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MICROWAVE PROPAGATION
ECE ELEC 4:
WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS
ENGINEERING
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Introduction
The actual propagation of microwaves in practice is dierent
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Reection
Microwaves undergo reection when it strikes a surface that it
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Reection Eects
When a microwave is reected, a certain amount of phase-shift is
Diraction
When a wave passes through obstacles whose dimensions
Diraction Eects
Diraction explains why radio waves can be heard behind tall
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Refraction
As a wave travels from one medium to another, its velocity
changes.
This results to a change in the direction of the wave, as if the
wave bends. This is called refraction.
n1
n2
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medium 1
n1 < n2
v1 > v 2
medium 2
1 > 2
Refraction
The angle by which a wave is refracted can be determined
!! !"# !! = !! !"# !! !
n1
n2
2
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!=
!! !
sin !!
=
sin !!
!! !
!! !
!
!= !
!
sin !! !!
= !
sin !! !!
The curvature of the microwave beam has a slightly slower rate than the Earths curvature.
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Radio Refractivity
The refractive index in the nonionized atmosphere is always > 1.
The radio refractivity, N is dened as
!= !!
!"! !
!
!
!
! = !!. ! + !. !"#!" ! !
!
!
! = !! !
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h0 = 7.35 km
Refractivity Gradient
In the lowest few hundred
The wavefront above the beam travels faster compared to the wavefront below. As a
consequence, the actual beam bends downwards.
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Abnormal Refraction
The density of the air above is greater. The wavefront below travels faster and
the microwave beam bends upward.
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Abnormal Refraction
along the path. The curved path travels over a curved Earth.
To simplify the analysis, assume a microwave beam traveling
along a straight line relative to an eective Earth radius.
To compensate for this, the eective Earth radius is the actual
radius multiplied by a certain factor called the k-factor.
that depends on the refractivity gradient. This factor is The k-
factor is used to determine relative clearance and not to predict the
beam curvature.
The k-factor is related to the refractive index gradient by
!"#
!=
!
!"# + !
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N S = N o e 0.1057 H S
where:
re = eective earth radius
ro = true earth radius (6370 km)
NS = Surface Refractivity (300)
NO = Mean Sea Level Refractivity
HS = Elevation of Link Above Sea Level
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k = 1
RE (eff )
K=
Ro
k = 4/3
k =
Ro = 6371 km
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altitude.
As a space wave travels upward, its velocity increases and causes
a gradual downward deection.
During standard atmospheric condition, k = 4/3.
The microwave path for k = 1 is less than that for k = 4/3.
The value of k = 4/3 is true only in temperate climates.
Its value varies between 1 and 2.
Lower values exists in cold or dry climates and at high altitudes.
Higher values of k are common in coastal areas where the
humidity is high.
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Superstandard Refraction
Superstandard refraction, also called super refraction results
Substandard Refraction
Substandard refraction occurs when the dielectric constant
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K = 4/3
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Ducting
The microwave signal is trapped between a layer of warm air (upper
Ducting
Elevated DUCT
Earth
Earth
Ducting Probability
Duct probability percentage of time when dN/dh is less than
Modied Refractivity
When G = -157, the microwave beam would be parallel to the earth.
When the G becomes more negative, blackout conditions may occur. This
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h
d2
d1
!! !!
!=
!
!. !"
h = distance in ft from the horizontal reference line
d1 = distance in mi from point 1
d2 = distance in mi from point 2
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Example:
Calculate the Earth bulge 5 km from an antenna if the
Ans: h = 2 m
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Example:
Calculate the earth bulge at the midpoint of two antennas
Ans: h = 32.8 ft
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Free-Space Propagation
The loss between two antennas unaected by the Earth is
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Free-Space Loss
The power ratio between a transmiLing and receiving
antenna is given by
!!
!!! !
=
!
!!
!
The loss between the two antennas can be expressed as
!!
!"# = 10 log !!
!!
4!" !
!"# = 10 log
!!
!
4!"#
!"# = 20 log
!!
!
Example:
Determine the path loss for a 10-mi microwave link
Example:
A transmijer has an output power of 2.5 W. It is connected
Ans: Pr = 37.15 dBm
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Fading
Fading refers to the variation in the nominal received signal
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Atmospheric Absorption
The main cause of absorption: water vapor and oxygen.
Oxygen resonance: about 0.5 cm (60 GHz)
water vapor resonance: 1.3 cm (23 GHz).
Rain Ajenuation
becomes signicant above 10 GHz
raindrops absorb the energy of EM waves
more severe for horizontally polarized waves
depends on the rain rate
The Earth is divided into 16 dierent rain zones
Incident EM waves induce dipole moments in the raindrops
A raindrop acts an antenna that reradiates energy
Path diversity is used to counter rain fading
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Diraction Fading
Subrefraction could result to diraction loss, depending on
where h is the height above the earths surface and F1 is the
radius of the rst Fresnel.
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Fresnel Zone
Dominant obstacle point in the prole with the least clearance
!! =
!!! !!
!!
!! + !!
!! = !". !
!! !!
!!
!"
distances are in km
frequency is in GHz
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Path Clearance
The path clearance over an obstacle varies depending on the k
Fopt = 0.6F1
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Fn = nF1
Fresnel Zone
First
F
resn
Direct
P
ath =
L
el Zo
ne
Reflec
t
ed pa
th = L
+ /2
Food Mart
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4.0
9.2
10.3
10.1
9.2
7.7
6.7
5.1
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10.0
12.7
13.6
14.2
15.2
17.1
19.6
23.9
Distance
15.0
13.3
12.1
11.3
10.6
9.6
8.6
7.3
in km
20.0
15.0
13.6
13.4
13.8
14.7
16.0
18.1
30.0
17.3
13.8
12.4
11.6
10.9
10.1
9.1
40.0
18.6
14.2
13.1
13.0
13.4
14.1
15.2
Example:
Calculate the radius of the rst Fresnel zone at the
Ans: F1 = 8.31 m
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Example:
A microwave link operating at 4.2 GHz has a path length
Example:
A microwave radio system is operating at a frequency of 2.4
GHz. The distance between the two stations is 40km and the
system propagates over an average terrain. Calculate for the
fading caused by diraction 24km away from the rst point
and consider a height of 20 km.
Ans: 1.56 dB
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Multipath Fading
occurs when radio signals travel in more than one path
signals may add or cancel depending on their phase
relationship.
can result in very deep fades that are frequency selective
it is the main cause of fading for systems below 10 GHz
Nonspecular ground reections interfering with a defocused
main signal is the dominant multipath fading eect
Space diversity is used to counter multipath fading.
Multipath eects can result to at fading and frequency
selective fading.
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Multipath Fading
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causing distortion
due to atmospheric anomalies wherein dierent frequencies
undergo dierent aLenuation levels
Multipath eects in wideband systems cause distortions and
errors that are not amplitude dependent. This is called
selective fading or dispersive fading.
can also be caused by ISI
reduces the signal-to-noise ratio and increases BER
can be compensated by using frequency diversity and
equalizers
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Flat fading
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Normal
signal
Frequency
selective
fading