Okey Ugweje, PhD

Page 1
RF/Microwave Systems:
Planning, Design & Deployment

Radio System Design
Okey Ugweje, PhD
Page 2
Noise in Communications Systems
Interference Issues in Radio Communications
E
b
/N
0
vs SNR; BER vs. Noise
Spectral Efficiency and System Limitation
Bandwidth Limitations
Inter-modulation Distortion
Bandwidth Limitations
RF System Design Considerations
Characteristics of Receiver Design
Noise Figure
Receiver Sensitivity
Dynamic Range
Power Output
Day 4: Radio System Design
RF/Microwave Systems : PDD
Program Schedule
Okey Ugweje, PhD
Page 3
Noise in Communication Systems
Noise unwanted signal
The weakest signal detectable is limited by presence of
undesired signal - noise
Obscures/mask the wanted signal
Limits the receiver ability to make correct
Limits the rate of transmission





Noise

Man-made
Natural
Ignition noise
Switching transients
Radiating EM Wave
Electrical Circuit/components
Atmospheric disturbance
Galactic sources
Okey Ugweje, PhD
Page 4

Origination of Noise in communication systems
External to the system, e.g., atmospheric, solar,
cosmic man-made, etc
Internal to the system, e.g., thermal noise, shot
noise
Effect of external noise depends on system location &
configuration, while effect of internal noise is
independent of location & configuration
Noise can be classified in two broad categories
A) Additive noise
Any noise that remains in the system when the
input signal disappears, e.g., thermal noise,
crosstalk, ISI, etc
Okey Ugweje, PhD
Page 5

B) Multiplicative noise
Noise caused by inherent randomness within the signal
itself
Produced in the system only when the signal is present.
Eg. Shot noise, phase noise, multipath fading, etc.

Noise arises in various forms
Data m(t) is corrupted in the Tx by thermal noise due to the
presence of electronic devices (e.g., Audio Amplifier)
Carrier c(t) is not a pure sine wave - in fact, it contains
harmonic distortions

Okey Ugweje, PhD
Page 6

Modulated signal s(t) experiences multiplicative noise in
transmission from Tx thru the channel due to turbulence in
the air and propagation mechanisms
s(t) also suffers from additive noise during transmission
automobiles, static electricity, lightning, power lines, etc
Thermal and short noise at the receiver is also a factor
All forms of noise degrade system performance
In comparison, additive noise is the most annoying
usually contains most power and is of most interest in many
applications
Okey Ugweje, PhD
Page 7
Noise Modeling
In the channel, the signal experience attenuation, time delay
(precisely known) and additive noise
Most disturbances, interference, attenuation, etc., are usually
classified as noise
The most important type of noise that occur in communication
system is said to be white noise, n(t)
Usually n(t) is assumed to be additive, white and Gaussian
noise (AWGN) with power spectral density G
n
(f)
Transmitter Channel Receiver
+
r(t)
s(t)
n(t)
(noise)
(modulated signal ) (received signal )
Okey Ugweje, PhD
Page 8
White Noise is a random process having a flat (constant)
power spectral density G
n
(f), over the entire frequency range
white because it is analogous to white light
assumed to be a Gaussian random process
usually additive in nature





Hence, this type of noise is commonly called Additive, White
and Gaussian (AWGN) with power spectral density No/2
0
( )
2
n
N
G f =
White Noise and Filtered Noise
(f) G
n
f
2-sided power spectral density of noise
0
0
2
N
| |
2
0
( )
2
N
Var df n t o

| |
= = =
|
\ .
}
Okey Ugweje, PhD
Page 9
Since white noise has infinite bandwidth, it cannot be used in
system design
wideband and cannot be expressed in terms of quardrature
components
However, in most commun systems operating at f
c
, the channel
bandwidth B (or W), is small compared to f
c

narrowband systems
Hence, it is mathematically convenient to represent the white
noise process in terms of the quadrature components
But it must be filtered
Accomplished by passing the signal plus noise through an
ideal BPF having a passband as
(f) G
n
f
f
c
-f
c
0
2
N
0
B B
noise is said to be bandlimitted
Okey Ugweje, PhD
Page 10
Signal-to-Noise Ratio
Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is the figure of merit for evaluating
the performance of analog communication systems



A certain signal m(t) (or x(t)) is transmitted with power P
T

s(t) is corrupted by additive noise n(t) during transmission
Channel may also attenuate (and/or distort) the signal
At Rx, we have a signal mixed with noise
Signal and noise power at the receiver input are S
i
and N
i
Rx processes the signal (filters, demodulation, etc.) to yield
the desired signal power S
o
, plus noise power N
o

Transmitter Channel Receiver
y
0
(t)
n(t)
y
i
(t)
S
i
, N
i
x(t)
m(t)
s(t)
S
0
, N
0
input output
P
T
0 0
( ) ( ) ( )
o
y t s t n t = +
Okey Ugweje, PhD
Page 11
Assume that:
Noise n(t) is zero-mean Gaussian with G
n
(f) = N
0
/2 or /2
Noise is uncorrelated with s(t)
Hence output power is


The output signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is



For a baseband system
2 2 2
0 0 0 0 0
( ) ( ) ( ) E y t E s t E n t S N = + = + ( ( (


2
0
0
2
0
0
( )
( )
S
E s t
S
o
SNR
N N E n t
o
(
| |

= = = =
|
( \ .

