Point To Point Radio Link Engineering PDF

DownloadaFREEtrialofHeraldProfessionalfromWWW.HERALDPRO.
COM
Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved

POINTTOPOINTRADIOLINKENGINEERING

ASELFLEARNINGEBOOKBASEDCOURSE,BYRADIOENGINEERINGSERVICES

AUTHOR:LUIGIMORENO
Availablefromwww.heraldpro.com

DownloadaFREEtrialofHeraldProfessionalfromWWW.HERALDPRO.COM

Copyright Notice

TheuseofthisEBookisregulatedbythefollowingterms.

1.DOCUMENT.ThisDocumentismadeofthisEBookpageandofanyotherpage(inEBookformat
oranyotherformat)whichisdirectlyorindirectlylinkedtothisone,includinggraphicfilesandany
otherfileembeddedinanypage,unlessotherwisespecified,andexcludingwebpagesoutsidethe
domain"radioengineering.it".

2.COPYRIGHTS.ThisDocumentiscopyrightedbyLuigiMoreno,aProfessionalEngineerbasedin
Torino,Italy,andisprotectedbycopyrightlawsandinternationalcopyrighttreaties,aswellasother
intellectualpropertylawsandtreaties.Youarenotallowedtocopy,modify,deleteormanipulate,in
anyway,partorthewholeofthisDocument,includinganychangeintheembeddedhyperlinks.

3.PUBLICPRESENTATION.ThisDocumentisforpersonaluseonly.TheuseofthisDocumentfor
ClassroomPresentationsorforanypublicpresentationispermittedonlyafterwrittenagreements
withtheAuthor.


Acknowledgments
Editorial setup and E-Book layout

TheAuthorishighlyindebtedtoStevenIrwin,aTelecommunicationsConsultantspecialisingin
MicrowaveRadiobasedinSouthEastQueenslandinAustralia,forsupportandappreciated
suggestionsintheeditorialsetupofthisdocumentandforthefinallayoutinEBookformat.
WithoutSteve'shelpthisEBookwouldhaveneverbeenpublished.
Reproduction of Figures

TheAuthorthankstheInternationalTelecommunicationUnion(ITU)forpermissionofreproducing
somefiguresfromITUtexts.ThecompleteandexactsourceofITUmaterialisindicatedattheplace
wheresuchreproductionismade.Pleasenotethat:
1. thismaterialisreproducedwiththepriorauthorizationofITU,ascopyrightholder;
2. thesoleresponsibilityforselectingextractsforreproductionlieswiththeAuthorandcanin
nowaybeattributedtoITU;
3. thecompletevolumesoftheITUextractscanbeobtainedfrom:
InternationalTelecommunicationUnion
SalesandMarketingDivisionPlacedesNationsCH1211GENEVA20(Switzerland)
Phone:+41227306141(English)/+41227306142(French)/+41227306143(Spanish)
Telex:421000uitch/Fax:+41227305194
email:mailto:sales@itu.int /http://www.itu.int/publications


About the Author

LuigiMORENOisaRadioCommunicationsConsultantwithmorethan25years'experience.A
graduateofthe"PolitecnicodiTorino"(Italy),hewasatCSELT(TelecomItaliaResearchLabs)(1973
82),thenatGTETelecomunicazioni(198285).HehasbeenadelegateatmanyITURmeetingsanda
teacheratSSGRR(TelecomItaliaTrainingSchool).Hisactivityasaconsultantincludesmany
assignmentswithmanufacturingandoperatingcompanies(softwaredevelopmentsforradiosystem
simulation,analysis,andtesting;designofradiolinksandnetworks;trainingcourses).HeisanIEEE
SeniorMemberandservesasanIEEETransactionsTechnicalReviewer.Heistheauthorofsome30
journalandconferencepapersandoftwopatentsformobileradioreceivers.Hecanbecontacted
byemailatmailto:l.moreno@radioengineering.it.


POINT-TO-POINT RADIO LINK ENGINEERING.........................................................................1
.....................................................................................................................1
A SELF-LEARNING E-BOOK BASED COURSE, BY RADIO ENGINEERING SERVICES............1
Copyright Notice.....................................................................................................................................2
Acknowledgments...................................................................................................................................3
Editorial setup and E-Book layout..........................................................................................................3
Reproduction of Figures.........................................................................................................................3
About the Author....................................................................................................................................4
STUDENT GUIDE...............................................................................................................................11
Introduction.......................................................................................................................................11
Course Notes.....................................................................................................................................12
Herald Lab........................................................................................................................................13
SECTION 1 RADIO HOP CONFIGURATION...............................................................................14
Summary...........................................................................................................................................14
Point-to-Point radio-relay links.........................................................................................................14
Site and Hop parameters...................................................................................................................16
Radio Equipment..............................................................................................................................17
Advanced - Digital Equipment Signature.................................................................................20
Antennas...........................................................................................................................................25
Antenna Parameters for hop design..............................................................................................27
Advanced - More on the Antenna radiation diagram................................................................29
Ancillary equipment..........................................................................................................................31
Branching system..........................................................................................................................31
Tx / Rx Attenuators.......................................................................................................................31
Feeder Line...................................................................................................................................31
Advanced - Hops with a Passive Repeater................................................................................32
SECTION 2 BASICS IN LINK ENGINEERING.............................................................................35
Summary...........................................................................................................................................35
Free Space propagation.....................................................................................................................35
Comments on Free Space Loss.....................................................................................................37
Terrestrial radio links........................................................................................................................38

Link Budget..................................................................................................................................40
Fade Margin and Outage prediction..............................................................................................41
ADVANCED - Link Equation with Passive Repeater..............................................................43
SECTION 3 PATH CLEARANCE...................................................................................................45
Summary...........................................................................................................................................45
Refractivity in the Atmosphere.........................................................................................................45
Propagation in Standard Atmosphere...............................................................................................46
The k-factor.......................................................................................................................................47
k-Factor variability............................................................................................................................49
Fresnel Ellipsoid...............................................................................................................................50
A note on radio propagation and visual analogies........................................................................52
Obstruction Loss...............................................................................................................................53
Single obstacle loss.......................................................................................................................53
Advanced - More on obstruction loss computation..................................................................54
Knife-edge obstacle......................................................................................................................54
Single rounded obstacle................................................................................................................54
Spherical earth..............................................................................................................................55
Multiple obstacles.........................................................................................................................55
Clearance Criteria.............................................................................................................................56
SECTION 4 GROUND REFLECTIONS..........................................................................................59
Summary...........................................................................................................................................59
Paths with ground reflection.............................................................................................................59
Reflection coefficient........................................................................................................................60
Summary of results...........................................................................................................................60
Advanced - Reflection coefficient computation.......................................................................61
Received signal level........................................................................................................................65
Vectorial addition of two signals..................................................................................................65
Reflected signal amplitude............................................................................................................66
Reflected signal phase...................................................................................................................67
Rate of change in the Rx signal amplitude........................................................................................67
Antenna height and k-factor effect....................................................................................................67
Diversity reception............................................................................................................................69
Advanced -Average degradation estimate................................................................................71
Advanced - Effect of time delay on digital signals...................................................................72
SECTION 5 MULTIPATH FADING................................................................................................72

Summary...........................................................................................................................................73
Refractivity in the atmosphere (II)....................................................................................................73
Observed impairments in Rx signal..................................................................................................74
Signal attenuation..........................................................................................................................74
Signal distortion............................................................................................................................75
Advanced - Degradation of Cross-pol discrimination..............................................................76
Modeling multipath activity..............................................................................................................77
Radio and environmental parameters............................................................................................77
Statistical observation of multipath events...................................................................................78
Multipath Occurrence Factor........................................................................................................79
Advanced - ITU-R Multipath occurrence model......................................................................82
Performance prediction.....................................................................................................................83
Outage prediction in Narrowband systems...................................................................................83
Advanced - Outage prediction in Wideband systems...............................................................84
Advanced - Outage contribution from X-pol interference........................................................85
Countermeasures...............................................................................................................................85
Space Diversity.............................................................................................................................86
Advanced - ITU-R model for Space Diversity improvement...................................................86
1+1 Frequency Diversity...............................................................................................................87
Advanced - N +1 Frequency Diversity....................................................................................87
Advanced - Outage in Wideband systems with Diversity........................................................88
Advanced - Adaptive equalizers...............................................................................................89
SECTION 6 RAIN ATTENUATION................................................................................................91
Summary...........................................................................................................................................91
EM wave interaction with atmosphere..............................................................................................91
Water vapour and Oxygen attenuation in clear air............................................................................91
Rain attenuation................................................................................................................................92
Worldwide rain intensity statistics....................................................................................................94
ITU-R rain attenuation model...........................................................................................................97
Rain intensity model.....................................................................................................................97
Advanced - Frequency / polarization scaling model.................................................................99
Rain unavailability prediction.........................................................................................................100
Advanced - Effect of cross-polarized interference..................................................................101
SECTION 7 FREQUENCY PLANNING AND INTERFERENCE...............................................103
Summary.........................................................................................................................................103

Use of frequencies in P-P links.......................................................................................................103
Frequency Bands.............................................................................................................................104
Channel arrangements, ITU-R Recs...............................................................................................104
Go - Return Frequency plans......................................................................................................104
Interleaved and co-channel frequency arrangements..................................................................106
Comment.....................................................................................................................................107
Interference classification...............................................................................................................107
Source of Interference.................................................................................................................108
Propagation conditions....................................................................................................................109
Internal Interference sources...........................................................................................................110
Co-site Interference.....................................................................................................................110
Degradation due to Interference......................................................................................................114
Interference power estimate............................................................................................................115
Effect of Interference......................................................................................................................116
SECTION 8 ITU OBJ ECTIVES......................................................................................................118
Summary.........................................................................................................................................118
Overview.........................................................................................................................................118
ITU-T and ITU-R Recommendations.............................................................................................118
Unavailability and Error Performance Objectives......................................................................119
A brief history and overview of ITU Recs..................................................................................119
Definitions...................................................................................................................................120
Advanced - ITU-T Error Performance Recs...........................................................................121
Advanced - Error performance in a radio link........................................................................124
Error objectives for real links using equipment designed prior to approval of [revised] ITU-T
Recommendation G.826 in December 2002...............................................................................124
Practical rules in applying ITU-R Recs......................................................................................134
How to identify SDH and PDH sections.....................................................................................134
How to apportion Section objectives to each hop.......................................................................134
How to apportion Short-haul or Access section objectives on a distance basis..........................134
Advanced - Unavailability Objectives....................................................................................135
ITU-T Recs. G.826 and G.827....................................................................................................135
Radio Link Availability Objectives............................................................................................136
Advanced - BER vs. Errored Blocks Performance Parameters..............................................137
Objectives vs. Propagation impairments.........................................................................................139
HERALD LAB...................................................................................................................................141

Working with HERALD Lab..........................................................................................................141
Using the HERALD program.........................................................................................................141
Instructions to HERALD Demo Users............................................................................................142
HERALD Lab #1 - Hop Configuration...............................................................................................143
HERALD Functions........................................................................................................................143
Exercise 1.1 : Radio Equipment data.............................................................................................143
Exercise 1.2 : Antenna data.............................................................................................................145
Exercise 1.3 : Feeder data...............................................................................................................146
Exercise 1.4 : Site & Hop definition...............................................................................................147
Exercise 1.5 : Hop configuration....................................................................................................149
Exercise 1.6 : Passive repeater........................................................................................................150
Exercise 1.7 : Export Network Topology to Google Earth.............................................................151
Exercise 1.8 : Import Radio Sites....................................................................................................151
HERALD Lab #2 - Link Budget and Fade Margin............................................................................152
Exercise 2.1 : Compute Link Budget.............................................................................................152
Exercise 2.2 : Adjust Fade Margin................................................................................................153
Exercise 2.3 : Print Hop Report.....................................................................................................154
Exercise 2.4 : Include a Passive Repeater......................................................................................155
HERALD Lab #3 Path Clearance....................................................................................................156
Exercise 3.1 : Define path profile..................................................................................................157
Exercise 3.2 : Check clearance.......................................................................................................159
Exercise 3.3 : Modify antenna height.............................................................................................160
Exercise 3.4 : Estimate obstruction loss..........................................................................................161
Exercise 3.5 : Display Profile Report..............................................................................................162
HERALD Lab #4 Ground Reflections.............................................................................................163
Exercise 4.1 : Estimate reflection parameters.................................................................................164
Exercise 4.2 : Analyze Rx power level...........................................................................................165
Exercise 4.3 : Design diversity Rx..................................................................................................166
Exercise 4.4 : Change reflection parameters...................................................................................167
Exercise 4.5 : Move radio site position...........................................................................................168
HERALD Lab #5 Multipath Fading................................................................................................169

Exercise 5.1: Estimate multipath occurrence..................................................................................171
Exercise 5.2: Estimate multipath outage.........................................................................................172
Exercise 5.3: Frequency selective multipath...................................................................................173
Exercise 5.4: Design space diversity...............................................................................................174
Exercise 5.5: Use frequency diversity.............................................................................................175
HERALD Lab #6 Rain Attenuation.................................................................................................176
Exercise 6.1 : Predict rain unavailability........................................................................................177
Exercise 6.2 : Optimize hop design................................................................................................178
Exercise 6.3 : Include atmospheric absorption...............................................................................179
Exercise 6.4 : Revise design for tropical regions............................................................................180
Exercise 6.5 : Use Freq./Pol. scaling..............................................................................................181
HERALD Lab #7 Interference Analysis..........................................................................................182
Exercise 7.1 : Search interference...................................................................................................183
Exercise 7.2 : Modify antennas.......................................................................................................184
Exercise 7.3 : Modify power levels................................................................................................185
Exercise 7.4 : Modify frequency/pol...............................................................................................186
Exercise 7.5 : Test rain correlation model......................................................................................187
HERALD Lab #8 ITU Objectives...................................................................................................188
Exercise 8.1 : Set basic parameters................................................................................................189
Exercise 8.2 : International section.................................................................................................190
Exercise 8.3 : Long-haul section.....................................................................................................191
Exercise 8.4 : Access section..........................................................................................................192
Exercise 8.5 : North America Standard Objectives........................................................................193
Further Readings.............................................................................................................................194


STUDENT GUIDE
Introduction

WelcometotheCourseon"PointtoPointRadioLinkEngineering".

Theaimofthis Courseistogiveyouapracticalguide,movingfrombasicnotionsinRadio
PropagationatmicrowavefrequenciesandcomingtoapplicationsinRadioLinkDesign.

TheCourseNotescoverthemaintopicsinRadioPropagationandPointtoPointradiolink
engineering.TheyapplytothedesignofMicrowaveLinksinthefrequencyrangefromabout450
MHzupto60GHz.

Withthe"HERALDLab",youcanusetheHERALDprogram(asoftwaretoolforradiolinkdesign)to
performanumberofguidedexercisesandtesttheHERALDapproachinimplementingthedesign
process.

Asawhole,theCoursehasbeendesignedwiththeobjectiveofactivelyinvolvingthereaderin
navigatingthroughthetextandinpracticingwithexercises. Themostrelevantaspectis thatthe
HERALDLabexercises,inadditiontotheCoursenotes, provideguidancetopracticalapplicationsin
thefieldofmicrowavelinkdesign.

WedonotexpecttoofferacompleteRadioEngineeringmanual,noratutorialoneveryaspectsof
RadioPropagation. Allthetopicsarepresentedinanintuitive,practicalstyle,notwithatheoretical
/academicapproach.

Itisassumedthatthereaderissomewhatfamiliarwithbasicnotionsinmodulationtechniques,
radioequipmentandsystems,aswellasinelementaryelectromagneticphysics.


Course Notes

TheCourseNotesareorganizedineightsections. Werecommendyouproceedthroughthesections
inpublishedordertoensurecompleteunderstandingofthematerial.Thefirsttwosectionsare
introductory:
Section1introducestheradiosystemanditsstructure
Section2introducesthebasicsofmicrowavelinkengineering
Thenextfoursectionsarealmostselfcontainedandthefinaltwocoverpropagationprinciples.
Amoderatenumberofadditionalhypertextlinkshavebeenincludedthroughoutthetext. We
recommendyoureturntothelinkandcontinuethesectionafterfollowinghypertextlinkstoensure
youdontloseyourplaceinthiscourse.
TheCourseNotesaresubdividedintoa"BasicTechniques"(whitebackground)andan"Advanced
Techniques"(greenbackground)course.Initially,youmayskiptheadvancedtechniquesandreturn
tothematalaterreading.
Paragraphsgivingonlyadditionalcommentsaboutsometopicsareindicatedbyapinkbackground.


Herald Lab

TheHERALDLabhasbeenincludedinthisCoursewithtwoobjectives:
- asacomplementoftheCourseNotespresentation,showinghowthepropagationconcepts
andengineeringrulesareappliedinpracticalcases;
- asanintroductiontoHERALDfunctionsandcommands.
HERALDLabwillimprovebothyourunderstandingofradiolinkengineeringandyourskillsinusing
theHERALDprogram.
EachSessionintheHERALDLabstartswiththe"HERALDFunctions"chapter.Thischapterbriefly
explainshowdesignrules,presentedintheCourseNotes,areimplementedintheHERALD
program.ItdoesnotsubstitutetheHERALDHelp,whereyoufindamoredetailedguidetothe
programuse.
TheHERALDLabSessioncontinueswithexercises.Eachexerciseprovidesdetailedinstructionson
programstepstoexecuteagiventask.Someexercises(inparticularinthefirstsessions)may
appearrathereasyandeventedious.However,wesuggesttoskipthemonlyifyoualreadyhavea
goodpracticeinHERALDuse.
HeraldDemoversionmaybedownloadedbyregisteringatthefollowinglink:
http://www.activeonline.com.au/products/hp_register.php
HeraldDemoprovidesallthefeaturesrequiredtocompletetheHeraldLabexercise.

SECTION 1 RADIO HOP CONFIGURATION

Summary

InthisSessionweintroducethebasicconfigurationofaPointtoPointRadioLink.Thefundamental
parametersusefultodescriberadiositeinstallationsarepresented,includingantenna,radio
equipmentandancillarysubsystems. Hopswithpassiverepeatersarefinallydiscussed.

Point-to-Point radio-relay links

APointtoPointradiorelaylinkenablescommunicationbetweentwofixedpoints,bymeansof
radiowavetransmissionandreception. Thelinkbetweentwoterminalradiositesmayincludea
numberofintermediateradiosites.
Thedirectconnectionbetweentwo(terminalorintermediate)radiositesisusuallyreferredasa
"RadioHop". Insomecases,aradiohopmayincludeapassiverepeater.

A multi-hop radio-relay link, connecting A to B, divided in two Radio Sections

Amultihopradiorelaylinkcanbedividedinanumberof"RadioSections",eachofthembeing
madeofoneormoreradiohops. Transmissionperformanceisusuallysummarisedonaradio
sectionbasis.


Generalcriteriaforradionetworkplanninganddesignisnotdiscussedhere; justaverybrief
summaryisgivenbelow. Theoverallprocesscanbeusuallydividedintwosteps:
1) Preliminarynetworkorlinkplanning.Apartiallistofactivitiescarriedonatthisstageis:
a) ConsiderationofRegulatoryenvironment;
b) IdentificationofTerminalradiosites;
c) ServiceandCapacityrequirements;
d) Performanceobjectives;
e) Frequencybandselection;
f) IdentificationofsuitableRadioequipmentandAntennas;
g) Sampledesignoftypicalhops,estimateofmaximumhoplength.

2) RouteandIntermediateSiteSelection. Anumberoffactorshaveinfluenceonthischoice;
amongothers:
a) Maximumhoplength;
b) NatureofTerrainandEnvironment;
c) SitetoSiteterrainprofile;visibilityandreflections
d) Angularoffsetfromonehopandadjacenthops(toavoidcriticalinterference);
e) Needforpassiverepeaters.
f) Availabilityofexistingstructures(buildings,towers);
g) Newstructuresrequirements;
h) Accessroads(impactoninstallationandmaintenanceoperations);
i) AvailabilityofElectricPowersources;
j) Weatherconditions(wind,temperaturerange,snow,ice,etc.);
k) Localrestrictionsfromregulatorybodies(authorizationfornewbuildings,airtraffic,RF
emissioninpopulatedareas,etc.);
Whenatentativeselectionofintermediatesitesisavailable,thefinaldesigngoesthroughan
iterativeprocess:
- Hopconfigurationanddetailedhopdesign;
- PredictionofHopandSectionperformance;
- Identificationofcriticalhops;

- RevisionofRouteandSiteselection;
- RevisionofHopconfigurationandofdetailedhopdesign.

InthefollowingSectionswefocusonthisdesignprocess,goingthroughsiteandhopconfiguration
andleadingtoperformancepredictions. Asafirsttopic,wediscusstheparametersusefulto
describethesiteandhopconfiguration.

Site and Hop parameters

Aradiohopisdescribedintermsof:
1) Topographicaldataandterraindescription:
a) Radiositeposition:geographicalcoordinatesorothermappinginformation;elevationabove
sealevel(a.s.l.);
b) Pathlengthandorientation(azimuth: notethat inplanegeometrytheazimuthscomputed
atthetwoextremesofalinesegmentdifferby180deg,whilethisisnottrueinspherical
geometry; so, twopathazimuths,referredtoeachradiosite,areusuallyindicated);
c) Pathprofileasderivedfrompaperordigitalmaps:notethataccuracyrequirementsare
widelydifferentthroughoutaradiopath,sincetheelevationofpossibleobstructionsshould
beaccuratelyestimated,whilesignificantprofileportions(wherenoobstructionor
reflectionisexpected)couldbealmostignored.

2) Radioequipment,antennasandancillarysubsystemsinstalledateachradiosite;inthe
followingsections,themainparametersusefultodescribetheradiositeinstallationwillbe
discussed.

3) Specificaspectsonequipmentinstallationandoperation:
a) Antennapositioning:installationheightandpointing;spacediversityoption,antenna
spacing;
b) Frequencyused: (average)workingfrequency(usuallyreferredinhopcomputationsand
linkbudget);detailedfrequencyplan(goandreturnRFchannelsateachradiosite,required
forinterferenceanalysis);
c) RFprotectionsystems(useof1+1orn+1frequencydiversity,hotstandby,etc.)

d) Useofpassiverepeaters:flatreflectororbacktobackantennasystem,repeatersite
parameters,reflectororantennapositioningandpointing.

4) Climaticandenvironmentalparameters:theyareusuallyrequiredbypropagationmodels
(atmosphericrefraction,rain,etc.),sotheywillbediscussedwhilepresentingsuchmodels.

Finally,letusconsiderseveralattenuationordegradingfactors,suchas:
- Atmosphericabsorptionloss;
- Obstructionloss;
- Anyothersystematiclossthroughouttheradiopath(additionallosses);
- Rxthresholddegradationduetogroundreflections;
- Rxthresholddegradationduetointerference.
Theaboveimpairmentswillbediscussedinthefollowingsessions,wheresuitablemodelsto
estimatetheirimpactonhopperformanceareconsidered.

However,itmayhappenthattheinputsrequiredtoapplysuchmodelsarenotfullyavailableorthat
otherreasonssuggestnottogothroughaspecificanalysis.
Inthatcase,wecanincludeamonghopparametersalsoaroughestimate(oraworstcase
assumption)oflossesordegradationscausedbytheimpairmentslistedabove.

Radio Equipment

Asimplifiedblockdiagramofasampleradiositeinstallationisshownbelow.


Anexampleofradioequipmentblockdiagram,inthecaseofmultipleRFchanneloperation,usingasingle
antennaforbothtransmissionandreception.

Evenifthisexampleshowsaspecificconfiguration,itisusefulasareferenceinthefollowing
presentation. Otherconfigurationsofparticularinterestare:
- SingleRFchannelinstallations,wherenobranchingsystemisneeded;
- Outdoorinstallations,whereradioequipmentisdirectlyconnectedtotheantenna,without
feederline.
Fromtheviewpointofasingleradiohopdesign,wecanlimitinformationaboutRadioEquipmentto
theverybasicparameters:
- Rangeofoperatingfrequencies;
- TransmittedpowerP
T
;
- ReceiverthresholdP
RTH
(minimumreceivedpowerrequiredtoguaranteeagiven
performancelevel);
Notethat:
1) Boththetransmittedpowerandthereceiverthresholdareusuallyreferredatthe equipment
input/outputflanges,notincludingbranchingfilterlosses.

2) Whenthetransmitterisequippedwithan AutomaticTransmittedPowerControl(ATPC)device,
theTxpowertobeconsideredinhopdesignisthemaximumpowerlevel(whichshouldbe
appliedeverytimethereceivedsignalqualityisdeeplyaffectedbypropagationimpairments);


3) Thereceiverthresholdistheminimumreceivedpowerrequiredtoachieveagivenperformance
level;indigitalsystems,thereferenceperformanceisusuallyset
atBitErrorRate(BER)=10
3
, whileotherreferencelevelsmaybeadoptedifneeded.
Performanceobjectivesindigitalradiolinkswillbediscussedinthe finalSession ofthiscourse.

Additionalparameterscanbeusefulforamorecompleteunderstatingoftheequipmentoperation,
eveniftheyarenotdirectlyinvolvedinthehopdesign:
- Equipmentusercapacity;fordigitalsystems,bitpersecondornumberofstandardized
signals,likeSTM1orDS1signals; foranalogsystems,numberoftelephoneortelevision
channels;
- Bitrate(R)ofthemodulated(emitted)signal(thismaydifferfromtheusercapacity,
mentionedabove,sincethetransmissionequipmentmayincludeadditionalbitsforservice
andmonitoringchannels,channelcoding,etc.);
- Modulationtechnique;
- Symbolrateofthemodulated(emitted)signal;inanalogsystems,anequivalentparameter
isthebaseband(modulating)signalbandwidth;
- Emittedspectrumandmodulatedsignalbandwidth.

TheSymbolrateS
R
dependsontheemittedsignalbitrateRandonthemodulationtechnique:

whereListhenumberofbitscodedinasinglemodulatedwaveform(L=2inQPSK
modulation, L=6in64QAMmodulation).

ForadvancedtasksinRadioHopdesign,moredetaileddataonradioequipmentarerequired. This
includes:RxnoisebandwidthB
N
andRxnoisefigureNF;
- SignaltoNoise(S/N)ratioattheRxthreshold;
- CochannelCarriertoInterferenceratioatreceiverinput,producingthethresholdBER,in
theabsenceofthermalnoise(highRxlevel);
- TypicalspacingbetweenadjacentRFchannel;
- NetFilterDiscrimination(NFD)attheabovespacing;
- Resultsofsignaturemeasurement;
- PossibleuseofAutomaticTransmittedPowerControl(ATPC)andrelatedparameters;

- PossibleuseofCrossPolarInterferenceCanceller(XPIC)andrelatedparameters.

TheSignaltoNoise(S/N)ratiocanbeexpressedintermsofreceivedpower P
R
,receivernoise
bandwidthB
N
,andreceivernoisefigureNF:

whereP
R
isexpressedindBmand B
N
inMHz;theexpressioninsquarebracketsgivesthe
receiverthermalnoisepower.

Advanced - Digital Equipment Signature

Theequipmentsignaturegivesameasureofthesensitivityofradiosystemstochannel(amplitude
andgroupdelay)distortionsasproducedduringmultipathpropagation events.Morespecifically,it
isusedfordigitalradiosystemswithsignalbandwidthlargerthanabout1012MHz(onthistypeof
signals,significantfrequencyselectivedistortionisnotproducedifthebandwidthisnarrower;other
signalsmaybesensitivetofrequencyselectivemultipathevenwithanarrowerbandwidth).
MeasurementSetup - TheTxsignalismodulatedbyatestsequenceandistransmittedthrougha
simulatedmultipathchannel,modeledasatwopathchannel(directplusechobranches).

Signaturemeasurementsetup.

Asshownintheabovefigure,thepowerlevelandthephaseofthedelayedsignalcanbeadjustedby
meansofavariableattenuatorandavariablephaseshifter.

Assuminganormalizedsignalamplitudeequalto1inthedirectbranchandb(<1)inthedelayed
branch,thentheTwoPathChannelTransferFunctionis:


t =Echodelay,assumedasconstant(=6.3nsintheoriginalBellLabs/Rummlermodel);
f
o
= /2t t =NotchFrequency(correspondingtotheminimumamplitudeofthetransfer
function);
B=Notchdepth(indB)=20Log
10
(1b).

Twopathchanneltransferfunction,withdefinitionofNotchFrequencyandNotchDepth.

TheabovedefinitionreferstoaMinimumPhaseTransferFunction.Otherwise,ifthesignal
amplitudeisb(<1)inthedirectbranchand1inthedelayedbranch,thensimilardefinitionsapply,
butaNonMinimumPhaseTransferFunctionisobtained.
MeasurementProcedure - Asshownbytheabovedefinitions,thenotchfrequencyiscontrolledby
varyingtheechophase|;whilethenotchdepthdependsontheechoamplitudeb.
ThefirststepinthemeasurementprocedureistoselectagivenNotchFrequencyf
o
,withecho
amplitudeclosetozero.Then,theechoamplitudeisincreased,makingthetransmissionchannel
moreandmoredistorting.Consequently,theBitErrorRate(BER)willincrease.
Thenotchismadedeeper,uptothe"CriticalDepthB
C
",whenBER=10
3
(oranyotherdesired
threshold).Thepoint[B
C
,f
o
]isasignaturepoint.

Thesamestepsarerepeatedfordifferentnotchfrequencies,inordertoplotacompletesignature
curveintheNotchDepthvs.NotchFrequencyplane.


EquipmentSignatureintheNotchDepth/NotchFrequencyplane.
Inthatplaneeachpointcorrespondstoapairofnotchparameters,soitisrepresentativeofa
particularchannelstate.ThepointsbelowthesignatureshowthechannelstatesforwhichBER>
Threshold.Therefore,theareabelowthesignaturegivesameasureofthereceiversensitivityto
multipathdistortions.Foranunequalizedsignal,typicalsignaturewidthmaybeoftheorderof1.5
timesthesymbolrate,whileusingequalizationitishalvedatleast.
Topredictmultipathoutage,itisoftenrequiredthattheequipmentsignaturebedefinedbyonly
twoparameters(signaturewidthanddepth).Inmostcasestheshapeofactualequipment
signaturesallowfora"squarebrick"approximation.

EquipmentparametersusedinInterferenceanalysis
NetFilterDiscrimination(NFD) - Itisusedtocharacterizetheradiosystemabilitytolimitthe
interferencecomingfromanadjacentradiochannel.
NFDgivestheimprovementintheSignaltoInterferenceratiopassingthroughtheRxselectivity
chain(RF,Intermediate,basebandstages):

where(C/I)
RF
isdefinedattheRFinputstageand(S/I)
DEC
atthedecisioncircuitstage.


SignalspectraatthereceiverinputantoutputandRxselectivity.
Asshownbythefigureabove,theNFDdependson:
- Interferingsignalspectrum(Txfiltering);
- Channelspacing;
- OverallRxselectivityintheUsefulChannel.
TheNFDcanbemeasuredorevaluatedforinterferencebetweenidenticalsignals(adjacentchannel
interferenceinahomogeneouschannelarrangement)andalsowhentheinterferingsignalis
different(incapacityand/ormodulationformat)fromtheusefulone(interferenceinamixedsignal
network).
So,foranypairofusefulandinterferingsignalsandforeachvalueofthechannelspacing,aNFD
valuecanbeevaluated.
ThresholdCarriertoInterferenceratio - Insomeapplicationsthereceivedsignalmaybe
interferedbyacochannelsignal,withidenticalcapacityandmodulationformat(forexampleinco
channelfrequencyarrangements,withuseofbothorthogonalpolarizations).
ThereceiversensitivitytocochannelinterferenceisestimatedbyaBitErrorRate(BER)vs.C/I
curve,asshowninthefigurebelow.


BitErrorRate(BER)vs.CarriertoInterferenceratio(C/I),withindicationofC/IthresholdforBER=10
3
.
Themeasurementismadeinabsenceofanysignificantthermalnoisecontribution(highRxpower
level).
Fromthismeasurement,itispossibletoknowtheCarriertoInterferenceratiocorrespondingtothe
thresholderrorrate(forexampleBER=10
3
).
CrossPolarInterferenceCanceller(XPIC)Gain - TheInterferenceCancellerisusedtoreducethe
interferencecomingfromasignaltransmittedonthesamefrequencywithorthogonalpolarizations
(usuallytheusefulandinterferingsignalshaveidenticalcapacityandmodulationformat).
WeassumethatthesignaltointerferenceratioatthereceiverRFinputis(C/I)
RF
.
Theinterferencecancellerworksinsuchawaythatthesignaltointerferenceratioappearstobe
improvedtoahighervalue(C/I)
APP
definedas

whereXPIC
Gain
isdefinedasthegainproducedbythecrosspolarcanceller.Theinterference
impairmentiscomputedbyassuming(C/I)
APP
tobetheactualsignaltointerferenceratio.


