Beckercom: Welcome To The Becker Electronics
Beckercom: Welcome To The Becker Electronics
Beckercom: Welcome To The Becker Electronics
BeckerCOM
Training Course
INTRODUCTORY NOTES
Radio waves (Electromagnetic waves) are well suited for sending signals across air gaps, or across the ether as it is typically called, in a line of sight, or slight curvature path. Mining tunnels are of course anything but line of sight. The only chance for a conventional radio wave to traverse the length of a mining shaft is by means of reflections off the walls. Of course the signal quickly attenuates to nothing under these conditions. The other contributing problem is called shading. Shading occurs when large grounded objects are placed in the path of the radio signal. The objects absorb the radio signal and prevent it from reaching radio-shaded areas. The most obvious solution to these problems is to have multiple individual antennas located along the entire length of the tunnel. Of course this comes with a few distinct problems, such as how to efficiently locate them, how to interconnect them and how to protect the protruding antennas from inevitable damage. A far more elegant solution is Radiating Cable, or Leaky Feeder as the South African mining industry has came to call it. The interconnecting cable becomes the antenna, and, since it works so well, we do not even need individual antennas anymore. Various patterns are fashioned into the outer sheath of a slightly thicker coaxial cable to allow some of the RF signal to escape longitudinally along the cable. If manufactured to accurate tolerances, this escaped RF signal can be tamed to provide exactly what we are looking for: Something to solve the problem of not having line of sight. Now we have an antenna we can string anywhere we want.
AREA COVERAGE EQUIPMENT SURFACE HEADEND COMBINER/SPLITTER & TRANSCEIVER CABINET SURFACE or UNDERGROUND RADIATING / LEAKY FEEDER CABLE BACKBONE ACTIVE DEVICES - AMPLIFIERS BACKBONE SPLITTERS, SPLICES, EOL, POWER COUPLERS etc BACKBONE MOBILE (VEHICULAR) RADIOS HANDHELD (PERSONNEL) RADIOS DATA RADIO TELEMETRY DEVICES
Fibre Cable Ethernet Backbone Leaky Feeder Cable PAX Connection Tag Reader
Surface Underground
4-Way Splitter Power Coupler Line Amplifier Tag Reader Line Amplifier Tag Reader with Robot Controller 3-Way Splitter Line Amplifier Line Termination
Power Coupler
Line Amplifier
Line Splice
Line Amplifier
Programmable Attenuator
Line Amplifier
Line Termination
Camera Outstation
Environmental Outstation
DC Power Supply
Isolation Barrier
Isolation Barrier
I.S. Cell 1
I.S. DC Power Supply I.S. DC Power Supply
I.S. Cell 2
Basic Overview
Radio signals on surface are received by the area coverage amplifier. The RF signal is then carried to the Leaky Feeder base station via a conventional coaxial cable. One of the Base Station Receivers detects and demodulates the signal originating from the surface handheld radio. The repeater in the base station keys up a corresponding transmitter. All leaky feeder arterials are fed with the resultant RF carrier, re-modulated with the original signals voice or data signal. The receivers on all mobile /handheld / data radios are now capable of decoding this signal. Personnel / data radios underground may then key up their radio transmitters to respond. The resultant transmission from underground is received by the Base Station once again. NOTE : It is not received directly by other radios underground, it must go through the repeater. The base station repeater demodulates the signal and re-radiates the same signal on another frequency to both the original surface radio AND to all the underground arterials. Even the person standing directly besides the originating underground radio receives his signal via the Base Station repeater, not directly.
Achievable Coverage
Typically an installation will follow the pattern of tunnels and access routes of the mine with a suitable arrangement of Splitter units and In-Line Amplifiers. The overall longitudinal distance that may be covered by the system is based on a combination of considerations as follows : Noise contribution of each amplifier. Co-located carrier cross channel interference ( IMDs and Radio Performance) Sensitivity of radios using the backbone. Transmit Power of radios using the backbone. Correct Modulation Deviation on all handhelds and base-station equipment. Avoidance of in-band interference from man-made RF noise sources (eg: Frequency Inverters). Installation and system extension carried out according to defined guidelines. Proper Head-end equipment configuration.