Mean Signal Power
Noise Power
Part 4: Digital Baseband Communications
0
i
S S
SNR
N N B
b
b
| |
| |
= =
|
|
\ .
\ .
used as a standard for
making comparisons of
the various analog
modulation schemes
Okey Ugweje, PhD
Page 12


Unipolar
(orthogonal)
Bipolar (antipodal)
P Q
E
N
b
b
o
=
F
H
G
I
K
J
2
P Q
E
N
b
b
o
=
F
H
G
I
K
J
Bipolar signals require a
factor of 2 increase in energy
compared to Unipolar
Since 10log
10
2 = 3 dB, we
say that bipolar signaling
offers a 3 dB better
performance than Unipolar
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
10
-10
10
- 8
10
- 6
10
- 4
10
- 2
10
0
Eb/No (dB)
P
r
o
b
a
b
i
l
i
t
y

o
f

B
i
t

E
r
r
o
r
Othogonal
Antipodal
Q
E
N
b
o
F
H
G
I
K
J
Q
E
N
b
o
2
F
H
G
I
K
J
3-dB
BER vs. Noise
Okey Ugweje, PhD
Page 13
Comparing BER Performance
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
10
-10
10
-8
10
-6
10
-4
10
-2
10
0
Eb/No (dB)
P
r
o
b
a
b
i
l
i
t
y

o
f

B
i
t

E
r
r
o
r
Othogonal
Antipodal
~

78 10
4
.
~

9 2 10
2
.
For E
b
/N
o
= 10 dB
P
b,orthogonal
= 9.2x10
-2
P
b,

antipodal
= 7.8x10
-4

For the same received signal to noise ratio, antipodal
provides lower bit error rate than orthogonal
Okey Ugweje, PhD
Page 14
Probability of Error Performance
Coherent


Noncoherent



Coherent orthogonal BFSK performance is identical to coherent
ASK
E
b
/N
0
penalty of noncoh. detection is only about 1 dB lower
Note:noncoherent FSK performance is not nearly as bad as
ASK
P Q
E
N
b
b
o
=
F
H
G
I
K
J
P
E
N
b
b
o
=
F
H
I
K
1
2 2
exp
Part 5: Digital Bandpass Communication
Okey Ugweje, PhD
Page 15
BER Performance for DPSK
0
1
exp
2
b
B
E
P
N
| |
=
|
\ .
Part 5: Digital Bandpass Communication
Theoretical performance for
CPSK and DPSK is shown
here for an AWGN channel
BER for CPSK is exactly
the same as that derived for
bipolar baseband
transmission
Okey Ugweje, PhD
Page 16


Part 5: Digital Bandpass Communication
MASK
MPSK
MFSK
Okey Ugweje, PhD
Page 17
where
P is spectral power density in W/Hz
T is absolute Kelvin temperature (293 = room temp, 20
Celsius)
k is Boltzmanns constant 1.38x10
-23
Ws/deg.
h is Plancks constant 6.6x10
-34
Ws
2
.
For frequencies below 1011 Hz, we can treat the spectral
power density as a uniform value kT
Quantum Limited Spectral Noise Power
Okey Ugweje, PhD
Page 18
Bandwidth may be derived from half-power points or other
criteria
Ideal Uniform Spectrum Noise
System Names BW (kHz) Noise Power (W) Noise Power (dBm)
TACS, SMR 25 1x10
-19
-129.8
AMPS, TDMA 30 1.2x10
-16
-129.05
GSM,
DCS1900
200 8.3x10
-16
-120.8
CDMA 1000 4.2x10
-15
-113.8

