Chapter 3:

RADIO COMMUNICATION
First History
 Radiowave

• Radio waves are electromagnetic

• They contain both electronic and magnetic field at right angles to
each other and also at right angles to the direction of propagation.
• An alternating current flowing in a conductor produces an
alternating magnetic field surrounding it and an alternating voltage
gradient – an electric field – along the length of the conductor
RADIO BASICS
Basics of wave
Basics of wave [2]
Spectrum of electromagnet
Spectrum of electromagnet[2]
The use of Radio Frequency
PROPAGATION OF RADIOWAVE
Propagation Mechanism
Types of Radio wave
Radio waves are often categorized into
2 general categories of propagation:

 Ground Wave

 Sky Wave
GROUND WAVE
 Ground Waves travel along the surface of the earth. There are
three types of Ground Waves; the Surface Wave, the Direct
Wave, and the Ground-Reflected Wave.
Ground wave [2]
 Ground wave [3]
 VLF (3 - 30 KHz) and LF (30-300 KHz) signals typically use
Surface Wave propagation, for spanning thousands of
miles in distance.
Such systems include submarine and maritime
communications, as well as the LORAN-C navigational
system (100 KHz).
 Ground-Reflected waves are usually detrimental to
communications, since a REFLECTED wave causes a 180-
degree phase shift.
 This phase shift, coupled with a valid Surface or Direct
wave, results in cancellation and sub-optimal transmission
quality. Often, the use of a beam antenna can eliminate
degradation from ground reflections.
 Space wave
• Signals above 30 MHz (including the FM broadcast band and
Microwave Radio frequencies) generally use Direct Wave
propagation.
• This includes the VHF, UHF, SHF, and EHF frequency bands. This
type of propagation is also known as "Line Of Sight"
transmission, since a direct wave will not (usually!) traverse the
horizon. Line Of Sight transmission is usually used for
communications purposes.
• In typical systems, the transmitter and receiver must be within
25-30 miles of each other.
• It also include wave that travels through the troposphere (the
atmosphere below the ionosphere) between the transmitter and
the receiver, called as medium-wave broadcasting
 Sky Wave
 Sky Waves travel up into the earth's atmosphere, where
they either continue or are REFRACTED by the ionized
air particles in the upper atmosphere.
This wave, whether it being continue or refracetd,
depends upon
# the strength of the signal,
# the angle at which the signal hits the ionized layer,
# and the frequency of the signal.

Also, signals that reflect off the ionosphere may travel

further (skip distance) at night.
Sky wave [2]
Sky wave [3]
 Frequencies in the range of 300 KHz to 30
MHz (Medium Frequency and High Frequency
bands) usually utilize sky wave transmission.
 Generally, these frequencies are not used for
communications, since the transmission
media (the Ionosphere) is highly variable.
 Additionally, their lower frequencies results in
lower bandwidth; thus, they can support
fewer channels.
Ionosphere [4]
Ionosphere [2]
 The Ionosphere consists of the "D" (30-60 miles), "E"
(60-100 miles), F1 (90-160 miles), and the F2 (160-
250 miles) layers.
 At night, the "E" layer disappears and the F1 and F2
layers combine to form the "F" layer (somewhere
between 90 and 250 miles).
 Since the "E" layer disappears at night, the lower
frequency Sky Waves (MF) travel further up into the
atmosphere, where they are REFRACTED by the "F"
layer.
 That's why at night, your radio often picks up many
more AM broadcast stations!
 Scatter or other type of wave
propagation
 Another propagation method worthy of note is "Scatter" propagation.
When Direct Waves in the UHF/SHF range are transmitted, they can
be affected by the dense characteristics of the Troposphere or
Stratosphere.
 There three types of scatter, i.e. back scatter, forward scatter, and
side scatter.
 The most common form of Scatter propagation is known as Forward
Propagation by Tropospheric Scatter (FPTS).
It is often useful for military tactical communications, where
wideband signals can be transmitted over long distances without the
benefit of Microwave Relay stations or wideband satellite facilities.
 However, long-haul Tropospheric Scatter propagation requires high
transmit power and very large receiving antenna arrays. Also, signal
strength losses are great and the signal is affected by many kinds of
noise sources.
Scatter [2]
Classifiation of Frequency
usage
Types of noise [1]
 Inter-symbol Interference
 Fading, e.g. multipath fading
 Attenuation, etc
Types of noise[2]
Modulation [1]
Modulation [2]
Type of modulation:
 Amplitude modulation

