Chapter 9 Section A

Working in Decibels

October, 1997

RF Engineering 102 v1.0 (c) 1997 Scott Baxter

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Example: A Tedious Tale of One Radio Link

Why Use Decibels? For convenience and speed. Heres an example of why, then well see how. Transmitter 20 Watts TX output Trans. Line Antenna x 0.50 line efficiency = 10 watts to antenna x 20 antenna gain = 200 watts ERP

n Lets track the power flow from transmitter to receiver in the radio link we saw back in lesson 2. Were going to use real values that commonly occur in typical links.

x 0.000,000,000,000,000,1585 path attenuation = 0.000,000,000,000,031,7 watts if intercepted by dipole antenna Antenna Trans. Line x 20 antenna gain = 0.000,000,000,000,634 watts into line x 0.50 line efficiency = 0.000,000,000,000,317 watts to receiver

Receiver
October, 1997

nDid you enjoy that arithmetic? Lets go back and do it again, a better and less painful way.
RF Engineering 102 v1.0 (c) 1997 Scott Baxter 9-2

Example: A Much Less Tedious Tale

of that same Radio Link
Lets track the power flow again, using decibels.
+43 Trans. Line Antenna -3 = +40 +13 = +53 -158 = -105 Antenna Trans. Line +13 = -92 -3 = -95 dBm TX output dB line efficiency dBm to antenna dB antenna gain dBm ERP dB path attenuation dBm if intercepted by dipole antenna dB antenna gain dBm into line dB line efficiency dBm to receiver

Transmitter

Receiver
October, 1997

nWasnt that better?! How to do it -- next.

RF Engineering 102 v1.0 (c) 1997 Scott Baxter 9-3

Using Decibels
n In manual calculation of RF power levels, unwieldy large and small numbers occur as a product of painful multiplication and division. n It is popular and much easier to work in Decibels (dB). rather than multiply and divide RF power ratios, in dB we can just add & subtract Ratio to Decibels
Decibel Examples Number N 1,000,000,000 100,000,000 10,000,000 1,000,000 100,000 10,000 1,000 100 10 4 2 1 0.5 0.25 0.1 0.01 0.001 0.0001 0.00001 0.000001 0.0000001 0.00000001 0.000000001 dB +90 +80 +70 +60 +50 +40 +30 +20 +10 +6 +3 0 -3 -6 -10 -20 -30 -40 -50 -60 -70 -80 -90
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db = 10 * Log ( X )
Decibels to Ratio

X = 10 (db/10)
October, 1997

RF Engineering 102 v1.0 (c) 1997 Scott Baxter

Decibels - Relative and Absolute

n Decibels normally refer to power ratios -- in other words, the numbers we represent in dB usually are a ratio of two powers. Examples: n A certain amplifier amplifies its input by a factor of 1,000. (Pout/Pin = 1,000). That amplifier has x 1000 30 dB gain. .001 w 1 watt A certain transmission line has an efficiency 0 dBm 30 dBm of only 10 percent. (Pout/Pin = 0.1) The +30 dB transmission line has a loss of -10 dB. n Often decibels are used to express an absolute x 0.10 number of watts, milliwatts, kilowatts, etc.... 100 w 10 w +50 dBm +40 dBm When used this way, we always append a letter -10 dB (W, m, or K) after db to show the unit were using. For example, 20 dBK = 50 dBW = 80 dBm = 100,000 watts 0 dBm = 1 milliwatt
October, 1997 RF Engineering 102 v1.0 (c) 1997 Scott Baxter 9-5

Decibels
Two Other Popular Absolute References
n dBrnc: a common telephone noise measurement
db above reference noise, C-weighted Reference Noise is 1000 Hz. tone at -90 dBm C-weighting, an arbitrary frequency response, matches the response best suited for intelligible toll quality speech this standard measures through a C-message filter
0 dB -10dB -20dB -30dB -40dB 100 300 1000 3000 Frequency, Hz 10000

C-Message Weighting

n dBu: a common electric field strength expression

dBu is shorthand for dBQV/m decibels above one microvolt per meter field strength often we must convert between E-field strength in dBu and the power recovered by a dipole antenna bathed in such a field strength:
Dipole Antenna Electromagnetic Field dBQV/m @ FMHZ

