Fresnel Zone

At 100%
At 60%

Line of sight

Profile
Physical
At k = 1.33
At k = 0.75

Site A Site B

A Planner’s Guide to Terrestrial

Microwave Link Planning

The Guide helps to define and clarify the basic concepts in Terrestrial
Microwave Link Planning. From the comparison of a road to a telecom circuit
the Guide takes the user through the structure of the earth and how to draw
profiles. Air as a medium of transmission is treated. Antennas and radio
systems are introduced, and then propagation of microwaves is treated. A
special chapter on a microwave link crossing an airport runway is included.
Ducting and its effects on radio links is also treated. Frequency planning and
interference are looked at, while the Guide closes with aspects of
performance of a planned radio link.

Hermenegild Sseyiga
Introduction

After working as a Transmission Microwave Planning Engineer for more than fifteen years I
thought of putting down guidelines which can be followed by professional microwave link
planners to help them understand and plan their networks better. During the course of my work I
trained a number of engineers and engineering students in how to plan terrestrial microwave
radio links. To make my work easier I compiled slides which I used as my guide to take me
through the lectures given to my students.

As time went by I realised I could convert the slides into a booklet. I wanted it simple, clear,
descriptive and easy to follow. It is this reason which propelled me to come up with this Planning
Guide.

The Guide is arranged in four parts.

Part 1 deals with the role of transmission in the telecom network and also the definition of terms.
Part 2 deals with the structure of the earth, latitude and longitudes, coordinates, profile drawing
and a site survey.
Part 3 deals with antennas, radios, the Fresnel zone and propagation.
Part 4 deals with frequency planning, interference and radio performance.
Annexes include diagrams, tables and other illustrations pertaining to link planning.

The purpose of this Guide is to give an engineer basic concepts of Terrestrial Microwave Link
Planning. It helps to remember important aspects of the art. It is not meant to treat in great detail
the subject, as there are already a good number of books dealing with the subject in greater
detail. It is meant to simplify the concepts and to give the engineer an understanding of the
planning aspects in a more simplified manner.

1
Acknowledgements
This work has been a result of research, frustration, disappointment, challenge and
encouragement. At one time or another there have been people and groups who have helped me
to come up with such a product.
First I would like to thank MTN Uganda and their engineers for providing the basis, environment
and conditions for ideas, learning and teaching fresh engineers and for providing comments
about this work. In particular I would like to thank Samuel Sentongo, Chief of Planning then, for
asking me to include a chapter on Links Crossing Water Bodies. My involvement in reading
more about this topic made me understand it better. I would like to thank MTN South Sudan for
proving me the challenges I went through while planning links in their network. It was the
particular link passing above the end of Juba airport runway which challenged me to include a
chapter on Microwave Links Crossing Runways. MTN Irancell is also thanked for proving me
chance to apply my knowledge on their network with very challenging propagation conditions. I
cannot forget engineers from the following companies. Ericsson, Contract Telecoms, Aviat and
many others. They provided me with deeper understanding of Terrestrial microwave. ZTE
Uganda is thanked in a special way for it is under them that printing of this book was done.
Particular challenges presented themselves and their trust in my contribution helped
troubleshooting to take shorter times. In particular I would like to thank Trevor Manning whose
knowledge and book gave me the more technical approach to microwave link planning. I would
like to thank my wife Angelique for putting up with me during the period I was doing research
and preparing diagrams. One time she commented, “Why are invisible things more difficult than
visible ones?” Later I found the statement to have a more philosophical outlook than intended.

2
Contents
PART 1- Understanding Transmission
1. What is Transmission?
2. The Road Analogy
3. The Role of Transmission in the Network
4. The role of Transmission Planning
5. Definition of Basic Terms

PART 2 – The Earth Terrain

6. The Earth
7. Terrain Profile
8. Site Survey

PART 3- Propagation
9. Air
10. K-factor
10.1 Radio Refractivity
11. Antennas
11.1 Antenna Structures

11.2 Antenna Performance

11.3 Antenna Gain

12. Radios

12.1 Basic Radio Parts

12.2 Residual Bit Error Rate

12.3 Automatic Transmit Power Control
13. Microwave Propagation

3
13.1 Inverse Square Law

13.2 The Link Budget

13.3 Propagation Losses

13.4 Fading
14. Fresnel Zone
15. Diffraction
16. Reflection

16.1 Space Diversity

16.2 Combiner Space Diversity

16.3 Space Diversity Combiner Technology Implementation

16.4 Space Diversity antenna Separation

17. Microwave Links Across Runways

17.1 The Aircraft Runway

17.2 Position of Microwave Link Relative to the Runway

17.3 Airport Exclusion Area

17.4 Case Example

18. Links Crossing Water Bodies

4
18.1 FOG AND HUMIDITY

18.2 Fog

18.3 Dew Point

18.4 Inversion

18.5 Marine Layer

18.6 Ducting

18.7 Causes of Ducting

18.7.1 Evaporation Ducts

18.7.2 Temperature Inversions

18.8 Effect of Ducting on Propagation Over Water Bodies

PART 4- Performance
19. Frequency Planning and Interference

19.1 Frequency Plans

19.2 Frequency Planning

19.3 Interference

19.4 Identification of Interference Sources

19.5 Threshold Degradation

19.6 Ways of mitigating interference occurrences

19.7 Back-to-Front Interference

19.8 Co-Channel Interference

20. Radio Link Performance

5
20.1 Transmission Time

20.2 Performance Standards

20.2.1 ITU-T G.826

20.2.2 ITU-T G.828

20.2.3 ITU-T F.1668

20.2.4 ITU-R P.530-14

20.3 Characteristics of a properly designed link

Annexes
Annex 1 A case Study of a Real Profile

Annex 2 Weather data taken at a site (Nkozi) on the western shores of Lake Victoria
between 17th and 20th February 2004.

Annex 3 Variation of Radio Refractivity Gradient and Effective Earth Radius Factor (k-
factor) over Akure, South Western Nigeria.

References

List of Figures
Figure 1.1 Choice of Transmission medium depends on many parameters.

Figure 2.1 Road Traffic

Figure 3.1 The Location of Transmission in the Telecom network

Figure 3.2 Topology of a Telecoms network

Figure 4.1 Media of Transmission

Figure 5.1 Network Elements

Figure 5.2 The parameters of a channel

Figure 6.1 Latitudes and Longitudes

Figure 6.2 UTM Zones

6
Figure 6.3 UTM Zones of the world.

Figure 7.1 Preparing to draw a profile.

Figure 7.2 Translating Map data into a Profile

Figure 7.3 A raw Terrain Profile

Figure 9.1 Effect of air refractive index on microwave propagation

Figure 10.1a Extra clearance due to representing earth as flat.

Figure 10.1b How k-factor changes the appearance of the earth

Figure 10.2 The earth’s bulge at different k-factors

Figure 10.3 The limit of k-factor for a hop length.

Figure 11.1. Parabolic antenna

Figure 11.2. Shell antenna

Figure 11.3 Antenna parts and radiation pattern

Figure 11.4 Antenna RPE – Polar plot

Figure 11.5 Pattern of an L-band antenna

Figure 11.6 Pattern of a Valuline® antenna.

Figure 11.7 1.8m antenna with ODU’s

Figure 11.8 Shell antenna

Figure 12.1 Block Diagram of basic microwave radio

Figure 12.2 Types of Radio arrangement

Figure 12.3 Signals through the IF Cable.

Figure 12.4 Residual Bit Error Rate

Figure 12.5 Transmit Power Constant, Receive Power Varying

Figure 12.6 Receive Power Constant, Transmit Power Varying

Figure 13.1 Antenna sixe and beam size

Figure 13.2 Inverse Square Law

Figure 13.3 The Link Budget

Figure 13.4 The Link Budget decibel-wise

7
Figure 13.5 The Power Level Chart

Figure 13.6 Signal Paths and Losses

Figure 13.7 What a microwave signal experiences

Figure 13.9 Flat versus Selective Fading

Figure 14.1 Definition of Fresnel Zone

Figure 14.2 Path profile showing Fresnel Zone

Figure 15.1 Diffraction of Light

Figure 15.2 Diffraction Loss for Obstructed Line-of-sight

Figure 16.1 The Reflection Plane

Figure 16.2 Multipath space diversity arrangement from transmitter to receiver

Figure 16.3 Combining RF spectra showing reduced notch of the combined spectrum

Figure 16.4 The two received signals before delay compensation

Figure 16.5 The two received signals after delay compensation

Figure 16.6 Space Diversity.

Figure 16.7 Determination of Diversity antenna height (using Pathloss-4)

Figure 17.1 Microwave link at the airport

Figure 17.2 Basic Airport Layout

Figure 17.3 The generic drawing of a runway.

Figure 17.4 A plane taking off traversing a Fresnel zone (adapted from Ref. 10, p.5-8)

Figure 17.5 Aircraft Landing and traversing the Fresnel zone (adapted from Ref. 10 p.8-1)

Figure 17.6 Airport Exclusion Area

Figure 17.7 Microwave Link Passing Close to the Runway

Figure 17.8 Position of Runway Relative to the Line of Sight

Figure 17.9 Variation of time with altitude during take-off for a particular plane.

Figure 17.10 Variation of distance travelled at runway with altitude for the same plane in Fig. 17.9

Figure 18.1 Surface-based Inversion Layer

8
Figure 18.2 Elevated Inversion Layer

Figure 18.3 Night: Ground loses heat cooling air above

Figure 18.4 At Dawn: Surface Inversion Continues

Figure 18.5 Daytime: Sun heats the ground warming the air above creating unstable conditions

Figure 18.6 Dusk: Ground loses more heat cooling the air above. Inversion starts.

Figure 18.7 Elevated Duct

Figure 18.8 Smoke Column Rising under Normal Conditions

Figure 18.9 Smoke Column Flattens at the Top

Figure 18.10 Surface Duct

Figure 19.1 Channel bandwidth

Figure 19.2 Components of a Frequency Plan

Figure 19.3 Frequency Planning: Hi-Lo Arrangement

Figure 19.4 Interference arising from frequency planning

Figure 19.5 Interference arising from bigger-than-allocated bandwidth.

Figure 19.6 Identifying the source of interference

Figure 19.7. Degraded Signal

Figure 19.8. Power Level Chart

Figure 19.9. Interference Level against Threshold Degradation for Different Receiver Thresholds.

Figure 19.10 Vertical Arrangement of Antennas at a Repeater Site.

Figure 19.11 Horizontal Arrangement of Antennas at a Repeater Site.

Figure 20.1 Transmission Time Classifications

List of Tables
Table 1.1 Comparison between road and telecom traffic

Table 12.1. Radio parameters of a radio.

Table 17.1 Tail Heights of Big Aircrafts

9
Table 19.1 Upper 6 GHz Channel Plan Frequencies

Table 20.1 G.826 – End-to-end error performance objectives

Table 20.2 Properties of a properly designed link.

10
PART 1- Understanding Transmission

1. What is Transmission?

Figure 1.1 Choice of Transmission medium depends on many parameters.

In the Telecommunications environment, Transmission deals with transportation,

of information, through a Medium between points, in a regulated manner.

11
2. The Road Analogy

TRAFFIC
1. Vehicle
2. Load
3. Road
4. Origin and Destination
5. Traffic Volume
6. Traffic code:
• Speed
• Traffic lights
• Lanes
• Traffic signs
• Junctions

Figure 2.1 Road Traffic

Ordinary road traffic has vehicles, roads, volume, traffic code, and this traffic has an origin and
a destination. Vehicles carry loads, they use lanes, they are controlled by traffic lights, road
junctions and roundabouts and other road signs.

The comparison telecoms traffic and road traffic is so close and so real that principles describing
flow in both cases can use the same formulas. An example of this is the Erlang B formula.

The comparison can be summarized in the table below.

