MODULE 5 CELLULAR WIRELESS NETWORKS

Module V: Cellular Wireless Networks

Cellular Wireless Networks - Introduction, cellular telephone system, cellular concept and frequency
reuse.
Wireless Network Topologies - First Generation (1G) Technology, Second Generation (2G)
Technology,
GSM Communications, GSM System architecture, Third Generation (3G) Technology, CDMA
Technology,
High-level architecture of LTE, Fourth Generation (4G) Technology, Wireless LAN, Bluetooth,
Bluetooth Architecture.
Satellite Communication – Elements of Satellite Communication, Types of satellites – GEO, LEO,
MEO.
Optical Fiber Communication - A fiber optic Communication system.
Microwave Communication – Introduction, Frequency modulated microwave communication system

5.1 CELLULAR TELEPHONE SYSTEM

A cellular system comprises the following basic components:
 Mobile Station (MS)
 This is the mobile handset.
 Used by an user to communicate with other user.
 Cell
 A basic geographical unit (5-20kms) of a cellular communication system.
 Base Station (BS)
 Each cell contains an antenna, which is controlled by a small office called base
station.
 Mobile Switching Center (MSC)
 Each base station is controlled by a switching office, called MSC.

Figure 5.1 Scheme diagram of a cellular telephone system

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5.2 Cellular Concept and Frequency Reuse

 Cellular concept was proposed in 1970.
 Geographical area is divided into number of smaller service areas (5-20kms) called as cells.
 The groups of cells are known as clusters, in which no frequency is reused within a cluster.
 Frequencies used in one cell can be reused in other cell of neighboring clusters.

Figure 5.2 Cellular concept in wireless & mobile networks

Main features of cellular concept

• High power transmitter is replaced by many low power transmitters, each providing
coverage to only asmall portion of the service area.
• Cluster size is not fixed, it can be varied based on the subscriber density & demand.
• Frequency reuse.
• Small cells will increase the network capacity.
Disadvantages
• Co-channel interference (CCI)
• Increase in hardware cost as cluster size increases.

5.2.1 Frequency Reuse

• Frequency reuse is the core concept of cellular system.
• The total available channels are divided into number of
channel sets.
• Cells with the same alphabet use the same channel set.
• Reuse distance D is given as
𝐷 √
where, N is the number of channel sets (in fig. N = 7)
R is the Radius of a cell
Figure 5.3 Concept of frequency reuse

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5.2.2 Reduction of Interference

• Reusing the same frequency channel in different cells is limited by co-channel interference (CCI).
• There are TWO ways to reduce this CCI:
 Keeping sufficient distance between two co-channel cells.
 Use of directional antennas at the BS which is called as cell sectoring.
• Adjacent channel interference (ACI) depends on the separation of adjacent channels.
 If one channel is assigned to a cell, its adjacent channel cannot be assigned to the same
cell.

5.2.3 Basic operation of cellular network (Transmitting and Receiving)

Transmitting
Basic operation of Transmitting in a cellular telephone network involves the following steps:
1. A caller dials the 10-digit code (phone number) & presses the send button.
2. The MS scans the band to select a free channel & sends a strong signal to send the number
entered.
3. The BS relays the number to the MSC.
4. The MSC in turn dispatches the request to all the BS in the cellular system.
5. The Mobile Identification Number (MIN) is broadcasted over all the forward control channels
throughout
the cellular system. It is known as paging.
6. The MS responds by identifying itself over the reverse control channel.
7. The BS relays the acknowledgement sent by the mobile & informs the MSC about the handshake.
8. The MSC then assigns a free voice channel to the call. And now the call is established.

Receiving
Basic operation of Receiving in a cellular telephone network involves the following steps:
1. All the idle mobiles (MS) continuously listens to the paging signal to detect messages directed at
them.
2. When a call is placed to a MS, a packet is sent to the end user’s home MSC to find out where it is.
3. A packet is sent to the BS in its current cell, which then sends a broadcast on the paging channel.
4. The called MS responds on the control channel.
5. In response, a voice channel is assigned and Mobile (MS) starts ringing.

