MICROWAVE RADIO

COMMUNICATION
• Ref. Tomasi (532)
FM vs AM
FREQUENCY MODULATED MICROWAVE
RADIO SYSTEMS
 FM Microwave Radio Transmitter
❖ The preemphasis network provides an artificial boost in amplitude to the
higher baseband frequencies
This allows the lower baseband frequencies to frequency modulate the
IF carrier and the higher baseband frequencies to phase modulate it.
This scheme ensures a more uniform signal-to-noise ratio throughout
the entire baseband spec- trum.
❖ An FM deviator provides the modulation of the IF carrier that eventually becomes the
main microwave carrier.

IF carrier frequencies are between 60 MHz and 80 MHz, with 70 MHz

the most common. Low-index frequency modulation is used in the FM
devi- ator. Typically, modulation indices are kept between 0.5 and 1.
This produces a narrowband FM signal at the output of the deviator.
 ❖ The IF and its associated sidebands are up-converted to the microwave region
by the mixer, microwave oscillator, and bandpass filter.

❖ Microwave generators consist of a crystal oscillator followed by a series of

frequency multipliers.

Mixing, rather than multiplying, is used to translate the IF frequencies

to RF frequencies because the modulation index is unchanged by
heterodying
 – FM Microwave Radio Receiver
• In the FM microwave receiver shown in Figure 2b,
• the channel separation network provides the isolation
and filtering necessary to separate individual microwave
channels and direct them to their respective receivers.
• The bandpass filter, AM mixer, and microwave oscillator
down-convert the RF microwave frequencies to IF
frequencies and pass them on to the FM demodulator.
• The FM demodulator is a conventional, noncoherent FM
detector (i.e., a discriminator or a PLL demodulator).
• At the output of the FM detector, a deemphasis network
restores the baseband signal to its original amplitude-
versus-frequency characteristics.
The permissible distance (typically 15 miles and 40 miles) between an FM
microwave transmitter and its associated microwave receiver depends on
several system variables
Transmitter output power, receiver noise threshold, terrain, atmospheric
conditions, system capacity, reliability objectives, and performance
expectations.
❖ With systems that are longer than 40 miles or when geographical obstructions, such
as a mountain, block the transmission path, repeaters are needed

A microwave repeater is a receiver and a transmitter placed

back to back or in tandem with the system. The repeater
station receives a signal, amplifies and reshapes it, and then
retransmits the signal to the next repeater or terminal station
down line from it.
Basically, there are three types of microwave repeaters:

IF, baseband, and RF

❖ IF repeaters are also called heterodyne repeaters. With an IF repeater

(Figure 4a), the received RF carrier is down-converted to an IF
frequency, amplified, reshaped, up- converted to an RF frequency, and
then retransmitted. The signal is never demodulated be- low IF.
Consequently, the baseband intelligence is unmodified by the repeater.

❖ With a base- band repeater, the received RF carrier is down-converted to an

IF frequency, amplified, filtered, and then further demodulated to baseband.
The baseband signal, which is typically frequency-division-multiplexed voice-
band channels, is further demodulated to a mastergroup, supergroup, group,
or even channel level. This allows the baseband signal to be reconfigured to
meet the routing needs of the overall communications network. Once the
baseband signal has been reconfigured, it FM modulates an IF carrier, which
is up-con- verted to an RF carrier and then retransmitted.
❖ Figure 4c shows another baseband repeater configuration. The
repeater demodulates the RF to baseband, amplifies and
reshapes it, and then modulates the FM carrier. With this
technique, the baseband is not reconfigured.
❖ The main difference with IF repeater is in a baseband
configuration, the amplifier and equalizer act on baseband
frequencies rather than IF frequencies.
❖ The baseband frequencies are generally less than 9 MHz,
whereas the IF frequencies are in the range 60 MHz to 80 MHz.
❖ Filters and amplifiers necessary for baseband repeaters are
simpler to design and less expensive than the ones required for
IF repeaters.
❖ The disadvantage of a baseband configuration is the addition of
the FM terminal equipment.
 Figure 4d shows an RF-to-RF repeater. With RF-to-RF
repeaters, the received microwave signal is not down-
converted to IF or baseband; it is simply mixed
(heterodyned) with a local oscillator frequency in a
nonlinear mixer.
 The output of the mixer is tuned to either the sum or the
difference between the incoming RF and the local
oscillator frequency, depending on whether frequency
up- or down-conversion is desired.
 The local oscillator is sometimes called a shift
oscillator and is considerably lower in frequency than
either the received or the transmitted radio frequencies.
 Reconfiguring and reshaping are not possible with RF-
to-RF repeaters
 FM MICROWAVE RADIO STATIONS

• Two Types
Terminal Station and Microwave Repeater Station
1. Terminal Station
• Essentially, a terminal station consists of four major
sections: the baseband, wireline en- trance link
(WLEL), FM-IF, and RF sections.
• A WLEL serves as the interface between the multiplex terminal
equipment and the FM-IF equipment. A WLEL generally
consists of an amplifier and an equalizer (which together
compensate for cable transmission losses) and level-shaping
devices commonly called pre- and deemphasis networks.
•
• IF section. The FM terminal equipment shown in Figure 9
generates a fre- quency-modulated IF carrier. This is
accomplished by mixing the outputs of two deviated
oscillators that differ in frequency by the desired IF carrier.
The oscillators are deviated in phase opposition, which
reduces the magnitude of phase deviation required of a
single de- viator by a factor of 2. This technique also reduces
the deviation linearity requirements for the oscillators and
provides for the partial cancellation of unwanted modulation
products. Again, the receiver is a conventional noncoherent
FM detector.
• RF section. A block diagram of the RF section of a
microwave terminal sta- tion is shown in Figure 10. The
IF signal enters the transmitter (Figure 10a) through a
pro- tection switch. The IF and compression amplifiers
help keep the IF signal power constant and at
approximately the required input level to the transmit
modulator (transmod). A trans- mod is a balanced
modulator that, when used in conjunction with a
microwave generator, power amplifier, and bandpass
filter, up-converts the IF carrier to an RF carrier and am-
plifies the RF to the desired output power.
 MICROWAVE REPEATER STATION

• The received RF sig- nal enters the receiver through the

channel separation network and bandpass filter. The re- ceive
mod down-converts the RF carrier to IF. The IF AMP/AGC and
equalizer circuits am- plify and reshape the IF. The equalizer
compensates for gain-versus-frequency nonlinearities and
envelope delay distortion introduced in the system. Again, the
transmod up-converts the IF to RF for retransmission.
However, in a repeater station, the method used to generate
the RF microwave carrier frequencies is slightly different from
the method used in a terminal station. In the IF repeater, only
one microwave generator is required to supply both the
transmod and the receive mod with an RF carrier signal.
LINE-OF-SIGHT PATH CHARACTERISTICS
• The normal propagation paths between two radio antennas in a
microwave radio sys- tem are shown in Figure 14. The free-space path
is the line-of-sight path directly be- tween 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. The mag- nitude of the surface
wave depends on the characteristics of Earth’s surface and the
electromagnetic polarization of the wave. The sum of these three
paths (taking into ac- count their amplitude and phase) is called the
ground wave. The sky wave is the portion of the transmit signal that is
returned (reflected) back to Earth’s surface by the ionized layers of
Earth’s atmosphere.