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National Telecommunications and Information
Administration - The National Telecommunications
and Information Administration (NTIA), an agency of
the U.S. Department of Commerce, is the Executive
Branch's principal voice on domestic and international
telecommunications and information technology issues.
NTIA works to spur innovation, encourage competition,
help create jobs and provide consumers with more
choices and better quality telecommunications products
and services at lower prices.
The United States Commerce Department's National
Telecommunications and Information Administration
(NTIA) spectrum chart, dated March 1996, depicts the
radio frequency spectrum allocations to radio services
operated within the United States. This chart graphically
partitions the radio frequency spectrum, extending from 9
kHz to 300 GHz, into over 450 frequency bands, and

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uses distinct colors to distinguish the allocations for the
thirty different radio services. Copies of this chart can be
viewed on line at
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/osmhome/allochrt.html; and
printed copies of this chart are available from the U.S.
Government Printing Office (ph: 202 512 1800; stock #:
003-000-00652-2 cost is: $6.00 each for deliveries with
the US and $7.50 each for deliveries outside the US.).

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The signal source is putting out 100 mW of power into the transmission line.
The RF amplifier has a power gain of 10 so the output signal is increased or
amplified to a 1 watt output level and is applied to the input transmission line of
the antenna. RF amplifiers are active devices that require some form of external
power to increase the power level of the signal. Please note that the
transmission connecting the signal source and amplifier is assumed to have little
to no power loss. Comment that this could also be measured in voltage or
current relationships and the Gain would be titles Voltage or Current Gain of the
amplifier. Also it is common to put the reference signal in the denominator of the
equation, this becomes important when dealing in dBs.

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Note that the reference signal was chosen as the input to the attenuator and its
power level is placed in the denominator of the loss equation. Attenuators are
usually passive devices which means they require no external power source to
operate. The attenuator in this example could be a simple high frequency
resistive network. Attenuators and also be either fixed or adjustable.

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James Watt 1736-1819 Scottish inventor; invented modern condensing steam
engine and double-acting engine; which did much to propel the Industrial
Revolution. 746 watts equal one horse power.

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The blue cylinder is representing a conductor, (wire). The gray spheres
represents the negatively charged particles called electrons. The gold pointer is
to represent a fixed point in the circuit where the rate of electrons passing that
point are monitored. Blue arrows are showing the direction of current flow in the
circuit. When 1 coulomb of electrons pass the point in 1 second there is 1
ampere of current flowing in the circuit.

André-Marie Ampère 1775-1836 French physicist; formulated mathematical basis

of electrodynamics, including Ampère's law on force between two electrical
currents. The base unit of electric current in the International System of Units.
The coulomb, symbol C, is the SI unit of electric charge, and is defined in terms
of the ampere: 1 coulomb is the amount of electric charge carried by a current of
1 ampere flowing for 1 second. It is also about 6.24×1018 times the charge on an
electron. It is named after Charles-Augustin de Coulomb (1736 - 1806).

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Count Alessandro Volta. 1745-1827. Italian physicist who invented the first
electric battery (1800). The volt is named in his honor. quantity measured as a
signed difference between two points in an electrical circuit which, when divided
by the resistance in Ohms between those points, gives the current flowing
between those points in Amperes, according to Ohm's Law. Voltage is expressed
as a signed number of Volts (V). The voltage gradient in Volts per meter is
proportional to the force on a charge.

Voltages are often given relative to "earth" or "ground" which is taken to be at

zero Volts. A circuit's earth may or may not be electrically connected to the actual
earth.

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Alexander Graham Bell was born on March 3, 1847 in Edinburgh, Scotland died in
1922. Bell is best known for his invention of the telephone. The unit bell is named in his
honor.
The Bell unit was accepted in the 1920’s.
A unit of a logarithmic scale of power or intensity called the power level or intensity level.
The decibel is defined as one tenth of a bel where one bel represents a difference in
level between two intensities I1, I0 where one is ten times greater than the other. Thus,
the intensity level is the comparison of one intensity to another and may be expressed:
Intensity level = 10 log10 (I1 /I0) (dB)
For instance, the difference between intensities 100,000 units, can be expressed as a
difference of 6 bels or 60 decibels.
In wireless networking we normally use db to represent power levels but using the power
formula P = I x E and Ohm’s Law you can substitute power relationships for voltage or
current relationships.