Antennas
Gaindefinitionandrelatedparameters
Letusconsideraradiotransmitterwithpower p
T
coupledtoan IsotropicAntenna(anidealsource
ofEMRadiation,thatradiatesuniformlyinalldirections). AtthedistanceLfromtheantenna,the
emittedpowerwillbeuniformlydistributed on.thesurfaceareaofasphereofradiusL,sothat
the PowerDensity
I
is:

EMpoweremissionfromanIsotropicAntenna(left)andfromaDirectiveAntenna(right)

ThenwesubstitutetheIsotropicAntennawithaDirectiveAntenna,whilethetransmittedpoweris
again P
T
. WeimaginetomeasurethePowerDensitywheretheantennaaxisinterceptsthesphere
surface,withresult
D

Theantennagaingivesameasureofhowmuchtheemittedpowerisfocusedinthemeasurement
direction,comparedwiththeisotropiccase. Asaresultofthe"experiment"describedabove,the
antennagainisdefinedas:

Thisdefinitionleadstog=1forthe isotropic antenna.
Generallyspeaking,theantennagainisrelatedtotheratiobetweenantennadimensionandthe
wavelength . Morespecifically,inthecaseofreflectorantennas,theantennagaingisgivenby:

whereDisthereflectordiameter, q iscalled"antennaefficiency"(typicallyintherange
0.550.65),AisthereflectorareaandA
E
= qA isthe AntennaEffectiveArea.(or
Aperture).


Inlogarithmic(decibel)units:

wherethe 0.5 dBtermdependsagainonantennaefficiency;itisassumedtoexpressthe
diameterDinmeters[m]andthefrequencyFinGigaHertz[GHz].
Notethat,forgivendimension,theantennagainincreaseswithfrequency(6dBhigherifthe
frequencyisdoubled). Similarly,atagivenfrequency,thegainincreases6dBiftheantenna
diameterisdoubled.

Below,someexamplesofantennagainvs.diameterandfrequencyaregiven.

Antennagainvs.diameterandfrequency;thedouble(red,black)linegivesarangeofpossiblegains,
dependingonantennaefficiency.

The3dBbeamwidthBW(seegraphicaldefinitionbelow)isrelatedtoantennagain;asthegain
increases,theEMenergyisfocusedinanarrowerbeam.

Definitionoftheantenna3dBBeamwidthBW.

Forreflectorantennas,somesimple"rulesofthumb"areusefulinrelatingantennadiameterD[m],
workingfrequencyF[GHz],gainG[dB],andthe3dBbeamwidthBW[deg]:

Notethattheseareapproximaterelations,fittingwith"real"valueswithinsomemargin;in
particularcasesthismarginmaybeevenlarge.
AnadditionalconceptinantennaoperationistheFarFieldRegion. Itistheregionsufficiently
distantfromtheantenna,wheretheelectromagnetic(EM)fieldcanbewellapproximatedasaplane
waveandtheantennadiagramisstabilized.Closertotheantenna,theNearFieldRegionandthe
Fresnel(transition)Regionaredefined,wheretheantennaradiationdiagramisnoteasilypredicted.
TheboundarybetweentheFresnelandtheFarFieldRegionisapproximatelyatthedistance:

Antenna Parameters for hop design
Pointtopointradiohopsusuallymakeuseofhighgaindirectiveantennas,whichofferseveral
advantages:
- bothTransmissionandReception: theantennagainismaximizedinthedesireddirection.
- Transmission: theemittedradioenergyisfocusedtowardthereceiver,thus reducingthe
emissionofinterferingradioenergyinotherdirections;

- Reception: thereceiversensitivitytointerferingsignalscomingfromotherdirectionsis
reduced.
However,inspecialcases,alsoantennaswithsectorialorevenomnidirectionalcoveragemaybe
used(thisistruemainlyforpointtomultipointapplications).
Inmostcases,directiveantennasareparabolicantennasorotherreflectorantennas(likeHornor
Cassegrainantennas). Thedirectivitypatternscanbemeasuredbothinthevertical(elevation)and
inthehorizontal(azimuth)planes; however,wecanoftenadoptthesimplifyingassumptionthat
onediagramisapplicablebothtotheverticalandtothehorizontalplanes.Inthatcase,alsothe3dB
antennabeamwidthisassumedtobethesameinthetwoplanes.
Asfarasinterferenceproblemsarenotconsideredinasingleradiohopdesign,wecanlimit
informationabouttheantennastotheverybasicparameters:
- SingleorDoublePolarizationoperation;
- Antennagain;
- 3dBbeamwidthintheverticalplane(thismaybeusefultoanalyzereflectionpaths).
Anexampleoftheantennaconnectiontoradioequipmentisgiveninthe Block diagram shown
above. Notethattheantennagain(aswellasotherantennaparameters)isreferredtotheantenna
I/Oflange.
Additionalparameterscanbeusefulforamorecompletedescriptionofantennaoperation:
- Antennatype(Parabolic,Horn,Cassegrain,etc.);
- Coveragetype(omnidirectional,sectorial,directive);
- 3dBbeamwidthinthehorizontalplane(forsectorialantennas);
- Diameter(ormoregenerally,physicaldimensions);
- Voltagestandingwaveratio(VSWR);
- Weight.
Moreover,theantennadiagram,asmentionedabove,illustratestheantennaoperationin
directionsotherthanthepointing(maxgain)direction.


Antenna radiation diagram (mask) for Co-polar e X-polar operation (a different horizontal scale is
used in the 0 - 20 deg range and in the 20 - 180 deg range).

Advanced - More on the Antenna radiation diagram

Someadditionalcommentsonantennadiagrams:
- Theresultoftheantennadirectivitymeasurementusuallyexhibitsmultiplelobesand
nulls. Asidelobeenvelopeisestimated,givinga"maskdiagram",usefultocharacterizethe
antennadirectivity. Ininterferenceanalysistheneedarisestoestimatetheantennagainin
anydirectionandtheantennamaskgivesaconservativeresult.
- Thepatternof copolandcrosspolantennadiagrams,closetothepointingdirection,are
significantlydifferent,asshowninthefigurebelow. Whilethecopolpatternisratherflat,
intherangeofsometensofdegreearoundpointingdirection(maximumgain),thecrosspol
patternhasaverynarrowminimuminthesamedirection. Insomecasesitisconvenientto
pointtheantennabysearchingfortheminimumcrosspolsignallevel,insteadofsearching
forthemaximumcopolsignal.Bythisway,itisassuredthat,notonlythemaximumgain,
butalsothemaximumcrosspoldiscriminationareobtained.

ExampleofCopol.andCrossPol.antennadiagrams,closetotheantennapointingdirection
- Theantennadirectivitydiagramisusuallymeasuredinacontrolledenvironment,inorderto
characterizethe"true"antennaresponse,withoutinfluenceorerrorsproducedbyanyexternal
element.
Inactualoperation,theantennaresponsemaybysignificantlyalteredbythesurrounding
environment.Forexample,anobstacleclosetothemainantennalobemayproduceasignal
reflection,about180fromtheantennapointingdirection.Thisapparentlyreducestheantenna
fronttobackdecoupling,bothinthecopolandcrosspoldiagrams.
Thecorrectantennapositioningisakeyfactorinordertogetantennaperformanceinreal
operatingconditionsascloseaspossibletomeasuredparameters.


Ancillary equipment
Anumberofadditionalequipmentandsubsystemsareworkinginaradiosite.Inthepresent
context,weconsideronlywhatisstrictlyrelatedtothedesignofaradiohop(so,wedonotdiscuss
powerlinesandbackups,airconditioning,grounding,andothersubsystems,eveniftheyareof
significantimportanceintheoverallsiteoperation).
Branching system
Asshowninthe block diagram above,abranchingfilterisrequiredinradiotransceiversfor
multipleRFchanneloperation.
Intransmission,thefunctionofthebranchingsystemistomultiplexRFchannelsonasinglewide
bandRFsignal,suitabletobetransmittedonasingleantenna. Similarly,inreception,thebranching
systemsplitsthemultichannelsignalcomingfromtheantennaintomultipleRFchannels,each
addressedtothecorrespondingreceiver.
ThebranchinglossisdifferentforthevariousRFchannels(inTxandRx),dependingonthenumber
offilterportsandcirculatorstobepassedthroughbythesignal. However,inhopdesign,itis
advisabletotakeaccountofhighestloss,resultingfromTxandRxbranching.
InabranchingconfigurationwithacommonTx/Rxantenna(see block diagram),thebranchingloss
includethelossofthecirculatorusedtoseparatetheTxandtheRxbranches.

Tx / Rx Attenuators
Powerattenuatorsmaybeaddedinthetransmitterorinthereceiverchain,mainlyto avoidan
excessivepowerlevelatthereceiverinput(whichmaysaturatetheRxfrontendstage)and/orto
avoidunnecessarypoweremissioninshorthops(interferencereduction).
NotethatmanyradioequipmentsnowincludepowersettingoptionsorATPC(Automatic
TransmittedPowerControl)devices,sothatinmostcasestheuseofexternalattenuatorsisno
longerrequired.
Inthecontextofradiohopdesign,theonlyparametertobeassociatedwithTxandRxattenuators
istheattenuationlevelitself.

Feeder Line

AfeederlineisrequiredtoconnecttheantennaI/OflangetotheradioequipmentI/Oport(ortothe
branchingsystemI/Oport). Theexceptionistheoutdoorconfiguration,withdirectequipmentto
antennaconnection.

Thebasicfeederparametersforradiolinkdesignare:

- Specificloss(expressedindBperunitlength).
Additionalparameters,givingmoredetailsonfeederdescription:
- Feedertype(cable,rectangularwaveguide,etc.);
- Weight (expressedinkgperunitlength).

Advanced - Hops with a Passive Repeater

PassiveRepeatersareusedmainlyinhopsoverirregularterrain,tobypassanobstructionalongthe
pathprofile.
ThreePassiveRepeaterconfigurationsaredescribedbelow,whilethecorrespondingLinkBudget
equationsarepresentedinthenextSession.
Singleplanereflector - itisimplementedasametalsurface,whichisclosetoa100%reflection
efficiency.Thesurfaceflatnessmustbemoreandmoreaccurateforincreasingfrequency(smaller
signalwavelength).
Thereflectorworkstodeviatetheincomingsignal directionbyanangle |. Thegeometryisshown
inthefigurebelow

Passiverepeaterimplementedasasingleplanereflector
Eachpathfromaradiositetotherepeateriscalleda"leg". Soaradiohopwithasinglereflectoris
madeoftwolegs.

Notethattheusefulor"effective"areaA
E
oftheplanereflectorisgivenby:

whereA
REAL
istherealreflectorareaand istheanglebetweenthetworays.

Itisestimatedthatfor >120(correspondingto | <60)theeffectiveareaissoreducedthatitis
notpracticaltheuseofasinglereflector,sinceverylargepanelsshouldbeinstalled.
Doubleplanereflector - Itisusedwhenthechangeinsignaldirection(|)islowerthan60or
whenitisnotpossibletofindasuitablepositionforasinglereflector,wherevisibilitywithbothhop
terminalsisassured.
Usually,thetworeflectorsarearrangedfairlyclose together. Atypicaldoublereflectorgeometryis
shownbelow.

Passiverepeaterimplementedasadoubleplanereflector
Aradiohopwithadoublereflectorismadeofthreelegs.
Withadoublereflectorarrangementitispossibletooperateeveniftheangle | iscloseto0.
Thereflectoreffectiveareaisgivenbythe sameformula usedforthesinglereflector,sothatthe
anglebetweenthetworays,atbothreflectors,shouldbeaslowaspossible.
BacktoBackantennaconfiguration - Anotherpassiverepeaterarrangementcanbeobtainedby
usingtwo antennaswithashortfeeder(cable,waveguide)connection.


Passiverepeaterimplementedasatwoantennabacktobackarrangement
Fromageometricalpointofview,thebacktobackantennasystemhasawiderandmoreflexible
applicationfield,comparedwithasinglereflectorsystem. Fromagivenrepeaterposition,any
changeinsignaldirection(|)canbeobtained.
However,singleordoublereflectorsmaybeimplemented,ifneeded,withsurfacesmuchwider
thantheusualantennasize. Moreover,thereflectorefficiencyiscloseto100%,comparedtosome
55%antennaefficiency.
So,whenthepowerbudgetislimited,thebacktobackantennasystemmaybeapoorsolution.

ThisconcludesSection1ofthePPRLE.PleaseproceedtoHeraldLabExercise1.
End of Section #1


SECTION 2 BASICS IN LINK ENGINEERING

Summary

InthisSessiontheFreeSpaceradiolinkequationispresented,togetherwiththeconceptofFree
SpaceLoss.Then,terrestrialradiohopsareconsideredandabriefsummaryisgivenofthemost
significantpropagationimpairments. WediscusstheLinkBudget,inordertoestimatetheFade
Margin,andhowtousetheFadeMargininpredictingtheoutageprobability. Finally,theradiolink
equationisrevisedtoincludetheuseofpassiverepeaters.

Free Space propagation

Weapproachradiolinkengineeringbyfirstconsideringanidealpropagationenvironment,where
transmissionofradiowavesfromTxantennatoRxantennaisfreeofallobjectsthatmightinteract
inanywaywithelectromagnetic(EM)energy. Thisassumptionisusuallyreferredas"FreeSpace"
propagation.
Letusconsideraradiotransmitterwithpower p
T
coupledtoa directive antenna withmaximum
gainontheaxisg
T
.
AtdistanceDfromthetransmittingantenna(sufficientlylarge,inorderthatFarFieldconditionsare
satisfied),thePowerDensityontheantennaaxisis:

Computation of Received Power in Free Space propagation
Nowweimaginethat,atthedistanceD,areceivingantennaisinstalled.The antenna "effective
aperture" or"effectivearea"A
E
givesameasureoftheantennaabilitytocaptureafractionofthe
radioenergydistributedatthereceiverlocation.Assumingnoreceivermismatch,thepowerp
R
,at
thereceiverantennaoutputflange,is:


TakingaccountthattherelationbetweentheRx antenna gain andtheantenna"effective
aperture"is:

thereceivedpowerequationbecomes:

whereFisthefrequencyofthetransmittedsignal, isthewavelength,andc= Fisthe
propagationspeed,whichcanbeassumedtobeabout310
8
m/s,withgoodapproximation,
bothinthevacuumandintheatmosphere.

Thisisusuallyknownasthe"FreeSpaceRadioLinkEquation." Usinglogarithmicunits,itcanbe
writtenas:

where uppercaselettersareusedtoexpresspowerindBmandgainsindB,whilethesame
lettersinlowercasehadbeenpreviouslyusedfornonlogarithmicunits.
NotethatfrequencymustbeexpressedinGHzanddistanceinkm,otherwisethe92.44constantis
tobemodified accordingly(e.g.:withdistanceinmiles,theconstantis96.57;withfrequencyin
MHz,theconstantis32.44).
Theaboveequationcanbealsowrittenas:

whereFSLiscalledFreeSpaceLoss,givenby:

Ifweassumetouse Isotropic Antennas (G=0dB)bothatthetransmittingandatthereceiving
site,then:

soFSLisalsodefinedas"lossbetweenisotropicantennas".


Free Space Loss vs. distance and frequency

Comments on Free Space Loss

TheconceptofFreeSpaceLoss,andtherelatedformulas,needsomecomments.First,theterm
"loss"couldsuggestsomesimilaritywithlossesincoaxialcablesorotherguidedtransmissionof
electromagnetic(EM)energy,whereweobserveaninteractionandpowertransferfromtheEM
wavetothepropagationmedium.Here,wearetalkingabout"FreeSpacePropagation":the
propagationmediumisthevacuumandnointeractionexists.TheFreeSpaceLossisjusttobe
referredtothedensityofEMenergy,whichfollowstheinversesquarelawdependenceversus
distance fromthesource.
AsecondproblemistheroleoffrequencyintheFreeSpaceLossformula.IstheFreeSpacea
transmissionmediummorelossyasfrequencyincreases?Letusconsiderthetwoequivalentforms
oftheradiolinkequationgivenabove:

Thefirstexpressionisprobablymoreintuitive andshouldbepreferredwhenwetrytounderstand
thephysicalconceptunderlyingfreespacepropagation.TheTxantennaisdescribedbyitsgain(the
abilitytofocustheEMpowertowardagivendirection),whiletheRxantennaisdescribedbyits
equivalentaperture(theabilitytocapturetheEMpowerdistributedatthereceiverlocation).
Ontheotherhand,wepassedtothesecondexpression,whereboththeTxandRxantennagains
appear,sinceitlooksattractiveforitssymmetricform.Thefrequencydependenceinthiscaseis
duetothedecreasingeffectiveaperture ofthereceivingantenna(foragivengain),asthefrequency
increases.ItisjustaformalartificetoincludefrequencydependenceinthesocalledFreeSpace
Loss.

Asaconclusion,theFreeSpaceLossisaconvenientstepinevaluatingthereceivedpowerinaradio
linkanditisusefulinordertoputformulasinamanageableform.However,careshouldbepaid
aboutthephysicalconceptrelatedtoit,inordertoavoidmisleadinginterpretations.

Terrestrial radio links

WenowdepartfromtheFreeSpaceassumptionandweputagainourfeettotheearth. We
considerradiowavepropagationbetweentwoterrestrialradiosites,inthecontextofradiohop
design.
Transmittingandreceivingantennasareassumedtobeinstalledontowers/buildings,atmoderate
heightabovetheearthsurface(metersortensofmeters),sothatpropagationinthelower
atmosphere,closetoground, hastobeconsidered.
Moreover,weassumethattheradiowavefrequencyisintherangefromUHFband(lowerlimit300
MHz)uptosometensofGHz(60GHzcanroughlybetheupperlimit,accordingtopresent
applications).
ComparedwithFreeSpacePropagation,thepresenceoftheatmosphereandthevicinityofthe
groundproduceanumberofphenomenawhichmayseverelyimpactonradiowavepropagation.
Themajorphenomenaaredueto:
- AtmosphericRefraction:
- RayCurvature;
- MultipathPropagation;
- Interactionwithparticles/moleculesintheAtmosphere:
- AtmosphericAbsorptionintheabsenceofrain;
- RaindropAbsorptionandScattering;
- EffectsoftheGround:
- DiffractionthroughObstacles;
- Reflectionsonflatterrain/watersurfaces.
Whenoneormoreoftheabovephenomenaaffectradiopropagation,theresultingimpairmentis:
- usually,anadditionalloss(withrespecttofreespace)inthereceivedsignalpower;
- inparticularcases,alsoadistortionofthereceivedsignal.
Propagationimpairmentswillbeconsideredinthefollowingsessions.Inmostcasestheycanbe
predictedonlyonastatisticalbasis. Theyaremainlyaffectedby:

- Frequencyofoperation;
- HopLength;
- Climaticenvironmentandcurrentmeteorologicalconditions;
- Groundcharacteristics(terrainprofile,obstaclesaboveground,electricalparameters).
Fromtheviewpointofthephenomenaduration,letusconsider:
- temporaryimpairments,whichaffectthereceivedsignalonlyforsmallpercentagesoftime
(examplesarerain,multipathpropagation,...);
- longterm(orpermanent)propagationconditions,whichaffectthereceivedsignalformost
ofthetime(examplesareatmosphericoxygenabsorption,terraindiffraction,...),evenif
theirimpactmaybevariableinsomemeasure.
Inmostcases,longtermpropagationimpairmentsdonotproduceasignificantpowerlossinthe
receivedsignal,comparedwithFreeSpaceconditions. So,thereceivedpowerobservedforlong
periodsoftimewillberatherclosetothatpredictedbythe Free Space Radio Link Equation.
Themostsignificantexceptiontotheaboveconditionisexperiencedinradiopathswithnotperfect
visibility. Inthatcase,attenuationcausedbyterraindiffractionresultsinasystematicloss,in
comparisonwithFreeSpaceconditions.


Link Budget
EvenindesigningTerrestrialRadioLinks,the Free Space Radio Link Equation isthebasisfor
receivedpowerprediction.
The equationinlogarithmicunitsoffersaverysimpleandconvenienttool,since GainsandLosses,
throughoutthetransmissionchain,areaddedwithpositiveornegativesign,asinafinancialbudget.
Theresultiswhatiscalledthe"LinkBudget".
TheFreeSpaceequationcanberewrittenwithmoredetail,takingaccountofactualequipment
structureandofsystematicimpairmentsthroughoutthepropagationpath. Anexampleisgivenin
theTablebelow.
PowerLevel
[dBm]
Gains
[dB]
Losses
[dB]
TxPoweratradioeqp.
outputflange

Txbranchingfilter
Txfeeder
OtherTxlosses
Poweratant.input

Txantennagain

Propagationlosses:
FreeSpace
Obstruction
Atm.Absorption
Other
RxAntennagain

Power at ant.output

Rxfeeder
Rxbranchingfilter
OtherRxlosses
NominalRxPowerat
radioeqp.inputflange


Asshownintheaboveexample,thelinkbudgetincludesanestimateofthepowerlossdueto
permanent(orlongterm)impairments(likeatmosphericabsorptionandobstructions). So,the
NominalRxPower(ascomputedatthelastline)isexpectedtobeobservedforlongperiodsoftime.
OncetheLinkBudgetiscomputed,otherimpairmentsatthereceiveraretakenintoaccountas:
- adegradingeffectinreceiveroperation(Rx threshold degradation):thisusuallyappliesto
theeffectofgroundreflectionsandinterference;
- ashorttermattenuation(orevendistortion)inthereceivedsignal,whoseeffectmaybeto
fadethereceivedsignalbelowtheRxthreshold
Power
Threshold
Margin
NominalRxPower

EquipmentThreshold

ThresholdDegrad.
Reflections
Interference
HopThreshold

Fademargin

WesummarizethefinalstepsinLinkBudgetanalysiswiththetwoequations:

NotethatThresholdDegradationcausestheactualHopThresholdtobehigherthantheEquipment
Threshold(onedBthresholdincreasemeansonedBreductionintheavailableFadeMargin).

Fade Margin and Outage prediction

Typically,pointtopointradiohopsaredesignedinawaythattheNominalRxPower(ascomputed
inthe Link Budget)isfargreaterthanthereceiverthreshold. So,ratherlargeFadeMargins(ofthe
orderof3040dB,orevengreater)areusuallyavailable.
TheFadeMargin isrequiredtocopewithshorttermattenuationanddistortioninthereceived
signal(mainlycausedbyrainandmultipath).

Asummaryofvariousdefinitionsisgiveninthediagrambelow.

AsummaryofdefinitionsinReceivedPowerlevels,thresholds,andmargins,withapplicationtoOutage
estimation.
Theabovefiguresuggeststhefollowingcomments:
- TheRxpowermayexceedtheFreeSpacelevel: thesocalled"upfading"isaratherunusual
event(itmaybecausedbyparticularrefractionconditions,whichcreateasortofguided
propagationthroughtheatmosphere).Caremustbetakenthatthereceivedpowerlevelbe
inanycasebelowthemaximumlevelacceptedbytheRxequipment(otherwise,receiver
saturationandnonlineardistortionmaybeobserved).
- TheRxPowerwillbeattheNominallevel(Normalpropagation)formostofthetime.
- ModerateattenuationbelowtheNominalRxpowerdoesnotusuallyproduceanysignificant
lossinsignalquality.
- TheEquipmentthresholdmaybedegradedinsomemeasurebyreflectionsand/or
interference,sothatahigherHopthresholdmustbeconsidered.
- StartingfromtheverylowRxpower,theOutageconditionsare:
o belowtheEquipmentthreshold,outageisproducedbythereceiverthermalnoise,
evenintheabsenceofanyadditionalimpairmentinthereceivedsignal;
o belowtheHopthreshold,outageiscausedbythecombinedeffectofreceivernoise
andotherimpairments(likereflectionorinterference);
o inthedeepfadingregion,abovetheHopthreshold,outagemaybeobservedwhen
thereceivedsignalisnotonlyattenuated,butalsodistortedbypropagationevents
(mainly,frequencyselectivemultipath).
Fromtheabovediscussion,theOutagetime,duringtheobservationperiodTo(typically,one
month)canbepredictedas:

ifnocontributiontooutageisexpectedfromsignaldistortion.
Ontheotherhand,ifsignificantdistortionintheRxsignalisexpectedtocontributetothetotal
outage,thepredictionformulahastobecompletedas:

wherethesecondtermgivesthecontributiontooutageprobabilitywhenthereceived
signalisabovetheHopthreshold,butitisseverelydistorted(notethatProb{A/B}means
probabilityofeventA,giventhateventBistrue).
TheseformulasonlyhelptoclarifyhowtheoutagetimeisrelatedtotheRxpowerlevelandto
additionalimpairmentsinthereceivedsignal. Theydonotprovideapracticalmeanstopredict
outagetime;thisrequiresthatsuitablestatisticalmodelsofpropagationimpairmentsbeavailable:
SuchmodelswillbeconsideredinthefollowingSessions.
ADVANCED - Link Equation with Passive Repeater

WhenaPassiveRepeaterisusedinaradiohop,wehavetorevisethe"BasicRadioLinkEquation".
TobeconsistentwiththesimpleFreeSpaceformula,wewritethenewequationas:

where:
FSL(D
TOT
)istheFreeSpaceLossofaradiolinkwithpathlength D
TOT
= E D
i
;
D
i
isthelengthofeach path leg;
L
PR
isthepowerlosscausedbythepassiverepeater,incomparisonwiththeFreeSpacecase.
SingleReflector - Werefertothepathgeometry,asshownina previous figure andtothe
definitionofthereflector effective area A
E
. Then,L
PR
isgivenby:

whereFistheworkingfrequencyinGHzandD
1
,D
2
aretheleglengthsinkm.
DoubleReflector - Again,werefertothepathgeometry,asshownina previous figure andto
thedefinitionofthereflector effective area A
E
. Then,L
PR
isgivenby:


whereFistheworkingfrequencyinGHzandD
1
,D
2
,D
3
aretheleglengthsinkm.

BacktoBackantennasystem - Thepathgeometryisshownina previous figure. Then,L
PR
is
givenby:

whereFistheworkingfrequencyinGHz,D
1
,D
2
aretheleglengthsinkm,G
1
,G
2
arethe
antennagainsattherepeatersite(usually G
1
=G
2
)andL
F
isthelossduetothefeeder
connectingthetwoantennas.
NearFieldcorrection - Theaboveformulasarecorrectlyusedwhenthereflectorsarepositioned
outsidethe"nearfield"region. Ifthisconditionisnotsatisfied,thenacorrectionfactor(additional
loss)mustbeapplied.
Thenearfieldregionisestimatedasafunctionoftheantennaandreflectordimensionsandofthe
signalfrequency(wavelength ). Twonormalizedparameters(o, |)arecomputed:

whereD
Min
istheshortestlegfromoneantennatotheclosestreflector,distheantenna
diameterandA
E
isthereflectoreffectivearea.
Aruleofthumbisthefollowing:for | intherange0.21.5(thiscoversmostpracticalconditions),
thenearfieldcorrectionfactorisnotnegligibleif o <(0.5+|). SomeexamplesaregivenintheTable
below:
| =0.2
| =0.6
| =1.0
| =1.4
o =0.25
4.6dB
8.2dB
9.5dB
>10dB
o =0.40
1.7dB
3.9dB
7.1dB
9.8dB
o =0.60
0.7dB
1.8dB
3.8dB
6.7dB
o =1.00
<0.5dB
0.7dB
1.6dB
3.1dB
o =1.50
<0.5dB
<0.5dB
0.7dB
1.3dB

This concludes Section 2 of the PPRLE. Please proceed to Herald Lab Exercise 2.

End of Section #2
SECTION 3 PATH CLEARANCE
Summary

InthisSessiontheeffectoftheatmosphereonradioraytrajectoriesisfirstconsidered,by
introducingthekfactorconcept;possibledeviationsfromstandardconditionsareidentified,aswell
astheminimumkfactorvalue.ThentheFresnelellipsoidisdefined;thepartialobstructionofthe
ellipsoidleadstotheestimateoftheresultantloss.Finally,thepreviousconceptsareusedtoset
clearancecriteriaandtodiscusstheirapplicationtopathprofileanalysis.
Refractivity in the Atmosphere

TheRefractiveIndexninagivenmediumisdefinedastheratioofthespeedofradiowavesin
vacuumtothespeedinthatmedium.Sincethespeedofradiowavesintheatmosphereisjust
slightlylowerthaninvacuum,thentheRefractiveIndexintheatmosphereisgreaterthan,butvery
closeto,1.
However,alsosmallvariationsintheatmosphereRefractiveIndexhavesignificanteffectsonradio
wavepropagation.Forthisreason,insteadofusingtheRefractiveIndexn(closeto1),itis
convenienttodefinetheRefractivityNas:

So,NisthenumberofpartspermillionthattheRefractiveIndexexceedsunity;itisadimensionless
parameter,measuredinNunits.
TheatmosphereRefractivityisafunctionofTemperature,Pressure,andHumidity.TheITURRec.
453givestheformula:

where:
T=absolutetemperature(Kelvindeg);
P=atmosphericpressure(hPa,numericallyequaltomillibar);
e=watervapourpressure(hPa).
Atsealevel,theaveragevalueofNisaboutNo=315Nunits.TheITURgivesworldmapswiththe
meanvaluesofNointhemonthsofFebruaryandAugust.
Temperature,atmosphericpressure,andwatervapourpressurearenotconstantwithheight.This
producesaVerticalRefractivityGradientG(measuredinNunitsperkm,N/km),definedas:

whereN
1
andN
2
aretherefractivityvaluesatelevationsH
1
andH
2
,respectively.
Undernormal(standard)atmosphericconditions, Refractivitydecreasesataconstantrate,moving
fromgroundleveluptoabout1kmheight. ThismeansthattheRefractivityGradientGisconstant,
thetypicalvaluebeingabout 40N/km.
DeviationfromtheStandardAtmosphereconditionisusuallyassociatedwithparticularweather
events,liketemperatureinversion,veryhighevaporationandhumidity,passageofcoldairover
warmsurfacesorviceversa.Intheseconditions,theVerticalRefractivityGradientisnolonger
constant.Anumberofdifferentprofileshavebeenobservedandmeasured.Itisworthnotingthat,
atgreateraltitude,theRefractiveIndexis,inanycase,closerandcloserto1;sotheRefractivityN
decreasestozero.
Propagation in Standard Atmosphere

A RadioWavepropagatesinthedirectionnormaltotheisophaseplane(theplanewhereallthe
pointsarephasesynchronous,withrespecttothesinusoidalpatternofelectricandmagneticfields).
Inahomogeneousmedium,theisophaseplanesareparalleltoeachotherandthepropagation
directionisastraightlinenormaltothem.
As seen above,theAtmosphereisnotahomogeneousmediumandtheVerticalRefractivity
Gradientgivesameasureofthat.DifferentRefractivityatdifferentheightsmeansdifferent
propagationspeeds.Thewavefrontmovesfasterorslower,dependingontheheight:thiscausesa
rotationofthewavefrontitself.

Wavefrontandrayrotationcausedbyaverticalrefractivitygradientintheatmosphere

So,thepropagationtrajectory(normaltothewavefront)isnotastraightline,butitisrotated,as
shownintheabovefigure.Takingintoaccountthatthepropagationspeedisinverselyproportional
totherefractiveindex,itispossible toderivethattheradiotrajectorycurvature1/risrelatedtothe
VerticalRefractivityGradientG,as:

InStandardAtmosphere,withatypicalvalueofthe RefractivityGradientG= 40N/km,the
curvatureoftheradioraytrajectoryis:

Thismeansthattheradiorayisbentdownward,withacurvature1/r,somewhatlower(lesscurved)
thantheEarth curvature1/R:

Raybendinginstandardatmosphere(CL=clearance,verticaldistancefromgroundtoraytrajectory)

The k-factor

A convenientartificeisusedtoaccount,atthesametime,forboththerayandtheearthcurvatures.
An"equivalent"representationof the above figure canbeplottedbyalteringbothcurvaturesby
anamountequaltotheraycurvature1/r.
Inthenewfigure(seebelow)theradioraytrajectorybecomesastraightline,whilethemodified
("equivalent")earthcurvature1/R
E
is:


Equivalentrepresentationof the previous figure,withamodifiedearthradiusR
E
andastraightraytrajectory.
Notethat,atanypointoftheradiopath,theverticaldistance(CL=clearance)fromtheearth
surfacetotheraytrajectoryisthesameintherealandintheequivalentrepresentations.
Theratiobetweentheequivalentandtherealearthradiusisdefinedasthe"effectiveearthradius
factork"(briefly,thekfactor). Takingaccountofpreviousformulas,giving 1/R
E
, 1/R, and 1/r ,the
kfactorisgivenby:

InStandardAtmosphere(G=40Nunits/km),thisgives:

Thekfactorgivesanindicationabouttheatmospherestateatagiventimeandaboutthebending
effectontheradioraytrajectory.So,thestatement"propagationatk=4/3"isasynonymousof
"propagationinStandardAtmosphere".
Ontheotherhand,k<4/3correspondsto"Subrefractive"conditions, inwhichtheraycurvatureis
lessthannormal orevenisanupwardcurvature(k<1,G>0), thusreducingtheclearanceover
ground.
Withk>4/3weareina"Superrefractive"atmosphere;inparticular,withk= ,theraytrajectory
isparalleltotheearthsurfaceand thesignalcanpropagateoverlargedistances,beyondthenormal
horizon.
Thefigurebelowcomparestheraytrajectorieswithdifferentkfactors,usinga"realearth"
representation.

Raybendingindifferentatmosphericconditions(differentkfactorvalues)
Afurtheralternativeinplottingradioraytrajectoriesovertheearthsurface,iscalled"flatearth"
representation
Again,boththeearthandtheraycurvaturearealtered,butinthiscasetheearthprofileisforcedto
beflat,whiletheraycurvatureismodifiedaccordingly.The"realearth"andthe"flatearth"
diagramsareequivalentinthesensethat, atanypointoftheradiopath,theverticaldistance(CL=
clearance)fromtheearthsurfacetotheraytrajectoryisthesameinbothrepresentations.