TRAFFIC TELECOMS
Vehicle Wave, electric signal
Cargo, Load Data
Road Wire, wave, fibre
Origin, destination Origin, destination
Speed Speed
Traffic lights Routers
Lanes Circuits, IP address
Table 1.1 Comparison between road and telecom traffic

12
3. The Role of Transmission in the Network

Core
Network

Transmission

Access Network

Figure 3.1 The Location of Transmission in the Telecom network

The Transmission network logically resides between the Core network and the Access network.
The Access network provides the services, the Transmission network provides capacity to the
Access network and connects it to the Core network which does the switching.

If we are to stick to the colours in Figure 3 and use them in Figure 3.2, the topology of the
telecom network shows what actually happens in the real world.

13
 NETWORK TOPOGRAPHY
BTS connected by fibre

Corporates connected
by satellite

BTS connected by microwave

Corporates connected
by terrestrial microwave

Figure 3.2 Topology of a Telecoms network

4. The role of Transmission Planning

The main work of a Transmission Planning Engineer is to provide designs for solution of
transmission requirements. There are mainly three media used for transmission, namely, space,
water and cable. Space is used in terrestrial microwave and satellites. Water is used during
communication between submarines. Cable is used on twisted pairs, coaxial cables and
waveguides.

The main activities of a Transmission Planning Engineer can be summarized below.

14
 Satellite

Waveguide

Terrestrial
Submarine

Submarine
cable

Figure 4.1 Media of Transmission

TERRESTRIAL MICROWAVE
1. Site survey
2. Capacity planning
3. Routing
4. Link Design
5. Frequency Planning
6. Network planning

SATELLITE
1. Uplink design
2. Downlink design
3. Capacity planning
4. Routing

FIBRE
1. Route survey
2. Route design
3. Link design

15
 5. Definition of Basic Terms
G
F
L

E N

A B C D A H P

M
K
•Route….A-H-L
•Link….A-D
•Hop….AB
•Node….C
•Site….E
•Chain….A-B-C
Q R •Mesh….A-C-Q-R
•Ring….D-H-N-G-F-E

Figure 5.1 Network Elements

For the purpose of clarity, it is important to define some terms so that confusion and ambiguity
are avoided. As far as Figure 5.1 is concerned the difference between a site and a node is not
important. What is required here is to show that whether you are working at the level of a node
or the level of a site the
•Bandwidth relative terms remain the
•Speed same.
•Channel
•Occupancy As far as Figure 5.2 is
concerned, a channel has
parameters which define
bandwidth, speed,
occupancy and latency
or delay. Just like in
Figure 5.1, this is not
limited to connections
between nodes or sites
Circuit
only, but could be
Trunk Circuit Group
between clusters as well.

Figure 5.2. The parameters of a channel

16
PART 2 – The Earth Terrain
6. The Earth

For practical purposes the earth can be taken as a uniform sphere of an average radius of 6,375
km. It was divided into 360 degrees vertically, creating 360 pies of one degree width.
Horizontally it is also divided into 180 degrees, 90 degrees north and 90 degrees south. The
vertical lines are called longitudes while the horizontal lines are called latitudes. The horizontal
line crossing the widest parts of the vertical pies is called the equator. All longitudes meet at the
top at the North pole, and at the bottom at the South pole.

The circumference of the earth is

2 x π x 6,375 km = 40,055 km, about 40,000 km.

Each degree along the equator is

40,055 km /360 = 111.3 km wide.

Each degree is divided into 60 minutes.

Each minute is 111.3km / 60 = 1.854 km wide, this is the equivalent of one nautical mile, or
1.152 times an ordinary mile in imperial units.

Each minute is divided into 60 seconds.

Each second is 1,854m /60 = 30.9m wide.

This means that an error of one second made during the taking of coordinates results in an error
of about 31m on the ground.

If you are using 1:50,000 maps and you make an error of 1mm on the map, this will result in

1mm : 50,000mm, giving an error of 50m on the ground.

These two examples show how accuracy is of prime importance while taking coordinates and
drawing profiles.

17
 180o Date line

Longitudes and Latitudes

Longitude
Of 90oE
North Pole

90o
North Pole

32oE
32oE
0o
0o

Equator

Figure 6.1 Latitudes and Longitudes

Every point on the surface of the earth can be identified by its coordinates - the intersection of a
latitude and a longitude – the Cartesian coordinates. There are very many methods of
representing this, thus the many types of coordinate systems. One of them is using the Universal
Transverse Mercator (UTM) zones. Here every 6 degrees are combined to make one zone,
vertically and horizontally. Numbers are assigned from the equator representing actual distance
in kilometres or metres – these are called Northings. From the middle of a zone along latitudes,
numbers are assigned representing actual distances from the middle of the zone – these are called
Eastings. Zone names have a number and a letter. Numbers are counted from the dateline, the
line between 180o W and 180o E. Just like the Cartesian coordinates, the UTM system defines a
point using the point of intersection, this time northings and eastings. In addition, it includes a
zone number, e.g. 36N or 25P. There are 20 latitudinal zones spanning the latitudes 80°S to 84°N
and denoted by the letters C to X, omitting the letter O and I. Each of these is 8 degrees south-
north, apart from zone X which is 12 degrees south-north.

18
 90oE UNIVERSALTRANSVERSE MARCATOR
(UTM) ZONES
60oE

42oE

36oE
33oE
30oE
Zone 36 35 24oE

6o 34
18oE
33
12oE
32
6oE
31
North
Pole
0oE

Figure 6.2 UTM Zones

19
Figure 6.3. UTM Zones of the world.

7. Terrain Profile

A terrain profile is the variation of landscape altitude with distance between two points, along a
straight line joining them. It can be obtained either manually or automatically using an
application. When drawn manually, the coordinates of the two points, in our case sites, have to
be located on a map. A 1:50,000 map is most common in profile drawing. A straight line is
drawn joining the two points. Normally a sheet of paper dedicated for data entry is used. On it
are recorded the site details and company details.

20
 1340

1320
1300

1280 1220

1280
1200
1260

1240

1340
1320

1300

1280

1260 1240

1220

1200

Figure 7.1. Preparing to draw a profile.

Starting with the first site the altitude is recorded against distance. The first site should have
distance zero measured in centimetres. For every subsequent point where the contour crosses the
drawn line, the distance and corresponding altitude in metres is recorded until the second site is
reached. After that the data is entered into a planning application, for example Pathloss-5, Atoll
or iQ.link, or any other.

A profile similar to that in Figure 7.2 is obtained. The application has many modules which
determine antenna height, k-factor (to be considered later), reflection, multipath fading, etc…

The secret of an accurate profile lies in use of correct terrain data, either from a cartographic map
or from a digital map. Presence of clutter to show what covers the landscape surface is crucial.
Clutter includes trees, buildings, grass, water, rocks, etc…The discussion of digital terrain data
detail is beyond the scope of this book.

While drawing a profile manually there are certain aspects which should be taken into account.

21
 1340
*
1320

1300

1280 1220

1280 1200
1260

1240

1320 1280
1300
1240
1260
1220

1340
*
1320

1300

1280

1260 1240

1220

1200

1340
1320
1300
1280
1260
1240
1220
1200
1180

0 km 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0 5.5 6.0 6.5 7.0 km

Figure 7.2. Translating Map data into a Profile

 The direction of altitude contours: increasing or decreasing.

 Adjacent contours of the same height: is it a plain, swamp, field or just gentle hill?

Depending on the application you are using, the profile will be raised to accommodate the earth’s
bulge, to accommodate the different k-factors required, and it will also show the clutter, or
surface cover of the terrain.

22
 1340

1320

1300

1280

1260

1240

1220

1200

1180

0 km 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0 5.5 6.0 6.5 7.0 km

Figure 7.3 A raw Terrain Profile

There was a situation where cartographic maps were used to input data for a profile.
The person doing it confused hills with valleys. What happened is that the profile
showed a clear line of sight. The profile was 19 km long. On commissioning the
radios, the receive level was -80 dBm at best! Antennas of 1.2m had been used,
being a hilly landscape they were sufficient. Even when bigger antennas were used
the value could not get better than -72 dBm. When the profile was re-examined it was found that “the
valley” was a high hill totally obstructing the path! Another site had to be built at another place,
fortunately the new site also solved other problems.

8. Site Survey
A site survey is one of the most crucial exercises of terrestrial microwave link planning. The
main purpose of the site survey is to find and assess what is on the ground and to confirm or
disprove the assumptions made while drawing the profile. It also provides extra information to
the availability of space on the tower, equipment room space and other issues which had not
been taken into account.

When preparing to do a site survey there are items which you should have with you. They are:

1. copy of Terrain profile

2. GPS with correct settings
3. set of new batteries as spare

23
 4. pair of binoculars, optical or digital
5. physical map of useful resolution
6. meter rule
7. compass
8. clinometer (to measure inclination)
9. Laser meter (to measure distances)
10. Laptop with terrain data and planning tool
11. Digital Camera or Smart phone

PART 3- Propagation
9. Air
Air is the medium of transmission for terrestrial microwave links. It therefore deserves a
chapter of itself to properly understand how microwaves go through the air.

The study of air involves several disciplines. This is because it is not as simple as it
appears.
The disciplines include:
1. Optics: the behaviour of microwaves is similar to that of light.
2. Fluid Mechanics: air is a fluid and therefore its behaviour is governed by the
principles of fluid mechanics.
3. Climatology: air is one of the most important elements of climate. Its
behaviour changes with time, altitude, environment, etc…
4. Microwave Engineering: air is a dielectric. The behaviour of dielectrics
under the influence of an electromagnetic field is governed by the principles
of microwave engineering

Air has certain qualities that need pointing out, namely,

 Density: it decreasing with increasing altitude

 Sometimes behaves anomalously
 Refractive index: it is almost equal to that of vacuum
 When mixed with water vapour, creates a complex fluid
 Offers very little loss to signal propagation

1. Air is a fluid, it is therefore affected by temperature and pressure.

2. Air contains water vapour, therefore its properties as a fluid are altered.
3. Air contains some impurities such as dust, etc…

24
 Air as an optical medium has at times and places discontinuities caused by sudden changes in
refractive index. This, as a fluid, causes discontinuities in air density.

In Figure 9.1, a microwave passing above ground with higher air warmer than ground air
tends to bend towards the ground (left of diagram), when the microwave starts in denser air
higher up and ground air is lighter the wave tends to bend rather away from the ground (right
of diagram). Here the wave follows the optical laws of refraction. Sometimes the microwave
can follow the law of total internal reflection when it becomes trapped in a layer, especially
in flat areas. This behaviour is normally referred to as ducting. Ducting arises when a
temperature inversion occurs. This is when the layer of air closer to the earth's surface is
colder than the air above it. When this happens, usually under still and warm conditions, the
refractive index change in the atmosphere with altitude is such that a layer of the atmosphere
behaves like a waveguide. Microwaves which enter this layer, termed a duct, cannot escape.
Like a light ray trapped in an optical fibre, they will propagate far beyond the horizon.

Refractive Index
height

n1 n4

n2 n3

n3 n2

n4 n1

Ground level

Cold Ground, dense air Hot Ground, less dense air

>wave bends towards ground >wave bends away from ground

Figure 9.1 Effect of air refractive index on microwave propagation

25
 10. K-factor

10.1 Radio Refractivity

At sea level, ground air has a refractive index of 1.000315. Let the refractive index of air at any
height, or anywhere be n, n0 denote the refractive index of air at sea level.

 n0 = 1.000315

Let N = ( n – 1)*106 (10.1)

Then N is known as the Radio Refractivity.

 N0 = 315,

the radio refractivity at sea level.

For radio links below 100 GHz,

5 2
(10.2)
N = 77.6*P/T + 3.732*10 *e/T
P = atmospheric pressure, mbar
T = absolute temperature, Kelvin
e = partial pressure due to water vapour, mbar

10.2 k-factor
The k-factor is a number we multiply the earth’s radius by, in order to make it equivalent to what
radio waves “see”. It can be a number less than one or above one.

Radio waves “see” a different horizon that is farther or nearer than that seen by our eyes.

