Radio Wave Propagation

Ved Prakash Sandlas

Director General
Amity Institute of Space Science & Technology, Noida

Principal Adviser, Cogent EMR Solutions Ltd, New Delhi (2006-2008)
Distinguished Scientist and Chief Controller R & D, DRDO (1996-2005)
Director, Defence Electronics Applications Lab (DEAL), Dehradun (1986-1996)
Group Director, Electronics, VSSC, Thiruvanathapuram (1984-1986)
Project/Mission Director, SLV-3, ISRO (1980-1984)


AISST, Noida, Feb 1, 2010
About 150 years ago, Maxwell enunciated the
electromagnetic theory and laid the mathematical
foundation of radio wave propagation. However, the
credit for the generation and demonstration of radio
waves was shared by Hertz, Lodge, Bose and
Marconi through simple laboratory experiments
conducted about a century ago. The legendary work
of Sir JC Bose, reported in May 1895 at Calcutta
(Asiatic Society of Bengal) and read before the
British Association on Sep 21, 1896, is a milestone
in itself; his experiments at 50 G Hz were designed
to show that electronic-waves possessed all the
characteristic optical properties of light waves.
When rest of the world was concerned with much
lower frequencies, Bose generated, the then, highest
imaginable frequency.
Direct and Ground Reflected Waves.
Radio Horizon for Direct Waves.
Sky-wave Propagation
Radio Spectrum
Symb
ol
Frequency
range
Wavelength,

Comments
ELF < 300 Hz > 1000 km Earth-ionosphere waveguide
propagation
ULF 300 Hz 3 kHz 1000 100
km
VLF 3 kHz 30 kHz 100 10 km
LF 30 300 kHz 10 1 km Ground wave propagation
MF 300 kHz 3
MHz
1 km 100 m
HF 3 30 MHz 100 10 m Ionospheric sky-wave propagation
VHF 30 300 MHz 10 1 m Space waves, scattering by objects
similarly sized to, or bigger than, a
free-space wavelength, increasingly
affected by tropospheric phenomena
UHF 300 MHz 3
GHz
1 m 100
mm
SHF 3 30 GHz 100 10 mm
EHF 30 300 GHz 10 1 mm
8 1
; 3 10 ms c f c

= =
Atmospheric Layers
Troposphere: Earths surface to about 10 (8-11-16) Km
Stratosphere: Extends from the Troposphere upwards
to about 51 Km
Mesosphere: Extends to about 85 Km
Thermosphere: Extends to about 600 Km
Exosphere: Extends to about 10,000 Km
Beyond this: Free Space
Ionosphere: Extends from the Stratosphere
(50 Km) upwards to about 500 km
Ionosphere
Layers of the Ionosphere.
Ionosphere
The layers that form the ionosphere vary
greatly in altitude, density, and thickness
with the varying degrees of solar activity.
The upper portion of the F layer is most
affected by sunspots or solar disturbances
There is a greater concentration of solar
radiation during peak sunspot activity.
The greater radiation activity the more dense
the F layer and the higher the F layer
becomes and the greater the skip distance
Solar Cycle
Every 11 years the sun undergoes a
period of activity called the "solar
maximum", followed by a period of
quiet called the "solar minimum".
During the solar maximum there are
many sunspots, solar flares, and
coronal mass ejections, all of which
can affect communications and
weather here on Earth.
Relationship of Frequency to Refraction in the Ionosphere
Ionosphere
Three layers
D: low frequencies can be refracted but
the high frequencies tend to pass on
through
E: signals as high as 20MHz can be
refracted while higher ones pass through
F: during the day light hours there are two
layers:
F1 and F2
Ionosphere
F: during the night hours the ionization layer
is relatively constant and the higher
frequencies can be refracted
During the night hours, the D and E layers
virtually disappear and signals that would be
refracted at lower levels now are refracted at
higher levels.
This results in greater skip distances and
better reception at greater distances than in
the daytime hours.
Maximum Usable Frequency
(MUF)
PROPAGATION, HOPS SKIPS
ZONES
Free-space propagation
Transmitted power
EIPR (equivalent isotropically radiated power)
Power density at receiver

Received power

Friis power transmission formula
tx
P
tx tx
P G
2
tx tx
rx
4 R
P G
t
= S

t 4
;
4
2
rx
rx rx
2
tx tx
rx
G A A
R
P G
P
e e
= =
2
rx tx
tx
rx
4
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
R
G G
P
P
t

Tx Rx
R
Free-space propagation (cont.)
Taking logarithms gives



where is the free-space path loss, measured in
decibels




Maths reminder
|
.
|

\
|
+ =

t R
G G P P
4
log 20 log 10 log 10 log 10 log 10
10 rx 10 tx 10 tx 10 rx 10
( ) c b c b
a a a
log log log + =
( ) , log log b c b
a
c
a
=
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) dB dBi dBi dBW dBW
0 rx tx tx rx
L G G P P + =
0
L
( ) dB
4
log 20
10 0
|
.
|

\
|
=

t R
L
( )
km
d f L
10 MHz 10 0
log 20 log 20 4 . 32 dB + + =
( ) ,
log
log
log
a
b
b
c
c
a
=
Basic calculations
Example: Two vertical dipoles, each with gain 2dBi,
separated in free space by 100m, the transmitting one
radiating a power of 10mW at 2.4GHz


This corresponds to 0.4nW (or an electric field strength
of 0.12mVm-1)
The important quantity though is the signal to noise ratio
at the receiver. In most instances antenna noise is
dominated by electronic equipment thermal noise, given
by where is Boltzmans
constant, B is the receiver bandwidth and T is the room
temperature in Kelvin
( ) 0 . 80 1 . 0 log 20 2400 log 20 4 . 32 dB
10 10 0
= + + = L
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) 0 . 94 0 . 80 2 log 10 2 log 10 10 log 10 dBW
10 10
2
10 rx
= + + =

P
TB k N
B
=
1 23
JK 10 38 . 1

=
B
k