5.2.4 Mobility management

 When an MS moves out from current BS into another BS, a procedure is performed to
maintain service continuity, known as handoff management.
 The procedure to keep track of the user’s current location is referred to as location
management.
 Handoff management and location management together are referred to as mobility
management.

5.2.4.1 Handoff
 At any instant, each MS is logically in a cell and under the control of the cell’s BS.
 When a MS moves out of a cell, the BS notices the MS’s signal fading away and requests

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all the neighboring BSs to reportthe strength they are receiving.

 The BS then transfers ownership to the cell getting the strongest signal and the MSC
changes the channel carrying the call. The process is called handoff.
 There are two types of handoff: Hard Handoff and Soft Handoff.
1. Hard handoff: As a MS moves from cell A to cell B, the
communication between the MS and BS-1 of cell A is first broken before
communication is started between the MS and the BS-2 of B (position-2).
Hence, the transition is not smooth.
2. Soft handoff: As the MS moves from cell A to cell B, it ensures that no
Communication break occurs between cell A and cell B. That means,
new connection is established before break the old connection.
Hence, the transition is smooth.

5.2.4.2 Roaming
Roaming is a facility provided to the cell phone user to use the cellular services (telephone calls,
data, or access other services) when travelling outside the home network. Roaming can be either
national roaming or international roaming.
Two fundamental operations are associated with location management:
1. Location update:
• The foreign network contacts the home network and requests service information.
• Home directory of the MS is updated with its current location.
2. Paging:
• Broadcasting of Mobile Identification Number (MIN) by MSC.

5.3 Wireless Network Topologies

 Wireless network topology is defined as the configuration in which a mobile terminal (MT)
communicates with other MTs.
 There are TWO types of topologies used in wireless networks: Ad – Hoc Network Topology
and
Infrastructure Network Topology.

1. Ad – Hoc Network Topology

 Ad-hoc wireless networks do not need any infrastructure to work.
 Each node can communicate directly with other nodes, so no Base Station is necessary.
 Such networks are used by military services.
 Also in commercial applications for voice and data transmission.
Single ad-hoc network: Every user terminal has the functional capability of communicating directly
with any other user terminal.
Multi ad-hoc network: Users may be distributed over wide area network.
• Due to transmitted power signal limitations, a given user terminal may be able to reach only a
portion of the other users in the network,
• User terminal have to co-operate in carrying messages across the network between widely
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separated stations.

Single hop ad-hoc network Multi hop ad-hoc network

2. Infrastructure Network Topology

• In this topology, there is a fixed infrastructure that supports the communication between the
mobile terminals and between mobile & fixed terminals.
• This topology is often designed for large coverage areas and multiple base stations(BS) and
access points (AP) operation.

Figure 5.4 Infrastructure Network Topology

5.4 First Generation (1G) System

 The first generation was designed for voice communication.
 1G featured mobile radio telephones & technologies such as:
 Mobile Telephone System (MTS)
 Advanced Mobile Telephone System (AMTS)
 Improved Mobile Telephone Service (IMTS)
 Push to Talk (PTT)
• One example is AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone System) used in North America. It was an analog
cellular phone system.
 It uses 800 MHz ISM band and two separate analog channels; forward (uplink) and reverse
(downlink) analog channels.
 The band between 824 to 849 MHz is used for reverse communication from MS to BS. The
band between 869 to 894 MHz is used for forward communication from BS to MS.
 Each band is divided in to 832 channels of 30-KHz as shown in Figure 5.5.

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Figure 5.5 Frequency bands used in AMPS system

 As each location area is shared by two service providers, each provider can have 416 channels, out of
which 21 are used for control. AMPS uses Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) to divide
each 25-MHz band into 30- KHz channels as shown in Figure 5.6.

Figure 5.6 AMPS uses FDMA

 Limitations:
 Poor voice quality
 Unreliable handoff
 Large phone size
 No security
 Low capacity

5.5 Second Generation (2G) System

• 2G cellular telecom networks were commercially launched on the GSM standard in Finland in 1991.
• SMS service was made available.
• 2G can be divided into TWO standards based on the type of multiplexing used TDMA and CDMA.
• Three Major systems were evolved in 2G:
 IS – 136 (D – AMPS)
 IS – 95 (CDMA)
 Global System for Mobile (GSM)
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• D-AMPS is essentially a digital version of AMPS and it is backward compatible with AMPS. It uses
the same
bands and channels as AMPS. There are 6 slots shared by three channels. D – AMPS uses both
TDMA and FDMA medium access control techniques.

