LINKBUDGET CALCULATIONS

1. PURPOSE
Wireless communication system, typical structure shown in Fig.1-1, consists of
two major parts: Terminal1 (T1)and Terminal2 (T2) in a link.

Propagation
loss
Antenna Noise
gain
Antenna
Transmitter gain
Receiver
Transmit Feeder Feeder Received
power loss loss power

Fig.1-1Structure of Wireless Communication System.

The key factors to be considered are the requirements concerning:
a) Distance coverage (control radius);
b) How much Radio Frequency (RF) power is available;
c) How much bandwidth is available;
d) What is the required reliability (as defined by Bit Error Rate or BER);
e) Jamming resistance: in today’s battlefield environment Jamming-Resistance
andLow-Probability-of-Intercepting the signal are extremely important
factors for mission success.
Evaluating a communication link is a very important step when designing a
wireless system. A communication link is not simply the channel or region between
the transmitter and the receiver; the link encompasses the entire communication
path, from the information source, through all the encoding and modulation steps,
through the transmitter and the channel, up to and including the receiver with all its
signal processing steps, and terminating at the information sink.

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2. LINK BUDGET PARAMETERS
In order to perform the final link budget calculation, this section presents all
parameters, seen from the user point of view or looked by the designer that should
be taken into account.

2.1 DATA LINK COVERAGE

Microwave propagation requires Line Of Sight (LOS) transmission. LOS
propagation is the dominant mode for frequencies above 30MHz.
The LOS (inter-visibility) is given theoretically by:
𝑑(𝐾𝑚) = 4.12(√ℎ1 (𝑚) + √ℎ2 (𝑚)) (Equation 2-1)
Where:
 h1, h2: represent the antennas height in meters.
The LOS mode has the disadvantage that, for communication between two
stations, the signal path should be above the horizon, otherwise the earth will block
the LOS path.

2.2 FREQUENCY PLANNING

The propagation characteristics of electromagnetic waves used in wireless
channels are highly dependent on the frequency, designers should select frequencies
that have the appropriate propagation characteristics for the needed coverage.
The first step in establishing a link budget is to select a signal frequency to be
able to determine the physical system design and to evaluate items such as space
and propagation signal loss. We choose for our sample system the following band:
Table 2-1 Frequency Band.
Link
Frequency (MHz) (X-band)

2.3 TRANSMITTING POWER

Transmitting power, in Watts, is included in the link budget; it is limited by
power supply of T1, masse and size. More power would allow more powerful signal,
but that power will require a larger battery to support it and bigger generator in T1,
this causes an undesirable increase of the volume.The initial values of Transmitted
Powers for T1 and T2 sides are presented inTable 2-2.
Table 2-2 Transmitting Power ofthe system.

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 Unit LINK
FEA Tx Power (dBm) 43.01 (20W)
These values might be changed when performing the link budget calculation.

2.4 ANTENNA TYPE AND CHARACTERISTICS

Antennas are a transducer that converts electronic signal into electromagnetic
fields, and vice versa. They are also used to focus electromagnetic energy in a
desired direction.
The objective of this section is to introduce antennas type and characteristics
by providing the necessary formulas to quantify the performance of the antennas
used.

2.4.1 ANTENNA TYPES

Nowadays, a variety of different antenna types are used in many fields. Two
types of antennas are used, jugged to be suited for this sample system, which are:
a) Dipole Antenna;
b) Micro-strip Array Antenna.

2.4.2 RADIATION PATTERN

The radiation pattern of an antenna is important because it describes the
angular variation of the power density of the signal through space. Understanding
the radiation characteristics facilitates proper selection of the location and orientation
of transmit and receive antenna to maximize the received signal.
According to radiation pattern, two kind of antennas could be defined:
a) Omni- directional (isotropic) antenna: where the energy is radiated in all
directions;
b) Directional (directive) antenna: where energy is confine in a specific
direction.

2.4.3 ANTENNA DIRECTIVITY AND GAIN

An antenna achieves gain by directing energy to particular portions of space
that would otherwise radiate equally to all directions as from a point of source, and is
thus always relative to an isotropic antenna.

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 In some literature, Directivity (D) of an antenna can be written in terms of the
beam solid angle, which is expressed in steradians, or square radians, it is given by:
4𝜋
𝐷= (Equation 2-2)
Ω𝐴
Where:
2𝜋 𝜋
Ω𝐴 = ∫0 ∫0 |𝐹(𝜃, 𝜙)|2 sin 𝜃 𝑑𝜃𝑑𝜙 (Equation 2-3)
Where 𝜃 and 𝜙 are represented in Fig. 2-1.
The power pattern |𝐹(𝜃, 𝜙)|2, must be normalized to unity to achieve the
correct result.
Z

Y
Ф
X

Fig. 2-1 θ and Ф Angles Representation.

The directive gain is given by the following equation as well:
𝑚𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦
𝐺 = 𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 4𝜋𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑠 (Equation 2-4)
As depicted in Fig.2-2, the gain for lossless isotropic antenna is 𝐺𝑖𝑠𝑜 = 1 ,
whereas the gain is much greater than unity for the directive antenna pattern.

Uniform power density

Point source

Siso W/m2

Gt=Giso=1

(a) Isotropic Antenna.

