Point To Point Radio Link Engineering

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POINTTOPOINTRADIOLINKENGINEERING
ASELFLEARNINGEBOOKBASEDCOURSE,BYRADIOENGINEERINGSERVICES
AUTHOR:LUIGIMORENO
Availablefromwww.heraldpro.com
Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved
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Acknowledgments
Editorial setup and E-Book layout
TheAuthorishighlyindebtedtoStevenIrwin,aTelecommunicationsConsultantspecialisingin
MicrowaveRadiobasedinSouthEastQueenslandinAustralia,forsupportandappreciated
suggestionsintheeditorialsetupofthisdocumentandforthefinallayoutinEBookformat.
WithoutSteve'shelpthisEBookwouldhaveneverbeenpublished.
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TheAuthorthankstheInternationalTelecommunicationUnion(ITU)forpermissionofreproducing
somefiguresfromITUtexts.ThecompleteandexactsourceofITUmaterialisindicatedattheplace
wheresuchreproductionismade.Pleasenotethat:
1. thismaterialisreproducedwiththepriorauthorizationofITU,ascopyrightholder;
2. thesoleresponsibilityforselectingextractsforreproductionlieswiththeAuthorandcanin
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InternationalTelecommunicationUnion
SalesandMarketingDivisionPlacedesNationsCH1211GENEVA20(Switzerland)
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About the Author

LuigiMORENOisaRadioCommunicationsConsultantwithmorethan25years'experience.A
graduateofthe"PolitecnicodiTorino"(Italy),hewasatCSELT(TelecomItaliaResearchLabs)(1973
82),thenatGTETelecomunicazioni(198285).HehasbeenadelegateatmanyITURmeetingsanda
teacheratSSGRR(TelecomItaliaTrainingSchool).Hisactivityasaconsultantincludesmany
assignmentswithmanufacturingandoperatingcompanies(softwaredevelopmentsforradiosystem
simulation,analysis,andtesting;designofradiolinksandnetworks;trainingcourses).HeisanIEEE
SeniorMemberandservesasanIEEETransactionsTechnicalReviewer.Heistheauthorofsome30
journalandconferencepapersandoftwopatentsformobileradioreceivers.Hecanbecontacted
byemailatmailto:l.moreno@radioengineering.it.
POINT-TO-POINT RADIO LINK ENGINEERING.........................................................................1
.....................................................................................................................1
A SELF-LEARNING E-BOOK BASED COURSE, BY RADIO ENGINEERING SERVICES............1
Copyright Notice.....................................................................................................................................2
Acknowledgments...................................................................................................................................3
Editorial setup and E-Book layout..........................................................................................................3
Reproduction of Figures.........................................................................................................................3
About the Author....................................................................................................................................4
STUDENT GUIDE...............................................................................................................................11
Introduction.......................................................................................................................................11
Course Notes.....................................................................................................................................12
Herald Lab........................................................................................................................................13
SECTION 1 RADIO HOP CONFIGURATION...............................................................................14
Summary...........................................................................................................................................14
Point-to-Point radio-relay links.........................................................................................................14
Site and Hop parameters...................................................................................................................16
Radio Equipment..............................................................................................................................17
Advanced - Digital Equipment Signature.................................................................................20
Antennas...........................................................................................................................................25
Antenna Parameters for hop design..............................................................................................27
Advanced - More on the Antenna radiation diagram................................................................29
Ancillary equipment..........................................................................................................................31
Branching system..........................................................................................................................31
Tx / Rx Attenuators.......................................................................................................................31
Feeder Line...................................................................................................................................31
Advanced - Hops with a Passive Repeater................................................................................32
SECTION 2 BASICS IN LINK ENGINEERING.............................................................................35
Summary...........................................................................................................................................35
Free Space propagation.....................................................................................................................35
Comments on Free Space Loss.....................................................................................................37
Terrestrial radio links........................................................................................................................38
Link Budget..................................................................................................................................40
Fade Margin and Outage prediction..............................................................................................41
ADVANCED - Link Equation with Passive Repeater..............................................................43
SECTION 3 PATH CLEARANCE...................................................................................................45
Summary...........................................................................................................................................45
Refractivity in the Atmosphere.........................................................................................................45
Propagation in Standard Atmosphere...............................................................................................46
The k-factor.......................................................................................................................................47
k-Factor variability............................................................................................................................49
Fresnel Ellipsoid...............................................................................................................................50
A note on radio propagation and visual analogies........................................................................52
Obstruction Loss...............................................................................................................................53
Single obstacle loss.......................................................................................................................53
Advanced - More on obstruction loss computation..................................................................54
Knife-edge obstacle......................................................................................................................54
Single rounded obstacle................................................................................................................54
Spherical earth..............................................................................................................................55
Multiple obstacles.........................................................................................................................55
Clearance Criteria.............................................................................................................................56
SECTION 4 GROUND REFLECTIONS..........................................................................................59
Summary...........................................................................................................................................59
Paths with ground reflection.............................................................................................................59
Reflection coefficient........................................................................................................................60
Summary of results...........................................................................................................................60
Advanced - Reflection coefficient computation.......................................................................61
Received signal level........................................................................................................................65
Vectorial addition of two signals..................................................................................................65
Reflected signal amplitude............................................................................................................66
Reflected signal phase...................................................................................................................67
Rate of change in the Rx signal amplitude........................................................................................67
Antenna height and k-factor effect....................................................................................................67
Diversity reception............................................................................................................................69
Advanced -Average degradation estimate................................................................................71
Advanced - Effect of time delay on digital signals...................................................................72
SECTION 5 MULTIPATH FADING................................................................................................72
Summary...........................................................................................................................................73
Refractivity in the atmosphere (II)....................................................................................................73
Observed impairments in Rx signal..................................................................................................74
Signal attenuation..........................................................................................................................74
Signal distortion............................................................................................................................75
Advanced - Degradation of Cross-pol discrimination..............................................................76
Modeling multipath activity..............................................................................................................77
Radio and environmental parameters............................................................................................77
Statistical observation of multipath events...................................................................................78
Multipath Occurrence Factor........................................................................................................79
Advanced - ITU-R Multipath occurrence model......................................................................82
Performance prediction.....................................................................................................................83
Outage prediction in Narrowband systems...................................................................................83
Advanced - Outage prediction in Wideband systems...............................................................84
Advanced - Outage contribution from X-pol interference........................................................85
Countermeasures...............................................................................................................................85
Space Diversity.............................................................................................................................86
Advanced - ITU-R model for Space Diversity improvement...................................................86
1+1 Frequency Diversity...............................................................................................................87
Advanced - N + 1 Frequency Diversity....................................................................................87
Advanced - Outage in Wideband systems with Diversity........................................................88
Advanced - Adaptive equalizers...............................................................................................89
SECTION 6 RAIN ATTENUATION................................................................................................91
Summary...........................................................................................................................................91
EM wave interaction with atmosphere..............................................................................................91
Water vapour and Oxygen attenuation in clear air............................................................................91
Rain attenuation................................................................................................................................92
Worldwide rain intensity statistics....................................................................................................94
ITU-R rain attenuation model...........................................................................................................97
Rain intensity model.....................................................................................................................97
Advanced - Frequency / polarization scaling model.................................................................99
Rain unavailability prediction.........................................................................................................100
Advanced - Effect of cross-polarized interference..................................................................101
SECTION 7 FREQUENCY PLANNING AND INTERFERENCE...............................................103
Summary.........................................................................................................................................103
Use of frequencies in P-P links.......................................................................................................103

Frequency Bands.............................................................................................................................104
Channel arrangements, ITU-R Recs...............................................................................................104
Go - Return Frequency plans......................................................................................................104
Interleaved and co-channel frequency arrangements..................................................................106
Comment.....................................................................................................................................107
Interference classification...............................................................................................................107
Source of Interference.................................................................................................................108
Propagation conditions....................................................................................................................109
Internal Interference sources...........................................................................................................110
Co-site Interference.....................................................................................................................110
Degradation due to Interference......................................................................................................114
Interference power estimate............................................................................................................115
Effect of Interference......................................................................................................................116
SECTION 8 ITU OBJECTIVES......................................................................................................118
Summary.........................................................................................................................................118
Overview.........................................................................................................................................118
ITU-T and ITU-R Recommendations.............................................................................................118
Unavailability and Error Performance Objectives......................................................................119
A brief history and overview of ITU Recs..................................................................................119
Definitions...................................................................................................................................120
Advanced - ITU-T Error Performance Recs...........................................................................121
Advanced - Error performance in a radio link........................................................................124
Error objectives for real links using equipment designed prior to approval of [revised] ITU-T
Recommendation G.826 in December 2002...............................................................................124
Practical rules in applying ITU-R Recs......................................................................................134
How to identify SDH and PDH sections.....................................................................................134
How to apportion Section objectives to each hop.......................................................................134
How to apportion Short-haul or Access section objectives on a distance basis..........................134
Advanced - Unavailability Objectives....................................................................................135
ITU-T Recs. G.826 and G.827....................................................................................................135
Radio Link Availability Objectives............................................................................................136
Advanced - BER vs. Errored Blocks Performance Parameters..............................................137
Objectives vs. Propagation impairments.........................................................................................139
HERALD LAB...................................................................................................................................141
Working with HERALD Lab..........................................................................................................141

Using the HERALD program.........................................................................................................141
Instructions to HERALD Demo Users............................................................................................142
HERALD Lab #1 - Hop Configuration...............................................................................................143
HERALD Functions........................................................................................................................143
Exercise 1.1 : Radio Equipment data.............................................................................................143
Exercise 1.2 : Antenna data.............................................................................................................145
Exercise 1.3 : Feeder data...............................................................................................................146
Exercise 1.4 : Site & Hop definition...............................................................................................147
Exercise 1.5 : Hop configuration....................................................................................................149
Exercise 1.6 : Passive repeater........................................................................................................150
Exercise 1.7 : Export Network Topology to Google Earth.............................................................151
Exercise 1.8 : Import Radio Sites....................................................................................................151
HERALD Lab #2 - Link Budget and Fade Margin............................................................................152
Exercise 2.1 : Compute Link Budget.............................................................................................152
Exercise 2.2 : Adjust Fade Margin................................................................................................153
Exercise 2.3 : Print Hop Report.....................................................................................................154
Exercise 2.4 : Include a Passive Repeater......................................................................................155
HERALD Lab #3 Path Clearance....................................................................................................156
Exercise 3.1 : Define path profile..................................................................................................157
Exercise 3.2 : Check clearance.......................................................................................................159
Exercise 3.3 : Modify antenna height.............................................................................................160
Exercise 3.4 : Estimate obstruction loss..........................................................................................161
Exercise 3.5 : Display Profile Report..............................................................................................162
HERALD Lab #4 Ground Reflections.............................................................................................163
Exercise 4.1 : Estimate reflection parameters.................................................................................164
Exercise 4.2 : Analyze Rx power level...........................................................................................165
Exercise 4.3 : Design diversity Rx..................................................................................................166
Exercise 4.4 : Change reflection parameters...................................................................................167
Exercise 4.5 : Move radio site position...........................................................................................168
HERALD Lab #5 Multipath Fading................................................................................................169
Exercise 5.1: Estimate multipath occurrence..................................................................................171

Exercise 5.2: Estimate multipath outage.........................................................................................172
Exercise 5.3: Frequency selective multipath...................................................................................173
Exercise 5.4: Design space diversity...............................................................................................174
Exercise 5.5: Use frequency diversity.............................................................................................175
HERALD Lab #6 Rain Attenuation.................................................................................................176
Exercise 6.1 : Predict rain unavailability........................................................................................177
Exercise 6.2 : Optimize hop design................................................................................................178
Exercise 6.3 : Include atmospheric absorption...............................................................................179
Exercise 6.4 : Revise design for tropical regions............................................................................180
Exercise 6.5 : Use Freq./Pol. scaling..............................................................................................181
HERALD Lab #7 Interference Analysis..........................................................................................182
Exercise 7.1 : Search interference...................................................................................................183
Exercise 7.2 : Modify antennas.......................................................................................................184
Exercise 7.3 : Modify power levels................................................................................................185
Exercise 7.4 : Modify frequency/pol...............................................................................................186
Exercise 7.5 : Test rain correlation model......................................................................................187
HERALD Lab #8 ITU Objectives...................................................................................................188
Exercise 8.1 : Set basic parameters................................................................................................189
Exercise 8.2 : International section.................................................................................................190
Exercise 8.3 : Long-haul section.....................................................................................................191
Exercise 8.4 : Access section..........................................................................................................192
Exercise 8.5 : North America Standard Objectives........................................................................193
Further Readings.............................................................................................................................194
STUDENT GUIDE
Introduction
WelcometotheCourseon"PointtoPointRadioLinkEngineering".
Theaimofthis Courseistogiveyouapracticalguide,movingfrombasicnotionsinRadio
PropagationatmicrowavefrequenciesandcomingtoapplicationsinRadioLinkDesign.
TheCourseNotescoverthemaintopicsinRadioPropagationandPointtoPointradiolink
engineering.TheyapplytothedesignofMicrowaveLinksinthefrequencyrangefromabout450
MHzupto60GHz.
Withthe"HERALDLab",youcanusetheHERALDprogram(asoftwaretoolforradiolinkdesign)to
performanumberofguidedexercisesandtesttheHERALDapproachinimplementingthedesign
process.
Asawhole,theCoursehasbeendesignedwiththeobjectiveofactivelyinvolvingthereaderin
navigatingthroughthetextandinpracticingwithexercises. Themostrelevantaspectis thatthe
HERALDLabexercises,inadditiontotheCoursenotes, provideguidancetopracticalapplicationsin
thefieldofmicrowavelinkdesign.
WedonotexpecttoofferacompleteRadioEngineeringmanual,noratutorialoneveryaspectsof
RadioPropagation. Allthetopicsarepresentedinanintuitive,practicalstyle,notwithatheoretical
/academicapproach.
Itisassumedthatthereaderissomewhatfamiliarwithbasicnotionsinmodulationtechniques,
radioequipmentandsystems,aswellasinelementaryelectromagneticphysics.
Course Notes
TheCourseNotesareorganizedineightsections. Werecommendyouproceedthroughthesections
inpublishedordertoensurecompleteunderstandingofthematerial.Thefirsttwosectionsare
introductory:
Section1introducestheradiosystemanditsstructure
Section2introducesthebasicsofmicrowavelinkengineering
Thenextfoursectionsarealmostselfcontainedandthefinaltwocoverpropagationprinciples.
Amoderatenumberofadditionalhypertextlinkshavebeenincludedthroughoutthetext. We
recommendyoureturntothelinkandcontinuethesectionafterfollowinghypertextlinkstoensure
youdontloseyourplaceinthiscourse.
TheCourseNotesaresubdividedintoa"BasicTechniques"(whitebackground)andan"Advanced
Techniques"(greenbackground)course.Initially,youmayskiptheadvancedtechniquesandreturn
tothematalaterreading.
Paragraphsgivingonlyadditionalcommentsaboutsometopicsareindicatedbyapinkbackground.
Herald Lab
TheHERALDLabhasbeenincludedinthisCoursewithtwoobjectives:
asacomplementoftheCourseNotespresentation,showinghowthepropagationconcepts
andengineeringrulesareappliedinpracticalcases;
asanintroductiontoHERALDfunctionsandcommands.
HERALDLabwillimprovebothyourunderstandingofradiolinkengineeringandyourskillsinusing
theHERALDprogram.
EachSessionintheHERALDLabstartswiththe"HERALDFunctions"chapter.Thischapterbriefly
explainshowdesignrules,presentedintheCourseNotes,areimplementedintheHERALD
program.ItdoesnotsubstitutetheHERALDHelp,whereyoufindamoredetailedguidetothe
programuse.
TheHERALDLabSessioncontinueswithexercises.Eachexerciseprovidesdetailedinstructionson
programstepstoexecuteagiventask.Someexercises(inparticularinthefirstsessions)may
appearrathereasyandeventedious.However,wesuggesttoskipthemonlyifyoualreadyhavea
goodpracticeinHERALDuse.
HeraldDemoversionmaybedownloadedbyregisteringatthefollowinglink:
http://www.activeonline.com.au/products/hp_register.php
HeraldDemoprovidesallthefeaturesrequiredtocompletetheHeraldLabexercise.
SECTION 1 RADIO HOP CONFIGURATION

Summary
InthisSessionweintroducethebasicconfigurationofaPointtoPointRadioLink.Thefundamental
parametersusefultodescriberadiositeinstallationsarepresented,includingantenna,radio
equipmentandancillarysubsystems. Hopswithpassiverepeatersarefinallydiscussed.
Point-to-Point radio-relay links

APointtoPointradiorelaylinkenablescommunicationbetweentwofixedpoints,bymeansof
radiowavetransmissionandreception. Thelinkbetweentwoterminalradiositesmayincludea
numberofintermediateradiosites.
Thedirectconnectionbetweentwo(terminalorintermediate)radiositesisusuallyreferredasa
"RadioHop". Insomecases,aradiohopmayincludeapassiverepeater.
A multi-hop radio-relay link, connecting A to B, divided in two Radio Sections
Amultihopradiorelaylinkcanbedividedinanumberof"RadioSections",eachofthembeing
madeofoneormoreradiohops. Transmissionperformanceisusuallysummarisedonaradio
sectionbasis.
Generalcriteriaforradionetworkplanninganddesignisnotdiscussedhere; justaverybrief
summaryisgivenbelow. Theoverallprocesscanbeusuallydividedintwosteps:
1) Preliminarynetworkorlinkplanning.Apartiallistofactivitiescarriedonatthisstageis:
a) ConsiderationofRegulatoryenvironment;
b) IdentificationofTerminalradiosites;
c) ServiceandCapacityrequirements;
d) Performanceobjectives;
e) Frequencybandselection;
f) IdentificationofsuitableRadioequipmentandAntennas;
g) Sampledesignoftypicalhops,estimateofmaximumhoplength.
2) RouteandIntermediateSiteSelection. Anumberoffactorshaveinfluenceonthischoice;
amongothers:
a) Maximumhoplength;
b) NatureofTerrainandEnvironment;
c) SitetoSiteterrainprofile;visibilityandreflections
d) Angularoffsetfromonehopandadjacenthops(toavoidcriticalinterference);
e) Needforpassiverepeaters.
f) Availabilityofexistingstructures(buildings,towers);
g) Newstructuresrequirements;
h) Accessroads(impactoninstallationandmaintenanceoperations);
i)
AvailabilityofElectricPowersources;
j)
Weatherconditions(wind,temperaturerange,snow,ice,etc.);
k) Localrestrictionsfromregulatorybodies(authorizationfornewbuildings,airtraffic,RF
emissioninpopulatedareas,etc.);
Whenatentativeselectionofintermediatesitesisavailable,thefinaldesigngoesthroughan
iterativeprocess:
Hopconfigurationanddetailedhopdesign;
PredictionofHopandSectionperformance;
Identificationofcriticalhops;
RevisionofRouteandSiteselection;
RevisionofHopconfigurationandofdetailedhopdesign.
InthefollowingSectionswefocusonthisdesignprocess,goingthroughsiteandhopconfiguration
andleadingtoperformancepredictions. Asafirsttopic,wediscusstheparametersusefulto
describethesiteandhopconfiguration.
Site and Hop parameters

Aradiohopisdescribedintermsof:
1) Topographicaldataandterraindescription:
a) Radiositeposition:geographicalcoordinatesorothermappinginformation;elevationabove
sealevel(a.s.l.);
b) Pathlengthandorientation(azimuth: notethat inplanegeometrytheazimuthscomputed
atthetwoextremesofalinesegmentdifferby180deg,whilethisisnottrueinspherical
geometry; so, twopathazimuths,referredtoeachradiosite,areusuallyindicated);
c) Pathprofileasderivedfrompaperordigitalmaps:notethataccuracyrequirementsare
widelydifferentthroughoutaradiopath,sincetheelevationofpossibleobstructionsshould
beaccuratelyestimated,whilesignificantprofileportions(wherenoobstructionor
reflectionisexpected)couldbealmostignored.
2) Radioequipment,antennasandancillarysubsystemsinstalledateachradiosite;inthe
followingsections,themainparametersusefultodescribetheradiositeinstallationwillbe
discussed.
3) Specificaspectsonequipmentinstallationandoperation:
a) Antennapositioning:installationheightandpointing;spacediversityoption,antenna
spacing;
b) Frequencyused: (average)workingfrequency(usuallyreferredinhopcomputationsand
linkbudget);detailedfrequencyplan(goandreturnRFchannelsateachradiosite,required
forinterferenceanalysis);
c) RFprotectionsystems(useof1+1orn+1frequencydiversity,hotstandby,etc.)
d) Useofpassiverepeaters:flatreflectororbacktobackantennasystem,repeatersite
parameters,reflectororantennapositioningandpointing.
4) Climaticandenvironmentalparameters:theyareusuallyrequiredbypropagationmodels
(atmosphericrefraction,rain,etc.),sotheywillbediscussedwhilepresentingsuchmodels.
Finally,letusconsiderseveralattenuationordegradingfactors,suchas:
Atmosphericabsorptionloss;
Obstructionloss;
Anyothersystematiclossthroughouttheradiopath(additionallosses);
Rxthresholddegradationduetogroundreflections;
Rxthresholddegradationduetointerference.
Theaboveimpairmentswillbediscussedinthefollowingsessions,wheresuitablemodelsto
estimatetheirimpactonhopperformanceareconsidered.
However,itmayhappenthattheinputsrequiredtoapplysuchmodelsarenotfullyavailableorthat
otherreasonssuggestnottogothroughaspecificanalysis.
Inthatcase,wecanincludeamonghopparametersalsoaroughestimate(oraworstcase
assumption)oflossesordegradationscausedbytheimpairmentslistedabove.
Radio Equipment
Asimplifiedblockdiagramofasampleradiositeinstallationisshownbelow.
Anexampleofradioequipmentblockdiagram,inthecaseofmultipleRFchanneloperation,usingasingle
antennaforbothtransmissionandreception.
Evenifthisexampleshowsaspecificconfiguration,itisusefulasareferenceinthefollowing
presentation. Otherconfigurationsofparticularinterestare:
SingleRFchannelinstallations,wherenobranchingsystemisneeded;
Outdoorinstallations,whereradioequipmentisdirectlyconnectedtotheantenna,without
feederline.
Fromtheviewpointofasingleradiohopdesign,wecanlimitinformationaboutRadioEquipmentto
theverybasicparameters:
Rangeofoperatingfrequencies;
TransmittedpowerPT;
ReceiverthresholdPRTH (minimumreceivedpowerrequiredtoguaranteeagiven
performancelevel);
Notethat:
1) Boththetransmittedpowerandthereceiverthresholdareusuallyreferredatthe equipment
input/outputflanges,notincludingbranchingfilterlosses.
2) Whenthetransmitterisequippedwithan AutomaticTransmittedPowerControl(ATPC)device,
theTxpowertobeconsideredinhopdesignisthemaximumpowerlevel(whichshouldbe
appliedeverytimethereceivedsignalqualityisdeeplyaffectedbypropagationimpairments);
3) Thereceiverthresholdistheminimumreceivedpowerrequiredtoachieveagivenperformance
level;indigitalsystems,thereferenceperformanceisusuallyset
atBitErrorRate(BER)=103, whileotherreferencelevelsmaybeadoptedifneeded.
Performanceobjectivesindigitalradiolinkswillbediscussedinthe finalSession ofthiscourse.
Additionalparameterscanbeusefulforamorecompleteunderstatingoftheequipmentoperation,
eveniftheyarenotdirectlyinvolvedinthehopdesign:
Equipmentusercapacity;fordigitalsystems,bitpersecondornumberofstandardized
signals,likeSTM1orDS1signals; foranalogsystems,numberoftelephoneortelevision
channels;
Bitrate(R)ofthemodulated(emitted)signal(thismaydifferfromtheusercapacity,
mentionedabove,sincethetransmissionequipmentmayincludeadditionalbitsforservice
andmonitoringchannels,channelcoding,etc.);
Modulationtechnique;
Symbolrateofthemodulated(emitted)signal;inanalogsystems,anequivalentparameter
isthebaseband(modulating)signalbandwidth;
Emittedspectrumandmodulatedsignalbandwidth.
TheSymbolrateSR dependsontheemittedsignalbitrateRandonthemodulationtechnique:
whereListhenumberofbitscodedinasinglemodulatedwaveform(L=2inQPSK
modulation, L=6in64QAMmodulation).
ForadvancedtasksinRadioHopdesign,moredetaileddataonradioequipmentarerequired. This
includes:RxnoisebandwidthBN andRxnoisefigureNF;
SignaltoNoise(S/N)ratioattheRxthreshold;
CochannelCarriertoInterferenceratioatreceiverinput,producingthethresholdBER,in
theabsenceofthermalnoise(highRxlevel);
TypicalspacingbetweenadjacentRFchannel;
NetFilterDiscrimination(NFD)attheabovespacing;
Resultsofsignaturemeasurement;
PossibleuseofAutomaticTransmittedPowerControl(ATPC)andrelatedparameters;
PossibleuseofCrossPolarInterferenceCanceller(XPIC)andrelatedparameters.
TheSignaltoNoise(S/N)ratiocanbeexpressedintermsofreceivedpower PR,receivernoise
bandwidthBN,andreceivernoisefigureNF:
wherePR isexpressedindBmand BN inMHz;theexpressioninsquarebracketsgivesthe

receiverthermalnoisepower.
Advanced - Digital Equipment Signature

Theequipmentsignaturegivesameasureofthesensitivityofradiosystemstochannel(amplitude
andgroupdelay)distortionsasproducedduringmultipathpropagation events.Morespecifically,it
isusedfordigitalradiosystemswithsignalbandwidthlargerthanabout1012MHz(onthistypeof
signals,significantfrequencyselectivedistortionisnotproducedifthebandwidthisnarrower;other
signalsmaybesensitivetofrequencyselectivemultipathevenwithanarrowerbandwidth).
MeasurementSetup - TheTxsignalismodulatedbyatestsequenceandistransmittedthrougha
simulatedmultipathchannel,modeledasatwopathchannel(directplusechobranches).
Signaturemeasurementsetup.
Asshownintheabovefigure,thepowerlevelandthephaseofthedelayedsignalcanbeadjustedby
meansofavariableattenuatorandavariablephaseshifter.
Assuminganormalizedsignalamplitudeequalto1inthedirectbranchandb(<1)inthedelayed
branch,thentheTwoPathChannelTransferFunctionis:
=Echodelay,assumedasconstant(=6.3nsintheoriginalBellLabs/Rummlermodel);
fo = /2 =NotchFrequency(correspondingtotheminimumamplitudeofthetransfer
function);
B=Notchdepth(indB)=20Log10 (1b).
Twopathchanneltransferfunction,withdefinitionofNotchFrequencyandNotchDepth.
TheabovedefinitionreferstoaMinimumPhaseTransferFunction.Otherwise,ifthesignal
amplitudeisb(<1)inthedirectbranchand1inthedelayedbranch,thensimilardefinitionsapply,
butaNonMinimumPhaseTransferFunctionisobtained.
MeasurementProcedure - Asshownbytheabovedefinitions,thenotchfrequencyiscontrolledby
varyingtheechophase;whilethenotchdepthdependsontheechoamplitudeb.
ThefirststepinthemeasurementprocedureistoselectagivenNotchFrequencyfo,withecho
amplitudeclosetozero.Then,theechoamplitudeisincreased,makingthetransmissionchannel
moreandmoredistorting.Consequently,theBitErrorRate(BER)willincrease.
Thenotchismadedeeper,uptothe"CriticalDepthBC",whenBER=103 (oranyotherdesired
threshold).Thepoint[BC,fo]isasignaturepoint.
Thesamestepsarerepeatedfordifferentnotchfrequencies,inordertoplotacompletesignature
curveintheNotchDepthvs.NotchFrequencyplane.
EquipmentSignatureintheNotchDepth/NotchFrequencyplane.
Inthatplaneeachpointcorrespondstoapairofnotchparameters,soitisrepresentativeofa
particularchannelstate.ThepointsbelowthesignatureshowthechannelstatesforwhichBER>
Threshold.Therefore,theareabelowthesignaturegivesameasureofthereceiversensitivityto
multipathdistortions.Foranunequalizedsignal,typicalsignaturewidthmaybeoftheorderof1.5
timesthesymbolrate,whileusingequalizationitishalvedatleast.
Topredictmultipathoutage,itisoftenrequiredthattheequipmentsignaturebedefinedbyonly
twoparameters(signaturewidthanddepth).Inmostcasestheshapeofactualequipment
signaturesallowfora"squarebrick"approximation.
EquipmentparametersusedinInterferenceanalysis
NetFilterDiscrimination(NFD) - Itisusedtocharacterizetheradiosystemabilitytolimitthe
interferencecomingfromanadjacentradiochannel.
NFDgivestheimprovementintheSignaltoInterferenceratiopassingthroughtheRxselectivity
chain(RF,Intermediate,basebandstages):
where(C/I)RF isdefinedattheRFinputstageand(S/I)DEC atthedecisioncircuitstage.
SignalspectraatthereceiverinputantoutputandRxselectivity.
Asshownbythefigureabove,theNFDdependson:
Interferingsignalspectrum(Txfiltering);
Channelspacing;
OverallRxselectivityintheUsefulChannel.
TheNFDcanbemeasuredorevaluatedforinterferencebetweenidenticalsignals(adjacentchannel
interferenceinahomogeneouschannelarrangement)andalsowhentheinterferingsignalis
different(incapacityand/ormodulationformat)fromtheusefulone(interferenceinamixedsignal
network).
So,foranypairofusefulandinterferingsignalsandforeachvalueofthechannelspacing,aNFD
valuecanbeevaluated.
ThresholdCarriertoInterferenceratio - Insomeapplicationsthereceivedsignalmaybe
interferedbyacochannelsignal,withidenticalcapacityandmodulationformat(forexampleinco
channelfrequencyarrangements,withuseofbothorthogonalpolarizations).
ThereceiversensitivitytocochannelinterferenceisestimatedbyaBitErrorRate(BER)vs.C/I
curve,asshowninthefigurebelow.
BitErrorRate(BER)vs.CarriertoInterferenceratio(C/I),withindicationofC/IthresholdforBER=103.
Themeasurementismadeinabsenceofanysignificantthermalnoisecontribution(highRxpower
level).
Fromthismeasurement,itispossibletoknowtheCarriertoInterferenceratiocorrespondingtothe
thresholderrorrate(forexampleBER=103).
CrossPolarInterferenceCanceller(XPIC)Gain - TheInterferenceCancellerisusedtoreducethe
interferencecomingfromasignaltransmittedonthesamefrequencywithorthogonalpolarizations
(usuallytheusefulandinterferingsignalshaveidenticalcapacityandmodulationformat).
WeassumethatthesignaltointerferenceratioatthereceiverRFinputis(C/I)RF.
Theinterferencecancellerworksinsuchawaythatthesignaltointerferenceratioappearstobe
improvedtoahighervalue(C/I) APP definedas
whereXPICGain isdefinedasthegainproducedbythecrosspolarcanceller.Theinterference
impairmentiscomputedbyassuming(C/I) APP tobetheactualsignaltointerferenceratio.
Antennas
Gaindefinitionandrelatedparameters
Letusconsideraradiotransmitterwithpower pT coupledtoan IsotropicAntenna(anidealsource
ofEMRadiation,thatradiatesuniformlyinalldirections). AtthedistanceLfromtheantenna,the
emittedpowerwillbeuniformlydistributed on.thesurfaceareaofasphereofradiusL,sothat
the PowerDensity I is:
EMpoweremissionfromanIsotropicAntenna(left)andfromaDirectiveAntenna(right)
ThenwesubstitutetheIsotropicAntennawithaDirectiveAntenna,whilethetransmittedpoweris
again PT. WeimaginetomeasurethePowerDensitywheretheantennaaxisinterceptsthesphere
surface,withresult D
Theantennagaingivesameasureofhowmuchtheemittedpowerisfocusedinthemeasurement
direction,comparedwiththeisotropiccase. Asaresultofthe"experiment"describedabove,the
antennagainisdefinedas:
Thisdefinitionleadstog=1forthe isotropic antenna.