If all of these issues are correctly addressed, distances of up to 25km per arterial can be easily accomplished. Multiple arterials and active repeater channels underground can extend the coverage well in excess of 200km.
TECHNICAL REFRESHER!
Describing RF Power
Signal stages are cascaded, so powers are multiplied by gain or loss. This yields a lot of multiplications. The levels typically encountered in reality also vary over many decades.
LOGs refresher
A logarithmic scale is used to condense a wide range of numbers and to ease multiplication. Some example logarithm values: Log(100) Log(1000) Log(1000000) Log(10) Log(1) Log(1/10) =2 =3 =6 =1 =0 =-1 because 10 to the power 2 = 100. because 10to the power 3 = 1000. because 10to the power 6 = 1000000. because anything to the power of 1 is itself. because anything to the power of 0 is 1. because 10 to the power -1 = (1/10)
The Bel represent gains or attenuations logarithmically (base 10) (the Bel) But to make numbers more convenient, we scale by a factor of 10 (the deciBel or dB) Then, G = 10Log(Pout / Pin) in dB Examples: An amplifier has a power gain of 1000. What is this in dB? G = 10Log(1000) = 10 x 3 = 30 dB An attenuator has its output power 1/10th of its input. What is its transfer function in dB? G = 10Log(1/10) = 10 x -1 = -10 dB. (Note - dB can be negative) Since Log(A x B) = Log(A) + Log(B) we can add gains and losses.
dBm = 10log(P/1mW) ,
A radiating cable is an RF cable which does not screen RF power, but allows it to enter or leave the cable at any point.
Radiating Cable
Transmitting (downlink)
RF power
Normal RF Cable Receiving (uplink)
RF power
How is this done? By making holes or slots in the outer conductor of coaxial cables, enabling RF power to enter or leave the cable.
RADIATING CABLES
RLF Cables Low loss, rugged, broadband, unaffected by environmental extremes RAY Cables Radiating mode, very low loss, for dry environmental conditions RLK Cables Radiating mode, broadband, fits also for short distances RLV Cables (Vario) Bridging larger distances than any other cable of comparable diameter RCF Cables Corrugated outer conductor for difficult installation conditions or frequent re-routing Tailor-made Cables Cables engineered to meet new or special customer requirements
Inner conductor
BeckerCOM
VHF FREQUENCY BAND
VHF DOWNLINK
VHF UPLINK
(up to 10 times greater than VHF) High capacity general purpose data Uses off the shelf voice and data equipment Wide bandwidth to offer more Data and Voice capability at higher speeds (2 Mbps port speed) Reticulates wireless communication in hazardous areas (Coal mining working faces) One backbone cable for multiple purposes (Capable of simultaneous data and voice) Supports 900MHz frequency bands
BeckerCOM
UHF FREQUENCY BAND
UHF DOWNLINK
UHF UPLINK
UHF DOWNLINK
UHF UPLINK
BeckerCOM
HEADEND COMBINER / SPLITTER
The Head End (HE) is located either on the surface or underground and serves as the main communications link from the surface down into the mine via the Leaky Feeder cable network. The Head End provides transmission and reception of 8 or 16 voice/data channel pairs.
