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Jalil

CHAPTER 1 Radio-Wave Propagation

Chapter 1

Introduction
2

Radio waves are one form of electromagnetic radiation. Other forms include infrared, visible light, ultraviolet, Xrays and gamma rays. Radio frequencies occupy the range of 15 kHz to 300 GHz.

Electromagnetic Spectrum
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Introduction
3

Once launched, radio waves can travel through free space and through any dielectric materials, including air. Any good dielectric will pass the radio waves.

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Chapter 1

Electromagnetic (EM) Wave

4

Both field are perpendicular to each other and also perpendicular to the propagation direction.

Another name for radio wave. An Electromagnetic wave involves the creation of electric field (E) and magnetic field (H) in free space or in some physical medium.
(H)

This means that the electric field, the magnetic field and the direction of travel of the wave are all mutually perpendicular Thus, the waves that propagate are known as Transverse electromagnetic (TEM) waves.
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Polarization
5

The polarization of an EM wave is determined by the direction of electric field (E) vector.

The E field is horizontal (x direction), and the wave is therefore said to be horizontally polarized.
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Wavefront
6

The simplest source of electromagnetic waves would be a point in space, with waves radiating equally in all directions. Such as source is called an isotropic radiator. A surface joining all points of equal phase is called wavefront.

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Chapter 1

Free-Space Propagation
7

Radio waves propagate through free space in a straight line at speed of light (300,000,000 m/s = 300 x 106 m/s). There is no loss of energy in free space, but there is attenuation due to the spreading of the waves.

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Chapter 1

Attenuation of Free Space

8

An isotropic radiator would produce spherical waves since no energy would be absorbed by free space, so that its radiates equally in all directions. The power density of an isotropic radiator is simply be the total power divided by the surface area of the sphere, according to the square-law:

Pt PD 2 4r
where PD = power density in watts per square meter Pt = total power in watts r = distance from theZura A. Jalil Chapter 1 Prepared by: Pn Siti antenna in meters

Characteristic Impedance of free space

An EM wave propagating through space consists of electric and magnetic fields, perpendicular both to each other and to the direction of travel of the wave. The relationship between electric and magnetic field intensities is analogous to the relation between voltage and current in circuits. This relationship is expressedZby: ) E (377 H Z of free space is 377 ohm.
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Power Density
10

Similar to power and voltage relate in electric circuit, the power density, PD and the electric field E are related to impedance as:

E PD Z

where P D = power density in watts per square meter E = electric field strength in volts per meter Z = impedance of Pn Siti Zura A. Jalil Chapterohms Prepared by: the medium in 1

The strength of a signal is often given in terms of its electric field intensity rather than power density. So that,
PD = Pt / 4r2 PD = E2 /Z E = 30 Pt ; Z = 377

r
where E = electric field strength in volts per Pt = total power in watts
11

meter

r = distance from the source in meters

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Questions:
12

1.

2.

3.

4.

What power density is required to produce an electric field strength of 100 v/m in air? A signal has a power density of 50 mW/m2 in free space. Calculate its electric and magnetic field strengths. A power of 100 W is supplied to an isotropic radiator. What is the power density at a point 10 km away? Find the electric field strength for the signal in the question 3.
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Effect of environment
13

Once radio signal has been radiated, it travels or propagates through space and ultimately reaches the receiver. The energy level of the signal decreases rapidly with the distance from the transmitter. The EM wave also affected by objects that it encounters along the way such as trees, buildings, and other large objects. The path of EM signal takes to receiver depends upon many factors, including the frequency of the signal, atmospheric conditions and time of day. All these factors can be taken into account to predict the Prepared by: Pn Siti Zura A. Jalil Chapter 1 propagation of radio waves from transmitter to receiver.

Optical properties of Radio waves

14

Reflection, Refraction, and Diffraction. These three properties are shared by light and radio waves. Radio waves are identical to light waves except for the frequency.

