INTRODUCTION TO MICROWAVE RADIO

COMMUNICATIONS
Module 1

1st Sem, S.Y. 2021-2022 ECE EL 11 – ECE ELECTIVE 1

 INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOME
At the end of this module, the students are expected to:
• Define the concept of microwave and other microwave system
related terminologies.
• Differentiate the advantages and disadvantages of microwave.
• Compare the analog and digital microwave
• Illustrate and explain the block diagrams of microwave system.

1st Sem, S.Y. 2021-2022 ECE EL 11

 INTRODUCTION
MICROWAVE  Microwaves are generally described as
electromagnetic waves with frequencies that range
from approximately 300 MHz to 300 GHz or more.
Microwaves consist of ultrahigh
(UHF), superhigh (SHF) and
extremely high (EHF) frequencies

Because of their inherently high

frequencies, have relatively very short
wavelengths, hence the name
“micro”waves.

Image from: https://www.electricalandcontrol.com/radio-

frequency-rf-and-microwave-spectral-analysis/
1st Sem, S.Y. 2021-2022 ECE EL 11
 INTRODUCTION
MICROWAVE point-to-point communications are usually carried out
RADIO using microwave frequencies along line-of-sight (LOS)
COMUNICATION paths called links.
SYSTEM Utilize the line of sight, (LOS) which means the two
antennas ( for the transmitter and receiver) should see each
other no obstructions.

TOP VIEW

SIDE VIEW

1st Sem, S.Y. 2021-2022 ECE EL 11

 INTRODUCTION
MICROWAVE LINK • The first fixed microwave link for Telephone
communication in North America was established
in 1947 between New York and Boston.
•By August 17,1951 a transcontinental system
was in place using 107 repeaters spaced an
average of 30 miles apart to cover the distance
from New York to San Francisco.

1st Sem, S.Y. 2021-2022 ECE EL 11

 INTRODUCTION
 Microwave spectrum to all sorts of new services,
APPLICATION
which include wireless area networks, cellular and
cordless phones, short-range wireless, wireless
backhaul, digital satellite radio, and wireless
broadband,
Videos: Electromagnetic
Spectrum: Microwaves
https://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=YgQQb1BVnu8&t=63s

Image Source:
https://www.missioncriticalpartners.c
om/solutions/land-mobile-radio/

Image Source:
https://www.voanews.com/silicon- Image Source:
valley-technology/kenya- https://www.electricveda.com/technology/advantages-of-
repurposing-satellite-dishes-space- wimax-broadband-long-distance-wireless-technology
exploration

1st Sem, S.Y. 2021-2022 ECE EL 11

 INTRODUCTION
Microwave Radio-Frequency
Bands Assignment

1st Sem, S.Y. 2021-2022 ECE EL 11

 INTRODUCTION
Advantages of 1. Radio systems do not require a right-of-way acquisition
Microwave Radio between stations.
2. Each station requires the purchase or lease of only a small
area of land.
3. Because of their high operating frequencies, microwave
radio systems can carry large quantities of information.
4. High frequencies mean short wavelengths, which require
relatively small antennas.
5. Radio signals are more easily propagated around physical
obstacles such as water and high mountains.
6. Fewer repeaters are necessary for amplification.
7. Distances between switching centers are less.
8. Underground facilities are minimized.
9. Minimum delay times are introduced.
10. Minimal crosstalk exists between voice channels.
11. Increased reliability and less maintenance are important
factors.

1st Sem, S.Y. 2021-2022 ECE EL 11

 INTRODUCTION
Disadvantages of 1. It is more difficult to analyze and design circuits at
Microwave Radio microwave frequencies.
2. Measuring techniques are more difficult to perfect and
implement at microwave frequencies.
3. It is difficult to implement conventional circuit components
(resistors, capacitors, inductors, and so on) at microwave
frequencies.
4. Transient time is more critical at microwave frequencies.
5. It is often necessary to use specialized components for
microwave frequencies.
6. Microwave frequencies propagate in a straight line, which
limits their use to line of-sight applications.