Generallyspeaking,theantennagainisrelatedtotheratiobetweenantennadimensionandthe
wavelength Morespecifically,inthecaseofreflectorantennas,theantennagaingisgivenby:
whereDisthereflectordiameter, iscalled"antennaefficiency"(typicallyintherange
0.550.65),AisthereflectorareaandAE = A isthe AntennaEffectiveArea.(or
Aperture).
Inlogarithmic(decibel)units:
wherethe 0.5 dBtermdependsagainonantennaefficiency;itisassumedtoexpressthe

diameterDinmeters[m]andthefrequencyFinGigaHertz[GHz].
Notethat,forgivendimension,theantennagainincreaseswithfrequency(6dBhigherifthe
frequencyisdoubled). Similarly,atagivenfrequency,thegainincreases6dBiftheantenna
diameterisdoubled.
Below,someexamplesofantennagainvs.diameterandfrequencyaregiven.
Antennagainvs.diameterandfrequency;thedouble(red,black)linegivesarangeofpossiblegains,
dependingonantennaefficiency.
The3dBbeamwidthBW(seegraphicaldefinitionbelow)isrelatedtoantennagain;asthegain
increases,theEMenergyisfocusedinanarrowerbeam.
Definitionoftheantenna3dBBeamwidthBW.
Forreflectorantennas,somesimple"rulesofthumb"areusefulinrelatingantennadiameterD[m],
workingfrequencyF[GHz],gainG[dB],andthe3dBbeamwidthBW[deg]:
Notethattheseareapproximaterelations,fittingwith"real"valueswithinsomemargin;in
particularcasesthismarginmaybeevenlarge.
AnadditionalconceptinantennaoperationistheFarFieldRegion. Itistheregionsufficiently
distantfromtheantenna,wheretheelectromagnetic(EM)fieldcanbewellapproximatedasaplane
waveandtheantennadiagramisstabilized.Closertotheantenna,theNearFieldRegionandthe
Fresnel(transition)Regionaredefined,wheretheantennaradiationdiagramisnoteasilypredicted.
TheboundarybetweentheFresnelandtheFarFieldRegionisapproximatelyatthedistance:
Antenna Parameters for hop design

Pointtopointradiohopsusuallymakeuseofhighgaindirectiveantennas,whichofferseveral
advantages:
bothTransmissionandReception: theantennagainismaximizedinthedesireddirection.
Transmission: theemittedradioenergyisfocusedtowardthereceiver,thus reducingthe

emissionofinterferingradioenergyinotherdirections;
Reception: thereceiversensitivitytointerferingsignalscomingfromotherdirectionsis
reduced.
However,inspecialcases,alsoantennaswithsectorialorevenomnidirectionalcoveragemaybe
used(thisistruemainlyforpointtomultipointapplications).
Inmostcases,directiveantennasareparabolicantennasorotherreflectorantennas(likeHornor
Cassegrainantennas). Thedirectivitypatternscanbemeasuredbothinthevertical(elevation)and
inthehorizontal(azimuth)planes; however,wecanoftenadoptthesimplifyingassumptionthat
onediagramisapplicablebothtotheverticalandtothehorizontalplanes.Inthatcase,alsothe3dB
antennabeamwidthisassumedtobethesameinthetwoplanes.
Asfarasinterferenceproblemsarenotconsideredinasingleradiohopdesign,wecanlimit
informationabouttheantennastotheverybasicparameters:
SingleorDoublePolarizationoperation;
Antennagain;
3dBbeamwidthintheverticalplane(thismaybeusefultoanalyzereflectionpaths).
Anexampleoftheantennaconnectiontoradioequipmentisgiveninthe Block diagram shown

above. Notethattheantennagain(aswellasotherantennaparameters)isreferredtotheantenna
I/Oflange.
Additionalparameterscanbeusefulforamorecompletedescriptionofantennaoperation:
Antennatype(Parabolic,Horn,Cassegrain,etc.);
Coveragetype(omnidirectional,sectorial,directive);
3dBbeamwidthinthehorizontalplane(forsectorialantennas);
Diameter(ormoregenerally,physicaldimensions);
Voltagestandingwaveratio(VSWR);
Weight.
Moreover,theantennadiagram,asmentionedabove,illustratestheantennaoperationin
directionsotherthanthepointing(maxgain)direction.
Antenna radiation diagram (mask) for Co-polar e X-polar operation (a different horizontal scale is
used in the 0 - 20 deg range and in the 20 - 180 deg range).
Advanced - More on the Antenna radiation diagram

Someadditionalcommentsonantennadiagrams:
Theresultoftheantennadirectivitymeasurementusuallyexhibitsmultiplelobesand
nulls. Asidelobeenvelopeisestimated,givinga"maskdiagram",usefultocharacterizethe
antennadirectivity. Ininterferenceanalysistheneedarisestoestimatetheantennagainin
anydirectionandtheantennamaskgivesaconservativeresult.
Thepatternof copolandcrosspolantennadiagrams,closetothepointingdirection,are
significantlydifferent,asshowninthefigurebelow. Whilethecopolpatternisratherflat,
intherangeofsometensofdegreearoundpointingdirection(maximumgain),thecrosspol
patternhasaverynarrowminimuminthesamedirection. Insomecasesitisconvenientto
pointtheantennabysearchingfortheminimumcrosspolsignallevel,insteadofsearching
forthemaximumcopolsignal.Bythisway,itisassuredthat,notonlythemaximumgain,
butalsothemaximumcrosspoldiscriminationareobtained.
ExampleofCopol.andCrossPol.antennadiagrams,closetotheantennapointingdirection
Theantennadirectivitydiagramisusuallymeasuredinacontrolledenvironment,inorderto
characterizethe"true"antennaresponse,withoutinfluenceorerrorsproducedbyanyexternal
element.
Inactualoperation,theantennaresponsemaybysignificantlyalteredbythesurrounding
environment.Forexample,anobstacleclosetothemainantennalobemayproduceasignal
reflection,about180fromtheantennapointingdirection.Thisapparentlyreducestheantenna
fronttobackdecoupling,bothinthecopolandcrosspoldiagrams.
Thecorrectantennapositioningisakeyfactorinordertogetantennaperformanceinreal
operatingconditionsascloseaspossibletomeasuredparameters.
Ancillary equipment
Anumberofadditionalequipmentandsubsystemsareworkinginaradiosite.Inthepresent
context,weconsideronlywhatisstrictlyrelatedtothedesignofaradiohop(so,wedonotdiscuss
powerlinesandbackups,airconditioning,grounding,andothersubsystems,eveniftheyareof
significantimportanceintheoverallsiteoperation).
Branching system
Asshowninthe block diagram above,abranchingfilterisrequiredinradiotransceiversfor
multipleRFchanneloperation.
Intransmission,thefunctionofthebranchingsystemistomultiplexRFchannelsonasinglewide
bandRFsignal,suitabletobetransmittedonasingleantenna. Similarly,inreception,thebranching
systemsplitsthemultichannelsignalcomingfromtheantennaintomultipleRFchannels,each
addressedtothecorrespondingreceiver.
ThebranchinglossisdifferentforthevariousRFchannels(inTxandRx),dependingonthenumber
offilterportsandcirculatorstobepassedthroughbythesignal. However,inhopdesign,itis
advisabletotakeaccountofhighestloss,resultingfromTxandRxbranching.
InabranchingconfigurationwithacommonTx/Rxantenna(see block diagram),thebranchingloss
includethelossofthecirculatorusedtoseparatetheTxandtheRxbranches.
Tx / Rx Attenuators
Powerattenuatorsmaybeaddedinthetransmitterorinthereceiverchain,mainlyto avoidan
excessivepowerlevelatthereceiverinput(whichmaysaturatetheRxfrontendstage)and/orto
avoidunnecessarypoweremissioninshorthops(interferencereduction).
NotethatmanyradioequipmentsnowincludepowersettingoptionsorATPC(Automatic
TransmittedPowerControl)devices,sothatinmostcasestheuseofexternalattenuatorsisno
longerrequired.
Inthecontextofradiohopdesign,theonlyparametertobeassociatedwithTxandRxattenuators
istheattenuationlevelitself.
Feeder Line
AfeederlineisrequiredtoconnecttheantennaI/OflangetotheradioequipmentI/Oport(ortothe
branchingsystemI/Oport). Theexceptionistheoutdoorconfiguration,withdirectequipmentto
antennaconnection.
Thebasicfeederparametersforradiolinkdesignare:
Specificloss(expressedindBperunitlength).
Additionalparameters,givingmoredetailsonfeederdescription:
Feedertype(cable,rectangularwaveguide,etc.);
Weight (expressedinkgperunitlength).
Advanced - Hops with a Passive Repeater

PassiveRepeatersareusedmainlyinhopsoverirregularterrain,tobypassanobstructionalongthe
pathprofile.
ThreePassiveRepeaterconfigurationsaredescribedbelow,whilethecorrespondingLinkBudget
equationsarepresentedinthenextSession.
Singleplanereflector - itisimplementedasametalsurface,whichisclosetoa100%reflection
efficiency.Thesurfaceflatnessmustbemoreandmoreaccurateforincreasingfrequency(smaller
signalwavelength).
Thereflectorworkstodeviatetheincomingsignal directionbyanangle . Thegeometryisshown
inthefigurebelow
Passiverepeaterimplementedasasingleplanereflector
Eachpathfromaradiositetotherepeateriscalleda"leg". Soaradiohopwithasinglereflectoris
madeoftwolegs.
Notethattheusefulor"effective"areaAE oftheplanereflectorisgivenby:
whereAREAL istherealreflectorareaand istheanglebetweenthetworays.
Itisestimatedthatfor >120(correspondingto <60)theeffectiveareaissoreducedthatitis

notpracticaltheuseofasinglereflector,sinceverylargepanelsshouldbeinstalled.
Doubleplanereflector - Itisusedwhenthechangeinsignaldirection()islowerthan60or
whenitisnotpossibletofindasuitablepositionforasinglereflector,wherevisibilitywithbothhop
terminalsisassured.
Usually,thetworeflectorsarearrangedfairlyclose together. Atypicaldoublereflectorgeometryis
shownbelow.
Passiverepeaterimplementedasadoubleplanereflector
Aradiohopwithadoublereflectorismadeofthreelegs.
Withadoublereflectorarrangementitispossibletooperateeveniftheangle iscloseto0.
Thereflectoreffectiveareaisgivenbythe sameformula usedforthesinglereflector,sothatthe
anglebetweenthetworays,atbothreflectors,shouldbeaslowaspossible.
BacktoBackantennaconfiguration - Anotherpassiverepeaterarrangementcanbeobtainedby
usingtwo antennaswithashortfeeder(cable,waveguide)connection.
Passiverepeaterimplementedasatwoantennabacktobackarrangement
Fromageometricalpointofview,thebacktobackantennasystemhasawiderandmoreflexible
applicationfield,comparedwithasinglereflectorsystem. Fromagivenrepeaterposition,any
changeinsignaldirection()canbeobtained.
However,singleordoublereflectorsmaybeimplemented,ifneeded,withsurfacesmuchwider
thantheusualantennasize. Moreover,thereflectorefficiencyiscloseto100%,comparedtosome
55%antennaefficiency.
So,whenthepowerbudgetislimited,thebacktobackantennasystemmaybeapoorsolution.
ThisconcludesSection1ofthePPRLE.PleaseproceedtoHeraldLabExercise1.
End of Section #1
SECTION 2 BASICS IN LINK ENGINEERING

Summary
InthisSessiontheFreeSpaceradiolinkequationispresented,togetherwiththeconceptofFree
SpaceLoss.Then,terrestrialradiohopsareconsideredandabriefsummaryisgivenofthemost
significantpropagationimpairments. WediscusstheLinkBudget,inordertoestimatetheFade
Margin,andhowtousetheFadeMargininpredictingtheoutageprobability. Finally,theradiolink
equationisrevisedtoincludetheuseofpassiverepeaters.
Free Space propagation

Weapproachradiolinkengineeringbyfirstconsideringanidealpropagationenvironment,where
transmissionofradiowavesfromTxantennatoRxantennaisfreeofallobjectsthatmightinteract
inanywaywithelectromagnetic(EM)energy. Thisassumptionisusuallyreferredas"FreeSpace"
propagation.
Letusconsideraradiotransmitterwithpower pT coupledtoa directive antenna withmaximum
gainontheaxisgT.
AtdistanceDfromthetransmittingantenna(sufficientlylarge,inorderthatFarFieldconditionsare
satisfied),thePowerDensityontheantennaaxisis:
Computation of Received Power in Free Space propagation
Nowweimaginethat,atthedistanceD,areceivingantennaisinstalled.The antenna "effective

aperture" or"effectivearea"AE givesameasureoftheantennaabilitytocaptureafractionofthe
radioenergydistributedatthereceiverlocation.Assumingnoreceivermismatch,thepowerpR,at
thereceiverantennaoutputflange,is:
TakingaccountthattherelationbetweentheRx antenna gain andtheantenna"effective

aperture"is:
thereceivedpowerequationbecomes:
whereFisthefrequencyofthetransmittedsignal, isthewavelength,andc= Fisthe

propagationspeed,whichcanbeassumedtobeabout3108 m/s,withgoodapproximation,
bothinthevacuumandintheatmosphere.
Thisisusuallyknownasthe"FreeSpaceRadioLinkEquation." Usinglogarithmicunits,itcanbe
writtenas:
where uppercaselettersareusedtoexpresspowerindBmandgainsindB,whilethesame
lettersinlowercasehadbeenpreviouslyusedfornonlogarithmicunits.
NotethatfrequencymustbeexpressedinGHzanddistanceinkm,otherwisethe92.44constantis
tobemodified accordingly(e.g.:withdistanceinmiles,theconstantis96.57;withfrequencyin
MHz,theconstantis32.44).
Theaboveequationcanbealsowrittenas:
whereFSLiscalledFreeSpaceLoss,givenby:
Ifweassumetouse Isotropic Antennas (G=0dB)bothatthetransmittingandatthereceiving

site,then:
soFSLisalsodefinedas"lossbetweenisotropicantennas".
Free Space Loss vs. distance and frequency
Comments on Free Space Loss

TheconceptofFreeSpaceLoss,andtherelatedformulas,needsomecomments.First,theterm
"loss"couldsuggestsomesimilaritywithlossesincoaxialcablesorotherguidedtransmissionof
electromagnetic(EM)energy,whereweobserveaninteractionandpowertransferfromtheEM
wavetothepropagationmedium.Here,wearetalkingabout"FreeSpacePropagation":the
propagationmediumisthevacuumandnointeractionexists.TheFreeSpaceLossisjusttobe
referredtothedensityofEMenergy,whichfollowstheinversesquarelawdependenceversus
distance fromthesource.
AsecondproblemistheroleoffrequencyintheFreeSpaceLossformula.IstheFreeSpacea
transmissionmediummorelossyasfrequencyincreases?Letusconsiderthetwoequivalentforms
oftheradiolinkequationgivenabove:
Thefirstexpressionisprobablymoreintuitive andshouldbepreferredwhenwetrytounderstand
thephysicalconceptunderlyingfreespacepropagation.TheTxantennaisdescribedbyitsgain(the
abilitytofocustheEMpowertowardagivendirection),whiletheRxantennaisdescribedbyits
equivalentaperture(theabilitytocapturetheEMpowerdistributedatthereceiverlocation).
Ontheotherhand,wepassedtothesecondexpression,whereboththeTxandRxantennagains
appear,sinceitlooksattractiveforitssymmetricform.Thefrequencydependenceinthiscaseis
duetothedecreasingeffectiveaperture ofthereceivingantenna(foragivengain),asthefrequency
increases.ItisjustaformalartificetoincludefrequencydependenceinthesocalledFreeSpace
Loss.
Asaconclusion,theFreeSpaceLossisaconvenientstepinevaluatingthereceivedpowerinaradio
linkanditisusefulinordertoputformulasinamanageableform.However,careshouldbepaid
aboutthephysicalconceptrelatedtoit,inordertoavoidmisleadinginterpretations.
Terrestrial radio links

WenowdepartfromtheFreeSpaceassumptionandweputagainourfeettotheearth. We
considerradiowavepropagationbetweentwoterrestrialradiosites,inthecontextofradiohop
design.
Transmittingandreceivingantennasareassumedtobeinstalledontowers/buildings,atmoderate
heightabovetheearthsurface(metersortensofmeters),sothatpropagationinthelower
atmosphere,closetoground, hastobeconsidered.
Moreover,weassumethattheradiowavefrequencyisintherangefromUHFband(lowerlimit300
MHz)uptosometensofGHz(60GHzcanroughlybetheupperlimit,accordingtopresent
applications).
ComparedwithFreeSpacePropagation,thepresenceoftheatmosphereandthevicinityofthe
groundproduceanumberofphenomenawhichmayseverelyimpactonradiowavepropagation.
Themajorphenomenaaredueto:
AtmosphericRefraction:
RayCurvature;
MultipathPropagation;
Interactionwithparticles/moleculesintheAtmosphere:
AtmosphericAbsorptionintheabsenceofrain;
RaindropAbsorptionandScattering;
EffectsoftheGround:
DiffractionthroughObstacles;
Reflectionsonflatterrain/watersurfaces.
Whenoneormoreoftheabovephenomenaaffectradiopropagation,theresultingimpairmentis:
usually,anadditionalloss(withrespecttofreespace)inthereceivedsignalpower;
inparticularcases,alsoadistortionofthereceivedsignal.
Propagationimpairmentswillbeconsideredinthefollowingsessions.Inmostcasestheycanbe
predictedonlyonastatisticalbasis. Theyaremainlyaffectedby:
Frequencyofoperation;
HopLength;
Climaticenvironmentandcurrentmeteorologicalconditions;
Groundcharacteristics(terrainprofile,obstaclesaboveground,electricalparameters).
Fromtheviewpointofthephenomenaduration,letusconsider:
temporaryimpairments,whichaffectthereceivedsignalonlyforsmallpercentagesoftime
(examplesarerain,multipathpropagation,...);
longterm(orpermanent)propagationconditions,whichaffectthereceivedsignalformost
ofthetime(examplesareatmosphericoxygenabsorption,terraindiffraction,...),evenif
theirimpactmaybevariableinsomemeasure.
Inmostcases,longtermpropagationimpairmentsdonotproduceasignificantpowerlossinthe
receivedsignal,comparedwithFreeSpaceconditions. So,thereceivedpowerobservedforlong
periodsoftimewillberatherclosetothatpredictedbythe Free Space Radio Link Equation.
Themostsignificantexceptiontotheaboveconditionisexperiencedinradiopathswithnotperfect
visibility. Inthatcase,attenuationcausedbyterraindiffractionresultsinasystematicloss,in
comparisonwithFreeSpaceconditions.
Link Budget
EvenindesigningTerrestrialRadioLinks,the Free Space Radio Link Equation isthebasisfor
receivedpowerprediction.
The equationinlogarithmicunitsoffersaverysimpleandconvenienttool,since GainsandLosses,
throughoutthetransmissionchain,areaddedwithpositiveornegativesign,asinafinancialbudget.
Theresultiswhatiscalledthe"LinkBudget".
TheFreeSpaceequationcanberewrittenwithmoredetail,takingaccountofactualequipment
structureandofsystematicimpairmentsthroughoutthepropagationpath. Anexampleisgivenin
theTablebelow.
PowerLevel
Gains
Losses
[dBm]
[dB]
[dB]
TxPoweratradioeqp.
outputflange
Txbranchingfilter
Txfeeder
OtherTxlosses
Poweratant.input
Txantennagain
Propagationlosses:
FreeSpace
Obstruction
Atm.Absorption
Other
RxAntennagain
Power at ant.output
Rxfeeder
Rxbranchingfilter
OtherRxlosses
NominalRxPowerat
radioeqp.inputflange
Asshownintheaboveexample,thelinkbudgetincludesanestimateofthepowerlossdueto
permanent(orlongterm)impairments(likeatmosphericabsorptionandobstructions). So,the
NominalRxPower(ascomputedatthelastline)isexpectedtobeobservedforlongperiodsoftime.
OncetheLinkBudgetiscomputed,otherimpairmentsatthereceiveraretakenintoaccountas:
adegradingeffectinreceiveroperation(Rx threshold degradation):thisusuallyappliesto

theeffectofgroundreflectionsandinterference;
ashorttermattenuation(orevendistortion)inthereceivedsignal,whoseeffectmaybeto
fadethereceivedsignalbelowtheRxthreshold
Threshold
Margin
NominalRxPower
EquipmentThreshold
ThresholdDegrad.
Power
Reflections
Interference
HopThreshold
Fademargin
WesummarizethefinalstepsinLinkBudgetanalysiswiththetwoequations:
NotethatThresholdDegradationcausestheactualHopThresholdtobehigherthantheEquipment
Threshold(onedBthresholdincreasemeansonedBreductionintheavailableFadeMargin).
Fade Margin and Outage prediction
Typically,pointtopointradiohopsaredesignedinawaythattheNominalRxPower(ascomputed
inthe Link Budget)isfargreaterthanthereceiverthreshold. So,ratherlargeFadeMargins(ofthe
orderof3040dB,orevengreater)areusuallyavailable.
TheFadeMargin isrequiredtocopewithshorttermattenuationanddistortioninthereceived
signal(mainlycausedbyrainandmultipath).
Asummaryofvariousdefinitionsisgiveninthediagrambelow.
AsummaryofdefinitionsinReceivedPowerlevels,thresholds,andmargins,withapplicationtoOutage
estimation.
Theabovefiguresuggeststhefollowingcomments:
TheRxpowermayexceedtheFreeSpacelevel: thesocalled"upfading"isaratherunusual
event(itmaybecausedbyparticularrefractionconditions,whichcreateasortofguided
propagationthroughtheatmosphere).Caremustbetakenthatthereceivedpowerlevelbe
inanycasebelowthemaximumlevelacceptedbytheRxequipment(otherwise,receiver
saturationandnonlineardistortionmaybeobserved).
TheRxPowerwillbeattheNominallevel(Normalpropagation)formostofthetime.
ModerateattenuationbelowtheNominalRxpowerdoesnotusuallyproduceanysignificant
lossinsignalquality.
TheEquipmentthresholdmaybedegradedinsomemeasurebyreflectionsand/or
interference,sothatahigherHopthresholdmustbeconsidered.
StartingfromtheverylowRxpower,theOutageconditionsare:
o
belowtheEquipmentthreshold,outageisproducedbythereceiverthermalnoise,
evenintheabsenceofanyadditionalimpairmentinthereceivedsignal;
belowtheHopthreshold,outageiscausedbythecombinedeffectofreceivernoise
andotherimpairments(likereflectionorinterference);
inthedeepfadingregion,abovetheHopthreshold,outagemaybeobservedwhen
thereceivedsignalisnotonlyattenuated,butalsodistortedbypropagationevents
(mainly,frequencyselectivemultipath).
Fromtheabovediscussion,theOutagetime,duringtheobservationperiodTo(typically,one
month)canbepredictedas:
ifnocontributiontooutageisexpectedfromsignaldistortion.
Ontheotherhand,ifsignificantdistortionintheRxsignalisexpectedtocontributetothetotal
outage,thepredictionformulahastobecompletedas:
wherethesecondtermgivesthecontributiontooutageprobabilitywhenthereceived
signalisabovetheHopthreshold,butitisseverelydistorted(notethatProb{A/B}means
probabilityofeventA,giventhateventBistrue).
TheseformulasonlyhelptoclarifyhowtheoutagetimeisrelatedtotheRxpowerlevelandto
additionalimpairmentsinthereceivedsignal. Theydonotprovideapracticalmeanstopredict
outagetime;thisrequiresthatsuitablestatisticalmodelsofpropagationimpairmentsbeavailable:
SuchmodelswillbeconsideredinthefollowingSessions.
ADVANCED - Link Equation with Passive Repeater
WhenaPassiveRepeaterisusedinaradiohop,wehavetorevisethe"BasicRadioLinkEquation".
TobeconsistentwiththesimpleFreeSpaceformula,wewritethenewequationas:
where:
FSL(DTOT)istheFreeSpaceLossofaradiolinkwithpathlength DTOT = Di ;
Di isthelengthofeach path leg;
LPR isthepowerlosscausedbythepassiverepeater,incomparisonwiththeFreeSpacecase.
SingleReflector - Werefertothepathgeometry,asshownina previous figure andtothe
definitionofthereflector effective area AE. Then,LPR isgivenby:
whereFistheworkingfrequencyinGHzandD1,D2 aretheleglengthsinkm.
DoubleReflector - Again,werefertothepathgeometry,asshownina previous figure andto
thedefinitionofthereflector effective area AE. Then,LPR isgivenby:
whereFistheworkingfrequencyinGHzandD1,D2,D3 aretheleglengthsinkm.
BacktoBackantennasystem - Thepathgeometryisshownina previous figure. Then,LPR is

givenby:
whereFistheworkingfrequencyinGHz,D1,D2 aretheleglengthsinkm,G1,G2 arethe

antennagainsattherepeatersite(usually G1 =G2)andLF isthelossduetothefeeder
connectingthetwoantennas.
NearFieldcorrection - Theaboveformulasarecorrectlyusedwhenthereflectorsarepositioned
outsidethe"nearfield"region. Ifthisconditionisnotsatisfied,thenacorrectionfactor(additional
loss)mustbeapplied.
Thenearfieldregionisestimatedasafunctionoftheantennaandreflectordimensionsandofthe
signalfrequency(wavelength ). Twonormalizedparameters(, )arecomputed:
whereDMin istheshortestlegfromoneantennatotheclosestreflector,distheantenna
diameterandAE isthereflectoreffectivearea.
Aruleofthumbisthefollowing:for intherange0.21.5(thiscoversmostpracticalconditions),
thenearfieldcorrectionfactorisnotnegligibleif <(0.5+). SomeexamplesaregivenintheTable
below:
=0.25
=0.40
=0.60
=1.00
=1.50
=0.2
4.6dB
1.7dB
0.7dB
<0.5dB
<0.5dB
=0.6
=1.0
=1.4
8.2dB
9.5dB
>10dB
3.9dB
7.1dB
9.8dB
1.8dB
3.8dB
6.7dB
0.7dB
1.6dB
3.1dB
<0.5dB
0.7dB
1.3dB
This concludes Section 2 of the PPRLE. Please proceed to Herald Lab Exercise 2.
End of Section #2
SECTION 3 PATH CLEARANCE

Summary
InthisSessiontheeffectoftheatmosphereonradioraytrajectoriesisfirstconsidered,by
introducingthekfactorconcept;possibledeviationsfromstandardconditionsareidentified,aswell
astheminimumkfactorvalue.ThentheFresnelellipsoidisdefined;thepartialobstructionofthe
ellipsoidleadstotheestimateoftheresultantloss.Finally,thepreviousconceptsareusedtoset
clearancecriteriaandtodiscusstheirapplicationtopathprofileanalysis.
Refractivity in the Atmosphere

TheRefractiveIndexninagivenmediumisdefinedastheratioofthespeedofradiowavesin
vacuumtothespeedinthatmedium.Sincethespeedofradiowavesintheatmosphereisjust
slightlylowerthaninvacuum,thentheRefractiveIndexintheatmosphereisgreaterthan,butvery
closeto,1.
However,alsosmallvariationsintheatmosphereRefractiveIndexhavesignificanteffectsonradio
wavepropagation.Forthisreason,insteadofusingtheRefractiveIndexn(closeto1),itis
convenienttodefinetheRefractivityNas:
So,NisthenumberofpartspermillionthattheRefractiveIndexexceedsunity;itisadimensionless
parameter,measuredinNunits.
TheatmosphereRefractivityisafunctionofTemperature,Pressure,andHumidity.TheITURRec.
453givestheformula:
where:
T=absolutetemperature(Kelvindeg);
P=atmosphericpressure(hPa,numericallyequaltomillibar);
e=watervapourpressure(hPa).
Atsealevel,theaveragevalueofNisaboutNo=315Nunits.TheITURgivesworldmapswiththe
meanvaluesofNointhemonthsofFebruaryandAugust.
Temperature,atmosphericpressure,andwatervapourpressurearenotconstantwithheight.This
producesaVerticalRefractivityGradientG(measuredinNunitsperkm,N/km),definedas:
whereN1 andN2 aretherefractivityvaluesatelevationsH1 andH2,respectively.

Undernormal(standard)atmosphericconditions, Refractivitydecreasesataconstantrate,moving
fromgroundleveluptoabout1kmheight. ThismeansthattheRefractivityGradientGisconstant,
thetypicalvaluebeingabout 40N/km.
DeviationfromtheStandardAtmosphereconditionisusuallyassociatedwithparticularweather
events,liketemperatureinversion,veryhighevaporationandhumidity,passageofcoldairover
warmsurfacesorviceversa.Intheseconditions,theVerticalRefractivityGradientisnolonger
constant.Anumberofdifferentprofileshavebeenobservedandmeasured.Itisworthnotingthat,
atgreateraltitude,theRefractiveIndexis,inanycase,closerandcloserto1;sotheRefractivityN
decreasestozero.
Propagation in Standard Atmosphere

