Propagation Mechanisms

PropagationMechanisms

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 Reflection
Propagating wave impinges on an object which is
large compared to wavelength
E.g.,
E th surface
the f off the
th Earth,
E th buildings,
b ildi walls,
ll etc.
t
Diffraction
Radio p path between transmitter and receiver
obstructed by surface with sharp irregular edges
Waves bend around the obstacle, even when LOS
does not exist
Scattering
Objects smaller than the wavelength of the
propagating
ti wave
E.g., foliage, street signs, lamp posts

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Radio Propagation
p g

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Radio Wave Spectrum

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First,whatdowemeanbypropagationinfreespace?
Freespace isaregionwheretheseisnothing thevacuumof
outerspaceisafairapproximationformostpurposes.There
are no obstacles to get in the way no gases to absorb energy
arenoobstaclestogetintheway,nogasestoabsorbenergy,
nothingtoscattertheradiowaves.Unlessyouareintospace
communications,freespaceisnotsomethingyouarelikelyto
encounter, but it is important to understand what happens to
encounter,butitisimportanttounderstandwhathappensto
aradiowavewhenthereisnothingtodisturbit.
Infreespace,aradiowavelaunchedfromapointinanygiven
directionwillpropagateoutwardsfromthatpointatthe
p p g p
speedoflight.Theenergy,carriedbyphotons,willtravelina
straightline,asthereisnothingtopreventthemdoingso.
Theywilldothisforever.Actually,thisisnotquitetrue,
photonsdoeventuallydecaybutasthehalflifeofaphotonis
h t d t ll d b t th h lf lif f h t i
oftheorderof6.5Billionyears,wedon'tneedtoworryabout
ithere.Forallpracticalpurposes,aradiowavewhen
launched carries on in a straight line forever traveling at the
launchedcarriesoninastraightlineforevertravelingatthe
speedoflight.
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 Astheenergyinaradiowavegoesonpropagatingforever
withoutloss,whydopeopletalkabout"freespaceloss"?

HereareSomeusefulequations:
FreeSpaceLoss=32.5+20log(d)+20log(f)dB,WhereD is
thedistanceinkm andf isthefrequencyinMHz
FreeSpaceLoss=92.5+20log(d)+20log(f)dB,WhereD
p g( ) g( ) is
thedistanceinkm andf isthefrequencyinGHz
andfortheAmericans:
FreeSpaceLoss=36.6+20log(d)+20log(f)dB,whereD
ee Space oss 36 6 0 og(d) 0 og( ) d , is
thedistanceinmiles andf isthefrequencyinMHz

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TheRegionsoftheIonosphere
Inaregionextendingfromaheightofabout50km
toover500km,someofthemoleculesofthe
atmosphere are ionised by radiation from the Sun to
atmosphereareionisedbyradiationfromtheSunto
produceanionisedgas.Thisregioniscalledthe
ionosphere,figure1.1.
Duringthedaytheremaybefourregionspresent
D i h d h b f i
calledtheD,E,F1andF2regions.Theirapproximate
heightrangesare:
Dregion50to90km;
Eregion90to140km;
F1region140to210km;
i 0 2 0k
F2regionover210km.

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Ionosphere Region
IonosphereRegion

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During the daytime, sporadic E is sometimes observed in
the E region,
g , and at certain times during g the solar cycle
y the
F1 region may not be distinct from the F2 region but merge
to form an F region. At night the D, E and F1 regions
become very much depleted of free electrons
electrons, leaving only
the F2 region available for communications; however it is
not uncommon for sporadic E to occur at night.

Only the E, F1, sporadic E when present, and F2 regions

refract HF waves. The D regiong is important
p though,
g
because while it does not refract HF radio waves, it does
absorb or attenuate them. The F2 region is the most
important region for high frequency radio propagation as:
it is present 24 hours of the day;
its high altitude allows the longest communication paths;
it usually
ll refracts
f t ththe hi
highest
h t ffrequencies
i iin th
the HF range.
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As signals
g spread
p out from a radiating
g source,, the energy
gy is
spread out over a larger surface area. As this occurs, the
strength of that signal gets weaker. Free space loss (FSL),
measured in dBdB, specifies how much the signal has
weakened over a given distance.

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Radio waves travel in a straight
g line, unless
something refracts or reflects them. But the energy
of radio waves is not pencil thin. They spread out
th ffarther
the th they
th gett from
f the
th radiating
di ti source like
lik
ripples from a rock thrown into a pond.

The area that the signal spreads out into is called

the Fresnel zone (p (pronounced fra-nell).) If there is
an obstacle in the Fresnel zone, part of the radio
signal will be diffracted or bent away from the
straight-line path. The practical effect is that on a
point-to-point radio link, this refraction will reduce
the amount of RF energy reaching the receive
antenna. 11
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 ReceiveSignalLevel
Receivesignallevelistheactualreceivedsignallevel(usually
measuredinnegativedBm)presentedtotheantennaportof
di ti dB ) t d t th t t f
aradioreceiverfromaremotetransmitter.
ReceiverSensitivity
ReceiversensitivityistheweakestRFsignallevel(usually
measuredinnegativedBm)thataradioneedsreceiveinorder
todemodulateanddecodeapacketofdatawithouterrors.
AntennaGain
A G i
Antennagainistheratioofhowmuchanantennabooststhe
RFsignaloveraspecifiedlowgainradiator.Antennasachieve
gainsimplybyfocusingRFenergy.
i i l b f i RF
Ifthisgainiscomparedwithanisotropic(nogain)radiator,it
ismeasuredindBi.Ifthegainismeasuredagainstastandard
dipole antenna it is measured in dBd Note that gain applies
dipoleantenna,itismeasuredindBd.Notethatgainapplies
tobothtransmitandreceivesignals.

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 TransmitPower
ThetransmitpoweristheRFpowercomingoutof
Th t it i th RF i t f
theantennaportofatransmitter.Itismeasuredin
dBm,WattsormilliWattsanddoesnotincludethe
,
signallossofthecoaxcableorthegainofthe
antenna.
EffectiveIsotropicRadiatedPower
Effectiveisotropicradiatedpower(EIRP)istheactual
RF power as measured in the main lobe (or focal
RFpowerasmeasuredinthemainlobe(orfocal
point)ofanantenna.Itisequaltothesumofthe
transmitpowerintotheantenna(indBm)addedto
thedBigainoftheantenna.Sinceitisapowerlevel,
theresultismeasuredindBm.

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Figure 3 shows how +24 dBm of power (250 mW) can be boosted
to +48 dBm or 64 Watts of radiated power
power.

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