Microwave Technology Overview

August 2011

Contents

1.

Definition and Applications

2.

Radio Frequency Spectrum Utilization

3.

Generic Structure of a Radio link

4.

Protections

Definition And Applications

In this chapter you will learn

That this section is aimed at introducing the subject by
defining the Microwave Radio Relay Link, its transmission
capabilities and its application inside telecommunication
networks

Definition: Characteristics

Characteristics

Line of Sight

Fixed

Point to point

Terrestrial

Definitions of Microwave Radio Relay Links

What are the differences between Microwave Radio relay and different radio systems used in
telecommunications such as mobile radio, radio broadcasting, satellite or others? To understand this,
it is necessary to define the specific features of our subject, namely:

Line of Sight:
Radio Relays use microwaves, that are electromagnetic waves with less than 10 centimeters
wavelength. These waves can hardly propagate behind obstacles, therefore, in general circumstances,
a good visibility is required between transmitting and receiving antennas.

Fixed:
The Microwave Radio Relay systems are not meant to operate in mobile conditions.

Point to Point:
Only two Radio terminals are connected together at a time. This allows using high directive antennas
with the possibility of reaching greater distances even when using low transmitted powers.
The communication between the two terminals is meant to be both bidirectional or unidirectional.

Terrestrial:
Unlike fixed point to point satellite links, Microwave Radio Relay systems connect two points on the
earth surface, where the electromagnetic wave propagation is in the lower part of the
atmosphere,i.e., near ground.
As a consequence , the presence of atmosphere and ground affects the RF propagation thus
introducing, with given probability, an attenuated or distorted received signal.
Propagation models allow to calculate the probability of outage due to attenuation or distortion
caused by atmospheric effects.
The Radio Link is usually designed in such a way that the Power Received in normal propagation
conditions, is much greater than the Receiver Threshold, thats the received power with a minimum
acceptable quality of the signal.

Microwave Link Architectures

Single Hop

Site B

Site A

Repeater 1

Multiple Hop (Linear)

Repeater 2

Site A

Repeater 3
Site B

Site C

Star connection
(multipoint)
Site B
Site A

Site D

Microwave Link Architectures - Definitions

Taking into account the visibility between terminals and the possibility of
connecting two
points at a time, it becomes necessary to define different Microwave Radio link
architectures to match the real topology of the network. They are:
Single Hop:
When conditions of visibility, distance and environment are favorable, the link can be
realized with a single hop Microwave Radio Relay. The maximum distances that can be
achieved with a single hop is between 5-10 kilometers for Radio working in the frequency
band above 18 Giga Hertz, and is up to 50-80 kilometers or even more for Radio working in
the frequency ranges below 10 Giga Hertz.
Multiple Hop:
If visibility between the two terminal sites to be connected is poor or the distance is too
great, the multiple hop architecture must be used. In this case the intermediate radio acts
as regenerator, or in other words as active repeater of the signal. In some cases, passive
repeaters can be used when the problem is due to visibility, and not to distance.
Star connection:
When several sites must be reached from a main site, a multipoint connection architecture
is used. The only way to implement it is by using Microwave Radio Links, and three
different hops with three radio terminals in the same location.

Carried Signals

MW Radio Systems in principle can carry any kind

of signal. Speaking of digital transmission and its
application, it may offer different signal interfaces
and must be able to support any kind of signal
architecture, in particular:

PDH interfaces
(ITU-T
rec. G.703)

SDH interfaces
(ITU-T
rec. G. 707)

Ethernet
interfaces

Carried Signals

Which signals can be transported via Microwave Radio? Radio Relay can
be equipped with a variety of interfaces, suitable for any kind of network
architecture, namely:

For a network based on PDH (Plesiochronous Digital Hierarchy), the E1 and E3

European interfaces as well as the North American T1, T2 and T3 interfaces
should be included. In the PDH network, the Microwave Radio Relay transport
the signals in a transparent manner.