1st Sem, S.Y. 2021-2022 ECE EL 11

 INTRODUCTION
• Point to point microwave radio links used as studio to transmitter link (STL)
for radio and television broadcasting stations and they can also link the head ends
(antenna sites) of cable television installations to their distribution systems.
• Microwave links is a part of communication networks involving telephony, cellular,
data or television signal
• Some microwave system use only one link or hop, while the others are multi-hop
systems that use repeaters to extend the system beyond the line of sight range of
single link.

1st Sem, S.Y. 2021-2022 ECE EL 11

 INTRODUCTION
• Microwave systems are generally categorized according to distance and frequency
as short haul and long haul.
• Short Haul – used to carry information for relatively short distances such as
between cities within same state. Frequencies > 15 GHz are essentially used for
short-haul transmission.
• Long Haul – used to carry information for relatively long distance /multi-hop
microwave transmission, such as interstate and backbone.

1st Sem, S.Y. 2021-2022 ECE EL 11

 INTRODUCTION
The radio license applicant must determine if the planned
Interference
radio system will experience any interference from the
existing environment, and vice versa. Potential interference
can be calculated for three different cases:
1. Interference between microwave stations
2. Interference between microwave stations and
Earth stations
3. Interference between microwave stations and a
geostationary satellite in orbit
Frequency Planning The objective of frequency planning is to assign
Objectives frequencies to a network using as few frequencies as
possible and in a manner such that the quality and
availability of the radio-link path is minimally affected
by interference.
1st Sem, S.Y. 2021-2022 ECE EL 11
 INTRODUCTION
Frequency Channel The available frequency band is subdivided into two
Arrangements equal halves: a lower and an upper duplex half,
referred as low band and high band respectively. The
NTC Microwave Channel Plan
frequency separation between the lowest frequency
(Updated August 2019)
Source: https://ntc.gov.ph/wp- in the lower half and that of the upper half is known
content/uploads/2019/08/MICRO as the duplex spacing.
WAVE-CHANNEL-PLAN-Rev-
2019.pdf Channels are segments (subdivisions) of a frequency range
or a portion (frequency band) of the electromagnetic
spectrum. Every channel has a specified bandwidth and,
Duplex Spacing
depending on the capacity of the link, a certain number of
carriers can be accommodated in the band. Each RF
TX BAND RX BAND
channel requires two frequencies (transmit and receive) thus
Duplex band provide full duplex operation. Duplex separation (duplex
separation
spacing) gives the difference between each carrier being
transmit and receive.
1st Sem, S.Y. 2021-2022 ECE EL 11
 INTRODUCTION
frequency-division duplex Where each hop is allocated a frequency
(FDD) channel pair. This facilitates simultaneous
transmission in both directions across the
link.

1st Sem, S.Y. 2021-2022 ECE EL 11

 INTRODUCTION
NARROW BAND Digital Channels having medium speed transmission.
(NB) Channel Bandwidths may be between 6 to 10 MHz.

WIDEBAND (WB) Digital Channels having high speed transmission. The

large volume of information results in a large
bandwidth up to 220 MHz.
As general rule, the higher the capacity of the microwave systems (digital or
analog) the larger the bandwidth.
Local frequency administrations usually keep track of the use of available
frequency bands and the corresponding channel distribution. Several operators
may be forced to share the same frequency band but different channels, thus
making it necessary to control such radio-link parameters as transmitted power,
site coordinates, antenna heights, and so on
1st Sem, S.Y. 2021-2022 ECE EL 11
 INTRODUCTION
Based on the fact that
transmitting and receiving
frequencies change from site to
site, there are two types of sites
or station in the microwave
system; one is when the
transmit frequency of the
station is higher than its receive
frequency is called High Band
Terminal, and whose transmit For rough estimate in microwave
frequency is lower than it calculations , use the center of these pair
receive frequency is called Low of frequency as the actual reliability of
Band terminal. calculating each frequency would only
differ slightly.
1st Sem, S.Y. 2021-2022 ECE EL 11
 INTRODUCTION
The selection on which site
should be high band station
and which site should be
low band stations should be
considered during the
planning stage. Interference
in a microwave link due to
other links can result due to
poor site selection but
sometimes be solved by
simply exchanging which
station is high band and
which is low band.

