OTA Link Budget Calculator

Application Note

The document gives an overview and user guide about a link budget calculator for the main components of
a basic OTA system. The calculator shall guide the user to plan link budgets, especially with respect to
SNR requirements for the receive components and the vector signal analyzer. An Excel sheet containing
the Link Budget Calculator accompanies the application note.

Note:
Please find the most up-to-date document on our homepage https://www.rohde-
schwarz.com/applications/
This document is complemented by software. The software may be updated even if the version of the
document remains unchanged
3.2019 – 1EF104_1b
Dr. Michael Simon
Application Note
 Table of Contents

Table of Contents
1 OTA Link Budget Calculator .............................................................. 3
1.1 Using the OTA Link Budget Calculator .....................................................................4
1.2 Mathematical Background ..........................................................................................6
1.3 Examples ......................................................................................................................7

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 OTA Link Budget Calculator

1 OTA Link Budget Calculator

Wireless telecommunication applications are moving to mm-wave frequencies because
of higher bandwidth requirements and congestion in the currently used bands. To
overcome the significant path loss inherent to these frequencies antenna arrays are
used more frequently. Many mm-wave devices do not provide testports at the
transmitter side before the antenna. Therefore, it becomes necessary to measure the
device performance over the air (OTA). Different to a wired test setup, OTA
measurements require careful planning of the OTA site and the receive system in order
to meet the desired system performance. Most importantly, the OTA system must
provide decent dynamic range (signal-to-noise ratio, SNR) for the complete output
power level range of the DUT. The OTA Link Budget Calculator is a tool that helps to
illustrate the evolution of the power level and SNR from the DUT, through the OTA
section to the receiver. Critical sections of the OTA setup can be identified. Different
configurations and their influence on the system SNR can easily be tested.
An OTA system is typically placed into a shielded chamber. It contains a transmitter
with antenna, a receive antenna, usually a horn antenna, followed by a cable or
waveguide connection to a receiver, most likely a signal and spectrum analyzer. There
can be additional components between the horn and receiver, like LNAs, switches,
filters, etc. Rotating antenna arms may require long RF cables with high attenuation.

When planning an OTA system for characterizing the DUT performance, two aspects
are of particular importance:

Signal Power
It is important that sufficient signal power is reaching the receiver, otherwise the
receivers sensitivity will not suffice. On the other hand, a LNA in the signal chain must
not be overdriven.

Signal to Noise Ratio:

For modulation quality measurements (e.g. by means of Error Vector Magnitude, EVM)
the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the OTA system must be higher than the DUT's SNR
(10dB margin is a typical value). Active components (LNA, receiver) add noise to the

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 OTA Link Budget Calculator

signal and thus contribute to the overall SNR. But also significant signal power losses
in the OTA path will impair the SNR.

1.1 Using the OTA Link Budget Calculator

The Excel file OTA Link Budet.xlsm contains the calculator. It is organized in
stages, from the DUT via the OTA path, to the receiver. In the column Value system
parameters can be entered in all cells with white background. Grey cells hold the
calculation results. Light blue cells can be left empty and default values are used. To
obtain the results, press the button Calculate. The button Reset will delete all results
and keep the input parameters. Selecting a Value cell shows a tooltip string with a
short explanation of the value.
Section 1.2 of this document gives details about the calculations with all relevant
formulas.

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Parameter Description
DUT
EIRP [dBm] Equivalent Isotropically Radiated Power
The DUT is summarized by its EIRP (output power + antenna gain). If an external
antenna is used with the DUT, the EIRP can be calculated manually
Tx SNR [dB] SNR of the DUT. If this cell is left empty, an ideal signal is assumed, with no noise
contribution except thermal noise. The SNR is then calculated against the thermal
noise floor. Alternatively a real DUT SNR value can be entered
OTA (Over the Air section)
Distance [m] Distance between Tx and Rx antenna. All measurements should be done in the Far
Field. Below the Link Budget Calculator is a small table that computes the Far Field
distance based on the antenna aperture. The larger aperture of the Tx and Rx
antenna must be used here. On the sheet Horn Calculator the dimensions of the horn
for different waveguides and gains can be calculated.
Compact Antenna Test Ranges: The FSPL only applies to the distance between feed
and reflector.
FSPL [dB] Free Space Path Loss (see Section 1.2)

Rx Antenna
Gain [dB] Receive antenna gain

LNA (Low Noise Amplifier)

Gain [dB] LNA gain. If no LNA is used, set the value to zero. Pay attention to the power level
reaching the LNA! Keep a safety margin to the 1dB compression point.
Noise Figure [dB] LNA Noise Figure. If no LNA is used, set the value to zero.