The k-factor is defined as,

1
Where, k=
h = height above sea level 1 + a dn (10.3)
dh
a = real earth’s radius, 6,375km

n = refractive index of air

26
In Figure 10.1, though the hop distance is the same, the earth appears bigger when the k-factor is
1.2, that is, the earth’s radius appears 1.2 times bigger than the real radius. Here, to the
microwave, the earth bulges a little. The limit of the bulge is indicated by the blue line. When the
k-factor is equivalent to 1, the apparent earth’s radius is the same as the real earth’s radius. Here
the earth bulges somewhat, and its limit is indicated by the green line. When the k-factor is 0.8,
the earth appears smaller than it actually is. Here the earth bulges a lot higher and its limit is
shown by the red line.

When the k-factor is smaller, you need bigger antenna clearance, therefore higher antennas.
When the k-factor is bigger, you need smaller antenna clearance, therefore lower antenna
heights.

It must be noted that there are two main clearances to be overcome, apart from clutter, namely,

1. The clearance due to the earth’s apparent bulge as a result of a particular k-factor.
2. The earth is on average spherical. The propagation of the microwave is not exactly a
straight line. The path is usually curved but in diagrams it is represented as a straight line.
The effect of straightening a curved earth tends to push the profile a little up.

Figure 10.1a Extra clearance due to representing earth as flat.

This can be demonstrated by attaching a long strip of paper in form of a profile on a curved
meter rule (green). When the meter rule is straightened the “profile” bulges up as seen in the
dotted line (Figure 10.1a)

27
 d

MINIMUM CLEARANCE

At K = 0.8
At K = 1.0
At K = 1.2

d = hop distance

Earth Radius = R
0.8R
R
1.2R

Figure 10.1b How k-factor changes the appearance of the earth

EARTH’S BULGE AND K-FACTOR

A EARTH’S BULGE
B
At K = 0.8
At K = 1.0
At K = 1.2

d = hop distance

Figure 10.2 The earth’s bulge at different k-factors

The earth appears smaller at lower k-factors, but there is a limit to which it can appear smaller.
The limit varies with the hop length. The relationship between the limit and hop length is shown
in Figure 10.3.

28
 Minimum equivalent k-factor vs. path length
1.1
1.0

0.9
Equivalent k-factor

0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
10 20 50 100 200
Path Length (km)

Figure 10.3 The limit of k-factor for a hop length.

11. Antennas

11.1 Antenna Structures

A microwave antenna for terrestrial propagation has essentially two parts, the parabolic
reflector and the horn. Rays entering the antenna are reflected at the metallic surface and are
focused at the horn. The horn transmits the microwave energy to the waveguide. Other parts are
added to improve the performance of the antenna, especially to reduce the sidelobes and
diffraction at the edges. Such parts are the shroud, which is a metallic cylinder attached to the
circumference of the parabolic reflector. Another one is the radome. The radome is a flat or
conical material of circular edges placed at the parabolic reflector edges or shroud. It is made of
a non-metallic material and is supposed to offer extremely low resistance to microwaves.

29
 Bigger Reflector

Horn
waveguide

Horn

Parabolic mirror

Smaller Reflector

Figure 11.1. Parabolic antenna Figure 11.2. Shell antenna

Antenna Radiation Pattern

Radome
Radiation Pattern Envelope (RPE)

10o
-75dB -60dB -15dB 0dB
-30dB
30o

90o

Parabolic dish
120o
Shroud

180o

Figure 11.3 Antenna parts and radiation pattern

30
An improved version of the basic antenna shown in Figures 11.2 and 11.8 is the Shell antenna. It
was developed by Bosch (later Marconi). It is has very high directivity and therefore can be
used in cases where possibly interfering links are installed.

11.2 Antenna Performance

Antenna Radiation Pattern Envelope
(Polar Plot)
0o
0 dB

-15 dB

-30 dB

-45 dB

-90o 90o

±180o

Figure 11.4 Antenna RPE – Polar plot

When the reception of an antenna in signal strength is plotted against direction, a jigsaw pattern
appears. This is called the antenna radiation pattern. The highest points of the radiation pattern
can be joined to form the radiation pattern envelope. It can be plotted either in Cartesian (x-y)
coordinates (Figure 11.3) or in polar coordinates (Figure 11.4).

Normally antennas in a link are of the same polarization, either vertical or horizontal. It is also
assumed that the performance of an antenna is the same during transmit and receive mode,
therefore in either mode the antenna pattern should be the same. In reality there may be minor
variations due to various reasons.

31
When the radiation pattern of an antenna is determined using two antennas of orthogonal
polarizations, i.e., one is vertical while the other is horizontal, the highest peak of the receive
antenna is a good number of dB’s below the maximum, say 30dB. This difference is called the
cross-polar discrimination or XPD in short. This value tells us how good the antenna is in
separating signals of the same frequency but different polarizations. It tells us how well or badly
the antenna will suffer interference. The bigger the value the better the discrimination. Examples
of antenna plots can be seen in Figures 11.5 and 11.6.

On the antenna plot if you mark two points which are 3dB below the maximum, and find the
angle subtended by the two points, you get what is called the antenna beamwidth. This is a
measure of how focused the antenna is. An antenna which has a relatively small focal point is
said to be having high directivity. An antenna of 3m is more directive than the antenna of 1.2m.
This is to say the beam of a 3m dish is less divergent than that of a 1.2m antenna.

UHP8-18 Gain = 31.1 dBi BW = 4.8° 1850 - 1990 MHz

-5

-10

-15

-20
Discrimination (dB)

-25

-30

-35

-40

-45

-50

-55

-60

-65-180.0
-160 -140 -120 -100 -80 -60 -40 -20 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160180.0
Angle (°)

Figure 11.5 Pattern of an L-band antenna

32
 VHLP2-370 Gain = 44.5 dBi BW = 1.0° 37000 - 40000 MHz

-5

-10

-15
Discrimination (dB)

-20

-25

-30

-35

-40

-45

-50

-55

-60

-65

-70-180.0
-160 -140 -120 -100 -80 -60 -40 -20 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160180.0
Angle (°)

Figure 11.6 Pattern of a Valuline® antenna.

Figure 11.7 1.8m antenna with ODU’s Figure 11.8 Shell antenna

33
11.3 Antenna Gain
The gain of an antenna is defined in dB as,

GdBi = 10log10 (η π D )
2 2

λ2
(11.1)

where G = gain with respect to isotropic antenna

η = antenna efficiency, usually between 55% -60%

D = diameter of the antenna

λ = wavelength

The same equation can be rewritten by replacing λ with c/f .

2
GdBi = 10log10 η πDf
c
(11.2)

Where c = the speed of light

f = frequency of signal

12. Radios

The radio equipment is the source of microwave power which is transmitted across free space to
the opposite antenna. When the digital signal leaves the multiplexers or routers it is modulated
by the radio in stages, from the base-band digital signal to an intermediate frequency signal. It is
then modulated again to the radiofrequency. These two stages can either take place in one box,
several boxes or several cards.

12.1 Basic Radio Parts

The stages of a long-haul radio are normally assembled into one cabinet and installed indoors.
Short-haul radios are normally split, with the modem inside one box called the indoor unit or

34
IDU, and the transceiver (with branching network) also assembled into one unit called the
outdoor unit or ODU. It is now common practice to find all-outdoor radio units, where the
modem and the transceiver with the branching network packaged as one unit. This is usually for
short hops of data traffic.

BASIC RADIO SYSTEM BLOCK DIAGRAM

TRANSCEIVER
MULDEM MODEM BRANCHING
UPC NETWORK

Baseband
MUX
Modem IF/RF HPA

ANTENNA
ANTENNA
Baseband
DEMUX
Demod RF/IF LNA

DWNC

MUX: multiplexer UPC: up converter

DEMUX: demultiplexer DWNC: down converter
MULDEM:multiplexer/demultiplexer LNA: low noise amplifier
Demod: demodulator HPA: high power amplifier

Figure 12.1 Block Diagram of basic microwave radio

35
 ODU
ODU
IDU

Waveguide Coax
LAN cable
(cat-5)

ALL SPLIT UNIT ALL

INDOOR OUTDOOR

Coax

Power over
Ethernet
TX RX IDU
VDC

Figure 12.2 Types of Radio arrangement

ITEM (GHz) 7 8 13 15 18 23 26 38
Output Power (dBm) 27 27 25 23 23 23 20 15
Threshold level in dBm, ODU
BER=10-34MB -90 -90 -90 -90 -89 -88 -88 -87
8MB -87 -87 -87 -87 -86 -85 -85 -84
17MB -84 -84 -84 -84 -83 -82 -82 -81
34MB -81 -81 -81 -81 -80 -79 -79 -78
BER=10-64MB -87 -87 -87 -87 -86 -85 -84 -84
8MB -84 -84 -84 -84 -83 -82 -81 -81
17MB -81 -81 -81 -81 -80 -79 -78 -78
34MB -78 -78 -78 -78 -77 -76 -75 -75

Table 12.1. Radio parameters of a radio.

36
 The Cable between the IDU and ODU is called the IF cable because it takes
the signal at IF frequency. It can also be called the IFL cable, or Inter-Facility
Link cable, because it is carrying many signals.

IF s ig n a l to ID U IF sig n a l to O D U

C o n tro l s ig n a l to ID U C o n tro l sig n a l to O D U

D C p o w e r to O D U

Tx 850MHz

Figure 12.3 Signals through the IF Cable.

The IF cable takes at least five signals between the IDU and the ODU.

IDU to ODU

1. IF signal to ODU
2. Control signal to ODU
3. DC power to ODU

ODU to IDU

4. IF signal to IDU
5. Control signal to IDU

12.2 Residual Bit Error Rate

In a microwave link the BER is a function of the received signal strength (RSSI). Very weak
signals cause many bit errors. The transition from few to many errors at low power is called

37
threshold. As the received signal strength increases, the error rate will fall to a very low level or
error floor. This error floor corresponds to a bit error rate called the residual BER (Figure
12.4). It is the "normal" operating performance of the microwave link. As the received power is
increased, the receiver will reach an overload point where the error rate increases quickly.
BER

Threshold

10-3

Overload
10-6
10-9
“Residual” Error Floor
Residual BER

RSSI (dBm)

Figure 12.4 Residual Bit Error Rate

12.3 Automatic Transmit Power Control

At the error floor a radio can be operated at an adequate RSSI value, low enough but sufficient to
sustain required performance objectives. In favourable transmission conditions, the transmit
power is reduced – depending on the radio hop length – by up to 20 dB below its maximum
value. This is called automatic transmit power control (ATPC). This helps to keep the
transmit power to the lowest chosen values without affecting performance. This is done to
achieve three objectives:

(1) To reduce interference

(2) To increase the lifespan of radios

(3) To reduce the power consumption of the radio.

Automatic Transmit Power Control (ATPC) is a feature of a digital microwave radio link that
adjusts transmitter output power based on the varying signal level at the receiver. ATPC allows
the transmitter to operate at less than maximum power for most of the time; when fading
conditions occur, transmit power will be increased as needed until the maximum is reached.

38
If the maximum transmit power in a ATPC system is needed for only a short period of time, a
transmit power less than maximum may (if certain requirements are met) be used when
interference calculations are made into other systems. On the other hand, because the maximum
power is available when deep fades occur, C/I interference calculations into the ATPC system
may assume the "maximum power" carrier level. Thus, ATPC usage may offer an advantage in
the resolution of low level interference cases without compromise to the fade margin of the
ATPC equipped system.

There are several ways of implementing ATPC. For simplicity two methods are going to be
talked about here.

1. Keeping Transmit power constant most of the time. Here the transmitter keeps an
almost constant transmitting power (say +12 dBm) under normal conditions. During
periods when propagation is not very good and may cause a deterioration of received
signal bit errors the transmitter will increase to improve the received signal during that
period. For most of the time the receive levels are fluctuating between acceptable limits
(see Figure 12.5).

39
Figure 12.5 Transmit Power Constant, Receive Power Varying

2. Keeping Received power constant most of the time. Here the received signal keeps an
almost constant level (say -45 dBm). During conditions when the propagation is not good
forcing the receive levels to go below the preset value, the transmit power is increased to
compensate for this deterioration. For most of the time the transmit levels are fluctuating
between acceptable limits (see Figure 12.6).

