Radiowave Propagation: Part 1

Prof. Majid Khodier

Dept. of Electrical Engineering
Jordan University of Science and Technology
Electromagnetic Spectrum
 Units: dB/dBW/dBm
• dB is a logarithmic ratio of powers. So saying P1 = 2 · P2 is equivalent to saying P1/P2 = 3 dB,
Because:
𝑃1
10𝐿𝑜𝑔10 = 10𝐿𝑜𝑔10 2 = 3 dB
𝑃2
• dBm and dBW is a (logarithmic) unit to measure powers. Since dB is a ratio of powers, dBm and
dBW are defined by forming the ratio of the power you want to express relative to a reference
power, which is 1 W for dBW and 1 mW for dBm. Formally speaking,

P(dBm) = P(dBW) + 30 (dB)

• Starting with a power (dBW or dBm) you can add and subtract ratios (dB) as often as you like and
you still have a power (dBW or dBm):
• Subtracting two powers (dBW or dBm) which is equivalent to computing their ratio (dB):

Both powers must have the same unit, do not mix dBW and dBm.

• Short hand notation for things that are okay:

On the other hand, the following things are not okay:

• Never ever multiply dBW with dB! Some students claim that a power of PT =10 W with an
antenna gain of GT =10 gives an effective radiated power of 100 dBW. No! 100 dBW is 10
Gigawatts! Multiply in linear scale, that becomes addition in logarithmic scale:

PT · GT = 10 W· 10 = 100 W = 20 dBW
 PT (dBW) + GT (dB) = 10 dBW + 10 dB = 20 dBW
• Never add a bunch of quantities in dBW or dBm! Adding powers in log scale means
multiplying them in linear scale. If you add 10 dBW with 3 dBW and 6 dBW then you
have:

10 dBW+ 3 dBW+ 6 dBW = 10 W· 2 W· 4 W = 80 W3 !!!!!

• A power cannot be measured in dB. A gain/loss cannot be measured in dBm or dBW.

Example 1:
Example 2:

Example 3:
Power (dBW) Power (dBm) Power (Watt)
-130 dBW -100 dBm 0.1 pW
-100 dBW -70 dBm 100 pW
-80 dBW -50 dBm 10 nW
-70 dBW -40 dBm 100 nW
-60 dBW -30 dBm 1 μW
-40 dBW -10 dBm 100 μW
-30 dBW 0 dBm 1 mW
-20 dBW 10 dBm 10 mW
-10 dBW 20 dBm 100 mW
-1 dBW 29 dBm 0.794328 W
0 dBW 30 dBm 1.000000 W
1 dBW 31 dBm 1.258925 W
10 dBW 40 dBm 10 W
20 dBW 50 dBm 100 W
30 dBW 60 dBm 1 kW
50 dBW 80 dBm 100 kW
60 dBW 90 dBm 1 MW
80 dBW 110 dBm 100 MW
100 dBW 130 dBm 10 GW
 Free Space Path Loss L0
2
𝜆
𝐿0 =
4𝜋𝑑
• Wavelength l = 3 x 108/fc
• Frequency fc, Hz
• d = Transmitter-receiver distance, m
𝜆 2 3×108
• 𝐿0 𝑑𝐵 = −10𝐿𝑜𝑔10 = −20𝐿𝑜𝑔 =
4𝜋𝑑 4𝜋𝑑𝑓𝑐

3 × 108
−20𝐿𝑜𝑔 + 20𝐿𝑜𝑔 𝑑 + 20𝐿𝑜𝑔(𝑓𝑐 )
4𝜋

L0 (dB) = 32.45  20 log10 f c ( MHz )  20 log10 d (km)

Friis Transmission Formula: Free Space Propagation
2
𝜆
𝑃𝑅 = 𝑃𝑇 𝐺𝑇 𝐺𝑅
4𝜋𝑑

𝑃𝑅 𝑑𝐵𝑊 = 𝑃𝑇 𝑑𝐵𝑊 + 𝐺𝑇 𝑑𝐵 + 𝐺𝑅 𝑑𝐵 − 𝐿0 (𝑑𝐵)

𝑃𝑅 𝑑𝐵𝑚 = 𝑃𝑇 𝑑𝐵𝑚 + 𝐺𝑇 𝑑𝐵 + 𝐺𝑅 𝑑𝐵 − 𝐿0 (𝑑𝐵)

 Coverage diagram

The coverage diagram is a plot of the curves F/d = constant in the hr-d plane.
The curves of F/d that are plotted are usually chosen to represent the same signal
level that would be obtained at a distance of a multiple or fractional multiple of a
convenient free space distance d0 .

1 1
For example, F/d = 𝑚/𝑑0 or F = 𝑚𝑑/𝑑0 with 𝑚 = 1, 2, 2 𝑜𝑟 , ,….
2 2

2𝜋𝑕𝑡 𝑕𝑟
F = 2 𝑠𝑖𝑛 = 𝑚𝑑/𝑑0
𝜆𝑑
Or

𝑑0 2𝜋𝑕𝑡 𝑕𝑟
F=2 𝑠𝑖𝑛 =𝑚
𝑑 𝜆𝑑
Example: Plot the coverage diagram given ht = 100l, d0 = 2000 m and for m = 1.

