Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
1. Introduction
Radio waves are the principal means by which
wireless communications can be achieved
what they are, how they behave, what they
are used for and what their limitations are
Need to keep information up to date since the
technologies that are the focus of this course
are all changing rapidly
2. Radio waves
Most forms of wireless communication involve radio
waves and the words wireless and radio are often
synonymous.
Radio waves are a particular form of electromagnetic
radiation; other forms include light, X-rays and gamma
rays.
The term electromagnetic is used because all these
waves involve the physics of electricity and magnetism.
Activity 2 (self-assessment/revision)
Calculate the period of a radio wave whose
frequency is 2 GHz.
Calculate the frequency of a radio wave whose
period is 4 ms.
Solution:
Assignments
1. The mains electricity supply is sinusoidal,
with a frequency of 50 Hz. What is its period?
2. The period of the mains supply in the USA is
approximately 0.0167 s. Is the frequency of
the mains in the USA therefore higher or
lower than in the KSA?
Usage of bands:
Each frequency band in Figure 5 includes some typical
wireless application areas, from military and navigation
applications at the lowest frequencies up to satellite
communications and radar at the top but these are just
a few examples of use.
In the UK the spectrum is coordinated by the National
Frequency Planning Group, who issues a Frequency
Allocation Table (FAT) from time to time.
Interference Concept:
If two radio stations are transmitting on the
same frequency or on two frequencies that
are very close then their signals get mixed up - there is interference between them which
can be heard as whistles, distortion or mixedup sounds.
Hence Spectrum management is required.
Log Scale:
Commonly used radio frequencies range from 3 kHz up to 300 GHz,
which is a large factor of higher.
4.1 Bandwidth
Bandwidth (BW):
Spread over a range of radio frequencies is called the bandwidth.
In Figure 6(a) the box drawn between f1 and f2 on the frequency
axis represents BW.
Generally speaking, the more data that is conveyed by a signal, the
larger is its bandwidth.
Video signals generally require a much greater bandwidth than
speech signals.
4.2. Channels
Channels Cont.
A specific example is broadcast TV, which in
the UK takes place in the frequency range of
470--854 MHz, part of the UHF band. This
frequency range is shared out equally into 48
channels. These are numbered from channel
21 at the lowest frequency up to channel 68 at
the highest.
Activity 4 (self-assessment/revision)
If each UHF TV channel occupies the same bandwidth in
the 470854 MHz frequency range, what is the bandwidth
available to each channel? Which frequencies are occupied
by channel 21? Which frequencies are occupied by channel
68?
Solution:
As you move further away from a transmitter, the power you receive becomes
smaller.
We will discuss factors which cause the radio signal to decrease.
How the received power varies with distance in what is perhaps the simplest
situation -- in free space when there is no other matter nearby to affect
propagation between the transmitter and receiver.
Also assume that the transmitting and receiving antennas transmit or receive
equally in all directions. These are called isotropic antennas.
In free space, a radio signal spreads out in three dimensions, so rather than a
circle, the ripples spread out as a spherical surface. This is illustrated in Fig. 8
The inverse square law of radio propagation: the received power decreases with
1/d2.
So in free space with an isotropic transmitting antenna, power received by a fixed
size of antenna varies according to the inverse square law.
Non-free space
i.e. on the surface of the earth:
Communications on the surface of the earth are
not always as simple as above.
Although the inverse square law must operate, in
addition there is the ground to consider, the
atmosphere, the weather, mountains, valleys,
buildings, furniture, people, vehicles and trees.
Activity 6 (self-assessment)
If an antenna in free space receives 16 MW of
power at a distance of 2 km from an isotropic
transmitter, how much will it receive at 4 km?
How much at 8 km?
Solution:
6.2. Absorption
Absorption causes attenuation.
Gases of the atmosphere or the walls can
cause wave energy to reduce even more
quickly than under the inverse square law
alone.
Remarks on Fig. 9
The horizontal scale is frequency, from 10 GHz to 400 GHz on a logarithmic
scale.