40
Figure 12.6 Receive Power Constant, Transmit Power Varying

13. Microwave Propagation

This chapter will try to examine how the signal from the transmitting antenna reaches the
receiving antenna with all the problems it experiences.

41
13.1 Inverse Square Law

Beam size picked

By receive antenna

Beam size arriving at

Receiving antenna

Figure 13.1 Antenna sixe and beam size

When a signal beam leaves the transmitting antenna it is the size of the transmitting antenna. By
the time it reaches the receiving antenna, say 40km away, it is about a kilometer wide –
depending on the parameters of the antennas. But the receiving antenna only receives a beam of
the size of the antenna. This means that most of the transmitted energy is lost.

0 1 2
3

Figure 13.2 Inverse Square Law

This is due to the fact that as you increase the distance the size of the beam increases with the
square of the distance, but the brightness decreases with the inverse of the square of the distance,
thus the Inverse Square Law.

Intensityd = Intensity*(1/ d2) (13.1)

Where d is the distance from the source and Intensityd the intensity at distance d, and Intensity
the intensity at the source.

42
The general equation for free space loss, Lfs, in decibel is given by,

Lfs = 92.4 + 20log (f.d) (13.2)

Where f is the frequency in GHz and d is the distance in km.

This is the main reason the Free Space Loss has such a big value, typically above 110dB! It is
not because the space offers such a loss, but, because of the Inverse Square Law, the signal
reaches the destination when its intensity has been greatly reduced. You can as well say Free
Space Loss is a misnomer!

Example

What is the free space loss for a 40km hop operated at 7.5 GHz?

Answer

Lfs = 92.4 + 20l0g (f.d)

= 92.4 + 20log (7.5*40)

= 92.4 + 20log (300)

= 92.4 + 20 * 2.4771

= 141.94 dB (~ 142 dB!)

43
13.2 The Link Budget
Free Space
Tx Antenna
Rx Antenna

Feeder
Feeder

Tx Rx

PTx – Lft + GAt – LFS + GAr – Lfr = PRx

Figure 13.3 The Link Budget

The Link Budget is the accountability of all losses and gains in the radiofrequency transmission
path.

If PTx is the power transmitted and PRx is the power received, the total losses and gains can be
expressed in a basic equation as,

PTx + GainTotal – LossesTotal = PRx (13.3)

GainTotal and LossesTotal can be expanded into sub-gains and sub-losses respectively.

There are very many ways of representing the Link Budget. You can use equations, Excel tables,
graphical forms, etc… Figure 13.4 expresses the same Link Budget in a graphical form showing
gains as positive gradient lines and losses as negative gradient lines.

PTx – Lft + GAt – LFS + GAr – Lfr = PRx (13.4)

15 – 2 + 39 - 126 + 33 – 2 = -43dBm

44
 +55 dBm
EIRP

+35 dBm Tx Antenna Gain

(39dB)

Tx +15 dBm
Feeder

-5 dBm
Net Path Loss
(59dB) Free Space Loss
Free Space Loss (126dB)

-35 dBm Rx Feeder Loss

System Gain Rx
100dB

-55 dBm Rx Antenna Gain

(33dB)

Fade Margin
(43 dB)

-75 dBm

Rx Threshold (10-6)

Figure 13.4 The Link Budget decibel-wise

Certain observations can be made from the diagram.

System Gain: distance between transmitter and receiver threshold (100dB).

Fade Margin: distance between received signal and receiver threshold (43dB).

Net Path Loss: distance between transmitter and receiver (59dB).

Free Space Loss: distance between transmit antenna and receive antenna (126dB).

The power level chart can be used to highlight other important parameters to be determined after
the link budge is completed. Using Figure 31b, more parameters can be found.

Carrier to Noise (C/N): difference between received signal level and thermal noise (60dB).

Carrier to Noise Ratio (C/N Ratio): difference between receiver threshold and thermal noise
(25dB).

45
 POWER LEVEL CHART

+30 Transmit Power (+30 dBm)

+20

+10
Net Path Loss
0 (70 dB)
System Gain
(105 dB)
-10

-20
Nominal Receive Signal Level (-40 dB (variable)
-30
A
-40

-50
Fade Margin C/N
(35 dB) (60 dB)
-60
Receiver Threshold for BER=10-6
-70 B
-80
Minimum
-90
C/N Ratio C
(25 dB)
Thermal Noise (-100 dBm)
-100

Figure 13.5 The Power Level Chart

13.3 Propagation Losses

When a microwave signal traverses space from one antenna to another it experiences an
environment which divides the main signal into several paths.

1. The most central part of the main beam goes straight to the other antenna without
bending .
2. The reflected beam which is bounced of surfaces and vegetation of a plane nature.
3. The diffracted beam which is bent due to discontinuities in space (due to solid particles
and irregularities in air refractive index and density).
4. A refracted beam.
This has not taken into account lost beams which do not make it to the antenna, or those which
do not reach in time.

By the time the four beams have reached the antenna there is delay between the first and second
beams. There is a phase shift because of reflections and refractions. Thus the four beams reach
the antenna when they are taking different paths, this results into the received signal fluctuating
in strength every time, caused by positive and negative interference. This is what is referred to a
multipath fading.

46
 Signal Types and Losses Losses
1. Free Space
4 2. Absorption
3. Precipitation
4. Diffraction
3 5. Reflection
1

Ray Types
1. Direct
2. Reflected
3. Diffracted
4. Refracted

Site A Site B

Figure 13.6 Signal Paths and Losses

Signal experiences
•Delay
•Phase Change
•Interference: +ve and –ve
•Fading

Types
1. Direct
2. Reflected
3. Diffracted
4. Refracted

Site A Site B

Figure 13.7 What a microwave signal experiences

At varying degrees the four beams experience losses of the following types.

1. Free space loss, due to the inverse square law phenomenon

2. Absorption, due to the behavior different gases at different frequencies
3. Precipitation, due to rain, fog and sometimes snow
4. Diffraction
5. Reflection

47
13.4 Fading

Figure 13.8 Slow versus Fast Fading

Fading is the fluctuation of the signal strength due to propagation conditions. There are majorly
two types of fading: Fast fading and Slow fading.

Fast fading is the type of fading which is predominantly caused by multipath. It happens very
fast, can be even in nanoseconds. The value of the received signal does not change very much
but the range of change is perceivable on a measuring instrument.

Slow fading is the type which is mainly caused by climatic conditions. Due to the different k-
factors becoming more predominant at particular times of the day, the received signal varies over
longer periods of time, normally in hours. Temperature and pressure differences along the day
may also produce slow fading.

There are two types of slow fading: Flat fading and Selective fading. Flat fading is the type
which affects a big spectrum of frequencies equally. Graphically the response of a faded signal
with frequency gives a flat shape, thus flat fading. Selective fading on the other hand is only
affecting a particular narrow band of frequencies.

48
Figure 13.9 Flat versus Selective Fading

Selective fading is generally meaning Frequency selective fading. This is because there is
another type called Time Selective fading which is caused by multipath. Here the signal
experiences a time delay short enough to cause a signal disappear in only a part of the wideband
channel.

14. Fresnel Zone

When the line of sight between two sites is not obstructed, radio waves travel in a straight line
from the transmitting antenna to the receiving antenna. When there are obstacles near the path,
the radio waves reflecting off those obstacles may arrive at the receiving antenna out of phase
with the signals that travel directly and reduce the power of the received signal. The phase of the
reflected signal is determined by the path difference between the direct and the reflected paths.

If the limit of this path is defined as,

TP + PR = TR + ½λ , (14.1)

Where TR is the direct path, TPR the reflected path, and λ the wavelength (Figure 14.1).

49
 FRESNEL ZONE

300d1d2 d1, d2 (km)

R1 = f (GHz)
f(d1+d2) n (1-3)
100%R1
Rn = R1 n

60%R1
Def: TP +PR = TR + ½ λ
T

P R
P

d1 d2

Figure 14.1 Definition of Fresnel Zone

The Fresnel Zone is an ellipsoid space between the transmitting antenna and the receiving
antenna, whereby the path difference between the direct and reflected path is half a wavelength.

The same can be differently defined as

300d1.d2
R1 = (13.5)
f(d1 + d2)

Rn = R1 n (13.6)

Where

Rn is the nth radius (in meters) of a Fresnel zone, d1 and d2 are distances (in km) from the
antennas to the obstacle, f is the frequency in GHz, n is the number of possible Fresnel zones.

The radii of the zone keep increasing with increasing square root of the subsequent zone.

The radius of any Fresnel zone is widest at the midpoint of the radio hop.

50
 FRESNEL ZONE
F re sn e l Z o n e
At 100%
At 60%

L in e o f s ig h t

P ro file
P h ys ic a l
A t k = 1 .3 3
A t k = 0 .7 5

S ite A S ite B

Figure 14.2 Path profile showing Fresnel Zone

When the profile is drawn, the planning tool indicates the same profile with standard k-factor and
minimum k-factor. With standard k-factor the profile is raised a bit, and with minimum k-factor
the profile is raised further. The Fresnel zone is indicated on the same diagram and shows the
extents of the full Fresnel zone and the 60% of the same. It is assumed that 80% of energy
through the first Fresnel zone is contained within 60% of the zone.

The performance and clearance requirement of links determine how many Fresnel zones should
be cleared. In most cases the first zone is sufficient.

In figure 14.2 it can be seen that ‘

1. At k-factor of 1.33, 100% of the first Fresnel zone is cleared.

2. At k-factor of 0.75, 60% of the first Fresnel zone is cleared.
3. At k-factor of 0.75, there is insufficient clearance for 100% of the first Fresnel zone.

Example

Suppose a link operating at 7.5 GHz on a hop 40km long has an obstacle at 27km from one end
to clear. What clearance from the line of sight is required?

51
Answer

Let us take the first Fresnel zone clearance.

R1 = ( ( 300d1*d2) / f(d1 + d2) )½

R1 = ( (300 x 23 x 17) / 7.5(23 + 17) )½

= ( (300 x 391) / 300)½

= 391½

= 19.77m - which is about 20m

Therefore 100% of R1 is 20m and 60% of R1 is 12m.

15. Diffraction

When the rays of light fall on a flat white ground and the light is partially obstructed by a plate,
the shadow that will be produced will not be sharp. This is because some of the light bends
around the plate. The shadow that will be produced will be a blurred one. This behaviour is
known as diffraction.

52
 Intensity Light Rays

Sharp obstruction

Distance

Variation of intensity with distance

Figure 15.1 Diffraction of Light

Microwaves behave the same way when they are obstructed, e.g. by a hill, a building or ground.
Diffraction loss will depend on the type of terrain and the vegetation. For a given path clearance,
the diffraction loss will vary from a minimum value for a single knife-edge obstruction (like a
hill or a building) to a maximum for smooth spherical Earth.

The diffraction loss over average terrain can be approximated for losses greater than about 15 dB
by the formula:

Ad = -20*h/F1 + 10 (15.1)

where h is the height difference (in meters) between most significant path blockage and the path
trajectory (h is negative if the top of the obstruction of interest is above the virtual line-of-sight)
and F1 is the radius of the first Fresnel ellipsoid.

Figure 15.2 shows the variation of the diffracted loss relative to free space against relative
clearance for different reflection coefficients. It can be observed that relative diffraction loss is
zero when the clearance is close to 0.6F1.

53
 Fn = n ½ x F 1 Fresnel zone number, n 1 2 3 4 5 6
10
Obstruction zone Interference zone
Diffraction Loss Relative to Free Space (dB)

-10

-20

ρ = reflection coefficient

-30

-40
-1.0 -0.5 0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 Clearance/F1

Figure 15.2 Diffraction Loss for Obstructed Line-of-sight

16. Reflection

It is preferred that most of the signal travels directly from the transmitting antenna to the
receiving antenna. Due to the nature of the profile, it can happen that some of the microwaves
get reflected before they reach the receiving antenna. When the path difference between the
direct and the reflected paths is a multiple of the half wavelength, the received signal will be
lowered. If the difference is greater than a multiple of half wavelengths, the received signal will
be lower or greater than the signal received alone from the direct path. If the difference is a
multiple of the half wavelengths then it will be greater than that received by direct path alone.