The formula on the this slide shows that dB is equal to 10 times the log to the base 10 of
a power ratio. The numerator has Px which is a power level that you are comparing to
power reference Pref which is in the denominator. Please stress to the students that your
reference power level should always go into the denominator. This will preserve the sign
of the results, with a positive sign indicating the Px value that is larger than the reference
while a negative sign indicated a Px value that is smaller than the reference.

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Note the first variable in the slide is just dB. Since there are no letters following
dB this a relative

The dBm is a reference to 1 milliwatt. It was standardized around 1930 and

related to the VU unit. It was 1 mW across a 600 ohm impedance.
Power levels are independent of resistance but to compare current or voltage the
resistances should be know. Today when people use the voltage or current dB
formula they sometimes ignore the resistances.

dBw is a reference to 1 watt. dBV is a reference to 1 volt and the dB formula

changes to dbV = 20 log 10 (Vx / VRef)
The dBspl is a measurement of sound pressure (spl stand for Sound Pressure
Level). Our reference power PRef is given as the sound pressure of the softest
sound you can hear, which is 20 * 10-6 Pa.

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Remind the students that the log10 of a number is the exponent that 10 must be
raised to that will equal that number. In this example the number is 10 so the log
of that number is 1 because 10 to the first power is 10. Another example is the
log of 100 is 2, of 1000 is 3, of 10000 is 4. Note for these numbers that the log
value equals the number of zeros. This is a relative dB problem because the
reference is 100 mW and the dB variable has no additional letters. The dB
number is positive which indicates that Px is larger than the reference PRef. Since
it is positive it indicates that there is a gain and not a loss across the amplifier.

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In this problem the reference power is larger than the PX and therefore the power
ratio will be less than 1. This will generate a negative number when the log is
taken. The results will have a negative number to indicate that there was a loss
across the device. It is recommended in this example that the students use a
calculator to take the log of -0.3. For test where calculators are not allowed you
should discuss the values that they will need to know to successfully pass the
exam.

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The PRef is set to the standard of 1 mW. The solution show that the output power
level of the RF amplifier is 33 dB above the 1 mW reference, hence 33 dBm.
Extra problem: What is the dB gain of the amplifier? ANS: 16 dB.

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In this problem the student needs to solve for the actual power level in watts at
the output of the amplifier. Given in the problem is a RF power meter that is
measuring 36 dBm at the output of the amplifier. Using the same power dB
formula and basic algebra the student must solve for the unknown PX. Since the
RF power meter is reading the power level in dBm the reference should be 1 mW
and the 36 dBm reading indicates that the actual output power is 33 dB above
the 1 mW reference. The inverse of the log function is the antilog, inverse log,
log-1, or 10X which can be found on most calculators. The final answer is 3.98 W
which has three significant figures. Rounding the number from 3.98 W to 4 W is
because of the knowledge that 4 W is a maximum power level in some wireless
frequency ranges. Output power levels are governed by the FCC in the United
States.

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Assume connectors have zero power loss. Output of amplifier is 20 dBm which
is 100 mW at point A. The transmission line has a 1.3 dB loss so it attenuates
the signal at point A as it propagates down the cable to point B. dB values are
algebraically additive. So you can simple subtract 1.3 dB from the absolute
power level of 20 dBm which results in an overall power level at point B of 18.7
dBm which when converted to power in watts is 74.1 mW.
The power loss in the cable is then 100 mW – 74.1 mW = 25.9 mW. This power
loss means that the antenna is not receiving the full 100 mW supplied by the
Access Point’s internal RF amplifier but only the 74.1 mW after cable attenuation.