Equivalentrepresentationofthepreviousfigure,overflatearth
Usingthe"flatearth"representation,wecanplotonthesamediagramthepathprofileand
multiplerays,correspondingtodifferentvaluesofthekfactor. Thisisthemostusualdiagram
shownincomputerapplicationsforradiohopdesign.

k-Factor variability


Wehaveseenthatthekfactorisrelatedtotheatmospherestateandisafunctionoftherefractivity
verticalgradient.So,itisavariableparameter, dependingondailyandseasonalcyclesandon
current meteorologicalconditions. Ina"standardatmosphere"statethekfactorvalueis4/3;thisis
closetothemedianvalueinmostclimates(particularly,temperateclimates).Aroundthismedian
value, therangeofvariationsisratherwideintropicalregions,withincreasingtemperatureand/or
humidity,whileitismorelimitedincoldandtemperateclimates.
Experimentalobservationsshowforexamplethattheprobabilityofk<0.6intemperateclimatesis
generallywellbelow1%.Intropicalclimatesthesameeventisobservedwithprobabilityinthe
range5%10%.Thismeansthat,intropicalregions,thereisthehighestprobabilityofpropagation
anomaliesduetoextremekfactorvalues.TheITURgivesworldmapsofthetimepercentagewithG
<100Nunits/km(k>2.75),indifferentmonths.
Indiscussingkfactorvariability,asappliedtoradiohopdesignandtoclearancecriteria,wehaveto
considerthat:
- In sub-refractive conditions (minimumkfactor)theclearanceovergroundisreducedand
the probabilityofobstructionismaximum.
- Wearenotinterestedintheminimum"local"kfactor,butintheoveralleffectthroughthe
wholeradiopath.Soan"equivalentkfactor"(k
ea
)isdefined,whoseminimumvalue
depends(forgivenclimaticconditions)onthepathlength. Onlonghopsk
ea
islikelytobe
notfarfromstandardvalues,becauseextremeatmosphereconditionsareprobablynot
presentatatimeonthewholepath,whileinshorterhopsitismorelikelythatparticular
eventsaffectalmostthewholepathandproducelower k
ea
values.
TheITUR(Rec.P530)givesacurveofminimum k
ea
valuesasafunctionofhoplength(temperate
climate).

Minimumequivalentkfactorvs.pathlength(fromITURRec.P530,byITpermission).

Fresnel Ellipsoid


Fromageometricalpointofview,theFresnelellipsoidisdefinedasthesetofpoints(P)inthespace
whichsatisfytheequation:

whereTxandRxarethetwoantennas(radiopathterminalpoints),representingthetwo
focusesoftheellipsoid.

TheFresnelellipsoid,F1=ellipsoidradius;CL=clearance,measuredfromearthsurfacetotheraytrajectory
(thatistheellipsoidlongitudinalaxis)
TheradioelectricalinterpretationoftheFresnelellipsoidisthattworays,followingthepathsTxRx
andTxPRx,arriveattheRxantennainphaseopposition(halfwavelengthpathdifference,then180
degphaseshift).
TheFresnelellipsoidradiusF1(inmeters),atadistanceD1fromoneoftheradiosites,isgivenby:

whereD(km)isthepathlength,F(GHz)isthefrequencyand (m)isthe
wavelength. Someexamplesaregiveninthefigurebelow;notethattheFresnelellipsoid
radiusreducesasfrequencyincreases.

Fresnelellipsoidradiusvs.pathlengthandfrequency(maxradius,computedatmidpathlength).
Fromapracticalpointofview,theFresnelellipsoidgivesaroughmeasureofthespacevolume
involvedinthepropagationofaradiowavefromasource(Tx)toasensor(Rx).AbouthalfoftheRx
signalenergytravelsthroughtheFresnelellipsoid.So,anyobstructionwithintheFresnelellipsoid
hassomeimpactontheRxpowerlevel.
ThisleadstoconsiderradiovisibilityintermsofclearanceoftheFresnelellipsoid,asdiscussed
below.
A note on radio propagation and visual analogies

Wearefamiliarwithourvisualexperienceandthiscanbeofhelpindescribingsomeaspectsof
radiopropagation.
However,theFresnelellipsoidshowsthatradiopropagation(likeanyEMpropagationeffect)
cannotbeexplainedonlyintermsofgeometricoptics,that isadequatesolongasany
discontinuitiesencounteredthroughthepropagationpathareverylargecomparedwiththe
wavelength.
The ellipsoidradius isproportionaltothewavelengthsquareroot.Inourvisualexperience,thelight
wavelengthissosmall(about510
4
mm)thattheradiusoftheFresnelellipsoidisnegligible,atleast
asafirstapproximation.Diffractioneffectscanbeobservedonlywithaccurateexperiments,
showingtheroleofFresnelellipsoidalsointheopticalfield.
Ontheotherhand,inradiocommunicationsthewavelengthisintherangefrom1m(frequency
300MHz)toabout1cm(frequency30GHz),thatisalmostonemilliontimeslargertheninvisible
waves.
Inconclusion,muchcaremustbepaidinestablishingananalogybetweenradiopropagationand
visualexperience.EvenifinbothcaseswedealwithEMwaves,thelargedifferenceinwavelength
makespracticalresultsquitedifferentinmostconditions.Forexample,theconceptofVisibilityis
quitedifferentinRadioEngineeringandinourvisualexperience.

Obstruction Loss

Atanypointofthepathprofile,the Clearance (CL) isdefinedastheverticaldistanceformtheray
trajectorytotheground. Sincefordifferentkfactorvaluesadifferentraytrajectoryisobserved,
thentheClearanceatagivenpointdependsonthekfactor(atmospherestate).
AnegativeClearancemeansthatanobstacleishigherthantheraytrajectory(notethatthisisthe
signconventionusedinITURRec.P530,whiletheoppositeisadoptedinITURRec.P526).
Single obstacle loss
Theeffectofasingleobstacle,thatinsomemeasureimpedesthepropagationofaradiosignal,is
analyzedintermsofFresnelellipsoidobstruction.So,aNormalizedClearanceisdefinedasC
NORM
=Cl
/F1,whereF1istheFresnelellipsoidradius.
Atheoreticalevaluationofdiffractionlossisusuallymadewithreferencetotwoidealizedobstacle
models:
- theknifeedgeobstruction,thatisanobstaclewithnegligiblethicknessalongthepath
profile;
- thesmoothsphericalearth,thatistheobstructionproducedbytheearthsurfacefor
transmissionbeyondthehorizon.
Thetwomodelsrepresentextremeandoppositeconditionsandmostpracticalcasescanbe
assumedasintermediatebetweenthem.
TheITURRec.P530givesobstructionlosscurves(seebelow)forthetwomodelsmentionedabove
andforanintermediatecase(thesmoothearthresultisfork=1.33 andfrequency6.5GHz).


DiffractionLossvs.NormalizedClearance,withdifferentobstacles:A)knifeedge; B)smoothspherical
earth; C)intermediate(fromITURRec.P530,byITUpermission)

Advanced - More on obstruction loss computation

AmoredetailedanalysisofobstructionlossisreportedinITURRec.P526,wheregeneralformulas
aregiven.Theknifeedgemodelisalsoextendedtoroundedobstaclesandtothecaseofmultiple
obstructions.
Knifeedge obstacle - Agoodapproximationoftheobstructionlossproducedbyaknifeedge
obstacleisgivenby:

where andtheapproximationholdsforC
NORM
<0.5.
Single rounded obstacle - Theobstaclegeometryisshowninthefigurebelow,wherealsothe
relevantparametersaregraphicallydefined.

Geometricalparametersinaroundedobstacle(fromITURRec.P526,byITUpermission).

Anapproximateformulafortheobstructionlossis:

where L
knife
is given above and AListheadditionalloss,comparedwithasharp(knife
edge)obstacle,givenby:

Thenormalizedparameters v and arecomputedas:

where isthesignalwavelengthandthegeometricalparameters(d,d
a
,d
b
,R, u)aredefined
inthe figure above.
Theapproximationholdsfor:
v >0 thatisfornegativeclearance(obstacleabovetheraytrajectory);
<1 that,forfrequencyabove1GHz,means,inpracticalterms,thattheobstacleshould
notbeveryclosetoonehopterminal.
Spherical earth - Atfrequenciesabove1GHz,thesphericalearthformulasgive:

where:

andfinallyFisthefrequency(GHz),R
E
istheequivalentearthradius(8500kmfork=1.33),Disthe
pathlength(km),Histheantennaheight(m)overtheearthsurface;Y
1
,Y
2
inthefirstformularefer
tothefirstandsecondpathterminal,respectively(intheYformula,usetheappropriateantenna
height).
Multiple obstacles - Severalapproximatemethodshavebeensuggestedtoestimatethe
obstructionlossproducedbymultipleobstaclesinaradiohop. Itistobenotedthatpointtopoint
linksshouldbeusuallydesignedinsuchawaytoavoidmultipleobstaclesalongtheradio
path. However,itisusefultohavecomputationaltechniquestodealalsowiththisproblem.
AreliablesolutionisthesocalledDeygoutmodel.Letusconsider,atfirst,apathwithtwo
obstacles,asshownbelow.


EvaluationoftwoobstaclelosswiththeDeygoutmodel(fromITURRec.P526,byITUpermission).
First,theclearanceisestimatedateachobstacle,asifthatobstacleistheonlyobstacleinthepath.
So,the"mostsignificantobstacle"isidentified,astheobstacleproducingtheworst(most
obstructing)clearance(intheexampleabove,thiscorrespondstopointM1).
TheoverallobstructionlossL
TOT
isthenestimatedas:

whereL[XY,YZ,H]istheknifeedgeobstructionlossinaradiopathfromXtoZ,wherean
obstacleisatpointYwithheightH.

Themethodcanbeiterativelyextendedtomorethantwoobstacles. Forthetotalradiopathand
thenforeach"subpath",themostsignificantobstacleisidentified.
ITURRec.P526appliestheDeygoutmodeltobothknifeedgeandroundedobstacles,with
introductionofacorrectionfactor(whichisnegligiblewhentheobstaclesareevenlyspaced).

Clearance Criteria

WenowhavealltheelementstoestablishClearanceCriteriainthedesignofaradiohop:
- theraytrajectoryhasbeendiscussedandthe minimum k-factor value(mostcritical
condition)hasbeenassessed;
- the loss produced by path obstructions hasbeenevaluatedasafunctionofthe
NormalizedClearanceandusingtheFresnelellipsoidconcept.
TheClearanceCriteriagivenbyITUR(Rec.P530)aresummarizedinthefigurebelow.Theymustbe
appliedbothinstandardkandinminimumkconditionsandtakeaccountofdifferentclimatesand
differentobstacleshapes.

AchartshowingtheITUR(Rec.P530)criteriaforpathclearance.TheredcircleistheFresnelellipsoid
transversalsection,asseenfromonehopterminal,partiallyobstructedbytheground.
Themorestringentcriteriafortropicalclimatearejustifiedbythe wider variability in k-factor
values observedinthoseregions.

AccordingtoITUR,theaboverulescanbemadelesstight,insomemeasure,whenfrequencies
below2GHzareused.Thismeansthatsmallerfractions(byabout30%)oftheFresnelradiuscanbe
adopted.
Anexampleofapplication,withasingleisolatedobstacle,isgivenbelow,inaflatearth
representationofthepathprofile;tropicalclimateisassumed.First,wecheckthestandardk
condition(100%oftheFresnelellipsoidfreeofobstacles).Thetwolinesindicates:
- grayline:raytrajectory(ellipsoidaxis)fork=1.33;
- blueline:lowermarginoftheFresnelellipsoid(100%oftheFresnelellipsoidradius).


Thenwechecktheminimumkcondition(60%oftheFresnelellipsoidfreeofobstacles).Thethree
lines,inthefigurebelow,indicates:
- grayline:raytrajectory(ellipsoidaxis)fork=kmin;
- redline:lowermarginoftheFresnelellipsoid(100%oftheFresnelellipsoidradius);
- greenline:60%oftheFresnelellipsoidradius.

Theblueandthegreenlines,respectivelyinthetwodiagrams,arethelimitinglinestosatisfythe
Clearancecriteria(theverticaldistancefromsuchlinestothegroundisusuallyindicatedasthe
"Margin").
Inmostcasesitissufficienttoindicatethosetwolines(asderivedforkstandardandminimum
values)ontheprofileplotandtocheckthatnoneoftheminterceptsthepathprofile(positive
Margin).
End of Section #3


SECTION 4 GROUND REFLECTIONS
Summary

Aradiopathwithgroundreflectionisexamined.Thereflectioncoefficientofdifferentsurfacesis
discussedandseveralexamplesaregiven. Thelossinreceivedsignalpowerisestimated,including
theeffectofantennapositioningandkfactor.Finally,theuseofspacediversityisconsideredand
overalldegradationisevaluated.
Paths with ground reflection

Inradiohopsoverflatsurfacesandparticularlyoverthesea(orotherlargewatersurfaces),a
fractionoftheEMpoweremittedbythetransmittermayreachtheRxantennaafterreflectionon
theflatsurface. So,atthereceiver,thedirectsignalandthereflectedsignal(bothcomingfromthe
sametransmitter)mayinterfereeachother.
Signalreflectionsrepresentinmostcasesacriticalaspectofradiohopdesignandapotentialsource
ofoperatingproblems,ifnotcorrectlyevaluatedatthedesignstage.
Inrouteplanningandsiteselection,apriorityobjectiveshouldalwaysbetoavoidhopswith
possiblegroundreflections,asfaraspossible. Obviously,alternativeroutesmaybepossibleonlyin
limitedcases.
Acarefulselectionofsitepositioningandantennaheightmaybeofhelpinsituationswheresuch
solutionmakesthereflectedrayobstructed,atleastpartially. Whilediscussingon received signal
level,itwillbeshownthatanytechnique,thatreducesinsomemeasurethereflectedsignallevel,is
usefulinreducingtheoverallimpactofsignalreflection.
Thefirststepinreflectionanalysisistogetallthegeometricalelements usefultodescribethe
reflectionmechanism. Thefigurebelowgivesasketchofaradiopathwithgroundreflection,
showingthemaingeometricalparameters.


Pathwithgroundreflection,maingeometricalparameters.
- P=Reflectionpoint;
- =Grazingangle;
- D=Directpathlength;
- R1+R2=Reflectedpathlength;
- AL=R1+R2D=pathlengthdifference;
- o1, o2=AnglesbetweenDirectandReflectedraysatthetwo
antennas.

Reflection coefficient

Bycomparingthereflectedradiowavetotheincidentone,amplitudeandphasemodificationsare
observed. Thereflectioncoefficientisacomplexnumber,where:
- thecoefficientmodulusistheamplituderatiobetweenthereflectedandtheincident
signals;itrepresentsthesignalattenuationduetothereflectioneffectonly;
- thecoefficientphasegivesthephaseshiftproducedbyreflection(phasedifferencebetween
thereflectedandtheincidentsignals).
Thereflectioncoefficientisafunctionof:
- signalfrequencyandpolarization;
- grazingangle;
- electricalparametersofthereflectingsurface(relativepermittivityandconductivity;
diagramsaregiveninITURRec.P527fordifferentsurfacetypes:water,drysoil,wetsoil,
etc.).
Additionalattenuationiscausedbysurfaceroughness,dependingonsoilirregularitiesorsea
waves. However,smoothsurfaceparametersusuallyrepresentaworstcaseassumption,with
minimumloss.

Summary of results
Atverylowgrazingangles(<0.2deg),thereflectioncoefficientamplitude,onseasurfacesorwet
soil,isclosetounity(0dB)forbothverticalandhorizontalpolarization;thephaseiscloseto180
deg.
Forhorizontalpolarization(anyfrequency),theaboveresultsarealmostunchanged
when increasesuptoabout4deg(highervaluesofthegrazingangleareveryunlikely).

Ontheotherhand,withverticalpolarizationandthesamerangeofthegrazingangle,thereflection
coefficientamplitudedecreasestoabout0.30.5(10to6dB,thelowestlossbeingapplicableto
frequenciesabove10GHz). Alsothephasedecreasesto120140forfrequenciesinthe13GHz
range,whileitiscloserto180rangeforfrequenciesabove10GHz.
Whiletheaboveresultsonlygiveapproximateindicationsontheactualnumberstouseinpath
design,itmustberealizedthatthevariableenvironment(forexample,wetordrysoil)andthe
surfaceroughnessmakeitdifficulteventoapplyspecificmodelsandformulastopredictthe
reflectioncoefficient.
Inmostcases,itisadvisabletomakeuseofworstcaseassumptionsforthecoefficientamplitude,
whilenotalwaysaprecisepredictiononthephaseshiftisrequired(as explained below).

Advanced - Reflection coefficient computation

Foraplanesurface,thereflectioncoefficient I canbecomputed,accordingtotheFresnellaw,as:
Verticalpolarization

Horizontalpolarization.
where

iscalledcomplexpermittivity, isthegrazingangle, [m]isthe
signalwavelength,whiletheelectricalparametersofthereflectingsurfaceare:
c
r
relativedielectricconstant;
o electricalconductivity.

Theexpressionsgivingthe reflectioncoefficient I canbespecializedtothemostcommonreflecting
surfaces,takingaccountoftypicalvaluesofthesurfaceelectricalparametersatdifferent
frequencies,asshownintheTablesbelow.
Relativedielectricconstant c
r
(dimensionlessparameter):
1GHz
3GHz
10GHz
30GHz


Seawater 70 70 50 18
Freshwater
80
80
70
28
Wetground
30
24
12
5.4
Very dry ground
Ice(1 10C)
4

Electricalconductivity o [ohm
1
m
1
]:
1GHz
3GHz
10GHz
30GHz
Seawater
18
40
Freshwater
0.18
1.8
16
40
Wetground
0.15
0.7
3.2
11
Very dry ground

1.510
4

0.003
0.05
0.35
Ice(1 10C)
2.58
10
4
0.62
10
3
26
10
3
0.51.7
10
2

Exampleofresultsareshowninthefiguresbelow.

ReflectionovertheseasurfaceAmplitudeofthereflectioncoefficientvs.grazingangle.

ReflectionovertheseasurfacePhaseofthereflectioncoefficientvs.grazingangle.


ReflectionoverafreshwatersurfaceAmplitudeofthereflectioncoefficientvs.grazingangle.

ReflectionoverafreshwatersurfacePhaseofthereflectioncoefficientvs.grazingangle.


ReflectionoververydrysoilAmplitudeofthereflectioncoefficientvs.grazingangle(thephaseiscloseto180
forbothHandVpolarization).

Received signal level
TheRxsignalpowerresultsfromtheadditionoftheDirectandtheReflectedsignals
Vectorial addition of two signals
Wemeasure"relative"signalamplitudeandpowerasreferredtothedirectsignalonly. The
RelativeRxPower(RRP,indB),inthepresenceofareflectedray,is:

whereb, | aretherelativeamplitudeandphaseofthereflectedray,atthereceiverinput.
Therelativepower(B,indB)ofthereflectedsignalis:

Thefigurebelowgivessomeexamplesoftheresultofthevectorialadditionoftwosignals,with
differentamplitudesandvaryingrelativephase.

Receivedsignalpowerinthepresenceofareflectedsignal,whoserelativepowerBisindicatedbythelabels
(relativepowerisreferredtothedirectsignalalone).
Asexpected,ifthedirectandthereflectedsignalshaveequalamplitude(0dBcurve),thenthe
resultingsignalfadescompletelywhenthetwosignalsareinphaseopposition(relativephase180
deg). Ontheotherhand,ifthereflectedsignalismoreandmoreattenuated(B=10,20dB
curves),thentheoverallRxsignalshowsamoderatefluctuation,asafunctionoftherelativephase
betweenthedirectandthereflectedsignals.
Reflected signal amplitude
Inordertoestimatetherelativeamplitudeofthetwosignals,wehavetoidentifytheadditional
attenuationinthereflectedsignal,comparedtothedirectone.Additionalattenuationismainly
causedby:
- Reflectioncoefficient: as discussed above,itdependsonsignalfrequencyand
polarization,grazingangleandsurfaceelectricalparameters;forreflectionoverwater,the0
dBloss(perfectlyreflectingsurface)maybeaworstcaseassumption.
- Divergencefactor:thisisageometricalfactor,whichaccountsforthesphericalshapeofthe
reflectingearthsurface,producingadivergenceinthereflectedbeam(notnegligiblein
reflectionpathswithverysmallgrazingangle).
- Antennagainreduction:assumingthattheantennaispointedinthedirectraydirection,
thenthegaininthereflectedraydirectionisgivenbytheantennadiagramatangles o1
and o2(see reflection geometry);quiteoftentheseanglesareverysmall,butinsome
cases(e.g.shorthopswithantennasveryhighoverthereflectingsurface)theyproducea
notnegligiblereductionintheantennagain.Eveninabsenceofthecompleteantenna
diagram,the 3dBantennabeamwidthintheverticalplanecanbesufficienttoestimatethe
reductioninantennagainforasmalldeviationfromtheantennaaxis.

- Obstructionloss(ifthereflectionpathisnotperfectlyclear):inmostcasesitcanbe
estimatedasa "knife edge" obstruction,becausethisisaconservativeassumptionanditis
usuallyclosetotheactualconditions.
Reflected signal phase
Ontheotherhand,thephaseshiftbetweenthedirectandthereflectedsignalsdependson:
- Path length difference AL:thisdistanceisconvertedintoaphaseshift,takingintoaccount
thatasignalwavelength correspondstoa360degphaserotation:

- Reflectioncoefficientphase: as discussed above,inmostcasesitiscloseto180deg
(phasereversal).

Rate of change in the Rx signal amplitude

Sincethewavelength isoftheorderofcentimeters,theninmostcases AL>> . Insuch
conditions,theaboveformulashowsthatafractionalchangein AL(ascausedevenbysmallkfactor
variations)producesasignificantrotationofthe ophase. Thefinaleffectisthat:
- thedirectandthereflectedsignalsaddwithavariablephaseshift,whichcanbeassumedas
arandomvariable;amplitudefluctuationsaretobeexpectedinthesumsignal(received
signal);
- thereflectioncoefficientphaseisnotsoimportanttobepredicted,sinceitaddstothe
(randomly)variablephaseshift o;
Ontheotherhand,when ALisofthesameorderofmagnitudeof(orevensmallerthan) ,a
fractionalchangein ALproducesasmallrotationofthe o phase. So,inthevectorialadditionofthe
directandreflectedsignals,thephaseangleisalmostconstantandslowvariationsintheRxpower
levelarelikely(lowlevelsmaypersistforlongperiodsoftime).

Antenna height and k-factor effect

Theabovediscussionshowsthatthereflectedsignalamplitudeandphase(relativetothedirectone)
arefunctionsofthegeometricalreflectionparameters.So,weexpectthat
- theoverallRxsignallevelisafunctionofantennaposition;
- foragivenantennaposition,theRxsignallevelistimevariable,duetoatmospheric
variations(changingkfactor);

- inparticularcases,atimevariableRxlevelmaybealsoproducedbyvariationsinthe
reflectingsurface(forexample,tidemovements).
Thefigurebelow(continuousline)showstheRxpowerlevelvs.antennaposition.Foragiven
antennaheight(H1)thetwosignals(directandreflected)addinphase,sothattheRxsignallevelis
maximum,whileforadifferentantennaposition(H2)thetwosignalsareinphaseoppositionand
theRxlevelisminimum.

Receivedsignalpowervs.antennaheight,withtwovaluesofthekfactor(continuousanddashedlines)
relativepowerisreferredtothedirectsignalalone).
Thedashedlinereferstoadifferentatmospherecondition(differentkfactor)andshowsthat,even
iftheplotsaresimilar,theantennapositionscorrespondingtomax/minRxsignalpowerarenot
stable.
Theeffectofvaryingatmosphericconditions(kfactor)ispresentedinthefigurebelow. Ata
constantantennaheight, thereceivedsignallevelmaybeatamaximumorminimumvalue,
dependingonvariationsinthekfactor.

Receivedsignalpowervs.kfactor,foragivenantennaheight(relativepowerisreferredtothedirectsignal
alone).
Note: Theexamplesgiveninthepreviousfiguresareforagivenreflectiongeometry,working
frequency,etc.OtherpatternsintheRxpowerdiagramsmaybefoundwithdifferentparameters.
However,thecommentssuggestedbythesefiguresholdinmostapplications.
Insummary:

- wecannotpredicttheexactantennapositioncorrespondingtomaximumorminimumRx
powerlevels(sincethisis not a static conditions,duetokfactorvariations);
- wecanhowevercomputetheRxpowerrange(vs.antennapositionandkfactor);
- wecanalsocomputetheverticaldistance(H2 - H1)betweentheantennapositionfor
maximumRxpowerandminimumRxpower.

Diversity reception

Generallyspeaking,weimplementadiversitysystembyusingtwodifferentcommunications
channelstotransmitthesameinformation.Atthereceiver,thesignalsattheoutputofthetwo
channelsareprocessedtogetareliableestimateofthetransmittedinformation. Basically,two
techniquescanbeused:
- theselectionofthesignalthat,atagiventime,isestimatedtoofferthebestquality
(diversityswitching);
- thejointprocessingofthetwosignals(diversitycombining).
Anumberofalternativeimplementationshavebeenstudiedforeachoftheabovetechniques,
takingaccountofdifferentoperatingcontextsanddesignconstraints.
Inanycase,thebasicrequirementforeffectivediversitysystemsisthatofalowcorrelation
betweenthetwochannels,sothatalowprobabilityexiststhatbothchannelsareinabadstateat
thesametime.
Inradiopathswithgroundreflection, thetwodifferentcommunicationschannelscanbe
implementedby usingtwoverticallyseparatedantennasatthereceiversite(spacediversity).
Thereflectiongeometryisdifferentforthetwochannels(differentreflectionpointP1andP2,see
figurebelow).So,itisexpectedthatdifferentsignallevelsarereceivedatthetwoantennas,ata
giventime.

SpaceDiversityreceptioninaradiohopwithgroundreflection

Inordertofindtheoptimumverticalspacingbetweenthetwoantennas,wecomputethe
spacing AH=(H2H1)betweenamaximumandaminimuminthe Rx power vs. antenna height
diagram.
Withantennaspacing AH,itisexpectedthat,whiletheRxpowerlevelisminimumatoneantenna,
itisclosetothemaximumattheotherantenna,andviceversa.So,bothantennasareneverinbad
receptionatthesametime.
Thisestimateoftheoptimumspacingappliestoagivenkfactorvalue.Asafirstguess,the AH
spacingiscomputedwiththestandardkvalue(1.33). Dependingonthereflectiongeometry,this
choicemaybeappropriate(ornot)alsofordifferentkvalues.
ThefigurebelowshowstheRxpoweratthetwoantennasvs.kfactor.Itgivesasimplewayto
checkhowtheantennaspacing,computedforagivenk,workswithotherkvalues.

Same figure as above,withadiversityantennaadded;optimumdiversityspacingcomputedfork=
1.33(relativepowerisreferredtothedirectsignalalone).
Inthisexample,weseethatatleastoneofthetwoantennasreceivesahighpowerlevelforanyk
valuegreaterthan1(themax/minpatternsofthetwodiagramsarewellinterleaved).Ontheother
hand,goingtolowkvalues(k<1),thetwodiagramsarecloserandalmostoverlapping,sothe
diversityeffectvanishes.
Iftheantennaspacing,optimizedforstandardkfactor,isnoteffectiveforotherkfactors,possible
suggestionsare:
- tofindacompromisesolution,takingaccountofthelikelyrangeofkfactorvalues;
- torevise(ifpossible)theoverallreflectiongeometry(forexample,bymodifyingtheantenna
heightalsoattheotherhopterminal).
Inimplementingaspacediversityconfiguration,usuallytheadditional(diversity)antennais
installedbelowthemainantenna. Theclearancerulesforthemainantennaareasindicatedin
the Path Clearance session.


Forthediversityantenna,ITURRec.P530givesthefollowingclearancecriteria:
- Normalized clearance C
NORM
>0.3foranisolatedobstacle;
- NormalizedclearanceC
NORM
>0.6foranobstacleextendedalongaportionofthepath.
Theabovelimitsmaybereducedto0.0and0.3,respectively,"ifnecessarytoavoidincreasing
heightsofexistingtowers"andifthefrequencyisbelow2GHz.
Performancedegradation
Inthepreviouschapters,thereceivedsignalpowerhasbeenestimatedforsingleanddiversity
reception,asafunctionofantennapositioningandatmosphericstate(kfactor).
Undersomeaspects,itisnecessarytomakeworstcaseassumptions,forexampleintheestimateof
the reflection coefficient.
Anoverallestimateofperformancedegradationcausedbygroundreflectionrequiresthatthe Rx
power loss beaveragedoverthewholerangeofoperatingconditions.
TheaveragelossinRxsignalpowerisestimatedforagivenkfactor,byassumingthephaseshift
betweenthedirectandthereflectedsignalsasarandomvariable. Moreover,itispossibleto
furtheraverage,overtheexpectedrangeofkfactorvariations.
Notethatthesignalphaseshiftcanbeassumedasarandomvariableonlyif AL>> (path
differencemuchlargerthanwavelength); this assumption hasbeendiscussedpreviously.
Whendiversityreceptionisadopted,asimilaraveragecanbeperformedbut,foreachoperating
conditions(kfactorvalue,signalphaseshift),theantennawiththehighersignalisselected.Thisis
equivalenttoadiversitysystemwithidealandinstantaneousswitchingtothebestsignal;therefore,
theresultscomputedundertheaboveassumptionsmaybeoptimisticinsomemeasure.

Advanced -Average degradation estimate

TheRxsignalpowerloss(LOSS
REFL
),inthepresenceofareflectedray,isgivenbytheratioofthe
directsignalpower(normalizedto1)totheRxpowerwithreflection:

whereb, | aretherelativeamplitudeandphaseofthereflectedray,atthereceiverinput.
When,foragivenreflectiongeometryandatmosphericstate(kfactor),wecanassume | asa
randomvariable(seecommentsontherateofchangeintheRxsignalamplitude), then
the LOSS
REFL
averageoverthe | uniformdistributionisgivenby(thebaroverasymbolmeans
"averagevalue"):


(theintegralsolutionisnotimmediateandrequiressomecarefulmathematicalprocessing).
Finally,theThresholdDegradationduetoreflectionD
REF
(indB)isgivenby:

Inmoregeneralterms,italsonecessarytofurtheraveragethe RxsignalpowerlossLOSS
REFL
,overa
rangeoflikelykfactorvalues,sincethereflectiongeometry(andspecificallythereflectedray
amplitudeb)isafunctionofk.Thenweneedtoestimateanintegralexpressionofthetype:

Thisisusuallypossibleonlybynumericintegrationmethods.
Indigitalradiosystems,additionaldegradationmaybecausedbysignaldistortions,whenthetime
delayofthereflectedsignaliscomparablewiththesymbolperiodofthedigitalmodulation. Thisis
notausualcondition,butitistobeconsideredwithsomecare.
Advanced - Effect of time delay on digital signals

Indigitalradiolinks,itisnecessarytocomparethereflectedsignaldelay t withthesymbolperiodT
S
,
inordertoestimatethereflectionimpairmentonthedigitalmodulation.
When t <<T
S
thereisnosignificantdistortionofthedigitalsignalformat,sincethemodulated
pulsesinthedirectandreflectedsignalsarealmostoverlappingatthereceiver;theonlyreflection
impairmentisduetotheRxsignalattenuation,asdiscussedpreviously.
If t iscomparable(<=)withT
S
,thenthetwopath(directplusreflectedsignals)channeltransfer
functionproducesafrequencyselectivedistortiononthesignalspectrum.The equipment
signature givesameasureoftheadditionalreflectionimpairment,duetoRxsensitivitytosignal
distortion.
Finally,thecondition t >T
S
isveryunlikely. However,inthiscase,thereflectedsignalappearsasan
externalcochannelinterference,sincethemodulationappliedtothedirectsignalisnotcoincident
withthemodulationinthereflectedsignal. TheequipmentBERvs.C/I curvegivesameasureof
performancedegradationunderthiscondition.
End of Section #4
SECTION 5 MULTIPATH FADING


Summary

InthisSessionmultipathpropagationisconsidered.First,refractivityconditionsarediscussedand
thereceivedsignalimpairmentsarepresented(signalattenuationanddistortion). Multipathactivity
statisticsaredescribed,accordingtotheRayleighmodel,andthemultipathoccurrencefactoris
defined.Thesemodelsareappliedforoutageprediction,forbothnarrowbandandwideband
systems.Finally,multipathcountermeasures,spaceandfrequencydiversity,areconsidered.

Refractivity in the atmosphere (II)

Ageneralintroductiontotheeffectoftheatmosphererefractiveindexonradiopropagationand
specificallyofaverticalrefractivitygradienthasbeengivenina previousSession.
Inthatcontext,wemainlyconsideredconstantgradientconditions,andwedefinedthe"standard
atmosphere"astheconditionwithverticalrefractivitygradient G=40N/km(kfactor=1.33). Still
undertheassumptionofaconstantrefractivitygradient,otherconditionsarethe"subrefractive
atmosphere"(G.>.-.40N/km;k.<.1.33)andthe"superrefractiveatmosphere"(G.<.-.40N/km;
k.>.1.33).
Aconstantverticalrefractivitygradientmeansthattheraytrajectorysuffers the same curvature,
atanyelevationintheatmosphere. Underthiscondition,adirectraytrajectoryisidentified,from
theTxantennatotheRxantenna,withlaunchingangleo givenby:

where

R
E
istheequivalentearthradius(8500kmwithstandardkfactor=1.33),H
T
andH
R
aretheantenna
heightsatthetransmitterandreceiver,respectively,andDisthepathlength.