Figure 5.7 D-AMPS

5.6 Global System for Mobile (GSM) Communications

• The first GSM system developed was GSM-900 (Phase -1) – in 1990. It operated in 900 MHz band
for voice only.
• Phase –2 included facsimile, video & data communication services – in 1995.
• GSM was the first totally digital cellular telephone system.

5.6.1 Architecture of GSM networks

The GSM architecture consists of three major interconnected subsystems that interact with
themselves and with users through certain network interface.
The three subsystems are
1. Mobile Station (MS),
2. the Base Station Subsystem (BSS),
3. Network Switching Subsystem (NSS)

1. Mobile System (MS)

 MS comprises user equipment and software needed for communication with a mobile
network.
 Functionally a mobile station consists of four main components:
 Mobile termination (MT) - offers common functions such as radio transmission and handover,
speech encoding and decoding, error detection and correction, signalling and access to the SIM.
The IMEI code is attached to the MT. It is equivalent to the network termination of
an ISDN access.
 Terminal equipment (TE) - is any device connected to the MS offering services to the user. It
does not contain any functions specific to GSM.

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 Terminal adapter (TA) - provides access to the MT as if it were an ISDN network

termination with extended capabilities. Communication between the TE and MT over the TA
takes place using AT commands.
 Subscriber identity module (SIM) - is a removable subscriber identification token storing
the IMSI, a unique key shared with the mobile network operator and other data

ME – Mobile Equipment
BTS – Base Transceiver Station
BSC – Base Station Controller
MSC – Mobile Switching Center
HLR – Home Location Register
VLR – Visitor Location Register
EIR – Equipment Identity
Register
AuC – Authentication Center

Figure 5.8 The GSM architecture

2. Base sub-system (BSS)

 The BSS handles traffic between the MS and the NSS.
 It consists of two main components: the base transceiver station (BTS) and the base station
controller (BSC).
 The BTS contains the Transcoder Rate Adopter Unit (TRAU). TRAU carries GSM
specific speech encoding and decoding and rate adaptation for data.
 The BSC is to allocate necessary time slots between the BTS and MSC.

3. Network Sub-system (NSS)

Network switching subsystem (NSS) (or GSM core network) is the component of a GSM system
that carries call out and mobility management functions for mobile phones roaming on
the network of base stations.
It includes 5 functional units.
i) Mobile switching center (MSC): performs call setup, call release, call tracing, call forwarding
and ShortMessage Service (SMS)
ii) Home location register (HLR): functions the subscriber’s ID, plan and caller tune you are
using location,authentication via SIM cards.
iii) Visitor location register (VLR): contains the exact location of all mobile subscribers
currently present inthe service area of MSC
iv) Equipment identity register (EIR): It is a database which contains a list of valid mobile
equipment on thenetwork. Database that keeps the record of all allowed or banned in the network.
v) Authentication center (AuC): It perform authentication of subscriber.

Home Location Register

 The home location register (HLR) is a central database that contains details of each mobile phone
subscriber that is authorized to use the GSM core network.
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 The number of HLR in public land mobile network (PLMN) varies with the characteristics of the
PLMN.
 Two types of information are stored in HLR: subscriber information and part of the mobile
information to allow incoming calls to be routed to the MSC for the particular MS.
 Any administrative action by the service provider on subscriber data is performed in the HLR
 The HLRs stores IMSI, MSISDN number, VLR address and subscriber data.

Visitor Location Register

 The VLR is linked to one or more MSCs
 VLR stores subscriber information when the subscriber is located in the area covered by the VLR
 When a roaming MS enters an MSC area, the MSC informs the associated VLR about the MS, MS
goes through the registration procedure
 The registration procedure for the MS includes:
 The VLR recognizes the MS is from another MN.
 If roaming is allowed, the VLR finds the MS’s HLR in its home MN.
 The VLR constructs the Global Title (GT) from the IMSI to allow signaling from the VLR to
the MSs HLR via the PSTN/ISDN networks.
 The MSRN is sent to the MS’s HLR.
 The information in the VLR includes: MSRN, TMSI, the location area in which the MS has been
registered, data related to supplementary services, MSISDN number, IMSI, HLR address or GT and
local MS identity.

