Microwave Communication

Absorption by the atmosphere in clear weather

Microwaves
Long waves

Medium waves (MW)

Short waves (SW)

Very high frequency (VHF) waves

Microwaves
Millimeter waves

Submillimeter waves

Infrared (including far-infrared)

Frequency

30-300 kHz

300-3000 kHz

3-30 MHz

30-300 MHz

0.3-30 GHz*
30-300 GHz

300-3000 GHz

300-416,000 GHz

* 1 GHz = 1 gigahertz = 10 Hertz or cycles per second,

+
1 mm = 10-6 m.

Wavelength l

10-1 km

1000-100 m

100-10 m

10-1 m

100-1 cm
10-1 mm

1-0.1 mm

104-0.72 mm

PRINCIPLE OF MICROWAVE

Microwave essentially means very short wave .

The microwave frequency spectrum is usually taken to extended form 1

GHZ to 30 GHZ.

The main reason why we have to go in for microwave frequency for

communication is that lower frequency band are congested and demand
for point to point communication Continue to increase.

The propagation of the microwave takes place in space wave in view of

the high gain and directivity in the form of a beam and is similar to that
of light .

NEED TO DIGITAL MICROWAVE

The modern communication is towards digital transmission to digitize the
analog signals PCM techniques are used .
Digital techniques are widely becoming popular for application in
switching and multiplexing , thus necessitating the use of a new
transmission means on radio for the medium and high capacities both for
long haul application and junction working of inter exchanges, in urban
areas .
Thus an extremely rapid transition from analog to digital radio system at
present used in Indian Rly .

ADVANTAGE OF DIGITAL MICROWAVE

Radio links for direct transmission of PCM signals at standard bit rates of
2,8,34 and 140 MB/Sec. Facilities found by using digital microwave are
mentioned below :a. Radio repeaters being of re-generative type will give an error free output and there
is no accumulation of noise from hop to hop.
b. Better circuit quality up to threshold, level of the radio receiver .
c. Total system economy is better .
d. Since transmission system is digital , more operational advantages are found , like
storage , re-transmission etc. of information can be easily achieved .
e. For data transmission , digital radio is more efficient .
f. In digital multiplexing , the number of channels loaded does not affect the
performance.

Specifications for 2G
GSM (Global
System for Mobile Communications)
Communication

DCS (Distributed Control System)

10

Specifications for 3G/4G

Communication
3G/3.5G/3.
75G

Dist
anc
e

Data
rate

Band

TX peak power

(GHz)

(dBm)

0.82~0.
85

33/27/24/21

(Mbps)

(km
)
CDMA2000
WCDMA

3~1
2

0.3~2

1.92~1.
98

TD-SCDMA

2.11~2.
17
HSDPA

3~1
2

3.6/7.2
/14.4

0.85/1.
9/2.1

24

HSUPA

3~1
2

3.6/7.2
/14.4

0.85/1.
9/2.1

24

11

Specifications for
3G/4G
Communication
4G

Distanc
e

Data rate

Band

TX peak power

(Mbps)

(GHz)

(dBm)

10/30/70

2.3~2.7

33/27/24/21

(km)
WiMAX
802.16
e
LTE

up to 50

3.4~3.7
5.8
3

50/100

0.7~0.86 (FDD)

33/27/24/21

1.5~2.1 (FDD)
2.3~2.6 (TDD)

12

A Century of Antennas-- from Hertz to Hand-Held

Very large array of 27 steerable parabolic dish

Antennas 25 meter diameter, operating at ~ cm
wavelength
To listen to signals transmitted billions of year away
24 GPS Antennas, medium earth orbits-MEO
Operating at 20 cm wavelength
Uses helix antennas, at 20,000 km

Hand-held cell-phones
Operating at 30 cm wavelength

Microwave Use
Lower bands are already occupied
Now we have better electronics, and modulation schemes

Advantages of Microwave Utilization:

Antennas are more directivebetter beam control.
Wider operating bandwidth.
Smaller size elements

Microwave Systems
Microwave communication is line of sight radio communication
For directive antennas, or broadcasting with omi-directional antennas
Radio Transmission: the speech signals are converted to EM
Power is transmitted in space towards destination EM waves are intercepted
by receiving antennas and signal power is collected

Types of Antennas
Antennas used can be:
Omni-directional-in this case radio power is transmitted
Uniformly in all directions
Such type of antenna are preferred where uniform coverage is desired
such as in cellular systems.
Directional: in case of UHF communication.
Highly directional: in case of microwave communications, microwave
signals are transmitted in very narrow beam.
Normally 3 M Diameter Antenna at 2 GHz BW has half power of about 3.4
degrees beam width.

Coverage

Applications:
Radio Communications
Radio Communication is in use since
early 30s.
First was used for broadcasting then
commercial communication.
Radio used for long distance
telephone service.
Many phone lines are connected to an
Exchange, and many exchanges to a tower

Cellular Communication

For providing cellular communication a number of antennas at a

particular height are installed around a circular platform

DIRECT-BROADCAST SATELLITE (DBS) ANTENNAS

Current Solutions for US DBS

Broadside Patch Array Antennas Complete Mechanical
Steering High Fabrication Cost. >12inch
Phased Array Antennas ~6inch
COST
Proposed Solution

Reflector Antennas for Stationary

Reception

Complete Mechanical Steering with limited range

(due to beam tilt) SIW, Low Fabrication Cost

Low Profile Reflector Antennas Complete Mechanical

Steering Low Fabrication Cost. ~12 inch
Mobility

Research Progress
12*64 Elements Slotted SIW Full
Array

12x16 Elements SIW SubArray

Directivit
y

13 x 48
Elements
Full Array

13x32 Elements SIW Array

With Folded Feed Network

13 x 6 elements SubArray

12 Elements Slotted SIW

Array

Efficiency

13 Elements Slotted
Waveguide

Antennas for Mobile Systems

Why Do we need Reconfigurable

Antennas?
Limited Space, and Volume
Trend to further miniaturization
Difficulty to attain Directivity
G=4pA/l2, G = -18.5 dB/cm2 @1 GHz

Very Compact

(you add 3dB when you double the Area)

(you add 6 dB when you double the Frequency)
Strong Antenna Interference due to Proximity
More Services means more antennas
Many are not used in same time.

Tiny

Multifunction
Does it all

Antenna Alternatives for Multi-Radio Application

Radio 1
Radio 2

Multiple
Radios

Ant. Gain

Broad Band Antenna

Radio 3
Frequency

Ant. Gain

Reconfigurable Antenna

Frequency
Very good noise immunity, high Flexibility
Requires switches, Poor for true sim-ops

Ant. Gain

Radio n

Covers all bands of interest, Good for sim-ops

Higher Noise , Non Uniformity in Ant. Gain

Multi-Band Antenna

Frequency

Covers few bands of interest, OOB noise supp.

Poor iso. between radios, stringent filter spec.