In link design it is always preferred to either avoid or reduce the effects of reflection. In this
regard, antenna heights can be changed or slight antenna up-tilts can be introduced to achieve
this goal.

Reflection occurs when the microwave beam angle of incidence (90o-α) is equal to the angle of
reflection (90o-β), see Figure 15.1. When a beam is reflected over a surface it undergoes a phase
shift, and a delay due to the longer path it takes. Because the signal reaching the antenna at the

54
opposite end may be reflected at several surfaces, the received signal is a combination of so
many copies of the original signal. Placing of a site behind a hill is one of the ways of cutting off
reflections.

REFLECTION PLANE
A
B

hA
hB

α β

SITE A C SITE B
AC + CB – AB = n(½λ)
AC + CB – AB ˃ n(½λ)

Figure 16.1 The Reflection Plane

16.1 Space Diversity

For especially long hops where multipath problems are as a result of reflections on a plane,
fading at the receiving antenna becomes a big problem. Here a signal may experience deep
fading due to destructive interference. A second receive antenna is normally put below the main
one with a vertical separation from the first antenna. This way we create a second set of delay
combinations. This technique is called Space Diversity. Selective fading will occur at different
frequency notches in the two received signals (one at each antenna) due to different delays. This
creates a significantly higher probability of receiving an undistorted signal. Microwave radios
use two receivers, one for each antenna, to receive the signals and select the better of the two.

Two methods are used to get the desired signal.

1. There is a selection mechanism based on a “switch” which selects the better of the two
received signals (based on signal strength).

55
 2. The more advanced technique combines the two received signals into one received
signal. This technique is called Combiner Space Diversity and it offers a number of
advantages.

16.2 Combiner Space Diversity

Figure 16.2 Multipath space diversity arrangement from transmitter to reciever

In Figure 16.2, all four transmission paths have different transmission times: td1, td2, tr1 and tr2.
The two receiver antennas will receive signals with different delays: td1-tr1 and td2-tr2. As a result,
if one of the two receivers should receive a signal with a frequency notch (distortion), it is very
unlikely that the other will have a notch (distortion) at the same frequency. If the signals received
by the two antennas are then combined in phase, the spectrum notch will be significantly
reduced. If a spectrum notch (selective fade) appears on only one of the signals, the notch in the
combined signal will be significantly reduced at this point (see Figure 16.3).

Figure 16.3 Combining RF spectra showing reduced notch of the combined spectrum

56
16.3 Space Diversity Combiner Technology Implementation
To reap the benefits of the received spectrum, the two signals must be combined perfectly (and
dynamically) in-phase with each other. To achieve this, the receiving equipment must first align
the two signals in time by inserting a fixed delay that compensates for differences in waveguide
length and other fixed delays. This compensation can be done by either inserting a coax of a
length related to the antenna separation, or by automatic compensation.

In order to dynamically combine the two received signals in phase, a ±180 degree controllable
phase-shift is introduced into one of the two signals before the combination takes place (see
Figure 16.5). The phase-shift is manipulated in such a way as to ensure that the two waves are in-
phase before they are combined in the summary signal. They can select among different
algorithms (such as maximum power, minimum dispersion, etc.) for the best combined result
given the condition of the two received waves.

Figure 16.4 The two received signals before delay compensation

Figure 16.5 The two received signals after delay compensation

16.4 Space Diversity antenna Separation

In space diversity arrangement the minimum separation Δsep in meters between the main and
diversity antenna is given by two equations.

1. Δsep = 200*λ (16.10

Where λ is the wavelength in meters.

2. Δsep = 80/f
57
 Where f is the frequency in GHz (16.2)

Example

What is the space diversity antenna separation at 7.5 GHz?

Answer

1. Using equation (16.1).

At 7.5 GHz the wavelength is 3 x 108 / 7.5 x 109 giving 4 x 10-2m.
200 x4 x 10-2 = 8m

Therefore at 7.5 GHz the minimum antenna separation in a diversity arrangement is 8m.

2. Using equation (16.2).

80/7.5 = 10.67m

For practical purposes a value between 8m and 11m can be used as minimum separation.

M a in

M a in

sA
D ive rsity

D ive rsity

hA hB

α β

S IT E A S IT E B

Figure 16.6 Space Diversity.

The exact position of the diversity antenna is selected in such a way that when the main antenna
has a deepest fade or a null the diversity antenna has a maximum, or vice versa. This is to ensure
that the main and diversity antennas do not fade at the same time. This can be seen in the
diagram that the variation of the received signal with height for the two antennas alternates, red
for the main and dotted blue for the diversity (Figure 16.7).

58
If the main antenna is say at 42.5m, the diversity antenna will be at 31m. if the main antenna is at
37m the diversity antenna will be at 25m (see Figure16.7).
H2=40.0 m, K=1.33, F=6800.0 MHz, V
H2=28.0 m, K=1.33, F=6800.0 MHz, V

-2

-4

-6
Relative Receive Signal (dB)

-8

-10

-12

-14

-16

-18

-20

-22

-24

-26
5.0 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50.0
Bukungu Antenna hei ght (m)

Figure 16.7 Determination of Diversity antenna height (using Pathloss-4)

17. Microwave Links Across Runways

This chapter has been specially included to cater for cases of microwave links that either
traverse the runway, aircraft parking area or those passing in front of runways. It is not
that the planes radiate any signals that may impair performance of a microwave link
(which is catered for in the chapter on interference) but due to the size of an aircraft it is
possible to block a whole or part of the Fresnel zone.

Figure 17.1 Microwave link at the airport

17.1 The Aircraft Runway

In order to understand better how a plane can block a microwave link it is imperative that we
look at the general structure of an airport and its different parts.

59
 PAPI = Precision Approach Path Indicator

Figure 17.2 Basic Airport Layout

The main parts of an airport which are most relevant to this discussion are the runway, taxiway,
the apron, the ramp and the aircraft stands. The runway deserves special attention because at the
runway four different activities are taking place, namely, taking off, landing, accelerating and
braking. Landing and taking off take place when a plane is in the air while accelerating and
braking take place on the runway. Figure 17.3 shows the different parts of a runway.

Figure 17.3 The generic drawing of a runway.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/Airport_infrastructure.png

17.2 Position of Microwave Link Relative to the Runway

The take-off rotation point, the point at which a control device, such as a yoke, side-
stick or centre stick, are applied to lift the nose wheel off the ground during the take-off roll,
usually occurs in the final 40% of the runway stretch for medium and large commercial
airplanes. Private planes are unpredictable. Their take-off point can be anywhere on the runway.
Private jets with light loads often take-off using much shorter distances than heavily loaded

60
commercial planes. Military planes take off at very steep angles using very little runway.
Therefore microwave links over private or military airport runways are quite tricky. Figure 17.4
shows a small aircraft taking off and crossing a Fresnel zone.

Figure 17.4 A plane taking off traversing a Fresnel zone (adapted from Ref. 10, p.5-8)

The effect of a plane blocking the Fresnel zone while taking off is similar to when the plane is
landing. Figure 17.5 show a small aircraft landing and the significance of its position relative to
the Fresnel zone.

dp
hp Section of
Fresnel zone

dp = horizontal distance of plane from takeoff point

hp =vertical distance of plane at Fresnel Zone

Figure 17.5 Aircraft Landing and traversing the Fresnel zone (adapted from Ref. 10 p.8-1)

61
17.3 Airport Exclusion Area
If the plane is not landing or taking off it can be anywhere on the airport tarmac. The practical
limit used on all runways, taxiways and parking areas is the maximum vertical height of the tail
of the largest aircraft in use at the runway.

Table 17.1 shows the tail heights of some of the biggest planes.

TYPE OF PLANE TAIL HEIGHT CLEARANCE

BOEING 747 19.6
AIRBUS A380-800 24.45
ANTONOV AN-225 18.1
HUGHES H-4 SPRUCE GOOSE 24.1
LOCKHEED C-5 19.8
Table 17.1 Tail Heights of Big Aircrafts

The minimum clearance required is the sum of the first Fresnel zone and the indicated heights in
Table 17.1. For practical purposes 30m for the plane tail clearance can be used at a commercial
airport.

For private airports, microwave links should not cross between the landing threshold markers
because the planes may take-off from anywhere on the runway. For heavily loaded commercial
airplanes the possible take-off height YTO (see Figure 17.6) is estimated by the following
equation.

YTO = (tan20o x dTO) + hT (17.1)

= 0.364 dTO + hT

Where,
dTO = distance out (away from the centre of runway) from point D;
hT = worst case airplane tail height ~25m;
D = a point 50% - 75 % of the way from on threshold marker to the other threshold marker (see
Figure 17.3); both directions of take-off must be considered. For large commercial runways the
value is near 50%, for smaller commercial airports the value is closer to 60% – 75%.

For microwave paths traversing commercial airplane airports all microwave path heights minus
first Fresnel zone clearance should exceed YTO. For microwave paths traversing private or
commercial airports all microwave path heights plus first Fresnel zone clearance should be less
than the possible landing height YL, where,

YL = tan 2.7o *dL

YL = 0.0472 dL

62
dL = distance out (away from the centre of the runway) from the threshold marker.

Use this area if runway is limited to

20o Scheduled commercial airplanes, 20o
otherwise avoid this area.

hT = 24.5m

2.7o 2.7o
Clear Clear
area area

Touchdown area

Blast pad
Touchdown area
Blast pad

threshold
Displaced

threshold
Displaced
Figure 17.6 Airport Exclusion Area

17.4 Case Example

In the design of a microwave link for a certain operator, the link happened to pass close to the
runway (see Figure 17.7). When the issue of the possible intermittent blockage of the link by
planes came up due consideration had to be taken. It was not clear whether the height of the
Fresnel zone at the end of the runway was safe from obstruction of the planes taking off or
landing. Some analysis had to be done to confirm this.

63
Figure 17.7 Microwave Link Passing Close to the Runway

Figure 17.7 shows part of an operator’s transmission network diagram. The runway indicated as
a red line has ends Runway-W and Runway-E. The controversial microwave link is shown in
white.

When the profile was plotted and antenna heights were assigned, it was important to determine
the height of the Fresnel zone at the point above the end of the runway (see Figure 17.8).

Let hf be the distance of the line of sight of the microwave link above the tip of the runway and
RFresnel1 the radius of the first Fresnel zone at this point. The link crosses the tip of the runway at
3.58km and 7.51km from sites CEQ060 and CEQ049 respectively. The link was 11.09km and
planned to use 15 GHz.

Using the equation 13.5,

RFresnel1 = sqrt((300*3.58*7.51)/15(3.58+7.51))

= 7.5m

Using the profile (see Figure 17.8), hf (the height of the centre of the Fresnel zone from the
runway) was found to be 31m.

7.5m is a distance which can be easily blocked by a small commercial aircraft while taking off.

31m was found to fall in the forbidden zone. It was therefore advised to relocate the link.

One way to avoid relocating the link is to use space diversity, this is if the link must be built. In
this case it is assumed that if the plane blocks the main beam the diversity beam will be used.
Depending on the angle between the runway and the profile, the plane should never block the
two beams simultaneously.

64
 Lower Fresnel
Zone half

hf

hf = 31m
runway
F =15 GHz
RFresnel1 = 7.5m (3.58m, 7.51m)

Figure 17.8 Position of Runway Relative to the Line of Sight

Figures 17.9 and 17.10 show the variation of time with distance and altitude during take-off for a
particular plane at a runway of 3,610m. They are not accurate but only help to illustrate the
distances involved during take-off and how they relate to the Fresnel zone. From Figure 17.10 it
can be seen that the vertical distance between the plane and the end of the runway during take-
off is 27m.

65
 Altitude (m)

Time During Take-off (s)

Figure 17.9 Variation of time with altitude during take-off for a particular plane.
Altitude above sea level (m)

Above end of runway (approx.)

[3610m,1162m]

Probable take-off point

[2660m,1135m]

Distance travelled from beginning of runway (m)

Figure 17.10 Variation of distance travelled at runway with altitude for the same plane in Fig. 17.9

(N.B.: The runway is not always flat!)

