MICROWAVE PROPAGATION AND

ANTENNA ALIGNMENT
RADIO HEAD TECHNOLOGY SERIES

Presented By Dick Laine, P.E.

1

Radio-Relay Link Engineering

Topics

Microwave Propagation

Refraction, Reflection, Diffraction

Huygens Principle, Near/Far Fields, Fresnel Zones
Path Profiles, Path Clearances
Multipath, Dispersive, and Flat (Power) Fading

Microwave Technology

System Gain, Net Path Loss, Static and Dynamic Thresholds, Fade
Margin, RF/Noise/Interference Levels and Definitions, Modulation
Efficiency, Signal Spreading, Bandwidth (Baud Rate), Spectrum
Calculations, Latency, and Interference
FCC, ITU-R, and Canadian Frequency Bands, Frequency
Assignments, and Band Selection Considerations

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February 2012

Typical Radio-Relay Link - Propagation Principles

Refraction
Reflection
Diffraction
Huygens Principle
Multipath Routes
Antenna Near Field
Antenna Far Field
Ray Tracing
k-Factor Variations
Flat (power), Multipath
(selective), and Dispersive
(spectrum-distorting) Fades
Path Clearance Criteria
Fresnel Zones
Polarization Selection
Antenna Alignments

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February 2012

Receiver
Main

Div

Eclipse IRU 600

Hot Standby
Terminal

Millimeterwave
Rain Fades

Transmitter

Atmospheric
Multipath Fades

Obstruction
Fades

Eclipse IRU 600

Hot Standby
Terminal

Microwave Signal Diffraction as Explained by Huygens

Principle
Christiaan Huygens (1629-1695), a contemporary of Sir Isaac Newton (1643-1727), is said to have gained most of his
insights into wave motion by observing waves in a canal. In 1678 this great Dutch physicist wrote the treatise Traite de la
Lumiere on the wave theory of light, and in this work he stated that the wavefront of a propagating wave of light at any instant
conforms to the envelope of spherical wavelets (Combination Wavefront of separate waves) emanating from every point on
the wavefront at the prior instant with the understanding that the wavelets have the same speed as the overall wave. An
illustration of this idea, now known as Huygens' Principle, is shown. Disbelieving, Newton continued to push his Corpuscular
Theory of particle propagation of light. Because of that it was not until some 100 years later when Augustin-Jean Fresnel
(1788-1827) of Fresnel lens and Fresnel zone fame revisited Huygens Principle in 1815 that his term diffraction was
reintroduced*.

HUYGENS SOURCE:
A PAIR (E & H PLANE) OF
OSCILLATING DIPOLES

NEW POSITION OF WAVEFRONT

WAVEFRONT at T = 0

Pin hole

Propagation of a Plane Wave in Free Space, described

by Huygens Principle as a Combination Wavefront
to explain Reflection, Refraction, and Diffraction.

Propagated
wave

Source
Pin hole

Screen

Illustration of Huygens Principle. The pinholes in the

mask act as secondary point sources of radio energy
NEW POSITION OF WAVEFRONT

WAVEFRONT at T = 0

Shadow Zone

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February 2012

*Einstein and others opine the duality that light functions as both a particle (per
Newton) and a wave (per Huygens) depending on how the experiment is conducted
and when observations are made.

The propagation of a plane wave around a

knife-edge obstruction using Huygens Principle

Radio-Wave Propagation
Microwave link propagation is influenced by
REFRACTION, REFLECTION, and
DIFFRACTION wave propagation.

GEO, MEO, and LEO Satellites

Ionosphere

Sky Wave
(HF only)

Troposphere

REFRACTED PATH
Transmitting
Antenna

NON-REFRACTED (k=1) PATH

MULTIPATH RAYS

Ground Wave
(LF/MF only)
True Earths Curvature
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February 2012

Receiving
Antenna

Microwave Refraction

Distance
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February 2012

THANK YOU