential intrasystem and intersystem RF interference. Microwave Propagation Characteristics. Various phenomena associated with propagation, such as multipath fading and interference, affect microwave radio performance. The modes of propagation between two radio antennas may include a direct, line-of-sight (LOS) path but also a ground or surface wave that parallels the earth's surface, a sky wave from signal components reflected off the troposphere or ionosphere, a ground reflected path, and a path diffracted from an obstacle in the terrain. The presence and utility of these modes depend on the link geometry, both distance and terrain between the two antennas, and the operating frequency. For frequencies in the microwave (~2 30 GHz) band, the LOS propagation mode is the predominant mode available for use; the other modes may cause interference with the stronger LOS path. Line-of-sight links are limited in distance by the curvature of the earth, obstacles along the path, and free-space loss. Average distances for conservatively designed LOS links are 25 to 30 mi, although distances up to 100 mi have been used. For frequencies below 2 GHz, the typical mode of propagation includes non-line-of-sight (NLOS) paths, where refraction, diffraction, and reflection may extend communications coverage beyond LOS distances. The performance of both LOS and NLOS paths is affected by several phenomena, including free-space loss, terrain, atmosphere, and precipitation.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths

Adapts to difficult terrain Loss versus distance (D) = Log D (not linear) Flexible channelization Relatively short installation time Can be transportable Cost usually less than cable No back-hoe fading

Weaknesses

Paths could be blocked by buildings Spectral congestion Interception possible Possible regulatory delays Sites could be difficult to maintain Towers need periodic maintenance Atmospheric fading

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T 703 Modern Communication Systems

Business Implications and Applications

The tremendous growth in wireless services is made possible today through the use of microwaves for backhaul in wireless and mobile networks and for point-tomultipoint networks. Towers can be used for both mobile, e.g. cellular, and point-topoint applications, enhancing the potential for microwave as wireless systems grow. Increases in spectrum allocations and advances in spectrum efficiency through technology have created business opportunities in the field of microwave radio. Telecommunications carriers, utility companies, and private carriers all use microwave to complement wired and optical networks.

Advantages of microwave communication

The many advantages of microwave fiber-optic communication links over conventional coaxial or waveguide links are well known. They include reduced size, weight and cost, low and constant attenuation over the entire modulation frequency range, imperviousness to electromagnetic interference, extremely wide bandwidth, low dispersion, and high information transfer capacity. These advantages mean that they are currently viable contenders for a number of applications of commercial importance including: Personal Communications Networks, Where micro cells in a wide area are connected by optical fibers and use radio extension links to the home allowing increased bandwidth (and the possibility of mobile broadband systems) and high spectrum reuse efficiency without the significant expense of installing fiber to the home; Millimeter-wave radio LANs, With the radio nodes (possibly picocells) are fed by optical fiber with similar advantages to the above; Antenna Remoting At satellite earth stations where optical fiber transmission allows the concentration of the remote equipment at a central location and the quick rerouting of traffic to different antennas via centralized switching; Broadband video distribution networks, Using sub carrier multiplexing and exploiting the advantages of the broad bandwidth and low loss of optical fiber; Signal distribution for phased array antennas, Prepared By Ms.Sreenu.G, Department Of Computer Science, RASET

T 703 Modern Communication Systems where the use of monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMIC) has reduced the cost of active elements so that the main cost and weight is in the signal distribution. The advantages have long been recognized, however, except in some high-bandwidth point-to-point military links, their practical exploitation has been limited due to the poor microwave performance of practical microwave optical sources. Many of these limitations have now been overcome, with, for example, the use of the optical phaselocked loop, and so we are therefore likely to see increased use of radio-on-fiber systems, particularly at higher frequencies in the future. This area of research is becoming, if anything, more important than ever. Many companies looking towards developing 27GHz broadband cellular network technologies in the near term and there is an increased interest in the possibilities of using the 60 GHz and 70GHz bands, with their excellent frequency reuse, for broadband Pico-cellular operations. Recently, research in this area has blossomed with studies looking at many issues including basic optical-microwave interaction (e.g., radio frequency signal generation), photonics devices operating at microwave frequencies, photonic control of microwave devices, high frequency transmission links, and the use of photonics to implement various functions in microwave systems. Novel applications where that have been investigated include spectrum analysis, frequency conversion, high performance oscillators, and analogue-to-digital conversion. Continued progress in photonic components and technology sustains great interest in this field and expanding acceptance of photonics for microwave systems. With these new applications there are increasing requirements for high performance devices for microwave and mm-wave systems. In our work we are seeking to develop new applications of fiber Bragg gratings to microwave and millimeter-wave signal processing. We have successfully established that complex and flexible high performance photonic signal processing elements can be fabricated using fiber Bragg gratings. We have also identified problems that need further study. We are investigating several new paths of research that may overcome some of these problems and enable us to achieve more practical and higher performance devices.