SUM
SUM
SUM
SUM
SUM
SUM
SUM
SUM
SUM
SUM
SUM
SUM
SUM
SUM
SUM
SUM
SUM
SUM
SUM
SUM
SUM
SUM
SUM
SUM
SUM
SUM
COAX3 9 TXBPORT
TXA PORT RXA PORT COAX34 COAX73 SUMMER IN2 IN2 IN1 RXB PORT COAX36 COAX38 COAX75 SUMMER IN1
TXBPORT COAX4 0
SUM
SUM
SUM
SUM
IN
BANDPASS
OUT
FILT 1
VHF / UHF
SUM
SUM
IN2
SUM
RAIL VOLTAGE
RAIL VOLTAGE
DC INJECTION
DC INJECTION
DC INJECTION
DC INJECTION
COAX4 1
COAX42
COAX43
COAX44 Title
ARTERIAL 1
ARTERIAL 2
ARTERIAL CONNECTIONS TO LEAKY FEEDER CABLE
ARTERIAL 3
ARTERIAL 4
100-04-01-005
Versio n
SBlockHeadV1 00.Sch
ECAD
MVB
Sheet
1/1
Design
MVB
03-02-2004 V1.00
Copyright of this document is vested in B3 Solutions (Pty) Ltd Disclosure to third parties without written consent f om B3 Solutions is strictly forbidden r
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BeckerCOM
BIDIRECTIONAL AMPLIFIER
Digital (B.D.A.)
Becker B.D.A s
The Becker VHF Bi-Directional Amplifier is typically used to compensate for Leaky Feeder Cable longitudinal losses in both directions simultaneously. Becker BDA specifications are optimally suited to maximise these performance criteria. The BDA serves to maintain the strength of RF signal levels along the Leaky Feeder coaxial cable. The amplifier is unique in that it offers the lowest possible noise contribution to an already weak RF carrier when operating in collocation with a strong carrier. The connectors of the inline amplifiers have been designed for ease of connection making installation and repair as convenient as possible. The Power Source required from the Leaky Feeder cable is 5V to 26Vdc.
The most important performance criteria of a BDA are: Channel capacity - Number of simultaneous voice and data Channel quality (clear voice channels, data channel, integrity). Channel isolation (Freedom from intermodulation distortion). Distance achievable away from the cable. Reliability (Mean Time Between Failure).
AGC
BPF
Impedance matcher 75 R Cable Length Compensator 50 R High pass filter
BPF
Micro Processor Diagnostics
DN Link RF Level High pass filter Impedance matcher 50 R
3dB
3dB
System Voltage Amplifier Current UP Link RF Level
75 R
BPF
VHF-UHF-GSM Bandpass-filter High power Amplifier
BPF AGC
Up- Link Amplfier
High power Amplifier VHF-UHF-GSM Bandpass-filter
Available in VHF, UHF, GSM and TETRA bands High Dynamic Range ie: Excellent multiple carrier system performance Low Noise Figure ie: Low contribution to cascaded noise floor = larger & clearer systems Uses GaAs devices and operates internally at 3 Volts Onboard Switch-mode PSU compensating for cable volt drop C.L.C. Cable Length Compensation to simplify installation High Power option for coverage in remote work places Microprocessor controlled and increased local diagnostics Available in remote diagnostic version Available in Intrinsically Safe Ex ia GI ATEX & SAEx versions Compact modular design
Features of B.D.A.
The BDAs serve to maintain the RF signal levels and are placed every 350 meters along the Leaky Feeder coaxial cable. The Low Noise amplifier (specified here) includes additional functionality specifically aimed at optimising the noise performance in UHF Leaky Feeder systems. These additional features are summarised as follows : Carefully distributed amplification using ultra low voltage GaAs devices in both directions to optimise overall noise figure under dynamic (Small and Large Signal simultaneously) conditions. DC Power - Voltage status indicators on front panel. DC Power - Amplifier Current consumption indicators on front panel. Downlink signal strength indicators to ensure line spacing is correct. Uplink AGC on indication to ensure up-link is working correctly. Integrated Cable Length Compensation (CLC) to simulate additional cable lengths if necessary. Power Source required from the Leaky Feeder cable is 4V to 26Vdc. In extended feed length additional power supplies are needed every 5 amplifiers, due to the DC voltage drop on the Leaky Feeder cable. A colour coded downlink LED bar-graph included on the front panel of the amplifier is interpreted as follows : RED LOW LOW LED On YELLOW LOW LED On GREEN GOOD LED On YELLOW HIGH LED On RED HIGH HIGH LED On Downlink Weak Proceeding cable too long. Downlink a little weak, but O.K. Downlink Signal Perfect Downlink a little strong, but O.K. Downlink too Strong Proceeding cable too short.