For network based on SDH (Synchronous Digital Hierarchy), European

interfaces (STM-n) as well as the North American (OC-n) interfaces should be
included. In the SDH network, the Microwave Radio Relay usually operates as
an SDH Regenerator.

For packet data network, normally 10BaseT & 100BaseT Fast Ethernet
interfaces are commonly used, However, moving to high speed network,
1000BaseT Gigabit Ethernet interface is also becoming common nowadays.

Transmission Capacity
The transmission capacity depends on the
applications.
Usually we define:

Low Capacity systems:

from 2 Mbps
to 34 Mbps capacity

High Capacity systems:

from 155 Mbps
to 622 Mbps capacity (*)

(*) In principle if spectrum is available it can be even more, but in practice

a radio system is not convenient above this capacity.

Transmission Capacity

The different kinds of signals can be carried within the transmission

capacity limits of the Microwave Radio equipment. Transmission capacity
depends on the purpose, frequency band and spectrum occupancy for
which the specific equipment has been designed.

Low capacity Microwave Radio Relays usually include multiplexer devices

which carry up to 16 or even 32 E1 or T1 signals. Other types of signal
interfaces, such as E3, T2, T3, Fast Ethernet, are normally accepted.

Together with the transported signals, the radio relays are usually
provided with additional capacity for service and supervisory channels.

High capacity Microwave Radio Relays usually carry one or two SDH traffic
per radio channel. Higher capacities are obtained with multiple radio
systems.

Together with the transported signals, high capacity Microwave Radio Links
usually have additional capacity for service and supervisory channels, and
may also carry some extra E1 signals as way-side traffic.

Application in the transmission networks - 1

Other than commonly use as a communication link,

there are other several conditions where MW Radio
can also applied:

Cable backup
or SDH ring
enclosure

Temporary
links

High security
requirement

Application in the transmission networks - 2

In a Network, from a functional point of view, the MW Radio System can

play the same role of the physical bearers (fibers or cables), except
when very high capacity is required (>1Gbit/s)

In particular, when the cable is not yet available, it can be well used in
the following situations due to:
Quick & easy installation and relocation
To avoid rental cost to the incumbent operator
To reach small population groups on difficult terrain where the cable
is not convenient to be deployed
To quickly realize long distance connections without pre-existing
transport infrastructures.

Application in the transmission networks - 3

In which case the use of a microwave radio link is more

advantageous than a physical bearer?

Quick and easy installation is very often a must for new operators, in
order to offer service in a competitive environment and to obtain fast payback on investments. In this case, to lay-down new cables means high
start-up investment and is time consuming. The alternative solution of
renting lines from the pre-existing operator implies evident recurrent cost
disadvantages.

But even an incumbent operator may find situations where cables are not
convenient to be deployed, such as when having to reach small population
groups on difficult terrain.

Application in the transmission networks - 3

Even when copper or optical cable is already available we can find situations
where the application of the MW link is advantageous:
A problem that operators may encounter both in remote areas and in crowded
cities is that the cable might break . In conclusion, sometimes it is very convenient
to provide MW link backup in order to avoid long periods of complete service
unavailability.
In particular this kind of link redundancy might improve SDH rings availability by
realizing, via the radio, one of the branches of the ring (ring enclosure).
Another situation to consider is that some events, like sport or concerts, may be
organized in areas where their standard occupancy require only low bandwidth or
capacities. In these cases only MW link are suitable to cover such temporary link
requirements.
Finally, when high security level is required for certain links, the Microwave radio
is better than cable because it is much easier to protect the two terminals rather
than all the path of a physical line. In addition, the high directivity of the antennas
used makes interception difficult.

