Microwave Radio Transmission Design Guide

Second Edition

For a listing of recent titles in the Artech House Microwave Library, turn to the back of this book.

Microwave Radio Transmission Design Guide

Second Edition

Trevor Manning

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book is available from the U.S. Library of Congress. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN-13: 978-1-59693-456-6

Cover design by Igor Valdman 2009 ARTECH HOUSE 685 Canton Street Norwood, MA 02062 All rights reserved. Printed and bound in the United States of America. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. All terms mentioned in this book that are known to be trademarks or service marks have been appropriately capitalized. Artech House cannot attest to the accuracy of this information. Use of a term in this book should not be regarded as affecting the validity of any trademark or service mark. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Contents
Foreword Preface 1 1.1 1.2 1.2.1 1.2.2 1.2.3 1.2.4 1.2.5 1.3 1.3.1 1.3.2 1.4 1.4.1 1.4.2 1.4.3 1.4.4 1.4.5 Introduction History of Wireless Telecommunications What Is Microwave Radio? Microwave Fundamentals RF Spectrum Safety of Microwaves Allocation of Spectrum Electromagnetic Wave Fundamentals Why Radio? Benefits and Advantages of Microwave Transmission Alternatives Microwave Applications Fixed-Link Operator Utility Private Network TV Distribution Network Mobile Backhaul Network Ethernet Enterprise Application
v

xiii xv 1 2 3 3 4 5 6 7 10 10 11 12 13 13 15 16 18

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Microwave Radio Transmission Design Guide

1.5

Planning Process Reference Link Planning Establish the Planning Brief Initial Planning Site Location Network Diagram Initial Mapwork Existing Infrastructure and Repeater Sites Route Map Path Profiles Radio Repeaters Passive Repeaters Active Repeaters Radio Surveys Path Survey Site Surveys Frequency Considerations References Reliability Standards Introduction What Do I Aim For? Hypothetical Reference Path Unavailability Standards Causes of Unavailability Unavailability Objectives Apportionment of Objectives Practical Advice Performance Standards Causes of Outage Performance Objectives

19 20 21 21 23 23 24 25 26 27 27 31 32 38 41 41 42 44 45 47 47 48 48 50 51 54 55 56 56 57 57

2 2.1 2.2 2.2.1 2.2.2 2.2.3 2.2.4 2.2.5 2.3 2.4 2.4.1 2.4.2 2.5 2.5.1 2.5.2 2.6

3 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.4.1 3.4.2 3.4.3 3.4.4 3.5 3.5.1 3.5.2

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3.6

Real-World Conclusions References Transport Technologies Introduction The Backhaul Transmission System The Backhaul Network OSI ISO Model Transport Technology Options Plesiochronous Digital Hierarchy (PDH) Synchronous Networks (SDH/SONET) ATM Ethernet Network Synchronization PDH Synchronization SDH Synchronization ATM Synchronization Ethernet Synchronization References Radio Equipment Characteristics Introduction Basic Radio System Block Diagram All Indoor Split Unit (RF Outdoors) All Outdoors TDM/Ethernet Options Primary Multiplex Sampling Quantizing Companding Coding Time Multiplexing Primary Multiplexing Equipment

65 66 69 69 70 70 71 72 72 74 82 84 88 88 89 90 90 93 95 95 95 97 97 97 97 101 101 101 103 104 104 105

4 4.1 4.2 4.2.1 4.2.2 4.3 4.3.1 4.3.2 4.3.3 4.3.4 4.4 4.4.1 4.4.2 4.4.3 4.4.4

5 5.1 5.2 5.2.1 5.2.2 5.2.3 5.2.4 5.3 5.3.1 5.3.2 5.3.3 5.3.4 5.3.5 5.3.6

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Microwave Radio Transmission Design Guide

5.4 5.4.1 5.4.2 5.4.3 5.4.4 5.5 5.5.1 5.5.2 5.5.3 5.6 5.6.1 5.6.2 5.6.3 5.7 5.7.1 5.7.2 5.7.3 5.7.4 5.7.5 5.8 5.8.1 5.8.2 5.8.3 5.8.4 5.8.5 5.8.6 5.9 5.9.1 5.9.2 5.10 5.11 6 6.1 6.1.1

