ECE 411

ECE ELEC 1 (WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS)

LESSON 5

LINE-OF-SIGHT PATH CHARACTERISTICS

PROFESSOR:
ENGR. VICTOR – SOLITO DR. ISAAC
OBJECTIVES :

After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

1. Identify free-space path characteristics and describe

how they affect microwave system performance.
The normal
propagation paths
between two radio
antennas in a
microwave radio
system are shown
in the figure.
Three basic paths
that a radio signal
can take through
space are:
➢ the ground wave,
➢ the sky wave, and
➢ the space wave. ©Tomasi

Micro wa ve P ro p a ga t io n P a t h s
The free-space path is the line-of-sight path directly between the transmit
and receive antennas (this is also called the direct wave).
▪ The ground-reflected wave is the portion of the transmit signal that is
reflected off Earth’s surface and captured by the receive antenna.
▪ The surface wave consists of the electric and magnetic fields
associated with the currents induced in Earth’s surface.
At frequencies below 1.5 MHz, the surface wave provides the primary
coverage, and the sky wave helps extend this coverage at night when the
absorption of the ionosphere is at a minimum.
For frequencies above (about 30 MHz to 50 MHz), the free-space and
ground-reflected paths are generally the only paths of importance. The
surface wave can also be neglected at these frequencies, provided that the
antenna heights are not too low.
 FREE-SPACE PATH LOSS

➢ Free-space path loss is often defined as the loss incurred by an

electromagnetic wave as it propagates in a straight line through a
vacuum with no absorption or reflection of energy from nearby
objects.
➢ Free-space path loss is a misstated and often misleading definition
because no energy is actually dissipated.
➢ Free-space path loss assumes ideal atmospheric conditions, so no
electromagnetic energy is actually lost or dissipated — it merely
spreads out as it propagates away from the source, resulting in
lower relative power densities.
➢ A more appropriate term for the phenomena is spreading loss.
Spreading loss occurs simply because of the inverse square law.
FREE-SPACE PATH LOSS

The mathematical expression for free-space path loss is

𝟐
𝟒𝛑𝐃
𝐥𝐩 =
𝛌
𝐜
And since 𝛌 = , the equation can be rewritten as
𝐟
𝟐
𝟒𝛑𝐟𝐃
𝐈𝐩 =
𝐜

Where: 𝐈𝐩 = free-space path loss (unitless)

D = distance (kilometers)
f = frequency (Herz)
λ = wavelength (meters)
c = velocity of light (3 x 108 meters per second)
FREE-SPACE PATH LOSS
Converting to dB yields:
𝟐
𝟒𝛑𝐟𝐃 𝟒𝛑𝐟𝐃
𝐈𝐩 𝐝𝐁 = 𝟏𝟎𝐥𝐨𝐠 = 𝟐𝟎 𝒍𝒐𝒈
𝐜 𝐜
𝟒𝝅
or 𝐈𝐩 𝐝𝐁 = 𝟐𝟎𝐥𝐨𝐠 + 20logf + 20logD
𝐜

For frequencies in Megahertz and distances in kilometers

𝐼𝑝 = 32.4 + 20 log 𝑓 𝑀𝐻𝑧 + 20 log 𝐷 𝑘𝑚
For frequencies in Gigahertz and distances in kilometers
𝐼𝑝 = 92.4 + 20log𝑓 𝐺𝐻𝑧 + 20log𝐷 𝑘𝑚
PATH CLEARANCE AND ANTENNA HEIGHTS
• A majority of the time, the path loss of a typical microwave link can be
approximated by the calculated free-space path loss.
• This is accomplished by engineering the path between transmit and receive
antennas to provide an optical line-of-sight transmission path that should
have adequate clearance with respect to surrounding objects.
• The importance of providing an adequate path clearance is shown in the
figure, which shows the profile of the path between the antennas of two
microwave stations.
• For the antenna heights shown, the distance H represents the clearance of
the line-of-sight path, AB, and the intervening terrain.
• This clearance is necessary to ensure that the path loss under normal
atmospheric conditions does not deviate from its nominal free-space value
and to reduce the effects of severe fading that could occur during abnormal
conditions.
©Tomasi