Example of Applications: Optical Networks

STM1/OC3

n x STM1

ADM

ADM

Local

ADM

SDH/SONET
Ring

ADM
ADM

Fiber
STM1/OC3

ADM

STM1/OC3
Remote Distribution
Node

SDH/SONET
Backbone
Network

ADM

ADM

Example of Applications: MPLS networks

LAN router
n*FE, GE
Router

Router
Router

MPLS

TDM/
ETH

TDM
/ETH

n*FE, GE
n*FE, GE
LAN router

LAN router

Example of Applications: Mobile Backhauling

Access
Network

Aggregation
Transport
Network

BSC
RNC

BTS/Node B
Co-located

Point of Concentration

Point of Concentration

TDM/ETH
TDM/ETH

Example of Applications: Private Data networks

Exchange
Exchange

Radio Frequency Spectrum Utilization

In this chapter you will learn

This section aims at explaining how the radio spectrum
is utilized by the microwave radio links.
Therefore, it is necessary to first recall the elementary
concepts of electromagnetic waves (as wavelength,
frequency and polarization) to introduce the concepts of
modulation, then to explain how the frequency bands are
assigned for different purposes and, finally, how the
assigned frequency bands are exploited by the microwave
radio channels.

Electromagnetic Waves: definitions

Electromagnetic Waves: Polarization

Vertical Polarization
H
EARTH

Horizontal Polarization
E
EARTH

Modulation concepts
What is meant by modulation ? Why to use it ?
Modulation is an operation that translates a signal
from the lower frequencies (the baseband) into the
radio frequencies, thus maintaining the same
information of the original signal
Modulation is used as follows:

It is almost physically
impossible for the radio
transmission of the
lower frequency signals

It allows to translate
different signals on different
frequencies and to transmit
them at the same time without
spectral overlapping

Modulation concepts

f0

fmax

MODULATOR
Fo - fmax

Fo

Bw = 2fmax

RF
Oscillator
Fo

Fo+ fmax

B
2fmax

Channel Spacing
What is a Channel Spacing?
A transmitted modulated signal occupies a given band around the
carrier frequency, depending on the kind of modulation and
transmission capacity. It is then possible to transmit another
modulated signal at a frequency distance (channel spacing) that
prevent the two spectra from overlapping and can be separated by
the receiver filters. Another possibility of separating two channels
is of using different antenna polarizations (vertical or horizontal).
A channel spacing states how the radio relay must allocate its
transmission spectrum (the radio channel) inside a given frequency
range.

Most of the radio relay applications require bi-directional

communication, hence two radio channels are necessary for each
link (GO and RETURN channel).

Channel Plans

GO CHANNELS
x

Pol.

...

H(V)

RETURN CHANNELS
1

N-1

...

N-1
F

V(H)
z

2
x/2 x/2

N
z

Frequency Bands and Channel Plans

Generic use of the full radio spectrum
Band

Frequency

VLF

up to 30 kHz

Navigation systems

LF

30 300 kHz

Long-range broadcast, navigation systems

MF

300 3000 kHz Medium wave broadcast and communications

HF

3 30 MHz

VHF

30 300 MHz

UHF

Typical Use

Long-range commercial and military

communications
Mobile communications

300 3000 MHz Mobile communications

SHF

3 30 GHz

EHF

>30 GHz

Point-to-point microwave links, including

satellite communications
Point-to-point microwave links (and other
applications)

Frequency Bands and Channel Plans

Radio frequency ranges and channel plans for radio-relay systems (Up to 17 GHz)
Band Frequency range
Rec. ITU-R
Channel spacing
(GHz)
(GHz)
F-Series
(MHz)
1.4
1.35-1.53
Rec. [Doc. 9/12]
0.25; 0.5; 1; 2;3.5
2
1.427-2.69
701
0.5 (pattern)
1.7-2.1; 1.9-2.3
382
29
1.7-2.3
283
14
1.9-2.3
1098
3.5; 2.5 (patterns)
1.9-2.3
1098, Annexes 1 and 2
14
1.9-2.3
1098, Annex 3
10
2.3-.25
746, Annex 1
1; 2; 4; 14; 28
2.29-2.26
Rec. [Doc. 9/13]
0.25;0.5;1;1.75;2;3.5
7;14;2.5 (pattern)
2.5-2.7
283
14
4
3.8-4.2
382
29
3.6-4.2
635
10 (pattern)
3.6-4.2
635, Annex 1
90;80;60;40
5
4.4-5.0
746, Annex 2
28
4.4-5.0
1099
10 (pattern)
4.4-5.0
1099, Annex 1
40;60;80
4.54-4.9
1099, Annex 2
40;20
6L
5.925-6.425
383
29.65
5.85-6.425
383, Annex1
90;80:60
6L
6.425-7.11
384
40;20
6.425-7.11
384, Annex1
80
7
7.425-7.725
385
7
7.425-7.725
385, Annex 1
28
7.435-7.75
385, Annex 2
5
7.11-7.75
385, Annex 3
28