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Chapter 1

Reflection
15

Light waves are reflected by a mirror. Any conducting surface looks like mirror to radio wave, and so radio waves are reflected by any conducting surface they encounter along a propagation path. Example of conducting surface: Any metallic objects such as building parts, water towers, automobiles, airplanes and power line . Example of partially conducting surface: earth and bodies of water. Reflection of waves from a conducting surface results in the angle of reflection being equal to the angle of incidence.
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Other Types of Reflection

Corner reflector

Parabolic reflector

Diffuse Reflection

same angle of incidence and Have focus point to pass energy reflection but different orientation.
Chapter 1 Prepared by: Pn Siti Zura A. Jalil 16

Refraction
17

Refraction is referred as the bending of the radio waves path. Refraction occurs when waves pass from a medium of one density to another medium with different density. Snells Law governs the behavior of electromagnetic waves being refracted:

n1 sin1 n2 sin2

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Chapter 1

Diffraction

Light and radio waves travel in a straight line. If an obstacle appears between transmitter and receiver, some of the signal is blocked, creating a shadow zone. A receiver located in the shadow zone cannot receive a complete signal. However, some signal usually gets through due to phenomenon of diffraction, the bending of waves around an object. Diffraction is the phenomenon whereby waves traveling in straight paths bend around an obstacles. The EM waves can appear to go around corners.
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Diffraction
19

Sharp edge acts as a new isotropic source of radio waves, radiates as spherical wave fronts from the source. This effect is the result of Huygens principle, advances by Dutch astronomer Christian Huygens in 1690. The principle states that each point on a spherical wavefront may be considered as the source of a secondary spherical wavefront.
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Diffraction around an object

20

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Chapter 1

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Radio-Wave Propagation Through Space

Most of the time, radio waves are not quite in free space. Terrestrial propagation modes include:
Ground

waves Sky waves Space-wave (Line-of-sight )propagation Tropospheric Scatter

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Chapter 1

Ground-Wave Propagation
22

Propagates follow the surface of the earth. The wave follow the ground and the curvature of the earth, and can propagate far beyond the horizon. It has vertical polarization to propagated from an antenna. to minimize currents induced in the ground itself, which results in losses. Horizontally polarized waves are absorbed or shorted by the earth. Operate at frequencies 3 kHz to 2 MHz (VLF, LF, MF). Above 2 MHz the ground waves attenuated very quickly.
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Ground-Wave Propagation
23

As the distance of waves propagation increases from the transmitter, there is a tendency for the waves to tilt toward the horizontal, increasing losses and eventually, the ground waves will dies down. The waves tilt toward the horizontal depend to the frequency value; higher frequency the waves tilt quickly transmission at closer distance. Short transmission distance: At High frequency with Low power. Long transmission distance: At Low frequency with High power.
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Ground-Wave Propagation
24

At LOW frequency with the sufficient power, the ground waves able to propagates around the world more than one times before its energy loss. The conductivity of the earth also determines how well ground waves are propagated. The better the conductivity, the less the attenuation and the greater the distance the waves can travel. It much better to propagate over water (especially salt water excellent conductor) than very dry (poor conductivity) desert terrain. Applications Example:

- Millitary TX = 76 Hz,
- International navigation (LORAN-C)= 100 kHz. - Standard AM broadcast - submarine communications- ELF, 30 to 300Hz Prepared by: Pn Siti Zura A. Jalil Chapter 1

Space-Wave Propagation
25

Used for signals transmission in the VHF and higher range. Two types of space waves: Direct wave Reflected wave The direct wave is most widely used mode. uses direct radiation from the transmitter to the receiver But this direct space wave does have severe limitation limited to line-of-sight transmission distances. Prepared by: Pn Siti Zura A. Jalil Chapter 1

Line of sight Propagation

26

Direct or space waves are not refracted, not do they follow the curvature(go through in straight line) of the earth. Because of their straight-line nature, direct wave signal travel horizontally from the transmitting antenna until they reach the horizon, at which point they are blocked. If a direct wave signal is to be received beyond the horizon, the receiver must be high enough to intercept it.
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The Maximum Distance of Space Wave

27

To calculate the maximum distance depends to the height of both transmitter and receiver antenna. The higher height above the ground the better. The maximum distance between transmitter and receiver: d = 17hT + 17hR where d = maximum distance in kilometers (km) hT = height of the transmitting antenna in meters Prepared by: Pn Siti Zura A. Jalil Chapter 1 hR = height of the receiving antenna in

Questions:
28

1.

2.