1st Sem, S.Y. 2021-2022 ECE EL 11

 INTRODUCTION

1st Sem, S.Y. 2021-2022 ECE EL 11

 INTRODUCTION
• Microwave links are usually employed whenever cable transmission system
would prove to be expensive, difficult or impossible to implements.
• As general rule, the lower the frequency the, the farther the link. Thus,
based on rough estimates with standard microwave links, a general
estimate can be made as the to the approximate range of frequencies
which may be used for specific distance:
• 23 GHz: max 10miles
18 GHz: max 15 miles
10.5 GHz: max 25 miles
8 GHz: max 30 miles

1st Sem, S.Y. 2021-2022 ECE EL 11

 INTRODUCTION
THE FUNDAMENTAL COMPONENTS

Each end of the link has its own radio unit, typically with both transmission (TX)
and receiving (RX) capabilities.

1st Sem, S.Y. 2021-2022 ECE EL 11

 INTRODUCTION
• A microwave system is said to be analog or digital depending on the nature of the
signal it caries. The radio frequency part of any microwave systems is always
analog as radio frequency transmission is, by nature, is analog.

• The existing microwave radio systems are frequency modulation, which of course is
analog. Recently, however, systems have been developed that use either phase
shift keying or quadrature amplitude modulation, which are forms of digital
modulation. Digital microwave communication refers to the microwave
communication that adopts the digital modulation.

• Microwave using FM are widely recognized as providing flexible, reliable, and

economical point to point communication using the Earth’s Atmosphere for the
transmission medium.

1st Sem, S.Y. 2021-2022 ECE EL 11

 INTRODUCTION
• FM Microwave used an appropriate
multiplexing equipment capable of
simultaneously carrying fro a few
narrowband voice circuits up to
thousands of voice and data circuits.
• MW radios can also be configured to
carry high speed data, facsimile,
broadcast quality audio and
commercial television signals
The baseband is the composite signal that
modulates the FM carrier and may
comprise one or more of the following:
1. Frequency-division-multiplexed
voice-band channels
2. Time-division-multiplexed voice-
band channels
3. Broadcast-quality composite video
or picturephone
4. Wideband data
1st Sem, S.Y. 2021-2022 ECE EL 11
 INTRODUCTION

1st Sem, S.Y. 2021-2022 ECE EL 11

 INTRODUCTION
There are three basic radio configurations used in microwave communications
systems:
• ALL INDOOR All active components are located inside a building or shelter, only
the antenna is outdoor. Thus, allowing easy maintenance and upgrades—without
requiring tower climbs, for instance. Being farther from the antenna may introduce
higher transmission line losses than other configurations.

• ALL OUTDOOR All electronics are mounted outside, eliminating the need and cost
for indoor space. However, because they are located on the tower, they can be
difficult to access for maintenance or upgrades, requiring tower climbs. In some
cases, rooftop access mitigates this challenge.

• SPLIT-MOUNT Electronics are split into an outdoor unit (ODU) and indoor unit
(IDU), eliminating transmission line losses with easy maintenance of the IDU.
However, it also combines the disadvantages of the other two configurations by
requiring indoor storage and tower climbs for the ODU.
1st Sem, S.Y. 2021-2022 ECE EL 11
 INTRODUCTION
ALL INDDOR

Image from:
https://www.slideshare.net/AviatNetworks/aviat
-networksmicrowavetechnologyoptions22-
july13
1st Sem, S.Y. 2021-2022 ECE EL 11
 INTRODUCTION

ALL OUTDOOR

Image from:
https://www.daenotes.com/electronics/microwave-
radar/digital-microwave-communication-equipment
1st Sem, S.Y. 2021-2022 ECE EL 11
 INTRODUCTION
SPLIT-MOUNT

Image from:
https://www.daenotes.com/electronics/microwave-
radar/digital-microwave-communication-equipment
1st Sem, S.Y. 2021-2022 ECE EL 11
 REFERENCES
Book(s):
• Tomasi, Wayne. Advanced Electronic Communications Systems, 6th ed.,
(2014)
• Frenzel, Louise Jr. E. Principles of Electronic Communication System, 4th
ed., (2016)
• Blake, Roy. Electronic Communication Systems, 2nd ed., (2008)

Other Materials:
• MICROWAVE COMMUNICATION BASICS: THE THEORY, PRACTICES
AND TECHNOLOGIES THAT LINK THE WIRELESS WORLD.
www.commscope.com

1st Sem, S.Y. 2021-2022 ECE EL 11