Muldem (Secondary Multiplexing and Services) Multiplexing and Demultiplexing Overhead Channels Baseband Filtering Basic Muldem Block Diagram Modem Modulators Demodulators Basic Modem Block Diagram Transceivers Transmitters Receivers Basic Transceiver Block Diagram Branching Duplexer Hot Standby Branching Frequency Diversity Branching Space Diversity Branching Hybrid Diversity Branching Equipment Characteristics RF Details Transmitter Characteristics Receiver Characteristics C/I Ratio Digital Interfaces Management and Alarm Interfaces Power Details Input Voltage Range Power Consumption Environmental Considerations Equipment Type Approvals References Microwave Propagation Atmospheric Effects on Propagation Refractive Index

105 105 106 107 108 110 110 112 116 116 116 118 118 118 118 120 120 120 121 123 123 124 125 125 125 126 126 126 127 127 127 127 129 129 130

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6.1.2 6.1.3 6.1.4 6.1.5 6.1.6 6.1.7 6.2 6.3 6.3.1 6.3.2 6.3.3 6.4 6.4.1 6.4.2 6.4.3

Radio Refractivity Refractivity Gradient Effective Earth Radius Anomalous Propagation Physical Atmospheric Conditions Modified Refractivity Free-Space Propagation Power Budget Receiver Threshold Nominal Receive Level Fade Margin Fading of Microwave Links Atmospheric Absorption, Including Rain Diffraction Fading Refractive Fading References Antenna Considerations Antenna Fundamentals Antenna Characteristics Gain Sidelobes Front-to-Back Ratio Beamwidth Polarization Radiation Pattern VSWR Near Field, Far Field Types of Antenna Nonparabolic Antennas Parabolic Antennas Radomes Feeder Characteristics Coaxial Cable Waveguide

130 131 134 135 145 148 150 153 154 154 155 155 156 157 169 172 175 175 176 176 177 178 179 180 180 181 182 184 184 185 188 188 188 190

7 7.1 7.2 7.2.1 7.2.2 7.2.3 7.2.4 7.2.5 7.2.6 7.2.7 7.2.8 7.3 7.3.1 7.3.2 7.3.3 7.4 7.4.1 7.4.2

Microwave Radio Transmission Design Guide

7.5 7.5.1 7.5.2 7.5.3 7.5.4 7.6

Antenna System Accessories Pressurizers Plumbing Earth Kits Cable Clamps Installation Practices Reference Frequency Planning Frequency Regulation ITU-R Frequency Coordination FCC Frequency Coordination Ofcom Frequency Coordination Microwave Radio Link Bands What Is Interference? Causes of Interference Types of Interference Effects of Interference Intersystem Interference Frequency Channel Planning Basic ITU Arrangements A and B Sites (High/Low Arrangements) Alternate Polarization Frequency Diversity Allocations Interleaving of Channels Spectral Efficiency Frequency Reuse Two-Frequency (One-Pair) Plan Four-Frequency (Two-Pair) Plan Six-Frequency (Three-Pair) Plan Antenna Considerations Intermodulation Products References

193 193 194 194 194 194 196 197 198 198 199 199 200 201 201 201 202 206 208 208 209 211 212 213 214 215 215 217 218 219 219 220

8 8.1 8.1.1 8.1.2 8.1.3 8.1.4 8.2 8.2.1 8.2.2 8.2.3 8.2.4 8.3 8.3.1 8.3.2 8.3.3 8.3.4 8.3.5 8.3.6 8.4 8.4.1 8.4.2 8.4.3 8.5 8.6

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9 9.1 9.2 9.2.1 9.2.2 9.3 9.3.1 9.3.2 9.4 9.5 9.6 9.6.1 9.6.2 9.7 9.7.1 9.7.2 9.7.3 9.8 9.9 9.9.1 9.9.2 9.9.3 9.10

Link Design Introduction Diffraction Loss and Antenna Heights ITU Recommendation Real-World Advice Multipath Fading Outages Flat Fading Outage Selective Fading Outage Rain Fading Reflection Analysis Interference Analysis Nodal Interference Example Overshoot Interference Example Passive Repeater Outage Back-to-Back Interference In-Line Passive Orthogonal Passive Total Outage Countermeasures System Techniques Nondiversity Techniques Diversity Techniques Real-World Link Design Tutorial References Appendix: Useful Formulae List of Acronyms and Abbreviations About the Author Index

221 221 221 222 222 224 225 229 232 233 235 235 239 245 246 247 248 250 251 251 252 253 256 259 261 263 269 271