OPTIMISED PERFORMANCE OF A 23 CHZ TRANSCEIVER SYSTEM FOR POINT-TO-

POINT MICROWAVE LINK

Yusnita Rahayu, Jafri Din, T h a r e k Abdul Rahman

Wireless Communication Research Laboratow, Dept. of Communication Engineering, Fac. Of Electrical Engineering,
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 813 10 Johor Bahru. Johor, Malaysia.
Tel. 601-5535305, fax. 607-5566272, email: v2uinchuln200I Chihoo.coni, iafri;i?.soria.~~.ut",.ins,
thareliifiurin.t~e.utin.riiv

Abstract - Point-to-point microwave radio is being
increasingly deployed because of the rapid expansion of
commercial wireless services. Providers of wireless services
continue to demand systems with higher data rates and
higher carrier frequencies. This paper presents the system
design of a 23GHz transceiver that has 2x2 Mbps data rate
for point-to-point microwave link. The designed system is
simulated using Advanced Design System (ADS) from
Agilent's for performance measurement and analysis. The
23 GHz microwave radio system comprises a double
conversion up-converter and down-converter. A total noise
figure not exceed 3 dB is obtained over the 22.994 - 23.554
GHz frequency range. The power transmitted is 25.4 dBm.
The design of transceiver involves the proper selection and
arrangement of microwave components to meet the
European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI)
recommendations for point-to-point equipment in fixed
radio systems operating at 23 GHz [I]. As future work,
prototype of a 23 CHz transceiver will also be developed.
Further improvement will he considered to enhance
transceiver performance.
Keywords - transceiver system, point-to-point microwave
link, 23GHz, transmitter, receiver, microwave devices and
systems.
1. INTRODUCTION
The increasing demand for wireless communications has
introduced numerous challenges i n the design of microwave
radios. The rapid increase of multimedia services and the
liberalization of the telrcommunication market have created
demands for broadband wireless systems. A well-designed
wireless access system reduces the need of a complex, fixed
infrastructure. Moreover. it offers flexible connection
capacity that can dynamically be adapted to the immediate
needs of the end-user, thus providing a cost-efficient
solution. Public broadband services over radio, however.
require bandwidth that is available only at relatively high
microwave frequencies [2].
Simulation fur the radio unit is performed with ADS
Communication System Designer. The simulation of the
transceiver includes transmitter, and receiver. In the
simulation. the specifications of microwave components are
optimised by using the optimisation simulator controller.
The simulation analyses the effectiveness of the system, in
terms of gain budget. noise figure, power transmitted,
spurious suppression and power received.
The minimum performance parameters for point-to-point
equipment in terrestrial digital fixed service radio
communications systems operating at 23 GHz has been
specified in European Telecommunications Standards
Institute (ETSI) recommendation.
11. TRANSMITTER DESIGN CONSIDERATION
A transmitter is an important subsystem in a wireless
system. The specifications for a transmitter depend on the
applications. For long -distance transmission, high power
and low noise are important. For space or battery operating
systems. high efficiency is essential. For communication
systems, low noise and good stability are required [3]. The
signal transmitted by the antenna must comply with various
emission regulations so that it does not corrupt other user'
communication. While designing the transmitter, it is
necessary to dciine spurious emissions from transmitter for
two reasons [I]:
To limit interference into systems operating wholly
external to the system channel plan (external emissions).
T o limit local interference within the system where
traismitters and receivers are directly connected via the
filter and branching systems (internal emission).
II a. Transmitter Subsystem Sirnulorion
A block diagram of a double stage up-conversion
transmitter is shown in Fig.1. The transmitter consists of
local oscillators. up-converters (mixers), filters and power
amplifier. The transmitter subsystem simulation determines
the gain budget of the system. power transmitted and
spurious suppression.

ICCS 2002

1162

EPFl Mix1 BPF2 Amp1 Mix2 EPF3 PA BPF4
IFinput RF
350MHz output
Fig. I. Block diagram for a double stage up-conversion
transmitter
The IF input is 350 MHz then double up-converted to
23.274 GHz with transmission bandwidth 560 MHr. The
power amplifier (PA) is used to increase the power output
before transmitted by an antenna. The maximum power
output measured in the simulation is +25.4 dBm and the
gain budget of the whole system determined at the output of
component BPF4, which is 32.5 dB from simulation.
According to ETSl recommendation, the transmitter power
range for 23 GHz shall not exceed +30 dBm (including
tolerance) [I]. It is mean that this transmitter meets the
ETSl requirement.
The gain budget at input of each component is shown in
table I
Table1
Transmitter gain budget at input of each component
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For a transmitter with double up-converter and power
amplifier, many other spurious signals could exist at the
output due to the nonlinearity of these components. The
nonlinearity will cause two signals to generate many mixing
and intermodulation product.
There are some ways to increase spurious suppression.
However, it is important to keep the level of spurious
signals as low as possible. A high value of spurious
rejection for filters and mixers is used in the transmitter for
controlling the spurious level. If the unwanted sideband and
other frequency components are tilter out before they reach
the amplification stage, more signal power will occur at the
main spectrum [4].
Fig. 2 provides spurious response and maximum power
transmission. The highest spurious appeared at 20.100 GHz
is LO frequency. The carrier frequency is marked as “Fc”.
The highest spurious is marked as ‘I Fspurmax”. The
spurious level in the transmitter is less than 70dB below the
carrier frequency.
F i g 2 Spurious response at output of transmitter for
maximum power transmission
In ETSI recommendation, a microwave transmitter is
required to transmit the power spectrum without exceed the
limits of spectral power density. Fig. 3 shows the transmitter
spectrum mask for 4 -state modulation scheme. The
spurious response is not allowed to exceed the limit of the
mask. The highest spurious level is 23 dB down from the
carrier frequency.
By comparing the simulation result with the spectrum mask
in Fig.), the transmitter has good sideband suppression and
meets the ETSl recommendation.

