RadioLinkCalculation

Sebastian Bttrich, wire.less.dk edit: September 2009, Pokhara, Nepal

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/

Goals
Tointroducealltheelementsandtools thatareneededtocalculatearadio link Todiscusseachoftheseelements Toenableustoevaluateresultsinclose touchwithreality

TableofContents
Whatisalinkbudget? Elementsofaradiolink
Transmittingside Propagatingside Receivingside

Howtocalculatealinkbudget

WhatisaLinkBudget?
Theaccountingofallofthegainsand lossesfromtransmittertoreceiver. Agoodlinkbudgetisessentialfora functioninglink. Estimationoflosses/gainsinaradiolink Suitabledesign Adequatechoiceofequipment

ElementsofaRadioLink
Transmittingside
Transmittingpower,cableloss,antenna gain

Propagatingside
FS(P)L,Fresnelzone

Receivingside
Antennagain,cableloss,receiver sensibility

ElementsofaRadioLink

Transmittingside

FreeSpaceReceivingside

RadioLinkEquation
+Transmitterpower[dBm] CableTXloss[dB] +AntennaTXgain[dBi] FreeSpacePathLoss[dB] +AntennaRXgain[dBi] CableRXloss[dB] =MarginReceiverSensitivity[dBm]

TransmitPower(Tx)
Thepoweroutputoftheradiocard. Theupperlimitdependsonregulatory limits. Typicalvaluefor802.11b/2.4GHzis 20dBm=100mW

CableLoss
Lossesduetoattenuation Antennacableshouldbeasshortaspossible Frequencydependent Checkdatasheetsandverify Typicallossvaluesrangefrom 1dB/mto<0.1dB/m Thelowertheloss,themoreexpensivethe cable

CableLoss
Cabletype RG58 RG213 LMR200 LMR400 Aircomplus LMR600 1/2Flexline 7/8Flexline C2FCP Heliax Heliax7/8 Loss[db/100m] ca80100 ca50 50 22 22 14 12 6,6 21 12 7

LossesinConnectors
Lossesinconnectors(0.25dBper connector) Dependentonfrequencyandtypeof connector Lossesinlightningarrestors(1dB)

Amplifiers
Maycompensateforcableloss Maychangefrequencycharacteristicsand addnoise Considerlegallimits Intelligentlyoptimizedantennasandhigh receivesensitivityarebetterthanbrute forceamplification

Amplifiers

Whata(cheap)amplifiermightdo:
before after

AntennaTransmitterSide
Antennagainsrangefrom 2dBi(simpleintegratedantenna) 5dBi(standardomnidirectional) 820dBi(panel/patchantennas) 1827dBi(parabolic) Verifythatyoureallygetthenominalgain Tiltlosses,Polarizationlosses,etc.

FreeSpaceLoss
Proportionaltothesquareofthedistance Proportionaltothesquareoftheradiofrequency FSL(dB) = 20log10(d) + 20log10(f) 147.5 d = distance [m] f = frequency [Hz] assuming isotropic antenna

FreeSpaceLoss
Distance[km] 1 10 100 915Mhz 92dB 112dB 132dB 2,4Ghz 100dB 120dB 140dB 5,8GHz 108dB 128dB 148dB

LinearApproximationofFSL
dBmeters(2.4/5.4Ghz)
140 120 100

dB

80 60 40 20 0 0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000

meters

FreeSpacePropagation: Fresnelzones

FreeSpacePropagation: Fresnelzones

r =17,32 d1d2 / d f d1=distancetoobstaclefromtransmitter d2=distancetoobstaclefromreceiver d=distance[km] f=frequency[Ghz] r=radius[m]

FreeSpacePropagation: Fresnelzones
Obstaclesituatedinthemiddle(d1=d2):
r =17,32 d / 4f

Theradiuscontaining60%ofthetotal power:
r 60 percent =10,4 d / 4f

FreeSpacePropagation: Fresnelzones

FreeSpacePropagation: Fresnelzones
Distance[km] 1 10 100 915Mhz 9 29 90 2,4Ghz 6 18 56 5,8GHz 4 11 36 Height[m](rel.earth*) 0,02 2 200