Band Frequency range

(GHz)
(GHz)
8
8.2-8.5
7.725-8.275
7.725-8.275
8.275-8.5
10
10.3-10.68
10.5-10.68
10.55-10.68
11
10.7-11.7
10.7-11.7
10.7-11.7
10.7-11.7
12
11.7-12.5
12.2-12.7
13
12.75-13.25
12.75-13.25
12.7-13.25
14
14.25-14.5
14.25-14.5
15
14.4-15.35
14.4-15.35
14.4-15.35

Rec. ITU-R
F-Series
386
386, Annex 1
386, Annex 2
386, Annex 3
746, Annex 3
747, Annex 1
747, Annex 2
387, Annex 1 and 2
387, Annex 3
387, Annex 4
387, Annex 5
746, Annex 4, 3
746, Annex 4, 2
497
497, Annex 1
746, Annex 4, 1
746, Annex 5
746, Annex 6
636
636, Annex 1
636, Annex 2

Channel spacing
(MHz)
11.662
28.65
40.74
14; 7
20; 5; 2
7;3;5 (patterns)
5;2.5;1.25 (patterns)
40
67
60
80
19.18
20 (pattern)
28; 7; 3.5
35
25; 12.5
28; 14; 7; 3.5
20
28; 14; 7; 3.5
2.5 (pattern)
2.5

Frequency bands and Channel Plans

Radio frequency ranges and cannel plans for radio-relay systems (above 17 GHz)
Band Frequency range
(GHz)
(GHz)
18
17.7-19.7
17.7-21.2
17.7-19.7
17.7-19.7
17.7-19.7
23
21.2-23.6
21.2-23.6
21.2-23.6
21.2-23.6
21.2-23.6
21.2-23.6
22.0-23.6
27
24.25-25.25
24.25-25.25
25.25-27.5
25.25-27.5
27.5-29.5
27.5-29.5
27.5-29.5
31
31.0-31.3
38

36.0-40.5

55

54.25-58.2
54.25-57.2
57.2-58.2

Rec. ITU-R
F-Series
595
595, Annex 1
595, Annex 2
595, Annex 3
595, Annex 4
637
637, Annex 1
637, Annex 2
637, Annex 3
637, Annex 4
637, Annex 5
637, Annex 1
748
748, Annex 3
748
748, Annex 1
748
748, Annex 2
748, Annex 3
746, Annex 7

Channel spacing
(MHz)
220; 110; 55; 27.5
160
220; 80; 40; 20; 10; 6
3.5
13.75; 27.5
3.5; 2.5 (patterns)
112 to 3.5
28; 3.5
28; 14; 7; 3.5
50
112 to 3.5
112 to 3.5
3.5; 2.5 (patterns)
56; 28
3.5; 2.5 (patterns)
112 to 3.5
3.5; 2.5 (patterns)
112 to 3.5
112; 56; 28
25; 50

749
749, Annex 3
1100
1100, Annex 1
1100, Annex 2

3.5; 2.5 (patterns)