Raytrajectoriesin"constantgradient"atmosphere

Moregenerally,theverticalrefractivitygradientmaydeviatefromaconstantgradientmodel. It
maybeassumedasconstantwithinatmosphericlayersof limitedheight(stratifiedatmosphere). In
therealcase,thetransitionfromonelayertoanotherissmoothedinsomemeasure.
Astratifiedatmospheremodelisusefulinexplainingthe differentbendingofraytrajectories,when
theytravelatdifferentelevationsintheatmosphere.
Intheseconditions,the"gradientprofile"maybesuchthat notonlyadirectray,butmultiplerays,
withdifferentlaunchingangles,reachthereceiverantennathroughseveralspatiallydisjointed
paths.Thisiscalled"multipathpropagation".

Raytrajectoriesundermultipathpropagationconditions
Asaresult,thereceivedsignalismadebyseveralcomponents(signalechoes),addingtogetherwith
randomamplitude,delay,andrelativephaseshift.

Observed impairments in Rx signal

Signal attenuation
Usingavectorialrepresentationofsignals,thereceivedsignal,undermultipathpropagation,canbe
viewedastheadditionofmultiplevectors.
Thecomponentvectorsmayinterfereeachother,atagiventimeinstant,inaconstructiveor
destructiveway,dependingontherelativephaseshifts.

Additionofmultiplesignalechoes,representedbyvectors,attwosubsequenttimeinstant
Therelativephaseofcomponentvectorsdependonthedifferenceinthepathlengthtraveledby
eachsignalcomponent. Notethatthewavelengthisoftheorderofcentimetersandeven small
movementsinatmosphericlayersmay significantlymodifythepathdistancesandtherelativevector
phases.
So,atdifferenttimeinstants,variationsinthecomponentvectorphasesmayproducesudden
variationsintheresultantvectoramplitude; thereceivedsignalpower maybealmostcancelled,for
shortperiods(fractionofasecond,orfewseconds).

Anexampleofreceivedsignalpowervs.time,duringamultipathpropagationevent
Theabovefigurecanbecomparedwith graphical definition ofreceivedsignalthresholdsand
margins,asgiveninapreviousSession.
Clearly,duringmultipathevents,thereceivedsignalpowermayfadebelowthehopthreshold,so
thatasystemoutageisobserved. Thiswillbediscussedina subsequent section.

Signal distortion

Thephaseshift o betweentwovectorcomponentsiscomputedasafunctionof AL(length
differenceinthepathstraveledbythetworays)andofthesignalwavelength :

Theaboveformulashowsthattherelativephaseofcomponentvectorsdependonthesignal
frequency(orwavelength). The pictures above canbethoughtasvalidforagivenfrequency,but
slightlydifferentphasepatternsareapplicabletoadjacentfrequencies.
Thismeansthatmultipathfadingis"frequencyselective".
WhileadeepfadingconditionisobservedatagivenfrequencyF1,thesignalatadifferent
frequencyF2(someMHzapart)isprobablyreceivedwithlowerattenuation.
Becauseofthefastvariabilityofmultipathevents,thisconditioncouldbereversedinaveryshort
time(adeepfadingatfrequencyF2andahigherRxpoweratfrequencyF1).
Werecallthat,forundistortedtransmission,thetransmissionchannelmusthavea"flat"amplitude
responseinthewholesignalbandwidth.Asimilarrequirementappliestogroupdelayresponse.

Duringmultipathevents,ithasbeenobservedthatthetransmissionchannelcannotbeconsidered
asa"flatresponse"channelifthemonitoredbandwidthexceedssome1012MHz.
Therefore,"narrowband"signals(approximatelybelow10MHzbandwidth)donotsufferthe
frequencyselectiveeffectofmultipathpropagation.
Ontheotherhand,distortioncausedbyfrequencyselectivityrepresentsafurtherimpairment(in
additiontosignalattenuation)for"wideband"signals(approximatelyabove15MHzbandwidth).
AmplitudeandGroupDelaydistortionsproduceIntersymbolInterferenceondigitalsignals,thus
worseningthereceiverperformanceforagivensignaltonoiseratio(Rxpower).

Advanced - Degradation of Cross-pol discrimination

Anadditionalimpairmentduetomultipathfadingisadegradationofthereceivercrosspolar
discrimination. SuchdiscriminationisrequiredwhenmultipleRFchannelsaretransmittedinaradio
hopandbothpolarizationareused(co-channel orinterleaved channelarrangements).
Undernonfadingconditions,thehopperformancearedeterminedbythe antenna cross-polar
discrimination (XPD),bothatthetransmitterandatthereceiver.
Duringmultipathevents,asfarasthesignalattenuationismoderate,thecrosspolarsignalis
usuallywellcorrelatedtothecopolaroneandtheXPDperformanceismaintained.
Ontheotherhand,whensignalattenuationbecomesdeeper,theXPDappearstobedegraded,
mainlybecauseoftheantennaresponsetomultipathcomponents.

Themechanismcanbeclarifiedbyconsideringthecopolandcrosspolantennapatterns.Whilethe
copolpatternusuallyshowsaratherflatmaximuminthepointingdirection,thecrosspolpattern
hasaverynarrowminimuminthesamedirection.

Antennaresponsetotworays,withslightlydifferentarrivalangles:thetwocopolcomponentsarealmost
equal,whilethedifferencebetweenthecrosspolcomponentsislarge(A
2
).
Thetwocopolcomponentsmayalmostcancel(ifwithoppositephase),whilethedominantcross
polcomponentislargeinanycase.SoasignificantdegradationmayaffecttheoverallXPD.
AsecondmechanismmaybeinvolvedintheXPDdegradationduringmultipathevents,whensome
multipathcomponentsareproducedbyreflectionorterrainscattering. Inthatcase,thesignal
polarizationofthereflectedorscatteredsignalisrotated(insomemeasure)andthecrosspolsignal
isincreased.
Performancepredictionmodelsusuallyassumethat,asfarasthesignalattenuationiswithinsome
1015dB,theXPDisdeterminedbytheantennameasuredperformance. Ontheotherhand,for
deeperfadings,someXPDdegradationisexpected(upto1dBadditionaldegradationfor1dB
additionalsignalattenuation).

Modeling multipath activity
Multipatheventsareobservedwithdailyandseasonalcycles,whensuitablerefractivegradient
profilesaremoreoftenobserved. Amultipathactivityperiodcanlasttensof minutes,orevenone
orseveralhours.
Apredictionmodelofmultipathactivityisimplementedbycorrelatingsignificantradiolinkand
environmentalparameterswithstatisticalobservationofmultipathevents.
Radio and environmental parameters
Radiolinkparameterswhichhavebeenrecognizedasaffectingmultipatheventsare:

- Workingfrequency;
- Pathlength;
- Pathinclination.
Environmentalconditionswhicharelikelytoproducemultipatheventsare:
- flatterrain;
- strongevaporation(hightemperatureandhumidity);
- absenceofwind.
Itisoftenusefultoidentifyclimaticregionswithspecificcharacteristics,sothatmultipathactivity
can,insomemeasure,becorrelatedwithregionalparameters.Particularlyintropicalclimates,long
multipatheventscanbeobserved.
Statistical observation of multipath events
Bymonitoringaradiohopduringmultipathevents,anumberofrecordings,similartothe above
figure,canbecollected. Thisenablestobuildupstatisticaldataaboutthetimeperiodswithfade
depthbelowgiventhresholds.
Alargeamountofsimilarexperimentshaveshownthatfadedepthstatisticsarewellapproximated
byaRayleighdistribution(atleastforfadedepthgreaterthanabout15.dB). Accordingtothat
distribution,theprobabilitythatthesignalfadedepthA(indB)isdeeperthanagivenvalueA
0
is
givenby:

whereP
0
iscalled"multipathoccurrencefactor". (Tobemoreprecise,thisistheRayleigh
"asymptotic"trend,derivedforlowprobabilityanddeepfadelevels).


AnexampleofRayleighcumulativedistribution,withP
0
=1

Notethat,ifthereferencefadedepthA
0
increases10dB,thenthecorrespondingprobabilityis
lowerbyafactor10(thediagramslopeis10dB/decade).
This experimental result isingoodagreementwithmathematicalanalysis,appliedtotherandom
vectormodel,previouslymentioned. Itcanbeshownthat,ifweaddalargenumberofvectors,with
randomamplitudesandphases,thentheresultantvectoramplitudeisarandomvariablewith
Rayleighdistribution.

Multipath Occurrence Factor

TheRayleighmodelformultipathfadedepthisdescribedbyasingleparameterP
0
.
Wecanimaginetocollectfadedepthstatisticsonagivenradiohopindifferenttimeperiods,oron
radiohopswithdifferentlength,workingfrequency,and/orindifferentclimates. Weexpectthat,in
somemeasure,theexperimentalresultsapproximatetheRayleighformulagivenabove,evenifa
differentP
0
valuewillapplyineachcase. So,theP
0
parametergivesameasureofthe"multipath
activity"onagivenhopandwithinagiventimeperiod.
TheaboveexamplesuggestsanexperimentalmeanstoestimatetheP
0
factorwhenaradiohopis
alreadyworking. However,theradioengineerneedspredictiontoolstoestimateP
0
whilearadio
hopisatthedesignstage.
Severalempiricalformulashavebeenproposed,givingP
0
asafunctionofradiohopparametersand
ofenvironmentalconditions.Therelevantfactorsarethosementionedina previous section.
Mostoftheseformulashavethefollowingstructure:

where C(geoclimaticcoefficient), Q(terrainprofilecoefficient), o (frequencyexponent),
and | (pathlengthexponent)areempiricalparameters. Theyareusuallyestimatedby
processinglargeamountsofexperimentaldata,orcanderivefrommorecomplexformulas,
againrelatedtotheresultsoffieldmeasurements.
Generally,P
0
isproportionaltofrequency(the o exponent isequal,orclose,to1),while
the | exponentisintherangeis3.-.3.6(themultipathoccurrenceincreasesabouttentimeswhen
thehoplengthisdoubled).
Probably,themostpopularmodelforP
0
predictionistheBellLabsformula(reportedinpapersby
W.T.Barnettand A.Vigants,intheearly70's). The general formula mentionedaboveisapplied
(frequencyinGHz,distanceinkm),withthefollowingparameters:
- =1;

- | =3;
- C=1 10
5
fordrymountainousregions;
- C=2.1 10
5
forcontinentaltemperateregions;
- C=3.1 10
5
formaritimetemperateregions;
- C=4.1 10
5
formaritimesubtropical,highhumidityandtemperatureregions;
- Q=1/ o
1.3

- o = profileroughness,measuredinmetersasthestandarddeviationofterrainelevationsat
1kmintervals(inanycase, o mustbeintherange6mto42m).
ExamplesoftheBarnettVigantsmodelaregivenbelow.

ApplicationoftheBarnettVigantsmodel:Highdrymountainousregions;highroughnessterrain (o =42m)


ApplicationoftheBarnettVigantsmodel:Temperatecontinentalregions;averagerollingterrain (o =24m)

ApplicationoftheBarnettVigantsmodel:Temperatemaritimeregions;lowroughnessterrain(o =12m)

ApplicationoftheBarnettVigantsmodel:Subtropical,highhumidityregions;flatterrain (o =6m)
AnalternativemodelisproposedbyITURRec.P.5309.Themodelstructureisslightlydifferentand
morecomplexwithrespecttothe general formula mentionedabove.Thismodelhasbeen
frequentlyrevisedinrecentITURmeetingsandprobablyitisnotyetatafinalversion.


Advanced - ITU-R Multipath occurrence model

ITURRec.P.5309(releasedJune2001)givesamodelforthepredictionoftheMultipath
OccurrenceFactor P
0
.
Themodelprovidestwodifferentformulas,tobeappliedfordetailedlinkdesignorforpreliminary
planning,respectively. Themaindifferenceinthetwoapproachesisthatthedetaileddesignmakes
useofdataonterrainroughnessaroundtheradiopath.
(Note: Rec.P.530givestheRayleighformulain%; a0.01factorisaddedinthe P
0
. expressions
givenbelowtotakeaccountofthis).
Detailedlinkdesign :

where: K(=geoclimaticfactor)isgivenby:

c
p
=pathinclinationinmilliradians;
HL=elevationofthelowerantennainmeters;
dN1=refractivitygradientinthelowest65moftheatmosphere,notexceededfor1%ofan
averageyear;
s
A
=arearoughnessaroundtheradiopath.
TherefractivitygradientdN1is providedona1.5gridinlatitudeandlongitudeinITURRec.P.453.
Thearearoughnessisdefinedasthestandarddeviationofterrainheights(m)withina110kmx110
kmareawitha30sresolution.
Preliminaryplanning :

where: K(=geoclimaticfactor)isgivenby:

andtheothersymbolsarealreadydefinedabove.


Comment
TheITURmodelderivesfromtheprocessingofasignificantamountof P
0
. estimates,atseveral
frequencies(upto37GHz)andwithvariouspathlengthsindifferentclimaticenvironments.
Themathematicalapproachismainlybasedonminimizingthestandarddeviationbetween
empiricaldataandpredictionformulasbymeansofmultipleregressions. Thepositiveaspectisthat
themodeliswellrelatedtoobservationsinreallinks.Itisstatedthatthe overallstandarddeviations
oferrorusingtheproposedmodelsisoftheorderof5dB(includingthecontributionfromyearto
yearvariability).
Ontheotherhand,aphysicalmodelunderlyingformulastructureandparameterchoiceisnot
clearlydefined,sothatitappearsthattheproposedapproachcouldberevisedonthebasisof a
newexperimentaldatabase,asalreadyhappenedinrecentyears.

Performance prediction
Ina previous Session,generalconceptsaboutfademarginandoutagepredictionhavebeen
brieflydiscussed. Inparticular,itwasfoundconvenienttodistinguishbetweentwooutage
conditions:
- whentheoutageisonlycausedbyinsufficientRxpower(receivedsignallevelbelowthehop
threshold);
- whendistortionintheRxsignalisexpectedtocontributetotheoutage,evenwhentheRx
powerisstillabovethehopthreshold.
Inthecontextofmultipathpropagation,thefirstconditionappliesto"narrowband"signals,sinceit
isassumedthattheydonotsufferanydistortionduringmultipathevents. Ontheotherhand,the
secondconditionappliesto"wideband"signals,whichmaybeseverelydistortedbyfrequency
selectivemultipath.
Outage prediction in Narrowband systems
OutageeventsareobservedwhentheRxpowerisbelowthehopthreshold.
Takingaccountofthe multipath fading Rayleigh distribution,theoutageprobabilityP
OUT
,canbe
predictedas:

whereAisthesignalattenuationcausedbymultipathpropagation,FMisthehopFade
Margin,andP
0
isthe multipath occurrence factor.

TheoutagetimeT
OUT
duringagivenobservationtimeT
0
(typically, onemonth),isfinallygiven
as T
OUT
= T
0
P
OUT
.

Inconclusion,twoparametersarerequiredforoutagetimeprediction:
- thehopFadeMargin,givenbythe Link Budget computation;
- themultipathoccurrencefactorP
0
,givenbysomemodelformultipathactivity,as
the Barnett-Vigants one,presentedabove.
Inthiscontext,theFadeMarginisoftenreferredastheFlatFadeMargin,sinceitisusedto
compensatefornonselective(flat)attenuation.

Advanced - Outage prediction in Wideband systems

ThepredictionofOutageTimeinWidebandsystemstakesaccountthatoutageeventsmaybe
causedbythecombinedeffectofsignalattenuationanddistortion. Asaresult,theoutage
conditionmaybeobservedeveniftheRxpowerisstillabovethereceiverpowerthreshold.
ReferencewillbemadetothepredictionmodelreportedinITURRec.P.5309. Usingasimplified
approach,themodeldealsseparatelywiththetwoimpairments(signalattenuationanddistortion),
sothatthegeneralformulafor outageprobabilitypredictionis:

whereP
NS
istheoutageprobabilityduetosignalattenuation(nonselectiveoutage
component),whichisgivenbythesame outage formula derived for narrowband
systems,whileP
S
istheoutageprobabilityduetosignaldistortion(selectiveoutage).
TheselectivecomponentP
S
dependsonthereceiversensitivitytosignaldistortion.The Signature
Measurement isthetoolusedtocharacterizearadioequipmentunderthisaspect. P
S
isgivenby:

where:

istheMultipathActivity(directlyrelatedtotheMultipathOccurrenceFactor P
0
);

isthemeantimedelay[ns]ofmultipathechocomponents,whichisafunctionofthehop
lengthD(inkm);
Wisthesignaturewidth[GHz];

Bisthesignaturedepth[dB];
t
r
istheechodelayinthesignaturemeasurement.
Subscript"M"indicatesthatthesignaturewasmeasuredwitha Minimum -Phase channel,while
subscript"NM"referstoaNonMinimumPhasechannel.

Advanced - Outage contribution from X-pol interference

Sincemultipatheventshaveanimpactin reducing discrimination between cross-polarized
signals,multipathoutageisincreasedbytheeffectofcrosspolarinterference.
TheRec.P.5309predictionmodelassumesthatcrosspolarinterferencecontributestotheoutage
probabilitywithanadditivetermP
XP
.

where:
(C/I)
0
isthe threshold Carrier-to-Interference ratio;
XPDistheminimumcrosspoldiscriminationoftheTxandRxantennas;

isanempiricalparameter,whereP
0
isthemultipathoccurrencefactorand q is
the multipath activity,previouslydefined.

Notes:
1)If XPD>35dB,thenput XPD=35dBintheP
XP
formula;
2)Ifa Cross-Pol Interference Canceller (XPIC)isused,thenthethresholdC/Imustbereducedby
anamountequaltotheXPICgain;
3)iftwoseparateantennasareusedtotransmitthecrosspolarizedsignals,thentheQdefinitionis
revised,byreplacingthe0.7factorwiththeKfactorbelow:

(s=verticalantennaspacing, =signalwavelength).

Countermeasures


Severaltechniqueshavebeendevisedtoreducetheimpairmentscausedbymultipathpropagation.
Space Diversity
Aswith reflection paths,twoRxantennas,withasuitableverticalspacing,receivethemultipath
componentsignalswithdifferentphasepatterns.
So,inawellarrangedspacediversityconfiguration,theRxsignalsatthetwoantennaswillexhibit
a lowcorrelationandtheprobabilityofdeepfadingatthesametimecanbesignificantly
lowered. Typicalspacingisoftheorderof150200wavelengths.
AdiversityimprovementfactorI
SD
isdefinedas:

whereA
1
andA
2
aretheattenuationsatthetwodiversityreceivers,A
0
isareference
attenuationand Prob{X,Y}meansprobabilitythateventsXandYaretrueatthesame
instant(jointprobability).
The Barnett-Vigants model isextendedtospacediversityreception,giving:

whereFistheworkingfrequencyinGHz,Dthepathlengthinkm,Stheverticalspacingin
m,andVisthedifferenceofthetwoantennagainsindB. Notethattheimprovementfactor
isafunctionofthereferenceattenuationA
0
,soatdifferentfadelevelsadifferent
improvementispredicted.
TheOutageTimeprediction,foraNarrowbandsystem,isderivedfromthe Single Rx
prediction andthedefinitionof diversity improvement :

Advanced - ITU-R model for Space Diversity improvement

AnalternativeformulatopredictthespacediversityimprovementisgivenbyITURRec.P.5309:


TheImprovementfactoris afunctionofthereferenceattenuationA
0
. Fistheworkingfrequencyin
GHz,Dthepathlengthinkm,Stheverticalspacinginm, P
0
istheMultipathOccurrenceFactor and
VisthedifferenceofthetwoantennagainsindB(ifany).
(Note: coefficientshavebeenrevisedincomparisonwithITURformulabecauseRec.P.530gives
theMultipathOccurrencefactorin%).

1+1 Frequency Diversity

Again,wereferto general concepts on diversity techniques.
Inthiscase,weexploitthe frequency selective natureofmultipathfading,sothattwoRF
channelswithsuitablefrequencyspacingexhibit thelowcorrelationproperty,whichguaranteesa
lowprobabilityofdeepfadinginthetwochannelsatthesametime.
Sinceaprotectionchannelisoftenrequiredinmultichannelradiorelaysystemsincaseof
equipmentfailure,itcanbeconvenientthatthesameprotectionchannelbeusedalsoasa
frequencydiversitycountermeasuretomultipathfading.
Foreffectivemultipathprotection,fastqualitydetectorandswitchingcircuitsarerequired.
Ina1+1configuration,oneworkingchanneliscontinuouslyprotectedbyonesparechannel.
Similarlyto Space diversity,aFrequencyDiversityImprovementFactorI
FD
canbe
defined. AccordingtotheBarnettVigantsmodel,alsoappliedinITURRec.P.530,itcanbe
estimatedas:

where Fistheaverageworkingfrequencyand AFisthechannelspacing(bothinGHz),Dis
thepathlengthinkm.Alsointhiscase, theimprovementfactorisafunctionofthe
referenceattenuationA
0
(indB).

Advanced - N + 1 Frequency Diversity

Thefrequencydiversityarrangementcanbeextendedfromthe1+1configuration,asassumed
above,toN+1configurations,whereoneRFchannelisusedasaprotectionforNworkingchannels
InN+1systemsitisexpectedthatthefrequencydiversityeffectivenessisreducedinsome
measure.

If,intheunprotectedcondition,Mchannelsareintheoutagestate,thenusingfrequency
protectionthenumberofoutagechannelsisreducedtoM1. Afairlycomplexprobabilityand
combinatorialproblemmustbesolvedtoestimatetheoutagetimereductiongivenbyN+1
frequencydiversity.
Withgoodapproximation,asimplifiedsolutionisobtainedbydefiningan"equivalentchannel
spacing". Bythisapproach,theFrequencyDiversityimprovementinN+1systemswithchannel
spacing AFisequaltotheimprovementinan"equivalent"1+1diversitysystemwithchannel
spacing AF
EQ
givenby:

So,wecanuseagaintheprevious (1+1) improvement formula,with AF
EQ
insteadof AF
.

Advanced - Outage in Wideband systems with Diversity

Inrathergeneralterms,itcanbestatedthattheoutageprobabilityinadiversitysystem(P
OUT,DIV
)is
relatedtotheoutageprobabilitywithsinglereception(P
OUT,SINGLE
)throughtheformula:

where q isthe(previouslydefined) multipath activity (thatisthefractionoftimewith
multipathevents)andkisthecorrelationfactorbetweenthetwodiversitysignals.
Inthecaseofthenonselectiveoutageprobability,theDiversityImprovement I
DIV
=(P
OUT,SINGLE
/
P
OUT,DIV
)isgivenbyempiricalformulas,forboth Space and Frequency Diversity. Then, the
aboveformulacanbereversedtoderivethenonselectivecorrelationfactork
NS
:

Ontheotherhand,theselectivecorrelationfactork
S
isgivenbyRec.P.5309asafunctionofk
NS
,
Oncethe(nonselectiveandselective)correlationfactorsareknown,theoutageprobabilitiescan
becomputedusingthe general formula reportedabove,forboththenonselectiveoutage
component(P
NS,DIV
)andtheselectiveone(P
S,DIV
).
Finally,thetwooutagecomponentsarecombinedtogivetheoveralloutageprobability:


Note: TheoutagepredictionmodelreportedbyITURRec.P.5309givesdifferentformulasto
combinethenonselectiveandselectiveoutagecomponentsinthe single and diversity conditions.

Advanced - Adaptive equalizers

Adaptiveequalizationispartofthedemodulationprocess. Theequalizerisimplementedasaself
adjustingcircuit(attheIForbasebandstage),whichisabletopartiallycompensateformultipath
distortioninwidebanddigitalsystems.
Theobjectiveistoreducethe selective outage component,sothat(withanidealequalizer)
outageshouldbeobservedonlywhenthereceivedpowerfadesbelowtheRxthreshold.
TheIFequalizerisusuallydescribedinthefrequencydomain,asacircuitwhosetransferfunctionis
complementarytothemultipathchanneltransferfunction.Theoveralltransferfunction
(transmissionchannelplusequalizer)shouldapproximateanidealnondistortingchannel.
TheBBequalizerisusuallydescribedinthetimedomain,asatransversalfilter(ordecisionfeedback
filter),whichcancelsundesiredtailsinthetransmissionchannelimpulseresponse,soreducing
intersymbolinterference. Insomeradioequipment,theBBequalizerandthe Cross-pol
Interference Canceller (XPIC) areimplementedinasinglecircuit.
The receiver signature givesameasureoftheeffectivenessofanadaptiveequalizer. By
comparingthesignaturewithandwithoutequalizer,theimprovement(outagereduction)givenby
theequalizercanbeestimated(seethe selective outage prediction formula,basedonsignature
parameters).

Equipmentsignatureswithoutandwithanadaptiveequalizer.


End of Section #5


SECTION 6 RAIN ATTENUATION

Summary

InthisSessionwefirstdiscusstheinteractionofanEMwavewithmolecules
encountered throughoutthepropagationpathintheatmosphere.Thisleadstoanestimateofrain
specificattenuation,asafunctionofrainintensity,signalfrequencyandpolarization.Statisticaldata
onrainintensityareconsidered,asrequiredbytheITURrainattenuationmodel,whichispresented
asthebasictooltopredictrainunavailabilityinanyregionintheworld,atfrequenciesuptoabout
40GHz.

EM wave interaction with atmosphere

EvenifthisSessionismainlydevotedtoraineffects,wefirstconsider,inmoregeneralterms,the
interactionofEMwaveswithmoleculesandparticlesencounteredthroughoutthepropagationpath
intheatmosphere.
Twoeffectsaremostsignificant:
- absorption:EMenergytransferredtotheimpactedmoleculesandconvertedintoheat;
- scattering:EMenergyreirradiatedawayfromthepropagationdirectionithadbefore
impact.
Botheffectsaremainlyaffectedby:
- Molecule/particledimensions,relativetothewavelengthoftheEMradiation;
- Electricalpropertiesoftheinvolvedmolecules.
Weconsidertheeffectoftheatmosphereintheabsenceofrainandtheattenuationdueto
raincells.
Phenomenarelatedtootherhydrometeors(snow,ice,fog,hail)andeventoduststormswillnotbe
discussedhere(ITURRec.P840givessomeindicationabouttheeffectofthickcloudsandfog).

Water vapour and Oxygen attenuation in clear air

Inthefrequencyrangeuptoabout40GHz,theatmosphericmoleculeswhichinteractswithEM
wavesarewater(intheformofwatervapour)and,moremarginally,oxygen.

Awatervapourabsorptionpeakisobservedat22.2GHz,whilethefirstoxygenabsorptionpeakisat
about60GHz. Otherabsorptionpeaks,forbothwatervapourandoxygen,areathigher
frequencies.
Themaximumattenuationduetowatervapour(
WV
),at22.2GHz,isgivenby(accordingtoITUR
Rec.P676):

where isthevapourdensitying/m
3
,theatmosphericpressureis1013hPaandthe
temperatureis15C.
Thisgivesa0.30dB/kmattenuationatthewatervapoursaturationlevel(about12g/m
3
at15C)
and0.18dB/kmatalowervapourdensityof7.5g/m
3
.
Ontheotherhand,thespecificattenuationduetooxygenexceeds1dB/kminthefrequencyrange
52to68GHz;themaximumattenuation,at60GHz,isabout16dB/km,whileat40GHzitisbelow
0.1dB/km.
Forradiohopsuptoabout40GHz,theconclusionisthatthepowerlosscausedbyatmospheric
absorptionisusuallynotsignificant. InmostcasesitcanbeneglectedintheLinkBudget,also
consideringthatthehoplengthisanywaylimitedbyrainattenuation.

Rain attenuation

AnEMwave,travelinginagivendirectionthrougharaincell,losespartofitspowerinthatdirection,
asaresultofabsorptionandscatteringeffects.
Intheimpactwitharaindrop,thetotalpowerlostdependsonthe"dropcrosssection",whichis
givenbythesumofascatteringcrosssectionandanabsorptioncrosssection.
Thedropcrosssectionisafunctionofthedropradiusandofthesignalwavelength.
Byintegratingthepowerlostintheimpactwithasingleraindroptoalltheraindropsinagiven
volume(raincell),thetotallossproducedwithinthatraincellcanbeestimated.
Todothis,suitablestatisticalmodelsareneededtorelatethenumberofraindropsinaraincelland
theirsizedistributiontotherainintensity. Suchmodelshavebeentunedonthebasisofalarge
amountofexperimentaldata,comingfromdifferentregionsintheworld.
Asaresult,thespecificrainattenuation (dB/km)canbeexpressed,asafunctionoftherainrateR
(inmm/h),bythefollowingexponentialformula:

wheretheparameterskand o arefunctionsofthesignalwavelengthandpolarization.

ITURRec.P838givesatablewiththekand o values,forVerticalandHorizontalpolarizations,in
thefrequencyrange1to400GHz. Formulasaregivenforthecaseofanylinearorcircular
polarization.
Examplesofspecificrainattenuationasafunctionofrainrate,aregiveninthefigurebelow; note
thattheincreaseinspecificattenuationisabout100times,whenpassingfrom3to12
GHz. Moreover,theVerticalpolarizationissignificantlylessattenuatedthanHorizontalpolarization,
atthesamefrequency.

Attenuationvs.rainintensity,fordifferentsignalfrequencies,vertical(red)andhorizontal(black)polarizations

AdvancedOtherrainimpairments
EMwavedepolarization - AnadditionaleffectmustbeconsideredwhenalinearlypolarizedEM
wavetravelsthrougharaincell:arotationofthepolarizationplane,sothatanorthogonally
polarizedcomponentcanbeobservedattheoutputofthecell.
Thedepolarizationeffectisrelatedtotheraindropshapeandtothedroppingangle(inmostcases,
notperfectlyvertical).
Itispossibletoestablishastatisticalrelationbetweenrainattenuationanddepolarizationeffect.
ForagivenprobabilityP,wedefinethe"equiprobable"levelsincopolarattenuation(CPA
P
)and
crosspolardiscrimination(XPD
P
)as:

XPD
P
canbepredictedfromCPA
P
(thatiswhentheCPAcumulativedistributionisknown)as:


where:

Interferenceduetowavescattering - Araincellmaybecomeapotentialsourceofinterferenceto
otherradiosystems,sincepartoftheEMenergywhichimpactsthecellisscatteredinmultiple
directions.ThepropagationmodeltobeappliedinsuchconditionsisdescribedbyITURRec.P.452
10.
ItisratherunlikelythataPPlinkmayproduceasignificantinterferenceeffecttoanotherPPlink,
throughraincellscattering. TheTXpowerlevelisusuallyat(orbelow)1Wandthecellscattering
worksalmostlikeanomnidirectionalradiator,soalowpowerdensityisassociatedwiththe
scatteredsignal.
Ontheotherhand,highpowerradiotransmitters,inparticularlargeearthstationsforsatellite
communications,havethepotentialforproducinganotnegligibleinterferencethroughraincell
scattering. DetailedproceduresarerecommendedbyITURdocumentstotakeaccountofthis,
whenthesatellitesystemoperatesinfrequencybandssharedwithterrestrialsystems.

Worldwide rain intensity statistics

Animportantinputtoanyrainattenuationmodelistheexpectedrainactivityintheregionwhere
theradiohopwilloperate,asderivedfromlongtermstatistics.
Morespecifically,itwasfoundusefultorefertothelowprobabilitytailsofrainstatistics,sincewe
aremainlyinterestedinrareeventswithveryheavyrainfall.
The rainrateexceededfor0.01%ofthetimeisthesignificantparameter,usefultocharacterizethe
rainfallactivityinagivenregion.
Ifpossible,thisrainrateshouldbederivedfromreliablestatisticaldataaboutthelocalrainevents.
Whenlocaldataarenotavailable,theprocedurerecommendedbyITURcanbeused.
InthelastreleaseofRec.P837anewapproachisreportedtoestimatetherainrateexceededfor
anypercentageoftime,inanypartoftheworld.Thisisbasedondatafiles(availablefromtheITU
website),derivedfrom15yearsofdataoftheEuropeanCentreofMediumrangeWeatherForecast
(ECMWF).Theycoveralltheworld,withlatitudeandlongitudegridsin1.5steps. Asuitable
interpolationprocedureisrecommended.
Togiveanapproximateinformationabouttherainratesusedinrainattenuationpredictions,the
previousITURapproachisreported,whichwasbasedonworldmapswith"rainregions".
Eachregionwaslabeledwithaletter;inthetablebelow,eachletterisassociatedwiththe
correspondingrainrate(inmm/h)exceededfor0.01%ofthetime:

A
8
D 19
G 30
K 42

N 95
B 12
E 22
H 32
L 60

P 145
C 15
F 28
J 35
M 63

Q 115

Theworldmapsareshownbelow.