A RadioWavepropagatesinthedirectionnormaltotheisophaseplane(theplanewhereallthe
pointsarephasesynchronous,withrespecttothesinusoidalpatternofelectricandmagneticfields).
Inahomogeneousmedium,theisophaseplanesareparalleltoeachotherandthepropagation
directionisastraightlinenormaltothem.
As seen above,theAtmosphereisnotahomogeneousmediumandtheVerticalRefractivity
Gradientgivesameasureofthat.DifferentRefractivityatdifferentheightsmeansdifferent
propagationspeeds.Thewavefrontmovesfasterorslower,dependingontheheight:thiscausesa
rotationofthewavefrontitself.
Wavefrontandrayrotationcausedbyaverticalrefractivitygradientintheatmosphere
So,thepropagationtrajectory(normaltothewavefront)isnotastraightline,butitisrotated,as
shownintheabovefigure.Takingintoaccountthatthepropagationspeedisinverselyproportional
totherefractiveindex,itispossible toderivethattheradiotrajectorycurvature1/risrelatedtothe
VerticalRefractivityGradientG,as:
InStandardAtmosphere,withatypicalvalueofthe RefractivityGradientG= 40N/km,the

curvatureoftheradioraytrajectoryis:
Thismeansthattheradiorayisbentdownward,withacurvature1/r,somewhatlower(lesscurved)
thantheEarth curvature1/R:
Raybendinginstandardatmosphere(CL=clearance,verticaldistancefromgroundtoraytrajectory)
The k-factor
A convenientartificeisusedtoaccount,atthesametime,forboththerayandtheearthcurvatures.
An"equivalent"representationof the above figure canbeplottedbyalteringbothcurvaturesby
anamountequaltotheraycurvature1/r.
Inthenewfigure(seebelow)theradioraytrajectorybecomesastraightline,whilethemodified
("equivalent")earthcurvature1/RE is:
Equivalentrepresentationof the previous figure,withamodifiedearthradiusRE andastraightraytrajectory.
Notethat,atanypointoftheradiopath,theverticaldistance(CL=clearance)fromtheearth
surfacetotheraytrajectoryisthesameintherealandintheequivalentrepresentations.
Theratiobetweentheequivalentandtherealearthradiusisdefinedasthe"effectiveearthradius
factork"(briefly,thekfactor). Takingaccountofpreviousformulas,giving 1/RE, 1/R, and 1/r ,the
kfactorisgivenby:
InStandardAtmosphere(G=40Nunits/km),thisgives:
Thekfactorgivesanindicationabouttheatmospherestateatagiventimeandaboutthebending
effectontheradioraytrajectory.So,thestatement"propagationatk=4/3"isasynonymousof
"propagationinStandardAtmosphere".
Ontheotherhand,k<4/3correspondsto"Subrefractive"conditions, inwhichtheraycurvatureis
lessthannormal orevenisanupwardcurvature(k<1,G>0), thusreducingtheclearanceover
ground.
Withk>4/3weareina"Superrefractive"atmosphere;inparticular,withk= ,theraytrajectory
isparalleltotheearthsurfaceand thesignalcanpropagateoverlargedistances,beyondthenormal
horizon.
Thefigurebelowcomparestheraytrajectorieswithdifferentkfactors,usinga"realearth"
representation.
Raybendingindifferentatmosphericconditions(differentkfactorvalues)
Afurtheralternativeinplottingradioraytrajectoriesovertheearthsurface,iscalled"flatearth"
representation
Again,boththeearthandtheraycurvaturearealtered,butinthiscasetheearthprofileisforcedto
beflat,whiletheraycurvatureismodifiedaccordingly.The"realearth"andthe"flatearth"
diagramsareequivalentinthesensethat, atanypointoftheradiopath,theverticaldistance(CL=
clearance)fromtheearthsurfacetotheraytrajectoryisthesameinbothrepresentations.
Equivalentrepresentationofthepreviousfigure,overflatearth
Usingthe"flatearth"representation,wecanplotonthesamediagramthepathprofileand
multiplerays,correspondingtodifferentvaluesofthekfactor. Thisisthemostusualdiagram
shownincomputerapplicationsforradiohopdesign.
k-Factor variability
Wehaveseenthatthekfactorisrelatedtotheatmospherestateandisafunctionoftherefractivity
verticalgradient.So,itisavariableparameter, dependingondailyandseasonalcyclesandon
current meteorologicalconditions. Ina"standardatmosphere"statethekfactorvalueis4/3;thisis
closetothemedianvalueinmostclimates(particularly,temperateclimates).Aroundthismedian
value, therangeofvariationsisratherwideintropicalregions,withincreasingtemperatureand/or
humidity,whileitismorelimitedincoldandtemperateclimates.
Experimentalobservationsshowforexamplethattheprobabilityofk<0.6intemperateclimatesis
generallywellbelow1%.Intropicalclimatesthesameeventisobservedwithprobabilityinthe
range5%10%.Thismeansthat,intropicalregions,thereisthehighestprobabilityofpropagation
anomaliesduetoextremekfactorvalues.TheITURgivesworldmapsofthetimepercentagewithG
<100Nunits/km(k>2.75),indifferentmonths.
Indiscussingkfactorvariability,asappliedtoradiohopdesignandtoclearancecriteria,wehaveto
considerthat:
In sub-refractive conditions (minimumkfactor)theclearanceovergroundisreducedand

the probabilityofobstructionismaximum.
Wearenotinterestedintheminimum"local"kfactor,butintheoveralleffectthroughthe
wholeradiopath.Soan"equivalentkfactor"(kea)isdefined,whoseminimumvalue
depends(forgivenclimaticconditions)onthepathlength. Onlonghopskea islikelytobe
notfarfromstandardvalues,becauseextremeatmosphereconditionsareprobablynot
presentatatimeonthewholepath,whileinshorterhopsitismorelikelythatparticular
eventsaffectalmostthewholepathandproducelower kea values.
TheITUR(Rec.P530)givesacurveofminimum kea valuesasafunctionofhoplength(temperate

climate).
Minimumequivalentkfactorvs.pathlength(fromITURRec.P530,byITpermission).
Fresnel Ellipsoid
Fromageometricalpointofview,theFresnelellipsoidisdefinedasthesetofpoints(P)inthespace
whichsatisfytheequation:
whereTxandRxarethetwoantennas(radiopathterminalpoints),representingthetwo
focusesoftheellipsoid.
TheFresnelellipsoid,F1=ellipsoidradius;CL=clearance,measuredfromearthsurfacetotheraytrajectory
(thatistheellipsoidlongitudinalaxis)
TheradioelectricalinterpretationoftheFresnelellipsoidisthattworays,followingthepathsTxRx
andTxPRx,arriveattheRxantennainphaseopposition(halfwavelengthpathdifference,then180
degphaseshift).
TheFresnelellipsoidradiusF1(inmeters),atadistanceD1fromoneoftheradiosites,isgivenby:
whereD(km)isthepathlength,F(GHz)isthefrequencyand (m)isthe
wavelength. Someexamplesaregiveninthefigurebelow;notethattheFresnelellipsoid
radiusreducesasfrequencyincreases.
Fresnelellipsoidradiusvs.pathlengthandfrequency(maxradius,computedatmidpathlength).
Fromapracticalpointofview,theFresnelellipsoidgivesaroughmeasureofthespacevolume
involvedinthepropagationofaradiowavefromasource(Tx)toasensor(Rx).AbouthalfoftheRx
signalenergytravelsthroughtheFresnelellipsoid.So,anyobstructionwithintheFresnelellipsoid
hassomeimpactontheRxpowerlevel.
ThisleadstoconsiderradiovisibilityintermsofclearanceoftheFresnelellipsoid,asdiscussed
below.
A note on radio propagation and visual analogies
Wearefamiliarwithourvisualexperienceandthiscanbeofhelpindescribingsomeaspectsof
radiopropagation.
However,theFresnelellipsoidshowsthatradiopropagation(likeanyEMpropagationeffect)
cannotbeexplainedonlyintermsofgeometricoptics,that isadequatesolongasany
discontinuitiesencounteredthroughthepropagationpathareverylargecomparedwiththe
wavelength.
The ellipsoidradius isproportionaltothewavelengthsquareroot.Inourvisualexperience,thelight
wavelengthissosmall(about5104 mm)thattheradiusoftheFresnelellipsoidisnegligible,atleast
asafirstapproximation.Diffractioneffectscanbeobservedonlywithaccurateexperiments,
showingtheroleofFresnelellipsoidalsointheopticalfield.
Ontheotherhand,inradiocommunicationsthewavelengthisintherangefrom1m(frequency
300MHz)toabout1cm(frequency30GHz),thatisalmostonemilliontimeslargertheninvisible
waves.
Inconclusion,muchcaremustbepaidinestablishingananalogybetweenradiopropagationand
visualexperience.EvenifinbothcaseswedealwithEMwaves,thelargedifferenceinwavelength
makespracticalresultsquitedifferentinmostconditions.Forexample,theconceptofVisibilityis
quitedifferentinRadioEngineeringandinourvisualexperience.
Obstruction Loss
Atanypointofthepathprofile,the Clearance (CL) isdefinedastheverticaldistanceformtheray
trajectorytotheground. Sincefordifferentkfactorvaluesadifferentraytrajectoryisobserved,
thentheClearanceatagivenpointdependsonthekfactor(atmospherestate).
AnegativeClearancemeansthatanobstacleishigherthantheraytrajectory(notethatthisisthe
signconventionusedinITURRec.P530,whiletheoppositeisadoptedinITURRec.P526).
Single obstacle loss

Theeffectofasingleobstacle,thatinsomemeasureimpedesthepropagationofaradiosignal,is
analyzedintermsofFresnelellipsoidobstruction.So,aNormalizedClearanceisdefinedasCNORM =Cl
/F1,whereF1istheFresnelellipsoidradius.
Atheoreticalevaluationofdiffractionlossisusuallymadewithreferencetotwoidealizedobstacle
models:
theknifeedgeobstruction,thatisanobstaclewithnegligiblethicknessalongthepath
profile;
thesmoothsphericalearth,thatistheobstructionproducedbytheearthsurfacefor
transmissionbeyondthehorizon.
Thetwomodelsrepresentextremeandoppositeconditionsandmostpracticalcasescanbe
assumedasintermediatebetweenthem.
TheITURRec.P530givesobstructionlosscurves(seebelow)forthetwomodelsmentionedabove
andforanintermediatecase(thesmoothearthresultisfork=1.33 andfrequency6.5GHz).
DiffractionLossvs.NormalizedClearance,withdifferentobstacles:A)knifeedge; B)smoothspherical
earth; C)intermediate(fromITURRec.P530,byITUpermission)
Advanced - More on obstruction loss computation

AmoredetailedanalysisofobstructionlossisreportedinITURRec.P526,wheregeneralformulas
aregiven.Theknifeedgemodelisalsoextendedtoroundedobstaclesandtothecaseofmultiple
obstructions.
Knifeedge obstacle - Agoodapproximationoftheobstructionlossproducedbyaknifeedge
obstacleisgivenby:
where
andtheapproximationholdsforCNORM <0.5.
Single rounded obstacle - Theobstaclegeometryisshowninthefigurebelow,wherealsothe

relevantparametersaregraphicallydefined.
Geometricalparametersinaroundedobstacle(fromITURRec.P526,byITUpermission).
Anapproximateformulafortheobstructionlossis:
where Lknife is given above and Listheadditionalloss,comparedwithasharp(knife

edge)obstacle,givenby:
Thenormalizedparameters and arecomputedas:
where isthesignalwavelengthandthegeometricalparameters(d,da,db,R, )aredefined

inthe figure above.
Theapproximationholdsfor:
>0 thatisfornegativeclearance(obstacleabovetheraytrajectory);
<1 that,forfrequencyabove1GHz,means,inpracticalterms,thattheobstacleshould
notbeveryclosetoonehopterminal.
Spherical earth - Atfrequenciesabove1GHz,thesphericalearthformulasgive:
where:
andfinallyFisthefrequency(GHz),RE istheequivalentearthradius(8500kmfork=1.33),Disthe
pathlength(km),Histheantennaheight(m)overtheearthsurface;Y1,Y2 inthefirstformularefer
tothefirstandsecondpathterminal,respectively(intheYformula,usetheappropriateantenna
height).
Multiple obstacles - Severalapproximatemethodshavebeensuggestedtoestimatethe
obstructionlossproducedbymultipleobstaclesinaradiohop. Itistobenotedthatpointtopoint
linksshouldbeusuallydesignedinsuchawaytoavoidmultipleobstaclesalongtheradio
path. However,itisusefultohavecomputationaltechniquestodealalsowiththisproblem.
AreliablesolutionisthesocalledDeygoutmodel.Letusconsider,atfirst,apathwithtwo
obstacles,asshownbelow.
EvaluationoftwoobstaclelosswiththeDeygoutmodel(fromITURRec.P526,byITUpermission).
First,theclearanceisestimatedateachobstacle,asifthatobstacleistheonlyobstacleinthepath.
So,the"mostsignificantobstacle"isidentified,astheobstacleproducingtheworst(most
obstructing)clearance(intheexampleabove,thiscorrespondstopointM1).
TheoverallobstructionlossLTOT isthenestimatedas:
whereL[XY,YZ,H]istheknifeedgeobstructionlossinaradiopathfromXtoZ,wherean
obstacleisatpointYwithheightH.
Themethodcanbeiterativelyextendedtomorethantwoobstacles. Forthetotalradiopathand
thenforeach"subpath",themostsignificantobstacleisidentified.
ITURRec.P526appliestheDeygoutmodeltobothknifeedgeandroundedobstacles,with
introductionofacorrectionfactor(whichisnegligiblewhentheobstaclesareevenlyspaced).
Clearance Criteria
WenowhavealltheelementstoestablishClearanceCriteriainthedesignofaradiohop:
theraytrajectoryhasbeendiscussedandthe minimum k-factor value(mostcritical

condition)hasbeenassessed;
the loss produced by path obstructions hasbeenevaluatedasafunctionofthe

NormalizedClearanceandusingtheFresnelellipsoidconcept.
TheClearanceCriteriagivenbyITUR(Rec.P530)aresummarizedinthefigurebelow.Theymustbe
appliedbothinstandardkandinminimumkconditionsandtakeaccountofdifferentclimatesand
differentobstacleshapes.
AchartshowingtheITUR(Rec.P530)criteriaforpathclearance.TheredcircleistheFresnelellipsoid
transversalsection,asseenfromonehopterminal,partiallyobstructedbytheground.
Themorestringentcriteriafortropicalclimatearejustifiedbythe wider variability in k-factor

values observedinthoseregions.
AccordingtoITUR,theaboverulescanbemadelesstight,insomemeasure,whenfrequencies
below2GHzareused.Thismeansthatsmallerfractions(byabout30%)oftheFresnelradiuscanbe
adopted.
Anexampleofapplication,withasingleisolatedobstacle,isgivenbelow,inaflatearth
representationofthepathprofile;tropicalclimateisassumed.First,wecheckthestandardk
condition(100%oftheFresnelellipsoidfreeofobstacles).Thetwolinesindicates:
grayline:raytrajectory(ellipsoidaxis)fork=1.33;
blueline:lowermarginoftheFresnelellipsoid(100%oftheFresnelellipsoidradius).
Thenwechecktheminimumkcondition(60%oftheFresnelellipsoidfreeofobstacles).Thethree
lines,inthefigurebelow,indicates:
grayline:raytrajectory(ellipsoidaxis)fork=kmin;
redline:lowermarginoftheFresnelellipsoid(100%oftheFresnelellipsoidradius);
greenline:60%oftheFresnelellipsoidradius.
Theblueandthegreenlines,respectivelyinthetwodiagrams,arethelimitinglinestosatisfythe
Clearancecriteria(theverticaldistancefromsuchlinestothegroundisusuallyindicatedasthe
"Margin").
Inmostcasesitissufficienttoindicatethosetwolines(asderivedforkstandardandminimum
values)ontheprofileplotandtocheckthatnoneoftheminterceptsthepathprofile(positive
Margin).
End of Section #3
SECTION 4 GROUND REFLECTIONS

Summary
Aradiopathwithgroundreflectionisexamined.Thereflectioncoefficientofdifferentsurfacesis
discussedandseveralexamplesaregiven. Thelossinreceivedsignalpowerisestimated,including
theeffectofantennapositioningandkfactor.Finally,theuseofspacediversityisconsideredand
overalldegradationisevaluated.
Paths with ground reflection

Inradiohopsoverflatsurfacesandparticularlyoverthesea(orotherlargewatersurfaces),a
fractionoftheEMpoweremittedbythetransmittermayreachtheRxantennaafterreflectionon
theflatsurface. So,atthereceiver,thedirectsignalandthereflectedsignal(bothcomingfromthe
sametransmitter)mayinterfereeachother.
Signalreflectionsrepresentinmostcasesacriticalaspectofradiohopdesignandapotentialsource
ofoperatingproblems,ifnotcorrectlyevaluatedatthedesignstage.
Inrouteplanningandsiteselection,apriorityobjectiveshouldalwaysbetoavoidhopswith
possiblegroundreflections,asfaraspossible. Obviously,alternativeroutesmaybepossibleonlyin
limitedcases.
Acarefulselectionofsitepositioningandantennaheightmaybeofhelpinsituationswheresuch
solutionmakesthereflectedrayobstructed,atleastpartially. Whilediscussingon received signal
level,itwillbeshownthatanytechnique,thatreducesinsomemeasurethereflectedsignallevel,is
usefulinreducingtheoverallimpactofsignalreflection.
Thefirststepinreflectionanalysisistogetallthegeometricalelements usefultodescribethe
reflectionmechanism. Thefigurebelowgivesasketchofaradiopathwithgroundreflection,
showingthemaingeometricalparameters.
Pathwithgroundreflection,maingeometricalparameters.
P=Reflectionpoint;
=Grazingangle;
D=Directpathlength;
R1+R2=Reflectedpathlength;
L=R1+R2D=pathlengthdifference;
1, 2=AnglesbetweenDirectandReflectedraysatthetwo
antennas.
Reflection coefficient
Bycomparingthereflectedradiowavetotheincidentone,amplitudeandphasemodificationsare
observed. Thereflectioncoefficientisacomplexnumber,where:
thecoefficientmodulusistheamplituderatiobetweenthereflectedandtheincident
signals;itrepresentsthesignalattenuationduetothereflectioneffectonly;
thecoefficientphasegivesthephaseshiftproducedbyreflection(phasedifferencebetween
thereflectedandtheincidentsignals).
Thereflectioncoefficientisafunctionof:
signalfrequencyandpolarization;
grazingangle;
electricalparametersofthereflectingsurface(relativepermittivityandconductivity;
diagramsaregiveninITURRec.P527fordifferentsurfacetypes:water,drysoil,wetsoil,
etc.).
Additionalattenuationiscausedbysurfaceroughness,dependingonsoilirregularitiesorsea
waves. However,smoothsurfaceparametersusuallyrepresentaworstcaseassumption,with
minimumloss.
Summary of results
Atverylowgrazingangles( <0.2deg),thereflectioncoefficientamplitude,onseasurfacesorwet
soil,isclosetounity(0dB)forbothverticalandhorizontalpolarization;thephaseiscloseto180
deg.
Forhorizontalpolarization(anyfrequency),theaboveresultsarealmostunchanged
when increasesuptoabout4deg(highervaluesofthegrazingangleareveryunlikely).
Ontheotherhand,withverticalpolarizationandthesamerangeofthegrazingangle,thereflection
coefficientamplitudedecreasestoabout0.30.5(10to6dB,thelowestlossbeingapplicableto
frequenciesabove10GHz). Alsothephasedecreasesto120140forfrequenciesinthe13GHz
range,whileitiscloserto180rangeforfrequenciesabove10GHz.
Whiletheaboveresultsonlygiveapproximateindicationsontheactualnumberstouseinpath
design,itmustberealizedthatthevariableenvironment(forexample,wetordrysoil)andthe
surfaceroughnessmakeitdifficulteventoapplyspecificmodelsandformulastopredictthe
reflectioncoefficient.
Inmostcases,itisadvisabletomakeuseofworstcaseassumptionsforthecoefficientamplitude,
whilenotalwaysaprecisepredictiononthephaseshiftisrequired(as explained below).
Advanced - Reflection coefficient computation

Foraplanesurface,thereflectioncoefficient canbecomputed,accordingtotheFresnellaw,as:
Verticalpolarization
Horizontalpolarization.
where
iscalledcomplexpermittivity, isthegrazingangle, [m]isthe

signalwavelength,whiletheelectricalparametersofthereflectingsurfaceare:
r relativedielectricconstant;
electricalconductivity.
Theexpressionsgivingthe reflectioncoefficient canbespecializedtothemostcommonreflecting

surfaces,takingaccountoftypicalvaluesofthesurfaceelectricalparametersatdifferent
frequencies,asshownintheTablesbelow.
Relativedielectricconstant r (dimensionlessparameter):
1GHz
3GHz
10GHz 30GHz
Seawater
Freshwater
Wetground
70
70
50
18
80
80
70
28
30
24
12
5.4
1GHz
3GHz
10GHz 30GHz
18
40
0.18
1.8
16
40
0.15
0.7
3.2
11
1.5104
0.003
0.05
0.35
2.58
104
0.62
103
26
0.51.7
102
Very dry ground 4
Ice(1 10C)
Electricalconductivity [ohm1 m1]:
Seawater
Freshwater
Wetground
Very dry ground
Ice(1 10C)
103
Exampleofresultsareshowninthefiguresbelow.
ReflectionovertheseasurfaceAmplitudeofthereflectioncoefficientvs.grazingangle.
ReflectionovertheseasurfacePhaseofthereflectioncoefficientvs.grazingangle.
ReflectionoverafreshwatersurfaceAmplitudeofthereflectioncoefficientvs.grazingangle.
ReflectionoverafreshwatersurfacePhaseofthereflectioncoefficientvs.grazingangle.
ReflectionoververydrysoilAmplitudeofthereflectioncoefficientvs.grazingangle(thephaseiscloseto180
forbothHandVpolarization).
Received signal level

TheRxsignalpowerresultsfromtheadditionoftheDirectandtheReflectedsignals
Vectorial addition of two signals

Wemeasure"relative"signalamplitudeandpowerasreferredtothedirectsignalonly. The
RelativeRxPower(RRP,indB),inthepresenceofareflectedray,is:
whereb, aretherelativeamplitudeandphaseofthereflectedray,atthereceiverinput.
Therelativepower(B,indB)ofthereflectedsignalis:
Thefigurebelowgivessomeexamplesoftheresultofthevectorialadditionoftwosignals,with
differentamplitudesandvaryingrelativephase.
Receivedsignalpowerinthepresenceofareflectedsignal,whoserelativepowerBisindicatedbythelabels
(relativepowerisreferredtothedirectsignalalone).
Asexpected,ifthedirectandthereflectedsignalshaveequalamplitude(0dBcurve),thenthe
resultingsignalfadescompletelywhenthetwosignalsareinphaseopposition(relativephase180
deg). Ontheotherhand,ifthereflectedsignalismoreandmoreattenuated(B=10,20dB
curves),thentheoverallRxsignalshowsamoderatefluctuation,asafunctionoftherelativephase
betweenthedirectandthereflectedsignals.
Reflected signal amplitude

Inordertoestimatetherelativeamplitudeofthetwosignals,wehavetoidentifytheadditional
attenuationinthereflectedsignal,comparedtothedirectone.Additionalattenuationismainly
causedby:
Reflectioncoefficient: as discussed above,itdependsonsignalfrequencyand

polarization,grazingangleandsurfaceelectricalparameters;forreflectionoverwater,the0
dBloss(perfectlyreflectingsurface)maybeaworstcaseassumption.
Divergencefactor:thisisageometricalfactor,whichaccountsforthesphericalshapeofthe
reflectingearthsurface,producingadivergenceinthereflectedbeam(notnegligiblein
reflectionpathswithverysmallgrazingangle).
Antennagainreduction:assumingthattheantennaispointedinthedirectraydirection,
thenthegaininthereflectedraydirectionisgivenbytheantennadiagramatangles 1
and 2(see reflection geometry);quiteoftentheseanglesareverysmall,butinsome
cases(e.g.shorthopswithantennasveryhighoverthereflectingsurface)theyproducea
notnegligiblereductionintheantennagain.Eveninabsenceofthecompleteantenna
diagram,the 3dBantennabeamwidthintheverticalplanecanbesufficienttoestimatethe
reductioninantennagainforasmalldeviationfromtheantennaaxis.
Obstructionloss(ifthereflectionpathisnotperfectlyclear):inmostcasesitcanbe
estimatedasa "knife edge" obstruction,becausethisisaconservativeassumptionanditis
usuallyclosetotheactualconditions.
Reflected signal phase

Ontheotherhand,thephaseshiftbetweenthedirectandthereflectedsignalsdependson:
Path length difference L:thisdistanceisconvertedintoaphaseshift,takingintoaccount

thatasignalwavelength correspondstoa360degphaserotation:
Reflectioncoefficientphase: as discussed above,inmostcasesitiscloseto180deg

(phasereversal).
Rate of change in the Rx signal amplitude

Sincethewavelength isoftheorderofcentimeters,theninmostcases L>> . Insuch
conditions,theaboveformulashowsthatafractionalchangein L(ascausedevenbysmallkfactor
variations)producesasignificantrotationofthe phase. Thefinaleffectisthat:
thedirectandthereflectedsignalsaddwithavariablephaseshift,whichcanbeassumedas
arandomvariable;amplitudefluctuationsaretobeexpectedinthesumsignal(received
signal);
thereflectioncoefficientphaseisnotsoimportanttobepredicted,sinceitaddstothe
(randomly)variablephaseshift ;
Ontheotherhand,when Lisofthesameorderofmagnitudeof(orevensmallerthan) ,a
fractionalchangein Lproducesasmallrotationofthe phase. So,inthevectorialadditionofthe
directandreflectedsignals,thephaseangleisalmostconstantandslowvariationsintheRxpower
levelarelikely(lowlevelsmaypersistforlongperiodsoftime).
Antenna height and k-factor effect

Theabovediscussionshowsthatthereflectedsignalamplitudeandphase(relativetothedirectone)
arefunctionsofthegeometricalreflectionparameters.So,weexpectthat
theoverallRxsignallevelisafunctionofantennaposition;
foragivenantennaposition,theRxsignallevelistimevariable,duetoatmospheric
variations(changingkfactor);
inparticularcases,atimevariableRxlevelmaybealsoproducedbyvariationsinthe
reflectingsurface(forexample,tidemovements).
Thefigurebelow(continuousline)showstheRxpowerlevelvs.antennaposition.Foragiven
antennaheight(H1)thetwosignals(directandreflected)addinphase,sothattheRxsignallevelis
maximum,whileforadifferentantennaposition(H2)thetwosignalsareinphaseoppositionand
theRxlevelisminimum.
Receivedsignalpowervs.antennaheight,withtwovaluesofthekfactor(continuousanddashedlines)
relativepowerisreferredtothedirectsignalalone).
Thedashedlinereferstoadifferentatmospherecondition(differentkfactor)andshowsthat,even
iftheplotsaresimilar,theantennapositionscorrespondingtomax/minRxsignalpowerarenot
stable.
Theeffectofvaryingatmosphericconditions(kfactor)ispresentedinthefigurebelow. Ata
constantantennaheight, thereceivedsignallevelmaybeatamaximumorminimumvalue,
dependingonvariationsinthekfactor.
Receivedsignalpowervs.kfactor,foragivenantennaheight(relativepowerisreferredtothedirectsignal
alone).
Note: Theexamplesgiveninthepreviousfiguresareforagivenreflectiongeometry,working
frequency,etc.OtherpatternsintheRxpowerdiagramsmaybefoundwithdifferentparameters.
However,thecommentssuggestedbythesefiguresholdinmostapplications.
Insummary:
wecannotpredicttheexactantennapositioncorrespondingtomaximumorminimumRx
powerlevels(sincethisis not a static conditions,duetokfactorvariations);
wecanhowevercomputetheRxpowerrange(vs.antennapositionandkfactor);
wecanalsocomputetheverticaldistance(H2 - H1)betweentheantennapositionfor
maximumRxpowerandminimumRxpower.
Diversity reception
Generallyspeaking,weimplementadiversitysystembyusingtwodifferentcommunications
channelstotransmitthesameinformation.Atthereceiver,thesignalsattheoutputofthetwo
channelsareprocessedtogetareliableestimateofthetransmittedinformation. Basically,two
techniquescanbeused:
theselectionofthesignalthat,atagiventime,isestimatedtoofferthebestquality
(diversityswitching);
thejointprocessingofthetwosignals(diversitycombining).
Anumberofalternativeimplementationshavebeenstudiedforeachoftheabovetechniques,
takingaccountofdifferentoperatingcontextsanddesignconstraints.
Inanycase,thebasicrequirementforeffectivediversitysystemsisthatofalowcorrelation
betweenthetwochannels,sothatalowprobabilityexiststhatbothchannelsareinabadstateat
thesametime.
Inradiopathswithgroundreflection, thetwodifferentcommunicationschannelscanbe
implementedby usingtwoverticallyseparatedantennasatthereceiversite(spacediversity).
Thereflectiongeometryisdifferentforthetwochannels(differentreflectionpointP1andP2,see
figurebelow).So,itisexpectedthatdifferentsignallevelsarereceivedatthetwoantennas,ata
giventime.
SpaceDiversityreceptioninaradiohopwithgroundreflection
Inordertofindtheoptimumverticalspacingbetweenthetwoantennas,wecomputethe
spacing H=(H2H1)betweenamaximumandaminimuminthe Rx power vs. antenna height
diagram.
Withantennaspacing H,itisexpectedthat,whiletheRxpowerlevelisminimumatoneantenna,
itisclosetothemaximumattheotherantenna,andviceversa.So,bothantennasareneverinbad
receptionatthesametime.
Thisestimateoftheoptimumspacingappliestoagivenkfactorvalue.Asafirstguess,the H
spacingiscomputedwiththestandardkvalue(1.33). Dependingonthereflectiongeometry,this
choicemaybeappropriate(ornot)alsofordifferentkvalues.
ThefigurebelowshowstheRxpoweratthetwoantennasvs.kfactor.Itgivesasimplewayto
checkhowtheantennaspacing,computedforagivenk,workswithotherkvalues.
Same figure as above,withadiversityantennaadded;optimumdiversityspacingcomputedfork=

1.33(relativepowerisreferredtothedirectsignalalone).
Inthisexample,weseethatatleastoneofthetwoantennasreceivesahighpowerlevelforanyk
valuegreaterthan1(themax/minpatternsofthetwodiagramsarewellinterleaved).Ontheother
hand,goingtolowkvalues(k<1),thetwodiagramsarecloserandalmostoverlapping,sothe
diversityeffectvanishes.
Iftheantennaspacing,optimizedforstandardkfactor,isnoteffectiveforotherkfactors,possible
suggestionsare:
tofindacompromisesolution,takingaccountofthelikelyrangeofkfactorvalues;
torevise(ifpossible)theoverallreflectiongeometry(forexample,bymodifyingtheantenna
heightalsoattheotherhopterminal).
Inimplementingaspacediversityconfiguration,usuallytheadditional(diversity)antennais
installedbelowthemainantenna. Theclearancerulesforthemainantennaareasindicatedin
the Path Clearance session.
Forthediversityantenna,ITURRec.P530givesthefollowingclearancecriteria:
Normalized clearance CNORM >0.3foranisolatedobstacle;
NormalizedclearanceCNORM >0.6foranobstacleextendedalongaportionofthepath.
Theabovelimitsmaybereducedto0.0and0.3,respectively,"ifnecessarytoavoidincreasing
heightsofexistingtowers"andifthefrequencyisbelow2GHz.
Performancedegradation
Inthepreviouschapters,thereceivedsignalpowerhasbeenestimatedforsingleanddiversity
reception,asafunctionofantennapositioningandatmosphericstate(kfactor).
Undersomeaspects,itisnecessarytomakeworstcaseassumptions,forexampleintheestimateof
the reflection coefficient.
Anoverallestimateofperformancedegradationcausedbygroundreflectionrequiresthatthe Rx
power loss beaveragedoverthewholerangeofoperatingconditions.
TheaveragelossinRxsignalpowerisestimatedforagivenkfactor,byassumingthephaseshift
betweenthedirectandthereflectedsignalsasarandomvariable. Moreover,itispossibleto
furtheraverage,overtheexpectedrangeofkfactorvariations.
Notethatthesignalphaseshiftcanbeassumedasarandomvariableonlyif L>> (path
differencemuchlargerthanwavelength); this assumption hasbeendiscussedpreviously.
Whendiversityreceptionisadopted,asimilaraveragecanbeperformedbut,foreachoperating
conditions(kfactorvalue,signalphaseshift),theantennawiththehighersignalisselected.Thisis
equivalenttoadiversitysystemwithidealandinstantaneousswitchingtothebestsignal;therefore,
theresultscomputedundertheaboveassumptionsmaybeoptimisticinsomemeasure.
Advanced -Average degradation estimate

TheRxsignalpowerloss(LOSSREFL),inthepresenceofareflectedray,isgivenbytheratioofthe
directsignalpower(normalizedto1)totheRxpowerwithreflection:
whereb, aretherelativeamplitudeandphaseofthereflectedray,atthereceiverinput.
When,foragivenreflectiongeometryandatmosphericstate(kfactor),wecanassume asa
randomvariable(seecommentsontherateofchangeintheRxsignalamplitude), then
the LOSSREFL averageoverthe uniformdistributionisgivenby(thebaroverasymbolmeans
"averagevalue"):
(theintegralsolutionisnotimmediateandrequiressomecarefulmathematicalprocessing).
Finally,theThresholdDegradationduetoreflectionDREF (indB)isgivenby:
Inmoregeneralterms,italsonecessarytofurtheraveragethe RxsignalpowerlossLOSSREFL,overa
rangeoflikelykfactorvalues,sincethereflectiongeometry(andspecificallythereflectedray
amplitudeb)isafunctionofk.Thenweneedtoestimateanintegralexpressionofthetype:
Thisisusuallypossibleonlybynumericintegrationmethods.
Indigitalradiosystems,additionaldegradationmaybecausedbysignaldistortions,whenthetime
delayofthereflectedsignaliscomparablewiththesymbolperiodofthedigitalmodulation. Thisis
notausualcondition,butitistobeconsideredwithsomecare.
Advanced - Effect of time delay on digital signals
Indigitalradiolinks,itisnecessarytocomparethereflectedsignaldelay withthesymbolperiodTS,
inordertoestimatethereflectionimpairmentonthedigitalmodulation.
When <<TS thereisnosignificantdistortionofthedigitalsignalformat,sincethemodulated
pulsesinthedirectandreflectedsignalsarealmostoverlappingatthereceiver;theonlyreflection
impairmentisduetotheRxsignalattenuation,asdiscussedpreviously.
If iscomparable(<=)withTS,thenthetwopath(directplusreflectedsignals)channeltransfer
functionproducesafrequencyselectivedistortiononthesignalspectrum.The equipment
signature givesameasureoftheadditionalreflectionimpairment,duetoRxsensitivitytosignal
distortion.
Finally,thecondition >TS isveryunlikely. However,inthiscase,thereflectedsignalappearsasan
externalcochannelinterference,sincethemodulationappliedtothedirectsignalisnotcoincident
withthemodulationinthereflectedsignal. TheequipmentBERvs.C/I curvegivesameasureof
performancedegradationunderthiscondition.
End of Section #4
SECTION 5 MULTIPATH FADING
Summary
InthisSessionmultipathpropagationisconsidered.First,refractivityconditionsarediscussedand
thereceivedsignalimpairmentsarepresented(signalattenuationanddistortion). Multipathactivity
statisticsaredescribed,accordingtotheRayleighmodel,andthemultipathoccurrencefactoris
defined.Thesemodelsareappliedforoutageprediction,forbothnarrowbandandwideband
systems.Finally,multipathcountermeasures,spaceandfrequencydiversity,areconsidered.
Refractivity in the atmosphere (II)