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Assume connectors have zero power loss. Output of amplifier is 20 dBm which
is 100 mW at point A. The transmission line has a 1.3 dB loss so it attenuates
the signal at point A as it propagates down the cable to point B. dB values are
algebraically additive. So you can simple subtract 1.3 dB from the absolute
power level of 20 dBm which results in an overall power level at point B of 18.7
dBm which when converted to power in watts is 74.1 mW.
The power loss in the cable is then 100 mW – 74.1 mW = 25.9 mW. This power
loss means that the antenna is not receiving the full 100 mW supplied by the
Access Point’s internal RF amplifier but only the 74.1 mW after cable attenuation.
The antenna has a 24 dbi +/- 1 dBi gain, 50 ohm impedance, 2400 – 2500 MHz,
VSWR 1.4 : 1 and Max power 50 W.

24 dBi equals a gain of 251. Therefore the input power to the antenna from the
cable is 74.1 mW and the EIRP is 18.6 W.

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Take the worst case scenario as you compute the EIRP. The AP has 100 mW it’s
output. There are 4 Male N-Type connectors. The connectors have 0.2 dB worst
case insertion loss. Therefore total loss due to connectors is 0.2 dB x 4 = 0.8 dB.
There is an additional insertion loss due to the lightning surge arrester also know
as a lightning protector. Remember dBs are additive so adding the arrester the
total insertion loss is 0.8 dB + 0.4 dB = 1.2 dB. Next solve for the cable losses, (
6.7 dB/100 feet ) x 43 feet = 2.88 dB. Add these losses into the transmission
path to the antenna, 1.2 dB + 2.88 dB = 4.08 dB. Next add the antenna gain,
24 dbi – 4.08 = 19.9 dB. Convert 19.9 dB to a gain factor which is: 98.2. Take
this value and multiply it times the AP output power to get the EIRP, 98.2 x 100
mW = 9.82 W.

Comment on the fact that all losses and gains are frequency dependent. All the
values used in this example are from real world devices that are operating in the
2.4 – 2.5 GHz band.

Briefly discuss the lightning surge arrester and the need for it to be properly
grounded to the earth.

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Maximum power transfer between two system components occurs when their
respective impedances are matched, (complex conjugate). If the impedances are
not the same at portion of the incident power will be reflected back. This will
cause a reduction in the amount of power delivered to the load/antenna. These
reflections on the transmission line cause voltage standing waves. It is important
to use the proper transmission cable and antenna to match the output of the
wireless device. This is true for both transmit and receive operations. The
common impedance for wireless is 50 ohms and you should not use other non 50
ohm items in the system.

 = ohm

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In this slide two wireless systems are shown. In the top one the impedance are
all equal so there is no standing wave voltage on the line and the VSWR is 1.
This allows for maximum power transfer to the antenna and the graphic shows a
large and strong EM wave leaving the antenna. The second graphic shows an
antenna that has been damaged with a cracks in the dish and a bent feed horn.
The impedance has dropped from 50 ohms to 25 ohms. This has caused a
power reflection on from the antenna back to the transmitter and the creation of a
standing wave on the transmission line. This loss in power is shown by the weak
and misdirected EM wave being emitted from the antenna. An approximation of
the VSWR can be computed by using the impedance, (Z) ratio as shown in the
slide. Place the larger impedance in the numerator. For example if the antenna
impedance was 100 ohms the VSWR would also be 2 = 100/50 ohms. The
VSWR meter that is placed in the transmission line must have the same
impedance and be able to operate at the frequencies of interest. The VSWR
meter also will induce an insertion loss in the system.

The impedance of the system is the complex ac resistance and therefore can not
be checked by a simple ohmmeter. An ohmmeter would be a good device to
check for continuity, opens, and shorts in the system.

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An incandescent lamp is radiating light energy
equally in all directions creating a spherical
illumination. We are assuming there is negligible
light blockage due to the base of the lamp. Also
we are not showing a power source… it’s an
analogy. If there are no surfaces in the area then
the two eye detectors located at equal distances
from the light source would see equal light
intensities or brightness's. This is an crude
analogy of the isotropic antenna which has no
physical dimensions is in free space.