Nonuniform power density

Save W/m2

Gt>>Giso

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 (b)Directive Antenna.
Fig.2-2 Isotropic and Directive Antenna Gain.
 NB:

𝑖𝑠𝑜 , 𝑆𝑎𝑣𝑒 and𝐺𝑡 will be defined in Section 3.

̅̅̅̅̅
𝑆 ̅̅̅̅̅̅

2.4.4 ANTENNAS INPUT IMPEDANCE

The input impedance of an antenna is important to quantify to ensure that it
functions properly in a system of specified characteristics impedance.
In military application, the characteristics impedance should be 𝑍0 = 50Ω, to
insure that a load is matched to the line and there is very small reflection of the
incident wave.

2.4.5 ANTENNA REFLECTION COEFFICIENT AND STANDING WAVE RATIO

When the antenna impedance 𝑍𝑎𝑛𝑡 is not matched, a reflection results.
Impedance mismatch is quantified in terms of the voltage reflection coefficient
looking into the terminals of the transmit antenna. It is defined as:
𝑍𝑎𝑛𝑡 −𝑍0
Γ= (Equation 2-5)
𝑍𝑎𝑛𝑡 +𝑍0
Generally, Γ is a complex quantity where: 0 ≤ |Γ| ≤ 1. The requirement for a
perfect match is 𝑍𝑎𝑛𝑡 = 𝑍0 .
The Voltage Standing Wave Ratio (VSWR) is defined as:
1+|Γ|
𝑉𝑆𝑊𝑅 = (Equation 2-6)
1−|Γ|
From Equation 4-6, 1 ≤ 𝑉𝑆𝑊𝑅 ≤ ∞, VSWR=1 implies a perfect match. For our
system, 𝑉𝑆𝑊𝑅 ≤ 1.5 is generally acceptable, the associated value of reflection
coefficient is |Γ| = 0.2.

2.4.6 ANTENNA POLARIZATION

The polarization of an Electro-Magnetic (EM) field is defined as the direction in
space along which the field lines point, and the polarization of an antenna is
described by the polarization of its radiated field.
There are four types of antenna polarization which are:
a) Linear polarization;
b) Orthogonal linear polarization (vertical polarization, horizontal polarization);
c) Circular polarization;
d) Elliptical polarization.

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 Since horizontal polarization is more vulnerable to earth interference, vertical
polarization presents a better choice.

2.4.7 ANTENNA CHARACTERISTICS SUMMARY

Table 2-3 presents antenna type and characteristics summary.
Table 2-3Antenna Type and Characteristics.
Unit LINK

Tx Antenna Gain (dBi) 29

Rx Antenna Gain (dBi) 1
Antenna Type Micro-strip Array Antenna
Polarization Vertical

2.5 BIT ERROR RATE

The Bit Error Rate (BER) is ≤ 10-5.

2.6 FORWARD ERROR CORRECTION IMPROVEMENT

Channel coding is a method to detect and possibly correct errors by introducing
redundancy to the stream of bits to be sent to the channel. The channel encoder will
add bits to the message to be transmitted systematically. After passing through the
channel, the channel decoder will detect and correct errors.
There are different methods to detect and correct errors caused by channel
impairment (noise, interference, fading…), the main one is based on the Forward
Error Correction.
The code rate, r, for FEC is given by:
𝑘
𝑟=
𝑛
Where:
 k: is the number of input information bits;
 n: is the number of output encoded bits.
Convolutional/Viterbi coding decoding method is used, with a code rate of
(1/2).
Channel encoding is not used just to correct the errors caused by the channel, it provide a
performance improvement as well. In order to study the effect of the channel

6
 encoder, BERtool of MATLAB software is used. Results are illustrated in

Fig. 2-3.

Fig. 2-3 Forward Error Correction Improvement.

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 Fig. 2-3 shows the BER plots as a function of energy per bit to noise power
ratio Eb/N0 (introduced in section 2.10). The three plots are BERs for the uncoded
BPSK and coded system using convolutional encoder and block encoder versus E b/N0.
It can be seen that the convolutional encoder gives better performance; according to
this practical communication system, the improvement is set to be 5 dB for BER≤ 10
-5.

2.7 BANDWIDTH
The bandwidth is the resource required to transfer a certain amount of
information in a given time segment. In image and TV transmission, compression
techniques have to be applied to the signal from the camera to reduce the bandwidth
consumption.
Bandwidths efficiency (Beff) for various digital modulation methods used are
given in Table 2-4.
Table 2-4Bandwidths Efficiency for Various Digital Modulation Methods.
Modulation Bandwidth Efficiency
Method (null-to-null)
QPSK 1.0X Bit Rate
BPSK 2.0x Bit Rate
BFSK 2.5x Bit Rate
 NB.

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 RF bandwidth is not only determined by data rate and bandwidth efficiency of
modulation techniques, but it is necessary to consider constraints about filters design
at the receiver side.

2.8 SPREAD SPECTRUM GAIN

Spread Spectrum (SpSp) is a technique, in which the bandwidth of the
transmitted signal is enlarged. It represents an efficient method for anti-jamming and
anti-intercept.
The two primary methods used to spread the baseband data spectrum are:
a) Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS);
b) Frequency Hoping Spread Spectrum (FHSS).
The SpSpprocessing gain, 𝐺𝑆𝑝𝑆𝑝 , is defined by the following formula:
𝐵
𝐺𝑆𝑝𝑆𝑝 [𝑑𝐵] = 10 log (𝐵 𝑇𝑟 ) (Equation 2-7)
𝐼𝑛𝑓
Where:
 𝐺𝑆𝑝𝑆𝑝 [𝑑𝐵] :is the processing gain in dB,

 𝐵𝑇𝑟 :is the bandwidth of the transmitted signal,

 𝐵𝐼𝑛𝑓 : is the bandwidth of the transmitted signal information contains.
The bandwidth after SpSp processing is enlarged with a factor of 𝐺𝑆𝑝𝑆𝑝 = 256.