 Frequency modulation

 Phase modulation
Amplitude Modulation
AM [2]
Frequency Modulation
FM [2]
FM[3]
Phase modulation
PM [2]
The parts of Radio Basics
The primary components of radio systems are:
 The transmitter

 The receiver

 The antenna

The transmitter takes some sort of message (it could be

the sound of someone's voice, pictures for a TV set,
data for a radio modem or whatever), encodes it onto a
sine wave and transmits it with radio waves.
The receiver receives the radio waves and decodes the
message from the sine wave it receives.
Both the transmitter and receiver use antennas to
radiate and capture the radio signal.
Complete System
A block diagram of a complete wireless system is
shown at figure 2 below. (Bensky, 2000)
Data Source
Data source is the information to be conveyed
from one side to the other, which is has
different characteristics for each devices.
In many of the cases the data may be simple
on/off information, as in a security intrusion
detector, panic button, or manually operated
remote control unit.
In this case, a change of state of the data will
cause a message frame to be modulated on an
RF carrier wave. These data are organized
according to protocols that include sophisticated
error detection and correction techniques.
Transmitter
Second part of transmitter is radio frequency
generation section, containing an RF source
(oscillator or synthesizer), a modulator, and an
amplifier.
In the simplest short range devices, all three
functions may be included in a circuit of only
one transistor.
The antenna being used should distinguish from
other radio applications, which must be small
and low powered. Omni-directional type of
antenna is mostly used for short range radio
applications.
 Transmitter[2]
The transmitter consist of:
 a modulator, to apply the information onto a
carrier signal. Basic type of modulator consist of:
AM modulator and FM modulator [ figure shown at
DST book].
an optional up converter, to shift frequency up.
 an amplifier output device, to boost the signal for
long distance transmission
 an antenna coupler with circulator, to combine or
separate the received signal from the transmitted
signal, so that both can use the same antenna.
Receiver
Receiver part operates in reversed to the transmitter.
The purpose of receiver is to convert the data source
that was implanted on the RF wave in the transmitter
back to its original form.
The receiver performance can be improved by
increasing its sensitivity level and selectivity of the
receiver to achieved the desired bit error rate, but
should also considering another factors, since it must be
done under constraints of physics, cost, size, and also
power consumption.
Therefore, the modulation technique, the coding
technique, and other consideration should be taken into
account when designing the whole communication
systems.
Receiver [2]
The receiver basically consist of :
 a mixer which supply with carrier signal
from local oscilator, to shift the
frequency down
 IF amplifier, to boost the signal after