Operations and maintenance Sub System (OMSS)

 It is responsible for handling system security based on validation of identities of various
telecommunication entities. These are performed in the Authentication Center (AuC) and Equipment
Identity Register (EIR).
 The AuC is accessed by HLR to determine whether an MS will be granted service.
 The EIR provides MS information used by the MSC and it maintains a list of legitimate,
fraudulent or faulty MSs.
 The OMSS is in charge of remote operation and maintenance functions of the MN.
 The operations and maintenance center (OMC) is the functional entity through which service provider
monitors and controls the system.

5.7 Third Generation (3G) System

• 3G systems support high speed packet switched data (up to 2 Mbps).
• Smart phones are introduced.
• The subscriber is able to get the mobile services from anywhere in the world without replacing the
handset or SIM card.
• Two main 3G networks are:
 UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System)
 CDMA-2000
Both these systems use CDMA technology.

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5.8 CDMA Technology

• CDMA offers the following advantages
 Error Control Coding
 Spreading of the spectrum
 Soft handoffs
 Strict power control
• In CDMA several transmitters can send information simultaneously over a single communication
channel. This allows several users to share a band of frequencies.
• CDMA employs spread spectrum technology and a special coding scheme (where each transmitter is
assigned a code).
• CDMA employs powerful error control codes.
• The quality of voice is improved and multipath and fading problems are reduced.
• Capacity of a Mobile Telecommunication System is given by

𝐶 = 𝐵 𝑙𝑜𝑔2(1 + 𝑆𝐼 )
Where B is the bandwidth of the communication system in Hz
C is the channel capacity in bps.
CDMA offers these advantages: Error Control Coding, Spreading of the spectrum, Soft handoffs,
Strict powercontrol.

5.9 From UNIVERSAL MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATION SYSTEM (UMTS) to Long

Term Evolution (LTE)
High Level Architecture of LTE
 The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) has redesigned both the radio network and
the core network is brand named as LTE.
The high-level network architecture of LTE (figure 5.9) is comprised of following three main components:
1. The User Equipment (UE).

Figure 5.9 Evoluation of the system architecture from GSM and UMTS to LTE

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2. The Evolved Packet Core (EPC):

 The Evolved Packet Core (EPC) is a direct replacement for the packet switched
domain
of UMTS and GSM.
 It distributes voice as well as data to the user.
 This replaces the packet switched technology.

3. The Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN)

 It handles the EPCs radio communications with the mobile
 It is a direct replacement for the UTRAN

5.10 Fourth Generation (4G) Technology

 4G has mainly three benefits: improved speeds, reduced latency, and crystal-clear voice
calls.
 Two candidates for 4G are Wi-Max (Enhancement of previous fixed wireless standard for
mobility) and Long Term Evolution(LTE), third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP).
 Advantages of 4G are wireless high-data applications to include multimedia consumption
such as video and audio streaming, video gaming, and video conferencing using mobile
devices, as well as cloud computing applications.
 The high level requirements for a 4G technology were identified as:
 High spectral efficiency
 Reduced cost per bit
 Increased services by increasing the efficiency
 Open interfaces
 Power efficiency
 Flexible usage of frequency bands
 Technical specifications for the LTE project include
 Use of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) and advanced antenna
technologies Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO).
 Downlink speed of 326Mbps and uplink speed of 86 Mbps.

Figure 5.10 LTE System Architecture

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5.11 Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN)

 LAN is a way of connecting computers together within a single organization, and usually
in a single site.
 WLAN links two or more devices using a wireless communication method. It usually
provides a connection through an Access Point (AP) to the wider internet.
 WLAN permits people to use their computers anywhere in the network area.
 The major standards for WLANs are IEE 802.11 and HIPERLAN.