2.9 DATA RATE

Fig. 2-4 represents the data rate transformation through all communication
blocks as for the transmitting side. At the receiver side, the transformation will
beperformed in the reverse way.

Channel M-ary
Source Base Band
Coding
SpSp
Modulator
UpConverter PA

R (bps) R (bps) Rc=(n/k)∙R RSpSp=GSpSp∙Rc Bandwidth=Beff∙RSpSp (Hz)

Fig. 2-4 Data Rate Transformation at Transmit Side.

Data rate (R) of the source has been provided according to the system
requirements. Data rate transformation of the link are defined in the following
sections.

2.9.1 DATA RATE FOR THE LINK

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 Fig.2-5Data Rate for The Link.

2.10 REQUIRED SIGNAL TO NOISE RATIO OR ENERGY PER BIT TO NOISE

POWER RATIO
One of the key properties of a communications system is how much data can
be sent across the link in a set amount of time. Assuming a digital system, this data
rate is measured in bits per second. T2 is designed to be as simple as possible,
severely limiting the required data rate for the communications link. Sources suggest
that telemetry and tracking data can easily be communicated on the order of a
thousand (1000) of bits per second (bps). Having the data rate, the energy per bit to
𝐸 𝐸
noise power ratio ( 𝑏 ) can be calculated. The ratio ( 𝑏 ) is a measure of the power
𝑁0 𝑁0

efficiency of the system.

For any digital communication system, the relationship between the carrier
(received power) to noise-power spectral density and received bit-energy to noise
power spectral density is given by:
𝐶 𝐸
[𝑁 ] 𝑑𝐵 = [𝑁𝑏 ] 𝑑𝐵 + 10 log(𝑅) (Equation 2-8)
0 0
𝐶 𝐸𝑏
Where is the carrier to noise signal ratio, in decibel-Hertz, is the energy
𝑁0 𝑁0

per bit to noise power ratio in decibels, and R is the data rate in bits per second.
Anyone who has studied analog communications is familiar with figure of merit,
average signal power to average noise power ratio (S/N or SNR). In digital
𝐸𝑏
communication, we more often use , a normalized version of SNR, as a figure of
𝑁0
𝐸𝑏
merit. The relation between SNR and is given by:
𝑁0

𝐸𝑏 𝑆 𝑊
= ( ) (Equation 2-9)
𝑁0 𝑁 𝑅

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 Where S is the signal power, 𝐸𝑏 is bit energy, 𝑁0 is noise power spectral
density, and can be described as noise power Ndivided by bandwidth W and R is the
bit rate.
The 𝑆𝑁𝑅 or𝐸𝑏 ⁄𝑁0 required represents the minimum quantity that must be
available at the receiver in order to achieve a certain level of performance, this
quantity is given from practical experiments and is different from theoretical values.
Performance of any wireless communication system is measured by its error
performance represented by Bit Error Rate (BER).
The minimum required SNR versus the data rate for all links, is presented in
Table 2-5.
Table 2-5 Required SNR versus Data Rate.
Link
Modulation BPSK
Channel Coding Viterbi 1/2
Data Rate After Coding 25.6kbps
Min Required SNR 13

2.11 NOISE FIGURE

Noise figure, F, relates the SNR at the input of a network to the SNR at the
output of it. The Noise Figure (NF) measures the SNR degradation caused by the
network. It is given by the following equation:
SNRout P Nout Nout
NF = = Nin × P =N (Equation 2-10)
SNRin in in ×Gs in ×Gs
Where 𝑃𝑖𝑛 the power at the input of the network is, 𝑁𝑖𝑛 is the noise at the
input, 𝑁𝑜𝑢𝑡 is the noise at the output and 𝐺𝑠 is a system (network) gain.
The relationship between noise figure and equivalent temperature,𝑇𝑒 , is given
by the following formula:
𝑇𝑒
𝑁𝐹 = 1 + ℎ𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒: 𝑇𝑒 = (𝐹 − 1) ∙ 𝑇0
𝑇0
Where:
 𝑇0 : is the ambient temperature, usually the value is 290°𝐾.
In dB we get:
[𝑁𝐹](𝑑𝐵) = 10 × log(𝐹) (Equation 2-11)
NF is provided by the constructor for the whole network, the values are
presented in Table 2-6.
Table 2-6 Noise Figure.

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 LINK
NF (dB) 6
 NB.
The NFBFSK>NFPSK because the FSK equipment (Tx, PA, filter…) are more noisy.

2.12 NOISE TEMPERATURE

Several factors are to be considered, before the final margin can be calculated.
The system noise temperature is a property of the atmosphere in which the
equipment works. This temperature is estimated to 290 Kelvin based on other
communications systems.

2.13 COMMUNICATION LOSSES

2.13.1 CABLE AND HARDWARE LOSS

In order to account for the imperfections inherent in the materials and
construction of the physical systems, a line loss factor and hardware loss is added
into the link budget for both the transmitter and receiver.This is an estimated value
based on historical data from communication systems. The cable loss and hardware
loss tests will be performed in later stages and losses values for this calculation have
been provided.