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An incandescent lamp is radiating light energy equally in all
directions but now a reflector has been placed near the lamp.
Therefore the light energy is being directed in approximately one
direction towards the right eye in the slide. The energy output
from the light is the same but the light intensity has increased at
the right eye’s location. So the right eye see a gain in light
intensity over the same lamp without the reflector. The left eye
detects little to no light and this light energy loss is what is
causing the increase at the right eye location. This is a good
time to use a flashlight to demonstrate this model. There are
several metal flashlight that you can remove the reflector while
the light is on. Remove the reflector from the flashlight then hold
the light up and ask if the first row of students can see the light
and ask them to note the brightness.. Now replace the reflector
and have it pointed at one of the student in the first row. Ask the
question again and most of the first row students will not be able
to see the light or they noticed a great reduction in light intensity.
The student that is now being blinded by the light has obviously
notice a great increase in light. Comment on the fact that it is
still the same light and power source so there has been a
noticeable gain going from the non reflector light to the reflector
light. Mention that light is just another form of electromagnetic
radiation but at a much shorter wavelength than the RF used in
wireless networks.

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antenna gain: The ratio of the power required at the input of a loss-free
reference antenna to the power supplied to the input of the given antenna to
produce, the same field strength at a given location. Antenna gain is usually
expressed in dB or reference as G fro gain. You can specify the gain of the
antenna in any direction but it is usually taken in the direction of maximum
radiation. The gain may be considered also for a particular polarization. For
example vertical, horizontal, elliptical or circular polarization. You can compare
the gain of an antenna to any other antenna either a physical antenna or a
theoretical antenna. Also gain can be specified in free-space with no reflecting or
absorbing bodies or it can be specified in terms of a particular physical location.
Two common reference antennas are absolute or isotropic (point source) gain Gi
or the relative half-wave dipole gain Gd which is center-fed.

Wavelength the distance (measured in the direction of propagation) between two

points in the same phase in consecutive cycles of a wave

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In this slide we have an Access Point, (AP) with an output power of 100 mW. We
will assume to power loss in the cable so the input power to the antenna is 100
mW. The antenna gain of directional Yagi is 12 dBi. Please note that the Yagi is
shown in a protective radome. The dbi value needs to be converted to a gain
value Gi. Use the formula: 12 dbi = 10 log(Gi) and solve for Gi which equals
15.8. Simple multiply the power input to the antenna by Gi for the resulting EIRP
of 1.58 watts.

Radome – a protective cover or enclosure for an antenna that is transparent to

the radio waves emitted by that antenna.

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Heinrich Rudolf Hertz. 1857-1894. German physicist who was the first to
produce radio waves artificially. 1 Hertz equals 1 cycle per second. Proper
abbreviation is Hz. Hertz can be used with many metric prefixes, for example:
kHz, MHz, and GHz. Please note that mHz is not MHz and some documents
make this mistake. The m = 1/1000, while the M equals 1,000,000

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The green unit circle in the slide represents a mechanical rotational generator. A
blue pen is fastened at one point on the circumference of the circle. The circle is
then rotated in a counter clockwise direction while a sheet of gray paper is pulled
to the right. A sine wave is drawn on the paper. Nice example of how many
rotational generator inherently produce a sine wave as their armature cuts the
flux line of the stator.
If the paper is pulled at a constant fixed rate then increasing the rotational speed
of the circle will very the period of the cycles and therefore the frequency. AC
power generators in the United States has a cycle period of 16.7 ms which is the
line frequency of 60 Hz.

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In this slide we show an Electromagnet wave passing through a wall and a tree.
It is important to note that it is not only the wall thickness but also the composition
of the wall. Is the wall just a room divider made of thin cloth covered plywood or
is a structural wall in a building with steel and concrete. The tree can also can
reduce the EM wave as it transitions through the foliage. An important think to
remember is what is the season when you are performing a site survey. For
example a wireless link between two building during the winter when the trees
have no leaves may become intermittent or fail complete in the Spring when
vigorous new growth of foliage occurs.