5.11.1 WLAN Specifications

 The IEEE 802.11specifications were developed specifically for WLANs by the IEEE.
 It includes 4 subsets: 802.11, 802.11a, 802.11b, and 802.11g

1. 802.11
 It operated in the 2.4 GHz range
 Maximum data rate of 1 to 2 Mbps
 Uses Phase Shift Keying Modulation technique

2. 802.11a
 It operated in 5 to 6 GHz range
 Maximum data rate of 54 Mbps
 Uses Orthogonal FDM Modulation technique

3. 802.11b
 It is also known as Wi-Fi.
 It operated in 2.4 GHz range
 Maximum data rate of 11 Mbps
 Uses Complementary code keying (CCK) Modulation technique, which allows for higher
data rates.
 Benefits over conventional standard products
 Up to twice the data rate
 Greater WLAN coverage
 Improved security

4. 802.11g
 It operated in 2.4 GHz range
 Maximum data rate of 54 Mbps

Advantages of WLAN over Wired LAN

 Easier to Install and Maintain
 WLAN can be installed much faster and with relative ease, because there is no
physical wires and requires far less equipment to set up.
 There is no need to spend time installing countless cables and connecting each
device to the network separately.
 Easy to Add or remove workstation

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 Portability
 Easier to move to new location within the network area
 When a wireless network is set up, all your employees can access the network from
almost anywhere in the office.
 No need to rely on a set of cables to stay online.

5.12 Bluetooth
 Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology standard that is used for exchanging data
between fixed and mobile devices over short distances.
 It operates in the band of 2.4 GHz.
 The IEEE standardized Bluetooth as IEEE 802.15.1, but no longer maintains the standard
 Bluetooth technology can be used at home, office, car, etc. It allows communicating voice
and text information between several devices in real time.
 Bluetooth is a small microchip that operates in a band of available frequency throughout
the world. Communications can realize point to point and point to multipoint.

5.12.1 Bluetooth architecture

 A Bluetooth network is called a piconet and a collection of interconnected piconets
is called scatternet.
 Piconets are small Bluetooth networks, formed by at most 8 stations, one of which is the
master node and the rest slave nodes (maximum of 7 slaves).
 Master node is the primary station that manages the small network.
 The slave stations are secondary stations that are synchronized with the primary station.

Figure 5.11 Illustration of the concept of piconet and scatternet

5.13 Introduction to Satellite communication

 A satellite is an artificial body placed in the orbit round the earth or another planet in order
to collect information or for communication.
 Satellite communication is used for mobile applications such as communication to ships,
vehicles, planes, weather forecasting, hand-held terminals and for TV, radio broadcasting,
global mobile communication, military communication, etc,.
 Depending on the application, the orbit can be elliptical or circular.

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Figure 5.12 Satellite orbit around the earth

5.14 ELEMENTS OF A SATELLITE COMMUNICATION

The basic elements of a satellite communication system (as illustrated in the figure 5.13) are:
• User
• Satellite
• Terrestrial Network System
• Earth Station

Figure 5.13 Basic elements of the Satellite communication system

User: The user generates baseband signal that propagates through a terrestrial network and
transmitted to the satellite from earth station.
Satellite: Satellite consists of large number of Repeater in the space, receives the RF modulated
carrier from all earth stations in the uplink and re-transmit them back to the earth stations in the
downlink. To avoid interference, downlink and uplink frequency spectrum should be separate and
different.
Terrestrial network: This is a network on ground which carries the signal from user to earth
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station. It is a dedicated link between user and earth station.

Earth station: It is a radio station located on earth, that sends /receives the signals from satellites.
The earth station is responsible for controlling the satellite if it drifts from its orbit when it is
subjected to any kind of drag from the external forces.

5.15 Types of Satellites (based on orbits)

 Depending upon the intended mission, satellites may be placed in orbits at varying distances from the
surface of the Earth.
 Depending upon the distance, these are classified as Low Earth Orbits (LEOs), Medium Earth
Orbits (MEOs) and Geostationary Earth Orbits (GEOs).