2.13.2 DUPLEXER LOSS

Duplexer is used in main links at T1 and T2 side. The duplexer loss represents
the loss of the equipment itself, it can be measured using a Network Analyzer. For
our link calculation, it is set to 1dB according to the duplexer designer.

2.13.3 POINTING AND POLARIZATION LOSS

a) Pointing Loss: Pointing loss,𝑝𝑙 represents the loss of signal when either the
transmitting antenna or the receiving antenna are imperfectly pointed.
Pointing loss is often given, in decibels, by:
𝑃𝐿 = −10 ∙ 𝑙𝑜𝑔10 (𝑝𝑙 ) (Equation 2-12)
b) Polarization Loss: polarization of an antenna has been introduced in
section 2.4.6. Polarization loss,𝑝, is due to any polarization mismatch
between the transmitting and the receiving antenna.The Polarization
Mismatch Loss, PML, is often expressed in decibel and given by:

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 𝑃𝑀𝐿 = −10 ∙ 𝑙𝑜𝑔10 (𝑝) (Equation 2-13)
 NB.
Pointing and polarization loss are given by the antenna constructor, their values
can be found in Table 4-3.

2.13.4 SPREAD SPECTRUM IMPLEMENTATION LOSS

It represents the loss when implementing the SpSp techniques. Its value is
given in Table 4-3.

2.13.5 ATMOSPHERIC LOSS

The atmosphere is responsible for signal loss and is also contributor of
unwanted noise. Fig.2-6is a plot of the theoretical one-way attenuation from
specified height to the top of the atmosphere. The calculations were made for
several heights (0 km is sea level) and for a water vapor content of 7.5 g/m 3. The
magnitude of signal loss due to oxygen (O2) and water vapor absorption is plotted as

a function of carrier frequency.

Fig.2-6Vertical One-Way Attenuation from Specified Height to Top Atmosphere.
 NB.
For the link budget calculation, only rain loss is considered. For our calculation
the rain loss is assumed to be unity.

3. LINK BUDGET CALCULATION METHOD

The link budget is the output of the link analysis. It consists of the calculations
and tabulation of the useful signal power and the interfering noise power available at

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 the receiver. The objective of this chapter is to present a detailed calculation method
of the link budget.

3.1 CALCULATION OF CARRIER POWER

The objective of this section is to present the carrier power calculation method;
that is the calculation of the received power using system parameters such as
transmitter output power, antenna gain, frequency of operation and operation range.
It is necessary to calculate the signal power to quantify the performance of the
system that is to determine the SNR.
The basic components of the transduction part can be sketched in Fig.3-1. It
basically consists of: transmitter, transmit cable or waveguide, transmit antenna,
receive antenna, and receive cable or waveguide and the receiver.
Ps Pt Pant Pr Pline Prec

Prad
Transmitter Z0 (Ltc) Zant Zant Z0 (Lrc) Receiver
R

Prefl Prerad

Fig.3-1 Basic Components of Transduction Part.

The transmitter can be either in T1 and T2, and so is the receiver.
The propagation medium that connect the transmitter and the receiver is the
free space. The concept of free space assumes a channel free of all hindrances to RF
and micro-wave propagation, such as absorption, reflection, refraction, or diffraction.

3.1.1 EIRP AND TRANSMIT POWER DENSITY

The transmitter is connected to the antenna terminal by a transmission line. In
practice the transmission line, or cable, has non-negligible loss. The loss factor, 𝐿𝑡𝑐 ,
is proportional to the power dissipated along the transmission line. The terms 𝑃𝑠 and
𝑃𝑡 are the power available from the source and the output end of the transmission
line respectively:
𝑃
𝐿𝑡𝑐 = 𝑃𝑠 (Equation 3-1)
𝑡
The attenuation, 𝐴𝑡𝑐 in dB, is defined in terms of the loss factor as:
𝐴𝑡𝑐 = 10 ∙ 𝑙𝑜𝑔10 (𝐿𝑡𝑐 ) (Equation 3-2)
The power available to a matched load at the end of the transmission line is 𝑃𝑡 ,
however, due to impedance mismatch, at the antenna/cable interface, some power

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will be reflected, 𝑃𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑙 , the difference between 𝑃𝑡 and 𝑃𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑙 is the power delivered to
the antenna, 𝑃𝑎𝑛𝑡 .
𝑃𝑎𝑛𝑡 = 𝑃𝑡 (1 − |Γ𝑡 |2 ) (Equation 3-3)
Where:
 |Γ𝑡 |2: represent the power reflection coefficient at the transmit side.
The individual factor on the transmit end is given by:
𝑞𝑡 = 1 − |Γ𝑡 |2 (Equation 3-4)
An antenna will not radiate all power delivered to it, that is, 𝑃𝑟𝑎𝑑 will be less
than 𝑃𝑎𝑛𝑡 , because of dissipative losses resulting from the presence of non-ideal
conductors and dielectrics, these can be included in equipment loss. Radiation
efficiency accounts for this loss and is given by:
𝑃𝑟𝑎𝑑
𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑑 = , 0 ≤ 𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑑 ≤ 1 (Equation 3-5)
𝑃𝑎𝑛𝑡
Consider a transmit antenna that radiates equally in all directions (directional)
and operates in free space. It is convenient to assume that the radiation efficiency is
one (1), so that 𝑃𝑟𝑎𝑑 = 𝑃𝑎𝑛𝑡 .
The radial power density, or average pointing vector, 𝑆 𝑖𝑠𝑜 , in the outward
̅̅̅̅̅

direction 𝑟̂ , at a fixed range 𝑟 = 𝑅 may then be written as :