-9
-6
-3
280m
-9
-6
-3
220m
-9
-6
-3
150m
-9
-6
-3
Econo Amplifier
AMP 1 Bandpassfilter
AGC
Bandpassfilter
Impedance matcher 75 R
BPF
High pass filter 50 R
BPF
50 R
Impedance matcher
75 R
3dB
AMP 2
BPF
Bandpassfilter
BeckerCOM
PASSIVE PHERIPHERALS
I.S. Components
IS Cell 1
VEXA VEXA VEXA
Ex ia PSU
Ex ia PSU VEXA
IS Cell 2
350 M
350 M
350 M
2M
2M
350 M
ISBR
ISBC
VEXA:
ISBR:
Handheld Radios
Telemetry Outstations
SYSTEM PERFORMANCE
RF SIGNAL GENERATOR 1
SG 3
MOD IN
OUT
RF SIGNAL GENERATOR 2
SG 3
SUMMER
SUM IN
10dB PAD
OUT
UP
SPECTRUM ANALYSER
MOD IN
OUT
S p ec t r u m
An a ys e r l
10dB PAD
IN OUT
UP
Cascaded Noise
Injected Signal Strength at FAR SIDE : -10dBm Resultant Output Signal : 6dBm Resultant Output Noise Floor : -50dBm Overall System Gain : 16dB Signal to Noise Ratio : 56dB
Injected Signal Strength at FAR SIDE : -50dBm Resultant Output Signal : 6dBm Resultant Output Noise Floor : -55dBm Overall System Gain : 56dB Signal to Noise Ratio : 61dB
Injected Signal Strength at FAR SIDE : -100dBm Resultant Output Signal : -13dBm Resultant Output Noise Floor : -25dBm Overall System Gain : 87dB Signal to Noise Ratio : 12dB
Intermodulation Distortion
Intermodulation Distortion Product Equations
f1 f2
fc
fa
fb
fd
The radio signals within the leaky feeder system must pass through many amplifiers en-route to the surface repeaters or the underground radios. Unlike a surface radio link through the ether, this path consists of active electronic components with a limited power handling capability. Each amplifier is responsible for contributing a degree of amplitude distortion (Through its non-ideal linearity transfer function) to the incoming signal. Since FM modulation is used for the radio communication equipment, this amplitude distortion is generally not a problem. However, too much amplitude distortion results in a type of frequency ghosting called Intermodulation Distortion or sometimes Spectral Regrowth. This type of distortion presents a problem when two of more RF carriers are simultaneously present within the system.
Dynamic Range
Strong Signal @ +7dBm Weak Signal @ -64dBm DELTA = +7dBm (-64dBm) = 71dB
We can conclude, from the above trace, that the Becker Electronics Leaky Feeder System exhibits a dynamic range of at least 71dB for a resultant signal/noise ratio of greater than 10dB on the weaker signal. This means that even whilst a strong signal source somewhere in the uplink path is causing the AGC of the amplifiers to reduce the overall gain, the 71dB weaker signal injected into the system is still capable of being successfully received by the HEAD END equipment. When you consider that the Dynamic Range specification of a high precision modern Radio Spectrum Analyser is typically 80 to 100dB (also limited by instrument noise performance) , this Leaky Feeder figure may be considered excellent!