The vertical scale represents attenuation of a signal, and runs from zero to
50 dB/km on a linear scale.
Remarks on Fig. 9
Absorption and other losses by building materials such as brick or wood
are also significant, and increase as the frequency goes into the gigahertz
range.
The overall picture of these materials is very complicated.
Example
A 1.8 GHz radio wave propagates 18 km through the
atmosphere, and then through two brick walls, each of
100mm (0.1m) thickness. Rain leads to an atmospheric
loss of 1.5dB/km, and brick attenuates at 30 dB/m at
this frequency. Calculate the total power loss in dB
over this path that is due to attenuation by the
atmosphere and by the wall. (Ignore the inverse square
law.) Type only the final total power loss number.
18 km * 1.5 db / km = 27 db
2 * (100*10^-3m) * 30 db/m = 6 db
total power = 27 + 6 = 33
Decibels:
A decibel is a way to express a ratio of powers, such as:
Power Conversion
Power in db
Power Ratio
Antennas
Basics:
Transmitting Antenna: Radio waves are produced by
an oscillating electric current in the transmitting
antenna.
Receiving Antenna: Radio waves then go on to
generate a small electric current in the receiving
antenna.
Same antenna can be used for both transmission and
reception.
A properly designed antenna will generate a much
larger signal than will an arbitrary piece of wire.
Bandwidth of an antenna:
The bandwidth of an antenna can be made wider
or narrower than that of a simple dipole by using
more complicated designs and by connecting it to
suitable electronic circuitry.
While many applications, such as a singlefrequency transmitter, work better with a sharply
resonant antenna with a narrow bandwidth,
other applications, such as a wideband receiver,
require a wide bandwidth antenna.
Omnidirectional Antennas:
An important property of antennas is the way in which
their sensitivity varies with direction.
A vertical rod will radiate (or receive) equally as well in
all horizontal directions around it. This is termed an
omni-directional radiation pattern.
Note that such an antenna is not isotropic (i.e. it does
not radiate equally in all three dimensions) because
there is very little signal radiated in the up and down
directions, i.e. along the length of the rod.
But such an omnidirectional pattern is very useful, for
example, for a transmitter broadcasting to the region
around it.
Directional Antennas:
Example: The dish antenna used for microwave or
satellite communications.
For transmission, a dipole at the focus of the dish
radiates energy, and the dish reflects like a
curved mirror to direct most of this energy along
a narrow beam, rather like a spotlight forming a
narrow beam of light.
For reception the dish reflects the incoming
radiation to a focus at the dipole. This is an
example of a highly directional antenna that is
very efficient within its narrow beam.
Activity 11 (self-assessment)
Estimate the physical length of a l/4 rod to be
used for a 100 MHz FM radio station. How
long would it be for a 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi link?
(Hint: in each case, assume a free space
wavelength.)
Solution
9.1. Polarisation
EM Wave:
A slightly more detailed picture of an electromagnetic (EM) wave is
shown in Figure 20.
This represents the wave propagating from left to right across the
page, with an electric field oscillating in a direction up and down
the page, and a magnetic field oscillating in a direction that is into
the page.
The magnetic field, electric field and direction of propagation are all
perpendicular to one another, like three edges of a cube which
meet at a corner.
The electromagnetic wave is the grouping of these electric and
magnetic fields which are oscillating in time with each other, but
which are perpendicular to each other and to the direction of
propagation.
Polarization:
Although the electric and magnetic fields must be perpendicular to
each other, this pair together can be oriented at any angle around
the axis of propagation of the wave.
The direction along which the electric field is oriented is called the
polarization of the wave.
For radio waves propagating parallel to the ground, the case when
the electric field is also parallel to the ground is called horizontal
polarization.
If the electric field is perpendicular to the ground then it is vertical
polarization.
Although any angle of polarization is possible, usually radio waves
are deliberately polarized to be either horizontal or vertical.