66
 18. Links Over Water Bodies
This chapter deals with radio links that cross water bodies. These include lakes, rivers, swamps
and marshes and fields of rice. Propagation over these areas is one of the most challenging to
planners. It is because of the importance of these links that a special chapter was dedicated to
them.

18.1 FOG AND HUMIDITY

A discussion about links over wet bodies will be understood better if the behaviour of water
vapour in air is understood. Water bodies include wetlands, lakes, rivers and seas. A wetland is a
land area that is saturated with water, either permanently or seasonally. This includes swamps,
rice fields (non-upland rice), marshes and other water logged bodies. These have several factors
in common.

1. They have vegetation

2. There is a layer of water at the bottom of the vegetation
3. They create a lot of water vapour above them, just like rivers and lakes. This water
vapour forms fog, mist and layers of high humidity above them.

Let us now look at some of the terms that will help us understand this discussion better. They
include fog, dew point, inversion, marine layer and ducting.

18.2 Fog
Fog forms when the difference between air temperature and dew point is generally less than
2.5°C or 4°F. The dew point is the saturation temperature for water in air. At temperatures below
the dew point, water will leave the air. The condensed water is called dew when it forms on a
solid surface. The condensed water is called either fog or a cloud, depending on its altitude,
when it forms in the air. Fog is a stable cloud deck which tends to form when a cool, stable air
mass is trapped underneath a warm air mass. Fog normally occurs at a relative humidity near
100%. This occurs from either added moisture in the air, or falling ambient air temperature.
The main ways water vapour is added to the air:
1. wind convergence into areas of upward motion
2. precipitation falling from above
3. daytime heating evaporating water from the surface of oceans, water bodies, or wet land
4. transpiration from plants
5. cool or dry air moving over warmer water
6. lifting air over mountains.

67
18.3 Dew Point
The dew point is the temperature at which the water vapor in a sample of air at
constant barometric pressure condenses into liquid water at the same rate at which it evaporates.
The dew point is associated with relative humidity. A high relative humidity implies that the dew
point is closer to the current air temperature. Relative humidity of 100% indicates the dew point
is equal to the current temperature and that the air is maximally saturated with water. When the
moisture content remains constant and temperature increases, relative humidity decreases.

18.4 Inversion
Within the lower atmosphere (the troposphere) the air near the surface of the earth is warmer
than the air above it, largely because the atmosphere is heated from below as solar radiation
warms the Earth's surface, which in turn warms the layer of the atmosphere directly above it.
Temperature inversion is a deviation from the normal change of an atmospheric property with
altitude, this leads to an increase in temperature with height. The inversion itself is usually
initiated by the cooling effect of the water on the surface layer of an otherwise warm air mass.
Height
Height

Temperature Temperature
decreasing with decreasing with
height height

Temperature
Increasing with
height

Temperature Temperature
Increasing with decreasing with height
height

Temperature Temperature
Inversion Layer at the surface Elevated Inversion Layer

Figure 18.1 Surface-based Inversion Layer Figure 18.2 Elevated Inversion Layer

1. During the night, unless clouds or wind intervene, the ground loses heat cooling the air
above.

68
 During the night,
the ground loses heat
cooling the air above.

Figure 18.3 Night: Ground loses heat cooling air above

2. Unless wind intervenes the surface inversion will continue until the sun begins to heat the
ground.

The surface inversion will continue until

the sun begins to heat the ground.

Figure 18.4 At Dawn: Surface Inversion Continues

69
 3. During the day when cloud cover is light, the sun heats the ground warming the air
above. This causes in unstable conditions unless wind intervenes.

During the day the sun

heats the ground warming
the air above. This Creates
an unstable Conditions
.

Figure 18.5 Daytime: Sun heats the ground warming the air above creating unstable conditions

4. As the sun sets the ground begins to lose more heat than it gains, cooling the air above.
In the absence of heavy cloud cover and/or wind a surface inversion will begin to form.

As the sun sets the

ground begins to lose
more heat than it
gains, cooling the air
above. A surface
inversion will begin to
form.

70
Figure 18.6 Dusk: Ground loses more heat cooling the air above. Inversion starts.

The thickness of a fog layer is largely determined by the altitude of the inversion boundary,
which in coastal or oceanic locales is also the top of the marine layer, above which the air mass
is warmer and drier. The inversion boundary varies its altitude primarily in response to the
weight of the air above it which is measured in terms of atmospheric pressure. The marine layer
and any fogbank it may contain will be "squashed" when the pressure is high, and conversely,
may expand upwards when the pressure above it is lowering.

18.5 Marine Layer

A marine layer is an air mass which develops over the surface of a large body of water such as
the ocean or large lake in the presence of a temperature inversion. As it cools, the surface air
becomes denser than the warmer air above it, and thus becomes trapped below it. The layer may
thicken through turbulence generated within the developing marine layer itself. It may also
thicken if the warmer air above it is lifted by an approaching area of low pressure. The layer will
also gradually increase its humidity by evaporation of the ocean or lake surface, as well as by the
effect of cooling itself. Fog will form within a marine layer where the humidity is high enough
and cooling sufficient to produce condensation.

18.6 Ducting
When a layer of air with a rapid decrease of water vapour with height and/or an increase in
temperature with height exists near the earth, radio refractivity, N (see § 10.1), decreases very
quickly with height. This condition called super-refraction or ducting, causes the curvature of
radio rays to exceed the curvature of the earth’s surface.
Ducting is formed when cool moist air appears below warm dry air (a temperature or humidity
inversion).This effect can trap radio waves in a waveguide-type mechanism. This forms ducts
which can propel a radio wave longer distances than expected, and can lead to missing the
intended antennas at the end of the link.
Ducts tend to form when either Temperature is increasing, or water vapour concentration is
decreasing, unusually rapidly with height. Ducts can occur either at surface level or at elevated
layers of air.

18.7 Causes of Ducting

Briefly the weather alters the temperature, pressure and humidity of regions of air as they are
moved about, mixed up, elevated and depressed by cyclones and anti-cyclones, and are heated by
the sun and cool down through radiation at night. Specifically, ducting usually occurs when
temperature increases sharply with height and humidity decreases with height.

71
There are several major ducting mechanisms:
18.7.1 Evaporation Ducts

There is usually a region extending for a few metres above the surface of the sea where the water
vapour pressure is high due to evaporation. This also occurs over large bodies of inland water,
for example Lake Victoria and Lake Kyoga. The thickness of this evaporation duct varies with
temperature, it can extends to between 5m and 30m above the surface. Depending on the
terminal height, the signal may or may not couple into a duct. To couple into and remain in a
duct the angle of incidence must be small, typically less than 1o.
Duct Roughness

Thickness of duct

Height of duct
Wetland

Figure 18.7 Elevated Duct over a Wetland

18.7.2 Temperature Inversions

Usually, temperature falls with height by about 1 degree centigrade per 100m. On clear nights
the ground cools quickly by radiation and this can result in a temperature inversion, where the air
temperature rises with height. This happens when solar radiation during the day heats up the
ground and the warm ground raises the temperature of the air near to it. This warm air rises as
thermals. On clear nights the ground can cool very quickly, also cooling the air close to it. This
results in the situation just after sunset where there is cool air close to the ground with warm air
above it. This is a temperature inversion.
A very good example of noticing temperature inversion is in the case of smoke rising from a fire.
Under no wind conditions the smoke will rise high above (Figure 18.8) In the morning the smoke
will be observed to have flattened out on the top at a particular height (Figure 18.9). The layer
above which level the smoke flattens is the inversion layer. Its temperature is warmer than then
lower and upper layer above it. That is why it is trapped.

72
Figure 18.8 Smoke Column Rising under Normal Conditions

Figure 18.9 Smoke Column Flattens at the Top

73
 Surface Duct

Figure 18.10 Surface Duct

If the air is dry, the temperature term in the equation of N (Equation 10.2) becomes dominant
and super refraction and ducting can occur. This effect is particularly common in desert regions.
If there is significant water vapour the relative humidity can quickly rise to 100% and excess
vapour condenses out as fog. This condensation reduces the water vapour density near the
ground. There is then cold dry air near the ground, with warmer moister air above. This results in
sub-refraction which can lead to multipath on otherwise apparently perfectly good line of sight
links.

18.8 Effect of Ducting on Propagation Over Water Bodies

The behaviours of air discussed above are common in air above water bodies and wetlands, this
is especially true in evaporative ducts which form over water where the cooling near the surface
from evaporation results in cool air below warm air.

In free space propagation the energy passing through unit area decreases as the square of
distance (equation 13.1). In the case of duct propagation the spread of energy in the vertical
direction is eliminated and energy decreases as the inverse of distance. That is, over a distance d’
within the duct, the basic transmission loss Lb is related to that for free space Lbf by:

Lb = Lbf – 10log d’ + A (18.1)

Where A is the attenuation due to duct losses and ground reflections (Reference 14,
§4.4.3.3).

This low free space loss coupled with the very long distances travelled by a trapped signal
creates interference. It may last between a few minutes to a few hours!

Ducting causes fading and if proper precautions are not taken, it can cause severe outages.

74
Following are mitigations to counter the effects of severe ducting.

1. Keep antenna heights high. This will greatly reduce chances of the radio path lying in the
surface duct.
2. Keep your hops short.
3. Optimize the antenna separation in space diversity.
4. Use the advantage of higher path inclination angles.
5. Use antenna up-tilt.

Take some time to monitor the performance of misbehaving links. This will help to establish
whether ducting occurs, and if it does occur, at what heights.
In the final analysis the planner who manages to get a more resilient link is one with the
following:
1. Very good knowledge of propagation
2. Acquaintance with climatic conditions of the area
3. Good experience in similar challenges.

PART 4- Radio Link Performance

Performance would have been the first chapter in the second part because you plan a link after
you have determined the performance you want it to have. But because it is the last issue you
look at before the link design is decided upon as appropriate, it is imperative that this part comes
last to stress its importance.

19. Frequency Planning and Interference

Frequency planning is the allocation of frequencies to the different radios that operate in a
network such that when working in normal operation there is no, or very little interference.
Links coming from one site can theoretically use one frequency. In reality this reduces to a
smaller number due to bandwidth limitations and cross-polar discrimination (XPD) of antennas.
Under normal circumstances about six links can originate from one site if you have very good
antennas of narrow beam-width. If you use shell antennas this number can increase even beyond
ten.

75
 In a full duplex type of communication frequencies are allocated in pairs. In a chain
arrangement of links, the same frequency pair can still be allocated to all links, but because of
terrain and adjacent links this can only be done on a very limited scale. In some cases where you
have rings in the network this can more easily be done if the ring is in a different frequency band.
There is a network which has seven interconnected rings operating more than seventy hops using
five frequencies in XPIC (Cross-Polar Interference Cancellation) mode on each and every hop!
This may sound unusual but with proper planning it can be done.

19.1 Frequency Plans

BWs

fo
14MHz
BWch

Figure 19.1 Channel bandwidth

Before we go into the practice of frequency planning we need to understand how frequencies are
arranged in a frequency plan. A frequency plan is a plan which describes how frequencies
should be chosen for a given band or sub-band under a given bandwidth. A frequency band is
divided into two parts, one part for transmit the other for receiving. The functions of the two
parts are reversed for opposite sites. Each channel has a centre frequency fn and a bandwidth
BWch. The signal bandwidth BWs is slightly smaller than the channel bandwidth (Figure 19.1).

The entire frequency band has a centre frequency fo. The separation of adjacent transmitting (or
receiving) channels is equivalent to the channel bandwidth and is represented as T/T (Figure
19.2).

For every transmitting channel there is a corresponding receiving channel. Throughout the
frequency plan the frequency separation between these two channels is kept constant and is
represented as T/R.