Ageneralintroductiontotheeffectoftheatmosphererefractiveindexonradiopropagationand
specificallyofaverticalrefractivitygradienthasbeengivenina previousSession.
Inthatcontext,wemainlyconsideredconstantgradientconditions,andwedefinedthe"standard
atmosphere"astheconditionwithverticalrefractivitygradient G=40N/km(kfactor=1.33). Still
undertheassumptionofaconstantrefractivitygradient,otherconditionsarethe"subrefractive
atmosphere"(G.>.-.40N/km;k.<.1.33)andthe"superrefractiveatmosphere"(G.<.-.40N/km;
k.>.1.33).
Aconstantverticalrefractivitygradientmeansthattheraytrajectorysuffers the same curvature,
atanyelevationintheatmosphere. Underthiscondition,adirectraytrajectoryisidentified,from
theTxantennatotheRxantenna,withlaunchingangle givenby:
where
RE istheequivalentearthradius(8500kmwithstandardkfactor=1.33),HT andHR aretheantenna

heightsatthetransmitterandreceiver,respectively,andDisthepathlength.
Raytrajectoriesin"constantgradient"atmosphere
Moregenerally,theverticalrefractivitygradientmaydeviatefromaconstantgradientmodel. It
maybeassumedasconstantwithinatmosphericlayersof limitedheight(stratifiedatmosphere). In
therealcase,thetransitionfromonelayertoanotherissmoothedinsomemeasure.
Astratifiedatmospheremodelisusefulinexplainingthe differentbendingofraytrajectories,when
theytravelatdifferentelevationsintheatmosphere.
Intheseconditions,the"gradientprofile"maybesuchthat notonlyadirectray,butmultiplerays,
withdifferentlaunchingangles,reachthereceiverantennathroughseveralspatiallydisjointed
paths.Thisiscalled"multipathpropagation".
Raytrajectoriesundermultipathpropagationconditions
Asaresult,thereceivedsignalismadebyseveralcomponents(signalechoes),addingtogetherwith
randomamplitude,delay,andrelativephaseshift.
Observed impairments in Rx signal
Signal attenuation
Usingavectorialrepresentationofsignals,thereceivedsignal,undermultipathpropagation,canbe
viewedastheadditionofmultiplevectors.
Thecomponentvectorsmayinterfereeachother,atagiventimeinstant,inaconstructiveor
destructiveway,dependingontherelativephaseshifts.
Additionofmultiplesignalechoes,representedbyvectors,attwosubsequenttimeinstant
Therelativephaseofcomponentvectorsdependonthedifferenceinthepathlengthtraveledby
eachsignalcomponent. Notethatthewavelengthisoftheorderofcentimetersandeven small
movementsinatmosphericlayersmay significantlymodifythepathdistancesandtherelativevector
phases.
So,atdifferenttimeinstants,variationsinthecomponentvectorphasesmayproducesudden
variationsintheresultantvectoramplitude; thereceivedsignalpower maybealmostcancelled,for
shortperiods(fractionofasecond,orfewseconds).
Anexampleofreceivedsignalpowervs.time,duringamultipathpropagationevent
Theabovefigurecanbecomparedwith graphical definition ofreceivedsignalthresholdsand

margins,asgiveninapreviousSession.
Clearly,duringmultipathevents,thereceivedsignalpowermayfadebelowthehopthreshold,so
thatasystemoutageisobserved. Thiswillbediscussedina subsequent section.
Signal distortion
Thephaseshift betweentwovectorcomponentsiscomputedasafunctionof L(length

differenceinthepathstraveledbythetworays)andofthesignalwavelength :
Theaboveformulashowsthattherelativephaseofcomponentvectorsdependonthesignal
frequency(orwavelength). The pictures above canbethoughtasvalidforagivenfrequency,but
slightlydifferentphasepatternsareapplicabletoadjacentfrequencies.
Thismeansthatmultipathfadingis"frequencyselective".
WhileadeepfadingconditionisobservedatagivenfrequencyF1,thesignalatadifferent
frequencyF2(someMHzapart)isprobablyreceivedwithlowerattenuation.
Becauseofthefastvariabilityofmultipathevents,thisconditioncouldbereversedinaveryshort
time(adeepfadingatfrequencyF2andahigherRxpoweratfrequencyF1).
Werecallthat,forundistortedtransmission,thetransmissionchannelmusthavea"flat"amplitude
responseinthewholesignalbandwidth.Asimilarrequirementappliestogroupdelayresponse.
Duringmultipathevents,ithasbeenobservedthatthetransmissionchannelcannotbeconsidered
asa"flatresponse"channelifthemonitoredbandwidthexceedssome1012MHz.
Therefore,"narrowband"signals(approximatelybelow10MHzbandwidth)donotsufferthe
frequencyselectiveeffectofmultipathpropagation.
Ontheotherhand,distortioncausedbyfrequencyselectivityrepresentsafurtherimpairment(in
additiontosignalattenuation)for"wideband"signals(approximatelyabove15MHzbandwidth).
AmplitudeandGroupDelaydistortionsproduceIntersymbolInterferenceondigitalsignals,thus
worseningthereceiverperformanceforagivensignaltonoiseratio(Rxpower).
Advanced - Degradation of Cross-pol discrimination

Anadditionalimpairmentduetomultipathfadingisadegradationofthereceivercrosspolar
discrimination. SuchdiscriminationisrequiredwhenmultipleRFchannelsaretransmittedinaradio
hopandbothpolarizationareused(co-channel orinterleaved channelarrangements).
Undernonfadingconditions,thehopperformancearedeterminedbythe antenna cross-polar
discrimination (XPD),bothatthetransmitterandatthereceiver.
Duringmultipathevents,asfarasthesignalattenuationismoderate,thecrosspolarsignalis
usuallywellcorrelatedtothecopolaroneandtheXPDperformanceismaintained.
Ontheotherhand,whensignalattenuationbecomesdeeper,theXPDappearstobedegraded,
mainlybecauseoftheantennaresponsetomultipathcomponents.
Themechanismcanbeclarifiedbyconsideringthecopolandcrosspolantennapatterns.Whilethe
copolpatternusuallyshowsaratherflatmaximuminthepointingdirection,thecrosspolpattern
hasaverynarrowminimuminthesamedirection.
Antennaresponsetotworays,withslightlydifferentarrivalangles:thetwocopolcomponentsarealmost
equal,whilethedifferencebetweenthecrosspolcomponentsislarge(2).
Thetwocopolcomponentsmayalmostcancel(ifwithoppositephase),whilethedominantcross
polcomponentislargeinanycase.SoasignificantdegradationmayaffecttheoverallXPD.
AsecondmechanismmaybeinvolvedintheXPDdegradationduringmultipathevents,whensome
multipathcomponentsareproducedbyreflectionorterrainscattering. Inthatcase,thesignal
polarizationofthereflectedorscatteredsignalisrotated(insomemeasure)andthecrosspolsignal
isincreased.
Performancepredictionmodelsusuallyassumethat,asfarasthesignalattenuationiswithinsome
1015dB,theXPDisdeterminedbytheantennameasuredperformance. Ontheotherhand,for
deeperfadings,someXPDdegradationisexpected(upto1dBadditionaldegradationfor1dB
additionalsignalattenuation).
Modeling multipath activity

Multipatheventsareobservedwithdailyandseasonalcycles,whensuitablerefractivegradient
profilesaremoreoftenobserved. Amultipathactivityperiodcanlasttensof minutes,orevenone
orseveralhours.
Apredictionmodelofmultipathactivityisimplementedbycorrelatingsignificantradiolinkand
environmentalparameterswithstatisticalobservationofmultipathevents.
Radio and environmental parameters

Radiolinkparameterswhichhavebeenrecognizedasaffectingmultipatheventsare:
Workingfrequency;
Pathlength;
Pathinclination.
Environmentalconditionswhicharelikelytoproducemultipatheventsare:
flatterrain;
strongevaporation(hightemperatureandhumidity);
absenceofwind.
Itisoftenusefultoidentifyclimaticregionswithspecificcharacteristics,sothatmultipathactivity
can,insomemeasure,becorrelatedwithregionalparameters.Particularlyintropicalclimates,long
multipatheventscanbeobserved.
Statistical observation of multipath events

Bymonitoringaradiohopduringmultipathevents,anumberofrecordings,similartothe above
figure,canbecollected. Thisenablestobuildupstatisticaldataaboutthetimeperiodswithfade
depthbelowgiventhresholds.
Alargeamountofsimilarexperimentshaveshownthatfadedepthstatisticsarewellapproximated
byaRayleighdistribution(atleastforfadedepthgreaterthanabout15.dB). Accordingtothat
distribution,theprobabilitythatthesignalfadedepthA(indB)isdeeperthanagivenvalueA0 is
givenby:
whereP0 iscalled"multipathoccurrencefactor". (Tobemoreprecise,thisistheRayleigh

"asymptotic"trend,derivedforlowprobabilityanddeepfadelevels).
AnexampleofRayleighcumulativedistribution,withP0 =1
Notethat,ifthereferencefadedepthA0 increases10dB,thenthecorrespondingprobabilityis
lowerbyafactor10(thediagramslopeis10dB/decade).
This experimental result isingoodagreementwithmathematicalanalysis,appliedtotherandom
vectormodel,previouslymentioned. Itcanbeshownthat,ifweaddalargenumberofvectors,with
randomamplitudesandphases,thentheresultantvectoramplitudeisarandomvariablewith
Rayleighdistribution.
Multipath Occurrence Factor
TheRayleighmodelformultipathfadedepthisdescribedbyasingleparameterP0.
Wecanimaginetocollectfadedepthstatisticsonagivenradiohopindifferenttimeperiods,oron
radiohopswithdifferentlength,workingfrequency,and/orindifferentclimates. Weexpectthat,in
somemeasure,theexperimentalresultsapproximatetheRayleighformulagivenabove,evenifa
differentP0 valuewillapplyineachcase. So,theP0 parametergivesameasureofthe"multipath
activity"onagivenhopandwithinagiventimeperiod.
TheaboveexamplesuggestsanexperimentalmeanstoestimatetheP0 factorwhenaradiohopis
alreadyworking. However,theradioengineerneedspredictiontoolstoestimateP0 whilearadio
hopisatthedesignstage.
Severalempiricalformulashavebeenproposed,givingP0 asafunctionofradiohopparametersand
ofenvironmentalconditions.Therelevantfactorsarethosementionedina previous section.
Mostoftheseformulashavethefollowingstructure:
where C(geoclimaticcoefficient), Q(terrainprofilecoefficient), (frequencyexponent),

and (pathlengthexponent)areempiricalparameters. Theyareusuallyestimatedby
processinglargeamountsofexperimentaldata,orcanderivefrommorecomplexformulas,
againrelatedtotheresultsoffieldmeasurements.
Generally,P0 isproportionaltofrequency(the exponent isequal,orclose,to1),while
the exponentisintherangeis3.-.3.6(themultipathoccurrenceincreasesabouttentimeswhen
thehoplengthisdoubled).
Probably,themostpopularmodelforP0 predictionistheBellLabsformula(reportedinpapersby
W.T.Barnettand A.Vigants,intheearly70's). The general formula mentionedaboveisapplied
(frequencyinGHz,distanceinkm),withthefollowingparameters:
=1;
=3;
C=1 105 fordrymountainousregions;
C=2.1 105 forcontinentaltemperateregions;
C=3.1 105 formaritimetemperateregions;
C=4.1 105 formaritimesubtropical,highhumidityandtemperatureregions;
Q=1/ 1.3
profileroughness,measuredinmetersasthestandarddeviationofterrainelevationsat
1kmintervals(inanycase, mustbeintherange6mto42m).
ExamplesoftheBarnettVigantsmodelaregivenbelow.
ApplicationoftheBarnettVigantsmodel:Highdrymountainousregions;highroughnessterrain ( =42m)
ApplicationoftheBarnettVigantsmodel:Temperatecontinentalregions;averagerollingterrain ( =24m)
ApplicationoftheBarnettVigantsmodel:Temperatemaritimeregions;lowroughnessterrain( =12m)
ApplicationoftheBarnettVigantsmodel:Subtropical,highhumidityregions;flatterrain ( =6m)
AnalternativemodelisproposedbyITURRec.P.5309.Themodelstructureisslightlydifferentand
morecomplexwithrespecttothe general formula mentionedabove.Thismodelhasbeen
frequentlyrevisedinrecentITURmeetingsandprobablyitisnotyetatafinalversion.
Advanced - ITU-R Multipath occurrence model

ITURRec.P.5309(releasedJune2001)givesamodelforthepredictionoftheMultipath
OccurrenceFactor P0.
Themodelprovidestwodifferentformulas,tobeappliedfordetailedlinkdesignorforpreliminary
planning,respectively. Themaindifferenceinthetwoapproachesisthatthedetaileddesignmakes
useofdataonterrainroughnessaroundtheradiopath.
(Note: Rec.P.530givestheRayleighformulain%; a0.01factorisaddedinthe P0. expressions
givenbelowtotakeaccountofthis).
Detailedlinkdesign :
where: K(=geoclimaticfactor)isgivenby:
p =pathinclinationinmilliradians;
HL=elevationofthelowerantennainmeters;
dN1=refractivitygradientinthelowest65moftheatmosphere,notexceededfor1%ofan
averageyear;
sA =arearoughnessaroundtheradiopath.
TherefractivitygradientdN1is providedona1.5gridinlatitudeandlongitudeinITURRec.P.453.
Thearearoughnessisdefinedasthestandarddeviationofterrainheights(m)withina110kmx110
kmareawitha30sresolution.
Preliminaryplanning :
where: K(=geoclimaticfactor)isgivenby:
andtheothersymbolsarealreadydefinedabove.
Comment
TheITURmodelderivesfromtheprocessingofasignificantamountof P0. estimates,atseveral
frequencies(upto37GHz)andwithvariouspathlengthsindifferentclimaticenvironments.
Themathematicalapproachismainlybasedonminimizingthestandarddeviationbetween
empiricaldataandpredictionformulasbymeansofmultipleregressions. Thepositiveaspectisthat
themodeliswellrelatedtoobservationsinreallinks.Itisstatedthatthe overallstandarddeviations
oferrorusingtheproposedmodelsisoftheorderof5dB(includingthecontributionfromyearto
yearvariability).
Ontheotherhand,aphysicalmodelunderlyingformulastructureandparameterchoiceisnot
clearlydefined,sothatitappearsthattheproposedapproachcouldberevisedonthebasisof a
newexperimentaldatabase,asalreadyhappenedinrecentyears.
Performance prediction
Ina previous Session,generalconceptsaboutfademarginandoutagepredictionhavebeen
brieflydiscussed. Inparticular,itwasfoundconvenienttodistinguishbetweentwooutage
conditions:
whentheoutageisonlycausedbyinsufficientRxpower(receivedsignallevelbelowthehop
threshold);
whendistortionintheRxsignalisexpectedtocontributetotheoutage,evenwhentheRx
powerisstillabovethehopthreshold.
Inthecontextofmultipathpropagation,thefirstconditionappliesto"narrowband"signals,sinceit
isassumedthattheydonotsufferanydistortionduringmultipathevents. Ontheotherhand,the
secondconditionappliesto"wideband"signals,whichmaybeseverelydistortedbyfrequency
selectivemultipath.
Outage prediction in Narrowband systems

OutageeventsareobservedwhentheRxpowerisbelowthehopthreshold.
Takingaccountofthe multipath fading Rayleigh distribution,theoutageprobabilityPOUT,canbe
predictedas:
whereAisthesignalattenuationcausedbymultipathpropagation,FMisthehopFade
Margin,andP0 isthe multipath occurrence factor.
TheoutagetimeTOUT duringagivenobservationtimeT0 (typically, onemonth),isfinallygiven

as TOUT = T0 POUT.
Inconclusion,twoparametersarerequiredforoutagetimeprediction:
thehopFadeMargin,givenbythe Link Budget computation;
themultipathoccurrencefactorP0,givenbysomemodelformultipathactivity,as
the Barnett-Vigants one,presentedabove.
Inthiscontext,theFadeMarginisoftenreferredastheFlatFadeMargin,sinceitisusedto
compensatefornonselective(flat)attenuation.
Advanced - Outage prediction in Wideband systems

ThepredictionofOutageTimeinWidebandsystemstakesaccountthatoutageeventsmaybe
causedbythecombinedeffectofsignalattenuationanddistortion. Asaresult,theoutage
conditionmaybeobservedeveniftheRxpowerisstillabovethereceiverpowerthreshold.
ReferencewillbemadetothepredictionmodelreportedinITURRec.P.5309. Usingasimplified
approach,themodeldealsseparatelywiththetwoimpairments(signalattenuationanddistortion),
sothatthegeneralformulafor outageprobabilitypredictionis:
wherePNS istheoutageprobabilityduetosignalattenuation(nonselectiveoutage
component),whichisgivenbythesame outage formula derived for narrowband
systems,whilePS istheoutageprobabilityduetosignaldistortion(selectiveoutage).
TheselectivecomponentPS dependsonthereceiversensitivitytosignaldistortion.The Signature
Measurement isthetoolusedtocharacterizearadioequipmentunderthisaspect. PS isgivenby:
where:
istheMultipathActivity(directlyrelatedtotheMultipathOccurrenceFactor P0);
isthemeantimedelay[ns]ofmultipathechocomponents,whichisafunctionofthehop
lengthD(inkm);
Wisthesignaturewidth[GHz];
Bisthesignaturedepth[dB];
r istheechodelayinthesignaturemeasurement.
Subscript"M"indicatesthatthesignaturewasmeasuredwitha Minimum -Phase channel,while
subscript"NM"referstoaNonMinimumPhasechannel.
Advanced - Outage contribution from X-pol interference

Sincemultipatheventshaveanimpactin reducing discrimination between cross-polarized
signals,multipathoutageisincreasedbytheeffectofcrosspolarinterference.
TheRec.P.5309predictionmodelassumesthatcrosspolarinterferencecontributestotheoutage
probabilitywithanadditivetermPXP.
where:
(C/I)0 isthe threshold Carrier-to-Interference ratio;
XPDistheminimumcrosspoldiscriminationoftheTxandRxantennas;
isanempiricalparameter,whereP0 isthemultipathoccurrencefactorand is
the multipath activity,previouslydefined.
Notes:
1)If XPD>35dB,thenput XPD=35dBinthePXP formula;
2)Ifa Cross-Pol Interference Canceller (XPIC)isused,thenthethresholdC/Imustbereducedby
anamountequaltotheXPICgain;
3)iftwoseparateantennasareusedtotransmitthecrosspolarizedsignals,thentheQdefinitionis
revised,byreplacingthe0.7factorwiththeKfactorbelow:
(s=verticalantennaspacing, =signalwavelength).
Countermeasures
Severaltechniqueshavebeendevisedtoreducetheimpairmentscausedbymultipathpropagation.
Space Diversity
Aswith reflection paths,twoRxantennas,withasuitableverticalspacing,receivethemultipath
componentsignalswithdifferentphasepatterns.
So,inawellarrangedspacediversityconfiguration,theRxsignalsatthetwoantennaswillexhibit
a lowcorrelationandtheprobabilityofdeepfadingatthesametimecanbesignificantly
lowered. Typicalspacingisoftheorderof150200wavelengths.
AdiversityimprovementfactorISD isdefinedas:
whereA1 andA2 aretheattenuationsatthetwodiversityreceivers,A0 isareference

attenuationand Prob{X,Y}meansprobabilitythateventsXandYaretrueatthesame
instant(jointprobability).
The Barnett-Vigants model isextendedtospacediversityreception,giving:
whereFistheworkingfrequencyinGHz,Dthepathlengthinkm,Stheverticalspacingin
m,andVisthedifferenceofthetwoantennagainsindB. Notethattheimprovementfactor
isafunctionofthereferenceattenuationA0,soatdifferentfadelevelsadifferent
improvementispredicted.
TheOutageTimeprediction,foraNarrowbandsystem,isderivedfromthe Single Rx
prediction andthedefinitionof diversity improvement :
Advanced - ITU-R model for Space Diversity improvement

AnalternativeformulatopredictthespacediversityimprovementisgivenbyITURRec.P.5309:
TheImprovementfactoris afunctionofthereferenceattenuationA0. Fistheworkingfrequencyin

GHz,Dthepathlengthinkm,Stheverticalspacinginm, P0 istheMultipathOccurrenceFactor and
VisthedifferenceofthetwoantennagainsindB(ifany).
(Note: coefficientshavebeenrevisedincomparisonwithITURformulabecauseRec.P.530gives
theMultipathOccurrencefactorin%).
1+1 Frequency Diversity
Again,wereferto general concepts on diversity techniques.

Inthiscase,weexploitthe frequency selective natureofmultipathfading,sothattwoRF
channelswithsuitablefrequencyspacingexhibit thelowcorrelationproperty,whichguaranteesa
lowprobabilityofdeepfadinginthetwochannelsatthesametime.
Sinceaprotectionchannelisoftenrequiredinmultichannelradiorelaysystemsincaseof
equipmentfailure,itcanbeconvenientthatthesameprotectionchannelbeusedalsoasa
frequencydiversitycountermeasuretomultipathfading.
Foreffectivemultipathprotection,fastqualitydetectorandswitchingcircuitsarerequired.
Ina1+1configuration,oneworkingchanneliscontinuouslyprotectedbyonesparechannel.
Similarlyto Space diversity,aFrequencyDiversityImprovementFactorIFD canbe
defined. AccordingtotheBarnettVigantsmodel,alsoappliedinITURRec.P.530,itcanbe
estimatedas:
where Fistheaverageworkingfrequencyand Fisthechannelspacing(bothinGHz),Dis

thepathlengthinkm.Alsointhiscase, theimprovementfactorisafunctionofthe
referenceattenuationA0 (indB).
Advanced - N + 1 Frequency Diversity

Thefrequencydiversityarrangementcanbeextendedfromthe1+1configuration,asassumed
above,toN+1configurations,whereoneRFchannelisusedasaprotectionforNworkingchannels
InN+1systemsitisexpectedthatthefrequencydiversityeffectivenessisreducedinsome
measure.
If,intheunprotectedcondition,Mchannelsareintheoutagestate,thenusingfrequency
protectionthenumberofoutagechannelsisreducedtoM1. Afairlycomplexprobabilityand
combinatorialproblemmustbesolvedtoestimatetheoutagetimereductiongivenbyN+1
frequencydiversity.
Withgoodapproximation,asimplifiedsolutionisobtainedbydefiningan"equivalentchannel
spacing". Bythisapproach,theFrequencyDiversityimprovementinN+1systemswithchannel
spacing Fisequaltotheimprovementinan"equivalent"1+1diversitysystemwithchannel
spacing FEQ givenby:
So,wecanuseagaintheprevious (1+1) improvement formula,with FEQ insteadof F.
Advanced - Outage in Wideband systems with Diversity

Inrathergeneralterms,itcanbestatedthattheoutageprobabilityinadiversitysystem(POUT,DIV)is
relatedtotheoutageprobabilitywithsinglereception(POUT,SINGLE)throughtheformula:
where isthe(previouslydefined) multipath activity (thatisthefractionoftimewith

multipathevents)andkisthecorrelationfactorbetweenthetwodiversitysignals.
Inthecaseofthenonselectiveoutageprobability,theDiversityImprovement IDIV =(POUT,SINGLE /
POUT,DIV )isgivenbyempiricalformulas,forboth Space and Frequency Diversity. Then, the
aboveformulacanbereversedtoderivethenonselectivecorrelationfactorkNS:
Ontheotherhand,theselectivecorrelationfactorkS isgivenbyRec.P.5309asafunctionofkNS,
Oncethe(nonselectiveandselective)correlationfactorsareknown,theoutageprobabilitiescan
becomputedusingthe general formula reportedabove,forboththenonselectiveoutage
component(PNS,DIV)andtheselectiveone(PS,DIV).
Finally,thetwooutagecomponentsarecombinedtogivetheoveralloutageprobability:
Note: TheoutagepredictionmodelreportedbyITURRec.P.5309givesdifferentformulasto
combinethenonselectiveandselectiveoutagecomponentsinthe single and diversity conditions.
Advanced - Adaptive equalizers

Adaptiveequalizationispartofthedemodulationprocess. Theequalizerisimplementedasaself
adjustingcircuit(attheIForbasebandstage),whichisabletopartiallycompensateformultipath
distortioninwidebanddigitalsystems.
Theobjectiveistoreducethe selective outage component,sothat(withanidealequalizer)
outageshouldbeobservedonlywhenthereceivedpowerfadesbelowtheRxthreshold.
TheIFequalizerisusuallydescribedinthefrequencydomain,asacircuitwhosetransferfunctionis
complementarytothemultipathchanneltransferfunction.Theoveralltransferfunction
(transmissionchannelplusequalizer)shouldapproximateanidealnondistortingchannel.
TheBBequalizerisusuallydescribedinthetimedomain,asatransversalfilter(ordecisionfeedback
filter),whichcancelsundesiredtailsinthetransmissionchannelimpulseresponse,soreducing
intersymbolinterference. Insomeradioequipment,theBBequalizerandthe Cross-pol
Interference Canceller (XPIC) areimplementedinasinglecircuit.
The receiver signature givesameasureoftheeffectivenessofanadaptiveequalizer. By
comparingthesignaturewithandwithoutequalizer,theimprovement(outagereduction)givenby
theequalizercanbeestimated(seethe selective outage prediction formula,basedonsignature
parameters).
Equipmentsignatureswithoutandwithanadaptiveequalizer.
End of Section #5
SECTION 6 RAIN ATTENUATION

Summary
InthisSessionwefirstdiscusstheinteractionofanEMwavewithmolecules
encountered throughoutthepropagationpathintheatmosphere.Thisleadstoanestimateofrain
specificattenuation,asafunctionofrainintensity,signalfrequencyandpolarization.Statisticaldata
onrainintensityareconsidered,asrequiredbytheITURrainattenuationmodel,whichispresented
asthebasictooltopredictrainunavailabilityinanyregionintheworld,atfrequenciesuptoabout
40GHz.
EM wave interaction with atmosphere

EvenifthisSessionismainlydevotedtoraineffects,wefirstconsider,inmoregeneralterms,the
interactionofEMwaveswithmoleculesandparticlesencounteredthroughoutthepropagationpath
intheatmosphere.
Twoeffectsaremostsignificant:
absorption:EMenergytransferredtotheimpactedmoleculesandconvertedintoheat;
scattering:EMenergyreirradiatedawayfromthepropagationdirectionithadbefore
impact.
Botheffectsaremainlyaffectedby:
Molecule/particledimensions,relativetothewavelengthoftheEMradiation;
Electricalpropertiesoftheinvolvedmolecules.
Weconsidertheeffectoftheatmosphereintheabsenceofrainandtheattenuationdueto
raincells.
Phenomenarelatedtootherhydrometeors(snow,ice,fog,hail)andeventoduststormswillnotbe
discussedhere(ITURRec.P840givessomeindicationabouttheeffectofthickcloudsandfog).
Water vapour and Oxygen attenuation in clear air

Inthefrequencyrangeuptoabout40GHz,theatmosphericmoleculeswhichinteractswithEM
wavesarewater(intheformofwatervapour)and,moremarginally,oxygen.
Awatervapourabsorptionpeakisobservedat22.2GHz,whilethefirstoxygenabsorptionpeakisat
about60GHz. Otherabsorptionpeaks,forbothwatervapourandoxygen,areathigher
frequencies.
Themaximumattenuationduetowatervapour(WV),at22.2GHz,isgivenby(accordingtoITUR
Rec.P676):
where isthevapourdensitying/m3,theatmosphericpressureis1013hPaandthe
temperatureis15C.
Thisgivesa0.30dB/kmattenuationatthewatervapoursaturationlevel(about12g/m3 at15C)
and0.18dB/kmatalowervapourdensityof7.5g/m3.
Ontheotherhand,thespecificattenuationduetooxygenexceeds1dB/kminthefrequencyrange
52to68GHz;themaximumattenuation,at60GHz,isabout16dB/km,whileat40GHzitisbelow
0.1dB/km.
Forradiohopsuptoabout40GHz,theconclusionisthatthepowerlosscausedbyatmospheric
absorptionisusuallynotsignificant. InmostcasesitcanbeneglectedintheLinkBudget,also
consideringthatthehoplengthisanywaylimitedbyrainattenuation.
Rain attenuation
AnEMwave,travelinginagivendirectionthrougharaincell,losespartofitspowerinthatdirection,
asaresultofabsorptionandscatteringeffects.
Intheimpactwitharaindrop,thetotalpowerlostdependsonthe"dropcrosssection",whichis
givenbythesumofascatteringcrosssectionandanabsorptioncrosssection.
Thedropcrosssectionisafunctionofthedropradiusandofthesignalwavelength.
Byintegratingthepowerlostintheimpactwithasingleraindroptoalltheraindropsinagiven
volume(raincell),thetotallossproducedwithinthatraincellcanbeestimated.
Todothis,suitablestatisticalmodelsareneededtorelatethenumberofraindropsinaraincelland
theirsizedistributiontotherainintensity. Suchmodelshavebeentunedonthebasisofalarge
amountofexperimentaldata,comingfromdifferentregionsintheworld.
Asaresult,thespecificrainattenuation (dB/km)canbeexpressed,asafunctionoftherainrateR
(inmm/h),bythefollowingexponentialformula:
wheretheparameterskand arefunctionsofthesignalwavelengthandpolarization.
ITURRec.P838givesatablewiththekand values,forVerticalandHorizontalpolarizations,in
thefrequencyrange1to400GHz. Formulasaregivenforthecaseofanylinearorcircular
polarization.
Examplesofspecificrainattenuationasafunctionofrainrate,aregiveninthefigurebelow; note
thattheincreaseinspecificattenuationisabout100times,whenpassingfrom3to12
GHz. Moreover,theVerticalpolarizationissignificantlylessattenuatedthanHorizontalpolarization,
atthesamefrequency.
Attenuationvs.rainintensity,fordifferentsignalfrequencies,vertical(red)andhorizontal(black)polarizations
AdvancedOtherrainimpairments
EMwavedepolarization - AnadditionaleffectmustbeconsideredwhenalinearlypolarizedEM
wavetravelsthrougharaincell:arotationofthepolarizationplane,sothatanorthogonally
polarizedcomponentcanbeobservedattheoutputofthecell.
Thedepolarizationeffectisrelatedtotheraindropshapeandtothedroppingangle(inmostcases,
notperfectlyvertical).
Itispossibletoestablishastatisticalrelationbetweenrainattenuationanddepolarizationeffect.
ForagivenprobabilityP,wedefinethe"equiprobable"levelsincopolarattenuation(CPAP)and
crosspolardiscrimination(XPDP)as:
XPDP canbepredictedfromCPAP (thatiswhentheCPAcumulativedistributionisknown)as:
where:
Interferenceduetowavescattering - Araincellmaybecomeapotentialsourceofinterferenceto
otherradiosystems,sincepartoftheEMenergywhichimpactsthecellisscatteredinmultiple
directions.ThepropagationmodeltobeappliedinsuchconditionsisdescribedbyITURRec.P.452
10.
ItisratherunlikelythataPPlinkmayproduceasignificantinterferenceeffecttoanotherPPlink,
throughraincellscattering. TheTXpowerlevelisusuallyat(orbelow)1Wandthecellscattering
worksalmostlikeanomnidirectionalradiator,soalowpowerdensityisassociatedwiththe
scatteredsignal.
Ontheotherhand,highpowerradiotransmitters,inparticularlargeearthstationsforsatellite
communications,havethepotentialforproducinganotnegligibleinterferencethroughraincell
scattering. DetailedproceduresarerecommendedbyITURdocumentstotakeaccountofthis,
whenthesatellitesystemoperatesinfrequencybandssharedwithterrestrialsystems.
Worldwide rain intensity statistics

Animportantinputtoanyrainattenuationmodelistheexpectedrainactivityintheregionwhere
theradiohopwilloperate,asderivedfromlongtermstatistics.
Morespecifically,itwasfoundusefultorefertothelowprobabilitytailsofrainstatistics,sincewe
aremainlyinterestedinrareeventswithveryheavyrainfall.
The rainrateexceededfor0.01%ofthetimeisthesignificantparameter,usefultocharacterizethe
rainfallactivityinagivenregion.
Ifpossible,thisrainrateshouldbederivedfromreliablestatisticaldataaboutthelocalrainevents.
Whenlocaldataarenotavailable,theprocedurerecommendedbyITURcanbeused.
InthelastreleaseofRec.P837anewapproachisreportedtoestimatetherainrateexceededfor
anypercentageoftime,inanypartoftheworld.Thisisbasedondatafiles(availablefromtheITU
website),derivedfrom15yearsofdataoftheEuropeanCentreofMediumrangeWeatherForecast
(ECMWF).Theycoveralltheworld,withlatitudeandlongitudegridsin1.5steps. Asuitable
interpolationprocedureisrecommended.
Togiveanapproximateinformationabouttherainratesusedinrainattenuationpredictions,the
previousITURapproachisreported,whichwasbasedonworldmapswith"rainregions".
Eachregionwaslabeledwithaletter;inthetablebelow,eachletterisassociatedwiththe
correspondingrainrate(inmm/h)exceededfor0.01%ofthetime:
A 8
19
30
42
95
12
22
32
60
145
15
28
35
63
115
Theworldmapsareshownbelow.
ITURRainregions,NorthAmerica(fromITURRec.P8371Fig.1,byITUpermission)
ITURRainregions,CentreandSouthAmerica(fromITURRec.P8371Fig.1,byITUpermission)
ITURRainregions,Europe,AfricaandMiddleEast(fromITURRec.P8371Fig.2,byITUpermission)
ITURRainregions,AsiaandOceania(fromITURRec.P8371Fig.3,byITUpermission)
ITU-R rain attenuation model
Rain intensity model

Inordertoapply raincell models totheestimateofrainattenuationinaradiohop,itisnecessary
toconsiderhowtheraincellsizecomparetothehoplength.
Whileinveryshorthops(belowsome23km)thewholelengthmaybeaffectedbyrainfall,in
longerhopsaraincelloccupiesonlyaportionofthewholedistance.
ITURRec.P530definesan"effectivehoplength"DEFF,inordertotakeaccountof raincellsize:
NotethattheeffectivelengthisafunctionofthelocalrainrateR(inmm/h). Asshowninthe
diagrambelow,theeffectivelengthismorecompressedwithhighrainrates(araincellwithhighrain
rateisexpectedtooccupyasmallerarea). Ontheotherhand,theeffectivelengthisclosetothe
reallengthasfarasthelatterisapproximatelybelow4km.
ConversionfromrealpathlengthtoeffectivelengthDEFF,forvariousrainratevalues
ITURRec.P530givesastepbystepproceduretoestimatethetimepercentagethatrain
attenuationexceedsagiventhresholdonaradiohop.
Inputparametersarethehoplength,thesignalfrequencyandpolarization,andtheoperating
region. Therecommendedprocedureisasfollows:
EstimateofthelocalrainrateRfor0.01%oftime.Thisshouldderivefromlongterm
statisticaldatacollectedinthespecificzone; otherwise, ITU-R data canbeused,as
indicatedintheprevioussection.
Applicationofthe specific loss () formula,giventherainrateR,thesignalfrequencyFand

polarization(HorV).
ReductionofthehoplengthtotheEffectiveLengthDEFF (km),accordingtothe above

formula.
ComputationofRainAttenuationexceededfor0.01%oftime:
Extrapolationtoothertimepercentagesp,intherangefrom1%to0.001%:
fortemperateclimate(latitudegreaterthen30,NorthorSouth),whilefortropical/
equatorialclimate(latitudebelow30):
Anexampleisgivenbelow,whereA0.01 hasbeenassumedtobe30dB. Notethattheabscissagives

theattenuationexceededforthecorrespondingtimepercentage.
Percentageoftimevs.Rainattenuation,assumingA0.01 =30dB,indifferentclimates
TheITURpredictionmethodisconsideredtobevalidforfrequenciesupto40GHzandhoplengths
upto60km.
Advanced - Frequency / polarization scaling model

AnalternativemodelproposedbyITUR(Rec.P.530)canbeappliedwhenexperimentalresultsare
availableaboutrainattenuationonthesamehop,measuredatadifferentfrequencyand/or
polarization.
Inthatcase,weneedtoscalethemeasuredresulttothefrequencyand/orpolarizationusedinthe
projectofinterest.
ThefollowingempiricalformulacanbeusedtoestimaterainattenuationA2 atfrequencyF2,fora
giventimepercentage,whenlongtermexperimentalstatisticsatfrequencyF1 predictattenuation
A1 forthesametimepercentage(frequencyinGHz,attenuationindB):
where
Similarly,whenlongtermexperimentalstatisticsonagivenpolarizationatfrequencyFpredict
attenuationAforagiventimepercentage,thentheattenuationontheorthogonalpolarization,at
thesamefrequencyandforthesametimepercentagecanbeestimatedas:
Rain unavailability prediction

Foragivenradiohop,theattenuationduetorainfor0.01%ofthetimecanbeestimated,according
totheITURprocedure,asafunctionofthelocalrainrate,ofthehoplength,andofthesignal
frequencyandpolarization.
Topredictthehopunavailabilitycausedbyrain,itisconvenienttoreversethe formulas given
above,inordertogetthetimepercentagepasafunctionoftheattenuationAexceededforp%
(noteanywaythe0.001%to1%applicationrange):
where:
fortemperateclimateand:
fortropical/equatorialclimate.
Then,therainunavailabilityispredictedastheprobabilitythattherainattenuationexceedsthe
FadeMarginFM:
Thesameresultcanbegraphicallyderivedfromthe Time % vs. Rain Attenuation curve.