A taxi company uses a central dispatcher, with an antenna at the top of a 20 m tower, to communicate with taxi cabs. The taxi antennas are on the roofs of the cars, approximately 1.8 m above the ground. Calculate the maximum communication distances: I. Between the dispatcher and taxi II. Between two cabs A transmitter tower located at Block S UTM KL has a height of 350 m above the sea level. It can transmit a signal for a distance of 160 km. A receiver tower is located on a 200 m hill above sea level. Calculate the height of receiver tower.
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Line of sight Propagation

29

Line of sight communication is characteristic of most radio signals with frequency above 30 MHz, particularly VHF, UHF and microwave signals. Transmission distances at those frequencies are extremely limited, and it is obvious why very high transmitting antennas must be used for FM and TV broadcast. The antennas for transmitters an receivers operating at VHF are typically located on top of the tall buildings or on mountains, to increases the range of transmission and reception. To extend the communication distance, special technique named Prepared by: Pn Siti Zura A. Jalil have been repeater stations Chapter 1

30

Line of sight Propagation Repeater

A repeater is combination of a receiver and transmitter operating on separate frequencies. The receiver picks up a signal from a remote transmitter, amplifies it, and retransmits it (on another frequency) to a remote receiver. Usually, the repeater is located between the transmitting and receiving stations, therefore extends the communication distance. Repeaters have extremely sensitive receivers and high power transmitters, their antennas are located at high points.
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Ghosting in TV reception
31

This occurs when the signal reflect from the large objects like hills or buildings. There not only phase cancellation but also time differences between the direct and reflected waves. This condition results a ghosts that appear in Television reception. Ghosts: When the same signal arrives at the TV receiver at two different times; the reflected signal has farther to travel and is weaker than the direct signal, resulting in a double image. For fixed receivers this problem is reduce by using directional receiving antenna.
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Sky-Wave (Ionospheric) Propagation

32

Most frequent used method for long distance transmission in the high-frequency (HF) band. The concept of radiating is the radiating signal toward the ionosphere and refracted back by the ionosphere to the ground, reflected to the ionosphere and so on. The refracting and reflecting action is called skipping. (lantunan)

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Chapter 1

Atmosphere Layers
33

earth

troposphere stratosphere ionosphere

Free space

Sky-wave propagation

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Chapter 1

Ionosphere layers
34

vary in height from 40 to 400 km above the earths surface. can be divided into 3 regions known as the D, E, and F (F1 & F2) layers.
360 km Earth 40 km D E F1 F2 Ionosphere layers
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Ionosphere layers
35

The presence or absence of these layers in the ionosphere and their height above the earth vary with the position of the sun. The sun (solar radiation) is an agent of ionization. Ionization is different at different heights above the earth and is affected by time of day and solar activity. At high noon, radiation from the sun in the ionosphere is greatest, while at night it is minimal. The level of ionization is increases with height above the earth and greater in the daytime. At night, when the solar radiation is not received, the D and E regions disappear and the F1 & F2 layers combine into a single F layers. The F layers remains during the night.
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Layers of the ionosphere

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Chapter 1

Layers of the ionosphere

37

D layer Ranges from 40 km to 88 km Has low ionization level (farthest from the sun). Exists only during daylight hours. E layer Approximately 80 km to 145 km. Known as Kennely-Heaviside layer. Exists only during daylight hours. F layer Exists from about 45 km to 400 km. Closest to the sun, are the most highly ionized. During the daylight hours, it consist of two layers, F1 & F2. Responsible for HF signal transmission. 1 Prepared by: Pn Siti Zura A. Jalil Chapter

Ionosphere Propagation
38

The signal returned from the ionosphere by a form of refraction. If the signal is not refracted enough to reach the earth, it may absorbed or may pass right through the atmosphere into space. In the daytime, the D & E layers absorb frequencies below 8 or 10 MHz. Frequencies above this (up to 30 MHz) are refracted by F1 & F2 layers and may return to earth.
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Ionosphere Propagation
39

At night, the D & E layers virtually disappear, allowing lower frequencies to reach the F layers without being absorbed. These frequencies are refracted by F layers. Thus, propagation at lower frequencies is better at night than during the day. The higher frequencies pass right through all the layers at night. So, propagation at frequencies above 10 MHz tends to be better during the daylight hours.
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Multi-Hop or Multi-skip
40

The signal reflect from the ground and make two or more hops before reaching its final destination. Each reflection from the ground or refraction in the ionosphere greatly reduces its strength. For strong signals and ideal ionospheric conditions, as many 20 hops are possible. Multi-hop transmission can extend the communication range by thousand of km. The maximum distance of single hops is about 3220 km, but with multi-hops, transmission all the way around the world are possible.
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Frequency Diversity
41

Used by large users of high-frequency communications (shortwave broadcasting and the military). They transmit on a number of different frequencies that span the HF spectrum. Hope that at least one of these will work at a given time.