76
 T/R

Ch1 Ch2 Ch3 Ch4 Ch5 Ch6 Ch7 Ch8 Ch1’ Ch2’ Ch3’ Ch4’ Ch5’ Ch6’ Ch7’ Ch8’

T/T
fo
T/T
f5 f5 ’
Total Bandwidth
Figure 19.2 Components of a Frequency Plan

A frequency plan as recommended by ITU-R is defined in form of equations which set the centre
frequency of the band, the channel bandwidth and number of channels in the band. It is also
common place that a channel bandwidth can be subdivided into smaller channels. For example, if
a channel bandwidth is set to 28MHz, it can be subdivided into two 14MHz channels, or four 7
MHz channels, or one 14 MHz channel and two 7 MHz channels. An excerpt of
RECOMMENDATION ITU-R F.384-7, for the the upper 6 GHz band is shown below.

Let f0 be the frequency of the Centre of the band of frequencies occupied (MHz),
fn be the Centre frequency of one RF channel in the lower half of the band (MHz),
fn’ be the Centre frequency of one RF channel in the upper half of the band (MHz),
then the frequencies of individual channels are expressed by the following relationships:

lower half of the band: fn  f0 – 350  40 n MHz

upper half of the band: fn’  f0 – 10  40 n MHz
where:

n  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 or 8.
n fn n' fn’
1 6460 1’ 6800
2 6500 2’ 6840
If the above frequency plan is worked out, the following
3 6540 3’ 6880
frequencies are obtained.
4 6580 4’ 6920
For the above band fo is 6770 MHz. 5 6620 5’ 6960
6 6660 6’ 7000
7 6700 7’ 7040
8 6740 8’ 7080

Table 19.1 Upper 6 GHz Channel Plan Frequencies

77
19.2 Frequency Planning
The basic principle in allocating terrestrial microwave frequencies of the same band is the Hi-Lo
principle. This means that once a site has been assigned as transmitting High, all links
originating from that site will be transmitting high. This high site transmits to a low site, that is,
all links at the high site receive low, and those at the low site receive high.

As long as you are in one band a ring setup must therefore have an even number of hops. If it has
an odd number of hops then if follows one or an odd number of hops will have frequencies in a
different band.

The final decision as to whether the frequency assigned is proper will be made when an
interference analysis is done. This will determine whether you need to change the frequency,
antenna height, antenna size, antenna tilt or antenna azimuth (by changing the link direction
altogether).

F R E Q U E N C Y P L A N N IN G
G

F
L

E Q N

A B C D P

H M
K

Tra n s m it H ig h

Tra n s m it L o w
Q R

Figure 19.3 Frequency Planning: Hi-Lo Arrangement

19.3 Interference
When an unwanted signal is picked up by a radio receiver it is known as interference. Such
signals have various sources. The most common type of interference sources are those arising as
a result of frequency planning. Others come from insufficient bandwidth adherence, improper
installation, old equipment, and others. Figure 19.4 shows types of interference arising from
frequency planning. In the setup, only one frequency pair is used.

78
Over-reach interference is that which comes from a transmitting antenna and enters the
receiving antenna of a third hop.

Front-to-back interference comes from a transmitting antenna and is received by the back lobe
(or side lobe) of an antenna of another hop.

Back-to-front interference comes from the back lobe (or side lobe) of a transmitting antenna
and goes to an antenna of another hop.

External interference comes from a hop of another network.

IN T E R F E R E N C E

O ve r-re a c h

B a c k -to -fro n t
F ro n t-to -B ac k

Figure 19.4 Interference arising from frequency planning

If one signal occupies a bandwidth bigger than the one allocated, the spill-over into another
channel causes interference. In Figure 19.5, two 14 MHz channels have been allocated to one
signal of 28 MHz, the adjacent channel of 14 MHz is occupying about 21 MHz to the side of the
28 MHz signal there is interference where 7 MHz of the 28 MHz are interfered with.

When one symbol interferes with subsequent symbols this results in inter-symbol interference
(ISI). ISI is usually caused by multipath propagation or the inherent non-linear frequency
response of a channel causing successive symbols to "blur" together. The presence of ISI in the
system introduces errors in the decision device at the receiver output. Therefore, in the design of
the transmitting and receiving filters, the objective is to minimize the effects of ISI, and thereby
deliver the digital data to its destination with the smallest error rate possible. Ways to fight inter-
symbol interference include adaptive equalization and error correcting codes.

79
 Signal occupying more than
Signal occupying two allocated bandwidth
BWs Channels bandwidth

fo
14MHz
14MHz 14MHz
14MHz
BWch
Case of interference

Figure 19.5 Interference arising from bigger-than-allocated bandwidth.

There is another type of interference which arises out of third order intermodulation products.
If you have two frequencies f1 and f2, the third order intermodulation products are given by

2f1-f2

2f2-f1

If the resulting frequencies are close to the existing ones, they can interfere and cause havoc in
the service. One common source of this is when coax-waveguide transitions are not correctly
joined to the waveguides, or if there are some discontinuities in the waveguide or transmission
line.

19.4 Identification of Interference Sources

This may be one of the trickiest exercises of a planner. The technique to be used will depend on
the source of the interference. If you do not know the source it will then be difficult to determine
the technique to use. If the source is coming from the antenna then you can use a locating
antenna in two different locations.

Mount a locating antenna on a tripod. With a measuring instrument like a spectrum analyser
move the locating antenna until you get maximum signal. Record the direction and signal
strength. Move to another location of the network and repeat the procedure above. On a map,
locate the two places A and B and mark out the directions. The point of intersection is likely to
be the source of interference. Make sure there are no reflecting planes like buildings because this
can change the final outcome.

80
 Location A

Most probable source

Of interference

Location B

Figure 19.6 Identifying the source of interference

There are also other forms of interference which may not be explored here because their
exploration and mention are beyond the scope of this guide.

19.5 Threshold Degradation

There is a basic minimum signal the radio receives. This signal is known as the Thermal Noise,
which is independent of the environment. Its level is known as the Noise Floor.

In reality there are a lot of signals flying around. Some of these are picked by the radio even
without the radio transmitting its intended signal. This signal is known as Interference. It is
dependent on the environment.

When thermal noise combines with interference the combination (in mW) is the sum of the two.

81
 THRESHOLD DEGRADATION

Degraded threshold
-84 dBm
Due to interference

Undisturbed receiver
-87 dBm
Threshold level

-98 dBm Noise floor with

Interfering signals

-101 dBm Thermal noise floor

Figure 19.7. Degraded Signal

When a radio receives a signal, it receives it with this interference. The signal is thus degraded
by the amount of interference in it. As the interference in the received signal increases, the
degradation increases. The minimum signal a radio receives is at level above the noise floor. The
level of this minimum signal is called the receiver threshold at a given bit error rate, normally
10-6. The amount of ‘gap’ between the noise floor and the receiver threshold is called the
minimum carrier to noise ratio, C/N. The receiver threshold is also ‘degraded’ by the amount
of interference present. This means, that the receiver threshold level is raised by the amount of
interference present, it thus comes to be known as the degraded threshold.

82
 POWER LEVEL CHART

+30 Transmit Power (+30 dBm)

+20

+10
Net Path Loss
0 (70 dB)
System Gain
(105 dB)
-10

-20
Nominal Receive Signal Level (-40 dB (variable)
-30
A
-40

-50
Fade Margin C/N
(35 dB) (60 dB)
-60
Receiver Threshold for BER=10-6
-70 B
-80
Minimum
-90
C/N Ratio C
(25 dB)
Thermal Noise (-100 dBm)
-100

Figure 19.8. Power Level Chart

The received signal is at a level higher than the receiver threshold. The planned received level is
constant and the actual received level is fluctuating. The gap between the received signal and the
receiver threshold is known as the Fade Margin. In reality it is fluctuating with time. At point A
in the diagram the fade margin is the same as the planned fade margin. At B it is nearing zero
and at C it is negative.

Threshold degradation requirements vary with customer and equipment. It all starts with what
quality of signal you want to pass through your radio to the baseband unit. In SDH transmission
a threshold degradation of 1 dB is normal and for PDH 3 dB is sufficient. The graph in Figure
19.9 shows the variation of interference signal with threshold degradation for three radios with
receiver threshold of -75.3 dBm (─), -80 dBm (─) and -90 dBm (─). Threshold degradation, Td,
is defined as:

Nrx Ifl
10 10
Td = Nrx – 10 log10 ( 10 +10 ) (19.1)

83
where Nrx is the receiver noise threshold and Ifl the interference signal level.

Theshold Degradation (Td) vs Interference Level (Ifl)

-120 -115 -110 -105 -100 -95 -90 -85 -80 -75 -70
0

-5

-10

-15

-20

-25

Td1(-75.3) Td2(-80) Td3(-90)

Figure 19.9. Interference Level against Threshold Degradation for Different Receiver Thresholds.

19.6 Ways of mitigating interference occurrences

When performing frequency planning it is always important to do it in such a way that causes
least interference to the system. Right from the beginning you need to consider the following:

1. The topology of your network.

Over-reach interference is most prone to parts of the network where the hops are in line.
If the shape of the network can be changed to avoid this better do it to avoid interference.

2. The number of frequency channels you have to play with.

The more the number of frequency pairs the better. But in most cases this is not the case.
It is always advisable to arrange your frequencies in such a way that you can reuse them,
at the same time avoiding co-channel, adjacent-channel, and over-reach interference. This
has now been made easier by use of automatic frequency planning (AFP). But even with
AFP you need to do your homework properly.

3. The type of terrain where your network is going to pass.

The type of terrain where your network passes has a lot of impact on interference. A hilly
terrain is both good and bad. You can have line of sight even at hops of more than
120km! At the same time it helps to shadow off a possible interfering signal. Here choice
of your sites is important in determining which factors are more important than others.

4. The quality of the antennas.

84
 Antennas with small beam width, like 2.4m, create less interference than small beam
width antennas, like 1.2m. Also antennas with very high XPD values perform better in
conditions prone to interference. The desired quality of your signal and the budget are the
main determinants on the quality of antennas.

5. The flexibility of your radios.

Radios which offer ATPC perform better in interference conditions. This is because they
allow the radio to use least power possible. If a radio has Space Diversity Combiner
Technology (section 16.3) implemented it helps a lot to reduce interference caused by
multipath especially in long hops.

6. Is XPIC going to be used?

If you are intending to use XPIC you need to have very good antennas and very strict
frequency planning. XPIC radios need to be protected from interference by virtue of the
fact that both polarizations are used to carry radio signals. Radios of this type must use
antennas of very good XPD values.

7. Waveguide connections.
When intending to install waveguides, you must use experienced technicians when
pulling the waveguide or when making connections. Dents and discontinuities are among
the main sources of interference in a microwave network. Make sure that waveguide
sweeps are done properly with very good return loss values.

Figure 19.10 Vertical Arrangement of Antennas at a Repeater Site.

85
Figure 19.10 shows four antennas A, B, C and D. Antenna C is facing the reader. Each antenna
has a main lobe and a back lobe. The plan view is seen in Figure 19.11.

19.7 Back-to-Front Interference

In back-to-back transmission arrangements where the same frequency is used in both directions
it is advised the antennas are placed at different heights. If they are placed at the same or close
heights, as seen in Figure above, the back lobe of the transmitting antenna D will be picked by
the back lobe of antenna B. The received signal at antenna B will combine with the signal
transmitted by D. Since the two side lobes are close the interference level may be bigger or close
to the wanted signal. This is because the total front-to-back ratio of the two antenna is close to
the net path loss (see Figure 13.4).And this creates problems. This is an example of back-to-
front interference, which is also co-channel interference. When the antennas are separated by
vertical height (e.g. antennas A and D) another factor, free space loss, is introduced and the
competition between the two signals is greatly reduced.

19.8 Co-Channel Interference

When a site is transmitting in many directions and using the same frequency, it is advised that an
optimum angle θ (see Figure 19.11) is maintained. This angle is dependent on several factors.
1. Capacity – the larger the capacity the bigger the angle.
2. XPD – the higher the value the smaller the angle
3. Bandwidth – the bigger the signal bandwidth the bigger the angle.

Figure 19.11 Horizontal Arrangement of Antennas at a Repeater Site.

