Microwave Signal

Propagation
Objectives

 Determine, analyze and evaluate the

factors affecting this signal.
Microwave Propagation Paths
Why microwave signal
propagation is influenced by:
• EM propagation through
space usually begins and
ends with some form
of antenna.

• However, the principles of

operation are the same to
radiate EM energy during
transmission and collect
the energy from propagating
EM waves and convert
to voltage during reception.

• Many different types of antennas

are used at RF/microwave
frequencies, from simple dipoles
to more complex arrays with
multiple antenna elements
• As EM energy propagates through
space, it can be visualized as a
plane wave traveling in a single
direction, such as from transmit
antenna to a receive antenna,
rather than as energy spreading
out in all directions.
• Ideally, such a plane
wave
would travel from transmit
antenna to receive antenna
with no loss in energy.
But EM plane waves often
come into contact with
media
other than the air through
which
they typically propagate.
When that happens,
the EM energy in the plane
wave may propagate into
the new medium,
if it is a conductor, or
bounce off
another medium, if it is a
reflector,
as in a pulsed radar signal.
• Communication signals,
for example, typically
propagate in many directions
outward from a transmit antenna,
whether it is an omnidirectional or
directional antenna.
• Signals that follow a line-of-sight (LOS) path
from the transmit to the receive antenna
will also be joined at the receiver by EM
energy from signals that have reflected
from other media, such as buildings, with
resultant slight delays or shifts in phase of
these reflected signals.
 microwaves
• It travel by line-of-sight unlike • At the high end of the
lower frequency radio waves band they are absorbed
they do not diffract around hills, by gases on the atmosphere,
follow the earth’s surface ground waves, limiting practical communication
or reflect from the ionosphere, distances to around a kilometer.
so terrestrial microwave communication Microwaves are widely used in
links are limited by the visual horizon to modern technology.
about 40 miles(64km).

• The sum of these three paths

is called ground wave.
• The sky wave is the portion of
the transmit signal that is returned
back to Earth’s surface by ionized
layers of Earth’s atmosphere.
Line-of-sight Characteristics:

• Free-space path -
the line-of-sight path
directly between the
transmit and receive
antenna (also called
direct wave).
• Ground-reflected
wave – the portion
of the transmit
signal that is
reflected off Earth’s
surface and
captured by the
receive antenna.
• Surface wave –
consists of electric
and magnetic fields
associated with the
currents induced in
Earth’s surface.
Propagation of waves

 Ground wave propagation – is a method of radio wave

propagation that uses the area between the surface of the Earth
and the ionosphere for transmission.
 Sky wave propagation – the electromagnetic waves emitted by
transmitting antenna are received after being reflected from the
ionosphere.
Advantages

 High bandwidth availability – microwave have larger BW (1GHz –

100 GHz) comparison to the common bands. Hence, more
information can be transmitted due to high BW availability in
microwave frequencies.
 Better directive properties – as frequency increases directivity
also increases and beam width decreases.
Disadvantages

 Microwave radio systems do not pass through solid objects. This

can be problematic in cities with a lot of tall buildings or
mountains regions if you want to send a signal from one end of
the city to other.
 Microwaves propagate in a straight line. Despite being able to
travel through many mediums without compromising the stored
data, they can only do so in one direction. This means you might
have to broadcast multiple times in several directions if you
really want to propagate a signal. This is why microwaves in
space are hard to capture and bring so much excitement to
scientists. Its extremely hard to catch microwave if you aren’t
waiting to receive the signal in a straight line from the
propagator.