5.15.1 Geostationary Earth Orbit Satellite

• Geo Satellites are synchronous with respect to Earth.
• The orbit of these Satellites are circular.
• It would remain stationary with respect to a given point on the Earth. These orbits are
referred to as the geostationary Earth orbits (GEOs).
• Lifetime expectancy of these satellites is 15years.
• Satellite should be placed 37,786 km (36,000 km to be approximately), above the surface of
the Earth.
• These satellites must travel in the rotational speed of earth, in the direction of motion of
earth.
• The inclination of satellite with respect to earth must be 00.
• These satellites are used for TV and radio broadcast, weather forecast.
• These satellites are operating as backbones for the telephone networks.

5.15.2
Low Earth Orbits (LEOs)
•Satellites in the low Earth orbit (LEO) circle.
•Satellites are placed 500 to 1 500 km above the surface of the Earth.
•These satellites, being closer to the surface of the Earth, have much shorter orbital periods
(95 to 120minutes) and smaller signal propagation delays (4.5 ms).
• Each LEO satellite will be visible to earth for around ten minutes.
• Application of LEO satellites is for remote sensing and mobile
communication services.

Disadvantages
• Many Satellites required for global coverage (50-200).
• Because of large number of Satellites, complexity to whole system.
• Short time of visibility requires additional mechanisms for connection handover
between differentSatellites.
• Short life time about 5 to 8 years because of atmospheric drag.

5.15.3 Medium Earth Orbits (MEOs)

 Medium Earth orbit (MEO) satellites orbit at a distance of approximately 10,000 to
20,000 km abovethe surface of the Earth.
 They have an orbital period of 6 to 12 hours.
 Propagation delays about 70-80 ms

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 These orbits are generally polar in nature and are mainly used for communication and
navigationapplications.

Disadvantages
• Due to larger distance to earth, delay increases to about 70-80ms.
• These Satellites require higher transmit power and special Antennas For smaller footprints.

5.16 OPTICAL FIBER COMMUNICATION

Fiber-optic communication is a method of transmitting information from one place to
another by sending over light as carrier through an optical fiber
The generalized configuration of a fiber-optic communication system is (shown in the figure 5.14)
described as follows:
1. Information input
• It receives information in physical forms (for example, voice, video and data) and passed
over to transducer.
• Input transducer (sensor) converts the physical signal into electrical signal.
Example: microphone converts the sound signal to electrical signal

2. Transmitter (Modulator)
• The transmitter comprises an electronic stage which
 convert the electrical signal into optical form
 impresses this signal onto the electromagnetic wave generated by the optoelectronic
source.
• The modulation of an optical carrier may employ analog or digital signal.

3. Optoelectronic (OE) source

• OE source generates the EM wave (light) acts as a carrier in optical range.
• Common sources for fiber optic are – LED and ILD (injection laser diode)
• OE source generate a stable single frequency EM wave with enough power for long range
transmission.
• Their Important properties are compact, light weight, moderate power dissipation and easy
to modulate.

4. Channel couplers
• It collects light signal from the OE source and sends it efficiently to the optical fiber cable.
• Coupling losses may be large due to reflection and limited light gathering capacity of the
couplers.

5. Fiber –optic Information channel

• In an optical system, channel means the optic cable consisting of single or bundle of fibers.
• An optical fiber is extremely thin strand of ultra pure glass designed to transmit optical

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signals from the optoelectronic source to the optoelectronic detector.

• It consists of
Solid cylindrical region called Core (diameter of 8-100μm)
CO-axial cylindrical region called cladding (diameter of 125μm)
• The optical fiber acts as a wave guide and transmits the optical pulses towards the receiver,
by the principle of total internal reflection.
• The information channel should have low attenuation for the frequencies being transmitted
through it and a large light gathering capacity.
• The channel must have low dispersion in both time and frequency domains, because
dispersion causes distortion of the propagating signals.

6. Repeater
• After certain long distance optical signals become weak and degrade (bit errors), due to
scattering, absorption and dispersion.
• The repeater (optical amplifier - erbium doped fiber amplifier EDFA) is used for restoring
the strength and shape of the signal.