CDMA figure is broadband for entire composite signal without
despreading gain
For individual user including effects of despreading, the
equivalent B is taken as the bit rate of the vocoder (14,400 b/s
in IS-95 applications)
On this basis, noise power is -132.25 dBm for an individual user
Okey Ugweje, PhD
Page 19
Shot noise = flow of electrons or current at weak signal levels;
random impacts of individual electrons in active devices (diodes,
transistors, etc.)
I
n
2
= qIGf,
where
I
n
is the standard deviation of the shot noise current,
q = 1.6x10
-19
As, the charge of the electron,
I is the dc signal current through an active junction, and
G is a factor dependent on geometry of the structure
f is bandwidth
Note that I
n
is not related to temperature.
Shot noise is a problem for the circuit designer, not the system
designer
Its effect is included in the Noise Figure
Shot Noise
Okey Ugweje, PhD
Page 20
Example:
A 30 kHz bandwidth Rx rated at 7 dB NF has equivalent
input noise level of -129 + 7 = -122 dBm
Minimum analog received signal must be -122+18=-104
dBm for good noise-limited reception
Noise Figure of Receiver
The composite effect of all noise generated in the receiver is
expressed by a figure of merit called Noise Figure (NF)
NF of an amplifier, or the entire front end of a Rx, is the ratio
in dB of Signal/Noise at the output divided by S/N at the
input
The input to a Rx is the antenna, and the assumed noise
source there is the kT thermal noise of space
Okey Ugweje, PhD
Page 21
Inter-modulation (IM or Intermod) is an effect arising from very
strong signals
It relates to the upper end of the dynamic range of signal
power
IM produces small signals at various frequencies which add to
other sources of system noise and reduce the sensitivity of
receivers
It relates to the lower end of the dynamic range of signal
power as well
Inter-modulation Involves
Mixing of the signals
Power amplifier transfer characteristics of active and passive
devices
In short, IM is just unwanted modulation
Inter-modulation
Okey Ugweje, PhD
Page 22
Active Inter-modulation
produced in transmitters and
receivers
Passive Inter-modulation
Produced in antenna
Also produced in other points
of rectification
Inter-modulation Issues
Finding Inter-modulation
Eliminating Inter-modulation
Available Inter-modulation
prediction software
Sources of Inter-modulation
Okey Ugweje, PhD
Page 23
Try to prevent or reduce the amplitude of strong RF signals
reaching receivers in wireless systems
Reduce or eliminate at the source, if feasible (spurious
emissions from electric lamps, signs, elevator motors, etc.)
Shielding, enclosure, modification of antenna directionality to
reduce the penetration of electromagnetic waves
Identify and eliminate secondary non-linear radiators: parallel
metal joints with conductive connections, ground all parts of
metal fences, rain gutters, etc., (also improves lightning
protection)
Conducted RF from wires, etc. entering receiver can be
reduced via low pass or band pass filters, ferrite beads, etc.
Use Notch filters to remove source RF, or specific harmonics or
products
What to do about IM?
Okey Ugweje, PhD
Page 24
Almost everything is slightly (or extremely) non-linear
Only free space is theoretically a true linear medium
Particularly non-linear are:
all active semiconductor devices
corroded electrical connections, etc.
Non-linear Effects & Inter-modulation
When high RF current levels are present in non-linear devices,
waveform distortion occurs
A distorted (clipped, peaked, etc.) non-sinusoidal waveform is
equivalent to a sum of sine waves of several different
frequencies (Fourier series)
Product waveforms can also occur when 2 freqs are mixed
due to the non-linearity
If nonlinear device characteristics are known (intercept point,
etc.), IM amplitudes can be accurately computed
Okey Ugweje, PhD
Page 25
When 2 signals are intentionally combined in a non-linear
device we call the effect modulation
Amplitude modulator, or quad phase modulator
Mixer, down or up converter in superheterodyne receivers
When 2 (or more) signals are unintentionally combined in a
non-linear device, the effect is known as inter-modulation (a
pejorative term)
An analogy:
Botanists use soil to grow plants. But on your living room
carpet, soil is just dirt
We use modulation to transmit signal, however, when it
happens without our direction, we dont want it
IM signals increase system noise, or cause distinctive
recognizable interference signals
Modulation vs. Inter-modulation
Okey Ugweje, PhD
Page 26
Complete link: Uplink + Downlink
Fixed services analysis and transparent repeater
Analysis of uplink is done the same way as the downlink

Design Parameters:
Uplink:
Transmission power of earth station
Antenna characteristics of earth station
Receiver characteristics and satellite antennas
Downlink:
Transmission power of Transponder
Antenna transmission characteristics
Antenna characteristics and Earth station receiver
Radio System Design Above 10 GHz
Okey Ugweje, PhD
Page 27
Global System BER:
Eb/No of uplink and downlink
Signal to Noise Ratio of receiver (satellite or Earth
station) is defined by 4 ways:

1. E
b
/N
o
(dB)
2. C/N (dB): Carrier-to-noise
3. C/N
o
(dB)
4. C/T (dBW/K):
the ratio of carrier power with the equivalent
noise temperature
Radio System Design Above 10 GHz
Okey Ugweje, PhD
Page 28
Relation between the Signal-to-noise ratio
C/N= (E
b
/N
o
) log
2
M ; and in dB :
C/N= E
b
/N
o
(dB)+10 (log
10
(M))

N
o
= Kt Watt/Hz and
N = N
o
B Watts in the bandwidth of B Hz

K = 1.38x10-23 Joule/Kelvin (Boltzmann Constant)
T = Equivalent noise temperature in Kelvin
M = Signal number in M-PSK constellation
Radio System Design Above 10 GHz
Okey Ugweje, PhD
Page 29
Radio System Design
Radio System Design Above 10 GHz

Budget link:
To guarantee a ratio E
b
/N
o
(or C/N) sufficiently large
to attempt a given BER

The link Budget is divided in two parts:
The power budget and the noise budget
Power Link Budget for downlink