-133dBm to 0dBm to -133dBm Attack settled to within 3dB in 200ms Decay settled to within 3dB in 400ms
-133dBm to -40dBm to -133dBm Attack settled to within 3dB in 150ms Decay settled to within 3dB in 300ms
-133dBm to -80dBm to -133dBm Attack settled to within 3dB in 0ms Decay settled to within 3dB in 0ms (AGC ATTENUATORS NEVER ACTUALLY SWING IN)
Attack / Decay
KeyUp and KeyDown Timing Recommendations
1 2 3 4
DOWNLINK
THE 200ms KEY-UP COULD BE REDUCED TO 100ms THE 100ms DATA TIME IS TYPICALLY MUCH SHORTER THE 100ms RECOVERY TIME CANNOT BE AVOIDED
MOBILE-1
MOBILE-2
200ms
100ms
200ms
100ms 100ms
200ms 100ms
DOWNLINK KEY-UP
DOWNLINK DATA
GAIN RECOVERY
UPLINK KEY-UP
UPLINK KEY-UP
UPLINK DATA
UPLINK DATA
Note: The 300ms Gain Recovery is shortened to 100ms + 200ms KeyUp by using 200ms of the gain recovery timeslot for the subsequent Key-Up time as well.
INSTALLATION GUIDELINES
dB vs Distance
WBSA RCC VHF LOSS 100m @ 20C (dB) 5.3 ATC BE VHF LOSS 100m @ 20C (dB) 4.5 RFS RCF 12-50 UHF LOSS 100m @ 20C (dB) 5.8
Dist (m)
0 10 20 30 40 50 70 80 100 120 140 150 180 200 220 240 260 280 300 330 350
Loss (dB
0.0 0.5 1.1 1.6 2.1 2.7 3.7 4.2 5.3 6.4 7.4 8.0 9.5 10.6 11.7 12.7 13.8 14.8 15.9 17.5 18.6
Loss (dB)
0.0 0.5 0.9 1.4 1.8 2.3 3.2 3.6 4.5 5.4 6.3 6.8 8.1 9.0 9.9 10.8 11.7 12.6 13.5 14.9 15.8
Loss (dB)
0.0 0.6 1.2 1.7 2.3 2.9 4.1 4.6 5.8 7.0 8.1 8.7 10.4 11.6 12.8 13.9 15.1 16.2 17.4 19.1 20.3
Splitter Losses
100m and 150m RULE When using Splitters
Each Splitter (Branch Coupler) in the cable introduces Insertion Loss. This Insertion Loss (Measured in dB) has an equivalent cable length as per the previous table. The Radiating Cable into and out of the Splitter must be reduced by that length accordingly.
VHF 3way Splitter UHF 3way Splitter VHF 4way Thru VHF 4way Split UHF 4 way Thru UHF 4way Split
(We round to 100m) (We round to 100m) (We round to 100m) (We round to 150m) (We round to 100m) (We round to 150m)
< 4.5dB Insertion Loss 80m of UHF cable < 4dB Insertion Loss < 7dB Insertion Loss 90m of VHF cable 130m of VHF cable
< 4.5dB Insertion Loss 80m of UHF cable < 7.6dB Insertion Loss 130m of UHF cable
Installation Guidelines
The radio signal attenuates in amplitude as is continues down the leaky feeder cable. The BDA in line amplifiers sole purpose is to restore that signal to the original level. This nominal carrier level is prescribed as follows : VHF AND UHF SYSTEM NOMINAL LEVELS: VHF (156-158MHz) (171-173MHz) 10dBm (10mW) UHF (435-445MHz) (460-470MHz) 0dBm (1mW) It is vitally important that the amplifiers be spaced correctly in the system. Spacing BDAs too far apart will cause the following problems: The available amplification from the BDA is insufficient to counter the loss in the proceeding cable run. The carrier level gradually drops away from the above prescribed levels, until the amplifiers are simply amplifying noise. Spacing BDAs too close together causes the following problems: AGC attenuators to kick in permanently and thereby increase the overall system noise floor. Note : Unnecessary Attenuation = Unnecessary Degradation in Signal to Noise Ratio The incoming carrier signals to the BDAs will cause unnecessary intermodulation distortion. The time delays involved with AGC settling time every time a carrier keys up will adversely effect the real-time response of the system. An ideal installation should not require any AGC settling time, as the AGC never actually kicks in. If amplifiers are very close together, feedback can result in oscillation conditions.