112 to 3.5
3.5; 2.5 (patterns)
140; 56; 28; 14
100

Generic Structure of a Radio link

Generic Structure

Radio link system

Parabolic antennas

Site A

Site B
Feeder

Feeder
Tower

Tower

Power
room

Power
room
Equipment
room

Equipment
room

Generic Structure

TRANSMISSION SIDE
RF Tx FILTER
MODULATOR
IF

BASEBAND
INTERFACE

BB INPUT SIGNAL

IF/RF TRANMITTER

BB INTERNAL

RF

IF SIGNAL

RF OUTPUT

RECEIVING SIDE
RF Rx FILTER
R/IFF RECEIVER

RF INPUT

RF

DEMODULATOR
IF

IF SIGNAL

BASEBAND
INTERFACE

BB INTERNAL

BB OUTPUT SIGNAL

Structures of Radio Equipment

Full-Indoor

RF
CIRCULATOR

BB/MOD/TRANSMITTER

RECEIVER/DEM/BB

MW Waveguide

Split-Mount

TRANSMITTER
BB /MOD Units
BB /DEM Units

IF CABLE

Indoor

Outdoor

RECEIVER

Radio Equipment: Full Indoor Structure

Antenna
Radio
Equipment
(8 transceivers)

Feeder
Tower

Radio Equipment: Split-Mount Structure

Coax
Cable

Tower

Microwave Radio - Antenna System

Standard Antenna with

Horizontal Polarization

Standard Antenna with

Vertical Polarization

High Performance
Antenna with radome

Different Equipment Configurations

Protection & Multichannel

In this chapter you will learn

This module aims at introducing the concept of multiple
microwave radio-relay equipment in order to increase the
capacity or the availability (protection) of the link, and to
describe the different possible configurations.

Different Equipment Configurations

The configuration of a microwave equipment is
depending on the requirement of the specific radio link
application, that may be different as:

Transmission
Capacity

Grade of
Availability

This requirement defines if

the system can be realized by
using a single radio channel or
multiple radio channels

This requirement defines if a

protection radio channel (the
stand-by channel) must be added
to the main channel (or channels)

Protection Definitions
Why protection?

Protection circuits enhance both availability and quality of

digital radio systems.
In fact the general reason for the use of switching is the
protection against equipment failures in order to increase
availability.
But in case the quality of radio channels is limited by
multipath propagation conditions, protection switching may
also be used to increase error performance (quality) of the
link.

Protection Definitions

The typical notation to indicate the number of radio channels

of a system is: N + M , where N stands for the number of main
channels and M stands for the number of stand-by channels
(usually 1, but 0 in case of non protected system)

Based on the transmission capacity requirement of

the Radio Relay two types of protection are
generally implemented :

1+1

N+1

Protection: 1+1 Generic configuration

1+1 PROTECTION
Working channel
Mod.

Tx

Rx

Dem.
BB section

BB section

BB

BB

Interface

Interface

Standby channel
Mod.

Tx

Rx

Dem.

Hitless Switch

It is possible to implement three different types of 1+1 protection

1+1 hot standby

1+1 with frequency diversity

1+1 with space diversity

1+1 Protection: 1+1 Hot-Stand-By (HSB) configuration

1+1 PROTECTION
Working channel
f1
Mod.
Tx

f1

Rx

Dem.
BB Section

BB Section
BB

Interface

Interface

Standby channel
Mod.

Tx

f1

f1

Rx

Dem.

BB

1+1 Protection: 1+1 Frequency Diversity (FD) configuration

1+1 PROTECTION
Working channel
f1
Mod.
Tx

f1

Rx

Dem.
BB Section

BB Section
BB

Interface

Interface

Standby channel

Mod.

Tx

f2

f2

Rx

Dem.

BB

1+1 Protection: 1+1 Hot-Stand-By with Space Diversity (HSB-DA)

1+1 PROTECTION
Working channel
Mod.

Tx

Rx

Dem.
BB Section

BB Section
BB

Interface

Interface

Standby channel
Mod.

Tx

Rx

Dem.

BB

Equipment Configurations - Split-Mount Architecture

IDU
(Indoor Unit)

A)

B)

Compact
Configuration
(1+0)

1+1/2+0
Configuration

Signal from/to
Network

Signal from/to
Network

IF Cable

ODU
(Outdoor Unit)

RRA/TFE+MODEM

TRANSCEIVER

2xRRA/TFE+
2MODEM

2x
TRANSCEIVERS

- End-of-Document -