Lower frequencies have long wavelength and may easily pass through obstacle
while high frequencies with short wavelength will be easily absorbed or
attenuated. The frequencies used in the 802.11 range are very short
wavelengths and this can present many problems in dependable wireless
network links.

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In this slide the top graphic shows a bounding ball that collides with a flat surface
and is then deflected. The second graphic shows a transmitter sending a direct
wave through a group of trees which causes absorption of the wave which results
in a weak signal at the receiving house. If the antenna can be directed towards
the large building the signal maybe able to be reflected off the flat surface and
arrive at the receiving house with sufficient power to maintain a stable link. It
should be noted that the reflected signal has a greater distance to transverse and
that at the reflection point there will be signal absorption and losses. This is also
an example of multipath unless the antenna is sufficiently directive to have only
one major path.

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Refraction occurs when an EM passes from one medium density to another.
Snell’s Law relates the angle of incidence to the angle of refraction. Also the
formula uses the refractive index of the mediums. Refractive index of a vacuum
is 1, while glass is approximately 1.5 and water is about 1.33.

In the slide there is a graphic of a glass of water with a black rod immersed it.
There is an apparent bending of the rod at the surface of the water because the
light waves are bent due to the difference in mediums, air and water.

The second graphic shows a transmitter antenna and two signal paths. As the
signal travels through the atmosphere the wave front is bent. This is caused by
the different densities of the atmosphere and the interaction of the ionosphere,
(Ionosphere from approximately 25 to 250 miles). It is important to note that
refection, reflection and absorptions are all taking place and are also dependent
on the wavelength of the transmission.

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Diffraction is the phenomenon where EM waves propagating in a straight line
bend around EM opaque objects. This effect is caused by Huygens’ principle.
The graphic shows a transmitter on the left side broadcasting to a receiver on the
right side. A large building is in the direct path of the wave. As the wave passes
the edge of the building slight bending occurs. This effect is more pronounced at
lower frequencies. The diffracted signal fills in the shadow zone behind the
building and if sufficient filling occurs the signals may illuminate the receiver that
is located the building shadow. There is usually a great loss in signal strength
and the weak diffracted signals may not offer a dependable or acceptable link.

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The 802.11 frequencies are in the microwave range which start at approximately
1 GHz. The wavelengths are quite small compared to other objects such as
vehicles, buildings, and lakes. These surfaces can cause reflections, (bouncing)
of the EM waves. In the slide there are three EM wave paths shown. The main
and shortest path is the Direct Wave that is line-of-site from the transmitter to the
receiver. There are also two reflected waves, one that is bouncing off of a flat
surface of a large building and the other being reflected off of the flat surface of a
calm lake. These two reflected ways have different and longer paths than the
direct wave and therefore they arrive at the receiver at a slightly later time. The
wave fronts collide and can be summed by superposition at the receiver site.
This collation will result in a distorted wave or depending on the phases of the
signals a partical cancellation of the direct wave.

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If you can visually see the other antenna in the link then you have a LOS
between the two locations. Binoculars or special telescopes can be helpful in a
link survey. Also contour maps can be useful in preliminary study of the project.

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Augustin Fresnel (pronouced frA-nel) French physicist 1788-1827.

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This slide shows a simplified approach to using the Fresnel Zone. The formula is
a suggestion from Cisco Systems to make sure that no obstruction occurs in the
1st Fresnel Zone’s 60 % of diameter surrounding the LOS path. This area is
represented by the ellipsoid that is gray-green. The lighter green area is the
encloses the 1st Fresnel Zone. No obstacle should intrude on this 60% zone so
that a dependable link can be made between end units. To compute the diameter
in feet of this 60% zone use the equation in the slide, where the D’s represent the
LOS distance in mile and the f is the frequency of interest in GHz. For example
using a frequency of 2.4 GHz and D1 = D2 = 2 miles: 1st Fresnel Zone Diameter =
46.5 ft. Finally multiple this Diameter by 60%. Obstruction Diameter = 0.6 x 46.5
ft. = 27.9 ft. Once this is plotted to scale on the drawing it can be seen that the
water tower is not in this 60% area.

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