FreeSpacePropagation: Fresnelzones

 Calculationsarethesameasfor transmitterside

ReceiverSide Antennas,CableLossand Amplifiers

ReceivingSensitivity
Tellsyoutheminimumvalueofpower thatisneededtosuccessfullydecode/ extractlogicalbitsandachievea certainbitrate Thelowerthesensitivity,thebetterthe radioreceiver. A10dBdifferencehereisjustas importantas10dBgaininanantenna

ReceivingSensitivity
Card
OrinococardsPCMCIASilver/Gold Senao802.11bcard

11Mbps 82dBm 89

5,5Mbps 87dBm 91

2Mbps 91dBm 93

1Mbp 94dBm 95

MarginandSNR
Margin=Signalreceivedinthereceiver sensitivity ItisnotenoughthatS>N MarginbetweenSignalandNoise(SNR)is alsoneeded:typicallyatleast8to10dB Marginforaworkinglink

TermsandConcepts
LinkBudget/PowerBudget/System Gain
Acalculationofsignal/powerthroughout thesystem

Systemoperatingmargin Signalreceivedsensitivity

TermsandConcepts
EIRP(EffectiveIsotropicRadiatedPower) MaximumRadiatedPower 100mWinEurope 14Winothercountries EIRP=TransmitterPowerLossesincables andconnectors)+AntennaGain(dBi).

CalculatingwithdB
Decibelisdimensionless(likepercent) dB=10*log(P(W)/(1W)) dBm=10*log(P/0.001)=10*log(P(W)/1(mW)) dBi=dBrelativetoanidealisotropicantenna (theonepointsource) Decibelunitscanbeaddedandsubtracted andtheresultswillremaindimensionless

CalculatingwithdB
TheGoldenRule: Duplicatingthepowerisequalto adding3dB Reducingthepowerbyhalfisequal tosubtracting3dB

TheCompleteLinkBudget
Tworealisticexamplestodiscuss Thekeyquestionis Howmuchmargindoyouneed foraworkinglink?

TheCompleteLinkBudget
+Transmitterpower[dBm] CableTXloss[dB] +AntennaTXgain[dBi] FreeSpacePathLoss[dB] +AntennaRXgain[dBi] CableRXloss[dB] =MarginReceiverSensitivity[dBm]

CompleteLinkBudget: Example1
Distance:50kms Frequency:2,4GHz
Element Transmitoutput Cableandconnectors AntennaTX FSL AntennaRX Cableandconnectors ReceiveSensibility Total:(margin)

Value

+15dBm 3dB +24dBi 134dB +24dBi 3dB 85dBm +8dB

CompleteLinkBudget: Example2

Distance:1km Frequency:2,4GHz Lowqualitycabling Lowantennagain

Element

Value

Transmitoutput Cableandconnectors AntennaTX FSL AntennaRX Cableandconnectors ReceiveSensibility Total:(margin)

+18dBm 5dB +5dBi 100dB +8dBi 5dB 92dBm +13dB

FactorsFromHigherOSI Layers
Notonlythephysicallayerdeterminesthe performanceoflinks Drivers,implementationsandsettings affectstheperformance Timingsettingsofwirelesscardsbecomes relevantforlonglinks(SIFSandDIFS!)

SourcesofLat/Long,elevation anddistancedata
Localknowledge Measure! GPSdata ShuttleRadarTopographyMission(SRTM) project Aviationsites,airportlocators Hamradiosites,Islamicsites Citylists

RadioMobileSoftware
Integratednetworkplanning,LOSandcoverage calculationsbasedonterraindata Freesoftwarefromtheham(amateur)radioscene ForWindows Canuseelevationdatafromvarioussources: HGT,DTED,GLOBE,SRTM30,GTOPO,...formats Canintegratemapsandbackgrounds,GISdata http://www.cplus.org/rmw/english1.html

RadioMobileSoftware

RadioMobileSoftware

RadioMobileSoftware

RadioMobileSoftware

RadioMobileSoftware

RadioMobileSoftware

Conclusions
Agoodlinkbudgetisthebasic requirementofawellfunctioninglink Lossestakesplaceineveryelement alongthetransmissionpath Limitingthelossesisthekeyissue Manyonlinefreetoolsavailable