Rx Cable
Cable Loss [dB] Loss in dB given as a positive value

Receiver (spectrum analyzer)

DANL [dBm/Hz] Displayed Average Noise Level. Parameter given in the spectrum analyzer's data
sheet. A built-in preamplifier lowers the DANL. These values are also given in the
data sheet. Pay attention to the input power when using a preamplifier.
Results
Rx Power [dBm] Signal power at the receiver input

Rx Noise Power Noise power including the noise contribution of the receiver. DUT noise as well as
[dBm] contributions from the components are included.
Rx SNR [dB] Signal to noise ratio inside the receiver.

Total Gain [dB] Includes all gains and losses (also the OTA section)

Total Noise Figure Noise Figure of the complete transmission path (including OTA section)
[dB]

Target System Enter a desired SNR to be achieved for the whole system.
SNR [dB]
Resulting Margin Margin between Target System SNR and Rx SNR
[dB]

A graph shows the Signal Power, Noise Power and SNR for each stage of the system.
Additionally a limit line for the noise is shown. The noise power must stay below this
limit in order to reach the Target SNR.

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 OTA Link Budget Calculator

1.2 Mathematical Background

ı Thermal noise floor for bandwidth B at 290K:
𝑁𝑡ℎ = −174𝑑𝐵𝑚/𝐻𝑧 + 10𝑙𝑜𝑔10 (𝐵)

ı Free space path loss:

4𝜋𝑓𝑑
𝐹𝑆𝑃𝐿 = 20𝑙𝑜𝑔10 ( )
𝑐

f - carrier frequency in Hz
d - distance in m
c - speed of light in m/s

ı Far field distance:

2𝐷2
𝑑>
𝜆

D - antenna aperture in m
λ - wavelength in m

Each stage of the OTA system can be described with the following equations:
ı 𝑆𝑜𝑢𝑡 = 𝐺𝑆𝑖𝑛
Sout … output power, Sin … input power, G…gain
ı 𝑁𝑜𝑢𝑡 = 𝑁𝑎 + 𝐺𝑁𝑖𝑛
Nout … output noise power, Nin … input noise power, Na … noise added by the
component

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 OTA Link Budget Calculator

ı 𝑁𝑎 = (𝐹 − 1)𝐺𝑁𝑖𝑛
F … noise factor

The output values of stage i can be calculated based on the output values of the
preceding stage i-1:
𝑆𝑜𝑢𝑡,𝑖 = 𝐺𝑖 𝑆𝑜𝑢𝑡,𝑖−1
𝑁𝑎,𝑖 = (𝐹𝑖 − 1)𝐺𝑖 𝑁𝑡ℎ

𝑁𝑜𝑢𝑡,𝑖 = 𝑁𝑎,𝑖 + 𝐺𝑖 𝑁𝑜𝑢𝑡,𝑖−1

Stages
Gain G Noise Figure NF

OTA Section - FSPL FSPL

Rx Antenna Antenna gain Ideal antenna without loss is assumed.

Only thermal noise is added Na = Nth
Rx Cable -ARx ARx

Receiver 0dB DANL + 174dBm/Hz

1.3 Examples
Example 1:
The task is to measure EVM of a DUT with a patch antenna directly connected to the
transmitter. The DUT has an expected EVM that should be measured with a defined
error. It is assumed that noise is limiting the DUT and system performance. In that
case the simplified assumption SNRDUT = -EVM holds.
The SNR of the OTA system incl. the receiver must be higher than SNRDUT for a
reasonable measurement error. For example 6dB margin give 1dB measurement error
on the EVM result. The OTA calculator can be used to compute the system SNR and
estimate the margin. This is done by using an ideal signal as input with only thermal
noise limiting the SNRDUT.
Parameters:
ı 802.11ad DUT at 60.48GHz with 1.76GHz bandwidth
ı Expected DUT EVM = -30dB
ı Measurement error < 1dB => at least 6dB margin
ı Tx SNR: leave empty, assumes an ideal signal with only thermal noise contribution
ı Target System SNR: enter SNRDUT + Margin => 30+6 = 36dB

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 OTA Link Budget Calculator

ı Resulting margin: 0dB indicates that the required system SNR is just met. Positive
values indicate extra margin.
=> total margin is 6+2.1=8.1dB (0.6dB error)
ı Rx SNR shows the dynamic range of the whole system

Figure 1: Link Budget for Example 1

Example 2:
In this example, the overall performance of the DUT and OTA system is of interest.
The total SNR should be higher than a given value. The actual DUT SNR is entered in
the field Tx SNR. Rx SNR then give the total SNR including the OTA system.
Parameters:
ı 5G signal with 800MHz bandwidth at 28GHz
ı DUT SNR of 50dB
ı No LNA
ı 5dB cable loss before the receiver
ı The overall SNR should be higher than 40dB
ı For the given parameters the total SNR is only 37.7dB (Rx SNR)

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Figure 2: Link Budget for Example 2

ı adding a 10dB LNA before the receiver improves the overall SNR

Figure 3: LNA added for Example 2

1EF104_1b Rohde & Schwarz OTA Link Budget Calculator 9

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Version 1EF104_1b | R&S®OTA Link Budget Calculator

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