𝑃
𝑎𝑛𝑡
𝑆𝑖𝑠𝑜 (𝑅) = 4𝜋𝑅 2 𝑟̂ (Equation 3-6)
For directive transmit antenna, with gain 𝐺𝑡 , the average power density, 𝑆𝑎𝑣𝑒 ,
at the peak of the beam, is given by:
𝑃𝑎𝑛𝑡 ∙𝐺𝑡
𝑆𝑎𝑣𝑒 (𝑅) = 𝑟̂ (Equation 3-7)
4𝜋𝑅 2
Substituting Equations 5-1, 5-3 and 5-4 in Equation 5-7, hence:
𝑃 ∙𝑞 ∙𝐺
𝑆𝑎𝑣𝑒 (𝑅) = 𝐿 𝑠 ∙4𝜋𝑅
𝑡 𝑡
2 𝑟̂ (Equation 3-8)
𝑡𝑐
One way to characterise a transmitter is in term of its Effective Isotropic
Radiated Power (EIRP). In the direction of the main-beam peak the EIRP is defined
as:
𝐸𝐼𝑅𝑃 = 𝑃𝑎𝑛𝑡 ∙ 𝐺𝑡 (Equation 3-9)

3.1.2 RECEIVED POWER

The transmit power propagates toward the receiver. 𝑃𝑟 is the power available to
a matched load connected to the received antenna terminals. The received power
will be proportional to the effective collecting area, 𝐴𝑒𝑟 , of the receive antenna, as
shown in Fig. 3-2, 𝑃𝑟 is given by:

15
 𝑃𝑟 = 𝑆𝑎𝑣𝑒 (𝑅) ∙ 𝐴𝑒𝑟 𝑟̂ (Equation 3-10)
Receive
antenna

Plane Ap
^
r Aer
Wave
Transmit z E
Antenna Save
H
location
θt

y
φt
x

Fig. 3-2 Effective Aperture.

Upon substitution of Equation 5-7, the received power can be expressed as:
𝑃𝑎𝑛𝑡 ∙𝐺𝑡 ∙𝐴𝑒𝑟
𝑃𝑟 (𝑅) = (Equation 3-11)
4𝜋∙𝑅 2
The relationship between antenna gain and antenna effective area is given by:
4𝜋∙𝐴𝑒𝑟
𝐺𝑟 = (Equation 3-12)
𝜆20
Where:
 𝜆0 : is the free space wavelength of the carrier, which is given by:
𝑐
𝜆0 = 𝑓 (Equation 3-13)
Where:
 𝑐 = 3 × 108 𝑚/𝑠: is the speed of light;
 𝑓: is the frequency in hertz.
Hence, the power at the terminals of the received antenna in term of the power
available from the source and 𝐴𝑒𝑟 is given by:
𝑃𝑠 (1−|Γ𝑡 |2 ) ∙𝐺𝑡 𝐺 ∙𝜆2
𝑃𝑟 (𝑅) = [ 𝑟 0
] ∙ (4𝜋∙𝑅) 2
(Equation 3-14)
𝐿𝑡𝑐
The collection of terms (4𝜋 ∙ 𝑅 ⁄𝜆0 )2 is called the path loss or free space loss
designated by, 𝐿𝑓𝑠 . The free space loss depends on the operating frequency (f) and
the control radius (R) and is calculating such as:
[𝐿𝑓𝑠 ]𝑑𝐵 = −147.55 + 20 ∙ 𝑙𝑜𝑔10 𝑅(𝑚) + 20 ∙ 𝑙𝑜𝑔10 𝑓(𝐻𝑧) (Equation 3-15)
In other term:
[𝐿𝑓𝑠 ]𝑑𝐵 = 32.44 + 20 ∙ 𝑙𝑜𝑔10 𝑅(𝐾𝑚) + 20 ∙ 𝑙𝑜𝑔10 𝑓(𝑀𝐻𝑧) (Equation 3-16)
Equation 5-14 calculates the power at the terminal of the receive antenna. It is
necessary to compute the power at the terminal of the receiver,𝑃𝑟𝑒𝑐 , which can be
reduced from 𝑃𝑟 , by impedance mismatch and feed line attenuation. As depicted in
Fig.3-1, the power, 𝑃𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒 , is the difference between the power available at the
terminal of the received antenna,𝑃𝑟 , and that reflected due to impedance mismatch.
𝑃𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒 is given by:
𝑃𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒 = 𝑃𝑟 ∙ (1 − |Γ𝑟 |2 ) (Equation 3-17)