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Chapter 1

42

Ionospheric sounding & Critical Frequency

Ionospheric sounding is used to make some measurements on which to base propagation predictions. A signal is sent straight up, then the signal will be returned to earth and can be picked up by the receiver. At low frequencies, the signal will be absorbed. The highest frequency that is returned to earth in the vertical direction is called the critical frequency.
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Critical Angle
43

Above the certain frequency, when waves transmitted vertically, it will continue to free space. However, if the angle of propagation is lowered (from the vertical), a portion of high frequency waves below the critical frequency is returned to earth. The highest angle at which a wave of a specific frequency can be propagated and still returned to the earth is called critical angle.
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44

Maximum Usable Frequency (MUF)

The highest frequency that is returned to earth over a given distance is called the maximum usable frequency (MUF). Since absorption decreases with increasing frequency, it would be expected that a frequency at or just below the MUF would give best results. 85% of MUF is called optimum working frequency (OWF). To predict the MUF : fm = fc / cos 1 Where fm = MUF fc = critical frequency 1 = angle of incidence A. Jalil Chapter 1 Prepared by: Pn Siti Zura

Skip Zone & Skip Distance

45

Skip zone is determine as the region on which the groundwave completely dissipated to the first refraction of sky-wave. No signal will be heard. This region called quiet or skip zone. Skip distance is the minimum distance from the TX to where the sky wave returned to earth and also occurs for energy propagated at the critical Prepared by: Pn Siti Zura A. Jalil angle.

Chapter 1

Tropospheric Scatter
46

Special case of sky-wave propagation. It makes use of the scattering of radio waves in the troposphere to propagate signals in the 350 MHz to 10 GHz range. But, the best and most widely used frequencies are 0.9, 2 and 5 GHz. Troposcatter can give reliable communication distances up to 644 km.

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Chapter 1

Tropospheric Scatter
47

The TX antenna is aimed in the direction of the RX, but the RX is over the horizon. Most of the transmitted energy continues on into space, but a small portion of it is scattered, and a small fraction of the scattered energy reaches the receiver. Thus, it requiring more powerful transmitter and Prepared by: more sensitive receiver.Pn Siti Zura A. Jalil

Chapter 1

Tropospheric Scatter
48

Disadvantages

Advantages

It is an inefficient system, requiring larger transmitter power, antenna with higher gain and more sensitive receivers than line-of-sight communication.

Troposcatter can operate at a much greater range than line-ofsight communication.

thus, reducing the requirement for repeater stations.

It is also subject to fading communications path is over can be reduced by using water or over difficult terrain such spatial diversity at both as mountains, between islands or when a foreign, possibly ends, each station has at unfriendly government controls least two antennas the territory between ends of link. separated by 100 Prepared by: Pn Siti Zura A. Jalil Chapter 1 wavelength or more.

Great benefit when the

49

Common propagation problem Fading

Fading is one of the primary effect of radio waves propagation. Fading is the variation in signal amplitude at the receiver caused by characteristics of signal path and changes in it. Fading caused the received signal to vary in amplitude, typically making it smaller. Fading is caused by four factors: Variation in distance between transmitter and receiver, Changes in the environmental characteristics of the signal path, The present of the multiple signal paths, Relative motion Prepared by: Pn transmitter Chapterreceiver. between Siti Zura A. Jalil and 1

50

Common propagation problem Fading

Fading

can occur on signals of any frequency, but it is most pronounced in UHF and microwave communication, where the signal wavelengths are very short compared to path distances and size of reflecting surfaces. Fading is a problem of long distance shortwave communication.
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Solutions to Fading
51

To accommodate severe fading problems, diversity reception is used Frequency diversity - transmission of the same information on slightly different frequencies. Spatial diversity - comprises two or more receiving antennas separated by 50 wavelengths or more. Best received signal will be selected. Angle diversity - transmission of the same information at two or more slightly different angles. Polarized diversity - the capability of receiving horizontally or vertically polarized signals.
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