t '
In order to anenuate LO leakage back into the antennq
high reverse isolation between LO - RF and LO -IF is
applied.
By sening high rejection to the first filter. The image
noise is filtered out before it reaches the mixer,
sensitivity improvement can be achieved [ 5 ] .

ill a. Receiver Subsystem Simulation

Fig.4 is the block diagram of a double stage down

conversion receiver. The RF input signal is down converted
from 23.274 GHz to 140 MHz.

BPFI LNA Mixer1 BPF2 Mixer2 IFArnp BPF3

I I IF outDul

Fig.3 RF spectrum mask issued by ETSl300 198 standard Fig.4. Block diagram for a double stage up-conversion
receiver

Ill. RECEIVER DESIGN CONSIDERATION
The major performance requirement for a receiver is Noise
Figure and SNR 151. Low Noise amplifier (LNA) IS a key
component in the receiver-end. This is because LNA
contributes noise figure for overall system. By proper
selection the parameters of ths LNA, the system noise figure
is reduced.
Receiver subsystem simulation simulates the noise figure;
gain budget and SNR at the input of every component in the
receiver. Table 2 and Table 3 are the simulated noise figure
and gain budget for receiver.
Table 2
Receiver noise figure budget at input of each component

The design of an LNA involves numerous tradcoffs. The Component Noise Figure Budget
amplifier must have sufficient gain to overcome mixer noise
contribution, but should not be so much to cause mixer BPFl I .000
overload. Good noise characteristics are desired while
accomplish input and output matching. Additionally, the
non-linear performance must be adequate to ensure
sufficient dynamic range ofthe receiver [Z].

In this paper. a few methods work applied to increase

performance of a receiver. The methods that used in the
receiver simulation are:
IF Amp 3.006
By setting a l o w noise figure. high Third Ordcr
Intercept point (TOI) and high gain for LNA. These 3.006
parameters will determine the receiver sensitivity. I I 1

1164
 Table 3
Receiver gain budget at input of each component
Mixerl 3 1.498
From Table 2 and Table 3, the total noise figure and budget
gain of receiver are 3 dB and 42.48 dB respectively. The
receiver itself adds further noise to the signal from its
amplifier, filter, and miner stages. The noise that occurs in a
receiver acts to mask weak signals and to limit the
sensitivity o i t h e receiver. It is clear that the gain and noise
figure in the first stage are critical in achieving a low overall
noise figure. It is very desirable to have a low noise figure
and high gain in the first stage.
The simulation also determines the SNR of the receiver
system. The quality of the output signal from the receiver is
expressed in terms of its signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Table
4 is the SNR budget of receiver at input of each component.
Table 4. The SNR budget ofreceiver at input of each
component
61.2
Mixerl
BPF2 59.2
Mixer2 59.2
IF Amp
BPF3 59.2
The SNR budget of the receiver is 59.2 dB. The great
dit'terence between signal level and noise level is achieved.
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The low level of noise figure is required to enhance the
receiver sensitivity.
IV. CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORK
Microwave transceiver system for point-to-point microwave
link is performed with Agilent ADS Communication System
Designer. The gain budget, noise figure, power transmitted,
power received and spurious suppression for transceiver are
determined and analysed. The system simulation shows that
the transmitter with high spurious rejection for filters and
mixers can maintain the spurious signal level as low as
possible. By filter out other frequencies before they reach
the amplification stage. more signal power will occur at the
main spectrum. In the receiver system, it is very desirable
to have a low' noise figure and high gain in the first stage.
As future work, other performance studies, such IdB
compression, intermodulation. interference, and propagation
path loss will also be considered in the system simulation.
Prototype of a 23 GHz transceiver will also be developed.
The prototype will be used for modem connection. Further
improvement will be considered to enhance transceiver
performance.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This research is fully supported by the Intensification of
Research in Priority Areas (IRF'A) Programme 8* Malaysia
Plan, 2002, and faculty of electrical engineering. Universiti
Teknologi Mdlaysia (UTM).
REFERENCES
[I] European Telecommunications Standards Institute
(ETSI).
. , ETSI 300 198 V I . 5 . l (2002-031 Fixed Radio
s~,stems: Poinf-to-point equipment; Parameters for
radio systems for the Ironsmission uf digital signals
operaring at 23 CHz. ETSI. 2002.
[2] Gerd Schuppenrr. Takashi Harada and Yinggang Li, .'
A 23 GHz Low-Noise Amplifier in SiGe
Heterojunction Bipolar Technology", IEEE. 2001.
[31 Kai Chang, RF & Microwove CVireless Sysfems, Wiley
series in Microwave & Optical Engineering, 2000.
[4] Tharek Abdul Rahman & Toh Chee Leng,
-Performance Improvement of Terrestrial Microwave
Communication Transceiver System for Tropical
Region Application", CECI Conference, Indonesia: 7 -
8 March 2001.
[j] Peter Vizmuller. RF Design Guide: Systems. Circuifs,
and Equafions. Artech House,.lnc. London. 1995.
[6] Roger L. Freeman. Radio Svrtem Design For
Telecommunication. Wilcy Interscience, 1991.