7. Optoelectronic detector
• This converts the optical signal to an electrical signal, takes place at the OE detector.
• For this semiconductor PIN diodes or avalanche photodiodes are used.
• The photo current developed is proportional to the incident optical power.
• The good detector characteristics are small size, low power consumption, linearity, faster
response to optical signals and long operating life.

8. Receiver
• The output of the photo detector (photocurrent) is filtered to remove the dc bias.
• After filtering the photocurrent, it is amplified if needed.
• Then the receiver converts the light signal into electrical form.
• For digital transmission, in addition to filter and amplifier, a decision circuit may be
included. In analog transmission, ADC may be required.
• For quality communication: high sensitivity and low distortion is required, SNR (signal to
noise ratio) and BER (bit error ratio) are important factors.

9. Information output
• Information must be presented in a form that can be understood by a human observer.
• To transform the electrical output into a sound wave or visual image then suitable output
transducers are required.

5.17 Introduction to MICROWAVE COMMUNICATION

• The term Microwaves used to identify electromagnetic waves in the frequency spectrum
ranging from 1GHz to 30 GHz (extending upto 600GHz).
• The electromagnetic waves with wavelengths from 30cm to 1cm.
• Microwave radio band are used for many application as listed in the below mentioned table

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In addition, microwave frequency bands are designated by specific letters with the range. The
designations by the Radio Society of Great Britain are given below.

5.18 Microwave Communication

Microwave Communications are widely used for telephone networks, in broadcast and
television system and many other applications.

5.18.1 Frequency Modulated (FM) Microwave Communication System

FM microwave communication system provides flexible, reliable and economical point to
point communication. It can simultaneously carry thousands of voice and data channels.

FM Microwave Transmitter
Figure 5.14 shows simplified block diagram of FM microwave transmitter.
• Baseband input signal: It can be FDM voice channel, TDM channel, composite video signal, or
wideband data signal applied to pre-emphasis network as input.

Lokeshwari H S, Asst. Prof., RIT 18

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Figure 5.14 Block diagram of FM transmitter

• Pre-emphasis network: It provides extra amplification to high frequency baseband signals.
This will provide a uniform signal to noise ratio.
• FM deviator: Signal from pre-emphasis circuit is applied to FM deviator that provides the
modulation. At this stage low frequencies get frequency modulated by the IF range (60-80MHz)
signal and high frequencies get phase modulated.
• IF amplifier: Output of FM deviator is amplified by the IF amplifier and it is passed to mixer
circuit.
• Mixer: It converts IF signal into RF microwave frequencies. The mixer preserves modulation
index and limits the bandwidth.
• Band pass filter: The output of the mixer is passed through the band pass filter to band limit
the signal and then to channel combining network that separates individual channels. Finally, the
signal is fed to transmitter antenna.

FM Microwave Receiver
Figure 5.14 shows simplified block diagram of FM microwave receiver
In the FM microwave receiver, the RF signal is picked by antenna and passed to the channel separation
network that provides the separation of individual microwave channels and directs them to their
respective receivers.
• Band-pass filter: It filters any signal falling outside the bandwidth of the required signal and
passed to the mixer.
• Mixer: Mixer translates (down-convert) the RF microwave frequencies to IF frequencies and
pass them on to the FM demodulator. The FM demodulator is an FM detector, that separates
baseband signal from IF band. The output of the FM detector is applied to a de-emphasis
network. De-emphasis stage performs attenuating those frequencies by the amount by which
they are boosted during pre-emphasis at the transmitter side. Finally, restores the baseband
signal.

Lokeshwari H S, Asst. Prof., RIT 19

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Figure 5.15 Block diagram of FM receiver

Repeaters
Figure 5.16 shows the need of repeaters and shows how a Virtual LoS is maintained between the
transmitter and receiver using Repeaters.
• A microwave repeaters are the intermediate stations between the transmitter and receiver
• These stations receive the signal, amplify it and retransmit the signals to the next repeater.
• Its objective is to repeat the signal that they receive.
• When the transmitter and receiver are not in direct line of sight with each other, then a virtual
line of sight is achieved by placing the repeaters along the path (repeater A, repeater B).

Figure 5.16 Virtual LoS for microwave FM transmission using Repeaters

Lokeshwari H S, Asst. Prof., RIT 20