ITURRainregions,NorthAmerica(fromITURRec.P8371Fig.1,byITUpermission)

ITURRainregions,CentreandSouthAmerica(fromITURRec.P8371Fig.1,byITUpermission)

ITURRainregions,Europe,AfricaandMiddleEast(fromITURRec.P8371Fig.2,byITUpermission)


ITURRainregions,AsiaandOceania(fromITURRec.P8371Fig.3,byITUpermission)

ITU-R rain attenuation model

Rain intensity model
Inordertoapply raincell models totheestimateofrainattenuationinaradiohop,itisnecessary
toconsiderhowtheraincellsizecomparetothehoplength.
Whileinveryshorthops(belowsome23km)thewholelengthmaybeaffectedbyrainfall,in
longerhopsaraincelloccupiesonlyaportionofthewholedistance.
ITURRec.P530definesan"effectivehoplength"D
EFF
,inordertotakeaccountof raincellsize:


NotethattheeffectivelengthisafunctionofthelocalrainrateR(inmm/h). Asshowninthe
diagrambelow,theeffectivelengthismorecompressedwithhighrainrates(araincellwithhighrain
rateisexpectedtooccupyasmallerarea). Ontheotherhand,theeffectivelengthisclosetothe
reallengthasfarasthelatterisapproximatelybelow4km.

ConversionfromrealpathlengthtoeffectivelengthD
EFF
,forvariousrainratevalues
ITURRec.P530givesastepbystepproceduretoestimatethetimepercentagethatrain
attenuationexceedsagiventhresholdonaradiohop.
Inputparametersarethehoplength,thesignalfrequencyandpolarization,andtheoperating
region. Therecommendedprocedureisasfollows:
- EstimateofthelocalrainrateRfor0.01%oftime.Thisshouldderivefromlongterm
statisticaldatacollectedinthespecificzone; otherwise, ITU-R data canbeused,as
indicatedintheprevioussection.
- Applicationofthe specific loss () formula,giventherainrateR,thesignalfrequencyFand
polarization(HorV).
- ReductionofthehoplengthtotheEffectiveLengthD
EFF
(km),accordingtothe above
formula.
- ComputationofRainAttenuationexceededfor0.01%oftime:

- Extrapolationtoothertimepercentagesp,intherangefrom1%to0.001%:


fortemperateclimate(latitudegreaterthen30,NorthorSouth),whilefortropical/
equatorialclimate(latitudebelow30):

Anexampleisgivenbelow,whereA
0.01
hasbeenassumedtobe30dB. Notethattheabscissagives
theattenuationexceededforthecorrespondingtimepercentage.

Percentageoftimevs.Rainattenuation,assumingA
0.01
=30dB,indifferentclimates
TheITURpredictionmethodisconsideredtobevalidforfrequenciesupto40GHzandhoplengths
upto60km.

Advanced - Frequency / polarization scaling model

AnalternativemodelproposedbyITUR(Rec.P.530)canbeappliedwhenexperimentalresultsare
availableaboutrainattenuationonthesamehop,measuredatadifferentfrequencyand/or
polarization.
Inthatcase,weneedtoscalethemeasuredresulttothefrequencyand/orpolarizationusedinthe
projectofinterest.
ThefollowingempiricalformulacanbeusedtoestimaterainattenuationA
2
atfrequencyF
2
,fora
giventimepercentage,whenlongtermexperimentalstatisticsatfrequencyF
1
predictattenuation
A
1
forthesametimepercentage(frequencyinGHz,attenuationindB):

where

Similarly,whenlongtermexperimentalstatisticsonagivenpolarizationatfrequencyFpredict
attenuationAforagiventimepercentage,thentheattenuationontheorthogonalpolarization,at
thesamefrequencyandforthesametimepercentagecanbeestimatedas:

Rain unavailability prediction

Foragivenradiohop,theattenuationduetorainfor0.01%ofthetimecanbeestimated,according
totheITURprocedure,asafunctionofthelocalrainrate,ofthehoplength,andofthesignal
frequencyandpolarization.
Topredictthehopunavailabilitycausedbyrain,itisconvenienttoreversethe formulas given
above,inordertogetthetimepercentagepasafunctionoftheattenuationAexceededforp%
(noteanywaythe0.001%to1%applicationrange):

where:

fortemperateclimateand:

fortropical/equatorialclimate.
Then,therainunavailabilityispredictedastheprobabilitythattherainattenuationexceedsthe
FadeMarginFM:

Thesameresultcanbegraphicallyderivedfromthe Time % vs. Rain Attenuation curve.
ThehopFadeMarginiscomputedasaresultof Link Budget. Inpresenceofheavyrainstorms,the
thinwaterlayerontheantennaradome(ifused)producesanadditionalloss;theFadeMarginis
reducedtotakeaccountofthe"wetradomeloss",aconservativefigurebeingabout1dB.
Quiteoftentherainunavailabilitypredictionistransformedfromapercentageprobabilityto
"minutesinoneyear". Asareference,the0.01%probabilityisequivalenttoabout50min/year.
However,sincethepredictionmethodisbasedonlongtermrainintensitystatistics,alsothe
estimatedunavailabilitymustbeconsideredasanaverage,tobeexpectedduringaperiodofseveral
years.

Advanced - Effect of cross-polarized interference

Signaldepolarizationcausedbyraincontributestorainunavailabilitybyreducingthediscrimination
toacrosspolarinterferingsignal. Typically,theproblemarisesinradiosystemsusinga co-channel
frequency plan,withthesameradiochannelusedonbothpolarizations.
ThestepbystepprocedurereportedbyITURRec.P.530isasfollows:
- Computationofthe"referenceattenuation"A
P
::

where U and V have been previously defined.

- Computationofthenormalizedparameterm (ifm>40,thenm=40):

whereA
0.01
isthe attenuation exceeded for 0.01% of the time.
- EstimateofprobabilityP
XPR
(unavailabilityduetocrosspolarinterference):

ReliableestimatesofP
XPR
areintherange10
2
to10
5
.
Finally,theoverallrainunavailabilitycanbeestimatedasthelargerofP
XPR
(seeabove)and
P
RAIN
(probability of unavailability due to rain attenuation only).


End of Section #6


SECTION 7 FREQUENCY PLANNING AND INTERFERENCE

Summary

InthisSessiontheuseofdifferentfrequencybandsforPointtoPointradiosystemsisfirst
consideredandtheITURapproachforRFchannelarrangementsispresented. Then,thevarious
typesofinterferencearisinginPPsystemsisexamined,togetherwithclassificationcriteria. This
allowstolistthemaininterferencesourcesandtogivebriefnotesabouteachofthem.Finally,the
interferenceeffectsarediscussed.

Use of frequencies in P-P links

"RadioRegulations"aretheinternationalagreementsissued(andupdatedfromtimetotime)bythe
InternationalTelecommunicationsUnion(ITU),asaresultofWARC(WorldAdministrativeRadio
Conference)meetings.
"RadioRegulations"specifywhichradiosystemsareallowedtousethevariousfrequencybands,in
theRadiofrequencySpectrum. Inparticular,pointtopointradiolinksarementionedas"Fixedradio
service"infrequencybandsfromVHFuptotensofGHz.
Inthefollowing,webrieflyreviewthemaincriteriaintheuseoffrequencybandsintherange160
GHz,forPPapplications.


Frequency Bands

TheTablebelowreportsthemainapplicationsofPPradiolinksoperatingindifferentfrequency
ranges.Thetypicalhoplengthsandthemostrelevantpropagationproblemsareindicated.
Frequency
Band
TypicalHopLength Propagation
Problems
Typical
Applications
<5GHz 5060km;
longhops
>100km
Multipath (rainnot
significant).
Longhaulnetworks;
Overtheseahops;hopswith
reducedclearance.
511GHz 4050km
Multipath,raininsome
regions.
Longhaulnetworks.
1215GHz 2040km Multipathand rain. Shorthaulnetworks;

metropolitanlinks.
1720GHz 1020km Rain. Metropolitanlinks.
>20GHz <10km Rain,atmospheric
absorptionaround23and
60GHz.
Accessnetworks;feederlinks
toBTS;
PMP; WLL(*).

(*) BTS=BaseTransceiverStationincellularnetworks;PMP=PointtoMultipointsystems; WLL=Wireless
LocalLoop.
Notethat,atfrequenciesabove15GHz, thehoplengthlimitationduetorainattenuationmakes
multipathoutagealmostnegligible,evenifmultipathpropagationshouldbeasignificantproblemon
longerhops.

Channel arrangements, ITU-R Recs.

Wenowconsiderfrequencyplanningtechniques,asimplementedforPPapplications,inthe
contextofdifferentnetworkmodelsandwithreferencetofrequencyplansrecommendedbyITUR..

Go - Return Frequency plans

Typically,PPradiolinksoperateforbidirectionalcommunications. Tothisend,themostcommon
techniqueistodivideafrequencyband,assignedtoPPradiosystems,intwosubbands(usually
withthesamebandwidth). Oneormoreradiochannelsinonesubbandareusedfortransmission
inonedirection,whilethecorrespondingradiochannel(s)intheothersubbandtransmit(s)inthe
oppositedirection.

Subdivisionoftheassignedbandwidthintwosubbands.
Thisexplainswhythetwosubbandsareoftenlabeledas"GO"and"RETURN"subbands,
respectively.
Inalonghaulnetworkmodeltheabovetechniqueisimplementedasshowninthefigurebelow.

Useofsubbandsinalonghaulnetwork(redarrowsforlowersubband,bluearrowsforuppersubband).
Agivensubbandisusedinaradiositefortransmissioninbothdirections.Theothersubbandis
usedforreceptiononly. Clearly,theconditionisreversedatthetwonearestsites.
So,thesamefrequencyisneverusedinaradiositeforbothtransmissionandreception,inany
direction. Thisavoidscomplexproblemsindecouplingreceiversandtransmitterslocatedatthe
samesite.
Inaradionode(orstarnetworkmodel)the"Go/Return"techniqueisimplementedasshownin
thefigurebelow.

Useofsubbandsinastarnetwork.
Theradionodetransmitsinagivensubbandandreceivesintheotherone. Allthesurrounding
sitesworkintheoppositecondition.

Interleaved and co-channel frequency arrangements
InaGoReturnfrequencyplan,eachsubbandisdividedinanumberofradiochannels.Theway
radiochannelsarepositionedineachsubbandiscalledan"RFchannelarrangement".
AnumberofITURRecommendationsdealwithfrequencyarrangementsinvariousfrequency
bands.
InanInterleavedFrequencyArrangementtheadjacentRFchannelsareallocatedonalternate
polarizations,asshowninthefigurebelow.

Interleavedfrequencyarrangement.

Thefrequencyarrangementisdefinedbythreeparameters:

- X=channelspacingbetweencopolarchannels(thechannelspacingbetweencrosspolar
channelsisX/2);
- Y=centralguardband(keyparametertodecoupleTxandRxsignalsataradiosite);
- Z=edgeguardband(toavoidinterferencefrom/tootherradiosystemsinadjacent
frequencybands).
Ontheotherhand,inaCochannelFrequencyArrangement,asshowninthefigurebelow,the
adjacentRFchannelsareallocatedonboththeorthogonalpolarizations(H/V).

Cochannelfrequencyarrangement.
Asinthecaseoftheinterleavedplan,threeparameters(X,Y,Z)definethefrequency
arrangement. However,inthecochannelcase,Xis thechannelspacingbetweencopolarand
crosspolarchannels.

Comment
Analogradiosystemsweremainlydevelopedinfrequencybandsbelow12GHz,usingthe
interleaved frequencyarrangement,sinceanalogsignalsarenotsuitabletoacceptacochannel
interferenceonthesameradiohop.
Subsequently,thedevelopmentofdigitalradiosystems,mainlyinfrequencybandsabove12GHz,
suggestedtheadoptionofcochannelfrequencyplans,inordertogetahigherefficiencyinradio
spectrumutilization(moreradiochannelpackedinagivenfrequencyband).
Presently,thecochannelfrequencyarrangementisrecommendedforusewithdigitalsystems(as
analternativetotheinterleavedplan)alsoinseveralfrequencybandsbelow12GHz.

Interference classification


Theneedarisesofidentifyingvarioustypesofinterferingsignalsandclassifyingthemonthebasisof
differentcriteria. Thisallowsthedesignerofaradiosystemtoapplystandardprocedurestodeal
witheachclassofinterferingsignals.
Twoaspectsintheinterferencemechanismscanbeconsidered: thesourceoftheinterferingsignal
andtheimpactofpropagationconditions.
Source of Interference
AgeneralclassificationofInterferencesourcesis:
- Internalinterference,whentheinterferingsignalisemittedbyatransmitterwhichispartof
thesameradiosystemoftheinterfered(victim)receiver.
- Externalinterference,intheoppositecase(theinterferingsignalisemittedbyatransmitter
whichispartofadifferentradiosystem).
Usually,internalInterferenceinaradionetworkcanbewellestimated,sinceallthesystem
parametersareunderthecontrolofthenetworkdesigner.
Ontheotherhand,externalinterferenceismoredifficulttopredictindetail,sincenotallthe
technicaldataabouttheinterferingsystem(powerlevels,antennapointinganddiagrams,etc.)may
beavailableatthedesigneroftheinterfered(victim)system. So,inmostcases,external
interferenceistakenintoaccountwithsomeapproximationandincludingsomeconservative
margin.
CoordinationproceduresarerecommendedinsomecasesbyITURtoavoidinterferencebetween
differentradiosystems,sharingacommonfrequencyband.
Amorespecificclassificationofinterferencesourcesreferstothetransmitter/hop/radiosystem
emittingtheinterferingsignal:
- CositeInterference(internalorexternal): Producedbytransmitterslocatedatthesame
radiositewheretheinterfered(victim)receiverislocated.
- SameHopInterference(internalonly): Producedbytransmittersworkingonthesamehop
atthesamefrequency(cochannel,crosspol.interference)oratadjacentfrequencies(co
pol.orcrosspol.interference)withreferencetotheinterfered(victim)receiver.
- InterferencefromotherPPHops(internalorexternal): Producedbytransmittersworking
onadifferentradiohop,atthesamefrequency(cochannelinterference)oratadjacent
frequencieswithreferencetotheinterfered(victim)receiver.
- Interferencefromotherradiosystems(externalonly): Producedbytransmittersinradio
systemsotherthanPPsystems,sharingthesamefrequencybandwithPPsystems(e.g.
satellitesystems).


Propagation conditions

Anothercriteriontoclassifyinterferenceisrelatedtothepropagationconditionssufferedbythe
interferingsignal,comparedwiththepropagationconditionswhichaffecttheuseful(interfered)
signal. Weconsider:
- CorrelatedInterference,whentheinterferingsignalsuffersthesamepropagation
impairmentastheusefulsignal. Specifically,inthecaseofrainevents,thishappenswhen
theusefulandtheinterferingpathsareidenticalorsoclosethattheyarebothaffectedbya
raincellinthesameway.
- UncorrelatedInterference,whentheaboveconditionsarenotestablished,sothatwecan
assumethatadditionalattenuation(causedbymultipathorrain)affectsinadifferent
measuretheusefulandtheinterferingsignals. Asaworstcaseassumption,weconsider
thattheusefulsignalisreceivedatthethresholdlevel,whiletheinterferingsignalmaybe
receivedwithnoadditionalattenuation(nominalpowerlevel).

Correlated(1)anduncorrelated(2)interferencepathswhentheusefulpathisaffectedbyrain.
Insomecases,theterm"partiallycorrelated"willbeused,inparticularwhenmoreprecisemodels
areavailable(likeinthecaseof co-channel, cross-polarized same-hop interference,withrainor
multipathfading).
Thecorrelated/uncorrelatedinterferencemodelappearsasaratherapproximatedone(alsothe
term"correlated"isnotfullycorrect,asusedinthiscontext).However,evenaroughmodelisuseful
toanalyzetheinterferencescenarioinasimplewayandworstcaseassumptionsareoftenrequired
toevaluatethemostcriticalinterferenceeffects.
Anexampleofapossibleimplementationoftheraincorrelationmodelisgiveninthefigurebelow.

InterferingTxintheyellowregionproducesacorrelatedinterference;
intheblueandbrownregions,
clausesa)andb)belowarenotsatisfied,respectively;
(CD=CorrelationDistance).
Inthismodel,interferenceisassumedtobecorrelatedif:
1) Separationfromusefultransmitter(Tu)tointerferingpathisbelowagiven"Correlation
Distance"C
D
;
2) Interferingpathlengthisatleastequaltotheusefulpathlength.
Theaboverequirementsguaranteethattheinterferingsignaltravelsthroughthesameraincellas
theusefulsignal,alongapathnotshorterthantheusefulone.
Typicalvaluesof"CorrelationDistance"areintherange0.51.0km(thisisafractionofthe
expectedraincellsize).However,asuitablechoiceofcorrelationdistanceallowstoscalethemodel
tolocalrainconditions.Morespecifically,zerocorrelationdistanceforcesthemodeltoassumeas
correlatedonlytheinterferingsignalsemittedatthesameradiositeastheusefulsignal;thismaybe
anextremelyconservativeassumption.

Internal Interference sources

Inthissectionwelistanumberofinterferencesourceswhichmaybepresentasinternal
interferenceinPPradionetworks.

Foreachinterferingsignal,informationisgivenaboutfrequencyspacingandpolarization,usefulto
interferingsignaldecoupling,andabouttheeffectofpropagationconditions(rain,multipath)on
interferencecorrelationoruncorrelation.
Co-site Interference

- Frequencyspacingandpolarization: centralguardband(minimumspacing);usuallycross
pol.channelsattheminimumspacing.
- UsefultoInterferingsignaldecoupling: Tx&Rxsignalfiltering(NFD). Furtherdecoupling
dependingonTx/Rximplementation:ifTx&RXchannelsonthesameantenna,then
decouplingisproducedbythebranchingsystem;ifTx&RXchannelsonthedifferent
antennas,thendecouplingisgivenbythesidetosideantennadecoupling (seecomments
onantennafieldperformancevs.laboratorymeasurements).
- Effectofpropagation:uncorrelatedinterferenceinanycase(rain,multipath).

SameHop - Cochannel,crosspolarizedsignal
- UsefultoInterferingsignaldecoupling:onlyfromantennaXPD(crosspolarization
discrimination),zerofrequencyspacing,nofilteringeffect.
- Raineffects: eveniftheusefulandtheinterferingsignalstravelalongthesamepath,so
thatattenuationiscorrelated,thereductionincrosspolardiscriminationduetorainmakes
theinterferencepartiallyuncorrelated.TherainXPDmodeldescribedinanothersession
givesapracticaltooltopredicttheoveralleffect.
- Multipatheffects: partiallyuncorrelatedInterference,duetoXPDdegradationunder
multipathpropagation.Themultipathpredictionmodelgivesatooltoestimatetheoverall
effectofmultipathattenuationandXPDdegradation.

SameHop - Adjacentchannel,copolarizedsignal
- UsefultoInterferingsignaldecoupling: Tx&Rxsignalfiltering(NFD),dependingontheRF
channelspacing.
- Raineffects: correlatedInterference;
- Multipatheffects: partiallyuncorrelatedinterference(theITURmultipathmodelsdonot
coverthistypeofinterference).
SameHop - Adjacentchannel,crosspolarizedsignal
- UsefultoInterferingsignaldecoupling:onlyfromantennaXPD(crosspolarization
discrimination),zerofrequencyspacing,nofilteringeffect.
- Raineffects: sameasfor co-channel, cross-polarized signal;
- Multipatheffects: sameasfor co-channel, cross-polarized signal.


LonghaulNetworks - BackwardInterference

- Frequencyspacingandpolarization: (usually)cochannel,crosspolar.
- UsefultoInterferingsignaldecoupling:fromTxantennafronttobackdecoupling(see
commentsonantennafieldperformancevs.laboratorymeasurements).
- Raineffects: correlatedinterference(samepathforusefulandinterferingsignals).
- Multipatheffects: uncorrelatedInterference(usefulandinterferingtransmittersareco
located,butsignalsareemittedbydifferentantennas;equivalenttoaTxdiversitysystem).

Long-haul Networks - Forward Interference

- Frequencyspacingandpolarization: (usually)cochannel,crosspolar.
- UsefultoInterferingsignaldecoupling:fromRxantennafronttobackdecoupling(see
commentsonantennafieldperformancevs.laboratorymeasurements).
- Raineffects: uncorrelatedinterference (differentpathsforusefulandinterferingsignals).
- Multipatheffects: uncorrelatedInterference


LonghaulNetworks - OverreachInterference

- Frequencyspacingandpolarization: cochannel,copolar.
- UsefultoInterferingsignaldecoupling: TxandRxAntennaangulardiscrimination(ifhops
arenotaligned).AdditionalFreeSpaceLoss(interferingpathlength)
- Raineffects: correlatedinterferenceinthecriticalcaseofalmostalignedhops.
- Multipatheffects: uncorrelatedinterference.

StarNetworks - UplinkInterference

- Frequencyspacingandpolarization: cochannel,copolar(worstcase).
- UsefultoInterferingsignaldecoupling: Rx(node)antennaangulardiscrimination. Tx&Rx
signalfiltering(NFD)ifnotcochannel.
- Raineffects: uncorrelatedInterference.
- Multipatheffects: uncorrelatedInterference.


StarNetworks - DownlinkInterference

- Frequencyspacingandpolarization: cochannel,copolar(worstcase).
- UsefultoInterferingsignaldecoupling: Tx(node)antennaangulardiscrimination. Tx&Rx
signalfiltering(NFD)ifnotcochannel.
- Raineffects: correlatedinterference.
- Multipatheffects: uncorrelatedinterference.

Degradation due to Interference

Performancedegradationcausedbyinterferencecanbeevaluatedfollowingatwostepprocess:
- Toestimatethepowerleveloftheinterferingsignalatthe(useful)receiverinput. The
interferingpowerisevaluatedundertwoalternativeassumptions:(1)usefulsignalreceived
atnominalpowerlevel; (2)usefulsignalreceivedatthresholdlevel.
- Toestimatetheeffectofagiveninterferencepowerontheinterferedreceiver. This
dependsonanumberofsystemparameters,includingthereceiverthreshold,the
modulationformatandinterferencesensitivity.
Letusconsiderfourinterferenceclasses:
- Samehopinterference: Degradationcausedbycochanneloradjacentchannelinterference
inthesameradiohopisusuallyincludedinoutagepredictionmodels. Thishasbeen
discussedinprevioussessions,inconnectionwith multipath propagation and rain
attenuation.

- Cositeinterference(internalinterference): thisisusuallyconsideredaspartoftheradio
systemdesign;equipmentmanufacturergivesspecificationsabouttherequireddecoupling
betweenTxandRxradiochannels,forthesuggestedsystemconfigurations(TxandRx
channelsonthesameantennaoronseparateantennas).
- Cositeinterference(externalinterference): inthiscase,coexistenceisrequiredofdifferent
radiosystemsandageneralanalysisisnotpossible.Highlevelinterferingsignals(evenata
quitedifferentfrequency)mayberesponsibleofanomalousreceiverresponse,related toRx
saturationandnonlinearity,intermodulation,spuriousemissions,etc. Thispointwillnotbe
consideredinthefollowing.
- Interferencecomingfromotherradiohops: thiscaseisdiscussedbelow.

Interference power estimate

Thefiguredefinesthegeometricalparametersintheinterferencescenario.

InterferencefromsiteTitousefulreceiverRu:definitionofgeometricalparameters.
Asafirstapproach,the Basic Radio Link equation (usedtopredictRxpowerintheusefulhop)
givesanestimateofinterferencepowerI
R
attheusefulreceiverinput:

where: P
IR
=outputpower(dBm)attheinterferingTx;
G
T
(o)=Txantennagain(dB)inthedirectionoftheinterfered(victim)receiver;
G
R
(|)=Rxantennagain(dB)inthedirectionoftheinterferingtransmitter;
FSL= Free Space Loss (dB)overtheT
I
toR
U
path.
The Net Filer Discrimination (NFD) givesthemeasureoftheinterferingsignalattenuation,asa
resultoftheusefulreceiverselectivity. IftheinterferingsignalspectrumiswithintheRxfilter
passband,thenNFD=0dB.

Thesignaltointerferenceratio,undertheassumptionofnoadditionalattenuationoftheuseful
signal,isdefinedas"UnfadedS/I"(S/I)
U
andiscomputedas:

whereP
R
isthenominalusefulpoweratthereceiverinputandI
R
isgivenabove.

Similarly,thesignaltointerferenceratio,undertheassumptionthattheusefulsignalisatthe
thresholdlevel,isdefinedas"FadedS/I"(S/I)
F
. For uncorrelated interference (noattenuation
sufferedbytheinterferingsignal)itiscomputedas:

where: P
TH
=usefulreceiverthreshold;
FM=P
R
P
TH
=FadeMarginintheusefulhop.
Ontheotherhand,for correlated interference (sameattenuationontheusefulandinterfering
signals),wehave:

Uptonow,wehaveassumedthatnoobstructionexistsbetweentheinterferingTxandtheuseful
(victim)Rx. Iftheinterferingpathisnotperfectlyclear,aclearanceanalysisshouldbeperformed.
AmoregeneralapproachtopathlosspredictionforinterferingsignalsisgivenbyITURRec.P.452
("Predictionprocedurefortheevaluationofmicrowaveinterferencebetweenstationsonthe
surfaceoftheEarthatfrequenciesaboveabout0.7GHz").
Inthatrecommendation,allthepropagationmechanismswhichcancontributetointerference
powerreceptionattheuseful(victim)receiver,areconsidered:
- lineofsight;
- diffraction;
- troposphericscatter;
- surfaceandelevatedducting;
- hydrometeorscatter.
Thisallowsaquitedetailedanalysisofinterferencelevels,whichcannotbesummarizedinthese
notes.

Effect of Interference
Theinterferenceeffectcanbeestimatedbyassumingthattheinterferencepowerisequivalentto
anadditionalnoisepoweratthereceiver.

Thisassumptionallowstopredictthereceiverperformancewithsatisfactoryapproximation,in
particularforadjacentchannelinterferenceandwhenwehavemultipleinterference. Inmostcases
itisonlyslightlypessimistic. Alternatively,forcochannelinterference,itmaybeadvisabletorefer
tothe measured Rx performance.
Thechartbelowgivesagraphicalinterpretationofthresholddegradationcausedbythecombined
impairmentofnoiseandinterference.

IncreaseofRxthresholdpowerduetothecombineddisturbanceofnoiseandinterferencepower.
TheoverallresultofaninterferingsignalonsystemperformanceistoshifttheBERvs.Rxpower
curvetotheright,asinthefigurebelow.

BERvs.Rxpowerwithout(A)andwith(B)thepresenceofinterference; A =Rxthresholddegradation.
ThetwocurvesallowtoestimatetheperformancedegradationforanyBERvalue. Notethatthe
figureabovereferstoaninterferingsignal,withgivenC/Iratio,modulationformatandfrequency
spacing.


End of Section #7

SECTION 8 ITU OBJECTIVES

Summary

InthisSessionITUperformanceobjectivesarediscussed.Undersomeaspectsthematterisrather
complex,soabriefhistoryandoverviewofITUrecommendationsisfirstpresented. Then,more
detailsaregivenaboutITUTandITURerrorperformanceandavailabilityobjectivesandthemost
significantpointsofrelevantrecommendationsareoutlined. Finally,theimpactofpropagation
impairmentsonobjectivecomplianceisdiscussed.

Overview

Inrecentyears,InternationalTelecommunicationUnion(ITU)committeesproducedseveral
RecommendationstosetPerformanceObjectivesforTelecommunicationSystems. Itisnotalways
easytounderstandhowdifferentrecommendationsarelinkedtogetherandwhichisthecorrectone
toreferinparticularcases.
Inthefollowingsections,wetrytogiveabriefreviewofITUperformanceobjectivesandsome
simpleindicationontheuseofITURecs,evenifitwillnotbepossibletogoindetailsaboutmany
relatedquestions.

ITU-T and ITU-R Recommendations

DealingwithITUperformanceobjectives,itisusefultoclarifytheroleofITUTandITUR,inthe
frameworkofITUactivities.
ITUTismainlyinvolvedinregulatingtheendtoendserviceandperformanceof
telecommunicationnetworksandsystems. Ontheotherhand,ITURisdevotedtoradiosystems
only(notlimitedtocommunicationssystems,butincludingradioastronomy,earthmonitoring,etc.).
Asaconsequence,theITUTrecommendationsonperformanceobjectivesare"mediaindependent
",thatistheyareaddressedtotheendtoendperformanceofatelecommunicationlink,
independentlyofthetransmissionsystem(s)used(cable,fiber,orradio).

ITURrecommendationsonperformanceobjectivesrefertoradiocommunicationsonly. They
derivefrom(andmustbeinagreementwith)ITUTrecommendations,sincealinkregulatedbyITU
Tmaybeimplemented(partiallyortotally)usingradiorelaysystems.

Unavailability and Error Performance Objectives

ITUobjectivesareorganizedas:
- Unavailabilityobjectives:theyrefertoconditionsrequiredtogetanoperatinglink; in
generalterms,wecanstatethatunavailabilityiscausedbyequipmentfailuresorbyother
eventsthatproduceanenduringlossofsignaloranunacceptablesignaldegradation.
- ErrorPerformance(quality)objectives:theyrefertothereceivedsignalqualityand
are evaluatedduringtheavailabletimeonly. Sothedefinitionofunavailabilityis
fundamentalbothforerrorperformanceandforunavailabilityevaluation.
TestingthecomplianceofagiventelecommunicationlinkwithITUobjectives,weneed:
- firsttoidentifyunavailabilityperiodsandchecktheUnavailabilityObjectives;
- thentochecktheErrorPerformanceObjectivesduringavailabletime.

A brief history and overview of ITU Recs
TherecenthistoryofITUperformanceRecsstartswiththeapprovalofITUTRec.G.821,attheend
of70's.
Atthattime,telecommunicationsystemsweremainlyaddressedtothetelephone(voice)service
anddigitaltransmissionwasalmostexclusivelybasedonthe64kbit/sPCMchannel.Dataservices
wereexpectedtogrowthroughISDNnetworks,againbasedonthe64kbit/schannel.
Forthatreason,alsoperformanceobjectivesinG.821makereferencetothe64kbit/schannel(or
multiples,butanywaybelowthe primary rate),withoutconsideringtheactualbitrateof
transmittedsignals.
ErrorPerformanceandAvailabilityobjectives,derivedbyITURfromG.821, applytobitratesbelow
theprimaryrate.Suitableruleshavebeenusedtotranslateerrorperformancemeasurements
obtainedatthesystembitratetothe64kbit/slevel.
SuchproblemswerenotsolveduntilITUTRec.G.826wasapproved(1990). Thenew
recommendationintroducestwosignificantmodifications,withrespecttoG.821:

- objectivesapplyatthe system bit rate,notonthe64kbit/schannel;
- performanceparametersarenolongerbasedonbiterrorrate(BER),butonerrored blocks.
ThewholesetofITURRecs.hadtoberevised.Asafirststep,tworecommendationswere
approved(F.1092andF.1189),whichapplytothenationalandinternationalportionof
the Hypothetical Reference Path (HRP).
Thepracticaluseoftheserecommendationswasnotstraightforward,sincetheHRPconceptdoes
notmatchcloselywithnetworkconfigurationsfoundintherealworld.
Atthesametime,intheITUTenvironment,itwasrecognizedtheneedforperformanceobjectives
specificallyissuedforSDHnetworks. ITUTRec.G.828wasapprovedintheyear2000anddefines
errorperformanceobjectivesforSDHpath.
ToclarifytheapplicabilityofG.826andG.828toSDHsystems,wequotefromG.828:"... this
RecommendationistheonlyRecommendationrequiredfordesigningtheerrorperformanceof
synchronousdigitalpaths.(...)ItisnotrequiredtoapplythisRecommendationtoSDHpathsusing
equipmentdesignedpriortotheadoptionofRecommendationG.828inMarch2000.Performance
objectivesforpathsusingequipmentdesignedpriortothisdatearegiveninRecommendation
G.826."
ITURRecs.F.1397andF.1491takeaccountofbothG.826andG.828andapply,respectively, to
internationalandnationalrealradiolinks.Thetworecs.finallymergedasITURRec.F.1668,with
minormodifications,mainlyaddressedtoclarifytherecommendationscope("...Itistheonly
Recommendationdefiningerrorperformanceobjectivesforallrealdigitalfixedwirelesslinks.
Performanceeventsandobjectivesforconnectionsusingequipmentdesignedpriortoapprovalof
[revised]ITUTRecommendationG.826inDecember2002aregiveninITUTRecommendation
G.821andRecommendationsITURF.634,ITURF.696andITURF.697.").
TheTablebelowgivesasummaryoftheevolutionofsignificantITUTandITURrecommendations.

ITUTRec. ITURRec. Applicableto
G.821(1978) F.594 HRDP (64kbit/sch.)
G.821(1978) F.634,F.696,F.697 Reallinks(64kbit/sch.)
G.826(1990) F.1092,F.1189 HRP (PDH,SDH)
G.826/G.828(2000) F.1397,F.1491 Reallinks(PDH,SDH)
G.826/G.828(Rev.2002) F.1668(200407) Reallinks(PDH,SDH)
Evolution ofITUTandITURerrorperformanceRecs.

