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ELEC166 EM Waves
Waves
A wave is a disturbance which propagates through a medium Carries energy Longitudinal waves
Medium wobbles in direction of wave motion eg compression waves in spring, sound waves
Transverse waves
Medium wobbles at right angles to direction of wave motion Eg water waves, ripples in a stretched string
ELEC166 EM Waves
Electromagnetic waves
Transverse waves, electric and magnetic fields varying Will travel through a vacuum Travel at the velocity of light (c)
300,000 km/sec in a vacuum (or air)
Common examples are light, radio waves Basic principles of wave behaviour apply to all types of waves
ELEC166 EM Waves
Wave properties
Wave travels in this direction with velocity v Water particles move up and down only
The number of peaks passing any point per second is the frequency (f)
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v=f
v = velocity (metres/sec) f = frequency (Hz) = wavelength (metres)
ELEC166 EM Waves
Example
Example 11.1: What is the wavelength (in air) of (a) the radio waves broadcast by ABC-FM at 92.9 MHz, and (b) the microwaves in a microwave oven (f = 2.45 GHz)? Answer: Rearranging v = f, we have = v / f, where v = c = 3.00 108 m/s, so that (a) = 3.00 108 / (92.9 106) = 3.23 metres (b) = 3.00 108 / (2.45 109) = 0.122 metres
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includes "heat" radiation short wavelengths are "blue", long "red overlaps both UV and gamma rays
Terminology: 1: AM = amplitude modulation 2: FM = frequency modulation 3: VHF = very high frequency ( 30 - 300 MHz) 4: UHF = ultra high frequency ( 300 - 3000 MHz)
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I = intensity (watts/m2) [intensity = power per area] P = source power (watts) R = distance (m)
Applies only in free space 1/R2 part still works for non-omnidirectional source Double distance intensity (-6 dB)
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4A
At distance 2R, same radiation spread over area 4A, so intensity 1/4 as great
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Example
Example 11.5: You have a mobile phone, but you don't like operating it next to your head, so you hold it about a metre away and shout loudly when using it The phone transmitter has an output power of 3 watts. Your radio amateur neighbour has a 1000 watt transmitter, with the antenna located about 50 metres from your bedroom. If we assume that both antennas are omnidirectional, and that the inverse square law applies, which of the two radiation sources will produce the greatest intensity at your head?
Answer: For the amateur radio transmitter: Intensity = 1000 / (4 502) = 0.032 W/m2, while for the mobile phone: Intensity = 3 / (4 12) = 0.24 W/m2, which is about 8 times higher than the intensity produced by the highpower transmitter.
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Absorption of EM Waves
Inverse square law assumes no energy lost as wave travels However, the medium may absorb energy, converting it to heat A slightly conductive medium will absorb energy due to the small currents which flow
Microwave oven works on a similar principle, due to presence of water in food
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Diffraction of Waves
Cant make exactly parallel beam of waves. It must diverge with increasing distance. Waves leak around edges, obstacles. Effect more obvious at longer wavelengths
Shorter wavelength waves create sharper shadow of object AM radio band waves (>100m) will diffract around hills, but UHF TV (~1m) will not.
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Breakwater
Beach
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Edge
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Antennas
Antenna converts electrical signal to an EM wave, or vice versa. Theoretically, always regarded as transmitting equations are the same. Many different types of antennas, but some principles are common to all.
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Antenna types
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Directionality of Antennas
Gain (dBi) =
intensity produced by antenna 10 log10 intensity produced by ideal omnidirectional antenna
Beamwidth is angle over which gain is within 3 dB of maximum. Beamwidth in radians is roughly equal to
wavelength largest dimension of antenna
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Antenna Gain
Measured relative to isotropic radiator (ideal omnidirectional antenna). Signals are boosted by an amount equal to the antenna gain in dB in that direction. Gain in some directions must be < 0 dBi (<1), since (for a transmitting antenna) the total power transmitted is just the sum over all directions.
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Radiation Pattern
Polar graph Beamwidth ~ 70 degrees.
Direction of maximum radiation Beamwidth (-3dB)
0 -10 -20 -30
dB
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Circular Antennas
Approximate formulas:
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Example
Example 11.8: A ground station for a communications satellite operates an uplink (i.e. earth-to-satellite) transmitter at a frequency of about 14 GHz. It uses a circular dish antenna with a diameter of 25 metres. (a) Approximately what beamwidth would you expect the antenna to have? (b) What would you expect its gain to be? Answer: First we need to know the wavelength. At 14 GHz, the wavelength in air or vacuum will be = c / f, where c = 3.00 108 m/s and f = 14 109 Hz. This gives = 0.021 m. (a) The beamwidth is thus approximately 75 0.021 / 25 = 0.063 degrees (or about 4 minutes of arc). (b) The gain in dB will be about 10 log10 (0.75 ( 25 / 0.021)2 ) = 70 dBi.
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Optical and IR
Wavelength range about 300 nm to 1 mm Range 650 nm to 1550 nm used for communication Treated as light Propagation methods Beams in free space (eg IR remote controls, IR links for PDAs etc.) Guided beams (optical fibres) Semiconductor diodes used as light sources
IR remote control
Laser diodes
Solid-state lasers Like LEDs, but more tricky Narrower beam Very small wavelength range Small, can be focussed efficiently Applications: CD, DVD players Surveying equipment, rangefinding Optical radar speed guns High-speed optical fibres
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Optical Fibres
Replacing copper cables in many telecoms networks Large bandwidth (gives up to hundreds of Gbps) Immunity to noise High security Electrical safety Basically a light pipe Information transmitted by turning light on and off
Glass core
Light travels in core Confined by total internal reflection at corecladding boundary, due to different refractive indices of core and cladding
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Dispersion in fibres
Spread in arrival time of signals (smearing) Modal dispersion Light can take many paths, each taking a slightly different time Chromatic dispersion Material dispersion Different wavelengths have different velocities Common example in rainbows Important in high-quality lens design Can make reduced dispersion fibres
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Dispersion
Smearing of signals in time makes recovery difficult Limits bandwidth of fibre
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Fibre types
Multimode step index Large core, severe modal dispersion Rarely used for telecommunications Graded index fibre Refractive index varied across fibre so that light is continually refocussed Low modal dispersion Typical core diameter 50 m, use LEDs
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Bandwidth
To measure, consider light variations as analog signal Limited by dispersion (modal and chromatic) Degree of smearing increases with fibre length Hence for a particular fibre type bandwidth distance = k (constant) Typically k = 200 to 1000 MHz-km for multimode fibre k = 100 GHz-km for monomode fibre
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PMMA fibres
Possible to use PMMA (perspex) to make cheaper fibres, with red LEDs as light sources Can be made reasonably fast
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Attenuation in fibres
Extremely low loss (few tenths of dB per km in best materials) Loss depends on wavelength, main loss due to OH ions in glass 3 commonly used windows around 850nm, 1300nm and 1550nm Better materials being developed
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Attenuation in fibres
Attenuation (dB/km)
2.0
1.0
0 800
1000
1400
1600
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Central carrier
20
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