Installation Guidelines
The Amplifiers should be spaced in such a manner as to ensure that the OPEN-LOOP downlink gain precisely cancels out the cable loss on the downlink cable side. Any in-decision or doubt as to the distance MUST error on the shorter cable distance. In other words : Rather put the amplifier TOO CLOSE TOGETHER than too far apart. This is because the AGC will be able to compensate for the stronger signals, but if the amplifiers are too far apart, the available gain is just too little, and the signals will drop into the noise. The Cable is supplied on standard length drums. This often influences the practical amplifier spacing. The installer must properly understand the implication of using standard drum roll lengths when executing an installation.
Installation Guidelines
BDA TYPE BDA OPEN LOOP GAIN CABLE TYPE LOSS / 100m @ 20C FREQUENCY BAND IDEAL DISTANCE BETWEEN AMPS
(Current) VHF Low Noise BDA (Current) VHF Econo (Current) UHF Low Noise BDA (Historical) VHF Mini (Historical) VHF Video (Historical) UHF Mini (Historical) UHF Video
WBSA RCC VHF ATC BE VHF RFS RCF 12-50 UHF WBSA RCC VHF ATC BE VHF RFS RCF 12-50 UHF WBSA RCC VHF ATC BE VHF RFS RCF 12-50 UHF WBSA RCC VHF ATC BE VHF RFS RCF 12-50 UHF WBSA RCC VHF ATC BE VHF RFS RCF 12-50 UHF WBSA RCC VHF ATC BE VHF RFS RCF 12-50 UHF WBSA RCC VHF ATC BE VHF RFS RCF 12-50 UHF
5.3 dB 4.5 dB 3.2 dB 5.3 dB 4.5 dB 3.2 dB 11.2 dB 10.2 dB 5.8 dB 5.3 dB 4.5 dB 3.2 dB 5.3 dB 4.5 dB 3.2 dB 11.2 dB 10.2 dB 5.8 dB 11.2 dB 10.2 dB 5.8 dB
156 157MHz 156 157MHz 156 157MHz 156 157MHz 156 157MHz 156 157MHz 460 470MHz 460 470MHz 460 470MHz 156 157MHz 156 157MHz 156 157MHz 156 157MHz 156 157MHz 156 157MHz 460 470MHz 460 470MHz 460 470MHz 460 470MHz 460 470MHz 460 470MHz
336m 396m 578m 272m 321m 451m 166m 183m 322m 272m 321m 451m 288m 340m 478m 174m 191m 337m 174m 191m 337m
NOTE : The ideal distances are quoted at 15% less than the actual calculated value. This is to ensure that the complete cascaded system cannot possibly run out of equalization gain.
Installation Guidelines
Never place two separate amplifiers too close to each other. They must be physically separated by at least 50m. Failure to do so will result in the amplifiers outputs feeding back into their own inputs. The Leaky feeder cables entering and exiting the amplifier are essentially antennas. Locating to amplifier within close proximity of one another with four antennas mounted to their respective inputs and outputs is a guaranteed way to set up an oscillating loop. One such oscillation anywhere in the system will cause the levels though-out the entire installation to be incorrect.
Installation Guidelines
A similar fault condition to the amplifiers being located too close together can be created by looping Leaky Feeder cable back on itself with an amplifier in the middle of the loop. NEVER loop cable back on itself with any amplification in-between. It is however common practice to loop cable back upon itself WITHOUT amplification anywhere in the loop. Typically this is used to provide coverage into a cross-cut tunnel. Loops in the radiating cable should however be avoided wherever possible as it can generate standing wave interference with the achieved throw off the cable.