convert it from RF to IF
 Demodulator unit, to recover the
information from the carrier wave.
 Antenna
Once the frequency band and radio system
have been selected, the correct antenna
must be used (it’s function):
 to provide optimal performance ,
 ensure high reliability of the transmission,
 ease the frequency selection process, and
 provide regulatory compliance.
 Antenna [2]
Some of the considerations in selecting antenna are:
[Bates, 1994]
1. The bandwidth must support the operating frequency
with minimal distortion
2. The antenna must meet the regulatory constraints,
since size will affect gain, beam width, and tower
design
3. Gain is a power ratio that is directly proportional to
size. The larger the antenna, the greater the gain.
4. The width of the beam collected and reflected back to
the center of the waveguide will affect overall
performance. The radio beam is collected into the
antenna and focused onto a central point called the
feed, which carries the signal through a copper or air
based waveguide.
5. For point-to-point transmission, the antenna is highly
directional, shaped like a parabola or horn.
Antenna[3]
 Antenna Basics
You have probably noticed that almost every radio you see (like your
cell phone, the radio in your car, etc.) has an antenna. Antennas come
in all shapes and sizes, depending on the frequency the antenna is
trying to receive. The antenna can be anything from a long, stiff wire
(as in the AM/FM radio antennas on most cars) to something as bizarre
as a satellite dish. Radio transmitters also use extremely tall antenna
towers to transmit their signals.
 The idea behind an antenna in a radio transmitter is to launch the radio
waves into space. In a receiver, the idea is to pick up as much of the
transmitter's power as possible and supply it to the tuner. For satellites
that are millions of miles away, NASA uses huge dish antennas up to
200 feet (60 meters ) in diameter!
 The size of an optimum radio antenna is related to the frequency of the
signal that the antenna is trying to transmit or receive. The reason for
this relationship has to do with the speed of light, and the distance
electrons can travel as a result. The speed of light is 186,000 miles per
second (300,000 kilometers per second). On the next page, we'll use
this number to calculate a real-life antenna size.
Antenna characteristics
 Bandwidth
Stated as a percentage of the nominal design
frequency, the bandwidth of an antenna is
the band of frequencies over which it is
considered to perform acceptably.
The limits of the bandwidth are characterized
by unacceptable variations in the impedance
which changes from resistive at resonance to
reactive, the radiation pattern, and an
increasing VSWR.
Antenna characteristics
[2]
 Beamwidth
In directional antennas the
beamwidth, sometimes called
half-power beamwidth
(HPBW), is normally specified
as the total width, in degrees,
of the main radiation lobe at
the angle where the radiated
power has fallen by 3 dB
below that on the centre line
of the lobe
Antenna characteristics
[3]
 Directivity and forward gain
All practical antennas concentrate the radiated
energy in some directions at the expense of others.
They possess directivity but are completely passive;
they cannot increase the power applied to them.
Nevertheless, it is convenient to express the
enhanced radiation in some directions as a power
gain.
A gain quoted in dBi, is with reference to an isotropic
radiator and a gain quoted in dBd is with reference to
a dipole. When gain is quoted in dBi, 2.15 dB must
be subtracted to relate the gain to that of a dipole.
 Effective height or length
The current flowing in an antenna varies along its
length. If the current were uniform along the length
of an antenna, it would produce a field appropriate to
its physical length, and the effective height or length
of the antenna would be its physical length.
In practice, because the current is not uniform, the
effective length is less than the physical length.
 Effective radiated power (erp)
This is the power effectively radiated along the centre
line of the main lobe. It is the power supplied to the
antenna multiplied by the antenna gain with
reference to a dipole.
 Radiation resistance and efficiency
The power radiated by an antenna can conveniently
be expressed in terms of the value of a resistor which
would dissipate the same power that the antenna
radiates.
This value is referred to as the radiation resistance
and is defined as the ratio of the power radiated to
the square of the current at the feed point. The
efficiency is the ratio of the power radiated to that
lost in the antenna.
 Front-to-back ratio
The ratio, in dB, of the strength of the radiation (or
received signal) in the forward (desired) direction to
 Impedance
The impedance of an antenna is that
presented to the feeder cable connecting it to
the transmitter or receiver. It is the result of
the vectorial addition of the inductive,
capacitive and resistive elements of the
antenna.
 Polarization
The radiated field from an antenna is
considered to be polarized in the plane of the
length of the conductors which is the plane of
the electric field, the E plane.
 Radiation pattern
A plot of the directivity of an antenna
showing a comparison of the power radiated
over 360. Two polar diagrams are required to
show the radiation in the E and H planes.
 Voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR)
Most VHF and UHF antennas contain an
impedance matching device made up of
lengths of co-axial cable. At the centre design
frequency, the VSWR should, theoretically, be
1:1 but in practice a VSWR less than 1.5:1 is
considered acceptable.
 Receive aperture
Receiving antennas also possess a property called aperture, or capture
area. This concept relates the amount of power that is delivered to a
matched receiver to the power density (watts per square metre).
The aperture is often larger than the physical area of the antenna, as
in the case of the half-wavelength dipole (where the wire fronts a very
small physical area), or less as in the case of a parabolic reflector used
in microwave reception. The relationship between gain and aperture is:

where
 Ae is the effective aperture
 G is the gain
 λ is the wavelength of the signal
 n is the aperture effectiveness (n = 1 for a perfect no-loss antenna,
real values are typically 0.3 to 0.55
Antenna Types
• The quarter-wavelength
 The dipole vertical radiator
The quarter-wavelength (λ/4) vertical radiator is a
commonly used antenna for MF broadcasting and
for VHF and UHF mobile radio applications.
Antenna Types [2]
4.2.4 Directional arrays
Broadside array
 LF, MF and HF
antennas

End-fire array
Antenna Types [3]
• Log-periodic antenna
 Rhombic antenna
References
 J.C. Hartseen, “Mobile Radio Communication,
Univ of Twente
 Katz, Prof. Randy H, “ Course Overview:
Mobile communication”, Univ of California,
Berkeley, 1996
 Hickman, Ian, Practical Radio Frequency
Handbook, 3rd edition
 Winder, Steve and Joe Carr, “Newnes Radio
and RF Engineering Pocketbook”, 3rd edition,
Newnes, 2002