If both antennas A and C are transmitting, back-to-front interference takes place. And if they
are of the same frequency it will be co-channel interference. If they are of adjacent channels it

86
will be adjacent-channel interference. It is advised that there is a vertical separation between
the two if the two antenna transmit using the same frequency. If there is good antenna
discrimination, low high front-to-back ratio and of adjacent channels, they may be put around the
same height.

20. Radio Link Performance

20.1 Transmission Time

Performance here is intended to mean the way the radio link operates in relation to recommended
standards. Here we shall look at the parameters of link performance and how they relate to ITU
standards.

When a radio link is designed, there must be limits set as to what performance in terms of quality
(reliability), and quantity (error performance). This is because it is difficult to achieve an error-
free radio link for all up-time. The lower the number of errors in a link the better.

Availability tells us for how long a link can be used. Requirements differ for different uses. An
SDH link may require a minimum of 99.999% available time, while 8Mbps radio link requires
99.995%. If the same link is used for very sensitive data then 99.999% may be considered
mediocre.

For every working link, the basic measure of time is the total time. This is the real time. In a
minute there are 60 seconds, in an hour 3,600 seconds and in a day 86,400 seconds.

Available time it total time minus unavailable time.

Unavailable time is the time when a link is disconnected or off due to power absence.

The available time now becomes the basis for performance. Link availability is measured against
this. Of the available time there is acceptable and non-acceptable performance. The
unacceptable performance is that which has a bit error rate (BER) of 10-3 and worse. It is here
that we have severely errored seconds. Of the acceptable performance there is excellent
performance which at its best can be as good as error-free, and at its worst it has an error rate of
10-6. There is also degraded performance. This one has errors ranging from 10-6 to 10-3. The
summary of the classifications can be seen in Figure 20.1.

Errored Second (ES): any 1-second period in which at least one error occurs.

Severely Errored Second (SES): a 1-second period in which the BER exceeds 10-3.

Degraded Minute (DM): a period of 60, 1-second periods, excluding any SES, in which the
BER exceeds 10-6. This period is not necessarily contiguous.

87
 TRANSMISSION TIME CLASSIFICATIONS

Total Time

99.995%

Available Time (Link Availability, %) Unavailable

100%
99.999%

Acceptable Performance (Path Reliability, %) Unacceptable

100% EFS 99.99% EFS

Excellent Performance *Degraded Outage Disconnects

Dribbling ES Burst ES SES VSB

RBER<10-10 RBER<10-6 10-6BER 10-3BER

10-3BER
(~ERROR FREE)
RBER = Residual BER BER>10-6 BER>10-3
VBS = Very Severe Burst events Short term
*Degraded minutes, BER>10-6 (<10s duration
Events)

Figure 20.1 Transmission Time Classifications

Note: High availability does not necessarily mean low bit errors, although in most cases it results
into that. An example of this is the case where you have interference. In such a case you may
have very good availabilities but very poor error performance!

20.2 Performance Standards

20.2.1 ITU-T G.826

ITU-T G.826 is generally known as G.826. It defines error ratios for blocks of errors.

Errored Block Ratio (EBR): a block in which one or more bits are errored; and the block size is
specified separately for each system rate.

Errored Second Ratio (ESR): a one-second period that contains one or more errored blocks.

Severely Errored Second Ratio (SESR): a one-second period that contains greater than 30% of
errored blocks or at least one Severely Disturbed Period (SDP).

88
Background Block Error (BBE): an errored block not occurring as part of an SES.

Rate
1.5 to 5 5 to 15 15 to 55 55 to 160 160 to 400
(Mbit/s)
ESR 0.04 A 0.05 A 0.075 A 0.16 A Not applicable
SESR 0.002 A 0.002 A 0.002 A 0.002 A 0.002 A
BBER(1) 2 A  10–4 2 A 10–4 2 A 10–4 2 A 10–4 1 A 10–4
Table 20.1 G.826 – End-to-end error performance objectives

where:

A = (A1 + 0.002) Llink/100 for 50 km ≤ Llink ≤ 100 km

A = A1 + 2 ´ 10–5 Llink for 100 km < Llink
A1 has provisionally been agreed to be in the range of 0.01 to 0.02 (1% to 2%) (

20.2.2 ITU-T G.828

This Recommendation defines the following terms:

Hypothetical Reference Path: A Hypothetical Reference Path (HRP) is defined as the whole
means of digital transmission of a digital signal of a specified rate, including the path overhead,
between equipment at which the signal originates and terminates. An end-to-end Hypothetical
Reference Path spans a distance of 27 500 km.

SDH digital path: An SDH digital path is a trail carrying an SDH payload and associated
overhead through the layered transport network between the path terminating equipment. A
digital path may be bidirectional or unidirectional and may comprise both customer owned
portions and network operator owned portions.

Block: A block is a set of consecutive bits associated with the path; each bit belongs to one and
only one block. Consecutive bits may not be contiguous in time.

Errored Block (EB): A block in which one or more bits are in error.

Errored Second (ES): A one second period with one or more errored blocks or at least one
defect

Severely Errored Second (SES): A one-second period which contains ≥30% errored blocks or
at least one defect. SES is a subset of ES.

Background Block Error (BBE): An errored block not occurring as part of an SES.

89
Errored Second Ratio (ESR): The ratio of ES in available time to total seconds in available
time during a fixed measurement interval.

Severely Errored Second Ratio (SESR): The ratio of SES in available time to total seconds in
available time during a fixed measurement interval.

Background Block Error Ratio (BBER): The ratio of BBE in available time to total blocks in
available time during a fixed measurement interval. The count of total blocks excludes all blocks
during SES’s.

Severely Errored Period (SEP): A sequence of between 3 to 9 consecutive SES. The sequence
is terminated by a second which is not a SES.

Severely Errored Period Intensity (SEPI): The number of SEP events in available time,
divided by the total available time in seconds.

20.2.3 ITU-T F.1668

This recommendation deals with Error Performance Objectives (EPO) for real digital fixed
wireless links used in 27,500 km hypothetical reference paths and connections. It divides the
recommends among access, short haul and long haul. In each category it includes parts of G.826
and G.828

20.2.4 ITU-R P.530-14

RECOMMENDATION ITU-R P.530-14 provides Propagation data and prediction methods
required for the design of terrestrial line-of-sight systems

90
20.3 Characteristics of a properly designed link
For High Availability For Good Performance
Few >10 CSES/event High Reliability High Quality
Traffic disconnect outages Few SES/LOF outages Low RBER & ES, high %EFS
• Hot Standby or Ring
• Adequate Flat Fade Margin • Forward Error Correction
Protected
• High Link Dispersive Fade
• High link Dispersive Fade
• Dual Transmit Dishes Margin (on paths with difficult
Margin
geometry)
• Low Annual Rain Outage
• Optimum Diversity Schemes • Optimum Path Engineering
(>10 GHz)
• Robust Infrastructure • Exacting Antenna Alignment • Errorless data switching
• Fast Receiver Recovery Time
• Low MTTR (Repair time) (accommodates refractive multi- • Narrow RF spectrum
path fades in ducting regions)
• Good frequency planning and
• Proper equipment alignment
robust T/I characteristics
• Good path engineering
Table 20.2 Properties of a properly designed link.

Annexes
Annex 1. A case Study of a Real Profile

Elevation Backdrop

91
Annex 2.

Weather data taken at a site (Nkozi) on the western shores of Lake Victoria between 17th and 20th
February 2004.

Bar
880
879
878
877
876
875
Bar
874
873
872
871
870
0.00 24.00 48.00 72.00 96.00

Pressure Variation (mBar) against time (hours)

Hum
100

90

80

70
Hum

60

50

40
0.00 24.00 48.00 72.00 96.00

Humidity variation (%) against time (hours)

92
 Temp
28

26

24

22
Temp

20

18

16
0.00 24.00 48.00 72.00 96.00

Temperature variation (oC) against time (hours)

100 880

90 879

80 878

70 877

60 876
Temp
50 875
Hum
40 874 Bar
30 873

20 872

10 871

0 870
0.00 24.00 48.00 72.00

Combined pressure, humidity and temperature variation with time

The weather data was taken for the purpose of calculating the k-factor around the shores of Lake
Victoria.

93
Annex 3

Variation of Radio Refractivity Gradient and Effective Earth Radius Factor (kfactor) over Akure,
South Western Nigeria.

k @50m k @100m k @150m k @200m

2007 2008 2007 2008 2007 2008 2007 2008
Jan. 1.13 1.17 1.12 1.13 1.13 1.24 1.13 1.17
Feb. 1.06 1.09 1.14 1.18 1.15 1.25 1.16 1.17
Mar. 1.54 1.24 1.59 1.49 1.52 1.56 1.5 1.65
Apr. 1.61 1.49 1.65 1.37 1.59 1.92 1.53 1.49
May 1.67 1.27 1.77 1.23 1.75 1.72 1.63 1.43
Jun. 1.79 1.56 1.78 1.34 1.78 1.78 1.8 1.45
Jul. 1.8 1.85 1.75 1.73 1.82 1.72 1.84 1.68
Aug. 1.98 1.92 1.92 1.91 1.95 1.76 1.93 1.75
Sep. 1.94 1.56 1.85 1.38 1.81 1.63 1.82 1.4
Oct. 1.45 1.55 1.62 1.44 1.58 1.54 1.52 1.36
Nov. 1.58 1.6 1.58 1.24 1.65 1.56 1.61 1.38
Dec. 1.17 1.51 1.18 1.62 1.19 1.56 1.19 1.43
Average 1.56 1.48 1.58 1.42 1.57 1.6 1.55 1.45

Table 3 Average monthly variation of computed k factor for years 2007 and 2008

*Adediji, A. T and 1 Ajewole, M. O. *Presenter: [email protected] or [email protected]

1 [email protected]

References
1. Trevor Manning, Microwave Transmission Design Guide, Artech House, 1999.
2. Richard U. Laine, Digital Microwave Systems Applications Seminar, Vol.1, Harris
Stratex, May 2007.
3. Contract Telecommunication Engineering, Pathloss 4, 2001
4. ITU-T G.826
5. ITU-T G.828
6. ITU-R F.1668
7. ITU-R P.530-10
8. R. E. Skerjanec, R. W. Hubbard, Aircraft Obstruction of Microwave Links, United States
National Telecommunications and Information Administration, 1979
9. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/Airport_infrastructure.png

94
10. Airplane Flying Handbook, U.S. Dept. of Transportation Federal Aviation
Administration, 1999
11. Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge, U.S. Dept. of Transportation Federal
Aviation Administration, 2008
12. Lowering Cost and Improving Interoperability by Predicting Residual BER: Theory,
Measurements, and Applications, Application Note 1397-1, p. 5, Agilent Technologies.
13. Combiner Space Diversity in Long Haul Microwave Radio Networks, Ceragon,
September 2012.
14. Radiocommunication Bureau – ITU, Handbook on Radiometeorology, Geneva 1996.
15. Radiocommunication Bureau – ITU, Handbook – Digital Radio-Relay Systems, Geneva
1996
16. Digital Microwave Communication: Engineering Point-to-Point Microwave Systems,
George Kizer,
17. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fog

95
About the Author

The author graduated in Philosophy at Milltown Institute of Philosophy and

Theology in Dublin, Republic of Ireland in 1983. He did a course in
Television production at Booterstown Communication Centre, Dublin. He
worked at Uganda Television as a producer and cameraman for five and a
half years before joining Makerere University Kampala. He graduated in
Electrical Engineering in 1994. He worked as a pupil engineer in Uganda
Posts and Telecommunications Corporation for two years before joining
Starlight Communications (Starcom). He worked there for three years as a
Senior Operations Engineer. During the period he manned the satellite
earth station, Mobile Trunked Radio System and wireless local loop radio
systems.

In 1998 he joined MTN Uganda as a planner initially for both radio and transmission. He later headed
the Transmission Planning section up to the date of writing this book. He has taken part in helping new
companies establish transmission planning sections. This was done in Iran and South Sudan. Training
young engineers has been one of his interests at work.

His transmission planning work has spanned a period of more than fifteen years. He is happily married
with children. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles is a new area he is now venturing in.

96