Analog vs. Digital Microwave

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T 703 Modern Communication Systems

Analog Microwave

AM Properties Signal-to-Noise Burst Errors Crosstalk I

: -----

Suppress; run Maintain for digital amp in compression Declining SNR above threshold Non-catastrophic transients Intermodulation problem Adjacent channel interference Noise, loss of audio, loss of color Radio squelches

: --: --: ---

Effects of decreasing bandwidth: --Performance just above hreshold Performance at or below Threshold Digital Microwave : ---

---

AM Properties

: ---

Maintain for digital modulation; run amp in linear mode Stable SNR above threshold Loss of Sync; loss of new frames

Signal-to-Noise . Burst Errors.

: ---

: ---

Crosstalk

: ---

No intermodulation problem

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T 703 Modern Communication Systems

Effects of decreasing bandwidth

: ---

Increased modem Complexity, more noise & interference Problems

Performance just above Threshold . Performance at or below Threshold

: ---

Perfect

: ---

Catastrophic; signal off digital cliff

Frequency modulated microwave radio system

FM microwave systems used with the appropriate multiplexing equipment are capable of simultaneously carrying from a few narrowband voice circuits up to thousands of voice and data circuits. Microwave radios can also be configured to carry high speed data, facsimile, broadcast quality audio and commercial television signal. A simplified block diagram of FM microwave radio is shown in figure. The base band is the composite signal that modulates the FM carrier and may comprise one or more of the following: 1. Frequency division multiplexed voice band channels 2. Time division multiplexed voice band channels 3. Broadcast quality composite video or picture phone 4. Wideband data Simplified block diagram of a microwave radio: a) transmitter b) receiver

A.
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T 703 Modern Communication Systems

Microwave transmitter RF section RF power amplifi er and band pass filter Transmit antenna

basebandsection
modulator and if section

Mixer&up convertor section Mixer /conv ertor

Base band i/p

Preemp hasis n/w n/w

Modulato r

IF amplifier s and band pass filters

Microw ave generat or

Transmission line

B.
Microwave Receiver

Basebandsection
Modulator and if section

Base band o/p

Mixer&down convertor section Mixer /conv ertor

RF section Receive antenna

Deemp hasis n/w

Modulato r

IF amplifier s and band pass filters

Microw ave generat or

RF power amplifi er and band pass filter

Transmission line

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T 703 Modern Communication Systems

FM microwave Radio repeaters

With systems that are longer than 40 miles or when geographical obstructions, such as mountain, block the transmission path, repeaters are needed.

Microwave Transmitter

Receiver

Transmitter

Microwave Repeater

Microwave Receiver

A microwave repeater is a receiver and transmitter placed back to back or in tandem with the system. The location of intermediate repeater sites is greatly influenced by the nature of the terrain between and surrounding the sites. In relatively flat terrain, increasing path length will dictate increasing the antenna tower heights. The exact distance is determined primarily by line of sight path clearance and received signal strength.

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T 703 Modern Communication Systems

Basically there are three type of repeaters IF, Base band and RF repeaters. The received RF carrier is down converted to an IF frequency , then amplified , reshaped , and up converted to RF frequency and then retransmitted. Since the signal never demodulated below IF, base band intelligence is un modified by repeater. There could be two types of base band repeaters. In the first type the received RF carrier is down converted to an IF frequency , amplified , filtered, and then further modulated to Prepared By Ms.Sreenu.G, Department Of Computer Science, RASET

T 703 Modern Communication Systems base band. The BB signal is typically FDM voice band channels which is further demodulated to a master group, super group, group or even channel level. This allows the BB signal to be reconfigured to meet the routing needs of over all communication network. Once BB signal is reconfigured , it frequency modulate an IF carrier and then retransmitted.