ThehopFadeMarginiscomputedasaresultof Link Budget. Inpresenceofheavyrainstorms,the
thinwaterlayerontheantennaradome(ifused)producesanadditionalloss;theFadeMarginis
reducedtotakeaccountofthe"wetradomeloss",aconservativefigurebeingabout1dB.
Quiteoftentherainunavailabilitypredictionistransformedfromapercentageprobabilityto
"minutesinoneyear". Asareference,the0.01%probabilityisequivalenttoabout50min/year.
However,sincethepredictionmethodisbasedonlongtermrainintensitystatistics,alsothe
estimatedunavailabilitymustbeconsideredasanaverage,tobeexpectedduringaperiodofseveral
years.
Advanced - Effect of cross-polarized interference

Signaldepolarizationcausedbyraincontributestorainunavailabilitybyreducingthediscrimination
toacrosspolarinterferingsignal. Typically,theproblemarisesinradiosystemsusinga co-channel
frequency plan,withthesameradiochannelusedonbothpolarizations.
ThestepbystepprocedurereportedbyITURRec.P.530isasfollows:
Computationofthe"referenceattenuation"AP::
where U and V have been previously defined.
Computationofthenormalizedparameterm (ifm>40,thenm=40):
whereA0.01 isthe attenuation exceeded for 0.01% of the time.
EstimateofprobabilityPXPR (unavailabilityduetocrosspolarinterference):
ReliableestimatesofPXPR areintherange102 to105.

Finally,theoverallrainunavailabilitycanbeestimatedasthelargerofPXPR (seeabove)and
PRAIN (probability of unavailability due to rain attenuation only).
End of Section #6
SECTION 7 FREQUENCY PLANNING AND INTERFERENCE

Summary
InthisSessiontheuseofdifferentfrequencybandsforPointtoPointradiosystemsisfirst
consideredandtheITURapproachforRFchannelarrangementsispresented. Then,thevarious
typesofinterferencearisinginPPsystemsisexamined,togetherwithclassificationcriteria. This
allowstolistthemaininterferencesourcesandtogivebriefnotesabouteachofthem.Finally,the
interferenceeffectsarediscussed.
Use of frequencies in P-P links

"RadioRegulations"aretheinternationalagreementsissued(andupdatedfromtimetotime)bythe
InternationalTelecommunicationsUnion(ITU),asaresultofWARC(WorldAdministrativeRadio
Conference)meetings.
"RadioRegulations"specifywhichradiosystemsareallowedtousethevariousfrequencybands,in
theRadiofrequencySpectrum. Inparticular,pointtopointradiolinksarementionedas"Fixedradio
service"infrequencybandsfromVHFuptotensofGHz.
Inthefollowing,webrieflyreviewthemaincriteriaintheuseoffrequencybandsintherange160
GHz,forPPapplications.
Frequency Bands
TheTablebelowreportsthemainapplicationsofPPradiolinksoperatingindifferentfrequency
ranges.Thetypicalhoplengthsandthemostrelevantpropagationproblemsareindicated.
Frequency
TypicalHopLength
Band
<5GHz
5060km;
longhops
Propagation
Typical
Problems
Applications
Multipath (rainnot
significant).
Longhaulnetworks;
Multipath,raininsome
regions.
Longhaulnetworks.
>100km
511GHz
4050km
1215GHz
2040km
Multipathand rain.
Overtheseahops;hopswith
reducedclearance.
Shorthaulnetworks;
metropolitanlinks.
1720GHz
1020km
Rain.
Metropolitanlinks.
>20GHz
<10km
Rain,atmospheric
Accessnetworks;feederlinks
absorptionaround23and toBTS;
60GHz.
PMP; WLL(*).
(*) BTS=BaseTransceiverStationincellularnetworks;PMP=PointtoMultipointsystems; WLL=Wireless

LocalLoop.
Notethat,atfrequenciesabove15GHz, thehoplengthlimitationduetorainattenuationmakes
multipathoutagealmostnegligible,evenifmultipathpropagationshouldbeasignificantproblemon
longerhops.
Channel arrangements, ITU-R Recs.

Wenowconsiderfrequencyplanningtechniques,asimplementedforPPapplications,inthe
contextofdifferentnetworkmodelsandwithreferencetofrequencyplansrecommendedbyITUR..
Go - Return Frequency plans

Typically,PPradiolinksoperateforbidirectionalcommunications. Tothisend,themostcommon
techniqueistodivideafrequencyband,assignedtoPPradiosystems,intwosubbands(usually
withthesamebandwidth). Oneormoreradiochannelsinonesubbandareusedfortransmission
inonedirection,whilethecorrespondingradiochannel(s)intheothersubbandtransmit(s)inthe
oppositedirection.
Subdivisionoftheassignedbandwidthintwosubbands.
Thisexplainswhythetwosubbandsareoftenlabeledas"GO"and"RETURN"subbands,
respectively.
Inalonghaulnetworkmodeltheabovetechniqueisimplementedasshowninthefigurebelow.
Useofsubbandsinalonghaulnetwork(redarrowsforlowersubband,bluearrowsforuppersubband).
Agivensubbandisusedinaradiositefortransmissioninbothdirections.Theothersubbandis
usedforreceptiononly. Clearly,theconditionisreversedatthetwonearestsites.
So,thesamefrequencyisneverusedinaradiositeforbothtransmissionandreception,inany
direction. Thisavoidscomplexproblemsindecouplingreceiversandtransmitterslocatedatthe
samesite.
Inaradionode(orstarnetworkmodel)the"Go/Return"techniqueisimplementedasshownin
thefigurebelow.
Useofsubbandsinastarnetwork.
Theradionodetransmitsinagivensubbandandreceivesintheotherone. Allthesurrounding
sitesworkintheoppositecondition.
Interleaved and co-channel frequency arrangements

InaGoReturnfrequencyplan,eachsubbandisdividedinanumberofradiochannels.Theway
radiochannelsarepositionedineachsubbandiscalledan"RFchannelarrangement".
AnumberofITURRecommendationsdealwithfrequencyarrangementsinvariousfrequency
bands.
InanInterleavedFrequencyArrangementtheadjacentRFchannelsareallocatedonalternate
polarizations,asshowninthefigurebelow.
Interleavedfrequencyarrangement.
Thefrequencyarrangementisdefinedbythreeparameters:
X=channelspacingbetweencopolarchannels(thechannelspacingbetweencrosspolar
channelsisX/2);
Y=centralguardband(keyparametertodecoupleTxandRxsignalsataradiosite);
Z=edgeguardband(toavoidinterferencefrom/tootherradiosystemsinadjacent
frequencybands).
Ontheotherhand,inaCochannelFrequencyArrangement,asshowninthefigurebelow,the
adjacentRFchannelsareallocatedonboththeorthogonalpolarizations(H/V).
Cochannelfrequencyarrangement.
Asinthecaseoftheinterleavedplan,threeparameters(X,Y,Z)definethefrequency
arrangement. However,inthecochannelcase,Xis thechannelspacingbetweencopolarand
crosspolarchannels.
Comment
Analogradiosystemsweremainlydevelopedinfrequencybandsbelow12GHz,usingthe
interleaved frequencyarrangement,sinceanalogsignalsarenotsuitabletoacceptacochannel
interferenceonthesameradiohop.
Subsequently,thedevelopmentofdigitalradiosystems,mainlyinfrequencybandsabove12GHz,
suggestedtheadoptionofcochannelfrequencyplans,inordertogetahigherefficiencyinradio
spectrumutilization(moreradiochannelpackedinagivenfrequencyband).
Presently,thecochannelfrequencyarrangementisrecommendedforusewithdigitalsystems(as
analternativetotheinterleavedplan)alsoinseveralfrequencybandsbelow12GHz.
Interference classification
Theneedarisesofidentifyingvarioustypesofinterferingsignalsandclassifyingthemonthebasisof
differentcriteria. Thisallowsthedesignerofaradiosystemtoapplystandardprocedurestodeal
witheachclassofinterferingsignals.
Twoaspectsintheinterferencemechanismscanbeconsidered: thesourceoftheinterferingsignal
andtheimpactofpropagationconditions.
Source of Interference
AgeneralclassificationofInterferencesourcesis:
Internalinterference,whentheinterferingsignalisemittedbyatransmitterwhichispartof
thesameradiosystemoftheinterfered(victim)receiver.
Externalinterference,intheoppositecase(theinterferingsignalisemittedbyatransmitter
whichispartofadifferentradiosystem).
Usually,internalInterferenceinaradionetworkcanbewellestimated,sinceallthesystem
parametersareunderthecontrolofthenetworkdesigner.
Ontheotherhand,externalinterferenceismoredifficulttopredictindetail,sincenotallthe
technicaldataabouttheinterferingsystem(powerlevels,antennapointinganddiagrams,etc.)may
beavailableatthedesigneroftheinterfered(victim)system. So,inmostcases,external
interferenceistakenintoaccountwithsomeapproximationandincludingsomeconservative
margin.
CoordinationproceduresarerecommendedinsomecasesbyITURtoavoidinterferencebetween
differentradiosystems,sharingacommonfrequencyband.
Amorespecificclassificationofinterferencesourcesreferstothetransmitter/hop/radiosystem
emittingtheinterferingsignal:
CositeInterference(internalorexternal): Producedbytransmitterslocatedatthesame
radiositewheretheinterfered(victim)receiverislocated.
SameHopInterference(internalonly): Producedbytransmittersworkingonthesamehop
atthesamefrequency(cochannel,crosspol.interference)oratadjacentfrequencies(co
pol.orcrosspol.interference)withreferencetotheinterfered(victim)receiver.
InterferencefromotherPPHops(internalorexternal): Producedbytransmittersworking
onadifferentradiohop,atthesamefrequency(cochannelinterference)oratadjacent
frequencieswithreferencetotheinterfered(victim)receiver.
Interferencefromotherradiosystems(externalonly): Producedbytransmittersinradio
systemsotherthanPPsystems,sharingthesamefrequencybandwithPPsystems(e.g.
satellitesystems).
Propagation conditions
Anothercriteriontoclassifyinterferenceisrelatedtothepropagationconditionssufferedbythe
interferingsignal,comparedwiththepropagationconditionswhichaffecttheuseful(interfered)
signal. Weconsider:
CorrelatedInterference,whentheinterferingsignalsuffersthesamepropagation
impairmentastheusefulsignal. Specifically,inthecaseofrainevents,thishappenswhen
theusefulandtheinterferingpathsareidenticalorsoclosethattheyarebothaffectedbya
raincellinthesameway.
UncorrelatedInterference,whentheaboveconditionsarenotestablished,sothatwecan
assumethatadditionalattenuation(causedbymultipathorrain)affectsinadifferent
measuretheusefulandtheinterferingsignals. Asaworstcaseassumption,weconsider
thattheusefulsignalisreceivedatthethresholdlevel,whiletheinterferingsignalmaybe
receivedwithnoadditionalattenuation(nominalpowerlevel).
Correlated(1)anduncorrelated(2)interferencepathswhentheusefulpathisaffectedbyrain.
Insomecases,theterm"partiallycorrelated"willbeused,inparticularwhenmoreprecisemodels
areavailable(likeinthecaseof co-channel, cross-polarized same-hop interference,withrainor
multipathfading).
Thecorrelated/uncorrelatedinterferencemodelappearsasaratherapproximatedone(alsothe
term"correlated"isnotfullycorrect,asusedinthiscontext).However,evenaroughmodelisuseful
toanalyzetheinterferencescenarioinasimplewayandworstcaseassumptionsareoftenrequired
toevaluatethemostcriticalinterferenceeffects.
Anexampleofapossibleimplementationoftheraincorrelationmodelisgiveninthefigurebelow.
InterferingTxintheyellowregionproducesacorrelatedinterference;
intheblueandbrownregions,
clausesa)andb)belowarenotsatisfied,respectively;
(CD=CorrelationDistance).
Inthismodel,interferenceisassumedtobecorrelatedif:
1) Separationfromusefultransmitter(Tu)tointerferingpathisbelowagiven"Correlation
Distance"CD;
2) Interferingpathlengthisatleastequaltotheusefulpathlength.
Theaboverequirementsguaranteethattheinterferingsignaltravelsthroughthesameraincellas
theusefulsignal,alongapathnotshorterthantheusefulone.
Typicalvaluesof"CorrelationDistance"areintherange0.51.0km(thisisafractionofthe
expectedraincellsize).However,asuitablechoiceofcorrelationdistanceallowstoscalethemodel
tolocalrainconditions.Morespecifically,zerocorrelationdistanceforcesthemodeltoassumeas
correlatedonlytheinterferingsignalsemittedatthesameradiositeastheusefulsignal;thismaybe
anextremelyconservativeassumption.
Internal Interference sources

Inthissectionwelistanumberofinterferencesourceswhichmaybepresentasinternal
interferenceinPPradionetworks.
Foreachinterferingsignal,informationisgivenaboutfrequencyspacingandpolarization,usefulto
interferingsignaldecoupling,andabouttheeffectofpropagationconditions(rain,multipath)on
interferencecorrelationoruncorrelation.
Co-site Interference
Frequencyspacingandpolarization: centralguardband(minimumspacing);usuallycross
pol.channelsattheminimumspacing.
UsefultoInterferingsignaldecoupling: Tx&Rxsignalfiltering(NFD). Furtherdecoupling

dependingonTx/Rximplementation:ifTx&RXchannelsonthesameantenna,then
decouplingisproducedbythebranchingsystem;ifTx&RXchannelsonthedifferent
antennas,thendecouplingisgivenbythesidetosideantennadecoupling (seecomments
onantennafieldperformancevs.laboratorymeasurements).
Effectofpropagation:uncorrelatedinterferenceinanycase(rain,multipath).
SameHop - Cochannel,crosspolarizedsignal
UsefultoInterferingsignaldecoupling:onlyfromantennaXPD(crosspolarization
discrimination),zerofrequencyspacing,nofilteringeffect.
Raineffects: eveniftheusefulandtheinterferingsignalstravelalongthesamepath,so
thatattenuationiscorrelated,thereductionincrosspolardiscriminationduetorainmakes
theinterferencepartiallyuncorrelated.TherainXPDmodeldescribedinanothersession
givesapracticaltooltopredicttheoveralleffect.
Multipatheffects: partiallyuncorrelatedInterference,duetoXPDdegradationunder
multipathpropagation.Themultipathpredictionmodelgivesatooltoestimatetheoverall
effectofmultipathattenuationandXPDdegradation.
SameHop - Adjacentchannel,copolarizedsignal
UsefultoInterferingsignaldecoupling: Tx&Rxsignalfiltering(NFD),dependingontheRF
channelspacing.
Raineffects: correlatedInterference;
Multipatheffects: partiallyuncorrelatedinterference(theITURmultipathmodelsdonot
coverthistypeofinterference).
SameHop - Adjacentchannel,crosspolarizedsignal
UsefultoInterferingsignaldecoupling:onlyfromantennaXPD(crosspolarization
discrimination),zerofrequencyspacing,nofilteringeffect.
Raineffects: sameasfor co-channel, cross-polarized signal;
Multipatheffects: sameasfor co-channel, cross-polarized signal.
LonghaulNetworks - BackwardInterference
Frequencyspacingandpolarization: (usually)cochannel,crosspolar.
UsefultoInterferingsignaldecoupling:fromTxantennafronttobackdecoupling(see
commentsonantennafieldperformancevs.laboratorymeasurements).
Raineffects: correlatedinterference(samepathforusefulandinterferingsignals).
Multipatheffects: uncorrelatedInterference(usefulandinterferingtransmittersareco
located,butsignalsareemittedbydifferentantennas;equivalenttoaTxdiversitysystem).
Long-haul Networks - Forward Interference
Frequencyspacingandpolarization: (usually)cochannel,crosspolar.
UsefultoInterferingsignaldecoupling:fromRxantennafronttobackdecoupling(see
commentsonantennafieldperformancevs.laboratorymeasurements).
Raineffects: uncorrelatedinterference (differentpathsforusefulandinterferingsignals).
Multipatheffects: uncorrelatedInterference
LonghaulNetworks - OverreachInterference
Frequencyspacingandpolarization: cochannel,copolar.
UsefultoInterferingsignaldecoupling: TxandRxAntennaangulardiscrimination(ifhops
arenotaligned).AdditionalFreeSpaceLoss(interferingpathlength)
Raineffects: correlatedinterferenceinthecriticalcaseofalmostalignedhops.
Multipatheffects: uncorrelatedinterference.
StarNetworks - UplinkInterference
Frequencyspacingandpolarization: cochannel,copolar(worstcase).
UsefultoInterferingsignaldecoupling: Rx(node)antennaangulardiscrimination. Tx&Rx

signalfiltering(NFD)ifnotcochannel.
Raineffects: uncorrelatedInterference.
Multipatheffects: uncorrelatedInterference.
StarNetworks - DownlinkInterference
Frequencyspacingandpolarization: cochannel,copolar(worstcase).
UsefultoInterferingsignaldecoupling: Tx(node)antennaangulardiscrimination. Tx&Rx

signalfiltering(NFD)ifnotcochannel.
Raineffects: correlatedinterference.
Multipatheffects: uncorrelatedinterference.
Degradation due to Interference

Performancedegradationcausedbyinterferencecanbeevaluatedfollowingatwostepprocess:
Toestimatethepowerleveloftheinterferingsignalatthe(useful)receiverinput. The
interferingpowerisevaluatedundertwoalternativeassumptions:(1)usefulsignalreceived
atnominalpowerlevel; (2)usefulsignalreceivedatthresholdlevel.
Toestimatetheeffectofagiveninterferencepowerontheinterferedreceiver. This
dependsonanumberofsystemparameters,includingthereceiverthreshold,the
modulationformatandinterferencesensitivity.
Letusconsiderfourinterferenceclasses:
Samehopinterference: Degradationcausedbycochanneloradjacentchannelinterference
inthesameradiohopisusuallyincludedinoutagepredictionmodels. Thishasbeen
discussedinprevioussessions,inconnectionwith multipath propagation and rain
attenuation.
Cositeinterference(internalinterference): thisisusuallyconsideredaspartoftheradio
systemdesign;equipmentmanufacturergivesspecificationsabouttherequireddecoupling
betweenTxandRxradiochannels,forthesuggestedsystemconfigurations(TxandRx
channelsonthesameantennaoronseparateantennas).
Cositeinterference(externalinterference): inthiscase,coexistenceisrequiredofdifferent
radiosystemsandageneralanalysisisnotpossible.Highlevelinterferingsignals(evenata
quitedifferentfrequency)mayberesponsibleofanomalousreceiverresponse,related toRx
saturationandnonlinearity,intermodulation,spuriousemissions,etc. Thispointwillnotbe
consideredinthefollowing.
Interferencecomingfromotherradiohops: thiscaseisdiscussedbelow.
Interference power estimate

Thefiguredefinesthegeometricalparametersintheinterferencescenario.
InterferencefromsiteTitousefulreceiverRu:definitionofgeometricalparameters.
Asafirstapproach,the Basic Radio Link equation (usedtopredictRxpowerintheusefulhop)

givesanestimateofinterferencepowerIR attheusefulreceiverinput:
where: PIR =outputpower(dBm)attheinterferingTx;

GT()=Txantennagain(dB)inthedirectionoftheinterfered(victim)receiver;
GR()=Rxantennagain(dB)inthedirectionoftheinterferingtransmitter;
FSL= Free Space Loss (dB)overtheTI toRU path.
The Net Filer Discrimination (NFD) givesthemeasureoftheinterferingsignalattenuation,asa
resultoftheusefulreceiverselectivity. IftheinterferingsignalspectrumiswithintheRxfilter
passband,thenNFD=0dB.
Thesignaltointerferenceratio,undertheassumptionofnoadditionalattenuationoftheuseful
signal,isdefinedas"UnfadedS/I"(S/I)U andiscomputedas:
wherePR isthenominalusefulpoweratthereceiverinputandIR isgivenabove.
Similarly,thesignaltointerferenceratio,undertheassumptionthattheusefulsignalisatthe
thresholdlevel,isdefinedas"FadedS/I"(S/I)F. For uncorrelated interference (noattenuation
sufferedbytheinterferingsignal)itiscomputedas:
where: PTH =usefulreceiverthreshold;

FM=PR PTH =FadeMarginintheusefulhop.
Ontheotherhand,for correlated interference (sameattenuationontheusefulandinterfering
signals),wehave:
Uptonow,wehaveassumedthatnoobstructionexistsbetweentheinterferingTxandtheuseful
(victim)Rx. Iftheinterferingpathisnotperfectlyclear,aclearanceanalysisshouldbeperformed.
AmoregeneralapproachtopathlosspredictionforinterferingsignalsisgivenbyITURRec.P.452
("Predictionprocedurefortheevaluationofmicrowaveinterferencebetweenstationsonthe
surfaceoftheEarthatfrequenciesaboveabout0.7GHz").
Inthatrecommendation,allthepropagationmechanismswhichcancontributetointerference
powerreceptionattheuseful(victim)receiver,areconsidered:
lineofsight;
diffraction;
troposphericscatter;
surfaceandelevatedducting;
hydrometeorscatter.
Thisallowsaquitedetailedanalysisofinterferencelevels,whichcannotbesummarizedinthese
notes.
Effect of Interference
Theinterferenceeffectcanbeestimatedbyassumingthattheinterferencepowerisequivalentto
anadditionalnoisepoweratthereceiver.
Thisassumptionallowstopredictthereceiverperformancewithsatisfactoryapproximation,in
particularforadjacentchannelinterferenceandwhenwehavemultipleinterference. Inmostcases
itisonlyslightlypessimistic. Alternatively,forcochannelinterference,itmaybeadvisabletorefer
tothe measured Rx performance.
Thechartbelowgivesagraphicalinterpretationofthresholddegradationcausedbythecombined
impairmentofnoiseandinterference.
IncreaseofRxthresholdpowerduetothecombineddisturbanceofnoiseandinterferencepower.
TheoverallresultofaninterferingsignalonsystemperformanceistoshifttheBERvs.Rxpower
curvetotheright,asinthefigurebelow.
BERvs.Rxpowerwithout(A)andwith(B)thepresenceofinterference; =Rxthresholddegradation.
ThetwocurvesallowtoestimatetheperformancedegradationforanyBERvalue. Notethatthe
figureabovereferstoaninterferingsignal,withgivenC/Iratio,modulationformatandfrequency
spacing.
End of Section #7
SECTION 8 ITU OBJECTIVES

Summary
InthisSessionITUperformanceobjectivesarediscussed.Undersomeaspectsthematterisrather
complex,soabriefhistoryandoverviewofITUrecommendationsisfirstpresented. Then,more
detailsaregivenaboutITUTandITURerrorperformanceandavailabilityobjectivesandthemost
significantpointsofrelevantrecommendationsareoutlined. Finally,theimpactofpropagation
impairmentsonobjectivecomplianceisdiscussed.
Overview
Inrecentyears,InternationalTelecommunicationUnion(ITU)committeesproducedseveral
RecommendationstosetPerformanceObjectivesforTelecommunicationSystems. Itisnotalways
easytounderstandhowdifferentrecommendationsarelinkedtogetherandwhichisthecorrectone
toreferinparticularcases.
Inthefollowingsections,wetrytogiveabriefreviewofITUperformanceobjectivesandsome
simpleindicationontheuseofITURecs,evenifitwillnotbepossibletogoindetailsaboutmany
relatedquestions.
ITU-T and ITU-R Recommendations

DealingwithITUperformanceobjectives,itisusefultoclarifytheroleofITUTandITUR,inthe
frameworkofITUactivities.
ITUTismainlyinvolvedinregulatingtheendtoendserviceandperformanceof
telecommunicationnetworksandsystems. Ontheotherhand,ITURisdevotedtoradiosystems
only(notlimitedtocommunicationssystems,butincludingradioastronomy,earthmonitoring,etc.).
Asaconsequence,theITUTrecommendationsonperformanceobjectivesare"mediaindependent
",thatistheyareaddressedtotheendtoendperformanceofatelecommunicationlink,
independentlyofthetransmissionsystem(s)used(cable,fiber,orradio).
ITURrecommendationsonperformanceobjectivesrefertoradiocommunicationsonly. They
derivefrom(andmustbeinagreementwith)ITUTrecommendations,sincealinkregulatedbyITU
Tmaybeimplemented(partiallyortotally)usingradiorelaysystems.
Unavailability and Error Performance Objectives
ITUobjectivesareorganizedas:
Unavailabilityobjectives:theyrefertoconditionsrequiredtogetanoperatinglink; in
generalterms,wecanstatethatunavailabilityiscausedbyequipmentfailuresorbyother
eventsthatproduceanenduringlossofsignaloranunacceptablesignaldegradation.
ErrorPerformance(quality)objectives:theyrefertothereceivedsignalqualityand
are evaluatedduringtheavailabletimeonly. Sothedefinitionofunavailabilityis
fundamentalbothforerrorperformanceandforunavailabilityevaluation.
TestingthecomplianceofagiventelecommunicationlinkwithITUobjectives,weneed:
firsttoidentifyunavailabilityperiodsandchecktheUnavailabilityObjectives;
thentochecktheErrorPerformanceObjectivesduringavailabletime.
A brief history and overview of ITU Recs

TherecenthistoryofITUperformanceRecsstartswiththeapprovalofITUTRec.G.821,attheend
of70's.
Atthattime,telecommunicationsystemsweremainlyaddressedtothetelephone(voice)service
anddigitaltransmissionwasalmostexclusivelybasedonthe64kbit/sPCMchannel.Dataservices
wereexpectedtogrowthroughISDNnetworks,againbasedonthe64kbit/schannel.
Forthatreason,alsoperformanceobjectivesinG.821makereferencetothe64kbit/schannel(or
multiples,butanywaybelowthe primary rate),withoutconsideringtheactualbitrateof
transmittedsignals.
ErrorPerformanceandAvailabilityobjectives,derivedbyITURfromG.821, applytobitratesbelow
theprimaryrate.Suitableruleshavebeenusedtotranslateerrorperformancemeasurements
obtainedatthesystembitratetothe64kbit/slevel.
SuchproblemswerenotsolveduntilITUTRec.G.826wasapproved(1990). Thenew
recommendationintroducestwosignificantmodifications,withrespecttoG.821:
objectivesapplyatthe system bit rate,notonthe64kbit/schannel;
performanceparametersarenolongerbasedonbiterrorrate(BER),butonerrored blocks.
ThewholesetofITURRecs.hadtoberevised.Asafirststep,tworecommendationswere
approved(F.1092andF.1189),whichapplytothenationalandinternationalportionof
the Hypothetical Reference Path (HRP).
Thepracticaluseoftheserecommendationswasnotstraightforward,sincetheHRPconceptdoes
notmatchcloselywithnetworkconfigurationsfoundintherealworld.
Atthesametime,intheITUTenvironment,itwasrecognizedtheneedforperformanceobjectives
specificallyissuedforSDHnetworks. ITUTRec.G.828wasapprovedintheyear2000anddefines
errorperformanceobjectivesforSDHpath.
ToclarifytheapplicabilityofG.826andG.828toSDHsystems,wequotefromG.828:"... this
RecommendationistheonlyRecommendationrequiredfordesigningtheerrorperformanceof
synchronousdigitalpaths.(...)ItisnotrequiredtoapplythisRecommendationtoSDHpathsusing
equipmentdesignedpriortotheadoptionofRecommendationG.828inMarch2000.Performance
objectivesforpathsusingequipmentdesignedpriortothisdatearegiveninRecommendation
G.826."
ITURRecs.F.1397andF.1491takeaccountofbothG.826andG.828andapply,respectively, to
internationalandnationalrealradiolinks.Thetworecs.finallymergedasITURRec.F.1668,with
minormodifications,mainlyaddressedtoclarifytherecommendationscope("...Itistheonly
Recommendationdefiningerrorperformanceobjectivesforallrealdigitalfixedwirelesslinks.
Performanceeventsandobjectivesforconnectionsusingequipmentdesignedpriortoapprovalof
[revised]ITUTRecommendationG.826inDecember2002aregiveninITUTRecommendation
G.821andRecommendationsITURF.634,ITURF.696andITURF.697.").
TheTablebelowgivesasummaryoftheevolutionofsignificantITUTandITURrecommendations.
ITUTRec.
ITURRec.
Applicableto
G.821(1978)
F.594
HRDP
G.821(1978)
F.634,F.696,F.697
Reallinks(64kbit/sch.)
G.826(1990)
F.1092,F.1189
HRP
G.826/G.828(2000)
F.1397,F.1491
Reallinks(PDH,SDH)
G.826/G.828(Rev.2002)
F.1668(200407)
Reallinks(PDH,SDH)
(64kbit/sch.)
(PDH,SDH)
Evolution ofITUTandITURerrorperformanceRecs.
Definitions
Primaryrate: thefirstlevelofPCMmultiplexing (thatisE1rate=2.048Mbit/sinEuropeandother

countries;T1rate=1.544Mbit/sintheUSAandothercountries).
Systembitrate: thegrossbitrateofthetransmittedsignal,aftermultiplexingoperationand
includinganyserviceandcontrollingbits.
BlockAllowance: acomponentoftheoverallthresholdobjective,whichisallocatedindependently
oftheconnectionlength.
Block(ofbits): asetofconsecutivebitsassociatedwiththesignalpath.
HypotheticalReferenceConnection(HRX): usedinthecontextofITUTG.821,a27,500kmlink
includinganinternationalportion(HighGradeobjectives)andNationalportions(High,Medium,and
LocalGradeobjectives).
HypotheticalReferencePath(HRP): usedinthecontextofITUTG.826,a27,500kminternational
linkincludingthetwoterminalcountriesanduptofourintermediatecountries.
HypotheticalReferenceDigitalPath(HRDP): usedinthecontextofITURF.594,a2,500kmradio
link,subdividedinradiosectionsofatleast280km.
Finally,wenotethattheword"Path",asusedinthecontextofITURRecs.F.1668andF.1703,as
wellasinITUTRec.G.826,hasdifferentmeaningwithrespecttotheuseinradiolinkdesign.As
showninthefigurebelow,aPathismadeofoneormultipleDigitalLinks,implementedinFixed
Wireless(Radio)orFiberOpticstechnologies.
A fixed wireless link forming a portion of a path\
Advanced - ITU-T Error Performance Recs.