Definitions

Primaryrate: thefirstlevelofPCMmultiplexing (thatisE1rate=2.048Mbit/sinEuropeandother
countries;T1rate=1.544Mbit/sintheUSAandothercountries).
Systembitrate: thegrossbitrateofthetransmittedsignal,aftermultiplexingoperationand
includinganyserviceandcontrollingbits.
BlockAllowance: acomponentoftheoverallthresholdobjective,whichisallocatedindependently
oftheconnectionlength.
Block(ofbits): asetofconsecutivebitsassociatedwiththesignalpath.
HypotheticalReferenceConnection(HRX): usedinthecontextofITUTG.821,a27,500kmlink
includinganinternationalportion(HighGradeobjectives)andNationalportions(High,Medium,and
LocalGradeobjectives).
HypotheticalReferencePath(HRP): usedinthecontextofITUTG.826,a27,500kminternational
linkincludingthetwoterminalcountriesanduptofourintermediatecountries.
HypotheticalReferenceDigitalPath(HRDP): usedinthecontextofITURF.594,a2,500kmradio
link,subdividedinradiosectionsofatleast280km.
Finally,wenotethattheword"Path",asusedinthecontextofITURRecs.F.1668andF.1703,as
wellasinITUTRec.G.826,hasdifferentmeaningwithrespecttotheuseinradiolinkdesign.As
showninthefigurebelow,aPathismadeofoneormultipleDigitalLinks,implementedinFixed
Wireless(Radio)orFiberOpticstechnologies.
A fixed wireless link forming a portion of a path\

Advanced - ITU-T Error Performance Recs.

G.821 - ITUTRec.G.821defineserrorperformanceparametersandobjectivesofa Hypothetical
Reference Connection (HRX),atabitratebelowthe primary rate.
TheerrorperformanceobjectivesarestatedforeachdirectionofaNx64kbit/sconnection(1s N
s 32or24chs.),independentlyofthetransmissionmedium.
Thefollowingerrorperformanceeventsandparametersaredefined:
- ErroredSecond(ES) : aonesecondperiodinwhichoneormorebitsareinerror.

- SeverelyErroredSecond(SES) : aonesecondperiodwhichhasaBER >10
3.

- ErroredSecondRatio(ESR) : theratioofEStototalsecondsinavailabletimeduringafixed
measurementinterval.
- SeverelyErroredSecondRatio(SESR) : theratioofSEStototalsecondsinavailabletime
duringafixedmeasurementinterval.
Theendtoenderrorperformanceobjectivesforthe27500kmHypotheticalReferenceConnection
(HRX)aregivenintheTablebelow,referringtothethreeclasses(high-, medium- and local-
grade).
ESR SESR
EndtoEnd <0.08 <0.002
Highgrade 0.032 0.0004 (1)
Mediumgrade 0.012 0.00015 (1)
Localgrade 0.012 0.00015
(1)Forradiorelaysystemsablockallowanceof0.0005 SESR canbeaddedtoa2500kmHRDP
G.821errorperformanceobjectives.

G.826 - ITUTRec.G.826defineserrorperformanceparametersandobjectivesofa Hypothetical
Reference Path (HRP),forinternationalConstantBitRate(CBR)digitalpathsatorabovethe
primaryrate.
Therecommendationisapplicabletoeachdirectionofthe27500kmHRP.ItappliesaswellforPDH,
SDHandcellbasednetworks. Itisindependentofthetransmissionmedium.
TheimportantdifferencebetweenITUTRec.G.821andITUTRec.G.826isthatinG.826the
parametersarebasedonerrored blocks andnotonerroredbits.
TheparametersdefinedinITUTRec.G.826arebasedonthefollowingevents:
- ErroredBlock(EB) : ablockinwhichoneormorebitsareinerror.
- ErroredSecond(ES): aonesecondperiodwithoneormoreerroredblocks.
- SeverelyErroredSecond(SES): aonesecondperiodwhichcontainsmorethan30%errored
blocksoratleastonedefectinthereceivedsignal.
- BackgroundBlockError(BBE): anerroredblocknotoccurringaspartofanSES.
Thefollowingerrorperformanceparametersaredefined:
- ErroredSecondRatio(ESR): theratioofEStototalsecondsinavailabletimeduringafixed
measurementinterval.

- SeverelyErroredSecondRatio(SESR): theratioofSEStototalsecondsinavailabletime
duringafixedmeasurementinterval.
- BackgroundBlockErrorRatio(BBER)): theratioofBBEtototalblocksinavailabletime
duringafixedmeasurementinterval.Thecountoftotalblocksexcludesallblocksduring
SESs.
Theendtoenderrorperformanceobjectivesfora27500kmHRParespecifiedintheTablebelow.
Thepathfailstomeettheerrorperformancerequirementsifanyoftheobjectivesisnotmet.
Mbit/s Bits/Block ESR SESR BBER
1.55 8005000 0.04 0.002 2x10
4
>515 20008000 0.05 0.002 2x10

4
>1555 400020000 0.075 0.002 2x10

4
>55160 600020000 0.16 0.002 2x10

4
>160 1500030000 t.b.d. 0.002 1x10

4
G.826endtoenderrorperformanceobjectives.
Thesuggestedmeasurementintervalisonemonth.Forradiorelaysystemstheobjectivesshouldbe
respectedforanymonth.
Theendtoendobjectivesaredividedintoonenationalportionandoneinternationalportion. The
allocationrulesarerathercomplexandarebasedonablockallocationandadistanceallocation
(multiplesof500km). EachNationalPortionisallocatedatleasta17.5%oftheendtoend
objectives.
G.828 - ITUTRec.G.828defineserrorperformanceparametersandobjectivesforSDHsystems
only(applicationofG.826andG.828wasdiscussedabove). G.828usestheerrorperformance
eventsandparametersasdefinedbyRec.G.826.Twoadditionaldefinitionsare:
- SeverelyErroredPeriod(SEP): asequenceofbetween3to9consecutiveSES;thesequence
isterminatedbyasecondwhichisnotaSES
- SeverelyErroredPeriodIntensity(SEPI): thenumberofSEPeventsinavailabletimedivided
bythetotalavailabletimeinseconds
TheendtoendobjectivesdefinedbyITUTRec.G.828fora27500kmHRPintermsoftheerror
parameters(ESR,SESR,BBER)areshownintheTablebelow(SEPIobjectivesarenotindicated,since
furtherstudyisrequired).


Bitrate(Mbit/s) Blocks/s ESR SESR BBER
1,664 2000 0.01 0.002 5x10
5
2,240 2000 0.01 0.002 5x10

5
6,848 2000 0.01 0.002 5x10

5
48,960 8000 0.02 0.002 5x10

5
150,336 8000 0.04. 0.002 1x10

4
601,344 8000 Notspec. 0.002 1x10

4
G.828endtoenderrorperformanceobjectives.
Theobjectivesapplicabletoarealpatharederivedusingallocationprinciplesforinternationaland
nationalportions. Again,thisisbasedonblockallocationandondistanceallocation(multiplesof
100km).

Advanced - Error performance in a radio link

ITURRecsonerrorperformance,derivedbyITUTRecsintroducedintheprevioussection,arenow
discussed.

Error objectives for real links using equipment designed prior to approval of
[revised] ITU-T Recommendation G.826 in December 2002
The error performance objectives for real links are based on ITU-T Rec. G.821, using the same
definitions of Errored Second Ratio (ESR) and of Severely Errored Second Ratio (SESR). They apply
to bit rate below the primary rate and are specified in three ITU-R recommendations, referring to
high-, medium- and local-grade, respectively.
AsummaryisgivenintheTablebelow.


ESR SESR
EndtoEnd <0.08 <0.002
Highgrade(1)
ITURRec.F.634
0.0032x
L/2500
0.00054x
L/2500
Mediumgrade
ITURRec.F.696
0.012 0.0004
Localgrade
ITURRec.F.697
0.012 0.00015

(1) Length L (km) in the range 280 to 2500 km. For L <280 km, a linear scaling can be used.
Errorperformanceobjectivesforrealdigitalradiorelaysystems,belowtheprimaryrate.
Error objectives for real digital fixed wireless links in 27500 km HRP and connections (equipment
designed after approval of [revised] ITU-T Recommendation G.826 in December 2002)
ITU-R Rec. F.1668 gives the performance objectives both for the international portion and for
national connections of a real link. For international portions of HRP, distinction has to be made
between terminating countries and transit (or intermediate) countries.
Moreover,wedistinguishPDHandSDHsystems,referringtoITUTRecs. G.826 and G.828,
respectively.
ForinternationalportionsofHRP, ErrorPerformanceObjectives(EPO)areexpressedbyageneral
formula:
EPO= B (L
link
/ L
R
)+ C
where:
EPOcanbereplacedbySESR,ESR,orBBER,asappropriate;
B,Carenumericalvalues,giveninRec.F.1668tables;
L
link
isthelinklength;
L
R
isthereferencelength(2500km).
TheSEPIparameter,whichisdefinedbyITUTG.828,isignored.Thereasonisthatnopropagation
modeltopredictSEPIispresentlyavailableandtheneedforSEPIobjectivesisstillunderstudy.
Applicationofthegeneralformulagivenaboveleadstotheresultsshowninthetablesbelow. In
thatformula,BandCarefunctionsofparameterB
R
(=blockallowanceratio),tobeselectedbythe
networkoperator,intherange0to1. That'swhyalltheobjectivesarenotexpressedasasingle
value,butasarange,correspondingtoB
R
=0andB
R
=1.

Twolinklengths(L1,L2)areconsideredinthetables;foranyotherlength(inthe50to2500km
range),thefollowingrulesmustbeapplied:
- uptoL1,theobjectiveisproportionaltothelinklength;
- foralengthbetweenL1andL2,theobjectiveiscomputedbylinearinterpolation.
Bitrate
(Mbit/s)
Length
[km]
ES
[s/month]
SES
[s/month]
BBER
(x10
6
)
1,664
(VC11,TC11)
1000
2500
5201040
13001820
104208
260364
1.02.0
2.53.5
2,240
(VC12,TC12)
1000
2500
5201040
13001820
104208
260364
1.02.0
2.53.5
6,848
(VC2,TC2)
1000
2500
5201040
13001820
104208
260364
1.02.0
2.53.5
48,960
(VC3,TC3)
1000
2500
10402080
26003640
104208
260364
1.02.0
2.53.5
150,336
(VC4,TC4)
1000
2500
20804160
52007280
104208
260364
2.04.0
5.07.0

F.1668errorperformanceobjectivesforSDHinternationallinks,intermediatecountries.


Bitrate
(Mbit/s)
Length
[km]
ES
[s/month]
SES
[s/month]
BBER
(x10
6
)
Belowprimaryrate 1000
2500
20804160
52007280
104208
260364
4.08.0
10.014.0
1.55 1000
2500
20804160
52007280
104208
260364
4.08.0
10.014.0
>515 1000
2500
26005200
65009100
104208
260364
4.08.0
10.014.0
>1555 1000
2500
39007800
975013650
104208
260364
4.08.0
10.014.0
>55160 1000
2500
832016640
2080029120
104208
260364
4.08.0
10.014.0
>160400 1000
2500
NOT
Applicable
104208
260364
4.08.0
10.014.0

F.1668errorperformanceobjectivesforPDHinternationallinks,intermediatecountries.


Bitrate
(Mbit/s)
Length
[km]
ES
[s/month]
SES
[s/month]
BBER
(x10
6
)
1,664
(VC11,TC11)
500
2500
260520
13001560
52104
260312
0.51.0
2.53.0
2,240
(VC12,TC12)
500
2500
260520
13001560
52104
260312
0.51.0
2.53.0
6,848
(VC2,TC2)
500
2500
260520
13001560
52104
260312
0.51.0
2.53.0
48,960
(VC3,TC3)
500
2500
5201040
26003120
52104
260312
0.51.0
2.53.0
150,336
(VC4,TC4)
500
2500
10402080
52006240
52104
260312
1.02.0
5.06.0

F.1668errorperformanceobjectivesforSDHinternationallinks,terminatingcountries.


Bitrate
(Mbit/s)
Length
[km]
ES
[s/month]
SES
[s/month]
BBER
(x10
6
)
Belowprimaryrate 1000
2500
20804160
52007280
104208
260364
4.08.0
10.014.0
1.55 500
2500
20804160
52006240
52104
260312
2.04.0
10.012.0
>515 500
2500
26005200
65007800
52104
260312
2.04.0
10.012.0
>1555 500
2500
39007800
975011700
52104
260312
2.04.0
10.012.0
>55160 500
2500
832016640
2080024960
52104
260312
2.04.0
10.012.0
>160400 1000
2500
NOT
Applicable
104208
260364
4.08.0
10.014.0

F.1668errorperformanceobjectivesforPDHinternationallinks,terminatingcountries.
Notethat,whileESRandBBERobjectivesaredependentonthebitrate,theSESRobjectiveis
applicabletoanyrate(from1.5to160Mbit/s)anditiscommontoSDHandPDHsystems.
ThefigurebelowgivesanexamplereferringtothesignificantcaseofSESRobjectiveforSDHorPDH
links.


SESobjectiveforSDHandPDHinternationallinks(Rec.F.1397).A)BlockAllowanceB
R
=0,Intermediateand
terminatingcountries. B)B
R
=1,terminatingcountries. C)B
R
=1,intermediatecountries.

ForthenationalportionofHRPorconnections, ITU-R Rec. F.1668 givestheperformance
objectivesforthenationalportionofareallink,whichisdividedin3sections:
- thelonghaulsection(fromtheInternationalGatewaytothePrimary,Secondary,orTertiary
Center);
- theshorthaulsection(fromthePrimary,Secondary,orTertiaryCentertotheLocal
Exchange);
- theaccesssection(fromtheLocalExchangetothe pathendpoint).
Forlonghaulsections,theobjectivesarelistedintheTablesbelow. AparameterA1(=block
allowanceforlonghaulsections)islefttobeselectedbythenetworkoperator,intherange1%to
2%.That'swhyalltheobjectivesarenotexpressedasasinglevalue,butasarange,corresponding
toA1=0.01andA1=0.02.
Twolinklengths(L1,L2)areconsideredinthetables;foranyotherlength(inthe50to2500km
range),thefollowingrulesmustbeapplied:
- uptoL1,theobjectiveisproportionaltothelinklength;
- foralengthaboveL1,theobjectiveiscomputedbylinearinterpolationorextrapolationof
thevaluesgivenforL1andL2.


Bitrate
(Mbit/s)
Length
[km]
ES
[s/month]
SES
[s/month]
BBER
(x10
6
)
1,664
VC11,TC11)
100
1000
312572
7801040
62114
156208
0.61.1
1.52.0
2,240
(VC12,TC12)
100
1000
312572
7801040
62114
156208
0.61.1
1.52.0
6,848
(VC2,TC2)
100
1000
312572
7801040
62114
156208
0.61.1
1.52.0
48,960
(VC3,TC3)
100
1000
6241044
15602080
62114
156208
0.61.1
1.52.0
150,336
(VC4,TC4)
100
1000
12482088
31204160
62114
156208
1.22.2
3.04.0

F.1668errorperformanceobjectivesforSDHlinksinthelonghaulnetwork.


Bitrate
(Mbit/s)
Length
[km]
ES
[s/month]
SES
[s/month]
BBER
(x10
6
)
below
primaryrate
100
1000
12482088
31204160
62114
156208
NOT
Applicable
1.55 100
1000
12482088
31204160
62114
156208
2.44.4
6.08.0
>515 100
1000
15602610
39005200
62114
156208
2.44.4
6.08.0
>1555 100
1000
23403915
58507800
62114
156208
2.44.4
6.08.0
>55160 100
1000
49928352
1248016640
62114
156208
2.44.4
6.08.0
>160400 100
1000
NOT
Applicable
62114
156208
1.22.2
3.04.0

F.1668errorperformanceobjectivesforPDHlinksinthelonghaulnetwork.
Theerrorobjectivesforlonghaulsectionsarethesamedefinedfortheinternationalportion.
Forshorthaulandaccesssections,theobjectivesarelistedintheTablesbelow. Blockallowances
forshorthaulsectionsandforaccesssectionsareparameterslefttothenetworkoperator,inthe
range7.5%to8.5%. That'swhyalltheobjectivesarenotexpressedasasinglevalue,butasarange,
correspondingtoblockallowance0.075and0.085.


Bitrate
(Mbit/s)
ES
[s/month]
SES
[s/month]
BBER
(x10
6
)
1,664
(VC11,TC11)
19502210 390442 3.754.25
2,240
(VC12,TC12)
19502210 390442 3.754.25
6,848
(VC2,TC2)
19502210 390442 3.754.25
48,960
(VC3,TC3)
39004420 390442 3.754.25
150,336
(VC4,TC4)
78008840 390442 7.508.50

F.1668errorperformanceobjectivesforSDHlinksintheshorthauloraccessnetwork.

Bitrate
(Mbit/s)
ES
[s/month]
SES
[s/month]
BBER
(x10
6
)
below
primaryrate
78008840 390442 NOTApplicable
1.55 78008840 390442 15.017.0
>515 975011050 390442 15.017.0
>1555 1462516575 390442 15.017.0
>55160 3120035360 390442 15.017.0
>160400 >160400 >160400 >160400
F.16681errorperformanceobjectivesforPDHlinksintheshorthauloraccessnetwork.

Again,wenotethat,whileESRandBBERobjectivesaredependentonthebitrate,theSESR
objectiveisapplicabletoanyrate(from1.5to400Mbit/s)anditiscommontoSDHandPDH
systems.
Practical rules in applying ITU-R Recs
TwoproblemsmayariseinapplyingITURRecsF.1397andF.1668:
- selectingtouseSDHorPDHobjectives;
- apportioningsectionobjectivesonasinglehoporonadistancebasis.

How to identify SDH and PDH sections - Practicalrulesare:
- aradiolinkcomposedbytwoterminalswithopticalandelectricalSTMNinterfaceisaSDH
section,soSDHobjectivesshallbeused.
- aradiolinkcomposedbytwoterminalswithopticalorelectricalPDHinterfaceatboth
terminalisaPDHsection,independentlyfromtheratecarriedovertheradiochannel,sothe
PDHobjectivesshallbeused.
- aradiolinkcomposedbyoneterminalwithopticalorelectricalPDHinterfaceandone
terminalwithSTMninterfaceisaSDHsection,sotheSDHobjectivesshallbeused.
How to apportion Section objectives to each hop - Performanceobjectivesgivenby
ITURRecsapplytotheoveralllink,eveninthecaseofmultikoplinks.Allocationoftheobjectivesto
eachhopisundertheresponsibilityofthenetworkoperator.
Thenetworkoperatorcanallocateobjectivesinawayproportionaltothehoplengths,ordifferent
criteriacanbefollowed,toovercomeparticularproblems.Thisgivesthenetworkoperatorsome
flexibilityinlinkdesign.

Notethatmultipathpropagationmodelsindicatethatpredictedoutageisnotproportionaltothe
hoplength,butapproximatelytothethirdpowerofthehoplength.
Asanexample,letussupposethatathreehoplinkhastobedesigned,withoneovertheseahop.
Thedesignerisfreetodecidetoallocatemostoftheoverallobjectivetothehopoverthesea(in
ordertoreducecostandtoovercomepropagationproblems),whiletheobjectivesassignedtothe
othertwohopsarelessthenproportionaltothehoplengths.
How to apportion Short-haul or Access section objectives on a distance
basis - ObjectivesforshorthaulandaccesssectionsaregivenbyITURRec.F.1668(national
portion)onablockallowancebasis(independentonsectionlength).
Objectiveapportioningonadistancebasisislefttothenetworkoperator. Thisismainlybasedon
thefactthattheapportioningprocessisstronglydependenton:

- networkarchitecture,networkprotectionpolicy,maintenancepolicy,etc.;
- accessnetworkstructure(fromhighdensityurbanenvironmenttoruralenvironments);
- guaranteedQualityofService.
Alltheabovefactorsaredefinedormanagedbythenetworkoperator.
Thesuggestedprocedureistoidentifya"typical"lengthofshorthauloraccesssectionsandthento
usethetypicallengthtoscaledowntheobjectivesforsectionsofanylength.

Advanced - Unavailability Objectives

UnavailabilityisdefinedbyITUTRec.G.826. Anunavailabilityperiodbeginswhentenconsecutive
SESeventsareobserved(thetensecondsarepartoftheunavailabilityperiod).Whenten
consecutivenonSESeventsareobserved,theunavailabilityperiodcloses(thetensecondsarepart
ofthenewavailabilityperiod).
TheSESdefinition isthesamegiveninthecontextofErrorPerformanceRecs.
ITU-T Recs. G.826 and G.827
Thefollowingavailabilityparametersaredefinedby ITUTRec.G.826:
- Availabilityratio(AR) : ratioof totalavailabletimetothedurationoftheobservation
period;
- Meantimebetweenoutages(Mo) : averagedurationofanycontinuousintervalduring
whichthelinkisavailable.
TheUnavailabilityRatio(UR)isthecomplementaryparametertoAR,sothat AR+UR=1.

FromtheMoparameter,the "OutageIntensity"(OI)isderivedas:

OIexpressestheaveragenumberofunavailabilityperiodsinoneyear.MoandOIhavebeen
recentlyintroduced;thisnewparametersareneededsincetheQualityofServicemaybeaffected
notonlybythetotalunavailabletime,butalsobythenumberofunavailabilityperiods.
AvailabilityobjectivesforInternationalandNationaldigitalsystemsaregivenbyITUTRec.G.827,
asmediaindependentobjectives. Twotypesofobjectivesarespecified:
- meanvalues,thatistheensembleaverageofallpathsofagivencategoryinacountry;
- worstcasevalues,thatistheminimumacceptablevalueforindividualpaths.

Theobjectivesapplytoobservationperiodsofoneyear.Theyareintendedforthefollowing
purposes:
- Networkdesign/planning: bothmeanandworstcaseobjectivesareappropriate;
- Operationalobjectives: worstcaseobjectivesareappropriateandareapplicabletoeach
individualpath.
RadioLinkAvailabilityObjectives
InapplyingthemostrecentITUTavailabilityrecstoradiolinks,thefollowingpointshavebeen
takenintoaccount:
- Radiopropagationmodelsallowtoevaluateworstcaseperformancepredictions.So,ITUR
recommendsworstcaseobjectivesonlyandthemeanvalueobjectives,asgivenbyITUT
G.827,arenotconsidered.
- IfavailabilityobjectivesforradiosystemswerescaledfromITUTRec.G.827,thenprevious
ITURobjectiveswouldberelaxedinsomemeasure.Therefore,itwasdecidedtobe
coherentwithprevious(morestringent)figures,eveninthecontextofnewrecs.
UnavailabilityobjectivesforNationallinks(inthelonghaul,shorthaul,andaccessnetworks),as
recommendedbyITURRec.F.1703,areshowninthefigurebelow(insteadoftheURparameter,
theobjectiveisexpressedinhoursperyear).

Unavailabilityobjective(Rec.F.1703).A)Longhaulsections. B)Shorthaulsections.C) Accesssections.
TheOutageIntensity(OI)objectiveisreportedintheTablebelow(inlonghaulsections,the
objectiveforlengthbetween250and2500kmcanbecomputedbylinearinterpolationofthevalues
inthetable).

Section
Length
[km]
OI
[events/year]
Longhaul
250 65
2500 155
Shorthaul 100
Access 120
F.1703outageintensity(OI)objectives.
UnavailabilityobjectivesforInternationallinksaregivenbyITURRec.F.1703andarethesameas
forlonghaulnetworksinthenationalportion(seethepreviousfigureandtable;linearextrapolation
foranysectionlengthexceeding2500km).
Forpracticalapplicationofavailabilityobjectives,twopointshavetobeconsidered:
- availabilityobjectivesshouldbepartitionedinordertotakeintoaccountunavailability
eventsduetopropagation,equipmentfailures,humaninterventionsandothercauses;
- forthecasewhentheradiolinkiscomposedofmorethanonehop,theobjectivesare
applicableforthewholelink.Thescalingofobjectivestoeachindividualhopisunderthe
networkoperatorresponsibility.

Advanced - BER vs. Errored Blocks Performance Parameters

Asdiscussedintheprevioussections,SDHperformanceparametersdefinedbyG.826andG.828are
basedonerroredblocksandhavethemeritofreferringtotheactualsystembitrate,nottothe64
kbit/schannel.Soitispossibletotestradiolinktransmissionqualitybymeansofmeasurementsat
thesystembitrate;tothisend,suitablemeasurementequipmentisavailable.
However,undertheperformancepredictionpointofview(asdiscussedinpreviouschaptersfor
multipath,rain,andinterferenceimpairments),referenceisusuallymadetoreceivedBitErrorRate
(BER)andpredictionsareexpressedasprobability(timepercentage)ofBERhigherthanagiven
threshold.
ITURRec.F.1605providesatheoreticalframeworktorelateBERtotheerrorperformance
eventsES,SESandBBEbasedonerroredblocks(EBs)andusedtodefineSDHperformance
parametersandobjectives.Tothisend,Rec.F.1605definesaspecificBERthreshold(calledBERSES)
satisfyingthefollowingequivalence:
Prob{BER>BERSES}=SESR
TheaboveformulameansthatwecancomputeSESRastheprobability(percentageoftime)with
BERhigherthanBERSES(weareabletodothisaccordingtomultipathandrainmodelsgivenin
previouschapters).
BERSESvaluesaregiveninRec.F.1605forthevariousSDHcapacities

Capacity Bits / Block Block / s Bit Rate BERSES
SDH VC-11 832 2000 1.5Mb/s 5.4e-4
SDH VC-12 1120 2000 2Mb/s 4.0e-4
SDH VC-2 3424 2000 6Mb/s 1.3e-4
SDH VC-3 6120 8000 34Mb/s 6.5e-5
SDH VC-4 18792 8000 140Mb/s 2.1e-5
SDH STM-1 (*)
(8000 blocks/s)
19940 8000 155 Mb/s 2.3e-5
SDH STM-1 (*)
(192000 blocks/s)
801 192000 155 Mb/s 2.33e-4
(*)ITUTRec.G.829recommends192000blocks/sonly,butsomeequipmentisdesignedfor8000blocks/s
ThesameapproachisalsoappliedtoPDH,usingtheBERSESvalue(seetableabove)corresponding
totransmissionrateclosesttothatofthePDHsystem.
Moreover,stepbystepproceduresaregivenbyRec.F.1605tocomputeESRandBBER,starting
fromperformancepredictionsintheform:
Prob{BER>BERXN}

whereBERXNaresuitableBERthresholds.
Inconclusion,predictionmodelsformultipathandrainimpairments,giveninITURRec.P.530and
leadingtotheestimateofProb{BER>Threshold},canbeusedtopredictcompliancewithITU
objectives.

Objectives vs. Propagation impairments

Finally,wetrytoidentifyhowpropagationimpairments,discussedinprevioussessions,mayaffect
thecompliancewithperformanceobjectives.
TheTablebelowindicatestheexpecteddurationofsystemdegradation,causedbyvarious
propagationevents. Basedondegradationperiod,therelevantperformanceobjectiveisidentify.
Propagation
Impairment
Degradation
Period
Performance
Objective
- MultipathFading
- ShortTerm
UncorrelatedInterf.
<10seconds ErrorPerformance
(SESR)
- Rain
- ObstructionFading
(SubRefractivity)
- Interference
(SuperRefractivity)
> 10seconds Availability
- LongTerm
CorrelatedInterf.
Permanent ErrorPerformance
(ESRandBBER)

Relationbetweenpropagationimpairmentsandapplicableperformanceobjectives.

Thisclassification,evenifitisratherrough,isquiteusefultohavepracticalobjectivesinthesystem
designstage,sothatwecancompareperformancepredictionsbasedonpropagationmodelsto
objectivessetbyITURecs.
Inthemostsimplifyingterms,referringtothemainpropagationimpairments,rainoutage
predictionswillbecomparedtounavailabilityobjectives,whilemultipathoutagepredictionswillbe
comparedtoerrorperformance(quality)objectives.

EndofSection#8


HERALD LAB

Working with HERALD Lab

TheHERALDLabhasbeenincludedinthisCoursewithtwoobjectives:
- asacomplementofthe"CourseNotes"presentation,showingyouhowthepropagation
conceptsandengineeringrulesareappliedinpracticalcases;
- asanintroductiontoHERALDfunctionsandcommands.
So,workingwiththeHERALDLab,youshouldimprovebothyourunderstandingofradiolink
engineeringandyourskillsinusingtheHERALDprogram.
EachSessionintheHERALDLabstartswiththe"HERALDFunctions"section. Itbrieflyexplainshow
designrules,presentedintheCourseNotes,areimplementedintheHERALDprogram. Thissection
doesnotsubstitutetheHERALDHelp,whereyoufindamoredetailedguidetotheprogramuse.
TheHERALDLabSessioncontinueswithexercises.Eachexerciseprovidesdetailedinstructionson
programstepstoexecuteagiventask. Someexercises(inparticularinthefirstsessions)may
appearrathereasyandeventedious. However,wesuggesttoskipthemonlyifyoualreadyhavea
goodpracticeinHERALDuse.

Using the HERALD program

TheexercisesproposedintheHERALDLabrequirethattheHERALDprogrambeinstalledonyour
computer.YoufindtheinstallationprograminyourCDROM,togetherwithinstallationinstructions.
Otherwise,ifyoureceivethecoursematerialthroughemaildelivery,youcandownloadthe
HERALDDemoprogramfrom byregisteringatthefollowinglink:
http://www.heraldpro.com
HeraldDemoprovidesallthefeaturesrequiredtocompletetheHeraldLabexercise.
RunHERALDandexecutetheexercisessuggestedinthevariousHERALDLabSessions.
Asfaraspossible,donotmodifyordeleteitemsintheAntennaandEquipmentLibrariesincludedin
theHeraldinstallation. Someexercisewillrequiretheuseofspecificantennaand/orradio
equipmentanditisassumedyou'vegottheminyourlibraries.
Foranyproblemduringprogramexecution,firstrefertotheHeraldHelp. Rememberthat,atany
stageduringprogramexecution,theF1keygivesaccesstotheHelppagerelevanttothefunction
you'reworkingon.
Otherwise,refertothePPRLEtutoringservice,whichisavailable
at mailto:course@radioengineering.it.

ForgeneralinformationabouttheHERALDprogram,please mailto:Info@radioengineering.it
Instructions to HERALD Demo Users

ThefreeDemoReleaseoftheHERALDprogramincludessomefunctionallimitations,whichdonot
impedetheuseoftheprogramasatrainingtoolinthecontextoftheHERALDLabactivities.In
particular:
- SaveandPrintcommandsarenotsupported;
- Opencommandenabledforexampleprojectsonly;
- Workingfrequencylimitedto4,11,15,22,38GHz;
- Nomorethan4radiohops;
- Nomorethan6radiosites,withpredeterminednames.


HERALD Lab #1 - Hop Configuration

HERALD Functions

ThefollowingHeraldfunctionsarerelatedtotheHopConfigurationprocess:
- RadioEquipment,Antenna,andFeederdataarestoredincustomizedLibraries(DataBase
menu);
- RadioSitesaredefinedbyspecifyingthesitename,elevationa.s.l.and(optionally)
geographicalcoordinates(Define/Sitescommand);
- RadioHopsaredefinedbyspecifyingtheterminalradiosites,theworking(average)
frequency,andthehoplength(automaticallycomputed,ifsitecoordinatesareavailable)
(Define/Hopscommand);
- RadioHopsareconfiguredbyspecifyingcodesanddatareferringtoequipmentinstallation
ateachradiosite,aswellasinformationonlinkcharacteristics(useofRFchannels,useof
passiverepeaters,etc.)(Define/HopConfigurationcommand).

Exercise 1.1 : Radio Equipment data

RunHerald;inthe"GettingStarted..."SplashScreenclicktheNewProjecticonandskipthetwo
introductoryboxes,settingdefaultoptions.Closethe"RadioSites"dialog,ClicktheDataBasemenu
andexecutetheEquipmentscommand.
- BrowsethecompleteEquipmentlist(alltheFilteringCriteriablank),andexaminethemain
parametersoftheselecteditem;getmoredetailswiththe"More"button.
- SettheFilteringcriteriatofindout:
1. theequipmentworkingat15GHz,with8Mb/scapacity;
2. theequipmentatanyfrequency,withabout26dBmoutputpower;
3. refinepreviousselection,with11GHzworkingfrequencyand 34Mb/scapacity.

- Addanewequipment,withthefollowingparameters:
Code: So/11/34_bis;
Manufacturer: SoandSoEln.;
Modulation: 4PSK;
Capacity: 34Mb/s

RFband:10.712.2GHz
TxPower: 28dBm;
RxThreshold: 79dBm.
Optionalparametersareleftblank.
Tip:
Selectoneequipmentwithsimilarparameters,thenclickthe"Add"button;setanew
EquipmentCode,modifyparameterswhererequired.
- Similarly,practicewiththe"Modify"and"Delete"functions.


Exercise 1.2 : Antenna data

andexecutetheAntennascommand.
- BrowsethecompleteAntennalist(alltheFilteringCriteriablank),andexaminetheparameters
oftheselecteditem.
- SettheFilteringcriteriatofindout:
1. theantennaat15GHz,withabout44dBgain;
2. refinepreviousselection,toberestrictedto"BetaAntennas"manufacturer;
3. anyantennaofthe"Cassegrain"kind.

- Addanewantenna,withthefollowingparameters:
Code: GamY4023/D;
Manufacturer: GammaAntennas;
Kind: Parabolic;
RFband:21.224.1GHz
Polarization: Double;
ApplicationType:Directive;
Diameter: 0.40m;
Gain: 35.8dB;
3dBBeamWidth: 230'
Optionalparametersareleftblank.
Tip:
Selectoneantennawithsimilarparameters,thenclickthe"Add"button;setanewAntenna
Code,modifyparameterswhererequired.
- Similarly,practicewiththe"Modify"and"Delete"functions.


Exercise 1.3 : Feeder data

andexecutetheFeederscommand.
Similarlytothepreviousexercises,browsethecompleteFeederlist,settheFilteringcriteria,and
practicewiththe"Add","Modify",and"Delete"functions.