DIVERSITY
Microwave systems use line of sight transmission.,therefore a direct signal mpath must exist between the transmit and receive antennas.If that signal path undergoes a severe degradation a service interruption will occur. Diversity suggests that more than one transmission path or method of transmission available between a transmitter and a receiver.The purpose of diversity is increase the reliability of the system. Frequency diversity and space diversity are the two types of diversities. Frequency diversity is simply modulating two different RF carrier frequencies with the same IF intelligence,than transmitting both RF signals to a given destination.At the destination both carriers are demodulated,and the one that yields better quality IF signal is selected. With space diversity the o/p of a transmitter is fed to two or more antennas that are physically separated by an appreciable number of wavelengths.Similarly at the receiving end ,there may be more than one antenna providing the i/p signal to the receiver. PROTECTION SWITCHING ARRANGEMENTS Two types of protection switching arrangements are there. Hot Standby Diversity With hotstandby ,each working radio channel has a dedicated backup or spare channel.With diversity protection a single backup channel is made available to as many as 11 working channels.

Frequency diversity transmitter

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T 703 Modern Communication Systems

Frequen cy A

BPF A

If

Power splitter Fre que ncy B BPF B

combi ner

RF out

Space diversity transmitter

IF in

transmitter

BPF

Chan nel combi ner

Hotstand By

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T 703 Modern Communication Systems

RF Transm itter Head end bridge

RF Receive r

I f i n

repeater

If out If swit ch

Working channel Spare channel

cont roll er

transmit ter RF

repeater

receiver

RF

DIVERSITY

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T 703 Modern Communication Systems

Quality detector I f i n Transm itter Channel1 Receive r If switch If out

Quality controll er

If switch

transmit ter Spare channel Channel 2 transmit ter

receiver

Qualit y detect or If switch

I f i n c h 2 2

receiver

transcei ver

Auxilia ry channel

transcei ver

Quality detector

MICROWAVE TERMINAL STATION

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T 703 Modern Communication Systems

Microwave terminal station : A)Transmitter B) Receiver

A, Base band section Base band i/p i/p I/P Equal izer Wireline entrance link Pree mphsi s n/w FM-IF section FM deviator f1 F1+f/2 Linear mixer FM IF o/p (f1-f2)+2 f To RF Transmitter

Amplifier and phase shifter

FM deviator F2

F1-f/2

B,

base band o/p

Equaliz er

Preemphs is n/w

Amplifier

FM demodula tor

Linear mixer

FM IF i/p from RF receiver

Wireline entrance link

FM-IF section

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T 703 Modern Communication Systems

IF Prote ction switc h

Terminal station transmitter Up convert er IF amp Compre ssion amp transmo d Microw ave generat or

RF

I F

Power amp

Iso;ator

Combin e n/w

RF out

Terminal station Receiver

I Protecti F on switch

If amp and AGC

Receive mod

BPF

Channel combining n/w

RFin

Microwave generator

Terminal station consists of four major sections: the base band, wireline entrance link (WLEL), FM-IF, and RF sections WLEL: Often in large communication networks the building that houses the radio station is quite large. Consequently it is desirable that similar equipment be physically placed at a common location. Dissimilar equipment may be separated by a considerable distance. A WLEL serves as the interface between the multiplex terminal equipment and the FM-IF

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T 703 Modern Communication Systems equipment. A WLEL generally consists of an amplifier and an equalizer and level shaping devices commonly called pre-and deemphasize networks. IF section: The FM terminal equipment generates a frequency modulated IF carrier. This is accomplished by mixing the output of two deviated oscillators that differ in frequency by the desired IF carrier. These oscillators are deviated in phase opposition, which reduces the magnitude of phase deviation required of a single deviator by a factor of 2.

RF Section
The IF and compression amplifiers help keep the IF signal power constant and at approximately the required i/p level to the transmit modulator. A transmod is a balanced modulator that, when used in conjunction with a microwave generator power amplifier and band pass filter up-converts the if carrier to an RF carrier and amplifies the RF to the desired o/p power. The RF receiver is essentially the same as the transmitter except that it works in the opposite direction. One difference is the presence of an IF amplifier in the receiver. This has an automatic gain control circuit. There are no RF amplifiers in the receiver.Typicaly a highly sensitive low noise balanced demodulator is used for the receive demodulator.

High/ low microwave system

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T 703 Modern Communication Systems

F1 A

F2 B

F1 C

F2 D

High/low microwave system

Comb ining n/w

B P F

RECEI VE MOD S hi ft m od

IF AM P

TRANS MOD

BPF

ISOLA TOR

Channel n/w

oscill ator

Microwave generator

A high/low microwave repeater stationneeds two microwave carrier upplies for the down and up converting process. Rather than use two microwave generators a single generator with a shift oscillator ,a shift modulator and a bandpass filter can generate the two required signals.One o/p from the generator is fed directly to the transmod.and other is mixed with oscillator signal to produce a second microwave carrier frequency.