G.821 - ITUTRec.G.821defineserrorperformanceparametersandobjectivesofa Hypothetical
Reference Connection (HRX),atabitratebelowthe primary rate.
TheerrorperformanceobjectivesarestatedforeachdirectionofaNx64kbit/sconnection(1 N
32or24chs.),independentlyofthetransmissionmedium.
Thefollowingerrorperformanceeventsandparametersaredefined:
ErroredSecond(ES) : aonesecondperiodinwhichoneormorebitsareinerror.
SeverelyErroredSecond(SES) : aonesecondperiodwhichhasaBER 103.
ErroredSecondRatio(ESR) : theratioofEStototalsecondsinavailabletimeduringafixed
measurementinterval.
SeverelyErroredSecondRatio(SESR) : theratioofSEStototalsecondsinavailabletime
duringafixedmeasurementinterval.
Theendtoenderrorperformanceobjectivesforthe27500kmHypotheticalReferenceConnection
(HRX)aregivenintheTablebelow,referringtothethreeclasses(high-, medium- and localgrade).
ESR
SESR
EndtoEnd
<0.08
<0.002
Highgrade
0.032
0.0004 (1)
Mediumgrade
0.012
0.00015 (1)
Localgrade
0.012
0.00015
(1)Forradiorelaysystemsablockallowanceof0.0005 SESR canbeaddedtoa2500kmHRDP

G.821errorperformanceobjectives.
G.826 - ITUTRec.G.826defineserrorperformanceparametersandobjectivesofa Hypothetical

Reference Path (HRP),forinternationalConstantBitRate(CBR)digitalpathsatorabovethe
primaryrate.
Therecommendationisapplicabletoeachdirectionofthe27500kmHRP.ItappliesaswellforPDH,
SDHandcellbasednetworks. Itisindependentofthetransmissionmedium.
TheimportantdifferencebetweenITUTRec.G.821andITUTRec.G.826isthatinG.826the
parametersarebasedonerrored blocks andnotonerroredbits.
TheparametersdefinedinITUTRec.G.826arebasedonthefollowingevents:
ErroredBlock(EB) : ablockinwhichoneormorebitsareinerror.
ErroredSecond(ES): aonesecondperiodwithoneormoreerroredblocks.
SeverelyErroredSecond(SES): aonesecondperiodwhichcontainsmorethan30%errored
blocksoratleastonedefectinthereceivedsignal.
BackgroundBlockError(BBE): anerroredblocknotoccurringaspartofanSES.
Thefollowingerrorperformanceparametersaredefined:
ErroredSecondRatio(ESR): theratioofEStototalsecondsinavailabletimeduringafixed
measurementinterval.
SeverelyErroredSecondRatio(SESR): theratioofSEStototalsecondsinavailabletime
duringafixedmeasurementinterval.
BackgroundBlockErrorRatio(BBER)): theratioofBBEtototalblocksinavailabletime
duringafixedmeasurementinterval.Thecountoftotalblocksexcludesallblocksduring
SESs.
Theendtoenderrorperformanceobjectivesfora27500kmHRParespecifiedintheTablebelow.
Thepathfailstomeettheerrorperformancerequirementsifanyoftheobjectivesisnotmet.
Mbit/s
Bits/Block
ESR
SESR
BBER
1.55
8005000
0.04
0.002
2x104
>515
20008000
0.05
0.002
2x104
>1555
400020000
0.075
0.002
2x104
>55160
600020000
0.16
0.002
2x104
>160
1500030000
t.b.d.
0.002
1x104
G.826endtoenderrorperformanceobjectives.
Thesuggestedmeasurementintervalisonemonth.Forradiorelaysystemstheobjectivesshouldbe
respectedforanymonth.
Theendtoendobjectivesaredividedintoonenationalportionandoneinternationalportion. The
allocationrulesarerathercomplexandarebasedonablockallocationandadistanceallocation
(multiplesof500km). EachNationalPortionisallocatedatleasta17.5%oftheendtoend
objectives.
G.828 - ITUTRec.G.828defineserrorperformanceparametersandobjectivesforSDHsystems
only(applicationofG.826andG.828wasdiscussedabove). G.828usestheerrorperformance
eventsandparametersasdefinedbyRec.G.826.Twoadditionaldefinitionsare:
SeverelyErroredPeriod(SEP): asequenceofbetween3to9consecutiveSES;thesequence
isterminatedbyasecondwhichisnotaSES
SeverelyErroredPeriodIntensity(SEPI): thenumberofSEPeventsinavailabletimedivided
bythetotalavailabletimeinseconds
TheendtoendobjectivesdefinedbyITUTRec.G.828fora27500kmHRPintermsoftheerror
parameters(ESR,SESR,BBER)areshownintheTablebelow(SEPIobjectivesarenotindicated,since
furtherstudyisrequired).
Bitrate(Mbit/s)
Blocks/s
ESR
SESR
BBER
1,664
2000
0.01
0.002
5x105
2,240
2000
0.01
0.002
5x105
6,848
2000
0.01
0.002
5x105
48,960
8000
0.02
0.002
5x105
150,336
8000
0.04.
0.002
1x104
601,344
8000
Notspec.
0.002
1x104
G.828endtoenderrorperformanceobjectives.
Theobjectivesapplicabletoarealpatharederivedusingallocationprinciplesforinternationaland
nationalportions. Again,thisisbasedonblockallocationandondistanceallocation(multiplesof
100km).
Advanced - Error performance in a radio link

ITURRecsonerrorperformance,derivedbyITUTRecsintroducedintheprevioussection,arenow
discussed.
Error objectives for real links using equipment designed prior to approval of
[revised] ITU-T Recommendation G.826 in December 2002
The error performance objectives for real links are based on ITU-T Rec. G.821, using the same
definitions of Errored Second Ratio (ESR) and of Severely Errored Second Ratio (SESR). They apply
to bit rate below the primary rate and are specified in three ITU-R recommendations, referring to
high-, medium- and local-grade, respectively.
AsummaryisgivenintheTablebelow.
ESR
SESR
EndtoEnd
<0.08
<0.002
Highgrade(1)
0.0032x
0.00054x
ITURRec.F.634
L/2500
L/2500
Mediumgrade
0.012
0.0004
0.012
0.00015
ITURRec.F.696
Localgrade
ITURRec.F.697
(1) Length L (km) in the range 280 to 2500 km. For L < 280 km, a linear scaling can be used.
Errorperformanceobjectivesforrealdigitalradiorelaysystems,belowtheprimaryrate.
Error objectives for real digital fixed wireless links in 27500 km HRP and connections (equipment
designed after approval of [revised] ITU-T Recommendation G.826 in December 2002)
ITU-R Rec. F.1668 gives the performance objectives both for the international portion and for
national connections of a real link. For international portions of HRP, distinction has to be made
between terminating countries and transit (or intermediate) countries.
Moreover,wedistinguishPDHandSDHsystems,referringtoITUTRecs. G.826 and G.828,
respectively.
ForinternationalportionsofHRP, ErrorPerformanceObjectives(EPO)areexpressedbyageneral
formula:
EPO= B (Llink / LR)+ C
where:
EPOcanbereplacedbySESR,ESR,orBBER,asappropriate;
B,Carenumericalvalues,giveninRec.F.1668tables;
Llink isthelinklength;
LR isthereferencelength(2500km).
TheSEPIparameter,whichisdefinedbyITUTG.828,isignored.Thereasonisthatnopropagation
modeltopredictSEPIispresentlyavailableandtheneedforSEPIobjectivesisstillunderstudy.
Applicationofthegeneralformulagivenaboveleadstotheresultsshowninthetablesbelow. In
thatformula,BandCarefunctionsofparameterBR (=blockallowanceratio),tobeselectedbythe
networkoperator,intherange0to1. That'swhyalltheobjectivesarenotexpressedasasingle
value,butasarange,correspondingtoBR=0andBR=1.
Twolinklengths(L1,L2)areconsideredinthetables;foranyotherlength(inthe50to2500km
range),thefollowingrulesmustbeapplied:
uptoL1,theobjectiveisproportionaltothelinklength;
foralengthbetweenL1andL2,theobjectiveiscomputedbylinearinterpolation.
Bitrate
Length
ES
SES
BBER
(Mbit/s)
[km]
[s/month]
[s/month]
(x106 )
1,664
1000
5201040
104208
1.02.0
(VC11,TC11)
2500
13001820
260364
2.53.5
2,240
1000
5201040
104208
1.02.0
(VC12,TC12)
2500
13001820
260364
2.53.5
6,848
1000
5201040
104208
1.02.0
(VC2,TC2)
2500
13001820
260364
2.53.5
48,960
1000
10402080
104208
1.02.0
(VC3,TC3)
2500
26003640
260364
2.53.5
150,336
1000
20804160
104208
2.04.0
(VC4,TC4)
2500
52007280
260364
5.07.0
F.1668errorperformanceobjectivesforSDHinternationallinks,intermediatecountries.
Bitrate
Length
ES
SES
BBER
(Mbit/s)
[km]
[s/month]
[s/month]
(x106 )
Belowprimaryrate
1000
20804160
104208
4.08.0
2500
52007280
260364
10.014.0
1000
20804160
104208
4.08.0
2500
52007280
260364
10.014.0
1000
26005200
104208
4.08.0
2500
65009100
260364
10.014.0
1000
39007800
104208
4.08.0
2500
975013650
260364
10.014.0
1000
832016640
104208
4.08.0
2500
2080029120
260364
10.014.0
1000
NOT
104208
4.08.0
2500
Applicable
260364
10.014.0
1.55
>515
>1555
>55160
>160400
F.1668errorperformanceobjectivesforPDHinternationallinks,intermediatecountries.
Bitrate
Length
ES
SES
BBER
(Mbit/s)
[km]
[s/month]
[s/month]
(x106 )
1,664
500
260520
52104
0.51.0
(VC11,TC11)
2500
13001560
260312
2.53.0
2,240
500
260520
52104
0.51.0
(VC12,TC12)
2500
13001560
260312
2.53.0
6,848
500
260520
52104
0.51.0
(VC2,TC2)
2500
13001560
260312
2.53.0
48,960
500
5201040
52104
0.51.0
(VC3,TC3)
2500
26003120
260312
2.53.0
150,336
500
10402080
52104
1.02.0
(VC4,TC4)
2500
52006240
260312
5.06.0
F.1668errorperformanceobjectivesforSDHinternationallinks,terminatingcountries.
Bitrate
Length
ES
SES
BBER
(Mbit/s)
[km]
[s/month]
[s/month]
(x106 )
Belowprimaryrate
1000
20804160
104208
4.08.0
2500
52007280
260364
10.014.0
500
20804160
52104
2.04.0
2500
52006240
260312
10.012.0
500
26005200
52104
2.04.0
2500
65007800
260312
10.012.0
500
39007800
52104
2.04.0
2500
975011700
260312
10.012.0
500
832016640
52104
2.04.0
2500
2080024960
260312
10.012.0
1000
NOT
104208
4.08.0
2500
Applicable
260364
10.014.0
1.55
>515
>1555
>55160
>160400
F.1668errorperformanceobjectivesforPDHinternationallinks,terminatingcountries.
Notethat,whileESRandBBERobjectivesaredependentonthebitrate,theSESRobjectiveis
applicabletoanyrate(from1.5to160Mbit/s)anditiscommontoSDHandPDHsystems.
ThefigurebelowgivesanexamplereferringtothesignificantcaseofSESRobjectiveforSDHorPDH
links.
SESobjectiveforSDHandPDHinternationallinks(Rec.F.1397).A)BlockAllowanceBR =0,Intermediateand
terminatingcountries. B)BR =1,terminatingcountries. C)BR =1,intermediatecountries.
ForthenationalportionofHRPorconnections, ITU-R Rec. F.1668 givestheperformance

objectivesforthenationalportionofareallink,whichisdividedin3sections:
thelonghaulsection(fromtheInternationalGatewaytothePrimary,Secondary,orTertiary
Center);
theshorthaulsection(fromthePrimary,Secondary,orTertiaryCentertotheLocal
Exchange);
theaccesssection(fromtheLocalExchangetothe pathendpoint).
Forlonghaulsections,theobjectivesarelistedintheTablesbelow. AparameterA1(=block
allowanceforlonghaulsections)islefttobeselectedbythenetworkoperator,intherange1%to
2%.That'swhyalltheobjectivesarenotexpressedasasinglevalue,butasarange,corresponding
toA1=0.01andA1=0.02.
Twolinklengths(L1,L2)areconsideredinthetables;foranyotherlength(inthe50to2500km
range),thefollowingrulesmustbeapplied:
uptoL1,theobjectiveisproportionaltothelinklength;
foralengthaboveL1,theobjectiveiscomputedbylinearinterpolationorextrapolationof
thevaluesgivenforL1andL2.
Bitrate
Length ES
SES
BBER
(Mbit/s)
[km]
[s/month]
[s/month]
(x106 )
1,664
100
312572
62114
0.61.1
VC11,TC11)
1000
7801040
156208
1.52.0
2,240
100
312572
62114
0.61.1
(VC12,TC12)
1000
7801040
156208
1.52.0
6,848
100
312572
62114
0.61.1
(VC2,TC2)
1000
7801040
156208
1.52.0
48,960
100
6241044
62114
0.61.1
(VC3,TC3)
1000
15602080
156208
1.52.0
150,336
100
12482088
62114
1.22.2
(VC4,TC4)
1000
31204160
156208
3.04.0
F.1668errorperformanceobjectivesforSDHlinksinthelonghaulnetwork.
Bitrate
Length ES
SES
BBER
(Mbit/s)
[km]
[s/month]
[s/month]
(x106 )
below
100
12482088
62114
NOT
primaryrate
1000
31204160
156208
Applicable
1.55
100
12482088
62114
2.44.4
1000
31204160
156208
6.08.0
100
15602610
62114
2.44.4
1000
39005200
156208
6.08.0
100
23403915
62114
2.44.4
1000
58507800
156208
6.08.0
100
49928352
62114
2.44.4
1000
1248016640
156208
6.08.0
100
NOT
62114
1.22.2
1000
Applicable
156208
3.04.0
>515
>1555
>55160
>160400
F.1668errorperformanceobjectivesforPDHlinksinthelonghaulnetwork.
Theerrorobjectivesforlonghaulsectionsarethesamedefinedfortheinternationalportion.
Forshorthaulandaccesssections,theobjectivesarelistedintheTablesbelow. Blockallowances
forshorthaulsectionsandforaccesssectionsareparameterslefttothenetworkoperator,inthe
range7.5%to8.5%. That'swhyalltheobjectivesarenotexpressedasasinglevalue,butasarange,
correspondingtoblockallowance0.075and0.085.
Bitrate
ES
SES
BBER
(Mbit/s)
[s/month]
[s/month]
(x106 )
1,664
19502210
390442
3.754.25
19502210
390442
3.754.25
19502210
390442
3.754.25
39004420
390442
3.754.25
78008840
390442
7.508.50
(VC11,TC11)
2,240
(VC12,TC12)
6,848
(VC2,TC2)
48,960
(VC3,TC3)
150,336
(VC4,TC4)
F.1668errorperformanceobjectivesforSDHlinksintheshorthauloraccessnetwork.
Bitrate
ES
SES
BBER
(Mbit/s)
[s/month]
[s/month]
(x106 )
below
78008840
390442
NOTApplicable
1.55
78008840
390442
15.017.0
>515
975011050
390442
15.017.0
>1555
1462516575
390442
15.017.0
>55160
3120035360
390442
15.017.0
>160400
>160400
>160400
>160400
primaryrate
F.16681errorperformanceobjectivesforPDHlinksintheshorthauloraccessnetwork.
Again,wenotethat,whileESRandBBERobjectivesaredependentonthebitrate,theSESR
objectiveisapplicabletoanyrate(from1.5to400Mbit/s)anditiscommontoSDHandPDH
systems.
Practical rules in applying ITU-R Recs

TwoproblemsmayariseinapplyingITURRecsF.1397andF.1668:
selectingtouseSDHorPDHobjectives;
apportioningsectionobjectivesonasinglehoporonadistancebasis.
How to identify SDH and PDH sections - Practicalrulesare:
aradiolinkcomposedbytwoterminalswithopticalandelectricalSTMNinterfaceisaSDH
section,soSDHobjectivesshallbeused.
aradiolinkcomposedbytwoterminalswithopticalorelectricalPDHinterfaceatboth
terminalisaPDHsection,independentlyfromtheratecarriedovertheradiochannel,sothe
PDHobjectivesshallbeused.
aradiolinkcomposedbyoneterminalwithopticalorelectricalPDHinterfaceandone
terminalwithSTMninterfaceisaSDHsection,sotheSDHobjectivesshallbeused.
How to apportion Section objectives to each hop - Performanceobjectivesgivenby

ITURRecsapplytotheoveralllink,eveninthecaseofmultikoplinks.Allocationoftheobjectivesto
eachhopisundertheresponsibilityofthenetworkoperator.
Thenetworkoperatorcanallocateobjectivesinawayproportionaltothehoplengths,ordifferent
criteriacanbefollowed,toovercomeparticularproblems.Thisgivesthenetworkoperatorsome
flexibilityinlinkdesign.
Notethatmultipathpropagationmodelsindicatethatpredictedoutageisnotproportionaltothe
hoplength,butapproximatelytothethirdpowerofthehoplength.
Asanexample,letussupposethatathreehoplinkhastobedesigned,withoneovertheseahop.
Thedesignerisfreetodecidetoallocatemostoftheoverallobjectivetothehopoverthesea(in
ordertoreducecostandtoovercomepropagationproblems),whiletheobjectivesassignedtothe
othertwohopsarelessthenproportionaltothehoplengths.
How to apportion Short-haul or Access section objectives on a distance

basis - ObjectivesforshorthaulandaccesssectionsaregivenbyITURRec.F.1668(national
portion)onablockallowancebasis(independentonsectionlength).
Objectiveapportioningonadistancebasisislefttothenetworkoperator. Thisismainlybasedon
thefactthattheapportioningprocessisstronglydependenton:
networkarchitecture,networkprotectionpolicy,maintenancepolicy,etc.;
accessnetworkstructure(fromhighdensityurbanenvironmenttoruralenvironments);
guaranteedQualityofService.
Alltheabovefactorsaredefinedormanagedbythenetworkoperator.
Thesuggestedprocedureistoidentifya"typical"lengthofshorthauloraccesssectionsandthento
usethetypicallengthtoscaledowntheobjectivesforsectionsofanylength.
Advanced - Unavailability Objectives
UnavailabilityisdefinedbyITUTRec.G.826. Anunavailabilityperiodbeginswhentenconsecutive
SESeventsareobserved(thetensecondsarepartoftheunavailabilityperiod).Whenten
consecutivenonSESeventsareobserved,theunavailabilityperiodcloses(thetensecondsarepart
ofthenewavailabilityperiod).
TheSESdefinition isthesamegiveninthecontextofErrorPerformanceRecs.
ITU-T Recs. G.826 and G.827

Thefollowingavailabilityparametersaredefinedby ITUTRec.G.826:
Availabilityratio(AR) : ratioof totalavailabletimetothedurationoftheobservation

period;
Meantimebetweenoutages(Mo) : averagedurationofanycontinuousintervalduring
whichthelinkisavailable.
TheUnavailabilityRatio(UR)isthecomplementaryparametertoAR,sothat AR+UR=1.
FromtheMoparameter,the "OutageIntensity"(OI)isderivedas:
OIexpressestheaveragenumberofunavailabilityperiodsinoneyear.MoandOIhavebeen
recentlyintroduced;thisnewparametersareneededsincetheQualityofServicemaybeaffected
notonlybythetotalunavailabletime,butalsobythenumberofunavailabilityperiods.
AvailabilityobjectivesforInternationalandNationaldigitalsystemsaregivenbyITUTRec.G.827,
asmediaindependentobjectives. Twotypesofobjectivesarespecified:
meanvalues,thatistheensembleaverageofallpathsofagivencategoryinacountry;
worstcasevalues,thatistheminimumacceptablevalueforindividualpaths.
Theobjectivesapplytoobservationperiodsofoneyear.Theyareintendedforthefollowing
purposes:
Networkdesign/planning: bothmeanandworstcaseobjectivesareappropriate;
Operationalobjectives: worstcaseobjectivesareappropriateandareapplicabletoeach
individualpath.
RadioLinkAvailabilityObjectives
InapplyingthemostrecentITUTavailabilityrecstoradiolinks,thefollowingpointshavebeen
takenintoaccount:
Radiopropagationmodelsallowtoevaluateworstcaseperformancepredictions.So,ITUR
recommendsworstcaseobjectivesonlyandthemeanvalueobjectives,asgivenbyITUT
G.827,arenotconsidered.
IfavailabilityobjectivesforradiosystemswerescaledfromITUTRec.G.827,thenprevious
ITURobjectiveswouldberelaxedinsomemeasure.Therefore,itwasdecidedtobe
coherentwithprevious(morestringent)figures,eveninthecontextofnewrecs.
UnavailabilityobjectivesforNationallinks(inthelonghaul,shorthaul,andaccessnetworks),as
recommendedbyITURRec.F.1703,areshowninthefigurebelow(insteadoftheURparameter,
theobjectiveisexpressedinhoursperyear).
Unavailabilityobjective(Rec.F.1703).A)Longhaulsections. B)Shorthaulsections.C) Accesssections.
TheOutageIntensity(OI)objectiveisreportedintheTablebelow(inlonghaulsections,the
objectiveforlengthbetween250and2500kmcanbecomputedbylinearinterpolationofthevalues
inthetable).
Length
OI
[km]
[events/year]
250
65
2500
155
Shorthaul
100
Access
120
Section
Longhaul
F.1703outageintensity(OI)objectives.
UnavailabilityobjectivesforInternationallinksaregivenbyITURRec.F.1703andarethesameas
forlonghaulnetworksinthenationalportion(seethepreviousfigureandtable;linearextrapolation
foranysectionlengthexceeding2500km).
Forpracticalapplicationofavailabilityobjectives,twopointshavetobeconsidered:
availabilityobjectivesshouldbepartitionedinordertotakeintoaccountunavailability
eventsduetopropagation,equipmentfailures,humaninterventionsandothercauses;
forthecasewhentheradiolinkiscomposedofmorethanonehop,theobjectivesare
applicableforthewholelink.Thescalingofobjectivestoeachindividualhopisunderthe
networkoperatorresponsibility.
Advanced - BER vs. Errored Blocks Performance Parameters

Asdiscussedintheprevioussections,SDHperformanceparametersdefinedbyG.826andG.828are
basedonerroredblocksandhavethemeritofreferringtotheactualsystembitrate,nottothe64
kbit/schannel.Soitispossibletotestradiolinktransmissionqualitybymeansofmeasurementsat
thesystembitrate;tothisend,suitablemeasurementequipmentisavailable.
However,undertheperformancepredictionpointofview(asdiscussedinpreviouschaptersfor
multipath,rain,andinterferenceimpairments),referenceisusuallymadetoreceivedBitErrorRate
(BER)andpredictionsareexpressedasprobability(timepercentage)ofBERhigherthanagiven
threshold.
ITURRec.F.1605providesatheoreticalframeworktorelateBERtotheerrorperformance
eventsES,SESandBBEbasedonerroredblocks(EBs)andusedtodefineSDHperformance
parametersandobjectives.Tothisend,Rec.F.1605definesaspecificBERthreshold(calledBERSES)
satisfyingthefollowingequivalence:
Prob{BER>BERSES}=SESR
TheaboveformulameansthatwecancomputeSESRastheprobability(percentageoftime)with
BERhigherthanBERSES(weareabletodothisaccordingtomultipathandrainmodelsgivenin
previouschapters).
BERSESvaluesaregiveninRec.F.1605forthevariousSDHcapacities
Capacity
Bits / Block
Block / s
Bit Rate
BERSES
SDH VC-11
832
2000
1.5Mb/s
5.4e-4
SDH VC-12
1120
2000
2Mb/s
4.0e-4
SDH VC-2
3424
2000
6Mb/s
1.3e-4
SDH VC-3
6120
8000
34Mb/s
6.5e-5
SDH VC-4
18792
8000
140Mb/s
2.1e-5
SDH STM-1 (*)
19940
8000
155 Mb/s
2.3e-5
801
192000
155 Mb/s
2.33e-4
(8000 blocks/s)
SDH STM-1 (*)
(192000 blocks/s)
(*)ITUTRec.G.829recommends192000blocks/sonly,butsomeequipmentisdesignedfor8000blocks/s
ThesameapproachisalsoappliedtoPDH,usingtheBERSESvalue(seetableabove)corresponding
totransmissionrateclosesttothatofthePDHsystem.
Moreover,stepbystepproceduresaregivenbyRec.F.1605tocomputeESRandBBER,starting
fromperformancepredictionsintheform:
Prob{BER>BERXN}
whereBERXNaresuitableBERthresholds.
Inconclusion,predictionmodelsformultipathandrainimpairments,giveninITURRec.P.530and
leadingtotheestimateofProb{BER>Threshold},canbeusedtopredictcompliancewithITU
objectives.
Objectives vs. Propagation impairments

Finally,wetrytoidentifyhowpropagationimpairments,discussedinprevioussessions,mayaffect
thecompliancewithperformanceobjectives.
TheTablebelowindicatestheexpecteddurationofsystemdegradation,causedbyvarious
propagationevents. Basedondegradationperiod,therelevantperformanceobjectiveisidentify.
Propagation
Degradation
Impairment
Period
MultipathFading
<10seconds
ShortTerm
Performance
Objective
ErrorPerformance
(SESR)
UncorrelatedInterf.
Rain
10seconds
Availability
Permanent
ErrorPerformance
ObstructionFading
(SubRefractivity)
Interference
(SuperRefractivity)
LongTerm
CorrelatedInterf.
(ESRandBBER)
Relationbetweenpropagationimpairmentsandapplicableperformanceobjectives.
Thisclassification,evenifitisratherrough,isquiteusefultohavepracticalobjectivesinthesystem
designstage,sothatwecancompareperformancepredictionsbasedonpropagationmodelsto
objectivessetbyITURecs.
Inthemostsimplifyingterms,referringtothemainpropagationimpairments,rainoutage
predictionswillbecomparedtounavailabilityobjectives,whilemultipathoutagepredictionswillbe
comparedtoerrorperformance(quality)objectives.
EndofSection#8
HERALD LAB
Working with HERALD Lab
TheHERALDLabhasbeenincludedinthisCoursewithtwoobjectives:
asacomplementofthe"CourseNotes"presentation,showingyouhowthepropagation
conceptsandengineeringrulesareappliedinpracticalcases;
asanintroductiontoHERALDfunctionsandcommands.
So,workingwiththeHERALDLab,youshouldimprovebothyourunderstandingofradiolink
engineeringandyourskillsinusingtheHERALDprogram.
EachSessionintheHERALDLabstartswiththe"HERALDFunctions"section. Itbrieflyexplainshow
designrules,presentedintheCourseNotes,areimplementedintheHERALDprogram. Thissection
doesnotsubstitutetheHERALDHelp,whereyoufindamoredetailedguidetotheprogramuse.
TheHERALDLabSessioncontinueswithexercises.Eachexerciseprovidesdetailedinstructionson
programstepstoexecuteagiventask. Someexercises(inparticularinthefirstsessions)may
appearrathereasyandeventedious. However,wesuggesttoskipthemonlyifyoualreadyhavea
goodpracticeinHERALDuse.
Using the HERALD program

TheexercisesproposedintheHERALDLabrequirethattheHERALDprogrambeinstalledonyour
computer.YoufindtheinstallationprograminyourCDROM,togetherwithinstallationinstructions.
Otherwise,ifyoureceivethecoursematerialthroughemaildelivery,youcandownloadthe
HERALDDemoprogramfrom byregisteringatthefollowinglink:
http://www.heraldpro.com
HeraldDemoprovidesallthefeaturesrequiredtocompletetheHeraldLabexercise.
RunHERALDandexecutetheexercisessuggestedinthevariousHERALDLabSessions.
Asfaraspossible,donotmodifyordeleteitemsintheAntennaandEquipmentLibrariesincludedin
theHeraldinstallation. Someexercisewillrequiretheuseofspecificantennaand/orradio
equipmentanditisassumedyou'vegottheminyourlibraries.
Foranyproblemduringprogramexecution,firstrefertotheHeraldHelp. Rememberthat,atany
stageduringprogramexecution,theF1keygivesaccesstotheHelppagerelevanttothefunction
you'reworkingon.
Otherwise,refertothePPRLEtutoringservice,whichisavailable
at mailto:course@radioengineering.it.
ForgeneralinformationabouttheHERALDprogram,please mailto:Info@radioengineering.it
Instructions to HERALD Demo Users

ThefreeDemoReleaseoftheHERALDprogramincludessomefunctionallimitations,whichdonot
impedetheuseoftheprogramasatrainingtoolinthecontextoftheHERALDLabactivities.In
particular:
SaveandPrintcommandsarenotsupported;
Opencommandenabledforexampleprojectsonly;
Workingfrequencylimitedto4,11,15,22,38GHz;
Nomorethan4radiohops;
Nomorethan6radiosites,withpredeterminednames.
HERALD Lab #1 - Hop Configuration

HERALD Functions
ThefollowingHeraldfunctionsarerelatedtotheHopConfigurationprocess:
RadioEquipment,Antenna,andFeederdataarestoredincustomizedLibraries(DataBase
menu);
RadioSitesaredefinedbyspecifyingthesitename,elevationa.s.l.and(optionally)
geographicalcoordinates(Define/Sitescommand);
RadioHopsaredefinedbyspecifyingtheterminalradiosites,theworking(average)
frequency,andthehoplength(automaticallycomputed,ifsitecoordinatesareavailable)
(Define/Hopscommand);
RadioHopsareconfiguredbyspecifyingcodesanddatareferringtoequipmentinstallation
ateachradiosite,aswellasinformationonlinkcharacteristics(useofRFchannels,useof
passiverepeaters,etc.)(Define/HopConfigurationcommand).
Exercise 1.1 : Radio Equipment data

RunHerald;inthe"GettingStarted..."SplashScreenclicktheNewProjecticonandskipthetwo
introductoryboxes,settingdefaultoptions.Closethe"RadioSites"dialog,ClicktheDataBasemenu
andexecutetheEquipmentscommand.
BrowsethecompleteEquipmentlist(alltheFilteringCriteriablank),andexaminethemain
parametersoftheselecteditem;getmoredetailswiththe"More"button.
SettheFilteringcriteriatofindout:
1. theequipmentworkingat15GHz,with8Mb/scapacity;
2. theequipmentatanyfrequency,withabout26dBmoutputpower;
3. refinepreviousselection,with11GHzworkingfrequencyand 34Mb/scapacity.
Addanewequipment,withthefollowingparameters:
Code: So/11/34_bis;
Manufacturer: SoandSoEln.;
Modulation: 4PSK;
Capacity: 34Mb/s
RFband:10.712.2GHz
TxPower: 28dBm;
RxThreshold: 79dBm.
Optionalparametersareleftblank.
Tip:
Selectoneequipmentwithsimilarparameters,thenclickthe"Add"button;setanew
EquipmentCode,modifyparameterswhererequired.
Similarly,practicewiththe"Modify"and"Delete"functions.
Exercise 1.2 : Antenna data

andexecutetheAntennascommand.
BrowsethecompleteAntennalist(alltheFilteringCriteriablank),andexaminetheparameters
oftheselecteditem.
SettheFilteringcriteriatofindout:
1. theantennaat15GHz,withabout44dBgain;
2. refinepreviousselection,toberestrictedto"BetaAntennas"manufacturer;
3. anyantennaofthe"Cassegrain"kind.
Addanewantenna,withthefollowingparameters:
Code: GamY4023/D;
Manufacturer: GammaAntennas;
Kind: Parabolic;
RFband:21.224.1GHz
Polarization: Double;
ApplicationType:Directive;
Diameter: 0.40m;
Gain: 35.8dB;
3dBBeamWidth: 230'
Optionalparametersareleftblank.
Tip:
Selectoneantennawithsimilarparameters,thenclickthe"Add"button;setanewAntenna
Code,modifyparameterswhererequired.
Similarly,practicewiththe"Modify"and"Delete"functions.
Exercise 1.3 : Feeder data

andexecutetheFeederscommand.
Similarlytothepreviousexercises,browsethecompleteFeederlist,settheFilteringcriteria,and
practicewiththe"Add","Modify",and"Delete"functions.
Exercise 1.4 : Site & Hop definition