Exercise 1.4 : Site & Hop definition

Tip:
RadionetworktopologydefinitionisassistedbythetwoHeraldicon:
Define/Sitescommand
Define/Hopscommand
RunHerald;intheGettingStartedscreen,clickthe icon"StartaNewProjectRadioSite
definition".Confirmdefaultoptionsinthetwointroductorydialogs"NewProjectDefualtsettings"
and"SetCoordinateSystem",Thenthe"RadioSites"dialogboxwillbedisplayed.
- Clickthe"ImportfromASCIIfile"button,thenselectSites_1.txtfileinthe"OpenFile"dialog.
Thecoordinatesofthreeradiosites(ALPHA,BETA,andCHARLIE)willbeimported.
- Alternatively,usethe"Create"buttontodisplaythe"NewSiteData"dialogbox,whereyoucan
definethesameradiosites:

SiteCode Elev.[m] Latitude Longitude
ALPHA 392 N4514'25.0" E731'52.0"
BETA 238 N4503'42.0" E742'15.0"
CHARLIE 529 N4500'12" E740'25"

- Practicewiththe"Modify"and"Delete"functions;thenclosethedialogboxusingthe"Close"
button.
- ExecutetheDefine/Hopscommandtodisplaythe"RadioHops"dialogbox. Usethe"Create"
buttontodisplaythe"RadioHopData"dialogbox,whereyoudefinethefollowinghops:

HopCode Frequency Length
ALPHABETA 11GHz ascomputed
ALFACHARLIE 15GHz ascomputed
BETADELTA 38GHz 2.5km

TheDELTAsiteisnotyetdefined;usethe"AddSite"button("RadioHopData"dialogbox)to
defineaNewRadioSiteatthisstage(DELTAsiteelevationis288m,geographical
coordinatesnotavailable).

- Usethe"Report"button(inthe"RadioHops"dialogbox)todisplaytheHopReport;donotcare
aboutWarningmessage(Antennanotdefined,Linkbudgetnotcomputed:thenewhopsare
definedonlytopologically,thehopconfigurationwillbedefinedinthenextexercise).
- ExecutetheFile/Savecommandtosavethisproject,withname"Config1.hpf"(ifyourHERALD
releasedoesnotsupportthe"Save"function,don'tworry; you'llfindthe"Config1_Sample.hpf"
fileinyourProjectexamples).


Exercise 1.5 : Hop configuration

RunHerald;inthe"GettingStarted..."SplashScreenclicktheOpenProjecticontoopenthe
"Config1.hpf"orConfig1_Sample.hpf"project(orfinditintheRecentProjectslist).Theopen
projectistheoneyou'vecreatedinthe previous exercise). The"RadioHops"dialogboxis
displayed.

- SelecttheALPHABETAhop,thenusethe"Config/Modify"buttontodisplaythe"Hop
Configuration"dialogbox.
- ConfiguretheALPHAsitebyusingthethree"Select"buttons(MainAntenna,Feeder,
Equipment);filltheAntennaHeight,FeederLengthandBranchingLossfields;donotcheckthe
DiversityAntennabox.
- Similarly,configuretheBETAsite;notethatsomedataarecopiedbydefaultfromthefirstsite
selections;usethe"OK"buttontosavethenewconfigurationandtogettheHopReport(atthe
moment,consideronlytheConfigurationsectionoftheReport).
- Practicewiththe"HopConfiguration"dialog:revisetheALPHABETAconfiguration(includinga
diversityantenna)andconfiguretheothertwohops.

Tips:
TorevisetheActiveHopconfiguration,clicktheHeraldicon:
Define/HopConfigurationcommand
TosetanewActiveHop,executetheDefine/Hopscommand,thenusethe "Config
/Modify"orthe"Report"buttons.TheActiveHopisindicatedintheStatusBar.
- Inthe"HopConfiguration"dialog,completetheHopConfiguration,usingthe"Losses/Degrad.
Define"button(RadioSiteframe)andthe"PropagationLossesDefine"button(RadioHop
frame);the"VariousLosses"dialogisdisplayed,whereyoucansetseveralparameters,related
totheradiotransmitterandreceiverstructureandtopropagationconditions.
- Whenappropriate,executetheFile/Savecommandtoupdatetheproject;useadifferent
projectname(File/SaveAscommand)ifyouwanttosaveseveralversionsofyourproject.


Exercise 1.6 : Passive repeater

"Config2_Sample.hpf"project(orfinditintheRecentProjectslist).Closethe"RadioHops"dialog.
ExecutetheDefine/Sitescommandtodisplaythe"RadioSites"dialogbox ( Tip:UsetheHerald
icon )
- Usethe"Create"buttontodisplaythe"NewSiteData"dialogbox,whereyoudefinethe
repeatersite:

SiteCode Elev.[m] Latitude Longitude
ZEBRA 617 N4514'52.0" E729'52.0"

Setthe"RepeaterSite"checkboxinthesamedialog,thenClosethedialog.
- SelecttheALPHACHARLIEhop,thenusethe"Config/Modify"buttontodisplaythe"Hop
Configuration"dialogbox.CompleteHopConfigurationasfortheALPHABETAhopinthe
previousexercise.
- Whileyou'restillinthe"HopConfiguration"dialogbox,clickthe"PassiveRepeater/Define"
button,selectthe"SinglePlaneReflector"option,thendefinethepassiverepeaterparameters:
Sitecode:ZEBRA;
Reflectorarea: 25m
2
;
ReflectorVerticaldim.: 4m;
InstallationHeight: 25m.
- The"Pathprofile"dialogsappearforeachofthetwolegsintherepeaterhop.Itispossibleto
read/definethepathprofilesatthisstage,butwesuggestyouclosethetwodialogswithoutany
newdata.
- Inthe"HopConfiguration"dialog,usethe"OK"buttontosavethenewconfigurationandtoget
theHopReport(consideronlytheConfigurationsectionoftheReport). FindtheRepeaterSite
sectionandchecktheTopologyandReflectorparameters.
- ExecutetheFile/Savecommandtosavethisproject(radiohopwithpassiverepeater).


Exercise 1.7 : Export Network Topology to Google Earth

Note:YouneedtohaveGoogleEarthinstalledinyouPCtoexecutethisexercise.
"Config2_Sample.hpf"project(orfinditintheRecentProjectslist).Closethe"RadioHops"dialog
box.
- ExecutetheFile/ExportNetworktoGoogleEarthcommand.ClickYESintheboxaskingfor
savingakmlfile(callitConfig2).
- ClickYESinthenextboxaskingifyouwantGoogleEarthtobeexecutedimmediately.Radio
sitesandradiohopsaredisplayedinaGoogleview.AsummaryofNetworkdataarelistedinthe
Googledataframeontheleft(ifactivated).
- TuneGoogleEarthdisplayzoomandotherpropertiesasyouprefer.Clickontheradiositeicon
toreadsitecoordinatesandelevation.Similarly,clickonthehoplinetoreadhoplengthand
frequency

Exercise 1.8 : Import Radio Sites

RunHerald;inthe"GettingStarted..."SplashScreenclicktheNewProjecticon.Skipthetwo
introductoryboxes,settingdefaultoptions.Thenthe"RadioSites"dialogboxisdisplayed.
- Clickthe"ImportfromGoogle(*.kml)File"button;then,inthe"OpenFile"dialog,selectthe
Config2.kmlfilesavedinthepreviousexercise.
- TheRadioSitesinConfig2arelistedinthe"RadioSites"dialog..

EndofHERALDLab#1


HERALD Lab #2 - Link Budget and Fade Margin

HERALD Functions

EachtimetheHopReportisdisplayed,anupdatedLinkBudgetiscomputed. TheLinkBudgetis
displayedandcanbeprinted.ItleadstotheevaluationoftheHopFadeMargin.

Exercise 2.1 : Compute Link Budget

"LBudget1_Sample.hpf"project(orfinditintheRecentProjectslist).
- Inthe"RadioHops"dialog,selecttheALPHABETAhopandclickthe"Config/Modify"buttonto
displaythe"HopConfiguration"dialog;checkhowthesitesandhoparepresentlyconfigured;
clickthe"OK"buttontodisplaytheHopReport;checktheConfigurationsectionoftheHop
Report;checktheLinkBudget(inthePerformancesectionoftheHopReport).

- Returntothe"HopConfiguration"dialogandcompletetheHopConfiguration,usingthe
"PropagationLossesDefine"button(RadioHopframe);the"VariousLosses"dialogisdisplayed,
whereyoucansetseverallossanddegradationparameters,relatedtotheradiotransmitterand
receiverstructureandtopropagationconditions.

- ComputeagaintheLinkBudgetandexaminethePropagationlossessection; practicewiththe
iterativeprocessofrevisingconfiguration/checkinglinkbudget.

- CompletetheConfigurationandcomputetheLinkBudgetofotherhopsinthe
"LBudget1_Sample.hpf"project.


Exercise 2.2 : Adjust Fade Margin

RunHeraldasinthepreviousexercise.
- SelecttheALPHABETAhopandrevisethesiteconfiguration(AntennaandEquipmentselection)
toobtainaFadeMarginapproximatelyequalto40dB,witha140Mb/sorSTM1capacity;findat
leasttwoalternativesolutions.
Tip:
Setatentativeconfiguration,checkthelinkbudgetandtakenotehowmuchthefademargin
targetismissed. GobacktoHopConfiguration,modifytheAntennaand/orEquipmentselection
inordertoadjustappropriatelygain/Txpower/Rxthreshold(browsetheAntennaand
Equipmentlibraries);useTxorRxattenuators("Losses/Degrad.Define"button)ifnecessary.

- Commentonthealternativesolutionsyou'vefoundto theaboveproblem.
Tip:
Mainfactorsincomparingtheantenna/equipmentconfigurationsare:
- Antennainstallationproblems;
- Emittedpower,antennadirectivity(interferenceproduced/received)
- Overallcost(antenna,equipment).

- Repeattheabovefortheotherhops:
BETACHARLIE,34Mb/scapacity,fademarginobjective48dB;
BETADELTA,2Mb/scapacity,fademarginobjective48dB.
Findthemaximumfademarginachievableusingtheexistingantenna/equipmentlibraries.
- Sampleprojectsclosetotheaboveobjectivesaregivenin"LBudget2_Sample.hpf"(notethat
propagationlossestobeconsideredinthe"HopConfiguration"dialogwillbediscussedinlater
sessions)


Exercise 2.3 : Print Hop Report

RunHeraldasinthepreviousexercises,selectonehopanddisplaytheHopReport.
Tip:
AlternativewaystodisplaytheHopReportare:

- Executethe"Define/Hops"command,selectthedesiredhop,thenclicktheReportbutton(the
selectedhopissetastheActiveHop);
- Executethe"Display/HopReport"command:yougettheHopReportreferringtothepresently
setActiveHop(shortcut:CTRL+H);
- Executethe"Define/ActiveHopConfiguration"command,inthe"HopConfiguration"dialog
revisethesite/Hopconfiguration(ifnecessary),theclickthe"OK"button.
- Arrangesettingsrelatedtooutputdocuments:Language(Customize/Languagecommand)and
Projectinformation(File/ProjectInfocommand).
- ExecutetheFile/Printcommand(ifthiscommandisnotsupportedinyourHERALDrelease,you
cananywaychecktheprintresultusingtheFile/PrintPreviewcommand);


Exercise 2.4 : Include a Passive Repeater

"LBudget3_Sample.hpf"project(orfinditintheRecentProjectslist).Theopenprojectistheone
producedintheHopConfigurationExercise1.6).
- SelecttheALPHABETAhopandclickthe"Config/Modify"buttontodisplaythe"Hop
Configuration"dialog.Clickthe"PassiveRepeater/Define"buttonandcheckthepassive
repeaterconfigurationparameters(singlereflector). Donotmodifyreflectorparameters;do
notdefinepathprofiles(notconsideredatthisstage).
- Closethe"HopConfiguration"dialogwiththe"OK"buttonsotheHopReportisdisplayed.Check
theTopologyandReflectorparametersinthe"Configuration/RepeaterSite"sectionofthe
Reportandthelinkbudgetresultsinthe"Performance/RepeaterLoss"section.
- Returntothe"HopConfiguration"/"PassiveRepeater"dialogsandmodifythereflectorsize;
checktheRepeaterLossintheHopReport.Notethedependenceofrepeaterlossonreflector
size(6dBreductionifsizeisdoubled). Setagainthereflectorsizeto25m
2
.
- MovetheZEBRA(repeater)sitepositionclosertotheALPHAsite(Define/Sitescommand). Set
thesamelongitudeoftheALPHAsite(E731'52"),donotmodifylatitude. NotethattheALPHA
ZEBRAdistanceis0.83kmonly.IntheHopReport,notethata"Nearfieldcorrection"inthe
RepeaterLossisincluded(1.1dB).
- WiththenewZEBRAposition,reducethereflectorsizeto16m
2
. IntheHopReport,notethat
the"RepeaterBasicLoss"increases(reducedeffectivearea),whilethe"NearfieldCorrection"
decreases(see parameters o, | usedtoestimateNearfieldcorrection). Similarly,selecta
smaller(2m)antennaattheALPHAsite;thenearfieldcorrectionisreduced(largerantenna
mainlobe,smaller | parameter).

EndofHERALDLab#2


HERALD Lab #3 Path Clearance

HERALD Functions

ThefollowingHeraldfunctionsarerelatedtoProfileanalysis,clearancecriteria,andobstructionloss
estimation:
- Thepathprofileisspecifiedasasetofpoints(distancefromfirstsite,groundelevationabove
sealevel,andobstructionabovegroundlevel,ifany).Itcanbedefined(ormodified)usingthe
Define/PathProfilecommand(manualdataediting;importfromtableinASCIIformat;import
fromNASA/SRTMdigitalelevationmaps);alsointhe"HopConfiguration"dialog,theHopLength
/Profilebuttongivesaccesstotheprofiledefinitiondialog.
- ClearancecriteriaaresetusingtheEvaluate/Clearance/Criteriacommand. Two(medianand
minimum)kfactorvaluesareset;foreachkfactorvalue,thepercentageoftheFresnel
ellipsoid,thatisrequiredtobefreefromanyobstruction,isspecified; dataderivedfromITUR
Rec.P530aresetasadefault(includingthe minimum k-factor value,computedasafunction
ofpathlength).
- ThepathprofileisdisplayedusingtheDisplay/PathProfilecommand;ifclearancecriteriaare
notyetset,onlytheterrainprofileisshown,withradiositedata;otherwise,twoFresnel
ellipsoids,forgivenradiuspercentages,areplotted(seetheblueandgreenlinesintheexample
giveninthe Course Notes).
- Thepathprofileviewiscompletedwithatable,whereresultsonnormalizedclearanceand
marginsaredisplayed;indicationaboutcompliancewithclearancecriteriaandestimateof
obstructionlossarereportedbelowthetable.
- Theantennaheightdefinitionispartofthe"HopConfiguration"dialog;theantennaheightcan
bemodifiedalsobymeansoftheEvaluate/Clearance/AntennaHeightcommand.Tentative
valuesofantennaheightcanbesetandcomparedwiththepreviousones.
- TheEvaluate/Clearance/ObstructionLosscommanddisplaysadialogwheretheestimatesof
theobstructionlossaregivenforthethree obstacle models indicatedbyITURRec.P530
(knifeedge,smoothsphericalearth,intermediateterrain);itisassumedthattheoperator
entersthefinalestimateoftheObstructionLoss.


Exercise 3.1 : Define path profile

"LBudget2_Sample.hpf"project(orfinditintheRecentProjectslist).Theopenprojectistheone
producedinexercisesin Herald Lab #1 and Herald Lab #2).

- SelecttheALPHABETAhopandchecktheHopConfiguration;iftheantennaheightwasnot
selectedpreviously,set25mattheALPHAsiteand20mattheBETAsite.
- ExecutetheDefine/Profilecommand;inthe"PathProfile"dialog.clickthe"ReadPointsfrom
ASCIIfile"buttonandloadthe"Profile.txt"file.Checktheprofiletable,whereprofilepoints
shouldbe:
Distancefromfirst
site[km]
Terrainelevation
[m]
Obstacleabove
terrain[m]
1 375 0
5 366 0
11.5 280 0
20 245 0

- Testthealternativeimportfunction:inthe"PathProfile"dialogclickthe"ReadProfilefrom
SRTMMaps". Checktheprofiletablewithmoredetaileddata.
- Closethe"PathProfile"dialogandchecktheprofiledisplayed;practicewiththeprofile
definitionprocess,byaddinganddeletingpoints;attheend,takecaretosettheprofile
according.tothetableabove.

Tip:
UsetheHeraldicon:
Define/HopConfigurationcommand
Define/PathProfilecommand
Display/PathProfilecommand



Exercise 3.2 : Check clearance

RunHeraldand;inthe"GettingStarted..."SplashScreenclicktheOpenProjecticontoopen
the"Clearance1_Sample.hpf"project(orfinditintheRecentProjectslist).Inthe"RadioHops"
dialogselecttheALPHABETAhopanddisplaythepathprofile.
- ExecutetheEvaluate/Clearance/Criteriacommandtodisplaythe"PlanningCriteriaforPath
Clearance"dialog. Intheupperframe,checkthattheRelevantfactorsarecorrectlyset:
frequencyabove2GHz,Temperateclimate(asindicatedbyradiositecoordinates),single
obstruction;then,inthelowerframe,theITURcriteriaaresetasadefault;checkthestandard
andminimumvaluesofthekfactorandthecorrespondingFresnelradiuspercentages(compare
with minimum k-factor diagram andthe chart of ITU-R clearance criteria);notehowthe
criteriamodifyifyouchangethesettingsintheupperframe.

- ClicktheOKbuttontodisplaythepathprofilewithFresnelellipsoidmarginsforgiven
percentages(blue and green lines);examinethetableabovethediagram,withindicationof
theassumptionsrelevanttotheblueandgreencurvesandtheresultsonnormalizedclearance
andmargin.

- Returntothe"PlanningCriteriaforPathClearance"dialog;
Tip:
UsetheHeraldicon . SetclearancecriteriadifferentfromtheITURdefault.
Takenoteoftheresultinthepathprofilediagram.

Tip:
YoucansetthekfactorandtheF1percentageinordertodisplayraytrajectoriesor
Fresnelellipsoidsofyourinterest. Forexample,withagivenkfactor,ifyousetthe
FresnelRadius%tozero,thenthelineinthediagramistheraytrajectoryforthatk
factorvalue;ifyouset100%,thenthelinedisplayedisthelowermarginofthefull
Fresnelellipsoid..

- WhentheprofileandFresnelellipsoiddiagramisdisplayed,moveyourmousealongthepath
profileandclicktheleftbutton:apathpositionisselected,whereclearanceparametersare
computed.The"ProfileCheckPoint"dialogisdisplayed,whereyouhaveoptionstosavethat
pointand/ordisplayresultsintheprofilediagramtable.


Exercise 3.3 : Modify antenna height

"Clearance1_Sample.hpf"project(orfinditintheRecentProjectslist).Inthe"RadioHops"dialog
selecttheALPHABETAhop.
- DisplaythepathprofileandsetthekfactorandFresnelradiuspercentagestothecorrect
values,asdiscussedinthepreviousexercise; thenexecutetheEvaluate/Clearance/Antenna
Heightcommand
Tip:
UsetheHeraldicon . Inthe"AntennaHeightDefinition"dialog,modifytheantenna
height valuesandcheckthenewresults.

- Again,inthe "AntennaHeightDefinition"dialog,setTentativevaluesandcheckthe"Plot
TentativeValues"checkbox.Intheprofilediagram,youseetheFresnelellipsoidsections,both
withthepreviousantennaheightvaluesandwiththetentativeones;comparetheresultswith
thetwooptionsofantennaheight(notethattheredlinereferstosame(k,%)conditionasthe
blueline;similarly,thegraylinecompareswiththegreenone).

- Executethe Evaluate/Clearance/AntennaHeightcommand;ifyou setONthe
"Tentative Design"checkbox,thententativevaluesareassignedasantennaheightdesign
values;ifyouuncheckthe"PlotTentativeValues"checkbox,thentheantennaheightvaluesare
unchanged.

- Whenyoumodifytheantennaheight,theindicationsbelowthetableintheprofilediagramare
updated. Notethat:
a. the"Clearancecriteria(NOT)satisfied"labeldependsontheMarginvalues:onlyifboth
margins(referringtostandardandminimumkfactor)arepositive,thencriteriaARE
satisfied;
b. theObstructionLossestimateissetto"0dB"aslongastheNormalizedClearancefor
standardkfactoris>0.5(see diagram). So,itmayhappenthatclearancecriteriaarenot
satisfiedeveniftheestimatedobstructionlossiszero. Toexplainthis,considerthat: (i)
clearancecriteriarequiresomemargin; (ii)clearancecriteriaapplybothtostandardand
minimumkfactor,whileobstructionlossisestimatedforstandardkfactor.


Exercise 3.4 : Estimate obstruction loss

Goonwiththesameprojectas inthepreviousexercise.Selectthe ALPHABETAhopanddisplay
theprofileandFresnelellipsoiddiagram.
- With25mand20mantennaheightatALPHAandBETAsitesrespectively,thelinebelowthe
tablewillrread"ClearanceCriteriasatisfiedEstimatedObstructionLoss=0dB"
- Modify(reduce)theantennaheightsothatthe"ClickheretoestimateObstructionLoss"label
appearsbelowthetable.
- Clickontheabovementionedline(orexecute the Evaluate/Clearance/ObstructionLoss
command);the"ObstructionLossEstimate"dialogisdisplayed,withtheresultsreferredtothe
threeobstaclemodels(knifeedge,smoothsphericalearth,andintermediateterrain)andtothe
roundedobstaclemodel,asinITURRecommendations. Notethattheoperatorentersthefinal
estimateoftheObstructionLoss. Inthiscase,the"Roundedobstacle"valuecanbeareasonable
choice.
- ExecutetheDisplay/HopReportcommand ( Tip:Usetheshortcut:CTRL+H).ChecktheLink
Budget,wherethepreviouslysetObstructionLossmustbeincluded.


Exercise 3.5 : Display Profile Report

Continuewiththe"Clearance1_Sample.hpf"project,asrevisedinpreviousexercises:
- SelecttheALPHABETAhop,thenexecutetheDisplay/ProfileReportcommand;checkthe
Profilepointlistandresultsofclearanceanalysis (donotconsiderwarningsaboutreflection
analysis).
- DisplaythePathProfile( Tip:clickthe icon).Then,clickthemousealongthepath
profile,toaddpointstothe"CheckPoint"list(inthe"ProfileCheckPoint"dialog,settoONthe
checkbox"Addtocheckpointlist").
- ExecutetheDefine/PathProfilecommand ( Tip:clickthe icon)todisplaythe"Path
profile"dialog,whereyoucanfindtheselectedcheckpointsaddedtotheprofilepoints. Delete
undesiredpoints(ifany).
- Again,displaytheProfileReportandverifythattheProfileCheckPointsarelisted(forthose
points,theelevationistheresultoflinearinterpolationandiswritteninbrackets).

EndofHERALDLab#3


HERALD Lab #4 Ground Reflections

HERALD Functions

ThefollowingHeraldfunctionsarerelatedtoReflectionanalysis:
- TheEvaluate/Reflections/PlotAllcommanddisplaysthePathProfileandplotsallthe
(geometricallypossible)reflectionpoints,evenifpartiallyobstructed.Theoperatorisenabledto
selectedasinglereflection,tobeanalyzedindetails;therelevantgeometricalandradio
parametersarepresentedinthetableabovetheprofilediagram.
- Afterareflectionpointhasbeenselectedontheprofilediagram(reflectedraysplottedinred),
theEvaluate/Reflections/Analyzecommandcanbeusedtodisplaythe"ReflectionAnalysis"
dialog.Intheupperframe,theoperatorsetstherelevantparameters(reflectioncoefficient,use
ofdiversityandantennaspacing). Inthesecondframetheresultsareshown,withdetailsonthe
ReflectionPathLosses(Antennadirectivity,ObstructionLossintheReflectionPaths,Reflection
Coefficient,andDivergenceFactor),reflectiondelayandgrazingangle. Inthelowerframesome
Notesmayappearwhencriticalparametersareestimated.
- The"RxPowervs.k"button,inthe"ReflectionAnalysis"dialog,displaysadiagramwherethe
receivedpowerisplottedasafunctionofthekfactor,atthemainandatthediversity(if
configured)antennas.
- The"AntennaHeight"button,inthe"ReflectionAnalysis"dialog,displaysthe"AntennaHeight"
dialog,whereantennaheightcanbemodified.
- The"OKStoreresults"button,inthe"ReflectionAnalysis"dialog,savestheReflectionAnalysis
results.NotethattheRxthresholddegradation(singleanddiversityreception,ifconfigured)is
estimated,whiletheoperatorcanenterthefinaldegradationresult(tobeincludedintheLink
Budget),takingaccountofsomeconservativemargin,ifnecessary.


Exercise 4.1 : Estimate reflection parameters

"Reflection1_Sample.hpf"project(orfinditintheRecentProjectslist).Thisprojectisalready
initialized(4GHz,60kmoverthesearadiohopwithreflection).
- SelecttheALPHABETAhopandexecutetheEvaluate/Reflections/PlotAllcommand.
Tip:UsetheHeraldicon

- Thereflectionpointat30.9kmshouldbeselected.Ifanotherreflectionpointisselected,change
selectionbypressingtheTabkey
- ExaminetheReflectionparameters;inparticularnotethat:
a. thepathdifferenceis78cm,muchgreaterthanthesignalwavelength(7.5cmat4GHz);
b. thetimedelayis2.6ns,muchshorterthanthesymbolperiodinanydigitalmodulation;
c. thedirecttoreflectedrayangles,atbothterminalsareverysmall,sothelossinantenna
gainisalmostnegligible(0.3dB);
d. thereflectedraypathisclear(noobstructionloss).

- BypressingtheTabkey,selecttheotherreflectionpoint(atabout5.4km);thisreflectionis
probablyNOTsignificant,itderivesfromapproximationsmadeinthepathprofile,describingthe
steepterrainclosetotheradiosite; note,inthiscase,asubstantiallossinantennagain(6dB)
andapartialobstructionofthereflectedray.


Exercise 4.2 : Analyze Rx power level

Goonwiththe"Reflection1_Sample.hpf"project,asinthepreviousexercise.
- ExecutetheEvaluate/Reflections/PlotAllcommand,thenselectthereflectionpointat30.9
km(usetheTabkey,ifnecessary).
- ExecutetheEvaluate/Reflections/Analyzecommand. Inthe"Reflectionanalysis"dialog,first
considerthe"SETPARAMETERS"frame;settheReflectioncoefficientto0dB,anduncheckthe
twoDiversitycheckboxes
- Examinethe"RESULTS"frame;notetheTotalLossinthereflectionpath,withalltheitemsthat
contributetothefinalresult.TakenoteoftheRxdegradationestimate.
- Clickthe"RxPowervs.k"buttontogetthediagramofreceivedpowerasafunctionofk
factor. Notethatasmallchangeinthekfactoraroundthestandardvalue(1.33)causestheRx
powertochangesignificantly.Returntothe"Reflectionanalysis"dialog.


Exercise 4.3 : Design diversity Rx

Goonwiththe"Reflection1_Sample.hpf"project,asinthepreviousexercise.Displaythe"Reflection
analysis"dialog.
- EnabletheDiversitycheckboxes(upperframe),settheantennaspacingtooptimumvalues
(OptimumDiversitybutton)andrepeatthestepsindicatedatthepreviouspoint.

- TheRxdegradationwithdiversityis0dB. DisplaytheRxpowervs.kdiagramandverifythatthe
twocurvesarewellinterleaved(notoverlapping).Foranykfactorvalue,oneofthetwo
antennasreceivesasignalatahighpowerlevel:diversityreceptionisquiteeffective(however,
considerthat0dBdegradationiscomputedundertheassumptionofanidealdiversity
switching).

- Returntothe"Reflectionanalysis"dialogandsettheantennaspacingatSiteALPHAat12m;
notethattheRxdegradation(withdiversity)isincreasedto1.8dB. IntheRxpowervs.k
diagram,thetwocurvesatsiteALPHAarenotwellinterleavedandoverlapfork>1.5;thisisan
exampleofINEFFECTIVEdiversitydesign.

- CompleteyourdesignwithoptimumdiversityspacingandafinalestimateofRx
degradation. Thismaybea1dBdegradation,sincethe0dBestimateiscomputedunderthe
assumptionofanidealdiversityswitchingandtheSingleRxdegradationisestimated3.9dB. Set
thefinalestimateinthe"AssumedinLinkBudget"datacell. Pressthe"OKStoreresults"
buttontoexit,thencheckthattheresultsareincludedintheHopReportandintheProfile
Report.


Exercise 4.4 : Change reflection parameters

"Reflection1_Sample.hpf"project(orfinditintheRecentProjectslist).Inthe"RadioHops"dialog
selecttheALPHABETAhopanddisplaythePathProfilewithreflectionrays.Startingfromthisstate,
youhaveseveralwaysofchangingtheradioelectricaland/orgeometricalparametersinthe
reflectionpath.Belowaresomeexamples;ineachcondition,takenoteofnewaspectsofreflection
analysis.

- ExecutetheEvaluate/Reflections/Analyzecommand. Inthe"Reflectionanalysis"dialog,
modifytheReflectioncoefficientto3,6,or10dB. Takenoteofnewresultswithincreasing
attenuationofthereflectedray.

- InthePathProfilediagram,selectthereflectionpointat5.4km. Repeatallthemainstepsin
previousanalysis,assuminga3dBreflectioncoefficient(quiteconservativeforreflectionondry
soilorrocks). Notetheroleofantennadirectivityinincreasingthereflectionpathloss.

- ExecutetheEvaluate/Reflections/Analyzecommand. Inthe"Reflectionanalysis"dialog,press
the"AntennaHeight"buttonandrevisetheprojectwithdifferentantennaheights.


Exercise 4.5 : Move radio site position

"Reflection1_Sample.hpf"project(orfinditintheRecentProjectslist).Inthe"RadioHops"dialog
selecttheALPHABETAhopanddisplaythePathProfilewithreflectionrays.
- ExecutetheDefine/PathProfilecommandandmodifytheHopLengthfrom59.5toabout62.0
km;
thismeansthatBETAhasbeenmovedsome2.5kmfarfromthecoastline.

- Closethe"PathProfile"dialog;thenexecutetheReflections/PlotAllcommand.ThenewBETA
positionproducesapartialobstructioninthereflectedray,withasubstantialsignalloss(see
reflectiondatainthetableabovetheprofilediagram).

- CheckPathClearancewiththenewBETAsiteposition(see HERALD Lab #3). Itappearsthat
clearancecriteriaarenotsatisfied. Increasebysome24mtheantennaheightattheBETAsite,
sothatpathclearanceisconfirmed. Checkagainthereflectionresults(theobstructionlossin
thereflectedsignalisslightlylower,butstilluseful).

- ExecutetheReflections/Analyzecommandandrevisetheresultswiththeadditional
attenuationinthereflectedsignal. Thisisanexampleofthesignificantbenefitofferedby
a "lucky"positioningoftheradiosite (unfortunately, hopdesignisnotalwayssoeasyasin
computerexamples...).

EndofHERALDLab#4


HERALD Lab #5 Multipath Fading

HERALD Functions
ThefollowingHeraldfunctionsarerelatedtoMultipathanalysis:
- TheEvaluate/Multipathcommanddisplaysthe"MultipathOccurrenceModel"dialog,where
theoperatorsetstheparametersusefultoestimatetheMultipathOccurrenceFactorP
0
,
accordingtotheselectedmodel.(Note:ifthe"MultipathOutage"dialogisdisplayed,thenclick
the"RevisePoestimate"buttontoreturntothe"MultipathOccurrenceModel"dialog).

- UsingtheBarnettVigantsmodel,therequiredparametersaretheclimaticregion(tobeselected
amongthefiveregionsproposedbythatmodel)andthepathroughness(ifthepathprofileis
defined,thentheroughnessisautomaticallycomputed). Themodelisalsobasedonthepath
lengthandoperatingfrequency(botharealreadydefinedatthisdesignstage).

- Afterdefinitionofmodelparameters,theMultipathOccurrenceStatisticsdiagramis
displayed. Notethatthestatisticsdiagramisplotted,accordingtoITURRec.P530,withtime
percentagesastheabscissaaxisandfadedepthastheordinateaxis.Thelowattenuationregion
(approximately,forfadedepthlowerthan15dB)deviatesfromthe10dB/decadeslope,
accordingtoRec.P530(sect.2.3.2)formulasfor"shallowfading".

- OncetheMultipathOccurrenceFactorP
0
hasbeenestimated,theEvaluate/Multipath
commanddisplaysthe"MultipathOutage"dialog.Afterparametersetting,clickOKtodisplay
theOutagediagram;ontherightofthediagram,theavailableFlatFadeMarginandtheoutage
prediction(intimepercentageandsecondsintheworstmonth)aregiven.

- Inordertodefineaspacediversityreceiverconfiguration,theDefine/ActiveHopConfig
commandmustbeexecutedtodisplaythe"HopConfiguration"dialog,wheretheoptionfora
diversityantennacanbesetatoneorbothreceiversites.Spacediversityiscompletedby
selectingtheantennacode(s)andtheantennaspacing.

- BoththeMultipathOccurrenceStatisticsandtheMultipathOutagediagramstakeaccountof
spacediversity,whenconfigured.