Pwr dBm

FSdBu = 20 * Log10(FMHZ) + 75 + PwrDBM PwrDBM = FSdBu - 20 * Log10(FMHZ)-75

October, 1997

RF Engineering 102 v1.0 (c) 1997 Scott Baxter

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Decibels referring to Voltage or Current

n By convention, decibels are based on power ratios. However, decibels are occasionally used to express to voltage or current ratios. When doing this, be sure to use these alternate formulas: db = 20 x Log10 (V or I) (V or I) = 10 ^ (db/20) Example: a signal of 4 volts is 6 db. greater than a signal of 2 volts db = 20 x Log10 (4/2) = 20 x Log10 (2) = 20 x 0.3 = 6.0 db

October, 1997

RF Engineering 102 v1.0 (c) 1997 Scott Baxter

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Prefixes for Large and Small Units

Summary of Units
Number N 1,000,000,000,000 1,000,000,000 1,000,000 1,000 100 10 1 0.1 0.01 0.001 0.000001 0.000000001 0.000000000001 0.000000000000001
October, 1997

x10y x1012 x109 x106 x103 x102 x101 x100 x10-1 x10-2 x10-3 x10-6 x10-9 x10-12 x10-15

Prefix Tera GigaMegaKilohectodecadecicentimillimicronanopicofemto-

Large and small quantities pop up all over telecommunications and the world in general. We like to work in units we can easily handle, both in math and in concept. So, when large or small numbers arise, we often use prefixes to scale them into something more comfortable: Kilometers Megahertz Milliwatts etc....
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RF Engineering 102 v1.0 (c) 1997 Scott Baxter

Link Budget Models

n Link Budgets trace power expenditures along path from transmitter to receiver identify maximum allowable path loss determine maximum feasible cell radius n Two distinct cases: Uplink, Downlink No advantage if link range in one direction exceeds the other adjust cell power to achieve uplink/downlink balance set power on both links as low as feasible, to reduce interference n Link budget model can include appropriate assumptions for propagation, geography, other factors
October, 1997
Transmitter +43 -3 = +40 +13 = +53 -158 = -105 +13 = -92 -3 = -95 Receiver dBm TX output dB line efficiency dBm to antenna dB antenna gain dBm ERP dB path attenuation dBm dipole antenna dB antenna gain dBm into line dB line efficiency dBm to receiver

Trans. Line Antenna

Antenna Trans. Line

Downlink Uplink

RF Engineering 102 v1.0 (c) 1997 Scott Baxter

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Cellular Link Budget Model Example

ell TX O Watts ell TX O B ell o biner oss B ell able oss b ell ntenna ain B ERP Watts ERP . W Path ss, t a ai RX abl ss i rsit ai RX siti it W rst- as i k t

So rce: FW ath REV ath S ec: .00 .00 S TX O Watts alc: . .77 S TX O B In t: - .00 0.00 S o biner oss b In t: - .00 -2.00 S able oss b In t: 10.00 .00 S ntenna ain B Calc: 113.03 5.99 ERP Watts lc: . . ERP alc: . . ax. REV Path ss, alc: . . ll t a ai I t: - . - . ll RX abl ss I t: . . ll i rsit ai c.: . . ll RX siti it alc: . . I balanc ,

October, 1997

RF Engineering 102 v1.0 (c) 1997 Scott Baxter

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PCS-1900 GSM Link Budget Model Example

T T T R R R

ell T PO Watts ell T PO B ell o biner oss B ell able oss b ell ntenna ain B ERP Watts ERP ax. W Path ss, nt nna ain RX abl ss i rsit ain MS RX Sensiti it M W rst- ase ink udget

So rce: FW Path REV Path S ec: 1 .00 1.00 S T PO Watts alc: 2.0 0.00 S T PO B In t: -2.00 0.00 S o biner oss b In t: - .00 0.00 S able oss b In t: 1 .00 0.00 S ntenna ain B Calc: 201.43 1.00 ERP Watts alc: . . ERP alc: . . ax. REV Path ss, alc: . . ll nt nna ain Input: . - . ll RX abl ss Input: . . ll i rsit ain Spec.: . . ell RX Sensiti it M alc: . - . I balance, dB

October, 1997

RF Engineering 102 v1.0 (c) 1997 Scott Baxter

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