Solution:
𝑑0 2𝜋𝑕𝑡 𝑕𝑟 2000 2𝜋100l𝑕𝑟
F=2 𝑠𝑖𝑛 =2 𝑠𝑖𝑛 =𝑚=1
𝑑 𝜆𝑑 𝑑 𝜆𝑑

𝑑 −1 𝑑
 𝑕𝑟 = 𝑠𝑖𝑛 ( )
200𝜋 4000
 Flat earth propagation (cont.)
4hthr
• Received power: Pr =| F | Pr 0 = 4 Pr 0 sin
2 2

2ld
• Pr0 = power received in free space

• So, power received for plane earth reflection:

 l  2  2hthr 
2

Pr = 4 PtGtGr   sin  
 4d   ld 
sin    Since ht, hr <<d,  is small
2
 ht hr 
Pr = Pt Gt Gr  2 
 d 
1
Note that 𝑃𝑟 ∝ for propagation over flat earth
𝑑4
For ht, hr <<d, the path loss for propagation over flat earth is
given as:
2
𝑕𝑡 𝑕𝑟
𝐿𝐹𝐸 =
𝑑2
And in dB,
𝐿𝐹𝐸 𝑑𝐵 = −20 log 𝑕𝑡 − 20 log 𝑕𝑟 + 40log(𝑑)

And the received power can now be calculated using:

𝑃𝑟 𝑑𝐵𝑊 = 𝑃𝑡 𝑑𝐵𝑊 + 𝐺𝑡 𝑑𝐵𝑊 + 𝐺𝑟 𝑑𝐵𝑊 − 𝐿𝐹𝐸 (𝑑𝐵)

Example 1: Consider GSM900 cellular radio system with 20 W transmitted
power from Base Station Transceiver (BTS). The gain of BTS and Mobile
Station (MS) antenna are 8 dB and 2 dB respectively. The BTS is located 10 km
away from MS and the height of the antenna for BTS and MS are 200 m and 3
m respectively. By assuming plane earth loss between BTS and MS, calculate
the received signal level at MS.

Solution: f = 900 MHz, d = 10 km, Pt = 20 W = 43 dBm, ht = 200 m, Gt =

8dB = 6.31, hr = 3 m, Gr = 2 dB = 1.58. So, the received signal at MS:

2
 ht hr  200  3 2
Pr = Pt Gt Gr 
2 
= ( 20)(6.31)(1.58)( ) = 7.18nW
2
 d  (10000)
2
 ht hr 
Pr ( dBm) = Pt ( dBm)  Gt ( dB )  Gr ( dB )  10 log 
2 
d 
= 43  8  2  ( 40 log(10000)  20 log(200)  20 log(3)) = 51.44dBm
Example 2:
Midpath-Obstacle Diffraction Loss
 Diffraction Loss Factor Fd
∞
𝑬𝒕𝒐𝒕 𝟏 𝟐 /𝟐
𝑭𝒅 = = 𝒆𝒋𝝅𝒖 𝒅𝒖
𝑬𝟎 𝟐 −𝑯𝒄

𝟐𝒅
Clearance height parameter 𝑯𝒄 ≈ 𝒉
𝝀𝟎 𝒅𝟏 𝒅𝟐 𝒄
 Approximate Relation for the Diffraction Loss Factor Fd

0, 𝐻𝑐 ≥ 1
20 log 0.5 + 0.62𝐻𝑐 , 0 ≤ 𝐻𝑐 ≤ 1
20 log 0.5exp(0.95𝐻𝑐 ) , −1 ≤ 𝐻𝑐 ≤ 0
𝐹𝑑 𝑑𝐵 = 20 log 0.4 + 0.1184 − (0.38 + 0.1𝐻 )2 , −2.4 ≤ 𝐻 ≤ −1
𝑐 𝑐
−0.225
20 log , 𝐻𝑐 < −2.4
𝐻𝑐

2
𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐏𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫, 𝑃𝑟 = 𝑃𝑟0 𝐹𝑑
 d1 = 10 km, and d2 = 2 km.

Solution:
a) l0 = c/f = 1/3 m.

= -70.833.

𝟐𝒅
𝑯𝒄 ≈ 𝒉 = -4.25  Using the curve or the approximate relations,
𝝀𝟎 𝒅𝟏 𝒅𝟐 𝒄
we find: Fd = -25.52 dB  Fd = 0.0529
b) For 6 dB diffraction loss, we need hc = 0.

From the similar triangles, we have:

(h-25)/2000 = (50-25)/12000

Therefore, the obstacle height is h = 29.16 m.

Attenuation decrease in signal power due to losses in
the propagation path.

Material Frequency Loss, dB

Concrete Block 1300 MHz 13

Wall

Sheetrock 2 x 9.6 GHz 2

3/8”

Plywood 2 x 3/4” 9.6 GHz 4

Concrete Wall 1300 MHz 8-15

Chain Link Fence 1300 MHz 5-12

Loss Between 1300 MHz 20-30

Floors

Corner in 1300 MHz 10-15

Corridor
Propagation into Sea Water