LINE OF SIGHT PATH CHATACTERISTICS

The free space path is the line of sight path directly between the transmit and receive antennas .The ground reflected wave is the portion of the transmit signal that is reflected off Earths surface and captured by the receive antenna. The surface wave consists of electric and magnetic fields associated with the currents induced in Earths surface. All paths exist in any microwave radio system, but some are negligible in certain frequency ranges.The sky wave is the portion of the transmit signal that is returned back to earth s surface by the ionized layers of earths atmosphere.

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T 703 Modern Communication Systems

FREE SPACE PATH LOSS

Free space path loss assumes ideal atmospheric conditions, so no electro magnetic energy is actually lost or dissipated-it merely spreads out as it propagates away from the source, resulting in lower relative power densities.(Spreading loss) Spreading loss occurs simply because of the inverse square low .The mathematical expression for free space path loss is Lp=(4D/2( And because =c/f above equation can be written as Lp= (4fD/c)2 Where Lp=free space path loss D=distance f=frequency = wavelength C=velocity of light in free space. Converting to dB yields Lp (dB)=10 log(4fD/c)2 Or Lp (dB) =20 log (4fD/c) Separating the constants from the variables gives Lp=20 log (4/c20logf+20 log D For frequencies in MHz and distances in kilometers, Lp= [4 (106)(103)/3x108]+20 log f(MHz)+20 log D(km) Or Lp=32.4+20 log f(MHZ)+ 20 log D(km) When the frequency is given in GHZ and the distance in km, Lp=92.4+20 log f(GHZ)+ 20 log D(km) When the frequency is given in GHZ and the distance

in miles,

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T 703 Modern Communication Systems

Lp=926.6+20 log f(GHZ)+ 20 log D(miles)

PATH CLEARANCE AND ANTENNA HEIGHTS

The amount of clearance is generally described in terms of Fresnel zones. All points from which a wave could be reflected with an additional path length of one half wavelengths form an ellipse that defines the first Fresnel zone. Similarly the boundary of the nth Fresnel zone consists of all points in which the propagation delay is n/2 wavelengths. For any distance d1, from antenna A, the distance Hn from the line of sight path to the boundary of the nth Fresnel Zone is approximated by a parabola described as Hn= (n d1 (d-d1)/d) Where h=distance between direct path and parabola surrounding it =wavelength d=direct path length d1=reflected path length

FADING

Fading is a general term applied to the reduction in signal strength at the input to a receiver.It applies to propagation variables in the physical radio path that affect changes in the path loss between transmit and receive antennas. The changes in the characteristics of a radio path are associated with both atmospheric conditions and the geometry of the [path itself. Fading can occur under conditions of heavy ground fog .The result is a substantial increase in path loss over a wide frequency band. The magnitude and rapidity of occurrence of slow, flat fading of this type can generally be reduced only by using greater antenna heights.

Median duration of fast fading

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T 703 Modern Communication Systems 50 20 10

4GHZsignal

5 2 0 10 20 30 40 50

Figure shows median duration of radio fades on 4-GHZ signal for various depths with an average repeater spacing of 30 miles. As shown in figure median duration of a 20-dB fade is about 30 seconds, and a median duration of a 40 dB fade is about 3 seconds. At any given depth of fade is, the duration of 1% of the fades may be as much as 10 times or as little as one-tenth of the median duration.

System Gain Gs=Pt-Cmin

Gs=System gain(dB) Pt=transmitted o/p power Cmin=minimum receiver i/p power for a given quality objective. Pt-Cmin>losses-gains

Gains: Transmit antenna gain

Receive antenna gain

(At) (Ar) ( Lp) (Lf) (Lb)

Losses: free space path loss

Feeder loss Total coupling or branching loss

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T 703 Modern Communication Systems Fade margin ( Fm)

Fade Margin (Fm) =30 log D+10 log (6ABf)-10 log(1-R)-70

D-distance (Kilometers) F-frequency (gigahertz) R-reliability expressed as a decimal A=roughness factor =4 over water or a very smooth terrain =1 over an average terrain =.25 over a very rough, mountainous terrain B=factor to convert a worst month probability to an annual =1 to to convert an annual availability to a worst month basis =.5 for hot humid areas =.25 for average inland areas =.125 for very dry or mountainous areas NOISE FACTOR F=I/P SIGNAL TO NOISE RATIO O/P SIGNAL TO NOISE RATIO NOISE FIGURE NF=10 log F probability.

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