Micro wa ve L in e -o f -S igh t P a t h sh o win g First Fre sn e l zo n e s

 PATH CLEARANCE AND ANTENNA HEIGHTS

• Path ACB represents a secondary transmission path via

reflection from the projection at location C.
• With no phase reversal at the point of reflection, the signal
from the two paths would partially cancel whenever AB and
ACB differed by an odd multiple of a half wavelength.
• The amount of clearance is generally described in terms of
Fresnel (pronounced “franell”) zones.
• All points from which a wave could be reflected with an
additional path length of one-half wavelength 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.
 PATH CLEARANCE AND ANTENNA HEIGHTS
• The boundaries of the first Fresnel zones for λ = 3 meters (100
MHz) in the vertical plane through AB are shown in the figure.
• In any plane normal to AB, the Fresnel zones are concentric
circles. Measurements have shown that to achieve a normal
transmission loss approximately equal to the free-space path
loss, the transmission path should pass over all obstacles with a
clearance of at least 0.6 times the distance of the first Fresnel
zone and preferably by a distance equal to or greater than the
first Fresnel zone distance.
• However, because of the effects of refraction, greater clearance
is generally provided to reduce deep fading under adverse
atmospheric conditions.
 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.
• The magnitude and rapidity of occurrence of slow, flat fading of this
type can generally be reduced only by using greater antenna
heights.
• A more common form of fading is a relatively rapid, frequency
selective type of fading caused by interference between two or more
rays in the atmosphere.
 FADING

• The separate paths between transmit and receive antennas are

caused by irregularities in the dielectric permittivity of the air, which
varies with height.
• The transmission margins that must be provided against both types of
fading are important considerations in determining overall system
parameters and reliability objectives.
• An interference type of fade may occur to any depth, but, fortunately,
the deeper the fade, the less frequently it occurs and the shorter its
duration.
• Both the number of fades and the percentage of time a received
signal is below a given level tend to increase as either the repeater
spacing or the frequency of operation increases.
• Multiple paths are usually overhead, although ground reflections can
occasionally be a factor.
 • The figure shows the median duration of
radio fades on a 4-GHz signal for various
depths with an average repeater spacing
of 30 miles.
• As shown in the figure, a median
duration of a 20-dB fade is about 30
seconds, and the median duration of a
40-dB fade is about 3 seconds. At any
given depth of fade, the duration of 1% of
the fades may be as much as 10 times or
©Tomasi
as little as one-tenth of the median
duration.

Me d ia n d u ra t io n o f f a st f a d in g
 • During daytime hours or whenever the
lower atmosphere is thoroughly mixed by
rising convection currents and winds, the
signals on a line-of-sight path are
normally steady and at or near the
calculated free-space values.
• On clear nights with little or no wind,
however, sizable irregularities or layers
can form at random elevations, and these
©Tomasi
irregularities in refraction result in multiple
transmission path lengths on the order of
a million wavelengths or longer.

Me d ia n d u ra t io n o f f a st f a d in g
 EARTH CURVATURE ON RF PROPAGATION

For any distance, d1, from antenna A, the distance 𝐻𝐻 from the line-of-
sight path to the boundary of the nth Fresnel zone is approximated by a
parabola described as:

𝑛λ𝑑1 𝑑 − 𝑑1
𝐻𝑛 =
𝑑

where: 𝐻𝑛 = distance between direct path and parabola surrounding it

λ = wavelength (linear unit)
d = direct path length (linear unit)
d1 = reflected path length (linear unit)
and all linear units must be the same (feet, meters, cm, etc.)
STUDENT ACTIVITY

Please answer the questions below and send to Google classroom in “pdf” or “jpg” format.
File name format is “subjectcode_section_lastname_firstname”.

1. Briefly describe fading.