Tip:
RadionetworktopologydefinitionisassistedbythetwoHeraldicon:
Define/Sitescommand
Define/Hopscommand
RunHerald;intheGettingStartedscreen,clickthe
icon"StartaNewProjectRadioSite
definition".Confirmdefaultoptionsinthetwointroductorydialogs"NewProjectDefualtsettings"
and"SetCoordinateSystem",Thenthe"RadioSites"dialogboxwillbedisplayed.
Clickthe"ImportfromASCIIfile"button,thenselectSites_1.txtfileinthe"OpenFile"dialog.
Thecoordinatesofthreeradiosites(ALPHA,BETA,andCHARLIE)willbeimported.
Alternatively,usethe"Create"buttontodisplaythe"NewSiteData"dialogbox,whereyoucan
definethesameradiosites:
SiteCode
Elev.[m]
Latitude
Longitude
ALPHA
392
N4514'25.0"
E731'52.0"
BETA
238
N4503'42.0"
E742'15.0"
CHARLIE
529
N4500'12"
E740'25"
Practicewiththe"Modify"and"Delete"functions;thenclosethedialogboxusingthe"Close"
button.
ExecutetheDefine/Hopscommandtodisplaythe"RadioHops"dialogbox. Usethe"Create"
buttontodisplaythe"RadioHopData"dialogbox,whereyoudefinethefollowinghops:
HopCode
Frequency
Length
ALPHABETA
11GHz
ascomputed
ALFACHARLIE
15GHz
ascomputed
BETADELTA
38GHz
2.5km
TheDELTAsiteisnotyetdefined;usethe"AddSite"button("RadioHopData"dialogbox)to
defineaNewRadioSiteatthisstage(DELTAsiteelevationis288m,geographical
coordinatesnotavailable).
Usethe"Report"button(inthe"RadioHops"dialogbox)todisplaytheHopReport;donotcare
aboutWarningmessage(Antennanotdefined,Linkbudgetnotcomputed:thenewhopsare
definedonlytopologically,thehopconfigurationwillbedefinedinthenextexercise).
ExecutetheFile/Savecommandtosavethisproject,withname"Config1.hpf"(ifyourHERALD
releasedoesnotsupportthe"Save"function,don'tworry; you'llfindthe"Config1_Sample.hpf"
fileinyourProjectexamples).
Exercise 1.5 : Hop configuration

RunHerald;inthe"GettingStarted..."SplashScreenclicktheOpenProjecticontoopenthe
"Config1.hpf"orConfig1_Sample.hpf"project(orfinditintheRecentProjectslist).Theopen
projectistheoneyou'vecreatedinthe previous exercise). The"RadioHops"dialogboxis
displayed.
SelecttheALPHABETAhop,thenusethe"Config/Modify"buttontodisplaythe"Hop
Configuration"dialogbox.
ConfiguretheALPHAsitebyusingthethree"Select"buttons(MainAntenna,Feeder,
Equipment);filltheAntennaHeight,FeederLengthandBranchingLossfields;donotcheckthe
DiversityAntennabox.
Similarly,configuretheBETAsite;notethatsomedataarecopiedbydefaultfromthefirstsite
selections;usethe"OK"buttontosavethenewconfigurationandtogettheHopReport(atthe
moment,consideronlytheConfigurationsectionoftheReport).
Practicewiththe"HopConfiguration"dialog:revisetheALPHABETAconfiguration(includinga
diversityantenna)andconfiguretheothertwohops.
Tips:
TorevisetheActiveHopconfiguration,clicktheHeraldicon:
Define/HopConfigurationcommand
TosetanewActiveHop,executetheDefine/Hopscommand,thenusethe "Config
/Modify"orthe"Report"buttons.TheActiveHopisindicatedintheStatusBar.
Inthe"HopConfiguration"dialog,completetheHopConfiguration,usingthe"Losses/Degrad.
Define"button(RadioSiteframe)andthe"PropagationLossesDefine"button(RadioHop
frame);the"VariousLosses"dialogisdisplayed,whereyoucansetseveralparameters,related
totheradiotransmitterandreceiverstructureandtopropagationconditions.
Whenappropriate,executetheFile/Savecommandtoupdatetheproject;useadifferent
projectname(File/SaveAscommand)ifyouwanttosaveseveralversionsofyourproject.
Exercise 1.6 : Passive repeater

"Config2_Sample.hpf"project(orfinditintheRecentProjectslist).Closethe"RadioHops"dialog.
ExecutetheDefine/Sitescommandtodisplaythe"RadioSites"dialogbox (
icon
Tip:UsetheHerald
Usethe"Create"buttontodisplaythe"NewSiteData"dialogbox,whereyoudefinethe
repeatersite:
SiteCode
Elev.[m]
Latitude
Longitude
ZEBRA
617
N4514'52.0"
E729'52.0"
Setthe"RepeaterSite"checkboxinthesamedialog,thenClosethedialog.
SelecttheALPHACHARLIEhop,thenusethe"Config/Modify"buttontodisplaythe"Hop
Configuration"dialogbox.CompleteHopConfigurationasfortheALPHABETAhopinthe
previousexercise.
Whileyou'restillinthe"HopConfiguration"dialogbox,clickthe"PassiveRepeater/Define"
button,selectthe"SinglePlaneReflector"option,thendefinethepassiverepeaterparameters:
Sitecode:ZEBRA;
Reflectorarea: 25m2;
ReflectorVerticaldim.: 4m;
InstallationHeight: 25m.
The"Pathprofile"dialogsappearforeachofthetwolegsintherepeaterhop.Itispossibleto
read/definethepathprofilesatthisstage,butwesuggestyouclosethetwodialogswithoutany
newdata.
Inthe"HopConfiguration"dialog,usethe"OK"buttontosavethenewconfigurationandtoget
theHopReport(consideronlytheConfigurationsectionoftheReport). FindtheRepeaterSite
sectionandchecktheTopologyandReflectorparameters.
ExecutetheFile/Savecommandtosavethisproject(radiohopwithpassiverepeater).
Exercise 1.7 : Export Network Topology to Google Earth

Note:YouneedtohaveGoogleEarthinstalledinyouPCtoexecutethisexercise.
"Config2_Sample.hpf"project(orfinditintheRecentProjectslist).Closethe"RadioHops"dialog
box.
ExecutetheFile/ExportNetworktoGoogleEarthcommand.ClickYESintheboxaskingfor
savingakmlfile(callitConfig2).
ClickYESinthenextboxaskingifyouwantGoogleEarthtobeexecutedimmediately.Radio
sitesandradiohopsaredisplayedinaGoogleview.AsummaryofNetworkdataarelistedinthe
Googledataframeontheleft(ifactivated).
TuneGoogleEarthdisplayzoomandotherpropertiesasyouprefer.Clickontheradiositeicon
toreadsitecoordinatesandelevation.Similarly,clickonthehoplinetoreadhoplengthand
frequency
Exercise 1.8 : Import Radio Sites

RunHerald;inthe"GettingStarted..."SplashScreenclicktheNewProjecticon.Skipthetwo
introductoryboxes,settingdefaultoptions.Thenthe"RadioSites"dialogboxisdisplayed.
Clickthe"ImportfromGoogle(*.kml)File"button;then,inthe"OpenFile"dialog,selectthe
Config2.kmlfilesavedinthepreviousexercise.
TheRadioSitesinConfig2arelistedinthe"RadioSites"dialog..
EndofHERALDLab#1
HERALD Lab #2 - Link Budget and Fade Margin

HERALD Functions
EachtimetheHopReportisdisplayed,anupdatedLinkBudgetiscomputed. TheLinkBudgetis
displayedandcanbeprinted.ItleadstotheevaluationoftheHopFadeMargin.
Exercise 2.1 : Compute Link Budget

"LBudget1_Sample.hpf"project(orfinditintheRecentProjectslist).
Inthe"RadioHops"dialog,selecttheALPHABETAhopandclickthe"Config/Modify"buttonto
displaythe"HopConfiguration"dialog;checkhowthesitesandhoparepresentlyconfigured;
clickthe"OK"buttontodisplaytheHopReport;checktheConfigurationsectionoftheHop
Report;checktheLinkBudget(inthePerformancesectionoftheHopReport).
Returntothe"HopConfiguration"dialogandcompletetheHopConfiguration,usingthe
"PropagationLossesDefine"button(RadioHopframe);the"VariousLosses"dialogisdisplayed,
whereyoucansetseverallossanddegradationparameters,relatedtotheradiotransmitterand
receiverstructureandtopropagationconditions.
ComputeagaintheLinkBudgetandexaminethePropagationlossessection; practicewiththe
iterativeprocessofrevisingconfiguration/checkinglinkbudget.
CompletetheConfigurationandcomputetheLinkBudgetofotherhopsinthe
"LBudget1_Sample.hpf"project.
Exercise 2.2 : Adjust Fade Margin

RunHeraldasinthepreviousexercise.
SelecttheALPHABETAhopandrevisethesiteconfiguration(AntennaandEquipmentselection)
toobtainaFadeMarginapproximatelyequalto40dB,witha140Mb/sorSTM1capacity;findat
leasttwoalternativesolutions.
Tip:
Setatentativeconfiguration,checkthelinkbudgetandtakenotehowmuchthefademargin
targetismissed. GobacktoHopConfiguration,modifytheAntennaand/orEquipmentselection
inordertoadjustappropriatelygain/Txpower/Rxthreshold(browsetheAntennaand
Equipmentlibraries);useTxorRxattenuators("Losses/Degrad.Define"button)ifnecessary.
Commentonthealternativesolutionsyou'vefoundto theaboveproblem.
Tip:
Mainfactorsincomparingtheantenna/equipmentconfigurationsare:
Antennainstallationproblems;
Emittedpower,antennadirectivity(interferenceproduced/received)
Overallcost(antenna,equipment).
Repeattheabovefortheotherhops:
BETACHARLIE,34Mb/scapacity,fademarginobjective48dB;
BETADELTA,2Mb/scapacity,fademarginobjective48dB.
Findthemaximumfademarginachievableusingtheexistingantenna/equipmentlibraries.
Sampleprojectsclosetotheaboveobjectivesaregivenin"LBudget2_Sample.hpf"(notethat
propagationlossestobeconsideredinthe"HopConfiguration"dialogwillbediscussedinlater
sessions)
Exercise 2.3 : Print Hop Report

RunHeraldasinthepreviousexercises,selectonehopanddisplaytheHopReport.
Tip:
AlternativewaystodisplaytheHopReportare:
Executethe"Define/Hops"command,selectthedesiredhop,thenclicktheReportbutton(the
selectedhopissetastheActiveHop);
Executethe"Display/HopReport"command:yougettheHopReportreferringtothepresently
setActiveHop(shortcut:CTRL+H);
Executethe"Define/ActiveHopConfiguration"command,inthe"HopConfiguration"dialog
revisethesite/Hopconfiguration(ifnecessary),theclickthe"OK"button.
Arrangesettingsrelatedtooutputdocuments:Language(Customize/Languagecommand)and
Projectinformation(File/ProjectInfocommand).
ExecutetheFile/Printcommand(ifthiscommandisnotsupportedinyourHERALDrelease,you
cananywaychecktheprintresultusingtheFile/PrintPreviewcommand);
Exercise 2.4 : Include a Passive Repeater

"LBudget3_Sample.hpf"project(orfinditintheRecentProjectslist).Theopenprojectistheone
producedintheHopConfigurationExercise1.6).
SelecttheALPHABETAhopandclickthe"Config/Modify"buttontodisplaythe"Hop
Configuration"dialog.Clickthe"PassiveRepeater/Define"buttonandcheckthepassive
repeaterconfigurationparameters(singlereflector). Donotmodifyreflectorparameters;do
notdefinepathprofiles(notconsideredatthisstage).
Closethe"HopConfiguration"dialogwiththe"OK"buttonsotheHopReportisdisplayed.Check
theTopologyandReflectorparametersinthe"Configuration/RepeaterSite"sectionofthe
Reportandthelinkbudgetresultsinthe"Performance/RepeaterLoss"section.
Returntothe"HopConfiguration"/"PassiveRepeater"dialogsandmodifythereflectorsize;
checktheRepeaterLossintheHopReport.Notethedependenceofrepeaterlossonreflector
size(6dBreductionifsizeisdoubled). Setagainthereflectorsizeto25m2.
MovetheZEBRA(repeater)sitepositionclosertotheALPHAsite(Define/Sitescommand). Set
thesamelongitudeoftheALPHAsite(E731'52"),donotmodifylatitude. NotethattheALPHA
ZEBRAdistanceis0.83kmonly.IntheHopReport,notethata"Nearfieldcorrection"inthe
RepeaterLossisincluded(1.1dB).
WiththenewZEBRAposition,reducethereflectorsizeto16m2. IntheHopReport,notethat
the"RepeaterBasicLoss"increases(reducedeffectivearea),whilethe"NearfieldCorrection"
decreases(see parameters , usedtoestimateNearfieldcorrection). Similarly,selecta
smaller(2m)antennaattheALPHAsite;thenearfieldcorrectionisreduced(largerantenna
mainlobe,smaller parameter).
EndofHERALDLab#2
HERALD Lab #3 Path Clearance

HERALD Functions
ThefollowingHeraldfunctionsarerelatedtoProfileanalysis,clearancecriteria,andobstructionloss
estimation:
Thepathprofileisspecifiedasasetofpoints(distancefromfirstsite,groundelevationabove
sealevel,andobstructionabovegroundlevel,ifany).Itcanbedefined(ormodified)usingthe
Define/PathProfilecommand(manualdataediting;importfromtableinASCIIformat;import
fromNASA/SRTMdigitalelevationmaps);alsointhe"HopConfiguration"dialog,theHopLength
/Profilebuttongivesaccesstotheprofiledefinitiondialog.
ClearancecriteriaaresetusingtheEvaluate/Clearance/Criteriacommand. Two(medianand
minimum)kfactorvaluesareset;foreachkfactorvalue,thepercentageoftheFresnel
ellipsoid,thatisrequiredtobefreefromanyobstruction,isspecified; dataderivedfromITUR
Rec.P530aresetasadefault(includingthe minimum k-factor value,computedasafunction
ofpathlength).
ThepathprofileisdisplayedusingtheDisplay/PathProfilecommand;ifclearancecriteriaare
notyetset,onlytheterrainprofileisshown,withradiositedata;otherwise,twoFresnel
ellipsoids,forgivenradiuspercentages,areplotted(seetheblueandgreenlinesintheexample
giveninthe Course Notes).
Thepathprofileviewiscompletedwithatable,whereresultsonnormalizedclearanceand
marginsaredisplayed;indicationaboutcompliancewithclearancecriteriaandestimateof
obstructionlossarereportedbelowthetable.
Theantennaheightdefinitionispartofthe"HopConfiguration"dialog;theantennaheightcan
bemodifiedalsobymeansoftheEvaluate/Clearance/AntennaHeightcommand.Tentative
valuesofantennaheightcanbesetandcomparedwiththepreviousones.
TheEvaluate/Clearance/ObstructionLosscommanddisplaysadialogwheretheestimatesof
theobstructionlossaregivenforthethree obstacle models indicatedbyITURRec.P530
(knifeedge,smoothsphericalearth,intermediateterrain);itisassumedthattheoperator
entersthefinalestimateoftheObstructionLoss.
Exercise 3.1 : Define path profile

"LBudget2_Sample.hpf"project(orfinditintheRecentProjectslist).Theopenprojectistheone
producedinexercisesin Herald Lab #1 and Herald Lab #2).
SelecttheALPHABETAhopandchecktheHopConfiguration;iftheantennaheightwasnot
selectedpreviously,set25mattheALPHAsiteand20mattheBETAsite.
ExecutetheDefine/Profilecommand;inthe"PathProfile"dialog.clickthe"ReadPointsfrom
ASCIIfile"buttonandloadthe"Profile.txt"file.Checktheprofiletable,whereprofilepoints
shouldbe:
Distancefromfirst
Terrainelevation
Obstacleabove
site[km]
[m]
terrain[m]
375
366
11.5
280
20
245
Testthealternativeimportfunction:inthe"PathProfile"dialogclickthe"ReadProfilefrom
SRTMMaps". Checktheprofiletablewithmoredetaileddata.
Closethe"PathProfile"dialogandchecktheprofiledisplayed;practicewiththeprofile
definitionprocess,byaddinganddeletingpoints;attheend,takecaretosettheprofile
according.tothetableabove.
Tip:
UsetheHeraldicon:
Define/HopConfigurationcommand
Define/PathProfilecommand
Display/PathProfilecommand
Exercise 3.2 : Check clearance

RunHeraldand;inthe"GettingStarted..."SplashScreenclicktheOpenProjecticontoopen
the"Clearance1_Sample.hpf"project(orfinditintheRecentProjectslist).Inthe"RadioHops"
dialogselecttheALPHABETAhopanddisplaythepathprofile.
ExecutetheEvaluate/Clearance/Criteriacommandtodisplaythe"PlanningCriteriaforPath
Clearance"dialog. Intheupperframe,checkthattheRelevantfactorsarecorrectlyset:
frequencyabove2GHz,Temperateclimate(asindicatedbyradiositecoordinates),single
obstruction;then,inthelowerframe,theITURcriteriaaresetasadefault;checkthestandard
andminimumvaluesofthekfactorandthecorrespondingFresnelradiuspercentages(compare
with minimum k-factor diagram andthe chart of ITU-R clearance criteria);notehowthe
criteriamodifyifyouchangethesettingsintheupperframe.
ClicktheOKbuttontodisplaythepathprofilewithFresnelellipsoidmarginsforgiven
percentages(blue and green lines);examinethetableabovethediagram,withindicationof
theassumptionsrelevanttotheblueandgreencurvesandtheresultsonnormalizedclearance
andmargin.
Returntothe"PlanningCriteriaforPathClearance"dialog;
Tip:
UsetheHeraldicon
. SetclearancecriteriadifferentfromtheITURdefault.
Takenoteoftheresultinthepathprofilediagram.
Tip:
YoucansetthekfactorandtheF1percentageinordertodisplayraytrajectoriesor
Fresnelellipsoidsofyourinterest. Forexample,withagivenkfactor,ifyousetthe
FresnelRadius%tozero,thenthelineinthediagramistheraytrajectoryforthatk
factorvalue;ifyouset100%,thenthelinedisplayedisthelowermarginofthefull
Fresnelellipsoid..
WhentheprofileandFresnelellipsoiddiagramisdisplayed,moveyourmousealongthepath
profileandclicktheleftbutton:apathpositionisselected,whereclearanceparametersare
computed.The"ProfileCheckPoint"dialogisdisplayed,whereyouhaveoptionstosavethat
pointand/ordisplayresultsintheprofilediagramtable.
Exercise 3.3 : Modify antenna height

"Clearance1_Sample.hpf"project(orfinditintheRecentProjectslist).Inthe"RadioHops"dialog
selecttheALPHABETAhop.
DisplaythepathprofileandsetthekfactorandFresnelradiuspercentagestothecorrect
values,asdiscussedinthepreviousexercise; thenexecutetheEvaluate/Clearance/Antenna
Heightcommand
Tip:
UsetheHeraldicon
. Inthe"AntennaHeightDefinition"dialog,modifytheantenna
height valuesandcheckthenewresults.
Again,inthe "AntennaHeightDefinition"dialog,setTentativevaluesandcheckthe"Plot
TentativeValues"checkbox.Intheprofilediagram,youseetheFresnelellipsoidsections,both
withthepreviousantennaheightvaluesandwiththetentativeones;comparetheresultswith
thetwooptionsofantennaheight(notethattheredlinereferstosame(k,%)conditionasthe
blueline;similarly,thegraylinecompareswiththegreenone).
Executethe Evaluate/Clearance/AntennaHeightcommand;ifyou setONthe

"Tentative Design"checkbox,thententativevaluesareassignedasantennaheightdesign
values;ifyouuncheckthe"PlotTentativeValues"checkbox,thentheantennaheightvaluesare
unchanged.
Whenyoumodifytheantennaheight,theindicationsbelowthetableintheprofilediagramare
updated. Notethat:
a. the"Clearancecriteria(NOT)satisfied"labeldependsontheMarginvalues:onlyifboth
margins(referringtostandardandminimumkfactor)arepositive,thencriteriaARE
satisfied;
b. theObstructionLossestimateissetto"0dB"aslongastheNormalizedClearancefor
standardkfactoris>0.5(see diagram). So,itmayhappenthatclearancecriteriaarenot
satisfiedeveniftheestimatedobstructionlossiszero. Toexplainthis,considerthat: (i)
clearancecriteriarequiresomemargin; (ii)clearancecriteriaapplybothtostandardand
minimumkfactor,whileobstructionlossisestimatedforstandardkfactor.
Exercise 3.4 : Estimate obstruction loss

Goonwiththesameprojectas inthepreviousexercise.Selectthe ALPHABETAhopanddisplay
theprofileandFresnelellipsoiddiagram.
With25mand20mantennaheightatALPHAandBETAsitesrespectively,thelinebelowthe
tablewillrread"ClearanceCriteriasatisfiedEstimatedObstructionLoss=0dB"
Modify(reduce)theantennaheightsothatthe"ClickheretoestimateObstructionLoss"label
appearsbelowthetable.
Clickontheabovementionedline(orexecute the Evaluate/Clearance/ObstructionLoss

command);the"ObstructionLossEstimate"dialogisdisplayed,withtheresultsreferredtothe
threeobstaclemodels(knifeedge,smoothsphericalearth,andintermediateterrain)andtothe
roundedobstaclemodel,asinITURRecommendations. Notethattheoperatorentersthefinal
estimateoftheObstructionLoss. Inthiscase,the"Roundedobstacle"valuecanbeareasonable
choice.
ExecutetheDisplay/HopReportcommand ( Tip:Usetheshortcut:CTRL+H).ChecktheLink
Budget,wherethepreviouslysetObstructionLossmustbeincluded.
Exercise 3.5 : Display Profile Report

Continuewiththe"Clearance1_Sample.hpf"project,asrevisedinpreviousexercises:
SelecttheALPHABETAhop,thenexecutetheDisplay/ProfileReportcommand;checkthe
Profilepointlistandresultsofclearanceanalysis (donotconsiderwarningsaboutreflection
analysis).
icon).Then,clickthemousealongthepath
DisplaythePathProfile( Tip:clickthe
profile,toaddpointstothe"CheckPoint"list(inthe"ProfileCheckPoint"dialog,settoONthe
checkbox"Addtocheckpointlist").
ExecutetheDefine/PathProfilecommand ( Tip:clickthe
icon)todisplaythe"Path
profile"dialog,whereyoucanfindtheselectedcheckpointsaddedtotheprofilepoints. Delete
undesiredpoints(ifany).
Again,displaytheProfileReportandverifythattheProfileCheckPointsarelisted(forthose
points,theelevationistheresultoflinearinterpolationandiswritteninbrackets).
EndofHERALDLab#3
HERALD Lab #4 Ground Reflections

HERALD Functions
ThefollowingHeraldfunctionsarerelatedtoReflectionanalysis:
TheEvaluate/Reflections/PlotAllcommanddisplaysthePathProfileandplotsallthe
(geometricallypossible)reflectionpoints,evenifpartiallyobstructed.Theoperatorisenabledto
selectedasinglereflection,tobeanalyzedindetails;therelevantgeometricalandradio
parametersarepresentedinthetableabovetheprofilediagram.
Afterareflectionpointhasbeenselectedontheprofilediagram(reflectedraysplottedinred),
theEvaluate/Reflections/Analyzecommandcanbeusedtodisplaythe"ReflectionAnalysis"
dialog.Intheupperframe,theoperatorsetstherelevantparameters(reflectioncoefficient,use
ofdiversityandantennaspacing). Inthesecondframetheresultsareshown,withdetailsonthe
ReflectionPathLosses(Antennadirectivity,ObstructionLossintheReflectionPaths,Reflection
Coefficient,andDivergenceFactor),reflectiondelayandgrazingangle. Inthelowerframesome
Notesmayappearwhencriticalparametersareestimated.
The"RxPowervs.k"button,inthe"ReflectionAnalysis"dialog,displaysadiagramwherethe
receivedpowerisplottedasafunctionofthekfactor,atthemainandatthediversity(if
configured)antennas.
The"AntennaHeight"button,inthe"ReflectionAnalysis"dialog,displaysthe"AntennaHeight"
dialog,whereantennaheightcanbemodified.
The"OKStoreresults"button,inthe"ReflectionAnalysis"dialog,savestheReflectionAnalysis
results.NotethattheRxthresholddegradation(singleanddiversityreception,ifconfigured)is
estimated,whiletheoperatorcanenterthefinaldegradationresult(tobeincludedintheLink
Budget),takingaccountofsomeconservativemargin,ifnecessary.
Exercise 4.1 : Estimate reflection parameters

"Reflection1_Sample.hpf"project(orfinditintheRecentProjectslist).Thisprojectisalready
initialized(4GHz,60kmoverthesearadiohopwithreflection).
SelecttheALPHABETAhopandexecutetheEvaluate/Reflections/PlotAllcommand.
Tip:UsetheHeraldicon
Thereflectionpointat30.9kmshouldbeselected.Ifanotherreflectionpointisselected,change
selectionbypressingtheTabkey
ExaminetheReflectionparameters;inparticularnotethat:
a. thepathdifferenceis78cm,muchgreaterthanthesignalwavelength(7.5cmat4GHz);
b. thetimedelayis2.6ns,muchshorterthanthesymbolperiodinanydigitalmodulation;
c. thedirecttoreflectedrayangles,atbothterminalsareverysmall,sothelossinantenna
gainisalmostnegligible(0.3dB);
d. thereflectedraypathisclear(noobstructionloss).
BypressingtheTabkey,selecttheotherreflectionpoint(atabout5.4km);thisreflectionis
probablyNOTsignificant,itderivesfromapproximationsmadeinthepathprofile,describingthe
steepterrainclosetotheradiosite; note,inthiscase,asubstantiallossinantennagain(6dB)
andapartialobstructionofthereflectedray.
Exercise 4.2 : Analyze Rx power level

Goonwiththe"Reflection1_Sample.hpf"project,asinthepreviousexercise.
ExecutetheEvaluate/Reflections/PlotAllcommand,thenselectthereflectionpointat30.9
km(usetheTabkey,ifnecessary).
ExecutetheEvaluate/Reflections/Analyzecommand. Inthe"Reflectionanalysis"dialog,first
considerthe"SETPARAMETERS"frame;settheReflectioncoefficientto0dB,anduncheckthe
twoDiversitycheckboxes
Examinethe"RESULTS"frame;notetheTotalLossinthereflectionpath,withalltheitemsthat
contributetothefinalresult.TakenoteoftheRxdegradationestimate.
Clickthe"RxPowervs.k"buttontogetthediagramofreceivedpowerasafunctionofk
factor. Notethatasmallchangeinthekfactoraroundthestandardvalue(1.33)causestheRx
powertochangesignificantly.Returntothe"Reflectionanalysis"dialog.
Exercise 4.3 : Design diversity Rx

Goonwiththe"Reflection1_Sample.hpf"project,asinthepreviousexercise.Displaythe"Reflection
analysis"dialog.
EnabletheDiversitycheckboxes(upperframe),settheantennaspacingtooptimumvalues
(OptimumDiversitybutton)andrepeatthestepsindicatedatthepreviouspoint.
TheRxdegradationwithdiversityis0dB. DisplaytheRxpowervs.kdiagramandverifythatthe
twocurvesarewellinterleaved(notoverlapping).Foranykfactorvalue,oneofthetwo
antennasreceivesasignalatahighpowerlevel:diversityreceptionisquiteeffective(however,
considerthat0dBdegradationiscomputedundertheassumptionofanidealdiversity
switching).
Returntothe"Reflectionanalysis"dialogandsettheantennaspacingatSiteALPHAat12m;
notethattheRxdegradation(withdiversity)isincreasedto1.8dB. IntheRxpowervs.k
diagram,thetwocurvesatsiteALPHAarenotwellinterleavedandoverlapfork>1.5;thisisan
exampleofINEFFECTIVEdiversitydesign.
CompleteyourdesignwithoptimumdiversityspacingandafinalestimateofRx
degradation. Thismaybea1dBdegradation,sincethe0dBestimateiscomputedunderthe
assumptionofanidealdiversityswitchingandtheSingleRxdegradationisestimated3.9dB. Set
thefinalestimateinthe"AssumedinLinkBudget"datacell. Pressthe"OKStoreresults"
buttontoexit,thencheckthattheresultsareincludedintheHopReportandintheProfile
Report.
Exercise 4.4 : Change reflection parameters

"Reflection1_Sample.hpf"project(orfinditintheRecentProjectslist).Inthe"RadioHops"dialog
selecttheALPHABETAhopanddisplaythePathProfilewithreflectionrays.Startingfromthisstate,
youhaveseveralwaysofchangingtheradioelectricaland/orgeometricalparametersinthe
reflectionpath.Belowaresomeexamples;ineachcondition,takenoteofnewaspectsofreflection
analysis.
ExecutetheEvaluate/Reflections/Analyzecommand. Inthe"Reflectionanalysis"dialog,
modifytheReflectioncoefficientto3,6,or10dB. Takenoteofnewresultswithincreasing
attenuationofthereflectedray.
InthePathProfilediagram,selectthereflectionpointat5.4km. Repeatallthemainstepsin
previousanalysis,assuminga3dBreflectioncoefficient(quiteconservativeforreflectionondry
soilorrocks). Notetheroleofantennadirectivityinincreasingthereflectionpathloss.
ExecutetheEvaluate/Reflections/Analyzecommand. Inthe"Reflectionanalysis"dialog,press
the"AntennaHeight"buttonandrevisetheprojectwithdifferentantennaheights.
Exercise 4.5 : Move radio site position

"Reflection1_Sample.hpf"project(orfinditintheRecentProjectslist).Inthe"RadioHops"dialog
selecttheALPHABETAhopanddisplaythePathProfilewithreflectionrays.
ExecutetheDefine/PathProfilecommandandmodifytheHopLengthfrom59.5toabout62.0
km;
thismeansthatBETAhasbeenmovedsome2.5kmfarfromthecoastline.
Closethe"PathProfile"dialog;thenexecutetheReflections/PlotAllcommand.ThenewBETA
positionproducesapartialobstructioninthereflectedray,withasubstantialsignalloss(see
reflectiondatainthetableabovetheprofilediagram).
CheckPathClearancewiththenewBETAsiteposition(see HERALD Lab #3). Itappearsthat

clearancecriteriaarenotsatisfied. Increasebysome24mtheantennaheightattheBETAsite,
sothatpathclearanceisconfirmed. Checkagainthereflectionresults(theobstructionlossin
thereflectedsignalisslightlylower,butstilluseful).
ExecutetheReflections/Analyzecommandandrevisetheresultswiththeadditional
attenuationinthereflectedsignal. Thisisanexampleofthesignificantbenefitofferedby
a "lucky"positioningoftheradiosite (unfortunately, hopdesignisnotalwayssoeasyasin
computerexamples...).
EndofHERALDLab#4
HERALD Lab #5 Multipath Fading