16
 Where:
 |Γ𝑟 |2: represents the power reflection coefficient at the receive side.
The individual factor on the receive end is given by:
𝑞𝑟 = 1 − |Γ𝑟 |2 (Equation 3-18)
Dissipation in the receive cable is accounted for by its loss factor, 𝐿𝑟𝑐 , given as:
𝑃𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒
𝐿𝑟𝑐 = (Equation 3-19)
𝑃𝑟𝑒𝑐
The attenuation, 𝐴𝑟𝑐 in dB, in terms of the receive cable loss factor given by:
𝐴𝑟𝑐 = 10𝑙𝑜𝑔10 (𝐿𝑟𝑐 ) (Equation 3-20)
Hence, the power at the terminals of the receiver is determined as:
𝑃𝑠 ∙𝑞𝑡 𝐺𝑡 ∙𝐺𝑟 𝑞𝑟
𝑃𝑟𝑒𝑐 (𝑅) = (Equation 3-21)
𝐿𝑡𝑐 𝐿𝑓𝑠 𝐿𝑟𝑐
To quantify the reduction in the received power due to mismatch impedance
mismatch on both ends of the system, the total loss factor, 𝑞𝑡𝑜𝑡 , is defined:
𝑞𝑡𝑜𝑡 = 𝑞𝑡 ∙ 𝑞𝑟 (Equation 3-22)
The mismatch loss is often stated in decibels, it is defined as:
𝑀𝑀𝐿𝑡𝑜𝑡 = −10 ∙ 𝑙𝑜𝑔10 (𝑞𝑡𝑜𝑡 ) (Equation 3-23)
Substituting Equation 5-22 in Equation 5-21, we get:
𝑃𝑠 ∙𝐺𝑡 ∙𝐺𝑟 1
𝑃𝑟𝑒𝑐 (𝑅) = ∙ ∙ 𝑞𝑡𝑜𝑡 (Equation 3-24)
𝐿𝑡𝑐 ∙𝐿𝑟𝑐 𝐿𝑠𝑓

3.1.3 EFFECTIVE CARRIER POWER

The link equation (Equation 5-24) incorporated some but not all real-world
factors affecting the received signal level. The objective of this section, is to consider
all factors that might affect the Link budget analysis.
Considering that transmit and/or received antenna main-beam pointed in a
specified direction with a polarisation mismatch and with a pointing loss, Equation 5-
24 becomes:
𝑃𝑠 ∙𝐺𝑡 ∙𝐺𝑟 1
𝑃𝑟𝑒𝑐 (𝑅) = ∙ ∙ 𝑝 ∙ 𝑝𝑙 𝑞𝑡𝑜𝑡 (Equation 3-25)
𝐿𝑡𝑐 ∙𝐿𝑟𝑐 𝐿𝑠𝑓
The path loss, 𝐿𝑠𝑓 , can be due to factors others than the free space. That is,
for some cases, the signal level can be degraded by the atmosphere. Thus 𝐿𝑠𝑓 can
be expanded to accommodate this effects, such as:
𝐿𝑝𝑎𝑡ℎ = 𝐿𝑓𝑠 ∙ 𝐿𝑎𝑡𝑚 (Equation 3-26)
We can define the path attenuation in dB to be:
𝐴𝑝𝑎𝑡ℎ = 10 ∙ 𝑙𝑜𝑔10 (𝐿𝑝𝑎𝑡ℎ ) (Equation 3-27)

17
 As mentioned before, only the rain absorption is considered, in link budget
calculation, the term 𝐿𝑎𝑡𝑚 can normally be assumed to be unity, however, at highest
frequencies this term must be considered.
Rewriting Equation 5-25 in more compact form:
𝑃𝑠 ∙𝐺𝑡 ∙𝐺𝑟 1
𝑃𝑟𝑒𝑐 (𝑅) = ∙ ∙ 𝑝 ∙ 𝑝𝑙 𝑞𝑡𝑜𝑡 (Equation 3-28)
𝐿𝑡𝑐 ∙𝐿𝑟𝑐 𝐿𝑝𝑎𝑡ℎ
Converting Equation 5-28 from linear form to decibels, we get:
𝑃𝑟𝑒𝑐 (𝑑𝐵𝑚) = 𝑃𝑠 (𝑑𝐵𝑚) + 𝐺𝑡 (𝑑𝐵𝑖) + 𝐺𝑟 (𝑑𝐵𝑖) − 𝐴𝑡𝑐 (𝑑𝐵) − 𝐴𝑟𝑐 (𝑑𝐵) − 𝐴𝑝𝑎𝑡ℎ − 𝑃𝑀𝐿(𝑑𝐵) −
𝑃𝐿(𝑑𝐵) − 𝑀𝑀𝐿𝑡𝑜𝑡 (𝑑𝐵) (Equation 3-29)
Other losses have to be included in Equation 5-29 such as, transmit hardware
loss, 𝐿𝑡ℎ , receive hardware loss,𝐿𝑟ℎ , and SpSp implementation loss,𝐿𝑆𝑝𝑆𝑝 , due to
direct sequence spread spectrum technique (DSSS). The gain of DSSS,𝐺𝑠𝑝𝑠𝑝 , has to
be included as well.
Hence, the effective carrier power (C) is given by:
𝐶(𝑑𝐵𝑚) = 𝑃𝑠 (𝑑𝐵𝑚) + 𝐺𝑡 (𝑑𝐵𝑖) + 𝐺𝑟 (𝑑𝐵𝑖) + 𝐺𝑆𝑝𝑆𝑝 (𝑑𝐵) − 𝐴𝑆𝑝𝑆𝑝 − 𝐴𝑡𝑐 (𝑑𝐵) − 𝐴𝑡ℎ (𝑑𝐵) −
𝐴𝑟𝑐 (𝑑𝐵) − 𝐴𝑟ℎ (𝑑𝐵) − 𝐴𝑝𝑎𝑡ℎ − 𝑃𝑀𝐿(𝑑𝐵) − 𝑃𝐿(𝑑𝐵) − 𝑀𝑀𝐿𝑡𝑜𝑡 (𝑑𝐵) (Equation 3-30)
Where:
 𝐴𝑡ℎ = 10 ∙ 𝑙𝑜𝑔10 (𝐿𝑡ℎ );
 𝐴𝑟ℎ = 10 ∙ 𝑙𝑜𝑔10 (𝐿𝑟ℎ );
 𝐴𝑆𝑝𝑆𝑝 = 10 ∙ 𝑙𝑜𝑔10 (𝐿𝑆𝑝𝑆𝑝 ).