- IntheHopReport(Configurationsection)the"EnvironmentalParametersandPropagation
Models"linesindicatetheassumptionsonMultipathanalysis,whileattheendofthe
Performancesectionthepredictedoutage(singleRxanddiversityRx,ifconfigured)isreported.


Exercise 5.1: Estimate multipath occurrence

"Multipath1_Sample.hpf"project(orfinditintheRecentProjectslist).

- Inthe"RadioHops"dialogselecttheDELTAECHOhop(11GHz,48km)anddisplaytheHop
Report. CheckthatnoreferencetomultipathanalysisisreportedintheConfigurationorinthe
PerformancesectionsoftheHopReport.

- ExecutetheEvaluate/Multipathcommand.

- Inthe"MultipathOccurrenceModel"dialog,youhavetosettheBarnettVigantsmodel
parameters.Theprofileroughnessisalreadycomputed(10m)fromtheterrainprofile
previouslydefined. TesthowtheselectionoftheClimaticRegionaffectstheOccurrenceFactor
P
0
,showninthesamedialog.Finally,selectthe"Continentaltemperate"region. ClicktheOK
button.

- TheMultipathOccurrenceStatisticsdiagramisdisplayed. Notethedeepfadingregion(10dB/
decadeslope)andtheshallowfadingregion(lowattenuation).ClicktheExitbutton(right
bottomcornerofthescreen).

- Afterinitializationofmultipathanalysis,savetheprojectas"Multipath2.hpf"(ifyourHERALD
releasedoesnotsupportthe"Save"function,don'tworry; you'llfindthe
"Multipath2_Sample.hpf"fileinyourProjectexamples).

- TotesthowtheprofileroughnessaffecttheMultipathOccurrenceFactor,deletethepath
profile(Define/Profilecommand,thendeleteallpoints).Inthe"MultipathOccurrenceModel"
dialog,youcannowmodifytheProfileRoughnessparameter(theacceptablerangeinthe
Barnettmodelis6to42m).


Exercise 5.2: Estimate multipath outage

"Multipath2.hpf"(orthe"Multipath2_Sample.hpf")project,asrevisedinthepreviousexercise.In
the"RadioHops"dialogselecttheDELTAECHOhop.
- ExecutetheEvaluate/Multipathcommand.The"MultipathOutage"dialogisdisplayed;donot
checkanycheckboxnorsetanyplottingcomparison.ClicktheOKbutton.

- TheMultipathOutagediagramisdisplayed;ontherightyoufindasummaryofthehop
parameters,propagationmodel,andoutagepredictions.Notethatonlythe"narrowband"or
"nonselective"multipathmodelisappliedinthisexample.

- DisplaytheHopReportandfindresultsofmultipathanalysisattheendofthePerformance
section.


Exercise 5.3: Frequency selective multipath

Goonwiththeprojectcarriedoninthepreviousexercise.
- Gotothe"HopConfiguration"dialogtoselecttheequipmentwithcode"D/11000a"(signature
dataaredefined).ThenrepeattheOutageestimationprocess,usingthe"frequencyselective"
multipathmodel.

- WhenyouexecutetheEvaluate/Multipathcommand,intheMultipathOutagedialog,setthe
Plottingcomparisoncheckbox"Narrowvs.Wideband(Selectivefading)".

- CommentontheresultsintheMultipathOutagediagram.
Tip:
theoutagepredictionproducedbytheNarrowbandmodelisadecreasingfunctionofthe
FadeMargin. Ontheotherhand,theoutagepredictionestimatedundertheWideband
(frequencyselective)modelhasaflatasymptote.Thisisduetothefrequencyselective
outagecomponent(theoutageprobabilityduetosignaldistortionwhichcannotbereduced
underagivenvalue,evenincreasingthefademargin).


Exercise 5.4: Design space diversity

"Multipath2.hpf".Inthe"RadioHops"dialogselecttheDELTAECHOhop.Thepredictedoutage
withsinglereceiverandtheNarrowbandmultipathmodelisveryhigh(severalminutes/month)and
probablynotacceptable

- Displaythe"HopConfiguration"dialog(Define/ActiveHopConfigcommand)andconfigurethe
diversityantennaatbothradiosites. Selectthesameantennacode,usedasthemainantenna,
setthediversityspacingat180wavelengths(about5m),asatentativevalue.

- ExecutetheEvaluate/Multipathcommandandtestthenewoutagepredictions. More
completeresultsaregivenintheHopReport(comparisonofoutagepredictionsinsingleand
diversityreception,diversityimprovement).

- ExecutetheEvaluate/Multipathcommand,clickthe"RevisePoestimate"buttontoreturnto
the"MultipathOccurrenceModel"dialog;clickOKtodisplaytheMultipathOccurrenceStatistics
diagram;notethatthediversitycurveslope(indeepfadingregion)is5dB/decade.

- Repeattheanalysiswithdifferentantennaspacingandtesthowthediversityimprovement
varies.
Tip:
setadifferentspacingatthetwosites,thendisplaytheHopReport,soyoucanimmediately
comparethediversityimprovements(thisiscorrectasfarasthefademarginisthesameat
thetwoRxsites).


Exercise 5.5: Use frequency diversity

"Multipath2.hpf".Inthe"RadioHops"dialogselecttheDELTAECHOhop.

- Displaythe"HopConfiguration"dialog(Define/ActiveHopConfigcommand)andclickthe
"FrequencyDiversity/Define"button. Selectthe1+1frequencydiversityconfiguration,with80
MHzchannelspacing(thisisthecochannelRFspacingintheITU11GHzchannelarrangement).

- ClosetheopendialogsandexecutetheEvaluate/Multipathcommandtotestthenewoutage
predictions. SetthePlottingComparisoncheckbox"WithandW/oFrequencydiversity"

- Repeattheexercisewithadifferentchannelspacing.

- RepeattheexercisewiththeWideband(frequencyselective)multipathmodel,asintroduced
in Exercise 5.3.

EndofHERALDLab#5


HERALD Lab #6 Rain Attenuation

HERALD Functions
ThefollowingHeraldfunctionsarerelatedtoRainattenuation:
- TheEvaluate/Raincommanddisplaysthe"RainModel"dialog,wheretheoperatorsetsthe
parametersrequiredtoimplementtheITURrainattenuationmodel,basedonrainintensity
statistics.
- Themainmodelparameteristherainintensityfor0.01%ofthetime:itcanbesetdirectlyby
theoperator;orthe ITU-R rain region canbeselected(therainintensityisautomaticallyset),
orthe ITU-R rain database canbeaccessed,onthebasisofhopcoordinates.
- ThehopcoordinatesarealsorequiredifthemostrecentversionofRec.530isapplied,inorder
tospecifyifthehopoperatesinthetemperateorintheequatorial/tropicalzone(latitudelower
than30,NorthorSouth).
- OtherparametersareheRxsignalpolarizationateachreceiversiteandthewetradomeloss(if
any).
- TheRainUnavailabilitydiagramshowsthetimepercentageasafunctionoftherainattenuation,
bothforhorizontalandverticalpolarizations;ontheright,thepredictedunavailabilityis
reported,takingaccountofthespecifiedpolarizationateachRxsiteandofthewetradomeloss.
- TheHopReport,attheEnvironmentalParameters&PropagationModelslines(Configuration
section),indicatestheassumptionsmadeabouttherainattenuationmodel.Attheendofthe
Performancesection,therainunavailabilitypredictionsarereported.


Exercise 6.1 : Predict rain unavailability

"Rain1:Sample.hpf".
- Inthe"RadioHops"dialog,selecttheBETADELTAhop(38GHz,2.5km)anddisplaytheHop
Report

- ExecutetheEvaluate/Raincommand.
Tip:
ClicktheHERALDicon
- Inthe"RainModel"dialog,setthemodelparameters;tosetrainintensity,youcan:
a. enterdirectlythedesiredvalue,
b. selectarainregion(ITURRec.8372),
c. clickthe"DataBase"buttontoaccesstheITURRec.8373rainintensityarchive.

- TheRainUnavailabilitydiagramisdisplayed. NotetheunavailabilitypredictionforeachRxsite,
ontheright,andthesignificantdifferencebetweenthetwocurvesforHpol.andVpol.

- Returntothe"RainModel"dialog,tomodifythemodelparameters,anddisplayagaintheRain
Unavailabilitydiagram.

- ChecktheresultsreportedintheHopReport(modelparametersintheConfigurationsection
andpredictedunavailabilityinthePerformancesection).


Exercise 6.2 : Optimize hop design

"Rain1_Sample.hpf".Inthe"RadioHops"dialog,selecttheECHODELTA(22GHz,6km)hop.
- Inthe"HopConfiguration"dialog,notethattheantennaarenotselectedyet.Makeatentative
selection,thendisplaytheHopReportandtakenoteoftheavailableFadeMargin.

- ExecutetheEvaluate/Raincommand. Inthe"RainModel"dialog,setthe"L"rainregionand
theHpol.atbothsites. Selecttheoption"Rec.P.5307",sothatoperationinthetemperate
regionisassumed(evenifhopcoordinatesarenotdefined).

- ExaminetheUnavailabilityresults.Modifyantennaselection(returntoHopConfiguration),if
necessary,togetarainunavailabilityobjectivebelow30min/year.

- Revisethepreviousdesigntotheobjectiveofminimumcostantennas,withacceptedrain
unavailabilityupto45min/year.


Exercise 6.3 : Include atmospheric absorption

Goonwiththe"Rain1_Sample.hpf"project,asupdatedinthepreviousexercise. SelecttheECHO
DELTA(22GHz,6km)hop.
- Estimatethe water vapour specific attenuation atabout22GHz,for60%relativevapour
densityatabout15C.

- Displaythe"HopConfiguration"dialogandclickthe"PropagationLosses/Define"button.Inthe
"VariousLosses"dialog,settheAtmosphericAbsorptionatthevaluecomputedabove.

- Closethe"HopConfiguration"dialogandchecktheFadeMargin(reducedbytheadditional
loss).

- Revisetherainunavailabilitypredictionswiththereducedfademargin.


Exercise 6.4 : Revise design for tropical regions

Goonwiththe"Rain1_Sample.hpf"project,asupdatedinthepreviousexercise. SelecttheECHO
DELTA(22GHz,6km)hop.

- ExecutetheEvaluate/Raincommand. Inthe"RainModel"dialog,setparametersfortropical
regions:
o geocoordinates: set(S4,W40);
o rainintensity;clickbutton"ITURRec.8373DataBase";
o iftheITURDataBasefilesarenotloaded, selectthe"N"rainregion;
i) setoption"Rec.P.5308";
ii) setVpol.atbothsites,tominimizeattenuation.

- ExaminetheUnavailabilityresults.Modifyantennaselection(returntoHopConfiguration),if
necessary,togetthesameobjectivesasinExercise6.2.
Notethatthetimeunavailabilitydiagramhasachangeofslope,closeto0.001%. Insomecases,a
fewdB'schangeinfademarginproducearemarkablevariationinthepredictedunavailabilityand
significantdifferencebetweenHpol.andVpol.results. Thismaybeaweakpointinthepresent
model;resultsinthisrangemustbeconsideredwithsomecare.


Exercise 6.5 : Use Freq./Pol. scaling

"Rain1_Sample.hpf".Inthe"RadioHops"dialog,selecttheBETADELTA(38GHz,2.5km)hop.

- ExecutetheCustomize/Propagationmodelcommand.Inthe"PropagationModels"dialog,set
theRainAttenuationmodel(upperleftframe)to"Frequency/PolarizationScaling"

- ExecutetheEvaluate/Raincommand. Setrequiredparametersinthe"RainModel"dialog:
o Referencefrequency=23GHz;
o Referencepolarization=H;
o Referenceattenuation(0.01%)=15dB

- ExaminetheUnavailabilityresults. Notethatthe0.01%attenuation(15dBatthereference
frequency23GHz,Hpol.)isabout30dBattheoperatingfrequency38GHz,samepol.

- ReturntotheRainIntensity(Rec.5309)model(Customize/Propagationmodelcommand),
thenrepeattheRainUnavailabilitypredictionprocess.SetRainIntensity=55mm/handdisplay
theRainUnavailabilitydiagram. Notethatthe0.01%attenuationisagain30dB.
Thismeansthatthe"FrequencyScaling"model(asappliedwiththeabovedataat23GHz)is
equivalenttothe"RainIntensity"modelwitha0.01%rainintensity=55mm/h.

EndofHERALDLab#6


HERALD Lab #7 Interference Analysis

HERALD Functions
ThefollowingHeraldfunctionsarerelatedtoInterferenceAnalysis:
- Priortointerferenceanalysis,hopandequipmentconfigurationmustbesuitablydefined:
o RFchannelsandpolarizationusedintheactivehoparedefinedintheFrequency
Arrangementdialog(displayedbyclickingthe"FrequencyArrangement/Define"buttonin
the"HopConfiguration"dialog).
o NetFilterDiscrimination(NFD)isdefinedinthe"InterferenceNetFilterDiscrimination"
dialog(displayedbytheDataBase/NetFilterDiscrim.command),wheretheinterferingand
interfered(victim)equipmentandtherelevantchannelspacingarespecified(interference
analysisindicatesifapotentialinterferencecannotbeevaluatedbecauseNFDismissing).
o Antennadiagramisdefinedinthe"ModifyAntennaData"dialog(displayedbytheDataBase
/Antennacommand).

- TheEvaluate/Interferencecommandsstarttheinterferencesearchprocess.Dependingonthe
selectedcommand,theinterferencereceived/producedbytheactivehoporinterference
producedinthewholeradionetworkisconsidered. The"SearchInterference"dialogallowsthe
operatortosetthesearchlimits(maxdistance,maxfrequencyspacing,maxS/Iratio).

- TheInterferenceReportgivesalistofinterferenceexposures,includingalltheradioand
topologicaldatausefultocharacterizeeachinterference.

- TheCustomize/Propagationmodelscommanddisplaysthe"PropagationModels"dialog,
wherethe Interference correlation model canbespecified.


Exercise 7.1 : Search interference

Note:InalltheexercisesinthisSectionRadioSitecoordinatesDONOTrepresentrealisticdataif
usedtoimportpathprofiles.Howeverpathprofilesarenotneededhere,sitevisibilityisassumedin
anycase.IfpathprofilesareimportedfromSRTMmaps,theymayexhibitanomalousbehavior
(totallyobstructedpathsorotherunrealisticconditions).
"Interference1_Sample.hpf"(allthehopsinthisprojectoperateat15GHz).
- Inthe"RadioHops"dialog,selecttheALPHAZEBRAhopanddisplaytheHopReport. Checkthat
thechannelarrangementisalreadydefined(lastlinesintheConfigurationsectionoftheHop
Report).
- ExecutetheFile/ExportNetworktoGoogleEarthcommandtogetaviewofnetowrktopology.
ClickNOintheboxaskingforsavingakmlfile.Radiositesandradiohopsaredisplayed;keep
openGoogleEarth,sothat,goingonwiththisexercise,youcancompareinterferencesearch
resultswithanetworkmap.Clickontheradiohoplinetoreadhoplengthandfrequency.
- ExecutetheEvaluate/Interference/FromAnyHoptoActiveHopcommand. Inthe"Search
Interference"dialogsetthesearchlimits:
o Maxfrequencyspacing=56MHz;
o Maxdistance=200km;
o Max(faded)S/I=100dB.
Selectthefirstvisibilityoption(listontheright),sothatlineofsightconditionsareassumedforall
theinterferencesources.
- IntheInterferenceReport(UsefulRxSite:ALPHA),checkthevariousitemsinthelistof
interferingsignalsandintheinterferencesourcestable. ExecutetheDisplay/Interference/
ToggleSitecommandtodisplaytheInterferenceReport,UsefulRxSite:ZEBRA ( Tip:Usethe
HeraldIcon ).

- Similarly,testtheothercommandsintheEvaluate/Interferencemenu. Inparticular,execute
theFromAnyHoptoAnyHopcommand,donotmodifytheSearchlimitsoptions,sothat
interferenceanalysisisperformedforalltheradiohopsinthepresentproject.
- SelectanotherhopastheActiveHop,thendisplaytheInterferenceReportusingtheDisplay/
Interference/Received(orProduced)command.


Exercise 7.2 : Modify antennas

"Interference2_Sample.hpf".Thisisthesameprojectusedinthepreviousexample,interference
searchparametersarealreadyinitialized.
- SelecttheALPHAZEBRAhopanddisplaytheInterferenceReport(commandDisplay/
InterferenceReport/Received).Takenoteoftheresults,inparticular,interferencedegradation
=4.3dB(printthereporttomakecomparisoneasier).

- Gotothe"HopConfiguration"dialog ( Tip:UsetheHeraldIcon ). Modifytheantennaat
theALPHAsite;selecttheantennawithcode DDD115/60/S(seconditeminthelist). Notethat
thisantennahasthesamediameterandgainofthepreviousone,butalarge3dBbeamwidth
andalowerdirectivity.

- DisplaytheInterferenceReportagainandcomparethenewresultswiththepreviousones(in
particular,interferencedegradationhasincreasedto7.4dB).

- Similarly,openagaintheInterference2_Sample.hpf"projectandselecttheCHARLIEDELTAhop.
Inthe"HopConfiguration"dialog,modifytheantennaattheDELTAsite;selecttheantennawith
code DDD115/60/S(seconditeminthelist).Then,selecttheALPHAZEBRAhopanddisplaythe
InterferenceReport.Comparetheresultswiththeonescomputedatthefirststepinthis
exercise(inparticular,interferencedegradationhasincreasedto6.9dB).


Exercise 7.3 : Modify power levels

"Interference2_Sample.hpf".Inthe"RadioHops"dialog,selecttheALPHAZEBRAhop,asinthe
previousexercise.Takenoteoftheinterferenceresults,inparticular,interferencedegradation=
4.3dB(printtheinterferencereporttomakecomparisoneasier).
- SelecttheCHARLIEDELTAhopandgotothe"HopConfiguration"dialog. Clickingthe
"Losses/Degrad./Define"button,insertintheDELTAsiteaTXattenuator=10dB.ChecktheHop
ReportandinparticulartheRainUnavailabilityprediction(increasedtoabout10minutes,
becauseofthelowerTxPower=lowerFadeMargin,butstillacceptable).

- ReturntotheALPHAZEBRAhopanddisplaytheInterferenceReport. Notethattheinterference
degradationhasdecreasedto1.4dB).


Exercise 7.4 : Modify frequency/pol.

"Interference2_Sample.hpf".Asinthepreviousexercise,selecttheALPHAZEBRAhopandtakenote
oftheinterferenceresults.DisplayandprinttheInterferenceReports,forbothReceived
interferenceandProducedInterference(ALPHAandZEBRAsites).
- Gotothe"HopConfiguration"dialog. Clickthe"Freq.Arrangement/Define"buttontodisplay
theFrequencyArrangementdialog. Modifythepolarizationsetting,byclickingthe"H<=>VPol"
button(belowthetableontheright).

- DisplayagainalltheInterferenceReports(Received,Produced;ALPHAandZEBRAsites)and
comparethemwiththeoriginalones(printedatthebeginningofthepresentexercise). Note
thatasignificantreductionininterferencelevelshasbeenobtainedwiththenewpolarizationin
theALPHAZEBRAhop.


Exercise 7.5 : Test rain correlation model

"Interference2_Sample.hpf".Inthe"RadioHops"dialog,selecttheBETACHARLIEhop.
- DisplaytheInterferenceReportandnotethattheinterferencetotheBETAsite,comingfromthe
CHARLIEsite(CHARLIEDELTAhop)islabeledas"CorrelatedInterference"(boththeusefuland
theinterferingsignalstravelthesamepathandsufferthesamerainattenuation).

- SelecttheALPHAZEBRAhopanddisplaytheInterferenceReport. Notethattheinterferenceto
theALPHAsite,comingfromtheDELTAsite(CHARLIEDELTAhop)isveryhigh;theRxangle,at
theALPHAsiteisabout2only(seetheInterferenceSourcestable),sotheinterferencepathis
veryclosetotheusefulpath.However,thisinterferenceinNOTlabeledas"Correlated
Interference".

- ExecutetheCustomize/PropagationmodelscommandtodisplaythePropagationModels
dialog.Notethat Correlation Distance (lowerframeontheleft)iszero,sothatInterference
CorrelationrequiresthatUsefulandInterferencepathsareidentical. ModifyCorrelation
Distanceto0.5km,sothatCorrelationisdeclaredalsoifUsefulandinterferencepathsarenot
identical,butveryclose.

- DisplayagaintheALPHAZEBRAInterferenceReport. NotethattheinterferencetotheALPHA
site,comingfromtheDELTAsite(CHARLIEDELTAhop)isnowlabeledas"Correlated
Interference". (CorrelationDistanceintherange0.51.0kmappearsasthemostrealisticdesign
choice).
EndofHERALDLab#7


HERALD Lab #8 ITU Objectives

HERALD Functions
ThefollowingHeraldfunctionsarerelatedtoITUPerformanceObjectives:
- Thebasicparametersusefultodefineperformanceobjectivesarespecifiedinthe"Settingsfor
ITUObjectives"dialog(Customize/ITUObjectiveparameterscommand). Suchparametersare
commontoallthehops/sectionsinagivenproject.

- The"SectionData"dialog(Define/Sections)allowstodefine/modifyRadioSectiondata. The
userselectswhicharetheapplicableRecsandthelinktyperelevantinthatcase(national/
international;longhaul/shorthaul/access;etc.). TheSESRandUnavailabilityobjectivesare
shown

- IntheSectionReport,thepredictedMultipathOutageandRainUnavailabilityresultsareshown
fortheselectedRadioSectionandshouldbecomparedwithSESRandUnavailabilityobjectives,
respectively. Theparagraph"ComparisonwithITUT/ITURObjectives"indicateswhicharethe
assumptionsmadetocomputeperformanceobjectives.


Exercise 8.1 : Set basic parameters

"Object1_Sample.hpf".Closethe"RadioHops"dialog.
- ExecutetheCustomize/ITUObjectiveparameterscommandtodisplaythe"SettingsforITU
Objectives"dialog. ClicktheDefaultbutton,tobesurethatalltheparametersareinitialized
withdefaultvalues.

- Modifysomedefaultsas:
A1(BlockallowancetoLonghaulsections)=1%
C (BlockallowancetoAccesssections)=8.5%


Exercise 8.2 : International section

"Object2_Sample.hpf".Closethe"RadioHops"dialog.Thisisthe sameprojectas revisedinthe
previousexercise.
- ExecutetheDefine/Sectionscommand;the"RadioSections"dialogisdisplayed,clicktheCreate
button(the"NewSectionData"dialogwillbedisplayed)

- Inthe"NewSectionData"dialog,selecttheALPHABETA,BETACHARLIE,andCHARLIEECHO
hopstodefineanewradiosection,named"NorthSouth".

- Inthe"SectionData"dialog,checkthe"SetPerformanceObjectives"checkboxandselect
optionstocomputeperformanceobjectives,takingaccountthat:
o "NorthSouth"isaSDHradiosection( Tip:useG.828);
o "NorthSouth"deliversinternationaltraffictotheterminatingcountry;
o Itisestimatedthat75%oftotalunavailabilitycanbeallocatedtopropagationevents.

- ChecktheUnavailabilityandErrorRateobjectivescomputedundertheaboveassumptions.

- Closethe"SectionData"dialog. Inthe"RadioSections"dialog,clicktheReportbuttontodisplay
theRadioSectionreport. Commentonthedisplayedresults.
Tip:
ComparepredictedMultipathOutagewithErrorrateobjectivesandpredictedRain
UnavailabilitywithUnavailability(propagation)objectives.


Exercise 8.3 : Long-haul section

"Object2_Sample.hpf".Closethe"RadioHops"dialog.
- Asinthepreviousexercise,defineaRadioSection,named"MultiRegion",withhopsALPHA
BETAandBETACHARLIE.

o Itisrequiredtotestperformanceobjectivesatthechannellevel(belowprimaryrate)
( Tip:useG.821);
o "MultiRegion"delivertrafficfromanInternational GatewaytoaPrimaryCenter ( Tip:
Highgradelink);

- Asinthepreviousexercise,checkcomputedobjectivesinthe"SectionData"dialog. Then
displaytheSectionReportandtakenoteofthedisplayedresults.


Exercise 8.4 : Access section

Asinthepreviousexercise,runHeraldandopenthe"Object2_Sample.hpf" project.
- DefineaRadioSection,named"Local",withonlyonehop(BETADELTA).

o "Local"isaSDHradiosection( Tip:useG.828);
o "Local"isintheNational/Accessportionofthenetwork;

- Asinthepreviousexercise,checkcomputedobjectivesinthe"SectionData"dialog. Then
displaytheSectionReportandtakenoteofthedisplayedresults.


Exercise 8.5 : North America Standard Objectives

Asinthepreviousexercise,runHeraldandopenthe"Object2_Sample.hpf" project.
- Close the Radio Hops dialog and execute the toggle command Customize / ITU-North America
Objectives in order to activate North America standard.
- ExecutetheDefine/SectionscommandtodefineaRadioSectionnamed"ShortHaul",withhops
ALPHABETAandBETACHARLIE.
- Inthe"SectionData"dialog,checkthe"SetNorthAmericaStdObjectives"checkboxandselect
theBellCoreShortHauloption(1600sec/year,250miles,Oneway,equivalentto99.995%
reliability).
- Close(OK)the"SectionData"diaologandclicktheReportbuttoninthe"RadioSection"dialogto
displaytheRadioSectionreport. Commentonthedisplayedresults.BellCoreobjectiveforTotal
AnnualPropagationReliabilityisnotsatisfied.
- Again,executetheDefine/Sectionscommand;,inthe"RadioSection"dialog,clicktheModify
button;inthe"SectionData"dialogsetalessstringentCustomizedobjective,similartoBellCore
objective(99.995%reliability,250miles),butaddinga"FlatReliabilityObjective"uptoa50mile
MinimumDistance.
- DisplaySectionReportwiththenewobjective. Commentonthedisplayedresults.
Tip:
TheFlatReliabilityObjectiveuptoaMinimumdistancemeansthatacceptedoutagetimeis
notreducedtoextremelylowvaluesforveryshortradiosections.SeeHeraldHelp(pressF1
keytodisplaythehelppage"SectionDatadialogbox,NorthAmericaStandard")where
differentpbjectivesoptionsarediscussed.

EndofHERALDLab#8


Further Readings

FERDOIVANEK(EDITOR),TERRESTRIALDIGITALMICROWAVECOMMUNICATIONS,ARTECHHOUSEINC.,1989
ANDERSONH.R.,FIXEDBROADBANDWIRELESSSYSTEMDESIGN,J.WILEY,2002.
LEHPAMERH.,TRANSMISSIONSYSTEMSDESIGNHANDBOOKFORWIRELESSNETWORKS,ARTECHHOUSEINC.,2002.
SUNY.,WIRELESSCOMMUNICATIONSCIRCUITSANDSYSTEMS,IEE,2003.
DOBLEJ.,INTRODUCTIONTORADIOPROPAGATIONFORFIXEDANDMOBILECOMMUNICATIONS,ARTECHHOUSE
INC.,1996.
GREENSTEIN,L.L.,ANDSHAFIM.(EDITORS),MICROWAVEDIGITALRADIO,PRENTICEHALLINC,1987.
"ADVANCESINDIGITALCOMMUNICATIONSBYRADIO",IEEEJOURNALONSELECTEDAREASINCOMMUNICATIONS,
VOL.JSAC5,N.3,APRIL1987.
NOGUCHIT.,DAIDOY.,ANDNOSSEKJ.A.,"MODULATIONTECHNIQUESFORMICROWAVEDIGITALRADIO",IEEE
COMMUNICATIONSMAGAZINE,VOL.24,N.10,OCTOBER1986,PP.2130.
GREENSTEINL.J.,"ANALYSIS/SIMULATIONSTUDYOFCROSSPOLARIZATIONCANCELLATIONINDUALPOLARDIGITAL
RADIO",AT&TTECHNICALJ.,VOL.64,N.10,DEC.1985,PP.226180.
VigantsA.,"MicrowaveRadioObstructionFading",BSTJ,vol.60,n.8,August1981,785801.
GigerA.J.andBarnettW.T.,"EffectsofMultipathPropagationonDigitalradio",IEEETrans.on
Communications,vol.29,n.9,Sept.1981,pp.134552.
FediF.,"PredictionofattenuationduetorainfallonTerrestrialLinks",RadioSci,vol.16,n.5,1981,
pp.731743.
.SchiavoneJ.A.,"Predictionofpositiverefractivitygradientforlineofsightmicrowaveradiopath",
BSTJ,vol.60,n.6,July1981,pp.803822.
SchiavoneJ.A.,"Microwaveradiometeorology:fadingbybeamfocusing",Int.Conf.
Communications,Philadelphia,1982.
MojoliL.F.,"Anewapproachtovisibilityproblemsinlineofsighthops",NationalTelecomm.Conf.,
Washington,1979.
KueblerW.andLeggettR.,"Deterministiccalculationofterraindependentpropagationlosses",
NationalTelecomm.Conf.,Washington,1979.
VigantsA.,"Spacediversityengineering",BSTJ,vol.54,n.1,January1975,pp.103142.
FabbriF.,"Antireflectingsystemfor2GHzoversearadiolinks",AltaFrequenza,vol.28,n.8,August
1973,pp.393397.


GarciaLopezJ.A.etal.,"Designofhybriddiversityonoverwaterpaths",ElectronicsLett.,vol.18,
n.10,May1982,pp.420422.
RummlerW.D.etal.,"Multipathfadingchannelmodelsformicrowavedigitalradio",IEEEComm.
Magazine,vol.24,n.11,November1986,pp.3042.
GreensteinM.J.andShafiM.,"Outagecalculationmethodsformicrowavedigitalradio",IEEE
Comm.Magazine,vol.25,n.2,February1987,pp.3039.
MartinA.L.,"Dispersionsignatures;someresultsoflaboratoryandfieldmeasurements",European
Conf.onRadioRelay,Munich,1986.
GreensteinL.J.andYehY.S.,"Asimulationstudyofspacediversityandadaptiveequalizationin
microwavedigitalradio",AT&TBellLabTech.J.,vol.64,n.4,April1985,pp.907935.
SebaldG.etal.,"AdvancedtimeandfrequencydomainadaptiveequalizationinmultilevelQAM
digitalradiosystems",IEEEJournalonSelectedAreasinCommunications,vol.JSAC5,n.3,April
1987.
BarnettW.T.,"Multipathpropagationat4,6and11GHz",BSTJ,vol.51,n.2,February1972,pp.321
361.
VigantsA.andPursleyM.V.,"Transmissionunavailabilityoffrequencydiversityprotected
microwavesystemscausedbymultipathfading",BSTJ,vol.58,n.8,October1979,pp.177996.
CraneR.K.,"Predictionofattenuationbyrain",IEEETr.Communications,vol.28,n.9,1980,
pp.171733.
OlsenR.L.,"Crosspolarizationduringprecipitationonaterrestriallink.Areview",RadioSci.,vol.16,
n.5,1981,pp.761779.
HoltA.R.etal.,"Frequencyscalingpropagationparametersusingdualpolarizationradarresults",
RadioSci.,vol.19,n.2,1984,pp.222230.
SegalB.,"Spatialcorrelationofintenseprecipitationwithreferencetothedesignofterrestrial
microwavenetworks",IEEInt.Conf.onAntennasandPropagation(ICAP),Norwich1983.
SmithW.E.etal.,"Recentadvancesinmicrowaveinterferenceprediction",IEEEInt.Conf.
Communications,Seattle1987.
BarberS.,"Cofrequencycrosspolarizedoperationofa91Mb/sdigitalradio",IEEEInt.Conf.
Communications,Denver1981.
Vogelk.,"Frequencyreusewith7bit/s/Hzfor140Mb/ssystemwithorthogonalcochannel
arrangement",EuropeanConf.RadioRelay,Munich1986.

MorenoL.,"Spectrumutilizationinadigitalradiorelaynetwork",IEEETr.Electromagnetic
Compatibility,vol.24,n.1,February1982,pp.4045.

PagonesM.J.andPrabhuV.K.,"Effectofinterferencefromgeostationarysatellitesontheterrestrial
radionetwork",GlobeCom,NewOrleans1985.
CasiraghiU.andMengaliU.,"RelationshipbetweenBERperformanceparametersat64kb/sandat
radiosystembitrate",EuropeanConf.onRadioRelay,Munich1986.

Point To Point Radio Link Engineering PDF

Enviado por

Dados do documento

Título original

Direitos autorais

Formatos disponíveis

Compartilhar este documento

Compartilhar ou incorporar documento

Opções de compartilhamento

Você considera este documento útil?

Este conteúdo é inapropriado?

Direitos autorais:

Formatos disponíveis

Point To Point Radio Link Engineering PDF

Enviado por

Direitos autorais:

Formatos disponíveis

DownloadaFREEtrialofHeraldProfessionalfromWWW.HERALDPRO.

Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved

Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved

Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved

Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved

Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved

Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved

Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved

Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved

Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved

Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved

Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved

Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved

Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved

Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved

Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved

Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved

Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved

Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved

Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved

Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved

Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved

Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved

Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved

Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved

Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved

Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved

Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved

Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved

Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved

Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved

Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved

Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved

Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved

Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved

Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved

Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved

Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved

Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved

Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved

Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved

Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved

Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved

Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved

Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved

Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved

Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved

Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved

Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved

Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved

Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved

Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved

Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved

Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved

Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved

Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved

Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved

Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved

Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved

Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved

Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved

Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved

Copyright 2001-2013, Luigi Moreno, Torino, Italy - All rights reserved