HERALD Functions
ThefollowingHeraldfunctionsarerelatedtoMultipathanalysis:
TheEvaluate/Multipathcommanddisplaysthe"MultipathOccurrenceModel"dialog,where
theoperatorsetstheparametersusefultoestimatetheMultipathOccurrenceFactorP0,
accordingtotheselectedmodel.(Note:ifthe"MultipathOutage"dialogisdisplayed,thenclick
the"RevisePoestimate"buttontoreturntothe"MultipathOccurrenceModel"dialog).
UsingtheBarnettVigantsmodel,therequiredparametersaretheclimaticregion(tobeselected
amongthefiveregionsproposedbythatmodel)andthepathroughness(ifthepathprofileis
defined,thentheroughnessisautomaticallycomputed). Themodelisalsobasedonthepath
lengthandoperatingfrequency(botharealreadydefinedatthisdesignstage).
Afterdefinitionofmodelparameters,theMultipathOccurrenceStatisticsdiagramis
displayed. Notethatthestatisticsdiagramisplotted,accordingtoITURRec.P530,withtime
percentagesastheabscissaaxisandfadedepthastheordinateaxis.Thelowattenuationregion
(approximately,forfadedepthlowerthan15dB)deviatesfromthe10dB/decadeslope,
accordingtoRec.P530(sect.2.3.2)formulasfor"shallowfading".
OncetheMultipathOccurrenceFactorP0 hasbeenestimated,theEvaluate/Multipath
commanddisplaysthe"MultipathOutage"dialog.Afterparametersetting,clickOKtodisplay
theOutagediagram;ontherightofthediagram,theavailableFlatFadeMarginandtheoutage
prediction(intimepercentageandsecondsintheworstmonth)aregiven.
Inordertodefineaspacediversityreceiverconfiguration,theDefine/ActiveHopConfig
commandmustbeexecutedtodisplaythe"HopConfiguration"dialog,wheretheoptionfora
diversityantennacanbesetatoneorbothreceiversites.Spacediversityiscompletedby
selectingtheantennacode(s)andtheantennaspacing.
BoththeMultipathOccurrenceStatisticsandtheMultipathOutagediagramstakeaccountof
spacediversity,whenconfigured.
IntheHopReport(Configurationsection)the"EnvironmentalParametersandPropagation
Models"linesindicatetheassumptionsonMultipathanalysis,whileattheendofthe
Performancesectionthepredictedoutage(singleRxanddiversityRx,ifconfigured)isreported.
Exercise 5.1: Estimate multipath occurrence

"Multipath1_Sample.hpf"project(orfinditintheRecentProjectslist).
Inthe"RadioHops"dialogselecttheDELTAECHOhop(11GHz,48km)anddisplaytheHop
Report. CheckthatnoreferencetomultipathanalysisisreportedintheConfigurationorinthe
PerformancesectionsoftheHopReport.
ExecutetheEvaluate/Multipathcommand.
Inthe"MultipathOccurrenceModel"dialog,youhavetosettheBarnettVigantsmodel
parameters.Theprofileroughnessisalreadycomputed(10m)fromtheterrainprofile
previouslydefined. TesthowtheselectionoftheClimaticRegionaffectstheOccurrenceFactor
P0,showninthesamedialog.Finally,selectthe"Continentaltemperate"region. ClicktheOK
button.
TheMultipathOccurrenceStatisticsdiagramisdisplayed. Notethedeepfadingregion(10dB/
decadeslope)andtheshallowfadingregion(lowattenuation).ClicktheExitbutton(right
bottomcornerofthescreen).
Afterinitializationofmultipathanalysis,savetheprojectas"Multipath2.hpf"(ifyourHERALD
releasedoesnotsupportthe"Save"function,don'tworry; you'llfindthe
"Multipath2_Sample.hpf"fileinyourProjectexamples).
TotesthowtheprofileroughnessaffecttheMultipathOccurrenceFactor,deletethepath
profile(Define/Profilecommand,thendeleteallpoints).Inthe"MultipathOccurrenceModel"
dialog,youcannowmodifytheProfileRoughnessparameter(theacceptablerangeinthe
Barnettmodelis6to42m).
Exercise 5.2: Estimate multipath outage

"Multipath2.hpf"(orthe"Multipath2_Sample.hpf")project,asrevisedinthepreviousexercise.In
the"RadioHops"dialogselecttheDELTAECHOhop.
ExecutetheEvaluate/Multipathcommand.The"MultipathOutage"dialogisdisplayed;donot
checkanycheckboxnorsetanyplottingcomparison.ClicktheOKbutton.
TheMultipathOutagediagramisdisplayed;ontherightyoufindasummaryofthehop
parameters,propagationmodel,andoutagepredictions.Notethatonlythe"narrowband"or
"nonselective"multipathmodelisappliedinthisexample.
DisplaytheHopReportandfindresultsofmultipathanalysisattheendofthePerformance
section.
Exercise 5.3: Frequency selective multipath

Goonwiththeprojectcarriedoninthepreviousexercise.
Gotothe"HopConfiguration"dialogtoselecttheequipmentwithcode"D/11000a"(signature
dataaredefined).ThenrepeattheOutageestimationprocess,usingthe"frequencyselective"
multipathmodel.
WhenyouexecutetheEvaluate/Multipathcommand,intheMultipathOutagedialog,setthe
Plottingcomparisoncheckbox"Narrowvs.Wideband(Selectivefading)".
CommentontheresultsintheMultipathOutagediagram.
Tip:
theoutagepredictionproducedbytheNarrowbandmodelisadecreasingfunctionofthe
FadeMargin. Ontheotherhand,theoutagepredictionestimatedundertheWideband
(frequencyselective)modelhasaflatasymptote.Thisisduetothefrequencyselective
outagecomponent(theoutageprobabilityduetosignaldistortionwhichcannotbereduced
underagivenvalue,evenincreasingthefademargin).
Exercise 5.4: Design space diversity

"Multipath2.hpf".Inthe"RadioHops"dialogselecttheDELTAECHOhop.Thepredictedoutage
withsinglereceiverandtheNarrowbandmultipathmodelisveryhigh(severalminutes/month)and
probablynotacceptable
Displaythe"HopConfiguration"dialog(Define/ActiveHopConfigcommand)andconfigurethe
diversityantennaatbothradiosites. Selectthesameantennacode,usedasthemainantenna,
setthediversityspacingat180wavelengths(about5m),asatentativevalue.
ExecutetheEvaluate/Multipathcommandandtestthenewoutagepredictions. More
completeresultsaregivenintheHopReport(comparisonofoutagepredictionsinsingleand
diversityreception,diversityimprovement).
ExecutetheEvaluate/Multipathcommand,clickthe"RevisePoestimate"buttontoreturnto
the"MultipathOccurrenceModel"dialog;clickOKtodisplaytheMultipathOccurrenceStatistics
diagram;notethatthediversitycurveslope(indeepfadingregion)is5dB/decade.
Repeattheanalysiswithdifferentantennaspacingandtesthowthediversityimprovement
varies.
Tip:
setadifferentspacingatthetwosites,thendisplaytheHopReport,soyoucanimmediately
comparethediversityimprovements(thisiscorrectasfarasthefademarginisthesameat
thetwoRxsites).
Exercise 5.5: Use frequency diversity

"Multipath2.hpf".Inthe"RadioHops"dialogselecttheDELTAECHOhop.
Displaythe"HopConfiguration"dialog(Define/ActiveHopConfigcommand)andclickthe
"FrequencyDiversity/Define"button. Selectthe1+1frequencydiversityconfiguration,with80
MHzchannelspacing(thisisthecochannelRFspacingintheITU11GHzchannelarrangement).
ClosetheopendialogsandexecutetheEvaluate/Multipathcommandtotestthenewoutage
predictions. SetthePlottingComparisoncheckbox"WithandW/oFrequencydiversity"
Repeattheexercisewithadifferentchannelspacing.
RepeattheexercisewiththeWideband(frequencyselective)multipathmodel,asintroduced
in Exercise 5.3.
EndofHERALDLab#5
HERALD Lab #6 Rain Attenuation

HERALD Functions
ThefollowingHeraldfunctionsarerelatedtoRainattenuation:
TheEvaluate/Raincommanddisplaysthe"RainModel"dialog,wheretheoperatorsetsthe
parametersrequiredtoimplementtheITURrainattenuationmodel,basedonrainintensity
statistics.
Themainmodelparameteristherainintensityfor0.01%ofthetime:itcanbesetdirectlyby
theoperator;orthe ITU-R rain region canbeselected(therainintensityisautomaticallyset),
orthe ITU-R rain database canbeaccessed,onthebasisofhopcoordinates.
ThehopcoordinatesarealsorequiredifthemostrecentversionofRec.530isapplied,inorder
tospecifyifthehopoperatesinthetemperateorintheequatorial/tropicalzone(latitudelower
than30,NorthorSouth).
OtherparametersareheRxsignalpolarizationateachreceiversiteandthewetradomeloss(if
any).
TheRainUnavailabilitydiagramshowsthetimepercentageasafunctionoftherainattenuation,
bothforhorizontalandverticalpolarizations;ontheright,thepredictedunavailabilityis
reported,takingaccountofthespecifiedpolarizationateachRxsiteandofthewetradomeloss.
TheHopReport,attheEnvironmentalParameters&PropagationModelslines(Configuration
section),indicatestheassumptionsmadeabouttherainattenuationmodel.Attheendofthe
Performancesection,therainunavailabilitypredictionsarereported.
Exercise 6.1 : Predict rain unavailability

"Rain1:Sample.hpf".
Inthe"RadioHops"dialog,selecttheBETADELTAhop(38GHz,2.5km)anddisplaytheHop
Report
ExecutetheEvaluate/Raincommand.
Tip:
ClicktheHERALDicon
Inthe"RainModel"dialog,setthemodelparameters;tosetrainintensity,youcan:
a. enterdirectlythedesiredvalue,
b. selectarainregion(ITURRec.8372),
c. clickthe"DataBase"buttontoaccesstheITURRec.8373rainintensityarchive.
TheRainUnavailabilitydiagramisdisplayed. NotetheunavailabilitypredictionforeachRxsite,
ontheright,andthesignificantdifferencebetweenthetwocurvesforHpol.andVpol.
Returntothe"RainModel"dialog,tomodifythemodelparameters,anddisplayagaintheRain
Unavailabilitydiagram.
ChecktheresultsreportedintheHopReport(modelparametersintheConfigurationsection
andpredictedunavailabilityinthePerformancesection).
Exercise 6.2 : Optimize hop design

"Rain1_Sample.hpf".Inthe"RadioHops"dialog,selecttheECHODELTA(22GHz,6km)hop.
Inthe"HopConfiguration"dialog,notethattheantennaarenotselectedyet.Makeatentative
selection,thendisplaytheHopReportandtakenoteoftheavailableFadeMargin.
ExecutetheEvaluate/Raincommand. Inthe"RainModel"dialog,setthe"L"rainregionand
theHpol.atbothsites. Selecttheoption"Rec.P.5307",sothatoperationinthetemperate
regionisassumed(evenifhopcoordinatesarenotdefined).
ExaminetheUnavailabilityresults.Modifyantennaselection(returntoHopConfiguration),if
necessary,togetarainunavailabilityobjectivebelow30min/year.
Revisethepreviousdesigntotheobjectiveofminimumcostantennas,withacceptedrain
unavailabilityupto45min/year.
Exercise 6.3 : Include atmospheric absorption

Goonwiththe"Rain1_Sample.hpf"project,asupdatedinthepreviousexercise. SelecttheECHO
DELTA(22GHz,6km)hop.
Estimatethe water vapour specific attenuation atabout22GHz,for60%relativevapour

densityatabout15C.
Displaythe"HopConfiguration"dialogandclickthe"PropagationLosses/Define"button.Inthe
"VariousLosses"dialog,settheAtmosphericAbsorptionatthevaluecomputedabove.
Closethe"HopConfiguration"dialogandchecktheFadeMargin(reducedbytheadditional
loss).
Revisetherainunavailabilitypredictionswiththereducedfademargin.
Exercise 6.4 : Revise design for tropical regions

Goonwiththe"Rain1_Sample.hpf"project,asupdatedinthepreviousexercise. SelecttheECHO
DELTA(22GHz,6km)hop.
ExecutetheEvaluate/Raincommand. Inthe"RainModel"dialog,setparametersfortropical
regions:
o
geocoordinates: set(S4,W40);
rainintensity;clickbutton"ITURRec.8373DataBase";
iftheITURDataBasefilesarenotloaded, selectthe"N"rainregion;
i)
setoption"Rec.P.5308";
ii) setVpol.atbothsites,tominimizeattenuation.
ExaminetheUnavailabilityresults.Modifyantennaselection(returntoHopConfiguration),if
necessary,togetthesameobjectivesasinExercise6.2.
Notethatthetimeunavailabilitydiagramhasachangeofslope,closeto0.001%. Insomecases,a
fewdB'schangeinfademarginproducearemarkablevariationinthepredictedunavailabilityand
significantdifferencebetweenHpol.andVpol.results. Thismaybeaweakpointinthepresent
model;resultsinthisrangemustbeconsideredwithsomecare.
Exercise 6.5 : Use Freq./Pol. scaling

"Rain1_Sample.hpf".Inthe"RadioHops"dialog,selecttheBETADELTA(38GHz,2.5km)hop.
ExecutetheCustomize/Propagationmodelcommand.Inthe"PropagationModels"dialog,set
theRainAttenuationmodel(upperleftframe)to"Frequency/PolarizationScaling"
ExecutetheEvaluate/Raincommand. Setrequiredparametersinthe"RainModel"dialog:
o
Referencefrequency=23GHz;
Referencepolarization=H;
Referenceattenuation(0.01%)=15dB
ExaminetheUnavailabilityresults. Notethatthe0.01%attenuation(15dBatthereference
frequency23GHz,Hpol.)isabout30dBattheoperatingfrequency38GHz,samepol.
ReturntotheRainIntensity(Rec.5309)model(Customize/Propagationmodelcommand),
thenrepeattheRainUnavailabilitypredictionprocess.SetRainIntensity=55mm/handdisplay
theRainUnavailabilitydiagram. Notethatthe0.01%attenuationisagain30dB.
Thismeansthatthe"FrequencyScaling"model(asappliedwiththeabovedataat23GHz)is
equivalenttothe"RainIntensity"modelwitha0.01%rainintensity=55mm/h.
EndofHERALDLab#6
HERALD Lab #7 Interference Analysis

HERALD Functions
ThefollowingHeraldfunctionsarerelatedtoInterferenceAnalysis:
Priortointerferenceanalysis,hopandequipmentconfigurationmustbesuitablydefined:
o
RFchannelsandpolarizationusedintheactivehoparedefinedintheFrequency
Arrangementdialog(displayedbyclickingthe"FrequencyArrangement/Define"buttonin
the"HopConfiguration"dialog).
NetFilterDiscrimination(NFD)isdefinedinthe"InterferenceNetFilterDiscrimination"
dialog(displayedbytheDataBase/NetFilterDiscrim.command),wheretheinterferingand
interfered(victim)equipmentandtherelevantchannelspacingarespecified(interference
analysisindicatesifapotentialinterferencecannotbeevaluatedbecauseNFDismissing).
Antennadiagramisdefinedinthe"ModifyAntennaData"dialog(displayedbytheDataBase
/Antennacommand).
TheEvaluate/Interferencecommandsstarttheinterferencesearchprocess.Dependingonthe
selectedcommand,theinterferencereceived/producedbytheactivehoporinterference
producedinthewholeradionetworkisconsidered. The"SearchInterference"dialogallowsthe
operatortosetthesearchlimits(maxdistance,maxfrequencyspacing,maxS/Iratio).
TheInterferenceReportgivesalistofinterferenceexposures,includingalltheradioand
topologicaldatausefultocharacterizeeachinterference.
TheCustomize/Propagationmodelscommanddisplaysthe"PropagationModels"dialog,
wherethe Interference correlation model canbespecified.
Exercise 7.1 : Search interference

Note:InalltheexercisesinthisSectionRadioSitecoordinatesDONOTrepresentrealisticdataif
usedtoimportpathprofiles.Howeverpathprofilesarenotneededhere,sitevisibilityisassumedin
anycase.IfpathprofilesareimportedfromSRTMmaps,theymayexhibitanomalousbehavior
(totallyobstructedpathsorotherunrealisticconditions).
"Interference1_Sample.hpf"(allthehopsinthisprojectoperateat15GHz).
Inthe"RadioHops"dialog,selecttheALPHAZEBRAhopanddisplaytheHopReport. Checkthat
thechannelarrangementisalreadydefined(lastlinesintheConfigurationsectionoftheHop
Report).
ExecutetheFile/ExportNetworktoGoogleEarthcommandtogetaviewofnetowrktopology.
ClickNOintheboxaskingforsavingakmlfile.Radiositesandradiohopsaredisplayed;keep
openGoogleEarth,sothat,goingonwiththisexercise,youcancompareinterferencesearch
resultswithanetworkmap.Clickontheradiohoplinetoreadhoplengthandfrequency.
ExecutetheEvaluate/Interference/FromAnyHoptoActiveHopcommand. Inthe"Search
Interference"dialogsetthesearchlimits:
o
Maxfrequencyspacing=56MHz;
Maxdistance=200km;
Max(faded)S/I=100dB.
Selectthefirstvisibilityoption(listontheright),sothatlineofsightconditionsareassumedforall
theinterferencesources.
IntheInterferenceReport(UsefulRxSite:ALPHA),checkthevariousitemsinthelistof
interferingsignalsandintheinterferencesourcestable. ExecutetheDisplay/Interference/
ToggleSitecommandtodisplaytheInterferenceReport,UsefulRxSite:ZEBRA (
HeraldIcon
Tip:Usethe
).
Similarly,testtheothercommandsintheEvaluate/Interferencemenu. Inparticular,execute
theFromAnyHoptoAnyHopcommand,donotmodifytheSearchlimitsoptions,sothat
interferenceanalysisisperformedforalltheradiohopsinthepresentproject.
SelectanotherhopastheActiveHop,thendisplaytheInterferenceReportusingtheDisplay/
Interference/Received(orProduced)command.
Exercise 7.2 : Modify antennas

"Interference2_Sample.hpf".Thisisthesameprojectusedinthepreviousexample,interference
searchparametersarealreadyinitialized.
SelecttheALPHAZEBRAhopanddisplaytheInterferenceReport(commandDisplay/
InterferenceReport/Received).Takenoteoftheresults,inparticular,interferencedegradation
=4.3dB(printthereporttomakecomparisoneasier).
Gotothe"HopConfiguration"dialog ( Tip:UsetheHeraldIcon
). Modifytheantennaat
theALPHAsite;selecttheantennawithcode DDD115/60/S(seconditeminthelist). Notethat
thisantennahasthesamediameterandgainofthepreviousone,butalarge3dBbeamwidth
andalowerdirectivity.
DisplaytheInterferenceReportagainandcomparethenewresultswiththepreviousones(in
particular,interferencedegradationhasincreasedto7.4dB).
Similarly,openagaintheInterference2_Sample.hpf"projectandselecttheCHARLIEDELTAhop.
Inthe"HopConfiguration"dialog,modifytheantennaattheDELTAsite;selecttheantennawith
code DDD115/60/S(seconditeminthelist).Then,selecttheALPHAZEBRAhopanddisplaythe
InterferenceReport.Comparetheresultswiththeonescomputedatthefirststepinthis
exercise(inparticular,interferencedegradationhasincreasedto6.9dB).
Exercise 7.3 : Modify power levels

"Interference2_Sample.hpf".Inthe"RadioHops"dialog,selecttheALPHAZEBRAhop,asinthe
previousexercise.Takenoteoftheinterferenceresults,inparticular,interferencedegradation=
4.3dB(printtheinterferencereporttomakecomparisoneasier).
SelecttheCHARLIEDELTAhopandgotothe"HopConfiguration"dialog. Clickingthe
"Losses/Degrad./Define"button,insertintheDELTAsiteaTXattenuator=10dB.ChecktheHop
ReportandinparticulartheRainUnavailabilityprediction(increasedtoabout10minutes,
becauseofthelowerTxPower=lowerFadeMargin,butstillacceptable).
ReturntotheALPHAZEBRAhopanddisplaytheInterferenceReport. Notethattheinterference
degradationhasdecreasedto1.4dB).
Exercise 7.4 : Modify frequency/pol.

"Interference2_Sample.hpf".Asinthepreviousexercise,selecttheALPHAZEBRAhopandtakenote
oftheinterferenceresults.DisplayandprinttheInterferenceReports,forbothReceived
interferenceandProducedInterference(ALPHAandZEBRAsites).
Gotothe"HopConfiguration"dialog. Clickthe"Freq.Arrangement/Define"buttontodisplay
theFrequencyArrangementdialog. Modifythepolarizationsetting,byclickingthe"H<=>VPol"
button(belowthetableontheright).
DisplayagainalltheInterferenceReports(Received,Produced;ALPHAandZEBRAsites)and
comparethemwiththeoriginalones(printedatthebeginningofthepresentexercise). Note
thatasignificantreductionininterferencelevelshasbeenobtainedwiththenewpolarizationin
theALPHAZEBRAhop.
Exercise 7.5 : Test rain correlation model

"Interference2_Sample.hpf".Inthe"RadioHops"dialog,selecttheBETACHARLIEhop.
DisplaytheInterferenceReportandnotethattheinterferencetotheBETAsite,comingfromthe
CHARLIEsite(CHARLIEDELTAhop)islabeledas"CorrelatedInterference"(boththeusefuland
theinterferingsignalstravelthesamepathandsufferthesamerainattenuation).
SelecttheALPHAZEBRAhopanddisplaytheInterferenceReport. Notethattheinterferenceto
theALPHAsite,comingfromtheDELTAsite(CHARLIEDELTAhop)isveryhigh;theRxangle,at
theALPHAsiteisabout2only(seetheInterferenceSourcestable),sotheinterferencepathis
veryclosetotheusefulpath.However,thisinterferenceinNOTlabeledas"Correlated
Interference".
ExecutetheCustomize/PropagationmodelscommandtodisplaythePropagationModels
dialog.Notethat Correlation Distance (lowerframeontheleft)iszero,sothatInterference
CorrelationrequiresthatUsefulandInterferencepathsareidentical. ModifyCorrelation
Distanceto0.5km,sothatCorrelationisdeclaredalsoifUsefulandinterferencepathsarenot
identical,butveryclose.
DisplayagaintheALPHAZEBRAInterferenceReport. NotethattheinterferencetotheALPHA
site,comingfromtheDELTAsite(CHARLIEDELTAhop)isnowlabeledas"Correlated
Interference". (CorrelationDistanceintherange0.51.0kmappearsasthemostrealisticdesign
choice).
EndofHERALDLab#7
HERALD Lab #8 ITU Objectives

HERALD Functions
ThefollowingHeraldfunctionsarerelatedtoITUPerformanceObjectives:
Thebasicparametersusefultodefineperformanceobjectivesarespecifiedinthe"Settingsfor
ITUObjectives"dialog(Customize/ITUObjectiveparameterscommand). Suchparametersare
commontoallthehops/sectionsinagivenproject.
The"SectionData"dialog(Define/Sections)allowstodefine/modifyRadioSectiondata. The
userselectswhicharetheapplicableRecsandthelinktyperelevantinthatcase(national/
international;longhaul/shorthaul/access;etc.). TheSESRandUnavailabilityobjectivesare
shown
IntheSectionReport,thepredictedMultipathOutageandRainUnavailabilityresultsareshown
fortheselectedRadioSectionandshouldbecomparedwithSESRandUnavailabilityobjectives,
respectively. Theparagraph"ComparisonwithITUT/ITURObjectives"indicateswhicharethe
assumptionsmadetocomputeperformanceobjectives.
Exercise 8.1 : Set basic parameters

"Object1_Sample.hpf".Closethe"RadioHops"dialog.
ExecutetheCustomize/ITUObjectiveparameterscommandtodisplaythe"SettingsforITU
Objectives"dialog. ClicktheDefaultbutton,tobesurethatalltheparametersareinitialized
withdefaultvalues.
Modifysomedefaultsas:
A1(BlockallowancetoLonghaulsections)=1%
C (BlockallowancetoAccesssections)=8.5%
Exercise 8.2 : International section

"Object2_Sample.hpf".Closethe"RadioHops"dialog.Thisisthe sameprojectas revisedinthe
previousexercise.
ExecutetheDefine/Sectionscommand;the"RadioSections"dialogisdisplayed,clicktheCreate
button(the"NewSectionData"dialogwillbedisplayed)
Inthe"NewSectionData"dialog,selecttheALPHABETA,BETACHARLIE,andCHARLIEECHO
hopstodefineanewradiosection,named"NorthSouth".
Inthe"SectionData"dialog,checkthe"SetPerformanceObjectives"checkboxandselect
optionstocomputeperformanceobjectives,takingaccountthat:
o
"NorthSouth"isaSDHradiosection(
Tip:useG.828);
"NorthSouth"deliversinternationaltraffictotheterminatingcountry;
Itisestimatedthat75%oftotalunavailabilitycanbeallocatedtopropagationevents.
ChecktheUnavailabilityandErrorRateobjectivescomputedundertheaboveassumptions.
Closethe"SectionData"dialog. Inthe"RadioSections"dialog,clicktheReportbuttontodisplay
theRadioSectionreport. Commentonthedisplayedresults.
Tip:
ComparepredictedMultipathOutagewithErrorrateobjectivesandpredictedRain
UnavailabilitywithUnavailability(propagation)objectives.
Exercise 8.3 : Long-haul section

"Object2_Sample.hpf".Closethe"RadioHops"dialog.
Asinthepreviousexercise,defineaRadioSection,named"MultiRegion",withhopsALPHA
BETAandBETACHARLIE.
o
Itisrequiredtotestperformanceobjectivesatthechannellevel(belowprimaryrate)
(
Tip:useG.821);
"MultiRegion"delivertrafficfromanInternational GatewaytoaPrimaryCenter (
Highgradelink);
Tip:
Asinthepreviousexercise,checkcomputedobjectivesinthe"SectionData"dialog. Then
displaytheSectionReportandtakenoteofthedisplayedresults.
Exercise 8.4 : Access section

Asinthepreviousexercise,runHeraldandopenthe"Object2_Sample.hpf" project.
DefineaRadioSection,named"Local",withonlyonehop(BETADELTA).
Tip:useG.828);
"Local"isaSDHradiosection(
"Local"isintheNational/Accessportionofthenetwork;
Asinthepreviousexercise,checkcomputedobjectivesinthe"SectionData"dialog. Then
displaytheSectionReportandtakenoteofthedisplayedresults.
Exercise 8.5 : North America Standard Objectives

Asinthepreviousexercise,runHeraldandopenthe"Object2_Sample.hpf" project.
Close the Radio Hops dialog and execute the toggle command Customize / ITU-North America
Objectives in order to activate North America standard.
ExecutetheDefine/SectionscommandtodefineaRadioSectionnamed"ShortHaul",withhops
ALPHABETAandBETACHARLIE.
Inthe"SectionData"dialog,checkthe"SetNorthAmericaStdObjectives"checkboxandselect
theBellCoreShortHauloption(1600sec/year,250miles,Oneway,equivalentto99.995%
reliability).
Close(OK)the"SectionData"diaologandclicktheReportbuttoninthe"RadioSection"dialogto
displaytheRadioSectionreport. Commentonthedisplayedresults.BellCoreobjectiveforTotal
AnnualPropagationReliabilityisnotsatisfied.
Again,executetheDefine/Sectionscommand;,inthe"RadioSection"dialog,clicktheModify
button;inthe"SectionData"dialogsetalessstringentCustomizedobjective,similartoBellCore
objective(99.995%reliability,250miles),butaddinga"FlatReliabilityObjective"uptoa50mile
MinimumDistance.
DisplaySectionReportwiththenewobjective. Commentonthedisplayedresults.
Tip:
TheFlatReliabilityObjectiveuptoaMinimumdistancemeansthatacceptedoutagetimeis
notreducedtoextremelylowvaluesforveryshortradiosections.SeeHeraldHelp(pressF1
keytodisplaythehelppage"SectionDatadialogbox,NorthAmericaStandard")where
differentpbjectivesoptionsarediscussed.
EndofHERALDLab#8
Further Readings
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ANDERSONH.R.,FIXEDBROADBANDWIRELESSSYSTEMDESIGN,J.WILEY,2002.
LEHPAMERH.,TRANSMISSIONSYSTEMSDESIGNHANDBOOKFORWIRELESSNETWORKS,ARTECHHOUSEINC.,2002.
SUNY.,WIRELESSCOMMUNICATIONSCIRCUITSANDSYSTEMS,IEE,2003.
DOBLEJ.,INTRODUCTIONTORADIOPROPAGATIONFORFIXEDANDMOBILECOMMUNICATIONS,ARTECHHOUSE
INC.,1996.
GREENSTEIN,L.L.,ANDSHAFIM.(EDITORS),MICROWAVEDIGITALRADIO,PRENTICEHALLINC,1987.
"ADVANCESINDIGITALCOMMUNICATIONSBYRADIO",IEEEJOURNALONSELECTEDAREASINCOMMUNICATIONS,
VOL.JSAC5,N.3,APRIL1987.
NOGUCHIT.,DAIDOY.,ANDNOSSEKJ.A.,"MODULATIONTECHNIQUESFORMICROWAVEDIGITALRADIO",IEEE
COMMUNICATIONSMAGAZINE,VOL.24,N.10,OCTOBER1986,PP.2130.
GREENSTEINL.J.,"ANALYSIS/SIMULATIONSTUDYOFCROSSPOLARIZATIONCANCELLATIONINDUALPOLARDIGITAL
RADIO",AT&TTECHNICALJ.,VOL.64,N.10,DEC.1985,PP.226180.
VigantsA.,"MicrowaveRadioObstructionFading",BSTJ,vol.60,n.8,August1981,785801.
GigerA.J.andBarnettW.T.,"EffectsofMultipathPropagationonDigitalradio",IEEETrans.on
Communications,vol.29,n.9,Sept.1981,pp.134552.
FediF.,"PredictionofattenuationduetorainfallonTerrestrialLinks",RadioSci,vol.16,n.5,1981,
pp.731743.
.SchiavoneJ.A.,"Predictionofpositiverefractivitygradientforlineofsightmicrowaveradiopath",
BSTJ,vol.60,n.6,July1981,pp.803822.
SchiavoneJ.A.,"Microwaveradiometeorology:fadingbybeamfocusing",Int.Conf.
Communications,Philadelphia,1982.
MojoliL.F.,"Anewapproachtovisibilityproblemsinlineofsighthops",NationalTelecomm.Conf.,
Washington,1979.
KueblerW.andLeggettR.,"Deterministiccalculationofterraindependentpropagationlosses",
NationalTelecomm.Conf.,Washington,1979.
VigantsA.,"Spacediversityengineering",BSTJ,vol.54,n.1,January1975,pp.103142.
FabbriF.,"Antireflectingsystemfor2GHzoversearadiolinks",AltaFrequenza,vol.28,n.8,August
1973,pp.393397.
GarciaLopezJ.A.etal.,"Designofhybriddiversityonoverwaterpaths",ElectronicsLett.,vol.18,
n.10,May1982,pp.420422.
RummlerW.D.etal.,"Multipathfadingchannelmodelsformicrowavedigitalradio",IEEEComm.
Magazine,vol.24,n.11,November1986,pp.3042.
GreensteinM.J.andShafiM.,"Outagecalculationmethodsformicrowavedigitalradio",IEEE
Comm.Magazine,vol.25,n.2,February1987,pp.3039.
MartinA.L.,"Dispersionsignatures;someresultsoflaboratoryandfieldmeasurements",European
Conf.onRadioRelay,Munich,1986.
GreensteinL.J.andYehY.S.,"Asimulationstudyofspacediversityandadaptiveequalizationin
microwavedigitalradio",AT&TBellLabTech.J.,vol.64,n.4,April1985,pp.907935.
SebaldG.etal.,"AdvancedtimeandfrequencydomainadaptiveequalizationinmultilevelQAM
digitalradiosystems",IEEEJournalonSelectedAreasinCommunications,vol.JSAC5,n.3,April
1987.
BarnettW.T.,"Multipathpropagationat4,6and11GHz",BSTJ,vol.51,n.2,February1972,pp.321
361.
VigantsA.andPursleyM.V.,"Transmissionunavailabilityoffrequencydiversityprotected
microwavesystemscausedbymultipathfading",BSTJ,vol.58,n.8,October1979,pp.177996.
CraneR.K.,"Predictionofattenuationbyrain",IEEETr.Communications,vol.28,n.9,1980,
pp.171733.
OlsenR.L.,"Crosspolarizationduringprecipitationonaterrestriallink.Areview",RadioSci.,vol.16,
n.5,1981,pp.761779.
HoltA.R.etal.,"Frequencyscalingpropagationparametersusingdualpolarizationradarresults",
RadioSci.,vol.19,n.2,1984,pp.222230.
SegalB.,"Spatialcorrelationofintenseprecipitationwithreferencetothedesignofterrestrial
microwavenetworks",IEEInt.Conf.onAntennasandPropagation(ICAP),Norwich1983.
SmithW.E.etal.,"Recentadvancesinmicrowaveinterferenceprediction",IEEEInt.Conf.
Communications,Seattle1987.
BarberS.,"Cofrequencycrosspolarizedoperationofa91Mb/sdigitalradio",IEEEInt.Conf.
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Vogelk.,"Frequencyreusewith7bit/s/Hzfor140Mb/ssystemwithorthogonalcochannel
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CasiraghiU.andMengaliU.,"RelationshipbetweenBERperformanceparametersat64kb/sandat
radiosystembitrate",EuropeanConf.onRadioRelay,Munich1986.

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