3.1.4 EFFECTIVE NOISE POWER

The noise power of the receiver antenna input port is given by:
𝑃𝑛 = 𝑘 ∙ 𝑇0 ∙ 𝐵𝑛 + 𝑘 ∙ 𝑇𝑒 ∙ 𝐵𝑛 (Equation 3-31)
Where:
 𝑘: represents Boltzmann’s constant = 1.38 × 10−23 𝐽/𝐾;
 𝑇0 : represents the ambient temperature;
 𝑇𝑒 : represents the equivalent temperature;
 𝐵𝑛 : represents the Receive Noise Bandwidth (RNB), given in dB, By:
𝑅𝑁𝐵 = 10 ∙ 𝑙𝑜𝑔10 (𝐵𝑛 /1𝑀𝐻𝑧) (Equation 3-32)
Since 𝑇𝑒 = 𝑇0 (𝐹 − 1), hence:
𝑃𝑛 = 𝑘 ∙ 𝑇0 ∙ 𝐹 ∙ 𝐵𝑛 (Equation 3-33)
The effective noise power, in decibels-milli-watts, is:
[𝑃𝑛 ]𝑑𝐵𝑚 = −114(𝑑𝐵𝑚⁄𝑀𝐻𝑧) + 𝑁𝐹 + 𝑅𝑁𝐵 (Equation 3-34)

18
 3.1.5 CARRIER TO NOISE CALCULATION
To quantify the system performance, the carrier to noise, 𝐶 ⁄𝑃𝑛 , should be
computed. This ensures that there is an adequate signal to achieve a specified level
of data quality. This is known as the received 𝑆𝑁𝑅𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑑 , which represents the
available 𝑆𝑁𝑅 in the system. This value is computed using the followingequation:
[𝑆𝑁𝑅𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑑 ]𝑑𝑏 = [𝐶]𝑑𝐵𝑚 − [𝑃𝑛 ]𝑑𝐵𝑚 (Equation 3-35)

3.1.6 FADE MARGIN

The Fade Margin (FM) threshold represents an average between the minimum
and the design goal. It is the difference between the minimum value,𝑆𝑁𝑅𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑 ,
and that achieved by the system, 𝑆𝑁𝑅𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑑 .
FM is also known as the safety factor. The FM needed depends on how much
confidence one has in each of the link budget entries. FM is a very important factor
to determine the link availability which represents a long-term link utility.
FM is calculated using the following formula:
𝐹𝑀 = 𝑆𝑁𝑅𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑑 + 𝐺𝐹𝐸𝐶 − 𝑆𝑁𝑅𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑 (Equation 3-36)
Where:
 𝐺𝐹𝐸𝐶 : represents the FEC improvement.
To ensure over 87% of system link availability along 260 Km communication
range, the FM in dB has to be taken in the interval of [12-18 dB], for all links.

4. CALCULATION RESULTS
This section presents all calculations results after using the approach explained
in link budget overview and components (section 5).

4.1 FREE SPACE LOSS

Table 4-1presents free space loss calculation, using Equation 5-16, for
maximum operating frequency (see section2.2) and maximum range of 120 Km.
Table 4-1 Free Space Loss versus operating Frequency.
LINK
Frequency F (MHz) 9560
Free Space Loss Lfs(dB) 112.28

19
4.2 RECEIVER NOISE BANDWIDTH
The Receiver Noise Bandwidth calculation (Equation 5-32) results are presented
in Table 4-2.
Table 4-2 Receive Noise Bandwidth (dB).
BW (MHz) RNB (dB)
Link 0.0512 -12.9

4.3 LINK BUDGET CALCULATION

Table 4-3 presents the final link budget calculation for the Link. It gives the FM
estimation for the system communication, by using Equation 5-36, as well.

20
 Table 4-3Link Budget Calculation.

Parameters Unit Link

I Range Km 260
II CenterFrequency MHz 9560
III Data Rate after Channel Coding kbps 25.6
IV Bandwidth (BW) MHz 0.0512
V Modulation / BPSK
VI T2 Antenna Gain dBi 1
VII T1 Antenna Gain dBi 29
IX BER Threshold BER 10-5
TRANSMISSION (Tx)
1 FEA Transmit Power [Pt] dBm 43.01(20W) 10log(20*1000)
2 Transmit Losses [Lt1] dB[-] 1.5 /
3 DuplexerLosses dB[-] 1 /
4 Tx Antenna Effective Gain [Gt] dBi 29 /
5 Transmit Pointing Loss [Ltp] dB [-] 0.3 /
Effective Radiated Power dBm 69.21 43.01-1.5-1+29-0.3

