a) Describe five factors affecting the propagation of radio signals inside buildings.

(5marks)
b) Explain why diversity reception techniques are employed in radio systems. (5marks)

2 a) Explain the meaning of the following terms in relation to a transmitting antenna.

i) Radiation resistance.
ii) Effective Isotropic Radiated Power (EIRP). (5marks)
b) A circular parabolic dish, of diameter 2.2 m, is operated at a frequency of 14.8 GHz
in free space. The dish has an input power of 80 W. Calculate the
i) gain of the dish relative to an isotope in dB
ii) EIRPin dBW. (5marks)

3 Figure 1 below is the block diagram of a simple frequency-modulated radio transmitter in

which some of the units are identified by the letters A to G.The frequency of the carrier is
also identified at various points.

AF G
A B e F
Amplifiers
xV
i
fdn
ifc

c
i
fdn fdn
i f.:canierkequency

Figure 1
a) Identify each of the following units.
i) A.
H) B.
Hi) C.
iv) D.
v) E.
vi) F.
vii) G. (7 marks)
b) Describe the function of the pre-emphasis circuit. (3 marks)

4 a) Explain the meaning of the term 'noise factor' (noise figure) in communication
receivers. (3 marks)
b) An amplifier, with a power gain of 15, has an output noise power of 7.5 x 10-14W
when the input terminals are short-circuited. When the short circuit is removed and
a signal of -80 dBm is applied at the input, the output noise power rises to
22.5 x 10-14W.Calculatethe
i) output signal-to-noisein dB
ii) input noisepower in dBm
iii) noisefigure in dB. (7 marks)

5 Draw a clearly labelled diagram to show the architecture of the following radio interface
protocols used in the Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS).
Medium Access Control (MAC).
· Radio Link Control (RLC).
· Packet Data Conversion Protocol (PDCP).
· Broadcast/Multicast Control (BMC).
Your diagram must show the
a) three vertical layers (3 marks)
b) control and user planes (2 marks)
c) physical layer and the location of the logical and transport channels (3 marks)
d) signalling and user plane radio bearers. (2 marks)

2
6 Figure 2 below is a block diagram of the R99 UMTSCore Network (CN) architecture.
CN CS Domain
A E
c x
c A f-- B t
e X e
s r
s n
a
N I
e Registers
t N
w I 1= I
- e
0 t
r CN PS Domain
w
k 0
s
C - D r
y k
s
I
Figure 2
Identify the
a) i) units marked A to D
ii) registers in unit E. (8marks)
b) Identify one external network that may be connected to the point
i) X
ii) Y. (2 marks)

7 a) Explain the meaning of the term 'orthogonality' as applied to codes. (2 marks)

b) Show how the following codes, in which zero is represented by -1 V and one by
+ 1V, are orthogonal.
Code A: 0 1 00 1 1
Code B: 1 0 1 0 1 1 (2 marks)
c) Explain why the concept of 'orthogonality' is crucial to the despreading process in
Code Division Multiple Access-Direct Sequence (CDMA-DS). (6 marks)

8 a) Describe two features of the vision of the International Telecommunications Union

(lTU) for International Telecommunications in IMT-2000. (4 marks)
b) Explain why the class of bias is an important factor in a radio transmitter. (2 marks)
c) Justify the use of class C bias in mobile radio transmitters. (4 marks)

See next page

3
9 a) Figure 3 below is the block (system) diagram of a microwave radio (Iine-of-sight)
repeater system in which the units are identified by the letters A to H. Relevant
frequencies are given at various points in the system.
f, MHz 70MHz
i~ I... Ii
~

(f,-f:r70) MHz f2MHz

-. To other repeaters From other repeaters

Channel separation Channel separation

network network

Figure 3
Identify each of the following units.
i) A.
ii) B.
iii) C.
iv) D.
v) E.
vi) F.
vii) G.
viii) H. (5 marks)
b) With the aid of a diagram, explain why the re-transmitted carrier frequency is
different to the received carrier frequency. (5 marks)

10 With reference to satellite communication systems,

a) identify five satellite subsystems (5 marks)
b) list five disturbances that a geostationary communications satellite's orbital
control system must correct. (5 marks)