6 Free Space Loss [Lfs] dB [-] 112.28 32.44+20logR(km)+20logf(MHz)

7 Rain Absorption [Lrn] dB [-] 0 /

Total Propagation Loss dB[-] 112.28 112.28+0

RECEPTION(Rx)
8 Rx Antenna Effective Gain [Gr] dBi[+] 1 /

9 Receive Polarization Loss [Lpl] dB [-] 0.3 /

10 Receive Pointing Loss [Lrp] dB [-] 0.1 /

11 Receive Hardware Loss [Lrh] dB [-] 1.5 /

12 Spsp Implementation dB [-] 8 /

13 Spsp Gain dB [+] 0 /

Receiver Effect dB[+] -8.9

Effective Carrier Power dBm -51.97 69.21-112.28-8.9

14 Thermal Noise Density [KT] dBm/MHz[+] -114

15 Receive Noise Bandwidth dB [+] -12.9 10log(BW)
16 Receive Noise Figure [NF] dB[+] 7 /
Effective Noise Power dBm -119.9
17 Available SNR dB[+] 67.93 -51.97+119.9
18 Required SNR or Eb/N0 dB[-] 40 /
19 FCC Improvement (Viterbi 1/2) dB [+] 5 /
Net Fading Margin dB 32.93 67.93-40+5

21
 From the calculation above, the FM calculation is summarized in Table 4-4.
Table 4-4 Fade Margin Values.
LINK
Frequency ‘F’ (MHz) 9560
Free space loss ‘Lfs’(dB) 112.28
Fade Margin ‘FM’ (dB) 32.93

4.4 RECEIVER SENSITIVITY

Receiver sensitivity is the minimum signal level required to detect a useful
signal for a given SNR. Receiver sensitivity is calculated, for the link receiverusing the
following formulas.
[𝑅𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑆𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦]𝑑𝐵 = [Effective Noise Power]dB +
[SpSp Implementation]dB +[Required S⁄N or Eb ⁄N0 ]dB −
[FCC Improvement]dB (Equation 4-1)
Or:
[𝑅𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑆𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦]𝑑𝐵 = [Effective Noise Power]dB −
[SpSp Gain]dB +[Required S⁄N or Eb ⁄N0 ]dB − [FCC Improvement]dB (Equation 4-2)

Table 4-5 presents all calculation results concerning receivers’ sensitivity.

Table 4-5 Receivers’ Sensitivity.
Receiver

Effective Noise Power dBm[+] -119.9

SpspImplementation dB[+] 6
Spsp Gain dB [-] 0
Required SNR dB[+] 13
FEC Improvement dB[-] 5
dBm -105.9
ReceiverSensitivity
pW 0.0257

 NB:
The effective noise power is calculated for different values. If we just consider
the data rate before spreading, Equation 6-1 or Equation 6-2, has to be used
otherwise; bandwidth after spreading should be considered without considering the
SpSp implementation neither the SpSp gain.

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5. RESULTS ANALYSIS
The link budget for the case under study has shown the following observations:
a) It is observed that the received power can be increased when:
1) The power at the transmitter is increased, this might be possible in T1.
2) Minimizing the cable and hardware losses using the appropriate
technology;
3) Transmit and/or receive antenna gain is greater. Since the gain is
closely related to the antenna type, these parameters are limited by
the antenna mass, size and position.
b) The receiver power must be larger enough to provide a good quality signal
but should be limited such that it does not overload the receiver;
c) As for frequency allocation:
1) In term of dimension specification, as the frequency increases, the size
and weight of the equipment decreases,however, it leads to more
complex technology;
2) Increasing the frequency to reduce the equipment size is not always a
good alternative. Total propagation loss increases as the frequency
increases, when maintaining the same distance;
3) If the effective carrier power and the distance are kept constant,
increasing the frequency will lead to increase the transmit power;
4) Frequency band has to be chosen, based on the antenna size and
transmitter power, which allow to satisfy the link budget under
jamming conditions. Frequency range choices is limited by the
concerned authority.
d) Losses such as atmospheric loss and multipath loss have not been taken
into account when performing the final link budget calculation. The FM
includes all these losses;
e) All calculated FM meets the requirement of being in the range of [12-18 dB]
to ensure the optimal availabilityoverthecommunication range.

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6. GENERAL CONCLUSION
The link budget calculation is a process of repeated calculations and
adjustments of the main communication equipment in order to complete data link
system design in respect of given requirements such as the operation frequency and
the range.In this study case, requirements have been considered for the link.
By examining the link budget, one can learn many things about overall system
design and performance. From the link margin, one can learns whether the system
will meet many of its requirements comfortably.
The link budget may reveal if there are any hardware constraints, and whether
such a constraints can be compensated in other parts of the link.
The link budget is often used as a “score sheet” in considering system trade-
offs and configuration changes, and in understanding subsystem nuances and inter-
dependencies. From a quick examination of the link budget and its supporting
documentation, one can judge whether the analysis was done precisely or if it
represents a rough estimation.
The link budget can predict equipment weight, size, prime power requirement,
technical risk and cost. The choice of the different equipment such as the
transmitter, the antenna, the receiver and the power amplifiers along with all the
required parameters is made much easier. It can be considered as the basis of the
manufacturing of this equipment.
The detail link budget analysis and calculation is one of the system manager’s
most useful documents; as it represents the “bottom-line” tally in the research for
optimum system performance.

24